Page 26 of The Vampire King's Gift

“Yet. It isn’t workingyet. I can feel you reaching towards him. You are powerful, Christian, but it is like a person trying to play a piano with a hammer,” Lisette remarked. Her flawless forehead furrowed “Being a Speaker makes you different from a pure Kaly. There must be something in how you impose your will upon the dead that is vastly different than ours.” She frowned slightly. “Keep trying. Perhaps I will see it as you continue your practice.”

“He’s had enough for now,” Balthazar said and grasped Christian’s wrist, tugging him to sit down.

Christian gratefully collapsed on the sofa beside him. One of Balthazar’s strong arms encircled his shoulder. Christian closed his eyes and breathed. His eyes flew open right away as he recalled that David was in the room. His gaze immediately went to the spirit. David continued to look upon him with utter longing. Christian gritted his teeth.

Did he want to know what David was truly thinking? Or maybe he could guess. He wanted to tell Christian he was sorry. But it wouldn’t bereallysorry. Because David would then turn it around so it was about him, like he always had. Christian somehow would end up being the bad guy for all that had happened, even though he had been a teenager and David the adult.

“You’re being quite good for a new Master, Balthazar. I fully expected you to jump up and insist this all stop ages ago,” Lisette chuckled.

Christian knew that Baltazar actuallyhadbeen wanting to jump up and insist that he rest quite a while ago. But one look between them and his Master had backed off.

“Yes, well, I do believe that the quicker Christian learns to control this gift the safer he will be. And his safety and well-being are at the top of my list of priorities,” Balthazar answered with a thin smile.

Christian did not let his Master’s true feelings out of the bag. He knew enough about Lisette to guess that allowing her to see a weakness was a bad idea.

“Teaching a Speaker is a unique opportunity, and I assure you that I will do my absolute best to keep him safe and sound. But there are unknowns. I am working only on the rumors I have heard passed down through the centuries,” Lisette pointed out.

“So long as you remember, Lisette,” Sophia said coolly, “to treat Christian as if you would a treasure.”

“And not like my own fledgling?” Lissette challenged with a faint smile on her lips.

Sophia shook her blonde head, her curls bouncing lightly. “Come now, Lisette! We both know if a Kaly fledgling suffers injuries during the practice of their gift it is considered the fledgling’s failure and theirs alone. If they cannot survive the gift, they are not worthy of survival.”

Lisette inclined her head. “You may think it cruel and unfeeling, but I assure you that our ways ensure that the world stays safe for all.”

“What do you mean?” Christian asked.

He had dragged his gaze away from David. The urge to go over to the spirit and try to harm it was strong in his blood. It wasn’t logical. It was sheer emotion. But he knew that physical violence would beget nothing.

Lisette set her cup on the coffee table and tapped her lower lip as she thought about it. “Being a Kaly is not like being any other type of Vampire, except perhaps being a Seeyr, but the danger they pose is only really to themselves.”

Christian glanced over at Sophia. She was usually so bright and cheerful that he often forgot about the burden she carried, which was to see the future. She was watching Lisette with large, silver eyes and sadness seemed to weigh her down at that moment as if Lisette’s words held weight.

“Every Vampire believes their Bloodline is the best and most powerful,” Balthazar remarked dryly as he massaged the back of Christian’s neck.

The tension bled out of him as those fingers worked and Christian gratefully leaned his head forward. Having David here was more stressful than he would have imagined.

Lisette’s eyes narrowed. “Ah, yes, but that is simple arrogance, not truth. I am speaking offacts.”

“Really? How is being able to raise a bunch of bones more powerful than being able to change a person’s mind?” Balthazar challenged. “You arehere, a place you never thought you would be, because of that.”

She inclined her head again. “Yes, but other than yourself, Balthazar, how many Eyros could have done that? None, I’d wager.”

“A single Eyros could control every country on Earth,” Balthazar said. “Nuclear weapons could be in the palm of our hands. We could rule the world easily. Isn’tthatthe ultimate power?”

“No,” she answered with a little smile on her lips.

“Then what is?” Christian asked.

“To replace faith with certainty,” she answered. “Every human being on this planet is ruled by their understanding of death. Whether they think it is the end or whether they believe it is the beginning. Whether there is God or gods. Whether there is a Heaven, a Hell, a Purgatory--”

“Catholics got rid of Purgatory a while back,” Arcius mused.

“Yes, well, it is irrelevant, because whatever they believe, it is all based uponfaith,” she said. “But what happens whenfaithbecomesfacts? The Kalyknowthat there is something beyond this life. We touch it daily. Imagine if a simple, stupid, low-level Kaly were to expose that souls exist, that the body can be resurrected, that there is a place beyond? Imagine it.”

And Christian did. It would causechaosif the reality of it spread. Religions would be upended. People might simply commit suicide or, even homicide, to get themselves and others though the Veil. Life would become muchcheaper.

“So while an Eyros couldcontrolthe world, the Kaly can send it into a chaos that not even you, Balthazar, could stop,” she answered.

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