“If they find their way here.” Another female voice, this one acerbic and laden with mockery. “You know there’s more chance they’ve tucked tail and run away to lick their wounds.”
“They won’t give up on her that easily.” A male voice this time, one with an accent not unlike Tabari’s. “We will give them another hour. We can always use the animals if we have to, though they won’t have quite the same potency.”
“I will not do what you want of me.” Kyle’s body jerked; Flora, that was Flora. She sounded tired, beyond tired, but her words were clear and concise. “I will not wield this dark power for you.”
“The strongest of those who would come for you are dead.” The first woman’s voice was full of vicious spite as she spat the last word. “The rest will become sustenance for the Patrium, and you will be the one to feed them to it.”
“You can’t compel her.” A new, heavily accented voice spoke up, and Gabi and Julius’s heads whipped to look at each other. They knew this voice.
“Klara,” Gabi breathed.
Julius nodded, his expression grim.
“A Princep,” Gabi mouthed to Kyle. Razor let out a low growl from Gabi’s left knee.
“Decurian?” he mouthed back. Her expression said it all. They were facing off with one of the most powerful Vampires in the world. The Princeps were the ultimate authority in the Vampire world, but that didn’t put them above their own machinations. After all, Benedict, the head of the Lucis, those who opposed the Decuria, was also one of the twelve Princeps. Gabi and Julius worked to some extent for the Lucis, when they felt their involvement was appropriate. Something had happened three years ago that Gabi had never shared with Kyle, but he suspected they had obtained some inside information. Information that allowed them the freedom to remain somewhat impartial to the ultimate games played between these two factions.
“She must do this of her own free will,” Klara continued. “The Patrium cannot be fooled. I warned you to turn her to our cause in time.” Her words were edged with displeasure.
“She spent too long with those Castius sympathisers.” The male voice was defensive. “We should have taken her long before, but you couldn’t control your number one.”
“Are you daring to—” Klara’s voice was so low and so dangerous that even Kyle felt a shiver crawl up his spine.
“Arguing is getting us nowhere,” the mocking woman broke in. “How do you suggest we get her onside now, oh honoured Vampire?”
“I have just received word from one of my people,” Kyle was trying to place the Vampire’s heavy accent, perhaps German or some other European language, “that the Luna is here somewhere. She left her hidey-hole over an hour ago. This will work to our advantage.”
“How?” The first woman sounded bored.
“The priestess has not responded to threats against her own safety,” Klara answered, “but I understand that she has some emotional attachment to this mother figure, so perhaps she will respond to threats against her.”
“Hmm,” the first woman finally sounded interested, “we do still have the effigy we used on the Dhampir.” Nausea rolled through Kyle’s stomach as her words brought back images of Gabi’s life trickling away. “We have what we need to re-hex it; all we need is something of hers.”
“No.” That one clear, concise word rolled across Kyle’s hearing. He’d heard Flora annoyed, amused, angry, happy, frustrated, exhilarated, but he’d never heard steely, uncompromising resolve. There was something in that single word that had him glancing worriedly at Gabi. She had jerked at Flora’s voice and was already moving closer to the source of the red glow.
“Lord and Lady.” Athena’s words were akin to a prayer as Tabari also surged forward.
The voices below them had become louder, with an edge of agitation, but Kyle couldn’t make out any words.
“I think that…” Tabari’s voice trailed off hoarsely. Kyle wasn’t sure if it was emotion or as a result of the burns he’d sustained. “I’ve never felt it before, but…”
“She is receiving her full power?” Gabi breathed. “Her Day of Acquiring is now?”
“Yes,” Athena hissed, “that’s all it can be.”
Abandoning stealth, they surged forward. The passage opened onto a wide ledge, a ledge that was somewhere near the top of a gigantic cavern, the roof of which was so high that Kyle couldn’t make it out in the dim lighting. They all dropped flat, leopard crawling forward to peer over the edge. Kyle wasn’t the only one who sucked in a breath. The red glow they had followed radiated from balls of light hanging in mid-air just above their heads. Forty feet below them, the bottom of the cavern was as flat as if it had been man-made. To Kyle’s eye it was perfectly round, and in the very centre was a raised rock dais. And a crater. Inside the crater lurked something dark, an unearthly mix of liquid and gas that roiled and pulsed.
It could only be the Patrium.
To the left of the raised platform huddled a large cage filled with dogs of all shapes and sizes, most cowering in terror or whimpering piteously. Around the edges of the floor human shapes lurked in the shadows; Kyle couldn’t be sure if they were Zonbi or not. On the dais itself four people stood with their backs to him. They were staring at the figure shackled to a huge rock on the far side of the Patrium. Flora, her slight form murky through the dark cloud oozing from the pit, was staring upward, but Kyle’s sharp vision could pick out that her eyes were rolled into the back of her head, only the whites were showing. Her body was shaking as though she were being electrocuted.
It took everything in him to keep from leaping up and finding a way to get to her. He breathed through the urge, and Gabi put a hand on his shoulder, her grip tight with understanding.
“They were trying to do something with the Patrium,” Gabi hissed, turning her head towards Athena and Tabari. “Feed it? They were going to sacrifice the Magi or the dogs to it. What would that accomplish?”
“I’m not sure,” Athena’s eyes were wide and fear-filled as she took in the scene below, “but I guess it would somehow power it up, activate it. It’s nothing like the Source; it’s…” she shuddered involuntarily, “an abomination. It thrives on death and chaos.”
“It is very powerful,” Julius was watching it with an intense gaze, “but it is in some kind of dormant state.”
“And if Flora were to try to use its power,” Gabi spoke between clenched teeth, “what would that mean? For us? For her?”
“I think once she tastes its power…” Athena bit down on her bottom lip, something Kyle had never seen her do before, “I think she’ll be lost to us. Her abilities will all be tainted.”
“Tabari, how long until she is in full control of her new abilities?” Gabi hissed.
Tabari shook his head, though his attention was wholly focused on Flora. “Sometimes it takes hours, sometimes minutes. I don’t think in her case it will be long.”
“They’ve made her angry by threatening Trish,” Butch added in a warning tone. “She’s young and exhausted and traumatised.”
“She’ll reach for anything to protect Trish.” Kyle knew that was true as soon as he said it. Flora would die or kill to protect Trish or Breanna, it was just that simple.
“They’re going to goad her into using it.” Gabi wriggled farther out over the ledge, assessing their way down. “We have to stop them. And her.” Gabi slithered back and rose to her knees. “There are rough stairs and ledges all the way down, starting to the right. Kyle, get Trish here. Hopefully if she sees that Trish is safe… In the meanwhile I’ll distract them.”
Kyle nodded, rising and hurrying back down the passage just as the dogs started up a raucous cacophony of barking and snarling. He smiled grimly; Gabi still had her way with animals apparently. He was forced to retrace their steps for some way before Trish’s voice crackled back to him over the walkie-talkie. He filled her in as well as he could and rushed back to the ledge. Butch’s head was just disappearing from view. Shouts erupted from below; despite th
e distraction of the dogs, they’d been spotted. He swung his legs over the edge and quickly scanned the scene as he dropped to the first ledge.
The air around Flora seemed to vibrate and shimmer as Kyle dragged his gaze away to see the hovering human-shaped shadows detach from the darkness and swarm towards the base of the roughhewn stairway. A mix of men and women, they were clad in dark brown leather fighting gear, and they moved with the lithe grace of experienced warriors. Viciously sharp blades glinted in the dull light as they halted in a battle line between the Hunters and the Patrium, a silent, deadly roadblock.
“Ah, Master Julius and his Dhampir Consort,” Klara declared as the four people on the dais turned to face them. If she was surprised to see them, it didn’t show in her expression. “You are just in time to witness the rebirth of the Patrium Nocte.”
Julius and Gabi were already on the ground. Gabi had Nex drawn and was standing fight ready, facing the advancing warriors. Julius stood upright, his stance seemingly relaxed, though Kyle knew better. He wondered how well informed the Princep was as to the extent of Julius’s abilities. If she knew anything, she should be trying to kill the Vampire as quickly as possible.
“Let me introduce my esteemed companions,” she continued as though they were attending some kind of pretentious formal function. “This is Kwasi Esson Oduro, though you might know him as Deshane.” She indicated the dark-skinned man at her right hand. He didn’t look more than a year or two older than Flora, but there was something in his eyes, something that would’ve made Kyle take note if he’d met him in the street.
Kyle’s wolf made a low rumbling sound; he would personally tear this man limb from limb, and no one had better stand in his way.
“And his two sisters in arms are Malikah and Morowa.”
Kyle was surprised that the two women were also dark-skinned. Their accents were nothing like Flora’s or Deshane’s, blander, not easily definable. They too seemed no older than Flora. At their feet lay stained, wide-brimmed bowls, half-filled vials of blood, gore-tipped feathers, small bones, and one crudely carved wooden doll. Kyle’s wolf boiled with rage. They would all die. None would live to see sunrise.
“All faithful followers, and architects, of the Dark Prophesy.” Klara seemed to finally be done with her introductions.
“So you are the new Number One?” Julius asked as Kyle dropped to the ground and hurried to join the front line facing down the warriors. At Gabi’s feet, Razor’s tail was twitching with agitation.
Klara didn’t answer, just dipped her head enigmatically, a small smile lifting her mouth.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. Was the Vampire specifically avoiding the question? She had a square build and looked to be in her early forties, her straw-blonde hair was cut too severely for her somewhat masculine features, and she was dressed in a dark business suit.
“Is Eliasz involved in all of this?” Julius pressed as Kyle’s eyes once again found Flora.
He was aware in his peripheral that Tabari was quietly moving back from the group, blending into the shadows near the cave walls as he edged away from them. Flora was still staring blankly upward, her body taut against the restraints, but she no longer shuddered like she was touching a live wire. The haze surrounding her was still there, but it hung back from her, as though something prevented it from actually touching her.
“Eliasz.” Klara laughed raucously, her head thrown back. “He is a good and faithful servant. He does as I tell him and doesn’t ask questions. What more could you ask for in a partner?”
Kyle was growing impatient. This Vampire was stalling, trying to keep them occupied while they waited for something. Flora’s Acquiring to be completed? Or something else?
Beside him, Gabi made a barely perceptible nod; she and Julius were talking without words. Kyle drew two butterfly swords. The army before them might be well trained, but they were human. Being outnumbered three to one shouldn’t pose any real danger. The two women at Klara’s side had dropped to their knees and were deftly throwing bones, blood and feathers together in an aged bowl as Deshane began a low chant, his head thrown back and his eyes unseeing. Gabi’s left hand reached behind her back where the rest of the team could see it and, starting with all five of her fingers spread, she began a countdown.
As she reached one, Julius raised his hands, palms towards Klara. Athena stayed at his side while the rest leapt into action, rushing directly at the line of dark warriors. Gabi was on Kyle’s left; Fergus yelled a battle cry on her other side as Butch, Mac and Fergus spread out and engaged the silent foe. As Kyle reached the first of the warriors, meeting blade for blade with a resounding shriek of metal, someone screamed. He spun, reversing his grip on his blades, and jammed them hilt-deep into the body of the first fighter, tugging the blades free and kicking the body to one side. The warrior fell soundlessly, and another took his place. The screech of metal being torn apart and the howling of the captive dogs distracted him for a split second. He glanced towards the dais. Flora was free; the shackles that had held her fastened to the rock looked as though they had been ripped apart.
“Wolf,” Gabi yelled as Nex went hurtling past his nose and into the face of a warrior whose raised blade was just inches from Kyle’s neck. “Pay attention.”
Breathing hard, he ducked another blow and spun towards his would-be killer as he palmed both his own blades in one hand, yanked Nex out of the man’s eye, and tossed the blade back to Gabi, who caught the hilt with practiced ease and spun to slam Nex into the chest of a leather-clad woman rushing in from her right. Her attacker had been wielding a variation of the double-bladed haladie knife, a weapon Kyle had only seen in books and museums. Screams and yells came from the direction of Klara and her minions as flames erupted skyward. Satisfaction blossomed in Kyle’s chest as he knew that the Vodun would no longer get to use that cursed effigy on Gabi again, but a sense of urgency also flooded him; Deshane was still his.
Trish was breathing hard by the time she arrived at the ledge. She skidded to a halt, almost stopping too late. Taking in the scene below her, it took her several seconds to make sense of it all. Dark-clad men and women with curved blades and dead eyes hacked and chopped at the Hunters. Kyle and Gabi were side by side; others fought back to back in a chaotic, bloody dance. Half a dozen dark figures lay sprawled across the ground; thankfully none of them seemed to be Hunters. Julius was standing a little back, his arms raised and his attention on four figures in the raised centre of the cave, just in front of a dark roiling pit. Those figures were trying to back away from a cylinder of flame that burned without a source, but they didn’t seem to have noticed the wall of flame that encircled them. Athena and Tabari were trying to work their way around the edges of the fight without becoming embroiled in it. Then Trish saw where they were heading.
Flora. Her heart had gone icy cold when she’d heard the screams; she’d feared the worst. But the girl was still standing, and she seemed to be in one piece. Kyle’s garbled words hadn’t made much sense, but he’d been clear that Trish had to stop her from using her Vodun power to kill anyone. Flora looked upward, in her direction. She was a distance away, and the cave was filled with a thick, dark haze, but Trish could see her foster-daughter’s eyes clearly, and the person looking out of those eyes was someone Trish didn’t know.
CHAPTER 23
Trish didn’t hesitate any longer; she flew down the succession of ledges hacked roughly into the wall of the cavern, dropping from step to step without regard for her own safety. The sound of metal striking metal punctuated Fergus’s ferocious shouts and the frustrated cries of the people inside the circle of flames. As she hit the gravelled floor of the cavern, she was already running. Her eyes briefly caught Kyle’s as he pulled a bloodied blade from the body at his feet. Their glance spoke volumes, and she gave him a fierce nod despite the doubt clouding her thoughts. He swept to his right to meet a new warrior as she dodged the fighting and raced towards the raised dais.
Julius’s ten-foot flames blocked her
view of Flora, forcing her to veer to the left of the platform. The heat prickled across her face, drawing beads of sweat even from a distance. Those flames might be magically conceived, but they burned as hot, if not hotter, than natural fire. Those inside would have to stay still or die.
She skirted the ring of fire, leaping onto the waist-high platform as soon as she was far enough from the flames that the heat no longer seared her skin. She stood on the dais panting, her target finally in view. Flora stood less than three feet from the dark pit; the cavity in the rock seemed to have grown, though that couldn’t be possible. Whatever it was that spewed from the hole swamped Trish in a heavy sense of foreboding promise, an inevitability of death and chaos. Suddenly its movement changed, from bubbling liquid to spitting flames, if flames were made of the darkest night, jumping, writhing and dancing, growing in size and stature. And reaching towards Flora. Trish felt her breath coming in short, harsh, desperate gasps.
“Flora,” she called out. “Flora, no, don’t touch it. Come to me.”
The girl didn’t turn or take her eyes from the mesmerising blackness. Her hair floated free of the plaits that the two of them had studiously crafted on Trish’s bedroom floor just a few short days ago. Her oversized floral jacket was torn and stained, the jacket she and Flora had picked out at a vintage shop the week before she started at university. She raised one hand as though to touch the dark flames; her powder pink nail polish was chipped and cracked, the nail polish Breanna had picked out for her when they went on a girls’ shopping trip two weeks ago.
Determination straightened Trish’s spine. This was her Flora; she would not let anything evil lay claim to this girl. Her wolf howled her triumphant agreement, and Trish allowed her presence to fill her mind, for their intentions and spirit to merge. Her senses sharpened; the overpowering sense of dread that the Patrium exuded no longer weighed her down. Movement in the shadows behind Flora made her hold out a warning hand. She sensed it was Tabari and Athena. If she failed, they would be the backstop, their last resort. They would be left to pick up the pieces, to do what had to be done. But she had no intention of failing.
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