To Vanquish Darkness (Le Sombre #1)

Chapter 23

23

1836 NORTHERN NORMANDY, FRANCE

A malie closed the windows and the shutters with shaking hands. How had he found her a second time? Had he been watching or did she have terrible luck?

She slumped against the wall and pressed a hand to her chest when a knock sounded at the door. Henriette knew she was awake. She probably wanted to give her privacy. "Yes, come in."

A woman's tinkling laugh lifted in the hall. "I'd love to, but Theo keeps the door locked."

Amalie bristled. Who would be coming to her door at this hour? “Who is it?”

“Are you trapped in there like a scared little mouse?”

Amalie pushed off the wall. Theo was next door, wasn’t he? If someone tried to attack her in such close proximity, he’d hear her screams. Hopefully before she bled out. Regardless, her curiosity got the better of her.

She strode to the door and flung it open to find Clémentine on the other side.

"Not a scared little mouse." Clémentine smoothed the fabric clinging to her hips. She wore a black gown with straps like string over her shoulders and a deep “V” revealing the swell of her breasts. Her skin was creamy white and so smooth it looked like velvet. "Breakfast in the hall. Interested?"

This was what vampires wore to breakfast? Amalie's stomach grumbled despite eating what Henriette brought for her, then twisted as she parsed out Clémentine's meaning. Why would a vampire be inviting her to a meal?

Has he fed yet?

Amalie shivered. "I'm exhausted."

"I can see that." Clémentine put out a hand and her manicured nails scraped her skin as they tipped Amalie’s chin up. "Low blood sugar. Iron deficient. Your skin is sallow."

Amalie flinched and pulled away. "I’m fine." The assessment felt oddly personal, even though she was sure it was automatic. It was the same as her inspecting an apple.

Clémentine gave her a look, then pointed down the hall. "Lie to me and yourself if you want. I know better than you what your body needs." She turned and took a few steps, then looked back over her shoulder. "I've never seen any human challenge our males like you did on the roof. I don't think I've ever been so aroused."

Amalie’s mouth fell open, making Clémentine grin wider. She quickly recovered. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? I didn’t think your kind was interested in daylight.”

Clémentine stretched her arms like a cat. “Last night was raucous. I’m barely winding down.”

A party? Was that why Marx was out on the rooftop?

Clémentine spun and strode past Amalie, lifting her hand and rapping on Theo's door. "Theo, darling, if you think this charade will absolve you, you're fooling yourself!" She sighed, tossing her sleek hair over her shoulder. "It happens to all of us. We get this idea in our head that we could change things. Be something we're not. It's a stage . His is just lasting longer than most."

What charade? Theo hadn’t wanted to participate in Ren’s challenge any more than she had. Looking in Clémentine’s eyes, Amalie realized that wasn’t the show she was referring to. Amalie was still there in the castle. Alive.

A chill swept down Amalie’s spine. “Will the other humans be at breakfast?”

Clémentine shrugged, then stalked closer and leaned in. "Can you give him a message for me? Tell Theo that if you're only interested in pain, I can provide plenty of pleasure." She brushed her lips over Amalie's cheek, then hissed a breath through her teeth. "I’ve always been excellent at sharing.”

Amalie’s lungs burned as Clémentine turned and swayed down the hall.

The vampire lifted a slender arm into the air. “Don’t worry, doll. He’ll be thirsty soon enough! Then you’ll get plenty of attention.”

She needed air. Not the window. Where could she go without risking discovery? Without risking her life?

The castle walls seemed to draw closer, squeezing the air from the hallway. Amalie vaguely realized that her mind wasn’t functioning properly as she retraced her steps to the staircase and climbed to the roof. She knew it wasn’t safe, but in that moment, she simply didn’t care.

Let them discover her blood. Let them consume her, possess her. At least then she wouldn’t have to keep fighting everything .

As soon as the cool night air hit her face, she gulped it in and dropped to sit on the cool stone. She stared up at the last twinkling stars and the sliver of pale moon, buried in thoughts that layered through her mind like laminated dough. She couldn't pull one from the next without making a mess of the whole of it.

Vampires were evil. They were darkness. She pulled the words out and stretched them like toffee. What she'd seen since leaving Marcel and Olivie blurred the edges of her belief. Just as she'd slammed the stake down on Uncle Oren's desk, Theo had opened her eyes to a cold reality she wished she could forget like everything else in her history.

Vampires were prisoners. They were bound to their fate. Her blood had been created to meet their curse, to prevent human suffering.

And where had her people gone? Where were they now?

Those questions tilted her world on its axis, and the ground was still shifting beneath her.

Vampires were evil, and yet it was her bloodline who'd disappeared and allowed them to begin feeding on humans again. It was her own family that hid the truth of their past, who'd opted to live in shadow. Why?

A breeze whispered over her cheeks, making her skin prickle as the door to the stairs pushed outward. Amalie pushed to her feet, ready to bolt, but it was Theo who stepped onto the roof. He walked out into the sunlight, his eyes locking onto hers.

"Save your breath. I know. It's not safe for me to be wandering alone." Amalie had meant it to be a dig, but she was too tired to put any force behind her words.

"I thought it would take you longer." Theo's voice was soft. He lowered his head and crossed the roof to stand along the wall, far enough from her she still couldn't make out his face.

“For what?”

“To lose hope.”

Amalie tensed. “I haven’t lost hope.”

“And yet you sit up here as a willing sacrifice.”

She ground her teeth. “I only needed air.”

Theo huffed a laugh and scrubbed his hand over his jaw. "I didn't plan it this way.”

“What was your plan, then? How did you intend to lightly break it to me that my entire life has been a lie?”

Theo’s face was a mask. “I didn’t want it to hurt. I doubt there's much I can say to convince you of my intentions."

"Considering you stabbed your fangs into my neck, that’s true enough." Amalie turned to rest her arms on the wall, allowing the morning sun to kiss her cheeks.

Theo stepped up next to her, and Amalie’s nerves stood at attention. His scent was intoxicating in the sunlight. A swirl of toasted bread and lemon jam.

"I'd like to try."

Amalie blinked. It took her a minute to remember what they’d been talking about. When she did, she nearly laughed out loud, then bit the inside of her cheek. None of this was remotely funny, but the fact that Theo was working to change his image was almost ridiculous enough to be a joke.

Theo ran his hand over the stone, and the sound made her shiver. "I told you vampires hunt your blood. It’s been like that since the beginning. Guardian blood is most desirable, and since your kind went underground, vampires have longed for it. When I had proof it existed, I needed to keep it safe. I knew what would happen if your secret got out."

When I knew it existed. Amalie's chest tightened. It . That’s all she was to them. A resource they wanted to deplete. It shouldn’t have hurt, but it did.

The flashes she’d seen in her mind’s eye showed that she’d been a captive before. Was that why guardians left? Were they sick of being kept like birds in cages?

Amalie wanted to dig into how exactly Theo knew she existed. He said he’d scented her blood, but he’d been watching before then. Waiting. Had the death of her mother been the cost of that discovery?

It was then that a thought hit her like the gong of a church bell.

"She couldn't die." Amalie spun to Theo, wincing at the rising sun. "If you bit her and fed, she wouldn't have died because she has guardian blood." But she'd seen her mother's lifeless body. She'd pressed her fingers to her colorless cheeks.

"She couldn’t have died by feeding alone."

"Then how?”

Theo’s face hardened as he watched the sea. “I don’t have the answers you seek.”

He was there. He’d been there as her mother died. He had to know something. “Why are you doing this? Why when I ask questions do you close off? Have I not shown that I’m working to find this relic? Have I not proven?—”

“There’s nothing to prove.” Theo pushed back from the wall and motioned to the door leading to the stairs.

Amalie glared at him, her whole body beginning to shake. She’d seen him there—memorized the planes of his face. How could he say that this was the end of it? “I saw you there when she died. Did you know her? Did you meet with her at night? My uncle said she was breaking the rules, and I need to know?—”

“I made sure you were safe. I made a promise, and I fulfilled it to the best of my ability.”

“She wasn’t safe!” Amalie growled in frustration, turning away from him and blinking back tears. She’d lost her mother when she was barely old enough to remember her. Theo had watched her. Had seen her going about her daily life while Amalie had been distracted by childhood.

Her death was a tragedy. Her mother had been happy. She'd laughed and played with them in the stream that summer. She'd worked in the gardens and sat with them at the dinner table. She'd saved enough money for them to start fresh in the city after harvest, and . . .

She was in love.

Rachel had plucked flowers from the garden one evening after Amalie and Bethany helped pick blackberries. Amalie's arms stung where thorns scratched her skin as she'd reached between the canes for the berries, but she hadn't wanted to interrupt her mother's humming. That night, as Amalie and Bethany were tucked into bed, her mother whispered, "There's someone I want you two to meet. This Sunday. At sunset by the water. Something to look forward to." Then she'd kissed them on the cheek.

Her mother died that Sunday afternoon.

At the edge of the woods.

Uncle Oren's words came back to her. She didn't keep the rules. She went out after dark and spoke to a man she did not know.

A lump formed in Amalie's throat. She needed to be crystal clear. "The man my mother spoke to after dark. Was it you?" Something pinched deep in her gut.

"No." Theo’s voice was close. She turned, and found him there in front of her. His fingers brushed her elbow, then disappeared as quickly as they'd come. “I wasn’t there watching. I couldn’t be.”

“Why not?”

Theo’s eyes turned cold again, hardening like stone. “The more I pay attention to things, the more other vampires pay attention to things.”

“Is that true of all vampires? Or only you?” she asked. Theo didn’t answer. “Why do they pay attention to you?”

Again, he remained silent. Amalie pressed a finger into his chest. “The only reason I can think of for you to clam up when I ask these questions is that there’s something you’re hiding. I just can’t figure out what.”

“You’ll have to inform me when you come to it.”

Anger flared in her chest. “Perhaps you didn’t kill my mother like you say, but I saw her blood on your hands. Maybe you’re only opportunistic.”

Theo’s jaw twitched. "I was there because I smelled her blood. Because my throat burned and I was driven mad, is that what you want to hear?"

Amalie’s mouth grew dry. "If it's the truth."

"You've already decided what the truth is. So you tell me why I was there. You tell me why I can’t go anywhere without someone watching. Please, Amalie, tell me why I waited forty years to have the pleasure of arguing with you at sunrise. It will be much faster and easier that way."

“Only forty? That’s like a split second for you,” she snapped, but her mind was spinning. Theo had waited for her? She suddenly recalled the first flash she’d seen of him. His hands had been on her waist. His lips?—

Amalie straightened even though her body still felt like it was being dragged down by anchors. "I'm so sick of arguing with you, I could scream."

Theo turned his head. "Then do it."

"I'm too tired."

He huffed a breath. "Hungry, too?"

Amalie pursed her lips. "I'll survive."

"I believe you were invited to breakfast."

She planted a smile on her face. "Everything I've ever dreamed of. Cracking into an egg in a sea of vampires telling me ‘don’t worry, doll. He’ll be thirsty soon enough.’"

Theo laughed out loud. “Is that what she said?”

“Word for word.”

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

Amalie hadn’t meant to gawk, but she didn’t catch herself in time. Even leaning over, he was a head taller than she was. It gave her a perfect view of his mouth.

Theo blew out a breath. "Breakfast would most likely be vegetarian."

Amalie blinked. "You're joking."

His laugh was rich and low. "We can't eat like humans, but Etienne enjoys cooking like them. Especially when there’s company."

Despite the sun on her cheeks, Amalie felt cold. Were the others still alive? She drew a breath and steadied herself with a hand on the wall. She needed to lie down. Needed to sleep.

Theo gripped her shoulders, and Amalie felt a jolt of energy run from her head to her toes. He spun her toward the door.

She tried to pull away, her muscles didn’t obey. His hands were gentle as he led her to the stairs. At least he wasn't picking her up again. It was a small win, and she was going to take it.

By the time they reached their quarters, Amalie was barely able to walk on her own. "I still hate you." Amalie stifled a yawn as Theo stopped in front of her door.

"I know."

"The fact that you allowed me to kill you doesn't change that."

"Very aware." Theo dropped his arm, and Amalie reached for the knob. She turned it, then noticed that Theo was heading in the opposite direction of his room, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"You're not sleeping?"

He slowed, then stopped, turning back. In less garish lighting, the circles under his eyes were more obvious. He looked exhausted. He?—

Amalie froze. Has he fed yet? “Where are you going, Theo?”

Theo scrubbed a hand over his jaw. "I’ll come for you when?—"

"Theo, stop." Her pulse quickened. “Wherever you’re going. Don’t.” She didn't know how often vampires had to feed, but he’d been there at the castle for at least twenty-four hours, and she’d seen his blood on the stone. His body had been through enough to hasten the process.

She hated where her head was going, but she couldn’t stop it. The idea of her allowing any other human to be attacked—to die. It was unthinkable.

"Drink from me," she said in a rush, and Theo stilled. "If you drink from anyone else?—"

Theo blurred and appeared in front of her, his finger on her lips. He shook his head slowly, then glanced down the hall and pulled her into his room.