Cadence of truth, p.43
Cadence of Truth, page 43
Luke’s mouth falls open at the sight of Uriel whose hair is glowing, and Leia leaps out of her chair and heads straight for Michael.
“I want to tell him,” she says.
“Tell him what?”
“All of it. I want him to know.”
Michael and Uriel share a look, then Uriel shrugs. “It’s her call.”
Luke’s frown deepens when Michael holds Leia by the shoulders and says, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, but I’m blaming you for his scorched ceiling.”
Michael chuckles. “Do you want me to stay?”
She shakes her head. “No, but I’ll call you back if he needs convincing.”
Once Uriel and Michael leave, I ask, “Do you want me to go?”
Leia grabs my hand, eyes panicked. “No. No, I definitely need you here.” She pulls me to the other side of the room and whispers, “What if he thinks I’m a monster?”
“He won’t.”
“Leia, what’s going on? I… I remember I was shot.”
I tug Leia back to our chairs. “You were.”
“But you’re better now,” Leia assures him.
“Better how?”
Leia looks at me. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“The battle?” I suggest.
“Battle?” Luke’s face is screeching, but his voice is still small and raw. “You said archangels and… and châteaus and lace. And what things want you dead?”
“Those guys who were just here are archangels,” Leia begins. “Michael is Magnus’ dad, Archer’s grandad, Vi’s great-grandad.”
Luke snorts, then laughs, then snorts again, his eyes flicking between the two of us.
“Not a joke,” I say.
“He said he was your uncle.”
“He didn’t think you’d believe great-grandfather.”
“So, did they heal me?” His gaze bounces erratically back and forth between us. “Is that what happened?”
Leia presses her lips together and shakes her head. “That was me.”
“You?”
“You remember when Mum went to the Seychelles, and I stayed with Vi for half term?” She waits for Luke to nod. “There was a battle, and Vi’s family was attacked. I hid in the cellar with the babies but—”
Luke looks at me. “Who attacked you?”
“A demon.” I judge his reaction—sceptical with a side of curiosity—before continuing. “And a coven of vampires.”
“What?” he wheezes. “A… what?”
“Vampires,” I say. “Like Albert.”
“Oh, Jesus.” He smacks his face with both hands, dragging his cheeks down so his eyeballs pop. “Albert, your ex-boyfriend, Albert?”
“He’s not my ex anymore.”
“You’re back together? Is he cold?” Luke’s eyes widen, and I just stare at him. “His skin, is it cold? How does it all work? Is he… how old is he?”
“Yes, we’re back together. No, he’s not cold. And his age is none of your business, which he’ll tell you himself if you’re rude enough to ask.”
He looks at Leia. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this. Do you think they’d let me study them, you know, for science?”
Leia folds her arms. “They’re not bugs.”
“That’s not… that’s not even… pfft.” His expression is earnest when he says, “Can I examine you, Vi?”
I laugh even though he’s horrific and I want to punch him.
Leia gasps out an emphatic, “NO!” Then, “Drink this.” She hands him a glass of water. “Don’t you dare embarrass me at dinner.”
Luke ignores this. To me, he says, “Are you… you know, built different?”
Leia slaps his arm.
“What? You said at dinner. Vi doesn’t mind.”
“I do mind. What, you think I’ve got gills or something? We run a little tall. That’s it.”
“A little? Archer’s an orc.” He lets out a wheezy laugh. “Don’t tell him I said that.”
“He’s rather more gorgeous than an orc,” Leia says.
Luke grins. “I can’t believe this. So, you’re like an eighth angel? That’s…” He blows out a breath.
“Not an eighth, no. My dad is a nephilim, and so was Magnus’ mum. And then somewhere far back along her line is… um, Lucifer.”
Luke chokes on his water, and Leia shoves him forward to thump his back harder than is strictly necessary.
“I need to examine you all,” he whines. “And stop thumping me. I just got shot.”
“You’re fine now. You have a tiny scar because my initial attempt to heal you was aborted when I got shot.”
Luke goes an extra shade of white. “You got shot? Why didn’t you say?”
“I tried, but you haven’t stopped being all creepity Burke and Hare since you woke up.”
“Fair enough. Continue.” The after-you hand gesture frays the edges of Leia’s sisterly love.
“On the night of the battle, the coven smoked us out of the cellar. I was held hostage with one of the babies. They…” Leia looks up at me and shakes her head. “I can’t.”
I squeeze her hand. “You can. I’d tell him for you, but you don’t need me to protect you anymore, remember?”
She fiddles with the doily on the bedside table. “Lilith… She's a demon. She bit me and possessed me and tried to dilute my blood with vampire blood.”
Luke opens his mouth, and I shush him.
“Violet banished her, and Archer pulled me out of Lilith’s body, but I was dying… or becoming a vampire. Nobody’s really sure. Then a phoenix flew out of the tree that spawned Lilith, and it… it sacrificed itself to heal me.”
Luke scratches his head. “A phoenix?”
“Yes, a bloody phoenix. Do you want to hear this story or not?”
Luke nods, his eyes wide like a kid being told a bedtime story.
Leia huffs. “Right, so the phoenix healed me.”
“Why?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“Because Leia was brave and selfless,” I tell him. “She was willing to sacrifice herself to tear Lilith apart from the inside, to save the world from her evilness and fishing wire hair. And the swivelling head thing she does, because the world definitely doesn’t need any of that.”
Luke stares at his sister in awe. “You saved the world?”
I smile at my best friend. “Yeah, she did.”
“So, that’s why you’re not a vampire, or… God, you could’ve died.” His eyes are red and itchy. “Violet, you’re supposed to be her best friend.”
Leia gently rubs his arm. “None of it was Violet’s fault. Or Archer’s. And I’m not done yet. The phoenix is the reason I can heal, among other things, but it couldn’t cure me of vampirism entirely. I’m what’s known as a vae hybrid. I’m a vaenix. Part phoenix, part vampire.”
“This must be bollocks. I’m dreaming, aren’t I? This is… How could you be a vampire all this time and I didn’t notice?”
“Not a vampire. A vaenix. Yes, I have wings. Yes, I can fly. Yes, when I was new to this, my head would randomly catch fire, hence all the flaming noggin references.” We both watch Luke while that penny drops. “Yes, it was me who burnt your bedroom ceiling, among many other things. Yes, I really can heal. Yes, it’s tiring. And yes, sometimes I need blood, but only if I’ve worn myself out fixing people.”
Luke is silent for several minutes. “All these years I’ve been studying medicine, and all you had to do was almost die, then save the world to become a magical healer.” He stares up at the ceiling with a grin. “Who do I have to get bitten by to make glorious musical theatre costumes with just the power of my mind? That’ll teach you for stealing my thunder.”
“You don’t think I’m… disgusting?”
He taps his chin. “I’ve seen you eat an actual mud pie and thread hula hoops into your hair. Disgusting is already part of your brand.”
“I just… I don’t want you thinking I’m some kind of monster now.”
“Come here.” He pats the bed, wrapping his arms around her when she sits next to him. “You’re my sister. I’d love you if you were a troll. And I’m sorry, Vi. I know you love her too. I didn’t mean to be a dick.”
“It’s alright. I’ll leave you to it.”
As I pull the door closed, Luke says, “I say if you were a troll.” Then, “Ow!”
38
Is He a Vet?
I lean against the crenellated battlements on the roof, my chin resting on my pillowed arms. Now I know I’m in France, I’m not sure how I believed the château was anywhere else.
The manicured landscape rolls away from me, uniform waves of wild lavender spreading east, regiments of sunflowers saluting the cloud fleet drifting overhead to the south. The surrounding fields are greener, browner, yellower. A road runs horizontally through a blindingly yellow field to the west, perfect forest-green trees dotted along it, some stretched tall like elongated flames, some squatting, smooth and round. Grapevines combed with giant fingers smother the rolling slopes to the north as far as I can see. Every distant building, in whatever direction I look, wears a little conical hat for a roof. It’s everything I thought France should look like when it’s not in Paris.
The urge to just step off the battlements and fly to the ground is strong, so that’s what I do. There’s nobody to see but the goats. They were moved from the priory to the barn on the east side of the château when the library was packed up. Luckily, the barn comes with its own goat-proof play garden. Uriel’s confident it’s even Lucy-proof, and that goat has been known to operate door handles, remove beer bottle caps, and possibly use a can opener. Archer is already taking bets on how long it will take her to escape.
I sit on a bench near the stables, breathing in the lavender and hay scented air, a soft, warm breeze tickling my neck. Maybe Albert would like to live in France again one day.
A yellowish haze settles above the stables, where Michael’s wonder-horse is having a conversation with himself. The other three horses look resolutely in the opposite direction—How dare this intruder have six legs? A potentially lost cow grazes a few metres away, tail flicking lazily in the late afternoon heat.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.” Leia drops onto the bench from nowhere. “About staying here.”
“And?”
“You’re right. It’s safest, and you’re all my favourite people, so… I’m not really sure what I thought I was fighting against.”
“Good. How’s Luke taking things?”
“Too well. I think he might be in shock.”
“Do you want Magnus to have a look at him? He’s good with auras and stuff.”
Leia smiles. “Yeah, I’ll ask. What did you think of Luke’s car?”
“You weren’t wrong. It’s a total shit heap, but I’d still take that over the abomination Caleb drives.”
She laughs. “Luke let me drive it, but it was like driving a hammer drill. I don’t think I’ll bother with my own car yet.”
“We definitely have classier ways to travel.”
Leia’s eyes are all misty, and she opens her mouth to speak, but only a puff of air comes out.
“What?” I ask her. “Why are you looking at me funny?”
“You look so… settled. Happy, you know? And it makes me think about what you were like before, and I’m so glad you got this lucky.”
“Admit it, you felt sorry for me.”
“I didn’t want to be your friend because I felt sorry for you.” She rolls her eyes. “I wanted to be your friend because you carried that tiny, little boy across the playground, do you remember?”
“No.”
“Yeah, he was a dinky thing. So dinky even I noticed. You put him on the bench and held his hand to take his mind off his bruises.” She must feel the spiky horror erupting from my skin because she adds, “Also, you told Heidi Conway you’d rip her plaits off if she kept poking me with her pencil. You were my hero.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I remember her. Horrible kid. Where do kids even learn to be that nasty?”
“So… why did you think I felt sorry for you?”
“Because I didn’t have anything, and I always thought I was invisible from the outside… like there was nothing to see. Yeah, I know I’m noisy.” I smile at my knees. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re staying. I don’t want you thinking I didn’t care before because I did, but all this stuff… getting shot, the powers, the war we all know is coming…It’s made me feel protective of you.”
“You’ve always been protective of me.”
“Yeah, but more. Like you’re my firstborn or something. And I feel like I’ve only just realised you’ve always been protective of me as well. Like I filtered it as pity at first instead of you just wanting me to be happy, and I know you tried to make me happy all by yourself, and I never said thank you. You looked after me… filled my holes.”
“You don’t have to thank me for being your friend, Vi. That’s totally my pleasure, and yours also because I’m amazing. And you’re lucky Seth and Caleb didn’t hear you talk about filling your holes. A teed-up innuendo is a gift.”
I huff. “I’m baring my soul over here.”
“It’s a beautiful soul, Vi. Always has been.”
She hugs me then pulls away quickly like she always does, making the hug brief for my comfort, but I wish she’d held on a bit longer because I definitely have tears seeping from beneath my sunglasses when she pulls away. Luckily, I already trained her not to notice these things when I don’t want her to.
“It’s so weird having a job like this. Working for Cascade,” I say. “I never really thought about the future, or what I wanted to be. There was always just this expiry date looming when I’d have to leave Pandora’s… when I’d have to switch to extreme survival mode.” I laugh. “I mean, I think this life qualifies as extreme survival, but I didn’t really see any other choice back then. I never really had a dream of what I wanted to do when I grew up… not like you. It felt self-indulgent to dream… and reckless, because who the hell was I to have dreams come true?”
“You can have dreams now, Vi.”
I shake my head because a war is coming. “Not yet.”
When we get back inside, Glenda’s in the kitchen introducing Milo to the fine art and deep satisfaction of extreme coupon collecting while the twins magically double his food rations to help feed the hordes.
We continue to the drawing room, where several mortified, or bemused, or hysterical faces watch a baffled one. Leia groans.
Luke is out of bed.
Leia drags Luke from the room tripping over her own apologies. She swats him repeatedly around the head, then pulls the door shut behind her. Caleb is the first to laugh, then surprisingly, Gabriel.
“He asked if he could examine my feathers, Violet,” Uriel gasps. “As if I were a bloody African Grey.”
Albert is red and silent behind all that hair and his epic beard, but he’s not looking at me. Or anyone.
“He’s a medical student,” I say, hoping it will serve as a decent explanation because I’m more worried about Albert.
“Oh.” Uriel grimaces. “For a horrible moment, I thought he was an actual vet.”
“He asked if he could examine me too.” I don’t miss Albert's glance when I say it. “He’s just enthusiastic and clueless. He has almost no filter.”
“When he asked how you fly and started flapping his arms,” Caleb blusters, glancing at Uriel. “That was classic.”
That’s when I notice what he’s eating. “Caleb, is that… salad?”
He brings a chunk of pineapple to his lips, swerving the fork into Uriel’s mouth instead.
“Milo’s got him on fruit and vegetables,” Cedar informs me, like Caleb is a fussy toddler.
Caleb smirks while he chews on something green. “Even I can’t live on a diet of cereal, Agatha Christie, and appalling decisions forever.”
“Don’t forget bacon,” Cedar reminds him.
“And baby food on toast,” I add.
Cedar looks at Caleb in disgust. “That’s repulsive.”
“Hey, are you alright?” I whisper, sitting on Albert’s lap.
He clears his throat. “Fine.”
“Did Luke say something to you?”
I scuttle sideways, bouncing off the back of the sofa when Albert abruptly stands, leaving the room so quickly I’m barely upright when the door closes behind him. I can’t decide if I should follow him or not. Only Zach notices the scuffle, and he follows me into the hallway, but Albert is long-gone.
“What happened?” I whisper, reaching up to smooth out the divots between Zach’s eyebrows.
He gives me an exasperated look and removes my hand from his face. “I’m not exactly sure. He was fine earlier. Then Leia’s brother arrived with his incessant questions, and Albert just seemed to get more and more angry.”
“What sort of questions?”
“I couldn’t hear, but Luke seemed to anticipate a response. He was eager, and didn’t really tap into Albert’s mood at first, though how he could be so oblivious for so long, I don’t know.”
“How long was Luke down here?”
“Barely ten minutes.”
“Do you think I should go after him?” Uncertainty squirms its way into my belly. “He didn’t want to talk just now, and I don’t want to force it.”
“He had such an extreme reaction. Has he met Luke before?”
“Oh.” Oh, shit.
“Oh, what?”
“Luke and I kissed once. Back when Albert and I were still figuring things out. He rejected me, so I went off and kissed Luke. But it was ages ago. Why would it bother him now?”
“How has he been since he got back?” Zach asks.
“Quieter than usual. Doesn’t seem to eat much. Proper food, I mean. And he keeps falling asleep, but that’s normal, right?” Do I tell him about the nightmares? Vampires aren’t meant to dream, but something keeps waking Albert in a panic. I don’t tell him Albert’s not keen on anything more physical than hugs and kisses either. “Things have been so frantic and up in the air since he got back, I figured he was still finding his feet.”
