Circle of Death (17 page)

“What do you want?”

“A weakness to Seth, while he is immune to Death herself.”

She nodded, understanding what I mean, as I had imagined would happen. The negotiations with Death had rules, be it for the vampires or for the White Hand. Asking for a weakness was simple, a few of my scars were enough to pay for it. But asking for an specific weakness or questioning what was that weakness would cost far more. With Death as an ally, she would give me exactly what I wanted. I counted the scars that had just been crossed, and smiled. It was the price I had expected, payment for making Seth vulnerable to the technique that named the first White Hands.

“And I also want that the vampires fighting beside us against the Nameless, the ones who owe allegiance to Lucio, be freed from the hunger for blood until the Nameless is imprisoned again or destroyed.”

I held Death’s gaze, seeing her surprise, and knew Lucio’s expression wouldn’t be very different from hers. None of them expected this, but there was no choice.

“Do you know the price?” Death asked.

It would cost a lot, and the price would depend on how many vampires joined us and how long would it take to imprison the Nameless. But it was the only way to avoid that all vampires joined Seth, and I thought I had enough lives to pay for that. I hoped I had enough lives for that.

“Yes.”

Death nodded, and only one scar was crossed. More would burn as the vampires joined us.

“That’s all.” I said, ending the negotiation.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to pay for this, Kelene?” Death asked, her concern clear in her voice in a way I hadn’t heard since my first days as a Hand in training. “You know the consequences, and not even I can ignore the laws that rule this kind of deal.”

“I have to be.” I answer with a confidence I didn’t really feel. “It won’t be for long, we will have only one chance and we can’t take long. My scars are more than enough.”

“And if the Nameless has too much time to cause the destruction he likes, it will throw humans and the Otherworld in an endless conflict. The relationship between both worlds isn’t one of the best. That destruction would be enough for a true war and we know how that would end.” Lucio said.

“The Otherworld will blame humans, because they know the Nameless is human, and humans will blame the Otherworld, because they don’t know what’s going on.” I added, thoughtful.

I hadn’t thought about that little detail before. We would need to be very careful with that situation. It would be easy to spread the panic among humans, and that would mean the start of a conflict, maybe even before the Nameless really started acting. We had to avoid it at any cost.

And with the time I had been unconscious, it was possible that the chaos had already began.

Death nodded, agreeing with what we said, before warning.

“All the pathways are closed, we are the only ones who can use them. As soon as we know where to go, we can be there in a matter of seconds.”

“The Veils are still lowered, then? It means we only need to figure out where the dead are coming from, then.” I said, already embracing that coldness that had always let me do my job, no matter what has happening or what the risks were.

“Seth and the Nameless are in different places. We need to be able to attack and win in one shot.” Death told us, understanding what I needed to know. “There won’t be any second chance.”

No. If we didn’t win at our first try, we would be dead.

I nodded, an idea already taking form in my mind.

“Lucio, you know what I need you do do.”

He nodded.

“I’ll take care of the vampires.” He was standing with the strangely tense posture of a Keeper, and I couldn’t avoid smiling.

Death left without any more words, and Lucio and I still had time for a goodbye kiss before he left. He would get in touch with the vampires who had been sworn to him in the past and ask them to renew their vows. We
needed
them beside us, not only because we couldn’t afford to let Seth and the Nameless get stronger, but also because we would need to fight Seth’s vampires.

Only then I looked around, realizing someone had left me clothes. It had probably been Alice, as she was the only one who would think about clothes in a time like that, and she also had the keys to my apartment. With a satisfied sigh, I noticed that the city we were in was one of the really old ones, with that architecture the rogues from the Otherworld were so good at adapting to accept modern comforts. Hoping I was right, I opened the other door in the room. My smile widened when I saw it had been turned into a bathroom, even if a rustic one. The water from the shower would be cold, probably from a nearby well, but at least I could take a shower.

Long
ago
, I had been considered a god, the strongest among vampires, worshiped by humans and vampires alike. It had been my choice to move away from all that, back when I decided to abandon Seth and the vampire community, running from the sanguinary instincts they exalted and I tried to control. Now, I had few hours to reclaim what had once been mine.

When the Nameless escaped, Seth was the first to be turned into a vampire, moved by his need to be the best always, and I followed him. We were the only ones transformed by the Nameless himself, who subverted Life’s powers to make us what we are. All the other vampires, whenever they were turned, descend from one of us. And, in the old times, that was how the vampires’ loyalties were divided: those sworn to Seth, and those sworn to me. Those were the vows Seth was calling again.

While I followed death’s pathways, I thought about how what had happened in the last days had changed us. Kelene abandoned much of her defensive stance, and I finally saw why Death had thought her a White Hand good enough to be brought back. She was like a river: once she decided her path, nothing would stop her. It didn’t matter how many barriers she found: she would go around them and move on. She had a strength that wasn’t easily found, and wasn’t afraid of risking herself doing whatever was needed. And I… I had finally accepted my past, with all my mistakes and all the destruction I had caused and allowed to be caused. Like I had once said to Kelene, that past was what had turned me into who I was, and it was also what gave me strength to go ahead, as I knew what would happen if we failed – and I
wouldn’t
allow the past to repeat itself.

With a new determination, I left death’s pathway, quickly crossing the few blocks that separated me from the mansion where one of the two most powerful Masters of my line lived. The ornate metal gates opened automatically when I approached, and I crossed the empty moonlit gardens. That area was one of his vampires’ favorites, and I had never seen it empty before, when I watched the house. As soon as I went up the front steps, the door opened, revealing a young vampire, with the weakened appearance of someone who was starving and with a shadow of madness in his eyes.

“Welcome, lord Lucio.” He greeted, his voice still strong, and his words were a subtle insult, a reminder that I was no longer their master. “My Master awaits you in the main hall.”

Without a word, I followed him to the hall, where at least a hundred vampires were gathered. All them had the same dull and tired gaze with a touch of madness, and their movements were slow – surely the outcome of days without being able to feed. They were one step away from losing all control and killing everything they found. At the back of the hall, in a raised dais, there was a beautiful chair, almost a throne, and a vampire sat on it with an authoritarian posture. Pietro could pass for human anytime he wanted, with his common features and casual clothes, but his attitude was what made clear he was a vampire, and one of the old ones. I walked up to stand before him, the vampires in the hall moving out of my way.

“This is quite a surprise, Lucius. I didn’t expect to see you this century.” The vampire said, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice. “I hope you have not remembered this old subject and thought I could give you the solution for our problem.”

I restrained my smile. I had expected a reception like that, and he didn’t disappoint me. I would never receive a warm welcome from any vampire, even if they were from my line, because I had abandoned them a long time ago, without ever giving any sign that I was still alive.

“I didn’t come to ask you for a solution, but to require what is rightfully mine: your loyalty.”

“Loyalty?” He smiled, aggressively. “You ignored our loyalty when you decided to abandon the vampire community. Rumors say you did it so that no one would realize how weak you truly are. It was reckless of you to show yourself now.”

“Weak? I disappeared because I was weak?” I laughed softly. “I, who was turned by the Nameless himself? No.” I returned his smile, knowing the area round me was heating, a useful trick to impress lower vampires and that wouldn’t mean anything to Pietro. That display of power wasn’t for him, anyway, but for his vampires. “I didn’t come here searching for a solution for the problem about human blood not feeding vampires anymore because, as you can see, it is not a problem for me. That’s an interesting kind of weakness, isn’t it? It is also interesting that such a weak person has the one who gave Seth his scars as an ally.

A blink was my sign that Pietro faltered. Without hesitation, I grabbed the opportunity. In a movement too fast for any of his vampires, I cut my right wrist, raising it and making sure the vampires could see the blood that slowly run down my arm.

“This is what you want, isn’t it? This is what you need.”

“But we will find a way to get it without you, just like we have survived on our own all this time.” He replied, trying to hold his ground, but I knew his confidence was shaken.

The vampires around me started getting closer, called by the blood, but they stopped in a circle, making sure to stay at least three feet away from me. That was the space where the air was still heating, and now was too hot for most vampires.

“Did you become a fool, Pietro? Will you face the final death and take all your vampires with you because of your stupid pride?”

We stared at each other for a tense moment. Pietro’s pride was his downfall; it had always been, since before I had turned him. There was only one way to make him see beyond it, and I would have to be careful about the rest of that conversation.

A scream cut my line of thought. One of the young vampires rushed me, with madness in his eyes, seeing only the blood that still ran. As soon as he crossed into the area where my power was working, he fell, in flames for less than a second, before there were only ashes left. I glanced at what was left of him, on the ground, before facing his Master, who still had his inscrutable expression.

“Cheap tricks to impress the youngest ones.”

“I remember when this same trick impressed you, in Egypt.” I smiled when I saw the glint of remembrance in his eyes. He had been just as awed as the humans who worshiped us. With a thought, I healed the cut on my wrist and lowered my hand. “Are you sure you want to continue with this? How many more are on the brink of madness? How many more are on the verge of doing what this one has just done? How many were you already forced to destroy, before they became a threat to the Otherworld?”

“Why did you come back now? Why do you want our loyalty back?” He asked, without any aggression in his voice. Instead, I could hear weariness. He knew that soon all those vampires would attack each other, trying to find a drop of blood that would feed them.

“Two reasons. First, I may have moved away from the vampire community, but I’m still responsible for those I made and the ones made by them. I would never allow all of my line to find the final death if there was something I could do to prevent it, especially keeping in mind that this was done to hurt me and leave us without allies. And, second, because I’m still a Keeper of Death’s Sanctuary, and the vampires will be needed.

I saw Pietro stiffen when the last words left my mouth. He, like all those I had turned, knew what that meant.

“Everyone, leave.” His order was dry, and the vampires left the hall quickly, not without many curious and worried glances, besides many others who just showed that too many of them were barely holding on to sanity.

When Pietro and I were alone, I went up the steps to his dais. He met my gaze, his own still steady, even though I could see his hunger.

“The truth. What is it? What is going on?”

“The Nameless is acting. Seth is his ally, and they’re keeping this spell or whatever it is to make human blood useless to vampires, except the ones sworn to Seth.” I told him.

“So that is why I heard he had been recruiting lately. This way, all vampires would have to join him or face the final death.” He added, understanding. “Once again, Seth is trying to manipulate us all. And the Nameless...?”

“He is free and moving. But we will stop him, one way or another.”

Pietro nodded, with a grim expression that seemed out of place in his young face.

“I still don’t approve what you did, abandoning us. But it is not up to me to approve or disapprove the actions of one of the firstborn, let alone the one who created me. If there is this way to survive without giving our vow to Seth, and that will allow us to fight the Nameless, you have my loyalty, Lucio.”

And so he knew the name I used now… Not that it was a surprise. Just as I had watched them, it wouldn’t be unlike Pietro to have watched me.

I nodded, and he cut his right wrist with a quick movement, using his claws. I accepted that as his answer, and cut my left wrist and moved closer to the other vampire. He drank from my veins without saying anything, just before I grabbed his wrist and drank, too. In a second I could feel that strange bond between a vampire Master and his subjects come back to life. Pietro and all his vampires were once again under my command. Now I only needed to talk to Semele, the Master under whom were all the other vampires who had once been loyal to me.

I left the shower with my mind racing. There were too many things to worry about, too many possibilities to consider. I dressed quickly and was tying my hair when Alice entered, that excess of energy that was so much a part of her contained, to my surprise.