“We need to speak to the head of your Clan. Is Christian here this evening?” Dorian asked, though we both knew the answer to that question. Christian Dogaru, the centuries-old vampire master, was at his beloved club every night of the week.
“You may have been welcome here in the past but not anymore. No Unbounds allowed into the club,” one of the bouncers said before turning to me with a sniff. “The Shadow can go in if she’d like, but any and all alliances will be moot if she causes trouble. And her dagger’s got to stay out here with you.”
Dorian opened his mouth to argue, but I held up a hand to stop him. “It’s fine. I don’t need my dagger in there anyway.” With a flick of my wrist, I tossed my weapon to Dorian. Instantly, I felt as if I’d thrown away part of my soul and part of my heart. Hell, it felt like I was standing there buck naked in front of at least a hundred vamps and humans.
I was practically powerless without my blade. If they decided to attack me, I would have no kind of defense.
“You can’t go in there by yourself,” Dorian said, his muscles tight as he took a step closer to the bouncers. “Just let me talk to Christian. He’ll let me in if he knows it’s me. I’ve never once caused any real trouble here in all the years of Slayerville’s existence.”
The bouncer merely crossed his arms and shifted in front of the door. “The order came from Dogaru himself. You aren’t getting in, Kostas. If your girl here needs to talk to him, she’s going to have to do it alone or not at all.”
Dorian puffed out his chest and held my dagger up before him, moonlight glinting off the weapon’s blade. The back of my neck prickled in alarm, warning me that his actions could lead to a terrible fate. Before he could cause any irreversible damage, I pulled him back and put my hand on his chest, pleading with him through our bond.
“It’s fine,” I said in a whisper. “I’ll be careful.”
Dorian’s scowl deepened. “Dogaru did this on purpose, knowing we’d eventually come back for one reason or another. He wants to get you in there by yourself.”
“I said I’ll be fine, Dorian. I’ve spoken to him without you once before. Remember?” And it had been the reason I’d gotten the Enforcer job in the first place. The Dogaru Clan had been convinced that the Bone Coven as a whole had been acting against them. Really, it had just been one rogue agent. One who we delivered to their doorstep after I tracked him down. And killed him. Because of that, I’d been able to negotiate to reinstate the alliance between the covens and the Daywalkers, and the Clan leader had seemed annoyed if not impressed by my grit—although some might call it stupidity.
“Fine.” Dorian growled and put some space between us. Nothing in his expression resembled anything even remotely close to fine. He not only hated watching me walk into a dangerous vampire club all on my own, but he also hated being sidelined. Dorian was the kind of guy who liked to be in the very thick of it. Doing something. Making a difference. And standing out here waiting for me definitely wasn’t that.
The bouncer nodded and stepped aside, unclipping the red velvet rope so I could push through the thick double doors. As soon as I entered the club, my senses were overloaded by everything that made Slayerville the vampire club it was. Sensual music thumped loud in the steel-encased warehouse, the heavy bass thundering against my boots. Clouds of incense hung heavy in the large expanse, shot through with the unmistakable scent of iron and sweat. Bodies writhed to the music, and black metal cages suspended from the ceiling held dancers in heavy makeup, their bright red eyes following my every move.
As I strode through the club, I realized I had no idea how to find Christian Dogaru. He could be anywhere in this large space, though I imagined he kept hidden in a VIP room somewhere in a quieter section than the main floor. Out of the corner of my eye, the long sleek bar caught my attention, manned by the same bartender as the last time I’d been here. A thin, luminescent vampire with fake horns perched on top of his head.
When I reached the bar, I dropped my elbows onto the counter and leaned forward to catch his attention, though it didn’t take much effort on my part. He’d had his eyes on me since I began to move his way. When he strode toward me, he flashed me a wicked smile and pointed at the sign advertising Slayerville’s signature cocktail—the Cloud Red. The drink that made all one’s inhibitions flit away into the darkest parts of the night.
I would not be drinking any vampire elixir tonight.
“It’s been awhile, but you’re back for more, I see,” he said with a wink. “How many glasses of Cloud Red would you like? Surely you aren’t here all on your lonesome. Or are you?” He cocked his eyebrow and waggled it suggestively. “You don’t smell like you’re a stranger to mixing blood with vampires.”
My whole face went hot, burning brighter by at least a thousand degrees. Was it that easy to tell that I’d tasted some of Dorian’s blood? And that he’d had a drink of mine? While Dorian didn’t have an enhanced sense of smell, the Daywalkers here did. Just how much could they tell from a sniff of the air? Could they actually smell Dorian’s blood in me? If that were the case, every other vampire in this place knew exactly what I’d done. How fucking humiliating.
“Where can I find Christian Dogaru?” I asked, deciding that ignoring his comments would be better than letting him see me flustered. “I need to speak to him.”
His horns shifted on his head as he began to laugh. “Honey, we all need to speak to Dogaru, but he only makes time for the kind of people who don’t have to come in here asking about him. In other words, a little witch like yourself isn’t going to be particularly high on his VIP list. In fact, you wouldn’t be on it at all.”
I’d forgotten how irritating this vampire was. What was his name? I glanced at the name-tag. Fane Dogaru. So, he was an actual direct descendent of Christian. Interesting.
Before I could get another word in edgewise, the bar hushed from behind me. The thumping music even softened to a distant hum. Turning, I found Christian Dogaru standing with his hands clasped before him, flanked on each side by impossibly large vampires. Everyone around us stared. The humans, the vampires, even the stone gargoyles that decorated the walls.
“Zoe Bennett,” Christian said, arching a perfectly-plucked eyebrow. “Imagine my surprise when my bouncers informed me you were here.”
“Zoe Bennett?” Fane Dogaru asked from behind me. “So, you’re the witch who stopped the war?”
Not really, I thought to myself. Sure, war had been a threatening shadow on the coming hillside, but that was all it had ever been. I’d only put a stop to the threat of it. Temporarily. The vampires were just as aware as I was that the alliance was now shaky between us. One wrong move on either side, and the momentary peace would be a forgotten pin in an otherwise long and brutal history.
Ignoring the bartender, I gave a nod to Dogaru. Most vampires bowed when they approached him, but that was a bit too much for me. “Sorry to burst in here unannounced, but we have a pretty big problem. And, as it turns out, you might be the only one who knows how to stop it.”
Christian Dogaru’s lips quirked. “You want me to help you? Our debts to each other have been paid, Miss Bennett. I have neither the time nor the inclination to assist the Bone Coven with anything else.”
“This isn’t for the Bone Coven,” I said, curling my hands into fists. “At least, not solely. It’s for everyone. Me, you, the humans who come here. It’s even for the vampires in your Clan. All I need you to do is answer a few questions, and it may end up saving us all.”
“How very dramatic.” Christian Dogaru considered me for a moment before nodding and flicking his fingers. “Very well. Come with me.”
The bodyguard vampires—or at least that was what I assumed they were—led us through the thick crowd, past a velvet rope, up some stairs, and into a room on the second floor that hung over the main section of the club. The small balcony jutted out over the bodies that were dancing and drinking below us, giving us the perfect view of every corner, every table, every custome
r. Up here, it was clear that Christian Dogaru could see every little thing that happened in his club. Even if he stood at a distance, he was in full control of it all.
“Sit,” he said, motioning to a chair just at the edge of the balcony.
With a nod, I sank into the seat and watched him do the same after pulling a second chair to my side. A moment later, he flicked his fingers at a server waiting in the shadows. “A drink for the lady? A Cloud Red perhaps?”
“Yeah, you’re not going to get me with that one. Sorry.” I turned to the server. “Just an iced water for me, thanks.”
Not that I would even drink that. Not in here.
“So polite,” Dogaru said with a patronizing smile. “Quite the opposite of how you were the last time you were on my premises.”
“Yeah, well, the last time I was here, two of your vampire friends were eating my best friend. Didn’t really give me the urge to be polite, if you know what I mean.”
He leaned back in his chair and gave me an appraising stare, one that made me want to squirm, though I forced myself to remain still and calm. “Why are you here, Zoe? I can see it’s not to make small talk.”
“You fought in the war,” I said without further preamble. No reason to beat around the bushes. Dorian and I needed answers fast, and I had no desire to get caught up in the whirlwind of this place, drinking vampire elixirs and forgetting myself.
“That’s correct.” He rubbed his jaw. “Is that why you’re here? To ask me about the war?”
“In a way,” I said. “The thing is, I’ve never truly understood what it was the vampires did in the war. You can’t banish demons like we can, and they aren’t corporeal. How do you fight something that’s more like a cloud of smoke than an actual being of flesh and blood? Something so intangible?”
Christian Dogaru tapped his chin, sizing me up with his dark and stormy eyes. “One might wonder why you’re asking these questions. Is this for some kind of research you’re doing as part of your little training? Or are you doubting our involvement in the war?” Dogaru leaned forward, and his voice turned dark and dangerous. “Because I will not be questioned in my own home, especially not about the deaths of so many of my sons and daughters.”
Even though Christian Dogaru wasn’t the birth father of most of the Daywalkers in his Clan, he was their father nonetheless. His blood and power ran through their veins and hummed in their hearts. They were his, and he was theirs. And he took any insult against one of his own more strongly than he took an insult aimed at himself.
“I’m not questioning it,” I said. “I just don’t understand it.”
“You don’t need to understand it. It’s just how it was.” Dogaru began to stand. “Now, if that’s all you wanted to grill me about, I think it might be time for you to leave. Vampire clubs are no place for young shadow mages pretending to be bone mages. While the alliance exists between your faux coven and my Clan, there is nothing of the sort for Shadows. You have no protection here, Miss Bennett.”
“Wait.” I stood. “I know you aren’t a fan of mages, particularly not ones like me, but we have a serious situation on our hands here. A demon has fled into the world, and Dorian can’t figure out how to make his venom work. All I’m asking is for you to explain the magic, so we can prevent this from happening again.”
Dogaru raised his eyebrows and settled himself back into the chair again. “Oh my. Well, this is certainly far more complicated than I expected. You say a demon has escaped? From its physical confines?”
I nodded, relieved he saw the full gravity of the situation. “In the past week, we’ve encountered two separate demons who are seemingly immune from our banishment spells. One of those, just tonight, escaped from the crypt where it had come through the veil. This was after Dorian tried to bite it. We’re aware that vampire venom can destroy a demon, so we were attempting to banish it that way. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.”
“I see.” Christian Dogaru laced his hands together and leaned back in his chair. “Where did you hear this venom talk?”
“The Magister explained it,” I said. “He told us it was how the Daywalkers fought the demons in the war.”
He shook his head and let out a laugh. “Is your council really that unaware of what happened?. I knew most of them didn’t fight in the war themselves and weren’t even on the council then, but surely they must have more solid information than that. Zoe, we fought demons in the war, but we didn’t bite them ourselves. It was much more complicated than that.”
“Okay.” I nodded, not at all surprised that the current council was so confused about the vampires’ true part in the war. Leaning forward, I looked deep into his eyes, to show him that I was serious with my next words. “Then, tell me. I want to understand it, even if they don’t have a clue.”
“They would be better off to have a leader more like yourself. Someone who seeks out the truth,” Dogaru said, resting his chin on his steepled hands. “There were two fronts in the war. The front that you are most aware of is, of course, the one where your beloved bone mages fought. Those were the demons who had not yet gained the strength to break free of their typical weaknesses. The ones clustered in buildings. In railroad stations, in theatres, in stadiums. I confess, they were strong, but they were easy to track down and easy to surround. And they could be banished by your mages.”
I nodded along. This was everything I knew about the war. It was what my parents had fought against. Even what my Grams had fought. They’d sought out the demons wherever they were confined and banished them back into their realm one by one. But then where did that leave the vampires?
I leaned forward even more. “And you? What did your Clan do?”
“As the veil weakened, the demons became stronger,” Dogaru continued. “Some, as you’ve experienced, were immune to the mage’s powers. After some time, these immune demons were able to break through and become corporeal. Their physical forms manifested. My Clan fought them while your mages took care of the others.”
Chills swept through my body as the world tipped underneath my feet. Never had I heard of this particular part of our shared history. Never had I imagined it was even a possibility. Demons of flesh and bone would be far dangerous than the ones I had encountered so far. They would be able to fight in ways their shadow forms never could. They could smash someone under their monstrous feet. They could use their claws and teeth to rip people to shreds. They could fly through the skies and rain destruction upon this world.
“And they weren’t restricted by four walls, were they?” I asked in a soft whisper.
“Unfortunately not,” the Clan leader said. “They could move freely, and they had few restrictions. We were very nearly beat, Miss Bennett, though that I’m sure you know.”
“I don’t understand.” Mind reeling, I stared hard at the vampire. None of this made sense, but there was a harsh truth to his words I couldn’t ignore. “If demons were flying around killing people, how are humans still unaware of the supernatural world’s existence?”
Christian Dogaru smiled. “You would need to ask the fae about that.”
“Right.” I shivered again, struggling to comprehend everything I had learned. The truth was, the situation was far worse than I had originally thought. If the demons we’d encountered had already broken free of some of their weaknesses, then the veil was getting destroyed. Fast.
But how? And why? Most importantly, how much?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a vampire motion frantically to Dogaru. Frowning, he stood. “I am afraid that my Clan needs me. I hope you got what you came looking for, Miss Bennett.”
“Wait.” I stood quickly and held out a hand to stop him before realizing that touching the powerful leader of a vampire Clan probably wasn’t the greatest idea. “Just one more question before you go.”
With a flicker of irritation in his eyes, he stopped once more. “One question, Miss Bennett. And then I must ask you to go.”
“Your venom destroys them, r
ight?” I asked. “Do they need to be corporeal? And if so, do you just bite them and that’s that?”
He smiled at that. The kind of smile that sent shivers down your spine. The kind of smile that made your blood feel like ice. “Venom can work on a non-corporeal demon, but it must be dripped into its mouth as that is the only part of it that is present in this realm. If the demon is corporeal, a bite from the right kind of vampire can work, but that is not how we fought them. In most battles, we used our speed and strength to severely weaken them. At that point, they were no longer immune to your mages, though it often took many fights to get to that point. We only used the venom when absolutely necessary.”
Relieved, I filed that information away. It might not be the best news in the world—I had no idea how we would manage getting some vampire venom into the demon’s mouth—but it was a place to start. And if things got worse and the demon’s physical form manifested, at least Dorian would be able to sink his teeth into its skin.
But Christian Dogaru’s smile still twisted his lips, and a sudden rock of dread tumbled into my stomach.
“There is something else you should know, my dear,” Dogaru said. “We rarely used the venom because we did not have a large supply. You see, a Daywalker’s venom will not destroy a demon. Neither will an Unbound’s for that matter. No, to destroy a demon, you need venom that comes from demons themselves. The venom of a Nosferatu vampire. Here’s a tip: find them and cut out their fangs.”
Christian Dogaru turned away, cackling underneath his breath as if this was the greatest joke he’d ever heard. And to him, maybe it was. Sinking onto the edge of the chair, I stared at his retreating back. The entire future of the world felt stripped bare, and everything I thought I knew was wrong. Why had the council kept this information from us? Did they even know the truth about how we won the war?
And how the hell were we going to fight demons without a stash of Nosferatu vampire venom?
Witch's Storm (The Bone Coven Chronicles Book 2) Page 13