“Look, I can’t pick anything up.” Dex’s voice turned pleading. “Come on. You have to get up, Liv.”
Oblivion beckoned behind my eyes. The Crow’s human face swam to the forefront of my vision, alongside Dirk Alban’s. The whole picture had a hazy dreamlike quality, but I could tell the difference between a dream and a memory. Dreams faded upon waking. Memories grew clearer each time they replayed. As though each recall brought me closer to the person I’d been before.
A sour taste filled my mouth. I’d worked with the Crow… trained with him. Like Dirk Alban. But he didn’t want me to help him now, like Mr Cobb had. Why would he? He wasn’t looking to take on the Death King’s power via his amulet, but to destroy him using cantrips of his own creation. He didn’t need another spirit mage standing in his way.
The question was, had he realised the Death King’s soul amulet was a fake yet?
Dammit, Liv. Get up. Blood soaked into my jacket, into the carpet. Who was to say this poor human victim of theirs would be enough to sate the three vampires’ bloodlust? I needed to get the hell out of here before they got bored of playing with me and decided to go in for the kill.
Pain screamed up my arm as I rolled onto my side, my fingers stretching out to grab the pouch containing my cantrips. Almost there…
With a burst of strength, my hand closed on the pouch, scrambling for a healing cantrip. A flash of light engulfed me, and at once, I began to feel sensation that wasn’t pain creep back into my limbs. The agony dialled down, and twinges zipped through my muscles as they unknotted, freed of pain.
Except for the ache in my chest born from Brant’s betrayal, and the gutting knowledge that I hadn’t truly known him at all. Hell, I didn’t know myself. Had I really been that person sitting eagerly in front of Dirk Alban and the Crow, waiting to learn from them? Maybe I hadn’t known what they were capable of. The Crow had been human at the time, and for all I knew, he’d left that life behind after turning into a vampire. Unless the Order had hit him with a memory spell, too…
The door whispered inward. The three vampires were back, their mouths bloody from feeding on their prey. With the crimson stains on my clothes and hands, I still looked like I was bleeding, too… which worked in my favour.
Okay. I’m getting out of here in three, two…
Fire flashed before my vision as Dex descended on the vampires in a shower of sparks. As the vampires recoiled, I set off the cantrip hidden in my hand. The paralysing blast struck all three vampires at once, and I ducked between them. One tried to grab me and tripped, his usual coordination marred by his attempts to avoid getting too close to the fire sprite. Another cantrip sent smoke pouring through the room, and I sprinted out into the corridor and slammed the door behind me.
A heavy body struck the wood an instant later, shattering it to pieces. The vampire broke free with a furious lunge and a scream of rage. I flung myself flat and rolled over, past the splintered door. What kind of vampire makes their doors out of wood?
My hand closed around a sizeable shard of broken door, and I swung the improvised stake with everything I had.
The wooden stake speared the vampire’s chest. He fell back, blood pulsing from the wound. From inside the room, the other vampires let out cries of fury mixed with despair.
Dex flew into the path of the door, but both vampires ran straight through him, propelled by their rage. I staked one of them in the throat, while the third sidestepped, his teeth sinking into my shoulder.
Pain shot through my arm once more, but it was a far cry from the agony they’d inflicted on me before. I used the stake to block a hammer-like strike that broke my weapon into two shards.
“Give it up, sweetheart,” the vampire growled.
Dex flew down into my attacker’s eyes, sparks flying from his hands. The vampire danced backwards, but not before I stabbed the improvised stake into his arm. Crimson soaked my fingertips, and the vampire’s arm went limp.
With my free hand, I grabbed for another piece of shattered wood. My second strike caught him in the neck, and he fell to his knees, blood fountaining from the wound. His bloody teeth moved, forming words I couldn’t read, before his head hit the carpet.
As his gasps petered out, I slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. My shoulder continued to burn, but I forced myself upright. “Dex… is the way out clear?”
“Yes…” He darted out into the corridor from behind a door leading into another room. “But there’s something in here you’ll want to see.”
He lit the way into the adjoining room, halting above a dark-clad figure lying on the ground. His throat was a mangled mess, his pale skin streaked with bloody furrows.
My stomach lurched. Brant lay bleeding from multiple wounds, enough for me to confirm the vampires had used him as their snack rather than ambushing someone on the streets. A sob caught in my throat, anger and disbelief merging until I couldn’t speak.
One thought won out: I wouldn’t leave Brant in here to die, no matter what he’d done.
I hadn’t a hope of carrying him single-handedly, but I reached into my pouch and grabbed my last healing cantrip.
Dex descended over my shoulder. “Liv, are you sure?”
“No.” I turned on the cantrip before I changed my mind, then I gave Brant a shake. “Hey. Rise and shine.”
His eyes flickered open. “Liv?”
“Can you walk?” I tried to keep my tone even, but relief seeped in all the same. “I think the three vampires are dead, but their sire might come back.”
“You killed them? All three?”
“Of course I did.” I grimaced when he leaned on me to push himself to his feet, not noticing my shoulder wound. “Their sire, though, he’s a nasty piece of work. He left them to kill me. And you, apparently.”
He mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
“What was that?” I said. “Regretting working with him now?”
I might not want him to die, but I was a long way from ever forgiving him. Unpacking that could wait until we were both back on safer ground, however.
Brant looked up at me, his face streaked with blood. “He owns my soul. If I tried to run, he’d find me.”
“How long?” I asked. “How long has this been going on? He was the vampire at the fancy event you mentioned, right? The one who convinced you to bet your soul on a poker game?”
He flinched. “Yes, that was him. He has people everywhere. In the warehouses… even among the Death King’s army.”
“I gathered.” My voice shook, my shoulder throbbing. “Is this guy the one who was supposed to be able to get my memories back, too?”
He was silent for a heartbeat too long. “I never lied when I said I didn’t mean for this to happen to you.”
“You of all people should know that when you play with fire, the consequences are on you.” I backed down the hallway, heading for the door. “He’s not in here, is he?”
“No…” He walked after me, his steps slow, uncertain. “No, he wanted me to stay out of his way. Because of you, he deemed me a flight risk.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault you turned traitor?” My hand gripped my sore arm. “I knew I shouldn’t have wasted my last healing cantrip on you.”
“You’re injured.” He reached for my arm and I slapped him away.
“Don’t touch me.”
His gaze dropped. “I’m—”
“Spare me the apologies and just tell me where your master went.”
When he next spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. “If he has the soul amulet, he’ll have gone to… to his home.”
“This isn’t his home?”
“No, it’s a safe house.”
“Then you won’t mind burning it to make sure those scumbags don’t come back this time, right?”
He glanced behind him, a conflicted expression on his face. “I’m a dead man now, whether I leave or stay. If he finds out—”
“He already let his vampires feed on you. I recko
n he’s done with you, Brant.” When he didn’t move, I added, “He ripped your throat out. You’d be dead if not for me, and if you don’t set this place ablaze, I will.”
Flames sparked from his hands, spreading to the bodies of the dead vampires. The wooden furniture joined the blaze, and we ran out into the cold air, leaving the burning remains of the vampires behind.
22
Brant and I ran out onto the unfamiliar street outside the vampire’s house. I let him overtake me, feeling another pang in my chest at the thought that he must know the area better than I did, and despite my shattered trust in him, I needed to rely on him to find the way to the Crow’s house. To my friends.
As he took the lead, I gave him a warning look. “If you lead me the wrong way, I’ll shove my D20s up your nostrils.”
Dex snorted. “What’re you looking for?”
“The Crow’s place, and it’s this way.” Brant turned right. “I don’t have any reason to lead you in the wrong direction, Liv. It’s too late for your allies now, whether you go there or not.”
No. It isn’t. “Let’s assume my allies are just fine, but they could use my help.”
We found the first body a short distance down the road, ripped open as though by sharp claws. A phantom must be loose near here.
“How many of those spells does he have?” I remarked aloud. “If he hand-carves them all, he can’t have a whole houseful.”
Not enough for an army, surely. Then again, with the speed vampires were capable of moving at, carving several spells simultaneously wouldn’t be a tall order. How had he escaped detection for so long? If the vampires stayed out of one another’s business and none of them knew of his history as a spirit mage, though, I could see how he might have escaped their notice. And the Order might have marked him as dead for all I knew.
Dex flew in agitated circles above my head. “If one of those things is on the loose, I’m outta here.”
“If you fly off alone, you’re more vulnerable,” I warned him. “If you ask me, the Crow won’t have any phantoms inside his hideout. He wouldn’t want them getting in his way when he gets his hands on the soul amulet. Right, Brant?”
From his pinched expression, I’d guessed right for once. Didn’t mean I knew where my other allies had disappeared to. The last I’d seen, they were fighting the phantoms beside the node on the other side of the city, but the Crow thought he had the Death King’s amulet. I needed to stop him before he realised it was fake.
Brant made a right turn down another dark street. “He won’t be alone. If he’s attempting a full spirit magic ritual, he’ll need assistance.”
“From other spirit mages?” I arched a brow.
“No,” he said. “He wouldn’t work with others. He doesn’t like to share.”
“That’s why he wanted me out of the way.” I shivered in the cold air, and my shoulder burned with pain, a reminder of the tooth-marks in my skin. I didn’t have any more healing cantrips, and I could no longer trust Brant to watch my back.
But I wouldn’t leave my friends to die.
“You’re thick as pig shit,” Dex informed Brant. “You knew the vampire was a spirit mage, but you still didn’t even try to warn Liv?”
He glared up at the sprite. “I warned her not to get involved.”
“No, you tried to encourage me to use spirit magic.” I marched on down the darkened street. “I was your backup plan. You hoped I could save your soul. You still do.”
“She’s got you there,” said Dex. “How about I burn off your hair, fire-boy?”
Brant hissed out a breath. “We’re here.”
I followed his gaze. A vast estate extended before us, so large that it made the other house I’d been trapped in look modest in comparison. Fences surrounded the pristine lawns, and its whitewashed walls gleamed in the light of lamps hanging from above each of its arched windows.
“How’d he afford this place?” I whispered.
“Vampires build connections fast,” he said. “He buried his past when he turned.”
“The Order should have found him first,” I muttered. “They should have known he worked with Dirk Alban.”
Brant shot me a worried look. “How’d you know?”
My hands fisted, sending another wave of pain through my shoulder. “You were counting on me never gaining my memories back, weren’t you?”
Dex made a noise of alarm. “Incoming!”
Fire blasted from Brant’s hands, and a curse exploded from the bushes. Ryan walked out, their cloak smoking at the edges, and looked Brant up and down. “What’s he doing here?”
“Making up for what he did.” I shot Brant a glare. “I saved his arse from the vampires we left burning in the safe house. Where’s the Crow?”
“My master insisted on going into his estate alone.” They glanced over their shoulder at the estate. “He hasn’t come out yet.”
“And you didn’t think to go after him?”
“He expressly forbade me too,” said the Air Element. “Besides, that sprite of yours went looking for you, so I decided to wait and see if he found you.”
“You did?” My voice rose in surprise. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” As Brant shifted at my side, Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “If you turn on us, prepare for a world of pain.”
“Brant, you should go.” To Ryan, I said, “The vampire owns his soul via some contract I’m not a hundred percent certain on. Even if Brant doesn’t want to turn on us, he might end up forced to do so anyway.”
From Ryan’s expression, they wanted to leave Brant dead in a ditch somewhere. But all they said was, “I’m going to find my master.”
“He can’t have been hurt, can he?” Surely not. His soul was safely hidden wherever he’d put it when he’d switched it out for the fake. Then again, these people were messing with magic which could turn even a lich into a rotting corpse. Who knew what other tricks the vampire lord had up his sleeve?
Ryan stepped through the gates into the darkened garden. The windows were dark, too, their curtains closed despite the lights hanging above the arches.
“My master and I took care of the guards outside before he went in,” Ryan explained.
“Including the phantom?”
They inclined their head. “As for Davies… I haven’t seen him. I should have guessed he was working against us. He never liked the other Elemental Soldiers, but I never realised just how much.”
“I know the feeling.” I didn’t look back to see if Brant was still waiting outside the gate. If he had any sense, he’d leave, before the person to whom he owed his soul stepped in to claim it.
I walked after Ryan, across the darkened grounds towards the vampire’s estate. The Air Element’s magic rustled the leaves of the bushes, and pushed the front door inward before we reached it.
I gagged on the smell of rotting flesh. A body lay sprawled across the doorway, a blank cantrip gleaming on its chest. A lich.
“The Death King didn’t do that,” I whispered to Ryan. “The Crow did. He’s not very careful with his allies, is he?”
“He doesn’t have to be.” Trix popped up in the doorway, for all the world like he’d been there all along.
“When did you get in?” I said, bemused. “I thought you were at the comic con with Devon.”
“Oh, I came back here after she went home,” he said. “I intended to help out your friends, but the one who calls himself the Crow caught me. He had one of his vampires drain my blood until I passed out, and I only just woke up.”
“You…” I trailed off, staring. Needle-sharp bite marks stood out on his neck. “How’d you survive that?”
“I used my elf healing powers, of course.” He shuddered. “It was very unpleasant.”
Beside me, Ryan’s baffled expression mirrored my own. “Have you been hiding here the whole time?”
“I saw you coming, so I decided to wait for you to arrive.” He shivered. “I heard voices downstairs… I think there’s something trap
ped in here.”
“Something?” I walked into the gloom, beckoning Dex to fly ahead of me to light the way. “Did you see the Death King?”
“No. I woke up in there…” He pointed through a narrow doorway into a sitting room where three bodies lay limp and unmoving on the ground. The vampires had come off worse in the end, it seemed.
“Why’d he bring you here?” I tensed at the sound of a sharp cry from below our feet. He was right, and the sound wasn’t close to human. But whoever it was, their distress was unmistakeable.
Dropping to a crouch, I found the rusty handle of a cellar door. With a quick tug, I opened it, wincing when my arm burned with pain again. The piercing bite marks weren’t deep, but it was a nuisance to do everything one-handed.
Dex flew under the trapdoor, lighting a set of stone steps leading into the gloom of a basement.
“He’s not down there, I don’t think.” Ryan trod downstairs behind me, and my gaze alighted on a cage resting on top of a stack of boxes.
Dex exclaimed in alarm. “Storms and showers!”
“What’s that?” I leaned forward to look into the cage—and recoiled. A transparent shape floated behind the cage bars. A sprite, like Dex, but paler. So pale I could hardly see it.
“That’s an air sprite,” Ryan said in a hushed voice.
“I’ll get it out,” said Trix.
“Are you sure?” I backed up from the cage, peering into the gloom. Nothing else of note filled the dark basement. The sprite must have been one of the vampire’s experiments, too. I couldn’t just leave it here, so I stepped back to let Trix reach the cage himself. His elf hands worked the lock with ease, and a moment later, the sprite zipped out, crashing straight into Dex. The ensuing shrieking echoed off the basement walls, loud enough to raise a slumbering vampire.
Oh, hell.
“C’mon.” Beckoning, I climbed the stairs behind Ryan with Trix bringing up the rear, followed by the two sprites. We’d pretty much killed any chance we’d had of sneaking up on the Crow undetected, and when I tripped over a second trapdoor, the sound of voices below made me pause.
Touch of Death (Order of the Elements Book 2) Page 20
