Lost Heir

by brett hicks

I nodded in confirmation.

  “Yes, I’ll have my sylphs, daemons, and nixies get in touch with your people. They will follow orders; just try not to take my nixies too personally if they piss you off. They are all mischievous little shits. I also have more than a few pukas with raven forms. I assume you will want them too?”

  He nodded in confirmation.

  “This is all hands on deck, as they say.”

  “I’ll have Patty take command of the ground in our absence Thea and I assume the dark rangers will be here to assist her?”

  Vivian shrugged and said, “I was going to invite myself on this expedition to the Lost City of Atlantis, but the others will be here and they will obey Patty. Besides, you don’t really need to command the shadows, they seek out prey and they dispatch them.”

  I nodded in agreement and I heard another voice I had not expected.

  “I’m coming with you Thea, don’t try to stop me.”

  I looked and saw a very determined Skylar and I sighed and began to protest, but Seri placed a hand over my right hand and she shook her head.

  ‘He needs this babe. I can feel his need to be useful and his need to punch something too. Skylar is extremely restless right now.’

  She spoke telepathically to me and I sighed and nodded. I turned the full brunt of my intensity on Skylar now.

  “You will stick to my side like glue and you will obey every command you’re given. This is not a vacation destination, it’s an ancient city made by a lost species.”

  “That is your version of a vacation lassie.”

  Liam playfully added, he had stayed surprisingly silent up until now.

  “Well, I guess we need to see a witch about some spells, then we’re ready to go.”

  We were going to need Ariel if we had any chance of creeping through a potentially hazardous city as old as Atlantis.

  “

  Six:

  Ariel was waiting for us with three massive packs filled with ingredients. Considering her exceptionally small stature of five-nothing, Ariel looked a bit ridiculous carrying three massive leather packs.

  Her typical sundress apparel was traded in for a dark hunter-green camouflage outfit. Her brown-blonde mixed hair was pulled tightly in a bun and her crystal-blue eyes are hardened with an edge of resolve.

  She was something very rare, some might say rarer than being the product of two Old-Bloods. Ariel was an arcane witch that made her a direct descendant of Hecate. Most witches on earth gained their powers through daemons blood or bartering themselves for power. The Bishop line could be traced back to the origin of the Old-Blood who was once known as the Goddess of witchcraft. While she was much farther removed from the source of her power than I was, Ariel was the most powerful witch in America that we knew.

  While she did not look like much— the same could be said of me—she packed a massive punch.

  “Princesses, Skylar, it sounds like we have an interesting problem on our hands.”

  She said in her business-as-usual tone. Ariel was what you would expect to find in a boardroom. She was a shark and she was a shrewd young businesswoman. Skylar smiled at her and she looked at him with barely veiled concern.

  “How are you feeling Skylar? I heard about what happened.”

  Skylar shrugged and gave her his brightest smile.

  “I’ll live, or so I’m told.”

  Her lips twitched and she nodded in agreement.

  “Yes, you will, for a very long time.”

  I cleared my throat and nodded to the back seat.

  “Are you riding with us? If so, we can load your bags up in the back of the SUV, you can sit with Skylar.”

  Ariel bobbed her head in confirmation.

  “Yep, I figured I would just keep my hands free, in case I need them for spell-casting. We’re really going to infiltrate the Boston domain?”

  She sounded excited, almost gleeful at the potential. I nodded once in confirmation and said, “Yes, but it’s going to be a short trip since Seri knows a shortcut.”

  Ariel’s brows lifted and she trots around to the back to load up her bags. Skylar climbed out to help her and I heard them speaking to each other in hushed tones. Ariel had taken a liking to my newly minted Dhampire fledgling from the very first moment they met. Skylar had unquestionably been attracted to the young witch as well. Under normal circumstances, I would say their behavior was cute. Almost like watching a pair of high school students dancing around their sexual chemistry.

  As it stood, we just did not have the time to watch as nature took its course with those two. Thought I was sure that Ariel was already plotting on getting my Dhampire alone. She struck me as a woman who pursued anything and everyone she wanted. Skylar might be a sweetie, but he was very assertive with his desire for the young arcane witch. As I said, high school kids, except these two knew what they wanted.

  They each came around and took opposite seats. Ariel was asking Skylar about his cravings and Skylar seemed to be doing everything in his power to pretend like her witch-blood was not the most appetizing thing he had smelt all day. I know from personal experience that arcane witches are in fact delectable to all vampiric creatures of the night.

  “So, what is this shortcut that you know of Seraphina?”

  Ariel asked in a light inquisitive tone. Seri’s lips twitched up as she hit the gas on the SUV.

  “We’re going to crash through a hollowing that connects Redhook to the outer Boston city limits. It’s been sealed for about a hundred years, so we are going to test Thea’s ward-breaking abilities on this hollowing before we try to implement it on something more dangerous in hostile territory.”

  “Are you referring to the Hell-Born Hollows?! That place is filled with daemons and not the sexy kind!”

  Seri snorted and she smirked wickedly.

  “I think we can make the trip. I’ve navigated the place before and I’m still around. Back then all we had was horses which were easily spooked.”

  “Yeah, but that damn road is going to be hell for a car. Last I checked, that place has been sealed off since before the concept of a modern road. If we get in, there is no guarantee we will make it through, much less with this SUV intact.”

  Ariel sounded worried and that did not bode well for our chances. Riel had not been spooked by anything since I had met her recently. She faced down a revenant serial killer with me and a horde of zombies without blinking twice. For her to be this worried told me that Seri was downplaying the danger this place presented.

  “Hun, are you sure we can’t just drive to Boston? I mean, it’s not that far from New York City. I would know, it’s my old stomping grounds after all.”

  Seri flicked her gaze to me and shook her head.

  “No, we need to get the hell to Atlantis or risk losing access. Besides, we need to make sure that if the city emerges from the depths, that it does not take an entire human city with it.”

  Ariel hummed in agreement and Skylar was quiet and seemed to be listening with rapt attention.

  “What I’d like to know is where that hulking, freakin’ giant ran off to.”

  Skylar said and I looked back and gave him a half-shrug.

  “Hell if I know, just that he would meet us there and he was off to ‘prepare’ whatever that means.”

  Skylar frowned and huffed.

  “Are you sure we can trust him, Thea? I mean, the guy’s story is cool and all, but it is full of holes.”

  I snorted derisively and gave another lazy shrug.

  “Who the hell knows? He is the unreason we know what is going on with this lost city business. I mean think about it for a moment. If this lost city is as powerful and technologically and magically advanced as he claims, why tell me? If he was not on my side, or at least a neutral party, why bother sharing such valuable information?”

  Seri hummed in agreement.

  “I don’t know a lot about the rumored lost city of the Old-Bloods, but I do remember how many inhumans obsessed and wasted their liv
es away in pursuit of the location.”

  I frowned and I looked at Seri quizzically.

  “How is it that no one recognized the difference between my abilities and a normal Necrovamp?”

  Seri gave a small shrug as she jerked the wheel and took a turn hard.

  “Because it’s been that long since anyone has witnessed an Old-Blood. Most wouldn’t know the difference, myself included. I am your kin and yet I could not note anything that really set you apart from any born necromancer, besides you turning Skylar into a Dhampire.”

  “There is also her sword, I have seen her manifest the blade several times. I should have noticed that the blade was alchemy. You transmuted your katana and broke it down into purified base elements. Now when it is made manifest as an extension of your limbs, the blade cuts through just about anything magical or physical. Remember how it obliterated the limbs of the revenant killer? That was not something any Necrovamp should have been capable of achieving. The evidence was right in front of us the entire time.”

  Ariel put in and she seemed truly bothered that my “otherness” had eluded her otherwise perceptive eyes. By most standards, an arcane witch was one of the pentacles of magic.

  “I still don’t know what I did with my katana Ariel. I just acted on instinct when I was fighting the former winter forces.”

  Ariel nodded and she huffed.

  “If only everyone could manifest such potent powers, just because they are in a pinch.”

  I frowned into the rearview mirror.

  “You can’t possibly be jealous Ariel; you’re a demigoddess by all accounts. The powers of Hecate fully manifest in you.”

  Ariel snorted and rolled her eyes at me.

  “Please, you are a full-blooded Old-Blood! That kind of power is what many have exhausted themselves and many lives to try to obtain.”

  I snorted at her and I rolled my eyes and fired back, “Right, because every girl wants to be the most wanted being in existence. Think hard about that for a moment and then tell me you would want to be on the radar of every single power-player on this planet. You do realize what kind of shit-show awaits me, assuming we prevent this apocalypse scenario.”

  Ariel’s eyes widened slightly and she expelled a long breath.

  “Yeah, good point there, I didn’t even stop to think of what he would do. Shit, you’re screwed either way after this!”

  I narrowed my eyes and blandly fired back, “Thanks, thanks a lot for the vote of confidence.”

  Ariel looked somber and she gave me a weak smile.

  “You are strong Thea, but he has destroyed an entire species in his pursuit of power.”

  I felt fresh chills roll down my spine and I nodded and gave Ariel a grim look.

  “There’s no un-ringing a bell, so I’ll just have to wing it. Logically speaking, I should have died several times over by now, but I have managed to wiggle my way through the narrow and deadly roads of inhuman life.”

  Skylar looked between us and raised his hand like we were sitting in a lecture hall.

  “Excuse me, but who the hell is ‘he’ and why does everyone else seem convinced said ‘he’ is going to destroy Thea?!”

  Seri bitterly grumbled out, “He is my father, the Earth King. The first vampire and the one who killed Thea’s parents if I have all our information correct.”

  I felt a surge of something almost alien to me, familial rage. I felt like I could burn worlds down and destroy countless lives in my pursuit of retribution. I took in a deep breath and I expelled raggedly. Seri eyed me curiously and seemed to understand the bitter and violent surge of my emotions. She placed a comforting hand over mine.

  “It’s ok honey, we’ll figure this all out and we will not let them have died for nothing.”

  I nodded and I looked out the window with my morbid thoughts closed off to the rest of the occupants of the SUV. One day I would have to come face-to-face with Seri’s father and only one of us would leave alive—likely not me.

  While I could possibly learn to live and let live, he would never leave me be now that I was going to be splashed across his radar, not with what Atlas claimed my abilities could possibly do. One day, there would come a time where I will struggle to the death and either inherit the throne I was born to ascend to, or I would die in near obscurity.

  Seven:

  We arrived at a small hidden park in the otherwise warehouse laden area of Redhook.

  “Is this a Hollowing inside another Hollowing?! How the hell is that possible?!”

  I exclaimed as I walked up to the massive bolder sealing off a cavern entrance. The bolder had an ancient thick rope and many paper talisman bindings, like ancient Japanese Shinto sealing arts. Humans assume that these primitive methods of sealing are just ancient folklore, but Shinto priests actually hold a lot of white-magic power if properly trained.

  I wasn’t at all surprised when Ariel took one look at the hundred-year-old seals and began to snap them. She tore through the binding spells like they were nothing but metaphysical paper.

  “You know, we could speed this along by having Thea pull out her sword and burn through the bindings. Her sword seems to be in a constant state of disassembly.”

  I frowned and pointed at the smaller girl and narrowed my gaze.

  “You totally just ignored my question!”

  Ariel shrugged and didn’t look the least bit sorry for her lack of manners.

  “I was not aware that you asked such stupid questions and expect answers to them when the answer is glaringly obvious Thea. Yes, this is a hollowing and yes it connects into a deeper hollowing. The Hell-Born Hollows is said to be the closest layer of reality to Dis as one can get from the mortal realm, besides the known breaches in reality.”

  Ariel sassed at me and I suddenly remembered our first encounter when I had screwed up big time on witch PR. Ariel has a very sharp tongue and is not afraid to use it either.

  “Ok, geeze, so sorry to ask! It’s not like this world of magic is still new to me or anything, nope.”

  I sassed back at her and she gave me a look of annoyance that managed to still look somewhat sympathetic at the same time.

  Skylar wedged himself between us and shot her a winning smile.

  “As much as I do enjoy a good cat fight, how about we chill ok?”

  Ariel muttered something indecipherable under her breath and sniffed in mild indignation at his mention of catfights.

  “Yes, at least allow us to erect a proper mud pit for you ladies to sort out your differences.”

  Liam said as he came to a stop and leaned on my back like an armrest. I couldn’t see his expression, but I was sure it was that weird mix of smug and amused that seemed to be his default setting.

  “I can’t take him anywhere, I swear!”

  Bix said as she struts over and her silver-blonde hair cascaded around her like rippling moon-lit waves. Liam ruffled my hair like a toddler and I flung his hand off me.

  “Go bother your woman, not me!”

  Bix looked stoic, minus the little glint of humor lighting her bright eyes. Skylar looked at me and muttered, “You know, I thought there would be more mystique, but this just reminds me of high school.”

  I snorted and nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah, all except we don’t seem to have any bleachers to make-out behind. Shit, I am totally going to get bleachers!”

  Seri paced over to me and she hitched her thumb at the bolder still smothered in paper sealing charms.

  “Do you mind, you can just burn through all those enchantments.”

  I smiled and I resisted the urge to sass at her. Seri looked like she was on the verge of an ulcer. Not that I could really blame her! We were potentially facing apocalyptic levels of ancient magical power and a deranged necro-witch.

  “Sure baby, just sit back and look pretty for me and I’ll be back for you momentarily.”

  I elbowed Liam and then I strut forward and pulled my hot redheaded vampire into a passionate kiss. Her lips
were still peppery from feeding and her body was rigid with her nerves. I felt her soft contours melt against my body in increments as I probed her mouth with my tongue and I ran my hand through her hair. I stroked down her back possessively and affectionately with the other. I could feel her body heating to my touch and I was suddenly regretting that I would have to fight for my life and not take her to bed.

  She breathed roughly against my lips and I pressed my forehead to hers.

  “You taste really good.”

  I said it roughly; my voice seemed to have become deeper with my needs. If only the world would slow down and give me more time to properly explore my budding relationship with this gorgeous vampire.

  Seri’s eyes were dark with needs and she seemed to be thinking something very similar to myself.

  “Later, I promise.”

  I murmured against her lips as I stole one final lingering kiss. I could never grow bored of those perfectly angel-soft lips of hers. She was my kin, the one being in all of this or any other realm that fit perfectly to me and my needs. I still didn’t really seem to grasp the full scope of what our connection meant. I knew that without Seri, I would have died in an ally, the victim of random winter fairy violence against her former kingdom and Seri herself would now be chained to a bed in Dean Sylvester’s possession.

  “We will continue this line of thought later my love.”

  She breathed against my lips.

  “Not that I don’t enjoy watching a pair of gorgeous girls snogging, but I do believe we have places to be and daemons to scare.”

  Liam said and I frowned at him and I pointed in warning at him.

  “Why don’t you make yourself useful? Or do you really believe your job in this group is to be the Scottish-accented peanut gallery?”

  Liam waved me off and said, “Oh, I have many a role in this group and many a talent. Is isn’t that right luv?”

  Liam smirked at Bix, who was shooting daggers at him with her eyes. She’s either going to screw him or kill him, but I could never tell which of the two she was leaning towards at any given moment.

  “I leave you people for like thirty minutes and you’re in full anarchy!”