Page 25 of To Ashes and Dust
I blinked, awakening to reality, and my lips parted, nearly ready to ask him if I could talk to him, but then I noticed Ethel’s curious gaze as she peeked over her shoulder. I forced a smile, trapping the words in my throat and instead saying, “Sorry. Just feeling a little drowsy still. Don’t mind me, just zoning out over here.”
His eyes danced between mine, and I saw a hint of doubt in them.
“Oh! Lord Damien.” Ethel stepped away from the stove, wiping her hands on her apron as she reached to grab a letter from the counter, but I couldn’t find relief in her distraction, the guilt clawing at my chest. “Ah forgot tae tell ye. This came fer ye this mornin’.”
She handed him the black envelope, and I glimpsed an intricate silver wax seal. His face soured, brows furrowing as he looked at it before tearing it open to read the letter inside.
“It’s The Council, isn’t it?” Ethel asked.
My eyes danced between them. “The Council?”
Damien didn’t answer, reading the letter in silence, eyes flitting over the words on the paper. Whoever The Council was, Damien didn’t appear to be fond of them.
His sigh came out in a rush, shoulders sagging as he tossed the letter onto the table. I resisted the urge to pick it up and read it. “They’re calling a meeting. It’ll happen in a few days.”
Ethel sighed. “Ah’m nae surprised wi’ the attack ‘at happened.”
My gaze snapped to Damien, my gut twisting. “Attack?”
His eyes fell before he spoke. “The darklings attacked the home of an immortal family while we were out last night.”
The blood drained from my face. “Did they...”
Damien’s eyes drifted to me, but he shook his head, the sorrow heavy in his expression. “There were no bodies left for us to lay to rest.”
Terror crawled up my spine. The darklings had converted them, growing their ranks even further.
“Human-born darklings aren’t as strong as immortal-born darklings. It would only strengthen their ranks,” he said. “But this is the first time they’ve broken into a house. They’ve never been smart enough to try, and the fact that they’re specifically targeting immortal families...”
“‘Ow many was it, Lord Damien?” Ethel dared to ask, all the glow and sunshine gone from her face.
“A family of five: a mated pair, and their sons and a daughter. Two of them were to start their training next month. The other was...” Damien’s eyes flickered to me briefly before lowering, and I reached out to take his hand, feeling the pain flow through my fingertips. His last, unspoken words lingered in his thoughts.
...a child.
“How did they find them?” I asked.
Damien didn’t raise his eyes to me. “I don’t know.”
Did Cole and Amara sell out their own race to Melantha? Had they started feeding her the locations of immortal families to build their ranks? I couldn’t stomach the thought, couldn’t bring myself to verbalize it.
“Is that... how the darklings do it? You told me they convert through biting. Is that how they are increasing their numbers, by taking families? I haven’t been keeping up with the news to see if there are any new disappearances.”
Damien nodded. “They have been, even from the neighboring towns. They have to convert the person before they die. If they die before they change, the conversion fails.” He lifted his eyes to me. “That’s the only reason you weren’t converted when you died as Elena. They’d been so lost to their own hunger; you’d died before you could turn.”
The possibility made me dizzy. Thank God it hadn’t happened. What would have happened if I’d been converted? Would I have lived on as darkling? Would I have still been reborn? There were so many questions left unanswered.
“Damned monsters,” Ethel muttered.
“Who is The Council?” I asked.
“It’s comprised of the heads of each house of power. They oversee their houses, and they answer to me, though there are a couple who’ve become rather entitled over the years. I’ve been...” He averted his eyes. A feeling of guilt, balmy and cold, crept over my skin from where I touched him. “A bit preoccupied over the last several months, and it’s been a while since we’ve had a meeting.”
The heads of each of the immortal houses. What were they like? How many were there? Were they like Damien? It still didn’t seem real how there could be an entire society of immortals living in secret amidst the human world, completely unbeknownst to us.
“Are they warriors in The Order?”
He sat back as Ethel brought our breakfast. “The few I can tolerate were once brothers of The Order. Once they took their seat at The Council, they stepped down.”
