I swallow hard, unsure what’s going on, but knowing it can’t be a good thing.
I keep my eyes on the house until Effie peels away from the curb. Then I turn away, but not before Rhyland uncrosses his arms and stares down at his hand. His hand that, only minutes ago, was gripping my arm.
I place my hand over the spot where he gripped me. Beneath the fabric of my shirt, my skin feels … well, sparkly and tickly and familiar.
Strange.
Lowering my hand, I roll up my sleeve and inspect the skin. For the craziest moment, I swear the veins under my skin move, like ribbons twirling in iridescent water. But when I blink, my skin is normal again.
I resist a gulp as I roll down my sleeve, my insides raveling tightly with my nerves. All of this—the scorching heat his grip brought and the brief illusion of my veins moving underneath my skin—seems like magic.
Witches magic.
And the last time Rhyland had a witch use magic on me, I ended up looking evil in the eye and tasting the scent of death.
4
I remember the day I realized just how dangerously cruel Rhyland could be. It was in the middle of my junior year, and it had been snowing all day. The entire town was a giant snow globe of glittery frost and Wonderland magic. I’d always loved snow days and had been in an upbeat mood after I walked to school that evening with the snow crunching under my boots. I didn’t use my super speed, wanting to savor the crisp winter’s air and the snowflakes tumbling from the minty green sky. Unfortunately, my lollygagging resulted in me being late.
By the time I arrived at school, the hallways were empty, the students and teachers already tucked away in their classrooms.
Worried I’d get marked absent, I hauled ass to my locker to put my backpack away and gathered my books, pausing as voices hissed from around the corner of the hallway.
“It’s going to happen today whether you like it or not.” The growling voice belonged to a male, but I couldn’t place a face to it.
“It’s too soon,” someone replied. “It’s going to end in a disaster.”
No, not someone. Rhyland.
I grabbed my books, ready to get out of there before he came around the corner and spotted me alone.
“It’s not my call to make,” the growling voice snapped. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up so you’d be prepared to do what you’re supposed to. This needs to be done, Rhy. If it isn’t, then we’ll never know.”
“And what happens if she gets killed?” Rhyland bit out. “Then what will we do?”
My blood turned as cold as the icicles trimming the rain gutters outside of the school. Killed?
I started to turn to bolt, but then they materialized around the corner. Rhyland spotted me first and stopped dead in his tracks, anger flicking in his eyes.
He said killed. Who could get killed?
I should’ve ran. The day would’ve gone so much better if I had. But I panicked and froze.
The guy with Rhyland slowed to a stop, too. He was about twenty years old, too old to be a student at school and too young to be a teacher. He was wearing a jacket with a silver and purple crown emblem—the emperor emblem.
What was Rhyland doing with an emperor? Better yet, why was an emperor hanging out at the school?
The emperor’s expression was a mixture of uneasiness and curiosity as he assessed me with his head tilted to the side, strands of dark hair hanging in his red eyes. Red eyes meant power. A lot of fucking power.
“Raven?” red eyes asked curiously.
I shifted my weight, stepping back and keeping my lips sealed. First rule of surviving in the vampire world: never give a stranger your name. How he knew my name was a frightening mystery in itself.
He said killed.
A smile spread across the stranger’s face. “You’ve grown up since the last time I saw you.”
“I …” Confused, I looked to Rhyland. A stupid move, something I realize the moment I did it.
A predator smirk rose on Rhyland’s face. “What’s the matter? You look nervous.”
I wasn’t nervous. I was freaking out. I knew I couldn’t show it. Knew if I lost my composure, whatever was about to happen would be ten times worse.
The emperor held up his hand. “You don’t need to be afraid, sweetheart. I won’t bother you.”
A silent yet lingered at the end of his sentence.
I held my breath as he passed by, his shoulder grazing mine. When he was gone, I released it, only to realize Rhyland was still standing there, watching me like a vampire ready to bite. So yeah, basically watching me like his normal self.
“Did you hear what we were talking about?” His head was slanted to the side as he studied me.
I swiftly shook my head. “No.”
“Liar.” The words poured off his tongue like bitter, outdated blood.
“I’m not lying,” I lied.
He stepped toward me. “Then why are you shaking?”
I stepped back. “Because you’re here.”
“You’re afraid of me.” It wasn’t question.
“Do you blame me?” I dared another step back, my back slamming into an invisible wall, which had become a growing occurrence with him ever since the night he helped Nadine lock me up in the attic. I didn’t know how he was doing it, how he was getting a witch to put up so many charms for him, but I wished she’d stop.
“No, I don’t.” He wet his lips with his tongue, showing me his fangs were out.
I gulp, knowing if he wanted to, he could sink those fangs into my neck and drain me dry. I wasn’t strong enough to fight him off, and I was too slow to outrun him. I was always sort of good at hiding, but I’d have to get past the invisible wall to even attempt to hide.
“I didn’t hear anything important,” I tried again. Which was sort of true. I mean, I didn’t hear who could be killed. Just a she.
He deliberately eliminated the space between us in three measured strides. If he wanted to, he could’ve reached me in the throb of a pulse. But he was toying with me, dragging out the fear and letting it build.
When he reached me, he stroked my cheek with his fingertip.
I flinched. He flinched, too, but then a crooked and warped smile curled at his lips.
“You should be scared. This world is a scary place,” he whispered. Then he snagged hold of my arm and towed me to my locker. “Open it,” he demanded.
I shook my head.
He sighed. “Open. It. Now. Or. Else.” He didn’t embellish on the else; his firm tone was enough to frighten me into opening my locker.
Then he pushed me in, not roughly, but fear still webbed through me.
I opened my mouth to scream, when a wave of sleepiness overcame me.
Damn bastard put a sleepy spell on me.
My eyelids grew heavy.
I’m sorry. The words rang in my head from somewhere.
Sorry for what …? That was the last thought I had before darkness gulped me up.
When I woke up, I was squished inside my locker, my legs ached, and my brain felt foggy, remnants of the sleeping spell. How he was getting ahold of all this witch magic was beyond me. I wished I could find out and put a stop to it.
“Hello?” I called out.
No one answered.
I tried again. “I need help.”
Nothing but eerie silence.
I banged on the locker, threw my weight against it, yet the metal wouldn’t cave. I felt so weak. So stupid. So pathetic.
I don’t know how long I stayed trapped in my locker, but eventually, the door opened on its own. I stumbled out into the empty hallway, relieved to see the light of day glinting through the windows.
Then I saw a path of black slime paving the marble floor from the entrance doors, down the hallway, and stopping at my locker, and my relief went poof. Demon slime. How? Demons weren’t supposed to be able to get into the school.
My muscles stiffened as my gaze glided around the hallway, searching for signs of a demon.
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Not a single monster was in sight.
Then my gaze land on my locker, where large, jagged teeth marks covered the exterior of the door.
A violent wave of fear rushed through me, and I ran out of the school.
Come to find out, a demon had attacked the school. No one seemed to know how it got through the charms, but luckily, no one was killed and the demon strangely disappeared.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the demon had been after me. The trail of slime had stopped in front of my locker. The demon had smashed into it.
And I had a feeling Rhyland played a part in it. Mostly because of the conversation I overheard with the stranger. They sounded like they were up to something that would lead to someone getting hurt—the mysterious she.
I hated to think it, but I wondered if the she was me. Whether they were playing a practical joke or not, I still don’t know to this night. All I know is that Rhyland forced me in a locker on the same day a demon got into the school, and it would be strange if that was merely coincidental.
I decide then that Rhyland can be truly evil when he wants to be, and the more time I spent away from him, the better.
5
During the drive to Liquid Red & Blood Magic, I give Effie and Anders a rundown of how I overheard Rhyland and Kingsley being rude to Nadine. Then I tell them about how Rhyland grabbed me. By the time I’m finished, Effie is livid.
“Those assholes. I seriously can’t stand them.” She grips the living nightlights out of the steering wheel, the metallic black rings on each of her fingers glinting in the moonlight. “One day, I swear to God, I’m gonna …”
“Gonna what?” Anders asks from the passenger seat, cocking his brow. “I hate to be the one to ruin your evil plot fun, but Rhyland and Kingsley are emperors. And all we are is three normal, albeit weird and extremely awesome vampires. In terms of power, we can’t do much to them. Plus, there are laws and unless you want to be considered part of the rebellion, you don’t break the laws.” When Effie shoots him a warning look, he offers me an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Raven. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear right now.”
“You don’t need to apologize for telling the truth.” I slump back in the seat. “I just wish we were stronger. Or, at least had an emperor or empress on our side.”
“Unfortunately, that’d require being friends with one of them,” Anders says, fiddling with a gauge in his ear. “And that doesn’t sound like very much fun.”
“They’re not all bad,” I tell him. “My mom’s one of them.”
“Fuck, I forgot about that.” He frowns. “I’m sorry. Again.”
“Stop apologizing for silly things,” I say. “Besides, most empresses and emperors aren’t like my mom. They’re big-headed and arrogant like Rhyland and Kingsley, so what you said is sort of right.”
Effie tucks a strand of her chin-length purple hair behind her ear while checking her reflection in the mirror on the visor. “I still think it’s a little weird that Kingsley and Rhyland were being mean to Nadine. They’ve always been nice to her, at least from what I’ve seen.”
“I know,” I agree. “She’s had them wrapped around her little finger since we were kids.”
Anders’ face contorts with disgust. “But she seems so vile.”
“She is vile,” I tell him. “But so are Kingsley and Rhyland.”
“They’re like three peas in a juicy blood pod,” Effie says as she steers the car into the back parking lot of the club.
The spacious area is crammed with cars and people dressed in various edgy, dress code appropriate outfits. Music is booming from inside the three-story, glittering midnight blue building, vibrating through the air. Glowing stars and swirling ribbons of violet and silver float above, a mirage painted by magic.
“God, this place is gorgeous,” Effie remarks in awe as she parks the car. Then she shuts off the engine and twist in her seat, glancing between Anders and me. “You know what I think? That we should say to hell with Kingsley, Rhyland, Nadine, and their evil games, down one of these little suckers”—she holds up a plastic bag full of small glass vials that she retrieves from the console—“march into that club, and dance until every single goddamn part of our bodies ache. Until we’re delirious on fun and dancing and laughing and living our goddamn lives without worrying about anyone else.”
“What about Austin?” Anders questions with a crook of his brow.
Effie shrugs. “I’ll deal with that cheating bastard when the time comes. Right now, my BFF is in desperate need of a forgetful night.”
I scoot forward in the seat and rest my arms on the console. “A forgetful night?”
“Yeah, a night so fun you can barely remember it.” She grins at me as she opens the bag of vials. “Trust me, it’s a rite of passage everyone needs to experience at least once.” She plucks out a vial.
Inside the glass, a silvery black liquid shimmers in the starlight filtering through the windows. I’ve never seen anything like it before and don’t immediately take it.
“What is it?” I ask warily.
“A blood boost.” She urges me to take the vial.
“What kind of a blood boost?” Because I’ve taken a couple of blood boosts before, usually when I’m tired and need an extra energy jolt. But with how excited she looks right now, I have a feeling the vial in her hand isn’t an ordinary blood boost.
“A boost of … emperor blood,” she answers with reluctance.
My eyes pop wide. “How the hell did you get ahold of emperor’s blood?”
She lifts a shoulder, shrugging. “I know some people who know some people. It’s not really that strange if you have the right connections.”
I cast a glance at Ander, wondering what he thinks about all this. He shrugs, seeming a little perplexed, but not as wary as me.
“Don’t worry; I’ve done this a couple of times before.” She presses the vial into my palm. “You’ll have a blast, I swear.” She hands a vial to Anders then takes one for herself. “Besides, if we were rich and wealthy, we’d be upstairs in your mom’s club drinking this from the vein.”
“I’m sure she’d let us go up if we asked.” I pull a face at my own statement. I act like I want to drink emperor’s blood, which I don’t. Well, I sort of do.
Okay, truthfully, I’ve always been a tiny bit curious what that sort of power tastes like. But after what happened when I left the house, I feel like I’ve been around emperors too much for one night.
I shake my head at myself. Look at how you’re already letting them affect you? A night ago, you would’ve been into this. You need to let it go, and not let them ruin your night, your week, your life.
Effie’s face bursts with excitement. “Are you being serious? You could really get us up there?”
“I’ve never asked her before, but I know she’s let Nadine a couple of times, so I’m sure she’d say yes.” I flick a glance in the direction of the very long line wrapping around the building. “Although, it might take a while with how busy it is tonight.”
“You don’t seem like you want to,” Effie observes. “Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“No, it’s fine. I was just thinking about dipshit emperors one and two. I’m not going to anymore.” I wrap my fingers around the vial and shake off my sullen mood. “Let’s make this an awesome forgetful night.”
Effie’s lips spread into a grin. “There’s my awesome best friend. I thought she was going to be sad all night.”
“I’m fine,” I promise her. “I just let them get to me. Now I’m over it.”
She eyes me over with a hint of skepticism. “Are you sure?”
I nod. “Positive.”
“All right, then.” She unscrews the lid off the vial. “I say we take these bad boys, go inside, and dance until we can get upstairs and get the live thing. Then we’ll dance until our feet can’t remember how.”
“It’s a good thing we don’t have classes tomorrow.” Anders pops the lid off his vial. “Not
that I don’t mind missing a class or two.”
Effie grins at him then looks at me. “You in, Rave?”
I nod, though I’m nervous. I mean, I’ve gotten blood drunk a couple of times, and my body is still humming from the blood buzz from earlier. Now I’m about to drink emperor’s blood—powerful blood.
I shiver, not necessary in a bad way, and untwist the cap off the vial.
Effie clears her throat and raises her vial in the air. “I’d like to make a toast to Raven, who’s the best BFF I could ever ask for. Before you came along, I spent way too many hours listening to Anders yammer about all the hot ass and perfect tits he saw in a day, and how hard he got every time that stupid bathtub mat commercial came on.” She puts her hand to the side of her mouth and leans toward me, stage whispering, “I think he might have a thing for bathmats.”
Anders stares at her, unimpressed. “It was the woman in the commercial that was turning me on. Not the bathmat.”
“If you say so.” She grins when he scowls at her. “What? You did stare awfully hard every time that bathmat showed up on the screen.”
Anders just shakes his head.
Effie flashes him a grin then turns serious again. Well, as serious as she ever is.
“Anyway,” she says, looking at me. “My point is that while I love Anders, I love that you’re part of my life and that you don’t have a thing for bathmats.”
“Oh, my God, you’re insane.” Without waiting for her to finish, Anders tips his head back and throws back the blood boost.
“Fine, ruin my toast.” Effie playfully glares at Anders, then she clinks her vial with mine and downs the emperor’s blood in one long gulp.
They both look at me, waiting.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Letting out an anxious breath, I put the vial to my lips and tip my head back. The warm liquid spills down my throat and passed my lungs, settling in my stomach. As I lower the vial from my lips, I hold my breath and wait for something dazzling and magical to happen.