Rise and Fall

by A. L. Kessler

  Especially when I saw the silver chained coffee sitting in the room's corner. Levi.

  It hadn’t been just a dream. It had really been Samuel in my mind. Which meant that they did not fully cleanse me of his power.

  Fuck.

  Me.

  Judging by the smug look on Samuel’s face, he knew it, too.

  “Welcome, Abigail. I must say, I wasn’t expecting you tonight. Catalina made it sound like she needed to convince the council to let you come.”

  I said nothing.

  “She doesn’t know, does she? You came here with your one back up.”

  I could pull my gun now and shoot him in the face, but there was werewolf was on my right side. It’d know if I was going for my other gun and probably take my arm off.

  “Pups, you are dismissed.”

  And like that, the werewolves left Merick and me with Samuel.

  “Before we start all this. I want to see Levi.” I kept my voice even.

  Samuel nodded. “I expected that, but I can’t arrange that right at this moment. First, I want you to drop you weapons.”

  I needed to play this right. “I’ll drop my weapons only if you let me see Levi.”

  Samuel laughed. “You’re forgetting something here, Abigail.”

  I felt his power flow through me, touching my mind. I swore Merick hissed behind me like he felt it, too.

  “You will drop your weapons.” Samuel said again, but this time it seemed to echo in my head.

  Fuck. My body moved of its own accord, pulling my other gun and tossing it to the side.

  I needed that.

  Next was the first blade in the boot holster. I tossed that to the side with the gun.

  I was about to reach for the other when Merick shoved me to the ground and threw a circle around Samuel.

  The impact of hitting the ground was what I needed to shake myself out of the grip that Samuel had on me. I shook my head and dove for my gun, but Samuel was there, out of the circle.

  I let out a surprised shout when he kicked my gun away from me and then went to stomp on me. I rolled out of the way and flipped up off the ground. Merick was by my side in an instant, and we both faced Samuel.

  “You killed Hannah, so you didn’t have to face us both at the same time. And that was smart of you, but you forget Hannah was not the only one in my service.”

  The doors to the room opened and four vampires flooded in. We were in trouble.

  “I’ve got them. You get Samuel,” Merick whispered, but I heard him. I had to trust him to have my back.

  I wondered for a moment where Liz and Zayne were, because Levi was here. But I had a feeling they had run into their own trouble.

  Samuel took a couple of steps toward me while Merick was busy at my back with the vampires.

  “You can’t fight me, Abigail.” His voice was in my head again, but this time, I pulled up my magic and shoved him out.

  “Fuck you, Samuel. You don’t control me. You never will.” I threw my magic toward him, but he dodged to the side. I came around with another blast and it hit him in the chest, knocking him back.

  I took advantage of momentarily stunning him and pulled my knife. He would want to get close to me, and the blade was waiting for him. Just like Hannah.

  Except he didn’t rush me. He disappeared and reappeared next to the coffin. “You want to see your father?” His words were dripping with malice. He picked up a leather cloth that was there and wrapped it around the chain before breaking the links apart.

  He was trying to distract me. I inched toward the gun, keeping an eye on him as he continued to break the chains. I bent down and scooped up the gun, aimed and…

  He was gone. Leaving the coffin open.

  I turned around to see Merick facing off with two of the vampires that were left. I shot one, and he took advantage of the other’s confusion and stabbed him with a blade.

  “Samuel?” Merick asked, and I shook my head.

  “I don’t know where he went.”

  I ran to the coffin, expecting to find Levi in it, but found nothing. It was empty, no even a sign of Levi there.

  Merick yelled, and I turned around just in time to see Samuel throw him against the wall.

  Merick’s body fell to the floor in a heap. He didn’t move. My heart stopped for a moment until I saw his chest rise and fall as he breathed. Okay, he was just unconscious.

  I could deal with unconscious. I raised my gun again, and Samuel simply smiled at me. I shot, but he disappeared and then reappeared in front of me. He grabbed my wrist, crushing it in his grip until I dropped the gun. He kicked it away from me again.

  “Always relying on human weapons.” He laughed and then struck with his fangs. I tried to jerk away, so his bite landed on my shoulder instead of my neck, but that didn’t make it any less painful.

  I pulled my magic up to fight his powers. I wouldn’t let him take me down with his bite. I brought my knee up, trying to hit his stomach to get him away, but he didn’t budge.

  His power pushed against my magic, wanting me to succumb to the feeding. I grabbed my blade from my boot and slammed it into his thigh.

  That got him to jerk away, taking a chunk of my flesh with him. Blood poured down my shoulder, and I tried to ignore the pain.

  I switched my blade to my other hand. My blood hit the ground, and I called on my magic. I threw a red circle around Samuel and stared at him through the haze.

  “You have no idea how much I hate you right now.” I snarled at him and started forward. “How much I want to shove my blade through your heart and burn your body into ashes.” At my words, fire shot around the base of the circle. “And I can, and I will fucking do it.”

  Before I had the chance, pain exploded through me, and I fell to my knees. Fuck. My circle fell because I couldn’t keep my focus as star-bursts filled my vision.

  What the fuck had hit me in the head?

  “Levi, good for you to join us.” Samuel came toward me and wrapped my hair in his hand and pulled me from the ground. He spun me around to face Levi, who dropped the board he had used to hit me.

  “Levi,” I gasped.

  Samuel yanked my hair. “I can kill her now, Levi, spare her all the pain. But I want to hear you admit what she is to you. Undo all those lies you’ve been telling her and yourself. All these years.” Samuel snarled.

  He was wasting his breath. Levi never admitted our relationship to others. I wasn’t even sure how Samuel knew.

  “Why get him to say it?” I growled. “You know the truth already.”

  “Because I found out from the papers that Ira’s staff got me. I found out through your blood results, but I want to hear it from my fledgling’s lips.” Samuel hissed. He bent down, forcing me to go with him, and he snagged my blade off the ground.

  He put the knife to my throat, and I tried to stay calm. Levi’s eyes flicked to the blade.

  “Samuel, don’t.” His voice was horse. “Don’t hurt her anymore.”

  “Tell me, Levi.” Samuel pressed the blade against my neck. Either way, I was a goner. He had me against him. Levi was under his command. And I was helpless.

  “She’s my daughter…” there was so much pain in that statement that my heart ached. “She’s the daughter of Elizabeth, the niece to Oliver, and one kick ass witch.”

  His words were a quick reminder. I wasn’t completely helpless. I had trapped Samuel with my magic moments before, but right at this moment, I couldn’t do it the same way. I was too close, and I would trap myself in the circle with him. Unless I could get him to let me go.

  Samuel laughed. “The daughter of you and that whore. Ira’s witch that you stole from him.”

  I felt that flash of anger again, and a circle snapped up between Samuel and me. I didn’t care about the knife at my neck, because if he spilled more of my blood, my circle would strengthen.

  “Pull it down, Abigail,” Samuel snapped, but the knife came away from my throat just a little.

  I
slammed my elbow into his stomach, and he let go of my hair. I spun around and put my hand to his chest, hitting him with my magic, a red blast coming from my fingertips. He stumbled back, hitting the circle, and I moved backwards away from him. The circle kept him in, not me. I could cross the magic, but he couldn’t. If I could get to my gun…

  The knife pierced my stomach before I could see him move. The pain caused my vision to blur, but I couldn’t lose my focus. I stared at Samuel as I backed out of the circle, leaving him trapped.

  I fell to my knees, my body already tingling and growing cold. But I wasn’t going to lose. I called on the fire for the circle.

  Levi was by my side, but I wasn’t listening. There was a knife in me, and darkness was eating at the edge of my vision.

  No.

  I couldn’t let Samuel live. I wiped my hand over the blood and put it to the ground. I focused on the circle, and then I closed my fist. The circle closed around Samuel and all I heard were screams as my flames ate his flesh, burned through him, until there was nothing but silence and the smell of burned vampire.

  My magic pulsed, and the circle disappeared. I fell to the ground, unable to hold myself up. The floor felt warm against my skin. That was wrong. The stone should have been cold and unforgiving, but it was warm.

  “Abigail.” Levi’s panic voice finally broke through. He pulled the blade from my stomach and my body jerked.

  I offered him a smile even though his form was blurry and darkness was nudging in. My limbs felt heavy.

  “Abigail!”

  And Levi’s voice was the last thing I heard when my magic pulsed one last time and the darkness finally came.

  I heard something beat. At first, I thought it was my heart, but I knew that wasn’t right. I had died on that floor. My heart couldn’t beat anymore.

  The steady sound continued, and I tried to focus on it. It sounded familiar.

  “All of Samuel’s people are dead.”

  It was Liz’s voice, but it sounded so far away.

  “Merick is in the hospital. The Cult is taking care of him.”

  Oh, good. The throw against the wall wasn’t fatal.

  “Zayne will heal with time,” she continued.

  I realized I was thirsty. There was a pain in my stomach like I’d never felt before. I tried to turn to my side to curl up as the pain grew.

  “Simon.” Levi’s voice this time.

  I was in so much pain. Everything hurt. Something pressed against my lips. Something warm and delicious. I latched on to it, drinking the offering. It soothed the pain and quenched my thirst.

  The smell was amazing, which was strange because it smelled like warm copper. Blood.

  My eyes shot open, and I tried to sit up. Simon backed away with wide eyes, his wrist bleeding. Levi held me down as I struggled against him. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

  I opened my mouth, and nothing but a cry of pain came out. I met Levi’s gaze, begging for him to explain.

  “Abigail, you need to calm down.”

  Calming down sounded like a good idea, but the last thing I could remember was watching Samuel die from my magic and the feeling of the warm stone as I was dying.

  My hand went to my stomach. No wound.

  My tongue moved over my teeth and touched two dainty fangs there, and the panic increased. I tried to get up again, but Levi kept me pinned.

  “Sleep.” The power of his words was too much, and my eyes closed of their own accord.

  I didn’t know how long I was sleeping after that, but the next time I woke. there were no heartbeats in the room. Just Levi sitting in a chair next to the bed.

  I opened my eyes and looked at him. “You couldn’t stake me?”

  He shook his head. “You know I couldn’t.”

  I wanted to be mad at him. I wanted to scream and yell. I had changed, and I had no idea how to handle it. No idea how to deal with it. I tried to reach for my magic and found…

  Nothing. It was gone. Completely gone.

  I forced myself not to sob or cry at that fact. “What now?” I slowly sat up. The pain was less, but there was still the metallic taste of Simon’s blood in my mouth.

  Levi was quiet for a moment. “Now, we present you to the council and our people as the true Princess of Vampires.”

  I sat in silence. I couldn’t process it all right now. All I could think of was how Samuel had cost me everything. “This moment?”

  He nodded. “They are waiting for us.”

  I swallowed and stood. “Let me dress first.”

  Levi nodded. “There’s an outfit for you in the closet.” He stood and walked out of the room.

  My body felt weird, lighter. Maybe it was my soul that had been weighing it down before. Or maybe it was because I was a vampire and that came with advantages…

  But no magic.

  Tears prickled in my eyes, but I forced them not to fall. Now was not the time to show weakness. I found the outfit in the closet, a black dress, nothing fancy, but a harsh reminder that there was no need to match the colors of my magic anymore.

  I closed my eyes and steadied myself before getting dressed. I felt empty, but I forced myself out into the hall where Levi was waiting.

  We walked side by side, and with each step, I seemed to find my confidence. I was still me. I was more than my magic. I was Abigail Collins.

  He led me to the ballroom, and when the doors opened, the vampires gathered there all paused. I looked for familiar faces, but the only ones I knew were the council members. I frowned. I wanted Simon there. I wanted Liz, and Merick, and Zayne. Hell, I would have settled for Travis at this point. But none of them were there.

  “I present to you, Abigail Felcos, Princess of Vampires.”

  There was a cheer around the room. The change of last names, the symbol that I was no longer a witch, but had changed natures. I sat down on my throne after the cheers died down.

  And there it was, how it ended for me. With a throne I never asked for, with a title I never wanted, and a kingdom that I’d have to rule. As I wrapped my fingers around the arms of the throne, it felt oddly right. Like this was where I was meant to be.

  Author Note

  Dear Readers,

  I want you to know that this was how the end of Here Witchy Witchy was always supposed to go. And now you know why it can no longer continued as Here Witchy Witchy. If you wish, this can be the end of Abigail’s story. You can close the book or exit the file and imagine that she lives happily ever after as the Princess of Vampires. Or, you can keep an eye out for the first book in The Rise of the Vampire Princess series, and keep having adventures with Abigail.

  Either way you choose, thank you so much for being there from the beginning with me. There’s no way I could have come this far without all of you cheering me on and loving these characters as much as I do. So, until next time, thank you.

  -A.L. Kessler

  About Author

  A.L. Kessler is most well known for her Here Witchy Witchy series. She

  resides in Colorado Springs, CO with her family and can be found working from

  her couch. She can be bribed with chocolate and coffee on any day of the week.

  Join the discussion in the Secret Readers Group!

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