Red Blooded

by Amanda Carlson

Rourke sensed my distress and reached out to me. I slid into him for comfort, his chest bracing me and calming me instantly.

  The Princess glanced at the floor. “I could not stop her. Lili had been on a tangent for years. Once you made your first shift into a wolf, and the supernatural world found out, she was adamant about luring you here. She had a special influence over… the Prince.” She would not meet his eyes. “It was out of my control. I let Fate move us forward as it saw fit. If Fate hadn’t willed this, then I was content to believe we would not end up here. It was as simple as that.”

  “I don’t think that’s exactly how Fate works,” I said, shaking my head. “Eudoxia’s aunt, who is an oracle, told me once that we had choices, and you can choose wrong. To keep things on track you have to listen to your heart. And right before I took Lili’s life, a moment of doubt stayed my hand, but I deliberately chose not to listen. I actually don’t think I was coherent enough—I was too upset by the images of Lili killing everyone she’d ever met—but in the end that’s no excuse.” I dropped my gaze to the ground. “I think… I made the wrong choice. I believe that’s why Lili disappeared completely. Fate has erased her from existence. All of this was supposed to happen, but not right now, and I think it’s because none of us are ready for this. I set something into motion that we may not fully recover from.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Eudoxia stated, crossing her arms. “I am ready. I have been ready for eons.”

  “It doesn’t matter if you’re personally ready,” I said. “I’m talking about all supernaturals not being ready for such a huge change in leadership.” I turned to meet the Vamp Queen’s silver-edged stare. “The turmoil I just unleashed will be felt in every Sect. I saw it. Lili was supposed to have completed something before she died. Something major. And when I killed her, Fate was forced to shift again.” I glanced around the room and met each pair of eyes. “I know you all felt it.”

  “I felt it,” Danny admitted. “It was as if someone punched me in the stomach and took all my breath away for a solid minute.”

  “What was it?” the Princess asked. “What was Lili supposed to do?”

  “She was supposed to birth a child.” I closed my eyes for a brief moment.

  “I don’t understand.” Rourke said. “What was so special about the child?”

  I turned to my mate, my emotions rising to the forefront. “When Lilith willingly gave her power to Lili, Fate tried to intervene. I saw it happen. It was awful, and one of the vital peace-keepers of Fate was killed in the process. Lilith and her daughter were too strong. And the only way Fate could right this wrong was to set something else in motion. A soul for a soul. A child would have to be reborn to Lili, an egg implanted for the one who was lost.”

  “Who was this child to become?” Eudoxia demanded. “What kind of power are we talking about?”

  “One of the Three Hags,” I answered in a hushed tone. “To be born into the world again. The one who was killed trying to stop Lilith in order to keep Fate on the right path for all of us.”

  There was a collective breath taken in around the room.

  Danny spoke as he started to pace. “Naomi told us that story about meeting one of the Hags in the flesh. That Hag spared her life and told her she would meet you one day. They are very powerful deities. The keepers of our knowledge, as far as I know. This is incredible news.”

  I shuddered, and the vision I couldn’t erase clouded my eyes once more. “Yes, apparently the Hags are the gatekeepers of Fate, but they only interfere when they are forced to, according to the brief glimpses I was given. But they’ve been separated for too long and they are very angry with me. I felt their wrath.” I flinched, thinking about the ripple effect this was going to have. “They’re going to seek retribution, and when they do, we’re all going to feel it.”

  “How can we change this?” the Princess asked, moving forward.“There must be a way to fix it.”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea. I only saw what they chose to show me and the last vision I had before I took Lili’s heart was carnage. Everywhere. The supernatural world had been turned upside down.”

  “If the three of us are part of the next Coalition,” the Vamp Queen interjected, “then we should become powerful enough to change this in time. Or at least guide the path of Fate to a more desirable outcome.”

  I bit my lip. “I think we are part of the next Coalition, but as I said, it’s not supposed to begin for another hundred years. I don’t think we’re strong enough yet to rule and we have no idea who the other two are who make up the Five. By killing Lili before she birthed her child, we’ve interfered in a way I’m not sure we can right. From what I gathered, from the brief snippets I was given, and from what little I understand, Fate has one true path. But that path holds many intersections and side roads. You can veer from the path, as you make wrong choices, but you’re not supposed to be able to alter the true path. I have no idea if I’ve detoured us or tampered with something critical—something that was not meant to change.”

  “How do you think Fate might seek its retribution?” the Princess asked.

  “I have no idea,” I said. “I just saw a flash of carnage. Blood, killing, death, and destruction. And anger. I felt the Hags’ anger.” I shook my head, glancing around the group. “I should’ve listened to my heart, but my mind was determined to mete out justice for all the wrongdoings Lili had perpetrated.”

  “Well,” Ray snorted. “Death and carnage don’t paint a very pretty picture—and I’m not one to know anything about Fate—but I do know I’m bonded to Jessica for a reason. It’s not just you three who have to fight this, it’s all of us.” He motioned around him. “We’re all in this together. If I’d been given the same choice as you, I would’ve sucked Lili’s soul out in a red-hot minute, no regrets. That woman was pure evil down to her toes. But we can’t look backward, the only thing to do that makes any sense is move forward.”

  I nodded at Ray, acknowledging him. Then I glanced around the huge arena. All the demons were long gone. Selene sat quietly on the edge of the circle, her face showing no emotion. The Prince of Hell stood stoic, arms crossed. Rourke’s face was impassive, but I knew what was going on behind those beautiful green eyes. He was just as worried about this as I was. Raw emotion ran through my veins and I felt his connection, and surprisingly I felt something from the Vampire Queen.

  She had taken my blood, and now it seemed we’d forged some kind of a connection between us.

  But it wasn’t like the others.

  Instead of emotions, I felt a stark line of power running between us. I glanced at the Princess. Her body was still regenerating, but her strength had grown tenfold. My connection to her wasn’t as strong as the one to Eudoxia, because we hadn’t exchanged blood, but something definitely tethered the three of us together. Once we found the other two supernaturals who would join us on the Coalition, I knew we would all share power once again.

  And this time it would be The Power of Five.

  Finding out I was going to serve on the Coalition was both terrifying and exhilarating. I could see now that it was the role I was destined for—the very reason I’d been born. There was no use arguing against it, because I had no choice in the matter.

  I was the Enforcer.

  27

  “What do you mean it’s dead?” I asked. We had all gathered around the circle Rourke and Ray had landed in. The other witch’s circle, the one Eudoxia and Danny had arrived in, was also dead. “How can all the circles be inactive?”

  “It means no one is manning these circles on your plane,” the Princess answered patiently, an array of demon guards surrounding her.

  After our discussion in the auditorium, the Prince of Hell had promptly left and had not returned—but not without threatening to end my life if he ever laid eyes on me again.

  The feeling was mutual.

  The Princess had left for a while, but had returned with her faithful guards to escort us out of the Underworld. Rourk
e had insisted on taking care of my clone himself. I knew my doppelganger was only a shell with no working parts, but it was awful to think about. The Princess had assured us that in order for the clone to have been successfully reanimated with my magic and power, it first would have needed her heart, along with my blood, and a powerful spell that had died with Lili. It was a relief to know that no more clones could be made in the Underworld with Lili gone, but we still had to get rid of mine.

  In the end, Tyler had insisted on accompanying Rourke, and the Princess had taken them somewhere. When they’d all returned they seemed satisfied. I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to know how they’d disposed of me, and I trusted them completely, so the details weren’t necessary.

  Now it was time for us to exit the Underworld.

  None of us knew how to deal with the Hags, or the fallout, so all we could do now was head home and wait for their move. It wasn’t ideal, but we weren’t going to wait around in Hell any longer to figure it out.

  “How can no one be manning the circle on our plane?” Danny complained. “The witches literally just sent us down here.”

  “Time works much differently here,” the Princess responded, her voice sounding harsh as her Demonish accent mixed with the English words, making them sound clipped at the ends. “While you are here, time on your plane goes both forward and backward with no regularity. It has to do with our plane being in constant motion. But time is not the issue here. The witches are not sending power down to fuel the circle, so we must find you another way back.”

  We had voted to bring Selene back by a four-to-two margin. She was going to have to serve jail time for her misdeeds, which she had neither agreed to nor protested. Ray hovered near her, accepting his role as her guard without dissent. I addressed Selene directly, as she’d been a witch. “What does this mean?” I asked her. “Why aren’t they manning the circle?”

  “I’d assume it means something catastrophic has happened.” Her voice was callous. “If what you said is true, they should be on a twenty-four-hour watch. They would be powering it at all times. So”—she smiled slyly, enjoying this—“it means they’re gone. And if they can’t keep the circle manned, it likely means trouble.”

  “Or perhaps they are temporarily without a leader and have completely fallen apart,” the Vampire Queen interjected. “When Ardat Lili died we all felt something. Lili was the witch portion of the Five, and a very powerful one at that. She will have to be replaced by the next most powerful witch in line. Is there any witch in the world more powerful than Tallulah Talbot?”

  “I don’t know,” I confessed. “If Tally is the most powerful, that means she’s the next female witch in line for the Coalition. Possibly the shift in Fate triggered something and Tally had to leave quickly—or was forced to leave.” I didn’t know of another witch as powerful as Tally, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. The world was a big place.

  “It doesn’t really matter,” Eudoxia said flatly. “The witches are otherwise occupied, so it looks as though there is no one to get us off this godforsaken plane.”

  “There is another way. I can escort you to a portal,” the Princess said. “But the location on your plane will vary each time one of you goes through. You will not be gathered in the same place upon your return, and you will likely be far from home.”

  “How many can travel together at one time through a portal?” Rourke asked. I knew there was no way he would go without me. His grip on my hand tightened as he awaited her response.

  “Technically there is only supposed to be one traveler at a time, but we have learned that if two seem as one it will work,” the Princess replied.

  “What does that mean?” Ray asked. “Two seem as one?”

  “It means you must be thoroughly connected while traveling,” she answered.

  “Connected how?” Danny interrupted. “And please don’t tell me that means what I think it means.”

  “Your brain is dangerous territory, Danny.” I chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not what you’re thinking, and it means something like we have to be tied together in some way.”

  “Yes, you must be bound together.” The Princess nodded. “We have something called torep lahy, which means ‘spelled rope,’ and it’s used for just this purpose. Only imps can use the portals. A full demon will be ripped apart upon entry. But with this rope the imps can go by twos.”

  “That doesn’t exactly seem safe,” Tyler said. “And being ripped apart doesn’t sound appealing. How do you know we can go through without danger?”

  She smiled. “These few portals were created by witches on your plane long ago. They made them for themselves with the intent to travel here. They were meant for your species, not ours. It has taken us many centuries to figure out ways for the imps to travel through them, but they are still unpredictable and dangerous for demons, and therefore banned in She’ol. Many from this era do not even know of their locations.”

  “Okay,” I said, making the necessary decision. “Heading to a portal sounds like the only viable plan we have. If they were made by witches, they have to be okay for us. We’ll pair up. Ray and Selene, Tyler and Danny, Rourke and me…” I paused when my gaze landed on the Vamp Queen.

  “If you think I’m going anywhere tethered to one of you, you’re sadly mistaken,” Eudoxia said with a fair amount of malice. “I will go on my own.” Since the intake of my blood, her ears had become a bit pointed, forcing her to change her hairstyle to cover them. It was strange to see her pale locks hanging down around her shoulders.

  “Fine,” I said. “You can go alone, but once we all make it back, we meet up and strategize.”

  “That’s not happening,” she retorted. “I agree we will come together… eventually, as the necessity of our position dictates, but I have pertinent business of my own to attend to once I get home. I am Queen of a Sect, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  “The witches will be our first order of business,” I said pointedly, my head arched at her. “We have to figure out what happened to Tally. They did us a favor by sending us here and we owe them our help.”

  “I owe no one. Tallulah Talbot was simply doing her job. The witches are not my first order of anything.” The Vamp Queen challenged me, her arms crossing. “My flock has been without my guidance for far too long. I will go to them first and oversee building a new rule. Then, when that is finished… I will have other business to attend to. There is no way you can mandate my participation in your games. If the Hags descend, you have my permission to call upon me, but otherwise I will be dealing with things in my own world and will not be forced to deal in yours.”

  Arguing at this point would be fruitless. The Queen’s stubborn mind was made up. “I shouldn’t have to remind you that our new job descriptions require us to keep peace in the supernatural world. If something major has happened to the witches, that means we must step in.”

  “You are ahead of yourself as usual, little wolf girl,” Eudoxia snipped, leaning forward, her eyes flickering silver. “You are not the master of the supernatural universe and it’s best you remember that. We have not been anointed into the Coalition yet. These things take time. There must be a ceremony, oaths given, promises made—but until then we are on our own, to do what we please. And as you’ve pointed out already, this was not supposed to happen for a century.” The rest was left unsaid, because I was the one who had screwed it up and I would be the one to try to pick up the pieces. And it seemed I would be doing that without the Vampire Queen’s support.

  I shook my head as the vision of chaos shown to me by the Hags surfaced once again. Rourke’s hand tightened possessively around me, tugging me closer as he sensed my distress.

  “Eudoxia,” he said. “It’s no surprise to me that you would choose to let us fight this battle ourselves. We will be in touch when necessary, and we will expect you to reply in good time to a summons, if one is needed.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s your job to do the fighting, right? You
are the most feral—the animals of the supernatural world.” Her eyes were as fierce as I’d ever seen them. “And it’s my job to be the most cunning. And that’s precisely what I will continue to do. When the time arises for the new Coalition to be called upon, I will be ready. And when I arrive, I will bring the best arsenal of information I can arm myself with. Until then, my life is my own.”

  “Those are lofty words, Eudoxia. My life hasn’t been my own since the night I first shifted,” I said. I’d been pulled in every direction imaginable since that fateful day. But if Tally needed my help, I would help her, just as she had done for me. There was no question. “We’ll have to agree to disagree For now. If there’s an uprising we will see each other shortly, if not, we won’t.”

  I was done arguing and anxious to get home. I hoped not too much time had passed in our absence. I turned my attention to the Princess, who had been standing by, waiting for us to finish this. “We’re ready to go.”

  “I have sent a runner for the torep lahy,” the Princess said. “When he returns we will go. The nearest portal is a long walk, so prepare yourselves.”

  “That’s the bloody portal?” Danny sputtered once we’d finally arrived at our destination, which had indeed been a long hike. “It looks like a broken advertisement board.” He bent over to investigate an old, weathered piece of what looked to be a billboard—from when billboards were actually made of wood and hand-painted. “Is that a clown’s face?”

  “It is an old billboard,” I said. I could indeed make out a clown, as well as a faint outline of a circus ringmaster and some yellow stars on another end of the panel. The boards were chunked together at a haphazard angle to the ground. This was obliviously an abandoned place outside of She’ol. There was nothing but a wasteland for miles around. Once we had gotten through the creepy yellow worm-grass, we carefully made our way along a demon-made path through another enormous field, this one with brown, wilted grass, that seemed to go on forever, then there’d been nothing but rocks and dust for the rest of the journey.