JENNIE
Lisa toweled me off in silence. As if conjured by magic, she pulled a black dress on over my head and guided me into a pair of matching heels. she said nothing, her expression stony—though, to be fair, I wasn't inclined to ask too many questions.
Whatever this "enclave" might be, I suspected that its real purpose lacked any mystery in one context: This place was Raphael's lair. Somewhere beyond the club where the ancient creature held full sway.
And where Lisa did not.
I eyed my ring as she swept my wet hair back from my face to observe her handiwork. Satisfied, she took my hand and steered me from the bathroom. As we crossed the threshold of the bedroom and entered the unknown, she pulled me closer. Enough so that her bulk obscured my view of our surroundings. I could only make out a floor a milky shade of marble and blood-red walls accented in gold.
As blinded as I was, the trip through unseen corridors felt as disorienting as being led through a maze. While blindfolded. In the dark.
Eventually, the corridor must have expanded into a larger, more open space judging from how our every footstep echoed like a gunshot. My ears caught whispered conversations from unseen figures. When Lisa finally drew to a stop, she tugged me to stand beside her.
And when I finally scanned our surroundings unobstructed, my shock transformed my expression, impossible to contain.
We were standing in a throne room. One decorated in swaths of scarlet and gold. More disturbing frescos adorned the walls and high ceilings. Images of angels slaying demons and fiery portrayals of Heaven and Hell.
Like an angel himself, a lone figure was sitting upon a raised dais positioned with the commanding presence of a throne. Raphael. His shoulders draped with a scarlet cloak, he looked every bit as chilling as when I had seen him last. His skin was a thin sheet clinging to bluish veins, enhancing the hollow bones of his eternally beautiful face.
"Jennie Kim." His faint tenor slithered against my eardrums, conjuring imagery of death and decay. "I am pleased to find you safe and sound…as promised." His dark, lifeless eyes flickered toward Lisa. "You were wise to come to me, as well as to reveal such a miracle. Such…gifts must be guarded at all costs—"
"She is still under my protection," Lisa interjected. Her hand gripped mine tight, boldly conveying possession. "Barring whatever agreement may be between us."
"And what a marvelous job you've done." It was impossible to discern from Raphael's blank smile whether he meant the phrase as a genuine compliment or an admonishment.
The figures on the outskirts of the room collectively flinched, providing the answer. A threat.
"But I do not humor Mero and his toys like you have. Now do you realize the danger he represents? I warned you once when he chose to forsake this life. My Pranpriya, I warned you." His voice resonated more strongly. "You should have destroyed him along with his abominations. And yet you let him scurry in the shadows, protecting him even as he taunts you." Something that may have been genuine emotion made his eyes narrow a fraction. "It saddens me to see what you have become, old friend."
"You've always seen time as a commodity," Lisa replied, matching his detached tone. "You command thousands of years' worth of it. A lifetime at your disposal, yet that is all you choose to do with it: hoard."
"You mean without living?" Raphael issued a chilling, whispery laugh, his disdain for the concept palpable. "As Mero did. Back when you rightly chastised him for forgetting his true nature. Oh, how I wish I had been there. To help you command your senses without this pointless guilt." He shook his head, gazing expressionlessly at events far beyond this room. This century. "While I sit here now, you and I both know whose soul carries a deeper stain upon it. But ever since that day, you've tried to appease him, haven't you? Obeying his inane rules. Until now. Suddenly, you seem determined to consume everything dear Mero cherished. His little pawns. His Kims. Even his old pet… I know you've been trying to find her."
His eyes flickered with renewed interest as Lisa went rigid. "Has it truly come to this, my friend? Hunting a witch in the hopes that what? She could undo the curse she placed at his behest? Ignorance," he chided, clasping his pale hands over his lap. "Then again, so was the mere belief that saving dear Jennie from Mero's curse would be as simple as turning her. Did you think I didn't realize?" A cold sound trickled out of him, a soulless imitation of a laugh. "I knew from the moment you resisted Somi's attempts to sell her just what she meant to you. Your prize in Mero's game. I can only imagine her appeal."
His attention cut to me with the swiftness of a slicing blade, further scattering my thoughts. Turned? That word teased the fragile order of my psyche. I trembled, deciding to ignore it. Not now. I couldn't examine it now.
"I admit I was skeptical at first," Raphael continued. "When I heard of his curse. I should have anticipated its power, however. His little witch was a rare creature. Such arcane talents she possesses." He sighed, lifting his slender shoulders in defeat. "How I regret not claiming her for myself. You think you are the only one hunting for her? Perhaps the next time you come prostrate before me, I'll name her as my price."
"You want to berate me?" Lisa inquired, stepping forward. "Fine. But none of your anger concerns Jennie." She released my arm, her posture stone once more. Only her eyes reflected life, and I suspected that what little humanity remained in them was wasted on the glance she spared in my direction. "She needs rest. Let her go."
"So desperate to shield your true nature from her still, Pranpriya?" Raphael's lips twitched in amusement—but in the end, he nodded and raised his hand in a silent command. "You. Show Ms. Kim back to her quarters."
A slender figure stepped forward, his head bowed, his red hair gleaming.
"There." Turning to Lisa, Raphael murmured, "I assume this is agreeable with you?"
Lisa said nothing. But she didn't react when Dmitri appeared by my side and reached for my hand, either.
"As you wish," the vampire simpered with mock piety. Even before Raphael, he lost none of his coy amusement.
Lisa on the other hand…
When I looked back, my Devil no longer existed. A stranger was standing in her place—a tormented creature who answered to only one name.
"Well, Pranpriya," Raphael murmured. "What do you have to say for yourself now?"
Dmitri murmured into my ear, "Let us make our escape before the shouting begins, eh?"
Moving quickly, he guided me back to the room I'd woken up in.
"Do have a seat, my dear." He gestured to the bed but remained standing while I perched myself on the end of it.
I was too uneasy to care as he watched me, his eyes gleaming.
"You're shaking." He sounded positively pleased by that fact. "But try not to pout too much, my darling. While the men chat, we can hold a conversation of our own."
"What kind of conversation?" I eyed him sharply, an eyebrow raised.
"Ah, now, that is the question." His eyes glowed an ominous golden hue in the firelight. "You want answers, I presume. More than dear old Lisa has given you, yes? Not that I can blame her, of course," he admitted with a sigh. "This is such a very sore subject for her—"
"What do you want?" Even as I bristled in annoyance, I couldn't deny that he was right.
I wanted answers. But I also wasn't naïve enough to assume he'd give me anything for free. Something warned me that even his assistance during the aftermath of my poisoning had carried a price tag.
"You misunderstand me, my dear one." His smile did nothing to ease my suspicion. "I merely want to wheedle myself into your good graces."
Common sense told me to ignore anything he had to say. To wait for Lisa. To play my hand if I had to. But that same part of me warned that I could maintain my innocence for only so long…
"Who is Mero?" My lips felt dry. I had to drag my tongue along the bottom one.
"Mero?" Dmitri laughed. "That's the wrong question, my dear. The rather boring history between him and Lisa doesn't matter. Not a bit. What you really should be asking is where do you, and your child, fit into the grand scheme?"
"M-Me?" But I was well aware of my role—I was a liability to Lisa. A burden she had gone out of her way to bear. Her pawn requiring protection.
"Oh, but that's where you are wrong," Dmitri claimed as if reading my mind. "You need to go deeper than that. Right to the beginning. Ask yourself, do you know why only Lisa could feed from you, though I am well aware that is no longer the case? Why is it blood that sustains your current condition, as if to mock her very nature?"
My eyebrow rose. "How did you—"
"Rumors," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Answer the question."
I shrugged; the answer didn't seem to have the makings of a trap. "She said her venom made it so that only she could—"
"That is what she told you?" Barking out a harsh bit of laughter, Dmitri slapped his hand against his knee. "You can't fault that one for creativity, though I suppose it is true in some sense. But really, Jennie, use that critical mind of yours. Go deeper than that. What happened when another vampire fed on you? Someone other than Lisa?"
Someone like Raphael.
My throat went dry. "I…" Even as my voice failed, I knew that my horrified expression revealed the truth. I died.
"Lisa has never offered to turn another mortal," Dmitri murmured, his tone suddenly serious. "Never. Not once. Not even in her most…shall we say, her heyday as someone who made Raphael quake in his cape." He smirked at the memory. "I think, all along, you've already suspected as much," he added knowingly. "The real catalyst for your pregnancy. The blood you require, though you remain mortal still. Mero, I suspect, had counted on her breaking her one rule all along. For you. But it's corrupted you far beyond what poor Lisa intended. While not a vampire, you are…changed."
He eyed my belly. "You just haven't bothered to admit it to yourself. You know there's more to it, and I will tell you what—it is your bloodline. You Kims have been cursed for centuries. Everyone knows it. Especially Lisa. Before you, she has spent years ensuring that none dared feed from any of your kind. Did you know that? It's why the Grayne still exist—she lets them thrive, purely out of courtesy to Mero, the dear friend she betrayed."
"How?" I whispered. "How did she betray him?"
He waved his hand dismissively. "Oh darling, I'm sure you saw my beautiful opera. You are no fool."
I tried to picture the morbid performance and its grisly themes. A man had escaped those in his faction, only to have everything he'd fought for ripped away by someone she trusted.
"Mero was the first to crave another life," Dmitri said as though settling in for a long tale. "A different life from the hell he'd consigned his soul to. I suppose ruling hand in hand with the ruthless Pranpriya took its toll. Rather than trade in lives, he wanted to live. And he craved it so badly he found a cunning little witch talented enough to give him and his mortal lover the life he so desired. There were a few caveats, of course."
He lifted his hands in a makeshift scale, raising one while lowering the other. "A terrible price would be paid by both parties involved. I assume they considered it a worthy sacrifice however, in exchange for an abomination in every sense of the word. But then what happened, my dear?" He chuckled darkly when I flinched. "Come on. Continue the tale."
As he had taunted, his opera revealed the answer. The villain of the story had slaughtered a woman and her unborn child in the name of duty.
"Lisa killed her," I choked out in a whisper. "The woman. Didn't she?"
God, I wanted him to laugh, proving I'd been wrong.
"Yes," he said instead, displaying his fangs in full. "And in his grief, Mero founded the Grayne, utilizing your dear ancestor in the process. At his behest, his witch cursed your entire bloodline, though some might say 'protected.'" He scoffed. "Serving within the Grayne was a mere small part of the deal your ancestor made. Mero would protect every Kim to follow, just as long as a few descendants contributed to his lunatic cause. For years, he has maintained that bargain, always watching from the shadows. And in guilt, Lisa has kept even Raphael from destroying them. Though now I have to wonder if perhaps her motive all along was fear?"
He searched my face for any reaction. In the end, he sighed. "What better way to punish the person who stole everything you desired than to ensure that she too one day will dare to crave the same simple, honestly boring, wish? Love. A family. A reason to endure these wretched, lonely years. And then, were you such a man, you would get to rip it all away."
Pausing his story, Dmitri waited, as if expecting me to realize something. To feel something. I just felt numb.
"I see I may have to spell it out for you, dear." He inhaled sharply. "Lisa's always known that one of your kind might set Mero's devious revenge into motion, I suppose. And now…" He gestured toward my stomach. "Have you wondered why she has accepted your condition so easily? It isn't usual—I can tell you that. Or why she hasn't killed you, despite the obvious danger you pose? Why she can't even bear to face the truth by telling you the very things that I am now? Or why the one soul you care for more than her perhaps has vanished and she hasn't even offered to help you find her?" He leaned forward, and almost in a whisper, he declared, "You are her doom, Jennie Kim. Always have been. Always will be."
He stood and stretched his arms over his head in a mock yawn. "I will leave you to your rest," he said before exiting the room. Near the threshold, he paused long enough to add, "Pleasant dreams."