Disclaimer: Sadly, this isn't mine.
TheShadowPanther: Here's your update. I hope you enjoy it!
TigrisInHiding: Here's some more. And you don't need to worry about Evanescence not getting paid; they aren't making any money off the cd anymore since the contract ended. They said you could download the songs- in fact they recommended it. However, some of the songs may be on the Maximum Evanescence cd, so if you want them to get paid, get it.
Lannan: thanks, you made my day with the comments.
Ac_bworm: we'll see. We'll see.
Thanks to Griffinkhan and Almondgirl for beta-ing. And thanks to the reviewers, where would I be without you?
Chapter Six: Traitor
I hold the note in my hand, hardly daring to breathe. The aura surrounding it says that it was left by a full-blooded human, quite probably a servant to another vampire. But who?
I take a deep breath to steady the unfamiliar sense of fear. It had been years since I felt like this. It had been years since I felt anything. I had kept all my emotions away from me, cleaned my being of them, love and fear both. Love, because to admit attachment is to admit weakness, and fear because it can destroy you. All you need to know in order to take down your enemy is what they fear most, then press the advantage. They will do what you ask of them, in order to protect themselves. Fear is a useful ally.
I take myself to my room, and set the rose and the note on the dressing table. They had been sent in intimidation, and I will not cower in fear. I learned long ago that to do so is suicide. I will not think on the note. I have nothing to fear. I have nothing to fear.
Siete mentioned a war. What was it he had said? "Not a shadow war, but a real one." What did he mean? And how was this war to be fought, if not in shadow? It is how we live. We are the creatures of shadow and twilight, of dim starlight shining down on the smooth snow, the pale moon gleaming between the wind-tossed branches of trees. This is our realm, and we know the rules, vampire, witch, and shapeshifter alike. To fight in any other place or time is inconceivable.
Perhaps it is time we changed our tactics. The witches are what stands between us and complete control of what is rightfully ours. It is not our fault that humans aren't strong or smart enough to fight us. It is not our fault that we must feed off of them. I refuse to live in fear, stalking from one shadow to the next, always looking over my shoulder to watch for the blade that will be in my heart once my attention is elsewhere. I lived like that for centuries under Aubrey. Once is enough in a lifetime.
Perhaps my decision to move to New Mayhem was not so foolish after all. New Mayhem is perhaps the safest place to be if there is indeed going to be war. The defenses are strong, and if we are indeed hard pressed, there is always Nyeusigrube.
But how did Siete know there was a war coming? True, he is the father of my kind, and it is likely that he knows more than the rest of us dare to believe. But there has not been one word, one whisper that animosities have reached beyond their usual level. It is unnerving almost.
Now that I think about it, there have been few signs of witch activity recently. Normally, news of witches at bashes gets around; Kaleo and Kendra make sure of that. Indeed, some vampires hold bashes precisely because they know the witches will come. It seems the idiots don't know when to stay away, so filled are their heads with dreams and glory. But lately, they have been silent. They've been silent for at least a couple of years. The most recent activity was the discovery of Rachel.
What was she doing there? While I'm sure many witches know of New Mayhem, few know of its location. That is part of its defenses. A witch has to have either followed a vampire on foot, or have been taken there by a vampire. It was how Dominique found us after all. She had been following Jessica. True, Jessica hadn't been a true vampire then, but there was enough of Siete's blood running through her veins to have guaranteed her access. Blood bonded humans may find the town, but they rarely travel without their master, except to deliver messages. No one has been recently poisoned by Triste blood, at least not that I've heard of. So it is therefore unlikely that a vampire would have brought her there. It seems strange indeed that such a junior witch would have found the place at all. Most vampires kill witches that show up so close to the town's boundaries, and few witches show up.
Most vampires. I did not. It is rare for junior witches to show up so close to New Mayhem. In fact, I don't believe it's ever happened before. Most junior witches are taken there by vampires, and left to bleed to death as a form of entertainment. How did Rachel arrive within the town limits?
She must have been sent. Somehow, the witches have either found a way to send others within New Mayhem's defenses, or someone must have brought the witch with their mind. If there has been a way for New Mayhem's defenses to be breached by some magic of the witches, then we would have known of it by now. Which means that there is only one other conclusion.
I am not the only traitor.
Indeed, if the vampire were particularly strong, then it would be easy to bring a witch with the mind. Even easier if her blood was exposed, to help the vampire latch onto the witch and help the vampire with its own power. Our power comes from blood. If we are drained of power, we need more blood to sustain ourselves. There may be a spell that can be made that could combine the blood power of two different creatures to make the power far stronger than it normally would. Rachel's wounds had been open. At first, I thought she had been injured in a fight with another vampire. If I had thought with my head rather than my heart, I would have realized the defenses would not have let her come so close to the town.
But I hadn't thought with my head. I went with my heart and my affection for Alexander, and in the process I may have doomed countless numbers of my own kind.
