Serena’s eyes widened slightly, “I hadn’t thought of that. We have to protect the other races though, it’s part of the oath. Can you toss her over your shoulder?”
I nodded dubiously, and picked up the glazed blue eyed blonde witch, and put her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Luckily, she was only about five foot six, and willowy.
“Yeah, this shouldn’t draw any attention.”
Actually, maybe it really wouldn’t, this was a party school.
We headed back the way we came as fast as possible, and toward where I felt Christina.
Serena asked, “You sure they’re this way?”
I nodded, “I saw them run in this direction, right before we went after the other vampire.”
Which was true, but not the whole truth, I was really starting to hate the secrets we kept, but Christina had assured me it would lead to trouble if word got out about our bond. But… Serena was my partner, and Christina’s sister, couldn’t she be trusted? Matt too I supposed, when it came down to it. I’d have to ask her about it, she never did explain her reasoning.
She’d said I was ignorant, but didn’t offer to educate me as to what and why. And I’d been too busy staring at her blue eyes to really notice before now. How would the witches find out anyway, wouldn’t her father keep his own counsel for his daughter’s sake?
Shockingly, I got a few strange looks, but no one accused me of knocking her on the head and dragging her off. Probably because I was with another woman, which would short circuit those kinds of suspicions.
“Now where?” she asked.
I frowned, “They moved this way so let’s try between all these buildings.”
It didn’t take long to look down the first two paths, and of course, I knew they were on the third, between buildings three and four from where we were. I gasped at what I saw, there were four vampires, attacking both Matt and Christina.
All Matt and Christina could do was dodge the continual attacks, either roll, toss, or throw and on to the next one, they had no chance to follow up with a dagger strike or they’d get taken by the next attack.
Serena ran in to help, and I reached out to feel the magic. They weren’t shielded like they had been the other night, so Macy wasn’t here, or if she was, she wasn’t shielding her minions this time.
I didn’t even need spikes, I sent out whips of energy into two at once, and pierced their heart with it, and then sucked out all the necromantic energy, banishing the spirits bound into the flesh.
The last two had no chance against the three of them.
Matt took it all in a glance and moved to the other side of the alleyway between buildings, and took a guard position there. It didn’t take long for Serena and Christina to kill the last two. And they looked really good doing it as well. I wondered if I was sick in the head, a woman fighting with a knife really shouldn’t turn me on that way. Should it?
But really, it wasn’t even that, it was the speed, supple and limber grace, and the deadly beauty of their bodies’ movements that was so… mesmerizing.
I’d like to say I simply didn’t end the fight with my necromancer power, because I was supposed to keep that to a minimum, and only use it when necessary. Truth was though, it never even occurred to me until later on…
Chapter Thirteen
“What happened?” Christina asked.
I explained the one vampire we had, a distraction with a witch as bait.
“I can’t prove it, but I bet Macy arranged that somehow, to delay one of our teams even longer before coming back to help you guys.”
Matt grunted, “And you didn’t sense her at all?”
I shook my head, “Not a thing, without a shield, or her actively sending orders to the vampires, there was nothing to trace back. What happened here?”
Christina sighed, “It was one at first, and just like the other times, there was suddenly two. We were both so absorbed in our separate fights, that we didn’t notice the last two joining the party until it was almost too late.”
She paused for a moment, and then accused, “You used your magic.”
I nodded, “It seemed like a good idea at the time, and they weren’t shielded so I didn’t have to use that much power to get in the core and leach the energy out of them. Only about three times what a ghost would take.”
She still didn’t look happy about it, “I don’t like you taking that risk, we could have fought them four on four.”
I gave her a dubious look, “Maybe, but it’s a small alley, Serena and I could have rushed in there at the wrong time, and gotten tangled in one of your dodges.”
I kind of liked that she was worried about me, but it was part of who I was. I wouldn’t use large amounts of magic if I could help it, but I’d use what I knew my system could handle.
Serena said, “He’s right, and he left the last two for us.”
Christina nodded, “Alright, you win. Listen, she’s going to come around in a minute, I want you two to escort her back to the coven house. Matt and I will finish the patrol here.”
Okay, now I was worried about her, and even Matt to a smaller extent, he was starting to grow on me a bit. Ever since our talk in the armory he hadn’t been as much of an ass.
“Is splitting up again the best idea? What if Macy is still around?”
Serena looked a little annoyed too, probably about being sent off on escort duty.
Matt shrugged, “She already lost five tonight, and thanks to you two, the trap failed. She is a planner, and not impulsive. I wouldn’t expect to see her again tonight, but one of her vampires might still need to feed.”
Christina nodded, and said directly to her sister, while avoiding looking at me altogether, “Exactly, you both did great, but we’re the team with the most experience, and it’s our duty to get her home safe. So… we split up.”
I didn’t like this, it seemed like all the secrets, angst, and feelings among the four of us was going to get someone killed. We should all go to Jo’s, but I didn’t think Christina wanted to be around me right now. Although, I wasn’t even sure where Serena fit into all of it yet.
I wanted to talk to her about the secret, and the bond now, but that was impossible with both our partners here.
Serena said, “Fine, but I’m not happy about it, we should all go, and then all come back.”
I wanted to agree, but kept my mouth shut.
Jo moaned, and then blinked her eyes and looked up at us, and then smiled.
“Hi guys, where did you come from. Shit, where am I?”
I said, “Campus, do you remember what happened?”
She shook her head, “I have no memories past leaving my house on the way here for a party. That was,” she looked at her watch, “over an hour ago.”
I sighed, “So it was a setup. We found you about ten minutes ago.”
She nodded, “Vampire I’m assuming, since my memories of the last hour are Swiss cheese?”
I reached down, and pulled her up, she was a bit unsteady and gripped my arms.
“Yes.”
She frowned, “My shields are shot, Macy must have taken them down somehow.”
Serena took her other arm, “Let’s get you home?”
Jo nodded, and squeezed my arm. She seemed to be the only witch, that I’d met so far at least, that looked at me and saw an actual real life person, and not something to be studied. Which was actually a change from our first meeting. That made it easy to like her, even if I was wary with the trust.
I turned my head around as we started away, and Christina immediately looked away again. This was the shit I’d been afraid of. Why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut? No more shared looks between us, or smiles, and outside of her conversation dressing me down, it was hard to tell she even cared. Either way, I would find a time to talk to her alone, and get answers about her recalcitrance to talk about the bond to her own family.
As for the rest of it, I had no idea what to do with it anymore. I had a really bad feeling
about this, but I’d been overruled.
Matt nodded to me though, as if to say he’d take care of things…
“Thanks for that back there, I’m a little out of it still,” Jo said.
Serena replied, “Anytime.”
She looked up at me, “Sorry for the other night, when we met? It wasn’t until I saw my mother’s… the way she treated you, that I realized how badly I had acted.”
I smiled, “Thanks, but we’re good, promise.”
A few minute later, and we were on the El train headed north. Then it was just a short walk to the coven house. I was worried about Christina and Matt, it had been stupid to split up again, but there was nothing I could do about it. They had seniority and were in charge.
It was when we got off the train and started down the stairs at Jo’s stop, when I realized the truth. Both Serena and I felt the buzz of five vampires. We both froze with Jo between us.
I stated the painfully obvious, “Shit, this is the real trap.”
Everything back at the university had been designed for this, to get one pair of us here with a witch to protect, which would hamper us. I was sure Macy wouldn’t have been upset if she’d taken out Matt or Christina, but the whole thing had been designed to make us let our guard down, and to spring the real attack while we were too busy patting ourselves on the back for successfully getting out of her trap, and must I say it again, be stupid enough to split up.
The train was already pulling out, we couldn’t get back on it now, and this late at night the next one was over ten minutes from now. We had to make a quick decision, all the people were already dispersing toward their cars, or walking toward their homes.
Serena asked, “What do you think we should do?”
I reached out and felt their shields, which meant Macy would be nearby.
That’s when six, seven, and eight showed up, and for the first time ever I saw true fear in Serena’s eyes. Which of course, made my hero complex activate.
I was still a sucker for a pretty face, that hadn’t changed much in the last eight years, and it went twice for my partner and friend. Jo needed protection as well, but honestly though still important, she was my second priority at that point.
I hadn’t grown up with thoughts of duty, and blind service, all I had was my need to protect my friend Serena, and Jo as well if I could.
Most of the normal humans were far enough away, I removed my dagger and palmed it backwards, so it ran along the inside of my forearm. It was dark, and would be hard to see.
“I’d say this classifies as an emergency. You stay close to Jo, I’ll follow you both to the house and take them out with magic as they attack.”
Jo looked scared, “How many?”
I scoffed, “Just eight.”
Jo looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but Serena smiled, and looked a little more confident.
Which was what I was aiming for.
They moved out, and I walked on their side, and tried to keep between them and as many vampires as I could. They started to trail us on a parallel course, and then two broke and rushed us. I waited until they were close, and spiked them both with powerful magic, just powerful enough to breach Macy’s shields. It was a lot, but not nearly as much as I’d used the other night, so I knew I’d be fine.
In theory.
I was a better judge of that sort of thing now, and surprisingly I wasn’t panicking at all. Not yet anyway. Of course, now Macy’s power was split six ways instead of eight, which meant I’d have to hit harder next time.
I ripped out the necromantic energy through my own pitons of energy, and their momentum kept them coming at me as they fell toward the ground. I stabbed both as I dodged out of the way. They were already done for, but it wouldn’t do to leave a trail of bodies behind us, so I was using the enchanted silver dagger to dispose of the evidence and turn them to dust.
We only had about a quarter mile to go, it wasn’t that far to the coven house from the El tracks, and I knew the spells around the coven house would keep out the vampires. We just needed to get there.
Still, I’m not sure why she sent two as the first wave, maybe she couldn’t control eight at once, or maybe she was testing my defenses, but whatever the reason, a minute later all six remaining vampires attacked at once, three from the back, and three to our right, coming out between the houses.
“Run Serena, pick her up if you have to.”
I didn’t have the luxury of being tidy this time, and took the ones to the right first, so they couldn’t cut us off. I did it from a distance, three energy pitons struck out in quick succession, and I really hoped the taint effect wasn’t cumulative, I didn’t believe it was.
The taint that stuck to necromancer’s body was cumulative, I just meant I didn’t think using my powers was cumulative, unless I breached the threshold of that power limit I wouldn’t be vulnerable to the blight. The problem was of course, is that I didn’t know where that threshold was, and if I surpassed it even once I’d be tainted for the rest of my life, which knowing Carl and Matt, would be cut very short at that point.
We were both running, and even with Jo as dead weight, Serena was very fast, faster than me truth be told, I was still playing catch up that way, although I was no slouch.
We were maybe fifteen or twenty feet from the house, when the ones chasing got close enough and I sent a spike into the first one, and as I turned to the second I felt another energy signature that was completely unfamiliar coming from the other side, from the left.
My head exploded in pain, and my body shook as it fell to the ground.
I was pretty sure I was being electrocuted, by actual electricity, not just magic. I was covered in dazzling streaks of white light and it really hurt, a lot. A man walked up with a sick look of pleasure on his face, but before I could really process what was happening, or come up with a defense, I passed out.
Chapter Fourteen
I woke up, and my whole body hurt. My head was splitting, and I couldn’t figure out why I was alive. I was also tied down by leather straps to a metal chair of some kind. The only difference was this empty room wasn’t underground, and had a window, though it was covered and I couldn’t see out.
Shit, not again was my first thought, my second was less selfish.
Serena!
What happened when I got knocked out? Did Serena and Jo make the safety of the coven house? I could only hope so, we’d been so damned close when I’d gotten blindsided. But what the hell was I doing alive? I could feel the necromancer energy in this place, there were vampires and wights at the least, I wasn’t sure what else. I also felt what was undoubtedly another necromancer, the energy was far more dynamic, like mine.
I was debating whether or not to start destroying all the undead in range, but realized that would be suicidal. When I lost all hope of getting out of here, then I could be a martyr to set Macy back, but not until then.
I heard a squeal in the other room, like a teenage girl meeting their idol, and then a young woman around the age of nineteen ran in the room with a smile.
She had red hair, green eyes, and a rather voluptuous figure and an adorable face, giving her a natural cute and sexy look. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans, and a light pink sweatshirt.
She also wore pink fuzzy slippers.
This was the feared Macy? I wouldn’t have believed it if I couldn’t also feel the taint on her, which felt like greasy sludge.
I wondered which side of me was feeling that, but it was disturbing. The taint I mean.
“You’re awake!” she declared in an excited tone.
“Why am I awake? Not that I’m complaining.”
She frowned, “I’m Macy, in case your confused. And of course your awake, after all the trouble I went through to capture you last night I wouldn’t just kill you. That half-demon hit you a little too hard, I scolded him soundly for it too. Don’t worry, he’s gone, you can’t really trust them, but they make good mercenaries.”
Okay
, so lightning guy was a demon? Half I mean.
“What about the ones I was with?”
She smiled, “I retreated once you were down and vamps picked you up. They’re fine for now, I don’t kill them until next week.”
I frowned at the smile, and the weird turn of phrase, as if in her mind the deed was done already.
“So… what do you want?”
She bounced on her toes in excitement for a few seconds. I was going to go out on a limb, and say she’d already gone around the bend, perhaps twice. But if that was true, how was she so cunning, and how hadn’t she made any major mistakes yet. Maybe this was an act?
“I wanted to talk to you, and tell you my side of the story. I wanted to tell you the truth, all the ones they’ve been keeping from you. Then I’m going to give you a choice.”
I snorted in disbelief, “Let me guess, join you or die?”
She giggled, “Nope. I swear I won’t kill you, your life will be entirely in your hands, and joining me is totally an option, but enough of that, that’s for later. You won’t understand the choice until you know the truth.”
She was a little manic, and a little crazy, in a disturbingly cute way since she wasn’t busy killing right now, but I got no indications she was lying. Which meant, I couldn’t use judgement on an insane person, or she was telling the truth.
That last one… scared me a bit, what hadn’t they told me? I knew the necromancers must have their own version of history and what happened, but I hadn’t thought Carl and the others had deliberately left anything out.
“Let’s hear it then Macy,” I prompted, and braced myself.
She grinned, “I’m Macy Wallis, and just five years ago, I was a fourteen-year-old girl, with a mother. A necromancer that wasn’t crazy, even if she was almost forty years old. I’m pretty sure I won’t see twenty, but I’m jumping ahead.
“My mother never did more than clear out a ghost or two, something I’m sure you can relate to. That gave me a hard time at first by the way, that was very naughty of you, and I was wondering why my ghosts weren’t coming back to report. Anyway, my mother.”
Foretold: Necromancer's Blight: Book 1 Page 9