Consumed (Unturned Book 5)

by Rob Cornell

  Flora held the brand casually at her side as she spoke with her coven.

  I wondered where the sixth witch was, and figured she was with Odi, waiting for the command to stake him if I didn't play along.

  Damn it! I couldn't let them cut me off from my magic. Not only would that leave me powerless, but the Maidens would still retain access to my magic through my soul. With that kind of power at their disposal, and no way for me to stop them, who knew what they would be capable of? And if they were still on the Ministry's dime, who knew what they would use that power for?

  I realized I had a choice. I could let them do this to me and give myself over as their helpless weapon. Or I could break free now and sacrifice Odi's life to end their plan, whatever it was. I couldn't see myself selling out Odi like that, but I had to wonder if it was also my responsibility to do so.

  I'd seen the Ministry flex their muscles using the Maidens’ power before, and they'd wiped out, in a single blow, the Detroit Ministry's leadership. This time, they could do something even worse—like finish their first mission and turn the poor neighborhoods into a feeding ground for the vampires. Or why bother using the vampires this time? Just cast a spell to kill thousands with a single ritual.

  I didn't like that train of thought one bit. To think that I could be used as a tool in mass murder.

  Then I realized I had more than just two choices. There was a third. Instead of sacrificing Odi, I could sacrifice myself.

  “Hey,” I shouted.

  The witches all turned their attention toward me. Flora had an impatient look on her face. I guess she was tired of her pet talking back.

  “I have an idea,” I said. “How about, when you're done with your ritual, I just kill myself? My soul wouldn't be very useful then, would it?”

  Flora narrowed her eyes. The other witches muttered among themselves with a slight bit of panic. Which kind of made my day. In my current situation, it didn't take much.

  Slowly, Flora came over to me. For some reason, I noticed again that she was naked, as if I hadn't already known that. It struck me how menacing she looked, even without her clothes. In fact, she probably looked even more menacing skyclad than she would dressed in leather and chains.

  She still held the brand at her side, swinging it absently. She didn't come all the way over. Almost as if she was afraid I might actually try something despite her threats against Odi.

  She studied me for a moment, trying to figure me out, trying to tell if I was bluffing. I decided to give her a little help.

  “I am dead serious.”

  “I think you just might be.” She raised the brand and studied the length of it as if she found it unbearably interesting. “Of course, there are people in this world you care about. People you wouldn't want me to torture for weeks on end. Someone like, say… Sylvester Petrie.”

  I pulled so hard against my cuffs I felt them scrape off some skin. “Don't you dare.”

  “It's sad, really. The young ones seem to admire your alchemist friend. A waste of affection if you ask me. But here we are, you putting me in the unenviable position of having to murder someone the girls see as, maybe not a friend, but someone they respect.”

  “Nobody's forcing you to do anything.”

  “Let's just settle this issue now,” she said. “I promise you, if you bring yourself to any harm, I will make sure that Sylvester suffers for a very, very long time.”

  I clenched my teeth so hard I felt like I could break my jaw. All that calm and acceptance shit Urvasi had taught me went right out the fucking window. I was one hundred percent fueled by rage, and if not for Odi in another room strung up to be killed…

  Wait. Maybe I could use that rage. Maybe I could turn myself into an explosion. Take them all out in this room in one fell swoop. Shut them up before they could give the word to kill Odi.

  I could do it.

  Odi had done something similar, purely by accident, when we had infiltrated that vampire nest a little while back. I was a powerful sorcerer. I could make it happen. Hell, the way I was feeling, I could probably blow up the whole fucking hospital.

  And what would be the point of that?

  I took a deep breath, trying real hard to bring myself back to Urvasi's teachings. I just didn't have it in me.

  “Have we cleared this up?” Flora asked.

  I didn't say anything. But I didn't do anything either.

  Blowing up the witches wasn't worth blowing Odi up, too. At this point I didn't care about myself. Taking out the Maidens of Shadow would have been the best last move of my life. I could die knowing I had done right. And then, if there was an afterlife, I could tell mom all about it.

  Flora's mouth formed a straight line. She began patting the brand in one hand like a billy club at a brawl. “I don't like the way you look.”

  “The feeling's mutual, bitch.”

  “Do not try anything,” she said. “Even if you could kill us all in here, Cora will have turned your little apprentice to dust long before you reach him.”

  She was right. I was letting my anger twist my thoughts into all kinds of crazy shapes. They had me by the balls, and in a minute, the Maidens of Shadow were going to squeeze.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  After my exchange with Flora, the five witches in the room went about their business, ignoring me completely.

  One of their preparations involved dragging in a black cauldron. Yes, you heard me, a black fucking cauldron. Hard to believe the most powerful witch coven in the Midwest could deal in such clichés.

  While they made their preparations, I continued to dig through the messy toy box I called a brain to find some way to get out of this. Unfortunately, I wasn't finding shit. So I kept yanking on my cuffs, figuring I could either rip my hands through them, or pull the bed frame apart. It was an old, simple, rusty bed frame. And with each pull I did feel a little give.

  Despite all that racket, the Maidens continued to ignore me completely. And why not? They were holding Odi's life over my head, so even if I did break free, they still had me by the balls. And if I couldn't kill all of them in the room without worrying about that elusive sixth bitch somewhere in this place ready to kill Odi, what could I do?

  I stopped jerking at my cuffs.

  I had to try something else.

  And the only thing I could think of was Urvasi's training. It was the only new trick I knew, and I didn't know it very well. Obviously, there was power in it. It had burned the vampire blood inside myself clean out, all because I had accepted that it was in there. I'd accepted that it was a part of me.

  And that I could…control it.

  I closed my eyes.

  The Maidens had started chanting in some unrecognizable but surely ancient language. I didn't have to look to know that my soul had started glowing brighter in its jar. For now, I had to ignore that. I had to ignore everything the witches were doing.

  I needed to accept that they had my soul, as hard as it might be.

  I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  You aren't gonna to be able to calm down. And this acceptance shit ain't gonna work, Sebastian old boy.

  I tried to shove away the negative voice ringing in my head. But it was persistent.

  Damn right I'm persistent, it said. To hell with Odi. Since when did you give a shit about vampires? Just burn these witches before they take away the most important thing of your life.

  I gritted my teeth. I needed to get this voice out of my head. How could I calm myself? How could I focus? How could I accept? With this damn voice nagging me.

  You can't, Sebastian. I'm here to stay. I am a part of you.

  Of course the voice was a part of me. It was my voice after all.

  I laughed softly. When I did, I noticed one of the voices of the chanting witches falter. I could picture Flora glancing over her shoulder, wondering what I thought was so funny. And I couldn't wait to show her.

  That's right, the voice said. Show her. Show her what you've got.<
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  I took another deep breath. I could feel the tiny smile on my face. Sure. I'll show them they can't get to me. I'll show them that even the negative voice in my head did not master me. And with another breath, I let that voice yammer.

  You can't ignore me.

  This is stupid.

  You're going to fucking die.

  Wake the fuck up.

  On and on it went as I continued to take deep breaths. I didn't try to fight it. I didn't need to. I needed to accept it, I needed to accept everything inside me, because only then could I fully become master over myself.

  This stupid, my critical voice said.

  So what, I thought back. We can be stupid.

  The voice continued to natter on, but I had become pretty good at not letting it derail my focus.

  While I continued to center myself, I could smell the greasy sweat in the mattress underneath me, could feel the tiny little insects that crawled within it. I could feel the cold air in the dank room. I could taste some odd sweetness in my mouth, though had no idea where it came from.

  That was okay.

  Like when Urvasi first showed me how to connect to myself with acceptance, I began to feel my blood flow, I could hear my heartbeat, I could feel my soul.

  First, I felt the part of my soul that still pulsed within me. And then I could feel the part of my soul that was flaring within the pentagram on the floor. I could feel the Maidens' psychic hands all over my soul. It was a dark, greasy feeling that made me shudder.

  I accepted their touch, and with that acceptance, I ignored it.

  More than ever, I could feel the tether between both parts of my soul. I could feel that tether stretching tight like a flexed muscle. And just like a muscle in my own body, I continued to flex it. I tightened the line between my soul inside and my soul outside until the pull was unbearable. But this time, instead of letting my soul pull me to it, I pulled my soul toward me.

  A few of the Maidens stumbled over their words. They could sense something was going on. I wasn't sure if they knew what, but they would find out soon enough.

  As I continued to try drawing the missing piece of my soul back to me, an agonizing pain spiked in my head. I let myself hurt. I owned my hurt. Just like I owned all the parts of me, all of my soul, not just half of it.

  And then it happened—the Maidens' hold on my soul slipped.

  I opened my eyes in time to see the crystal jar explode into a million pieces of glittering dust. I saw my soul wisp up like green smoke with lightning inside.

  I called to my soul.

  It whisked toward me, and then the green smoke poured into my chest. The sensation was near indescribable. It felt like I'd swallowed sunlight, and that it burned in my belly.

  I also felt a glorious fullness. I felt the magic inside of me double, maybe triple. I had not realized how empty losing part of my soul had left me.

  But I was no longer empty. I was full. I was whole.

  Some of the Maidens gasped. I heard Flora shriek. She whirled around to face me, eyes holding a mad light.

  “You.”

  “Me.”

  “I am going to kill your little apprentice. And then I will flay the skin from your body, piece by little piece.”

  I tried not to let her threat invade my calm. Strangely, I found it easy. I almost felt sorry for Flora. All she'd worked for would end right here.

  The cauldron was smoking, omitting bright orange light. And the brand was inside of it, leaning against the cauldron's lip, useless to them now. These witches had become dependent on using my soul to power their magic. And judging from the worried looks of the other Maidens, I had a feeling they didn't have a backup.

  I smirked. “I don't think you'll be flaying anything anytime soon.”

  She moved for the door.

  I conjured a wind and slammed the door closed before she reached it. “Nope. You can stay right here.”

  “You don't think my sister will kill your vampire pet?”

  “I don't think she'll know she's supposed to.” I drew heat into my hands again, and it took me no time at all to melt through the cuffs. I launched up off the bed to my feet. “Unless you’ve got a walkie-talkie hidden somewhere…” I shrugged. “Doesn't look like you have any pockets.”

  Her hesitation, and the fear in her eyes, told me I was exactly right about their source of power. She could have easily communicated with her coven mate if she had any magic at her disposal.

  I smiled like a dumbstruck fool. Only there was nothing dumb about me right now. “You don't have any magic to tap, do you?”

  Her lips peeled back from her teeth. She turned to the door again. But there was no way she was going to make it.

  I held out my hand and instantly felt the warm comfort of my magical flame. I was a little surprised to see it wasn't the blue stuff, just a normal, great big, pleasing ball of orange fire. I had to admit, I had kind of missed the traditional flame.

  Flora's eyes widened. She knew what was coming next.

  I threw the fire straight at her, amazed that I didn't feel any anger anymore. I was just doing what needed to be done to protect Odi, to protect my city, and to protect myself, obviously.

  The flame struck Flora on the side, the force of it flinging her off her feet and to the floor. She had no clothes to burn, so the fire immediately began chewing through her flesh. She arched her back and screamed.

  “Murderer,” she howled. “You murderer.”

  So much had changed between myself and the Maidens of Shadow since we'd first met. They had been allies at the beginning, however tenuously. I'd never intended to kill any of them. And when we had lost Wendy, it had hurt me, filled me with guilt because she had died helping me and my mom.

  I had never wanted any of this.

  “I'm sorry,” I whispered.

  Then I threw a second fireball, a bigger one, and finished her off.

  Flora's shrieking suddenly silenced, the quiet in the room felt oppressive. It was a standoff. Me and four shocked, naked witches. They stood there frozen, their gazes moving from Flora's crispy body to me, their eyes wide, one of them chewing on her lower lip, another one shivering as if her nakedness had suddenly made her cold. I held out my hand, called another ball of flame that broiled and crackled on my palm. The red-haired twins with all their freckles joined hands, but they didn't try to cast anything; they were holding hands because they had the look in their eyes of women about to meet their death.

  “It doesn't have to be this way,” I said. “I don't want to kill any of you anymore.”

  One of the twins lifted her chin, her expression hardened. “You expect us to believe that?”

  “If I wanted you dead, I would have thrown a fireball for each of you by now.”

  “What do you expect?” the same twin asked.

  “Now that I have my soul back, we could call a truce.”

  All four of them stared at me like I was nuts. They had not seen that coming. Frankly, neither had I.

  There it was. The offer. The proverbial olive branch. It was up to them if they wanted to take it. Because I truly was tired of killing. It seemed I'd done an awful lot of it lately, and it had worn on me. I had just been too, too angry to notice.

  The four witches moved slowly and formed up a straight line. Their bare feet stepped through the shattered crystal, some of them smearing bloody footprints on the floor, but hardly noticing.

  “Well?” I asked. “Truce?”

  The other twin spoke this time. “What makes you think we won't destroy you the first chance we get?”

  “Because things have changed,” I said. “I'm not the Unturned. I have my whole soul. Access to all my power. And I've learned a couple new tricks. If you decide to come after me, I can guarantee I'll kill you all then.”

  The four witches exchanged looks. They seemed uncertain.

  “You only have two mothers left,” I said. I nodded at the older witch among the three of them. “Want to make it one?”

>   The three younger girls all flinched in their own way. The mother pressed her lips together and seemed to brace herself for impact.

  “Truce?” I asked one last time.

  The mother looked to the girls. I had basically put them in charge of the situation. Thankfully, unlike sorcerers, witches had no inherent power. Since I had cut them off (like they had wanted to do to me, come to think of it), it didn't matter that one of them was older and stronger in the dark arts. Right now, they stood together as impotent equals.

  The twins nodded and said, in creepy unison, “Truce.”

  Chapter Thirty

  I stormed into the room and found the twins' mother kneeling beside Odi, who lay on a bed just like the one I had been cuffed to. The witch's eyes went wide. She gripped a wooden stake in her hand and raised it over Odi's heart. Odi just lay there, unconscious. Not sure what they did to him to knock him out, but it had probably hurt.

  I held out my hand and conjured a gust of wind that knocked the stake out of her hand and bowled her over. Unlike the other witches, she was still wearing a robe, and she got tangled up in it as she rolled along the tiles.

  “We've called a truce,” I said. “Do you want to sign on with that?”

  She untangled from her robes and struggled to her feet. She brushed the dust off herself with hard, quick slaps. She glared at me, and if she had had access to my power in that moment, she probably would've stripped off my skin like what they'd done to Odi.

  She held out a forked hand, and muttered what sounded like something in Latin. It didn't sound very nice either.

  I honestly wasn't sure if she had her own source of magical energy stored up. But when nothing happened, she gasped. Then she slowly backed away.

  Guess not.

  I heard someone come up behind me through the door.

  The twins' mother looked past me, pleading in her eyes. I stepped aside.