Vampire Mage: An Urban Fantasy Harem (The Vampire Mage Book 1)

by Joshua King

  “What was that?” I asked. “Where was I? Why couldn't they hear me?”

  “That was the past,” Malakan said. “They couldn't hear you because you weren't really there. What you saw has already happened.”

  “To who? I wasn't even there. I saw Ty, but I didn't know the woman, and I've never seen that baby. I didn't recognize the place. I couldn't even really see where we were. It just looked like two dark rooms.”

  “The place may not be important,” he said. “I can't tell you what it means. The ritual is meant to open the past and show a critical moment that has already happened. Why that moment was chosen for you to see, and what it means is something you have to find out.”

  I didn't like that answer. It felt like another riddle I would have to try to solve. I had come here for answers, and instead I was just getting more questions.

  “What's next?” I asked, wanting to get the rest of the ritual over with as soon as I could.

  Malakan took the clear glass orb from my hand and put it back in its place on the table. He turned my arm over again and gathered more blood to put into the bowl. This time, the smoke that billowed out was blue. Just as he had before, Malakan gathered some of the smoke in his hands and carried it over to the table. He took up the blue glass orb this time and set it into my hand. I watched as the inside of the orb began to swirl and bubble like the first one had, and an image began to appear. I leaned into it, waiting for the moment when I would flash into the scene. Even though I was expecting it, it was still a shock to find myself standing on an expanse of hard gray stone. Unlike the first vision, I could see my surroundings now. I was standing on a cliff that jetted out over the water. In the distance, I could see the lights of the city.

  This time, I also saw myself. It was shocking and disorienting to see myself standing a few yards away, completely unaware that anyone, especially me, was there. I was looking at my back as the figure of myself stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the city. I jogged over so I could look more closely at myself. As I approached, I realized the figure was holding something. It took a few more steps to realize what I was holding was the limp, broken body of Aurora. She was draped across my arms, not responding, seemingly unaware of anything. I couldn't bear to let myself think she was dead. The longer I stood there, the more I was aware of tremendous heat and the smell of smoke. There was also something less tangible. As I looked down at Aurora, I could feel the heavy, crushing presence of deep sorrow. I noticed something glint on Aurora's chest, a sliver of something that caught the moonlight. I stepped up closer and saw she was wearing a pendant around her neck, resting between her breasts. It was the same silver pendant from the first vision I’d had, a fearsome dragon clutching the moon as it flew.

  Coming back into reality was less jarring this time than the first, and my eyes snapped open to look at Malakan.

  “What was that?” I asked. “Why would you show me something like that?”

  Malakan shook his head, his face serious.

  “I didn't show you anything,” he said. “I told you, those images are not my choice. I'm just here to perform the ritual. What you see and experience is up to the spirits.”

  “The spirits?” I asked.

  “The essence of magic,” Malakan said. “The energy within everything. What lingers after someone is taken from the earth. There are many different types of spirits, and warlocks are able to summon them, to channel them, and to utilize them. That's the gift of our species. All I can do is bring the right spirits together here with you, so they can show you what you need to see. You saw the past, and now you've seen the future.”

  I shook my head vehemently.

  “No,” I said. “That can't be the future. Something like that can't be what's ahead of me. I was just standing there. I had her in my arms, but I wasn't even looking at her. I was just standing there holding her while I looked out over the city like I was lost. It felt like something horrible had happened, and like it was my fault. I can't let something like that happen to Aurora.”

  “That is, in this moment, your future. Whatever happened to lead to that moment is something that's ahead of you.”

  “So, you're telling me there's nothing I can do about it? I just have to accept that whoever or whatever these spirits are decided what I needed to see was Aurora dead in my arms after a fire?”

  “Like I said, that moment, as of right now, is ahead of you. It is the future of this very moment you are living. Maybe it won't be the future of the next moment if you can change it. But for now, what matters is this moment, and the time has come for that. You've seen the past, and the future. Now it's time for you to see the present.”

  “I don't want to,” I said. “That was awful. It felt so completely real, like I really was just standing there next to myself on the cliff. But there was nothing I could do. I had to just stand there and look at Aurora lying dead in my own arms. I was completely helpless, and that's not something I deal well with. I don't ever accept being helpless.”

  “There's no other way, Hayden. This is what must be done. If you want the answer to your question, and to be able to witness life even at the end of next week, you don't have a choice. You have to go through this ritual, all of it, and only then will I be able to give you the answer you need.”

  “There has to be another way,” I said. “We're just wasting our time here.”

  “We're not wasting our time, and there is no other way. You agreed to the terms of the arrangement with Aurora, and then with me. You can't change them now.”

  “What terms?” I asked. “What agreement? She called me to meet her at an office building and told me if she decides to complete the transformation, will be bonded to each other for the rest of existence. If she didn't, I'd be dead within a week. She said in order for me to get the blood I need from her , I had to have her question answered by you. I didn't agree to any of that. Everyone around me has made it extremely clear that I had absolutely no choice in the matter. Whether I liked it or not, she'd already started the process.”

  “Did you end your life?” Malakan asked.

  The question felt like a punch to the chest.

  “Did I do what?” I asked.

  “Did you end your life?” he asked again.

  “No, but from the stories told by your neighbors under the bridge, I probably could have found my way here a hell of a lot easier if I had tried to.”

  “And when I told you the only way for you to get the answer you needed was to go through this ritual, and to give up some of your own blood for it, did you then end your life?”

  “What are you asking me?” I asked.

  “You found yourself in these situations, and the expectations and terms were clearly given to you. Aurora told you exactly what you needed to do in order for her to trade you the blood you need to complete your transformation. She offered you all you needed, as long as you brought her back the answer to her question. When you came here, I told you I would give you your answer, but you first needed to give your own blood and submit to the ritual. In both situations you were told exactly what was to happen. In neither did you choose to end your life, and thereby avoid having to follow through with those expectations. You accepted the terms, Hayden. You no longer have a choice. You have to continue.”

  Gritting my teeth, I held my arm out for a final time. My hand closed around the green orb Malakan placed in my palm. I hesitated to look into it, but I forced myself to watch the change at its core and allow it to take me in. It happened faster this time, and in an instant, I was standing on a smooth polished floor in a room filled with the flickering light of dozens of candles. Ahead of me was a platform. Dangling over it, bound by her wrists above her head, was Ashe. She was hanging from the ceiling and her head was sagging toward her chest. Fear rushed through me, and I ran toward her. She drew in a ragged breath as I approached. I knew she couldn't see me, but the fact that she was breathing was reassuring. At least she was alive.

  I looked more closel
y at the platform and saw she was hanging above a shallow pool of red. The blood beneath her had spread across the stone of the platform thinly enough that I could see a carving beneath it. It was the same image I had seen in each of my visions, a dragon with the moon clutched in its claws.

  Even though I knew I wasn't really there, I reached for Ashe. I tried to grab onto her so I could get her down. My hands moved right through her. I wanted to be back in Malakan's house, but I didn't know how to will myself there. I continued to linger. There must have been something more I was supposed to see. He had told me these visions were designed to show me specifically what I needed know, and obviously there was something more I needed from this place. Not wanting to leave Ashe's side, I reluctantly climbed down off the platform and looked around the space. Just like with the vision of the future, I could see my surroundings this time. They were even more clear than in this vision, but I didn't recognize where I was. It looked like a huge old church, but I knew I'd never been there before. I tried to take in every detail I possibly could. The rows of pews on either side of the long aisle. The elaborate stained-glass windows stretching nearly from floor to ceiling every few feet along the walls. The smell, something sharp and yet dusty at the same time.

  Before I could venture any further into the room, I blinked and opened my eyes, finding myself back in the chair. Malakan was in front of me, watching my face. The expression on it confirmed to me for the first time that he could see what I was seeing. I put the orb back in place on the table and jumped to my feet.

  “Where is she?” I demanded. “She's still alive right now, but she's hurt, and I need to find her. Tell me where she is. Now.”

  27

  “Ask me what you want to know,” Malakan said. “What the visions didn't tell you.”

  “All the visions told me is that Ashe is in serious danger. I need to get to her. I've gone through the ritual. I did my part. Now you need to do yours. What is so special about me that Aurora sent me here? What do you need to tell her about me? Where is Ashe? And what does the Dragon have to do with all of this? In each of those visions, I saw the image of a dragon holding the moon. That has to represent Lunaris, and the Dragon. What does it mean?”

  Malakan shook his head slowly.

  “I can only answer one question for you,” he said.

  “What do you mean you can only answer one question for me?” I asked. “You didn't tell me that before.”

  “It is customary,” Malakan said. “The magic of the ritual lets me answer one question, and one question only. It's up to you to decide which you ask. You can either ask me where you can find Ashe, or you can ask to give you the answer to Aurora’s question, the answer that will save your life. You cannot have both.”

  Hesitation didn't even cross my mind. I knew immediately which question I wanted answered.

  “Where is Ashe?” I asked.

  Fear for her life was making my heart pound in my chest. The seconds were ticking past, and felt like each one was bringing her closer and closer to destruction. I knew if the blood under her was her own, it wouldn't kill her, but it would make her weak. She wouldn't be able to fight and protect herself. I needed to get her away from the Dragon, and I didn't have time to search for her myself. The emotion on Malakan's face was indecipherable. He nodded once and leaned slightly closer as if to make sure I would hear him.

  “The Dragon have taken her to a temple across the city. She is there under the protection of mages. She is guarded, but only by a few. They believe they are too well hidden and too strong to be defeated, and there is no need to guard her any further than that. You, Hayden, can find her. And you can defeat them. Ashe can be saved, but it has to be done before the sun rises. If not, she will die at first light.”

  “That's all you can tell me?” I asked.

  He nodded again.

  “That's all,” he said. “It's all I know.”

  “It's going to have to be enough.”

  I ran out of the house and across the field toward the door in the tree. I opened it and ducked back into the network of halls and rooms within the cliff. Knowing it was far too risky for me to try to go alone, I went directly to the room where Malakan had left Ty earlier. Part of me worried he wouldn't be there anymore. I didn't know what might have happened during the time I was alone in the other room. Malakan could have sent him away. I pounded on the door as soon as I got to it.

  “Ty! We need to go. Now.”

  The door opened, and he stared out at me.

  “What's going on? Did you do the ritual?”

  “Yes,” I said. “And we need to get out of here. Ashe is in serious danger.”

  “What happened?” he asked, coming out of the room.

  I started down the hallway before answering.

  “The Dragon took her. They have her at a temple across town. She only has until sunrise.”

  “Where is Malakan? Did he tell you how to answer Aurora's question?”

  I shook my head but didn't look at him.

  “No,” I said.

  “Why not? He said he'd tell you after you went through the ritual.”

  “I was able to ask one question. I asked him how to find Ashe.”

  Ty's steps faltered.

  “Tomorrow is the third day, Hayden.”

  “I know.”

  “You're running out of time.”

  I stopped and turned to him.

  “I know. She has been there for me throughout all this. She's the first person I met in the Underworld, and even though she didn’t have to, she helped me. She could have just tossed me out of the bar the morning I woke up after Aurora bit me. She didn't have to tell me what happened or explain any of it. But she did. She's been there to try to help me understand. She has fought beside me when the battles haven't even been hers. I don't know what's going to happen to me, but whatever it is, it's going to happen. I'm not going to let Ashe die because of me.”

  I started moving again and headed for the door that led us into the brightly lit room at the entrance to the tunnel. Each of us grabbed one of the torches off the wall before delving back into the dark tunnel. I reminded myself what we went through on our first journey through the tunnel, and the knowledge that it would end eventually helped me stay calmer as the walls closed in around us. I knew we just needed to get back out under the bridge, then we could find our way to the temple. I tried to decide whether I should tell Ty about the vision of the past I had seen. I wanted to understand it, but at the same time, I didn't know if I really wanted to hear it. If what I had seen really was a look into the past, it might be something I don't want to know.

  “Do you have any idea where the temple might be?” I asked.

  I was moving down the tunnel as fast as I could, the torch held high above my head to shed as much light as possible. The way had narrowed again to the point that Ty was forced behind me, but he was close enough I could feel the heat of his torch on the back of my neck. It reminded me of the vision of the future I'd seen, and Aurora lying in my arms as I turned my back to the searing heat behind me. My stomach churned, and I forced my thoughts away from the image.

  “There are a lot of churches and temples in Solan City, just like in New York. He didn't tell you which one it was?”

  “No,” I said. “And I couldn't see the outside.”

  “What do you mean you couldn't see the outside?”

  “The ritual gave me a vision of the past, the present, and the future. I saw her in the temple. It was like I was right there. But I couldn't get out of the room, so I could only see where she was.”

  “What did it look like?” he asked.

  “There were pews. The floor was stone. And stained-glass windows. Huge stained-glass windows.” Something suddenly occurred to me. “There was a cross in one of them.”

  “So it's a church and not a synagogue or a mosque. That narrows it down. Not a lot, but some.”

  “Anything helps,” I said.

  The trip back through the
tunnel felt longer than when we had been making our way up to Malakan's house, but I knew it only felt that way because of my worry about Ashe. Finally, we were in the small entryway again, and we set the torches into the metal brackets in the walls before I opened the door. Night had fallen over Final View, and the flames in the trash cans stood out brightly against the darkness of the world beyond the bridge. I wondered how long we'd been with Malakan. Though each of the visions only felt like moments, I knew hours could have passed.

  “They're back,” someone said.

  Several people rushed toward us, gathering around and blocking our way.

  “Did you see him?”

  “What happened?”

  “What’s in the cliff?”

  “Get out of our way,” I said. “We need to leave.”

  A cackle reminded me of the man who had laughed at us when we first arrived, but this sounded more threatening. My eyes locked on the man laughing and I saw it wasn't the same person. This man appeared older and was better dressed than many of the others. I had the impression this community operated like a smaller version of the world around it, and within the hierarchy that controlled it, this man was toward the top.

  “Don't be afraid,” the laughing man said. “Night is no different here in Final View than anywhere else in Solan City. In fact, you might be safer.”

  He laughed again, and I took one long stride toward him, so I was within inches of his face. Though the expression on his face didn’t change, he took a step back.

  “I am not afraid of you or anything else I might find here,” I said in a low, controlled tone. “You saw what we did to the men who confronted us when we first got here. It wasn't the first time, and I won't hesitate to do it again. Get. Out. Of. My. Way.”

  The man stepped aside, and I pushed through the others. Ty and I broke into a jog as soon as we emerged from under the bridge and didn't slow until we jumped into his car. We roared back down the road.