Awakening (Willow Creek Vampires Series Book 3)

by Stephanie Summers

  “I’m so happy to see you!”

  “Me, too, sweetheart. Is Sam with you?”

  Sabine shook her head. “No. Sam’s been missing in action since the other night.”

  Mary’s eyebrows raised as her mouth started to hang open. “What?”

  “Oh, God, no!” Sabine waved her hands wildly. “Nothing’s wrong! I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that. I introduced her to her mother and she’s been with her ever since.”

  “I knew her mother wasn’t dead. Just had a feeling all along.”

  “Come in here. No sense in standing out in the hallway.”

  “Where’s Remy?”

  Sabine stiffened. “I don’t know. He left a while ago. He never really tells me what he’s doing and, honestly, I don’t care to know what he’s doing either. What brings you here anyway?”

  “He sent this one,” she said, motioning her thumb in Damen’s direction, “to bring me back.”

  “And, no, I don’t know why. I’ve already told Mary the extent of what I know,” Damen said, plopping himself down on the edge of the bed. “For once, I wish I could read his mind.”

  The door whooshed open as Remy appeared in front of them. “You don’t have to long for listening to my private thoughts because I’m going to tell you what’s going on. First and foremost, I need the cloaking spell placed on the library and the dungeon dismantled.”

  “Hell to the no… I taught that girl the spell to help protect her, at your request I might add, and I’m not taking it down now.”

  Remy’s mouth hardened into a straight line. His eyes fixed on Mary. “Do it.”

  “I’m not scared of you. You know that, right?”

  In a flash, Remy had Mary backed against the wall before she had time to stop him. She threw her hand up and whispered something in Latin. Remy cocked his head to the side. “Oh… Yeah, that won’t work. So I suggest you do as I say.”

  “What the hell happened to you?”

  “This again…” he said, sighing. “I’m going to have to make some sort of sign and carry it around so I don’t have to repeat this for eternity. I died. I came back stronger than ever, and I don’t give a shit about anything or anyone.”

  Sabine let out a small breath as she looked away.

  “Tell me something.” Mary looked straight into his eyes and didn’t back down.

  “What?”

  “Why do you want the cloaking spell taken down?”

  His jaw clenched as he glanced at Sabine over the arm he used to hold Mary in place. “Because she hides from me, and I don’t like it.”

  “So, you’d rather her not have a place to be safe from other threats because she wants to ignore you from time to time? I don’t blame her for wanting to get away from you.” Mary scooted against the wall to the side and away from Remy. “Which way are the rooms you want me to de-spell?”

  “Through the closet and through the secret door by the fireplace.”

  Mary strutted over to the closet door and through to the back where she found the library. She went quiet for close to five minutes as she meditated, whispering inaudible incantations to herself. Finally opening her eyes, she said, “This one’s done. Show me the other door.”

  After the dungeon was magic-free, Remy asked to speak with her alone. The others left, but not without hesitation.

  “There is another reason I have summoned you here. I need a witch by my side.”

  “I’m not moving here. Forget it.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to. I want you to be Sabine’s mentor.”

  “Does she know what you have planned for her?”

  “No, but I’m sure she’ll agree. As I look back through my memories with her, I see that she very much enjoyed casting that cloaking spell, and she always seemed so intrigued by witches whenever he would speak of them.”

  “Who?”

  Remy crinkled his brows. “What?”

  “Who? Who is ‘he’? You said when he spoke to her about witches.”

  “Simple slip of the tongue. I was referring to myself as ‘he’ when I spoke to her about the vampire I was before I died. I thought it would make her get over him, or me, faster if she could see me as altogether different.”

  “Uh-huh… Because that was really going to work… I’ll train her, but I won’t do it here. I need to be on my own home turf with my own stuff so I’m not on edge all the time and can really focus on showing her the way.”

  “Fine, but you must stay here a little longer before you take her. I have another task for you to perform.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Everyone gathered in the ballroom, waiting for him to make his grand entrance. Like a shimmer of light, he materialized out of nowhere. Sabine wondered to herself why he would teleport when it normally drained him of energy. Guess it’s not a big deal anymore now that he’s Super Vampire.

  “The time has come for some of you to become vampire once more. The overwhelming majority of you will not be turned by me. My prodigy, Damen, has suggested I turn a select few of you. After that, those vampires may go on to turn others as they see fit. Damen will be changing some of you as well. Those of you whom I am gifting immortality to may now step forward. They know who they are already, so don’t try to sneak into the group if you aren’t one of them.”

  A few faces in the crowd began to make their way forward. The only one Sabine recognized was Gretchen. She reached out, squeezing Gretchen’s hand as she passed. She flashed an indifferent smile at her in return. Guess I sort of deserved that one.

  “Those who Damen has notified may also step forward.”

  More bodies moved toward the center of the room. All in all, there were around twenty people gathered in front of the two vampires.

  “Someone must go fetch Bastian from his cell. Who will volunteer?”

  “I will.” Sabine stepped forward, raising her hand.

  Rage flashed on Remy’s face. “You will not. He could easily overpower you. He may not be a vampire now, but he is still a man who happens to be bigger than you.”

  “I’ll go with her,” Sam said. “He won’t get anything over on me,” she said confidently. “I’ll shift into a tiger and swat his ass if he tries anything.”

  Remy nodded in Sam’s direction with a hint of a smile on his face. “Fine. Go, now. I want him here before we begin.”

  The two left the ballroom and headed back to Sabine’s room. In an effort to kill the quietness, she decided to chitchat with her friend.

  “How are you and your mom getting along?”

  “Couldn’t be better. Thank you so much for bringing us back together. I can’t believe I have my mother back.”

  “I’m happy for you.” Sabine couldn’t help but think about her own mother and wonder what she was doing and where she was.

  “For the entire first night, we just tried to get to know each other. I’ve dreamt of talking to my mother for as long as I can remember. It was amazing.”

  “I bet it was.” Sabine smiled warmly at Sam.

  “Oh, shit… Here I am talking about how happy I am with my mom when I know you’re worried sick about yours and your family.”

  “Don’t do that.” Sabine stopped and put her hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Don’t ruin your happiness with my issues. Promise me.”

  “Alright, I promise.”

  They continued to walk, making it back to the room quickly. Sabine made her way to the fireplace and pushed the stone that made the secret door open. As she walked quickly down the stairs, she noticed the dungeon seemed colder than usual and smelled faintly of something acrid.

  They stepped into view of the cell, only to find it completely empty.

  “What the actual fuck? Where did he go?” Sabine searched around in the dark. “Bastian?” she yelled.

  “It looks like he just disappeared. Look,” Sam said, pointing to the cell door. “It’s still closed and locked. He just vanished.”

  “Remy is going to have a shit fit over th
is one. How is this even possible?”

  “Was he still a vampire? Maybe we just didn’t realize it. He could’ve poofed his way out of here.”

  “No, he was definitely human… I think, anyway. He said he didn’t like being human and went into detail about how he felt.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s also a liar.”

  “True. We better go tell Remy.”

  “I’ll let you go first.” Sam stayed put and waited for Sabine to go ahead of her.

  “Gee, thanks!” Hand landing on her hip, Sabine let out a short chuckle.

  “What? He’ll be less likely to kill the messenger if you’re the messenger.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure of that one anymore.” Sabine headed up the stairs and back to the ballroom with Sam following close behind.

  She cautiously opened the doors and stepped through. Remy’s gaze landed on her. In an instant, he was before her.

  His face became stern and unmoving, save for the slight curling of his lip.

  “Where is he?” he asked through clenched teeth.

  “Gone,” Sabine said quietly, shifting her weight.

  Remy grabbed both Sabine and Sam around the waists and teleported to the dungeon.

  “What the hell did you do that for?” Sabine yelled as she yanked herself away from his grasp, becoming dizzy in the process. She looked over at Sam, who braced herself against the wall. Teleportation was an awesome thing to witness, but it wasn’t all that fun to experience as a human. It made Sabine feel like her head was on backwards and her stomach was tied in knots when she didn’t have time to close her eyes first.

  Remy surveyed the cell and the floor. “Did you have any part in this?”

  “Absolutely not!” Sabine said as she crossed her arms.

  “Sam?”

  “Hell no!”

  “There aren’t any fresh footsteps outside of the cell, except for yours, but there are two sets inside.”

  “How is that possible? Did someone teleport in there?” Sam asked.

  “More than likely.”

  “You and Damon are the only ones who can do that, aren’t you?” asked Sabine.

  “No. Some witches can do it as well. Go get Mary. Now!”

  “No need. I’m right here.”

  Remy was so entranced by the situation that he failed to notice Mary and Damen at the foot of the stairs walking toward them.

  “Did you do this?”

  “No, but I’d know that scent anywhere. Do you smell it?”

  “Of course I smell it. It’s eerily familiar, yet I can’t place it.”

  “Most of the time, the scent of magic is undetectable, except for those times when a witch expels large amounts of it. It’s my mother’s magic.” Mary’s mother, Kristine, had died placing the spell on Nicas that kept him subdued over the centuries. Though she was already dead, she had crafted the spell responsible for making the town residents forget about vampires once they left Willow Creek. She’d left it for one of her students to perform. “She loved that bastard so much that she left me behind without thinking twice about it. No doubt she’s done whatever she could now to save him.”

  “When Sara Crowley was haunting me, she mentioned that your mother had enchanted her so she wasn’t able to tell us what was hidden here. She was already dead when she did that, so I guess it makes sense that she could still use magic even now.”

  “That still doesn’t explain the extra set of footprints. Ghosts don’t leave them behind. Damen, try to figure out if any of our guests have left abruptly.”

  Damon nodded. “I’ll ask around. I can’t remember all the people who have been here since this all began, but someone might have noticed something suspicious.”

  Sam spoke up. “Maybe Sara could help you again.”

  Sabine shook her head. “She’s gone. I haven’t seen or heard from her since before Remy killed Nicas. Taking Bastian down was her only concern. Once that happened, she was just gone.”

  Remy waved his hand nonchalantly. “He is human now. He is no threat to me. I’ll find him sooner or later, and he’ll regret it when I do. Come…” he said as he turned to leave. “I have business upstairs to attend to.” He touched the small of Sabine’s back to guide her up the stairs.

  She stood firm. “I’m going to bed. I have no desire to see a bunch of people turned into vampires,” Sabine said.

  His jaw clenched as his hand dropped to his side. “Fine with me. You can be good and rested for my next feeding.”

  “Can’t wait,” she muttered as she walked up the stairs.

  CHAPTER 8

  Remy sunk his teeth into the flesh of eight different people. He drained them of half their blood and had them feed from him as he passed some of his power to them, willing them to become vampires. The process was very easy, if not boring, for the standard maker/progeny relationship. However, there was another way to turn someone. Very few vampires ever employed the method, though it was more entertaining, if not mind blowing altogether. The concept of creating a mate was not one most vampires embraced though, and the process was rarely used.

  After Damen turned his chosen lot, Remy summoned Mary forward.

  “You performed an unbinding spell on me, yes?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Do it for my new progenies as well. They’ve all been vampire before and don’t need me to teach them the way. I’d rather cut them loose than to have to deal with them for another second.”

  Gretchen stepped forward. “Even me, my brother? I will be weak and may still need your protection.”

  “Especially you. I’m not your brother anymore, and I don’t need a reminder of what I used to be.”

  Gretchen clutched her chest and hung her head. Glancing at Mary out of the corner of her eye, she whispered, “Unbind me first.”

  *

  “I haven’t found out anything yet, and now people are starting to leave. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to track down some mysterious person who vanished into thin air.” Damen paced back and forth across the large room.

  “Keep looking. Someone has to have seen or heard something suspicious. Have you checked the other dungeons?”

  He stopped, looking down at the floor. “No. I didn’t even think about it.”

  Remy threw his hands into the air. “Must I do everything myself?”

  “Yeah, maybe you should.” Damen’s eyes darkened as he glared at Remy. “Frankly, I’m getting tired of your bullshit already.”

  “I will go look. In the meantime, I suggest you leave. I’ve had enough of your bullshit as well.”

  Moments later, Remy stood before a row of cells, four on each side. There were only two prisoners being held there at the time. One was a former vampire who had crossed over the Willow Creek border without Bastian’s permission. Remy had been told she was being held for questioning, though that didn’t matter to him at all. He couldn’t care less about who came and went through the town or their reasoning for doing so.

  He came to the pitiful creature in her cell, her blonde hair darkened by dirt and her face sunken in from malnutrition. She had been far older than any of them could know, and he remembered her from years back. It was a mystery to him how Bastian was able to capture her in the first place. But then he remembered that Bastian had been drawing his power magically and was stronger than most vampires. She’d been stunning as a vampire, but was now sickly and weak as a human.

  Feeling a pang of sympathy for the woman, he opened her cell door. Bending his head to her, he drained her of most of the blood she had left.

  Biting his wrist, he held it to her mouth. “Drink, my child.”

  Her lips weakly covered the rapidly healing wound and took his blood into her mouth. His power washed over her, mingling their blood. Within seconds, her skin and eyes brightened. “Go upstairs to Mary so the unbinding spell can be completed.”

  “Thank you,” she said and left.

  He moved further down the corridor to the cell that housed the other
prisoner—Brendon. He was going to take joy from torturing this one. Brendon had been allowed to feed on Sabine, and because he was a sick and twisted former offering, he took great pleasure in hurting her. He didn’t even allow her to scream from the pain. He will pay for what he did to her. As soon as the thought entered his mind, he stopped in his tracks. Why do I keep doing this? I love her, so why is it so difficult to show her that I still do?

  He growled loudly as the empty cell came into view and the same acrid scent hit his nose. “Bloody hell!”

  Searching for more evidence, he noticed only one set of footprints inside the cell this time, instead of the two he’d seen in Bastian’s cell. Kristine must have taken control of Brendon’s body, but why wouldn’t she just take over Bastian’s body instead? Unless she wanted to be able to communicate with him. She used this one because his absence wouldn’t have been noticed right away. Clever little witch…

  Speaking of clever little witches. I’ve got my own to attend to.

  *

  “Sabine?” He sat down next to her and gently touched her shoulder. “Wake up.”

  “Bite me… Oh, yeah, I forgot. That’s what you’re planning to do, right?”

  “Soon, but I have something to discuss with you.”

  “What?”

  “I’m sending you to live with Mary for a while.”

  She sat up, searching his eyes for any sign of deceit. “Why would you do that?”

  “I want her to teach you magic. She’s the best witch for the job, and I need you to learn.”

  “So you’re sending me away? So much for trying…”

  “There are more important things to worry about at the moment than whether or not we’ll be lovers again. I need a witch, and I want you to be the one.”

  “How long will I be gone?”

  He shrugged. “However long it takes. That really depends on you and how willing you are to learn.”

  “Mary said it took years and years to master witchcraft and magic. You’re letting me go for that long?”

  “If necessary.”

  “When do I leave?”

  “In the morning, but I need to feed from you first.”

  “How will you ever live without my blood?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm to her tone.