"What's your name?" he asked, still crouched in front of her.
"Coraline," she said slowly, the distrust in her voice clear as day.
"Coraline," he said, testing the sound of it. "Pretty name."
"What do you want?"
"Oh, I think you know what we want."
She frowned at him, rubbing her wrists. "No, what do you want?"
Zac stood up and took a step back.
"You're being… nice," she said.
His eyes narrowed in warning and he caught the sound of her heart skipping a few beats. Allowing his lip to curl into a sneer he said, "I can do this the hard way if you prefer." Coraline visibly cringed away from him, her back hitting the bars on the opposite side of the cage. "Thought so."
"You've bigger things to worry about than the Hunter," she said.
"Oh, you mean the Coven? I already know about them." He didn't wait for a reply. "What are they hiding?"
"I don't know," she hissed.
"How were you going to get the Hunter inside?"
"Go and die," she spat.
"Sorry," he said. "Already did that."
"Do you even understand who you're dealing with? Who the Hunter really is?"
"I know what she is. I know who she was," Zac glared at her.
"Then... Are you one of them?"
"No," he scoffed. She was stupid enough to think he was one of the Romans.
"Then you work for them," she said. "That's just as bad." Them? The half breed didn't even know that Regulus was the last remaining founder, did she? She knew shit. "They will all die, you know. With or without her help."
"Do you even know how they plan on killing them?" he pressed.
She glared up at him, her jaw set in defiance. "If I knew I wouldn't tell you."
"You know nothing," he scoffed. "You're only a glorified blood bag to them. You're only the way in and when they've got what they want... then you'll die."
Striding from the cage, he slammed the door closed, driving the deadbolt home. This Coraline knew nothing that interested him, she was useless. She watched him, her heart racing, as he secured the chains and padlock.
"We are like her," she stated. "She can kill them, so can we."
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Well, this was something new. He assumed their Celestine blood also carried something akin to a Celestine's power as well. Without a second glance at the witch, Zac turned and left the storage room.
"They will kill her," she shouted after him, her pleas falling on deaf ears. "Once they've got what they want she will die her true death!"
Aya didn't stop running until she'd crossed London Bridge and South London was across the river. Standing in front of Monument tube station she let her head drop into her hands. As Tristan came to a halt beside her, he pulled her into his side, his left arm still hanging awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, Arrow," he murmured into her hair.
"What have I done?" Her voice was muffled against his shirt and she pulled away.
It was barely dawn, the street around them empty and the tube station was still closed, heavy metal doors pulled over the entranceways. They were alone other than a flock of pigeons perched along the roof of a building across the street.
Regulus knew Aya would go to London to search for Victoria's family. He could only know that if he understood how she had enough power to destroy Arturius. Zac. That was why he wanted him. He was a link to her and he had a version of Celestine blood, it was what had changed him. It was diluted, but he wanted to use it as an in to the Coven. Zac was his fail safe. How has she been so blind?
She'd left Zac heartbroken back in Ashburton and maybe Regulus had known she would leave him that way. He'd taken advantage of her stupidity.
"Did you know?" she asked abruptly, turning on Tristan, her voice dangerously low.
He took a step back at her sharp tone. "No, I swear I had no idea."
"You better be telling the truth, Tristan."
"Cross my heart and hope to die." He held his hands up, palms out as if he were trying to calm her. "The last I heard of Zac before I met him that day in the bar was when Victoria sent Regulus word that she had turned him. I swear to God."
Aya stared into his eyes and felt the truth in his words. Letting out a long, slow breath, she turned her back on him. So many things had happened in such a short space of time. So many secrets uncovered only to lead her to even more.
"If you want to go after him, I will help you," he said with a grimace.
"I can't," she scowled. "You were right."
"About what?"
"I can't save him just yet. He's gone."
"You're goin' to abandon him?"
"No," she spat. "I could never abandon him. Ever. I need to get into the Coven and find out where their true intentions lie. Only then can I figure out what to do about him. This is bigger than… it's...."
"…to do with your true self," Tristan finished for her.
"The Tyrant King and the Betrayer…" she murmured to herself. Who was the Betrayer? Somewhere along the line a Celestine had betrayed them, but why? Only when she could meet with the Coven, could she get the whole story. Whether it was the truth still remained to be seen.
Tristan was frowning at her as the cold morning wind whipped around them.
"Tristan," she reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "It's time you knew the truth."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
When they finally sat in their over the top hotel room did Aya begin the overwhelming task of telling her story to Tristan. She began with explaining who she had been before Arturius had turned her, how important her work had been. How important it had been for her and her brother to guide the first witches in the first generations. Then she explained Katrin's betrayal, why she had created the Romans, the first vampires, and what Arturius had done to her. Then she explained how she managed to kill Titus and escape her prison only to find her family dead.
She spoke long into the day, all the while Tristan listening with an unreadable expression, his eyes never leaving her. When she was finally done, silence descended upon the room and she was almost certain that something terrible was going to happen. Some kind of retribution for giving away her secrets like she had always been led to believe. But there was no sound other than the muffled roar of traffic passing by on the street below.
Finally, Tristan shuffled in his seat. "Shit, I had no idea, Arrow. I'm sorry."
Aya stared across the room into space and shrugged. "For a long time, I believed that something terrible would happen if I told anyone the truth of who I was. Not until Zac. He proved that there was no consequence to letting the secret go. He told his brother when he thought I was truly dead."
"You gave him your blood to save him?"
"Yes. Katrin had cursed him. I couldn't let him die, so I saved him. What I didn't expect was for Arturius to rip my heart out."
"Shit, Arrow. I've seen you come back from other stuff, but a heart? I still can't fathom it."
"Well, it happened and it's not very pleasant."
Tristan scratched his chest. "Well, I suspect not."
"Now you understand why this is so personal," she began. "If they claim to be part Celestine, then I need to know for sure. It would explain so much. Zac's blood, why Regulus turned Victoria."
"I can't begin to imagine what it means for what they're hidin'."
"Now I know it can't be good, which is why I need to go to the sanctuary sooner rather than later. If it has something to do with the Celestines, then I might be the only one capable of stopping it. These witches might be descended from one of us, but I am more pure blood then they are."
"Arrow, you know this might be a trap, right? What if they need you and this has all been an elaborate ruse?"
"No," she shook her head. "I believe Joseph and Coraline told the truth. Maximus, too. One thing I've become good at is deducing people and their intentions. They all want to see the Coven stopped. Whatever they're looking for is b
ad news. The inscription on Victoria's headstone was a warning. Even if they don't understand what it means, someone at some point did and still does."
"What do you want to do?"
"Contact Coraline. I want to get in there as soon as possible. Tonight, even."
"What about Regulus?"
"Regulus will die regardless of what happens. I haven't decided about the Coven yet. That all rests on what they have to say for themselves. Either way, someone is going to die." And either way, she was going to like doing it.
"Do you want me to call?" Tristan asked, conveniently changing the subject.
"Dial the number then give me the cell," she said, not wanting to admit she didn't exact know how to work it.
Tristan punched in the number from the card she'd stuffed into her jeans pocket the night before and passed over the cell. Placing it up to her ear, Aya waited as each ring sounded out with a beeping sound. After about ten or so, the line made a clicking sound and went dead.
"No answer," Aya said, looking at the screen. Pressing the redial button, she waited, but the call rang out again.
"Nothin'?"
"If she's not answering, then it could only mean that she ran into trouble trying to leave the theatre," Aya said.
"Then the Six took her."
"If that's true, then there's nothing I can do for her right now."
"You're just goin' to leave her there?"
"For now." When Tristan narrowed his eyes and sighed, she said, "Look, Tristan. She knew the risks involved in agreeing to meet with me. There's no doubt now that Regulus wants into the Coven and Coraline is his ticket. He won't kill her. Not yet. That means we've got time."
After their run in with the Six and Zac, she had assumed Coraline had gotten away before they could take her. They didn't know for sure, it was only speculation, but everything pointed to the fact that she was in Regulus' hands.
"I can get into the Coven myself," Aya declared. "I don't need Coraline to get through their wards."
"Then why did you bother contactin' her?"
"Because she has inside knowledge of the place and if worse came to worse, then I could use her as a bargaining chip."
"That's a bit heartless."
Aya glared at the knight. "I wouldn't let her die. I'd get her out. After all, she is part Celestine, even if it's only a drop." She rose, grabbing her leather jacket and shrugged it on.
"You're goin' now?" Tristan stood sharply, grabbing her arm.
She pulled away, turning for the door. "Stay here."
"No way, Arrow. I'm comin' with you," Tristan grabbed his jacket and made to follow her.
"No," she said firmly. "This is my task. If I bring a vampire into their sanctuary, they'll kill you on the spot. You need to stay."
He dropped his jacket back onto the seat and she was relieved she didn't have to fight him this time. "How will I know you're alright?"
"If I'm not back by this time tomorrow… start to worry. If I'm not back in another day, then I'm gone."
"Arrow…"
"Tristan," she smiled. "I'm a million times tougher than you, ser knight. I won't go down without a fight. And besides, I never go down in the first place."
Before he could retort, the door slammed closed behind her and she was gone.
Aya hadn't slept in two days and most other vampires would be dead on their feet, but she was wide awake, her eyes combing the street adjacent to the British Museum. She sat on top of the roof of the building opposite as the early evening traffic drove by on the narrow asphalt and humans walked the pavement to and fro. Sunday evenings usually saw cities slow down, but not London. It seemed it was busy all day, everyday.
Coraline had said that the sanctuary was located in Bloomsbury in an abandoned tube station. The map she had located pinpointed it as being in the street opposite the museum and it had been aptly named Museum station. Apparently they had closed it in the 1930s because there were two other stations close by, Russell Square and Holborn and the line would have been too short and crowded for the amount of trains that used the network. Even more so now.
Below her, an off-licence was open, it's light spilling out onto the street, people coming in and out as they brought cigarettes and booze on their way home. Somewhere along here on Bury Lane was the concealed entrance to the old station. It looked like the witches had masked it with a glamour when they had moved in and she suspected that unless one knew exactly where it was located, then you would never be able to find it. Aya hoped that an unsuspecting member of the Coven would come along and show her, or she would be able to feel it out when a passerby stepped too close and set off a ripple of power from the ward.
Across the way, there was a camera shop and a bookstore that were still lit up with people inside. Wandering along the rooftop, she gazed down into an alleyway, where a number of buildings had security entrances. These were apartments. Underneath had to be the disused tunnels Coraline had spoken of, she could feel something in the air, but it was vague at best. Every time she tried to focus on it, it slipped away into nothingness.
Aya watched as a man walked down the alleyway beneath her. He was human, but she watched him anyway, hoping his movement would uncover something. As he passed a blank, windowless wall, the air shifted slightly. The man kept walking, oblivious. As soon as he rounded the corner Aya was at street level, staring at the wall.
Aya could always sense the sickly sweet residue of witches magic, but here she could feel nothing. It was just a wall. If she hadn't seen the ripple in the air, then she wouldn't have suspected otherwise. No length of searching would have uncovered the entrance to the sanctuary. The Coven were smart.
Placing her hand on the wall, she felt a vibration through the brickwork. Coraline had said only one of the blood could get inside.
She had come across similar wards on numerous occasions. Trailing her hand across the brickwork that had been painted a creamy white, the wall shimmered and the faint outline of an old heavy door appeared, then melted back into nothing. Looking around, she was still alone, no one had passed by the mouth of the alley yet. Feeling for the door handle, she grasped metal and twisted, the door opening inwards with a slight creak. Before she was made, she slipped inside into darkness.
It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light and she made out the beginning of a staircase spiraling downwards. It appeared this was a service entry a long time ago. The main entrance to the station would have been along the main road, a block away on the surface. Without another thought, she began to descend, feeling the air for any wards that might be hidden along the shaft, but nothing was amiss. If any spell was in effect here, it had been a long time ago, or someone had removed it.
The stairwell opened up into a long hallway and since there was no other direction to go in, she followed it. A few minutes later she stood in the ticket hall and it was dark, the only light pooling in from a dozen skylights that had been set into the celling high above. As it was night, the dull orange glow of the street lamps inched its way through the dirty glass. The interior was tiled in a pale green, with the word Museum set into the mosaic in brown, except for the floor, which was entirely concrete. Very turn of the century. To her left, another staircase descended towards the main platform and she headed this way, the other entrance leading back up to street level.
So far, Aya had felt no wards whatsoever and wondered if Coraline had been telling the truth, or if her presence was already noted by the inner circle. Stepping out onto the platform, she stilled, casting her mind along the tracks. The rush of air that traveled down the tunnel ruffled her hair and the muffled sound of trains on other lines echoed dully through the bedrock. There was no other sound or movement, so she took a tentative step forward. But, before she could take another, the shadows began to lengthen. A light began to glow at the opposite end, warm and inviting. Witches.
Readying herself, she watched as the light revealed the shapes of several women walking towards her. Thirteen in all
and by the feel of them, she thought this must be the circle.
The lead witch was smiling at her, the picture of friendliness, her arms spread open in welcome. Not the picture of horror and evil that Coraline had painted, but none of the meant anything. Experience had taught Aya that everything and everyone was deceiving in some way. She never took anyone on face value.
"Welcome. I am Alisandra. I am the Matriarch of the Coven," the witch glided forward, her long skirt trailing over the dirty floor. "And you are Aeriaya."
Well, Aya snorted to herself, they already seemed to know a lot more than they should. Alisandra was tall and pale, her skin was the color of the cream wall that had concealed the door above and her hair was as long and straight as her own and just as dark. Looking her over, Aya could see the resemblance between this woman and Coraline, even if was only slight.
"We hoped that one day you would seek us out, sister," Alisandra smiled, when she didn't reply.
"Sister?" she scoffed as the thirteen witches came to a halt in front of her. Thirteen to a coven, thirteen to a circle. It would be spectacular if she had to fight them and she almost wished she had to.
"You must have many questions to ask of us," the witch said. "And I will be glad to answer as many as I am able." Alisandra gestured to the women standing behind her. "These are the Circle. My sisters and confidants. Come, we mean you no harm."
Warily, Aya stepped forward following the Matriarch through the middle of the group, conscious of their eyes boring into her skin. This had been way too easy and she had at least been expecting some kind of resistance. The Coven had welcomed her home like a long lost sister.
When they left the platform and entered the tunnel, the twelve women bade Alisandra farewell as she led Aya on alone, the only light hovering an inch above the witches head, which was a small white bobbing orb of light made from her magic.