Of Blood & Magic: Blood Descent Book 1

by T. L. McDonald

  “Damn, you suburbians take your high school football games seriously.” Avoiding nearly hitting anybody else with his car, Sebastian maneuvers onto the school parking lot. It’s completely packed, every spot I can see taken. Sebastian creeps along the rows, stopping every few seconds for passing groups of people making their way to the stadium. “We’ll have to park down the street.”

  We finally find a spot two streets away beneath a broken streetlamp. Sebastian turns off the ignition and I hesitate. It’s dark and deserted out there. Even the houses look foreboding, all dark and gloomy in the shadows. Ignoring the way my heart is tumbling around behind my ribs, I open the car door and get out. The moment my feet plant themselves on the sidewalk a tiny voice in the back of my mind shouts for me to get back in and get as far away from here as possible. I don’t want to look paranoid, so I ignore it.

  Sebastian comes up beside me and together we walk in silence down the street, which honestly isn’t helping me to not want to freak out. It’s too quiet. I need something to distract me from all the scary scenarios of being murdered by massive amounts of blood loss from playing out on repeat inside my head.

  “So, about those other questions I asked…” I say, breaking the eerie silence.

  Sebastian comes to a sudden stop. He puts his arm out in front of me and places a finger over his mouth. He pulls out his keys, folding them in my hand. “Go back to the car. Now.” The whispered tone of his voice shouting we’re in trouble sends a fresh wave of panic brewing in the pit of my stomach.

  Before I can ask what kind of trouble, the skin along my nape prickles. We’re being watched. Three shadows detach from the darkness, coming into the warm glow of a streetlight two houses up from where we stand. The middle one smiles, revealing an elongated set of fangs.

  Vampires.

  10

  “Indi, get to the car now. If I’m not there in a few minutes, just go. I’ll find you.” Sebastian nudges me back toward the way we came.

  “Are you crazy? There are three of them. Come with me.” I grab his hand. “We’ll run.”

  “We’ll never make it to the car together, but if you go, I can hold them off.” His eyes lock onto mine with enough determination I actually believe him.

  My feet don’t move. It doesn’t feel right leaving him here alone while I run away. What if something happens to him? What if something happens to me? I barely survived against one vampire last time. If there are more of them hidden in the darkness, I won’t stand a chance if we separate.

  “Please, go,” he pleads softly as if he somehow knows the argument I’m having with myself. “I promise it’ll be okay. This isn’t my first vampire rodeo and it won’t be my last. Now, go.” He pushes me down the sidewalk then turns to face the three approaching vampires with a glint of excitement in his eyes. “Out for an evening stroll boys? You probably should have stayed home, or at the very least picked a different sidewalk to venture down.”

  “Is that so?” the taller of the three vamps asks.

  “If you leave now, maybe I’ll let you live.” Glancing back over his shoulder, Sebastian mouths for me to go once more, as he releases a thin wooden stake hidden up his jacket sleeve into the hand held behind his back.

  “You’ll let us live?” Tall vampire looks at his friends. “Did you guys hear that? He’ll let us live.” The three of them laugh for half a second before the tall one snaps his fingers, and it’s back to business. Head slightly tilted downward, he licks his lips, a small smile curling around his fangs. The glow of his eyes intensifies, his gaze laser-locked onto Sebastian, who smiles right back. “Too bad we have no plans of showing you the same kindness, chaser.” He emphasizes the last word, making it clear he knows exactly what Sebastian is and welcomes the challenge.

  The tall vampire’s friends take up positions on either side of him so they’re in a V formation. Blue Flannel on the left flexes his fingers before curling them into tight fists. Leather Jacket on the right, splays his fingers out, his nails lengthening into razor sharp points.

  “Have it your way,” Sebastian says with a nonchalant shrug. I get the impression he’s enjoying this. He’s either excellent at being a chaser, or he’s insane. I hope it’s the former because the latter will probably get us killed.

  Blue Flannel attacks first. In a blur, he’s suddenly right in front of Sebastian, throwing a punch. Sebastian leans to the side easily, his moves fluid and quick as he grabs a hold of the vampire’s arm, using his momentum against him to pull him forward. Sebastian then flips over Blue Flannel’s back where he comes around the other side and jams a stake straight through Blue Flannel’s heart before the other two vampires can react. More blood than what a normal human body can contain gushes from his chest as his skin shrivels in on itself. Desiccated, he falls to his knees, the glow of his eyes fading into a vacant stare. The remaining two vampires bare their fangs with a hiss as they charge straight for Sebastian, who smiles, once again welcoming them on.

  For a moment I’m mesmerized—or frozen in place out of fear, it’s hard to tell for sure—as I watch them fight. All I know is that I can’t seem to get my feet to move, no matter how hard I try to. And believe me, I’m trying to. I know what happens when a vampire gets hold of you and it’s something I definitely don’t want to experience ever again.

  ♪Message. Message. You’ve got a message.♪

  My feet temporarily become unglued from the pavement as I jump. I pull out my phone, silencing it as fast as I can, which isn’t fast enough because when I look back up, Leather Jacket is looking at me like I’m easy prey. My eyes dart to Sebastian who’s busy fending off his own vampire, then back to the vamp staring me down. I’m on my own. The vampire’s mouth curls into a slow smile, his fangs descending into sharp instruments of death. My heart drops to my feet, my whole body seizing up as I choke on spit while gasping for air that just isn’t there.

  I try to run. I want to run. I pray to run. I should have been running this whole time. But the only moves I can make are tiny, inconsequential steps backward, which is nowhere near good enough.

  Leather Jacket moves impossibly fast. Within a blink of an eye he’s only an arm’s length away, his fangs glimmering in the streetlight. His eyes glow a soft green, his pupils fluctuating in size. I take another pathetic step backward, and his smile widens, promising dark sinister things I try hard not to imagine. He opens his mouth, ready to chomp into my flesh or compel me into submission, when his face unexpectedly pulls back in a shocked grimace. A growing circle of blood darkens his shirt around the tip of a protruding stake. Just like the other one, his skin shrivels inward, almost as if he’s instantly mummifying. He crumples into a heap on the ground at my feet.

  My stomach churns and heaves. If there were anything in it, it would be splattering all over the ground right about now. Despite this, I can’t tear my eyes away as I watch the vampire’s skin continue to shrink-wrap over his bones. I don’t remember this happening to Ben when I’d staked him at the club. But then again, I was busy trying to survive Seth to pay attention.

  Sebastian braces his foot against the dead vampires back as he pulls the stake out. He wipes most of the blood off on the vampire’s shirt before slipping the stake back into a holster beneath his pant leg. He drags the body off the sidewalk and stuffs it under some hedges. I don’t see the other two vampires so he must have hidden them too. Satisfied that this one is out of sight, he whips out his phone, and brings it to his ear. “It’s Bas. I need a cleanup on Huntington Street.” Ending the call, he shoves his phone back into his pocket, then takes my hand. “We have to go.” He tugs my arm, dragging me along behind him. My feet follow his lead, but my mind stays lost in a daze. He looks back at me every few seconds. “Are you okay?”

  “No. Not okay. Definitely not okay.” My eyes burn with the sting of unshed tears, the world taking on a watery sheen as they finally fill and spill over. “I just wanted to go to my boyfriend’s football game, not be attacked by stupid vampires. First it w
as Seth, now it’s these three. Why can’t they leave me alone?”

  “I—” A whooshing sound followed by a loud crunch echoes through the stillness of the night. Sebastian’s hand jerks then slips out of mine, as he falls hard to the ground. Blood flows from a gnarly gash on the side of his head, rivers of red trailing down his face.

  A figure takes shape within the shadows, emerging from behind the bus stop shelter. My whole body petrifies, all my screams caught in my throat. Baseball bat in hand, wood scrapes over concrete before he swings it up, resting the bat over his shoulder. Sebastian’s blood runs along the grain, dripping onto the ground behind him. I tear my gaze from it, forcing myself to look at the guy inching closer. A tingling feeling of recognition dances through my mind. He looks so familiar. I’ve seen him before. His mouth splits into a smile as though we’re old friends, and he didn’t just bash Sebastian’s head in a moment ago. It sends shivers down my spine. His smile widens, the color of his eyes illuminating from within to a brighter blue, and that’s when it hits me. He was the guy on the stairs at the club with the blonde woman.

  “Now what fun would it be if we left you alone?” He touches his tongue to the tips of his lengthening fangs. The sound of his voice snaps me out of my frozen state.

  My heart slams violently against my ribs, sending blood rushing through my veins. “Why are you doing this?” I mumble, barely above a whisper. Feeling returns to my legs, allowing me to take a step back when what I really want to do is run. But I can’t. My gaze drops to Sebastian lying motionless on the sidewalk. I can’t leave him. Not like this. Not bleeding to death on the cold concrete.

  “Because it’s fun.” The vampire nudges Sebastian’s shoulder with the tip of the bat before pointing it at me. “Because He wants you dead.” He licks his bottom lip, the glow of his eyes intensifying as they focus on my neck. “Lucky for me, your boyfriend here killed off the competition, so now I’ll have you all to myself. It’s been a while since I’ve tasted a redhead.”

  I can’t help it. I gulp, which is exactly the reaction he was hoping for judging by the look on his face. “W-who wants me dead?” An image of Seth tearing into my throat flashes through my mind. Seth said someone wanted me dead too, but he never said who. He just tore into my flesh and took what he wanted with such viciousness… and bliss. Will there be bliss when this guy takes from me too? Some sick, twisted part of me sort of longs for it and I mentally smack myself for even thinking it.

  I shake the violent memories of Seth and the rapture his bite brought away, focusing instead on the vampire in front of me, and how I’m going to get Sebastian and me out of this situation. I flick my gaze to the ground where Sebastian still lays unconscious. At least I hope he’s unconscious and not dead because I can’t tell if he’s still breathing and he’s so still and there’s so much blood collecting on the sidewalk beneath his face. Please, God, please don’t let him be dead.

  “Who wants you dead doesn’t matter sweetheart, because in a few minutes you’ll be too caught up in the rapture to care.” His fangs seem to grow even longer as he stalks toward me.

  My eyes dart all over the place in search of a weapon, but aside from ripping a branch off of a tree, or patting Sebastian down, there’s nothing immediate I can use.

  Bile creeps up the back of my throat. I’m going to die.

  The vampire in front of me tilts his head back a little, his nostrils flaring as he sniffs the air. And then suddenly he’s right behind me, one arm locked tight around my torso, the other shoving my head to the side. He licks my neck slowly, his breath coming out in a moan. “Funny thing about fear. It floods all your senses, saturating your blood in a delicious tanginess. Just the way I like it.” His fangs scrape over my flesh, coming to a stop over my jugular vein. He punctures my skin just enough for a few drops of blood to bloom to the surface. Running his tongue over it, he presses his body up against mine. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, it’ll be just as good for you as it will be for me.”

  In the few seconds it takes for him to prepare to bite, my whole life flashes before my eyes—right up to the part where Jack handed me his knife. The vampire’s grip on me loosens as he lowers his mouth to my neck, giving me just enough slack to slip the knife out of my pocket. I hit the release, freeing the blade. The moment he bites down, I stab it straight into his eye. His fangs tear free with a scream as he shoves me to the ground. Pain shoots through my knees, and along my forearms from wrist to elbow. I stare down at the sides of my arms and hands surrounded in red from the blood-soaked pavement. There’s so much of it spreading over the sidewalk, my arms slide forward toward the source. Seeing Sebastian’s wound this close up steals my breath. It’s so much worse than what I thought. If he doesn’t get help soon, he’s not going to make it… if he’s not already gone. A deep ache detonates throughout my chest.

  I don’t want Sebastian to be gone.

  I don’t want me to be gone.

  Something deep inside flips like a switch, taking me from all out fear to uncontrollable anger. I will not die here tonight. Pushing myself to my knees, I twist around, balling my hands into fists so tight my nails dig into flesh as I stare up at the vampire yanking my cousin’s knife out of his eye. Blood pours from his empty socket, his eyeball now skewered onto the blade still held in his hand.

  “You stupid bitch. You shouldn’t have done that. Now you’re going to pay.”

  “No. You are.” I clench my fists tighter, a single word whispering over my mind. Fire. Smoke rolls out from beneath his feet followed by a burst of flames licking at his pant legs. He dances around, stomping his feet, and smacking at his legs, but no matter what he does, it won’t save him. “More.” Responding to my command, the flames spread up his legs, consuming everything in their path. He drops to the ground, desperately trying to put himself out. I climb to my feet, my nails penetrating my palms as tiny drops of blood fall to the concrete. “MORE!” I scream with everything I have. The flames shoot sky high, his body completely engulfed. His screams fill the air until they don’t anymore.

  I fall back to my knees, staring at the body burning to ash in front of me. I set him on fire. I. Set. Him. On. Fire. The world closes in around me, growing heavier and heavier, until it blurs around the edges. I squeeze my fists tighter until the sting becomes painful enough to draw my attention away from the burning vampire. I let go and take a breath as I open my hands to bloody crescent moons shapes bleeding onto skin already stained along my pinkies with Sebastian’s blood.

  “Sebastian.”

  I crawl over to him, laying my fingers over his neck, hoping for a pulse. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. A weak thump hits my fingertip. I sigh so hard it hurts. Thank God. I turn him over onto his back as words spring forth from the back of my mind and come tumbling out of my mouth. They sound foreign to my ears, in a language I don’t recognize, yet somehow inexplicably know. The same way I know they’re ancient and powerful and exactly what I need. They continue to tumble forth as I place my hand over the wound at Sebastian’s head. I close my eyes as I reach out for his life force, coaxing it back from the ether.

  I open my eyes to find him staring up at me just in time for darkness to swoop in and pull me under.

  I open my eyes slowly to find myself in bed at home. A stabbing pain slices through my brain with each tiny movement I make. Ugh, I feel like I did the day after the one and only time I got drunk at Tad Brook’s party over summer break. My head threatens to split in two when I try to sit up, so I do the smart thing and lay back down. The door creaks open, my head throbbing way too much to care about seeing who it is. The only thing I’m concerned with is getting my hot little hands on some ibuprofen to make this headache from hell go away.

  “You’re awake,” Liv says, right before she runs across the room, jumps on the bed, and wraps me in her arms. My brain feels like it’s going to explode out of my head. I try to squirm out of her embrace to no avail. “You’ve been asleep for three days,
” she continues as though she’s completely oblivious of my efforts to pry myself away.

  “Can you let me go now? And maybe whisper please. My skull feels like someone took an axe to it.”

  “Oh. Right. Sorry.” She lets me go, but stays perched on the edge of my bed.

  “Can you bring me some ibuprofen, please?” I lay my arm over my forehead, shielding my eyes from most of the blinding light filling the room.

  “I can bring you something even better than that. I’ll have Jack bring it up.” She tucks a curled section of her hair behind her ear then leans to the side to pull her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. Her fingers fly over the screen so fast it makes me dizzy. “Done.” She drops her phone down onto the bed as her eyes roam over me. “So… how do you feel? Other than the skull splitting headache.”

  “Like death.” I peek out at her from under my arm. “Have I really been asleep for three days? Was I really sick or something?”

  She furrows her eyebrows. “You don’t remember what happened?”

  I shake my head and immediately regret it. “Ugh, I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “You were with Sebastian, and—”

  I grab her arm at the mention of his name, a fresh wave of panic blooming within my chest as memories rush forward of him laying on the pavement. “We were attacked. He was hurt, Liv. Like really bad. Is he… is he okay?”

  “Yeah,” she smiles, a look of amazement held in her eyes. “Because of what you did.”

  “Because of what I did? What did I do? Things are still a little fuzzy and trying to think about it makes my head hurt more.”