Of Darkness & Light: Blood Descent Book 2

by T. L. McDonald

  If it’s not too late already.

  My stomach does a severe somersault to the backdrop of my pounding heartbeats. If Sebastian dies…

  He can’t die. He just can’t. Please, please, please. He can’t die.

  Jack takes a step forward and Liv throws her arm out, hitting him in the chest to stop his advances. Pulling her assessing gaze from me, she shoots him a look that screams not now, Jack. “We’ll go with you.”

  Shock has him jerking back. “Are you crazy?”

  “Maybe. But look at her, Jack. She’s going to go, regardless. Better we come too than leave her on her own.”

  He glares at his sister, then faces me, studying me so intently it leaves me feeling raw and exposed. The hardness of his expression softens. “How do you know he’s in trouble? Did you hear from him?”

  “Not exactly. I feel it.” Just saying the words sends a fresh burst of Sebastian’s fear and a jolt of his defiance straight through me. “I’ll explain it all later, but for now, I have to go.” I slip a stake into an inside pocket of my jacket and reach for another. “Thanks for offering to come with me, but I can’t ask you guys to come. Especially you, Liv—not after what happened there last time.”

  She crosses her arms for half a second before throwing one back out to keep Jack where he is. “I can handle it.”

  Jack turns to look at her, neither he nor I saying what we’re both no doubt thinking. The last time we encountered vampires, she lost it and hid under a table. Understandable after Ben, but I can’t risk it happening again. Not at Night Life. Not when the majority of its patrons are vampires that will more than likely be gunning for me the moment I arrive. My best course of action is to get in and get out as fast as I can, blending into the crowd if necessary. I can’t do that if she starts freaking out.

  “It won’t be like it was at the diner.” Conviction laces her words, her dark green eyes cutting from Jack to me. “I was unprepared then. I’m not now.”

  Jack takes a deep breath and lowers Liv’s arm from his path. My muscles stiffen and lock, the last stake inches from my fingertips. “If we’re going to do this, Liv and I will need to look the part too.”

  My jaw hits the floor, and I snap it shut. “You’re not going to argue with me? Tackle me to the floor and pin me down, or try to convince me to confess everything to Aunt Claudia and Uncle Caleb so we can beg for their help?”

  “No.” He steps backward and grips the doorknob. “Give me five minutes. Do. Not. Go. Without. Me,” he annunciates with extra emphasis. Without another word, he slips out of my room and disappears down the hall.

  I raise a questioning eyebrow at Liv. I did not see that happening. I thought for sure he would try to stop me. She shrugs and exits the room.

  I stare at the door, locked in a bubble of confused indecision. I could use the help they’re offering since I have no idea what I’m walking into. Or if my whooshing abilities will even take me where I need to go. But am I really willing to risk their lives? Even if I manage to get us to the right location, I’d have to whoosh at least four people back with me, if not more. And I have no idea what my carrying limit is.

  What if I can’t do it and someone has to stay behind? What if I get us all killed? I can’t do that to Aunt Claudia and Uncle Caleb.

  Grabbing a notebook from my backpack, I scribble a hasty note of apology to my cousins for leaving them behind, adding a promise to tell Aunt Claudia and Uncle Caleb everything once I make it back. I’ve stressed Jack out enough. Besides, maybe I’ll get lucky and Aunt Claudia and Uncle Caleb won’t try to erase my memories this time. Maybe they’ll see my side of things and help me, as opposed to hiding me away and hoping for the best.

  If I make it back, that is.

  I toss the notebook on the bed and grab the last stake.

  It’s now or never.

  I slip the sharpened piece of wood into the waistband of my jeans, silently thanking Sebastian for leaving a set behind at my house for emergencies.

  Shaking the tension from my shoulders, I fill my lungs, close my eyes, and focus on where I want to go while the world around me melts away. In my mind’s eye, I visualize Sebastian, from his tousled raven hair, piercing blue and brown eyes, and playful smile to the dangerous edge in the way he carries himself, as though he’s always anticipating a fight. To the fierceness in his strength when he protects the ones he loves. To the quiet sadness he hides beneath the bravado. To the way his soul speaks to mine as though they were one and the same.

  The air thickens around me, and I flatten my hand over my chest, opening myself up for Sebastian’s emotions to flood back in. Pain, fear, and unrelenting determination wrapped up in bullheaded defiance, explodes inside me, acting as a tether to follow.

  The quick grab of a hand wraps around my wrist just as the floor disappears beneath my feet.

  Yanked to my knees, I snap my eyes open to find Liv holding onto me, and Jack holding onto her. She lets go to brace both hands on the floor, her breaths coming in fast pants. Behind her in a precarious crouch, Jack sways to side, hits the wall, and falls to his rear.

  Liv pushes herself back into a sitting position, one hand on her head, the other on her stomach. “I get now why Sebastian said I wouldn’t want you to whoosh me. I feel like throwing up, but I’m too dizzy to do it.”

  “What are you two doing here?” I hiss between my teeth.

  I jerk my head back and forth, scoping the darkened hallway for immediate threats hidden within the shadows. Nothing jumps out and tentative relief sweeps through me. Just because I can’t see anything doesn’t mean there isn’t anything there.

  “I told you not to leave,” Jack hisses right back. “Your stubborn undisciplined recklessness is going to get you killed one day. It’s stupid to try to do everything on your own when you have no idea what you’re doing. You have got to stop jumping headfirst into things without thinking it through. Do you even have a clue what you’re walking into here?”

  “Tell me how you really feel, why don’t you?” I grind out in a harsh whisper, more angry with myself than him because he’s right. I am stubborn, reckless, and undisciplined, and I don’t have any idea what I’m walking into. All I know is Sebastian is in trouble, and I have to get to him.

  “Guys.” Liv shoves her hands between Jack and me, pushing us apart. “Now is not the time. We’re here, and what’s done is done. Let’s just focus on finding Sebastian and the others without getting killed first so we can get the hell out of here, okay?”

  Jack breaks eye contact first, the tendons in his jaw ticking.

  Liv drops her hand from his chest but not mine, her gaze unwavering in her demand. “Are we good?”

  I nod, and she stands, holding out a steady hand to help me to my feet. She turns my hand over, examining the row of rings across my fingers.

  “They were my mom’s.”

  “Your mom’s?”

  “I’ll tell you about it later.”

  The three of us press ourselves against the wall as we take in the stretch of hallway before us. The walls are painted black and covered in glowing neon graffiti under the ultraviolet lights running along the ceiling.

  “Where are we?” Jack asks. He unsheathes a ten-inch blade hidden within a cargo pocket at the side of his midnight black pants.

  “Under…” I trail off, doing a double take at the massive knife in his hand. Holy crap! Where did he get that? The weight of his gaze presses against my face and I pry my eyes away from the weapon he’s so casually holding. “Um,” I glance up toward the muffled beat of pulsating music somewhere above us. “Under the club, I think. The basement, maybe.”

  “Which way do we go? Follow the hall, or go up to the club?”

  A sudden sharp pain stabs through my chest, taking my breath with it.

  “This way.” Keeping close to the wall, I inch my way down the hall, the stabbing pain in my chest growing more intense with every step I take. He’s close.

  I come to a stop in front of a set
of double doors. “He’s in there.” I offer Liv one of the stakes I’m carrying, unsure if she brought any weapons—other than magic—with her. She holds it so tightly, I can almost hear the wood groan.

  “How do you know?” she whispers.

  “I can feel him.” I reach for the door without further explanation.

  Jack stays my hand. “This is too easy.” He throws a cautious glance over his shoulder, his fingers flexing over the massive blade in his hand.

  “I know.” Gulping down the heavy fear eviscerating my insides, I press down on the handle. The click of the latch releasing fills the hall. I suck in a breath and pull the door open.

  A large room saturated in more ultraviolet light spreads out before us, the purple sliced apart by fluctuating beams of red, green, and blue. Another club. Though this one is currently devoid of music and grinding bodies, giving it an eerie feel.

  Jack and Liv take up positions beside me, both taking a defensive stance. Stale alcohol, sweat, and the scent of something metallic—copper or iron maybe—fills my nose as we enter with careful steps. Concrete pillars divide the space into thirds. Behind the pillars on the left is a long stretch of bar, spanning from one end of the room to the other. The wall behind it covered in shelves of alcohol. Behind the pillars on the right is a seating area filled with high narrow tables and tall stools shoved beneath them. And in front of us, the rapid flash of strobe lights makes it nearly impossible to see what’s on the other side of the room, though I think it’s some kind of stage.

  The door slams shut behind us, and Jack and Liv both rush back to it, shoving their shoulders against the solid steel when the handle doesn’t budge.

  We’re locked inside.

  Jack and Liv abandon the door and return to flank my sides, the three of us straining to see through the constant swish and flash of the lights to see the stage in front of us. A subtle movement catches my eye, and I squint, hoping to make it out.

  “I don’t like this,” Jack mumbles.

  I don’t either.

  Liv stuffs the stake into the waistband of her jeans, then conjures a purple energy ball. With each flex of her fingers, it grows in size and potency. Jack does the same, but one handed since he’s still clutching the giant knife he brought.

  All the lights go out and the room plunges into infinite darkness, aside from the two energy balls lighting up Jack and Liv’s terrified faces.

  “I knew you’d come,” a silky smooth voice whispers in my ear.

  My heart thuds hard against my ribs, my lungs frozen mid-breath. I know that voice. I remember it from the last time we met when I came here with Seth.

  Ludvikas.

  The touch of a finger brushes over the back of my neck. I whip around out of reflex, sending a blast of magic from my hand—something I didn’t even know I could do. Across the room, glass shatters, and a husky laugh rings out.

  “Where are my friends?” I demand, surprised at the steadiness of my voice.

  Ultraviolet lights bathe the room once again, minus the disorienting beams of reds, blues, and greens.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re in no position to demand anything.”

  I twist around to the sound of his voice, bumping into Liv in the process. She stumbles forward a step and lets loose the energy ball hovering between her hands. It whips past Ludvikas’ shoulders and bursts over the wall behind him, blasting away a thin layer of brick. He doesn’t so much as flinch as dust falls to the floor. He throws his head back in a hearty chuckle I barely hear as my gaze latches on to Sebastian.

  Everything around me becomes background noise as I take him in. On a low-rise stage before me, he sits strapped to a chair, his wrists bound to the arms and his ankles to the legs. A strip of cloth, glowing purple under the black lights, gags his mouth. His knuckles are busted and bleeding over his fingers, and there’s a fresh cut at the side of his left eyebrow. He stares at me with wide eyes that quickly narrow in anger. Behind him, Ludvikas clamps his hands over Sebastian’s shoulders, a big, bright smile on his flawless face.

  “Do you know why I want you dead, Indiana?” Trailing a clawed nail over the back of Sebastian’s neck, Ludvikas moves out from behind him. A drop of blood falls to the floor as he sticks his finger in his mouth to lick away the rest.

  I shrug a shoulder in nonchalance, despite the fear rushing through every single vein in my body. “No idea.”

  Liv whips up a second energy ball, the badass expression on her face barely hiding the panic beneath it.

  Ludvikas pays her no mind as he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his suit, his charming smile widening. “Oh, now come on, Indiana. You and I both know you do. How is Seth, by the way? Did you know sires can feel when something happens to one of their subjugates? Be it their untimely demise, or in Seth’s case, his miraculous return of life.” His glowing irises brighten in color as he watches my reaction.

  I force my expression to remain neutral even though my jaw seriously wants to hit the floor. I had no idea vampires had that kind of link to the ones they’d turned. I shift my gaze to Sebastian. Did he know?

  Ludvikas descends the stairs at the side of the stage. Beside me, Jack and Liv close ranks, squeezing against my sides. Their energy balls grow exponentially. Ludvikas completely ignores them, his glowing eyes locked solely on me.

  “You are a threat to all of my kind, Indiana. And if that Croí Dorcha bitch gets her way, you’ll be our annihilation. But if you’re dead…” He waves a dismissive hand, while my cousins both stiffen at the mention of the Croí Dorcha name, their eyes darting between Ludvikas and me.

  “Well, you see what I’m getting at here,” he continues. “I had hoped the vampires I’d sent would have taken care of you, but you know what they say. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

  “Where are the rest of my friends? Where is Evan?” I demand, ignoring the glaring questions held in my cousins’ eyes. In truth, I have just as many questions as they do. What Dark Heart witch is Ludvikas referring to? Is it the same witch who put a curse on me to kill my soul and sway me to the dark side? Was their plan to turn me into their own personal weapon against their enemy? And if so, what is their endgame? Because I highly doubt it’s anything good.

  “Oh. I’m sure they’re around here somewhere. Or dead. It’s too early to tell yet. My vampires like to have a little fun before going in for the kill. While we wait to see,”—he glances at the doors behind my cousins and me just as they open—“why don’t we have a little bit of fun of our own?”

  Peter glares at me from the doorway with such viciousness, there’s no sign of the guy he used to be behind the monster. He’s strictly in rip me apart mode. His lips pull back in a sinister sneer, but it’s what’s being dragged behind him that chills me to the bone.

  Evan.

  Peter whips the chair around, giving me a good view of everything they’ve done to him. So much blood covers his face, it’s become a mask, shrouding everything but the terrified whites of his eyes. The bindings over his wrist are dug deep into his flesh, causing the bloody scab covered skin to pucker around it. His chest heaves with rapid breaths, drawing my eyes to his once white shirt, now dyed in shades of crimson and rusty brown. He screams desperate, incoherent words I can’t make out behind the gag in his mouth.

  “I’m so sorry,” I mumble. He ticks his head to the side, his nostrils flaring, as more words push out around the gag.

  “Let them go,” I demand. “Or—”

  “Or what?” Ludvikas laughs wholeheartedly. “You and your cousins are out of your depth here, and you and I both know it. But I’ll tell you what—since I’m not a completely cruel man, I’ll allow you the chance to save one of them before you die. Who will it be, the chaser, the naïve boy still in love with you, or one of your cousins? Choose.”

  39

  Everything stops.

  My heart… my lungs… the passing of time around me.

  It’s all frozen, everything held in that one
word.

  Choose.

  My heart splits into quarters; my head turning achingly slow as I shift my gaze between Sebastian, Evan, and my cousins. There’s no way I can choose between them. What he’s asking me to do is impossible. It’s like asking the sun to not rise.

  Across the room, Ludvikas leans casually against a pillar, amusement lighting up his eyes as he watches me struggle with the horror of his demand.

  Jack brushes a pinky against my hand. His eyes flick from me to Sebastian, with a tip of his head indicating I should go for him. He then meets Liv’s gaze and ticks his head the opposite direction toward Evan. She nods, and before I know what’s happening, her energy ball sails across the open space of the room and slams into Peter’s chest. His feet lift from the ground as he’s hurled backward into an unsuspecting Tyrone, who’s guarding the door.

  Jack races for Evan, throwing his own energy ball at a staggering Peter while Liv hits Tyrone with one of her own, another already forming in her hand.

  Without another moment’s hesitation, I run for Sebastian. Everything around me fades from existence, the desperation to get to him the only thing flowing through my veins.

  His head jerks to his left, eyes widening in warning.

  Ludvikas’ hand wraps around my neck. My feet lift off the ground while my momentum continues to swing me forward. I jerk back, my feet dangling and my hands clawing at Ludvikas’ fingers.

  Magic flares inside me, and I slam a hand over Ludvikas’ chest, setting his expensive suit on fire. He bares his fangs with a roar, but doesn’t let go, instead jerking me closer to him. The flames eating away at his suit jacket reach out for me, and I close my eyes.

  His hand disappears from around my throat, and I appear behind Sebastian on unsteady feet. I slam my hands down over his wrists, praying to whoever is listening that I don’t burn anything more than the ropes binding him to the chair.

  Ludvikas’ confused eyes lock onto me, his hand still wrapped around the air where my neck used to be. He rips his shirt and jacket off, tossing them to the ground. Burn marks cover his torso, the charred skin already healing. His lips pull back, his fangs lengthening as he lunges.