by Ciara Graves
I glowered at my cell on the kitchen counter as Williams’s words rang through my head again.
Politicians and bodyguards. “Shit,” I whispered realizing what he must think.
Owen. He thought Owen told me about Macron, which meant Owen had lied to me. And that there was someone else who would be able to answer my questions. The only issue with that was I would not be granted a meeting with the demon ambassador simply because I was Owen’s girlfriend.
However, with Owen’s badge, I could gain access to the building.
The water was running in the shower as I crept into the bedroom then dug around in his pants. When I found his wallet, I pulled out his security badge and shoved it in my back pocket.
“Hey, Owen?” I said as I opened the bathroom door, thinking up a lie as I went. “Lexi called. She wants to meet me for breakfast. Can we catch up for lunch at the diner?”
“If you want, yeah. She alright?” He poked his head around the curtain.
“Think she was having a nightmare, sounded a bit shaky.”
“Want me to come with you?”
“Nah, we’re going to have some girl time. Might take her for a manicure or something.”
His brow arched, and I mentally kicked myself as I kept on smiling. Manicure. I never had a manicure in my life.
“If you’re sure. I’ll see you for lunch then.”
I waved at him and left the cottage in a hurry. I had to get to Valesk, sneak into the embassy building, and pray no one stopped me before I could get to the ambassador and ask him why no one was reporting missing mages, or why the Feds seemed to believe he would know anything about it in the first place.
It wasn’t the best plan in the world. I admitted it to myself quite a few times on my way to town, but there was no turning back. If I was being lied to, it was time I found out why.
Technically speaking, only a demon could open a portal to Valesk. However, if one knew where a demon had recently, say within the last month opened such a doorway, and had enough magic, he or she could open the same doorway by force.
I’d put my rings back on when I’d awoken in the middle of the night after I found the brand on my palm. They glimmered now as I stopped near the place Owen had come out of the night the vampires threatened me.
If I used the one in my garden he opened when we visited his family, I knew he’d feel it and come running. So, therefore, it had to be this one.
“Work for me,” I whispered as I reached out, sensing Owen’s magic.
The hairs on my arm rose as my rings glowed brighter.
I shifted to my right, and they dulled, so I moved back to my left and didn’t stop until they were glowing solidly.
I pictured the doorway in my mind, the flames that came with it, then twisted my hand.
Ever so slowly, an opening appeared and stretched outward with each turn of my hand.
Finally, I stood before a doorway to Valesk.
With a final glance around to ensure no one saw me, I hopped through.
It shut immediately behind me with a loud pop. A demon or two passing by gave me a curious look but didn’t start shouting in panic.
I took a moment to get my bearings and thanked my luck that Owen had come back to the human realm using a portal two blocks away from the embassy building the ambassador resided in.
Keeping my pace as normal as possible, I walked down the sidewalk and through the large open courtyard between all the capitol buildings. It was early here too. Demons were on their way to work, talking and laughing, or drinking their coffee and checking their phones. It was almost identical to the human world, except oddly enough, the demons weren’t as rude.
When I reached the embassy building, I held up Owen’s badge, not showing his face, only enough for them to see the symbol. I would have to swipe it once inside. I’d seen him do it a couple of times and he told me often enough about how much of a pain in the ass it was when the system went down. Though it was magic and not computers, it could have difficulties, depending on the way the wind blew.
I got inside the doors then paused.
Getting through the next checkpoint was going to be impossible. Owen’s face would pop up with the badge, and I did not look like him at all. A crowd of people bustled in behind me. Not employees.
Tourists.
Grinning, I slipped into their group, ignoring the words the tour guide was reciting as she led them, now us, closer to the checkpoint. They would be permitted to go through with a group pass but would only have access to the first floor. I had to get all the way to the top. It was a start though, and I took it.
Holding my breath, I passed through the checkpoint with the group then slipped to the side, down another passage. Owen had given me a private tour one time, without the ambassador knowing, of course. I was a hired gun. No one would want me to know the layout of the building, in case someone ever hired me to off the ambassador, which I probably wouldn’t do. Maybe. Right now, it wavered as to whether or not I liked him still.
“Halt,” a voice yelled, and I froze. “You. Where’s your badge?”
I held up Owen’s badge, cursing myself for getting distracted. “On my way up.”
“To?”
“The ambassador.”
The demon’s brow shot up as he looked at my face, obviously lacking horns, then down at my bare feet. “You’re fae.”
“I am,” I said, thankful he hadn’t noticed the fangs in my mouth yet. “Problem?”
“When did the ambassador get a fae on his detail?”
I hadn’t wanted to resort to my vampire abilities simply because I loathed them and because my hypnotism was not as strong as a regular vampire’s. It wore off extremely fast. Now it seemed it was my only option. I shut my eyes, focusing on what I needed from this demon, then opened them. His mouth went slack, and the hand that had been reaching for his sidearm fell limp at his side.
“You are going to take me straight to the ambassador’s office. I have a very important meeting. You will not let anyone else stop us.”
The demon nodded. He blinked a couple of times when I pulled the control back and glanced around.
“Ah, yes, shall we continue on to see the ambassador then?”
“Thank you, that would be most helpful,” I said brightly and let him lead on.
The demon did as I asked, and we walked through the embassy, him telling me all about the portraits we passed and the history of the building. I let him carry on. When we passed the first guard, I tensed, but the demons merely nodded to each other, and we walked down the hall. The next guard glanced at me suspiciously, but whoever I put the mind control on seemed to have some pull in this building, and no one stopped him to ask who I was. By the time we entered the hall that I knew ended at the ambassador’s doors, I grinned, thinking this plan might work. Until the two guards at the door spotted us.
“What’s she doing up here?’ the large demon on the right asked.
“Taking her to see the ambassador. She has an appointment.”
Both demons frowned. “No one’s seeing him today,” the first said again. “Roger, you feeling alright?”
The demon I thought I had control over held his head as if struck with a sudden headache. Any second now he was going to realize what I’d done, and I had no time for that.
Not being able to carry any weapons with me, I resorted to my vampiric speed and strength.
I grabbed hold of Roger and chucked him into the two others then leaped over the pile of demons, sprinting toward the doors.
A hand reached out and snatched my ankle, taking me to the floor, but I rolled and kicked the demon in the face. He slammed into the wall, cursing as he held his bleeding mouth.
“Intruder,” he shouted when I hissed at him. “Shit, it’s Seneca.”
Damn it. Why did I have to be the only part-fae, part-vampire? I lunged at him with my fist, decking him as hard as I could, but as strong as I was, demons were very large and hard to take down. On the third hit
, he finally slumped to the floor, but the other two were finding their feet and yelling. With no time left, I dove for the doors and burst through.
“What the hell?” the ambassador yelled in alarm. “Who are you?”
I slammed and locked the doors behind me, pressing my back to them as his guards beat against them on the other side.
“Ambassador, you and I need to have a word.”
“You,” the demon with sharp grey eyes snapped, pointing a finger at me. “You’re Seneca.”
“That would be me, sir.”
“Drop the sirs. If you’re here to kill me, let’s get this over with. I have work to do today.”
“I’m not here for a fight.”
He moved out from behind his desk striking a formidable pose.
“I have a question, and it needs to be answered, and Owen seems incapable of breaking his orders to keep quiet.”
The demons hollered through the other side of the door, asking for their ambassador.
“You should really let them through,” he commented.
He took a step toward me until I held out my hand with the rings on it. They hummed with power.
He paused. “What do you want from me?”
“Like I said, answers. Why do the Feds seem to think you know about mages going missing in Otherworld?”
The demons on the other side heaved as one, and the doors groaned, threatening to give way.
I slammed myself back into them, but they were too strong. Any second now, they were going to bust through.
The ambassador’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. Owen’s been lying to me this whole time. Everyone has. What’s happening in Otherworld?”
“I’m sorry, my girl, but you are sadly mistaken, and now I fear it will cost you dearly.”
The doors cracked behind me, and I turned to try and brace them.
The ambassador snarled ferociously, and something heavy slammed into the back of my head.
I slumped to the floor as the room went dark.
The next thing I heard was Owen’s voice, and I wondered what I was doing lying on a couch.
“This is unacceptable. How did she get your badge?”
“I don’t know, sir. I’m sorry,” Owen replied in a rush. “She must’ve swiped it from me.”
“She managed to get all the way to my office. Do you have any idea how bad this looks for you? What if she hadn’t come here asking questions and had wanted to kill me? Granted, she’s a small spit of a thing, but I do not want to have to kill someone in my office.”
I smiled as my eyes fluttered open, head throbbing. “Yeah, I think I could take you,” I grunted. “Ouch, damn, what did you hit me with?”
“Seneca?” Owen hurried to me, helping me sit up, but he was far from happy. “What were you doing? Have you completely lost your mind?”
I tore myself from his grip. “No, you all have. Mages, I want to know about them right now.”
“This again?” He sighed, rubbing a hand down his strained face. “I’ve told you, there are no mages missing. Nothing is happening in Otherworld.”
“Oh no?” I tore the bandage from my hand and shoved my palm in his face. “Then why is Macron coming to me and telling me there’s a war coming? Why did he brand my hand?”
Owen took hold of the hand in question, studying it closely.
The ambassador peered over his shoulder, but his angry face gave nothing away.
“I didn’t come here to kill him, but I need to know.”
Owen released my hand, a strange look coming over his face as he glanced to the ambassador.
“I’m afraid Seneca may be in need of help,” the ambassador said solemnly.
“Help?” I frowned, then my brow shot up as I staggered away from them both. “You mean mental help? I’m not crazy. I know what I’ve seen.”
“Seneca, please,” Owen begged, coming toward me. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done here? You’re going to be banished from Valesk for this. For life.”
“I don’t care. I’m not crazy.”
“There are no missing mages,” the ambassador shouted. “None.”
I opened my mouth to argue with him when the doors burst open and a demon rushed in out of breath, holding a paper in his hand.
“Ambassador, two more have gone missing, and another house has fallen in Otherworld! The mages! They are… they are calling for aid.”
The ambassador had been waving his hand as Owen cursed quietly under his breath.
I looked at them each in turn as a dangerous smile spread across my face. “You were saying, Ambassador? How about we have that talk now?”
Chapter 12
Draven
I had been in my chambers, wondering if I’d read Seneca wrong when I received the text.
All it said was she wanted to meet me again at the farmhouse and to get there as soon as the sun had set.
She made no indication of what she wanted to talk to me about, and Shane protested my going alone, but that was one of Seneca’s conditions.
If she was my chance at killing Rudarius and getting out of this shit show, I would go alone. She might have almost killed me once before, but I was prepared for her this time. I had two iron daggers sheathed at my hips. If she wanted a fight, she’d be getting one hell of a showdown.
When I reached the farmhouse, I sniffed the air outside, catching a hint of fae and vampire, but no one else. Seneca was here and was alone. I had told Shane before I left if she did attempt to kill me or refused to help me, I would be coming back with her whether she liked it or not. He’d prepared a small safe house far enough away from the mansion that Lacy wouldn’t find it. A place to keep our secret weapon out of sight.
I stepped up to the front door and pushed it open to find Seneca pacing back and forth in the living room, candles lit all around her. She barely stilled long enough to nod at me as I entered. No glaring, no insults. She continued her pacing. If she had boots on, I’d have said she would’ve created a rut in the floorboards by now.
“You wanted to meet,” I said after a couple minutes of watching her. “I’m assuming you’ve come to a decision.”
“Almost.” She stopped short. “I need you to be honest with me, first.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Because of these.” She held up her ringed fingers. “You’re asking me to trust you and believe you, but I have to know this isn’t a trap. That you aren’t dragging me back to Rudarius, because if you are, I will gut you here and now. Got it?”
“Got it, but I’m not working for him.”
“And why not? You’re part of his coven. One of his closest subordinates.”
I snarled at the word.
Her brow arched, but there was no fear in her eyes.
“I am not,” I seethed through clenched teeth. “He has stolen much from me, as I told you before.”
“No. No more broad, sweeping explanations. I want specifics. What did he do to you?”
I crossed my arms. “No.”
“No?”
“Something changed since our last meeting. You tell me what and I’ll tell you everything you want to know about me and Rudarius.”
I waited for her to walk out at my demand, but she pressed her thumb into her opposite palm, eyes taking on a haunted look that told me whatever she found out, whatever she saw, was worse than she thought before. “The mages. I found out they are, in fact, missing, but it’s worse than that.”
That would be news to me. “How?”
She studied me long and hard then said, “The mage who rescued me came to me in a dream. He showed me what was left of one of their gathering spaces. Rudarius had it obliterated, and it wasn’t the only place. Five out of seven houses of mages have been decimated. The mages are either dead, barely got away with their lives, or were taken by vampires. It would appear Rudarius is already well-prepared to start a war against Otherworld and no one seems to car
e enough to stop him.”
“How did you find all this out?”
“Part from the mage and the rest from the demon ambassador.”
“You spoke directly to him?” I asked surprised.
“Didn’t give him much of a choice. Because of it, I’m banished from Valesk. Indefinitely. And Owen is pissed.” She seemed to be fighting with herself on how to feel about it and finally shrugged. “Worth it, though. Got some answers.”
“What’s the ambassador doing about it?”
“The demons are assisting the mages who manage to escape. That’s all they would tell me.”
“And the mage who came to you in a dream?” I pushed. “What did he tell you?”
“Enough to make me question my entire life so far.” She scratched irritably at her palm. “He wants me to stop the war from the human realm.”
“You don’t seem happy with that answer,” I said slowly.
“I’m not,” she agreed. “And I’m not happy that it appears you and I are going to be working together if you can convince me you truly want Rudarius dead. Spill. What did he do to you? Turn you?”
I hissed as I thought of what that piece of shit had done to me. “No, I was turned two hundred years ago by a man who came to be my father,” I explained quietly. “He was head of the Bleeding Crown Coven. And I was his heir.”
Her brow furrowed in the dim lighting. “I’ve heard of that coven.”
“Did you hear it was taken over by Rudarius?” I snarled. My rage over that night coming out more and more now that my chance at revenge was beginning to emerge. “He slaughtered my family, including my father, because we were one of the few covens who stood against his reign over us all. I was taken captive and tortured in his dungeons for decades.” I should have stopped talking right then. She had no need to hear anymore, but the words poured out as I realized that in all my years of living, I’d never told a soul what I was about to tell her. The need for her to hear the whole truth needled at me. No idea why, since no matter what she said, I would be using her to kill Rudarius. “He broke me,” I whispered, so quietly, she wouldn’t have heard me if she wasn’t part vampire. “He made me believe I was evil, just like him. That I could only be loyal to him. That my father had committed atrocities that caused him to be executed.”
