Chapter 29 Lavinia Nox #2
I cover my eyes, but I hear the scream. I’ll hear that scream for as long as I live.
Shaking all over, I open my eyes again, and pandemonium has erupted throughout the hall.
Red smoke is everywhere, making it difficult to see.
Witches have taken to the air on brooms, but without the same playful quality as before.
They shoot down gold, purple, and red light from their fingertips.
I didn’t realize the full range of animals that shifters could become - there are wolves, panthers, and an enormous white bear, that bares its teeth ferociously at a dark-robed vampire who’s attempting to enter the hall.
“Protect Lily!” Xia screams to Hallie, then she’s off on her broomstick toward the stage. She’s intercepted immediately by another witch on broomstick, who raises fingers twinkling with red magic and almost knocks her off of her broom. Xia retaliates with another wave of crimson light.
I watch with wide eyes, both amazed and terrified.
“What’s going on?” Hallie asks me, breathlessly gazing out over the scene around us.
“I don’t know!” I respond.
“It’s the Lucifer coven witches!” Lilith says, looking down at the red smoke around our feet. “They must have broken your Creator out of the Cave!”
“And vampires!” Arun yells, pointing toward the nearest exit.
There are three vampires entering the hall, their eyes shining crimson under dark hoods.
They move with a steady, deadly purposefulness.
Hallie immediately stands in front of us and creates a forcefield of purple light between us and the vampires.
Lilith reaches into her pockets, pulling out a smooth, wooden dagger and a chain of silver.
“Take this,” she tells me, pushing the silver into my hands.
It’s thick, and cold. It feels heavy in my palm. “Whoa, wait a second…I can’t fight vampires!” I tell her. “I can’t even kill a spider!”
“You might feel differently when they’re at your throat,” Lilith says with a grimace, raising a hand up against the forcefield. It glows brighter. “They won’t glamour you before they bite you.”
I gulp, and secure the silver chain around my neck with shaky fingers.
Hallie and Lilith do their best to maintain the magical forcefield around us, but the vampires are strong. One of them forces his body against the red light, trying to break through. Lilith holds her stake up in one hand, her other hand raised up to the forcefield.
“Why is it so hard to maintain the spell?” Hallie shouts to Lilith, her body straining with effort.
“It’s evil magic,” Lilith gasps, looking down to the red smoke around our ankles. “The witches must have cast a spell over the hotel to improve their odds.”
My heart pounds as I watch the vampire’s limbs push against the shimmering forcefield. If he gets through, what’s going to happen?
I’m glad that I told Renata that I love her. If I die tonight, I want to die with no regrets.
But then, an arm reaches around the vampire’s torso, and sinks a golden dagger deep into his chest.
I scream. Blood gushes out of the vampire’s body, and he sinks to the floor, limp. Hallie and Lilith release the forcefield. It dissipates in a cloud of purple light.
Renata bends over the body to pull her bloody dagger out of its chest. I feel sick, and dizzy.
“Lily!” she says, hurrying over to me. “Hallie, Lilith, we have to get you all out of here, now!”
“I have to find my sister and my moms!” Lilith says, her eyes scanning the crowd. “I’m not leaving without them!”
“Get Lily to safety,” Hallie tells Renata. “We can take care of ourselves.”
Renata puts a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “I love you. Be safe.”
Hallie pauses, her eyes filled with sudden emotion. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Renata tell any of her sisters that she loves them. “I…I love you too, Renata.”
Without another word, Hallie and Lilith disappear into the red haze around us. Renata takes me up in her arms, and I hold onto her shoulders tightly. She races through the bodies around us and out of the hall.
There’s a battle erupting in the hallway.
A supernaturally enormous wolf and panther are locked in combat, blood and fur flying on both sides.
They’re much larger than normal animals, and they radiate power and strength.
It’s incredible, but also absolutely terrifying.
There’s no way around them. Renata runs in the other direction, toward the emergency staircase at the end of the hall.
“What’s happening?” I ask her. “Where are we going?”
“We have to find a way out,” she says. “Or somewhere safe.”
She kicks in the door of the emergency staircase, and races down the stairs toward the alley exit.
But she’s forced to stop again. There’s a vampire stationed at the bottom of the stairs, wearing sunglasses, with lanky blond hair.
I recognize him. It’s the guard that arrived with Xavian Night, for our meeting at the beginning of the summer.
“Shit,” Renata whispers.
Hoping that he hasn’t spotted us, she darts up the stairs, moving faster than I’ve ever seen her move. I clutch onto her even though I know it doesn’t make a difference. My stomach lurches as she takes us up several flights, to the office floor.
It’s dark, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone here. She senses that I need to catch my breath, and she sets me down by the reception area.
This is all happening so quickly. My knees are weak as I try to process everything.
Renata takes my face in her hands. “Lily, are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” I say, although my voice trembles. “You should go back, find your sisters! I can stay up here, I’ll be ok…”
She gives me an intense look. “Lily, I’m not leaving you. I’ll get you to safety, I promise.”
“But what’s going on?” I ask, shaking my head as I recall everything that’s happened. “I saw Tudor, and he…did he…?”
“He killed Lavinia Nox,” Renata says, somberly. “In front of the entire Triple Council. He must have escaped from the witch prison, but I have no idea how.”
“Lilith said it was evil witches,” I tell her. “Because of the red smoke.”
“But why would they have helped Tudor?” Renata asks. “They’ve been allies in the past, but not recently. And why…?”
Her words are interrupted by a rustling sound from the offices behind us. Renata’s head instantly snaps in that direction. She puts a finger to her lips, and takes me by the hand.
We creep down the hallway, following the sound. It leads to the Human Resources office. We share a confused look, and then Renata quietly pushes the door open. Mel is there, her back to the door, shoving papers and files into a slippery, waterproof bag.
“Ah!” she says, cutting her finger. “I hate paper!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t work in an office, then,” Renata says, her voice reverberating against the wood-paneled walls.
Mel spins around, and her bright, multicoloured eyes widen in fear. “Re-Renata…”
Renata looms over her, allowing her fangs to protrude menacingly over her lips.
God, she’s so hot.
“Put the files away, Mel,” she commands. The mermaid tosses the bag into a corner, and puts her hands up.
“I…I had nothing to do with this!” Mel squeaks. “The conference was going on, and…”
“Tell us everything you know,” Renata snaps.
Mel gulps, her eyes changing colour rapidly.
“I had no choice, Renata! I had to do what they told me! It was Xavian Night, he approached the evil witches to strike a bargain with them. He wanted to get Tudor and the wolves out of prison in exchange for free rein over Lazarus’s territory.
They didn’t trust you and your sisters…”
“The holding floor,” I gasp, remembering something from the night we were attacked by intruders. “You…you were coming down off the elevator. You saw us go up…”
Mel’s long fingers tremble. “I had to tell them you were going there! They needed to infiltrate the security system, so they could break in tonight…”
Renata hisses. “Where are Celine and Damien?”
“Xavian captured them,” Mel replies. “They’re on the holding floor, unless he staked them.”
Renata turns to me. “We have to…”
But while Renata is focused on me, Mel takes the chance to run across the office. She’s surprisingly fast for someone who presumably prefers to swim. She takes off down the hallway.
Renata is about to chase her, but then she hesitates, looking back to me.
“Go get her,” I say quickly. “I’ll be fine! If she tells someone we’re here…”
Renata nods, and in a flash, hurries down the hall after Mel.
I take the time to check out the bag of files that she was stealing.
They’re reports from the club and various business dealings between Celine and the other vampire mafia empires.
It’s good that we didn’t let Mel get away with all this information.
I put the files into the bag and zip it up, then I stand and turn back toward the door.
It’s odd that it’s taking Renata so long to retrieve Mel. After all, Renata’s a super-fast…
Vampire.
Every hair on the back of my neck stands up. There’s a massive, dark figure standing right in front of me, only inches away. He’s much taller than me, and I have to crane my neck to look up at him.
“Well, well,” he says, his thin lips twitching into a grin. “If it isn’t the little assistant.”
I’m trembling. My voice is thin. “I…I got a promotion, actually.”
“Good for you,” drawls Xavian Night, moving even closer. I back away, up against the file cabinet, hitting the back of my head painfully against one of the cabinet’s handles. “It’s too bad that you’ll never get to earn that pay raise.”
He bends down over me, a flash of red in his grey eyes.
Without any time to think, I pull the silver chain from my neck. Its clasp breaks with a snap, and I hold it as firmly as I can against the vampire’s face.
He snarls, and there’s an awful burning smell as smoke rises from where I hold the metal to his skin. It startles him just enough for me to run out of the office and down the hallway toward the reception area.
I’ve never run so fast in my life. At the end of the hall, I can see Renata. She’s turned to face the elevators. I run into her arms and she holds me tightly. I press my face against her shoulder.
“Nice of you to join us, Lily,” says the low, malicious voice of Tudor Thornblade. He’s standing in the middle of the reception area, his arms crossed over his chest. He’s terrifying to behold. I clutch onto Renata, trembling uncontrollably.
Mel stands behind Tudor, running her fingers nervously through her tangled hair. Xavian joins us from the office, the burns on his face healing. He glares at me.
“I want the girl,” Xavian says to Tudor.
“She’s off limits,” Renata hisses. “You touch her, and I’ll rip your head off, Xavian.”
The other vampire flinches.
“Leave the breather,” Tudor commands. “Although it would certainly be sufficient punishment, Renata, given your transgressions.”
Renata stands tall, looking her Creator in the eye, a proud tilt to her chin. “I’ve done nothing wrong. But if you hurt Lily, you’ll make an enemy of me.”
“Understood,” Tudor replies silkily. There’s a dangerously casual lilt to his voice. “And you should understand something too…”