Renie

The next time I woke up, Edmond had gone. Ludovic and Isabeau stood close to the door, speaking in low voices. I was a vampire now, and I could hear every word they were saying. Too bad I didn't speak French.

They both looked my way as I sat up, and Ludovic approached me. "How do you feel?"

"I . . . okay." I was surprised at the truth in my own words. I did feel okay; the crippling hunger pangs had faded to a dull ache in the pit of my stomach.

Swinging my legs to the side, I climbed out of bed, my feet sinking into the thick carpet. I expected my legs to feel shaky, but they were strong. My whole body felt strong.

This was it then. I really was a vampire.

The first time I had realised this, I hadn't had time to process it. I had literally just died, after all. The second time, I had seen only the worst aspects of it. Now I was calmer, more able to really think about the decision I had made.

Yes, I was a vampire, but I was still alive. Okay, not technically alive, but I would still live. The knife June had driven into my chest had not ended everything for me. This was the hugest change I could never have imagined, and it would take some serious getting used to, but I had to try and think positive.

Then I remembered what I'd said to Edmond the last time I woke up, and shame scalded my cheeks. I had called myself a monster – and him, by extension. It had been a while since I truly thought of vampires as monsters, but when I had felt the prick of my fangs and realised that I would spend the rest of my life sucking blood to survive, all my old fears and prejudices had resurfaced, spilling hatefully from my mouth.

I closed my eyes when I remembered the look on Edmond's face. How could I have been so cruel? It was no wonder he wasn't still sitting by my bedside. I'd be lucky if he ever spoke to me again.

I shoved my fingers through my hair, then let my hands drop to my sides. I was wearing a pair of dark pyjamas, and I wondered who had put them on me. A sweet, vaguely familiar smell floated up from the fabric – a smell that made my mouth tingle. It was blood, I realised with horror. Somewhere on the pyjamas were little spots of blood, too small for me to see, but not too small to smell.

Fear slithered through me again, and I firmly reminded myself that I was supposed to be thinking positive.

The first thing I needed to do was apologise to Edmond. Maybe it wouldn't fix the chasm that had crumbled between us, but I had to try. It was the least he deserved.

"Where's Edmond?" I asked.

Isabeau and Ludovic exchanged grave looks, and my stomach turned to ice. Something was wrong.

"Renie, you must understand that Edmond did something very serious by turning you," Isabeau said. Her voice was gentle, the kind of voice people used to break bad news.

I wanted to grab onto something, but the closest thing was the bed. I didn't want to go back into that bed, where I had tossed and turned through my transition from human to vampire, where I had drunk blood that I couldn't even remember.

"Where is he?" I said.

"He has been imprisoned for turning you without permission," Ludovic said, cutting straight to the chase.

His eyes were hard as he looked at me, and I wondered if he blamed me for what had happened. Edmond was his best friend, someone that he had been through hell with, and now Edmond was facing an uncertain future because of me. Arguably, it wasn't really because of me – all of this had happened because someone in this House had killed June and turned her into a rabid. But Edmond had chosen to turn me rather than see me die, and now he was locked up because of it. I wouldn't blame Ludovic if he hated me for the part I had played.

Then the full weight of his words sank in, and the ice in my stomach turned to fire. "Did Ysanne lock him up?" I demanded.

I wanted Ludovic to say no. I wanted him to say that the actual imprisonment had been carried out by Jemima or another member of the Council. Ysanne had already had Edmond whipped with silver for defending me; I couldn't bear to think that she would punish him again.

"Yes, she did," Ludovic said.

I closed my eyes.

Edmond had told me of his past with Ysanne, and I remembered the way he looked when he spoke of her. He no longer loved her in the romantic sense, but he still loved her as a friend. He still respected her and trusted her. Did all that count for nothing?

"Where's Edmond?" I said.

Neither of them answered me.

"Can I see him?"

Isabeau shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

I digested that. Edmond had turned me. Ysanne had locked him up for it. That couldn't be fair – not when he'd only done it to save my life. It wasn't like he'd just wanted to keep me with him forever – he'd literally had no choice.

"I need to see Ysanne," I said.

Maybe she didn't realise what had actually happened. Maybe she thought that Edmond had done this because of his feelings for me. Had Edmond even told her the truth? He'd accepted his punishment for assaulting Adrian – the Nocte Filii vampire who'd fondled me like a piece of meat during one of Belle Morte's balls – so he maybe he had accepted his punishment for turning me without even trying to defend himself.

"She doesn't understand what happened," I said, when Isabeau didn't respond.

"She does," Isabeau replied.

I couldn't accept that. I couldn't accept that she would punish him for this, not when he'd had no choice.

"Please," I said, swallowing hard. "Let me see her."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Isabeau said.

Rage suddenly blazed through me, spilling out fasterthan I could rein it in. "I don't carewhat you think. Maybe you blindly support everything Ysanne says or does because you're sleeping with her or whatever you two are doing, but I'm not standing by while she does this to him. Not again."

Isabeau's eyes flared red, her lips pulling back from her fangs.

Maybe I had gone too far. I had no idea what was really going on between Ysanne and Isabeau except that I had seen them kiss once. It was a low blow to throw that in Isabeau's face, but I couldn't help myself.

And I couldn't stand here and listen to Isabeau defend Ysanne when Ysanne had locked Edmond up for nothing more than saving my life.

"Watch what you say," Isabeau warned.

I was too angry to curb my tongue. "What's Ysanne going to do – terminate my contract? I'm a vampire now, not a donor."

As I spoke, I felt a strange swell of power – not physical power, but something else. I was a vampire now. Ysanne couldn't brush me aside the way she had when I was human. Admittedly, I didn't know the inner workings of vampire law and vampire politics, but I had a lot more footing now. I wasn't going to let Ysanne brush me aside.

"If no one will tell me where she is, I'll go find her myself."

I'd only been to the north wing once before, and that had been creeping along behind Ludovic's – and later Etienne's – shoulders, but it couldn't be that hard to find my way out of this wing and down to Ysanne's office.

Still Isabeau and Ludovic remained silent, and I snorted with disgust. "Fine."

I stalked across the room and threw open the door so hard it left a dent in the fancy wallpaper.

Isabeau strode after me. The red had faded from her eyes, but her face was set in hard lines. "Don't be foolish, Renie."

Her hand touched my shoulder and I shook her off. Isabeau reeled back, and I realised with a start that I had done that. I'd never been strong enough to do anything like that before, let alone a vampire.

Rage blistered me, so hot and fierce it felt like I was about to combust on the spot. My gums ached as my fangs emerged, sliding out to their full length.

Isabeau regarded me, her face infuriatingly blank. If I had ever thought that becoming a vampire myself would mean I could better decipher the moods of other vampires, I was wrong. I was just as ignorant to what Isabeau might be thinking as I had been when I was human.

The voice of logic, piping up through the cloud of rage fogging my brain, reminded me that Isabeau was a lot older and stronger than me. If I picked a fight with her, I wouldn't win. But Isabeau didn't do or say anything else.

Ludovic came up behind her, his eyes fixed on me. When Edmond had leaped to my defence against Adrian, Ludovic had made sure that no one else bothered me. He had shielded me from Adrian when the other vampire came back into the ballroom, and then a few hours later he had broken the rules of Belle Morte to smuggle me into the north wing so I could see Edmond after his beating. I wasn't sure exactly how he felt about me at this point, but I hoped he understood that the rage I felt was on Edmond's behalf.

Edmond didn't deserve this, and I would not keep silent about that. If Ysanne wanted to punish me for that – fine. Bring it on. I was strong enough now to take whatever she wanted to dish out, but I would not be another voiceless puppet for her to control.

"I told Edmond I would take care of you," Ludovic said.

"You can't stop me from going to Ysanne."

He could, but that didn't stop me saying it. And it didn't stop him from replying: "I know."

What he meant, I think, was that he wouldn't stop me. Ludovic had been as angry as me over Edmond's beating, which could only mean that he felt the same way about Edmond's current predicament. Ysanne might rule this House with an iron fist, but she couldn't control what her vampires thought and felt.

I stormed off to find Ysanne, and neither Ludovic nor Isabeau stopped me. I had no idea what I was going to do when I found the vampire Lady, but I couldn't leave Edmond like this.

He had saved me and now I was going to save him.

Whatever it took.