by R L Medina
“Bring her,” he commanded.
More shifters streamed in, heading straight for the queen. The vampire stood her ground, body still—still and ready. I watched as they surrounded her. Were they only coming for her? I edged away as they stood encircling her and started chanting. Magic stirred in the air, making the hairs on my neck bristle. She whipped toward them, moving so fast I could barely see her.
Someone screamed.
A flash of bright light filled the room and a sharp, ringing sound filled the room. The sound made my teeth hurt and head spin. My skin tingled and burned.
Everything fell silent. When I blinked away the dots in my vision, the scene I saw made me reel. Five shifters lay on the ground, unmoving, their heads twisted in unnatural angles. The vampire queen stood between the remaining ones. Her yellow eyes stared defiantly up at the head witch.
“Take her away.” He waved a careless hand at her.
She flinched as they grabbed her arms and pulled her away. The only sign that she was in pain. Was it from the strange light?
“Take her too.” The witch spoke, pointing a hand at Jesse.
No.
I started to her, but she stopped me with a shake of her head. When had she woken up? They grabbed her arms and propelled her forward.
“Where are you taking them? What are you doing to do?” I found my voice at last.
“It’s okay, Rose. Don’t worry about me. Stay strong,” Jesse soothed.
Her words only stirred more fear inside me. Those were the kind of things people said when they knew they were about to die. My heart pounded. I glanced around at the others, but they stood back, not willing to risk themselves for the older witch.
Red spots filled my vision. She spent her imprisonment looking out for them and they were just going to let her get dragged away to who knew what torture? The cowards.
I glanced around, looking for something to use. Not that I could stand against all five of them, but at least I could try. I had to try. They were at the stairs now.
“No. Jesse!”
Panic spread inside me. I couldn’t lose someone else. They’d taken too much from me. With no time left, I raced toward them, my body reacting before my mind could catch up with it.
An invisible force struck me, making me reel. I watched, my heart in my throat, as they dragged her away. She glanced back at me a final time and then she was gone.
The door slammed shut, leaving us in darkness once more.
One of the witches cried. I turned my glare on them, anger unfurling fast.
“Why didn’t you try to stop them?” Hurt laced my words.
Ash shook her head. “How? There is nothing we can do.”
“We could have tried. There’s more of us.”
James scowled at me. “Yeah, but they have magic. We have nothing.”
I blinked away the tears. I couldn’t let them see me cry and break. Magic. It always came back to magic. Who had it and who didn’t. Was having such powers the only way to survive in their world?
“What are they going to do to her?”
Pain flashed across Ash’s face. “I don’t know, but nothing good.”
My chest tightened. What did they want with Jesse? They held her prisoner all that time and now they were going to kill her? When she was already dying?
It didn’t make sense.
“And the vampire?”
“Nothing good,” Ash repeated, her forehead creased.
“It’s going to be our turn soon. We’re next,” James interrupted, arms folded across his chest.
Murmurs and sniffles echoed around the room. Chills crept over my skin at his words. We’re next. Despair filled me. If we didn’t find a way out and fast, he would be right. We would be next.
“Stick to the plan,” Ash snapped.
Her words silenced the room. I couldn’t help but me impressed by the young witch. She wasn’t much older than me, but she commanded more authority than I ever could.
With that, she motioned James over to the corner wall. Discussing their plan? My stomach churned. Jesse called it a fool’s plan. That didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Some of the witches peered over the shifter’s bodies. I didn’t join them. In the past few weeks, I’d seen more dead bodies than I’d ever thought I would in my whole life.
My short life, it turned out. The dark thought made me cringe. No. Don’t think about that now.
“Are they going to come back for the… them?” I asked one of the witches.
“If they do, we need to be ready,” Ash answered instead.
I turned toward her voice and watched as she and James came forward.
“What do you mean by ready?”
Ash’s eyes swept the room. Sharp. Assessing. Excitement grew inside me. I may not have been the best when it came to magic or even combat, but I could still help in some way.
I was still a fighter.
“We have to subdue Benedict. Without his magic, we’ll only have to deal with the shifters.”
“And we can handle those mangy mutts,” James agreed.
The others murmured their agreement. I nodded my head along with them, though given my track record, I hadn’t exactly come out on top in any fight against the creatures.
I pushed those thoughts aside and steeled myself.
This time I would. I had to.
18
What seemed like hours after they took Jesse and the queen, I managed a few minutes of sleep, despite my body’s alert to stay awake. It was horrible of me to even attempt to rest when the witches had Javi and Grayson, but if we were going to try to break out, I needed to be clear headed. Not worrying about what was happening to my friends or had already happened.
I couldn’t think about Papi either or the fact that my birth father had been a werewolf. Rafael’s dad. The shock of it still rang through me.
The basement was dim with no windows so I couldn’t even tell if it was day or night. What was time when you were about to be killed in some evil witch ritual?
Though some of the tension between Ash and me settled, I kept my distance. The others huddled together, some sleeping and others just staring listlessly at the door. Something shifted among us. Maybe it was the realization that this would be our last chance to escape our fate. That death waited for us on the other side of the door.
“You know your GRIMM friends are dead, right?”
I jumped at the sound of James’s voice and then hated myself for showing a reaction. I turned to him, his words sinking in.
He was smiling. A small, smug smile. The kind of smile that revealed his darker nature—someone amused by other’s pain.
I didn’t take the bait. What was the point in arguing with him?
He stood, waiting, expecting my response that would never come. A few heads had turned to us. I glimpsed Ash still laying on the floor, her back to us.
My eyes snapped back to James. The coward. He waited until she was asleep so he could berate me without her stepping in.
The beast was off his leash.
“I’m talking to you, GRIMM.” His words were laced with venom.
I clenched my fists and rose to my feet. Never face a bully while sitting on your ass.
“I heard you,” I threw back.
Eyes watched us from the safety of their spots on the floor and against the wall. Ash didn’t wake.
James took a step closer. I wanted to back up, get away from his hostile presence, but I refused to cower before him. I stood firm.
He was too close. His tall frame shadowing me and his breath hot on my face. A scare tactic to intimidate me. It wouldn’t work.
“You’re not part of this coven. Not really. So, I don’t think the curse will work.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
His smile widened. “The curse that stops us from killing each other and messing up the blood ritual.”
My heart hammered. Of course, the supreme would ensure their compliance that way. The realiz
ation of his words hit me. I wasn’t one of them.
They could kill me to save themselves.
I glanced over at Ash. James followed my gaze and scoffed. “She’s not going to stop me. She might not like it, but it’s the only way. Without all of us, all of our blood, Jimena won’t be strong enough to endure the transformation. We only need to get rid of one person. You.”
Dread coiled in my gut. The other witches watched, and some looked away, but no one made a move to stop him.
I was on my own.
“You should be happy though. At least you got to be free… for a while.” His eyes narrowed.
My legs spread and knees bent, automatically going into defense mode. James watched me, an amused smirk on his lips.
The creep wanted this. He wanted to kill me. Ignoring the fear crawling up my spine, I readied myself. Without his magic, he was nothing. I could take him.
He reached for me and I leapt away from his touch. My body thrummed, ready to fight. I balled my fists and held them in front of me, waiting for his next attack. It came quicker than I anticipated and had me stumbling back. Cassiano’s voice echoed in my head.
Watch your feet.
His usual warning that came before his insults at my sloppy footwork. I swallowed hard. There was no grace or beauty to fighting like he claimed. It was violent, barbaric, reducing us to our basic animalistic nature.
James launched himself at me full force and all thoughts fled my mind. There was only survival.
I kicked. I punched. I flailed.
Sharp pain radiated through me, my labored breath filled my ears. With sheer force, he was on top of me, his hands reaching for my throat. I tried to duck out of reach, but his arms were a prison.
Panic roared to life. I twisted and squirmed trying to get out of his hold. My knee collided with his hip bone. He grunted and backed up. I swung my other leg out for a kick, but he twisted it. Sharpness speared through me.
He slammed me back, my head snapped, hitting concrete. Stars dotted my vision. The wall? When had we gotten to the wall?
Shit.
I leapt forward, throwing my weight against him. My elbows dug into his chest. Heart racing, I tried to come up with a plan. He wouldn’t stop coming after me. I needed to knock him out somehow. Or kill him, but I didn’t think I could bring myself to do that. Unless it was the only way to survive.
There was no time.
He pushed me back, shoving me against the wall once more. I scrambled, legs kicking out wildly to keep him away.
“Stop! You don’t have to do this. There’s another way. Stop!”
“James!” Ash’s voice called.
She rushed toward us, but he didn’t flinch.
He grabbed me by the throat. I couldn’t breathe. Panic spread inside me. Ash was at his side now, tugging at his arms, but he didn’t budge.
I clawed at his hands. My nails dug into his skin and though I didn’t have the werewolf gene, I dug in like a beast, drawing blood. I kicked blindly, praying I would connect.
I didn’t.
The world was growing hazy. No. My lungs and throat were on fire. Air. I needed air.
Please, God, air.
Something bowled toward us. James dropped his hold, and I sank to the floor, sucking in air. Pain spread through me. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. I sat alone on the cold cement with my pain, letting it roll through every part of me.
Alive. I was alive.
Voices rang out in the room. Angry, shocked voices. There was one that I recognized, that made my chest tighten.
“Grayson.” I could barely get the words out. Pain coated my throat.
He was at my side, helping me to my feet. A sob shook through me, inciting more pain. I touched my throat and winced. Bruising and a hell of a lot of pain at best.
“Rose.” His beautiful blue-gray eyes roamed over me, narrowing when they landed on my neck.
I glanced behind him to find James out cold on the floor. Dead? Knocked out? The other witches watched us warily. Anger burned inside me. They would have let him kill me.
Grayson hugged me to himself, his body warm and solid. I struggled with the emotions crashing into me. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. But a dark realization struck me.
“Where is Javi?” My voice was still hoarse.
His eyes were pained. Dread coiled deep within me. No.
“He’s alive, but the witches have him… I tried to get to him, but he’s injured. I couldn’t move him.”
An icy rush of fear filled me. “Injured? How bad? What happened?”
Grayson released me and stepped back. “He tried to fight off the witches. They have magic. He didn’t. It didn’t end well.”
My hand flew to my mouth. No. Javi. A tremor ran through me. “But he’s alive? He’s going to be okay?”
A grim look set on Grayson’s face. “If we can get him out soon, there might still be time. But we have to hurry.”
“How are we going to get out? How did you get away from them, Grayson?”
He looked up and glanced at the others, a thoughtful look on his face. “I’ll think of a way.”
I frowned at him. He didn’t answer my other question.
“You escaped the witches?” Ash asked.
Grayson glared at her. Her eyes flicked to me, guilt flashing on her face. I looked away, not ready to talk to her. She’d tried to stop James, but we both knew the truth.
If Grayson hadn’t come, I’d be dead.
Shuddering, I blocked the horrific thoughts before they could take root.
Grayson turned back to me, his face softening. “I have a way out.”
Ash gasped. “You have a conduit. I can feel it.”
He flashed her a dark look. “Why shouldn’t I leave you all to rot down here?” His gaze darted to James, who still lay unmoving, “He’s definitely not coming with us.”
Alive then. I stared at his hands and turned away. The memories of nearly dying were way too fresh and painful. Anger flared inside me. He would have killed me.
Ash stiffened. “Please, we can help you.”
I met her eyes. Desperation and fear swam in them. All murderous thoughts about James aside, I felt sorry for them. Guilty, even. They might have hated me enough to let me get strangled, but I wasn’t sure I could just abandon them to a worse fate. Not if I could do something to help. I snorted. Maybe the GRIMMs were a bigger influence on me that I thought.
Though at that moment, Grayson didn’t look like his usual ‘let’s save the world’ self.
“I don’t need your help, witch,” he answered.
The hardness in his voice made my eyes widen. Ash’s face crumpled and I could see it—we were her last hope to save everyone.
“Grayson.”
He turned to me. Brow furrowed. I fought the urge to smooth out the lines and trace his strong jaw line. Even disheveled and scuffed up after our ordeal, he was gorgeous. My eyes dropped to his mouth, a lump growing in my throat. I swallowed, wincing as pain took over.
“We can’t just leave them, Grayson.”
His lip curled in stubbornness. A stubbornness I wanted to kiss away.
“They were going to let you die.” The stark outrage and raw emotion in his voice made a shiver crawl up my spine.
I met his stare, not knowing what to say. He was as intense as ever and I couldn’t help get a thrill from his hand resting on top of mine.
“No! I would have stopped James,” Ash interrupted our moment.
Blinking, I cleared the fog and turned to her. She stood in front of the others, shielding them like a mother hen at the same time pleading with us with distraught eyes.
Guilt drilled into me. Could I really blame them for trying to save themselves? Would I have done the same in their place? I touched my bruised throat gingerly and shuddered.
“We could use them, Grayson. To help us escape and fight off the others when they come. They can use magic.”
His shoulders stiffened. “So, can we
.”
I bit back a scoff. He could.
“We’ll help you heal your friend,” Ash was quick to offer.
Grayson sighed. “Fine. But we only need one of you.”
One of the little witches burst into tears at his words. Seriously? I was surprised the girl still had tears left to cry at that point.
I frowned at Grayson. “No. All of them. If we want to get out, we’re going to need everyone.”
My eyes drifted to James, who was beginning to stir. “Even him.”
Grayson’s head whipped to me. “No. We can’t trust them.”
Ash walked toward us. “I’ll make a blood pact with you. Please.”
“Not with me. With her.” Grayson stepped aside and motioned to me.
Her eyes met mine. I flushed under her scrutiny. “No… Grayson…”
“Deal.” Ash cut me off.
My chest tightened. I wasn’t sure what exactly the blood pact meant, but the irony of her helping me when my mom was the cause of her mom’s death made me burn with shame.
“Give me your hand, Rose,” she urged.
I glanced at Grayson who nodded in approval. The last time I’d given a witch my hand, she’d been killed. Pushing away the dark memory, I held my arm out to her.
“Hold her. This is going to hurt.” She watched me as she spoke, but her command was for Grayson.
I started to withdraw my hand, but she grabbed it before I could. Grayson braced his hands against my shoulders, keeping me in place.
“Close your eyes, Rose. And… think of something happy. I got you.” He murmured.
What the?
I didn’t have time for that. Pain, red hot, searing pain overwhelmed my senses.
Then everything went black.
19
I was falling. I didn’t know where I was or why I was falling. Memories came rushing to the surface. The club on fire. Javi and my friends being flung to the road. The portal and the witches. Jesse being taken away. James.
Grayson.
My eyes flew open. I sucked in a loud, gasping breath, fresh pain washing over me. My throat was on fire. I stifled a groan. Even that hurt.