by Ciara Graves
I rolled my neck, clamping my lips shut tight around my fangs. Drinking blood enhanced all my abilities, but the cost was not worth it in my mind. I did it so rarely, the worry I would go too far and add another victim to my list was always on my mind.
My cell rang loudly in my pocket, and I groaned, assuming it was Owen.
“I said I’d be back,” I answered without looking to see who it was.
Heavy breathing came through the line followed by a whimper.
“Owen?”
“Not exactly,” a male voice said.
“Who is this?” I stopped in the center of the sidewalk.
“Talk, girl,” the man ordered.
My heart thundered away in my chest.
“I said talk, or I’ll make you scream.”
“Seneca,” Lexi yelled. “Please, help me! Please!”
“Lexi, where are you? Who has you?” I turned around wildly as if there’d be a helpful arrow pointing me to where she was. “Answer me.”
“I don’t know,” she cried. “I can’t see anything… Seneca, he’s a vampire… no! Get off me!”
“You leave her alone,” I shouted into the phone.
A few people nearby stopped to look at me, but I snarled, and they moved on in a hurry.
“I can only guarantee her life until midnight,” the vampire said as Lexi continued to cry in the background. “If you refuse to show, you’ll find her body in the morning. If you agree to come, things will turn out differently.”
“Where are you?” I demanded through gritted teeth.
“Abandoned farmhouse outside of town, you know it?”
“I do.”
“Good. We’ll be waiting for you.”
“If you hurt her—” I threatened. Or at least began to, but there was a click, and the line went dead. “Damn it.”
Shoving my cell back in my pocket, I turned around and sprinted down the sidewalk. Being part vampire gave me their speed, and I used every ounce of it to reach Lexi in time.
Midnight was less than an hour away.
The vampire hadn’t sounded like Draven, but had to be connected to him. Draven saw her with me the night he attacked. I should have seen this coming, should have watched out for her better, but I was distracted by my own shit and Owen.
At the gravel drive leading to the house, I slowed and armed myself with one of my short swords and the stake.
Candlelight flickered in the front windows, and I saw two shadows against the wall.
I sniffed the air and picked up Lexi’s mostly human scent, along with the smell of vampire.
Instinct screamed at me that this was a trap, as my feet carefully made their way along the drive. If not for Lexi, I would have told the vampire to go screw himself. But she’d been through enough in her life already to add being kidnapped by a vampire to the list.
When I neared the front door, I held my breath to listen.
Lexi was crying, and the vampire was talking loudly, counting off the minutes ‘til midnight. There was no time to search the house and surrounding yard.
I leaned back and kicked the front door open so hard it flew off the hinges and slammed into the wall.
“Seneca,” Lexi yelled.
“Shut up!” the vampire snarled, and she cried out in pain.
I hissed at the sight of him standing behind her, using her as a meat shield. His hand wound through her hair, and he had his sharpened nails aimed at her throat, ready to strike.
“Cutting it close, Seneca. I worried you weren’t going to make it.”
“Lexi, you alright?” I asked.
She nodded until the vampire snapped his jaws and yanked on her hair.
“Who the hell are you?” I aimed the stake at his face. I squinted, then my eyes widened. “You’re the chicken shit from the other night.”
“Something like that,” he replied with a leer. “Tonight, I’m the bait.”
Shit. It was a trap after all. I waited for more vampires to descend, but none came.
“Let her go,” I ordered, gripping the stake in my fist. “Or I’ll make sure you meet the sun.”
“He’ll let her go,” another voice hissed from behind me, and I shifted so I could keep Lexi in my sights and watched as Draven approached from the rear of the house.
I thought there was only one vampire here. How hadn’t I smelled him?
“But first you have to agree to something.”
“Why would I listen to a damned word you have to say?”
“Because it would appear we got off on the wrong foot, so to speak.” Draven held up his hands and spun slowly around, showing me he had no weapons. His shirt was too damned tight to hide anything, as were his damned leather pants. “Waving a white flag here, Seneca.”
“Why? What do you want with me, except to try and kill me again?” I asked, confused.
“We need to talk,” he said. “Simple as that. Agree to stay and have a conversation and my associate will let her go. You have my word.”
“The word of a murderer?” I scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“And what right do you have to judge me?” he asked quietly. “The only innocent in this room is the girl, and you know it. You can even keep your weapons. All I want to do is talk.”
“About what?” I said impatiently. “What could you possibly have to say that would stop me from killing you?”
“Seneca,” Lexi whispered, voice shaking in fear.
The vampire holding her shushed her, and I snarled at him as he winked at me.
“You spill one drop of blood I’ll rip your throat out,” I warned the vampire.
“Shane, enough,” Draven said.
To my surprise, the vampire, Shane, rolled his eyes, but stopped flashing fang and loosened his hold on Lexi. Slightly.
I tried to tell her with my eyes that I was going to get her out of this mess and she subtly nodded her head.
I knew her hanging with me had always been a bad idea.
“I’m waiting.” I glowered at Draven. “You have three seconds to tell me why I should stay or your boy over there is going to lose his head.”
Shane snarled at me, but Draven held up his hand, and the sound cut off. “Rudarius.”
My blood turned cold. “What about him?”
“You want him dead,” he said, taking a slow step closer to me.
“And? You have a problem with my wanting your master dead?”
“Quite the opposite.”
I tensed when he took another step closer, believing this had to be a trap of some kind. Had to be, right?
“I want him dead, too. It would appear you, and I have a common enemy. Care to talk now?”
My fingers fidgeted on the stake and the short sword.
I waited to see a flicker of the lie in Draven’s eyes, but they shone with the same hatred I recognized from my own reflection.
“Let her go, and I’ll hear what you have to say.”
Draven snapped his fingers and Shane released Lexi.
She staggered toward me, but I shook my head then tossed her my cell.
“Seneca, I’m not leaving without you.”
“Yes, you are. Take it, walk back to the diner, and call Owen. I’ll be along.”
“Seneca,” she whispered hesitantly, but I hissed loudly at her, and she took off for the door. Her steps crunched along the gravel, and I let out a relieved breath when the sound changed to smacking against the pavement. No other vampires waited out there for her. She was safe, for now.
“Interesting relationship you have with her,” Draven mused.
“You wanted to talk, so talk. Why would you want to kill Rudarius?”
“Let’s just say I owe him,” he told me.
I found myself hanging on every word coming out of his mouth.
Chapter 9
Draven
Seneca was more than ready to kill for that human girl. That fire burning in her for violence, I needed that, to take on Rudarius.
The
rings glinted in the firelight, and my gaze darted to them briefly then back to find her watching me intensely. Curiously. She kept her weapons level and shrugged.
“Well?”
“You want Rudarius dead, and I might have a way to do that.”
“Why would you kill your own master? If you fail, you’ll bring the entire Black Hawk Coven down on your head.”
“True, but then, I don’t plan on failing.” I clasped my hands behind my back and slowly paced around the room, Seneca not taking her eyes off me for a second. “Those rings on your fingers. They’re powerful, yes?”
“I guess,” she replied slowly. “Why are you so interested in them? Not like you can use them.”
My hand wavered in front of me. “That’s not entirely true.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Rudarius has found a way to use fae dust to trigger the power within your rings,” I explained.
Her face paled, and she lowered her weapons slightly. “That’s not possible.”
“I would have agreed with you if I hadn’t seen it for myself. All those years of his using fae dust as a drug were a ruse for a much bigger scheme, it appears.”
I caught the shudder that raced over her. Flashes of her past came to mind. There was no room to be sympathetic to what she suffered at the hands of Rudarius. I needed her for her power, and that was it. She was a means to an end.
I cleared my throat, buying myself time to get my emotions in order. Rudarius. He was all that mattered here.
“And that scheme is what?” she asked.
“War.”
“War on who?”
Shane hissed quietly.
She glared at him, raising her stake toward his face.
He snarled at the threat.
I shook my head at him. “Shane, wait for me outside, would you? You’re making our guest nervous.”
He bowed his head and blurred away, the candle flames flickering wildly in his haste to be gone.
“You can lower your weapons,” I told her. “I don’t plan on attacking you tonight.”
“Why should I trust anything you say?” she hissed. “You tried to kill me, remember? You kidnapped an innocent girl to get to me.”
“True, but then again you provoked the attack. Spying on me for the Feds?”
“We all have our jobs to do and parts to play.” She sheathed her short sword at her hip. The stake slipped back into a holster on her forearm.
A clever place for it. No wonder I hadn’t seen it the first time she used it on me.
“I was told you murdered four Feds and they’re trying to connect you to their deaths. Did you do it?”
It was far from my proudest moment, but sadly was necessary. “They left me no choice,” I finally replied.
“That, I highly doubt.”
“I did not bring you here tonight to discuss my sins,” I snapped, losing patience. “Rudarius wants a war against the fae and seeing as you are part fae,” my eyes flickering to her pointed ears as clear evidence, despite the fangs in her mouth, “I assume you are upset at the news.”
She rolled her shoulders and leaned back against the closest wall. “Not really.”
“They’re your kin.”
“Are they? I was kidnapped by Rudarius, and no one rescued me, at least no one who was fae. And my favorite part was being bitten by one of you stinking monsters and turned into a half vampire. I’m tainted. The fae don’t give two shits about me, so why should I care about them?”
That was not what I expected, and I fumbled for a reply. Had the fae really turned their backs on her, just like that, for what she was? And who she was? Why wasn’t she more upset by being betrayed by her people? Then again, Seneca was the only fae-vampire I’d heard of. Ever. She was an unknown in our world. I glanced at her rings again, wondering why a royal or noble fae would be raised outside of Otherworld, to begin with.
“Your parents, who were they?” I asked.
“What does it matter, they’re dead.”
“Were they nobles? Royals?”
“What? No. They were normal fae,” she replied sharply. “Why are you asking me about them?”
“Normal fae don’t have rings of power,” I pointed out. “If you were raised around them, you would know.”
Her hand curled into a fist, tucking the rings out of sight. “You’re not answering my question.”
“Your rings. Where did you get them?” Was she not the fae Rudarius wanted to turn into a weapon? I saw her face in his dungeon, but then again, she could have just been one of the many fae he kidnapped over the centuries to drain their blood. She was rescued though, by who, I wondered. “Your rings,” I repeated.
“They were my mother’s,” she said quietly. “They came to me after I escaped Rudarius’s dungeon.”
“You didn’t have them when he held you captive?”
“No… I thought they were lost,” she whispered, running her fingers over the gemstones as they glowed softly. “The day I received them—why am I even telling you this?” she snarled suddenly, pushing off the wall and aiming for the door. “I’m done talking to you.”
I blurred around her and blocked her path. “I am not finished with you.”
The stake sprung free of its holster, and the tip was pressed against my chest, this time aimed directly at my heart.
“Stand aside, or I’ll make sure this time I don’t miss.”
I spread my arms wide, keeping my gaze locked on hers. A tiny voice in the back of my head said she wasn’t bluffing, but without her agreeing to aid me, or the rings and the dust I could get from her veins, there was no point in living anymore. Rudarius would figure out what I was up to and he’d tear me apart for it, piece by piece.
“I’m as good as dead if you don’t hear me out,” I confessed.
“Why should I care about your problems?” She pressed the stake harder against my chest, drawing blood. “You’re just another monster going bump in the night. A killer.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she drew her arm back as if to plunge the stake into my chest. Except she didn’t. It slid back into its holster, and she took a large step back, appearing at war with her emotions.
“A fae came to us recently,” I told her, lowering my arms. “He bore a ring like yours and on it was a sigil for a royal family. Rudarius is after any fae with rings because of the power they control.”
“All fae have magic.”
“Yes, but royal fae have more. Much more. I’ve seen it. And they are the only ones with rings to manifest it.”
“I’ve never done anything great with these rings,” she told me. “You have the wrong fae. I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
“Rudarius will have his war,” I said when she made to walk out the back door.
My words stilled her, but she didn’t turn back around.
“He’s already started, and no one’s even noticed. When he finally attacks, it’ll be too late to stop him. He’s powerful, so much more powerful than he was before.”
“So you want us to what, stop him from starting a war?” Her voice was cold.
“I want revenge,” I seethed.
This time she did whirl around.
I let loose of my fury. “I want to see him bleed, hear him beg for his life. I want him dead, but I can’t do it alone.”
“I’m not who you think I am. I’m the freak. Nothing more.”
“You are more,” I argued. “You said someone rescued you from Rudarius. Who was it?”
“A mage,” she said softly.
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. He went missing years ago.”
There was more to her words than what she said out loud. I saw the truth in her eyes. She was looking for him. If he was a mage, then he was probably one of the many Rudarius saw fit to capture and imprison. Or dispose of.
She should know what was happening in Otherworld because of her damned boyfrie
nd. He worked for the demon ambassador. Mages going missing was something many in power would take notice of. Rudarius’s view on the meddling of mages was widespread, so if they started disappearing, I doubted there were many in power who would care, but still they would know. He was weakening them, right in front of their faces, and they were too ignorant to see it.
“When was the last time you were in Otherworld?”
“Years. And I don’t plan on going back. Not like anything’s going on there anyway, Owen would’ve said something about it.” Even as she said so, she didn’t seem convinced.
“Ask your demon what’s happening in Otherworld,” I said.
She stilled.
“Ask him about the missing mages. Make him tell you the truth.”
“Mages? What do you mean?”
“Ask him and then call me when you’re ready to talk again.” I left a small piece of paper on a rotted end table with my number. “Until then, I’ll assume our truce is still on. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she said reluctantly. “I don’t trust you.”
“That’s very smart,” I said, then blurred out of the house to the end of the drive where Shane waited.
“Nice to see you don’t have another stake through your chest,” he commented. “Well?”
“We need more time to convince her,” I said as we strolled casually down the road.
“There’s not much of that to go around right now. Lacy’s suspicious enough as it is. And if Rudarius gets even a hint of what we’re plotting, we’re dead.”
He had a point, but there was no rushing someone to seeing the truth about who they were. After two hundred years, I’d learned many things about the mind. The more a truth was forced on someone, the less likely that someone was going to accept it. I planted the seed. All she needed to do now was ask the right questions of the right people. If she was the woman I thought she was, I’d be getting a call sooner, rather than later.
“Why not just take her now?” Shane suggested. “There’s two of us. We can handle her.”
“I would rather have her on our side, at least for a while. Fighting her continually would grow old, and it would be a shame if she got lucky and finished one of us off before we were able to kill Rudarius.”