A Shade of Vampire 39: A Rip of Realms(49)

“How is Yelena?” I asked. “Is she okay?”

“She’s okay. I think she’s just a bit pissed off she got syphoned again, and she’s worried about the other kids. Jenney’s with her now—she got hurt as well. The Acolytes are powerful. Jenney says they syphon harder than other sentries. She’s had to borrow energy off two other ministers just to be back to normal, and to me, she still doesn’t look that great.”

I nodded. It didn’t surprise me. If the book was right, then the Acolytes seemed to be linked to the entity—if they shared visions, then it wouldn’t surprise me if they could somehow tap into its energy as well now that it had risen, and all those animal sacrifices probably helped…

Sacrifices.

I stopped walking, a cold, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“The kids—they’re a sacrifice!”

Everyone turned around to look at me. Ruby’s face drained almost entirely of color, while Ash and Tejus looked at one another, both expressions contorted with rage.

“What do you mean?” Benedict asked quietly. “They’re going to be killed? I thought that Jenus would just want them for their energy — like in the trials.”

“We’ll get them before anything can happen,” I reassured him.

I hope we can.

“We will march on Queen Trina’s kingdom at dawn,” Ash stated.

“That will be too late.”

Both Ruby and I looked at him, imploring Ash to do something sooner—not only were the kids in grave danger, but so were the rest of us if the entity took their collective power.

“They’re right,” Tejus agreed. “We should move out in a couple of hours.”

“With what army?” Ash snapped. “We need a proper force, and most of our men are in the Memenion kingdom—we’ll only get one shot at this.”

“I’ll send word out; they can join us as we travel.”

Ash nodded reluctantly.

“All right then. We depart in two hours.”

We all hurried inside. Tejus went to speak with the guards to send messengers off to the rest of the kingdoms, and Ash disappeared with the ministers.

“I’m coming this time, by the way,” Benedict announced stoutly.

“You are,” I agreed.

He looked surprised at how easily I’d given in, but there was no way I was leaving him on his own again. We would be stronger together, and somehow we would just have to survive this. With any luck, it would be the last hurdle we faced before freedom from Nevertide.

“I need to go and speak to Abelle.” I turned to Ruby. “Make sure Julian and Benedict are ready?”

“I will. But Hazel, be careful. It might not be the best idea.”

I hadn’t had to mention why I wanted to see the herbal apothecary—Ruby had instantly guessed that I wanted to regain my powers for the fight ahead. It was risky to have them, I knew that, but it was riskier not to have them. And it was the only way I had a hope in hell of protecting Benedict and my friends.

“I know, but I need to do this, Ruby.”

She bit her bottom lip, her eyes concerned.

“Trust me,” I replied. “It’s the only way.”

I left them, going off in search of Abelle. I hoped that she would have something to reverse the effect of the potion—I wasn’t sure that I had time for it to wear off on its own. I quickly searched all the rooms on the upper mezzanine. When I found no trace of her, I tried the rooms downstairs, finally finding a large room where all the syphoned ministers, guards and villagers were recovering.

I scanned the room, looking for Abelle, but could see no sign of her. I turned to one of the villagers who was propped up against the wall, looking tired and dazed, but not too badly injured.

“Have you seen Abelle at all?” I asked.

The woman thought about it for a few moments, and then nodded slowly.

“I did,” she replied after a while, her voice drawling and soft. “I think she went to get more herbs from the garden…she’s been such a help.”

“Thanks!” I darted back out of the room before the woman could reply, and made my way through to the kitchen and out onto the lawn through the busted wall.

I peered out into the darkness, wondering where the sentry had gotten to. Impatience and frustration were starting to get the better of me, and I stalked out toward the surrounding forest.





Hazel





Low mists wrapped themselves around the tree trunks, making it harder to see what might lie beyond. I was reluctant to travel too deeply into the forests. Their eerie silence still made me feel as if I was being watched, and the dark, unfathomable shapes created by twisting roots and rock formations made my body tense.