Chapter 121 Ch. 91
“How is he?” Ethan asked with a sigh. He had just left the study, the image of the elder’s burning hand still fresh in his mind, but as he pushed open the door to Dylan’s room, that anger vanished, replaced by a cold, hollow feeling in his gut.
Something powerful enough to kill an Original was let loose, and that bothered him more than anything.
The men who had attacked were fearless, because that could kill them too.
But they had a goal to kill his father, so they went through with it nonetheless.
“He has not moved since Imogen brought him up,” the nurse whispered, stepping back from the bed. She was one of the medical staff from their clan. She looked tired, her eyes red from a long night of watching the black veins crawl up Dylan’s neck. “Imogen has stabilized him, but I’m not sure he is responding to what she did.”
“That’s… terrible news,” Ethan said, walking toward the bed.
Ethan sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. Maybe if Dylan could just wake up, things would feel a little better.
“You have to stay,” Ethan murmured, leaning over the bed so his face was close to Dylan’s. “I cannot do this alone, Dylan. You know that… I don't want these people guiding me… I just… I need you to be here.”
Dylan did not answer. His eyes stayed shut, his long lashes resting against his pale cheeks. He looked peaceful, which was the part that scared Ethan the most.
Peace was for the dead.
Dylan also did not look like the version Ethan knew. His uncle did not have that cocky smirk plastered on his face this time. He could not see those eyes that usually twinkled with mischief whenever he got on Lorenzo’s nerves.
A wry smile found its way onto Ethan’s face. He still remembered the night Dylan had come with his “advice” when Ivanna found out about him.
How Dylan’s only request was a daylight ring, so he could live happily ever after with her.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, his thumb hovering over the screen. He needed to tell Ivanna.
She deserved to know that her boyfriend was dying, but he couldn't bring himself to type the words yet.
I will tell her when I have better news, he told himself, though he knew it was a lie. He made a mental note to send the text later, when his hands stopped shaking.
“Take care of him,” Ethan said to the nurse as he walked back toward the door. “If his breathing changes, find me immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied, bowing her head.
Ethan walked out and headed back toward the main corridor.
From a distance, he could see some of the men leaving the house.
He wasn’t sure what he was going to do first… security was one thing, and there were people handling it.
The only problem was his uncertainty.
Something kept eating at him—they knew exactly how to attack. They knew how to come in, so it was either a traitor, or they had been studying them for weeks.
Or maybe one of the low-ranked vampires had been compelled.
He kept walking, squinting a bit as he saw a figure from afar.
“Prunella?” Ethan called out, stopping in his tracks.
His cousin stood at the end of the long gallery, her back pressed against the wall.
“Are you okay?” Prunella asked, her voice barely a whisper. She didn't move toward him, though; she stayed where she was, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.
“I am fine,” Ethan said, though he didn't feel fine at all. “Where’s Zee?”
“With Imogen,” she replied, jerking her head toward a door. “Can't be in there because it’s dangerous or something.”
He nodded, and then he pushed open the double doors of the makeshift lab. The room was bright with the morning sun.
Zara stood beside Imogen, watching with curious eyes. Her eyes lit up slightly as she saw Ethan.
“Do not come any closer,” Imogen warned, waving a hand at him without looking up. She was holding a small glass vial, using a silver pair of tweezers to scrape a tiny bit of the black residue from the wooden stake that had been driven into Lorenzo.
“Why?” Ethan asked, stopping by the desk. “I have already seen what it does.”
“It is still active,” Imogen murmured. “Plus, I managed to steal a liquid sample from one of those men just before they fled.”
She gestured toward a conical flask. “This is not just a poison, Ethan. If a drop of this touches your skin, it will start a fire that I cannot put out.”
“Move back, Ethan,” Zara said, her eyes filled with constant worry as she looked at him. She was standing a few feet behind Imogen, her hands tucked into the pockets of her hoodie. “She is right.”
“How did it kill him?” Ethan asked, ignoring the warning and taking another step closer. “He was an Original. That liquid is supposed to be for the turned. It should have been like water to him.”
“That is what I am trying to figure out,” Imogen muttered.
“Well, from what we saw, they poured it directly on the stab at his heart,” Zara shrugged. “Maybe that’s why?”
“That shouldn’t have done what it did.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even if you drive a stake through an Original, as long as their body is intact, there’s still a chance—a slim chance—that they can be resuscitated,” Ethan explained. “But that liquid turned him into ash… ruining every chance. That shouldn’t have been possible.”
“Wow,” she muttered. Despite being here for a long time, she still did not understand the intricacies of their lives. Every time she thought she knew something, she was proved wrong.
Almost everything about the stories was wrong, too.
“He’s right,” Imogen added, carefully dropping the sample into the vial and sealing it with a wax cork. She held it up to the light, her eyes narrowing as she watched the liquid swirl inside the glass.
“And?” Ethan prompted, sounding hopeful. Maybe if they figured it out, it would be better.
“It is not just Aeuthrin,” Imogen said, walking over to the desk and clearing a space among the papers. She set the vial down and pulled a small magnifying glass from her belt. “Look at the color. Pure Aeuthrin isn't this color. This has a green shimmer to it.”
“What does that mean?” Zara asked, moving closer to look over Imogen’s shoulder.
“It means it contains traces of magic,” Imogen said, her voice dropping into a serious tone. “Old magic. The kind that hasn't been seen in this part of the world for a very long time.”
Ethan felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room.
“What type of magic?” Ethan asked.
“Gods…” Imogen gasped, surprise suddenly flickering on her face.
She changed her gloves immediately and pulled out a fresh syringe and some cotton swabs. “Zara, come here.”
“What?” she asked, confused, walking toward Imogen slowly. Imogen grabbed her arm, wiped it clean, then inserted the syringe inside. She drew some blood and placed it in an empty Petri dish, then poured some liquids into it, and finally, some drops of normal Aeuthrin.
It turned a similar shade of green in an instant.
“Fucking hell,” Ethan gasped.
Imogen looked like she had seen a ghost.
Her hands shook as she stepped back from the dishes.
“But they… how did they get Zara’s blood?” Ethan swallowed hard. “She’s been… here…”
“The men who took me before?” Zara suggested. Her face had also turned a ghostly shade of white.
“My father recovered all the blood,” Ethan said, fear gripping his heart. “We may have a traitor in our midst.”
“Maybe. But there’s a spell over this lab,” Imogen said, her voice still sounding shocked. “No one can come in here if I don’t want it. Even your father—I did it to keep him in check.”
“So how… they went extinct…”
“Zara’s mother must be alive. Somehow… I don’t know how,” Imogen replied, leaning back and crossing her arms.
“That’s….”
“Someone took a standard vampire poison and laced it with the one thing that can undo an Original’s immortality. Catalyst blood is the only thing that can act as a universal key. It bypasses the protection of a daywalker because it doesn't recognize the vampire’s nature—it just sees the soul and burns it. Because bondings are possible…”
“So the people who attacked us,” Zara said, her voice shaking.
“They know everything,” Imogen said. “They are using your own bloodline’s history to kill the very people who are supposed to be protecting you. They didn't just want to kill Lorenzo. They wanted to show us that our defenses are useless.”
“Wait,” Ethan said, his mind racing. “So you mean not from Zara…”
“There is only one other source that would be potent enough to create a batch of poison this large.”
“My mother,” Zara whispered, her face going as white as the marble statues in the hall. “She is alive, isn't she? They have her.”
“It is the only thing that makes sense,” Imogen agreed. “Whoever is behind this attack is holding her captive. They are using her as a well for this poison.”
“But why are they not using her blood for powers?” Ethan asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. “If her blood can make a vampire levitate or give them ancient strength, why would they just use it as a weapon to kill us? Why not make themselves gods? Why must they take us out?”
“Because she has lost her potency,” Imogen said, picking up the vial again and watching the liquid hiss against the glass. “When a Catalyst is held in a state of constant fear or pain for too long, the 'spark' in the blood begins to sour. It stops being a gift and starts being a toxin. She can no longer give life or power, Ethan. She can only give death.”
Zara sank into a chair, her hands covering her face. “They are just... draining her? Like she is some kind of factory?”
“I am sorry, Zara,” Imogen said, her voice softer than Ethan had ever heard it. “But she is still useful to them as a poison. As long as they have her, they have a way to wipe out any clan they want.”
“We have to find her,” Ethan said. “We have to find where they are keeping her and get her out.”
“It is not that simple,” Imogen said, turning to look at the broken window.
“Fucking hell.”
“You know…” Imogen continued. “I have been thinking about the vampires who attacked us. I told you before that I thought they had kidnapped a member of the Veiled to use for their own ends.”
“Yeah, you did,” Ethan said.
“I think I was wrong,” Imogen admitted, her eyes turning dark with fear, which made Ethan uneasy. Imogen never showed fear.
“I do not think they kidnapped a Veiled member.”
“What are you saying?” Zara asked, looking up with red, wet eyes.
“I think the Veiled are working together with the clan that attacked us,” Imogen said. “I know my people. The ancient police and the new rebels have made a deal. They want the Catalyst bloodline gone, and they are willing to burn the whole world down to make sure it happens.”