“Deals with devils are often complicated and far-reaching,” Qinglong echoed, his body slithering as he moved. I ignored Roland’s panicked breathing, remembering the dark altar I’d seen in my mother’s laboratory. How Qinglong had said Dealing with devils is dangerous. He’d basically told me right there, glancing at the altar and then my Seal. I had thought him speaking of just my Seal—of the demons inside it.
When I had been looking at the altar that likely summoned Samael to my mother. When she asked him to be my Godfather.
Damn.
If Qinglong hadn’t shared a blood bond with me, I might have attacked him on the spot.
“I’m not going to lie,” Samael said. “I was beyond impressed that you could pull off that Demonskin spell in less than a minute. It belonged to your mother, by the way. And you did it with only a single glance at the omegabet,” he said, shaking his head in awe.
I froze, hearing a ringing sound in my ears. “I…used the omegabet?”
He nodded. “Like a pro. I won’t even touch that stuff. That’s Masters territory. You think I want anything to do with that? They mean the end of my kind, too. They want to use us up like batteries with their omegabet if we don’t fall in line.”
No wonder I had recognized it in my mother’s laboratory. I’d already used it…I’d been remembering it, not learning it.
Which lent further proof to Samael’s claim. He really did work for my mother…as my Godfather. Every rational part of me wanted to argue and deny, but…if he’d wanted me dead, I would already be dead.
And that bond throbbed between us, stronger than any I had ever seen.
Samael glanced at the crimson portal behind him. “There was a purpose to all of this, and there is very limited time before that window expires,” he said meaningfully. “All questions will be answered, I swear it. You can see our blood bond, so even if you do not understand how, you can see it is true.”
I hesitated. “Except everything I have learned has been at your hands,” I said, pointing to the three of them. “So this could be a con. No, it is a con, either way. I’m just trying to understand your end goal.”
Samael pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the rippling portal. “That’s the end goal. Or…the first real step to the end goal, anyway.”
“If you believe us enemies, execute us,” the two gods said in stereo, kneeling before me.
Samael hesitated. “Or maybe just toss me back inside the Seal of Solomon. No need to be hasty,” he said, smiling. I stared at him, pointing before me. He sighed, hanging his head, and knelt.
I studied the three of them in silence. Xuanwu or Qinglong could have detached my head before I ever knew they had even moved.
Samael had fought me once in the Doors and had so sorely outclassed me that I traveled the realms searching for power in the hope I would have a chance at defeating him.
All three of those kneeling before me could kill me as easy as taking a step.
I let out a breath, shaking my head as I ran a hand through my hair. “What’s so fucking special about Dracula. And why get Roland involved?”
Samael looked up sharply, an excited gleam in his eyes. “Does that mean you agree?” he asked anxiously.
I pursed my lips at him. “Maybe if you didn’t sound so strangely aroused about it…”
He grimaced at me, slowly climbing to his feet.
Xuanwu hesitantly lifted a claw, smiling at me compassionately. I nodded and his beak tightened as if my approval had made him feel some kind of way. He set the gargantuan claw on my shoulder, using his cane to support his weight.
“None of us liked our roles, but we all understood the reason for them,” he explained. I nodded, not necessarily empathizing, but acknowledging what he said. “What I told you about Dracula’s Castle is true. The only way to reach him is the way Roland has done.” He glanced over at the man in question to find him still staring at us, clutching his chest. The tortoise god waved at him and Roland hesitantly waved back a single time. “Samael—through possessing Henri’s body—gave Roland everything he needed to connect the two locations, establishing a bridge between them, and a barrier over both of them,” he explained. “The Blood Moon, a vampire tyrant, a flock of blood-bound followers and…a hellbent vampire hunter,” he said, looking at me.
I shivered. Although I hated to admit it, I knew he was right. They’d needed to make both places similar. “That’s why you made me erase my memory of it,” I said softly.
Qinglong nodded. “It was the only way to truly have a chance at entering—and surviving—his Castle. Because Samael knows how to rotate this barrier around Kansas City to put both barriers over Dracula’s Castle, preventing him from escaping.”
My eyes widened incredulously. This wasn’t some robbery attempt.
This was a fucking hit.
Qinglong continued, quivering with excitement so that his flesh-stache bobbed up and down in tentacular glee. “You and Samael have trapped Dracula…A Master. And he can’t call for reinforcements or escape…”
My knees wobbled and I would have collapsed if Xuanwu hadn’t caught me.
“You…want me to kill Vlad Dracul. And he’s a Master,” I whispered in horror.
“It’s the perfect opportunity. Kill one of the upper-echelon Masters while they’re trapped and vulnerable,” Samael said. “We needed to know that you wouldn’t waffle. Going up against the Masters could bring you face-to-face with people you once called friends. We had to know you wouldn’t waver,” he said, glancing at Roland pointedly. “But I never would have let you kill him. He is innocent of any major crimes,” Samael said. “Those were all me and Henri. We just made it look like Roland, and then led Roland to believe he had done it.”
“How did you convince Roland to even attempt this?” I whispered.
Roland spoke up for the first time. “He promised a way to bring you back. That Dracula had the key to save your soul.”
I hissed, slapping Samael in the face. He took it unflinchingly. I hit him again, because I couldn’t think of what to say. In a strange way, he had been telling the truth. As he met my eyes, his cheeks red, I knew that’s what he was thinking, too. Yet he still let me strike him.
Confident I was done slapping him, Samael shot me an imploring look. “Time is not our ally, here,” he said, pointing a thumb at the portal. “And if we don’t beat the clock, the bridge and barriers will fall. Guess who will be on the next flight to Kansas City and who he will want to talk to?” he asked, jerking his chin at Roland. I shivered. “He will come to Kansas City like a plague, Callie. He will annihilate this town, because if he shows any weakness, the other Masters will take him out and steal his power.”
I was silent, considering it as hard as I’d ever considered anything. I had so many questions…how had no one known Samael was in town? Everyone had said Kansas City was demon-free. And what had happened to Phix? Why had Cain been so confident he’d seen Le Bone? And—
I realized that none of that mattered. It was like knowing atoms existed but denying them because you didn’t know what color the electron was.
Because that blood bond between Samael and I…
There was absolutely no denying it.
Samael cleared his throat, drawing my attention. He was appraising me from head to toe, glancing pointedly at the wounds from Roland’s sword. I hadn’t even thought about them, so they must not have been life-threatening. “Unless you’re too weak to continue the fight. Or you want Dracula to come here…” he taunted.
I grunted, recalling something that I’d learned from my Mask of Despair. That I would always get back to my feet, no matter the odds against me.
“I’d have to be Dracula’s sidekick…” I muttered, straightening my shoulders, meeting his gaze. “To be down for the Count.” I spit out some blood and nodded at him.
He grinned.
I sighed, shaking off my dozens of questions. “How long is this going to take?”
“That’s the spirit!”
he crowed excitedly.
Chapter 59
I told Xuanwu to take Roland, Claire, and Cain to his sanctuary with his ninjas. The Sanguine Council was going to be pissed and would have all sorts of questions when the barrier around Kansas City dropped. I had to know they were safe. Alucard was to be invited but allowed to leave for home if he chose—after he unfixed the political system in Kansas City back to the way it was. To some extent, anyway. Events of the past twelve months were still redacted, but no more policemen or politicians in vampire pockets.
Really, the only one not allowed to leave was Roland. He was on house arrest. To that effect, I told Xuanwu about Starlight’s Vampyr bracelet.
Even as I was telling Xuanwu this, Roland stared at the distant wall, not reacting in any way whatsoever. Xuanwu noticed and nodded comfortingly to appease my fearful thought—to make sure Roland didn’t take his own life. That was all Roland was getting from me until I returned. We’d said all that needed to be said with our blades.
Xuanwu cleared his throat pointedly, drawing Roland’s attention even though he made it sound like he was only speaking to me. “Roland was manipulated. In a way, Samael’s interference saved your old mentor.” Roland scoffed, proving he was listening, but Xuanwu went on as if he hadn’t heard. “Samael caught wind of how upset Roland was at your disappearance into the Doors. He also caught wind that Henri Bellerose and Haven were meeting in private, planning to break Le Bone from prison and overthrow Roland…” My eyes widened, and there was dead silence from Roland’s direction. “Samael chose to possess Henri for this reason—a way to get himself close to Roland while preventing an assassination,” Xuanwu explained.
“The devil works in mysterious ways,” Samael grunted from across the room, having also been listening. “Three birds, one stone.”
Roland made no sound. I wasn’t sure if it had helped him in the short-run, but maybe it would in the long run.
“You mentioned he was innocent of all crimes?” I asked loud enough for Roland to hear.
Xuanwu nodded. “He did kill Haven, but even without knowing why, it was justified since Haven had been plotting to murder him. Other than torturing Henri—Samael—he never actually got his hands dirty. Henri would pass on Roland’s commands, leaving Roland to focus on the spell to make the bridge and the barriers.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
Could it be true?
I couldn’t afford an emotional reunion until I solved this Dracula situation. Despite being innocent of the major crimes he’d been accused of, he had still willingly agreed to cross some pretty solid lines in order to ‘save me.’
At the indirect expense of a lot of innocent lives. He needed to think about that.
I continued getting my affairs in order for my trip.
Qinglong promised to heal Solomon of the thorn growth he’d given him and to give them some kind of update on what had happened—so that Last Breath didn’t do anything reckless and come searching for me. Ringing Dracula’s doorbell, for example.
It also meant I didn’t need to worry about Alucard failing to heal Solomon.
I turned to find Samael waiting patiently at the portal.
“How long do we have? There is one more thing I need done.”
Samael glanced at the portal. “Maybe ten minutes. Better make it five.”
I turned back to Xuanwu, choosing him since he’d been present during the fight outside. “I don’t want to waste energy stepping back through the ward outside the church, so I need you to make an announcement to everyone for me, and to have that announcement spread far and wide to anyone else in town.”
He nodded. “What do you need said?” he asked, closing his eyes to focus.
And I told him. I wasn’t a speech writer, and I had a lot I would save for later—if I survived my encounter with Dracula, of course.
But I needed everyone to know that the White Rose had returned, and that she was responsible for breaking the barrier around the city. That Roland was in custody, and certain evidence forced me to look deeper into the allegations of the Red Pastor—that he may have been framed by unknown parties.
Xuanwu smirked at that, the corners of his beak creaking with chipped ice.
Most of all, I wanted the Masters to know my name. That Kansas City was off limits to anyone looking for a throne. I wanted everyone to know I claimed credit for taking down Roland so that the Masters would know who was the deadliest bitch in Kansas City.
So they wouldn’t go knocking on doors and hurting people when they wanted answers.
I wanted my name to haunt their nightmares, to ruin their vacations and to make them connect some dots to me when they realized Dracula had missed their last meeting…
I also asked Xuanwu if his ninjas—shinobi—would mind being Kansas City’s unofficial police, keeping tabs on any nefarious activity. He’d smiled, nodding instantly.
“And lastly,” I told him. “Make it abundantly clear that this is my fucking church, and my fucking city, and my top priority is looking out for the citizens of Kansas City. The Shepherds, and any other authority in town, remain only at my permission. Until an official announcement is heard directly from my lips, no one is to be given the title ally of the White Rose. Except for your ninjas,” I added with a smirk. “To that effect, Fabrizio and Arthur may remain at Abundant Angel Catholic Church. All other Shepherds or Vatican men are banished.”
Qinglong chuckled. “I like the way you work, Callie.”
I nodded. “Get all that Xuanwu?”
He nodded. “Have fun with your godfather,” he said, pointing a claw at the portal.
I sighed, gave them each a hug, and walked over to my katana buried in the wall. I yanked it clear and scooped up my Darling and Dear jacket, tugging it on. Then I stood beside Samael, not even bothering to look at Roland in the corner against the wall.
Without further ado, we stepped through the pool of blood together, and into a world of embers and sparks…
Chapter 60
We stood on a bridge of black crystal. It did not have a Disney princess vibe.
The bridge was much longer than I would have thought, suspended across a vast chasm of gray boulders far, far below. I didn’t see a single tree anywhere I looked. Not even a dead one. Embers and sparks whipped through the air like gnats, even though I saw no fire anywhere and felt no wind on my cheeks. I remembered Pandora mentioning a fear of embers and sparks, some place the Temple family had saved her from.
Maybe this was it.
Despite the lack of wind, the biggest thunderstorm I had ever seen warred in the sky above—a storm of silence. No thunder or cracks of lightning struck the ground. Just a riot of light high above.
On the far end of the black crystal bridge stood another portal—identical to the one behind us—that led to Dracula’s Castle.
The two of us started to walk, setting our sights on the portal ahead.
Our date with destiny.
“What is this place?” I asked, staring down at the bleakness far below the bridge.
Samael pursed his lips. “Purgatory. Neverwas. The Night Currents.” He waved a hand. “For a place no one wants to visit, it has many names.”
I shivered. “Why are you doing this, Samael? Why help me pick a fight with the Masters?”
He eyed me thoughtfully. “Your mother asked me to, and I was blood bound to her.” He was silent for a few steps. “I admit it wasn’t just out of obligation. I want the Masters in control as much as I want a holy spear in my eye.” He seemed to stare through me for the briefest of moments, as if eyeing the spear inside my soul. I narrowed my eyes at him. A warning. He relented with an amused smirk. “I never truly wanted it. Your mother wanted it strengthened. That was the whole point of me chasing you into the Doors. Another test,” he explained. “To make you stronger. To give you a reason to fight. To confront the Masters, you will need all the tools in your precious Temple—and Temple will need all the precious tools his parents stole,” he added,
shaking his head with a strange look on his face.
I frowned, surprised to hear he knew of Nate. “You knew his parents…” I said, realizing what he’d meant. Of course he had. He’d worked with my mother.
He nodded, smiling wistfully. “You have no idea how much fun that was, working with such vicious sociopaths as Calvin and Makayla…” he whispered nostalgically. “Truly legendary. Like meeting your idols…”
We continued on in silence after that, all too soon standing before the portal.
Samael looked up at me with a devilish grin. “Look at the two of us. Godfather and Goddaughter, going on our first adventure—”
I shoved him through the portal of blood. “Godless, maybe,” I muttered, stepping through after him without a moment’s hesitation.
We arrived in a courtyard with a thirty-foot-tall door ahead of us and the outer gates to the castle behind us. The wind screamed and ripped at my jacket, the Blood Moon hanging in the twilight sky like a Christmas ornament. The stone walls themselves seemed to groan in protest of our arrival, growling at us to leave, outraged by our invasion.
“Have you ever heard of a Beast before?” Samael asked casually, doing something with the portal behind us. I turned to watch as he grabbed one edge of the portal and pulled it over to the opposite side like he was closing a curtain. The portal winked out with a wet splash of blood that soaked the grass. “There. Both barriers are here, now. Which means we can’t leave until we kill this bastard.”
I nodded. “What were you saying about a Beast?” I asked, staring up at the foreboding castle before us. I counted at least a dozen towers—only the part of the castle we could currently see—each climbing as tall as any skyscraper I’d ever seen before. Vast structures connected the towers to portray how large the space really was.
This wasn’t just a bunch of skinny towers surrounding a small building.
Feathers and Fire Series Box Set 2 Page 89