“Zoe,” he said. “I just want you to know we’re doing everything we can to find your partner. We have a couple of teams scouring the streets for any sign of him. They’ve gone back to the cemetery. Nothing’s there, of course, but we’re looking.”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away. “I know you’ll do whatever it takes to find him. And so will I.”
“I know you will.” He frowned and glanced behind him before lowering his voice to a whisper. “Just one question. How did you find Dorian in the crypt in the first place?”
“Just a hunch,” I said, pressing sweaty palms against my black pants. “That was where we first saw the demon, so we thought he could have ended up back there somehow.”
Since Seek was a shadow spell, I couldn’t tell Ben that was how I’d found Dorian. Instead, I’d told the council that Laura and I had stumbled upon him while we were out searching—in physical form, of course. They seemed to buy it, for now, but I knew the longer I did this job, the more at risk of discovery I would be.
Because eventually, I’d use my magic in a way that I couldn’t explain away.
“Remind me to always listen to your hunches.” He patted my back and smiled. “Now, listen, if you want to take a break, I’m happy to take over with the interrogation. You look like you could use some sleep.”
“It’s alright,” I said. “I’ve got this.”
Back inside the room, I perched on the table so that I towered over Wagner. He thought he held all the cards right now, but I wanted him to remember that I was the one in control of his fate. I could snatch his new privileges away just as quickly as I’d granted them.
“Your new room is a go. Now, tell me everything, starting with where the fuck Dorian Kostas is.”
He let out a light laugh and shook his head. “I can’t tell you where your partner is.”
With a growl, I jumped off the table and glowered down at him. My power rippled through my veins, coaxing my anger to flame. “Are you kidding me? What the hell was the point of this if you don’t actually know anything?”
“Oh, I know plenty.” He laced his hands behind his head, his smug smile a permanent fixture on his weathered face. “I don’t know where your partner is, but I can tell you who does. See, I don’t control the demon myself. I wasn’t lying when I said I never cast the spell to control one of those creatures.”
“Then, who did?” I asked. “Who’s controlling it?”
“The Magister,” he said.
Shock and horror pounded through me at his words. “Magister Salvatore? But I don’t understand. What the hell makes you think he would ever do such a thing?”
“Not he,” Wagner said. “She. Piper Maddow, the Magister of the Blood Hunter Coven. Of course, the demon may be controlled by one of our other members. They have all conquered that particular brand of magic.”
“Wait. You mean the mages who started that splinter coven.” I sunk into the chair, barely believing his words. “The ones who broke away from the main coven.”
“That’s correct.” He nodded. “Why do you think we formed our own? The main coven doesn’t approve of our methods.”
“Well, if you’re sacrificing humans in order to bind demons to yourselves, then no fucking joke.” Narrowing my eyes, I stalked across the room and leaned down to stare into his dark and beady eyes. “Don’t you realize what you’re doing? The more you do this, the weaker the veil gets.”
“If we’re controlling the demons, we don’t need to worry about the veil.” He shrugged and tapped his finger against his chin. “There’s no reason to worry about merging our worlds if we’re the ones in control.”
I pulled back, shocked at what I was hearing. “You’re delusional.”
“And you’re not thinking about the bigger picture,” he said. “If we pull the strings, then this world will be forever safe.”
Anger pulsing through me, I turned my back on Wagner. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It had been one thing to hear Vincent speak this way, but it was another to discover this view on the world was far more widespread than I’d originally thought. It wasn’t just one mage who thought humans should be sacrificed to gain these powers. There were almost a dozen. And those were just the ones I knew about.
“Besides,” Wagner said, “the demons aren’t the creatures that we need to worry about. Not right now. We need to focus our efforts on the bloodsuckers.”
I whirled on him. “Is that why your coven has taken Dorian? You have something against vampires?”
“My dear.” He laughed. “I’m a blood warlock. We’ve always hated vampires, and I imagine we always will. Sometimes, I wonder if we’re the only coven who truly sees how evil they are. We have been suppressing our ancient calling for far too long. It’s time we take matters into our own hands.”
“And, so that’s why they took Dorian. Because they believe he’s another vampire they need to destroy?”
“No,” Wagner shook his head. “And yes. As an Unbound vampire, Dorian has eternal life. He will never die of old age. Any demon bound to his form will remain bound to him forever.”
My mouth dropped open, and blood roared in my ears. “You’re binding demons to Dorian?”
“Through Dorian.” Wagner smiled. “As long as he’s in his dreamless sleep, we can control the demons through his unconscious mind. And they will never be loosed upon this world because he will never die.”
“This is insanity.” I curled my hands into fists. “You can’t do this.”
“Oh, but we can.” He continued to smile. “And we did. There’s nothing you can do about it, Zoe. Any time you try to go after him, the demon will be there to protect his body. And soon, my entire coven will have multiple demons under their control. You’ll be up against ten blood mages and their demon army. You might as well just let them do what they need to do. The Daywalkers nearly destroyed your coven. Let us take care of them for you. You can even join us if you like.”
Despite the terror of his words, my mind zeroed in on one fact that stood out from the rest. Ten blood mages. After the murders, there were now only six, not including Laura. Which meant…he didn’t know they were getting murdered. And if he didn’t, that meant their deaths weren’t part of his twisted plan. Someone had found out what they were doing. And they were trying to stop it.
“What’s the whole point of this?” I asked. “Why would you even want to bind demons to yourselves? Why risk it?”
“Because demons can kill vampires. And every single bloodsucker must die.”
Chapter 26
The Magister, Ben, Laura and I all sat around a large oak table that had enough seats to hold two dozen. In fact, there were only four of us, because that was all the manpower they could muster at the moment, what with the task teams combing the streets.
“We can’t attack the Blood Coven, Zoe,” the Magister said, placing his calloused palms flat on the table. “Not even a smaller offshoot that is currently going against the headquarters’ orders.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“But they’ve kidnapped Dorian. They’re burning down vampire clubs. They’re sacrificing humans, and they’re binding demons to themselves. Ones that are becoming immune to our powers and taking on physical forms. How is this even up for debate?”
“It isn’t up for a debate,” the Magister gave me a thin smile. “We cannot do it. End of discussion. The Blood Coven is one of our only allies, and I will not risk that when everything is on shaky ground. And that is more important to us than our alliance with the Daywalkers.”
“But it’s on shaky ground because of them.” I rolled my eyes and glanced at Ben Ackers who stared silently at the table. “They’re the ones who are bringing the demons into this world, and Vincent is the one who angered the Daywalkers in the first place. All these problems we’re experiencing? It’s because of them.”
“Still,” he said with a sigh. “I cannot make a move against our ally without speaking to the main
coven first. Besides, an attack on them may end up not being necessary. Four of their members are dead, and I imagine it’s not going to stop there.”
I stared at our leader, shock and horror pounding through me. Suddenly, I stood and backed away. “Right. I’ve heard enough.”
When I reached the door, the Magister’s voice rang out behind me. “You’re not to do anything, Zoe Bennett, and that’s an order. You may be a promising young Enforcer, but I’ll rip that title away from you just as quickly as you got it.”
I didn’t stick around to hear any more. As much as I enjoyed being an Enforcer, there were things in this life that were a hell of a lot more important. And sticking up for what I believed in was one of them. To hell with sacrificing humans. To hell with binding demons. To hell with standing by while every Daywalker bit the dust. I was going to put a stop to this, even if I had to do it by myself.
As I scanned the streets for a taxi, footsteps pounded on the pavement behind me before they slowed to a stop. It was probably the Magister or one of his Enforcers here to make sure I wasn’t about to run off and do something against orders. But I’d put up a fight if that’s what I had to do.
When I turned, it wasn’t the Magister. Ben and Laura stood before me, clenching and unclenching their fists. Surely Laura wouldn’t try and calm me down. She knew the stakes. Hell, she’d been chomping at the bit to confront the Blood Hunter Coven since we’d found out about the fire.
Ben frowned and glanced up at the building, his eyes heavy with sadness. “I’m sorry about that, Zoe. That wasn’t the reaction I expected out of him. In his attempts to right the wrongs of the previous Magister, he’s turning out to be far more like him than we thought.”
“Don’t apologize, Ben. It’s not your fault. It’s his.” I sighed and shrugged. “It’s the fault of this entire system. All these politics are getting in the way of what really needs to be done.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Which is?”
“Stop the Blood Hunter Coven. Stop the demons. Get Dorian back. And, if we can wing it, smooth things over with the Daywalkers. If the veil has been weakened, we’ll need them if the demons start pouring through.”
“That’s a tall order,” he said with a low whistle.
“And against orders.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I lifted my chin. “I assume you’re here to stop me.”
“On the contrary,” he said. “I know I’m not much, but I’m here to help.”
“But Magister Salvatore—”
“Has it all wrong,” he finished the sentence before I had a chance. “Maybe one day he’ll see that and understand. But for now? I’m here to help. So, that turns your team of two into three.”
“Four,” I said with a smile. “I’ve got a werewolf who is dying to do something other than howl.”
Chapter 27
Our group of four grew to five. We all stood on the sidewalk outside of the Blood Hunter Coven’s building, shivering as a wintry wind spit snow onto our heads. Laura and I formed the front of our group while Nathan—in wolf form—rounded out the back with Ben and Anastasia. Juno had made it through the night, and my werewolf friend had been more than happy to help us confront a coven full of mages who wanted to take control of the world. It was the most random, mis-matched crew I could have gathered, but it was all I had.
“What’s our play here, Zoe?” Ben asked as we stared up at the second-floor loft.
The lights blazed inside, so at least some of the blood mages were home and awake. A silhouette shifted behind a gauzy curtain, a look-out who had no doubt spotted us down amidst the growing piles of snow. Not that it made much difference. I hadn’t expected to get in unseen or unannounced. The Blood Hunter Coven would have wards around their premises to protect them from situations like this. Plus, they must have known I’d figure out they were behind Dorian’s kidnapping sooner rather than later. I wasn’t entirely sure how demon control worked, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were aware I’d found Dorian in the crypt.
They would be expecting us.
“First, we need to have a chat,” I said, rolling back my shoulders while giving myself a mental pep talk. We could do this. Because the opposite meant I wouldn’t get my partner back. “Trying to go in with guns blazing won’t get us the answers we need. I want to try and reason with them before anyone does anything rash. Maybe Ivan Wagner is wrong.”
“Ivan Wagner is not wrong. Blood mages have had it out for us for centuries,” Anastasia hissed, her fangs poking out from a pair of bright red lips. “They should die for what they’ve done to my family. Three vampires perished that night they attacked the club with the fire. For that, these mages need to pay.”
Nathan let out a deep-throated growl, one I could only assume meant he agreed with the vampire. What a week of firsts. Vampires and werewolves never agreed, and they certainly never fought together. But when I’d explained to Nathan what the Blood Hunter Coven was up to, he’d been appalled for the Daywalkers. Even though his werewolf instincts encouraged revulsion toward any and all vampires, he’d risen above that to make up his own mind about the situation, confirming everything he’d been trying to tell me all along. Nathan was the one in charge of his nature, and he existed as one with the wolf.
“Anastasia.” I gave her a sharp look. “Don’t make me regret bringing you along. We can’t just go in and start killing people. We don’t even have any solid proof they’re the ones behind this.”
“We have Fane’s testimony as well as Ivan Wagner’s,” Laura said, surprising me when she spoke up from my side. I would have thought she’d want to do whatever it took to protect the mages who were her own, even if they were guilty. But she was taking Anastasia’s side. Interesting. “What more proof do you need?”
“That’s not for me to decide,” I said quietly. “Yes, they’re probably guilty. In fact, I’m certain of it. But trying to blast them into nonexistence isn’t the answer. We need to confront them about what they’re doing and get them to stop. We don’t need to kill them. And most importantly, we need them to cooperate if we’re going to get Dorian back.”
“Zoe’s right,” Ben spoke up from behind me. “While the council has been completely useless in fixing this problem, they are correct about one thing. Any aggressive move made against this splinter coven will cause issues with the main Blood Coven. We need to find an amicable solution to this.”
Even though Ben had just agreed with me, I couldn’t help but frown. “Amicable solution?” I barked out a harsh laugh. “They’ve taken one of our Enforcers and are controlling demons through his unconscious body.”
“But you just said—”
“I said we can’t go in there with guns blazing,” I said with a determined nod. “But once we have what we need to get Dorian back? Fuck being amicable. They’re trying to destroy the world as we know it. And we should do whatever it takes to put a stop to their plans.”
The three of us who were mages stood on the landing outside the coven’s door. Anastasia perched on the fire escape outside their windows while Nathan lurked just down the hallway. Because of their amplified senses, both would hear us if we needed help, but I thought it was best to keep them out of sight for now.
Just as I lifted my fist to knock, the door swung open. The Magister, Piper Maddow, stood on the other side, a faux-smile painted on her delicate features. “Hello. Nice to see you again, Zoe and Laura. And who is this warlock accompanying you?”
“Ben Ackers,” he said, stepping forward with a hand extended toward the Magister. “Member of the Bone Coven council. We need to discuss some allegations that have been levelled at you and your friends here. Either you can let us in to discuss them, or you can come with us to headquarters where we’ll have to undergo a more formal interrogation.”
Good one, I thought. A total bluff, but a good one nonetheless.
“And tell me, Mr. Ben Ackers,” Piper said as her lips twisted into a cruel smile. “Is the rest of the Bone Coven council aware that you�
��re here? The Magister, particularly?”
I flinched, glancing at Ben. How could she have known we were on a mission by ourselves?
“Because I’ll tell you what.” She crossed her arms and stepped back from the doorway, putting more space between my crew and hers. “I find it impossible to believe that your council would risk the alliance with our mother coven in this way.”
“Well, there’d you be wrong,” I said, joining in on the bluff. “Because we’ve spoken to your so-called mother coven, and they sure as hell don’t approve of what you’re up to here. In fact, this is why you broke off from them in the first place, isn’t it? So that you could do whatever the hell you wanted with the demons.”
Piper frowned. Jackpot, I thought. She certainly hadn’t expected that. As doubt clouded her face, she glanced behind her at the other members of her splinter coven, who had begun to gather in a small cluster just to the side of the door. They looked worried, scared. As well they should.
“So, I take this to mean you’re no longer looking into the murders of my innocent coven members.” Her eyes flashed with barely-contained fury. “Or maybe you’re endorsing it now and working with the killer. Don’t think it escaped my notice that you arrived with a vampire and a werewolf. And don’t forget I saw one of the bodies of my mages. If those wounds weren’t caused by one of those abominations out there, I’ll eat my own fucking heart.”
Laura narrowed her eyes and fisted her hands. “Better start eating your heart then.”
“Is that a threat, vampire wannabe?” Piper swung her arm to her side and yanked a dagger from her belt, the long and twisted blade rippling with a glow of red and black. “What a pathetic existence you must lead if you choose another coven over what you really are. If you choose the vampires when you’re a slayer in your heart.”
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 40