by R L Medina
“Well, she has it now. All of them will be coming after her.”
“Yes, but now she has the shifters and vampires on her side.”
A scoff interrupted us. “My people would never side with that witch.”
We turned to the vampire queen. Her eyes were narrowed, daring us to argue with her.
“They already have. Some of them are here. They attacked us under her orders.” I shot back.
She continued to scowl, but anger flashed in her eyes. Not anger at me, but at the realization that she’d been betrayed by her own people.
“What is she going to do with the vampire queen? Do you know?”
The queen shot us dagger with her eyes. I flushed, feeling slightly guilty for talking about her right in front of her.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure nothing good. She’s already convinced the vampires to give their blood to the shifters and the witches. I think she’s saving the queen for herself.”
A startled look flashed on the vampire’s face, but quickly disappeared. “They would never give up their blood for that witch.”
“They already have. Jimena promised them they could elect a new monarch. Their own monarch.”
The vampire stormed toward us, her long purple dress and hair whipping out behind her. My heart leapt into my throat as she bore down on us.
“There is no monarch but me.” Her yellow eyes were lit with fury.
Jesse stared at her, unfazed while I fought the urge to cower behind the large witch. Pissing off the vampire queen was not the smartest thing I could have done.
I pushed down my fear. “Maybe if we can find a way out, you can stop her. Stop her from stealing your throne.”
Her eyes shot to mine. “My court would never allow that to happen. There is only one queen, and it is me.”
“Even your court cannot stop her now. She’s too powerful. Who takes the throne if you are killed?” Jesse asked.
“She will not kill me.”
I shook my head at her stubbornness. How could she keep denying what was already happening? A part of me felt sorry for her, but if she didn’t want to believe the truth, then we couldn’t help her, and she wouldn’t help us find a way out.
There had to be a chance to escape. If we all worked out a plan together, maybe, just maybe, we’d be able to outwit the supreme.
Giving up was not an option. My friends and family… they could still be alive and if they were, they needed me.
Jesse winced, holding a hand to her chest.
I frowned, “Are you okay?”
Her smile was sad. “I’m dying. Been trying to use magic without a conduit for too long, trying to get us out of here. I don’t recommend it.”
My heart skipped. Dying. No. Not another person. Someone who’d been part of my mom’s life and who could have been part of mine. Why did fate insist on taking everyone closest to me?
“But if we get out of here, you’ll be okay?”
“No. It’s too late to reverse the damage. The magic is eating me from the inside.”
I shuddered at the imagery.
“And the worst part is, even with the magic flowing through me, I haven’t been able to produce enough for a single chant. Not a single one.”
Her eyes darted away, shoulders slumping.
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She’d given her entire life for the witches and their coven and it didn’t matter. She would die, trapped like an animal down there with us. The unfairness of it burned a hole right through me.
No. Not another life stolen. I have to fix this. Save them all.
17
Worry gnawed at me as I paced the room. Ash and the others watched me with a mixture of boredom and annoyance.
“There’s no way out without our magic,” the young witch finally snapped at me.
I flinched at her words but continued walking the room. It was only my first day of captivity and sitting still wasn’t something I did well. But the others, they’d been there for who knew how long. Most of them had grown complacent. I could see it in their eyes—they’d already given up. Not me.
Not Ash either. There was still a fire in her eyes. She would fight to the end, same as me, but after so much time her fire was fading.
“We have to try something.” My voice bounced off the walls. I hated how desperate it sounded.
James sneered at me. “We’ve tried everything, GRIMM.”
The word was meant to be an insult, but it was beginning to lose its sting. GRIMM, witch, werewolf, or human. None of the labels mattered. Either way, I was going to be sliced open and left to die if I didn’t think of something soon.
“So, you guys are okay with dying then?”
One of the younger witches broke into sobs. Ash shot me a glare, which I deserved. My face warmed with guilt.
“We have a plan.” The witch exchanged a look with James.
Hope flared small and bright inside me. A plan. That was good.
“A fool’s plan.” Jesse clucked her tongue.
I turned to the older witch, expecting her to explain further. She wrung her shaky hands together and sank to the floor. Concern swept over me as she laid her head against the floor, curling in on herself. Her eyes clenched shut.
“Jesse?”
“Leave her. She can’t hear you.” Ash’s face fell.
“Why? What’s wrong? Is it the magic?”
She gave me an incredulous look. “Of course, it’s the magic. She’s dying.”
Her voice carried a hint of sorrow though her face remained unmoved. She’d already accepted the witch’s fate, but I couldn’t. Jesse could be the last link to my mom—the woman she’d become after the GRIMMs, and the only one who could help me find the wizard. It was a selfish reason to want her to live and the shame of it filled me. Maybe I was more like my mother than I thought.
“Is there any way to save her? If we get out?”
James snorted behind me, but I didn’t bother to look at him. I was too busy studying Ash’s face and waiting for a reply.
Her eyes stared back at me. “No. Didn’t you listen? The damage is irreversible. She was stupid to try to wield magic without a conduit.”
Fire burned in my belly. “She was trying to help you! To save you all.”
She glanced at the crumpled witch, forehead creasing in pain. “I know, but it was stupid. She couldn’t handle it, especially not by herself.”
“Why didn’t anyone else try to help? To use the magic together? Then maybe she wouldn’t be dying!”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “It doesn’t work that way. The more of us trying to summon, the greater the magic would be. It would have destroyed us all completely.”
“Right and you’d rather die on the altar for Jimena.”
Her jaw clicked, the sound breaking the tension. I shrank back from her murderous glare. Too far. I had a habit of pushing people too far with my words.
Everyone fell silent, their eyes watching us. Even the vampire queen turned her head toward us. Probably loving the show.
James rushed to stand at her side, eyes narrowed on me. “Oh no you don’t. You do not get to show up and act the royal bitch. Act like you care about any of us. You’ve had what 16? 17 years of freedom? Most of us have been here our whole lives.”
His words struck home. I glanced at the others, their faces filled with anger and anguish. A lump grew in my throat.
Ash smiled. A smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You really are Rosa’s daughter, aren’t you?”
I stumbled back, blinking the tears threatening to spill. My chest tightened. No. I wasn’t like her.
“I’m not.” My voice was small.
She tossed her hair back and sighed. “We’re not your enemies, Rose. If I could save Jesse, I’d do it. But I can’t. I do have a plan though.” Her arm swept the room. “We have a plan.”
“When they take us to the altar to begin the ritual. That’s when we’ll fight. Call on whatever magic is available, try t
o find conduits if possible. We are not going silently to our grave.”
The witches murmured their agreement and guilt filled me. Maybe they hadn’t given up like I assumed. Still recovering from James’s lashing, I didn’t say anything though my mind raced through the scenario she gave.
Call on whatever magic. I didn’t know how to do that. Out of everyone in the room, I was probably the most useless one.
My eyes traveled the vampire queen. She’d turned back around, standing primly next to the bottom of the stairs. Apparently not interested in our conversation or concerns anymore. What was she waiting for? For them to open the door again?
I turned back to face Ash, feeling her gaze still on me.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
She nodded at my words. Forgiving me for what I’d said? James was unmoved. He continued glaring daggers at me, clearly not the type to easily give up a fight. I snorted. Neither was I.
“Help? What can you do to help?” He scrunched his nose at me as if I smelled.
After the night I’d had, maybe I did.
I opened my mouth to answer him but was cut off by the sound of the door swinging open. People stormed in. No, not people—shifters. Their faces were morphed, and I couldn’t tell if it was because I saw through the glamour now or because they’d dropped their shields.
They snarled as they moved toward us. There was nothing human in their eyes.
My heart leapt to my throat. Were they coming for us? No. Not now.
A dark blur raced for the top of the stairs but was struck by an invisible force. It fell in a heap of purple and black fabric against the ground. The vampire queen.
She jumped to her feet, staring daggers at the intruders.
It was the witch guy from before. He stood above us with a blank look before raising his hand. The others scattered, fear shining in their eyes. I followed.
“Bring her,” he commanded.
More shifters streamed in, heading straight for the queen. The vampire stood her ground, body still—still and ready. I watched as they surrounded her. Were they only coming for her? I edged away as they stood encircling her and started chanting. Magic stirred in the air, making the hairs on my neck bristle. She whipped toward them, moving so fast I could barely see her.
Someone screamed.
A flash of bright light filled the room and a sharp, ringing sound filled the room. The sound made my teeth hurt and head spin. My skin tingled and burned.
Everything fell silent. When I blinked away the dots in my vision, the scene I saw made me reel. Five shifters lay on the ground, unmoving, their heads twisted in unnatural angles. The vampire queen stood between the remaining ones. Her yellow eyes stared defiantly up at the head witch.
“Take her away.” He waved a careless hand at her.
She flinched as they grabbed her arms and pulled her away. The only sign that she was in pain. Was it from the strange light?
“Take her too.” The witch spoke, pointing a hand at Jesse.
No.
I started to her, but she stopped me with a shake of her head. When had she woken up? They grabbed her arms and propelled her forward.
“Where are you taking them? What are you doing to do?” I found my voice at last.
“It’s okay, Rose. Don’t worry about me. Stay strong,” Jesse soothed.
Her words only stirred more fear inside me. Those were the kind of things people said when they knew they were about to die. My heart pounded. I glanced around at the others, but they stood back, not willing to risk themselves for the older witch.
Red spots filled my vision. She spent her imprisonment looking out for them and they were just going to let her get dragged away to who knew what torture? The cowards.
I glanced around, looking for something to use. Not that I could stand against all five of them, but at least I could try. I had to try. They were at the stairs now.
“No. Jesse!”
Panic spread inside me. I couldn’t lose someone else. They’d taken too much from me. With no time left, I raced toward them, my body reacting before my mind could catch up with it.
An invisible force struck me, making me reel. I watched, my heart in my throat, as they dragged her away. She glanced back at me a final time and then she was gone.
The door slammed shut, leaving us in darkness once more.
One of the witches cried. I turned my glare on them, anger unfurling fast.
“Why didn’t you try to stop them?” Hurt laced my words.
Ash shook her head. “How? There is nothing we can do.”
“We could have tried. There’s more of us.”
James scowled at me. “Yeah, but they have magic. We have nothing.”
I blinked away the tears. I couldn’t let them see me cry and break. Magic. It always came back to magic. Who had it and who didn’t. Was having such powers the only way to survive in their world?
“What are they going to do to her?”
Pain flashed across Ash’s face. “I don’t know, but nothing good.”
My chest tightened. What did they want with Jesse? They held her prisoner all that time and now they were going to kill her? When she was already dying?
It didn’t make sense.
“And the vampire?”
“Nothing good,” Ash repeated, her forehead creased.
“It’s going to be our turn soon. We’re next,” James interrupted, arms folded across his chest.
Murmurs and sniffles echoed around the room. Chills crept over my skin at his words. We’re next. Despair filled me. If we didn’t find a way out and fast, he would be right. We would be next.
“Stick to the plan,” Ash snapped.
Her words silenced the room. I couldn’t help but me impressed by the young witch. She wasn’t much older than me, but she commanded more authority than I ever could.
With that, she motioned James over to the corner wall. Discussing their plan? My stomach churned. Jesse called it a fool’s plan. That didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Some of the witches peered over the shifter’s bodies. I didn’t join them. In the past few weeks, I’d seen more dead bodies than I’d ever thought I would in my whole life.
My short life, it turned out. The dark thought made me cringe. No. Don’t think about that now.
“Are they going to come back for the… them?” I asked one of the witches.
“If they do, we need to be ready,” Ash answered instead.
I turned toward her voice and watched as she and James came forward.
“What do you mean by ready?”
Ash’s eyes swept the room. Sharp. Assessing. Excitement grew inside me. I may not have been the best when it came to magic or even combat, but I could still help in some way.
I was still a fighter.
“We have to subdue Benedict. Without his magic, we’ll only have to deal with the shifters.”
“And we can handle those mangy mutts,” James agreed.
The others murmured their agreement. I nodded my head along with them, though given my track record, I hadn’t exactly come out on top in any fight against the creatures.
I pushed those thoughts aside and steeled myself.
This time I would. I had to.
18
What seemed like hours after they took Jesse and the queen, I managed a few minutes of sleep, despite my body’s alert to stay awake. It was horrible of me to even attempt to rest when the witches had Javi and Grayson, but if we were going to try to break out, I needed to be clear headed. Not worrying about what was happening to my friends or had already happened.
I couldn’t think about Papi either or the fact that my birth father had been a werewolf. Rafael’s dad. The shock of it still rang through me.
The basement was dim with no windows so I couldn’t even tell if it was day or night. What was time when you were about to be killed in some evil witch ritual?
Though some of the tension between Ash and me settled, I kept my distance. The others
huddled together, some sleeping and others just staring listlessly at the door. Something shifted among us. Maybe it was the realization that this would be our last chance to escape our fate. That death waited for us on the other side of the door.
“You know your GRIMM friends are dead, right?”
I jumped at the sound of James’s voice and then hated myself for showing a reaction. I turned to him, his words sinking in.
He was smiling. A small, smug smile. The kind of smile that revealed his darker nature—someone amused by other’s pain.
I didn’t take the bait. What was the point in arguing with him?
He stood, waiting, expecting my response that would never come. A few heads had turned to us. I glimpsed Ash still laying on the floor, her back to us.
My eyes snapped back to James. The coward. He waited until she was asleep so he could berate me without her stepping in.
The beast was off his leash.
“I’m talking to you, GRIMM.” His words were laced with venom.
I clenched my fists and rose to my feet. Never face a bully while sitting on your ass.
“I heard you,” I threw back.
Eyes watched us from the safety of their spots on the floor and against the wall. Ash didn’t wake.
James took a step closer. I wanted to back up, get away from his hostile presence, but I refused to cower before him. I stood firm.
He was too close. His tall frame shadowing me and his breath hot on my face. A scare tactic to intimidate me. It wouldn’t work.
“You’re not part of this coven. Not really. So, I don’t think the curse will work.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
His smile widened. “The curse that stops us from killing each other and messing up the blood ritual.”
My heart hammered. Of course, the supreme would ensure their compliance that way. The realization of his words hit me. I wasn’t one of them.
They could kill me to save themselves.
I glanced over at Ash. James followed my gaze and scoffed. “She’s not going to stop me. She might not like it, but it’s the only way. Without all of us, all of our blood, Jimena won’t be strong enough to endure the transformation. We only need to get rid of one person. You.”
