by Bella Klaus
“Push your magic into it at the first sign of trouble and think of me.” Valentine cupped the back of my head with his cool hand. “Wherever you are, no matter how many wards separate us, it will bring you to me.”
A rush of emotion tightened my throat, and I gulped. “Thank you.”
Valentine pulled off his reaper’s cloak and draped it over my shoulders, encasing me in the heavy fabric. “And wear this.”
I fastened it around my neck. “Won’t you need it for yourself?”
He shook his head. “This will protect you from magical attacks by witches, mages, demons, and elementals.”
“But not angels and other reapers?” I asked.
“Avoid them at all costs.”
“Are we going to save Arianna and the other Griffins or not?” Jonathan whined like an impatient child in a long car journey.
Valentine’s features hardened. He pulled his gaze away from mine and walked over to the podium, his eyes blazing with anger. I hurried to Valentine’s side, ready to grab at him in case he decided to punish Jonathan for burning Macavity and abducting me. Instead of striking at Jonathan, he raised a hand, curled his fingers, and snarled.
Jonathan’s eyes widened, and he dropped to his knees, choking for air. “Please…” He grabbed at his throat, staring up at Valentine through wide, panicked eyes. “Stop.”
I pressed my lips together and inhaled deep breaths, trying to stay calm. Valentine wasn’t exactly feral right now, but he wasn’t his usual calm and controlled self. I held my silence, hoping he wouldn’t go too far because we still needed the fire mages to save the coven.
“Stop hurting him,” the blonde ifrit yelled.
Her larger companion rushed at Valentine with flaming fists but met an invisible barrier. All six of the other mages joined hands and threw a wave of fire at Valentine, but it also crashed harmlessly against the barrier.
Valentine stared down at Jonathan with eyes that glowed like stop lights. “You will protect Mera with your life.”
The smaller man’s face slackened. “With my life.”
“Should the hostages be a trap or in the event that you cannot rescue Mera’s coven, you will bring her back to me, unharmed.”
“I will bring her back unharmed,” Jonathan slurred.
“Stop this,” the girl yelled. “You’re killing him.”
Valentine ignored her and continued a string of commands in an ancient language that made the fine hairs on the back of my head stand on end. The girl turned pleading eyes on me, but I met her gaze with hard eyes. Who knows what would have happened in that hotel if the vampires hadn’t interrupted? Jonathan could have carried out his mission to observe me like a professional, but he decided to strike out a psycho. And I still hadn’t forgiven him for hurting Macavity.
By the time Valentine finished his incantation and stepped away from Jonathan, the blond man trembled on his hands and knees, panting and sweating.
“Rise,” Valentine snarled.
Jonathan stumbled to his feet, cringing away from the invisible barrier.
“Gather yourself,” said Valentine.
All traces of distress melted away from Jonathan’s features. His posture straightened, and he stared out at Valentine with his usual sneer.
I bit down on my lip. Was it so easy for vampires to tamper with people’s memories? I couldn’t help thinking about the fog still lingering in my mind from when someone had erased the memory of our plan to make the Supernatural World think I had left Logris because I’d been dumped. Had something like that happened to me?
“What were your intentions toward Mera?” Valentine asked.
“To ditch the mission and return her to the Flame.” Jonathan clapped a hand over his mouth and turned to his comrades with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
The other mages exchanged shocked glances, and Valentine raised his brows at me. I nodded. It wasn’t like I was objecting to anything he had done. I hadn’t trusted Jonathan either, but it was a shock to discover he hadn’t even intended to carry out the mission.
“And what are your orders now?” Valentine asked.
“To rescue the Griffin coven and return her to you,” Jonathan replied.
Valentine stood back, surveying the other mages. Some of them stared down at their feet, seeming not to want to make eye contact with a man who could bend their minds. Only the girl glowered back with determined eyes.
“I have placed a geas on the mind of your commander,” Valentine said in a cold, hard voice. “If you attempt to abduct Mera, I will break Jonathan’s mind and turn him into my thrall.”
The word sent a shiver down my back. Thralls were lower than blood cows, lower than slaves and lower than a pet. Back before the Supernatural Council made such practices illegal, powerful vampires could take possession of a person’s free will and subjugate them to their whims. Not a single part of their mind would fight back, and the person would wholly believe that they existed to serve that vampire.
It wasn’t something I would wish on even Jonathan.
“We didn’t know what Jonathan had planned.” The largest man in the group raised his palms.
The others nodded and murmured their agreement.
“We won’t double-cross either of you,” said the girl. “Aurora ordered us to save her coven if you asked for our help, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Valentine raised his head as though sniffing the truth in their words. When he turned his gaze back to me and smiled, I wrapped my arms around his neck and rocked forward on my tip-toes.
“Thank you for watching out for me,” I murmured into his ear.
“Of course I would.” He wrapped his arms around my waist. “I take care of what belongs to me.”
I drew back and my gaze lingering on the fangs poking out through his lips. “Make sure you feed.”
“I will,” he said in a voice that implied he would stay here until I returned.
“Valentine.” I placed both hands on his shoulders. “You’re not yourself without blood. How can you protect me if you’re too hungry to think?”
He dropped his gaze to my neck. “I will feed.”
“As soon as we’ve left.” I placed a peck on his lips and drew back.
Valentine’s arms tightened around my back, and he brought his head down to capture my lips in a kiss that was both firm and demanding, letting me know exactly who owned my heart. I melted into him with a soft moan, his tongue slipped between my lips.
For the next few heartbeats, Valentine devoured me with his lips and tongue and teeth. My head spun, and wetness flooded my folds. I yearned for more, reveled in the way he held and protected and pleasured me, but if I allowed this to continue, my knees would buckle, and all thoughts of Aunt Arianna and the coven would drift into the ether.
I placed my hands on his broad chest and pushed, trying to get him to stop, but he continued plundering my mouth until I snarled at him to stop.
Somehow, Valentine got the hint and released me with a smirk. “Now you have a reason to hurry back.”
It took heartbeats to catch my breath and return his smile. “When Aunt Arianna helps me unlock my power, we’ll never be apart.”
Valentine turned to the mages, all traces of affection vanishing. “Do not go directly to the cells. That is where the Council will post enforcers trained to counter your magic.”
They each responded with solemn nods, except Jonathan, who puffed out his chest. “Where do you suggest we start, then?”
The corners of Valentine’s lips curled into the tiniest of smirks, making me wonder what on earth he had planted in Jonathan’s mind. “The Demon King has the most vested interest in capturing wielders of fire. If anyone is using the Griffin coven as bait, it will be him.”
My stomach tightened at the thought of the monarch who had pushed the hardest for my execution. I turned to Valentine, placing a hand on his bicep. “Do you think he’ll be holding them in Hell?”
Valentine sho
ok his head. “He will have made sure enough people saw the coven so that word would spread back to you. Be careful and look out for signs of a trap.”
“We will.” I squeezed his hand.
After one last kiss on the lips, Valentine helped me up onto the podium. Jonathan stepped away and turned his gaze to its clay floor, while the ifrit stepped forward and offered me her hand.
“Hemera, I’m Gail. It’s great to finally meet you,” she said with a sunny smile.
I shook her hand. “Call me Mera. Who is everyone else?”
“The other girl is Coral.” Gail swept her arm past the older woman and toward the largest man, whose hair was the exact shade of red as mine. “This is Racon.”
Racon grinned and offered me his hand, but Valentine’s growl reverberated through the ritual room. The larger man’s smile melted, and he stepped back, running the hand he had offered me through his red hair.
I inclined my head. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”
“Let’s make a move, shall we?” Jonathan grabbed Racon’s hand and snatched the hand of a brown-skinned boy with a thin build similar to his.
I turned to give Valentine a final smile, but all I met was an empty ritual room. “Where did he go?”
“King Valentine turned to mist the moment you stepped on the podium,” said Coral.
My brows drew together, and I glanced around the ritual room’s eight walls of engraved writing, looking for a cloud of vampire dust. Valentine hadn’t turned to mist since the day he rose from the dead. I didn’t think he could do that anymore. Had he left to hunt before saying goodbye?
“Alright then,” I said with a sigh. “Let’s go.”
The other mages formed a circle, with Gail and the older woman at my side, each holding my hand. Jonathan stood opposite, between Racon and the dark-skinned boy, fixing his gaze on the symbols etched on the clay platform.
“What do I do?” I asked.
“Jonathan is the navigator,” replied Gail. “He’ll channel our magic and send us where we need to go.”
“Not the cells,” I said.
“That vampire isn’t the only one with insider information on the Supernatural Council, you know,” Jonathan muttered.
“Good for you.” I pushed my magic into my palms, watching them glow with light and the tiniest of flames.
Orange flames covered Coral and Gail’s hands as they tightened around mine, but all I felt was warmth. Heat rose from our joining, making our surroundings flicker and blur. Before I could work out what was happening, a cocoon of warmth engulfed my entire body. The feeling of family and connection surged into my heart, making me reel forward and gasp.
At that moment, the fire wielders were closer to me than coven, closer than family, closer than the bond I shared with Valentine. The warmth surged into my heart, making me feel complete. Just as suddenly as the sensations had begun, they ebbed away as the room around us darkened and the air cooled. My nostrils twitched with the scent of mold and stagnant air. Our surroundings stopped shimmering, and our glowing hands illuminated what appeared to be a gigantic pipe.
Gail released my hand, turned around in a circle, and whistled. “Nice landing.”
“Where are we?” I tilted my head up and grimaced at the tiny stalactites gathering on the pipe’s curved ceiling. “Valentine said we should aim for the Demon King’s headquarters.”
“The High Priest doesn’t want anyone interfering with our rescue,” Jonathan snapped. “That means discussing it with nobody.”
“Did the High Priest also order you to ditch my coven and bring me straight to the Flame?” I asked.
“Calm down, everyone.” Racon raised his hands. “Save the bickering for after we’ve rescued the witches.”
Gail placed a calming hand on my arm and turned to me with pleading eyes. This time, I nodded back. All that mattered right now was making sure Aunt Arianna and the others were safe.
“This sewer runs beneath Richmond Park.” Jonathan pointed in the darkness with a fiery hand. “There’s an intersection straight ahead where the wards beneath Logris are at their weakest.”
“Seriously?” said Gail. “With our combined strength, you couldn’t have taken us into the academy gymnasium, a secretary’s office or even a storage cupboard?”
Jonathan’s nostrils flared, and his shoulders rose around his ears. He looked like he was about to defend himself, but Racon gave him a hearty clap on the shoulder and turned to Gail. “Give the guy a break. You know what will happen if he screws up.”
My brows rose. “What happens?”
Jonathan’s gaze flicked over to me, and he stared at me through his bowl haircut. “It’s not my fault that vampires keep interfering with my mission.”
I filed that piece of information away, making sure to ask Racon or one of the girls what was really happening behind the scenes.
“This way, everyone.” Jonathan turned on a flashlight and marched ahead with his male comrades at his heels.
Racon hung back to walk with Gail, Coral, and me. I turned to the large man and gave him a warm smile.
“It’s really great to meet you,” Racon said with a broad grin. “When I crossed over, I stayed in Aurora’s quarters, and she taught me how to channel my magic.”
“How old were you?” I asked.
“Five.” He shook his head. “My parents are wolf shifters and knew immediately what was happening when I started coughing up sparks. They arranged for me to move to the Flame, and the High Priest placed me with Aurora.”
My smile froze. I couldn’t imagine how terrible it must have been for Racon to leave his pack and parents and move to a hidden location, and I was glad my mother had been there to soothe his transition. Aunt Arianna had been a fantastic parent, but it still hurt to know that my mother had cast me out while taking care of someone else.
“What’s she like?”
“Strict on the outside but gooey on the inside,” Racon said.
Gail batted him on the arm. “You say that about everyone.”
“Right.” I stared ahead at the mages in front, who paused and turned their gazes to the ceiling.
“So, you and King Valentine, then?” said Gail. “He didn’t look like your captor to me.”
“He isn’t.” I cast my filthiest glare at Jonathan’s narrow back, wondering what else he’d said to the others.
Gail raised a shoulder. “Well, let’s save the Griffins, and you can explain yourself to the High Priest.”
I nodded.
A pair of identical mages joined hands and created a pole of light that stretched up to a hole within the pipe. From what they reported back, it seemed that their magic was allowing them to extend their field of vision. It was a technique that light mages could use, and I wondered if that had been their family magic before their parents sent them to the Flame for safekeeping.
Jonathan chatted with the other mages, and between what the twins reported back and another mage’s knowledge of the Supernatural Council building’s layout, they worked out a route for how to avoid running into patrols of enforcers.
I stood back, wondering how I could contribute to the rescue apart from being able to recognize members of my coven. Everyone seemed so accomplished with their magic, and I was beginning to wonder why they needed me at all.
The twins split their pole of light into two parallel lines spaced a foot apart, and formed a ladder. Jonathan climbed up first, followed by the dark-skinned boy and a few of the other mages. The twins beckoned Gail to go next, followed by Coral and then me. I placed my hands on the ladder of light, feeling only the slightest bit of warmth, and ascended up into the next level.
A redhead emerged from the hole beneath me, and one of the mages pulled me aside to make room for Racon. I took in our new surroundings—a vast basement hallway of brick walls and metallic doors that looked like it spanned the entire town square of Legos.
I turned to Gail and asked, “Are we beneath the Council building?”
“Looks like it,” she said.
“This is one corner of the space,” Coral muttered as though she knew the building intimately. She pointed into the darkness on the left. “There’s a set of wards down there that contain a shelter for down-and-outs.”
Once Jonathan and the others ascended, we continued through the hallway in the opposite direction that Coral had indicated. I pulled Valentine’s reaper cloak closed, inhaling the familiar scent of sandalwood and musk. He must have worn this garment each time he disappeared during the day because I could almost feel his smoky magic curling around me like a cat.
As we progressed toward where the twins were leading us I lost track of my surroundings. My mind drifted to Valentine. Had he followed my instructions to feed or ignored them to sneak into Logris? It would be just like him to make sure I didn’t get captured during the mission.
“Mera.” A voice snapped me out of my musings.
I turned to find Jonathan walking at my side. “What do you want?”
“You asked a question earlier, and I’m going to answer.”
“There’s no need.” I stared straight ahead to where Gail and Racon walked hand in hand.
He leaned toward me, making my entire body bristle. “When I told my superiors what had happened, Aurora said I was out of line.”
My brows rose. “Which time?”
Jonathan’s lips thinned, and he swallowed several times, making his prominent Adam’s apple bob up and down. “I think she was talking about the hotel,” he said in a much lower voice. “You’ve got to understand that I only meant to delay our entrance into the Flame. It wasn’t meant to be creepy.”
I shook my head, wishing he would concentrate on the mission. “Holding my cat’s life at stake to make me obey you borders on psychopathic.”
Behind us, someone snorted. I glanced over my shoulder, but the mages walking a few paces away seemed deep in conversation.
“Believe what you want.” Jonathan walked ahead, taking the lead with the twins.
I stuffed my hands into the pockets of the cloak, feeling the smooth glass of Valentine’s dome. Dread rolled through my belly. I hadn’t been thinking about the contents of the cloak and should have told Valentine to place his heart in a secure location before we contacted the mages.