Magestorm: The Embracing (6 page)

17

Distant voices echoing in the basement greeted Dhane’s return to consciousness.  He looked around the room weakly, his hands and feet tied, and a throbbing pain coming from each wrist.  A buzzing in his head made it difficult to remember what had happened.

There was a layer of dirt on the floor, and a few lights spread out let him see only shadows around him.  At the far end of the basement there were three men talking.  He couldn’t make them out, only seeing silhouettes from light shining down the open basement door.  Squinting to see, it was no use, and soon two of the men bowed and the third nodded and headed up the stairs while the other two conversed quietly.

“Dhane…”

He was startled at the sound of his name.  The raspy voice sent a chill down his spine and he wondered what else might be in this basement with him.  He struggled to look around and saw an old couch against a wall, a large table, a few boxes and some kind of table leaned up against the far wall.

“Dhane, it’s me, Veronica.”

“Veronica?”

There was movement on the table and a head leaned out from the edge.  She looked like hell.  Nobody had seen or heard from her in about seven months.  Had she been held captive in this basement that whole time?  Suddenly he felt ill and a glimpse of panic set in.

“You’re so lucky,” the creaky voice said.  “You get to die soon.”

That was exactly what Dhane was worried about.  She was their plaything, meaning he was likely lunch.  With a deep breath, he tried to get to his feet and a throbbing began in his head.  He fell back to the floor and realized the sound wasn’t just in his head, but footsteps on the stairs.  A man and four women came down, talked briefly with the men at the bottom, and then started towards the prisoners.

Dhane started muttering spells, but with the cobwebs in his head from the blow he took, combined with the blood loss, he was mixing and matching spells and nothing was working.  Three of the women crouched down next to him and stroked his arms, his neck, and his cheek.

“Let’s put him on the table,” one smiled.

The other woman and the man picked up Veronica and moved her to the couch.  The women then got Dhane to his feet and put him on the table.  They surrounded him and cut off his pants and shirt as he desperately tried to come up with some spell.  It was futile.

In a flash, teeth sunk into his neck, his arms, and his legs.  He scrambled desperately, fighting off his attackers as best he could, but he could only get one off at a time.  As his blood was drained, he kept getting weaker, and finally he stopped fighting. 

His heart was getting louder, throbbing in his ears as it tried futilely to keep his body supplied with life.  All it did was feed the monsters.  The little bit of light in the room began to fade as his eyes grew heavy.  At the edge of consciousness, he wasn’t even aware of new footsteps coming down.

“Stop!”

Did he recognize that voice?

“You can’t do this here.  He must die elsewhere or you’ll lead his whore werewolf right to us.  Take him to the woods and dump him.  Once he fades from life, she’ll go looking for him and find him alone.  Scratch up the bite marks as well, or make them look like animal bites.  We can’t have his death linked to us.”

Yes, he recognized it, but he couldn’t think who.  He couldn’t think much of anything.  This was it for him, and a certain peace washed over him.  With a deep breath, he passed out as the teeth exited his body and he was rolled off onto the floor.  Soon he was thrown in a trunk and being driven to his final resting place.

It seems the vampires finally get their revenge for my father. 
Fuckers.
  I’ll get you back in my next life.

18

Xander walked down the hallway and knocked on Amelia’s door.  With no answer, he checked the handle and found it unlocked, and the room absent of werewolves.  He turned and walked back down the hall and downstairs.  A check of the waiting room found nobody, and he decided to check the bathing room.

Inside, Amelia sat in the water near the edge, fully clothed.  She was running her fingers slowly and gently across the top of the water and staring blankly at the small ripples.

“Amelia, Cassandra just called.  I need to go visit with the witches.  Are you okay?”

“Perfect.”

The words quietly escaped her lips, though she made no other actions to show she even knew he was in the room.  Xander was about to leave but changed his mind.  Instead he walked over and squatted at the edge of the pool.

“Why don’t you just go see him?”

“I think he left.  His energy is growing faint.”

Xander felt a chill.  There was something about joining with others that he knew, personally, that others did not.  Distance wasn’t the only thing that weakened the feeling.  Severe injury also had that effect.  Still, he had no reason to think the mage was hurt.

“If you let him leave again, you will regret that you didn’t at least try.”

Her hand stopped moving and she stood up, clothes clinging to her body, and water running down everywhere.  She stepped out of the water and walked to the door, but stopped before leaving.  Looking back over her shoulder, she spoke calmly and coldly.

“I will deal with my personal life as I see fit.  Don’t you have a meeting to get to?”

In a moment she was gone, and he was left to shake his head.  While he wasn’t sure the boy wizard would turn out to be anything different than his old man, Xander believed in giving him a chance.  If only he could convince Amelia.

Amelia walked back to her room and stripped naked before stepping into the private bathroom.  Her hair, a mix of black and brown, had grown out and now reached between her shoulder blades.  A long hot shower of scrubbing her body clean did nothing to get him out of her mind.  She almost wished she was still a greeter, to have that outlet for numbing herself.

Suddenly the sensation of their connection left completely and she gasped as she nearly slipped in the shower.  Eyes wide, she scrambled to turn off the water and step out.  She trembled as she wondered what would cause this.  Even over a great distance, the connection was supposed to be unbreakable.  Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized she was trembling.

“Get a hold of yourself.”

She couldn’t obey her own command and full scale panic began to set in.  There was only one way to lose the connection completely, other than her removing it.  Could he be…?

“Don’t say it.”

With a yank, she pulled a towel off the rack and dried quickly.  Her hair was still dripping as she marched into the bedroom and threw on clothes and shoes.  Then she was out the door and down the stairs, into the street and headed for the Grand Hotel.  That was as good a place to start her search as any.  And God help him when she found him.

1
9

The car pulled off the main highway and down a dirt road through the trees that filled this area.  After driving down the overgrown path until they were hidden deep within, the driver stopped the car and got out.  Two female passengers followed suit and exited the car.  Once all three were at the back, they opened the trunk to reveal Dhane.

He was sure he died during the trip.  After drifting into nothingness, seeing a light and remembering all the important moments of his life, he saw a face.  It jolted him and brought him back from the brink.  Even so, he was sure it was a face he would never see again.  Sheer will could only carry him so far.

As hands grabbed his various body parts, he tried to open his eyes but failed.  They pulled him from the car and dragged him some ways into the woods.  Finally they dropped him on the hard ground, at the spot they had determined would be his final resting place.  He struggled again to see and was able to open his eyes.

“Looks like he’s not quite done yet,” the driver said.

“Let’s have a final snack.”

The two women crouched down and bit into Dhane, one on the neck, one on his wrist.  The driver just watched with a grin on his face.  Haze began to set in, and the mage knew this was about to be it for him.  Eyes closed, his lips began to move, mumbling words that even he didn’t know what they meant.

Suddenly a flash of light shot out in all directions from his body and the two vampires feeding on him fell away and started spitting out his blood.

“Oh God, this tastes like shit.”

“I think he poisoned us with his final breath.”

The driver laughed and leaned down over Dhane as the light was fading.  Once the light was gone and there was no movement or signs of breathing, the vampire was satisfied and stood again.

“He’s done, let’s get going.”

The three of them walked back to the car and maneuvered their way out of the woods.  A few moments later they were gone, and the only sound remaining were the typical sounds of animals and cracking tree branches.

For a while, Dhane laid there listening to the sounds.  An owl asked its question nearby, and a deer scurried through a short time later.  Other scurrying sounds came and went.  The cool night air began to make him shiver.  Or was he going into shock?  At this point, it didn’t much matter.  The darkness was coming to claim him.

He was now gone, no longer a part of this world, it seemed.  The sounds were gone, the cold night air was gone, and he was just waiting for the light to return.  He didn’t hear the footsteps breaking branches, or the voice that called out.  He didn’t feel the hands reach down and pick him up.

“What the hell happened to you, son?”

The older man was dressed in overalls and a flannel shirt, and he had a rifle slung over his shoulder.  He was strong for his age, which was at least fifty.  Carefully the man walked through the woods, heading to his home deeper within.  The only question was whether he was carrying a survivor or a corpse.

20

Xander arrived at the Grand and the place was clearly buzzing.  He hadn’t seen Nicole all day and now Cassandra needed urgently to meet with him.  If he didn’t know for a fact she was fine, he would probably be in full werewolf form and demanding answers. 

A few vampires were in the lobby, mostly heading out.  They gave him the creeps, and judging by the looks he got, he did the same to them.  At least the morning sun would be up shortly.  That would clear out these bloodsuckers for a while.

“Thank you for coming so quickly.”

Cassandra hurried up and shook his hand before leading him back to the council room.  She didn’t say much until they got inside and closed the door.  Alone, she took a deep breath before she began.

“The vampire king is here, and they want to push for a vote sooner rather than later.”

“Like how soon?”

“Tomorrow.”

He cringed and sat down in one of the council room chairs.  He was regretting even proposing they open up the council.  Intending to unite the werewolves and witches into a cohesive group against outside invaders, and possibly help prevent an uprising like Algernon inspired, had turned into a bad idea as soon as the vampires found out about it. 

“I’d still like to know who told the vampires.”

“That makes two of us.  At this point, it doesn’t matter.  They know, they want to be included, and I hope to not have a war come out of this.”

“They won’t war with us, especially if our groups are united.  I wish this would’ve come later, after the werewolf vote had been completed separately.  That would give us a chance to have votes on the council and not cloud the issue.  Instead, I think everyone will figure it’s all or nothing with opening up the council.”

Cassandra walked over to the table and sat down.  The vote was weighing heavy on her, and with Dhane gone, she felt horribly alone.  Now more than ever she wished her relationship with Amber didn’t have to be kept secret.  In light of the potential new members, however, it was vital that it stayed that way.

“You’re right, I fear.  I had a preliminary vote, to get an idea where people’s heads were at.  The vote to open up the council was nearly unanimous.  It looks like the vote for adding the groups will be just enough for each.  This is going to happen.”

“I guess this is a case of ‘be careful what you ask for.’  At least it will take a little bit to get all the rules written and such.  It will give us time to find out what we’ve gotten into.”

“Do you know much about the vampire royalty?”

Xander shook his head.

“Unfortunately, Sebastian would be the best source of information on them.  I avoided dealing with political situations like that.  Not really my forte.”

Cassandra laughed and he responded with a grin.  It wasn’t really Sebastian’s forte either.  He was really all about himself as much as anything.

“Isn’t it ironic that he could have the information we need to better understand our situation?”

“It is indeed.”