Alexander walked back into the house silently, and I watched him leave, not knowing what to say. I could not deny that the rose was beautiful in a way—perfectly shaped, just opened. The color, though, was the color of darkness, death, and all the evil things I had been told of: black hearts, black art, black—
Black eyes. Hypnotic black eyes.
I did not like to believe that I might have accepted a gift from one of the Devil's creatures. I convinced myself that I had not.
Perhaps if I had believed —
Perhaps nothing. What could I have done?
The next day would be my last day in that world—my last day to speak to my papa, my sister, or my brother, and my last day to draw a breath and know that without it I would die. It would be my last day to thank the sun for giving light to my days.
I would argue with Alexander and avoid my papa. And, like all humanity, never once would I thank the sun or the air for its existence. Light, air, and my brother's love — I took them all for granted, and someone took them all away.
My last day of humanity…Rachel Weatere would die the next night.
CHAPTER 5 NOW
I PULL MY THOUGHTS from the past, not wanting to dwell on that night, and my gaze again returns to the black rose. I wonder briefly where it was grown. It is so similar to the one Aubrey gave me three hundred years ago.
I hesitate to pick up the white florist's card that has been lying beneath the rose, but finally snatch it from the bed.
The rose is a warning. Aubrey did not like having his servant killed on his own land, and he is reminding me of my past.
I hunt in New York again this night, careful not to stray onto Aubrey's land but refusing to give up my favorite hunting grounds out of fear.
I stop in his part of New York for only a moment. I have burnt the card and leave the ashes in a plastic bag on the front step of the Cafe Sangra. I take orders from no one.
Some vampires, like some humans, know nothing other than submission. They do not wish to rise in power. But those vampires are rare. Few vampires will allow themselves to show fear of another, for as soon as you are proved weaker you become the hunted. The hunter hates being hunted, chased, or wounded. If it did not, it would not be an aggressive hunter, and those who cannot be aggressive are hunted down while they shiver and hide because the night is dark.
Forever is too long to live in fear.
Even so, I do not go to see Tora this night. I do not wish to draw Aubrey's attention to her until he has forgotten this small challenge. Although I resent being kept away from her, I would rather stay away than have her die so that my pride may be appeased. For Tora, I allow myself to fear Aubrey.
After I hunt, I change to hawk form and return to Concord, my mind still troubled. I fall into bed for the day, but I do not dream — I simply remember.
CHAPTER 6 1701
Alexander avoided me the day after Mr. Karew visited. We attended morning services as a family, but the rest of the day, Alexander mostly stayed in his room. During the short time he was out he looked dazed, as if he was seeing something I could not see or hearing voices I could not hear. Perhaps he was. I still do not know, and I never will.
When he approached me that evening, the dazed look was gone, replaced by determination.
'Rachel?'
'Yes?'
'I need to speak to you,' Alexander told me. 'I do not know how to explain to you so that you do not think …' He paused, and I waited for him to continue.
'There are creatures in this world besides humans,' Alexander went on, his voice gaining strength and determination. 'But they are not what the witch hunters say they are. The witches …' Again Alexander paused, and I waited for him to decide how to say what he needed to say. ' I do not know if Satan exists—I have never seen him, personally— but I do know that there are creatures out there that would damn you if they could, simply for spite.'
This was nothing I had not heard before at church. But my brother said it differently than the preacher ever did. I would say it sounded as if Alexander had more faith, but that wasn't quite it. It sounded as if, in his mind, he had proof.
'Alexander, what has happened?' I whispered. His words seemed a warning, but it was not a warning I understood.
Alexander sighed deeply. 'I made a mistake, Rachel.' Then he would say no more about it.
I went to bed that night feeling uneasy. I was afraid to know what Alexander's words meant, but even more afraid because I did not know.
Around eleven I heard footsteps moving past my door, as if someone was trying without success to move quietly. I rose silently, so as not to wake Lynette, with whom I shared the room, and tiptoed to the door.
I left my room and entered the kitchen, where I caught a glimpse of Alexander leaving by the back door. I began to follow him, wondering why he was sneaking out of the house at such a late hour.
I well knew the abstract look that I had glimpsed on his face: he had seen something in his mind. Whatever vision had driven him from sleep had scared him, and it pained me that he had walked straight past my door, not even hesitating, not willing to confide in me.
Alexander had slipped through the back door, but I hesitated beside the doorway, hearing voices behind the house. Alexander was speaking with Aubrey and a woman I did not know. Her accent was different from Aubrey's, but again it was not familiar to me. I did not know then that she had been raised to speak a language long dead.
The woman Alexander was speaking with had black hair that fell to her shoulders and formed a dark halo around her deathly pale skin and black eyes. She wore a black silk dress and silver jewelry that nearly covered her left hand. On her right wrist she wore a silver snake bracelet with rubies for eyes.
The black dress, the jewelry, and most of all the red-eyed serpent, brought one word to my mind:
'Why should I?' she was asking Alexander.
'Just stay away,' he ordered. He sounded so calm, but I knew him well. I caught the shiver in his voice—the sound of anger and fear.
'Temptation,' the woman said, pushing Alexander. He fell against the wall, and I could hear the impact as his back hit the wood. But she had hardly touched him! 'Child, you would regret ordering me away from your sister,' the woman added coldly.
'Do not hurt her, Ather.' It was the first time I had heard her name, and shivers ran down my spine upon hearing my brother speak it. My golden-colored brother did not belong in the dark world she had risen from.
'I mean it,' Alexander said, stepping forward from the wall. 'I am the one who attacked you—leave Rachel be. If you need to fight someone to heal your pride, fight me, not my sister.'
When I heard this, my heart jumped. Alexander was my brother. I had been born with him and raised with him. I knew him, and I knew he would not harm another human being.
'You and that witch should not have interrupted my hunt,' said Ather.
