Chapter 31 Questions and Answers
Stella's POV
"Run!" Lord Nightshade shoves me toward Lyra.
But I can't move. My legs won't work. There are vampires coming through the windows—I can hear glass shattering everywhere, footsteps pounding on the floor above us.
Lyra grabs my hand and pulls. "Stella, now!"
We stumble through the darkness, following Lord Nightshade's shadow. He moves impossibly fast, yanking open a door I didn't know was there. A hidden passage in the wall.
"Inside. Don't make a sound."
He pushes us into a narrow space that smells like dust and old books. Then he's gone, the door clicking shut behind him. Through a tiny crack, I can see slivers of the kitchen.
"Lyra," I whisper, my whole body shaking.
"Shh." Her arms wrap around me tight. "We have to be quiet."
I press my face against her shoulder and try not to breathe too loud. My heart is hammering so hard I'm sure everyone can hear it.
Through the crack, I watch vampires flood into the kitchen. Eight of them, all wearing dark armor. And leading them is an old man with a black cane and creepy smile.
"Nightshade," the old man says. "How disappointing. Hiding in your own home?"
Lord Nightshade appears from the shadows. He looks calm, bored even. Like eight armed vampires breaking into his house is just mildly annoying.
"Councilor Blackwater. Breaking and entering is beneath you."
"We have a warrant for the human's arrest." The old vampire—Blackwater—taps his cane on the floor. "Suspicion of illegal blood magic. Hand her over."
"I don't have any humans here."
"Lying is also beneath you." Blackwater's smile grows. "We tracked her scent to this location. Where. Is. She?"
"Even if there was a human here, you'd need proof of wrongdoing before entering my private property. Do you have proof?"
The vampires spread out, searching. One walks right past our hiding spot. I hold my breath until my lungs burn.
"The proof will reveal itself soon enough," Blackwater says. "You see, we know about the mark, Nightshade. We know what you did at the Solstice."
Lord Nightshade doesn't react. "I performed a private ritual. What I do in my own ceremonial chamber is none of the Council's concern."
"It becomes our concern when you mark a human." Blackwater's voice drops to something dangerous. "That's forbidden. Punishable by death."
"I marked no one."
"Then you won't mind if we examine any humans found on your property? A simple inspection to prove your innocence?"
It's a trap. I can feel it. If Lord Nightshade says yes, they'll find us and see the mark on Lyra's collarbone. If he says no, they'll know he's hiding something.
Through the bond I don't understand, I feel Lyra's terror spike. Her arms tighten around me.
"You may not," Lord Nightshade says coldly. "My property, my rules. Leave now or I'll file a formal complaint with the full Council."
"The full Council authorized this search." Blackwater pulls out a scroll. "Signed by all twelve members. Including your own grandmother."
The words hit like a punch. Even I understand what that means—Lord Nightshade's own family voted against him.
For the first time, I see Lord Nightshade's calm crack. Just for a second, something flashes in his mercury eyes. Something that looks like pain.
"I see," he says quietly.
"So. The human. Now."
The vampires close in. Lord Nightshade is outnumbered, and everyone knows it. Through the crack, I watch him calculate his options.
Then something unexpected happens.
The hidden door beside us—a different one—bursts open. A tall woman with silver hair and blood-red eyes steps out, moving with the same inhuman grace as Lord Nightshade.
"Enough, Thaddeus."
All the vampires freeze. Even Blackwater looks shocked.
"Councilor Ashcroft," he says carefully. "This is not your concern."
"It became my concern when you forged my signature on that warrant." She holds up an identical scroll. "I authorized no such search. In fact, six other Council members were also unaware their names were used."
Blackwater's face goes blank. "You're mistaken—"
"Am I? Shall we call an emergency Council session right now? Compare signatures?" Ashcroft's smile is sharp as knives. "Or shall we discuss why you're so desperate to find one particular human that you'd risk forgery charges?"
The silence is thick enough to choke on.
"What is she to you, Thaddeus?" Ashcroft continues. "Why does one human blood donor matter so much?"
"She doesn't." But Blackwater's voice is too tight. "This is about upholding the law."
"The law you wrote eight hundred years ago? The one forbidding human-vampire bonds?" Ashcroft tilts her head. "Or is this about the Thorne bloodline? About finishing what you started three years ago?"
Lyra gasps softly. I clamp my hand over her mouth, but it's too late. One of the vampires heard.
"There," he points at our hiding spot.
Everything happens too fast. The door rips open. Hands grab us. Lyra screams and fights, but they're too strong. They drag us out into the kitchen, and suddenly we're surrounded by vampires and there's nowhere to run.
"Well, well." Blackwater's ancient eyes lock onto Lyra's collarbone, where her collar has torn during the struggle. The mark is visible, glowing faintly in the darkness. "There's our proof."
Lord Nightshade moves, but four vampires tackle him. He's strong—he throws two of them across the room—but more pile on. They're going to restrain him.
"No!" I scream. "Leave him alone!"
Blackwater's cold hand grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. "And who is this? The sister, I presume?"
"Don't touch her," Lyra snarls.
"Or what?" Blackwater's smile is terrifying. "You're in no position to make demands, marked one." He looks at Lord Nightshade, still struggling against his captors. "Here's what's going to happen. You're both coming with us. The girl will watch while we execute her sister for the crime of bearing a forbidden mark. Then we'll study her to see if she carries the same tainted blood. If she does..." He shrugs. "Well. Accidents happen."
"You're insane," Ashcroft says. "The Council will never approve—"
"The Council will approve what I tell them to approve." Blackwater's mask finally drops, showing the monster underneath. "I've spent eight hundred years ensuring humans and vampires remain separate. I won't let one clumsy girl and a lovesick prince undo my work."
"Lovesick?" Lord Nightshade laughs bitterly. "I despise her."
"Then you won't mind watching her die."
Blackwater signals his vampires. They drag Lyra toward the door. She's fighting, screaming my name, and I'm trying to reach her but someone's holding me back.
Then Councilor Ashcroft does something crazy.
She pulls out a knife and cuts her own palm. Blood wells up, dark and powerful. She speaks words in a language I don't know, and the blood starts glowing.
"An oath," she announces. "I, Councilor Seraphina Ashcroft, claim sanctuary right over these humans. By ancient law, they are under my protection until the next full Council meeting."
"You can't—" Blackwater starts.
"I can and I have. Break sanctuary and you break our oldest law. Even you can't survive that scandal, Thaddeus." She walks to Lyra and places her bleeding palm over the mark. "I claim this human as my ward."
The mark flares bright red, then settles. Some kind of magic just happened, but I don't understand what.
Blackwater's face twists with rage. "You've made a powerful enemy today, Seraphina."
"I've had powerful enemies for twelve hundred years. One more won't matter." She helps Lyra stand. "Now get out of Nightshade property before I forget my manners."
The vampires hesitate. Blackwater stares at all of us with hatred that makes my skin crawl. Finally, he turns and walks toward the broken window.
"This isn't over," he says. "The full Council meets in two days. Sanctuary only lasts until then."
"Then we have two days." Ashcroft's voice is steel.
Blackwater and his vampires leave. The silence they leave behind is somehow worse than the fighting.
Councilor Ashcroft turns to Lord Nightshade. "We need to talk. Now."
"Agreed." He straightens his clothes, trying to look calm, but through the bond I feel his fear. "Stella, Lyra—go upstairs. Lock the door. Don't come out until I say."
"But—" Lyra starts.
"Now."
His voice carries command that can't be disobeyed. Lyra takes my hand and we run for the stairs.
As we climb, I hear Ashcroft say: "You marked a moonblood carrier, Kaelen. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"No. Explain it to me."
"Moonblood humans were hunted to extinction eight hundred years ago. They're the only humans who can survive royal blood bonds. The only humans who can become..." Her voice drops too low to hear.
"Become what?" Lord Nightshade demands.
We reach the top of the stairs. I look back just once and see Councilor Ashcroft's face.
She looks terrified.
"Hybrids," she whispers. "If you complete the bond on Christmas Day, Lyra won't just become a vampire. She'll become the first vampire-human hybrid in eight centuries. Stronger than either species. Immune to our weaknesses."
"That's impossible—"
"It's why Thaddeus killed her mother. It's why he'll kill her. Because if even one hybrid exists, it threatens everything vampires have built." Ashcroft grabs his arm. "Thaddeus won't stop. He'll burn this entire city down to prevent what you've accidentally created."
In our room, Lyra locks the door and slides down against it. She's shaking.
"Did you hear that?" I whisper.
She nods.
"What's a hybrid?"
"I don't know. But whatever it is..." Her voice breaks. "I think it just made us targets for every vampire in the city."