Chapter 30
“Hello, Tess,” Felix said as he stepped into the elevator. “I have to admit, I thought it would take more than a few hours to find you. Perhaps I gave you too much credit.”
The elevator doors slid closed, and the car started to rise. Tess kept her mouth shut—she wouldn’t give this asshole the satisfaction of knowing how much he scared her.
“Fern?” Felix clipped. “I have Tess. She was on her way to the pool, which I assume means the others are too. Meet you there?”
“You guys doing your fun little telepathy trick?” Tess spat. “How does it feel to be Konstantin’s lapdog?”
“Why don’t you ask Callum? He has far more experience than I do.” Felix sniffed. “Konstantin is so looking forward to meeting you—he thinks torturing you will lure Callum back. But I know Callum. He won’t risk his neck for yours. And when he leaves you here to die, I’ll be the one who gets to kill you.”
Felix leaned in, inhaling Tess’s scent—the sound of his breath made her sick. Tess’s hand automatically twitched toward her pouch of stakes, but Felix clocked the movement immediately.
“Don’t be stupid,” he said, his voice low and threatening. “You’d never get there.”
“Ask some of your friends how fast I got there,” Tess seethed. She knew it wasn’t wise to bait him, but maybe if she riled him up, he’d get sloppy, do something she could exploit to her advantage. For a second, Tess saw anger flash behind Felix’s eyes—but then he just laughed.
“Do you think you’re some kind of hero? You staked a couple of nobodies?”
“ Blood Feud made me think you were a hero,” Tess said quietly. “Now I’m not sure they even exist.”
Felix narrowed his eyes as the elevator jerked to a halt and the doors slid open with a ding.
“Come on.” Felix stood outside the open doors, glaring at her. “Move.”
Tess kept her chin high as she marched down the service hallway and through the door that led to the pool. They walked past the empty cabana suite where Octavia had stayed for weeks, past the bar where Tess used to hole up and read Blood Feud, and onto the main pool deck, where Joni and Flora were waiting in the dark gray light before dawn, surrounded by Konstantin, Fern, and half a dozen others. Tess felt a small surge of pride that she’d lessened their number by two—but her heart sank when she saw that Flora’s hands were bound. Flora’s face was blank and unreadable; Joni was trying to stay tough, but Tess could see that she was terrified. There was no way they could fight this many vampires out in the open—and no way they could escape if Flora couldn’t make them a portal.
“You must be Tess,” Konstantin said as she approached. “Good of you to join us.”
His voice was smooth, and his manner was even, not angry or agitated at all. Unlike Felix, he didn’t seem to be acting out of any kind of personal vendetta—he was simply tying up loose ends.
“Thanks for coming all the way to Brooklyn,” Tess deadpanned. “Hope you didn’t hit too much traffic.”
“Very thoughtful,” Felix snapped. “Now why don’t you tell us where Callum and Octavia went?”
Tess felt an unexpected pang at the mention of Callum’s name. He had to know this was a possibility when he left, that Tess would meet some horrible end without him here to fight for her. She squared her shoulders. She could still fight for herself.
“I don’t know where they went,” she said firmly. “And I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”
“You wouldn’t have a choice,” Felix sneered.
“I always have a choice,” Tess snarled, but Felix smiled coldly in response.
“Not if I glamour you.”
Felix stood directly in front of Tess, locking his eyes on hers.
“Don’t try to fight me,” he murmured. “It’ll only be worse for you if you do.”
His eyes changed—they had the same glow she’d seen from Callum’s and Sylvie’s eyes on the Isle, except Felix’s were a terrible green and gold. It was a horrible sensation, like his fingers were all inside her mind, rummaging through the folds of her brain until he found the spot he wanted. She wanted to scream, to cry out, but she couldn’t move—her entire body was paralyzed, and everything felt confusing and fuzzy, like she was going to float away. She tried to look over at Joni and Flora, but she couldn’t move—
“Focus on me,” Felix said. “Focus on the sound of my voice.”
Yes, that was better. Her head didn’t hurt so much if she just listened to his voice.
“Good.” He sighed, clearly taking pleasure in having complete control. “Now tell me. Where are Callum and Octavia?”
“I don’t know.”
“ Why don’t you know?” he pressed, his voice growing thin with impatience.
“Because they wouldn’t tell us.” Tess’s voice was utterly emotionless, but she could feel the tears burning behind her eyes. “They said it was safer if we didn’t know.”
“And then what? They just left?” Felix laughed meanly. “Your big strong lover abandoned you to die?”
“Yes.” Tess heard the echo of her own voice, and she hated it. “He left me.”
“Did he feed you his blood before he left? Are you in his thrall?”
“No.” Tess shook her head. “I fed him mine.”
“You dirty little slut.” Felix’s eyes were alive with interest.
“Enough.” Konstantin held out his hand. “She doesn’t know anything. Let’s get them both back to the townhouse.”
“Fine,” Felix grumbled. “I just want to taste her first.”
Tess wanted to run, to fight, to do anything, but she couldn’t move, it was like her whole body was suspended in formaldehyde, green and poison.
“Be a good little lamb and bend your neck for me?”
Tess didn’t want to do it. He was going to make her do it.
“Leave her alone!” Joni cried. “Get the fuck away from her!”
“Shut up!” Felix shouted at Joni. “Yours is coming next.”
It must have been in that moment that Felix broke the glamour—his attention was too focused on Joni to stay completely in control of Tess—because Tess suddenly realized she could move again, and the foggy feeling was gone. As quickly as she could, she grabbed a stake under her cape and got ready.
“Now, where were we?” Felix turned back to Tess. “Oh, right. Dinner.”
He swooped in close, but before he could sink his fangs into her, Tess drove the stake into his chest instead.
“You bitch, ” he shrieked, lurching backward. The stake hadn’t hit his heart, but he was injured and bleeding badly as he pulled it out. “I’m going to make you regret that.”
He looked at Tess for a long moment—then turned and rushed toward Joni instead.
“NO,” Tess screamed, and she took off after him, she ran so fast her lungs burned, but it was no use—he was so much faster, she was about to watch a vampire murder her best friend—
“Christ, Felix. Still picking on humans? You’re so pathetic.”
A woman with a crisp British accent?! It couldn’t be—Tess whirled around and so did Felix—
And there they were, Callum and Octavia, standing at the edge of the deck, silhouetted against the Manhattan skyline.
“You came back.” Tess’s voice was hoarse.
“Tess, get behind us. Right now.” Callum was looking past her at Felix and Konstantin—Tess didn’t need telling twice. She leapt behind Callum, and he and Octavia charged forward to free Joni and Flora from the henchmen who were guarding them. Tess had seen Callum fight before, but it was nothing like seeing him and Octavia fight together, both at the height of their powers. Their movements were graceful but brutal, and in seconds the guards were so embroiled in the fight that Joni and Flora could slip away, and Tess immediately untied Flora’s hands.
“What do we do?!” Joni squeaked.
“Are you kidding?” Tess drew a stake out of her pouch and threw off her cape. “We help!”
She charged forward to where Octavia was taking on three vamps at once, she kicked one square in the gut and sent him reeling backward—when he fell on the ground, Tess hurled her body toward him and shoved a stake through his heart—his eyes glazed over and his veins turned black, just like the vampires downstairs. Another vampire saw and came running toward Tess, but Flora threw up a portal in front of him—he tried to stop himself but he couldn’t in time. He ran through the icy blue circle, which reappeared a hundred feet away and sent him straight off the side of the building.
“Nice!” Tess shouted to Flora, who beamed back at her—but then she grabbed her head and screamed in pain.
“What’s happening?” Tess rushed toward her. “Are you okay?!”
“Fern,” she said weakly. Tess whirled to see Fern in intense concentration, mumbling a stream of incantations under her breath. Tess started toward her, but Joni was already on it—
“You trapped me in a fucking attic!!!!” Joni shrieked as she tackled Fern like an offensive lineman—they both crashed to the ground with a violent thud, and the spell on Flora was broken.
Felix ran to help Fern fend off Joni—Flora threw a portal at him, but he dodged it, so it sent a deck chair soaring into the air and off the building instead. Felix pulled Joni off of Fern and threw her to the ground—hard. Fern started to perform another spell on Flora, but Flora threw up her hands to block it.
“Oh no, you don’t,” she gritted, and the two of them were locked in battle, whispering words and moving their hands at each other, streams of light and sparks occasionally shooting back and forth. Callum and Octavia had disposed of most of the henchmen, but the last one was giving them trouble: He was huge and strong—and even against both twin sires he was more than holding his own. Konstantin stood back and watched, enjoying the violence playing out before him.
Joni was trying to get up, but she’d hurt her leg when Felix threw her to the ground—she cried out in pain when she tried to put weight on it. Felix was grinning down at Joni—Tess knew she was no match for him, but there was no one else to help—she ran toward him with a stake in hand, hoping at least she could injure him again before he ripped Joni apart—
But before she got to him, Octavia flew in like a bat out of hell, screaming for all she was worth, kicking him square in the face before whirling around and punching him in the gut.
“YES!” Tess screamed, before the giant henchman turned and started stalking toward her. “Ohhhh no. No no no!”
Tess darted behind Octavia to help Joni to her feet. Octavia tried to fight off Felix and the giant henchman at the same time, but it was a lot for her to handle on her own—especially since Flora was still tied up with Fern. Callum sprinted toward them to help, but—
“Where do you think this is going, Callum?”
Konstantin stood in his way, blocking him with a punch that sent him staggering backward.
“You can’t kill me if you need me to make portals,” Callum snarled. “But I can kill you. And I will.”
“Do you think anyone else knows you the way I do?” Konstantin’s voice was quiet, calm. Callum drove toward him, trying to land a punch or a kick, but Konstantin simply stepped aside, avoiding every blow. “I’m your sire, Callum. Stop being weak. I’m the only one who really knows who you are—because you’re just like me.”
“You don’t know anything.” Callum clenched his jaw.
“I know you’ll do anything to protect your sister.” Konstantin narrowed his eyes. “Just think how badly I’ll torture her to punish you for this.”
Callum glanced toward Octavia. Tess was helping Joni to walk, both of them hiding behind Octavia, who was taking on Felix and the giant henchman at the same time. Octavia was holding her own, but the other two were driving her backward—same with Fern and Flora, who were still locked in their witchy standoff. Tess realized they were all being driven toward the cabana suite, which had its glass doors all the way open. Konstantin was moving backward to avoid Callum, but he was moving the same way too. They were only a few feet away from the suite now—if they got inside, they’d be trapped.
“It’s an easy choice, Callum,” Konstantin went on. “Return to my side, where you belong. Or you can watch your sister suffer the most brutal violence I can imagine.”
Tess looked toward Callum—she didn’t want to doubt him, but she knew he would do anything to protect Octavia. Callum looked back at Tess, and she caught a hard blaze in his eye, warm and golden—it reminded her of the way he’d looked at her right after he’d drunk her blood. He mouthed three words she couldn’t quite make out. But Tess was almost sure she knew what he’d said.
Callum turned back to Konstantin—Callum was the one with the dangerous look now.
“You’re never going to hurt my sister again.”
He darted forward so quickly Tess could barely make out his movements—she heard a sickening crack and a yowl of pain, and then Konstantin was clutching his arm.
“You’ll pay for that.” Konstantin stretched his arm, and with a series of pops, his bones began to heal themselves. But if Callum was afraid, he didn’t show it. They were almost at the suite now. Tess imagined another world where she was kissing him, where the light was soft and there wasn’t any danger.
“Are you ready?” Tess whispered to Joni, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
They crossed inside the suite, and Tess dove for Fern’s ankles. Joni grabbed at Octavia’s wrist and pulled her out of the suite as Fern crashed to the ground, breaking her hold on Flora. Flora ran out of the suite, and Tess got up and ran after her, screaming Callum’s name. He looked up and ran too, and before the others could figure out what was happening, Flora threw up her hands and the glass doors of the cabana suite slammed shut.
“What’s going on?” Octavia looked at Joni. “What’s happening?”
Konstantin slammed his hand against the glass—it cracked, but didn’t shatter, and the cracks shimmered icy blue.
“What’s the meaning of this?!” he demanded. He slammed the glass again and again, but Flora’s portal held.
“Portal magic, bitch,” Flora muttered, a grin spreading across her face.
“So what?” Felix sneered. “You’re going to keep us trapped in a hotel room? That’s your master plan? How long is that supposed to hold up?”
“Oh, it shouldn’t be long now,” Tess smiled. “Right, Octavia?”
Octavia looked at the hotel suite and gasped. “The sun.”
Callum looked from Octavia to Tess. “What are you talking about?”
“The cabana suite is one of our most beautiful rooms, but not very well suited to vampires,” Tess explained. “Because it has glass walls facing east and west. So if you forget to draw the blackout curtains before sunrise…”
“You die,” Callum murmured with wonder, putting it together. They all looked to the east, where the sky was already turning lavender and pink.
“Draw the curtains!” Konstantin bellowed. The others in the room started looking desperately around, but there were no curtains to be found. In fact, there were no linens at all.
“Yeahhhh, so, funny story.” Joni smiled, leaning on Octavia so she didn’t have to put weight on her ankle. “Tess had her bellhop friend Willie take down the curtains, along with every single linen in this room. They’re all in a big cart in the basement right now. Does that help you?”
“No, that doesn’t really help them,” Flora said dryly, “since this bitchin’ portal means they can’t even get to the bathroom or a closet, let alone the basement.”
“It is a bitchin’ portal,” Tess affirmed.
“Thanks, babe.” Flora threw Tess a smile.
Callum walked over to Tess, his eyes wide. “Is this really happening? Konstantin…it’s over?”
Tess took his hands, and god it felt good just to touch him again, to feel the particular curves of his palms, his fingers. Callum drew Tess into his arms, and they hugged each other hard.
“It’s over,” she whispered. “He’ll never hurt you again.”
“We should get you guys inside,” Joni said. “It’s almost dawn.”
“Callum, you’re not going to do this.” Konstantin’s voice was low, but his face blazed with fury. “You owe me everything you’ve ever had. I gave you life.”
Callum turned to Konstantin, his posture just as strong.
“You gave me life,” he said, “but you didn’t give me choices. I’m choosing this.”
Then Callum took Tess’s hand and led her away from the suite.
Felix banged on the glass and screamed Tess’s name, but she didn’t even bother to turn to look at him. He seemed far away from her now—like the hope he’d once represented, and the terror he’d come to instill, like all of it was part of her past.
Tess, Joni, Callum, and Octavia walked into the hotel, and Tess hit the button for the penthouse. It was empty anyway, so Taylor had reserved it for Tess, Joni, and Flora to recuperate after the long night was over (presuming they lived through it). They walked into the beautiful room and closed the curtains to keep Callum and Octavia safe. Octavia fussed over Joni, taking her into the bathroom to wrap her ankle with a towel to stabilize it before she could get to a doctor—which gave Callum and Tess their first moment alone since his return.
“Hi,” he said, taking her into his arms and kissing her. “I missed you.”
“I bet I missed you more.” She smiled. “Though in fairness, being surrounded by people dressed up as you probably didn’t help.”
“Excuse me?” He peered at her, and she laughed.
“I’ll tell you later.” She kissed him again. “How did you know we were here? And why did you come back?”
“It was your blood.” Callum took her hands. “I knew feeding you my blood could tie you to me, but I never knew it could work the other way around. Having your blood inside me, when you were in danger—I could feel it. I didn’t know exactly where you were, but Octavia suggested we try the hotel. I thought about you, and Konstantin, and what I wanted my life to look like,” Callum said. “You made me feel like I could be a hero. I figured I should probably start acting like one.”
Tess’s throat was tight, and he held her close.
“Joni’s the real expert on the topic of heroes,” she said. “But I think you did pretty damn good.”
“Ow!” Joni yelped from the bathroom. “That’s too tight!”
“That’s literally the point!” Octavia snapped. “It’ll help keep the swelling down!”
“Who died and made you Dr. Quinn!” Joni retorted.
“You’re being pretty bitchy to someone who just saved your ass.”
“I saved your ass first! And I missed my job interview for you!”
“I’m obviously going to glamour your department chair so you can reschedule, so stop whining!”
The bathroom door banged open and Octavia huffed out, with Joni hobbling behind her. Tess and Callum caught each other’s eyes and grinned.
“Hey, do you guys mind if I go out to the terrace for a minute?” Tess asked. “I want to watch the sunrise.”
“I’ll come too,” Joni piped in, and Octavia exhaled dramatically. Joni rolled her eyes and grabbed Tess’s elbow. “Let’s go.”
Tess and Joni walked onto the terrace, which had a view over the pool and the cabana suite five floors below, where Flora was still holding up the portal. As the rising sun warmed their faces, they saw a blaze inside the suite—the vampires were burning. The pool deck was dotted with the other vampire corpses; Flora would send them through a portal to a crematorium as soon as the others were dead, and she’d leave Fern trapped in the cabana suite until the witches’ council could get there. But in the meantime, that was it. It was finally over.
“You know what’s funny?” Tess looked toward Joni. “They didn’t have sunlight on the Isle. I didn’t know if I’d ever see a sunrise again.”
“It’s pretty good, right?” Joni took Tess’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Yeah.” Tess nodded. “It’s really good.”
They stood together for a long moment, Tess and her best friend, feeling the ease of each other’s company, the breeze off the East River, watching the sun glint rainbows across the Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan’s glittering skyline. The water wasn’t lilac and the bridge wasn’t crystal, but to Tess, it felt something like a promise, or maybe a new beginning.
Because after three years of darkness, Tess Rosenbloom was finally ready to let in some light.