Dorian’s entire body jerked hard. “That doesn’t make any sense. For one, blood mages despise vampires, so why the hell would they want to make their own? For two, well, isn’t that what an Unbound is? A mage-created vampire?”
Dorian would know. A hundred years ago, Dorian was merely a warlock. Yet, he’d been cursed by the Shadows to live out the rest of his endless days as a hybrid. Half-warlock, half-vampire. And since it was a curse, he didn’t have the natural Daywalker blood running through his veins, which meant he suffered from weaknesses they didn’t.
“They tried that, but it wasn’t enough,” Jack said. “Unbounds aren’t strong enough to take on Nosferatu one-on-one, not unless they’re enhanced with magical abilities, like having warlock blood. There are so few blood mages left that they don’t want to go around cursing all their members.”
Ben nodded. “The combination spell, ah, well how do I say this?”
“They don’t want more Unbounds. They want to create Nosferatu,” Jack said quietly.
The room went brutally silent before erupting into a storm of questions. How? Why? And what in the name in ever-loving hell were they thinking?
Ryker lifted his hands in the air to signal for the room to go quiet. “Needless to say, the Sun Coven said no. They refuse to believe the best solution is to create an army of dangerous demonic vampires. Which brings us to the here and now. The Blood Coven agreed to keep the alliance with the Bone Coven, if your Magister would help them force the sun mages to cooperate.”
“Force?” I whispered, dread pooling in my gut.
“They’ve put the Sun Coven base under siege. Together, they’ve created a barrier that keeps anyone out and everyone in. No one can cross the perimeter until the Sun Coven agrees to send a mage to cast the spell, which means they’re entirely cut off from food and water. They live in the middle of the desert. Without access to the outside world, they’re screwed.”
I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “The Bone Coven wouldn’t get involved in something like this. Magister Salvatore is a better man than that. There’s no way in hell he’d go along with—”
Ben sighed and dropped his head in his hands. “This does explain some things, Zoe. For example, why some Blood Coven Enforcers were in Boston today. Plus, a lot of our team is out of town right now. I didn’t think much of it before, but it all adds up. They must be guarding the perimeter.”
“Ben, you can’t possibly believe this,” I said. “Magister Salvatore? Agreeing to trap mages inside a barrier to create demonic vampires?”
“I believe it,” Anastasia quipped. She’d been silent so far this evening, and I’d pretty much forgotten she was there. “Your coven has played dirty before, Zoe. It was only a matter of time before they got in the mud again.”
“That was under Leon Dupont. Magister Salvatore has done nothing but try to serve his coven to the best of his ability.”
“He refused to take action against the splinter coven who was murdering my family.” She narrowed her eyes. “He’d do anything to protect the alliance. Even this. Hell, he probably wouldn’t mind a Nosferatu or two of his own.”
I looked to Dorian, desperate for some kind of reassurance that this couldn’t be right. He’d been nothing but one hundred percent loyal to the coven since I’d met him, despite many instances where he could have turned. But instead of defending our new Magister against it all, he merely gave me a sad frown.
“I’m afraid Ben might be correct,” he said. “Remember, the Daywalkers are no longer our allies, and I have personally heard the Magister worrying aloud about where this will lead. It very well may have driven him to making some less than optimal choices.”
Anastasia snorted. “Less than optimal? Your beloved Magister has agreed to create a task force full of Nosferatu who will probably eat you rather than serve you. You think I’m dangerous? Wait ’til you meet one of them.”
Chapter 9
After several more minutes of back and forth about the siege, Ben sighed and stood from his chair, rubbing his forehead. “This is all giving me a headache. Can I get some fresh air or are you trapping us inside?”
“You’re free to walk around the property, but Gigi here will accompany you to make sure you don’t get lost,” Ryker said before turning his attention back on me. “Any more questions, Zoe?”
“So, why are you telling us all of this?” I asked when Ben and Gigi disappeared outside. “Why take us as prisoners? Why do whatever it is you did to the bar?”
“Well, we took the bar because we think there’s something in it that we need,” Ryker said. “And as for you, I really did need you to be there in order for the spell to work. But now I have something else that I need you to do for me.”
“Well, the answer is no,” I said. “Look, I appreciate what you’re doing here, and I understand why, but forgive me for being skeptical. You came barging in, attacking us, holding your knives to my friend’s throat. If you’re looking for a weapon, then you’re obviously planning some kind of attack, and attacks are when innocent people get killed.”
“I think what Zoe is saying is that she’s loyal to our coven,” Dorian added. “And so am I. We aren’t going to agree to do something that would harm them.”
“We aren’t asking you to harm anybody,” Ryker said. “All we’re asking you to do is help the innocent members of the Sun Coven, who are only a few days away from running out of food and water. They have some canned food that can last a little while, but they weren’t prepared for something like this. Their cupboards aren’t full. Their water supply is running low.”
Sighing, I closed my eyes and sank back into my chair. Ryker was putting me in an impossible situation. If he was right, then people could starve. Would my coven really do that to innocent mages? I wanted to believe they wouldn’t, but I’d seen enough over the years to truly ask the question.
“Tell me what it is you want us to do, and then we’ll decide.”
“Zoe,” Dorian said with a sharp look.
“It doesn’t hurt to hear him out,” I said. “Listening to the plan doesn’t mean we actually have to do anything.”
Dorian didn’t agree, but he didn’t argue either, so Ryker plowed ahead with his plan.
“Blood mages were the ones who put up the wall. There’s no way to reverse the spell unless someone were to draw a particular anti-rune along the perimeter.” Ryker glanced at the other rebels around him. “Unfortunately, it’s not one that any of the mages here know.”
Jack, the blood mage, leaned forward. “They keep all of their grimoires stored in the Scotland castle base. The spell we need will be in there. If we were able to get our hands on it, we could free the mages from the siege and get them somewhere safe. Somewhere with water and food.”
“Here, I’m guessing,” I said, gesturing at the cabin.
“That’s the plan,” Ryker said. “We may live in a remote place, and it may be cold where the sun rarely shines, which will suck for them. But it’s better than living trapped behind bars or made to cast a spell to create demonic vampires.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, that sounds reasonable,” Dorian said, his stony face betraying no emotion. “However, I’m not sure what you expect us to do. We have no access to their castle.”
“I don’t expect you to do anything.” Ryker turned toward me. “It’s Zoe we need.”
“What?” he asked in a growl. “Why Zoe? I’m the Enforcer here. I should go.”
I lifted my chin. “I’m an Enforcer, too.”
“In training.” Dorian shook his head. “I know you’ve gone on a lot of dangerous missions, Zoe, but I don’t want you sneaking into Blood Coven headquarters to steal their magic, especially not alone.”
“Fine, you can go with her,” Ryker said. “A team of two might work better than one.”
“Me, too,” Laura added.
Anastasia sighed. “Fine, I guess I’m joining this insanity as well, though they’ll probably kill me on sight knowin
g those assholes.”
“No,” Ryker said, his voice going hard and his face going cold. “You two will stay here. If Zoe does this for us, then and only then will we let you go.”
Despite the flickering fire, the friendly faces, and the warm blankets, I was suddenly reminded that we weren’t here by choice. We were prisoners being forced by a group of rebels to do their bidding, and my friends would be kept prisoner for only goddess knew how long if I didn’t go along with their plan.
“How can we be certain that this spell does what you say it will?” I asked. “How can we know that you won’t use it to harm my coven?”
“You won’t. Unless you know Latin.”
Chapter 10
“Here we are.” Ryker cracked open the door, and a howling gust of snow billowed into the small building he’d used to travel us to Scotland. “The majestic headquarters of the Blood Coven. Too bad they don’t use all that money and power for something good because they really do have a shit ton of it, don’t they?”
I gazed up at the towering building before us. When Ryker had called it a castle, he hadn’t been joking. It was as if I’d stepped into a time machine taking me back to the past where lords and ladies carried themselves down dirt roads in horse-drawn carriages. Stone gargoyles squatted on the ledge of every window, a dark grey sky the perfect backdrop to the gothic architecture.
“So, how are we going to get inside?” I whispered, blowing hot air on my fingers. Ryker gave us a salute and disappeared back into the building. After a moment, it shimmered out of sight, travelling back to the rebel base, wherever the hell that was.
“Well, there will be wards and alarms. They’re actually probably already aware that we’re here. The best approach is to walk toward the front steps and act as if we aren’t trying to hide anything,” Ben said. “We just need an explanation for why we’re here. How does this sound? I’m a council member who needs somewhere to stay for the night after a random mission that called me to the United Kingdom. You two are my Enforcer bodyguards, which means you should just keep quiet and let me do all the talking.”
Unease flittered through me. “What if they want to talk to the Magister before letting us inside?”
Ben frowned and stared up at the looming door. “Well, then we’re screwed. I’ll just have to come up with a convincing lie so they don’t feel the need to ask too many questions.”
As we approached the front steps, the air before us shimmered like a thousand flickering red lights. Ben had been right. Someone from inside the building had seen us approaching and had lowered the wards to let us reach the steps. They must have recognized Ben. As one of the Bone Coven council members, his name and face should be well known here. Not that this boosted my confidence about this mission. Despite the cumulative power between us, we’d be way outnumbered once we walked through that door.
When we reached the top step, Ben slid his hand around a gargoyle knocker. It looked ancient and weathered, as if it had been there for hundreds of years. Hell, maybe it had been. This castle was probably older than the entire country of America, after all. Ben knocked, and the deep and ancient sound echoed in the quiet night. Only seconds later, the heavy door swung open with a long resounding creak.
At the sight before me, my heart jolted in my chest. In the open doorway stood a man with flowing red hair that reached below his shoulders, and wide and curving lips that spread across two rows of sharp teeth. He wore a dark robe, and a thick metal chain hung heavily around his pale neck. For a second, my blood roared in my ears, and I couldn’t help but think the impossible had happened. Vampires had breached the castle, and they’d destroyed every last one of the Blood Coven mages. Now, this place was their domain.
“Magister Thorne,” Ben said as he lowered into a half-bow. Frowning, I glanced at Dorian. This was the Magister of the Blood Coven? But he looked so… “My name is Ben. I’m a council member of the Bone Coven.”
“Hello, Ben. I remember you from our meetings last month. No need to bow.” The Magister swept his gaze across my body with a look that sent a storm of ice into my bones. “However, I don’t seem to know your two companions here.”
“My bodyguards for my most recent mission,” Ben said. “They were assigned to me just in case anything happened.”
The Magister raised his eyebrows. “And has something happened? That is why you are here?”
“I got a lead on the location of Professor Ivan Wagner, the mage who has been attempting to bind demons to himself. We received an anonymous tip that he was in Scotland. So, we flew over right away,” Ben continued as if the question were nothing more than a pleasant exchange with an old friend. “Unfortunately, it was a trap. Some Nosferatu were waiting for us, and we barely got out alive. It’s a long journey back home, and it’s late. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind putting us up for a night.”
Silence rose up around us as the Magister stared hard at Ben’s face. His gaze was so intent that even I wanted to break under the force of it. It was if he was reading the council member, making sure that the truth was what he’d said. Luckily, whatever he found in Ben’s expression seemed to satisfy him because he ushered us in with a wave of his hand.
“This is quite out of the ordinary, Ben,” Magister Thorne said as he slid the door shut behind us, sealing us into the darkness of the castle. On each side of the door, torches were hooked to the walls with intricately-detailed iron fastenings. The flames flickered with red and gold magic, casting eerie glows on the stone walls. “Usually, Magister Salvatore calls in advance. I can’t remember the last time he sent some bone mages into our territory without first letting us know. However, because of our special arrangement, I’ll agree to let you wait out the night here. Especially when you’ve had an encounter with those horrible creatures.”
Magister Thorne’s sharp gaze turned my way. “You’re young for an Enforcer. Tell me, was this the first time you fought a Nosferatu?”
I hesitated, not entirely sure what to say. Ben had suggested I keep my mouth shut, and I agreed with him for once. If the Magister figured out who I was, the game would be over before we’d even had a chance to begin.
“Yes, sir,” I said with a nod, leaving it at that.
But he wasn’t satisfied with my short answer. “That would explain why you weren’t able to dispatch it, but two of you should have been enough.” He gave a nod toward Dorian. “Has your training not been good enough? Do you not feel equipped to handle these kinds of demons? Do we need to send some extra Enforcers to Boston to provide you with some stronger skills?”
“Sir,” Ben said, clearing his throat. “If it weren’t for them, I’d be dead.”
The Magister angled closer, his narrowed eyes flicking between me and Dorian. “Female Enforcers are so rare, at least among your coven.”
“If I may interject sir,” Dorian said as he stepped forward, drawing attention away from me and more onto him, “our Enforcer numbers have been low, so the Magister opened up the force to different types of mages. And while female Enforcers have been rare, we’ve certainly had them in the past.”
“Lily Bennett was one. As far as I know, there haven’t been any others, at least not in recent years,” Magister Thorne said with a slight smile. “I was Magister back then. She had a prized spot on your force, and I remember her well. Brave, talented, strong, but incredibly stubborn. Some might say she could be careless at times. Stupid.”
Irritation flared through me. How dare he speak about my mother that way? She’d sacrificed her life fighting against the demons, something he obviously knew nothing about. He was still standing here, hiding away in his castle and forcing entire mage colonies behind a siege wall. If that wasn’t the very definition of stupid, I didn’t know what was.
My hands curled into fists as I opened my mouth, but Ben shifted in front of me before I said too much. “That’s correct. And it’s a change we’re glad to be making. It means we can finally grow our team, which is especially needed right now. Don’t y
ou agree?”
The Magister made a soft noise that I couldn’t interpret before ushering us to follow him down the empty stone hallway. “It’s late so our chef isn’t awake to make you some food. If you’d like something, I can wake him, but I assure you he can be fairly irritable when his sleep is interrupted.”
“No, thank you,” Ben said. “That won’t be necessary.”
“He’s human, you see,” the Magister continued. “So, he prefers to sleep at night.”
“As do we,” Ben said with a tight smile. “Which is why we wanted to crash here. Our flight will leave in the morning.”
The Magister slowed to a stop outside a row of identical wooden doors. Each was intricately carved with an artistic and terrifying display of gargoyles. In each one, the creatures were either attacking or chasing humans who had terrified looks on their faces. Mouths open wide. Eyes popping out of the socket. Gnashes on their necks and on their arms. Whoever had carved these doors was a pretty weird-ass person.
“Ah, you are admiring the handiwork on the doors,” the Magister said when he caught the direction of my gaze. “Every one of our doors in Castle Blood has these features. It’s something we’re quite fond of. Legend tells us that they were hand-carved by the very first Blood Coven Magister. Way back in the 1200s.”
Of course they were. I should have known. Everything about this coven had a creep factor that went far above the standard. And yet, they called shadow mages the dangerous ones. If this was what the Blood Coven was like, I shuddered to think of the kind of doors that were found within the gates of the Shadow Coven headquarters.
“You two will sleep in this room,” the Magister said as he pushed open the door. Inside, I could see the outline of a king-sized bed, a claw-foot bathtub, and an antique wardrobe that may or may not have been guarded by stone gargoyles.
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 47