by D. N. Hoxa
“Sometimes, I like to go on these trips,” he said as he used one of his ancient keys to open the chest. Another loud groan from it as he pulled up the lid. I doubted anybody had been down there in decades, if not longer. The air inside seemed to come from another time, too. “On the occasional scavenger hunt for antiques. Anything at all that’s hard to find, really.”
“Frosty, we don’t have time for this.” Any other time after the war would be a great time for him to show me his collections. For now, we had better things to do.
“I know, I know. It’s not what you think. Here.” He took a step back and waved for me to look inside the chest. With a sigh, I did as he asked. In the chest, aside from really dirty looking blankets, there were three swords of some sort, though their blades were huge and really wide. They looked heavy to hold, too. On the other side, there were a lot of pieces of wood. Really white wood. If I had to compare them to anything, I’d say stakes, like those they use in those vampire movies. And then, there were a few knives, except their handles were made of iron, but their blades were made of wood. The same white wood.
“What the hell are these?” They didn’t look like any other weapons I’d ever seen. They looked heavy and very uncomfortable. Very hard to fight with.
“These are every vampire enemy’s dream,” Frosty said, a proud smile on his face. The face that just minutes ago was bruised and bloodied and cut in too many places to count. I flinched at the reminder.
“Not really my style,” I mumbled. I wasn’t even eager to inspect them from closer up.
“They should be.” He grabbed one of the stake-looking thingies. It fit in his palm perfectly, and he handled it like it was the most precious thing in the world and everything would be lost if it broke. “This is a stake made of Kindra-grå.” I raised a brow in question. “Kindra-grå? The legendary fairy trees?”
I rolled my eyes. “Why would I remember anything about fairy trees?” I’d learned about fairies and their realm, but there are some things that just weren’t important enough to remember.
“Okay, so in the last Great War between the Courts, the Kindra-grå fought alongside the Unseelie, and the Seelie wiped them off the face of their realm. They haven’t existed since then.”
Color me impressed. The Great War happened almost a thousand years ago.
“Pieces of it were stolen and brought back to earth by who knows what lunatic. Stakes and swords were made out of it.”
“Yeah. Swords of wood.” I still didn’t get it.
“Swords of Kindra-grå,” Frosty said with a grin. “The only thing in existence that kills a vampire faster than silver.” He brought his stake in front of my face, holding it gently with two fingers only. “A simple cut of the skin with a piece of this, and poof, we’re gone.”
And he said that with a huge smile on his face.
“Wait, why are you showing me this?” If these things were as dangerous as he claimed, it made no sense that he was showing them to me. Unless it was all bullshit and he was going to attack me any second now…
“Why didn’t you kill me?”
“Did you want me to?”
Frosty pressed his lips together before he spoke. “I expected you to.”
That was one of the things about being the good guy…okay, being not the bad guy. Bad things never needed explanation. They didn’t raise questions. It was why my life after Lyndor had been so much easier— for me.
“Because there are other vampires here who need you, in case they go and disappear into thin air.” And the world we were trying to stop Samayan from destroying could use more men like him. Frosty was a liar, yes, but he cared. It was hard to find supernaturals in our world who truly cared for others even before themselves.
“Well, then, I’m giving you these weapons because you’re going to need them,” he said with a smile. “The stakes can be used to stab vampires or even cut them. The Kindra-grå knives are basically knives that will turn vampire into ash in a second. And these babies…” He went for one of the weird looking swords and held it as far away from his face as his arm would go. “Enchanted metal. Hurts like hell, almost the same as silver, but they’re light as a feather and much better at cutting through flesh than your usual silver blade.”
I grabbed the sword from his hand, and Frosty was more than happy to give it to me. I almost shouted in surprise. Holy shit, the thing was light! As light as a feather! I could barely feel it in my arm. Stepping back from Frosty, I swung the sword left and right. I could hear the air hissing as it cut through it. The blade was extremely thin but extremely strong-looking, too. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to try it out.
“Where the hell did you get all of this?” I hadn’t even heard about things like this existing. It must have been hard to find them, let alone keep them without someone stealing the chest.
Frosty shrugged, the glow of pride shining in his dark eyes. “Here and there.”
“I do appreciate it, Frosty, but I can’t accept this. These are better off here in this weird, creepy basement where nobody even knows they exist.” A lot better off.
“Then get them back here as soon as you kick that vampire’s ass.”
“Are you sure about this?” These weapons had serious value. They would help us a lot—enough stakes in there to equip at least six people, but it didn’t feel right to take them.
“I am. Very sure. As a thank you, and I’m just lending them to you,” Frosty said. “And I really am sorry about your sister.”
Like every other time, just the reminder of what waited for me once we left the underground and went back to the real world made me shiver.
“Don’t be,” I said. “I’m going to find her, and I’m going to kill the demon who did this.”
“We are.”
For the first time in forever, I had made an ally I actually liked.
***
No sign of Aaron. I practically ran out of Frosty’s basement when I realized I had no phone reception down there. Still, even outside on the street where night had already fallen, my phone didn’t ring, and I received no missed call notifications.
Dialing Aaron’s number was useless. I wasn’t going to get an answer any time soon. I still tried. Much better than doing nothing. I just wished Ella had her phone with her, too. Kyle said he had it. She’d apparently left it behind. I wondered if she’d walked out of the Base on her own, just like Aaron had walked right inside my room. Was it really possible to be possessed from so far away?
The answer that made sense made my fingers curl up in fists. Almost anything was possible where there was blood involved. It was the essence of a being, and I’d provided it to Samayan and given him the chance to do as he pleased with my own sister.
A text to Marie asked her to tell Everett Hapsburg to give me a call ASAP. Not likely that he’d know much, but it was worth a shot. Any information at all could be helpful. But when my phone rang with a call from an unknown number, I have to admit I was impressed. I didn’t think Everett was going to be this fast.
“We’re not ready yet,” was his hello. I recognized his rough voice immediately.
“Oh, okay then. I’ll just tell your Master to postpone a fucking war, because Everett Hapsburg isn’t ready for it yet. Don’t you even worry about it.”
I’d seen his soldiers. Not ready was bullshit. They were trained and heavily armed, possibly one of the best armies out there, aside from Samayan’s. I wasn’t going to fall for the oldest trick in the book.
“Not funny,” he said in a tired breath. “I’ve had to make reforms. Not everybody is happy with recent changes.” Meaning he had people turning their back on him for switching sides. Good. That meant he hadn’t gone back on his word.
“Then make the damn reforms faster. What if I find him today? What are you going to tell me then?”
A second of silence. “Well, have you?” And there was the reason why he’d called so fast.
“No, I haven’t,” I said reluctantly. “But I need informat
ion.”
“Information?” Everett sounded genuinely surprised. “I’m not your friend or your ally, you filthy Elemental.”
For whatever reason, a grin spread on my face. Perhaps I just loved to be reminded how much my enemies hated me. And no matter that I’d forced Everett Hapsburg’s hand into helping us—he was not on our side.
“Good to know. A friend is of no use to me right now.” Bullshit, but I had a reputation to maintain. “One of ours seems to have switched sides.”
“Not surprising,” Everett mumbled.
“Aw, did you worry that you were the only one?” A sigh was Everett’s answer. “One of ours with a lot of power. A demon, and he’s kidnapped thirty vampires…” I was going to tell him about Ella, but I decided against it at the last second. Who knew how he’d think to use that information? He was a smart, powerful werewolf, after all. “Thirty vampires he can possess to do your Master’s dirty deeds.”
“Azazel?”
Well, would you look at that? I wished I’d called Everett earlier.
“Nothing’s confirmed yet, but as you can guess, that’s not good for either of us. What I need to know is if you heard anything at all about where those kidnapped vampires are being kept.” Chances were, that’s where Ella was. And if Azazel was there, too, reason said Aaron would be right by his side. I let go of a long, tired breath.
“Goddamn demon,” Everett hissed, right before a growl. Through the phone, he sounded less dangerous than he was “I’ve signed my own death by joining you.”
“You signed your own death when you joined Samayan. Stop being a pussy and think about what I asked you. Do you know where these vampires are being held? Because if I can find them, I can find—and kill—Azazel.”
Hopefully, before Samayan started anything. It was going to be hard to kill Azazel, especially since he was going to come back up to earth as soon as he healed in hell, but Samayan was worse. And I had to believe I could take him. Otherwise both my little sister and Aaron were as good as dead, and that was a big no-no in my book.
“I’ll see what I can find out.” The line went dead before I could even tell him to say hi to Marie.
“You’re quite the busy bee,” someone said from behind me.
When I turned to look, I saw Jack standing at the beginning of the alley. As good as it was to see a friendly face, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
“Hope you have been, too.” Jack was good at finding people, information, and delivering them accordingly. But him being there in front of me meant that he hadn’t found Aaron.
“I didn’t want to waste time with a phone call. He was long gone,” Jack said reluctantly.
“I figured.” If Azazel was controlling him, there was no way anyone could catch him escaping.
“You look like shit,” Jack said as he moved too fast for me to see, then appeared right in front of my face. He looked like…always. Perks of being a vampire, I guessed.
“How can you not feel her?” I asked.
The thought had been bugging me from the very beginning. Normally, when a vampire turns another, they become connected in a weird way nobody really understands. A sire is able to feel the sired, or at least know if they aren’t around. And Jack should have been able to feel it.
Jack flinched. “I never really connected to your sister the way I did to the few others I turned, which by the way are free. Too much responsibility.” He tried to make it sound like a joke, but it came off forced.
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged. “I’ve heard of vampires not connecting to theirs before. Don’t think it’s a biggie. I wouldn’t have been able to tell if she got taken from right behind me.” With his hands on his hips, he looked at the ground. “I’m sorry, Star.”
“Don’t be. We’re going to find her. We’re going to find both of them.” Sorry was not something we could afford right now. Anger was a much better fuel.
“I didn’t know about Aaron. I don’t think Aaron knew about it, either.” His brown eyes sparked with a new fire. “That son of the devil. Are you absolutely sure?”
“No.” I couldn’t be until I saw Azazel with my own eyes. “I want me to be wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t think so, either. Have you met with the Elders?”
“Not yet. I’m not sure what I’ll do if the demon faces me. I don’t think the Elders know.” Nobody had even suspected a thing about Azazel. Like a fool, I’d trusted none of them would betray us, even after I heard what Tytania had to say to Samayan in the Cathedral in New Mexico. Sometimes, I was such an ass, I could hardly believe it.
“I have some information,” Jack said. “But there a vampire behind the door I’m not sure should hear.”
He looked behind us at the blue door of building number one, just as it slowly slid open and Frosty showed himself. The look he gave Jack wasn’t a friendly one—far from it.
“Who’s this?” he hissed, not even looking at me. I rolled my eyes.
“A friend. Play nice, both of you. We’ve got shit to discuss.”
I headed towards the door. The outside made it a lot easier for people to hear what we said.
“Find us a room we can talk in,” I said to Frosty, and though he didn’t look like he liked to be told what to do, he nodded and led the way.
“Go ahead,” I said to Jack once Frosty locked the door to one of his extra isolated rooms.
“You sure?” He didn’t seem to trust my new vampire ally—and vice versa. You could tell by the way they looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes.
“Yes, I’m sure. Tell me.”
“The bond is real. Those nasty fairies never let anyone leave their realm without a guarantee from an elder ally of theirs,” Jack started. Frosty narrowed his brows in confusion, but I spoke before he could ask questions.
“How do you break it?”
The look on Jack’s face alone made me panic. “You can’t. At least not by killing the demon. He’d still have the same power when he decided to come back up.” A string of curse words escaped through my lips. “But I’ve got one more source I haven’t explored. He might know more than we do, so I’d say we wait for him to get back to me before freaking out.”
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Frosty finally spoke.
“The same demon that kidnapped your vampires turns out to be bonded to Aaron, and he’s being possessed, too.” God, the words were hard to say.
“Aaron the shifter I saw at your Base?” Frosty looked genuinely surprised. “Shit. This isn’t good. What are they going to do, possess everyone now?”
“They’re going to take everyone I care about in hopes to get me to…work for them.” To read Illyon for Samayan. Which would mean the end of the world without a doubt.
“So all of this is about you?” He sounded even more surprised.
“Star is just the means to the end. This is about conquering the world and having everyone at Samayan’s feet,” Jack said.
I did appreciate him trying to make this sound like it wasn’t my fault, but we both knew it was.
“Are you…” Frosty’s voice trailed off for a second, and he took a step closer to me, his eyes wide as they met mine. “Are you considering turning yourself in?”
And there it was. The question I’d been too afraid to ask myself.
“What the fuck is the matter with you?” Jack hissed.
I looked away from Frosty and watch my hands lie limply on my lap, as if they wouldn’t move even if I told them to. But Frosty was right to ask me that. I was right to ask me that. My Ella was going through God knew what, from Azazel, or Samayan, or both of them. And Aaron…Aaron couldn’t even control his own mind or body anymore. I could perfectly imagine the torture they were both in, and I wondered, when would Samayan stop? Who was he going to go after next, before all of this was over? Who was I going to be left with to fight against his army? Would it be my father? Jack? Arturo?
My eyes closed involuntarily, Samayan’s perfect face permanently inked on the inside of my lids. I had no more strength left to even hate him because everything had slowly turned into guilt. Maybe if I had delivered Illyon to Tytania and the rest of the Elders, this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe if I’d just for one fucking time done what I was told, I would be with both Ella and Aaron somewhere far away.
But, no. I didn’t. And as my eyes opened, I wanted nothing more than to face Samayan, right then, right now. And I did, just not the way I had in mind. Instead of in flesh and blood, the vampire appeared to me in the walls of glass and mirror that surrounded me as I floated around, unable to even stand. I could still hear Jack and Frosty arguing about something, but their voices seemed to come from too far away.
Samayan’s face on the wall looked even bigger than the last time he’d taken me on one of his illusion rides. I should have been smart when he smiled at me. I should’ve shut him down before he even had the chance to say a word. But I couldn’t. Not when he had Ella and Aaron. No matter what I felt or tried to convince myself of, he had the upper hand. So I stayed.
“It pains me to see you like this, my dear Raven,” was his opening line, and it was damn funny, too. It made me laugh for a second.
“You’re going to feel a lot more pain when you see me face to face, dear bloodsucking fucker.” My words seemed to amuse him, too.
“I wish you could believe how much I hate to see you suffer, but this little game we’re playing could easily come to an end.”
“I completely agree with you. This could all come to an end fairly quickly if you just stopped being a fucking coward and grow a pair of fucking balls. It would all be over if you stopped going in rounds and became man enough to tell me where you are and face me.” The smile dropped from his face. “Ooh, I’m so sorry. Did I hit a sore spot?”
