The Key to Erebus (The French Vampire Legend. Book 1)

  ***

  I awoke and listened for the air rushing past me, but it was gone. I concentrated and could hear a soft crackling and popping noise, like a fire, and if I listened really hard, I thought I could hear breathing. I wondered if I had finally hit the ground and was actually a bloody and broken mess on the floor. I moved my toes experimentally. They wiggled perfectly normally and so I tried my legs but found I couldn’t move them. They didn’t hurt at all. It was more as if there was a weight pinning them down. I frowned and took a mental inventory of the rest of me. To my surprise, everything felt fine. I spread out my hands and felt cool cotton under my fingers, not what I had been expecting. I ran my hands over the cotton until I touched something soft and opened my eyes in alarm.

  It was dark, but not the fathomless black I’d been living with for so long that I had lost track of time. This was a comforting darkness, with a fire burning that threw a soft warm glow over the room … my room at the Château! I raised my head and saw Astro sitting across my legs - which explained a lot. His eyes glinted at me in the firelight and he greeted me with a low meowff. Then I turned and found the softness my fingers had encountered.

  Corvus was sitting on the floor beside the bed. He had fallen asleep with his head resting on the mattress at my shoulder and one arm crossed my waist. I gently stroked my fingers through his hair and burst into tears.

  “Jéhenne!”

  I was swiftly gathered up and smothered with his embrace. “Jéhenne, my heart, I’m so sorry. I had no idea it would be so hard for you … forgive me.” I looked up into eyes filled with anguish. “If I’d had any idea… I would never have asked,” he said, his voice full of regret.

  I nodded through the sobs that racked my body.

  “You screamed and screamed and there was nothing I could do.” I could hear the terror in his voice, the terrible fear that he had lost me. “I begged Sariel to bring you back but he said he couldn’t.”

  He held me for a long time, so tightly I could hardly breathe. “I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to get back at all.”

  His voice was barely a whisper and as I clung to him, I realised how cold he was. He was marble white, blue veins starkly visible under the pale skin and his eyes looked hollow and bruised. I put my hand to his cheek and shivered.

  “You’re so cold,” I rasped, my throat felt like it was full of broken glass.

  “He wouldn’t leave you.”

  The voice made me jump and I turned to see Cyd bringing a tray toward me.

  “I thought you must be hungry so I called, Cyd,” he explained kissing me and reluctantly sitting me back on the bed. As he said it I realised I was ravenous and my stomach began to growl furiously.

  Corvus fussed about, putting the pillows straight and pulling the covers up. Cyd smiled at me and rolled her eyes over his head and I felt a surge of happiness at the relief of being back here with them.

  Cyd balanced the tray on my knees and the wonderful aroma from the bowl drifted up making my mouth water.

  “Your Gran made it for you specially, Jéhenne, she said it would give you your strength back,” Corvus explained. “She’s been very worried.”

  “And she’s been threatening Corvus again,” added Cyd with contempt and pursed her lips as Corvus sent her a warning look.

  “This time she had good reason, I think.” He looked devastated and I could almost see the weight he had borne on his shoulders since I’d been gone. “I guess I should let her know you are awake.”

  “Yes, before she comes and stakes you in your sleep,” Cyd snapped, eyes flashing. “And go and feed before you waste away completely.”

  Corvus scowled at her again and I watched her blanch, I had no doubt he was giving her a telling off that I couldn’t hear.

  “Corvus it’s OK, I’m hungry too,” I could hear the fatigue in my own voice. “I understand and … I’m not going anywhere.”

  He bent and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be back in just a moment, OK?”

  He hesitated with his hand on the door handle for a moment, like he wanted to check I was really there. I knew he was desperate to question me about what I’d seen, but he just smiled and closed the door behind him.

  I put the spoon into the steaming bowl in front of me. It was some kind of rich, meaty stew that tasted divine and what seemed like seconds later, I was wiping the bowl around with a piece of bread and wishing there was seconds.

  “Better?” asked Cyd with a grin and I laid my head back on the pillow with a sigh.

  “You have no idea.” I closed my eyes for a moment. “He was pretty worried then?”

  She snorted in response. “Out of his mind more like. Do you think there is the slightest chance of you staying out of trouble for the next century or so? Because I don’t think I can take the stress and I know Corvus can’t.”

  I thought about what Hekatê had instructed me to do and grimaced.

  “I don’t think I can make any promises, no,” I replied, picking anxiously at the covers.

  She sighed and folded her arms, scowling at me. “Yeah, that’s what I figured.”

  I put the tray to one side and got out of bed. “I’m going to take a shower.”

  I stayed under the hot water and tried not to think about what had happened to me, which was obviously impossible. It had already taken on an unreal quality, like it had happened to someone else or like I'd dreamt the whole thing. Sadly I knew neither was true.

  I dried off and wrapped myself in a big, soft towelling dressing gown and headed back to my bedroom to find Corvus sitting in the chair by the fire. He’d put some more wood on and it was blazing away merrily but he was just staring at the flames, his expression bleak.

  I walked over to him and he looked up. He lifted me, sitting and pulling me onto his lap, burying his head against my chest. I let my fingers comb gently through his hair and he sighed.

  “Jéhenne.”

  I smiled, looking forward to his reaction. “Jéhnina,” I whispered.

  His head shot up, eyes wide. “What did you say?”

  “We were in a meadow,” I said, my voice quiet as I trailed my fingers down the side of his face. “You asked if I loved you.”

  He stared at me unblinking, like he was afraid to move. “What was your answer?”

  I chuckled and brushed my thumb over his lips. “The same as last time I imagine.”

  He made a small noise and placed his hands either side of my face, staring intently into my eyes. “It really is you?”

  I nodded, seeing so much emotion in his eyes my heart felt it would burst.

  “Your mother told me you would come back one day,” he said, his voice rough. “But she blamed me for your death … I thought perhaps she just said it to torment me, but I waited …” His voice broke and I pulled him against me. “I waited for so long.”

  “I’m here now.”

  Then his lips were on mine, warm and soft and so familiar. His hand slid from my face down my neck and under the collar of the robe to lay flat against my skin. I covered it with my own.

  “I could hear your heart beating,” I said against his lips. “You were warm and so alive, tanned from the sun.”

  I saw uncertainty in his eyes. “Was I very different?”

  I smiled to myself. My God, Corvus could even be jealous of himself! “No.” I shook my head. “Not different at all,” I chuckled and tried to pull his mouth back to mine but he resisted.

  “Does this mean things have changed, Jéhenne?” he asked and I heard the proprietary note in his voice. “Are you truly mine now?”

  “All yours,” I whispered against his throat and smiled at the shiver I felt run through him.

  Suddenly his mouth was on mine again but not softly this time and I gasped as he pulled me hard against him. I felt a tug as the dressing gown cord was swiftly undone and the cool air brushed against my skin.

  I could think of nothing else but the touch of his hands, his mouth
and the graze of sharp teeth against my neck that made my heart stutter. I tilted my neck and waited, my skin alive with anticipation, until I heard a low growl in his throat and his head snapped up looking at the door.

  “Not now!” he hissed.

  I looked at him in alarm. “What is it?”

  “Inés!” he spat the word out. “I swear, Jéhenne, if she wasn’t your Grandmother …”

  “Don’t let me stop you,” I grumbled and saw the surprise in his eyes. “She’s not exactly my favourite person either right now, you know. We could pretend we’re not here?” I suggested, looking longingly at the bed and he snorted.

  “Just how effective do you think that would be? She’s currently threatening to burn the place down if she doesn’t see you.”

  “Oh, fine!” I pulled the dressing gown back around me furiously and tightened the belt, thinking that the universe had a serious problem with me having any fun and definitely owed me big time. Corvus smiled and kissed my forehead.

  “Don’t worry my heart, you will not get away from me so easily. Just get rid of her quickly or I might be forced to eat her.”

  I sighed in resignation. “I’ll do my best.” He made to get up out of the chair and began to lift me. “No. Stay where you are, it’s about time she got used to the idea that we are together. She might as well start now.”

  Corvus chuckled with delight and pulled me back against him. “This should go well.”

  Seconds later there was a thundering as someone hammered angrily on the door.

  “It’s open,” Corvus muttered, and Inés flew into the room, green eyes flashing and then stopped dead as she saw the two of us snuggled up in front of the fire.

  “Get out, Corvus, I need to speak to Jéhenne.”

  “Mind your manners, Inés!” I snapped, though it still felt weird in the extreme to call her that and to see her as a young woman. “This is his house and you are a guest.”

  “And what are you,” she sneered. “Lunch?”

  I felt the answer burn in my fingers immediately and only Corvus' quick reactions saved me from acting. He held my hands tightly so that I couldn’t move

  “Calm yourself, Jéhenne, she thrives on dispute. Do not give her the satisfaction.”

  I took a deep breath before addressing her again. “Did you have something to say to me?”

  She nodded curtly, looking at Corvus with undisguised hatred.

  “Are you well, Jéhenne? I was afraid for you. You should have asked my advice before undertaking such a journey.” I was surprised to see the concern in her eyes.

  “I didn’t actually go anywhere.”

  She snorted in response. “Jéhenne, our kind have always been able to take spiritual journeys, the waters you drank would have simply opened the door to your past. That you did it without any guidance was stupidity and nothing less.”

  Corvus shifted uneasily beneath me, I knew he felt guilty.

  “Well, I’m fine,” I replied, though I wasn’t sure it was true. “Was that all?”

  She scowled and shook her head. “There is a disturbance in the spirit world, Jéhenne. Something is badly wrong, spirits have been disappearing and the ones getting through to me are terrified, they are being pulled back into their bodies … something is taking them.”

  “Taking them? How?” I pulled the dressing gown tighter around myself feeling a sudden chill despite the warmth from the fire.

  “A Necromancer?” asked Corvus in surprise.

  “I believe so.” She frowned and I suddenly noticed the dark circles under her eyes. “But that’s not all. I saw Tacitus.”

  I felt Corvus stiffen behind me at the sound of his name and his arms tightened protectively. Her green eyes flashed with fury as she spoke. “He said to tell you … your new friends can’t protect everyone. He said that he wants the key, and he wants it now!”

  The warmth and happiness that had fleetingly been mine dissolved instantly. I was left feeling hollow and cold, like I was once again falling into the darkness.

  “Do you have it, Jéhenne?” Inés was watching me with anxious green eyes and I realised that she didn’t know.

  “I am the key,” I whispered.

  “What?” Her eyes darted from mine to Corvus, as though seeking reassurance that I hadn’t finally lost my mind, which was something I'd rather have liked confirmed myself. Whatever she saw in Corvus' face confirmed I wasn’t actually crazy and she stared at me in astonishment.

  “Mais, Jéhenne, if you are the key, you command the Underworld, no one could stand against you!” Her cheeks flushed and her eyes glittered madly with excitement. I wondered uneasily just what she would do with such power and decided I didn’t want to know. For the first time I began to understand why the moonstone had chosen me and not her.

  “No Inés, I can’t. If I use the key Hekatê will kill me. She only gave it to me to keep it hidden.”

  “You spoke with, Hekatê?” Corvus and Inés said as one and I nodded.

  “She did this to you?” demanded Corvus.

  “Yes, to keep the key from her daughter. She's been plotting with Tacitus to take control of the Underworld. I have to stop him and if I do, she’ll take the key back.” I was quite proud of the fact I’d explained and my voice had barely wobbled, but my hands were shaking and I wanted to cry.

  Inés sank to her knees, grabbing my hands in hers and putting them to her cheek.

  “I’m so sorry, Jéhenne.” Her eyes were bright with tears and I felt my own spill over in response. “We will protect you. We all will,” she promised and looked at Corvus with determination. “If you let anything happen to her …”

  My skin burned as I felt the power surge from him fiercely. “I swear to protect her, Inés!”

  I felt a little glow of warmth battle the chill inside of me. Gran and I had certainly had our differences and I had by no means forgiven her, but it felt good knowing she was still on my side. Not only that, I had Corvus and therefore his whole family, not to mention Sariel. I wasn’t dead yet and I wasn’t about to give up.

  “Do you think the Necromancer and Tacitus are connected?” I asked.

  “Sans doubt,” Inés grimaced. “The necromancer is harvesting as many souls as possible. He is working with Tacitus. Even with the key, they know they will have a battle to get to the gate. They are preparing.”

  “Tacitus will never give up.”

  I turned my head to see that Corvus was addressing Inés.

  “I know,” she replied and a look passed between them that I couldn’t read.

  “Inés, I think Jéhenne needs to get some rest now.”

  To my surprise she nodded and bent down to kiss my cheek.

  “All will be well, Nina. I will see you when you wake up.” She went out shutting the door softly behind her.

  I sighed and leant back against Corvus. “Well, at least she didn’t set fire to anything.”

  “No and neither did you. That must be progress” Corvus smiled back at me but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

  “What is it? What’s wrong? I mean apart from the whole Tacitus,necromancer raising the dead thing.” I asked, waving my hand and stifling the bubble of hysteria that was threatening to overwhelm me.

  Corvus pulled me into an embrace so tight it almost knocked the air from my lungs.

  “You know that I love you, don’t you, Jéhenne?”

  “Yes, of course,” I said as anxiety began to wrap itself around me. “I love you too.” I added in a rush, as I realised I had never actually told him before.

  For a moment his face was serene, I could see the happiness reflected in his eyes and then his lips were on mine, hard and demanding. He kissed me like it would never be enough, like it was the last time.

  “Forgive me, my heart,” he whispered when he finally let me go.

  “What for?”

  “Go to sleep, Jéhenne.” The command settled over my mind like a warm blanket.

  “No, No! Corvus … I ?
??”