I found myself in another clean, polished room with a giant dinner table that could seat up to twenty people. It was fully decorated with high-end cutlery and a vase of roses, a massive chandelier hanging above. Nothing was out of place. This guy had to be someone important or high up in the chain of the vampires to have all this.
As soon as he sat down at the head of the table, a butler appeared in a black suit and poured him a glass of red wine. The butler then placed a crystal bowl on the table filled with some kind of nuts. Then I realized what they were. The limodangious nuts from the plants in the forest by the school. These were the nuts we were meant to track down. They’d all been from the Vampire Lord, they had to be.
My host gestured for me to take a seat next to him. I pushed myself forward on shaky legs into the seat, then waited for him to speak. He went to open his mouth when another scream echoed through the space. My eyes darted around the room, trying to find the source, but I was met with the dark depths of his eyes. He smirked, taking a sip of his wine. He then scooped up a handful of limodangious nuts and placed them in his mouth, chewing merrily.
“You’ll have to excuse my indulgence,” he said. “I’m simply addicted to these. Grew up on them, you see, before I became… well, what I am.”
Another scream tore through the air.
The Vampire Lord studied me and smirked. “I’m sure you’re dying to know who those screams belong to. But first I’d like to introduce myself, as I’m certain you are curious. I’m Sir Nathaniel Allesandro.”
My eyes widened at his confession. My breathing came out in short gasps. He was the Sir Nathaniel Allesandro? All the color drained from my face. If I thought I was in trouble before, this was a million times worse. I would be lucky to get out of here alive.
I was in the house of the Vampire Lord. I was done for.
21
“What do you want?” I asked. “Why am I here?”
He slowly placed his glass of wine on the table as if he were deliberating what to say. “Reagan, believe it or not, I have been looking for you for a long time. And now that I’ve finally found you, I have big plans. Not just for me, but for both of us. I’m about to change your life forever.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
The butler appeared and served two silver-covered plates in front of us. When he removed the covers, some kind of red, bloody meat sat on our plates, garnished with parsley and rose petals. I blinked at what I guessed was supposed to be my meal and swallowed hard. I wasn’t hungry before, and now I believed I’d lost my appetite forever.
When the butler left the room, the Vampire Lord leaned forward on his elbows, lacing his fingers together. “You have a very special power, Reagan.”
I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t speak.
“This power of yours—this ash conduction—interests me very much.” He smiled, his fangs catching the light from the chandelier.
“Why?”
“Because I want it.”
I scoffed. “What do you mean you want it? As if I could just give it to you or something.”
His smile faded, and a deadly cold chill made my blood feel frozen. “You won’t have to give it to me. I can take it.”
My throat went dry. I needed water. I reached for the glass in front of me, but my hand shook so much, I could barely get the glass to my mouth without spilling. The sip I took did almost nothing to help me. I replaced the glass and dared to look at him.
“Mr. Allesandro, I’m afraid I don’t understand… well, I don’t understand how I’m supposed to help you.”
He gave me a small grin, then picked up his knife and fork and began cutting into the bloody meat on his plate. Was it a steak? I wasn’t sure. I suspected it was a cleverly cut heart, but I didn’t want to dwell on it for fear I’d be sick to my stomach.
“You see, dear,” he said, “one of my powers is to syphon from other supernaturals, like yourself. The only problem is, the supernatural has to actually be using the power in order for me to syphon it.”
“So you want me to use my power so you can suck it out of me?” I had no problem with that. I didn’t want to turn people to ash. But then it hit me. He wanted the power so he could turn people to ash. If I simply gave him that power, he could destroy anyone he wanted to with it. “Don’t you have enough powerful magic? What do you need my power for?”
He took a bite of his meal, and a trail of blood trickled down from the side of his mouth. He closed his eyes as he chewed, a satisfied expression changing his features. Then he swallowed his bite and licked his lips. He lifted his chin, focused back on me, and lifted his cloth napkin to wipe the dripping blood away.
“I do have powerful magic, that’s true. But, you see, it’s not enough. I have reveled in being the most powerful vampire in the world—no! The most powerful supernatural in the world. And having your power will bring me one step closer to keeping that a reality. What you need to understand is that I do have my enemies. There is another notorious vampire on the rise. He has gathered much power from other supernaturals. Though he is not a syphon like me, he has attained the help of a sorceress to transfer others’ powers to him. He has not yet reached my level of power, but he’s getting closer. And I can’t let him overpower me. Hence my interest in you.”
It took a moment for me to take all the information in. One evil Vampire Lord was bad enough. Now there were two to worry about? Did the other evil vampire know about my power? I suddenly felt very small and helpless.
“What if I refuse?” I asked.
He slowly and deliberately set down his knife and fork. “Then I have means to convince you.”
“Like what?” Something told me I wouldn’t be pleased with how he’d answer me.
“I’ll show you.” The smirk that appeared on his face sent a deathly shiver down my spine.
* * *
Flames burned in sconces in the hall, the flickering of fire casting dancing shadows on the walls. The Vampire Lord brought me to a stairwell made of cement. It wasn’t nice, like the rest of the mansion. It was dank and damp and dark, and it gave me a feeling of hopelessness peering down into the depths of wherever it led. Every time a flame from the sconce jumped, it caused my heart to jump as well.
“What’s down there?” I asked, my voice barely audible.
He gestured for me to descend. “Let’s see, shall we?”
I wanted to turn and run, but I was quite aware that he wouldn’t let that happen. Also, I needed to know who was screaming… and why.
I turned and placed my hand on the cold iron railing, forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other. As I descended the stairs, I felt my heart muscles straining, as if a hand were squeezing it of all its blood. I placed my free hand on my chest, begging for the ache to stop. Behind me, the Vampire Lord was silent. The only sound—aside from the heavy breathing and groans of pain from whoever was at the bottom of the stairs—was the delicate swishing of Sir Nathanial Allesandro’s cape as he traveled down step by step at my back.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, a flash of heat hit me—so unbearable, I almost dropped to my knees. Fire shot up in spurts from a grated floor. And chained to the wall opposite me was Killian.
Killian, no!
His scream echoed around me. Sweat covered him, and his body was marked with scorch wounds as he flailed, the flames licking his limbs, his torso, his face. The fire subsided, and he would instantly begin to heal, but I knew the fire would return. He was being tortured, burned in erratic intervals, unable to escape.
I took off to run to him, but the Vampire Lord grabbed my wrist.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned. “There’s no telling when the next surge of fire will erupt.”
“Why are you doing this?” I screamed, trying to wrench my wrist free.
That same disgusting smirk appeared. “Leverage, of course.”
I grit my teeth, glancing back at Killian. His wrists were cuffed to chains th
at were bolted to the wall. He looked so close to death that I was surprised he was still standing. Hung along the side walls were weapons: long daggers, swords, ancient-looking spears, axes, and maces. I shuddered at the thought of those things being used on Killian. On anyone.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“The choice is simple, Reagan. I need you to use your powers so I can syphon them while in use. So either you use them on Killian, or I destroy him.”
The world seemed to stop, as well as my heart. Use my powers on Killian? This vampire was truly evil.
“Why him?” I asked, choking back my tears.
He released my wrist, only to push a strand of hair away from my shoulder. I flinched but stayed in place. “I’m surprised no one taught you about your emotions and their connection to your powers. Every witch should be aware of the connection. But I suppose you are young and have not been educated on the matter yet.”
“What do my emotions have to do with this?”
He laughed. “Do not think I don’t know how you two feel about each other. When I learned about you attending that school, I instructed the boy to collect you for me—so convenient that I had a servant in place before you even got there. But you see, the boy’s loyalties seem to have wavered. I demanded he bring you to me, yet he found an excuse each time he returned to me as to why he had not. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that it was his feelings for you that prevented him from doing as I’d asked. And judging from your reaction to seeing him tonight, I’m convinced you feel the same for him.”
My eyes drifted back to Killian. He looked at me with hopelessness etched in his features. But the softness in his gaze told me the Vampire Lord’s words were true. He’d been instructed to sacrifice me to Sir Allesandro, but he hadn’t been able to do it. He cared about me so much, he’d disobeyed the most evil vampire in the world.
“Why didn’t you just come for me yourself?” I asked. “To the school? Or to my home?”
“Yes, well, it seems those dwellings—your home and your school—have some sort of spell put on them that… leave me without the most of my powers. Even the nearby woods of your school have a draining effect on me. Too close to the magic. I needed Killian to bring you out, and I needed to get you as far away from those places as possible.”
“Surely you have other servants,” I said, seething with anger. “Why Killian?”
Something flashed behind his eyes. As if there was a mystery there he wanted to keep hidden. Something he didn’t want me to know.
“Now, Reagan,” the Vampire Lord said. “Let’s not delay this any further. I have big plans, and I’ve been waiting long enough.”
He put a hand on the small of my back and urged me closer to face Killian full on.
“I… I can’t,” I said.
Sir Allesandro’s creepy, long-fingered hand was on my shoulder. He squeezed. It wasn’t entirely painful, but I was completely uncomfortable, and I knew it would get worse. “I was afraid you might say that.”
The roar of the fire that shot out from the grated floor was deafening. I had to throw my hands up over my face to withstand the heat and the light. And the screams that filled the space broke my heart into a million pieces.
I screamed too. I screamed for Killian. I screamed for the fire to stop. I screamed at the Vampire Lord to end the madness.
The fire finally receded, and Killian hung limply, smoke coming off of every inch of his body.
“You can end his torture, Reagan,” the Vampire Lord said. “Use your power and put him out of his misery. He’ll be dead instantly. No pain. No screaming. No agony. And you’ll be free to go.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I found it hard to breathe. How was I supposed to do this? I couldn’t kill someone on purpose. And I definitely didn’t want to kill Killian.
“Do it, Reagan,” the Vampire Lord said, his voice getting louder. “Or do you want his torture to continue?”
My hands were shaking, and my knees barely supported me. As I sobbed, I stretched out my fingers toward Killian. Then my hands. And then my arms. I shook my head, even as I imagined the smoke, the burning, the pile of ash.
“I can’t!” I screamed.
The floor roared with fire. Killian shouted out in anguish.
“Do it!” the Vampire Lord yelled.
I couldn’t take the sight of Killian flailing against the flames. My heart hammered so hard in my chest, I thought it would explode. “Okay!” I hollered. “Okay! Just stop!”
The flames dissipated. I could hear the Vampire Lord breathing impatiently behind me. I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to burn Killian again if I didn’t go through with it.
Killian panted, looking up at me as he hung from the chains. “Reagan,” he said softly. “It’s okay. I trust you.”
In that split second, his eyes shifted to the right. It was only for a moment, but I caught it.
What was he trying to tell me?
I followed where his gaze had landed. It looked as if he had meant the spear that hung on the wall. What did he want me to do? There was no way I was going to make it to the spear, yank it off the wall, and use it on Sir Nathanial Allesandro before he stopped me. And killed me. I wasn’t fast or strong enough.
But Killian was.
I just needed to free him from his chains.
That was when I understood what he wanted to tell me. I just didn’t know if I could be precise enough with my magic to pull it off.
“Do it now,” the Vampire Lord demanded, his voice making me jump.
Killian locked gazes with me. He gave me a slight nod. He knew I understood, and he was trying to tell me he believed in me. I stretched my arms out toward him, my fingers aimed where I need them, and then I called upon my magic. I hadn’t been at the school long, and I hadn’t had a lot of training, but I needed to use every bit of learned magic I could in that instant—with no screw-ups.
Beside me, the Vampire Lord began to cackle. “Yes, I feel your magic brewing. Do it! Use your power!” He stood with his arms apart, his eyes closing. This had to be how he prepared to syphon powers from a supernatural.
And it was my only chance.
I aimed my ash magic for Killian’s chains, shouting out as my energy left me and rushed toward the iron links. It looked as if some of my ash tendrils were being sucked into the aura of the Vampire Lord, but most of it, a good, huge part of it, zipped directly for Killian’s chains and disintegrated them to ash.
Killian didn’t hesitate. He rushed to the spear on the wall. Using his vampire strength, he tore it from its bolts, and without wasting a second, dashed forward and plunged the spear into the Vampire Lord’s chest.
Sir Nathaniel Allesandro gasped. His eyes widened and ran blood-red. His fists clenched, and he buckled to his knees.
“Now, Reagan!” Killian shouted, pushing the spear deeper into his chest until the wooden handle reached his heart.
Though I was terrified, I aimed my hands at the Vampire Lord. With an ear-shattering scream, I blasted him with all the ash power I could. I fought off my dizziness and kept pushing my energy out until a blast of black smoke filled the room.
The smoke clouded my vision and cut off the air to my lungs. I dropped down to the ground, coughing. Two arms wrapped around my middle and hoisted me up. I felt air rush by my face, and suddenly I was up the stairs, wrapped in Killian’s arms.
“Is he… Is he dead?” I asked, clinging to Killian.
“Yes. I made sure. He’s a pile of ash now. You did it.”
I nodded, but tears still spilled over my cheeks. The stress of the situation hit me at once, and I buried my head in Killian’s chest. He pulled me closer, enveloping me in his arms and stroking my hair.
I breathed him in, not wanting to let go.
“It’s over, Reagan.” He inched back and lifted my chin. “You saved us.”
He kept watching me, as if waiting for me to accept his words.
A small smile formed
on my lips. “I saved us.”
He let out a small laugh. “You did. I’m so proud of you.”
He leaned in and placed his lips gently on mine. I let my hands roam on his back as his tongue played against mine, and I crushed myself into him, never wanting the moment to end.
Reluctantly, I pulled back and looked up into his eyes. “I suppose I need to get home and let my parents know I’m okay.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll get you home.”
He took my hand, and we headed down the hall, searching for the door.
“Would you like to meet them?” I asked. “My parents?”
Killian smirked. “How much torture do you think I can endure in a day?”
My jaw dropped at his joke, but then he pulled me in for an embrace. In his arms, I was able to finally laugh, and I felt fearless. Like I could take on the world.
The End
* * *
Keep an eye out for book two in the Dark Cauldron series, coming 2020
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About the Authors
Dorothy Dreyer is a Philippine-born American living in Germany with her husband, her two college kids, and her two Siberian Huskies. She is an award-winning, bestselling author of young adult and new adult books that usually have some element of magic or the supernatural in them. Aside from reading, she enjoys movies, chocolate, take-out, traveling, and having fun with friends and family. She tends to sing sometimes, too, so keep her away from your Karaoke bars.
Jenna Lee is an author, speaker and creative heart. Most days you can find her writing out the stories that take over her mind, supporting her friends, creating or designing. Jenna's mostly known for being a go-getter, a book worm and passionate human who loves nature, all things creative and using her experience to empower other aspiring writers and creatives to bring their light to the world.
Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 109
