Yeah, that’s not gonna happen… I grabbed the cauldron. Stealthy as Mr. William, I walked up behind Ransom and dropped the iron beast over his head. Ransom uttered a low growl and dropped on the floor, unconscious.
“Fuck!” I said, staring down at him. “I’m sorry… you horrible man!”
Mr. William’s necklace chimed as he moved closer. He stood beside Ransom and meowed.
“Right,” I mumbled, shaking off the shock after what I’d done. I picked up Mr. William and held him close. “We’re getting out of here. And this time, you’re coming with me.”
“Kiera?” Drayce said, standing behind the kitchen’s window. “Are you all right?”
“Meet me at the gate!”
Heart pounding hard against my chest, I ran to the doorway.
“Drayce!” I rushed to him the minute I stepped on the sidewalk, a place free from Ransom’s spell.
He reached for me with arms open, cheeks flushed with anxiety as he held me in a warm embrace. “Are you hurt?” he whispered, gliding his fingers through my hair. “Did that psycho warlock hurt you?”
“I’m more worried about him, to be honest...” I mumbled, one hand holding Mr. William, the other cupping the side of Drayce’s face. “But you,” I added, looking into his eyes. “Are you feeling all right?” Horror sparked from every nervous fiber in my body as I recalled Ransom’s curse.
“Me?” Drayce furrowed his brow. “I feel perfectly fine.”
“Gods, what a relief!” I sighed and started to walk. “We should get going...”
“Kiera…” Drayce said with a guttural voice. When I looked back, he took a hand to his chest and winced.
“What is it?” I let go of the cat and placed both hands on his chest as a natural reflex, hoping to heal him. “What are you feeling?”
“I can’t explain it…” He grimaced, now taking a hand to the back of his neck. “Pain, sharp like a thousand shards of glass pricking my flesh.”
“Fucking Ransom,” I whispered. “He did this.”
“What the hell did he do?” Drayce passed an arm over my shoulders to hold his balance.
“He cast a curse to strip away your immortality,” I said. “With each passing minute, you’ll become more human…”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” he mumbled, starting to walk through the pain with my help.
I pursed my lips.
“You’re quiet. Why are you quiet, Kiera?” Drayce said, coming to a full stop. “That can’t be good.”
How should I explain the lengths of Ransom's curse? There was no sensible way to say it, so I just went ahead. “When you became a vampire, you renounced life,” I began. “Little by little, the curse will take away your preternatural gift until there’s nothing left… You will be dead by midnight if we don’t act fast.”
“Bloody hell, Kiera,” his eyes widened with shock. “You’re no good at shilly-shallying about things, are you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Nah, don’t be.” He swallowed hard. “Can you break this curse?”
The answer was, I had no idea. I’d never faced this type of dark magic. Perhaps Prim could do something, but she was in a freaking coma! “Ransom spoke of a powerful grimoire hidden in my family’s teahouse…” I mumbled. “Ancient grimoires can perform miracles.”
“Then we should get to the teahouse.”
I took out my phone and pressed the speed dial. “I’m going to need help,” I said, holding the phone against my ear.
“But Prim's at the hospital...” Drayce said.
“I have someone else in mind.” I held his hand. “Don’t worry. She’s family too.”
“Family,” Drayce mumbled with a vacant gaze. “I think I’ll give mine a call.”
Chapter Thirteen
Meredith was waiting on the sidewalk when we arrived at the teahouse. “I brought everything on your list,” she said the minute I reached her. She wasted no time, opening her tote bag to show me the array of candles, herbs, salts, and a special saucer.
“Thanks, Mer. You’re the best!” I said.
“Don’t thank me yet.” Meredith slipped a hand inside her jeans pocket. Out came a glinting silver key.
“Meredith, you wonderful woman...” I took the shop’s spare key and hugged her immediately.
“Thank you for your help,” Drayce told her as he leaned against the wall. The pain must have been the harshest yet, although he did his best to conceal it.
“That’s what friends do,” she dismissed. “We stick through thick and thin, right Ki… Kiera?”
“Always,” I said, turning the key in the lock.
Drayce and Meredith huddled behind me as I opened the door. But the shop was pitch dark, so I stopped to glide my hand on the wall, searching for the light switch. Finally, I found it, and pulled.
The crystal chandeliers slowly grew alight, filling the teahouse with a soft amber radiance that spilled over every armchair, table, and antique sofa in the room. The light also revealed a man sitting on a wingback chair. His relaxed poise remained unchanged by our presence.
“Bloody hell...” I stepped back, but Drayce moved further inside.
“Alexander, you made it!” he said, trudging to meet his vampire friend.
The blood drinker got on his feet. He practically cat-walked to meet Drayce; dashing in dark denim pants, a grey pullover and a brown aviator jacket. He leaned towards Drayce, intrigued as he scanned him with a quick glance.
Alexander bit his lower lip before speaking. “Is it true then?” he said, holding Drayce’s shoulders. “Did a witch do this to you? Can witches strip away our immortality?”
Drayce shook his head. “They can, but their magic takes our lives as well.”
“It was a warlock,” I intervened with a low voice.
“I don’t think it makes any difference now, hon…” Mer whispered in my ear. I nodded in agreement. But still.
“Did you tell her?” Drayce asked the vampire Alexander.
“I did.” Alexander glided his firm hand over Drayce’s jawline. “She cares about you only too much, as do I. We’ll do everything in our power to save you from this curse. Do you understand that?” narrowing his fierce eyes.
Drayce lowered his head and sighed.
“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t come?” A woman’s silhouette appeared out of the room’s remaining shadows. I knew that voice. It sent shivers down my back.
“Alisa.” Drayce gave her a lopsided grin. He drifted into a chair, a grimace of pain looming on his face.
She was imposing in black leather pants and tall boots. A zipped up black leather jacket hugged her narrow waist. Her jet-black hair fell down her shoulders with natural waves that glistened of a dark maroon shade under the shop’s lights.
“I don’t want to say I told you so, my darling…” she began.
“Then don’t, Alisa…” Alexander smoothly said, gliding a hand on her waist. A rather intimate gesture. “How can we be of assistance?” He now turned to me.
For a second there, I felt like a surgeon about to perform a critical operation. All eyes fixed on me, waiting for orders as it were. Talk about pressure.
“I need to find a trap door,” I told him. “There’s a hidden vault somewhere in here. I need to get to that vault.”
“A hidden room?” Alisa said, stepping to the center of the shop, hands on her waist as she swept the place with an appraising stare. “Mm…” She paced behind the counter, smoothing her delicate hand on the Scheele’s green wallpaper.
“This is a Victorian building.” Alisa examined the wooden panels. “Ah, if Victorian walls could speak, what secrets would they tell us!” Fascinated as she moved, her knuckles tapped the walnut boards that stretched across the wall’s lower half. She did this for a while until the knock sounded different. Hollow.
“Here we go,” she said, getting on her knees. Alisa tossed her long hair back, graceful as a dancer. Then, with both hands, she studied the panel, finally pushi
ng it inwards. The sudden noise of a lock popping echoed inside the wall, followed by a metallic shift, like that of a latch moving.
The walnut board shifted to the side, revealing a small passageway. Alisa’s piercing blue eyes lit with amusement when she turned to us, her expectant audience struck with amazement. She then looked inside the hidden chamber. “I see stairs,” she said. Alisa got on her feet, sweeping off dust and lint from her jacket. “I bet there’s a secret room at the end of those stairs, and in that room, you will find your treasure.”
I stood in awe of this female vampire. My mouth, agape. My eyes, widened. “How on earth did you know?” I had to ask.
Alisa gave me a witty stare, genuinely pleased. Perhaps even flattered. “Three centuries in the Blood come with their perquisites,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. I could have sworn at that moment that a glimpse of the woman’s personality shone through the armor of indolence.
“Step out of the shop now and you will be spared!” a male voice called outside.
“Oh, damn,” I muttered, looking through the window. There he was, standing across the street, wrapped in a stylish black peacoat, wearing the same black sweater and trousers. His hair looked a bit messy, but I spotted no traces of blood on his head, which I took as a good sign. “It’s Ransom. He’s alive.”
“That hideous pig!” Meredith said through clenched teeth. “What does he want now?”
“He wants my family’s grimoire,” I said under my breath. “And he’s mad as hell.”
“How do you know that?” Alexander stood beside me, peering through the drapes to catch a glimpse of the warlock.
I gave him a quick stare. “I might have accidentally dropped a cauldron on his head.” I pursed my lips and raised my brow. Yeah, sorry, not sorry.
“Way to go, Kiera!” Meredith cheered, pleasantly surprised.
Alexander frowned, giving me and Mer a disproving glance. For a vampire, that was very judgmental of him.
“Trust me. He had it coming,” I told Alexander. “We have to move fast.”
“I’ll come with you.” Mer held my shoulder, ushering me to the shop’s hidden chamber.
“Damned warlock,” Drayce grunted, struggling to rise from the chair. “I’ll get him this time.” He kept his balance with a hand on the wall. His pale skin and bloodshot eyes screamed the urgency to counter the spell.
“Darling, you can’t.” Alisa stood in front of him, a hand gently pressing his chest; her body leaned towards him, with eyes full of concern as she searched to meet his stare. Her voice had been tender, heart-warming as she persuaded her fledgling. “You’re not strong enough to face that warlock.”
“I’ll do it,” Alexander casually said, taking off his jacket, which he then placed on the chair’s back.
“You’re not facing that madman! Don’t you see what he’s done to Drayce?” Alisa peered through the glass. “Besides, he’s not alone.”
“Huh?” I uttered, hunched by the small door, ready to plunge into the secret passage.
“There’s someone with him...” Alisa mumbled, eyes fixed on the street. “A woman.”
“A woman?” I said.
“Look at all that ridiculous radiance emanating from her,” Alisa mused, her attention locked on the woman on the street. “She’s a witch. A powerful one.” She paused. “A friend of yours, maybe?”
This I had to see. I got on my feet quick and dashed to the edge of the counter. From this point, I got an angled view of the street, enough to see the woman standing beside Ransom. She was a formidable presence, garbed in all black clothes, a long dress fitted to her lean body, diamonds shimmering around her neck and cuffs. Jaw-length slick dark hair framed her pale face, enhancing her wicked green eyes.
“That’s Lara Knightley,” I said, shocked. “She’s a Head Witch, and Ransom’s mother.”
“Let me guess,” Alexander said. “She’s mad as hell too.”
I nodded.
“Bloody hell!” Alisa groaned, rolling her eyes back. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson, Drayce. Witches are nothing but trouble!”
Drayce leaned against the wall, brooding as his stare met the witchy pair outside. He took a deep, hurting breath. “What can we do to stop them?” he said in a low voice.
It then dawned on me. “Amulets!” I said, rushing through the store. Prim kept our family heirlooms spread across the place disguised as decoration. Dashing from one corner to another, I gathered four precious necklaces from which pended special stones, ritualized to protect against dark magic.
“These will keep you safe,” I said, handing one to each of the vampires. “Meredith, you’ll need one too.”
“This is the last one,” Mer asked, concerned as she stared at the pendant in her hand. “What about you?”
“I’m a Stone Witch,” I said. “By the time I get that grimoire, they’ll be the ones who need protection.”
“We have no quarrel with your vampire friends,” Lara said, daunting as she stood in the middle of the empty street. “You may go, Kin of the Dark Blood. We will not harm you.”
Silence spread in the room. The vampires exchanged furtive glances, probably weighing Lara Knightley’s offer.
“Now, let’s not do anything rash,” Alexander whispered. “We don’t want to provoke them.”
A minute later, Alisa ran to the door. Silver bells chimed as she flung it open.
Fuck! What is she doing? Is she really going to leave us to our fates?
“Leave now, Children of the Night, and no harm will fall on you!” Lara continued, raising black-gloved hands in the air.
“Aw!” Alisa cocked her head and clucked her tongue. “That’s such a sweet gesture... But I take orders from no one, especially not from a grimy witch.”
“Grimy? How dare you...?” Lara said.
Alisa’s fierce eyes burned with spectral blue flames. “You hurt my son!” she hissed.
In a flash, Alisa disappeared from the shop’s entrance, only to materialize again next to Ransom. With mechanic precision, she seized his arm and jerked him close to her, enough for him to see her widened mouth and lethal fangs looming beneath her crimson lips.
Ransom’s face went blank with dread. Alisa then grabbed his neck and stabbed her teeth into the flesh, ripping a chunk off which she spat to the ground. Blood splashed and trickled to the pavement as Ransom wailed with unfathomable pain. Taking a hand to his neck, he fell on his knees, rivulets of blood slowly pouring through his fingers.
“Now we’re even!” Alisa said, standing by the shop’s entrance, proud of her achievement.
“What have you done, you demon!” Lara cried, witnessing as her son’s face paled. She took off her gloves and dashed to Ransom, placing her hands on his neck while whispering healing incantations. Light wrapped Ransom in a flickering sphere that slowly faded.
Lara then turned to us with renewed vindictiveness glimmering in her widened eyes. Still on her knees, she raised her hands and proclaimed a silent incantation.
The wind raced in an instant; trees swaying, leaves whirling in the darkened street. Thunder shook the heavens, followed by powerful lightning.
“Goddammit...” Alexander mumbled, shaking his head. He then rushed outside to meet Alisa.
A whirlpool rose amidst the shop, slowly growing in force, sweeping off doilies from the tables and picture frames from the wall as it tumbled from one end of the shop to the next.
“Kiera!” Meredith called. “We have to go now! We have to get that book!”
“Right.” I nodded, shaking out of the daze. I hurried to meet her by the hidden entrance, got on my knees fast and went through the doorway without looking back.
Chapter Fourteen
The shaft’s pitch darkness faded. Once I reached the other side, I stood up, noticing the spacious chamber with a quick glance. Cobwebs covered the tall ceiling and dusty brick walls; I spotted no ornaments or furnishings, nothing but a narrow wooden stairway, too worn out with time to consider safe. B
ut it was the only way up, so I pushed forward.
I glided my hand on the sandy rail and began to climb the steps.
“Why would Prim keep this place secret?” Meredith whispered as she followed.
I shook my head. “I’m sure I don’t know,” I said. “I just hope to find that book and find a spell to save her and Drayce from Ransom’s evil.”
“That hideous pig!” Mer hissed.
We reached a small landing at the top of the stairs. A door with crooked wooden planks stood before us. I pulled from its ancient iron lever and opened it, eager to discover what lay inside Prim’s secret vault.
It was dark. I took my phone and turned on its digital flashlight, waving it across the chamber’s floor to mind my steps when I stumbled against a piece of furniture. With a quick pass of the flashlight, I outlined a vintage table, not Victorian but even older. On the table were a dozen wax candles, all in different sizes. A large matchbox lay next to them.
I directed the light at the table more carefully this time and smoothed my hand over its surface, sweeping away a thick layer of dirt covering it.
“There’s something drawn on the table...” Mer whispered, moving closer.
“There is,” I mumbled, clearing the dust more expressly now. A sketch appeared, circles and lines, crosses indicating a special layout. “I think...” I said, picking up a candle, “this goes here.” I held it over one of the circles and was astonished to see they made a perfect match.
This was no ordinary design. One by one, I placed the candles where the circles had been drawn, forming a circular pattern. I lit them all and then stepped back. What I saw was not an ordinary lighting device. These were custody candles, meant to protect the object placed in the center. Except...
“There’s nothing here,” I mumbled, staring at the empty spot inside the candle ring.
“That can’t be it.” Meredith moved closer. “There must be a drawer or something.” Her hands inspected every inch of that crooked table with no success.
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