At this, Gwala opened his eyes and sat up, staring at Sonia. “Can you tell me why it didn’t work for Menos as it did for me?”
She was accustomed to Gwala constantly testing her, often quizzing her on things she had no possible way of knowing. At first, Sonia feared his wrath if she got a solution wrong, but soon realized that, while he enjoyed her intelligence, he enjoyed his superiority over her even more. She considered for a moment, but the answer seemed obvious. She searched further, thinking that the solution had to be more elusive. With a shrug, she offered her first thought. “You said the mermaid you drank gave her life for you. Menos only drank part of her capture. I would assume a vampire must drink all of a mermaid, drink her life blood, for the process to fully take effect.” She bit at one of her perfect, ironlike fingernails. “Although I can’t fathom why it would be so.”
Gwala laughed again. “Ah, my brilliant beauty! Menos would love you. Actually, she’d probably eat you, but nonetheless. You have arrived at the same solution we did. It was many more years before we got another chance, but eventually it came, and after Menos drank the final drop of the merman’s blood, she was able to be in the sun. Same as me.”
“There are mermen as well as mermaids?” She withdrew the inquiry before Gwala could reply. “Of course there are. How would there be any species without both sexes? I just hadn’t heard of mermen. Either way, I don’t understand how drinking a mer until they are dead is what enables a vampire to be in the sun. If you drank a child and Menos drank most of an adult mermaid, you should have nearly the same amount of blood.”
Gwala shrugged, unconcerned. “Many have wondered that same thing. Menos even had one of our warlocks attempt to come up with an answer through experimentation. However, we were wasting too many mers, so I put a stop to that. There is magic in this world. This is obviously one of those circumstances.”
Sonia wasn’t sure she agreed, but neither did she care to discuss the theory of merblood magic. There were more promising things. “You said that I would be a Royal tonight. If it took you and Menos years to locate mers, how are you certain we will find some this night? Are they more plentiful in the current age?”
“No.” Gwala let out a laugh that tapered off in an exasperated sigh. “Much to my disappointment, they are much less plentiful now. And while I’d rather you experience the thrill of a fresh, wild kill, I have another option for you if the need is required.”
“How?”
Gwala settled back on the sofa, signaling Sonia that it was story time once more. “It was Menos who told the other vampires our secret. I was happy with just the two of us being the only two vampires that held the power, but not she. She was a social woman, needing much interaction. Even more than that, she was ambitious and saw an opportunity for power. A vision that I still benefit from today.
“Once the other vampires were convinced our claims were true, they pledged their loyalty to Menos and me for the price of our secret. While I didn’t need the interaction Menos did, I saw the opportunity to make the vampire species into something better than it was. I was tired of living in caves and being constantly nomadic.” He gestured back to land, presumably toward the Vampire Cathedral. “We shared our secret with them, and in return, Menos became queen and I became king.”
He turned, watching Christopher out the window. “I doubt that he will be successful, which I regret, but I did know the chances were less than slim.” Gwala returned his ageless gaze to Sonia. “We hunted like this for centuries, slowly capturing mers and building the Royals one by one. A little over a thousand years after Menos made us royalty, the strangest thing happened. Something just as magic as the mermaid blood itself. I was on one of my morning swims through the currents when I was approached by a merman. He was an ugly sort, scarred and thin. He made me an offer. He said he would give us two and a half scores of mers for the price of two things. The commitment that we would stop hunting mers in the ocean and that the ones that turned over their fellows would be allowed to drink vampire blood. Not kill us, just drink from us.” Gwala leaned forward, face inches from Sonia, as if whispering a secret. “I almost killed him then and there, but then realized there was no harm in finding out if the nasty creature would keep his end of the bargain.”
“Why would he make such a deal?”
“Good question, my dear. While I knew he secured the safety of the rest of the mers living in the open ocean if we promised to be satisfied with the fifty mers they gave us, I didn’t see the point of them wanting to drink our blood. It wasn’t until later, around the first century, I believe, that I discovered our blood makes them immortal—around the time the Vampire Cathedral came into being, when a different bargain changed everything once more.”
Sonia thought on this awhile, then looked back out at Christopher. “So, if there is a pact between vampires and mers, why are we hunting them right now?”
He laughed once more. “It’s been three thousand years, my dear. There are term limits on these things. Even if the mers would disagree.”
It was neither a shock nor repulsive that Gwala wouldn’t stay true to the truce he’d made with the merman. She doubted she would either. Another thought struck her, filling her with feelings other than fear and anger once more, much to her surprise. “I am sure you’ve exhausted fifty mermaids in three millenniums, so what leads you to say that I will be a Royal by sunrise if we do not find one on this hunt?”
Gwala stroked her cheek with the back of his thumb, then leaned forward and licked the path his thumb had made. “I’m a resourceful man, my queen.”
Sixteen
SONIA LIU
Sonia haltedin a very unvampire-like jerk, nearly colliding with Gwala. They had just returned from their unsuccessful moonlight hunt, suffered through a mind-numbing “check-in” with the old warlock, and her thoughts were jumbled by the notion of soon being able to be in the sun. Though it had only been a little over half a year, she hungered for the feel of the sun on her skin. Even more than she craved blood. She and Gwala had exited the royal chamber and come face to face with Finn de Morisco.
The warlock’s eyes bulged in surprised recognition when his gaze traveled from Gwala to Sonia.
“It is only an hour until dawn. What has you up at this time of night?” Gwala peered over Finn’s shoulder. His voice took on a secretive tone. “Is your fairy sleeping? Has a vampire caught your fancy? It would not be the first time one of the Royals has had a dalliance with the Cathedral’s witch.”
To Sonia’s relief, Finn—his face contorting at the assumption—looked back at Gwala. She was certain she noticed a look of hatred wash over him as he addressed Gwala, but he covered it quickly. He had more gumption and fire in him than she would have guessed from her brief interaction with him when Brett had brought him to their home in Hillcrest. He’d been cute and sweet and anything but tough. However, he didn’t seem to be the same man she’d met those few short months ago.
“I couldn’t sleep. I went to check on my sister.”
“I trust you found her well?”
Sonia wondered if Finn was able to hear the insincerity behind Gwala’s concern. He definitely wasn’t as charmed with the vampire king as the rest seemed to be.
He gave a slight bow toward Gwala, but when he rose, his eyes were on Sonia. “If I could only speak to her, let her know I’m here. Find out how she really is.”
Sonia sneered, her upper lip revealing her fangs in a silent threat.
Finn’s eyes darted quickly back to Gwala. “Please, Your Majesty. Just for a moment?”
The syrup coating Gwala’s tone was so obvious that only the most desperate would hear genuine compassion. “Has Omar expressed satisfaction with your progress, then?”
