Chapter 96 Ghosts and Warnings
KAEL
I stared at Elena. At the woman I'd mourned for seventy years. At the wife who'd tried to trap me in a vessel. At the ghost who wouldn't stay dead.
"Get out." My voice was flat. "Before I kill you where you stand."
"Still so hostile. I'd forgotten how charming you were when threatened." She moved into the chamber with that grace I remembered. Her companions flanked her. Both radiating power. "And you won't kill me. Not before you hear what I came to say."
"I don't care what you have to say. You allied with Morvenna. Cursed me. Tried to destroy everything." I felt void energy gathering. "Give me one reason not to end this now."
"Because Morvenna lied to me. Used me. And now she's planning something worse." Elena stopped ten feet away. Just outside striking range. "I came to warn you."
"I don't believe that."
"Then believe this." One of her companions stepped forward. Ancient vampire. Silver-white hair. "My name is Valdris. I am Shadowborn. From before the bloodlines scattered. Morvenna's construct in your mental vessel isn't a weapon. It's a summoning circle."
The words hit like a blow. "Summoning what?"
"Her siblings. The other First Darkness. Morvenna wasn't the only ancient vampire the bloodlines betrayed. There were five. She was simply the only one they imprisoned. The others were banished to the void. If she completes that circle, she can bring them back."
In the mental space, I felt it. The construct. Not a weapon. A door.
"Four more like her." Sera's voice was hollow.
"Worse than her." The second companion spoke. Female. Ancient. "Morvenna was the merciful one. Her siblings burned kingdoms for entertainment. Fed on entire populations." She met my eyes. "I'm Kaida. I survived by hiding. And if Morvenna brings them back, extinction isn't metaphorical."
"Why come to us?" I studied them. Looking for deception. For the trap. "If you survived by hiding, why risk exposure now?"
"Because nowhere will be safe if they return." Elena's voice was quiet. "And because I owe you this. For lying. For being manipulated. For almost destroying you because I was too angry to see I was being used."
"That's not an apology."
"It's not meant to be. I'm not sorry for wanting revenge. For being hurt. For hating what you became after I died." She looked at Sera. "But I am sorry for not seeing that you'd changed. That you'd found something worth fighting for."
"I never let you die. Your family killed you—"
"You had choices. You chose politics over protection. Chose the throne over me." Elena's voice cracked. "But I see now that you paid for that. Are still paying. And dragging you further into darkness won't fix what's broken."
Heavy silence.
"How long until Morvenna finishes the summoning circle?"
"Days. Maybe a week." Valdris moved closer. "But you can't destroy it from inside the vessel. She built it using her own essence. Your essence. Destroying it would free her."
"Then what do we do?"
"Interrupt the summoning. Bind her so she can't channel enough power." Kaida pulled out a scroll. Ancient. Covered in symbols. "Binding runes. Old Shadowborn magic. If you inscribe them in the vessel, she won't have enough power to complete the summoning."
"Why give us this?"
"Survival." Valdris handed me the scroll. "We're just old vampires who don't want to watch the world burn again."
I studied the scroll. The runes pulsed with power. Ancient. Dangerous.
Possibly a trap.
"You don't trust us." Elena read my face. "Smart. But you don't have better options."
She was right. Damn her.
"Fine. We try the binding runes. But if this is a trick—"
"Then you kill us. I know." Elena moved toward the door. "We'll wait in the guest chambers. When you're ready to inscribe the runes, call for us."
They left. Three ghosts from a past I'd tried to bury. Three potential allies who might be enemies.
"We can't trust them." Sera said the moment they were gone. "This could be exactly what Morvenna wants."
"I know. But they're right about one thing. We don't have better options." I looked at the scroll. "If Morvenna really is trying to summon her siblings. If four more ancient vampires are waiting in the void. We have to stop it."
"You hate her."
"I hate what she did. But I also understand it. The rage. The betrayal. The feeling that the only justice is destruction." I met Sera's eyes. "I've felt all of that. Done worse in its name. Who am I to judge?"
"You're the king she tried to destroy. That gives you some judging rights." Sera took the scroll. "Let me look at this. See if Arianna can verify it's real."
She left. Leaving me alone with the vessel humming in the back of my consciousness.
I dove in. Returned to the mental space. Found Isolde maintaining the collective.
"You saw?" I asked.
"Felt it. Elena's back. With friends." Isolde looked tired. "Do you believe them?"
"I don't know. But the threat is real. I can feel Morvenna's construct." I moved toward the dark corner. "Show me what you see."
Isolde took my hand. Shared her sight.
The construct wasn't just a circle. It was a beacon. Pulsing into the void. Calling to something vast. Terrible.
Four presences in the darkness. Watching. Waiting.
"Gods." My voice was hollow. "They're really there. Waiting for the door to open."
"Can we stop it?"
"We have to."
Morvenna appeared. Right beside us. Too close.
"Discussing me without an invitation?" Her smile was venomous. "Though I suppose I should thank you. Your ex-wife just revealed my entire plan."
"You wanted us to know." Understanding crashed down. "You sent Elena. This whole warning is part of your plan."
"Obviously. I needed you to inscribe them into my construct." She laughed. "Because those aren't binding runes. They're amplification runes. They'll triple the power of my summoning circle. Bring my siblings through faster."
Horror turned my blood to ice. "Elena wouldn't. She hates you—"
"She hates you more. And I promised her something she wanted more than revenge." Morvenna's eyes glowed. "I promised her that when my siblings arrive, when they burn this kingdom to ash, she gets to watch you suffer. Gets to see everything you love destroyed before you're killed last."
"You're lying—"
"Am I? You broke her heart. Let her die. Moved on with a half-blood who represents everything she despised." Morvenna moved closer. "She came back from death for revenge. And I'm giving her the most complete revenge possible. Total annihilation of everything you've built."
I wanted to deny it. Wanted to believe Elena had changed.
But I knew better. I knew rage. Knew what it did to people. Knew that seventy years of death could twist anyone beyond recognition.
"So what now?" My voice was dead. "You tell me this. Gloat. Then wait for me to use the runes anyway because I have no other options?"
"Exactly! See, you understand perfectly." She vanished. "Such a shame we're enemies. We could have ruled wonderfully together."
I returned to the physical world. Found Sera waiting with Arianna. Both looking grim.
"The runes are fake." Arianna's voice confirmed my fears. "They're amplification magic disguised as binding magic. Using them would make everything worse."
"I know. Morvenna told me." I sat. "Elena's still working with her. This whole thing was a trap."
"So we don't use the runes. We find another way." Sera grabbed my hand. "There's always another way."
"Is there? Because I'm running out of ideas. Running out of options. Running out of time before Morvenna summons four more monsters."
"Then we get creative. We ask Nyx—"
"Your Majesty!" Marcus burst in. "Urgent news from the Shadowlands. There's been an attack. An entire village destroyed. And the survivors? They say it wasn't Morvenna. It was something else. Something that came through a rift. Something ancient and hungry."
My blood turned to ice. "When did this happen?"
"An hour ago. Maybe less."
I looked at Sera. At the horror reflected in her eyes.
"The summoning." My voice was hollow. "Morvenna didn't need the amplification runes. Didn't need us to help. She was just buying time. Distracting us while she finished the circle herself."
"Which means—"
"Which means they're already here. Her siblings. They've already crossed over."
The kingdom was about to fall. And I had absolutely no idea how to stop it.