The humans clustered in the back booth looked up from their pint glasses before returning to their murmured conversation. They were regulars, and they’d seen it all by this point. While the general public had no idea that witches, demons, vampires, and werewolves existed, word had started to spread throughout Boston. After the recent supernatural events, it had been next to impossible to keep it entirely under wraps. People had seen things, and whispered rumors made their way from one curious human to the next. Not to mention that my customers had been mingling with witches and vampires for months. In fact, that was probably why a lot of them came here.
One of the Enforcers crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows. “Well, if it’s all the same to you, I think we’ll take a look around to confirm.”
“Alright, have at it.” I mimicked his movements, crossing my arms and leaning against the back wall, as much to present the aura of total ease more than anything else. Anastasia wasn’t here doing anything wrong, but that wouldn’t matter to them. The Blood Coven had always taken a harsher view on vampirism than any other group of mages. They hated them with an intensity that was almost scary at times.
It was why the Blood Hunter Coven had formed in the first place and why they’d taken such extreme measures. Blood witches and warlocks would do anything to destroy vampires, including using demons to destroy them, and they would never dream of differentiating between a murderous one and a decent one. Though even I had to admit that Anastasia was far from innocent. She had killed one of theirs after all, even if it was in revenge for the pile of bodies the witch had caused.
If these Enforcers found her, there was no way in hell they’d let her go.
As the Enforcers moved through the room, Ben joined me behind the bar. “Sorry about this, Zoe. I wanted to give you a heads up, but they insisted on coming here without warning.”
“I wasn’t aware there was a visit from the Blood Coven on the schedule, Ben,” Dorian said. To anyone else, he would sound calm and measured and totally in control, like always. But after spending so much time with him these past few months, I could pick up a hint of tension in his voice. And for good reason. This visit was totally unprecedented. As new as I was to the team, I knew that Enforcers of a different coven didn’t just drop in unannounced. Or ever, really. We mostly kept to ourselves, and we rarely visited other coven bases. There must be something big going on if they were here.
Ben frowned. “Yeah, I wasn’t aware of it either.”
My eyes followed the Enforcers as they edged closer to the door leading into the stock room. “Are they looking for a particular vampire or something? Seems a little over the top to fly three thousand miles just to check out my bar for random Daywalkers. Especially when they have their own problems to worry about.”
The Nosferatu filled the Scotland streets like hungry rats, and they were much more deadly than the type of vampires we had here in Boston. While Daywalkers were born with their powers—and their souls—the Nosferatu had demonic origins. They couldn’t and wouldn’t control their urges. On the Dangerous Supernaturals scale, Daywalkers were at a solid seven out of ten while Nosferatu practically pinged off the scale to hit a hundred.
Ben cleared his throat and turned his back toward the Enforcers before lowering his voice to a whisper. “That’s just it. They aren’t looking for a who. They’re looking for a what.”
“A what? I don’t understand.”
“What do you know about the smuggling that’s been going on here in the bar?” Ben asked, rubbing his slender jaw with worry. “You don’t have to name names. Just give me some indication about what they’ve been doing.”
“Smuggling?” I frowned, confusion flickering through me. “I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding here. You know as well as I do that this dump? It’s just a bar. There’s no way in hell any smuggling has been going on here. If there was, I would have gone straight to the coven to report it.”
“Forgive me for not having total faith in your willingness to tell the coven everything.” Ben gave me a meaningful look. When we’d been battling the demons together, he’d caught me using my shadow magic. I’d let my guard down in front of him, even though I knew I shouldn’t have, but my shadow powers were the only way I could have beaten those creatures. Even though he hadn’t reported me to the Council, he’d made it clear he didn’t approve.
Tell them, he had said that day, whispering rushed words into my ear as the Magister arrived at the scene of our fight. They’ll welcome your powers, especially now.
But Ben was wrong. I’d heard the Magister speak of shadow mages, and he thought we were as bad as demons themselves. We were dangerous, evil, not to be trusted.
“If Zoe says she doesn’t know anything about smuggling, then she doesn’t know anything about smuggling,” Dorian said in a low growl. “And if she knew, then I would certainly know.”
Ben sighed just as one of the Enforcers disappeared through the stock room doors. “Alright. But if you can think of anything, you have to let me know. I can’t stress how important it is to comply with their demands right now. Don’t forget, they are not happy about what happened to their splinter coven on our watch. Even though those witches were rogue, they were their witches. It’ll only take one more wrong move on our part for the alliance to break. And this time, it’ll be for good.”
Unease flittered through me, though a part of me questioned whether that would be such a terrible thing. The Blood Coven had different priorities, different tactics, different views on right and wrong, which was pretty telling coming from me, the ex-con. If we weren’t on the verge of an all-out demon war, then I might just throw up my hands and say fuck it. Let each coven operate on its own.
But without some backup, there was no way in hell we’d survive an assault by Wagner and whatever army of demons he was building. Our numbers were small, and they were diminishing every time we had a battle.
“Found something!” one of the Enforcers called out as he kicked open the stock room door with his heavy boot. My stomach flipped as my heart squeezed tight. In his large, meaty hands, he’d trapped Anastasia, and the look in her eyes was pure murder.
Chapter 2
Shock flittered through me, partly from alarm and partly from surprise that he’d managed to get a grip on her in the first place. Anastasia wasn’t what I would call a dainty flower. She was all claws and fangs, and she could destroy most people while barely lifting a finger.
“I thought you said there were no bloodsuckers here,” he said as he yanked her through the door. “But I found this piece of filth back there sucking on a girl’s neck. A mage’s neck. Mind explaining what the hell kind of operation you have going on in here?”
“Guys.” I snapped my fingers at my customers who had been watching the entire exchange with frisbee-sized eyes. “Time to go home.”
The humans were silent as they jumped up from the tables. Quickly, they downed their drinks and hurried out the door and into the night. Luckily, the Enforcers did nothing to stop them. At least that was one thing our covens had in common. We didn’t like humans to get caught in the crosshairs.
The Enforcer and I locked gazes across the bar. Dorian stood from his stool and rested his hand on his dagger while Ben merely nervously cleared his throat. The room crackled with tension. No one made a move. We were all waiting for someone to strike first. A single flinch, and the room would dissolve into chaos.
A voice called out from behind the Enforcer, soft and trembling but strong. “Please. Let her go. She wasn’t hurting me.”
“That’s exactly what any blood bag would say because every time this happens, they’re enthralled,” the Enforcer said. “I know you think she wasn’t hurting you, but you don’t even know what you’re saying. When the fog clears, you’ll sing a different tune.”
“I am not enthralled.” Laura stepped out from behind them, her eyes flashing with anger. Droplets of blood were splattered across her neck, evidence that Anastasia ha
d been fang-deep. But this wasn’t the first time Laura had succumbed to Anastasia’s advances, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. “This isn’t some random Daywalker attacking me. She’s my—”
“Laura. Best not say anything more right now.” Ben gave her a slight shake of the head before turning to the Enforcer who still held a tight grip around Anastasia’s neck. “Okay, everyone. I think we all need to take a step back here. We’re all on the same side. No need to cause a fight. Your Enforcer team and I should just continue our search before moving on our way. How does that sound, Callum?”
“The hell we’re all on the same side.” Callum tightened his grip around Anastasia’s neck. “The bloodsuckers turned their backs on the truce, and now they’re going around drinking from our kind in public. Don’t think I didn’t see her mark. She’s a blood mage. One of ours.”
“Technically, this is private property,” I said.
Callum narrowed his eyes. “Don’t push it, Zoe Bennett. I know you’re the witch who led the charge against our members. You’re the one who got Piper killed. Be lucky I’m arresting a bloodsucker and not you.”
“You can’t arrest her. She wasn’t doing anything wrong!” Tears began to bubble in Laura’s eyes, her gaze wild as she drank in the situation in the room. I read the look on her face before she made the move, but that still didn’t give me time to stop her. Before I could so much as blink, she’d launched herself at Callum, her hands curled into tight fists. My heart lurched into my throat as the bar erupted into a storm of chaos. The Enforcers rushed toward Callum and Laura, Dorian moved in a blur, and I leapt over the bar-top with speed and agility I didn’t know I had.
But the chaos didn’t stop there. The front door blew open on its creaking hinges just as I reached the fight. A horde of masked figures rushed inside, their forms surrounded by glowing balls of light. The Enforcers whirled toward the sound and stopped in their tracks. They shuffled into a defensive position while Callum dropped his arm from Anastasia’s neck and began drawing a rune on his open palm.
With his focus on the new arrivals, he didn’t notice when Laura grabbed Anastasia’s hand and pulled her back toward the stock room. For a moment, I wasn’t sure the vampire would follow. Her eyes were narrowed, full of a deep crimson glow that I’d seen on her before. She bared her teeth, hissing at the Enforcer’s back. But before she could do anything rash, Laura whispered into her ear. Anastasia rolled her eyes and hissed once again, but nodded. Seconds later, they disappeared to safety, but my relief was short-lived.
“Rebels,” Ben muttered under his breath.
I sucked in a sharp breath and arched my eyebrow. “Rebels? You can’t be serious. I thought they were a bedtime story invented by tired mage parents.”
“They are.” Ben frowned. “Or were. Someone decided to take the bedtime story and turn it into reality. They’ve been growing in numbers since the end of the war, and there have been a few scuffles here and there. Nothing quite as bold as this though…”
The rebels darted through the room, tossing bright magic at the Enforcers. The blood mages began to drop, one by one, too slow to keep up with the rebels’ fast movements. I itched to join the fray, but Ben kept a tight grip on my arm. With a frown, I tried to yank free, but he was stronger than he looked.
“I should help,” I said as Dorian launched a spell at the rebels.
Ben shook his head almost imperceptibly. “You can’t let them see your powers. The rebels or the Blood Coven.”
“But I can still fight.” I tapped the dagger at my side. “Come on. You know I can handle a blade.”
“You won’t win. Not against them.” He gestured when one of the rebels jumped on an Enforcer’s back and toppled him to the ground, showing deft and strength in a way I’d never seen. “And you’re far too valuable to lose in a skirmish against some fucking rebels.”
Even though his words made sense, it didn’t stop the irritation that flared up inside of me. He called me valuable—because of my shadow magic—but what good was I if I kept getting regulated to the sidelines? I wanted back on the field. I wanted to play the game, no matter how dangerous it was. There was no use in having me on their team if all I did was sit on the bench.
I curled my hand into a fist and darkness swirled around my fingers. One throw of this power across the room would send at least a couple of these rebels crashing onto the floor, breaking the fight just long enough to give Dorian and the Enforcers an edge.
“Don’t do it,” Ben warned as he wrapped his fingers around my smoking hand. “I may have been idiot enough to keep the truth about your powers to myself, but those Blood Coven Enforcers have no such loyalty to you. They’ll tell their Magister, and they will act not only against you but against all of us. They might wonder why we kept you a secret from them, and they’d likely try to take you as a weapon for themselves.”
My heart hammered hard as his words sunk in. All this time, I’d been so focused on hiding my powers from my own coven that I hadn’t really stopped to consider what might happen if another coven discovered it as well. Working with a shadow mage was almost as bad as being one yourself, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the Blood Coven decided they wanted to harness my power for their own gain.
“But you’re the only one who knows about me,” I whispered into his ear as a burst of magic slammed into the wall and rocked the floor beneath our feet.
“And Dorian,” Ben said with a nod. “That’s enough. There’s a reason our alliance doesn’t extend to the Shadow Coven, remember. You may be a good person, Zoe, but you’re the exception to the rule. You know that yourself or you wouldn’t have hid your identity all these years. Having one amongst ourselves is well…it might even be considered traitorous.”
A shiver went down my spine. All this time I’d been looking out for me and only me. And yet, I’d been unknowingly putting the entirety of the Bone Coven in danger. A traitorous action would likely lead to far more than just a break in the alliance. The Blood Coven would feel the need to retaliate.
Shaking my head, I let my magic fall from my fingers, and all the fight vanished from my soul. I’d been so careless. So reckless. No matter what happened, I could never let anyone else see what I could do, at least not until all of this was over.
And then? My heart squeezed tight at the realization that washed over me. I wasn’t sure I could stay here in Boston. In my home. Not if my very existence put the entire city’s mages in danger.
“Zoe, look out!” Dorian roared from across the room, snapping my mind back into the here and now. I’d been so wrapped up in my whispered conversation with Ben that I hadn’t noticed how intense the fight had gotten.
Enforcer bodies littered the ground, though they all looked unconscious rather than dead. The only warlock left standing was Dorian, his eyes wild as he pointed my way. A second later, a blast of bright air hurtled past my ear and smashed into the wall of bottles behind me. Glass shattered, and sharp glittering shards flew through the air.
I ducked just in time. Another blast hit the wall, smashing once again into the long line of vodka and whiskey. As glass rained down, all I could think was, This is going to be a bitch to clean up.
“Stop!” Ben threw his hands up just far enough to peek above the bar. “We surrender!”
“Come out from behind the bar,” one of the rebels snapped. “Cooperate, and we’ll cease our attack.”
Slowly, Ben and I stood from our hiding spot and edged out into the room toward Dorian’s side. There were about half a dozen masked figures that surrounded us, each pointing a glowing white ball of power at our guts. If we so much as flinched, we could end up dead.
“Listen,” I started. “No need to do anything hasty. Just tell us what you want and why you’re here, and I’m sure we can figure out a way to help you.”
“Zoe,” Ben hissed under his breath. “No.”
“She’s right, Ben,” Dorian said as his glittering gaze turned toward the rebels. “We don’t
want anyone else to get hurt. Tell us what you want.”
One of the rebels glanced at another and laughed. They shook their heads, shifting on their feet but not lowering their hands even a fraction of an inch. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dorian’s face cloud over. I was impressed by how calm and collected he’d stayed throughout this attack, but a cloud of irritation rolled across his features. They were going to push him past snapping point if they weren’t careful.
“What’s so fucking funny?” Dorian snapped.
“What we want is this bar,” one of the rebels said, stepping forward from the group. He pulled his mask up over his head, revealing a strong and angular face. His eyes raked across the three of us before landing on me. “I’m guessing you’re Zoe Bennett. The witch who keeps meddling in all the alliances.”
Once again, my reputation preceded me. In this case, I was pretty sure that wasn’t such a good thing. “Yeah. What of it?”
“According to my sources, this is your bar.” He waved his hand to the knotted wood, the buzzing neon signs, the broken bottles that littered the floor. “You run the place.”
“Well, your sources are wrong,” I said. “I work here, but I don’t own it. And I’m sure as hell not going to give you the name of my boss because I know all you’d do is go and harass him. What do you want with this place anyway?”
“You work here? That’s good enough.” He nodded and flicked his fingers at two of the rebels that flanked his sides. “Go outside and cast the spell. Make sure you’re back through the door within thirty seconds, or we’ll have to leave without you.”
Frowning, I glanced at Dorian who was staring intently at the rebel leader. As his two minions disappeared out into the wintry night, my partner made a move forward. Gasping, I grabbed his arm to stop him, but I was too late. A blast of brightness hit Dorian in the chest, and he crumpled to the floor where he landed with a loud thump that shook me to my very core.
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 43