“Olivia.” The Death King caught up to me with ease. “I can go in there, but you—”
“I have a breathing spell.” I scrambled for the pouch at my waist. “It’s supposed to be for breathing underwater, but it’ll work here. I have to check if he’s still in there.”
I turned on the cantrip and a bubble of air appeared around my head. The Death King didn’t argue further. He glided through the doors into the building, and I moved in behind him.
In the lobby, people ran left and right, fleeing the smoke billowing down the stairs. The fire must have started on one of the floors above, but the prisoners were on the lowest level below the basement, sealed in protected cells. Protected against elemental fire, I would have thought, but Davies had come here with a purpose.
The Death King glided across the lobby, and I halted at his side, my stomach lurching. Blood splattered the floor by the back doors leading to the delivery drop-off.
“Shit.” I ran outside, ignoring the sign saying, ‘No Exit’, and saw several Order personnel lying bleeding on the ground. The nearest man stirred as I drew closer. Blood pulsed from two holes in his neck.
“The vampires.” I turned to the Death King. “They were in the lockup but not in the main jail. That’s why Davies came here—to help them escape.”
There was only one way they could have gone from here, so I took off in that direction, vaulting the wall and running down the alley at the back. Sure enough, three figures appeared at the alley’s end, drawing closer to the node by the second.
One of them spotted me and shouted a warning to his fellow vamps. A paralysing cantrip flew from my hand, but as I caught up to the vampires, another spell went off like a firecracker. An explosion of some kind of web-like substance covered me from head to toe, and my body locked up as though superglue had fixed me to the spot. He must have grabbed some of the Order’s cantrips on the way out. If I hadn’t been wearing the water-breathing spell, I’d have been much worse off, but all I could do was watch them run.
Cursing at the alley wall, I tugged at the webbing until I managed to free myself. Pulling a handful of it from my hair, I turned back to the Order’s HQ. The smoke had died down a little, suggesting someone had put out the fire. The Order must have at least a few mages on staff, surely, unless they’d moved them all to the Parallel.
The water-breathing spell was still active, so I ran through the back doors into the Order’s HQ to find the place almost deserted. I made for the stairs and found the Death King heading towards me.
“He’s gone.” He didn’t stop walking. “He escaped through an upstairs window.”
“Dammit.” I must have just missed him, too. He’d come here to free the vampires and had had no intention of sticking around. “He—didn’t reach Cobb, did he?”
“We’d know if he had.” He halted beside me. “What’s that on your face?”
“The vampires must have grabbed some spells on their way out,” I said. “They got through the node. We’d better go…”
The doors opened, and my heart sank. The last thing I needed was an interrogation from the Order about why I’d shown up right as the place caught on fire.
The Death King apparently thought the same. He reached for my arm, and I startled at the sudden contact. “What are you—?”
The world vanished in a flood of light, and in the next instant, we landed outside the castle.
“How’d you do that?” I jerked away from him in shock, my head spinning. “We weren’t anywhere near a node.”
“Lich trick.” He still wore his human face, and rage suffused his features. “I expect those vampires came back here to warn their supervisor.”
“Sire.” I clapped a hand to my mouth. “The person behind this is a vampire, and the vamps threatened to send their sire to attack me the first time I paid them a visit. I bet he’s the one. This Crow person.”
The Death King looked at the castle, his expression so unreadable that he might as well have been wearing his mask. “I think it’s time I questioned our prisoner.”
As we approached the jail, the Water Element ran up to meet us. “He’s gone. A lich used his power on me and broke him out.”
“Shit!” I jabbed my foot into the marshy ground, wanting to scream with frustration. “He and the Fire Element had this planned from the start.”
Even their animosity might well have been for show, for all I knew.
The Death King moved towards the castle doors, accompanied by the Water Element. I hesitated for an instant, and the click of a cantrip buzzed near my ear.
“What the—?” I rotated on my heel, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
Brant appeared, half visible, at my side. “I’m sorry, Liv.”
Then blackness crashed over my head and drew me under.
20
I came to alertness what felt like several seconds later. Cold stone cushioned the back of my head, which gave a dull throb. The Death King was standing over me, still wearing his human face.
“Dammit.” I sat up, my head spinning. “Did he—”
“He ran,” he said. “Not before taking a detour into my hall of souls, it seems.”
No. “Did he take any souls?”
“Mine.” His tone was calm, too calm. “One of my people already told me.”
“You what? What’re you standing here for?”
His brows rose. “As flattered as I am for your concern, the fire mage merely thinks he took my soul. Did you think I would leave it in the same place after its recent disappearance?”
My mouth fell open. “You used a substitute?”
“A real soul amulet, but not mine,” he said. “Another lich volunteered to leave their soul in my place, one who knew the risks.”
Damn. He might not have lost his soul, but now the lich traitor, Brant, the Fire Element and the three vampires were all ready to join their master. “How’d he get away from you so fast?”
“I let him,” said the Death King. “I expect his master will be displeased with him for bringing the wrong soul amulet. Felicity, did he go through the node?”
“He did,” the Water Element said, looking exasperated but not outright surprised at the Death King’s ruse. “I doubt he’ll stay on Earth for long. He and the vampires are on the Order’s wanted list several times over.”
“Then they must have a base in town.” I climbed to my feet. My balance was a little wobbly, but I was in one piece. Brant hadn’t killed me. He’d just knocked me out, using a cantrip. I didn’t want to examine that thought too closely. After all, I didn’t know what I’d do to him when we next saw one another face to face. Especially if he took the enemy’s side openly again.
Dex flew into the main hall and up to my side. “Did fire-boy make a run for it?”
“Not before he knocked me out with a cantrip,” I said. “He went to deliver the Death King’s soul to his master. Or what he thinks is his soul, anyway.”
“You used a fake?” Dex whooped with laughter. “That’ll show the bastard.”
“Doesn’t mean we know where he is.” I gave the Death King a significant look. “Clever move, but couldn’t you have found out whereabouts this Crow person is hiding before you let Brant give you the slip?”
“I already know where he is,” he said. “There are strict rules on who can sire new vampires and when, and I assume this Crow was in compliance with the rules if he hasn’t drawn the council’s attention. That means he’s one of a small group of vampires, all of whom live in the same district.”
“You might have told me that earlier.” Then again, we hadn’t known it was a vampire running the show until now. “I’m going after them. But we need backup.”
“I’m with you,” Dex said. “I wanna see fire-boy burn.”
“As do I.” Ryan entered the hall, and relief flooded me at seeing them back on their feet. “Whoever you need me to fight, I’ll gladly do it as long as it means I get to take Davies down myself.”
�
�You’re on.” I gave them a grim smile. “Let’s go and nail the bastards to the wall.”
We made a weird team, that was for sure. Ryan walked in the lead, using their air magic to quicken their speed. The Death King kept up his usual light-footed glide, still wearing his human face for some reason. When I gave him a questioning look, he said, “I’m supposed to be in dire peril at the castle, as far as our foes are aware. Most of them won’t recognise me like this.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “I didn’t know the vampires had such strict rules on creating new vamps. Is that why there are so many revenants and so few newly born vampires?”
“Yes, it is,” he said. “The vampire leaders might not care what becomes of their fellow magical neighbours, but they are stringent at enforcing the rules that govern their own kind. There are limits on the number of new vampires which can be created, while no council members are allowed to create new vampires while they serve their terms. It’s not a perfect system, but it works.”
“Oh.” Something else hit me. “You know, if this spell can affect vampires, perhaps the Crow is eventually planning to use it on himself. Once he’s got rid of the side effects.”
If so, then perhaps the Death King wasn’t the only leader he planned to depose. The vampires might not be my favourite people, but their leadership more or less kept everyone in Arcadia from eating one another alive. If they disappeared as suddenly as the Elemental Council had, they’d leave chaos in their wake.
“Perhaps,” he said. “Some liches would be lured into such a scheme, I don’t doubt.”
“Yeah.” The traitor had hinted as much. And Brant… he’d implied the Death King had intended to turn me into a lich, too. Yet he hadn’t, not even when I’d been at his mercy. “I—I’m sorry I brought Brant into your castle.” I couldn’t quite meet his eyes, not now he wore his human face.
The Death King didn’t reply for a long moment. “It seems I am not the only one of the pair of us who overlooked a traitor at my side.”
The Fire Element and the lich. How many more might be working against him? I still worried about leaving the castle, but this was likely our last shot to stop the vampire, whatever his endgame was.
The glow of a nearby node caught my eye as we neared the swampland’s edge. Then a phantom lunged out of the node, rushing towards us with sharp claws poised to attack. Not just one phantom, but two, three—
“Watch out!” I shouted at the others.
The node brightened as both the Death King and I drew on its power. I ran closer, dodging a phantom’s claws, and blasted it into its neighbour. The node darkened, its currents thick with clawed beasts, but I found myself moving into its orbit. Drawing on its strength.
Power roared to life inside me, blasting the phantoms away. The nearest phantom reeled back, its body crumbling. They might outnumber us, but each phantom still had a limited time to strike before they fell to pieces, eaten alive by their own source of power.
The node’s current drew me in, even as the phantoms pinned me on all sides, trapping me in the centre. Too many to fight all at once—but the node gave me strength. It had to be enough to beat them.
A sudden cold pair of sharp points brushed against my neck.
“Hello again,” purred the long-haired vampire.
I slammed my elbow back, greeted by an explosion of pain. Someday I’d learn not to punch vampires, but today wasn’t that day, apparently. With a curse, I pivoted away from the vampire and grabbed onto the node’s power. Magic ripped from my palms, and the vampires cringed away from the light. I spotted the Death King and the Air Element fighting back to back, holding the phantoms at bay—but two more people stepped out of the node. Vampires, wearing identical grins.
“Enough games,” said a voice. “Hand the spirit mage over to me.”
A tall figure appeared within the current of light, moving with impossible grace and speed. His sharp-edged face glowed with the node’s power, his hair gleamed like night, and a memory tickled the inside of my mind. I’d seen his face before, somewhere…
Fighting the sudden rush of déjà-vu, I pulled the node’s power into my hands, but felt clumsy, disconnected. The vampire moved with blinding speed. Cold, hard arms wrenched mine behind my back, and pain screamed through my shoulders. I gritted my teeth, fighting for control.
Then the world was rushing away—I closed my eyes against an onslaught of dizziness—and then at once, everything ground to a halt.
The vampire held me in his grip, inside the doorway of a house. Wooden panelling ran on either side of me like the décor of the council house, but the dark, winding hall was unfamiliar to me.
The painful tightness on my arms vanished and my body pitched forwards as a wave of dizziness crashed over me. I caught my balance on the wall, my eyes squinting against the darkness of the hallway. The leading vampire appeared in my peripheral vision, fast, elegant, so familiar it made my head hurt.
“What do you want with me?” I gasped out.
“I hear you were responsible for jailing my children,” said the Crow—it could only be him. “I wouldn’t let an amateur spirit mage stand in my way, but since you insisted upon it, I feel no remorse for taking your life.”
“I bet,” I said. “I have to admit, I didn’t guess a vampire might be behind all this. Using spells that kill the dead doesn’t seem your sort of thing.”
He took my arm and wrenched me through a doorway into a room panelled with the same dark wood as the corridor. Excruciating pain shot up to my elbow. I bit back a scream.
“What’re you going to do?” I blinked hard, my eyes watering. “Turn me into a lich and then a decaying corpse, like the others you experimented on?”
“You don’t deserve that honour,” he said.
“Honour?” I frowned, the pain making me lightheaded. “Did they volunteer for this shit?”
“Believe it or not, they did,” he said. “They were willing to offer their lives for the purposes of furthering my research.”
A vampire mad scientist. Who’d have thought it possible? “The liches who died didn’t volunteer.”
“Liches?” he echoed. “That’s none of my business. I’m only concerned with my fellows.”
Shit. It must have been the traitor lich who’d killed his own people, but the Crow’s work was experimental, with an end goal. The spell wasn’t just intended to kill, but to gain power.
“You,” he said, “are going to stay here. I’ll leave my children to stop you from getting yourself into trouble while I deal with your friends.”
“Like hell.” I reached for my pouch, but he wrenched on my arm with another dizzying current of pain. “What’s the point of all this?”
“You will soon leave this world behind,” said the vampire. “I will clean up this city and purge the undead scum so that the living can walk in the light again.”
“Do you include yourself among the living or the dead?” Elements, my arm hurt. “Or does it depend on who you’re talking to?”
The pain was making me loopy. I couldn’t think clearly—which was no doubt the point. The three vampires closed in, their teeth bared in smiles. Ready to torture the spirit mage.
“Oh, come on, guys,” I said. “Can’t you at least give me a fighting chance?”
A foot slammed into my ribs, and pain engulfed my entire world.
21
“You should have got this by now,” said a voice. “Try again.”
I faced my mentor, my hands curling into fists as the energy of a node roared through my veins.
“Better,” said Dirk Alban, stepping into view. “Show me again.”
I did so, reciting the rules in my head as I did so.
Travelling through nodes is the first stage of spirit magic. The second stage is bringing the spirit across but not the body. The third stage is drawing on the node’s strength to bolster your own.
The fourth? Moving the soul to another source.
In the real world, I lay on my back an
d stared up at the ceiling. The vampires had finally gone to hunt some poor humans down to sate the bloodlust brought on by the smell of my fresh blood, and they’d left me to nurse my injuries alone.
It seemed they enjoyed playing with their food. They’d thrown my pouch somewhere else in the room, but my cantrips might be in one piece—if I had the strength to reach them. Even moving my arm seemed an impossibly herculean act.
The world flickered out, revealing Dirk Alban’s face against a backdrop of cool grey. And next to him…
“I want you to meet someone today,” he said. “Someone you can learn from.”
The Crow looked at me. His eyes weren’t pale, but were ordinary brown, and he didn’t have pointed fangs. He hadn’t been turned yet…
The memory flickered out, and the world faded back into view. I might not have all the answers, but I’d seen enough to guess the truth.
“You were a spirit mage,” I whispered to the darkness.
The Crow had once been a spirit mage alongside Dirk Alban. I’d thought mages couldn’t turn into vampires, but it wasn’t like I’d ever met a living spirit mage after losing my memory. Not until Mr Cobb, anyway, and he hadn’t had any of his powers left.
“Liv,” said a voice from among the hazy light above my head. “Shit. Don’t be dead. Not now.”
“Dex,” I croaked out. “I’m not dead, but the three vampires haven’t finished with me yet. How’d you find me?”
“I searched every house in the vampires’ district until I found you.” Dex’s form appeared hovering above my face. “You have your cantrips, don’t you?”
“Too far.” Too bad he couldn’t pick them up to toss to me, because my arms were lead weights. Pain continued to pulse through my body as I fought to keep my mind in the present. The Crow was a spirit mage. He must have kept his magic after being turned into a vampire, which meant he was the person who’d been creating the cantrips. Not the lich traitor, and not the people at the warehouses. No other explanation made sense.
Touch of Death (Order of the Elements Book 2) Page 19