Conclave (Vampire Conclave: Book 3), page 27
He does stop kissing her, but when he turns his head to meet my gaze, I know without a shadow of a doubt that my Julian isn’t in control of his body anymore. He’s gone, and I’m not entirely sure how to get him back.
“Poor, Sarah,” I hear the spirit living inside him say, using Julian’s lips to communicate with me again. Only this time, her voice doesn’t sound so childlike anymore. Its timbre is deeper and more confident. “You really are in love with your vampire, aren’t you? It’s too bad really, because he won’t be alive for very much longer.”
“What do you mean by that?” I demand, on the verge of hysteria.
“As soon as we find a suitable alfar body for me to inhabit,” the spirit tells me, “I plan to leave this one. When I do that, he will more than likely die instantaneously. It’s only the added energy from my soul that’s been keeping him alive for all these years.”
“That’s a lie!” I scream, feeling angry and helpless all at the same time. In truth, I have no idea if she’s lying just to get a rise out of me or if she’s stating a fact. I’m finding it hard to read her emotions.
“You can think what you want,” the spirit says in an off-handed manner, shrugging Julian’s shoulders nonchalantly at my outburst. “I really don’t give a damn if you believe me or not.”
Evie begins to cackle with glee over my misery. “Our poor Sarah looks quite flustered, my sweet.”
“Maybe she’s just hormonal since she’s pregnant with Julian’s child,” the spirit says to Evie, not sounding at all happy about that fact.
“Well, that’s certainly unexpected. Although I suppose it makes sense considering she’s a re-animator.”
“How do you know what I am?” I ask. As far as I know, only Shael knew the truth about me before tonight, not even Julian knew. There’s no way Evie could have known about my power.
“How else could you make your mother’s shade begin to materialize? Oh, wait, I almost forgot. You probably don’t remember me from that day,” she says with a small nod of understanding, as if my ignorance isn’t entirely my fault.
“Remember you?” I ask, wondering what the hell she’s talking about.
“In Destin,” Evie replies. “I was the woman you met in the house.”
I immediately shake my head. “You can’t be. You don’t look anything like her.”
Evie smiles, but it isn’t a pleasant one. It’s the kind of smile you give to someone you believe to be a simpleton. “That’s because you saw what I wanted you to see and nothing more. Have you ever heard of a mind mage, Sarah?”
I have heard the term used before. When Nadia was telling me about the exams she had to take in order to study at Valengard Academy, she mentioned that the last test was given by a mind mage. Nadia had to prove her courage by facing her greatest fear, and the mind mage was the one who made her think she was actually living through it.
“Yes,” I answer, “I have heard of them.”
“Then you should know that a powerful mind mage, such as myself, can make you believe almost anything. I made you believe you saw a beautiful dark-haired woman in the house when I was actually in this form that day. Yet for some reason, you seem to be immune to my powers now, or you would be living out your worst nightmare in a dream like the rest of them in here.” Evie’s eyes dip down from my face to look at the necklace I’m wearing. “I was wondering what that moonstone pendant did. I guess I know now. Go rip if off her neck for me,” she orders Julian.
He walks over to me and grips the pendant with one hand. I instantly grab ahold of his wrist to ensure that he doesn’t pull away.
“Julian,” I beg as I search his eyes for any hint of the man I love, “please fight her and come back to me! Don’t leave me like this. I need you. Our child needs you!”
Julian’s eyes blink three times in rapid succession. For just a few seconds, I see my Julian staring back at me.
“Sarah …” he says desperately, begging me with just the whisper of my name for help as a solitary tear escapes from the corner of his left eye, leaving behind a single trail of despair as it slides down his cheek.
Julian’s moment of control is fleeting, and the spirit quickly resumes power over him, but I have hope now. There has to be a way for Julian to regain dominance over his body. I just have to figure out what needs to be done in order to make it permanent.
Julian tries to tug the necklace from around my throat, but something prevents him from breaking the chain.
“It won’t come off,” he tells Evie.
“Then it’s been enchanted,” she replies disappointedly.
I don’t let go of Julian’s wrist as I continue to study his face, hoping to see the man I love reappear. When he doesn’t, I ask, “Who are you?”
The spirit controlling Julian lets go of my pendant and attempts to take a step back, but I keep him firmly in place with a physical strength I didn’t realize I possessed until that moment.
“Have you seriously not figured out which spirit he possesses yet?” Evie asks incredulously, as if I’m a simpleton she detests wasting her time on.
“If I had, I wouldn’t have asked the damn question!” I say irately. “Who are you?”
“Elizabeth Bathory,” the spirit replies.
I instantly let go of his wrist. I don’t know why I’m surprised that the spirit living inside him belongs to Bathory. Julian told me that the curse began the night she supposedly died. If ever there was a restless spirit in the castle that night, Elizabeth Bathory would certainly have been one of them.
I look over at Evie and ask, “Did you use dark magic to transfer her soul into Julian?”
“Of course,” Evie replies with a small shrug of her shoulders. “After they basically entombed her inside her own castle, I knew I had to do something to save her.”
“Were you Dorka back then?” I ask, having only heard Julian mention one witch that he knew during that time period. It was Dorka’s descendants that he and Petru were trying to track down while they searched for answers to unravel the mystery behind their curse. The woman in Destin, who was apparently Evie, was supposed to be a direct descendant of Dorka’s.
“Dorka was a middling witch,” Evie replies with disdain. “She could barely make a candlestick levitate, much less cast a spell that could transfer souls into new bodies. Besides, she was dead by that time, and her followers scattered to the four corners of the earth like frightened children.”
“Then, who were you to Bathory?”
“During that time, I inhabited the body of a poor tenant farmer’s widow by the name of Erszi. When I first met Elizabeth, it was love at first sight for me. She was everything I ever wanted in a partner: cruel, sadistic, and completely uninhibited as a lover. But she was also stubborn. When the people in her employ began to testify against her, she made me promise that I wouldn’t use my magic to stop what was happening. She felt as though she deserved to be punished for her crimes and that only through atonement could she earn forgiveness from her god. I decided to let her wallow in her misery and guilt for a while to teach her a valuable lesson. Even though I had perfected how to transfer my own soul into a new body, doing the same thing with a human soul turned out to be more … complicated than I originally anticipated. While Elizabeth was stewing in her own guilt, I practiced the spell until I had all the little nuances perfected. I wasn’t sure I would figure it out in time, but I did. It simply took me a while to understand how much energy was required to move a soul where I wanted it to go. That’s why I needed the other people that night. By the time I finally went to see her in that small little room they made for her in her own castle tower, I had taken on this form of Evie, and she was more than ready to accept my help to escape and live a brand new life.”
“You performed the ritual?” I ask, remembering Julian telling me that he and the others woke up in the basement of Bathory’s castle with their throats cut and paired two by two on the points of a pentagram. “But you didn’t just transfer Bathory’s soul that night,” I point out. “There were others.”
“Yes, I realize that, but it couldn’t be helped. There were far too many restless spirits in the castle to prevent them from inhabiting the others once I leached most of their life force away. But look what I gave them: eternal life!”
“Then turning them into vampires was just a side effect and not your ultimate goal?”
“I like to think of it as more of a gift, really,” Evie says, appearing proud of her accomplishment. “One that can last forever, if they wish.”
“Is there a way to cure them?” I ask, needing to know if we’ve simply been living on false hope all this time.
“Really, Sarah, I’m not going to do all of the work for you. You’ll just have to figure that part out on your own.”
“If Bathory’s soul has been inside Julian all this time, why did you try to have me killed?” I ask her. “If I die, so does Julian. Speaking of that, why did you have him and Petru on the verge of death when I found them in that house in Destin? What was the point of torturing them like that?”
“Tell me,” Evie says, cocking her head to the side as she considers me, “when you saw the man you love suffering, did it make you angry?”
“Of course it did,” I say crossly.
“Which was the whole purpose,” she states with a maddening, nonchalant shrug. “I needed you feeling angry, helpless, confused, and scared. Causing your emotions to be heightened was the only way to force you to unlock your powers and prove to me that you really are a re-animator.”
“So you knew what I was even before my mother tried to touch me?”
“Yes.” Evie smiles.
“Where is my mother?” I demand. “Why is her soul lingering around you?”
Evie laughs, but it sounds like she’s mocking me. “It’s amusing that you believe she’s following me.”
“What do you mean by that?” I ask, becoming confused.
Evie looks at me as if she’s considering whether or not she intends to answer my question. She shakes her head and says, “Ask another question, Sarah. I’m afraid that one is destined to be answered by someone else.”
Frustrated by her unwillingness to share her knowledge about my mother’s state of being, I ask her the most obvious question.
“How did you know I was a re-animator even before I did?”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out that answer on your own, little one. Just think it over and logic should lead you to the right explanation.”
“You still haven’t answered my first question. Why did you try to kill me? Why send those assassins?”
“What happened once had to happen again,” she replies cryptically. “If that werewolf hadn’t attacked you, Mira and the Council of Elders wouldn’t have had a good reason to punish Damien’s pack. Their decision left an opening for Janus and Sophie to form an alliance with the werewolves in New Orleans, which helped me further my agenda of returning home. The only reason you brought me here was to protect me from the wolves attacking Moonstone Manor.
“If the warlock hadn’t attacked you with an alfar weapon, you would have never been brought to Alfheim. The healers wouldn’t have sacrificed their lives, cementing your loyalty to the alfar and changing your mind about accepting the crown and becoming their queen one day. If you’ll remember, you were dead set against having anything to do with the alfar or giving up your dream of a simple life on Earth. Your allegiance to them is stronger now than ever, and I needed you to gain enough power here to be granted the authority to bring me back with you.
“And, well, Alden’s attempt on your life led you straight back to me—a dramatic introduction to be sure, but one that had been years in the making. Everything happens for a reason, Sarah. You just have to look closely enough to see the connections.” She turns to Julian and wraps her free arm around one of his. “Now, Elizabeth and I really must be leaving. I haven’t been back home in ages, and I would like to take a tour of my new realm to see if there are any improvements that need to be made.”
“Wait!” I say in a panic, fearing what Evie might do to Julian once he leaves my sight. “Please, let me speak to Julian one last time.”
Evie tilts her head as she studies me with something resembling pity.
“Do you really believe that’s wise?” she asks before shaking her head, indicating that she clearly disagrees. “I don’t think it is. Besides, the sooner you realize your Julian doesn’t exist anymore, the easier it will be for you to learn to move on. He’s gone, Sarah, and he won’t be returning to your side ever again.”
“I think you may have forgotten something,” I say, finding hope in at least one crimp in her plan. “Julian still needs to feed from me, remember? Or do you plan to have him feed off of strangers and let him go insane like Janus and Sophie? And what about you? Don’t you need to drink from Winifred?”
“As a matter of fact, I don’t,” she reveals smugly. “I’ve never needed to drink the blood of a companion to survive. You see, I’m not actually a vampire like the rest of them. It was only human subjects who were afflicted with that particular frailty. I’ve simply planted memories of me feeding in all of my companions since day one because it would have looked suspicious to the others if I didn’t.” She looks at Julian with worry. “But you’re right. Julian will still need to feed from you. That can’t be helped.”
“I’ll only let him drink my blood if you let my Julian come to me, not Bathory, and don’t try to trick me. I’ll know the difference.”
Evie glowers at me. “What’s to prevent me from sending him back to you and taking what he needs by force?”
“You could,” I agree, “but what if you’re not able to find a way to transfer Bathory’s soul into a new body? What if she’s trapped inside Julian forever? Don’t you want her to remain by your side? Only I and my heirs can do that, and apparently, I have the next heir growing inside me right now.”
Evie’s face turns blood red with anger at the reminder of my pregnancy. I’m not quite sure why she’s so livid about it, but I can’t say that I’m not taking a great deal of pleasure in seeing her so enraged.
Slowly, her ire dissipates, and I see her smile at me like she has a secret.
“That necklace may protect your mind from my powers,” she says, “but unfortunately for you, that isn’t the only type of magic I’m able to wield.”
Evie flicks her left hand at the wrist in my direction like she’s shooing away an annoying fly. I instantly feel something hard that’s traveling at a great speed hit me in the gut, sending me flying backwards into the breach.
The next thing I know Kieran is urgently calling out my name and shaking my shoulders.
“Princess Sarah, wake up!” I hear him say urgently.
I open my eyes and look up at his worried face. Relief replaces his concern as he hangs his head and breathes out a sigh, releasing his pent-up distress.
“Is she awake?” I hear Alea ask before I see her kneel down on the other side of me. “Princess Sarah, are you able to sit up?”
“I think so,” I say, feeling as if my whole body has just been trampled on by a herd of rampaging elephants.
Both Alea and Kieran help me lift my torso, and I quickly discover that I’m sitting on the cold, hard floor of the breach room in Moonstone Manor. Like a flood of rushing water bursting through a dam, I begin to remember what just happened.
“How long have I been unconscious?” I ask them anxiously, fearing I’ve lost too much time and that I may have lost Julian forever.
“You came flying through the breach about three minutes ago,” Kieran informs me, sounding confused by the whole ordeal.
“What’s wrong with the Valengard on the other side of the breach?” Alea asks me, clearly distraught over the scene she found there. “I can’t seem to wake any of them up.”
“They’re under a mind mage’s spell,” I tell her. “Where is the baby?”
“Right here, Your Highness,” I hear Agatha answer behind me.
I try to turn to see her, but I quickly discover such an action isn’t possible at the moment. My body is still too stiff and sore to give me free movement.
“Did you see Evie and Julian on the other side?” I ask Alea since it’s apparent she’s been over there.
“No,” she tells me, looking troubled by my question. “Is that a problem?”
“And the baby,” I say, ignoring her question for the time being as I try to find a way to breathe that doesn’t make my ribs hurt, “was she just left there?”
“I found her lying in the middle of the floor,” Alea replies. “Princess Sarah, what’s going on? What’s the name of the mind mage who did that to Nadia and the others?”
“It was Evie,” I tell her. “You have to go to Alden and warn him that she’s dangerous and that he needs to send guards out to find both her and Julian. Tell him I’ll explain everything later, but right now, he needs to figure out where they went before it’s too late.”
Alea doesn’t question my orders. She simply does as I’ve told her to and re-enters the breach to find Alden. I pray we find Evie before she exacts this “revenge” that she mentioned. I don’t know what that entails. All I know for certain is that it can’t be good.
“Help me up, Kieran,” I order.
Kieran assists me to my feet, even though I feel sure it isn’t wise for me to stand, considering how much my body is protesting over the action.
I look over at Agatha. “Come closer so I can see the baby.”
Agatha walks the four steps it takes to reach my position and shows me Constance’s daughter.
“She’s just sleeping,” Agatha says. “I’m surprised by that actually, considering all the commotion.”
“I think she’s under one of Evie’s spells,” I tell her, quickly determining the reason the baby never made a sound while we were in Alfheim. “How do we break a mind mage’s spell?” I ask to no one in particular, since I’m not sure which alfar will know the answer.
“We’ll have to bring in another mind mage,” Kieran tells me. “There’s one on staff at Valengard Academy.”
