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

by Sierra Cross

  “I can’t stay.”

  “Alexandra.” He pleaded in my ear. It was almost enough to make me stay. I kissed the side of his cheek and forced myself to leave him.

  Wow. That definitely topped the list of hardest things I’d ever done.

  I was back to surfing the radio waves of my mind. I tugged at the next strand. It vibrated at a super-fast rate, making a shrill white noise. Maybe that was a vampiric frequency?

  As soon as I slid into the energy of it, I knew it was wrong. The cacophony of sound was deafening. An earsplitting, high-pitched rage of a scream that seemed to have no end. The energy signature was so familiar…harsh and needy. Oh my god, I was the Splinter’s mind.

  I tried to high-tail it back out the way I’d come. But it was like the sound was sticky. I was in a morass of sludge. A loud, shrieking goo that was swamping my brain.

  Was this what Callie had been living with? How had she not lost her mind?

  I got the sense that if I didn’t get out of here fast, I’d be really stuck. Smothered by the lava flow of sound. Like a drowning man reaching for a rope, I yanked at another strand. Pulling myself out of the Splinter and directly into another thread.

  This thread was wide and dense, barely vibrating at all. As if I was looking at the energy wave in slow motion.

  A coppery scent filled my nose. I’d slid down directly into Ambrose’s head.

  I was in a softly-lit sitting room with gold and cream brocade wallpaper. Bonaventura leaned back on a plush burgundy velvet sofa, his lips pressed against a young woman’s neck. It was Crystal, his feeder. And more precisely his fangs were inserted in her veins.

  He pulled back, and blood covered his teeth and ran down her neck. “What in the devil’s name is this?”

  This wasn’t a construct. I was in Bonaventura’s house, interrupting his dinner. Why had the thread led me to his present reality and not a construct? Had he been too intent on what he was doing at the moment to be pulled away?

  Another question for Charice.

  “Ambrose, it’s me. Alix.”

  “I know it’s you, Miss Hill. I can bloody see you,” he said. Crystal looked up at him in a confused, drug-like haze. “How the hell did you get into my head? And where the hell—” Anger flared, but he tempered it, as if he’d worked through all of the emotions of being unexpectedly invaded in an instant. “Crystal, leave me.”

  “But you’re not finished,” she protested.

  “Leave me.” He used his vampiric command and the young woman stood, stilted and robotic, and walked out of the room.

  Bonaventura grabbed me by the shoulders. “Where are you? Is Griffin with—”

  My vision rippled and shook. A frigid blast shocked my senses. It wasn’t happening to my projected body but my real body back in the lab. My concentration was taking a hit. The sitting room sofa wobbled in and out of focus. The wallpaper appeared to stretch and warp. I was being pulled from Bonaventura’s mind.

  “21.6213° N,” I said as fast as I could. “111.3247° W.” I prayed he could hear me even though the room was blurring out of focus.

  Another wave of ice cold water battered my face, and I was wide awake and back in the metal crate.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bethany crouched in the corner of her open crate, hissing and yowling like a feral cat. She’d wedged her foot along the front wall and twined her finger into the metal bars. Just beyond those bars, a pasty-faced tech squinted in shock at the long red gashes that striped the top of his hand.

  Apparently she was scratching like a cat too.

  Go Bethany. I knew it wouldn’t change the outcome, but I was glad to see some fight in her.

  “Out of the way, dumbass,” the shorter tech blustered to his colleague. “I’ll yank her out of there.” He stuck one beefy hand in and clamped it on Bethany’s shoulder. Her teeth sank into his flesh. The tech yelped and jumped back, shaking his injured hand. “Spray her again,” he growled. “I’ll grab her!”

  The first tech pressed his thumb on the nozzle and a blast worthy of a firehouse doused the young witch. The shock of cold water sprayed right through Bethany’s cage into mine, soaking my left side. They kept the stream on her face without mercy, making her gag and cough. Her foot slipped down and her fingers loosened their grip. As she slid to the bottom of the crate, the tech grabbed a clump of her hair and dragged her out onto the cold lab floor.

  My frantic gaze followed them across the room. When I saw where they were taking her, my heart stopped beating in my chest.

  On the other side of the lab, Matt lay on a surgical table, surrounded by a medical team in paper surgical gowns and gloves. A tech at his elbow was attaching fresh tubes to the console behind him. A large digital display spanned the width of the dialysis-like machine. Flashing meters and round gages that looked like speedometers were crowded underneath it. The most disturbing thing of all were the cardiac paddles on the side. The color had drained from Matt’s face. Dark circles around his sunken eyes. What had they done to him?

  A tall, slender tech in the standard issue white lycra jumpsuit prepared a syringe with amber liquid from a vial. “Stop horsing around, and bring the next donor to the table,” she chided the two men who struggled to drag Bethany closer. “We’re ready for her now.”

  Donor?

  Two muscular techs attempted to lift Matt off the surgical table—given his size, it ended up more like a deadman’s drag. His limbs as loose as rubber, my guardian was roughly maneuvered back to his crate. In the bend of his right arm there was a cotton ball affixed with medical tape. Oh my god. They’d harvested serum from him.

  The team of techs worked to strap down a still-fighting Bethany at the shoulders, knees, and feet. The doctor pinched the flesh of her bicep, inserted a needle, and plunged the amber liquid into Bethany. She instantly stilled, her limbs going flaccid.

  Tubes were hooked into both her arms. A separate IV inserted into the top of her right hand. With a whir, the console came to life. Lights blinked and disks spun at different rates. The tubes fed into a compartment with a slow turning wheel—blood was streamed in, processed, and sent back out another tube.

  Another tech, hand on the console announced, “Serum collection commenced. Levels at 1300mg and climbing.”

  “Okay people,” the doctor snapped. “1700 is Caedis-effective level. Be ready to prepare the syringe.”

  The lab doors swung open wide and in stalked Tenebris, flanked by Callista and Paige, the young blond witch from Wellspring. “Looks like I’m just in time for the harvest,” he said.

  Even though he was walking around in a Fidei scientist’s body, the Caedis wore that same air as he had when walking the halls of Millennium Dynamics as CEO Eric Starr. Or holding court in his office as Dean Weller. A movie star mingling with adoring fans.

  He flashed a charismatic smile and winked at a young female tech at a workstation in the back. “Nothing could be sweeter than the fruits of science, am I right, crew?”

  The woman blushed and giggled.

  “It’s not all fun and games,” Callista said sharply. “This incantation will leave you vulnerable for the next twenty four hours. If you even survive the augmentation process—”

  Tenebris’s hand smacked the Splinter’s cheek so fast my eyes could barely follow the motion. “This is not the time nor the place.” Fury burned in his eyes.

  A red welt bloomed on Callie’s cream-colored skin, but she didn’t lower her eyes.

  The doctor cleared her throat, looking unnerved by their exchange. “Um, Dr. Cabrera, we’re almost ready for you.”

  “Perfect, Dr. Jones.” Tenebris turned to Paige. “Now sweetheart...” His voice silky. “I need for you to show these fine doctors why I chose you, of all the young dedicated witches, to perform this most glorious of incantations.”

  Callista turned her head away from him and rolled her eyes.

  “My liege.” Paige gazed up at him, big blue eyes full of adoration. “I live to serve you.”<
br />
  Tenebris traced a manicured finger down Paige’s jawline, his eyes on Callista. “Nothing is as beautiful as a minion who knows her place.”

  Callista clenched her jaw.

  Paige pulled a black cloth-wrapped parcel from her pocket and with great reverence placed it on the table. Untying the red ribbon, she unrolled the kit to reveal a rough-hewn stone bowl, a flint rock, and a crystal pestle.

  Calling red magic to her hands, she ignited a small fire in the bowl. “Rravagr, dynishum, voltarium…” She recited an incantation, in the guttural words of a language I’d heard in the Demon Realm. As the spell left her lips, the fire’s intensity increased. It hissed and popped. Paige was lost to the magic she called. Her eyes glazed over. Her face went blank.

  “Administer the injection as I ingest the ash,” Tenebris commanded the doctor in a clipped tone. “This serum needs to be the highest yield possible.”

  Ash? What were they going to burn in that bowl for Tenebris to ingest?

  The tech flipped a switch. Bethany began a low monotonous moan. Blue liquid traveled through the translucent tube on the left. “Yield is at 220mg,” the tech noted.

  Paige’s words became a rhythmic chant. Tenebris unclasped the amulet’s chain from around his neck. His fingers worked the latch on the small filigree cage that housed the glowing relic. A tiny piece of ancient bone popped out onto his palm.

  He was going burn the anaq mazkehret. Burn it and eat the ashes.

  If wearing that thing around his neck gave him godlike powers, what would eating it do?

  The fire in the bowl was now a mini bonfire.

  Bethany’s skin was so pale it was turning blue.

  “One day,” Griffin said quietly, “when the world finds out about this evil, justice will come for you all.” Were his vampire senses picking up something I wasn’t? Was Bethany’s life in danger?

  “Hah, a bloodsucker lecturing me on justice,” Tenebris said mockingly. “Evil’s an outdated notion. Today the world loves innovation, and that’s what we do here.” His posture grew expansive—broad shoulders back, arms out to either side—and in his fiery eyes, I could see the ghost of CEO Eric Starr. As inspiring as he was commanding. “We are true scientific trailblazers,” he went on, with passion. “On the cusp of creating the strongest army the world has ever seen.” Like a flock of hypnotized hens, the techs in the room gawked at his charisma. The doctor nodded along, angling her slender body toward him. “And you all in this room right now will have the privilege of knowing you helped make it happen.”

  Paige sunk further into the haze of her magic, a milky white film covering her eyes. I sensed she was no longer in this world with us.

  The tech checked the monitors. “Donor’s heartbeat is erratic. Serum volumes are off by thirty percent.”

  “Well, up the amperage,” the doctor instructed, her voice sounding anything but confident. “Try boosting it ten percent.”

  “It’s down thirty percent, up it by thirty percent,” Tenebris corrected.

  “Sir, such large shifts could cause the subject to expire before we reach the necessary yield—”

  “We have many donors,” Tenebris said.

  “We have no other donors primed yet. The guardian only yielded 200mg in total.” The doctor looked a bit taken aback. Whether it was annoyance from having her authority undermined or a healthy fear of the Caedis inside the skinsuit, I couldn’t tell.

  “It wasn’t a suggestion.” Tenebris bristled.

  The doctor reluctantly nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  The tech snapped into action and began twisting knobs. Bethany’s moan became a shrill piercing squall.

  “Stop, turn it off!” I was at the front of my cage, fingers wrapped through the bars, pulling in vain at their unyielding strength.

  “She’s convulsing,” Asher yelled as Bethany’s frail body shook on the table.

  Paige’s chanting was a constant stream of sound. Her spell-trance unaffected by the commotion building around her. Tenebris held the relic between his index finger and his thumb, poised at the edge of the flaming bowl, his impatience growing.

  “For god’s sake, you’re killing her!” Matt shouted with more effort than he seemed to possess. A tech turned a hose on him, but he didn’t stop. “You’re murdering a child. For a few drops of serum—” A tech touched his baton to the corner of the metal cage, and the whole thing became electrified. Matt’s body slammed to the floor before the tech holstered his baton. My guardian lay in a twist on the floor of his cage, a fine mist of smoke rising from his wet clothes.

  A shrill alarm pierced the air. On the monitor, the bouncing line of Bethany’s heartbeat went flat.

  “She’s coding.” A tech stepped forward, yanking the defibrillator paddles off the machine.

  “Standard procedures, people.” With calm efficiency, the doctor accepted the paddles and coated them with gel. The nurse ripped open Bethany’s overalls.

  “Two hundred joules,” the doctor yelled. “Clear!” The paddle made contact with Bethany’s chest. Bethany’s body arched off the table. The flat line remained. “Going again.” The doctor rubbed the paddles together once more. “Clear.” Another jolt. Bethany’s body bowed again. The gentle rhythmic beep returned to the monitor.

  “We have sinus rhythm,” the tech said.

  “Let’s get back to it,” Tenebris insisted, still holding the relic just beside the bowl.

  “We can’t—” the doctor started.

  “I wasn’t asking.”

  “Sir, you misunderstand. I’m not refusing your order.” The doctor half-bowed and kept her tone softly deferential. “After the physiological response she just exhibited, further serum collection will be impossible for at least twenty-four hours.” Tenebris looked ready to skewer her. “The body will prioritize heart function over magic production. It’s well-documented.” She looked apologetic. “Our best bet is to keep her stable through the night and try again tomorrow.”

  “Not try. This will happen tomorrow.” Tenebris, eyes locked on the doctor, snapped the relic back into the amulet. “And let us be clear. A failure tomorrow will result in the loss of more than just this pathetic Mal.”

  The doctor and her staff all stilled their bodies as if to make themselves invisible.

  Almost as an afterthought, the Caedis raised an outstretched arm and sent a small mist of green magic from his fingertips to Paige. Slowly her whitened eyes cleared and her chanting ceased. The flame in the bowl extinguished itself.

  Tenebris stomped out of the room, leaving the flustered young witch who was still shaking off her trance.

  A tech pulled at the straps that secured Bethany’s lifeless body.

  “No.” The doctor ordered. “Keep her strapped on the table for the night. We’re going to put her in a medically induced coma.” She turned to the tall slim tech. “Standard protocol. Add one bolus of IV witch-hybrid Amalgam fluids.” The doctor ripped off her paper gown and gloves. “This skinny little witch better make it through the night or my head won’t be the only one on the chopping block.” With those words of inspiration, she fled the lab as if she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  Still looking half-dazed, Paige reassembled her black bag of tricks and scurried out too.

  The techs and nurses got busy administering the protocol. We all stared silently as Bethany’s frail body seemed to shrink into itself. The blue in her lips darkened. Grey skin rimmed her eyes, sunken in their sockets. She looked so tiny and alone on the surgical table, but the monitor showed the strong beat of her fierce little heart. I thought of the brave fight she’d put up not an hour earlier. I hoped she still had some of that fight left in her.

  If I could only reach her…help her…offer to take her place.

  Never in my life had I felt so powerless.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Despite my heavy heart, the sound of slick wheels rolling onto the lab floor forced a Pavlovian response out of me—my mouth watered. I knew it was just grue
l on the dinner menu. But I swear it smelled like the burgers from Ruth’s Diner, back home in the Spelldrift.

  “All right, fearless do-gooders.” Daria was in rare form. She had a cocky edge to her voice. “Soup’s on. Ha! It’s actually pureed cheeseburgers.” At our lack of response she added. “It’s not as gross as it sounds. Geez. Ingrates.”

  She handed me the warm, plastic cup. At this point, what was gross? There was no line anymore. No one had fed us lunch—we’d been left alone in our crates all day. My body needed sustenance. I took a long pull...and my god, it did taste like cheeseburgers.

  She lifted another cup from the cart and, without looking, held it out towards Bethany’s crate.

  “Yeah, she’s not in there,” Asher said.

  A look of horror crossed Daria’s face as she surveyed the empty crate. She whipped her head back and forth and saw Bethany’s abused little body on the cold metal table. Her eyes locked onto the still young witch. Then she turned to the monitor that showed the steady heartbeat. Daria sighed, not even trying to hide the relief that flooded her.

  Maybe there was a beating heart inside that money-grubbing exterior.

  “I think the only reason that kid’s not dead yet is her fierce will to live,” Griffin said.

  “She’s pretty fucking amazing,” Liv said.

  “What happened?” Daria was shaken.

  “They didn’t tell you?” I asked. So Daria was out of the loop…did that mean she was on the outs with Tenebris? Maybe we could use that. “They’re going to drain Bethany tomorrow.” I leaned to the front of my crate so I could see the former Fidei agent’s face. “They’re going to suck the last of her magic out. And they’re going to kill her in the process.”

  “Bet that pile of cash will be a great balm for your conscience.” Asher’s words were sharply barbed.

  “I was trying to be nice. They weren’t even going to feed you today, they’re all so freaked out about some magic ritual—huh, I guess it’s this Bethany shit...” The old familiar mask of indifference fell over Daria’s face. “Fuck all of you.” Damn. It felt like we were so close to reaching her. I watched, devastated, as Daria abandoned her cart, blood bag and sippy cups full of cheeseburger remaining untouched on the top shelf, and marched out of the lab.