“Your friends told us about these vampires on the other side. How they’re using you.” She made a tutting sound. “It’s just awful, how that witch deceived and cursed you. You can’t protect yourself against them. What do they have planned for you once you get there?”
“I’ve made arrangements to be adequately taken care of afterward,” I answered vaguely.
Mage gave me a doubtful smile. “And you trust them?” She took a casual step forward. “We could help you. Protect you. This group of us around you—” she motioned to the group of vampire onlookers “—are extremely powerful. Much more powerful than those three. Even the witch. After all, we would forever be in your debt. You could have anything you wanted. Absolutely anything.”
So that was it. That was their angle. Nurture distrust in Sofie, offer their allegiance and protection—my own personal bloodsucking bodyguard—and all the riches imaginable. All I had to do was bring them home with me. To infest Earth. To start another war, annihilating another world of humans. Clever vampire, but I’m on to you and this won’t work. Thank God the pendant masked my skepticism. “That would be great,” I said slowly, forcing what I hoped looked like a genuine smile. “I hope I can figure out where the portal is.”
“Oh, so do we! For your friends’ sake, you must!”
I frowned. “I don’t understand. I thought you said we were all safe here.”
“Oh, yes, you are. But, you see, there’s a throng of vampires outside this rubble. Hundreds of them. They saw us carrying this statue here, and your friends, bound with Merth. The Council is powerful, but there are only sixteen of us. We can only hold them back for a few days. Then, when they break through and find out … well, if they found out that your friends were planning an exodus without even considering them … your friends would not last long,” she explained soberly. “After that, when you return … well, that group is not nearly as civilized as we are.”
And who would tell them about our plan? I wondered bitterly. It was as plain as day, the threat Mage was laying before me. Transport us now or we throw your friends to the horde. Then, when you come back, you get to die a horrifying death too.
I glanced back at Caden and the others. They seemed so far away. I swallowed the painful lump forming in my throat, feeling the unbearable weight of the situation pushing down on my shoulders. “Well then, we need to get everyone out of here before that happens.”
Mage beamed, pleased with herself.
“The scamp is lying,” Rachel growled.
Mage chuckled softly. “She would never risk doing something like that—give us such expectations, only to try deceiving us. Especially when we’d see it coming and have to react accordingly,” she added, smiling as she delivered another silent but clear, equally deadly threat.
What a silver–tongued vampire.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Rachel scoffed with an arrogant smirk. It was promptly knocked off as Jonah lashed out, striking her cheek and sending her flying. Rachel was on her feet instantly, wiping a drop of blood from her lip. She was seething with rage.
“I warned you, Rachel,” Mage calmly said, glancing at Jonah. Another strand of Merth magically appeared in his hand.
Rachel growled. Her eyes darted to me, sizing up the distance between us. I knew what she was thinking. Could she get to me before Jonah or Mage intercepted? No. She decided she couldn’t.
With a deranged shriek, she lunged for the next best way to tear my heart out of my body without needing to lay a finger on me.
Caden.
It was like witnessing a horrific car crash in slow motion, though I knew they were moving at warp speed, fast enough that I shouldn’t have been able to discern any of it.
Thankfully, Caden outmaneuvered Rachel’s flying, clawing hands before she could grab hold of him. She plowed into the statue with enough force to make it teeter several times before finally toppling. The ground shook with the crash.
“Now look what you’ve done, Rachel!” Mage scolded. “You’re lucky it didn’t break. Evangeline may not have been able to come back!”
Rachel had no opportunity to reply, though, as Jonah threw a cord of Merth around her neck. She dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, immobilized but facing me, her icy glare still boring into my body.
The statue’s new horizontal position gave me a clear view of the woman’s hand. I had never seen it so close before. The statue’s hand. Sofie’s request. My return into the clutches of the Council and Rachel had banished Sofie’s suggestion from my thoughts—until now.
I crouched to peer closely at the hand. Her fingers were contorted into an unnatural, uncomfortable pose, as if to hold something small and awkwardly shaped. Like … a heart.
My pendant.
I yelped in pain as a jolt of electricity shocked me at the same time that an eye–popping burst of blue light exploded from my pendant.
24. The Portal
My eyes widened in alarm.
“What is it?” Mage exclaimed, clapping her hands. She was a female version of Viggo. Likely just as devious. They’d get along well.
“I don’t know,” I answered, puzzled. I touched hesitant fingertips to the glowing blue heart. It was icy cold. What did it mean? Is this blue light how the pendant communicates? Have I stumbled upon the portal?
Another brilliant flash of blue light and painful shock answered.
My mouth dropped open. It was answering me.
“It’s the statue, isn’t it? That’s the portal?” Mage whispered, her eyes wild with anticipation.
My mouth clamped shut as I clenched my teeth together. Stupid perceptive vampire.
A murmur of anticipation hummed through the decaying room, the first indication that the other Council members were capable of speaking.
“I’m not sure yet,” I answered honestly, gazing down at the statue’s hand again, studying it more closely without making my focal point obvious. So, all I have to do is place my heart into it? I asked the pendant. The pendant glowed and shocked me again in response.
It was answering my questions!
But I couldn’t take the pendant off or I’d die … Maybe I don’t have to take it off in order for the spell to work?
Another glow, another shock.
How was this working? I quickly tested it. If I’m right, you’ll shock me? I asked. I felt the responding shock. If I’m wrong, will you shock me? Nothing. So a shock and blue light meant an affirmation. I eagerly began rhyming off questions in my head. Can I bring more than one vampire back? Yes, it told me.
How will it know to bring Caden, Fiona, Amelie, and Bishop? I waited for about five seconds but there was no shock or glow of acknowledgement. But maybe that question was too open–ended. Do I need to be touching them? No reaction. So the answer was no. Is there something else they need to do? Yes, it told me. What, though? Again, an open–ended question that the pendant couldn’t answer.
I sat quietly, biting my bottom lip, staring at the statue, pondering possibilities.
Anger flared deep within me. The portal had been in front of us the whole time and I was too stupid to look. It should have been the first place I looked—it was so obvious! I could have finished this blasted curse and freed us long ago.
So they don’t have to touch me … Do they have to touch the statue? Yes, it told me.
So … if they’re touching the statue when I put the pendant in her hand, they’ll come home with me? The last shock and glow of affirmation made me gasp loudly.
I had figured it out! I knew how to bring them home with me! My grin surely stretched from ear to ear.
“What is it?” Jonah hissed impatiently.
The smile immediately collapsed. I had been so wrapped up with the discovery that I forgot the dilemma we were in. The ring of ancient, powerful, desperate vampires still encircled me, scrutinizing my every move. How am I going to do this?
“Well?” Mage prodded.
My eyes scanned the Council, not settling on any indi
vidual but seeing them all perfectly. Yes, they were all watching intently, growing more agitated by the second, like hounds around a barrel of meat, waiting patiently for the only answer they’d be willing to hear.
“I’m not sure what it’s telling me yet,” I murmured, assuming my best look of confusion. I sat down in front of the statue, legs crossed and hands against my temples as if concentrating deeply. It was good cover for hiding my panicked expression. I had to figure a way out of this mess.
I silently weighed my options. If I did nothing, we were all dead. Not an option. I didn’t want to die. I couldn’t let the others die. But how could I embed my necklace into the statue’s hand and get Caden, Amelie, Fiona, and Bishop to touch the statue, all while a ring of vampires hovered around us? Vampires, I reminded myself, who could move lightning fast and tear my body apart in the blink of an eye. Who would tear me apart if they suspected I was attempting to leave them. And I’d be a fool to think I could outsmart these ageless monsters.
I had only one option. No alternatives. I had to bring them back with me.
All of them.
There weren’t that many, really, I convinced myself, mentally conducting a head count. Viggo and Mortimer had more than enough space and money to house them. Sofie would have successfully wired the place with the Merth I harvested so they’d be trapped, unable to wreak havoc on New York. And Sofie would have that talisman she was talking about so the humans would be safe from the vampires’ ravenous thirst.
I had pinky sworn, though …
The current circumstances had to warrant an exception. Sofie wouldn’t want me dying here tonight. I had to believe that. So whatever her complication was with Veronique’s tomb spell, Mortimer and Viggo would have to wait a little longer to reunite with their mummy bride. At least they’d have plenty of venomous vampires at their disposal when the time came.
The more I thought about this plan, the more comfortable I became with it and the easier it was to convince myself that I was right. Viggo, Mortimer, and Sofie could deal with this lot. After all, why should I die—along with Caden, Amelie, Fiona, and Bishop—doing what they asked me to? What they cursed me to do. They wanted one infectious vampire. Well, they were getting twenty.
Wait, not twenty. Nineteen.
I stood and turned to face Mage, fear making my movements robotic. Swallowing the giant lump in my throat, I took a deep breath. “I know how to do it. I know how to bring us all back.”
“No! Don’t! They’re monsters! They’ll destroy your world!” Amelie screamed.
In the next instant I saw her folding over as Jonah’s knee delivered a powerful blow to her stomach. Caden lunged at the mutant, growling deeply. Jonah was ready for him, though, easily sidestepping the attack and countering with a thrust of his own, sending Caden flying backward into the throng of Council members. Eyes lit with malicious pleasure, and seven sets of hands reached for him.
“Stop right now or none of you will ever leave this place,” someone warned in a steady voice. As nineteen pairs of eyes turned to regard me, I realized that I had spoken, drawing the courage to do so from somewhere deep within myself.
The threat worked. They shifted away from Caden, giving him plenty of space.
I turned back to Mage. “On one condition, though, and it’s non–negotiable,” I stipulated, mustering as much courage as possible, praying she couldn’t see past the mask of bravado to the human who was about to pee her pants in terror. Making demands on vampires was likely a fatal proposition, but I had little to lose.
Mage’s eyes narrowed. “Continue,” she ordered through a tight–lipped smile.
“The only way I’ll do this is without Rachel.”
Mage’s relaxed laughter echoed through the barren room. “Is that all? Of course. She’s more trouble than she’s worth.” She held out her hand and I shook it, feeling the comfortable warmth of her delicate skin and wondering if making a deal with the devil felt like this.
I glanced over at the motionless lump that was Rachel, expecting to see her icy, penetrating glare still boring into me. But she had turned her focus on Mage, her eyes filled with hurt and shock. I guess she had never expected to be cast aside so easily.
So it was settled …
I looked at Caden and the others then, and saw eyes filled with trepidation. It’ll be okay, I tried to convey with my expression.
“So, how do you do it?” Jonah asked.
I opened my mouth to explain and promptly shut it. No, I wasn’t going to give them any more information than necessary. That was one request Sofie made that I would listen to, at least.
“Everyone step forward and place a hand on the statue,” I instructed.
All fifteen Council members instantly appeared around the statue, eagerness shining in their vibrant eyes. Only my four vampires dragged their feet as they moved grudgingly toward us.
“Hurry up, or we’ll be going without you!” Jonah snapped.
“No, we won’t,” I answered smoothly. Where is this nerve coming from?
His cold white eyes darted to me and I saw surprise flicker in his face before it smoothed over. With a slight nod and a wink, he turned his eyes back to his hand on the statue. Unease stirred in me, and not just because of his hideous face. There was meaning in that wink. He probably wanted to kill me, but he couldn’t. That knowledge brought me little comfort.
My four vampires finally reached the statue, Jonah considerately shifting to make room for Caden beside me. I reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, the need to be connected with him uncontrollable. He leaned in. “Is there no other way?”
I shook my head. “It’ll be okay,” I whispered back. “Sofie’s prepared.”
“I don’t think she’s prepared for this …” he muttered, his apprehensive eyes flitting over the crowd around the statue.
“Don’t worry,” I offered feebly, desperate to be done with all of this. I raised my voice again. “Okay now, everyone just … stay right where you are,” I instructed, my eyes on my four vampires to ensure they heard me. “Don’t move.” I didn’t know if not moving was a requirement, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
Nineteen vampires leaned closer toward the statue, their palms splayed on the statue. They must have been thinking the same thing. I could feel their anxiety and excitement lying over me like a heavy blanket. After seven hundred years, they would be in a world of humans again. My heart started pounding against my chest as hysteria briefly overwhelmed me. I can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t believe I’m unleashing this on my world!
“You okay?” Caden asked. I glanced over, finding calm in those spectacular jade eyes.
Everything would be fine. It had to be done. With a nod and a smile, I knelt and inched the pendant I gripped in my trembling hand toward the statue’s stone hand. Toward the portal.
As it approached its intended resting place, the heart of the pendant began shimmering a dazzling bluish–green, like sunlight cast over tropical waters. Like Caden’s eyes. The icy cold faded to a perfectly comfortable temperature. I fumbled as I struggled to fit the pendant within the statue’s fingertips. It didn’t want to fit. Maybe I had misunderstood somehow? Maybe—
I heard a click.
“Now what?” Mage asked in a whisper, her eyes wide.
Frozen in a crouch so I wouldn’t dislodge the pendant, I murmured, “Now we wait.” Please let this work, I prayed. Don’t let there be any more pieces to this puzzle. This group didn’t seem like a patient lot. They’d be peeling the skin off my arms soon if this didn’t work.
The seconds dragged on and my agitation increased. I was all but convinced I had misinterpreted the pendant’s message when a wave of fatigue hit me. Recognizing the call back to Earth, I glanced at Caden, then at Amelie, Bishop, and Fiona. I could see it in their eyes—they felt it! Glancing around at the Council, I saw their confusion and panic; they’d gone too many years without experiencing weariness. “It’s working!” I whispered breathlessly.
> Looking up at Caden, I saw his eyes fixed adoringly on me. His lips moved as he mouthed, I love you.
Despite the current circumstances, my heart skipped a few beats. I opened my mouth to return the sentiment—
And watched in horror as he flew backward to crash into the rubble a hundred feet from me, hurled away from the statue by a still smugly grinning Jonah. Hurled away from salvation. Away from me.
“No!” I shrieked as Amelie dashed to her brother.
They weren’t going to make it back in time. Within every fiber of my being, I knew this. None of this was worth it if I didn’t have them.
I groped frantically for my pendant, intent on yanking it out—
A cloudless blue sky hung beyond the glass ceiling above me. I was lying on the cobblestone path in the atrium, beside Veronique’s tomb, the dreadful image of Caden flying away and Amelie chasing after him still vivid in my mind. I clambered to my feet, needing to see those two faces. Knowing I’d want to die if I didn’t.
I found Viggo and Mortimer first. They were sitting at their bistro table, motionless, their eyes round with panic. Sofie was standing beside them, her pale, minty eyes darting about wildly. I followed her gaze.
There were bodies everywhere.
I had wanted four. I had expected nineteen. But there were more. So many more. Creamy pale, beautiful faces lay in repose on the cobblestone paths and in the flower gardens. There had to be a hundred, at least, and none of them were moving. Yet.
“What have you gone and done?” Mortimer whispered slowly, clearly in shock.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” I stammered, shaking my head shaking back and forth in vigorous denial.
“I warned you two about unexpected outcomes, didn’t I?” Sofie muttered, her tone surprisingly calm, given the disastrous situation. The four of us were standing in a minefield of comatose vampires.