“Wait.” My heart thumped hard. “You’re telling me that you want me to sneak down into some underground tunnels and steal a corpse from a group of vampires?”
“Precisely. It’s only fair, I think. If you want your goddess trap, it must be done.”
We were practically thrown out into the nighttime streets of London after Athan dismissed us. My gargoyles were glowering like they’d never glowered before, and my own face probably wasn’t much different than theirs. Athan Vespa was screwing with us. He knew how badly we wanted that trap, and he’d used our desperation to his advantage.
And the annoying thing about it was that it had worked.
“Look.” Sebastian fisted his hands and began pacing across the sidewalk. “There must be something else we can do. This goddess trap isn’t worth all the hassle. Instead of trying to lure Eris in, we can just plan an attack using all the gargoyles who have started waking back up.”
Alaric sighed and shook his head. “If only. We do have a growing number of fighters. Every day almost, another gargoyle returns to the land of the living. But it’s still not quite enough. Not yet, anyway. Rowena told me how many soldiers Eris has now. We would lose if we attacked now—horribly so.”
“So, then we wait,” Eli said quietly, rubbing his chin as he thought through every option available. “We bide our time, wait for more gargoyles to wake up, and then attack when we have the right numbers.”
“That could take years, Eli,” Silas said with a frown. “And Eris could very well find Rowena and attack us again before then.”
“So, then we are actually going to try to sneak into an underground vampire city.” Marcus dropped back his head and let out a booming laugh. “I swear, our lives don’t get any easier, do they?”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, looking at each of the gargoyles in turn. “I know this is a crazy situation, and I realize that it’s not something that anyone in their right mind would ever want to do. But I’m going to do it. We need that trap. If you don’t want to come with me, I’ll understand. You can stay here and just wait for me to get back. My only request is that someone flies me there.”
They all started shouting at once, talking over each other in an attempt to confirm their intentions to go with me on this crazy mission, one that would most likely not end very well.
“You’re a special kind of nuts if you think I’m not going with you,” Sebastian said with a grunt. “You need me there. I’ve got those extra powers, remember? There’s not much a group of angry vampires can do to me.”
“Well, I think you can consider me useful even without any enhanced assassin-stolen powers,” Jasper said in a sharp voice.
Silas shifted forward. “I’m going with you, too. I let you go off without me once before. I’m never letting that happen again.”
“Well, you know I’m with you, love,” Marcus said with a wink. “And I have been since the beginning.”
Eli and Alaric also agreed. So, it was settled then. The seven of us would sneak into Edinburgh’s underground vampire city. And we would steal a coffin out from under their noses.
We reached the Scottish city a couple of hours later. It was aglow with a million tiny lights, beaming up yellow and orange onto the overcast sky. The streets were loud and lively, and a heavy clock chimed out in the distance. We dropped to the ground not far from King Arthur’s Seat, beside a small hole carved into the side of a wall of rock. The hole was manmade. Or rather, it was likely vampire made. It was the entrance that Athan Vespa had suggested, saying the ones that everyone knew about would be crawling with vampires at this time of night.
And I didn’t know about my companions, but I did not want to go anywhere near somewhere that was crawling with vampires. Of course, I was about to sneak into a vampire city, so that wish had gone right out the window.
“Rowena, are you sure you’ll be able to cloak all of us?” Eli asked, taking me aside while the others discussed various tactics for getting in and out of the tunnels without being spotted. His face was drawn down in concern; those brilliant green eyes of his searched my face for confirmation that I could do this.
Eli had always known me as the girl who couldn’t. He’d seen me day after day in the tower, completely unaware of my goddess heritage. I’d barely been able to walk then, and I knew that image of me was always in the back of his mind. He worried, and I couldn’t blame him, though I hoped one day he would see that I’d grown to be far more than the girl he’d first kept watch over.
“Like I said, my powers are only growing stronger. I can definitely keep us all cloaked, as long as you stick close to me. And honestly, it’s the only way we should be going in there. We have no idea what it’s like in their city. We don’t know which tunnel leads where or when we’ll end up walking straight into a room that’s full of them.”
“We don’t have to do this, you know,” he said gently. “None of the others will hold it against you if you want to call this off. I know you want to be strong—for everyone—but we can head right back home and find some other way of defeating Eris.”
“But can we though?” I lifted my eyebrows and took his hand in mine, my heart feeling soothed just from his light touch. Eli had always been the gentlest of them all, his soulful eyes holding so much knowledge and intelligence. He knew deep down inside that this might be the only way we would stop Eris, but he was trying to reason his way out of it, just to protect me.
“I know it seems unlikely, but...” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Maybe there’s something we’ve overlooked. Another object we could find.”
“Another object might hold more obstacles between us and it.” I squeezed his hand. “We’ll be okay, Eli. I can keep us cloaked, and if we run into any trouble, there’s seven of us to fight them off.”
“I just hate going underground where we can’t use our wings to escape if we need to.”
“Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Eli and I returned to the others, and Silas arched an eyebrow as if in question. “Everything okay?”
I gave a nod and pulled the fresh night air into my lungs, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time I would breathe it. “It’s now or never. Let’s go.”
We had to go through the hole in the rock one by one. It wasn’t big enough for any more than that to fit through at a time. I had to squeeze through the tiny opening, my palms scraping against the rough rock. Eli went first, and then Silas. After they’d disappeared through, I went next. I’d be followed closely behind by the others.
Inside, I had to take a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was pitch black, and there was no sign of any light or noise from further down the tunnel. Athan Vespa had very unhelpfully given us nothing in terms of directions. He’d never been inside these tunnels himself, and he had no idea where the vampires might be keeping the coffin of his brother.
When all seven of us were inside the tunnels, I focused my powers on surrounding us with the darkness, not that it would do much to help. It was far too dark in here for the gargoyles to see a damn thing, but the vampires had likely adjusted to the lack of light. Still, it did nothing to obscure our scent.
“There’s no need for you all to hide yourselves. We smelled you the second you stepped foot in this place.”
Chapter 15
My entire body went tense as several shadowy figures moved in front of us. Heart racing, I took a step back, brushing up against Marcus. He grabbed my shoulders in his strong hands and squeezed tight. I swore I could hear the frantic beating of his heart.
A match flickered, and then a blaze of fire lit up the dank, skinny tunnel. There were about twenty of them, all crowded into the small, cramped space. And these vampires...well, they certainly didn’t look normal, not like the Vespa clan had. They looked far more like the Nosferatu I’d encountered in the past. Their faces were stark pale, as if they hadn’t seen sun in years. Their cheeks were hollow; their pupils were red. And their sharp pointed teeth flashed
against the light of the torch.
“So, what do we have here?” A female with long red hair flashed the torch my way. “Some of those winged stone men, and this girl here. She smells like a witch but also more. Like a witch, a vampire, and a werewolf combined. She smells like magic.”
“Ro, step aside,” Jasper whispered into my ear as he shifted in front of me. His arms were flexed, and his hands were fists. He was going to try to fight his way down the tunnel, but I had a terrible feeling he wouldn’t get very far.
The female vampire raised her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you think you can fight all of us and win.”
Several more vampires appeared from crevices in the rocks that I hadn’t noticed in the darkness. They came out from the shadows, both on our left and on our right, and several slithered in through the hole in the rock where we’d come. There were dozens of them now, their eyes all glittering with something that made my stomach turn over on itself: hunger.
“You have two choices,” she said, smiling when she saw the look of horror on my face. “Your first option is to fight us as your gargoyle friend here intends. You will likely die within moments, and we will savor your blood.”
“What’s the second option?” I asked, mouth dry.
“The second option is to allow us to take you to our king. He will decide your fate.”
I had a feeling that the king’s decision wouldn’t be far different to what we’d encounter if we stayed and fought. But maybe, just maybe, if I had the chance to explain to him why we’d come, he’d decide to be at least somewhat reasonable.
Could a vampire who chose to live in an underground city be reasonable?
“We’ll go see your king,” I said, speaking for the gargoyles before they took matters into their own hands.
“Ro,” Jasper barked. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m completely serious,” I said, lifting my chin and meeting the gaze of the redheaded vampire. “We will go and see their king. We’ll explain why we came here. Perhaps he will see reason.”
Jasper groaned but he didn’t argue. It felt strange taking control in these situations and deciding our fate as if it were truly mine to decide. But it felt as though they almost expected me to do so. In the past, they never would have let me make this decision, but something had changed since the battles with the Fury at Mont Circeo. It was almost as though they respected me more now. It was almost as though they now saw me as a true goddess.
The vampires escorted us down the dimly-lit tunnels. The place was a maze. We took turn after turn after turn. At first, I tried to keep track of our route, so that we could make a run for it if we needed to, but these vampires weren’t stupid. They understood that I’d be doing that very thing, and they made it next to impossible to keep track of all the turns.
Finally, we went down, down, down, and we came to a large cavern that was twice the size of the Great Hall back in Dreadford Castle. The domed ceiling curved overhead, highlighting walls that were splattered with vicious shades of red. Hundreds of more vampires were inside this eerie room. They lounged on sofas. There were long oak tables to one side with velvet chairs lined up against it. On the surface, there was an array of items that made my stomach turn. Fingers, jars of blood, and other body parts I didn’t dare to name.
At the very end of it all sat a throne made of bones. A pale man sat atop it with long, slender limbs that looked as though they would break in half if they were touched. But I knew better than to think he was weak. The gleam in his bright red eyes said otherwise.
He stayed seated as we approached, and the red-haired female vampire pushed me forward so that I fell onto my knees before him. Jasper barked out a yell and began to move toward me, but my mates were surrounded within moments. Chains were locked around their wrists and their legs, and my whole body shook when all I could do was watch the vampires drag them away.
I whirled toward the king, my eyes full of the anger I felt pouring through my veins. “You can’t do this. I was told that you’d hear me out before deciding what to do with us.”
“Oh yes,” he said in a strange melodic voice. “I will hear you out. The others...” He waved them off. “They will remain imprisoned until we decide what to do with you.”
I curled my hands into fists. “You can’t do this.”
“Oh, but I can.” He twisted his lips into a cruel smile. “You see, you trespassed on my lands, and from the way you slithered inside like a little snake, you clearly knew that this city belonged to me and mine. You should be lucky you smell so very interesting. Otherwise, you and your gargoyles would be dead by now.”
My heart thumped hard. “We have a good reason for coming here. One that means no harm against you or any of your kind.”
He steepled his fingers underneath his chin and raised his eyebrows. “Do go on.”
“I’m Rowena Mortensen, demigoddess of magic.” I paused to wait for his reaction, but there wasn’t much of one at all. Where Athan Vespa had been intrigued by my existence, this king of the vampire tunnels looked bored. “Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, has come into this realm with the intention of destroying all forms of magic. That means vampires, too, just so you know. I plan to try and stop her, but I need an object that the Vespa clan is in possession of. They agreed to give it to me if I came here and retrieved Athan’s brother’s body.”
A long moment passed. An agonizing moment. The king of the vampires said nothing. His expression betrayed nothing. He had the ultimate poker face, and I found it more than a little unnerving.
“I see.” He tapped his chin. “We have what Athan desires.”
Relief whooshed out of me, but it vanished as soon as I spotted the gleam in the king’s eyes. This wouldn’t be as easy as I’d hoped. I could tell right now that the king had something more in mind than just handing me the damn coffin.
“If what you say is true, then I will have no issue with releasing the coffin to your care.” A pause. “However, how am I to know that this isn’t some sort of clever trick by Athan? I would not put it past him to send a strange smelling girl here to trick me out of the one thing that keeps him under my thumb. Without his brother’s body, I no longer have any leverage over him.”
I blew out a hot breath. Vampire politics were ridiculous.
“So, you’re going to have to prove to me that what you say is true.” His face lit up in a strange smile. “If you can demonstrate that you’re a goddess, I will let you and your winged friends go. However, if you fail, not only will you fail to retrieve the coffin, but you will spend the rest of your days in this underground city. You’ll only last long enough for us to make use of your blood.”
I shivered, swallowing hard. “Fine. I can prove it to you. Let me just—”
“Ah, ah.” He held up a finger. “You don’t get to choose your methods. I get to choose. You will undergo three trials. If you win each one, then you get to survive.”
Part III
A Trial of Three
Chapter 16
The king of the underground vampires, whose name I had learned was Alexander, decided that my first trial should happen immediately. Without any preparation on my part. He’d given me approximately zero indication on what each of these three trials would entail, so all I could do was stand and watch as he ordered his subjects to clear the room.
I’d been dragged over to the furthest corner. Five vampires stood guard, their hands held tight behind their backs, their pale faces turned toward me. It was a strange cage, one I knew I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to.
But I didn’t want to. If this was some kind of test to confirm I was a goddess, I would surely pass with flying colors. Sure, I hadn’t fully transformed from weakling into powerful master of all magic, but I’d grown enough to prove my worth. I knew how to fight. I knew how to cloak myself. I knew how to harness the power that ran through my veins.
Several vampires wanted to stay behind to watch the spectacle. A barrier was hastily erected in one c
orner made of steel beams that rose up to their necks. I frowned as I watched them scurry behind it. Surely they wouldn’t need that kind of protection.
But when the king smiled at the vampires now striding into the throne room, I understood why the spectators were hiding inside their own cage. Two large male vampires strode inside the room, their hands twisted tight around thick chains. In between them, they held a lion. A chain was wrapped around his neck, and his teeth flashed as he dropped back his head and roared.
Shivers coursed along my skin when the lion’s eyes darted around the room and landed on me. Red eyes, not black.
I swallowed hard as fear clutched my heart. This wasn’t even an ordinary lion.
This was a vampire.
With wide eyes, I tried to hold back the shock and terror that pulsed in my veins. They couldn’t possibly expect me to fight that, could they? One slash from those massive jaws, and my blood would flow all over the grimy floor.
It can’t kill you, I said to myself. Only your own sword can kill you.
And I hadn’t brought my sword along with me for this mission, precisely for that reason. But again, when that book had been written regarding my powers, surely no one had even considered the idea of a vampire lion. Surely vampires, with their own special blend of powers, could do some harm.
Could it turn me into one of them?
“Rowena, come and stand here.” King Alexander flicked his fingers at me and pointed to a small black circle that had been carved into the floor. It was then that I noticed an arena of sorts had been crafted within this underground space. In the very center of it all, a large circle had been drawn with red chalk—or with blood. On opposite ends, there were two smaller circles carved into the floor. One would be where King Alexander had ordered me to stand. The other was where the two vampires held tight to the chains around the lion.
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