by Dannika Dark
A growl escaped my throat. I wanted to tell her exactly where she could go and what I was going to do to her when I got out, but at this point my only chance might be reasoning with the wench. “You gave me all that advice. Don’t you want to mentor me? I thought your purpose was to empower women.”
“Not you, Raven. You’re the last person I want with power. All those women and men you arrested today were bad apples—unfit for leadership. Oligarchs run this city, and their time is coming to an end. There are stronger women who will assume their roles, and I’ll see to that. In another life, you could have been one of those women. But right now you’re the only thing that stands between me and what I want.”
“Christian? You called him weak.”
“And he is. But I know how to manipulate him. You don’t. You squander that power, and that simply will not do.”
“Why not kill me? You could send Keystone the body. Otherwise, they’ll be looking for me.”
A smile touched her pink lips. “This is so much more suspenseful, don’t you think? I don’t like blood on my hands. Never did. That’s why I didn’t kill Christian. You won’t die either, Raven. Well, probably not. I’ve never buried a Mage before. I’ve heard even bones can regenerate, but maybe that’s just an urban legend. As long as you still draw breath, there’s still hope. A Mage doesn’t have to breathe. It won’t be comfortable, but that’s not something I can help. My burying Christian made him who he is today. You don’t deserve to die, and someday you’ll thank me for this. You’ll see that the only way we truly grow is to suffer.”
It made me wonder when she had suffered last.
“Don’t do this. I’m not your enemy. But if you put me in the ground, you better spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, because someday I’m going to claw my way out of here.”
“That I don’t doubt. But all that hostility you have will fade, darling. Otherwise, Christian would have tried killing me. But he hasn’t, because he knows I gave him a gift. And he also gained enough perspective to realize that emotions are a weakness. This is something you’ll have a lot of time to reflect on.” Lenore tidied a loose lock of her hair before reeling me in with her gaze. “Set your internal clock, Mage. In thirty minutes, you’ll have forgotten our conversation. You won’t remember seeing me in the car, speaking to me, any of the things we talked about, or my driver carrying you to the grave. Your last memory will be stepping outside the White Owl and crossing the street to the donut shop. Goodbye, Raven.”
“Don’t do this! You can’t just leave me here!”
“Coffins are more luxurious than they used to be. You have a nice pillow and lots of padding. Poor Christian. He had none of these luxuries.”
The casket closed, and I heard something turn and click on the side.
Oh God, the casket key.
Immersed in darkness, I felt my limbs tingling, and the feeling returned. My heart pounded against my rib cage as the coffin lowered. I immediately thrust my hands upward at the lid and pushed with all my might. I cursed and cried as I punched against the coffin lid. Despite the padding, I was certain I’d bloodied my knuckles. The heavy sound of dirt thumped against the lid of the coffin, and reality began to sink in.
“Do you hear me?” I shouted, my voice trapped inside the small space. “I’m going to make you regret that you didn’t kill me.”
I could almost imagine her laughing, because it was Lenore who would have the last laugh. She’d scrubbed my memories of the entire affair, and the clock was ticking. It was only a matter of time before I’d be trapped in the dark with no memory of how I got here.
Fear evaporates when you’re fighting for your life. But when you strip away the element of danger, you’re confronted with that fear. I was going to suffocate in this coffin, and it would be a slow and agonizing ordeal. As my life flashed before my eyes, I went completely still and slowed my breathing.
Conserve your air.
Even if I had consumed Lenore’s blood, she would’ve still charmed me. And I had doubts that I could break out of the heavy weight of earth above. This wasn’t a movie. How exactly did all those undead zombies punch through their coffins and climb through two tons of dirt?
Stupid filmmakers. Think, Raven, think.
How long would it take before Keystone realized I was missing? Christian might wait until dusk before worrying. He knew how I liked to go off and do my own thing.
I shut my eyes. Oh shit. Eventually Christian would go searching. And his first stop would be the White Owl. Then he’d run into Houdini and realize that I’d kept that a secret from him. Lenore would continue to work him over like putty until he didn’t know up from down. He’d give up looking, thinking I’d deceived him somehow. All the possibilities made me cover my face.
Worst of all, my mother was only a few feet over. I’d visited her grave many times, and there was always comfort looking at her name on the headstone while I told her about my life. But down here, in the dark, my mind went elsewhere. I thought about that fateful night of the fire when she plunged through the weak floor and into the flames. I imagined what a painful death that was and how the last horrific thoughts that went through her mind were that she’d failed at saving me from the same fate. I had so few memories of her, and I clung to them. I heard stories about how soldiers dying on battlefields cried out for their mothers, and I always thought that it would be Crush’s name on my lips. But as I lay there in the dark, all I wanted was my mother. I wanted to feel her embrace one last time and hear her soothing words telling me that she loved me and everything would be okay. Maybe it should have been my life taken that night instead of hers.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I tried my best to make something of myself. I know it’s not the life you imagined, and I guess in the end, I got what I deserved.” I gasped, overcome with grief, and then blew out a calming breath.
It wouldn’t be long before I forgot everything, and then I’d have to go through this panic all over again. How many hours of oxygen did I have? Sometimes Wyatt struck up morbid conversations, and I tuned them out, but it seemed like I remembered him saying a few hours. Maybe five? Could I still scream when the air ran out?
Vampires used to be staked and buried, and the only people who could locate them were Gravewalkers. But I was more than a Vampire—I was a Mage. Maybe flaring would attract a nearby Mage.
But in a human cemetery?
How many days would it take?
How many years?
Would I wither away like a dried-up flower? If found, would I even want them to resuscitate me? I couldn’t even end my own life—not without a match or a long blade. Then I thought about Christian and the full decade he’d spent underground. With the impalement wood in his chest, he couldn’t move. All he could do was lie still and slowly go insane with his own thoughts.
No wonder he had such a short temper.
And now I was about to embark on the same dark journey. I would finally know what he had experienced—not knowing if I’d ever be found, not knowing how long I could endure it all. And I’d only been in here less than a few minutes.
I waited. Waited for the tide of panic to drown me once my memories swept away like a current going out to sea. Waited for my lungs to squeeze tightly when the air ran out and I drowned in darkness. Waited to see if I’d pass out, and if so, for how long. Waited to see when the starvation would consume my every thought. Waited for the bargaining to begin of all the things I would do if only the fates would let me out. Waited to see how long it would take to go insane.
I waited to see the real Raven Black unmasked—the one who lived beneath my skin. The dark and primal core of me—a side that most people never got to see within themselves.
If they were lucky.
Chapter 35
Christian stood at Keystone’s front window and looked outside. After searching Flynn’s apartment and collecting what evidence he could gather, he’d driven home. It didn’t come as a surprise when Raven didn’t return. So
metimes after a job, she would treat herself at Ruby’s Diner or walk around the city. Sometimes she liked to sit atop buildings or visit her old stomping grounds. He respected her privacy and desire for solitude after a stressful assignment. Since she didn’t have a phone on her, all he could do was wait. Patience was something he had an abundance of.
Claude attempted in vain to sneak up and lock his arm around Christian’s shoulder, but you can’t sneak up on a Vampire. “Come drink with us.”
“I don’t want to be langered before Raven gets here. It’s not even dark.”
“I’m not asking you to get drunk. Just have a drink. If Raven wanted to celebrate with us, she’d be here. Viktor just cracked open a three-hundred-year-old bottle, and I think I lost feeling in my lips.” Claude leaned toward the window and squinted. “Did she call? Is she on her way?”
Christian sidestepped to distance himself and leaned against the wall, arms folded. “She doesn’t have her phone with her. I left a message with her da. She might have gone for a visit.”
“My sources say no,” Claude replied, swaying.
“Your sources are unreliable.”
Claude pointed outside. “My source is riding up the road.”
Once Christian unsuppressed his hearing, he heard the distinct sound of a motorcycle. He opened the door and stood outside as Crush rolled up. The old man wore a bandana secured around his head, dark shades on his eyes, and a scowl that seemed to be a genetic trait in the family. Crush throttled the bike before shutting off the engine.
Claude hugged Christian from behind. “I’ll leave you two alone to kill each other.”
The door closed, but Christian kept his eyes locked on Crush.
Raven’s dad strutted up to Christian, putting more weight on his right knee than his left. The man was falling apart before his very eyes.
“And what the feck are you doing here?”
“You don’t call me asking if I’ve seen my baby girl. If you don’t know where the fuck she is, then something isn’t right. Now what’s going on?”
“Let’s go inside. The sun bothers my eyes.”
Crush pulled the lining out of his pockets. “I’m all out of fucks to give.”
“We finished our assignment. No troubles. Everything was fine, so Raven and I separated to tie up a few loose ends. She seemed weary, and I thought she’d be back by now. That was this morning.”
“And she doesn’t have a phone on her?”
Christian shook his head. “I can’t imagine she would have walked the whole way home. I assumed she had enough money for a cab.”
“Get your bike. Let’s go.”
There was no point arguing. Crush was on a mission, and Christian needed an excuse to leave the house and become an overbearing lover. Viktor had been gushing over Raven’s accomplishments all day, and he rarely did that with anyone. Most of them had slept through the morning after getting back home, and following a late lunch, Viktor broke out the wine, and it all went to hell in a handbasket after that. They were merry and drunk, Kira bringing out a continual parade of food. It didn’t seem right celebrating without Raven, so after calling the hotel and finding out that she’d checked out early that morning, Christian paced the halls. An hour later, he left a message with Crush. That man must have sped over like a bullet, because he’d forgotten his wallet from the looks of the faded rectangular mark on his empty back pocket.
At least the sun would be down soon. Once Christian fired up the Ducati, he followed Crush down to the gate and then sped in front of him. Crush suddenly appeared to his left and gave him a death scowl before falling back. Christian didn’t know all the social rules when it came to the biker lifestyle, and he didn’t give a shite. Crush wouldn’t know where to look, and Christian’s first instinct was to retrace her steps. She’d mentioned going to the White Owl and the hotel.
Raven was probably having a burger and beer, yet worry nestled deep in his spine. Something wasn’t right. Somehow Crush felt it too. Perhaps because they shared the same blood.
But so did Christian and Raven. Not in the same way, but her blood still lingered in his veins as his did in hers, and maybe that connection was more powerful than he could have realized.
Or maybe now that he actually cared about someone in this world, all he could think about was the fear of losing her and what life might be like without Raven to keep him grounded.
They pulled up to the club around dusk. Instead of locating a parking lot, Christian jumped the curb and parked his Ducati by the building. A line of people shot him baleful looks, but Christian ignored the humans as he approached the doorman.
Crush parked his Harley on the street and dismounted.
“Your kind isn’t allowed.” The bouncer reached inside his sports jacket and flashed impalement wood at Christian. Then he flicked a glance at Crush. “Are you two together?”
Christian glowered. “He’s not my type. Now if you’ll kindly step out of the way, I won’t detach your miniature head from your disproportionately large body.”
The man slowly shook his head. “Don’t start trouble. You don’t want trouble.”
Christian stood toe to toe, nose to nose. “Aye, I want trouble.”
The man’s phone vibrated. He answered, eyes still locked on Christian.
“Let them in,” Christian heard a voice on the line say.
The man ground his teeth as he hung up and reluctantly opened the door.
Crush fell into step beside Christian in the dark hall. “What did he mean by your kind?”
“No Vampires. He couldn’t say it in front of an audience. Not all clubs allow my Breed.”
“Huh. I thought he meant peckerheads.”
The techno bass assailed Christian’s ears, so he made a volume adjustment to tone it down.
“What the fuck is this?” Crush stared at a woman tied to a wooden X.
Christian gripped the old man by the collar and yanked him away. “If you’d rather fool around, I can do this alone.”
“I’ve never seen that out in the open.”
“Best you stay downstairs then. It’s usually raunchier on the higher floors, and we wouldn’t want you keeling over from cardiac arrest.” Christian stopped and scoped the bar. He needed to figure out where the offices were so he could speak to a manager.
Women and men were gyrating inside human-size birdcages. Others were leading around submissives on leashes. A lady covered entirely in latex gave Christian a seductive wink before unzipping her mouth and licking her lips.
They made their way toward a hallway in the back. A large man, hands clasped in front, took a step to block him. “The old man stays here.”
“He’s with me.”
The guard shook his head. “The owner won’t speak to you unless the human remains here.”
“Just go,” Crush ordered him. “I’ll keep the numbskull company.”
Christian blew past the guard, attuned to the sounds behind each door. When he heard whistling, he knocked.
“Enter.”
Christian stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The first thing that grabbed his attention in the dark room was all the screens displaying images of the club, inside and out.
The chair behind the desk turned. Houdini regarded Christian with a pensive stare. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Christian marched up to the desk and pressed his fingers against the wood. “Well, well. If it isn’t the devil incarnate.”
“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? Did you come here to settle a score? Or did Raven not tell you about our conversations, and jealousy is afoot.”
“Where is she?”
“I could have let you stand outside, so use my time wisely.”
“And I could have knocked out that pinhead and walked right in.”
Houdini put his hands on his lap, his demeanor cool. “I would have seen it and bolted the outside door. In case you didn’t notice, there aren’t windows. My building is Vampire proof.�
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Christian stood erect. “I find that rather ironic.”
“State your business.”
“I’m here for Raven.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Houdini rose from his seat and stood at the edge of the desk. He appeared flummoxed. “If she’s missing, what makes you think I have anything to do with it?”
“Because you like to meddle. You’ve meddled in her creation and done an effective job gaslighting her. You kidnapped her once, and I suspect you had something to do with digging up the bodies of three Shifters who attacked us while we were on a job outside the country. I buried those bodies where no one would find them. Raven could have been jailed for that little incident, but you knew I’d take the blame, didn’t you?”
Houdini put his hands in his pockets. “All in good fun.”
Christian reeled in his contempt for this insipid excuse of a Vampire. “I suppose it’s money you want.”
Houdini sighed. “I’ll shoot straight with you, Poe. I don’t know where Raven is. I didn’t search for her the first time, and I won’t search for her now. If you’ve lost her, that’s quite unfortunate. She was here this morning. We talked briefly, and then she left. Perhaps for good. Maybe she’s finally discovered that the best life is lived outside of another’s shadow.”
“She’s not in my shadow.”
“No, but she’s in Keystone’s.” Houdini swiveled around and sat in his seat. “If you don’t mind, I have to address my staffing crisis and search for replacements. Should you know of anyone who won’t screw me over, send them my way.”
Christian paced toward the door and gripped the knob. “If I find out you’re behind this, they don’t have laws written for what I’ll do to you. It won’t be murder, I can tell you that much. But you’ll pray for death.”
