by N M Thorn
The darkness became heavier, and he could feel its touch to his face and to the exposed skin of his neck and arms as if it was something tangible. It wrapped around his throat, making it hard to breathe. He squeezed the steering wheel, leaning forward, his moves torturously slow. All sounds dimmed down. He could still hear the roar of the engine and the sound of the air outside rushing by the speeding vehicle, but everything was coming like through a thick wall.
The surroundings fluctuated and shifted, coming in and out of focus, and he wasn’t sure where he was or if he was still driving in the right direction. Cold sweat covered his forehead, running into his eyes, but he couldn’t unlock his fingers to wipe it. The darkness spun around the car, pressing on his feverish mind. He opened his eyes wide but could see absolutely nothing.
“Dima, watch out!”
Cole’s desperate scream ripped him out of his dazed existence, and for a split second, he saw the road and the wall surrounding Paradise Manor covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. In one swift motion, Cole kicked the door opened, wrapped his arms around Damian, and jumped out of the moving vehicle, covering Damian with his body.
Chapter 34
~ Damian Blake ~
Cold seeped into his bones, making his entire body ache and shiver. Damian moaned and attempted to sit up, but just sank deeper into a snowbank. After a few attempts, he managed to scramble into a sitting position and then up to his feet. Turning around, his heart slipped down to his knees. Cole lay sprawled, partially covered by snow, a dark red splatter spreading beneath his body.
“Nikolai!” Damian wasn’t sure if he screamed his brother’s name or just thought it. Dropping back to his knees, he scooped the snow off the vampire just in time to see a few terrible wounds healing, the edges of cuts and deep gashes on his chest and stomach closing before his eyes. The corners of Cole’s lips lifted just a little, and he opened his eyes, staring at his brother.
“Are you okay, big bro?” he asked, pushing himself up with his arms. “Do you need me to heal you?” His eyes lit up with the red glow of thirst, and he grunted, averting his gaze, pressing his hand over his mouth and nose.
Damian glanced down, just now noticing a few lacerations on his arms and chest below the torn shirt. “I’m fine,” he replied. Rising to his feet, he surveyed the area. The car had impacted the ice wall just a few feet away from where they were, doing it no damage whatsoever. Crushed into a useless hunk of metal, it sat deep in the snow.
“Damn,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Second rental car in two days. Jamie is going to kill me.”
“I’ll take care of the cost.” Cole got up, shaking the snow and icicles off his hair. “We have a much bigger problem on our hands.” He waved his hand in a wide arch. “The gates are there, but how are we going to get in?”
The entire property of Paradise Manor was encapsulated in a massive dome of ice. Running along the perimeter of the wall, it glistened dimly with the ultramarine colors of the night. Through the thick layer of ice, Damian noticed the outline of the building in the distance, and as far as he could see, it was still standing in one piece.
Placing his hands on the bone-chilling surface of the ice dome, Damian leaned forward and channeled his magic, carefully exploring and probing it.
“I can try to break it,” suggested Cole.
Damian pulled away and shook his head, looking at Cole over his shoulder. “Even you are not strong enough to do that. This monstrosity is at least three feet thick.” He moved his finger over the surface of the ice, drawing a glowing, orange outline of a door on it, using his elemental energy. “But between the two of us, we can do it, I think.”
Focusing all the magic he could gather in his hands, he placed them on the ice dome again and murmured, “Calidarius.”
A powerful wave of heat expanded around his hands, but he carefully controlled its spread, concentrating it within the outlines of the door he drew earlier. The ice started to melt, quickly giving up its stronghold to the assault of Damian’s magic. Freezing rivulets of water ran down the wall, but a few seconds later, Damian started to shiver violently, the wintry cold chilling him through.
“That’s enough.” Cole touched his shoulder, making him flinch and let go. The vampire ran his hand across the area of ice partially melted by Damian’s magic, and a cold smirk crossed his face. “I can take it from here.”
Damian staggered back, holding his unbending hands up, giving Cole some space to work. The vampire approached the ice and gave it a quick once-over. Pulling his leg back, he applied a mighty push kick to the part of the wall weakened by Damian’s magic. With a thunderous bang, the ice exploded inward, creating an opening big enough for them to walk through.
Following his brother, Damian crossed through the icy dome and halted before the locked gates. The security system was down, the monitor was dark, and the remote key he had didn’t work either.
Another spell, Damian thought as he channeled his magic again, shaking his head at the effort it cost him. He touched the gates and whispered, “Recludius.”
The lock clicked, but the gate didn’t open, frozen solid. Cole pushed it with his shoulder, and something cracked, sending a cloud of snow-dust in the air. He applied more pressure, his biceps working under his sun-deprived skin. With a loud screech, the gate moved to the side, allowing both of them to pass through.
As soon as Damian crossed the threshold, he halted, staring around in horror. The entire space between the gates and the house was submerged under a constantly moving, shifting and shimmering cloud of black dust. The particles buzzed softly, emitting an overwhelming amount of dark magical energy. He clasped his hand to his throat and leaned forward slightly, struggling to breathe.
“Holy shit,” murmured Cole. He didn’t appear to be affected by the dark energy, but as soon as he took a step forward, the particles stilled for a heartbeat and then started moving in a counterclockwise motion, speeding their rotation with each passing second. The buzzing noise increased, filling the air with an even vibration, and the amount of dark energy they emitted tripled. A small cloud of darkness separated from the mass, lowering down. In a split second, they charged at Cole and surrounded him like an angry swarm of wasps, biting into his unclad chest and shoulders. He cried out and jumped back, wrapping his arms around his head.
The swarm pulled back, leaving bright red spots and blisters in places where they touched his skin. Even though the wounds healed almost instantly, Damian wasn’t sure his brother could make it all the way to the house. Besides, he had no idea what kind of effect this dark magic would have on him.
Glancing forward at the dark shape of Paradise Manor, he exhaled, biting his lip. It was a bit of a walk, and he had no illusions—if he had to wield even the most basic protective magic all the way through, by the time he reached the house, he would be on his knees.
As if hearing his thoughts, Cole approached him, touching his elbow. “Dima, don’t even think about it. It’ll drain you.”
“I have no choice. Just stay close.” Instead of casting a protection spell, he channeled the energy of Earth, wrapping it around himself and his brother as tightly as he could. “Let’s go.”
Once he took his first step, the dark magical energy assailed him, pounding mercilessly at the shield he’d created. He groaned with the strain but kept moving forward, the ground responding with soft tremors to every step he took. Keeping the connection with his element through the thick layer of ice and snow was harder than he expected, and halfway through, he had to stop to take a short break.
By the time they reached the front entrance, sweat was running down his face and back as if the temperature outside wasn’t dropping lower and lower. He halted in front of the door and pushed down on the door handle. It was locked and of course, the key couldn’t unlock it.
“What the hell!” He braced himself against the door and dropped his head, taking short, uneven breaths. “I need to use more magic,” he groaned.
&nb
sp; “They knew we were coming. So, they did everything they could to drain you before they had to face you,” said Cole quietly. Then he chuckled and added, “It seems to me, the two Slavic gods are afraid of you, brother. Care to tell me why that is?”
“No.”
“Oh, well.” Cole halted by the door, carefully probing it with his fingers. “Let’s see if we can get in the old-fashioned way, without magic.”
Before Damian could stop him, Cole threw a chambered punch, slamming his fist into the door. The wood cracked, breaking, and the door flew off its hinges, sliding over the floor with a thunderous bang. A wide grin split his face as he brought his massive fist to his lips and blew at it as if it were a smoking gun.
“Sometimes brute force is the best kind of magic, bro.” He winked and crossed the threshold.
Damian followed him, all his senses stretched to the maximum. The frozen lobby was dark, a thin layer of ice glistening on the floor, and the barely noticeable odor of dark magical energy lingered in the air. The silver mirror hung on the wall, cracked and slightly askew. The plywood lay on the floor, broken into a few pieces, and the rune was destroyed, leaving the entrance into the left wing of the house unprotected.
The foyer table was crushed into a pile of wood and splinters, and a small, furry body lay sprawled by the wall, partially covered by all the debris.
“Gypsy,” exhaled Damian. He crossed the foyer and dropped to his knees, lifting the cat’s limp body. “Oh, no...” Gypsy’s long black fur felt wet under his fingers, and when he brought his hand up, his fingers were coated in a thin layer of blood.
“She’s alive,” said Cole, touching Damian’s shoulder softly. “I can hear her heartbeat. It’s strong. She’ll be fine.”
Damian lowered the cat to the floor gently and got up, squaring his shoulders.
“Let’s go,” he hissed through clenched teeth, and anger boiled up in him, bringing some energy into his exhausted body. Without waiting for Cole’s response, he headed into the dark hallway. He didn’t run, his every step heavy and measured, but it took him less than a minute to cross the entire hallway. He stopped in front of the tall, double door and whispered the revealment spell, keeping it up no more than a second.
“Dammit,” he muttered, shaking his head. “The wards are broken.”
Cole exchanged a look with Damian, and a feral growl rumbled in his chest as he kicked the door open.
The illusion previously concealing the room was gone, but the set of glowing runes and sigils covering the walls and the ceiling were still there. They shone brightly and evenly, and Damian didn’t need to cast a spell to see them. Glancing to the side, he recognized the Guardians’ signature rune. It was still shining as brightly as ever, and that told him that the protective magic of this room was still intact.
Mara and Morok stood across the room next to the shimmering outline of a door. With their hands placed on either side of it, they were chanting in hushed voices. Jesse Williams was on his knees next to their feet. In his arms, he held River. Her face was relaxed, and her eyes were tightly shut, her long eyelashes casting dark shadows on her colorless cheeks. The waterfall of her copper hair cascaded down to the floor, sparkling with the reflected light of the glowing runes. Her chest was rising and falling evenly, and that told him she was alive. At least for now.
Damian’s heart skipped a beat as he observed River’s limp form, and his hands clenched into fists, pain coiling within him.
Both gods stopped chanting and turned around, a crooked smirk crossing Morok’s face. Jesse raised his eyes, looking first at Damian and then at Cole, and a tiny spark of hope lit up his ashen face as he silently pleaded for help, his trembling fingers threading through River’s hair.
“Well, hello, boys,” purred Mara, her eyes lighting up with the purple glow of her power. “We were beginning to worry you wouldn’t make it.” She cackled and seized Jesse’s neck, yanking him to his feet. “But you’re perfectly on time.”
River fell to the floor, her body hitting the tiles with a dull thud, and Jesse moaned, his face twisting as if he were in physical pain.
“Please, don’t hurt her,” he pleaded, his haunted eyes darting from Mara to Morok and back. “You promised that if I did everything you said, you wouldn’t hurt River.”
Morok glanced at Mara and let out a loud guffaw, slapping his giant hands on his thighs. He bent his knees slightly, lowering his head to Jesse’s level.
“Do you know who I am, tiny human?” he asked, his deep voice bouncing off the tall ceiling. Jesse shook his head, mortified. “I’m the Slavic god of Lies and Deception.” He smirked icily. “I lied. That’s what I do.”
Damian made a move to approach them, but Mara cackled and wagged her finger at him. Morok snapped his fingers, and a thick layer of frost rose from the floor, wrapping around his legs. His limbs became heavy, and he came to a sharp halt, unable to take another step, barely able to breathe. In his peripheral vision, he saw Cole, his face strained as he tried to break through the spell holding them in place.
The room around him darkened, and a chilly wave spread through his already frozen body, making his teeth chatter.
“Mara,” Damian growled, barely able to unclench his jaws. “Let the humans and my brother go. Let’s settle this between the three of us.”
The goddess sauntered toward him, her melodious laughter ringing painfully in his ears. She approached him and ran her fingers over the scar on his cheek.
“Sure thing, babe. As soon as we get what we came for”—she waved her hand back at the glowing outline of the door—“I promise, I’ll take you to my bed, and we’ll settle it there whichever way you want for as long as you can perform.” She laughed again, slapping his cheek slightly. “In the meantime, just stay here and enjoy the show until we’re ready for you.”
She grabbed Cole by his shoulder and propelled him across the room as though a two-hundred-pound vampire weighed nothing. Cole hit the wall with the back of his head and grunted, pain distorting his features. Morok moved his hand, and both Cole and River rose off the floor, sprawled in midair helplessly. He snapped his fingers, and two blades materialized at their necks, slightly cutting into their skin, just enough to produce a few drops of blood. Then he arched his eyebrow at Mara and gave her a curt nod.
Mara seized Jesse’s arm and pulled him toward the Guardians’ signature rune. She moved her fingers, and a dagger surrounded by a soft wispy smoke materialized in the palm of her hand. Offering it to Jesse, she pointed at the rune.
“Now, be a sweetheart, Detective Williams.” She smirked, and her eyes lit up with a carnivorous glow. “Cut your palm with this dagger and then press it to the rune. That’s all you have to do. A little painful but easy.”
“Jesse, no!” yelled Damian, fighting against the restraints of the dark magic, his frozen body refusing to obey the command of his mind.
Jesse looked back at Morok, but the god of Lies just shrugged his shoulders indifferently, pointing at River. “Disobey, and the woman you love is dead.”
“Jesse, if you do what they ask, you will kill us all, and possibly throw this entire world back to the stone age,” growled Damian, trying to channel his power. A faint wave of elemental energy traveled through him, warming him up slightly, but it wasn’t enough to break the dark spell.
Morok flicked his fingers leisurely, and the blade under River’s chin dug deeper, a thin rivulet of blood spilling from under it. Jesse turned to Damian, guilt and torment reflected in his dark eyes.
“I’m sorry, Damian,” he whispered, his lips barely moving. “I can’t let them kill River. I love her. Her life is the only thing that matters to me... above this world, even above my own.”
Goddammit... I was right the first time. He’s nothing more than a man in love... Oh, this fucking idiot... Damian dropped his head, powerless to do anything to stop him.
Jesse took the dagger out of the goddess’ hand and carefully cut his palm, sucking in a sharp breath at the touch
of the blade to his skin. Throwing one more glance at River, he pressed his bleeding hand against the Guardians’ rune.
The blood spread through the rune, coloring it a deep scarlet. The entire house swayed, and an ear-splitting noise rattled the walls, seemingly coming from every direction. Jesse dropped to his knees and screamed, pressing his hands to his ears. The rest of the runes and sigils shone brighter. They separated from the wall, and for a few short seconds, levitated in the air, glowing brighter and brighter. A blinding white light flooded the room, and Damian had to close his eyes to protect his vision.
The tremors slowly dwindled down, and when the light subsided, Damian opened his eyes again. All the protective magic was gone. In the place where the glowing outline of the door had been, a portal shimmering with bright blue sparkles rotated slowly in a clockwise motion.
Morok roared in delight, and the poisonous miasmas of his dark magical energy spread through the room. He turned around, his sinister eyes halting on Damian.
“Now, you, Child of Earth,” he said, impatience and eagerness underlying his every word. “You must complete the enchantment.”
“Me?” asked Damian, genuinely shocked. “First, what does any of it have to do with me? I’m not a Guardian. Second, why would I do anything to help you?”
“Oh, sweetie, I had no idea you were so thick.” Mara chuckled. “But that’s okay. I’ll walk you through it.”
Approaching him, she ran her fingers over his arm, and there was something so hungry and carnivorous in her simple gesture that it made Damian shudder inwardly.
“Do you see this portal?” She headed to the swirling cerulean mass and knocked on it. A hollow sound echoed through the room, as if the surface of the portal was solid, and she turned around to face him. “You didn’t think Guardians would make it so easy without leaving a nasty surprise behind, did you? The portal is locked, but I do know how to unlock it. Do you, boy?”
