Page 24 of Slaying the Vampire Conqueror

My goddess Acaeja, Weaver of Fates, Keeper of the Unknown,I silently incanted.I give you this gift of life. Open your doors to me.

The rabbit’s blood dripped into the fire. I rubbed some of it over my hands, using my thumb to draw it across my face—two lines, one under each eye, just beneath my blindfold. Then I cast the corpse into the flames.

The blaze surged and roared in a sudden burst, making Atrius take a half-step backwards. Good. That meant it was working.

I dragged my bare toes in a circle, all the way around the fire, until I returned to my starting position. Then I sat down before the fire, so close that sweat now trickled down the back of my neck.

“Be back soon,” I said to Atrius, closed my eyes, and fell back.

And back.

And back.

Into darkness.

CHAPTER NINE

My feet touched glass water, perching on the top but not breaking through. It was dark. Mist surrounded me. A single silver line stretched out before me, flush to the smooth surface of the water, disappearing into the mist.

I walked forward, heel to toe, remaining on the silver line. It was shockingly cold against my bare feet, and a little painful, as if sharp.

The mist grew thicker, and then dissipated.

Now cliffs surrounded me, stretching endlessly into the sky. The water rippled and shifted. The air was thick with the scent of blood. It trickled, too, down the faces of the cliffs, pooling in the water. The path before me narrowed, narrowed, narrowed, until stone squeezed my shoulders.

I knew this place. This was Alka.

Good. The right path.

Give me something more, Weaver,I whispered.

I reached out my presence in all directions. My palms pressed to the stone, searching for cracks and weaknesses.

Another step.

My left hand pushed through the stone.Blink, and the rock gave way to thick, soupy mist. The threads split before me—one continuing forward through the cliffs, another veering off into mist.

I changed courses, following the second thread.

Blink, as the cliffs shattered and fell away.

Before me was a moon, full as a silver coin.Step, and red and black dripped down its surface, trickling into the water. The distant cliffs of Alka drowned in it.

Show me another.

Another thread before me. I stepped off my path and onto this one.Shift, and the moon became a crescent, clear in the sky, bloodless. The cliffs loomed beneath it. Ivy slowly crawled up their sides, rising from the water, red-black flowers blooming over the stone.

I kept walking, and time shifted, moonlight falling over the stone. Bodies tumbled from the cliffs and into the sea.

More, I whispered.

Another thread before me. I stepped onto it. The cliffs fell away. I saw a man before me, dripping in opulent silks, kneeling in a pile of bones. He looked up at me and smiled, blood spilling from between his teeth. He collapsed beneath the crescent moon.

In the midst of a seering, you couldn’t question what you saw. Your ability to think critically ceased—you could only absorb and observe.

I thought of Atrius. Thought of the Bloodborn.

Show me something more, Weaver,I asked the goddess.

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