by N. J. Cooper
“Wyatt! You’re back!” She grinned, her pristine white fangs protruding from her mouth. Unfazed by the attention, Wyatt grinned back in that easy way of his.
“Of course, Delia. I couldn’t stay away from your beautiful face for long.” He winked, leaning against the counter, dropping his pen. Kyla looked down at the paper, glad for the distraction Wyatt provided. She filled in Sky’s details quickly. Skylar Kerasin. Sorceress. Speed… What was Sky’s other power now? Ghost sight? Or her previous power of mind reading? Kyla bit her lip, her stomach knotting. Wyatt looked over at Kyla’s fidgeting, grabbing the pen. He ripped a piece of paper off the edge, right where she was meant to have filled in. He flipped it over and wrote some numbers down on it, then handed it to Delia with a grin.
“Here’s my number, Del. Give me a call next time you’re off, okay? I’d love to give you a personal taste sometime.” He offered with a confident smirk. She blushed, her eyelids fluttering as she tucked the number into her bra.
“You’re a dangerous guy, Wyatt. Oh, this is your sister?” She said typing on her computer after grabbing Kyla’s details. Wyatt nodded.
“Yeah, it’s her first time. I wanted her to give it a try. You reckon you could help me out and get her the best? She’s still not sold on this whole volunteer thing and I’m trying to convince her it’s totally mind blowing.” He flashed her a charming smile. Kyla almost rolled her eyes at the cheesy lines he was peddling, lines a human would never get away with, and yet Delia was eating it up like pudding at Christmas. She grinned a bright smile and nodded.
“Of course. You want the castle again?” She offered, a shameless attempt at impressing him. He nodded eagerly, feigning his impressed grin.
“You’re the best.” he winked. She blushed and handed back two black wristbands. They moved to the back of the group to let the next two fill out their details. She hovered close to Wyatt trying to shut out what was happening around her. Finally, the black bands were summoned over to the centaurs.
“We’re going to the castle. Single line formation. Show your bands. Stay with the group, you will be directed to your personal rooms where your feeder will join you. You are theirs for an hour. They will instruct you on what they want you to do.” The centaur ordered in a strict voice then led the seven of them who had made it to the black bands out of the blood bank, back down the steps and towards the castle. Kyla’s adrenalin kicked in. She was almost there. They just had to break away from the group. That was it. Get in. Get Byron. And that was where her plan ended. How were they going to get Byron out?
They walked silently down the grey brick path to the iron gates in front of the castle. The gates opened and as they clicked behind them and centaurs closed in to lead them through, Kyla’s fear grew. The pit in her stomach kept swirling. She knew she was going to have to get away and fight Byron and the same darkness that drew her in when coming close to things that were tainted by Onyx, had her clenching her fists. She could sense him, his arrogance, his aura. It was strong and dark with an electrical element that had her cringing. She knew where he was, and the Oracle’s influence wasn’t helping her urge to go to him at that very moment and take her revenge. But she needed him alive and able to answer questions. He was her only link to Onyx, and she had to use that. Kyla took a deep breath in, blowing out heavily as they walked through the creaking wooden double doors of the castle.
Dark grey concrete made up the floors and walls with iron fixtures and blood red carpet rolled out on the floor, leading upstairs that were covered in Byron’s scent. Was it too obvious? She didn’t care. He drenched everything in the castle, well for her at least. Kyla waited impatiently as the centaur led them up the stairs and down some stone hallways, all with the same red carpet, stone walls and a lot of large gold framed pictures on the walls. Old vampires that were typical style for a vampiric castle. A cliché if she had ever seen one. She ignored the growing nausea in her stomach that told her she was close and bided her time. She found her chance when they were down to one centaur leading them and the line dwindled down to five, with the others having been taken off in different directions. The centaur knocked on the door then opened it, leading another volunteer in, same as the others. She turned around to Wyatt.
“C’mon, we have to go. He’s down that hall.” Kyla said in a hushed whisper, pointing down the other direction. Wyatt hesitated, his eyes looking over at the line. Kyla recognized the look in his eyes. Longing.
“Wyatt…” Kyla whispered harshly, breaking him from his daze. He gulped visibly then nodded.
“I’m fine. Let’s go.” he said but the shake in his voice gave him away. She didn’t give him a chance to change his mind though and dragged him down the other hall, turning the corner and breaking into a run. The stone halls were filled with closed doors but none of them were the right one. She was getting closer though, her and the Oracle knew it. They rounded another corner, following her instincts on where to go when she knew she had found what she was looking for. A set of black wooden double doors and it wasn’t the intense wave of power that hit her, sending every nerve in her body into a frenzy, nor the electrical arc that fissured in the air, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It was the three vampires that stood guard, all with bright red eyes, and feral snarls at the sight of them. Kyla looked at Wyatt who walked forward with a grin.
“We’re volunteers from the blood bank. You guys hungry?” He asked, turning his neck, brushing his fingers across the bare skin of his neck. Two of them looked at each other, clearly debating whether to believe it or not. The other one was a woman and wasn’t so easily fooled.
“You should be with the rest of group. Run along now, this part of the castle is off limits.” She warned. Wyatt shook his head confidently as Kyla hung back trying not to draw too much attention. Her aura was hidden but with three vampires, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hide it.
“We’re giving our blood freely. We want it to be worth it and by the power you guys have, I’m guessing the high I can get off you lot, is going to be much better than that shit they give me every other time.” He argued and if Kyla didn’t know better, she would guess he wasn’t lying. His addiction was playing a helpful part, she was just worried how much he was going to let it. She edged closer to the wall, sliding along it as he distracted them. The woman came face to face with him, a scowl over her petite features. She was only slightly taller than him because of her black stiletto boots, but it put her fangs at exactly the right height for his neck.
“I’m warning you, sorcerer. I am strong and if you don’t leave, I will show you how strong.” She threatened but Wyatt laughed willing to call her bluff. An addict would do anything for a high and he was playing that card well.
“Baby, you don’t need to hurt me to show me how strong you are, taste me and I’ll know.” He seduced. The woman hesitated. The way Wyatt tore through her defence and made it impossible for an egotistical vampire not to show their prowess was a clever move and one, Kyla realised got everyone what they wanted. The woman hissed then bit into his neck. Wyatt groaned out, leaning into the bite. Wyatt got his high, the woman got her ego fed and Kyla could sneak away. Wyatt held out his wrist, his eyes fluttering open over her shoulder, indicating to the other two with both arms extended.
“You two look a little jealous, and hungry want to show up your friend here, or are you going to let me tell everyone you got beat by a girl?” Wyatt teased, and it worked. The vampires lunged on him, their fangs slicing into his flesh as he dropped to his knees and they sucked him dry. Kyla cringed. She didn’t want to leave but he winked over the woman’s shoulder and she knew it was her only chance. One the Oracle wasn’t letting her give up. Her alter ego urged their body forward. Kyla pushed through the door, kicking it shut behind her with a slam, her eyes darting around the room. Her eyes landed on the pale gangly figure in the middle of the room, dark hood, and big black eyes staring at her.
“Took you long enough Oracle. I’ve been ex
pecting you.” Byron spoke in that husky slow monotone of his with words that made her shiver. She happily leapt back in her mind, letting the Oracle take control, the switch making her eyes blur for mere seconds. Byron smirked, but the Oracle didn’t let him speak. Instead, Kyla fed her hunger for revenge through their bond and the Oracle retaliated by lunging at Byron. He was going down.
~ 18 ~
Oracle made it a few feet before Byron threw his hand out, sending an electrical bolt straight for her body. It hit her in the stomach with enough force to throw her back against the door she had come through. Oracle grunted, standing quickly. The pain of the hit was not enough to stop her from her goal though. She threw up a shield from his next hit of electricity and Kyla was grateful the Oracle was in control because every time the electricity arced near her; she froze. The Oracle had no such problem. She summoned the immortal blade, swinging it in their hand before facing Byron with a straight face and a battle stance. Byron laughed a hollow laugh before pulling her falcon sword from the sheath on the huge four post bed behind him. Kyla tensed. The sword he had stolen and used to kill Tyrone. Blood still stained the edges of the blade. Oracle felt nothing but the urge to get Byron, as usual. Kyla wished they had enough strength to merge but she knew from the fact they had already been hit by Byron, that the Oracle wasn’t up to her full strength yet. They needed that ash from the Djinn and as soon as they had it, they would be ready for Onyx. First step though, was taking Byron out of the equation so they couldn’t get more power from the Elders they were torturing.
The Oracle swung her sword at Byron, pushing all her force behind the swing, grunting as his sword hit hers with a loud clash. The metal of her blade against his sword, hit again and again as he matched her strike for strike. They backed away, assessed each other then went in again. Defending, attacking, their swords and feet doing some kind of battle dance that left them both angry and breathless. Oracle slashed, hit, swung and surged with the immortal blade landing a few scratches with the tip before she was blocked again. He attempted the same, smirking as his blade almost caught her. Falcon poison wasn’t a feeling she wanted to relive and watched the fight wide-eyed through her eyes, that were burning bright red with the Oracle’s controlling influence. Kyla watched his moves, gasping as she realised his movements were co-ordinated. Predictable.
‘Oracle, he’s been taught how to fight using the same techniques as us.’ Kyla realised.
“And how does that help at the moment?” Oracle bit inside their mind, her focus mainly on blocking Byron who was on the offensive.
‘His steps, they’re in pattern. Remember when we learnt the pattern of our steps from Zarek, but it was a trick? He pinned us, growling us because predictability will get us killed. He said, don’t follow a pattern.’ Kyla smirked, her mind wandering back to the training lesson that had ended with Zarek’s body pinning theirs on the floor of the arena.
“And Byron is following a pattern.” The Oracle realised. Kyla nodded.
‘Yip, remember how Zarek pinned us?’ Kyla asked.
“Vividly. Mainly because that was when you got distracted and I checked out, so we ended the session, but I remember.” Oracle agreed.
‘Good. I’ll watch his steps then tell you when to do the same thing, okay?’ Kyla said already scrutinizing Byron’s footwork, waiting for an opening. Oracle agreed then focused back in on not getting hit with the poisonous sword that Byron wielded. Kyla watched, counting his steps in her head until she found it, the break in the steps she was looking for.
‘Now!’ She called to the Oracle. Oracle let go of the stale mate their swords were locked in, dropped to the ground then swung her leg out, knocking his own legs from beneath him. Oracle kicked his sword away from him as he dropped to the ground. She stepped on his wrist so he couldn’t reach for it again, then aimed her blade straight at his throat. He chuckled.
“And we come to a conclusion. What now Oracle?” He asked. Kyla was wondering the same thing when the Oracle threw her arm out, the door swinging open. The three vampires looked back with Wyatt unconscious on the ground, extremely pale.
“Bring him here.” She ordered the vampires, the threat clear with the way the blade pressed against Byron’s skin. They looked between each other then nodded. They dragged Wyatt’s body into the room as Kyla questioned what the hell the Oracle was doing.
“What do you think I’m doing? I’m getting us out of here.” She said. Kyla frowned.
‘How?’
“Teleportation, obviously.” The Oracle revealed. Kyla had to work through that one in her mind. She had assumed they were sneaking back so the giants and goblins didn’t feel her aura when they got back, as if they never left.
‘We can’t risk getting Zarek involved in this, if we have left under his watch, they’ll think he was in on it, and he’ll get the backlash.’ Kyla tried but Oracle shook her head.
“No. I’m going to teleport our fugitive here into the mansion dungeons, let the King know he is there and then we are going to teleport back into the camper. We can say their hotel was uncomfortable and it was warmer in the camper. I’ve got this Kyla, trust me just a little while longer.” She promised before focusing back on the vampires who had shuffled Wyatt’s body over to her. She bent down to Wyatt and checked his pulse. Kyla had to admit, the Oracle was earning her trust. Kyla would have assumed the Oracle would have left Wyatt behind, but she was taking him, and the only reason was because Kyla wanted it, it did nothing for their goal except delay it. Something the Oracle normally wouldn’t have allowed. Kyla felt Wyatt’s dull pulse through their fingers, breathing a sigh of relief. The Oracle looked up at the vampires as her sword still sat against Byron’s neck, and her other hand grabbed the falcon sword. She laid it on Wyatt’s chest, her hand splayed over it so she could teleport him and the sword with them. Byron was unusually quiet, but she let him be.
“The vampire Elders will be summoned to the King for their treachery here. Unless you want to be included in that as well, I suggest you keep my involvement here, to yourself,” The Oracle snapped then looked down at Byron “Let’s go.” She bit then closed their eyes and summoned her magic through their veins, sending them to the mansion through the teleportation power. It took seconds for her to open her eyes again, but she felt the pelting of rain hit her instantly. Her eyes flung open to the gates of the mansion and a circle of centaurs surrounding their bodies. The Oracle still sat over Byron, blade at his neck as her other hand was stretched over Wyatt and the immortal sword. She climbed off Byron and looked up at the centaur facing a sword at her. His shock as he looked at her eyes was clear on his face even through the rain, which unusually for the realm had been happening a lot lately.
“Miss Oracle. State your reason for trying to teleport into the mansion?” He asked gruffly. Kyla remembered Orion’s tip, that it wasn’t possible to teleport in for safety reasons then urged the Oracle to let her take over. Oracle hesitated, but eventually she let go, coming back through the door to the house. Kyla smiled and walked through and back into control, whispering thank you as she did. The Oracle nodded in thanks then went up to her room, shutting the door; she had done her part. The centaurs fidgeted restlessly, gasping as Kyla came back in control, her eyes changing before them.
“Sir, this is the fugitive Byron. He’s wanted for plotting against the King, torturing the Prince and murdering Tyrone Broderick.” She replied, shivering as her body was assaulted with heavy raindrops. She turned and picked up the falcon sword, her immortal blade disappearing until summoned again. They looked nervously at it before moving in to clasp onyx cuffs on Byron. She thought he would be angry by now, expecting his features to be frowning as he was ushered away but when she glanced over at him, he wasn’t frowning; he was smirking. Kyla frowned after him, half the centaurs escorting his soaked, hunching body. His black hair was plastered over his head, the fringe hiding half of his black eyes and yet they still managed to unnerve her. She shivered as his stalker-vibe crawled through he
r. Why was he smirking while being arrested? The question was left unsaid as her attention was drawn back to Wyatt’s pale, unmoving body on the ground. She looked up at the centaurs that were left and rushed over to Wyatt.
“The vampires were harbouring Byron. We found him in their castle, and they attacked Wyatt, can you please get him a healer?” Kyla asked. The centaur closest to her nodded and looked over at the two to her left. They bent down and picked Wyatt up, taking him up into the mansion to hopefully get the healing he needed. Kyla blew out a breath, squinting through the rain before she went to step forward. One of the centaurs stopped her and handed her a walkie talkie. Kyla cringed. She knew who was going to want to talk to her.
“It’s Kyla.” She said sheepishly, turning away from the watching guards who had mostly taken to standing in front of the gates again.
“You have risked everything, broken so many rules and put yourself in so much danger tonight! Get yourself back here now before they realize you left and drop the Prince in a lot of mess, that we will not be able to protect him from, do you understand?” He growled but by the tremble in Orion’s voice, he was more emotional than he was letting on.
