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I DIDN’T KNOW WHETHER to be alarmed, unsettled, or secretly thrilled by Leysa’s offer and objective. Train to kill vampires to eventually attack Sanlow to liberate the humans? Completely suicidal—and a wild fantasy. Could I pledge myself to that cause? I didn’t have much to lose; just Sloan’s life and my own—and Maer’s.
No doubt she would be willing to take the chance. Like Aspen, she had revenge to enact. But Sloan? No. She wasn’t a risk-taker, certainly not for something so monumental as a rebellion against four covens.
Our futures were uncertain. It was terrifying even to start facing the sudden world of possibility.
Right now, I just wanted to sleep. Was that really a lot to ask for?
Leysa was a terrifyingly good judge of character. As soon as I sat down at the table, she started spewing words. “We’ll make this quick so you can all get some rest. You like Maer. Whenever she moves, you move. She’s likeable. Poor thing, subjected to what she was. She wants to, for the short-term at least, remain here. You and your sister are also welcome to, as I’ve mentioned.”
My mouth gaped open and closed like a beached fish. That was a lot to ingest.
Leysa leaned forward, her eyes dancing with amusement. “It’s all right to be overwhelmed. Are you sane enough to get some answers out of me?”
I mentally shook my head. Focus, Blackwood. I steeled myself. “What did you tell Maer?”
“Nothing.”
“What? Why?”
“I want her to hear it from someone she trusts.”
My eyes narrowed on Leysa and her cunning smirk. I wanted to place trust in her for saving us in more ways than one, but it was difficult to put faith in a family member of Tanoth Taran. But I trusted easily, believing that everyone did everything for a reason.
Suddenly it felt like a game between us. “The water,” I prompted.
“Spelled, just like the bridge wards,” she responded quickfire fast, “but instead of keeping unwanted visitors out, the spell on the water heals—revitalizes.”
“It heals everything?”
“Everything from sliver-cuts to a runny nose. That’s why you all emerged looking healthier than ever. It sucks all the negative energy away. The only catch is that certain things like aches and exhaustion—Maer’s pregnancy pains, for example—don’t have lasting effects. They return in time.
“It’s why,” Leysa continued, knocking back everyone’s unfinished tea, “Ophir was glad to settle here when they were cast out from the Cardinal Four. But to make sure Jehona kept its powers, they took a souvenir with them.”
Clearly she was going to give me scraps to piece together. But it came surprisingly easy. “The ‘something’ Farren stole from Moros,” I realized. “The someone?”
“As smart as you are brawny. Yes. It was because of one woman that Ophir was nearly wiped out—and because of her sisters, the vampires migrated to Sanlow—as well as helped them establish it.”
Shivers crawled up my spine. I felt like I was standing on the precipice of something great—whether for better or worse was debatable. I never felt less like myself than I did sitting still instead of acting on instinct.
Leysa leaned back in her chair, her feet propped on the table. I couldn’t help the anger that sparked in my gut. She was toying with me.
As if sensing the anger, she lifted her upper lip to reveal the tip of one fang. “You really hate vampires, don’t you?”
I didn’t answer.
“Hm. You feel rage when they threaten those you love.”
My jaw and fists clenched.
“You’re glad to know they’re killable.”
Yes, I refrained from growling, despite knowing it was no secret.
The Kairos leader dropped her feet—and then was gone—
Behind me, Leysa’s hands slammed down on my shoulders, fangs pressed to my neck, her breath hot when she laughed against my skin. “But can you keep up, little human? What makes you think you’re worthy of joining my cause? Do you still have loyalty to Bloodfrost?”
The increasingly familiar presence of that outside force gripping me with its fierce anger seized my body.
There were no weapons nearby. All I had to defend myself was myself.
I moved faster than I thought possible—
I grabbed Leysa’s lower face, stiff-arming her away. She hissed as I forced her to bend at an awkward angle. Her fingers dug into my shoulders. Curving them forward, I dove under the table. Her nails scraped my back as she struggled to catch me.
My limbs were acting faster than I could think; it was like being controlled by a puppeteer.
Leysa was hissing like a furious cat as she tried to reach me. I snatched the nearest chair and snapped off one of its wooden legs, gripping the stake in one hand while kicking the chair outward so it slammed into Leysa’s knees.
As if I was the one with superspeed, I darted out, looping one arm around Leysa’s neck to yank her back against my chest, while the other aimed the stake over her heart.
It all happened in a single moment.
Leysa sucked in a surprised gasp and went still. “So fast—”
But anger still surged through me. “You know something,” I snarled in her ear. She wasn’t struggling—it had been a test. “Why do I feel this way? Why can I do things I normally can’t do when I’m mad—”
Leysa chuckled. She leaned her head back to look at me in her peripheral. “And here I just thought you were an idea for an experiment. It’s not anger you feel, Koen Blackwood. It’s called Bloodlust. The anger is just a trigger to unlock a well of power that gives you the strength to kill a vampire.”
I released her with a shove. “What does that mean?”
Leysa flicked her hair over a shoulder, nonchalant. “You, Maer, and Sloan were gifted with the ability. It was just talked about in secret amongst the witches of Dawnhaven—at least, that’s what the rumors I heard said—that there needed to be a bane to vampirekind. They wanted to imbue humans with temporary vampire senses. They would call these humans hunters.”
“Intruders!”
The screech sounded like it came from just outside. Leysa jerked into action, hefting a weapon that was propped against the far cave wall—a double-bladed axe, the preferred weapon of the Elarian coven.
“Find your scythe and your girls,” Leysa ordered over the chaos echoing through the tunnels, “and hide in one of the pools. We’ll make this fight quick.”
Aspen burst in just as Leysa shoved past him. He looked at me wildly. “It’s Rhidian.”
Terror and anger—Bloodlust, apparently—sluiced through my veins. “We have to find the girls.”
“I know which pool they went to.” Aspen took off, and I followed. Over his shoulder, he said, “I heard everything Leysa said to you and Maer. I’ll help you piece things together.”
Gratitude found a place in my heart for the former Bloodfrost. “Thanks, Aspen.”
We nearly collided with Sloan. “What’s going on?” she demanded.
I scanned the dark hallway, barely lit by the pool’s reflections. “Where’s Maer?”
“I’m right here.” Sloan groaned; clearly Maer was disobeying an order. “What’s going on?”
“Rhidian is attacking,” Aspen explained, shooing them back. “You need to hide—”
“We’re fighting,” they said together.
I felt a sudden aura between them—a new emotion tying them together. Had they mended their quarrels?
There was no time to ask—or argue. “No—”
“I’ll stay with them,” Aspen offered.
“No!” they protested, Sloan snapping, “I’m not cowering in bathwater while my brother fights!”
I drew myself up, fear making me furious. “It’s braver to live another day than throw your life away for the sake of pride!” I bellowed. Then, quieter but no less deadly, I said, “You will stay.”
Sloan shrank, eyes wide, then narrowing. “Fine. Come on, Maer.” She snatched Maer’s hand and stomped back into the pool.
Aspen gave me a sympathetic look, understanding glinting in his eyes. We exchanged a nod—we knew what we had to do.
I took off toward the main cavern—and what I saw made my bones hollow.
I’d never seen vampires fight one another.
There was no way to describe it. But it was bloody and brutal.
Somehow, the Rhidian coven vampires had discovered the underground tunnel and had flooded it, fighting the half-bloods with vicious attacks—ripped throats, clawed chests, severed limbs—
Leysa and Vidar were fighting side by side, the latter wielding a—a piece of wood? A long, sharp, bloody stick. There was no way that was a viable weapon.
I spoke too soon. A female Rhidian, obvious by the gold uniform she wore with about a dozen others, lunged at the huge Ophir—and Vidar stabbed the stake in the center of her chest. She screeched and collapsed, unmoving. She wasn’t dead; that required burning. But it bought time.
A spark of light blinded me from the side—a reflection of light. Against the wall was my scythe. How did it get there?
No time to wonder. I snatched it, and the moment my fingertips touched the wood, the outside force grabbed my body like a vise, and I plunged into the fray.
Swing—duck—slash—roll to the side—
I kept pace with each vampire I faced, matching their speed and ferocity, dodging fangs and claws and relishing their shock when they realized that I wasn’t a half-blood; I was human, so how could I keep up? It threw them off guard, making it easy to land blows.
But I couldn’t manage to kill any. I lopped off two arms and a leg, but that was all, even with the preternatural strength surging through me.
The next vampire I whirled on recognized me. Her gold eyes flashed, and she bared her fangs in a grin. “There you are. You are why we’re here.”
Another appeared beside her. “Where’s your friends?”
Like I’m going to tell! With a roar, I lunged. I held my own for a few seconds because I was skilled at fighting multiple opponents, but two vampires was different than two humans, and I took a few sharp hits.
“I got you, Koen,” someone called—and the two females’ heads went flying as an axe severed them. I blinked their blood from my eyes to see Leysa standing there, panting, though her face was alight with adventure. “Red looks good on you, hunter. New plan. We grab the girls and get out of here the back way. We take the carriage to a new location.”
A dozen obstacles crossed my mind. “How?” I yelled over the din.
Leysa made for the tunnel toward the pools. “Follow me.”
We raced into darkness; no one followed, which I thought was a miracle. Aspen, Sloan, and Maer were huddled in a corner of the women’s one.
I opened my mouth to reassure them, but then Sloan pointed and screamed, “Look out!”
I heard the vampire hiss. I whirled, arcing my scythe blade, not expecting it to lodge into anything—
The vampire’s head went rolling. But I couldn’t watch it because another Rhidian came racing in—
“Back up!” Leysa grabbed my scruff and hauled me backward. The vampire tensed to leap, aiming for my neck, just a few feet away—“Penagrum!” Leysa shouted, flinging out her hand.
The sound of metal digging into stone blasted our eardrums. The Rhidian froze as a circle drew itself into the ground around him, the edges rimmed with tiny blue flames. Before it finished, a second circle was drawn outside the first. And then it carved a five-pointed shape within them. They simmered like dying embers.
The vampire hissed and lunged—
Only to slam against an invisible wall.
Leysa breathed an incredulous laugh. “It worked! Galen, you genius.”
