by Aria Sparke
The door swung open and Veli dragged a struggling Bella in by her hair.
‘What are you doing?’ Veli demanded and in a blur knocked me from the circle and halfway across the room.
Winded again, I lay on my back for a few moments until I was able to scramble to sit up.
‘Well, well. Tarek’s wife and a juicy young witch in the same night. Too good to be true.’ He pulled Bella’s head back. ‘And what about you, my lovely? I sense I’ll be delighting in a triple treat.’ He jerked his head at Mirela. ‘Thankfully I won’t have to share you two like the last.’
Bella whimpered.
Veli stared at her. ‘Oh no, you’re not going to ruin the pre-dinner ambience are you?’ He focused on her eyes and willed her into submission.
While he was distracted, I began to whisper the words of the cloaking spell under my breath and to prevent Veli noticing my gestures, I sprang from the floor and crept behind the sofa.
Veli chuckled. ‘I do love games and the heightening of anticipation before a witchy feed.’ He dragged the dresser across the floor with one hand to block the closed door. ‘You can hide behind the sofa, but can you walk through walls, my precious one?’ he asked me, obviously not realizing I had cast a cloaking spell.
He turned to Bella. ‘Once this beauty is sucked dry, there’ll be another little fluttery heart to play hide and seek with. What a thrill. All my Christmases come at once—in July.’
Desperately I searched the room for an escape. The circle of protection, chalk and candle were on the other side of the room. I had to try and reach them. It was my only option.
Veli seized Bella, who was dazed and subdued and stretched and tore her t-shirt open over her shoulder before sniffing her skin. ‘Delectable. Such smoky, sultry skin,’ Veli murmured to Bella and ran his tongue across the veins in her neck. ‘My yes, another witch, I can sense it. I’m giddy with anticipation.’
I threw a cushion I’d plucked from the sofa at him before picking a book from a coffee table and hurling it through the largest window beyond the fireplace.
‘Where are you, nasty girl?’ Veli exclaimed as the cool air swirled into the room through the fractured window. He turned his gaze back to Bella, but rustling and cracking sounds outside the hole in the window disturbed his focus. ‘What is it now?’
I prayed it was Flynn and the other dhampirs.
Suddenly a dark form crashed through the broken window sending shards scattering over the polished floorboards and white rug. When the commotion settled, a towering vampire stood surveying Mirela’s body. He whirled around on the spot screaming in fury before pulling a blade from under his dark cape and hurling it through Veli’s chest.
Veli’s expression of surprise remained as he slumped forward and crushed Bella.
With the trance broken, Bella screamed and struggled under Veli’s body. The new vampire dragged Veli’s body to one side. Seeing his dark hair and familiar face, I recognized him at once. It was Tarek, Flynn’s father dressed in the dark-frilled shirt I’d seen in my dreams. He had the same intense blue eyes and black hair, but it hung further to his shoulders. Although like Flynn, he was taller, broader-shouldered and more solidly athletic. He was maybe five years older than Flynn—definitely a man.
Stunned, I saw that Veli’s body was smoking and the skin on his face was drying and cracking like he was being burned from the inside out. Tarek bent over him and lifted what remained of his disintegrating body and hurled it effortlessly through the broken window into the garden.
He turned in my direction, and even though I was still cloaked, I avoided his gaze choosing to look above his eyes at his forehead. I couldn’t afford to be lured into his mind games suspecting his intention.
‘Careful,’ warned Bella, who was keeping her gaze trained on the floor.
‘Who are you talking to?’ the vampire asked.
‘Myself,’ whispered Bella, who was obviously terrified.
Warily, I crept toward the circle of protection and felt for the candle and matches in my purse which lay open on the floor. The cloaking spell still hid me from his view, but once I placed these items in the circle, I knew their movement would become visible. Within a few moments the cloaking would fail. Where were Flynn and the dhampirs?
‘Who are you?’ Tarek asked in a gentle voice that made me ache for Flynn, although his accent was more like Alexis’.
‘I’m from Anubis College. I tried to help Mirela.’ Bella sobbed.
‘Thank you,’ Tarek said simply. ‘Now let me help you.’ He offered Bella his hand. ‘I promise I won’t hurt you. You’re a witch, aren’t you?’
‘What makes you think that?’ Bella said as Tarek pulled her to stand. She flinched as he ran his hand over her bruised thigh.
‘Does it hurt?’ he asked Bella, keeping his eyes trained on her.
She shook her head. ‘I’m just not used to strange men touching my leg like that.’
‘I beg your pardon.’ Tarek turned in my direction making me startle with the realisation he could see me. ‘And who are you?’
I didn’t reply.
He turned back to Bella. ‘Only dhampirs and witches inhabit the college.’ He pointed at the circle of protection I’d begun. ‘And that is a telltale sign.’ His voice was mesmerising, silken ...
‘And so what?’ I said abruptly trying to break his allure.
‘I sense you’re both witches. One taste will confirm my suspicion. Come now, please don’t be shy or frightened.’
Unable to break his spell over her, Bella stepped forward. Tarek caressed her shoulder before gently pricking her neck with his fangs and sipping delicately as though tasting a fine wine.
I stepped over the circle in an attempt to challenge Tarek.
‘As I thought, you are one,’ Tarek said while ignoring me. ‘What is your name, my dear?’
‘Bella.’
‘You have fine potential.’ He turned to me. ‘Come, please.’
I stuck my chin out. ‘There’s no way you’re going to sample me. I’ll simply save you the bother because I’m a witch too, although I’m new to it all.’
‘Indeed. You intrigue me. But I must taste your blood before I decide.’
I half laughed and stepped back into the circle of protection, but before I managed to plant my foot he had reached my side and was standing only a breath away. Up close he looked unnervingly like Flynn with a stronger jawline and darker brows and eye lashes. Without looking directly into his eyes, I could see they were the same dark blue. ‘I won’t hurt you. Just a taste.’
‘What is wrong with you?’ I yelled. ‘I’m not a piece of meat.’
The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. Just like Flynn’s. In a flash he pricked the side of my neck and moments later grinned again.
I felt a surge of longing for him but immediately shut it down deep in my core as I grasped my neck in horror. I knew this was the glamour vampires were famous for. He was lethally charming and if I looked deeply into his eyes, I knew I’d be marching helplessly up to a gothic altar with him in the next day or so.
‘I’ve made my decision,’ Tarek announced.
My breath caught in my throat as Tarek was distracted by movement and sounds. He hurried over to the broken window and peered into the garden.
Desperately, I signalled for Bella to come to the circle, but she ignored me and sat on the sofa in a daze. I pulled the candle from my purse and with shaky hands lit it. ‘You have to come here, Bella, please,’ I whispered urgently to her.
Tarek turned, but I had already uttered the words and he was too late to stop me completing the circle of protection. No matter what, I would stay put in the circle until he had gone.
* * *
CHAPTER 27
Flynn: A New Order
‘There’s Bella’s car,’ said Anya in a tight voice. ‘I thought Cecilia told her to stay at college with Lily.’
‘It looks as though she tried to hide her car in the shadows.’ Martin peered
in the front window of the car. ‘Lily’s jacket is on the front seat.’
‘We’ll save them,’ Anya said to me, obviously seeing my shocked reaction.
Martin and Anya ran with me across the parking lot of our home to the front door. The silence chilled my heart. All those I cared for most in this world were so close right now, and yet I sensed our world was about to change forever.
Anya and Martin slipped around the back while I tried to go through the front door. Finding it locked, I wanted to bang on it frantically, but I wasn’t sure whether vampires were inside. Remembering I had a key, I opened the door as quietly as I could. As I crept down the hallway, I was stunned at the sight of a vase smashed on the floor. I couldn’t hold back, so I raced toward the living room where I could hear voices.
I burst into the room only to be hit by a barrage of horror. A distraught Lily crouched within a chalk circle while my father loomed menacingly in the background.
‘Lily, are you okay?’
‘Flynn,’ Lily said softly, nodding toward the fireplace with a pained look.
Horrified, I saw my mother curled on the rug. One look and I knew she was dead.
Martin and Anya entered the room after me yet spotted her at the same time.
‘No, Mother!’ Anya cried and rushed to Mirela’s body.
Martin and I followed her, and in grief we crowded around draping our bodies over our mother’s.
‘The Berisha are responsible,’ Tarek said without greeting or acknowledging us.
I raised my head.
‘Ah, Flynn,’ Tarek said. ‘I’m very sorry about Mirela.’
‘What happened?’ I asked Lily as I noticed Bella sitting on the sofa hugging her knees to her chest. ‘Is she okay?’
Lily nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Flynn, we tried, but we were too late.’
Sadness and empathy were mirrored in her beautiful eyes. ‘I understand.’
‘It was Vincent Berisha and three other vampires. When Bella and I arrived they were leaving apart from Veli.’ She pointed to the gaping hole in the window.
I stood and walked to the window and saw smoking ashes and a silver dagger lying in the grass. The stinking sulphuric smell almost choked me as I stepped away.
‘Who did that?’ I asked.
‘Me of course,’ Tarek said somewhat impatiently. ‘The foul creature had it coming—killing my dear wife, brutalising these fine young women and trespassing on my hearth and home. The others must pay too, but first things first. Now that I’ve taken care of him, we must get on with things.’ He turned back to look at Bella.
I could see Lily regarding my father incredulously. I knew immediately what she was thinking. How could my father be so callous after his wife had just been murdered? Lily’s world was so different to ours.
‘Get on with things? What do you mean?’ Lily asked.
‘There’s nothing to worry about. I’m just going to choose my next bride.’
My father had chosen so many brides over the past centuries. To him it was just a process, a higher aim. I knew he had loved Mirela, but he also accepted the cycle of life and death. Once he had told me that if he became too attached and grieved too deeply for any of his past wives, he would lose his ability to go on. But he understood humans were different because long ago he had been one. Only one intention guided him. He was the father of all the Ruberio dhampirs and his sole responsibility was to continue his line to raise more soldiers in the fight against vampires—even though he was one of them. Once he had chosen a bride and she was with child, he retired to sleep but woke at irregular intervals to read, feed and catch up with the world. Nothing else mattered in his mind. Sleep enabled him to cope with his lot. I had seen him a handful of times in my childhood and each time it was the same. He would wake to select another bride, to begin another life or to spend a few nights reading, watching television or listening to music. That was his duty and his life.
I studied his face, so much like mine and wondered what he felt with each awakening. He never asked about us or wondered how we were spending our lives. He seemed to be governed by a relentless and primeval instinct. If I were him, I’d fight for more but then again he was so old. Once Martin, Anya and I had worked out he was at least 800 years old and actually felt sorry for him.
‘I have decided,’ said Tarek regarding me with intensity.
I felt my heart skip a beat when I realized what he meant. ‘Father, you need to get out in the world to meet more women.’ I sounded ridiculous.
‘Nonsense, she’s here in the room.’ He pointed at Lily and I saw her recoil in horror.
‘No, Father. Absolutely not.’
He regarded me with narrowed eyes. ‘Why not? Is there something wrong with her? Her blood did not indicate it. It was refined and nutritious.’
I shook my head and faced him squarely.
‘I’ll never leave this circle,’ Lily said.
‘Rubbish, my son, you have no say,’ Tarek thundered while completely ignoring Lily.
‘She’s mine.’ I didn’t care if Lily bristled with my words or whether they were totally inappropriate for this day and age. However, I knew I was fighting my greatest challenge and these words were entirely right.
‘No one owns me,’ Lily piped up.
‘Then I will take the one called Bella, although next time,’ he pointed at Lily, ‘I will revisit her.’
I exhaled a huge breath of relief even though I knew Lily was furious. There would be no next time because I would never allow Tarek to be this close to Lily again.
‘You have to be joking,’ Lily exclaimed, red-faced with anger. ‘Over my dead body.’
Tarek’s eyes widened. ‘No need to take it that far, my dear, I assure you. Bella will make a fine wife.’
In the corner of my eye, I could see Lily had folded her arms in furious indignation. She would not relent and would fight to protect Bella. How could I communicate the danger if she chose this path? I had only one option. Bella would have to be sacrificed, and I had to get Lily away from here as soon as possible. Once Tarek had gained Bella’s acceptance, through whatever means, and placed the ancient Ruberio’s Vampirica ring on her finger, they would be bound until her death.
I shuddered at the possible thought of my father slipping it on Lily’s finger and her being lost to me forever. However, I realized even if he took Bella for his wife, he would never forget Lily unless it was too late and she was no longer able to bear future dhampirs.
I turned to Lily and gazed at her feeling horribly selfish and guilty.
As always, she met my gaze willingly. I felt twisted inside as I gathered my mental powers to entrance and entrap her. It was what vampires and dhampirs did, yet I felt I was betraying Lily, my dearest love. I remembered in the cafe her saying she would abandon me if I ever tried it on her, but at this moment I didn’t care. I was fighting for our survival.
‘Lily, everything is going to be alright.’
She nodded and smiled as though in a daze and we sat and waited until Tarek had guided Bella from the living room and upstairs. Once they were out of view, I made my move.
‘Lily, we need to leave now.’
Unsuspecting, she nodded powerless to my glamour. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Back to college, Lily. It’s almost breakfast time.’
She stood and stepped over the circle of protection while smiling happily. I could see Anya watching with an astonished expression. She obviously knew I had resorted to using glamour to subdue Lily, but I didn’t care. She would think I was slipping into my dark vampiric side if she knew I had also recently used glamour on a Heavenly Beans cafe worker. We dhampirs rarely dabbled in the use of glamour to entrap humans—especially those who were close to us romantically. It was considered unethical, but Lily’s safety was far more important to me.
I steered Lily from the lounge room, ignoring my mother’s pitiful state. We hurried down the hallway and out of the house into the real world where dawn was close to breaking. A
fter we climbed into the car, I drove under leaden gray skies toward Anubis College, praying Lily would forget and if not, hoping she could forgive me.
* * *
CHAPTER 28
Fate
Mirela was buried in the grounds of the Ruberio mansion. Flynn and Alexis wouldn’t allow me to come to the funeral as their father hadn’t placed the Vampirica ring on Bella’s finger. He had kept her in his thrall and insisted she stay with him at the mansion, but it was as though he was deliberating and deciding. Under his powerful glamour, Bella was smitten with him and according to Flynn was impatient for him to complete the ritual.
I was surprised by the triplets’ ability to stay so strong after their mother’s death. When I learned from Flynn that Mirela was 90 years old when she died, I was stunned. According to Flynn, she had drunk vampiric blood to stall the visible signs of aging.
‘Mirela led a good and happy life and was loved so much by us and her extended family. That’s why you shouldn’t feel so bad for Bella. She will be treated the same,’ Flynn said to me a week later when he brought me the news Tarek had finally placed the Vampirica ring on Bella’s finger.
‘No, he used his powers to trap her,’ I said in disgust. ‘That’s like drugging someone. It’s cheating.’
‘Hmm, what about wearing a pretty dress, makeup or coloring your hair to attract a male? Aren’t they forms of deception too?’
‘Rubbish,’ I said, disappointed and exasperated by his logic. ‘If Bella were to do that to attract Tarek he’d be aware of it and able to exercise free will. His way is through force. It’s disgusting and barbaric.’
Flynn shrugged. ‘I understand, but he’s a vampire and his way of thinking is nothing like ours.’
I knew he was floundering in his attempt to protect his father. He was caught between two worlds, our modern one and his father’s savage and ancient duty-bound one.