My ears strained to search for the source of the sound and I watched on frozen as three forms materialized from the stone wall which momentarily blazed into crimson flames as they walked through it. Shit. There had been an exit all along. Why hadn’t I asked Safi to help work some sort of spell that would have broken the stupid shackle? Surely, I could have figured out a way to escape for myself. Instead, I’d spent the time I’d been marginally safe, catching up on the latest news. At the time, it had seemed important. And it was but some planning on my part could have saved me from the macabre intentions of the three vampires – Lilith, Nyx and Riskel – that now advanced upon me.
“Look, she’s up!” said Riskel, with a look that screamed a combination of lust and sarcasm. His long, golden hair was slung over his broad shoulders. Even in the darkness, his well- chiselled form was immediately apparent in a tight shirt.
“So, what does she want – a medal?” said Lilith in a tone that dripped with hatred. In her signature style, she threw back her ebony hair and took a step towards me.
“What’s going on there?” Safi’s thought came into my head.
“Under attack,” I sent back and decided to leave my thoughts open and unguarded so she could follow along.
“Shit,” said Safi.
“Let me handle it, don’t distract me but listen to my thoughts so you’ll know what I’m doing and that I’m okay.”
“Got it!”
“Should we have some fun with her?” asked Nyx, her smoky eyes flashed red and bore into my neck.
“Oh yeah, baby!” said Riskel, too keenly for his girlfriend’s liking.
“Cool it!” Lilith shoved him hard in the ribs as a warning. “I hear her blood is quite something of a treat with much more discerning vamps than you,” she added as Riskel looked around dumbly.
“We should hurry up, we were nearly caught by that gorgeous dude, last night,” remarked Nyx a little less confidently, “he is so hot!”, she sighed, licking her lips.
I immediately knew she was referring to Moldark and while I was still livid with him for what he’d done, an unexpected streak of jealousy shot through me. His damn blood. I dismissed it still feeling mad at myself that I was being drawn to the one who’d landed me as a prisoner here, at the mercy of Goth Girl – my former classmate at Bloodline Academy who had openly loathed me. “What do you want?” I asked feeling bolder.
“What I always wanted, since the day I saw you,” Lilith sneered, “to take you down, princess.” She lunged forward with fangs bared like weapons and arms out in front of her.
My own fangs instinctively cut in, with a heady surge of power that sprang through me. Before I could stop, my own arm was outstretched and I blasted out a bolt of silvery magic streaked with a flash of crimson, in Lilith’s direction. She staggered, falling backwards as her eyes steadily glowered at me.
Riskel and Nyx followed the magic that had spurted forth from my hand and as dazzled as I too was by the unexpected appearance of the magic, I used the split-second reprieve to blast another powerful rod down at my ankle to free myself. Before my brain could process what I’d done, my body already knew. Thanks to Moldark’s blood my Sanguine side had awakened even more and somehow, my light witching magic now also contained some dark magic. I guessed this wasn’t something either witches or vampires would have thought possible. I certainly hadn’t up until now.
The thick metal cuff easily fell away and I heard Safi say, “Yes!” exactly at the same time as I thought it myself. Lilith had recovered from her shock of being struck by my magic and once again it was three against one. I gauged the distance to the wall behind them. The one that served as the castle’s very own Tempus Fugit, like Bloodline Academy had had hidden away in its’ library.
“Not so fast, princess,” scowled Lilith, “you’ll have to get through us first.”
“Did you see her magic though, Lil?” said Riskel, seeming a little less sure of himself than he had before.
“Shut up!” screeched Lilith, “it’s probably some cheap illusion these witches use to make themselves seem more dangerous! It didn’t hurt that bad, anyway!”
“What about the fangs?” persisted Riskel, unconvinced.
“Would you like to touch them and see if they’re an illusion?” I seductively breathed out, breaking into a menacing laugh. Where the hell had that come from? I felt that something was completely taking over me. I would never say that to anyone in a million years. My index finger danced out the same invitation, calling Lilith’s boyfriend to come and check out my fangs.
“You’re history!” exclaimed Lilith and as she tried her second attempt at sweeping over towards me, the wall crackled once more. This time it was short and crisp instead of the gradual build up that had signalled Lilith’s and her minions’ arrival.
“Leave her alone,” said Moldark, taking a defensive posture as his form had fully emerged.
“I can take care of myself!” I said decisively, while another part of me lit up from within at the sight of him.
“If I hadn’t sensed you were in trouble, I wouldn’t be here,” replied Moldark haughtily.
“I’m not!” I insisted.
“Even so.” Moldark promptly reached into the back-pocket of his smart navy jeans and pulled out a couple of stakes, “Think of it like a Duquette class where instead of sparring with each other, we can do it with them.”
Lilith was still snarling but I could see that her will to tear into me had subsided, now that they were inadvertently cornered by us.
“Why do you even care what happens to her?” asked Nyx with a pout. I guessed she was most perturbed by Moldark’s interest in me.
“Because we’re bonded by blood – which as you may know is an ancient and noble Sanguine rite – it makes us closer than if we were married,” answered Moldark.
“It’s not allowed,” scoffed Lilith, “you could get into deep shit for that.”
“It’s not allowed for peasants like you,” retorted Moldark, “vampire nobility like me are encouraged to do it. It strengthens both bloodlines.”
There was silence, as the three vamps in the middle processed what they’d been told. I too, had been thrown into complete silence by the revelation. What did he mean that a blood-bond meant more than marriage? And that too, how could it be a bond if I hadn’t consented to it?
“You’ll be sentenced to your final death for strengthening a witch,” puffed Lilith.
“I’m going to give you until the count of three to leave after which, Kat and I are going to be indulging ourselves in a little bout of stake and decapitate,” said Moldark casually. He stood to make enough room for them to pass, with a weapon in each hand, ready.
Lilith huffed and skulked past him with her nose high in the air. Riskel followed but without the pomp of his girlfriend. Nyx walked with her head down, looking betrayed. The wall began to crackle as Lilith approached it. She walked through the angry crimson flames which engulfed her the moment she came into contact with them. The other two vamps went through in succession and the wall went back to its cold, stone façade like nothing had ever happened.
Chapter 20
“Why are you here?” I demanded of Moldark as soon as we were alone.
“I came to check on my blood bride,” he winked, making me cringe. “From now on I can sense if you’re in any kind of trouble, remember?”
“First of all, do not call me that,” I said, “and secondly, if you’re suddenly so good at sensing what I feel, can you sense that I hate you for what you’ve done?”
“You think you hate me,” replied Moldark, “but in time you’ll see how truly well-matched we are – in every way,” he smirked.
“You had absolutely no right to bond me to you,” I protested, “and if you really believe in the blood-bond as much as you say you do, you’ll tell me how to get the hell out of here so I can do what I came to do.”
“And after that, go where?” questioned Moldark, looking into my eyes. His gaze was dark a
nd penetrating. It both drew me in and enraged me. Of course, there had never been a real plan. Initially I’d had no idea what I’d do or where I’d go after I’d ended the plague that was Kellum Bathory. Recently, the idea that had started to grow within me was that all four of us – Ulric, Natalie and Valenthia and I – would continue to stay on at Silverstone Academy and join forces with the Silver Shadows. Ulric already had and in many ways, so had the rest of us. I hoped Valenthia would want to stay on too if she woke up. When she woke up.
“That doesn’t matter at the moment,” I snapped. “And you must know I’m not alone here.”
“I got that,” said Moldark reflectively, “that blonde chick and the other with the violet hair – they’re with you here, right?” He smiled at me almost tenderly. It was infuriating.
“Their names are Nat and Val and seeing as they went missing from St. Erzsebet’s too, it’s pretty obvious,” I rolled my eyes, “anyway, my friend Val is…she was attacked by a Black Bane.”
“Is she okay?” asked Moldark with a concern that instantly annoyed me.
“She’s…gone dormant,” I remembered the term Natalie had used, “apparently the werewolf that attacked her was laced with dark magic.” I took in a deep breath, “So, it was all planned, who knows – maybe your dad was the one behind it.”
“My dad is a lot of things,” said Moldark looking away, “but that’s not his style and I should know. And I’m sorry about your friend. If she had been my dad’s target, it would have ended a lot worse for her.”
“Awesome.” Was I meant to feel grateful that my friend was only in a perpetually unconscious state? “From what I know, you guys have the same style – deception.” I said, savouring as he winced, “You stab people in the back so they can’t see you coming.”
“Hey, remember that you were the one that called out to me first,” said Moldark, taking a step closer to me.
“Yeah because I trusted you!” I said, hearing my own voice as it bounced off the stone walls.
“I know,” he replied, “Please believe me that deceiving you really wasn’t my intention.”
“What, was it just a bonus?” I spat back.
“Kat, you need to understand that pure-blooded Sanguines aren’t driven by the same things as Crystal Witches.”
“And now you also know what all Crystal Witches are driven by?”
“Yeah,” replied Moldark with such an obscene amount of arrogance that he made it sound like the only possible response to what I’d asked. “They’re all about feelings – and instincts to do good for other beings.”
Not all, I thought as Pearl Quartz immediately came to mind. I recoiled sharply as I realized I’d given Safi full access to my thoughts and she’d heard. I sent a wordless sorry her way but she said nothing. “And let me guess, you’re going to tell me that all Sanguines are driven by the need to drink blood and oppress?” I blurted.
“Not exactly. We’re driven by knowing how to survive and do it well,” answered Moldark proudly.
“Yep, and if you hurt innocent people in the process, you’re fine with it. Well, let me tell you something,” I said stepping towards him. Whether it was his blood or my magic that danced inside me, I couldn’t distinguish. “Not all Sanguines are like you. Val’s not like you. And my mom wasn’t like you.”
“And look where it got them,” said Moldark. That was the wrong answer. Instinct took over and I flew at him. It was so unexpected that we both tumbled to the ground, missing the wall that wasn’t really a wall at all, by mere inches. I wrestled him like we were back at Professor Duquette’s Supernatural Combat class.
“I hate you!” I breathed as I pinned Moldark down. It was only partly true. I hated how underhanded he’d been. It was exactly what Kellum Bathory would have done. But my real beef was that thanks to consuming his blood, I felt a mix of very wrong and conflicting emotions about him.
“No, you don’t,” whispered Moldark, “you’re more like me than you care to admit.”
“I’m not!” I argued, losing my concentration for a split-second as he overpowered me, whisking me off of him. He now had me on the floor on my front.
“I was a jerk for saying what I did about your mom,” Moldark whispered in my ear, “but it doesn’t change how alike we are.”
“Shut up,” I replied, feeling an electricity run through me. It wasn’t magic but desire as I felt my gums begin to itch and my fangs poked at my bottom lip. I bit down in frustration and felt a short reprieve in the pain as drops of my blood trickled down my chin and into the cold and dusty ground.
“I lost my mom too, when I was very young,” whispered Moldark, his lips lingering too long, near my ear. I knew he could smell the blood I’d managed to extract from my lip, by the way his voice was now husky with longing for it.
“If you want my sympathy,” I began.
“Not at all,” he replied, turning me around to face him.
I wanted to throw him off me. Toss him aside for using me the way he had. Like I was some trophy that he had garnered with the help of the oh-so-great Vincent Whitlock, Sanguine Guild member and sociopath vampire at large. Instead, I asked, “What happened to her?”
Moldark pulled us both up off the ground and looked into my eyes. He wiped my blood away from my lips and I though he was going to lick it. I could see his fangs were protruding and I knew he wanted to. But he quickly wiped his bloodied finger into his jeans. “I’m pretty sure my dad had her killed,” he replied sullenly.
“Oh,” I said, sounding as deflated as the mood had suddenly become. In a way I was thankful. That heat between us wasn’t good for anyone. I tried diverting my mind to focus on Ulric but struggled to get a clear picture of his face in my mind’s eye. “And yet you stay with him,” I accused, giving up on trying to picture Ulric.
“Didn’t have much of a choice, really,” said Moldark, “but one day, I’m going to be in the Sanguine Guild too. And by rising up through him, I’ll become more powerful than him. And that’s when I’ll seek my own revenge. I guess you’re right, I am deceptive,” he added.
“Unlike me, I was dumb enough to want instant revenge, which is what got me into this mess.” It struck me as to how much control it must have taken him, day in day out to know a truth so terrible and have to swallow it down until the right moment which may never even come.
“You’re not dumb, you’re honest,” Moldark offered.
“Maybe,” I said, and then it struck me, “what if we help each other?” I asked.
“I’m listening.”
“You want your dad gone. I would too if I were you. But first we need some ground rules,” I answered. Hell, we needed many ground rules and although annoyingly, trust was in short supply, perhaps there was a way to work something out that didn’t involve it. Clearly, we both had a couple of mutual interests where it might make sense to work together. “Kellum Bathory is mine.”
“Of course, and dear old daddy is mine,” replied Moldark.
“Secondly, you need to break this blood-bond you’ve forced on me.”
“I can’t,” said Moldark flatly.
“That’s not good enough,” I sighed, “it’s not like I was walking down the street a human one day and you turned me into a Novus – there must be something you can do to break it.”
“Okay but it’s blood, Kat and I don’t see how the bond is a bad thing.”
“Yeah, no. That’s not going to work for me,” I scoffed, “did I give you permission? No. Hence, I’m not cool with it and I want out.”
“It could save your life, one day,” tried Moldark.
“Nope, not buying that. You said so yourself, you’re all about alliances and whenever I’m not a useful one I know what’s going to happen.”
“I don’t see you as purely an alliance,” said Moldark meeting my eyes once more, “I think my dad kind of outed me on that.”
“Right – you think you like me.”
“I don’t think it. I do. Ever since Duquette first p
aired us up, I knew we were a good match. I’ve never felt that way about anyone before. All those vamp and human chicks swooning over me, I find it quite pathetic and annoying. But our blood-bond…”
“Is a one-way street,” I interrupted, “you haven’t drunk my blood. Unless…” I clutched at my neck which had since healed completely.
“Of course, I haven’t!” Moldark seemed disgusted by the suggestion.
“Then who?” I asked him with reference to my vague and creepy recollections.
“I don’t know,” said Moldark, examining my neck which wouldn’t have provided much of a clue. The way he ran his finger so gently down my skin, gave me goosebumps. “I do know it wasn’t those three punks that were in here earlier. My dad lured you here for a greater cause but even I don’t know exactly what it is.”
“He used us both,” I said.
“He did. And I know you think I kind of tricked you into drinking my blood –”
“You did,” I replied.
“At first it was at my father’s urging but now I’m glad I did because our destinies are both tied together. It’ll be that much harder for my dad or anyone else to get rid of you - they’ll have to contend with me too.”
“Then why stop?” I taunted, “If we’re so tied, why not go the whole mile and drink some of my blood too?”
“You probably know that if I drink your blood it’ll seal our bond.”
“And how come you suddenly have integrity about that part?”
“I wanted to create a bond between us but I’d never seal it without you wanting it too. That would be totally lame. I don’t even think the lower ranking vampires would sink that low. I come from a noble bloodline so I certainly wouldn’t,” Moldark frowned.
“Didn’t stop your noble father and my noble uncle from killing their relatives,” I replied.
“We’re Sanguine vampires – whether you like it or not, killing is part of our nature. Debasing ourselves is not,” Moldark concluded. “Anyway, right now you’re the one getting all the benefits of our bond.”
Sanguine Spell Page 22
