“You know, you’re pretty good at that,” Laura said as we strolled along the winding path of the cemetery. “The whole leading thing. Those mages back there are looking up to you.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” I said with a snort. “They’re not looking up to me. We’re just in a crappy situation, and there’s no one else who can take charge right now. As soon as this is all over, they’ll get a real Magister to sit at the head of the coven.”
“No, I’m serious, Zoe,” she said. “Don’t forget, Dorian is there, too. He’s been an Enforcer much longer. Plus, he’s a big muscly man. But while they respect him, they are definitely depending on you to get them through this. Don’t sell yourself short.”
I sighed and shrugged my hands into my coat pockets. “They would have been the same way toward anyone who had stepped up right now. They’re scared. Hell, I don’t blame them. I’m scared, too.”
“Maybe so,” she said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re the one who stepped up. That means something to them, whether you want to admit it or not. When we make it to the other side of this whole thing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they voted to keep you as Magister.”
My stomach flipped and my heart beat harder. Right now, I wasn’t the true Magister. No one was. I might be sitting in Salvatore’s chair, but I hadn’t taken up the title, and I knew I never would. “I’m not a bone mage, Laura. That might be a plus right now when we need to battle demons, but it isn’t going to be a positive thing when it comes to leading the coven in day-to-day life. Old prejudices will crawl back in from the shadows, and they’ll want me gone. Not just from my place at headquarters but from the coven entirely.”
“Well, I hope you’re wrong,” she said, kicking at the stones we passed. “I like it all more mixed up. Bone mages and shadow mages merging with blood mages and Daywalkers. I don’t understand why we can’t all just get along.”
I pursed my lips. “Yeah, I bet you want us all to get along with the Daywalkers, particularly a specific Daywalker. Maybe one named Anastasia.”
“Hush.” Even in the darkness, I could see the reddening of Laura’s cheeks. “I’m not ready to go public with it yet.”
“No one can hear me,” I said with a smile. “Except the people in the ground. And maybe Belzus. He’s probably lurking somewhere nearby.”
Laura stopped suddenly, her back going straight and stiff. She grabbed the fangs that were hanging around her neck and sucked in a sharp breath, her entire body trembling.
“I’m just joking, Laura,” I said, frowning. “If the fae were here, he probably would have shown himself just so he could figure out a way to irritate me. He has a habit of doing that.”
“Not the fae.” She shook her head so hard that her long hair slapped her face. “There are some dark shadows up ahead. And they look a hell of a lot like demons.”
Frowning, I followed her gaze to the tree-line in the distance that rose up behind a cluster of crypts. Several dark shadows shifted behind them, tall and thick and flanked by wings. My heart flickered in my chest as my breath stilled. Those were demons, alright. Maybe four or five, though it was hard to tell from this distance.
“Text Dorian,” I said as I grabbed my weapon. “Tell him we have a group in the cemetery.” I glanced up at the sky. “Eastern side. Maybe half a mile from the crypt where we first faced the demons.”
“Got it,” she said, typing into her phone furiously. “Where are we going to wait for him?”
“We’re not waiting,” I said as I took off in the direction of the demons. “We need to get closer and make sure they don’t kill anyone until our backup arrives.”
“Get closer. Right.” Laura swallowed hard and shoved her phone into her back pocket. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“We won’t launch an attack,” I said. “I just want to see what they’re doing.”
And if Professor Ivan Wagner is anywhere nearby.
When we reached the tree line, Laura and I crouched down behind a cluster of thick brush. Four demons were up ahead, surrounding a crypt that looked at least a couple of centuries old. They wandered aimlessly around the clearing, like mindless zombies with nothing to hunt. What the hell were they doing?
Wagner was clearly involved, most likely controlling them from wherever he was currently hiding. Demons didn’t just stand around doing nothing. Could he be somewhere in the cemetery? That crypt, for instance? Maybe they weren’t doing nothing after all. They could be guarding the crypt and standing watch for Wagner in case anyone wandered through the cemetery.
A rustle sounded in the brush behind us, and my muscles tensed. A warning blared through my head as a familiar sense of dread pooled in my stomach. I’d been an idiot. This spelled trap no matter how you looked at it. Wagner had been watching, and he knew that Laura and I were headed into the cemetery. Alone and without backup. And he’d hoped to lure me in, playing me like a fiddle.
“Zoe Bennett,” a smooth and familiar voice said from behind me. I whirled to find Belzus standing in the shadows, his silhouette backdropped by the light of the moon. “As much as I wish you to rid my graveyard of these demons, you shouldn’t be here. Something doesn’t feel right in the air.”
“Ivan Wagner is trying to kill me,” I said matter-of-factly, as if we were discussing the weather or the latest episode of Game of Thrones. “He keeps setting traps and hoping I’ll walk into them.”
Belzus raised his eyebrows. “Is this another of his traps? Because it looks as though you are walking into it.”
“Not this time,” I said, flashing a glance at the demons. “Though I’m dying to know what’s in that crypt.”
“There’s a body in that crypt, just like all the others,” he said with a shrug. “Not really much of a mystery if you ask me.”
“So, he isn’t in there?” I asked. “Are you certain of this?”
“There are only dead men in this graveyard,” he said. “Other than you two and me, that is.” He cocked his head. “You look disappointed.”
“Well, we were hoping that Wagner was in there,” I said. “That’s why we’re out here in the first place. We need to track him down and stop him from cutting more holes in the veil.”
“He is not in there,” Belzus said with a frown. “If you go into that crypt, I have a feeling that you will never make it out alive.”
“Well, so much for the theory that he has to be close to the demons in order to control them,” Laura muttered more to herself than to us.
“Oh no, that part is true,” Belzus said. “He cannot control them if he is far away. There is a small gate just on the other side of that hill. You can’t see it from here because it’s hidden by some thick bushes. He’s likely watching from there. If I were to guess, he was hoping you would come to your favorite Belzus-manned graveyard and that you would spot the demons lurking around.”
“So, he was waiting for me to go inside the crypt, and then he was going to trap me in there,” I said with a nod. “Not a bad plan.”
“I dare say it would have worked.” Belzus gave me a patronizing smile. “If I hadn’t shown up, that is.”
“You know, one day we’re going to have to have a chat about all these manipulative moves you keep making against me.”
“One day.” Belzus said. “But not today. For now, I suggest you go back to the safety of your coven. Until next time, Zoe Bennett.”
After Belzus disappeared into the darkness, I rolled my eyes and let out an irritated sigh. “As much as I hate to admit it, Belzus might be right. This is obviously a trap. We shouldn’t fall for it. Let’s alert backup not to go charging in, so we can come up with a better plan of attack.”
“Not so fast,” a voice rang out from the shadows. The witch who had attempted to assassinate me slid into view, her mouth wide in a Cheshire cat grin. And this time, she had a sword.
Chapter 20
“How the hell did you get out of your cell?”
“I have friends in
high places,” she said, taking slow and steady steps toward us. “You should have known better than to leave your coven unguarded this evening while you’re out trying to hunt down demons. Rookie mistake.”
“No one there would have let you out,” I countered. Or would they have? It wasn’t as if I’d personally vetted every mage who had come through the door asking for help. I hadn’t thought I’d need to.
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” she said, turning sharply toward Laura. “Now, I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. I need you to go over to that tree there with your hands raised and put your palms against the trunk. Otherwise, your friend here will be the one getting stabbed instead of you.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “You can’t honestly believe that the world would be better off if it was overrun with demons.”
“What I think has nothing to do with it,” she said. “Wagner gives the order, and I follow. Simple as that.”
“So, you just blindly follow whatever he says?”
She shrugged. “Pretty much.”
“That’s insane,” I said just as she jabbed the dagger at Laura’s gut. With a sharp breath, I raised my hands, heart beating wildly in my chest.
“Go over there and put your hands on the tree or I swear to the goddess I will kill the blood mage.” Her voice was full of venom, and her eyes flashed with rage. Something about it reminded me of the look on my grandmother’s face just before she’d tried to kill me. A hint of deep fear, of impenetrable anger, of recognition and despair. It made me pause. There was something else going on here, something I didn’t yet understand. And this girl was a big part of it all.
“Okay, no need to get stabby,” I said as I inched toward the tree. “If there’s something you want, you can leave Laura out of it. She’s innocent in all of this.”
The girl laughed. “She’s hardly innocent, but I agree. She doesn’t need to be involved, and it’s up to you whether or not she is.”
“Fine.” I placed my palms on the rough wood. “What is it that you want?”
“You need to let me kill you,” she said. “Just stand there, and I’ll get it over with as quickly as I can. Don’t try anything funny or Laura will be sacrificed instead of you.”
“Alright.” I kept my hands flat on the tree and closed my eyes. “Go ahead.”
“Zoe, no!” Laura cried out. The sound of a hard slap of skin on skin echoed around us, and Laura choked out a cry when something sliced in the air. Anger and fear rushed through me, and I curled my hands around the bark, torn between turning toward my friend and keeping my eyes on the tree. Either option spelled danger.
“What just happened?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Your fucking friend slapped me, that’s what,” the voice that answered me was edged in anger, high-pitched and sounding nothing like the girl who had spoken to me only moments ago. “I cut her shoulder, but she’ll live.”
Laura’s sobs shook me to my very core. Everything inside of me ached to turn around and do something—anything—to help my friend. Standing here helpless like this was against everything I believed in. Just taking it wasn’t a term that was found in Zoe’s personal dictionary. I didn’t take shit sitting down, and I certainly wouldn’t take a threat against my best friend’s life. I was a shadow mage. This witch had no chance against the kind of spells I could cast.
Fury rattling my lungs, I whirled with fists raised over my head. My magic rose up within me and blasted from my fingers faster than the witch could blink. Darkness flew from my fingers, and shadows wrapped around her body. The dark strands squeezed tight, so tight she dropped back her head to scream into the night.
“Zoe, stop,” Laura said as she rushed toward me. I glanced at my friend, at the gaping wound on her shoulder. And the entire world froze as my gaze locked on the pool of blood on her soft skin. A hunger rose up within me. A need I’d never felt before. My teeth ached, and my saliva spread across my tongue. Grimacing, I doubled over and grabbed my knees. Suddenly, red filled my vision and bees swarmed my ears. I wanted my mouth on Laura’s skin. I wanted to taste her, to feel her blood coat my throat.
I wanted to drink until there was nothing left.
“Zoe?” Laura’s soft hand landed on my shoulder, and I jumped back ten feet to escape from the intoxicating need that scraped against the sides of my stomach.
“Shit.” I blinked and whirled away, my heart pounding hard against my ribs. “Shit, shit, shit. Get away from me.”
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Are you okay? Is it your magic? Or did that mage do something to you?”
“Someone’s done something, but I don’t know who.” I closed my eyes. “I’ve been cursed.”
Chapter 21
“What do you mean you’ve been cursed?” Frowning, Laura shifted closer to me. The scent of her blood rushed into my nose, and a sharp pang of uncontrollable hunger shot through my gut. I clenched my jaw and shoved my hands into my hair, pulling at the strands near my scalp. If she didn’t get out of here now, there was no way in hell I could control this craving. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. And that included the sensation I got when my shadow powers threatened to take control of my mind, my body, and my soul.
This was much worse than anything I’d ever experienced.
“Dorian suspected it before,” I said as I panted heavily. “Wagner must have done it at his cottage.”
“Done what?” Laura leaned down, and the silky stands of her long hair fell into my face. My vision went red, and nothing else existed in the world but her skin and her blood. I licked my lips as the need to taste her drowned out every other thought in my head. I couldn’t even remember my name, let alone hers. Her blood smelled like freshly-cooked meat drowned in the best gravy that money could buy.
“I bet your blood tastes so good. Deep and savory and full of flavor,” I whispered as I raised my gaze from the ground to stare into her wide blue eyes. Something about this girl reminded me of someone, someone from my past whose name I could scarcely remember. Laura, was it?
I blinked, my veins running cold when I realized just how much the bloodlust had taken over my mind.
“Zoe?” Laura frowned and searched my eyes. Everything inside of me begged her to pull away from me and to run as fast as she could. But instead, she lowered herself so that her face now hovered only inches from mine. My gaze shifted from her eyes and to her throat. Her heartbeat thrummed against the delicate skin at the base of her neck, and my teeth began to ache. “What did he do to you? What kind of curse is this?”
“Can’t you tell?” I asked in a strained voice. “He’s turned me into an Unbound.”
Her eyes widened, and her hand flew to the bleeding wound. She pursed her lips into an O, but to my surprise, she didn’t step back. She stayed rooted to the spot, her hand squeezing my shoulder like a lifeline.
A lifeline I wanted to eat.
“It must be something else,” she said, shaking her head. “Anastasia would have been able to smell the change.”
“Well, she did say I smell different now,” I said. “Remember? A couple of times she said I smelled more like Dorian than myself. We thought it might be our bond, but—”
But that was before I wanted nothing more than to rip my friend’s neck open wide.
“Let me see.” Laura leaned forward and sniffed my skin. And that was all it took for me to lose the tenuous grasp on my self control. My jaw ached as my teeth began to change into jagged pointy ends. I grabbed Laura’s arms and squeezed so tight she let out a yelp of pain. Red churned through my vision as my desire for this girl’s blood filled my brain with a kind of need I’d never felt before. My mouth watered as I dropped my lips to her neck. The taste of her filled my soul even before I took a bite.
“Zoe!” A deep voice cried out from somewhere in the distance. But the voice didn’t matter. It had nothing to do with me, with this sweet-smelling blood, and the delicious meal I was a
bout to enjoy. As long as the shouting man didn’t try to stop me, everything would be fine.
“Zoe, what are you doing?!” The man’s voice was close now, so close that I could smell the blood churning through his veins. His scent was much different than this girl’s, though my body still begged for a taste of him. There was something odd about him, like I knew him in a way that I knew no one else, almost as if he were a part of me. It was intriguing enough that I snapped my attention away from the girl’s neck.
“Are you shouting at us?” I said, slurring my words. “Just leave me be to eat in peace. Or, you can join me.”
“I think she’s trying to drink my blood,” the girl said in a panicked voice. “She was talking about being cursed, and then it was like she just snapped or something. It’s like she’s not even in there, and she won’t answer to her name.”
“You have a cut on you. It’s triggered her bloodlust,” the man responded, his voice also sounding strained. I caught the furrowed eyebrows, and the flick of his gaze onto her skin. And the quick flick away. That was when I finally understood why he felt so familiar. He was like me. He craved the blood. He smelled her savory skin. And he wanted to eat her alive.
“But how the hell does she even have bloodlust?” the girl practically shouted. “Wouldn’t she have, I don’t know, shown symptoms before now if Wagner had really cursed her?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” The man pulled the girl from my grasp and put his body between us, though I didn’t particularly mind. I’d happily drink his blood and then move onto hers once he was out of the picture. “I know what you’re thinking, Zoe, and it needs to stop. Calm yourself. Come back to reality. Remember who you are and what really matters. The Bone Coven. Getting the blade. Finding your Grams.”
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 69