Sacrifice (Scarlet Dawson Book 2)

by Nicola Chadwick

  “It’s not your fault, not really. You were just a way for me to project my anger. He took me and my sisters so he could claim my mother’s seat on the council. My real mother was Summer. I watched as he murdered her in front of me and didn’t even realize he was the same person when he became my father. If only I’d known who he was and what he was doing.”

  “You were a child, Silence. You can hardly be blamed, you were coerced, led astray.”

  She laughs then. “You know, that’s the first time you’ve called me Silence and meant it since we met.”

  “Calling you Silas was the only defense I had, you always seemed like you had it all figured out. You were practically royalty at that school.”

  “And yet, I’ve never had a single friend.”

  Scuffling and a scream turns our attention to the cell on the end.

  “Da! No wait!”

  The figure on the blankets shoots upright and locks eyes with me.

  “Jared?”

  I run over to the bars that partition our cell, wrapping my hands around the cold metal.

  “You’re not real,” he mutters, shaking the blankets from his shoulders as he shuffles around his cell, muttering to himself.

  I turn to Silas, she answers my question without me opening my mouth. “It’s the Wrath, it can take a while to shake it off depending on how long he’s been sleeping. He’ll be weak and disoriented for a while. Just keep talking to him.”

  “Brother? It’s me, I’m real. I’ve been trying to call you, I guess this is why you haven’t answered. If I’d known he’d taken you—I’m sorry. If you’d not met me, you wouldn’t have ever been dragged into this mess.”

  He pauses in his muttering and looks up, he’s currently in his Fae form, so I shift to copy him. I watch the ends of my hair turn dark red. Jared shifts again to his Human form, his dark blue eyes matching mine as I shift again. A faint smile touches his lips as I shift again to my Nymph form.

  “Never could do that one, sis,” he croaks out on a laugh.

  He comes over to the bars and rests his hands over mine. They’re cracked and bloodied.

  “What happened, Jared?” I ask him.

  “Our da, he’s here. I saw him, followed him, but he must have doubled back on me. The next thing I know, I’m waking up with him dragging me onto these blankets. He’s still alive, Scarlet.”

  The excitement in his voice is too much, he’d have only been six when he fully succumbed to the blood lust and left him. I don’t think I can tell him he is dead, it isn’t as hard for me, I’ve never known him, but the hope in Jared’s voice.

  “Our father—”

  “Your father’s gone. Vex consumes the soul of everyone he takes. He becomes them. No matter how much he pretends to be your father, he isn’t,” Silas says from behind me.

  “It can’t be,” Jared breathes, disbelieving.

  “I watched him shift from our father to Vex, so either Silas is right or Vex can copycat other people.”

  “I always knew he was gone, but I still held that hope that one day he’d be back for me. I mean, I know logically once a Fae turns to blood their chances of survival are slim, after all, that’s why you only hear about Vampyres in myths and legend.” He sinks to the hard-stone floor.

  “Oh shit,” Silence exclaims as I turn around to watch her back away from the front of the cell.

  “Scarlet, the Wrath are coming for me, it’ll take me longer to come around. They can keep me under for hours. If they come for you, don’t fight it. If you do, it makes it worse” she tells me as the shadows pass through the bars.

  They unite into one big mass of swirling shadows and smoke, which looks like it consumes her. I barely make out her form in the middle of them as she drops to the floor and they writhe over her.

  I turn to Jared as he also watches, both of us unable to help. I sink to the floor beside him.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  We both sit for a while, watching the whirling mass undulate over Silas’s prone form. I even throw my shoes at them through the bars, but that does nothing to distract them from feeding. Silas murmurs, cries, and even screams, but her eyes remain closed through it all.

  I turn to face Jared, taking in the dark circles and the hollow look in his eyes.

  “What did the Wrath do to you?” I ask him.

  “I thought I was dreaming, I’ve been having similar dreams for years. More so when I was a child. I can’t tell you what happens, let’s just say that its horrific and feels very real. They twist it, though, it’s like they play on your worst memories, make you blame yourself for things you can’t control and logically know are not your fault.” His eyes go blank. “I couldn’t take many days of that. What’s happening, Scarlet? Why are we here?” Jared asks, placing a hand against the bars.

  “I have no idea. I worked out Silence was somehow involved, but it turns out she’s just as much a victim as we are. While she spied for him she never knew his true identity. In fact, from what I can gather Vex—our kidnapper—once had a relationship with Silence, and she never knew he was one of Derren’s many incarnations until now.”

  “So, Derren’s real name is Vex?” he asks.

  “Maybe, he says it is. So, he’s some kind of Fae that has the ability to steal people’s souls and become that person. Does that mean he can use their Fae power? Does he assimilate their memories too? If he did, it would explain why no one noticed a difference when he assumed Summer’s identity.”

  “But what does he want with you? Rozen told you he was interested in your heritage because you are the only child born of a Vampyre?” Jared asks.

  “Rozen wanted me for my unique blood so he could create a zombie army, but he said Derren—I mean Vex wanted to see what I’d become. What the hell does that mean? I literally have no Fae or Nymph powers to speak of that he could use. Unless you count the freaky ability to shift forms, but you also have that same power.”

  “It’s a family trait, Da had it too. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough what he wants. After all, he can’t just have taken us to feed these Demons.”

  I stand up to pace the cell, hoping the movement will help me piece this together. I whirl around to pace towards Silas’s unintelligible mumbles, and instead find myself face to chest with Vex.

  He grabs my arms and teleports me out as Jared shouts something. His voice pops out of existence when we reappear in the same room as before, except this time, we are standing facing the darkened doorway that’s flanked by the flaming torches.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “To meet your fate.”

  Well, that sounds ominous especially when the voice he is using is suddenly Rozen’s. I turn to face him.

  “You’re Rozen, too?” I ask, shocked.

  “I’ve been Rozen for hundreds of years. It’s a shame I had to reverse the blood oath. Unfortunately, I needed you alive. If I hadn’t tried to break you, I would have been able to command you in any of my forms.”

  I stare up at his scarred face. “I don’t understand! Why would you play these games? Why take me again when you could have done whatever it is you needed to do months ago?” I clench my fists at my side.

  I can’t believe he’s been under my nose the whole time, leading me around for his own amusement.

  “I could have, but you weren’t ready. You’re almost there now, I can feel it,” he says, a familiar glint shining in his eyes.

  I ignore his baiting.

  “How did you get out of the cells when you were under oath to stay where you were?” I ask. Maybe I can use the oath against him?

  He laughs. “The minute your guards’ backs were turned, I shifted forms, shattering the oath you had on Rozen. You see, oaths tend not to work on soul stealers because you can only oath one of the souls. Even the iron bars couldn’t keep me contained. I merely teleported out. The more souls I take, the more my power grows.”

  Without Rozen in the cells, even Bastian and Aylesbury won’t be able to figu
re this one out. I still have no clue, nothing is as it seems. Even my entire life has been a lie.

  Rozen shifts again into Vex and pushes me towards the darkened doorway. As we enter the dark room, Vex clicks his fingers and the torches around the circular room flare to life in an instant.

  The room is perfectly circular and etched on the floor and walls are what I can only assume are runes. Without researching them, I couldn’t say if they are Fae or Demon, maybe even of other origins. In the center of the room is a pedestal. From here I can’t see what’s on it, and I’m not sure I want to.

  “Is there any magic you can’t perform?” I ask him sarcastically.

  “Probably,” he answers. “Every time I steal a soul, I obtain any magic they possess. Until I stole your father’s soul, I couldn’t shift into their forms, it was his shifting ability that opened so many doors for me. He was one of my best discoveries. He, of course, also led me to you.

  He turns to face me before continuing. “For centuries I’ve searched for the Fae Stones of Creation. You see, my mother was one of Tera’s children, a demigod. When I was small, I listened to the stories of how the Lycans were created using Elias, and I knew then I was destined for something more than the mundane Fae life my mother had chosen. My mother was a fluke, born with no discernible power, so instead of striving for greatness, she became a farmer’s wife. She should have been worshipped, I should have been worsh—”

  “This is all about the stones! You knew Elias was inert this whole time, what was the point to the merry chase you’ve led me on?” I ask, fuming.

  “I’ve been preparing you your whole life to take your position at my side. You see, I spent years stealing the souls of Tera’s descendants thinking that would get me access to the power of the stone. But then I found out Tera was the God that taught the Fae to drink the blood of their brethren to strengthen them, it was then I knew I needed someone with Vampyre blood.

  “It wasn’t hard to get your father to turn, but when I consumed his soul the stone remained inert. When I accessed his memories and discovered you, I knew I had finally found the one with the power to access the stone. As the years have gone on, I’ve tested the stone with your blood and the spark it creates just gets more powerful.”

  “If what you’re saying is true and I can use this stone, what makes you think I’ll use it to help you?” I ask, a little dumbfounded that he’d orchestrated my entire life to lead me to his side, so I can wield some magic for him.

  “Why do you think your brother’s here. You do have a very big bleeding heart. From the tests I’ve put you through, I know you can be controlled by those you love. You’ve wasted so many years searching for a family that’s nearly nonexistent and now you have one, your moral code won’t let them come to harm.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “So, what exactly is it you want me to do with the stone.”

  “Tera was the God of Death, and her descendants all hold a spark of that magic, whether they can wield it or not. I want to raise an army of weak-willed fools to do my bidding. An army I can control to decimate the Fae and become the God I was born to be.” His eyes shine with a maniacal glint.

  “Same old psychotic shit then,” I mutter.

  It is always the same with these people. It is always about power and being better than the next person.

  “What was that?” he asks, swinging his gaze my way.

  “Nothing.”

  He moves over to the pedestal and picks up a rock. From what I can see it’s around the same size as Elias, the stone I wore around my neck. Its surface is polished to a shine, and as the light from the torches catches it, I can see it’s a dark charcoal color. When Lykos had described the stones, I’d imagined Necros was faceted like diamonds usually are. This is one of those moments where expectation versus reality equals an epic fail.

  He brings the rock over to me and holds it out to place it in my hand.

  Please don’t let me be able to wield this rock!

  As my fingers touch the cold surface of the stone, I feel its power surge through me. Inside the rock a spark forms.

  Please don’t show him I can use you, I repeat over and over in my head until the flash inside the stone dies as quickly as it formed.

  Vex looks at me, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

  “I’m assuming by that look that this lump of rock is meant to be doing something right now?” I say with a smug grin that I hope doesn’t betray me.

  “I don’t understand? It should work. That spark was barely the same as the flash it gave me when I immersed it in your blood months ago. You should be able to use it.”

  “I’m not that surprised really, think about it this way. The only Fae magic I have is the ability to shift my form. As a Nymph, I have no discernible nature magic when I should have quite a lot. The only thing you’ve managed to find in me is my weird Vampyre blood, and all that’s been useful for is a failed attempt to make an undead army.”

  As I speak I watch his face contort into a mask of pure rage. He grabs the stone from my hand and throws it across the chamber. I hear it bounce off the wall and then along the floor.

  He begins pacing the chamber, muttering. “This should work, her blood sparks the stone. What do I do now?”

  I use the chance, while his back is turned, to pick the stone up from the floor. By sheer luck it had landed near my feet. I quickly shove it down the front of my bra. The coolness of the stone practically burns as it nestles against my skin.

  He pivots and starts pacing back towards me, the glint is back in his eyes and his lips curl up at the corners, but not in a smile.

  “What?” I say, narrowing my eyes as he comes to stand in front of me.

  He doesn’t answer, instead he grabs my arm and I’m instantly in the cell again with him. Jared scrambles to his feet the minute we pop into existence.

  Vex immediately pops back out and reappears behind Jared. My eyes widen at the same time as Jared’s when Vex pops a hand on his shoulder and teleports them both out.

  What is his plan now? I knew the minute I felt the power of the stone course through me that I couldn’t let Vex use it. The magic felt cold and terrifying, touching it I felt like I could watch the world burn. Its power is too strong.

  I spin around to see the Wrath are no longer near Silas, but she still tosses and turns on her blankets. I carefully scrutinize the rest of the room, the Wrath have disappeared completely, no doubt fully sated. I scan each wall, looking for anything that could resemble a camera or crystal ball, I didn’t want anyone to watch what I was about to do.

  I lift the torn hem of Raven’s black dress and tear a corner off then, clutching the fabric tight in my hand, I move over to the blankets that are nestled against the back wall and climb into them to feign rest.

  Once the blankets cover me, I use the cloth to pull the stone out from between my breasts, instantly wrapping the cloth around the whole stone. The cold power that had washed through me before soon disappears. I feel around the edge of the wall for any cracks or indents in which I can hide the stone away. I find nothing, so I fling the blankets off me, clutching the fabric tight in my hand, so it can’t be seen as I stand and start to pace the cell.

  On my second pass of the bars bisecting mine and Silas’s cells I notice one of the bars is bolted over the junction of two stones. I move over to it and sit cross-legged with my hands dangling near the bars in front of me. I stare absently at Silas’s prone form while I feel around the stone under the bar. My fingers hit a gap directly under the bar between the cement and stone. I push a finger in and move out as much of the accumulated dust as I can then quickly shove in the fabric-covered stone.

  It’s a tight fit, but when I look down, the bar hides the fabric perfectly. I push as much of the dust back towards the hole. I just have to hope he isn’t somehow recording this. I can’t risk anyone getting their hands on this stone again.

  I look up as a scream pierces the air and Silas sits bolt upright, her eyes wide and
terrified.

  “Silas?” I say, but her eyes remain wide and unfocused.

  She holds her hands out and stares at them as if there’s something horrific in front of her and not her own hands.

  “Silas! You need to snap out of this. Whatever they showed you isn’t real.”

  Her wide-eyed gaze snaps up to meet mine but remains hollow.

  “I couldn’t stop him,” she mumbles. “He made me do it.”

  “Silence, whatever you just went through isn’t real. Whatever he made you do, isn’t real. You need to focus,” I tell her, grabbing the bars in front of me.

  “He told me he’d do it, one day he’d kill my sisters.” Her eyes narrow on me. “I have nothing because of you, my parents are gone, my sisters sacrificed for his cause, all in front of my eyes.”

  She gets up and walks over to the bars, thrusting her hands through the bars in an attempt to grab me. I dive away and roll to my feet in the middle of the cell.

  How am I meant to reach her in this state? Jared had snapped out of it in seconds once he recognized me. I need to distract her.

  “Do you remember Henry from school, skinny guy, pimply face?” I didn’t let her answer, just simply carried on speaking. “He was my first Hunt with The Guild. He killed his father to take over his drug business. He’d stolen a recipe from a witch and adapted it into a new street legal drug. Shocking really, I didn’t realize he was even capable of anything like that, he always seemed so dense.”

  I carry on talking about his case and move on to tell her about the more interesting cases I’d been on. I must have been talking for half an hour when she sighs.

  “Would you quit blathering on about your boring life” she says, then sighs again.

  “I think you’ll find my blathering is what brought you out of whatever stupor you were lingering in,” I tell her, annoyed.

  “Look, I’m sorry, you did help. When I’m alone down here I sometimes don’t even come back to reality. I can remain trapped there until he releases me.”