A Vampire's Battle

by Raven Steele

  Lynx shifted her weight, and her eyes looked everywhere but at Briar. “Maybe my mom told him. It wouldn’t surprise me.”

  Briar cursed under her breath.

  “But Cassandra doesn’t know where it was hidden,” I pointed out.

  “No one but us three,” Lynx added.

  We all three looked at each other, not with suspicion but with fear.

  Briar’s face paled. “Could someone have this place bugged? All of our places?”

  “It’s a possibility.” I scanned the room as if I might find the culprit.

  Luke rested a hand on her shoulder. “As soon as we’re done here, we’ll turn this place upside down to check.”

  “At this point, it doesn’t matter how they know,” Aris said. “We cannot let them touch the sacred grounds of Blutel Estate. We must fight to protect it and the other rare items it holds.”

  Briar ground her teeth together and curled her fingers into fists. “All that work protecting the Abydos. Several Silver Claws died protecting it when the Phoenix and Vincent attacked us and for what? The Phoenix still figured out where it was.”

  Angel leaned forward. “Briar, it will stay safe. We defended it before, and we will do it again.”

  She stared into his eyes and it felt as if nothing else existed between them. Even I could feel the bond, palpable between them.

  Luke cleared his throat, and Briar’s face snapped to him. “Angel’s right. We can do this.”

  Roma shook her head, her eyebrows lifted. “You hid the Abydos at Blutel. Isn’t that a little obvious?”

  I turned to her, anger flaring within me. It had been my decision to conceal it there. “And where would you have taken it?”

  Mateo spoke quickly. “Like Aris said, none of that matters now. We must deal with the immediate threat.”

  Angel backed him up. “We cannot let Korin or the Phoenix get their hands on the Abydos.”

  “What if we move it?” Briar asked, a spark of hope in her voice.

  Lynx shook her head. “If we move it, it will only draw more attention. That magic is strong and powerful and will be noticed by those looking for it. Supernaturals all over the world may come here, and not the good kind either.”

  “So we defend it,” Mateo said.

  “My pack will help,” Luke said, squeezing Briar’s shoulder.

  “You have my men too,” Mateo offered.

  “And I know the Witches of Rouen will help too,” Roma said. “None of us want to see anyone get control of the Abydos.”

  “Good.” Briar leaned back thoughtfully in her chair. “And Oona. We should tell her. Maybe there’s something she can do.”

  “I’ll speak to the Ministry,” Aris said. “At some point, they’ve got to pick a side. Maybe this is that time.”

  The mention of all those people stepping up to help sounded like a lot, but it wasn’t. The magic and power we were going up against was nearly impossible to fight, especially if Zane and the Phoenix decided to attack. So far, the Phoenix had stayed out of most of the fighting, which was strange. It was almost like he was waiting for something before fully engaging us.

  Was it because of Lynx? She had yet to fulfill her part of the prophecy. Maybe every time each one of us played our part in the prophecy, Ivona gained more power, like after Briar killed three alphas. That’s when she gained the ability to shift into many different forms, including her current identity as the Phoenix. Had she gained something when I gave up the Kiss? I shivered at the thought. But if she was gaining more powers, maybe that meant she had some weaknesses, too. Maybe she was staying away for a reason.

  “What are you thinking about, Sammie?” Briar asked. “I recognize that furrow.”

  I looked up, choosing to keep my thoughts to myself. “I need to speak with Sersi. She will know how best to defend the blood.”

  “Sunrise is in a couple of hours,” Aris said.

  “I’ll sleep there.” I met Mateo’s concerned eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll go with you,” he offered.

  “I’d love that,” I said with a sly grin, “but you should go talk to your men. They are probably suffering from the loss of some of your coven. They need you.”

  Mateo nodded in agreement, his gaze lowering. Some of those men had been with him for centuries.

  Hunger scraped at my stomach, but I ignored it. We had a plan now and had to stick to it. I’d just have to drink from blood bags since there wasn’t time to feed from Mateo.

  “I’ll go with you,” Aris told me. “I want to talk to Oz anyway. He can help.”

  Briar came to her feet. “Good idea. While you guys do that, I’m going to talk to Oona.”

  Roma also stood, smoothing the folds of her long skirt. “And I’ll talk to the witches.”

  “Should I go with you?” Lynx asked.

  Roma shook her head. “You go with Briar. I don’t want her getting into trouble with those fae folk. We might never see her again.”

  Angel, who had been mostly silent the whole time, said, “I could go see Lawrence in Irondale.”

  Mateo and I slowly looked at him, my heart skipping a beat at the sound of Lawrence’s name. No one had mentioned it for over a century.

  “Who’s Lawrence?” Briar asked.

  “No.” Mateo stared at Angel. “Not him or anyone from that coven.”

  “Lawrence would do right by us,” Angel defended. “He’s not like the others.”

  “Again,” Briar repeated, “who are you talking about?”

  I turned to her. “There’s an ancient vampire coven in Irondale, the Night Bloods. They are an extremely powerful coven who mostly keep to themselves, but only because they lost a great battle hundreds of years ago in the Blood Wars. They were forced into exile.”

  “What are they like now?” Lynx asked.

  At the same time, Mateo and I answered, “Dangerous.”

  “The desire for ultimate power runs deep through their veins,” Mateo added.

  Angel shook his head. “That’s not true with all of them.”

  “Look,” Briar said, “the last thing we need is more power-hungry supernaturals, especially when it comes to protecting the Abydos. Let’s have this Lawrence fellow sit this one out for now.”

  Angel looked at Mateo, his eyes serious. “At some point, Lawrence will fight for us.”

  “Then when that time comes, we will fetch him.”

  There was something about their words and interaction that piqued my curiosity. It was as if Angel knew something we didn’t.

  “I should go,” I said.

  “We’ll all go,” Briar added. “We need all hands on deck for this. The Abydos must be protected at all costs.”

  With heavy hearts, but with much determination, we all left the room and went our separate directions. I headed straight to the fridge and collected blood, then walked out front to borrow one of the cars. Aris came with me, and at the last second, Detrand also decided to join us. We waited a few minutes for him to say goodbye to Adelade, who was going to stay behind to work more with Loxley.

  After Detrand slid into the back seat, Aris pulled away from the curb. The night was cool and blacker than usual. Low-lying storm clouds had moved in during the last few hours. By the crisp smell in the air, it would rain soon.

  As soon as I finished the last of my three blood bags, I said, thinking of my time in Coast City with Aris, “Detrand, did you know Bastian well, the vampire who tried to take over Coast City?”

  “We’d crossed paths a few times. I never cared for him.” His gaze slid to Aris. “I heard you killed him.”

  Aris shrugged.

  “Good.”

  Aris glanced at Detrand in the rearview mirror. “Why’s that?”

  “He was dangerously idealistic.”

  Aris chuckled. “That’s a good way of putting it.”

  “I heard you compelled him to kill himself.” When Aris didn’t answer, Detrand continued, “That’s an amazing feat for a vampire as
young as yourself.”

  “My blood is much older than you think.”

  Detrand tilted his head. “From Elizabeth Bathory, right?”

  Aris nodded.

  After a long pause, Detrand asked, “Could you compel me?”

  “Probably.”

  Detrand glanced over at me for confirmation.

  “I think he could.”

  “Do it,” he told Aris. “I want to know.”

  “That’s not a good idea.” Aris tightened his hands on the steering wheel. He didn’t like to use his powers against other vampires unless absolutely necessary. He knew it made him a target.

  “Do it,” Detrand insisted. “I don’t think it’s possible.”

  Aris sighed. “If I do it, will you promise to never bring it up again?”

  “Absolutely.”

  I felt the Kiss perk up at what Aris was about to do. It seemed to be interested too. Aris pulled over to the shoulder of the road and swiveled around in his seat. Detrand looked at him, half smirking as if he believed it was impossible.

  Aris stared into his eyes. “You will do as I command. Exit this vehicle and do your version of the chicken dance.”

  Detrand’s face darkened. “I will do no—”

  “Do it.” Aris pressed harder, his brows furrowing.

  Detrand’s mouth snapped shut. He placed has hand on the doorknob, face scrunching in frustration as he tried to ignore Aris’s command.

  The door opened and he exited the car. A moment later, he had his hands tugged under his armpits and began to flap his hands while strutting down the road making clucking noises.

  “Should I film him?” Aris asked, trying to hold back a smile.

  “I would love that very much, but he will kill you.” I smiled big. I’d never seen him do something so ridiculous. Adelade would never believe it.

  Aris chucked. “I should probably bring him back before he gets hit by a car.”

  He rolled down his window. “Come back and get in the car, Detrand.”

  Detrand followed his order, his face a dark mask. As soon as the door closed behind him, Aris again looked at him and said, “You are no longer compelled by me, nor will you ever be able to be compelled by me or another vampire again. I command it.”

  Detrand blinked, his pupils returning to their normal size. He sat back against the seat, speechless for a long moment.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  His mouth parted open. “That was the worst experience of my life. I kept trying to fight your compulsion, but couldn’t. It was like …” He paused. “Like being forced away from Adelade without my consent. It was terrible.” He looked up at Aris. “Do you think that’s how humans feel when vampires compel them?”

  “Probably.”

  Detrand frowned and faced the window, his expression serious.

  I knew what he was feeling. I had been compelled once by Elizabeth Bathory, a fact I’d never told Aris. She’d held me prisoner for a short time but a kind servant had taken pity on me and freed me. Unfortunately, the servant had paid for it with his life, but, in return, I made sure Elizabeth paid with her life for his and the hundreds of others she’d killed.

  In the beginning it had been hard being around Aris, knowing whose blood flowed through his veins, but now I rarely thought about it. Except for times like this.

  We had almost reached Blutel Estate when Detrand finally spoke again. “Thank you for making it so I can never be compelled again.”

  “Not a problem. My gift is not one I like to use often.”

  “I can see why. I take it not many on the Ministry appreciate your power.”

  Aris parked. “They are afraid of me and want me dead. It’s only a matter of time until they succeed.”

  I didn’t like how matter-of-fact he sounded.

  “They will have to get through me first,” Detrand said. He opened the car and jumped out to prevent hearing whatever Aris might’ve said. Detrand’s comment was one of the most heartfelt things I’d heard him say, besides when he spoke to Adelade, of course.

  I followed him out along with Aris. Together we walked up the stone pathway to the front door. A familiar voice startled us from behind.

  “Take one more step and I’ll blast you all to hell.”

  In less than a second, Detrand was behind Oz with his hands on his head, as if to snap it before either Aris or I could do anything.

  Oz dropped the blaster in his hands. “I was just kidding!”

  “He’s with us,” I blurted to Detrand.

  Detrand slowly let go and stepped back while Oz hurried to Aris and hid behind him. “Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.”

  Aris laughed. “Serves you right for trying to scare a bunch of vampires.”

  “I forget how sensitive you all are!”

  “Is Sersi here?” I asked him.

  “She’s in the back gardens around the side. I saw her meditating moments ago.” Oz kept his eye on Detrand as Detrand moved away, presumably to find Sersi.

  “What are you doing up at this late hour anyway?” Aris asked Oz.

  He shrugged. “About ten minutes ago, the warning bells sounded but I don’t know why. Nothing’s happening. But Sersi did ask us all to meet in about twenty minutes.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Sersi must’ve heard the same rumor as us somehow. “We have to go, but be careful, Oz. We’ve heard that Korin may be coming here to raid the place.”

  His face blanched, growing pale. “No.”

  “Keep an eye out for us. I’ll talk to you soon,” Aris said to him. We both left him as he quickly picked up his blaster and held it close to him.

  Detrand and Sersi were embracing tightly when we found them. This surprised me. Detrand had never even hugged me. Maybe he’d been closer to Sersi than I thought. They separated when they saw us approaching. Sersi’s eyes were red and swollen, and I noticed even Detrand’s eyes were misty. What the hell was happening?

  “Everything okay?” Aris asked.

  Sersi quickly wiped at her eyes and smiled at me. “It will be soon.”

  There was something about the way she was looking at me that made me not want to ask her to clarify her words. Instead, I asked, “I take it you’ve heard about someone coming for the Abydos?”

  “I have. I can assure you the blood is safe. I checked it moments ago.”

  “But it might not be safe soon,” Detrand said.

  “I agree.” Sersi shifted her gaze to me. “We need to make plans. I’ve already scheduled a meeting on how best to protect this place with everyone here.”

  “You won’t have to do it alone,” I said. “Plan on shifter, vampire, and witch support. And possibly fae. Briar is speaking with Oona right now.”

  She touched her heart. “I love seeing our kind come together. It is when we are most powerful.”

  “But the Phoenix is also powerful and has a ferocious army.

  Sersi leaned toward me, smiling conspiratorially. “But they haven’t met the new you yet. And when they do, they’ll be the ones running away screaming.”

  Chapter 34

  The barest bones of a plan had been put in motion. Briar had called me just before the sun’s light pulled me under. She had spoken to Oona, who had been all too agreeable to protect Blutel Estate. It worried us both but not enough to refuse the help, something we needed more of. We both just agreed to keep an eye on her and her men.

  The fae soldiers would be our eyes outside of the estate. With their ability to blend into nature, their positions would be invaluable. They would take shifts to ensure the place was watched night and day. If they saw anything suspicious, we would be alerted immediately.

  Meanwhile, those of the Ames de la Terra who resided at Blutel were given a choice. Stay and fight, or flee to Wildemoor at their other facility there. We had yet to know how many would be staying. My guess was not many. They had come here to heal from the horrors of their lives. No one could ask them to jump back into blood and violence.

&nbs
p; As for Mateo’s men and the Witches of Rouen, we had yet to hear from Roma or Mateo, but we had shifters on our side. Luke assured us the Wild Dogs would assist us, and there was no question as to what the Silver Claws would do, even though Briar had also given them a choice.

  Our little army was growing.

  When I’d woken at Blutel Estate, Briar and Lynx were waiting for me along with Aris and Oz. They were in Sersi’s office drinking her special tea from small china cups. I’d had Sersi’s tea before. It was like nothing I’d ever tasted and had a calming effect I used to crave. The thought of it right now, however, made the Kiss cringe inside of me.

  Hunger for fresh blood knotted my stomach, but I shoved the pain aside. For now. It could only be ignored for so long.

  “You look like shit,” Briar said to me when I closed the door to Sersi’s office behind me. Aris had already come into the room and sat down next to Oz, who had a ridiculous grin on his face. Probably from the tea.

  “I think she looks great,” Lynx countered.

  I ignored them both and directed my attention to Sersi, who was leaning against her desk wearing a long light blue gown. Her gentle smile looked forced. Something was going on with her.

  “Where’s Detrand?” I asked.

  “He’s working on something for me.” She narrowed her eyes and eyed me up and down. “You need blood.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Aris and Oz were speaking quietly to each other. I caught the words “weapons” and “Rocky.”

  Briar pursed her lips, scowling. “Please don’t get all ragey. I really don’t want to have to kick your ass into submission.”

  “You couldn’t if you tried.” I turned to Aris and Oz. “What are you two talking about?”

  They looked up at me. Oz spoke first. “While you guys were sleeping, I visited Rocky.”

  Briar’s eyes widened. “He didn’t kill you?”

  Oz shrugged. “Actually, he’s a great guy. We were downing shots together.”

  “More like he was using you for a dart board,” I drawled.

  “That was just in the beginning, but after we talked about life and love, he let me go. In fact, I’m probably his best friend now. He even gave me this.” Oz held up a partially crumbled napkin from Nine Lives.