I opened my eyes to see the lovely pink shade of the bathtub water was bright red from the blood pouring out of my nose. Even the white towel was badly stained. I gasped for air. How long was I under the water? How did I not drown?
I didn’t have time to concern myself. And I wouldn’t have time to relax. There would never be such an opportunity until we had Dirk back and the Dolch Erbe was destroyed for good.
I sat on the floor trying to catch my breath and make sense of what I had seen.
Dirk was gathering more forces. He would find a way to use the Sorlin-Vontaine for his purposes. Whether that involved making them do the will of the Dolch Erbe’s inner circle by force or entrancing them like so many others over the centuries, I had no idea. But there was only one way forward. I had to tell Margaux. We needed to get to Prague. And above all else, we had to do so as fast as possible. If Dirk managed to take over the Sorlin-Vontaine we would have much bigger problems on our hands. Margaux, Adeline, and I might have been strong enough together to capture him but we couldn’t with the Sorlin-Vontaine protecting him.
I dried myself off as best as I could and threw on some fresh clothes only to realize that I wasn’t sure how to find Margaux. I didn’t know where this random house was outside the academy. I had no other choice but to let my magic guide me.
Edward’s journal didn’t have much to go on but it did say the location wasn’t inside the fortress grounds. I rushed out of the front gates and hoped the guards wouldn’t ask me where I was going or what I was doing. I figured they had enough embarrassment the last time.
“Gone out to find more trouble, have you?” One of them shouted at me as I lifted the hood of my trench coat over my head and walked away from them as fast as I could.
“I hear the vixra aren’t too pleased with your lot after all,” the other shouted.
They chuckled to each other. I ignored their quips. As it turns out, when the vixra guard show up and nearly kill you in front of the entire student body, word tends to get about. Especially to the academy guards who already had good reason to hate me.
As soon as I was out of their sight I let my magic pierce through my palm. I held it close to my chest and hoped it would guide me.
“Come on!” I whispered. “Direct me! Somehow!”
The vapors of smoke from the crimson red light drifted to the left. At first, I thought it was the breeze. But it couldn’t have been. It was blowing in the complete opposite direction.
The bite of the cold sent a chill right through my back, reminding me once more that the bath was very much needed along with the healing herbs Adeline gave me. I would get no rest that night let alone the chance to finish healing.
‘Margaux better be grateful.’
The vapors from my magic continued to flow in various directions as I walked outside and over a meadow. There were trees in the distance. It was only a matter of minutes before I discovered a lightly walked trail through the woods. My eyes immediately adjusted to the darkness of the forest where the thick trees bare of their leaves blocked out most of the moonlight. The path twisted through the trees, making sure that nothing inside the forest was disturbed. Once I had walked a short distance through the woods, I heard the trickle of water. It was a stream trailing along beside a cottage. Along with a large watermill, a stone exterior, and Tudor style windows with black trim and white walls.
My magic slowly disappeared. Almost like it was telling me it had done its job and it was time for me to relax. Or because it was as exhausted as I was and refused to be overworked.
I quietly continued down the path to the front door of the cottage. There was just enough moonlight piercing through the trees for the stream to sparkle from its penetrating light. It was certainly charming. If not idyllic. A small sanctuary in a realm where lycan roamed the night and hunted in darkness. Only I knew better. If this was indeed the same cottage where Edward and Sybil lived, it had seen a great amount of unhappiness.
I lifted my hand to knock at the door. There were hushed voices inside. Something fell to the floor with a loud clank.
I knew Alexei could probably hear me coming given his enhanced vampire hearing. That didn’t stop me from wanting to have good manners even if he had none. Margaux was risking a lot to help defeat the Dolch Erbe. Even if she was slowly losing my favor with her passive-aggressive way of getting back at me for torturing her.
I expected to see Margaux in all her glamor and sultry French voice when she answered the door.
I was right about the attitude but not the person who greeted me.
Alexei answered the door with his shirt only half-buttoned up. He nonchalantly held the door open with one hand and finished buttoning with the other, making sure that I got a good shot of his sculpted muscles and a little chest hair.
I nearly looked away in disgust until I realized that was probably exactly what he wanted. To disgust me. He left little to the imagination. Especially when he creaked the door open just wide enough for me to see Margaux slipping on a navy blue satin robe with delicate lace over the sleeves and hemline.
I clearly interrupted them. And Alexei wasn’t above letting me know it.
‘The last thing I want to envision is you naked, pig.’
“I need to speak with Margaux,” I said abruptly.
“She’s…occupied.”
“Alexei, don’t be impolite,” Margaux spoke from inside. “I’m gone for a matter of weeks and you went right back to your old ways.”
“Perhaps you never quite managed to rehabilitate my natural state,” he teased her. The whole time he tried to force my eyes to meet his. I kept them away, not liking the idea of him seeing me so visibly upset by what I had seen. Only he had no idea what had just happened when I tried to take a bath in peace.
“Why so squeamish?” he said to me, leaning forward as if he was searching for something inside me that might give him a hint as to how my mind ticked. “I would not think a woman who spent the night with a Blackatter would be such a prude.”
“It’s an emergency,” I spat. “Let me speak to Margaux in private right now!”
I was tempted to shove him aside and enter without an invitation. Fortunately, Margaux saved me the effort once she saw how disheveled I was.
“Alexei, would you be so kind as to excuse Mademoiselle Blackburn and me for a moment.”
“I only just arrived,” he complained. “I’m not leaving you. Not again.”
“You’re right. You’re not leaving.” She took a hand to his cheek and felt the freezing surface of his skin. Only he seemed to melt from her small act of tenderness. “You’re only going to hunt and then you’re coming right back. You’re not to leave the lycan realm.”
“You want me to hunt an animal in the forest?” he asked with a clear expression of revulsion. “Nothing touches these lips but human blood. I won’t settle for any less.”
She sighed and let her hand drop to her side. “Then find one of the guards outside the academy,” she retorted. “But do not kill them and make sure you lure away the memory of it ever happening. If Rodrick hears that you’re feeding on anyone in the lycan realm he won’t hesitate to kick you out.”
His jaw set in frustration. Even so, he didn’t dare challenge her.
“Allez,” she told him. “And don’t listen in. I know you love a good secret.”
He gave her one kiss on the neck and rushed away from the door so fast that my naked eye never even saw him move. The wind he created rushed by me and pushed the hood of my trench coat right off my head.
“He’s a wild one,” Margaux said as she leaned into the doorway with her arms crossed. It didn’t take a genius to know she and Alexei were catching up in more ways than one when I interrupted. And yet, not a single hair was out of place. Not even her lipstick. I could only guess she used some sort of magic to make herself presentable always regardless of whether she was casting spells with her coven or shagging Alexei.
‘That’s a trick I want to learn.’
<
br /> “How a woman like you stands him is beyond me,” I said to her as she ushered me inside. The cottage was warm with a fire burning in the stone fireplace, the wood smelled of the forest and fresh pine, and the bedspread and sheets were in utter disarray. It certainly wasn’t the sort of elegance I knew Margaux was used to from seeing her flat in Paris but it appeared good enough for their more immediate needs.
“He’s an acquired taste, bien sûr,” she said, not appearing remotely offended by me judging her choice in men. “My coven doesn’t approve. Hardly any witchlings or even lycan would. Vampires aren’t respectable company. But for whatever reason, we can’t be without one another. We’ve tried. I’m sure you of all people can understand the allure of forbidden attraction, mademoiselle.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I already got a lecture from Adeline. I didn’t want Margaux suggesting who I ought to keep for company either. Especially after what Rodrick and I had done in her bedroom.
“What is this emergency?” she asked me.
“Daniella.”
Margaux’s laid back demeanor changed in an instant. “What about her?”
“The grandmaster has her. He struggled to overpower her and triggered the connection between us. I saw him defeat her and demand that she hand over the Sorlin-Vontaine. She refused.”
Margaux’s eyes veered away from me as she fought hard to remain composed. “Is she alive?”
“I don’t know. I saw Dirk attack her with his magic when she refused him. I think it might have been a killing blow.”
Margaux turned away from me and moved over to the small kitchen table to the corner of the room. She set down her hands. I could hear her fingernails digging into the wood. A flash of blue erupted from her palms and lit up the entire cabin in a blinding cobalt blue light. She let out a grunt and tossed the table aside so hard that it went right into the wall and shattered into hundreds of pieces. For a woman who appeared so composed, sassy, and chic, she matched Alexei in one area that I could clearly recognize. A temper.
I jumped back in surprise, nearly running into the black iron bed frame. It only took a quick reminder of what had just taken place on that bed for me to jerk away.
“We have less time to work with than I thought,” she grumbled. When she turned around there wasn’t a single sign that her temper had momentarily taken over her seemingly elegant sensibilities. To my surprise, she looked a tad embarrassed.
“Tell me every detail,” she said.
I took a deep breath and began explaining, hoping that she wouldn’t turn her anger on me the second I was done. I never really appreciated the notion of don’t shoot the messenger until I was standing before her with nothing but my memories to recount for her judgment.
When I was done she paced about the cabin for a solid thirty seconds before speaking.
“If Daniella is dead we have much less time than I thought,” she finally spoke. “I trusted she was strong enough to protect the coven but the grandmaster has become too powerful.”
A sharp sting erupted deep inside my gut. I knew this wasn’t Dirk. He was being possessed in the same way Margaux was possessed. But still… the thought of him having to carry more death on his shoulders if we did manage to free his spirit made me feel a profound sense of loss.
“The more converts he makes, the more powerful the inner circle becomes. That’s why so many previous generations couldn’t defeat them. If he manages to convert my coven to his demands then there won’t be any stopping him.”
She rushed over to a suitcase that was stuffed under the bed and dragged it out. Alexei had apparently brought along some of her clothes and various spell books. She twirled her finger to tell me to turn around.
I did so and let her dress properly as she continued speaking.
“We must get Adeline and Rodrick immediately,” she said. “We’ll need them both.”
I was relieved to be turned around. There was no way I wanted her to see the relief written all over my face at knowing Rodrick would be helping us. He was the main reason I was able to free Margaux. Whether he would agree after what I already asked of him was another matter entirely. We hadn’t even spoken since we stood in the ceremonial room with Ellinor.
“If we get to Prague and things go wrong, we’ll need them both to create strong enough enchantments and a vixra tunnel to get us out of there. You can turn now.”
When I turned back around she was in a fine black dress that descended just below her knees. She looked more like a witchling headed out to a dinner party than a woman getting ready to do battle with a rival threatening her coven.
‘To each his own I suppose.’
“You prepare and meet me in the Falcon wing at midnight. I have spells to cast and preparations to make.”
“And Alexei?” I asked her, wondering if I would be forced to endure his wrath once he came back to find Margaux was gone.
“You leave him to me.”
“With pleasure.”
10
I had seen Lothar angry. I’d seen him shift in an instant, snarl at a perceived enemy and go in for a deadly strike. I had even, on more rare occasions, seen him show empathy only to hide it moments later. It wasn’t until I stood at the doorstep of the room I once slept in before Devon kidnapped me, the room where Lothar rested his head at night, that I saw him look utterly offended.
“Alone?” The single word left his seething mouth only seconds after I explained what I had seen and what was about to happen.
“I won’t be alone,” I retorted. “Adeline, Margaux, and Rodrick will be with me.”
“Why Rodrick?” He squared his shoulders at the sound of his name.
“Because he’s a Blackatter. We might need him. That part was Margaux’s idea just in case you want to assume that I chose him over you. This might be the only chance I have to get my brother back. So I’m sorry I’ll miss our lesson but I have to go. I have to!”
“And you think it beneath you to ask Jake and me to join you after we both risked our lives twice just in the last week to save you?”
“It wasn’t my decision.”
“So that excuses it?”
I opened my mouth to argue but no words came out.
Chatter erupted from down the stairs below us. Someone was walking up the spiral stone steps to their room.
Lothar reached for my arm and pulled me into his quarters to give us some privacy. Or at least I hoped that was his intention. After our last encounter, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be alone with him again. Not until I had time to think. And to get my brother back. For the first time in ages, I knew the exact course I wanted to take. Adeline was right after all. I had to have my priorities in line before going after Dirk. I couldn’t let Lothar or Rodrick dissuade me from anything. Their feelings and my feelings didn’t matter.
He lowered his head to my eye level. “I can help you just as well as he can,” he insisted.
“I’m not interested in your competing egos, Lothar. This is about my brother and I don’t have control over the plan to get him back. It’s bigger than me and the Vontex. Margaux’s entire coven is at risk. This matters a great deal to Adeline as well. You heard Ellinor. The Dolch Erbe’s inner circle killed Adeline’s grandfather. I can’t call the shots and it would be wrong of me to make demands like that. The same goes for you.”
The heaviness of his breath cascaded down on me. His eyes searched for something he could possibly hold onto. A detail that might cause me to see things his way.
He let his hand come up to my cheek, cupping it in his hand and letting his thumb graze over my chin. It was as if I was a precious gem that he treasured for years but never truly saw the value of until that exact moment.
“You know there’s no going back if you do this,” he said. “This isn’t chasing after Alina or trying to reason with a vixra. You’re facing evil head-on. You’ve had all that life has to offer one of our kind handed to you. You’re a lycan. You can heal, you can move with speed, grace, and
agility. You have strength far superior to any human and magic in your veins that other lycan only dream of harnessing. If the grandmaster wins, all that will be gone. You will be a prisoner in your own mind. You will lead the Sorlin-Vontaine alongside the grandmaster to do whatever he commands. And there won’t be anything I or anyone else can do to stop him. No one will be able to save you. Not this time. Is that really the future that you want? Is that the future you want over me?”
I stood there staring back at him. I was breathless. And most of all, I was hurt.
I knew the future that awaited me if I failed. I would be everything that I most feared. I was a prisoner to my mother’s wish to flee from my father, never finding a home and never having any sort of seed planted to grow a secure life. I was a prisoner of my father’s will for me to stay couped up until he dictated which university I would attend and the subject I would study. Then I became a prisoner to the ten shifts I had to endure to finish my transformation into a full-fledged lycanthrope. And even after it was finished, I still wasn’t entirely free. I was given a task. Complete my studies at the academy and hopefully join the Vontex. That’s as good as it would ever get for me unless I chose to live in Hungary. Even that wouldn’t be true freedom. It wasn’t entirely of my choosing. I might never attain such privileges. Maybe it wasn’t my destiny in life to do so. But sacrificing my freedom to make every possible effort to save my brother was worth the risk to me. In the end, I knew the truth. Dirk would do the same for me. I owed it to him to try.
“Lothar,” I said his name softly.
He didn’t give me time to try to explain. He let his lips touch mine, making one last-ditch effort to convince me not to go. Or at least to bring him along so he could have the illusion that he might be able to keep me safe. Either way, he had broken his word to me. He said the choice was mine. He said he would help me get my brother back. That all changed. I wasn’t sure where it changed but it had.
Resummon: (Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting: Operation Shift, Book 6) Page 10