by Wendi Wilson
“Desmond just told me and Coco the plan you guys were working on. When he finished laying it all out, Coco mumbled something about needing to be alone and took off.” She tugged at her black curls with one hand while biting at the nails on the other. “I’ve searched the whole camp. I can’t find her anywhere.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Coco!”
I tore through the dark woods, skirting around trees, and jumping over logs as my eyes searched every dark shadow. Where was she?
A figure ran up beside me. I tensed before realizing it was Levi. His eyes searched my face for answers. “Anything?”
I shook my head. “I lost her scent a while back. There’s no sign.”
He frowned. “We’ll keep looking.”
I bit my lip, turning my gaze to the dark forest. “Why did she run, Levi? I don’t get it. If she was upset about something, why didn’t she just tell someone? Why didn’t she come to talk to me?”
Levi took a step closer, running a hand down my back. “She’s been through a lot. Maybe the thought of seeing Jackson Carter again took her over the edge?”
I mulled this over. It was a possible scenario. He’d done some awful things to her, and there was a ninety-nine percent chance if we were inviting Warren to our camp, Jackson would be with him. But why wouldn’t she come talk to me about it? She’d always done so in the past.
There was another thought bothering me and had been since she took off. One I was afraid to put to words, but I also couldn’t keep it in any longer. The words came spilling out as if on their own.
“Levi, what if Coco’s the spy?”
He blinked, taking in my words. “No. Not Coco.”
“I know, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Someone told Warren about our plans in the mountains. Someone told him where to find us at the club…” My words trailed off as the pain of having said them settled over me. How could I think my best friend was a spy? But then, True had been controlled by Xander not too long ago. Maybe Coco was being compelled by Warren. Maybe she’d never broken out of his spell in the first place.
I leaned into Levi as he put his arms around me. “What if Warren does something awful to her just to spite me?”
“She’ll be okay,” Levi murmured, his hands rubbing soothing circles into my back. “She’s tough.”
But my stomach clenched at the thought of her alone, out there in the woods. And it was worse to think of her in Jackson’s clutches. He and Warren were cut from the same cloth and would do anything to enact revenge on those that had wronged them.
I knew Warren’s obsession with me was more about control than love or attraction. He wanted me because he couldn’t have me. And he wanted me to pay for destroying his do-gooder image. Doing something awful to Coco would satisfy his need for revenge, and that thought terrified me.
“We need to find her,” I whispered.
Levi hugged me close. “We’re doing everything we can.”
“No,” I said, realizing something. “Maybe we aren’t. Maybe I can see where she is.”
“A vision?”
I nodded.
Levi let me go, taking a step back to give me space as I tried to clear my head. I’d never been able to force myself to have a vision before, they’d just happened, but all those times had been before the bulk of my witch training. I was also a vampire now, so I didn’t know if that hurt or helped my chances, but I had to try.
I closed my eyes and thought of Coco.
I thought of her pink nail polish. Her laugh. The fear in her eyes when she told me about Jackson Carter for the first time.
Then, I sent my mind out, searching for her aura as I did when I compelled someone.
Soon, I was able to pick up a faint pink trail, cutting through the trees, heading north. It zigzagged away, growing fainter as it went until I lost it.
“Damn,” I whispered.
With that tactic spent, I tried forcing myself to conjure the future. I tried making my mind blank, murmuring spells, and even lying on the ground to simulate when I’d fainted, but no vision arrived.
Disappointed, I stood up and brushed pine needles out of my hair. “What good is being psychic if I can’t use it when I need it?”
Levi gently pulled a few needles from the strands around my face. “It’ll come to you. It always does. For now, we should get back. If she was a spy, Warren will soon know our plans.”
“And then what?” I asked, feeling hopeless.
“We’ll figure something out.”
“How are you so optimistic?” I asked, walking back with him the way we came.
He shrugged. “Things have never not worked out before.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “So if they went okay before, they’ll go okay now?”
“Something like that.” he said, smiling. “Race you back.” Then, he took off before I could even respond.
I watched him rush past the tree trunks and disappear. It was a good thing one of us was optimistic, because, from where I stood, things couldn’t get much worse.
BUT WHEN WE got back to camp, I realized they could. Much, much worse.
When I arrived, I spied Dad, the dean, and a few of the other leaders gathered in a group, looking tense. I veered that way, skidding to a stop just before reaching them.
“What’s going on?”
Amelia, who stood a little off from the group was the first to answer. “Word got out that Coco betrayed us. Half of the mountain vamps defected. They think Warren’s coming with an army and going to cut us down where we stand.”
“What? We don’t even know if Coco betrayed us, and half left? Dad, is this true?”
I walked up, inserting myself in the conversation Dad, Desmond, Levi, Dr. Whitely, and a few of the others were having.
“It’s true,” Dad said, looking both ashamed and upset. “One of my seconds, Malachi, convinced those cowards to turn tail and run. I could kill them!” he roared as his fangs extended, and his hands tightened into claws.
It wasn’t often I saw Dad act as a savage mountain leader, and it made me take a step back.
“I’m sorry, bug,” he said, calming down. “It’s just...I hate traitors.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I shot back. “They’re cowards. Do they think Warren will let them live once he’s done with us? He’ll track them down and tear them apart for ever working against him.”
Desmond nodded. “Malachi isn’t the smartest tool in the shed, and neither are the men who followed him. I say good riddance.”
“Good riddance?” Dad shot back. “We’re down to a handful of men and the camp counselors we were barely able to train!”
“But you have us.”
True walked up, and beside her, Zelda. Both were wearing flowing, navy gowns that sparkled as if stars were sown into the fabric. With a full skirt, long sleeves, and a tight bodice, they reminded me of dresses from the seventeenth century. Not great for battle, but I was sure they served some sort of purpose. True held her auntie’s spell book in one hand, while the other seemed to conjure spells at her side. Light swirled around her fingers as they twined over and over.
“True, you look amazing,” I said, unable to help myself, but Dad seemed unimpressed.
“Will an outfit change be enough to stop Warren’s sorceress? I thought you said she was unstoppable.” His eyes turned on Zelda.
She’d put on black lipstick and dark eyeliner. Along with her witchy getup, she looked both ancient and powerful. “My vision says otherwise. My sister’s reign will stop today.”
“Today?” I said, my eyebrows going up.
Zelda nodded, pointing at the graying horizon in the east. “The battle happens in a few hours. Warren is on his way.”
That just confirmed it. Coco must’ve been the traitor. My heart shattered into sharp shards that cut like knives. I rationalized that it had to be Warren’s influence. I would accept no other explanation.
Dad’s mouth tightened. “Then we have a lot to do. Des
mond, Levi, you’re with me.” He started to walk away.
“Wait! What about me?” Panic flared in my chest as I watched Levi begin to leave with my father and Desmond. We couldn’t be separated. We were each other’s Inamorata. Watching him walk away when so much as at stake felt like letting my heart walk out of my chest. I wanted to reach for him, but part of me knew I couldn’t. This was war. There was no time for love, but that didn’t stop my heart from breaking.
Levi walked over and took me in his arms. “Stay with True and Zelda. We need you to stop Imogen and Jackson if you can. Use your powers to keep them from compelling us, and we’ll take care of the rest.”
I pulled him to me, knowing his words made sense, but feeling, in my gut, that we shouldn’t be parted.
“Promise me nothing will happen to you,” I whispered into his shirt.
“Only if you’ll do the same.” He pressed his lips to the top of my head.
When Levi let me go, Dad walked over and pressed me into a quick hug. “Stay safe.” Then, he turned to his men. “Levi! Desmond!” He waved them on. Dad was in battle mode now and knew if we didn’t put up the best fight we could muster, many of us would die.
I watched Levi, Desmond, and my father run off as I held back tears. Dr. Whitely put a hand on my shoulder while True stepped beside me, lacing her fingers through mine. “We’ll fight for our men. We’ll show that dumb witch who’s boss.”
“We will,” I said, clearing my throat, “but how?”
Zelda joined our circle, her eyes lighting up. “Let us show you what we found in the lassie’s wee book. We think you’ll find it very interesting.”
WE WERE READY.
I gazed down at the campground before me, taking it all in one last time. From my perch on the dining hall roof, I could see it all. The entrance where Mom had dropped me off for the first time. The lake where Sarah had tried to drown me, and Sasha Ali had swam in like a female Aquaman to rescue me.
In the distance, I could see Saka’am’s tin roof and, further still, the high ropes course where Levi had revealed, for the first time, that vampires existed, and that he was one of them.
It was as if each memory from Camp Shadow Lake was splayed out before me, and I could flip through them one by one. There, by the road, was where I saw Levi for the first time. Just below me was the window where I spotted Sarah and Chef Chloe trying to compel little Johnny. Had that only been a few months ago?
So much had changed since then. I had changed. I was no longer the caterpillar. I was the butterfly.
Remembering that made me think of Coco. There’d been no sign of her, making me worry that my worst suspicions were true. Dr. Whitely had offered to continue to look for her, since she wasn’t much help in a physical fight, and I’d happily accepted. If Warren and Jackson did anything to Coco…
I focused my anger inward, remembering to use it to feed the spell Zelda and True had taught me. Together, the three of us stood on the roof, scanning the distance for Warren’s approaching army. It was our job to take out Imogen. I only hoped we could.
“It’ll be all right, babe,” True said, coming to stand beside me. Her wide bell-like skirt wouldn’t allow her to get too close, but just having her near was enough.
“How will you fight in that thing?” I asked, staring at the old-fashioned navy blue dress.
She smoothed a hand down it lovingly. “Zelda says witches don’t need to be physical to fight. And many witches wear dresses like this in battle to show exactly that. They’re so powerful, they don’t need to move. Cool, right?”
“Very cool.” I only hoped Zelda knew what the hell she was talking about.
True smiled and then pressed a hand to her stomach. “Still, it’s tight as hell. I should not have had that last waffle this morning.”
I laughed, squeezing her hand.
“I don’t know about you, but I can’t fight on an empty stomach. What if this goes on all day?” She gestured down below.
I turned from True and went back to watching the scene below. Every vampire on our side stood in clumps in the field beside the archery range. My eyes passed over Mom, Dad, Levi, Desmond, Sasha, Rose, Amelia, Dean Purty, and so many others. There was no sense in pretending now. If Coco was a spy, she’d told Warren our plans. No traps would work. No lies. We had to face him head on or not at all. As my gaze passed each one of my loved ones, I wished them health and long life and afterlife. I wished they didn’t have to fight. I wished Warren had never existed.
I tugged a glove onto my right hand before patting the vampire dagger on my hip. Zelda may have thought witches didn’t need to fight, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I still wanted to be able to use it, but now that I was a vampire, even touching the handle would be extremely uncomfortable. The glove gave me the option, should the need arise. And if I got close enough to Warren Thornberry, I was going to stab first and ask questions later.
It was as if thinking his name conjured him out of thin air. When I looked up, he was there.
Across the camp, his army came. Dozens of Vampires. Hundreds. Their bodies kept appearing one behind the other until I lost count.
I’d never seen so many vampires in one place before. Our number looked paltry compared to the sheer number that arrived and kept coming. Row upon row of bodies walked halfway across the field and then stopped.
Suddenly, they parted as he walked down the aisle they’d created.
Warren came dressed for battle. He wore all black, with some sort of protective chest piece and helmet like a futuristic soldier, but there were hints of military touches on his shoulders and chest as if he’d fought in many battles and won many wars.
Damn. Did his arrogance know no bounds?
Behind him, Imogen and Jackson Carter approached too, his generals awaiting orders, but they let him have his moment. He walked until he was level with the first row of his troops. Letting his gaze travel over our small group, his eyes floated up until they found me. I glared back, daring him to speak to me. I’d blast the shit out of him. I’d…
I’d wait and be calm and follow the plan.
My hands tightened to fists as the dagger seemed to burn against my thigh. I would not let him goad me into making stupid, rash decisions.
“Piper,” he said, my vamp ears picking up his voice clearly, despite the distance between us. “You’re a vampire now. I told you it was a better life… that you would be better, but you refused to listen. Do you believe me now?” One side of his mouth curled up in that smug smile.
“I don’t believe a word that comes out of your lying mouth,” I said. “Where’s Coco?”
His smile widened. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Lies!” I said, but True’s hand on my arm helped me calm down. “It doesn’t matter. This ends today, Warren. This ends now.”
His smile faded. “For once, you silly girl, you’re right.” Then he turned to his army and lifted his arm before slashing it down. “Attack!”
I fumbled for True’s hand as the two sides ran at each other.
This was it. The war had begun.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chaos. Pure and total pandemonium.
I could hear True and Zelda chanting the spell they’d chosen, but I forgot to join in as I watched vampires tearing at each other in motions so fast they blurred even in my vampire vision. Roars and screams tore at my eardrums, and I found myself flinching at the sounds. The scent of old, dead blood burned in my nostrils, and I barely noticed the tears filling my eyes and spilling down my cheeks.
Knowing the war was coming and witnessing it firsthand were two very different things.
True’s grip tightened on my hand just before she gave it a jerk, pulling me out of my stunned paralysis and reminding me I had a job to do. I picked up the chant, my voice joining hers and Zelda’s as the words tumbled faster from our lips while rising in volume.
“Segadus, zavar, nahasmena, confusió de societatis,” we repeated again and
again, the words honed to create confusion for only the vampires associated with The Society.
I could see several of the individual fights slowing down as the camp and mountain vamps struck their opponents, but it wasn’t enough. It was obvious Warren had amassed a huge chunk of his army from outside The Society, rendering our specific spell useless against them.
My eyes searched the field for my loved ones—Dad was attacking vampires left and right in the middle of the fray, Mom stayed in the shadows, only joining in when an enemy came too close or had their back turned to her, Barbara ran to and fro tending to the wounded while trying to fend off attacks herself, and Levi fought side-by-side with Amelia, Rose, Ian, and Analise. Sasha and Nurse Barbara seemed to be working in tandem, back-to-back as they fended off attack after attack.
I continued to chant, but the words came automatically and without thought as my mind focused not on my task, but on the five camp counselors clawing and biting at their opponents. They moved like contortionists, their actions smooth and interconnected—or like ballet dancers on a grand stage. It was almost beautiful in its grace and style, and I wished I could have been down there with them on the front lines.
My eyes searched the rest of the field, watching what was left of Warren’s Society vampires look around in confusion as they got struck down one by one. The spell had worked, but True, Zelda, and I needed to do something else. There were still hundreds of non-society vampires out there, their numbers too great for us to vanquish with fighting alone.
My gaze landed on Warren, who stood off to one side, a wide smile on his face. He was flanked on either side by Jackson Carter and the witch, Imogen… and no one was venturing within ten yards of them. My brow furrowed as I studied the trio, and then it hit me—Imogen was chanting her own spell, and it seemed to be creating some sort of protective bubble.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, Dean Purty charged forward with a loud battle cry. My eyes followed his path, widening as his roar ended in a scream, and he bounced backward several feet to land in a heap on the ground.