Blaze: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Spelldrift: Coven of Fire Book 4)

by Sierra Cross

  Or did they need his blood for whatever lost spell they were searching for in Egypt?

  It was only as I sank in a twisted heap on the floor of my cell that it struck me. I should be worrying about my own bodily health. If our magic didn’t stay in Callista long and she couldn’t make us her “little battery packs,” what use would she find for us next? What if she couldn’t find any use for us alive?

  Hours later I still lay motionless, the metal bars pressing painfully against my shoulder blades. I didn’t have the energy to move, but that was okay, I told myself. At least I was doing my best to make sure that my lungs kept taking in air at regular intervals. Giving myself a pep talk for breathing. A personal low point.

  Then Bethany began making a low, animal-like moaning sound that was tearing at my heart. This seemed a step worse than catatonic silence.

  “Hey, Bethany,” I called, though it hurt to speak. “Talk to us. We’re here for you, you’re not alone.”

  The moaning stopped for a moment.

  “I get it,” I told her. “I understand your need to check out. But I’m starting to get worried that your mind is breaking.”

  Silence. Then the sounds started up again, higher and pitifully soft this time. Wounded kitten soft. The poor kid was regressing hardcore, not that I blamed her.

  I was searching my heart for the right words to say to Bethany when two burly techs, white jumpsuits smeared with dark red blood, pushed through the door to the lab. They were dragging Griffin, or at least I assumed it was the vampire. Hard to tell, because he was covered in cuts and swathes of blood. It shouldn’t have surprised me that they’d bled him again. Vampire blood was a resource, just like our magic was.

  The grim thought hit my consciousness before I could self-censor. All of us would soon be dead at the hands of these monsters. Tortured to death as they tried to extract our powers from us for their own gain. This wasn’t a Fidei lab so much as it was a mine. We magicborn were the rare, precious ore.

  As the bored-looking techs pulled Griffin’s huge limp body past my cell, I caught a whiff of copper. Even as I gagged, my mouth involuntarily watered too. Ever since the battle at the courthouse when I’d drank from Bonaventura, part of me still craved vampire blood. I closed my eyes, willing the sensation to pass.

  I heard a bustle in the lab, people moving out of the way, then utter silence. Footsteps stopped right in front of me. My head reeled, a dark, all too familiar signature assaulting me. Musk and razor blades. I opened my eyes and looked up, right at Tenebris in his Cabrera skinsuit. He stripped off blood-covered surgical gloves and balled them up into a tight wad. I wretched, a thin watery bile that ran between the slats on the bottom of my cage. The ochre liquid ran toward the drain in the center of the room.

  “Such a shame.” Tenebris scrunched his new face in revulsion and stepped to the side to let the rivulet of bile pass. “So much possibility, wasted.”

  “You could have been my queen.”

  Oh god, he was talking to me inside my head again. Callista’s battery torture had weakened me so that my guard could not help but be down.

  “You were to be the mother of my legacy.”

  Gross. Marshalling all my strength, I sat upright and spat on his face. “I’ll never be yours in any way.”

  “Foolish little witch, that offer has expired for you.” Tenebris spun and looked at liv. “And I think for our opinionated blond coven mate as well. ” The demon’s rich laugh echoed in my mind, sending a chill down my spine. But I wasn’t prepared for his next words to floor me.

  “As soon as we administer the serum, I have a slew of nubile, obedient young witches ready to bear me an army of demonic leaders.”

  An image flashed in my head. The dozen young Wellspring witches—each one heavy with child—stood on a stage in a half-lit celebration hall. Looking up at them with reverence, a crowd cheered. Demons and dark witches and warlocks chanted in unison. A frenzy of zeal lit their faces. The noise was deafening. The girls’ elation unmistakable.

  Taking in a sharp breath, I pushed the wrong, revolting images from my mind. No way in hell was I letting that happen. “Those girls aren’t your property.” I was grateful that my angry voice didn’t betray how bad he’d rattled me with his vision of the future. “They deserve better than to be used like this!”

  “On the contrary, the weak deserve to be the property of the strong. Case in point, all of you in here.” Calmly he threw the wadded gloves into the biohazard receptacle. “For some bizarre reason, my little Splinter has taken an interest in you.” So Callista hadn’t filled him in on the nature of her “battery pack” experiments. Was she determined to surprise her maker, force him to take her seriously? I almost felt sympathy. Almost. “Regardless.” He shrugged. “When she tires of you, you’ll become target practice for my girls. Talk about a real Coven of Fire.” He laughed, and I winced, remembering the innocent men burned to crisps at that horrible training. “Oh, but not your big lug of a boyfriend, he’s going to make a real contribution to science. As a serum donor.” He winked at me. “So, in a sense he’ll live on. In my progeny.”

  Those could have been our children. Our future. But you proved yourself unworthy to be my queen.

  The demon shook his head in disgust and walked away.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The slick roll of rubber wheels on the linoleum called me back to consciousness—the dinner cart was on its way. Mentally I added a tally mark to my count of the times we’d been presented with sippy cups of gruel through a straw. Tonight made four.

  Tentatively I lifted one arm, and when it didn’t stage a protest, I stretched and sat up. The lodestone was doing its job, but at least I could move. I looked through the bars, expecting to see the usual sullen-faced delivery girl. But to my surprise the person pushing the cart was Daria.

  “Wow, did someone get demoted?” Liv spat out more or less what I was wondering.

  Asher cleared his throat. “Daria, luv, hate to do this in public,” he said. “But I’m going to have to end our longtime benefits plan. You see, I said the safe word numerous times, yet you didn’t stop. Pineapple. We agreed—”

  “Save it, Asher.” Daria didn’t even turn to look at him. “It’s not funny, okay?”

  “No, it’s not,” our warlock said, his voice heavy with sadness. “You took my trust and shattered it. This is beneath you.”

  Daria sighed. “You spoiled, pompous ass.” I looked up, shocked by the pent-up anger in her voice. “You’ve no idea what it’s like to claw your way up to a brick ceiling. To be passed up for promotion year after year because you won’t sleep with your boss.”

  I shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry that happened to you…” I was about to add a “but”—as in, “but it doesn’t excuse your turning evil”—when Daria cut in.

  “Whatever, it’s for the best.” She waved her hand dismissively, but her sureness sounded forced. “The Fidei don’t pay all that well. Five years slaving away there didn’t earn me half as much as Tenebris paid me just to scout out this location.”

  “Wait, you’re doing this for a mere cash infusion?” Asher gasped. “You’re not a mad demon-worshipping bad girl, you’re just…thirsty for a nicer car? Gods, that’s much worse, somehow.”

  “Easy for you to take the moral high ground,” Daria shot back. “But not all of us have trust funds to fall back on.”

  From Asher’s silence and almost imperceptible shrug, I gathered that her barb hit home.

  A trust fund, so that was where his money came from? Okay. I had no judgment, especially given how generous he was with his funds. But Daria clearly couldn’t take him seriously because of it. Did she really think that anyone not wealthy would make the same deal with the devil that she had?

  “Whatever they’re paying you,” Matt called from his cage across the room, “it isn’t worth your soul. There’s still time. Walk away now—”

  Daria let out a maniacal laugh. “As if. If I betrayed them now, I’d be tort
ured to death. Tenebris would roast me on a spit. Literally.”

  “So torturing us is an okay option?” Matt challenged her.

  Daria blinked. Had his question caught her off guard? She couldn’t dismiss Matt as a trust fund baby. Her chin jutted out defiantly. “Not everyone’s a hero like you.”

  “Ah luv, you sell yourself short.” Asher’s tone was cutting. “Being a henchman is such a noble calling.”

  “Brilliant lifehack, Daria,” Liv added. “Why didn’t we think of it ourselves?”

  “Shut up or no food for you,” she snapped.

  Either Asher and Liv were really hungry or sensed that they were getting nowhere with her because they stopped talking.

  Daria handed me the grownup version of a sippy cup—thick white plastic, smooth nib with a large hole for sucking food thick liquid from. Convenient, I imagined, if your jaw was busted or your lips so bruised it hurt to chew. “Sorry, I’m sure the safety meal receptacles are annoying.” She shrugged.

  “Catchy product naming, though,” I said, holding up the cup. “You should sell these after the demons take over the world. You’ll make even more money, which is all you care about.”

  “At least I put real food in there. Tonight is cream of chicken soup.”

  “My god,” Liv said, “I can smell the cooked chicken.”

  So could I, and it was making me drool. I greedily took the thick warm liquid into my mouth. It was oddly comforting.

  Daria reached into her pocket and handed me a plain foil packet. “Energy gel. This flavor is chocolate pudding. It’ll help you keep your strength up.”

  I grabbed the packet from her.

  “But you’ll have to eat dessert first,” Daria said. “I can’t leave the packets behind, and I can’t stay more than five minutes.”

  “If you’re so concerned with our well-being,” Matt said, “why don’t you unlock these cage doors?”

  She spun and faced him. “Because I’m not fucking crazy, that’s why.” Her tone implied it was a stupid question. “And even if I did let you out, you’d be melted to the floor by the escape deterrent system before you hit the stairwell.”

  “So, you’ll fatten us up to make our torture more enjoyable?” I asked.

  “I’m risking a lot to do you this kindness.” She seemed to be hurt by our lack of gratitude. “Fine. If you don’t want it, I won’t bother.” She reached through the bars to grab my chocolate pudding.

  I snatched it out of her reach, though my muscles protested against moving so fast. “No, we’re grateful.” I ripped open the pouch and squeezed the sweet chocolatey goodness onto my tongue. I swear, it was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted.

  Daria handed a blood bag to Griffin, and the standard sippy cup and pouch to Liv, Asher, and Matt without saying another word.

  She wheeled on to Bethany. Her slender arm reached out and she grasped the cup, moving more like a zombie than a scared kid. The lack of focus in her eyes was really starting to scare me.

  Daria reached her hand in through my bars to take my empty gel pouch. I clasped my fingers around her wrist, and her eyes went wide. “Thank you,” I said. “I know this is hard for you.” Not in a million years could I see her perspective, but I did see she was taking a risk to do us a kindness.

  Having collected our spent gel pouches, Daria wheeled out of the room. The lights clicked off, plunging us into the eerie blue half-light.

  There was a wild beast pacing in my fatigued body. Anger and frustration and fear each battled for top billing. But shame beat them all out. If only’s danced through my brain…if only I’d given Bonaventura the exact coordinates of this island. If only I’d let my aunt help. If only I’d worked on getting more support in the Spelldrift…maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.

  I dozed off and woke up groggy in the dark, forgetting for an instant where I was. Stretching sent a wave of pain through my arm and down my spine. The hard edge of the bed was biting at my hip.

  Shit. We were still here.

  The pulsing sensors and monitors on the machines cast a dim bluish light across the darkened lab. All the techs had gone to their quarters for the night. The scent of rubbing alcohol hung in the air. Air conditioning blew down from above. My body felt like a used punching bag someone had set on a hard shelf. I could hear Matt’s rhythmic breath—guardian training had taught him to sleep anywhere, anytime. Asher was out like a rock too, taking a page from Matt’s book. Liv whimpered now and again from her fitful sleep. I knew Bethany was asleep, but her small form, as still as death, really creeped me out.

  Down the row of cages, Griffin’s dark hulking form sat up. The dim light cloaked what I knew was his blood-soaked jumpsuit, hiding the bruises and cuts that marred his body. Maybe it was one too many blows to my head, but I swore there was a faint yellow light emanating from his gaze—which was trained directly at me. Was he fantasizing about ways to rip into my veins and slurp up my blood as retribution for getting him into this mess? Couldn’t blame him.

  “I can’t hear him.” Griffin’s raspy whisper was barely audible. “I haven’t been alone in my own head for over a hundred years.” Were his words tinged with sadness or just fatigue? “I’ve pushed against my father since the day he turned me. Hated him even. Why of all the humans on this cursed planet would he have chosen me?”

  His grief and self-loathing was a raw thing he’d pulled to the surface to share with me. And then he was silent for so long I was sure he was lost in his own thoughts again.

  “I think he’s close. I get flashes of him, sometimes.” Griffin swallowed. “He’s looking for me.” He let out a sad bark. A sob? A chuckle? I couldn’t tell.

  “Does that mean he’s coming for us?” Maybe the light at the end of this tunnel wasn’t an oncoming train?

  “I’m not sure how strongly he can sense my life force. I’m running a quart or two low these days.” A dark rumble of a laugh escaped him. “And the warding around this island doesn’t help. There must be thirty islands in this area…” He didn’t have to explain that even his vampire strength couldn’t keep him alive much longer.

  “Well, is there some way you can tell him where we are?” I said, remembering the weird connection I’d had with Bonaventura after I drank his blood. “I can give you the coordinates.”

  “A sire bond doesn’t work like that. Even if I had my full blood volume, at this distance I’d barely be able to sense him.”

  I wouldn’t let this ray of hope go down without a fight. Not when it was all we had. “Maybe if you concentrate harder—”

  “Witch, do you think I want to die like this?” Anger swirled in his words. Then like the surf crashing and frothing on sand, it retreated. “If I could save that child, that witchling?” His voice became musing, thoughtful. “Keep her from being tortured. I’d gladly…” He trailed off, and I realized he’d been about to say he would give his life. “Not that it matters,” he added. “I told you, it’s impossible to send my father information. Not from here.”

  My mouth still hung open from the shock of his confession. I’d often wondered what kind of vampire Griffin would be without his helicopter-father breathing down his neck—well, not literally breathing. Now I knew. His nature was selfless and compassionate.

  “You’re a good man, Griffin,” I said, meaning it.

  “Doesn’t matter,” he repeated in a harsher tone. Had my praise embarrassed him? “We’ll just have to wait while he plays hunt and peck.”

  Fuck. Another so-close-but-ain’t-never-going-to-happen just for the universe to screw with me.

  Or maybe not.

  At one point, I’d had the sire bond with the Director. Was any small part of it still active inside of me? I mustered what was left of my soupy brain cells and tried to concentrate. My mind balked, but I focused in on the feeling I’d had when Ambrose tried to control me back in his study. A whisper of a shadow of a ghost of Ambrose’s signature was indeed at the edge of my consciousness, but I couldn’t dive into
it.

  Maybe the vampire bond couldn’t stretch across the distance, but what about the Dominion Gene? Charice had shown me it was like tuning a radio. If I could pick up on the signal, I could dial it in. I’d never done it without my mentor there to bring me back if I let my mind wander too far. She’d warned me that it was easy to lose your sense of time and even your sense of self. But what other choice did I have?

  Lying flat on my back on the hard foam mattress, I tuned into Dominion Gene radio. The static of all the waves jumbled together and I focused on teasing them apart. Just like before, most of the strands felt like strangers, but I recognized Tenebris’s sharp green wavy presence. I gave that a wide berth.

  Instead, I followed a slim but strong thread...and ended up in Daria’s S&M dream world. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  The next thread pulsed with a strong, even rhythm of energy that felt like it matched the beat of my own heart. And bam. I was in Matt’s head.

  “Alexandra?” Oh my god, it was Matt’s voice, speaking in my head.

  “Oh, Matt!” I saw him sitting by the fire in a cozy cabin. Candles burning all around, a nest of blankets in front of the hearth.

  Where were we? Did I create this dream world or did he?

  It didn’t matter whose mental construct this was, he was right in front of me. I rushed forward and crushed myself into him. His body was solid and strong. He didn’t flinch, didn’t hesitate. He wrapped his strong arms around me.

  “If I’m dreaming.” The deep timbre of his voice resonated. “I don’t ever want to wake up.”

  “It’s not a dream, exactly.”

  “I don’t care what it is.” He leaned into me, lips meeting mine. Fireworks going off in my belly. And I didn’t care either. My lips greedily moved across the stubble of his chin. A rumble in his chest urged me on.

  Wait. I was doing something. Morning would come, and the lab would be full of techs. They’d be poking and prodding. And what if Ambrose moved out of range.