THE BLOOD INSIDE HIM
1772 Words
“But whatever is connecting this pendant to Amara…”
Adrian swallowed.
“…is also inside Lucien.”
The SUV went silent.
Elara stared at Lucien.
Lucien stared at Adrian.
Seraphina leaned forward from the opposite seat.
“What exactly is inside my brother?”
“That is an excellent question,” Elara said.
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
“There is nothing inside me.”
Seraphina raised an eyebrow.
“You’re a vampire. Technically there’s blood.”
“Thank you, Seraphina.”
“You’re welcome.”
Adrian moved the pendant closer to Lucien.
It flashed faster.
Lucien caught his wrist.
“Stop.”
The pendant immediately turned red.
Everyone froze.
Lucien released him.
The stone returned to gold.
Maeve whispered, “Blood recognition.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You saw that?”
“Yes.”
Elara frowned. “Explain.”
Maeve leaned forward.
“Some blood magic recognizes family lines, specific individuals, or magical signatures. If Amara created that pendant, she could have programmed it to respond to particular blood.”
“So it recognizes Lucien?”
“Apparently.”
Lucien shook his head.
“That makes no sense.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Nothing involving your family makes sense.”
Lucien’s gaze hardened.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Elara groaned.
“Can we please get through one conversation without somebody threatening somebody?”
Neither answered.
“Thank you.”
She looked at Maeve.
“Could Lucien have my mother’s blood?”
Lucien immediately said, “No.”
Maeve ignored him.
“Possibly.”
He looked offended.
“How?”
“Blood transfusion. Ritual. Healing spell. Binding ceremony.”
“I would remember drinking Amara’s blood.”
Seraphina shrugged.
“You were almost three hundred years old. Maybe you forgot.”
Lucien stared at her.
“I remember every person whose blood I’ve consumed.”
Elara made a face.
“That is disturbing.”
“It’s practical.”
“That doesn’t make it less disturbing.”
Adrian studied him.
“How old were you when Amara lived at the Court?”
“Two hundred ninety-eight.”
Elara stared.
“You said you looked seventeen.”
“I did.”
“So you were basically an ancient teenager?”
Seraphina laughed loudly.
Lucien closed his eyes.
“I regret telling you anything.”
For the first time since learning her mother might be alive, Elara smiled.
Then the pendant flashed again.
The humor vanished.
Maeve reached toward it.
“May I?”
Adrian hesitated before handing it over.
Blue light gathered around Maeve’s fingers.
She whispered something Elara couldn’t understand.
The stone glowed.
Then a thin golden thread emerged.
It floated toward Lucien.
Elara’s heart raced.
The thread touched his chest.
Lucien sucked in a breath.
His eyes turned crimson.
Then another thread appeared.
This one moved toward Elara.
It touched her chest.
The strange connection between them exploded.
Elara gasped.
Images flooded her mind.
A stone room.
Candles.
Blood.
Her mother screaming.
A younger-looking Lucien lying unconscious on an altar.
King Alaric standing over him.
And Amara shouting—
“You cannot use him for this!”
The vision disappeared.
Elara screamed.
Lucien doubled over.
The SUV swerved.
“Lucien!”
Seraphina grabbed him.
Adrian caught Elara before her head hit the window.
“What happened?”
Elara couldn’t answer.
Her heart was pounding too hard.
Lucien slowly lifted his head.
His face had gone pale.
“You saw it.”
Elara stared at him.
“You did too?”
“Yes.”
Seraphina looked between them.
“Saw what?”
Elara swallowed.
“My mother.”
Lucien closed his eyes.
“I remember that room.”
“You were on a table.”
“Yes.”
“Your father was there.”
“Yes.”
Maeve leaned forward.
“What else?”
Elara looked at Lucien.
He seemed shaken.
Actually shaken.
“I don’t remember what happened after that,” he said.
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Memory spell.”
Lucien looked at him.
“You don’t know that.”
“No, but apparently everyone around Elara enjoys erasing memories.”
Maeve flinched.
Elara noticed but said nothing.
Not now.
“What do you remember?” she asked Lucien.
He stared out the window.
“I became ill.”
Seraphina frowned.
“You don’t get sick.”
“Exactly.”
Lucien continued.
“It happened shortly before Amara disappeared from the Court. My body began rejecting blood. Nothing stayed down. I weakened quickly.”
“Father said you were poisoned,” Seraphina whispered.
“That’s what I believed.”
Elara’s skin prickled.
“And my mother?”
“She tried to heal me.”
“Did it work?”
“I woke three days later completely recovered.”
“And then?”
Lucien looked at her.
“Amara and you were gone.”
Silence filled the vehicle.
Adrian took the pendant back.
“So Amara did something to you.”
“Or Alaric did,” Elara said.
Lucien’s jaw tightened.
She remembered the vision.
Her mother wasn’t helping Alaric.
She had been fighting him.
You cannot use him for this.
“What was your father trying to use you for?”
Lucien’s expression hardened.
“I don’t know.”
The vehicle suddenly slowed.
The driver’s voice came through the partition.
“Your Highness.”
Lucien straightened.
“What?”
“We’ve reached the outer boundary.”
Elara looked through the windshield.
The forest had changed.
The trees were enormous.
Ancient.
Black iron posts lined the road.
Each one carried a red flame that burned without smoke.
Far beyond them, mountains rose into the night.
And between two peaks stood a castle.
Elara stared.
“That’s the Midnight Court?”
Seraphina smiled.
“Home sweet terrifying home.”
It was massive.
Black stone towers rose against the moon.
Lights glowed behind hundreds of windows.
A wall surrounded the entire mountain.
Elara could feel magic before they even crossed the boundary.
Old.
Heavy.
Watching.
The moment the SUV passed the first iron post, pain exploded through her chest.
She screamed.
Lucien screamed too.
The vehicle stopped.
Kael’s SUV nearly crashed behind them.
“What happened?” Maeve shouted.
Elara couldn’t answer.
Something inside her was pulling.
Not toward Lucien.
Toward the castle.
Her eyes burned gold.
Lucien’s turned crimson.
Then every red flame along the road turned gold.
One after another.
Hundreds of them.
Seraphina stared through the window.
“That has never happened.”
Adrian’s pendant began glowing so brightly he dropped it.
Maeve whispered, “Elara.”
“What?”
“The Court recognizes you.”
“No.”
The castle bells began ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Lucien went still.
Seraphina’s face drained of color.
Elara looked between them.
“What do the bells mean?”
Lucien stared at the castle.
“They haven’t rung like that since before I was born.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
His voice lowered.
“They announce the return of royal blood.”
Elara laughed nervously.
“I am not a vampire royal.”
Nobody laughed with her.
That made it worse.
The gates opened.
Slowly.
Dozens of vampires stood on the other side.
Guards.
Nobles.
Servants.
All staring toward the SUV.
Elara swallowed.
“This feels welcoming.”
Seraphina shook her head.
“It isn’t.”
Lucien opened the door.
“Stay close.”
Elara climbed out behind him.
Kael immediately appeared at her side.
His face tightened as he looked toward the vampires.
“Comfortable?”
Elara asked.
“No.”
“Good. Behave.”
He almost smiled.
Adrian stepped out last.
Several guards immediately reached for weapons.
Lucien raised one hand.
“Stand down.”
They obeyed.
Then the crowd parted.
A man walked through.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Black hair streaked with silver.
His eyes were deep crimson.
Power rolled from him so strongly Elara’s skin prickled.
King Alaric Draven.
Lucien went rigid.
Seraphina whispered, “Father.”
Alaric ignored both of his children.
His gaze landed directly on Elara.
Something flashed across his face.
Shock.
Then grief.
Then something Elara couldn’t identify.
He walked toward her.
Kael stepped forward.
Lucien blocked him.
“Don’t.”
Alaric stopped several feet away.
For a long moment, he simply stared.
“You look exactly like her.”
Elara’s chest tightened.
“My mother?”
His expression softened.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Everything around them went silent.
Alaric looked at Adrian.
His expression immediately changed.
“You.”
Adrian smiled coldly.
“Miss me?”
Guards surrounded them.
Seraphina stepped between Adrian and her father.
“Stop.”
Alaric stared at his daughter.
“You don’t understand what he is.”
Adrian laughed.
“I could say the same about you.”
Elara stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Everyone looked at her.
She was getting very tired of powerful men speaking around her.
“My mother is underneath this castle.”
Alaric’s face went still.
That was all the confirmation she needed.
“You know.”
“Elara—”
“Where is she?”
Alaric looked toward Lucien.
Then at the pendant in Adrian’s hand.
Fear appeared in the vampire king’s eyes.
Real fear.
“Who activated that?”
“I did,” Adrian answered.
Alaric cursed.
He turned toward the castle.
“Everyone inside. Now.”
Elara didn’t move.
“Not until you answer me.”
The ground beneath them trembled.
Once.
Hard.
The castle bells stopped.
Adrian’s pendant turned black.
His face drained of color.
“No.”
Elara grabbed his arm.
“What?”
“The connection disappeared.”
Her heart stopped.
“To Mom?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Maeve grabbed the pendant.
“Maybe the Court is blocking it.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
Another tremor shook the ground.
Then a scream echoed from somewhere deep beneath the castle.
A woman.
Elara knew that voice.
She had heard it in memories.
In dreams.
In the creature’s imitation.
But this time, every part of her knew it was real.
“Mom.”
Alaric grabbed Elara before she could run.
She spun on him.
“LET ME GO!”
Golden power exploded.
Alaric flew backward.
Every vampire in the courtyard dropped to one knee.
Including Lucien.
Elara stared.
Alaric slowly lifted his head.
His crimson eyes widened.
Not with anger.
With horror.
“Elara.”
The earth shook again.
Something enormous roared beneath the castle.
Alaric whispered,
“You didn’t come here to find your mother.”
Elara’s blood turned cold.
“What?”
He looked toward the ground.
“Something brought you here to open her prison.”
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