Chapter 21
21
CRASH
I threw Roderick across the graveyard, into the base of the angel statue that sat with its once glittering flame. A feeble light in the dark of night which had been extinguished.
“You betrayed her!” I roared. I put my hand out, rolling my wrist, gathering my magic as I called the nearest weapon in the graveyard. The sword that Roderick had held to my throat leapt into my hand.
“I have no choice! Evangeline is a powerful vampire, stronger even than my brother was! I had no idea she was still alive until last night!” He was slumped against the base of the statue. “I will not fight you, Crash. She’s gone now, her hold is off me for the moment.”
I ran at him, wanting nothing more than to end him.
“STOP!”
The voice cracked through the air, and I spun toward it. “You. I saw you as I passed through the veil. You were with Louis.”
The red-headed witch held more than a passing resemblance to my Bree. “I’m trying to save my cousin, fae king. So, you would do best to listen to me.”
I turned, my foot hitting the blade I’d made for Bree. “Pick me up, man!”
I kicked the blade up and caught the handle. Both weapons now turned toward the witch who walked toward me. “You serve the Dark Council,” I said. “I see their mark on you.”
She waved her hand as if brushing away a bad smell. “Their mark on me doesn’t mean the same thing it would on another. Bree is the one who will save us all. Do you believe it?”
I answered without hesitation. “Yes.”
“Then I need you to listen to me. Truly listen. The spell that everyone has been chasing has far more layers than even the Dark Council realized. Over the years, it was translated and changed, over and over, to become what it is today. But it is not the true spell.”
I stared at her. “And what is the true spell?”
Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “A spell that must be created within the body of a sentinel, fae king. A body that has touched every ingredient. A body that has experienced everything that Bree has been through leading up to this moment.”
The world tilted around me. “If what you’re saying is true, what will happen to her?”
The witch seemed to steel herself. “One of two things. The first possibility is that she’ll find the strength to throw off the spell and shatter its very existence, eliminating any chance of it ever being duplicated again. She could save us all.”
“And the other?” Roderick asked. “What happens if she does not have the strength?”
Her jaw tightened. “Then she will become the mother of all vampires, and with her power over the dead, raise every undead creature within the continent.”