by Alicia Rades
My fingers tightened around the broken vase. With all my strength, I thrust it upward. The sharp, ragged edges sank into Ginger’s chest. In an instant, his hands in my hair and on my jaw disappeared. Ash rained down on me.
Square Jaw’s eyes darted momentarily to where his friend had just been. It was enough of a distraction that I was able to swipe his hand off my throat. I thrust my hips upward, spinning our bodies until I had him pinned down on the bed.
A look of desire crossed his eyes, and he opened his mouth. But he didn’t even get a chance to take a breath before the shards of glass in my hand entered his heart. I didn’t stick around to enjoy his body disintegrating to ash. I leapt off the bed and shifted, aiming for the balcony doors. The locket still hung in my beak.
Without warning, my skull slammed into a solid, invisible barrier. My neck twisted, and pain jolted through it as the ligaments twisted. I fell to the ground in a daze. The room swam around me as a strong hand reached out and curled around the back of my neck. Big Bad Vamp squeezed tightly. I swore he was a second away from snapping my neck. It freaking hurt.
Maliya only laughed and stepped forward. Her long dark hair swayed around her. She snatched the locket out of my beak. Though I tried to hold on, it slipped through my grasp.
“Shift,” she commanded in an unforgiving tone.
I hesitated. I didn’t take well to those types of demands.
The hold on my neck tightened again. I did as I was told. My body lengthened, and my wings grew into arms. My nostrils flared. Almost immediately, Maliya’s hand cracked across the side of my face. Pain pulsed across my skin, but I didn’t make a sound.
Maliya leaned in close to me. She stood several inches higher, but I guessed she was wearing heels under her dark red dress. “How dare you,” she hissed, sounding strangely reminiscent of a snake. “How dare you steal from me!”
My captor hurled me across the floor, his fingers leaving my neck as I flew through the air. I landed with a thud and skidded across the carpet past Maliya and straight between the double doors leading to the hall. I was already dizzy from the earlier impact, but my headache intensified at the sudden movement. I glanced toward the balcony and finally saw what I had missed a moment ago. The doors were shut, the glass blocking my only chance of escape.
A vampire by the doors—the one who’d shut them, I assumed—stepped forward. Cowen. He had a look of fury etched into his eyes. There was no doubt in my mind that he recognized me.
Maliya knelt to my level, fuming. “Who sent you? Who are the other people you were with, and how did you manage to get the passcode to my vault?”
I held my tongue. I may be going down, but I wasn’t taking Venn and the rest of them with me. They’d been nothing but nice to me. It was almost a glimpse into the family I once had, before the vampires stole them from me.
Shock riveted through me when Maliya grabbed me by the shirt and hauled me to my feet. I stumbled backward, and she slammed me into the wall.
In the hallway light, I finally got a good look at her. She was flawlessly beautiful, with long dark lashes, high cheek bones, and manicured eyebrows. Her skin was pale, but not as pale as the other vampires, as if her skin had a darker hue during her time as a human. Her black hair fell in perfect waves around her shoulders. Her long-sleeved dress gave her breasts the perfect lift—to the point where I was a little jealous. She looked like she might be in her forties, and my breasts weren’t even that perky. Everything about her screamed cougar, though there were the obvious silver eyes and elongated fangs that said vampire. Who knew, though? She could be a vampire cougar. Probably was.
Maliya’s snarl turned into a sardonic smile. “Don’t want to talk?” she taunted. “Fine with me. It’s not going to save your sorry shifter ass anyway.”
This bitch has no right to talk to me like that!
My head snapped forward, cracking into hers. Her head reeled backward, but it barely looked like she felt a thing. Meanwhile, my head and neck throbbed. Big Bad Vamp stepped forward, but she held up a hand to stop him before he could get to me. I was probably more shocked than anyone. I hadn’t planned on head-butting her.
Maliya’s silver eyes slowly roamed over me. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time, raven shifter. How fortunate that you just happened to find me on your own.”
Looking for me? Great. Who’d I kill?
“You are the Ravenite, aren’t you?” Maliya accused in a smooth, even tone.
Ugh. That name again.
I didn’t even bother responding. I wouldn’t play into her games.
“Will you kill her?” Cowen asked.
I’d kill all these jackasses first.
A smile spread across Maliya’s face, but she didn’t tear her gaze off mine. “No. That would be too easy. I want the Ravenite to suffer.”
What had I gotten myself into?
Maliya dropped her grip on my shirt and whirled around. She unclasped the locket in her hand and secured it around her neck, placing it over several other necklaces that hung there. “Lock her up. Don’t provide her any food or water. I’ll be back to deal with her later.”
Big Bad Vamp grabbed on to both of my arms as Maliya headed down the hall with Cowen at her heels. I kicked my legs into the air, trying to struggle out of his grasp, but he was too strong. He squeezed my arms together behind my back until I thought my shoulders might pop out of their sockets.
“What’d I do to you?” I blurted. I hadn’t intended to speak, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to get her attention. I mean, besides try to steal from her and head-butt her in the face. But she spoke of me—of the Ravenite—like she already had something against me long before tonight. “Did I kill one of your security guards or something?”
That was very possible. I’d killed a lot of vampires. I couldn’t exactly keep track.
Maliya spun toward me and was back in front of me in an instant, her breath rushing across my face. “No,” she snarled. “You killed my husband.”
Every muscle in my body froze at her words. I really had gotten myself in too deep. Whatever torture she had in store for me, it wasn’t going to be pretty.
And still, I couldn’t seem to bite my tongue. The next words slipped out without my approval. “I’m sure he deserved it.”
Big. Mistake.
A scream ripped out of my lungs and echoed down the hall when Maliya’s fangs sank into my neck and a shock of vampire venom entered my veins.
17
Excruciating pain seared through my body. I could hardly focus on my limbs, let alone my own thoughts. Each time my consciousness broke through the pain, I racked my brain trying to decide if there was a stronger word than bitch to describe Maliya. I’d run into my fair share of bitches in my lifetime. I survived high school, after all. But bitch was such a petty little word. Maliya was pure evil.
She barely bit me for a second. It was hardly deep enough to bleed and wasn’t long enough to change me—just enough to make me suffer. She knew exactly how much venom would keep me just on the edge of consciousness so that I could feel every nerve ending in my body ablaze. It started at my skin, the hot, widespread pain of being cast into the fires of Hell. Then it moved to my muscles, where the pain transformed into sharp, repetitive jabs. It was like being stabbed over and over again with long surgical needles on every inch of my body. And then it reached my bones, where it felt as if someone was cutting them open with a chainsaw and shoving metal rods through them.
I almost wished the pain meant something, like I’d come out on the other side of it with flawless beauty and immortality. But I’d rather die than join the ranks of the most hated and heartless species alive. Still, immortality beat this fiery pain burning through my veins.
It seemed like days that I’d been stuck inside my own head, trying to claw my way through agony. Eventually, the pain eased to a dull ache, and my mind cleared enough that I managed to force my eyes open.
The first thing I no
ticed was a charge like electricity buzzing through the air. I was in a small room no bigger than my bathroom, lying on a stone floor with identical walls on three sides of me. A layer of bars blocked me from a larger room that spanned beyond my cell.
I lifted my head, which was still foggy from the venom, and squinted into the darkness. There wasn’t much of a room outside my cell. It was more like a hallway, with at least a dozen other cells identical to mine lining the walls on either side. A soft light cast shadows across the room. When my eyes finally focused, I saw that the light came from a single candle near a large metal door. A vampire sat in a wooden chair next to it.
A guard.
His eyes were closed, like he didn’t take his job seriously. I couldn’t help but think that the stone cells and candlelight were all there for show, just to give me the creeps. I mean, who had a freaking dungeon in their house?
I had to remind myself that Maliya literally had blood slaves living here. This was probably where they went to get punished.
I pushed myself to my elbows, but I could barely make my muscles comply to my demands. This was a thousand times worse than last time. It was less like I was recovering from a marathon and more like I was a cadaver waking from the morgue.
My tongue felt like sandpaper. I tried to lick my lips, but there was nothing left to wet them with. They were dry and cracked, like my throat. My stomach twisted in hunger. I didn’t know how long I’d been here.
My thoughts flickered to Venn, the look in his eyes when he realized I’d been caught and that he couldn’t save me. I wanted to believe he’d come for me, but it didn’t matter how much he knew about this mansion. There was no way he was getting down in this dungeon—past Maliya, who now had the power to predict the future, past the security cameras, and past the guard at the end of the hall. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another guard posted outside the door.
Not to mention that I was pretty sure Ryland would talk anyone out of coming back for me. I mean, he wasn’t a terrible person or anything, but he seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn’t risk his family for a girl he just met. I wished I could believe Venn would defy Ryland’s instructions and come after me like a true knight in shining armor, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
Which meant I was on my own. I’d shift, slip through the bars, attack the guard, and figure out the rest as I went. It was a long shot considering my whole body trembled in weakness, but I held on to my slim chance of survival.
Shifter magic tingled across my skin. As quickly as it came, it disappeared. What the hell? I tried again, but it was like trying to run through a brick wall. My skin rippled, but the change never happened. Was it the vampire venom? No. That shouldn’t affect shifter magic.
I tried again. The strange buzzing I sensed intensified as if pushing back against my magic. Terror consumed me when I realized the energy in the air was a strong enchantment keeping me from shifting. Strange. I’d never felt someone else’s magic before. I’d heard it was possible, but I’d never been strong enough to recognize it.
Hopelessness consumed me, sinking like a rock in my gut. I curled my knees to my chest as every curse word I knew flew through my mind. I screwed up big time. I should’ve gone after Jenna sooner. I shouldn’t have begging Venn for help. I should’ve let the vamps take the locket so I could escape. I should’ve fought harder. I should’ve done a lot of things… Then I wouldn’t be in this mess.
Who was I kidding? This was where my search for Jenna was always going to end. I was actively pursuing the Soulless, which meant I was going to die at the hands of a vamp one way or another. It was kind of in the job description.
I pushed the unkind words I had for myself from my head. My mind drifted to a simpler time. I was seven, pumping my legs on the swings at the park near our house, trying to swing higher than Jenna.
I was eight, running through the sprinkler in our back yard on a hot summer day while Jenna chased me around with a pool noodle.
I was ten, sitting in front of the mirror in Jenna’s room while she dusted blush on my face and nearly impaled me in the eye with a mascara brush.
I was twelve, sneaking out to the treehouse after bedtime to meet up with Jenna and “practice magic.” Mom and Dad didn’t approve of magic, so mine and my sister’s curiosity had to go under the radar. We didn’t know then that I was a witch.
My head snapped upward as it hit me. What was I doing? I was a witch. I could get out of this place on my own. I mean, I didn’t know a spell to unlock jail cells or anything, but I was desperate. Maybe that was enough to save my life…
I tried not to make any sudden movements so that the guard wouldn’t notice. First things first—get rid of the guard. I was too weak to take him one-on-one.
Slowly, I rose to my feet. My whole body tensed with nerves. There was nowhere in the cell to rest my shivering body, not even a cot to sit down on. So I stood there with my knees quivering and my hands curled into tight fists. I narrowed my eyes at the sleeping guard, focusing intently on aiming my magic at him like a laser beam. Maybe if I concentrated hard enough, he’d have a heart attack or burst into flame or something.
Several minutes passed, and… it was incredibly anticlimactic. The guard didn’t move, and all my concentration did was give me a headache.
So maybe I couldn’t make vampires spontaneously combust. Instead, I turned my attention to the lock on my cell. It was my only other option. I didn’t know the incantation to unlock a door—I’d never needed it before—but it couldn’t be that hard. I was sure any low witch was capable of it.
I stepped forward and reached out until my hands closed around the cold metal of the lock. I pictured the locking mechanism disengaging and the door swinging open, but when I pushed at the cell door, it remained firmly in place.
“Come on,” I growled under my breath. I can do this.
The tension in my head intensified. Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t work with all this negative energy pulsing through me. Freaking Synchrony. How was I supposed to channel positive energy in my situation?
Just try it.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing out the tension in my head. But all it did was transfer that tension to my shoulders. I tried again.
This has to work.
I pushed at my cell door again. It didn’t budge. My jaw tightened, and I resisted the urge to kick the metal bars.
This is dumb! I bet Synchrony isn’t even real. It’s the freaking enchantment working against me.
The sound of a lock slipping open echoed through the dungeon. It startled the guard awake and sent me stumbling backward into the far wall of my cell.
“This shouldn’t take long, Cowen,” I heard a female voice say on the other side of the door. “You’ll have plenty of time to make your flight to Seattle. You can tell Ellwood all about the raven bitch once you get there.”
Seconds later, the door at the end of the hall burst open. Maliya entered the dungeon, flanked by four male vampires. Through the darkness, I recognized Cowen, Bodybuilder, and Big Bad Vamp beside her. The other guy was new. Maliya’s heels clicked against the stone in a quick staccato that matched the pace of my pounding heart.
I am not afraid, I told myself, despite every biological process assuring me I was. I ignored the warnings my own body was giving me and straightened in my cell. My eyes locked on Maliya’s, and my face softened into a perfectly indifferent expression. The sound of her footsteps stopped once she was within arm’s distance of my cell. I could’ve reached through the bars and clawed at her face.
“Let her out, Dave,” Maliya commanded in a cold tone. She never broke eye contact with me.
Dave—a.k.a. Bodybuilder—stepped forward. He glared at me with a hard expression. No doubt it was more than a little embarrassing that a huge vampire like him lost a fight to a little girl. I expected him to whisper some sort of threat, but he didn’t speak. He simply unlocked my cell and stepped aside.
“Get her,” Maliya instructed b
efore turning her back to me.
Dave reached into the cell. Though I ducked out of the way on instinct, he had me in his hands in under a second. His grip was so tight on my arms that I was sure he’d leave hand-shaped bruises behind. I stumbled out of my cell, a thousand curses thick on the end of my tongue. I didn’t speak. I didn’t need to add fuel to the fire, though I would very much enjoy seeing how that would go down.
“Bring it in, Vincent,” Maliya called to the guard.
Dave hauled me down the long hallway, even though he didn’t have to. I would’ve walked on my own if he let me, but the more I struggled to regain my footing, the more he fought against me.
The guard appeared in the doorway, dragging a chair behind him. It was the size of my dad’s old plushy recliner, only it was made entirely of wood. Two of the legs screeched across the stone floor, and the other two connected with the ground with a loud thud when he dropped it into place at the end of the line of cells.
I spotted the shackles connected to the arms and legs of the chair, and that’s when I freaked out. My legs thrashed, and my arms flailed. My elbow caught Dave in the nose. Two of the other vampires reached for me and held my legs. Maliya just stood there with a smirk on her face, watching her henchmen force me into the chair.
“Get off me!” I screamed.
Of course, they all ignored me. The cool metal of the shackles touched my skin, and I heard the sound of them locking. I continued to struggle, though it was clearly no use. An icy cold hand shot out and grabbed my face, squeezing my cheeks until my teeth hurt.
“Stop!” Maliya demanded of me.
Despite the urge to spit in her face, I did as I was told. If I complied, maybe she’d have a little mercy on me.
She’s a vampire, I reminded myself. They have no mercy.
“This entire room is enchanted,” she warned. “Don’t even think about shifting. It won’t help you get free.”
