2 TRANSFORMATIONS

Malekh settled accounts with the innkeeper the following morning, and the sorry state of the dresser was resolved with generous portions of gold and copper. The latter accepted payment with little fuss, he and Remy surreptitiously avoiding eye contact.

It was a strange night. Remy had dreamed of his nanny, Miss Grissell. She was singing the Tithian lullaby she’d taught him as a child. The song once put him at ease, before his mother had used it to invade his fucking mind. He’d bolted up from bed, panicked and still groggy, only to be pulled toward a hard chest and a gruff voice by his ear, telling him to go back to sleep, and to the warmth of Xiaodan cuddled at his other side. She was still sleeping when dawn arrived, but Malekh was gone again, leaving Remy shivering slightly from the cool morning air.

The bulk of the villagers’ fears, as far as Remy could determine, was focused on the rash of attacks sweeping the border between Aluria and Kerenai, the latter being King Hallifax’s kingdom—a good five hundred miles away, though the distance did nothing to ease their worries. “No attacks around these parts,” said one of the inn’s other patrons as Remy took time to enjoy one last drink before departing. “Not yet at least, thank the Light.” Remy thought about the ambush only the night before and silently disagreed.

The helhests were where they had left them the previous night, damp from the rain but pleased to see them. Malekh laid Xiaodan gently down inside the carriage. Remy paused by the side door.

“You said that we were heading to Libéliard?” It was a larger town than most, tucked into the northwestern part of the kingdom some hundreds or so miles from Rocksplen, and they were likely to reach it sometime that afternoon if Malekh allowed his horses freer reign. But it was an odd decision, considering how adamant Malekh had been about avoiding human civilization since starting out.

“Eugenie has set up shop there. She’ll know more about what’s been happening at Hallifax’s borders.” Malekh frowned. “I’m not sure I like the news coming out of his territories, but I want to separate what’s true from the exaggerated.”

“How’d you even know that she was at Libé—was that why you were skulking about the village last night?”

Malekh looked at him like he had never skulked a day in his unnatural life and was insulted at such a suggestion. “Eugenie has contacts in every village along the trading routes between here and Kerenai. It was only a question of ferreting out her contact in Rocksplen and gleaning the information from them.”

“Suppose it would be nice to have a roof over our heads for a second day running.” Remy liked Eugenie. The resourceful information broker was likely to know what was going on before anyone in Elouve ever caught wind of it.

Still, he lingered before climbing inside the coach. Malekh paused, watching him with a raised eyebrow.

“I had second thoughts about leaving Elouve,” Remy admitted. “But I’m glad I’m here. Wouldn’t have missed it.”

“And we are glad for your company, Pendergast,” Malekh said, moving to pat Peanut on the head.

The rains had since abated. Malekh had found no other vampires lying in wait, leaving them without answers as to the storm’s true nature. The fog was still shit, with Remy’s visibility down to no more than several yards beyond the carriage window. But Malekh seemed to know where to go despite the soupy haze, and both Peanut and Cookie soldiered on without hesitation at breakneck speed.

No other vampire hordes accosted them, leaving Remy with little else but Xiaodan and his own thoughts for company. He stared out the window and reflected on the First Court, on his mother.

He didn’t want to think about having to kill Ligaya Pendergast. He didn’t want to think about her song in his head, about being so powerless that he’d killed Naji.

Xiaodan shifted in her sleep, pressed the side of her face against his hand, and murmured something into it.

“You worry too much,” Remy told her, resisting the urge to kiss her cheek. “I’ll deal with it when I deal with it.”

It took a little more than three hours to reach the town of Libéliard. Remy had never been here before; it was not in an area vampires were known to frequent, with a dash more sun than most places in Aluria. Already the rains were letting up, the fog lifting, and the clouds looking marginally less gray than before.

Libéliard itself was a bustling place, a nexus of trade. Just like in Ankersaud, merchants and peddlers were a constant presence, most traveling from the northern and eastern kingdoms to sell wares not often found in Elouve. Eugenie seemed to thrive when keeping herself at the center of human activity, an unusual lifestyle for a vampire. They threaded their way toward Eugenie’s domicile, which turned out to be one of the larger residences in town: an impressive two-story brownstone made from a combination of whitewashed bricks and adobe.

As always, Eugenie was somehow dressed for both camouflage and attention. A protrusion of peacock plumes formed a nest atop her head, and her dress was sewn with hundreds of trimmed feathers in every color known to man. She soon had Xiaodan stretched out on a comfortable-looking bed, fussing over her form.

Paolo, her companion, was as crotchety as ever. He held a tray bearing several hot beverages, wordlessly proffering a mug to Remy with a welcoming grunt.

Eugenie affectionately brushed a strand of hair out of Xiaodan’s face. “The poor girl. She’s young by our standards, but already she’s been through so much.”

“It’s very good to see you again, Eugenie,” Remy said quietly. “I wished it was under better circumstances.”

“There is much to do,” the woman said, “and I am sure that Lord Malekh here is already quite pressed for time. Saracosa is gone, milord, as are many other villages.”

Malekh stared at her. Remy was reminded of their first meeting, when she’d told them that Brushfen had been razed to the ground and its villagers killed. “Overwhelmed by kindred?”

“Yes. The majority of Hallifax’s soldiers have retreated to his stronghold at Wycaff, prepared to defend it and their liege to the death if necessary. But every village and town between there and Derila to the north has been reported lost to the waves of vampires who had emerged out of nowhere and had laid waste to their lands.”

“Since when?”

“We only received confirmation of this an hour before I sent a pigeon to my Rocksplen informant.” Eugenie shook her head. “By all accounts, it was a massacre. Far, far worse than what had transpired at Brushfen. My source at Saracosa was fortunate enough to get out before the worst could befall him, and only because he was already near the borders at Parhi when the attacks began. You can speak to him if you’d like. He’s reliable, and has a cool head in desperate situations, and is currently fortifying himself with our ale reserves in the kitchen. He’s quite shaken—he had good friends killed before his own eyes in a coordinated attack.”

“But so quickly?” Remy asked hoarsely. If only Wycaff, Kerenai’s capital, remained standing in between, then that meant over a hundred miles had been taken by vampires in the space of one night.

“First Court,” Malekh said tersely, an answer more than a question.

Eugenie nodded. “There was no mistaking their scarlet robes, milord. Perhaps it would be better if you spoke to him directly, if you can forgive his state of inebriation. It is not something that I would wish on any human to endure, sober or not.”

Leaving Paolo to keep vigil over Xiaodan, they made for the kitchen. The informant in question was by the pantry, a nearly empty tankard of ale in his hands. His clothes were muddy and bloodstained, and he stank as if he’d been rolling around in a pigsty. But even in his distress, he was mindful of where he stood to keep the mud off Eugenie’s clean floor.

He took a swig from the tankard and nodded abruptly at them as they approached. His demeanor was calmer than Remy had expected, but there was no mistaking the haunted look in his eyes. His hands shook slightly as he tipped his head back to finish the dregs.

“Mason,” Eugenie said, in a gentle voice. “There are some patrons of mine who would like more information about what happened in the north.”

“What can I tell them that they cannot already imagine, Eugenie?” the man asked wearily. “Would you like me to recount how people were torn limb from limb by those vile crimson fiends? How they lapped up the children’s blood, toyed with the villagers who attempted to crawl away, taking their lives at the very last moment in horrible, painful ways? Demons spawned from the darkest pits of hell, one and all. I wish them all dead with every fiber of my being. Could you spare another tankard, milady? I still cannot wash the taste of copper from my mouth.”

Eugenie wordlessly passed him a second bottle. The poor man downed it all in one go.

“We can do little now to save those villagers,” Malekh said, “but trust that we will do our utmost to prevent more deaths. What of the kindred that attacked? How large was the horde? How did you learn that the same had occurred in the other towns?”

Mason squinted up at him. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?” he asked accusingly, but with none of the anger. “One of those fanged bastard nobles who want peace with the rest of us. Well, that peace is dead, milord, after everything I’ve seen. I wasn’t the only one of Eugenie’s people sequestered up north, just the one that got away. It was Rylen who came riding in with his horse all tuckered out, panicked and sounding the alarm. He’d just come from Ferilwen, he said, and the only reason they held out long enough for him to get away was because of all the soldiers coming in from nearby Lufthan on their way back to King Hallifax, a pox on his name for all eternity. Rylen had gotten a couple of those men drunk hours before, learned that Hallifax was pulling them back into the capital because of ‘certain incidents farther north,’ to quote him precisely. They knew little themselves, only that the king was adamant they return to the capital immediately.”

He barked out a laugh. “Turns out the vampires were only three quarters of an hour behind the regiment. Vampires and one hideous mutation that spewed poison. They were all silent, moved like strung-up marionettes, he said. Didn’t matter; they killed quick enough. Rylen barely escaped with his horse. Rode nonstop until he arrived at Saracosa, and even then, he beat the ghouls by only two hours. Enough time to relay to me everything he’d been told, before we were attacked in turn.”

He shuddered. “Rylen thought he’d gotten away, but he didn’t, milord. They must have gotten to him—some bite or mark that festered. Minutes before the vampires showed up, he turned. Didn’t realize what was happening himself. Thought he’d go into a frenzy, but it was far worse than that. He—” The man gulped. “He started growing. Massive-like, with awful scales popping up all over his body. His skin melted off before he even had time to scream. He looked like… them. Like some creature of the deep, eyes like hell. They turned him, I know they did.”

“No. They couldn’t have.” Remy leaned forward, knuckles white against the table. There was no way the First Court could’ve gotten their hands on Dr. Yost’s formula to create mutations of their own…

… Or could they? Vasilik, Malekh’s former lover, had acquired a colossus of his own, using his own blood to make it his perfectly obedient thrall. Before his death, he had hinted at an alliance with the Night Empress herself. Any secrets he might have gleaned from Remy’s father, he could have passed on to the court he served.

Malekh had already come to the same conclusion, several steps ahead of Remy besides. He grabbed Mason by his shirt collar.

“What are you doing?” Eugenie exclaimed.

But Malekh was already forcing the man’s head back, ripping part of his shirt in the process to reveal a deep, ugly-looking gash that started from the man’s collarbone and retreated farther down his chest. It was putrefied and decomposing rapidly before their eyes, flesh sloughing to reveal bubbling sores underneath.

“Mason,” Eugenie gasped. “The good Light, Mason, what did they do to you?”

The man stared helplessly back at them. “Impossible,” he rasped. “Rylen took a swipe, but there was no mark on me when I arrived. It can’t be—Rylen got it different. Lost his mind before he started mutating. They overwhelmed Hallifax’s towns. I’m—no. Got to warn everyone. Got to—got to—”

His face shifted—literally, as if something had burrowed beneath his skin and was scurrying up the side of his cheek under the flesh. The veins on his neck began to stand out, bulging forward as if they were a separate organism of their own.

“I’m so sorry, Mason,” Eugenie whispered and lifted her hand. Remy hadn’t noticed it before, but her nails were long and sharp.

The man’s head dropped to the floor, shorn of neck. But even then, his body continued to tremble and shift, the muscles in his arms bunching up and swelling to double, then triple their sizes.

“Stay back, Eugenie,” Malekh ordered, though the point was moot.

“We have to evacuate the whole town,” Remy said, Breaker already in his grip. He slid the knifechain out, the spike attached to the other end swinging. “We need to at least get it out of this place before—”

He felt the sudden rush of heat from behind him as a great burst of light illuminated the room, and his instinct was to duck and cover his face with one hand while the other raised Breaker in anticipation of some new blow.

Lightning sizzled past them in the space between him and Malekh. It struck the still-transforming Mason, obliterating his body in an instant. It was a familiar brightness—one Remy had seen indirectly many times before.

He turned.

Xiaodan stood in the doorway, hands on her hips and glaring at them like they were all somehow at fault. Her eyes were a blazing gray. Beside her was Paolo, looking discombobulated.

There was a faint noise from the floor where Mason’s head lay, still moving and groaning, still transforming. Xiaodan leveled a finger at it. Another burst of light exploded at the tip, effectively blowing it into nothingness. Her arm wavered.

Malekh caught her just as she slumped to the floor, unconscious once again.

“I don’t understand,” Eugenie quavered into the silence. “You said that she was no longer able to summon the sun.”

“That’s what we thought. This changes matters. You must ask the captain in charge to inspect everyone in town and monitor those with suspicious injuries. It’s clear to me now that some of the mutations attacking the villages were born in this same manner.” Malekh paused, his gaze straying back to the floor where Mason had been. “I’m sorry about your informant.”

Eugenie sighed heavily. “He was dedicated until the very end. If you hadn’t been here when he had…” She shuddered. “I’m friends with the commander stationed here, and I shall send word to him immediately. I would not wish the same fate for this town as Brushfen and Saracosa. What do you intend to do next?”

“Any hope of treating Xiaodan lies within my laboratory at the Fata Morgana. And if the borders between Hallifax’s kingdom and Aluria are about to be overrun, then we must act quickly to prevent both First Court vampires and mutations from finding their way here.” Malekh carefully deposited the unconscious Xiaodan back into Paolo’s arms.

“My heartfelt apologies, milord,” Eugenie’s lover said. “She jumped up and tore out of the room before I could stop her.”

“None are necessary. Any precaution you’d taken would have done little to slow her down.”

“All the same, I shall guard her better this time.”

“I’ve intercepted more than just a few messages from the Alurian queen, milord,” Eugenie said after Paolo had carried Xiaodan away. “Hallifax may have abandoned most of his kingdom, but Queen Ophelia has committed several regiments of Reapers to the safety of the villages he’s left behind. Any still standing, at least.”

“I do not think Reapers alone will be enough to combat this threat, Eugenie.”

The woman smiled faintly. “It’s rather ironic then, that Lord Valenbonne brings his own mutations to shore up Alurian defenses.” She carefully slid a slippered foot across the wood, probing for ashes. “Xiaodan is quite thorough,” she observed sadly. “Mason had no family to speak of, but I would like a memorial commissioned for him, even with nothing to bury.”

“I didn’t know my father had made more mutations,” Remy said, stunned.

Malekh’s gaze was hard. “It’s a mistake to bring those creatures to the borders.”

“Aluria currently lacks the forces to defend their territories, and Queen Ophelia has bowed to the pressure. To spare both Reapers and soldiers the risks of war by sending these monsters in their stead, I suppose.” Eugenie shuddered again. “Unfortunately, this isn’t the only bad news I bring. Cao Fanglei reached out to me two days ago.”

The vampire lord visibly tensed.

“She wished to tell me that the eastern borders leading to Situ will be well defended under her clan, and that she has already sent overtures to Queen Ophelia. She has invoked your alliance with Aluria as one of the reasons she has decided to aid the humans.”

“We are not currently under any official alliance with Aluria.”

“She says it does not matter.” Eugenie cleared her throat. “I took the liberty of, uh, perusing the contents of her letter, just in case. She was rather put out that you chose to visit the other court leaders these last few days while she was resigned to only a message from you. She has been in contact with the other remaining courts regarding your request to convene, and they have unanimously decided to gather at the Allpriory.”

“No,” Malekh said immediately.

Eugenie reached into her dress and rummaged inside a pocket, finally pulling out a sheaf of folded parchment.

Malekh said nothing, his expression stony. When he made no move to take the proffered letter, Remy took it in his stead, unrolling the paper and scanning it quickly, lest the Summer Lord wrest it away.

As much as you detest the place, there are decided benefits to holding our session where it would be well defended against what the Night Empress may throw our way, Cao Fanglei had written. The meeting is to take place two weeks hence. I hope that you will deign to make an appearance before then, but our decision is final. Was it not you who called for a parley in the first place? Was it not you who argued for cooperation, to give up our individual pride to work together against this new incarnation of the First Court? Or do you still fear the Godsflame?

We expect you there, Lord Zidan. You can even bring your lover with you, if you wish. It would be most amusing to see Raghnall throw a conniption once he discovers the man is a Reaper.