by Ann Gimpel
“The magic was in flux for at least the first two weeks after the Cataclysm formed,” Ketha cut in. “We saw it happening and guessed wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Juan asked.
“We—the other Shifters and I—assumed it would dissipate, and we’d be able to rent a car and drive north out of here. Or get on a plane. Instead, it grew steadily worse until nothing could penetrate it.” She took a measured breath. “I could communicate beyond Ushuaia for several years after we were trapped here. I stole what I needed from an electronic shop and fashioned a ham radio setup.”
“I did much the same, but with Arkady’s radio equipment,” Viktor said.
“So you found out that the Cataclysm did pretty much the same thing all over the globe.” She eyed him.
He nodded. “I never actually talked with anyone, but I picked up radio broadcasts.”
“They were petering out about the same time my primitive setup failed.” She rolled her shoulders to relieve an iron bar of tension sitting between them.
“Petering out because?” Juan raised one eyebrow.
“I suspect the Cataclysm doesn’t want us to join forces with anyone. It’s sentient, which means it’s able to modify itself.”
Viktor removed her pack from his shoulder and set it down. “That’s a chilling thought.”
He turned to Juan, directing his next words at the other Vamp. “What I’m about to tell her will implicate you if Raph grills you.”
“So?” Juan inclined his head.
“So, I’m giving you a choice. You can leave the cabin. I’m certain Ketha can ward it so you can’t hear what we say. It’s probably safest for you.”
“Nope. I’m already in so deep, I can’t see where one more thing will make much difference. Besides, the main thing Raphael will want to know is if we found her.”
“Maybe so.” Viktor turned both of the room’s chairs toward the bed and perched on its edge. “Settle in. This won’t take long.”
Ketha took one of the indicated chairs. Juan stood behind his.
“When I left your cell—” Viktor cleared his throat and started again, but color stained his cheeks. “I wasn’t thinking straight. Instead of heading down the mountain toward the city, I followed the track up.”
“Wasn’t aware it even went that way,” Juan mumbled.
“Yeah, neither was I,” Viktor said. “Anyway, it’s obviously not traveled at all, and hasn’t been for a good long time. I followed it until an enormous bramble bush blocked the path. It wasn’t something I could’ve climbed over—not easily, anyway—so I looked for alternatives.”
Ketha leaned forward, magic senses ignited. Her seer gift was activated, but she had no idea why since she hadn’t summoned it, nor gazed into her glass.
“I’m betting you found something.” She focused on his eyes that had darkened to a mossy shade of green.
He raked his hands through his hair, shoving it away from his face. “You’d be right. A faint trail led upward. I followed it more by feel than sight and eventually crawled over the top of a ridgeline. I expected to see the other side of the mountain, but, instead, this large, protected plateau spread out before me, complete with a few condors—”
“Did it have cliffs on two sides? Rock-studded dirt and pools of clear water?” Excitement thrummed through her, and she got the same tingling sensation she always did when two halves of something magical found each other.
Viktor had been staring at the floor, and he raised his gaze to stare at her. “Yes, but how could you possibly know that?”
“Because I saw it in a vision.”
Juan plopped into his chair. “Come on, you two. This just edged into Twilight Zone territory.”
Viktor faced his friend, his expression drawn into world-weary lines. For the first time, he looked like the Vampire he was, and it both attracted and repelled her. “We’ve turned into Twilight Zone creatures,” he said, his words edged with sorrow. “Why is it so hard to believe I found the same place she saw in one of her trance states?”
“Maybe because Vamps don’t have that kind of magic.” Juan looked away, hazel gaze averted to his hands clasped in front of him. “And maybe because I never gave up hoping someone somewhere could turn back the clock and undo whatever transformation made me into a Vampire.”
His words struck a chord deep in Ketha. The group in Siberia had been aiming for a blending of magical lines. Loosed to finally complete itself, the spell would alter Vampirism permanently.
“If we can defeat the Cataclysm,” she said slowly and deliberately, “Vampires will change, but I’m not certain quite what that will look like.”
She kept quiet about her fears that Shifter magic mixed with Vampire abilities would lure bond animals that made hellhounds pale by comparison.
Chapter Nine: Strong Magic
Viktor swallowed hard. Juan had the guts to admit he hated being a Vampire. Though the words were there, crowding behind his throat, Viktor couldn’t force them out. To do so would mean he couldn’t keep smiling nicely at Raphael. To do so meant he’d have to stop pretending and launch a full-scale rebellion against his sire.
Was he ready to take that step?
“Vik? Was there more?” Juan reached over and tapped his knee.
Viktor pulled himself out of his funk fast. It wasn’t difficult. Acting as if all was well had become second nature. “Yeah. I checked all the caves off the mesa, and there are over a dozen of them. Judging from drawings on the walls, early humans lived there, but that’s not the important part.” He inhaled sharply, blew it out, and did it again. “The water up there is good, not tainted.”
“How is that possible?” Ketha asked.
“I have no idea,” he admitted. “Probably because of that, though, it’s a condor nesting colony.”
“I’m confused,” Juan broke in. “Clean water only goes so far. What do they eat?”
“Pools in the caves are brimming with fish. The birds have apparently adapted to eating live prey.” Viktor shifted his gaze from one shocked face to the other before adding, “I didn’t believe it, either, until I grabbed a couple from one of the pools and ate them.”
“Holy godhead.” Ketha got to her feet and walked to where Viktor had dropped her pack in a corner of his cabin. Kneeling, she opened it and withdrew a thick, black book bound in creased leather. She paged through it, clearly hunting for something.
“What is that book, and what are you looking for?” Viktor asked.
“It’s a spell book. This seems like a rehash of the creation story. I want to know if any other precedent exists for it, but it’s not as if this tome is indexed. Either it shows you what you want—or it doesn’t. Right now, it’s not cooperating.”
“Fascinating, but a sideline to our discussion. My plan,” Viktor went on, “was to come to your cell and move you to the mesa. You’d have food and water and shelter in the caves. And a respite because none of the Vamps know the place exists.”
She rocked back on her heels and looked at him. Her eyes were cloudy and distant, as if she’d moved to the realm she visited in her glass. “I have to get my sisters. We’re all supposed to be there.”
She looked so vulnerable and so raw, he moved to her side and drew her to her feet, book and all. Once she was standing, he wrapped his arms around her and held her with the book sandwiched between them. The Shifter tome sent jolts of uncomfortable heat into his chest, but he ignored them.
“Tell us what you saw in your vision,” he urged. “Not that I’m opposed to helping spirit all of you up there, but it increases the chance of discovery tenfold.”
Ketha nodded slowly. Extricating herself from his embrace, she retreated to her chair and sat on the edge of it. “I truly believe I have a way to defeat the Cataclysm, so the barrier will fall and nature can return to normal—at least in this part of the world. I’m less certain whether we’d be able to leave here. The Cataclysm is a widespread phenomenon. Crippling it in Ushuaia may not impact it e
lsewhere.”
“What? So you think it’s like a hydra that will cut its losses?” Juan asked.
“What did you actually see?” Viktor prodded without waiting for her to answer Juan.
She sent half a smile their way. “I don’t know the answer to your question about the Cataclysm. Maybe a better place to start is how seer magic works when it comes to future events. Viewing the past is as simple as dialing up a movie. I don’t always hit the exact spot I’m aiming for, but so long as a competing spell isn’t occluding my efforts, I can ‘see’ the past accurately.”
“What’s different about the future?” Juan asked. “Other than it obviously hasn’t happened yet.”
“That would be exactly why it’s different.” Ketha narrowed her eyes to thoughtful slits. “There are many possible futures. No one knows with any degree of certainty which one will happen until it does. I have several methods I employ to gauge future events. One uses a timeline where I view snapshots, moving up and down it until I find a likely candidate.”
“If you find one you like, can you influence it?” Viktor asked.
“Sometimes.” She hesitated, maybe collecting her thoughts. “It was only very recently I saw the event that I believe precipitated the Cataclysm. My best guess is whatever spell blocked my efforts was locked into a ten-year timeline. In any event, Vamps and Shifters combining their disparate power—and then having sex—formed the Cataclysm. It’s a calculated guess on my part, but I believe if we can recreate that combination of energies, minus the sex that sent the spell south, we can kick the Cataclysm’s ass. The original spell can roll on through to its conclusion, which will withdraw whatever energy it’s been feeding into the Cataclysm.”
“Why do you believe sex was the problem?” Viktor asked.
She shrugged. “Because congress with Vampires has always been forbidden.”
“If your calculated guess works out, what happens to Vampires and Shifters afterward?” Juan asked. He sounded so hopeful, it made Viktor’s heart hurt for his friend. He’d had no idea how much Juan hated his Vampire status.
Ketha closed her teeth over her lower lip. “In truth, I have no idea. The original casting sought to create a permanent blend between Vampire abilities and our own. At the end of it, you would have been able to shift. I suspect if we can complete the magic, get it back on track, the spell will play itself out. Or maybe it will unwind completely. These things are impossible to predict.”
“If it unwinds completely, we’ll still be Vampires. How would the original spell have impacted Shifters? You told me once we were opposites who needed each other to exist.” Viktor sent a penetrating glance her way. He had a feeling she was hiding something, but he had no idea what it might be.
A crooked smile lit her features, turning her into something unearthly and lovely. “I guess I did tell you that. None of this makes a whole lot of sense to me. Not yet, anyway. Making Vampires stronger via an infusion of Shifter magic could create a demon-spawned race no one could stand against. Why any group of Shifters would take part in something like that is baffling.”
“Did they have a hidden agenda?” Viktor played possibilities through his mind.
She studied her hands. “That’s exactly what I’ve been hoping, but I’ll never pick up that level of subtlety through scrying.” When she looked up, her expression was solemn. “Forcing the spell through to its conclusion is a gamble. It will probably defeat the barrier trapping us here. How it will impact Vampires or Shifters is far from clear, but we don’t have much choice. If we do nothing, we’ll all die.”
“How does the mesa play into things?” Juan got to his feet and jammed his hands into his pockets.
Ketha aimed her next words at him. “So far, I’ve seen four visions of possible futures. Three included Raphael. In one, he tossed a dead Shifter into the ocean. In another, he was a reluctant recruit, but he was at least helping with the spell to defeat the Cataclysm. In the third, he flipped me off and marched away.”
“And the fourth? The one without Raph?” Viktor stared down at her.
“That was the one on the mesa. I didn’t summon that one. It formed spontaneously in my glass. All the Shifters were there and six Vamps. You and Juan. The two who dropped me in front of Raphael the other day, and two more I didn’t recognize.”
“How do you decide which version to give credence to?” Viktor asked.
“I pick the one that seems to hold the best chance of success. I’m not certain how to explain it, but when you were talking earlier, describing your trek up the mountainside...” She stopped to suck in a breath. “Before you’d even reached the mesa part, I got a magical hit. Kind of like a mild electric shock, and I knew what you were about to say would reveal something critical.”
“So that’s the one we go with,” Juan said.
“It gets my vote.” Ketha nodded slowly. “The only piece I was missing was where the plateau was. I’d never seen anyplace like that around Ushuaia, and now I know why. Once I woke up from where you found me in that stairwell, I was planning to look for it. Since I’d seen condors, I thought maybe if I followed some of them, they might lead me to it.”
“Do you honestly believe you could have spent that much time outdoors and not had a Vampire net settle squarely over your head?” Viktor demanded. Fear for her ran deep, and a savage protectiveness rocked him to his bones. Because of that, his words were harsher than he’d planned.
“I hadn’t gotten that far.” Ketha sounded defensive. “I was afraid to put my sisters in any worse danger, so I was going to try to locate it on my own.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to be critical.” Viktor looked away. “We probably need to check in with Raphael.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Juan said. “We don’t want to arouse his suspicions. Not any worse than they already are.”
“How about if you show up first? Tell him I’m finishing my transit of the underground tunnel system, and I’ll be along presently.”
“Will do,” Juan agreed. “Any idea what happens next?”
“I need to talk with the other Shifters,” Ketha said, “but I can do that from here via telepathy. Once I describe how to get to the mesa, they can stagger who goes when, so only two of them are exposed at any given time.”
“Why two?” Viktor asked.
“More than that are hard to conceal, but we do better when we combine power. It boosts each of our abilities. Plus, that means only six trips before all of us are safe. Maybe seven if I don’t pair up with someone.”
“I’m out of here,” Juan announced and focused his next words at Ketha. “Hopefully the next time I see you will be on the mesa.”
“If the goddess grants us grace, it will be,” Ketha called after his retreating form.
“That was an old-fashioned, almost religious, thing to say,” Viktor murmured, aware he and Ketha were alone, her scent heady and compelling. What would she do if he drew her against him again and held her close?
“Shifters are spiritual beings,” she replied, and cast an appraising glance his way, almost as if she’d read his mind.
Who knew? Perhaps she had.
Viktor crossed the room and sat next to her on the bed he’d slept thousands of nights in. “I’d like to know more about you.” He wanted to touch her, lay a hand over hers, but he didn’t.
A complex array of emotions rippled across her expressive features before she caught his gaze with her golden eyes. “I want to know more about you too, but right now that’s not a good idea.” Before he could protest, she hurried on. “The most important thing is defeating the Cataclysm while we still can. Too many more months, and we’ll all be too depleted to weave the magic to trounce it. For all I know, we may have passed that point already.”
She licked her lips but didn’t break eye contact. “You may have found food and decent water, but even though it’s enough to keep a flight of birds from extinction, twelve Shifters and a hundred Vamps will decimate it in a matter of weeks
. Maybe less.”
“That’s accurate, and I should remain true to the bigger picture, but...” Words failed him. How to articulate what he felt?
Ketha saved him the trouble. “I know.” She laid the spell book aside and reached for his hand, cradling it in hers. “I feel the attraction too. I’d love to lose myself in your arms and feel your mouth on mine again. Once we defeat the Cataclysm—if it ever happens—there should be time to see if we’re even still the same people. You may not want me once your Vampire energies change.”
Viktor shook his head. “I don’t believe that. You brought something alive in me that’s been dead or dormant since Raphael turned me. You sing to the humanity left in me. That’s only going to grow stronger if the Cataclysm crumbles.”
Because he couldn’t stand not to touch her, he cradled her head with his other hand, the one not clutched in hers, and threaded his fingers into her silky multihued hair.
Her gaze warmed, eyes becoming liquid with desire, and she murmured, “You make me weak, destroy my resolve,” just before she tilted her head and touched her mouth to his, barely brushing her lips over his.
She tasted of love and longing and the life he’d left behind when his ship, Gavrill, pitched aground on rocks guarding the South American coastline. He traced the outline of her firm, full lips with his tongue. Little biting kisses followed, and he angled her head to bring his mouth down hard on hers, tongue probing for entrance.
She groaned softly before opening her mouth to him and tangling her tongue with his. Somehow, her arms had wrapped around his body, holding him with an urgency twin to his own. Her fingers splayed across his back, nails digging into his flesh. His cock hadn’t exactly retreated since swelling to fullness in her bedroom back at the Shifters’ grotto. It pressed against the front of his pants, uncomfortably close to the release he’d denied himself since being turned. Even though Vampires welcomed opportunities for sex, he’d chosen to maintain a separation from whom he’d been before. Sex had been part of that. Doing without hadn’t felt like much of a sacrifice. Forcing himself on an unwilling human wasn’t a place he’d ever have gone, and the female Vampires didn’t appeal to him on any level.