“What’s wrong?” asked Natalie leaning next to me. Her voice was distant as if it were reverberating down a long tunnel.
“Can’t you hear it?” I asked as she shook her head.
“Hear what?”
“The cry!” I screamed realizing that she couldn’t hear the noise because it was inside my head. It was Ulric howling at the moon, in defeat. I scrambled up onto my feet and began to run haphazardly.
“Where are you going?” Natalie yelled after me.
“We need to get back to the academy! He’s really close by!”
“Who?”
“Ulric, the werewolf! Something’s happening!” I said, “Follow me!” I began to stream. My head pounded and my body tingled, where the adrenaline ended and the magic began, I couldn’t tell.
“What about Val?” Natalie’s voice trailed behind me somewhere in the distance. The pitch was low and heavy and I could barely tell it was her, apart from the words. My blooming was beginning to give off a cold sensation as I whooshed through the air, willing myself to find the correct route as we travelled.
The night air that was otherwise stale and muggy felt cool and fresh against my skin at that speed. I could feel Natalie’s presence behind me and I kept going until the academy began to come into view. Slowing down, felt like the world too had slowed down and just beyond the gates, I could see a figure, pacing in the midst.
It was Ulric. He had transformed back and I held onto the gate with one hand, reaching for my pokey thing with the other. He saw us and came over about to open the gates to let us in as I jabbed my finger and smeared my blood on the blackened metal. The gates lit up, with the same luminescent magic that gave my blooming life, swinging open and allowing us entry. Natalie silently followed behind me, probably beginning to piece together that there was more going on than Valenthia being with Riskel.
“What is it?” I asked urgently, “What’s wrong?” Ulric looked fallen, like his whole world had come crashing down.
“It’s Winnie,” he said numbly. He stood there, looking panicked and yet totally unable to act, “She’s gone.”
“What, where? Is she safe?” His mental anguish was even more pronounced to me at such close quarters. As he thought it, he also said it.
“She’s with those other vampires in your class. That dark haired one is heading it all up, along with her blonde bestie.”
“Lilith and Nyx,” said Natalie.
“Uh-huh. Kane and I aren’t like the rest of the Black Banes. We’re Black Banes by name only, everything we do here is more in line with people like you, any day,” he spoke quickly. You know Kane’s only the alpha of our little pack, right? We call ourselves the light side of the darkness that the rest of our kind bring. Since you’ve been here, it’s like there’s actually some light in this dead prison, your power is felt by us. Even if Kane has been resisting it out of fear,” said Ulric, looking down. I’d never seen him like this. He anxiously began to pace, in small circles.
“Wait, Winnie? Tell me about her.”
“She’s turned into a real Black Bane tonight. She’s gone hunting for Lilith and the lot. I only just found out. She’s gonna go and get herself killed – I know it!”
“Who’s she gone after?” I asked, as I shuddered.
“You need to know and yet I don’t know how to tell you,” replied Ulric looking me in the eyes for the first time since we’d found him.
“Who?” I said feeling desperate. As soon as I asked, his thought reached me and a wave of panic rushed over, making me want to shrink down on the spot where I was standing.
“Your High Priestess, they said her name is Lorna,” Ulric replied.
Chapter 18
“They’ll never get in,” I said, knowing as soon as I’d said it, that obviously there was a plan greater than storming the coven that Lilith had in up her sleeve.
“They’ll go as far as I did on the night, I came to pick you up. They’ve been going to the coven every chance they get. They have it all planned, they know the place.
“We have to stop them!” I said, “And get your sister back here.”
“Valenthia,” said Natalie. I’d almost forgotten and now we needed to know her whereabouts more than before. What if they’d gotten her in on it? I dispelled the notion as soon as it entered my mind.
“Was Riskel, that vamp with the long golden hair, with them?” I asked, hoping against hope that the answer was no.
“Yes.”
“Shit! And Valenthia, our friend?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t see her,” said Ulric. He seemed relieved to have shared the news, like getting it off his chest had actually helped get rid of some of his burden. Now his pacing was less beaten and more determined. The two of us, thought for a brief moment and I heard him think, “Can Natalie be trusted?”
“Yes,” I replied, to a question that hadn’t been asked, “she can.” Both Ulric and Natalie stared at me. “Sorry, remember that time when you gave me permission to read your mind? You never rescinded it so…” I trailed off, embarrassed about my intrusion.
“That’s okay,” said Ulric, looking deep into my eyes, his turning into two golden orbs of warmth. I took it as his sign that I could bring Natalie in on what was going on. I filled her in on how Safi and I had made a pact to keep communicating once I was brought to the academy and how Safi had even come into our room once. And how her magic had activated the powerful talisman for witches in St. Louis cemetery but it was an equally powerful hex for vampires and probably werewolves too. Then I filled both her and Ulric in on my stolen crystal.
“I kind of figured something like that,” Natalie smiled sympathetically, “I just didn’t pry because…well, you’re the first real friend I’ve had – ever. I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“Wait so now that Lilith has your crystal, can she use it to get into the coven?” asked Ulric, his posture stiffened.
“No! I don’t know! Safi said she’d bury her crystal somewhere outside the coven in the rare event that something like this happened,” I replied, not even wanting to know definitely, if she had.
“You need to do your mind-meld thing and ask her. Or they might be raiding your coven as we speak,” urged Ulric.
I sent Safi a short message, asking exactly where she was and when I didn’t hear anything immediately, my face must have said it all.
“It’s in the middle if the night, remember? She might just be sleeping,” said Natalie.
“Or she might be dead,” I said, my voice cracking as I tried to keep the tears from pricking my eyes.
“What if we called someone, one of the professors we semi-trust?” asked Natalie.
“Like who?”
“Duquette? She wouldn’t take any shit?”
“But all of our professors are after Crystal Witches. Haven’t you heard Kragen and Devin talk? They’d probably give Lilith and her vamps extra credit for this. They’re not really rooting for my old coven, are they?” I said, not meaning to get annoyed. She was thinking, which was more than I was managing to do. “We have to go there,” I said. I also sent Safi another message, “Vamps coming after Lorna!”
“I know,” came the timid reply but it wasn’t in my mind, it was right behind me, outside the gates. The three of us ran over to her and I threw open the gates, stepping outside. Ulric and Natalie did the same. Safi’s face was tear-streaked and she was dishevelled. “It’s all my fault too.”
“No, don’t say that, how are you to blame? It’s me. If I hadn’t come here and made a bunch of enemies, the Circle of Quartz would never have been such an obvious target. What happened?” I held onto her, like a hug could make it all better. She pulled free from my grasp and looked me in the eyes, hers were frantic.
“They knew what they were doing. We were all asleep, Quinn and Nina were the only ones who were still up. They saw them materialize in the kitchen, a couple of girl vamps and a guy. They caught them completely off guard. Turned all fanged and simply told them that if th
ey wanted to live, they were to take them to their Head Witch. They had no choice. They’d have found Lorna in seconds anyway, after killing them.”
“I know,” I replied.
“I let my mom know immediately after they left so she could alert the S.L.A.”
“What about Babette?”
“She’s at the annual Crystal Witches Conference in New York City. She must know what’s happened by now. It’s been about an hour. I didn’t know what else to do. I came here, to the cemetery. It felt safer than the coven.”
“And the rest of the coven?”
“I sent them home, to their parents. It’s all my fault. I never buried my crystal. They must have used it to get in. And all the magic and incantations were broken once they were in because they never actually tried breaking in. It must be some protective loophole that Lorna and Babette left in place after we found out about you, if you were ever more vampire than witch, so you wouldn’t get fried if you ever came back.”
“She stole my crystal,” I said, fighting back the guilt at how much I’d hated our two High Priestesses since I’d left.
“I figured.”
“Where do you think they took her?” Ulric asked.
“I have no idea. I thought if anyone knew, you would,” Safi looked to me. I didn’t have a clue.
“Okay, you and Natalie stay here, we’ll go to the cemetery,” I said, to Ulric, taking Safi’s arm.
“No way, we’re coming with you,” said Natalie, firmly. Ulric nodded.
“We’ll wait outside,” added Ulric, “I need to get Winnie back too, remember?”
The four of us ran with Safi to St. Louis cemetery. I didn’t want to leave her alone even for a moment. As soon as we approached, I felt soothed by the magical glow. Safi and I went inside while Natalie and Ulric waited across the street. I could tell that the same magic that made my heart flutter with hope, was repellant to them.
“It’ll be okay,” I said. Safi guided me to a spot where the crystal magic had taken a particularly potent hold, right near and around the Voodoo Queen’s crypt. We joined hands and closed our eyes as we summoned our inner power.
It had been a while since I’d tasted any blood and so my own magic was weak compared to what I’d felt before. A few swirls of silver began to exude out of us and I tried to feel for Lorna and what might be becoming of her.
“Let’s send her some protection,” whispered Safi. She got out her own crystal and began to chant something, a short phrase in Latin. It meant nothing to me but felt like it was unlocking something.
I concentrated on the words she spoke and I could feel white and pink crystal magic working its’ way through. The moon loomed above us, as if it too was being fed by our summoning. All of a sudden, the feeling of exhilaration that usually resulted from my contact with magic was replaced with an unease somewhere deep within.
The first place my mind went was that my inner vampire was being repelled by the magic. That my own descent had begun and the Crystal Witch inside me was getting weaker. The feeling grew stronger and I felt like I was sinking, losing something of myself, as I sent magic to protect the woman who in her own way, had been a mother to me. Was a mother to me. The swirls became stronger and turned into thicker, more urgent streaks as I felt the air above us ripple with the power. “Stop!” I cried, tearing my hands out of Safi’s.
“What is it?” she said, startled as her spell broke away and the swirls above us continued but slowed in frequency and speed.
“I don’t know, wait…I think I’m getting something.” I sat down, and crossed my legs to try and stabilize myself. I felt like I was as dispersed as a pool of water, being lazily soaked up by the ground. Safi, crouched down next to me.
“Are you alright, Kat?”
“It’s not me. It’s Lorna,” I replied, beginning to make sense of what was happening to me. “She’s not that far from us. I can feel her anguish.”
“No!”
“We need to stop what we’re doing right now. They’re feeding off of it as they feed on her.”
“Hell! What should we do?” asked Safi, her face contorted.
“I know where they’re taking her. They were coming back with her as we left the academy.”
“Wait, they’re going to take her into Bloodline Academy?”
“Yes! We have to go back!” I said, knowing it was the place she’d be.”
***
“Do you think they’ll kill her?” asked Safi, as the four of us made our way back to the academy. Natalie had suggested we stream and Ulric walk with Safi but we needed to stay together. We needed time to form a plan.
“No,” I said, realizing something, “they’ll want to appease the academy and be known for what they’ve done amongst the students and profs. I think they’ll keep her until they can hand her over to the professors who are overtly aligned with the Dark Legion.”
“The anti S.L.A. rogue group?” asked Safi.
“Yes, it’s got a larger following than I ever realized.”
“One of the werewolves involved with the kidnapping of your High Priestess is my sister,” said Ulric sadly. Safi who was usually petrified of werewolves, seemed to have warmed to Ulric.
“I’m sorry. It can’t be easy for you guys,” was all she said.
We came upon the gates of the academy and stood huddled, outside. “You can’t come inside,” I said, to Safi.
“I’m not staying out here, just waiting to hear what happened. Poor Miss Lorna,” she said with a pained smile.
“Look, I know listening to me, hasn’t been your thing but tonight it really counts. Our blood is the most enticing thing to them,” I said in a lowered voice, though Natalie was standing close enough to hear me anyway, “I don’t want a double-kidnapping. That’ll make it infinitely harder to make sure everyone gets out safely.”
I heard a soft scuffle somewhere inside the academy and my attention fell on the third-floor window shutters that were still tightly closed. “She’s up there, she must have felt us near,” I pointed. “If we don’t come outside with her in five minutes, go and wait inside the cemetery,” I instructed Safi. “Tell your mom of your whereabouts.” For once Safi nodded and I knew she’d do as I’d told her.
Ulric, silently pricked his finger and smeared his blood across a metal bar and the gates slowly creaked open. “Wait,” he said, “we need to give ourselves somewhat of a chance. My senses will be sharpened if I transform, especially tonight,” he looked to the full moon and Natalie and I both nodded wordlessly as he continued to stare at the large, round silver stone that hung low in the blackness. He stood perfectly still and within a few seconds, his body started to rigidly contort and grow in size. He was already tall but his stature took on an exaggerated proportion and his shoulders got even broader. I could tell he was holding back to be as quiet as he could. Soon, his whole body stretched back and his silhouette was lit with a faint but discernible silver outline. Natalie and I watched on and there came a point, much quicker than I’d imagined not having seen anything like it before, when he was both man and wolf for a split-second.
The hybrid man-wolf was gone before I even had time to believe my eyes and replaced with a huge and powerful beast, unmistakeably a wolf. His coat was a dark glossy tone but it was his eyes, the golden, coppery glints through the darkness that made him most relatable to his human form. I watched him, a mixture of awe and curiosity. He too surveyed us as if through fresh eyes. I felt another crashing wave of Lorna’s anguish and before I could say anything, Ulric turned on his heel and threw back his head at us, gesturing us to follow. Natalie looked at me uncertainly.
“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” I said, giving her one final out.
“No, you need me. Valenthia is somewhere in all this too, she needs me,” she insisted, as her own resolve surfaced.
We followed Ulric into the main foyer, which was ominously deserted. I reminded myself that it was just because everyone was dispersed throughout the st
upid party we’d been at earlier and blood bars dotted within the ample nightlife that sprawled through the city. Lilith and her gang had had the perfect opportunity tonight.
“We’re coming, Lorna,” I willed her to receive my message, though I knew that if anyone had closed their mind to being read and receiving such communication, it was her. Maybe I willed her that message, most for my own sake and comfort.
Ulric effortlessly bounded up some stairs that were always blocked off to students but had already been infiltrated on this night. The mysterious and never-before visited third floor of Bloodline Academy. I wanted so much to turn back. This wasn’t a job for two first years and a third-year werewolf. It was a job for the S.L.A. And principal Nadasdy, if he could make it past the whole drinking of the blood of Crystal Witches. Which would likely be an unpredictable challenge.
“You two stay here, let me see what’s going on,” I heard Ulric’s voice in my head. Thank goodness, we could still communicate in his werewolf form. Or at least he could.
I stopped Natalie from going any further and we both stood at the top of the old wooden staircase, watching Ulric disappear into the shadows. I could hear whispers but even with what had become my heightened senses, I couldn’t tell what was being said. Perhaps it wasn’t whispers but sounded it because the sounds were so muffled.
“Can you hear what they’re saying?” I asked, keeping my own voice hushed.
“Your High Priestess is trying to talk reason into them. Kind of like a bargain. They’re messing with her, acting as if they are listening. But I know that tone and words like theirs. It’s all fake. Her fear is a major part of their bloodlust. Make her feel like she’s getting somewhere to freak her out when she realizes she’s made no headway.” Natalie, stopped.
“What?” I asked.
“They’re too high on her blood, if we don’t get to her soon, they won’t be able to stop themselves. They’re going to drink too much.”
“And she’ll die of blood loss,” I completed her sentence for her. Natalie looked grave. There was the sound of a heavy door being flung open close by and we jumped. I heard heavy, careless footsteps coming towards us and thought of Ulric. There hadn’t been a scuffle, how had they not found him yet when they were walking around so freely. The thuds got imminently closer and there was no where for us to disappear to. We were about to be discovered by Lilith or likely, one of her minions.
Magic Within: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 1) Page 17
