Burn the Dark

by Nicola Rose

  Sofia thought for a moment. “You might be special, Jess. The power in you seems unique, but if you release that power to its full potential then it’ll shine through and you won’t be able to hide it. Many people, witches and vampires… they’ll all want a piece of you.”

  “Why haven’t they noticed me before?”

  “Oh, they probably have, but your aura is still weak until you harness it. They may have noticed you were different, but without specific digging in the right places they’d never uncover what you really are. The secret’s out now though, and rumours travel fast amongst these communities.”

  “Will you help me?” I asked one more time.

  “Let’s begin tomorrow.” A smile crept across her face. “I’ll enjoy watching your vampire boyfriend squirm.”

  Night fell as Zac and I snuggled up under a thin blanket in the flatbed of a pickup truck, listening to the buzz of insects and scanning the clear sky. He’d decided we should stick together in one vehicle when we travel, rather than separating on our bikes; hence the truck.

  “Can you see Orion?” I asked, craning my neck at the stars. “I used to love picking it out with my mother.”

  “It’s the wrong time of year to see it,” he replied, tucking me in tighter to his chest.

  I cleared my throat, trying to dislodge the lump that formed along with memories of my mother. She’d always been so humble and devoted to her family. She’d have done anything for me. Except leave my asshole of a father. If only she had…

  “Funny you mention Orion – he was said to be a great hunter,” Zac mused, running fingers through my hair. “There’s a large unit of vampire hunters out there that call themselves Orion’s Descent. William wasn’t a random threat, and the Bael are not the only ones left to come after us. There’ll always be someone trying to kill us.”

  My chest tightened at the thought of Zac chained up, staked through the heart, and bleeding out all over that damp, outbuilding floor. And William – with his bushy beard and guy-liner – burning Zac with silver and relishing every moment. The gothic beast that had wormed his way into my dear Anna’s heart and destroyed everything.

  Though, despite William trying to take everything from me, it wasn’t him that had killed Anna. It was Alex. I’d watched as he stalked toward her, calm and focused, drank her blood until the life blinked out from her eyes, and dropped her to the ground with a cold thunk.

  But it wasn’t like the movies where that person then becomes a vampire. No. Apparently they needed to die with vampire blood already in their veins for the transformation to take place.

  “He’s beside himself right now,” Zac read my mind. “I can feel Alexander’s rage at not being able to locate us. He hasn’t let me out of his sight for years and now I’ve slipped away. I hope Sofia means it when she says she can keep these spells up, not only to keep the Bael away, but because feeling his anger is ridiculously satisfying.”

  “Then he still has a hold on you. Don’t you see? You worry that he’ll never give you peace, but you love his attention. You’re both as bad as each other.”

  He snorted and rolled over, positioning himself on top of me. My breath caught in my throat again; this time because a vampire had pressed himself between my legs.

  “Maybe you’re right.” He gave me a rare, wicked grin. “I should let go of his negativity. I’m the darkness and having you pinned beneath me is all I need.”

  3

  Jess

  Zac refused to entertain the idea of me going out and training with Sofia during the daytime. You know, in case anything ‘untoward’ happened, and he’d be weakened by the sun should he need to step in. Not that he was ever particularly weak in the light, from what I’d seen.

  I tried to remind him that the Bael were also vampires and therefore not likely to pounce during the day, but the argument was finished with the unspoken words in the silence that followed. He felt Sofia to be just as much a threat. And since she’d insisted no vampires be present during my training, this was the compromise.

  Thankfully, Sofia had chosen a different location to her poky little house for our sessions, though I still had to contend with the threat of death by smoke inhalation. You could say it was impressive that she’d managed to fill such a huge room with just as much fog as her tiny lodgings.

  Inside the main building many doors lined the hallways, with this great hall seemingly in the middle. The hub for their coven – where they met to practise, learn and socialise, carry out council meetings… or so Eva had said. Sofia herself was particularly cagey about revealing anything.

  She dropped a heavy book onto the table and blew away a coating of dust from the green, leather-bound cover. Gold foil trimmed the edges in swirls and spirals. Turning to me, she sparked up a new smoke with a delicate flame right from her fingertip.

  I stared, open-mouthed, as she let the flame linger.

  “That’s… how do you…” I couldn’t help but be impressed. That was a cool trick.

  “It’s been a while since anyone from this coven has needed to train someone in your position – someone with zero sense of what they are, without even any of the basic skills that are taught to witches as children.” She glared from the flame to me, as if my magical inadequacies were my fault and something I should apologise for. Clearly I was not supposed to be awed by the finger-match.

  “It’s a good job I’m a fast learner then, right?” I countered.

  “We’ll see.” The fingertip flame disappeared as she approached, holding out her hands, palms upwards.

  I placed my own on top of hers and she closed her eyes. A faint electric tingling pulsed under my skin. After taking some deep breaths she opened her eyes and I stared back, straight into the muted green of her irises. I wondered if she had mind-fucking powers like the vampires did.

  “Clear your mind, Jess,” she whispered.

  Focusing on my breathing, I let the static-charged air flow over me. The tingling made my skin feel tight and the burn scar itched on my back.

  “Clear! Remove all thoughts,” she demanded, breaking a hand from my grasp to flick away the roll-up from her mouth, not bothering to stub it out.

  “Seriously?! That’s not possible. How are you supposed to block out any and all thoughts?!”

  “By reconnecting to your sense of self; there’s just you, no one else, nothing else.”

  I blew out a deep breath and tried again. Maybe some hippy music and an ‘Om’ chant would help.

  “Find that place inside you, where the magic forms. Find it, feel it,” she said, her voice returning to barely a whisper as she took hold of me again.

  Honestly, I wanted to laugh. She was staring at me with such seriousness, but this was surely all a big joke. What was I thinking asking for this? I’m Jess – the epic fuck-up. The girl who flits from disaster to disaster, seeking out a buzz to hide the anxiety. I’m not the right person to go searching inside my own soul for a glimmer of magic.

  “Look harder,” she urged. “Deeper inside yourself. It’s there, you must find it. How does it normally feel?”

  “I don’t know!” I sighed. “I’ve never controlled it. It usually just happens when I’m afraid.”

  And that’s when it clicked into place – the actual reason that I’d spent my life chasing down those storms, diving headfirst into danger. That buzzing in my ears was the magic starting to form… and the tingling was the feeling of power as it thrummed across my skin. I’d been looking for that, trying to get more. Searching out my power and never quite getting hold of it.

  “It starts as a buzzing in my ears. It gets louder, and I can feel it. Then it just happens. I don’t have any control. And only when I’m scared—”

  “Good. We can work with that,” she smiled, and in that instant a sharp electric jolt passed from her hands into my own. A deafening shriek erupted inside my head. The sound of a woman screaming… shouting and crying… and the smell! The smell of burning flesh.

  The screaming got lo
st under the sound of the buzzing as I yanked myself away from Sofia’s grip. Sinking to my knees, I clutched at my ears and I was right back there, back at the explosion that killed my parents. My back burning with agonising pain, my skin alive with electricity. I cried out and was vaguely aware of the table with the book overturning and crashing to the floor.

  Sofia appeared on her knees beside me and took my hands once more. Another jolt and it all stopped; the noise, the smell. Silence washed over me.

  I gasped for breath and stared hatred into her eyes.

  “I needed a catalyst,” she said simply. “I can help you now. I can connect to you and show you the way.”

  I shook my head. “That was low. A little warning, maybe?”

  “I never said this would be easy. There’s so much to do and not enough time. Now, feel my energy inside, guiding you to that place where your magic lives. Do you feel the pulse in your core?”

  “I… I think so.”

  “Good. Remember that place. Come back to it every twenty minutes. Keep finding it and stroking it. That’s all for today.” Then she rose sharply and left the room, her white sneakers squeaking on the floor as she went.

  “Stroking it? She wants you to stroke it?” Zac grinned.

  “Jealous?” I elbowed his solid abs. “Want me to stroke you instead? Because that can be arranged.”Putting my hand between his legs, I rubbed at his junk, smirking as it immediately came to life. He groaned, dropping his head back.

  “I’d tell you to get a room, Jess,” Eva trilled as she walked in, “except then I’d just have to find a reason to interrupt and save you… again. You know, before he went all hungry-horny-vampire on your ass.”

  Zac growled and I laughed. The beast that lurked within him – crying out to claim me as his sanguine mate – was no laughing matter, but humour was a good way to deal with it. Otherwise we’d fight, like always, and perhaps it was about time that cycle got broken.

  He caught my waist as I went to move away and pulled me down into his lap. “Any news from the perimeter scouts?” he asked.

  “Nothing new. Leon still says he can feel them heading our way, but no-one else has picked anything up yet, so they must be a way off. Leon said they keep stopping and spreading out, then moving forward again. I think Sofia is right. They can’t track us; they’re systematically searching, and are just lucky that so far they’re coming the right way.”

  “We’ll have to move on soon, I can’t risk letting them get too close. Will Sofia come with us?”

  “I doubt it,” Eva shook her head. “Her coven is already pissed as hell at her for helping us on their doorstep. They want us gone, but they won’t want her to go too.”

  “Find a way to convince her,” Zac’s voice dropped.

  “I won’t mess with her mind. She’s become a friend. She keeps her free will. Besides, she’s a witch, Zac! You don’t go mind-fucking witches unless you want a whole coven up your ass.”

  “Have you been finding it every twenty minutes?” Sofia asked, lighting another damned roll-up and making me want to vomit. Or reach over and flick it from her lips. That would be satisfying.

  “Do you really need to smoke so much?” I groaned, finally allowing myself to flap my hands around my face, the way I’d been wanting to do from our first meeting. I sometimes smoke myself, but her addiction was borderline insane.

  She simply glared at me and took a bigger drag.

  “Fine. I’ve tried. It’s exhausting,” I replied.

  “But how does it feel now, today? Different?”

  “I guess… it feels stronger, and like I can reach it a little quicker.”

  She nodded curtly in some form of appreciation. “So find it now and throw your energy my way.”

  Bracing myself for the embarrassment of failure, I drove my mind into my core and yanked on the energy, drawing it out, pushing away from my body…

  My hands dropped back to my sides and Sofia waited, apparently unaware that I’d even done anything.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “You know what, maybe this is a mistake—”

  “There’s no room for pity-parties in my coven, Jess!” The authority flashed behind her eyes and I definitely wanted to slap her. Being dominated by a rough man in the bedroom is one thing, but being told what to do by anyone else made me instantly defensive and cranky.

  The familiar thrum prickled at my skin and a faint buzzing filled the air. I focused on her skinny frame, drowning in the abundance of fabric from the too-large t-shirt, and looked upon her pretty face – finding her round, friendly eyes, hiding behind wisps of smoke. Comforting eyes, but with a hostile personality.

  I pushed my anger toward her and felt a wave pass through me. The air thickened between us, something tangible. Nothing to the eyes, but I could feel it. Then another pulse and it rocked against me, like that wobbly feeling when you step off a boat or from an elevator.

  She smiled smugly and I blasted the wave forward until it pressed against her – I felt it, the wall of air, as it flowed from me and into her. Then my chest tightened and I couldn’t breathe. I snapped back to the moment and the energy was gone.

  “Not bad,” was all she said.

  Not bad?!

  I felt like I’d just run a marathon. Exhaustion gnawed at my insides. My eyes wanted to close on their own and my skin felt like it belonged to someone else; numb and alien.

  But the buzz, the high… it had been present for a moment. That feeling I’m always chasing down. It was delicious — sinful, and tantalising. Something darker hid beneath it. Something that called out to be freed.

  “It’ll get easier,” Sofia murmured. She turned to the massive book that had been repositioned on the righted table. but remained untouched. Watching her leaf through the pages sparked a curiosity, which had me moving to peek at what information was held within.

  “Learning to find the power and summon it, I mean,” she said, shifting to block my view over her shoulder. “But actual witchcraft? Practicing spells and incantations? Jess, it would take years. Even I’m still learning. The only way you’ll ever learn to master your potential fully is with constant help. You need a coven behind you.”

  There it was, just as Zac had predicted. She meant for me to join them.

  She kept her gaze on the book, but had stopped flicking the pages, stopped reading, waiting for my response.

  “You could come with us? My own personal trainer on the run?”

  “You must be insane after all,” she gritted, and slammed the book closed.

  4

  Jess

  “It’s to be expected.” Eva held out a candle whilst I muttered some incantation Sofia had taught me and attempted to light the wick through my hidden magic. “Of course she’d ask you to join them – you’re a witch, maybe a special one. They stick together. They most certainly don’t hang out with vampires.”

  “Then why is she helping you?”

  “Because some years ago I saved her life and she owes me. It’s that simple. She had come to our island and Alex’s Cell took a fancy to her. I got her away, to spite them more than to help her, but she didn’t know that. Once her debt is paid she most likely won’t entertain the idea of any further friendship with me. We only remained in contact these years so I could keep her close in case I ever needed her help.”

  “A stroke of good planning or a premonition?”

  “Just sensible. Fighting with those who wish to harm us is second nature. Goes without saying that maybe one day a little witchy help could be useful.”

  I slouched against a wall, cursing the heat that was making my back itch. Fighting the onslaught of tiredness through my bones, I found that little pulse inside me; coaxing it, fanning it, letting foreign words slip from my mouth in a repeated chant. I tried my fucking hardest, but that bastard wick would not ignite. Sofia made it look so easy with a simple flick of her fingers.

  “This is pathetic,” I yelled to the ceiling. “How am I ever going to maste
r anything useful if I can’t even perform a magic trick that, according to Sofia, they learn in kindergarten.”

  Eva set the candle down and poured me a whiskey. “Maybe you’re trying too hard? You’ve done nothing else for the last twelve hours. Relax, get some sleep. Don’t stress. It’ll come, or it won’t. Either way, we’re not going to let those Bael scum take anything away from us, OK?”

  I gulped the liquor down and wished I could believe her.

  “Here you are.” Zac entered the room with Leon and came to give me a kiss. My knees weakened as his lips lingered a little longer than was socially acceptable.

  When he broke away, a small smile played at the edges of his mouth. “The Bael have veered off course, they’re heading away from us.”

  “Really?” I looked to Leon, who nodded with a grin. “That’s great! So we can stay here longer?”

  Zac cocked his head, eyes narrowing. That fucker was reading my thoughts.

  “Get out of my head!”

  “I told you she’d try and lure you away.”

  “She merely planted a suggestion. It’s irrelevant. If we can stay a while then I can learn more. Period. And we should stay as long as possible because right now I can’t do shit.”

  “You’re desperate for this. She’ll work her way into your head and try to convince you how much you need her.”

  “Oh yeah? Well, I’m used to supernatural beings getting into my head and trying to take control of my free will, right? Besides, I want a lot of things that I don’t get. I’ll settle with this. For now.”

  His eyebrows rose as he analysed those last words. Good. Let him stew on them.

  Zac had managed to get a grip on his sulking and accept that if his sexy-as-fuck evil twin hadn’t managed to entice me away with his powers, then the witch probably wasn’t a huge threat. She should be utilised to maximum gain.