CHAPTER 25 – SHATTER
It was time. Standing with Curio and Devi, Arturos and Eiseth, Ariana inhaled a deep breath in the underground hall. As Quinn pinned them all one last time with his dark gaze, he kissed Ariana’s hand, pushing a fiery steadiness through her. Departing, he strode through the Masters to a black marble dais in the center of the hall and Ariana’s pulse hit her throat, knowing whatever was coming would probably happen soon. But their allies were ready, along with a veritable horde of Quinn’s best fighters now acting as Catering staff. As he gestured to a cobalt silk drape covering something tall up on the dais, four Vampire servers whisked the drape away.
Revealing a white marble statue rising from the center of the platform.
A hush enveloped the gallery as Quinn stepped up onto the black dais next to the white statue. As he let his power flow now, flickering with hints of fire, he commanded everyone’s attention. The statue was goddess-like as her marble form flowed with wind and water, power and grace like Artemis or Aphrodite. Tall and fair, she was strong as she stood with her arms outstretched, welcoming the crowd as Quinn received an ornate crystal chalice of blood now from a server. Facing the hall, he raised his chalice as a reverent silence enveloped the space.
Deep as the grave.
“Friends. Masters. Welcome to the Meeting of the Havens: I am so very glad you are here.” Quinn’s baritone was smooth like midnight fire as his compelling aura flowed around the hall. Gazing around, his smile was sexy yet effortlessly genial as he continued.
“For the past two hundred years since I ascended to the position of Master of Florence, we have held our annual Meeting. As you know, this meeting of common aims to discuss Vampire progress begins with a sacred rite – the Draining of the Bloodstone. Long did the Sires of Florence keep the Bloodstone a secret, increasing their selfish power. Since my tenure, however, the Bloodstone has been made open to all. Some of you here have enjoyed its benefits. Tonight, I welcome again all those who have enjoyed the Stone before to step forward. Once they are finished, we invite up anyone else who wishes to test their power tonight. Masters of the Stone – come forward. And together, we shall increase Vampire equality for ages to come.”
Polite applause swept the hall as Quinn’s speech ended. Draining his ornate blood-chalice as he left the marble podium, he handed it off to a server as he began clasping hands in the crowd. As he beamed with his fellow-well-met energy as if nothing unexpected was about to happen tonight, a number of Masters moved forward to the statue’s pedestal.
Excusing himself with a warning glance at Ariana to stay with Curio and Devi, Arturos migrated forward with Lady Eiseth. Ariana knew Arturos and Eiseth were among the Masters of the Stone; and though there hadn’t been time to fill her in on what exactly that meant, she knew they were needed for this ritual, but would return as soon as it was finished.
As Arturos and Eiseth made their way to the pedestal, the Masters parting respectfully for them as if they knew exactly who would come forward, Ariana saw there were ten Masters who came to drain the Bloodstone tonight. They included people she had often seen Quinn talk to at galas, though some she hadn’t been introduced to yet; Lady Eiseth and Arturos, plus two elegantly Spanish Masters and one tall, robust German man. A few were Masters Ariana had seen Quinn be respectful with but wary, including a fiercely tall Master with snow-white hair that looked Winter Fae. But generally, all those who stepped up onto the pedestal now were allies of Quinn’s.
Or at least not outright enemies.
As Quinn smiled, kissing cheeks and clasping hands, those ten came to stand around the statue in a semi-circle. As a respectful hush fell, the silence was so thick with magic that Ariana could hardly breathe. Anticipatory tension filled the hall as everyone drained wineglasses or blood goblets and handed them off to servers. The silence became absolute as Quinn nodded to Lady Eiseth at the far right of the dais. As Eiseth stepped forward, facing the Bloodstone, Ariana knew something important was about to happen, though she didn’t know exactly what.
Feeling the moment when their enemies would strike draw closer.
“What’s going to happen in this ritual, exactly?” She asked Curio and Devi quietly now as Eiseth extended her arms like she asked the statue to dance. The Mistress of Britain drew all eyes as she began to raise her immense mist-grey power, swirling through the hall.
“The Bloodstone is an ancient Vampire relic handed down through the Masters of Florence.” Devi spoke quietly, her gaze riveted to the action. “Said to be made by the Origin of our Bloodline over ten thousand years ago, the Bloodstone was a vessel in which our ancient Sire was said to have stored her powers upon death. All subsequent Masters of Florence have bound their power to the Stone, pouring their will and might into it upon their demise. Since the magics that fashioned it are lost, the Bloodstone is priceless – able to give any Master great power if they drink from it. It was kept a secret prior to Quinn. But after he killed Emiliana, he brought the Bloodstone into the light for any Master to try tapping energy from it – as a show of goodwill to his allies. Everyone upon the dais now has tapped power from the Bloodstone before, and tries again tonight.”
Before them, Eiseth had stepped to the statue now, whispering her lips over its nakedness as she slid her hands around it. As she embraced it, her power flooded the room, making Ariana shiver with diabolical delight as her heart pounded. Even with Quinn and Lucca’s energies holding her steady and Curio and Devi acting like anchors next to her, Ariana could feel it as Eiseth’s power surged, rushing through the hall like a wind on the moors. As the powerful Mistress of Britain whipped her head back, baring fangs with a vicious hiss, she struck hard into the chest of the marble statue.
Piercing it with her fangs.
Startled, Ariana jerked. But as Lady Eiseth began drinking from the Stone, embracing it like a lover as her throat swallowed, Ariana saw blood drip from the white marble. Just the sight of that blood, and the sweet copper smell of it issuing from the statue’s veins was enough to set her on high alert, though her bloodlust was still manageable.
But watching that blood drip, almost tasting it as Lady Eiseth swallowed, Ariana held her breath with the rest of the hall in a viciously erotic delight, feeling power surge through them all in a tidal wave. As Lady Eiseth at last broke from the stone with a cry, cresting with a massively powerful magic, her mist-grey energy blasted through the hall.
Making Masters all around stagger as they cried out.
Quinn caught Eiseth as she fell away from the Bloodstone in a power-drunk swoon, her eyelashes fluttering. Crimson coated her lips and delicate fangs as she breathed hard in his arms, shuddering as her magic thundered.
Feeling it, wanting that intense ecstasy Eiseth experienced, Ariana felt her own magic rage. Crimson filled her as the scent of blood inundated her – and she realized the Bloodstone was a source of magical nourishment for a Vampire, far more than any other source they could drain. As she shuddered beside Curio and Devi, both touched her now to help her stay steady. At least five Masters in the crowd had collapsed from the intensity of that energy roaring around them. Others were shivering as their magics rioted; even as Ariana felt the ferocity of Quinn and Lucca’s bond helping her weather that enormous magic, she felt that rush hammer through her.
Obliterating.
But she felt how Quinn’s power rose like a leviathan inside her now, buffering her from the energy the British Isles Mistress had gained from the Bloodstone. With it went Lucca’s searing brightness, tempering the bloodlust rushing through Ariana.
As she watched Eiseth succumb to the Bloodstone’s power, she saw blood trickle from two neat piercings in the statue’s chest. The Stone was still bleeding, as if it were alive as Eiseth finally regained her composure. Extracting herself from Quinn, she stood strong now like the roots of the mountains in her grey velvet gown and shining silver armor. Facing the Masters, she blazed like a pearl on fire as she opened her bloody mouth and roared to the hall, baring fangs.
And the hall roared back, flooded by her triumph.
As if encouraged by Eiseth’s success, the Spanish Masters standing beside her in the semicircle moved forward. As the darkly decadent duo surrounded the Stone, hemming it in like it was their prey, Ariana saw how dangerous they were. Though they were technically allies of Quinn’s, heady-bright power surged from both the man and the woman – and the rush of it made Ariana want to sing and dance, to laugh and cry like she was going insane. As both raised their power hard and struck into the Stone, one at the neck and one at an uplifted wrist, Ariana laughed suddenly in abandon.
The hall wild with frenzy as the Spaniards drank.
Triumphant, the Spanish duo pulled away from the Bloodstone, roaring and making everyone in the hall shudder with a bizarre ecstasy. It was unlike any Vampire magic Ariana had ever felt; rushing to each other, the duo kissed each other with vicious abandon now, retreating behind the Stone like they were going to fuck as the tall German man moved forward.
Broad like a warrior or a giant, the blond German Master didn’t take his time with the statue now that power raged so furiously through the hall. With a pleased expression, he merely seized the statue from behind, then struck hard into its marble neck with his big fangs.
