I stepped forward so they could see me.
“Ashwood,” one vampire growled thinking he recognized me. He flared his fangs and I flared mine right back. He must not have been expecting that because he took a few steps away from me. Or maybe it was the red light swirling around my palm the moment I saw him flare his fangs.
“This is not Harper Ashwood,” Tobias said, raising his voice so all could hear him. “This is Georgeanna Carson. An ancestor in Harper’s line. She’s chosen to become one of us because like me she sees that there’s no other way to fight what’s coming. And now more than ever, we know it is truly coming. Humans saw fit to experiment on you. To crack you open as if you were nothing more than a cell to be experimented on. They are becoming increasingly aware of our existence. Sticking together and reforming the coven is the only way we are going to survive. Georgeanna has vowed to help in our effort and I will have her by my side at all times. If any of you see this as a violation of your oath to me, please walk away now. I will hold no ill will toward you. But once you leave, don’t ever come back.”
Not a single one of them moved or spoke. I was shocked that Tobias instantly stood up for me. He took my side against his warriors and ordered them to accept me into the coven, no questions asked. And he risked losing them if they disagreed.
Whatever differences I might have had with Tobias Vallas and whatever pain still residing inside of me slowly started to dissipate. I might never mean to him what he meant to me so many years ago but I could respect him now more than I ever had before.
8
Minutes passed, orders were given, and I was left with Tobias and Christophe once more in the fog of what remained in the forest as Tobias’s warriors headed back to Mount Evans. I watched as they listened to Tobias and he instructed them on exactly where to go and what to do. They were to rest and recover because the future had changed. Humans knew about us. At least to some degree. They had seen my incident with Liza recorded by a cell phone and published on social media. My incident which would look impossible to most with eternally shut eyes would suddenly start to open them. And Tobias was determined that his warriors properly prepared for what may come.
As they turned around to flee northeast to Mount Evans, I circled around to the crater and used what was left of my magic to tear a hole through the air. There were sirens going off. Someone had seen the fire before we put it out. Fire trucks were only a few miles away and getting closer.
“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Tobias asked. “The point was to not alert the vixra of where we are and what we’re doing. They watch the tunnels.”
“Only one member of the Matthews family has the task of watching over the tunnels. The job used to belong to Edmund. Now it belongs to Eli.”
“Is that any better?”
“Perhaps not,” I answered. “But the game has changed. We need help. And Eli is a man of reason.”
I watched the space in front of my finger tear through the fabric of space, opening up a vixra tunnel for the first time since I changed into a vampire. I never expected to open one again. Or to seek an audience with a vixra. Only now it was necessary.
Kitty cawed in the air above me, launching herself from a tree branch and soaring through the air to follow the vampires back to their nest. At least that’s where I was hoping she would go. I didn’t want to cause a massive amount of bird deaths yet again just to summon her back to me. It was rather unpleasant the first time around.
I stepped inside the tunnel and felt the air sweep by me with torrential speed. Perhaps the one thing I truly took for granted was the power vixra tunnels held. The way I could travel through them and reach one point of the earth to another in a matter of seconds. They were beyond nature. A powerful tool. Maybe even one of the best things the vixra ever created. And I knew if Tobias and I were going to find Lenora, we might need them. Which meant one thing. We would need access to them whenever we wanted. That would probably come at a price.
Tobias followed me with Christophe trailing behind. To my surprise, Christophe was familiar with how to use them.
‘You trained him well, Tobias.’
Not that it mattered after Tobias was enslaved. And especially after he forcibly freed himself. All access to them was cut off for us. I once had full access. Tobias only gained it because Eli agreed to hide his use of the tunnels from the vixra council. What Tobias did to earn Eli’s trust I was never quite certain.
When we reached the other side, I stepped out with more grace than I had ever possessed before in my life. I was adapting more and more to the new ways my body moved as a vampire along with how to use my crowning magic. And most of all, the new senses my body could experience.
“What now?” Christophe asked. “I’m sure the others would have appreciated the shorter trip.”
I shook my head. “We couldn’t let them all pass through the vixra tunnel,” I said as I set down the bottom of my staff on the ground. “Eli wouldn’t like it. It would be too difficult to hide.”
“Is that what you’re counting on?” Christophe asked. “A vixra working with us?”
A thunderous crack reached my ears and echoed over the mountainous region. Followed by a bright light as another vixra tunnel opened just twenty feet away from us. I squinted my eyes from the glow as a man stepped out of the thin slice of the tunnel. The wind from inside threw my hair back as Eli gracefully stepped out and let the tunnel’s opening slowly close up behind him.
Of all the vixra, I tended to like Eli the best. He was tall, stoic, honorable, and didn’t have a temper like his father did. Even so, I never assumed he was soft. He could be equally brutal and just as stern. Although, he only used it when he had to. I respected that.
Eli soaked in the sight of me, taking one step at a time to closely examine my new form. I wasn’t sure what he found so different about me. It wasn’t like my features had changed other than being considerably paler and the pair of fangs inside my mouth. Even so, I could sense his surprise.
“I didn’t believe my father when he told me the choice you made.” His brows raised as I moved my staff closer to me.
Tobias moved in front of me in a protective stance, knowing full and well that I was more than capable of protecting myself. With crowning magic in my body, I could easily overpower Eli if I needed to. And with the way Eli stopped a solid ten feet in front of me, he knew it too.
“It was necessary,” I said.
“That’s what my grandfather claimed as well.”
“It was his idea,” Tobias chimed in with a deep sound to his voice. He was trying to sound authoritative. Almost like he was making it clear that I no longer belonged to the likes of Eli. Or any vixra for that matter. Tobias and I belonged to each other as leaders of the Catach-Brayin. And perhaps we belonged to the coven itself. Anyone outside of that circle didn’t matter.
“You shouldn’t have used the vixra tunnel,” Eli said with a sullen shake of his head. “I have to monitor them daily and deliver reports on any illegal activity to the vixra council.”
“That’s exactly why I did it,” I said. “You once hid the fact that Tobias and his warriors used them regularly. I need you to do so again.”
Eli stroked his jaw and nearly let out a laugh. As if to say, ‘you dare ask such a thing from me?’ Then he took a moment to consider my words. I could see the wheels inside his old and sophisticated mind churning and conceiving every possible outcome. And most of all, how it would benefit or potentially harm witchlings.
He sighed before speaking, clearly having reached a conclusion. A heavy one that would obviously make his work of watching the tunnels a bit more difficult. “I will do so on one condition,” he said.
“Tell me.” I was eager to hear what he had come up with. Especially since I gathered that I was about to get what I wanted.
“As you well know, Georgeanna, the vixra don’t need to control everything. We’re perfectly fine with lowering our influence by gaining allies where we can.”
>
“You mean people to do your dirty work for you?” Tobias practically chuckled. “Don’t I know it? Isn’t that why I was permitted to use the tunnels for so many years? So I could be of use to you?”
“Of mutual use, indeed,” Eli stated. “Which you were. Until you were more of a liability. If you can make yourself useful again then this may not be an issue.”
“How do we make ourselves useful then?” I asked. “Other than doing what you ultimately want anyway. To prevent war between witchlings and humans. Especially now that my following your family’s orders lead to our kind being exposed all over the Internet. You must know that we ultimately want the same ends that the vixra desire.”
“Yes, I saw your little display in downtown Denver. As did the rest of the world.” Eli crossed his arms over his chest. The inflection in his voice told me he was more than a little agitated. Which meant the vixra were extremely agitated. If they had captured me when I was a slave prior to Gandira doing so, I was certain they may have seen fit to end my life. Only Edmund saw me as more worthwhile alive as a vampire. Did Eli share in that vision?
“Ask your grandfather about that,” I said.
“I did.”
“And what did he say?” I asked, not really sure if I wanted to know the answer.
“That it was inevitable. My grandfather had always had the gift of the most powerful visions among the vixra. At least for his particular generation. He foresaw you becoming what you are now and the choice you would make. He chose not to stop it from happening. In fact, he told me he helped you and that I was to remain silent if I valued my place. Which tells me one thing, Georgeanna. He sees your life as vital in the future. He refused to tell me why. That usually means I’m not meant to know. At least not immediately.”
Edmund foresaw my decision? I knew he steered it but not that he had a vision regarding my future.
Eli must have sensed my confusion. Not that I ever had the gift of a good poker face.
“I’ll make you a deal, Georgeanna,” he said.
“As will I,” Tobias said, refusing to move away from me. Perhaps Eli didn’t quite understand just yet that when he made a deal with me, he was making a deal with Tobias as well. We were both parts of the same whole. And what involved the two of us inevitably involved the entire coven.
“As I said, the vixra don’t need to control everything,” Eli said. “We do, however, like to know most everything. Keep me informed as to what’s happening and what you discover in the near future and I will do my best to conceal your activities regarding the vixra tunnels.”
Tobias stiffened next to me. “You will do your best? That’s hardly a guarantee.”
“I can’t guarantee you anything, Tobias. You’re both traitors to the council and the vixra as a whole. You went directly against their orders to live out your sentences and broke free of your chains. If the council were to suspect anything I can’t legally protect you without losing my place. And regardless of the agreements and even vague alliances we have formed in the past, I will choose my own in the end. As would you. Don’t pretend as though you wouldn’t do the same.”
Tobias seemed to accept this and eased the tension between them, giving a small nod after considering Eli’s words.
“How do you want to remain included?” I asked.
Eli opened up his long knee-length coat and took out a leather notebook.
I nearly laughed at the sight of it. “Of course. You want me to write in one of your famous notebooks.” I was familiar with the spells the vixra cast on such notebooks. When someone writes inside one of them, their handwriting appears in a partner notebook possessed by the receiver of the message, only for the ink to disappear once the receiver reads the words on the page. It was a strange way to communicate during a time when texting on a cell phone was faster and more efficient. But there was no paper trail or tracking involved in the messages. We could communicate securely.
“You knew what we wanted before you came,” Tobias said with a hint of a sneer. “That’s why you brought the notebook with you.”
“I always have a notebook with me. You’re not the only ones who report to me. Nor will you be the last. I have others in various parts of the world that I communicate with. Including people whose place is vital now more than ever. Difficult times are ahead, Tobias. Times when loyalties will be questioned, tried, and tested. I’ve chosen my side. You clearly have yours. But if one side falls, we all fall. Therefore, I can’t afford to be too picky about who I permit to aid us in the future. We will have many more enemies than allies. A scenario I’m sure vampires will find understandable. Especially now. I would advise you to find the young blonde vampire from the video before the vixra council does. Her identity won’t remain a secret for long. They will seek to punish her.”
“They won’t find her,” Tobias said. “She’s one of my best warriors. I won’t allow her to be made an example of by those who don’t realize how long it’s taken me to cultivate vampires with her skill set.”
“It won’t be up to you to convince me,” Eli said. “You will have to convince the council. A prospect I’m sure you won’t like given you would have to appear before them to do so. A man who already betrayed them.”
It was a stern warning not to make Eli’s life more difficult than it already was. Because if we did, he would tell the vixra council what we were up to. Then Liza would no longer be at the top of their list for punishment. The hunt for Tobias and me would begin. If it wasn’t happening already.
“What about us?” I asked. “Does the council intend to pursue us?”
“What makes you think they aren’t already?” he smirked.
I rolled my eyes. Eli was put in charge of finding us.
‘Poor decision on the council’s part. Edmund would have ordered him not to pursue us too hard.’
“Do we have an agreement?” Eli asked.
I took a brief moment to think. In the end, we had no choice. If we were going to move fast enough to get Lenora back and potentially stay ahead of Gandira, we needed the tunnels at our disposal.
I glanced over at Tobias, knowing that the decision needed to be ours. Not just mine. I agreed to work with him. And he needed to know that I would include him in my decisions. Hopefully, he would do the same for me.
Tobias gave me a small nod.
“Yes,” I stated loudly. “We have an agreement.”
“Remember that if you make a mistake too big for me to conceal, I won’t have a choice but to report it. My authority only stretches so far.”
“I understand,” I said. “We both do.”
Eli slowly took a step closer to me with the notebook in his hand. My brow furrowed as I watched the precision with which he walked and slowly reached out to hand me the notebook. He was still entranced by the sight of me. I could sense the awe brewing inside of him. Once the notebook was in my hand he shook his head.
“It’s unfathomable,” he said.
“What is?” I asked.
“That you would willingly choose this.”
“You’ve never been a slave.”
“But I have experienced my father’s temper. I can’t imagine anyone would willingly put up with it for longer than I have. You have a strong will, Georgeanna. No one would ever doubt that. Not even me.”
In an unexpected gesture of honor, he reached out and shook Tobias’s hand, grimacing slightly at his freezing cold skin. Then he reached it out toward me. I took it without hesitation, which proved to be a mistake.
The instant his hand touched mine my surroundings changed. It wasn’t like my normal visions as a kruxa. The space around me didn’t turn gray. There wasn’t a gradual fade to different images appearing before me and shifting my reality. I was whisked away somewhere I recognized. But the atmosphere was different. Darker. More intense. I saw things with more clarity than I ever had. And I could think clearer than I ever did with my visions as a kruxa.
I saw myself standing over a hillside with a craggy e
dge to one end and the highway to another, overlooking the Rockies in the distance. Only it wasn’t the breathtaking scenery that I was focused on. It was the large bridge that was glowing in the air. Ascending toward heaven in a luminous light and touching the hillside just over the edge where I could easily fall right off.
I was in a ready stance. Armed with my staff and crowning magic swirling about in my hand with a vigor like I had never seen before. I had mastered it. It was circling over my arm and giving me strength. Invigorating me with its power. Even my eyes were glowing scarlet red from its potency. Then I saw who I was facing. Victor was standing on the opposite side of the bridge’s edge with his own crowning magic swirling about his body. We were about to face off. I was ready to fight him. If not eager. I could feel the rage burning inside me. He had done something unthinkable. But I couldn’t sense what it was. This version of me knew. This future that I was seeing was perfectly aware of everything happening. I was merely an observer.
Victor charged at me and I charged right back. Only I pointed the staff directly at him before he could get to me. Sparks flew through the air when our magic touched and spread all over the rocks around us, shooting ripples into the sky. I struggled to hold on as his magic started pushing deeper into mine, taking control and slowly overpowering me. His wicked smile only made me angrier. I fired back at him, letting all my strength into the staff, not caring about the consequences. If I had to drain every last drop of my magic to stop him then so be it.
This was why I turned myself over to Tobias. And why I wanted him to turn me into a vampire. So I could fight this battle. Only I had no idea until that moment just how important it was.
Fated Realms: (Witchling Wars: Vampire Echelon Book 2) Page 9