Savagery & Skills: Books 1-4

by Ciara Graves

  “Your nose,” Marlie said, worried.

  I wipe the blood away. “I’m fine.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “Rudarius. Something he said,” I told him quietly.

  The words hadn’t meant anything when he first said them, but now they did. One world, He only wanted one world. Even as I thought it, the dark sky turned black and red lightning streaked through the thunderheads, but it didn’t fade away. It stretched out further and further, creating a web in the sky.

  Marlie and I tilted our heads back trying to see how far it went.

  “They need to hurry.”

  “Seneca, what is that?”

  “The end of Valesk.”

  Marlie’s wide-eyed stare met mine. I didn’t want to think it was possible, but with the totem Rudarius had in his control, it didn’t seem too far outside the realm of possibilities.

  “Draven,” I bellowed. “Hurry.”

  More demons rushed toward the portal and Marlie waved them through, urging them on. Owen eventually appeared, thankfully, his family was in tow and appearing unharmed. He sent them through first, and I yelled at him to get his ass through the portal next.

  “What is that?” he demanded, pointing to the sky.

  “Just go, now!”

  The lightning grew brighter, and a loud humming started. It sounded as if thousands of people were chanting the exact same words in a never-ending loop. I shouted for Marlie to leave and once the demons were through, he jumped inside.

  Draven reached for my hand, and I took it, ready to go with him, when the humming grew louder, and we were thrown through the portal.

  I closed it as soon as I hit the ground in my backyard, cutting off the horrific view of red flames consuming Valesk. Had we gotten everyone out? How many did Rudarius just kill?

  “Seneca,” Macron yelled, weaving his way through the demons crowding my backyard and the fields beyond. “What was that? Why are they all here?”

  “Valesk,” Owen answered for me, standing protectively in front of his family. “It’s gone?”

  He directed the question to me. I started to answer, but my vision swam, and blood spilled from my nose. Draven had me in his arms, and we were inside, away from the commotion.

  “You can’t keep doing that,” he scolded once we were in my room with the door closed.

  “Didn’t have a choice.” I wiped at my nose as I rested on the bed. “Thought the rings were meant to help me. Must be doing something wrong.”

  “Or your power is split somehow.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If you have rings and Rudarius has the same,” he mused, taking my hand in his, “are you two sharing the power? Is he drawing from you?”

  “Shit, I didn’t even think of that.”

  He ran his thumb over my knuckles, and I scooted closer. “Seneca, what I said earlier—”

  I pressed my fingers to his lips as he frowned. “No. This is a shitty situation, and we’re dealing with it the best we can. You have every right to be ticked off. But I need you to know I’m trying. I promise you I am.”

  “I can’t lose you.” He hugged me close, burying his face in my neck. “I won’t.”

  I wrapped my arms around him, not about to let go any time soon. We stayed like that for a long while, not moving, just holding each other close. When he lifted his head, he smoothed the loose strands of hair from my face and kissed me. It started as just a brush of his lips on mine, but I needed so much more. The kiss turned heated, his arms wrapped protectively around me as our lips moved in a dance we never seemed able to finish.

  And we wouldn’t tonight either it seemed.

  He drew back and sighed. “Rain check, love,” he whispered, wiping more blood from my nose.

  I grunted in annoyance. “Guess I’ll take care of this mess.”

  “And I’ll go deal with the mess outside.” He kissed my forehead, his lips lingering. In my mind, I saw Rudarius kissing me like that, and my stomach twisted painfully in knots. Being with Draven, this was true comfort, true love. I fisted my hands in his shirt, holding him to me until he pulled away.

  “I’ll find you in a while.”

  He squeezed my hand and then was gone. If only I could stop time long enough for us to have more than a few minutes here and there. It was petty for me to be grumpy about not having enough alone time with Draven when there was a war going on, but sometimes all a girl wanted was a night in the arms of the guy she was in love with. Was that too much to ask for?

  I grabbed fresh clothes, since mine were covered in vampire blood, again, and headed into the bathroom. My nose had finally stopped bleeding. I washed my face, changed my clothes, and brushed my hair so I could pull it back.

  He thinks he’s so powerful, a voice whispered, and I paused. It wasn’t Rudarius, no, this was the voice I heard before the rings were forged. He thinks he’s stronger than you.

  “He’s not,” I replied quietly.

  Prove it. You have the rings now, and you’re the one holding yourself back. The entire strength of the Sa’ren people is at your disposal. Stop holding yourself back.

  “But the rings, he has them too.”

  And? Are you going to let him take what’s rightfully yours? Are you going to let him use your power like he used you as a weapon? As he continues to use you now to tear your world apart? Are you weak after all, Seneca?

  “No,” I snapped, glaring at my reflection. A second face appeared next to mine, hardly visible, but there, all the same. She looked just like me, but her face was harder and her eyes solid black.

  Then prove it. Who are you going to be? A caged animal? A weapon? Or are you going to be the avenging warrior the Sa’ren have waited for too many centuries for?

  I grinned as did the face beside mine.

  What are you going to do, Seneca?

  “I’m going to end Rudarius and his army,” I said as I held up my hand, the rings’ stones shifting and swirling with my power. “I’ll become the fae I was always meant to be.”

  And? What else?

  Closing my hand in a fist, I bared my fangs then said, “I’ll kill anyone who gets in my way.”

  The face vanished with a satisfied smile on her lips.

  I fixed my hair, smoothed my fingers over my eyes to ensure the darkness wasn’t visible at all, then left the bathroom, humming as I went.

  So many to kill and so little time.

  Savage Magic

  The final book in the Savagery and Skills series!

  Seneca Savage is so much more than a bad ass with skills. But learning of her heritage has put her on a path bound for hell.

  Draven’s a vampire, the son of a former leader of a coven, he spent years in the torture dungeons of another vampire. Now, he’s out for revenge. And he’s fallen in love with the only fae vampire hybrid, a tortured soul who wavers between falling into the abyss of evil and landing on the side of good.

  Chapter 1

  Draven

  “Wait, I’m sorry,” Marlie said, and my hand tightened around Seneca’s protectively, “you did what?”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose,” Seneca repeated for the fourth time. “It just happened.”

  Marlie shook his head. “No, that doesn’t just happen, Seneca. You did something. You want him to have rings or something, is that it? Do you not want this war to be over? For him to be destroyed?”

  “Of course, I do,” she shouted, on her feet now.

  “You sure about that? I mean, are you really sure?”

  In warning, I glared at Marlie to keep his damned mouth shut, but he ignored me. In private, I’d told him about Seneca’s meetings with Rudarius, hoping he would’ve been smart enough to keep that bit to himself. No one else needed to know Seneca had nearly been seduced by that monster, and here he was about ready to tell an entire roomful of people.

  “I don’t know what you’re trying to imply,” Seneca said quietly, her hands shaking as she stomped toward her brother, “
but you have no idea what you’re talking about. Drop it.”

  Marlie didn’t back down.

  I rose slowly, making ready to throw myself between them.

  “Why don’t you tell them all, huh? Tell them what else happened while you were on this little adventure of yours. Tell them why I don’t believe you’re really fighting for the good guys anymore.”

  “Marlie,” I yelled.

  At the same time, Seneca’s hand curled into a fist, and she decked him.

  He flew back into the wall, and she was on him in a shot, her hand wrapped around his throat as she drew her fist back.

  “You bastard,” she seethed. “You’re my brother, and you’re going to stand there and accuse me of being a traitor?”

  He spat blood from his mouth. “Tell them. Convince me I’m wrong.”

  She tensed for a second hit.

  I caught her arm. “Don’t,” I warned her. “Get control of your temper right now. We don’t have time to fight amongst ourselves.”

  “You’re right. We don’t because that asshole has a whole new set of rings now, thanks to Seneca.”

  I cursed as soon as the words slipped from Marlie’s mouth.

  She screamed and grabbed him by the throat with both hands. She swung him around and threw him toward the kitchen. He scrambled to get up and defend himself, but she was on him too fast, kicking him further into the kitchen. She hoisted him up and looked more than ready to toss him through the new back door when I bellowed her name. She panted, chest heaving as she held fast to her brother. Her emerald eyes darkened for a long moment as I neared her, with Owen and Shane behind me.

  “Put him down, gently, and back away from your brother. Marlie, if you say another word, I’ll take your other hand. Got it?”

  Seneca hissed and didn’t let Marlie ago, but she hadn’t thrown him yet either.

  I took a step closer, reaching for her arm. “Seneca, let him go.”

  Her eye twitched, and she unleashed her grip on Marlie’s shirt. He crashed to the floor with a grunt. “You’re lucky they’re here to save your ass,” she muttered darkly. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that again. Got it? You have no idea what I’m going through. None of you do.”

  The tension in the kitchen rose until Helena joined us, stepping between her grandchildren, scowling from one to the other. “Both of you back to the living room right now.” When neither moved, she glared, even fiercer. “I said, now.”

  Seneca waited for a beat then did as she’d ordered. Marlie sulked along behind her, keeping his distance.

  “Draven, I would like a word with you, outside, in private.” Helena hurried out the back door.

  Worried, I glanced toward the living room.

  “We’ll watch her,” Owen assured me. “Don’t worry.”

  I wasn’t sure I liked Owen being back in this house and so close to Seneca, but she was with me, not him, and I was damned sure he knew that. I nodded and followed Helena out into the garden. Tents were set up in the field just beyond the fence. The demons who’d decided to stay and assist us in the coming fight needed a place to take shelter and make ready. Macron had warded it the best he could, assisted by several other mages that had escaped Valesk before it was destroyed, but he told me it wouldn’t last forever. The mages had been weakened, their power not nearly as strong as it needed to be, but I’d take what we could get for now. Once the vampires, as well as the fae, arrived, we’d have to find a place to put them all.

  “How is she?” Helena asked quietly as I approached, turning my thoughts away from our growing army.

  “She’s fine.”

  She slid me a sideways look, and I stiffened under the weight of it. “I want the truth, Draven. I’m not Marlie. I can take it. Now tell me the truth. How is she?”

  I walked away, wishing I had good news to give Helena. We’d returned from evacuating Valesk, and there’d been very little time to talk. But something had changed deep within Seneca. It wasn’t just Rudarius getting inside her head, though I’m sure that didn’t help matters. This dark magic, it felt wrong. I had no other way to explain it other than I knew it wasn’t right. Nothing about it was.

  “Not good,” I finally replied lamely. “She’s not good, not at all. And I don’t know how to help her. Marlie opening his fat mouth doesn’t help.”

  “What was he talking about?”

  I wasn’t sure I should be the one to tell Helena. I made that mistake with Marlie and look where I ended up. “You’ll have to ask her. I can’t tell you that. I won’t.”

  Helena looked at me long and hard, sighed, and made her way to the bench beneath the sturdy oak tree. Though Seneca was still inside, the orbs shifting from red to orange, then back again let me know she had yet to calm down. Helena moved through them then sat down, looking far older than she had when Shane and Lark rescued her. “You truly love her. I respect that. I admire it. It’s hard to love someone who’s struggling with such darkness inside her. Such anger.”

  “We have our moments.”

  “I’m sure you do.” She motioned to the bench, but I was too anxious to sit still. “If you won’t speak to me about her time with Rudarius, what will you tell me?”

  The back door was closed, and we were alone. Even still, I worried we’d be overheard. I gave in and sat down beside Helena. “She said right before she forged the rings, there was a voice inside her head. It wasn’t hers or Rudarius’s, but it could’ve been another trick.”

  “A voice.”

  “Yes, that’s what she said, and I think she’s still hearing it.”

  “How do you know?”

  I’d left Seneca to get cleaned up after returning from Valesk. I went back in to check on her and heard her talking through the bathroom door. I told Helena exactly what I heard. “At first, I thought she was talking to Rudarius, but this was different. She sounded so different from herself. I should’ve opened that door and looked, but for some reason, I backed away. What does this mean for her?”

  Helena said nothing for a long while as the wind rustled the dead leaves in the tree branches overhead. “Macron and I discussed the small possibility of this happening,” she finally said softly.

  “Of what happening?’ I was all ears now, wondering if I should go and kick Macron’s ass for keeping something from me and Seneca. “Helena, what is going on with her?”

  “Seneca is the last of her kind,” she said in a rush sounding flustered, something Helena never was, at least not in the short time I’d been around her. “As such, when she sought out the forges, when she found the last resting place of the Sa’ren kingdom, it wasn’t just her power she put into those rings.”

  My heart sank even lower than it was already. “Meaning what?”

  “She’s carrying the power of the entire Sa’ren people in her veins. All of it from the very beginning to the very end.”

  “How can one person hold that much power?”

  “They can’t, not for long,” she replied sadly.

  “Why didn’t you tell us this before she left?” I meant to ask it quietly, but the question came out as a yell. I was on my feet, glaring at her. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re all so desperate for an end to Rudarius no one stopped to think what you were doing? How much more pain do you think she can take, huh? How much more does she have to be tortured before she can be at peace?”

  “We hoped it wouldn’t happen,” she explained calmly.

  “Right, because everything else we’ve tried has worked out so well for her.”

  “Draven, stop, you need to understand—”

  “No, I don’t,” I shouted, and this time she clamped her lips shut, and her face paled in the face of my rage. “Do you have any idea what she’s been going through since this mess started? Do you even care?”

  “I do,” she argued.

  “No, you don’t. If you did, you would’ve told her and Macron not to go. Now, she’s stuck with rings that are going to end up tearing her apart and voices i
nside her head telling her to do who knows what.”

  How had this happened? We’d had a plan, a decent plan, a way to get one up on Rudarius and once again, it backfired in our faces. All my talks of staying positive and finding a way to survive this war seemed pointless now. What was the point when no matter what move we made, we ended up in a worse off situation?

  “She’s strong,” Helena was saying, but I scoffed. “She is. She can make it through this.”

  “Right, sure she can, because she’s not already losing her shit. Did you not see her in there? She’s ready to kill anyone who pisses her off. I saw that look in her eyes.” I paused as Helena’s eyes filled with guilt and she wouldn’t meet my gaze anymore. “Please tell me that’s not what you’re hoping for.”

  “Rudarius has become far stronger than we ever expected,” she said as she stood, smoothing her hands down her jeans. “There is no more time. No other way.”

  “How bad will it get?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I hissed as I walked right up to her, glaring into eyes that looked so much like Seneca’s. “You don’t know. You’ve probably condemned your granddaughter to hell. I just want you to understand that, so when she turns on us, when I have to be the one to end her, you’ll understand if I come after you and Macron next.”

  “Don’t threaten her.” Macron appeared behind me suddenly.

  I whirled around and glared at him. “Not now, old man. Both of you should go inside and talk to her. She needs to hear this.”

  “She’s not ready for the truth.”

  I looked from one to the other, not believing what I was hearing. “Both of you stand there and claim to love her, but you’re going to keep her in the dark? Don’t you think if she knows this, she might have a chance to fight back?”

  Macron glanced to Helena, and she shook her head. “She can’t know.”

  “Too late.”

  We whirled around.

  Seneca stood on the other side of the garden gate, watching, eyes narrowed, hands shaking at her sides. I guessed being the living room with her brother hadn’t gone well. Those vibrant green eyes flickered with anger, but not from the magic inside her. That was all Seneca. I waited for the yelling to start, the screaming and the cursing, but then she started to back away from the fence.