“Dorian is right,” Ben said. “It was the only way I was able to do this. Most of them will be asleep right now. However, I must warn you that—”
“Perfect,” I said, cutting him off before he could come up with another excuse for why we shouldn’t do this. “A sleeping coven means we have a good chance of grabbing the grimoire and getting out of here before an alarm is raised.”
“You know what?” Ben sighed, raising his arms to his sides. “Fine. Let’s do this. It’s too late to turn back now. Just please be careful. If you got killed on my watch, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”
For a moment, I stopped to glance at Ben and guilt drowned out my earlier irritation at him. I hated that I’d doubted him, hated that I’d accused him of nefarious motives. Ben had always been on my side, even when he barely knew me. Just because he wasn’t jumping for joy about the plan to rush headfirst into danger didn’t mean that he had been plotting against me.
“Thanks for your help, Ben,” I said with a smile. “And thanks for coming down to the dungeons with the keys. If it weren’t for you, who knows how long we would have been stuck here.”
“Yes, well.” He smiled back, though it was a dimmer version than usual. “Don’t thank me yet. We could very easily end up right back in those cells again.”
With a nod, he finally unlocked the dungeon gate. I pushed it open, the door creaking on old, rusted hinges. Wincing, I froze. The sound was unmistakable, and it echoed down the long castle hallway. If any mages were near, they’d know exactly what that sound meant—that prisoners were lurking in the dark.
“Which way should we go?” I whispered.
“The grimoire library is upstairs,” Ben whispered back as he pointed above us. “It’s locked, but that’s an easy fix to beat. I have the keys. The problem will be finding the rune among a hundred books.”
It was a task I was ready for, but I wished I had Laura or Nathan to help. They were the book people. Not me. My skills were more on the physical side of things, as well as deceptive. They’d somehow know the best places to look, but unfortunately, they weren’t here.
The three of us edged down the cold hallway, the musty scent of old leather and dust filling our noses. The castle was still and quiet, as if the place were either vacant or full of sleeping bodies, just like Dorian had said. In other circumstances, I would have loved to look around this place. I’d never been inside a castle before, and I couldn’t imagine I’d be welcome here again after this. Instead, my curiosity had to be satiated with passing glances of pristine suits of armor and sparkling chandeliers.
After what felt like an eternity, we reached the library door. Ben unlocked it for us, and we slid inside. Before us, tall, oak shelves were crammed with books, rows upon rows of leather-bound volumes. Curving ladders were fit perfectly against the shelves, their rolled feet ready for use. In the center of the room stood a grand oak table that was flanked by comfortable armchairs and claw-foot lamps. This library was far more impressive than the grimoire collection that had been housed at the previous Bone Coven headquarters that had burned down several months ago. Instead of a cramped closet, this was like something out of Beauty and the Beast.
My breath expelled through my parted lips as I gazed with admiration. “Are all these books grimoires? I had no idea that so many spells existed. I mean, it makes me feel like a total amateur. Not that I didn’t feel that way already.”
“No, there aren’t that many spells,” Dorian said. “I’d say about a tenth of these are grimoires while the rest are various books on the history of magic and supernatural creatures. If there’s something you need to know about werewolves, for example, you could find it here.”
“This would have really come in handy when we were dealing with that whole Nathan situation last month.”
“True, but they don’t let anyone in here who isn’t part of the Blood Coven, and even then, only council members can have a key.” Ben shrugged. “We’ve tried for years to get access to this place, but they’ve refused. Something about keeping valuable information out of harm’s reach. There’s information in these pages that could prove problematic if they got into the wrong hands, which of course, came up against considerable resistance in the Bone Coven. The Magister felt as if they were insinuating that bone mages were the wrong hands. It’s been a cause of tension for awhile now.”
I shook my head, my gaze finally drawn away from the towering shelves. “The politics of the covens never cease to amaze me, and not in a good way.”
“Watch out,” Dorian said, his lips quirking. “Or Ben might assume you’re starting to think like a rebel.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” I asked, shrugging as I turned to face him. “I mean, sure, I don’t want to go around launching attacks and kidnapping people, but some of their motivations make sense.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, Zoe. I really do. Just don’t let the Magister here you say that.”
“At this point, I’m not sure it would make matters much worse,” I mumbled.
“Enough about that. Let’s get to work. The grimoires appear to be clustered here in this section. Let’s each take a row.” Dorian pulled a book from the shelf and tossed it my way. “You know what we’re looking for. It should be directly next to the rune that creates the wall. Don’t worry about the translation. I’ll take care of that.”
And with that, the three of us got to work. Moments passed by in agonizing slow motion. Every creak on the floorboards outside the room made us pause, certain that capture was just around the corner. Eyes swimming, I flipped through the next book, barely comprehending the runes I saw. They were all starting to run together now, becoming meaningless blurs that made absolutely zero sense.
Until a familiar shape fell into view.
Grabbing Dorian’s arm, I shoved the book into his hands. “I think this is it. What’s it say?”
Dorian scanned the words, and then gave a nod, his lips breaking out into the first smile I’d seen all day. “Great find, Zoe. This is it.” He ripped the page out of the book and shoved it into his pocket. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
A high-pitched alarm shook through the room. Whirling toward the door, I spotted a camera and a bulb that was now flashing red and white. Shouts cried out from somewhere down the hallway, and fear gripped my gut. The mages might have been asleep before, but they certainly weren’t now.
“Time to go!” Dorian yelled, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the door.
We flew into the hallway, Ben just behind us. When we exited the room, a blast of red shot past our heads, slamming hard into the stone wall. Chunks of rock fell to the ground and broke into a dozen pieces.
“Here,” Ben said in a hurried whisper as he shoved the keys into my hands. “Escape out through the dungeons like I told you. It’s the best way to get out of here. Maybe the only way.”
“Wait,” I said, eyes wide as he began to jog backward toward the approaching mages. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you get out of here alive,” Ben said with a sad smile. “You may not realize it, but you’re important, Zoe. Much more important than me. We need your powers if we’re going to win against the demons. Go straight to the Magister when you can. He’ll forgive you. He knows the importance of your powers, too.”
With one last smile, Ben whirled toward the blood mages. He lifted his blade and murmured something under his breath as he drew a rune on his palm. Magic blasted all around him, and every instinct within my body told me to rush toward him instead of away. I couldn’t let him sacrifice himself like this. I was nobody. A con artist with terrible powers that never helped a damn thing.
“We’ve got to go, Zoe.” Dorian wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me from the floor, carrying me down the steps and away from the fight. I kicked my legs, but it was useless. He was ten times stronger than me. Still, as fast as he moved, he didn’t stop me from seeing what happened next. A blast of magic hit Ben right i
n the skull, ripping a hole through his eye and shooting out the back of his head. A cry of rage ripped from my throat as I watched him fall to the ground, his broken body crumpled like a discarded doll.
Tears stung my eyes, falling with big plops on my cheeks. Of all the mages I’d met, Ben didn’t deserve to die. Especially not for me.
Chapter 12
“Zoe, I know you’re upset, but we have to move,” Dorian said after he’d locked the dungeon gate behind us. “They’ll figure out where we’re going, and they’ll be behind us in moments. Ben gave us a head start, and we should use it.”
Eyebrows furrowed, I stared up at Dorian. “They killed him. Those blood mages actually killed him.”
Dorian flinched and glanced away. “And they’ll kill us, too.”
“But we’re their allies,” I said. “Ben was their ally.”
“It’s an alliance that has struggled for a long time now,” Dorian said. “And according to them, we’re a couple of rogue mages working with rebels. They were reasonable enough to give Ben a pardon, but not after he helped us escape.”
My entire body felt weary, like the weight of the world was pressing down upon it. “We just shouldn’t be fighting like this, Dorian. Forcing each other to battle. Killing each other for trespassing. There are so few of us left. And there are so, so many demons. How can we ever expect to survive if this keeps happening?”
“I don’t know the answer to that question, Zoe.” Dorian grabbed my hand and squeezed tight. “All I know is that we need to get out of here before they decide to kill us, too. Though they’d probably end up doing far worse to me.”
I didn’t want to ask exactly what could be worse, especially for a hybrid like Dorian. In the Blood Coven’s eyes, he was probably just as bad as a Daywalker. In fact, Dorian had to drink blood to survive, so he might even be considered worse. Either way, I didn’t want to stick around to find out.
“Alright, let’s move,” I said with a nod.
Dorian grabbed a torch from the wall and moved down the corridor with the kind of grace that most people could only dream of. He was strong and silent and simmering with a deadly force that often took my breath away. Looking at him now, I couldn’t imagine how I hadn’t realized what he was when I’d first met him. It was impossible not to see it now in the way he moved, the way he spoke, the way his eyes were lit by a kind of dark fire that warlocks didn’t have.
Dorian might have been cursed, but his vampire nature was just as much a part of him as the warlock half. It should have scared me, but it didn’t. Instead, it made me feel impossibly safe when he was around. These Blood Coven warlocks had it all wrong, and I was starting to believe the rebels had a really good point. Maybe all this time, I’d been fighting for the wrong side. Maybe I should have been fighting for someone else.
As Dorian and I made our way down the corridor, the sound of shrieks grew louder and louder. I grabbed his hand and fell into step beside him, my heartbeat hammering hard in my chest. We might be running from what followed behind us, but it was what I knew we were about to see up ahead that really scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
I’d never seen a Nosferatu in my twenty-one years on this planet. And I had no desire to change that tonight.
Torches flickered up ahead, mounted on the walls of the next prison cavern. Dorian’s hand tightened around mine, and he slowed for a moment before we continued on up above. Casting a glance behind us, I stepped in close while he dropped his mouth to my ear. Despite myself, shivers engulfed me when his lips touched my skin. Even in the middle of this insane and dangerous situation, the effect he had on me wasn’t diminished in the least.
“They’re behind bars, but they’re still dangerous. I won’t be that interesting to them, but they’ll crave the scent of your sweet blood,” Dorian murmured. “Trust me on that. I know how good you smell. Just keep your head down. Keep moving forward. And don’t look them in the eye. They can enthral you in seconds.”
His words sent a storm of shivers through my body. “Like you did that time. To the bouncers at Slayerville.”
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “Though the effect they’d have on you would be far worse than that.”
I didn’t want to even consider it. Dorian had only used his thrall once—at least since I’d known him. Later, he’d told me that it was a power he didn’t like to call upon, and there had only been a handful of times when he’d broken it out of his arsenal. For one, using magic to manipulate minds was against our coven’s laws. Two, well, it was just a shitty thing to do.
With a deep breath, I followed Dorian’s lead down the tunnel. As soon as we stepped foot in the cavern, the shrieks and hisses stopped as if someone had suddenly hit the mute button. The lack of sound made my blood run cold. For some reason, the silence was much more deafening than the shouts. Swallowing hard, I continued to move forward, following Dorian’s directions. I kept my eyes on the rough stone floor, but I could feel a hundred Nosferatu eyes watching my every movement.
It felt cold in here. Far colder than it had only moments before. And the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. This was all wrong. Unnatural. Demons in vampire form. I’d grown up knowing the difference between Daywalkers and Nosferatu like a normal human child knows the difference between cats and dogs. But even though I’d always understood the logistics, I’d never truly known until now. The Daywalkers, while sometimes dangerous and violent, were just like any other supernatural race. They belonged in our realm just as much as mages did.
Nosferatu, on the other hand, they were something else entirely. They were wrong. This entire place reeked of evil. Just like the monstrous demons that tried to punch holes through the veil in order to get into this realm, these creatures didn’t belong here.
And I couldn’t help but wonder if they came from the same place. Something I’d have to ask Dorian about. When we weren’t surrounded by a bunch of hungry Nosferatu.
“Shadow witchhhhh,” came a long low hiss from my left. My feet slowed on the stone, and my entire body went tight. Swallowing hard, I shook my head. Keep moving, I thought. Keep going. But my feet couldn’t move an inch.
Deep inside me, a darkness shifted, a darkness I’d kept locked inside a box.
“Listen to your shadow,” another voice hissed, engulfing my arms in chill-bumps.
Tendrils of shadows curled inside my gut, rising up and reminding me of who I was. It called to me, hissing in answer to the Nosferatu’s words, coming alive as if on command. Gritting my teeth, I shook my head and tried to force the voices to shut their fucking mouths.
“Zoe.” Dorian sounded so far away, like he’d fallen into a deep tunnel below me. Something took ahold of my arms and shook my body hard. Was it the Nosferatu? Had they somehow escaped from their cells? Were they going to sweep me up and carry me down into the depths of darkness and into a world where no light existed at all?
“Zoe!” Dorian’s voice broke through my thoughts, and I peeled open my eyes to see his face hovering before me. His eyebrows furrowed with concern, and his jaw clenched tight as the hisses grew louder. “You have to block them out. Don’t let them control you. I know you have the power to command whatever it is that drives your magic, and you know it, too. Come on, baby. I believe in you.”
Baby? There was something both sweet and hilarious about hearing that word come from Dorian’s mouth, the serious, stoic Unbound vampire. Enough that it made me snap out of whatever thrall the vampires had put on me.
“Okay, let’s go,” I whispered.
We rushed through the rest of the cavern, and the Nosferatu’s shrieks grew louder and louder. But despite the pulsing darkness that tempted me to stop, I kept my feet moving, forcing that part of me to obey me instead of them.
Finally, we hit the edge of the prison cells, and entered the next tunnel. A quick left at the end led us to the next gate where we used Ben’s keys to escape outside. I expected sunlight, but instead, found a cloudy gray sky overhead. Rain splattered down
around us, soaking us within seconds. Dorian pulled me along beside him, shouting something into the wind, but I couldn’t hear his words. It didn’t matter. I trusted him to get us to safety. So, all I did was run.
It must have been two hours later when we finally stopped, ducking inside a tiny stone building in the middle of the Scottish Highlands. My teeth chattered, and my entire body trembled from the cold. Swiping my wet hair out of my face, I glanced around. We were still in the middle of nowhere. In the distance, a large dark form loomed ahead, but it was the only thing I could see besides rain and trees and mud.
“What are we going to do? How are we going to get back to the rebel base?” I gasped, my lungs aching from the long and soaking wet run. I was in pretty good shape, but I definitely wasn’t prepared for a race through rolling hills during the middle of a massive downpour. And I hoped to hell we weren’t camping out in this dirty abandoned building. I needed a roaring fire and some dry clothes, stat.
Dorian shook his head, droplets of water sprinkling the dirt-caked walls. “Well, since Ryker refused to tell us where it was, we can’t go back. And I have a feeling it’s nowhere near here anyway.”
“So, what does that mean?” I asked, gaping at him.
“Unfortunately, I think we’re stuck here, Zoe.” He grimaced. “Unless you happen to have your passport on you.”
The full reality of our situation crashed down on me. We were in a foreign country, and I had no way to get home. “I don’t have a passport. I’ve never left the states before. It’s not like I knew we were travelling to the United Kingdom when I went to work that night.”
“I assumed as much,” Dorian said with a sigh. “We’ll figure out a way to get home, but for now, we need to get out of this rain and hold tight and lay low. The Blood Coven will probably be combing the hills looking for us. Knowing them, I can’t imagine they’ll take our escape very well.”
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 49