Carmilla de Styria's Arc

Chapter 3 of 6

Carmilla owed a secret and had nothing to sell. Alexis wanted a name by week's end. So Carmilla left the court and hunted for one in the city. She walked the cobblestone road, past a grand market building carved with saints and stone flowers. A pair of vampires strolled ahead in leather and black lace, whispering. She followed them into a bar beneath the shops and listened. She heard gossip, nothing worth trading. Then she saw Alexis at the counter, alone. This was a mistake. The spymaster should not find her fishing. But Carmilla did not run. She sat beside her and smiled. "You drink alone." "I think alone," Alexis said. She did not look up. Three vampires argued near the door, loud and drunk. Alexis ignored them. Her hand curled tight around her glass. Something had cracked in her tonight. Carmilla leaned close and let her voice go soft. "You look like a woman carrying a weight. Tell me. Maybe I can lift it." Alexis was quiet a long time. "My brother," she said finally. "Tyler. Dracula made him a familiar. He suffers every day and I can't free him." Her words came slow and low. "I became this to save him. Now I can't undo it." Carmilla knew her opening. Seduction was a tool. She should promise a cure, hook the spymaster, own her. She had heard whispers of witches who broke bindings. She opened her mouth to lie. But Alexis lifted her eyes. Red, wet, tired. Not the hunter. Just a sister. And something turned in Carmilla she did not plan. She wanted, for once, to give the woman something true. "There may be a way," Carmilla said. Her voice caught. "A Strigoi Vii witch. They can unmake curses. I could find one who owes me." This was half true. She knew the name of such a witch. She did not know if the witch would help. But she wanted it to be real. That frightened her more than Dracula did. Alexis studied her face. "Why would you do this?" "Call it a gift," Carmilla said. "No trade." Alexis set down her glass. For the first time she looked at Carmilla like a person, not a threat. "Then you owe me nothing this week," she said. "Bring me the witch instead. That's worth more than a name." Carmilla nodded. The debt was gone. She had turned an empty bargain into something better, a promise the spymaster would wait for. But her plan had slipped. She had meant to trap Alexis. Instead she had bound herself to help her. Outside, Carmilla stood on the mosaic road and breathed the night. She had bought time and Alexis's trust. Now she had to find a witch who could break Dracula's own magic. And she had to do it before Alexis learned the truth. Worse, she was no longer sure she was lying to win. She was starting to care whether Alexis was free.