Vampire's Crucible

by Yvette Bostic

  A hostess opened the door for us, and Yun gave them Kellen’s name at the podium. A pretty young girl, probably just out of high school, smiled sweetly and asked us to follow her. She led us past the main dining area, already full of guests and into what was probably once a parlor. Kellen sat at the farthest table dressed in a charcoal gray suit, looking out the window next to his seat. He looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him. Sure, that had only been a few days ago, but it felt like so much longer.

  He glanced our way as the hostess approached. Kellen stood and smiled at Yun, taking her hand in his. When his gaze found Logan, his eyes widened dramatically. Then they dropped to me and his mouth fell open. Yun was right. His expression was priceless.

  “It’s good to see you too, Kellen,” Logan said, breaking the awkward silence.

  Yun dropped into the chair next to Kellen, and Logan pulled out the one next to her, motioning for me to sit. I struggled to take my eyes off my mage partner as my butt found the chair. I’d forgotten what it felt like to experience his emotions so clearly. Or maybe he was just in shock and forgot to hide them.

  Surprise and longing outweighed everything else, but resentment and mistrust lingered in the background. I was pretty sure my own emotions were on full display, too. I didn’t want to be mad at him, but my anger pushed everything else aside. Could I block my own feelings from him? I needed to; I didn’t want him to feel Logan’s. This was already uncomfortable enough. He stared back at me, and I imagined an invisible barrier raising between us.

  His emotions vanished. I gasped and so did he, but he schooled his features quicker than I did. The impassive mask he met me with on our very first greeting over a month ago fell into place.

  “Yun says you needed to talk,” Kellen said, clearing his throat.

  A tall young man arrived to take our drink orders. I opted for water, for several reasons. I had no money, which meant someone else was paying, and my IOU tab was already over the limit. But most importantly, I rarely drank alcohol. Doing so now would make me stupid.

  I nudged Logan’s knee, hoping he took the hint to talk first. He glanced at me and gave me that silly smirk. I tried not to blush.

  “We have extremely good reason to believe that the council is planning a diversionary tactic to draw you away from the palace,” Logan said, his smile vanishing as he answered Kellen. “Have you received any communication from them?”

  Kellen pulled his gaze from me and gave Logan his attention. “No.”

  Lying already. Damn. How were we supposed to work together without honesty? I nudged Logan’s knee again. He looked down at me and raised an eyebrow, then turned back to my partner.

  “Good, then we’re not too late.” Logan glanced around and leaned forward. “They’re planning to threaten your mother’s family in Australia, expecting you to send your full contingent to protect them.”

  Kellen scowled, his dark brows drawing together. “Why wouldn’t I protect them?”

  “Because as soon as your mages leave, Jack will attack Victor’s lodge,” Logan whispered.

  My mage partner sat back in his chair, studying Logan’s face. “Assuming your information is correct, how big is the army coming for Victor?”

  Logan leaned closer and braced his forearms on the table. “An ogre and six vampires attacked AJ and I this morning,” he replied, keeping his voice as low as possible. “The ogre was under complete control of the vampire with it.”

  “What?” Kellen’s dark eyes shifted to me, lingering for several moments. Was he really concerned about my safety? I was curious—because, he’d tried to have me killed—but I wasn’t willing to let the wall down to find out.

  “I don’t know what the vampires will send to Victor’s, but I have to assume they plan to succeed where they failed last time. Which they will surely do if you’re not there.” Logan leaned back and unfolded his napkin, placing it on his knee.

  The waiter showed up a moment later with our drinks and asked for our order. I hadn’t even looked at the menu. I glanced down at the thick parchment in my hand. There were only four choices, and none had prices next to them.

  “What do you suggest?” I asked the waiter.

  “Many of our female guests with smaller appetites prefer the salmon,” he replied, pointing at my menu. The stereotype might have offended me if he weren’t correct.

  “That’ll be fine, then. Thank you.”

  Yun ordered the same. Kellen order a beef something or other. I looked up at Logan wondering how he’d handle real food.

  “I’ll have your best beer on tap,” he replied. “I have another dinner date after this and don’t wish to insult the company.”

  I frowned at him. That was really rude, implying that Kellen’s company was somehow less than worthy. I was pissed at my partner, too, but seriously? Logan and I would chat about that too. I glanced over at my mage partner to find him glaring at my vampire.

  “How do I stop them?” Kellen asked in a low voice after the waiter left.

  “Jonathan believes if your mages stay here, the vampires won’t attack Victor.”

  “What about my mother’s family?” Kellen growled. “I’m supposed to leave them to die?”

  Logan looked away. He was trying to act like an ass, but he didn’t want to see innocent people get hurt. I didn’t want to see the mages slaughtered either, especially with the recent revelation from my elementals that Kellen’s family was there. I remembered the look on his face when he found out. His haunted eyes would forever be imprinted on my brain.

  “We’ll go to Australia and protect your family,” I offered, surprising myself.

  Both men looked over at me as if I’d grown two heads.

  “Just the two of you?” Kellen asked. “And how will you get there?”

  “Through the portal, of course,” I replied.

  “Have you forgotten something?” Kellen asked, pointing at Logan.

  “There are things even you do not know, partner,” I replied, emphasizing the moniker. “I assume your people in Australia can fight, yes?”

  He frowned at me, then looked over at Logan. I refrained from glancing at my vampire. Kellen was obviously uncomfortable about being in the dark.

  “Everyone is taught basic self-defense,” he replied as the waiter arrived with Logan’s extremely tall glass of beer.

  “Thank you.” Logan nodded at the waiter, who didn’t hang around.

  A thought occurred to me as I watched Logan sip the frothy brew. Yes, I know, fighting has nothing to do with beer, so don’t ask how my brain went there. It just did.

  “What if we can create a scenario that makes Jack believe you sent a force to Australia?” I asked. “Of course you don’t really, but we make him believe it. He sends his fighters to Victor, not expecting your mage warriors to be there.”

  “I like it!” Yun said, startling me. I’d nearly forgotten she was there. “I’ll try to find out who the fiends have collected for their army, so Kellen will know what to expect.”

  “And AJ and I will help the mages deal with any ‘fiends’ in Australia,” Logan added.

  Kellen looked around the table at the three of us, settling his gaze on me. “Why would you help me?”

  I shook my head. Even after spending nearly twenty-four hours a day together for an entire month, he still didn’t know me. I wanted to hate him for the things he’d done to me, but innocent people couldn’t suffer because of my hate.

  “Because that’s our destiny, right?” Logan replied for me. “Isn’t that what started this whole thing? The desire to protect our legacy?”

  Kellen braced his elbows on the table and dropped his head in his palms. Logan’s hand found mine beneath the table, lacing our fingers together. I appreciated the gesture.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you, AJ,” Kellen mumbled, lifting his head. Was that remorse? I couldn’t tell with the barrier in place. “They were supposed to detain you, but not hurt you.”

  I couldn’t feel a li
e in his words, but he hesitated. He wouldn’t have stopped them from hurting me. He wasn’t there to ensure they didn’t. I shook it off and focused on the previous lie. His regret seemed real, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.

  “Who approached you about sending mages to Australia?” I asked, refusing to offer forgiveness.

  Kellen chuckled. “You never miss a thing, do you? Someone I thought I could trust told me how dire the situation was, and that I had to send the full force before midnight tonight.”

  “Probably, the same man who said he wouldn’t hurt me when he took me from the house,” I pushed, not caring if it was brutal. “Do you know what he said before I escaped your room?”

  Kellen shook his head, not hiding his misery.

  “There were three of them in your sitting room, trying to bust down the door to the bedroom,” I continued, trying to keep my voice low. “One of them, your trusted buddy, was in a really big hurry to get to me. I’m guessing he was the one who tore the door from the hinges. One of the others tried to stop him, stating it’d feel like he was ‘doing the Magister.’” I air quoted the last phrase. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant.

  Yun sucked in a breath, and I realized she hadn’t known the full situation or why I wasn’t with Kellen at the palace. Too late to take it back.

  “They weren’t supposed to hurt you,” Kellen hissed, squeezing his eyes shut.

  “But you weren’t there to protect me, were you?” I countered.

  Silence fell across the table. A group of servers arrived with our food, but I was pretty sure I couldn’t eat. My heart lodged in my throat, and I couldn’t force it back down.

  When they left, Kellen looked up at me. “I’m sorry. There’s no excuse for what I did.”

  “No, there isn’t,” I agreed, watching him cringe. “But I’m more concerned for our future. Jack doesn’t care about our drama. There is only one thing he wants, and he’s willing to kill a whole lot of people to get it.”

  “You are so much more than I gave you credit for,” my partner said, picking up his fork and pushing around the vegetables on his plate. “I was wrong in so many things. I should’ve kept you by my side regardless of your situation with Logan.”

  “It’s irrelevant now,” I said. “Do you agree with the plan?”

  “Yes, but I need to deal with my traitors first,” he replied. “And I have something for you.” He reached inside his coat pocket and retrieved an envelope. “You are the Magister, even if you’re not at the palace. This is your bank account information, a debit card, and new identification.”

  I took the envelope from him as tears welled in my eyes. I was such a cry baby. I blinked them back, not wanting to smear the eyeliner that had taken me twenty minutes to put on.

  “Thank you,” I mumbled. “What time are we meeting you at the portal?”

  “Before midnight,” Kellen replied. “Logan knows where it is.” My partner eyed my vampire. “Are you sure you can go through it?”

  “Let us worry about that,” Logan replied.

  I tried to eat the lovely slice of salmon on my plate, but I couldn’t. My emotions were running rampant, and I struggled to hold onto the invisible wall between me and my partner.

  Yun cleaned her plate first and leaned towards me. “Whenever you’re ready,” she whispered.

  “We should go,” I announced, breaking the lengthening silence. “We’ll be at the portal before midnight.”

  I stood slowly, remembering my queasiness from my new ‘I can’t walk at normal speed’ gift. Logan didn’t hesitate to take my arm and push in my chair. He pulled his wallet from his pocket and handed Kellen a hundred-dollar bill. I was surprised when my partner accepted it. Kellen had tons of money and could easily pay for our meal. I didn’t think the same applied for Logan.

  We walked out together, no one saying anything until we reached the car.

  “Well that was interesting,” Yun said as she hopped in the back seat.

  I slid into the passenger seat, and Logan closed my door.

  “I’m not sure I’d call it interesting,” I mumbled.

  Logan got in the driver’s side and started the engine, turning on the air conditioner. Utah wasn’t as warm as the Nevada desert, but it was still late summer. He swiveled in his seat to face me.

  “What makes you think you and I can stop a vampire army?” he asked, surprising me with the harshness in his question.

  I didn’t really have an answer. “How else are we going to keep Kellen from doing something stupid?” I countered. “Besides, if Kellen can put on a good enough show with his mage warriors leaving tonight, the vampires will be at Victor’s, not in Australia.”

  “Even if he does, Jack will have a small force waiting for us.” Was he really mad at me? His furrowed brow and clenching jaw seemed to indicate so, but I was too overwhelmed to be sure.

  “Then we’ll convince the Australian mages to fight,” I argued. “You know Kellen better than I do. Was there any other way to keep him from going after his family?”

  “No,” he huffed. “But this could end badly for us.” He shifted further in his seat. “Yun, no one knows about the animosity between AJ and Kellen. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how important it is that no one finds out.”

  “Nope,” she replied. “I was shocked when there weren’t any hugs and kisses, but I understand why. What a prick!”

  “Kellen’s complicated, but he isn’t all bad,” I said, not sure why I needed to defend him. He’d made difficult choices—albeit not always good ones—and I wasn’t sure I would have done things that much differently. “His first priority is the mages, as it should be.”

  “Yeah, but he shouldn’t be willing to sacrifice his partner,” she countered, glancing from me to Logan. “Anyway, I saw a side of him today I’d rather forget. I think he’s got genuine regret, but is it for your safety or because he got caught?”

  I turned away from Yun and avoided Logan’s gaze. I didn’t really want to know the answer to that. My vampire turned around as well and put the SUV into drive. My mind worked over the new information, putting it together with the old. Several things still didn’t make sense to me. Like why Jack kept attacking Victor.

  “What’s so important about Victor’s pack?” I asked.

  Logan glanced at me for a moment. “Most important is the shifters’ immunity to the vampires’ venom. Second is they are best equipped to challenge the vampires,” he explained. “Their speed and strength even the odds between the two species. Victor’s pack is the strongest in North America, and his cousin leads the pack in Europe. If Jack can eliminate them, it will go a long way to derailing the shifters’ support for the mages.”

  “Would they change sides?” I asked, surprised I hadn’t thought of it myself. “The shifters, I mean. Would they really support Jack?”

  Logan shook his head, and Yun snorted.

  “No,” she replied. “Ignoring the fact that vampires will always be our enemy, shifters are naturally tuned to the earth. Our instincts drive us to protect it. Jack’s plan will result in a war no one will win.”

  I turned around and gave her a skeptical look. “Really? Because Logan doesn’t look like the enemy to me.”

  “There are obvious exceptions.” She waved a hand at me and blushed. “He and Otto being the best examples.”

  Their explanations made sense. Without the shifters’ natural ability to fight against the vampires, Jack’s chances of success increased dramatically.

  “Anyway, we won’t have time to take you back to Jonathan’s,” Logan said, pulling out of the parking lot and into traffic. “Do you mind taking my car home?”

  “Not at all,” Yun replied. “You want me to leave all your clothes in the back seat?”

  “That’s fine. We’ll change at the hotel and take a small bag with us,” he responded.

  “Cool. AJ, do you mind if I keep the dress?”

  I glanced back to find her smiling at me. �
�Sure, it looks great on you,” I replied, returning her smile.

  Her carefree attitude was a little contagious, but not enough to keep the smile on my face. I still had a hundred questions to ask Logan, but they would have to wait until we were alone.

  Chapter 10

  An hour later, Yun left in Logan’s SUV with all but one backpack. I sat on the edge of the bed in a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt; I had no need for a fancy new wardrobe in Australia. Logan dropped onto the mattress next to me.

  “We’ll need to pick up some warmer clothes for you,” he said, tapping on the screen of his smartphone. “It looks like the average temperature in Melbourne is fifty-five degrees right now.”

  “Damn. I hadn’t even thought of that,” I mumbled.

  “We’ll get a taxi to drop us at the nearest department store before we go. They should have fall stuff out by now.” He laid back and tossed his phone on the pillow. “Once it gets dark, I want to take you out to practice running at full speed. You’re already doing much better just walking.”

  I laid down next to him, my legs dangling off the side of the bed. “I think I got more than just your speed,” I said, staring at the ceiling. “And I think it started before Spirit did his thing.”

  “Really?” Logan rolled over on his side and I turned my head towards him.

  “Yeah. I’ve been able to smell most vampires once they’re close,” I replied. “I think Spirit added everyone else.”

  “I see. I wonder if that’s all.”

  I shrugged, giving my attention to the flat white ceiling paint. I needed to ask about his new eating habits but didn’t want to. Kind of like a horrible car accident that you can’t look away from, even though you should. Maybe I didn’t need to know, just like I didn’t need to see him fight. Yeah, right. If we were going up against a pack of vampires, I needed to fight too. It’d be better if Logan and I trained together with Niyol. It was stupid to keep jumping into fights not knowing each other’s strengths, or in my case, weaknesses.

  “What are you thinking about?” Logan asked, trailing a finger down my neck.