Chapter 1 The Midnight Gate

The rain in the Vampire District did not feel like the life giving water of my home. It felt like liquid needles. It was cold and grey and carried the scent of old metal. I stood on the center of the bridge that separated the Summer Court from the Under City. Behind me my people were already retreating into the safety of the green woods. They did not look back at me. They were too busy clutching their fading silks and whispering about the debt that had finally been paid. I was the debt. I was the princess of a sun that was barely flickering and now I was being handed over to the dark.

I kept my chin high. My skin was warm despite the damp chill of the night. It was a natural heat that radiated from my very bones. I could feel the steam rising off my shoulders as the rain touched my skin. I refused to shiver. I would not give the monsters on the other side of the bridge the satisfaction of seeing me weak.

A group of men stood at the far end of the bridge. They wore sharp black suits that looked like they cost more than a year of harvests in the Summer Court. They did not move. They did not blink. They stood with a terrifying stillness that reminded me of statues in a graveyard. Their eyes were fixed on me. I could feel the weight of their hunger and their curiosity. To them I was a battery. I was a source of a power they had not felt in centuries.

"Step forward Lady Elara." One of the men commanded.

His voice was thin and dry. He had skin the color of old parchment and eyes that looked like dried blood. He did not move to help me with my single trunk of belongings. He simply waited.

"I am not a dog to be whistled for." I said. My voice carried across the stone bridge. "If your King wants his prize he can come fetch it himself."

The vampire flinched. The temperature around me spiked by a few degrees. I could feel my inner fire responding to my anger. The mist near my feet began to swirl and evaporate. I was a Summer Elemental and even if my magic was fading I was still dangerous.

A heavy black car sat idling behind the guards. The engine made a low predatory hum. The back door clicked open. A man stepped out into the rain. He did not use an umbrella. He did not seem to care that the water was soaking into his expensive wool coat. He moved with a lethal grace that made the other vampires look like clumsy children. He was tall and broad and his hair was as black as the midnight sky.

This was Silas. He was the King of the Obsidian Spire. He was the man who had bought my life to save his dying city.

He walked toward me. Each step was slow and deliberate. As he got closer I felt a physical wall of cold emanating from him. It was not just the weather. It was him. He was a void of heat and light. He stopped three feet away from me. His eyes were not red. They were a silver so pale they were almost white. They were the color of the moon on a winter night.

"A prize." Silas said. His voice was a low vibration that seemed to settle in my chest. "No. You are not a prize. You are a debt. And I have come to collect."

I stared back at him. I did not look away. I wanted him to see the fire in my eyes. I wanted him to know that he might own my presence but he would never own my spirit.

"The terms of the treaty were clear." I said. "I am here to provide the heat your city lacks. I am here as a diplomatic guest and not a prisoner."

Silas tilted his head slightly. A small smirk touched his lips but it did not reach his eyes. He looked like a man who had forgotten how to smile a long time ago.

"A guest who cannot leave is a prisoner by any other name." Silas said. He reached out a hand toward me. He did not touch me. He hovered his fingers just an inch from my cheek. I could feel the intense cold of his skin fighting against the warmth of mine. The air between us crackled with a strange energy.

"You are very bright Elara." Silas whispered. "It has been a long time since I have seen anything so bright."

I pulled away from his hand. I picked up my trunk and began to walk toward the car. I did not wait for him to lead the way. I was done with the bridge. I was done with the Summer Court. I was ready to see the world that had stolen my future.

The guard tried to take the trunk from me. I pulled it back.

"I can carry my own weight." I told him.

Silas watched me with an expression I could not read. He followed me to the car and opened the door. The interior was lined in charcoal velvet. It smelled of leather and ozone. It felt like stepping into a tomb. I slid onto the seat and moved as far to the window as possible.

The car began to move. I looked out the window as we crossed the threshold into the Under City. The green of the forest vanished. It was replaced by black stone and iron. Huge skyscrapers reached up toward a sky that held no stars. Flickering blue neon signs lit the streets in a ghostly glow. There were no trees. There were no birds. There was only the endless cold of the dark.

I saw people on the sidewalks. They were vampires of all kinds. Some looked wealthy and powerful like Silas. Others looked gaunt and hollow. They were huddled in doorways and clutching thin coats around their bodies. They looked like they were freezing from the inside out. When the car passed they turned their heads to watch us. They could smell me. They knew that the sun had finally come to the City of No Stars.

"You are staring." Silas said.

He was sitting on the other side of the car. He was looking at a digital tablet. He did not look at me but I knew he was aware of my every movement.

"I have never seen a place so dead." I replied. I kept my eyes on the window. "How do you breathe in here? It smells like ash and old blood."

Silas finally looked up. His silver eyes were cold.

We do not breathe for the scent of roses Lady Elara. He said. "We breathe for survival. My people are starving for the light you waste on your gardens."

He leaned forward. The movement was so fast I did not have time to react. He was suddenly inches from my face. The temperature in the car plummeted. I could see my own breath frosting in the air.

"You think you are a martyr." Silas hissed. "You think you have been sacrificed to a monster. But look at them."

He pointed a finger toward a group of children standing on a street corner. They were pale and thin. Their eyes were wide with a desperate kind of hope as they watched the car.

"They have not felt warmth in a generation."Silas said. "Their magic is gone because your people hoarded the sun. I did not take you because I wanted a princess. I took you because you are the only hearth we have left."

I felt a surge of guilt that I did not want. I had spent my life in the golden fields of the Summer Court. I had never thought about what happened to the light after it left our borders. I looked at the children and then I looked back at Silas.

"Then you should have asked for help." I said. "You did not have to buy a person."

Silas sat back and crossed his legs. He looked out the window at his kingdom.

"Asking is for the weak." Silas said. "I prefer a contract. It is much more reliable."

The car began to climb a steep hill toward a massive spire that dominated the skyline. It was made of obsidian and glass. It looked like a jagged needle piercing the dark heart of the city. This was the Obsidian Spire. This was where I would live. This was where I would burn until there was nothing left of me.

We pulled into a courtyard paved with black marble. The guards opened the doors. Silas stepped out and waited for me. He held out his arm as if he were a true gentleman taking me to a ball.

"Welcome to your new home Elara." Silas said. "Try not to set anything on fire on your first night."

I ignored his arm and stepped out on my own. The air here was even colder. I could feel the stone beneath my boots sucking the heat from my body. I gathered my inner fire and pushed it outward. I felt a glow begin to radiate from my skin. "The frost on the marble began to melt.

I will make no promises Silas." I said.

I walked toward the Great Hall of the spire. I did not look back. I could feel his silver eyes on me. I knew this was just the beginning of the debt. I was a Summer Elemental in a land of eternal winter and I was going to make sure Silas felt every bit of the heat he had paid for.