by Melody Raven
“This is Madame Storm,” said Dante. “She’s going to help us talk to the dead.”
The woman leaned forward in her seat to get a better look at Derek, and her eyes widened. “Ahhh, you want to talk to the dead and yet the dead is already here. Curious.” Madame Storm looked the part. She wore a purple hat with about a two-inch brim, and her knit red sweater appeared intricate and homemade. But it was almost impossible to see any of the craftsmanship because of the layers and layers and layers of necklaces around her neck. Her face was similarly covered with a dark eye shadow and bright-red lipstick. She was the kind of person who everyone would notice and no one would want to get involved with.
But if she knew he’d been dead, that might be a good sign. It was going to take someone damn good at what they did to help them get Jackson back without letting him wreak havoc on the earth again.
“Wrong dead guy,” said Claire with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
He had a feeling that she was in the backseat because she’d drawn the short straw....
“Where are you headed?” asked Parker, bringing the focus once again squarely on him.
“Just taking a walk.”
“Alone? After all the shit that’s happened?”
He knew Parker was just looking out for him, but he didn’t like the idea that he couldn’t do what he wanted. He’d lived on his own for too long to think he had to be contained anywhere. “I’m a big boy,” he reminded her.
“Most of the dead guys I see are big boys too,” she pointed out. “I didn’t realize you were so different.”
Derek’s grip on the roof of the Charger tightened, and half a second later, the metal crunched beneath his hand. He jumped back and Parker tightened her lips. Before he could think of a good excuse for what happened, he said, “Go. I’ll be there in a second.”
“Resurrected, but not the same, I see,” said Storm. “The strength is common, but something about you is so... wrong.”
He could just see all the things she wanted to say flashing through her mind, but she managed to hold it back.
“I’ll see you soon, Pierce.” Angela stepped on the gas and the car jerked away from him.
Derek looked up and the moonlight caressed his face. But it didn’t feel like it used to. Now, it was as if he stood in the bright sunshine. The soft glow from the moon was warming his entire body, which had been cold in an unimaginable way ever since he’d come back. The only thing that seemed to make a difference was the soft moonlight and the heat of Sam’s body pressed against him.
He let his eyes close as he appreciated the sensation. But a second later, he heard the shrill voice of Madame Storm cutting through his peace and pulling him back. There would be no calming and relaxing walk tonight, it seemed.
He let out a sigh and turned back to the giant house that used to belong to Sam’s mother. Well, he supposed it still did. He doubted they’d ever be able to separate the darkness from Abigail, but he wasn’t going to rule anything out. He was walking, talking proof that anything could happen.
When he made it back to the house, everyone was gathered in the entryway. Sam was wearing a pair of short black shorts and a loose tank top that hung low on her front and back, draping gently over her breasts, not showing much, but leaving little to the imagination at the same time.
Derek knew he should be more interested in the bastard they were about to raise from the dead, but he found a sudden lust racing through him. He winced and averted his gaze even as his hard-on pressed firmly against the fly of his jeans. For one, this was pretty much the worst possible time to pull Sam away for a quickie. Also, he hadn’t been with her since he came back. On some level, he’d known he wasn’t the same person from the moment he woke up. Now that he kept on doing more and more fucked-up things, he didn’t want to risk touching Sam.
What if he hurt her? He had bent the car roof without even trying, and he’d have much less control over himself when Sam was involved. She’d always had that effect on him....
When he looked up again, he saw her eyes were on him so he focused instead on the newcomer. “Welcome,” he said briskly as she walked around the entryway, touching everything, eyes bouncing over every bauble and decoration.
“Oh, I’ve always wanted to see how Abigail Harris lived, but she was never a fan of mine. She thought I was eccentric.” She let out a little giggle, and Derek wasn’t sure whether she was agreeing with the thought or she’d seen something funny. “You know, for someone as normal as her, she sure got herself in a world of trouble now, didn’t she?”
He stiffened at the insult to her, but Sam wasn’t about to take that. In a fraction of a second, her hands were engulfed in flames and she moved to stand in front of Storm. “I think you should remember who your host is at the moment.”
Instead of being scared, Storm smiled widely at Sam. “Look at you in all your finery. Claudia really did choose well. Bless her soul. She’ll need it. She has so many skeletons in her closets.” Storm’s eyes widened. “You should find those! I hear they can cause quite a stink.”
Sam met Derek’s eyes over the woman’s shoulder and he could see the uncertainty in her face. This was the woman they were relying on to tell them how to fight off the darkness?
“We’ll get looking for those skeletons right away. Why don’t you tell us how to bring Jackson back?”
“But only temporarily,” added Claire quickly. “Like, long enough to get him here, and then as soon as he gives us what we want, he’ll be gone.”
“The last thing we need is another soul sucker running around,” grumbled Bastian.
Claire looked questioningly at him, but Bastian wasn’t apologetic. “You’re fine in my book, but your kind and me haven’t always gotten along. Jackson especially.”
Claire crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight, as though trying to appear as strong as possible in front of Storm. “When I was under the sleeping spell, Claudia appeared to me and was very clear that you would be able to give us everything we need.”
“Well, she’s wrong.” Storm continued to walk around the room.
“So you let us bring you all the way out here and you can’t help?”
She tsked with her tongue and turned to face Claire. “For a species that is supposed to be extinct, you’re surprisingly demanding. Of course I can help. But I don’t have what you need. To complete the ritual, you’re going to need the cursed Byzantine blade and sand from all corners of the earth.”
Derek wondered whether she was just making up words.
“Okay,” said Sam. “Abigail has a map of cursed items. We might be able to find the location there.”
“Oh, I know where it is,” said Storm. “I just don’t have it.”
“All right,” said Sam carefully. “Care to share its location with the rest of us?”
“Claudia has both items. She would keep it close to the heart, where it would be protected.”
Derek met Sam’s eyes once more and they each reached the same conclusion at the same time.
“It’s in the vault.”
Sam looked up at the ominous dark building with almost no lights on at all. So different from the vibrant, bustling center she was so used to when Claudia had been in charge.
“So.” Derek looked up too. “Does this mean this is yours now?”
“I don’t know,” she said, not quite honestly. Yes, on one hand, Claudia had named her the successor, so the tower and all of Claudia’s properties would pass into her ownership. But there were so many things between her and taking control like that, that the very idea was almost impossible to imagine.
“Let’s go.” Derek threw the car in park and reached for his belt.
Sam reached out, putting her hand on his and stopping him. “I’ve got this.”
“You’re walking into a building overrun with a crazy mystical power and you’re going in alone? No. We’re doing this together.”
She had known he would be hard to convince, which wa
s why she hadn’t been able to muster up the courage to tell him her true plan until now. So she reached up, cupping his face with her hands, and turned him to look into her eyes, willing him to see how serious she was. “I know this place like the back of my hand. I’ll be in and out in no time.”
“If your mother is there, she can kill you in a heartbeat.”
“That’s why I need to go. I’ve faced the darkness before and she’s always let me go. I’m not a threat. I’m an annoyance she has to deal with. If you’re there, she could be threatened. That’s when things will get dangerous.”
“I can’t let you go alone. Sam—”
“Tell you what. If you let me do this, I’ll let you take me on a date.”
“You’ll let me?”
“Yes. Because I don’t need your permission to do this and you don’t need my permission to do whatever you want to me.”
“That makes no sense, Sam.”
“That’s what makes it fun.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. She didn’t know whether she was trying to work her magic on him or whether he was working his magic on her. Either way, for a few brief seconds, she was able to forget about the maelstrom around her. This wasn’t her recently resurrected boyfriend and she wasn’t about to walk into enemy territory. It was just her and Derek.
Finally she pulled herself away from him and got out of the car before he could physically stop her. Though she could get away from him if she wanted to. Now that Claudia was dead, the protection charm wouldn’t protect him any longer.
Another reason why he shouldn’t be getting in the middle of anything. Even though the darkness had always been able to get around the charm, Phillip and his people could be anywhere. If he wanted to kill Claire for being a soul sucker, who knew what he’d want to do when he figured out that Derek had just been raised from the dead?
Sam reached the front door to the dark building and pulled. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. Once she was in, she was filled with a sense of unease. Not just because she knew the building was overrun with evil. Because there was no one here. The lights were off. Reception was empty. No security guard. No receptionist. None of the sentries who were normally posted at the front to protect Claudia.
She thought back to the building that Heather had taken over. It had been rotted out with decay because of the darkness that had been eating it from the inside out. Sam didn’t see any of those symptoms here. Was it just too soon? Or had the darkness moved on?
She had a feeling she wasn’t going to get that lucky.
She walked to the elevators and hoped that the electricity was actually on. To her surprise, the little button lit up but then shut off just as quickly as the doors to the elevator that was already lobby level opened.
Sam stepped inside as she had so many times before and hit the button for the top level. The elevator raced up at the speed normal in such large skyscrapers. She knew that the building was occupied by a lot more people than just Claudia. How had Abigail gotten rid of all of them? Maybe a gentle suggestion? Or something more sinister?
She shifted her weight and kept her hands at her side and ready. When the doors opened, she was completely prepared for any confrontation, but there was no one there. Just more emptiness.
Maybe the darkness had gone running. Now that Claire was still alive and Derek was back, did Abigail know that her days were numbered?
As she went farther into the building, she ignited the flames around her hands. It wasn’t hard. Almost second nature. The days of barely being able to control herself seemed so far away. But she was supposed to have more than this. Right now, she had Claudia’s magic swirling within her. Shouldn’t she feel different? Shouldn’t she feel dangerous and ready to face any threat?
Maybe she had to actually feel threatened to call it forth. Hopefully her fire would do for now.
Sam reached Claudia’s office and the breeze hit her immediately. She shouldn’t be surprised to see the broken window. She’d been there when Claudia and Bastian had jumped out of the skyscraper. The first time she’d seen Claudia run from anything. Papers were scattered all over the floor, and Sam didn’t want to think how many valuable documents had already been sucked out by the intense winds this high in the sky. But she didn’t have time to clean up and cherish Claudia’s office like she should. She was here on a mission.
She had to pull back her flame to pull the lever to open the secret room and then used her fire to light the way as she went downstairs to the vault of magical items. Thankfully it hadn’t been raided by the darkness. Maybe the magical items didn’t work the same way for a different type of magic? Or the darkness didn’t know about the existence of the hidden room.
Either way, she had a few minutes to look through the shelves until she found the jar of sand. It was the only sand in the room, so that would have to be the sand from all corners of the earth that Madame Storm had mentioned. The knife was harder. Cursed blades were kind of a thing in the magical world, and Claudia had no less than ten. Sam took out the little drawing Madame Storm had made, showing the pattern that was supposedly on the hilt: a cross made out of rubies.
After looking through a few boxes, there it was. She pulled it out of the sheath just enough to verify that the blade was still intact and then tucked it in her back waistband, hiding it under her shirt. There was no good place to hide the jar of dirt, so she tucked it under her arm. Every time she had to use her hands, the fire would go out and darkness would surround her once more.
Once she had everything she wanted, she didn’t start the flames again. She knew the way out, and the light would alert someone she was here.
She went up the steep stairs and poked her head out but didn’t see or hear anyone waiting to ambush her.
In fact, she was just congratulating herself on how easy the whole ordeal had been when she stepped back into Claudia’s breezy office and saw the outline of Abigail standing behind the desk. Sam came to a stop and held the jar tightly to her breast.
“Hello, Samantha,” said Abigail. It was only then that Sam realized Abigail wasn’t facing her. She was looking out over the city.
“I don’t want to start any trouble.” Sam inched toward the door.
Abigail turned, and at the same time, the doors to the hallway and the secret room slammed shut. Sam took a breath and tried to hold back her fear, but that didn’t stop her heart from beating out a frantic rhythm in her chest.
“A little late for that, don’t you think?”
Yep. It really was. Sam held the dirt in front of her and gently bent down to set the jar on the ground.
Abigail considered it. “All continents are in there. Trying to ground something?”
“You have no idea.” Sam stepped away from the jar, trying to draw Abigail’s attention to her and not to the items she was stealing. “I was expecting this place to be a lot busier.”
Abigail looked around her. “This was Claudia’s territory. It’s mine now. I feel a suitable revenge is to take what’s hers and let it rot into the ground.” Abigail met Sam’s gaze. Even though Sam couldn’t see the eyes, she could feel the power of the darkness’s attention. “Do you ever think about revenge?”
She wanted to lie, but that would be foolish. “Don’t we all?”
“I think about revenge. I think about it a lot. When you’ve been locked up as much as I have, you have lots of time to think, and I thought about revenge. Revenge on those who’ve wronged me. Revenge on those who’ve locked me up. You and I aren’t all that different.”
“We might have to agree to disagree.”
“So many people have wronged you.”
“I’m looking at one of the main culprits right now.”
Abigail tsked and tilted her head. “I didn’t kill your sister. I didn’t kill your boyfriend. And I didn’t kill your best friend.”
“Says the demonic being in my mother right now.”
“Your mother asked for this. She wanted my help for when her family failed her
. She wanted revenge. You should understand that. Remember, I’m the one who warned you. I told you that Claudia would destroy you, and I was right.”
“Well, Claudia isn’t going to be a problem anymore. You got what you wanted.”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “Yes. I heard about that. I’d offer my condolences, but....”
“Please don’t.”
“We don’t have to be enemies.”
Sam leaned back against the desk and looked out at the city, honestly curious about what Abigail was going to say. “I think the peace ship has sailed. Actually, it didn’t sail. It has sunk into the deepest part of the ocean.”
“Don’t mock my offer,” warned the darkness. “I’m giving you an opportunity few get.”
“You’re giving me an opportunity because you’re afraid. You know that before she died, Claudia brought Derek back and he’s the key to killing you.”
“Is that what you want? For Derek to embrace the darkness in his heart and become fully entrenched in me? Because there will be no coming back for him. And the leader of the magical world cannot be involved with an abomination like that.”
“The best part about being the leader of the magical world is that no one gets to tell me who I can and cannot be with.”
“If Claudia couldn’t be with her Bastian, what makes you think you’ll be any different?”
“Pure determination and smartassery.”
“Bastian was her one true love. When he died, she moved heaven and earth to bring him back. The human who bewitched the witch. But the link that formed between them was what held them together and drove them apart. From that moment, he belonged to her, body and soul, cursed to follow her every command. There is no love that can last that. No mutual respect when one person is a slave.”
“Derek isn’t my slave.”
“Derek is your enemy too. He’s fueled by the very dark magic that you’ve sworn to destroy. The darkness that you blame for taking everything from you.”
Sam shook her head. “You think you’re so smart and that you’re always right, but you have no idea what’s coming.”