The Blackwater Legacy (The Bloodlines Legacy Series Book 2)

by Apryl Baker

  “She doesn’t need to be kept safe from me.”

  “No, chere, but you need to be safe from her.” Aleric’s accent has thickened. “Dem zombies out der? It migh’ be Madame or it migh’ be her magic. She doan know wha’ she be doin’. If she hurt you, she wou’ never forgive herself.”

  “Her powers are still that out of control?” Bree looks up from her phone.

  “Oui. She pulled two from de grave while we were in de bayou wit’out her knowin’ she did it.”

  “It’s an entire army out there.” Jason looks out the window. “Could she pull a hundred or more out of the ground?”

  Aleric’s lips thin. “Maybe, but I doan think so.”

  “Then it’s the necromancer.” Luka’s arms tighten to steel bands. He hates them. Given what happened to his brother, I can’t blame him.

  “Oui.” Aleric nods, and this haunted look passes through his eyes. He’s afraid of her. What did she do to make him so afraid? I know that look. It’s one I’ve lived with since I was seven, one that will never really go away.

  “Any ideas, Bree?” Jason asks from his post at the window. “More keep coming.”

  “I’m out of ideas. No one in my family can wield any type of death magic, and the one woman we know who can isn’t answering her damn phone.”

  “Saidie has to do this.”

  We all turn to stare at Conner, who for the first time all night has finally spoken. His eyes are out of focus, and he’s seeing things we can’t.

  “She’s unconscious, Conner. How is she going to deal with this?” Bree frowns. “I don’t think trying to wake her up is a good idea.”

  “She has to.” He reaches out blindly, and I take his hand, knowing he’s searching for me instinctively. His visions always get clearer around me, and when he’s touching me, the muddled images make sense. “You have to wake her up, Alex. You have to help her.”

  “Last time she touched me, I almost died, Conner. Our magic doesn’t mix well.”

  “The witch of ether is almost here. She’s coming.” His breathing turns ragged, labored. “She needs to wake up, and wake up now.”

  How does he expect me to wake her up?

  “She is trapped in a nightmare like you were. You have to find her, help her to escape.” His purple eyes widen. “Hurry, Alex. She is leaving us. You have to bring her back.”

  “How, Conner?”

  “You have the answer…just think, Alex. Try to reach her.”

  I hate when he gets cryptic. I know it’s not his fault. It’s part of this whole Seer business. Sometimes it takes a bit of work to muddle out what he’s trying to tell us.

  Okay, how do I reach her? The only element I know that might be able to speak to her is Spirit. I can maybe use it to find her spirit? I have no idea if this is going to work, but by the sound of shattering glass, we really are running out of time.

  I try to go sit on the bed, and Luka holds on tight. “No, Munya, it’s no safe.”

  I twist my head so I can look up at him. “I have to do this. She’d do it for me.”

  “Death magic, Alexandria.” His tone hardens and he’s using my full name. Never a good sign. “You almost die earlier. You promised to no do that again. I can’t lose you.”

  “You won’t lose me.” I reach a hand up and pull his head to mine. “I promise.” His kiss is full of fear, but he lets me go.

  I sit on the bed facing her and center myself like my uncle taught me. It’s a little harder because of all the panic, and I reach out mentally for Micah. He comes and settles behind me, his legs flanking mine, and pulls me to him. Calm. Instant relief, and the panic flees. I can focus. Everything disappears, the sound of the moans coming from downstairs, the rapid breathing of the people around me. It’s just me and Saidie.

  Her heartbeat pounds in my head, the loud, rapid staccato the only sound I hear. Before I left Compton, I could hear the heartbeat of every single person late at night when the place slept. It got so bad I started to hear the sound of their blood rushing through their veins. It scared me so badly, I knew I had to get out before I really went crazy.

  Only now, it doesn’t freak me out. It sounds normal, natural. Closing my eyes, I focus on the sound her of heartbeat, and I listen for the surge of her blood flowing through those dark, rich veins. It’s music. A symphony playing just for me. Each drop meant only for me.

  She belongs to me.

  I can smell the flavor of her blood, taste it on my tongue, warm honey and sweet bread. I take a deep breath, letting it settle in me. Letting all that is Saidie settle inside my own magic, let it wrap itself around her. Her blood calls to me, sings out, begging me to taste, to bathe in it.

  And in all that, I taste something else, something that isn’t Saidie. Sandalwood and the dampness of the earth. Death and decay. A second heartbeat stutters to life and I tilt my head, reaching out to touch it. A snarl sounds from somewhere, but I ignore it, intent on discovering this new treat.

  This scent is interwoven with hers. It binds her blood to its. Aleric. He’s bound to her, and she to him. When I open my eyes and look at him, he doesn’t hesitate. He yanks Saidie away from me and backs up, his eyes wide.

  Why did he do that? She is mine, and therefore, he belongs to me too. Why is he afraid? I would never hurt either of them.

  “Wha’ are you?” His own green eyes have bled to red, his teeth elongated to showcase those fangs vampires are famous for.

  “You bound her to you.”

  He nods, holding her closer.

  “Then wake her up. Call to her and wake her up.”

  “I cain’t do dat. I doan have dat kind of power.”

  “Yes, Aleric, you do.” I turn toward him. “You just don’t know it. Use your bond and tell her to wake up. I can help you, but you have to do it, and do it quickly.”

  “I…” He purses his lips and nods. “How can you help me?”

  “Saidie belongs to me in a way you may not understand. Her blood is as much mine as it is yours. I can help you call to it, help you call her back to us. I can lend my voice to yours and show you how to do it.”

  “How do you know how to do that, Alex?” Bree has backed herself into a corner and is looking at me like I’ve grown horns.

  “Because I touched Aleric earlier, and some of the magic that animates him is now a part of me. That’s how I know he can do this. All you have to do is trust me. I won’t hurt either of you. She’s as much my sister as Jason is my brother. Please, Aleric, will you let me help you?”

  “Sis, whatever you’re doing, you better do it quick. Those things are in the house.”

  A growl emanates from Micah, and I know he wants to be downstairs in the action, defending us the best way he can, but I need him to do this, to focus.

  Aleric nods, and it’s all I need to send my own magic crashing into him. It’s easy enough to find the magic in him that keeps him alive. It’s dark, rich, and stinks of death. The bright green strands fight me for a moment, but when I’m able to coax his to talk to mine, we both look toward the woman in his arms. I can’t touch her magic, but he can because he marked her. I find the door in his mind that is locked, one that would have opened on its own with age and experience, but we don’t have time for that. I flood him with knowledge locked away in his own magic, and he staggers under the weight of it.

  “Call to her, Aleric. Demand she wake up.”

  I push every last ounce of magic I have left into him, and together, we reach out to her, into that void in which she’s trapped. Her magic is a bright, brilliant bluish white, blazing all alone in the darkness of her mind where horrors that we can only guess at are torturing her. Aleric calls to her and her magic pulses in response. He puts a bite of command into his voice, the voice that will one day bring vampires to heel under him, and she is forced to obey.

  Her body stiffens and she cries out.

  But her eyes open.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Three

  Saidie looks around,
confused. She pushes her dirty blonde hair out of her face. The only thing keeping me upright is Micah, and he’s weak himself. I think I might have pulled something out of him inadvertently. I am so tired, I can’t move.

  “Alex?” She coughs, her voice hoarse.

  “Hey.” I give her the best imitation of a smile I can muster up.

  “Ma fille?” Aleric’s bark is even worse than Luka’s. He sounds angry enough to hurt someone.

  “Aleric? Where are we? How did we get here?”

  “Uh, guys, those things are coming up the stairs!” Jason calls right before he and Luka head out, presumably to try to stop them. No, they can’t. There are too many of them. I struggle to get to my feet, to do something, but I’m too weak. I can barely move.

  “What things?”

  “Madame be here, jeune fille. She has brough’ de dead wit’ her.”

  Saidie starts to shake. “Here? She’s here? We have to go, to hide.”

  “No, Draga, no more hidin’.” Aleric sets her on her feet. “You have to do dis.”

  “Do what?” Saidie asks, gripping his arm to stay upright.

  “Figh’ her, chere.”

  “You’re crazier than I thought if you think I can fight her. She’s stronger than I am.”

  “Non, chere, she is no’.” Aleric shakes his head. “She was drainin’ you ever’ time you used your power. Dat is how she stay so strong. She drain dose dat come to train wit’ her. She used a lot of her magic tonight to raise de dead. Hundreds of dem out dere. She be weak, bon fille. You can do dis. I know you can.”

  “Alex, tell this crazy Cajun I can’t…” Her voice trails off when she sees me. Micah and I have both fallen over, barely able to lift our heads. “What the hell happened? Are you okay?”

  “Dey used all der power to help me wake you up, Draga. De dead, dey are in de house. Luka and de Seer are fightin’ wit’ dem now. It is up to you to do dis, chere. Doan let her sacrifice be for not’in’, chere.”

  “How?” Saidie is terrified. I can see it.

  “You know how, Saidie.” I try to look at her, but I’m even too tired to lift my head. Anyone who wanted to could come in here and there would be nothing I could do to stop them. “Just trust your magic. It’s potent. Aleric is right. She’s weak. I was able to chase her off earlier. If my wolf didn’t eat you, then you can do this.”

  “Your wolf? Why would she eat me?”

  “Der is much you doan know, chere, but we have no time. You must find Madame.”

  “And how the hell am I supposed to do that? Huh?” Saidie whirls to face Aleric. “’Cause if you got any ideas, I am all ears, bucko.”

  “Uh, guys, I think we have a problem here!” Jason yells from the hallway.

  “Luka.” The words are barely a whisper, but he hears me. Within seconds he’s by my side, his face more alarmed than I’ve seen it in a long time. “Take me out there. I need to help Saidie.”

  “No, Munya, you have helped her too much. You are no well.”

  I try to sit up, and he lets out a string of curses in both Romani and English, but he picks me up.

  “You are leerky, Munya, leerky.”

  “I’m not crazy, you bossy man. I just need to be there. Please.”

  “Conner,” he barks, pulling him out of his trance. Doing that isn’t a good idea, but we are running out of options. “Bring Micah.” With that, he walks back into the hallway, me in his arms, leaving the others to follow.

  My gasp is loud in the silence when I’m greeted by a sea of zombies. They’re standing there, empty unseeing eyes waiting, for what I don’t know. It’s like a scene from that Brad Pitt movie, World War Z, only they’re still as death.

  It’s the woman standing at the foot of the stairs, though, that holds my attention. She’s tiny, like Saidie, but her eyes hold a wealth of evil. She smiles when she sees me. This must be Madame.

  “Ah, ma chere, you are a sight. You look just like your uncle.”

  So I’ve been told. Sabien and I share the exact shade of hair, and we have the Blackburne blue eyes.

  “I believe you have something that belongs to me.” Her head cocks and her smile widens. Aleric and Saidie are right behind me. “There you are, mon chere. It is not nice to run away from your home.”

  “It is no’ my home anymore.” I can feel the trepidation rolling off him. He’s scared of this woman even more than I thought. “I doan belong to you.”

  “Really? And just who owns you, then?” Madame’s eyes narrow and she takes step toward us, but the growl that rolls out of my brother stops her. “What is this?” She looks closer at Jason, whose eyes have gone amber with his wolf. “Oh my, the secrets the Blackburnes are keeping.”

  “The Blackburnes are of no concern to you.” Jason tells her, stronger than I’ve ever seen him. Even Bree looks impressed. “You need to leave.”

  “Not without what belongs to me, mon chere.” Her grin turns wolfish. “And perhaps I’ll take a few trophies with me as well.”

  “No, Madame.” Saidie steps out from behind us. She’s filthy, but her power is glowing like a halo around her. I can see the exhaustion in her body, but she stands tall, unwilling to let it show more than it already is. “Aleric doesn’t belong to you anymore. He’s mine.”

  “Is that so?” Madame takes another step toward us, and Jason’s stance shifts, his wolf ready to come out the moment he’s needed. It gives Madame pause, and she stops her forward advance.

  “Yes, that’s so.” Saidie nods. “It is my blood, my magic that gives him life, that makes his heart beat. Something even you couldn’t do.”

  Madame cackles. “Make his heart beat? Child, there isn’t a necromancer alive who can do that. A vampire has no heartbeat. They can feed, gorge on blood, and still, their heart will not beat. It is as dead as they are.”

  “Dat is where you are wrong, Madame.” Aleric’s voice is soft, but she hears him. “The moment you made me drink her nearly dry, her blood, her magic, it made my heart start to beat, and it has no’ stopped. She gave me life.”

  She stares at him for the longest time before she finally speaks. “I knew you were magnificent when I met you, chere, but now I understand the full extent of what you can do. You are the missing link.”

  “You need to leave.” Saidie leans against Aleric. I know she’s dead on her feet, same as I am, but there is no escaping this fight, and even if she’s not ready, it’s coming. I can feel Madame pulling energy into her.

  “Not without what I came for, child.”

  The zombie horde at her back comes alive, their eyes filling with her magic. The one thing I know about magic is when you use that much of it, no matter how strong you are, it weakens you. Saidie is weak, yes, but not because she’s been using her magic. Her power is all there, just waiting to come out.

  Saidie strikes first. Her magic lashes out and straight into Madame, twining and twisting. I see the two energies fighting with each other, thanks to my newfound sight. And it is a fight. Both are strong, both determined to win.

  The zombies shuffle forward, but a bone chilling howl sounds from outside, and then the pack is diving in through the broken windows. More wolves than I have ever seen, ripping and tearing through the mess of zombies. Is the entire town wolves?

  Madame and Saidie pay them no mind, locked in a battle of wills. Saidie might be stronger, but Madame is older, more experienced, and is letting her wear herself out. I can see it in her eyes. They’re glowing with victory.

  “Help her, Aleric.” I turn my head as much as I can, but it’s not enough to actually see him. “You are bound to her. Give her your strength or she won’t win this.”

  Ethan is making his way through the middle of the horde, his eyes on Madame. If Saidie can hold out, our necromancer is about to get her just rewards.

  Saidie’s magic stream glows brighter and pushes against Madame’s with a newfound strength, something Madame wasn’t counting on. She had no idea Aleric had bound Saidie to him. It allows Sai
die to pull strength from him, and he from her. It gives her all she needs to pin Madame down.

  The woman never saw it coming. One minute she was standing there, struggling to wrest control of Saidie’s magic from her, and the next she is being pulled down, teeth sinking into her throat and shaking her. She screams, but it’s useless. There is no escaping a very large, very angry wolf whose territory you’ve just pissed all over.

  I’m not really sure what happened after that because my body finally gave out. The last thing I heard was the very satisfying crunch of bones breaking.

  ***

  The next time I wake up, I’m curled against Luka. His breathing is slow and even. He’s sound asleep. I smile softly, enjoying the feel of having him wrapped around me like a blanket. This is the only place I ever truly want to be.

  My eyes flicker over the room. Bodies are piled up everywhere. Is the entire pack bunking with us? I blink, but when I look again, they’re still there. What the…the fight. The necromancer. Saidie. I look for her, but I don’t have to look far. Those gray eyes are right across from me. She is curled up in Aleric’s arms same as I am in Luka’s.

  “Hey.” She gives me a very tired smile.

  “Hey, yourself,” I whisper, not wanting to wake anyone up. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I got hit by a bus?”

  I snort, but wince when my ribs hurt. I guess not everything healed as much as I’d hoped. “You can say that again. I’m sorry, Saidie. I know you didn’t want any of this, and my uncle took you there…”

  “Hush.” She stops me before I even get started. “It wasn’t your fault. I think this would have surfaced eventually. Maybe not as soon as it did, but before too much longer. It’s too strong. Besides that, it did do some good. It gave Luka back his brother, and it brought Aleric to me.”

  “What’s going on with that?” I’ve been dying to ask her since Aleric showed up all alpha dog when it came to her. Given what a necromancer had put him though, I’m shocked at how taken he is with Saidie.