“No, no,” the voice said. “Stay with me. Tori, stay with me. Merde, what has he done to you?”
“P—poison,” she mouthed. “Pollen.”
“Pan did this?” His eyes flared above her. “Where is he?”
“Right here.”
Christian turned in slow motion, as did Victoria. Her fear came back in full force. Christian was here and there was nothing she could do to protect him from Pan’s machinations. He stood alone in the middle of the glade, but she could see the lethal pollen fisted in his hands. One puff and Christian would be as useless as her. Or worse.
Placing Victoria gently down, Christian stood. She fought to stay awake, fighting the terror rising in her gut. She wanted to scream that he was dangerous, but her lips wouldn’t cooperate. Her mouth was glued shut.
Pan shook his head, his eyes trained on Christian. “Now, now, no sudden moves.”
“Or what?” Christian asked coolly.
Pan smiled, his blue eyes glittering. “You’ve seen what I can do. You think you will be immune? You’ll be worse off than she is right now. The only reason she isn’t dead is because of the magic beating in her veins. The curse, as they say.”
“You think you can control the Cruentus Curse?”
Pan met her eyes. “I can control her.”
“Odette Starke is using you, Pan. Surely you see that.”
The boy’s smile widened. “Or perhaps she is only a means to an end. I needed to get close, you see. Befriend the new witch. Madame Starke came to understand my point of view with a little pollen persuasion.”
“You drugged her?”
“Not exactly, but she wanted the power for herself, and well, I couldn’t have that. Not after all the work I’d put in to get this toxin just right.” He eyed Christian. “How did you find us, by the way? I’m assuming the poor headmistress is dead or was in enough pain to give up the information.”
“Something like that,” Christian said. He still hadn’t moved, although Victoria could see his fists clenching at his sides.
Pan pursed his lips. “It is a pity that I’m going to have to kill you, though. You really are quite hot, but you know what they say in the covenant—relationships between witches and vampires are frowned upon, so there’s really no future for us anyway.”
Blinking in and out of the hazy effects of the poison, Victoria didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Pan was delusional. How had she not seen it before? Had she been so desperate to be accepted and to have a friend that she’d missed all the cues?
“I guess not,” Christian said, his voice inflectionless.
“Can’t have you spoiling my grand plans either.” He smiled. “So how do you want it? The hard way or the easy way? You look like you like it kind of rough.”
Without warning, the ground shook as snaky roots appeared to wrap around Christian’s ankles before he could move, slamming him to the ground. He snarled, tearing at them with his fingers and springing into a crouch. He rushed Pan, but a shield protection around the witch sent him sprawling backward.
Victoria focused what little energy she could summon. Christian would have no chance if she didn’t crack Pan’s protection spell. And, well, if Pan got close enough to Christian, who knew what he’d be capable of with his pouch of pixie dust or what effect it’d have on a vampire. Fear clotted her veins as they circled each other.
Another rotation of roots swept the earth, but this time Christian dodged out of their way. His attacks remained defensive as he couldn’t get close enough to do any real damage to Pan. And from the smile on the witch’s face, he was enjoying toying with his prey. Vines dropped like rain from the foliage above, wrapping around Christian’s arms and binding them to his sides. As quickly as he broke out of the restraints, more appeared to take their place.
Think! Victoria urged herself, but finding clarity was a struggle. Pan’s toxin was running rampant within her and she knew she couldn’t trust herself, not while she was under its influence. But Christian had no advantage without her. She had to try.
She needed a kick-start—magic to restart her own sluggish power, and the only person who had magic was Pan. And it was shielded. She could take life from the trees and the animals around her, but Victoria didn’t know how much her power would absorb once she got started, and she didn’t want to risk taking innocent lives as weak as she was. That was what the blood magic wanted—it craved darkness and that was the last thing that she would ever give it willingly.
Digging her fists into the earth, she pushed her awareness out, the pounding in her head increasing to excruciating levels as she fought Pan’s contaminant with every shred of willpower she had left. She stole energy from ants and worms burrowing the soil, mourning the loss of their lives, but she needed them. She needed them to survive. With each life, her lucidity and her strength grew.
Pan’s gaze shot to hers as the nearest surrounding trees shriveled and blackened as she stole their life. “Tori,” he said in a warning voice. “What are you doing? You know that’s not nice.”
Victoria gasped. It wasn’t enough. She’d need to consume the entire forest and everything in it to even get back half her strength. If she gave in to the blood magic, it would consume life until it was sated, and everyone would be at risk, including Christian. And her hold on it was tenuous as it was.
“You don’t have to do this, Pan,” she said, watching as Christian fended off a combined dual attack of roots from below and vines from above. His super speed was blinding as he tried to dart out of their reach, but there were too many of them. As fast as he evaded them, a dozen more snaked toward him.
“Oh, of course I don’t. But I want to.”
Suddenly, Victoria felt a deep reserve of something and stalled. No, it couldn’t be. She pushed outward again, but she’d been right the first time. It was Christian. He had magic. It was impossible, but just as blood called to blood, so did magic. She’d felt it before, too, in the courtyard.
Victoria knew a way she could help him. She turned back to Pan. She had seconds before he reached her, and once he gave her another dose, she would be powerless. She focused the little energy she’d gathered and pushed her awareness toward Christian.
What are you doing? he asked.
You have magic. She couldn’t quite keep the desperation from her mental voice. Or was it hunger? Her body shook with the force of what her blood wanted.
It’s a new development.
Can I use it?
Tori, I don’t know what it can do, only that it is dark, ancient magic. He paused. I wouldn’t risk it.
I’ll only take a little, I swear. Enough for me to help you. The words couldn’t form in her head fast enough. The promise of magic was like the lure of a drug, calling to her every sense. She only needed a touch of whatever he had—enough to free him and to defeat Pan.
Christian stared at her and shook his head, renewing his attack against the serpentine vines curling around his limbs. No, Tori.
You’re going to die if I don’t do something.
With an immense burst of strength, he ripped apart the vines clinging to him and vaulted toward where Victoria was crouching, his body braced like a shield to block Pan’s approach. The lacerations on his skin from the barbed plants healed before her eyes, and once more she marveled at the changes in him.
Christian met her eyes. It’s not worth the risk to you, should the blood magic take over. And this magic is not like witch’s magic. It’s dark. I don’t know what it will do to you.
Her eyes rose to Pan hovering close behind them. “We can’t beat him without it,” she whispered.
“You can.”
Victoria nodded and released the meager energy she’d amassed, slamming it into Pan’s shield and feeling it dissipate for an instant. “Now, Christian.”
At the last second, Christian spun around, his vampire speed untraceable as he cut a blazing path toward Pan. His fist darted out, catching the boy s
quare in the chin, and Pan went down, stunned by the punch he hadn’t even seen coming. His shield charm winked out completely as he lost control of his magic and struggled to get his bearings. Christian didn’t hesitate as he rushed in for the final blow.
“No, don’t hurt him,” Victoria cried. “He has … a disorder.”
“He tried to hurt you.”
“Please.”
Christian stared at her, but just nodded. Clearly, he didn’t agree with her leaving a homicidal witch alive. She didn’t want to leave him either, not when he was a danger to himself and a danger to others. “We can take him to the high priestesses. They’ll know what to do.” She sighed, pulling herself up with a groggy movement. “I can’t teleport, so we’ll have to find a taxi or a metro stop.”
“Hang tight,” he told her as he stooped to bring her close.
“What?” Victoria was unprepared for Christian to swing her into his arms, but she was even more unprepared for what came next as he grabbed hold of an unconscious Pan by one leg.
She blinked as the ground—and Pan’s dangling body—lay below them, and then there was only the breeze against her face and the feel of Christian’s strong embrace holding her tightly. “Are we flying?” she said.
He leaned close to her ear. “Yes.”
“How is this possible?” she said, her brain struggling to catch up to her thoughts. “Vampires can’t fly.”
His answer was almost lost in the wind. “The Reii can.”
Her mind was fuzzy, but even in its incapacitated state, she remembered the Reii. She’d read of them in one of Christian’s books when she’d spent half the summer stuck in his château and bored out of her mind. She’d wanted to understand their genesis and whether Christian could ever become human—or whether she could become like him. She’d found nothing that suggested either of those options were possible, but she had discovered the ancestors of the vampire race. Victoria’s eyes widened as she and Christian alighted at the witches’ temple.
“How did you find out?”
He drew a shattered breath. “Enhard … left a letter after he died telling me the truth.”
Victoria stared at the visible anguish flashing across his face and flung her arms around him. “I am so sorry. I know you always thought he was your maker.”
“He was a father to me and that is what is important. It doesn’t matter who my true maker was, or is.”
“But it does matter, Christian.” Victoria’s eyes narrowed as she took in his fully healed wounds. She realized that it was the only reason he had survived their last encounter without worse scars. He’d been able to face her one-on-one.
Oh god.
He’d been able to do other things, too. Her body grew hot with the memory of what they had shared and she turned away, composing herself hastily as Aliya ran out of the temple toward them.
“Victoria, are you okay?”
“Getting there,” she answered with a wan smile. “It was Pan.”
Aliya gasped as her eyes landed on Pan’s inert body. “Pan? Is he dead?”
“Just knocked out,” Christian said.
“He wanted the power of the Cruentus Curse,” Victoria explained as Aliya ushered them into the depths of the temple. Two of her people restrained the unconscious Pan behind them. Victoria nodded for Christian to follow, and after a long moment, Aliya flicked her wrist, signaling that he should. It made Victoria feel better that he was close, even though she knew that the attention from the witches inside would make him uncomfortable. Aliya escorted them to her private quarters and dismissed the two witches in attendance.
“What happened? Tell me everything.”
Something went fuzzy in her brain and she blinked, staring half into space and half at Aliya who was watching her with expectant silence.
“He used some kind of toxin,” Christian interjected after a look at Victoria’s face. “One that inhibited her ability to control her magic. It’s not wearing off. She had to drain energy from around her to even be this coherent. Odette had suggested that the toxin would kill her if not removed. We brought him with us, but I don’t think we have much time,” he added with a glance at Victoria. She felt weaker by the second, but smiled at him reassuringly. He didn’t buy it, she knew.
A knock on the door interrupted them and one of Aliya’s personal guards stepped in. “He’s awake and restrained. We found nothing on him, except the pouch of dust you described. He won’t tell us anything.”
Victoria’s heart sank. Of course he wouldn’t have had the antidote on him. He was far too clever for that. The room started to spin then and she clutched Christian for support. “I can get it out of him,” he growled. “The same way with Odette.”
But Aliya shook her head. “He would have prepared for that, Your Grace, knowing who you were to Victoria. My guess his that his blood has been poisoned with a similar toxin.”
“I’ll take the risk.” He stood, but her glare stalled him in his tracks.
“And have the vampires start a war because we killed their prince? No. We will figure this out. It’s a witch problem.”
Christian raked a frustrated hand through his hair, rage written all over his face. “Don’t you get it? It’s no longer a witch problem. We need her alive. I need her alive. She would have been safe if she had remained with me, but I agreed to let her go with you because we both thought it would be best for her. And look at what nearly happened—a psychotic power-hungry witch and her boy-prodigy would have unleashed the Cruentus Curse upon the world.” He jabbed a finger at Victoria, who was feeling more drained by the minute, the buzzing in her head starting to become cacophonous. “Even now, you cannot help her. She is dying.”
Her gaze snapped to his. “How do you know?”
“Because I can feel it.” His voice was measured. “We are connected. We have been since last year, but I could never sense her the way I can now. I can feel her waning heartbeat, trace the venom tracking its way through her system, the tail end of it meant to consume.”
Blanching at his words, Aliya stood and spoke to the men at her door. Within seconds, the chamber was crowded with witches. Victoria grasped Christian’s hands in hers as they stared at her with varying looks of pity and compassion. She tried to speak and could not. It felt good to close her eyes.
“No, no, Tori, you have to stay awake. Don’t go to sleep.” That same urgent voice was tugging against her senses. She protested weakly, but pushed open her eyes at his insistent commands. Somehow she’d moved from the chair to the table in the middle of the room. Christian stood beside her. The witches gave him a wide berth too, she noticed faintly. It was because he should not be here … in the sanctified temple. He was an outcast, an outsider. Then again, so was she.
“I’m so tired.”
“I know, love, but you cannot go to sleep.”
She saw the witches bending over her body, chanting over her. Their fingers brushed her temples, her arms, the soles of her feet as the soft sounds of their voices echoed in the room. A burst of light filled her, pushing against the hot rush of Pan’s poisoned dust, but it held fast like a parasite.
“It’s not responding to the spells,” one of the witches said.
“Magic and science,” Victoria murmured, and Christian bent to catch what she’d said before her head lolled to the side and her eyes rolled back in her head.
“We don’t have much time left.” She heard Christian shout. A flurry of movement filled her vision as his desperate growl scattered the remaining witches. “Either bring me the boy and I’ll tear this place apart to find him.”
But as the blood roiled beneath her veins, Victoria knew that it was already too late. Too late for all of them.
TWENTY
The Courage of One
Lounging in an armchair, Lucian stared at the defiant dark haired girl before him, holding his brother’s ducal ring in one hand and a small crossbow in the other. He didn’t know whether to kill her
himself or let Lena kill her. His gaze slid to where Lena sat, watching the ludicrous situation unfold without a glimmer of expression on that icy face. He knew that what had happened in the warlock’s quarter would have affected her, but at least now he knew where her loyalties lay. When it had counted most, she had chosen him over Christian. He frowned—he didn’t understand why she had allowed the girl entrance, however.
Lucian’s attention turned back to the girl and his eyes narrowed. Recognition was swift as he studied her face. “You’re the sister of that warlock. Gabriel.”
She nodded, her fingers tightening on the weapon at her side. “Angie.”
It wouldn’t help her cause if he chose to put an end to whatever game his brother was playing, but he let her keep it. The illusion of security went a long way in getting to the bottom of why she would risk entering a house full of vampires and claim to be here on Christian’s behalf. In truth, Lucian was surprised that she even made it past the foyer. It was Lena who had seen her and prevented her untimely execution by one of his overzealous followers.
Lucian inhaled her scent. It was rich, but not remarkable in any way. “You are not a witch.”
“No.”
He smiled. “Considering that, you are either very brave or very stupid. How did you know I would not kill you on sight?”
She stared at him, lifting a cool eyebrow. “I didn’t.”
“So why did you come here? What do you owe my brother that you would risk blood, breath, and bone to deliver his message?”
“I owe him nothing. I came because I wanted to. I trust him.”
Lucian made a derisive sound. “Really? You trust him? A vampire?”
To his surprise, Angie smiled at him. “I would trust your brother with my life, Lord Devereux. Just as you do.”
He laughed, but the way she was looking at him unnerved him more than her stupid comment. What this poor little human didn’t know was that he would kill his brother if he had to. “You seem to know a lot about me, even if you are misinformed.”
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