29. Revenant

29

REVENANT

Q uinn and I wait on Arturos’ front porch later that evening, at sunset. As the sun dips below the horizon, I feel the changeover to dusk. Like a breath of fresh air just swept through my entire body, I feel revived; I feel it from Quinn also as he revives beside me. After our trio’s incredible lovemaking, we slept all day, ate as much of the best delicacies as we could revel in, and had sex again just because. Quinn had some blood from a few willing donors on Arturos’ staff, as Lucca slept, ate, and reveled all day with us. My energy feels buoyant now; Quinn and Lucca do also thanks to everything we’ve discovered as a trio. We’re ready to face the Council tonight.

As the first phase of our plan begins.

Sunset . Where are you, Lucca? I hear Quinn say clearly in my mind now, his Night magic repaired today from all the sex, reveling, and donated blood. Quinn and I are alone in the house, all our allies elsewhere as our plans begin.

In the catacombs under the central citadel, almost in position. You were right, Quinn, there were no Vampire guards in the city center during the day, only wards and Rock Giants. We got past them easily with Eiseth’s abilities. Lucca’s response is nearly as clear, since he’s only a few miles away now in the center of Rome.

Eiseth and Alleno are with him; Eiseth was the one who broke the Council’s daytime wards in the city-center, getting them past the guards with her impressive mesmeric mind-abilities. Our allies and Lucca are deep beneath Rome now, in the same Ascendant catacombs Quinn, Arturos, and I caught that Revenant in a few nights ago. Arturos will be inside the Council hall, having begged his Sire, the Wanderer, to give him her seat tonight, which she agreed to.

Our plan is in motion, to give the Vampire Council our surprise once they summon us tonight.

It happens faster than I might have thought. One moment, Quinn and I are on the porch alone; the next, three Council representatives are swirling in through a dark portal of Vampire smoke, standing before us. I’d not seen how they arrived before; these three are not the three who Summoned us previously, however.

Those three having gone to dust when their Council sent us an actual message of their power.

Master Quindici DaPonti and his Kissed Dark Fae Ariana Summers , they say as one now in that terrible voice as they raise their arms and open their mouths. Are you ready to appear before the Vampire Council of Rome and demonstrate your Revenant-returning power?

“We are,” Quinn says as he nods. “Name the place, and we shall be there an hour after sunset, as agreed.”

The agreement is sound. The place… is the Old Council Chamber. Be there with your captured Revenant and your Dark Fae. None other may stand at your side as you demonstrate your power tonight. That is all.

With that, the three disappear in a whirl of dark Vampire smoke.

Quinn and I heave twin sighs—relieved but also vastly tense now that we know the location of our trial tonight.

Lucca. I feel Quinn mind-send to Lucca again. The site of our trial is confirmed. It is as we thought. Go there and wait for us. We shall be there an hour after sunset. Guard your Light as much as you can, so none can sense you until it is time.

I’ll be there, Quinn. Lucca sends back to us, ready. I love you both. Stay strong, no matter what they throw at you. We’ve got this.

With that, Lucca’s gone, all of us needing to save even our regenerated energy for the big show in an hour. I turn to Quinn and he brushes down the shoulders of his ornate, modern Victorian tux. It’s utterly black; black like the cosmos, as it seems to eat all light in the evening. Studded from top to bottom with onyx gems and black diamonds, it shimmers in a flame-like pattern.

The ancient pattern of House Incendari—the Summer Fae House of Righteous Fire.

I’m wearing modern Victorian couture tonight also, in a stark black-and-white pattern of onyx and diamonds that seems to move and shift like shimmering shadows beneath a high midsummer moon. It’s a design from my Summer Fae house, House Altvie, the House of Shadow Truth.

My gown is corseted with a bustle in the back plus a train; the long sleeves stop short from covering my hands where they end in jeweled hoops for my middle fingers. The neck is high, my red hair done up in a design of sheer elegance, set with slender knives of bone and ebony that are functional should I need them.

Quinn showed me how to etch my knives with runes of my design today; they wield Faeanic sigils for death , destruction , and woe now. I have my Faeanic spear also, in its short form, tucked up under my skirts and held in place on my thigh by a modern knife-sheath.

Quinn has one of his Vampire blades inside his jacket that will lengthen into a spear. Lucca has weapons on him also tonight, and wears a matching suit to Quinn’s, though his is made of a white fabric so angelic it almost beams with light. Not to mention the wealth of diamonds upon his suit, set in the growing vine pattern of House Bellari, the House of Blazing Heart. I only got to glimpse him before he, Alleno, and Eiseth left.

It was a beautiful ensemble, though, and made my heart soar for him .

“You have your weapons?” Quinn asks me now as he lifts an eyebrow and sets my hand on his arm. It was Quinn who got these garments made for us at the Hotel on such brief notice, plus the weapons.

I pat my thigh and the shortened spear hidden there. “All set. You have the box?”

“I never leave home without it.” Quinn’s smile is briefly humorous as he pats his jacket pocket, where the Florentine Box has been shrunk down to the size of a sugar cube and stashed inside a velvet ring case. The Fae amulet is around his neck, tucked behind the black silk cravat he has on, nestled inside the high collar of his shirt.

As he escorts me down the front steps of Arturos’ manor to his black Maserati in the driveway, I inhale a deep breath. Because tonight, we’re going to either do the impossible with what our trio’s attempting from a distance.

Or we’re going to be up shit creek and the Vampire Council is going to eat us alive.

Quinn steadies me, though, as I feel his heart beat and he holds my gaze. He lowers me by the hand, letting me slide into the passenger seat of the car in my tight Vampire couture. As he shuts the door, rounding to the driver’s side and firing it up, I feel ready for whatever we’ll face tonight.

To fight—come hell or high water—and hope we win.

Quinn is silent, listening for any complications with Lucca and his group as we drive. I’m silent too, running through the many outcomes for tonight. I can’t be ready for them all, though, and will probably have to fly by the seat of my pants with whatever’s coming.

Before I know it, Quinn’s flashing his Vampire ID at the central city’s guards and we’re being ushered into a parking garage again. This one, however, is in a place that is infamous in both the human world Rome and the Twilight Realm city.

The Colosseum.

Il Colosseo is gargantuan here in the Twilight Realm, as we park in the nearby parking structure and exit the garage, moving out onto the promenade. The place where our Council-fated test awaits is not a ruin here; hale and enormous, it dwarfs the surrounding ancient Roman buildings with it’s sheer size and scope, and magnificence.

In the Twilight Realm, the Colosseum is topped with statues of ancient angelics and demons; stern and austere, cruel and snarling, they stand tall on the promenade as well, guarding every entrance and gate. Faces stare at us from the walls; the place is entirely carved with likenesses of the godlike Ascendants both Fae and Vampires evolved from. It features them, rather than Vampires or Fae, because this building is older than both Lineages here in the Twilight Realm.

It was the first creation of those ancient Ascendants—when they Fell to Rome and never looked back.

We enter Il Colosseo through a main archway now, heavily attended by Vampire guards in scarlet and gold ancient Roman armor. The Council are not without pomp and circumstance, as we are admitted through a long row of guards with Vampire pikes; they part for us like we’re the most noble of guests or the most heinous of criminals, entering to face our doom tonight.

One guard in a gilded helm peels off from the end of the line, escorting us down the inner Colosseum steps. We are walked to the main floor of the ancient space.

Then all the way out into the middle of the gravel oval, where the guard leaves us to our fate.

We wait, and for a long while, nothing happens. True night is settling now, diamond stars beginning to pop out in the vast Twilight sky. Blue-violet torches burst to life all around us then, lighting up the main floor of the Colosseum and the arched tiers in a spectacular display of magic. That magic is cold, though, as those torches burn without the true heat of actual fire.

And the Council appears, swirling in through black Vampire portals all around.

The Council sit scattered up the tiers, extending up into the highest rows of seats. Though their sudden display of magic was spectacular, as they sit cowled in black all around and above us now, there actually aren’t that many of them.

I estimate about thirty individuals, though there could be more; the Colosseum seems empty by comparison, though those flickering, sorcerous torches are everywhere. This place was clearly made for other use than what the Vampire Council currently use it for. That current use is punishment, as the Council claps their hands as one now, sending a terrible dome of violet-blue fire and darkness swirling up all around us from those innumerable torches.

To seal us in—and seal our fate.

Quinn and I have a secret, though, as we wait for the proceedings to begin. Lucca, somewhere close beneath our feet, is waiting in the Ascendant’s ancient catacombs that the Vampires no longer use.

Not only have we restored our trio’s power today—and Quinn’s Night—Lucca has Alleno and Eiseth with him as protection and backup. They’re also there to hold a magical perimeter, so his Fae Light is not discovered when we do our ritual with the Revenant. And somewhere in all those cowled faces surrounding us is Arturos, our only known ally on the Council tonight, thanks to the Wanderer. It’s the best we could do, as we face them this evening.

And hope we can give them our Revenant-returning demonstration with nothing going haywire.

As that magical dome of darkness and wraith-fire goes up all around us now, I know we’re sealed in—everywhere except beneath our feet, where the barrier doesn’t penetrate the earth. Like Rome in the human world, this Colosseum has ancient ready-halls for fighters beneath it. Those are all warded to keep Vampires, Fae, and anything else out, especially while the Council is in session.

The deep Ascendant catacombs aren’t, however—and that’s where Lucca is tonight.

I just pray he’s close enough that our demonstration works. Because despite our revelry today and the way the Music poured through all of us at dawn, uniting our magics as we united our bodies, I’m not storing any of Quinn’s or Lucca’s power inside me anymore.

That all got sent back where it came from when we had sex and the Music united us with that incredible sigil of love. Though I feel more connected to Lucca and Quinn than I’ve ever been, I also feel how it’s only my magic stored inside my body now.

All of Lucca’s Light returned to him—somewhere beneath our feet tonight.

A spokesperson rises from the Council then. As they stand before us, just a single tier up from the main floor, the individual rises, throwing back their cowled hood. I see the ancient man with midnight-black skin and chartreuse eyes who was at our session before, standing tall in the deepening dark.

“Master Quindici DaPonti and his Kissed Dark Fae Ariana Summers, welcome to this Council session. Tonight we shall see a demonstration of a power you claim to possess—to return a Vampire Revenant, one of our lost ancient ones, to their physical form and sanity. The Council beseeches you; your time to prove your claim has come. Return a Revenant before us now, and show us you are worthy to claim your former Sire’s seat among us, as you believe you should have. Or fail—and lose your life, your Dark Fae’s life, and your entire Dark Haven. The time has come. Begin.”

As the aged man sits, not putting his cowl up anymore, as if he was chosen tonight to forego his mystery in order to be the Council’s spokesperson, Quinn nods. Then, reaching inside his ornate Victorian jacket, he withdraws the velvet ring box like he’s about to propose.

This case contains a nasty surprise, however, as he opens it and removes the Florentine Box in its tiny, sugar-cube form. I hear a rustle of surprise from the Council where they sit in the stands all around us now. It’s as if every sound in the Colosseum is amplified under the dome of magical wraith-fire and seething darkness.

As he sets the small cube on the ground in the center of the vast gravel floor of the Coliseum, Quinn turns and takes my hand, moving us a suitable distance away. Once there, he takes out the Fae amulet from inside his shirt, holding it aloft in his fingers.

Once again, I hear a strange sigh come from the Council that Quinn uses Fae-magic tonight. No one stops us, though, and no one tells Quinn he can’t use an amulet of Fae-make as he fixes his eyes on the tiny box now and sets his intention.

I know he did some sigil-work on the box today; something about its seal being unstable since Arturos was the one to close that Revenant in the other day, and Quinn needing to repair it now that his energy is recovered.

But that all happened earlier, to Quinn’s satisfaction; with a surge of amethyst light from the amulet, the box heaves out into its normal, gargantuan shape. As it does, I feel more than see the Council flinch back from what Quinn just did. A wave of Vampiric darkness rushes out around them as if for protection.

It’s not the Revenant swirling in its cage in full-size that has them worried, as it stares at me and Quinn now with its seething red eyes. It was the light from the amulet that hurt them.

The Light of the Fae, as they retreat in darkness.

I recall then that daywalking is a rare talent among Vampires. I now know that Quinn has it because he is still Fae—and I wonder if other Vampires who can Daywalk are actually Mentale Dark Fae in disguise, hiding in plain sight. There is no more time for speculation, though, as the moment to prove ourselves is upon us.

But before Quinn can start our demonstration, a voice suddenly whispers inside my mind.

Prove your Master’s flame-born Light, little belladonna of the Fae .

I turn in shock as I hear that smooth, ancient voice—to see the Gold Eyes swirling at the far end of the Colosseum floor. Shrouded in darkness, it flickers in and out of this dimension as I watch it seethe in its impenetrable Night.

It’s as if it’s there, but not, as I watch it swirl into that same tall spearman where it lingers in a patch of darkness by one ancient vault. The sorcerous flames of the Vampire torches don’t touch it, or the patch of darkness it hides in, as its brilliant gold eyes penetrate me. Utterly mad, those eyes shine in the darkness as I somehow feel it smile.

A diabolical smile of utter delight—like it’s excited for the show.

Quinn! I say mind-to-mind, urgently, as I move close to him. I keep my mind-chatter as low as possible, hoping none of the Masters of the Council can hear. Quinn sees me nod to where the Gold Eyes waits. His gaze flicks to it; I hear him draw the smallest breath as shock riots all through him.

I know what he does in that moment; it’s here to see us rise like kings tonight, or make us fall so deep into darkness that nothing will ever save us. For the Gold Eyes only appears to those destined to leave a very great legacy—or crash into stunning misfortune. It’s been watching us all this time, pushing us to do something with our trio’s magics that I still don’t understand.

Only that it’s interested in us.

And provides stunningly wild results when it gets involved in our exploits.

Its presence shivers me to my bones now, as I feel Quinn steady himself beside me. He’s shaken, too; knowing the creature is here right now and likely to make things with the Revenant go awry, as we try what we came here to do tonight. We’re in the best possible position we could be in, however, with our trio’s powers restored and our bond stronger than ever. With a deep breath, Quinn puts aside his worry.

And makes himself firm as stone—to do or die tonight.

I feel Quinn draw the immense power of his darkness, his ancient Vampire Night, all around him now. It’s like drawing the void of the cosmos down from the brightest stars, as Quinn raises the full power of his Vampire magic all around us in a seething tirade of Night.

The evening is alive with fire now from Quinn’s vivid red and gold flames; I feel him work hard to keep them to a minimum so the Vampire Council doesn’t suspect what he is. As I raise my magic also, Quinn foregoing biting me tonight thanks to the new unity of connection we’re all sharing, my dark oilslick rainbows vibrate hard into Quinn’s darkfire flames.

Far beneath our feet, Lucca senses our power rise. He lifts his magic also in a shining splendor, timing it perfectly with ours. As Quinn opens his lips, humming and then singing the Music like he did before, shaping it to his intention, for a moment, that incredible Music shimmers through the darkness. Alive with splendor, everything inside me lights as I listen to Quinn’s harmonies and feel myself moved now to sing it with him, just as I did before.

I see the Music form a shimmering sigil now in the Otherworld, ready for Lucca and me to work our magic to complete it. But as I open my mouth, prepared to work our fullest Music on the Revenant and return it, feeling Lucca do the same, the black creature suddenly gives a tremendous heave inside its box. It’s strong; so viciously strong, as if it had been saving up everything it had for this one moment.

To test its confines right at the worst possible time.

As the Revenant slams the bars of its cage, the Gold Eyes suddenly gives a surge of energy. As the Revenant heaves inside its prison, the Gold Eyes sends a diabolical wave of power through the night—and the Music wrenches into a cacophony the likes of which I’ve never heard.

The sigil we were forming suddenly wrenches also, into an entirely new shape. Dark and terrible, that sigil is pure hell as I scream, hammered to my knees with both hands over my ears. Quinn falls as I do, and I feel Lucca fall also, all of us screaming to the vast insanity of that new sigil now, and the diabolical Music that accompanies it. Our trio’s scream is echoed by the entire Vampire Council as the Music shatters in the night.

Silver exploding as the Vampire Bloodsigns and Faeanic sigils upon the Florentine Box break.

A concussion hammers the night; shreds of the cage’s silver bars hurtle at us in a thousand spears as Quinn roars in shock and pain. He slams up a dome of fiery Night all around himself and me to protect us from those sudden projectiles.

But my mind is gone, blasted by that terrible, clamoring wreckage of the Music as the Revenant rises from the melted silver of its cage, torn velvet drapes cascading off of it. I can’t get my bearings as it whirls in a maelstrom of power, like a thunderstorm come alive. I can’t raise my magic to fight or even lengthen my Faeanic spear as I watch in horror, thinking the Revenant’s going to turn towards the Council and go rampaging through them.

As that terrible, jangled Music pummels me, devastating Quinn’s, Lucca’s, and my minds and paralyzing our bodies as it roars unhinged all around us, the Revenant doesn’t attack the Council. Quinn and I are incapacitated now. He can barely hold his dome of Night around us as he heaves a terrible cry and falls to his hands and knees with me on the Coliseum floor, the Revenant’s awful red eyes fixing on him.

It has a score to settle, as those horrible red eyes burn. It comes to us, blasting through the remnants of Quinn’s barrier like a bomb as it wraps its seething tentacles of Night all around him.

With a screech like a thousand nails scratching down a blackboard, it raises its ungodly power, triggering every last memory of Emiliana DiClario Quinn has.

And then it feeds from the person who trapped it here tonight.

The tastiest person, with all the terrible torture Quinn endured over the years.