“YOU DARE CHALLENGE US, BOY?” He raises an arm. All The Convicted beyond him fall silent. “YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN PERIL. STAND ASIDE. LET US FEAST!”
I look back at the cowering humans. They don’t stand a chance on their own.
“Never,” I snarl.
The Convicted leader throws his head back and laughs. Then, with The Ancient’s voice, he says, “Then prepare to be destroyed.”
There’s a moment of silence, and then The Convicted charge.
I know one thing: This will be the longest and bloodiest fight of my life.
Epilogue
RIYU
A long time after all the commotion outside dies down, I release the protective spell cushioning me in the coffin and slowly lift the lid.
A smile spreads across my face as I survey the destruction before me. Everything has gone exactly according to plan. The Haven’s castle lies in ruins around me. The shrieks of the battle between The Convicted and the Haven’s vampires are like music to my ears.
Father would be so proud.
I catch that unbidden thought and glower. I am not allowed to think of him as my Father. I am not allowed to consider my own lineage. One such as me… is better off forgotten.
Quickly I hop out of my hiding place. Time is of the essence if I am to get away unseen. So far, none know that I am here. I’d prefer to keep it that way. Direct combat has never been my forte. But striking from the shadows, striking from where none can pin the blame on me… that is what I live for.
I think of that pompous fool James, and I snicker in laughter. He undoubtedly thought The Ancient channeled magic through him, and used the staff torrial in order to destroy.
But The Ancient cannot do magic. The Ancient does not have The Spark.
No, it was never The Ancient… it was me.
I touch Dagan’s amulet hung around my neck. The one given to James was a poor replica, a red herring. This is the real one, and there was a reason it was entrusted to me, and me alone.
The Ancient is powerful, and this torrial links me to him. The Ancient has command of the Mind Gift, which makes weaker vampires, and obviously humans, vulnerable to his telekinetic force. He pierced James’s mind, but the link went through me first… and it was I who channeled the spells that rained destruction onto The Haven.
My body shudders in ecstasy as memories of controlling so much power take me. It was only through The Ancient’s protection that I could control that much. Actually, it was a three-way buffer: the torrial, James, and The Ancient. But then Eleira picked up the staff, and I was given access to her mind…
Why, nothing in life could ever compare to the absolute euphoria that gifted me.
She’s far away now. Tendrils of our connection still linger in the air. She’s immensely powerful as a witch, but her mind’s been locked. She is blind to her own potential.
The better the world is for it. If she knew the things she is capable of…
My coven will expose her to them when the time is right. When she is safely in our hands, we won’t hesitate to exploit every last ounce of her abilities. But good things come to those who wait, and for now, patience is key.
I climb out of the crater my coffin ended up in. I cast a very small probing spell to check for any other vampires—
A warning jolt runs through me. I mutter a curse and throw myself down. One other is here, left abandoned. The spell does not tell me who it is, only the approximate direction of the living body.
Close. The vampire’s close. But he—or she—is not moving. In fact the life essence I picked up on is so faint I think it might wink out at a moment’s notice.
So. There is an injured vampire, then, a would-be casualty from the castle’s collapse?
Stealthily, I sneak toward the source. I’m three-quarters of the way there when my probing spell picks up another vampire approaching.
I stop and flatten myself against a stone. I focus all my vampire senses on the newcomer. But I am pitifully weak, and those senses only give the barest advantage compared to when I was human.
I sense the two vampires come together. I hear voices.
I recognize one of them. It belongs to Victoria, that upstart pretend witch who tried to usurp my place by Father’s side…
The ‘witch’ with The Spark no greater than an ant’s, the one who my own mother taught—or tried to teach—when she should have been teaching me.
I hate her. I’ve always hated her, because of her failure, because she caused my mother’s death. Father refused to give mother eternal life when it came out that Victoria could barely do magic.
Rage pulses through me. I have not been given permission to kill. Killing would give me away.
But I want Victoria dead with every bone in my body. I want her dead; I need her dead. I—