Alaric passed the anti-vampire wards, survived the hostile plants, and infiltrated my room without an invitation, proving that he’s a warlock.
My face breaks out into a wide grin. That still doesn’t mean I’m not going to hunt him.
I return to the Magus classroom with fifteen minutes to spare. Evangeline and her girls are missing, perhaps gone to one of her parents for an explanation. The only slayers gathered around the door are at least second generation. They’ve all had enough time to call home, to speak to their slayer mothers and their conciliars, but nobody’s looking reassured.
My stomach growls, and I clap both hands over my belly and groan, waiting for the clocktower to strike five. Footsteps approach from the atrium, and I turn to the left. It’s Ayesha Chaudhury, whose smiling eyes have dimmed. Somehow, there’s less body to her curls, which has lost some of its brilliant sheen.
I break away from the group and raise a hand. “Hey, can I have a word?”
“What is up?” Her accent has softened since she’s joined, but it’s now a mix of Indian, Dutch, and American.
“I’m putting together my team. Are you interested?”
Her eyes widen, and she glances over my shoulder at the crowd of slayers standing by the classroom door. “I’m not as powerful as the other girls.”
“Maybe not right now.” I leave the rest of the sentence unsaid.
Realization flashes across her face. I hold my breath, hoping she isn’t offended by my implication that I’m more interested in her new conciliar. That’s not true.
“Listen, I’ve seen you perform in classes.” the words tumble from my lips. “You’re really skilled. With the extra power you’ll get from Finn, I think you’ll be fantastic in the field.”
Ayesha nods. “It means a lot that you’d stake your Blessing on me.”
“So…” I raise my brows.
“Count me in.”
We shake hands and exchange smiles, and some of the life returns to her features. A door behind us creaks open, and the thud of footsteps fill the hallway. I whirl around to find the mages stepping out of the classroom. Anxiety winds around my chest like a corset, and my breaths shallow.
Finn Thomas is the first to exit, followed by Bailey Demera, the tall, Jamaican mage who joined with Luci.
Ayesha rushes ahead and wraps her arms around Finn, who only pats her shoulder. My chest tightens as I see Bailey’s cool reaction to Luci, and nausea swirls in my gut. These are romantic pairings. These guys love their slayers. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going on in Poppy’s mind.
More mages stream out of the room, and my heart sinks further. I examine each stricken expression. I hurry along the hallway toward the door, waiting for Poppy. When she comes out, I won’t force a confrontation.
Kofi Okoyo steps out, his dark features held in a stoic mask. He glances down the hallway, presumably for signs of Evangeline. When he doesn’t find her, he walks toward the side exit. Behind him is Poppy, whose eyes are red-rimmed.
My heart stutters. I hold my breath and wrap both arms around my middle. It’s partially to stop myself from crowding her the way Jude crowds me, and it’s partially to stop myself from dry heaving. If she rejects our bond…
She walks straight to me, her gaze locked with mine. “Hey.”
“Are you alright?”
“I saw Saint Augustine,” she says.
My mouth drops open. “What?”
Poppy reaches for my arm, and I nearly flinch with the shock. I loosen my grip around myself to let her loop an arm through mine.
“Let’s get something to eat,” she murmurs.
We walk in silence through the crowd of slayer-conciliar partners, through the atrium, and into the dining hall. It’s about eighty feet long and thirty wide with a vaulted ceiling and arched windows along one side that faces the convent’s grounds.
Rows of tables run down the length of the space. Those on the right, closest to the windows are reserved for instructors and active slayers, those on the far left for slayer acolytes and their guests, and the middle row is for a mix of apprentice mages and sisters of servitude.
We head for a table at the far left furthest from the other acolytes, and I wait for Poppy to speak.
“My aunt told me what to expect when I joined with a slayer,” she says with a rueful smile. “Mom and Dad wanted me to join the ether business and thought the truth would deter me from trying.”
I nod. Poppy’s family produces candied ether, a way for mages to replenish their power without stealing it from others. Her great-grandfather patented a way to extract the power held in coca leaves. The resulting product looks like sugar cubes but they make the mage drowsy. Her Aunt Marguerite turned from the family business to become the conciliar to a slayer who operates in Istanbul.
“What happened?” I asked.
“It was nothing like I imagined.” She shakes her head. “Saint Augustine was in a room, decapitating vampires, and running her sword through their guts. When she finished, she was drenched in blood, then spoke to me.”
I lean forward, my entire body quivering. “Really?”
“She asked if I was ready for the challenge ahead.”
My brows draw together. Uncle Fred only mentioned seeing the carnage. “Did she…” I gulp. “Did she give you any clues about what will happen?”
Poppy shakes her head. “She threatened to kill me if I didn’t put you first.”
“What?” I whisper.
She places a hand over her mouth. “Whatever’s going to happen will be big.”
I reach across the table and place my hand over hers. She’s clammy and probably hasn’t gotten over the shock. “That wasn’t me.”
“I know,” she says too quickly.
My hand squeezes around hers, but I’m not sure if it's to reassure Poppy or to reassure me.
Chapter 8
Later that day, Presbytera Driver calls Evangeline and me to her office and tells us to fetch our teams for the challenge. I gather Poppy, Maeve, Luci, Ayesha, and their conciliars for a chance to earn Theodora’s blessing.
We follow Presbytera Driver through the hallways and to the nearest stairwell. It’s narrower than the one closer to the main entrance, windowless, and illuminated by wall lights that flare into life. Instead of ascending to her office, she guides us around the back of the staircase to the storage cupboard and presses her thumbprint on a discrete panel I’ve never noticed until now.
Evangeline turns to me with a question in her eyes. She probably thinks I have some kind of insider knowledge on the workings of Agia Convent, but I don’t. This challenge is a mystery to me, too.
As I shake my head the door mechanism clicks, and Driver steps into the concrete landing of another stairwell that leads down to a basement. Evangeline pauses to let me enter first, and I step through the door and into this new place.
The air is cooler than the rest of the academy with a hint of must that reminds me of summer vacations when I reach Grandma’s house before she arrives from her search for Mom. I long to open a window, but the walls are a solid breeze block.
“Listen carefully, apprentices and acolytes,” the older woman says as the last of our group reaches the bottom of the stairs. It’s a dark vestibule about ten by ten feet with a heavy door at one end. “You are not to discuss anything you find in the convent’s inner sanctum with other students. The penalty for doing so will be egregious.”
I glance around the cramped, dark space, a shudder racing down my spine. For a secret society of vampire slayers who work with powerful mages, that word can mean anything from having to dissect monster guts to having one’s mind erased.
We all mumble words of agreement, and Driver pushes open the door to a dark room, activating bright ceiling lights that illuminate a rack of leather coats and jackets.
“What’s this?” I turn to Driver, who stands with her hands behind her back.
“The jackets are enchanted to cushion blows.” She sweeps her ar
m toward the garments as we crowd around her. “They’re lightweight, waterproof, and contain an enchantment that will repel sharp weapons, including teeth. Whatever you do, don’t take them off.”
A rush of relief floods my system. Until now, we have never used such protective equipment, but relief turns to dread when I realize the Order only reserves such high-level magical technology for the most dangerous of missions.
I shoulder off my denim jacket, slip on a three-quarter-length leather coat, and Poppy selects a biker jacket. Evangeline walks to the other side of the rack and pulls out a form-fitting, ankle-length coat that makes her look like she’s trying out to be an extra in the Matrix.
The three girls she selected for her team put on similar coats but the effect falls flat without the piercings and tattoos. Everyone else in my team, including the mages, select short, lightweight jackets.
“What do we need to do?” I ask.
Driver stands with her back against another door. Her amiable expression turns serious and a line forms between her brows. “Reconnaissance mages have spotted a master vampire called Nicodemus Levithika. He has been recruiting in the nightclubs of San Diego. Your job is to capture him and return him intact.”
“Why not stake the bloodsucker?” asks Evangeline.
I nod. That seems like the safest option, especially if this a master vampire. They’re difficult to slay and capturing them might get us killed.
“Sister Anning would like a live specimen for Advanced Level Supernatural Biology,” replies Driver with a smile. “It takes brute strength to kill a vampire, but talent to capture it while still undead.”
I nod. It’s not ideal, but if that will make the difference between getting the Blessing or not, we’d better not present Presbytera Driver with a pocket full of ashes.
When we’ve all changed into tactical jackets, Driver opens another door that leads to four downward flights of stairs and at the end of it is a dark parking lot illuminated by the headlights of two black vans. Two slayers I recognize from being former acolytes of Agia Convent stand by each van.
Driver gives the slayers an acknowledging nod. “The master vampire has two hunting grounds: the Fleece and the Omerta. Cleanse both spots of vampires, and whoever sees him first must inform the other team for a joint effort.”
Evangeline shoots me a sly glance. “What if they decide they want the glory for themselves?”
Irritation pops against my skin. I turn to her and snarl, “Who’s going to put the lives of humans and slayers at risk for personal benefit?”
Her lips press into a tight line, and she glances away. Poppy gives me a calming pat on the shoulder, but it doesn’t help. Now I can’t stop wondering if Evangeline will tackle the powerful vampire out of desperation to prove herself.
The sound of creaking turns my attention to the drivers, who open the back doors of the vans and expose their ivory interiors. Each contains two rows of leather seats that face each other. I step inside the one on the left with Poppy at my heels and sit at the far end beside an open trunk of weapons even better than anything I own.
Among stakes and crossbows and retractable javelins, I spot packs of candied ether, which give slayers indigestion but offer mages a temporary energy boost.
Luci, Ayesha, and their mages pile into the back, and Maeve steps in last. She sits closest to the door, leaving a space between her and Finn Thomas. My brows draw together, and I hope Maeve will be a good team player.
Doctor Lecco, a young mage who teaches Basic Magical Awareness, steps in and fills the empty seat. She brushes dark strands off her face and stares at us through silver-gray eyes. “Since Acolyte Morann has no conciliar, I’m here to balance the team and not in an advisory capacity. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” we chorus.
Doctor Lecco pulls the doors shut with a clunk, and the van’s engine roars to life. Until now, I thought the only way out of Agia Island was via boat, but since we’re so deep underground and the vehicle isn’t stopping, it looks like a tunnel runs from the convent to the mainland.
The drive from Jaegar to San Diego should take two hours. On our way over, our smartphones beep with a report on Nicodemus Levithika. Based on intelligence gathered through the centuries, Nicodemus is about three-hundred-years old and likely turned during the Russo-Turkish War in the eighteenth century.
As many vampires change their names to something that reflects their new supernatural status, it’s hard to tell his origins. The first time one of the Order scribes noticed his presence was during an uprising in 1771 against the Ottoman empire.
A portrait flares up on the screen, which depicts a curly-haired man with a walrus mustache. The great thing about vampires is that no matter how much they shave or cut their hair, it always reverts back to how it was before they were turned.
I raise my head and address everyone sitting in the back of the van. Seven eager faces, including Doctor Lecco’s stare back at me. “Based on the age of Nicodemus, he’s likely to have all the strength and characteristics of a master vampire. We don’t know which creature forms he has mastered, but let's assume he can do everything.”
Poppy rummages through a small box she found in the weapons chest and pulls out a handful of metal balls. “If he turns into a small animal, you’re going to need a blood-seeker.”
The vehicle drives over a bump in the road, knocking one of the balls from Poppy’s fingers. It zips across the van’s floor and slithers up the wall, where it traps a mosquito.
Her cheeks turn pink, and she bursts into a nervous giggle. “Let’s save them for the vampires, eh?”
With nods all around, we continue our preparations and select the weapons of our choice. Tactical jackets already contain stakes, but I pull out a hand cannon to replace the one that Mercury Mail broke. Poppy loads one up with the balls, which I hand to Luci, then she loads three more.
The vehicle stops, and Maeve opens the door. It’s nighttime, with the sound of distant vehicles. We step out of the van and into a poorly lit side-street behind what appears to be a large hotel. Muffled musics sound from the back of the next building, which we assume is one of the nightclubs.
I close the van door with a soft click and take in my surroundings. Down one end of the road, the street lights illuminate a park and at the other, I catch a glimpse of the beach. A humid sea breeze washes over us as the team gathers around me for instructions.
Poppy stands on my right. Opposite her are Luci and Bailey, and next to them, Finn places an arm around Ayesha. Doctor Lecco and Maeve stand at the back, keeping a polite distance from each other.
I frown at our group. “We look too conspicuous, so we need to split.”
“I’m staying at Ayesha’s side,” says Finn.
I nod, even though it doesn’t need to be said. A slayer without their conciliar is almost as vulnerable as a regular human. “Ayesha and Luci, you can pass as friends on a double date, while Poppy, Maeve, and Doctor Lecco can pose as a group of girls on a night out.”
Luci nods toward the end of the road. “Ladies first.”
I give her a friendly clap on the shoulder and walk down the side street with Poppy and the other two young women close behind. The hotel on our right stretches the entire city block. At the bottom of the road, cars whizz past, drowning out the sound of the sea.
“Can you hear the other mages through your mental link?” I say to Poppy.
“Bailey says Luci’s putting on her lipstick.”
“Fine.”
As we continue toward the bright, main road, a whimpering catches my ear. It's a pleasure-pain sound I’ve heard from the victim of a vampire coming from the alley twenty feet ahead. I nudge Poppy in the side, and she gives me a sharp nod. She’s probably already informed Doctor Lecco, who will send Maeve a sign.
As we reach the alley, my legs tingle with Poppy’s enchantment to silence my feet. It gives me sixty seconds to sneak up on the vampire. I only need ten.
Thirty feet into the alley i
n front of a dumpster, a tall man hunches over a quivering figure who writhes in his grip. The red glow in my newly enhanced vision obscures my view of the vampire, and I focus to turn it off. When I focus again, the first thing I see is a shock of black hair and a dark, alligators skin coat.
My chest tightens with disappointment, and it’s only now that I fully realize how much I had liked Alaric, even when I thought him to be a trolling warlock. I clench my teeth and ready my stake. Its end is sharp enough to pierce the thick hide of his coat and penetrate his heart.
The girl’s head flops to the side, and her pained eyes meet mine. Before I can place my finger on my lips and warn her to be quiet, she whispers, “Please, help.”
He turns around, blood dripping from his lips. The vampire about two inches too tall, with a heavier brow, wide-set eyes, and his top lip is too thin.
Relief loosens my chest. It’s not Alaric.
The girl clutches her neck and backs away from the dumpster. Poppy grabs her out of the vampire’s reach. She’s going to tag her, so someone can find her later and alter her memory of the encounter. It will instill in her a way to recognize the characteristics of a vampire and feel an intense revulsion without understanding why. It’s the best way the Order can ensure the victims of vampires never return to the creatures that attacked them.
He grins down at me and licks the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Do you think you could take me, little slayer?”
I keep my eyes on the vampire and my fingers around the stake. “Do you think you can?”
He makes a low rumble in the back of his throat. “With pleasure.”
In the blink of an eye, he transforms into a four-foot-tall black wolf with fangs longer than my fingers. On instinct, I raise an arm. He bites. Pain penetrates me to the marrow, and the monster’s weight slams me against the brick wall.
Every molecule of air leaves my lungs in a shocked scream.
“Bree,” Poppy yells.
I suck in a deep breath. It’s like coming up for air after spending too long underwater. “Stay back!”
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