Resilience

by Alicia Rades

  “Why go after the locket in the first place if all you ever wanted was this?” I sneered.

  Matias leaned an elbow against one of the rock ledges, looking amused. “I never said it didn’t come in handy. It is quite a useful object if you know how to use it. Imagine my surprise when you, Rachel Collins, showed up to deliver it.”

  Nausea hit my gut. “How do you know my name?”

  Matias smirked. “I have an unlimited amount of resources. What would you rather I call you? Ravenite, perhaps?”

  The blood drained from my face.

  He must’ve noticed my expression, because he straightened and shrugged. “Like I said, unlimited resources, my dear. You have quite the reputation, don’t you?”

  My jaw tensed, and I spoke in warning. “Yes. I’m very good at killing vampires.”

  “Of course,” he said with a nod. “You’ve spent many lifetimes cleaning up the mess you made.”

  “Excuse me?” I snapped.

  My magic honed in on his energy signature. It felt rough like rock and smelled of burning oil. I was ready to cut off his magic at any point. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it until I heard what he had to say. How did he know so much about me?

  “Oh, you don’t know?” His eyebrows shot up, and he clicked his tongue. “Rachel, Rachel, Rachel… I must say, I’m a little disappointed in you. I mean, if someone like me can remember my past lives before Valkas returned, I would’ve expected much more from you. Though you were… what? Ten or so when it happened.”

  “What are you talking about?” I demanded. “You couldn’t have remembered anything before Valkas escaped. You didn’t have the magic to remember.”

  Matias let out a fake sigh, as if amused. “Oh, sweetheart. You’re like a child all over again. How about a history lesson?”

  He didn’t give me a chance to answer before continuing. “Magic never completely disappeared with Valkas. It only weakened. I mean, we still had psychics, healers, and things like that. We saw magic in a different way. Some people called it luck. Others called it miracles. I called it hard work and perseverance. How else would I have built the empire I have from the ground up?”

  He began pacing in front of the tunnel entrance. “I was a strong witch in my past lives. I didn’t know it in this life, but I was able to use my natural connection to Synchrony to find success. With each success, I could feel there was something bigger than me, something handing me everything I asked for. I found a diary from my past life that explained everything, about Synchrony, about Valkas—all of it.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “And you just stumbled upon it?”

  He shrugged. “I was drawn to it. Ever have déjà vu, Rachel? Ever felt like a place was familiar when you’d never been there before, or recognized someone you’d never met?” He didn’t let me answer, but I knew exactly what he meant. “I followed Synchrony like a religion, and the more I came to understand about it, the more I remembered. I was there when we trapped Valkas, and so I could break the spell. I knew how to free him.”

  I gasped. “It was you eight years ago! You’re the reason he came back!” My hands curled tighter around the Artifact. As soon as he was done talking, he was dead.

  Matias smiled. “Yes.”

  “Why would you do that!?” I shouted. “Do you know how many people he’s killed?”

  Matias dropped his gaze. “Yes, and for that I am truly sorry.”

  I scoffed. “You’re a vampire. You have no empathy or remorse.”

  “I did,” Matias shot back at me. “I’ve done more for this world in my life than you could ever imagine. Do you have any idea how much money I’ve given to fight poverty? The homes and counseling I’ve sponsored to save women from domestic violence? The foundations I’ve set up to fight childhood hunger? Vampires are the least of your problems. People were destroying each other long before Valkas came along.”

  “What does any of this have to do with freeing Valkas?” I questioned.

  Matias’s voice returned to a normal level. “It was never my intention to let him live. I only freed him to free magic. With it, I knew I could heal the world. But I made a mistake. You see, I thought that breaking a spell only took a piece of what was used to create it. And so, I tracked down the dagger used in the spell to spill Valkas’s blood. I tried to kill him as soon as I freed him, but he only pulled the blade from his chest as if nothing had happened. That’s when I realized that to break the spell, you didn’t only need an object used to create it. You also needed the witch who cast it.”

  “So you freed Valkas, tried to kill him, but he changed you instead,” I guessed.

  “Yes,” Matias said. “Luckily for me, his bloodlust got the best of him, and he wasn’t thinking straight. I changed rather than died. I think Synchrony wanted it that way.”

  “Why? What’s your plan now? Take the Artifact and control the world?”

  “I wouldn’t say control. I will… improve.”

  The way he said it sure didn’t sound like it.

  “How?” I asked.

  “I don’t need to go into the specifics,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I will create a world with structure… with rules that will be followed without question. The world will finally be at peace.”

  “By taking away other people’s free will.” It wasn’t a question.

  “People don’t know how to handle free will!” he shouted. “Look what they’ve done with it! They rape, they murder, they steal. I will use the Artifact to purify the world. Nobody else is willing to step up and do what has to be done.”

  Matias had a point, but he was talking about playing God, about using the Artifact as a judgement tool. With control over magic, he could choose who lived and who died. He could control everything…

  It wouldn’t fix the world. Far from it. It would only give the illusion until someone broke through his chains and decided to fight back. And that sorry sucker was probably going to be me.

  That was why this Artifact needed to be destroyed. He wasn’t getting anywhere near it.

  I’d heard enough. If he wanted to get rid of the tainted hearts plaguing the world, his could be the first to go. I tapped into Synchrony through the Artifact, and I willed the magic keeping him alive to leave his body.

  It pulled against me, protesting against my power. I tried again, but it was like running into a wall. And that was when I realized that vampire magic was different. This magic fed into him, whereas witches and shifters pulled from Synchrony at will. I couldn’t use The Wise Owl to kill him.

  “What’s your plan with the vampires?” I asked, acting as if nothing was happening inside of me. “You’ll never get rid of evil as long as they’re around.”

  “You act like evil is a vampire trait, Rachel. It’s not. It is and always has been a human trait. It only became a mark of vampirism when Valkas’s own evil heart tainted the spell that created him. Anyway, that’s where you come in.”

  “What do you mean?” I kept my voice calm, but damn it all if I wasn’t burning for him to spill every last detail he knew.

  “I told you only the witch who created the vampire curse can break it. It wasn’t just luck that you stumbled into my office, Rachel.”

  I don’t stumble.

  “You still don’t get it, do you?” he asked, eyeing my expression. “What do you know of your past lives?”

  I hesitated. “Not much,” I answered, feeling uncomfortable, like he was fishing for information.

  “Oh, dear. It must be sad that I remember more about your past lives than you do. I recognized you the second I saw you, though it didn’t all click until later.” It sounded like he was telling the truth.

  “I know about my last life,” I said, refusing to give him so much satisfaction. “I know I was one of the witches who trapped Valkas with you.”

  “Of course,” Matias said, “but you were so much more than that. Like I said, you’ve been trying to clean up your mess ever since. First, as Abigail. You created the shif
ters to fight the vampires. Then as Lily Gregor. It was Lily’s idea—your idea—to gather us all together to trap Valkas. And now in this life, you fight and kill vampires, because you can’t handle the evil you created.”

  “The evil I created? You’re implying that I’m—”

  “Elizabeth Martin,” Matias cut in. “Precisely. You, Rachel, are the witch who created Valkas.”

  21

  My knees went weak, and my mouth felt like sandpaper. No way was I responsible for all of this. He was lying to me. That… or none of this was real. It was the labyrinth toying with me again. Yet, a part of me couldn’t help but believe him… like I’d already known it was true.

  Matias reached into his jacket. Though I went rigid, I was curious as to what he’d pull out. Damn this intriguing, mysterious man.

  “I need your help to make the world a better place,” Matias said. Which sounded nice, until you considered his plan for power. He produced a small white towel and began unfolding it. “Will you, Rachel, do the honors of killing Valkas and finally ridding the world of this curse?”

  It sounded like he was proposing to me or something. Sorry, buddy. I’m already taken.

  Matias finished unfolding the towel. Inside lay a silver dagger. I recognized it from the dream I’d had at Amalia’s. Which meant he was telling the truth. I’d already started remembering my life as Elizabeth. I’d dreamt of the night I’d used the exact same dagger to spill Valkas’s blood and perform the spell that would change our world forever.

  “I want you to have this, Rachel,” he said. “It’s the only way to kill him.”

  I didn’t move. There was too much that didn’t add up. Clearly, Matias wanted Valkas dead. Maybe it was out of revenge for changing him, or maybe he just wanted to rid the world of such evil. But it didn’t make any sense.

  “You talk a good talk,” I said, “but you can’t convince me that easily. What happens to you when I kill Valkas?”

  Matias only shrugged. “I suppose it breaks the spell. Once that magic is no longer keeping me alive, I would die—just as would all the other vampires.”

  It made the idea of killing Valkas just that much more appealing. Except…

  “You’re asking me to sign your death certificate,” I pointed out. “Why would you want that? What about your plan to cure the world?”

  “Vampirism may seem like a blessing. I could do so much with my immortality. But there are far more terrible things about it. The constant bloodlust. The emotional disconnect. Oh, don’t look so surprised. I’m very aware that I don’t feel empathy these days. And that’s a problem. There are human emotions I long to feel again… but just can’t no matter how hard I try. Vampirism is truly a curse. Once I’m free of the curse, my successor will take my place and carry out my plan.”

  He sounded so noble, but I wasn’t buying it. Maybe at one time he believed he could make the world a better place, but vampires just didn’t talk like that… they didn’t think like that. They didn’t have the empathy he spoke of. I’d run across enough vampires to know there weren’t exceptions to the rule. Which meant that whatever Matias’s true motivations were went far beyond what he was telling me. He only talked about emotions to manipulate me.

  “Come on, Rachel,” he encouraged. “Don’t you want to avenge your sister?”

  My heart stopped at the mention of Jenna. How the hell did he—? Unlimited resources. This guy probably hacked into my email accounts and everything.

  “Yes,” I said slowly… but I couldn’t let him go through with his plan. For a better world or not, no one deserved complete power.

  First things first, I was getting that dagger. If what he said about it was true—and my gut was saying it was—then I’d need it to get rid of Valkas once and for all.

  “I accept your job offer,” I said, standing straighter and speaking more confidently.

  “Excellent,” he replied with a smile.

  I stepped forward and held my hand out.

  Matias pulled it away. “Give me the Artifact first.”

  I hesitated. I had no intention of handing it over, but I also needed a weapon if I was going to make it out of here with the Artifact in hand. My options quickly rushed through my head as I contemplated my next move. Chances were Matias had the locket tucked under his shirt and would be able to predict every move I made before I made it. So how the hell was I going to trick him into letting me get away with the owl skull and the dagger? By now he surely knew I wasn’t going to let him have it. And if I handed it over and decided to stab him afterward, he’d know that was coming, too.

  And so I had to make a choice—one of the hardest decisions I’d ever been asked to make. Would I kill Valkas, effectively destroying the rest of the vampires, and allow another power to rise up—perhaps worse than the last? Or would I let the world continue to spiral down the shithole it was already sinking into? It was a choice between two evils, one I didn’t think I was fully prepared to make.

  But the answer was obvious to me. I already knew what option I’d choose before I realized I’d decided. This was Valkas we were talking about, the man who orchestrated murderers of thousands of people, who wreaked havoc across the country for years, and whose men stole my sister and probably served her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. They were the same men who murdered my parents. He deserved a fate far worse than death. I would trade anything for the chance to drive a dagger through his heart.

  My hand stretched out, as if on its own, to offer the Artifact to Matias. In return, he handed me the towel-wrapped dagger.

  As soon as the Owl left my hands and the pulse of magic disappeared with it, I realized what a horrible mistake I’d made. What if the world he created was worse than the one we were living in? I had no idea what someone could do if they knew how to leverage The Wise Owl’s power.

  He smiled. “Excellent. Now—”

  I dropped to the ground and swung my leg out at his ankles, catching him completely off guard. His legs whipped out from under him, and he went crashing to the ground. His head caught on one of the rock ledges. I was on top of him in less than a second, my dagger raised and aimed for his heart.

  His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. Holy crap! This guy was stronger than he looked.

  “I told you I run fair deals,” Matias said as he fought against my arm that pressed toward his chest. “You would make a terrible businesswoman, Rachel.”

  He threw his hips upward and spun me around until I was flat on my back. Before I knew it, he was on his feet. His foot pressed down on my chest so hard that I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for breath and tightened my hold on the blade.

  He leaned down, looming over me as shadows flickered across his face. “I’m not going to kill you, Rachel, so let’s stop with the theatrics. We made a fair trade. I’m going to walk out of here with the Artifact, and you’re going to go in the opposite direction with the blade. We both get what we want. Understand?”

  No way, dickhole!

  He wasn’t leaving with that artifact as long as I had something to say about it. Unlike him, I never claimed to run clean business deals. I did what was best, and right now, the chance to stop both Valkas and Matias looked pretty damn appealing.

  In one swift motion, I kicked my foot upward and sliced my blade across his ankle at the same time. My toes connected with the owl skull, sending it flying across the cave. It landed several feet away with a clatter. All within the same second, the weight on my chest lifted.

  I inhaled a deep breath as I sprang to my feet then dove for the Artifact. But before I could reach it, Matias’s fingers came out of nowhere and snatched it right out from under me.

  He took off running down the tunnel. Thinking fast, I grabbed my headlamp that had slid off when I shifted and sprinted behind him. My light bounced off his back as I chased him down the tunnel. The ankle wound had slowed him down, but not enough.

  Next time, slice deeper.

  Ahead of us, the tunnel split in two directio
ns. Matias took the left path just as a scream of terror ripped through the tunnel on the right.

  “Venn!” the female voice shouted.

  Sondra.

  The family was in trouble.

  I skidded to a halt in front of the passageways, hesitating. Did I go after Matias, or did I help my family?

  The choice was impossible to make.

  22

  My hand squeezed tighter around the blade as I glanced from one tunnel to the other.

  “Get off of him, you mother—” The sound of Ryland’s roar cut Teagan off.

  I didn’t have time to stand around contemplating my options. In a split-second decision, I rushed forward and sprinted down the tunnel to my right.

  When I broke out of the tunnel, I found myself back on the shore of the underground lake. A shining white orb—some sort of enchantment—hovered high above the lake close to the ceiling, so I could see the chaos in full force. Everything moved so fast that I could barely process it.

  Six of Matias’s men fought the family, and at least fifty mongrels were clawing at whomever they could get their hands on. Shifters, witches, vampires… it didn’t matter to them. They were on no one’s side.

  I recognized the witch who’d hit Venn with the curse fighting a dozen mongrels alongside the tiger shifter who’d been with him before. Four other vampires were present, two of them taking on Venn in his wolf form. Ryland’s jaw snapped at mongrels that were trying to bite him. Teagan sat on his back with Fiona still strapped securely in her pack. She aimed a knife at one of the closest vampires. It landed in his eye socket, sinking through the flesh and into his brain. He disappeared in a pile of ash. His clothes and the knife fell to the floor where he’d vanished.

  Five mongrels jumped Sondra at once, dragging her to the ground. She threw her elbow into one of their faces and kicked a knee up into one of their groins.

  I rushed toward Sondra since she looked like she needed the most help, but a half dozen mongrels scurried in front of my path. The first one bared its teeth at me and jumped forward, but I kicked that sucker straight out of the air like a soccer ball. He squeaked and went flying. The next one lunged forward with his teeth aimed at my ankles. The freaky little monster wasn’t getting anywhere near me. I ducked and sliced my dagger across his throat. He disappeared like the imprint of a ghost washed away with the wind.