by Rhys Lawless
But between us and those doors was another group of vampires.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Alyssa said, and she stepped in front of me. “Oi, douchebags. Do you want to live, or do you want to die? Step aside and let the man do his job.”
“She’s growing on me.” I felt a little pinch on my side, and Lorelai winked at me.
“TMI, Lorelai,” I said and raised my eyebrow.
The vampires all came for Alyssa. It was only when I got in front of her that my powers struck out again, freezing the room. As soon as it happened, however, my knees grew weaker and my breath quickened.
“Fuck. I think this whole time stopping thing is draining me. I don’t think they will stay like this for long,” I said.
“Then go through those doors and get our men back,” Troy said.
The fact that he was trusting me with getting Easton back should have melted me. But even though I knew my power could protect me against magical attacks, I had no idea how I could face Christian on my own.
“If I go, they will definitely unfreeze,” I said.
“Then we’ll fight them off,” Lorelai said.
“What she said,” Alyssa added.
“But—guys, there’s twelve of them and three of you,” I said.
“And your point is?” Winston asked bringing his sword at his eye level. “Go. Now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. As I ran past the vampires, they started coming back to life. I kicked the door open and didn’t get a chance to look behind me and see how they were faring. I had to trust that they could hold them long enough to get out of here. Or die trying.
The doors closed back up as if I’d never kicked them, and a large path stood between me and the end of the dimly lit corridor. Both sides were covered in absolute darkness.
At the top of the room, Christian was standing behind a desk, his gaze burning my insides with rage. Why was he still alive? He should have died at the bridge. Hell, he should have died at the Tower of London when he tried to get me to kill Caleb. He was a parasite I needed to rid the world of.
“Wade, I see you’ve grown into your powers,” he said with the same snark he had on that rooftop when I was under his control and holding Caleb hostage.
“I got your message, killed your vampires, and now I’m here. What do you want from me?” I shouted.
Christian walked around his desk and stood in front of it, looking as casual as if we were in a business meeting. Well, the black suit could have fooled me.
“From you? Just a simple thing, really,” he said, and I took a step toward him, but then the sides of the room lit up, and I realized the room was much larger than at first glance.
The office stretched out in a semicircle with floor-to-ceiling windows that gave an almost romantic view of London. If only the same could be said about the inside. There were four figures standing on individual platforms. Two on the right and two on the left. All four of them were tied with thick, black ropes to stakes.
The ones on the right were a man with dark hair and a beard that I didn’t recognize and a man with long, curly, jet black hair that fell in front of his eyes.
On the left were Easton and Caleb. They were all very much awake, and Caleb, in particular, looked shocked to see me.
“Wade. No. This is a trap. Go,” he cried out, and I tried to run to him, but Christian tutted and shook his finger.
“Now, now, Wade. Don’t cheat. The game hasn’t started yet,” he said.
“I’m done playing your games, asshole,” I said.
“Oh, but you must play this one. Otherwise, all four of them will die,” he said.
I pried my gaze off Caleb and looked at Christian. The smile on his face looked forced. That took me by surprise. I’d expected him to be beaming with the pleasure of having me and Caleb in the same room.
“What do you want?” I snarled between my teeth.
Christian glare at me.
“I want you to choose,” he said simply.
“Choose what?”
“Who to save,” he answered.
“I don’t have to choose. I can save them all,” I said. “And kill you once and for all.”
“I’d save your breath if I were you,” he said. “Things are about to get hot in here.”
At his words, the bases of all four platforms sparkled. Blue flames hissed threateningly at the darkness inside the office.
“Why do you think I would choose anyone but Caleb?” I asked.
I wasn’t making a decision. I wouldn’t let Easton or the other two guys die, but I needed to know what his game was if I was going to beat him into it.
“Well, I have faith in your...humanity. I thought maybe you’d like to make amends for the past by saving your friend’s mate,” Christian looked at Easton who bit his lip, probably trying to suppress the pain he felt. “Or maybe save your boyfriend’s new ally. A vampire who betrayed his breed to help a witch.” Now he looked at the dark-haired man I didn’t recognize. “And of course, I thought maybe you’d like to save the man you never met but who you seem so keen on finding,” this time he turned to the long-haired man.
The man remained motionless, his eyes pinned to the ground, unaware of the fact Christian was talking about him.
“Choose. Choose son,” he croaked at the floor.
“Dad?” I mumbled, but the man didn’t respond.
“Your one and only,” Christian said.
I turned to look at him, and I thought I could finally see some amusement on his face. There. That I was more familiar with.
“You’re a monster,” I said.
“I’m not the monster. No. It took me a while to realize that, but the monster in this world is magic,” he said.
“What the fuck are you talking about? You love magic. You feed on it,” I said.
“He’s not a dhampir anymore, Wade. He’s a vampire again. And he wants to destroy magic,” Caleb shouted.
“Thank you for that, Caleb, although I have to say, I can speak for myself,” Christian said.
“But—but if you’re not a dhampir anymore, how did you get the witch hunters under your control?” I asked.
“Ah, that. Did you like that little touch downstairs? It was cute, wasn’t it? Although I wish I could have heard more of what happened. If only that radio hadn’t gone down,” he said.
I didn’t correct him. He didn’t need to know about Troy if that was an ace up my sleeve.
“Anyway, to answer your question, I had them sign away their will a long time ago. You know. As backup. In case anything ever happened to you and your brother,” he said.
“That is sick. You are sick. You tell me you hate magic now, yet you’re using a perverted version of it. How is that right? Huh?” I shouted.
“The ends justify the means, as they say. If I’m going to destroy magic, I’ll need to use some to gain control. Now it’s time for you to choose.”
“What do you get out of me choosing?” I asked. “How does it play into your plan to destroy magic?”
“It doesn’t,” Caleb cried. “He just wants to punish us.”
“That is not true,” Christian said. “I want to prove to Caleb that your love is meaningless.”
“Our love isn’t meaningless,” I said.
“Really? So, are you willing to sacrifice your family and your other friends to save your lover?” Christian crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow at me.
“You’re a pervert,” I told him.
“He wanted me to dump you and go with him. He’s just trying to punish you and kill me for not doing what he wants me to,” Caleb cried.
“Enough talk. It’s time to choose.” Christian raised his hand and the blue flames turned orange as they encompassed all four prisoners.
What did I do now? How did I choose? How did I save everyone? What could I do to bring Christian down and end this charade?
I couldn’t. There was nothing I could do. I either had to play by his rules or wat
ch all of them burn.
Their cries drilled into my head. The flames licking their skin dangerously. It was kind of poetic. He wanted to destroy magic, so he was doing it the way it had been done hundreds of years ago. Burned at the stake.
Too bad I didn’t care for poetry.
But there was no time left. No one was coming to help me, and I had to make a decision.
I stepped towards Caleb.
“No, Wade. Don’t you dare save me. I’ll be fine. I can take it. I’ve been through worse. Save the others,” he screamed at me and tears streamed down his face.
I looked at everyone around me. Easton was howling, and the vampire acted like the flames didn’t bother him even though his legs were on fire and turning into ash. My father was wailing and calling Dion’s name. And Caleb? He was biting his lips and trying to keep the pain inside.
He was trying to convince me that he was okay and I shouldn’t save him.
My power was useless in here. He wasn’t attacking me with magic. I could slow down time. And even if Christian decided to attack me, it didn’t guarantee the time would slow around the others.
I reached for the spells on my rosary and unhooked a copper stone, holding it in my fingertips.
“Your spells won’t work here, Wade. This entire room has been painted with magic dampener. You better hurry and pick one. You don’t have much time before they burn to death,” Christian said, but he sounded like he was in a different room.
All I could focus on was the four people dying because of me. In spite of me. Because of a monster I’d let loose into the world.
I knew there was no point even trying a spell. Even if he was lying, I couldn’t do it.
But if there was ever a time to do it, it was now.
What’s the worst that could happen? We’d all die in the end anyway.
I took a deep breath and let the spell word curl around my tongue a few times.
Feel the magic. Let it course through you. Put it out into the world through the spell.
Caleb’s words during training rang in my head so loud, I didn’t even feel the heat on my skin.
It was the fire.
Surely it was just the fire from the four stakes.
“Arenae,” I shouted off the top of my lungs.
I looked at the gemstone in my hands pulsing like a heartbeat before it exploded into a million fragments, into dust, and out of its dust, a storm was born.
Sand blew throughout the room, covering it in seconds like the Sahara. I covered my eyes with my forearm while at the same time trying to take a peek at its effect.
“No. You shouldn’t be doing this,” I heard Christian shout.
He was right. I wasn’t supposed to be able to cast magic. Only, I just had. And it was big. So big, in fact, that all the fires had been put out.
A weight lifted off my heart. It was a different weight than the one of not feeling Caleb. I had no clue what it was, but its departure made me happy. It made me want to take a deep breath.
Which I did, and as soon as I did, the sandstorm died down.
Christian was crouched in front of his desk protecting his eyes. Caleb was looking at me and smiling through tears I wanted to kiss and wipe away so much.
I ran to him. His lips locked with mine, right where they belonged.
“You did it. I don’t know how, but you did,” he whispered to me.
“I have so many questions for you,” I told him.
“So do I,” he chuckled, and my whole body trembled. This was happiness. Holding my man, my mate, in my arms again, knowing he was safe.
Well, almost safe. None of us would be safe until Christian was dead. For good.
“Excuse me for a second, baby,” I told him, and it felt like torture pulling away from him. I never wanted to let him go ever again.
But it had to be done. Christian was starting to stand up and clear his eyes. When he saw me, I could see the defeat in his face. He looked behind me, at Caleb, and his eyes turned red.
“We could have been something good,” he said, and he became a blur as he aimed for the door.
“Oh hell no,” I said and jumped with my whole body in his path.
As I did, time froze around me, and Christian became static again. Everything happened within seconds, but to me, it felt like minutes.
I snapped my sword from my belt, and as the blade came out, I swiped at Christian’s head. Just as I fell to the ground, time resumed, and Christian’s head dropped on my stomach before both parts turned into ashes.
“Fuck me, that was epic,” the vampire tied to the stake said and then winced.
I looked down at his legs and saw he no longer had any feet or knees.
How the fuck was he still alive?
Eighteen
Caleb
It all felt like a bad dream. The darkness. Christian’s proposition. Wade coming to my rescue. All the witches working with the vampires to tend to those who’d been hurt.
I had no freaking clue how the last part was even possible, but it seemed to have a lot to do with that girl called Alyssa. Someone who Wade looked familiar with. It felt like I’d missed a few chapters out of his life, and I couldn’t wait to catch up.
“Are you okay?” he asked me again and stared into my eyes.
I tried to smile and come back at him with something snarky, but I couldn’t find it in me to say anything and ruin this moment. We were alive. We’d survived a nightmare. Again. And we were both more or less intact.
Instead of a reply, I leaned in and kissed him. His lips were dry, but the passion didn’t fail to hit me right to the core.
I love you, he said.
I love you too.
I don’t know what I’d do without you, he said.
I broke our kiss and brought my hand to his cheek.
“Thankfully, we don’t have to find out any time soon,” I whispered to him, and he smiled.
He had killed Christian. Not only had he faced against a myriad of vampires and mind-controlled blades, but he’d also faced up against Christian, in a magic-free room, and he had managed to cast a spell regardless, saving us all.
Frankly, I didn’t think he needed me. Not as much as I needed him. But I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“What happened in there? What was it that made you able to cast the spell?” I asked.
He shrugged and smiled.
“I don’t know. I just knew I had to do something to save everyone. And I knew I only had one chance. So...so I took it,” he said.
“Does that mean you can cast spells now?” I asked him.
He put his right hand on his rosary and removed a green spell. “Only one way to find out.”
He carefully peeled my jeans away from my skin, and I winced. The burnt flesh was blistering and there was blood everywhere. Wade didn’t even blink when he placed his hand over my leg and said the spell word.
And just like that, the pain was gone, and I felt like myself again.
“Guess it’s permanent then,” I told him, and he smiled again.
“I hope so. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of my inability to cast a spell,” he said.
“No one will,” I said and took his hand to get myself off the floor.
I looked at Easton who was still embracing Troy. His legs didn’t look half as bad as mine had. Winston was shouting orders at witches and vampires alike, directing them in and out of the room.
Two witches I’d never seen before were tending the wounds of the guy who had turned out to be Wade’s father. Despite the first-degree burns, he didn’t seem fazed by anything that was going on in the room. Instead, he kept rocking and calling Dion’s name.
Wade followed my gaze to his dad, and my stomach clenched. I could feel him wanting to go over, but something was stopping him. His need to stay by my side.
“Baby,” I said. “I’m fine. Go. Meet your dad.”
“It’s okay. We’ve got time,” he said.
“Wade Rawt
horne, you march to your father right now and let me help my friends wherever I can,” I told him, and he winced.
I took him by surprise. Which was why he raised an eyebrow and bit his lip.
“You better rein that in, Mister Carlyle. Or I might have to punish you later,” he said.
Well, at least the passion hadn’t died.
“Go,” I chuckled and pushed him off me.
He walked slowly toward him and got to his knees. Wilder didn’t react, but the witches did by clearing some space for him.
“Dad?” he called.
“Dion!” Wilder shouted.
Wade put his hand on his father’s shoulder and shook him gently.
“No, Dad. Dion can’t hurt you no more,” he said.
“Dion? You came!” Wilder insisted.
I’d spent enough time with Wilder in the dark to know he wasn’t going to hug Wade and tell him he loved him and missed him any time soon.
“Fuck! Fuck! Triple fuck!” someone hissed, and I turned to Selim who was being tended to by Alyssa and a witch whose name escaped me.
“Aren’t you a drama queen!” I told him as I knelt down next to him.
His legs under his knees had turned to dust. Vampires were highly flammable, and it seems as though Selim had paid a bigger price than the rest of us.
“This will soothe the pain,” the witch told him, “but it won’t give you your legs back.”
“That’s fine. I always wanted to be a vampire in a wheelchair anyway,” Selim chuckled, but his attempt at a joke turned into a wail that echoed around the office.
“You know, I used to have a dog that sounded exactly like that when he yawned,” I said and punched his arm just as the witch performed the spell on him. “Thank you for what you did. Not everyone in your shoes would have done it.”
“You’re welcome, mate,” he breathed a sigh of relief as the spell took effect.
“Do you need protection? I can talk to Ash—”
“He’ll be fine. Darius and I need to have a talk anyway,” Alyssa said.
Her insides flared at the mention of the name, and I felt all her anger, which she wasn’t doing a great job restraining.