Redemption (13 page)

An Offer He Can’t Refuse

The sun was rising steadily over
Running Waters, the second city on the King’s list. Sunrise fell over the
specially crafted buildings, jumped merrily off the multi-colored rooftops. The
morning was warm and thick, the birds oddly silent for such a day. People were
stepping out their homes now and following the ocean-blue paths that led them
to the Running Waters’ Council Building.

King William sat at a window in
the Queen of the city’s office—having sent her from the room with a flick of
his wrist—sipping a steaming cup of Accursed blood that had been paid for by
the blood of his people. He watched, diamonds and rubies adorning his fingers
and neck and suit, glittering as sunlight streamed in through the window. He
watched people leaving their homes, wondering which of them would actually
return home when this day was over. His mass Searches in Sun City the day
before had yielded more traitors that he had thought they would. It didn’t hurt
his feelings, but he couldn’t believe that there were so many who were
considering joining the Sun Warrior in her futile fight. It just showed you
that common people were all the same: simple, stupid, and unaware of what was
best for them.

No matter. He was aware, and that
was sufficient for all. In a few days his cities would be wiped clean of
traitors, leaving nothing more than streaks on a chalkboard. Those two
self-righteous little girls would have a hard time building any type of army
after that. All in all, things were going quite well.

A knock sounded on the door to
the office, and King William bade the caller come in. Andre opened the door and
gave his King a stiff nod. Following him was Lord Thomas Caslon. The sight of
Caslon brought a cold smile across King William’s face. He could always trust
Andre to complete his tasks in a timely manner.

“Lord Caslon,” he said in
greeting. He looked at his Warrior. “Thank you, Andre. Leave us now.”

The enormous Warrior left without
a word, but King William knew that he would be standing just outside the door.
Thomas stood there for a minute, as if he did not know what to do. “Your
Majesty,” he said. “I believe you requested my presence?”

King William nodded and waved a
hand at the chair across from his. “Indeed I did, Thomas. Have a seat.”

Thomas did as he was told. King
William set his steaming cup of stolen blood down on the saucer on his lap.
“How long have we known each other, Thomas?”

“For as long as I’ve been alive,
your Majesty.”

The King gave another nod. “And
when you came of age, what was the first thing I did?”

Thomas swallowed once. “You gave
me my Lordship, your Majesty, offered me a position on your Council at Two
Rivers.”

“Has it been a good life, Thomas?
Have you enjoyed the perks of royalty?”

“Yes, your Majesty. I am grateful
for everything you have done for me.”

King William released a feigned
sigh. “So you must know that it pains me to know that you would betray me,” he
said, his cold gray eyes unblinking.

Thomas’s mouth fell open and he
shook his head. “Never, my King. I have not betrayed you. I wouldn’t dare.”

King William brought his teacup
to his mouth again and took a long, slow slip. When he pulled it away, his
teeth were stained a bloody black. “Where is your son at this moment, Thomas?
The one that shares your name. What has he been up to these past few days?”

Thomas’s hands clenched into
fists on his lap. “I don’t know, your Majesty,” he said. “He…he disappeared
five days ago, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

 “Is that so?”

Thomas nodded.

“What is the nature of his
relationship with the Sun Warrior and her sister? Do you know anything about
that
?”

“I know that he is fond of both
girls, your Majesty. Friends with them, I suppose.”

“Ah, and you didn’t think that
this was a thing worth mentioning?”

Thomas took an unsteady breath.
“I have been giving you every bit of information that I thought was important,
your Majesty. I told you my suspicions about Queen Camillia. I told you about
the Sun Warrior and your son. I’ve watched Two Rivers for you faithfully since
the beginning.”

King William sat forward in his
chair. He did not want to hear about his son. “And yet you did not think that
mentioning the relationship they have with
your
son was
important
information? You are aware that we are at war, Thomas? You are aware of the
prophecy and the girl’s power?”

“Of course, your Majesty.”

King William flung his teacup
against the wall so hard and so fast that Thomas could not help but cringe in
his seat. The china hit the silk-papered wall with a crash and left a splatter
of thick black liquid, as if some enormous demon insect had been smashed there.
“Then spare me your lies, Thomas. You did not say anything because you were
protecting the boy. Luckily for you I have managed to come up with a way to use
your oversight as an advantage.”

Thomas held his expression
carefully still. “What is that, your Majesty?”

Instead of answering, King
William asked, “How close are you to your son, Thomas? How strong is your…hold
over him?”

Thomas felt like he had to speak
over the thundering sound of his heart. “He is a good son,” he said. “He
listens to me…most of the time.”

“And you love your boy, Thomas?
You love him the same as I loved my son?”

“Of course.”

King William gave him a smile
that made Thomas’s bones feel cold. “Good. That’s very good,” the King said.
“Then you will surely jump at the chance to save him from his…indiscretions…a
chance to redeem himself.”

Thomas felt now like some of the
air had been let back into the room. “Yes, your Majesty. Of course I want
that.”

The door to the office open and
in stepped Andre. Thomas’s head jerked around and his eyes widened when he saw
the look on the enormous Warrior’s face. King William gave Andre and nod, and
he came forward and seized Thomas before he even had a chance to blink.

“Let us hope that your son loves
you as much as you love him, Thomas,” King William said. “I would hate for you
to have to know the pain of a child’s betrayal. Such pain can tend to make a
father… lose his head.”

Thomas’s face scrunched up in
horror. “What are you going to do, William? What are you going to do?”

The King gave another terrible
smile. “
I’m
not going to do anything, Thomas.
You
are going to
make your son an offer he will not refuse. Hopefully, that is, for both of your
sakes.”

Alexa

Nelly and I walked down the red
path that led to the silver lake. I clutched her hand in mine and tried to
concentrate on my breathing. Few people were out this morning, but the ones we
passed took great pains to avoid coming too near, and those who were
accompanied by someone leaned their heads together and whispered things that I
was glad I couldn’t hear. Only the Pixies seemed willing to pass directly by
us, and some of them did so with sheepish glances at me, as if they felt bad
about shoving me over the border last night and now were trying to make it up
to me by crossing our path directly. It was a wonder to me that the sun could
even be shining on such a day, but then I realized that that same sun had seen
more death and heartache in its lifetime than I would ever see in mine, and it
had no choice but keep on blazing.

Just like I had no choice in the
matter.

Nelly’s hand was warm and steady
in my own, and I knew that this may be the last time that I ever held her hand
in mine, the last time the sunlight would ever fall on both of our faces in the
same moment. I wanted to speak with her. There were still many things left
unsaid, but I was afraid that if I opened my mouth nothing would come out but
sobs. I could not afford to cry right now.

“You never asked me about Mom,”
Nelly said, her gentle voice low and heavy.

I swallowed once and took a deep
breath. “I guess I saw no reason to.”

Nelly was silent for a time, and
we passed slowly by the cabins and red maples that lined the paths. “Well, I
want you to know, even if you don’t want to, that I didn’t kill her, Alexa.”
Nelly’s voice caught and shook on those last words.

I looked over at her now and
smiled as truly as I could manage, hating the pain that was present in her
hazel eyes. I knew that my next words would be a lie, but they would be a
white
lie, one I had no problem telling because I knew that it was something that
Nelly needed to hear. “I never thought you did, Nell.”

“Don’t you want to know what
happened, then?”

I shrugged, realizing only in
that moment that I was already over our Mother’s death. It didn’t really
surprise me. My Mother and I had had a…complicated relationship. If anything,
it was Jackson I was grieving. He was the one that made my chest burn and my
soul ache when I thought about him. My Mother had been no Jackson, that was for
sure. That didn’t mean that I had wanted her dead, or wouldn’t have saved her if
I’d had the chance, it was just that in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t
really seem to…matter. None of it really seemed to matter.

“If you want to tell me,” I said,
seeing that Nelly was still waiting for my answer.

She took a deep breath. “I do
want to tell you. I just don’t know if it will even make sense. I…I woke up in
that van and blood was the first thing that I smelled. I-Oh, Lex, it made my
stomach growl with need, that smell. It was so sharp and fresh and–” Nelly
paused, swiping a tear away that had fallen from her eye, “and I wanted to
taste it
so bad.
The whole time that the Lamia part of me had control
was like that. I remember everything I did, Lex. I remember all of it, and I
wish more than anything that I didn’t. But I also remember that I didn’t kill
her. I didn’t kill Mom.”

My head tilted. “What happened,
Nell?”

More tears fell from her eyes
now, but she just let them be. “I woke up and Bethany and Mom were fighting.
Bethany had a knife, and she must have surprised Mom with it because she was
bleeding from a cut on her arm. In that state I could
see
everything,
you know? I could hear thoughts and see souls and touch them without even
trying. They were a constant, endless stream in my head. Bethany was planning
to ‘kill the Accursed girl’ and be named a hero by the King. Mom was trying to
stop her—would have stopped her—if I hadn’t woken up and distracted her for the
split second that Bethany needed to stab the blade into her heart.”

Nelly sniffed and continued. “I
killed her, Alexa. Without any thought in the matter at all. I took her neck
between my fangs and tore her throat out and drank her blood until her veins
went dry. Then…I drank from Mom, too, but she was already dead.”

I did my best to keep the horror
off of my face. Wrapping my arm around Nelly’s shoulder, I held her close as we
walked. “You didn’t know what you were doing, Nell. It’s not your fault you
couldn’t control it. It wasn’t you. It was…that
other
part of you.”

Nelly shook her head. “That’s
just an excuse, Lex. It doesn’t matter what part of me did it. It was still me.
Placing the blame on some monster that lives inside of me doesn’t make me any
less responsible for all I’ve done.”

This statement seemed to knock me
sideways, and I shoved it out of my head before I could give it much thought.
It was as if my brain knew that this was something that brought forth too many
questions, too many answers that I did not want to hear. Perhaps they were
answers that I wasn’t ready to discover yet.

Beside me, Nelly said, “You know
what the worst part about that was, I mean, besides the fact that I drank our
Mother’s blood and murdered a girl?”

No, not really. I nodded.

“It was that Bethany really
thought that what she was doing was
right.
She believed wholeheartedly
that she would be ridding the world of a monster by killing me. And…I don’t
know…maybe she
was
right.”

I pulled Nelly to a stop and
turned her to face me. “No,” I said, staring straight into her hazel eyes.
“Don’t you ever believe that, Nelly. This world is so much better for you in
it. You haven’t even begun to understand how much so. Nothing is ever just
purely good or evil. Nothing. We all do things that are questionable at some
point. But I know one thing for sure in a world that is full of unsure things,
Nell, and that’s that the good in you outweighs the bad tenfold.
A hundred
fold
. I’ll tell you this, I wouldn’t have survived this long without you. I
wouldn’t have even
cared
to. Through everything that’s happened, our
love is what’s kept me going.”

I pulled her to me in a hard hug,
hiding my face behind her back so that she wouldn’t see that tears that were
forming in my eyes. “My love for you,” I whispered, “may very well be the
greatest thing that this world has ever known, and because of it, the story of
my life will be eternally beautiful.”

A few tears did fall now, and I
carefully brushed them away so that I could face my sister with whatever
strength was left inside of me. Nelly pulled back from me and stared into my
eyes with stars glittering in the hazel of her own. “I love you, too, Alexa,
more than anyone has ever loved anything. I love you.”

I pulled a folded note from my
pocket, coughing a little to hide a sniffle. “Here,” I said. “Keep this for me,
but don’t look at it yet.”

Nelly looked at the square of
paper. “What is it?”

I took it from her and put it in
the front pocket of her jeans. “Just something I want you to have.”