Chapter One
In Plain Sight
Are you sure about this? Charlotte shot the mental question in the general direction where she knew Valek was hiding, though she still could not see him in the snowy brush.
Yes. I am sure. You are safe. Be still.
His words dripped velvet, sweet in her ears. He seemed so close; he could have been standing right there next to her with his lips pressed tenderly against the side of her head. Her cheeks and shoulders heated with the mere vibration of his voice and she couldn't help the release of the smallest sigh.
When she opened her eyes again and glanced around, Valek was still nowhere to be seen. Charlotte always held the responsibility of doing the hunting for him when he'd been bound by the Regime and their laws, but the promise of witnessing Valek do it for himself before her now, exhilarated her. Finally being able to see the power, the stealth, created this odd warming sensation at the apples of her cheeks and down the tops of her arms. It made her palms sweat despite the freezing air and the quiver of her bottom lip.
Valek did not have the ability to be invisible, yet somehow he was. He did not have the ability to materialize out of thin air, yet somehow he managed.
The world was quiet. Snow fell in light flurries around the clearing as Charlotte stood meekly in the center, the sky above a dismal blanket of gray. It was light out, but as she searched, she could not find the sun behind all of the cloudy winter. She hugged her arms tightly to her chest as she shivered, though the chill was not a simple reaction to the harsh, Czech January. Her teeth chattered, though she remained as still as she possibly could. Old man winter had come and killed everything she loved about her little hideaway-the waterfall she used to love to escape to when things in her magical world seemed a little too overwhelmingly out-of-the-ordinary. Though most of the forest was evergreen, the pines almost completely blanketed with snow, some of the other trees looked withered and naked in the winter wind. She hugged her arms even tighter around herself.
Charlotte jumped when the slightest noise cracked from deep within the forest. She searched for any sign of motion in all of the dewy white and shades of blue and evergreen for whatever dangerous thing was coming for her. Her gaze flashed quickly in the direction of Valek's hiding place again as a tinge of envy surged through her. How convenient it must be to be able to see a predator from kilometers away. To be able to sense danger-something her mere, human self was incapable of doing. All she was good at for now was being the bait, she thought bitterly. She could have sworn she heard a small chuckle resonating from the trees, probably a reaction to her last thought. She stuck her tongue out at the general area and faced front, squeezing her fingers into fists at her sides.
Relax, the velvet voice offered, quelling her again.
The shallow gash in her forearm continued to sting, cut open carefully as not to damage any of the main arteries that ran shallow under the ivory bed of her skin. Valek had done it swiftly with one of his claws just a few moments earlier. The laceration wasn't very painful, though, more arousing to her, as the frosty wind bit at it again.
Charlotte watched as ruby droplets fell, staining the purity of the white beneath her. The raised crescent scar at the side of her neck throbbed dully with the sight of it. Blood seemed to flow from her a bit more freely these days.
Something broke abruptly in the thicket of trees, the sound bouncing off the rocky face of the dead waterfall. Her pulse hammered in her ears, making the search for her impending attacker increasingly difficult.
Thwack!
Her heart fluttering, her focus snapped to the direction of the next sound that cracked the surface of the silence. Air caught in her throat and she fell completely motionless, transfixed on the giant, broken branch that plummeted to the clearing from the forest canopy. Clenching her jaw tighter, she stopped breathing altogether. Something, whatever it was, smelled her.
I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! Charlotte clenched her eyelids shut, not wanting to look up. Her fists wound in tighter knots. Her heart hammered so violently it almost hurt. Surely, she should have been used to being hunted by now. After all this time, living among the monsters, nothing should scare her anymore. That was what she told herself, anyway. It was disappointing, however, that she was only human and, in fact, was still frightened by these things. She struggled to ease her shivering.
Do not be afraid, Lottie, the honey voice reminded her again. She heard a grin behind his words this time. You should know by now that nothing overpowers me.
His dark chuckle resonated around her head like a swarm of hummingbirds. It was warm and entrapping like the heat of a summer day. It made focusing very difficult. But her fear was unwavering. Even in spite of his soothing promises, her heart continued to rattle.
Okay, I'll just hitch you up over a fire pit and tell you not to worry, because I can easily extinguish the flames if you start to combust, she shot the thought at him.
I'd like to see you try. His tone was amused now. No matter, he spoke again, cocky this time. Your fear is appetizing for them, nonetheless. The beast is excited-I can hear it in his mind. So, be afraid, if you so choose. It only lures him here faster.
Something moved in the corner of her eye, instantly catching her attention. It was only her red scarf that whirled in the cool winter breeze. She'd hung it there out of habit, always used to tying ribbons to the branches to find her way home. She hardly needed to do that any longer, now that Valek could go out during the daytime with her.
Another huge sound crunched within the trees, and she knew Valek was right. A squeak escaped her lips. The thing sounded too large to be just any wandering forest animal. Too big even to be a bear. As if to validate that thought, a new, growl double-toned by a devilish chorus of minatory hisses vibrated from one area of the clearing to the other. Several branches shuddered with the volume of the sound, shaking the blankets of snow off the tops of the evergreens. Her heart leapt into her throat, choking her, as she glanced nervously toward Valek's hiding place again. She tried to control the fear in her mind, knowing the intensity of it was distracting to him regardless of how confident he seemed. She moved the tension down into her fists, curling them tighter. I'm safe, I'm safe, I'm safe, she chanted in her head.
Bursting through the gathering of pines, snow spewing out on the air about its wings as they thrashed nastily over its nightmarish body, a Fae met her frenzied gaze at the edge of the clearing. It was coming straight for her, its jagged teeth bared, chomping down over the emptiness as it raced. The vision of its scabby skin stretched over a face with hardly any features, was enough to make anyone want to scream. But when she saw its massive ears, she reminded herself to stay as silent as possible, with the exception of her thrumming heartbeat, of course.
Charlotte's legs froze into lead bricks underneath her body, and so it seemed there was no chance at running, either. All of these weak human impulses. Sometimes, she made herself sick. Why couldn't she be strong like Valek and the others?
The monster smelled her dripping mortality there in the clearing and raced in a flash toward her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she reminded herself once again that she was safe. Charlotte was hardly aware that she began to scream as she lifted her arms to shield herself in defense. But the sound of something hard slamming into the oncoming Fae made her look up again.
Valek wrestled with the beast, pressing its claws to the forest floor as he took it down, trying to get a clear shot at the artery in the creature's neck. The fairy continued to howl in monstrous choruses that reminded Charlotte of what the gates of Hell might sound like. She never wanted to find out if she was right or not.
She flinched away as one o
f the Fae's large wing-spikes drove itself deep into Valek's shoulder blade. He arched backward, howling in pain, but Charlotte could have sworn she saw a small smile play at the corners of his lips. He loved the struggle of hunting things that met his power more evenly than a mere human did. She knew how it excited him.
The fairy continued to thrash, screeching in frenzy as Valek finally overpowered it. Charlotte watched as he found his opportunity and plunged into the beast's throat. Ink-like blood spilled out around his mouth, seeping into the snow. Valek clung to the creature, the sick, sticky slurping sound continuing as the Fae's thrashing slowed and slowed until there was one eventual, last nudge. The thing stilled beneath him, and she knew it was finally dead.
Valek sat up, running the back of his hand across his dripping chin to wipe away whatever was left over. Charlotte watched as the blacks of his eyes shrank back to the center until they became the eternally illuminated blue again.
Valek looked at her, grinning, his teeth already licked clean of the blotchy stains. Despite the immense blood spatter across his vest, Valek looked like a gentleman that day, with his long hair restrained by a satiny, black ribbon, his shoes shined and slacks finely pressed. He had always taken good care of his personal grooming, but no one could ever beat Sarah's housekeeping abilities. Charlotte barely wore a wrinkle anymore, which never used to be the case. The Witch made quite a difference since she'd been living with them in their large home at the end of the town square of the southernmost Bohemian Occult City.
"Does that. . . taste good to you?" Charlotte grimaced as she watched Valek lap up some leftovers from the heel of his hand. She couldn't imagine how it could.
Valek laughed once and looked down at the gray skin of the fairy corpse beneath him, making a face. "Do rotten eggs taste good to you?"
"No. "
"But you would eat them if there was something you needed desperately as a result from doing so?" He straightened up, his tone dropping a few octaves to seriousness. He turned his face up to the faded, winter daylight.
The way he looked at the sun was like nothing Charlotte had ever seen before-not even matching the way he looked at her. His admiration for it went far beyond anything she believed she could ever experience as a human, and she wondered what the intensity of those feelings must be like. As she gazed up at him, she could only just imagine.
"I suppose," she murmured. Quietly, Charlotte padded through the snow, up to her tall, drawn Vampire, careful not to nudge the stinking fairy corpse as she toed over it.
Chuckling, Valek laced his fingers between hers and crushed his lips to her forehead, an action that easily painted a smile on her face.
She could understand how special something might have seemed when you thought it had been taken away from you forever. It would be something you would never take for granted again. She smiled to herself, happy that Valek could at least temporarily restore one thing about his human life that he missed so much.
"I don't understand. The Fae are from the light?" Charlotte continued to pry. She lifted her eyebrow. "That's not what I would have guessed. It seems to be such a dark sort of creature. " She wrinkled her nose at the carcass. Her memory flashed to a night when she was very young and a Fairy had come into Valek's practice with a raging headache. Valek had been completely unaware of the benefits of Fae blood at that time.
"They are. They are light because they are most active during the day, and because their loyalty rests with the light. . . . " Valek trailed off. He was still distracted. "It's a long lesson I'll tell you about one day. " Quickly glancing over his shoulder, he seemed eager to take leave of the clearing.
Charlotte knew why. Being outside of their house always raised suspicion and fear. Aiden, or whoever he'd become now, could be lurking behind any corner.
"Aren't you afraid someone might find this here?" She forced herself to look away from the scabby face frozen forever in a terrifying howl. Its claws were gnarled around its slanted head and she fantasized about what might happen if a human were to stumble across such a thing.
Valek finally dropped his gaze from the afternoon sky, transferring all of the light his eyes had seemingly soaked up down at her. He was beyond beautiful. She had pictured this vision about a thousand times over her years growing up. It was absolutely criminal to conceal something this unearthly in the darkness, where no one could appreciate it.
"The body will decompose too quickly before anyone else stumbles across this clearing again. "
His large, cool hand closed delicately around hers, pulling her away from the corpse already seeming to melt into the frost, its flesh quickly peeling in on itself. Charlotte had never seen anything like it-like watching the decomposing process of a dead animal, sped up. A few small beetles were already crawling around the skull. But that was the thing about magic. Right down to the core of its biology, Law One was always in practice: never reveal the existence of magic to the mortal world.
Valek laced his long, bloodless fingers through her warm ones again as they treaded together back down the path covered over by a light dusting of fresh winter. It sparkled in the late afternoon light like finely sanded diamonds. The only other prints left in it were their previous ones, when they'd traveled across the Occult borders earlier that day. Looking up at him again, Charlotte noticed a sudden smirk play across Valek's sculpted features. She was just about to question it, when he abruptly shoved her up against the trunk of a tall, thin evergreen. His sweet scent enveloped her as he pressed himself against her body, hands moving to the narrow of her waist. She gazed up at him, unable to blink.
"I love when you look at me like that," Valek chuckled. His claw grazed over her cheek, making the hairs rise on the back of her neck. He pressed his cool lips to the pulse throbbing at the base of her throat and whispered against her skin. "Like you're afraid of what I'll do next. " He kissed her lightly before burying his face in her neat curls, his mouth gently pressed against her scar.
Charlotte wound her fingers around the material of his overcoat in anticipation. But Valek merely kissed her skin once before pulling away and helping her back onto the path.
"Come," he offered. "We should be heading home. It's on the verge of dusk. And we do know what evil things like to lurk in the night. " Valek winked at her and flashed another large grin.
Charlotte snorted. "I used to be one of those things too, you know. "
Valek's lips pressed into a thin line as he proceeded to lead her away. Charlotte only frowned, though, knowing the grievances he had with himself about the awful things he used to make her do. The fact of the matter was she was a murderer, just as he was. Even though she didn't possess his fangs, power, and agelessness, they were both the same amount of monster. The only difference was she didn't regret her actions as much as Valek did. She perceived her victims as sacrifices to keep the love of her life alive. They did not die in vain. She didn't identify with her mortality at all.
Charlotte's world, in that moment, seemed as peaceful as it could possibly ever be in spite of being out on a Vampire's hunting errand. It didn't matter what they were doing, as long as they were together, with no Elven guards close behind. Vladislov was dead. Aiden was still only missing, though without any order and followers, rebuilding the Regime single-handedly would be a difficult task for him. There was no longer any fear or consequence now that Valek and the rest of their adopted coven of rogues and misfits had toppled the Regime throne.
Smiling, Charlotte recognized how amazing it was to know Valek stayed steadfast beside her as they walked. No apprehension. No doubt. No fear. Like he'd promised her, they were finally together the way she wanted to be. The feeling of his smooth hand, folded around hers, brought her to smile again. She could see her breath forming in mists just in front of her nose, her fingers burying themselves in the thick wool of her sweater, her other hand wrapped firmly around his as they went.
That morning, she'd woken beside Valek in his bed,
Sarah's star bewitchments twinkling over them as they did every night. A thin beam of sunlight peeked at her through the smallest gap in one of Valek's thick, black curtains. He still closed them out of habit when she slept, and rested beside her as she did so. He didn't die anymore now that the coven had figured out all they needed was the magic of the light to keep themselves sustained during the daytime.
Charlotte had crept from the bed and over to the window, feeling Valek's gaze burning into her every movement. She'd pulled the drapes apart and let the soft light wash in amber tones across her face. It was warm against the chill of the room. She'd smiled, despite the desperate throbbing pain on the side of her neck, when one of his skeletal hands lightly grasped her shoulder. It was time to leave. Valek had been very careful about counting the days when the light magic in his system would wear off and he would need to go hunting for more. It wasn't a necessity to them, like human blood. It was more of a desire-an addiction. But it wasn't actually the Fae or Elf blood that called for him. It was the light of the glorious sun.
Shaking off the memory, Charlotte relaxed for the first time in what seemed like a long while as they paid a visit to her beloved hideaway, the pond she used to frequent, in the middle of a dense thicket of trees just a few kilometers down the country road that extended from the Occult borders and ran all the way into Prague. Now that there were no laws, no consequences, there had to be something magical lurking in the forest beyond the confines of the small villages.
Snowfall danced down on the breeze that blew through the overgrown canopy of the Occult entrance, a passage formed entirely by trees that had intertwined over a long, shadowed path. Charlotte hugged herself tightly again as a new shiver shimmied down her spine. The shiny new whistle that Valek had given her for her birthday was strung around her neck, bouncing against her sternum as they walked. The tree tunnel leading into the Occult grounds was dark and filled with an icy blue sort of mist left from the fresh snowfall. It was lovely, entrapped there by the thick canopy, which had been powdered over with fine white. The forest around them was colored in varying shades of frosty cobalts and periwinkles. The branches overhead twined together like folded fingers, painted with a frost that stung at the apples of her cheeks and made her lips tremble.
Charlotte had traveled down this passage too many times to count. Her missions before, however, were much different. She'd been forced to hunt her own kind in order to satisfy the only one she ever called family, the only thing she loved in her odd, little life. Now, she crossed the newly liberated borders with him by her side.
The crescent-shaped scar burned at the side of her throat as if it recognized, somehow, that her Vampire was nearby. She vigorously ignored it, squeezing his hand tighter. He probably would have hoisted her into his arms and sped home like he usually did, but the brightness Charlotte saw in his face suggested he was enjoying the long, peaceful walk home just as much as she. It was rare to be completely alone with him. There was no need to speak of anything. It was nice enough just to enjoy the quiet tones of being together. Alone. No matter what, she would always keep her place beside him. Being at Valek's side was too inviting and magical in its own right for her to ever want to be anywhere else. Charlotte wondered just how long the peace was going to last.
The smell of smoking meats and baked goods came up on the air as they finally reached the edge of the Southern Bohemian Occult town square-significantly transformed from how it used to be before the battle at the Regime. Ghosts from the months past seemed to fly by the forefront of her memory. It was as if she could almost hear the faded echoes of Aiden calling her name as he passed her on his way to training. The sound seemed tangible enough in her mind that her eyes darted for just a second to the far side of the street. He was not there. A sick feeling began to twist in her gut.
Aiden really could have been lurking around any one of these corners, just waiting for the right time. Nothing was stopping him from finding his revenge. He would only need to wait for the moment when he could catch her alone. That was the other shoe that seemed to be hovering in the air just above her head. She was painfully aware of how constant its presence was as she waited for the moment when it would finally drop.
Valek squeezed her hand lightly, she knew that he had been listening to her mind. Blood flooded to her cheeks and she reminded herself again not to be afraid. She was safe. Valek answered her again with a small, but affirming smile, nodding his head lightly.
Charlotte wondered how long it would be before the magic exposed itself to humankind now that there was no Regime to answer to. At least for now. How long would it be until the more daring creatures started running rampant in human cities? She mused over what form it would take. If the discovery would present itself as a massive battle of Lycanthropes and Fae attempting to take over the capitol in a bloodthirsty battle between the monsters and the military, or if a single, human child would stumble accidentally across something benevolent on an afternoon of woods-wandering, and go missing before he could run home to tell his parents. Would it appear in headlines across mortal newspapers? Would the people of the Czech Republic and outlying countries be fixated on their television sets when the news broke? And then there was the question of whether or not the mortal population would even believe it or chalk it up to being a mere hoax. How long would it be before the magic dominated and the human population perished for their ignorance? But where would that leave her?
Out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte saw Valek's face strain. She knew how he sat up, long after she fell asleep-whatever time of day that was these days-mulling over ways to protect the Order, knowing it was only a matter of time before chaos ensued.
Vladislov had been right about one thing, at least. Magic was something human beings would never have the capacity to handle. They'd try and force control over it, to dominate it-like everything else in their own world. Charlotte could only visualize how disastrous that would end up, how the human military would falter against the power of something considerably more divine. They wouldn't be able to comprehend the insurmountable dangers of facing something as infinite as magic. Militant resources would eventually run out. Magic would not.
Charlotte took in a deep breath when she thought again about how she was the only one of her kind that carried this knowledge.
Valek cleared his throat, sounding annoyed.
Right, Charlotte thought as she brought her feet back down to earth again. But magic should have never been confined either, she continued to deliberate. That was where Vladislov had made his mistake. Like the existence of Light and Dark, there needed to be balance. There hadn't been balance for a long time.
Charlotte thought back to the day only a few months ago when she'd visited Edwin at the general store. She recalled the lightning-in-a-bottle, and how the energy behind the glass pushed and pushed until finally, it was able to break free and destroy the store. A giggle parted her lips when she remembered the electricity zapping at the ends of Edwin's spiky hair. Valek's mouth contorted into a smile also as he listened to her memory. But that was what happened when you confined energy so great. Inevitably, it would break through.
"This is not for you to figure out, Lottie. " Valek spoke softly beside her. "It is too much to think about. "
"I know," she said, squinting at the snowy path ahead of her. "I just can't help but feel like there must be an easy answer in all of this. "
"There isn't. It is more complicated than you know so I suggest you leave it alone. "
Deciding that was probably best for now, Charlotte changed the subject in her mind.
The snowy sky looming overhead finally allowed the sun to peek through a break in the clouds. The fountain that sat in the center of the town square ceased to flow, icicles adorned like stalactites over the brim. Everything about the Occult City seemed so dead-so empty. Everything had changed. The chill succeeded in penetrating her skin and had begun to seep into her bones, and she shivered.
&nbs
p; "Almost home. " Valek soothed her, for there was nothing he or his bloodless flesh could do to warm her.
The sliver of a scar throbbed again at the base of her throat, the only visual proof of the obstacles she had overcome only a few weeks prior. Those weeks seemed like years now. Hiding in that murky basement. The constant fighting. That world seemed much different, much more oppressive and volatile than this one, though this heavy silence seemed just as dangerous. The world she walked through now seemed as if life had fallen asleep, gone into hibernation after such an exhausting battle. Perhaps, preparing itself for the next one. Both she and Valek knew this was only the quiet before the storm. The heavy anticipation hung electric in the air.
Valek stopped, tugging her back toward him, just before they began up the footpath to their large, baroque home with the little tower just beyond the town square.
"You need to stop thinking so much, my Lottie," he said, hugging her close and pressing his lips firmly to the top of her head. His sweet, musky smell entrapped her and she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. "You'll go blind. "
She looked up into his eyes, the same glassy color as the winter around them. His gaze shifted along the top windows of the house, searching, though he didn't need his sight to figure out whether they were in the house or not.
"Are they back yet?" Charlotte grumbled, not yet wanting to interact with the others. She just wanted to be alone with Valek as long as possible.
Valek's eyes narrowed, the rest of his features hardening. She could see a thought flash in his eyes, but when he looked back down at her, whatever it was quickly dissipated. She wished so badly that she could hear what his mind was hiding from her.
"Does the scar bother you again?" His voice dropped to a low intensity she recognized as the tone it made only when he was deeply concerned about something.
Charlotte blinked at him, absently stroking the raised surface on her neck. She may have had her addiction, but the Vampires had a need for their own new drug. Sunlight.
Now that the initial magic from Elves' blood had worn off, the rogue coven had figured out a different way to sustain themselves during the daylight. More light-magic blood. It didn't last as long as the royal blood, but it did the trick for a time. A different need than human blood, yet they had to have it just as well. She was no longer his hunter, a duty he had bestowed upon her when she was young, to hunt her own kind to satiate him. Now, she was used as the bait, something she did not particularly like, but she acquiesced anyway. In fact, she dreaded it. Hunting was at least liberating. It used to make her feel like a hero-like she was doing something good for the sake of the life of the one she loved. At least, that's how Charlotte perceived it, though she was sure none of her human victims would have agreed with her. Now, she felt used. Bait. Mentally, she grumbled.
"It aches a little," she admitted, and frowned. The reality of it was, since they'd begun their journey home from the clearing, the pain had been steadily getting worse. It was intensifying, like it always did that particular time of day, when the sun hung low in the sky. She shivered.
Valek's gaze touched the ground for a moment before he brought it back to her face. Releasing her hand, he ran his claws once through her dark red curls. "I will join you in a moment. " His smile turned tempting and dangerous in an instant.
It made Charlotte's heart thud at the front of her chest. With the slight gush of an unnatural breeze around the hem of her dress, he was gone, and she was alone. She treaded up the cockeyed steps of her house, its spired roof lifting toward the sky, a bronze weather vane spinning atop in the freezing air. Mr. Třinozka's giant burrow, just a few steps around the back of the house, had a new tunnel leading straight up into Valek's office, which allowed the half-spider to come and go as he pleased. Many new bewitchments adorned the house now as well, thanks to Sarah. Vines extended from one corner of Valek's study. Stars glittered near the ceilings in all of the bedrooms.
Charlotte entered, knowing many others now called that place home. The Rogue Coven had mockingly named themselves after being in hiding from the Regime for so long.
She noticed the new, polished quality along the staircase and the banister. Sarah must have tidied up while they were out. She was fairly sure the Witch was now busy in the kitchen, probably baking something for later on when Charlotte would need it. Jorge would be studying something fervently in the library. Dusana and Lusian. . . well, Charlotte was fairly sure she knew where they would be. Charlotte's newly adopted family had changed a lot about living in that house. It used to just be she and Valek, peaceful and isolated. But she decided she liked having them there. It made everything warmer and definitely more interesting. And Valek would at least have some backup whenever Aiden finally decided to show up again.
It was strange, she thought, that the need for her to go out and hunt her own kind in order to satisfy Valek no longer existed. That used to be such a large part of her life. She thought back to something that Lusian said once in Francis' basement, a couple months ago. The hunters have become the hunted. Yes. That was precisely how she felt now. Reaching up to her throat, she realized she'd left her red scarf hanging on the tree branch in the clearing.