Blood Magic (Blood Books Book 2) Read online

  “Do you have something to add, Sebastian? Because I believe we’ve already made it perfectly clear that you’re coming and helping,” I said.

  “As a matter of fact, I do have something to add, Avah. No go.”

  “No go?” I asked.

  “No go,” he repeated.

  No go! Sebastian was infuriating.

  “I don’t do witches,” he added.

  I gawked, appalled. What did that even mean? “Well, since you’re half witch—”

  “Ugh,” he groaned. “Bugger off. That’s a pathetic excuse.”

  “Tell me, then. Do you have a better idea?” I gave him a challenging glare. Of course he didn’t have a better idea.

  I ignored the wide, cheeky grin on Jeremiah’s face as he watched us banter.

  “Yes, we do it ourselves.”

  Seriously?

  “It’ll be more powerful if we have an entire coven behind it, Sebastian; you should know this,” I said.

  Now it was his turn to gawk, and I smiled in satisfaction.

  “What have you to add?” Jasik cut in.

  “What have I to add? What have I to add? What don’t I have to add? Have you forgotten that I’m the only one you know who can help you, Avah?” I’d never seen Sebastian so upset. Gone was the playful lady killer.

  “Why are you so upset about this? It won’t even take that long,” I said, shocked by his reaction to my plan.

  He exhaled sharply and raised his pointer finger to me. His knuckles were white. The mug in his other hand shattered below his grip. Anger flared through me. How dare he treat me like this—in front of my own coven! I was sure we had onlookers, and I cringed at the thought.

  “Sebastian, remove that finger before I bite it off,” I said sternly as my fangs lowered.

  We sat there, with his finger in my face and my fangs only a quick snatch away. I was only slightly curious to see if he could heal from this wound.

  He retracted his finger and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes in what I assumed to be an attempt to control his temper. He opened his eyes again.

  “Let me explain something to you, Avah. We have the best of both worlds, sure. I’m ecstatic to be what we are instead of like them,” he said, flicking his head toward the other vampires and Hunters, “but I don’t do witches anymore. I don’t work with them. I don’t associate with them. And if you were smart, you wouldn’t, either.”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “Witches are almost—almost—as bad as Rogues. At least with Rogues, you know what you’re getting. Witches have more brains. They’re clever. They get you when you never even knew to be expecting it. Betrayal like that, it’s the worst. I don’t do witches.”

  “Repeating that a hundred times isn’t going to make me understand any better. So, you don’t do witches. Well, neither do I. Not since they cast me out. But I’m smart enough to know that we need their help to find Amicia. Be the bigger man, Sebastian. Step up.”

  He barked out a hard, insincere laugh. “This has nothing to do with being the bigger person, Avah. They’re… them… those fucking witches,” he stuttered, “can all burn in hell!” He pushed his chair back and stomped out of the dining hall.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Jeremiah said with wide eyes as he took a sip of blood. “I mean, dramatic much?” He stifled a laugh. I ignored the overwhelming sensation to slap him across the back of his head.

  “Sebastian!” I called as I ran after him. The front door of the manor hung open, and vampires of the house stared into the empty abyss. I shook my head and followed him outdoors. I didn’t have time to deal with his temper-tantrums.

  “Leave me be,” he said when I’d reached the front porch. He was sitting on the railing, his legs dangling in the air below him.

  Realizing just how upset he truly was, I softened my approach. “Sebastian,” I said, resting a hand atop his shoulder. He recoiled, and I quickly removed my hand. I exhaled loudly.

  “You don’t understand, Avah,” he said quietly.

  “Isn’t it your job to teach me?” I said with a small smile, waving away the Hunters who followed us onto the porch. They remained motionless—not moving closer but not leaving us be, either. I shook my head in frustration. How was I to deal with childish outbursts with onlookers?

  “They can’t be trusted.”

  “I know,” I said honestly. I knew that the moment I’d turned and was shunned.

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Enlighten me, then.”

  He faced me, eyes hard. “I just—I don’t know how much to tell you and how soon I should say it. What I know, it’ll change your life forever, Avah.” He shifted toward me. Well, that was progress.

  “I think there’s no better time than the present. We’re leaving in less than an hour, and we need their help.”

  He grunted. “There’s that word again: need. You speak so highly of them—even after all this.” He waved his arms around, emphasizing the house, the vampires, everything my life had become.

  “Well, we do need them… to find her.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “You know what’s so funny about those witches of yours?” he asked, swinging his legs over the rail and standing on the porch. His eyes burned into mine, turning into a fiery violet. I swallowed down the breath that had caught in my throat. He was close—too close. I felt his hot breath against my skin. I uncoiled my arms, fearing a fight.

  I shook my head, unsure of what to say.

  “They’ve never told you a single truth. That ritual? The incantations? That’s what gave you The Power, not some god. Your coven chose you, not them,” he said as he pointed to the sky. “They amplified the power that was already within you. Nothing else. Nothing more.”

  “That’s not possible,” I said. I shook my head in disbelief. My coven wouldn’t betray me like that. My mother wouldn’t betray me like that.

  “Avah, think about it. There’s more than one. You’re looking at number two this very second. You still possess your witch magic. Be realistic. When you turned, that amplified power was still within you. That’s why you’re part witch, part vampire.”

  No! My world came crashing down as I recounted my childhood memories. Spirit users were chosen because we already had the ability to control the elements—just not quite like this. Other affinities couldn’t possess the ability to control the other elements, which is why there were never prophecies describing a fire witch as the chosen one. It wasn’t in their nature. I couldn’t deny that it made sense.

  “It can’t be,” I whispered.

  “Perk up, buttercup, because it is. The elders, the high priestesses, they knew what they were setting you up for. They knew others existed—most dead, others immortal.”

  “They couldn’t have known. They wouldn’t have done this to me.” I began backing away. If they had chosen to do this to me, then they—my own coven, my own family—had intentionally set me up to die. No witch was born with this much power, because it completely consumed us. It wasn’t natural. The body began to expel it almost as soon as it entered you. That was why so many had died after being chosen.

  “You can’t possibly believe they didn’t know that the only others who existed were forced to turn in order to survive. Seriously, Avah. Think about it! I bet you were the only spirit user in your coven—or at least the only one they could play off as chosen.” He used air quotes to emphasize his point. “After you’ve been around a while, you’ll start to dig for information. Let me save you some time: witches invented this power scheme to wipe out an immortal species. And it’s damned near working, too.”

  I was still backing away as he spoke, and I bumped into Jasik, who wrapped his arms around me, pulling my body against him. His eyes betrayed his pain. Did he know? Did they all know? I looked from one Hunter to the next. They remained cool, focused. Who could I trust? My new world of possibilities began to slowly crumble.

  “Please tell me you didn’t know,” I said, speaking j
ust above a whisper as I stared at Jasik’s telling eyes. He shook his head, and I felt relieved. Of course they didn’t know. Hunters were trained to take orders without questions. The thought to ask probably never occurred to him. But… did Amicia know?

  “This doesn’t make sense,” I said. “I mean,” I rubbed a hand through my hair, “it does, kind of, make sense, but it can’t. It can’t be true. How could they get away with this? They’re sending their young to be slaughtered!”

  “Because no one thinks to say, ‘Hey, are you really a sociopathic homicidal maniac intent on annihilating an entire species simply because you don’t understand them?’ But think of all the time this would have saved if someone had my smart mouth,” Sebastian replied. Though his words reeked with sarcasm, his tone didn’t. He meant every word.

  In an instant, my fear and pain had vanished, replaced by something more primal.

  “We’re going,” I said, shrugging off Jasik’s arms. “We’re going to see them. Tonight.”

  I stormed back into the house and into the basement training quarters. I needed the truth. I needed to hear my mother tell me that she had lied to me my entire life, that she had knowingly and willingly infected me with a power that she knew would rip me apart from the inside out just so I could kill a few more vampires. Instead of trusting us to naturally get the job done, someone decided to sacrifice the youth for the greater good. Well, they sacrificed the wrong witch.

  MY MOUTH WAS in a hard line as I stared at myself in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors in the training room. My dark-brown hair looked eerily black beside my paling skin. I had always had a natural tan as a mortal, but the lack of sunlight slowly began to change that. To hunt for Amicia, I opted for the same outfit Jasik bestowed upon me mere weeks ago: black spandex shorts, black sports bra, and black shoes.

  I closed my eyes, recalling my first encounter with the training quarters. Jasik had insisted I dress in these ridiculous garments. They helped to identify me as a Hunter, but also, they bared skin. This was a double benefit for those who fought against Rogues. They worked as a tease, forcing Rogues to think of nothing but blood, leaving them vulnerable in the attack. Besides ensuring Rogues couldn’t think straight, the clothes also allowed the Hunters to move freely, to focus on how their new forms moved. At the time, I hated the thought, but now, the unease within me subsided. Going practically sky-clad wasn’t a foreseeable option at that time, but now it was my first choice.

  I barely recognized the girl who stood before me. The thought was unnerving, but I shook the feeling quickly. I had to accept the inevitable: I couldn’t face the witches and be the same girl they once knew. I needed to be a different person. I needed to suppress the innocence, the love, the longing. I needed to be the monster they created.

  The other Hunters readied themselves around me but wisely chose to ignore my presence. Lillie’s attire matched mine, though we looked nothing alike. My form was tall and curvy. Hers was short and thin. The spandex material fit my muscles snugly, where hers left room for gorging. The remaining Hunters wore only black shorts that cut off at their knees. Their exposed torsos were thick with muscles. Their look was oddly arousing and terrifying at the same time.

  “Sebastian, you need to be armed,” Jasik said, frustrated.

  I watched them in the mirror. Jasik was nearly a foot taller than my five-foot-seven frame, and though Sebastian was tall, too, Jasik towered over him now. The few inches in height Jasik had on him seemed to lengthen when he took his leadership role seriously.

  Sebastian arched an eyebrow. “Like I’d need shitty clothes or weapons to protect myself, mate.” With his Australian accent playfully coating his words, it was hard to take his upset seriously.

  “Yo, just wear the knife,” Jeremiah said, placing the handle of a blade in Sebastian’s hand. He then proceeded to individually curl each of Sebastian’s fingers until he grasped the knife. “See, man. Not so bad.” He flashed his swoon-worthy smile and turned to leave. Catching my eye, he gave me a quick wink. I blushed. The Hunters may not have enjoyed having Sebastian around, but I could always count on Jeremiah to lighten the mood.

  Sebastian grumbled incoherently but slid the knife in his back pocket. “Happy?” he said to no one in particular.

  His eyes lingered on me. I swallowed hard and faced the others.

  “Jasik?”

  His eyes met mine, and I gestured toward the cabinet for my scabbard. It was thin and black; the material matched the crisscrossed back of my sports bra perfectly. I turned around so Jasik could slip it through my arms. It fit tightly against my frame and blended into my top. Next, Jasik handed me his treasured Celtic seax. It had been his father’s, and Jasik graciously passed it down to me when he saw me eying it during our first training session. The two-foot-long blade had a slightly curved tip and a black handle with swirling silver lines that seemed to glitter. The handle also housed hematite, a powerful stone said to guide warriors in battle. It seemed fitting. Finally, I sheathed a dagger on my hip and faced the Hunters.

  “Ready?” I asked. Muffled footsteps sounded overhead, and I glanced at the ceiling.

  “More than you know,” Malik replied. His eagerness to retrieve his priestess was top priority.

  “Seems our visitors have arrived,” Jasik said.

  We tramped up the basement steps and to the front door, where the newcomers stood stoically, awaiting instructions. The four vampires before me had piercing neon eyes, ones that danced up and down my frame, taking in my presence. Their glowing eyes, a sign that magic ran freely through their blood, gave them away: they were the other Hunters. I nodded, and they didn’t hesitate to return the gesture. They responded in unison, as if they’d been rehearsing.

  “Thank you for coming on such short notice. I trust your travels went well,” Jasik said, shaking each hand. “Help yourself to the house. We’ll return as soon as we can.”

  The others followed Jasik’s lead while Sebastian waited on the front porch. I knew he wasn’t a social butterfly, but his behavior was blatantly disrespectful. I wanted to trust him—and to have him stay with us for the long haul—but even if he won me over, he’d need to make friends with the others, too. In an attempt to refute the possibly irreversible damage Sebastian caused, I offered my hand to each. The first two were women, who looked unmistakably similar. I was sure they were related somehow, but I didn’t bother with questions. They didn’t seem to be talkers—at least, they didn’t seem to want to talk to me. After all, only we were privy to Sebastian’s hybrid theories. To them, I was still an unknown. The final two were men, who took my hand in a vise-like grip. If I was but a mere mortal, the tiny bones in my hand surely would have shattered. I squeezed back and found comfort in their widening eyes and obvious winces. I gave them each a small smile and shrugged, like I couldn’t help my strength.

  And with that brief—and incredibly one-sided—encounter, the Hunters and I left the manor, escaping into the night.

  “Relax, love,” Jasik said, meeting my stride as the others followed in our wake.

  Lillie couldn’t keep her eyes off Sebastian. She had a serious trust issue. Briefly, I thought back to our first interaction. I had learned that she wanted a relationship with Jasik, but he never returned her feelings. When he met me, his attraction was instantaneous, and this infuriated her. Though, I couldn’t blame her. I tried to put myself in her shoes. I’d be just as pissed. She was slowly opening up to me, so I didn’t want to make a mistake by lecturing her on giving Sebastian a chance. Though, I wasn’t sure if the mistake would be saying it and risking a possible friendship with her or saying it and then leaving Sebastian without a sitter. Both made me cringe. So I kept my mouth shut and eyes front.

  “I’m fine,” I said when I realized Jasik was waiting for an answer.

  I focused on the surrounding woods. Darkness engulfed our world, and the creatures of the night had since come out to play. We were surrounded by trees that seemed to be as tall as skyscrapers in New York City. The l
ingering scent of salt water in the air tickled my senses.

  “Surely what Sebastian explained isn’t the truth. We’d have heard of it.” He sounded confident.

  “I’m not so sure, Jasik.”

  “Why do you doubt them?”

  “Because I grew up with them.” His question took me off-guard, but I answered without hesitation.

  My mind wandered to the daily lectures I had received from the elder witches of my coven. I hadn’t realized how much they despised vampires, but more importantly, I hadn’t realized how much their bias affected me and my choices. I lived to kill vampires. I actually believed it was all I was truly good at. I completed my studies quickly so I could go on hunts. I lived for it, because I believed I was doing the right thing, keeping my coven safe. In reality, I was simply providing a service they needed. Nothing more. Nothing less.

  “Just leave it be, Jasik,” Lillie said from behind. She gave me a knowing sideways glance.

  I gave her a grateful smile. I didn’t often appreciate her using her gift as a reader to invade my personal thoughts, but tonight, I welcomed it. I needed to stay strong, to stay angry. It was the only way I’d actually say what needed to be said when we arrived.

  Quickening my pace, I began running south, toward northern California, where my former witch coven resided, near the remote mountains of Shasta. I closed my eyes, relying on my heightened senses to guide me through the forest, and they did not disappoint. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I reopened them again, but it was long enough to clear my mind and put on my game face.

  “We’re almost there,” I said, slowing down, inhaling deeply. The smell of sage was strong here. It threw me off. We weren’t close enough to the living quarters, where sage wafted through the air as part of protection spells. I stopped abruptly. Something was different.

  I heard the faintest of noises: a slow, steady beat. It grew increasingly louder until it was pounding in my ears.

  “Stop!” I said quickly, and the Hunters obeyed, though Jeremiah took a few more steps before turning to face me. We stood in a line, with Jeremiah in front of us.