Sanguine Spell

by Ahava Trivedi

  “Dad, please,” uttered Moldark looking stricken, as he concentrated his gaze on the sleek fireplace with the faux wooden logs in front of him.

  “Why is that any of your business?” I spat back.

  “Because I’m the one you have to thank for that,” smiled Vincent, “My dear boy was greatly enamoured by you. And while he tried a few lame attempts to win your affections – I believe the two of you even went on a date together in New Orleans – you were never interested. But you trusted him enough to call to him when you needed blood.”

  “I thought I was helping you, Kat,” Moldark butted in, glancing at me and then quickly looking away.

  “Moldark was with me when he heard you call for him. And, he was so thrilled about it that he told me he needed to go to you. It confirmed two things to me: that you were indeed close by and, an opportunity had presented itself. One I could only have dreamed of. I read between the lines – my son was asking me, begging me to help him seal the deal with the one and only, Katrina Quartz.

  “I knew that a chance like this would never fall into my lap again so I suggested that he get you to drink his blood. You must know that unless it’s a life and death situation, it’s greatly frowned upon for one vampire to feast on the blood another – especially Sanguines?”

  “Because it’s addictive,” I said through gritted teeth as I pieced it together, glaring at Moldark.

  “Correct. It’s makes a blood-bond – like having a powerful spell cast on you by a vampire.”

  “How could you?” I asked Moldark, fighting back tears of hatred.

  “He said I was helping you. That the blood-bond would help me keep you safe, as it would allow me to sense if you were ever in trouble,” said Moldark less subdued than before.

  “So, all the times afterwards that I was drawn to call out to you…” I began feeling completely violated.

  “Were times when Moldark was actually summoning you,” said Vincent Whitlock, smug that his plan had been so easy to execute, “but in return you got blood, lots of it.”

  “All yours?” I gasped, thinking of Natalie and Valenthia. Moldark shook his head.

  “Those other bottles were the regular stuff from back at the academy,” he Moldark. Like it could in some way redeem him from what he’d done.

  “Only the one you stood there and urged me to drink on the spot was yours,” I completed his answer for him.

  “Whitlock blood isn’t for just anyone,” beamed Vincent, “you drink my son’s blood, I consider you part of the family!” He said it like he, or rather they, were the ones that had done me the favour.

  “I’m not, trust me,” I retorted, “and I never will be.”

  “Which is a real shame because a Whitlock-Bathory alliance would be a match made in heaven,” deliberated Moldark’s father, as Moldark watched me, trying to gauge my next move.

  “I never had feelings for you – not even close,” I breathed. I no longer cared whether it was true or not. All that mattered was that their plan had never been to help me and I’d been too gullible, making it effortless for them.

  “That’s not possible,” Vincent Whitlock cut in, “you’ve had his blood so the two of you are bonded to each other on a basic level. At least for your sake I hope you are, otherwise, what comes next really won’t be fun. Go on, son – ask her.”

  “Kat, everything I did was to help protect you. They would have killed you if we weren’t bonded,” attempted Moldark.

  “We’re not bonded,” I replied through gritted teeth. “I brought my friend back from her final death and while she’s grateful, we’re not bonded either,” I thought of Natalie.

  “Then she must be a Novus – fresh, weak and frankly, insignificant,” retorted Moldark’s father dismissively. Shoot.

  “Whitlock blood can’t be that potent as all it did was stave off my hunger – and that too, barely.” I knew it was a lie. But whatever happened, I wouldn’t give Moldark’s arrogant father the satisfaction. I realized how much like my mother I sounded and wondered if she felt the outburst of courage mixed with raw terror I was feeling right now, as she’d met with her final death.

  “Just say we’re bonded,” urged Moldark as Vincent Whitlock gave him a searing look.

  “We are not bonded,” I spat back.

  “If you won’t do this willingly then you leave me no choice,” said Vincent. With a whirr he was at the door, blocking my only entrance.

  “Dad, let me talk to her?” insisted Moldark.

  “Too late,” replied his father.

  I braced for what I assumed would be a struggle. The two of them against me. I wasn’t about to go down without a fight and instinct told me that if I could go up against Vincent Whitlock, I could handle Moldark.

  “Screw this,” I said and instead began to summon my magic hoping the so-called blood-bond wouldn’t wreak any havoc with my invisibility shield. But before my blooming even had time to come alive and send a few curls of magic to surround me as I conjured, Vincent Whitlock opened the door wide and stepped aside, causing me to break my concentration.

  Two monstrously large Black Banes heaved in through the open door, immediately snarling at me with their gnashers bared. Moldark’s father savoured my confused expression, “Good, you’re both here – although it took you long enough,” he scolded the werewolves who were already advancing on me. One of them had a length of tarnished chain that spilled from both ends of its’ mouth. They both entered the office and Vincent shut the door. They were going to attack me while the coward father and son watched on.

  I had never fought a werewolf before and I met the obsidian gaze of the one that held the chain in his mouth. As he drew closer, his expression was one of a burning hatred born from complete oppression. I scrambled to think of what to do. Even if I struck him with a bolt of silver magic, his companion would be on me quicker than I could defend myself. Not to mention Moldark and Vincent. I reached out telepathically to the other werewolf that was rapidly closing in on me. It was no good, his mind wasn’t open to receiving a new or alternate thought, let alone conversing with someone he’d been commanded to assail. He walked a tight circle around me and lightly tugged on the chain in his companion’s mouth. The werewolf carrying the thick shackle allowed the other one to take sone its’ length so it was taut between the two of them. In unison they both ran at me with the chain and the world instantly went black.

  Chapter 19

  “She’s even more witchy looking than I remember.” I heard a voice bouncing off the walls like we were in a cave somewhere. The familiarity of its’ tone offered no comfort, in fact it had the opposite effect. I tried opening my eyes but my vision was so blurry that I felt disoriented, like everything around me was out of focus and spinning at the same time.

  “That’s always what I hated most about her,” another voice said. This one was less catty than the first. It was repulsed and angry. Where did I know these voices from? There was nothing I could do but brace myself for the pain that I expected. The hatred was the only thing in the room that was palpable.

  “Leave her alone!” I heard someone say. A third voice, much deeper than the first two. I tried to move but my body felt like lead. Was I being restrained or was I just that weak? Panic rose in my chest and swirled in my throat but before I could give my fears any expression, everything fell into silence once more.

  ***

  My eyes flicked open but I saw nothing as I was met with total darkness. I heard whispers around me but I couldn’t make out the words or even the language. It felt like I’d gone blind and again, I attempted to move but couldn’t control my body which lay there like a dead weight. I tried to focus on my blooming to and awaken the magic – to give myself any kind of reassurance that I wasn’t completely paralyzed by whatever had been done to me. That I could still feel. Still see.

  I only knew I was alive because of the hushed voices around me. Suddenly, a soft glimmer of candlelight brought shadowy figures into my view and I was momentarily
relieved only for it to give way to the horror of the faces that surrounded me.

  “Siet! Siet!” whispered an urgent voice and the distorted faces that surrounded me fell into darkness and even though I was barely conscious, I knew something big was about to happen. A scream became trapped in my throat and I closed my eyes as I felt something sharp pierce into the flesh of my neck. The pain burned but I knew it would only be a lot worse if I looked upon its’ source. I held my breath waiting for it to subside. I wondered if I would die before it did. I smelled the sick sweetness of witch-blood meeting the air. My blood.

  “Esme – Ön itt van…” a woman’s voice finally breathed. It was feminine and yet within it, held a thousand commands. It sounded like it didn’t belong and yet that it ruled the entire world. This had to be a dream for I knew no reality supernatural or otherwise to be like this. I threw open my eyes and for a second before it all faded into nothingness, I found myself glimpsing into the eyes of the darkest hell.

  ***

  I came to and didn’t know how long I’d been out. My whole body felt like it had a major hangover, a malady I’d only suffered with once thanks to Safi sneaking some moonshine into the coven. The stuff could have powered a rocket-ship, it had tasted like poison as its’ main notes and I quickly remembered thinking there was no way anyone could actually have enjoyed that stuff. I opened my eyes in a flutter, my mind so completely confused that for a second, I expected to find myself back there in my old room, under the charge of my two High Priestesses. But when I looked around, alarm bells urgently tolled inside my head as I realized I was somewhere in an ancient, stone structure. It hadn’t all been a dream. The fractured visions, the foreign voices. A castle. This was my reality and as I struggled to sit up, I felt the cool smoothness of the stone slab upon which I’d been laid. I smelled the distant aroma of food and spotted a tray on the floor beside me. I scrambled over to it and found a large plate of spaghetti bolognaise, still hot under the dome it had been covered by. I grabbed the fork and began to guzzle it down, so hungry that I didn’t care if it was safe to eat. I drank down the bottled water next, wishing it had been blood.

  Moonlight poured through a tiny opening, no larger than two missing bricks. As I finished my meal, my eyes frantically searched in the darkness for some kind of exit. I slowly pushed the tray away and walked up to the space in the brickwork and peered outside where there was a small, dimly lit village settlement. I jumped as I heard the jangle of chains. I stood completely still trying to locate where the sound had originated but heard nothing but the distant howls of wolves. I moved back towards the stone slab and heard it again. It was at my feet. One of my ankles had a thick metal ring around it which fed into a silver chain.

  My mind flashed back to the Black Banes that had attacked me. Moldark. It had all been a trap that I’d fallen into so easily. Too easily. But the building I was in looked like a cellar rather than the Sanguine Guild of Europe. I sat down and zoned into Ulric’s mind. He was out somewhere in Unterlicht Forest and he wasn’t alone. There were other Silver Shadows with him and they were all looking for me. A fragile seed of hope began to take root in my chest – they were out there. They knew I was missing! This made me realize that I must have been gone more than a couple of hours. Ulric’s demeanour was determined but scared. I pulled myself away from him and thought of Safi. “Hey,” I sent her.

  “Sweet fire of mercy – you’re alive!” came her instant reply.

  “I’m in this…I guess it’s a castle,” I told her, “I think it’s Cachtice but I must be in a part of it that survived,” I filled her in, seeing that as ancient as it was, this wing of the castle didn’t exactly look ruined.

  “Got it! I’ll pass it on to our light team on the ground right away,” said Safi. Then she was quiet again.

  “Are you there?” I asked, feeling too alone.

  “Yes, sorry, I was trying something but it didn’t work so I’m back. Where you’re being held is completely infused with dark magic, so my magic isn’t able to penetrate it. I wish we had a shared crystal, then I could use it as a chaser to bypass some of the vamp voodoo!”

  “It’s okay,” I replied. I still had my late father’s quartz tucked safely into my bra but Safi had never interacted with it so it was unlikely she could use it in any way.

  “How the hell are you?” asked Safi.

  “I’m alright – for someone taken out by a ton of dark magic,” I replied, “I don’t know how long I’ve got. I’m alone right now but…”

  “It’s okay. Are you hurt?” asked Safi.

  “Not that I can tell, I think it’s just the effects of the dark magic. Two Black Banes wound a chain, laced with some sort of spell on it, around me and I passed out. That’s all I remember,” I said firmly, feeling my head and arms for lumps and bumps. I didn’t want to recall the dark recesses into which my mind had taken me. Surely, it hadn’t been real. I must have heard the voices coming from somewhere below, outside and my mind had turned them into a nightmare.

  “What were you doing when you were attacked? Where were you?” asked Safi.

  “I met with someone in…” I paused, feeling two small puncture wounds on the side of my neck. It felt raw. Like someone had stuck a couple of straws in and sucked. I took my finger away and inspected it as panic began to well up inside me. Seeing no blood, I got back up and went over to the makeshift window to make sure I hadn’t missed it despite my heightened vision. I felt again and realized that the wound was already well on its’ way to healing. It must have been made very recently given how sore the skin was but thanks to my greatly enhanced healing abilities, I had no idea what had happened. I shuddered getting a pretty good idea.

  “What’s going on?” asked Safi.

  “I think someone’s sucked my blood,” I said, taking a deep breath to calm myself. It wasn’t working. My heart instantly began to thud and I could feel the blood rushing though my body as my pulse quickened.

  “It’s okay, we’re working to get you out, hold on in there,” said Safi. I felt her sending me a very calming vibe. She seemed much surer than she had been since Superno had been locked down.

  “Wait, where are you?” I asked trying to distract myself. Although the space wasn’t that small, I was starting to feel claustrophobic.

  “Beyond Unterlicht Forest,” said Safi, “I’m at Silverstone Academy.”

  “What the? How?” I asked. That was something I hadn’t expected.

  “I told you to leave it all with me, didn’t I?” she asked, sounding as confident as she’d once been when we’d weaved magic together in St. Louis Cemetery, what felt like a life time ago.

  “That was about rescuing Professor Frewin,” I sent back, quite bewildered.

  “It was and I let Frewin know that I would only help him if he played ball.”

  “Which means?”

  “Having me as part of his ops team once we reached your academy,” Safi said, proudly in my head, “even if you hadn’t gone and got yourself kidnapped by Black Banes, the first thing we all knew we needed was a team on the ground, exactly where the Dark Legion and Sanguine Guild have their roots.”

  “You’re really here?” I asked, a smile split my face and for a brief instance I was able to forget where I was and how precariously everything hung in the balance.

  “Yep. And I just tried to get into Bathory’s castle, where you’re being held but as I said, it’s a no-go.”

  “How’s Professor Frewin?” I asked, tears of joy pricking my eyes.

  “He’s pretty sore from all the magical extraction techniques levelled at him by the S.L.A.,” admitted Safi, “but he’s in good spirits, didn’t crack one bit.”

  “I’m so glad!” I said, envisioning Pearl Quartz being the head of the professor’s tormentors at the supernatural prison where he had been held. If she’d been willing to imprison and torture him simply because he’d shown an alliance with me, what would she do to him once she found out that he’d taken Safi with him. She’d k
ill him, that’s what.

  “She won’t find out anytime soon,” said Safi, startling me – she’d heard all that which I’d intended to be private. “Actually, she probably will and then she’ll also need to face up to the undesirable truth that I was the one who single-handedly busted him out.”

  “Safi!” I said feeling a thrill push through me.

  “You know me,” replied Safi, coolly, “I can’t take being lied to – especially by my own mother.”

  “I’m so proud of you,” I said starting to feel bolder. Safi didn’t need to know the details of how I’d come to be in the abandoned tower. She knew why I was there. I felt a surge of dismay as I realized that I’d failed in my quest to find Kellum Bathory and make him pay for his misdeeds. I was about to tell her how he’d even murdered Principal Silverstone’s father when there was a crackling sound that came from near the wall opposite to the window. “Something’s happening,” I blurted to Safi, scrambling to my feet and backing up against the makeshift window.

  “What?” she asked, “Is someone there? Try your invisibility shield.”

  The noise grew louder and steadier. It was like the cracking of static that came off freshly laundered clothes sometimes. I wanted to try conjuring my shield but the chain leading up to where I’d been bound at the ankle would instantly give me away. Unlike Safi’s gift to be able to reappear from one location to another, my invisibility was only an illusion. If someone tugged the chain hard enough, they’d realize I was still there. I wondered if I could try freeing myself by conjuring up a blast of witching magic and aiming it straight at the metal cuff but thought better of it. It was likely a charm worked similarly to the chain I’d been attacked and bound by.