by Alicia Rades
We raced down the hall and turned toward the stairs. Just before we reached the end, Jenna grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. She threw her arms around me and squeezed me tight. Ronark, Andi, and Fiona all stopped to wait for us.
“I’m so sorry about Venn,” Jenna said.
I hugged her back, but it didn’t feel like I could squeeze hard enough to show her how much I appreciated the thought.
“Thank you,” I said before drawing away.
My eyes fell on Fiona’s sad expression, and I gestured for her to join us. Fiona stepped forward, and I wrapped an arm around her as she wiped the last remaining tears out of her eyes.
“I love you guys,” I said.
“We love you, too,” Fiona replied.
Finally, I drew away from them and stood up straighter. I’d cried just about as many tears as I possibly could, and my eyes had gone dry. I swallowed down the lump in my throat and took a breath. “Let’s go slay some vampires.”
21
Music from the ballroom spilled out from open doorways when we reached the top of the stairs. Quietly, we snuck out into the hallway. Ronark led us down a narrow hall and peeked around the corner. He threw his arm out across Andi’s chest and pressed her back to the wall. The rest of us followed suit. I held my breath and forced my heart rate to slow.
Ronark placed an index finger over his lips, then peeked out around the corner again. Silently, he gestured for us to follow.
Halfway down the hall, we heard a pair of footsteps approaching. Ronark shoved us into a dark room. Judging by the shapes I could just barely make out through the darkness, it looked like some sort of study. Ronark stood at the door and peered through the sliver into the hallway until the sound of footsteps disappeared.
“Come on,” Ronark hissed, leading us back out into the hall.
Fiona kept close to my side, her eyes darting this way and that. As we stopped the end of the hall, a collection of voices reached us.
“He’s bluffing,” a man accused.
“Am I?” another challenged.
“Just fold already.” I recognized Rogers’s voice.
“Poker?” I whispered in disbelief. Valkas was hosting the celebration of the year, and his security team was out here playing poker.
Ronark shrugged. “Makes things easy for us.”
He looked around the corner, and I poked my head out beside him. I saw that we were in the hallway that led to the big sitting area with the large arches and the grand piano. Four guys sat around the couches with cards in their hands.
“What do we do?” Andi asked. “I can create a distraction if you need it.”
“I think we can take them,” I said. “It’s one human and three vampires against five shifters.”
“No, no,” Ronark replied. “I think Andi’s right. A distraction will give us a better advantage. They’re less powerful if we split them up.”
“So are we,” Jenna pointed out.
“Jenna’s right,” Andi whispered. “We’ll take them all at once. But we have only one shot to catch them off guard. I’m going to distract them, so get ready to strike.”
Ronark turned to me and grabbed on to my shoulders, staring me in the eyes. “You take Rogers, Rachel. He’s not as powerful as he seems. You can break through his spells. I know you can.”
“You’ve never seen me perform magic,” I pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter. Every witch has something worth fighting for. Just make sure your reason is stronger than his.”
I nodded.
“That a girl.” Ronark patted my back, then turned to Andi. He dragged her into a hug and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “Be careful, baby doll.”
“I will.”
“What’s the signal?” Fiona asked.
“You’ll know.” Andi winked.
Andi padded softly down the hall in her jaguar form, not making a single noise. She kept close to the wall and ducked under tables and around other decor to keep from being seen.
When she reached the first wide archway, she waited until she saw all the men had their eyes on their cards before hopping forward silently and ducking behind a couch.
Rogers glanced up from his cards and looked out into the hallway. He went rigid, as if he was on high alert. I could barely see him from this angle, but he seemed to relax a moment later and looked back down at his cards.
Andi lowered herself onto her belly and slid along the hardwood floor, her fur helping to muffle the noise. She cocked her head at us just before disappearing out of view.
Ronark led the way, sneaking out into the wide hallway as we all followed behind him. We kept close to the wall where the vampires couldn’t see us, then stopped just before we reached the first arch. We were only mere feet away from the couches.
“Full house,” a vampire with a bald head announced.
Just then, the sound of the piano filled the hall. It was a soft, beautiful melody. All four of the security guards’ eyes widened as they looked to the corner of the room where Andi was playing. Three of the men—all but Rogers—shot to their feet.
“Hey!” Baldy called. “What are you—?”
“Now!” Ronark hissed.
The four of us jumped out at them while they were momentarily distracted by Andi’s music. Ronark shifted and slammed into one of the vamps facing away from us. Fiona took the other, while Jenna jumped on the arm of the couch and kicked off, using her momentum to soar over the other two guys. She shifted mid-air and landed in raccoon form on Baldy’s shiny head.
Meanwhile, I went for Rogers. I aimed straight for his eyes, but it was like he knew I was coming. He swung his arm out, and it connected with my chest so hard that when I gasped, no air came. My body flew across the room and slammed into the small section of wall between the archways.
Holy hell! Rogers is strong. Way stronger than any human should be, I realized.
I pushed past the pain in my chest and jumped to my feet before Rogers could reach me. Andi had abandoned her act on the piano and had joined Jenna in wrestling her guy onto the couch. Fiona grabbed a plant and swung the heavy pot at one of the vamp’s head.
“A shifter, huh?” I shot at Rogers.
“Valkas would only pick the very best for his team.” He smirked before throwing a fist in my direction. I ducked, and his knuckles connected with the wall behind me, sending crumbled pieces flying everywhere.
I kicked my leg out at him, and it sank into his abdomen. He let out a satisfying grunt, but it barely fazed him. He grabbed for me and caught me by the wrist, then spun me around until I was pinned to his chest.
“What’s in it for you?” I asked. “Money? Fame?”
Rogers scoffed. “None of your business. How’d you get out of your cell?”
“None of your business,” I shot back at him. I threw my arms downward with all my strength, breaking free of his hold. I dove toward a vase on the end table to use as a weapon and held it above my head.
But before I could bring it down on him, he muttered the words, “Quod dico facies.”
My whole body stopped as if I’d been turned to stone, but my eyes still moved freely. I glanced over to my friends to see that Fiona had taken care of the first guy was helping Ronark with his. Any second now, they’d come to help me, too. Come hell or high water, we were getting our hands on that dagger.
Rogers stepped closer to me until his face was just inches from my own. “If you must know, I want to be on the winning side.”
“You sure you chose the right one?” I asked rhetorically.
Rogers reached down and clamped a hand around my jaw. When he touched me, something like a small electric shot traveled across my skin. It was like I could feel his magic in his touch, and I knew that everything Ronark had said about him was true. Rogers’s magic was strong, but it was without purpose. He was driven by fear and greed, and that was why he had to renew his cloaking spell every day. His magic was weak.
“Valkas is stronger than any witch a
live,” Rogers asserted. “You’re the only thing standing in his way of eternal glory. And I’m stronger than you. Together, Valkas and I can rule the world.”
“And what about when you die?” I asked. “If you become a vampire to live forever, you’ll lose your magic. You don’t think Valkas will toss you aside the second you’re no use to him?”
Rogers hesitated to answer the question.
“Besides, if you’re so strong, how come your spell stopped working on me a good ten seconds ago?”
Rogers’s eyes went wide and darted up to the vase I held above his head. I’d been totally bluffing, but the second I said it, he lost his focus. His spell eased on me just enough that I found control over my fingers again. I opened my hand, and the heavy vase clunked into his forehead.
He was barely distracted for a second, but it was enough. I brought my knee up and pressed my foot firmly into his abdomen, then kicked with all my strength. He went flying backward and crashed into a table next to the couches. It crumbled beneath his weight. I was on him a second later, patting him down in search of the dagger.
His arms shot out and grabbed on to my wrists, so I threw my head forward into his nose. My head throbbed, but I was satisfied to see blood dripping down his face and onto the hardwood floor. Still, he didn’t let go of me.
I pulled a move I’d seen in a movie once. I threw my arms outward, giving me enough momentum to break his hold on me. I grabbed his wrists with all my strength and tugged so that they crossed over his chest. I pressed my knee right where his arms met and again felt around for the dagger.
Relief flooded through me when my hands ran over a sheath secured to his hip. I pulled hard on his suitcoat, tearing the buttons and a corner of fabric.
I’ll be damned. Ronark was right. Beneath the fabric of his coat, the silver handle of the dagger poked out of the sheath.
The moment I reached for it, Rogers let out a deep, angry roar from beneath me. He gathered all his strength and threw his arms out, tossing me off of him like a rag doll. My cheek slammed into the corner of the couch several feet away, but I ignored the pulse of pain and whirled around.
Rogers was already coming at me again, his fist flying at my face. I ducked, but I didn’t get out of the way in time before a pain shot out through my other cheek. I stumbled backwards into another end table. I grabbed the legs and held the whole thing high above my head, swinging it at Rogers.
He threw his arm up to protect himself. The table snapped in half against his forearm, and the legs went flying in different directions. I was left with two legs in my hands and half a table top. So I swung it again.
This time, Rogers caught it mid-swing and twisted, ripping it out of my hands. I didn’t let myself get distracted. Jumping onto the arm of the couch, I kicked off to gain height, then twisted in the air to land on Rogers’s back. I curled my arm around his neck and squeezed tightly, but he was just as fast as I was. He grabbed on to my arm and threw his body forward, using the momentum to flip me over his head and slam me onto my back on the ground.
The air stalled in my lungs like the whole room had just been sucked of oxygen.
“You think you’re so tough,” Rogers drawled as he loomed above me. “You will never amount to anything as long as the Soulless are around.”
I finally caught my breath and managed to choke out, “We’ll see about that.”
In a split second, I kicked off the ground, spun and grabbed the dagger out of Rogers’s sheath, then sliced the hand racing for my throat. I jumped backward just out of his reach. My ankle met up with the wall behind me, and I held out the dagger in defense.
Anger ignited across his eyes, and his nostrils flared. He aimed his good fist at me, but I easily ducked and dodged it. What I didn’t expect was for him to go straight for the sconce behind me, ripping it off the wall. Before I could react, a hot, burning pain seared my shoulder as he shoved the burning candle into my exposed skin.
My scream echoed above the breaking glass and grunts coming from the other side of the room. Rogers took the opportunity to reach down and tear the dagger out of my grasp.
That was it before he made a run for it.
“Rachel!” I heard Jenna calling my name, but I didn’t listen. No way was I letting Rogers get away with that dagger.
I sprinted after him, down one hall and around a corner, until we reached a back door and broke out into the night. I ran after him as fast as I could, but he kept a steady pace ahead of me. He raced around the chateau and to a familiar trail, the one that led to the fight ring. My chest ached with shallow breaths the harder I pushed my body to keep up with him.
What the hell is he up to?
Rogers didn’t slow until he reached the arena at the top of the hill. When I finally caught up to him, he was standing at the edge of the cliff, dangling the dagger over the water.
Dread slammed into my gut so hard that the air whooshed out of my lungs. I stopped in my tracks. It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach by Thor’s hammer.
“Don’t!” I cried, holding my hands out in front of me, as if I could reason with him.
But there was no reasoning with the Soulless. He’d already made his decision.
Rogers opened his fingers, and the dagger dropped out of sight. All of my hope fell with it, crashing into the waves below.
Instinctively, I shifted and flapped my wings, as if I might be able to catch it before it hit the water. But my wings failed to lift me into the air. I’d almost forgotten Valkas had ripped out my flight feathers. I shifted back to human form, feeling completely hopeless.
Maybe if I had a spell to stop it, or something to drag it up from the deep lake bed below… But I didn’t have any of that. All I had was tonight, and my final chance had vanished in the blink of an eye.
Before I could really process what had just happened, Rogers’s features started changing. His head ballooned as his body grew hundreds of pounds heavier. His skin transformed into a dark gray color, and it looked dry and rough. His nose elongated into a long, sharp horn.
A rhino! He was a freaking rhino shifter.
I quickly glanced around for a weapon and spotted a sharp rock at my feet. I knelt down and curled my fingers around the cool stone. My mind raced with possible solutions. A sharp rock against a rhino didn’t give me the best odds. I needed magic.
Ronark’s words instantly came back to me. Every witch has something worth fighting for. Just make sure your reason is stronger than his.
Rogers scuffed his foot in the dirt and lowered his head, aiming his horn at me. But for whatever reason, it didn’t ignite a sense of fear within me like it should’ve. I remained calm.
As Rogers stood there threatening me, I turned my focus inward. I felt for the magic I knew was there, but instead of digging deep into my own magic, I searched for the barrier Rogers had placed over the island. My magic slammed against an imaginary brick wall. I pictured my magic spreading out across it, looking for weaknesses in the spell.
“Want to know the difference between you and me?” I asked boldly.
Rogers tilted his head to the side, like I’d piqued his curiosity.
“I have a family worth fighting for,” I said.
This one’s for you guys.
Rogers huffed and took aim, sprinting for me like he was going to impale me through the heart. But I raised my hand in defense.
Suddenly, my magic tore through the wall like a stick of dynamite blasting through brick. All at once, the power inside of me that had been held back erupted out of my palms. Air blasted backward with the power of a hurricane, leaving me safely in the eye of the storm. The bleachers crumbled, and trees bowed over as Rogers’s body flew backwards at the force of my magic. He tumbled through the sky over and over, letting out a terrified whine. Then he was gone, thrust over the side of a cliff toward the rocks below.
In the blink of an eye, the storm was over. Trees righted themselves, and silence settled over the arena. It was almost like it hadn
’t happened at all. I stood there for a moment, dumbstruck. All that power… and I hadn’t even muttered an incantation?
The sound of distant screams reached my ears, bringing me back to attention. I looked out over the trees toward the chateau, and my hand shot over my mouth. From this vantage point, I could see into the tall, wide windows that lined the ballroom. All throughout the room, blood slaves had shifted and vampires were going wild. The entirety of the island had turned on the Soulless. The sound of shattering glass was barely audible in the distance as two shifters threw a vampire through a window and glass rained down around him.
This isn’t over yet, I realized. My family needed me.
I started toward the trail, knowing that I had to get down there and help them. But just as I reached the trees, a tall, dark figure stepped out of the shadows, blocking my path. My heart leapt my chest.
“Well, well, well,” a voice came from out of the darkness. “You really should’ve stayed in your cell, darling.”
My blood ran cold as the figure stepped out of the trees and into the moonlight.
Valkas had come for me. Judging by the evil sneer on his face, he was finally done playing games.
22
“How does it feel?” Valkas mocked, taking another step into the arena. “Knowing this is finally the end? Without that dagger, you’ll never kill me, not unless you dive into the lake to retrieve it. The rocks at the bottom will kill you first.” He smirked in satisfaction.
“There are other ways to stop you,” I said confidently.
“How’s that?” He feigned interest. “Trapping me on this island again? Darling, you don’t have the manpower. Besides, look at how well that worked out last time.” He gestured to himself, like he was living proof that my magic was weak.
The honest truth was that I didn’t know how to stop him. I didn’t even know how to slow him down.
Valkas took another step toward me and reached out to brush my hair over my shoulder, exposing my neck.
