"Is that how he keeps control over you?" I ask Sandra. "By threatening Alex if you don't help and promising you your husband back if you do?"
Again she looks away, and I know I've hit in on the nose. My self-congratulation doesn't last long as Levi's limited patience wears thin. "This is a charming family reunion, but I'm not getting any younger," he says with some irony.
He walks over to Alex, and when he's a few inches from her, he grabs her hand and forces it onto the two Star shards he carries on the chain around his waist. "Tell me where yours is and where I can find the fourth one."
Alex squeezes her eyes shut, and I can see the internal struggle as she tries to resist Levi's control, but it's no use. He's stronger than us all at this point.
"Don't tell him!"
Alex shakes her head, pressing her mouth shut.
"She doesn't have to tell me, I can see what she sees," Levi says, sending a chill down my spine.
Tears stream down Alex's face, and I fight against Levi's restraints trying to reach her. The harder I fight, the weaker I become. After a few more moments, Alex collapses to the ground, and I can't tell if she's conscious or not. Levi smiles, the gloat clear on his half-deformed face. He looks to Sandra, who is frozen in place, her face an emotionless mask. "Your daughter's gifts have grown beyond what you told me. It's incredible. We will take her with us. She will be very useful."
He looks at me. "You, not so much. I have no further need of you, once I have the third shard."
At that, he looks to the mahogany wood floors and touches the Star shards, concentrating his powers until a beam of white light emanates from his hands and begins to burn a hole through the floor all the way to the basement. "Get it," he tells Sandra, once the hole is complete.
Without a word, she jumps into the hole, landing in a crouch on the basement floor. It doesn't take her long to find Alex's shard and return with it, handing it meekly over to Levi.
Alex still isn't moving or waking up. I can sense her pulse, but it's faint.
Once Levi has all three, he grins wickedly. "This is our final farewell, brother."
His hand glows, and he's about to aim it at me when lightning crashes through the windows and a giant silver manticore blasts into the living room. Atop the beast is a woman I recognize, but am stunned to see here.
Alex stirs, opening her eyes and sitting up. She smiles when she sees the woman on the manticore. "You came."
"Of course. Sorry I'm late. Who are we beating up today?" Iris, formerly First Hunter and now the youngest Watcher on the Council of Hunters, says as she faces Levi. "You, I'm guessing, based on the hideous face and lackluster attempt at sinister costuming. Theo, you know what to do!"
Theo blasts my brother with lightning bolts from his eyes, hitting Levi in the chest. That should have been the end of him, but Levi screams and uses the power of the Star to protect himself and counterattack. The house around us shifts. The walls, ceiling and floor splinter as lightning and magic shoot everywhere, destroying the mansion while we're still in it.
"Come on kids, we've gotta get out of here," Iris says.
I help Alex up and onto Theo, mounting after her, and the manticore flies out of the living room window and into the night sky.
As we climb higher, Levi continues his attacks on us, singeing Theo's fur with blasts of magic.
"We need a door!" Iris says.
"What?" Alex asks, screaming to be heard.
"A door. Some kind of door."
We all look down, and I point to a row of houses. "Will one of those work?"
Iris nods and guides Theo down in a descent so fast I have to grip Alex to keep her from falling off.
We land with a heavy thud, and in an instant Theo shrinks to the size of a kitten and hops onto Iris' shoulder. She pulls an ancient key from a chain around her neck and sticks it into the front door keyhole of a stranger's house.
"Isn't this breaking and entering?" Alex asks, still wobbly on her feet from Levi's power over her.
"Just wait," Iris says with a wink.
When the door opens, we aren't in the expected stranger's house but rather we are in a familiar place to me.
"Oh my," Sly Devil says, seeing us appear in his study. "What kind of trouble have you brought me today, my dear niece?"
Iris shrugs. "This is my friend, the one I was telling you about," she says, gesturing to Alex, who is taking it all in. "And you know Dean, of course."
Sly winks. "Of course I know the Prince of Lust. I just didn't realize you three all knew each other."
Alex turns looking at us both. "I didn't either. How do you two know each other?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," I say. "How do you know Iris? I know her because she's on the Hunter's Council and is engaged to my nephew."
Alex's eyes widen and Iris smiles and holds out her hand to show off the ring. Alex screeches. "You're engaged! Why didn't you tell me?"
Iris shrugs. "We've both been so busy. I posted it on Facebook."
Alex rolls her eyes. "I'm not on Facebook. You know that." Then Alex pulls the Watcher into a hug. "Congratulations. What's he like?"
Iris grins. "Sexy. Stubborn. Kind. You'll meet him eventually. First, tell me, what the blazes is going on?"
Sly clears his throat. "Ladies? Can we get to the part where you explain why you are all here looking like something the cat dragged in?"
I step forward. "Sly, this is Dr. Alex Stone, the key to finding the final pieces of the Fallen Star of Nirandel. My brother, Levi, didn't die in the war as we thought, and now has three of the four pieces. We have to find the last one before he does, or he could very well usher in the apocalypse for all nine worlds."
"I see. Well, that is something then, isn't it?" Sly says.
Alex steps forward. "I think I know where the final piece is, which means so does Levi."
Alex Stone
"I had a vision," I explain, my mind still reeling from all the things. Iris and Dean know each other? She's marrying his nephew? Two presumed dead relatives now alive, and my mom is the villain? I can't even with any of this. So I focus on what I can in hopes that it will be enough.
"The last piece is in a secret tomb hidden underneath ancient ruins," I explain.
"Any idea where this tomb is?" Dean asks.
My face falls. "I don't know. I'd recognize it if I saw it again. It's very distinctive, and is next to a large fountain that still flows with water. I don't think it's on this world, though."
"How do you know that?" the man they call Sly asks.
"The ruins and the fountain were made of dragon bones, and dragons flew in the sky above," I say, still marveled by the vision of the mythical beasts taking flight.
"Nirandel," the three of them say together.
"We'll have to go there," Iris says.
Sly frowns. "That's not a stable place to be right now. The political conflicts between the Ashwraiths and Queen Sky's kingdom are still tense. There are rumors of an illegal slave trade between earth and Nirandel, and Queen Ilian of the Ashwraiths doesn't appear very interested in doing anything about it. You would be at grave risk traveling there."
Dean paces the room, frowning. "We have to risk it," he says. "If Levi saw what was in Alex's vision, he'll know what it means. He's probably already on his way there right now."
"Then there's no time to lose," I say. "But… any chance I can borrow of change of clothes, Iris?" I look down at Dean's too baggy pants and shirt and feel confident they'd be a liability if we have to fight or move quickly.
Iris nods. "Gotcha covered. Anything else?"
"Anyone have a spare ice ax or two?"
Iris laughs and grabs my arm. "I'll see what I can do." She looks to Sly and Dean. "We'll be back. Uncle, could you get word to Elias that I might be indisposed for a few days?"
Sly nods, frowning thoughtfully. "You sure you don't want me to send for him? He'd be a powerful ally in this fight."
Iris sighs. "I know, but he's got hi
s hands full with a realm to run. I don't want to distract him. We got this. With Theo all powered up as the Storm Spirit, I think we can handle what Levi throws at us."
As we leave, I press into Iris. "Spill the beans. You've been holding out on me."
She chuckles. "Too many of my secrets aren't mine alone to share. It's not that I didn't trust you."
"I can certainly relate to that," I say.
"Here's the Reader's Digest version. There a Council of Hunters tasked to oversee the paranormal world on earth. I'm a Watcher, which is a big deal. Elias, my fiancé, used to be my mark. Number One on the Most Wanted list. He was very proud of that," she says with an affectionate chuckle. "At any rate, we defeated a big baddie that turned out to be his sister, and my kitten—who's always been a manticore—is now the Storm Spirit of Avakiri, the Fae world on Inferna. So he's super powerful. I'm still a badass. My fiancé is still a hottie. We rescued his mother, who's Queen of Inferna and Midnight Star of Avakiri, but his dad, the king, is still missing. We're working on that. And my Uncle Sly, who raised me, runs The Black Lotus, which is where we are right now and is a paranormal safe space and hotel for all manner of creatures from the nine worlds."
She says this last part as we walk through the main hall and I marvel at everything around me. Creatures I don't recognize walk by us, nodding to Iris before going about their business. A large tank takes up one wall but is empty save for water. "What's in there? A sea monster?"
Iris grins. "No, usually Marasphyr, the mermaid. But she's preoccupied these days pretending to be queen of the mere-people in Avakiri. It's a long story."
"You've had… quite a life," I say, stunned. I thought I knew so much, but even my own world is bigger and full of more mysteries than I could have ever imagined. Not to mention eight other worlds!
"Indeed I have." We exit the Black Lotus and enter a field of flowers with a few llamas gently grazing. "Those are my babies," she says, pointing to them. "I'll introduce you once we're out of this crisis."
She takes me to a beautiful manor and into her bedroom, but turns to me first. "The woman at your house?"
I can tell she knows the truth, but is waiting for me to say it. "It was my mother. She didn't die as I had thought. She was turned."
Iris nods. "I'm really sorry. I recognized her from the pictures around your place. She's working with Levi?"
"It appears so."
Iris just shakes her head. "Families are complicated." Then she turns and rummages through a trunk of clothes, tossing me things as she finds them. I change quickly into leather pants and a leather halter. It's a bit confining, and not my normal style, but I feel pretty badass.
"The leather helps," she says. "It's not just to look cool. It acts as lightweight armor and is spelled to be even more protective than normal leather."
There are straps on the side of each leg for holding weapons, and she digs through another trunk full and pulls out two pick axes, handing them to me. I test their weight and sharpness and marvel at the intricate design on the handles. "These are gorgeous!"
She shrugs. "A gift from the Dwarves of the Meadowglades for saving them from a renegade giant. Not my style though. You can have them."
There's a whole story there, and I imagine a million other stories to be shared between the two of us. "When this is done, we need to get liquored up and spend a night catching up," I say.
She grins. "Deal. I have just the thing." The glint in her eyes makes me worry for the aftermath of that night, but hell, if I survive this, I'm okay with a little hangover.
"So," she says as we head back to Sly's office. "Tell me what's up with you and the Prince of Lust. I've never seen him so besotted before."
I sigh. "It's complicated."
Iris just laughs. "It's always complicated with the Vane men, I think. Just roll with it. He's a good man. Elias speaks highly of him, and you two… we'll, you're a perfect match aren't you?"
She's not wrong, which is why this is so hard. Falling for the kind that killed my father and turned my mother. Falling for a prince from another world. Falling for a man who will live forever, while I will age and die unless I want to be turned too.
Like I said. Complicated.
When we return, Dean raises an eyebrow and low whistles. "You should stock more of these outfits in your wardrobe, Dr. Stone. It suits you."
I grin. "Maybe I will. You know, if we survive this."
Iris rolls her eyes and her kitten meows with tiny ferocity. "You really need to have a better outlook. Don't manifest negativity. Believe in yourself."
I laugh. "I see you've been reading those self-help books I gave you."
"You should take a refresher course," she says. "There's some good shit in them."
Sly claps his hands together. "If you're going to Nirandel, be ready for anything. The dragons on Queen Sky's side should be safe enough, for dragons. But the Ashwraith's have been harvesting their own eggs and raising dragons as weapons of war. Be careful. You don't want to cross them."
"Super," Iris says. "Sounds fun. Shall we go?"
Sly nods and takes us through the hall and out a side entrance that leads to a spacious covered stone patio dotted with wild flowers, lush trees and featuring a large fountain in the center.
"I trust one of you has a location in mind?"
He looks to Dean first, but Dean shrugs. "I haven't been to Nirandel in ages."
Iris sighs. "It would be so much easier if we could travel there by mirror."
I raise an eyebrow and turn to my friend. "How can you travel by mirror?" I ask. "I thought only vampires could do that?"
Iris shrugs. "Another long story. Short of it is, I'm technically a vampire. One of the original vampires, actually. The Unseen Lord. Super badass. I just don't need blood like the lesser vampires do."
Dean huffs at that. "I'm older than you, remember that."
She laughs. "That might be sort of true, but not technically. Technically, I'm your great great great aunt or something. To be honest, I'm not sure how many greats there are since I was living in a tree for most of that time."
This conversation is so confusing. "Wouldn't that make you related to your fiancé?" I ask.
"That's a whole other story," Iris says. "Short version, no. Elias's father was turned, not born, into the Vane family. I'm technically Dean's dad's sister. I'll have to draw a family tree someday to show you. It's complicated."
"No shit," I say, my head spinning. "I'm really going to need more information about, like, everything, when all this is said and done." I shake my head, bemused by it all. "So if we can't travel by mirror, how do we get there?"
Sly leads us to the fountain and pulls out what looks like a few coins with ancient glyphs on them. "One to get there, one to get back. Don't lose it." He hands them to me.
"Um, why am I getting these?" I ask.
"You said there was a fountain as part of the ruins. You saw it, which means you are the only one who can hold the location in your mind and take everyone else there."
I stick one of the coins into my pocket and hold the other in my hand. "So, I just imagine it and… what? Jump in?"
Sly nods.
"Alrighty. Let's do this." Dean, Iris and I step up to the edge of the fountain, and I fold my fingers over the coin and picture my vision in my mind with as much detail as I can. Something tells me getting lost in a fountain portal wouldn't be the best way to end my day.
With a little nerves and a lot of faith I jump into the water. Dean follows, with Iris right behind him, but as the water opens into a vortex of light to suck us in, an explosion shakes the foundation of the fountain, and Iris falls back with a cry as a burst of magic pierces her chest, cutting a hole straight through where her heart should be. I scream and try to claw my way back to the surface, but we are too far gone. The portal doesn't give us up, and as we slide into another world, I see the half maimed face of Levi leering at me.
Alex Stone
The moment we arise from the foun
tain into the world of Nirandel, Dean grabs me and pushes me behind him as he pulls out his sword. As disoriented as I am, I follow suit and grab both of my axes, ready to face whatever I must, though I know in my gut our weapons are futile against Levi with the power of three Star shards.
Dean's brother stands opposite us, his skin glowing with magic, my mother by his side, eyes wide, fear on her face.
I push down the grief at seeing Iris killed. There's no way she could have survived that. But I can't mourn her right now. I have to stop this asshole first.
Levi is practically floating with the power of the Star shards. I can feel the magic pulsing, crawling over my skin and through my veins. Waves of nausea roll through my stomach as bile forms in my throat. This corruption of the Star's power is making me physically ill.
"I knew I could count on you to lead us to the Star, Dr. Stone," Levi says with a sneer. "Your help will no longer be needed."
With the dark power building in him, he reaches his arm out, extending it towards me. Dean tries to block the now black, smoke-like magic tearing across the fountain, and it hits him in the shoulder, slicing through skin and bone as it makes its way to me. My mother screams. "Don't! Don't hurt her. We might still need her to navigate the tomb. The Star won't be in an obvious place," she says.
Dean falls to his knees, his face pained, but he doesn't scream, even as blood pours from his wound. The smoke pauses just before it reaches me, and I can feel it seeking me out, curious.
Levi considers my mother's words and lowers his arm. "Why do we need her?" he asks. "You're an archeologist. You can find the Star for me."
She steels herself against his gaze. "Do you think I will help you if you kill my daughter?"
"Let him," I say. "Let him kill me. I will never help him."
I spit in Levi's direction, my axes at the ready, though completely useless.
He just laughs. "Like mother, like daughter." He points his hands towards Dean again, and the dark smoke coils around him. Dean screams, choking on the toxic magic, his body contorting in pain.
Vampire Girl 7: Fallen Star Page 7
