With that, she tapped her trident on the ground. The eyes of the skull glowed red as the floor beneath me fell away. I hurriedly latched on to the leg of a heavy old chair nearby as the black hole hungrily tried to suck me in.
“PLEASE! I CAN BE OF VALUE TO YOU! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT! ANYTHING!” I screamed.
My fingers were barely holding, and being dead didn’t give me access to magic. It was only a matter of time before I lost my hold. It surprised me the chair wasn’t being pulled with me, but then I realized the black hole pulling me must only be drawing in souls.
“Hmm. Anything? Make me a trade. Offer me a soul I’d rather have than yours, but it can’t be just anyone. It has to be someone you share a connection with and they must be supernatural. Tick, tock, Jace” The necromancer taunted.
She stood on top of the giant hole as if it were solid ground. Black shadowy hands crawled up to her exposed legs. The necromancer tapped her trident again. The darkness vying for me doubled its effort. Now, only two of my fingers were gripped around the chair as my soul began to lift off the ground. My body was being pulled so tightly, I felt as if my skin would be ripped off any second. Amid all of this, I couldn’t for the life of me think of anyone I could offer to her.
“SEB! TAKE SEB! HE'S A WEREWOLF” I shouted desperately. I didn’t know why I said Seb's name, but it was the only name that came to mind.
“Ooh, as tempting as that sounds, I can’t take his soul because he has the soul of a werewolf alpha. Alpha souls don’t die. They move on to the next strongest in the pack. So sad, too. I would enjoy having his soul in my collection especially after seeing the way he attacked you outside. Too bad, your grandmother ruined all the fun.” She giggled, petting her spider that now sat on her shoulder.
Another one of my fingers gave up from the suction of the dark entrance of The Hallow. I knew that once I went under, I'd never come back, and my soul would be tortured forever. I couldn’t let that happen. Just then, another name floated to mind.
“CASSIUS! HE-HE'S THE VAMPIRE PRINCE!” Desperation didn’t describe the heart-wrenching agony in my voice. I stared as the last of my fingers lost its grip on the chair.
“NOO!” I screamed, feeling myself being pulled into the terror that was The Hallow. I closed my eyes tightly, feeling the hands of the shadowed souls grabbing my legs, pulling me further into the darkness.
“Deal.” The soft words of the necromancer brought me instant relief more than a cold glass of ice water on a hot day. Not sure if I heard her correctly, I popped my eyes open. The hole on the floor was gone, and I realized that I was also back in my body. I shot to my feet, looking around for my body just to be certain I was whole again.
“If you tell anyone who I am, the deal is off.” She added.
I faced her. She was also back in Zara's body. The trident and spider was long gone. Thinking about the way the spider came out, I was glad I didn’t have to watch it go back in. Zara held out her hand expectantly. Timidly, I took it. A sense of dread overcame me as soon as our hands touched.
“Break our deal, and your soul is up for grabs again.” She teased, skipping out of the room.
My mind reeled over everything that just happened. A migraine was coming on strong, and my vison was starting to blur.
“Wait!” I called out to her.
Zara stopped at the entrance. There were so many questions I wanted to ask her. How did she survive a thousand years? Does Cora know who she is? Does my grandmother? And why did she take the deal for Cassius? All of them and more rattled through my mind.
“Why are you here? What are you planning?” I asked instead. I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence that this necromancer ended up with Cora, one of the most gifted witches and close friend of the crone.
Zara didn’t turn, but I could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” She giggled, jumping from the attic, not bothering with the stairs.
No matter how childish her words were, I knew she was serious. As if things weren’t bad enough, now I got myself caught up with a thousand-year-old child-like necromancer. I felt a wave of fatigue washing over me. My body wobbled, and I tried to stay standing. A second later, I lost the fight of consciousness. My body pummeled to ground as my mind went dark.
***
Ana
“He's late.” I grumbled impatiently, kicking a rock in the driveway. Today was the day Cassius and his army was supposed to come here to prepare for the big showdown with Ferox tomorrow. I was irritated. Not only did we have less than twenty-four hours to strategize, I also had a bad feeling about this. I really didn’t want my friends to be involved, but they wouldn’t even consider sitting this out, except for Bobby, but he was not a friend anyway. I was surprised he stuck around as long as he did.
“He'll be here. He's a Prince. It's very fashionable for him to be late.” Lily chimed in, stepping up beside me. She was smiling like usual, and I had to wonder again where her natural upbeat energy came from especially after what happened last night.
Seb and I were on our way out when we heard the last bit of Lily and Bobby's conversation. I had to admit it made me proud to see her stand up for herself that way. Had it been me, I didn’t think I could have done it.
“Hey, about last night…”
Lily put a hand up to stop me. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’ve dealt with pricks like him before.”
She laughed, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I knew it still hurt her deep down.
“I know but I wanted to say it took a lot of courage to do what you did, and seeing you kick my old tormentor in the nuts was awesome! You’re like my hero” I laughed, and she laughed with me, this time genuinely.
I turned my attention back to the yard where Seb and Marie were trying to teach poor Simon some defensive moves. My dear friend lacked coordination. He kept falling instead of blocking when Seb came after him. In his defense, Seb was pretty huge and intimidating. Every time he fell, Seb or Marie would help him and try again. Never once did either of them appeared annoyed or frustrated by his lack of fighting skills. It reminded me of all the long hours Seb spent training me under Marcos’ orders. Now, my captor was dead, and the vampire that was responsible for it was coming after me. So much had changed it, almost seemed unreal. Almost.
“Have you seen Jace today?' I asked Lily.
I hadn’t seen him since yesterday which was strange since we are all in the same house. But Seb and I did wake up early to run, hunt, and train so it was possible we just didn’t cross paths yet.
“Yeah, early this morning. He was coming from the attic looking all weird. I asked him about it, and he said he passed out up there. He mumbled something about a headache. I don’t know, dude is acting strange, but he did say he was going to make something to help in the fight tomorrow.” Lily shrugged before dashing off to join the others in practice while I took in her words.
Jace did seem off yesterday, but a lot was going on. I couldn’t help but feel there was more to what was going on with him than he was letting on. Like he would tell me anyway after I broke his heart. Hopefully, after this was all over, he and I could build some sort of a friendship. After all, he was Simon’s friend. Deciding I should help my friends train instead of watch, I jogged off to meet them in the yard.
Two hours later, Cassius and his group finally showed up. Lily and Simon were thankful for the break. Apparently, I was not as easy-going in training as Seb and Marie were. Next time, I'd just sit it out.
Seeing a thousand vampires surround the front of the house was alarming. They were all decked out in similar chainmail as the elite guards who took me. My guard went up, and instantly I became defensive. Seb and Marie tensed as well. Lily fluffed up her hair, and Simon stood by Marie, trying to look tough, but I could hear his heart hammering in his chest.
“Hello, Analise. I told you I’d find you.” Cassius smirked, stepping away from the vampires and approaching me. He was dressed in
black slacks and a royal-blue dress shirt looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“There goes my hoping I’d killed you.” I snapped back.
I didn’t trust Cassius, and I won’t play like I did. Jace got us involved with him, not me, and if this arrangement turned bad, all of us were in added danger. Cassius only laughed at my comment.
Jace came up, finally gracing us with his presence. His face looked pale, and his eyes looked tired. Overall, he looked worried and exhausted. A pang of guilt hit me hard. He wouldn’t be involved in any of this if he hadn’t been mated to me.
“Takes a lot more to kill me than that, love.” Cassius smiled.
Seb growled, and I not so discreetly grabbed his hand. We agreed last night not to tell Cassius and his men that Seb was a werewolf. The element of surprise needed to stay on our side if we were going to win this.
“Ah, so this is the human you choose over me and the witch.” Cassius said, looking Seb up and down.
“I can guarantee I’m better in bed, love. Would you like to find out?” Cassius teased.
I knew he was just talking to get a rise out of my mate. His words lacked any sincerity which meant he must have let go of our bond. Thank goodness.
“Watch your next words, Prince,” Seb spat, “Because they may be your last.”
Not even five minutes together, and the threats have already begun! I didn’t know how we were going to work together if we couldn’t even have a conversation without things turning violent. Cassius opened his mouth to reply with something that I was sure would only piss Seb off when I broke in.
“Enough. Okay? Look, we need to work together on our plan. We have less than a day to prepare. Thanks for being late.” I shot at Cassius.
He only shrugged.
“I had an old acquaintance that I recruited to join the fight. Though, it really didn’t take much to convince her.” Cassius said, gesturing for someone to come forward.
Gliding up to us was one of the sexiest women I’d ever seen. I was not joking. Her body was curved in the way most women would give their life savings for. Her long red hair cascaded down her body in perfect waves. The skin-tight black lace dress she was wearing screamed vixen, but the hungry look in her black eyes screamed something much more dangerous.
“Hello…” She purred. “I’ve met most you already especially these handsome men, although the blonde one I was fond of is missing.”
She pouted as she said the last sentence. I didn’t like the way her eyes lingered on Seb. I could feel the jealous rage building. I didn’t care how pretty she was. I’d rip her apart if her eyes didn’t find a new resting spot.
Lily snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure he's somewhere icing his balls right now.”
I had to choke back my own laugh and remain serious. Though with Lily around, I was sure it would be hard.
“Pity. Well, I’m Cassandra, and this is Kellan, my best fighter.” She introduced us to an attractive vampire as tall and big as Seb, but with a smooth ebony skin that glistened in the sun. He gave a stiff nod and stood protectively by her side.
“I know someone who would love to meet you, Analise.” Cassandra said, eyeing me curiously. I don’t know what she was talking about, but at the moment, I didn’t care. In no mood to meet any other vampires, I ignored her comment and turned to Cassius who was staring at Jace. Jace gave the briefest of nods. Had I not been a vampire I might not have noticed it, but I did, and whatever he said silently to Cassius must have been good because a wide smile lit up Cassius’ face.
“Well! Let’s get started, shall we?' Cassius beamed, clasping his hands together.
Jace turned to me, and I raised my eyebrow in a silent question, but he simply turned away, walking back to the house. Whatever side deal he had going on with Cassius, it couldn’t be good. I just hoped it didn’t get us all killed.
***
Kim
I sat at the bar, feeling my short pink latex dress ride up. A man, the sixth to be exact, walked up to me with a smile and two drinks in his hand. Just like the others before him, I took the drink, downed it, and shooed the man away. I was starting to lose my patience. Being in this old country bar wasn’t for pleasure. It was for business.
Raven had visited me last night at the motel. The visit only proved to make my already messed up life worse. Raven said she had two missions for me. The first, I could handle without a problem. It was why I was at this bar now. But the second was so unthinkable, even I couldn’t wrap my mind around doing it.
The scent of my target hit me. I searched around the bar until I found who I was looking for. He was in the back, sitting at a booth, with a woman. The man was in his early forties with salt and pepper hair that made him almost attractive in an older-guy-sort-of way. Not that it mattered. The time to put the plan in motion was now. I stood, pulling down my short dress. The bartender watched lustfully before winking at me. I replied by giving him the finger. Normally, I’d bath in the attention, but the stress I was under made being myself hard, and missing Talon made it even harder to like the attention of another male. Although, I wouldn’t mind draining the bartender of all his blood. Hm-mmm, maybe later.
I sashayed my way to the back booth where the target sat, talking to a woman the size of a linebacker.
“Get lost, Amazon.” I said, staring directly at the woman.
The woman looked ready to argue at first, but the sinister look in my eyes had her scurrying away. I helped myself to the seat she abandoned across from the target.
“So you like em big, huh?” I smiled seductively.
The man gave me a half-smile, running a hand over his bushy beard.
“I prefer them human. So, what do you want vampire?” He snapped, losing all the friendliness he had only seconds ago.
I wasn’t surprised the witch recognized me as a vampire. After dealing with Raven, I was more surprised he didn’t try to kill me on sight. I assumed witches hated vampires.
“But we make excellent lovers. Maybe you should give it a try.” I teased, wrapping my gum around my finger then slowly sticked it back to my mouth. I had to get him outside, alone. Seducing him seemed the easiest way. The witche’s mistrust turned to curiosity in a flash as he leaned in.
“I know you only want to drain my blood.” He whispered, his hot beer breath grazing my face.
“I won’t bite unless you ask me to.” I replied, also leaning in. We were so close now that if I stuck my tongue out it it would hit his lip. The lust lit up his face, and I knew then I had him.
“Come on, let’s go out back and have a little fun just to say we did it.” I added, using the line I used on Bobby the first time I seduced him. The witch eyed me, not saying anything. To push him even further, I stuck out my tongue and dragged it across his bottom lip.
He shuddered. I knew it was now or never. I stood smiling at him as I held out my hand. It didn’t take long before he took it.
I led him to the darkest spot in the ally I could find. Once there, he went after me like a dog in heat. I entertained his advances while I searched the dark night for any witnesses. Nothing out here but us and the stinky dumpsters we were next to. The witch littered sloppy kisses down my neck.
I’d had enough of this game.
Before I could even register what was happening, I grabbed his head and smashed it into the brick wall my back was pressed against. The witch’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as his body slumped to the ground. I leaned over him, pulling a small blade from between my breasts. I gripped the pocket knife tightly and tried to clear my mind to prepare for what I was about to do. It wasn’t long before a cold chill swept down my spine that alerted me of the fact that we were no longer alone.
“I’m doing it.” I snapped without turning to face the figure behind me.
“Then do it faster.” Raven snapped back.
I let out a huff of annoyance, and in one fast motion, drove the knife into the dead man’s eye. Once I finished digging his eyes from his h
ead, I turned around holding the bloody brown pair in my hand. Raven eagerly snatched them from my palm and placed them in a small jar.
“Why did you want this witch’s eyes, anyway? And why couldn’t you do it yourself?” I asked, wiping my hands on the dead man’s suit.
“I couldn’t do it myself because he’d have sensed me, and I need his eyes because he’s a sandman; a witch that has the natural ability to enter and manipulate the dreams of others. It’s said that anyone who consumes the eyes of a sandman will gain the ability for a short while.” Raven explained, tucking the jar into a pocket on her long black skirt.
“Great.” I uttered in complete disgust. “Enjoy your dinner and nightmares.”
I tried my best to walk away casually before Raven mentioned part two of this mess, but I wasn’t so lucky.
“I hope you’re on your way to your second mission.” Raven called out after me.
I stopped, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, not because I needed the air but because I was trying to find the courage to say what I needed to say.
Slowly, I faced the dark witch. “Look, I just gouged out a stranger’s eye for you. How about we call it even?”
“We will call it even when I say so.” Raven growled.
“But, what you’re asking me to do next is insane! I won’t do it. I won’t!” I screamed.
The frustration was evident in my tone. This nightmare was taking a toll on my sanity. Raven took slow calculating steps towards me until we were face to face.
“You will do it. Besides, this isnt just for me. I know how much you hate your sister. By doing this, you will cause her unspeakable pain.” Raven explained as if talking to a child.
Pure: A Paranormal Romance Page 60
