Bloodspell

by Amalie Howard

  "Do you know what I am, Devereux?" Gabriel said, making conversation as they slowly circled each other. "Do you have any idea what you're up against? No, of course you don't. You can't win, you know. She belongs to me now. So I ask you, is she worth it? Is she worth losing everything? Is she worth your life?"

  Christian ignored his taunts and his unruffled silence irritated Gabriel more than anything. Gabriel's face contorted.

  "Malus cremo!" A ball of black fire flew from Gabriel's outstretched hand. Christian who had been expecting it, dodged with unexpected speed to the right as it exploded into the side of the wall. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, his face registering surprise at Christian's lucky guess.

  "Know what that is, Devereux? That's magic. Like I said, you can't win. She's a witch too, did you know? Or did she lie to you just like she lies to everyone else?"

  Christian forced himself not to look at Victoria. He'd wanted to tear Gabriel apart with his bare hands when he saw what he had so viciously done to her. He did not want to show any weakness for her because he knew that Gabriel would use that against him without hesitation.

  She, for her part, had not even made a sound watching them circle each other like two lions as if she'd come to the same realization. Christian spared her a glance. Her eyes widened, alerting him to the danger just as Gabriel teleported, appearing behind him and lunging for him with a long curving knife. Christian swung out of the way just before the blade sliced through where his chest had been. Gabriel teleported again, and once more, Christian eluded his attack.

  Gabriel was breathing heavily. "You're either born under a lucky star, Devereux, or tonight's just your night." Christian stayed silent. "So much for this physical stuff!" Gabriel cried and parried with a stunning spell that blasted a hole in the wall as Christian leapt out of the way. Gabriel screamed in thwarted fury.

  "Corpus discidium!" he shouted. But like its counterparts before, the death spell missed its intended target as Christian vaulted out of the way, moving so quickly that he was a blur. Christian watched as the powerful spell pulverized an armchair, and his gaze moved to Gabriel, who was panting heavily.

  Christian smiled with provoking mockery as if to say "bad luck mate," and Gabriel gnashed his teeth in frustration. For the first time, Gabriel looked confused and furious as if he couldn't fathom how his opponent kept getting the best of him. In aggravated rage, his gaze locked on Victoria and something ugly kindled in his eyes.

  He teleported again, but this time it was into Victoria's cell. He grasped her by her hair and kissed her wetly on the mouth. She fought him, clumps of hair coming loose in his hand and scratching at his face with her nails. His mouth curled. He backhanded her across the face, and she stumbled back, her head colliding with the wall. Victoria slid to the floor, barely conscious. Gabriel regarded Christian through the transparent door and smirked before teleporting back into the main room.

  Game on.

  Christian was livid. The fury drove through his muscles but despite its intensity, he knew that he had to be careful. Gabriel was a warlock, a powerful warlock if his offensive magic was any indication. Christian waited, his fury simmering.

  "I'm going to have to teach her how to do that correctly," Gabriel said, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

  "What? Have her scratch your face off properly you mean?" Christian said, unable to resist the jibe. Gabriel's fingers went automatically to his face where he felt the slight sting where she had scratched him. Little hellcat. He lunged toward Christian with the knife and at the same time summoned his energy, blasting a ball of energy exactly to where Christian leapt.

  "Noceo!"

  The force of the physical attack spell threw Christian off his feet and slammed him against the wall. The sharp crack of bone echoed. Christian's body slumped to the ground and he pulled himself to his knees just as Gabriel appeared, brandishing the knife like a conquering hero. Christian let Gabriel haul him up, pretending to be insensible from the blow and waited for it. Sure enough, Gabriel's next action was predictable and he sliced him from shoulder to waist with the knife. Christian heard Victoria's muffled scream and saw Gabriel's eyes grow giddy with success.

  "Your luck just ran out," Gabriel hissed triumphantly. Blood darkened the light blue shirt in an unerring line, the material billowing open. He was so busy waiting for the sounds of agony that his eyes barely registered that the sheared skin was rapidly knitting itself together until the white expanse of skin was smooth and unmarred as if it had never been slashed. He raised incredulous eyes to Christian's silvery, feral gaze that was not at all insensible as his lips pulled back over glistening white long, sharp incisors in a ferocious snarl.

  Vampire!

  "My turn," whispered Christian. He swung his arm with inhuman speed, smashing Gabriel's head so hard that it snapped to the side and his body tumbled back into a faded club chair. Christian whirled and pounced on him before he could even get up. He grabbed the fallen knife and carved Gabriel's face from hairline to lip.

  Gabriel screamed in agony, kicking savagely to lessen Christian's hold and screaming a fire curse at the same time. Moving with incredible speed, Christian dodged the spell with some effort and spun around to land just to Gabriel's left, the curse exploding like a Molotov cocktail against the wall behind him.

  The blood leaking down the side of Gabriel's face drove Christian mad—he could feel the hunger and rage obliterating all conscious thought as he twisted Gabriel's arm up behind his back and sank his teeth into Gabriel's neck. His blood was so unexpectedly sweet, forbidden as it was to vampires that the shocking taste if it befuddled Christian's senses briefly, and the blow to his head caught him off-guard, sending him spinning.

  Christian sprang to the side in a low crouch wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. No wonder it was forbidden for vampires to bite them, their blood was like a rich elixir infused by magic. Gabriel glared at him, sneering as he said a spell that healed the oozing tear on his face and the wound on his neck.

  "Touch me again, you filth, and it will be the last thing you do," he seethed.

  "Surprised, warlock?" Christian said. Gabriel scowled, the stunned shock on his face evident. His eyes flickered to Victoria's. Hers, however, showed no surprise. Gabriel's face turned black with rage as the realization hit him.

  "You knew? You knew about him?" he spat at Victoria. "You knew what he was all along and you still chose that animal over me? You would defile yourself and who you are with him? You disgust me. When I'm through with him, you're going to pay for your disloyalty to your own kind ... and to me."

  He flicked his hand and a slight murmur of his lips made her skin blister fiercely as if it had been doused with lye, and a second flick of his wrist made the door became opaque. Her scream echoed through the door. Gabriel's lip curled in a sneer as momentary rage cracked Christian's composure.

  "Don't worry, that was just a teaser of what awaits her when I'm done with you." He smiled. "I like the sound of her screaming, don't you? Shall we hear it again?" he said, starting to wave his hand to inflict more pain on Victoria. Christian moved so quickly that Gabriel had barely registered the movement until he was right in front of him.

  "Do that again and I promise it will be the last thing you do," Christian said, echoing Gabriel's threat. In one swift motion, his fist crunched into Gabriel's face, the force of his blow shattering the bones beneath it as Gabriel's body flew backward across the room. Gabriel gurgled something in mid-air, buffeting himself magically as he landed safely on the ground. He spat a mouthful of blood to the floor.

  "Curo!" The spell reformed Gabriel's battered face in seconds. "Try again, vampire!" he snarled. He launched a table from across the room at Christian who leapt over it like a cat, his supernatural reflexes blinding as he soared toward the wall and grabbed one of the plaques as he flew by, fireballs bursting into the ground behind him. Grasping one of the swords from the plaque, Christian rolled toward Gabriel, deflecting the energy bolts flying his way with
the blade of the weapon.

  Gabriel lunged and teleported as the sword swung in a low arc, its tip drawing blue sparks as it crashed into the floor right where Gabriel had been. In that instant Gabriel reappeared behind him with the second sword from the plaque moving toward Christian's neck. Christian's senses tingled. With an unearthly impulse born from generations of vampires before him, he tilted his sword backward, grasping the hilt with both hands, and thrust it in violent precision behind him. The blade slid into something thick and heavy.

  Gabriel stumbled backwards, the trajectory of his own sword shifting as his blade sliced wetly through shoulder bone and tissue, tearing a fiery path down Christian's back, just missing his vulnerable neck. Christian rolled to the side, the pain all-consuming as his body fought to repair the wound.

  He could feel his strength waning but he would never give up, not while he had an ounce of fight left in him and not while Victoria was still locked defenseless in that room. With effort, he stood, watching as Gabriel weaved unsteadily on his feet. The gash on his own back struggled to close, his healing impeded by his hunger and the lack of blood to repair his injuries.

  Gabriel's face contorted into a grimace as he inched the sword out of his stomach. Like Christian's strength, his magic was also becoming weaker. He had already tapped into the reserves of the sapphire ring on his finger.

  "Curo," he gasped, trying to heal himself.

  Everything would have been so different if Victoria had only seen reason. Her limitless power would have been his, and he could have ended this in an instant. Her stupid infatuation with this animal had been the sole reason that they weren't together. Gabriel's eyes glittered as if struck by a moment of genius. He knew exactly how to bring the vampire down.

  "You'll never be good enough for her, you know," he said. He was unprepared for the soft response. "I know."

  "You know?" Gabriel repeated. "If you know, why don't you leave? You don't belong in her world, just like she doesn't belong in yours. What you're doing is a disgrace to her."

  "That's her choice," Christian said.

  "So what do you intend to give her, vampire? Death? Exile? No family, no children?" he said. Christian didn't answer, but Gabriel saw the hesitation in his eyes.

  "Is that what you want her for?" Christian asked. Gabriel smiled a cold, evil smile.

  "Of course I want her for other things as well, like her delectable body for one," he said, watching Christian's increasing rigidity. "But when I'm done with her, there will be others."

  "You will destroy everything that she is just to punish me?" Christian asked. Gabriel's eyes were black and icy. Hearing the unbridled emotion in the vampire's voice made him shake with rage.

  "Not just you," he said, "her too."

  Gabriel flicked his wrist, and in the space of a second Victoria magically appeared next to Gabriel, her arms bound at her side. Christian lurched painfully to his feet.

  "Try anything and she dies," Gabriel said, as he hauled her roughly against his side, his fingers pressed against her throat. Victoria gasped at his rough stranglehold and Christian started visibly.

  "Is this what you want, vampire?" Gabriel asked, kissing her temple and running his face along her cheek. "Or how about this?" He tilted her neck to the side and kissed it roughly.

  Ignoring Gabriel's taunts, Christian stared at Victoria, searching for any signs that she'd been hurt. She seemed fine although there was something about her eyes that didn't seem right, almost like she was confused. Had Gabriel put some sort of control spell on her? Her smell was off too, but that could also be because of the wards. He'd barely been able to smell her blood earlier.

  Gabriel drew his attention again as he turned Victoria in his arms and kissed her passionately on the mouth. Christian expected her to at least try to fight him like the last time, but when he saw that she was actually kissing the warlock back, it almost drove him to his knees. She had to be under some sort of spell, she had to be!

  He watched as Gabriel murmured something to her, caressing the side of her face, and she lifted her luminous green eyes to Christian's. They were filled with naked pleading.

  "Christian, if you truly love me, you'll let me go. I don't belong with you," she said. "Please, just let me go. I want you to let me go." She stared at him head on. "I don't love you. I could never love you."

  "You've bewitched her, Gabriel. I know that that's not her talking," Christian whispered. "She would never want that. She would never say that!"

  Something about the eyes ...

  "Well, then you leave me little choice, because I'll never let her go to you," Gabriel said.

  In horrifying slow motion, before Christian could even guess at Gabriel's intent, Gabriel's fingers pressed against Victoria's soft smooth throat. Her eyes widened as she stared at Gabriel in betrayed shock followed by sorrowful understanding, a slight smile curving her perfect lips. Brief remorse etched his face but there was nothing she could do, captive as she was to him, as his fingers tightened and the life slowly drained from her body.

  It happened in seconds but was enough for Christian's howl of agony to resonate against the cavern walls as he hurled himself through the air in blind rage toward Gabriel.

  Whether it had been ill-timed or he had been too overwrought to think clearly, Gabriel's stunning spell caught Christian squarely in the chest and he fell to the floor, his body wracked with violent spasms.

  He could hear Gabriel's footfalls as he walked toward him, but all he could see was Victoria's lifeless body across the room. He didn't even care that Gabriel was moving purposefully toward him, he would welcome death. It didn't seem possible, but he had seen it with his own eyes. His chest felt like it was splintering into tiny, unrecognizable shards, suffocating him with each gasp of breath. It wasn't possible ...

  Victoria was dead!

  Gabriel kicked him with a booted foot hearing the satisfying crunch as its steel tip met ribs and broke them.

  "Arrogant, filthy vampire," he said. He bent down and looked into the glazed gray eyes, and swinging the silver knife he had found on the floor in a low arc. "Minuo," he said, methodically slicing Christian's face, arms, and chest, watching the dark blood flow out of the body and the cuts futilely trying to heal themselves. The wounds would continue to bleed from the parasitic bleeding spell he'd cast until there was nothing left. "It won't be long," he said to himself, as he watched the blood pooling beneath the body.

  Now it was her turn.

  Gabriel said a word, waving his hand as the door to her cell became transparent, and watched as Victoria's face froze in horror, taking in the impossible sight of her own body lying on the ground and watching as it transformed before her eyes into Charla's motionless shape. A glamour! Charla was dead, Victoria could see that clearly. Why had Charla been in her body? Had Gabriel used the glamour as a trick?

  Her breath caught, and she desperately searched the room for Christian, her eyes falling on his limp form and the terrible blood that soaked his clothes. He was motionless. A soundless scream parted her lips as she clutched at her amulet. Was he dead?! Gabriel moved to stand in front of her and Victoria glared at him with such a noxious hatred she could taste it in her throat. He read her expression easily.

  "He's not dead yet," he said. "But whether he dies a quick and painless, or slow and agonizing death is your decision." Gabriel watched her expectantly. "You know what I want."

  The door went solid.

  Victoria sank to the floor, the pain suffocating her. She would give Gabriel what he wanted if it would spare Christian's life. That was no decision. She would give her life in a heartbeat for him.

  But she didn't know whether Christian was alive or not. All she had was Gabriel's word and he was a scheming, calculating liar. There was no way she could trust him. The piercing fear that he had in fact been lying and that Christian was possibly already dead, gripped her in its jaws. Victoria rocked back and forth her arms around her knees, nails digging into the soft flesh of her pal
ms until she felt the skin break. Her own blood smeared on her hands.

  Time wound back onto itself.

  Renewed clarity filled her. Strength saturated her. Power overwhelmed her. Blood magic.

  As before, whenever her blood was spilled or a sacrifice received, the blood magic came alive. It mushroomed inside her like an atomic explosion. Without hesitation, she channeled its power through the wards between her and Christian, moving through the maze until she could feel his faint consciousness. He was so terribly weak that he didn't even know she was there. She read his mind quickly and saw in horror that he thought she was dead. Her heart ached.

  Christian ?

  Nothing in his mind even registered her presence; it was like he was already dead inside. He needed blood, and lots of it ... just like the last time Anton had saved him when the blood magic had almost killed him. Victoria shivered at the memory. As much as she wanted to go to him, she understood that trying to save him on her own could be disastrous.

  Gabriel was still out there, she could feel it. He wouldn't leave Christian's side, he was far too careful for that. Although her power over the blood magic had grown, there was no guarantee that she could control it, face Gabriel, and save Christian and Holly at the same time. Her arrogance had cost her dearly the last time and she wouldn't make that mistake again, not with Christian and Holly's lives hanging in the balance.

  Victoria didn't know whether Gabriel would indeed keep Christian alive as he had said, but she was banking on the fact that as long as Gabriel knew that she would never give herself to him without Christian's life as an exchange, then she had a little time and something to bargain with. She needed to get to the one person who could help her, the one person who cared for Christian as much as she did.