by Melody Raven
“Okay,” she said once Aidan had wound the music box once more.
Aidan pulled away from her and crossed to the window. “I can see them out there now. They’re going to get started any minute. I’m going to see what I can do.”
He wound the music box as he crossed back to her. “If anything goes down, I want you to go to my uncle’s.”
“He hates me,” she pointed out.
“Maybe, but you already have an invitation to his house. I’ll find you as soon as I can.”
She nodded as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I hate that we’re splitting up.”
“We’ll stand out more if we’re together.”
“I get it. I just don’t like it.”
“Don’t worry. We’re going to make it out of this. I promise.”
She looked into his sparkling eyes and couldn’t get over how enchanting they were. “How can you be so sure?”
He leaned in and took her mouth in a quick, soul-searing kiss. “I’m sure because I love you. And there really is no other choice for me except for making it back to you.”
Aidan couldn’t get the image of a speechless Lina out of his mind. Probably good that she was speechless because the music box had run out halfway into his stupid confession. It was hardly the time to tell Lina how he really felt, but considering it might be the last time he ever saw her, it was better than never.
But she hadn’t said it back. Which was understandable. It was stupid and impulsive, neither of which were words that described Lina. But it was honest. He wasn’t known for being honest or honorable, but he felt the need to strive for both when it came to Lina.
It was easy enough to sneak outside. There was no one around the house as he made his way downstairs and outside. The air tasted charged. As if there had just been a lightning strike right next to him. Magic was thick in the air, and there was a sinking feeling in his stomach. His intuition was on fire.
Obviously there was some shady shit going down. The Order of Nygma was opening up a bunch of doorways to a very hostile world. But it was something more. Something he didn’t know about.
He kept toward the side of the house as he approached where the robed figures were gathered. Their hoods were all down, revealing their faces. Obviously they weren’t playing around tonight. They needed all of their vision.
Under the cover of trees and bushes, Aidan inched closer and closer. Everyone seemed too preoccupied to look at him. Some were using colored sand to draw symbols in the grass while others were preparing different altars with separate spell ingredients to burn. Aidan had practiced his share of magic, but he’d never done anything this involved before.
Partly because he was lazy. Partly because he didn’t like team projects.
But this team seemed like a well-oiled machine. Each member had their own task and was doing it with a practiced ease. Once again, he couldn’t figure out why. What were they gaining from doing all this? What did they have to profit from? The Vopura had to be offering them something.
And if there was any doubt about the black magic origins of their power, it was put to rest by the black bag in the center of the circle being formed by all of these dark ministrations. Because the black bag was in the shape of a person, and whatever—or whoever—was inside was writhing and screaming for help.
The house was too quiet. Lina used all of her senses to determine whether anyone was close, but she came up blank. Where had everyone gone? She could understand that the warlocks were all outside preparing, but there was still a good bit of light left out there. So where had all the Vopura gone?
She didn’t want to wait until the sun went down to free the women. If they were going to get out of here, they would need all the help they could get, and the sun would be their biggest asset. If she didn’t have many obstacles, she could get the women free in just moments.
But she had a feeling there would be obstacles.
She went downstairs two at a time, still listening for anyone approaching. The first floor was still clear. She crossed her fingers as she made her way for the basement. She didn’t expect the superstitious human action to help, but it did make her feel better at least.
However, when she went downstairs was when her luck ran out. The women were all still in their miserable cages, and the stink of body odor and fluids was enough to make her eyes water.
But the most concerning factor was the Vopura sitting at the foot of the chairs. Obviously a guard. Disgust welled up in her throat when she saw that in his hand he held a chain that was attached to a metal collar hooked to a terrified woman.
Her dark, greasy hair signaled that she’d probably been down here a while, and Lina had to look away before the rage took over.
“Are you here for some carry-out?” asked the guard with a wide-toothed grin.
She wasn’t going to dignify his disgusting question with an answer. “Scragg said I could come here whenever I wanted. Do you know which one is the freshest?” It infuriated her that she even had to ask question, but it would get the guard to stand—hopefully.
“Back corner.”
Nope. Still not standing. “I don’t have a key. How am I supposed to open the door?”
“Oh, right. I forgot you’re new here.”
How that was possible, considering she was the only female Vopura, Lina couldn’t imagine. But she didn’t fight the man as he stood and walked across the room to where a ring of keys hung on a nail banged into the wall. “All right,” he said as he started to jangle the keys. “Each one of these has a number on it that matches a number—”
He was still looking intently at the keys when Lina struck. It might not have been the most honorable way to strike, but she thought back to her lessons. She had to use any advantage she could.
Besides, what he was doing to these women was hardly honorable. So when she stabbed him in the neck with her dagger, she took a sick pleasure at the startled choking sound he made. But that wasn’t enough. A throat strike wouldn’t kill him.
He lurched backward to knock her down, but she had already braced for it. He was still strong enough to make her fall, but she’d removed the dagger from his neck and managed to shove it down. She could feel the blade hit a rib, but she was strong enough to push it right past and into his heart. There were a few more seconds of strangled gurgles, and then the weight on top of her went limp and stopped moving.
Lina just stayed there for a moment, sucking in deep breaths. She’d done it. Taken down one of her own. Her second kill. Jackson had been weakened by fighting with a vampire, but this guy had been all her. Part of her knew she shouldn’t be so happy about killing someone, but she still smiled at her victory. She shoved the dead Vopura off her and looked to where the poor captive with the collar was crouched in a corner. “It’s okay.” She moved to a crouching position. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
The girl still looked at her with wide, petrified eyes. Talk would be cheap. The only way to convince her that she wasn’t lying was through actions.
She grabbed the keys from where they’d fallen on the floor and tried to make out the scribbles on the round section of the keys. “Screw this,” she muttered as she walked to each of the cages, where the women didn’t have enough space to even lay down. She grabbed each of the doors and gave a solid yank. They might be enough to keep the humans in, but they were no match for her. One by one, she grabbed each of the doors.
The women slowly crawled out, seeming to decide that her actions were making her trustworthy enough.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” warned Lina. “There’s a little bit of sunlight left, and the more light you have, the more of a head start you’ll get.”
She leaned down next to the dead Vopura and flipped him over, rifling through his pockets. She managed to get a wallet and car keys. There was also a phone. She debated leaving it but decided to hand it over to one of the women. She didn’t think any of these girls was more than a meal ticket to the Vopura. Not worth tr
acking with a cell phone.
She met the eyes of the woman who took the phone and car keys. A blonde in a dirty and ripped T-shirt that had a mocking sun wearing sunglasses on the front. “I’m going to get you to the door,” said Lina quickly. “From there, you’re going to be on your own. You can make a run for it or find this car. I don’t know where it would be. As long as the sun is in the sky, you should be safe. Get as far from here as you can before you call the cops. These guys can run faster than the police can drive. Got it?”
The woman nodded. “Got it,” she said in a cool voice. Not shaky. Ready to face whatever she needed to.
Lina suddenly remembered that this used to be her. Chained to a bed so a man could use her however he wanted. She’d gotten out and she’d made it through. And so would these women. She just needed to help them out of the house.
She started up the stairs and took them fast so she would have a head start on the girls. The house had been deserted when she’d come down here, and she just had to hope that luck held.
When she poked her head out of the doorway, there was still no sign of anyone. She listened intently and took a deep breath, using all of her senses, but it still seemed clear. The front door was just a few steps away, so it was looking good for the women.
Lina glanced behind her to verify that all seven of the women were present and accounted for behind her.
Okay. It was now or never. “You go for the door and you don’t stop,” she whispered. “Not for anything.” She was about to ask whether they were ready but thought better of it. It didn’t matter whether they were ready. This was their chance.
Lina stepped out and ran to the door, pulling it open even as she stepped away from the sharp light that the setting sun was shining in through the door. The girls ran out. It only took a few seconds, but it felt like forever as their footsteps seemed deafeningly loud in the silence of the house.
She let out a sigh of relief as the last woman made it out. But that relief was quickly replaced with terror as she saw she wasn’t alone.
Scragg stood in the living room and looked right at her.
Aidan crouched low as one of the robed men cut into the bag, revealing a terrified girl. Not woman. Girl. She was probably no more than thirteen years old, and as soon as the bag was split open, she tried to make a run for it. Not that she got far.
One of the men grabbed an ankle and dragged her toward the middle of the circular altar they were creating. Three other guys got involved, and they attached each of the girl’s limbs to ropes that were tied to stakes in the ground. They must’ve gone deep, too, because she struggled as much as her small body could, to no avail.
Fuck. He’d hoped this would be as easy as grabbing one of the harder-to-replace ingredients for the spell and making a run for it, but he couldn’t really let this child be sacrificed. Well, he could, but he’d never be able to live with himself.
Had he profited off the Siege of Seattle? Sure. But he’d never had to watch someone who was about to die and turn his back.
But just because he wanted to save the poor stranger didn’t mean he would be able to. These weren’t just dumb schmucks playing with Wicca. These were powerful warlocks who knew their shit. Unless he took them by surprise, he’d never stand a chance.
But taking dozens of warlocks by surprise was no easy feat. He’d just have to hope the ebb and flow of the spell would work in his favor.
If there were so many participants, that meant their spell would take a lot of focus. His only hope would be to slip in while they weren’t paying attention.
Even that would be risky, but he didn’t see any other choice right now. It would be easy enough to steal one small ingredient for the spell and take off, but he didn’t know how he could do that and leave this girl to die.
Lina would never be able to look at him again if she knew what he did. Fuck. Life was much more fun when he was the villain.
Lina backed away slowly as Scragg approached.
“This is an odd turn,” said Scragg in an oddly calm voice. “I have to admit that when you came here, I thought you were going to have a much different reaction. I thought you’d be begging to have me back. Beg me for the safety only I can provide. And I’ve done nothing but show you mercy. I offered you a place to stay. I offered you food. Safety. And this is how you repay me?”
She took a nervous gulp and scanned the room, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. “I think you severely overestimate your usefulness to me,” she said, trying for a mix of calm and fierce. But she was pretty sure the tremor in her voice just made her sound terrified.
Scragg’s mouth twisted into a snarl. “I see. You’ve lived too long among these humans, haven’t you? You think that you can live among them? They’ll find you and they’ll cast you out. Just wait. It will happen, and when it does, you’ll be all alone. The vampires won’t want you and the humans will kill you, and your only hope, your own, will refuse to help a traitor like you.”
Oddly enough, his words didn’t fill her with any fear. Because no matter what he said, she would have her freedom. The so-called safety he offered had done nothing but fail her so far, and what she’d experienced in the past few months had already surpassed anything she’d get living with her own kind. “You forgot one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I also have a friend who’s a warlock.”
He smiled bitterly for half a second before he charged. And out of pure instinct, Lina withdrew her hidden blade and held it in front of her even as she stepped to the side. It all happened so fast. If she hadn’t heard Scragg’s strangled moan, she would never have known she got him.
But then the scent of fresh blood hit her nose, and Scragg glared at her with a mix of surprise and so much hatred.
She fell back, holding the now bloody knife in front of her. He was gripping his side where she’d apparently stabbed him. It wasn’t good enough. Even with the silver blade, that wouldn’t even slow him down. And now he was pissed, and she’d completely lost any upper hand she had.
But running wasn’t an option. He’d catch her in a heartbeat.
Instead, she took a deep breath and gripped the knife tighter as she waited for him to charge again. Maybe she was going to die, but she sure as hell wasn’t going down without a fight.
And that’s when the front window shattered and a small metal object clattered to the ground. Both she and Scragg stared at it for a moment before it exploded in a bright flash.
A loud bang rang out from the house, and Aidan jumped up from his hiding spot. He was about to go running toward the sound when a plume of flame shot out from right in front of him.
The spell was kicking off. He looked for any way to get out from the circle of flame that surrounded the spell. Fuck. He debated running through the flames. If he went fast enough, he could probably make it through without anything worse than some first-degree burns. All he had to do was—
The flames immediately fell, and he saw he wasn’t alone anymore. Talia was there, surrounded by other members of the House of Masters. She looked pissed.
“This ends now,” she said in a booming, supernaturally enhanced voice. Her golden dress billowed around her, and the icy blast she had shot from her palm had extinguished the flames around the spell and whipped at his skin, burning almost like fire.
Aidan looked over Talia’s shoulder to the house. Hopefully whatever that bang was meant Lina had backup too?
He cursed under his breath and took off running. But he ran away from the house and toward the center of the spell. While the Order of Nygma was distracted by the show Talia was putting on, he grabbed the girl in the center. He ripped out the stakes holding her down one by one. Before he could even guide her out, she took off running, screaming the whole time.
And oddly enough, none of the warlocks tried to stop her. They weren’t even fighting back against Talia. And sure, Talia was stronger than everyone here combined, but they didn’t even seem concerned. They just
stared at her while holding their spots. Weren’t they going to fight? To try to finish the spell?
What was he missing?
“Your time wreaking havoc on this world is over.” Talia took a step forward. “Not only are you traitors to your own kind, but you’re a traitor to everything we stand for.”
The leader of the robed men finally stepped forward. “And you see fit to judge us, witch? You’re going to be our jury and executioner? Well, we reject your rule.”
He had to give these guys some credit. They had balls. Just too many of them. Because Talia wouldn’t hesitate to fry them all.
“What game are you playing?” asked Talia. Her expression changed just the slightest. For just a fraction of a second... fear flashed.
What was he missing?
“Someone is coming. Someone strong enough to unite all of us under one powerful rule. Someone deadly enough to take out the entire world with just a thought.”
“And you think that person is coming from Vora?” he asked, which he immediately regretted as all of the Order of Nygma turned their attention to him.
“Vora? This spell isn’t important. These vampire descendants are... what do you say? A means to an end.”
And that’s when the pain hit Aidan and he fell to the ground, screaming. But his grandmother wouldn’t be coming to his rescue, because she was also screaming.
Lina blinked and tried to clear the white spots from her eyes. The blast that had gone off wasn’t actually a bomb, but it might as well have been. The deafening sound and the flash had made her blind and deaf for a few moments while black blurs flooded into the house.
She squinted and tried to focus as one of the black blurs came into view right in front of her. The features suddenly became familiar. It was Carter. The asshole Special Unit 4 agent. He was saying something to her, but her ears were still ringing and she couldn’t make anything out.