by Lisa Emme
“Pequeña,” Salvador whispered in my mind. “My brave Pequeña. You must settle your wolf before he does himself permanent damage.”
“Salvador?" My head whipped around, seeking him out, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Use your eyes, Harry. Use your eyes.”
I frowned. What the hell did he think I was using? My nose? I felt like I was having a “Use the force, Luke” moment, when finally understanding clicked. Use my vampire sight, of course! Squinting into the darkness, I forced my eyes to adjust and the far side of the room slowly came into focus. Most of the space was piled with more broken, leftover furniture from the prison days, but standing in the centre of the darkened space there was a silver-coated cage and what appeared to be a large sarcophagus standing upright.
I gasped and then quickly glanced around, but luckily no one noticed my little outburst. Gazing back across the room, I studied the cage. Inside, a large black shape suddenly hurled itself at the bars. Smoke hissed when the beast’s body came in contact with the silver and the animal was thrown backwards to the floor.
Nash! I bit my lip, swallowing my cry.
“NASH!” I thought as loud and hard as I could. I didn’t know if it would even work. It had been so long since I had taken his blood and we had been able to communicate mind-to-mind. But if Salvador could speak to me in my head, why shouldn’t I be able to do it with Nash? We shared the mate bond, hopefully it was enough.
“Nash! Nash!” I closed my eyes in concentration. Was I getting through? Was the wolf too much in control? “WOLF,” I thought. “Stop! You’re hurting yourself. I’m fine.” I tried tamp down my own emotions and send a sense of calm out to the wolf.
It must have worked because he stopped throwing himself at the cage and instead paced anxiously back and forth. He paused, turning to look directly at me and threw back his head and howled.
Beside me, Eleanor smiled. “That’s my boy,” she whispered, leaning towards me.
“Ahh, it sounds like our guest is growing impatient.” Drago clapped his hands. “Wheel him into the light. Let him join our little party.”
Several vampires scrambled to do Drago’s bidding, using poles, so they didn’t have to touch the silver bars or get too close to Nash, to move the cage across the room. The cage came to a stop directly in front of me and the wolf looked from Eleanor to me, finally plopping down on his hind end to stare directly at me. I let out a little sigh of relief. Despite being in dire circumstances, I felt better having Nash nearby.
Drago glanced around again. “Are the cameras rolling? We wouldn’t want to miss the main event.”
I followed his line of sight to find a large video camera, like the kind you see covering the news, had been set up at one side of the room. What was Drago up to? Was he planning on broadcasting his “main event”? Or was he filming it to memorialize it forever? He seemed like the type who would like to sit and relive the glory days, like a washed-up football star watching his highlight reel over and over.
“Bring in the Magister,” Drago said with a malicious smile.
Two vampires wheeled the sarcophagus into the light, setting it up beside the cage. As the huge coffin drew closer, I was surprised to hear water sloshing around inside.
“Oh dear, the Magister can’t see!” Drago exclaimed gleefully. “Arturo, if you would do the honours?”
Arturo, who I hadn’t noticed lurking about earlier, shuffled over to the sarcophagus and reached up, opening a small, hinged window in the face of the coffin. Liquid sploshed out of the opening, splattering on the floor. The vampires within splashing distance, hissed, jumping back out of the way.
Drago clapped his hands. “Wonderful! Welcome Magister to our little party.”
I gaped at the sarcophagus, sucking in a breath as Salvador’s haggard face stared back at me.
Deirdre clapped her hands. “Look at that! What do you call the Magister up to his neck in liquid silver?" She paused for dramatic effect. “A shortage of silver!” she crowed happily and chugged the last of her blood-wine.
“I am quite alright, Pequeña, do not fret,” Salvador soothed in my head.
“But you’re basically trapped in a coffin full of vampire soup!” Where were Isaac and Jonah? The cavalry could arrive anytime now.
“Harry, my dear Harry. You have such an entertaining way with words. I promise you, it will take more than Drago to do me harm. I will apologize in advance, however.”
“Apologize? For what?”
“For this.”
I gasped at the less than subtle tug on my aura as Salvador used the connection between us to siphon off my energy. I leaned over, feeling dizzy.
“Harry, are you all right dear? You’ve gone pale.” Eleanor leaned towards me in concern.
“I’ll be fine,” I gasped, sucking in a deep breath.
Nash’s wolf jumped to his feet, growling and pacing his cage again.
Suddenly, the feeling of being sucked through a straw stopped and I sat up to scowl at Salvador. His face appeared much healthier than it had a minute ago.
“Much better,” Salvador purred in my head. “Thank you, Pequeña.”
“Glad to have helped. NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.” I glared at him feeling violated.
“Alas, I am sorry for the necessity. Now, there is one more thing you must do for me. You must find a way to open this hideous monstrosity and set me free.”
“Oh, is that all? Easy peasy.”
“Are you listening, Salvador?" Drago’s voice was shrill. “I don’t think you’re paying attention.”
He jumped down from his perch to land in front of Salvador and banged on the sarcophagus.
“I said, I will destroy everything you hold dear, starting with your miracle child.”
“No!” Deirdre jumped to her feet. “You promised me you wouldn’t kill her. We need her!”
“Relax, darling. I’m not going to kill her, at least not yet. First, I’m going to break her.” He strode towards me and I pushed myself backwards in my chair, trying to avoid his grasp, but he was quicker, snatching me out of my seat, his grip biting into my arm. He dragged me across the floor, stopping in front of Salvador.
Nash’s wolf, leapt at the cage, smashing into the bars, smoke rising from his fur. He snarled and snapped at Drago.
“Yeeessss,” Drago hissed, pulling me close, his face next to mine. He inhaled deeply and then licked up the side of my neck. Gross! “First, I’ll break you and then I’ll drink your sweet blood until the point of death, so I can remake you as mine.”
“Not if I can fucking help it!” I brought up my foot, stomping it down on his instep as hard as I could. It would have worked better in heels, but my shit-kickers still did the trick.
Drago howled, his hand snapping out to backhand me across the face. He tossed me to the floor with a hiss. “You little bitch. You’ll pay for that.”
Drago nodded to Luger-man and I tensed, expecting a bullet between my eyes.
“Drago, Drago, Drago. You always were so overdramatic,” Salvador said, sounding bored. “You must realize, you cannot win.”
“Win? Win? I’ve already won.” He held out his arms and spun around. “Look around you. I have your lover, your child, her wolf, you. Soon everything you own will be mine.”
He stepped towards me, grabbing my chin to smirk down at me. “What? Nothing clever to say, little witch? Are you harbouring thoughts of Tomas and his vampires coming to your rescue?" He tapped on my forehead with his finger and I wrenched my chin from his grasp. “Wake up, witch. They’re not coming.” He turned his back on me and strode to Arturo, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Arturo is the best there is at cloaking spells. Your friends, the Law, they will never find you, even if they drank a gallon of your blood.”
Well, that was sucky news. No wonder Isaac and Jonah hadn’t shown up yet. They weren’t coming. Now what the hell was I supposed to do?
I chewed on my lip in thought, ignoring Drago as he continued his rant. Sal
vador slid the occasional comment in, like he was egging Drago on.
A dark flash above Nash’s cage drew my attention. I squinted up at the rafters, spotting Lucy. As if sensing my attention, she cocked her head, looking straight at me and then she launched herself into the air. A few seconds later, she landed on the floor behind me.
“Lucy,” I whispered. “You loopy bird. I don’t suppose you’ve come to help me out.”’
In answer, Lucy sidled up behind me, bouncing up against my back. There was a tug on the restraints and then Lucy began to pick and shred the plastic tie. Magical restraints are great against magic users, but if you have no magic, they’re simply a plastic zip tie, so Lucy was easily able to make quick work of it. With one last peck, she tore the restraint from my hands.
Freed, I flexed my wrists, keeping them hidden behind my back. I didn’t want Drago or any of his flunkies to realize I was loose and in control of my powers quite yet.
Before I could figure out my next step, Drago’s attention returned to me.
“…way to break you is to destroy all you love and hold dear. Just like I plan to do with your father.”
Wait. What? I had obviously missed something important.
Drago waved his hand and Luger-man stepped towards Nash’s cage, his gun raised.
“No!”
BANG!
I threw myself forward, casting my hands out to towards the bullet and time suddenly stood still. Or, at least it seemed like it did because the bullet came to a stop, hovering in the air. I stared at it in amazement for a second and then it fell harmlessly to the floor. I had used my telekinesis to stop a bullet! Holy crap! With that thought, time resumed its normal speed and Luger-man raised his gun again, taking aim.
“I said no!” I snapped my hands out at him, using my invisible force to grab the gun and pull it out of his hands. The Luger bounced off the concrete floor, skittering to a stop in front of me.
On a roll, I leapt to my feet and threw out my hand towards Salvador’s prison. The pin holding the sarcophagus shut trembled and then flew out across the room.
With a roar of triumph, Salvador burst from the sarcophagus, a flood of colloidal silver rushing out ahead of him. He strode from the coffin, water dripping from his body. He was shirtless, but thankfully still wearing pants. There are some things I just didn’t need to see in my life, and Salvador in tighty-whiteys was one of them.
Salvador roared something incomprehensible and spread his arms wide. As one, the vampires in the room, including Drago, began to gasp and claw at their throats. The air became thick with Salvador’s power, so thick I felt like I was choking on it. Struggling, I staggered the few steps to Nash’s cage and pulled at the pin holding it locked shut. It wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, I scanned the room for something to help persuade it, my eyes falling on the discarded Luger. Feeling the weight of Salvador’s power crushing down on me, I staggered over to the gun and then back to the cage, using the butt of the revolver to hammer the pin out of place. At last, the cage door swung open and tucking the gun in the small of my back, I flung myself at Nash, wrapping my arms around his furry neck. The wolf whined and wiggled in my embrace, licking my face.
There was another flash of power and then it was as if the polarity shifted and instead of flowing out, the power was sucked in, towards Salvador. A wailing sound filled the air and the bars on the cage began to shake. Barely able to breath because of the crushing weight, I buried my face against Nash and prayed it would end soon.
After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a couple of minutes, the roar of power stopped, and the room fell deathly silent. I risked a peek over Nash’s ruff to see Salvador standing larger than life, alone in the room except for Deirdre, who cowered on the floor at his feet and Eleanor who had fallen off her chair and was struggling to get up. Everyone else who had been in the room was gone, leaving behind discarded and singed piles of clothing. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know exactly what had happened. I glanced cautiously at Salvador again.
“Harry! Hang on. We’re on our way.” Jonah’s voice rang in my head.
“Took you long enough!”
“Sorry, we had a little trouble finding the address.” His voice sounded embarrassed.
“Well, you’re fucking late.”
I laughed, and Nash tilted his wolfy head from side to side. “Here comes the cavalry,” I replied to his unspoken question. And then, realizing who I hadn’t seen, I added in my head. “If you see a sketchy-looking, little man with lots of hair, he’s Drago’s mage.”
“Got him.”
Well, that was easy. I turned back to the wolf only to find a very human Nash grinning at me.
“Nash!” I threw myself at him again, and he wrapped me in his arms. Our lips met and we kissed each other long and hard.
“Are you naked?" Tomas’s voice came from behind me. “Have some decency, man! Put on some clothes.” He grinned and tossed a pair of pants at Nash.
Nash caught them, pulling them on, and I turned away blushing. I looked across the room at Salvador. He was buttoning up a clean white shirt. Tomas had obviously come prepared, or maybe Salvador spoke in his head too, ordering up a change of clothes.
“Harry!” Tess appeared at my side, giving me a hug.
“Tess, so glad you could finally make it,” I joked.
She shrugged. “You’d better thank Lucy. If it wasn’t for her, flying home and leading us here, we’d never have found you.”
I searched the room in surprise for the bird, but she was nowhere in sight.
“I guess I better buy her a case of jerky,” I replied.
There was a commotion and Jonah walked in, dragging Arturo along by the elbow. The little man’s hands were tied with magical restraints behind his back.
“I believe this belongs to you,” Jonah said, stopping in front of Max, who had been helping Eleanor to her feet.
“He’s not a member of the coven,” Max replied. “And if he was, his life would be forfeit to Salvador anyway.”
Jonah turned to Salvador who waved an indifferent hand. “Do with him as you wish. He’s none of my concern.”
Jonah’s eyes narrowed and then he placed a hand on Arturo’s shoulder, wrapping his other arm around the mage’s head. He pulled his arm away quickly, twisting, and with a sickening crunch, the mage’s lifeless body fell to the floor.
Salvador shrugged one of his indifferent shrugs and turned his calculating gaze to Deirdre. “Bring this one back to Dante’s. Her fate has yet to be decided.” He frowned at the cowering figure on the floor and then turned away in disgust.
Salvador had taken four or five steps away from her, when Deirdre let out a shriek, jumping to her feet.
“Noooo! You’ve taken everything away from me. Everything!”
She lunged at him, arm raised above her head and I caught a glint of metal in the light. She was holding a jagged piece of a broken blade. She brought her arm down towards Salvador’s exposed back.
“Dad! Look out!” I shouted, pulling the Luger out and firing it at Deirdre. The bullet hit her square in the forehead and she fell backwards, the remnant from the Dagger of Asar falling uselessly from her limp hand.
Unable to comprehend what I had done, I stood staring at Deirdre’s lifeless body in shock, gun still pointing towards her.
“Harry,” Nash said, taking a step towards me.
But Salvador got there first, taking the gun away and handing it to Nash. “Harry, dear Harry,” he crooned, wrapping his arms around me. I stood stiffly for a moment and then buried my face against his chest, bursting into tears.
“W-what have I done? I k-k-illed my own m-m-mother!” I blubbered to Salvador who simply murmured to me in Spanish, petting my hair.
“Hush, Pequeña,” he said, switching to English. “It is not your fault.”
“But I killed her!”
CAW!
CAW!
Lucy swooped down, landing on the floor in front of us. Everyone gaped at
her in surprise and in the silence that followed, a blinding light burst forth.
I pushed myself away from Salvador, throwing my arm over my eyes.
“Lucy!” I shouted.
As suddenly as the light appeared, it dimmed, blocked out by a dark mass of flapping wings, as hundreds – no thousands – of birds filled the air. The feathered creatures swirled around us in a wide circle, too fast to make out individual shapes. They flew in perfect sync with each other circling around the room like a tornado of feathers, spiraling tighter and tighter. The sound of their passing roared in my ears and I could feel the wind on my face as I watched in wonder as the dark shapes fused into a tall black column of writhing bodies.
With a whoosh, the column drove itself to the floor, breaking apart on impact like a wave crashing on the shore, and the light exploded again, bathing everything in its unearthly glow.
When I could finally see again, I gasped at the sight. Where Lucy had strutted back and forth now stood a pale and elegant woman with raven-coloured hair. She was dressed in a long, flowing, black dress made of feathers.
I gaped at her, unable to move.
Salvador, had no such problem, bowing low and holding the bow for several seconds. “My Queen,” he said reverently.
Max and Jonah, followed suit, obviously more astute than I was at figuring out the mystery woman’s identity.
“Hecate, my Queen,” Jonah whispered, falling to one knee.
Hecate – yes, the goddess – smiled at him. “Rise, my hunter and know I am pleased.” She turned her gaze to Salvador. “And you my son, rise and know that you have done well, but your work is not yet complete.”
“Yes, my Queen,” Salvador answered, and for the first time since I’d known him, it was without sarcasm or humour.
And then she turned her attention to me. Terrified, I trembled at the sight of her. Belatedly, I realized I should bow, or was I supposed to curtsey? I had no clue how to do one of those.
Hecate laughed, the sound like a thousand wings flapping. “A bow will do, child,” she said.
Mortified, I quickly bowed, bending fully at the waist and holding it for several seconds.