“Is that what I think it is?” I’ve only known this curling darkness through mist stepping.
“It’s the Fade, there’s no doubt about that,” Lavenzia says. “I’ll scout ahead.”
“Be careful,” I say.
She grins. “You realize how amusing that request is, right? Considering how nothing we’re doing is careful at this point?”
“Do your best.” I return the grin.
Lavenzia dashes ahead. Ventos and I wait with bated breath for her return. It seems to take forever. And yet, I know it was only a few moments.
“It’s a straight shot,” she says on return. “No difficult maneuvering of the barrier. Not sure how whoever set this up did it, but they definitely found a weak spot in the Fade and exploited it.”
Or made one themselves. I think of Loretta and her power over the blood lore as I step into the Fade with them. The stone walls disappear, even though I can still feel them on either side of me, the atmosphere thick and heavy. It’s almost like trying to breathe underwater. I keep pushing ahead. And all at once, we’re on the other side.
The tunnel slopes upward, ending at a platform in the Fade Marshes.
“Well, I think this discovery alone is worth not immediately waking up another lord or lady,” Lavenzia says.
I stare out over the marshes, reminded yet again that I’m giving the vampir knowledge of my world, my home, easier paths in and out. If I fail, Hunter’s Hamlet is certainly doomed because of me. It doesn’t matter what notes are left for the next lord or lady, especially not with Ruvan incapacitated.
“Come on,” I say, starting ahead. Neither of them move. “I want to show you the arena we’re going to face off against the Raven Man in.”
Ventos tilts his head skyward. “The moon isn’t full right now, it’s not even out. We’re not as strong. We should head back.”
“You’re strong enough, there are no hunters out at this time of day. Now is the best time to go.” They exchange uncertain looks. “Trust me, there won’t be hunters; I haven’t led you astray yet, have I?” I wonder if this was how Ruvan felt with me constantly doubting him. Something else I need to apologize for when he wakes.
This time, when I move, they follow.
I’m driven on instinct through the marshes. One ghostly tree means no more to me than any other. But I still feel a pull to the ruins I fought Ruvan in for the first time. I’d come to think that it was the elixir in me on the night of the Blood Moon. I could sense Ruvan’s great powers as a vampir lord. Now my logical mind wishes to think that it is my connection to my twin drawing me to this spot.
Blood is a marker, after all. History, time, experience are all written upon it.
The fog parts and we stand in the ruins of an old tower. Drew has made a makeshift hovel with supplies Lavenzia brought for him. He’s curled into a ball, but his head snaps up the moment he hears us.
“What the—Flor!” He jumps to his feet and runs over to me. I wrap my arms around him tightly. “I wasn’t expecting you for weeks.”
“Plans have changed.” I pull apart, holding onto his shoulders. “We’re going to attack the Raven Man—Tersius—within the week.”
“A week?” Lavenzia says, surprised. “It will be the new moon then; our powers will be at their weakest.”
“Exactly.”
“Tersius?” Drew echoes me. “The Raven Man is the first hunter? Truly?”
I nod. “I’m still piecing together the exact history, but I’m fairly certain he is.” I turn to my covenant. “When your powers are at their weakest, his will be as well. But that’s all right, we’ll have preparation, numbers, and surprise on our side. We’ll have the Hunter’s Elixir to fortify you all—something he hopefully won’t think to take. Drew and I won’t be affected by the moon at all. Attacking then will be our best shot.”
They all exchange a look. Ventos is the one who finally speaks up. “A week it is then.”
“Good. Because we’re going to need every hour from here on to prepare our trap.”
CHAPTER43
I hardly sleep now.It’s a change that’s been happening for a while, one I noticed weeks ago. But it’s never been more apparent than in these final days leading up to springing our trap. I might not be fully a vampir but I’m not completely human anymore, either.
Some nights, as I’m awake and working in the smithy, I try to untangle my feelings on the matter. At first, I think I should be more upset by the idea of no longer being as human as I once was—as though it is a betrayal to everything I’ve ever known to become something different, to become like them. But then I realize that is just the elders of Hunter’s Hamlet and their conditioning talking through me. The same people who taught me to blindly hate and follow the path that they laid out for me.
Hunters have been using the blood lore for generations; it’s a part of us as much as it is a part of the vampir. I’m just a progression and extension of that long history. A history that gains more context by the day.
