by Cheree Alsop
Virgo grinned and tossed the ball up in the air before catching it again. The werewolves backed off even further. “If I throw it, will they chase it?” he asked me.
“Don’t press your luck,” I told him.
I led the way down the steps. Alia followed close behind. Her fingers found mine. Warmth ran up my arm and I realized I felt stronger as her protector than I would have entering the Lair alone. It didn’t seem fair to bring either of them with me, but her argument that Aspen was her sister was one I couldn’t deny. I may not have had a family to fight for, but seeing the Willards and Steins made me realize there was something there far stronger than I had with the werewolves that followed us. Family was a pack of its own, and for some reason they had let me into the outside edge of it. That feeling of belonging was far stronger than any compulsion from the Masters.
As soon as the thought entered my head, another, far stronger one followed.
Kill them.
I gritted my teeth and ignored it.
They are the inferior race. Kill them and let’s be done with this.
My hands curled of their own accord. I forced my fingers to straighten back out. The steps ended in a long, empty tunnel.
Humans are weak and pathetic. They aren’t worthy to be your pack. You taint yourself by being with them.
“This is cheery,” Virgo said, his tone dry.
The light from the ball he carried warred with my night vision. I turned my head away from it and led the way down another dark hallway. The tunnels were usually filled with werewolves going about their duties; the empty silence was unnerving.
You know your place. Finish them. They don’t belong like you do. One and Two are ready to give way to you. Take your place as One. Be the leader we have raised you to be. It is time.
A growl escaped me.
“Zev, you okay?” Virgo asked.
I had stopped walking without realizing it. Virgo and Alia watched me with concerned expressions.
“They’re in my head,” I admitted. I turned away from the fear that surfaced in Alia’s eyes. “They’re telling me to kill you both.”
Virgo gave a tight laugh. “Good thing you’re on our side, huh?”
“Yeah,” I said. I held onto his words. Of course I was on their side. Why then did my muscles tense to obey the Masters? Why did I have such an impulse to hurt my friends?
Tear them apart, One. Show them how strong you are, how powerful. They are weaklings. They don’t deserve to live.
Being called One made the wolf surge inside. I had fought my entire life for the position they wanted to give me. Countless battles, wounds survived, lives taken, and wars led had finally paid off. Three was the highest rank I could have hoped for because I was still young, and now the Masters were prepared to acknowledge all I had struggled to achieve. So why did I feel so torn?
“Zev, we need to find Aspen,” Alia reminded me quietly.
She touched my arm. It took every ounce of control I had not to turn on her and let the wolf free. I squeezed my hand, grateful for the amulet I carried that wouldn’t let me phase. It may save all of our lives.
“Right,” I made myself say. I let out a breath and willed my heartbeat to slow. “We need to find Aspen.”
“We’re with you, Zev,” Virgo said. “Let’s find her together.”
I nodded.
Together? The voice in my head scoffed. He’s pretending to be as good as a werewolf. No human or warlock could ever hope to be a part of your pack, One. Destroy him for his insolence. Bring him to us. Let us feast on his blood.
I felt the hunger that followed the words. The Masters wanted to feed. One side of me noted that if they were hungry, they hadn’t hurt Aspen. The other side whispered that I was leading my friends like lambs to the slaughter.
Come, One. Bring them to us. Fulfill your duties and take up your rightful place at our side.
My feet moved of their own accord. I led the way down the hall to the Masters’ cavern. I had only been there a few times in my youth. The tunnel dipped downward. Alia shivered behind me as the temperature fell. My breath fogged in the light Virgo held above his head.
Good. Good.
The Masters never gave such praise. I warred with the feeling of pride that bloomed in my chest. I was doing good. They had promoted me to One. I was on top at the Lair, a place I had always dreamed of being.
“Zev, you good?”
I glanced back and was surprised to find Alia and Virgo behind me. Something must have shown on my face because Virgo gave me a closer look.
“They’re talking to you, aren’t they?”
I nodded. “They’re…strong,” I admitted.
“Don’t listen to them,” Alia said. “They’re lying to you, Zev. They’re telling you what you want to hear. We need to find Aspen and go home. She needs us. She needs you.”
Her hazel eyes were filled with pleading. Her fingers brushed my arm. I couldn’t remember when I had let her hand go. The thought of holding it again felt both welcoming and bad. A war raged in my mind.
Bring them to us, One. Let us deal with them. They won’t be a bother much longer.
“Aspen’s waiting for us,” Virgo said, his voice steady. “We need to save her and get out of here, Zev.”
I shook my head. “There’s no getting out.”
The truth was there, stark and painful. I had entered the Lair knowing that the Masters would never let me leave. So why had I allowed Alia and Virgo to follow? Even if I did manage to free Aspen, there was no way the Masters would let me walk away again. I had betrayed them. I had a price I needed to pay.
“What are you talking about?” Alia demanded. Fear colored her voice. “This is a rescue mission!”
“A life for a life,” Virgo said with realization dawning. “You knew you wouldn’t be able to leave.”
I gestured toward the thick wooden door that marked the end of the hallway. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get through there, but if they let Aspen go, you need to grab her and run. Do whatever it takes to get past the werewolves. Use your magic, use the amulets, use anything. Run and don’t look back until you cross the barrier.”
“Zev, no!” Alia said.
I held her gaze. “What’s important here is freeing Aspen. Virgo’s right. A life for a life. Be ready to run.”
Chapter Twelve
I pushed open the door to the Masters’ cavern. The thick, cloying scent of black licorice and charcoal coated my nostrils. I breathed through my mouth in an effort to keep my thoughts straight.
Welcome, One.
Dread formed a brick in my stomach at the sight of the seven vampires waiting across the long, low-ceilinged chamber. Extended, leathery wings trailed from their shoulders to the floor, wrapping them in a cloak of living tissue. Their thick claws were crossed and expressions of displeasured turned their multi-fanged mouths downward.
“Aspen!” Alia called out.
Virgo grabbed her arm before she could run to the little girl who sat on a chair just to the left of the last Master.
“Hi guys!” she said without a trace of fear.
Darkness pooled behind her. I squinted, but couldn’t make out the edges in the shadows. The girl appeared perfectly content where she sat. No chains or ropes held her bound, and the scent of blood in the air was old. Relief filled me at the fact that she was unharmed.
“Give us the girl,” I said.
Do you give us orders, One? one of the Masters demanded.
His voice raked inside of my mind like claws. I winced at the pain.
“Yes,” I replied. “Turn her over to me.”
Turn those humans over to us. You will have your reward. You will have exactly what you deserve. Kill them, One. Let us feast. Take your place at our side.
My hands clenched again. I turned toward Virgo and Alia in a haze. Red filled my vision. The need to take their lives at the will of the Masters surged through my body. I would obey. I would be everything the Mast
ers had trained me to be. I would take my place and lead the Lair as I always wanted to. My entire life had taken me to this moment. I had finally made it.
A hand slapped my face. It hurt far more than it should have. I blinked and raised a hand to my cheek, then looked at the amulet I held.
“Come back to us, Zev,” Alia said. “Don’t listen to him. He’s weak and alone. Look at him.”
I shook my head and blinked, attempting to clear the red fog from my eyesight. “There’s seven of them. The Masters are stronger than any of us. They could kill us all.”
“What are you talking about?” Virgo asked. “He’s in your mind. Look!”
I followed where he pointed. The seven Masters glared at me with expressions that promised retaliation for my disobedience.
“There’s seven,” I began. “And if I don’t—”
Virgo whispered something I didn’t understand and then put a hand on my shoulder. My mouth fell open. The sight of the seven Masters wavered and shifted. They sucked in together until there was a single man, old and withered. He stood in the middle of the floor, his arms crossed the way the Masters’ had been. In the place of massive wings was a velvet cloak. His face changed between that of an old man to one of a vampire as if he couldn’t hold the human disguise against Virgo’s magic.
“One Master?” I said.
I rubbed my eyes and looked again. I glared at him. “There’s only one of you?”
“One is enough!” he said in my mind and aloud with such force that all of us covered our ears, wincing.
His voice was grating and painful. I took my hands away and wondered if my ears were bleeding.
I took a step forward. “Let her go.”
“You think you can command me, you pathetic beast?” the Master replied. “I command you!”
“No, you don’t,” Virgo said. “He’s free of your mind tricks. He’s free of all of this!”
“That may be,” the Master replied in his raw voice. “But they aren’t.”
The door behind us opened and the werewolves who had been waiting above flooded in. They lined the walls, their movements silent but deadly. I knew that it would only take one command from the Master for them to kill us. I had to tread softly.
“A life for a life,” I offered.
“Zev, don’t do it!” Alia said.
“Let him talk,” Virgo whispered to her.
“I’m listening,” the Master replied.
I took another step forward. A werewolf to my left growled. I lifted my hands to show I meant no harm. “You took Aspen so that I would come here. You have me. Let her go.”
The Master watched me closely. His gaze warred between the yellow glowing eyes of the vampire and the mild stare of the aged human he pretended to be. Why he fought to uphold the façade was beyond me. Perhaps they were linked. If the werewolves around us still saw the seven Masters I thought had commanded me for my entire life, maybe he had to keep up the appearance in order to preserve their obedience.
“You will fight at my side,” he said.
I kept my expression one of humility. “I will. What are we fighting against?”
There was silence before the Master said, “My brethren.”
His words were calculated and careful. I knew he was trying to keep the other werewolves in the dark about the truth. If I had any hope of allowing my friends to leave with their lives, I knew I had to do the same.
“Tell me about your brethren.”
The Master’s eyes narrowed as if he contemplated what to tell me. It was at that moment I realized just how manipulative and powerful his control had been. How much of my life had been a lie?
Glancing at the werewolves around us, I focused my attention back on him. “Tell me or we walk.”
His glowing eyes widened slightly. It was just enough to know that I had called his bluff accurately. The seven Masters had been a mirage. The way we were raised, we were kept from forming packs or friendships because strength in numbers meant that the vampire before me could be overthrown. If anyone had seen the cracks in his deceit, he would have been eaten alive. The hard front, the outnumbered façade along with the mind compulsion had kept us in order in a way that amazed me and made me feel foolish at the same time.
The vampire before me was a mere relic of the creature he presented. When his mirage wavered, I saw the being of leathery flesh, claws, and fangs that I had so feared when I was younger and admired and strived to serve when I grew older. But it wasn’t the same creature. This one, the true one I saw with the deception banished from my eyes by Virgo, was frail and weak compared to the image of the strength he projected. My fear dissipated to leave me breathless and confused. Yet the reminder that he held all of the werewolves around us in the same iron grip by which I had been captive kept me cautious.
“We were seven at the beginning,” he began, speaking aloud and in my head at the same time. The werewolves around us listened with rapt attention. “We creatures of the night were simple at first. We originally were one entity that split into seven, able to feed on a single being as one because each of us derived our strength from a different part of the body. Mine, as you know, is blood. My brethren each needed their own individual part of the body, the soul, skin, breath, brain, aura, or bones. In the beginning, we would live slowly, moving from one human to the next as our need demanded.”
A shiver ran down my spine. I couldn’t imagine being the victim of such a slow, painful demise.
“Then we evolved,” he continued. “We learned that if we ate more than from just one individual, we became stronger, so we began to war over the humans, to horde and protect our spoils from each other. And when the fight became too perilous, we left to the seven ends of the earth, gathered our guardians, and attempted to live a life of peace.”
“A life of peace?” I replied. “That’s the one word I wouldn’t use to describe this place.”
“You didn’t see it before!” the Master snapped in a rush of spittle and an audible click when his teeth closed. He stood straighter and collected himself before he said, “Now my brethren are restless. Elioran comes for what he feels is his. He will challenge me, and I need you at my side.”
I stared at him. “What makes you think I’ll fight with you?”
His lips pulled back in a mirthless smile. “Those you brought with you testify to the fact that you have broken my rules and found your own pack.”
I saw Virgo and Alia exchange a glance beside me.
“If you value their lives or any of the lives in this pathetic city, you’ll stand at my side and fight or they will fall.”
“Or will you be the one to fall?” I asked. There was no way I would throw my lot in with the one who had deceived me and made my entire life a sham. There was no greater cause, just the greed of a parasite I had helped to feed. The thought made me sick. My words might have been foolhardy and impulsive, but I was done.
Growls sounded from the werewolves that surrounded us. I could only imagine what the Master was whispering to them and the lies he was spreading. How many times had I taken his word as truth?
“Your insolence will be the end of you,” the Master growled. “None of you will leave here alive. You will die where you stand. I offered to protect this town and you spit in my face. They’ll all die at my hand, as will you.”
The werewolves moved forward. I wished I could phase, but the effects of the amulet still held true. I bent my knees, ready to defend Alia, Virgo, and Aspen with my life. I only wished I hadn’t gotten them into a situation I had no chance of winning.
“A life for a life?” Virgo called out. “Isn’t that your deal?”
The Master held up his hand and the werewolves paused. “I’m listening, Warlock.”
Virgo took a step forward with the glowing orb held in his hand and said, “Zev mentioned that you raised these werewolves with the concept of a life for a life. What if we apply that here?”
The vampire gave an impatient wave of his clawed h
and. “What are you proposing? Your life for theirs? That’s noble but hardly worth the effort. I’m already going to take it.”
Virgo stiffened, but he glanced back at me before he said, “Actually, I was thinking of Zev’s life for our freedom. Grant us that and we’ll fight at your side. I know you’ve heard about the loss of your werewolves when you sent them to attack the Willard household. Zev wasn’t the cause of their deaths, we were.”
I bristled at that, but kept silent.
Virgo continued with, “You want his life, so take it. I don’t care about a werewolf. What I care about is Brickwell and my family.”
Virgo glanced back at me again. Before I could argue against his words, his gaze shifted to my hand. I glanced down and realized that I still held the amulet. I squeezed it tightly so the Master couldn’t see.
Alia responded faster than I was prepared to. She drew her gun and pointed it at me. “Give up, Zev. Your Master promised to defend our town. You promised to get my sister back and haven’t managed to do even that.” She turned to face the vampire. “If I turn Zev over to you, will you return my sister?”
The Master appeared to think about her offer, but I saw the gleam of greed in his eyes the moment the words left Alia’s lips. This would be his one chance to take me down in front of the werewolves he commanded. It would solidify his control over those who wanted me gone. The blood of a werewolf would make him stronger. Though it was against the unspoken agreement in the Lair, he couldn’t turn down the offer to drain me dry. I knew too much and could undermine his control. Having a warlock on his side against his brother would also be a point in his favor. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“Fine,” he said in a laborious sigh. “I accept your trade.”
“Get over there, Zev,” Alia said.
My ear caught the slight tremble of her voice when she pointed with her gun toward the vampire. “You’re making a mistake,” I replied. I wasn’t sure if I was acting or serious.
By the look in Alia’s gaze, neither was she. She waved her gun and said, “H-hurry.”
I walked slowly toward the misshapen creature that was a bare shade of the Masters I thought I served.
