“You think I forgot that?” asked Nik, his voice catching.
“You certainly give the impression,” snapped Josh, his eyes ranging over Nik’s designer suit.
“You forget, I loved her too.”
“Whatever.”
And that was it!
Nik punched Josh in the mouth, sending the younger vampire colliding with a pile of garbage. Josh pushed himself off the pile of garbage and jumped toward Nik, all in one swift movement, but Nik was in better fighting condition. The older vampire grabbed Josh by hair, quickly wrapping his arm around Josh’s neck. Nik hesitated for a second, before giving Josh a squeeze. His neck snapped and Josh went limp.
I didn’t cry out, as I might have done just a few minutes earlier. An uncomfortable weight has settled in my stomach during my journeys with Sedgrave. Somehow, the foreboding sense of the future anchored me.
As though his legs had given out, Nik slipped to the floor, Josh still in his arms. To be certain the death was permanent, Nik tore Josh’s head off. The body and head dissolved into dust, covering Nik in a layer of filth. As the scene faded away, dissolving back into whiteness, I noticed the tears beginning to make tracks down Nik’s ash-smeared face.
Sedgrave and I were once again standing in the white room. I looked over at the warlock who was eyeing me curiously.
“Two possible futures?” I asked, though it felt more like a statement.
Sedgrave smiled, the same smile as before, as though I had been unexpectedly clever.
I glanced down at my feet before speaking again. “The wizards won’t succeed?”
He nodded.
“I think I understand.”
“So you’ll call off any attack they have planned? Tell them that you’re still connected to me?” asked Sedgrave.
I suddenly realized the man standing before me might be the real deal. Could our link be strong enough for him to get into my head? Was it possible that he was simply trying to mess with my mind? Or were his predictions real? If I died, would Josh deteriorate until Nikolai had to put him down? If I stopped the fight, would Sedgrave really let me live my life, continuing as his battery?
I looked up at the warlock, deciding not to give anything away if I could help it.
“That’s for me to know,” I said with a smirk.
I realized I didn’t even know the answer to his questions. Would I abandon the fight? Or would I willingly sacrifice myself to end Sedgrave. I had said I would time and again, but was I really brave enough to go through with it?
For some reason I doubted my own courage.
“And for me to find out?” Sedgrave asked, his smile still in place.
“Not on your life,” I said, just as I felt the pull of the magic.
Chapter Twenty
Suddenly I was back in the common room of the seethe, still floating in the wizard’s trap. I looked down at the three women. They looked drained, much like how I felt. I glanced over at Josh and Nik, strangely relieved to see them looking healthy and in-control.
The wizards raised their arms and I felt the magic holding me suspended in the air begin to dissolve. It felt as though the cookie dough that kept me in place began to melt, dripping from my limbs. Slowly, they lowered my body until I was standing on the ground and free from their magic. I held my breath, aware that if I smelled the scent of their blood I would lose it. Nik and Josh stopped next to me, both of them placing gentle hands on my arms, ready to hold me back.
“I would suggest the three of you get some rest,” Nik said to the wizards. “We attack with the sunset.”
Edith, Helen, and Lauren turned and left, leaving me free from temptation.
“I think I would like to sleep too,” I said, finally breathing again.
In truth, I needed to think, but I couldn’t do that with these two men present. Nik and Josh led me down to my lower level. I noticed three iron locks had been placed on the exterior of my door. Until I was feeding again, they would be taking all precautions.
“Want me to sit with you?” asked Josh.
I could hear the hope in his voice and it broke my heart to send him away. “No, thank you. I just want to be alone.”
Josh nodded, trying his best to hide the hurt I had caused. Nik opened my door and we spotted Tereus sitting on my bed. Nik and Josh quickly grabbed my arms, unsure how I would respond to the cat. I could hear his little heart beating a mile a minute. While he smelled edible, he didn’t smell very tasty.
“Tereus, you better hang with me tonight,” Josh suggested. “Ashley isn’t feeding right now to keep Sedgrave weak.”
The cat’s eyes flicked between the three of us. “I will sit beside my cat door. I am fast, even for a cat. I will be free from this room before she can get to me, especially if she is weakened. I think we need to talk,” Tereus added by way of explaining his choice.
My cat could always read me.
“I think it’ll be okay,” I said, sounding like a tired version of myself.
Tereus jumped off the bed and gave me a wide birth. Once I had settled on my own bed, the cat sat next to the open door. Nik and Josh glanced at me one last time before closing the door. Tereus and I sat in silence as we listened to them click the new locks in place and walk away.
“What’s wrong?” Tereus finally asked.
I squirmed a little in my bed and noticed my cat tense, as though preparing to run from me if I made an aggressive move. I held still, realizing any movement on my side would frighten him.
“The wizards did the spell to release me.”
“And?”
“They failed.”
We were silent for a long moment.
“I don’t think they know they failed,” I continued. “Or perhaps they failed on purpose.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Maybe that’s not the right way of saying it. Maybe they knew they couldn’t succeed, but pretended to do the spell to make sure we would go through with the attack. They know Sedgrave needs to die.”
“How do you know you’re still connected to the warlock?” asked Tereus.
I hesitated, unsure of what the answer was to that question. I just knew. I closed my eyes to better focus on my body. It was difficult to sift passed my hunger to the other feelings.
“I can still feel him in my mind.” More so since the visions, I realized.
“I didn’t realize your minds were connected.”
“Neither did I. At least not until the wizards did their fireworks display. Then…” I hesitated again, not really wanting to share this. I plowed forward, ignoring my embarrassment. “Then Sedgrave appeared in my mind. He did a sorta ‘It’s a Wonderful Life” thing on me.”
“What does that mean?” asked my cat.
I realized he probably never saw that movie, being that he had been a cat when it first came out.
“Sedgrave showed me two potential futures. One where I was essentially his bitch. He took energy from me, but mostly left me to live my life. The other future was what it would be like if I died with him. It wasn’t pretty.”
To my surprise, Tereus burst out into a cat version of a fit of laughter. I glared down at him, reconsidering eating him. I pushed those tempting thoughts away, but kept my glare in place.
“And you believed him?” asked the cat, his voice still tinted with humor. “Ashley, this is Sedgrave, the master manipulator. You have no idea whether those futures were real or even possible. Yes, you may die with him tonight. I won’t deny that. But you can’t base that decision on what he showed you, because you have no idea whether he was lying or not. What people do if you die is up to them. You can’t control that.”
I felt my heart sink. As much as I appreciated Tereus’ wisdom, I realized I had been hoping he would find Sedgrave’s visions to be a valid excuse not to sacrifice myself.
“Does Sedgrave still need to die?” Tereus asked when I didn’t respond.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Well then,” said the ca
t as though that answered all my questions.
I suppose it kinda did, even if I didn’t like the answer. I forced myself to think of all the people that had died in his attacks, in the battles that had been a result of his existence, of the way he was manipulating politics. How many people’s lives would be ruined by his tampering, his tax hikes, his plastic research grants, etc.? If he had his way, he would bring the mystical creatures to the forefront, all under his thumb of course, and turn the humans into a sort of slave race.
I couldn’t let that happen.
For them to continue, humans needed to be ignorant of our existence. I could easily envision the world in which humans knew about the things that go bump in the night. The wars between mystical and human would be devastating, on both sides. Humans had guns, weapons, and armies that the mystical world could only dream of. We may have had powers, but our numbers were too low to quickly bring the humans under control. There would be heavy casualties on both sides, but ultimately the mythical side would win, turning the humans into slaves. And they would all bow to the charismatic warlock.
I opened my eyes to look at my cat and gave a little nod.
“You’re right.”
My gut clenched at the sudden clarity of what I was going to do, and I felt tears prick my eyes.
“Ashley, I need to say something, since I may never see you again.”
I glanced down at my cat, my woes suddenly forgotten as I heard the catch in his voice.
“I have known a lot of humans, and vampires, over the centuries. I’ve never known anyone as loving, courageous, and stupid as you. I will never forget you.”
I wiped at my face, barely aware of the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. “I love you too, Tereus.”
“Peace to you and yours,” said the ancient fae, sounding as though he was repeating a parting once used by his people, ages and ages ago.
With that, my talking cat turned and slipped through his cat door, leaving me alone.
Chapter Twenty-One
I walked into the restaurant, ignoring the pleasant expressions of the hostesses standing beside the entrance. I walked with purpose, glancing around the restaurant until I noticed the large group of men milling around a back section that had been cordoned off for the special event. I spotted the governor smiling broadly as he told a joke.
My legs shook, both with nerves and hunger as I walked to the entrance of the party area. The rest of the restaurant was mostly empty, for which I was grateful. While I had no doubt the fae could mask our battle, the fewer humans around the better.
Sedgrave was standing a few feet behind the governor, ready to take his drink or wipe his ass, should it be required. He wore the same suit as he had in my visions.
Sedgrave’s face blanched as he spotted me and his eyes flickered around the room. I could tell he was debating with calling on the security guards present.
I walked into the half-secluded area, ignoring the man who questioned my presence, and marched up to Sedgrave’s side.
I think he knew the three or four men, their guns included, were no match for a starved Ashley.
I stopped beside him and whispered, “Come outside, or I kill myself right here.”
With the words spoken, I went back to holding my breath, careful to not inhale again after my short speech. I could barely handle the sound of the numerous heartbeats around me.
When Sedgrave looked as though he was going to call my bluff, I slipped the wooden stake out from the sleeve of my shirt. He stared at it for a second, noticing the sharp point I had insisted on. It would take little pressure on my part to plunge the stake into my own heart.
Sedgrave glanced up at my face as I slipped the weapon back up my sleeve. I knew he saw no hesitation on my face, no matter how many butterflies danced around my stomach.
“Lead the way,” he murmured, barely moving his mouth.
I smiled smugly before giving him a nod. I headed toward the door with him hot on my heels.
“I’ll be right back,” I heard him say to the guards before following me to the door.
The hostess smiled again at us, pushing the door open for our convenience.
I knew Sedgrave couldn’t see anything unusual in the wide parking lot. The lot was half-filled with cars. On the other side of lot boasted a row of stores. Even in the dark I could read the signs for “Cabinets by Trivonna,” “Prime Lending,” and “Back Door Bakery.” Luckily, all three shops were closed for the night.
“What did you want?” Sedgrave asked as the doors to the restaurant banged shut.
I ignored him and kept walking further into the maze of cars. To my astonishment, the dunce followed me me into the parking lot. When I reached the agreed upon point, my allies appeared from behind different cars in a loose half circle around the warlock.
“Are you sure about this, Ashley?” Sedgrave asked, referring back to our vision conversation.
I just smiled at him. A second later I felt a pull of his magic as he called his Valkyries to himself. Nik, Josh, and Emma didn’t wait for his allies to arrive. Each of them leapt over a car and ran to the waiting warlock. I cringed, knowing what the warlock planned. Sedgrave raised his arms and released his classic first move. Fake rays of sun erupted into the sky, searing Nik, Josh, Emma, and myself. Somehow the spell missed Sahara, and our allies were still far enough away to avoid the spell.
I dropped to my knees, feeling the drain as he took more of my strength for his spell.
But we weren’t alone. The three wizards burst into action, sending a gust of wind into Sedgrave, knocking him off his feet and breaking his concentration.
I rolled under a car, waiting for my weak body to heal itself. From my hiding spot, I saw the other vampires jump back to their feet. Everyone else had fed greedily before leaving the seethe. They were full the brim and, therefore, quick to heal.
Before another attack could be mustered, the four body guards came rushing out of the restaurant, transforming into Valkyries as their feet hit the pavement of the parking lot. From some distant location came five more Valkyries. I knew this was more of an opposition than we had been expecting, but still nothing our joint forces couldn’t handle.
I peeked out from my hiding place to make sure things hadn’t dissolved into complete chaos. The three wizards were standing at the far end of the parking lot, with the werewolves standing guard around them, all in their wolf forms.
Half of each fae court was standing near the perimeters of the parking lot, focusing all their energy on the magic that deterred humans from coming to investigate. Surprisingly, both fae courts hadn’t sent as many warriors as I had expected; I think even Mikhail was surprised by how few had joined the fight. The few fae not focusing on our perimeter were standing with the vampires.
Unlike the fae, the seethe had provided nearly every vampire within its walls to fight Sedgrave. Admittedly, the weaker ones were left on the sidelines until called in. Most likely they wouldn’t be needed, but Mikhail wasn’t taking any chances.
I was just beginning to crawl out from under the car, my skin still blister-red, when Sedgrave grunted, pushing outward with his arm. At the same time, the five or six cars nearest him slammed away from him, some of them rolling with the force, while others crashed into other parked cars. I ducked as the car half-covering my body flew away, landing on top of a forest green Mazda convertible. The Mazda gave a shudder before collapsing under the weight of the German-made sedan.
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Emma caught between two crumpled cars. Thomas was by her side, trying to free her. Other vampires and fae had likewise been caught unprepared by Sedgrave’s attack.
The aftermath gave him time to regroup with his nine Valkyries. Even the burly body guards from the restaurant had turned into women riding skeletal horses. All nine Valkyries drew their swords, preparing for the fight.
I knew by the end of this the chances were I would be dead, but before that could happen, there was something I had to do
first.
I left the others to battle Sedgrave and his flunkies, while I crawled under the mass of broken cars. Unless the plan had changed, I knew where my true enemies would be, and I knew they wouldn’t be expecting an attack from me.
I reached the edge of the parking lot and slipped beyond the fae’s protective spell. It felt as though I had walked through wet cobwebs. I batted at my face, disgusted by the sensation, but kept moving. The fae on the boundary were too focused on their spell to notice me as I slipped around the edge to re-enter on the other side, far from where anyone thought I would be.
I reached the far end, near the cabinet store, and slipped back through the edge of the spell, this time ignoring the unnerving sensation entirely.
I spotted Orythyia standing beside the same enormous Rottweiler that had accompanied her before. The beast turned its head, its intelligent eyes staring me down, looking at me as though it knew my intentions. I felt the first wave of nerves hit. Could I even manage what I had hoped to do?
The dog looked totally badass.
The animal turned all the way around, crouching slightly in anticipation.
I brought an image of Chloe to my mind. The picture stilled my nerves and solidified my resolve. I let a supernatural growl escape my lips, calling Orythyia’s attention to me.
She had been watching the battle from a safe distance, a little smirk on her lips. Like every other time I’d seen the winter queen, she was dressed according to her own sense of fashion. Today she was dressed in a Princess Leia costume; the white dress reached the ground and revealed the exact shape of Orythyia’s little breasts. The queen even wore earmuffs made of brown yard braided and wound to look like Princess Leia’s iconic brown hair. It looked unusual clipped to her raven blue-black hair. To top it all off, Orythyia held a fake blaster pistol. Based on the way it sloshed, I suspected the last piece of her ensemble was a water gun.
Of course, I took all this in in a second before shifting my gaze back on the Rottweiler. Looking at Orythyia had been a mistake. The dog was already in motion. I crouched low and grabbed the collar as it barreled into me. We went to the ground together. The beast managed to sink its teeth into my shoulder, so I returned the favor.
The Series that Just Plain Sucks: The Complete Trilogy Page 66