Desiderius’s expression shifted, becoming more guarded yet somehow more honest simultaneously.“Vladislav is...a vampire of considerable age and influence.A Transylvanian nobleman turned during the Ottoman incursions of the fifteenth century.”
“And his connection to the Order?”I pressed.
“He founded it,” Desiderius stated simply.“Or rather, he guided its formation from behind several layers of human proxies.”
I stared at him, certain I had misunderstood.“A vampire founded the Order of the Morning Dawn?The organization dedicated to exterminating our kind?”
“Ironic, is it not?”A ghost of a smile touched Desiderius’s lips.“But entirely logical when one understands Vladislav’s ultimate goal.He believed that vampire nature represented a corruption of the divine image—a theological position I’m sure you can understand.But rather than seek redemption through prayer as you have done, he sought purification through selection.”
“Selection?”I cocked an eyebrow.
“He believed that only certain vampires—those with sufficient will, sufficient spiritual strength—deserved to exist.The rest were abominations to be eliminated.”Desiderius paused, his gaze growing distant with memory.“He created the Order to systematically identify and destroy those vampires who could not control their nature, who succumbed completely to bloodlust and predation.”
I snorted.“Witches, too.”
“That also fit his agenda,” Desiderius said.“Suffer not a witch to live.I grant it’s a gross abuse of the Biblical text, but he took it out of context, and to heart… what remained of his heart.”
Understanding dawned with horrific clarity.“And you...you knew him?”
Desiderius met my gaze directly.“He was my sire,” he admitted.“The one who turned me, who taught me control, who showed me the path of discipline I later adapted into the monastic practice you observed in New York.”
The revelation left me speechless.Desiderius—the ancient vampire who had joined my spiritual mission, who had helped me guide newly turned vampires toward control and potential redemption—had been created by the very architect of our persecution.And what we were doing somehowfit the designsof the mastermind behind the Order of the Morning Dawn?
“Most within the Order believe Vladislav died decades ago,” Desiderius continued into my stunned silence.“That’s why Gallow was so shocked.They think he was destroyed by one of his own creations who rejected his philosophy of selective purification.I allowed this myth to persist, though now I am obviously ready to dispel it, as it serves my purposes.”
“Your purposes?”I managed finally.
“Our purposes.”Desiderius reached for my hand.
I yanked mine back with such force my elbow almost blasted a hole in the wall behind me.“You said you aren’t in love with me.I’m not letting you hold my hand.”
Desiderius laughed.“Fair enough.”
I glared at him for a moment expecting him to explain further.But he said nothing.I had to prod him.“What areourpurposes exactly, since you’re so bold as to presume that mine aligns with yours?”
“To reform what Vladislav began,” he explained.“To transform his vision of selection and destruction into one of potential redemption.I came to believe, thanks to you, that our condition need not damn us completely—that with proper guidance, even the most feral vampire might find a path back to something resembling humanity.”
I rose from the stone bench, needing physical movement to process this cascade of revelations.“A vampire secretly controls an organization dedicated to destroying vampires.It sounds like madness.”
“It is the ultimate expression of self-loathing,” Desiderius agreed.“A hatred of one’s nature so profound that it manifests as genocide against one’s own kind.Yet Vladislav saw himself as purifying rather than destroying—preserving only those he deemed worthy of immortality.”
“Thosehedeems worthy?“ I threw my hands in the air.“Who died and made him the judge of our souls?”
“He did,” Desiderius shook his head.“I mean, that’s probably what he’d say.He claims he had visions when he turned, a message from God that gave him this… mission.”
“And now Gallow believes we’ve been operating under Vladislav’s principles all along?”I shook my head in disbelief.“That my guidance of the flock, my prayers, my efforts to help them find redemption—all of this was merely a façade to identify those who Vladislav might deem worthy, leading the rest to destruction?”
“It is a convenient fiction,” Desiderius acknowledged.“One that explains our survival and may grant us access to the Order’s inner workings.After all, our actions now serve as proof that Vladislav still lives.And I’m the only one who knows how to find him.”
“Because you’re his progeny.”I shook my head.“Even if you don’t know where he is, youcouldfind him if you really wanted.”
Desiderius nodded firmly but remained silent as I processed everything and paced the length of the hall.“So we proceed with this deception?Pretending to serve an organization founded by a self-hating vampire, now apparently controlled by humans who’ve inherited his twisted vision?”
“We proceed with the mission Bishop Harkins entrusted to you,” Desiderius corrected gently.“To learn the Order’s true intentions, to understand the threat they pose not just to our kind but to countless others they’d burn at the stake.”
“And if we succeed?”I asked.“If we penetrate the heart of the Order, learn their secrets, expose their methods—what then?Will it restore what I’ve lost?Will it bring back Ruth, Rebecca, Thomas, and all the others who died believing in the path I showed them?”
“No,” Desiderius answered with simple honesty.“Nothing will restore them.But it may prevent others from sharing their fate.”
