The Vampire Touch 3: A New Dawn

by Sarah J. Stone

  “I know,” he said, adjusting so he could put his feet up. It was comfortable to be sitting with him, Sienna thought. It was almost like they were a normal couple, on a normal day. “It's that obvious, eh?”

  “But you're all right?”

  “Oh yeah. I feel fine,” he said with a shrug. “But feeling fine is all in the mind, isn't it?”

  “Maybe Laura shouldn't have such a rigorous pace for you,” she suggested. “I mean, would it be better if you had more time off?”

  “I've thought of that,” Devon answered. “But I don't want to slow her down. Laura is rising to the top. She might even surpass your Nathaniel one day, if she keeps going. I can't do that to her.”

  Sienna had often had those thoughts herself, usually late into the night when no one else was listening to her mind.

  “So, what do you want?” she asked simply. He shook his head, tucking his knees up.

  “I don't know,” he said. “I'm just talking. It is good to see you, though.”

  “When do we see Reynolds?” she asked. “Is there a time?”

  “We didn't make an appointment, if that's what you mean,” Devon grinned, back to his usual jovial and boisterous self. “No one has actually seen Reynolds yet. We know he's at the top of this food chain, but we have yet to lure him out. Which is why you're here, and Desmond is here. That should help.”

  “I don't know that bait is an official Academy mission.”

  “It totally is,” Devon said with a grin. “I've seen it posted once or twice. Usually it's for worse reasons–pretty girls and the like. But it is something they assign.”

  “Well, it doesn't matter because they are not tracking our movements,” Sienna said with a shrug.

  “But maybe you'll do so well that they will want you to go back,” Devon answered, and she met his eyes. He sensed something in her then, and paused. “Do you not want to go back?”

  “Of course, I want to go back,” she said, but it didn't sound very convincing. “I just…have the same thoughts as you do.”

  “Something to think about,” Devon replied, as he slid off the bed. “Come on. Our Maestros will be missing us.”

  “I wonder when Nathaniel will get here,” Sienna said as she slowly got off as well.

  “He's cautious, so an hour or two, I'm guessing,” Devon answered. “There's no plan until tomorrow anyway. We want word to travel through the city to Reynolds that Desmond is here.”

  “I just don't know why he would want me,” Sienna said as they walked back down the hallway. “My power is uncontrolled and untrained.”

  “Hope,” Devon said softly, and she turned to him.

  “Hope?”

  “The hope that he could control your power and have it for himself.” Their faces were just inches apart. Devon reached up, brushing a lock of hair from her face. “Hope is what keeps us alive, even when we aren't using our powers for good.”

  “Hope,” she said, as he leaned in.

  The kiss was short but sweet. She felt so much strength from him, so much happiness as their lips met. She wanted to snuggle closer to him, their lips never falling apart. She wished that they could have this moment together and no one could judge them. One small bit of happiness in a confusing world full of pain–that was all she wanted.

  “I missed you,” Devon said softly in her ear. She hung onto him a moment longer, her arms wrapped around his neck.

  “I missed you, too,” she said as they finally broke apart.

  “We're together now,” Devon answered. “That's all that matters.”

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  Back in the main room, there was food being cooked and served. Sybil had apparently prepared a feast for them. Sienna went to her rucksack for the rations that she had gotten used to. Natural food was something that triggered her magic, the defective genes overreaching for anything that was naturally occurring. She was used to nibbling on synthetic rations, while everyone else ate a home-cooked meal. But Sybil called her over with a smile, holding a plate.

  “When you're undercover, you don't go to the markets,” she said. “I checked with Nathaniel before you got here. Everything in there should be safe for you.”

  She glanced to Desmond, who nodded his approval.

  “Thank you,” Sienna said, settling down beside her Maestro. It had been a very long time since she had hot food, and she was grateful for it after the long trip. She felt included, snuggled among the chairs and shoulders as she ate with everyone. This trip may be for a terrible purpose, but it was certainly having its moments. “Nathaniel?”

  “Not yet,” Desmond said. “But I'm used to this. He'll be here when he gets here.”

  “Of course,” Sienna answered with a shrug as she dug in. “He's strong.”

  “That he is,” Desmond assured her. “Don't worry.”

  Chapter 9

  By nightfall, Nathaniel had still not made an appearance, and even Desmond started to worry.

  “Can you feel him?” Sienna asked him, and Desmond shook his head.

  “He's blocking my thoughts for some reason,” he said. “Can you feel him? Be careful, little one. Don't overexert yourself.”

  She closed her eyes, reaching out with her mind. She was normally so connected with Nathaniel. But they were also normally only an arm’s length apart. Despite the fact that Desmond was supposed to be her go-to during the day, she rarely went a moment without knowing where her younger Maestro was. They were inseparable in almost everything.

  Except, it appeared, for today.

  “I can….” She pushed her magic harder. “I feel the wall you feel. Just wait....”

  ‘Nathaniel,’ she called out to him, trying to find another route into his mind. There was no second call with Nathaniel; he never left her waiting when she called out to him.

  “Sienna…” Desmond put a hand at her back, just in case.

  “Mmm,” she grunted, her eyes still closed. The wall was dark, and she felt fear in the pit of her stomach. She knew he was there, but he wasn't answering. It wasn't just that he was asleep or unconscious. He was physically blocking her from getting in. However, Sienna's main skill was mind reading–reaching for words that people couldn't bring themselves to say.

  With another push, she broke through the wall. The images that came into her mind then shocked her.

  She saw a flash of someone's hand, heard a grunt, and then she felt pain across her face. Her hands flew to her nose, and she stumbled back against Desmond, seeing stars.

  He caught her quickly, used to her falling, and lowered his knees in case she dipped farther.

  She broke the connection, and the pain disappeared almost instantly. Her eyes flew open, and she knew the pain that she had felt was not her own.

  “Desmond!” she said, as he helped her into a chair. The others gathered around, worriedly.

  “I know,” he said. “I saw it, too. Something has happened.”

  “Show me.” Sybil held out her hand. “Kierry and I have been exploring this area for months now. If something has happened, I might be able to recognize where he is.”

  Sienna put her hand out, but Desmond brushed it aside, offering his own instead. Devon took her hand instead as Desmond transmitted the information to Sybil. It wasn't as good as seeing it from the firsthand magical supply, but Sienna knew she had already overextended herself.

  “Do you want something?” Devon asked her, as he crouched down to be at her level.

  “No,” she replied, content with just his touch. “Just stay.”

  “I will.” He focused on her eyes, and Laura did not miss their look.

  ‘What are you doing?’ She asked her young Tiro, who didn't break his gaze from Sienna.

  ‘Living,’ Devon answered, and it almost broke Laura's heart to hear such an answer.

  “I know where that is,” Sybil said suddenly, breaking all their concentration as her eyes flew open. “Do you remember, Kierry? That's the warehouse where they keep the contraband colle
cted from the docks.”

  “Yes,” Kierry answered. “But how? Why?”

  “I highly doubt they will tell us those things,” Sybil said with a half grin. She was trying to keep a light heart. “We have to go to him. He's all right?”

  “If Sienna could get through, he's all right,” Desmond answered. “I don't know why he's blocking us, though. Nathaniel has blocked me a few times in his life, mostly because of his temper, but he's never blocked Sienna's thoughts.”

  “Is it possible that he is not doing it on purpose?” Laura asked. “I know I've been hit on the head a few times, and it's confused my thought process.”

  “Nathaniel is a trained warrior,” Desmond pointed out. “He's used to being hit on the head.”

  “Which explains so much,” Sybil couldn't help but throw in. “Sorry, old habits die hard. Shall we launch a team? What's our plan? I'm sure he's fine; he's Nathaniel.”

  “Multiple entrances?” Desmond asked, and Sybil nodded. “Then we launch in teams. Each team takes an entrance, and we crowd them into the middle. Whoever they are. Is it possible that it's Reynolds' team?”

  “It's possible...,” Sybil screwed up her face. “Technically. But I mean, this isn't their style. Reynolds' rebellion is not being led by force and violence. He knows he will get better loyalty if they come willingly to him.”

  Desmond felt like someone had struck him upon hearing that explanation. It was exactly the type of thing that he used to tell Reynolds. He hadn't been talking about leaving the witches, of course, but he had been talking about running a government–a system, inspiring loyalty in soldiers.

  In a lot of ways, he realized, Reynolds hadn't failed him. He had become a leader, a warrior, and he was strong. His name was known.

  It was just for all the wrong reasons.

  “So, someone else has him,” Laura spoke up, breaking Desmond out of his thoughts “Sybil?”

  “No idea,” she said. “Suit up, Kierry. Let's go find out.”

  Witches didn't often use weapons that weren't magic, but it appeared that Sybil and Kierry had created quite a storehouse. They had laser guns and enough ammunition to last them for days, if they had to. Which, Desmond thought, might be a reality if they were found out.

  “Do you know how to use one of these?” Devon asked Sienna, who shook her head.

  “I'll just stay behind Desmond,” she said.

  Devon put one in her hand. “You're smart, you can figure it out,” he said, and she smiled. He had faith in her strength, and she hadn't had many people do that. Her Maestros kept her quietly behind them, and she didn't think much about what she could do to help. They had always made it clear they would ask. Otherwise, she would be taken care of.

  “Thank you,” she said, as the rest of them grabbed what they needed. Devon winked at her as Sybil ushered them out.

  “There are any number of rebel forces in this city,” she said. “The government is badly run, and I imagine they are going to stage a coup any day now. There is a black market, a blacker black market…essentially, everything is corrupt. Anyone could have him, and they could have him because they know who he is, or they don't.”

  “So, that leaves things open,” Desmond said, his face set. “Really, we have no idea what we are up against.”

  “Three Tiro-Maestro teams?” Sybil answered. “It doesn't matter what we are up against.”

  As they continued to walk, Sienna attempted to reach out to Nathaniel again and again. But without breaking through the wall that had almost made her faint, she couldn't find anything useful. Desmond put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Stop,” he said. “That will do no good.”

  “But why would he block us out?” she protested. “It's not like him. He always finds a way to connect, even if it's through a back route. Somebody must have control of his mind.”

  “No,” Desmond said. “You would be able to feel that when you went in.”

  She was silent for a moment, and then looked up to him. “This is normal life,” she said, and he looked confused.

  “What?”

  “This,” she said. “Assignments, battles, death. This is normal life.”

  “And what do you think of that?” he asked, trying to get the point she was making. “Do you want it to be normal life?”

  “I don't know,” she answered truthfully. “I don't know where I fit.”

  He slung an arm around her gently in an unusual display of affection. Perhaps it was the situation – the fact that two of his former Tiros were nearby and both were potentially in danger.

  “You fit here,” he assured her, and she smiled at him. Even if she didn't believe the words that he said, she felt comforted by the fact that he believed them.

  It wasn't long before they found the warehouse. Sienna had watched as the area became more run-down, and the people surrounding the buildings started to size them up.

  “That's it,” she said to Sybil, trying not to point.

  “Right. East, North, South,” Sybil said assigning the teams. “I don't know if I can reach out to all of you, but I can try.”

  “I can do it,” Sienna spoke up, wanting to feel useful. “I can reach out to everyone's mind to coordinate our attacks.”

  “Sienna…” Desmond said, and she looked up to him.

  “Please. It's the only thing I can do. And it's Nathaniel.”

  “Nathaniel, may I point out, will not let you do this,” Desmond answered. “But all right. Don't push hard, though. All we need is a countdown.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, although she knew she would likely have to push harder than she let on. The teams split up, and Desmond and Sienna took the south entrance. Their keen ears could hear voices inside, and her heart began to pound. She had been calm until they got here, trusting that Nathaniel could watch out for himself. She trusted that her younger Maestro had a plan about what was going to happen. Now, she wasn't so sure.

  Desmond leaned up against the door, listening. He was waiting for a moment where they quieted down enough to distinguish through footsteps and sounds how many were inside. He didn't want to reach out with magic in case they were witches, who would surely sense in ping.

  Sienna waited for what felt like an eternity. Finally, her Maestro caught her eye and nodded.

  “Now,” he said, and Sienna reached out to the others quickly.

  ‘Go!’

  Everyone slammed through the doors, their magic working quickly to unhinge locks and push open bolts.

  The team inside looked completely surprised to see them. Sienna had a sense of pride for a moment; they had tricked them; they had succeeded.

  That is, until she saw her Maestro, strung up against the wall, his hands chained. His nose was broken, which was the pain that she had felt initially. His eyes were bruised nearly closed, but they forced themselves open.

  His eyes widened when he saw her, and his gagged mouth tried to speak.

  ‘Get out,’ his thoughts pushed into her. ‘Get out.’

  Sienna froze, and then she heard the thoughts he pushed to both of them.

  ‘It's Sienna they want.’

  Desmond spun into action right away, grabbing her arm, and pushing her in between Sybil and himself. His hands were out, the magic springing from them as three brown aliens began to approach, a delighted look in their eyes.

  “Sienna,” one said, his voice like scratching wallpaper. “The witch with everything.”

  “The witch they will pay high prices for.”

  “The witch we can't ignore.”

  “We knew you'd come.”

  “NOT TODAY!” Sybil was the one who shot first, a powerful blast of magic coming from her hands. Sienna watched in awe as Kierry fired as well, her magic intertwining her Maestro's in a perfectly timed attack.

  Sienna could never do that without feeling it for days. She knew that Maestros and Tiros could, of course, but she had rarely seen it in practice.

  The aliens flew back with a scream. Clearly, they h
adn't planned their attack very well. They had thought, perhaps, that only Sienna would come for Nathaniel. Three against one was hard, but three against six wasn't even a notch on someone's belt.

  Before they could even retaliate, they were nothing but corpses, falling to the ground.

  Chapter 10

  Sienna ran toward Nathaniel, oblivious to his injuries as Desmond disconnected the chains. His feet touched the ground, and his knees buckled, but he managed to right himself as Sienna threw her arms around him.

  “You all right?” Desmond asked gruffly.

  Nathaniel snorted. “Oh yeah, fine,” he said, as Sienna squeezed him. “Little one, it's all right,” he said in alarm at her sudden rush of emotions. “I'm fine. We're together.”

  “But you could have not been!” she cried. “You could have been gone.”

  “I'm not,” Nathaniel blocked out the rest of the world to look her in the eye. Desmond was impressed with his focus through his injuries. He could feel Nathaniel's heart rate was skyrocketing, but his former Tiro's every thought was calming his own Tiro. “I'm here.”

  “Wow,” Sybil said softly, standing beside Desmond. He knew exactly what she was referring to.

  “She's never been apart from him,” he answered. “Especially not like this.”

  Sybil smiled. “Well, it's nice to see, at last.” She raised her voice. “Are you all right, oh classmate of mine in constant messes?”

  “I'm fine,” Nathaniel finally answered, displaying more strength as he tried to straighten up.

  “What happened?” Desmond asked, and Nathaniel shook his head.

  “I don't even know. One moment, I was making my way through the streets and the next, it was blackness.”

  “Magical?” Desmond asked, and Nathaniel shook his head.

  “I don't know. I think it was chemical, so someone should probably run my blood. But when I woke up here, all they could talk about was….” He didn't need to finish the thought.

  “Why do they want me?” Sienna filled in for him, still unwilling to leave his side. “What did I do?”

  “It's not what you did,” Desmond tried to assure her. “It's what you can do.”