A swath of black. A grin.
And then I was lifted from my bike and into the air.
My beautiful motorcycle careened into the median and spun across two lanes, causing a lifted pickup truck covered in Confederate flag stickers to smash into a Range Rover.
Kaippa’s fingers dug into my arms as he flew into the cloudy sky. A saucer of moon splashed watery light over his pale face and red lips. “Nice try, mage.” He snickered like me nearly killing him was a cute joke.
“I almost ruined your day, vamp.”
“Sure you did.”
At least I’d drawn him away from Hekla.
Kaippa was flying us back toward the castle, and hope lit inside me. If we returned to the castle, Lucus would rein Kaippa in. But Kaippa flew past the castle and set us down in the old cemetery. As we landed beside a crumbling tombstone, I tried to jerk away from him, but he held me as easily as I would a hamster. I did not enjoy being the hamster in this scenario.
Frustration and fear threw words out of my mouth. “Just what is your plan? If you kill me, you’re screwed. I can’t exactly work a spell on the curse if I’m dead, dude.” I rolled my eyes at him, even though I was shaking and my knees were like two pudding cups.
“I am not going to kill you.” The scent of decay rose on the October wind as he pulled me under the big tree that dominated the cemetery. Roots stretched through graves, literally uprooting the dead’s resting places. I shivered hard. “I’m just going to have a better meal than what your precious, stingy fae lord permitted. Yes, he will punish me when we return. I don’t care. I’d rather grab some pleasure and endure pain than suffer dull misery for another one hundred years.”
I opened my mouth to snark back at the jerk, but a tremor rocked my body, and I fell, his fingers still tight on my arm. Magic sparked through me like a lightning bolt, unchecked power blasting through my veins. My heart was going to burst. My head pounded as my muscles clenched and spasmed. My teeth jammed together. I couldn’t see a thing.
Was this it? The end of me? I knew zero about this magic hiding inside me, and I hadn’t even had the chance to figure out how to use it before it killed me.
But as I lay flat on the cold cemetery grass, the spasms slowed, then faded, and my sight returned. My heart was still a rabbit running from my neighbor’s dog as Kaippa studied me.
“You are going to die if we don’t get you to a mage to train,” he said. “Lucus thinks he can help you learn how to control this, but I don’t know. I think you need someone who has experienced this level of mage power.”
Then he lifted me into his arms, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it because I was still super weak. I couldn’t even lift my arm. I could wiggle a finger, so I raised the middle one and scowled at him.
“If you hadn’t attacked my friend and me tonight,” I whispered hoarsely, “I probably wouldn’t have had this…attack or whatever it is.” My voice was rough, my throat raw.
He snorted a laugh. “This isn’t my doing. This is all your magic. Would’ve happened anyway. You’re actually lucky I’m here.” And without warning, he ran a few steps, leaving the tree’s dark shadow, then took off, flying into the weak moonlight. “I can’t feed on you now. That’ll only finish you off.” A phrase in a foreign language pealed out of his mouth like drums and bells. Was it the vampire language?
“Did you just curse in vampire?” I asked.
Before I could hear an answer, my body gave up, and I passed out.
Chapter 25
I shot upright, panic clawing at my chest. When Lucus sat forward in a chair made of roots and wrapped in ivy, I realized I was in his bed. The scent of pines was everywhere. I inhaled and tried to keep my heart from exploding.
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. “I need water.”
Lucus must have foreseen this need because a filled cup sat on the bedside table. He handed it to me, and I sucked the little pottery cup dry.
“How long have I been out?”
“Three days.”
Blood slushed through my veins, fatigue and fear teaming up to ruin me. Hekla. The spell book. My plans. Kaippa. “But that means the spell book is open, right?”
“It is.” A ghost of a smile crossed Lucus’s lips, and something like hope lit his eyes.
“How am I alive if I had no food or water for three days?”
“A combination of my magic and yours.”
“I knew you were going to say that.” I blinked down at the green velvet robe I was wearing. A robe that was not mine. My mind was foggy, but worries sprouted like weeds. Hekla. Yes. Not a weed. My greatest pal. “I need my phone. Where is my phone?” I beat the duvet around my legs, searching wildly.
Lucus’s hand appeared in front of my face. He was holding my phone. “Here is your communication device. It is magic too, but of a different sort. I used the square of power you had in your back pocket to give it more life.”
My charging bank. Good. I had one hundred three unread texts. Ignoring them, I texted Hekla as quickly as my fingers would let me. She probably thought I was freaking dead or at least kidnapped by Kaippa. Titus and Ami would be worried. The whole town might have been looking. Yeah. Definitely. Hekla would’ve called the police. I swallowed, finishing my text.
I am okay. Very long story. REALLY sorry I’m just now telling you. Just give me another day. Of course, I had no idea what was going to happen in that one day of trying spells, for God’s sake. What
