by Alicia Rades
I continued to struggle and got one hand free, but it was instantly restrained again in less than a second.
“She means it, Rae,” Venn groaned.
I stopped struggling, not because I knew Venn was right, but because I didn’t know why I was struggling in the first place. Even if I managed to get free, I couldn’t save Venn—or anyone else, for that matter.
“Guess again,” Maliya demanded of Teagan.
“I don’t know!” Teagan repeated. “Try the top drawer in the dining room hutch.”
“No!” Fiona objected immediately. “I was just in those drawers. The locket isn’t there.”
Maliya raised an eyebrow. “Any other guesses?”
Teagan drew in shallow breaths. “Go to hell.”
Maliya scoffed. “Honey, I’ve been planning my trip to hell for decades. It’ll be a blast. In the meantime, let’s see what kind of hell I can make for you.”
Maliya gestured to the men behind me. Before I knew what was happening, pain blasted through the side of my head. I caught myself a moment before my face smashed into the ground.
Screams filled the air around me, but I couldn’t make sense of who was saying what.
Stop it!
You don’t need to do this!
Hit her again.
That last one, I was certain was Maliya, but it barely sounded like her over the ringing in my ears.
“Stop! I have another guess.” I thought for sure that was Teagan.
Fingers tangled in my hair and yanked my head back. The hand on the back of my head forced my face forward. It connected with the ground with a sickening crunch. A flash of red crossed my eyes, and hot pain spread across my nose. The breath left my lungs as foot after foot connected with my abdomen. I tried to protect myself by crossing my arms over my stomach, but the pain continued. Blow after blow after blow.
“Go check,” I heard Maliya bark.
Everything around me faded. The sounds. The lights. Everything. All I heard was the blood pulsing in my ears. All I saw was the pitch black of the inside of my eyelids. All I felt was the fresh, tender bruises on my skin and the excruciating pain of a broken nose. Every inch of my skin the vampires beat ignited in sharp pains.
It will all be over soon, Rachel, I told myself.
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I realized that I truly believed it. These were my last moments. And it honestly didn’t bother me.
I closed my eyes, welcoming the pain. Soon, it would all be over. Soon, I would see my family again.
It’d been so long since I’d seen my dad’s smile and felt my mother’s embrace. I hoped it was nice where they were, that the sun was shining, that it smelled like my mother and tasted like my father’s homemade apple pie.
I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Jenna, I thought, as if she might be able to hear me from wherever she was. I believed with all my heart she was still alive, and I’d failed her.
I hoped I was wrong. For once, I wanted to be wrong.
I didn’t want to say goodbye to Venn or the rest of them. I’d enjoyed my time with them. They made me feel like I had a family again, if only for a brief moment.
The pain seemed to wash away. I hardly noticed it anymore as a positive energy consumed me. Whatever happened next, I was ready for it.
“Finally, we have it,” a satisfied voice cut through my clouded mind. “Kill them all.”
My stomach twisted. I couldn’t have heard that right, could I?
It was one thing to accept my own death, but I’d be leaving this world with one regret. I’d let another family down. I hadn’t been able to save them.
It’s not over yet, a voice in the back of my mind said. You still have time.
The voice was right. Until my soul left this body, I still had a chance. Venn still had a chance.
I peeled my swollen eyes open. Two vampires loomed above me, still delivering blows to my abdomen in what felt like slow motion. Their faces contorted in anger. Did they even know what they were angry about? I felt sorry for them. They probably didn’t know what love was. Their curse had stolen that from them, and now they were damned to eternal misery. It wasn’t fair of the vampires to take everyone else down with them.
It took all the strength I had to move my lips and force my vocal chords to produce sound. Past the dry, scratchy ache in my throat, an incantation spilled out.
“Ardeat ignis.” I repeated the phrase I’d heard Genevieve use to ignite her candles.
I didn’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t ready for the sight that unfolded before my eyes. Red and orange flames engulfed the two vampires above me. The blows against my abdomen immediately stopped as they both stumbled backward, screaming in pain. Heat from the fires warmed my skin, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
The other vampires on the lawn all stepped back, their eyes filled with utter shock.
“What the hell?” Maliya shouted. “Help them!”
The remaining vampires on the lawn rushed forward to help put out the flames, but this wasn’t any ordinary fire. This was a witch’s fire—my fire—and it wasn’t giving up that easily. All of Maliya’s cronies lit up like they’d been doused in gasoline, the flames spreading rapidly along their skin. It only took moments for the fires engulfing the first two men to fizzle out as their bodies disintegrated into a pile of ash.
Maliya screamed, calling attention to the vampires inside the house. I lifted my head to see a small group of them rushing toward the broken window in the living room to make it outside as fast as they could.
I muttered the incantation under my breath a second time. All throughout the house, red and orange light danced across the walls as Maliya’s men burst into flame. Soon, the curtains caught fire, and smoke billowed out the windows. Glass shattered out a window on the second story, and a man alight with flames jumped out of it, screaming. He was already reduced to a pile of ash before he hit the ground.
Teagan and Fiona rushed over to Ryland, who was just regaining consciousness. Venn’s swollen face came into view. He touched me gently, making certain he didn’t hurt me.
“Rae,” he said in a rush, helping me sit up.
That voice. That beautiful voice. I loved the way he said my name—
I didn’t get enough time to enjoy it before a strong hand grabbed the back of my shirt and dragged me to my feet. Something sharp pressed to my throat. I glanced to the ground where the vamps had tossed the dagger, but it was gone.
I swallowed, but the fear had completely left my body. Instead, a sense of victory washed over me. Venn and his family were free to make a run for it now.
“What kind of trick are you and your friends playing?” Maliya spat into my ear, but she directed the question at Venn.
He’d shot to his feet. Fiona, Teagan, and Ryland all froze on the ground behind him.
“Let her go,” Venn demanded. “You have the locket. You got what you came for.”
Maliya laughed. “You know I don’t work that way. All of my men are dead.”
“Then kill me already,” I said in a calm, collected tone. Even I was surprised by it.
“I want to know how you killed them,” Maliya demanded.
“You forget…” Venn said as he took a cautious step forward. “We have a powerful witch on our side.”
“Sondra?” Maliya asked. “She’s not even here. There’s no way she could—”
Venn didn’t let her finish. In a precise, calculated movement, he leapt and shifted mid-air. His teeth sank into Maliya’s arm.
She shrieked and dropped the knife at my throat. Her hold on me vanished as she stumbled backward. I whirled around just in time to see Venn’s paws slam straight into Maliya’s chest. She fell to the ground, and her arm instantly shot in front of her face to protect herself. The sleeve of her dress rode up her wrist, revealing a scar in the shape of a V.
“Wait!” I shouted before Venn could snap at her again.
He hesitated. I rushed forward and grabbe
d Maliya’s wrist as hard as I could. I pulled her sleeve down to reveal the rest of the scar. It matched Cowen’s perfectly. It was the same mark that had haunted my dreams for years.
“You’re Soulless!” I accused.
Maliya laughed. “Does that surprise you?”
Venn looked up at me with a questioning expression in his eyes.
I ignored him and fixed my eyes on Maliya. A new hope filled my chest. The chance I’d thought had vanished had resurfaced.
“Where are they?” I demanded. “The Soulless. Tell me where they’re hiding.”
Maliya scoffed. “I left them years ago. Even if they’re where they used to be, what makes you think I’d tell you?”
My grip tightened around her wrist, so much that her teeth gritted in pain. “Because if you don’t tell me, I’ll do the same thing to you as I did to your men.”
Realization crossed her eyes when it clicked that I was the witch Venn had been talking about. My fist cracked across the side of her face. Her head twisted to the side, but her expression remained stone cold.
“Tell me where they are,” I repeated.
She pressed her lips together.
I took a deep breath and leaned down to Maliya’s level. My hands clamped around the blade at her feet. In a flash, my arm swung downward. The dagger stuck from her thigh, and a piercing scream ripped through the air.
“Rae,” Venn’s voice came from beside me. He’d shifted back to human form. “What’s this about?”
I turned to him. “My sister.”
Venn looked shocked. “Why didn’t you tell me the vampires who took her were Soulless?”
“Because I knew you’d never let me go after them.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Venn agreed. “It’s too dangerous.”
I knew he was right, but I still burned to know where my sister had been the last two years.
“I need to know,” I whispered.
“You’ll just kill me,” Maliya accused.
“I won’t,” I promised. It was worth letting her go if it restored my hope. I ripped the blade from her thigh, and she winced, biting back another scream. “But I have every intention of doing so if you don’t talk.”
Maliya’s lips tightened, like she wasn’t sure whether she believed me. “They’re on Gregor Island,” she admitted. “It’s an island in the Great Lakes where Valkas served his prison sentence. It’s been cloaked by magic for ages.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?” I asked.
Maliya smirked. “Because I’d like to see you try to take them on. And because I value my life.”
As evil as Maliya was, something told me she wasn’t bluffing.
Satisfied, I stood. “You know, you should really learn to read the contract.”
“What do you mean?” Maliya snarled.
“I said I wouldn’t kill you. I made no promises about you making it out of here alive.”
I turned to Venn and stuck the handle of the dagger out to him. He glanced down at it momentarily and then took it. Maliya was Venn’s demon. It was up to him to decide her fate.
“Wait!” Maliya cried, her voice shaking. She looked up at me with fear glistening in her eyes. “Who are you?”
“You know who I am,” I said with a smirk. “I’m the Ravenite, bitch.”
I turned away. Fiona reached an arm out toward me, and I slid mine around her shoulder. Teagan, Ryland, Fiona, and I faced the house, watching in sorrow as the flames consumed it.
A moment later, Venn’s comforting fingers laced in mine. I glanced down to see the locket in his other hand. Behind us, Maliya’s dress lay in a heap on the grass.
The sound of sirens blared in the distance.
“I think it’s time to go,” Ryland said in a strained voice.
Another beat passed as everyone stared up at the house that was once their home. They would never get their house back, but at least they still had each other.
And now I had a family, too.
24
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ward off the chill of the night. I was exhausted beyond belief, like all my energy had been sucked out of me with a straw. We’d driven an hour outside of Nocton and stopped in the parking lot of a public hiking trail. It was far enough away from any towns that we could set the bones in Ryland’s arm without risk of anyone hearing his screams.
At least, we thought he would scream. It didn’t surprise me that he was tough enough not to. He’d bitten down on a rolled-up t-shirt to silence the agony.
“You need to get yourself a pain-relieving spell,” he’d told me after I cast the spell to speed his healing.
“Nah,” I teased back. “It wouldn’t be any fun if you couldn’t feel it.”
Though the car had already been packed half-full before the vampires attacked, I’d never gotten a chance to retrieve my things from my apartment. Even if I’d had a pain-relief spell copied down in my spell book—which I didn’t—I wouldn’t have been able to use it.
I stood on the bank of the river not far from the parking lot we’d stopped at. I stared out across the water that reflected the moonlight. Footsteps approached, and I knew without looking that they were Venn’s.
“Ryland’s feeling better,” he said in a near whisper once he reached me.
A light weight settled on my shoulders, and my arms suddenly started to warm. I pulled the sweatshirt Venn had offered tighter around me and inhaled the scent. It smelled like cinnamon—like Venn. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and gazed to the tall trees on the other side of the narrow, rippling water.
A sense of relief washed over me. “That’s good. It’ll take a while until he’s back to normal. I’ve found that the spell only increases healing by about a factor of ten.”
“I don’t know about that,” Venn said. “He says it hardly feels tender anymore. Maybe with your practice casting the spell you’ve gotten better.”
“Maybe,” I agreed. “How are you feeling? How are your ribs?”
I looked to him. In the moonlight, I could see that the swelling on his face had significantly decreased. Even my own tender bruises didn’t hurt anymore.
Venn gazed down at me. “I’m feeling better. Tired, but better.”
I cracked a smile. “Me, too.”
“You should get some rest,” he suggested. “Fiona’s already curled up on the back seat.”
I could really use some sleep, even if I had to nap in the grass tonight.
“Once everyone’s ready, we’ll grab some food and then head to Matias’s,” Venn said. “It’s about another three hours away.”
Teagan had explained to me in the car where they’d found the locket. Ryland had been wearing it. When he shifted, it broke off his neck and flew beneath the coat rack in the hallway. The family had once again found their hope in getting Sondra back safely. I had my hope for my own sister, but at this point, I didn’t know what to do with it.
A silence hung in the air between Venn and me.
“You’re still going after her, aren’t you?” Venn asked softly. “After your sister?”
I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. My head rested on his shoulder. The warmth of his arms around me and his breath through my hair was unlike anything else. I could almost forget the world had gone to shit. In his arms, I felt safe. Everything felt perfect.
“I am,” I whispered.
Venn’s shoulder’s fell. “Then I’m going with you.”
Relief washed through me, even though I knew it was selfish of me to want him to come.
I sighed. “I don’t know where to start. The Great Lakes are huge. We need to narrow it down.”
“I think Sondra might be able to help,” Venn said. “She may at least know someone who can point us in the right direction.”
I buried my face deeper into his neck, contemplating my options. “Then I’m coming with you. After we reunite your family, we’ll reunite mine.”
Venn smiled that heart-me
lting smile of his. “We will. I promise.”
He bent down and brushed his lips against mine. My chest ignited with fireworks. A warmth spread over my skin, washing away the last of the tenderness in my muscles. I wondered if he knew he had that effect on me.
Times had never been worse, but they’d never been better, either. With Venn, I could honestly believe that things were about to change for the better.
Hang in there, Jenna, I thought. I’m coming for you.
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Resilience
Book Two
1
Matias Vayne must’ve had a dick the size of a breath mint. That was the only explanation I could think of as I stood at the base of Vayne Tower, trying to take in its sheer magnitude. This vamp was definitely compensating for something.
The morning sun was hidden behind the clouds—or was it smog?—but still, the windows six hundred feet above my head seemed to reflect the light. It wasn’t the tallest building in Chicago, but it certainly stood out in the forest of skyscrapers with its clean, modern architecture.
“Rae?” Venn’s voice cut through my thoughts.
I tore my gaze from the massive structure and turned to him. He wore a navy button-down collared shirt over a clean white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The sleeves were rolled up casually, showing off his toned forearms. His dark eyes traveled over me, sending a wave of butterflies to dance around in my stomach. I swore Venn got hotter by the day.
So unfair.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I just didn’t think it’d be… so big.”
“I know,” Ryland agreed from several paces ahead. “It’s a little over-the-top, isn’t it?”
“Maybe he needs it,” Teagan mumbled. “You know, for his… ego.”
Fiona stifled a laugh beside Teagan. She wore black slacks and a nice purple top, but she didn’t have the heels for it. Teagan hadn’t foregone her usual skin-tight cargo pants, but she’d put an olive-green cardigan over her black tank top and let her dark hair fall in waves around her shoulders.