Free Silence: Part Two of Echoes & Silence by A.M Hudson Page B

would find a way to restrain me.”
    “Must have been bad to draw Lord Eden out of hiding.”
    “I admit, it was. At the rate of vampire creation versus consumption, we had very little time left to enjoy our… fruits. And when the Black Plague struck and wiped out almost half the population of the town I lived in, I decided to take control of my vampires. However, they were arrogant, unlikeable and insubordinate. So I recruited a body of men completely dedicated to me, sworn to an eternity at my side, who could help enforce the new laws. Arthur was my first.”
    “That’s right. I remember now—you offered to turn his brother as well, but he refused to become a demon like you, and so Arthur swore to protect his bloodline for all eternity.”
    “Correct,” Drake said with a nod. “It took us nearly a century to gain some control, and it was only when my sister Lilith was born in the fourteen hundreds and grew to become deadly to vampires that we were truly successful. By then I was tired of the battle between Vampire and Man, and Lilith took her place as Queen, freeing me for the first time from the burden of my errors in nearly five centuries.”
    “So you were happy she was made Queen?”
    “She wasn’t made queen, Amara. I gave her the role, and Lilith, my grandmother—The Fifth Keeper of the Realm of Spirits, Guardian of Nature—blessed my sister’s reign, using the power of the Stone.”
    “Wow. I didn’t know that bit.”
    “Not many alive today do.”
    “In that case,” I said, slowing as Drake did, “I feel privileged.”
    We came upon a pair of large dark wood doors, directly across from an identical pair. Drake bowed, offering the way, and as if at command of his gesture, the door swung open. “After you.”
    As I stepped into the light, airy room, half-checking behind the doors for a person, the crystal chandeliers, matching furniture in golds and light blues, and the pale colour on the walls transformed the ancient castle into a palace.
    Drake pulled a curvy chair out from a small white table, clearly stolen right out from under Queen Elizabeth’s nose, and offered me a seat.
    “Thank you,” I said politely, planting my butt on it. My hand absently went to my crux, but as it grasped at a bare chest instead, a pang of panic went through me. I retraced my steps in a flash of a second and as I went past the point where we arrived at the castle, the panic turned to relief.
    That’s what Falcon picked up from beside my bed. And if he had my crux, not only did that mean Drake couldn’t get it, but also that my soul may wander to find it when I fall asleep. I still very rarely remembered travelling outside my body, but as long as he saw me it didn’t matter what I remembered—as long as he knew I was okay. Of course, if I could travel to Jason’s side again and talk to him, that would be better, but it seemed that since the crux came into my possession I travelled to him less and less.
    “Would you like the fire lit?” Drake asked, and both of our eyes drifted across to the white mantle, the simmering embers below burning down to almost nothing.
    “Yes please.” I rubbed my arms. “In the rush I never thought to grab a sweater.”
    “Do not concern yourself with such things,” he said, standing up and walking across the room to one of three silky ropes hanging near the wall. “If you decide to stay here I will see to it that you are clothed appropriately and have all that you need.” He tugged the rope and a loud gong rang out somewhere in the distance—something I imagined I wouldn’t have heard if I wasn’t a Lilithian.
    “And if I don’t—stay with you?” I challenged.
    “I would be sorely disappointed.” He sat back down. “But I will still see you taken care of, Amara. You are, after all, family.”
    I went to speak, but the door opened and three people came in: one with a tray of tea and cake, another with an armful of firewood, and an immaculately dressed man with a