Serpent's Hold (The Last Serpent, Book 5)

by Morgan, Tansey

  I had never before felt like I could reach out and start a fire with my mind before, but right now, I could almost see myself conjuring a massive ball of flame with the palms of my hands, and then molding it between them, making the burning ball expand, contract. I could feel the heat of it against my face, but the heat didn’t hurt me; not because the heat wasn’t real, but because the fire itself had been commanded not to hurt me, and I had been the one to command it.

  I thought of Vik, the mage among us, and imagined this was what it was like to be him.

  Then, for the shortest of instants, I felt myself begin to slip from the high, slip long enough to be able to see the real world around me—Eddie’s grinning face, his stone-cold bodyguards, and the briefcase on the table. I knew, then, what I had to do; I had to set the briefcase on fire.

  The briefcase immediately went up in flames, tongues of fire that popped and spat at the table around it, which also quickly began to burn. Eddie screamed, his bodyguards began to flee, chaos erupted all around me, and all I could do was watch the fire consume the briefcase and the table as if they were made of paper.

  And still, the flames wouldn’t hurt me.

  Then there was smoke. No, not smoke—a jet of compressed, white clouds that came spilling across the table, smothering the flames, quietening their mighty roar. I hadn’t realized there had been a ringing in my ears until the ringing suddenly stopped, and I realized I too was covered in white discharge from the fire extinguisher. My skin was still buzzing, but I knew where I was, what had just happened, and had some kind of cognitive function with which to process all of it.

  “What the fuck did you do!” Eddie screamed.

  One of the big guys grabbed my arm and yanked me out of what was left of the booth. A great crack and a sudden bright, white pain in my shoulder snapped me back into the moment, a pain so bright I couldn’t help but scream. The big guy then pushed me in front of Eddie, who looked about ready to stab me in the eye with the first thing he could find. But he didn’t get the chance to do so. The second he pointed at me, a black cloud manifested in front of me from out of nowhere, and then Eddie had his finger pointed right into Aiden’s chest.

  “You keep your fingers off her,” Aiden said. “Lilith, are you okay?”

  I had to clutch my shoulder with my good arm for fear it might fall off. I couldn’t feel the arm itself, but I could feel the pain working through me, causing my entire body to shake. It had been dislocated. “I’m fine,” I said, gritting my teeth.

  “What is this?” Eddie asked Aiden, “Who the hell are you?”

  “My associate,” Leo said, walking into view, “And I’d suggest you don’t hurt either of them.”

  “That bitch just burned my entire stash! Do you have any idea how much that all cost?”

  “It looked expensive, but it’s no problem that can’t be fixed.”

  “Oh yeah?” Eddie asked, “And are you going to pay for all that?”

  “That’s exactly right,” Leo said, coming up to stand next to Aiden. “Take her home,” he whispered.

  Aiden nodded, grabbed my good hand, and for the second time tonight I found myself being dragged through this strange, dark corridor of nothingness that seemed to be able to connect whatever two parts of the world the demon needed to connect. Only this time, when I arrived on the other side, I couldn’t keep my legs standing upright.

  My stomach turned upside down again, and this time I had to take great, heaving breaths to stop its contents from emptying all over the Alexandria’s beautifully carpeted lobby.

  Aiden held me up, then he hurried me up the stairs and straight to Vikram’s room.

  “Vik,” Aiden said, letting himself in without knocking, “She’s hurt, we need help.”

  Vikram stood from his chair and rushed up to me. “Lilith, what happened?”

  “My arm,” I said.

  He took one look at it, screwed up his face, then looked at me and at Aiden. “We need to set it before I can use magic on it.”

  I lowered my head. “Fuck. Just do it.”

  Vik grabbed a roll of clean socks from out of his drawer and placed it in front of my mouth. I bit down and shut my eyes as Aiden and Vikram coordinated how best to set my shoulder back into its socket. I tried to drown their voices out, but when they started counting down from three, I became all too aware of the seconds, and then of the sunburst of pain that followed.

  I screamed into the sock, tears rolled from my eyes, but soothing magic immediately followed, dulling the pain after only a couple of seconds. Finally, I spat the sock out and turned my head up. “Holy shit that was intense,” I said.

  “You damn near burned the club down.”

  “I did that, didn’t I?”

  “You did what?” Vikram asked.

  “It’s a long story,” I said, “I’ll tell you about it in a minute.”

  “I didn’t think the drug was that powerful,” Aiden said.

  “I didn’t either.”

  “Do you think you can do it again?”

  “No… I think whatever that was, it’s passed. I think getting my arm dislocated snapped me out of the high.”

  “Wait a minute,” Vik said, “You took the drug?”

  “Yeah, but I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Aiden asked.

  “I am… why do I get the feeling you’re leaving?”

  “I have to. Leo needs me.”

  “Yeah… of course. You go.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll be okay, though. We have a plan.”

  “Tell me the minute you’re back, okay?”

  Aiden touched my chin, kissed me lightly, and then became a whisper, and darkness. He was getting good at that. I shook my head again and turned my eyes on Vikram, who’s eyebrows were both arched up.

  “I have so many questions,” he said, “Not the first of which is, why are you covered in fire extinguisher powder?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Seems like we have nothing but time, right?”

  I sighed. “Leo… he had this plan and… you know what, do you mind if we don’t talk about it? My brain is totally scrambled.”

  Vik approached and brushed my hair out of my face. “How about I draw you a bath and fix you a cup of tea?”

  “That would be amazing, thank you.”

  He nodded and headed into the bathroom. I had promised to tell him everything, but the thought of going into detail about the fact that I had just taken the energy of another supernatural being without their consent weighed down on me. I didn’t know if I’d have the willpower to talk about it, but I knew I had to.

  That, at least, could come tomorrow. Right now, I needed a bath, and sleep.

  CHAPTER TEN

  I woke up to the sound of light shuffling around in the bedroom. Vik was awake and getting into his pants. He walked over to the side of the bed, sat down, and slipped into his shoes, tied the laces, and then looked over at me, then stroked my leg.

  “Morning,” he said.

  “Hey,” I said, “What’s up?”

  “Nothing, I’m just heading out. You should stay sleeping.”

  I rubbed my eyes, checked my phone, no message from Aiden. “Aiden didn’t text me. Do you know if they got back okay?”

  “They did, neither of them were hurt. Aiden texted my phone because he didn’t want to risk the sound waking you up.”

  A sigh escaped my lips. “That’s good to hear.”

  “You should go back to sleep, it’s still early.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going with Henry, he needs help with something.” He stood, walked over to the head of the bed, and leaned over to kiss my forehead. “Will you be going down to breakfast later?”

  “I think so, I’m hungry.”

  “Good, maybe I’ll see you after.”

  I nodded. “Alright, be careful, though.”

  Vik smiled. “Always.”

  When he was gon
e, I let my head rest on the pillow again, and allowed my thoughts to drift away and wander. Aiden and Leo were safe, but I didn’t know what had come of their stay in that seedy little pub. Had they gotten into a fight? Were they hurt? They couldn’t have been. If they’d been hurt, someone would have told me by now. If not for Leo’s sake, then for Aiden’s.

  Thinking of Aiden hurt, then led me to thoughts of Dante, who wasn’t exactly hurt, but he was well on the way towards being hurt. Would he have approved of what I had done last night? Considering Dante’s history, I thought maybe he would have seen it as a necessary evil, but part of me wished I hadn’t done it at all. And yet, I had not only created fire with my hands, I had also been energized by the small amount I had taken, enough to make me feel good even after having used my shapeshifting powers for a—

  I sat bolt upright, an idea pulsing in my head like a star on the verge of exploding. Without hesitating, I slipped out of bed, got changed into the quickest clothes I could find, and left my room in search of the one person who owed me one.

  As soon as I got to the door, I knocked on it hard. I didn’t care what time it was or who I was waking up. I knew he was in there, and he needed to answer me. Tom’s face was as white as snow when he opened the door. He hugged his gown tight against his chest, snuck outside, and shut the door behind himself.

  “Lilith,” Tom said, sounding like I’d just spat in his food. “What is it?”

  “I need your help,” I said.

  “Help? With what? Couldn’t it wait?”

  “No, it can’t wait, and I need your help right now.”

  “It’s the early hours of the morning, what could you possibly need right now?”

  Quickly I checked the corridor for any sign of people who may be listening. “I need you to make another batch of the drug.”

  “You what?” Tom said, his voice rising to that of a harsh whisper.

  “You heard me. I need you to do it, and I need you to do it right now.”

  “Absolutely not. Impossible. I won’t. Even if I wanted to, do you have any idea what Leo would do to me if he found out?”

  “I can take care of Leo.”

  “Lilith, you’re asking me to do the same thing that I did to you once before. I didn’t like what happened then, and I don’t want to repeat the same thing again now.”

  “You wouldn’t be repeating it.”

  “Really? Because even if I agreed to this ridiculous proposition, we don’t have anyone willing to give up a sample of their blood.”

  “Yes, we do. I’ll give it up.”

  “Lilith… why are you doing this? Why do you want this so badly?”

  “I don’t think you’re in a position to ask questions, only answer them. So, are you going to do this for me or not?”

  “I want to know why I’m doing it.”

  I shook my head, and sighed. “Dante needs it.”

  “Dante? What’s he got to do with this?”

  “It’s a complicated situation, but he’s in bad shape, and the only way he’s going to get better is if he takes some of my energy.”

  “So, why can’t you… umm…”

  “Because we can’t. Succubi and Incubi can’t give each other anything through sex.”

  Clarity dawned across Tom’s eyes as the realization hit. “But maybe if I could distil your energy into… no, what you’re asking is… what if it doesn’t work?”

  “Then it doesn’t work, but I still want to try, and the way I see it, Tom, you owe me. You’re still breathing because I vouched for you.”

  Tom’s expression stiffened, highlighting the lines in his tired face. “You don’t know what you’re asking me to do, Lilith. Even if I wanted to, I’ve lost access to my magic, remember?” Tom raised his right hand, revealing the bracelet Madeline had forced him to wear. It was a simple thing; a black throng around which many semi-precious gems were set.

  “I know exactly what I’m asking you to do, Tom. If you don’t want to do it for me, then at least show someone else how it’s done. I’m getting that drug one way or another.”

  “It’s really that important to you?”

  “Yes, but I’m getting impatient, so what’s it going to be?”

  Tom sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it. I really don’t like this, though.”

  “Good. I don’t care whether you like what I’m asking you to do or not, all that’s important is that you do it, and that you do it fast, especially seeing as you’re going to be teaching someone else to actually perform the magic. How soon can you get set up?”

  “I… don’t know, maybe a couple of hours?”

  “Alright, come with me.”

  I started marching down the hall, confident that Tom was padding along behind me but not looking over my shoulder to check. I didn’t want to have to look at him another second longer than I had to. When I reached Kyle’s door, I knocked on it urgently. Kyle, who was a light sleeper, opened the door after only a few seconds, though his bleary eyes and red face suggested just how displeased he was with such an early morning visit. That and, of course, I had Tom in tow, and Tom was the last person Kyle wanted to see.

  “Just what in the hell do you call this?” Kyle asked, regarding me from behind angry, sleepy eyes.

  “I need your help,” I said, “And I don’t have a lot of time to explain.”

  “You’re going to explain something if you’re bringing that low life with you to my room at stupid o’clock in the morning. What the fuck do you think I am?”

  “You’re someone who’s going to get changed and help us create more of the supernatural drug.”

  “I’m going to do what now?”

  “You heard me, and I really don’t have time to explain right now. Please, Kyle, trust that I know what I’m doing here, and help me.”

  Kyle ground his teeth together, then rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever, but if that one so much as sneezes in a way that I find shifty, I’m going to feed him to the first spirit that wants to take him across to the other side.”

  “Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’re a scary summoner and you don’t like Tom. Who doesn’t like Tom? Could you please get dressed?”

  “I know you don’t like me,” Tom said, “But I’m standing right here…”

  “Yeah…” Kyle said, “We know.” He slammed the bedroom door shut.

  I turned to look at Tom, almost feeling bad for what I had just said. Almost. “Look, I understand this dynamic is probably going to seem a little unfair, but you should count yourself lucky.”

  “I do, it’s just…”

  I sighed, the good person in me tugging on my heartstrings. “It’ll pass. If you prove to everyone that you really aren’t the dickhead everyone thinks you are, then it’ll pass.”

  Tom nodded. “That’s something, at least.”

  “It’s all I can give you.”

  “Yeah, I get it.”

  Kyle opened the bedroom door wearing a bathrobe and having apparently dunked his head in a tub of water. “Alright,” he said, “I’m up. Let’s get this shit show on the road.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The process of setting the lab up, extracting my blood, and creating a batch of the drug had taken a lot longer than I had wanted it to, and by the end of it, I was feeling more than just a little tired. But I had a phial filled with a sparkling mist inside of it, one created using my own succubus blood, and I wasn’t going to waste any time in bringing it to Dante.

  Making my way to him, I wondered if this process permanently stole something from the donor—or in most cases, the victim—or if supernaturals had an infinite supply of energy to tap; the kind that replenished itself. Considering I would regularly take energy from the men I slept with, I suspected the latter was the case, and that supernatural energy was a self-replenishing thing. That made me feel a little better not only about having given my own energy like this, but also about Vik, Aiden, Liam, and Raphael, that I wasn’t doing any permanent damage to them, and that everyone who had ever b
een a victim of Elroy’s drug production ring would eventually make a full recovery.

  I didn’t knock when I reached the door to Dante’s bedroom, instead I just opened it and let myself in, taking care to quickly shut it behind myself. Dante, however, wasn’t in the bed, or at his desk.

  “Dante?” I called out.

  “In here,” Dante’s voice came back as an echo. When the bathroom door opened and I saw Dante standing in the doorway, shirtless, pale, and looking way thin enough that his bones were clearly visible beneath the skin, I dashed toward him and held him up, fearing that if he were to take a single step he would topple over and break.

  “I’m fine,” he said, putting his hand out toward me.

  “Bullshit you’re fine!” I said, taking his hand. “You need to sit down, and you need to do it right now.”

  “Lilith, I don’t need you babying me right now.”

  “If I don’t baby you right now I may end up burying you tomorrow, and I don’t want to do that, so sit the fuck down.”

  Dante walked over to the bed on his own and sat down, though not before groaning from the effort. I rubbed his shoulder, and my hand came away cold and wet. The back of his hair was matted with sweat, too. He was in pain. I could see it on his face, could hear his body crying out even if he wouldn’t give it a voice with which to speak. Dante needed help, and I just knew he was going to be too damn proud, and stubborn, to accept it.

  Especially considering what kind of an offer I had for him.

  “Dante, tell me the truth,” I said, “Are you sure starving yourself won’t kill you?”

  Dante turned his head to look at me. His eyes followed. “No,” he said. “I know it’ll kill me if I don’t feed soon.”

  “Then you’re just being stupid, and stubborn.”