Soul Song ~ Book One

Chapter Forty

"I was so certain the Change in Dania would affect the baby. Are you completely certain he doesn't possess our...qualities?" Klellen paced in his study as Lucas watched.
"Three years and I still see nothing other than a slight change in his coloring, Father. He does not seem to have any extraordinary strengths, or any desire to feed on blood."
"After all the risk we took. The planning. Everything. All is lost!" Klellen's fist hit his desktop. "Do you suppose we could Change Quentin?"
After a moment's thought, Lucas shook his head. "Who would know if it would even take? He's already...different...and if it doesn't work, there would be serious difficulty with Dania, and we still need her."
Sighing, Klellen slumped into his chair. "Another child must be born."
"How would I manage it, Father?" Lucas asked, his shoulders raised. "My wife despises me, and there are no other females Changed, nor would I want them. Besides, her child is what we're after, isn't it?"
"My son," Klellen sighed, using a tone he would use speaking to a toddler, "when I helped put you two together, I knew there might be difficulties. I am sorry she has refused you these past years. I had hoped she would move beyond her hatred for you, and love you again."
"She has never loved me," Lucas snorted. "She has only done as she was forced. I am not so deluded as to think she covenanted with me out of love," Lucas responded, a growing edge in his voice. He didn't appreciate his father's tone. "I hoped, over time she would...develop some feeling for me. Instead, she only despises me. I have no hope of ever creating another child with her."
"Don't lose all hope, my son. There are...ways....to make a woman want you. We do have some advantages."
"I won't force her," Lucas growled, the edge pushing into full anger.
"No, no, son," Klellen answered, feigning innocence. "You only need appeal to her more basic side. She's resisted feeding on human blood since she fed upon you. Eventually, the suffering will grow too great. When she is at her weakest, she will be subjective to our needs. Be patient. The time will come."
Lucas cocked a brow at Klellen's use of the word 'our.' Pushing his anger down, Lucas stiffly rose from his seat, and left Klellen's study. Klellen obviously wanted Lucas to do things differently than he uttered, Lucas knew him well enough to know that. But, he knew his wife as well. He would do things his way with her.
*****

The lottery came and went without Dania's participation. Feeding on wild game, she staved off the hunger. Unfortunately, she couldn't push back Plague's curse. It wasn't just lust for blood the Changed Ones experienced, but the lust for the life taken. Feeling life draining from a body, the knowledge of the power behind taking that life, it was intoxicating to them. Their human self might be able to ignore hunger, but the desire, the compulsion to end lives was something altogether different. A failsafe Plague created to ensure they would do what Plague intended.
To hold off the compulsion, Dania frequently walked the gardens in the soothing moonlight. Frequently, she went further into the woods to commune with her soul. During these times, Dania and her soul gained strength others wouldn't be capable of claiming. It was also at these intervals that Dania learned from the fifteen Healers who resided within. Their strength and wisdom comforted her, as well as helped to control the life lust. While it was heart rending to come to know these women in this fashion, she was eternally grateful for their presence.
Dania knew the time was nearing when her soul acted as though it smelled something awful, and refused to come near. Lucas frequently watched her closely, but never said a word to her. She decided to continue to ignore him, taking pleasure in raising the child he had no use for.
One late evening, after a long walk in the moonlight, Dania lay in her bed, fitfully sleeping. Her dreams manifested her life lust in the form of demons chasing and hunting her. They sought to take her own strange blood and feed upon it. More than once, she awakened, screaming out for Mirabella. The third time she screamed, her eyes flew open to see her husband tentatively standing at the door.
"Dania," he gently started, "you must feed."
"Noo," Dania moaned. "I refuse. I won't take a life." She sat up and cradled her face in her hands, drawing her knees up. Lucas entered her room, kneeling by her bed.
"Dania," he tried again, "it will take you over, and you will have to feed. But, if you are not controlled, there is no telling who it will be," he pleaded. "You can choose now, or you can wonder who is missing in the morning." He brushed a lock of her hair back. "Who could come up missing can include our son. You remember my father's first victim was my mother." He let his voice trail off as Dania's head snapped up.
"No! I would never hurt Quentin!" She pushed his lingering hand away. "I love him, and would never do anything to hurt him." Tears pushed to be released.
"As my father loves my mother..."
"Get out! Get out! Leave me alone, you monster!" Angry tears broke their barrier, freely flowing. Lucas stood, returning to the door. Before exiting, he turned to look at her again, his face troubled. Lowering his head, he quietly closed the door behind him.
I could never hurt my son. I could never hurt my son. I will not take a life. Dania continued her mantra as she fell back into fitful sleep, all the while knowing, deep down, Lucas was right. She would have to feed before she lost her mind and fed on whoever came near.
Dania awoke again with a start as her husband banged her door open and stalked in, carrying a man who, from what Dania could see, was barely alive. With exaggerated gusto, Lucas flung his victim at the foot of her bed. Satisfied, he stood back, his arms folded and stern eyes boring on his wife.
"Feed! This man is almost gone. I have started him for you." He gestured toward the man who was, indeed, nearly gone. Dania could hear his incredibly faint heartbeat. "You do not need to worry about his death, he will die whether you feed or not."
Dania look at the pale faced man hanging halfway off the end of her bed in horror.
"Get...him...out...of...my...room." Dania forced the words through gritted teeth as calmly as she could muster, blanching when the man moaned. Lucas' face softened as he kneeled beside her bed.
"Dania, you have to eat," he said, more softly this time. "You are a danger to all around you." He gingerly took her hand. "Don't refuse this man his death. End his suffering."
The man stirred, and moaned a little louder, his eyes fluttering before his low blood levels sent him back into oblivion. Dania never took her eyes off him as Lucas entreated her. She wanted to vomit. She wanted to bleed him dry. She wanted to be repelled by him. She gazed, longing to sink her elongated teeth into the soft skin residing above the vein. She wanted to listen as the slow rhythm of his heartbeat slowed to a halt. She wanted to bring an end to his breathing. She wanted to feel the warm blood trickle down her throat, filling her belly. She...
Realizing she was leaning far too closely to the man, clenching her covers, Dania pushed herself back, loudly hitting the headboard, and eliciting another tantalizing moan from the man. Panting, she pushed Lucas, sending him splayed onto his backside.
"Get him out!" she yelled, glaring at his look of utter disappointment.
Exasperated, Lucas yanked the man up, folding him over his arm like a towel, and stomped out the door. After he was out of Dania's earshot, Lucas finished the man off, handing him off to servants who he knew would quietly dispose of him. Happy he'd successfully started the process of driving his wife mad, he made his way down to Klellen's study.
"Well?"
"She will be feeding by nightfall."
"Good," Klellen smiled.
The madness gripped Dania before she woke. More demons with dripping fangs and human eyes chased her until they finally caught her. Closer and closer came the fangs as claws tightened around her midsection. She pushed until the claws gave way, waking her to find shredded sheets, not claws had been holding her. When Quentin was brought to her to play she quickly sent him away; his half human blood much too tempting.
With the lottery already done weeks before, the Chosen Ones and others offered were long gone. Her mind flip-flopped from wishing she'd drank from the man Lucas brought to her, to revulsion and sickness at the thought.
Sweating and desperate, she tried to summon her soul. Whether due to her lack of concentration or her life lust insanity, she didn't know, but her soul never came. When a servant timidly brought her breakfast, she could only stare at the girl's neck. The sound of her blood pulsing through her veins pushed her to the brink. Jumping out of the bed, she snatched the girl up by her neck, tossing her out with the door slamming behind her, before she drained the girl of every drop.
The mantra repeated itself in her mind. I will not take a life. I will not take a life. I will not take a life. As she rocked in the middle of her bed, she kept her arms wrapped around her knees, using the mantra to push out all other thought.
Her mind wandered. If she waited this out...if she didn't take a life...maybe it would pass...maybe she would be...hungry. In the back of her mind, she knew she'd never be human again, just dangerously hungry.
The sun set without another servant appearing. Her stomach churned, insistently rumbling. The fluid running through her veins burned, crying out for blood. When the door opened, Dania didn't wait. Using her Changed abilities, she pinned the intruder to the wall by his neck. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion when she saw she pinned Lucas.
"Dania, I am so sorry for my insensitivity. I only wanted you to feel better," he choked. He placed his finger tips on her cheek, caressing it. "Look at you. The lust is so strong. It will grow until you do something about it. You are suffering!"
Dania watched him through fevered eyes. Something was different about him. She could smell the man from before on him, but the blood smell was different...stronger...maddening. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck as she fought the urge to rip Lucas' throat open.
"Dania, we have not been doing well together, have we? But, my love, that doesn't mean I don't love you," he panted through a partially closed off throat. "I have come to you tonight, in hopes we may share a time of bonding as we once did before."
Dania's confusion returned.
"That moment," Lucas smiled, "when you Changed me. It was the most incredible moment of our lives together."
Dania remained silent as she continued to hold his neck, her limbs shaking.
"My darling, for you, my precious, sensitive wife, I have fed twice as much as I need. You need not take a life. You need only to feed upon me, as you did once before." He held his palms up in submission. "Come, share that beautiful moment with me again. Let me be the one you feed upon. Please."
Dania released his neck, allowing Lucas to easily breathe. He rubbed his neck a moment before taking her hand. Gently, he steered her back to her bed, sitting next to her. When he tilted his head, like he'd done before, the barriers between Dania and the life lust broke. She couldn't hold back like before. She snatched his neck, yanking him to her, and sinking her teeth into his neck in one, fluid motion.
Her mind sang as the fluid touched her tongue. Yes, this is what she needed. Not for the blood of animals was she created. Although second hand, life still flowed in this blood. The strange tinge of Changed essence blended with the blood of three. Each had its own flavoring, like spices in a dish. She couldn't help but work her tongue over Lucas' skin, testing each taste. She barely registered the responding moan from Lucas.
She also couldn't feel Lucas' hand as it rested upon her side. Or as he trailed it upwards, loosening the drawstring at the top of her nightgown. Only when he caressed her neck, did she feel it. Her entire being vibrated with the blood mixing with her own essence. With her eyes closed, she savored the last drops of blood needed to satiate her need. Sighing, she pulled away.
Lucas wondered if the woman, whose expression reminded him of a wild beast with a kill, really saw him, or if she just saw the blood he'd had inside him. Solid black, limitless eyes replaced her clear green ones. Fleeting terror gave him pause. But he'd come this far. She hadn't released his neck, so he drew her to him, his lips fluttering on hers, testing. When she didn't cast him from her, he allowed his own feelings of lust to take over.
Almost, he allowed his mind to completely be lost. Almost. Just before he might have allowed himself to drown in the crushing kisses he was exchanging with his wife, he felt something bumping behind the fabric of her nightgown. Continuing the activity, but with much less concentration, he followed the bump up her gown until he found the chain. He'd never noticed this chain before. Redoubling his efforts to keep his wife preoccupied with his mouth, he worked the chain upwards until he was able to see, dangling at the end, a strange, flat, white crystal. It had no captured soul. Carefully, he slipped the crystal back to whence it came, and returned all his attention to his wife. This time, he allowed himself to become lost.
Before the sun rose, Lucas awoke, leaving his wife's room, taking the most care not to wake her. He searched out Klellen. Besides reporting to him about the previous night, he wanted to know what Kellen knew about empty white crystals. Before long, he found his father at the long dining table, eating an enormous breakfast, typical of a Changed One. Lucas took a seat, waiting until a servant left to speak.
"All went as planned. There will be a child."
Klellen thoughtfully chewed for a moment before answering. "Splendid. I look forward to meeting this grandchild. He should be quite the boy."
"Or girl," Lucas wryly mentioned. "Father, I must know something."
Klellen raised his brows in question, but didn't stop eating.
"You and your Elders have different colored crystals. These hold essences of Healers, and give you your special power."
Klellen nodded.
"I have a black crystal, because I have your powers, as well as a Healer's unwilling soul trapped inside."
Klellen nodded again.
"What then, Father, is an empty, white crystal for?"
Klellen slammed his fork onto the table, his face panicked, his meal forgotten. "Who has a white crystal?" he rasped through unswallowed food. "Whoever it is, they must die."
Lucas' mind sorted through people he knew. He didn't want to give Dania away just yet. That would wait until he had more information, and more leverage. His mind settled on the young Changed One with mirrored eyes.
"I saw a man, one of the young Elders who has not been Changed long. He had one round his neck."
"You must kill this man," Klellen urged. "He holds the power of his own soul in his crystal. They can harness their soul, and do only Plague knows what with it."
Lucas gravely nodded his head. A white crystal holds a person's own soul. With the reaction he got form his father, he opted not to ask about a flat, white crystal. He could guess.
"It shall be done." Lucas left Klellen, sending for Jerum.
Later that afternoon, the unfortunate mirror eyed boy's body was brought, headless, to Klellen with a muddy white crystal dangling from Lucas' hand. Klellen took the crystal, dropping it to the floor to crush it with his heel. The trapped soul inside, with loud screeching, shot out from under Klellen's heel, escaping through the ceiling.