by Kristie Cook
“Who the fuck are you?” Xandru demanded. “What do you know about my brother?”
She laughed. “He owes me, and I seek what is mine. Since he fails to honor his end of our bargain, I will take what I am owed—one brother for another is a good start.”
A swirl of black smoke appeared from nowhere, circling her. When it dissipated, she was gone.
“Did that just happen?” Sindi asked.
“Who the hell was that?” Addie demanded. “She sounded a little familiar.”
“I’ll look for her.” Xandru blurred from sight.
“What did she mean, one brother for another?” I asked. “If she was looking for Tase, do you think she meant Xandru?”
“Or Adrian or Andrei?” Addie asked, but neither of them felt right. Why would she have come to us about either of them?
Addie’s gaze locked onto mine, and we both gasped.
“Gabe!” we said in unison.
Spinning, I ran inside, Addie and Sindi on my heels, and burst into Gabe’s room. His bed was empty for the first time in a week. It took one second to search the bathroom and kitchen.
My hand flew to my chest, my lungs struggling for air. “How? Where? Why?”
Addie immediately started pulling objects out of her coat pockets and laying them out on the coffee table. “I’ve been doing locator spells all night. I can do another.”
Sindi and I rushed back outside while Addie did her witch thing.
“I’ll take the inn,” Sindi said. “You look out here.”
Xandru suddenly appeared, shaking his head. “I checked everywhere. There are no tracks anywhere. No footprints. She literally vanished.”
“She . . . she took . . . Gabe,” I choked out.
“Or she distracted us while a partner did,” Sindi accused, arching a brow at Xandru. “Maybe your brother?”
He grimaced. “That doesn’t make any sense. If she’s who I think she is, my brother wouldn’t have gone near her. He has what she wants.” He moved toward me, his arms open as though to embrace me. “Kales, we’ll find them. I promise.”
I shoved him away. “You already promised you’d find Tase, and you broke that one. Now look! How do you expect me to trust you? Your promises mean nothing to me!”
His expression morphed into the same one he wore when I first broke up with him. Pure devastation. Good. He had an idea of how I felt.
Yet . . . my heart still felt a stab of guilt for hurting him.
Stupid heart.
“What do we do?” Sindi asked.
“Found him,” Addie called from the doorway.
“Gabe?” I asked at the same time Xandru said, “Tase?”
All guilt for him vanished.
“Gabe,” Addie said, throwing a violent look at Xandru.
“We need them both,” he murmured. “I’ll keep looking for Tase.”
“You need to go with us,” Addie said. “You’re Tase’s blood. Maybe . . . maybe it will serve some purpose with this bitch.”
“Go where?” I asked.
Addie glanced down at the map in her hand. “The old Thawer Mines.”
“Seriously? How?”
During the early years of Havenwood Falls, gold and silver had been discovered in the area, and several mines had contributed greatly to the wealth of the Old Families. Except for one that had become a museum and tourist trap, they were all now defunct, including the Thawer Mines, which happened to be the oldest and hardest to reach.
“I’ll make a portal,” Addie said. “We’ll be there in no time.”
“I’ll stay here,” Sindi offered. “Just in case . . .”
“If Tase shows up—” Xandru began.
“I’ll kick his ass into submission,” Sindi said. She shrugged at the look he gave her and smirked. “He’s not strigoi yet, which makes him still mortal. I’m not. Which means I’m stronger than him.”
Addie hurried inside to collect her tools and ingredients, and we followed her in so she could make the portal sheltered from any prying eyes, human or otherwise.
“Does this seem too easy?” I asked her before stepping through the portal.
“Yep. She’s practically invited us in, not trying to cloak him at all.”
I tried peering through the portal, but it was just a swirling mass of air. “Well, I don’t have a choice.”
“We don’t have a choice.” Xandru moved next to me, his hand brushing against mine. I fought the urge to curl my pinky around his.
With a deep breath, I stepped into the swirling air. Addie, Xandru, and I left Sindi in my living room and now suddenly stood in the snow, the front of a boarded-up doorway leading into the side of a mountain before us. Using brute strength, Xandru tore off the wooden slats blocking the mine’s entrance, but then Addie waved her hand and mumbled something, and the entrance completely cleared. She produced an orb of light that flew up and led our way down the mine’s tunnel.
Knowing the tunnels ran for miles down into the mountain, my heart sank. How deep had she taken him? Would we get there in time? Would I ever see my brother again?
Fortunately, we found them in the first widened area we came to, the space lit up with torches, throwing flickering light on the walls. Wooden beams crossed overhead and against some walls, supporting the mountain surrounding us. Railroad rails ran through the room, branching off to three other tunnels that disappeared into darkness. A rusted-out piece of machinery sat near the far wall. The wind whistled through the tunnels, whipping up a musty, slightly metallic odor.
Gabe lay in the middle of the room, on the hard stone floor. The woman stood over him, the hood of her cloak lowered to reveal a mop of dull brown hair and a plain face that appeared to be about forty years old, although looks were deceiving when it came to the supernatural.
“Good. You found us.”
Too easy. Way too easy.
“Magda?” Addie asked with surprise, and I recognized the name—the witch who’d paid Tase to turn me. The witch who’d been turned away by the Luna Coven because she practiced black magic.
The woman smiled. “Alive and well, as you can see.”
“What do you want with my brother?” I demanded.
She stepped over Gabe’s body, turning her pale eyes on me. “I want him dead,” she deadpanned. “And you, as well. My goal has been to destroy all of the Petrans. So here we are.”
Xandru stepped protectively in front of me. “Over my dead body.”
She sneered. “Oh, that’s part of the plan, too. After what your kind did to my family, all of you filthy moroi will die. Tase was supposed to take care of that by triggering a Petran kid, but the fucking Lunas interfered. So it looks like I have to do it myself.”
The more she talked, the more I noticed a faint accent—the same as Mammie’s.
Also, the more she talked, the more time we had to formulate a plan. So I tried to keep her going.
“Who are you?” I asked, my gaze roaming the space, searching for any signs of a prepared spell or hex she could hit us with, but too much of the room lay beyond the flames’ flickering light. “Why are you doing this? Why the grudge?”
She gave an evil smile. “I’m so glad you asked. I want you to know why I’m ending all of you.” She paused for dramatic effect. “I am finally getting vengeance for my loved ones, who were slaughtered two hundred years ago outside a small town in Romania. Ring a bell?”
Oh, fuck, I thought as Xandru said the same words aloud.
She glanced at him, then focused back on me. “That’s right. I descend from a line of mages who put your brothers and cousin down, but not before they murdered most of our coven. The witches who’d been part of creating the curse on all of you moroi.” She jabbed a finger in my direction. “You shouldn’t exist. Neither should he.” She flipped her hand toward Gabe. “And I’ll take care of your sister when we’re done here, just to be sure her gene’s never triggered. But first, I need the Eye of Valerian.”
My gaze snapped back to her, my mo
uth gaping in disbelief. “Do you really think we’d hand it over after you just threatened to kill us all?”
“Oh, please. I know you don’t have it. Tase knows where to come. But will he show? Will he give it up as long as he believes it’ll benefit him? That artifact has the power to convince him that he can be king of the world. It did this to your little brother, because he exposed himself to its power for too long, then tried to deny it. See how the Eye fights back?” She glanced down at Gabe’s still body, then up again, a gleam in her eye. “I wonder what it’s doing to Tase right. Now.”
Xandru growled.
“What do you know about the Eye?” Addie demanded.
“Enough.”
“What do you want with it? It’s a moroi artifact,” Xandru bit out. “What can you do with it?”
“You want to make them go strigoi, don’t you?” Addie accused. “That’s how you’ll end them?”
She tapped a finger to her cheek. “Good idea. But unfortunately, no. I’m just a buyer for someone else.”
“Who?” all three of us asked.
She studied each of us in turn, a knowing glint in her eyes.
“The Collector,” she said curtly. “And before you ask, I don’t know who he is. Never met him. Don’t care to. I only took the job because it meant taking all of you down, too. The joy of finally being able to destroy the Petrans and the Rocas is my payment.”
The thrill in her voice sent chills down my spine, and my entire body tensed. Xandru also stiffened as he stood slightly in front of me, his hands curled into fists. Angry heat waves came off his body.
“A collector of what?” Addie remained calm compared to the two of us.
“The Collector,” Magda corrected harshly, as though it mattered greatly to her, regardless of how much she tried to say otherwise. “Of magical artifacts—dark ones, cursed ones, powerful ones. He wants them all. Like the Blue Dragon Dagger, the necromancer’s athame, a fae lantern, the Eye of Valerian . . . Your town is full of such objects . . . at least, what Tase and the Bishops haven’t smuggled out. Of course, they smuggle just as many in, so maybe it’s a wash. I don’t know. I don’t really care. I just want my payment.”
“You’re not getting it,” Xandru growled, leaning toward her.
Magda rolled her eyes, dismissing his threat. Addie stepped up in the woman’s face, crossed her arms, and stared her down. “He’s right. You’re not.”
The older woman flinched, fear flickering in her eyes. Was she scared of Addie? Why?
Another plume of black smoke appeared, but Addie’s hands shot out, dissipating it. Rather than vanishing this time, Magda hung in the air, a knife in her hands aimed at Addie’s throat. The older woman spun away, producing more smoke as she did. Addie cast another spell.
Now Magda was on her knees in front of Gabe’s body, the knife poised a foot over his chest.
“Come any closer, and I’ll do it,” she threatened. “Tase’s time is almost up.”
Desperation tainted her voice, the smell of fear pouring off her. She was afraid of Addie.
“But Tase won’t come, will he?” The quaver in her voice faded as she mustered up some kind of bravado. She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders, glaring at Addie the whole time. “He thinks it will fix him. And he wants nothing more, does he? Now that he knows he has a son.”
I blinked, shocked at this news, and glanced sideways at Addie. Her face paled, but she otherwise didn’t respond. She wouldn’t. Not right now. She wouldn’t show weakness.
Xandru showed no surprise. Of course. He’d already known, hadn’t he? He didn’t deny or question the claim, so it must have been true.
And so much made sense now.
Magda smirked, her courage returning. “Oh, maybe that was supposed to be a secret. Oopsy.” She rolled her eyes before her pale gaze returned to me. “So what do you think, Michaela? What is Atanase Roca willing to sacrifice? His life? His son’s? Or a Petran? I think we already know the answer.”
Grinning wickedly, she lifted the knife higher, and her hands flinched.
Then they plunged.
Addie shouted a spell.
Magda cried out.
The knife’s point poked the fabric of Gabe’s hoodie, but stopped.
I flicked my wrist, and the metal blade flew out of her hands.
She flicked her own, and a new one replaced it, its long, razor-sharp edge held at my brother’s throat.
“My blades are laced with black magic. He won’t be able to heal from even the smallest nick,” she taunted.
Addie’s head tilted, her eyes narrowed.
“I have what you want right here,” a familiar voice called out from the darkness, stilling us all, even Magda.
Her gaze swept over the entrance, searching the shadows.
Tase emerged, sauntering into the room, flipping a round object between his fingers, the firelight bouncing off the silver and moonstone. At the same time, my throat felt like it caught on fire with a need for human blood. My mouth salivating, I swallowed, trying to calm the burn.
Was Magda doing that?
No.
The Eye of Valerian. It whispered to me, calling on my bloodlust.
Magda watched Tase like a hawk until he stopped a few yards in front of her.
“You won’t give it up,” she accused. “Not if it’ll cure you.”
Tase’s green gaze passed over Xandru and me, lingered on Addie for a moment, then slid to Magda.
“So you’re saying that I’m right. It can break my curse. I just want to be sure we’re clear here,” he said with a cocky flair, making me growl.
Magda swallowed slowly, seeming to delay her answer. What angle would she take? Truth or lie? I was riveted to her moving throat, my ache for blood growing.
“There are ways,” she finally replied. “Give it to me, and I will help you.”
Tase tapped his finger against his lip. “I don’t believe you. It’s a moroi artifact. You can’t do shit with it.”
“It’s a tool. One with many powers. I know how to access the one you need. And you don’t, do you? Otherwise, you would have done it already. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here. You owe me!” she yelled.
Her hand moved the slightest bit, the knife’s blade ever closer to Gabe’s throat. If I tried to move it, it could easily slice his skin. Even at the angle she held it, bending it could still scrape him.
I glanced at Addie. She glared at Magda, her eye scanning everything about the other woman, but she shared my dilemma. Any movement by Magda or the knife could end my brother’s existence.
“We can work together,” Magda offered to Tase. “Deliver it to me, like you’ve been paid to do, and I will help you.”
One side of Tase’s mouth curled up in a cocky smirk. “Nope, that’s not how this works. You see, you don’t get to give the ultimatums.”
Are you fucking kidding me? She held a poisoned knife to my brother’s throat, and Tase was being an arrogant ass!
Growling, I coiled to spring at him. Xandru was faster, though, wrapping his arms around me. I tried to elbow him in the ribs to break free, but he was too strong. Or I was too weak from the bloodlust shooting through my veins.
Magda was right.
Tase had proven over and over that he would always choose himself.
Especially over a Petran.
He didn’t care about Gabe or me. I didn’t even know if he cared about Addie or Xandru, the rest of his family, or even this son he supposedly had.
He cared about Tase and Tase only.
Right this very second, he was probably devising a way to sweeten the deal for himself.
As though reading my mind, Tase turned his green gaze to me.
Smiled.
Winked.
“I’ll give it to you,” he said to Magda while watching me. I fought harder against Xandru’s hold, but to no avail. “But on one condition.”
“I already said I’ll show you how to use it,” Magda snarled.
&
nbsp; “That’s not my condition.” His stare pierced into me. My heart raced. “I’ll give it to you . . . if you let the boy go.”
And now my heart stopped.
“You’d trade your life for a Petran’s?” Magda asked. “Now I don’t believe you!”
Tase’s gaze remained locked with mine.
“Yes, I trade my life for a Petran’s.” He flipped the pocket watch in the air, tossing it toward Magda. “Because we’re family, and that’s what family does.”
Chapter 20
Xandru
Michaela fell still in my arms as we watched the Eye of Valerian soar through the air, glinting in the firelight as it arched upward.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I couldn’t believe Tase had actually done that. I was surprised he’d shown up in the first place, but to hand over the one thing that could save his own life? Especially to save a Petran? Was this even my brother?
Magda jumped to her feet, and her arm flew up, her hand open to catch it, a wicked gleam in her eyes.
But then the timepiece suddenly changed direction, and Addie plucked it out of the air.
“I don’t think so.” She closed her hand around the artifact.
Immediately, the thirst for human blood that had been burning in my throat diminished for the first time since Tase had walked in with that thing.
“Addie,” Michaela gasped.
“Trust me,” she murmured quietly.
Magda screamed and lunged at Addie with the blade. Addie swiped her hand out, and Magda flew backwards as the knife clattered to the floor. The woman landed in a crouch, her eyes wide as she looked around, assessing her situation. Flicking her wrist, another blade appeared. But not by magic. It slipped out of the sleeve of her cloak. Holding it in one hand, she swept it back and forth at us, as she slowly backed up, until her ass pressed into the wall. I released Michaela from my hold, and we moved forward as a group, closing her in, watching for any sudden gestures that could be a spell.
“Wait!” She threw her other hand up in a “stop” gesture. We all froze. But no spell came. “You still need me. You don’t know how to use it.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Addie snarled.
