“So, we’re fugitives,” I said. “In a foreign country. With no way home or place to stay.”
“We have a place to stay,” Dorian said, pointing through the thick bands of rain. “Up ahead. It’s safe and warm, and we can build ourselves a fire.”
It took another twenty minutes to reach the castle. Looming high with gargoyles dotting the battlements, the sight of the expansive stone dwelling did little to slow the churn in my gut. We’d just been inside of a castle, and things hadn’t gone very well. Who knew what the hell we’d find inside of this one? It looked vacant and empty and devoid of life, but I knew as well as anyone that looks could be deceiving.
Still, I was so eager to get out of the rain that I didn’t question it.
Once we’d stepped through the front door, Dorian began moving through the entryway, flipping on lights and tossing his soaking cloak onto a coatrack as if he’d done it a hundred times before. When he dropped a set of keys onto a marble-topped table, I furrowed my eyebrows.
“You’ve been here before,” I said as he disappeared into a closet only to return with a bundle of firewood. “What is this place?”
“Years and years ago, I lived here,” Dorian said as he motioned me to follow him out of the entryway and into a living room where a majestic fireplace lined an ancient wall. “There was a time in my life when I became what you’d call a hermit. After I got cursed but before I moved to the states. At the time, I figured it was better for everyone if I holed up in the middle of nowhere.”
“This was your castle?” I asked, eyes widening. “You actually owned this place?”
“Own,” Dorian said. “When I decided to move to America, I didn’t sell it. I thought it might come in handy one day. After all, I’m going to live a long, long time, Zoe. As long as I don’t get killed somehow. There’s always a chance I might end up coming back to Europe one day. Maybe in ten years or maybe in a hundred.”
Something about the way he spoke made me in desperate need of a seat. Coming face-to-face with the reality of Dorian’s existence took my breath away, and not in the good way he normally did. While I’d known he was immortal—to an extent—I’d never really thought about the length of his life and what that meant. He would live hundreds of years, never ageing more than he already had. When I eventually became an old and withered woman, Dorian would still be the same as he was now. And he’d be the same long after I’d been buried in my grave.
Dorian paused after he threw another piece of wood onto the fire. “By the look on your face, I’m guessing you’ve never really thought about my lifespan until now.”
“I have, but—”
A loud bang sounded on the door, and I jumped up from my seat. Dorian stood tall, his body going tight. He grabbed his blade from his belt and motioned for me to do the same. Heart hammering hard in my chest, I followed him into the entryway. Another pound hit the door, so hard the wood rattled on its rotting frame. Had the Blood Coven found us already? It had taken us hours to get here. How could they have found us so fast?
Chapter 13
“Kostas! It’s us!” a familiar voice called out on the other side of the door. “Open up. It’s fucking pouring out here.”
Frowning, I glanced at Dorian. “Does that sound like Ryker?”
“It does,” Dorian growled.
Keeping his weapon held high before him, Dorian swung open the door to reveal three of the rebel crew standing on the stone landing, all shivering from the intense wind and rain. Their eyes were hollow, and their cheeks dotted pink. Obviously, their day had sucked as much as ours had.
“How are you here?” Dorian asked, crossing his arms as he blocked the doorway. “No one knows about this place.”
“Let us in, and we’ll explain,” Ryker said through chattering teeth. “We’re freezing.”
“No,” Dorian said, refusing to budge an inch. “Tell me how you knew where we were. Then, I’ll think about letting you inside, but I’m not making any promises.”
“Okay, okay,” Ryker said, holding up his hands. “We may have put a tracking spell out on Zoe when you’d been gone for so long without contact.”
“You tracked me?” Irritation boiled through me. “Let me guess, you didn’t trust us to actually go in and take the rune, so you’ve been spying on us this entire time.”
“We only started tracking you when we thought something might have gone wrong,” Gigi said, pushing her drenched hair out of her eyes. “Swear to the goddess. We were only trying to help.”
“Fine,” Dorian said through gritted teeth. “Come inside. But if you so much as look at me wrong, you’re out.”
The rebels hovered around the fireplace while we filled them in on what had happened at the Blood Coven headquarters. When we got to the part about Ben, they actually looked shocked and enraged. I almost felt bad for expecting the worst of them. Almost. But then I remembered that they’d kidnapped us, held a knife to Laura’s throat, and I stopped that feeling from making me forget exactly what they were capable of.
“Listen, I know you might not believe it, but we are deeply sorry about what happened to Ben,” Ryker said, shaking his head. “I’ve always known what the Blood Coven was capable of, but I’m still shocked they went that far. Killing a council member of their own ally. That’s pretty horrific, even for them.”
“Well, he sacrificed himself so you could get your fucking rune,” I said, pointing to the grimoire page that we’d hung up to dry. “So, you better use it wisely. Don’t make us regret this.”
“I promise we won’t,” Ryker said. “After we get you two back on Bone Coven soil, we’ll go straight to the Sun Coven headquarters and free the mages trapped there. Unless you’d rather go somewhere else. I imagine they won’t be too happy to see either of you.”
With a sigh, I glanced at Dorian. That thought had been on my mind all day. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d acted against their orders, and my introduction to the force had been less than optimal in the first place. But I wasn’t so sure they’d be so quick to brush this one aside. Not only had my choices gotten one of their council members killed, but I’d been acting in direct opposition to the ally they were trying so desperately to keep.
I had a feeling my days as an Enforcer-in-training might be over. At least their prison cells were a hell of a lot more comfortable than those of the Blood Coven.
“We’re going to return,” Dorian said before I could voice my thoughts. Through our bond, he probably had a pretty good idea of how I felt anyway. “When they realize the siege wall has been taken down, they’ll likely attempt to recast the spell. If we don't talk to him, all of this might end up being pointless. Like I’ve said before, our Magister is a reasonable man. Maybe we can convince him that this approach is the wrong one.”
“They did kill Ben,” I said in a whisper. “Surely the Magister won’t see that as an act of an ally.”
“Well, good luck,” Ryker said. “I hope you’re able to get through to him. But if you aren’t? We found that weapon we were looking for, and we’re more than prepared to use it against the covens.”
“Wait, what?” I stood. “You actually found a weapon in Blue Moon Tavern? It wasn’t…?”
I didn’t voice the end of that question. It wasn’t me? Because I’d become more and more sure that I was the butt of Belzus’s stupid fae joke. That he’d been talking about me and my powers as the weapon hidden in the bar. In the wrong hands, that’s exactly what I was. To hear that the rebels had found an actual weapon, well, it left me gobsmacked. It didn’t make any sense.
What else could it possibly be?
Gigi cocked her head at my words, clearly hearing my unfinished question. Her eyes met mine, and intense curiosity filled her expression. She knew that I knew something more than I was saying, but she also knew I wouldn’t say anything more. So, she left it at that, but I had a feeling my misspoken words would someday come back to bite me in the ass.
“Turns out there’s a little hidden cell
ar in the stock room,” Gigi said, eyes still watching my expression. “The weapon was down there.”
Not many people knew about that cellar. I could probably count the number on a single hand. So, I had no idea how a weapon had gotten there. What I did know was…Belzus was one hundred percent aware of that hidden room.
“What is it? What's the weapon?” I asked quietly. “If you found it in my bar, I deserve to know.”
“I thought you said it wasn’t your bar. That you just work there.” Ryker smiled. “Or was that just a way to try and stop us from taking the building?”
Rolling my eyes, I turned toward Dorian. Despite helping these assholes, I wasn’t entirely sure I liked any of them. They were cocky and abrasive and chose methods that were questionable at best. Hell, they were like me, only far worse.
“Tell us what the weapon is, Ryker,” Dorian said.
The rebel shook his head. “That information is need-to-know, and we think it would be better if you weren’t aware, especially because you’ve decided to return to your coven. It’s not the kind of information we’d like being fed to the Magister.”
“We’re not going to tell the Magister,” I said.
“Maybe you wouldn’t want to tell him. Or maybe you would.” Ryker shook his head. “Either way, they could try to pry the information out of you if they wanted.”
Frowning, I met Dorian’s eyes. While I could see their point, I was more than a little uneasy at the idea of this weapon—whatever it was—in their hands. As terrible as the coven’s decision was to help the Blood Coven trap the sun mages, I would never want to see a weapon used against them. There had to be some other way. Something that would involve no one getting hurt.
Dorian seemed to read my thoughts because he sighed and dragged a hand down his tired face. “Look, Zoe and I understand what it is you guys are fighting for, but please, for the love of the goddess, don’t use this weapon against our coven. At least give us a chance to talk to them before doing anything rash.”
Ryker glanced at his fellow rebels and nodded. “Deal. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt either. If we can resolve this peacefully, then we're happy with that.”
“Okay,” I said, slowly handing over the rune. “Here’s everything you need to cast the spell to take down the siege wall. Dorian can translate if you don’t have any Latin speakers among you.”
Ryker snatched the paper and handed it to Gigi, his second-in-command, who tidied the rune into a plastic folder that she then slid into a messenger bag. “We’ve got that covered. Now, how does everyone feel about getting out of Scotland?”
“You’re not ripping my castle from its foundation if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Dorian said as he stood from where he knelt by the fire. He grabbed some ash from beside the fireplace and dumped it onto the flames. Smoke billowed into the room, engulfing us in shadows. “We’ll go the normal way.
“We’ll have to go back outside to do that,” Gigi said. “If we don’t use a building, we have to use a patch of grass.”
“We’re not taking my castle,” Dorian said. “A little rain won’t kill you.”
I grabbed my jacket from the rack, but I shouldn’t have bothered. It was still soaked through and now it was ice cold from the lack of body heat I’d been feeding it. Taking a deep breath, I followed our group outside, gazing up at the storm-studded sky. It was hard to believe that this was the same sky I saw back home every night. I felt so far from everything I knew.
“All right,” Ryker called out when his feet hit the ground. “Gather round. We need to get in a circle while Jack draws the boundary around us.”
We huddled in the middle of the storm, shivering as our bodies knocked together. Dorian was closest to me, and the lack of warmth in his body didn’t prevent my own from heating up. Just being close to him lit a fire within me, one that drowned out the miserable weather. I backed up a fraction of an inch and smiled when I felt the hard planes of his stomach against my back.
As we waited, Jack dropped to the ground and carved a circle into the ground with his dagger, marking each inch with a hastily-drawn rune. When he’d completed the circle, he glanced up and said, “Okay, I just need to draw the last rune, and we’ll be out of—”
He stopped short when a shriek echoed in the distance. A shriek that sounded very, very familiar. Sucking in a breath, I whirled toward the noise just as another rang out in the darkness of the storm. It was an animalistic shout. One that didn’t sound the least bit human.
“What was that?” Gigi asked, her teeth chattering. “Some kind of animal?”
Dorian shook his head, his jaw clenching as he scanned his eyes across the hills. “That’s not an animal.”
Jack slowly stood from his crouch with his dagger dangling from curled fingers. “I know that sound. But it’s daytime.” His voice trembled. “It’s impossible for them to be out hunting right now.”
Dorian whipped out his chalk, muttering under his breath when it slid against his palm. It was wet. Too wet. If he tried to draw a rune with chalk, it would dissolve into nothing but smeared remnants. “They’re allergic to the sun, but look at the sky. It’s full of clouds. Nothing can stop them from coming out in the day with weather like this. Welcome to Scotland.”
“Shit,” Ryker said as he pulled his dagger from a hidden sheath. “We need to get out of here before they attack. Jack, carve the last rune.”
Jack shuddered when another shriek rang out. This time, it was much, much closer. Nosferatu were known to move fast. They could run much faster than a normal person could. The only thing in the world that could outrun them was a werewolf. And with Dorian’s hybrid status, even he couldn’t keep track.
“Jack,” I said, echoing Ryker. “Carve the last rune.”
He shook his head as though exiting some kind of reverie, like their shrieks had been speaking to him the way they had to me in the dungeons. Without another word, he dropped to his knees and began to carve the rune in the ground. His hands shook, water droplets spilling into his eyes and dripping into his open mouth.
When he was two beats away from finishing the rune, a blur of motion shot through the rain and slammed into his body.
Chapter 14
Dorian leapt into action and threw his body in front of mine, his left arm snaking back to keep me behind him while his right hand held his dagger high. Swallowing hard, I grabbed my own blade and tightened my grip around the comforting handle. My magic came alive with my weapon in my hand, and even my fear couldn’t douse the power inside me.
“Zoe, stay back,” Dorian murmured before he launched himself onto the back of the vampire. He slammed his dagger into its head with a force I didn’t know he had. The Nosferatu screamed, its body shaking as the blade dug into its skull.
With a grunt, my partner yanked the knife out of the creature, leaving behind a trail of blood. Jack groaned and rolled the body off of him, his face contorted in disgust and in pain. As Dorian towered over the mage, Jack gazed up and gave him a nod.
“Thanks, Dorian. That could have ended much worse.” He held out a hand, and Dorian pulled him up. They clapped each other on the back and fell silent, gazing around us as another shriek filled the air. “Shit. I was kind of hoping there was just the one of them.”
“Why are they here?” Gigi asked, her voice shaky. “I thought you said no one knew about this place.”
Dorian’s jaw rippled as he scanned the grounds of the castle. “We passed some Nosferatu cells in the dungeons, and they took a lot of interest in Zoe.”
My head jerked toward Dorian. “You think they escaped the cells somehow? In order to come after me?”
“No.” Dorian shook his head. “But they can communicate over large distances.”
“So, you’re saying that those prisoners alerted their friends of the fact that a—”
“That a sweet-smelling mage was wandering the Scottish Highlands?” Dorian cut me off just as I was about to say too much. “It’s possible. And now they
’ve stumbled upon an entire group of us. This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered some Nosferatu, so I feel pretty confident in saying they sound pretty fucking hungry.”
“And they like mage blood more than human blood,” Ryker said with a nod.
“That’s right.” Dorian winced, knowing that fact far more than any normal person would. As a hybrid, he’d done his best to subsist entirely on animal blood, but I knew he hadn’t been able to do that his entire life. Even though he wouldn’t tell me about it, I knew he’d tasted human and mage blood before. And so he would know exactly how much vampires preferred to drink from mages. “The taste of mage blood is stronger and spicier. And they get a hit of our power when they drink it.”
No wonder I’d sparked something in those dungeons. If vampires craved mage blood more than human, then out of all the types of magic, they’d want mine the most. It was full of darkness, just like them. It was the kind of magic that vampires would thrive upon, an intoxicating blend of danger and pain and fear.
Two more shrieks echoed back to back. I frowned through the rain, trying to spot where they were hiding. How many of them were out there? Two? Three? A dozen or more? It didn’t matter. If we didn’t get out of here before they launched their next attack, we could all end up being served for dinner.
“Jack,” I said, snapping everyone’s attention back onto the task at hand. “Finish carving that final rune.”
He hesitated, his fingers clutched tight around his dagger’s handle. “Running is so cowardly. We should stay and fight.”
Actually, Jack might be right. It was a mantra I’d repeated to myself at least a dozen times. Any time I saw a leader run, I labeled him a coward because fleeing from a problem only made that problem chase after you even faster. But now was different. This wasn’t our fight, and the rebels were desperately needed elsewhere.
“If we die fighting these Nosferatu, who’s going to cast the spell to set the sun mages free?” I asked. “Who’s going to make sure they don’t die of dehydration and of hunger?”
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 50