Arcane Dropout 6

by Edmund Hughes

  Jack’s body lay across the tile in the middle of the foyer, surrounded by a dark pool of blood. Lee stared, his mind at first unable to comprehend what he was seeing, and what it meant.

  “Oh, my God…” whispered Tess.

  Lee hurried forward, intent on feeling Jack’s neck for a pulse. Another thought struck him, one that immediately took priority.

  “Zoe!” he shouted. “Zoe!”

  He ran toward the lounge where he’d last seen her. Empty. He was headed up to check her room when Tess waved an arm.

  “The cellar door is open,” she said.

  Lee hesitated for only long enough to feel for his dagger and pistol before moving toward the stairs. Tess’s expression was creased with worry, and she shook her head.

  “Don’t!” she said. “You don’t know what’s down there!”

  “That’s why I have to find out.”

  He made himself as ready as he could possibly be, dagger in his right hand, pistol in his left, and slowly began descending into the cellar. He tried to make each step as silent as he could, though the creaky stairs did him no favors.

  Another body lay on the center of the cellar’s stone floor. Xepher’s eyes were still open, though empty and sightless. The amount of blood surrounding him left no doubt in Lee’s mind as to whether the old man was dead or alive.

  “Finally,” said a familiar voice. “I was beginning to get bored.”

  Eliza was leaning against the cellar’s far wall, smiling as though she wasn’t sharing the damp cellar with a bloodstained corpse. She looked much as Lee remembered his friend and classmate, while simultaneously looking nothing at all like her.

  Her auburn hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a tight black bodysuit with a plunging neckline that looked almost as though it had been painted on. Her body was still that of the Eliza he remembered, with firm breasts on the cusp of being large, a thin figure with a fair amount of curve to it, and full lips.

  Her eyes were a dull crimson. They weren’t the eyes of a human, of someone he could trust or reason with. They were the eyes of the Unavowed Queen, and Lee was less sure than ever where to draw the line between the demoness and his former friend and lover from Primhaven.

  “What have you done?” he asked.

  “Nothing that wasn’t absolutely necessary.” Eliza waved a hand, and Lee reacted a second late. A wall of dark energy formed in front of the stairway behind him, preventing him from fleeing, though that hadn’t been his intention.

  Tess was still on the other side of it, the safe side, and he watched her press her hands feebly against the barrier, unable to phase through it as she could with most physical objects. Lee slowly turned his gaze back to Eliza, feeling his heart pounding ever faster within his chest.

  “We can be alone now,” said Eliza. “Just the two of us. We’re long overdue for some privacy, wouldn’t you agree?”

  She took slow steps toward him. Lee felt like a mouse trying to stare down a hungry cat, but he held his ground. His read of the situation shifted as Eliza drew near, closer than she’d need to be to attack him, close enough for attacks of a less violent nature.

  “Have you missed me, Lee?” she whispered.

  “I’ve missed Eliza,” he said. “But I don’t think that’s who you are anymore.”

  “Really?” She grinned. “Perhaps, behind all of the blushing and stuttering was what you now see. The real Eliza unchained and unleashed. Do you prefer red or white wine?”

  “…What?”

  She leaned forward. Lee flinched despite his resolve as he felt her breath tickle his neck, her lips brushing the skin directly underneath his ear.

  “Do you prefer red or white wine?” she repeated.

  He took a step back.

  Eliza sighed. “It makes no difference. I’ll open one of each. The Masterson family certainly knows their wine. Some of these vintages are incredibly rare.”

  She found two bottles and drew the corks out with a touch of crimson power from her finger. Setting one down, she took a sip from the other, humming her appreciation.

  “Just delightful,” she said. “Please drink with me, Lee. We’ll have no fun at all if you insist on harboring so much tension.”

  “Eliza.” He shook his head. “You’re insane.”

  “Drink with me, or I will pull Tess in from outside the barrier and torture her in front of you.”

  It was the first time Eliza had referred to Tess in a way that implied that she could see her. Lee had suspected that whatever new abilities had come from the pillar might have included something akin to his mystic sight, and her words seemed to finally confirm it.

  He could smell Xepher’s blood on the floor. He didn’t take her threat lightly and reached out to take one of the wine bottles. It tasted sour, more like vinegar than anything he’d choose for himself.

  “How have you been?” asked Eliza. “It’s been over a month since we’ve last seen each other. I’ve been thinking about you, you know.”

  “Is that so?” He didn’t bother forcing any feigned interest into his tone. “I’ve been well, Eliza. I’ve thought about you a fair amount, too.”

  “Pleasant thoughts, I hope,” she said with a smile. “Or maybe dirty thoughts. Mmm, I like the idea of that.”

  “Why did you kill Xepher and Jack?” asked Lee.

  She sniffed and took a quick sip of her own wine. “How’s Toma been? You just got back from visiting him in Japan, right?”

  Lee had set his dagger down to pick up the wine, but he was still holding his pistol. He imagined trying to draw on Eliza before she could react, taking aim and…

  And what? Could he shoot her? Even after seeing what she’d become, and the evil she was capable of, could he shoot Eliza? He doubted it would be enough to stop her, even if he could.

  “Toma has been doing great,” said Lee. Why not play along, he wondered? What other choice did he have?

  “I’m so glad to hear that,” said Eliza. “I never got a chance to say bye to him, you know.”

  “Well, there was quite a lot going on during our last day at Primhaven.”

  She chuckled. “Oh, you and your subtle sense of humor. By the way, how has Tess been doing?”

  The question felt intentional, and the smirk on Eliza’s face left no question about her intent to prod into Lee’s open concern. He narrowed his eyes.

  “What do you know?” he asked.

  “Oh, whatever do you mean?” asked Eliza. “I’m merely asking about Tess, the apparent love of your life. Is there something the matter with her?”

  Shooting Eliza was becoming a more appealing option by the second. Lee tightened his grip on the gun.

  She took a few steps toward him before he could make anything resembling a stand. With impossibly strong fingers, she stripped the weapon from his hand and slid it across the floor.

  “You don’t need that,” she said. “You need this.”

  She kissed him, her lips hot and soft against his. Her entire body radiated sexuality to a degree that was undeniably supernatural. Images of her naked danced through Lee’s mind, not that her skintight bodysuit even left all that much to the imagination.

  “Stop,” he said.

  “That’s a dirty word, Lee,” she whispered. “If you tell me to stop, and I keep going, what would that be?”

  He slammed his hands into her shoulders, knocking her back a few feet.

  “Why are you here, Eliza?” he shouted. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want?” She wrapped her arms around herself, and the bodysuit disappeared, leaving her completely naked. “Everything. Nothing. You. I want you, too, even though it’s just a side note compared to the rest of the story.”

  Lee shook his head. “If you really wanted me, you’d listen to what I have to say! Eliza, you’re out of control. You aren’t yourself anymore, and—”

  “I’m well aware of what I am, Lee,” she said. “I know the extent of my power far better than you. I also kn
ow how chaotic it all must seem, but you must trust me when I say that there is a method to the madness.”

  Still naked, Eliza stepped forward, drawing close to him. Lee felt the same unnatural surge of lust and erotic imagery with which her presence had affected him before, except even more intense.

  This time, she was naked. She was his for the taking. Every ounce of her naked skin seemed to glisten with the potential for a union between them, not just one of lust and pleasure and bodies, but of minds and intention.

  She was dangling herself in front of him like bait on a line, trying to tease him into fucking her. She wanted him to use her until he was satisfied, to make her beg for more. She was giving him an opportunity, a chance, to dominate her through sex and make her see his point of view.

  “Stop it,” said Lee through gritted teeth. “I know what you’re doing! I can feel you in my mind.”

  “Can you feel this?” She took his hand and pulled it to one of her breasts. He was as hard as he’d ever been, and it felt as though his body had betrayed him. “Would you like to feel more?” she whispered.

  He pushed her away, though it felt like a mechanical action, forcing the muscles and ligaments to do the bidding of his logical mind over what the rest of him wanted.

  “Hurt me, Lee,” she said. “Either love me or hurt me. There is no in-between anymore.”

  She was right. Lee slowly lifted his right arm, flexing each finger as the prickle of holy fire began to build under his skin. His eyes felt hot, and he couldn’t get over the frustration and guilt underneath both the current situation and what he was about to do.

  His carelessness had led to Eliza touching the pillar to begin with. He’d promised her father that he’d save her. It all felt like empty words now, unless he could pull off a miracle.

  “What are you doing?” she asked. She was paying attention to him, watching his hand with a curious amount of intensity. Her expression, which had been playful, borderline seductive, was now serious.

  “Why are you doing all of this?” he asked. “Tell me the truth. Why kill Xepher and Jack? Why spend so much time taunting me and trying to break my resolve?”

  “Are you really that foolish?” asked Eliza. “It’s the same reason why I’ve been sapping away at Tess’s soul. You must be aware that it’s me by this point. It’s the same reason why I’ve been aiding the Order of Chaldea, feeding them information, leading them by the nose.

  “Did you not find it strange that they seemed to pursue you, specifically, at every twist and turn? Strange that it was Harper, of all the people they could have sent, constantly nipping at your ankles? The picture is so much larger than you realize, as is the role you will eventually play within it.”

  “What?” Lee felt his hand explode with heat as the holy fire crackled over his palm. “Tess’s condition… is because of you?”

  Eliza laughed but her eyes never left the blue flames dancing across Lee’s hand. “If you wish, I could undo what I’ve done. Simply fall to your knees in front of me, and—”

  The blast had left Lee’s palm almost before he’d decided to attack. A fan of white-blue flame too bright for him to look directly into swept through the cellar, disintegrating furniture and popping bottles of wine like Molotov cocktails. Eliza let out a furious, hissing screech.

  “You fool! This is far from over. You will obey.”

  CHAPTER 25

  When Lee could see again, Eliza was gone. The cellar was a charred mockery of its former state, and the Masterson wine collection had been culled by half. He fell forward onto his knees, slamming a punch into the floor, fury unabated.

  “Lee!” cried Tess. The barrier blocking the stairs had left along with the Unavowed Queen, and Tess rushed through it in her ethereal state, pulling him into a pointless, chilly hug.

  “I’m alright,” he muttered. “Eliza escaped.”

  Tess was shaking and she shook her head, wiping away ethereal tears. “It doesn’t matter. I thought she was going to… I thought you’d…”

  “It’s her,” he said, in a quiet voice. “She’s the reason why you’re…”

  He couldn’t finish that sentence, and he told himself it was because he didn’t know what the right word was. It all came back to Eliza, back to his mistakes. Back to the fact that he’d never been straightforward with her, never really seen her until she’d become a monster.

  “It’s okay,” whispered Tess. “She can do whatever she wants to me. I just don’t want her to take you away.”

  “No, it’s not okay!” he snapped. “It’s not okay…”

  Xepher’s body was still splayed across the cellar floor, though it, like much of the rest of the room, had been scorched by Lee’s holy fire. It wasn’t until Tess poked a tingling and very much ethereal finger against his lip that he realized he had another nosebleed. He wiped it away and stood up, ignoring the sudden head rush accompanying the movement.

  “Lee,” whispered Tess. “I’m worried. You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

  “I’m fine. This is nothing.”

  “I don’t just mean your abilities and the nosebleed.” Tess folded her arms, her face scrunching itself ugly with worry. “Getting yourself killed isn’t going to help me.”

  “Maybe it would,” he said. A sickening sense of certainty lurched in his gut. “Eliza said she was sapping away at your soul… because of me. Maybe if I were dead—”

  “Shut your mouth!” Tess punched him in the arm with a fist. “Lee Amaranth, don’t you dare say things like that!”

  “What? I’d come back as a ghost. Probably…”

  He took hold of her hand and pulled her into his mystic stream. He had to keep his arms around her, ready to steady her body against his. She had no feet to stand on anymore. Lee supported her, hugging her against his chest as Tess wrapped what was left of her legs around his waist to make bearing her weight a bit easier for him.

  “Eliza is doing this to you as a way of getting to me,” he said. “She said she’s sided with the Order of Chaldea as well, though I’m not sure if she was telling the truth.”

  “What?”

  A new voice came from the stairs, that of his sister. She stomped down into the cellar, arms outstretched to pull him into a hug, only stopping when she caught sight of him embracing Tess.

  “Eldon,” she said. “Oh, God. I thought you might be… there was so much blood upstairs.”

  “Plenty of blood down here, too,” he said. “It was her. Eliza.”

  “Jack is still alive, though he’s going to need to feed quite a bit during his recovery,” said Zoe. “Xepher. The poor man. That bitch is going to pay for this. You said she’s lent her support to the Order?”

  “That’s what she said.” Lee shrugged. “I have no idea whether her word can be trusted, but if it’s true…”

  He trailed off, not wanting to admit what he knew was probably the case. The Independent Coalition would stand no chance in a war against both the Order and the Unavowed Queen.

  The sound of an argument echoed down into the cellar from upstairs. Lee gave Tess one last squeeze before releasing her from his mystic stream and following Zoe back upstairs. Ryoko and Mira were in the foyer, Ryoko physically holding a furious Mira back from the front door.

  “She won’t be nearby!” cried Ryoko. “From what we know about her, she can teleport through our world without restriction.”

  “She needs to pay for what she’s done!” snapped Mira. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

  “Mira.” Zoe moved to join the other two women, setting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Jack needs us right now.”

  Mira took a shuddering breath and then relented, collapsing to the ground. Zoe and Ryoko had a whispered conversation as they moved to crouch next to Jack’s unconscious form.

  Lee had assumed there was no way Jack could have survived his injuries, and for good reason. The pool of blood around him was simply too large, and were it not for his enhanced vampiric vitality
, it would have been a foregone conclusion.

  “He can’t wait,” whispered Ryoko. “Zoe, he needs to feed now.”

  She passed Zoe a small vial which she immediately drank. She took a slow breath and slid forward across the bloodstained floor, heedless of the streaks of gore it left upon her sweatpants.

  She leaned into position, bringing her neck close to Jack’s mouth.

  Ryoko cupped Jack’s cheek, lifting his head so his lips made contact. Lee couldn’t help but feel there was something intimate about the situation he was intruding on, watching as a voyeur of an intensely private act.

  His sister’s chest heaved up and down, and he saw the muscles in her jaw tighten as she swallowed and took a deep breath. Jack’s eyes fluttered, and his tongue probed out, pressing against the pale flesh of her neck as though in confirmation of the target of his fangs.

  Zoe gasped as Jack finally sank his teeth in, her back arching upward, not in an attempt to escape as Lee initially assumed, but in pleasure. She let out a low moan that made him feel more than a little uncomfortable, the fingers of her free hand clenching thin air.

  It went on for a while, and if Zoe’s reaction was anything to judge by, Jack was drinking quite deeply of her blood. It left Lee wondering when he, as her brother, should step in, or if it was even his place to anymore.

  Finally, Jack’s head lolled back, and he coughed. His lips were stained dark red with Zoe’s blood, and a small trickle ran down her neck from two dots from where the fangs had broken the skin. Ryoko was still at Jack’s side, while Mira stood apart from the others, back turned to the scene, perhaps in respect to her own vampiric hunger.

  “He’s healing,” said Ryoko. “It will take some time, but he’ll recover.”

  “We don’t have time,” said Mira. “If what that possessed harpy said is true, we need to attack the Order as soon as possible. Their advantage will only snowball if we allow their alliance to blossom.”

  “You’re right,” said Lee.

  Mira turned toward him, looking him up and down with an appraising gaze. The gleam in her eyes had more to it than simple calculation. There was hunger, need there, as well, likely borne from having been so close to a fellow feeding vampire.