Chapter Thirty

ELEIRA

April and I are awakened after less than six hours of sleep by a loud knocking on the door.

“I’ll give you five minutes to get dressed,” Raul calls from the other side. “And then I’m coming in.”

She and I both scramble into our respective clothes. I put on another ridiculous dress. She gets into the peasant garb.

Raul sweeps into the room. It’s the first time I’ve seen him in days, and my breath catches at his crisp outfit. He looks stunningly handsome and very sharp.

But he doesn’t so much as glance at me. Instead, he speaks to the air. “Both of you will accompany me down to the town square,” he says. “You will not speak to anyone unless given explicit permission by me. Eleira, I know you won’t have any problems with that. April—you might. Lots of people down there know who you are. They’ve been wondering about you. Unless you want to lose your place as Eleira’s favorite, and at the same time forsake my Mother’s protection, you will keep your mouth shut. Understand?”

April nods.

“Hold on,” I say. “You’re not telling us anything. Why are we going down there, what’s happening?”

He glances at me, and I can’t help but suck a sharp little breath in. For a moment, I thought I glimpsed actual fear in his eyes.

“Nothing,” he says finally. “Nothing you should worry over. It’s just a formality. Nothing more.”

His words remind me so much of what Phillip said last night that they all but confirm there’s a secret the two brothers are keeping from me.

***

It feels ridiculously good to be let go out into nature again. But the feeling evaporates as soon as I hear and see the anxious crowd of humans buzzing in front of me.

They are gathered around a large bonfire that blazes far above their heads. Murmurs and whispers abound. As Raul leads us to them, a nasty feeling of apprehension floats up in my gut.

“Psst,” I whisper to April. “Hey, do you know what this is?”

She casts a look at Raul to see if he objects to us talking before nodding and saying, “Yeah. It’s the draft.”

“Draft? Draft for what?”

“Draft for the lottery, for The Hunt,” she says. “They have us put our names in now, then draw them the night before.”

“But we just had a full moon,” I say. “Why are they doing it so early?”

“I don’t know.” April sounds concerned. “Usually it’s a week before.”

Raul glances back. “Silence!” he commands.

April and I shut our mouths.

When we walk through the villagers, a way parts for us. I hear their whispers. They’re just as confused and concerned by the early gathering as April.

My stomach sinks when we stop, and I see the Queen standing triumphantly before the fire. Our eyes meet. She winks.

She addresses the crowd. “Welcome, welcome, citizens of The Haven. You know why we’re gathered today. It’s time for you to enter your names in the upcoming lottery!”

On her announcement, the fire behind her flares and roars.

Raul’s shoulders stiffen.

“You all know the procedure,” The Queen continues. “You’ll be given a clay token by my guards.” She motions them forward. Two vampires start distributing the coin-sized tokens from leather pouches. “Upon which you will press your thumb, thus marking it as your own. Remember, any who are caught cheating will instantly be sacrificed to the fire.” She laughs in delight. “And you are all being watched, so don’t think you’re protecting a loved one by standing in for them.”

The guard passes and gives me a token without looking. I cradle it in my palm.

“Does everybody have their token? Yes? Good! We will begin, oh…” she scans the crowd, and points at an elderly woman at random. “With you!”

A space instantly clears around the human, leaving her entirely on her own.

Nobody protects anybody here, I think. Are they all so cowed?

I watch as she approaches the fire. She walks by The Queen, who leans over and embraces her like an old friend. “What is your name?” she asks.

“S-Sally,” the woman answers.

“Well, Sally,” Morgan smiles. “I sincerely hope the fire does not select you.” I’ve never heard a more false proclamation in my life. “Now go on.”

The gray-haired woman nods, unsteadily, and moves closer to the flames. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, mutters a prayer… and throws the token in.

A horrible hissing sound comes when the token drops into the bonfire. A single dark, black wisp of smoke rises from where it fell.

“And it is done!” Morgan announced grandly. “You’re free to go.” She looks around the crowd. “Who’s next?”

And so the ceremony continues. Each of the humans is herded to the front one-by-one. Each is given some assurance by the Queen. Then each throws their token in.

The fire takes it and spits out a black stream of smoke every single time.

Eventually it falls on me and April. The Queen looks at us, standing together. Half the crowd has already dispersed.

April starts to approach, but I pull her back. “Let me go first,” I say.

She hesitates, then nods. “Okay.”

Morgan fixes me with a horribly predatory look. I keep my back straight and walk toward her with dignity equal to hers.

“Good luck,” she whispers as I pass.

I stop in front of the fire. I press my thumb deep into the soft underside of the token and see the mark it leaves. Then, with a quick jerk, I toss it in.

The flames cackle and hiss around it, as if the token was blown in by a great gale. For a moment the fire seems to resist touching the stone.

And then with a giant roar the flames sweep overtop, with all the anger of a tidal wave. My token burns.

But instead of giving out a black stream of smoke, this one is a hideous blue.

Gasps come from the crowd behind me. Even the Queen sucks in a breath.

“This one is cursed!” someone exclaims.

Commotion erupts all around me. Before I know what is happening, my arms are seized by the two guards. Angry screams come from the humans.

“Burn her!”

“She’s a witch!”

“Destroy her before she can ruin us!”

They’re all rallying against me, and I’ve never seen them joined in one cause before. I struggle and cry out and try to break free from the guards. But they are vampires, their strength is extraordinary, and I don’t accomplish much.

The blue stream continues to billow out from the fire, filling the air with a poisonous smog.

“Unhand her!” Raul’s voice is clear from the rest. “Don’t you know who she is? Let her go!”

The guards spin me around in time for me to see Raul trying to fight through toward me. He’s being restrained by the rest of the Queen’s personal guards. Morgan stands a safe distance away, taking it all in.

“Did you not hear me?” Raul cries out. “I said, release her!”

The villagers beyond him continue to call for my head. Somebody grabs April and pushes her forward, then shoves her down. “She’s with her!” the man who did it exclaims.

My head swivels back and forth. I can’t make sense of any of it—except that something has gone wrong. Very, very wrong.

Finally the vile cries reach such a crescendo that they force Morgan to act. She throws both hands up. “Order!” she calls. “Your Queen demands order!”

She’s ignored by the roiling, angry mass.

“I said, ORDER!” she exclaims. She emphasizes the command by clapping her hands together overhead. Sound like thunder crashing comes from her palms.

That sends the crowd into silence. “Well.” She throws her head back, trying to regain her regal air. “That was… unexpected. A blue flame comes once every dozen years. If not less.”

“It was a set up!” Raul yells. “You knew what you were doing. You set her up!”

Morgan glances at her son. She scoffs. “Please. Don’t accuse me so baselessly.”

The humans hang on the interaction between the vampires with bated breath.

“You knew this would happen,” Raul growls. “It is why you insisted on bringing her!”

“No,” the Queen says. “I insisted on bringing her, after your riveting speech in the courtroom about following the letter of the law. Well,” she shrugs. “This was it.”

I can’t take it anymore. “Can somebody tell me what’s happening!” I scream.

The Queen’s head jerks to me. “Of course.” She manages to smile. “Your token flared blue. It means on the night of the next Hunt… you will be the only prey.”