Epilogue
The seasons turned, summer gave way to a bleak autumn, and autumn shattered into the cold depths of winter. Snow and ice covered every inch of the valley around the Castle Belmont. Clouds rolled overhead in the black sky. Rubago walked Ruth to the edge of the forest on the castle grounds. They reached the tree line and stopped.
“What is it you wanted to talk about?” The witch asked.
Ruth pulled back her hood, her bright red eyes twinkling in the moonlight. “I’m leaving. I have to find Logan. I like being here at the castle Rubago, but…”
“Your heart is calling out for him.”
Ruth’s eyes dropped. “Yes. Is it stupid for me to feel this way? We were only together for a short time. I feel like I’m going crazy. Every waking minute my mind is focused on him. He’s a shifter for Christ sake… our kind aren’t even supposed to like each other.”
“These are strange times we live in Ruth Summers,” Rubago said. “We all walk destined paths, and yours is towing you to go back with Logan. There will be a reason behind it, there is a reason behind everything.”
Breath fluttered through the cold air as a warm jet of vapor. Rubago took Ruth in her arms and hugged her before pulling away.
“I didn’t have you down as a hugger.” Ruth laughed.
The witch shrugged, her lips curling into a sad smile. “Surviving in the valley isn’t easy Ruth. Make sure you find Logan as fast as you can. We know little of the new covens out in the forest, and they might be dangerous. Remember to stay clear of the Order too. They no longer have Azu’s Nephilim magic guiding them, but they are still dangerous. And Scarrow and his pack are still—”
“The forest is dangerous Rubago, I get it. I survived at the Keep, I can survive here. I hate to sneak off like this, but if Kat knew I was leaving…”
“She would never allow it.”
“Exactly. She’s got enough to worry about now she’s… you know…”
“Pregnant?”
Ruth’s face twisted into pain. “I don’t want her to feel like I’m abandoning her. But I have to find Logan, I can’t explain it. Waiting here in the castle, I feel as if I’m losing my mind.” A tear dropped down her cheek. “Kat will understand won’t she?”
The witch placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “She will. And there are plenty of people here to help Kat with her pregnancy. I’m sure you’ll be back before the birth.”
A steely nod came from Ruth. “I promise I will be, I just need to sort my brain out. Give her this.” She pulled a letter from her cloak and handed it to the witch.
“I will,” she said as she tucked it into her own cloak. “Was there anything else? You don’t need my help to sneak out of the castle. So I assume there’s something you wanted to tell me…”
Her hands looped under the hood of her cloak and unfastened something from her neck. She held the locket out to Rubago, and it glinted in the silver moonlight.
“Is this the locket you used to escape the Keep?”
“Yes. I’ve had it all this time. I want to give it to you. There might be a chance it’s useful to you. Also… I discovered something when I was at the keep. I didn’t know if it was important but Edmund explained the vampire origin story to me the other day…”
“Vladimir Vrakos?”
Rubago didn’t find it surprising. Edmund’s penchant for history had bloomed since he discovered the library at the Castle Belmont.
“Yes. Back when I was following Vangzali at the Keep, I saw her discover something. Apparently Ansel is the last remaining descendant of Vladimir Vrakos.”
Rubago’s mouth fell open.
“Does that mean anything to you?” Ruth asked.
“Yes. It does. It explains Ansel’s power to absorb strength. Vrakos had the same power. Vrakos disappeared centuries ago, but he's still alive out there somewhere, unable to die. He’s tried to end his own kind many times, but his direct descendants have always thwarted his efforts. They are the only ones strong enough to stop him, so he killed them all. He is out there somewhere, waiting for another chance to end everything.”
“Why?”
“So he can die I suspect. It explains why the Red Circle is working against the prophecy. He's involved with them somehow I'd bet. If Vrakos is the one trying to make the prophecy fail, and I now suspect that he is… Ansel might be the only one who can stop him.”
They said goodbye once more, and Ruth disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Rubago returned to her room in the castle. Others in the castle saw her room as a collection of chaos and mess, but Rubago had everything in its place as she wanted it.
She opened the door into the dim room and fog lifted from the floor, swirling through the blue fire flame behind it. Thick blankets of leaves and roots covered the walls and floors, ebbing away the hard corners of the stone and making the room look more like a jungle.
3Thick vines hung from the ceiling and traced across the stone floor, growing up and wrapping themselves around the posts of her bed. She climbed onto the bed and span her cards into the air.
The image of her hooded Queens appeared between the cards.
“What is it child?”
“Ansel Draco is the last remaining descendant of Vladimir Vrakos.”
Silence beat for a moment. “And?”
Rubago paused, thinking the news might have impressed her Queens more. “It’s related to the prophecy of the three. I thought you would want to know.”
“We already knew this child, as we know everything. Are the other daughters still lost?”
“We know the identity of the second. Ellie, a vampire hunter. A feral vampire called Wraith Belmont has taken her prisoner. I believe he’s destined to her.”
“Are they safe in the castle?”
“No. We are trying to track them down, but Wraith is elusive. He was shadow cursed in earlier life. I don’t believe he is all vampire anymore.”
“The prophecy is happy at the moment, but darkness will fall soon if progress falters. It's important that all the breeders return to the castle. She’ll be safe there with the other daughters.”
Daughters?
“Forgive me my queens, but there is only one other daughter in the castle at the moment.”
Silence beat again. “You are incorrect child. Two daughters reside in the castle. One is hiding, not wanting to be found. Look closer, time is running out.”
Rubago froze, and the cards dropped to the bed, the image of her Queens disappearing. She stood from the mattress and walked across the vine covered floor. Two daughters were in the castle? Claire was one for sure—but who was the other?
Kat was a breeder, but she definitely wasn’t one of the daughters of the prophecy. She had searched all the women in the castle for the spiral mark, and none of them had it. Her Queens had said the third daughter is hiding. But why? What purpose did that serve?
She sieved fingers through her frizzy black hair and stared at the wall ahead, willing for an answer to come.
Nothing came.
*
Jessica wished she could have her old lab back. The Belmonts had been nice enough in accommodating the prisoners from the York castle, and they’d provided them with a half decent laboratory, even if it was only a temporary set up.
“Just be glad they’ve gone to this trouble at all.” Eli said. “We’re very fortunate Eric will accommodate our research. We’re lucky their old doctor had this lab…”
She wasn’t complaining, but she missed their home at Castle York. The York family was scientifically minded, and Jessica had indulged in science in a young age, even if she was just a lowly servant. All the servants had access to state-of-the-art laboratory equipment for their servitude. They were close to achieving their goal of producing fully synthesized blood when their work was lost in the shifter attack on the Castle.
Wars, prophecies, destined mates. Jess didn’t have time for any of it, and her sole focus was to concentrate on their research. They were so close to finding an answer. She felt as if they were just weeks away from producing synthesized blood that could feed vampires.
Winter arrived at the castle, marking three months since their rescue. They were closer than ever to synthesizing blood, but the outdated equipment in the basement of the Castle Belmont was hampering their progress. Four other servants worked in the temporary lab alongside Jess, and the confines of their equipment was beginning to frustrate the others.
“I can’t handle this fucking lab any more! We need our old stuff back!” Peter hurled a metal tray of vials across the room in frustration, the tray clattering loudly as it scattered across the floor.
“Christ Peter!” Susan shouted. “Can you stop throwing shit around while we’re trying to work?!”
Jess sighed, pulled her glasses off and rubbed at her tired eyes. “Why don’t we all take an hour guys? We’ve been working non-stop for weeks. Let’s call it a day and come back tomorrow when we’re more awake.”
Clark was the oldest servant in the lab. He was the one in charge of their research though everyone always relied on Jess for the answers.
“Jess is right.” Clark said. “Pick your shit up Peter and stop acting like a teenage boy. We’ll call it a day and come back to this tomorrow.”
While Peter stormed about the lab cleaning up his mess, the others tied up their work for the day. Their research didn’t involve hazardous chemicals, but showering was still protocol upon entering and leaving the lab. The temporary space had two sets of showers which branched off from the main entrance, one for men, and one for women. Jess and Susan ducked into the women’s showers, while Clark and Peter went into the men’s.
After a much needed soak under hot water, Jess and Susan dried and changed.
“I’m making good progress with my cell stabilization.” Jess said, making idle conversation as they got ready. “The human cells we produced have always been unstable after a few hours, but by creating them under super chilled conditions—”
“Give it a rest Jess.” Susan said, sighing dramatically. “We’re off the clock! I’m not talking shop until tomorrow.”
“All right.” Jess said, flashing her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, we’re just so close. It’s exciting. It’s easy to understand Peter’s frustration.”
“Maybe we can speak with Mr. York about getting our old equipment back then?” Susan said. “You might persuade him.”
“Me?” Jess asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh come on Jess.” Susan pulled a pair of jeans up her legs and rolled her eyes. “Eli York has always loved you. Don’t you think it’s mysterious that he won’t drink from other servants?”
Jess shrugged. “He just likes how I taste.”
“I bet he does.”
Jess pulled her hair up into a bun, failing to catch her towel as it slipped to the floor. “Fuck!”
“Relax Jess, it’s just nudity. I don’t know why you’re so up tight about—Oh my God.”
Her hand clutched around the towel on the floor and she wrapped it around her back quickly. “What?”
“I’m sorry Jess but it’s just… your back. I’ve caught a glimpse of it before but… it’s covered in scars. Is that from…?” Susan walked over with her hand outstretched, but Jess pulled away.
“The shifter attack.” She answered quickly. “Yes.”
“I don’t remember you getting hurt during the attack?”
“It was before the main one. A few months before actually. A wolf got me bad. Eli saved me at the last minute.”
“Can I see?”
She nodded and pulled her towel down in hesitation to reveal her scarred back. Three pink lines ran down the middle of her back, scoring her white flesh forever.
“Christ. Those claws really fuck shit up.” Susan’s eyes traced the scars all the way to the bottom of Jess’s back, where they curved off to the left. “It got you good.”
“Yes.” Jess said, pulling her towel back up and tying it tight. “I lost a lot of blood, it was a horrific attack, I’m okay now though.” She pulled herself up straight and pushed the memory of the attack to the back of her mind. She turned to face an open mouthed Susan.
“Sorry.” She said. “I didn’t mean to make a big deal out of it.”
“It’s okay.” Jess laughed. “I survived didn’t I? Come on. Let’s get dressed and grab some food. I’m starving.”
As usual, Susan finished dressing first and went outside to wait for Jess with the others. With the changing room to herself, Jess was free to inspect the scars in the mirror. She stood in front of her reflection, turning and tracing the scar lines with her eyes. The wolf really had made a mess of her body, transforming her snow white skin into a checkerboard of red lines. Her eyes stopped at the small spot at the small of her back, where the wolf’s claws had removed all evidence of her secret, the one small silver lining she found in that attack.
She blinked and turned away from the mirror to finish getting dressed. Jess didn’t know what she made of all this prophecy business. Everyone in the castle was so preoccupied with finding these spiral marked girls, but Jess and her team had more important things at hand. They were so close to finally solving their research and aiding the vampire kind with something amazing—synthetic blood! Giving all of that up now to follow the whimsy of some stupid prophecy seemed plain moronic.
“Hurry about Jess, I’m starving!” Peter groaned as Jess finally emerged from the changing rooms.
“I’m ready! Let’s go!”
They left the basement laboratory and began the walk back upstairs to the main castle for dinner. Relieved that another day was over, her colleagues practically bounced their way upstairs, their warm chatter filling the corridors as they joked and laughed. Jess joined in with their good mood on the surface, but on the inside she was suffocating under the weight of her secret.
When that shifter attacked, its claws tore away all evidence of her true identity. The scars left behind on her skin perfectly removed the small spiral birthmark that had been at the bottom of her back. She’d had the mark since she was a child, but the attack a year ago removed it forever. When their research was done, she might considered revealing that secret to someone. She was the only one who knew the truth, and things would stay like that until she was ready to come clean.
Prophecy or not, Jess had work to do. She wasn't going to let one small spiral get in the way of that, even if she was the lost daughter.