Betrayed in Blood (Of Blood & Dreams #6)

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Colantha. Our little Debbie Downer.

Remus frowned. “I hope it won’t be a long journey.”

I was thinking the same thing. It already seemed like we’d been dealing with the book for months.

“That’s why we’re here.” Devon unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat at the bar. He waved to the others filing in to find a seat near the fireplace. “We have a solid team to close the gaps before we take our information to the Council.”

The cadre, Ginger, Lyra, and Decker found seats. Colantha’s vamps, always on guard, stood at the door. I assumed Remus’s guards were still outside the door. Once everyone was settled, Devon nodded to Sergi, who turned on the LCD display mounted over the fireplace.

“Other than Colantha, who’s now read the complete De f?rste dage and was able to put a draft translation together, there are a few of you who have read the first half. As we discovered when Lucas and Ginger brought a copy of it home, the book was written in two languages. The first is old vampiric, and Colantha has confirmed the second half of the book was Drakrotian, an ancient dreamwalker language that hasn’t been used since the purging of their race.

“The complete translation is still being finalized and should be available later this evening. Due to its sensitive nature and a promise made to Philipe Renaud, only one copy will be retained here in the manor. It will be made available to Remus first. In the meantime, Colantha has provided a few notes for us to discuss.”

He nodded at Colantha as Sergi tapped a key that brought up a large image of the dreamwalker medallion, which clearly displayed three images—the Blood Poppy, an ibis, and a dagger.

Colantha, who chose to sit in one of the armchairs near Devon rather than her typical spot on the sofa next to Lyra, smiled at the group. “The medallion that dreamwalkers wear was originally created to channel the power of our constructs. In the days before the Battle of Omar, the medallion reflected the sigils of the various tribes, of which there were seven main ones, with smaller tribes aligned with the larger ones. Not too dissimilar to vampire Houses. When a truce between species was created after the battle, these three images became symbols that reflected the symmetry and connection between our races.”

She nodded at Sergi, who moved to the next slide, which was a closeup of a flower. “The Blood Poppy has become so rare most vampires believe it to be a myth. It’s not.” She smiled at Remus. “I believe the one I gave to Devon is now in one of your labs.”

“We’ve been carefully studying it,” Remus answered. “At first, we ended up with more questions than answers. After Cressa was kind enough to supply a blood sample, we haven’t resolved those questions, but we’ve narrowed them down.”

Colantha nodded. “You should have more information to take back to your lab when you leave, but let’s move on for now. The Blood Poppy used to grow wild several millennia ago. As the earth warmed, the flower began its decline. It requires a cooler environment, and over time, human’s continuing damage to the ecosystem hasn’t been kind to it. As far as I know, there’s only one last remaining location where the Poppy grows wild, and it’s behind very secure borders. Over the centuries, both vampires and dreamwalkers worked toward finding a way to grow it in an artificial environment with slow progress. Today, that process has been well documented by dreamwalkers. The evidence was in the Blood Poppy I left for Devon.”

The few mumbles were a combination of disbelief and curiosity. The first word I thought of was hope. If the Blood Poppy was important enough to put on a medallion, then it made sense it was critical to both races. The ability to cultivate it had to be a good sign, regardless of the current animosity between the races.

Once the voices quieted, Colantha continued.

“The Poppy, like many other plants, has various uses. The roots themselves aren’t of much worth other than propagation. The leaves, small as they are, have some medicinal value and can be used in cooking, but the bulk of the possibilities come from the flower itself. We’ll come back to this again, but for now, I need you all to understand that for both races, the Blood Poppy was considered the ‘bringer of life.’”

“This is beginning to make sense based on our first lab results.” Remus sat forward in his chair, completely focused on the screen.

Colantha merely smiled. It was one of her looks that said we hadn’t gotten to the good stuff yet. “Let’s move on to the ibis.” The display changed to show the outline of the bird. “Some consider it a symbol of knowledge and wisdom. Some see it as a bridge between life and death, while others see it as a sign of rebirth. For our species, I, like many of our leaders, believed it to be a sign of fertility and the continuance of our species. This idea of fertility ties in with the properties of the Blood Poppy.”

“Are you saying the Blood Poppy has something to do with vampire fertility rates?” Bella had, as usual, left her seat some time ago to pace in front of the coffee bar.

This time, Colantha’s smile was all-knowing. “Not just something. It means everything to the life forces of both races.”

My mind instantly returned to Spain. Dreamwalkers living at Aramburu. A young generation of vampires being born with no fertility issues. Gregor had shuttered his House behind walls when the purge began. Had he held the single key to the future of vampires as well as the knowledge of it the entire time?

The mumblings in the room grew loud, and Devon let it run for a minute before yelling over it. “Quiet. We’ll delve into this more after Colantha finishes with the last image.”

When the group became silent, Sergi flipped the display to the dagger.

“This is the Dagger of Omar,” Colantha said.

Simone gasped. When I glanced over, her face had paled. “This is nothing more than a myth.” Her tone was one I’d never heard from her before. There was something surreal about it, like someone had explained the mysteries of the universe to her, and as much as she wanted to believe, her mind denied every word.

“No myth, but lost through the ages.” Colantha nodded to Sergi, who overlayed the image with a circle around the carving on the handle. “At first, it’s not readily recognizable, but on further inspection, you can see the outline of the letters V and D, which symbolizes the synchronicity between the two races. The dagger was forged after the battle to symbolize our new beginning, but there was no record as to when the blade disappeared.”

“And this is one of the most critical pieces to find.” Devon turned in his seat to face the room. “I don’t think it will prevent us from approaching the Council, but it would put, as the humans say, a bow on it. As Simone said, most believe it to be nothing more than a vampire fairy tale. Most don’t believe the Battle at Omar ever happened. But all of this is written in the De f?rste dage . Unfortunately, that piece is written in Drakrotian.”

“That seems convenient,” Remus said. “Why would they have written this book in two languages where each side has to trust the other in its meaning?”

“At the time the De f?rste dage was written,” Colantha answered first, “vampires and dreamwalkers understood both languages. No different than someone understanding both English and Spanish. Over the centuries, and specifically during the purge, the dreamwalker language began to disappear, mostly because it wasn’t used.”

“Like Latin?” I asked.

She nodded. “I have access to other ancient texts that are written in Drakrotian.” She turned to Lucas. “I believe you mentioned that Philipe and Fiona could develop a codex if they had other source material to work from.”

“Absolutely. They would be ecstatic to learn the language,” Lucas agreed.

“More like the culmination of their entire life’s work,” Ginger added.

“We can discuss how to make that happen.” Colantha turned to Devon. “In the meantime, everything I’ve covered is in the translation.”

“Let’s go back to the Blood Poppy.” Devon stood and leaned an elbow on the bar. “We’ve assumed that the Magic Poppy was created from the Blood Poppy, and if that’s true, then we know the Blood Poppy could be used to our detriment. However, as Colantha referenced, it also has properties that impact our race’s fertility. We need more testing to prove our claims. Remus currently has my blood, my blood in beast form, Cressa’s dreamwalker blood, and a Blood Poppy. With that and some additional testing, we can derive certain hypotheses. But we need more.”

He walked behind the bar to the mini-fridge and brought out a small package. It was the dry ice pack with the vials of blood we’d brought back from Aramburu. “I’ve already shared this information with the cadre and Colantha. I’m now sharing this with all of you under strict secrecy. Do I have your word this information won’t go any further than this room?”

Devon accepted everyone’s nod but seemed more concerned about Remus, who was one of the last to agree. He was probably running statistics through his head on how anything could be more secret than what had already been shared.

“Aramburu owns a great deal of land in Spain and, over a long span of time, has completely enclosed the majority of it behind walls. Within those walls is a thriving community of vampires and indigenous people. In addition, there’s also a surviving group of dreamwalkers.” Slight murmurs rippled through the group. “In addition, Gregor shared a more heavily guarded secret with me and Cressa. Their children. A group of vampire children of various ages. Young ones that were born well after the problems with our fertility issues. No one who has tried for a child has had any problems conceiving.”

“How is this possible?” Remus asked.

“Gregor never said, but based on a small incident with Cressa and the dreamwalkers, she was given a vial from the healer. The potion tasted like Colantha’s special juice used to increase the vitality of the dreamwalker psyche, specifically when creating constructs. After a quick discussion with her, we believe Gregor has access to Blood Poppies. We now have the ability to test that theory. Gregory was willing to provide us with three blood samples.” Devon tapped the package. “One vial is from the mother of a young vampire. The second sample is from her three-year-old son, and the third is from the vampire father.” He returned the package to the fridge. When he turned back to the group, his focus landed on Remus. “I’m giving the samples to Remus for his lab’s use in comparing these with the other tests they’ve already completed. Let’s put Colantha’s translation of the book to the test.”

Remus’s eyes glittered. “Yes. We have enough blood from the previous donations to perform additional testing.”

“Then let’s give you time with the translation. I’ve arranged a room for you. We’ll meet again for dinner. Lucas has created a schedule for the rest of you, and he’ll notify you once the translation is available. That’s all I have for now, but I’d like the cadre to meet back here after lunch.”

Everyone stood and mingled. Lucas handed what must be the full translation to Remus, who tucked it under his arm. The only one who didn’t stay to chat and made an exit as soon as the last words left Devon’s mouth was Simone.

Something Colantha said had bothered her. She never liked the dreamwalker hocus-pocus as she once referred to it. But she’d paled during Colantha’s overview of the symbols. The one thing I knew to be true of Simone was that she wouldn’t speak a word of what spooked her until she needed help. And help was something I’d never once heard her ask for.