“Well, something
better work!” he shouted angrily at her. “This has been going on for three
days!”
Three days?
I thought to myself. Apparently, I hadn’t been conscious the entire time. That
was when I started noticing the appearances of the other coven members. They
were haggard, unwashed, unshaven, and their clothes had been rumpled from
overuse. They were tired, and I immediately felt pity for all of them.
“Tell them to go
home,” I whispered.
“What?” Grandma
asked me, leaning in closer so she could hear me better.
“Tell them to go
home. They need sleep. They’ll work better with it.” I gave a great sigh. “Let
them eat and get showered. Nothing is working right now. I’ll be fine while
they tend to their needs.”
“She’s right,” dad
said with a short nod. “We need to let them get some rest while they can. Who
knows where this might lead.”
Grandma agreed and
called the others together. They all refused to go, so Grandma pulled rank and
ordered them, as their high priestess, to leave and take care of themselves.
I watched them
depart, one by one, until they were all gone. It wasn’t long before Grandma and
Dad were slumbering on two cots on either side of me.
Lying still in the
dim silence, I looked at my arm. The gray streaks had now progressed to my
elbows.
I had to find him.
It was up to me now. The man I loved was being destroyed, and I couldn’t give
up without trying.
Slowly, I pushed my
lethargic body into a sitting position and sat there breathing heavily for a
minute before I attempted to stand. I was very dizzy when I did, so I made my
way over to the wall, leaning against it, and carefully crept out of the room.
I managed to get
up the stairs, through the house, and then out under the night sky. I didn’t
know which way to go once I made it to the street, so I just turned left and
started walking, albeit a bit haphazardly.
I hadn’t walked
very far when I noticed my pain seemed to be increasing. I stopped. I must be
going the wrong way.
Turning around, I
walked in the direction I had come from, and the pain began to decrease
slightly.
Realizing I’d
discovered a major tool in helping me find him, I totally centered myself on
listening to my body. If the pain became more intense, then I would do a course
correction until I felt better.
I had to pause to
rest several times, sometimes from fatigue or during an attack on Vance. I
stopped anywhere I could find a place, leaning on a fence post, sitting on
someone’s porch swing, and even laying on the hood of someone’s car. As I was
able, I would stand up and begin walking again.
It was a slow way
to travel, but eventually I found myself across town and in an old business
section. I disturbed a couple of alley cats in the misty night air when I
stumbled over a garbage can left lying on the ground, and they screeched at me
as they ran off.
It was just the
adrenaline rush I needed. It perked me up a little. I kept trying to tell my
body this was all just an illusion. These things weren’t really happening to
me, only to Vance. Unfortunately, it seemed to only want to listen to the pain
it was experiencing.
I rounded the
corner out of the alley and stopped to stare at the sight ahead of me. Across
the street from where I stood was the bar Vance had been tailing Shelly to. Instantly,
the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
I remembered
Shelly coming out of the chemistry lab as I had been going in.
“You’ll never
win,” she’d said before shoving past me.
Then the explosion
had happened. She had meant for me to die in the blast, so she could take Vance.
That meant she was obviously a witch, or a demon for that matter.
All of a sudden I
knew exactly where Vance was.
Chapter 23
Rage boiled
through my veins, giving me a sudden burst of power, which heavily fueled my
adrenaline. I crossed the empty street and flung the door to the bar wide open,
stepping inside, only to see the bartender cleaning up after closing.
“We’re closed,” he
said automatically, before looking up.
I was over to him
in a flash. “Where are they?” I said, grabbing him around the neck with my hand
and lifting him off the floor with a little push of power.
“I can’t,” he
choked out, his face reddening under my grip. “They’ll kill me if I tell you.”
“And I’ll kill you
if you don’t,” I snarled back at him, feeling angry enough in that moment to
actually do it.
His eyes darted
away from me, and I followed his quick glance toward the back of the bar. I
butted his head against the shelves, and he sank to the floor.
Quickly, I made my
way toward the storage area and peeked around the corner.
I could see one of
Shelly’s groupies leaning up against a door, smoking a cigarette. He hadn’t
heard me because he was listening to the ear buds he was wearing. I could hear
the music from here. He was facing away from me, so I snuck up behind him and
tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, I punched him with all the
magical force I had, right in the face. I felt bone crunch beneath my fist, and
he sank to the floor.
Pushing him out of
the way, I opened the door to reveal a wooden staircase that descended into the
black earth. I couldn’t see any kind of light at all, and I had no idea what
was down there.
Quietly, I tiptoed
down the stairs, making as little noise as possible. I levitated over three
stairs at a time and pushed off the fourth. Finally, I reached the bottom,
finding myself in a dark narrow hallway.
I walked toward a
dim, glowing red light I could see coming from what looked like the crack at
the bottom of a door. When I reached it, I stopped outside and listened,
holding my breath.
I could hear
nothing.
There were only
two choices left for me now. I could go through the door or go back the way I’d
come and call for help.
Slowly, I turned
the handle of the door, and silently swung it open. My eyes took a second to
adjust, and then I gasped at the sight before me.
Vance was sitting
in the middle of the dimly lit room under a small red light bulb hanging from a
string. He was bound in irons and strapped to a chair. I could easily see the
manacles holding him in place were magically reinforced.
He had been
stripped to the waist, and his head was drooping over his chest. There were
slashes and bite marks all over his arms, and his veins were pitch black all
over his body, running up his neck toward his face.
“Vance?” I called
out in a choked whisper, repulsed by the damage done to him.
His head slowly
lifted toward mine, and his glowing, blood red eyes stared straight into my
soul.
“Run!” was all he
said, and I covered my mouth with my hands to stop the scream that was there.
I did run—toward
him, throwing myself at his feet and trying to find a way to loosen his bonds. He
slumped over in the chair again.
“Hang in there,
Vance,” I said frantically, hoping no one could hear the noise I was making,
but then I heard a sound behind me.
I jumped up,
swinging around to come face to face with Shelly.
“He’s mine now!”
she spat out viciously.
“I don’t think
so!” I flung my hand out with a burst of magic and sent her flying across the
room.
She hit the wall
hard and crumbled to the floor like a broken doll, not moving. I tried to still
my rapid breathing as I watched her, making sure she was down and out before I
turned back to Vance.
I needed to figure
out a way to get him out of the irons. I grabbed and I pulled, trying to think
of a spell or something that would free him, but I couldn’t make it work.
I placed my hand
on his arm, while I paused to rack my brain. He was so hot to the touch.
“Think, Portia,
think!” I said out loud. I was about to cry in frustration when suddenly an
idea popped into my head.
I remembered our
first outing together, when Vance had taken me to his secret place. He made a
fireball in his hand, and I had frozen it. I grabbed the manacles and thought
of that moment.
Right away a cold
wave flowed out of my hands and over the iron binding him. I kept pushing that
power into the metal until I began to hear cracking sounds. I didn’t stop,
continuing to force the magic into it and soon the cuff just fell apart into
jagged pieces on the floor.
Giving a little
exclamation of glee at my success, I quickly went to work on the cuff binding
his other arm. When it was destroyed, I moved on to the ones at his feet until,
finally, I set him free.
Someone started
clapping slowly behind me, and I looked over to the corner where Shelly was still
collapsed in a heap.
Cautiously, I
stood and turned around, tensed to face whomever I would find there.
Someone was
standing in the shadow of the door, but I couldn’t make out who it was.
“Bravo, Portia! I
didn’t think you had it in you,” an unfamiliar female voice said to me.
“Who are you?” I
asked, standing my ground.
She stepped
inside, but kept herself well hidden in the shadows around the perimeter. She
didn’t answer me, choosing instead to work her way around the room until she
stood behind Vance, with me in front of him.
All of a sudden
she leaned over into the light and slapped Vance twice, hard on the face.
“Wake up, son! We
have company!” she rasped.
I took two
involuntary steps backward.
Krista Mangum!
“Surprise!” she
said, laughing at my expression. “You weren’t expecting to see me, were you?”
“It’s been you all
this time?” I shook my head in denial. “Why? How?”
“I’m guessing you
got the whole sob story from Vance about how I ran away with him,” she said,
her red eyes never leaving my face. “Well, his daddy caught up with me and
showed me what I was really missing. All that power—who could resist it? Damien
and I have been looking for him ever since.”
“But why?” I
asked, unable to wrap my head around this. “You worked so hard to get him
away!”
“I just didn’t
understand the truth back then. Power is everything. And my son has plenty to
spare!”
I pushed the pain
I felt for Vance at this discovery aside, and tried a different tactic.
“I can’t imagine
Damien will be too happy with you. Where is he? After all, you’ve been feasting
on his prize.”
“Don’t you worry
your pretty little head about that!” She laughed. “Damien sent me for Vance,
and I’ve bottled up plenty of blood for him. I’m taking Vance to him later. It’s
much easier to travel with him as one of us, than against us.”
We were slowly
moving around the room now, making a wide circle around Vance as we spoke.
“How’d you get
Shelly involved in all this?” I asked, still stalling while I desperately tried
to come up with a plan.
“Who? That twit in
the corner?” she said, barely glancing in Shelly’s direction. “She’s not even a
witch! Just my little puppet on a string. It was easy to place a spell on her
and then channel my magic through her. She had no control over her own mind.”
While I was
relieved to hear that Shelly had not done any of this of her own free will, I
didn’t have the time to ponder its meaning. I had no idea how I was going to
get out of this mess, let alone take Vance with me. Krista was like a hawk
guarding her prey.
He started to move
in his chair.
“Son! It’s time to
wake up! There’s work to be done,” she called out again loudly.
Vance slowly
opened his red eyes and stared at me.
“Isn’t it fitting
that you’ll be his first kill, the one that’ll help him complete his change?”
She laughed, and I watched as her face transformed before my eyes.
Her brows
furrowed, small horns popped from the top of her forehead, and her teeth
sharpened into uneven rows. All the while her glowing eyes continued to mock
me.
“Time for dinner,
son. Trust me, you don’t want to pass up a fresh-blooded witch. It will taste
better than anything you’ve ever had before.” She licked her own lips even as
she encouraged him to attack me.
Vance slowly stood
from his chair, and I realized with horror I’d unwittingly set my own killer
free. He began walking slowly toward me, and I unknowingly crept backward. One
step for every step he took forward, until I abruptly found myself up against
the wall with nowhere to go.
I could tell I was
being hunted, and I could also see the hunger in his eyes that never left mine.
I couldn’t look away from him. He was magnificent, and I both loved him and
feared him at the same time.
He continued to
move toward me until he was pressed completely up against me, pinning me
against the wall with his body. He ran one of his hands slowly down my right
arm and grasped my hand, raising it up over my head. Then he did the same with
the other, lifting it too, until both of my small wrists were captured under
his right hand above me. His left hand, he placed behind my head, twisting his
fingers into my hair, pulling my face closer to his.
I wasn’t expecting
the kiss when it came, his mouth slanting over mine, kissing me hard and
passionately. Even now I couldn’t resist him, knowing it would be our last
time, so I kissed him back. Then I started to cry.
“Finish her!” his
mom yelled.
He pulled away,
looking at me, and I saw his teeth lengthening into fangs.
“I love you,” I
said, wanting it to be the last thing he heard from me.
He yanked hard on
my hair, pulling my head over to the side. Then he leaned in and bit into my
neck like I’d seen in a dozen vampire movies.
I wanted to scream
when I felt the searing pain. I felt my blood bubble up to the surface, rushing
from my neck into his mouth. He sucked hard on me for several moments and then,
unexpectedly, he released me and turned toward his mom, who was still chortling
across the room from us.