Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) (39 page)

The entire crate lifted off the ground and
went over the edge of the loft, lowering to the barn floor, near
the cauldron that would soon be filled with the blood of each race.
Addison couldn’t do anything but watch it disappear.

“Let’s ready ourselves for the Black Sun,”
the witch grumbled.

“You’ll understand soon, Addison,” Herrick
mumbled before following the others downstairs.

“I’ll never understand this.” A minute later,
Addison’s body became hers again. She tugged on the chain that
attached her to the wall, putting all her weight against it before
giving up and trying to work her hand out of the cuff. Maybe if she
still had the pen, she’d get lucky and be able to pick the cuff’s
lock. Sure, because her luck seemed to be so great lately.

“Fuck!” The only people Addison had helped by
coming here were the witches. But it couldn’t end like this. She
paced inasmuch as the chain allowed, eventually ending up near
Graham. “Come here.”

“What do you want, Vitae?”

“You know. How?” Not that it really mattered
now.

“Besides watching my king, an angel, and a
seer argue over who should remove your bloody dress after the demon
fight, I have spent the last few days listening to the insane
ranting of lower beings as they prepare for the coming of a race
long extinct. So yes, I know. Because I’m not stupid. And also
because I have excellent hearing. So what do you want?”

She didn’t blame him for not trusting her.
“Well…can you come over here a little so I don’t have to shout?”
She held up her arm and shook the chain. “What could I possibly do
to you like this?”

After a moment, he approached, his free hand
pressing against the wound in his chest. The chains provided enough
slack for them to touch and, though she couldn’t actually
free
him, she might be able to rip the tube out of his neck
and fuck up the witches’ plan.

But the children would die anyway.

He shook his head as soon as she reached for
the tubing. “The connection is magical. Your power doesn’t work on
plastic, does it?”

“I don’t think so.” Of course, if she could
somehow get one of those attached to
her
neck, then they
might have something. “Does Rhyse check his voicemail?”

“What?” he snapped.

“I left him a message, telling him where this
place is…roughly. But if he doesn’t check…”

Graham’s expression softened from a captive
predator to a tired yet suspicious one. “Until I saw the way he was
with you at the celebration, I would’ve said no. If he knows you’re
missing, perhaps he will.”

“Well, by now he definitely knows I’m not
where I’m supposed to be and since he calls me constantly, he
probably has his phone now. So all we have to do is stall them
until he gets here.”

As if on a really unlucky cue, the witches
started chanting.

“It’s not dusk yet! Don’t these kinds of
things happen at dusk?”

“
The Black Sun will strength them enough
to create the dat vitae, Addison.
”

Fuckers
. “
Sorry, Micah. Pretend you
didn’t hear that. How long do we have?
”

“
They will bleed all of us into the
vessel, drink from it, and then ready the children for the
ceremony
.” And by ‘ready,’ he probably meant murder. “
When
the eclipse is full, they will implant the dat vitae souls into the
children’s bodies
.”

“They’re starting,” Graham said.

The tubes were already filled with blood, so
it was impossible to know if that blood was moving. The chanting
grew louder, like a terrible killer-Karaoke rendition of some old
bible hymn. It was now or don’t bother. She needed to use the only
weapon she had to save the kids and make sure those witches got
what they deserved.

“Graham,” she called. “You might not die from
the blood loss, but they’re not going to let you walk away from
this.”

He stared at her doubtfully. “Did you tell me
that to keep my spirits up, Vitae? Because it didn’t work.”

“If the witches pull this off, they’ll take
over the Heights and lots of beings will die.”

“Another wonderful pep talk. You should put
these on tape and sell them.”

“I know it’s a rotten thing to ask, but will
you…bite me?”

“That would—” It didn’t take him long to
figure out the cost-versus-benefit graph.

“I know. It sucks no matter what.” Even in a
best-case scenario, Graham would lose his power. Worst-case
scenario? He’d lose his power right after murdering Addison in a
bout of uncontrollable vitae-induced violence.

More important was what would happen
regardless: Graham’s bite would put
her
blood into his
before it went into the witches’ brew. Then the bitches would all
get a sip of their own making. But it had to be now, while the
witches were too busy singing off-key to notice.

“Tell me what to do,” he said calmly.

She held up a finger. “
Micah,
” she
called silently. “
Can you get into one of their minds and tell
me the moment before they start drinking the blood?
”

“
Of course
,” Micah said
.
“
The blood in the cauldron must be deep enough for them all to
submerge their hands into—
”

“
Didn’t want to know that, thanks.
”
Then she turned to Graham. “Take it from my neck. You get more
faster there, right?”

“Yes, however I will have a violent reaction
to your blood, won’t I? Therefore, you might just avoid death if I
take from your wrist.”

Oh, shit.
He wasn’t going to have time
to close the wound. Not once he’d tasted her. So, she was going to
bleed out even in the
best
-case scenario.
Cool
. But
the chance she would die if they tried was still less than the
chance those kids would if she didn’t do anything.

“No,” she said solemnly. “Enough of it has to
go through you, or it won’t work on all of them. Take it from my
neck.”

He paused for a moment, then nodded. “I will
try to close the wound, Addison.”

“That’d be great, thanks. Just…make it fast
’cause my blood packs a mean punch. And try to do it quietly so
they don’t notice.” She closed her mouth to talk to Micah. “
Can
you do that sighing thing in Graham’s head? To keep him calm and
quiet?
”

“
I am quite weak, but I will try.
”

“Lower your shield, Graham. Make it easier on
everybody.” Hopefully the tranquilizing effects of Micah’s sigh
could keep Graham from freaking out too badly.

She tilted her head away from him, exposing
her neck. She felt ashamed, as if she was about to cheat on Rhyse
by allowing Graham to do something she and Rhyse would never
share.

But honestly—not even
close
to her
biggest problem right now. Or potentially ever again.

He stretched towards her until his lips
brushed her neck, and then groaned. “I haven’t fed for a few days.
It’s…”

“Tempting, got it. Just hang on a little
longer.”

“And you belong to my king.” He spoke without
taking his mouth off her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “If there was any
other way…”

“I serve my king. Therefore, I serve his
queen.”

She ignored his comment and focused on trying
not to die. When Micah said, “
Now!
” she said, “Do it.”
Graham slid his fangs into her, and she gasped at the intimacy. The
sensation of him pulling her inside, using her.
Oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy.

He let out a long sigh of satisfaction. Then
he flinched. And Addison knew shit was about to change. Hopefully
Micah could get into Graham’s head or Graham would come back into
himself before he killed her. His tongue felt almost like sandpaper
across her skin, and he pulled himself off her. She lunged away
from him, but he caught her by the back of her shirt.
Fuck!
This was why she didn’t wear leather! Any other fabric would have
ripped and she could’ve gotten free.

Her boots slipped on the straw as he pulled
her towards him, growling from deep in his chest. She used all her
weight and strength to get away, but he was so strong and she was
so tired. Graham grunted and tossed her straight up into the air,
maybe in a last ditch effort to stop himself from killing her.
Problem was that vampires weren’t known for their weakness.

The wood ceiling splintered when she hit it.
Just as quickly, she fell, wood and dust raining on top of her. As
soon as she landed, she dragged herself away, barely avoiding
Graham when he lunged at her, his eyes burning red, the chain
snapping but holding him back.

He shook with violence and yanked on the
chain. Every muscle bulged as he fought for control and freedom.
She knew Micah had gotten through when Graham groaned and crouched
down into a ball, clenching his eyes shut as he tried to keep
quiet. All of them doing their part so the witches would continue
with the ritual and share the poison that coursed through Graham’s
veins. His body strained against the power of her blood, trying to
fight its effects and his own reaction. His magic fighting hers—he
would lose.

“
They are drinking
,” Micah said
quietly in her mind. Since he was
truly
immortal, he
wouldn’t die of blood loss, and neither would the demon. But the
others would. Logan and Graham would.

“
Say something nice to Logan if you can,
Micah.
” Strangely, even the voice inside her head sounded weak.
She wanted to sit up more but her body was practically useless,
other than sending pain messages back to her brain.

Lightheaded beyond belief, she put her hand
to her neck and felt a trickle of blood running away from where it
was supposed to be. That was a problem. Graham must not have been
able to close it all the way, so Addison was bleeding out.
Cool
. The more she bled, the foggier things got and the less
she could feel her body.

On the bright side, she couldn’t feel the
pain, either.

When the witches’ screams of violence and
confusion started, Addison wanted to yell at them to shut the fuck
up. But she was too tired. It had been a long day. Was it still
daytime? How’d she get here? Where was she?

“
You have done a good thing,
” Micah
said. “
For the children and for the Highworld. And for me. Thank
you.
”

“
No problem.
” Good thing she could
talk to him without moving her lips. “
But
I think I’m
going to rest for a while
.
Wake me up when Rhyse gets here,
’kay?
”

“
You are very brave, Addison. Go with
peace.
”

“
Yeah.
” She slumped a little lower on
the hay bale and closed her eyes. “
I think I will. Bye,
Micah
.”

Rhyse opened his eyes when Davyn tightened
his grip around his bicep. He saw only black and the demon staring
at him open-mouthed.

“What the fuck did you say to him, Vamp?”

“I am not sure.” Obviously the Devil had
agreed, but he didn’t know anything else. His memory was blurred,
his mind unable to bond moments and logic and sensations together.
Not remembering the specifics of a deal you made with the Devil
didn’t seem like a very good thing.

“Well, it was exactly the right thing,
whatever it was.” Davyn busted up laughing. “I can’t believe it. I
was completely sure he would claim you for good, and I would have
to pretend to feel bad when I explained it to your people. But you
did it. Six months isn’t much, but—Shit!” The demon was practically
dancing. “Six months is something, right? Not to mention, the whole
trip was a good reminder of why I’ll never do anything to get
sucked all the way back down.” He slapped Rhyse on the back. “We’re
almost there. Just need to go up and then we can kick some witch
ass.”

Rhyse blindly followed Davyn through a
darkness only surpassed by that of his memory.

“He must really like you, Vamp.”

Somehow the Devil liking him didn’t seem like
a very good thing, either. “Why do you say that?”

“Do you really think this is what hell feels
like for us? Or how it usually feels on the lower levels? No way.
He made it easy, practically pain-free. Then again, the way he
tossed us out could also mean he hates you. But, either way, the
big guy is definitely developing some serious feelings for
you.”

“How flattering.” Rhyse’s reactions and mind
off-balance, he slammed into the demon when he stopped.

“You have no idea what happened, do you?”

Rhyse shook his head with more trepidation
than he ever remembered feeling. He’d planned a simple, succinct
statement, but he didn’t know what actually came out of his mouth.
Or if
anything
had been said. The Devil could’ve chosen
something else out of Rhyse’s mind, something more desirable to
him. Whose soul had he traded?

“Huh.” Davyn nodded his head slightly,
grimacing. “Well, it
might
not be bad news.”

“That is not terribly encouraging. Do
you
remember anything?”

“Since I wasn’t directly involved in the
deal, other than being the beneficiary of a pretty nice chunk of
extra time, I didn’t get to hear the conversation.” There was a
conversation? “But I know you’re not allowed to come back
uninvited. And if I bring you here again, my ass is his in all the
horrible ways you’re imagining right now.”

Perhaps it would be all right. After all,
there were worse things than being barred from hell, such as being
in
hell.

A moment later, Rhyse saw light, felt the
ground under his feet, knew they were above the crust. Thank the
powers. Yes, everything would be all right.

“Oh, fuck,” Davyn muttered. “This ain’t
good.”

Rhyse saw the bodies as soon as his eyes
adjusted. It looked as if they’d been torn apart. The few who were
still alive huddled together in the corner near a large wooden
crate, weeping.