I closed my eyes, trying to think. I felt a tear gather in my eye and wanted to wipe it away, but I couldn’t even do that. Frustration and helplessness overcame me so intensely I want to crack up and cry. I hadn’t felt like crying this badly since my mother died.
Just like back then, someone I loved was about to die, and there was nothing I could do about it. But I refused to give up. I took a deep breath, then tried to stop myself from thinking for a moment, pushing all the negative thoughts away and clear my mind. Instead of trying to force a thought, I tried tuning into my intuition. It had saved my ass more times than I could count.
Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. Just breathe.
Even now, my consciousness was still one with my magic, filling my body like I was just a vessel of flesh. I could feel the necromancer’s magic pressing down on me, attacking me from all sides, holding me in place.
Then it clicked.
I could feel his magic. Maybe I could counter it, too.
I focused my senses on the feeling of his presence, of his spell pressing down on me. Its intent was clear: Trap. Hold. Douse.
It felt like vines wrapping around my feet, reaching up my entire body. With my mind all riled up, I pulled in magic. But not into my hands. This time, I pulled it into my heart. Filling it with anger, determination, filling it with the hatred I felt for the monster that did this to us, and the feeling of warmth I felt when I thought of Octavian holding me in his arms, gently pressing me against him. I could feel my magic build up, expanding, blossoming. Then, I let it free.
Like a bomb, I went off. The vines clinging to my body curled up, charred and withered, then dissolved. At one with my magic, I could feel the invisible wall shattering as my outburst smashed against it. My legs were free again, my mind focused and sharp.
Even the necromancer stumbled back and shut up in the middle of his incantation, staring at me in surprise.
Before he could utter another word, I channeled my magic in a way I had never done before. Instead of collecting a bunch of it and releasing it, I just let it all pour out. Focused like a beam, it shot out of me, clear and powerful, like a bright white ray of sunlight.
The necromancer stumbled back, but raised another wall with a short command. I could see him strain, pumping his own magic into it. There were cracks in the wall already, but I couldn’t get through it.
Then he pulled something out of his pocket and flung it at me. The small class container shattered, and black smoke rose from it. His concentration wavered for just a moment, but he quickly fortified the wall before I could break through it.
But instead of crumbling again, the wall moved forward. I could literally see my magic being pushed back slowly, splashing against the invisible wall. And while I was already pushing my limits, a grimace formed in the black smoke next to me. It grinned viciously, like a predator that knew its prey could not escape.
Fear flared up in me. There was no way I could hold them both off. Thoughts flashed through my mind, and I wondered whether I was going to die now. If I was happy with my life. If I could die in peace.
But one glance at Octavian and I knew I could not.
At the thought of love being dangled in front of me, only to die before ever tasting it, my heart reeled in protest. Goosebumps rushed over me as a cold, hard determination manifested in me.
I am not dying today.
And I knew what I had to do. I let my emotions take over, pouring them all into my magic beam, despite the ghastly predator zooming toward my face. I let go of my control, no thoughts or restraint left in my mind.
It was all or nothing.
I held my breath as the spirit closed in, but before it could dive deep into my brain, it screeched in agony and whirled backwards. On my chest, Morrigan’s necklace glowed brightly.
With a smile on my face, I pushed on. The smirk on the necromancer’s face turned into a frown, then fear. My smile widened, and I took a step toward him. Then another.
I could feel his barrier falter, cracking. Then it broke. My beam punched right through it, then straight into the necromancer’s chest. He was thrown back against the wall, smashing into it. When his head hit the concrete, his legs went limp, and he collapsed. A speck of blood remained on the wall where he hit it with his head, a bright red contrast to the grey wall and his black coat.
The darkness around us was fading away. The spirit screamed joyfully and vanished. Even the fire in the room flickered once, then went out. I could still feel the necromancer’s presence, but he was weakened and unconscious.
A moment later, Octavian zipped in front of me, his eyes staring down at mine worry. “Are you okay? What… what did you… do?”
I stared at him, and relief washed over me. “Well, I—"
But before I could finish, he pulled me in, wrapped his arms around me, and pressed his lips against mine.
Waves of tingles rushed through my body, down my spine. My head was abuzz, my body feeling light as if I was floating weightlessly. His hand moved from my upper back to the back my head, holding me. His fingers buried in my hair, while his other hand remained on my lower back and pulled me closer until my whole body was pressed against his.
Reluctantly, our lips separated again. A gasp escaped me as I opened my eyes. Our faces were just an inch apart, and his eyes werestaring into mine. I could see his desire in them, but also hesitation, question. As if kissing him back wasn’t enough to convince him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me again, but this time, I wasn’t letting go. The world around us seemed to fade away, and all my attention was on his soft lips on mine, his fingers playing with my hair, his heartbeat against my chest. His scent filled my nose, like wilderness with a hint of cinnamon. I could feel his muscular chest against me, and I wished there weren’t so many layers of clothing between us.
For a moment, I thought about slipping out of my leather jacket and taking his armor off right after. I felt like letting him lift me up, so I could wrap my legs around him, a move I’ve always found a badass kind of romantic in the movies.
But a moment later, I was glad I hadn’t acted on my impulse. A man harrumphed audibly behind us and knocked at the open door. “Are we… interrupting something?”
My head jerked to the side, and my cheeks turned red as I saw Aaron standing there with a wide grin on his face. Raina was behind him, smiling just a little less. Ana stood a little further behind, expressionless as always.
“Uhm, we just… uhh…” I stammered, trying my best to salvage the situation.
“We kissed,” Octavian interrupted, his voice firm and proud, then looked at me again. “And I would have told you how I felt earlier if I hadn’t been so damn afraid of what… other people might think.” He looked deep into my eyes, and I could see that he meant it.
A smile spread across my face, so wide I must have looked like a clown, but I couldn’t help it. I could barely stop myself from jumping up at him, to continue our make-out session, but now that there were people watching, that would be awkward. Did they have to appear right then?
I gave him a quick kiss, our lips almost refusing to separate again, then I pulled back and stepped beside him. “Oh, and we knocked the bad guy out, of course,” I stated calmly, trying to act cool as I pointed back over my shoulder with my thumb.
“We figured. The remaining possessed outside were suddenly… just dead. They dropped to the ground and stopped moving.” Aaron frowned, then shrugged.
“We came just in time,” Raina agreed, nodding. “He had amassed enough of these things to tear through the city.”
“The cemetery!” I yelped, reminded of it by her words, pulling out my phone. “We have to warn Allard.”
Aaron and Raina looked at each other in confusion, but now was not the time to explain. Octavian nodded, and pulled out his phone too. “I will let the clan know. Maybe now that we caught the real attacker, they willfinally come to their senses. Raina, did you bring the handcuffs?”
> “Yup, on it,” the witch responded, pulling out a pair of engraved, cast iron handcuffs from her small backpack. “I’ve read up on them to make sure they’re up for the job. And oh boy, these are some nasty cuffs.”
A few minutes later, the Elders were updated on our situation and on the way to the factory, a squad of supernaturals was sent to the graveyard to check on it, and the vampires were brought up to speed as well. From what I had heard, they were sending delegates, too.
Shakily, I sat down near the door, leaning back against the wall. Now that the action was over, I could feel the stress and exhaustion rushing in. We did it. We really did it.
Despite the ups and downs—or mostly downs, to be fair—we had prevented an evil necromancer from wreaking havoc in the city, and maybe now, we could bring restore peace between the magicals and vampires, too.
As I watched Octavian, Raina, Aaron, and Ana argue about the necromancer and his motivations, a smile spread across my face. Here we were—one from each faction, working together as one. Despite all of our differences, despite the whole cold-war-like situation going on around us. Maybe there was more power in team play than I had thought. Working alone was simple, pure in a way, but I could see myself sticking around.
As memories of the battle drifted through my mind again, a sudden realization came over me. Not once had I felt like I wanted to be alone, to not have to worry about someone else fighting beside me. Without thinking about it, I had trusted them. Fought with Octavian side by side like a well-trained team. All the years of avoiding people, not trusting, not letting anyone close—maybe I just never found the right kind of people.
I closed my eyes to rest for a bit, but the smile still lingered on my face. Those last two weeks had been crazier than everything that had happened in the last couple of years combined. But I felt fulfilled and happy, like I hadn’t in the long time.
I didn’t know what would come next, but I was looking forward to all of it, I thought as our kiss entered my mind again. My smile extended, then was pushed away by a frown.
But there was still the issue of his mother, who was probably on her way now. And we had kind of broken into the vault against explicit orders. And stolen a highly dangerous magical artifact.
This would have consequences. I should have been worried, but I was too tired. Instead, I rested my head against the wall and closed my eyes. I had earned myself a couple minutes of rest before I would be put on trial.
23
About thirty minutes had passed when I heard voices outside. Octavian and I looked at each other, then walked out of the room. We had been standing watch over the unconscious necromancer with the others, but it sounded like we were needed elsewhere now.
We walked through the hallways until we entered the large factory hall, where we saw some Elders and vampires in a heated discussion.
“What’s going on?” I asked as we closed the distance.
Next to me, Octavian jerked up straight and saluted. “Sir.”
The vampire who was arguing with two members of the Ring turned to him. “Ah, here you are. I heard the witches were raising evil spirits? Is that right?”
Behind him, a dozen vampire guards and Crimson Fangs dropped into battle stance, their hands on their swords.
Across from them, witches gripped their amulets and power stones and elementalists raised their arms, focusing on the elements around them.
“No no no no no!” Octavian shouted, waving his arms. “Not to the witches. A witch. One that went rogue. Probably not even from around here. He was behind it all, not the witches of Darkhaven, sir.”
The vampire glanced at the witches, then looked at Octavian. “And how do you know that?”
While they were busy catching up, I scanned the vampire. He was slightly smaller than Octavian, but no less impressive. Dressed in the same combat outfit, but with a golden star on the right side of his chest. It probably meant that he had special authority, or was working as an emissary for the Countess or something. He was certainly the top of the food chain here, that much was clear. Even the Crimson Fangs, normally arrogant and bossy, watched and followed him like a couple of puppies.
On the other side, two Elders and a handful of witches and elementalists were gathered, a few more were further behind, just at the entrance of the hall.
“I’ve been a part of their operations. I know this necromancer isn’t on their side. He killed magicals, even one of the Elders. I’ve made sure we kept him alive but powerless so you can interrogate him yourself, Davorin.”
Even Octavian spoke with respect and submission. This was not just an emissary—this must be the leader of the Crimson Fangs.
“Necromancer?” Davorin raised an eyebrow. “That sounds fun. Lead me to him.”
“Of course,” Octavian bowed a little, then turned around and led the way. The vampires followed, marching behind their leader. The Crimson Fangs were ahead, the vampire guard following close behind.
Without vampires to rile them up, the Elders turned to me. “You are the roque, right?” one of them asked. “Allard had been asking for you, he’s outside.”
“Thank you, I will find him immediately,” I responded politely, then strode toward the entrance.
Outside, I quickly spotted him standing in a small group of witches. When he saw me leaving the building, he smiled at me, apologized to the others, then came right over. “Ah, there you are. I take it your plan worked?”
I laughed dryly. “Well, that depends on your definition of ‘worked’. But we took him down. It was a necromancer, but we haven’t found out what he was planning. Other than raising the cemetery, that is.”
“Ah, yes. It seems you stopped him just in time. Some of the graves were torn open from inside already, but most seemed undisturbed. The spell must have been broken when you took him down. We fixed it up as well as we could. Let’s hope no one notices that some of the dead tried to come back.”
I nodded, then smiled nervously. “So… How mad are they about us breaking into the vault?”
Allard chuckled. “Oh, they were so mad. They had requested a witch that could strike you down from afar, kill you with a curse or something. I was in the process of delaying them, though, until you called. Now… I don’t know. But you’ve got Aaron on your side. They trust him. Well, mostly. They think he’s foolish and rash, but his trust in you improves your chances of getting out of this alive. But don’t worry, they’ll come around.”
Relief washed over me, but just for a moment. Then worry set in again. Did he say alive?!
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw another group of vampires barge into the building, one of them a familiar face. Octavian’s mother. Of course she was here, probably more upset about the fact that Octavian had been here with me than about the whole necromancer thing.
“Oh, um, excuse me, there is something I need to take care of,” I quickly apologized before rushing back into the building. Allard looked after me in confusion, but didn’t protest. Right now, I was less concerned with angry Elders than with Octavian’s mother.
In the main hall, around a stack of crates that were propped up for an improvised table, a small council of sorts had formed. A few of the Crimson Fangs, as well as several members of the Ring of Elders, were arguing again. However, both the vampires and the magicals seemed to be more relaxed than before. I hoped that they had accepted that neither side was behind these attacks and were now brokering a peace.
I scanned the hall until I saw Octavian’s mother at the side, yelling at two witches who were visibly terrified, but didn’t dare to just walk away.
Quickly, I snuck past her toward Octavian, who was standing with the other vampires near the table. When he spotted me, he looked around hesitantly for a moment, then broke rank and walked over to me.
“What did they say? Have they decided what to do about our little break-in yet?”
There was worry in his voice, but also affection. Gently, he put his hand on my cheek and tucked a strand of
hair behind my ear.
“Not yet, but there’s a good chance we can get away with it. I think.” I smiled back at him, leaning in for a kiss.
“Boy!” a sharp voice cut through the air.
Octavian turned back, his eyes widening as he saw his mother storming toward us. But then, his brows lowered again as his jaw clenched, and he took my hand as he turned to face her.
“You can’t still be hanging out with this… rogue,” she spat, gesturing at me with dismay. “And what was that I heard? You needed witches to take down a necromancer? I thought I raised youto be stronger than that, son.”
Once again, I was shocked how she could literally turn anything into a reason to be disappointed in him. Then again, she did call him son, so maybe there was a tiny part of her that was also proud of him. Either way, if she disappeared and never came back, I would not miss her for a second.
“I did, Mother. They were great allies, and I couldn’t have done this without them. No vampire could have,” he responded firmly.
His mother seemed taken aback by the determined pushback in his voice and his proud and unwavering stance . She opened her mouth to retort, but he interrupted her.
“And we certainly couldn’t have done this without Raven,” he added, looking at me with appreciation. “They girls you have introduced to me were nice and smart, but Raven is more of a fighter than any of them.”
I held my breath, and not just because my heart was swelling with pride. Maybe for the first time in his life, he had really stood up to his mother. For me.
But also: he had stood up to his mother. And I could remember what he said about when she didn’t like a girl in his life. I wasn’t exactly helpless, but I also didn’t want to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life, waiting for her to stab me in the back or poison my drink.
She stared at him for a long second, then turned her gaze toward me. She looked up and down at me, and seemed to be exposing all the reasons why I was inadequate. I shivered as her cold eyes finally stared into mine. Laid my soul bare and saw every mistake I had ever made, every weakness I had.
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