Grumbling under her breath, she didn’t realise she was being followed until she was well into the woods.
She stopped, looking around her, suddenly wary. The moon shone, but it couldn’t penetrate into the thickest part of the trees, and it was dark in there. She moved until her back met a tree, her feet sinking into mulch and dried leaves, and brushed her fingertips against the roughness of the bark.
She’d been cold in the fresh October night, but suddenly the temperature plummeted, and her breath frosted before her face.
Her heart pounded so loud she had trouble listening for sounds of whoever was following her. Was it Damien? Had he come to bring her back? Something settled over the woods like a heavy fog, invisible, but she could sense it, like a cloud of evil, oppressing and dark, causing fear to rise up inside her. She knew she stank of it, as if she’d eaten garlic, only not so obnoxious to vampires. Her skin prickled, and she had the same feelings she’d had outside the service station: uneasiness and a sensation of panic. Was he here? Had he somehow breached the magical barrier around The Crux?
Suddenly she felt incredibly foolish trying to run away from the house. Damien had thought her so important he’d driven her all the way to Devon to keep her safe. Even though she’d resented the way he’d done it, he’d had her best interests at heart. She knew absolutely nothing about vampires other than what she’d seen on TV—she had no idea how to fight one, how to kill one. Were shows like Buffy based on fact—would a stake through the heart kill one? Or chopping off its head, or setting fire to it? She had neither sharp weapon nor fire, but she could probably find herself a stake.
Before she could bend down and search on the ground for a branch, however, a hand clamped over her mouth, pulling her to the side, then another arm wrapped around her, pressing her arms to her sides.
Fear rose like a snake inside her. Her heart hammered, and she tried to rip her head free and scream, but his arms were too tight, and she could barely move. She was about to bite hard on his hand, when a low voice came against her ear. “Kimi? Don’t struggle—it’s Robert, Damien’s father. I’m here to help, not to hurt you.”
She was so relieved she nearly passed out. She stopped struggling and went still, breathing hard beneath his hand.
“Keep quiet, okay?”
She nodded, and he released the hand over her mouth, but kept her pressed close to him, so he could whisper in her ear.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded again, swallowing, then said softly back, “The vampire’s here, in the grounds.”
“I know.”
“Where’s Damien?”
“Hunting him down.”
A shiver ran down her from the top of her head to her toes.
“Are you cold?” he said, obviously feeling her shake.
She shook her head. The thought of Damien out there protecting her had warmed her from the inside out.
“I’m going to take you back to the house,” Robert said, stepping away from her, but keeping hold of her arm.
“No.” She shook herself free. “Thank you for coming to find me, but I’m not leaving him out here alone.”
He gave her an impatient look. “He’s a big boy—he can cope with one vampire.”
“I’m not going.”
“He wanted me to take you back. You’re a liability out here. He’ll only worry about you, and it will distract him. Herne knows he doesn’t need that tonight—he’s had enough whisky to do that for him.”
She hesitated. She didn’t want to leave him out there, but also didn’t want to make things worse for him. She nodded reluctantly to Robert, who gave an exasperated sigh and mumbled something about ‘hormonal teenage witches’ before starting to walk back toward the house, keeping a tight grip on her arm, so she had to stumble along behind him. Ahead flapped a large brown hawk. Was that his spirit guide?
What was it with these Stone men? She remembered how Damien had grabbed her arm at the nightclub and practically dragged her outside. She thought about him out there in the woods, alone, facing some hideous demon, and bit her lip. But Robert wasn’t concerned about him. Clearly, he did this kind of thing a lot.
Just then, she tripped on a fallen branch and fell forward, hitting the ground before Robert could catch her. She rolled, not making a sound, but grimaced as pain shot through her hand where she’d tried to save her fall.
Robert put a hand under her arm and heaved her to her feet. She held up her hand, catching a view of it in a sliver of moonlight that shafted through the trees. Dark red liquid oozed from the cut. “I’m bleeding,” she whispered to Robert.
He swore violently.
“It’s okay, it’s not bad,” she said, surprised.
“Doesn’t matter. He’ll still be able to smell it.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Robert’s face was grim in the semi-darkness, and he’d gone completely still, searching the forest before them. Had he heard something? She licked the cut on her hand, trying to suck away the blood, grimacing at the metallic taste. Her breathing came quickly—was the vampire close? What had happened to Damien?
Once again, the air grew cold. She held her breath as something rustled in the trees to the south. Someone—or something—was running through the wood toward them. Twigs cracked underfoot and branches whipped as the figure pushed through, not caring whether they could hear him or not. Her heart seemed to rise into her mouth, and terror turned her stomach to water.
Suddenly there was an explosion as if someone had let off a flare, and a loud crack filled the air like a rifle shot. Another flash of light illuminated the trees, so bright it lit the whole forest. A high-pitched screech made her jump with fright, a sound so inhuman and evil, so loud and high, it made her teeth ache. The scream cut off abruptly. She could only imagine why.
“Looks like Damien found him,” Robert said, starting to push her backward. “Quick, let’s head back to the house.”
Kimi followed him but kept looking back to where the scream had come from. Was Damien all right? Had he killed the vampire—was that what the screech had been?
Robert stopped so suddenly she bumped into him. Ahead of them, the hawk had stopped moving and hovered uneasily.
“What?” Her skin crawled, and her breath misted once again before her face.
“There’s another one,” he said softly. “Ahead of us, in the bushes.”
Kimi’s mouth went dry. “Another one?”
“At least one.” He frowned. “Maybe more.”
Kimi clutched hold of his arm. Why, oh why, had she tried to run away? Her hand throbbed and felt cold as the air touched the blood running down her arm. She could almost hear the vampire lusting after the liquid. How stupid was she, to cut herself when it was hunting her?
“What are we going to do?” Terror made her teeth chatter.
“Fight them,” Robert said firmly. He glanced down at her. “Don’t worry. This is our territory.”
But the vampires had broken through their magical fence, hadn’t they? She didn’t understand. Where had they come from?
There was a movement in the trees to her right, and she spun around to face it. Robert turned and then ducked instinctively, pulling her with him as something sailed over their heads. She stared as a wolf landed in front of them beside the hawk, crouching and snarling at something in the trees ahead. Its fur was a beautiful silver-white.
“Storm…” She turned her head, knowing who stood in the shadows. Damien stepped out beside her. He wore a long black coat, almost invisible against the darkness of the wood. He was also breathing heavily, and sported a long cut across his face.
“You’re hurt,” said Robert.
“Bastard hurled a throwing star at me. Guess the whisky’s slowed my reactions. Got him though.” Damien came up behind Kimi, resting a hand on her hip. He murmured in her ear, “Trying to escape? I should put you across my knee for that.”
She turned to look up at him, and he winked at her. She glared back.
How could he be making light of this?
“There’s more than one, Damien,” said Robert.
“I know—I can feel them.”
Ahead of them, there was movement, and Damien and Robert stepped forward. They stood in an identical pose like a boxer’s ready stance, sideways on and light on their feet, left hand outstretched toward the figure that emerged from the trees.
Kimi stared at her first view of a vampire as it came forward into the strip of moonlight. She gave an involuntary gasp, bringing her hand up to her mouth, forgetting it was bleeding. This was no Hollywood interpretation of a demon with fake white fangs and a bad attitude. Though it was the same height as a tall, well-built man, the vampire’s face was drawn and white as snow, its pupils scarlet pinpoints of fire, its mouth a frightening combination of black flesh and irregular, sharp yellow teeth. There was something otherworldly and inhuman about it. It oozed evil.
Storm snarled. The vampire snarled back. Crouching, it left the ground with an amazing leap, jumping a good fifteen feet into the air toward them.
Chapter Eight
Kimi squealed, backing away into the tree, tasting blood and only then realising she’d smeared her hand across her mouth. The vampire hissed, but at that moment, both Damien and Robert cast a ball of fire from their outstretched hands toward the vampire, which erupted against its skin with an explosion of flame. The vampire dropped to the ground, screaming, but still alive. It rolled away from them, kicking out at the white wolf that tried to hamper its movement by snapping at its legs, and got to its feet, snarling.
Damien and Robert began to summon energy again, but a rustling in the undergrowth behind Kimi distracted her. She peered around the tree, squinting into the darkness. Was it just an animal? Her breath caught in her throat as she saw another pair of scarlet eyes watching her.
She backed up hurriedly, bumping into Robert, who turned, startled. “There’s another one,” she said breathlessly, pointing. He followed her finger and swore as he saw what she’d seen. To her alarm, another pair of eyes appeared a foot to the right, and then another…
“Damien,” she said hurriedly.
“I know.” He hurled another firebolt at the vampire nearest to him. “I can feel them. They’re coming from everywhere.”
“How many?” she asked.
He sent out a searching pulse. “More than ten. It’s an ambush.”
“Cast a circle,” said Robert, and Damien nodded. Back to back, with pointed fingers they quickly drew the shape of a large ring on the ground around them. A bright blue flame leaped up from the earth, encircling them in a cylinder of light about ten feet across. Storm jumped through it to crouch at Damien’s feet and Robert’s hawk flew above his head. As the vampires began to close in, they stopped and snarled as they reached the circle, unable to cross.
“It won’t keep them for long,” said Robert. He frowned, looking through the flames at the snarling, horrific faces of the vampires that had crept out of the shadows to close in on their prey. “Where the hell have they come from?”
“They must have just come through the veil.” Damien wiped his face, trying to get rid of the blood where the throwing star had cut him. He glanced at Kimi and his brow creased in concern as he reached out and touched her face. “You’re bleeding too.”
“It’s only my hand. I touched my face by mistake. What are we going to do?”
“We’ll have to fight,” he said. He looked at his father. “You were supposed to get her back to the house.”
“We didn’t have time,” said Robert impatiently. “She cut herself, and they smelled it and came straight for her.”
“How are we going to keep her safe?”
“Hello, I’m standing right here,” said Kimi hotly. “Don’t talk about me in the third person.”
To her irritation, they ignored her, continuing to talk tactics. She pulled Damien’s arm angrily. “I must be able to do something.”
The two men looked at her and exchanged a glance.
“I’m not useless!” she snapped. She glared at Damien. “You said yourself I was powerful enough to fight a dozen vampires—I just need to learn how.”
“This is hardly the moment…”
“Well it seems like now would be a jolly good time to have a first lesson. If I really am as powerful as you keep saying, there must be something I can do.” She heaved a sigh as the hawk hovering above Robert’s head brushed her hair for the third time with its wings. “Can you please keep this bird out of my way?”
Robert stared at her. “You can see Vigil?”
“Well, the goddamn thing keeps flipping its wings in my face.”
Damien shrugged. “Told you.” He sounded smug.
Robert looked completely shocked. He glanced back at her, newfound admiration in his eyes. He looked at Damien. “Is she powerful enough to attempt a red flare?”
Damien stared back. “I think she might be.”
She glanced from one to the other. “Okay, what’s that?”
“It’s a fire spell,” said Damien, “a wide area one, rather than a direct one. Think what happens when you drop a stone into water, the way a ripple spreads out. If it was powerful enough, it could take them all out. But it usually takes at least five casters to make it work.”
She swallowed, looking at the cruel, evil faces leering at her through the blue flames. “We’d better do something quickly—they look awfully keen to get through this barrier.”
“Do it,” said Robert. “Even if it doesn’t work, we’ve got to fight them anyway.”
“It’ll be one hell of a battle,” said Damien. He seemed excited by it, his eyes glowing with energy. He turned to her. “You want to try?”
“Sure.” Jeez, five hours ago she didn’t have a clue there were such things as vampires. If she were dreaming, surely she’d wake up soon?
“She’s not activated,” said Robert.
“I know—I closed her down in London.” Damien pulled her to him. His eyes were hot and mischievous. “Let’s fire you up,” he whispered, and, before she could answer back, he lowered his lips to hers in a fierce, hard kiss. Kimi gasped, but he didn’t pull away—he laced his hand through her hair and deepened his kiss, his tongue warm against hers, his other arm tightening around her waist, pulling her against him.
It was totally unexpected, and something popped between her eyebrows. Although her portal had already been open—it must have been, she thought dazedly, because she could see their spirit guides—at that moment he triggered something within her, and heat shot through her, burning down inside as if she’d drunk a whole glass of quality brandy, neat. It seared her, scalding down through each chakra, gathering in her solar plexus, and sparks erupted between them in a bang, making him take a step back.
“Damien!” Robert looked furious.
“It was the quickest way.” He met her gaze with wide, intense eyes and then glanced at his father. “You can punish me later.” He shook his shoulders and let his coat slip to the ground, grinning at her. “This is going to get hot!”
Kimi breathed quickly, her heart pounding as the surge built inside her the way it had at the nightclub. “What do I do?” she gasped, her hands growing hot, her hair beginning to crackle with static.
Damien grasped her right hand firmly, ignoring the sizzles that jumped between them. “Let’s do it,” he said, holding their hands out, waiting for Robert to place his on top.
The three of them stood like spokes on a wheel, right hands adjoined. Kimi looked across at the vampires, bit her lip and forced herself to look away as the blue flames began to die down and their faces leered with anticipation.
Damien touched her shoulder, making her look up at him. “You need to try and focus your energy.” He caught her gaze, his blue eyes dazzling her. “Force it to gather in your solar plexus, here.” He put his hand at the bottom of his ribs in the middle of his torso. “Then direct it to your hand. Imagine it as a golden liquid, as if you’re pushing it along to your p
alm.”
She nodded, heart pounding.
Damien closed his eyes. So did Robert. Kimi followed them, concentrating on the heat pouring through her.
“Focus, focus,” she whispered to herself.
For a moment, nothing happened. She frowned, desperate to help, but totally without a clue as to what she should do. She could feel the energy, but how did she make it flow out of her hand?
She remembered what Damien had said, that sexual desire and the flow of energy were separate things, but were all connected when it came to it. She thought of the way he’d kissed her, his hand cupping her head, his body pressed against hers. Her mouth opening under his, his lips warm, his tongue soft and gentle.
Heat shot through her again. But this time she imagined the power as a liquid, as molten gold, pooling in her stomach and flowing up her body and down her arm. She channelled it naturally, feeling a sudden rush as if someone had poured a huge bucket of hot water over her.
Something must have happened, because the two men gasped. There was an audible crack, and Kimi’s eyes flew open to see the three of them encased in a bright red light that poured down from the heavens as if a thousand watt torch shone on them. It flowed down them and spread out from their feet in a ripple, dousing the blue flame, then expanding outward rapidly in a circle of scarlet light.
There was a deep boom, the ground shaking beneath their feet, reverberating up through them.
Kimi felt as if she stood on top of a heat vent. Hot wind blew up, sending her hair floating around her head, and her body burned. Sweat ran down her back, and she gasped in shock. Part of her was terrified and wanted to stop, to step back and escape the feeling, but she ignored it, because another part of her, a greater part, suddenly understood what Ella had tried to explain to her. She was just a vessel for the power, as if she was a funnel collecting the energy in her crown chakra and channelling it down to her solar plexus. It didn’t come from her. It flowed through her. As soon as she thought that, it seemed the energy began to surge more easily. She welcomed it in, feeling it pour down through her, and sent it shooting to her hand, directing it into the pool forming with the two men.
Midnight Shaman, Fire Witch Page 7