by Kristie Cook
“No,” I said to Char. “Sheree can’t go. She needs to stay and help you at the safe house.”
“From the look on her face, she doesn’t agree.”
“Too bad. Keep her there. We’ll be back later with Heather.”
Not waiting for further argument, I disconnected the call. Tristan, Blossom, Vanessa, and I took each other’s hands, and Tristan led us for the flash to Tallahassee. We had to flash around the city a few times before I finally latched on to Heather’s mind signature near the FSU campus, as she had said.
“She’s definitely with Sonya.” I focused harder, and then frowned. Some friends Heather had. But it made sense for them to be near the campus—college kids were probably prime targets for food and turnings. “And a whole nest of vampires.”
“Is—” Blossom’s throat moved as she gulped. “Is she . . . ?”
“Turned?” I shook my head. “No. Her mind signature is still human.”
The witch let out a loud breath of relief. “We need to go get her.”
With a nod, we set out on foot, and I led the others toward Heather’s mind signature until we came to a row of townhouses. Five mind signatures were within the homes, all vampires. Heather and Sonya, however, were behind the row of houses, in an undeveloped area clustered with maples, palms, and huge oaks draped with Spanish moss. Two other vampires were with them. I listened in as we approached.
“For the hundredth time, you have to turn her, Sonya,” a female vamp’s voice said. “It’s for her own good, and you know it.”
“For the hundredth time, no,” Sonya’s familiar voice answered. “I won’t make her live this horrible existence.”
“Oh, it’s not so bad,” came a third female, menace underlying her taunting words. “Besides, your only other choice is that we eat her.”
“No!” Sonya’s voice came sharper. “Leave her alone, Lesley.”
Tristan and I exchanged a glance, then we both blurred to the edge of a small clearing. Vanessa and Blossom showed up at the same time, Vanessa’s fist swinging toward me. I ducked, then heard a body hit the ground behind me. I spun to find a fourth vamp at my feet—someone inside must have sensed our arrival.
“Thanks,” I murmured to Vanessa.
“That’s what I’m here for,” she whispered, then added, “Sis.”
“There are more of us around,” warned one of the two females threatening Sonya—the one who wanted to eat Heather. With a short blond bob, she stood in front of Sonya with her back to us, wearing a tank top and shorts with cowboy boots.
Her companion, another blonde, though she wore hers long, nearly to her butt, leaned less threateningly against a nearby tree, her arms crossed over her chest. Sonya stood protectively in front of Heather, who was backed up against the trunk of an oak.
“Let them come,” Tristan said as we stepped closer.
“Tristan!” Heather squeaked. “Alexis!”
The two blondes sucked in air noisily as they turned to face us. Sonya’s eyes popped open wide, and her jaw trembled. She took a step back, smashing Heather against the tree.
“Give us the Norman,” Tristan said. “That’s all we want.”
“Unless any of you want to convert,” I added, only because I was supposed to—and because the Daemoni often thought of that as a threat. I didn’t really expect either of them to want to.
The shorter vamp, the one with the bobbed hair, hissed. It was an odd sound coming from someone with her slight stature and sweet face. Her light blue eyes sparked with a wicked gleam.
“Fools,” she screeched, plenty loud enough to alert the rest of their small nest. Then she disappeared, only to reappear on Vanessa’s back, her fangs long and poised over my half-sister’s neck.
Vanessa hissed and spun in a blur, then the two vampires were bouncing around the woods, ramming each other into trees and rolling on the ground. I couldn’t help but think about the fight Vanessa and I had had in the woods in Washington when we were on our way to Hades. This must have been what we looked like.
“Lesley, stop!” the vamp with the long blond hair said. She must have realized none of the other vampires from the houses were coming to their rescue. “You know we’re outnumbered and out-powered.”
I didn’t know if it was the warning or the distraction that did it, but suddenly Vanessa and the other vamp came to a standstill. Vanessa’s arms were wrapped tightly around Lesley, pinning the Daemoni’s arms to her sides. Vanessa’s fangs were fully extended, ready to bite if necessary.
“Heather, come here,” I ordered, seizing the opportunity. She ran into my arms. I gave her a quick hug, and then handed her over to Blossom, who swallowed the girl into a bear hug. “Sonya.”
It wasn’t a kind greeting, and she knew it. Her eyes focused on me, still wide and mixed with fear and confusion. The vamp let out a little whimper. My heart had been pounding hard in my chest this whole time, wondering what we would come upon. Wondering if I could bring myself to kill this young vampire since it was her attack that caused the mages to drop their shield over the safe house, thereby allowing Lucas and/or Victor inside to steal Dorian. I expected her to be vicious, knowing how pissed we’d all be, especially Tristan and me. But strangely, though smartly, fear waved off of her.
I couldn’t let her faked innocence get to me. I had to remember what she’d done—the blood smeared on the walls, the mages’ mutilated bodies on the floor. She was a cold-blooded beast, not someone to feel sorry for. I took a step forward. She tried to step away, but she’d backed herself into the tree.
My voice came out low, my abhorrence for her weaved into each distinct word. “Give me one good reason not to kill you.”
“Please don’t hurt me,” she begged, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lesley demanded as she squirmed in Vanessa’s arms. Vanessa growled in her ear and lowered her mouth so her fangs scratched the other vamp’s skin. “We can take on these pansy-asses!”
The other vamp, the one with the long hair, rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know who they are? We can’t kill them.”
“Sure we can, Alys!” Lesley said, and then she gasped as Vanessa’s fangs gave a quick pierce into her skin.
“Shut up or we’ll call in the Weres,” Vanessa warned. “We have a tiger who might not seem so bad, though I wouldn’t underestimate her. And we happen to know a few others, too. They’re not far, and they’re just waiting to chomp on a pretty little bitch like you.”
Though we knew Vanessa was bluffing, Lesley obviously didn’t because she finally fell still.
“I . . . I’m sorry, Alexis,” Sonya said, turning her attention back to me. “I really am. Please . . . please let me explain. I . . . I can help you find Dorian.”
I flew at her, and my hand wrapped around her throat as I lifted her up against the tree.
“You have no right to say his name! It’s your fault he’s gone!”
“I know,” she choked out. “I’m sorry. But please listen. I can lead you to him. But I . . . I need your help first.”
“Please don’t hurt her,” Heather whispered from behind me, and I forced myself to let go of Sonya and take several steps back for Heather’s sake. She didn’t need to see what I had planned for her sister, and that could wait until Heather was long gone. “She really didn’t mean to do any of it.”
“Honey,” Blossom said, also from behind me, “you’re safe now. You don’t need to protect her.”
“No, really,” Heather said, her voice pleading, “Sonya couldn’t help it. Let her tell you.”
I strode closer to Sonya again. Alys, the other vamp, wisely stepped farther away. I didn’t know what was up with her—her thoughts were a hot mess of confusion between attacking us or running away, though running felt stronger. So I didn’t know why she stayed. She had to know we didn’t give a rat’s ass about her right now. So I stopped for a second and turned to her. She stood quite a bit taller than me so I had to crane my neck nearly as m
uch as I did to look at Tristan.
“Do you want to convert?” I asked her.
She stared at me with big blue eyes, not answering.
“If not, then get the hell out of here. We have what we want.”
The vamp took a step backwards.
“Alys,” Sonya said. “You don’t—”
“Hush!” I barked. “You have no right to say anything.”
The two Daemoni vamps exchanged a look, and then Alys disappeared. I nodded at Vanessa, who loosened her grip on Lesley. The shorter blond crouched as though she planned to attack, but Tristan’s hand flew up.
“Leave. Now,” he commanded.
Her eyes swept over all of us, and she let out a growl, but then she blurred off into the woods.
“So what is it you have to say?” I demanded of Sonya. “Why do you think I’d want to help you with anything, except your death?”
Heather broke free of Blossom’s hold, rushed to her sister’s side, and took her hand. I immediately regretted the harshness of my words. The vamp had kidnapped the girl, but Heather still stood by her side faithfully—trusting her.
“Tell them,” Heather said.
Sonya nodded. She inhaled a deep breath, though she didn’t really need it, then blew it out, buying herself time. I tapped into her mind to find her thoughts in a jumbled mess she was trying to straighten into sense. She pushed her dark hair out of her face before beginning.
“The Daemoni set you up. Me up. You thought it was Vanessa who was trying to trick you, but it was me all along,” the vamp admitted. I bit back an insult. Her words began to come faster as she practically vomited an explanation. “I didn’t mean to, though. You have to believe me. I didn’t know what I’d gotten myself into. They put this stone into me a long time ago, and I didn’t really know what it was, but then the other night . . . I—I lost all control over my own body.” She hiccupped as though suppressing a sob, and Heather squeezed her hand. Tears filled her voice as she continued. “It was all Lucas. He . . . he took control over me, Alexis. He made me fly through the safe house, into the commons room, and before I even knew what was happening, I’d . . . I’d killed them all. The mages. I killed them and then left them in a bloody heap.”
Heather put her arm around her sister as the vamp cried against the younger one’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I wish . . . I wish I’d never done this. I wish I could go back to being a Norman. I’m . . .” She pulled back and looked at me with her dark brown eyes. “I really am sorry.”
Her apologies seemed sincere enough, but her story didn’t make any sense and had a lot of holes. But there was only one thing I cared about.
“What happened after you killed the mages?” I managed to say though my throat was dry and constricted with the mental images she’d shared with me. “Did you take Dorian?”
She shook her head violently. “No. No, of course not! It was all Kali. Kali and—”
“What?” I interrupted, my patience running thin. “What does Kali have to do with anything?”
“Kali has to do with everything. She has Dorian.”
“Lucas or Victor took Dorian.”
“No.”
“You’re saying Kali took Dorian?” Tristan asked from right beside me.
“No, but she has him.” She looked to Tristan, then back at me, and her tongue darted over her lips. “Um . . . Owen took Dorian.”
Chapter 5
My stomach squeezed as though I’d been punched. I took several steps back, shaking my head in denial. I knew Owen had betrayed us, of course. He’d turned on me—and Vanessa—right in our faces and joined Kali’s side. But this? He’d go so far as to take my son? The one vulnerability he knew both Tristan and I had? Did he really become so ingrained with the Daemoni that he would willingly hurt us like this?
Tristan and I looked at each other, and his expression reflected my own feelings—surprise mixed with a heavy dose of doubt. What Sonya said . . . I couldn’t fathom Owen doing such a thing. I couldn’t believe Victor had told the truth.
“You can read my thoughts,” Sonya said. “I know you can. Check my—”
Sonya’s face contorted, cutting her off mid-sentence. A scream rose from deep in her chest, and her mouth opened wide to let it out. Then her eyes glazed over as she cocked her head at me.
The next thing I knew, the vampire lunged at me. Her hands reached out and scraped at my throat. At my necklace.
Help me, Sonya’s voice came in my mind. Get . . . the stone.
A strange growl ripped through Sonya’s chest this time as her body jerked side to side.
“She’s all mine, Alexis, and I’ll kill her. Don’t think I won’t.” Kali’s voice. In my head. From Sonya.
“Kali’s controlling her,” I said, though it almost sounded like a question. “Like she has a faerie stone in her.”
Sonya’s head barely twitched in a nod. Her body jerked and twisted as she tried to hold on to even a little control. While one hand still reached for my pendant, her other one clutched at her own chest. Her fingers closed in on my necklace and ripped it off my neck. She stumbled away from me, but didn’t get far. Tristan paralyzed her, one of her hands still digging into her chest as she fell to the ground.
But still her body convulsed. Pinkish foam started bubbling from her mouth, followed by liquid blood.
“Kali’s killing her!” I gasped.
“Help her,” Heather screamed as Blossom held the girl to keep her from running to her sister.
“Blossom, muffle us,” Tristan ordered, then he said to me, “Your dagger. If she really has a faerie stone in her, it’s the only way.”
Seeing this, I had no doubt she did. And if by chance she didn’t . . . well, she deserved this anyway for what she’d done to us all. I pulled my dagger out, fell to my knees, and plunged the blade into Sonya’s chest, not for the first time. The vampire’s scream matched her sister’s. I dug the blade around until the tip hit something hard, and with a twist of the knife and a sickening slurping sound, a small stone flew out of the hole I’d carved into her chest. I caught it in my free hand as I withdrew my dagger. Sonya’s skin healed immediately, and her body fell still. Tristan released his power from her, but she didn’t move.
We waited, all of us silent and our breaths held, for seconds that turned into minutes. Heather whimpered her sister’s name. The vampire stirred, and her eyes finally opened. They were clear again as they found my face. She held her hand up, my necklace dangling between her fingers.
“How long have you had that stone?” I asked as I snatched my necklace out of her hand.
“Convert me,” she whispered. “For real this time. I want to be converted, and when I tell you everything, you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
I pressed my lips together as Tristan’s hand squeezed my shoulder, then I stuffed my necklace and the other stone into my pocket before leaning back on my heels. I hadn’t left her mind, so I knew Kali was gone, and now I focused in on Sonya’s intentions. My hand wrapped around her forearm, and I pushed Amadis power into her. She didn’t even flinch.
“It’s all in my mind and my soul still,” Sonya said to me. “Everything you and Sheree gave me, everything you taught me. Only my heart was blocked before. Now it’s open to you.”
I narrowed my eyes as I pushed the power harder. She seemed to grab a hold of it, drinking it in almost as hungrily as she’d drink blood. When I felt satisfied with her response, I gave Tristan a nod. He took Sonya in his arms, I took Heather, and we all flashed back to the safe house.
Heather sucked in a deep breath when we appeared. “Wow. That was . . .”
“Weird?” I finished for her as I set her on the ground.
“Very.”
As soon as we were in the safe house, the new team Charlotte had brought took over Sonya’s conversion. Although having a Norman here made some of the Amadis uncomfortable—Heather wasn’t supposed to know about them—I wasn’t about to send
her home where she’d be vulnerable. Everyone would have to get over it because she would be staying at the safe house, too.
We told Charlotte what had happened—the little bit we knew so far—and we all shared theories about the holes in Sonya’s story. We wouldn’t really be able to fill them, though, until the vampire had fully converted. I agreed with her: she needed to be converted, for real this time, before I’d believe anything that came out of her mouth.
Tristan and I returned to our home for the night, but sleep eluded me. Although Dorian was just one little boy, his presence made the house a home, and I didn’t like being there without him. The sun had barely risen before Tristan, Charlotte, and I had settled into my office to regroup when a conversion team member knocked on the door.
“Sonya wants to talk to you,” the witch said. “All of you.”
“She’s done already?” I asked with disbelief.
“There’s no trace of Daemoni in her. We’ll need to spend more time with her, of course, and it’ll probably be a few months before she can be left to her own decisions, but all of her energy is Amadis.”
Wow. Had Sonya been telling the truth about wanting to convert but not being able to? I pulled the stone out of my pocket and scratched the dry blood off with my thumbnail. While mine was ruby-colored, this one that came from Sonya was a dark emerald green. And while mine tended to warm when I touched it, this one grew cold. Charlotte peered over my shoulder.
“Definitely looks like a faerie stone,” she said. “I can sense magic on it, but not mage magic. That’s Otherworld magic.”
“Huh. If we’d only known . . . ” Without finishing my sentence, I rushed to the vampire’s room and held the stone out at her. “Why didn’t you tell us about this?”
Sonya’s dark eyes glanced at the stone, up at me, then at something on the blanket covering her as she sat in her bed. The same bed where she’d spent months, pretending to convert.
“I was scared,” she finally said, and then she began babbling again. “I was scared you would throw me out for trying to fool you, and I thought I was stronger than the damn thing, and then the conversion seemed to be working. Sheree kept saying I was doing so well, that it always takes time, so I really thought I was overcoming the stone, and once I did, then I planned to tell you.”