“This is war.”
I grimaced and gave a slight nod. He understood our situation as I did. Wars demanded tribute. We were knee-deep already, and what we’d lost so far was just the beginning. It would get worse before it got better and all we could do was prepare. Prepare to fight. It would take every last one of us to make it out.
To make it home.
I headed down the hallway, following the young woman in a white dress who’d opened the door. “When will they be back with Naram?” I asked, changing the subject back to a more hopeful topic. He’d said Naram was alive and being brought to Sanctuary. We could plan. Coordinate. Anything but talk about how many more people we would lose. Because we would lose them. Even with another Lamassu to help.
“I assume within the hour. Although, according to Calliope, he was in a very weak and starved state. It might take some time to get him healthy.” Miles spoke slowly, as though he were considering each word as he said it.
Time. We didn’t have much of that.
“He could finish Rose’s spell,” Miles said, his tone low and meant only for me. “But only if we can find the last two protectors.”
Javier stood from his chair as Miles and I entered the Sister’s private living quarters.
“Six hours till sunset. Then four hours to drive here.”
“Ten hours,” I said, mouthing the words as I considered what to do next. It would be the middle of the night before he arrived.
“And?”
“He was interested enough to agree to come. Seemed like a loner, though. We went a few rounds before he agreed to talk.”
I turned to the Oracle. “We need another. One more won’t help us any more than the six we have. We need to have all eight. Naram is coming.”
Her eyes widened, and she nodded. “We’ll form a meditation circle and search. We’ve never been able to force a vision about a Protector before, but we will try.”
“Good.”
Chapter 23
GODRIC
“Some light would be good, Jared,” Mikjáll rumbled, shaking his arm free from my grasp. Asa had teleported with the Phoenix, and I had taken the hulking, semi-angry Drakonae.
I jumped back a little, along with my sister, when Jared’s hands sparked to life. The flames grew in intensity, lighting a good portion of the large room. Dusty stone floors and marble columns that stretched higher than the light would carry. It reminded me of a castle throne room.
“Naram?” Jared called out, taking a few steps forward.
The clink of chains behind us signaled movement, and we turned to face the sound. Naram stepped from behind a fallen column of stone. He carried the body of a woman, her long dark hair brushing the floor with each step.
“I’m not leaving without her. She will not spend eternity buried in the place.”
“Rose is dead.” Jared said, his voice flat.
The white-eyed Lamassu nodded. “He killed her in front of me.”
My sister stepped closer. “Give her to me. I’ll take her to Sanctuary so her body will be safe. The Dragon needs to melt you out of your shackles.”
She held out her arms, but the Lamassu didn’t relinquish his burden.
“Godric and I can only jump with one body in tow. Either you let me take her now, or I’m not going to take her at all.” She put her hands on her hips and gave the frail man a stern glare.
The man’s shoulder’s slumped, and his eyes faded from white to a natural brown. I huffed out a silent breath. This was the being who would save Sanctuary from Xerxes? He didn’t look like he could save a mouse from a cat, much less a castle full of supernaturals from an all-powerful psychopath with an army.
Asa held her arms out again and stepped forward. Naram transferred Rose’s lifeless body to Asa, and my sister was gone before the man exhaled.
“This is going to hurt like fuck,” Mikjáll warned, stepping closer to Naram. “No death chokeholds on anyone. Got it.”
Naram shook his head. “My powers are too weak to be of any danger to you or any of the others. He’s starved me of light and food for thousands of years.”
“How long will it take for you to heal?” I asked, still wondering how this frail, gaunt being was going to be of any use to a besieged town.
“Not long,” Naram said, his voice quiet. “The sooner I can get into the sunlight, the faster I’ll be able to heal. Food will be required, as well, but light is the most important.”
Mikjáll knelt at the Lamassu’s feet and placed a palm on each of the metal cuffs around Naram’s ankles. “Brace yourself,” he warned.
The heat billowing from the Dragon was uncomfortable, but the smell of burning flesh was worse. The cuffs slowly turned red hot. Sweat coated Naram’s half-naked body. His bony torso was covered in scars, and his skin was ashen. The once white linen wrapped around his hips and legs like a diaper was soaked through with sweat and dirt and blood.
The cuffs were bright yellow now. Mikjáll yanked them away from Naram’s legs and held his metal-covered hands away from Naram.
“How can you touch—” I stared at the molten steel and cringed, but the Dragon didn’t seem fazed at all.
“I am a Drakonae fire breather,” Mikjáll answered with a shrug. “It is nothing to me. The same as if you’d cleansed your hands with water.” He stood and reached for the cuffs on Naram’s wrists. “Are you prepared?”
Naram nodded, and I stepped a little farther away. The vampire half of me was not pleased to be so close to a phoenix on fire and a Dragon that was apparently made of fucking fire. Where the hell was my sister? She should’ve been back by now. It didn’t take that long to drop off a body, unless something had happened. If two people held her, she wouldn’t be able to teleport back.
“I should check on Asa.”
“Don’t you dare leave,” Jared growled, the flames on his arms brightening even further.
The cuffs on Naram’s wrists glowed golden, and the Lamassu struggled to keep his cries of pain to a minimum. I’d been impressed he hadn’t uttered a sound during the first round, but every cell in my body hurt for him as I watched Maikjáll literally melt the steel cuffs. My gaze shifted to Jared, and I paused. His face was tight and drawn, and tears glistened in his eyes.
He caught my look and blinked it away, focusing on the dusty stone floor instead. My sister had said Manda wore jewelry that inhibited her powers. That prevented teleportation completely.
Bile rose in the back of my throat as the image of Mikjáll burning Manda to free her formed in my mind. What if it was around her neck? How would it not kill her? Djinn were strong, but I didn’t imagine our species was even close to the strength or fortitude of a Lamassu.
A wave of energy flickered from a few feet away. Asa had returned.
I looked up instead into the familiar and hateful purple eyes of Calvar Darynush Farhoud—first enemy to the Djinn. He’d been banished long before I had for attempted murder of my brother-in-law.
“Who the fuck?” Jared roared, pushing a ball of flame across the room toward the unwelcomed visitor holding a plate of food. But Calvar didn’t hang around for the barbeque. He dropped the plate, teleporting away.
I crouched, ignoring the shattered dish on the limestone floor and focused on the threads of the Djinn’s magick. The disturbances in space where he would come through next. No one could predict with perfect accuracy, but it was possible to get fucking close with practice, and I’d had a lot of fucking practice.
“Not good,” I growled, stepping closer to the overbearing heat of the Dragon and melting steel. A pop of magick rippled beside me, and I ducked as a long blade shot out, narrowly missing its mark. Cal didn’t stay stationary long, teleporting again before Jared could aim another fireball.
“You know him?” Jared circled around Naram, attempting to eye the entire place at once. Stupid. It was dark except for our flashlights and Jared’s flaming torch of a body. I wasn’t sure what he thought he’d see.
“Almost done,” t
he Dragon rumbled. “Thirty seconds. The magick holding this steel is powerful.”
Naram’s cries pierced the room as the Dragon continued to melt the steel cuffs off the Lamassu’s wrists. They were screams of a dying animal, and the scent of burning flesh was enough to turn even my stomach.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and another ripple opened behind me. I whirled and leapt to the right, away from the group, but Cal’s scimitar caught my chest with a hard slice, opening a long gash from my collarbone to my abdomen. Fuck.
I hit the stone floor with a thud and clutched my side. The fiery pain of the wound brought out the monster within. My fangs elongated and I blurred toward Calvar on the offensive this time. But he was gone before I could wrap my hands around his neck.
Another blink.
Then another fireball from the phoenix came uncomfortably close to my face. “Watch it,” I snarled, considering for a moment what a phoenix would taste like.
He growled right back and stepped closer to Naram and Mikjáll. “You should slow down then.”
I flanked Naram’s other side. Calvar wasn’t stupid; he’d bring reinforcements soon. Only his overgrown ego and pride had kept him from bringing more of Xerxes’ soldiers already.
“Done,” the Dragon rumbled. “Where the fuck is your sister?”
“Right here, asshole.” Asa ran past me, grabbed Naram’s arm and teleported again. I’d been so caught up I hadn’t even felt her return.
Calvar appeared again, this time taking a swing at Mikjáll. The look of surprise when his sword bounced off the Drakonae’s arm was priceless, but the glint of pleasure that followed in those angry purple eyes made my heart stop for a moment.
No.
I reached for Mikjáll’s arm, but he was gone before I could touch him. The teleportation signature was strong and I latched onto it, following Calvar’s trail through space. When I landed, I was in a large board room. White walls. Giant table surrounded by chairs. No identifying marks. The room was full of Djinn and Lycans and something else—someone I knew I didn’t want to meet.
Mikjáll lay on the table in a pool of blood.
A dagger protruded from his chest.
He was dead.
I teleported again immediately. Back to the dark. Back to the tomb. We needed to get away. The Djinn in that room would follow me all the way back to Sanctuary.
“I’m not touching you while you’re on fire!” Asa screamed at Jared. His arm was still alight.
She felt my presence and glared toward me into the shadows of the dark tomb. “You take him.” Then she was gone.
I stalked toward the phoenix. “If you burn me, I’ll eat you,” I snarled. “We have to go. The Dragon is dead.”
“You saw him?” Jared’s hands still burned brightly. I wasn’t jumping with a burning human torch, either.
“Now!” I roared, feeling the ripples of the approaching Djinn. “Either you douse that fucking fire, or I’m leaving you here.”
Darkness fell in the tomb as he killed his flames. I grabbed his arm, and then we were back in Sanctuary. The ripples followed. They were coming after us. Trailing Asa and my jumps. Dozens of them. Probably every soldier from that fucking room, including Calvar the Bloody.
“Asa,” I shouted. “Inside. Now.” She teleported Naram to the open door of the castle, and I did the same with Jared. We ran through, into the dimly lit two-story stone foyer. “Close the doors!” I shouted up at the angry Drakonae male standing behind the massive door.
“Where is my son?” The man’s eyes became the same red and gold colors as flame, and I winced under the heat radiating from his entire body like a self-contained nuclear plant about to overheat.
“He’s gone. And we will be, too, if you don’t close the door behind us.” I shoved the Phoenix through the door with grunt and ran through after him. Ripples of Djinn magick ripped through space behind me, and I turned around, expecting to see Calvar and the others, swords drawn ready to slice us all to pieces.
But the door was shut.
The Drakonae male leaned against the heavy iron and wooden door, his shoulders heaving. A mournful scream tore from his chest as he sank to his knees and cried. The sound was worse than anything I’d ever heard. His pain was visceral and coated my soul like a dark shroud. I felt his grief like it was my own.
“How could you let them take the Dragon?” Asa’s shrieks pierced my eardrums before her fists pounded into my chest. “We needed him to save Manda. We needed him, you worthless bastard. You can’t do anything right.”
“I did everything I could,” I snarled. “I trailed him to Xerxes base. He was already dead. There was nothing I could do.” I shoved her away from me, refusing to add unnecessary guilt to my already heavy conscious. My mistakes were mine, but this one wasn’t on me. We were up against an enemy with more resources and a lot more manpower.
I was bleeding and needed blood. My strength was quickly waning. It’d taken everything inside me just to get back to the castle.
Chapter 24
CALLIOPE
I waited in the shadows of the courtyard. Every second he’d been gone had felt like an eternity. Miles had kept me within sight like he’d promised, but left me to pace and sulk on my own. I couldn’t do anything…but wait.
Then I felt them.
The Djinn.
First one.
Then so many more.
It was happening. We weren’t prepared. Xerxes was coming, and we weren’t ready to fight. We were all holed up in this castle hoping it would keep them out. It wouldn’t. Not for long.
Shouting pulled me from the bench in the corner of the courtyard. I walked around a few tall shrubs, feeling my desire flare with each step. My legs took on a life of their own, and I was running. Down the stone path, through the garden, and out across the stone courtyard. I passed by Eli’s ice coffin and stopped when Miles’s cry echoed from the foyer and out through the open space. I clutched my hand to my chest and winced. The sound vibrated through my body like tangible pain, and I struggled to remain standing.
We…no, they had lost another. I was not a part of this group. I was a tool they used when necessary. This was their fight. Mine was with the Siren who’d singlehandedly destroyed our entire race and ruined my chances to ever find happiness. The irony that Rose had been fighting the same battle with Xerxes for some of the same reasons was not lost on me.
Jared walked with a frail Naram, arm slung over his shoulder. Godric and his sister moved a few paces behind them. Godric looked as though he were barely standing, and Asa appeared not to give a damn.
My heart leapt in my chest, and I throttled a scream back, refusing to allow anyone to publicly see how much I felt for the vampire hybrid. Seeing him hurt affected me more than I could explain. My mind wouldn’t process anything, demanding I get closer to him.
“Godric,” I whispered.
He looked up and met my gaze, but his eyes were reddened and his naturally tan skin was ashen and pale. I continued walking the rest of the way across the courtyard, ignoring the crowd gathering around Jared and Naram —the Lamassu everyone thought would save them.
“Mine,” I growled, not even attempting to hide the chaotic emotions writhing inside me.
Asa backed away and sneered. “He ruined everything! I don’t know why you’re so worried. Just let him die.”
Another snarl rumbled low in my throat. “Back off, bitch. Whatever your problem is, you can figure it out later.” Godric needed to feed. Not be railed into by his sister for whatever shit she thought was his fault.
Asa stared at me like I’d grown a third eye.
I gritted my teeth and stepped a little closer, purposefully softening my expression as I moved. I reached out and touched her arm, allowing my magick to soak into her through skin-to-skin contact. Vampires were the only ones who naturally could block a dose of Siren persuasion, which was why nothing had worked with Godric earlier. But Asa wasn’t a hybrid. She was far from immune to
my magick, and I was going to stop her inner bitch in its tracks.
“You need to stop attacking Godric. He’s trying to help. Go plan how to save your daughter with Jared while Godric rests.”
Her eyes glazed just slightly. My magick was working.
“Yes, I’ll talk to Jared.”
Godric looked up at me, a hint of surprise in his bloodshot eyes, but no comment. He kept his perfectly shaped mouth shut until Asa was walking away toward the people crowding around Naram and Jared.
“What did you do?” He coughed, spewing a few drops of blood onto the ground ahead of us. The wound must’ve affected his lungs. I hurried a little faster, heading for the quiet of one of the lounge rooms on the ground floor. I would’ve much rather taken him up to one of the bedrooms, but I didn’t think his wound could handle me dragging him up the stairs.
“Just used a little mojo to make her more amicable.” We made it across the stone courtyard, and I continued to half-carry him toward an open set of French doors. The hallway was barely lit, but empty. No one had put wounded in this part of the castle yet. We would be alone, and that’s what really mattered to me.
I shoved open a large door with my free elbow, walked us through, and kicked the door shut behind me. The room was nearly dark, but a few gas-lit sconces on the far wall illuminated it just enough to keep me from tripping over the furniture—several couches, a coffee table, and a bar in the corner. Maneuvering around the large iron coffee table, I eased him from my shoulder to the black leather couch.
“The armored fabric should have protected you. I don’t understand.”
“Enchanted sword. Calvar carries a sword that possesses dark magick,” he murmured, straining for each word.
“Fuck,” I hissed, running my fingertips along the long gash from his chest down to his abdomen. The shirt parted, and his skin was red and ugly around the bleeding wound. Blood seeped from the entire length, though by the color of his skin, I could tell he’d lost a lot before they’d gotten back to the castle.
My Vampire Knight (Sanctuary, Texas Book 6) Page 11