by May Sage
Chloe ignored them all. All she could see was Ruby. Ruby, her dirty gray-white dress stained red, and open in two across her midriff. She’d been slashed, and someone had carved out her insides. She was dead. Long past dead. The smell of her corpse was making Chloe feel sick.
Almost as sick as the sight of Greer at their enemy’s mercy.
Chloe walked into the hall, her eyes purposely fixed on Aveka Primerius. Not on Greer, lying on the floor, passed out. And certainly not on Ruby. What was left of Ruby.
Aveka’s hands were stained red up to the elbows. She must have mutilated Ruby herself, rather than letting her minions do the dirty work.
She must have liked it.
She couldn’t see how, outmanned and outnumbered, but Chloe was going to destroy her, if it was the last thing she did.
“Don’t look at me like that. I take no pleasure in digging around a corpse, trust me,” Aveka said pleasantly. “It was necessary for the spell.”
Which spell? But Aveka wanted her to ask, so Chloe didn’t. “Did you have to make a mess on the floor?” she asked, blithely. “Think about the poor cleaning crew.”
Aveka chuckled like a delighted child. “You’re funny. I knew you’d be funny, Chloe. Why, otherwise, would you even think you can stand against me?”
Aveka was the picture of confidence and arrogance. And she was right to be. She had millions of followers ready to die for her.
“How do you do it?” Chloe asked. “How do you get so many idiots to follow you to the end?”
Aveka shrugged her delicate shoulders. She wore a sleeveless dress that would have befitted a fairy queen, right down to the bloodstains. At her right, one of the two ancients stood, bow at the ready, trained on Chloe. Though he was clearly a vampire—and a strong one at that—Chloe might have passed him in the street without realizing it. He was too plain, unremarkable. At first glance, she would have taken him for an average middle-aged banker.
“I give them what they want.” Aveka was smug as always. “A vision of a world where they stand where they belong. A world they’re ready to fight for and die for.”
That couldn’t be it. “Come on, spill. Is it a spell? You can’t very well whisper to that many people.” Chloe tilted her head. “Or are you sleeping with all of them? No judgement here. I’m just curious.”
Curious, and eager to anger her.
It didn’t work. Aveka was indifferent to any attempt at scorn. “Only the most useful ones. Like my friend, here. Vlad’s connection to the witches has been invaluable in tonight’s effort.”
So this was Vlad, Eirikr’s old friend.
“What do you want?” Chloe asked directly. “You’re obviously still up to something. I doubt your plan was just to take this dusty old place. What is this about?”
Aveka smirked. “I’m supposed to reveal all my plans to you now?”
She shrugged. “Why not? You’re about to have me killed, right? With the magic arrows that never miss.”
She pondered for a moment. “True. Well, child, what I want is to lead your race. Without rebellions, without protest. And the easiest way to achieve that is to kiss your kind’s free will away.”
Chloe lifted a brow. “You can do that?” Clearly, she believed it was in her abilities. She gestured to Vlad, and the three other sycophants. “And you’re all okay with becoming mindless drones?”
The young boy’s smile was downright nasty. “Aveka has no need to hex us. We’re her willing servants.”
Chloe huffed. The kid couldn’t seriously be dumb enough to think she wouldn’t enslave him all the same, right? Why rely on compliance when you could have unwavering loyalty and servitude? “Right. I’d totally trust her.”
“And we should trust you?” the second ancient, a white-haired woman next to the child, snarled. “We thrived during the Age of Blood. Finally, we were ruling the world, and drinking as much blood as we could stomach. Then, those fools on the hill call it off, and we’re supposed to return to feeding on scraps? Let humans mess up this planet more than they already have?” She shook her head. “The clans of Night Hill might have been the first, but you are weak. You’re too scared to take our race into the light.”
She truly seemed to believe that humans weren’t anything more than cattle she should get access to. “I pity you.”
Aveka’s laughter rang like a church bell, high-pitched and irksome. “Don’t waste your pity on anyone else, Chloe. Save it for yourself. See, there’s a reason why you were allowed to join me tonight. This is Samhain. I have Ariadne’s hair, the first of her kind. I have the liver of a true warrior, the blood of a pure witch, but there’s something else my spell requires.” Her teeth flashed. “The still-beating heart of my greatest enemy.”
Echoes of Despair
“For the love of—” Diana cursed.
Would the flood of vampires ever stop coming? Her limbs were starting to slow, the exertion getting to her. The wolves made the battle less of a desperate fight for survival, but they still couldn’t catch a break for half a second.
Then she understood something. These vampires weren’t here to kill them—not really. They were here as a diversion, to ensure all of their attention remained here. “They’re trying to keep us busy so we can’t go to the hill!” Diana shouted, to no one in particular.
The snarling vampire in front of her smirked, as if to say, You’ve only just worked that out?
She shoved her steel knuckles into his throat and sliced it with a round kick, for good measure.
What was going on up there?
“Some of us need to go help Chloe,” Alexius shouted back.
“Not yet,” Levi’s voice rang in the chaos.
“What?”
“Not yet,” he repeated. “If we go now, the Institute and everyone inside is dead. Give it a moment.”
If Diana hadn’t been tossing a shuriken at one vamp cornering Mikar, right after getting out of an armlock with a head kick, she might have throttled him. “We can’t afford to play into their hand! We have to…”
“Wait a fucking minute!” Levi yelled. Then suddenly, his eyes flew upward.
Diana furtively peeked in the direction of his gaze. At first, she thought he was looking at Jack, their one-person air force, single-handedly taking care of all the bats, ravens, and other air familiars, but she noticed a white dove flying past them. A strange sight in the middle of this mess.
Levi smirked, calling to his water, his fists shaking as he stretched his magic. Diana hadn’t ever seen him as disheveled or tired. A wave rushed past them, heading not to their enemies, but to the burning wall of fire in the east.
He was putting out their fire? That made no sense to her.
She kept her mind and eyes on the fight, refusing to let her curiosity distract her. Until she felt the ground vibrate beneath her feet. Then, she looked. It was the fourth earthquake since the start of the fight, all of them brought on by Cat’s mate. The ex-hunter had taken to the vampire life like a fish to water. Usually, he aimed better, unsteadying their adversaries. This time, it came from behind them.
One peek revealed it hadn’t been an earthquake at all. From the new opening in the fire lines, dozens, and dozens, and dozens of vampires were rushing into Oldcrest, marching toward them. She tensed, but the first to arrive bypassed her, attacking one of Aveka’s men.
“Now!” Levi yelled.
Then he was off like a shot, running to the hill. Diana followed, Mikar on her heels. Cat ran too, but not toward Night Hill. Carrying Bash on her back, she headed straight to the Institute. He’d been hurt. Eirikr flew past all of them, flanked by two wolves.
Diana hesitated at the base of the hill, seeing Bill’s body on the grass.
“He’s fine,” Eirikr said, never even slowing down. They kept going. Even though the hill was on fire.
“I thought Night Hill was protected!”
The first and second houses on the hill, the Rosedeans’ and the Beauforts’, were untouched. Every othe
r one was burning, black smoke clogging the air.
“From outside threats.” Levi ran faster. “Those were torched from inside.”
Oh well. At least she wasn’t fond of the Helsing house’s decor.
Skyhall stood unmarred, but guarded by a dozen vampires.
They had a problem. Though few in numbers, these weren’t the vermin sent to the gates. Each and every one of them was a real threat.
Eirikr didn’t even slow, hurling himself at the mass with a scream. Mikar tapped Diana’s shoulder. Without needing further prompting, she moved to stand at his back.
Each blow was brutal, vicious. Magic hit her like a freight train. She gave as good as she got, but after hours and hours of exertion, she wasn’t at her best.
It didn’t take long to understand that they were losing. And losing meant dying.
Her heart slowed, her ears rang. She couldn’t hear anything above the thunder raging inside her. This couldn’t be how she went. She had existed for nine hundred and twenty-two years, but she’d never lived, never had a home, an anchor. The moment she found it, it was wrenched out of her grasp.
No.
This couldn’t be the end.
She refused to die like this.
Diana stilled, remembering something. Something that should have entered her mind hours ago. She felt utterly stupid for not having thought of it before.
“Cover me!” she yelled.
Without checking whether anyone had heard her—whether anyone could help—she fell to her knees. Staining her fingers with the blood flowing from her arms and flanks, she drew a circle on the paved ground and deftly added a pentagram at its center. Then she closed her eyes, and she did the only thing that was left to do in times of utter despair.
She prayed. She prayed, hoping her voice could reach the deepest, darkest circles of hell.
“Belial, if you can hear me. You owe me, and I need to collect.”
She kept every word clear in her mind, repeating them again and again, as though they were a spell.
Past her, she could see blades clashing, blood flowing, black and red, friends and foes.
Then there wasn’t any noise at all. She wasn’t on the hill anymore. She was in darkness, wrapped by a void. Again, she repeated her mantra.
The next moment, she was back in front of Skyhall.
A hulking bronze redheaded man hovered over her. Standing next to her was a young woman. She must have been somewhere around her twenties. Her pink hair had dark tips at the ends.
She blinked at Belial. “This isn’t what I pictured, when you described this place.”
Belial looked around with a grimace. “It’s a bit of a mess, all right.” He extended a hand toward Diana. Numbly, she took it.
“You came.” Part of her couldn’t believe it.
“Well, I couldn’t very well ignore you, with all the shouting.” Belial clapped his hands together once and everything, and everyone, froze in place. “Besides, I was on my way. Meet Cee, hellwitch extraordinaire. She needs a place to crash for half a dozen years or so.”
“This doesn’t really qualify as a safe place.” The witch rolled her eyes. “How about somewhere that’s not on fire?”
“They’ll straighten the place out shortly. In fact, I have a marvelous idea, Cee. You can help with that.”
The witch grimaced. “Fine.”
“Great thing. Now…” Belial turned to Diana. “Now, about that little favor I owe you. Name it.”
That seemed obvious enough. “Can you get rid of these people? Everyone who invaded,” she quickly quantified. “Down at the borders, too.”
She was owed a favor from a king of the underworld, she might as well make it count.
“Hm. What would you have me do with them? Send them to hell?”
That didn’t sound like the worst of ideas.
Diana looked downhill, to the plain that had become a blood-soaked battlefield.
There were countless vampires. Many more had already perished. The bulk of their race was right here in Oldcrest. If she had them killed, there would be almost no one left, leaving their kind weak, in danger of extinction.
And she’d be the villain who had destroyed so many existences, so many families, with a carless word. A monster.
She closed her eyes. “Send everyone home. Wherever they belong.”
Belial tilted his head, considering the request. Then he shrugged. “Fine. Done.”
Again, he clapped his hands.
Every enemy around them was fading away, dissolving into nothing. Diana barely took the time to squeeze Belial’s hand in thanks before rushing into Skyhall.
An arrow was planted inside an old man’s throat. A young boy and two women—one ancient, one Beaufort she’d met in the past—were rushing toward the center of the room, where one woman stood, mouth gaping. She was dressed in fineries, her hair braided around her sweetheart face like a crown. Her resemblance to Eirikr was undeniable.
It had to be Aveka.
Her arms were pinned over her head by Chloe’s right hand, and her left fist was buried in the cavity of Aveka’s chest.
But just when she moved to rip it out, the self-appointed queen disappeared.
“No!” Chloe screamed.
Too late.
Second Breath
Mikar joined Diana and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She leaned into it. They remained inside the empty hall, numb to everything else for a long moment.
When Mikar let himself be distracted by something other than Diana, he saw that Alexius and Avani were licking each other’s muzzles, still in wolf form. Chloe was holding Ruby’s broken corpse up on a bench, placing her leather jacket over the wound. Like that, she looked like she might just have been sleeping. Levi joined her, wrapping his arm around her. Eirikr squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, before striding to Greer. He checked her pulse, and looked her over, fingertips stopping at the slash on her forearm.
“Aveka took some of her blood,” Chloe said. Her voice sounded wrong. “She needed it for a spell to subjugate all vampires. With Ruby’s liver, Ariadne’s hair, and…”
“Your heart,” Eirikr gleaned.
She nodded.
“You know the spell?” None of it was familiar to Mikar.
“I know most of Titania’s magic. She created the hex toward the end of her life, but never managed to perform it.” His eyes flashed. “I saw to that.”
“So, it would work? She could turn us into robots following her every whim?”
Eirikr stood up, Greer’s sleeping form in his arms. “Not quite. No vampire would have the power to go against anything she orders. But say she forgets to order us not to kill her…” He shrugged. “There’s always a loophole. Still, I’m glad she didn’t manage to perform it. She won’t be able to try again till next Samhain. Are the bedrooms set up?”
Chloe nodded. Without another word, he carried Greer upstairs.
“What happened? I was fighting Aveka, and then, she just…”
“Belial,” Diana explained.
Mikar wasn’t shocked; he’d felt the demon’s presence, his scent, although he hadn’t seen him.
“He owed me a favor. I had him send everyone on their merry way.”
“Good job,” Mikar told her, kissing her forehead as though it was the most natural of gestures.
Which, he realized, it was.
Diana didn’t seem sure. She frowned up at Chloe. “You were winning. You had Aveka, and now…”
“I wasn’t winning,” Chloe replied. “I would have died. I would have died three times. Her guards would have been on me. I had to take the chance, though, for everyone else.”
How could someone be so entirely selfless? Focused on the good of others rather than hers.
This. This was why Chloe needed protecting. And why she was worth following.
“I owe you my life again.” Chloe closed her eyes. “How’s everyone else?” She was suddenly panicking. “Is anyone…”
�
�Bash was hurt when we left,” Mikar said. “Cat took him to the Institute. He should be fine. It was too crazy to see much of what was going on, but I think some vampires did manage to squeeze past us. But the Institute was defended by the huntsmen. Moments ago, everyone was pretty banged up, but in one piece, more or less.” He shook his head, incredulous. “The wolves came. They’ve never helped us before, but they came tonight.”
“At the end of the day, they’re part of Oldcrest.” Chloe was attempting a smile.
“And you,” Diana snarled at Levi. “How dare you not let anyone know you had backup on its way! I thought we were going to die, dammit!”
The vampire shrugged. “And you fought your damnedest to survive, rather than wait to be rescued. I wasn’t even sure when Luke would make it back with our friends.”
“We have friends?” Chloe asked.
“Sure. Charles from NOLA is one of yours, for example.” He smiled at his mate. “Luke spent the last few weeks informing everyone who would listen that we aren’t the problem—Aveka is the one assembling armies to take power. Most people weren’t buying it. One side was saying one thing, the other side, something else. So, when we did get attacked, I had Luke contact everyone with proof. Vampires may not enjoy taking care of someone else’s problem, but we do like our freedom. If there’s an army moving against us, any of them could be targets next.”
All of that was news to Mikar. He was with Diana: Levi deserved a kick in the balls for hiding what he’d been up to.
“We should go, see if everyone’s okay,” Chloe said, still looking at Ruby. She was unwilling to leave her, Mikar guessed. Levi gently herded her toward the doors.
Outside, there was a girl standing, looking lost. She had a piece of paper in her hand.
“This is Cee,” Diana said. “Belial brought her with him.”
The witch held her free hand up in a wave. “Hi. Are you always bloody around here?” she asked with a grimace.
Diana laughed. “Not even close. We’re boring. We have afternoon tea every Sunday.”
Cee pondered her words. “I like tea.” She handed Diana her piece of paper. “That’s my application. Belial says you normally ask for two references, but I only have one because everyone else wants to kill me.” She sounded blasé about it all.