by Rye Brewer
I took him by the hand and led him out through the front door, to the elevator. Would Fane’s plan be in place? I could only hope so. While I didn’t want to rush things, I also couldn’t stand the thought of being with Valerius for another minute. I wanted to scrub off my skin, anywhere he’d touched me.
“Where are we going?” he asked as we stepped into the elevator car.
“You’ll see.”
“Is it far?”
“Not very.” I glanced up at him. “Why would I want to be far away from the body, right? I’ve been guarding it with my life ever since that day.”
I didn’t need to explain which day I was referring to. We both knew all too well.
The corridor was dark, as usual, lit only with a few work lights.
“In the basement?” he murmured, looking back and forth. He was on edge, uneasy. Did he expect something? Sense something off?
“A little more secure than that,” I assured him. “We’re not rubes.”
“Oh, I know, I know. You would never be sloppy with something this important.”
I almost bit my tongue off, wanting to thank him for his faith in me and my family. He was the one being sloppy with his choice of words. If I didn’t know who he really was, we might have had a fight over it right outside the vault.
“Here we are,” I announced, coming to a stop next to the familiar door. It looked just like any of the other doors we’d passed, and with good reason. We could hardly have hung a sign announcing the room’s true purpose.
“This?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You’ll see.” Oh, you’ll see, all right. I could hardly wait, even as my heart hammered out of control while the door swung open and led to the second door with its electronic keypad.
“A vault?” he asked, and I caught a hint of appreciation in his voice.
“Impressed?”
He chuckled. “A little.”
If he thinks this is impressive…
I mentally crossed my fingers as I entered the code which unlocked the vault. If there was no one but Valerius inside, we were all sunk. What would I do if that were the case? Lock us all in? What if he could escape through the walls or something? Create a portal? Please, be in there, Fane.
At first, all I saw was the same body, against the wall and wrapped in blankets, as I’d left it. My heart clenched in despair, until I noticed a shadowy figure in the corner, not ten feet from the body.
Valerius didn’t notice. He was too busy hurrying inside, making a beeline for his body. It wasn’t until I closed the door behind us, sealing the room off, that he turned with a look of confusion.
“What are you doing?” he hissed.
“Philippa, stay far away.” Fane stepped out of the shadows, into the light of the single lantern which burned at the side of the body.
I knew well enough not to ask questions, pressing myself into the corner by the door. Scott was nearby—I had never been so glad to see him, and I reached for his hand. He clasped it, moving closer to me, shielding me—I supposed from what was to come.
“What is this?” Valerius looked around through Vance’s eyes, taking in the scene.
One by one, others stepped out of the darkness.
A beautiful woman in robes the color of red wine, with black hair which tumbled down her back and large, all-seeing eyes.
A black-haired man who wore an expression I could only describe as haughty. He gave me a bad feeling.
The entire situation gave me a bad feeling, as Fane and the other two closed in on Valerius.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he snarled. “Who do you think you’re dealing with?”
“We know who we’re dealing with, Valerius,” Fane announced.
“You’re wrong. I’m Vance.”
“No. You aren’t.” My voice was shaky, but loud. “You’re not Vance. I should’ve seen it from the beginning. I know he’s in there, but you are, too.”
“And it’s time you returned to your own body and left the rest of us in peace.” Fane made a move as if to take him by the arms, but Vance’s body was younger and faster than his. Maybe even stronger.
He ducked Fane’s lunge, then moved toward Scott and me.
Fane looked at Scott, who understood his silent command and sprang into action. He let go of me and threw his arms around Valerius’s shoulders, knocking him off-balance just long enough for Fane to take hold of one of his arms. Scott took the other one.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Valerius yelled in Vance’s voice. I
wanted to cover my ears and pretend I couldn’t hear any of it, that it wasn’t happening. When he looked so much like him and sounded like him, it wasn’t easy to separate the two of them.
I didn’t want to think of Vance hurting, but it needed to be done. He had to be freed.
“What has to be done,” the dark-haired man replied in a deep, sonorous voice. He exchanged a glance with the woman, who nodded.
The two of them closed their eyes, both chanting in unison just under their breath.
I couldn’t understand what they were saying, only that the energy in the closed-off room seemed to heighten. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up.
“What? No. No!” Valerius fought against Fane and Scott, who grunted in the struggle to hold onto him.
A halo of light surrounded the two chanting figures, which then extended itself to wrap around Valerius’s body and Vance’s. He closed his eyes, his head snapping back.
“Don’t hurt him!” I gasped, but the sound of my voice was lost in the chanting, grunting, and fighting. I reached for them but didn’t leave the corner, afraid to move in case I got in the way or destroyed something.
The energy spiked, the force pressing me against the wall, ripping the air from my lungs. Valerius or Vance or whoever he was by now cried out once, in pain or anger, or both, before convulsing violently.
Fane and Scott exchanged a look of panic as the body in their arms shook like it was being electrocuted before it went limp.
And then, everything stopped.
The glowing light seemed to evaporate, the chanting went silent.
I could breathe again. “Oh, no,” I whimpered, my eyes filling with tears as I went to Vance. “Is he breathing? Did he—”
“He should be fine in a little while,” the woman said in a soothing voice. “He’ll need to rest.”
“Why won’t he open his eyes?” I demanded, never looking away from him.
His head lolled on his shoulder, eyes closed, mouth half-open.
“Are you certain it worked?” Fane asked, sounding as uncertain as I did.
“If I didn’t know better,” the dark-haired warlock or whoever he was replied, “I would think you were questioning my abilities.”
I turned to him, ready to mouth off and likely get myself into trouble, when movement from the floor caught my eye.
For the first time since we’d brought him to the vault—no, since before that, since before he’d been imprisoned in that tomb of roots which had kept him in place for endless years.
Before I could call anyone’s attention to him, Valerius’s eyes opened.
19
Scott
Vance was dead weight in my arms, out like a light.
Philippa did everything but hang off him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“He’s already heavy enough,” I grunted.
“Let’s set him down over here,” Fane suggested, and we half-dragged him to the wall before letting him slide down to the floor.
Philippa sank to his side, holding him up, stroking his head as it rested on her shoulder.
“Vance, please, wake up,” she blubbered. “Please, don’t leave me again.”
“He’s definitely alive. He’s breathing, see, his chest is moving up and down.” I touched her shoulder, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was too wrapped up in him.
There were other things happening. Such as Valerius sitting the
re with his eyes open. But that was the only part of him that had moved up to that point. He might as well have been a wax figure.
Elazar and Branwen had done it. I had to give her credit for whatever part she had taken in the spell. For someone as small as she was, there was a lot of power in her.
Was I praising a witch? Even to myself?
There was no time to explore this, as Valerius began to fully awaken.
I tensed, as did everyone else in the room, other than Vance, who groaned softly in Philippa’s arms.
I glanced down to find her holding him tightly, staring daggers at the ancient one across the vault.
He blinked, looked around. Emitted a growl. “What have you done to me?”
“What needed to be done,” Fane reminded him, taking two steps closer.
Valerius fought his way to his feet slowly, so slowly, and I found myself straining to hear if his old bones and joints creaked in protest. His skin was like paper, revealing every vein running under it.
I wasn’t sure how he was still alive after what he’d just gone through. I had held onto Vance during all of it and had felt the way his body shook and convulsed as energy pulsed through it.
“How dare you?” he hissed, glaring at all of us in turn. “How dare you think you have the right to infringe on my plans? Who do you think you are?”
“I believe you know who I am,” Elazar reminded him, smirking as always.
“Oh, yes. I know all of you, and still, I ask how you can begin to believe you have any right to interfere with forces so far beyond you?”
“Spare us,” Elazar sighed. “If you were so far beyond us, we wouldn’t have been able to get you down here and pull you out of that young vampire’s body. You aren’t impressing any of us with your grand statements.”
“And since you already had your revenge on Lucian,” Fane added, “what purpose was there in possessing Vance any longer?”
A slow smile spread across his face, the faded eyes lighting up. “I had several further uses for his body.” He looked at Philippa, his smile widening.
Fane almost got to Valerius before I could stop him.
“He’s just trying to get under your skin,” I muttered as I held him back. “Don’t give him the satisfaction.”
“Don’t speak of my daughter that way. Don’t you even mention her,” Fane warned.
I half-expected his fangs to descend. Until I remembered he no longer had them.
“Enough of this,” Valerius announced, the light extinguishing, the smile vanishing. “Where is Nivia? We’ve waited far too long already.”
Uh oh. I had forgotten about her. Fane stiffened; clearly, he had, too. We looked at Elazar. It seemed his news to tell.
I wondered if we should even be here, if I should take Philippa and get out. Memories of what had happened back on Shadowsbane flashed through my mind as my eyes darted back and forth between Elazar and Valerius.
“What should we do?” I whispered to Fane.
He shook his head only once. To silence me? To admit he didn’t know what to do? I couldn’t tell.
Elazar raised his chin, looking at the ancient one down the bridge of his nose. “She’s dead.”
I tensed, ready to defend myself and my sister if need be. It seemed the entire room held its breath as Valerius processed this.
“What did you say?” he breathed.
“I said, she’s dead,” Elazar shrugged. “At my hand. I killed her on Shadowsbane Island. Ask Fane and the boy.” He pointed my way. “They were there.”
Valerius didn’t confirm this information with us. He never took his eyes from Elazar’s smirking face.
He then raised his hands, intent on tearing into that face as he flew toward his enemy. An ear-splitting scream of rage filled the vault.
Elazar merely raised a hand, shooting a bolt of pure energy at Valerius. It was as though he hit an invisible wall, his body stopping suddenly, before rebounding and hitting the floor.
I knew that feeling. Elazar had done the same to me back at the mausoleum.
Only I had lived through the experience.
Valerius had not.
His eyes were wide, unseeing, as he settled against the concrete. Then, in front of all of us, his body decomposed. It dried, crumbled, turned to dust surrounded by old robes.
The entire process couldn’t have taken five seconds.
Philippa’s long, low moan pulled my horrified attention out of the situation. “What… what did you just do? He’s dead? Just like that?”
“What does it look like?” Elazar asked, studying the dust that had only moments earlier been a living, breathing person. “Good riddance. He lived far too long and caused far, far too much pain.”
“I don’t believe this. After everything that’s happened.” Philippa looked up at me, searching for answers.
I was at a loss. “Trust me. Things happen that quickly sometimes. You don’t even want to know what I’ve seen.”
Elazar looked up at us after examining his handiwork. “Well. I believe my job here is done.” And like that, he was gone. He disappeared.
I looked back at Philippa, who was more dumbfounded than ever.
“See what I mean?”
20
Vance
Of all the surreal, unthinkable things that had gone on in my life to that point, the most surreal of any of them was opening my eyes and finding myself in control of my body again.
I blinked once, twice, flexing my fingers, moving my toes. They seemed to work, though it felt like I was moving through semi-set cement. Even that tiny movement was exhausting.
“Vance? Are you there? Are you with me?” I was in Philippa’s arms, resting against her body, and that was good.
So very good. I could finally feel her instead of knowing it was Valerius who touched her, who kissed her.
“I’m here,” I mumbled.
Even my mouth felt too heavy to move, my tongue like a thick slab in my mouth. My body was mine again, but not mine. It the exhaustion weren’t so complete, I might have been angry. As it was, all I wanted was to sleep.
“Please, open your eyes and look at me. Please.” She touched my chin, tilting my head back against her shoulder. She was so warm, soft but strong. She was always strong. And she had found a way around his lies. She had seen through him, the way I knew she would.
I had warned him.
During our walk, when he’d all but put my fists through window after window of the shops we’d passed on the street. He’d finally resorted to balling my hands up and shoving them into my pants pockets. They had clenched tight enough to hurt.
You’re pushing too hard. I knew you would, I had taunted him. How does it feel to know you’re not in control, the way you thought you were?
He’d snarled loud enough to get the attention of a couple walking past. They had hurried on, heads lowered.
I’ll kill her and make you watch, just like I killed that weak little witch in ShadesRealm. You thought that was bad, I know. You all but begged me to stop. It was your hands that did it. You felt her hot blood on them, didn’t you? And you wanted to drink it, because that’s all you are. A weak, pitiful vampire who can’t control himself when there’s blood in the air. I wonder what her blood will smell like? I wonder if you’ll want to drink it?
Stop, stop, stop! Shut up! I’d wanted to warn him away from that, to make it known that I was strong enough to fight back and overcome him if I tried. I’d settled for knowing that I could do it if needed and left it there.
She’s smarter than you give her credit for, I’d reminded him.
And I was right. It brought a smile to my face.
I opened my eyes, looking up into hers. There was something I needed to tell her while I had the chance, in case something else happened and I lost the chance again.
“I love you.”
“Oh, Vance.” She kissed my forehead, my cheeks. “I love you, too.”
“I was there all the time, listening and w
atching. It drove me crazy, knowing he was…”
“We don’t have to, talk about it now. Or ever, really. You just rest, okay? There’s all the time in the world.”
“I only want you to know… why I let it go on.” I had to explain it. I couldn’t let another minute go by without explaining it. “I wanted to fight him. I wanted to stop him. But I was afraid for you. That he would hurt you to get back at me.”
“I understand.” Her hand was tender as she ran it down the side of my face. “You don’t have to explain yourself. Who knows what he was capable of?”
She had no idea. I did, and that was all the more reason for me to fear what he could do to hurt her. Or worse. Because I had felt Tabitha’s blood on my hands. I had watched her die, had listened to her final rasping breaths.
A strange woman knelt at my side, touching my forehead, my throat, my wrists. “He needs to rest,” she announced.
If I’d had the strength, I would’ve asked how long she’d trained to learn the skills it took for a diagnosis like that one. Anyone with eyes could see that I needed to rest. I was falling apart.
“We’ll take him up to the apartment.” Philippa wasn’t asking a question. “Scott, help him.”
Scott slid an arm under my shoulders, picking me up until I was on my feet. Not a lot of good that did, as I couldn’t support my weight. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you out of this place.”
I looked over my shoulder at what was left of Valerius sat in a pile on the floor. “What about him?” I asked no one in particular.
“What about him?” Fane echoed. “He’ll stay there until somebody gets around to cleaning him up. If anyone ever does. I doubt I’ll lose sleep over it.”
Lose sleep over it. We didn’t sleep. I wondered if that was just an expression or if there really was something different about him. I’d felt it, even when Valerius had possessed me. He wasn’t the same as me or Philippa or Scott. Not anymore.