The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of(77)
“Stupid girl!” Morgan screams. “You’ve doomed us, you’ve—“
She doesn’t get to finish. Because at that moment, a blurred shape moves from beyond us and slams the door to the iron bunker closed.
The magic storming inside the room immediately cuts off. I come to myself, realize what I am doing—I gasp and scramble off the Queen.
She dives for her staff, which I’ve inadvertently knocked away. With it in her hands, she mutters a powerful spell. It surrounds the iron shell of the bunker. Morgan’s incantation grows louder as she draws on as much of the latent magic around us as possible.
There’s a loud crash like a thunderbolt. It’s accompanied by a massive explosion of blinding light. The whole underground caverns trembles.
When I open my eyes the bunker is gone. Only the faintest bit of ash remains on the ground where it once was.
Morgan is leaning against her staff, gasping for breath. I’m struck dumb in momentary shock. I look at the third member of our company, and realize that it’s Smithson.
He was the one who had slammed the door.
Morgan catches her breath and turns on me. She looks more vindictive than I’ve ever seen her.
I take a trembling step away.
“So it’s true,” she says finally. “I only had a suspicion before. But this confirms it.”
Her voice is laced with deadly potency. “What’s true?” I whisper.
“It is as I feared.” She takes one more step toward me, holding out her staff. “Your Spark has been tainted in your youth. You are a dark witch.”
And then she strikes the staff against the ground, and a blistering pain explodes in my head. I cry out and fall to the floor. But before I even hit it, silver chains lash out from Morgan and bind me tight.
Chapter Forty-Eight
JAMES
“We have a way in.” Beatrice’s voice brings me from my uneasy slumber. “It’s time to prove your loyalty to your King.”
I look at her through the bars of my holding cell. “Father sends you,” I say. My voice is full of disdain.
“Do you have trouble taking orders from a woman?”
“When I don’t know who that woman is, or where her loyalties lie? Yes, I’d say it’s a daunting prospect.”
She laughs. “Look around you, James. Look at where you are. Consider your position. You have no friends in The Crypts. You are only alive because of the mercy of your Father… and the trust he shows in me.”
“So I owe my life to you, is that what you’re saying?”
Beatrice comes closer to the bars. Her face looks hollow, but at the same time hauntingly beautiful, as the shadows dance across it.
“That, my darling, is exactly what I’m saying.”
I pick myself up. “What will you have me do?”
“A delegation from a neighbouring coven is being led into The Haven in three days. They are your ticket in.”
“Impossible,” I sneer. “The Haven has not opened its doors to any of its neighbors in hundreds of years. Whatever information you have is wrong. Mother would never risk it.”
“Desperate times…” Beatrice says. She finishes with a shrug. “You know how it is. Things change, James. The world will pass you by if you are not watchful.”
“Fine,” I grunt. “I believe you. Tell me what I have to do.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
RAUL
“You did WHAT?” I demand, my anger flaring.
No—the emotions I feel are worse than anger. Much, much worse. They’re a poisonous mix of hatred and disbelief and rage and above all… Horror. Utter terror.
Tinged with helplessness.
“Eleira displayed characteristics that make her a danger to The Haven. To the vampires, to the humans, to our entire way of life. Until we can be sure of her…” Mother pauses, “… stability? She will remain in the silver cell.”
I can’t believe it. My whole world feels like it’s come crashing down on itself.
“I will not let you keep her there,” I growl, stalking up to her. “This is your fault! You were supposed to be teaching! Not abandoning her when things became rough.”
“Rough? You dare call what I witnessed rough?” Mother’s voice goes up. “My son, you were not there. She is a dark witch. Her Spark has been corrupted. She opened a portal to the underworld. Something much worse than a Narwhark tried to climb out. Only through Smithson’s quick thinking were Eleira and I able to escape with our lives. Only because of him I was able to act fast enough to banish the horrendous creature before it could devastate our lands.”
“If her Spark has been corrupted,” I say softly, “uncorrupt it.” I take a menacing step to the Queen. “If—“