Vampire Mage 5: An Urban Fantasy Harem (The Vampire Mage)

by Joshua King

  “Never mind. It’s gone now.”

  Bex and Jaxxim muffled laughter as we continued on through the stone chambers. I tried to orient myself, figuring out where we were in the building so we could make our way toward the door that would lead us into the mirrored realm. There was an eerie feeling as we crept through the stone rooms. Something about the atmosphere drew us closer together and hushed our voices until we were moving as one melded clump of whispers through the shadowy darkness. Finally we reached the stairwell that brought us past the rooms where Ty and I had slept and to the door that led to the hidden mirrored section of the chambers. My footsteps slowed the closer we got to the door. I didn’t know what might be waiting for us beyond that door, or what we were going to do when we found it. The fact that the door leading into the stone chambers from the passage was still open didn’t give me any confidence that this section would still be accessible. Malakan had created this mirrored space as his private refuge, hidden and protected from everyone but those he trusted and granted access to because he wanted them there. No one knew why he reflected what he did or the significance that it held to him, but it was obvious that space and the house he created was deeply meaningful to him. He had already sacrificed the house to the cause he was fighting. Without him being there to enjoy it, there was little reason he should leave it, and the possibility of someone finding their way through the tunnel was always there. He very well could have given up this treasured place to further protect all of us.

  I honestly didn’t know how we would move forward if that was the way it was. Opening the door to nothing for a third time might be what brought us to a grinding halt. I knew the larger my group grew, the more chances there were for some of them to change their minds or disagree with the next step I planned. There was already enough resistance to the idea of traveling through the forest again. They didn’t want to face that journey or what could happen the minute we stepped foot back in the shadows of the trees. If they refused to come with me, it wouldn’t stop what I needed to do. Having them with me was helpful and it gave me more strength to keep pushing through the challenges rising up in front of me, but they weren’t the catalyst. It wasn’t up to them to give me the motivation to fight. That was born in me. That was in my blood and nothing would take it from me, even if I had to go face down the rest of the war on my own.

  The door moving out of the way was a welcome boost and the nerves and questions fell away. This was where we were supposed to be. We’d stumbled our way through it and got knocked back a few times, but Malakan ensured we’d find our way. I just had to trust myself and those who found their way into my path.

  It was night in the mirrored realm. Milky moonlight shimmered down from a sky streaked with clouds like pulled cotton. The grass looked like it had started to grow back from where it was singed by the fire. It bent and shifted with an inexplicable breeze. It was another of the minor details that highlighted the incredible degree of the enchantment. Malakan hadn’t just mirrored a space. He had created an entire environment that moved through the hours of the day and night, experienced weather, and carried on even when he wasn’t there.

  Ahead of us, the ruins of the house were still scattered through the grass. There was a part of me that thought there was a chance it would have rebuilt itself by the time we got inside. Malakan had caused the fire, which meant maybe it was all a ruse and now that the need to convince people was over, the house would be back, waiting for him to come home and sit on the porch. The fact that it hadn’t reappeared was intensely final. It underscored the sacrifice he had made, giving so much of himself and his life to freeing the Underworld and protecting it for a future none of us had a guarantee to see. The thought hardened my determination. I didn’t come this far and leave the world I knew behind just to die before anything actually came of it all. This wasn’t exactly a relaxing vacation. Walking off the sidewalk the night of my high school reunion and into Solomon’s Fang was my destiny, but it had put me through some serious shit and I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than at least getting to see something good come out of it.

  Now all I had to do was convince the rest of the Underworld and all the forces pushing back against me to go along with that plan.

  A face sliding over my shoulder broke me out of the thoughts that had started to wander out of control.

  “You said Malakan’s missing?” Bugs asked.

  I jumped slightly.

  “Yes.”

  “Did anyone check in there?”

  “I told you there was an explosion in his house,” I said.

  “You did?”

  “Yes. And we’ve heard from him since then. He did this as a distraction.”

  “Oh. Carry on.”

  His head slid back out of sight.

  “Let’s go,” I said. “The entrance is behind the house.”

  We trudged through the tall grass and out beyond the area that still showed hints of damage from the blaze. I followed the change of the terrain into the trees the way we had before, remembering the path we’d followed that brought us to the stone wall at the far back of the open area. My sense of time faded as we moved and I didn’t know if it had been a few minutes or a few hours by the time we made it all the way to the rocks and trailed along it to find the dip that indicated the entrance to the tunnel.

  “You’re sure about this, Hayden?” Bex asked. “You don’t know where this leads.”

  “I’m sure. If I’m right, it will save us days of travel and having to confront the butterflies from hell and our scorned Dark Fae host.”

  “And if you’re wrong?” Jaxxim asked.

  “Then I’m wrong and that would fucking suck.”

  “Good pep talk,” Aurora said.

  “That’s pretty much all I’ve got right now,” I said. “This is the only plan I have left. It’s either this works out for us or we start back from the beginning, and I don’t think he left us any more goodies in that cabin. This is what we’re doing.” I looked at each of them. “This is what I’m doing. You can make the choice for yourself. It’s as good a time as any. It’s not like any of you really set out to become my band of merry followers. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and as far as you’ve come. But if you don’t want to go any farther, now is the time to turn back. It won’t change how I see you or give me any bad feelings. I don’t want to force any of you to be a part of this if you don’t feel like you should be here.”

  It was a breaking point, a line-in-the-sand moment and I wasn’t seeing any water wings, picnic baskets, or beach blankets in my near future. Each of the members of my group stared back at me, then exchanged glances.

  “I don’t know about any of the rest of them, but I did set out to become a part of your band of merry followers. If we could set aside some time to discuss that title and maybe throw together an alternative, though, it’d be great,” Aurora said.

  I smiled at her and she pressed a kiss to my lips.

  “Me, too,” Ashe said. “I knew what I was getting into when I helped you.” She gave a hint of a shrug and a relenting nod. “All right. Maybe I didn’t know about all of this,” she gestured around herself as if to encompass the space around us as well as everything we’d already gone through. “But I knew anyone Aurora got carried away with enough to bite like that meant something, and even if it was just following you around to see what was going to happen in the next week, I was on board.”

  “I’m not sure if I should be touched that you want to be here, or a bit offended you were willing to use me as your entertainment while you watched to see if I was going to die a painful, slimy death.”

  “Probably best to go with touched,” she said.

  I grinned and accepted her kiss.

  “I will.”

  “I might have been sent to hunt you down, but I believe that put me in your path for a much more important reason than that,” Bex said. “Being sent on that mission took me away from what I didn’t believe in and is letting me
do what is right. I might never be able to fully condone for everything I’ve done or allowed to happen, but this is a way for me to do something good and to stop further horrors from happening.”

  We nodded our understanding at each other.

  “Hayden?”

  I turned around toward the sound of Bugs’s cautious voice.

  “Yes, Bugs?”

  “I know you came after me for a reason and I have kind of did that whole thing already, but I’m having a pretty good time here, and the whole sealed up tunnel and everything keeping me from getting back to Final View from here…” The words were just trailing along and I hoped they would find their way together into something cohesive eventually. “I don’t know everything you’ve done or gone through any training or anything, but I could probably help out with something. Would you mind if I stayed on with you? At least for a while?”

  My lips curved up into a grin in spite of myself.

  “Of course not,” I said.

  The thought that he considered what we’d gone through since I went for him a pretty good time was a touch concerning, but it was good to know I wasn’t totally dragging him through misery. He deserved better than that.

  “You know I’m with you,” Jaxxim said.

  That was it. There was no further elaboration or explanation, but there didn’t need to be. Like he said, I knew.

  “You saved me,” Brielle said. “If you hadn’t come for me, I don’t know what would have happened to me. Ryu was just getting worse and I think the amusement at holding me was starting to wear down. Without you taking me away from it, I don’t know how much longer I would have survived there. I owe you my life and my devotion, Hayden.”

  “I don’t need your life, Brielle,” I told her. “You know what you, just like the other women, mean to me. But just like them, I would never want to force you to be here with me or to put you through this. We have no idea what’s coming. What we’ve been through already might be nothing compared to the hell we are preparing to face. I saved you because I wanted to save you, not because I wanted to be another person who captured and enslaved you, or so that I could obligate you to anything.”

  “But do you want me with you?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I want to be with you. It’s my choice. It has always been my choice. As soon as you got me out of the fortress and into the forest, I could have left. Once you saved me again from the Queen and her son, I could have left. At any point, I could have made the decision not to stay with you or the rest, but I never did. From the moment I saw you, my heart knew you came to me for a reason, and I’m not going to walk away from you.”

  “Neither am I,” Stephana said.

  Each of the women kissed me and I looked at the group, the words of their reaffirmed commitment to me and our cause taking tension from my muscles and bringing a smile to my lips.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’m really glad to hear all of you say that. Especially because what I said was total bullshit and I would have judged you front, back, and sideways if you’d left me.”

  They laughed and, feeling rejuvenated, I turned back to the wall and felt the stone with my fingertips to look for the dip that indicated the edge of the entrance. The other men stepped up to the wall with me and we pried the piece of stone out of the way, revealing the long tunnel that led deep into the stone. Without a second of hesitation, I plunged through the entrance and into the tunnel. The flashlight in my hand dissolved the darkness so I could see a few feet ahead of me and my feet carried me as fast as the light would travel so I was always just behind the edge of the light. I knew it meant there would be no time for me to react if we came on something that had set up its home in the tunnel, but I wasn’t willing to slow down. Enough time had been wasted.

  Behind me, I felt the rest of the group following me as fast as they could come. Without realizing it, I was using my vampire speed to push me along the path and I had to consciously slow myself down so they didn’t completely lose me. I found myself hoping the path wouldn’t veer off in either direction. The last thing we needed right then was to have to make any other decisions. I much preferred the feeling of being funneled to one place and making decisions from there. The loss of my sense of time that happened when walking through the mirrored realm didn’t affect me when we were in the tunnel. Instead, it felt like hours had passed when I finally saw a glimmer of light ahead of us. It was so faint and tiny, I almost didn’t want to believe it was actually there or that I was seeing it. It could have just been a reflection of my flashlight against something ahead of me.

  Testing my theory, I turned the flashlight off. The glow continued to grow with every step we continued along the corridor. A sound that started as a “hmm” of contemplation and ended as something closer to a groan escaped my lips.

  “What was that?” Stephana asked.

  “What?”

  “That sound.”

  “Nothing. I just think I might see something.”

  “What do you see?”

  I hated myself for the phrase I was about to say.

  “The light at the end of the tunnel.”

  “Poetic.” She stepped around my side and looked ahead. “Oh. But accurate. Looks like we’re almost through.”

  “Can you see anything outside?” Ashe asked.

  She sounded hopeful, but there was a note in her voice that told me if I did see something and it wasn’t good, she didn’t want to hear anything about it. I was to promptly make something up that would tide her over for the last few yards we had until we were out of the tunnel.

  “Not yet,” I told her. “Just light. A lot of light. The sun is up.”

  Getting closer to the end of the tunnel showed the glimmer of light wasn’t coming through another door or large opening like in Malakan’s mirrored realm. Instead, it was a slightly jagged gap in the stone, the top narrower on one side than the other and leading down to a wider base. When we were only steps away, I noticed something green around the edges of the gap and realized it was ivy. A wash of fresh-smelling air rolled over us. This wasn’t an enchanted breeze, something appearing out of nowhere in a world designed to look like something else. It was real, a stream of cool air laden with fresh notes of rain, leaves, and soft earth. My heart lifted as my lungs filled with the breeze. It brought an image into my mind and the first steps out of the tunnel verified it.

  “That was dignified,” Aurora quipped after I finished my dance of triumph and joy.

  “Whatever. I earned that dance.”

  Her laugh was as fresh and filling as the smell of the breeze.

  “Where are we?” Bugs asked.

  “This is the forest we passed through after traveling on the train,” I told him. “It’ll lead to the inn with the portal.”

  “Then this is where we were trying to go?”

  “Close enough.”

  He grinned.

  “See? Good time.”

  “We must have gone through a passage at some point,” Aurora said. “That was a long tunnel, but definitely not five days of travel long. This is how Malakan got here.”

  “Then why didn’t he send us through this way?” Ashe asked.

  “He needed us to go to the cabin,” I said. “Those things he left for us are important. Besides, I wouldn’t put it past him to have thought about Ryu.”

  “You think he knew I was there?” Brielle asked.

  The idea that the mage would know she was being held captive by the Dark Fae King and hadn’t come to help her obviously disturbed the young fairy, even though she didn’t know Malakan personally.

  “No,” I said. “If he knew you were there and being treated the way Ryu was treating you, he would have done something about it,” I told her. “He wouldn’t just leave you there. But you heard the way Ryu talked about Malakan. He called him the Shadow of the Forest. Whether he would admit it or not, the King was intimidated by the warlock. That means Malakan knew the type of shit he was doing.”

/>   “So, he figured if he was going to lead us somewhere, he might as well let us clean that up while we were there,” Bex said.

  “Probably.”

  “I suppose he’s nothing but efficient,” I said.

  Turning around, I looked at the gap where we’d just exited. It was in the side of a hill, surrounded by trailing vines of ivy and pieces of moss. Anyone else walking past would likely think it was a cave. That made me wonder how deep in the tunnel they would have to wander before they inadvertently moved through the passage, and where they would end up if they did dip into the cave for shelter. We kept moving and soon stepped out of the trees. The village was a welcome sight, but we didn’t hesitate to take it in. Ignoring everything and everyone else around us, we hurried down the street to the inn.

  As soon as we burst through the front door, I noticed a figure out of the corner of my eye. The woman who helped us to the portal the first time we were here ran around the edge of the front desk and came toward us. I faced her and saw her expression of shock.

  “You,” she said. “You’re…weren’t you…”

  Her face had gone pale and it was obvious she was worried something had gone wrong. It was almost as though she thought she had led the wrong people to the portal, but I didn’t understand how she thought she could have made that mistake.

  “We need you to go thru the portal again,” I said. “It didn’t work the first time.”

  “What do you mean it didn’t work the first time?”

  Aurora stepped in front of me.

  “It’s a long story and you don’t want Hayden to start telling it to you. We just need to go through the portal.”

  “My name is Lilly,” she said, slowing the conversation and drawing it back into her control.

  “I’m Hayden,” I said.

  A faint smile bowed her lips.

  “I remember,” she said.

  A familiar sensation moved through me. It was like the feeling I had when I first connected with Aurora, Ashe, Stephana, and Brielle. It was like a band of iron coming from my chest and latching around Lilly, drawing her close to me in a way that wouldn’t end even if we walked away from her. She was meant to be with us. I could feel it. Even more than everything else, coming back here was about finding Lilly again.