A Vampire's Battle

by Raven Steele

  She rested her hand on my leg. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done had he died. He’s been a good friend to me.”

  “Are you sure that’s all he is?”

  She stared up at the ceiling. Instead of answering the question, she asked, “Why were you naked?”

  The question took me off guard. I’d forgotten that key detail. Many answers raced through my mind, but I knew she’d believe none of them. “I may have acquired a new ability when I almost died.”

  She stared at me, eyes wide. I was tempted to reveal the whole truth but my body went cold at just the memory of what I’d gone through. How I’d almost gotten lost to the other side. How Mateo found me. I swallowed hard, unable to speak.

  “Your new ability is making your clothes disappear?”

  I erupted into laughter, which made the astonished look on her face grow even bigger.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you laughing.”

  “Maybe fighting naked is a secret fetish of mine.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me. The quiet ones are always the freakiest.” She gave me a sly grin. “I bet Mateo likes your new gift.”

  Lynx popped her head into the door. “Did someone say freaky?”

  Briar propped herself up on her elbows. “We were talking about your mom.”

  She laughed. “Doesn’t surprise me. So Luke left then?”

  “Yup, followed his mother home like a lost pup to become Alpha to the Wild Dogs. The Wild Dogs! What kind of pack name is that, anyway?”

  “He’s doing it to help us,” I reminded her.

  “Maybe, but I don’t like how she controls him.”

  Lynx patted her leg. “You’ll work things out.”

  “Will we? I’m not so sure.”

  I swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Don’t worry about that right now. Just stay busy. Like Oz. Like the rest of us. We keep moving forward, then we can fix our relationships, live our lives.”

  “Good plan.” Briar also sat up. “Let’s go get drunk and make plans to destroy Winter’s Cove. I do some of my best work when I’m wasted.”

  “Do you want me to call Roma? Or Oona?” Lynx asked.

  Briar and I exchanged a glance.

  “I highly doubt Oona will help,” Briar said. She looked at Lynx. “And I don’t think we’ll need Roma’s magic if you’re there, right?”

  “Probably not.” Lynx tapped her lips. “Plus she did say that she’s been doing extra shifts for Uber lately. She said she needs to save up for something important.”

  We exited the room, and I followed them up the stairs. “We have to be really careful who we trust. We still have no idea who Ivona could be posing as. She could be shifting from the Phoenix’s form into many others for all we know.”

  Lynx visibly shivered and opened the door. “I hate even thinking about it.”

  We walked through the hallway toward the living room, where Aris and Angel were waiting. Angel’s eyes darted straight to Briar, a determined look in his gaze.

  I lowered next to Aris. He elbowed me and whispered, “Are you feeling better?”

  “Much.”

  “Thanks for saving Oz. And us.”

  “It was nothing.” I turned my attention to Briar just as I heard her mention storming Winter’s Cove versus sneaking in. “I think we should get Teddy’s opinion on this.”

  Briar gestured toward me. “Go ahead and call him.”

  I texted him first, asking him to call me as soon as he could from a private location. He replied, asking me to give him a few minutes.

  While we waited, we discussed our new timeline. All of us wanted Korin dead as soon as possible.

  “What if Korin can still use magic?” Briar asked.

  “Look, I can’t say for sure,” Lynx began, “but I do know something powerful happened in that graveyard. I said the words and performed the spell Roma told me to do. It was an unbinding spell.”

  “It could very well have been broken,” I agreed. “There was no magic protecting Oz and the other captive prisoners, and Teddy had said there was magic before you performed the spell.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Briar asked. “If we truly have weakened him, let’s go in and destroy the bastard right now.”

  “But if we’re wrong …” I looked around the room at each of them. “We may pay the price with our lives.”

  “I think I can stop him if it comes to that,” Lynx said, hesitation tainting her voice.

  Aris eyed her skeptically. “Block fire?”

  “I know of a spell that combats it. It’s dark though.”

  Briar and I looked at each other, and a weighted silence blanketed the room.

  Angel leaned back into his chair. “If that’s what has to happen.”

  “There might be another way,” Briar snapped at him. “We don’t need to always resort to the most dangerous option.”

  “Let’s find that other way,” Aris agreed.

  Lynx huffed and folded her arms.

  “Do we want to destroy Korin or not?” Angel asked. “Because, as far as we know, he’s the only thing standing between us and the Phoenix.”

  I wanted to remind him about Zane but remained silent.

  “All of us are going to have to get our hands dirty,” he added.

  “I’m with Angel.” My words were met with dirty looks from both Aris and Briar. “I don’t like it either, but we have to use everything at our disposal, including the darkest parts of ourselves.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Briar scoffed. “You’ve already given up the monster inside of you.”

  “That doesn’t mean I don’t have others.”

  “It’s fine,” Lynx said. “I’m okay with it. And can we please remember that Korin most likely doesn’t have any magical abilities now, so we’re arguing for nothing.”

  My phone buzzed. I glanced down at it. “It’s Teddy.”

  I answered it and placed the phone on speaker mode for all to hear.

  “Are you somewhere private?” I asked Teddy.

  “I am.”

  “Are you okay?”

  He paused, then said, “I had to sneak out. After the weapon maker was freed, Korin placed us all under strict orders to not leave the mansion. He’s questioning us one by one. He’s convinced someone in his own coven helped Oz escape.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You need to leave as soon as possible.”

  “I can’t leave my friends behind. They are suffering, too.”

  I looked up at Briar, and she nodded. “That’s why I’m calling. Tomorrow night we’re going to storm Winter’s Cove and kill Korin.”

  Chapter 24

  Silence filled the other end of the line. “Teddy?”

  “Tell me what I can do,” he finally said.

  Briar spoke next. “How many of your vampire friends do you think you can get to fight with us?”

  “At least half, if not more, but I’ll have to be careful who I approach. So many of us are terrified of Korin. Some may choose not to go against him just for that fact alone.”

  “Will Korin be home tomorrow?” Angel asked Teddy.

  “As far as I know, but he usually goes out around two in the morning. I’m not sure where.”

  Aris glanced at me. “Then we will be sure to strike early in the evening.”

  I nodded in agreement, then asked, “What about his magic? Have you seen him use it?”

  “Not lately. He doesn’t need to with Zane around. He’s just as bad as Korin, if not worse.”

  I glanced at Loxley who had recently been incapacitated by the mysterious and dangerous vampire. She was biting her lip, clearly frightened at the thought of going up against Zane again. “Do you think he will be there?”

  “It’s hard to say.”

  Aris leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Does Zane have a weakness?”

  “None that I’ve seen. I’ve tried to get to know him, but he reveals very little.”
<
br />   Briar growled. “We need to figure out who this shithead is and what he wants. Aris, can you check with your connections on the Ministry? Someone has to have heard of this guy.”

  “Will do.”

  “Tell us the schedule there, Teddy,” Briar said. “We want to make sure we get this right.”

  For the next twenty minutes, Teddy told us all about Winter’s Cove. Who came and went. Feeding schedules. Prisoners. Everything he’d uncovered. By the end, we all had a good idea how best to strike at Korin. And while we prepared for it, Teddy would talk to the coven and try to get others on our side. That would be key for what was to come.

  We said goodbye to Teddy, and Briar flopped back in her chair. “This is going to work. It has to. I can’t do this much longer.”

  Angel leaned over and stared straight into her eyes. “You can and will. You have untapped strength, and that will carry you into the heart of darkness and through to the other side. I know this.”

  The room fell silent at the intensity of his voice and the power behind his gaze. It made me think of Mateo’s assessment of Angel, that sometimes Angel knew things about the future. I swallowed hard, looking away from the intimate moment shared between them.

  Briar cleared her throat. “Thank you.”

  “It’s a couple of hours until sunrise,” I said, interrupting the moment. “Briar and Lynx, you get some rest. Angel, Aris, and I can get things ready for tomorrow night. Lynx, in the morning you should practice that spell you mentioned. Briar, you decide who you want from your pack, those you trust the most, to go with us to Winter’s Cove. In fact,” I paused, thinking, “we should get Eddie to come with us. We may need someone who can create illusions.”

  “Do you think he will?” Lynx asked.

  “He might. It’s worth asking.”

  Briar nodded. “I’ll do that tomorrow afternoon. It’s a good idea.”

  “There’s something else.” I looked at Briar and Lynx, my stomach sinking at the thought of what I was about to do, but they needed to see it. If anything, to understand the important role they were playing in what was happening right now. “At sunset, I want to take you two to Blutel Estate.”

  Briar sat up, her eyebrows lifted. She’d always wanted to go. “Why?”

  “I want to show you the prophecy. You need to see it for yourself.”

  Lynx twisted her hands together. “I don’t know if I want to see it. Besides, I have to work.”

  “Can’t you take time off? Your mom owns the shop.”

  “It’s not that easy. I’ve missed so much work lately. My coworkers hate me enough as it is.”

  “You should quit,” Briar said.

  “And what do you think I should do to earn money?” Lynx’s hands went to her hips, her eyebrow raised.

  “Become a part of my pack. I’ll pay you what I pay them.”

  Lynx rolled her eyes. “I’m not joining a shifter pack.”

  “I’ll pay you more rent then.” Briar looked at me. “Sammie will too. I’m sure she can afford it.”

  “Of course,” I said, “But how come you don’t want to see the prophecy?”

  Lynx scowled at Briar. “I’m not taking any extra money.” She shifted her attention to me, her face softening. “I don’t like the idea of something or someone telling me the person I’m to become. I don’t believe in fate.”

  “I’m with you,” Aris said. “We make our own fate.”

  “Just come see it,” I urged. “There’s no doubt in my mind the prophesy is about us. Somehow, we need to find a way to prevent it from coming to pass.”

  “We’ll be there,” Briar said, “even if that means I take Lynx kicking and screaming.”

  I slept well considering, and rose from my coffin with Mateo by my side in the basement.

  The sun was just about to set. Across from me, Aris’s coffin was empty, and Angel was beginning to stir in his. I could hear his breathing changing from that of one in a dead sleep to one preparing to wake.

  Before we’d gone to sleep last night, we’d prepared the weapons and gone over the plan several times, providing room for changes should something go wrong.

  I should have been nervous, but I wasn’t. I’d been waiting for this day for centuries. Now that it was here, I just wanted to get it over with. Korin wasn’t just at his weakest physically, but with his coven, too. Very few would stand beside him when we finally attacked. I was sure of it. He’d done too much to them and lost too much of their respect.

  I looked back at Mateo. He still slept deeply. He had been the last of us to go to sleep. He’d returned just before sunset with several blasters Oz had managed to put together. Reaching out, I brushed my fingertips across his forehead. His long hair was splayed out under him, gorgeous dark strands a stark contrast to the ivory velvet lining beneath him. At my touch, he sucked in a slow breath, drawing my eye to his dark, red lips. I tested the bond between us; it was tight and strong, filling me with strength and warmth.

  As soon as this was over, we could be together freely.

  After heading upstairs, I showered and dressed. By the time I finished, the living room was full of shifters and vampires who had just arrived. Mateo had called the members of his small coven to come help. Most of them had been busy at Mandeville, fixing the old shifter place up to better accommodate vampires.

  Several vampires were speaking to shifters. They seemed much more comfortable with one another. Not even a year ago, they probably would’ve tried to kill each other had they been in the same room, but now they were working together, friendly even. Tragedy, even the future potential of it, often brought people together.

  I rounded the corner into the kitchen to grab a blood bag. Briar was sitting at the kitchen table with Eddie, going over our plans. Angel sat next to her. I noticed his knee was touching hers, and she kept getting distracted by the contact.

  Eddie nodded at me in passing. I smiled at him, which made him frown. I realized he probably hadn’t seen me smile before.

  I tore off the top of a blood bag, thinking about how much had changed since I no longer had the Kiss inside me. Even my bloodlust was barely a tickle in my throat. I was also free to feel all kinds of emotions. I loved it. And yet, I missed the power. Not enough to want the Kiss back, but in the way someone misses the sports car that nearly killed them.

  Mateo came up behind me and kissed my neck. I turned around, noting his big grin. “Are you excited?”

  “You have no idea. This is it. I can feel it.” His hands pulled me to him. “Once that bastard is dead, you and I are going away for a few days.”

  “We still have the Phoenix to worry about.”

  “The Phoenix can wait. I’ve waited too long to be with you in every way imaginable.”

  Briar appeared before us. “What ways are those?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “Yeah, that’s why I’m asking.”

  Lynx walked into the kitchen just then with Aris next to her. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. Several strands of red hair fell loosely around her face. Her face was pale, her eyes dark. “I think I’m ready.”

  “To go?” Briar asked.

  “No, with the magic I might need to combat Korin. Roma worked with me all day. It’s a pretty powerful spell to block fire for longer than a few seconds, but I think I can do it.”

  “How is it done?” I asked.

  “It’s intense. It’s all about using its opposite so I had to create a misting spell that uses water to push back.”

  “She’s exhausted though,” Aris said, his brows furrowed.

  She shushed him. “I’m fine.”

  Me and Briar shared a worried glance. Lynx noticed.

  “We still have several hours before we go to Winter’s Cove. Plenty of time to get my strength back. Plus, Aris got me this.” She held up a Red Bull, smiling. “He’s the best.”

  Aris shrugged uncomfortably, but I caught the grin tugging at his lips. It was
good to see him have moments of happiness. He had been torn apart when he’d separated from Emma.

  “We should go,” Briar said. “I’ve been dying to see where the Ames de la Terra live.”

  “Could I go with you?” Aris asked. “I want to visit Oz.”

  “Of course.” I turned to Mateo. “I’ll see you soon.”

  He kissed me briefly. “Tonight’s the night.”

  I nodded, feeling as happy as he looked.

  “We’ll meet back at Fire Ridge.” Briar glanced toward the living room, wincing as someone broke a vase. “It’s getting too crowded here.”

  “Don’t worry about the vase.” Lynx grabbed Briar’s arm, tugging her toward the door. “I always hated it anyways. It was a gift from my mother.”

  I followed behind them, giving Mateo a kiss goodbye first. “Meet you at Fire Ridge.”

  “Always, tesoro mio.”

  Briar drove. It was a brand new sports car, one she had bought while we slept. She said she deserved it after Luke left.

  “Have you talked to him?” Lynx asked from the back seat.

  “He called earlier. He was made the Wild Dogs full Alpha last night. Supposedly, his first order of business is to bring his best fighters back to Rouen to help us fight. We’ll see, though.”

  “You need to quit stressing,” Lynx said. “He’s coming back to you.”

  I wasn’t so sure and by the way Briar’s fingers curled tighter around the steering wheel, I don’t think she was either. We didn’t talk any more about Luke.

  I gave directions, and after an hour we finally arrived at Blutel Estate. The great mansion rose sharply into the night sky, its stone and iron walls imposing. I stared up at it, a calming warmth spreading over me. If anywhere in this world could be called my home, this was it. This place had healed me many times.

  I inhaled a deep breath and walked up the stairs. Briar was behind me with Lynx pointing out many of the more interesting architectural parts of the home. Aris trailed behind us.

  Once we were inside, Aris parted ways to go find Oz while I led them to Sersi’s office.

  Briar looked around in awe. “This place is amazing!”

  Lynx rubbed at her arms. “It feels funny here. Not in a bad way, but different. Powerful.”