by Raven Steele
“Barrier?” Adelade asked.
“It’s invisible, and it’s protecting the cathedral,” Briar explained. “This crazy huge place that belongs to the ancient fae witch, Ivona aka the Phoenix. It’s where all the supernaturals and humans are being held and turned into her special Hyde army.”
Detrand frowned. “Can’t a fae get you across the barrier?”
I shook my head. I’d told Detrand almost everything of what had been happening in Rouen the last year, but I hadn’t told him about the barrier impermeable to most creatures, except for those descendants of the Red Tree Witches. I wanted to keep Loxley’s secret as long as possible.
“Nope.” Briar shook her head. “Their magic doesn’t work even though it’s fae created.”
“That’s pretty powerful magic,” he said more to himself than anyone else.
Aris looked down at Roma. “Do you think you can make enough to get several of us in?”
She cringed. “I don’t know about that. It was a hard spell and took a lot out of Owen and me for just that small sample, but I could try.”
“I can help,” Lynx blurted.
Roma frowned. “I don’t know, dear. It’s powerful magic bordering on the dark side. I don’t know if I want you to dabble in things like that when you are so young.”
Her mouth fell open. “Are you serious? Do you not remember where I was a several weeks ago? I was surrounded by that stuff and did just fine.”
Aris snorted. “I wouldn’t say that.”
She snapped her head his direction, her long red hair whipping around her shoulders. “Shut it. You don’t know anything about what I’m capable of.”
He looked back at her with equal venom. “I know what I see.”
“What about the Ministry?” Briar asked him sharply.
He waited a long breath before he tore his gaze away from Lynx’s. “What about them?”
“Do you think they might help us get into the cathedral? They have to have an interest in what we are doing here because if Trianus rises, they’re toast like the rest of us.”
He sighed. “I wish it were that easy. The Ministry is still torn on whether to fight Korin and the Phoenix or join them.”
Mateo leaned back against the wall. “I wish there was a way we could go in during the day and take them off guard. Korin and the Phoenix would never suspect it.”
Roma looked up at him sadly. “If only that were possible.”
Briar cleared her throat. “Um, hello? I could do it. Take a few shifters with me. Loxley, Gerald.”
Luke rested his hand on her shoulder. “I’d go too.”
“No,” I blurted. “I must be there, and Lynx too. We may need her magic.”
“Should this really be our focus?” Roma asked. “I mean, I know saving those people is important, but we still have to deal with two very powerful supernatural beings.”
“What are you suggesting?” I asked.
“I think we need to focus on severing whatever power the Phoenix gave to Korin.”
“I think so too, but maybe we can do both.”
Roma leaned back and folded her arms over her lacy blouse. “We have our hands in too many pots.”
Loxley cleared her throat. “I think I can help with getting vampires into the cathedral during the day.”
“Oh yeah?” Briar looked from me to her, probably thinking the same thing I was. Was her blood powerful enough to do that, and was she about to reveal herself to the entire group that she was a Red Tree Witch?
Angel’s brow furrowed. “And how do you think you can do that?”
“I, um, well—”
Adelade stepped forward out of the comfort of Detrand’s chest. “Whatever she’s about to say, I can top it. Let me help.”
“What?” Detrand said, pushing off the wall. “You are not getting involved with something like this. And besides, there is nothing you can do to help vampires walk in the day. Do you hear me? Nothing.”
The way he was staring at her with such intensity made me think he was trying to stop her from revealing something terribly important.
Briar pursed her lips and looked from Adelaide to Loxley. “Right, well, one of you seems to think you can help. I’d love to hear your ideas.”
Detrand straightened. “Samira, I need to have a word with you. Now.” He flashed a cold gaze toward Adelade. “And you, too.”
She tapped at her chin. “Actually, I want Loxley too. And Briar and Lynx.”
“Absolutely not!” His voice thundered, the voice of a great commander, a warrior, a killer. Very few ever went against him. Only Adelade dared.
She smiled at him kindly and pressed her palm to her chest while the rest of us squirmed uncomfortably. “I am a powerful fae, and I might have some tricks up my sleeves to help them. That’s all.”
“Only Samira,” he insisted.
His eyes blazed, but she stared him down obstinately before turning to me. “Samira, do you trust Briar and Lynx with your life?”
I swallowed hard, not understanding what was going on but knowing with absolute certainty that I did. I nodded firmly. “Yes.”
She turned back to Detrand who, after some hesitation, nodded.
“And Loxley,” she said, hands on her hips.
He sighed in frustration.
What was going on?
Aris lifted off the sofa. “Let’s go folks, and leave these guys to talk.”
He glanced back at Lynx before he left, a spark in his eye. Before I’d nearly died, I thought there had been something between them. Looked like it was still there, but getting them to admit it would be the hard part.
Aris walked out the door with the others behind him. Roma was the last one out, glancing back at Adelade and Loxley with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow. Like me, she still believed someone close to us wasn’t who they said they were. She closed the door behind her with a soft click.
Briar moved her chair around the desk while Loxley and I sat on the sofa. Lynx joined us and looked up at Detrand and Adelade, who watched Loxley closely.
“What’s this about?” I asked them.
Adelade lowered to sit, facing Loxley. “I was just discussing this with Loxley. We were both forced into hiding because of our unique heritage.”
I frowned, looking from Loxley to Adelade. My eyebrows lifted when I made the connection.
“I don’t get it,” Briar said.
Lynx wrinkled her nose. “I’m missing something, too.”
Adelade looked at Loxley. “I’ll let you be the one to tell them, but only if you trust them explicitly.”
After a long hesitation, she finally turned to us. “I’m a Red Tree Witch. Actually,” she looked at Adelade, “we both are.” A sob, sounding more like a laugh, escaped past Loxley’s lips. “I thought I was alone.”
Adelade smiled, holding her hand. “You’re not.”
“A Red Tree Witch?” Lynx gasped. That’s when I remembered that Lynx hadn’t been there when Loxley had told us her secret. “I thought they were all destroyed.”
Adelade shook her head. “Not all.”
“So there are others?” I asked.
“I have met three in my lifetime. Two have already passed on. They—” She shook her head, as if thinking better of what she was going to say. “It doesn’t matter. One still lives. Not far away, in fact. In Irondale, but she does not yet know who she is or what power lay dormant in her.”
Loxley squeezed her hand. “Thank you for telling me. I can’t tell you how alone I’ve felt. There’s this,” she rubbed at her chest, “power inside me that sometimes burns. I don’t know how to fix it.”
Clasping her hands and smiling, Adelade said, “I’ll help you, but it will take time.”
Loxley grinned, tears spilling onto her cheeks. Adelade wrapped her in a tight embrace, saying soothing words and rubbing at her back. She glanced up at Detrand, whose expression had softened.
When they separated, Briar asked, “What does this mean for us?”
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Adelade straightened. “Well first, none in this room must ever reveal our secret.”
“Don’t do this,” Detrand warned Adelade, bending down on his knees to look into her eyes, beseeching her. “I’ve fought so hard to keep anyone from knowing this.”
She caressed his cheek with her palm. “I know, my love. And it has meant everything to me. But there comes a time when fate intervenes, and you must give in to it.” It wasn’t lost on me that she was using his own logic against him. “Fate brought me to you, and now it has brought us to them.” She paused. “It’s time, my love.”
He closed his eyes, leaning in to meet her forehead with his own, his absolute love and devotion evident in everything he did. His mere look at her, his touch, the way he breathed at the same time as her. He sucked in a deep breath, and then another. Finally, he nodded.
With that, she turned towards us. “I trust you all, but I if you break that trust, you will cause my death.”
The room was silent, and I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “I swear to you, Adelade, we will never break your trust.”
“I know you won’t.” She gave me a small smile.
“I trust you too, Samira,” Detrand’s deep voice interjected, “but if any of your friends do, and if that results in Adelade’s death, it will also cause their own. I will see to that.”
Adelade nodded, and every single one of us nodded in return.
“We will take your secret to the grave,” Lynx promised.
“I believe you.” Adelade looked at each of us slowly. “And that is why I’m about to tell you our most guarded secret, far bigger than being a Red Tree Witch.” She paused and inhaled. On her exhale, she said, “Our blood, even a drop, allows vampires to walk in the day.”
My mouth fell open, and I slowly looked up at Detrand. No wonder he guarded Adelade with such fierceness. If vampires discovered this truth, they would take every Red Tree Witch captive and drain them of all their blood.
“So this is what we are going to do,” she continued. “I’m going to create a potion with Lynx’s help. A super powerful one, which of course will contain our blood, but no one is to know this. They will think it’s just magic. It will get you past the cathedral’s barrier and during the day time.”
“Roma will want to know what’s in it.” Lynx picked at her finger, anxious about keeping something from Roma, the older witch who had acted like a mother to all of us.
Adelade looked at her. “Tell her it has the root of a coral tree in it that only I have. It’s one of the world’s rarest plants and can only be found in Tanzania. And tell everyone the potion works inside the fae realm only, but in our world, it won’t help to give vampires the ability to walk during the day.”
“But if we are going to attack it during the day, won’t others see Samira in our world walking through the barrier?” Briar asked.
“There are other ways to go unseen during the daytime.”
Something sparkled in her eyes. That’s when it dawned on me what she was saying. “We’ll sneak in from down below.”
Adelade nodded, grinning big.
“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?” Detrand asked, eyeing her with adoration.
“I have, and it will work. We’ll make the others believe we’re only sending a few shifters and witches in, but vampires can come up below. No one on the outside of the barrier will see them and the sunlight won’t hurt them. As for a vampire’s need to sleep, we’ll say our potion also has the supernatural equivalent of ten cups of coffee.”
Briar leaned back, whistling low. “You’re like a supernatural genius. That is so hot.”
Detrand pulled Adelade to him. “It sure is.”
“Then it’s a plan.” I looked from Briar to Lynx. Once again we were about to put ourselves in considerable danger, but at this point we didn’t have a choice. We had to take the fight to them to prevent what was coming. Attempting to stop their growing army, while also freeing our friends, was the first step.
Briar nodded at me, her eyes uncharacteristically serious. Her gaze shifted to Adelade. “How long will it take for you to create your … potion or whatever?”
“A few hours maybe. We just need something believable.”
Briar slapped her thigh. “That’s all the time we need for an epic party.”
“Party?” Lynx and I asked at the same time.
“Hell yes! The prodigal daughter has returned! We need to celebrate.”
True to her word, Briar left the room and began barking orders. Beer. Food. Blood. The usual fanfare for a shifter/vampire party. Lynx and Loxley followed after her, insisting to help. I stayed back to go over the plan with Adelade. So far, it sounded foolproof.
Just before I left, Detrand stopped me. “There’s one thing Adelade hasn’t mentioned yet.” His eyes flashed to hers. “Her blood affects you differently than it does me, because of my strigoi bloodline. It won’t last long in your system. Your vampirism consumes it too quickly. So know this—you have one shot. If you take too long in the sun, and the magic in Adelade’s blood in yours disappears, you’re dead.”
Chapter 5
I sat in a chair in the backyard of Fire Ridge, thinking of Detrand’s warning. He hadn’t been able to give me an exact time of how long it would last, but Adelade thought at least a few hours. It made me nervous we didn’t know an exact time. What if one of us became trapped trying to get out and the sun got to us? I couldn’t bear the thought of possibly losing Mateo again.
“What are you thinking about?”
I turned my gaze away from the roaring flames of the bonfire and looked up at Mateo. “Nothing important. Sit with me?”
“Always.” He lowered into a chair and handed me a large glass. “This is from Briar. I think it’s blood mixed with something that smells like gasoline.”
“Probably right.” I took it from him and swallowed a few mouthfuls, then spit it out onto the ground. “That’s potent!”
I found Briar standing on the back patio laughing hysterically at me. She held up her glass in a mock toast. I did the same and together we drank again, forcing it down my throat. It burned all the way down, then settled into my stomach, heating it with fire. Whatever was in this was sure to get me—what was the word Briar used way too frequently? Shit-faced?
The night wore on quickly, but I enjoyed every second of it. After just an hour of drinking, the boys decided to have another fight. I tried to protest, knowing Mateo was still recovering, but he laughed off my worry. Like the others, he tore off his shirt, giving me an eyeful of what I’d hoped I’d be seeing much more of, and soon.
As they fought, I could tell Angel was taking it easy on Mateo, but it was good to see Mateo warming up. He looked better than he had in the past few weeks. Luke and Aris joined in, followed by Gerald and some of the other shifters. At one point, Marge jumped into the fray, tearing her flannel shirt in two and yelling a battle cry that had the men backing up. I didn’t think I had ever laughed so hard.
But like all good things, I felt dawn begin to tug on my bones, the feeling stronger than the alcohol coursing through my veins. I stood and stumbled into the house and into the bathroom. I splashed some water on my face and looked up, meeting my reflection in the mirror. Soon, I’d be walking in the sun, something I’d wanted to do for centuries. Walk among humans as if I was one of them and not a creature of the night. My vampirism would be invisible to them.
Beads of water dotted my pale skin. Some were trapped on my thick eyelashes. I reached up to wipe them away when my face began to tingle, then burn. It was a sensation I had felt before. I closed my eyes tight, counting to ten, then opened them again. Part of my face was missing, like entirely gone.
I gasped, stumbling back, until I crashed against the bathroom wall. I stared at my reflection in horror, then reached up to touch what was missing. My fingers found my nose and mouth. They were still there but I just couldn’t see them. I stared in shock, noting the parts I could see, whic
h was all my clothes, most of my hair and a good third of my face and hands.
What was happening to me? Had this not happened before, I’d think I had just drank too much, but this was the third occurrence, the first being when I’d woken in Cassandra’s basement, the second with Mateo. I didn’t know what it meant, but it couldn’t be good.
I turned away from the mirror and inhaled deeply several times. I’m me. I’m me. I thought the words several times, and only when the burning sensation disappeared did I turn around. I had returned to normal, not a hint that moments ago, several parts of my body had been invisible. Whatever this was, I needed to figure it out and soon.
With the party mostly dying down, some shifters had fallen asleep in the bedrooms upstairs, but some of the others had fallen asleep on the lawn as a wolf. Marge was with them, passed out naked, but still in her human form. It would’ve made for an interesting painting.
I followed the sound of country music drowned out by Briar’s voice to the living room. She had sobered up and was talking to Luke, Loxley, and Roma about how they would get into the cathedral. Roma had brought more of her potion, enough for ten doses, and Briar thanked her profusely, even though we would switch them out with Loxley’s and Adelade’s blood.
Luke, Briar, Lynx, and Loxley would enter the fae realm from the street while Angel, Mateo, Aris, and I would come from beneath.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Angel said, his voice soft and thoughtful.
Sitting across from him in a Queen Anne chair, Mateo asked, “Looking forward to what?”
Angel lifted his head with eyebrows raised as if he was surprised he’d spoken aloud. “Feeling the sun again. I mean, I know it’s just in the fae realm but still. It’s sunlight.”
“It will be nice,” Mateo agreed. He turned to Aris, who was studying something on his phone. “Do you still remember what it was like?”
