The Immortal Vow

by Juliana Haygert

  If she survived this pregnancy.

  I couldn’t complain, though. Bagatha had scared me, but I was expecting much worse. So far, I had just been too exhausted and too nauseous to do anything else other than sleeping and eating when my stomach allowed it.

  However, the other residents of this house didn’t stop. I knew they were searching for a way to save me so I wouldn’t die in childbirth. Often, they came back from a long outing, carrying loads of books. I once asked where they got the books. Nobody answered me, but from what I gathered, they had been raiding libraries all over the state.

  But most books were about legends and supernaturals, so I wasn’t really sure which libraries they were going to.

  I felt so useless beside them. I hated this feeling, that I was a burden they had to deal with. I hated just sitting here and waiting. I hated not being able to help other than reading the books with them.

  Last night, while they were all out doing whatever, I had an idea. Finally, something I could help with.

  An hour before sunrise, I drank one of Bagatha’s tonics to make sure I had enough energy for the argument that was sure to ensue, and called them all to meet with me in the living room.

  They had to push aside the books and scrolls—scrolls?—spread around the place, but finally we sat down to talk.

  “What is it?” Drake asked from my side.

  “I had an idea of something we could do to defeat Morda,” I said.

  He frowned. “Right now, I’m interested in finding a way to save you.”

  “I know and I appreciate that, but you have to know Morda is probably after us. And we aren’t that far from DuMoir Castle. She’s bound to find us sooner or later. We need to be prepared.” Drake shook his head. I took his hand in mine. “Please, just hear me out.”

  “Ignore him,” Luana said from the armchair across the coffee table. “Tell me.”

  “Hey,” Drake snarled. “You two already came up with a half-insane, half-suicidal plan a few weeks ago.”

  Luana rolled her eyes. “This time she’ll share it with all of us. If you want to stop us, you’ll be able to.”

  “Tell us,” Keeran said, serious.

  Drake growled at him, but Keeran didn’t even bat an eye.

  I held back a smile. “I want to contact the Witch Queen of the Blackmarsh and the Bluemoon covens.”

  “Didn’t you burn Queen Sarah a few months ago?” Drake asked. “If you come anywhere near her, she’s sure to kill you.”

  “If I send her a message explaining my intentions before we meet, I don’t think she’ll hurt me.”

  “And what is your intention?”

  “To get them to join us against Morda.”

  Drake gaped at me. “Why do you think they would do that?”

  “The three covens have been at war for years,” I said. “And now that Morda has allied with the werewolves, the Silverblood coven is stronger. Morda might have pushed them aside for now, but she will eventually turn her full attention and power to the Blackmarsh and the Bluemoon. I think it’s in their best interest if they join us for this war.”

  “What about the Wildthorn and Bonecrown?” Luana asked. “Bagatha mentioned they were part of her coven centuries ago.”

  “The Wildthorn and Bonecrown have moved farther away,” I explained. “And the last I heard about them was that they didn’t want to be involved with any of the other covens.”

  “Witches are crazy,” Luana muttered.

  I hated to agree with her.

  “More than crazy, witches are individual beings. No offense,” Keeran said. “It would be hard to convince them to join us for a war.”

  “We need to find an argument and convince them,” I insisted. “Because without an army, I don’t see how we can win.”

  “I don’t like this idea,” Thomas said. As usual, he had been hovering behind us. I almost forgot he was even there.

  “I agree with Thea,” Luana said.

  “Of course you do,” Drake snapped.

  The way those two bickered reminded me of siblings. Real siblings, not witches or vampires or werewolves, but human ones who bickered and teased and argued with each other, but still loved each other no matter what.

  We really looked like an impossible family.

  “But she’s right,” Luana argued. “The five of us, or three if we don’t count Thea and Thomas, against a castle full of witches and werewolves? Not to count the vampires roaming around the forest? We can’t win. We need an army.”

  I extended my arm toward Luana and stared at Drake. “Exactly.”

  “When you put it that way, I have to agree too,” Keeran said. “I still think it’ll be hard to convince them, but we should try.”

  Drake groaned. “I guess I’m the only who doesn’t like this idea.”

  “No, you’re not,” Thomas said. “I also don’t like it.”

  “You don’t count,” Luana said. I knew she didn’t mean it in a bad way, but the hurt was clear on Thomas’s face. “Not liking is one thing. You can not like it and still go with it. What is it, Drake?”

  Drake fixed his eyes on mine. I knew I had won before he even opened his mouth to say, “All right. We can contact them and talk to them.”

  I sighed in relief. “All right, I’ll prepare a spell to contact them.”

  Drake grabbed my wrist before I could get up. “You shouldn’t be doing a spell. Let Keeran do it.”

  I shook my head. “It doesn’t take much for this spell, but I need a few herbs to help me with it.”

  I was sure it didn’t make sense to him. Why not just snap my fingers and send a message to the witch queens? Because each spell worked differently. If it was that easy to contact others, a lot of things would have had different outcomes.

  I patted Drake’s leg before pushing up from the couch and walking upstairs to the guest bedroom that had become a workshop of sorts. Right after buying this house, Drake had stocked the room with all the herbs he knew and didn’t know, plus some other ingredients he had heard of in his long five hundred years.

  I entered the room and Drake followed me inside—I hadn’t even seen him coming behind me. He closed the door and stared at me.

  “What?” I asked, going to the long wooden table in the middle of the room.

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m worried.”

  “About?”

  “Us.”

  My brows curled down. “Why?”

  “We have been arguing too much lately.”

  “I don’t think it’s too much, and isn’t it normal for couples to argue sometimes?”

  He took a step closer then stopped himself. “I just feel like there’s something between us that wasn’t there before, and I want to fix it.”

  “I think the something between us is right here.” I touched my growing belly. The humor didn’t work as Drake continued staring at me with a hard gaze. I sighed. “I know what you mean, and I think the something between us is the fact that I want to help more and you won’t let me.”

  “You know why.”

  “I know, but whenever I’m feeling okay, I want to help.”

  “When you’re feeling okay, you should rest some more because you never know how long it’ll last.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment. “Drake, I finally found something I can do to help. Please, let’s not argue right now.”

  His hands wrapped around my shoulders. “I don’t want to argue. Not now, not ever. I’m sorry if I worry about you and the baby too much. I can’t help it.”

  I stared up at him. “I’m fine. Right now, at least.” I rose to my tiptoes and brushed his lips with me. “Relax a little. Smile. Kiss me.”

  A low growl ripped from his throat, and he leaned over me, taking my mouth with his. He pushed me back until my legs hit the table, and he caged me in, his strong body pressed against mine.

  His hold was firm but gentle, unlike his kiss—he devoured my lips, as if he hadn’t fed in over a month and needed my bl
ood right now. Unfortunately, I couldn’t give any right now, but there was something else I could give him.

  I slid my hands down his chest, over his stomach, to his pants.

  Drake broke the kiss and took a large step back. “I’m sorry,” he said, out of breath. “I know you haven’t been feeling well. I should have controlled myself.”

  He was right. I hadn’t been feeling well, and that was why we had to take advantage of when I was. And right now, I was feeling great and turned on by him.

  A small smile spread over my lips, and holding Drake’s gaze, I pulled my dress over my head and threw it to the floor.

  Drake’s jaw hit the floor as he stared at me.

  “Want to help me take off the rest?” I gestured to my bra and panties.

  “But—”

  “Drake, don’t think too much. Just make love to me. Right now.”

  One moment, he was staring at me, his eyes darkened, and a low growl rumbling from his chest. The next, he had his hand around my back and his shirtless body pressed to mine.

  I chuckled. “Gotta love that vampire speed.”

  He showed me a smile before capturing my mouth with his. He kissed me soft and deep, and despite my protests that I wanted more, he took his time pleasuring me. He made love to me just like that—soft and deep. Even if I could have lived for a thousand years, I was sure I could never get sick of him. By all that was sacred, I couldn’t get used to him either. The way he made me feel, it was like nothing else.

  And if I could be granted one wish, I would ask to have this with him forever.

  13

  Drake

  Thea ended up not working on the spell like she wanted. After we made love, she fell asleep almost instantly and I took her to our bed. I thought about joining her and holding her, even if I didn’t really feel like sleeping right now, but I felt restless. I had been feeling restless ever since Bagatha told us about the Immortal Vow and the pregnancy and what would happen to Thea.

  I think I had felt restless before that, because of the war and the chaos falling over our world, but this was different. Whenever it was about Thea, and now about our daughter, it was always different.

  Despite the fact that I was sure I had already read all the books we had brought to the house, I went downstairs to the dining room and skimmed some pages, just so I felt like I was doing something.

  After a few minutes, though, frustration erupted from my cells, and I threw the book across the room. It skidded down the hallway toward the kitchen. Keeran stepped around the island, picked up the book, and brought it to me.

  “I’m guessing it’s not going well?”

  I groaned. He knew it wasn’t going well. He and Luana and Thomas had been helping me. We had exhausted every avenue we could think of to learn more about the Immortal Vow and how to save Thea.

  Speaking of which … “Where’s Luana? And Thomas?”

  “Thomas said something about recharging his energy and disappeared, and Luana went out for a run.”

  Luana and her runs. At least twice a day, she went out to run. To stretch her legs and condition her muscles, she had said. It was one of those wolf things I didn’t understand.

  Closing my eyes, I buried my face in my hands. “I can’t … I don’t know what else to do.”

  “I think I know.”

  I snapped my head up, my eyes wide. “What do you mean?”

  “Last night, I remembered something. A spell I have seen some of the Silverblood witches do before.”

  “What spell?”

  “A summoning spell, but you don’t summon a specific person. When summoning, you ask a question, and then the spell will bring you whoever can answer it.”

  “And it works?”

  “Well, the person summoned can refuse to answer, but they always know the answer.”

  “So we could summon someone who can tell us more about the Immortal Vow?”

  Keeran dipped his chin. “Yes.”

  “Can you do it?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ve never tried anything like that before.”

  “A few weeks ago you didn’t know you could do a teleportation spell.”

  “Yeah, but I spent a week in bed after that.”

  “Wouldn’t you do that again? For Thea?” I was playing dirty, but I knew he had a soft spot for her. After all, she had been his first friend, the first person who had treated him like a human being, not a slave. And she had been the one who helped him escape. He owed her a lot.

  “I wouldn’t have said anything if I wouldn’t,” he said. I let out a long, relieved breath. “But I have to warn you. I’ve never done it before, and I’m not really sure it’ll be one hundred percent correct. Also, I remember the witches saying that we can summon anyone. I can summon a deadly fae, for example, and if that person is stronger than me, it could mean trouble.”

  “Are you telling me that because you want me to tell you not to do it? Because I won’t.”

  “No, I am just preparing you in case we need to fight whoever comes with the spell.”

  A growl rumbled in my chest. “I’ll be ready.”

  Together, Keeran and I moved the couch and the coffee table to one side of the living room, clearing up space. Next, Keeran drew a circle on the floor while I gathered some herbs and other things he said he would need for the spell.

  After drawing the circle, Keeran mixed the herbs, creating a thick brownish liquid. He sprinkled that over the lines forming the circle while chanting some words I didn’t understand.

  When that was done, he stepped back and glanced at me. “Ready?”

  Standing on the other side of the circle, I nodded.

  Red light shone from Keeran’s hands as he raised his arms in front of himself. He closed his eyes, focusing on whatever spell he was working on, and soon, red light gleamed from the lines forming the circle.

  “Ask your question,” Keeran said, his voice breaking from the strain.

  “How do I save a witch with the Immortal Vow from dying in childbirth?” My voice was loud and clear. I had put all my wish and intent into my words.

  Keeran grunted, as if the spell was hurting him.

  I started for him, but before I could give two steps, a form moved in the center of the circle. It started as a black shadow the size of a golf ball. Gritting his teeth, Keeran opened his arms to the side, and the black shadow grew with the movement. Soon, it took a human form.

  “Drake?” the shadow whispered, its voice eerie.

  But even then, I knew that voice.

  A chill ran down my spine. I watched as the form gained color and sharpness, not believing my eyes.

  A tall man with blond hair and regal clothes stood in the middle of the circle.

  “Lord Reynard,” I said, my voice a thin shrill.

  “Hello, Drake.” Even though he glanced around as if scouting the place, he looked at ease. “Where are we?”

  “M-my house,” I answered.

  “And who are you?” he asked Keeran. But Keeran didn’t answer. He was too focused and strained on keeping this spell up.

  “His name is Keeran.”

  “He’s a warlock.”

  “Yes.”

  Lord Reynard frowned. “I thought the witches didn’t allow males to grow up.”

  “They don’t. Keeran only found out about his powers two months ago.”

  Lord Reynard’s shifted his gaze to me. “Why aren’t you at DuMoir Castle?”

  I shook my head. “As much as I would love to tell you all that has happened these past couple of months, and ask you for your advice in everything going on, I don’t have time for that.”

  Lord Reynard crossed his arms. “Then why did you summon me?”

  “I found out I share a bond with a witch,” I said simply. “The Immortal Vow. Do you know anything about that?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve heard about it before, but I don’t know any details. Why?”

  I sighed. “Because she’s pregnant with my child
and she’ll die. I need to find a way to save her.”

  “I’m sorry, Drake. I really don’t know anything useful about the Immortal Vow.”

  My dead heart shriveled and my shoulders sagged. “Although I’m glad to see you, Lord Reynard, we were trying to summon someone who could help me save Thea.”

  He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Perhaps I can still help you, but not with that specific answer.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tell me, Drake, why are you hiding here when you’re supposed to take my place and be the leader of DuMoir Castle?”

  “What?”

  “Some of Sarki’s visions are simple, but some of them are intricate and specific,” he told me. “A long time ago, she had one of those visions and it was clear: I would die and there would be a terrible war among not only our coven, but all supernaturals on this continent. And the only way to bring peace back between all species was if you became the leader. Not only leader of DuMoir Castle, but leader of all vampires.”

  I gaped at him. “We’re at war now.”

  “I imagined.” Lord Reynard let out a long breath. “And you’re hiding.”

  “I don’t have much of a choice right now.”

  “But you intend to fight and reclaim DuMoir Castle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I have something that can help you.”

  My breath caught. “What?”

  He touched his chest. “Remember the silver cross I wore around my neck?”

  “Yes,” I growled. “When I last saw it, Alex was wearing it.”

  “Find it. Retrieve it,” he said. I frowned. “Inside the cross is a red stone. It’s called the Blood Amulet, and it carries immense power. If you can find it, if you wear it, and if the amulet accepts you, no vampire will be able to stand up against you. You’ll be too powerful, and you’ll be able to take control of the throne.”

  I was guessing Alex was wearing the necklace when I killed him, which meant the Blood Amulet was still on his body, under the ruble of DuMoir Castle.