He nods, adjusting his collar, sweat running down his forehead.
I turn away from them both and grab a torch from the walls. I head to the door.
"Where are you going?" asks Asher.
I do not answer. Instead, I make my way out the gate, down the steps, my torch lighting the night, my gaze focused forward, my steps steady. Guests follow me, perhaps curious to see where I go, perhaps ready to leave as well. They gather behind me, joined by people from the street. Dozens, then hundreds. They follow me as I reach the square where stand the wooden poles and crosses. Where stand the symbols of depravity.
And I burn them down.
"Heed me," I roar into the night, into the heavens above. "None will live at the whims of others anymore. We will be free. Free to do as we wish. From now on…" I turn to the crowd, to the thousands of slaves gathered there. "From now on… the Fae will be free."
The crowd cheers. And I think back to when I first became a ruler, when I returned from Grey Mountain and became the Prince of War. It has been often on my mind of late. Why? Is it because… and then I remember who brought it up: Lucian. He remembered it well. How? Why? Unless… Unless he had been there recently.
I turn to my brothers and tell them. "I know where Arianna is."
Chapter 7
REBORN
"Let's just say there's pain involved. Lots of pain."
—Asher
I wake slowly on a soft linen bed, my eyes hazy, my mouth dry. And then I remember. Levi attacking me. Draining me. I remember his teeth penetrating my neck. I felt Yami panic, his magic pounding against a cage he couldn't free himself from. And I remember… dying.
My hands drop to my belly, fear taking hold of me. My baby? Is my baby okay?
"You are both fine," says a deep voice.
I see him then, sitting by the bed, clad in black, his dark hair streaked with grey. He watches me with cold blue eyes. His face is hard. It reminds me of Fen and Asher, and so I look away.
"Why are you here, Lucian?" I ask, my voice weak and hoarse, my mouth filled with cotton balls, my head spinning and aching.
From the corner of my eye I see him smile, teeth white and perfect. "Is it so hard to believe? You've known from the start I've been working with the Fae. Right now, that means helping Metsi."
I force myself to face him, to glare into his eyes. "You don't care about the Fae. You told me yourself."
He shrugs. "I say many things. Who's to say which are true?"
He won't fool me. I remember. I remember he cares nothing for the Fae. And then I remember his promise. His promise that he will come for me.
"So is this it?" I ask. "Is this when you take your revenge on me?"
He pauses, then chuckles. "Oh no. Quite the contrary. I came here to help you."
"Help me?" More memories come flooding in. Losing blood. Falling. Fading. "What happened?" I ask, sitting up. The motion pains me, but not as much as I expected. "I remember—"
"Dying? You did." Lucian grins. "I brought you back. Both of you."
Like he did before. Like he did when I died as a child. When my mother made a deal with the devil. "Did someone offer you their soul this time too?"
He grabs an apple from a platter next to my bed and takes a bite. "Metsi did promise me a favor, but in truth, she needn't have. You are useful to me, you see."
Him and his games. I'm tired of them. "How long? Since I died."
"A few days." He shrugs as he chews the apple. "Not long, in the grand scheme of things, though the world keeps spinning, and inexplicably so much of it continues to revolve around you."
"What do you want from me?"
"You will see soon enough."
Lies. Secrets. I'm used to them now, but Lucian worries me. More than Metsi. More than Oren did. Around Lucian, I feel a dread, thick and oozing. It pours into me, makes me tremble and sweat.
I clutch the bed sheets closer to stay warm. "What are you, really?"
He looks puzzled, though it seems in mockery. "A vampire, of course."
"You have powers no other vampire seems to possess. Bringing people back from the dead."
He stands now, slowly pacing the room. His eyes stare at the ceiling. "Ah, that is a gift I've possessed a long time. Even when I lived amongst the heavens, even when I walked the Silver Gardens." He pauses, taking a bite of his apple. "I suppose, you would have called me an angel of death. A crude term, but also elegant in its simplicity. For that, Arianna, is what I am. What I do." He walks up to me, meeting my gaze. "I deal in death."
He starts pacing again. "You see, my father bestowed two gifts upon his sons. Each of great power. To my brother, he gave the ability to take life away. So easy it is for him. All he needs is but a touch. To me, my father bestowed the ability to bring life back. All it takes is a simple caress." He sighs. "There are limitations however. The body must be relatively fresh. I can regenerate some tissue, but I cannot regrow a body from ash or a pile of bones. And of course, there is the greatest limitation of all. I cannot reborn a vampire."
He sits back down, his head heavy, his eyes dark. "It is part of the curse you see. When my brother cast us out and made us vampires, he changed our very being, changed us, so that my gift could not affect our kind. So when the time came, I could not save my wife. I could not save my daughter. In the end, my gift proved near useless. That is, until I found you."