Of Blood & Magic: Blood Descent Book 1

by T. L. McDonald

  Deciding to run, I dart to the left and go as fast as my feet will carry me without so much as a backward glance. The alley opens into a street a few feet ahead and I push myself harder. I crash into something hard at full speed. The sudden impact, flings me backward. I skid across the pavement, coming to a rest in a puddle of rainwater. The cat from earlier hisses then swats at my face, nearly clawing my eye. I roll to the side out of its way.

  A stack of broken pallets rests against the side of a dumpster within arm’s reach. The sound of boots scraping over the wet pavement has me reaching out. I pry off a chunk along the edge where it’s cracked apart. Pulling myself up, I point the sharp end at the approaching vampire, my heart beating so fast it hurts. He doesn’t seem fazed by me at all.

  In a stupid move, I lunge for him. Arm reared back, I aim for the center of his chest. I don’t even get close. He grips me by the wrist, bending my hand back until I scream. A blaze of fiery pain runs through the length of my arm, my fingers unable to maintain their grip on my only weapon. It clatters on the ground. The vampire swings me around like a rag doll, smashing my body and face against the wall. Tears stream down my cheeks as he jerks my head to the side.

  I clench my fists. I will not be bitten again. Magic hums within my veins, the edges of it slipping above the spell meant to keep it suppressed. But it’s not enough. Not yet. But it will be. I focus everything I have on building its intensity.

  Teeth graze over my neck, breath hot against my skin, and then suddenly he’s gone. I whip around to find Sebastian holding the vampire by the throat from behind. The edge of a stake bursts through the vampire’s chest. His body jerks then falls apart in a shower of pixels. All I can do is stare.

  Dropping the stake, Sebastian takes a quick step toward me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t intend for you to fight him all alone. I was having trouble with my VR headset and couldn’t get in in time.”

  I stare at him, his words reminding me this place isn’t real. The vampire wasn’t real. But… “I could feel everything.”

  “It’s part of the program. It’s intended to feel as real as possible to aid in training.”

  I smack him hard across the face, the sting of it leaving my hand throbbing. “How could you do that? You didn’t even warn me. You just sent me in here blind.”

  “I swear that wasn’t my intention.” He reaches out for me, but I’m so angry I can’t stop the magic building within me from coming out. The streetlight at the end of the alley becomes brighter and brighter before it explodes in a shower of white sparks. The buildings around us quake, chunks of bricks falling to the pavement.

  “Indi, stop! You’re going to crash the system.” Sebastian shouts over the loud bang of the fire escape tumbling down. He reaches up, pulling off goggles unseen in the VR world. He disappears in front of me.

  I reach up, feeling my own goggles. I pull them off and find myself back in the white room. Sparks are exploding from everything, including the chair I’m sitting in. I undo my harness and tear myself free. A fire erupts in the computer booth, releasing a fog of suppressing gas to suffocate it. Too mad to say a word or even worry about the chaos happening around us, I glare at Sebastian, then bolt for the door. White-hot sparks shower down from the rows of lights overhead with every step I take. I don’t give them a second thought. I just want to get out of here and away from him.

  “Indi, wait,” Sebastian calls out as he works on getting himself unfastened. “Let me—”

  I cut off his sentence with a slam of the door and find myself in an empty hallway in an underground base I know nothing about. My breaths come too fast as the walls surrounding me close in. I have to get out. I turn and run down the hall, hoping I can find my way back to the elevator without trouble.

  Chester stares at me over the counter with his one good eye while I repeatedly jam my finger on the elevator button. “What’s Bas done this time?” he asks in a tone suggesting I’m not the first girl who’s run out of here.

  “I can’t even,” I start to say in my normal voice before remembering I’m supposed to be from London. “I just need some air.” The doors finally open. Thank the stars in the heavens above.

  “Indi, stop! Please wait! I’m sorry!” Sebastian yells from down the hallway.

  “Indi? I thought her name was Ana.” Chester’s eyebrows crash together as he reaches for the clipboard, his finger running down the list of names.

  I leap inside the elevator, hitting the button to close the doors as fast as I can before Chester questions anything else, and definitely before Sebastian can reach me. How could he do that? He just threw me in some virtual world with no explanation of what would happen, or any warning of how much it would hurt. I rip off the gloves and jacket, tossing them into the corner.

  My whole body shakes as I take stock of myself. Physically I’m fine. My wrist isn’t broken. There are no bruises anywhere and my spine isn’t actually crushed into my chest, despite still feeling remnants of pain from the VR world. An angry throbbing headache blooms within my skull, a likely side effect of using suppressed magic. It was worth it though. Sebastian shouldn’t have done what he did and I never should have trusted him. He deserves to have his stupid VR system short-circuit.

  The elevator comes to a stop, the doors opening to the darkness of the small closet in the warehouse above ground. I trip over the mop bucket in my haste to get out, slamming my shoulder against the wall. I shake the bucket off my foot, incurring the wrath of the mop inside it. It flings forward hitting me right in the middle of the forehead. I scream out in aggravation. Getting attacked by a VR vampire was bad enough; does the universe really think it necessary to torture me further? Finally, free of the bucket, I turn toward where I think the closet door is and end up bumping the broom on the other side of the tiny space. It hits me in the back of the head. Apparently, the universe isn’t finished with me yet. I feel like screaming, but what comes out instead is some weird laugh caught between hysteria and frustration, complete with tears.

  Clenching my teeth together, I finally find the doorknob. I open it up, pushing against the door so hard I fall onto my knees when it opens. I really hope Chester doesn’t have cameras in the closet or out here in the hallway, and he’s sitting in front of the monitors right now watching me flail about while laughing his head off. Though it would be just my luck if he were, considering the day I’m having. All I know is it was a mistake coming here, and it was a mistake trusting Sebastian.

  I haul butt down the hallway, hoping the universe and my current state of bad luck doesn’t find new inventive ways of antagonizing me before I can get to the outside door. I skid to a halt once I get there, realizing I’ve got nowhere to go. I’m on the outskirts of the city and far from home, and my phone is locked inside Sebastian’s car. Even if I could call Jack to pick me up, I can’t remember all the roads and exits we took to get here. I’d have no idea where to tell him to go, which means I’m stuck with Sebastian. Great. Another score for the universe, me zero.

  I kick at some dried leaves on the floor just as a rumble of thunder rolls across the sky, shaking the building in its wake. Lightning flashes through the windows in bursts of white light, casting strange shadows over the walls. And then the rain comes. It beats down on the roof in large heavy drops while pouring in like a waterfall through the huge hole in the ceiling. The smell of wet bricks and dust fills the air, tickling my nose. So much for today’s forecast of clear skies. The rain and thunder suits my mood better, anyway.

  With nothing else to do, I head for the big red sofa and plop down on it. I’m sure Sebastian will be here soon to explain his douchebag behavior. I really don’t want to hear it. Everything in me feels like the crazy storm raging outside, volatile and out of control. If he knows what’s best for him, he might want to keep his distance for a little while.

  I sense him before he reaches me. Keeping my mouth shut, I pull my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. I have nothing good to say to him right now. Ano
ther boom of thunders echoes above, rattling the remaining panes of glass in the windows. My sentiments exactly.

  “Indi, I’m so sorry. Please let me explain what happened?” Sebastian stands in front of me with his hands behind his back. He looks at me with big remorseful puppy dog eyes on full display. I can never resist the eyes. It’s like kryptonite. It weakens my defenses. Liv uses it on me all the time. “Can I sit?”

  “I can’t stop you.” But I can glare at you. Jerk. I give him my best stink eye as he takes a seat at the other end of the sofa, leaving a full cushion between us. I slightly smile at that.

  He offers me a can of soda and a chocolate bar. “I brought you these. Sugar always makes things better.” He holds them out between us. I look at him like he’s lost his mind. He looks at me with hopeful uncertainty. “Consider it an olive branch?”

  “You throw me in a very realistic VR world to get attacked by a psycho vampire—which hurt, by the way—but you know, chocolate and soda will make it all better. Guess we’re all good then huh?” I’m being a sarcastic a-hole, but really he should expect my reaction, especially when he says something as stupid as ‘sugar always makes things better’.

  “Fine, I’ll take them back.” He retracts his hand and I snatch the chocolate and soda from him.

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t take it.” I move the snacks to my other side while I continue to glare from the corner of my eye. His lips hint at a smirk and I narrow my gaze. “Start explaining before I change my mind. Why did you do that to me? It was a total dick move.”

  “I swear it wasn’t supposed to be like that. You wanted to go vampire hunting and I—”

  “So you’re saying this was my fault?”

  “That’s not what I said. Don’t put words in my mouth. Let me finish.” He scoots a little closer. “Capturing a vampire isn’t easy, and you were out to prove something. I only wanted you to see how dangerous they are without actually putting you in danger. You’re not ready to go out in the field, and I knew this was the only way you’d listen. If I’d told you no, you would have gone out, anyway. Now maybe you won’t.”

  “You don’t know me Sebastian. You don’t know what I would or would not have done.”

  “Maybe. But I was like you once, and I learned my lesson the hard way. I didn’t want you to go down the same path I did.” He stares at a frayed hole in the cushion, the emotions on his face shifting between a past sadness and a current guiltiness. “It was supposed to be both of us in the simulation. Things weren’t supposed to get as far as they did. I didn’t say anything beforehand because I wanted the experience to feel real so you’d see you weren’t ready to do what you were suggesting. Vampires are malicious and unpredictable. Going after them unprepared will only get you killed.

  “But then my goggles shorted out and I couldn’t access the simulation fast enough.” A slight smile lifts his mouth. “I guess they’re all shorted out now. Gavin is going to be so mad.” He says it like it makes him happy. I’ll have to remember to ask him about it when I’m less angry.

  “Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have sent me in without any explanations. Or into a simulation that looked and felt real, like real real. How was that even possible? I’ve played VR games before and none of them looked like that. Or felt like that.”

  “Oh, you know, the latest in tech with a little magic thrown in. The jackets and gloves have sensors in them, which allows the user to feel things physically inside the simulation… to a certain degree. It’s meant to act as a tool in training. The more real it appears the more real it seems, making us better prepared for things we may encounter in the field.”

  “I guess that makes sense. And I suppose I understand your motivations, but it doesn’t mean I’m ready to forgive you for it yet. What you did was pretty low. Things in there felt and looked so real, for a minute I believed they were.”

  He nods his head without meeting my eyes. “You’re right. What I did was a dick move. I could’ve gone about it a better way and for that I truly am sorry.”

  “Besides, who’s to say I couldn’t have handled myself in the field if we’d gone out for real tonight? I’ve faced vampires before and I’m still here. That’s got to count for something, right?”

  Sebastian gives me a look mimicking my own internal thoughts. Dumb luck and a rescue from him are the only reasons I’ve survived as long as I have. I’m not ready to take on vampires and we both know it. His stupid back alley vampire simulation pretty much proved as much, which was the point he was going for.

  “You should have just been up front about everything instead of siccing a very realistic virtual vampire on me. I more than likely would have listened to you. I know I said I wanted to capture a vampire, and honestly I still do, but it’s only because I want all of this to be over with. I want my normal mundane life back and this is the only way I know how to accomplish it without having to involve my whole family. I need to do this myself and figure a way out of it because I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with a target on my back. I don’t want my aunt and uncle to take over and erase my memories again because they think it what’s best for me. And I definitely don’t ever want to be caught off guard again like I was with Seth.” I rub my fingers over my neck, remembering the feel of warm slick blood, flowing over jagged torn flesh. I shudder, my mind caught in memories I’d rather forget.

  Sebastian pulls my hand away and laces his fingers through mine. “He’ll never touch you again. No vampire will so long as I’m here. Neither will any other supernatural force, be it an evil coven of witches, celestial bounty hunters, or anyone else sent after you. I promise.”

  “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  “I don’t plan on breaking them.”

  “Some times it’s not up to you.”

  “Some times it is.”

  “Are you going to argue with me all night?”

  “If I have to.”

  I fight the smile wanting to break out. “I’m still mad at you, you know.”

  “I know.” Keeping hold of my hand, he pulls me up from the sofa. “Come on. I’ll take you home so you can get some rest before the fun begins.”

  “Fun?”

  “Training.” He says it with a smile that suggests training will be anything but fun, for me anyway. Him on the other hand…

  18

  “Hey, Indi.”

  My back slams into the bathroom door; pushing it open further and nearly leaving me sprawled on the floor. I clutch my chest and shoot death rays from my eyes at my cousin’s laughing face, or at least I imagine that’s what I’m doing.

  “Geez, Liv. Could you not sneak up on me like that?”

  “I wasn’t sneaking. I was standing right here.” She leans against the wall beside the bathroom door. Her eyes twinkle in the hallway light, her smile just as bright. Uncle Caleb isn’t the only one who thinks it’s hilarious to scare people. “So what were you and Sebastian up to all yesterday afternoon and evening, hmm? And why did it require you to take a shower when you got home?” The dancing of her eyebrows suggests things that make me blush.

  “We didn’t do that!” I brush past her and head for my room. “Seriously Liv, is that all you ever think about? I took a shower because I was drenched in cold rain water and smelled like brick dust.”

  “Is that what they’re calling it these days?” She bursts into laughter at the look on my face. She ducks away from my shoulder punch, holding her hands up in surrender. “I’m just teasing you. You get riled up so easily. It’s funny.”

  “Are you here just to torture me, or do you actually want something?” I flop down on my bed and attempt to brush my hair. I didn’t dry it before falling asleep last night so now it’s a tangled, curly mess. The brush gets stuck near my ear and I sigh, half tempted to leave it there. Coco snarls at me from the doorway, her fur standing up like a mini mohawk running down her back. I pretend to lunge at her and she barks at me before running down the hallway.

  �
�Let me help.” Liv stands in front of me with her hands on top of my head. She whispers words under her breath as she runs her hands down the length of my hair. The brush falls onto the bed. “There you go.”

  I go over to the mirror. My hair has never looked this straight or shiny. I run my fingers through it. They don’t get stuck once. “Seriously, you need to teach me that spell.”

  “And you need to tell me what happened between you and Sebastian the other day in your room. You were acting way too weird. Now spill.”

  “Nothing happened.”

  “Really? ‘Cause your cheeks are saying something did.”

  “Okay, fine. He kissed me,” I blurt, leaving out the part where I kissed him back. “Can we move on now so we’re not late for school?” I duck into my closet to find something to wear… and to get away from the stupid grin smeared across her face.

  “I knew it. I could sense the chemistry between you two from the beginning. It’s like you guys have this connection.”

  I freeze in place when she mentions the connection Sebastian and I have. Is it obvious enough for other people to see?

  She squeezes into the closet beside me and I drop my arm. “Maybe Sebastian’s your soulmate.” She looks at me with dreamy eyes, her tone teasing, as she bumps my shoulder with hers. “You should totally break up with Evan so you can take full advantage of Sebastian. It never would’ve lasted between you and Evan, anyway. Sure, you guys are sweet together, but there’s no real passion. You’re better suited as friends.” She runs her finger down a row of shirts, selecting a long sleeve black and white baseball style shirt that says Stay Weird in bold letters across the front. She hands it to me with a slight shake of her head. “I don’t get your style in clothes.” She’s about to head out of the closet when she narrows her eyes, scrutinizing my face. “Holy crap, you are planning on breaking up with Evan aren’t you?”