King Cave

by Scarlett Dawn

  Maneuvering around him, not turning my back on him, I crept across the room. Unlocking the door swiftly, I slipped outside before he came back from his grief to delay my quest. Bonnie was standing there silently. I had no clue where she came from, but I motioned for her to follow as I began racing down the twisting hallways.

  Everyone moved for me, all Mys alike, getting the hell out of my way without me having to say a word or glance in their direction. I ran with purpose until I stopped in front of Antonio’s office door. I debated a polite gesture, but then just barged in. Eyes scanning the room, I saw that it was empty.

  Shouting in frustration, I stalked the room, wondering where the hell I could find him because I didn’t know where his suite was. He could possibly be in the dining hall or a conference room or in the pools. Any was a strong possibility. Or, unfortunately, he might not be at King Cave at all, doing God knows what.

  I stopped and rubbed my face. I needed him. I needed another damn hint to keep me sane.

  Scrubbing at my scratchy eyes, deciding I would try the pools first since they were closest, I blinked and stopped. Bent down, peering closer at the coffee table. On it was a rusty brass doorknocker. Beside it a note, written in a man’s scrawl I didn’t recognize.

  Reading it slowly, my breath caught. When death knocks, knock back.

  Oh, hell yes. Grabbing the rusty brass handle, which was in the shape of a horseshoe, I felt Mage magic sizzle in my hands. I did as the note said. I knocked with it. Something tried to appear before me, but it quickly fizzled out.

  I stared. Then blinked. Realization dawned.

  I needed to get the hell out of King Cave and try this again. It was dark magic. Nothing like that worked inside the cave. Only pure Mage magic worked.

  Without hesitation I raced from the room, Bonnie hot on my heels. I bypassed the main areas so I didn’t draw even more attention to myself, and then stopped to walk sedately through the cave’s main entrance. It was hard to keep from running as soon as my shoes hit the sand, but I stayed steady and began heading down the beach as if I was only going for a normal stroll, so that no guards were alerted.

  Feeling the boundary of the Mage’s protection magic drawing closer, I peeked over my shoulder. The guards were talking amongst themselves, not paying me any mind, so I quickly slipped to the side, out of their view thanks to the sand dunes, and raced through the protection ward. I felt the familiar zap, especially when it encountered my hand that fisted the knocker. It didn’t want to pass through, but I grunted and yanked with all of my Shifter strength. And still, as I fell on my butt when it released, I was pretty sure it only did so because it was going out instead of in.

  Jumping to my feet, I didn’t bother wiping the sand off my black cargos, and I grabbed my case and gun I had dropped. And raised my hand. Placed the knocker a few inches taller than me, less than a foot ahead. I used it, knocking into thin air.

  My eyes widened as a golden door shimmered and wavered in front of me, quickly becoming a solid gold door with a glimmering doorknob. I glanced around it, but it only looked like a door standing tall in the middle of the beach. Eyeing it, I pocketed the handle, then palmed my gun.

  Hearing footsteps racing my way, I didn’t look back and quickly opened the door. It swung open and a blast of cold winter air blew against my face and body, making me shiver. Tiny flakes of snow drifted through the doorway to instantly melt against the heat of the beach. Through the open doorway it was night, the full moon shining down on a ton of trees, the forest’s floor covered in snow. Directly in the center of it, almost fifty yards away, was a log home, two stories tall with a wraparound porch, snow covering its overhang and roof, smoke billowing from its chimney and its windows lit merrily.

  It looked like a Christmas card, it was so picturesque, but I could feel the taint of black magic surrounding it, ruining its beautiful effect. But that didn’t matter because I needed to get through the door before whoever was almost on me stopped me from doing this. So I stepped through, my feet crunching and falling down into six inches of snow, Bonnie following dutifully even as she hissed.

  Instantly, the door disappeared, only the forest behind us. It was eerily silent. Unlike the normal sounds you would hear in a location such as this. Even the wind made no noise through the trees as it blew snow down on me.

  The feeling now surrounding me was reminiscent to what Southern Coms called bad juju.

  Flatly, it felt wrong.

  I shivered, not from the cold, and started trekking toward the log home. Bonnie moved with me, growling softly and scanning the area. It was my destination and I wasn’t about to stop now. My husband would live. No matter the cost to myself.

  Getting to the cabin was harder than originally appeared. Minutes stretched into an hour. Every foot I put forward seemed to make the cabin that much farther. Some type of spell to keep others away. Eventually I began to tire, but I pushed onward and began to run.

  I needed in there.

  Now.

  And abruptly — unexpectedly — Bonnie and I were on the front porch. Still running. I skidded to a stop on the slick snow and banged into the front door, Bonnie having less trouble.

  As I cursed, rubbing my shoulder, I heard a cackle from inside. Someone thought they were damn funny. But I straightened and didn’t growl in anger when the door opened only moments later. A Mage woman, appearing eighty Com-years old, stood inside the lit entry.

  Her clothes looked like a gypsy’s. Her shirt was made of cotton, gold and flared at the cuffs. Her ankle-length skirt was also cotton, black and ruffled. Her wrists were adorned with gold bracelets. And her gnarled, wrinkly feet were bare. Tipping her head to the side and peering down at me, her waist-length golden hair fell over her shoulder.

  I barely kept from staring. But not because she was dressed for balmy weather while there were the makings of a blizzard outside. I had to avert my eyes because her own eyes were black. This was odd because all Mages had a variation of golden eyes, but hers were completely black. As in, not even white showed. I knew instantly — her scent surrounding me — it was because she had been practicing dark magic for a very long time.

  She stiffened and whispered, “Not yet.”

  I peered up at her, staring at her forehead. “Yes, now. I need to speak with you.”

  She was still for so long that I wasn’t sure she would allow me access, but eventually she moved aside, whispering, “Justice.”

  Carefully, I toed the entrance. I felt nothing awful, so I stepped through, Bonnie pretty much imitating me. The place was just so wrong, it was throwing my senses out of whack. Although, at first glance, it was like any other Mage home. Gold galore in the entry, in the living room to the left, in the dining room to the right, and in a long hallway and wooden staircase straight ahead.

  Except for, at a closer inspection, the tiny jars on the shelves lining the walls. The glasses were golden and inside each of them were items I hastily averted my gaze from. I was pretty sure inside the first ones I had seen there were fingers, small animals, and a shitload of eyeballs. I didn’t look again.

  She shut the door behind me. There was no lock. I didn’t expect it. She didn’t need it.

  She crossed her arms. “How did you get here, Queen Ruckler?”

  My lips thinned at hearing a creak upstairs, like someone was walking around. “I used a knocker.” She knew who I was. “Who else is in the house?”

  “No one who will harm you right now,” she mumbled absently, holding out her hand. “Return.” I blinked and stared at her bony hand, and quickly patted my pocket. The knocker was gone from me. Now in her fisted palm.

  Fuck, I’ll just have to worry about getting back later.

  Absently, she shook the knocker then stopped, and started cackling. “Ah, now…now…” She waggled the knocker. “I had wondered who stole this so long ago.” She chuckled deeply. “He thinks he’s so pure, going along with the universe’s master plan.” She spat to the side, her spit sizzling on the h
ardwood floor at her feet. “A bona-fide thief, he is, sneaking in here without me knowing.”

  Ignoring her rant, I cleared my throat. “I’ve come because—”

  She waved the hand with the knocker, shushing me. “I know why you’ve come. The question is, how far will you go to make it happen?” She didn’t wait for my answer, turning and walking into the living room on the left.

  I followed, watching her approach a large wooden hutch, which glowed golden. “What do I need to do to save his life?”

  She swung open the doors to the hutch, placing the knocker inside. “There are three things that I want from you in return.” Her back was still to me as she spoke and rifled through the cluttered contents of the spelled cabinet. She pulled out a small vial of black and gold liquid and shut the doors, turning to me.

  I stared at the, now, locked hutch. “What are those three things?”

  “One. You will kill this Mys, if you live through this.” She waved her hand, and suddenly, a translucent image of a man appeared beside her.

  I stiffened, knowing him. “Why do you wish for his death?”

  She flicked a finger, the image gone. “It is none of your concern.”

  I stared where the image had been, my stomach rolling in nausea. “And the second?”

  She cackled, glancing over her shoulder to a window then back at me. “Two. When a Mys by the name of Tipkin arrives, you will not disregard him as others do, making the mission he desires happen, if you live through this.”

  Well, that one wasn’t so bad. A roll of my shoulders. “The third?”

  “Three. You will shoot to kill when needed, if you live through this. The individuals will be unknown to you until it’s time, but I tell you now, it is no one you love or hold dear.”

  I started to sweat. That was a lot of murder. “And how do I save Ezra?”

  She dangled the vial between us. “You drink this in combination with a spell I will give you. A life has been given willingly. The individual’s vitality is in this liquid. It will be enough to vanquish the silver in his blood.” I hadn’t asked how she knew in the first place, so I wasn’t going to ask how she knew the specifics. “But you have to pull back when you feel the gifted vitality gone from yourself into him. This has only been done three times, that I know of, and each time the individual casting the spell died because they didn’t pull back, pushing their own vitality into the dying.”

  I didn’t care if I died. But I did care if I made this deal and I couldn’t get back to King Cave. My eyes went to her hutch. “How am I supposed to get to him from here?”

  She waggled a finger at me. “Ah, no, Queen Ruckler. You won’t be receiving that knocker back. But I will give you my word that I will set you directly at where you left. The time passing there, the same as here.” She paused. “If you agree, you will be magically bound to complete these three things. You won’t be able to stop yourself. In the end you won’t have a choice. They will be done. But right now you do have the choice.”

  She lifted the vial. “What is it going to be, Queen Ruckler?” She snapped her fingers at me. “I’ve got more company coming who wouldn’t mind you dead, so hurry up with your decision.”

  My lips thinned, the woman crazy to believe anyone else was coming to this place. “Won’t you please tell me what that Mys did to you? It won’t weigh so heavily on my conscience.”

  She sighed heavily, eyeing me. “You’re as righteous as the man who raised you.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “He deserves his ache.” She studied me, then muttered, “I want him dead enough that I will tell you.” She walked forward, standing directly before me, and my nostrils flared as she said, “He murdered a dear friend of mine in cold blood to better himself.” Truth.

  I blinked. Never would I have thought him capable of murder. “I’m sorry for your loss.” She gave me a condescending look but nodded at my words anyway. I would have done the deeds either way because I was going to save my husband, but her words comforted me for the actions I would commit. “You have a deal.”

  She grabbed my right arm and I flinched, feeling a burning sensation on my forearm. Bonnie hissed at her as I jerked my arm away and yanked up my sleeve. There were three golden circles between my wrist and halfway up my forearm. I watched as they sank into my skin, now unseen and unfelt.

  Bound magically.

  No turning back. I held out my hand. “The vial and spell, please.”

  She cackled, placing the vial in my hand, which was hot to the touch, before bending to retrieve a pad of paper and a pencil from her end table next to the couch. She scribbled on it and then tore the sheet out. Extending the paper to me, she said, “Read it, memorize it, but don’t speak the words aloud until after you have drunk the potion and placed your hand over his Core.”

  I did as told. It was only one line. Her handwriting was remarkably tidy. “Got it.”

  She took the sheet back and it instantly burst into flame. Releasing it, it fluttered to the ground, the fire out and the sheet ash before it hit the floor. “Then it’s time for you to leave. Pick up your Vizoac.”

  Placing the vial in my pocket, a thought occurred. “Will I be able to get through a protection ward with,” I patted my pocket, “this?” After putting my gun in the back of my pants, I switched the case to my left hand and lifted Bonnie from the floor, cuddling her close.

  She nodded. “It was all given willingly. Not black. It’s a life-giving spell.” She raised her aged hand and touched my shoulder. “Your deed there is righteous, too, not black, so you will be able to enter.”

  I froze as creepy-crawlies ran all over my body, the feeling all kinds of uncomfortable. But, within a blink of my eyes, the feeling was gone and I was instantly staring at the beach I had left probably an hour before. Now, that hadn’t been so bad. Not at all.

  I turned and stepped easily through the warded barrier to King Cave. She hadn’t lied. I sighed in relief, my thoughts focused on saving Ezra. I needed to get back into his room. And I was betting Cahal wouldn’t allow me to enter and exit freely after I had snuck into his rooms once already. Which meant I would have to wait until they were gone and break in.

  Breaking into Cahal’s suite again was easier said than done. Vampires were entering and exiting more frequently than before. With waning patience, I waited another hour, before I gave up and dialed Jack.

  He answered on the first ring. “Lily, is that you? The medic said you left the infirmary over two hours ago.”

  “Yeah, it’s me,” I whispered. “I need a favor.”

  Instant. “Name it.”

  Already having decided to not tell him the extent of what I was doing, since he might try to talk me out of it as there was the possibility of death hanging over my head if I screwed up, I lied, definitely not telling the whole truth. “I want to see Ezra, but Vampires are surrounding him. Can you create a distraction so I can say goodbye?”

  “Lily, I’m so sorry,” Jack said softly with a small hiccup to his words. “Pearl and I will make something happen.”

  “Thank you,” I told him wholeheartedly. “Jack, I love you and Pearl. You know that.”

  “Yes. We know that,” Jack whispered. A pause. “Give us five minutes.” He hung up.

  Exactly five minutes later, Vampires began pouring out of the suite, alarms that I hadn’t even realized we had blaring overhead. I ducked further into the shadows, holding Bonnie close when she growled at the noisy alarms. Cahal was the last to leave, shouting back into the suite for Bindi to watch over Ezra.

  Slamming his suite door shut, he paused. I held my breath and masked with every ounce of strength I had in me, hoping the other Vampire’s heartbeats overrode mine. A few anxiety-driven ticks flew by, then he was rushing after the Vampires calling to him for help, never once looking in my direction.

  I blew out a sigh of relief when the hallway cleared, setting Bonnie down and running to the door. Unable to hear anything behind it over the God-awful noise, I opened it, praying the room w
as mostly empty. And it was. The only sound was Bindi pacing inside the room that held Ezra.

  Not bothering to lock the door this time, or even shut it, deducing I didn’t have much time, I raced on silent feet. Ezra’s door was locked, though, and I sighed silently. I gently used my Shifter strength, squeezing and turning the doorknob until the latch broke with barely a sound, Bindi never once stopping her pacing on the other side.

  Bonnie slid in behind me as I entered, and not bothering to shut that door either since it wouldn’t close now, I dropped my items on the bed, staring into Bindi’s startled eyes. “I need a few moments alone with him.”

  Her face became carefully void of any emotion. “I understand. I’ll be in the other room.” She quickly left as I had hoped she would, giving us privacy.

  There was no time for anything refined, so I swiftly crawled over the mattress to straddle his waist and yanked the vial out of my pocket. I uncorked it and, like it was a shot of vile liquor, I chugged the liquid. Instantly, I covered my mouth to keep from puking, tossing the vial and cork to the side.

  It tasted like Mage magic, but there was a Mys aftertaste, one that I couldn’t define from the overriding Mage spells and time — the potion fuzzy and bubbling with so much life it wanted to be released.

  I swallowed repeatedly, my eyes tearing as my body trembled worse than Ezra’s.

  This was some strong shit.

  Hastily, keeping a firm hand clamped over my mouth, I slammed my other hand on Ezra’s chest directly over his Core and then whispered the spell the Mage had written: “From the willing to the dying take from me your life.”

  Instantaneously, my eyes flew back into my head as power surged within my Core. Dizziness took hold as my Shifter power began rotating inside my frame like a fan’s unhindered blade. Sweat beaded on my body as I felt it physically take hold of the potion I had consumed. Struggling to stay upright over him, I grunted as a whirlwind of power rippled down my arm to Ezra’s chest.

  His body arched under me, his mouth opening on a silent inhale. My hand glowed black, sparkling with gold where I touched him, but I didn’t release him, throwing myself on top of his straining body. Power began to churn in the air around us, enough energy to toss the items in the spare room into the air.