Zen and the Art of Vampires

I could believe it. I'm not normally someone who gets creeped out easily, but this wood, with its tall, black trees and somber atmosphere, was having an effect on my nerves. Silence hung heavily, like a dark cloud overhead, muffling the noise I made walking on dead pine needles. No other noise reached me, no rustling in the undergrowth of small animals, no night-bird sounds, not even so much as the whine of a gnat. "Maybe we should go back and look for another way to the ruins…"

"There," Ingveldur said. I stopped and looked around, finally seeing what she must have seen. A patch of the path ahead of us was lit with an amber glow that was the filtered midnight sun. I hurried forward, relieved to be out of the dark woods. The path turned and wound around a small mound, the top of which was crowned with a few crumbling bits of stone.

"The ruins at last. All right, everyone stay on your toes and watch for vampires. And for heaven's sake, if you see anything that looks like an opening to Ostri, let me know."

I left the path and was just moving to a tree with the intention of using it to shield me until I saw if there were any guards posted, when a hand clamped down on my face, causing me to simultaneously shriek into the hand and jump, twisting as I tried to free myself.

"Hush, love, it's just me," a man's voice spoke in my ear as another arm wrapped around me like steel.

"Alec?" I whispered when the hand had been removed from my mouth.

"It's a Dark One!" one of the ghosts said. "Should we stop him, Pia?"

"No, it's fine," I said quickly, turning in his arms.

Alec frowned down at me in question.

"Sorry. My ghosts are acting as bodyguards tonight. What are you doing here?"

"Finding you," he answered. "Why did you leave me? And what are you doing here?"

Suspicion tinted his words.

"I'm not here to destroy you or any of your friends, if that's what you think," I said quickly, speaking softly so as to avoid further detection. "Are all of you here?"

"No. Kristoff discovered you were gone. He thinks you've gone to join the reapers, and went off to stop you."

"Alec…" I hesitated, unsure of what I could say to convince him of my motives. "I have gone to join them, at least in the sense that I want them to complete the ceremony. No, listen to me for a minute—I know you guys don't want me to have power. But I just don't believe that if the ceremony is completed, I'll become some uncontrollable vampire-killing machine. There has to be a certain amount of me involved in the whole thing, if you know what I mean. And I don't accept the Brotherhood's story that all vampires are evil and should be destroyed. I am confident that no matter what, I will be able to control myself and not be some brainless tool."

He was silent for a moment, his arms like steel bands around me.

"You've seen other Zoryas," I pointed out, pleading with him to understand. "Were they uncontrollable? Or did they consciously use the power granted them?"

His arms relaxed somewhat. "They seemed very much in control."

"Exactly. Mattias was just trying to convince everyone that they were doomed. I think he's pissed at me because I wouldn't take him seriously as a husband, and he probably wants a wife who doesn't see both sides of the picture."

"The council will not understand, even if I do," he warned, loosening his hold more. I stepped out of it. "They will not hesitate to destroy you should they see that you bear the true power of a Zorya."

"Then we just won't let them see," I said softly. "Where are they?"

"No idea. They were following the Zenith last I heard, then Kristoff and I discovered your note, and he ran off to find you. I had to stay at the house in case the Zenith showed up, but when it was clear he wasn't headed there, I left to find you."

We moved silently from tree to tree, keeping our eyes peeled for any sentries Frederic might have set.

We were just about to emerge from the forest and take up a position behind one of the fallen walls when a noise behind us had me spinning around.

"Dark Ones!" Karl shouted, and my heart dropped at the sight. Emerging from the woods were the other vampires… all but Kristoff. They paused at the sight of Alec and me.

"I thought it would be too much for you," Christian told me with obvious disappointment.

The wind lifted and blew our way, bringing with it the reedy sound of voices chanting. Goose bumps rippled along my arms as I realized what was happening—the Brotherhood people were conducting the ceremony to bless me with the power of the moon. I glanced into the sky. The moon wasn't very visible, if at all, during the months when the sun never completely set, but there was a faint, almost invisible sliver showing over the tops of the trees.

"Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream," I said, the image of Anniki as she pressed the stone into my hand flashing through my mind with unusual clarity.