by Rye Brewer
If I went back through the decades to pinpoint the moment my life changed forever, it was the night the Great Fire started. When I lost my mother, my stepfather, all security.
If the Fire had never burned, Sara wouldn’t have been desperate enough to sell her blood. She wouldn’t have broken the league’s canons and suffered unspeakable torment, and I wouldn’t have rescued her, and we wouldn’t have needed to hide. There wouldn’t have been refuge at the Bourke high-rise because we wouldn’t have needed refuge. On and on, it all spun out.
And none of it was Marcus’s fault.
It was Lucian’s, for setting the Great Fire.
But I got my mother back, didn’t I? And I found Jonah, which would never have happened if Marcus hadn’t sent me to assassinate him.
I missed Jonah. It wasn’t until meeting him and going through what we went through together that I understood it was possible to be disappointed or bitterly angry, but still care for someone.
I hoped he was all right. I wished I could see him to be sure he was.
Maybe things had happened the way they’d been meant to happen. Lucian was part of a bigger plan. I wished someone would clue me in to what the plan was. For once, I would’ve liked to be ahead of things, instead of dealing with the aftermath.
Like Sara. Her elemental powers. Who would deliberately taint blood? And why? What would the purpose be?
We started to slow as we neared the tower, and, by the time we reached the multi-colored stones and glittering mortar, Sirene appeared as though she had never had such a thrill in her long, long life.
“You never coursed before?” I asked with a grin.
Her eyes were as big as saucers.
“Right when I thought I had experienced everything,” she murmured, shaking her head.
Allonic didn’t put her down, since we would next course to the top.
She linked her arms around his neck and peered up at the endless spiral staircase.
I hoped she wasn’t afraid of heights.
Soon, we were on the landing, outside the chamber door.
Mom must’ve heard us—she opened it immediately.
I heard crackling behind her. Seemed Sara was having trouble.
“It appears we’ve come at precisely the right time,” Sirene observed as Allonic set her on her feet.
She strode into the chamber and glanced around for a second before focusing on Sara.
My sister stood in the center of the circular room, arms crossed, hands in her armpits. It was barely helping—little streaks of lightning raced all over her body like they were following an invisible path.
“I can’t calm her down,” Mom murmured as we stepped inside.
“Sara? We’re back. This is Sirene. She’ll help you. But you need to relax, first.” I wanted to hug her or at least rub her back, but I didn’t dare come too close.
“Please, help me,” she pleaded.
“I’ll do what I can—but as your sister said, you have to calm down. This is not the end of anything. It is not the end of you. We’ll protect you, I swear.”
Her voice was still sweet, but there was an edge to it I had never heard before. An intensity.
I believed her.
Slowly, Sara’s breathing returned to a normal rate. The electrical charge in the air eased, then ceased.
We all exhaled a little when it did.
“Mom, this is Sirene. Sirene, my mother, Tabitha.”
The two of them acknowledged each other then Sirene turned her attention back to Sara.
“Have a seat,” she said, and sat beside her on the lounge.
Mom fixed more tea—I could sense she was paying attention to every word, though she acted as if she was giving Sirene space.
I watched from a spot by the window while the witch examined my sister. She inquired how long she’d been exhibiting this power, how it had progressed.
“And you’re sure this is because you drank tainted blood?” Sirene asked.
“I can’t imagine another way it would have happened,” Sara said with a shrug.
Sirene frowned. “I see.”
I didn’t care for that response.
Sara stared at her. “So? Is this temporary? I mean, will it simply… go away as fast as it started?”
I could tell Sirene wanted to be positive. I could tell she was hesitant to admit the truth.
“This is unfamiliar territory for me,” she said. “I’ve never known of an elemental witch who was created. Elemental witches are born—at least, that’s been my experience until now. Your situation is entirely new to me.”
“Oh, no…” Sara’s tears started flowing, and the longer she cried, the harder she cried.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and crackling noise filled my ears. I cringed, taking a step back.
“I don’t want to hide for the rest of my life,” she wept. “I would rather die than live in a hole somewhere.”
The crackling intensified.
I held my breath.
There was more than one reason why Sirene was the perfect choice to help us.
A warm wave of peaceful calm spread over the room, and it wasn’t long until Sara calmed down again.
Only the occasional crackling sound erupted.
“You won’t have to hide forever,” Sirene promised. “There’s another possible solution. It would involve some time, but in the end, you would be able to rejoin your world without anyone knowing about your powers.”
“What should I do?” she asked.
“You’ll have to train with an elemental witch.”
“A what?” Sara almost shrieked.
I would’ve reminded her that she, too, was an elemental witch—but my shoulder was still smarting from my mistake back at that place under the warehouse.
Sirene stayed calm. “Just think, you’ll learn to control this. You won’t have to fear losing control of yourself. It won’t take very long, and you won’t be in any danger, I can promise you.”
“Who would teach her these skills?” Mom asked, coming from the kitchen with a worried frown.
“Someone I trust,” Sirene replied, and the way she said it told me there was no room for argument. “Someone who won’t tell anyone who your daughter is or what she’s capable of. No one in the human world will be any the wiser.”
I thought of something. “There is one who knows.” All eyes turned to me. “Raze.” I looked at Sara. “But I know he wouldn’t tell anybody.”
“No. He helped me. I don’t know where I would be right now if it weren’t for him,” Sara added with a fond smile. “I trust him.”
“Then, that’s all. Correct?” Sirene asked. “You didn’t tell anyone else?”
Sara started to shake her head—then gasped.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, going to her side.
“Someone else knows. Oh, no. I forgot all about her.”
“Her?” I raised a brow.
“Philippa.”
“Philippa!” I knew I shouldn’t have lost my cool, but I couldn’t help it. “Of all the people in the world, why did you choose her to tell about this?”
“Anissa…” Mom warned.
Frustration got the best of me. “You don’t understand. There couldn’t be anybody worse than her. She hates us and has never once tried to hide it.”
I peered out the window and wished I could throw myself out, instead.
Philippa.
There was no way she wouldn’t tell someone.
She hated me and maybe hated Sara even more.
It didn’t matter if Sara learned to control herself or not, Philippa knew what she was capable of. And she would just love having a way to get rid of us once and for all.
10
Anissa
I couldn’t sulk forever, and I couldn’t make Sara feel worse than she already did. I reminded myself she was relying on me to be strong.
My tantrum had ended the conversation—the chamber was silent. I felt a little embarrassed as I turned to Siren
e. “You said you known a witch you trust, someone who can help Sara?”
“Yes. I know an elemental. We go back a long way.”
“But why would a witch help a vampire?” I asked.
The bitterness between the species went both ways—they hated us as much as our kind hated them. Maybe more.
“Leave that to me,” she said with a knowing smile before standing. “Allonic, I need to create a portal out of here.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think that would be wise. A witch’s portal in ShadesRealm would be a beacon for the other shades. They would know a witch was here and swarm the tower.” He turned to Mom. “You would suffer Ressenden’s wrath.”
My ears pricked up at the phrase Ressenden’s wrath. “Who’s Ressenden?” The name stirred something in my memory.
I had heard that name before, but where? I remembered. Sorrowswatch. But I hadn’t found out who the name belonged to, had I?
Allonic scowled. “A family member. From my father’s side.”
I could almost taste the bitterness in his voice.
His father’s side. The shade side. I guessed there wasn’t much love lost between them.
“Who is he to the other shades, I mean?”
“He makes decisions. His son rules the shades, while Ressenden acts as an advisor.” His scowl deepened. “He’s deeply against a half-blood ruling the shades, hence my being unable to take a position of power—though it’s my blood right.”
Power.
Allonic’s use of the word stirred something else. He had talked about power before, hadn’t he? When he told me why he’d drunk Valerius’s blood. He wanted the power in case he had to call back on it at some point. Was Ressenden part of that?
“What can we do if Sirene can’t throw a portal here?” I asked.
He looked at her—she had been sitting patiently as we talked things over, waiting with her hands folded in her lap.
“We should course away from here. Put as much space as possible between the tower and where we eventually throw the portal,” he said.
“How far?” I asked, though he wasn’t talking to me.
“Not entirely out of ShadesRealm,” he decided.
“Are you sure we should do it here at all?” I asked.
“What other choice do we have? Sara can’t go to Duskwood. I could take you back to the human world, and Sirene could throw a portal there, but there’s a chance a vampire will see Sara. We can’t risk that. If we’re far enough from the tower, we won’t draw attention to it, so even if another shade knows the portal is there, they won’t come here.” His highest priority was protecting Mom.
I wondered why she stayed at the tower at all, if she was in so much danger from the shades. To be near him? To avoid the human world?
There were other realms in which she could hide, if that were so. Just another thing that had changed about my life, knowing that the human world was only the beginning of worlds.
Sirene took Sara’s hand and helped her to her feet. “I’ll take you to Hallowthorn Landing. You’ll be able to train there, and you won’t have to worry about a threat from your fellow vampires.”
“And I’ll take you wherever you need to go,” Allonic told me.
“Wait. What?” Sara came to me, reaching for me. “No! You need to come with me! Why aren’t you coming?”
“Sara, I can’t. I have to find out how this happened in the first place, remember? We have to be sure this doesn’t happen again. If it does, and this vampire isn’t lucky enough to have help, others will find out. And anyone who was staying at the Bourke high-rise will be under scrutiny. Do you understand what that means?” I took her face in my hands. “Have I ever let you down before?”
“No,” she whispered. Her chin trembled.
“It’ll be all right. I promise. You go and get your training done, and I’ll find out who did this. And when it’s all over, we’ll be together again. Okay?”
“I want it to be over now.”
“I know. Me, too. We’ll get through it.”
Mom stood beside us with a hand on each of our shoulders. “I’ll go with you,” she said, speaking to Sara.
Sara stared at her. “Mom, serious?”
She nodded. “I don’t want you to feel as though you have to be alone. I haven’t left ShadesRealm in a long time, but if there was ever a reason to do it…” She shrugged, then turned to Sirene. “Would that be all right?”
Sirene nodded. “Of course. I’ll be sure accommodations are made for you. It might go better for Sara if you’re there, too.”
I heard what she didn’t want to say. If Sara was always in an agitated mood, her training would go much more slowly. Mom might be the presence she needed to hold herself together.
I smiled at Sara. “All right, then. You won’t be alone. And you’ll feel so much better once you get your training done. We’ll be together later, I promise.”
She nodded then took my hands. “Please, do something for me.”
“Name it.” I smiled.
“Please, don’t tell Scott about this.” Her grip was almost painful, and her eyes burned into mine. They shifted back and forth, like she was searching for reassurance. “Please.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
If Philippa hadn’t already done it. She’d keep her mouth shut if she knew what was good for her… I hoped.
“I’ll think up a way to make sure they know there’s a problem, but I won’t bring you into it.”
“Thank you,” she breathed. “I couldn’t stand it if he knew.”
“I’m sure it wouldn’t change the way he feels about you. Scott’s one of the good ones.”
A brief smile floated across her face. “Even so, I don’t want him to know.”
“Understood. It’s between us.”
We didn’t talk about it anymore as we left the tower. Mom looked back at her chamber one more time before leaving, and soon, we were coursing far enough away that a portal wouldn’t garner attention on her hideaway home.
Once again, I had the time to do a little thinking as I coursed behind the rest of them.
I asked myself how I was supposed to tell the Bourkes about the tainted blood without telling them I knew someone who drank it.
11
Anissa
We let Allonic take the lead as we coursed away from Mom’s tower since he knew where he was taking us. I hoped it was far away enough none of Allonic’s friends would spot us—not that they were friends. I couldn’t help but see how similar we were in many ways. We both grew up on the fringe, but at least he knew why they treated him the way they did.
It took forever for me to understand why Sara and I were never accepted within the Carver clan. And he had a mother there to help him understand. To protect him.
I shook the thought out of my head before we slowed to a stop—he was a lot younger than either of us, and he needed protection more than we did.
We were miles and miles away from the tower when Allonic decided we had gone far enough.
I looked around and saw that both the tower and the mountains under which Sanctuary was hidden weren’t much more than blips on the horizon.
The sky was growing lighter. We didn’t have much time before the sun rose—the memory of the burns I’d received from the sun was still fresh, even if the burns had healed.
“I think this is a safe place,” Allonic decided as he placed Sirene on her feet. “Much farther and we would enter territory unknown to me.”
“There’s territory you’re not familiar with?” I asked.
“There is always something to discover,” he informed me with a wry smile.
I liked how he seemed to be discovering his sense of humor, just like I appreciated his intelligence. I was starting to depend on him more than I’d ever expected.
Sirene noticed the way the light was changing, too. “We’ll have to hurry. Say your goodbyes quickly, since the sun won’t wait.” She got to work on throwing the portal as I turn
ed to Mom and Sara.
Mom was smiling. “I hadn’t coursed in so long.” She chuckled. “I forgot how it feels.”
I wished I could smile with her, but all I could think about was how I had to say goodbye to her again.
Sirene didn’t say how long Sara’s training would take, and I had the feeling a lot of that was up to my sister and whether she could control herself long enough to listen to what her trainer told her to do. I didn’t know how long my work would take, either.
“When will we see each other again?” I asked.
“Whenever we’re supposed to,” Mom said.
“I can’t wait for the day when we can be together and not have to worry about anything.”
“I hope that time comes soon.” She wrapped me in one of her warm, tight hugs, and I closed my eyes.
I wanted to soak her in, all of her.
“I’m proud of who you’ve become,” she whispered in my ear.
There were tears in my eyes when I stepped away.
“Do good,” I said to Sara as I hugged her. “We’ll find a way out of this.”
“I love you,” she said.
I held her at arm’s length. “You told me what you wanted me not to tell Scott. Is there anything I should tell him? A message?”
She shook her head. “If he asks, tell him I’m thinking about him, and I hope I’ll be back soon.” She didn’t offer any explanation I could give for why she wasn’t with him, but I guess I didn’t expect her to.
“We need to go, now.”
The portal was a swirling mass of pink-and-white light, shot through with gold.
I would have expected Sirene to make something so beautiful. I stood at Allonic’s side while Mom took Sara’s hand and gave her a sure, brave smile.
Sara tried to mimic Mom but didn’t do too well. They were still holding hands as they stepped through, followed by Sirene.
Seconds later, the portal vanished.
I blinked hard to clear the spots dancing in front of my eyes.
“I hope the portal went unnoticed,” Allonic murmured in his low rumble. “We need to hurry away from here, in case it was.”
“Too late.”