Of Blood & Magic: Blood Descent Book 1

by T. L. McDonald

  “Yes,” I hear myself say even though I don’t really mean it. I don’t really want to be left alone, nor do I want to drink, but it’s like I must, anyway.

  “Here, drink this. It’s a house specialty.” Vik, hands me a drink I didn’t notice him holding before. Instead of questioning where it came from I take it. “That’s a good girl. Have a sip.” Satisfied I’m not going anywhere, he takes hold of Seth’s upper arm. He smiles back at me, his pale eyes appearing to glow like I imagined Seth’s did earlier, or that dude’s on the steps. I seriously need to make an appointment with my optometrist. Turning from me, Vik maneuvers Seth several feet away, leaving me alone with my drink.

  The red liquid sloshes inside the glass around a stalk of celery. Vik’s voice whispers in my mind to take a sip. I lift it up to my mouth, the contents barely brushing over my lips when someone bumps into me from behind. I stumble forward, some of my drink spilling onto my shoe.

  Dang it. I love these shoes and now they will probably be ruined.

  I take another look at the drink in my hand. What am I doing? I don’t even drink. I’m about to sit it down when I see Vik push Seth up against the wall. He shoves his forearm down across Seth’s collarbone, holding him in place. Seth doesn’t even try to fight back. He just stands there, arms slack at his sides while Vik gets in his face. Vik leans back just enough for Seth to nod his head before he jerks his arm away and lets him go.

  Seth strides back toward me, jaw clenched, fists balled at his sides. He rips the glass from my hand, setting it down on the nearest table. “Don’t drink that.” Taking my hand, he pulls me back toward the stairs. “We should go.”

  I dig my heels in, forcing Seth to stop. “I can’t leave without Liv.”

  “You can call her when we get outside.”

  “We’re already here. Let’s just find her.”

  He takes a deep breath, the muscles of his jaw working as he grinds his teeth. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t try to help you.” Jerking me back the other way, his hand tightens around mine, sending aches of pain up my arm. I try to pull away, but that just makes him crush my fingers even more. What the hell is this dude’s problem?

  Shoving his way through a group of people, he leads me down a black-lit hallway, the violet light making the paintings on the wall take on a fluorescent glow. If I weren’t freaking out at the moment, I’d think it was kind of cool. He drags me past three closed doors and comes to a stop in front of a fourth. “This is where you’ll find her.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I do.” He glares down at me, the look in his eyes both menacing and pleading. “Just know once we go through this door, I can’t stop what will happen. Are you sure you want to go in? I can still take you outside if we go now.” His voice holds more than a warning, it speaks of a promise of something bad to come. His gaze holds me in place, the beats of my heart thumping faster and faster with each passing second. Every cell in my body screams for me to listen, to run away as fast as I can and never look back, but I can’t. I can’t leave Liv behind, no matter what’s behind the door. His gaze falls to the floor, his head moving side to side. “You were warned.”

  I reach for the doorknob, the touch of metal cool against my hand. The door creaks open, the sound somehow louder than the pounding beats of the music flowing through every nook and cranny of the club. My heart slams against my ribs, my breaths shallow and fast. A cold sweat prickles along my hairline at the back of my neck, the tiny hairs standing on end. My stomach rolls and flips, threatening to bring up the small sip of drink I took.

  I step inside, Seth right behind me. The room is small and cramped with the allure of being intimate. Immersed in more black lights, everything takes on a strange glow. The door clicks shut behind me as I make my way to the sofa behind a wooden table, my gaze fixed on the two bodies spread over the cushions. At first I think they’re making out, but the closer I get the more I’m not so sure.

  Liv’s arm hangs over the edge, her fingers grazing the floor. Her eyes are half open, her mouth drawn in a smile as though she’s really enjoying what’s happening. A thin stream of blood runs over the front of her exposed neck, beneath Ben’s mouth. He’s not kissing her.

  He’s biting her.

  The sound of the lock clicking into place echoes throughout the room, my mind going back to the warning Seth gave me. My feet become anchored to the ground, my whole body stone still. Even my heart stops for a moment, too afraid to beat.

  “I’m sorry,” Seth whispers behind me.

  Forcing my body to turn takes every bit of willpower I have. Everything, including me, moves in slow motion. With each small movement my senses heighten, the sounds becoming too loud, the glowing colors under the black light too bright, my breathing too fast. The world sways.

  Keep it together Indi. Keep. It. Together.

  “I tried to warn you. I wish you‘d listened. I liked you.” Seth’s eyes glow under the black light, and I know now it’s not because of the ultraviolet florescence, or a trick of the mind. His incisors descend, lengthening into sharp-pointed fangs. “I’m sorry. I have no choice.”

  He lunges at me before I can react.

  His body slams into mine, knocking me to the floor. My head hits with a harsh thud. Stars flash before my eyes as he grabs both of my wrists, pinning them to the ground above my head. “Hold still and it won’t hurt.” He licks the tips of his teeth, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “You may even like it. Your cousin sure does. Just listen to her moaning in pleasure over there.”

  “You’re sick you know that?” I spit. I try rolling my body to the side, or kicking my legs, but with him sitting on top of me, there’s not much I can do. He laughs at my efforts.

  This is not how I saw this night playing out. I could feel there was something off about him, and for half a second I’ll admit I considered the idea of vampires when we were alone on the street together. But never in a million years would I have guessed it would actually be true—because it’s crazy. Vampires? Vampires aren’t supposed to be real. I met him in the daylight for crying out loud. Shouldn’t he have burst into flames or something if he were a vampire?

  Maybe I’m actually home in bed right now and this is some sick, twisted nightmare I’m having, and I’ll wake up any minute and have a good laugh about it.

  “I didn’t want to do this you know.” Seth’s voice softens, pulling me back to reality and shattering all my hopes.

  A hundred different thoughts run through my head, most of them comprised of me dying horribly in this room, but maybe if I can get through to him, the outcome can be different. I’ve seen him struggling with something all night and now I know what it is. I know there’s a part of him that doesn’t want to hurt me. “Then why are you?”

  “Because I have to.”

  “But why? I deserve to know.”

  “Because he says you’re special, a threat that has to be eliminated. I can’t go against his wishes, even if I want to.”

  “Have you tried? Whoever this He is, he can’t make you do anything you don’t want to. And I’m not special or a threat to anyone. I’m nobody.” Keeping my movements slow, I try to slide my wrists out of his grasp, but it only causes him to tighten his grip. I bite my lip to stop the scream climbing up my throat, but it does nothing to stop the tears streaking down the sides of my face.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You are special, Indiana Grace Bellamy. In more ways than one.”

  “How do you know my full name? Did Liv tell you?” I wrack my brain, trying to remember if she’d said anything over the course of the night and come up with nothing. Only one other thought comes to mind. “Have, have you been following me?” The smile on his face gives me my answer before he even says a word.

  “Maybe.” The sadistic look returns to his eyes, the good guy part of him lost beneath the monster once again. He lowers his mouth to my ear. “Want to know a secret? I’m not the only one who’s been following you. It
would seem you’ve become quite the popular girl. I just got to you first.”

  I struggle beneath him, trying to twist and turn out of his grasp. It’s futile, I know, but I have to try. I don’t want to die here and for all I know, Liv’s already gone. The thought of Liv being dead lights a fire within my belly, fueling me to fight with everything I have.

  Straightening back up, his thighs squeeze tighter against my hips, his hands still wrapped firmly around my wrists. He laughs. We both know I’m not going anywhere unless he wants me too. “Keep on squirming, I think I like it.”

  “Liv! Liv!”

  “Liv, Liv,” Seth mocks in a singsong voice. “She’s not listening. She’s too busy with the rapture. Ben too. It’s why he takes so long with his victims. He’s getting just as much pleasure out of it as she is. Might as well enjoy the meal, right?”

  I tilt my head back to get a better view of Liv and Ben on the sofa. A soft moan escapes her lips. I sigh. She’s still alive… for now, but if we don’t get out of here… I turn back to Seth, a crazy, insane plan forming in my head. The way I figure it, I’ve only got one move left, and it’s a risky one at that. “Maybe you should stop playing with yours.”

  “Why, Indi, is that an invitation?”

  “It’s a let’s get this over with.” I lift my chin, turning my head to the side, giving him a perfect view of the pulse rapidly thudding along the side of my neck.

  “If you insist.”

  He moves his head down faster than I was expecting, but by some miracle, I’m able to launch mine up. Our heads collide. Pain ricochets through my brain as darkness seeps around the outside edges of my vision. His hold on my wrist loosens and I take my chance, silently praying I don’t pass out.

  I shove him off as I scramble to get away. The room dips and lurches under my feet. I stumble back, bracing a hand against the wall. Closing my eyes, I take a few deep breaths. Once I can see straight, I search the room for anything I can use as a weapon, but there’s nothing, absolutely nothing.

  Seth body slams me onto the table. The wood groans then breaks apart, the splintered pieces slicing at my arms on the way down. Every bit of breath in my lungs rushes out at once as my back hits the floor. He snaps at me with his fangs, my weak arms shoving against his chest, the only things keeping him from sinking his teeth into my flesh. Sheer luck gets my leg between his and I jerk my knee up, hitting him in the sweet spot. He rolls off of me with a groan and I take the opportunity to grab one of the broken table pieces.

  With Seth still holding his man parts, I swing the chunk of table in my hand at the back of Ben’s head to get him off Liv. His fangs detach from her neck with a sickening slurp. Bile climbs up my throat, depositing a nasty taste in my mouth. Half dazed, Liv pulls herself up into a seated position, her hand making its way to the two trails of blood streaming down the side of her neck. She looks at her hand then at Ben before screaming bloody murder.

  I reach out for her. “Liv, come on. We have to go. We have to go now!” She jerks away from me, her back pressed as far as it’ll go into the cushions of the sofa. Throwing her hands out in front of her, she swats me away, her screams increasing in volume.

  She’s in shock.

  But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe someone will hear her and come rescue us.

  Coming to his senses, Ben stirs. Liv screams even harder, kicking at him with the heels of her boots. Her hand brushes over a sharp piece of broken table on the armrest of the sofa. She latches onto it like her life depends on it, which it does. She scoots herself into the corner of the sofa pointing the sharp end at Ben.

  I cock my arm back, preparing to hit Ben again when he kicks my leg out from beneath me. I land face first onto the floor, the crunch of my nose sending echoes of pain throughout my face as blood gushes down over my mouth. I crawl across the floor on my belly, reaching out for my makeshift weapon when Seth slams his foot down on my hand. He digs his heel in and a scream from the very recesses of my being tears its way out. Jerked upwards by my hair, Seth drags me to the center of the room.

  “Why do you have to make things more difficult than they have to be? If you cooperate, it won’t hurt so much.”

  “Screw you!”

  “Sorry, that’s not on the table for tonight.” Wrapping his hand around my ponytail, he yanks me to my feet then slams me against the wall. He forces my head back, his eyes locking onto mine. His pupils fully dilate so there’s hardly any color left visible, just a thin glowing ring of brown. “Don’t move,” he commands. My body freezes in place.

  No! No! No!

  “Turn your head to the side.”

  My head turns against my will. Tears roll down my face as everything slows down. It’s like I’m standing outside my body, watching everything happen and having no control over it. Liv is still screaming, her arms and legs thrashing against Ben to keep him from sinking his teeth back into her neck. The room is in disarray, and Seth, Seth is about to kill me. I’ll never see my friends again. I’ll never see Evan again. I’ll never breathe again. I’ll never do anything again.

  My hand fists into a tight ball, my nails digging into the skin of my palm.

  No. I will not die today. And neither will Liv.

  Seth lowers his fangs to my neck, the tips scraping over my skin. I ram my fist into his side just under his ribs, then grab hold of the back of his head, getting a fist full of his dark brown hair. Using all of my momentum, I slam his head into the wall before shoving him down. I go to kick him a few times when I realize I can no longer hear Liv screaming. My heart momentarily falls through to my stomach as I spin around. Ben has her pinned down, his hand over her mouth, his teeth dangerously close to her throat.

  “Not tonight, buddy.” I snatch up another splintered piece of wood and drive it into Ben’s back, praying I’m lucky enough to puncture his heart. His body jerks and stiffens before going limp. Liv goes back to screaming uncontrollably while Ben’s body slithers to the floor. An insane amount of blood erupts out around the shard in his back, forming a pool that steadily creeps across the floor toward my feet. I take a step backward right into Seth’s waiting arms.

  “You stupid bitch.” He squeezes both of his arms around my torso so I can’t move my arms. “How do you keep breaking my compulsions? I’m trying to make this easy for you. You have to die, Indiana. Don’t you want it to be peaceful?”

  “I don’t want it to be at all.”

  “Well, we don’t always get what we want, do we?” He shoves my head to the side, the tips of his fingers digging into the side of my head. With his hold on me shifted, I’m able to free my arm long enough to grab hold of his hand and bite down as hard as I can. His skin breaks beneath my teeth, filling my mouth with his blood, some of it going down my throat before I can spit it out.

  He lets go, yelling out a string of obscenities. I take the opportunity to put some distance between us only to trip over Ben’s body. I land in the ocean of blood covering the floor, sending it splashing over my hands. Fire spreads across my lower back and I cry out.

  Seth stares at his hand, his eyebrows scrunched together, as he flips it back and forth. “How did you do that? How did you penetrate my skin?” He looks down at me as if seeing me for the first time. “What are you?”

  I slide my hand through the blood, my fingers finding their way to the chunk of wood protruding from my lower back. “I told you, I’m nobody. And in a moment you’re going to be nobody too.” I clamp down my jaw and yank out the shard, as I launch myself up off the floor, the weapon in my hand poised and ready.

  Seth’s hand fastens around my throat so fast I have no time to prepare. He squeezes tight then lifts me off the ground like I’m nothing. I drop the piece of wood, my hands instead clawing at his. A fire burns through my lungs, air I so desperately need out of reach. Spots flicker in front of my eyes, the room disappearing in a haze of gray. My feet dangle, the weight of my legs too heavy to move anymore. My back hits the wall, and he drops me to my feet. Air rushes into my
lungs, giving me just enough breath to scream as his fangs sink into my flesh. I smear my blood-covered hands down the front of his gray Henley as I try to push him away, but it’s no use.

  A burning pain like nothing I’ve ever felt before spreads outward from his bite. And then the rapture comes. Pain turns to pleasure and I open up to him, giving him better access to my neck. One of his hands buries in my hair, the other holding me around the waist. He takes from me freely and I want him to.

  So help me, I want him to.

  My knees give out as my whole body goes slack. I’m dying, but I don’t care. If death feels this good, maybe dying isn’t so bad. Maybe I’ll get to see my mom when this is all over.

  The door bursts open, flying free of its hinges. Seth drops me to the ground as he’s jerked away and thrown across the room. I blink slowly from the floor, watching in slow moving glimpses between the darkness of sleep and the violet light of the room, as Seth runs out into the hallway.

  Liv’s screams come to a gradual stop and I try to pull myself up, but I can’t. I can’t move at all. I can’t even turn my head to see if she’s okay. A blurry form crouches down in front of me a few moments later. Gentle fingers brush the hair from my face before I’m scooped up in strong arms.

  “You’re okay now,” the blur tells me, but he’s wrong. My heartbeats are slowing, the flow of blood from the wound at my neck taking what’s left of my life away.

  I fist my hand in his shirt, or at least that’s what I want to do, but I have a feeling my arm hasn’t moved at all. “Liv,” I whisper. “Is she…?”

  “She’s okay,” he says and I nod just before darkness envelops me.

  6

  I wake up on and off in the backseat of a speeding car, too out of it to focus on anything other than small glimpses. Liv riding shotgun with her hair blowing in the wind from the rolled-down window, or her worried face every time she looks back at me. The concern etched within the eyes of the guy driving. The blurry shape of row after row of buildings giving way to the darker parts of the city, to the lights reflecting off the windshield in streaks of bright white.