A Shade of Vampire 14: A Dawn of Strength (7 page)

M
y joy
at discovering my sister was pregnant soon turned to anxiety as we made our way toward the Great Dome.

“You shouldn’t be here, Vivienne,” I said, gripping the handle of the Dome’s heavy door and pushing it wide open. “You’re too vulnerable. Now you’ve delivered your message, I want the two of you to leave again. Take two phones with you this time and return to Greece. We’ll call you once things have died down.”

“We just got here,” Vivienne said. “I really don’t want to leave you again, brother. Not now that—”

“But now you have more than your own desires to consider.” My eyes lowered to her stomach. “If something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

As we all took seats around the grand table, Vivienne sighed. “Then we’ll stay just a couple of days before heading back.”

I shook my head. “I want you to leave no later than tonight.”

Vivienne exchanged a reluctant glance with Xavier. “Okay,” she said. “If you insist, we’ll leave tonight.”

I gripped her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. “Thank you,” I said.

Averting my attention away from my sister, I took in all the members of the council who’d gathered around the table to meet with us. Satisfied that everyone was present, I began.

“Black witches,” I said, grimacing. “That’s what we’re up against now. My daughter and Caleb are dealing with our humans. In the meantime, we need to formulate a combat strategy. The only weak point we know of in these witches is their palms. Damage them badly enough and they lose their powers.”

“I am the only one here who can truly rival a black witch in terms of strength,” Mona said. “But there’s only so much pressure I can handle. If more than one black witch attacks me directly, which I suspect they will, I won’t be of much use once they’ve broken through my barrier. So you can’t rely on me. Nor can you rely on the other witches present on this island, whose powers are far less than mine.”

“So each and every one of us needs to be prepared to tackle a witch head on,” I said.

A deathly silence fell about the hall.

“But these witches,” Ashley spoke up, her voice shaky, “couldn’t they just end a vampire with a flick of their fingers? I thought we’re hardly any stronger than humans against them.”

I was about to respond when there was a thunderous banging against the Dome’s front door.

“Come in,” I growled.

Two vampire guards stepped in, propping up a soaking wet man between them. His clothing was ripped and bloody, and he had a nasty-looking burn on his chest.

“Micah?” Saira gasped. She was nearest to them, sitting at the opposite end of the table.

“Witches,” he wheezed, as Saira shot to her feet and sat Micah down at the table in her place.

I stood up and hurried over to him, and everyone followed my lead, gathering in a crowd around the werewolf.

I bent down to his level, staring him in the eye. “What do you mean, witches?” I asked.

“White and black,” he breathed, wincing as he tried to rip his singed shirt away from his red, raw skin. “They’re outside The Shade now, as I speak. In a battle. The white witches are protecting The Shade.”

White witches? Protecting The Shade?

Before I could begin to comprehend the werewolf’s words, my eyes shot to Vivienne and Xavier.

“Forget about leaving tonight,” I said urgently. “You must leave this instant.”

“No,” Micah rasped behind me. “You… me… we’re all trapped now.”

T
he moment Micah
said those words, I knew what had to be done and from the look in Derek’s eyes, so did he. I didn’t bother to explain to Vivienne what I was doing as I scooped her up in my arms and hurried out of the Dome. I darted away from the small clearing outside the building and into the woods, where I ran as fast as my human legs could carry me.

“Xavier,” Vivienne said. “Where are we going?” Worry choked her voice as she tightened her arms around me.

“As far away from the shore as possible,” I murmured.

I focused all my energy on my speed and didn’t talk to my wife again until we’d arrived outside the entrance to the Black Heights. Clutching the handle, I attempted to pull it open. It was locked. Putting Vivienne down on the ground, I pounded against the wood.

Five minutes later, the bolt was drawn, and I was met with a familiar face. Kyle.

“Xavier? What are you doing—”

“No time to explain now, Kyle.” Picking up Vivienne again, I hurried with him along the lantern-lit tunnels. I began to lose count of how many locked doors Kyle had to open as we moved deeper and deeper into the bowels of the mountain. Each barrier had been charmed by our witches for extra protection in case of an emergency like this, and if I remembered correctly, there were only three sets of keys that could open them.

Eventually, I began to hear sounds of humanity. I pushed open an old oak door to find us in one of the communal chambers. Previously a dungeon, it had been converted into a living area. I spotted Anna sitting on a couch with her baby. I was relieved to see her—I couldn’t have thought of a person I’d rather leave Vivienne with than her.

Her face lit up as we approached. I set Vivienne down on the couch next to her.

“Vivienne’s pregnant,” I said immediately.

“Oh, congratulations!”

“She needs to stay here with you. Will you fix her up with a room?”

“Of course,” Anna said. “I—”

“Xavier.” Vivienne frowned at me. “What do you mean, fix
me
up a room? You’re human, too.”

I shook my head. “Not for long.” I took a step away from her.

“Xavier, no. Wait—”

“You’ll be safest here, darling.”

She leapt up from the seat and threw herself into my arms. I felt her tears against my skin as she buried her face in my neck. Gripping her face, I kissed her passionately.

“Please don’t leave me,” she gasped, clasping the collar of my shirt.

“I’m not leaving you, Viv,” I said, my eyes boring into hers. “We’re just going to be apart for a short while.”

She closed her eyes tight as she clung to me.

“Baby,” I whispered into her ear, closing my hands gently around her fingers. “Please let me go. I can’t protect you or our child while I’m a human. And your brother needs all the help he can get.”

Breathing out sharply, she ran her fingers through my hair and pulled me down for another long, hungry kiss.

“Okay,” she said finally. “Just, please… be careful.”

I pressed my lips against her forehead, then, lowering myself to my knees, I kissed her stomach through her dress. I stood up again, looking into her eyes one last time before backing away and hurrying out of the chamber.

It was with a heavy heart that I exited the Black Heights, escorted by Kyle, and began to consider whom to approach to turn me back into a vampire.

For now, our honeymoon was over.

A
fter we’d locked
up the humans securely in the Black Heights, it was time for Caleb and me to deal with those who’d opted to turn into vampires. I hadn’t been able to count how many had chosen this route as they were leaving the clearing, but when we arrived in the town square, I was surprised by the number. There were just over a dozen in total. I’d have thought more would take this opportunity to turn.

Still, this was a lot of new vampires to handle. Although they were often harmless for the first few hours as the transformation took hold, and normally just needed to be locked up in a room with a bed until their fangs started to poke through, Caleb and I would need help in carrying all these people somewhere safe, and then at least three vampires ought to stay with them to make sure their turning went smoothly.

I stayed with the humans while Caleb ran back into the woods in search of help. He returned a few minutes later with five vampire guards and, to my surprise, Griffin. They approached me and looked over the humans.

“We need to find the best place to do this,” I murmured. “It has to be somewhere they won’t get in the way, but they also need to be safe.”

“We could just do it in one of the penthouses,” Griffin said. “Mine, even. My parents are in the council meeting, but I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“Okay,” I said, glancing at Caleb. “Let’s do this.”

We hurried to Griffin’s treehouse with the humans. As we walked through the front door, the humans stood huddled nervously in the center of the living room.

“Let’s hurry,” I said. I looked at the humans. “You all know how this works by now, right?”

They nodded, although they didn’t look any less anxious.

“So, who wants to go first? Seven of you, please step forward.”

“Wait, Rose,” Griffin said. “I can help look after them, but I’d rather not turn anyone. I’m still a young vampire myself.”

“Okay,” I said impatiently. “Six of you.”

Six humans shuffled forward after a moment’s pause.

“You can just lie down on the floor,” Griffin said. “We have a bunch of spare bedrooms, though not enough to hold all of you. Some will have to share.”

The humans lay down on the floor before the vampires. I stood next to Caleb as he knelt down before the young man, Nolan, who’d chosen him as his turner. I’d never actually witnessed a turning close up before, so I watched with morbid fascination as Caleb took a deep breath and leant toward Nolan’s throat. Groans sounded around the room as each of the vampires sank their fangs into flesh.

When Caleb surfaced, his mouth dripping with blood, his eyes appeared darker than I was used to. I hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a roll of tissues. Ripping one off, I walked back to him and wiped down his mouth. He staggered back and leaned against the wall, staring at Nolan, who was beginning to writhe on the floor.

Griffin walked up to Nolan and, picking him up, carried him off toward one of the spare bedrooms.

I frowned at Caleb. “Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded.

Once all the turning humans had been carried out of the living room, we had to start turning more. This time, it was a middle-aged woman named Roxanne whom Caleb ended up digging his fangs into. As he drew away, he had the same expression on his face—almost shocked at what he’d just done.

When the rest of the humans were being carried away, I caught his hand and squeezed it. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay, Rose. I just haven’t turned a human in a while. To infect someone with this curse… it’s a strange feeling.”

We didn’t have time to discuss it further as Griffin and the guards returned to the room. I was just glad for the reassurance that Caleb was all right.

“We’ll stay with them here,” Griffin said.

“Okay,” I said. “Caleb and I need to go. I told my father we’d meet him in the Great Dome after we finished with the humans.”

We bade farewell and hurried down to the forest ground. I climbed onto Caleb’s back and he was about to launch into a sprint when I caught sight of Xavier hurrying our way.

“Hold on, Caleb… Uncle?”

“I heard there’s a mass turning going on?” Xavier said. His face was pale, his lips dry and cracked.

“Yes, we just came from there. Up in Griff’s place. You’re going to turn?”

He nodded grimly as he looked up toward Griffin and his parents’ penthouse. “I’ll see you later then,” he said, walking toward the elevator.

As Caleb and I continued on our way toward the Dome, I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take Xavier to return to his normal self. Since this wasn’t his first time turning into a vampire, I assumed that the transition would be easier and he wouldn’t have to wait long before he was in control of himself.

I let out a sigh. Although I couldn’t fault my parents for wanting to be cautious after what had happened to my brother, I couldn’t deny that all this turning going on around me made me feel like turning myself. I hated the idea of being forced to wait within the Black Heights—which I was sure my parents would insist on soon enough. I was a Novak. Sitting still during a time like this just felt like something I was biologically incapable of.

On arriving at the Dome, I was shocked to see it completely empty.

“Where could they have—?”

Before I could finish my question, Caleb pointed to a note on the table. I stared at it over his shoulder as he picked it up. There were only a few words, scrawled in my mother’s handwriting:

“Caleb:

The black witches have arrived.

Lock Rose in the Black Heights with the others.”

I stared disbelievingly at the note.

To my horror, Caleb’s grip around my ankles tightened as he rushed out of the Dome and into the forest, back toward the mountains.

“Wait! No, don’t…” I struggled to loosen his hold on me as I attempted to jump back down to the ground, but he was relentless.

“Rose,” Caleb said, “you’ve seen your mother’s request. You should listen to her.” He swung me off his back and, holding me against his chest instead, tightened his grip on me as he continued sprinting forward.

“No, I just want to… agh, please. Let go.”

“Just want to
what
exactly?” He glared down at me.

“I-I… Oh, damn it.” Exhausted from trying to fight Caleb’s heavy grip, I stopped struggling. “I just want to help,” I said, panting.

“You know what your blood means to these witches by now,” Caleb said as he raced forward full speed again. “If you want to help your kingdom, you’ll keep yourself as far away from those witches as possible.”

Although I knew he was speaking sense, those were the last words I wanted to hear right now. Still, I wasn’t sure how to argue and there was clearly no way he was letting go of me until he’d planted me firmly inside the mountain.

As we reached the end of the forest and approached the clearing in front of the Black Heights, I asked, “And what are you going to do?”

“Your parents need all the help they can get,” he said. “I’ll be fighting.”

My throat felt dryer suddenly. I tightened my grip around his neck as he knocked on the door. Footsteps sounded and Kyle appeared behind it. He didn’t look surprised to see me as he allowed us entrance and closed the door behind us. We passed charmed barrier after barrier as we moved deeper into the mountain. Finally, when we reached the main living area, Caleb set me down on my feet.

“Your aunt’s here with Anna,” Kyle said. “Come with me and I’ll take you to them.”

Kyle was trying to distract and lure me away like a child, but I stared at my boyfriend.

“Please, Caleb,” I said, trying to steady my voice, “Make it back to me.”

Caleb dipped his head down and caught my lips in his. I closed my eyes, wishing time would just freeze and I could be lost in that moment forever. But then he let go of me and stepped back.

“I’ll try, Rose,” he said, his intense brown eyes fixed on me.

My heart pounded in my chest as I watched him leave the room.

I cast my eyes around the cavernous chamber. My mother’s words finally sank in. A hollow feeling welled in the pit of my stomach.

The black witches have arrived.

They’re probably attacking The Shade at this very moment.

And I’m stuck in here.