Three months ago
“You’ve tamed a magnificent beast, Leviathan,” the goddess had said, so long ago. “And a clever one. Do as you please but heed my warning. If the creature inside you stirs, you would do well to listen to it.”
Levi had been a wild thing in his youth. Passionate about right and wrong, ready to right wrongs and fight for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves.
Then, he’d grown up. Realized that fangs, claws, and the monsters of the deep sea couldn’t solve a thing. And he’d used his skills another way. His mind was superior to most immortals, and he bent it toward finding cures to the most devastating illnesses, inventing devices that saved lives. He was a scientist, and proud of it.
Fifteen hundred years had passed since Ariadne had said those words to him, and not once had he needed to listen to her advice.
Until that night.
The beast was rushing to the surface, desperate to be freed.
Levi let it run. All night and most of the morning, as fast as he could, without rest. Run, run, run. He didn’t understand it; he just knew he had to get there.
His steps took him to a familiar gray city awakening in the rain.
London.
His clothes were torn and his shoes had holes. Levi headed to the home he kept in Kensington to change as fast as possible, and he followed the call pulling him forward, like a passenger along for the drive.
That’s when he saw her for the first time, and he knew right then.
She would have died if he hadn’t made it.
He knew her name. He’d seen a picture of her before, attached to a file. A prospective student at the Institute.
Chloe.
When she’d just been a name and a picture, he hadn’t understood. Now that she was in front of him, now that he smelled and felt her, he got it.
She was one of them. A fledgling well in transition.
And something more.
Someone had gone to great lengths to get to her without dirtying their hands. Why? It made no sense. Born vampires were rare but relatively inconsequential. Their kind saw them as something precious, because only one or so was born per century, but they had little power until they gained experience and skills after turning.
Why was a noble trying to destroy her?
It didn’t matter. Levi just knew that she was his.
His responsibility.
His…
Shit.
Part of him wanted to walk up to her and slit her throat now. Get it over with. To complete the transition, they had to let their mortal selves perish. A traumatic experience for anyone, even those who’d been prepared their entire life. But one look in her big blue eyes and he knew she was ignorant, innocent, in need of care and time.
He’d give her both. As long as he could.
Now, she was in his arms, lifeless, pale, and cold. Levi wished he’d explained things, told her on that very first day that it was always going to come to this. She would have to die.
She’d been too cheerful and insouciant, and he, cowardly. She wouldn’t forgive him for making this so brutal.
Chloe stirred, exhaling deeply, swallowing as much air as her lungs could carry.
Her hands were trembling, her eyes filled with tears. But she moved fast. Faster than him.
He wasn’t surprised when she managed to flip him over and squeeze his throat.
From the start, the creature inside her had revolted against him, against his authority, because she was more dominant than him. Stronger than him.
It hadn’t quite made sense. He’d had theories, but the truth only became certain when he’d received an unexpected visit.
Two months ago
A slayer was at his door, escorting a creature who shouldn’t have existed.
Dark hair. Eyes so blue they lit up the room more than his lamp.
‘My name is Tom Miller,’ he’d said. ‘I’m Chloe’s older brother.’
That much was obvious, but he was also something else.
A born vampire, fully turned only recently. And with an aura as powerful as Levi’s.
‘Miller,’ Levi repeated with a snort. ‘I find that unlikely.’
The guy had inclined his head. ‘Well, that’s the name I was born with. But, all right. If you prefer, I’m Thomas Eirikrson.’
His wildest suspicion, perhaps his greatest fear.
There was a new Eirikrson. Two of them, actually.
And it was his fault.
Levi had spared their ancestor during the purge, so many eons ago, pulling a little boy out of the way. And through him, their line had endured.
What now?
The Eirikrsons were monsters. Always had been to the core. They’d taken to lording over the rest of their race, assassinating those who stepped out of line, but that was just an excuse to satisfy their bloodthirst. Levi hadn’t partaken in the purge, but he hadn’t disapproved either.
The obvious answer was to kill the boy, and the girl too.
But he couldn’t.
Because for better or worse, Chloe Eirikrson was his mate, and he couldn’t bring himself to destroy her. He wasn’t suicidal. Killing his own mate would be just that: damning himself.
‘I’m surprised I haven’t heard that the House of Eirikr has risen again.’
‘Are you?’ Tom had asked. ‘Surprised.’
Not really.
Tom had obviously stayed in the shadows to protect his sister while she was mortal.
‘Why do you come to me now?’
‘Because you’re smart,’ his slayer companion said. ‘Smart enough to at least suspect what she was—and yet, you haven’t attempted to hurt her. And because, if I’m not mistaken, you’re the one who saved their house in the first place.’
He’d never liked Viola much. Now he knew why. She was too clever by half.
‘What do you want of me?’
The boy extended his hand. He was holding a necklace.
‘My blood. She’ll need it to change. We had the pendant spelled; it’ll last a year or so.’
‘Why not give it to her, then?’ Levi asked.
He expected the answer. ‘She doesn’t know a thing. I didn’t either, until a few years ago. And we’re trying to keep it that way, because everyone could be a spy, an enemy. I’ll try to be around when she needs it, but Viola and I aren’t always in the country. In case something happens to me, at least there’s a safeguard.’
‘Do you expect something to happen to you?’ Levi had questioned, relatively indifferent one way or another.
Viola was the one who answered.
‘I’m sure you’ve noticed the movements around the other families, Leviathan. The Stormhales have gone quiet. The Beauforts have all returned to France, except for that stubborn teacher in your school. They’re all plotting, and it started after the results of Tom’s blood tests hit the web. They know there are Eirikrsons left. And they know that if they actually manage to annihilate the line for good this time, Skyhall, its treasures, and its power will be fair game. Can you imagine? Since the Eirikrsons, there’s been no real leader for our kind. But if they can absorb the essence of that line’s power…’
He could imagine, and damn her, but Viola was right.
That sort of power shouldn’t be in anyone’s hand.
The problem was that right now, it was at the tip of Tom’s finger.
‘You’re the head of the Eirikrsons,’ Levi told the boy. ‘You could make us kneel and dance to your tune, like a child playing with chess pieces.’
The boy laughed.
‘If you think I’m in charge, you clearly don’t know my sister.’
Levi had doubted Tom at the time. Chloe was too nice. Too charming. Everyone loved her. She definitely hadn’t seemed like his idea of a sovereign.
Then he’d understood.
The creature inside him was a straightforward beast, always up for bloodsport, attacking head-on.
Hers was a spider, weaving webs around people’s hearts and playing them to her tune, consciously or not.
Right now, Levi could feel them. Dozens of huntsmen, Mikar, Cat, Bill, half a dozen witches, all fighting their way through legions of ferals to get to her.
He’d feared that her family would try to rule vampirekind by fear. What she was doing was a thousand times worse.
She would rule all, with nothing but a pretty smile.
The evening sky darkened under a cloud of ravens flying atop the hill, gathering around their master.
She remained still, grasping his throat.
‘Why am I alive?’ she finally said, her throat dry, obviously sore.
‘Because you’re a born vampire. Your blood. Drink it now. Without it, you…’
He didn’t finish the sentence, eyes widening in horror.
She’d pulled the necklace up to eye level. And at the center, the stone was broken.
