Page 43 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Kiss

“Where can we find the key?” Hayes asked, leaning closer to Em as his eyes roved her closed-off face.

Emerson cocked her head to one side, like she was listening to something, and then nodded. “You are on the path.”

Novalie groaned. “If I didn't know Em, I would think she was faking it.”

I couldn't disagree. Emerson's gift was unpredictable, but this had passed that and moved straight into the territory of unhelpful.

“He'll find you,” Emerson continued and I fought a shiver as her unseeing eyes locked onto me. “He'll guide you.”

“To the key?” I had no idea who the he was that Em referred to, but I had the feeling that asking Em would only lead to more questions.

Her head bobbed slowly, one of her dark curls brushing her forehead with the movement. And then she blinked and suddenly, she was Em again. “Any luck?”

“You don't remember?” Cal's hands were clasped in front of him and the look on his face made my eyes narrow as Emerson shook her head.

“What?” I demanded and Cal hummed, still watching Em like a bug he wanted to dissect. “Cal.”

He pulled his eyes away from her to look at me, reading the protectiveness in my stance immediately. “It's just... I don't think Emerson is the one having these visions.”

Novalie frowned, offering Em a hand as she helped her up from the floor. “What does that even mean?”

Hayes looked both intrigued and something else I couldn't understand, something like dread. I raised an eyebrow and he nodded to Cal in explanation. “You think she's tapping into something else?”

“It's possible,” Cal said softly as he continued to study Emerson, making Novalie growl. “I’ve never seen it before—I don’t have much experience with seers in general, but… we’ll have to explore your power more to be sure, but it seems more like you're channelling a seer rather than a seer yourself.”

“How are those two things different?” I walked to Novalie and placed a calming hand on her arm, releasing her when she stopped baring her fangs at Cal.

“A seer has individual power that they draw upon to consult the future, or sometimes the past. A channeller draws on a larger collective, rather than their own power.” At our blank looks, Cal sighed. “Emerson's gift allows her to act as a conduit for a higher being.”

“Are you trying to tell me that God is real?” Novalie looked like she was torn between shock and laughter, but Emerson seemed unphased.

“Until a few months ago, I didn't think vampires were real,” she explained and I laughed.

“Not necessarily a god,” Cal interjected. “Just... a well of power. It could be a coven of the dead, a god, a witch—or even just the universe, depending on your belief.” Cal took a deep breath and I held up a hand to cut him off before this could turn into a full-on lecture.

“So basically, you don't know who or what the power is, just that Em isn't drawing it from herself?”

“Yes, at least I think so,” he said reluctantly before brightening. “Think of it like she's being possessed by the universe.”

I recoiled at the word, the connotations not exactly giving me the warm-fuzzies.

Hayes shook his head. “No wonder her answers were so vague.”

“Let's not shoot the messenger.” Em rolled her eyes, but I was more inclined to agree with Hayes. The universe had never hesitated to fuck me over before—it made sense that it wouldn't be any different now.

“Maybe there's something else we can try to work out who has this supposed key.” Cal straightened from his spot against the wall and sat on the floor in front of my bed, where Em had been moments ago. “You said you could sense the magic in the walls, Nora?” I nodded and the sheen in his eyes looked surprisingly like pride. “Good. Remember the letter you got when we first arrived here? How you probed the energy?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. So you know that magick leaves traces, kind of like a signature.”

The breath caught in my chest as I realised what Cal was saying. If we could match the signature from the chambers to a person, then we would know who'd sealed them up. My elation faded and I frowned. “But there must be hundreds of mages?—”

“One step at a time,” he said gently and I placed my hands in his when he reached for me. “We'll use me to practise, okay? Close your eyes and focus on the magick in the room. Taste the individual flavours, visualise the notes.”

If I hadn't been able to picture exactly what he was talking about, I'd have thought he was full of shit. “I see it.” Cal's magick had a purple tint, like lavender in the moonlight, rimmed in darkness. Though, really, the colours were more of a feeling, a complex symphony that wove together into an unmistakable pattern.

“Now cast your net wider. Guide me. Show me where to find the magick that sealed the chambers.”

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