“Don’t do it.” Julius raised his hand in the air at Garrett.
Garrett fell to his knees, struggling to move or speak.
“What did you do?” I glared at Julius as I kneeled beside Garrett, trying to help him. Julius didn’t have telekinetic powers, so how had he forced Garrett to his knees? “Release him.”
“He’ll be fine if you do as I ask.” Julius lowered his hand, and Garrett fell forward, gasping for air. “It’s amazing what you can do with demon blood.”
Two vampires seized Garrett and pulled him away from me.
I fiddled with the ring on my finger as I eyed Julius. None of the books I’d read had mentioned demon blood. Must be powerful dark magic.
“Join me over here. I won’t ask nicely again,” Julius said.
Clenching my fists at my sides, I walked into the pentacle and stopped several feet from Julius. We had no way out of this. Not with the vampires surrounding us and obeying Julius’ commands. Aside from me, Ava was the only witch not restrained, but she was totally useless. I could only hope Carter and Markus were nearby, watching and planning how to rescue us.
“Come now. You can’t really be upset with me. I’ve been nice to you. I even bought you that dress.” Julius held out his hand. “Hand over your hunting knife.”
I curled my lip, pissed that I’d trusted him. He was acting as if I should be grateful for all he’d done despite the fact he’d killed Cyprian and Marie. I pulled my hunting knife from my boot and gave it to him. “Let my friends live, and I’ll go with you. You can lock me up until Samhain. I won’t resist.”
“You think you can bargain with me?” Julius laughed. “I knew if I made Garrett believe we planned on grabbing you tonight, you’d play right into my hands. I don’t want to lock you up. I want you to fulfill your destiny tonight.”
“What destiny?” I folded my arms as I scanned the woods, hoping to see yellow eyes watching us.
I saw nothing.
“The part of the prophecy about the Lost Raven and the beast. I can’t build a powerful army for Vadoma unless you fulfill that part. Vadoma told me herself.” Julius pointed to a large bowl on the altar. “You eat his heart, and I’ll let everyone go, including yourself. You can live your life until Samhain, but then you belong to Vadoma.”
I lowered my gaze to the bowl, wanting to throw up. “If I do this, you’ll let us leave? What about Grace and Orla, and the other witches?”
“Grace’s mind-reading powers have come in handy. She’ll live through this if she does as I say. As for Orla and the other witches, you know I can’t let them go, but they’re safe and being taken care of. How about, as a sign of good faith, I let someone leave right now?” Julius lifted his hand, and the ropes fell away from one of the coven leaders.
The warlock stood, looking disoriented, and then ran off into the woods. None of the vampires moved or seemed to care that Julius had let him go.
After unfolding my arms, I walked over to the bowl and peered inside. “There’s nothing here.”
“Of course not. Vadoma said it was important you killed the beast yourself.” Julius smiled. “Will that be a problem?”
“No.” I fought not to smile. Julius had no idea who the beast was, and even if he did, it was too late. Kaleb was dead. Unless there happened to be another wolf with a beast mark lurking around somewhere. “Where is this beast?”
“Bring him,” Julius shouted.
I swallowed hard as movement behind the vampires and Garrett caught my attention. What beast did Julius want me to kill? Had I been wrong about it being Kaleb?
Devlin appeared, pulling someone behind him as he passed the tiki torches. He entered the pentacle, his eyes flickering red as he looked me over. “My, my…this is a nice dress. You have great taste, Julius.”
I glared at Devlin, fighting to conceal how happy I was to see him. We were still outnumbered, but hopefully, some of these vampires and that person behind him weren’t bad. “Are you the beast?”
“No.” Devlin yanked the person forward, forcing them to their knees. Then he moved away to stand outside the pentacle.
I gasped as Carter looked up at me.
He still had on his tuxedo pants, but his jacket was gone, and blood covered his white shirt. His hands had been shackled together in front of his body. As bloody sweat dripped down his face, his eyes flickered yellow.
“Is this some sort of joke?” I bit out an incredulous laugh. “There’s no way Carter’s the beast.”
“Do I look like a fool?” Julius said. “Orla told me about his aura. It’s not normal. I know what you did, and it almost worked.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I stared at Carter. How had the vampires caught him, and where was Markus? Had they come up with a Plan B, and did this plan include Devlin? “Carter’s not the beast. He stripped naked on our first day of training, and I didn’t see the mark of the beast.”
Julius’ brows creased. “You didn’t do this to him?”
“Do what?” I fidgeted with the wolf bracelet around my wrist as I looked down at Carter. “What’s Julius talking about?”
Carter lowered his head, saying nothing.
“If it wasn’t you, then it must have been…” Julius’ gaze drifted to the other witches. He stalked in Calandra’s direction, muttering about trust and wolves.
I had no idea what Julius was accusing her of, but I didn’t care.
Taking advantage of the distraction, I dashed over to Carter and kneeled on the ground. I tried to remove the shackles from his wrists, but whatever spell Julius had cast on them was too strong. “Are you okay?”
“Run,” Carter whispered. “Save yourself.”
I shook my head, refusing to leave as I looked at the other witches. Ava had worked her way closer to Garrett and now stood behind the vampires who had him restrained. But even if she could get those two vampires away from Garrett, the other witches still had vampires behind them.
Rosella tilted her head to one side as she tried to communicate with me using her eyes. It took me a moment to realize she wanted to draw my attention to their ropes.
Julius pulled the gag from Calandra’s mouth but didn’t remove her blindfold. “You did this, and I want it removed.”
Staring at the ropes around the witches’ hands and legs, I commanded them to loosen slightly. Then I looked at Garrett and realized I couldn’t do anything. Not when two vampires were holding him.
“Let’s get this over with.” Julius returned to the pentacle and pulled his magical knife out of his boot. “Kill him, and you and your friends can go free. I’ll even let you use my knife, so he doesn’t feel any pain.”
As Julius handed me the knife, I shook my head. “I can’t kill Carter. He’s not the beast.”
“He is the beast.” Julius walked up behind Carter and ripped off his white shirt. He tossed it aside. “Calandra’s removed the spell. It’s slowly fading.”
“What spell?” I glanced at Calandra and then looked at Carter. As my gaze lowered to his bare chest, I froze as everything around me blurred.
Carter had the exact same birthmark as Kaleb. But that wasn’t possible. I’d seen him naked several times and knew he had no such mark. How could he have it now?
“I don’t understand,” I mumbled before dropping Julius’ knife to the ground and touching Carter’s birthmark. His skin felt warm beneath my fingertips. What had Julius said? Calandra had cast a spell on him, and it was fading.
I held my breath, my gaze slowly traveling up his muscular chest to his neck and face. With a gasp, I stumbled backward.
Carter’s dark brown eyes were now forest green, his buzz cut replaced by short wavy black hair.
“How…?” As my entire body went numb, I found myself unable to speak or move.
Kaleb was alive!
He kneeled before me in shackles. Not Carter.
Chapter 37
“Is it really you?” I rubbed my eyes, blinking to focus on Kaleb. This made
no sense. How was he alive? My heart racing, I touched his forearms, gliding my hands up to his shoulders. He was definitely real.
“Yes.” Kaleb cleared his throat. “It’s me.”
“You can thank Calandra for hiding the beast from you. She must’ve known about the prophecy all along, and she hid him right in front of us,” Julius said. “Now, pick up the knife and kill him.”
“I can’t.” Pain gripped my chest as fear swirled around me. I can’t lose Kaleb again. Not like this.
“You can do this,” Kaleb said.
“No,” the word came out as a whisper.
“Sienna, you must,” Kaleb insisted. “Kill me to save yourself and your friends.”
Julius laughed. “He truly is the beast, marked for greatness. And he’s still under your love spell. I knew you hadn’t removed it. Do you see how perfect this is, Sienna? He won’t resist you. He’ll do whatever you say.”
“I…” Sucking in air, I held back the tears and tried to calm my nerves. Julius had no idea how much I loved Kaleb, didn’t realize that I could never hurt him. “I won’t do this.”
“You will do this. I don’t care if we have to wait all night, but the witches at the Mabon Ball are running out of time,” Julius said. “I planned a little surprise tonight. In fifteen minutes, the coven’s barrier spell will go down, and the ball will be crawling with vampires hungry for blood. If you do as I ask, you and your friends might have enough time to warn everyone.”
“Sienna, do it.” Kaleb picked up the knife and held it out to me with the blade pointing down.
I choked back a sob. “No.”
“Let me make this easy for you.” Julius lifted his hand, and a fireball appeared. “I know how much you love Garrett. Choose one. If you don’t kill Kaleb, I’ll kill Garrett.”
My hands trembling, I took the knife from Kaleb and glanced around for help. Devlin stood near Calandra but showed no signs that he’d interfere or come to my rescue. No flickering yellow eyes in the woods. What if I used my telekinetic power to kill Julius with the knife? Would I be able to do it before he threw the fireball at Garrett? Maybe if I—
“Sienna, it’s going to be okay,” Garrett tried to reassure me, but he couldn’t hide the fear in his eyes. He didn’t want to die, and he knew I couldn’t choose between them.
“No,” Ava screamed, placing herself in front of Garrett. “We made a deal, Julius.”
“Trusting me was your first mistake,” Julius said, and then looked at me. “Choose now, or I will choose for you.”
Kaleb lifted the blade of the knife and pressed it above his birthmark as I held onto the handle. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” My voice cracked and tears streamed down my face.
He mouthed, ‘I love you,’ and then thrust the knife into his chest.
“No,” I yelled as I pulled out the knife and Kaleb sagged against me. Grief tearing at my chest, I dropped Julius’ knife and let out a scream that echoed through the night air.
This couldn’t be happening. Please let this be a nightmare.
I held Kaleb to me, sobbing uncontrollably as my heart shattered. Breathing in his familiar scent of freshly cut sugar maple trees and juniper, I felt numb inside.
“Sienna.” Rosella dragged me away from Kaleb. “We need your help, or Julius will escape.”
Julius. This was his fault. All of it. Rage swept over me as I got to my feet, wanting to hurt him.
To my surprise, the orb in the sky had grown dim. Darkness surrounded the altar except for the tiki torches. Wolves, vampires, and witches fought all around me, including Garrett, who had two vampires on top of him.
Ava threw a fireball in Garrett’s direction, burning one of the vampires to a crisp. Then her gaze lowered to the ground by Kaleb, and she used her powers to lift the knife and fling it at Julius.
With apparent ease, Julius raised one hand to redirect the knife at Ava while throwing two fireballs at her. One of the fireballs struck her in the stomach, and she fell to the ground. Garrett tried to reach her, but a vampire jumped onto his back, forcing him back into a fight.
Rosella had already disappeared, probably to fight a vampire or help someone else. I thought of Markus and knew he had to be around, but I couldn’t see him.
“Julius,” I shouted as I lifted my hands like Garrett had taught me and slammed them toward the ground. Flames poured from my hands, heating my entire body, and I hurled a wall of fire at Julius.
“I see you’ve been keeping secrets from me, Sienna. Naughty. Naughty.” Julius extinguished the fire with a flick of his hand. “Do you honestly think you can bring me down? You’re no match for me.”
“I can certainly try.” I stormed toward him, muttering the invocation for air.
“Take your best shot.” He opened his arms wide, walking backward out of the pentacle. “I won’t even fight you.”
Someone shouted my name, but I didn’t look. I didn’t care. I just wanted to hurt Julius in the worst possible way.
“C’mon, Lost Raven, or do you prefer Wolf Girl?” Julius smirked as he put distance between us.
Balling my hands into fists, I ran at him and hurled myself into the air.
When I struck his chest, Julius caught me in his arms, and we flew through the woods. Branches scraped at me as I struggled against him. We landed on the hard ground in a clear field, far from the altar and everyone else.
“Looks like those weeks of training with Kaleb paid off.” Julius rolled to his side and slowly got to his feet.
I stood and immediately invoked air to throw wind at the fireball Julius flung at me. Three large wolves ran past and Julius tossed more fireballs in their direction. Using air, I blocked the fireballs.
“Sienna”—Markus appeared next to me—“let the wolves handle him.”
“No,” I snapped as I centered myself, drawing heat from my anger. Flames poured from my hands again, and I sent a wall of fire in Julius’ direction. “It’s his fault that Kaleb’s dead.”
This time, Julius absorbed the fire and sent more fireballs toward the wolves, who managed to dodge them. He glanced at me, sending another fireball my way.
“Kaleb’s not dead.” Markus pulled me to the ground as the fireball whizzed over our heads. “The knife didn’t touch his heart. He’s alive. Ever since that night in Woodlake, when you… He heals quicker now.”
“What?” My chest tightened. “Are you sure he’s alive?”
“Yes. He ordered me to find you and keep you safe,” Markus replied. “Kaleb’s with the other wolves; they’re fighting the vampires.”
“I don’t understand. How did the wolves get onto the coven grounds before the barrier spell dropped?”
“Calandra and Devlin helped with that,” Markus said as we stood. He pulled me in the opposite direction, away from Julius and the wolves. “I have to get you somewhere safe.”
“I am safe. Julius won’t hurt me. He’s just testing me to see how strong I’ve become. They can’t kill me. They want my body for Vadoma.” As I pulled out of his grasp, a large crackle rippled through the night air. “That must be the barrier spell coming down.”
“We have to go,” Markus said. “The vampires will try to grab you.”
“I can’t.” I looked over at Julius. Three vampires had joined him in his fight with the wolves. “We have to take down Julius. This could be our only chance.”
“No,” Kaleb said as he and two large wolves approached us. “We’ll take care of Julius. Right now, Garrett needs you. He’s hurt.”
“Kaleb,” his name escaped my mouth as my heart raced. I couldn’t believe he was alive.
“Calandra and your friend Rosella are back at the ball. They and the other witches are trying to hold the barrier spell. Watch out for the vampires. Devlin’s the only one on our side, and he left with Boris. Go help Garrett and get to safety.” Kaleb ran off with the two wolves without giving me a chance to reply.
“Did he say Garrett’s hurt?” I ran into the wood
s, heading back to where I’d last seen Garrett.
But the First Altar was empty. No wolves. No vampires. No witches.
“Isn’t this your hunting knife?” Markus picked up my knife off the altar table and handed it to me. His eyes flickered yellow as something caught his attention. “Over there, on the dirt road.”
I slipped my knife into my boot and hurried to the dirt road, where we found Garrett bent over a body. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” He coughed and spat onto the ground. “But I need your help with Ava. She’s not doing too well.”
I kneeled on the ground and looked her over, but it was too dark to see how she was injured. I remembered Julius throwing his knife and the fireballs at her. “Where’s she hurt?”
“Julius’ knife hit her in the chest. We have to get her to the Healing Place, but I can’t carry her to the golf cart.”
“Markus.” I stood, and Markus picked up Ava while I wrapped an arm around Garrett. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes.” Garrett gasped as he leaned against me, and we slowly made our way to the main road.
Markus looked around and set Ava on the grass. “The golf carts are gone.”
“They must have taken them back to the ball,” I said as fireballs in the distance caught my eye. Kaleb and the other wolves were still fighting Julius. “You need to go get one.”
“My orders are to stay with you.” Markus shook his head. “Not—”
“Go,” I snapped.
He uttered a low growl and took off running as fast as he could.
Kneeling next to Ava, I rubbed my hands together, pulling energy from within. After placing both hands on her chest, I released pulses of heat like the doctor had shown me several weeks ago.
Ava gave a soft cough.
Garrett grabbed her hand, looking relieved. “Have you seen Rosella?”
“She’s back at the ball, helping to hold the barrier spell.” I looked up at the night sky, realizing I hadn’t heard any more crackles or thunder rippling through the air. Had they managed to keep the other vampires out?
Romani Magic (Shifter Blood: Romani Curse Book 3) Page 24
