by Raven Steele
“Boaz will find you, and when he does that necklace is going around your neck. Then the whole world will bleed.”
“I won’t let that happen. I’m going to stop him.”
Anne laughed, a short, curt snort. “Don’t you think others have tried? Boaz can’t be stopped without the Originals, and one of them died long ago. No, the best thing you can do is slit your own throat and die.”
“The Originals?”
“The four families who stripped Boaz of his powers in the first place. The ones who made that necklace.”
Eve’s eyes widened in understanding. They didn’t know about Henry! No wonder Henry was so secretive. It all made sense now. That’s why Henry was so desperate for Eve to find and help Lucien. With Lucien and Henry, and her own Segur and Whitmore blood, they could stop Boaz!
“Is there a way to destroy the necklace?” Eve asked. Maybe if they could eliminate that threat over Eve’s head, they could more aggressively pursue Boaz.
Anne shook her head. “The necklace is eternal. The best you can hope for is to release Boaz’s powers from within it.”
“But is that even possible? Eve tucked her hands beneath her legs on the bed to keep them from shaking.
“It is, but it would take someone who has the combined magic of the original two families and someone who can wield Boaz’s power already contained in the necklace.” She sighed as if bored. “That’s all he wants from you, you know, to release his magic. He thought this would happen the last time he put the necklace on you, but he misunderstood his own powers within the orb. It won’t share with anyone. But he’s found a way around that now, thanks to your mother.”
Eve finally swallowed. “What will happen when Boaz gets his powers back?”
Anne said nothing for a moment. The fire crackled and spat within the stone hearth, but Eve still felt no heat from its flames. Maybe it wasn’t a real fire. Maybe it was just an illusion created by Anne.
“The world as you know it will change,” Anne said. “Humans will be brought to their knees. The ones allowed to live, anyway. With just a thought, Boaz will be able to kill whomever he pleases.”
Eve thought back to when she was Alarica. The necklace had allowed her to destroy things in the same way. Boaz would be so much more destructive. “How do we kill him?”
Anne finished the last of the wine. “You have to return his powers.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense.”
“It’s the only way. He has to be made whole to be destroyed. That’s where our ancestors got it wrong. Instead of killing him, they took his powers from him. They wanted to study him, wanted to understand his magic.” Anne dropped the glass on the floor, shattering it into bits. “Wanted it for themselves.”
“How do you know this?”
Anne shakily stood and crossed the room to a bookshelf in the corner. Her skimpy black gown barely stayed on her bony body. She removed an old leather bound book and tossed it to Eve. She barely managed to catch it.
“A journal from one of the original families. It’s all right there,” Anne said.
Eve opened the worn cover. A lone name was scribbled on the first page: Henry Archer.
“Maybe he was wrong,” she whispered, more to herself than Anne.
“He wasn’t.” Anne slid back into the chair. “He tried killing Boaz while they had him locked up. A magical force, one he didn’t even understand, prevented Boaz from dying.”
Eve didn’t mean to let go, but the journal fell from her hands and thumped against the wooden floor. Henry knew this whole time. He knew the only way to destroy Boaz was to have his powers returned to him, which meant he knew Eve would have to wear that cursed necklace again to turn her back into Alarica. Her stomach rolled, and she touched it as if she could keep the bile from coming up her throat.
Anne snorted again. “There’s an ax in the garage. Say the word, and I’ll cut your head off.”
Eve picked up the journal. “There has to be another way. Where do I find Boaz?”
Anne shrugged, and the strap of her gown fell from her shoulder.
“You must know something.”
“There’s a club in Wildemoor. Eclipse. Someone there might know. Now leave me. I’m tired.”
Eve stood up from the bed, taking the journal with her. She stopped at the door and turned back around. “Come with me. I can help you.”
“I don’t want your help.”
“Then let someone else help you. There’s a monastery in France—”
“Get out.”
Eve left the room, colder than ever. The ghosts here were strong, one giant poltergeist that would never let go of their misery. Just like Anne.
Despite what Anne had said, Eve would find a way to stop Boaz without giving him back his powers. There’s no way she would ever willingly put that necklace around her neck again. If it came to that, she would take that ax and find a way to cut off her own head.
Chapter 7
“Again,” Lucien ordered, sweat dripping from his face. He had fallen off his chair for the third time, unable to withstand Henry’s mental attacks on his mind. The few motivational posters hanging on the conference room walls shifted downward and the lights dimmed. Lucien focused his vision. He couldn’t lose consciousness.
Henry shook his head. “We’ve been training for five hours. You need to rest.”
Lucien crawled back into a sitting position, his back against the wall. “If I can sit up, then I still have strength. Again.”
Henry breathed in deeply through his nose. “Something is blocking you. Your magical abilities are far greater than I expected for such short training, but for some reason, you can’t stop me from taking your magic. Why?”
Lucien had been wondering the same thing. For the last two weeks, he had pushed himself hard to learn all that he could about magic, even speed reading through many of the spell books in the upstairs library. He understood it all, and he was surprised at how easily it came to him. So why couldn’t he block Henry’s attempts at taking his magic?
He groaned and dropped his head back against the wall.
“We will try again tomorrow morning,” Henry said and stood. He extended a hand to Lucien.
Lucien accepted and let Henry pull him up. He stumbled into the table but managed to keep his legs beneath him.
“There’s blood in the fridge,” Henry said. “I’ll get you some.”
Lucien tried to keep standing but couldn’t. He dropped into a nearby chair, his jaw locked tight. If he couldn’t figure this out soon, then he would never be able to help Eve, wherever she was. Since his powers had grown, he thought for sure he would be able to find her in his dreams, the way they used to locate each other whenever the other was in danger, but he only ever encountered a heavy fog that held no mention of her, not even a memory. It was as if she had never existed.
He tried not to get discouraged. He couldn’t deny that he had heard her, but as more days passed, he considered that maybe the sound had been his own subconscious, a longing to hear her voice one last time.
Henry returned and dropped a blood bag onto the table. Lucien tore into the small plastic tube at the top and sucked hard, desperate to gain back some energy.
“There’s been another death,” Henry said.
Lucien waited until half the blood was gone before he asked, “Where’s this one?”
“California. Another governor.”
“How?”
“Plane crash. My guess is Charlie will find something supernatural about it just like all the other deaths.”
“What are humans saying?” Lucien asked before he returned to draining the bag.
“They are starting to talk, in secret, of course. The DOD is investigating, and they’ve asked for our assistance. I’ve sent over a guy to try and steer them into a different direction for the time being.”
“Why?” Lucien asked and sucked up the last of the blood. “Wouldn’t it be better if they knew what they could be up against?”
; “If this is Boaz, then it would be better if they didn’t know. There’s nothing they can do to stop him, anyway.”
Lucien slid the empty blood bag away from him. “Then why hasn’t Boaz tried something like this before?”
“Because he hasn’t had the support from other supernaturals like he does now. Something’s changed to make them more confident that he could actually take over.”
Someone knocked on the door. Lucien quickly grabbed the blood bag and hid it on his lap under the table. There were many in the Deific office who didn’t know the true purpose of the organization. They simply thought it was the accounting office they advertised themselves to be.
“Come in,” Henry called.
Charlie opened the door and walked in, his nose wrinkling in disgust as if he smelled something bad. “Rick’s finally got something. He wants us downstairs.” His gaze flickered to Lucien. “Thanks for making the place smell like a sweaty, high school locker room. Maybe you should shower before you come down.”
Lucien pushed himself to a standing position again, swaying slightly. He felt a little better, but his muscles still burned like he’d been lifting weights too hard.
“Let’s go,” Henry said, passing Charlie in the doorway.
Lucien followed, dropping the empty blood bag into the garbage. When he walked by Charlie, he lifted his arm as if he was stretching, but made sure his armpit was close to Charlie’s face.
“Close that thing,” Charlie scowled and moved away from him.
Lucien smiled and continued toward the stairwell.
“You were right to bring Rick into the Deific,” Henry said over his shoulder as they descended the steps to the second floor. “I wasn’t certain at first, but he’s proven valuable.”
Henry opened a glass door. On the other side were two holding cells built out of heavy steel and fortified by magic, something Eve had done herself when she had worked here. The metal bars were pretty much impermeable to any supernatural creature. Rick was in one of them. He was lying on the floor, throwing a ball into the air and catching it again. He scrambled to his feet, smiling big. A vampire sat in the cell next to him. This one didn’t look as relaxed. He stood at the back, arms folded tight and dark eyebrows drawn together.
“About time,” Rick said. “I am so bored.”
The vampire turned to him, surprise replacing his angry expression. “You know these guys?”
Charlie unlocked Rick’s cell. “It’s only been twelve hours. What did you learn?”
“You traitorous bastard!” the vampire spat.
“His name is Riley,” Rick shared, “but people call him Stan. He’s been a vampire for sixty years. He doesn’t have a girlfriend but wants one. And he has a sweet tooth for those little butterscotch candies.”
“Did you learn anything valuable?” Lucien asked, trying to keep his voice even.
“How could you?” Stan asked Rick. “You’re one of us!”
“Not anymore,” Rick said without looking back at him. “Stan’s heard of Boaz but doesn’t know where he is. But he told me about this club, Eclipse, where a bunch of supernaturals hang out. A few of them there claim to know Boaz. Apparently everyone’s scrambling to find him.”
“That’s the same club Samira told me to check out,” Lucien said. “But why is everyone looking to find Boaz?”
Charlie turned to him, eyebrows raised. He whispered excitedly to him, “You called Samira? Good job!”
Lucien wrinkled his nose. “I’m fully capable of calling someone.”
Rick continued answering Lucien’s question. “They want to be put into positions of power in the human world.” His gaze flashed to Henry. “You were right. Boaz is killing off top political leaders and replacing them with supernaturals whenever he can.”
“Like in New Jersey,” Lucien added. Charlie had told him that the new Lieutenant Governor to replace the state’s recently deceased governor was a werewolf.
“We need to act fast,” Henry said. “More humans are going to die.”
“What about him?” Rick asked, motioning his head toward Stan.
Charlie walked up to the iron bars and asked, “Would you like to change?”
“Change?” Stan looked around at each of them. “What is this, some kind of gay club?”
“Change, as in gain back your humanity. Instead of promoting death and carnage, you fight to stop it.”
Stan laughed. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”
Charlie turned around and walked to the opposite wall where he picked up a crossbow.
“I don’t know why you keep asking that,” Lucien said. “They are not going to change.”
“What are you going to do with that?” Stan asked, his voice cracking.
“Rick changed. You changed.” Charlie pulled back the bow and pointed the wooden tipped arrow at Stan between the bars. “Everyone deserves a chance.”
Lucien groaned. “But it’s a waste of time. You would think with your special ability to read people that you would be able to know whether or not they have the ability to choose good.”
Charlie looked back at him. “If I was that good, then I would’ve killed you the moment I saw you.”
Lucien opened his mouth to speak, but, with Charlie’s back to him, Stan darted toward the bars and toward Charlie. Lucien bolted just as fast, reaching Charlie at the same time as Stan. The imprisoned vampire yanked on Charlie’s arm, but Lucien jerked it back just as quickly. Off balance, they both tumbled to the ground, Charlie falling partially on top of Lucien. Lucien quickly pushed him away and jumped to his feet.
Charlie wasn’t as quick to stand. He stared at Lucien, his eyes wide and mouth open. He held out his hand. “Touch me again. Quick.”
“I knew this was a gay club,” Stan muttered.
“I’m not touching you,” Lucien said.
Charlie scrambled to his feet. “I’m serious. Give me your hand. Something’s different about you.”
“Gay,” Stan taunted.
Both Lucien and Charlie turned to him and said at the same time, “Shut up!”
“Just do it,” Henry said. “We’re wasting time.”
Lucien ground his teeth together but held out his hand.
Charlie grasped it tightly and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them again. “You’ve had a spell put on you.”
Lucien looked down at his hand.
“It’s faint, but it’s there,” Charlie said. “Check it out, Henry.”
Henry stepped forward and took Lucien’s hand. Lucien cringed at the touch but didn’t pull away. Instead, he focused inwardly, searching for anything foreign, but he couldn’t sense anything out of place.
Henry lowered his hand. “You’re right. It’s an emotion spell of some kind.”
“Let me see,” Rick said and tried to take Lucien’s hand, but Lucien stepped back.
“No one else is touching me,” Lucien said. “Besides, Rick, you don’t even know magic.” He turned back to Henry. “What the hell is an emotion spell and who put it on me?”
“It’s a spell that monitors your emotions, whether you’re happy or sad, depressed, angry, that sort of thing,” Henry explained.
Charlie picked up the crossbow on the floor next to him and loaded an arrow into it. “It had to have been Boaz or one of the witches that follow him around. He probably is monitoring you to see if you show any kind of happiness. If you do, then he’ll assume it’s because Eve’s alive.”
Air caught in Lucien’s chest. “Do you think he sensed anything when I heard Eve’s voice the other day?”
“Boaz’s Eve is alive?” Stan asked from behind the bars. “Boaz has been looking for her everywhere! I can’t wait—”
A wooden arrow shot through his heart; Stan’s body melted all over the floor into bubbling fat that reeked strangely of greasy fast food.
Charlie lowered the bow. “There’s no way we can know for sure, but let’s hope not.”
“Can you get rid
of it?” Lucien asked.
“Not me,” Charlie said and turned to Henry.
Henry walked toward the door. “I think so, but whoever put it on you will know the second it’s gone.”
Lucien followed after him. “But isn’t that better than someone monitoring my emotions? What if I hear Eve’s voice again?”
“Lucien’s right, Henry,” Charlie said. “We need to get the spell off of him.”
“Fine, but as soon as we’re done, I want you both over at that club, Eclipse,” Henry said. “Speak to the regulars and the owner. One of them has got to know something. We are running out of time.”
Chapter 8
Eve straightened the black wig on her head and combed the bangs over her forehead with her fingers. No one should recognize her, not with this hair and tight revealing black dress. Only her green eyes looked familiar to her in the rearview mirror of the car, but she wasn’t worried about anyone else recognizing them. Not in a club she’d never been to before.
She opened the door and straightened her shoulders. All she had to do was find out where Boaz was. Should be easy enough. Ask a few questions and get out of there quickly.
Eve shivered and walked toward a black door of a brick warehouse. This was the side entrance. Around the front, a line of people stretched almost the full block. Most of them were regular humans who probably had no idea who or what lurked within the club’s walls.
The door was locked. With a simple thought, Eve used magic to pop it open, then slipped inside. She was in a long, dark hallway that smelled of sweat and beer. A loud bass drum shook the paper-thin walls. To her left, a man and a woman made out heavily, his hand cupping her breast. Over the man’s shoulder, the blonde-haired woman’s gaze met Eve’s, and the woman smiled as he kissed up and down her neck. They were both vampires.
Eve walked away and headed toward the music. She parted a black curtain and stepped into a crowd of dancing people. Bodies swayed, hands grabbed and voices moaned. She pushed through them all, heading in the direction of the bar and to an empty seat.
Someone took hold of her arm and spun her around.