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She frowned, wondering about the glee she’d heard in his voice. She’d always celebrated her wins, but only with Stemmons had her emotions felt both gleeful and personal. Why, she wondered, was this case personal to Doyle?
That wasn’t a question she was prepared to ask. Instead, she said, “Serpent?”
“The Holding,” Doyle said, as if that explained everything.
Leviathan gestured for her to take a seat, then began speaking as she did. “In pop culture, vampires are usually portrayed as the dead come back to life. The idea being that the human soul has moved on, and what is animating the body is some sort of opportunistic demonic entity that moved in. Do you agree?”
She nodded. “That tracks with most cultures’ definitions, yes.”
“That’s not the way it works. In fact, the human soul or essence or spirit—whatever you wish to call it—is part of a duality. The soul embodies the good, but it is paired with darkness. With evil. In most people, the good wins out and the evil is suppressed. In some, that isn’t the case.”
“Stemmons.”
Leviathan nodded. “When a person is killed by a vampire—their blood drained almost to death and the vampiric blood ingested—the person doesn’t simply awaken as a vampire. Instead, a vicious battle begins inside the body. The two forces fighting for control. We tend to call the good side the soul or the light. The dark evil side is theAzag Mahru—the serpent presence, sometimes simply called the darkness.”
He paused, his eyes on Sara. She nodded that she was following, and he continued.
“The serpent is strong, and the battle is fierce. It seeks to grow, to feed. To become. It wants power, and it feeds on pain. In ancient times, the serpent almost always won, and vampires wreaked havoc upon the earth. But over time, a blood ritual was developed. It calls forth a spirit—aNumen—for strength and assistance in wresting control away and restoring the prominence of his good.”
“So the serpent completely disappears?”
“Once released, it will never completely be gone. But most vampires can adequately bind it and they live ordinary lives, blending into the population.”
“But only at night.”
“Only when they are older. Young vampires can walk in the sun.”
“Okay. But you saidmost?”
“Some do not prevail at the Holding,” Leviathan said.
“Those are the rogues,” Tucker added. “The PEC’s got teams that hunt down and kill rogues. Nasty business.”
“Is Dragos a rogue?” She had to know, had to understand the man as well as the vampire. “Is that why he killed?”
“Why do humans kill?” Leviathan asked. “Not every murder can be blamed on the serpent.”
Sara licked her lips. “Of course not.”
“Dragos is not a rogue,” Leviathan said. “But I fear that the Holding was not entirely successful with him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“His darkness is exceptionally strong. It seeks release even now, and Lucius Dragos must constantly struggle to keep it at bay. To be honest, that is not unusual. Most vampires struggle at times. Some, though, struggle more than others. That is why it is a crime to change children and the mentally infirm. They do not have the mental acuity and strength to fight the serpent. Even if they prevail in the Holding, they invariably succumb to the serpent.”
“So what happens to them?”
“They are executed. As is their sire.”
“Oh.” She felt sick.
Leviathan’s expression softened. “For centuries, bands of vampires who had fully succumbed to theAzag Mahruswarmed Europe, leaving destruction in their wake. Trust me when I say that we only do what is necessary.”
Doyle snorted, but said nothing.
Leviathan turned to him. “You have something to add.”
“Dragos may have the dark under control—mostly, anyway—but he and his ward both should have been staked when he sired her. She’d been kicked in the head not long before he found her. She wasn’t all there, and you damn well know it. She should have been staked along with Dragos.”
