Page 24

24

LUKE

I look up from the ancient text I’ve been poring over to find Gaida and Dante appearing in the middle of my office in a cloud of lavender smoke. The sword in Gaida’s hand glows with an ominous energy that makes my skin crawl. “You’re back?”

Felix, who was examining another tome across the desk, jumps to his feet. “How did you get here?”

“Transport spell,” Gaida coughs, waving away the remnants of the purple haze. “Courtesy of my mother.”

“More like she ejected us,” Dante says, his expression grim. “The sword started going haywire when it sensed the chalice nearby.”

My blood runs cold. “The chalice? They have it?”

“Yes,” Gaida says, her voice shaking slightly. “And that’s not all. It seems we had everything backwards.”

I gesture for them to sit, but Gaida remains standing, the sword still clutched in her white-knuckled grip. She looks pale, her eyes wide with knowledge that I have a feeling we don’t want to hear. “Tell me everything.”

“The Equilibrium wasn’t trying to create a Blood Sovereign,” she begins, her words tumbling out rapidly. “They were trying to create someone with the power to stop one from rising. Someone who could use their Blood Rights to seal the barriers between worlds permanently.”

I exchange a glance with Felix, who has gone utterly still. “Blood Rights doesn’t equal Blood Queen?”

“No. My father claims the Blood Rights are my birthright as an Aragon. The ability to wield both the sword and chalice to seal the barriers between worlds.”

“But there’s a problem,” Dante interjects, placing a supportive hand on Gaida’s lower back. “Gaida is both the Blood Queen who merges the worlds and the one with the Blood Rights to seal them shut.”

“Impossible,” Felix mutters, moving closer to examine the sword. “The two are diametrically opposed forces.”

I feel a chill run through me as ancient knowledge stirs. “Not impossible. Just catastrophic.”

“That’s what they said,” Gaida nods, finally sinking into one of the leather chairs. The sword remains in her hand, seemingly unwilling to be set down. “If I use the chalice and sword together with my blood, my mixed-up fucking blood, who the fuck knows what will happen or who will appear!”

“I would imagine the worst would happen, and the merging begins. All worlds collapse into one, and nothing survives except?—”

“Mashtar,” Felix concludes grimly.

Dante moves closer to her. “And apparently Draken is Mashtar’s son, trapped in the chalice the way Mashtar is trapped in the sword. The Guardians, aka the Aragons, put him there.”

For a moment, I just stand there unable to process all of this, and then it crashes in, and I rub my face with my hand. “So we have no way around this?”

“Doesn’t seem like it. Unless you can burn the Blood Queen aspect out of me, I’m guessing that one will rule over the other.”

“It’s a fair assessment.”

She glares at me as I don’t give her a solution, but for once, I can’t see a way out of this. At least not yet.

“I would imagine your parents are now moving the chalice further afield,” I say, trying to think clearly. “That buys us some time before we have to face the consequences of this.”

“Yeah, but how much?” Dante asks.

“That, I don’t have an answer to.”

“Yet,” Felix adds.

“Somehow, we have to find a way to split the Rights from the Queen aspect in your blood…” I trail off and stare into her eyes.

“What?” she asks warily. “What are you thinking?”

“We might have inadvertently already done that,” I murmur.

Gaida narrows her eyes, but then they widen slightly as she remembers the feeding loop we engaged in a few days ago. “Do you think that might’ve done something?”

“Almost assuredly. The question is, what did it do? Which part of you is still there, and which was drained?”

“How can we find out?”

“What are you talking about?” Felix asks. “Share so we know what we’re dealing with.”

“I drained Gaida in a feral moment,” I state to his shock. “I revived her by offering her my blood. Then I did it again and again.”

“You did what?” he growls.

“It was consensual,” Gaida interrupts before he goes rabid and does something stupid.

“That might’ve done something,” Dante says, bringing the subject back around.

“Or it might’ve made it worse,” I concede, moving around the desk to perch on the edge near Gaida. “The Blood Queen aspect could have been strengthened by my blood, which is... Constantine’s at its core.”

“Or,” Felix interjects, his expression thoughtful, “your blood could have neutralised part of her nature. It’s impossible to know without testing.”

“How exactly do we test which supernatural destiny I’m fulfilling?” Gaida asks, her voice tinged with frustration. “It’s not like there’s a blood test for ‘apocalyptic vampire queen’ versus ‘dimensional barrier guardian.’”

“There might be a way. The sword reacted when it was in your hand near the chalice, yes?”

“It went crazy,” Dante confirms. “Started vibrating, almost humming.”

“Then we need to determine if that reaction was because of the sword’s connection to the chalice, or because of Gaida’s connection to both artefacts as the Blood Queen.”

Felix picks up my train of thought immediately. “We need to separate Gaida from the inside.”

“Excuse me?” she chokes out.

“Can you even do that?” Dante asks.

“If we can create a scenario where you, Gaida, can honestly answer which side of you is more dominant, then yes.”

“How do we do that?” she asks, her blue eyes fixed on mine.

“We need to trick your subconscious.”

Dante frowns. “That sounds dangerously close to compulsion.”

“It is,” I admit, not bothering to sugarcoat it. “But it may be our only option to test which aspect of Gaida’s nature is dominant.”

“And you can do this?” Felix asks. “Compel her?”

“I can. Every vampire has the means to, some are just stronger than others.”

Gaida nods. “I trust you. Do it.”

“Wait,” Dante says. “I don’t like this. Compulsion is a violation.”

“While I applaud your ethics, Dante, we don’t really have much choice.”

Gaida clutches his hand. “I’ll be okay.”

He nods stiffly, and Gaida rises and tries to drop the sword. It doesn’t leave her hand, as expected. I grip her chin and stare deep into her eyes. She falls into a semi-hypnotic state, her lips parting slightly.

“Gaida,” I say softly, my voice taking on the hypnotic cadence needed for deep compulsion. “I need you to go deep within yourself, to the place where your true nature resides.”

Her eyes glaze over, pupils dilating until the blue is just a thin ring around bottomless black. The sword in her hand pulses in time with her heartbeat, which I can hear slowing to a steady, meditative rhythm.

“Drop the sword, Gaida. You don’t need it.”

“I can’t,” she murmurs. “The Blood Queen rises.”

“Drop the sword, Gaida,” I say, my voice going colder.

“I can’t,” she repeats, her voice taking on a strange dual tone that makes Felix take a step back.

“Interesting,” I murmur, maintaining eye contact. “Tell me who you are.”

“I am Gaida Aragon,” she says, her voice now normal.

“And what are you?”

“I am the Blood Queen.” The sword pulses brighter, and her grip tightens. “I am the vessel through which worlds will unite.”

Dante makes a strangled sound, but Felix places a restraining hand on his arm.

“Are you also the Guardian?” I press. “Do you possess the Blood Rights?”

Her brow furrows slightly, the first break in her trance-like state. “Yes... no... I don’t know.”

“Focus, Gaida. Search deeper.”

She sways slightly, and I steady her with a hand on her shoulder. “The Rights are mine by birth,” she whispers.

“Which is stronger?” I press, feeling sweat beading on my forehead from the effort of maintaining the compulsion against whatever is fighting back within her. It’s strong and it’s getting pissed off at being controlled.

The sword suddenly flares with crimson light, bathing the room in bloody shadows. “The Blood Rights aren’t mine anymore. They have been burned away.”

“By what?”

“The blood of the queen.”

“So you are saying you no longer have the ability to seal barriers?”

“Only merge. Only destruction.”

“Gaida, drop the sword.”

“No.”

I tighten my grip on her chin, cranking up the compulsion to dangerous levels. “Drop it now.”

Gaida raises the sword and releases it. It clangs to the floor and vanishes.

“Now tell me again who you are.”

“Gaida Aragon. I’m the Blood Queen.”

“Who is your father?” I ask, ignoring the sharp intake of breath from Dante.

“Aurelius Aragon.”

“Who is Draken?”

She hisses and stumbles back, but I grip her upper arm, keeping my gaze boring into hers. “Who is Draken?”

“My mate,” she says, and then her eyes roll back in her head. Her knees give way as her words slice through my soul.