A Shade of Vampire 23: A Flight of Souls (16 page)

W
e soared
out of the vortex of swirling water over an expansive, tree-lined lake, and then the fae tilted the box so that the window faced directly upward to the sun-streaked sky and I couldn’t glimpse what was beneath us. Although I was curious to observe the location of this place—where the heck the portal to that ghastly hole existed on Earth—I could hardly complain.

I’d never thought I’d appreciate the sun as much as I did now. All those months as a vampire, it had been the bane of my existence. Now it felt like my salvation.

Overlapping each other in the cramped coffin, the six of us were all still too stunned to say anything. We just lay as we were, blinking, shocked at everything that had transpired.

I wondered what my uncle was thinking. I wouldn’t be surprised if a part of him believed that this was all just another vision imparted by one of the ghouls, one that would soon turn and twist into a torturous nightmare. But it wouldn’t. This was real. The fae had helped us to escape.

We zoomed with what felt like the speed of light, and soon enough, the coffin was lowered to the ground. The lid clicked open. I drifted out first to find myself back on the snowy mountaintop where it had all begun.

The fae stood barely three feet from me, but I barely looked at them. I gazed around, taking in the full glory of our snow-clad, earthly surroundings. After I’d been held captive in the dead realm, every detail of Mother Nature’s artistry seemed heightened and my spirit swelled with joy.

The rest of the ghosts followed me, and Lucas was the last to drift out of the coffin. He came out uncertainly, hovering next to me even as he looked around. From the look on his face, one would have thought that he’d just landed on another planet. I guessed it really was like another planet. He had suffered in The Underworld for almost two decades. It blew my mind to think what a shock this must be for him. Not to have seen sunshine for all that time. Not to have witnessed the living world. No wonder he had gone insane. I was actually surprised that he hadn’t gone more insane than he was. Then I reminded myself for a second time that he was, after all, a Novak.

We were all still too taken by the euphoria of our surroundings to pay attention to our rescuers, even as they stood, surveying us intensely. Finally I forced my attention to Sherus… and now that I did, the bitter reality of our escape returned to me. We’d gotten out. But now I had to ensure that we stayed out.

I cleared my throat. “So now…” I began, eyeing him and his companion tentatively. I noticed for the first time that the second coffin containing the ghouls’ corpses was missing. Maybe they had dropped it in the ocean along the way.

“Yes, now,” Sherus said, nodding with expectation in his eyes. “Now you will fulfill your end of the deal. You have exactly one day to return to this mountaintop with your army of jinn who must be willing and ready to do our bidding. If you fail to arrive with them… well, I’m sure you already know what will happen.”

I nodded stiffly. “I understand, and I will fulfill my promise…” I paused, wincing internally at the bombshell I was about to drop. “But… I need more than one day.”

“What?” Sherus snapped. His hard expression morphed into a cocktail of disappointment and anger. “You told me that you have jinn at your disposal. Why would it take more than one day to summon them here?”

“I do have an army at my disposal,” I said truthfully. “But it’s been some time since I last saw them. I need to take into account the fact that they might not be where I left them. I need some extra leeway, but I assure you, once I find them”—
and figure out a way to free them from the clutches of what are supposedly the fiercest clan of jinn of all time
—“I will bring them here directly. Just… give me five days.”

“Forget it!” Sherus seethed. “Three days, or I will return you and your hapless friends right back to where you belong.”

“All right. Three days.”

Sherus glowered at me a few moments longer, then his lips formed a hard line and he nodded curtly. “Three days. And not an hour longer.”

His arm shot out and grabbed my shoulder.

“What are you doing?” I asked, alarmed.

“Obviously,” Sherus hissed, “I’m not just going to let you leave as you are. I need a way of tracking you, do I not? Otherwise you might find a way to slither out of your promise.”

A way of tracking me?
I wasn’t left to wonder long as he ordered, “Step into me.”

I stared at him in confusion, but did as he requested. I moved forward, closing my eyes as my body passed through his. Then I stood still. Unlike before when I’d shot through him back in the canal tunnel, I was not expelled this time. A warm sensation surrounded me, followed by an unpleasant prickling, as though somebody was poking with me with needles.

“Now step out.” Sherus’ voice rumbled all around me.

I did as I was told, feeling oddly… cold as I did. I glanced back at him in confusion, wondering why he’d asked me to step into him in the first place. Then I heard gasps behind me. I whirled around to see all five of my ghost companions gaping at me as though I was an alien.

“Wha—?”

My eyes shot downward to my… body? What the…

I was no longer translucent, and my form had a slight aura about it, exactly the same as Sherus’ and his companion’s. I was no longer wearing my old clothes either. I wore the same garb as the fae: one sash around my waist, and another draped over one shoulder. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

I staggered back, my mouth hanging open as I gazed dumbfounded at the fae.

“Wh-What is this?” I stammered.

“You seem to have figured it out already,” Sherus replied shortly.

I balled my hands into fists and… I could
feel
my fingers. I clasped my palms together… I felt them touch. I reached a hand up to my face, and touched my cheek. Then I ran my fingers through my hair, down the bridge of my nose, across my shoulders…
How could the fae pull off such a miracle?

“I told you I need a way of tracking you,” Sherus said impatiently. “While you possess this body, I will be able to sense your movements. And if you do not return as promised after three days, it will not be difficult for me to hunt you down.”

Still in shock, I barely registered his warning. I glanced at my companions, then back at Sherus.

“Will you do the same for them?” I asked.

Sherus furrowed his brows. “That won’t be required. You are the one who has made me a promise. I have no business with your friends.”

I took a step forward, marveling at the crunch of snow beneath my bare feet as I dared say, “But I’m asking you to do this. Would you please give them bodies, too? If you agree, I would do my utmost to return earlier with the jinn.”

Sherus exchanged glances with his blond-haired companion, who shrugged.

“Hmph. I suppose there’s no harm in it,” Sherus muttered. He turned his focus on the five ghosts. I stared as two at a time, the ghosts merged into the two fae and then stepped out with solid bodies. They still looked like themselves. Lucas was the last to be seen, and as he stepped out of Sherus, I wondered how much more his mind could take before being blown to pieces.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around what kind of powers these fae possessed, but it was a reminder that there were still so many things I did not know about them… including what exactly they needed the jinn to do. But, no doubt, we would find out a lot more about them in the days to come…

“Thank you,” I breathed.

“Thank me after you have brought me your jinn,” Sherus replied. “For if you do so successfully, I will allow you to keep these forms forever… That should be quite an incentive, don’t you think?”

Oh, my God.

I
brahim
and I didn’t stay long after Herbert’s business was done. We left Jeramiah alone in his trembling state. As we emerged in the corridor and I closed the door softly behind us, I couldn’t help but feel a stab of guilt, as well as doubt. Doubt as to whether I should have done any of this to begin with. Whether I should’ve just allowed him to continue living in his fantasy world. Seeing the man reduced to a quivering boy made me feel sick to my stomach. I didn’t feel any of the satisfaction I’d been expecting on the successful completion of this mission. If anything, I felt even worse than before we’d started.

I exchanged a glance with Ibrahim. He was quiet and I could tell from his ashen expression that he was having similar thoughts himself, though he did not express them.

He cleared his throat. “I’m going to return Herbert now, seeing that we have no further use for him…”

I nodded. “Good idea,” I murmured.

He exchanged some more whispery words with Herbert before the ghoul thinned his body even further, until he was practically invisible, and obediently sank into the pencil case. Ibrahim wasn’t joking when he’d said that Herbert was well trained.
Quite the English butler, after all…

Shutting the case, Ibrahim stowed it into the pocket of his robe. “I won’t stay long in The Sanctuary,” Ibrahim said, eyeing me. “I’ll be back within a few hours.”

With that, he vanished… leaving me alone with my melancholy.

I’d been thinking about returning to my room after this, but now felt like the right time to tell my wife and sister about what had happened. What I’d done to my nephew.
What have I done to him?

I left the Black Heights and wound my way through the forest, back to the Residences. The door to my sister and Xavier’s apartment had been left open, so I let myself inside. I found Sofia and Rose in the kitchen, sitting in silence around the table. Sensing my approach, they both spun around, their eyes wide and bloodshot.

“Dad,” Rose croaked, moving to me. Wrapping her arms around me, she rested her cheek against my chest. I kissed her head before kissing Sofia’s cheek as she moved to embrace me too.

“What’s the matter?” I asked as they drew away.

Sofia swallowed and, taking my hand, led me to the living room sofa. She and Rose exchanged glances before Sofia began, “We found out what happened to Ben.”

“What?” That was not the answer I was expecting.

They proceeded to recount in unsteady voices all that had happened since I had taken my leave, from River’s suspicion to their visit to the oracle and everything she had told them about my son. I was stunned speechless. I had not even known ghosts were real and to learn that my son had become one… it sent my mind and emotions into a tailspin. All thoughts of Jeramiah vanished as waves of grief rolled over me.
Ben. He’s dead.
And yet he also still lived in some strange half-life. Not fully with us, but not fully absent. I wondered where he was now. For all we knew, he could be here on this island—heck, in this very room. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much pain he must’ve gone through. And to think that it was him all along who had saved River…

“The oracle refused to give us any definitive answer as to whether he could return,” Sofia said. “Although, in her own twisted way, she seemed to indicate that it might be possible, I don’t know how Ben will have even the first clue as to how to go about it.”

I dropped my head in my hands and closed my eyes tight. I was about to start beating myself up all over again for ever having turned Ben into a vampire—after all, that had been the trigger incident for all of this; if he had never become a vampire, the Elder’s bond might have never come to fruition—but Sofia, already predicting my descent into self-loathing, gripped my arm.

“There is no way we could have known that this would happen, Derek. We thought that we were doing what was best for him at the time. Please.” She squeezed me. “Watching you take all the blame for this only makes me feel worse.”

Still, I couldn’t help but blame myself.

“We just have to hope Ben finds a way,” Rose said, her throat clogged. In spite of her devastation, there was a glint of hope in her eyes. A glint I wished would transfer to me.

A ghost reconnecting with his body? How could such a thing ever happen? It sounded like the stuff of fairytales.

“And Corrine has absolutely no idea?” I asked, my voice several tones deeper than it had been a few minutes ago.

They both shook their heads.

I cursed beneath my breath.

A span of silence fell between us, everything they had told me still sinking in. Then I continued asking question after question, but none of their answers gave me the smallest shred of hope. I wished that I could have my daughter’s optimism, but I didn’t know how.

As I sank back into my own depressing thoughts, Sofia asked me a question. “How have you been faring after the turning?”

I had all but forgotten about Jeramiah. It was hard to believe that I had come here with such a heavy heart over how things had played out with him; now, in the face of my son’s plight, it almost seemed trivial.

“I brought Jeramiah to The Shade,” I said bluntly. Like tearing away a Band-Aid from a scab, I figured it was best to just spit it out.

“What?” three voices spoke at once. Sofia, Rose and also my sister, who had just emerged in the doorway, looking healthier than the last time I’d seen her, but just as saddened as Sofia and Rose.

“I kidnapped him from The Oasis,” I said, heaving a sigh, “and put him in one of the storage chambers in the Black Heights. He’s still there.”

“What for?” Sofia asked, gaping.

I leaned back, rubbing my face in my hands. “I… I just wanted to help him.”

“Help him how?” she pressed.

I explained everything that I’d done to the lad, and by the time I’d finished, all three were stunned.

“Wh-When do you plan to let him go?” Rose asked.

“About now,” I muttered, even as I thought back to his trembling form. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to him, just how badly I might have damaged him. Maybe I had been too heavy-handed.

I was glad that none of the three reprimanded me for what I’d done. I was feeling weighed down enough as it was.

I guessed that all of this had not really been for him at all. It hadn’t even been born out of revenge, but of my own selfishness, wanting to make myself feel better about regrettable events that had transpired in my past.

Sofia swallowed. “Maybe we should all go and see him.”

I didn’t want to think of anything right now other than my son, but I knew it wasn’t right to keep Jeramiah locked up much longer.

Vivienne nodded in agreement. “Xavier has taken Victoria out for some fresh air, so I’m free to come too.”

And so Sofia, Vivienne, Rose and I left the penthouse and made our way back to the Black Heights. I led them deep into its chambers, far deeper than where the dragons resided, and found myself dreading laying eyes on my nephew again as we arrived outside his door.

I unlocked it and swung it open. He lay in the same position as I’d left him, curled up in a ball, head braced close to his chest. The three women glanced at me, as if telling me to stay put, before moving forward. I realized that this was the first time Rose would be meeting Jeramiah, her cousin, face to face. And Vivienne, too.

Even as the women neared, Jeramiah did not look up. Not until Sofia reached down and planted a gentle hand on his shoulder. He jerked as though electrified and raised his head. His eyes fixed on Sofia, then swept across Vivienne and Rose. I quickly backed out of the door so that he would not see me. He had seen enough of my face already—enough to last several lifetimes. I kept myself hidden, peering into the chamber through the gap in the partially open door.

“What do you want with me?” Jeramiah asked, his voice thick and baritone.

“Nothing,” Sofia replied gently. There was silence as he continued to eye the women. Then Sofia continued, “Jeramiah, you need to understand that none of us have ever meant you harm, not even Derek. As hard as it might be for you to accept it, your uncle wants to help you. He… we… all wanted you to be a part of our family from the moment we learned of your existence from Ben. None of us wanted to see you isolated like your father.” Jeramiah flinched at the mention of my brother. “Derek forced you to view his memories because he wanted you to know the truth. The truth can be the most painful thing but it’s the only thing that will help you move on. Get on with your life. Lucas sure as hell wasn’t the victim you’ve imagined him to be, but what does it even matter what your father was?” Sofia paused to glance in my direction, spotting me through the crack in the door. I nodded to her in encouragement. There was no way to know if her words were getting through to Jeramiah, but at least he was listening, albeit with a vacant face.

Silence descended on the cave again, all four of us waiting expectantly for Jeramiah’s reaction. It came eventually, though his eyes still looked distant. “Then…” he murmured, “if all I saw is true… I don’t know where it leaves me.”

The ghoul seemed to have left him quite bewildered. It was as though he struggled to even form a sentence. But as brief as his statement was, I understood what he meant. Aside from merely surviving, every being, be they vampire, human or something else, needed some deeper purpose to their life. A deeper goal to strive for. Just as for centuries mine had been leading my people to sanctuary, Jeramiah’s had been to fill the void in his life he’d felt ever since he was a boy. And he had latched onto the idea of paying some kind of vengeful homage to his father. It was clear as day why he had clung so hard to the idea that his father had been the victim; the assumption was what his life was based upon. Without that, he had nothing to drive him forward every day. And now he was grasping for something else, something more, a different reason to live.

He seemed close to a nervous breakdown.

Sofia’s expression was traced with concern as she looked down upon the damaged young man. Then Vivienne spoke to her nephew for the first time. She bent down low, as Sofia had done, and dared reach out to touch his hand.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked, drawing his eyes—which he had averted back to the floor—up to meet hers.

Jeramiah nodded slowly. “My aunt,” he managed.

“And do you know who this young lady is?” Viv continued, pointing to Rose, who took the hint and also moved closer.

Jeramiah eyed her. “My cousin,” he muttered.

“And Sofia?”

“Also… my aunt.”

“And I don’t need to ask whether you know who Derek is.”

Even through his daze, Jeramiah managed a scowl. He shook his head stiffly.

“Then don’t you have something to live for?” Vivienne concluded. The way she addressed Jeramiah now reminded me so much of the way she would try to soothe our older brother during one of his bouts of insecurity.

“But I do not know you.” Jeramiah frowned. “Any of you. You are strangers to me.”

“Well,” Rose spoke up, “did you ever meet your father?” My daughter stared hard at her cousin.

“No,” Jeramiah grunted.

“Then you could get to know us. As my mom said, we were ready to welcome you with open arms until you went and set our island on fire. You murdered Kailyn, and you almost murdered me and my husband.” Now Rose was positively glaring at Jeramiah.

He clenched his jaw.

“If you do want to get to know us,” Rose went on, unrelenting in her steely gaze, “an apology would be a good place to start.”

There was a pause as Jeramiah considered her words. It was as though his brain was working at half the speed it should. Then he nodded slowly, and he murmured, “I suppose… I was mistaken. About you… maybe even about Aiden Claremont… Maybe my father deserved to die.”

At this, none of us responded. In my eyes, obviously my brother had deserved to die for attempting to murder the love of my life. But Jeramiah had already received an ample dose of my opinions.

Attempting to disrupt the awkwardness, I re-entered the room and walked over to my nephew. Stooping down, I withdrew the key to his charmed manacles from my robe and removed his chains. My nephew stood up, and then, not quite level with me, looked me in the eye. His face had a sickly grey tinge to it, and his eyes were hollow. Empty.

I was unsure of what to suggest now and, it seemed, so were my three female companions.

Then Jeramiah cleared his throat, his gaze passing over the others. “You may call yourself my family but… I don’t believe that I belong here. I wish to leave.”

Still, none of us spoke. He certainly wouldn’t be welcomed on the island by our residents and none of us were about to lie that he would. I wouldn’t be surprised if Aiden and Kira lunged for him the moment they laid eyes on him. In many ways, it was best if he decided he wanted nothing to do with us and left. But I found myself worrying about him. Where would he go from here? How would he piece his life back together?

“We can transport you to wherever you would like to go next,” I said. I guessed I could pay him at least that much of a courtesy after what I had just put him through. After what I had taken from him.

“No,” he murmured, shaking his head. “I’ll… I’ll find my own way.”

“What do you mean, you’ll find a way?” Vivienne asked. “You do know that you’re in The Shade right now?” She shot me a quizzical, almost accusatory, glare.

And I realized that I had not told Jeramiah exactly where he was. I’d just assumed that he would’ve guessed.

Jeramiah nodded. “I know,” he replied hoarsely. “If you would just give me a boat with some kind of covering, some sacks of blood for the journey… I’ll be on my way.”

I exchanged glances with Sofia, who simply shrugged. We both had too much on our minds regarding our own son to be able to put much more energy into someone else’s.

“Okay,” I said heavily. “Come with us. We’ll take you to the Port.”

None of us exchanged another word as we exited the chamber and led Jeramiah along the winding tunnels, through the depths of the Black Heights until we arrived in the clearing before the forest. Rose suggested that she race to fetch some blood and catch up with us at the Port. I let her go, and as the remaining four of us headed for the forest path, I silently prayed that we would not bump into anyone on the way who would recognize my nephew.