“But...magic?” I whispered, feeling foolish. But that was surely what it was. Dad’s stories had been filled with all kinds of strange beings like witches and mages. He’d said it wasn’t real, but this suggested otherwise.
“I suppose you could call it that,” Erik mused. “It’s a gift from the gods. Valentina was once a very different kind of being to the vampires. Since I sired her, she has kept many of her ancient powers.”
“What was she...before?” I asked, my pulse thundering in my ears.
His answer was another riddle for me to dwell on. And it struck a strange kind of feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Our enemy. A slayer of the Clan of Storms.”
I gripped Fury firmly and willed my hands to stop shaking. I hadn’t realised quite how tightly my own bravery had been tied to Magnar’s presence until he’d left me perched in this goddamn tree.
Smoke spiralled to the south, letting me know that he’d succeeded in lighting the fire. Hopefully the vampires tracking us had spotted it too.
I bit my lip as I scanned the horizon for any sign of Magnar. He’d said if he had enough time he would make it back to me before they arrived. If not, I was on my own.
My heart beat an unsteady rhythm against my ribs. I still couldn’t see him.
Fury grew warmer in my palm and my mouth went dry. He’d assured me the vampires wouldn’t look for me in the branches at the top of a pine tree. They’d be too distracted by the fire to waste time hunting the foliage above them.
Up, up! Fury whispered in my mind and I frowned in confusion as the urge to look skyward gripped me. I squinted into the branches above my head, trying to spot anything amongst them.
It took me a moment to pick out the large, brown rat hidden within the thick boughs. It tilted its head at me in a gesture that looked anything but natural and I lurched towards it, swiping my blade.
The rat let out a high-pitched squeak and leapt to another branch as I swung my blade again.
Fury ached to end the Familiar but my awkward position in the tree made it impossible to get close to it. The rat scurried along the branches, dodging every attempt I made to slice it open before finally making it past me and leaping to the ground.
Indecision paralysed me as the rodent scurried out of sight into the long grass at the base of the tree. I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch it and whatever vampire it was linked to now knew exactly where I was.
Where the hell are you Magnar?
If I stayed here then it was only a matter of time before they found me. And I’d be trapped at their mercy.
My stomach knotted as I made my decision, sheathing Fury and starting my awkward climb out of the tree. I scrambled down as fast as I could, skinning my palms on the rough bark. I rolled as I hit the ground and quickly regained my feet, searching the surrounding area for the vampires who hunted me.
There was no sign of anything beneath the trees but as I grabbed Fury again, the heat from its hilt practically burned me. The blade hummed with the promise of bloodshed and I kept hold of it as I started running.
Magnar had said that if the vampires were too close for him to rejoin me before their arrival, he would take up position downwind from the fire. The smoke blew steadily to the left so I headed after it as fast as my legs could carry me.
I was tempted to shout for him but I couldn’t be sure of who would hear me first. I willed Fury to let me know which way they were coming from but it gave me nothing. It was as if it were telling me that they were approaching from every direction at once.
I stumbled to a halt as I realised what that meant. The blade wasn’t refusing to help me, it was telling me exactly what I’d asked. I was surrounded.
Silence pressed in on me from every side, making goosebumps rise along my arms.
I looked around cautiously, holding the blade up defensively. My skin prickled uneasily. Now that I was paying attention, the utter silence was more than enough to warn me that there were far more vampires coming than we’d thought. Instead of laying a trap for them, it seemed that we’d fallen into one ourselves.
I cursed my luck as the silence stretched on. I’d been stupid to believe that we could ever outsmart them. Of course they’d thrown everything at us this time. We’d killed five vampires two days ago. I doubted any human had managed such a thing in the last twenty-one years. They were hardly going to risk sending a small group a second time. This time they’d make sure they caught me, drag me to the blood bank and drain me alongside my family.
My limbs began to tremble at the thought and I forced myself to think the way Magnar had taught me. I had the blood of a warrior. I would stand and face them like one.
I gritted my teeth and held Fury in front of me, daring the first of them to come and hoping Magnar would appear before they got to me.
As the silence dragged and the tension bit at me, I raised my chin higher and glared out at the swaying grass around me.
“What are you waiting for?” I called when I couldn’t take it anymore. “Surely you’re not afraid of one human girl?”
Fury pulsed with excitement as the first vampire finally rose from the long grass. She was taller than any woman I’d ever seen and her straight, black hair fell like a sheet of ink to her waist. She walked towards me, surveying me through narrowed eyes.
I felt like a mouse waiting for the cat to pounce. I could tell at once that she was an Elite. Even if it hadn’t been for her fine clothes, there was something about the way she held herself that screamed power. Her face was so devastatingly beautiful that it was almost hard to look at. Her skin seemed to glow and her lips were the deepest blood red. The colour made me wonder about the last time she’d fed and I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat.
“Are you all alone out here sweet girl?” she asked, her voice almost as alluring as her face. Their perfection repulsed me. All of that evil wrapped up in a beautiful lie.
“Alone? I’m here with you aren’t I?” I narrowed my eyes at her as she stopped a few meters from me. Her gaze zeroed in on the golden blade in my hand and I smirked at her knowingly.
“Vampire killer,” she hissed, her eyes still locked on the weapon.
Yesss, Fury replied deep within my bones. It longed to meet her properly and I could feel her death winding its way through the blade’s deepest desires.
“I’m so sorry, were some of those dead bloodsuckers your friends?” I wasn’t entirely sure why I was taunting this vampire but something about Fury’s excited energy was rubbing off on me.
“You expect me to believe you killed them?” she spat, her demeanour slipping as the monster inside her rattled its cage, wishing to be let loose.
“You already believe it. Otherwise you’d come a little closer.” I took a purposeful step towards her and a thrill raced down my spine as she stepped back.
I wondered how long I could keep this up. Perhaps it would give Magnar enough time to get to me.
I took another step towards her, an arrogant smile finding its way to my face as I taunted her. The vampire backed away again and I held Fury a little higher as I advanced.
“Perhaps you did kill them,” she admitted. “But we came prepared in case that were true.” She stopped backing up and smiled at me mockingly as she raised her arms.
Vampires rose from the long grass surrounding me in a silent wave of motion. I did a quick count and made it twenty. I wasn’t just outnumbered, I was totally screwed.
I tried not to let my panic show on my face. They won’t kill me. My blood is worth more than my life.
I planted my feet squarely and waited for them to attack. My heart fluttered like a bird in a cage.
Fury hummed with excitement. That made one of us. But as blades couldn’t exactly die, I guessed it had no place for fear.
The Elite waved a hand and they all rushed forward at once.
I wanted to stand and fight but I didn’t even know which way to turn. I spun wildly, slashing Fury before me in a vain hope of sta
ving them off. Some of them dodged away from the blade, others took the wounds it dished out.
I curled my free arm over my head as more hands than I could count grabbed any part of my body they could reach.
Somehow my right arm found the smallest amount of space to move and I let Fury guide my hand as I thrust it skyward. A scream rang out and several of the vampires recoiled in horror as dust fell in a torrent down my arm.
I had half a second to smirk in satisfaction before an iron grip closed on my wrist and twisted violently, forcing me to release my weapon.
As Fury fell from my grasp, my own courage floundered pathetically. I was slammed down onto my back in the grass, each of my limbs pinned in place by a different vampire.
Once they were sure I was secured, the others moved away, allowing the Elite to approach.
My chest rose and fell rapidly as I glared up at her between strands of my golden hair which had fallen across my face.
She stooped to retrieve Fury from the ground but cursed and released it again just as quickly. Smoke rose from her hand and I noticed an imprint of Fury’s runes burned into the flesh of her palm.
I smiled at her triumphantly despite the four vampires who held me pinned at her mercy.
“Show me her right arm,” she snapped angrily and the vampire holding that limb yanked my coat sleeve back to reveal my mark.
The Elite hissed as she spotted it. “Slayer,” she growled, making the word sound like a curse.
My heart started beating faster as doubt crept in. The vampires would never waste human blood by killing me but would they feel the same about a slayer? What if their laws told them to kill slayers on sight?
Any time you want to jump in and save me Magnar, that would be great.
The Elite leaned down to glare at me, her black hair hanging an inch from my face. “The Belvederes will be very happy to see you, vampire killer,” she hissed and the glimmer in her eye sent a dagger of fear slicing through my chest.
She pulled a square of plastic from a pocket within her robes and pressed a button on it, lighting up a screen. I stared at it in confusion as she hit some more buttons then pressed it to her ear.
“General Wolfe?” she said and my heart froze solid in my chest as I realised that what she held was a cellphone. The vampire on the other end of that conversation was the monster who had ripped my family apart. If she took me to him…
“It’s Eve. I-” the Elite pulled the cellphone from her ear and glared at it. “Curse it! The signal has gone again. I hate the west coast. Let’s load her up and head back, I’ll inform the General of our success when the gods deign to return the cell service.”
The Elite stormed away from me and I let out a shaky breath. Wolfe still didn’t know she had me. I was safe from his sadistic clutches for a little longer, I just had to hope Magnar would return before he got his hands on me.
The vampires heaved me up onto my feet and started dragging me back up the hill.
I searched the space around us wildly, desperately hoping to see any hint of Magnar coming to release me. There was no sign of him though.
My heart pounded with panic as each step took me further from the slayer whom I’d entrusted with my life. What if he didn’t know they’d captured me? Or if this group was too big for him to deal with? Perhaps he just wouldn’t think I was worth the risk...
What if he’s left me to face this alone?
The carriage ride was painfully silent as we drove back through the city. Daylight was draining from the sky and the concrete world looked more bleak than ever beyond the window.
Valentina's words crawled into my ears again. “If you want some real advice about Erik, I'd suggest you don't trust a word he says.”
I didn't know who to trust. Erik had told me Valentina had once been their enemy. But despite trying to get more answers out of him, he’d been stubbornly silent on the matter since. Perhaps she really had been trying to help me. But something in my gut told me to beware.
The only thing I knew for sure was that I needed to get assurance that Erik was going to keep up his end of our deal. Nothing else mattered but that. I just needed some time alone to figure out how to do that.
When we headed back into the royal grounds, I wondered if Erik had decided not to spend any more time with me after all.
A girl can dream.
Soon, we exited the carriage outside the castle and I gazed up at its imposing walls. Our silence continued as we walked toward the entrance, but before we got there, Count Fabian stepped out of the door in a dark red uniform.
Erik tugged me against his hip so fast, I squeaked in alarm.
“Evening, Erik,” Fabian said curtly as we approached. “How was your day of courting?”
“Better than yours apparently. Clocking off already?” Erik mocked.
Fabian blew out a breath, his dark eyes dropping onto me. “Has he been an asshole?”
“Yes, all day,” I said, a small smile gripping my mouth. Take that, Count Erik.
Erik's fingers dug into my hip. “Well you were running your hands all over me half an hour ago, so I can't have been all bad.” He threw me a wink and my brow wrinkled.
“Was she now?” Fabian drawled, throwing me a curious glance before returning his gaze to Erik. “So you're going to see the ritual through, are you? I have to say, I'm rather surprised you're finally accepting your duties.”
“I suppose I was waiting for the right girl.” Erik squeezed my arm and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. The urge grew even stronger when he leant down and placed a kiss on my temple.
Overkill, much?
I decided to get a little payback. “I guess it was rather cute when you realised your fly had been undone all through lunch,” I said with a sweet smile. My attempt to humiliate Erik made Fabian bark a laugh. Well, I was supposed to make him like me, so why miss an opportunity to throw Erik to the wolves at the same time?
Erik's hold grew painfully tight.
“How embarrassing, I do hope someone snapped a picture for the Royal Times tomorrow.” Fabian beamed, looking to me again. “Perhaps we'll read through it together over breakfast in the morning?”
“I look forward to it.” I gave him a girlish grin, keeping to my word on flirting with him.
Erik's grip on me was growing too uncomfortable to bear.
“The night is still young, brother,” Erik said to Fabian, showing no visible signs of embarrassment. “Perhaps she won't want to spend the day with you after finishing the night with me.”
I bit my lip in the way I'd seen the vampire do at the bar, glancing up through my lashes at Fabian. “I highly doubt that.”
Erik pressed his mouth to my ear and heat surged right down to my toes. I was divided on wanting to pull away and stand there forever absorbing that feeling.
“Come on, let's get you somewhere quieter where you can kiss me again.”
I bit down on my tongue as he drew me away from Fabian, half-dragging me toward the castle.
“Laugh, dearest,” Erik growled and I forced out a giggle as he pulled me inside.
My smile fell flat as we stepped through the doors and Erik immediately released me.
This was a farce of epic proportions. Neither of us smiled as we headed upstairs and Erik escorted me back to my room. At least I'd get a night to myself without having to breathe the same air as him. Or maybe he didn't breathe at all. Either way, I wanted out of his general space.
Erik opened the door for me and I was more than a little annoyed when he followed me inside.
He released a heavy sigh, dropping down into the velvet chair. “This isn't going to work if you hate me, Rebel.”
I perched on the edge of the bed, my throat growing dry. “Then why have you been working so hard all day to make me hate you?”
His lips pressed together. “That was not my intention.”
“Well it must be your personality then,” I sassed, seething all over again. How long was I going to have to live like
this? Having to spend time with this bastard of a vampire who seemed to take joy in tormenting me.
Erik opened his mouth, looking ready to scold me, but I cut him off before he could.
“Oh don't start on my tone again. If you want me to hate you less at least let me speak my mind.”
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 19