by Alicia Rades
Venn pulled out onto the street.
“Believe me,” Ryland said. “I wanna go after him as soon as possible, too, but you heard what Kieren said. Cowen lives with a bunch of other vamps. We have to be careful. There’s a good chance they outnumber us.”
“So, what do we do?” Fiona asked, hopeless.
Ryland paused a beat and glanced to the sky. The sun was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, so it wasn’t going to help us much today. Sure, it would slow the vampires down and maybe give them a few blisters, but it wasn’t enough to make them retreat like it would if the sun were out.
“We wait until nightfall,” he decided. “It’ll give us enough time to scope out the place. Plus, most of the vamps will leave by then, so we can crash the nest while there are fewer to deal with. Maybe Cowen will make an appearance himself.”
“I say we bust down the place right now,” Teagan voted. “We don’t have the time to waste.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not gonna walk straight into a full vampire nest and lose any one of you,” Ryland replied with a harsh tone. He had a point.
“In that case,” Teagan agreed, “I’m going to need more knives.”
6
Night fell, and darkness enveloped the city, but the minutes on Venn’s dashboard continued to tick by, and still no sign of Cowen. We’d been sitting in the car a few doors down from the white house on the corner for hours, and we had yet to see a single person come or go.
“Maybe Kieren lied,” Fiona theorized, pausing momentarily from blowing air across the back of Teagan’s neck. She’d been doing it for the last several minutes to try to get a reaction out of her. Either Teagan hadn’t noticed or she was purposely ignoring Fiona. I’d been trying to hold in a laugh because it seemed like something my sister would do when she was bored.
Venn shook his head. “I don’t think he lied. I mean, the house is here like he said.”
There was no arguing that, considering it was probably the only white house with red shutters in town. The house was old, with various peaks in the roof, two chimneys, and peeling paint siding. Crooked wooden stairs led up to a front porch that looked like it creaked with every step. The house rose two stories high and looked big enough to have at least five bedrooms on the top floor. It certainly looked like something a vamp would live in, with the whole haunted-house vibe it had going on.
“If he didn’t lie, then where’s Cowen?” Ryland asked with a tense jaw, as if Venn was supposed to know the answer.
“Calm down, love,” Teagan said in a soothing voice.
She reached forward from the back seat to run her hand across Ryland’s shoulder. He breathed a sigh and laced his fingers through hers, pulling her hand to his lips and brushing a kiss across it.
Damn, they were so cute together. I needed to get myself someone like Teagan, a partner who could calm me with a single touch.
Teagan jumped in her seat and swatted at Fiona. “Would you stop it?!” she snapped.
Or, you know, I could just get myself the type of person who would bite my hand off just for kicks.
“Are you being annoying again, Fiona?” Ryland scolded.
Fiona rolled her eyes. “Again? You mean still?”
Ryland didn’t even justify her answer with a response. Fiona frowned and folded her hands in her lap. Clearly, sitting still was getting to her.
“Maybe we missed the vamps,” I suggested. “They could be leaving through the back door.”
Ryland let out a groan, like he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it before.
Yeah, we were officially idiots.
Ryland kicked his door open before anyone could get in another word. “You wanna come stake it out with me, Tea?”
A wide smile spread across her face, like she was hoping they’d run into trouble at the back of the house.
“I’m coming, too!” Fiona volunteered, rushing out of the car behind Teagan.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air when the doors shut behind them, leaving Venn and me alone in the car. The only sound came from Venn reaching into the glove compartment followed by the rustle of a plastic bag. Judging by the scent that hit me from the back seat, I guessed he was snacking on cheesy snack mix. My favorite, too, and the greedy bastard didn’t even offer to share.
A full minute must’ve passed without either of us saying a word, but it felt more like an hour. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t make me sound like an idiot.
“You can come sit up here,” Venn offered.
“Oh, thank God,” I blurted, grateful that someone finally broke the silence. I wanted to shove the words back in my mouth as soon as I said them.
“God has nothing to do with it,” Venn joked as I climbed over the middle console and settled into the front seat.
“He doesn’t?” I teased back.
Good thing, too, since I didn’t believe in God. Somehow, I didn’t think vampires and shifters fit into the God story, though some people claimed that vampires were just demons who’d escaped from Hell and had come to possess their loved ones. It might’ve been believable except for the fact that crucifixes and holy water didn’t work on them. If I had a nickel for every time I rolled my eyes at the demon theory, I’d be able to afford a far better apartment.
“So, you don’t think vampires are spawns of Satan?” I asked, mostly to keep the silence from once again entering the car.
Venn smirked and let out a light laugh. “No, I don’t.”
I leaned toward him with curiosity in my eyes. The scent of the snack mix in his lap filled my nose. My pulse quickened with each inch I came closer to him, but I ignored it. “Then where’d they come from?”
“Well, I won’t claim to know everything,” he admitted, holding out his bag toward me.
Score!
“But what I do know makes a lot of sense,” he said.
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows and plunged my hand into the bag. “What is it that you know?”
Venn smirked, looking positively proud of himself. “For starters, I know how magic works.”
I scoffed and tossed a handful of cheesy crackers into my mouth. “No, you don’t.”
Even Devin, my boss, didn’t truly know how magic worked, though that shouldn’t have surprised me. It was clear he was only in the business for the money.
Venn returned the bag to his lap. “You’ve never hung out with a high witch before, have you?”
“I paid a high witch to enchant my clothes, if that counts,” I told him.
Venn shook his head. “Doesn’t count. Not unless she told you how she did it.”
“She didn’t,” I said with a full mouth.
I must look like such a lady.
Venn popped another handful of snack mix into his mouth then wiped his hand on his jeans. “Ever heard of Synchrony?”
I furrowed my brow, not sure what he meant. “I’ve heard the word before.”
“But do you know what it means?” he asked.
“Um… are you asking me to recite the definition from the dictionary?” I replied, insulted.
Venn laughed. “No. I’m talking in a philosophical sense. Synchrony is the force that creates and sustains life. It’s responsible for the balance within the universe.”
“Okay…” I dragged out the word. “I’m intrigued.”
Though it’s probably just nonsense.
“Essentially, Synchrony is God but without conscious thought,” Venn explained. “It’s more closely related to nature. It’s just something that is, like electricity.”
“Really?” I asked skeptically. He expected me to believe this? I didn’t know what to believe these days, but I wasn’t buying that.
“I can’t explain it like Sondra can,” Venn said, “but basically, she says that Synchrony is the life-sustaining force that’s been around since the Big Bang.”
“You’re saying magic has been around forever?” I asked. Some theories claimed magic was al
ways there. Others said it came here from another world when Valkas showed up—and that he was from that other world, too. I still didn’t know which theory to go with.
“Yes,” Venn answered. “Magic has always existed in our world. It just wasn’t made public until eight years ago. Before that, the secrets of Synchrony were kept within the supernatural community. It was the only way people escaped persecution.”
“So in your story, magic and Synchrony are the same thing?” I asked.
“Not exactly,” Venn said. “That’s like asking if light and electricity are the same thing. Magic is what happens when you access Synchrony, but Synchrony itself is bigger than that. It’s what creates life—creates souls—and what drives fate.”
“Fate?” I laughed. Venn was officially a nutcase… A nutcase who made butterflies dance around in my stomach. I mentally squashed the suckers.
“Yes,” Venn stated flatly.
My laughter instantly died. Woops. I was being a total ass.
My voice softened. “I’m sorry. I’m listening. Tell me more.”
Venn eyed me, like he couldn’t tell if he should keep going or not. I really did feel bad about laughing at him.
Finally, he continued. “I believe there are no coincidences in life; only balance. We have an equal give and take relationship with Synchrony. If you bring positivity into the world, Synchrony will deliver more positive things into your life. Accessing the Synchrony force—or doing magic—has consequences because it all balances out.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to keep an open mind. “But not all magic does have consequences.”
“Not all consequences are negative,” Venn said. “But Synchrony always reacts. How it reacts depends on your intentions when you cast a spell. If you cast the spell with positive intentions, you will get positive results. The bigger the spell, the more consequences, like how trying to bring someone back to life could trap their soul in their body. Well-intentioned spells won’t have bad consequences. That’s probably why you’re so good at healing. On the other hand, dark magic almost always results in negative outcomes because there are very few dark spells that can be cast with pure intentions.”
“Why would anyone practice dark magic, then?” I asked.
Ha! Plot hole!
Venn frowned. “Because they honestly believe they’re in the right.”
I narrowed my eyes in thought, trying to absorb everything he was saying.
“Synchrony reflects your intentions back on you,” Venn continued. “You can never cast a perfect spell if you’re doing it for selfish reasons or if you’re trying to hurt someone else.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I argued. I don’t know why I didn’t want to believe Venn. Maybe I didn’t want to believe there were people out there with the answer and I’d gone so long without knowing it. “I tried to heal Kieren earlier, and the spell backfired on me. I wasn’t being selfish or trying to hurt him.”
“Maybe not,” Venn agreed with a shrug, “but you were still projecting negative energy.”
“No, I wasn’t,” I insisted. He couldn’t even do magic, but he was going to sit here and tell me all about how I’d been doing it wrong?
Jerk.
Venn didn’t seem to notice my furrowed brow. “The thing about Synchrony is that it doesn’t recognize good versus evil. Instead, it recognizes positive energy versus negative energy. Your beliefs and intentions affect how Synchrony responds.”
“How so?” I asked. He wasn’t suggesting I was carrying around negative energy like some sort of evil witch, was he?
“You have to believe in your ability and the reasons for why you’re casting the spell.” Venn looked at me with a pointed expression, like he was accusing me of something. I just wasn’t sure what he was accusing me of. “A witch who doubts herself is much more susceptible to consequences.”
“I do not doubt myself!” I defended.
“Yes, you do,” Venn said, like it was fact.
Any lingering butterflies in my stomach were now officially dead.
“You don’t know anything about me,” I replied in disgust.
Venn shrugged. “You’re right, I don’t. But I know how Synchrony works, and I know you’re a lot more powerful than you give yourself credit for.”
Ugh, here comes the flattery, like he wasn’t just insulting me a moment ago.
“I know what I’m capable of,” I stated.
Venn peeled his gaze off me and looked back toward the house. “Do you? Because you said you’ve never worked with a high witch before. You might learn a lot by having a mentor.”
“Yes,” I agreed sarcastically, “because high witches willing to mentor me on my budget drop out of the sky every day. How do you know all this anyway?”
Venn blinked several times before answering. “Because Sondra’s a high witch. She told me.”
My blood stopped in my veins. Mind. Officially. Blown.
These people were living with a high witch, and this just happened to be the first time anyone mentioned it to me? High witches were rare, and most of them were living in luxury, not still hanging around in a city like Nocton.
“Seriously?” My tone came out softer this time, all the offense removed from my voice. “Could she teach me?”
For free, obviously, because Devin barely pays me minimum wage.
“I can’t speak for her,” Venn said, “but I’m sure she’d be happy to teach you a thing or two once we get her back.”
I nearly choked on the handful of snack mix I’d just shoved in my mouth. “Get her back? Where is she?”
Venn swallowed hard, like he was contemplating whether or not to trust me with the truth. “She was… taken.”
“Oh, my God!” I cried. “Like, kidnapped?”
Venn nodded somberly. “Yes. She’s being held for ransom. That’s why we’re after Cowen. He stole the thing we need to get her back.”
I was just about to ask what it was he needed when Venn’s entire body stiffened, halting my words in their tracks. I followed his gaze to see a male figure emerging from the house we’d been watching.
This jackhole is officially going down.
Before I could suggest calling Ryland and telling him we spotted movement, Venn’s car door slammed behind him. Outside the car, Venn lunged forward, shifting into wolf form mid-air.
He raced after Cowen.
7
I kicked my door open and sprinted behind Venn. In his shifted form, Venn was fast. The black wolf slammed into the vampire and knocked him to the sidewalk before I was even halfway across the street. Venn’s head snapped to the side as the vampire’s fist connected with his jaw. It didn’t even seem to faze Venn.
Venn’s jaw snapped at the vamp in warning, and his paws pressed down on his chest. The vamp stopped struggling to hiss in Venn’s face just as I reached them. Every muscle in Venn’s body froze—like time altogether had stopped.
The light from the nearest street lamp caught the vampire’s face. I, too, stopped in my tracks. The man stared back at Venn with hauntingly silver eyes. Fangs protruded from his mouth, but the shape of his jaw was unfamiliar. His hair was slicked back, like he was trying to channel an old-school Dracula vibe. Though he had similar hair color and an almost identical build to Cowen, we had the wrong guy.
Dracula’s head swung forward in a flash, knocking into Venn’s snout with a sickening thud. Venn reeled backward on instinct. Dracula rolled in the grass, freeing himself from Venn’s grasp. He dodged around Venn’s outstretched paws and made a run for it, but he must’ve not seen me there, because he headed straight in my direction.
I didn’t have time to think about what to do next. All I knew was that I wasn’t ready to let this guy go without asking him some questions. I sprang from the pavement and leapt forward, catching the vampire around the middle and tackling him to the ground.
He quickly freed himself and scurried to his feet. Before he could make it far, Venn was on the other side of him, blockin
g his path. Dracula whirled around, but I skirted in front of him, ready to kick him in the royal jewels if it came to that. He hesitated, his nostrils flaring. His eyes dropped to my neck with a hungry look in then.
Oh, hell no. He looked like he had every intention of ripping out my jugular and using it as a straw.
“We’re not here to hurt you,” I said in a rush, hoping we could work this out civilly.
Dracula held his hands up in surrender, but I suspected he only stopped because I’d piqued his interest. My eyes darted to his wrists, just in case, but the skin on his arms was smooth.
“Then why’d your boyfriend try to knock me out?” he asked begrudgingly.
Boyfriend?
Venn stood on his hind legs, and the fur disappeared from his body as he shifted. He wiped the blood from his lip but barely stole a glance at it, like it didn’t really matter.
“We thought you were someone else,” Venn said without regret. “If he’d seen me first, he would’ve run.”
Strike first. Ask questions later. I like Venn’s style.
“Obviously, you have the wrong guy,” Dracula snapped, glancing between the two of us.
“Is Cowen around?” I asked—or rather, demanded.
The vamp narrowed his gaze, but his eyes continued to flicker down to my throat. “Cowen? He hasn’t lived here in years.”
Venn cursed under his breath, and I was sure the blood had drained from my face.
“Years?” The word passed by my lips breathlessly.
“You deaf?” Dracula mocked. He inched away from us like we wouldn’t notice.
“No,” I answered, “but I’m a shifter who’s strong as hell, so I suggest you refrain from the insults.”
The vamp stopped retreating. “What do you want?”
“We want to know where to find Cowen,” Venn answered. “That’s all.”
“I don’t know where to find him.” Dracula sounded like he was telling the truth. But then again, he was a vampire, and I had yet to meet a vamp who wasn’t completely heartless.
“Are you sure?” I asked, using my most threatening voice.
