“Maybe you’re right, but I don’t think you are. Timmy told me to do this.” I sniffed. “He wouldn’t tell me to do something evil. It doesn’t matter.” My voice broke. “I have to bring them back to life before the vampires put their corpses in the incinerator.”
Griff released my wrist and held out his big hands. “Luca betrayed us, and he knew where the Portland rebels were hiding. There are ten thousand humans in the tunnels around Portland. We can get them to safety before the vampires find them, regroup, and take the city back. We promised to lead these people, Kori. The rebel army needs us. Do you want everyone who has already died to have died for nothing? What happened here today was evil, Kori, but we can use it for good.”
“Yes, exactly,” I said. “I don’t think this flower is bad. You can’t deny that saving the high-ranking officers of the rebellion will be using this power for good.”
“I sure as hell can deny that.” He tugged his braided beard. “Bringing us back from the dead, it’s not natural. It’s not right. I taught you better than that.”
“Please, Griff,” I whispered as pain, like an invisible knife, twisted in my stomach, “I’ll do it whether or not you help me.”
“This is insidious magic.” He growled low in his throat and then pointed into my face. “Fine, but only because you’ll have no chance of survival without my help. But, it’s wrong. I feel it in my bones.” In his eyes, I could see how anathema the idea of me raising the dead was to everything he believed in. Just a few days ago, I would have wholeheartedly agreed.
Today, I didn’t care. Consequences be damned, I was bringing my family back from death—even if I lost my life in the process.
We limped through the garden and into empty wooden hallways with views of a glowing city and a dark pit below. Griff and I found a slender bridge over the pit, which led into a cave system. As soon as we found the main road, Griff fell to his hands and knees, and his body writhed like his skin sheathed thousands of snakes rather than flesh and bone. I’d seen the animal blood mage turn into different animals a hundred times, but the sight always made my stomach churn. His body grew and morphed, stretching into a large gray horse-body with a scraggly braided mane.
He snorted at me, and I climbed up onto his warm back and hugged his thick, muscular neck.
Griff fell into a trot that soon became a gallop, the muscles of his equine body shifting under me as he ran through the main tunnel from Nightendale to Portland. He navigated the route without direction, clearly knowing the way. After a time, he slowed to a trot and veered into a dark side shaft. Griff weaved through tunnels until the darkness broke with a crimson light.
I climbed off Griff before turning and cupping his warm horse cheeks. “We’ll be back with the rebels tonight.”
Clearly disgruntled, Griff opened his lips slightly, bearing a few of his teeth. He snorted once, flung his shaggy head toward the tunnel, pivoted, and dashed off.
Human corpses clogged up the stairwell a hundred feet up the tunnel. The red lights cast an eerie glow on their sightless eyes and torn throats. Tears ran down my cheeks as I forced myself to climb over the piles of bodies. I reminded myself that thousands escaped this tunnel. The vampires only managed to kill, at most, hundreds. But as I crawled over their bodies, feeling their cold, lifeless flesh beneath my fingers, my mind screamed that everyone was dead.
At the top of the passage, I scrubbed the tears and snot from my face and pushed open the heavy metal door, listening for anyone in the street beyond. When there was only silence, I peeked out. Corpses littered the street, bloody and broken. The cloying air reeked of feces and blood.
Pioneer Courthouse Square waited three blocks to the East, and my heart crawled up into my throat as I snuck through the empty streets, hunching down and keeping close to the buildings.
Blood pounded in my ears as I stepped onto the bricks of the plaza. I kept my eyes forward, forcing my gaze away from the battlefield. If I looked, I would break, and vampires could surround me at any moment. I found Timothy first. His skin was waxy, but aside from that, he looked like he’d simply fallen asleep. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the black flower. I hadn’t dared to count the petals in front of the vampire, but now I could easily see that there were ten petals and a gap where I’d taken the eleventh and twelfth. I plucked one, finding it smooth and downy soft, like a rose petal. I pushed it between my brother’s cold lips and down into his dry throat.
Timothy rocked a little from me jostling him, then again lay still, dead.
“Wake up, wake up . . .” A sob ripped from my lips as I forced myself away from him. I could not sob. I could not break.
Genevieve lay beside Brendan, surrounded by burnt vampire corpses. My sister’s neck was a mess of bloody, ripped flesh. An echo of the battle screams and grunts whispered through my mind, and I tried to quiet my sobs, but they burst from my chest unbidden.
When I touched Genevieve’s lips, they were cool. I pushed the fourth petal into her mouth and down to her throat before hunching over Brendan.
Genevieve’s hand covered Brendan’s face, and I had to remove it gently. His face was a bloody mess. I had to force his jaw open to give him the fifth petal.
Gasps broke the silence, and I spun to find Genevieve’s chest heaving.
“Vivie?” I grabbed her face.
Her eyes were wide as she gasped in frantic breaths. Her arms and legs twitched and shook, and a moment later, Brendan gasped beside her. They writhed on the floor, kicking each other and the corpses around them. Their reanimation was so much more violent than Griff’s rebirth. The jagged, shredded flesh on their throats and faces knitted together, leveling into smooth skin.
Their convulsions subsided suddenly, and they each pushed into sitting positions, their gazes distant and confused.
“We have to grab Timmy and go,” I whispered, frantically, as I reached a hand out to each of their cheeks. “It’s Kori.”
“Kori?” Genevieve’s unfocused eyes moved my way.
“What the fuck?” a voice yelled from behind me.
I spun to where a vampire stood in the street, his gun pointing at my siblings and me. Silver hair cascaded around his enraged face, as he bared his fanged teeth at us and charged into the plaza.
I scrabbled for a blood-slick gun on the ground, but the vampire kicked my weapon aside and yanked me up by the wrist. He lifted his gun when my instincts kicked in, telling me what I needed to say. “We’re courtesans who got trapped in the city!” I yelled. “We have rare mage blood.” I shoved my pants down as far as they’d go, showing him my hip where my fire mark would forever brand what I was.
He glanced down and hesitated, and his fingers released my wrist slightly. “That mark could easily be faked…”
I lifted my other wrist before his face.
Through heavy exhales, I managed to say, “Taste my blood and see. We’re all blood mages.”
He leaned down, took my bloody sleeve into his mouth, and sucked.
“Run, Kori!” Brendan yelled as he and Genevieve shot plumes of fire at the vampire.
CHAPTER TEN
KORI
The vampire spun, using me as a shield, but the fire hit me, sizzled through the collar of my shirt, met my skin, and extinguished. Before my siblings could aim higher, the vampire leaped out of range, wrenching me back against his front.
He raised one hand, and flames licked across his palm. The fingers of his other hand wrapped around my throat. “You’re too late, Ignises. I’m immune to your power.”
With the small quantity of blood that he sucked off my sleeve, he’d only be immune to Ignis fire for an hour at most, but he could kill all three of us well before that. I didn’t doubt my decision, though.
Genevieve and Brendan dropped their hands. “Let her go,” Genevieve whispered as she staggered to her feet. She raised a bloody gun to point over my shoulder. “The moment she dies, you do, too.”
I grabbed onto the vampire’s fingers, pulling them
away from my throat, but he was too strong. Gasping, I rasped, “Vivie, stop.”
“You three are coming with me. Clasp your hands behind your back,” the vampire demanded as he bared his fangs at my siblings. “Do it, or I will first kill this one and then each of you.”
Genevieve threw down her gun, and both my siblings shifted to clasp their hands behind their backs. The vampire released me and took metal cuffs off his belt. “We came prepared,” he said as he closed the cuffs around my siblings’ wrists, tightening them. The warrior leaned into Brendan, who swayed back and forth, seeming barely able to stand. “Yes, that would be iron.” The vampire gestured in front of him. “After you.”
“I’m latent,” I said as the vampire turned back to me.
He chuckled and locked my wrists in cuffs at my front. “You think I’m an idiot?” he whispered in my ear before grabbing my arm. “Move.”
My sister and brother hobbled past. Genevieve’s amber gaze sought mine for reassurance, before she turned back forward. We marched through the entrance of Portland Palace. Clearly, the vampires had immediately reoccupied their downtown stronghold.
We should have burned it to the ground, but the consort had insisted on running her government from it.
Checkered marble floors spread out before us, and tall, windows lined the entrance hall. Everything was so achingly familiar, and yet with enemy vampire soldiers lining the reception area, the palace felt foreign and wrong. The dome’s full spectrum light shone through the tall windows, casting the throne room in a haunting red glow.
Sounds echoed around the space. Suit jackets rubbed against silk shirts. There was a distant cry of a dying man and the whisper of hushed voices.
The vampire warrior yanked me to a stop. He released my arm only to grab the back of my neck and shove me forward. “Bow to the Duchess!”
As I didn’t have much of a choice, I bent forward, but immediately struggled back against his grip and stood to face the dais.
An imposing woman filled the Portland throne. Crimson liquid spread across the top of her flaxen head and down her naked body as if she had literally bathed in the blood of the humans she killed. She had striking features, large yellow-brown eyes, a wide nose, and full lips. Underneath the blood, her hair was a nearly white color.
Several vampires in three-piece suits gathered around the blood-painted woman on the dais, and her gaze bounced between them until it shot up to land on my brother and sister. Her eyelids widened. “What do you think you’re doing? Are those blood mages?”
“Ignises, Duchess Dread.” The warrior holding me lifted a hand, and a thin blue flame ignited on his palm. “They’re courtesans who got trapped in the rebellion.”
The crowd of vampires spun to look at us before drawing back in clear fear. How they feared us. They feared us courtesans almost as much as they desired us. We were the cliffs they liked to stand at the edge of to feel alive.
The warrior raised his voice, “It’s fine. I’ve put iron cuffs around their wrists.”
“You disarmed them? Are you a complete idiot? The courtesans led the human rebellion.” Duchess Dread waved to the guards at the door. “You should have killed them where you found them while they were still armed, now the kings of Portland have to give them a trial before we can execute them. Take those two to the royal spa. If they attempt to escape, kill them.” She gestured to Brendan and Genevieve.
As guards surrounded my siblings, my mind spun. Timothy was, at this moment, waking among the dead. We needed to get to him and escape, meaning, I needed to act now while we were still together. Yet, I couldn’t think of a single move I could make that wouldn’t result in all three of us dying. All too soon, the guards led my siblings away, but the guard holding me didn’t go anywhere. He continued to stand there, his hand encircling my neck.
“If you’re just killing them, can I have this one, your grace?” He lowered his nose down to my neck. “Her blood, it’s…” He sighed, his hot breath coating my skin. “This one said she was latent.”
“You’re allowing this?” I called up to the duchess. “I thought the Queen of Seattle forbids forced biting in any circumstance.” I wrenched away, but only managed to gain a couple of inches from the vampire.
The sharp prick of his fangs traced over my shoulder. “If I could just dry-bite her once before you kill her.”
The words ‘dry bite’ made me flinch as a phantom pain seared through my neck. Before we could exit our apprenticeship and become courtesans, we had to undergo one dry bite. Vampire feedings hurt like two spikes stabbing you in the neck, every single time. When a vampire bit during sex, it was a shock of pain that mingled with pleasure to create a sensual blend. When a vampire did a dry bite without any sex involved, the pain was almost unbearable. When we underwent it in our training, every single apprentice cried and begged the vampire to stop.
“You really are an idiot.” Fury filled the duchess’ citrine gaze. “Blood mages are for royalty only. Guards, execute this warrior for royal larceny.”
A streak of gray slashed through the air, and the hand clutching my neck fell away, plopping on the floor, severed at the elbow. When I spun, the warrior fell backward and hit the ground with a smack. His severed head flopped to the side and blood pooled around his corpse.
“Clean up this mess,” Duchess Dread said to the warriors surrounding the dais as she settled back into her chair and crossed her long legs. “As much as I’d like to kill every single courtesan traitor with my bare hands, I don’t have the authority to execute war criminals. The new kings will arrive in a couple of weeks, and they’ll decide then. Everyone leave. I wish to speak to this one alone.”
The vampire standing nearest to the throne stepped forward. “But, Your Grace,” he protested. “What about your safety—”
“Leave her here,” Duchess Dread snapped as she lifted a hand. “I really doubt she poses a threat to me.”
This got the vampires around the dais chuckling. Obviously, it was an understatement. Before their merriment died, Duchess Dread waved at the vampire nobles around her. “Leave us. Now.”
They rushed to obey her, marching past me and slamming the heavy wood throne room door as they left. Tingles spread through my arm where the warrior had been gripping me. When I turned back to the duchess’ imposing figure, I envied my siblings for being sent to a cell. While I hated confinement, imprisonment meant safety. Looking up at Duchess Dread right now, I felt anything but safe.
“I’ve only ever heard of one latent courtesan. I know who you are, Courtesan Koribella Ignis,” she said as she stood. Duchess Dread crossed the room in several long strides, coming to tower over me until I was at eye level with the hollow of her throat. She reached down, grabbed my metal cuffs, and yanked them open, breaking the lock. This close, I could feel the weight of her gaze, like knives cutting into me. The cloying scent of lilies and blood tickled my nose, and I wanted to step away, but I knew she would take that as a sign of weakness. Her blazing yellow eyes fixed on me. A smile spread over the duchess’ lips. “I can smell your mage blood from here. It must be a terrifying existence—having Ignis magic running through your veins and no fire to protect yourself.”
My hand slid closer to my knife. “I’m not as helpless as you might think.”
“You can move your hand away from your knife, Koribella. I’m not biting you. Do you know who I am?”
“No. I’m having a hard time even guessing who you could be.” I lifted my chin and glared at the vampire. “You’re sitting on the throne of Portland, but from the sound of it, you’re not the new ruler. I can only guess that you’re a duchess that isn’t afraid of committing treason.”
“I’m sure the kings won’t mind me sitting in their chair, I handed them a kingdom after all. But, you’re right. Seattle’s treacherous, back-stabbing bitch of a queen had the honor of selecting Portland’s next ruler—so, no, I’m not your queen.” Duchess Dread cupped my chin. The dried blood on her hand was abrasive, but her fingers
pinched, and I couldn’t pull away. “I simply saw an opportunity to take Portland for them, and so I acted. Come here, Luca.”
The name hit me like a physical blow, and the throne room spun around me.
Duchess Dread tilted her head. “Meet my consort. You do remember Luca, don’t you, Koribella? He says that he fucked you this morning.”
An all too familiar courtesan walked through accompanied by a large vampire. Luca’s movements were stiff, as if he was expecting someone to attack him at any moment.
Loathing gripped my heart. I’d gone to him and let him take my body out of guilt, and all the while, he’d been planning to assassinate us all. I had known something was wrong, too. I’d felt it in my gut. There had been something wrong about the clanging on the containment door. It had been too loud. I clutched my stomach, fisting my stolen uniform. “Everyone was so sure that you were a hero, sacrificing yourself to save thousands of lives. I should have known that you were sacrificing thousands of people just to save yourself.”
Luca knew all of our tunnels—he knew where the survivors from our army hid. Heat surged through my body as hatred boiled in my heart. The abhorrence I felt for the vampires was nothing to what I felt for this man standing before me. The giant menacing vampires didn’t matter anymore. Using all of my remaining strength and speed, I grabbed for the knife at my belt and lunged, aiming for Luca’s jugular. My thrust was clumsy, but I put all of my power behind it.
Mid-lunge, a hand grabbed me out of the air and yanked me back. I collided with the duchess, and her other hand went up, fingers wrapping around my throat.
“Don’t you dare,” the duchess said, sounding almost bored.
“I wish you were dead.” Barely taking time to aim, I threw the knife in my hand.
The vampire warrior that was guarding Luca caught it midair. The large man glowered at me, baring his fangs, and suddenly, I recognized the vampire. He was the one who chased Griff and me into the tunnel. His hair was little more than thick black bristle. He was pale with a dark beard that grew over a square jaw. There was a glint of menace in his green gaze as if he was daring me to come forward.
Ruin: A Reverse Harem Dark Fantasy Vampire Romance (Fire & Blood Book 1) Page 7
