Chapter 9 Gracie #2
“As lovely as that moment was, we still need to figure out what to do now.” Vyslan turns me to face him and crouches down so I don’t have to look up at him. “You know the scope of my abilities. I could distract you?”
I wrinkle my nose. “And waddle through a vampire’s den smelling of pussy juice? Hard pass.”
Luciu sputters and covers his mouth with his hand. “Sorry.”
I can’t help but smirking. Darius is doing his best not to laugh while Puck is still scowling. Shocker.
He’s going to love my next idea.
“I could use my own pain spell,” I say.
“No,” Puck hisses.
I sigh and say nothing, because we’ve had this argument enough times already. When he found out about the spell I developed, he convinced me to stop using it. He made some very good points. But in the end, this is the only solution I know of that will take the pain away and allow me to function.
“Is this the loveroot spell?” Darius asks.
“Yes,” Puck and I say at the same time.
“Loveroot? In a pain spell?” Luciu says slower, working his way through those words and how discordant they must sound to him. If he was sent off to a boarding school in the UK, then he has a much more traditional witch view on spellcraft.
“Loveroot is just a plant. It’s not inherently evil.
It’s not the plant's fault that tradition, history, and popular opinion have swayed how it can be used. The medicinal properties still make it an excellent medium for tricking the brain. I have a spell—that I’ve prepared ahead of time—that will allow my brain to bypass the pain receptors so I can function at a slightly reduced capacity.
I’ll be practically comatose later coming off it, but I figure I’ll be sleeping like the dead, regardless.
” I look at each of them. This is the reality of being with me.
I can’t go charging into dangerous scenarios without drastic preparations.
I’m not able-bodied, even if I want to pretend that I am.
My condition isn’t curable. “Does anyone have a better solution?”
“Why do Puck and Darius not like it?” Luciu asks.
“It’s loveroot,” Puck snaps.
Luciu still has his hands up. “Okay, but if Gracie says she can use it effectively in a way that will help her, what’s the issue?”
“She’ll be comatose. Bypassing the pain doesn’t make it go away. Pain is the body’s way of telling you that something isn’t right. She could hurt herself more if she can’t sense pain,” Puck explains.
“I see.” Luciu is thoughtful for a moment, chewing his bottom lip. “What are the other options?”
Silence.
There are none.
I understand, agree with, and respect Puck’s point of view.
In an ideal situation, I wouldn’t be using that spell ever again.
I was young, dumb, and desperate when I came up with it.
But the spell in and of itself is not evil.
It’s more like surgery-level anesthesia that shouldn’t be utilized in an every-day sort of way.
But we aren’t storming vampire crypts on the daily.
Puck draws in a deep breath. “Use the spell. I’ll stick by your side and monitor you constantly. If I say hit the ground, you do it. My focus will be on Gracie and nothing else. If that’s unacceptable, we leave right now.”
“Meaning taking out Treznor, his subordinates, and saving Ezra falls to Luciu and myself,” Vyslan says. “It seems like Darius is tapped out. Is that correct?”
“Isa is tapped out,” Darius corrects. His lips screw up on one side. “I can still help, though my magic is of a more basic nature. Puck got the unique magic. Mine is of the earth.”
The shouting is coming closer, and I’m about to shatter my molars grinding my teeth. We’re standing around talking. And okay, most of it is kind of my fault, but we knew this wasn’t going to go as planned.
“I’m not some helpless damsel in distress,” I snap at them. “If Puck is focused on me, I can focus on helping.”
Puck’s hand squeezes my shoulder. “Gracie—”
“We’re out of time,” Darius says.
I reach into the leather bag hanging at my hip and pull out the syringe I’d prepared just for this. A lot of witches prefer bottles and whatnot. But I’ve found that the syringes used for Jell-O shots are just as effective and a hell of a lot more convenient for small-dose potions.
“How quickly does it work?” Vyslan asks, always the curious one.
“It’s almost instantaneous,” Puck mutters. “She’ll be unsteady. Think of her as being tipsy.”
Vyslan claps his hands together and grins. “Oh, fun.”
I pop the top off the syringe, tilt my head back, and squeeze the tart, gel-like liquid into my mouth.
Since I had ample time to make this one, it tastes like raspberry lemonade.
I roll my tongue around the inside of my mouth as my lips pucker then shiver.
There’s this sweeping sensation that whooshes down my body, and the pain begins to recede.
Almost immediately my vision stabilizes, making up and down clearer once more.
Glancing up at Vyslan, I smile and say, “Yes.”
“Yes, what?” he parrots back at me.
I shrug and grin.
“What does yes mean?” Darius whispers to Vyslan.
The big demon kisses my hands and grins. “I have no idea, but I’m eager to find out.”
“So, how does monitoring Gracie work? From a functional standpoint, I mean,” Luciu asks.
Puck shifts his weight from foot to foot. I imagine he’s a little taken aback by Luciu’s curiosity. Most people would be alarmed or fearful at this point. “I have an almost constant read on the make-up of her blood.”
“I didn’t think it was possible to read pain in the blood though,” Luciu says.
“Not to humans.”
Luciu stares at Puck, his mouth hanging open and eyes going wide. “That’s fucking amazing. Damn. That has to be such a useful gift. I mean, if people weren’t stupid about it.”
Puck turns and gapes at the babbling warlock.
“I mean, think about it, would you?” Luciu waves his hand. “You would be amazing at triage, I bet. Fuck. I’m going to have so many questions…”
“Are you mental or something?” Puck asks.
Luciu blinks at him. “What? Uh, I mean… Maybe? Why?”
I bite my lips together and resist the urge to smack Puck upside the back of his head.
How many times did I point out that there are so many other uses for his gift besides death, destruction, and domination?
It’s so painfully clear to me that Puck could take his gift and do anything he wanted to with it.
But he’s been brainwashed into believing blood magic is only good for one thing.
It’s frustrating that all the times I’ve said it haven’t sunk in, but Luciu making an off-handed comment does.
Whatever. If it means Puck finally sees himself as something other than a harbinger of death, great. I’ll take it.
“This way! Over here,” someone shouts from the hallway.
Puck blinks a few times then looks at me. It feels like he’s reading my mind. Realizing I wasn’t blowing smoke up his ass all those times I tried to convince him.
What did his parents do to him that made his tunnel vision so narrow?
My anger and frustration evaporate.
It’s easy to forget that Puck was as traumatized by their parents and culture as Darius. Just because Puck wasn’t locked in a cave for two hundred years doesn’t mean he wasn’t also in a prison. His bars just looked different.
Suddenly, everything stops hurting. There’s no more reactive flinch at the sound of their voices. That vein at my hairline isn’t pulsing anymore. The ice picks have ceased their hammering.
I live with constant pain and discomfort. It’s strange to not feel it. A little disorienting. Almost like the pain keeps me anchored in my body.
“Wow,” I mutter and rub my hands on my leggings.
Puck’s arm tightens around me. “Darius?”
“In a moment, someone is going to hit that door.” Darius points at the only exit. “We should surprise them.”
“How about we blind them, too? Take out the cameras.” Luciu says, and spins around, and bends over. “Because this place is shaped like a massive oven, there were concerns about electrical fires. So…”
There’s this loud beep, then all the electronics around us go dark.
Under the cover of darkness, I pull on Puck’s arm. He leans down, and I kiss his cheek. We’re pressed together so closely I feel his body jolt.
“I’m still mad at you,” I whisper.
He nods, his face so close my nose brushes his cheek. His arm tightens around my waist, and I lean into him.
If Puck can change, this could work. But not without some considerable effort on all our parts.
Luciu pops back up holding some kind of black box the size of a microwave dinner.
“I installed a master kill switch. And this is Treznor’s back-up.
I don’t expect there’s much there. He’s not exactly online or anything.
But who knows? I might have also just plugged in a flash drive that will corrupt everything connected to his network out of spite. ”
Vylsan grins and aims finger guns at the warlock. “I like the way you think.”
“Door. Now,” Darius says.
Vyslan whirls and puts his hands on the door. A wall of what I can only assume is hellfire erupts, covering the heavy door and shooting outward. Puck pivots, putting himself between me and the fire. I squeal and throw my arms up, but I don’t even feel the heat.
“Wow,” I mutter and peer over Puck’s shoulders from between my fingers.
“That’s good,” Darius calls out.
Just as suddenly as it appears, Vyslan banishes the hellfire. The floor and walls look legit melted and are still smoking a bit.
He steps out into the hall and looks both ways before turning to look at us with a grimace on his face. “I might have, uh, over-done it a little…”
I step forward, dragging Puck with me. “What?”
“Careful,” Puck scolds.
I poke my head out into the hall and glance back the way we came. The floor is rippled. It kind of looks like lava that has cooled and set into place. And poking out of the floor here and there are bones.
I gasp. “Shit. What about the dragon?”
“Dragons are creatures of fire and earth. It’s probably fine,” Puck says.
“And if it isn’t…” Vyslan shrugs, all the humor gone. “It’s him or Ezra.”
He has a point.
I nod as my thoughts and feelings align.
We didn’t want to do this. No part of me takes joy in fighting back and killing the thralls or Treznor’s subordinates. But neither do I pity them. Those who work for Treznor made their choice. And we’re making ours.
“Which way, Luc?” Vyslan asks.
“Um, it’s just to the right, then two halls down, take a left.” Luciu waves his hand. “It’ll be obvious. Wide hall. Red rug. Very dramatic.”
We’re doing this. We’re going to save Ezra.
I have to believe he’s still here and that future Darius believes in will happen.
I haven’t told Ezra I love him yet. Vyslan hasn’t gotten to tell him he isn’t leaving.
No, things won’t be the same they were the day Ezra was taken from us, but we’ll be together.
If we can survive one of the oldest vampires this side of the Atlantic.
What the hell was I thinking?
I reach down and pull the vape pen out of my pocket and take a long hit. Puck plucks it from my fingers, and instead of tossing it aside, takes a similar pull.
He shakes his head and blinks, his eyes going wide. “Shit, babe…”
A giggle bubbles out of me. “Like it?”
Puck shakes his head and hands the pen back while staring down his nose like he’s trying to make sure it’s still there.
“It’s a new product we’re testing called The Hearse. One puff and you’re done.”
“I’ll say.”
Vyslan holds out his hand. “Mind if I have a go?”
“Are we really getting high to go save Ezra?” Luciu asks as Vyslan takes an incredibly long pull on the pen.
“We’d have to be high to do this,” Puck mutters.
Darius holds his hand out, fingers wiggling. “Don’t forget me.”
Maybe Puck is right, and this is all false confidence and bravado. We could be making a mistake. An epic blunder. But I’m not leaving Ezra in this dump. He’s been through enough. Not to mention how he’s been my rock for the last six months.
Ezra and Vyslan crashing together was a turning point for me. A moment where I decided to take more control over my life. And I’m not about to give up my vampire. Not for anything.