Blood Price (Blood Immortal Book 1)

by Ava Benton

  “You won’t get the chance.” I withdrew my dagger.

  He was too fast. He raised one hand, and the dagger flew from mine, skittering across the floor.

  Mariya let out a superhuman cry and flung back a spell of her own, knocking Kristoff back, but not off his feet. Still, he looked shocked as he brushed off his black robes.

  Instead of turning his attention to her, he raised his hand and pointed to the chandelier hanging over her head.

  “Watch out!” I sprinted across the room to where she stood and threw myself against her.

  The heavy iron light fixture smashed into the floor, sending dust and debris flying in all directions, but we had just slid behind a marble column before it hit.

  “Are you all right?” I held her face in my hands.

  She was smudged with dust but looked unharmed.

  “I’m fine. You?”

  We both peered around the side of the column.

  Kristoff waited for us on the stage.

  “Giving up so soon? But the sun has barely gone down. We still have time before the ritual begins.”

  I looked up through one of the broken windows.

  Yes, it was getting dark. We were running out of time.

  Mariya shook herself and seemed to center. “Okay. Come on.”

  She was back on her feet faster than I expected and I had to scramble to keep up with her, another blade at the ready.

  She really was ready, too.

  Kristoff didn’t have time to defend himself before Mariya held her hands in front of her face and unleashed two bolts of lightning. I had never seen anybody but Vanessa do that.

  The bolts wound themselves around Kristoff’s body like chains.

  He screamed and writhed and cursed her, and the molding curtains hung at both sides of the stage billowed out as if a strong wind blew them. The wind did blow, too, hitting us both and almost knocking us off our feet. I made sure she stayed upright.

  “Now!” she screamed, hair blowing back from her face, eyes wide.

  The silver dagger gleamed in my hand, and I raised it, then pulled my arm back.

  “No!” Kristoff screamed, his own eyes wide with agonizing fear.

  He was at our mercy.

  It was time to rid the world of him.

  I let go of the dagger and watched it sail into the wind, wind which didn’t alter its course.

  When it hit its mark and sank into his chest, Kristoff threw back his head and howled.

  I gritted my teeth against the ear-splitting sound and instinctively gathered Mariya in my arms as she released him from the spell.

  She curled up against my chest, and I watched Kristoff explode from the inside out, starting from the point where my dagger had struck him. Clearly he didn’t realize that I’d had my daggers enchanted.

  Then, just like that, the wind stopped howling, and the room went silent and dark again.

  Mariya hesitated for a moment before lifting her head and looking around.

  “Is it over?” she asked, looking up at me.

  I nodded, and we ran for the stage.

  All that was left of Kristoff was his robes and my dagger.

  I picked it up and wiped it on the black velvet, then used it to cut the restraints holding Vanessa in place.

  Without the spells Kristoff had placed on them, it was easy to free her.

  She fell into my arms, exhausted, dazed.

  “Oh, sweetheart.” Mariya held her head and kissed it, smoothing her hair back.

  “We have to get out of here,” I reminded her. As far away as possible.

  “I want to get her someplace safe, fast,” she said. “It’ll take hours to get home.”

  Vanessa’s eyes opened. “I’ll take us there. Right now.”

  “Are you strong enough?” Mariya asked, searching her face.

  It did me good to see her frown, annoyed that her sister would question her abilities.

  “Of course. Just touch my arm, and we’ll be there right away.” So, she did, and I closed my eyes.

  I never did like traveling that way, but it was better than a long drive.

  16

  Mariya

  “Sorry if you thought I would ever let you go once we got out of there,” I murmured, rocking my sister as I held her.

  We were on the sofa in my apartment, just the three of us.

  Elias stood by the window, watching in case anybody had followed us.

  I strongly doubted it, but that was his job.

  Vanessa shook like a leaf.

  I had never seen her like that before, like she could fall apart at any second. I held her tighter.

  Elias pulled a blanket from the arm of the sofa and draped it over her shoulders.

  “I never thought you would get me out of there. Or that anyone would. Or could. I was sure it was over.”

  “Don’t you know it was my job to make sure you got out of there alive?” he asked.

  She glanced in his direction with a wry smile. “Careful. You might sweep me off my feet. Besides, it was your job to come for me—but not to get me out. No offense, but I wasn’t sure you could take him.”

  “Now you’re sweeping me off my feet,” he said. “I had help, too. She did everything.” His gaze locked with mine.

  A warmth surrounded me fully. Comforting and embracing me, without his even touching me.

  Vanessa looked at me. “You took an awful chance.”

  “I couldn’t leave you there. You’re too important to everybody—me included.” I did what I could to smooth down her tangled hair.

  She needed a long soak in a hot tub and maybe a week of sleep.

  I looked around the living room, and a question hit me. “Why did you bring us back here and not to your place?”

  It was good to see her cheeks color a little, even if it from embarrassment instead of feeling better. “I wanted a little bit of time to get my head together before I go back. I know there will be so many questions and… I don’t know if I want to answer them right away. I’m still trying to make sense out of a lot of it.”

  “I understand—and I can act as a sort of, I don’t know, bodyguard for a while. If you want.”

  She grinned. “Because you won’t be busy fending off questions yourself.”

  I grimaced. “Oh. Right.”

  “I’m not sure I want to relive that experience, is all. Now or ever.”

  “You’re the High Sorceress.” Elias turned away from the window, where he had been looking out again. “It’s up to you how much you want to tell, or if you want to say anything at all. If you think it’s important for the coven to know, that’s one thing.”

  “I don’t think it is,” she decided.

  “Then you just solved your problem.” He gave her the briefest of smiles.

  But it wasn’t his face I paid attention to. It was hers.

  The wide, warm, genuine smile made my heart twinge. The way her eyes lit up when he wasn’t paying attention.

  Vanessa’s in love with him.

  No, that wasn’t possible. That couldn’t be it. She was never in love, not that I knew of. And she had never held back from flaunting her personal life, so I was sure she would’ve spread the word if somebody special had come along.

  But didn’t that make it even more possible that she loved him? Because she had never loved before?

  When I looked at it that way, the proclamation that she would never step down as High Sorceress looked very different.

  If she never stepped down, she never had to give him up. How he couldn’t feel it, because of their connection, I would never know. Maybe she tried hard to cover it up.

  Or he was so dense and entrenched in his rules and duties that he never noticed.

  She looked down at herself—the torn, dirty nightgown had seen better days. “Do you have anything I could wear? I can’t wait to burn this thing.”

  “Of course. You should shower, too. Take your time.” I pulled sweats from my dresser and towels from the
linen closet.

  When she was inside the bathroom with the shower running, I went to Elias and walked into his open arms.

  He nuzzled my neck, my ear, before burying his face in my hair.

  I kept my eyes open, so I could take in as much of him as possible—the little hairs on the nape of his neck, the slope of his shoulder, the curve of his ear.

  “I tried to do what you made me promise,” I whispered as he kissed my neck.

  “Hmm?”

  “I tried to leave you on your own in there, to make it look like there was nothing between us. I really did try. But I couldn’t. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pretend…”

  He met my mouth with his and swept me up in the deepest, most soul-searing kiss I could imagine.

  My whole world was him just then. His mouth, his smell, his hands, his arms crushing me to his unyielding body. I gave myself over to him, heart and soul, and he cradled me against him.

  “I love you,” I gasped when the kiss was over, and I could barely breathe or even stay standing.

  He held me up, and I rested my cheek against his chest.

  “You’re my all,” he rasped in my ear. “Everything in the world is in my arms right now. Everything that will ever matter to me until the end of my life, no matter how many centuries are left. You will always be the thing that makes me whole and keeps me going. My soul will always long for yours.”

  My chest hurt. I never knew heartache literally hurt. My arms tightened around his shoulders, and I tilted my face upward for another kiss.

  “No way.”

  Her words were like a bomb dropping on my head.

  Elias’s arms dropped from around me, and we stood side-by-side while Vanessa gaped at us.

  “I’m… we’re…” I looked up at him, lost for words.

  As always, he knew how to cut to the chase. “We’re in love. I love her.”

  She leaned her back against the wall.

  “Oh. I see.” Everything flashed across her face—jealousy, sadness, resignation.

  I held my breath, ready to rush defend myself in case she had a temper tantrum.

  There was no telling how she’d react after what she had been through. The fact that she seemed to be taking it in without reacting made me nervous.

  “It’s not like it matters,” I babbled to fill the silence. “We know it’s not possible for us to be together. He has a job to do for you, and there are rules. We understand. We couldn’t stop it from happening, though.”

  Her face was an unreadable mask. She stepped away from the wall and went back to the sofa, sitting with her hands folded in her lap, looking at the floor. After everything she had faced, we had just put the cherry on top of the sundae. He loved me and not her. She had to live with him, knowing he didn’t love her.

  Finally, after holding my breath for what felt like hours, she looked at both of us.

  Then she spoke. “I’m sorry for you both,” she murmured, still staring at the floor. “I know how strict The Fold’s rules are.”

  “We didn’t mean to make things awkward or difficult,” I whispered, chewing my lip, wondering which side she would finally fall on.

  Was she petty enough to report him for falling in love? He would leave her service, and neither of us would ever have him.

  “You didn’t make it awkward or difficult,” she murmured, then looked up at me. “What if you didn’t survive tonight?”

  My heart skipped a beat, even though I had no idea what she meant. “What did you just say?” I whispered.

  “What are you talking about?” Elias crouched beside her.

  She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “What if I tell everybody you didn’t survive? Kristoff or one of his minions—whoever they were—killed you both during the fight? I barely made it out alive. I came here first because I was confused and just wanted to get away, but I was alone the whole time.”

  I couldn’t breathe; she wasn’t serious—was she? Was it possible that we could pull off such an enormous lie? I looked at Elias, hoping he would help me understand. But he was as confused as I was.

  “It’s my duty to guard you,” he said, slowly, like he was trying to make sense of the idea.

  “I know. And you’ve done as good a job as you could,” she said as she carefully, and very slowly, covered his hand with hers. Like she was afraid of what he’d do if she touched him.

  He was either too surprised to react, or he genuinely didn’t mind, because his hand didn’t move.

  Her smile was gentle and genuine. “I know I was much too much, and I’m sorry. I really am.”

  “That doesn’t matter now,” he said. “And it doesn’t mean I no longer want to serve as your Nightwarden.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” she smiled sadly. “I mean, I’m letting you off the hook. Only the three of us ever need to know you survived the fight. The Fold will assign another Nightwarden to me and life will go on. Just like yours will.” She looked at me. “Together.”

  “Vanessa. I don’t know what to say.” She took my breath away.

  Who was this woman? It was like we had never met. I wondered for a second if she hadn’t sustained serious injury, maybe a blow to the head. But she looked as clear as I had ever seen her, and she spoke clearly, too.

  “Just say you’ll be happy. Okay? That’s what I want for you.”

  “You think anybody will believe this?” Elias stood and started pacing the room. The muscles in his jaw jumped.

  “I think they’ll believe anything I want them to believe. Why would I lie?”

  “For our sake?” I suggested.

  “Nobody knows about you two. Do they?”

  “No…”

  “Then, it works just perfectly.” For once, she laughed in spite of herself. “I mean, do you think anybody would jump to the conclusion that I made up a story to help somebody else? Especially since it means waiting for a new Nightwarden and making the trip to The Fold to start imprinting? Ugh, what a hassle.” She rolled her eyes.

  He was still pacing, and he looked just as conflicted as ever. “This isn’t so easy for me.”

  Not what I wanted to hear. “Because of The Fold,” I said, hoping I was right. Hoping it wasn’t because he didn’t want me once all the drama was over.

  It was one thing to tell me I was his everything when he didn’t think we could be together, but another to commit himself.

  “Of course, because of them.” He didn’t even realize how nervous he had made me.

  I glanced at Vanessa, who smiled and shrugged.

  For the first time, it was like we could connect on something. It only took decades.

  “They don’t need to know,” she reminded him. “Mariya’s car is still in Atlantic City. Why would she leave it there if she was still alive?”

  “Ugh. My car. I’ll miss that car,” I murmured.

  She continued, “If you hide well enough, they’ll never find out. And they won’t look for you—they’ll assume my story is the truth, because why would I lie, and they’ll be too busy assigning me a new Nightwarden to consider following up. Besides, have you ever seen anyone from The Fold here in the city? They’re either over in Serbia or in West Virginia, way under the mountains. They don’t announce themselves.”

  I waited with bated breath to hear what he thought.

  He hadn’t stopped moving yet. Not a good sign.

  When our eyes met, his were as intense as I had ever seen them. “What about you?”

  “Me?”

  “You could walk away from your life? From your mother, your coven?”

  A pang of guilt twisted my heart. Of course. How had I forgotten them? The question was enough to make me pause and take stock. What would life look like without them in it? I had never known anything else. Thanks to my mother being High Sorceress, the coven had always been the center of my world. My identity. My family. I would never see any of them again.

  “Mother will think I died,” I whispered, stunned. “H
ow can I do that to her?”

  Vanessa patted my shoulder. “She’ll think you died a hero. She’ll be so proud of you. They all will. And if you think any of them will ever forget your name, you’re wrong. I’ll keep your name in their ears until the day I die. I can promise you that.”

  “I don’t want to hurt her.” My chin quivered as guilt almost choked me.

  “I know you don’t.” Vanessa looked at Elias.

  “I understand if this is too big a sacrifice to ask you to make,” he said. He sounded stoic, as always, but in his words was a deep current of sadness. He didn’t want to ask me to do it, but he most definitely wanted me to do it.

  I got up and went to him. “It’s not too big a sacrifice. But I’m not making it in a bubble. I know how it’ll affect others, is all. And I have to learn to live with it.”

  Hope flickered in his eyes. “Does that mean you’ll do it?”

  “Under one condition.”

  “Name it,” he said with a smile.

  “That you know for certain you’ll be all right. I’m not the one who would face punishment if we got caught.”

  He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “I’m certain. And as long as they think we’re dead, it’ll be safe.” He looked over my shoulder, to where Vanessa sat.

  “They will. I’ll take care of it.” She rose and went to my room. “Come on. Let’s get a few of your things together—not enough to raise suspicion, but enough to live on for a while.” She snickered, but not unkindly. “I know Elias is already wearing everything he owns.”

  When we were alone, I turned to my sister.

  She reminded me a lot of our mother just then: take-charge, no-nonsense, she knew best and would make sure everybody else knew it, too.

  It wasn’t until she had already gotten halfway through packing a suitcase for me that she noticed me staring and stopped, looking guilty.

  “What?” she asked with a grin. “You don’t believe I’ll make good on my promise, do you?”

  “It’s not that I don’t. It’s just that I wish I didn’t feel like we’re leaving you in the lurch.”

  “Mariya.” She stopped packing and gave me a hug. “I had a lot of time to think things over while I was in that awful place. I realized I don’t like a lot of the choices I’ve made. I was a brat. I was self-centered, spoiled, entitled. When I think back on some of the things I did and said, I don’t like who I was before Kristoff took me. Who knows? It might turn out to be the best thing that could’ve happened to all of us.”