by Nadia Heaton
She closed her eyes, waiting. Fleur had told her how it would happen, though Ariana wasn’t sure she believed her. She gasped as the darkness behind her eyelids suddenly transformed. There was a glowing, pulsing red circle, right around the space where she knew Julio was sitting.
It had to be the spell trapping his voice. Ariana focused as she never had before, sending all of her energy against that wall. she put all of her anger, confusion and sorrow into her effort. All the questions she wanted to ask about who she was, all the words she wanted to throw at those who had kept at her, the tears she had yet to cry, mourning who she thought she had been… Ariana gave it all.
The red circle around Julio didn’t just fade – it exploded. Her eyes flew open as Ariana was pushed backward off her feet. Fleur, Lisette and Tristan also went flying, through Lisette managed to land on her feet.
Ariana barely spared a glance for them. She had eyes only for Julio. He was still kneeling where they had left him, his head bowed.
“Julio?” She zipped over to his side, quickly checking him for injuries. He seemed unhurt, but had the spell worked? “Can you say something?”
Julio coughed a few times, then looked up at her. “Ariana. I love you.”
His voice was loud and booming, but it surprised her for just a second. Ariana felt herself fall even more in love with him in that moment. “I love you too, Julio.”
They kissed, their lips meeting tenderly, and Ariana half expected butterflies to appear, but found she wasn’t disappointed when they didn’t. The idea of being able to talk to Julio everyday produced a different sort of butterflies, fluttering in her heart.
Lisette, Tristan and Fleur were getting up. Ariana knew that what they just did for Julio should prove their loyalty, not to mention the fact that they were her cousins, but she found she still couldn’t bring herself to trust them. They were still witches, and she had a long way to go before she managed to overcome the prejudice and mistrust of a lifetime.
Maybe there would be time later for building relationships, but now, Ariana just wanted to whisk Julio away before any more harm could come to him.
She took him in her arms and did exactly that, swinging him onto her back. Julio caught hold and positioned himself even as Ariana broke into a run. She listened for sounds of pursuit, knowing that Lisette would be able to catchup if she wanted to, but fortunately, no one followed.
As she left the area, Ariana caught a sad sigh. “Let her go,” Lisette said. “I’ll take care of her. Fleur, Tristan, you need to see if you can find Mirabelle. We have to…”
Ariana couldn’t hear anything beyond that, but it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t be followed, and that was all that was important for now. She headed to the most permanent home she’d ever known – Rashid’s chateau.
She wasn’t ready to talk to Rashid yet. Ariana knew that he’d be there when she was, but for now, she wanted time with Julio. She stopped on the far side of the tower that held her room at the top.
“How do you feel about climbing?”
“I imagine my skills aren’t nearly as sharp as yours.” Julio smiled as he replied, and Ariana couldn’t help grinning along with him. How wonderful it was to hear his voice. She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of it.
“You don’t need to climb. Just hold onto me.”
“I can do that.”
Julio’s grip tightened as Ariana sprang for the ivy-covered wall. She made it to the bedroom window in short order, pulling the curtains against the slowly rising sun.
Ariana put Julio down once they reached her room. She started packing up her things, knowing that Rashid wouldn’t remain ignorant of her presence forever. As she stuffed clothes into a suitcase, she found she didn’t quite know what to say to Julio.
Where did they go from here? Now that his curse was removed, he could go back to his old life. Ariana certainly couldn’t join his life among humans, not with the brewing war between witches and vampires.
Deciding that there was nothing for it but to ask, she turned to him. “I’m going back to Russia. We’ve got a good number of people working on the witch problem here, but I need to alert my family and friends back there. There are a number of nomadic vampires who eschew human communication. The only way to tell them what’s happening is in person.
“I… you’re free to go back to your old life, now… but I hope you’ll come with me.”
Her heart seemed to stand still as she waited for Julio’s answer.
He stepped close, pulling her into a hug. “I’m in love with you, Ariana. Wherever you go, I go. Besides, I’m involved in this now too. The woman I love is a vampire. I have as much invested in peace between witches and vampires as you do.”
Ariana’s heart started beating again.
“There’s just one condition.”
“Oh yes?”
“I want to make one stop first, to get Janet.”
Ariana laughed as she remembered. “Your dog. I’ve never had a dog before.”
“She’ll love you – as long as you don’t try to drink her blood. Come to think of it, she may still love you, even then.”
“I won’t drink her blood,” Ariana promised. “The places where we’re going, there’s plenty of wildlife for me to feed off.”
“I will follow you to the ends of the earth, Ariana.”
“Good, because that’s exactly where we’re going.”
“Before we leave the vicinity of this very comfortable bed, there’s one more thing.” Julio lifted her by the waist and perched her on the edge of the bed. Before Ariana could say anything, he was kissing her.
She moaned and lay back, pulling him with her. The two of them rolled over, still entwined in each other’s arms, messing the blankets up completely. Ariana knew that they couldn’t be long, not if they wanted to avoid Rashid.
There would be time later for slow. For now, she used her vampire speed to strip both her and Julio of clothes in seconds. They were ready for each other, and she went back into his arms. They made quick, passionate love, protected from the rising sun by the thick curtains.
As much as she’d have liked to lie in his arms, Ariana regretfully dragged herself to her feet, cleaning up quickly and dressing. “We should get going. I’m not ready to see Rashid just yet.”
“The sun is out. I don’t want you to get hurt. Maybe we should wait until night falls.”
How was she ever going to do anything when she was so enchanted by Julio’s voice that she just about melted every time he spoke?
“Ariana?”
“What? Oh – I’ll be okay, I just need to wear protective clothing. It’s not the most comfortable, but it can be done.” She showed Julio her thick hooded cloak, along with sunglasses, a long sleeved shirt and pants, boots and gloves.
“Hop on, let’s get going.”
The climb down was uneventful, and the two of them were soon on the edge of the woods by Rashid’s chateau. Ariana took a long look at it. She didn’t know how long it would be before she returned, and when she did, she wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that awaited her.
“Hold on tight. Let’s go.” Ariana set off running, Julio perched securely on her back. As they ran, he whispered things in her ear, everything from comments on the scenery to words of love and affection.
They had almost disappeared when Ariana was brought up short by a wail of despair from far away that echoed through the trees as though magically magnified.
“Mirabelle,” she murmured. She wasn’t sure how she knew it was Mirabelle, but she did.
“Then let’s hurry,” Julio prompted. “I’ve just gotten my voice back, I’m not looking forward to seeing Mirabelle again any time soon.”
Ariana agreed with that wish wholeheartedly. She clasped her hands over Julio’s, making sure he had a tight grip, then streaked off through the trees.
Neither of them noticed Teo Abbadelli watching them from a copse of trees as they passed, nor would either Julio or Ariana have recog
nized him if they had. Teo’s brow furrowed as his eyes followed their progress until they were out of sight.
* * *
Preview - Burning Wild
Book 5 - Flames of the Sea Series
Nadia Heaton
1
“What do you mean you don’t know? You’re their queen! How can you not know?”
Tristan shared Fleur’s exasperation, though she kept her mouth shut. Shouting wasn’t helping anything, except making them all more agitated.
“I’ve been trying!” Lisette snapped. “They don’t want to listen to me, Fleur. I’ve talked about peace and cooperation until I’m blue in the face, but they don’t want to hear it. The rift between vampires and witches runs too deep. Maybe I was a fool to think I could make peace between our people.”
“Foolish or not, it has to be done. No one wants the world to end, which is exactly what will happen if there’s a full-scale war. I don’t think anyone except Mirabelle is mad enough to think that a war would improve things.”
That wasn’t right. Tristan wished it was, but Mirabelle had managed to convert many people to her side. If large numbers of vampires were thinking the same thing, then preventing a war may be unavoidable.
Fleur and Lisette kept bickering, getting nowhere. Tristan knew they were both stressed. She listened for a few minutes, always having preferred listening quietly in the background to direct action, but eventually decided she had to step in. They were on a tight schedule, after all.
“Enough about what we don’t know. Let’s focus on what we do know. Lisette, you said that Rashid has been doing something behind your back?”
“That much I’m sure of. He’s been gathering vampires from all over the globe and training them to fight. I just don’t know what he’s going to do with them.”
“What about Mirabelle?” Tristan turned to Fleur, trying not to scowl. So far, she hadn’t been able to do much to help the situation. She wasn’t as powerful as Lisette or Fleur, which meant she was usually delegated the less important duties, such as renewing defensive charms around the house.
“She’s shut herself up in her hut. I tried to get in, but it’s a no go. I don’t even recognize half of the defensive spells she’s put up around the place. Mirabelle is determined not to be found. I don’t think we have a hope of getting to her until she decides to come out on her own. I have the binding spells ready, though. I won’t let her get away from us again.”
Tristan sighed. Things within their own family had deteriorated badly. Lisette and Fleur were convinced that the only way to control Mirabelle was to lock her up, but Tristan still hoped that their aunt could be brought to see reason. Mirabelle wasn’t a bad person. Misguided, maybe, but at heart, she wasn’t evil.
Her waging war against vampires had been completely unexpected. Of course, witches had always hated vampires, but Mirabelle had always seemed to hold a deeper grudge than any other witch Tristan knew. Personally, Tristan wasn’t fussed about it. As long as vampires didn’t hurt her or her family, she didn’t have anything against them.
This view had always attracted plenty of argument from her family, but not anymore. Fleur and Bethany were both in love with vampires, and Lisette was a witch-vampire hybrid now that she’d been turned. They were way past arguing for a baseless hatred of vampires.
“I keep trying to figure out what they’re doing, but Rashid has his defenses up.” Lisette ran her fingers through her hair distractedly. “If I just knew what he was planning, I’d be able to put a stop to it before he manages to cause too much trouble, but whenever I approach his chateau, he wraps everything up again and acts like everyone is just there for a big party.”
“I had an idea on that front.” Fleur glanced hesitantly toward Tristan before ploughing on. “What we really need is a spy.”
“What about Savion? Surely, Rashid would tell him his plans?”
“No way, I’m not asking Savion to do that, to choose between me and his people. I had another idea, though. What if we disguised Tristan as a vampire? Rashid is calling in vampires from all over the globe. She could pass herself off as a vampire from some far off place who heard what was happening and came to help.”
It wasn’t what Tristan had been expecting, but she jumped at the opportunity. “I’ll do it! It’s about time I get to do something useful.”
Lisette pursed her lips. “I’m not so sure, Tristan…”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve had all the same training you have. If things get nasty, I’ll just teleport out of there.”
“You’d need to be careful of vampire senses. They can pick up lies much more easily than witches, at least if we haven’t cast a truth spell. They can hear your heartbeat and your breathing rate. It’s very easy to pick up tells.”
Tristan hadn’t thought of that, but Fleur quickly came to her rescue. “So she controls her breathing and heart rate with magic. It’s a simple enough spell.”
“Come on, Lis, I can do it. You said yourself that you need to figure out what Rashid has going on.”
Lisette’s eyes flicked between Fleur and Tristan. She was clearly torn. Fleur’s power would be better used trying to batter through Mirabelle’s enchantments, and Lisette couldn’t leave her duties as queen. Tristan was the best option for a spy, and Lisette knew it.
“Fine, but you get out of there the moment it even looks like something might go wrong.”
“I will,” Tristan promised, grinning. She was glad that they were meeting out in the forest rather than at home. She didn’t think her parents would be too keen on the idea of her going undercover, but Lisette outranked them both, and had the authority to send Tristan undercover if she wanted. It was just nice not to have to deal with arguments.
Now that she came to think about it, Fleur probably outranked their parents too. With Mirabelle currently crazy, for lack of a better word, Fleur was the one who had the most right to the title of coven leader. Not that there was much of a coven to lead at the moment.
Lisette seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because she turned to Tristan. “What about the rest of our coven? Any luck finding them?”
Tracking down their scattered coven was one of the tasks Tristan had been given, one that had proven difficult. “Most of them seem to have left town. I think they don’t want to have to choose between Fleur and Mirabelle. I’ve tried contacting them, both magically and electronically, but there’s been no response. I don’t’ think we can count on their support, at least for now.”
“They’ll certainly be getting a talking to when we find them,” Fleur muttered sourly. “This is when we need them the most, they can’t just up and disappear.”
Tristan didn’t comment, but she understood why the others would leave. No one knew what would happen between Fleur and Mirabelle. If Mirabelle’s stance didn’t change, it was likely that the two of them would have to fight for coven leadership.
No one wanted to pick the losing side and end up being kicked out of the coven for their choice. It wasn’t helpful, but Tristan could see their point of view. To witches, coven was everything. Being expelled from your coven was worse than being disowned by your family. She couldn’t blame them for trying to avoid that outcome.
“What do I need to know to get undercover with the vampires?” Tristan pulled out a pen and notebook, ready to take notes.
“Where to start…” Lisette sighed, leaning against a nearby tree. “Well, the obvious two are that you need to feed, and stay out of the sun. Staying out of the sun is easy enough. For feeding, I suggest you disappear into the woods every few nights for a couple of hours. A lot of the vampires staying with Rashid prefer live blood to blood bags, so they hunt the animals in the surrounding area.”
Tristan grimaced in disgust, but nodded. She may not hate vampires, but she still found the idea of drinking blood extremely distasteful. “Alright, what else?”
“You’ll have to use magic to enhance your senses and movement speed, or it’ll look very suspicious. It�
�ll take too much energy to maintain long term, so we should make you some amulets to draw power on before you go.”
“You can deal with that. I’m going to try to keep getting with Mirabelle.” Fleur looked so grim that Tristan thought Mirabelle would be wise to shore up her defenses.
“What will you do if you get to her?” Tristan didn’t agree with what Mirabelle was doing, but she was still family, and Tristan hoped that she wouldn’t end up getting hurt.
“Lock her up, probably keep her unconscious so that she can’t pull off another escape.”
Tristan grimaced, but Lisette nodded her approval. “I don’t know what it’ll take to convince her to give up on this war, but until we figure that out, it’s best to keep her confined.”
“What about the other witches who she’s persuaded to go along with it?”
Both Lisette and Fleur grimaced at this. It was Fleur who answered. “I’m hoping that once we have Mirabelle confined, we’ll be able to talk some sense into them. This whole thing has gotten out of hand, but I think that if we can take Mirabelle’s trouble making out of the picture, we have a reasonable chance of making peace between witches and vampires before things spiral even further out of control.”
Tristan hoped she was right. It was horrible, being cut off from their coven and other witches. Dwelling on how awful it all was wouldn’t help, though. “Alright, Lis, what else?”
She listened as Lisette went into details about the habits of vampires while Tristan made notes. She’d have to memorize her notes before she left, it would be too risky to take them with her.
This was her most dangerous assignment so far, and she was determined to do a good job on it. Tristan may not be a leader like Fleur and Lisette, but she could do her part in preventing the end of the world as they knew it.
