by Ciara Graves
Rudarius’s angry roar sounded from the other end, but it was too late.
The tunnel caved in. Stones crashed to the ground, striking me and my eyes flew open.
Draven was holding me in his arms, cradling me against his chest. His lips moved, but the words were too muffled to make out. I reached toward his forehead to smooth away the deep furrows but was too weak. My hand fell short.
“What did you do?”
“Collapsed the tunnel.”
“You’re bleeding again.” He laid me on his cot in the far corner of the large tent and pinched the bridge of my nose. “You were talking to them.”
I didn’t remember saying anything but guessed it was possible. I opened my mouth to tell him that Rudarius and I wouldn’t be talking again until we came face to face on the battlefield, but my stomach heaved, and I shoved him to the side. I retched a couple of times as Draven held back my hair. He cursed vividly when all that came up was more blood. Shaking, I lay back, exhausted.
“Fine,” I assured him, but couldn’t even keep my eyes open. “Just… fine.”
“Seneca? Stay awake, love. Come on. Just stay awake and talk to me.”
“I’m sorry.” I found his hand and held it fast. “Whatever I do, I’m sorry.”
Sleep, Seneca, you need your rest, the voice said, mockingly. You might have won this fight today, but you will regret trying to challenge us. Your strength weans. Soon, you will fade. Is that what you want?
The words faded quickly from my mind as I focused on Draven and only Draven. His eyes searched my face for answers, but I held onto the truth. I tried to tell him again I would be alright, but my eyes closed and all I wanted to do was sleep.
His hand stayed in mine, I knew that much, and then there was nothing but beautiful darkness.
Chapter 5
Draven
I sat on the ground right beside the cot, watching her.
Seneca’s chest moved up and down as she breathed. Her eyes didn’t dance behind the lids. Her pulse was steady each time I checked it at her wrist.
But she wasn’t well. Not by a longshot. I sensed death on her, and it wasn’t the vampire side of her. This was something worse. Whatever was inside her was trying to fight her. To kill her. My gaze slipped to the rings firmly situated on her right hand.
She said she was sorry for whatever she did. Why would she say that?
The scent of blood permeated the air of the tent. I hadn’t moved to cover what she’d coughed up. I’d wiped what I could away from her face, but her nose had bled for a few minutes longer. I leaned forward, willing myself to clean away the rest of it. I didn’t want to admit she was worse off than I first realized. That she was hiding more from me than just speaking with Rudarius. I used my sleeve and gently dabbed at her face, shaking my head all the while.
“Why won’t you just tell me?” I whispered. “I can take it. Whatever you have to tell me, I can. Stop trying to protect me, huh? That’s my job, you know. To protect you. It’s always been my job.”
She shifted in sleep, her hand falling off the cot. I caught it in mine and held it.
Boots crunched in the dried grass outside the tent. “Draven?” Owen said quietly. “You in there?”
“Yes. You can come in.”
The tent flaps rustled, and a ray of sunshine fell against my back for a second. I hissed quietly. Owen approached slowly at first but then his pace quickened. I assumed he caught sight of Seneca on the cot.
“What happened?”
“She told me the Feds came by,” I said, but then hung my head. “She told me Rudarius knows everything she knows. About our army, our potential plans, all because of her, and I yelled at her. I ordered her to cut off her link to him.”
“Draven?”
“I don’t know what’s going on inside her head anymore. And I ordered her to do something she almost wasn’t strong enough to do.” I nodded to the blood on the ground. I waited for him to get pissed at me, but he said nothing. “Well?” I glanced over my shoulder to see his jaw tensed. “Owen?”
He took a long deep breath in then blew it out. “I came to tell you what I found.”
“Found? What are you talking about?”
“There was blood in the sink in the bathroom,” he told me, and I hung my head. “A lot of blood.”
“Damn it.”
“We need to tell someone.”
“Who?” I snapped. “Macron would be the only person I’d go to, and I don’t trust him to do what’s best for Seneca. Not anymore.”
I picked up a lock of her hair and held it. What was I supposed to do here? Let her keep driving herself closer to that edge? Not be worried she was going to tumble off the cliff and there’d be no getting her back? She seemed so peaceful in sleep, but I had no way to know if she was hearing voices, even now.
“Draven.”
“What?” I hadn’t meant it to come out so harsh, but I was out of my depth here. Magic and spirits of the fae. I was just a vampire asked to command an army against one of the darkest villains of our time. And the woman I loved, the one I thought to keep safe, was breaking before my eyes.
Owen grunted, turned around so he faced me. “Macron needs to know.”
If Seneca woke up to find him standing over her, I wasn’t sure what she’d do. She might try to kill him. “She said she was sorry,” I told Owen. “Sorry for whatever she would do.”
“She’s not going to do anything because you and I won’t let her.”
“What are you saying?”
“If you can’t stop her, then I will. But we have to tell Macron.”
I blurred to him and had my hands on his shirt. I wasn’t sure what I planned on doing and released him just as fast, backing away. “No, I don’t want him knowing anything, understand me? Nothing.”
“Draven—”
“I said no,” I roared, baring my fangs as the beast inside of me threatened to break loose.
Owen growled in response but nodded. “If that’s what you want, but you’re being an idiot.”
“Just get out of here. I’m going to sit with her until she wakes up again and I don’t want you here right now. I might do something stupid.”
“I’ll be just outside, then. In case you need me.” He left the tent, and I didn’t hear him walk any further away except the entrance. I considered shouting for him to go away, but like he said, I might need him.
I went back to Seneca and laid down beside her on the cot, holding her in my arms. “You’re going to be fine,” I whispered to her. “You hear me? You are stronger than them. You’re stronger than Rudarius. You have to be fine.”
“Draven?” Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled sleepily.
I kissed her forehead and told her to go back to sleep. She yawned and her eyes closed, the smile staying on her face as she drifted off again. The longer I was there, the more I sensed some of the uneasiness roiling inside her. The rest of her emotions were clamped down, and I was unable to feel exactly what she was going through. After a while, I gave up and ran my fingers through her hair, unable to sleep.
The sunlight faded outside the tent, and as soon as it was dark enough, Shane entered. He glanced at her, worried, but I shook my head. Not wanting to disturb her, I pushed off the cot as gently as I could and joined Shane near the tent flaps.
“We’re running through the armory. Figured you’d want to be there, see what we have,” he whispered.
Seneca was fast asleep. Was it safe to leave her for a few minutes?
“I can stay if you want,” Shane said.
“No, she’ll be fine. Let’s go to the armory.”
He led the way out of the tent. I stopped at the entrance, peering at her. I’d be back soon enough. Then I’d try to wake her and try to get her to talk to me.
We had just enough weapons to arm the demons and the vampires. Good thing the fae all brought blades or bows of their own. Our arrow supply was low, but it’d have to do. A few of the fae were crafters and said
they would start making as many as they could. Too bad we couldn’t just use tanks and guns against Rudarius and his army. Silver bullets would be a pain to track down and find.
That, and for all we knew, his power would make it impossible to use such weapons. Blades, fangs, and claws, that’s what we were stuck with.
“Never thought I’d see an actual battle of this magnitude.” Shane held up a long sword in front of his face, grinning like a little kid. “Crazy, right?”
“I’ve been in battle. Not always pretty.”
“No, but with any luck, this will be the last one, right? We’ll make it, Draven. You’ll see.”
I nodded, not sure I could keep being optimistic all the time. I was going to tell him to ensure everyone was always armed and ready when a searing pain erupted across my forehead. Seneca. She was awake and in pain. I blurred out of the massive armory tent at the southern end of the camp, dodging people as I aimed for the central tent. The air around it pulsed with magic. A dark magic that had my skin crawling.
Owen sprinted toward the tent when he saw me coming. “What happened?” he yelled.
I didn’t slow down until I was inside the tent.
Seneca sat in the center, on the ground, eyes closed, head fallen back. Her hair blew lightly as the power pulsed around her.
It was almost like walking through a wall of water to reach her. Blood dripped from her nose, and she was whispering, but the words were jumbled. I was nearly next to her when her head righted, and her eyes opened wide.
They were solid black, and the smile that spread across her face was not hers.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, holding out my hand for hers.
She glanced at it but made no move to take it. “Repairing the damage done.”
“To Seneca?” Were the spirits of her people trying to save her?
She cackled, but not with one voice. There were many that poured out of her mouth. “Ridiculous vampire. Foolish man. No. We’re repairing the damage done.”
“The connection,” I whispered, as the cackling grew louder. “You can’t.”
“But we can,” the voices replied. “Now back off unless you wish to find yourself hurt. She would not like that. No, not at all.”
“What do we do?” Owen stood behind me, eyes fixed on Seneca.
I wished I had a plan, but the only thing I could think to do was get closer and grab Seneca. If we could break through to her, we could stop them from fixing her connection to Rudarius. I motioned for Owen to go around to her right as I sidled to her left. We’d have one chance at this and once chance only. Seneca’s eyes had fallen closed again, but I’d be an idiot to think she didn’t know what we were up to. When we were level with each other, with Seneca between us, I nodded to Owen.
We each made a grab for an arm, but just as we closed our hands around her, that pulsing power restricted around us and threw us back into the canvas.
Seneca clicked her tongue. Her eyes opened, and she climbed to her feet. “What did we say, boys?”
I pushed off the canvas, but the power held me back. “Stop this, Seneca, you have to gain control of yourself.”
“She’s a bit busy at the moment.”
“I don’t care what you are. I won’t let you do this to her.”
“Who said I was doing anything to her?” the voices asked. “Funny. We do wonder what she sees in you. A failure, that’s all you are. You failed once, and you’ll fail again. Now, you should let fate run its course, hmm?” She patted my cheek as she smirked. “There’s a good lad.”
I strained against the hold of the shadows that were now becoming visible, and still holding me back. “Seneca, I know you’re in there. Fight back.”
A sigh fell from her mouth as she spun around to face me again. “Honestly, you think you’d…” She trailed off, and her eyes grew wide. She clutched at her throat and growled. The voice that came out of her mouth next was Seneca. “You are not doing this,” she seethed. “You’re not. We’re not.”
Owen’s eyes filled with worry and I’m sure I didn’t look much different. Seneca rolled her shoulders and flexed her hands. Blood dripped from her nose in a steady stream. Pain flitted across her face, but it was gone in seconds. She coughed, gagging. As the shadows released Owen and me, she slumped to the ground, lying on her side.
Blood dotted her lips. I helped her sit up. Her eyes landed on me, and she shoved my arm to the side, staggering to her feet. “I’m fine, back off.”
“Seneca, don’t do this.”
“Do what?” She wiped at her mouth with her hand, glaring from me to Owen. “I’m going back to the cottage to sleep. Just leave me alone.”
“You can’t keep doing this,” I argued.
“Yeah? And what am I supposed to do? Let Rudarius come and fight him with unstable magic? Watch him kill everyone here, then move on to the next town and the next until there’s nothing left but a never-ending night and death all around?” She wiped her face again as more blood trickled from her nose. “This is what I was born to do apparently, so back off and let me handle it.”
“The rings. Just take them off for a night. One night. That’s all I’m asking.”
She lifted her hand, and I waited, praying she would just do it and let me hold onto them. But her clear green eyes flickered black, and she dropped her hand.
“Not happening.” She stormed out of the tent.
Owen made to go after her, but I snatched his arm, holding him back.
“She shouldn’t be left alone.”
“I’ll send someone to the cottage, but if you go after her now, you’ll make it worse.”
He growled and tore himself away from me. “You’re just going to stand there and do nothing while that power kills her from the inside out?”
“No, I’m going to bide my time. Let me handle this. See to the army.”
“I don’t take orders from you, bloodsucker.”
Right, so we were back to name calling. “Then do what you want but stay away from the cottage. If I hear you’re bothering her, you and I will get back to that fight we started so many weeks ago.”
Owen’s lip twitched, and he prowled away, probably cursing me as he went.
I’d give Seneca some time to hopefully cool down and come up with a way to get those damned rings off her hand. I didn’t want to talk to Macron, but I was quickly running out of options. We still needed a way to track Rudarius’s movements and figure out how we were going to take our force into battle which was nearly impossible to do when we had no idea where said battle would take place. I’d find Shane, tell him to put a set of eyes near the cottage to keep an eye on Seneca.
Then I’d track down the coven leaders and figure out what our next move should be. They might be looking to me to lead, but right now, I needed someone else to take control.
Hearing those voices come from Seneca left a strange, sick sensation wallowing in my gut.
We were running out of time to save her.
Chapter 6
Seneca
I sat on the counter in the kitchen, drinking my beer and listening to shitty idea after shitty idea.
Draven and I hadn’t spoken since yesterday, and that was fine by me. He’d stayed at the tent, too, which was even better. Saved me from getting a lecture at sundown when I awoke to find my nose bloody again.
And here we were, in my kitchen, back to the same discussion we’d been having for days, when I wanted to be alone.
Draven was the reason they were crowded in here. Decided to bring the meeting to me. I knew what he was doing, keeping me away from the rest of the army. Fine, didn’t bother me any. Saved me from trudging down there.
We still had no way to track Rudarius’s movements. They knew it. I knew it. Yet we wasted time trying to figure out a way to do just that. When I’d collapsed the mental tunnel between us, we lost any possible way to figure out where he would attack first. The cost to do so didn’t seem worth it now.
I knew what we could
do, but the second that idea left my mouth, Draven would lose his shit. He was on edge enough as it was. His body was tense, as if he was ready to spring into action at any second.
And? You know what you need to do, so do it. We don’t have time for this.
My mug paused halfway to my mouth. I tilted my head. I couldn’t.
Yes, you can, you just won’t. As you’ve been told, there’s no more room for emotions. We’ve waited too long to be free. No one else is going to control us. No one else is going to threaten our existence. You are the only way we can be free, Seneca. Don’t lose focus now. Don’t lose your nerve, not when you’ve come so far.
I hissed quietly.
Marlie stopped talking. “Seneca? You alright?”
“Hmm?”
Draven crossed his arms and leveled me with a stern glare from across the room.
“Yeah, sure. I’m great. Just wondering why we’re still having this conversation.”
“Because we need to be prepared.”
“Yeah about that. You know how massive this world is, right? Who’s to say he’s even going to start in North America. He could end up in Europe, for all we know.”
“He won’t.”
I scoffed at Draven’s declaration. “You can’t know that.”
“Neither can you. It’s a gut feeling. He won’t go anywhere else. He’ll strike close to home.”
“Or,” I said slowly, as the voice inside my head gave me another hard nudge, “you could let me reach out to him again and draw him to us. Make him come where we want him to so we can know for certain. Let me finish what was started.”
Draven’s growl was a low rumble that had me rolling my eyes. “No.”
