Page 6 of The Shadows of the Dawn

“Oh, there you are,” Katsuki chirped, addressing Nikola. “I wanted a second opinion from another who had witnessed Purgings.”

Alarmed, Nikola paid closer attention to the television screen. A man and a woman, both smartly dressed in beige colors, sat around a conference table in front of a backdrop depicting Chicago’s skyline. The title scrawled along the bottom of the TV was enough to kick Nikola’s heart into overdrive. VAMPIRE NESTS DISCOVERED FOLLOWING UPSTATE NEW YORK EARTHQUAKE.

The discussion panel itself was more alarming still. “—most of the tunnels are inaccessible, but what has been unearthed points toward negligence from the local police force,” the woman was ranting. “How did this go unnoticed for so long?”

The man raised his hands with dramatic flourish. “Going by the reports of vampiric infected people—a disease previously believed to have been eradicated from Western society—this has been happening for decades. At least!”

Infected. Disease. So, that was how the modern human had chosen to perceive the vampire. There was an implication of a cure that didn’t and couldn’t exist. Nikola wondered how many of Malkolm’s vampires were fleeing, spilling out into the rest of the country. Why wasn’t Morrigan wrangling them?

The script, “The following imagery may be disturbing to some viewers,” flashed across the screen. The news report switched to footage from cities such as Syracuse and Buffalo, humans being struck down by seemingly nothing, as if invisible poltergeists were ripping out throats and tackling humans. There were only a handful of reels, the audio muted as the man and woman voiced over them. “For years, there have been rumors of an infestation in the States. But who can deny this?”

The undead in the room were stunned in morbid silence. It was Moss who broke it. “They ain’t kidding. There are tags trending on Twitter and TikTok. Hashtag vampire apocalypse. Hashtag vampirism. Hashtag Grander, New York. A lot of it is circulating with pictures of Moon Children reuniting with living friends and family—the few who are young enough to still have some around, I’m guessing. Oh, shit.” Moss grimaced at whatever article they were reading. “According to this, those same Children are claiming that ‘old power’ threatened to kill them if they were accused of associating with their human friends or families. It’s just... a flood of missing people no longer missing.”

It was clear that Moss understood the gravity of the situation.

There is no turning back from this.

“So.” The report transitioned back to the panel. The man was speaking. “The question is, how do we handle this?”

“Of course, in our polarized era, there are already so many sides being taken. Do we rehabilitate these monsters? Execute them? Try and cure them?”

The man nodded gravely. “That also brings into debate about execution laws, especially with New York being the main stage of this developing situation. It’s banned in New York to sentence a human prisoner to death, but it is legal to put down a sick dog. Or, let’s say, ‘pull the plug’ on a coma patient. Do we let living relatives decide? What then?”

“How can we even begin to approach this when we barely understand the disease itself?” the woman went on. “What is fact and what is fiction left over by our superstitious ancestors?”

The TV screen flicked off. Nikola’s mind immediately went to power outage, but the lights were still on. Veronica held the controller in her hand. “Sorry,” she said, her face taut. “But all we are doing right now is stressing ourselves out. We already know how this ends.”

“Maybe it’s not all gloom and doom,” Moss chirped, their optimism tasting sickeningly sweet in the bitter atmosphere. They didn’t look up from their phone as they spoke. “There are some people advocating for the humane treatment of vampires, so to speak. There are a few who are rallying that silver eyes are harmless. But, like, that seems to be mostly people who reunited with a Moon Child, so...” They frowned at their phone. Crimson bloomed in their cheeks when they glanced up and realized all eyes, red and metallic, were on them. “There’s some hope, I think.”

“Tch.” Asher grinned with irony, winking a scarlet eye at Nikola. “So, some people want to kill only Blood. Where do you think they’ll categorize Nikki and me, eh?”

“Wait.” Kat’s voice stilled the room. Moss wiggled under Kat’s searing scrutiny. “What you say implies humans are beginning to distinguish between Blood and Moon. That is fascinating. A first in history, outside of isolated settlements.”

Francis growled. “As if humanity would not exterminate us once they discover all vampires are capable of becoming Blood.”

No one said anything as the news was digested. When Nikola’s cell phone began vibrating in his pocket, the attention snapped onto him. Veronica said, “That better be another spammer. Because who else would it be?”

“Nikki,” Asher murmured. When Nikola looked into his somber face, his beautiful lips pressed into a thin line, he realized Asher had deduced who was calling. Nikola could only assume the patrons had reached out to him as well, perhaps in the form of a dream. “You should answer that.”

Nikola closed his eyes as he let the call ring through. He could always return it. “What did they say to you, my love?”

“Same shit Morrigan said before we ran. That we’ve got some damage control to do.” Asher sounded as unhappy about it as Nikola felt.

“What,” Veronica interjected, “is happening now?”

Asher and Nikola had a conversation without words, sharing a meaningful glance and nodding once at each other. There was no point in keeping the others in the dark. They all shared the same gods, did they not? Nikola broke eye contact and addressed the mingled covens. “The God and the Goddess have called upon us both to return to Grander to help settle affairs.”

Asher motioned at the black television. “All things considered, I reckon it’s a bad idea to keep ignoring them.”

Veronica blanched, leaping to her feet. “What? But you just got here. There’s no way—!” She stomped, a growl rising from her throat. “Are you sure you’re not misinterpreting them?”

Asher heaved a wistful sigh. “No. This ain’t like we’re reading from the King James’s Bible. They’ve been pretty cut and dry. Things are bad when the gods start panicking.”

“Let me figure out exactly what’s going on,” Nikola said to Veronica as she opened her mouth to continue arguing.

He left the apartment, not wanting to believe that Asher was willing to return to Grander. But that was what it seemed to be. Grinding his teeth as he sulked down the hall, he withdrew his phone. To no surprise, Morrigan’s name glowed beneath the missed call icon.

He hesitated. If the gods weren’t truly gods, perhaps they had it all wrong on a divine level. Or perhaps Veronica was right, and Nikola and Asher were the ones who had it wrong. Only one way to find out.

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