Ancient Tides: Division 14

by J. L. Weil

  His head lifted. “Dawn.”

  I wasn’t going to ask if he had slept, for I already knew the answer. He had watched over me. “She’s coming for me.”

  “She will, but you’re safe for now,” he assured me, standing and walking over to the bed.

  I grabbed his hand, and clung to his coolness. “She is done waiting. She wants the blood curse reversed tonight.” I was putting a lot into trusting Zavier, and if it wasn’t for this bond between us, I wasn’t sure I would have been able to go further into the vampire’s nest.

  A knock sounded.

  My body tensed as I stood up, and I glanced at Zavier one last time. He might not have been the man I thought he was, or the man I saw myself falling in love with, but faced with death, I was glad it was him. There were many regrets in my life, but I found that being Zavier’s mate was not one of them.

  Chapter 23

  Zavier hauled me against his chest, kissing me soundly. It was a kiss to remember, and that was exactly his intent.

  “Don’t make me tear this door down,” came a voice from the other side of the door.

  Zavier brushed his lips along my cheek. “Know that whatever happens, I love you, minx.” Then he strutted across the room, and whipped open the door. No surprise. It was Aeron.

  The vampire darkened the doorway, hatred etched onto his beautiful features. Or fury. It was hard to tell. There was very little similarity between the brothers. “Mummy calls,” Aeron announced.

  Zavier grimaced. “Give me five.”

  “Now!” Aeron demanded, fangs extending to their full limit. “You know how she hates to be kept waiting. Besides, if you haven’t gotten her in bed yet, then you might need to work on your game, bro.”

  Zavier’s expression hardened. “We’re not bros.”

  “Our DNA says otherwise,” Aeron was quick to point out.

  Zavier covertly stepped in front of me. “I don’t give a flying fuck about shared genetic makeup. Let’s get this over with so I can get back to my life.”

  “If she allows it.”

  The brothers stared at each other, each of equal height, but Aeron didn’t have the broad build Zavier did. He was lanky. “Just stay out of my way, and there won’t be any problems,” Zavier warned.

  “You think you have us fooled, but I can taste your desire to protect the witch. If you stand in Lilith’s way, you’ll both end up dead.”

  “We’ll see,” Zavier seethed, slipping a hand to the small of my back and ushering me through the door.

  A cold prickle brushed the back of my neck, but I didn’t dare glance over my shoulder. One moment of distraction could cost me my life if Aeron decided to chop off my head.

  I was led into a cavern similar to the one from yesterday. At least, I thought it had only been twenty-four hours, but it was impossible to tell. This chamber was different in that it had a witch’s touch. In the center of the room, a circle was carved into the ground, and the air was tinged with burning candle wax.

  Lilith stood in the center, looking bored and put out. Her hair was a perfect river of black flowing over her milky shoulders. Her lips twisted into a parody of a smile. “We have unfinished business. Now that you’ve had time to reflect on what is at stake, I assume you’re ready to give me what I want.”

  Zavier and Aeron flanked either side of me in case I got any funny ideas. “You know what they say about assuming?”

  Lilith didn’t have much of a sense a humor, and she was short on patience. “I’m going to reverse the blood spell with or without your submission,” she hissed.

  My spine stiffened. “Are you demented? There is no way I am performing that spell. Your little circle of witches is going to have to execute it without me.” I didn’t even know a spell that could do such a thing, but my guess was that Lilith had spent years researching how it could be done.

  “I’m pretty sure we already established my evil badges. You either do the spell or people die. Is that clear enough for you? And in case you need additional motivation, I’ll start the killing spree with your mate.” Her lips twisted. “This would be so much less bloody if you did the spell willingly, not that I am against a little spilled blood.”

  I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “You’d kill your own son?”

  “I’d like to see you try.” Rage deepened Zavier’s voice, his eyes flaring brilliant silver.

  I wanted to call her bluff, but looking at the vampire queen, I realized she would do it. She would kill her own son. “I can’t allow you to reverse the spell,” I gritted.

  “It is admirable the lengths you would go to protect your people. You can understand my desire to do the same. If we don’t reverse the curse, my kind will fall into extinction. Traditional methods of conceiving are failing, and we are left without any insurances. What would you do in my position?”

  Not kill my own son. “You chose to enslave witches. Force them against their will to bear children instead of coming to the council for a solution.”

  She threw back her head and laughed. “The council is a joke. You must see those old fools no nothing of the future. They are too stuck on the past.”

  There was no way I was going to give her what she wanted, but it didn’t hurt to play with the vampire a bit. Heck, I might even get lucky and get these shackles off. Then she really wouldn’t like me much. “If you want me to reverse the spell, you’re going to need to take these off me.” I jingled the chains at my feet. “I need my mojo.”

  Lilith’s chuckle was edged with bitterness. “I’m not a fool. All in good time.”

  I stepped forward, invading the vampire’s personal space. “You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

  Her eyes brightened, glowing in the dark space. “Who says I still won’t? Or would you rather suffer an eternity of endless torment? I can make that happen.”

  “From one crazy bitch to another, screw off,” I snapped, forcing my feet to stay planted.

  Lilith hissed, her elongated fangs proving she wasn’t someone to be trifled with. “You’ve sealed your fate and your mate’s.” She grabbed my chin between her fingers. “Tatiana, cast the spell while I give our little witch a taste of her future,” Lilith commanded as she increased the pressure of her grip.

  I refused to flinch.

  A slim figure emerged from the shadows, and I stared in fear and fascination. Such cloaking could only be magic. This was the witch who had been aiding Lilith. Her power was strong. I sensed it trembling in the air around her as she stepped into the circle etched into the rocky floor.

  Shit.

  “I did warn you the spell would commence regardless of your willingness. Tatiana will channel your powers, while I teach you a lesson.” She released my chin with a force that sent me stumbling, her focus on Zavier.

  “Sky, get out of here,” Zavier barked, claws and fangs extending as he went into vamp-mode.

  I gritted my teeth. He was insane if he thought I was going to leave him alone to fight both his delusion mother and psychotic brother, but to be any assistance, I needed my power.

  Turning, I planted myself squarely in front of the witch Tatiana. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  The witch’s almond-shaped eyes were huge, trembling with fright. “You don’t understand. I don’t have a choice.”

  I cursed the binds at my feet. “And neither do I. Remove these shackles. Now! I won’t ask a second time.”

  Behind me, I heard the ghastly sounds of claws tearing into flesh, followed by grunts of pain and bones snapping. I didn’t turn to watch the battle, but took strength from my certainty Zavier was still alive. How else could I feel the warden’s emotions?

  I had hoped intimidation would work on the frightened witch. No such luck. She shook her head, eyes darting all over the place. “I can’t. She’ll kill me. I’ve seen what she does to witches who disobey her. If you knew what was wise, you would do the spell.”

  “You mean what you’ve helped her do. She wouldn’
t have been able to locate all those witches without your power,” I not so nicely pointed out.

  “Don’t move,” she warned as I took a step closer.

  Maybe I could tackle her to the ground if I got close enough. “There’s no escape, no magic door, no fairy godmother. We need each other if either of us have a chance of surviving.”

  A short, almost hysterical laugh escaped Tatiana. “We both know there is no chance either of us are walking away from this. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that no one who enters her lair leaves alive.”

  A frightening thought, however true, but I was looking at the bigger picture, even if it meant my own life. “If you do this, you’ll be destroying Division Fourteen. Is that what you want?”

  “Not everyone will be destroyed.”

  She meant vampires. “You can’t be that stupid.” I didn’t have time to argue with the witch. “The way I see it, either way you die. Free me so we can at least give the Bay a chance to be saved, protect those we still love.”

  Her eyes dashed toward the fight behind me. Zavier was doing a bitchin’ job giving me time, but I knew I had only seconds left. The witch’s face paled, her gaze returning to me. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to siphon your power. It’s the only way.”

  The hell she was. I was desperate, which meant it was time for drastic measures. I bum-rushed her, taking us both to the ground, and lucky for me, I had the cushion of her body to soften my landing. Using my weight to keep her pinned to the floor, I rammed my forearm into her throat. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Undo the spell on these shackles or I’ll snap your neck.”

  Tatiana stared into my eyes, and there was so much weariness. “You’ve just issued both our death sentences.” She closed her eyes, whispering a chant.

  The shackles broke away, giving me more than my freedom. My power was back. It was sweeter than sex. Well, almost. “I guess we’ll find out.” I sprang to my feet, my only concern stopping Lilith.

  My gaze automatically landed on Zavier, who was cornered by his brother and another vampire. There was a bit of blood on his face, but at least he wasn’t dead. My eyes darted around the cavern, looking for the queen bitch. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I muttered.

  “Ding, dong, the witch is dead,” Lilith said in a patronizing tone.

  My spine stiffened, and I spun around. She was holding Tatiana by her hair. The witch’s body hung lifeless, her eyes vacant, blood dripping from her mouth. The stark reality of Tatiana’s final words rang through my head. I had issued her death warrant. A violent and powerful surge of power trembled through my veins. “You’ll pay for that, and all the other lives you stole. Too bad my mother hadn’t delivered you to hell instead of trying to save you.”

  Lilith dropped Tatiana to the ground as if her life had less meaning than a pesky fly. “And there it is. The reason why you’re exactly the witch I need. You aren’t your mother. I have no doubt you would have no qualm over killing me.”

  I squeezed my fingers into my palms as my stomach dropped for the witch I couldn’t protect. Maybe I was the fool. “My mother was a good person,” I said, anguish leaking into my words.

  The vampire halted, angling her head to one side. “And you’re not.” Her mocking gaze flicked over my face. “Ridiculous girl. I am not going to be thwarted by a witch.” Her attention shifted to Zavier. “Or the half-breed with my blood. You don’t believe I thought you were here for me?” she spat at Zavier.

  He had broken off from his fight, the body of one of Lilith’s vampire guards discarded in his wake. Standing on the other side of his mother, stake in his grasp, he spread his feet in a fighter stance, prepared for an attack.

  My anger jumped to fear. The vision I had earlier came back to haunt me. There might be worse things than death—my child in the hands of someone like her. I couldn’t let that happen. There was no future for any of us if I didn’t stop her here and now.

  “It was I who took her, and it was I who took you. Her daughter and my son.” She sneered. “What poetic justice. The power of her magic took what made us vampires, and you will give it back to us.”

  Over my scrawny bootie. “How many times do I have to tell you that is never going to happen?” I spat. Lightning snapped from the sky.

  Throwing back her raven head, she laughed, the sound of a seductress. “Everyone has a price. And I know yours.”

  My eyes frantically searched her for deceit. It was so hard for me to believe she would kill her own flesh and blood, but it was there in her eyes, hard as glass. The bitch didn’t have a heart.

  I raised my hand, intending to activate one of the runes on my body, but before I could touch the mark, a scream strangled my throat as I was slammed against the wall.

  Wildly, I tried to struggle against the grasp that held me pressed to the side of the cavern. Distantly, I was aware Zavier was rushing toward me, but he didn’t get far.

  Vampires surrounded him. I had to decide, but faced with Zavier’s blood on my hands, faced with losing the only man I had ever loved, I found I couldn’t let Lilith hurt him.

  Could I give up my revenge to save him?

  Lilith’s lips twisted in a smirk that shone with victory. “Shall we begin?”

  I stayed tightlipped, my mind whirling.

  As if I needed more incentive, Aeron stepped up to his brother, but the bastard kept his eyes on me. His fangs gleamed as the corners of his lips lifted. Extending his hand, Aeron flicked out a sharpened claw while three other vampires kept Zavier prisoned. “This won’t hurt much,” Aeron told him with immense pleasure.

  “Go to hell,” Zavier growled.

  “Where do you think I’ve been?” Aeron retorted. With a savagely quick swipe, he dragged his razor-sharp nail down the side of Zavier’s neck.

  At the first sight of his blood, the roaring fear rushed like a broken dam inside me, and I made a hasty choice. “Don’t!” I yelled. “I’ll give you what you want. I’ll reverse the curse. But only under the condition you let him go.”

  Victory lit the bitch queen’s face. “Finally, you’re making sense.”

  “Skylar,” Zavier rumbled.

  “What?” I snapped. “Do you expect me to let her kill you? I could still change my mind, you know.”

  “Don’t do this,” he warned.

  “This is your fault, you know. If you hadn’t made me fall in love with you, I wouldn’t care what happens to you.”

  Lilith’s laughter brushed over my skin with a biting chill. “At last, I shall have back what was taken from me.”

  “Oh, you’re definitely going to get what you deserve.” I couldn’t overpower the vampire even with all my training, but I could damn well make her regret hurting what was mine.

  I stumbled backward, my heart frozen in my chest. Victory was etched into Lilith’s beautiful face, but her beauty was all a lie. I knew what she looked like deep in her soul. She was filled with nothing but greed, hunger, and selfishness. She cared for no one but herself. Certainly not the Bay or the people who lived in it.

  Zavier deserved a mother who was a thousand times the vampire she was.

  She flashed in front of me, her lips brushing over mine, and they were cold, bitter cold. My heart began to beat hard and fast in my chest. “Did you sleep well, little witch? I had the most interesting dream—a child—a little girl with hair as dark as a raven and sparkling eyes like a thousand stars in a moonless sky.”

  “You bitch,” I seethed, my chin tilting up. “Stay the hell out of my head.”

  She smiled, the white of her fangs gleaming against the dreadful night. “I’ve been called by many names; however, magnificent has always been a personal favorite. I’m magnificent, and so will you be, once you give me what I want.”

  “I will paint the earth with your blood, Lilith.”

  “You can try, my dear, but first you will do the spell.”

  My heart was jackhammering in my chest, realizing she knew I would have a child, Zavier
’s child, and what she planned to do with the knowledge turned my blood to ice.

  Lilith shoved me to the ground in the center of the circle, my knees cracking against the stone. “Time is a ticking. How long do you think your lover has before he is drained of blood?”

  The eyes of the vampires surrounding Zavier had all gone dark at the sight of his blood dripping down his throat. “I’m sorry,” I mouthed.

  “Skylar!” Zavier hollered.

  “Summon your power,” Lilith demanded. “Channel your coven.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” I whispered, hoping Zavier would understand. He might not have the gift of sight, but he was going to have to trust me in this.

  My palms flattened over the stone, and I closed my eyes, concentrating on the pulse of magic at my core. Tears stung my eyes as I chanted the words that would bring darkness inside me. There were two types of power in this world—black and white—dark and good. Often, black magic was stronger, and although I’d never dabbled in the dark side, I was willing to battle in the filth if it meant I could defeat the vampire once and for all.

  The consequences would be dealt with later, for there was always a price for magic. I would gladly take the scars for the greater good, or so I reasoned for my desperate actions. It clawed and slashed inside me, the air flashing with a heaviness of pressure ready to unleash.

  This was the kind of magic Lilith demanded to remove the blood curse, but I’d rather send her to hell. As my lungs labored and my heart pounded, I ignored the warnings rumbling in my head.

  I was power now. Beyond anything I’d ever felt.

  Lilith grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head back. “What did you do?”

  “Let me show you.” A scream was wrenched from my throat as I used my power to slam Aeron against the wall. The blast knocked back the other guards, giving Zavier an opening.

  He didn’t hesitate, baring his fangs and pressing them to Aeron’s throat. Zavier thrust the stake into the other vampire’s chest. “Goodbye, brother.”