Jen ran to the center of the room and crouched down, patting the stone tiles on the floor. “It seems to be the strongest here.”
Daniela knelt next to her and sent out a few magical feelers. A chorus of dissonant whispers answered back. The longer she listened, the clearer their message became. Go away. “Luc said he hid it in the Gates of Hell. I think this fits the description.”
“What are you two witches talking about?” Espe tried to sound irritated, but she pulled her jacket tighter around her chest.
Daniela ignored her and started feeling around the grout for any weaknesses. “I think we need to go lower.”
“Agreed.” Jen joined her in scouring the floor. “It seems pretty solid.”
“Only to normal humans.” Daniela reached deep inside and called on her magic. If she had been an earth witch, this would’ve been simple. She focused her spell on where the magic barrier seemed to be the strongest, and the ground rumbled. The grout turned golden and crumbled away as the tile rose a few inches up in the air. She slid it to the side and released the spell.
Espe ran over to the hole and looked down into it. “Holy shit. I can’t see the bottom.”
Daniela massaged the ache out of her muscles and joined the other three at the hole. The energy required to move that tile left her drained, but the feeling would wear off in a few minutes. A rush of magic plumed from the opening and sent another round of shivers through her. “But that’s where we need to go.”
Demarcus flipped a few coins into the hole and listened for the sound of them hitting the ground. A sound that never came. “I have about fifty feet of rope in the truck, but I’m not sure that’s going to be enough.” He turned to Daniela. “Are you sure you want to go down there?”
She swallowed past the fear lodged in her throat and nodded. She was the one that had been given this mission, and she had to be the one to complete it. While she waited for the others to come back, she closed her eyes and focused on blocking out the voices trying to dissuade her from entering the Gates of Hell.
Then a wave of reassurance washed over her, blocking the dark whispers from her ears. She looked up and saw Jen standing next to her. “I thought that would help,” she said with a sheepish smile.
“It did.” She ran her hand over Luc’s cross and her courage returned. The sounds of dragging rope and clanking metal grew stronger. She glanced over her shoulder at Demarcus and Espe. “How long do you think it will take to set up this stuff?”
“A few minutes.” Demarcus tossed her a harness. “Put this on and we’ll have you rappelling down there in no time.”
Ten minutes later, Daniela stood on the edge of the hole with the rope in her hands. She glanced down into the blackness below. Would her small headlamp even penetrate that?
Demarcus tightened his grip on the other end of the rope. “Ready?”
She nodded and jumped back into the hole. The rope whirred through the pulleys, and she caught the flash of light on one of the damp walls as she fell. She steered toward it and breathed a sigh of relief when her feet touch solid rock.
“You okay down there?” Espe called.
“Yes.” But it was a lie. The scent of brimstone singed her nostrils and sweat prickled along her forehead. Everything about this place screamed for her to climb back up and take off running. She drew in a shaky breath and fell deeper into the void.
Get out. Go away. Leave before the demons eat your soul. One by one, the voices hissed in her ears and tried to shred her resolve. She ignored them and continued lower until one statement stopped her in her tracks. “Leave now, witch, before you venture too close to hell.”
Unlike the sexless whispers of before, this voice was clear, male, and sounded like he was standing right behind her. She whirled around on the rope to look for the source, but saw nothing. A current of air rushed past her face. “Who’s there?”
“You have no business being here,” the voice replied, followed by what sounded like the flutter of wings. The rope shook, and she started swinging like a pendulum in the pit. “Humans should not tempt the powers of hell.”
No wonder they called this the Gates of Hell. Whoever was defending it wanted to make sure no one found the bottom. She clung tighter to the rope and prayed Demarcus would continue to hold her. “I don’t want to find the opening to hell. I only want to find an object that was thrown down here. A metal rod.”
The silence stretched for several long seconds before a hazy face appeared in the darkness. A scowl marred the otherwise handsome features, and a pair of black leathery wings flapped behind him. “You are telling the truth,” he said, more to himself than her. “Stay here and I will get it for you.”
He disappeared back into the darkness, and the rope finally stilled.
“Daniela, what the hell is happening down there?” Demarcus shouted.
“You don’t want to know.” She’d have a hard time telling anyone about her winged delivery boy and wondered if she’d just hallucinated. Several minutes stretched by before she felt another rush of air.
“Is this what you wanted?” the voice asked.
Daniela shined her headlamp on the golden rod decorated with hieroglyphs. She clasped the cool metal and reassured herself it was real when the subtle tingle of magic raced up her arm. “Yes, this is it.”
“Good. Now leave.”
A pair of strong hands grabbed the top of her borrowed sundress and pulled her out of the hole with a nauseating speed that made her stomach drop. She collided with Demarcus and caused them to slide several feet from the impact. The clatter of the stone tile falling back over the hole echoed through the stunned silence that filled the chapel.
“That just registered a 9.2 on my weird-shit-o-meter.” Demarcus pushed her off of him and rolled to his side. “What was that?”
“Someone who wants us gone ASAP.” Daniela sat up and traced the carved pictures on the rod. “At least he gave me what I wanted.”
“That was very kind of him,” a new voice sneered from the doorway. Colette stood at the entry of the chapel with her hand on her hip. She snapped her fingers and two of her henchman tossed a charred body into the center of the chapel. “And to think, if Luc had told us where it was sooner, I would’ve had to fetch it myself.”
A groan came from the body and Daniela’s heart lurched. The mostly burnt person was Luc. He lifted his blackened face and stared at her with hollow blue eyes. Tears stung her own, but she fought the urge to run to him and pull him into her arms.
Colette entered the chapel, followed by six other vampires who flanked her sides. “He was very stubborn, you know. Tried to lead us to the wrong place. But even with you gone, I found a way to get the truth out of him.” She grinned so her fangs sparkled in the flashlights. “In his folly to cling to his human past, he forgot that when we feed, we enter the minds of our victims.”
A new wave of disgust rose up inside of Daniela. How dare Colette violate Luc in that way? She channeled her anger into her inner fire and unleashed it on the vampire witch. Her adversary easily deflected it, but Daniela converted the spell and formed a wall of flames between her group and the vampires.
“Nice try, little witch, but you’re weak.” The flames parted and Colette stepped through them. “Give me the other piece of the staff and maybe we’ll let you and your friends live.”
Espe and Demarcus pulled out their stakes, and Jen tensed. They were all ready for the battle Daniela knew was coming. The only person who didn’t move was Luc. He remained a motionless ball on the floor, seemingly unconscious to the events occurring around him. As wounded as he was, she couldn’t count on him to fight. Four against seven weren’t good odds, but at least she had experience on her side. She cast a quick spell to bind the rod to her hand so she wouldn’t drop it. The metal stung her palms and her fingers locked around it. “If you want it, you’ll have to pry it from my dead hands.”
Colette sneered at her. “That can easily be arranged.”
Figures poured
through the opening Colette had created in the wall of fire, but Daniela managed to summon a fireball before Colette tackled her to the ground. The vampire witch rolled off her with a flash of light and a squeal of pain.
Daniela pulled herself back to her feet and surveyed the battle around her. Each of the hunters wrestled with one of Colette’s henchmen, and two piles of dust already littered the floor. Jen, on the other hand, seemed to be allowing the remaining vampires to herd her into a corner, but Daniela recognized the focused squint on the younger witch’s face. She was gathering her magic until she had enough to unleash her spell on them. When she did, the rush of dark magic that filled the chapel nearly froze Daniela’s blood. Where had Jen learned such a spell?
She was so busy watching the dark shadows that consumed the two vampires from Jen’s spell that she only caught a blur of motion out the corner of her eye before she hit the ground again. A feral snarl adorned Colette’s half-burned face while they wrestled over the other half of the staff. Colette pinned Daniela to the ground, digging her knees into Daniela’s chest for leverage. As hard as the vampire pulled, the rod didn’t budge.
Realization finally slackened Colette’s features. “You think you’re clever, using a simple binding spell. But you’re still a fragile human.”
Colette gave the rod one final tug before slamming it against Daniela’s throat. Stars bloomed on the edges of Daniela’s vision and coalesced to form a curtain that fell lower and lower with each second. Her lungs burned for air and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She strained against her captor, trying to lift the rod a few inches so she could gulp in a breath.
“So I didn’t break your neck, but I think it’s much nicer this way, watching the life slowly drain from your eyes and knowing your pathetic lover is witnessing it. Just having to endure his feelings for you when I fed from him made me want to vomit.”
Luc. Daniela had almost forgotten about him. She rolled her eyes toward the burned body a few feet away and silently reached out to him. She was the reason he’d been tortured. If he’d just left her alone, he would be strong and healthy. But would she still feel the same emptiness she’d known before she met him? Was the pain they now shared worth the few precious moments of joy they’d known?
Luc stirred as if he heard her thoughts and rose to his hands and knees. The white of his fangs contrasted with his charred lips, but there was no mistaking the snarl that they formed. He rocked back on his feet once and leaped into the air, pouncing on Colette and yanking her away.
The first rush of air that filled her lungs made Daniela cough. She rolled over and sucked in the precious breaths she’d feared she’d never get.
“Run,” Luc shouted while he struggled to restrain Colette. Sparks flew off his body from the vampire witch’s spells, but he continued to hold on to her with teeth-gritting tenacity. “Get out of here while you can.”
Jen rushed over to help Daniela to her feet. They’d taken only a few steps before the sound of metal scraping across the floor made Daniela dig in her heels. The headpiece lay just out of Colette’s reach. She clawed at it as Luc yanked her back by the ankles. Colette would never rest until she got what she wanted. Perhaps she should know the full power of the Staff of Octavius before she died.
“Uh-oh, I don’t like the look on your face.” Jen tugged on her hand one more time, but Daniela wiggled free and dove for the headpiece.
Luc’s face bore a mixture of pain and frustration. “Daniela, what the hell are you doing? Go before she hurts you.”
Maybe it was the lack of oxygen to her brain a few moments before that made her think repairing the staff made sense. Maybe it was her desire to fry Colette to a crisp for all the pain she’d caused her and Luc. Or maybe it was her desire to wield that kind of power, just once in her life, but the instant the severed end of the rod touched the headpiece, a blinding flash of light filled the chapel. The blast that followed knocked everyone to their feet.
Daniela rubbed the dust from her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief that her binding spell still held. She stared at the repaired Staff of Octavius in awe. The lapis eyes of the winged headpiece winked as if the staff knew what she was thinking. Magic like she’d never imagined flowed through her body, sharpening her senses and whispering in her mind that she was invincible.
“Give me the staff!” Colette shrieked and lobbed a ball of lightning toward her. As soon as Daniela thought the word shield, an orb of blue light surrounded her, and the spell fizzled into a shower of sparks on impact.
Luc’s jaw dropped, and his grip on Colette slackened enough for the vampire witch to spring at Daniela.
With a swipe of the staff, Daniela sent Colette flying to the opposite wall. A grin curled the corners of her mouth. A girl could get used to this kind of power. Indeed, it called to her like a sweet serenade and filled her mind with images of conquest. A brand new Ferrari. A penthouse suite in New York. An estate in Tuscany surrounded by fertile vineyards. They could be hers if she held on to the staff.
“Daniela, don’t listen to it.” Luc crawled toward her, every movement causing his burned face to wince. “Remember its history. Absolute power corrupts.”
His words pulled her from the siren song of the staff and brought her back to reality. The two hunters were faltering against their foes. Blood stained the floor and walls of the chapel from the fight. Jen’s spells grew weaker each time she cast them, the effort draining what little strength she had left to defend herself. And along the far wall, Colette struggled to rise to her feet.
“Do it, Daniela,” Luc murmured. “Don’t worry about me. Just do what you need to do to escape.”
She brushed her fingers across the wooden cross she now wore. His cross. And she had promised to return it to him. No, she wouldn’t destroy him with the other vampires. He was different. He wasn’t one of them. He loved her, and her heart belonged to him.
A hum resonated in her ears. She closed her eyes and focused on the words. I call on Ra, god of the sun, to fill me with his light. I call on Sekhmet, goddess of fire, to burn deep within me. And I call on Maat, goddess of justice, to sow vengeance on my enemies. Her lips moved in time to the chant, her voice growing from a whisper every time she repeated it.
A ball of light formed at the heart of the headpiece. The blue stone eyes pierced the darkness and shot beams of light toward Colette and her henchmen. They froze under the scrutiny of the metal bird and stared at it with mouths agape, mesmerized by its spell.
The magic churned inside Daniela’s chest, begging for release. She glanced at Luc, who merely nodded as if he accepted his fate. Her heart ached. He was willing to die to let her live, but she couldn’t imagine living without him. The dream of the volcano raced through her mind. He had risked everything to save her then. But this time, she’d be the one to save him.
“Hide.” Her word thundered like the voice of an irate goddess. What is happening to me? She opened her free palm toward Luc, and with a mere thought, sent him flying out of the chapel. Jen, Espe and Demarcus ran after him, and the door to the chapel banged closed with a hollow thud.
Once it was just her and the vampires, she finally released the spell that had been building inside her. She cried out the words one final time while the room filled with a light that wielded the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. Her skin tingled at first and then burned as if all her sins were being scoured from her flesh. The magic of the staff pulled at her like it wanted to drag her soul from her body and consume it. She struggled against the staff, against being overwhelmed by its power, and finally shouted the reversal to her binding spell.
The Staff of Octavius slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground. She fell to her knees, sending waves of jaw-clenching pain through her body. The light faded from the room and the shadows grew longer. She lay still for an unknown period of time, listening to the sound of her breath coming and going through her nose. She’d fought her enemies and she survived.
The chapel door
creaked open and three pairs of feet stood in front of her. “Is she alive?” Espe asked before nudging her with her foot.
“Touch me again, little huntress, and I’ll make what just happened seem like a day at the spa.” Daniela lifted her head and scanned the room. Jen was bending over to pick up the Staff of Octavius, but she reached out and grabbed it first. “You have no business touching this.”
The younger witch narrowed her eyes. “Why not?”
“Because I’ve seen what you’re capable of doing.” When she turned the staff over to Morwen, she needed to make sure she mentioned how Jen called upon dark magic to battle the vampires. If left unchecked, the consequences could be dangerous. “Where’s Luc?”
“You mean the crispy bloodsucker?” Espe jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “He took off that way like all the demons of hell were after him.”
Daniela shoved them aside, using the staff to gain extra clearance from them. Her heart pounded. Please let him still be here. Please don’t let him be hurt by the spell. She took note of the piles of ashes that littered the chapel floor and how they curled in the draft made when she tugged the door open. Colette was nothing more than a memory, but she prayed that Luc would remain more than that.
She called out his name and paused, listening for a response. None came. She ventured into another room and repeated her cry. This time, the sob that had been choking her throat came out with it, and a weak response followed.
“Go home, Daniela.”
She traced it back to its source and found Luc standing in the center courtyard, bathed in the light of the full moon. He turned to her and winced. “Please, I don’t want you to see me this way. I’ll find you once I’m healed.”
“And how will you heal?” She took a step toward him, gauging his reaction. When he didn’t run away, she moved closer. “I can help you.”
He squeezed his blackened eyelids shut and hissed. His fangs elongated, pressing into his lips. He didn’t need to say what he needed. She already knew the answer. Blood.
Kiss of Temptation: The Kavanaugh Foundation, Book 3 Page 12
