by Lucy Lyons
“I’m not hiding anything,” he said calmly. He stumbled for a while before his lips parted again, the tip of his tongue quivering between his teeth. “It’s just that… centuries ago, the vampires and the angels were on the same page, they didn’t really disagree on anything,” he said. “At that time, the vampire council decided that they were going to pick one succubus and one incubus every century to be the chosen ones.”
“Chosen to do what?” Isabel asked, furrowed little panicked.
“To run the council,” he said. “Well, at the time, there was only one council for all supernatural creatures, you know, back when they all agreed… and when the vampires rebelled, nothing was the same again.”
“So they picked me to be the succubus of the century?” Isabel asked with a smirk.
But Oz wasn’t laughing. “They did, and now that vampires are on one side, and the rest of us are on another, you’re going to get tugged at from all sorts of different directions, and it’s up to you to find your way in the end,” he said.
“That’s the thing, how do I know who to trust?” she asked. “For all I know, you could just be another shape shifter,” she said.
“That’s why you’re special, Isabel,” Oz said. “You were born with this special skill, this ability to filter out stimuli, so you better use it,” he continued.
Suddenly Isabel felt pressured all over again. This was a nightmare for her. Then she remembered something. “You said the vampires pick one male and female, right?” she asked. Oz nodded. “Who’s the incubus?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Oz said with a smirk. Suddenly, Isabel heard a loud crash. She bounced to her feet and snuck back into her cell. The shadows were dancing on the walls again. Somebody was here.
CHAPTER 12
“Oz, what’s going on?” Isabel asked, her eyes darting back and forth frantically. Something was going on outside. She hopped back to her feet again, clutching the iron bars, bracing for action. Something told her there was more to what was happening outside than just a guard brawl. Suddenly, she heard another loud crash, and one of the guards came tumbling down the stairs. Isabel eyed him as he lay there, motionless, drowning in a puddle of his own black blood. She looked over at Oz and his face was expressionless. He nodded to her.
“A storm is coming,” he mouthed. Isabel could feel her heart beat out of her chest. Was Analise coming for her? Were they going to take her away to the other mansion? Another loud crash. Analise’s dead body came rolling down to the bottom of the staircase. Isabel’s hand flew to her mouth.
“What’s happening, what’s happening?” she turned to Oz again. But he didn’t look at her. He just held onto the metal bars, his knuckles a screaming white. He was begging to come out. One guard flew down the stairs and landed on his feet. He was quickly followed by a silver haired ghost -he seemed to have come out of nowhere-and he started throwing punches at him. The first punch glanced the guard’s chin. He noticed too late that it was a feint, though, when the second punch doubled him over and expelled the last bit of air from his fat belly. He had the wind knocked out of him, and he fell to the ground, motionless. Isabel couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Has this man— or creature— single handedly knocked out every single guard up there? No, it couldn’t be. She watched as a red-haired girl rushed downstairs, hauling the bodies off the ground, making sure they were dead.
“What, Ava?” Isabel asked. She waited for the girl to turn around so she could make out who she was, and when she did, Isabel realized that those piercing eyes belonged to Ava. “Ava!” Isabel yelled. The girl stared at her knowingly, and then she motioned for her to stay where she was. Isabel sank to her knees, her nose poking out of the gap between the metal bars. She felt helpless, like she should be doing something and she wasn’t. Suddenly she felt a rush of energy surge through her. She shouldered her way out of her cell, pushing past Ava and making her way up the stairs. What she saw astounded her. The entire mansion was on fire. In the distance she could see shadows dancing, people throwing punches at each other, chairs flying through the fumes. All hell was breaking loose.
“Well, if it isn’t you, Isabel?” she heard a voice say, a voice belonging to none other than Gavin. “I didn’t think you’d make it out of there,” he said.
Isabel turned around, only to see Gavin climbing up the stairs. He looked as though he had appeared out of nowhere. “The succubi have revolted,” she hissed. “It’s already happening, you might as well just give up!”
“Oh, is that so?” he asked, tilting his head sideways. He cleaned his teeth with his tongue. Isabel cringed at the sight. “You’re the chosen one, Isabel, I suppose you already know that, by now.”
Isabel didn’t say anything. She felt as though she was pinned to the floor, transfixed by Gavin’s spell. She had to break out of it. She had to join the other side. He stood straight, eyes bulging with rage, and stared at his opponent, who had her hands balled up into fists. Without thinking, Isabel charged towards him. She threw a punch at him but it felt too sluggish. She knew the second she launched it. Gavin ducked under it, and before Isabel could register the dodge, another body shot, this one to his ribs, sent fresh ripples of pain through his torso. Isabel took a step back, eyeing Gavin as he sank to his knees in pain. She looked around, and Ava was still throwing punches at one of the guards. Before Isabel could do anything, Gavin wrapped his hands around her neck, and she sank to her knees, feeling the last bit of air being squeezed out of her. She felt like she was dying.
“This ought to teach you,” he snarled. Isabel looked at him, her eyes wide, and when she finally felt like she would slip out of consciousness, Gavin gasped and his grip on her loosened. She coughed violently, her throat burning, but she could breathe again. Gavin slumped onto the floor beside her, the wooden leg of a chair pierced through his back and protruding from his chest.
Isabel looked up and saw the silver-haired ghost. He was staring down at her. She instantly felt herself being hauled off the ground and onto a softer surface.
“It’s all over,” the ghost said. Isabel blinked repeatedly, the man’s face swimming in and out of view. She felt her lips curve to a smile when she saw Oz standing right next to him. “I’m Preston,” the man said.
“Isabel,” she replied, scanning the place with her eyes. Utter and complete destruction. The crystal chandeliers were swinging back and forth, the bodies of guards and vampires were lying around everywhere, people were trying to put out the fire.
“How about we get out of here?” he asked, reaching his hand out to her.
Isabel grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Lead the way,” she said.
She looked around and the flames didn’t seem to hurt her eyes anymore. For the first time, she felt free, like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. This was the start of something new, and the truth was, Isabel couldn’t wait.
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Owned by The Vampire
The Vampire War Part 2
Book 3
Lucy Lyons
© 2017
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 1
“He’s still breathing.”
“Should we kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
Isabel crouched down next to Gavin’s motionless body. He looked transfixed, as if put under a spell, but when Isabel pressed two of her fingers to his neck he still had a pulse. She looked to her side. The chair leg was still there, staring back at her, begging to be driven into his chest, not only once, but tens of times more. Gavin had to be demolished; he needed to be wiped out. “I think… I think we should let him live.”
“What good would that do?” Presten asked, his eyes darting from Isabel to Gavin’s limp body and back again. “The whole house is in flames, we need to move fast.”
“Let’s take him to the other mansion.”
“The other mansion? Where the rest of us are?” Presten asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Smoke filled his view as he looked around, then a bright glint of orange. The fire screamed and Isabel held back a sob as she watched the house being swallowed up in engorging flames. All they could hear was the crackle of the white paint chipping., It was only then that they realized they needed to get out of there, and they needed to do it now.
“Quick, grab him by his legs,” Isabel said in a panic. They carried his motionless body along the flaming shards of wood that were thrown all over the place. The entire time, Isabel felt invincible. She felt like she could conquer anything. There she was, all partnered up with a man she had just met, and they were fighting evil together. Nothing could beat that feeling, the feeling of sheer empowerment; there was no turning back now.
“The entrances are blocked. I think the ceiling might collapse at any second,” Presten said, his eyes darting back and forth frantically. The tethered draperies had all caught fire, and they were blocking the windows, the only escape they had left.
“Wait— over there!” Isabel said, cocking her head towards a crack in the wall that she knew was part of a secret passageway. They exchanged brief glances before they charged for the entryway. Presten dragged Gavin’s body across the floor. Isabel ducked and held her hand out to him. They crouched down as near to the floor as possible and scurried outside. “We’re almost there,” Isabel said. “Just keep your eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel.”
“There is no light, Isabel,” Presten said.
“But there is.”
Suddenly the bluish hue of the night swam into view, and they found themselves out in the woods again. A cool rush of fresh air came over Isabel and caressed her face; she felt whole again. Presten stood by her side. Gavin’s body was spread out over the muddy grass. They knew they had no choice but to make their way to the other mansion.
“What do you think we should do with him?” Presten asked, turning to look at Isabel.
“We’re going to use him to our advantage; we’re going to make him ours,” she replied, staring out into the distance. Presten eyed her admiringly. He’d known before he’d even met her that she was the bravest succubus of their time, but seeing her in person was a whole other thing.
“Do you think we control him by now?” he asked, scanning the area around them. The fire wasn’t dying down, and it seemed like the place would eat away at itself until it turned into ashes. In the distance, Isabel could hear a chattering sound and as she turned around she thought she saw Ava, her red hair resembling the fire itself.
“Most definitely,” hissed the voice.
Presten jumped and turned around, his eyes wide. “Who’s there?” he asked.
“It’s Ava,” the voice said. She stepped closer to them, her face swimming into view. “Listen, Presten, you did the right thing by letting Gavin live,” she said, staring down at his motionless body. He seemed lifeless. Ava bent down to take his pulse and nodded to confirm that he was in fact still alive.
“He’s under our control now,” Isabel said again, her voice even more confident than before. “We bent him, so we might as well use that to our advantage.” Isabel caught a glimpse of something else lurking in the distant darkness; she knew it was Aden. “I wasn’t worried about you,” she said, her lips forming a smile as she called into the darkness.
“And I wasn’t worried about you,” Aden replied. “Let’s get this son of a bitch to the other mansion, the rest of the vampires can rot in hell.”
“Wait, what was that?” Isabel asked, cocking her head to the side to listen. Beyond the crackling of the fire they could hear rustling sounds. Was there yet another person lurking in the darkness? Suddenly, something jumped out at Isabel and she was knocked to the ground.
“I’m going to kill you,” a voice snarled, a voice Isabel immediately recognized as Analise’s. Isabel quickly rose to her feet and attacked with a strong right overhand punch. Analise stepped out of range, but before she could bring her hands up in defense, Isabel drove her shoulder into her chest, and she fell back, howling in pain. The rest crowded around her, throwing punches and making sure she would never be able to get back up again.
“Come on, we need to go… we don’t know how many of them are still out there,” Presten said, pulling Gavin’s body off the ground and started to make his way downhill. The rest followed, leaving Analise behind. Isabel tried to stop her mind from going off in all sorts of directions. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She had never felt this strong. Was it true that Presten had given her this strength? Better yet, was it true that they fed off each other’s strength? It was all an enigma to her; she needed time to get used to it.
“Wait,” Isabel said, suddenly freezing in her place. “Where’s Oz?”
All four of them stopped suddenly, like a flock of sheep that had been transfixed by some force of nature. “I’ll go,” Isabel said, her eyes locked on Presten’s. “The rest of you keeping going… we can’t all risk going back there again.”
Presten hesitated. “I think it would
be better if you and I stuck together,” he said. Isabel thought about it for a second before realizing he was right. “Okay, but the rest, head for the other mansion… Presten and I will meet you there.”
“We’ll take Gavin with us,” Aden said, nodding. “Take care.”
“Alright, let’s go back,” Isabel said, her eyes following the rise of the flowery hill. It was pitch black, to the point that Isabel felt like the darkness would swallow her alive. But she soldiered on, smiling at Presten every now and then to give him strength. With him, she felt invisible, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t conquer the dark alone. Oz was right, she really was powerful, and when Presten was with her, she felt even more so, like she could take over the world. They ran up the hill, as if pushed by some supernatural force. “Wait,” Isabel said, stopping dead in her tracks. “I smell something.”
In the distance Presten could hear footsteps pushing through the crunchy leaves. He froze in his place as well, trying to listen for any unusual noises. “What is it?” he asked, his head tilted sideways.
“It’s Oz,” Isabel said, a smile settling over her face when she noticed his wings in the dark. He was limping in their direction; his body looking as though it would collapse at any second. “Oz!” Isabel said again, hurrying to him. She had never been so relieved to see someone in her life. “I’m— I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice trembling. “Tell me, are you okay?” An immense amount of guilt washed over her. How could she have left Oz in there to die?