Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 17

He stargond at her for an instant, his golden eyewide.Dont you think me?I wouldnt put it past Sylvia to try, he verbalise. preciselyI dont think shes strong enough.She do tongue to she got special ingredients. And she say that nobody else could take the small-arm a way.When he still looked doubtful, although a bit to a greater extent than grim, Maggie added, Why dont y disclosery it?He reached down with long, strong fingers to pullat the fastenings of his brace. It came off easily,and Maggies eyebrows went up. She blinked.He extended his arm, pointing it at the wall, anddrew a dagger from his belt.Maggie had forgotten rough the blood part. Shebit the inside of her cheek and didnt say anythingashe opened a humble cut on his wrist. Blood welled up red, indeed flowed in a trickle.Just a little b blend in, Delos give tongue to, and looked calmlyat the wall. nonhing happened.He frowned, his golden look flaring dangerously.Maggie could see the concentration in his face. Hesp read his fingers.Still nothing happened.Maggie let surface her breath. I guess spells are invisible, she thought. The brace was scarcely for show.Delos was feel at his armasif it didnt belong to him.Were in trouble, Maggie verbalize, move not tomake it sound compar able-bodied I told you so. While they thought they were al maven in here, they were talking around all kinds of things. completely Hunter cares about is getting you to help him destroy the humans. Buttheres been virtually queen-size split in the Night World, and the witches fix seceded from it.Delos went very still, and his eyes were distant.That instrument war. Open war between witches and vampires.Probably, Maggie said, waving a mickle vaguely.But, listen, Delos, the witches displace somebody here,an ambassador, to talk to you. To try to get you on their side. Hunter said theyve got one of the Wild Powers on their side al devise-the witches, I mean.Are you getting this?Of course, Delos said. But now his v oice wasoddly distant, too. He was looking at something Maggie couldnt see. But one out of four doesntmatter. Two out of four, three out of four-its notgood enough.What are you talkingabout? Maggie didnt waitfor him to answer. But, look. I be intimate the girl whocame to talk to you. Its the girl I was with on therocks, the other one you ceded from Bern. ShesAradia, and shes Maiden of all the witches. And,Delos, theyre looking for her proficient now. They wantto kill her to stop her from getting to you. And shes my friend.Thats too bad.Weve got to stopthem, Maggie said, exasperated.We elicitt.That brought Maggie up short. She stared at him.What are you talking about?Im saying we plentyt stop them. Theyre toostrong. Maggie, listen to me, he said calmly and clearly, when she began an incoherent protest.Thats the first time hes said my name out loud, she thought dizzily, and then she foc enforced on hiswords.Its not just the spell theyve put on me. And itsnot just that they control the castle. Oh, yes, theydo, he said with a bitter laugh, cutting her off again. You bringnt been here very long you dontunderstand. The nobles here are centuries old,most of them. They dont worry being ruled by a advanced child with uncanny powers. As soon asHunter showed up, they transferred their loyalty to him.BUt-Hes everything they admire. The perfect vampire, the crowning(prenominal) predator. Hes ruth little andbloodthirsty and he wants to give them the wholeworldas their hunting grounds. Do you rattling thinkany of them can resist that? After long time of huntingmindless, bewildered animals that have to be confine out one at a time?With maybe the oddcreaky striver for a special treat? Do you think any of them wont add him willingly?Maggie was silent. There was nothing she couldsay.He was right, and it was scary.And that isnt all, he continued remorselessly.Do you want to hear a prophecy?Not really, Maggie said. Shed heard more than thanenough of those for one life time.He ignored her. My old teacher use to rate methis, he said.Four to stand between the light and theshadow,Four of benighted fire, power in their blood.Born in the year of the maneuver Maidens mickleFour less one and darkness triumphs.Uh huh, Maggie said. To her it sounded likejust more of the same thing. The totally interestingthing about it was that it mentioned the blindMaiden. That had to be Aradia, didnt it? She wasone famous witch.Whats born in the year of the blind Maidensvision? she asked.It means all the Wild Powers are the same age,born s so farteen years ago, Delos said impatiently. But thats not the point. The point is the last line,Four less one and darkness triumphs. That meansthat the darkness is going to win, Maggie.What do you mean?Its inevitable. Theres no way that the humansand the witches can get all four Wild Powers ontheir side. And if theres even one less than four,the darkness is going to win. each(prenominal) the vampires need to do is kill one of t he Wild Powers, and its allover. Dont you see?Maggie stared at him. She did see what he wassaying, and it was even scarier than what hed saidbefore.But that doesnt mean we can just give up,she said, trying to puzzle out his expression. If we do that, it will be all over. We cant just surrender and letthem win.Of course not, he said harshly. We have tojoin them.There was a long silence. Maggie realized that her mouth had fallen open. what?We have to be on the winning side, and thatsthe vampire side. He looked at her with yelloweyes that seemed as remote and mortal calm as apanthers. Im sorry about your friends, alone theres no luck for them. And the only chance for youis to become a vampire.Maggies brain suddenly surged into overdrive.All at once, she saw exactly what he was saying.And furygave her energy. He was lightning-fast, hardly she jumped up and out of the way before he could close his hands on her.Are you out of your mind?NoYoure going to killme?Im going to save your life , the only way I can.He stood up, following her with that same eerie calm.I cant believe this. I really cant believe this, Maggie thought.She circled around the bed, then stopped. It was pointless he was going to get her eventually.She looked into his face one more time, and saw that he was completely serious. She send packingped herarms and relaxed her shoulders, trying to slow herbreathing, meeting his eyes directly.Delos, this isnt just about me, and its not justabout my friends. Its about all the slaves here, andall the humans on the Outside. Turning me into a vampire isnt going to help them.Im sorry, he said again. But youre all that really matters.No, Im not,Maggie said, and this time the hottears didnt stop at her eyes, but overflowed and rolled down her cheeks. She shook them off angrily, and took one last duncical breath.I wont let you, she said.You cant stop me.I can fight. I can make you kill me before youturn me into a vampire. If you want to try it thatway, come and take your best shot.Deloss yellow eyes bored into hers-and thensuddenly shifted and dropped. He stepped hazard, hisface cold.Fine, he said. If you wont cooperate, Ill putyou in the dungeon until you see whats best foryou.Maggie felt her mouth drop open again.You wouldnt, she said.Watch me.The dungeon, like everything else in the castle,was heart-stoppingly authentic.It had something that Maggie had read about in books but hadnt seen in the rooms above rushesand straw on the floor. It also had a stone judicial systemcarved directly into the stone wall and a set apart,barred window-slit about fifteen feet above Mag gies head. And that was all it had.Once Maggie had poked into the straw enoughto go that she didnt really wantto know whatwas down there and shaken the iron veto that make up the door and examined the stone slabs in the wall and stood on the bench to try to climb to the window, therewas nothing else to do. She sat on the bench and felt the true enormity of the situat ion trickle in on her.She was really stuck here. Delos was really serious. And the world, the actual, real world out there, could be impact as a consequence.It wasnt that she didnt understand his motivation. She had been in his mind shed felt thestrength of his protectiveness for her. And she cute to protect him, too.But it wasnt possible to forget about everyoneelse. Her parents, her friends, her teachers, thepaper girl. If she let Delos give up, what happenedto them?Even the people in the Dark Kingdom. Laundressand Old Mender and alky and Chamber-pot Emptier and all the other slaves. She caredabout them. She admired their gritty determination to goon living, any(prenominal) the circumstances-and theircourage in risking their brave outs to help her.Thats what Delosdoesnt understand, shethought. He doesnt see them as people, so he cantcare about them. All his life hes only cared abouthimself, and now about me. He cant look beyondthat.If only she could think of a way to makehimse e-but she couldnt. As the hours passed and thesilence began to get into on her, she kept trying.No inspiration came. And finally the light outsideher carrell began to fade and the cold started to settle in.She was half asleep, huddled on her cayenne pepper bench,when she heard the rattle of a key in a door. She jumped up and went to peer through the bars, hoping to see Delos.The door at the end of the narrow stone corridoropened and someone came in with a flare. But itwasnt Delos. It was a guard, and undersurface him wasanother guard, and this one had a prisoner.Jeanne Maggie said in dismay.And then her heart plummeted further.A third guard was half marching, half supporting Aradia.Maggie looked at them wordlessly.It wasnt like Jeanne not to fight, she thought, asthe guards opened the cell door and shoved theother girls in.The door clanged shut again, and the guardsmarched back out without discourse. Almost as an afterthought, one of them stuck a flare in an ironring to give th e prisoners some light.And then they were gone.Jeanne picked herself up off the floor, and thenhelped Aradia get up. Theyve got P.J. upstairs,she said to Maggie, who was still staring. Theysaid they wouldnt hurt her if we went quietly.Maggie opened her mouth, shut it again, andtried to swallow her heart, which was in her throat.At last she managed to speak.Delos said that?Delos and Hunter Redfern and that witch.Theyre all very chummy.Maggie sat down on the cold bench.Im sorry, she said.Why? Because youre too stupidly trusting?Jeanne said. Youre not responsible for him.I think she means because shes his soulmate,Aradia said softly.Jeanne stared at her as if shed started speaking a foreign language. Maggie stared, too, imprint hereyes getting wider, trying to study the beautiful features in the semidarkness.She felt oddly shy of this girl whom shed calledCady and who had turned out to be something shecould never have imagined.How did you know that? she asked, trying notto sound ton gue-tied. open fire you justtell?Asmile curved the perfect lips in the shadows.I could tell before, Aradia said gently, indorse upquite accurately to sit on the bench. When youcame back from seeing him the first time, but Iwas too foggy to really focus on anything then. Iveseen a visual sense of it in the last few years, though. Peoplefinding their soulmates, I mean.Youre better, arent you? Maggie said. Yousound lots moreawake. It wasnt just that. Aradia had ever so had a quiet dignity, but now therewas an authority and confidence about her thatwas new.The healing women helped me. Im still weak,though, Aradia said softly, looking around the cell.I cant use any of my powers-not that breakingthrough walls is among them, anyway.Maggie let her breath out. Oh, well. Im gladyoure awake, anyway. She added, feeling shy again,Um, I know your real name, now. Sorry about the misunderstanding before.Aradia put a hand-again short accuratelyon Maggies. Listen, my dear friend, she said,startl ing Maggie with both the word and the intensity of her voice, nobody has ever helped me more than you did, or with less reason. If youd been oneof my people, and youd known who I was, it wouldhave been amazing enough. But from a human, who didnt know anything about me Shestopped and shook her head. I dont know if well even live through tonight, she said. But if we do,and if theres ever anything the witches can do foryou, all you have to do is ask.Maggie blinked hard. Thanks, she whispered. I meanyou know. I couldnt just leave you.I do know, Aradia said. And thats the amazingthing. She squeezed Maggies hand. Whatever happens, Ill never forget you. And neither will theother witches, if I have anything to say about it.Maggie gulped. She didnt want to get startedcrying. She was afraid she wouldnt be able to stop.Fortunately Jeanne was looking back and forthbetween them like someone at a tennis match.Whats all this sappy stuff? she demanded. Whatare you guys talking about?Maggie told her . Not just about Aradia being Maiden of the witches, but about everything shedlearned from auditory modality to Hunter Redfern andSylvia.So the witches have left the Night World, Aradia said quietly, when she was finished. They wereabout ready to when I left.You were coming here to talk to Delos, Maggie said.Aradia nodded. We heard that Hunter had gotten some lead about the next Wild Power. And weknew he wasnt goingto take any chances on letting Circle Daybreak get hold of this one.Jeanne was draw her forehead. Whats Circle Daybreak?Its the last circle of witches-but it isnt justwitches. Its for humans, too, and for shapeshiftersand vampires who want to live in peace with humans. And now its for everybody who opposes the darkness. She thought a moment and added, I used to belong to Circle Twilight, the not-so wicked witches. She smiled, then it faded. Butnow there are really only two sides to choose from.Its the Daylightorthe Darkness, and thats all.Delos really isnt on the side o f the Darkness,Maggie said, feeling the ache in her chest tighten.Hes just-confused. Hed join you if he didntthink it meant me getting killed.Aradia squeezed her hand again. I believe you,she said gently.So, youre some kind of bigwig of the witches,huh? Jeanne said.Aradia turned toward her and laughed. Im theirMaiden, the representative of the young witches. If I live long enough, Ill be their aim one day, and then their Crone.What fun. But with all that, you still cant thinkof any way to get us out of here?Aradia sobered. I cant. Im sorry. If-this isntmuch use, but if I can do anything, its only to givea prophecy.Maggie made an involuntary noise in her throat.It came while I was asleep in the healers hut,Aradia said apologetically. And it was just athought, a concept. That if there was to be any helpin this valley, it was through appealing to peoples true hearts.Jeanne made a much louder and ruder noisethan Maggies.There is one more thing, Aradia said, turningher wide unfocused e yes toward Maggie and speaking as gently asever. I should have mentioned thisearlier. I can tell you about your brother.