Chapter 68 The Poison Within II
We made it to the palace gates. Slammed them shut. Wards flared. The creatures hit the wall and caught fire.
But they didn't back down. Just went around. Waiting. Be patient.
"What are they?" I gasped. "Shadow wraiths," Theron said. There was blood on his face.
"Old magic. Forbidden magic. Someone powerful summoned them."
"Who?"
"Someone who wants you dead and has resources to burn."
We got inside. Locked down. Every entrance sealed. Every ward strengthened.
I ran to Nyx's chambers. Found her awake. Standing at the window. Watching the shadow wraiths circle.
"They came for you," she said.
"Yes."
"Because of me."
"Because someone fears you. There is a difference."
She turned. Her face was wrong. Too calm. Too cold. "I can stop them. I can stop all of this. I just have to leave."
"No."
"If I go, they stop hunting. Stop attacking. Stop threatening."
Her voice sounded empty. "Maybe it would be safer for everyone if I just went away."
I put my hands on her shoulders. "Pay attention to me. You are not going. You are not running. You are not sacrificing yourself because evil people make threats."
"But people keep dying because of me. Guards tonight. Marcus before. How many more before you admit I am the problem?"
"You are not the issue. The problem is fear. Hatred is the problem. People who cannot accept change."
I pulled her in close. "But we don't give them what they want. We fight. We survive. We prove them wrong."
"What if we cannot?"
"Then we die trying. Together. Like family."
She cried against my chest. Let out the fear she had been holding. Let herself be eight years old, not ancient.
Kael appeared in the doorway. "The wraiths are dispersing. Whoever summoned them pulled them back."
"Why?"
"Because they made their point. We are vulnerable. They can reach us whenever they want." His face was stone. "This is war now. Not politics. Not games. War."
"Then we fight a war."
"Against who? We do not know who summoned them. Do not know who is really leading this. Daemon? Mira? Someone else?" He walked to the window. "We are fighting shadows. How do you win against shadows?"
"With light." Nyx pulled away from me. Wiped her eyes. "We expose them. Force them into the open. Make them face us directly instead of hiding."
"How?"
"By giving them what they want. Make them think they are winning. Then spring the trap." She looked at us. "Use me as bait. Let them try to take me. Then we kill everyone who comes."
"Absolutely not," I said.
"Why not? It worked with the Purists."
"Because you got lucky. Because next time you might not." I grabbed her face. "You are eight years old. You are not bait. You are not a weapon. You are our daughter."
"I am also the most powerful vampire alive. That has to count for something."
Kael looked at me. I saw the calculation in his eyes. The cold logic that said using Nyx as bait might work. Might end this.
I told him, "No." "I know what you're thinking. No." We might not have a choice.
"We always have a choice. And I choose not to use our daughter as bait for murderers."
"Even if it is the only way to stop them?"
"Even then."
We stood in silence. Three people who disagreed. Three people who loved each other anyway.
"There might be another way," Lyra said from the doorway. "Daemon is hosting a gathering tomorrow night. Private. Just his closest allies. If we could get someone inside. Hear what they plan. Get evidence."
"Who would go? None of our people would be invited."
"I would." Mira appeared behind Lyra. "I am his sister. He expects me to attend. I could go. Listen. Report back."
"Or you could be working with him. This could all be elaborate trap to get us to trust you." Kael's voice was ice.
"It could be. But you do not have better options." Mira stepped into the room. "Let me prove myself. Let me get you what you need. Then decide if I am trustworthy."
"And if you betray us?"
"Then kill me. Slowly. Painfully. I have nothing left to lose except revenge. I will not waste this chance."
I looked at Kael. He looked at me. Neither of us trusted this. Neither of us had alternatives.
"Fine," I said. "You go. You listen. You report back. But if this is betrayal. If you put my daughter at risk.
I'll do worse than kill you. "I will make you wish you had never been born." Mira smiled. Cold. Sharp. "I would expect nothing less from a Shadowborn queen."
She left. Lyra followed.
We stood in Nyx's chambers. All of us are exhausted. All of us are scared. All of us pretending we were not.
"What if this does not work?" Nyx asked quietly.
"Then we try something else."
"And if nothing works?"
"Then we run. Disappear. Start over somewhere they cannot find us." I touched her face. "But it will not come to that. We are smarter than them. Stronger than them. More desperate than them."
"Are we though? Because they seem pretty desperate to kill me."
She had a point.
That night, I could not sleep. Kept seeing shadow wraiths. Kept hearing threats. Kept waiting for the next attack that would finish what others started.
Kael found me on the balcony at dawn. "You should rest."
"I should do a lot of things."
He pulled me against him. We stood watching the sun rise over a kingdom that wanted our daughter dead.
"I am scared," I admitted.
"So am I."
"You never admit that."
"I never had this much to lose before." His arms tightened. "Thirteen days until Daemon moves. Thirteen days to find proof. To stop him. To save her."
"What if thirteen days is not enough?"
"Then we make it enough."
A scream interrupted us. From inside. From Nyx's chambers.
We ran. Burst through the door. Found Nyx on the floor. Shaking. Blood was pouring from her nose. Her eyes.
"What happened?" I dropped beside her.
"Vision. I saw it. The future. The festival.
They aren't just coming for me. She took hold of my arm. "They're coming for all of us."
Mother. Father. Everyone. Daemon is not planning an assassination. He is planning a massacre."
"When?"
"Twelve days. During the feast. He poisons the wine. Kills everyone loyal to you. Then takes the throne." She was crying. Blood tears. "I tried to see more. Tried to see how to stop it. But the vision broke. Shattered. Like someone blocked me."
"Someone with power."
"Someone stronger than me."
That was impossible.
Nyx was the strongest vampire ever to live. But the look of fear in her eyes said otherwise. "We cancel the festival," Kael said.
"We cannot. That looks weak. Scared. Exactly what they want." I helped Nyx stand. "We let it happen. But we control it. Switch the wine. Guard the food. Make sure when they try to poison us, they poison themselves."
"That is dangerous."
"Everything is dangerous now. At least this way we are ready."
Nyx wiped blood from her face. "There is more. I saw something else. In the vision. Right before it broke."
"What?"
"A woman. Watching from shadows. Smiling. She looked like you, Mother. But wrong. Twisted. Corrupted."
Nyx's voice got very low. "I think there is another you here. From another timeline. And I think she is helping Daemon."
The world tilted.
Another me. From another failed timeline. Here. Now. Helping enemies. Trying to kill my daughter.
This was worse than war.
This was personal.