by Eve Newton
“Who the fuck knows, but you are…” She twirls her hand at the side of her head, “…fucking delusional. Stalker-bitch.”
“You know deep down that you were put here for a higher purpose, Aria. Don’t tell me that you don’t feel it. I know, because I feel it too.” I try the gentle approach with her as the aggression is just getting us nowhere. We are both too damn stubborn to stand down, but now I have to take the high road, because it is clear she wouldn’t know the high road if it hit her in the face.
“How do you know all of this anyway?” she asks me, huffing out a breath.
“I am a Seer. I have visions. I have had them since I was a little girl, barely old enough to understand what was happening to me. They have all led me to you. Eventually. A couple of centuries has been a long wait.” I smile at her, a close-lipped one as my fangs are aching to drop, so hungry am I.
“Visions?” she scoffs. “This is getting even more far-fetched.”
“You need to believe me, Aria. War is coming and we are the only ones that can stop it. And speaking of stopping things, whatever the hell you were doing in here with one of them, I suggest you put an end to it before you get us all killed.” I am firm with my suggestion, so that she knows it is, in fact, an order.
“Say I believe you,” she says, her gray eyes flashing as she struggles to ignore my order. “What then? Who is this ‘other’ that is supposed to complete the circle?”
I frown and turn away from her. “That I don’t know yet. All of my visions thus far have been about the coming war and leading me to you. You are…” I really don’t want to have to say it out loud to this arrogant bitch, but needs must. With a noise of exasperation, I continue, “…you are important. To me. I am hoping that now I have you, my ability will enlighten me to the third.”
“Have me?” she spits out. “Okay, yeah, great. Get on that.” She pushes past me.
“Where are you going?” I ask her.
“I have business to take care of, and by the sounds of it, so do you,” she calls back over her shoulder.
“Humph,” I say crossing my arms. Although, I am glad to be alone. This whole set-up creeps me out, all these wolves so close to me. And I can tell how unwelcome I am here. I don’t know yet if Aria fully believes me, but she believes enough, and that will have to be good enough for now.
I turn and head back to my own bedroom down the corridor. As soon as I enter the room, the dull ache turns into a white-hot stabbing pain and I gasp. I quickly close the door. I cannot have any of these creatures seeing me have a vision. It will put me at great risk if they know how vulnerable I am when one of them hits. No one can ever know what a drooling mess I turn into.
I stumble forward as my eyesight goes blurry and I make it to the small double bed just in time for my knees to give way.
I am assaulted with flashes of images, all things that I have seen before, but with one change. Now in the circle, I see myself holding hands with Aria and a man. The final piece to the puzzle of the circle has been revealed to me and I know what, if not who, he is and where to find him. Too bad I am twitching and slobbering like a pooch and cannot move anywhere right now. I just close my eyes tighter and wait for it to pass.
***
After too many minutes have passed, the worst of my vision hangover has faded and I sit up. I clutch at my head and growl, “A warlock!”
I have been dying to get that out since I saw him in my vision. And not just any warlock, but one so powerful, from the oldest of the Coven’s, that it is clear to me that he is the one to bring forth the power that will take out the Ambassadors. And I have to say, Jesus, he’s good-looking to boot. Long, dark, silky hair to his shoulders, piercing blue eyes, a body that has to be sculpted by the gods themselves and tall, so tall. I heave a sigh. I cannot let that distract me.
Aria and I now have a clear mission objective: find this warlock.
I grimace as I really don’t want to work with them, but in a way I guess it makes sense. One of each of the ‘Tainted’, as they call us. I am also relieved, as I stand up and brush my already impeccable jeans off, that the warlock I have seen isn’t the warlock that I screwed at Simon’s. God, that would have been awkward!
After finishing off two blood bags from the cooler that Simon left for me, I splash cold water on my face, rearrange my hair into a neat bun, and reapply my make-up. I pucker up in the mirror and then swear at myself. “Christ, woman. This is business, not pleasure.”
But, I smile at myself anyway and then I turn away from my reflection to go and find Aria and tell her of my latest vision quest.
Chapter 12
~Ember~
I find Aria, talking in hushed tones with the man who led me to my bedroom. Carver, I think she said his name was. Things are getting quite animated, but as soon as they both sense me they shut their mouths and give me tight smiles, which I return.
Carver gives me a wary look which increases when I flash him my teeth and say brightly with a sultry look, “Hi, Carver!”
He blushes furiously and stammers, “It’s—it’s Carter,” before Aria dismisses him with a look of scorn.
“Don’t play with my pack,” she warns me.
“Where’s the fun in that?” I ask.
“Touch them and you die. Got it?”
“What if they want to be touched?” I ask with an arched eyebrow.
“They would never fuck a vamp,” she says in disgust.
“So rude,” I reprimand her.
She gives me a curious look. “How come your mood has changed? You seem, I dunno, happy or something.”
“I have found our missing third,” I say and snap my fingers at her. “Come.” I walk away expecting her to follow me, but she stands her ground with her arms crossed.
“Snap your fingers at me one more time and I will remove them,” she threatens me in much the same way I did to her about her eye rolling. It makes me laugh inside. I am older, wiser and more experienced. She is so young and it shows in her attitude.
“How else am I expected to get you to heel?” I ask her, thoroughly amused by her outraged expression.
Whatever she was about to blast at me is interrupted as several males in her pack walk past and I can’t help but breathe in deeply. Their scent is so masculine and feral. I bet they taste….
“Don’t even think about it,” she growls at me, grabbing my arm in her powerful grip.
“Relax,” I say shaking her off. “I would never kill one of your pack.”
The flash of shock in her eyes startles me. “Kill?” she asks. “You bite to kill? Every time?”
“Of course,” I scoff at her. “Vampire, remember?”
“But…”
“Oh, you think I am somehow reformed and only take sips from murderers or something?” I ask with a smile.
“The blood bags,” she says, pointing back to the rooms. “I just assumed…”
“Ugh, they are a temporary fix,” I say with disdain. “I need more than they can give me,” I add evasively. No way am I telling her that my abilities cause me to drink more in one day than the average vampire needs in a week.
Usually.
This whole situation since I nearly got caught has thrown me out of my routine and it’s making me even edgier than normal.
“So you’re telling me I brought a fucking cold-blooded killer into my home?” she says, the edge in her tone making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at her aggression.
“All killers are cold-blooded, Aria,” I say with a slight shake of my head at her naiveté.
“No!” she says loudly. “Not always.”
“How do you figure?” I ask, intrigued by her adamancy.
“If you kill to protect or to fight for what is yours,” she says.
“You think that makes it admirable?” I ask. “Interesting.” I ponder that, searching her eyes, but she has closed herself off even more than usual. She either fights the darkness in her or just assumes it is her wolf doing all of th
e violence. Sooner rather than later, she needs to learn that her mother’s side is what makes her so strong.
“Time is wasting,” I say spinning around, done with this pathetic conversation. “We need to move.”
She reluctantly follows me out to the Lambo and slides into the passenger seat in silence.
***
As I struggle to maneuver this low slung, rear wheel drive, hyper-car down the mountain track, I let out a huff of frustration. “If I had known you were bringing us into the middle of the sticks, I would have swapped it before we left,” I say, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
Nothing.
“I’ll have to change it before we come back up here,” I add.
Still nothing.
“I’ve had it too long anyway; I guess I should find something a little less conspicuous.”
“Yeah,” she snorts suddenly, “cuz nothing screams ‘look at me’ quite like the bright orange cock extension we are in right now.”
I look over at her and then I let out a howl of laughter. A genuine laugh that has my sides shaking and makes me pull off to the side of the track so that I don’t crash and send us tumbling down the mountainside.
I slap my thigh as I scream with amusement. Aria looks over at me, a smile tugging at her lips and eventually she just can’t contain herself any longer. She bursts out laughing with me and for several moments the tension dissipates as we share the joke.
Gasping for breath, I try to get myself under control. “Girl, you are a riot,” I say to her as I restart the stalled engine and take off again under lighter circumstances.
“So I’ve been told,” she says, with a smile. “So where exactly is it that we are going?” she inquires after a beat.
“Not sure,” I say, biting my lip. “I’ll know when we get there.”
“Huh? How does that work?” she asks.
“It’s complicated,” I reply. Actually it isn’t, I just don’t want to share all of my secrets. The vision is acting like a GPS and is sending me where it wants me to go. It is taking its toll on me and more blood is going to have to be consumed pretty quickly, but getting to our mysterious warlock is the only thing that matters right now.
We drive on in silence, now a more comfortable one, until we see the edge of a town.
Aria glances at me, but I am concentrating. I am supposed to turn left, but I really want to ditch this car and get something more used to bashing through the woods.
We’re going to need it.
“Hang on,” I say and pull up into a busy motel parking lot. It is filled with all types of appropriate vehicles and I pick the newest and most comfortable SUV I can find, a Ford Explorer.
“This’ll do nicely,” I say and pull up next to it. I grab my briefcase from behind the seat and get out, setting to work on jacking the Ford.
Aria also gets out and leans against the Lambo with her arms and ankles crossed. “You do this often?” she asks conversationally.
“Uh-huh,” I say with a smile as I am in and ready to disable the tracker. “Get the bags, would you? This shouldn’t take long.”
***
A few minutes later we are on the road in our new car.
“This is better,” Aria says and I nod in agreement. “What about the owners though? Don’t you care?” Her pursed lips make me mentally roll my eyes at her.
“That’s what insurance is for. Besides, I only borrow. They catch up with the discarded vehicles eventually.”
“Do you have a conscience?”
“Are you always this judgmental?” I ask her back, and she shuts her mouth.
I now follow the road that my vision wants me to take and soon we find ourselves in the middle of a forest, crashing through trees and shrubs and over boulders.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Aria asks, jolting forward and holding onto the dashboard as we hit a ditch.
“Yep,” I say and concentrate on getting us to our destination in one piece. The Explorer? Well, that might be a different story.
Eventually, after an ungodly, spine-jarring ride, we finally come to some flat land and we both sit back in our seats.
“What is this place?” Aria asks looking around. “And why the fuck is it so difficult to get to?”
“Coven land,” I say, tapping my temple.
“Which Coven?” she asks and if I didn’t know better I’d say I heard awe in her voice.
Not that I blame her. This is pretty impressive.
“The Dark Raven’s,” I say and she opens her mouth in surprise. She has clearly heard of them. I haven’t, but then my association with warlocks and their ilk has been limited to a quick, yet, satisfying fuck with Jacob a few nights ago.
“Shit,” Aria says.
I just shrug. I don’t care about the Coven. All I need is the man from my vision.
As the trees clear we hit a paved driveway that takes us a short way to a pair of impressive electric gates. The strong ward is completely visible, shimmering over the gates and the twenty-foot-high walls and I gulp. Magic is really not my favorite thing in the world. Especially the kind that is covering the grounds of what, I can only assume, is the Coven headquarters, located in this highly remote forest on the edge of the mountains. I stop and let the window down. I reach out and push the intercom button and we wait.
“What?” a male voice snaps after a few minutes of silence, making us both jump.
I look at Aria and she looks at me and shrugs. Shit, I have no idea what I am supposed to say now. I hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Err,” I start. “I am looking for a warlock.”
I glance at Aria with my hands held up in a ‘fucked-if-I-know’ gesture. She rolls her eyes at me and I pull a face at her, flashing her my claws, letting her know my threat is still hanging there. I let her off though this time as I am seriously lame. Fort Knox, I did not expect. Dumbass.
“No shit,” the man on the other side says, heavy on the sarcasm. “Get out of here before I come out there and fry your asses for trespassing.”
“Wait!” I call, but it is no use, he has already hung up.
“What now?” Aria asks, peering up at the walls. “I don’t want to screw around with that ward, do you?”
“No,” I say, biting my lip. I push the button again and wait, this time better prepared.
“What?” the man snaps again. “I told you to get lost.”
“I need to see a warlock in your Coven,” I say in the poshest accent I can muster, which makes Aria stifle a snort of amusement, probably because it sounds exactly like my real voice. “I am a vampire and my colleague here is a wolf. We have a pressing issue to discuss regarding the Ambassadors.”
There is a long silence where only heavy breathing is heard through the intercom. “Look, bitch… I said get lost…”
“It’s Ember,” I bark at him, getting annoyed now.
I hear my name being repeated in the distance and a scuffle and then muffled talking like someone has placed their hand over the receiver.
“Come on in,” a different male voice says and Aria and I exchange a look that portrays both our surprise and sudden fear that we have been allowed entry just like that. The massive gates open and as Aria says, “Are you sure about this?” I drive us through and up to a gothic mansion so dark, huge and foreboding, I feel a delicious shiver go down my spine.
Chapter 13
~Ember~
“Ember?” Aria says. “Are you absolutely sure we are in the right place?”
“Completely,” I say and climb out of the SUV. She follows suit and we stride side-by-side up to the front door that is opening even as we approach it.
“Ember. What a lovely surprise,” the second man from the intercom greets me.
I groan in horror and stall for a moment. “Jacob?” I ask in surprise.
“You know him?” Aria asks.
“Oh, we are old friends,” Jacob says to me with a wink. He comes forward to peck me on the cheek, but I duck around him and smile as he stum
bles and kisses fresh air.
“I wouldn’t say that,” I say to Aria who is looking at me for an explanation.
“Fuck buddy,” she says with a knowing nod of her head.
“Not even that,” I say.
“Hey,” Jacob says with a grin, coming up next to me and slinging his arm around my shoulder. I stiffen from the contact, but he doesn’t notice as he says, “It was more than that and you know it.” He gives me a meaningful look and I shrug his arm off me.
“Hardly,” I say dismissively.
“So why did you come to find me then? I knew you would, you know,” he says slyly.
“I am not here for you,” I snap at him as we come to a halt in the entrance hall of this old mansion. The place is like a dream come true for me. I could see myself living here all by myself in the middle of nowhere, feasting on lost hikers…
“Ember,” Aria says, interrupting my daydream. “What the fuck is this?”
“I wish I knew,” I mutter under my breath, and then I gasp as I see the man from my vision standing at the top of the sweeping staircase.
“Jacob,” he says in a voice so darkly delicious, I nearly cream myself. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”
Aria and I gape up at him as he makes his majestic descent, dressed in a black, Hugo Boss suit that speaks to my own heart. He is tall, about six-two easy, and as wide as me and Aria put together, all pure muscle. I can see his pecs and abs straining against his shirt. His silky, dark hair brushes his shoulders and his bright blue eyes find mine with an inquisitive look etched with a darkness I have only ever seen in my own. Oh, he knows who he is, that’s for damn sure.
I know I must look like a fool practically drooling over him. He comes to a stop right in front of me and looks down at me, searching my eyes as I search his back, seeing a desire there that makes my heart flutter.
“Who are you?” he asks me, completely ignoring Aria altogether. Thank fuck. No way do I want this man’s eyes roving over that slutty wolf.