by C. C. Wood
“Psychic cunt,” he hissed, lunging toward me, all lashing claws and bared fangs.
God, I’d been wrong about Rhys. He was going to betray us. Fuck, he’d already betrayed us.
“Shannon!”
Donna’s sharp cry yanked me out of the vision and I gasped for breath, blinking up at her.
That was when I heard running footsteps throughout the house.
Duncan appeared in the doorway. “Rhys is here.”
I glanced at Kerry. “You stay here.” When she sputtered an argument, I shook my head. “You’re strong enough to protect Ricki and Ivie.”
I didn’t wait for a response from any of them. Jumping to my feet, I followed Duncan down the hallway to the foyer. There were ten vampires standing around Rhys, who was lying on his side in the middle of the floor.
I stopped just behind the circle of guards and took a moment to assess the room. Cornelius radiated evil, so thick and dark it resembled metaphysical slime. I couldn’t feel any of that.
“It’s not Cornelius,” I stated, but that was little comfort after the vision I’d just had.
The vampires in front of me parted and I moved between them toward Rhys’ motionless figure.
“He isn’t what I thought,” I began. “He’s—”
“Proven himself very useful,” a voice drawled.
I looked up and saw Rhys standing near the entrance to the study. Only it wasn’t Rhys, it was Cornelius. I could feel his nasty aura from ten feet away.
How in the fuck did he get in here? I looked down at the real Rhys’ unconscious form and betrayal rose in my throat. I’d had faith in him and he was a traitor.
Before anyone could move, another voice spoke. “Yes, it’s amazing what magic can do, isn’t it?”
I twisted around to see another Rhys standing by the mouth of the hall. Again, he emanated evil. Before, Frederick’s aura wasn’t as dark or heavy as Cornelius’, but now I couldn’t tell them apart because it carried the same oppressive blackness.
Then the room exploded into action.
The vampires around me split, each of them going after one of the imposters. Conner had a walkie-talkie to his mouth, calling for more men but there was no response.
He looked at me, a wild expression in his electric blue eyes. “Get the females to safety. If they had Rhys, they know everything.”
“We have to follow the plan, Conner,” I answered.
“They know the fucking plan!”
“This is our shot to end this once and for all. We’re going to the ballroom,” I argued.
“Dammit, Shannon.”
“Conner, I’ll keep Donna safe. She won’t be hurt, I swear.”
“Fuck!” He glared at me, eyes burning fiercely. “Do it.”
Conner tried to help the real Rhys to his feet.
“Leave him,” I commanded. “Or lock him up. He’s a traitor.”
“A traitor?”
“I had a vision a few minutes ago. The fucking bastard tries to kill me tonight.”
“I’ll deal with him,” Conner promised. “Go to the others. Finn’s on his way.”
I nodded and dashed out of the foyer. As I ran down the hall, I could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the back of the house. I skidded to a halt in front of the door to the living room. It was shut and locked.
Knocking frantically, I called, “It’s Shannon. Open the door.”
The door cracked and Kerry’s face appeared. When she saw it was really me, she swung it open.
“What’s happening? I heard a commotion in the foyer, so I shut and locked the door.”
“Cornelius and Frederick are here. I don’t know how many others are with them. We need to move to the ballroom as soon as Finn gets here.”
We waited for two minutes. Then it was five. The tension in the room grew until I was ready to scream.
“We can’t wait any longer,” Kerry stated, her face tight with worry.
I nodded. “Let’s go. Finn knows the plan and he’ll find us.”
We made our way through the maze of the house. I could hear fighting; the solid sound of flesh hitting flesh, grunts, and the occasional cry of someone who was injured or dying.
Strangely, we didn’t encounter anyone on our way to the ballroom. The hallways were empty except for us. A shiver ran down my spine. It was if something or someone was clearing the way for us. It didn’t feel quite right.
A few steps from the entrance to the room, I stopped. The unsettled feeling I’d had before had grown. This wasn’t right.
“Wait,” I whispered, lifting a hand.
The group halted behind me.
After a second, Kerry inched forward. “What are we waiting for?”
Suddenly, the floor and the walls around us shuddered and creaked. The double doors that led into the ballroom flew open and a fireball shot out. While we weren’t close enough to be injured, I felt the blast of heat.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I yelled. “Back up, back up.”
The other women were already ahead of me. They were moving down the hallway from where we’d come. We turned the corner and Kerry turned to me.
“Was that a part of your visions?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“Okay, what do we do now? The contingency plan is that we get off the property if something like this happens.”
I shook my head. “We can’t do that. Cornelius, Frederick, and Rhys will kill everyone here if we leave.”
“Rhys?” Donna asked. “I thought you said Rhys was on our side!”
I shook my head. “He’s not. I thought he was, but I had a vision in the living room right before they came tonight. He’s going to try to kill me.”
“Oh God,” Donna whispered.
Turning to Kerry, I asked, “How much of what you need for the ritual was in that ballroom?”
“None of it. I wanted to have everything with me.” She pulled up her shirt, revealing a pouch tucked into the waistband of her pants.
Relief filled me. “Okay, we need to lead Cornelius somewhere else.”
“Shannon—” Ivie began. “Are you sure we should do this?”
I looked at her. “You’re right. We’ll get you, Ricki, and Donna somewhere safe. Kerry and I can do this.”
“Oh fuck that,” Donna snapped. “I’m staying with you.”
“We all are,” Ricki stated firmly. “We’re safer together anyway.”
I looked at Ivie, who nodded. “Ricki’s right. We’re safer together and I’m ready to kill this bastard.”
I turned back to Kerry. “We need to draw Cornelius out, right? Somewhere with plenty of space that’s out in the open.”
“Where?” Kerry asked.
Before I could answer, I heard a sharp scream and looked up to see one of the Rhys lookalikes dragging Ricki away. My heart stopped. Nothing was going according to my visions or to plan. As he disappeared around the corner with her, fear washed over me. I’d sworn to Calder that she would be safe and promised the Council that everyone would be fine. I’d be damned if I let that be a lie.
I sprinted forward, trying to catch them, but every time I thought I was gaining on them, they’d pull ahead.
I didn’t dare reach for my weapon. I couldn’t risk hitting Ricki. She threw her hands out to me, kicking and fighting as he carried her down the hall. He glanced back at me, grinning madly as his eyes glittered triumphantly, and I decided then and there that I was going to kill the bastard.
Then, the pair of them vanished in a puff of smoke.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Shit, shit, motherfucking shit!” I yelled. I whirled around, facing the other women. “I have no idea where they’re going, but we have to get there NOW!”
“I’m on it.”
Kerry whispered an incantation in a language I couldn’t understand and I watched as a trail of sparkling gold light shot down the hall.
“Follow it,” she commanded. “Be quick, it won’t last long.”
I ran, too fast for Kerry and Ivie to keep up, stopping at the top of the stairs that led down to the basement. The golden trail was fading, but led straight down to the steel door and didn’t return.
I retraced my steps to find Kerry, Ivie, and Donna not far behind me. A vampire I didn’t recognize ran past the mouth of the hall, stopping to look at us for a second before he continued on.
“Why aren’t they coming after us?” Ivie asked.
It dawned on me then, why we hadn’t seen a single Faction vampire or been attacked. Cornelius must have instructed his people to leave us alone or ensure we were following through on whatever plans he had laid out for us.
Because he’d managed to take Rhys and gather information, Cornelius had succeeded in setting a trap within a trap. I also understood why he and Frederick had disguised themselves as Rhys. If I hadn’t had my vision moments before they arrived, I would have been hesitant to hurt them if I wasn’t sure who they truly were. Until the vision, I would have believed Rhys was on our side.
“Where did they take Ricki?” Donna asked.
“To the basement.”
“It’s an ambush, isn’t it?”
I nodded.
“We have to risk it,” Ivie stated. “They have Ricki.”
I checked my weapon, making sure that there was a round in the chamber.
“If we’re going down there, I’m going first. Kerry will be right behind me. You two stay back and run like hell if we both go down.”
After one look at Donna’s face, I knew they wouldn’t run, but we didn’t have time to argue.
We paused at the head of the stairs. I nodded to Kerry and started down them, not bothering to be quiet. Cornelius would be expecting us anyway.
The heavy steel door at the base was open several inches and light shone from within. I chanced a quick look through the gap before I kicked the door open so hard it hit the wall behind it.
The open living area and kitchen were empty, all the furniture pushed out of the way and against the walls. Ignoring that, I moved quickly through the room and into the bedroom and attached bath. They were also empty, though the furnishings looked untouched.
I returned to the living area. “They’re not here. I don’t understand, the trail ended here.”
“They are here,” Kerry whispered. “We just can’t see them.”
Suddenly, the steel door slammed shut with an ear-piercing bang. The air around us shimmered and the Rhys lookalikes appeared beside it. Ricki was next to them, perfectly still except for her panicked brown eyes.
Somehow, they’d bound her.
The third Rhys was propped against the wall, his head lolled to one side. I wondered what in the hell they’d done to him and why he wasn’t helping his brother like the traitorous asshole he was.
“Thank you for joining us,” Rhys One said amiably. “It’s lovely to have you all together.”
“We’ve been looking forward to this little soiree for quite some time,” Rhys Two added.
They were standing so close, I couldn’t discern which of them was Cornelius and which was Frederick. The sickening darkness that surrounded both of them was impossible to separate.
Ricki released a muffled moan and fear spiked through me. “Let Ricki go,” I demanded.
“I promise we’re not harming her,” Rhys Two replied calmly.
“Let her go,” Ivie commanded firmly.
Though they weren’t directed at me, I could feel the power behind those words.
When Rhys One just laughed, Ivie shouted the words. “LET HER GO!”
Her voice carried an echo, not because of the volume, but because of Ivie’s abilities. She was compelling them to obey.
Rhys Two laughed. “Your powers only work on vampires, little girl.”
I gritted my teeth at his words. They were toying with us, so certain they would win.
“Yeah, but mine don’t,” Kerry snapped, throwing out a hand.
Red and white sparks flew as her spell hit the space inches in front of them. Rhys Two stumbled into Rhys One, though he appeared unharmed.
Whatever hold they had on Ricki was broken and she leapt away from them toward us.
I tugged her behind me, shielding her with my body. “Are you okay?” I asked over my shoulder. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, no. I’m fine. I think the baby’s fine too.”
My heart started to pound at the mention of her baby. God, I wanted to hurt these assholes and watch them bleed before I cut their heads off. They’d harmed so many people in their quest for power.
I fought back the mind-numbing fear. Things were no longer going according to plan or to my visions. After weeks of certainty, I no longer knew for sure if we would get out of this alive.
As if she sensed my worry, Ricki grabbed my left hand and squeezed. I held on tight for a moment, letting the encouragement ground me. Failure was not an option tonight. We had to win. I refused to believe we could lose.
“Nice trick, witch,” Rhys Two spat. “You think we weren’t prepared for you to try that?”
My right hand tightened around my gun and twitched with the desire to lift it and start shooting, but I knew my bullets wouldn’t penetrate whatever protection spell they’d cast around themselves. I couldn’t risk a ricochet hitting one of us.
“I thought you might be, but I got what I wanted,” Kerry replied, her voice calm and steady.
Rhys Two sneered at her.
I was beginning to get a good idea of who was who. I reached out to Kerry with my mind, poking at her mental shields.
She glanced at me sideways and I widened my eyes at her. Finally, she lowered her guard just enough for me to communicate with her telepathically.
I’m pretty sure that’s Frederick.
She gave one tiny nod of her head to acknowledge my words then the mental door between us shut tight.
Rhys One turned to Rhys Two. “Perhaps we should begin. I don’t doubt that their mates are looking for them at the moment.”
Rhys Two began speaking, his voice rising and falling rhythmically as he recited a spell. The air around us seemed to solidify and fill with electricity.
“Oh shit,” Kerry whispered.
“What is it?” I asked her.
“Somehow we walked right into a circle and he just closed it,” she answered.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we’re in deep shit. Look on the floor. He would have had to physically inscribe it around us for it to be this powerful.”
We shoved the rug out of the way, but there was nothing on the floor.
“What in the hell? It should be here,” Kerry insisted.
I took a few steps to my right, searching the floor for carvings or markings of any kind. My shoulder hit something that I couldn’t see and I heard a faint sizzle before my arm felt as though it were on fire.
“Holy fucking shit, that hurt!” I yelped, backing away.
“You touched the edge of the circle,” Kerry answered. “Do you see anything?”
I shook my head, ignoring the faint laughter from Rhys Two. We might be operating blind now, but we were strong and determined. And we had the spell necessary to kill Cornelius.
Suddenly, I had an idea. I tilted my head back and looked up at the ceiling.
“I think I found the circle,” I stated, glancing over at Kerry.
Her eyes shot to the ceiling. “Those evil bastards. How the fuck did they get it up there?”
It didn’t matter. What mattered was getting the hell out of the damn thing.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“We have to break the circle. Physically. I have a bad feeling about what might happen if I try to use magic in here,” she responded.
“How do we do that?” Donna queried.
Kerry glanced around at all of us. “We can’t,” she sighed. “It has to be broken from the outside.”
“That can’t be the only way,” Ivie argued.
I stud
ied the ceiling. It was basically painted sheetrock with beams running across.
“What if we destroyed what the circle was drawn on?” I asked.
This time I couldn’t ignore the wicked chuckles coming from the corner. I twisted my head around and stared at the two Rhys lookalikes. Rage enveloped me at their arrogance. If they only knew what was in store for them.
“Do you mind?” I asked. “We’re a little busy here.” I felt my fangs extend and knew my eyes were probably glowing, so I smiled. Well, it was more a baring of teeth, but I wanted them to wonder what we were up to.
That shut them up momentarily. The strange electric feeling returned, like tiny shocks all over my skin, as Rhys Two began reciting another spell.
“It could work,” Kerry belatedly answered my question. “You could end up bringing the entire ceiling down on us,” she warned. “Or turning into vampire barbeque.”
“I’m willing to risk it if you are,” I replied, looking around the circle of my friends.
One by one, they nodded.
“Okay then. I have an idea.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
After I shared my plan with my friends, I urged them to the edge of the circle. With each passing moment, the air around us felt denser and heavier. Either that or I was getting weaker.
I shot a glance over to where the real Rhys was leaned against the wall. He’d barely moved since this all began. I was glad because two of him were enough to deal with. A third would have been too much.
I also wished my visions hadn’t been so damned spotty and choppy. There was no way to tell if I was doing the right thing.
I shook my head. I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted by thinking like that. Whatever happened between now and the end, I knew we would win.
Taking a deep breath, I holstered my gun and crouched in the far side of the circle.
“Ready?” I asked the other four.
Ricki answered for them all. “Just do it already!”
Using my entire strength, I leapt straight up into the air, extending my fists. My hands went through the sheetrock and I grabbed two handfuls of it and yanked as I fell.
I’d been partially right when I said I might pull the ceiling down on us. Powder and debris rained down as large chunks of sheetrock hit the ground, but only around me.