When I start to come back to consciousness I hear a voice, but it is like my eyes are glued shut. I can't seem to open them, and pain racks my body like a bulldozer is running over me repeatedly.
"She has been taken by what seems to be a group of newborn vampires, but I did see a few older vampires that had more control. Dravon has spoken telepathically to her, but she hasn't spoken back. He says it's total silence," Ren says and pauses. "Yes, that confirms my thoughts."
I realize that I am hearing a one-sided phone conversation.
"Yes, I will keep Chloe and you apprised of the situation," Ren says and I hear his phone shut but I still can't open my eyes. I can barely breathe for the pain that is rasping my lungs. I need Emmaline, and I need her now. How am I going to be strong enough to communicate with her or rescue her if I can't feed? This is the last thought I have as I fade back into darkness, my body not able to take the pain of being separated from Emmaline and not feeding.
That is some strong magic that was used to bind us, because there are not a lot of things that can affect a vampire in this way. I haven't felt like this since the day that I died of leukemia. We have to find her, and it needs to be soon.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Molly
I take a look around and am astonished at the damage the storm has caused. I am also so very saddened by Ella's death. I can't remember a time hardly that she hasn't been a part of my life. When I was introduced to this Coven it was by Ella. The world has lost a beautiful soul and a very powerful witch this day. My heart is nearly broken. I should have listened to my gut feeling, I should have known, that the feelings of foreboding doom, wasn't just about Sadie, and I should have known to alert the other coven members to the feelings that I was having.
All the should-haves aren't going to bring back Ella. Some of the witches of my coven and I chanted the reverse spell to dissipate the storm. I flicked my wrist dismissing it, thanking the Goddesses for their protection.
"Ren, the storm is over. You can now answer my questions," I say visibly upset, but I am not upset at Ren.
"Molly, please sit," Ren asks.
"I am fine. Just tell me what I want to know, now!" I say aggressively and flinch, because I know he is only trying to protect me.
"Here is my best estimate. It looks as if we have lost Ella, Johen, Sara, and a member of the coven that I didn't know. Dravon and I have staked six of the newborn vampires that attacked us. All of them were killed due to their acts of violence, causing the death of our friends," Ren says as he hangs his head in shame.
I lift his head and his eyes meet mine.
"Renford, do not blame yourself for this. You are a good man, and you have only done what was necessary to assure our safety. You are the sweetest man I know, a doctor that saves lives. I have never seen you act even remotely mean to anyone as long as I have known you. You lift your head, and you let go of the shame that is plaguing you. We need each other to get through the loss and the pain. I have a feeling that this is not over yet, and we will have to be prepared for what comes next. Do you understand?" I ask him as sweetly as I can, but I speak to him somewhat harshly letting him know that he has to put away the feelings of guilt.
"There is more, Molly."
It is now that I notice that Dravon is on the ground writhing in pain. I see Grayson and James standing nearby him trying to console him. He seems to be in the worst pain that I have ever seen anyone endure in my entire life. I look around trying to find Emmaline, because I know that Dravon needs to feed. My eyes meet Ren's and I start to speak but he cuts me off.
"They have taken Emmaline. I am sure that she hasn't seen who her captor is, because she communicated with Dravon just before everything went pure silent. I just finished speaking with Asher. He has confirmed what I already suspected. For it to be pure silence in Dravon's mind, can only mean one of three things. She is either knocked out, sedated, or she is dead. Now before you panic, listen to me. They wouldn't have taken her if they meant her dead. They would have just killed her, and left her lying here as they so carelessly left the others. They want Emmaline because they know of her status. She is still alive Molly, because I can just feel it in my gut. My guess is that they knocked her out for transport, and now have her sedated." Ren puts his arm around my waist to steady me.
"We don't have time to waste. Lily, can you see to your packs injuries? Grayson and James, can you carry Dravon back to the cabin for me? Jordan, since you are one of the Elders that helped cast the circle can I entrust in you the task of gathering our dead, and getting our coven to safety? You know where to go. Please go there and wait for me. When I am finished, I will be there to give the dead a proper burial. I will text you if I need members to help, but unless I do so, with the code word at the end of the text, do not leave. I can't lose any more family today. You all are my family, so please do as I say and keep yourself safe. I need to go get Emmaline. She is not only my granddaughter but she is the Chosen, and our savior," I say hoping that she will do exactly as I am instructing.
"Molly, it will be my honor to lead in your absence. I will meet you in our safe haven. I will take our fallen, and await your arrival to give them the proper burial. Please text us anytime if you need us for anything." She says as she turns to walk away gathering what is left of our coven, and I can hear her voice. She is giving them instructions, but I can't hear what is being said. I trust that she will get them to safety.
"Molly, are you ready?" Grayson asks.
James and Grayson have Dravon in their arms ready to begin the walk to the cabin. Dravon is screaming in pain, and I need to get him to the cabin quickly. I have a potion there to help with pain. I am not sure how much it will help, but it is worth a try at least. Lily has retreated to gather her pack.
I also need to do a locator spell on Emmaline. The quicker I find her, the better it will be for all of us. Dravon will need to feed soon. He can only go so many hours without her blood now that they are bound. Time is of the essence.
Once inside the cabin, the men put Dravon on my sofa. I quickly make my way down the spiral staircase to the basement to look for the potion I need to give him. Potion in hand, I leave the basement, and force the tears to stay at bay. What if Emmaline is not okay? What will I do? How can I live with myself if I let something happen to her? It's as if Ren hears my internal struggle, because he puts his arm around my waist, more for comfort this time.
We walk into the living room where Grayson and James are standing guard at the window. Dravon is on the sofa writhing in pain, and the screams are becoming more agonizing than ever now. I shudder at the sound, but Ren never lets go of my waist. I can feel emotion rolling off of him in waves. Dravon is his son in every sense of the word.
"Hey guys, hold him still for me," I say with tears in my eyes.
I can’t stand to see him like this. I open the potion and use the dropper, putting five drops in his mouth. I think to myself that he is a vampire, and he's going to need more than that. I refill the dropper and give him five more drops. He starts to calm, and the screams are lessened to loud moans.
I go about collecting the items I need for the locator spell. I need the town map, because my intuition is telling me they are still in town. I need blood of the person or blood of a direct relative. I have those two things, and now all I need to do is find the memoire with the incantation in it. I remember I have left it on the shelf in the kitchen.
"Grayson and James, please stay with Dravon. I need full concentration to do this locator spell," I say as I walk towards the kitchen.
"We are here as long as you need, Molly. I just wished that the Protector binding had taken place so that I could track her. I feel helpless," James says deflated.
"This will work, and we will get her back. Don't worry James," I say trying to reassure both of us.
I locate the book on the shelf. I lay the map on the table, smoothing it out. I light all the candles I have, and place them like you would if you were casting
a circle. I find the incantation I need in the book, and I cut my hand with the athame, dripping twenty drops of blood as it instructs to do. I find the words of the incantation, and in English it states - Locate the Chosen. Use my blood as her relative. Point on the map, her location, and track her if she moves.
I begin the incantation in Latin as the book instructs.
"Locate electum pertinere, Operam quoque sanguinis suo affine. Point in map, eam location indaginem, si nupserit, quod."
"Locate electum pertinere, Operam quoque sanguinis suo affine. Point in map, eam location indaginem, si nupserit, quod."
"Locate electum pertinere, Operam quoque sanguinis suo affine. Point in map, eam location indaginem, si nupserit, quod."
After the third time, the blood is supposed to move to her location, but it doesn't. I redo the spell, and still, after the third time the blood don’t move. I start to do the spell for the fourth time. The map bursts into flames, and written in blood on the table are the words I was hoping never to see - Do you take me for a fool, Molly?
My fears have been confirmed. I know the witch who is helping them, and more importantly, why. Love! It is such a powerful thing. When given freely it can be a beautiful, innocent thing that is indescribable by words themselves. When taken away, it can make you a bitter person with a vendetta against the world. Unfortunately, it is the latter one for Bethany. I hear my cell phone chirp, alerting me I have a text.
Unknown number: Surely you know I would do a cloaking spell. The place they are keeping her has also been warded against unwanted supernaturals. Don't cross me, Molly!
Molly: Bethany, it is you that should be afraid of crossing me. I will find Emmaline. Make no mistake that when I do, I will destroy you and everyone that is in my path. And I will find her! Trust me. If it's the last thing I do.
Bethany: I don't take kindly to threats. Surely you remember that Molly.
I don't even reply, because that text has taken me back in memory to the day that everyone witnessed Bethany's wrath. The reason that our Coven forced her out, stripped her of her duties, and told other covens not to accept her as an initiate. She was practicing black magic, and broke the rule of "Do no harm". Our Coven had no knowledge of the black magic until the events of that day.
She had caught her boyfriend with another girl; that girl was me and the boy was a local witch. His name was Haden, and every girl in the school had a crush on him, including me. Bethany, Haden, and I belonged to the same coven and we were committed to each other in a relationship. Coven bylaws stated he was unavailable for a relationship. He and I always followed the bylaws because we took our initiation into the Coven very seriously.
One night Haden, Lucas and I were out at the local hangout studying. We all had chemistry exams that week. Haden and I also had our Coven trials. Lucas had just moved to town, and Haden and I, not wanting him to fail chemistry, included him into our study group. Haden and I were going to practice our Coven trials later on that night, because we were the only two of the new initiates that hadn't passed all of them yet. At the time, neither one of us knew that Lucas was a vampire, because we had never seen anything out of the ordinary and he seemed nice enough.
Bethany found out where we were and decided to confront us about the relationship she thought we were having. So she showed up at the local diner that was near the hangout spot for teens. Before we knew it, Bethany was screaming at Haden that he would be sorry for betraying her. All the while he was calmly trying to tell her nothing was going on.
The events that occurred next I can't explain, because once I saw Lucas turn, and never seeing a vampire before, shocked me beyond belief. I was in such shock that when stupor wore off, I was sitting in the middle of a devastatingly crumbled diner with Haden's almost lifeless body lying near me, with his bloody head wrapped in my shirt lying in my lap. Lucas was nowhere to be found and the woods were on fire, the diner's windows had been busted out, the chairs and booths had been tossed about. It looked as if a tornado had torn the place to shreds. That tornado's name was Bethany, and the black magic she had been practicing was her enabler. So to say that Bethany hated me or that we have a horrible history would be an understatement. Now what?
I'm snapped out of my memory when Ren speaks.
"Molly, who was that? What's going on?" Ren asks worriedly.
"A witch that used to be a part of our coven. She was thrown out due to practicing dark magic, and breaking the rule of 'Do no harm'," I explain filling him in on all details.
"I think that it is time to gather the Coven for help," Ren says.
"You are correct, and I think we are going to need all the help we can get."
Chapter Twenty Eight
Emmaline
I awake to pure darkness that surrounds me. Where am I? I hear a faint muffled sob close by. I hold my breath and listen carefully. I can smell cherry blossom perfume, and recognition dawns on me. I have discovered why she has missed the initiation ceremony. My thoughts drift to Dravon's icy blue eyes and an immediate shiver travels down my spine. I can still feel his hands caressing my shoulder, his lips devouring mine, and his complete unconditional, loving stare as we repeated the soul mate vows.
But where am I? I start to panic as I focus back to reality, snapping out of the memory. I need to stay focused. Dear God, what is wrong with me? I have been kidnapped and deposited in total darkness, and I am thinking about Dravon. Focus Em, good grief, what is wrong with you?
"Sadie?" I speak as quietly as I can muster with panic gripping my insides, while grasping for some semblance of hope that it really is her that I smell.
"Yes."
I hear her whisper. An overwhelming happiness pushes the panic away for the moment. I have found her, but where are we?
"Sadie, where are we?"
"I have no idea, or how long I have been here."
I can hear the tears and panic in her voice.
"They wanted you, and they got you. I couldn't stop it, and I am so sorry, Em."
"Sadie, this isn't your fault. Do you hear me? Now stop that shit right now, and let's figure out how to get the hell out of here!" I exclaim.
"You're not going anywhere!"
Panic seizes me as soon as I hear that snide voice. That is the same voice that I heard as I passed out at the ceremony. What am I going to do? I instinctively reach out telepathically.
“Dravon, please hear me! Sadie and I are being held in a makeshift cell somewhere.”
“Oh no, you don’t!”
Extreme pressure to the back of my head and all went black.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Davon
“Emmaline, where are you?” I wait to hear her voice, but fear and icy terror grip my insides when I don't get a response. I don't even feel her presence in my mind, and that must mean she is unconscious. Have they hurt her? Who are they? Oh God, what am I going to do? It is almost time for me to feed, and she is my life force, and without her I will surely die. Who will find her and Sadie then? I hear a quiet footstep behind me, and I look up to find James staring at me intently.
"I feel her anguish, fear, terror, panic, and pain but I can't seem to get a location on her. What has happened? Dravon, is Sadie with her? Are they hurt?" James asks.
"I don't know James, but I do know that Sadie is with her. I feel so helpless." My body is overtaken with pain.
The agonizing screams follow soon after, and I can feel hands holding me down again. Molly is force-feeding me the potion but instead of ten drops she gives me fifteen this time. I must be getting worse. The drops help with the pain but they don't make me unconscious. I can still hear what is being said. I know the group of newborn vampires has a powerful witch working with them who practices black magic. Bethany better pray her black magic works and that I don't find her, because I won't hesitate to rip her damn neck from her shoulders.
Chapter Thirty
Emmaline
I wake to a woman chanting words that I don't understand. A
few days ago I wouldn't have realized that she is a witch, but a few days ago I wouldn't have been a witch myself. A few minutes later I feel hands on me, but before I have time to panic they are pouring a liquid down my throat that makes me want to gag. It smells horrid, and it taste even worse.
"If you vomit, we will have to knock you out again. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."
"Who are you?" I need all the information that I can for Dravon.
"Jasper."
"Jasper, why are you doing this? Why me?"
"You are the Chosen of course."
"The what?" I decide to play stupid, and see if it will work to my advantage.
"Don't play dumb with me, Emmaline. Let's just be straight with each other. This won't take long, just 48 hours for his vile blood to be out of your system. Then our ceremony will take place. Bethany assures me that within thirty minutes you will be in so much pain that you won't be able to hold a conversation. I am sorry for that, but that is what the elixir was for, and I hope it works."
"Who's Bethany?" True enough, the pain kicks in, and I can't hold back the loud moan that escapes me.
"I do believe this conversation is over for now. Try to rest."
"Sadie!" I call in between sobs of agony.
"Yes, I'm right here," she says reaching out and touching me.
As soon as Sadie's hands touch my skin, I feel warmth from head to toe. Although we are in pure blackness, what we see shocks us. Sadie's fingertips sparkle with pink, blue, purple, green, and red light. The light spreads through the entire makeshift cell. She rubs her hand over my heart, and speaks in a language I don't understand.
"Tome toda a dor de distancia facéndose a libre de dor. Curar ese corazón partido que foi detectado. Fixar e facer a conexión máis forte."
Immediately every ounce of pain is now reduced to a slight discomfort. I am in awe of what just happened.