Chapter Twelve
Immediately, a rush of hatred coiled in her stomach, winding its way through her senses, but Kira suppressed it and tried to push those feelings all the way down to the tips of her toes. She needed to stay focused on finding out what Diana was doing here. Eventually, Kira would be able to interrogate her. Eventually, she would find out everything she needed to know, but that time was not in the middle of a huge and bustling tourist spot.
Kira ducked behind the bench, using the backrest as a shield to keep her face completely hidden from view. She poked her head up, hoping the visor of her cap and her sunglasses kept her masked enough, and watched Diana. There was no doubt in Kira's mind that she was waiting for someone or something. She scanned the crowd, her blue eyes darting back and forth, reading each face carefully.
Well, Kira thought, I'm just going to have to be the one to find out what Diana is up to. While Tristan and Luke had been out there searching for her, Diana had fallen right into Kira's lap. Not that Kira was complaining, but she knew the boys would be really annoyed that she had not only left the hotel room but also did what she was doing now: following Diana as she walked away from the harbor.
Sneakily, Kira stood up and walked over to a storefront, peering not through the glass at the clothes but on the glass at the reflection. Diana continued walking, thankfully at a human pace, and Kira watched until she was almost out of view and before chasing after her. Kira had never been so grateful for her time spent in New York City as she was then. Walking around on crowded city streets had taught her the all-too precious weave — how to duck and jump and swivel her hips to keep from getting bowled over by the crowds. Without her years' worth of knowledge, Kira had no doubt she would have lost Diana in the crowd.
As it was, she tracked Diana around the harbor to a giant grass hill, some sort of park overlooking the water. Taking each stone step slowly, Kira followed her up, hoping it wasn't a trap. When she reached the top, Kira scanned the area and saw Diana's burgundy dress as it billowed before a gleaming white marble monument. The contrast luckily made her easy to spot, which may have been Diana's intention. Kira was certain Diana had no clue she was being followed.
To keep it that way, Kira quickly dashed behind a tree, and then peered around the trunk to observe. When she was sure Diana was looking the other way, Kira sprinted behind a different tree that was much closer so she was only ten or fifteen feet from her prey — because that is how she wanted to always think of Diana, as prey and not as predator.
After ten minutes of peeking at Diana as she did nothing but stare down at the harbor, Kira was getting a tad impatient. Yes, it was a plus that she had found Diana, but sitting out in the heat and leaning against scratchy bark to hide from a blood sucking vampire was not really ideal.
Finally, just as Kira's annoyance was reaching an all-time high, Diana stood a fraction taller. Kira instantly became alert. Diana focused on something towards the bottom of the hill, arching her neck for a better view, before straightening out her dress and quickly feeling her hair for stray strands.
She's nervous, Kira thought.
A second later, a man appeared by Diana's side. He materialized out of thin air in a crisp tuxedo. His pearly skin immediately letting Kira know that he was a vampire. Even at a distance, she saw the crooked bend to his nose and silently felt a little sorry that he was stuck with that for all eternity. Diana smiled widely, in a subservient way that Kira didn't recognize from her, and the man extended a gloved hand. Placing her fingers in his palm, Diana let him lift her hand for a kiss.
Kira was seriously confused. Was this business or pleasure? Had Diana given up on ruining her life for some strange vampire lover? The more the two vampires interacted, the more Kira felt like she had been transported to a period film, some sort of Jane Austen fantasy filled with curtsying and overly polite manners.
Diana produced a fan from the folds of her long dress and started flicking it around like some secretive language. The man held out his arm and she grasped it at the crook of his elbow so he could lead her on a stroll around the park. They looked more like sweethearts during a secret rendezvous than evil plotting villains, but Kira knew something else had to have been going on. Diana was not the sort to give up on revenge, especially when she had been plotting for months.
Kira circled around her tree, wishing the meandering couple would just stay put so she didn't have to keep jumping around the trunk like a crazy tree-hugger to keep out of sight. Her poor hands were scratched red from the wood, but Kira knew there was no choice but to wait. She needed to see what was going on. This might be the only clue to Diana's plan that any of them ever got.
Eventually, after circling the entire park once, Diana dropped her hand and turned to face the man, who had reached in his pocket to pull out a gleaming white envelope. From that distance, Kira couldn't read the words it said, but she saw the image of a blood red rose drawn on the front and watched as crimson petals cascaded to the ground when Diana pulled out a note.
Diana politely inclined her head. Kira assumed it was some sort of an acceptance. He slid a small vile into her hand and kissed her fingers one more time. Then, as quickly as he had come, the man disappeared. Diana pressed the note against her chest, smiling widely, but Kira didn't miss the calculating focus of her eyes. This was not schoolgirl glee at a crush finally returning her emotions: it was the giddiness of a plan falling into place. Surely that meant Diana had no idea she, Tristan and Luke were there... hopefully.
For a moment, Kira had the incredible urge to just blast Diana with a ball of fire right there in the middle of the park. She didn't care what passersby would see, how they would run in fear at her power or how someone would snap a photograph making the conduits seem like horrible monsters.
For a moment, all Kira wanted to do was catch Diana and make her pay. She hadn't been this close to her since that day in the woods, and just like the evil witch had planned, her words were never far from Kira's mind. This vampire was the only way Kira would find out any information about her mother. Diana was the only tie and Kira was close.
Without realizing it, Kira outstretched her arm in Diana's direction, preparing to blast her with flames.
But, as quickly as the thoughts had come, Diana was gone and Kira had missed her opportunity once again. The girl was crazy fast, Kira sighed and leaned against the tree. She would need Tristan's help when the time came.
Letting her hand fall back to her side, Kira walked over to where Diana had been standing. Kneeling down, she picked a few of the silky rose petals from the grass, wondering if Tristan would know what the peculiar invite had been about.
As late afternoon approached, Kira knew it was time to head home and slip back into the hotel room before either of the boys showed up. She picked up a snack and happily walked through the lobby. Once inside, Kira ran back over to the chair and quickly stuffed all of the papers she had been reading back into her folder. Carefully, she slipped the folder inside a t-shirt in her duffle, keeping it completely hidden from view. She placed the rose petals in a pile on the table and hunkered down to wait.
And wait.
And wait a little more until Kira just about thought she would go crazy. Patience was so not a virtue. It was torture, especially when she had two boys with hero complexes chasing after evil vampires.
When the doorknob finally clicked, Kira zeroed in on the entryway, shocked to see Luke and Tristan enter at the same time, chuckling with one another.
"What the heck?" Kira said and stood, staring at them angrily. It was one thing to leave her at home and go their separate ways, but it was a whole different thing to leave her behind and go adventuring together. They didn't even like each other! Though Kira supposed she should take it as a good sign that they were laughing and not at each other's throats as per usual.
Tristan walked over to pull her into a tight one-armed hug and said, "Oh, nothing. Luke's friends tried to kill me," which cause another burst of guffaws from Luke.
Kira shirked out of the hold to turn and look at him. It took all of her will power not to angrily point in his face. "What?"
"Dude, they weren't trying to kill you. They were just trying to throw you off the roof."
"What!" Kira spun to face Luke now.
"Trying being the operative word."
Kira spun to Tristan again. Being the third wheel was utterly dizzying. She couldn't stop from spinning around to try to edge her way into the conversation.
"They sort of succeeded," Luke grinned. Enough, Kira thought.
"Stop!" She yelled to finally make the boys pay attention to her. "What is going on?" Each boy stopped smiling as if noticing Kira's frustration for the first time. Was steam coming out of her ears yet?
"It's not a big deal," Tristan said while lightly rubbing her arm. "Luke texted me to meet him on some roof because he found information, so I went. But by the time I had gotten there, a few other conduits had joined in and thought I was trying attack them, so they fought back—"
"Ah," Luke took over, "don't skip over the best part! When Tristan landed on the roof, my friends tried to blast him off of it with their power, but they just sent him flying right into a water pipe that burst like a geyser. It was just like one of those cartoons. Tristan was butt-smacked off the roof by the blow!" Luke could barely finish the story before he doubled over in another fit of laughter.
"Are you okay?" Kira turned back to Tristan, finally taking in the slightly damp quality to his clothing.
"Yeah, it was awesome. I haven't been surprised like that in a while. One minute I was standing on the roof, the next I'm flying." He grinned boyishly.
"Getting catapulted off of a roof was fun?" Kira asked, deadpanned. Tristan shrugged and she rolled her eyes. Some things she would just never understand.
"Kira, you would have died if you were there. I can't stop playing the picture of him somersaulting through mid air," Luke voiced while he collapsed into an armchair.
"I'm glad you two had...fun..." Kira said and sat down on the couch, shaking her head. "I had a good day too," Kira started, not sure how to tell them she had sort of broken their rules and gone outside.
"What did you do?" Tristan asked and settled on the couch next to her, dropping an arm around her shoulder.
"A little of this, a little of that — you know, some reading and well, some spying on Diana—"
"What?" Tristan sat up and turned to face her.
"I swear, I didn't mean for anything to happen. I really didn't go out looking for Diana. But, you didn't really expect me to stay inside all day, did you? I was bored out of my mind." Both boys shrugged to say; yeah we sort of did think you would stay inside. But in Kira's mind, they should've known better. She continued, "Anyway, I was sitting on a bench out by the water when I saw her." Both boys sat up straight, about to ask the same question, but Kira cut them off. "No, she didn't see me. Relax, I was completely incognito."
Kira told them about the meeting on the hill and how Diana had been acting strangely, like some sort of love stricken puppy. Finally, Kira ended with the invitation and pointed to the roses on the table.
"You saw Baltimore's head vampire. His name is Bronson," Tristan said with a sigh. "His nose is the unfortunate monstrosity you described, but it's said that he can smell anything a mile away — even the sun on a conduits skin. It's a miracle you weren't seen."
"How can we be sure?" Luke asked.
"The fact that she is sitting in this room completely unharmed means she wasn't seen," Tristan whispered and Kira couldn't suppress the gulp that slid down her throat. "Bronson is not one for leniency, and out in the open like that, he would have taken her for sure. Or at least tried."
"And this is the same guy you had tea with?" Luke asked in disbelief.
Tristan nodded.
"But what was with the invitation and the strange back and forth between them?" Kira asked.
Tristan leaned forward in his seat to pick up a stray rose petal. He rolled the red strip between his fingers, lost in thought.
"Unfortunately, I know exactly what this is: the red rose ball." Kira and Luke looked at each other, both scared by Tristan's ominous tone.
"Why is this ball so important?" Kira asked, not one hundred percent sure she wanted an answer.
"Not important, but elite — very elite. I've never been invited, but I know what it is. Once every generation, the head vampire of a region will take his or her turn hosting the ball. They invite every vampire who meets one single requirement: immunity."
Kira squinted, not liking where this was going. "Immunity...to conduits?"
Tristan nodded. "There are two balls: the red rose ball and the white rose ball. In order to be invited to the red rose ball, a vampire must own a captive Punisher. For the white rose ball, a Protector." Tristan ended quietly. Kira and Luke looked at each other like they were going to be sick.
"How have we not known about this?" Luke asked Tristan.
"It's kept very private and it's a very rare event. I can't believe that this is what Diana is here for. I don't even know if more than three have been held in my lifetime."
"And is it true? How can you guys be certain all of the vampires invited actually have enslaved conduits?" Luke leaned forward, his face brow furrowed in concern. Trapped conduits were the exact thing he had been taught to fear for his entire life — the one thing every conduit was told could mean the end of the world.
"There's a test. The host will welcome each guest with his own enslaved conduit, in the case of the red rose ball, a Punisher. If the guest can walk through the conduit's flames, they live and enter. If not, they die. It's not a gamble most vampires would be willing to risk."
"Which means Diana found herself a conduit?" Kira asked.
"I don't think so," Tristan said, "but there's no other explanation is there?"
Kira thought back to the way Diana had been acting. Before Bronson showed up, she had been nervous. When he got there, she acted sort of like a lovesick girl and as soon as he left, Diana had become calculating again. And what was it he had slipped into her hand at the last moment?
"What if she doesn't have a conduit? What if she's just made friends with the right people?" Both boys looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "I think Bronson gave her a vial of Punisher blood, to cheat the system so she could come to the ball. I think maybe they've been dating."
"Isn't she, you know, a little too evil to date?" Luke asked while pretending to act like the killer in a slasher movie.
"It makes sense in a way," Tristan said. "She must have gotten wind of the ball and come up here after everything happened that day last year. We stopped John and Jerome, so she had no one left to run to. Why not cozy up to a head vampire with connections and means of protecting her?"
"And means of sneaking her into the ball," Kira added.
"But why? I mean, I get that this ball is some huge macho vampire event," Luke chimed in. "But why go to so much trouble for a party?"
Kira and Tristan shrugged.
"That's the exactly what we need to find out," Tristan said.
"How?" Kira asked.
"I need to go to that ball," Tristan said while looking over at Kira sadly. At first she didn't understand why he looked so distraught, but after a moment Kira got it.
"My blood," Kira said softly. "My blood will get you inside." This is not a big deal, Kira thought quietly to herself, Tristan's a vampire and I'm his girlfriend and it's just a little blood. But, sometimes Kira found herself forgetting Tristan was a vampire. Well, not forgetting, but pushing it from her mind. The super strength and reflexes, even his age and immortality never bothered her. In fact, she found it sort of cool and definitely sexy.
But the blood thing was a little too much to think about, a little too disgusting sometimes. She would make excuses, like he never ate around her because he wasn't hungry. They had even turned the fact that he couldn't come over for a meal with her parents into an inside joke. But now, with the thought of him sucking her blood staring her in the face, Kira could help but feel a little queasy. Or maybe, she thought hopefully, it was just Luke invading her brain again.
Realizing she had been quiet for a little while, Kira nodded an affirmation in Tristan's direction to let him know he could of course have her blood. It was no big deal. Everything would be completely fine, but she couldn't keep another thought from creeping into her mind, a lingering doubt from months before.
"Can I ask you one question first?" Kira said hesitantly. Tristan nodded, telling her to continue. "Well, I thought conduit blood was supposed to affect vampires and make them lose control, you know go a little crazy, but you seem to be fine with it..." She trailed off, not sure what question she was even asking. All she could picture was the sight of him chained up, swallowing her blood as Diana looked on with glee. Kira never understood why he hadn't been affected that day, why he didn't go crazy, and there had never seemed to be a good time to ask until now.
"Oh that," Tristan said quietly, unable to meet her eyes. "Conduit blood only affects vampires if they aren't used to it. But, I've had it before."
"What?" Kira said in disbelief. She fought the urge to jerk away from him.
"Not like that," he said quickly, "Aldrich forced me to when I was newly turned — he wanted me to be strong enough to help him capture new conduits when the time came. I left before he could use me like that, but I've been exposed to enough conduit blood that it will never affect me like that again."
Kira understood, she really did, but she couldn't quite fight the sense of betrayal in the back of her mind. He had drunk the blood of other conduits and enough of it to last a lifetime? It just seemed wrong. But could she really be angry with him for something that happened more than a century ago?
No, it wasn't fair to be mad at him, Kira realized. The only reason any of them survived the eclipse was because her blood hadn't turned him. I won't let it affect our relationship, she promised silently, I won't think of him differently. But still, Kira found herself purposefully looking across the room to avoid meeting Luke's eyes — to avoid facing the disgust she knew they held.
"Just one problem," Luke said from his chair, speaking into the silence and smoothly changing the subject. "We have no idea when the ball is."
"I think I do," Tristan spoke up. "Bronson has been lying to me for the past two days, not really unheard of in my world, but he mentioned he would be gone this weekend. I think it was to keep me from unexpectedly dropping in. Saturday at sundown — that'll be when it starts."
"I need to go," Luke blurted out while jumping up from his seat, like a slingshot finally being released. "I'm calling an emergency convention. If Tristan's crashing the party, we can too."
"What do you mean?" Kira asked.
"Protectors, we need to go in. We need to find out where all of these trapped Punishers are and rescue them."
"You'll need every conduit in the area to trap these guys, Luke," Tristan warned. "They're some of the most powerful vampires in the world. I'm not sure you know what you're up against."
"Don't worry about me," Luke said while grabbing his cell phone, "I'll be back later." He disappeared out the door with a determined expression. Kira could almost see the wheels spinning in his head. Luke had three days to amass an army and it definitely wouldn't be easy.
Kira leaned into Tristan's chest. He responded by hugging her closer and absently rubbing her arm with his fingers. Kira held his free hand, letting her fingers dance along his palm, but her mind was elsewhere.
At best, her mother was being held captive by some vampire and at worst she was dead. Or maybe it was the other way around. Should she be hoping to find out her mother was really dead — that she had been spared that sort of slavery? Kira couldn't help but wonder if her own mother had been the ticket to get someone in to a white rose ball, some sort of meal and display of power.
But, she didn't want to go down that path of thought. The endless wondering would get her nowhere.
Instead, Kira focused on Diana — the vampire completely determined to destroy her life. From the moment Diana had laid eyes on Kira, she had hated her. The feeling was definitely mutual, but Kira would've never acted on it had Diana not made the first move so long ago, all the way back in their high school auditorium.
In the time she had known her, Diana had attacked Kira, almost killed Luke, nearly turned Tristan bad and risked the lives of all of her friends. Like it or not, Kira knew there was no other option than to kill her at the ball. This time, Kira couldn't hesitate.
But, it all came down to one thing: what did Diana want? They had to figure that out first, because if Kira was right, Diana was concocting a plan that would haunt Kira long after Diana herself had died.
"Tristan?" Kira asked. He murmured in her ear to let her know he was listening. "What do you think she's up to? Is this really just about telling powerful vampires who and what I am?"
"I was thinking that too," he said, "but I can't imagine that is the only reason she went to so much trouble. If that were the case, all she would need to do is visit the homes of head vampires and spread the word."
"There's something we're not seeing, like with the eclipse last year. I'm worried we won't realize what it is until it's too late."
"Whatever it is, we'll make it through together. I'm sure of it."
Tristan gripped her hand and she smiled up at him. They would make it through, they always did, but at what cost?
Kira still vividly remembered the first time Diana had attacked her. The feel of Diana's teeth grazing her neck still sent shivers down her spine. She could still remember the moment her powers burst forth for the first time. She would never forget how her blood boiled, how her powers felt like lava melting her skin apart when it rained from her palms. That moment was also when Kira first found out what Tristan was. The sight of his eyes flashing in pleasure at the slight taste of her blood still haunted her thoughts. Now she understood it was involuntary, but back then it had almost torn them apart.
And what about the eclipse? Before that day, Kira had never killed anything. She had never known what it felt like to drain a vampire of its very life force, burning it to ash. Before that day, she had also never really seen the darker side of Tristan, the past he tried to keep hidden from her. She loved the man he was now, loved how he understood her and how he saw her. She loved the way they laughed and the way they could tell each other anything. She loved that he never judged her and always let her make her own decisions. But for a minute on that afternoon so long ago Kira had seen something else, something only Diana could bring out in him, and she never wanted to see that side of Tristan again.
Which was why Kira couldn't help but feel dread as she thought of the coming Saturday. A face-off with Diana had been a long time coming and it was inevitable, but what would she, Luke and Tristan walk away with? What scars would they carry this time?