by Ciara Graves
“Huh, funny, in my version you tried to rip my throat out,” I commented lightly.
Her gaze shifted to me.
I shrugged. “It’s what happened. We were talking about your journey, and then you attacked me. Woke up with puncture wounds on my neck.”
“And I had a stab wound really close to my heart.” She rested her hand on the spot. “Shit, Draven, what was that? I thought it was a freaking nightmare.”
I walked further into the yard, aiming for the oak tree. It was times like this I wish I could be better with words, but blunt was so much easier, to say, if not to hear. “Rudarius. I’m sure he had something to do with it. Getting inside our heads somehow.”
She crossed her arms at the mention of his name, curling in on herself.
“Seneca, how many times did you talk to him while you were gone? What did you even talk about? And please don’t lie. As much as I hate Rudarius, he’s usually telling the truth.” I rested against the tree, waiting. “I’ll stay out here all night and all day if I have to. Give me an answer.”
“I don’t know,” she blurted.
“You don’t know.”
She shook her head, hair falling from the very loose braid she had it in. “I just… it happened, alright? I was inside my own head one minute, and then we were in some room at a fortress. At first, I thought it was at his place, but then thought it was all in my head.” She rubbed her face hard, eyes wild and landing everywhere but on me. “I wasn’t even sure if it was real.”
“Obviously it was.”
“Don’t,” she snapped, aiming a finger at me. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me, like I messed up. Like I did something stupid.”
“You said you wouldn’t talk to him again.”
“Like I can control it,” she ranted, throwing her arms in the air. “You and Macron are the same. You both think that everything that goes on up here is in my control. Well, it’s not.” She turned her back to me.
The orbs in the yard burned bright red.
I ground my teeth, not moving away from the tree, as I worked to keep my temper in check. “What did he talk to you about? Did you learn anything useful?”
“Draven, don’t.” Her pleading tone caught me off guard, as did the guilt that came with it.
“Seneca. What did he do?”
The orbs changed from red to blue, then black for the length of a heartbeat, then back to red. My imagination ran off with me, growling quietly as I imagined him hurting her. Torturing her all over again inside her mind. What she said next rooted me to the spot.
“He tried to comfort me,” she whispered. “He spoke about what he wanted for my future. What he saw me doing. He showed it to me.”
“Showed you what?”
“Another possible outcome and it was terrifying and glorious at the same time. I don’t know how else to describe it.”
She sounded almost in awe, and slowly I approached her as she kept talking.
“He hugged me as if he… as if he loved me,” she spat, and I bit back a curse, willing her to stop talking, but at the same time, I had to know what was going on. “He kissed me. I was comfortable around him, Draven. How… why? I don’t—I don’t understand what he did to me. But I was, and I wanted to go back. I wanted to see him… gods, what’s wrong with me?” She spun around. Tears streamed down her cheeks as true terror filled her green eyes.
For a long moment, all I did was stare at her, dumbfounded, torn between disgust for her and fury with my own fear. Then she clapped a hand to her mouth, eyes wide, and sprinted to the fence. As she was sick over the side, my limbs finally stopped being numb, and I rushed to her, holding her hair and rubbing her back as she heaved. She trembled. I held her up, talking to her quietly, not even sure what I was saying.
Rudarius had indeed messed with her mind, but not in the way I assumed he would. This was a low blow, and it was meant to hurt me more than Seneca.
It was meant to tear us apart. And I nearly let it. Hearing Seneca admit she wanted to see the man who tortured her, who tainted her in the first place sickened me. But she’d fought him in the Blood Dragons fortress. She tried to kill him. Rudarius was going to have to try a lot harder to turn us against each other.
When she finished heaving, I turned her around, but she kept pulling away.
“No, just don’t, alright? You can be pissed. I’m pissed, and I’ll understand if you don’t want to… to… shit, I hate him,” she shouted the last, shoving away from me and stumbling across the yard. “You hear me, you bastard? I hate you.”
“Seneca, he tricked you,” I told her, but she continued to slip from my grasp, and I gave up for now. “He got inside your head. Hate to say I told you so, but I knew this would happen.”
But she was shaking her head like an insane person. “No, no, no. You don’t understand.”
“What don’t I get?”
“It’s worse, so much worse. You’re going to hate me. I hate me.”
Honestly, at that moment, my mind couldn’t stop seeing Rudarius holding Seneca as I held her. Kissing her as I kissed her. My own stomach rebelled, but I swallowed hard and didn’t lose it. Yet. “I will never hate you.”
“You should.” She held up her rings.
“I’m confused, what about them?”
“I messed up,” she whispered. “I was supposed to focus on who I am, on my power while I made the rings. And I was, but then this voice crept back into my mind.”
“Rudarius?”
She went perfectly still as if hearing that voice. “It was me, but not me,” she finally said, her lips barely moving as if she was afraid to say it aloud. “And now… shit, I have to get away from here. He’s going to use me against you. I can feel it.”
She made to bolt for the back door, but I blurred around and caught her in my arms. She kicked and punched wildly. No way was I about to let her go. I held her, taking her fears and her anger until she calmed down enough for me to set her back on her feet and have her face me.
“The rings, Seneca, what happened with the rings?” I asked, keeping a tight hold on her shoulders.
“The moment I created the rings, that voice was speaking to me,” she said loudly. “And when we were fighting, Rudarius showed me what I did. What I let happen.” She held up her hand again as tears burned in her eyes. “He has rings, Draven. Rings that match mine and I basically gifted them to him. It’s my fault. Whatever he does next it’s my fault.” She repeated it over and over, attempting to break away from my arms again. “You have to let me leave. Just let me go. He’s mine, alright? I’m the only one who should face him. Let me go!”
“No, just stop for a minute. You’re not going off to get yourself killed.”
“Why the hell not?” Her shout was so loud; it caught us both off-guard. “The rings were supposed to help me, and all they did was give him more power. What if I’m not enough? And this voice in my head, it’s constantly whispering.”
“Then find a way to drown it out.”
“Don’t you think I’m trying?” she shot back.
“Leaving now means he wins,” I said as she turned her back to me to walk away. “You’re letting him win. Is that what you want?”
“I don’t know what I want, not anymore.”
“You’re lying. You want the same thing I have all along. I know you do. You just have to remember it.”
She whirled around and marched toward me, shoving me, but I stayed put. “I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else. But I don’t think I can stop it anymore. I don’t want you to be there when I fail. Your disappointment will kill me. Don’t you see that?”
“You are not going to fail.”
Her laugh was harsh and filled with bitterness. “You don’t get it. He’s up here,” she tapped her forehead, “and nothing I do is going to get rid of him, nothing aside from obliterating him.” She looked at the rings on her fingers as she added quietly, “To do that I might have to lose myself.”
“No,” I snarled and grabbed ho
ld of her hand. “I won’t let you.”
“What if there’s no other choice?”
“How can you say that so calmly? There’s always a choice and if I have to tie you to a damned chair until you see that, I will.”
“Cage me? That’s what you want to do?”
“If you’re going to run off and be an idiot, yes.”
We hissed at each other, close to starting another fight. This time, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold off her attacks.
We stood toe-to-toe, glaring at each other when the back door opened, and a voice reached us.
“Hey, I just got back… what the hell is going on with you two?” Marlie asked. He moved to get in between us, but I took a step away from Seneca. “I miss something?”
“A lot,” Seneca replied. “You have news from Ash?”
“The fae are going to be arriving over the next couple of days,” he said slowly.
“Good, the vampires will be joining us then too,” I informed him, not looking away from Seneca. “Macron said he’ll find a way to accommodate everyone.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Anything else?” Seneca asked, her voice strained.
“No, that’s it. You sure you’re alright?”
Seneca glowered at me then stepped back as she said, “Peachy,” then stomped inside and slammed the door shut behind her.
Running my hands through my hair, I paced around the garden, cursing under my breath every few steps. Rudarius had given up torturing her the old-fashioned way and tried to seduce her instead. What had he shown her in this other possible future? She hadn’t told me, and now I doubted she would say anything else on the matter. He ruined everything in my life, but I was not going to let him steal her from me.
And now he had new rings just like hers. What the hell did that even mean for us?
“Draven? What’s wrong with her?”
Damn, I forgot Marlie was out here with me. “You have an hour?”
“Yes. She forged new rings, right? I thought you all would be celebrating, minus the dead vampire leaders, of course.”
I reached the bench and sat down heavily, clasping my hands between my knees as I hunched over. “Rudarius admitted he wanted Seneca as a bride,” I informed him as he joined me on the bench. “It appears he’s now trying to convince her that joining him is the right path to follow. Now she’s terrified she’s going to turn on us. That she won’t be able to stop the evil taint inside her from taking over.”
“Not going to happen.”
“What I said, but she’s changed.” How was I supposed to fight him when he was inside her head? I said I’d be there for her, but this was her fight. She had to be the one to silence his voice for good. She had to be the one to show him she wouldn’t be so easily taken. “He almost had her,” I whispered in disbelief and Marlie cursed. “If she hadn’t come back when she did. If Rudarius hadn’t attacked us…” I trailed off, hating where my thoughts went.
“It won’t happen. Seneca loves you, Draven.”
“I know. She’d rather leave me and face him alone than risk my life.”
“You can’t let her.”
“Don’t plan on it.”
What was already a complicated situation just became a hundred times worse.
As I looked at the cottage, I wondered how much time I had left with Seneca.
How much time until we either succeeded in our mission?
Or one of us killed the other?
Chapter 16
Seneca
I spit the mouthwash out and sucked in a sharp breath. I was pale, and my eyes shifted from green to black in a constant dance as I fought to get control of my raging emotions.
Why fight it? You heard him. He wants to lock you up.
“Shut up,” I muttered through gritted teeth.
Why should I? Join me now, my pet, join me and see what I have planned for Draven and all the others who would dare stand in our way.
“I’m not like you. I won’t be.”
Aren’t you?
“Go away, just leave me alone,” I pleaded. “I can’t do this.”
You can. Give in. Come to me as I know you want to.
I shut my eyes, thinking of Draven and nothing else. Hands rested on my shoulders, and without even opening my eyes, I knew who it was. “What are you doing here?”
Rudarius and I were back in that damned room. “I wanted to see how you were after our spat.”
“Spat? That wasn’t a spat. That was me giving you my answer.”
“I see and what are you doing now? You and I both know if you wanted to keep me out, you would, especially with these now at your disposal.” He lifted my hand, turning it gently so my rings caught the firelight. “We are a match in every way. How else would I have the rings?”
“None of this is real. You don’t mean any of it.”
“Don’t I? If you hadn’t interrupted me, you would’ve come home to find yourself free to choose your own path.”
“What do you want, huh? What’s the end game?”
“The end game, my pet, is to ensure there is only one world to rule over and make it our own.”
He ran his hand through my hair, loosening the braid. Out in the garden, all my disgust at how I reacted had finally slammed into me. But here I was back in this damned room, and all I felt was comforted. A hiss sounded in the room, not coming from me or Rudarius.
Draven. Even without realizing it, he worked to pull me back to his arms.
“Ignore him,” Rudarius commented lightly. “He is nothing to you.”
I reached around and caught Rudarius’s hand as Draven’s blue eyes appeared in my mind, anchoring me. “As I said before, you’re going to have to try a lot harder.”
“Seneca, wait—”
But I shut my eyes, and when I opened them, I was back in my bathroom at my cottage. And thankfully, I was alone. Draven was right and wrong at the same time. Standing against Rudarius would be stupid, but only because I already knew the outcome of the fight. I couldn’t see myself living once the battle was over. Couldn’t picture the happy life with Draven. Taking that trip to the ocean I’d dreamt about. All I saw was my demise, alongside Rudarius’s.
Making Draven accept and understand that would be impossible.
My cell went off in the bedroom, and I hurried to pick it up. When I saw Owen’s name, I almost didn’t answer, but he probably had news for Macron. “Yeah?”
“Seneca, he’s here,” he shouted into the phone.
“What, who?” I cringed at the sound of screaming in the background. “Owen?”
I ran through the house as the call broke up. I only caught snippets.
“…Rudarius… army,” then there was nothing.
I shouted his name as I reached the back door and threw it open, but he was gone.
“Draven,” I yelled.
He blurred to me.
“Valesk is under attack.”
“We can’t stop a whole army,” he said.
My rings were already glowing as I concentrated on forming a portal to get us there.
He took my arm. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I’m not losing anyone else.”
He didn’t argue. Marlie joined us, stepping inside the dark dome just as I finished it. I focused on Owen, and we disappeared from my backyard. Probably should’ve left a note for Macron, but too late now. We landed outside the demon embassy to find it on fire. Demons screamed and ran for cover as vampires attacked.
“Shit,” I whispered, looking at the attacking army. “We can’t save them all.”
“Then we find who we can, and we get them out.” Draven squeezed my hand. “Weapons?”
I mentally drew a sword of shadow, and with a blink, it appeared in Draven’s waiting hand. I made a second for Marlie but didn’t use any for myself. I’d been itching for a fight after Rudarius got away and now was my chance to unleash some pent-up magic.
“I’ll open a portal
,” I told them. “Direct as many demons as you can to me.”
Draven hesitated, but nodded and took off, engaging three vampires charging toward two demonesses and their children. He shouted for them to run to me and I motioned them through, telling them to get to the garden. Back home, Macron would get the idea once demons started popping out of nowhere. Using my right hand to hold open the portal, I formed a whip in my left and lashed out as vampires turned toward me.
Snarling and growling as they came in for the kill. I took them down easily, one after another.
These were young vampires. Rudarius hadn’t even sent his best men to take over Valesk. Unless they had already taken out the necessary targets and this was the cleanup crew. There’d been mages here. Plus the ambassador. He would’ve gone after them first. If any remained behind, I’d be surprised.
The fleeing demons continued to sprint through the portal, but the amount of power was taking its toll on me, even with rings. My hand started to cramp, and my whole arm went numb, losing control of the whip.
Three vampires sprinted toward me. I lost sight of Draven and Marlie. A ferocious growl had me turning to find Owen throwing himself at the vampires. He tackled them to the ground. They rolled, but he easily bested them. When he righted, the vampires’ heads rolling away, I saw his bloody clothes and the various wounds stretching across his chest and arms.
“You came,” he grunted.
“You think I’d let you die? Dumbass.”
He managed a smile.
More demons appeared at his side. Whatever was left of the fighting force, I presumed. Valesk was not a very large realm. I looked over the ones at Owen’s side.
His eyes darkened. “We were caught off guard. Some magical bomb. Took out half our numbers.”
“Seneca,” Draven yelled as he blurred over. “The vampires are retreating.”
“What? Why?” We were seriously outnumbered. Why wouldn’t they push to wipe out everyone left? Unless… “We need to evacuate, now!”
“Why?” Owen asked.
“Just do it, find everyone you can. We don’t have much time.”
His eyes widened, and he took off a dead sprint, the other demons with him. Marlie stayed at the portal with me as Draven blurred away to help find any demons he could and get them to safety.