“I think I need to sit,” I said.
I found one of the plush reading chairs that were scattered throughout the room. Of course, I’d never actually seen anyone reading in the chairs, but that was par for the course. I wasn’t sure who the Librarian’s other clients were, or initiates, as he put it. Truthfully, I didn’t want to know, either.
I sat; he took the chair across from me.
“Just two normal people sitting at the library,” I said, “although I’m probably talking a little loudly.”
“No one can hear you, Sam.”
“Of course not. Why should they?”
“Sam, you’re upset.”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“I can see how I wasn’t forthright—”
“How long have you known that the bi—the thing inside me was your mother?”
“You can say bitch, Samantha. My mother is very much one, and far worse, truth be told.”
“So, now the truth is being told?”
“Sam, remember that part where I said let those with ears hear—”
“Well, I have ears, and you damn well could have told me sooner.”
“I didn’t know, Sam, not until you arrived with the diamond medallion. Then I knew for sure—”
“But you suspected all along?”
“I did, yes. The medallions would seek her out. I would know if it was her only if—and only if—all four medallions were returned back to me.”
“By the same person,” I said.
“Yes.”
“You could have told me...”
“No, Sam. I could not. It would have affected the outcome. I needed to know, and I needed to know organically.”
His words made sense, although, for me, one demon was the same as any other. Mother or not, I wanted her out. But even that thought was so...fantastical that I was having trouble wrapping my brain around it. I said as much, although I knew that Maximus was closely following my every thought.
He answered with, “Every highly evolved dark master started as a human, Sam. And every alchemist, too. Your angel friend is the exception. He was never human.”
“You know about him, huh?”
“I’m afraid I do, but he is for another discussion at another time.”
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s get back to your mother.”
“She came from a long line of mystics, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.”
“Right,” I said. “Seeing how you turned out.”
He nodded. He was sitting forward now in the chair, elbows on his knees. He looked like any other college student. He was handsome, youngish, and clean shaven of the previous pointy beard he had once worn. The deep intelligence and kindness in his eyes gave him away. I noticed that at various times when I had previously seen him, his eyes appeared bright blue, or violet, or even bright green. Today, they were bright blue again and I chalked it up to some mysterious alchemy of his old soul. He was clearly not like other students. Or like anyone else, for that matter.
“My mother was seduced by the darkness, to put it lightly. She wasn’t, shall we say, very disciplined.”
“She looked for shortcuts,” I said.
He nodded. “Very good.”
“What year are we talking about?”
“Fourteen thirty-two. Over six and a half centuries ago.”
“Gee, you don’t look a day over two hundred.”
He cracked a smile. “There are far older in the world, Sam. I’m a relative newbie to all of this.”
“Did you just say ‘newbie’?”
“I did, and I’m proud of it. It’s a good word.”
I wanted to laugh at the insanity of it all, but that would have only added to the insanity. I kept my emotions in check and said, “So, your mother took shortcuts.”
“They all took shortcuts, Sam. They sought immortality quickly, without the necessary work.”
“And you put in the necessary work?”
“I did.”
“With Hermes?”
“Yes. Myself and others.”
“Other alchemists?”
“Yes, there are many out there like me.”
“Many?”
“Okay, a few.”
“So, your mother and others like her, they sought a shortcut to immortality?”
He nodded. “And their shortcut was a very dark and wicked one. They hurt a lot of people. They hurt themselves, too.”
“They hurt you?”
“Yes, Sam. I was witness to many horrible acts. It is why I sought another purpose.”
“To stop her.”
“To stop them. But I needed help.”
“Hermes?” I said.
“Yes, Sam. The greatest of us all. The master’s master, as he is referred to.”
“Sounds kind of badass.”
“The baddest of all asses.”
Okay, now I did snort. “So, what did Hermes do?”
“He removed them, Sam.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. And it wasn’t easy. There were battles and wars, often fought outside of history books. My mother and others like her—that is, those who mastered the dark arts—put up a tremendous battle. We lost some good people, and so did they. But in the end...”
“Good triumphed,” I said.
“In a word, yes.”
“And how long did that last?”
“Perhaps a half century.”
I did the math, and saw the date in my mind. “That would be the end of the fourteen hundreds.”
“Correct, Sam.”
“Don’t say it,” I said, suddenly gasping.
“Yes, Sam. There was a warlord king in those days. A powerful and wicked young man who delighted in killing others. Who delighted in impaling them and watching them bleed.”
“Don’t say it,” I said again.
“Yes, Sam. Dracula was the first of your kind.”
“Damn, you said it.”
Chapter Thirty-nine
“Is Dracula still alive today?”
“Yes, Sam.”
“And the old vampire, Dominique, the one who Kingsley killed in the cavern—”
“Was one of the first to be turned by Dracula.”
“Am I dreaming?” I asked.
“No, Sam.”
“That’s exactly what I would expect someone in my dream to say.”
“I assure you, Samantha. This is all very real, and it’s happening now.”
“Fine,” I said, sitting back. “Continue.”