Page 6 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Kiss

“It’s not like I asked to be murdered.” Yet another thing Rowan had stolen from me. Another choice I should have been able to make for myself, ripped away. “I won’t bite. Much.”

The hand that pushed through his hair formed a fist at his side when he dropped it. “I’m sorry. There’s some magick that you, as an undead, will never be able to wield. You know I’ll teach you what I can, but the other mages… They’d sooner see you true-dead than help you by giving up their secrets.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered and his smile was crooked with apology.

“Why did you want to know anyway?”

I shrugged. “Curiosity. Novalie’s family didn’t claim her.”

“You’re too young to be growing your bloodline so soon anyway, the effort of maintaining other vampires through your own power would be too much. That’s why most unclaimed vampires never begin Houses of their own, they lack the power.”

Power had never been my problem, thanks to my half-mage heritage, though knowing how to wield it was another thing altogether. Opting to ignore him, I pulled the envelope I’d found in my room at Ashvale out of my leather jacket’s pocket. “I also came about something else. This. What do you know about the Vampyr Council and court?” The question seemed to distract him satisfactorily. I’d have time to press him for more details about magick later.

The crease between his brows deepened as he read the contents and then threw the letter in the air, waving a hand that left a trail of shimmering silver and made the paper catch aflame.

“Let’s hope I didn’t need that to get in.” My jaw clenched and he barely glanced at me as he caught the ashes in a miniature maelstrom of wind that carried it out of sight.

“You’ve been summoned.”

“I figured.”

“The Vampyr Council are figureheads, overseeing the running of court and upholding whatever rules they’ve decided matter this century.”

“You sound…”

“Disillusioned?” Cal’s mouth twitched as he turned away to grab a pen and paper from the table near his chair. “You know by now what vampires are like, the needless posturing and hierarchy, all of that stems from the court.” He traced a line across the paper to indicate the council and then drew vertical lines descending from them. “In reality, court is nothing more than an underground haven for vampires who don’t want to live in the human world. The politics are essentially entertainment, and the council is self-appointed by whoever has enough power to challenge for a seat.”

“But if none of that matters… Why is Hayes’ heritage such a big deal?” I studied the drawing in Cal’s hands as he drew silly tiny fangs onto the blob-like heads of the council.

“Because the monarchy is the only real power the court held. Without them, the council are mere pretenders. Hayes could change all of that.” Cal scrubbed a hand over his eyes, like the thought of it alone was exhausting. “If they’ve summoned you, then someone has you in their sights.”

“You think they know? About my magick?” I stumbled over the words a little, changing course at the last second to avoid the reminder of his connection to me.

“Maybe. Either way, you’ve attracted some attention and for vampires it boils down to only one thing: power. More worryingly is whoever doesn’t want you at court.”

“What?”

“The letter,” Cal explained, wafting a hand through the air as if for any stray embers of the burned paper. “Someone wants you dead, Leonora.”

“Don’t they always?” I muttered under my breath and Cal frowned.

“You’re lucky the curse expired before you opened it.”

“Curse?” Fuck. Vampires running at me, or plotting against me, I could try and deal with. This sneaky underhanded shit? Not so much. “It arrived after the debut I think, so it must have been sitting in my room for at least a month.”

“Nasty one too,” Cal murmured, analysing me from head to toe before stepping closer and beginning to mutter in what sounded like Latin under his breath. “Mages have some resistance to vampire tricks, as you know.” I did. My resistance to thrall was one of the first things that had tipped us off to my dual nature. “But where most mages have protections placed on them from birth, to help keep us safe from basic magicks and to fortify our minds against intruders, you never received this.” Elowen definitely wouldn’t be winning mother of the year any time soon. At least Cal felt bad for his absence in my life. “I should have done it sooner, sorry—not that it would have helped with that letter, mind, but at least now you’ll have some protection ingrained.”

I nodded in thanks as his hands finished their complicated motion above my head. “So there’s someone at court that wants me there, probably to see what power I have and possibly to kill me. And there’s also someone else who doesn’t want me to go to court and, to prevent that, has already attempted to kill me?”

“Unfortunately, that sounds accurate.”

Fuck. Fucking vampires. Why was one semi-normal day too much to ask for? At this point, I’d even settle for a day where nobody actively tried to kill me. “So I’m screwed either way.”

Cal considered for a moment, mouth pulling to one side in an expression that was intimately familiar because I’d seen it on my own face more than once. “I think refusing their summons would be a bigger danger than whoever tried to stop you from going. The council wouldn’t take the slight very well.”

Great. I sighed. “So, court. Any tips?”

“Don’t piss anyone off?”

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