Chapter 50
Fifty
SOPHIE
When I regain consciousness, I’m bound and gagged, and my head is throbbing.
It takes me a moment to figure out my location.
I’m in the catacombs of Bloodstone Institute, and my father is pacing in front of me in a frantic manner.
He looks as deranged as my mother did the last time I saw her.
I wonder if it’s truly only first-generation Bluebloods who have the degenerative disease or if second-generation like my father are affected too.
I try to break free from the bonds around my wrists, but my father must have doused the cord with vampire’s bane, just like I did when I captured Vaughn.
My stomach drops.
I don’t know what happened to him. I lost him in the fog, then came the piercing noise that split my brain in two. I couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t use my senses. I was totally disoriented, which had been the point of casting those spells—to make me easy prey.
I grunt to get my father’s attention. He stops pacing and looks at me. “You’re finally awake. Good, good. I need you.”
When he removes the gag from my mouth, I yell, “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m helping you fulfill the mission I gave you. It seems you got confused where your alliances lie. Not to worry, sweetheart. All will be forgiven as long as you do what you’re told from now on.”
“You’re insane. We can’t free Madeleine. She can’t be controlled.”
His eyes widen. “Who said anything about controlling her? I want her free so she can wreak havoc in this town, and then the world.”
“Why? I spoke with my mother. That’s not what she wants.”
He twists his face into a scowl. “I don’t give a fuck about what Tatiana wants. She betrayed all her followers when she made peace with Raphael. All those centuries of bloodshed and the sacrifice of her people for nothing.”
“I won’t help you. You can’t make me.”
He grabs my chin roughly, digging his long nails into my skin hard enough to draw blood. “Are you sure about that, darling?”
One of the assholes he hired to kidnap me has Tish in his grasp. She’s not moving. “What have you done to her?”
“She’s just sleeping right now. She’s a hellcat, after all. But I can make that permanent if you don’t bring down the wards concealing Madeleine’s prison.”
I glance at Tish, puny in the warlock’s hand. If she wasn’t passed out, I could knock her out of his hand with a spell even with my hands bound behind my back, and she could run away.
When I don’t reply to my father’s demand right away, he says, “It seems you need a demonstration of what’s in store for your pet.”
The warlock creates a ball of green fire with his hand and burns Tish’s legs. Her eyes fly open and she lets out a piercing shriek.
“Stop it! Don’t hurt her, please.”
My father grabs me by the hair and yanks it hard. “Bring. Down. The. Wards.”
“Why can’t your warlock-for-hire do it?”
“The High Witch was clever. She made it so that only the witches who created the wards can bring it down, and that means you, my dear.”
“How do you know about that?” I ask.
“I had security cameras installed in your apartment and people I trust to follow your steps, not that mongrel Igor. I know everything you’ve been up to, including the young vampire from Lucca’s inner circle you’ve been screwing.”
Hot tears stream down my cheek. I can’t believe I didn’t notice my father’s insanity sooner. No wonder he didn’t put up a fight when I asked for my own apartment. He always had the control, and he played me like a puppet. I can’t let him harm Tish. She’s my best friend.
“Don’t do it, Sophie. Don’t free that bit—” She screams when the warlock burns her again.
Rage unfurls in the pit of my stomach. I let it feed the magic that burns in my veins until it becomes a volcano ready to erupt.
I recite the spell I memorized from the old book Tish got me, and blue fire shoots from my eyes, hitting the warlock dead center of his chest. He drops Tish as he staggers back and falls, unconscious.
My father jumps away from me before I can burn him as well. Then two different warlocks appear in my line of sight and hit me at once with an energy blast that electrocutes my entire body. I spasm on the ground, suffering the most awful agony that’s so intense, I can’t even scream.
“That’s enough!” my father orders. “I need her alive.”
VAUGHN
When we arrive at Bloodstone, it’s pandemonium. All the students have been evacuated, and Solomon is standing in front of the building, giving orders. The High Witch is talking to Dean, Connor, and a few other members of the Red Guard.
Lucca walks ahead of us, taking charge. “What’s the situation?”
“Jacques has breached Bloodstone and sealed himself in the catacombs,” Dean replies.
“Is Sophie with him?” I ask.
Connor nods. “We believe so.”
My brows shoot to the heavens. “You believe so? That’s not good enough!”
Lucca places a hand on my chest, preventing me from charging Connor.
“He must have the girl. He needs her to break the wards to reach Madeleine’s cell,” the High Witch says calmly. Her face is a cold mask, and I don’t know how she can be so blasé about this situation.
“How did they get in?” Vivi asks.
Dean flattens his lips before answering, “Through the entrance in the old cemetery.” He glances at the High Witch, not hiding that he blames her for this. I do too.
Lucca pinches his nose. “Why is that entrance not locked and warded if it leads to Madeleine’s prison?”
“It was locked and warded,” Isadora grits out. “I put the wards up myself the last time people who shouldn’t have access to the institute broke in.”
Your own daughter broke in, I think, but I don’t say it out loud. There’s no need to drag Niko into this since Sophie broke into the catacombs first.
“It’s beside the point how he got in,” I say. “Why can’t we get to them now?”
“Jacques hired rogue warlocks, and they put a magical barricade that neither the High Witch nor Solomon can break through.” Dean crosses his arms.
“Well get one of those Warlocks of Ivern to do it,” I snap.
Connor glares. “You don’t think we already tried that route? We can’t get a hold of them.”
Lucca rubs his face. “For fuck’s sake.”
“Maybe I can break it.” Aurora steps forward.
The High Witch frowns. “You haven’t had your warlock training yet.”
“So what? Let her try,” I say. “Miranda, Vivi, and Rikkon too. Everyone should have a go at it.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, boy,” Solomon interjects. “Do you think you can just throw any kind of random spell at their barrier and hope something will work? You could end blowing up the whole place.”
“We’re not going to blow up the place,” Aurora retorts. “We’re wasting time here. Let’s go.”
She veers for the institute’s entrance, and we all follow.
My pulse is racing. Everything seems to be closing in, and I’m ready to blow.
Unfortunately, I don’t have anywhere to direct the rage simmering inside me yet.
Someone needs to break through the barrier first so I can unleash my fury on Jacques.
If he hurt Sophie, he’s a dead vampire walking.