by Sean Stone
Not all of the vampires had been as enthusiastic about working for Eddie as Gabe was. That’s why Gabe had been put in charge. Gabe saw it as an opportunity. A career. He’d been given a whole host of supernatural abilities and all he had to do was keep one guy safe. It turned out that was a tougher job than he’d originally realised. Eddie had a lot of energy and after spending some time with him Gabe could see why. As much as Gabe liked Eddie the guy could benefit from keeping his mouth shut once in a while.
It was sad but true that Ashley’s death had brought with it new opportunities for Gabe. He’d turned a simple security job into a personal assistant job and from there had managed to step up to practically being Eddie’s number two. Gabe had never been as happy as when Eddie had told him to take care of the rest of the faction meeting earlier tonight. Eddie had given him real responsibility. He’d trusted Gabe with the running of his town.
Gabe’s parents still did not want anything to do with him. A couple of months ago he’d gone home to see them. He thought that if they saw him in a fancy suit, with plenty of money they’d realise he was a success and that they’d been wrong. But all they’d seen was that he was not a teacher. How could they have such low ambitions anyway? He was better than a teacher. He was pretty much a politician. He’d left that house and vowed never to return. Eddie appreciated him. Eddie valued him. That was the main thing.
Gabe saw that something was wrong as soon as he arrived at the house. The front door was ajar, and the house was too quiet. His vampiric hearing should’ve been able to pick up some sort of noise made by Eddie, but there was nothing. He focused more, straining to hear his boss’s breathing but he didn’t hear a thing. Eddie might have just gone out, but then why was the door not closed? He wasn’t that careless.
Gabe folded the document and tucked it into the inside pocket of his Dolce and Gabbana suit. Eddie did not care for Gabe’s elaborate dress sense, but the designer suits made Gabe feel like he was somebody. And when you could make someone give you whatever you wanted you might as well go designer. He pushed the front door open slowly. Sabrina was lying at the other end of the hallway, her head twisted right the way round.
“Shit,” Gabe whispered. He pulled out his phone and sent a distress text to the others. There was nobody else in the house, there was no way they could be this silent. All the same Gabe shot through the rooms with enhanced speed just to be sure. It didn’t look like the intruders had gone anywhere but the hallway. The rest of the house looked fine. The hallway had a broken table and a dead Sabrina in it. Gabe sat down at the bottom of the stairs and waited for Sabrina to revive. He tried calling Eddie whilst he waited but as expected it went straight through to voicemail. He only needed to wait a minute before the female’s head snapped round and her eyes shot open.
“Argh,” she groaned, her hand going to her neck. Gabe had had his neck snapped enough times to know it hurt like hell. “Gabe,” she said quickly, shooting up to her feet.
“What happened?” he asked, also rising. He kept a cool composure but on the inside he was on red alert.
“Uh…” she looked at the front door as if it might answer for her. “Sorcerers came through the door and hit me with a spell. That’s all I remember,” she said.
“Where was Eddie?”
“In the living room,” she said, poking her head in to see if he was still there.
“He’s gone now,” Gabe said. “Kidnapped by the looks of it. I really thought the factions had agreed to play ball but all the time they were planning this.” He walked into the living room, took out the signed document, screwed it up and threw it. The ball of paper stopped mid-air and suddenly Nickolas Blackwood was standing before them, the paper ball in his hand. Gabe froze like a deer in headlights. If there was a higher alert than red he would’ve been on it now. Nick was a wildcard. Gabe wasn’t sure whose side he was on and he had no idea if he could be trusted. Maybe Nick had taken Eddie. He tensed himself ready for a fight and waited to see what Nick did.
Nick unscrewed the paper calmly and then smoothed it out as best he could. He walked casually across the room, as if he had nothing to fear from anyone in the world and offered the paper to Gabe. “Your factions had nothing to do with this,” he said silkily. Gabe took the paper automatically.
“Then who did?” he asked.
“Clara Winters took Eddie. Why don’t we sit down and discuss how you’re going to get him back?”
Chapter Twenty-One
My anger raged on for so long it surprised even me. I punched the glass until my knuckles were raw and bloody. Then I turned my frustration on the bed until it was no longer a functioning piece of furniture but more some sort of expressionist artwork. Nothing seemed to calm me down but trashing what little I had in my cell did make me feel a little more satisfied. Gabe would come. He would need to convince the factions to help because five vampires were not going to cut it. But the factions would never help, most of them had moved to Maidstone because they were scared of Clara, they weren’t going to march to war against her. The only way I was getting out of this cage was if I found my own way out. Maybe I could trick Clara into thinking I’d joined her… No, she wasn’t stupid enough to fall for that. There was no way she was going to let me out of this cage. Not unless I was shackled in iron. But then, maybe I could get myself out.
I looked around to make sure I wasn’t being watched. The only other person in the vicinity was Laura and her cage was so far away that she wouldn’t be able to tell what I was doing. She hadn’t paid me any attention so far, not even when I destroyed my bed. I approached the glass and laid my palm flat on its surface. My blood was still smeared all over it, so I avoided that bit and found a clean section. My knuckles were throbbing, I needed some magic to heal them. With my palm flat on the glass I closed my eyes and focused. The building blocked magic using a spell powered by the entire Alliance of Covens. That meant there was magic I could siphon right out of the building. There was no way I’d be able to take all of the magic, not without blowing myself up, but maybe I could steal just enough to break free. I couldn’t get anything. Even my ability was blocked by the bloody spell.
“You’re going to need a lot more power to overcome all of the sorcerers powering that spell,” said a familiar voice. I opened my eyes and saw Dean on the other side of the glass. He was leaning on the opposite cell, his arms folded over his chest.
“Unless you’re here to let me out, fuck off,” I snapped. I withdrew my hand from the glass and turned away from him. I would’ve sat on the bed but there was nothing left to sit on.
“And they say I’m the grumpy one,” he muttered. I turned and glared at him.
“Grumpy? You think this is grumpy? This is pissed off! There’s a difference!” I shouted. If I’d had any magic at my disposal I would have blown him away with my fury. He was lucky. As it was he could tell he was in no danger and didn’t even flinch when I shouted. He probably wouldn’t have flinched anyway.
“Finished?” he asked, as though I were a child throwing a wobbly. “There’s no point being angry at me, I didn’t put you here.” He sighed and straightened up. “I’ve told Clara this is a mistake, but you know what she’s like. She only listens to herself.”
“Maybe when I get out of here I’ll cut off her ears so she won’t even be able to do that,” I seethed. It only took me a second to realise that what I said made absolutely no sense. My anger was starting to make a fool out of me. Dean raised an eyebrow.
“This anger is why you’re still here. I’d got her to consider letting you out but then you went and threw a tantrum and now you’ve got no hope.”
“What did she expect a cup of tea and a slice of cake?” Actually, I could do with both of those right now.
“She said you reminded her too much of Nick when you lost your temper. She’s scared, Eddie. Scared you’ll turn into him. She can’t risk your ability falling into his hands.”
“So, what? She’s just gonna keep me in here forever?” I d
emanded.
Dean shook his head. “No. You’ll be here until Nick is taken off the table. She’s going to find the Ambrotos Dagger, use it to put him down and then bury him in cement somewhere he’ll never be found. Then you can go back to Maidstone and carry on with your life.”
“Oh, as if! She’s going to take over Maidstone while I’m out of the picture. There’ll be nothing for me to go back to,” I argued.
“Actually, she’s not. She’s going to reach out to Gabe. As long as he doesn’t try to rescue you she will let him run Maidstone in your absence. It will be right there for you when you get out. She said she wouldn’t take Maidstone and she sticks to her word.”
I laughed drily. “Is this sticking to her word?” I gestured at the glass walls enclosing me.
“Well, technically she never said anything about not locking you up.” To that I said nothing. The only answer he got was my iciest glower. “Her motives are good, but as usual her methods are flawed,” he conceded. “She wants what’s best for everyone.”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “This is what’s best for her. When you go back up there you make sure you tell her she has lost my support for good. There’s no going back after this. I will do everything in my power to fuck up every plan she comes up with. We are enemies now. Go on. Go and tell her that.”
Dean looked at me sadly. Pityingly. “You know that after I’ve told her that she’ll never let you out of that cage. The rest of your life will be spent behind that glass. You will never be free.”
The white glowing orb above my head darkened to a blood red at the same time a hideously high siren started to wail. I covered my ears and staggered back but the noise wasn’t coming from the orb. The noise was everywhere, filling the whole building. Looking around I saw that all of the orbs had turned red and were pulsing like floating circular hearts. Dean was staring at me as if I’d done it. His face was a mixture of concern and confusion.
“What is it?” I shouted over the racket. He didn’t answer. Instead he reached behind him and pulled out a gun before running off towards the exit.
What the fuck was going on? The building must be under attack. Operation Rescue Eddie was under way. I hoped that was what it was and not some separate issue. I tried my luck and went for a spell, hoping that whatever was going on had broken the spell on the building. Not so. I cursed and kicked at the glass. Then I jumped back as a person appeared right in front of me, looking at me through the cage.
“Fuck!” he screamed, my hand over my heart as I recovered from the shock. It was Gabe. He was dressed in the same suit he’d worn to the meeting although it now looked far less suave. The jacket was crinkled, the shirt untucked in places and his tie was hanging limply. There was a spatter of blood on his collar.
“You came,” I said fondly, a small smile scaring away some of my anger. This kid just kept surprising me with his resourcefulness.
“Of course I came. You didn’t think I’d leave you here?” he said, his young brow furrowed. “Stand back.”
I took a couple of steps away and watched as he pounded his pale fist into the glass. The first smack cracked it. The second shattered it. It seemed too easy. I guess they never expected a vampire to make it down here, after all they weren’t supposed to be able to enter but Gabe had been added to the guest list. I bet Clara was kicking herself for allowing that now.
“How have you done this?” I asked. There was no way he’d managed to pull off this rescue with only five vampires.
“I’ll explain outside. We just need to get out. I couldn’t get anyone else through the building’s defences so until we get out we’re on our own,” he explained, already leading me to the door. I shared his discomfort at the situation. One baby vampire and powerless warlock wasn’t the best team.
We jogged to the door, he made sure that I didn’t overtake him, ever the diligent bodyguard. We bounded up the stairs and found ourselves in a long corridor that was glowing red with flashing lights, the sound of shrill alarm rang out even louder up here. There were no people and we ran on unimpeded.
“Where are we going?” I shouted when I realised we were not heading for the doors.
“Front doors are blocked. We need to go out through the back,” he shouted back.
We made it through the building without issue but when we got to the back door we found that it was not unguarded. Only one man stood sentry, and in any normal situation it wouldn’t be a problem. This was no normal situation. Without magic I was effectively human, and he was full of power.
“You shouldn’t be up here,” he said as he raised his hands. Then he screamed as Gabe shot across the space and sunk his fangs deep into his neck. Gabe made the most savage noises as he feasted on the man’s jugular. The guard’s body slackened and as Gabe released him he tumbled to the floor. Gabe turned to me, his mouth now caked in dark blood, his eyes the same colour. His fangs hung down menacingly, also dripping with blood.
“Sorry you had to see that,” he said as he wiped his mouth on his cuff.
“I’ve seen far worse,” I replied as we burst out of the door. As soon as I was free of the building I felt my power rush back into me. I quickly healed the wounds on my knuckles and the throbbing pain subdued. I looked backed at the evil building and silently vowed never to go back inside it again. Somehow, I was going to bring that wretched construction crashing down in a shower of glass. It currently looked more sinister than ever because the red pulsing lights were shining through the glass, lighting up the surrounding area like fire.
‘This way,” Gabe said, gently tugging on my arm. He led me across the vast car park and onto the grass beyond. From there we walked up a hill to where a small woodland lay. On the edge of the trees were Alison and Sharon.
“Good to see you,” Alison said with a hint of a smile.
“Where are the others?” I asked, looking for them in the trees.
“I left them back in Maidstone in case our absence ignited any rebellions,” Gabe informed me.
“Clever. So how did you three pull this off?” I asked.
Sharon nodded back towards the building. I turned and saw that I now had a perfect view of the front of the building and the battle that was taking place before it. There looked to be about fifty vampires fighting relentlessly against a host of sorcerers at least triple their number. I watched as the pale blood-suckers whooshed around maiming sorcerers. The sorcerers weren’t taking it lying down. Spells were bouncing around dropping vampires like flies. For each sorcerer that died three vampires fell. “They don’t stand a chance,” I said.
“That’s what I thought. Keep watching,” said Alison.
I watched and what I saw I had a hard time digesting. Each vampire that fell down dead simply got back up, snapped any broken bones back into place and continued fighting. I saw one vampire survive having his entire chest burned through. It wasn’t possible and yet he stood up, the gaping hole in his midsection already healing. “What is this?” I asked in wonder. Gabe nodded towards the woods.
I walked in the direction he’d nodded and there he was. Nick was standing among the trees; his head was bowed, and his eyes closed. He was concentrating on the vampires below, casting some sort of spell that went beyond everything I’d believed possible. He was literally stopping death from taking effect. I looked back at the battle. Clara was on the scene now, pushing her way to the front, some of the dynasts were with her. They’d likely figure out how to undo the spell soon. I needed to leave.
“Who are those vampires?” I asked Gabe. Did they belong to the Fant faction? They couldn’t be from Tovil, they wouldn’t help after I killed their leader.
“Aldric’s enemies. I made a deal with them in exchange for their help.”
My blood ran cold. He made a deal with Aldric’s enemies. That likely meant he’d positioned himself and therefore me as one of Aldric’s enemies. “What deal?” my voice was hoarse. I had enough battles to fight without throwing Aldric in.
“They w
anted one stake to use against Aldric. I promised them you’d make one if they helped get you out unharmed.
“Oh, Gabe,” I said, shaking my head in disappointment. “You should’ve known better.”
“Nick would only help if we provided the manpower,” Gabe protested.
“So, use the factions.”
“They would never have helped. I’d only just got them to agree to stop fighting each other there was no way they were going to fight Clara. I would have had to offer them autonomy. Is that better?”
“No,” I admitted. “I guess not. But why would Nick insist on us providing the manpower when he has his own army.”
“I wouldn’t say I have an army,” Nick said as he joined us. “And I don’t want Clara to know the extent of my power just yet. I’ve given her a taste of what I can do already. I wish to give her no more than that. And my people are reluctant to risk their own lives for somebody who hasn’t committed to our cause yet.”
“Their lives would hardly be at risk,” I said, indicating the spell that kept the vampires alive.
“That spell only works on the undead,” Nick replied.
I suddenly realised that if he was here and not concentrating then the spell must be broken. Looking down I saw that the vampires were all huddled together surrounded by the sorcerers. Nobody was trying to attack. I looked at Nick in confusion.
“I’m shielding them. The shield won’t last if all those sorcerers choose to attack at once, but in their confusion, they are hesitant to act,” he said smiling at his work. “Now is the time for you to go down there and address your enemies.”
