“It has its cost,” Draven murmured, “great costs, like all magic does, even a gift. Bran knew he held it, but he only used it once.” Draven shivered, his face paling at whatever memory he had been sucked into. If Draven feared what his brother could do and what the cost of it was, I wasn’t sure that retrieving Bran from whatever dimension he was stuck in was the wisest course of action. Though if it meant there was a vampire around with that power… The thought twisted in my mind as I listened to them.
“I understand what your elder meant about his power.” Sebastian cleared his throat, tapping his fingers on the cover of the journal as he adjusted himself in his chair. “What was his third gift?”
Both twins grimaced and Crowe rubbed a hand across his hair, mussing the strands. “He called it ‘change.’ We could sense him trying to use it, but we have no idea what it actually does. He could feel it inside. He told us he felt it call to him but it was just out of his reach.”
“Change.” Sebastian stroked his thumb across his bottom lip as he thought. “I don’t recognize that at all. It’s nothing I’ve ever come across.”
“It may not truly be what the gift is called,” Draven admitted. “It’s what Bran titled it from the feeling he got. For all we know, it was light or healing or something along that line and he was trying to make it sound important and mysterious. He enjoyed messing with us at times.”
“Anyway,” Crowe continued, “Bran put out the information that he carried precognition without our approval. Painted a target on his own back. He wanted to draw the caster forward so he could use his touch, but we told him it was too dangerous. That we needed to know more. He lied to us, told us he understood, that he agreed.” I could practically taste their pain, their anger, their betrayal in the air as they shared what their triplet had done. “He started pulling away from us under the guise of more intensive training while we focused on research, trying to find out anything we could about this caster. Who they were, what their end goal was, anything of that ilk.”
“One day we felt our perimeter spell dissolve around our home,” Draven told us. “The only way that could happen is if one of us three removed it. We heard his scream. By the time we got there, this was all that was left.” He lifted the knife he cherished for us to see.
“The only reason Bran would have dissolved that shield was if the caster had come for him and he was attempting to lure him in. We found a net, a spell that holds what it catches, etched into the ground nearby, but it was empty. The caster must not have moved the way Bran expected and hadn’t stepped onto it so it was never activated. If it had been a normal caster, anyone besides this one, we would have found a body. Blood.” Lightning flickered between Crowe’s palms, his control in shreds. “We had enough experience with them to know that. There was no indication Bran had landed even a single blow.”
“We were triplets, Elsie.” Those words were the gentlest I had ever heard Draven speak as I met his eyes, unable to look away as his despair poured into me. “When our emotions were at their peak, when it mattered most, we could feel each other. We felt that brief moment of elation, then pure fear, then nothing at all. He was no longer on this plane of existence. His plan worked the way he wanted to, then it had gone to hell.”
“It’s been ten years.” Crowe’s tone was as hard as Draven’s had been soft. “We would have felt him return here. Even detached from us, I know we would have felt him die.” There was no arguing with Crowe, not when his words rang with that much conviction. “We’ve searched and searched, but with Bran gone, we’ve found nothing on this caster let alone on where Bran would be held. Hunters are so rare, their gifts so hidden we can’t even track him that way. As soon as we hear a whisper, the leads are already gone by the time we reach anyone. So instead we turned our attention to finding a way to break a binding. We came here, knowing you’d have books we could only dream of. Bran’s blood is our blood. I know we can break the spell if we can only find the right ritual.”
“But if Bran has been used by this caster for this long, wouldn’t we have seen a vampire with those kinds of powers?” I argued. “A vampire who could cause death with a touch would be noticed, no matter how he tried to hide it.”
“We think he would focus on precognition,” Crowe reminded me. “It’s what he knew Bran had. With Seamus dead and us ignored, there’s no reason to believe he’d think Bran had more than one gift, especially multiple strong, rare gifts. And precognition is both open to interpretation and luck. It may help him keep ahead of us, but it isn’t foolproof. Bran proved that on numerous occasions.”
“So tell me, Elsie, is what we seek in that journal?” Draven asked. “Is that the answer to returning our brother to us?” His voice cracked on the question, his desperation clear for both Sebastian and me to hear. I looked to Sebastian, my eyes searching his, staring down the monster that lived inside him as it flared to life. Having a witch with the death touch was not high on my priority list, but a vampire with it? I couldn’t allow that to stand. I was Elsie Crauford, heir to the vampire throne, and I would not allow anyone to endanger that.
“Yes.” With that one syllable, the room devolved into madness.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Elsie
Draven let out a ragged cry, his brother’s dagger falling from his grip with a clang of metal on stone as he buried his face into his hands. Crowe dove over the table, toppling books in his haste, grabbing my jaw in his hands as he pressed his mouth desperately to mine while lightning crackled against my skin in sharp sparks. His lips devoured mine, his tongue sweeping into my mouth as he held me to him. Hands landed on my waist, yanking me backwards, and Sebastian’s fingers were gentle where they stroked over the burns Crowe’s lightning had seared into my flesh.
Crowe didn’t seem to notice he had marked me as he turned, lunging at his twin and wrapping him tightly in his arms. Unlike me, Crowe’s lightning didn’t seem to affect Draven in the slightest, their magic merely pulled at each other’s, a constant ebb and flow of magic that seemed to be hugging the same way the brothers were.
“Mistress?” Sebastian asked softly, angling my head so he could see my face and investigate the severity of the burns. I could still taste Crowe on my lips, and I gave a small smile to reassure my pet.
“It will heal, pet,” I assured him. “I don’t think he even realizes he kissed me, let alone burned me.” Reluctant amusement coated my tone, even as insult and rejection attempted to worm their way into the pit of my stomach. Crowe suddenly froze, his celebration forgotten, his gaze whipping back to me as he took in Sebastian’s protective hands, the overturned books, and the marks his lightning had charred into my skin.
“Here,” he offered quietly, releasing Draven to step toward me, his eyes glowing slightly. “Let me heal you.”
“Damn, Crowe,” Draven teased. “I know you think you’re hot, but burning her? That’s low, even for you.” Crowe cracked a smile at that, their joy at the prospect of their brother being returned to them too much for anything to diminish it. Sebastian’s hands didn’t leave my arm as he watched Crowe tend to my wounds. I considered telling him to ignore them, that they would heal in time, but I didn’t want to feed at the moment. There was too much going on to allow myself that vulnerability, and I shouldn’t have fed from Sebastian during our lovemaking yesterday as it was. While I would need to eat later today, I would try to hold off for the evening meal and simply take what was offered then.
“Sebastian and I will still need to translate this,” I warned them, tempering their exuberance. “We cannot guarantee the spell will work for you, even when translated.”
“How did you even find this?” Sebastian inquired, gesturing at the journal in question.
Draven had quieted at my warning, and now he lifted his hands in a half shrug. “I was focusing on the journals. I mean, that’s where we found the initial information about the casters.” I glanced at the pile he’d been making of different books and realized what I hadn’t befo
re. While he had other books stacked there, hiding his true purpose, the books he had actually read were the journals. “I skimmed each, looking for ones that had any key words before moving onto the next. Other than that, well, I guess just blind luck,” he admitted, slightly shamefaced, his tongue pressing against his lip ring as he wiggled it. Sebastian grunted at that, shaking his head. The odds were astronomical that he would have found the information, especially as quickly as he did. Though if what they had said about gifts was true, maybe he held something more than he knew that contributed to his luck. Wouldn’t that be a gift in and of itself? Lost in thought, I ignored Draven and Crowe as they whispered together excitedly until Crowe turned to me, his eyes glowing a brilliant crimson, lightning arcing across every inch of his skin as he stared me down. He clasped Draven’s hand, their power almost blinding where it connected.
“Elsie, on the oath, Draven and I order that you do everything in your power to accurately translate the unsealing spell with Sebastian and help to return Bran to us.” Crowe’s words echoed with power, and I screamed as pain seared through my wrist, my cry of agony echoed by both of the twins as the oath he called on tore itself into my very soul. I didn’t need to look at my wrist to know that the final part of the bond had been sealed—they called in the oath, bound it to my soul, and I would have no choice but to comply or die in agony while trying.
I panted softly as the magic eased off, blinking to clear my eyes from the flare of light that had surrounded us only to find myself cradled in Sebastian’s arms. “Well, that was unexpected,” I gasped out. “I think you may have pushed that bond to the very limit of its power though.”
“Fucking idiots,” Sebastian snapped at the pair of them, his voice a rough growl as he pressed me against his chest, his own breath coming in short pants. “Do you have any idea what you just did?” Whatever the twins had done had shattered the chains on the monster he kept restrained, and his eyes flared with uninhibited fury, his lips peeled back in an unfettered snarl.
“Called in an oath bond. You’re not a witch, Ash, don’t interfere,” Draven snarled, picking himself up from the floor and brushing himself off. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had been knocked off their feet by Crowe’s command.
“You’re right, I’m no witch, which means you’re the ones who should know what the hell you’re doing! If you didn’t know how to handle an oath bond, then you shouldn’t have formed one!”
“So you would have preferred if we let you die?” Draven challenged, getting into Sebastian’s face.
“I will now anyhow unless I translate this fucking book and get your triplet back!” Sebastian roared in Draven’s face, and he froze as I shoved myself out of his arms, shaking my head to clear it.
“Repeat that,” I demanded, my eyes on my pet’s as his hands clenched into fists while he stared a suddenly silent Draven down.
“The idiots here didn’t set limits on the order they provided you.” Sebastian didn’t bother to turn away from the twins as he answered me, rage making his body tremble. “In fact, they made it distinctly vague, I assume in an attempt to ensure your compliance.” From the shamefaced look the two shared, I would guess he was right. “That means we have no timetable to work on here, we have only until the universe decides you’ve had long enough. They also included me in their wording of the command, effectively using me as a tool for you. You know that if you break an oath bond of this magnitude you will die, yes?” I nodded mutely, though he didn’t bother looking at me for confirmation, he merely continued to pour out his poison laced words. “Well, as your pet, I would catch the ricochet of that magic through the bond we have, since it would be too large for your body alone to contain.”
“I can release you.” I didn’t know where the words came from—maybe the pet bond forcing me to protect him, maybe just because I knew it was the right thing to do—but he shook his head. Even as I completed the sentence, pain seared through my body, nearly sending me to the floor.
Sebastian laughed bitterly. “You can’t release me. They ordered you to use every tool at your disposal, to use me, which you can’t do if I’m not your pet because then my responsibilities will be to the castle as a whole, not to you. You can’t free me now even if you wanted to. You two had better hope that this fucking spell even works in the first place or you’ve signed our death warrants.”
“That’s not possible,” Draven objected, shifting from foot to foot, his dark eyes on me as I breathed through the lingering pain I had experienced from even mentioning freeing Sebastian. Crowe looked sick, a green tinge shading his cheeks as he exchanged a frantic look with his twin before turning back to me, nodding along with his brother.
“It is when you pour both of your pathetic lives into the spell! You called in more than the bond is worth. The only way that can work is if you have a strong enough will—which, unfortunately, you both do—and you tie your own lives to it. That means unless we get your brother back before an unknown magical clock finishes clicking down, then we all die.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Draven
It didn’t even look like Elsie was breathing as her eyes flicked between Sebastian, Crowe, and myself, her brain attempting to catch up with everything Ash had just thrown at us. My own brain was scrambling as I tried to read my brother’s face, but judging by the sudden shift of his complexion from green to white, it seemed he agreed with Sebastian’s assessment of what we had managed to do. We had worded the oath carefully, assuming that if it was too vague, too much, the oath simply wouldn’t take. We had never considered how our own need to reach our brother would add our lives as collateral to the request, nor had we considered that we would be gambling with Sebastian’s life also. Our only goal had been to force Elsie to use any resource she had at her disposal—and as a princess that was quite a few—that we might need to help us.
“If we live through this, I’ll kill you.” Elsie’s voice was soft but deadly serious, her sapphire eyes flaring with the need to shed our blood as she stared Crowe and I down.
“If you get to them first,” Sebastian muttered, throwing himself into his seat. It seemed he wasn’t going to attempt to reel in his beast, leaving his madness free to lash out at us while he worked. “Feed, mistress,” he ordered, tilting his head to offer Elsie access to his throat. “You’ll need the strength. We don’t know how long this is going to take, but none of us will be sleeping for the foreseeable future. Because you bet your ass that if I have to stay awake and get this damn thing done, I’m not letting either of you sleep.”
“I’ll be fine, pet,” she murmured, sliding her hand over his head in a soothing gesture. Was it the pet bond that had her being so careful with Sebastian? I knew she blamed that connection, but was that really true? Most vampires did not treat their pets kindly, and while the bond prevented the vampire from killing them, it definitely did not prevent the masters from injuring their charges. We had seen vampires who enjoyed torturing the same victim daily take a human for a pet in the past to extend their fun against a single victim.
“You won’t.” His tone was flat as he pulled the book closer to him, not straightening his neck. “It’s probable you won’t be able to leave these rooms to attend to basic necessities like feeding when you have a source here. The oath won’t allow you to starve, but since you have a source here to nourish you, you’ll need to utilize what you have and not wait for the family dinner you’d planned on attending.” Blazing blue eyes met mine as his lip peeled back in a snarl before he turned his gaze back to the book, focusing on the words in front of him. “It looks like we’ll all be getting comfortable with each other for the foreseeable future.”
She made an objecting noise, even as she massaged the side of his neck, preventing it from aching due to the angle he held it at for her. “How long do you think we have?” It was clear the question was meant for him alone, as she dismissed Crowe and me as anything worthwhile, and I flinched, a move Crowe echoed in unison. It wasn’t like w
e’d meant to put their lives on the line. Our focus was on saving Bran, and our education was in hunter related areas, not in oath bonds. It hadn’t been something we’d intended when we’d formed it, but every magic had a cost and Sebastian’s life was a large one. You’d think he’d be grateful we’d managed to save him before, but apparently that gratitude was officially used up.
“At best? Probably a week,” Sebastian told her, shooting a solemn look her way. “The magic is too large to hold for an extended period. The pressure of it will build around us, pushing at us to complete what has been sworn. Eventually that pressure will release and take us with it unless we manage to dispel it.”
“Maybe there’s a way we can break it,” Crowe suggested, trying to placate them, pretending the hisses they emitted didn’t affect him.
“Right. I’m sure we have plenty of time to research ways to dispel a life enforced oath bond while we try to translate an ancient multi-language spell, hope we have or can get all of the ingredients, and pray that it doesn’t require the ritual to be performed on a specific date, time, season, or phase of the moon. We’re simply rolling in time for that,” Ash snapped, before reaching to his side and tugging Elsie closer, her hand curving around behind his neck. “Feed,” he insisted again, his voice softening slightly. Was… was the human monster sweet on the vampire? Or did it have to do with the fact that she had attempted to save him not once now, but twice with her immediate attempt to release him from the bond and prevent the backlash from harming him? “As much as I enjoy the pleasure you can provide, mistress, it’d be best just to numb me for now,” he reasoned as she sighed. “We have no time for any distractions, including the pleasurable ones.”
Reign of Nightmares (Blood Throne Book 1) Page 19