“Professor Ivan Wagner.” I frowned. I hadn’t thought about Vincent’s sidekick since the day he’d been arrested and locked up in mage prison. Surely he couldn’t have anything to do with this. He’d been off the streets for months. “He’s in prison, Grams.”
Grams nodded, sighing heavily. “Well, then I don’t know how to help you, Zoe. I wish I could, but I’m an old and tired woman whose magic is weak and fading more with every passing day.”
I hated to hear her speak like this, as if there were only days left instead of months or years. She’d only been getting worse these past few weeks, and I was left feeling hopeless, like there wasn’t a damn thing I could do other than sit here and watch her fade.
“I just don’t know what to do, Grams,” I said, my voice cracking. “Dorian has been taken by a demon, and I would do whatever it took to get him back. But I feel so helpless.”
Grams reached up to cup her soft hand around my cheek, the comforting and familiar scent of her vanilla lotion filling my nose. “I think you know how to get Dorian back, dear. There are ways. Ones that are no stranger to you. You’re just far too scared to do what needs to be done.”
My eyes fluttered shut as the weight of the truth settled over me. “Use my shadow magic. Find Dorian. Destroy the creature any way I can. The only problem is, if I do that, the darkness could take over.”
“You can embrace who you are and not lose yourself, Zoe. And if one person on this planet would agree with me on that, it would be him. He trusts you. He knows you’re strong enough. And so do I.”
My heart thumped hard. Grams was right. Dorian had been coaching me to use my power for months. He’d told me time and time again that I could master it, that I didn’t have to be so scared to open myself up to what simmered deep within. And maybe if I had listened to him for even a moment, if I’d practiced my magic instead of shutting it up deep inside of my soul, if I’d trained, if I’d done anything other than push it away, then I’d have a better handle on how to keep it within my control.
With a tear slipping down my cheek, I leaned into Grams’s touch. There was only one choice in front of me, and I knew what Dorian would do if he were in my place. He’d risk losing himself if it meant he could save me. And I knew I had to do the same.
Chapter 24
Strapping my sheath around my waist, I strode toward the front door with determination in every step. I’d failed Dorian when the demon had attacked, too scared to harness my power. My shadow magic was a million times stronger than any bone spell I could manage. Using that instead of the bone wards might have been enough to give Dorian the chance to get away. Now, I had to right my wrong, and there was only one way I could do that.
“Where are you going?” Laura jumped up from the couch and followed me across the room.
With a sigh, I whirled to face her, hoping she wouldn’t try to stop what very well might end up being a suicide mission. “Dorian’s apartment. I need a belonging of his so I can track him down.”
“You’re going to use your shadow spell. Seek or something, wasn’t it? The one you cast to find Vincent.” She grabbed her faded black boots from the rack beside the door and shoved her feet inside them. “Give me a second, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“I thought you’d tell me I shouldn’t,” I said. “Much less come with me to help.”
She tightened the laces and glanced up at me, eyes peering out of a curtain of blonde and pink stripes. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, Zoe. We’ve always thought of the Shadows as the witches with darkness inside of them, but then blood mages go and do something far worse than I could imagine. Burning down a club? Putting aside the fact that Daywalkers aren’t demonic, there were innocent humans inside of that place. Did you see the news? Twenty people died.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “I don’t think the powers of the covens are as black and white as I thought. It’s how we use our magic that matters.”
“You’re okay with me using a shadow spell to find Dorian,” I said, the relief of her words crashing over me like a tidal wave. Of all the people in the world I needed to hear that from, it was her.
Laura stood and wrapped her arms tight around my neck. “I’m not just okay with it, Zoe. If we’re going to get through all this, I think we need it. And I’ll help you any way I can.”
Dorian’s apartment was eerie and barren when we strode through the door. The small space usually felt empty regardless, but Dorian’s presence always filled it in such a way that the furnishings didn’t seem so sparse. He was larger than life, his body brimming with strength and power. Hell, even the scuff marks on the walls dimmed in comparison.
I grabbed a t-shirt from his closet and settled onto the floor, taking deep breaths to steady my nerves. It had been three months since I’d touched my shadow magic. And frankly, I was terrified as hell.
Laura joined me on the floor and crossed her legs, placing the shadow grimoire on the warped hardwood between us. “You ready?”
I gave a nod, though I was anything but. Laura’s presence helped sooth my nerves, but my heartbeat still thrummed in my neck like hummingbird wings. I was thankful she was here, even if there wasn’t much she could do to help. This spell was mine and mine alone, and unfortunately, I couldn’t take a single soul with me when I left my physical body behind.
“Right.” I traced a finger along the Latin words on the cover, and a spark of power shot through my skin. “If something goes wrong, I need you to make sure Grams is taken care of.”
“Zoe,” Laura said with a frown. “Don’t talk like that. Nothing is going to go wrong. You’re just suspending your mind from your body. Right?”
“Yes, in a way. Once I cast the spell, my mind will go wherever the demon has taken Dorian, but that doesn’t make me invincible. I could end up in the demon realm. Or goddess knows where else.”
Laura frowned down at the grimoire. “You’re saying you could be hurt.”
“Whatever happens to me in that form is permanent, so yes. I could get hurt.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed tight, emotion bubbling up in my throat. “Promise me you’ll make sure Grams is taken care of.”
Laura nodded, her eyes filling with tears as she leaned forward to press her forehead against mine. Power surged between us, blood and shadow blending as one. Forget my off-and-on bond with Dorian. I’d always felt linked to Laura in a way that went far beyond magic. She was my soul sister. My rock.
“Please be careful,” she whispered. “You’re the only family I’ve got.”
“I’ll be careful.” With a smile, I swiped a tear from her cheek. “Just don’t forget you do have the Blood Coven. I’m sure they’d welcome you with open arms if you asked.”
Her eyes sparked with fire, replacing the tears that had been there only seconds before. “I’m never officially joining their coven now that I know what they’re capable of. I’d ask to join the Bone Coven, but everyone knows my mark. There’s nothing I can do to hide what I am now. I’m stuck being coven-less for life.”
“We should start our own coven. You and me. Summoner and Magister.” I cracked a smile. “It’d be a hell of a lot better than all these other shitty covens, don’t you think?”
“Damn straight.” Her face softened as she began to laugh. A second later, I joined in. The two of us sat there together like that, letting the tension roll off our shoulders. I needed this moment, to remind me what I was. I wouldn’t let my power conquer me. It was time to push aside my fears and conquer it instead.
The smile slid from my face as I turned my attention back on the grimoire sitting between us. “I better get started. We don’t know how long Dorian has.”
Or if he even had any time left at all.
With a deep breath, I flipped the page to the Seek spell. I didn’t really need to see the paper. The words were in Latin, and there were no runes for me to draw—shadow mages were the only magic wielders who didn’t need to draw runes in order to harness their coven power. They merely needed their
dagger, deep shadows, their will, and the knowledge of what they required the magic to do.
Dorian had already translated this spell for me once before, and I could remember the steps in my sleep. I’d had nightmares of this spell for weeks.
“Laura, I need you to turn out the lights,” I said quietly.
Nodding, she stood and flicked off the bare bulb that hung loosely in the middle of the room. I stayed seated on the floor, hidden in the deepening shadows. After several moments spent steadying my breath, I gripped my dagger tight and closed my eyes, calling upon the power I’d been hiding deep within myself all these months. The darkness, the shadows, the evil I hated so much. It churned within me, whirling so hard and so fast that I had to grit my teeth against the force.
I cried out, my body bucking and my back arching. The force was overwhelming, painful and euphoric at the same time. It filled my entire body until there was nowhere else for it to go but out.
“Dorian Kostas,” I whispered. A burst of yearning shot through me along with a dark power that ripped from my soul. Shivers danced along my skin, a sensation that swarmed over me like a thousand tiny ants. Power hummed in my veins, but it was nothing like the earthy bone magic I’d been practicing for so long. This power was raw and electric, singeing me and lighting me up at the same time.
I opened my eyes and blinked against the smudged surroundings. Everything was blotted out by churning shadows. Just before me, a shimmering dark cord hovered and waited for my touch, leading to wherever the demon had taken Dorian. Relief poured through me. If this cord was here, it must mean that Dorian wasn’t dead. He was alive, somewhere, and it would take me straight to him. Or, at least that was what I had to hope.
Wrapping my hands around the cord, I pulled. My body jerked forward, tumbling over itself as my power took over. The world whizzed past me in a blur, sights and sounds echoing like memories from long ago. Before I could catch my breath, I was outside of Dorian’s apartment. And then the cord pulled me further ahead. I spun past Blue Moon Tavern, past my own apartment building, and past the university grounds.
Everything jerked to a stop. I hurtled toward the ground, my knees bucking when my boots slammed onto a dirt path. Blinking, I looked up and around, finding myself surrounded by…
Graves.
My heart tripped inside my chest as grief threatened to overtake my mind. Shaking, I turned in a slow circle, willing this vision to be anything but true. Dorian couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be. He was stronger than anyone else I knew. A vampire. An immortal. It would take a hell of a lot to destroy him completely. Even a single demon would struggle to consume his entire life-force this quickly.
But wait. I frowned, glancing around me at the centuries-old headstones. If the demon had killed Dorian, why would he have ended up six feet under? Who would have buried him? And here? This was Belzus’s cemetery. I recognized the pathway where I stood. It led to the crypt where this entire thing had started.
Demons didn’t bury the dead. They simply tossed the bodies and moved on. And besides, all these plots were full. They had been for years.
With quiet steps, I moved past the headstones and stood in front of the crypt. I gazed up at its stone exterior, feeling a prickle of alarm in the back of my neck. Yep, I’d definitely come to the right place. I pressed my ear against the door and listened, despite my every urge to rush into the crypt without a moment’s hesitation. All was quiet within. Either the demon wasn’t there or it was lurking in wait. Bracing myself, I pushed open the heavy door and eased inside.
It was empty.
Frowning, I glanced around. The spell had led me straight here. Dorian had to be somewhere nearby, and this was the only place that made sense. Unless he really had been buried. Unless he really was dead. Unless I really was too late to save him.
Heart squeezing tight, I scanned the small space, willing my mind to latch onto something that would lead me to my partner. There had to be a hint. Something. Anything. But there wasn’t. The room held nothing but the stone-lidded coffin, perched on a short pedestal with a lid that was crooked and cracked.
“Wait a minute,” I mumbled underneath my breath as I stepped closer to the ancient coffin. I brushed my hand across the surface and stared at my palm. No dust. No dirt whatsoever. And I swore the lid hadn’t been cracked the last time we’d come here.
Belzus’s words rang in my ears. Guardian of the graves. If I removed this lid, would I find it empty? Had a skeleton risen from its resting place and walked out of the crypt? Demons, vampires, werewolves, and fae. All of those were supernaturals that I could deal with, regardless of how much of a pain in the ass they could be sometimes. But the walking dead? Yeah, no.
That was taking things to a whole other level.
Fear flickered in my heart as I pushed hard against the stone lid. It barely budged an inch despite my best efforts to shift it sideways. My muscles ached, and the rough stone of the lid scraped my hands. Wiping sweat off my brow, I stepped back. I’d never be able to get the damn thing open, not with the strength in my arms—or the lack thereof.
Unless…
My dagger was in the sheath strapped around my waist despite the fact I was only here in mind. With a deep breath, I slid it into my hands, steel singing against steel. I had no idea if this would work. For one, this wasn’t my physical form, and two…well, I didn’t know what kind of spells I could cast. All I could focus on was Grams’s words. She’d told me one important thing about my power, the only thing I had to believe in right now. If I opened myself up to the depths of my magic, it would know what to do without me asking.
It was a risk—calling on it this way. So freely and openly. If I wasn’t careful, it could use me to do its own bidding. It could draw out my darkness and cast it upon the world. It could make me destroy anyone and anything it wanted.
But I wouldn’t let it control me. Not this time.
Taking a deep breath, I dropped back my head and let my power consume my body. My hands flew out toward the coffin lid, and dark strands of smoke surged from my fingers. It swirled through the crypt, knocking against every stone wall and slamming into the coffin. Darkness edged into my mind, but I gritted my teeth to push it aside, focusing on Dorian’s stormy eyes and his strong and angular face. The way he touched my neck. The way his lips tasted when he drank my blood.
And then suddenly, the magic stopped, leaving behind billowing clouds of swirling smoke. As the shadows cleared, I could see the lid had fallen to the ground, now cracked in two from where it had crashed onto the concrete. My heart beat out a heavy rhythm in my chest. I was almost afraid to look inside the coffin. Would I find Dorian inside? And if I did, would he be dead?
My chest ached like a gaping hole had replaced my heart. I couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing him again. Taking a deep breath, I stepped up to the coffin and peered inside. A sharp, stabbing pain went through my gut. Even though I’d prepared myself for the worst, seeing Dorian’s lifeless form inside the stone coffin made me double over as if I’d been punched.
My hand pressed against his chest as tears streamed down my face. This couldn’t be real. Dorian Kostas, as much as he could drive me crazy at times, had become the best part of my life these past few months. He’d saved me in ways I couldn’t explain. Hell, I could barely understand it myself. Before he’d come barreling into my life, I’d been drifting, barely getting by every day. He’d woken me from my daze. He’d helped me find a purpose. He’d saved me from a life that was just an existence. Because of him, now I felt alive.
And he’d died because I didn’t have the balls to do whatever it took to save him in return.
As I stood over the coffin with sobs rocking my shoulders, something sharp and electric passed between his body and mine. Our bond. That strange cord that seemingly linked us no matter how much time had passed since we’d tasted each other’s blood.
But if I could still feel our bond, then did that mean what I thought it meant? Without a beatin
g heart and breathing lungs, Dorian’s vampire curse would cause him to look dead even when he wasn’t. It would be an easy mistake to make. Our bond rippled once more, an intense energy that was impossible to ignore. Full of thoughts and emotions and pain.
He was alive.
Waves of relief flooded through me as I gripped his cold hand in mine. I needed to get him out of here. This looked and felt like the same curse that had been put on my grandmother, which meant I needed the blood of the mage who did this in order to reverse the spell. My shadow magic trembled in my gut at the realization that someone had done this to him. Another witch or warlock. They’d taken my partner from me and had put him in this grave. The darkness within me flamed, a black and burning fire that built into pure rage. Someone had cursed Dorian Kostas, and for that, they were going to fucking pay.
One step at a time though.
First I needed to get my partner out of this crypt.
A harsh and bitter wind swirled around me like a tornado, throwing me away from the coffin. I hit the wall with a loud crack, and all the air got knocked from my lungs. The demon roared as it appeared inside the crypt next to the coffin, rising high above me. My teeth chattered as I narrowed my eyes, aiming the dagger at the creature. My blade might not kill him, but since he was corporeal now, I could at least do some lasting damage.
It hissed and turned away from me, focusing its eyes on my partner’s unconscious form. Heart hammering hard in my chest, I rushed across the crypt with my blade flashing in the dark. But it was too little too late, once again. The demon wrapped its claw around Dorian’s arm, and then it blinked away.
Chapter 25
“I’ll just have to cast the spell again.” I paced across the uneven floorboards in Dorian’s small apartment, spinning on my heels every time I hit a wall. Laura watched from where she perched on his desk with a book dangling from her hands. “The demon can try blinking away as much as it wants, but I’ll just keep tracking it. Eventually, I’ll get to Dorian before it can.”
Witch's Storm (The Bone Coven Chronicles Book 2) Page 17
