Fate of a Blood Moon (The Hades Blood Moon #2)

Chapter 5

Jase

July 15, 2034 Atlanta, Georgia

Present Day

T he back of my neck prickled with irritation as Andrei fiddled with his phone. He had ignored my earlier question about the witch we were waiting for, Liam Kozlov, and brushed off my growing impatience. Jackson and Meredith whispered to each other just a few steps away from me. Despite being able to eavesdrop on their conversation, my frustration with the hold-up made me ignore it.

“Andrei,” I hissed quietly. “Where the fuck is he?”

This supposed heist at the Hall of Atlanta was taking too damn long. Now we had to wait for the one person to get us inside. If this witch from the Black Onyx held us up any longer, we would get caught. Then we’d have to kill whoever spotted us.

I wasn’t in the mood to dispose of a body tonight.

Considering his usual insistence on punctuality, it surprised me to see Andrei letting this hindrance slide. Every detail was too important to my older brother, and any divergence from his plan would send him into a rage. However, Andrei was unusually calm despite this delay and my impatience to get inside.

“He’s here,” Andrei said, sliding his phone into his suit pocket and pushing off the brick wall beside us.

Right then, a tall, lean man in his early to mid-twenties rounded the corner of the museum. The sharp angles of his jawline, lightly tanned skin, and messy brown waves gave him a young frat boy look. He wore the attire I’d seen the Black Onyx wear—all black, with a wine-red cloak draped over his shoulders, flowing behind him as he made his way to the back of the alley.

The Black Onyx had always kept their circle small, only taking in members with blood ties to the founders. But ever since Valentina awoke, they had expanded their membership. In Atlanta, Georgia, they initiated three more members from the Spirit bloodline. Liam was the newest addition.

Despite my agreement with the Black Onyx to work with them, I still felt uneasy whenever their members were around.

Once they put me on trial, I convinced them that Valentina had forced immortality on me two hundred years ago. She turned me that night while they were busy putting up their shields in the church. I testified that I had been so afraid they would kill me for becoming a vampire that I fled, abandoning them right after they sealed her away.

Witnesses confirmed my story—that I intended to stop Rachel and not awaken Valentina for my own vindictive needs. Even though the court acquitted me, I still had to reach an agreement with the coven, since I had been fucking with them by sending photos of Rachel and stalking her for as long as I did.

I had no choice but to accept Andrei’s offer of employment within the clan. That way, the clan could monitor my movements and report them to Gerald and his cult .

I furrowed my brow as Liam moved past me, gently brushing my shoulder with his, and leaned down to the keypad. He typed in the code and looked straight at me over his shoulder with warm hazel eyes. “We go in and out. Here …”

His eyes averted from mine, and he turned to Andrei, handing him a black stone with a gold etching at the center.

“That will open the seal,” he explained.

“What do you mean by ‘we?’ If you’ve already given us everything we need to get the key, then what purpose do you serve now?” I asked, raising a brow.

Liam flashed me a playful smile. “Because I’ll need that back once Andrei’s done with it. Despite my coven’s willingness to work with you, you’re still vampires. Get the key, return the stone, and I’m gone.” Liam pressed down on one more button and stepped back.

The resounding beep and click of the lock answered. My brows knitted together, casting Andrei a brief, uneasy glance as we opened the door. “Alright, let’s go.”

I stepped inside the cool darkness of the museum storage area. This was the exhibit’s entry point, where workers moved in and out to various locations. There were crates of unopened artifacts that would, no doubt, be valuable on the black market. I examined a few unpacked pieces in plexiglass containers.

As much as I’d liked to pocket a few jeweled amulets, we aren’t here for necklaces.

“So, where is this alleged key hidden?” I asked Jackson, who had just finished disabling the cameras and joined my side.

“Somewhere on the second level, where the Renaissance paintings and artifacts are,” he replied.

The five of us crept through the dark hallways of the museum, avoiding the windows and any sensors that might be there. As we reached the second-floor hallway, Meredith opened her mouth to speak, but Andrei held up a hand to silence her, his head cocked to the right. “Dammit,” he whispered. “There’s a guard up here. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone on this level right now.”

A faint squeak of leather shoes caused us to look over to where the sound came from, and I ran a hand through my hair, angry at this hitch in the plan. Andrei regarded me with his dark eyes and raised an eyebrow.

I threw up my hands. “Why the fuck are you looking at me? I’m not doing that.”

From the moment I joined my brother’s Black Blood Diamond Clan, he started singling me out for their killings. I didn’t mind spilling human blood or taking out his rivals, but it irritated the fuck out of me that Andrei wouldn’t do any of the dirty work himself.

Over the last few weeks, I noticed something was off. Andrei preoccupied his twisted mind with plans I wasn’t privy to.

Meredith had said that Rachel’s arrival had a “profound impact on him”—a pathetic excuse.

All because of one woman?

All because of her?

In that instant, I felt the urge to clench my fists, digging my fingernails into my palms. I needed to relax and get Rachel out of my mind so I could focus.

“Come on, Jase. You haven’t had fun in a while,” Andrei said, his voice low, but it pulled me out of my thoughts. “I imagine you’ve felt a little parched since your last feeding. Some blood will loosen you up a bit and take the edge off. Kill them and make it quick. We need to get past that entry point”—he gestured toward a small steel door across the hallway—“and reach the exhibition area by midnight.”

Go fuck yourself. “You got it,” I said instead, the words tasting sour on my tongue.

As I stepped toward the hall leading to the main exhibit on the first level, Andrei added, “Liam, go with him.”

Immediately, my body locked up, and I bared my fangs. I didn’t need a self-righteous witch hovering over me while I made my kill, but Andrei called the shots, so I had to bury my annoyance and put on a fucking smile. “After you, Liam,” I said, gesturing ahead. “I’ll hang behind to ensure no one sneaks up on us.”

“While you two are taking care of the guard, the three of us will move down the hall and make sure no other security detail is around,” Jackson noted, gesturing to the second large room a few feet down the hall.

I nodded, and we moved into the room where the noise had come from while the others hurried to the second room, disappearing into the shadows.

Once inside, the sweeping beam of a flashlight moved across the floor on the east side. The white light landed on a collection of bronze goblets in glass cases and medieval swords suspended in displays along the walls.

The footsteps got louder, so we moved behind a roped-off black and gold dais and waited for the guard to come into view. After about a minute, an unusually tall man in a stone-green security uniform rounded the corner, whistling softly as he strolled down the middle aisle. As he passed us, I positioned myself behind a glass display case, and Liam attempted to grab my wrist to yank me back. The sound of my shoe scraping against a rug caused the man to freeze.

Fuck me, I don’t want to kill the guy here. We won’t be able to clean up the mess.

Instead of turning toward me, the man continued whistling and headed down the aisle toward a grand antique mirror on the south wall, away from the main exhibit.

I looked over my shoulder, and my eyes glared into Liam’s. “Are you going to stop me when it’s time to kill him?” I asked, studying his reaction.

Liam flashed me a crooked smile. “Do what you gotta do, demon. I’ll sit back and watch the show. What’s the life of some weak and powerless human worth, anyway?”

Something about his tone surprised me. He wasn’t like the others. This witch seemed to bask in the darkness like us. Maybe that’s why the coven chose him to babysit us during this mission. He wouldn’t flee or try to stop us from doing what had to be done to get that key.

I quietly followed the guard, pressing myself against the wall. There was something off about his movements, and a sickening feeling in my gut warned me that something was wrong. I ducked behind a medieval wardrobe display and watched the guard look at himself in the mirror.

He ran his fingers through his shaggy silver hair before adjusting his tie. Thick sweat formed on the man’s brow, and my ears homed in on the quickening pace of his heartbeat. The guard reeked of fear and anxiety.

He knows we’re here, but … I think he’s preparing himself.

The man’s pants were too big and hung loosely around his waist. He pulled the belt tighter and double-checked everything was in order before straightening his shoulders and lifting his head.

What the fuck is he doing?

“You can come out now,” the guard said, his voice quivering. Stepping into the light, I moved closer to him. I wasn’t sure where Liam had gone, but if he were smart, he’d stay back while I did what I do best.

The guard turned around, leveling a small handgun right at my chest.

Cute.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I mumbled to myself, holding up my hands and giving him a wicked smile, exposing my fangs. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, bud. Put that tiny gun away, and I’ll make your death quick.”

The guard shook his head, now panting. “This gun has sharpened wooden bullets. I wouldn’t be so sure about your survival if I shot you.” The man’s hands shook slightly. “You weren’t supposed to be here.”

I tilted my head to the right. “Yet you were prepared for a vampire intruder, weren’t you?” I asked.

The guard nodded. “How many of you are there?”

Like I’d tell him that….

“We’ll be in and out in minutes,” I said. “I can make this a lot easier for us by killing you quickly and dumping your corpse in one of those coffin displays. Or you lower your weapon, turn around, and get the fuck out of this building. Because pointing that gun at my heart is only sealing your fate as a meal for me.”

“I …” His voice trailed off, and he quickly wiped the sweat dripping into his eyes.

“Yeah, I’d say pointing a gun at a vampire and realizing you’re about to die would make you feel how you do right now.”

His hand trembled even more, and I could hear the audible gulp as he swallowed, his Adam’s apple clicking. Then I noticed something else. It was subtle, but he pulled his hand back slightly as if he wanted to lower the weapon, but … he couldn’t.

Then the light in his eyes winked out, leaving pools of inky darkness instead, and he dropped the weapon, stepping back. My eyes homed in on each side of his neck, right at the center of his shoulders. There was a bulging movement in his skin, pushing up and down, as if something were trying to free itself from his body.

What the fuck?

The man’s growling, rumbling noises echoed so loudly against the walls that I had to press my palms to my ears to muffle the sound.

Where the hell is Liam?

I watched the guard collapse on to all fours. His spine protruded upward, black hair follicles shot out from his skin, and his suit ripped free from his body.

Werewolf … wait … no. Something else?

The pulsing bubbling from his flesh grew increasingly rapid until his skin tore apart in a shower of greenish-black blood, revealing two additional heads emerging from his shoulders. The one with the guard’s face shook his head vigorously until it mirrored the movements of the others. Staring back at me were the six piercing eyes of a three-headed creature, its body morphing into that of a massive ebony-furred beast resembling a dog.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” I shouted, stumbling over my feet. I shook off the initial fear and bolted toward the back of the room. The beast leaped over me and crashed into a glass case above me, sending shards onto my head. Several bronze and iron artifacts struck me in the face and arms, causing me to stumble. The creature whipped its three massive heads toward me and revealed dozens of black, razor-sharp teeth dripping with silver liquid.

It lunged for me.

Using my vampire speed, I rolled onto my back and delivered a powerful kick to the charging monster, sending it flying across the room and crashing into a painting on the wall. The instant the beast was prone, I charged for it. I seized its left head before flipping it over, slamming it against the floor, and jumping onto its back to grab the larger middle head. It thrashed under me and threw its body onto the floor, splitting the tile in half. The creature shrieked, but I buried my fangs into his neck, cutting off the sound. I was afraid to drink its blood. It wasn’t a werewolf, but I still wasn’t sure what its blood would do to me. I needed to get to an artery or the spinal cord and tear it out.

As I struggled to sever its vertebrae with my fangs, the creature seized the back of my neck with its claws, digging into my flesh until its grip forced me to release it. I wrenched free from the beast, but the right head swung around and slammed into the center of my back, sending me to my knees.

Before I could move, a crimson-red mist flowed over me and wrapped around the monster’s torso and the middle head. I watched as the mist constricted, causing the beast to roar and thrash, knocking several displays to the floor.

My eyes widened as the mist severed through the head and crushed the torso. The body dropped to the ground, and the three heads vanished into gray smoke and dust. I whipped my head around, and Liam stood behind me, the red mist hovering over his outstretched fingers.

Well, shit.

“Thanks,” I said, watching him shake off the remaining power.

“I’ve got to say, I didn’t see that one coming,” he said, strolling over to the beast and looking down at its remains. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen one of these.”

I blinked. “What the fuck is that?” I asked, standing to my feet and walking over to look with him.

“That right there is a Cerberus,” he said. “They rarely roam Earth, that’s for sure.”

“Do you think the angels sent him to protect the key?”

Liam’s lip turned up. “I don’t think the Upper World had anything to do with this.”

I swallowed. The key was a powerful tool created by the elemental families centuries ago, protected by angels or whatever the fuck they’re called up there. It was the power we needed to save our souls. If Liam was correct, the devil knew we were trying to break that curse, and he just attempted to stop it.

Well, fuck me.

A sharp whistle echoed off the walls as Andrei and the others entered the room, surveying the destruction. “Jase, I’m surprised at you,” Andrei growled. “I would have hoped you wouldn’t make things so messy. But thanks for taking care of business.”

I used my head to gesture to Liam. “Don’t thank me,” I said.

Andrei looked down at the bloodied mess. “What is … well, what was this?”

“Something that wanted to stop us from saving our souls. I think this mission got a hell of a lot harder than we thought it would be,” I observed.

Andrei nodded. “Despite this new information and this minor hiccup, we need to keep moving. We have one hour from the time we tripped that alarm. Let’s go.”

Liam adjusted the pentagram clasp on his cloak and moved past me, giving me a nod.

Spinning on his heel, Andrei walked to the small door on the other side of the room.

It led to a tapered-off section of another exhibit with more medieval weaponry and painted vases. Andrei stood in front of a massive pottery piece that portrayed bright orange and red flames licking the bodies of shadows tied to poles.

I looked over his shoulder. “‘The Burning of the Witches of North Berwick.’ Andrei, this jar is over four hundred years old. Are you sure it’s in this? It’s too obvious.”

“I’m certain,” Liam said, cutting in to answer for him. “I’ll stand guard in case something else comes crawling into one of these rooms to stop us. Use that stone I gave you.”

Andrei picked up the jar and rotated it until it was upside down.

He placed the black stone at the center, where it hummed softly, almost like a harp string when plucked. He then traced a sharpened fingernail over the surface of the clay until he found a slight curve. As he dug deeper into that curve, the clay crumbled under the increasing pressure. Then there was a sharp crack, and I felt something ripple through me.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked. Andrei didn’t answer me.

The jar’s bottom crumbled into powder, leaving a heap of clay dust scattered across the floor. Without a word, he set the jar back on its pedestal. Then he placed the stone in his pocket, kneeled, and dug around the broken pieces. I moved beside him as his fingers wrapped around a cylindrical rod and pulled it free.

There’s the key.

As I leaned in closer to look, I noticed the intricate details of the ornate brass key, with delicate engravings of ancient runes etched into the metal. At the top of it, nestled in the lacy filigree design, was a reddish-brown stone glimmering in the darkness.

“What exactly are we dealing with here?” I asked.

Andrei smiled at me, a smile I hadn’t seen in over two hundred years. “This right here is the ‘Burning of Angels Key,’ blessed by the Archangel warrior of the Upper World. That ripple you felt was the element of Fire reacting to the key’s removal. All witches born under that element, including us, reacted to it.”

“How can we feel magic? We’re vampires.”

“Our magic was briefly returned to us, remember?” he explained, slipping the key into a cloth pouch he produced from his pocket. “Now, aside from this key, which will get us into that cave, our next mission is retrieving Rachel.”

My chest burned at that thought. Since Andrei shared how the spell worked with us, I was no longer on board. He wasn’t just planning to use Rachel’s blood to activate the spell; he wanted to bring her home to New Orleans and back by his side.

The barely concealed feral expression he wore sent a chill up my spine. “It’ll be nice to have our family be complete again.”

Andrei’s behavior was unsettling. As much as I wanted to save my soul, this wasn’t how I wanted to do it.

I buried the unease inside me and slapped a hand over his shoulder. “Alright, we better get out of here. If whoever controlled that creature realizes what happened, they’ll attempt to stop us again and send another mongrel.” I stood, brushing clay and drying blood from my jeans. Before I followed them out of the exhibit, I lifted the hem of my shirt, revealing the small rune on my lower stomach. It appeared shortly after Andrei and I left the train station that Rachel and Valentina had escaped from. When it happened, it felt like a hot iron brand had seared into my flesh, stealing the breath from my lungs. Once in a while, it pulsated with a strange, vibrating energy, especially when I thought about Rachel a little too much.

I may have been born a witch, but I knew next to fucking nothing about runes or symbols like these. Whatever this irritating blemish was, I wanted it gone.

Without a word, Andrei strode out of the exhibit toward the stairs where we had initially come in. Meredith and Liam hurried after him, leaving Jackson and me in the dark room, and I lowered my shirt, concealing the mark.

“Look, I may have to save my soul from being the devil’s plaything, but something tells me that Andrei’s persistence might get us killed in the process,” I said, keeping my voice hushed after my brother disappeared down the stairwell. “You should have seen that thing back there. It was a fucking unholy sight that made every hair on my arms stand on end. And I have a feeling it’s just going to get worse.”

“What’s worse than your soul being dragged to Hell and tortured for eternity?” Jackson asked.

I swallowed.

Nothing … absolutely nothing is worse than that.