by L. A. Sable
"Ah yes, the spurned lover," Darius mused. "Going to him now would be ill-advised."
"I'm no use to you, then." I suppressed a mutinous surge of regret. The fact that I was still taking part in this conversation made me certifiably insane.
"You can't go to him.” Darius gave a careless shrug, as if that were a completely unimportant point. "But he might just come to you."
"What does that mean?"
“If I paid your blood price, payment in advance for services rendered, then you would be free to return to take your place in the supernatural world.” He paused for dramatic effect, eyes brimming with malice. “And at the Proving Grounds.”
“The Proving Grounds?” I spit the words out like they left a bad taste in my mouth. “So I can train to become one of your little automatons like the weasel over here. Fuck off.”
West growled, the sound threatening. “Watch your mouth, witch.”
“Calm yourself,” Darius murmured. “She’s only trying to bait you.”
“This mongrel probably isn’t even fit to serve or train.”
“Let me be the judge of that, acolyte.”
West grumbled but turned away, but not before shooting me an annoyed glance. “Yes, Headmaster Aquinas.”
Headmaster Aquinas. I’d nearly forgotten that Darius led the Proving Grounds and attending it would put me directly under his thumb. Yeah, no. I’d rather deal with Valentine on my own then land myself on that island full of vipers. “It’s not going to happen.”
“You’re dead otherwise,” West said, expression snide. “You won’t make it a mile out of town.”
Except I had a pretty good idea of the sort of shit going down on the island. Dead students were not an uncommon occurrence. “And I’d be so safe trapped at the Proving Grounds. Cut the shit, please.”
Darius raised a dark eyebrow, expression severe. “You would have the opportunity to properly train your powers. You stand to become the most powerful witch of your generation.” West made a rude sound that was silenced at a repressive glare from Darius. “When Valentine returns from his travels, he will inevitably come for you, if just out of curiosity. And then you make good on our bargain.”
"You have that kind of money?" My tone was skeptical, but I was really just looking for a reason to say no. “In cash?”
His smile was cold enough to freeze the life right out of me. “I have my resources."
I wasn’t seriously considering any of this, I told myself, just playing for time while I tried to come up with a plan. But I couldn’t fight the realization that attending the Proving Grounds had been a dream of mine as a child, until every healer and seer on the planet assured my mother that I would never have magic. “So, I’d just show up on the island and start attending classes like I haven’t been a pariah most of my life.”
Darius smirked. “You would have Acolyte West there to help get you acclimated.”
The look that West cast me was anything but friendly, as he gave me a slow once-over. It amazed me that I ever saw him as a harmless mechanic. “That’s one word for what will happen.”
“Bring it on, shifter. I’ll have you picked up by animal control.”
“Enough, children.” Darius glared us both into silence, voice repressive. I had to force myself to remember that he dealt with young supernaturals all day. That had to be why he always seemed so pissed off. He turned back to me, gaze taking in my tacky uniform. “You would certainly be safer at the Proving Grounds with your blood price paid then you would be out here on your own.”
“Until Valentine shows up and I try and then fail to kill him. Then he’ll rip me apart piece by piece.”
"We all saw what you did to Ceres.” His eyebrows raised in a silent question as if he still wanted answers on precisely how I had accomplished that murderous feat. He finally continued when I didn’t respond. “In any case, you will work closely with my most promising protégés to make you as prepared as it is impossible to be. And when the time comes, we will take care of Valentine together.”
I glanced at West, who judging from his expression was just as likely to kill me in my sleep as help me train for some epic battle. “And they’re all just okay with the fact that you plan to betray your leader. I guess loyalty really is dead.”
“It’s the way of the Blooded,” West snapped, looking at me in the same way that he probably looked at a flea bath. “You eat what you kill.”
“Valentine earned his position by taking it from his predecessor,” Darius assured me with a dark smile. “I only hope to do the same.”
It wasn’t loyalty to the man who had warped my mind and made me question everything I understood about pleasure and pain, or control and submission, that made me hesitate. I’d thought I loved him once, but I’d only confused that with an addiction. I didn’t owe Valentine anything, but these assholes were trying to get me killed.
I pushed to my feet even as a wild voice inside my head screamed for me to stay. Darius offered me a chance to make the fear go away. No more hiding. No more running. But at what cost?
The magic licked and curled inside of me like a living flame. It danced at the limits of my self-control, tempting me to allow it to be unleashed. It would be so easy to just give in, and then I could finally be everything that the dark voice in my head promised. The power wanted to consume everything around me, press their flesh against mine, force our bodies together, until there was nothing of them left.
Darius eyed me warily as I rocketed to my feet and suddenly towered over him.
"No deal,” I said flatly.
"You're joking." Anger contorted his features into something ugly and barely human. "It's me or the noose, girl."
“There are easier ways to die. Find someone else to do your dirty work for you." The door was a hundred feet away and I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other to get there.
"You won't make it very long on your own." Darius appeared in front of me, too quick for the movement to be anything but a small bit of magic, and I took an involuntary step back.
As I stared at him, I heard the clatter of his wooden chair on the tile floor. He’d moved fast enough that he blocked my path to the door before his chair could even fall.
But for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t scared of the little show of power. I’d made my decision, and he wasn’t going to use my fear against me.
"Get out of my way, Darius." Traitorous whispers in my mind promised that I could make him move. It would take little more than the touch of my fingers to his skin. I gritted my teeth against the dark temptation. "I can't help you."
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Take your pick,” I snapped.
“Let her go,” West said from behind me, voice a growl so thick that it was hard to make out the words. “Maybe you can lure Valentine back with her corpse.”
Darius lifted his hand. A business card was held between two of his fingers. He tucked the card into the front pocket of my leather jacket, fingers brushing my breast. Even through the thick fabric, something low in my belly clenched at the contact. I wasn’t the least bit attracted to him, but the power inside of me craved touch because it was the only way to take what it craved. "In case you change your mind."
I fished the business card out of my pocket and read it. The front listed only his first name and a phone number. I flipped it over and the back was blank.
When I glanced back up he was gone, already seated back at the table. I didn’t bother to look back as I left the restaurant, eager to be gone as dawn approached.
If Darius could find me this easily, then so would others.
I was royally screwed.
I drove through most of the day, staying on major roads and heading in the opposite direction of the Proving Grounds. There wasn’t any sort of plan driving me forward, but I had a nebulous idea of reaching the East Coast and hopping a cruise ship to Bermuda.
But in reality, there was nothing to do but keep moving and pray to the d
ark gods that I could stay one step ahead of whoever was coming up behind me. Knowing Darius like I did, he’d probably put the word out to anyone with a grudge against my family within a thousand miles. If I wasn’t willing to help him, then he had no reason to keep my whereabouts a secret.
After a few hundred miles of deserted road, I was finally forced to stop for a gas at a truck stop off the highway. The place was busy, but the parking lot was full of semi-trucks parked in haphazard patterns, giving a potential attacker plenty of places to hide.
I slid off the bike by the pumps, pulling off the gloves I kept tucked inside my jacket. It wasn’t dark yet, but I was already considering where I could hole up for the night. The gas pump was several hundred yards away from the station, probably to give the huge trucks room to maneuver, but also left me feeling isolated. It wasn’t even possible to make out if there were people milling in the convenience store, although there were enough vehicles in the lot that at least a few had to be around.
But not enough to help me if things went sideways.
I impatiently tapped the gas gauge with my knuckles, the needle twitched and then landed well below the line marked for E. The pump was an older model that took forever to start up and dispensed the gas so slowly, it was practically one drop at a time. I let out a string of curses that were muffled by the helmet. There wasn’t enough left in the tank for me to make it the next stop so I had no choice but to wait like this out in the open.
There wasn’t any obvious reason for my sudden feeling of unease, but I couldn’t ignore the prickling sensation running down my spine. My gaze watched the lot, searching for any hint of movement among the oversized trucks and other vehicles. I tried not to think about how strange it was that I hadn’t seen anyone coming in or out of the convenience store since I pulled up to the pumps.
An invisible force barreled into me from the side, enough to knock me off the bike and send my helmet flying. The pump was knocked free from my bike but was still engaged, spilling gas onto the asphalt so the acrid scent of it filled the air.
I hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Pain blossomed like a hothouse flower, starting at my shoulder and radiating outward. I tasted the metallic salt of blood in my mouth. My head seemed too heavy to lift as I struggled to my knees, vision blurring as I fought not to pass out.
A single figure stepped into the light of a streetlamp and I saw a face that could easily grace magazine covers. Shoulder-length black hair topped a chiseled face with dimpled cheeks and full lips. Grass green eyes glared at me from under sharply arched brows.
Cynth Killoran — one of the more vicious vampires that I had the displeasure of knowing and Ceres's younger brother.
"Look what I found." His voice was like dark honey, deep and rich with enough sweetness to fool you into missing the bitter hint underneath. He used that voice to lure in unwitting humans, mesmerizing them until they no longer noticed about a pint of blood was missing. “Little lost Darkward.”
Cynth had missed the graduation, but he’d been one of the more vehement voices calling for my immediate demise in the aftermath of that night. Only Valentine’s protection had kept him from coming after me himself. Until now.
"Keep frowning like that and you'll get wrinkles." My vision had fragmented from the blow to my head, so that several Cynths were glaring down at me from a few yards away.
"I don't remember you being so clever." His closed fist cracked across my face, knocking me back to the ground. "I hope that means you'll make this fun."
A kick to the chest knocked the air out of my lungs. I stared up into his angry eyes that were the emerald green of a sky above the plains just before the tornado hit. Without magic, I was looking into the face of my own death. I had no defenses against him.
He was really going to kill me.
"Nothing to say?" Cynth asked pleasantly, the tips of his fangs just barely peeking out from behind his snarling lips. He kicked out again, but I rolled away and managed to rise unsteadily to my feet.
At least with Cynth it would be over quickly.
"Would fuck you help?" I painfully worked my swelling jaw. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you it’s rude to play with your food?”
With a growl, he grabbed a handful of my hair and dragged me back to my knees. Using the hold as leverage, he wrenched my head back to expose the long line of my throat. “I wouldn’t feed on your foul blood if you were the last living creature on earth.”
I knew I was baiting him, maybe part of me wanted to push him to the edge in the hopes that his blind rage would give me an opening. Or maybe I was just ready to die. “Too bad your brother didn’t feel the same way. He might still be alive.”
With an angry snarl, he gripped my throat with one strong hand, squeezing hard enough that stars danced in front of my eyes. “And now you’ll die too, witch.”
“I’ll say hi to Ceres for you when I see him in hell,” I croaked out the words as my vision slowly faded to black.
“Blood price paid with flesh and bone.” Cynth’s grip tightened as he spoke the invocation. The fingers of his other hand shifted to hover over the frantic beat of my pulse. "And it's going to hurt."
He dug sharp fingers into my flesh, right where the delicate curve of my collarbone met my neck. I collapsed to the ground and he followed me down, keeping up the excruciating pressure on my neck. He could get it over with quicker if he wanted. Vampires were almost as strong as shifters, he could break my neck with one blow. But he drew it out, obviously wanting to make me to suffer.
He knew that no one was coming to help me. There was a good chance that any humans milling around had already been incapacitated or killed. I was going to die out here on this deserted stretch of asphalt, my body left to rot under the neon sign for the Gas and Go.
Pain coalesced into a fractured point and I prayed it would just dissolve into blessed emptiness. When everything was gone, I could finally rest.
You deserve to survive, no matter what the cost.
Consciousness refused to fade, the pain so much that I could barely breathe from it. Somehow, I had to make it end. My hand touched something smooth as I groped on the ground for purchase. Jagged glass sliced my fingers as I wrapped my hand around a piece of the broken side mirror of my bike. Mustering the little strength that I had left, I shoved up with my hand and didn't stop until I felt yielding flesh.
Cynth howled like a scalded cat and leapt back. He stared in surprised horror at the long gash I had opened in his side.
Ignoring the sharp stab of pain from what I suspected was a broken collarbone I slowly stood and held the piece of mirror in front of me like a shield.
"I'm going to kill you," he growled.
"Well I'm certainly not going to kill myself," I replied, feeling lightheaded. He’d hit me harder than I thought. “Bring it on, blood sucker.”
I tensed in preparation of another attack, but Cynth paused and tilted her head to the side as if scenting the wind. To my amazement, he slowly backed away, glaring over my shoulder.
"This isn't over, witch,” he spat at me and then was gone, moving so quickly that my eyes couldn’t track the movement as if he’d literally disappeared into thin air.
My hand shook as colored dots danced before my eyes.
"My name is Jinx,” I said testily, just before I collapsed to the ground.
“Oh Juliette, always so good at making friends.”
I winced as I heard the familiar voice behind me. Tilting my head to the side wrenched a pained moan from my lips, but I shifted enough to see Darius standing behind me. “Another one of your errand boys, I assume.”
Darius casually walked around to my foot, surveying the damage to my bike and my quivering form what seemed like only mild interest. “Cynth has been particularly interested in learning your whereabouts. I thought this might be the right time for a little reunion.”
It took several minutes to get my feet under me and he made no move to help. Once the blinding pain in my head and r
ibs subsided to a dull throb, and I was sure that I wouldn’t pass out, my eyes finally raised to glare at him. “He could have killed me.”
“He would have if I hadn’t been here to stop him.”
I tried to take a deep breath and winced at the stab of pain, but that didn’t stop the note of sarcasm in my voice. “You have impeccable timing.”
“I aim to serve,” he replied with a smirk, mocking gaze taking in my battered form. “And there’s more where Cynth came from. I can think of at least dozen people who’d love to see your pretty head on a spike.”
Each breath I took sent another spark of fire shooting through my lungs. At the moment, I was more concerned with the risk of internal bleeding than anything else. “And how many of them attend your precious school?”
“Your safety would be assured, at least from the other students.” Darius crossed his arms over his chest, expression bored although his gaze was full of keen attention as it rested on me. “Does that mean you’ve reconsidered my proposal?”
Limping past him, I leaned against the gas pump, afraid my knees would give out completely. The moment my back hit the wall of metal, I found myself sliding to the ground, forced to use my cut up hands to catch the impact. “Your proposal isn’t much better than a death sentence. Someone like Cynth can kill me now or Valentine can kill me later.”
“But you wouldn’t face Valentine alone. Without my help, you’ll be out here on your own. Ask yourself what you owe him?”
What did I owe Valentine, the man who had once been my lover and teacher, but also the darkest force I had ever encountered in my life? He had done his level best to destroy me, in more ways than one.
My head dropped back against the metal of the pump. “You don’t understand.”
“Your hesitation?” One eyebrow went up in a derisive movement. “Is it because you still have feelings for him?”
I glared at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You would be very surprised by what I know.” He knelt beside me, just close enough that I could feel the cold emanating from his skin but not enough to touch. “For example, I know you’ve wondered whose voice whispers through your mind, promising you enough power to rule the world. His? Your own? Are you simply going mad?”