Blood and Magic (Blood and Darkness Book 1)

by Melissa Sercia

  He bent down and picked up a piece of broken glass. “I meant what I said, Gray. I’m going to kill him.”

  I nodded, looking over at Valentina. “We will kill them all.”

  The Three Blind Mice was no longer safe for us. With Elemi gone, Nicholas and the rest of them could now enter. Her magic had vanished along with her protection spells. Every Witch in the Quarter would soon sense this.

  We cleaned ourselves up and headed downstairs. The bar was empty. Aldric poured us each a glass of whiskey and took the rest of the bottle for himself. I opened my mouth to speak just as the door opened and in walked Josephine DuMaurier.

  Josephine strutted in, her shapeshifter wolf at her side. “I’ve been waiting for you to return. I would’ve come last night, but I saw Nicholas slip in. When he left, I assumed the worst. Good to see you’re all still in one piece.”

  The white wolf watched me like hawk. I met its gaze. “I am not so easily dispatched.”

  Josephine rolled her eyes as I took a swig of my drink.

  Valentina chimed in. “Come to kick us while we’re down, have you? I hope you’re not planning on ambushing us with a bunch of sexually frustrated Witches again. I am so not in the mood.”

  Josephine shook her head. “I had nothing to do with that attack on the docks. They acted out against my wishes.”

  Valentina chuckled. Not in a thousand years had a coven gone against their leader. It was forbidden. “Wow. How embarrassing for you.”

  Josephine’s face fell. “They blame you for bringing the Consilium down on us. I tried to reason with them, but they wouldn’t listen. They demanded that I step down. I was outnumbered.”

  A coven leader without a coven was shameful. She would be shunned, but it wasn’t my problem.

  “The waves of attacks are growing. They burned our home down as well. They killed Aldric’s aunt. Now the spells that once protected this place are gone. I’m sorry about your coven but I have my own mess to deal with.”

  Josephine smiled. “Perhaps we can help each other.”

  My patience was wearing thin. “What could you possibly have to offer us? You’ve lost your coven, you have a target on your back, and you don’t even have a safe place to practice magic.”

  Josephine’s eyes darkened. “Exactly. I have nothing left to lose. Which makes me a very dangerous ally.”

  She had a point. “I’m listening.”

  “I know the location of one of the Consilium’s compounds. A location that you could strike, leaving them vulnerable. They would never see it coming.”

  Aldric perked up. “Keep talking.”

  Josephine swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “It’s a fortress, just north of Scotland. It sits on a steep cliff and is heavily guarded. There is only one known path of access. They refer to it as patria origo, but its true name is Stonehaven.”

  I had heard that name before. “Stonehaven. Isn’t it abandoned?”

  Josephine sighed. “Not anymore.”

  “What’s inside?” Valentina asked.

  Josephine shook her head. “I don’t know, but it must be important to Tobias. They paid me an obscene amount of money to deliver some rare herbs once. I wasn’t let inside or told what they were for.”

  Valentina huffed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You think it’s important, but you don’t know for sure. I don’t think so. I don’t trust it.”

  Josephine pressed on. “Look, patria origo in Latin translates to family lineage. Origins. It could contain some of those answers you’ve been searching for.”

  Aldric and I exchanged a puzzled look. “And what do you want in return for this information?”

  Josephine’s eyes met mine with spite. “Tobias’s head.”

  Valentina snickered. “Like in a box?”

  Josephine snapped, “Joke all you like, gypsy, but I will not be able to show my face in the Quarter until I hold his severed head in my hands. He has disgraced me to my coven and to the gods.”

  I clapped my hands together. “Alright. You can draw us a map. We’ll leave tonight.”

  Josephine let out a sigh of relief.

  “Oh, and Josephine, if you double cross us, it will be your own head that you’ll hold in your hands.”

  Josephine nodded, her eye twitching. “You have my word.”

  Sometimes you had to make a deal with one devil to dispel another. A shiver ran through me as I prayed that I wasn’t aligning with the wrong one.

  Sixteen

  Stonehaven was in the North Sea. The cliffs were steep, and the terrain was rocky. There was no safe place to dock, so we left Seven and his ship behind, swimming the rest of the way. The water was rough and icy, but the three of us glided through as if it was our natural habitat.

  The castle was in ruins amongst the other buildings on top of the jagged cliff. The exact location we were looking for was called the gatehouse. It was connected to a series of underground tunnels and was the only structure still intact.

  Night had fallen by the time we made it onto shore. Darkness gave me an advantage. It made my sight sharper. There were only two guards posted on either side of the stone fortress. Dhampir soldiers. Fledgling newbies that were ferocious in their hunger and quicker in their attacks, but they were unlinked and possessed no magical abilities. This would be an unfair fight…for them.

  Dressed in all black, the three of us crept through the night like shadows. With weapons drawn, we slinked toward them. Valentina snuck up behind the two on the right and took them both out at the same time, slicing their throats open with a dagger in each hand.

  I rushed over to the other two and ripped their hearts out of their chests with the same swiftness. The first two were still writhing around on the ground. I sped over and plunged my hands into their chests.

  Their bodies went limp as I spun around to face Aldric. “The heart is where the life blood is.”

  He nodded and chuckled. “Nice work, ladies.”

  Inside, there were ten times as many soldiers. The gatehouse was a maze of darkened hallways, lit by just a few torches. We crept through, taking care to keep to the shadows.

  I stole glances into the rooms as we passed them. They were all identical, filled with operating tables and medical equipment. This place could have been a hospital or a clinic, but it still didn’t explain the security or the secrecy.

  We turned down another corner and ducked into a room as two soldiers marched in our direction. Palms sweating, I held my breath. We crouched down low as the soldiers passed by. I let out a sigh of relief. It was only a matter of time before they would find the dead guards outside. I didn’t want to fight them all if we didn’t have to.

  Back out into the hall, we were met with more corridors. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to where they went. It would be easy to get disoriented.

  With the corridor finally coming to an end, two double doors faced us. My pulse quickened as I pushed them open.

  Aldric and Valentina both gasped in horror. I scanned the room, hands trembling. They were everywhere. Hundreds of bodies.

  Humans on operating tables. Were they dead? I had to fight the nausea building in my belly and rising in my throat. A cold chill passed through me as I took a step closer.

  Not dead, but they were hooked up to IVs. A wave of panic knocked the air out of my lungs. It hit me like a shot to the chest. These people were living, breathing…blood bags.

  I reached for Aldric’s hand to steady myself. Valentina panted, bordering on hyperventilation. None of us could tear our eyes away. Like being caught in a dream where you can’t speak, or scream, or run away.

  All these people had been taken from their homes, only to be ripped apart like animals and kept alive for the Consilium to feed on.

  My heart sank. “Is this where our blood bags come from? Is this how it’s done?”

  Valentina’s eyes were wide, glossy. “This is…monstrous.”

  Aldric pulled both of us back toward the door. “We need to get
out of here right now.”

  He could barely finish his sentence when we heard voices. I nodded and sprinted out of the room. Glancing back at the bodies one more time, anger welled up in my chest. Somehow, I would put an end to this.

  My mind raced. I wasn’t sure which way to go. Aldric took the lead as we barreled down hallway after hallway, stopping only to hide every few feet. He charged ahead, retracing our steps, using his magic to get us out of there.

  I honed in. “There, up ahead. I can smell the saltwater.”

  Valentina took a deep breath, tilted her nose, and nodded in agreement. We were almost to the door that would lead us back to the beach.

  Another group of soldiers turned down the hall toward us. Aldric pulled us into the room closest to us, an office with a wooden desk and several filing cabinets along the wall.

  The guards passed without detecting us. Aldric motioned for us to continue, but something gnawed at me. I couldn’t walk out of here without answers. I ignored his plea and pried open one of the filing cabinets. Valentina shrugged as Aldric shot her a pleading look.

  I rifled through the files. There were receipts, expense reports, and shipping manifestos. Nothing peculiar stood out. The second filing cabinet contained folders full of patient charts and biorhythms. Pointless.

  Aldric sighed, waving his hands at me. “Gray, c’mon. Let’s go.”

  “Hold on. I just need one more minute.”

  Valentina grabbed my wrist. “We gotta go, Gray.”

  I ignored them both as I pulled apart the desk.

  “Hurry,” Aldric pleaded.

  The desk was empty except for office supplies and more receipts. Nothing. They were right, we had to go.

  Wait. A file peeked out, wedged between two drawers. I snatched it out from the desk, my pulse quickening. It was labeled Patria Origo. I tucked it under my arm as the three of us ran out and bolted down the last hallway. The alarms blared as we ran. We ran fast toward the stretch of shore where we first came in.

  Drawing short breaths, I prepared myself to jump back into the icy water. But we weren’t the only ones who heard the alarms. A crew member from the ship was waiting for us on a speed boat.

  He waved his arms around frantically as we approached. “Let’s go. Let’s go,” he shouted.

  The three of us high jumped into the air and landed into the boat as it was moving.

  My nerves were shot. I couldn’t get the image out of my head. All those lifeless bodies, barely breathing but kept alive for their blood. It was stupid of us to think that the blood bags we survived on were given to us by voluntary donors. Naïve even. It weighed on me like a ton of bricks, making me sick to my stomach. Our need to consume caused this. We contributed to this. It was too much to take in.

  Valentina shivered, staring out to sea. We were not affected by mundane things such as weather or exhaustion, yet our bodies sometimes mimicked the symptoms. As if we were still clinging to what once made us human.

  Aldric’s voice jarred me out of my reverie. “What’s in the file?”

  I had forgotten I still had the folder tucked inside my jacket. Valentina turned toward me, her eyes wide and bloodshot. The three of us stood there in anticipation as I opened it. I hoped that something in it would help us. Anything to get my mind off the atrocity we just witnessed.

  My heart raced as I scanned the pages. It was a ledger. A list of names. It was a list of Consilium members. Names we already knew. I shook my head. This wasn’t anything of importance.

  Valentina grabbed it from me. “Let me have a look.” Her eyes widened as she rifled through the papers.

  Aldric stiffened. “What is it?”

  She looked at me like she had seen a ghost.

  I shivered. “Val, talk to me. You’re scaring me.”

  She swallowed hard, her hands trembling. “These are bloodlines. The bloodlines. All of them.”

  “So? How does that help us?” I didn’t understand what she was getting at.

  She fixated on me, her eyes wild. “You’re one of them.”

  “What are you talking about?” I thought my heart might burst out of my chest.

  Aldric shook Valentina by the shoulders. “How is she one of them? You aren’t making any sense.”

  Valentina’s eyes welled up with tears as she handed me the folder. I was too afraid to look but I had to. I had to know.

  As I looked at the names on the page, they began to blur together. I felt the air leave my lungs as if someone had just shoved a knife into them.

  Aldric snatched the paper from my hands and read it aloud. “Tobias Wynter. First wife, Jezebel Wynter. Second wife, Pythia Wynter. Daughter, Arcadia Wynter. Daughter… Gray Wynter.”

  He could barely say the last words out loud. I couldn’t stand to hear them. My knees collapsed out from under me as I hit the cold wet wood of the deck.

  Aldric rushed to my side. “It doesn’t change anything, Gray. It doesn’t matter.”

  My eyes shifted from brown to black. I clenched my fists together, shoving them into my pockets for fear I might split the entire ship in half. Valentina cowered.

  I knew it. Somewhere deep inside, I always knew it. I was a monster. This changed everything.

  Seventeen

  London was as cold and rainy as I remembered. I hadn’t planned on returning so soon. I hadn’t planned on any of this. Finding out that Tobias could be my father was the last thing I expected. It was a punch to the gut.

  There was only person who knew the truth about my father: Jane. For once in her life, she needed to come clean. She owed me that much. Getting to her would be impossible, so I would have to get her to come to me.

  Valentina and Aldric had been watching me constantly since we left the ship. The concern on their faces hadn’t left for a second. They waited for my eyes to shift back to normal. Forty-eight hours later, and they were still as black as night.

  Valentina broke the silence. “Gray, why are we back in London?”

  I stopped dead in my tracks. They both nearly toppled onto me. I had been racing through the streets since the moment we docked. “We’re going to pay Lucien a little visit.”

  Aldric furrowed his brow. “Who’s Lucien?”

  Valentina chimed in. “He leads the London Coven. Gray, what’s going on?”

  I took a deep breath. I didn’t have time to explain myself, and I was growing annoyed with all the questions. “According to this file, Jane oversees the covens. If any of them were in trouble, they would send for her.”

  Valentina grabbed my arm. “What are you going to do?”

  My eyes darkened as I smiled. “Cause some trouble.”

  Lucien’s guards stopped us at the entrance. I rolled my eyes. “Get Lucien.” The taller guard glared down at me, using his body to block my path.

  My body tensed as I squared up with him. “It’s not a request.” I was prepared to rip his heart out without hesitation.

  Aldric fell in step beside me in a gesture of solidarity. I knew he was prepared to fight with me, even if he didn’t know what he was fighting for. I felt a twinge of guilt for shutting him out, but it passed as soon as I reminded myself why I was there.

  After a few minutes of consideration, the guard nodded and motioned for us to wait. Watching the guard disappear down the tunnel, Valentina’s heart beat fast in her chest. She stepped in front of me, revealing her fingers, firmly gripped around her dagger.

  The guard returned minutes later and waved us through. We followed him through the dimly lit tunnel and came to a stop at a large oak door. Two more guards were posted on either side of it. I ignored them, pushing it open.

  Inside, Lucien was seated in a tall chair resembling a throne. Pompous prick. Of course he would liken himself to a king. His arrogance astounded me. I wanted to slap him.

  He looked ridiculously smug, sandwiched between two of his soulless guards. I chuckled to myself. All this security would not stop me from getting what I wanted.

  In one swift m
ove, I shut the door behind us, placed my hands against it, and whispered, “Signatia claustrum.” A locking spell.

  Lucien sprung to his feet. “What did you just do?”

  I smiled and licked my lips as I turned to face him. “Making sure we have plenty of privacy.”

  Lucien’s cheeks flashed red as he motioned to his guards. Aldric took three short steps as they approached and ripped out both of their throats.

  He plunged his hands into each one of their chests and pulled out their hearts. He stood in front of Lucien, wild-eyed, with both of his hands dripping in blood and flesh.

  “It seems you have the floor.” Lucien sat back down and narrowed his eyes at me with contempt.

  I circled around him like a lion stalking its prey. “You’re going to call Jane. Tell her you need her help. That she must come immediately or have to explain to the Consilium why your body is no longer attached to your head.”

  Lucien snorted. “And why I would I do that?”

  I leaned in close to him so he could see my eyes shift from brown and then back to black again. “Because if you don’t, that is exactly what will happen.”

  Lucien winced and looked away from me. I grabbed his chin and pulled it back hard to face me again. “I have sealed you in here with us. Two of your guards are dead, and the others can’t get in. I suggest you don’t underestimate me.”

  He looked toward Valentina for help, but her eyes remained straight ahead.

  Aldric’s pulse raced, but he stood firm beside me. “We can do this all day, Lucien. The sooner you make that call, the sooner we can get out of your hair.” His voice was steady, but his body was ready to pounce at any moment.

  Lucien looked back and forth between us. “Very well. I will make the call. But you must know, you will never be welcome back here again.”

  I laughed out loud. “Best news I’ve heard all day. Now, make the call and tell her to come alone.”

  We sat in silence as we waited. Lucien drank an entire bottle of wine and mumbled to himself like a madman. The guards on the other side of the door hissed and shouted for us to let them in. They tried for hours to break it open. The spell was weak, but only a Witch could get past it. Still, Aldric stood in front of it, ready to tear down anyone who might get in.