Wards of Night

by E. M. Knight

“Once,” he continues, “not so very long ago, I would have given anything to have you in my grasp. To have you alone, with me, like this, so that I could do absolutely anything I wanted…” he tightens his fist in my hair, and I flinch in pain, “…to you.”

  He lets go and steps away. “But situations change. Circumstances change. Destinies and needs and wants, all shift and shimmer, like leaves dancing in the wind.”

  “How poetic,” I deadpan.

  He flashes an evil smile. “It’s not my intention to impress you with poetry. All I need to do is keep you alive until the transformation truly begins.”

  “Where are we?” I repeat.

  “A safe place. You could say… we’re near a sanctuary.” He rips my bonds off and plucks me up, then pushes me in front of him and painfully pins my arms behind me. “Let’s go.”

  I’m led off the plane into a private airfield that is absolutely pitch black. There are no lights anywhere. It looks like an abandoned military base.

  There’s a shack in the distance that he brings me to. The inside is small and cramped. A tiny bed sits in one corner and a broken chair is on the other side.

  James shoves me through the door. He tries the lock, but it’s rusted. It snaps under his strength.

  He shrugs. “I don’t think you’re dumb enough to run,” he tells me. “If you try, you know what will happen. So don’t.”

  He slams the door shut and leaves me in the dark.

  Luckily I can see. I go to the window and watch him as he begins to refuel the plane.

  He told me before we were making a stop in Russia. Is this it? What’s our final destination?

  I shiver. I thought escaping The Haven would free me. I had no idea what was waiting for me next.

  James returns after an hour. He stands near the door with his arms crossed. I sit still on the bed.

  I can feel a vibration in the air. There’s some type of resonance between us, almost like a thrumming. I’m unsure what to make of it, or what could be the cause.

  “Stop that,” he snarls.

  I give a stare. “What?”

  “You know what. Don’t test me.” He sounds testy.

  “I’m not doing anything!” I protest.

  “Like hell you aren’t.” He takes a menacing step forward. “You’re playing your tricks on me, witch, as if you think I don’t realize—”

  A massive crash sounds in the distance. Both our heads whip to it.

  “What was that?” I gasp.

  James runs to the window. A low rumble fills the air, but this one is coming from outside.

  “That,” he growls, “Is your ill-timed rescue party.”

  He seizes me by the neck and hauls me out the door.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  RAUL

  Mother proves to be a willing ally… when her interests align with mine.

  I run to her as soon as I discover that Eleira’s been taken, and James is back. I thought I’d have to convince her to lend me her help, but when she understood what had happened, she quickly consents.

  She ignores the issue of holding Phillip hostage as if it didn’t exist, however.

  She gives me a GPS tracker bewitched to show Eleira’s location. I get the distinct impression that casting that spell on it takes nearly all of her remaining strength.

  As soon as I have it, I’m off to the nearest airfield to get the fastest jet I can find. James wasn’t the only one of the Soren brothers to learn how to fly.

  Mother also did me another favor right before I left. She gave me a small, precious stone she picked from the cliffs enchanted with the wards that keep The Haven hidden from the world. She said the stone would extend the ward’s protection—namely, invisibility—to anything within a fifty-foot radius of it for as long as the magic lasted inside.

  I asked her how long that would be. She couldn’t answer exactly, but said it was enough to cloak my jet and follow James without being exposed.

  And so I track Eleira’s signal from the cockpit of my plane. It comes to a stop on a deserted piece of land in Eastern Russia. I recognize the coordinates as an old airbase, long since abandoned.

  It’s my chance to catch up.

  Yet mere minutes before my arrival the stone’s magic gives out. There comes a crash like a sonic boom as my fighter jet bursts through the protective field.

  I curse, knowing I’ve lost the element of surprise—but I’m close enough that James cannot escape.

  I land the jet and jump outside. I spot a decrepit building in the distance.

  In the doorway, holding Eleira by the neck, stands James.

  “So,” he sneers. “You’ve come for her, after all.”

  I walk toward them, my eyes focused on him. Once I get within a half-dozen meters, he holds up a hand.

  “Uh-uh-uh,” he utters. He extends his claws and presses them against Eleira’s neck. “Come no closer, brother. Or your precious girl dies.”

  “You wouldn’t,” I say. Still, I remain in place.

  “Do you want to try me?” One finger scratches the faintest mark on Eleira’s neck. She gasps and tenses.

  “See what I wouldn’t do, Raul,” he says. “You don’t know who I am, what I’ve seen, or what I’m destined to become.”

  We start to circle each other.

  “I saw Father, did you know?” he continues. “I saw him, and I left his coven alive. How’s that for a feat?”

  “Did you kill him?” I demanded. I have to engage him in conversation to buy myself and Eleira more time. The alternative, embracing my darkness, and using it as the propelling force for the rescue, is too ghastly to think about. “Did you do what Mother tasked you with?”

  He laughs. “No,” he says. “I could not. The power Father wields, Raul, it’s unbelievable. You should have seen it. You should have witnessed his glory.”

  “Let the girl go,” I tell him. “You don’t need her.”

  “Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong.” His claws dig deeper into her neck, puncturing her skin almost enough to draw blood. She’s pale as a ghost. “Eleira is precisely the one I need, and I intend to have her. I’m not going to let you stop me.”

  “James, we’re brothers,” I say. “Surely you can see why we need to cooperate. We —”

  He cuts me off with a roar of laughter. “Diplomacy was never your strong point,” he mocks. “You think you can appeal to me with your words?” He scoffs. “Hardly.”

  But then he holds out his free hand.

  “And yet… you can join me, brother. It can be you and I who inherit The Crypts. Forget The Haven. There is nothing there for us. You and I can rise and rule together. Together, we can control the greatest coven in the world!”

  We continue circling one another other, like two cats in a scrapyard. Eleira is the unwitting prize.

  “You would have me?” I say, not bothering to conceal my incredulity. “I doubt that. You love no one but yourself, James. You would betray your own family to get a step up.”

  “Oh, but you know me too well,” he smiles sadly. “And yet, you still think you can wrest Eleira from me?”

  “What do you want with her?” I demand.

  “The same thing everyone wants, it seems.” The distance between us is getting smaller. “I want her for her gifts.”

  I catch her eye. For a scant second, I see the utmost fear in them.

  And then that fear is pushed down deep and replaced by a steely courage.

  I marvel at her ability to remain so strong, to have so much resilience.

  “You know who she is to Mother,” I say. “You know that our Queen would do anything to get her back.”

  “Our Queen sends you. You, and you alone. Where is her royal guard? Why do they not accompany you? Why are they not here for her rescue?” He laughs. “No, Raul, what I think is that it’s you who wants Eleira for himself. You’ve been addicted to her scent since I brought her to us from her university.”

  “You risk angering the most powerful v
ampire in existence,” I warn. “Wait until you see Mother’s true wrath.”

  James laughs again. “Mother? You think Mother is the most powerful alive?”

  “You know she is,” I growl. “And she has magic—”

  “The same magic that keeps her bound in The Haven!” James erupts. “The same magic that keeps her prisoner inside its walls!”

  My eyes narrow.

  “You did not know?” James seems genuinely surprised. “Why else would she be so desperate for a successor?” He thrusts Eleira forward. “Why else would she treasure this dumb, vapid, useless teen girl so?”

  The anger inside me rises at every insult he flings Eleira’s way. I have to keep it under control, together with the darkness, or else…

  “You think Mother wants to give up her rule, Raul? If so, you are more a fool than I knew. She will keep control of The Haven and use Eleira as a mere surrogate. She will chain her inside the castle and draw on her powers while she lives free. You claim you care for Eleira, and yet you would subject her to such a future? What I offer her…” he brings his mouth closer to her ear and wraps an arm around her body to tug her into him. “What I offer you, my dear,” he whispers to her, “is freedom. Freedom from the hell you would find with Raul. Freedom from the slavery Mother would put you through. But ultimately… it’s all your choice.”

  Everything happens at once.

  James releases Eleira and pushes her forward. At the same time, an enormous spotlight flares to life and hits me like a laser beam.

  Eleira stumbles and falls. Her palms scrape against the ground. The skin tears, and blood, her sweet, precious blood, pours out.

  The scent of it befuddles my senses.

  But I can’t react, because the spotlight has some sort of UV bulbs in it, making it feel just like the sun. As soon as the light hits me, the worst pain I’ve ever known erupts over my body.

  I roar and try to jump out of the way but my knees buckle from the pain. The bright rays make it impossible to open my eyes. My skin starts burning, and I open my mouth to scream in pure agony.

  Half a second is all I get, half a second of torture as my skin sizzles and smokes and burns, and then the spotlight switches off.

  Exactly at that moment, James collides with me.

  He crashes into my midsection and flattens me on the ground. I’m trapped beneath him, but I feel my strength returning. It’s a strength fuelled by anger. I use his momentum and flip him off me, then roll to my feet —

  And am blindsided when somebody catches me from behind. A sack is shoved over my head, and it somehow cuts off all of my senses, my sight, my hearing, my orientation…

  Silver.

  Two cuffs close around my wrists. A foot is planted to my back and I go sprawling. I struggle against the sack, trying desperately to spring myself free.

  “Raul! Raul, no!” Eleira is screaming for me. Then her screams turn to shrieks that quickly fade as she’s carried away.

  “Eleira!” I cry. “Elei—”

  A heavy, metal object swings into my heard. I topple with the blow.

  Then there’s silence.

  I drift.

  For the longest time, I don’t know if I’m conscious or not. The sack cuts everything off, even the sensation to my body. The sense of my failure washes over me.

  If only I’d embraced the darkness, I think. If only I hadn’t been so reluctant…

  Somebody pulls me up. “Steady,” a thick, female voice says. It’s muffled by the sack. “Hold him still. There we go…”

  A few moments pass, and then the sack is torn off.

  I blink, disoriented. I’m still in the middle of the airfield. Eleira is nowhere to be seen.

  There is, however, a short, sensual, blonde woman in front of me.

  Immediately, I sense her strength. My jaw drops. She’s powerful. Viciously so. Stronger than James or me or Mother.

  She smiles and kneels down to touch my cheek. “So pretty,” she murmurs. She turns my head this way and that. “With hair like fire. And eyes a-blazing.”

  The natural vampire instincts within me command me to defer, to kneel down, to bow my head. I fight against them with every bit of willpower I possess.

  But such strength radiates from her. I’ve never before been awed by a vampire’s presence.

  Until now.

  Who is this?

  She lets go, stands, and looks behind me. “Do it,” she says.

  I gasp as a sharp needle is jabbed into my neck. All goes black.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  RAUL

  I wake up in a dark, cold prison cell.

  My hands are stretched above me. My wrists are bound by silver chains. They burn into my flesh.

  I thrash to break free. The chains whip against the wall but don’t give. I summon all my strength, and pull, and pull…

  The mortar the chain is attached to gives. I jerk forward. I grit my teeth, straining, and try again.

  I give a massive yank and the chain rips free from the wall. Bits of stone rain down on me. The block the chain was attached to smashes into the ground with a monstrous crash. The room shakes from the impact.

  I’m breathing hard, but at least now I have control of my hands. They are bound in front of me and a never-ending darkness lies beyond. Even with my sight I cannot see all the way to the end.

  I approach the bars of my prison. I look at them from up close but do not dare to touch. They are also silver. Meant for keeping a vampire inside.

  I do a quick scan of the room, searching the walls for a weakness. I find nothing. I’m not surprised, but I am curious where I am.

  Are these the holding cells of The Crypts?

  What else could they be? Unless I’m in some other coven—a coven that petite blonde vampire belongs to.

  Alarm seizes me. Eleira! Where is she?

  I yell her name. My voice echoes in darkness and then fades.

  Nobody answers my call.

  I wait a long time. I’d managed to break the chains from the wall. But what else can I apply my strength to? I can’t dig my way out, cannot break through those impenetrable silver bars…

  Distant footsteps catch my attention. Slowly, they get closer and closer.

  I stare out into the black, expecting to find my brother. Instead, I see the blonde.

  She grins and cocks her head to one side. “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but rock will never hurt you.” She laughs. “Good thing silver is a universal weakness.”

  “Who are you? What do you want?” I take an angry step forward, fighting against the sphere of influence her strength exerts over me. “Where is Eleira?”

  “The girl is safe enough. Don’t you fret. It’s you we’re concerned about.”

  I say nothing.

  She sighs. “Your Father would be pleased to see you. In fact, I think he’d be fascinated that I managed to bring two of his sons to him. Too bad he doesn’t know a thing about your arrival.”

  So I am in The Crypts.

  “It’s too bad I didn’t meet you first. You are the more handsome of the pair.”

  “How long are you going to keep me here?”

  “Straight to the point, huh?” She flips her hair back. “You aren’t the tiniest bit taken in by me? A little bit of flirtation is always fun…” she trails off. “But I forget. You only have eyes for the girl. I heard how loud you screamed for her. Oh, how touching it was. Really, it broke my heart.” She puts her hands over her chest. “Let’s just hope she feels the same way about you.”

  The woman steps to the side and punches in a code on the lock pad. Immediately the silver bars slide up.

  I’m free.

  Do I dare make a break for it? I look into the darkness again. I can try, but I’m sure she’ll catch me. I have a definitive impression of her strength, her speed, an intuitive awareness of all her powers.

  If I run, she would catch me, and it would only anger her.

  So instead, I take a step to her. �
��What now?”

  She smirks and picks up the chain holding my wrists. She doesn’t even flinch as the silver touches her skin. “I’m going to bring you to Eleira now,” she says. “And we’ll see the extent of your devotion.”

  Chapter Fifty

  ELEIRA

  I come to in a dank and frigid place deep beneath the earth.

  Immediately, I sense a presence nearby. I open my eyes and see James.

  He’s leering at me from across the room.

  “Finally,” he says. “I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to rise.” He strolls toward me. I shy back, then remember my resolve and steady myself.

  He touches my cheek, then traces the back of his fingers down my neck. “Sleeping beauty,” he murmurs.

  I want to recoil, but I won’t give him the pleasure of seeing how he affects me.

  Suddenly, all the memories of the fight come back. “Raul!” I gasp. “What did you do to him? What—”’

  “My brother is in good hands,” James says. There’s a note of… bitterness… in his voice? “I must say I find it disheartening you inquire about him and not me.”

  “You’re a monster,” I spit.

  “Oh, and you will be one too, quite soon, my dear.”

  I try to move my arms but they’re bound behind me tight.

  “What is this place?”

  “You’re in my room,” he says. “In my Father’s coven.” James brings his face close to mine and takes a deep breath. “He would be so pleased that I brought him a witch.”

  I try to snap at him but he smoothly steps back. “What do you want from me?”

  “Nothing that you’re incapable of giving.” James smiles. “Ah, I think I hear our guests.”

  Sure enough, a few moments later, the door opens. The woman vampire from the airfield comes in. She has a silver chain wrapped in her arms. She gives it a tug, and Raul stumbles in, growling at her in anger.

  Then he sees me. “Eleira!” he exclaims. My heart blooms with joy at seeing him safe and unharmed. And the strangest sensation of nerves settles into my stomach. I’ve never felt its like before.