“Please,” Iona said.
Serenity closed her eyes and Iona’s small, warm hand pressed against her sternum. Heat flared through her throat and lungs and, instantly, the raw, burning pain vanished. Iona’s hand withdrew and Serenity opened her eyes.
“Thank you.”
Iona shrugged. “It was the least I could do.”
“So, now what?” she asked, glancing over at Sebastian. He appeared to be unconscious on the floor, collapsed on his side, his eyes closed. Trepidation tripped though her, stealing her breath once again. She didn’t want to go near or touch him, terrified the demon would reappear in his face.
“Help me sit him upright,” Iona said, already heading over to his inert form. “And then we can get on with this. The sooner I find out what I need to know, the sooner we can try to get your vampire back again. And, believe me, we want to get this done quickly. The longer he stays on the other plain, the harder it will be to bring him home.”
“Okay.” Serenity got to her feet, pushing aside her fears. She would face a hundred demons if it meant saving Sebastian.
Together, struggling with his bulk, they hoisted him to sitting, his back resting against the wall, his chin dropped to his chest. He looked so helpless, like a shell of himself.
Serenity straightened, her hand pressed against the base of her spine. “So what now?”
“Now I try the spell again, only this time without your vampire resisting.”
“He’ll be okay, won’t he?”
Iona didn’t answer. “Just stand back and keep quiet.”
Serenity pressed her lips together and took a step back. Was this girl really only sixteen? At moments she seemed exactly what Serenity would expect of a sixteen-year-old, and other times she acted like something else entirely.
Iona knelt in front of Sebastian, his large form dwarfing hers.
“Don’t hurt him,” Serenity said, sounding like a child herself.
Iona looked back over her shoulder, sweeping her mane of white-blonde hair across her back. “I’ll do whatever I need to.”
She didn’t have the power to stop Iona, even if she wanted to.
Serenity tore herself from her chain of thought. She needed to trust that Iona was doing the right thing to help them. The girl might not like vampires, but she did like Elizabeth and wanted to stop this thing from getting out.
Iona held her hands out, placing them over Sebastian’s chest with an inch of space between. In low tones, she began her chant again.
Within moments, darkness rushed beneath the surface of his face until it swam beneath his skin like a bruise. His cheekbones swelled, one side of his nose bulging outward. Something moved beneath the smooth skin of his forehead and Serenity had to stifle a scream.
“Tell me what circle summoned you here,” Iona demanded.
Seeing the face of something else behind the features of one Serenity loved so dearly was horrifying. It was as though the demon wore Sebastian’s face as a mask.
He strained against invisible bonds which held him where he sat. His back bowed, pushing out his chest, his biceps bulging.
“I come from no circle, witch!” Sebastian spat, his voice deeper and harsher, not his own. “Only the promise of a soul has brought me here.”
Iona’s hands trembled with effort as she continued to use some kind of invisible magic to pin both the vampire and demon to the wall. “Explain yourself!” she commanded.
“The one who brought me here made a deal with the power of Dominion. She promised the soul of an original and, in return, I will do her bidding and kill those who have caused her harm.”
“An original what?”
“An original child. A soul half-light and half-dark. She will help us break the boundaries between our worlds.”
“Elizabeth!” Serenity breathed.
Iona’s head turned, her wide eyes horrified, clearly having come to the same conclusion. The break in concentration made her lose her control of the demon and Sebastian fell back against the wall, his body relaxing, the darkness in his face clearing.
But for once, Serenity’s attention wasn’t on him. “She doesn’t have a half-dark soul,” she cried. “Elizabeth is light, through and through.”
“She’s half vampire,” Iona reminded her.
“I don’t care! There isn’t a bad bone in her body.”
“Right now, I agree with you, but perhaps in the future she has the potential to choose to go one way or the other.”
Serenity stared at the girl. She didn’t want to believe her. She knew her own daughter and there was nothing bad about Elizabeth. She was as sweet as a child could get.
But what about the time she’d spent with Demitri? He had fed her blood and Elizabeth admitted that she’d liked it, that she’d wanted more. Was that the dark side this demon spoke about? If Elizabeth had continued down the route, if things had gone differently and Demitri had won, would Elizabeth have continued wanting blood? Would she have turned into a child who killed?
The thought was abhorrent.
She turned her attention to Sebastian.
“Is the demon still inside him?” she asked, nervous. He looked like himself again, though he was unconscious—or whatever the vampire equivalent of unconscious was.
Iona nodded. “It’s still inside him. Hiding beneath the surface.”
“But what about this circle you were talking about? Did you get what you needed to know?”
Iona chewed at her lower-lip. “There is no circle. Somehow the vampire you’ve spoken of has done this herself.”
“Does that make things better or worse?” Panic rose in Serenity’s chest, catching her breath. Now, it seemed not only could she risk losing Sebastian to this other world, but her daughter was at risk as well.
Iona held her gaze. “I don’t know.”
Shouts from outside caught their attention.
They exchanged a confused glance.
“What the hell?” said Serenity.
Iona had already turned to run from the trailer. Serenity followed and they raced outside to find Vincent standing on the outskirts of the camp. A number of burly men from Iona’s people stood around him, but the huge, skinhead vampire held his own, his eyes glaring yellow in the dark, his pale skin catching the light spilling from the trailers. The men from the camp danced around him like matadors around a bull. He snarled, revealing his fangs, his jaw thick and protruding in the dim light. He made an imposing and terrifying figure.
Bridget stood by, Elizabeth clutched behind her. “That’s my son!” she cried. “He’s supposed to be here.”
“It’s another goddamn vampire,” one of the men snapped.
“He’s my son!” Bridget insisted.
Iona strode forward. “Henry, Conner, stand down. The vampire has been asked here."
One of the guys—a black-haired man in his late thirties—turned to her, confusion and anger on his face. “What the hell are you doing, Iona, bringing more of their kind onto our turf?”
“Back down, Henry. This isn’t your business.”
“Hell it isn’t! This is our home. Our children live here.”
Vincent spun around to face him. “I’m not going to eat your goddamn children, moron.”
Henry scowled. “No, you won’t, cause we sure as hell won’t let you!”
“Don’t think for a minute that you fairies could stop me.”
Bridget released Elizabeth and the little girl ran to Serenity.
“Stop it!” the older woman cried, walking forward to put herself between her son and Iona’s men. “Just stop it. Iona and I need Vincent to be here. We asked him here.”
Iona stepped up front, her presence somehow greater than her slight figure. “She’s right, Henry. We need this vampire to help us find someone. There is more at stake here than just a dislike of their kind. If we don’t stop this thing, it might be the end of our world.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
Her eyes
flicked to where Elizabeth stood with Serenity. “Exactly what I said. Allow the vampire past. We have bigger things to battle.”
Vincent shoved past the man, knocking his shoulder. Henry stared after him with fury in his eyes. As Vincent walked on, he hit something, like an invisible force field and rebounded off it. Henry’s mouth turned up in a smirk.
“What the hell is this?” Vincent demanded.
“Sorry,” said Iona. “We couldn’t take any chances. Henry, Conner, you can remove the shield.”
The men narrowed their eyes, but both lifted their right hands and spoke something in Latin.
Straight away, Vincent pushed his way past the invisible line. He rolled his thick shoulders as though shrugging the magic off. “So, do you need this ring or not?”
Serenity stepped forward. “We do, Vincent. Thank you for coming.”
“Wasn’t much of a welcome party.”
“I’m sorry, but they need to be careful.”
His eyes flicked to Elizabeth. The girl cowered behind Serenity’s legs. Whatever else the rest of them thought of Vincent, Elizabeth clearly still remembered her time in captivity.
The big vampire glanced awkwardly away.
Bridget placed her hand on her son’s heavily muscled arm, drawing his attention. “Did you bring what we need?”
Vincent nodded. “Of course.” He scowled at the men still surrounding him. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“Come with us,” said Iona.
The small group—Iona, Serenity, Elizabeth, Bridget and Vincent—made their way back to Iona’s trailer and closed the door on the aggressive vibes still coming from Iona’s people. Serenity prayed this wouldn’t all go wrong. She didn’t want her small family on the wrong side of the angry Irish.
They stood together awkwardly in the middle of the sorceress’s living room. “I need for us all to join hands,” said Iona.
Serenity cast her gaze around the strange ensemble. “But we’re not witches.”
“No, but you’re the ones who need to find this … woman. Your need will help my magic locate her. That and the ring the vampire has brought.”
Vincent fished in his jeans pocket and pulled out a band of gold, circles of diamonds embedded in its surface. “Demitri gave it to her,” he said. “I think she imagined the ring meant something, though he probably stole it from a woman he’d killed.”
Serenity cringed, wanting to cover Elizabeth’s ears with her hands. But Elizabeth had already seen far worse—memories Serenity would never be able to wipe from her daughter’s mind, however much she might want to.
Iona took Natasha’s ring from the center of Vincent’s huge, overstretched palm. The massive vampire made her appear even more petite than before. She placed the ring on the floor in the middle of the room and extended a hand out to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth smiled shyly at her and took her hand. On the other side, Iona reached out to Bridget. Bridget took the girl’s small hand and then outstretched her other to Vincent.
Iona shook her head. “Not him. The dead interfere with the living.”
“I’m not dead,” Vincent said with a scowl.
“You’re not alive either.”
Vincent pressed his lips together, obviously repressing another remark, but he managed to hold himself back and took a couple of steps back to the outskirts of the room.
Iona nodded at Serenity, motioning for her to join them. Serenity took a shaky breath and stepped forward, joining hands with Elizabeth and Bridget to complete the circle. Elizabeth’s eyes locked with Serenity’s and the girl gave her a brave smile. She forced herself to smile back, though involving both herself and her daughter in any kind of magic made her nervous.
“What’s about to happen may feel strange,” Iona said. “But if you want to find this other vampire and free Sebastian, you can’t break the circle.”
Serenity and Elizabeth nodded obediently.
Iona closed her eyes to concentrate and began her chant. “I draw from the elements of the earth to locate the owner of this object. I draw from the elements … I draw from the elements … I draw from the elements …”
The air seemed to vibrate around them and Serenity’s hair lifted from its roots, her skin prickling with a sensation close to pins and needles. The experience was uncomfortable, but not painful. She glanced at Elizabeth, hoping the prickling wasn’t hurting her, but Elizabeth’s attention remained focused on the ring.
“Integer possessorem!” Iona declared, her voice sounding older, stronger. “Find her!”
The ring began to spin, speeding up and becoming a blur of gold. Around the circle of metal, specs of multi-colored dust began to gather, whirling around the object. More dust gathered, a mini sandstorm in the middle of a double-wide trailer. Before their eyes, the movement seemed to erode a hole into the trailer floor, the tip of the twister digging deeper as the sides grew higher.
Serenity gasped, her hold on both Elizabeth and Bridget’s hands tightening.
“Show us!” Iona cried. A wind whipped up around them, blowing their hair from their faces. Bridget’s long skirt wrapped tight around her legs. Serenity expected the dust to lash against her face, clog her throat and scratch her eyes, but, strangely, she didn’t feel it at all. Though she could see the specks as clearly as the room around her, the dust itself seemed to have no form.
The spiral grew wider, enveloping them. Serenity twisted her head to check behind her. The twister wrapped around the group, reaching right up to the trailer’s ceiling. The hole in the floor spread, causing them to edge back.
“Don’t break the circle!” Iona yelled above the wind.
Their arms were stretched, Serenity’s fingertips barely clasping Elizabeth’s. If the hole before them grew any larger, she’d have no choice but to break the circle and she’d do so by pulling Elizabeth into her arms.
But the hole remained the same size, like a twister on the ocean.
“Show us the location of the owner of this ring.”
Where before, the spiral of dust had been a whirl of color, the colors now began to separate and gather, forming shapes and patterns. The wind continued lashing around their bodies, yet the gusts didn’t disperse the molecules. Instead, behind them and below their feet, pictures began to appear, as clear as if Serenity were looking through a window and seeing a view outside.
A white sign post reading Serra Mesa Recreation Center. A small airfield. Rows of citrus groves, a horse stable nestled in between. A freeway signpost for the Interstate 5 Freeway to San Diego. Then the expanse of gray industrial buildings.
Suddenly, the wind stopped and the twister dropped into small piles of dust around them. The hole vanished, leaving the polished wood floors intact.
Breathing hard, Iona dropped Elizabeth and Bridget’s hands, breaking the circle.
“Did you see what you needed?” she gasped, bent over, her hands on her knees as she looked up at Serenity.
Serenity pressed her lips together and nodded. “I think so. She’s definitely in Serra Mesa, in San Diego. I can only assume we’ll find her in one of the industrial buildings.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to find the right one?”
Vincent spoke up. “If you get me close enough, I’ll be able to sense her.”
Serenity turned to him, hope lightening her heart. “Are you sure?”
He gave a surly nod. “I’ll chase her out like a weasel from a hole.”
Chapter Seventeen
Sebastian’s eyes shot open.
Serenity rushed to his side, relief flooding through her. Though she hadn’t wanted to admit it out loud, she’d been terrified he might not find his way home this time.
“Hey.” She smiled at him. “You’re back.”
He tried to return the smile, but his expression seemed to be forced. The patch of dried skin had spread upward, creeping over his jaw and cheek. Serenity thought if she touched his cheek, flakes would come away on her fingertips, like the wing of a butterf
ly or moth.
Sebastian looked around at all the faces watching him, his green eyes dull. With effort, he pushed himself to sitting and struggled to his feet.
“Excuse me,” he said, muscling his way through the room, not looking at anyone. “I need some space.”
“Daddy?” Elizabeth stared after him, worry written all over her small face.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” said Serenity. “Stay here a minute, okay? I’m just going to talk to your father.”
The little girl’s lower lip trembled. “He’s not going to die, is he?”
“No, Elizabeth.” She tried to be firm, tried to make herself believe her own words as well. “No one is going to die.”
Iona, Bridget and Vincent all glanced at one another, but Serenity tried to ignore the implication of their expressions. Instead, she followed Sebastian from the trailer. She almost expected Iona’s men to be surrounding him, but they were nowhere to be seen. Neither was Sebastian.
She went in search, her panic mounting. What if he didn’t have full control? What if the demon affected the way he acted? Then she saw his familiar shape sitting on a low wall at the back of the camp and sighed with relief.
He sat with his elbows rested on his knees, his head sunk below his shoulders. The position offered Serenity a view of the back of his neck and, in the moonlight, she noticed that the flaky, white patch of skin had grown once again, disappearing down below his shirt collar. The thought of how far the patch had spread over his beautiful skin made her want to cry.
Sebastian already seemed defeated.
“Hey,” she said softly as she approached. She nodded to the spot on the wall beside him. “That seat taken?”
Sebastian lifted his eyes to her. The brilliance had gone out of his green gaze, a milky film starting to form over his irises. A fist clutched at her heart, a painful lump tightening in her throat.
How could someone do this to him?
Serenity swallowed her emotions, knowing she needed to be strong. She sat down close, their thighs touching. Wanting to get his attention, she gave his leg a nudge with hers.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m frightened,” he admitted, casting his gaze to the ground, ashamed to even look at her. “Of what’s going to happen.”
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