Burn the Dark

by Nicola Rose

  Talking of which, if he sensed the daily rampant thoughts that stormed through my head around images of Alex, then he didn’t let on. He already knew that his brother had crawled under my skin and filled me with lustful fantasies – possibly my own, or possibly planted there by him. Either way, the fact remained – I was here, with Zac. This was where I belonged. Alex was a whole fucked-up issue that couldn’t be shrugged off, but equally, it only caused problems if it was approached.

  Sometimes it felt like he was nearby. I couldn’t explain it, it was like a déjà vu feeling, sort of. Perhaps more like he was on the edge of my mind, prowling around like a caged animal looking for a weak spot to break through.

  Because he was definitely looking for us. And not just because he needed to keep Zac close for the chance of ever activating the Elwood Legacy. It was because he wanted me.

  I could feel it in my core. Somehow, even my magic seemed to feel it. I could swear there was a darkness brewing inside me, and it craved the wrong brother. A notion of freedom, of release—

  “Jess!” Sofia snapped. “I suggest you stop daydreaming and light that candle right now or our work here is done.”

  Tough love. She was good at the army general ‘show no mercy’ approach. And she knew how to press my buttons with those damned orders. I shot the angry energy out, straight toward the wick. “Inpes ignis ustrina,” I barked, and a flame sprang to life.

  I jumped up and down, clapping my hands and shrieking with excitement. Sofia scrunched up her features in distaste, as if looking upon an annoying child. I didn’t care; I let my smile take over my whole face, the scale of my massive mouth forcing her to acknowledge my happiness with a slight, tight-lipped one in return.

  “Very good,” she said. “And about time too.”

  So the weeks passed, holed up in our little mountain lodge like some romantic movie; wandering through the sun-bleached, rocky, cactus-strewn land, eating churros, learning magic, laughing and love-making…

  Except we couldn’t walk in that baking sun together, so actually it was more like moonlit walks, gazing at the stars. The churro-eating was me scoffing my face while Zac watched and tried not to gag. The laughter? Well, this is Zac – eternally brooding with the weight of the world on his shoulders. And the love-making? Let’s not even get started on that one.

  Well, fuck. Not like the movies at all. But the point is… it still felt romantic to me. In a messed up ‘running together to save your lives’ kind of way.

  Which leaves the ‘learning magic’ part. Well. I was starting to wonder if magic was all a load of horseshit and I’d be better of getting myself a gun and focussing on some sort of military defence training. Sofia had spent the last hour putting me through my paces, scolding me for getting distracted and generally making me feel inadequate in every way.

  It was all jokes and high fives yesterday (in my head at least) when Sofia, to her shock, found that I actually didn’t need to use incantations for everything. The power within me had such potential that it could be used without spells or charms, simply with my willpower alone.

  But of course I knew that, else I wouldn’t have those devastating magical outbursts littering my past.

  Then came the new day and yesterday’s achievements weren’t enough for our edgy, skittish Sofia. She was cranky and impatient. I was just about to attempt flicking that fag from her lips with a sneaky burst of energy when she suddenly shrank back at the sight of a bunch of women entering the room.

  This was the first time I’d really seen any of the other witches from her coven. A couple of times I’d seen one pass by from the corner of my eye, but nothing more than that. They appeared to be hiding from us, avoiding us. So whatever glimpses I’d caught over these weeks had been that of timid, retreating women – heads low, hands clasped, delicate-framed bodies drowning in large, drab clothing.

  Which made this situation extremely unsettling. The women who’d entered the hall were far from shy and retiring. They glared at me with fierce eyes and determined faces as they spoke in hushed words to Sofia. The conversation became more frantic, Sofia’s gaze darting to me with increasing alarm until she blurted the words, “Run, Jess!”

  I turned instantly for the door and it slammed shut on an imaginary gust of wind.

  “Foolish woman!” an angry tone came from behind me. I spun back around, but they weren’t talking to me. The oldest looking witch had hold of Sofia by her ponytail and was sneering in her face. “We warned you, repeatedly, that we have no business helping vampires. You bring the Bael to our sacred place! You left us with no option. We will not be destroyed because of your sense of debt to a blood-thirsty freak.”

  Sofia yelped as the other witches grabbed her roughly and bound her hands behind her back.

  “No!” I yelled. “We’ll leave, don’t hurt her!”

  “Oh, I know you’ll leave. This is for Sofia’s protection, not to harm her.” The older woman looked frail, but I knew this to be far from the truth. In an uncharacteristic chatty moment, Sofia had told me about the head witch who they referred to as Madre. She’d described her grey hair – always woven into a tight bun – and her wrinkled face, belying the youth in her soul. It was not these things that confirmed her identity to me though; it was the delicate, golden tiara that perched atop that ageing head.

  Another witch produced a length of material and forced it into Sofia’s mouth as a gag.

  “Stop!” I tried again, this time releasing a wave of energy from my palm. It took on physical traits as it passed across the hall. It should have barrelled into the women and knocked them from their feet, but Madre flicked her head to the side and I felt the energy I’d released change direction. It surged back, throwing me against the wall and knocking the air from my lungs.

  I attempted to stand, winded and gasping, when a lightness took hold of me and I began moving toward the head witch without any effort from my legs. Floating – a foot above the floor, levitating my way across the room. One of the young witches laughed as I thrashed around, trying to get my feet back onto firm ground.

  When I reached the group, Madre lowered her gaze and set me down next to Sofia. The door flew open and Zac charged into the hall, flanked by Leon and Eva.

  “What is this?” he shouted, glaring from me to the head witch, then to Sofia. Sofia tried to shout, struggling against her restraints, but the gag ensured that none of what she had to say could be heard.

  “This is what happens when witches mix with vampires. Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming?” Madre took a step toward Zac, which seemed an incredibly foolish move to me.

  “Jess, come over here,” Zac said slowly.

  I tried to move, but I couldn’t. He stared at me for a moment, noting my helpless face, fists clenching by his sides. Then a snarl escaped him as he darted forward with inhuman speed, blurring before my eyes. His body made contact with an invisible force, his face smashing against it, causing blood to gush from his nose. Taking a step back, he looked to me in confusion and panic, before charging once more… and again bouncing off some invisible force field.

  Leon and Eva followed suit, crashing against the wall in frustration. Behind them, the rest of the Cell had arrived, all snarling and pushing together against this magical barrier.

  “It won’t hold!” Madre spat and the witches formed a quick circle, linking hands. They chanted foreign words, repeating them over and over.

  “Bravo, my little witches. But I strongly suggest you ensure it does hold, else the Bael will be in competition with Zac to see who can rip you apart first.” A woman appeared beside us and trailed a lazy finger over Madre’s lips, before turning her attention to me.

  “Hello, Jess,” she purred.

  I gawked at her – at the slender body, the long, painted nails and the agonisingly beautiful face. She’d once strolled into a bar on South Padre, pawing over Zac like they were lovers. And he’d ignored me, brushed me aside like I was filth. Laura? Lyra? What was the bitch’s name?
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  “Luna?!” I gasped.

  “Do not speak that name,” she growled, taking hold of my chin and squeezing until the bones threatened to break.

  Zac said he’d killed her. She’d been snooping around the island and he rejected me for her; all part of his torturous plan to keep her in the dark about who I was. If only he’d informed me about that plan, instead of letting me think he’d forgotten I existed in favour of her.

  I brought my knee up hard into her stomach. She barely even registered the impact, but gave me a sharp slap around the face in return. I tasted blood on my lip and looked over her shoulder to see Zac pounding against the invisible wall.

  He had no volume. All the sound that I should have heard from his shouting and banging was eerily absent. The witches were still joined, chanting, eyes closed, save for Madre who was watching me as a cat eyes a mouse.

  “Luna was my twin,” the vampire-bitch said. “I’m Juno… Elwood.”

  I coughed in surprise.

  “Your boyfriend killed my twin sister and took away any chance of the Legacy mark ever appearing on either of us. And now the Bael send me here, on a mission to ensure he activates his own Legacy, digging that knife in as punishment for our perceived failures. Fucking assholes.”

  I gathered my energy, finding that buzzing, pulsing place inside and had another attempt at sending forth my magic in whatever way I could muster. Candle-lighting tricks were no damned good here. Why hadn’t I demanded that Sofia move straight onto the important stuff? And why was Zac so powerless? I’d have believed vampires to be the most intimidating, lethal beings out there, but twice now he’d been reduced to nothing by witch magic.

  I was a witch. I should be able to stand my ground against these bitches.

  “Don’t you dare try and fuck with me!” Juno said, sensing the air of power that I was trying to build around myself. “In fact, get on your knees, that’s where humans belong.” She placed a hand on my shoulder and forced me to the ground. I could do nothing against her strength. Still, I would try…

  I got back to my feet the moment she released me. She raised her eyebrows and punched me in the nose, followed by a kick to the abdomen, right where William had stabbed me. Doubled over, I cast a pleading look to Zac. It was surreal to see him so angry, so frenzied, and yet not hear a single sound to go with it. Whatever force field magic those witches were casting, it was incredibly strong.

  Juno followed my gaze over to Zac and a sly smile crept across her face. “Ruben, what are you doing over there? Get over here.”

  Everyone paused to look at Ruben – Eva’s brother, the butchest vampire in the gang, with his huge frame, yet dressed in britches and a tailcoat. He hesitated, before stepping right through the invisible wall to stand beside Juno.

  Eva’s face dropped into horror and bewilderment as Juno draped her arm around Ruben’s shoulders in an over-friendly way. Zac was growling, I could tell by the way his lip was curled back, fangs on show.

  “Ooh, turn the volume back up, this will be good!” Juno let go of Ruben to clap her hands.

  Madre snapped her fingers and the room flooded with noise, all the vampires behind the wall snarling and smashing into it.

  “What are you doing, Ruben?” Eva yelled. I’d never seen her eyes so wide, so watery, on the verge of tears, of panic.

  “Eva… I… you weren’t supposed to be here when it went down. You said you were going out with Leon to hunt. Why are you here?” Ruben never looked at anyone with anything other than contempt, apart from Eva. His love for her was the only emotion that ever came through. Except maybe for the hatred he’d granted me from day one. Fuck. Should we have seen this coming?

  “What have you done?” Eva’s face paled.

  “We don’t belong in this Cell. I’ve stayed, for your sake, for far too long. The Bael have extended a hand. We can join them. Please, come with me.” He reached out as Eva slowly stepped backwards, her head swaying from side to side.

  “You turned us over to the Bael—” she continued stepping further away until she was pressed to the wall.

  “They won’t harm you, it’s been promised. Juno is only here for Jess… for today.”

  Juno smiled at the mention of her name. She took a breath and cleared her throat, as if this was her cue to continue the show. “Time t—” she began, but was cut off by Zac’s snarling.

  “I’ll fucking obliterate you, Ruben.” His voice was no longer human; it had taken on that deep, primal tone.

  “Yes, yes – you can do that on your own time,” Juno continued. “You know, this is your fault. Forgetting about your Elwood obligations, and the death of my sister, all that aside – you allowed an angry, jealous man to stay within your Cell. This was a grave error in your leadership skills. Ruben was so easy to manipulate, you may as well have gift-wrapped Jess and fedexed her straight to me.”

  “Take her and you’re sealing your own death,” Zac said, finally ceasing the useless hammering against the wall and going spookily calm. The witches chant had dropped to barely more than a whisper. Maybe if I could get them to stop it would break the spell.

  I lunged into them, knocking aside the first witch I made contact with. She shouted as I ploughed onwards and pushed apart more of them, their joined hands dropping away. The buzz built inside me and I tried so hard to conjure magic of my own, anything that would be useful… an explosion, a barrier, anything.

  I sensed someone grabbing for me, Juno or Ruben, maybe Madre, I couldn’t tell – but I dropped to the ground and rolled away, catching sight of the vampires smashing that hard air, and something giving. Zac managed to move a step forward. He redoubled his efforts and pushed against the blockage, taking definite steps toward me with each second that passed.

  Closer and closer.

  I kicked my legs out at the nearest witch, my boot hitting hard into her shin. She dropped to her knees and I took great pleasure in head-butting her delicate nose.

  Then my head hit the ground with a painful thump and someone grabbed my ankles, yanking me back. The force was so strong I wondered if the joints in my legs had left their sockets. Juno had me on my feet in a split-second, her teeth scraping against my throat.

  Zac had almost reached us. The wall was bending, allowing him to make progress, but it looked hard and slow, taking all his effort.

  “Enough, little princess,” Juno hissed in my ear. “Take a good, last look at the Zac you know. The next time you see him you’ll be setting him free.”

  With a lightning-fast flash, she took off – out of the hall, and away from the town – with me helplessly dragged along.

  5

  Jess

  I guessed Juno must have knocked me unconscious at some point after the third time I tried to use magic and set fire to her hands.

  That was it – all my training and all I could accomplish to defend myself was a feeble fire-lighting trick, which only caused my abductor a minor annoyance.

  A burning ache now surged through every fibre in my body, pulling and stretching. The heaviest pain settled around my shoulders – ferocious and stabbing, twisting and knotting – making my thoughts foggy.

  I was chained up, I knew that much. Hands above my head, with nothing but pain, and memories of another time I was bound like this at the mercy of William. I wanted to scream, but my throat was so dry and clogged, it was more effort to cry than to not.

  Eventually my head dropped forward. Trying to lift it again was futile; it was like a giant lead weight that refused to shift.

  “Must you keep her chained like that, Raze? She’s no threat.” A delicate female voice penetrated the haze in my head.

  “I like her like this. You like it too, don’t you? Alpha males are your thing, right?” The owner of the second voice, presumably Raze, lifted my head with two fingers under my chin and gazed upon my face. He was fucking gigantic.

  Fresh spasms of pain went racing down my spine from the movement, making me whimper, despite my efforts not to. He knott
ed his eyebrows in disgust at whatever he saw in my eyes. “Don’t disappoint me, my little fire-cracker. I’m banking on you being able to take whatever I dish out.” He let go and the force of my head dropping forwards made me bite my tongue.

  “He’ll kill you,” I managed to murmur.

  “Who?” Raze laughed, so loudly it made me jump. The knife-like agony stabbed at my shoulders relentlessly. “Zac?! The pathetic half-vampire? I don’t think so.”

  “Maybe she means Alex?” the female voice said. She sounded young, like a girl. I tried to look up to see her, but couldn’t get my vision higher than her little black kitten heels.

  “Well, there’s a more worthwhile hope for you to cling to. He, at least, has the strength to make a decent attempt. You better pray to him, whore. Go ahead, call out to him. Bring them both running into the arena. Let’s see which one gets here first.”

  It felt as if I was chained like that for weeks, but in reality it was probably only a day. Maybe only a few hours. Hell, I didn’t know. All I cared about right then was the fact that I was no longer chained, and that felt like the most merciful gift ever.

  Raze poked me in the back and pushed me along down a hallway. Plush, red carpet softened our footsteps as we padded past closed doors. Chandeliers hung every few feet, illuminating not only our path, but also the large oil paintings on the walls. Beautiful faces peered at me from those pictures, seeming to track my progress. Some were simple, straightforward portraits; others were more sinister, depicting scenes of sex and gore, demons and, of course, vampires.

  I rolled my shoulders. It felt incredible to have the movement back, even through the pain that came with it. Raze pulled me to a sudden halt outside some imposing double doors. He swung them open and I took an involuntary step back. Every part of me instinctively knew this room was a bad place. The sense of danger that wafted out through those doors carried into my core on heavy air. It set the buzzing vibrating through my ears.