Sapphire Curse, page 19
part #1 of Rebels of the Realms Series
Xavier knelt beside Tanner and quickly examined him. He went still, not wanting to answer.
Squeezing Xavier’s shoulder, Darcy questioned, “Can you heal him?”
Tanner quaked. Blood poured out of the wound. He gargled as he tried to breathe.
Xavier waved Darcy back from Tanner. “I’ll do what I can,” he said.
“Am I going to die?” asked Tanner. A tremor rocked him.
Xavier whispered, “Think of something lovely.” He opened his mouth, revealing his fangs.
Tanner squirmed.
There was another scream, real as could be. It was young yet powerful. It came from the reception desk.
“Matteo,” said Darcy, standing.
“No!” Xavier snapped as he pulled away from Tanner. “Not alone.”
“Hurry up and find me,” she snapped back. “I’m going.”
When Darcy made it to the reception area, she found Yin standing over Dante and Matteo. She looked like something from a history lesson. It was Yin’s Halloween tradition to pose as the mortal she once was and lure a man to his drawn-out death as a special trick. This night was a special treat. She didn’t waste time trying to woo a man. She was going right in for the kill and more than one.
Lucia was sprawled out on the floor. There was no bite mark, but her forehead was bruising quickly. Yin had tossed her into the front desk when she tried to fight back.
Blue light burned in Darcy’s hand. Thomas intervened before she used it. Yin grinned at her former comrade and playfully hopped onto one foot. He stirred and growled. Far more agile than Thomas, Yin lunged at Dante.
She took a bite out of Dante’s neck like she was opening a bag of chips with her teeth. She didn’t aim to drink from him. She tore a chunk of his flesh and spat it at Thomas’ face. Dante bellowed while Matteo cried. Matteo had yet to be harmed, but he had seen enough to scar him for the rest of his life.
Thomas ripped Yin away from Dante and chucked her into the wall, cracking it from the blow. With only the quick touch, he snapped her knee with his talent. She snarled from the ground. Thomas reciprocated with a thunderous sound, echoed by a cackling plastic ghoul on the reception desk.
Yin rolled to her back and laughed, high-pitched and amused. Though her knee bent inward unnaturally, she lifted her leg like it was merely a scratch. “I’m not the only monster here tonight,” she giggled. She turned up to her hip and rested her head on the ground. She stared straight at Darcy with a vile grin. “It’s a witch hunt, my pet.”
With eyes clouded over, Thomas turned to the mortals. His shoulders hunched over. He ordered, “Get out of here!”
Darcy yanked Matteo up to his feet. Despite his marred neck, Dante scooped up his sister. He ran with Darcy and his nephew behind the reception desk. Matteo immediately went to the corner of the small storage room and curled into a ball on the floor. Dante laid his sister gently on the ground.
“Hide in here,” said Darcy from the doorway.
“What about you?” Dante questioned.
“I have to find Jasmine,” she said. She slammed the door shut and ran past Yin and Thomas in the middle of their gladiator battle.
Traces of smoke tainted the air in every hallway. At every scream, Darcy twisted on her heel only to find a fallen skeleton or a witch waving on a broom. Her heart pattered with the pattern of the lights. Darcy wasn’t sure if she wanted to find a sign of Jasmine or not if it meant finding her in the middle of vampire chaos.
Darcy slid as she turned the hall and grabbed a chair to steady her feet. Lights flickered like broken strobe lights overhead. In the flashes she found a man and woman standing in the center of the hall.
“Run!” Darcy shouted, waving at the two. Neither of them budged. Darcy was far enough away that the scent of smoke was gone. Now there were two distinct flavors to the air—hickory and sandalwood.
“You’re the plaything,” said the woman. She pursed darkly stained lips. She had a thick Scottish accent.
She wore navy boots that laced up to her knees, no height to the heels. Like the rest of her, her shoes appeared made for show but were practical and prepared for a battle. She had a navy corset with golden accents. Within the ribbons she had tucked a small dagger. She wasn’t petite. In another time her curves may have filled the grandest dresses on the most adorned courts, arm-in-arm with men of the highest society.
The woman sneered, “I smell Xavier on you. He used to have better taste.”
Darcy slid back. “Moira?”
“The traitors haven’t forgotten my name,” said Moira. She delicately swayed her hand near the man beside her. “Isn’t that sweet, Abel?”
“Like candy,” said Abel, his voice gruff and untamed.
Flashing her reptile eyes, Moira said, “Let’s take a taste of Xavier’s treat.”
19
Abel wasn’t a towering man, but there was no denying the willingness within him to take another man down. He favored Winny in appearance except for his cold expression. His attire was plain aside from the leather padding over his chest. It was like an extra layer to keep any feeling from reaching his heart. There was a burn across his face that distorted his right eye. A web of scars consumed his hands.
“Only a taste?” he questioned, menacingly.
Moira rushed forward and yanked Darcy against her chest. Moira said, “Soon I’ll make you mine before Xavier can beat me to it.” Then her fangs broke through Darcy’s flesh at the wrist.
Darcy couldn’t feel her left hand when the venom struck her. Her right hand was still controllable, and she punched Moira square in the temple with her fingers gloved in blue light. Moira tossed Darcy back into the wall and clutched her head.
“You’re the witch Yin ran into,” said Moira as she rubbed the flesh that sizzled where Darcy had struck her. “I’ve never seen magic work like that, not even from elves.”
Darcy scrambled to keep on her feet and squeezed her left wrist as tightly as she could, feeling nothing but the vicious sting of the venom.
“Hmm,” said Moira, wiping the back of her hand over her chin and examining the blood. “I thought you would taste special. I see Xavier’s standards have fallen.”
A nearby ghoul hanging from the ceiling wailed at the same time as a familiar voice, one more feral. Before anyone could react, Xavier had Moira by the neck and off her feet like she was his puppet. By the look of her red-lipped grin, the true puppeteer was debatable.
“You will not touch her,” Xavier barked.
Darcy’s blood drizzled out of the corners of Moira’s mouth. She licked it up and said, “I won’t if you won’t.”
Xavier squeezed Moira’s neck before he tossed her at Abel. She landed on her feet and didn’t skid. She had control of herself from the moment she left Xavier’s grip.
Moira’s nearly white hair covered one of her eyes. Her hair was shaved close to her head on one side. The other side was shoulder length and cut at an angle. She blew the hair away from her eye and sneered.
“You don’t know him,” said Moira. She held herself steady, one hand flat on the ground as she remained low on a bended knee. Her clouded gaze traced Darcy’s shape like she was studying a chess game. “I’m starting to think he doesn’t know himself anymore. His old friends will have to remind him.”
Abel knelt beside Moira. His movement was stiff and rigid. He was his sister’s opposite. Winny’s skills allowed her to feel everything around her. Traian selected him because he was adept at feeling nothing. He said, “In due time. There are more important matters.”
Moira stood with Abel. Xavier tensed, watching their every move. Moira spat blood at Darcy’s feet. “Have it back,” she taunted. “We got what we came for.”
Darcy’s shoes sizzled. Moira and Abel snickered and abandoned the scene. Xavier growled at his former comrades. He wouldn’t leave Darcy’s side to go after them. He kicked at her foot to clear it of the blood that ate at her shoe like acid.
“I’ll kill them,” said Xavier, snarling.
Darcy winced and stumbled back into the wall. “We have to go after them,” she said, panicked. “They’ll devour everyone here.”
Xavier argued, “If that was their plan it’d be done by now. I saw an elderly man on the floor in his own blood around the corner.”
“Old man Ricker,” Darcy gasped. Her chin trembled. It wasn’t the flu in the end. “What about Tanner?”
He sighed, “I’m sorry.”
She winced and bit down on her tongue as though tears were in her mouth instead of her eyes. They came anyway and trickled down her cheek, but she didn’t have time for them. “Why were they here?”
“To piss me the hell off. Ma sirène, what were you thinking?”
“I know, I know. I was being an idiot.”
He drew closer to her and ran his hand up into her hair. He rested his forehead on hers and said, “No, no. You are smart, but it’s your kindness I adore. Kindness is often dangerous.” He brushed his lips over her brow. He couldn’t help but add more. “In your case kindness can be stupid.”
The ghouls cackled again. This time it was Thomas that came into view. His shirt was covered in blood. His cheek had been sliced open. It was almost done healing.
“They’re gone,” said Thomas. Like his face, his shirt had been torn by a slash from Yin’s metal ring. That particular ring was tipped with a tiny sapphire. It constantly burned her, but she rarely took it off. He asked, “What happened here?”
“Moira and Abel,” Xavier answered.
“She bit me,” said Darcy before she cringed.
“I’m already cut,” said Thomas, walking toward her with his hand out in front of him. Despite Xavier’s grumbling, Darcy welcomed Thomas to hold his wound over hers.
The marks healed once Thomas’ blood found them. Thankfully the blood didn’t whisk her away for a mini movie. Her mind and body were too focused on the pain from the venom that still had its teeth in her. She did see a few pieces of his past. There was a redheaded man on a battlefield. Thomas pushed him out of the way when a bullet came flying.
“The town is going to lose their minds,” said Darcy.
“Winny is already on it,” said Thomas.
Darcy laughed, “She can honeysuckle all of Cape Emerald?”
“She’ll get to everyone in the hospital,” said Thomas. He was confident, but it didn’t ease the worry. “Some people left. She’ll scan the town. This isn’t something she can erase, but they won’t recall it the way it was.”
Darcy questioned, “What about Lucia? Her brother? Matteo?”
“They are safe,” Thomas assured her. “They are already healing. I made sure of it.”
Darcy sat up on her knees and said, “She barely bit me, and I feel like my arm is about to burn off.”
Thomas said, “Her venom is particularly awful. How much of your blood did she have?”
Darcy replied, “It only lasted a few seconds. She wasn’t trying to kill me. She was toying with me.”
Xavier said, “She had enough to feel you for a day or two. I’ll guard you at night. She won’t hurt you again.”
Unstirred by Moira, Darcy brushed her hand over the smooth flesh that had been marred by fangs only moments before. She said, “Moira didn’t react to my blood the way you did. No trippy ride through her memories. It was like it bored her.”
“She lied,” Xavier scoffed.
Darcy held out her hand. Her blood was still wet on her fingertips. “Try it,” she offered.
“I don’t need it,” he said, though it was difficult to say the words.
“It’s for science,” she urged him. She waved her fingers near his mouth.
He moved too fast for her to see the motions and caught her wrist in his hand. He licked his lips gently before bringing her fingers to his mouth. He breathed over her hand, more to calm himself than her. He sucked the blood from her skin.
Darcy pulled her hand away. By the glaze over Xavier’s eyes, she wasn’t sure if he would have ever let her go. “You see your childhood?” she asked.
“No,” he replied, puzzled. “Nothing like that. It’s normal.”
Darcy brushed her fingers over her lips. She could taste the flavor of him with the slightest touch. She tapped her fingers until she dropped her hand and her jaw. The revelation brought her to her knees. She said, “When you drank my blood before, I had seen my mother. The light I saw was purple instead of blue like mine, like it was from a different place. It was the realm of time.”
“I’m not following,” said Xavier, looking up at her with fierce curiosity.
Thomas stepped closer and said, “I thought you had no living family.”
“She’s dead,” said Darcy.
“You saw your dead mother?” Thomas questioned.
Darcy nodded as though that would satiate him. She said, “It’s pretty hard to actually go to another realm. Maybe because I’m not from any realm I can go more freely.”
Xavier grimaced.
Thomas peered at her and asked, “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
Darcy nonchalantly said, “Long story short, I was never born.”
“What on earth do you mean?” asked Thomas, British accent as thick as ever. It came heavier when something sounded ridiculous.
“You’ve seen my magic,” said Darcy. “That’s how I got it. Don’t question it.”
Xavier pulled on Darcy’s hand and held it tightly, like it was the only thing he could keep just between them. He asked, “You’re saying you were actually in this other realm when I saw you fall off the cliff?”
“That’s why you saw your past in my blood,” she explained, sold on her theory far more than he was. “Stepping into that realm must have sent my blood there too.”
Xavier brushed his hand up over her cheek and into her hair. He said, “You do realize how ridiculous you sound.”
She took hold of his head much the same. “Almost as ridiculous as you sounded when you drank my blood that had just been in the realm of time.”
“What did he do?” asked Thomas.
Darcy answered, “He went on about his youth and Mercedes and laughed like a toddler.”
“Are you sure you didn’t have drugs in your blood?” asked Thomas. He pointed at Xavier with his thumb. “That sounds like him in the 60s.”
Xavier groaned, “It was different.”
Thomas sighed, “I see why you didn’t tell me this. I wouldn’t share this beyond our circle.”
Xavier leaned forward again. “Please be careful,” he whispered against Darcy’s mouth. “There are realms that are sealed away for a reason.”
Darcy said, “I’m not going on some realm hopping adventure. The good thing is that if I keep getting eaten by a vampire, they won’t necessarily know they can make realm cocktails.” She laughed, the sound slow and hazy. She was suddenly soothed over, calm and at peace. She shook her head. “Honeysuckle.”
“I believe I’ve gotten everyone,” said Winny as she came down the hall. There was blood on her petticoat. “We may need to get Darcy out of here.”
Thomas said, “Moira and Abel were here. This isn’t what we thought.”
Winny paused to feel the air. She didn’t argue when she could sense he was serious. It still didn’t add up. She said, “Yin doesn’t associate with them anymore. They weren’t as eager to bring back Traian.”
“They’re back in one happy family now,” Xavier scoffed.
Darcy tucked her chin toward her chest.
Winny moved toward Darcy, cautiously as though approaching a wounded animal. She pressed, “What is it? You’re hesitant.”
Darcy said, “Moira said that she would soon make me hers before Xavier could.”
Winny said, “They would have to—”
Thomas quickly said, “—No. They can’t.”
Xavier said, “It’s more plausible than saving Traian.”
“I don’t even remember the Barren Blood spell,” said Winny.
“You’ve done that spell?” asked Darcy.
“I tried,” Winny replied. She wrung her hands. The very thought of the memory—even if she didn’t remember it—made her anxious. “Abel stopped me. It was the last magic I tried before I was cursed.”
“The sapphire,” said Darcy. She moved to Winny and patted furiously on her shoulder. “The one they put in your neck. It can draw truth out of people. They could have gotten that spell from you, maybe even if you don’t remember it.”
Darcy watched Thomas fall without moving. He wavered. Winny held him up. It seemed the slightest breeze would topple him over. “If they got that spell,” he started. He couldn’t finish.
Lightly, Darcy gasped, “Are you all saying they’re trying to undo it?”
“They can’t,” Thomas repeated.
“They must think they can,” Winny argued. “You had Mary cast the spell. They assume her granddaughter can break it.”
“Her granddaughter,” said Darcy. Neither Winny nor Thomas knew Darcy’s connection to Mary. That could only mean one thing. “What about Jasmine?”
Steady and strained, Thomas said, “They don’t know what they’re doing.”
“Neither do we, apparently,” said Xavier.
Reality swelled within Darcy’s stomach. She vomited but held it in her mouth and swallowed it back down. “Jasmine,” she said through the ache. “They took her!”
Winny gently covered her own chest with her hand. She didn’t have the heart to nod or speak. She had her own sadness about it. To feel Darcy’s on top of it kept her from moving.
Darcy’s next three breaths were fast, like a stone had struck her lungs and the ripples raced over her. She said, “She can’t help them. What will they do if they realize that?”
Silence.
Fist shaking at Thomas, Xavier growled, “That stupid spell has been the bane of our existence.”
“Stop it,” said Winny.
Xavier said, “No. He risked the wrath of Traian because he couldn’t handle his lover being a vampire, who—by the way—wanted to be one.”
“It wasn’t right,” said Thomas, unable to look Xavier in the eye.
“According to you,” said Xavier, scowling. “That’s what you do. You stand on that pedestal and think you know what’s best. You choose for other people, even when it’s against their wishes. What makes you any different than Traian?”
