Malice (Malus Vampire Family #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

The ground beneath us trembles and another crack breaks out along the floor of the warehouse.

Black smoke billows out of the cement, and the smell of fire and brimstone chokes us.

The sound of chains being dragged across stone reverberates off everything in the building, rattling the boxes stacked nearby.

Xavier holds me closer against his chest and takes a step back.

This can’t be happening. But it is. My blood was the final key to unlocking a portal to hell.

“Toni,” I say weakly, fighting against the drugs Marco injected into my neck.

Physically, I want to relent and allow my eyes to close.

It takes everything inside me to resist it and I blink several times, looking around as my vision starts to blur.

Red hellfire burns before us, flames rising from the crack in the middle of the sigil.

The prophecy. It’s true.

Marcus Henry’s words echo in my head. This was the plan all along. Use me—and my blood—to open a gate to hell and let out a demon. Why? I have no fucking idea and right now isn’t the time to try and figure it out. Right now, we need to leave.

But I can’t...not without Gia and Toni.

“Uh, Wren,” Zeke starts, looking from me to the sigil. “I’m guessing it’s too late to stop whatever this is.”

“Yeah,” I say weakly, and push against Xavier, wanting to get to my feet. He just holds me tighter against himself. “They used me…they used my blood. I’m…I’m the key.” I feel sick as the words tumble out of my mouth.

This was set up. Done on purpose. The Order of the Mystic Realm, an organization founded on protecting humanity from dark forces, summoned a demon to earth. It goes against everything they stand for, yet here we are, witnessing it happen.

I push against Xavier again, and this time he sets me down but keeps a steady hold of my waist. I feebly step forward, eyes narrowing as I look at Marco.

He’s on the ground, kneeling with his hands on the floor just inches from the sigil.

Reddish firelight flickers across his face and he stares down into the abyss with wide eyes.

“What did you do?” I say through gritted teeth. Marco looks up at me, blinking a few times.

“We did it,” he breathes, looking back into the fire. “We did it.” He jerks his head up, looking at Vivian, and a small smile plays on his face. “We brought forth—”

He’s cut off when the ground trembles again and the crack in the earth widens. My stomach twists and the feeling of impending doom pulls me down. Smoke rises around us, whirling up and making the smoke alarms go off.

“Toni,” I say as I look away. I only make it one step before Xavier catches my wrist.

“I’m sorry, Wren,” he says.

“No,” I tell him. “No.” I hold up my hand, not wanting to even let him finish.

Toni will be okay. We’ll call an ambulance.

They’ll give him blood. He’ll recover and be furious he was used as a pawn in this game and then we’ll find Gia and fix this whole thing like it never happened and we’ll talk about it over drinks and dinner. It will be okay. It has to be.

“I don’t hear a heartbeat anymore,” Xavier tells me gently, brows pinching together.

“What?” Vivian’s hand goes to her mouth and Marco scrambles to his feet. He reaches for her, irritably shaking his hand for her to take. Maybe it’s the drugs pumping through my system or maybe it’s the shock—probably both—but everything is happening in slow motion.

My vision blurs as I turn my head. There are several dead hunters on the ground around us, and the weight of demonic energy is getting heavier and heavier.

Gia was here, in the building somewhere, and no one else has the same sense of urgency I do when it comes to finding her before some sort of monster crawls out of the portal or this place bursts into flames.

And Antonio is still lying on the floor right where I left him, with my jacket covering his face to protect him from the smoke. He’s not moving, and the pool of blood surrounding him is bigger than it was before. I squeeze my eyes shut.

This isn’t real.

This isn’t happening.

But it is.

It’s not going away.

“Let’s go,” Marco huffs and grabs Vivian’s hand.

She’s crying, looking at Antonio on the ground.

Marco drags her a few feet toward the broken door where Xavier came in before she pulls out of his grasp and runs forward.

For a fleeting moment, I think she’s going to her son.

But she doesn’t. Instead, she drops to her knees by Marcus Henry’s body, madly feeling inside his jacket pockets for something.

Theo goes to stop her, but before he can, a whoosh of black smoke rises from the portal and goes into one of the dead hunters on the ground. The body starts to twitch and then it suddenly sits up, inked-over eyes opening.

Oh, shit. I sharply inhale, heart skipping a beat. It’s such a strange feeling to be terrified out of my fucking mind but physically calmed by whatever sedative Marco injected me with.

“Does iron work on demons?” Xavier asks, remembering how it caused the spirits we fought in the woods to temporarily disappear.

“No, and until the witch trap above us is gone, my magic is useless,” I rush out.

“Can we kill it, uh, a second time?” Zeke asks, pulling his lips back to show off his fangs.

“It’ll just jump into another body, and…and…” I cut myself off, not wanting to say it out loud. Vampires can be possessed. If the demon gets inside Xavier and I’m not prepared this time, it’ll end in bloodshed for everyone.

Himself included.

Dizziness crashes down on me. I don’t know if I could cast a spell even if my magic wasn’t blocked.

“We’re leaving. Now,” Xavier says as the demon unsteadily rises.

The body it’s possessing has a broken leg, and the demon stumbles as it tries to walk over.

Theo leaps over the portal and shoves the demon back.

It hits the wall with a sickening thud, leaving a streak of blood and brain matter on the cinderblocks behind it.

The body twitches but the pain does nothing to slow it down.

Another demon rises from hell, possessing another body.

Vivian lets out a manic laugh as she pulls out a pendant hanging on a silver chain from Marcus Henry’s pocket. Marco grabs her arm and I’m standing there, feeling like I’m going to pass out, watching this all happen.

She didn’t go to her son’s side.

She isn’t looking for Gia.

Her eyes meet mine and it’s like I’m staring right into the eyes of a demon.

There is no emotion, no remorse. The hatred she’s staring back at me with is almost more terrifying than anything that can crawl out of hell.

Because only a truly evil person can turn off their emotions when it comes to their own children.

My brows furrow and my lips part. There is so much I want to say to her—that I’ve wanted to say for years. But no words come out of my mouth. She turns, taking Marco’s hand, and together, they make a run for the large garage door the Malus vampires tore from the hinges so they could rescue me.

“I’m getting you out of here,” Xavier tells me and goes to pick me up again.

“I’m not leaving Toni,” I tell him, not having accepted what he told me. My brother isn’t dead. He’s going to be fine because he has to be. “And Gia is still in here. I heard her voice.”

The sprinklers go off right as the second demon rises.

This one is faster than the first, and without thinking, I throw out my hand, forgetting about the witch trap until the last second.

I almost lower my hand, but the demon goes flying back.

I look up; the paint is being washed away by the sprinklers.

“Go back to hell,” I say through gritted teeth and pull my hand forward, bringing the demon toward us, and right into the portal. I have no idea what’s going to happen if he’s shoved back inside, but I guess we’re about to find out.

The demon stumbles forward, trying to fight against my telekinetic hold.

He lands face first on the cracked ground.

It’s not big enough for a body to fit through, but he starts to burn instantly.

Fire spreads from his hands to the rest of him, incinerating him in seconds.

The water raining down on us does nothing to the hellfire.

Xavier pulls me back, and this time he doesn’t relent. He’s going to take me out of here before this place goes up in flames.

Florence.

I jerk my head to the side, staring into the pit. Flames flick against the opening, and I can hear a heart beating, slow, steady, and loud. Is it my own? I blink and feel something pulling me forward.

Florence. I can help you.

“What?” I say out loud. Maybe the drugs are affecting me more than I know.

He doesn’t have to die.

My eyes fall shut in a heavy blink and I see everything playing out before me. Two hunters bring Antonio into the warehouse and lay him down on the floor. Marcus Henry comes over, bending down and picking up one of Antonio’s arms. He slits his wrist and puts a bowl underneath, collecting his blood.

That’s what he used to draw this sigil.

Sharply inhaling, I blink and I’m back here, holding onto Xavier for support.

Florence. We’re running out of time.

Holy shit.

It’s the demon, and my heart speeds up, hammering against my ribcage. Tears burn my eyes, blurring my vision. I look across the room at my brother, lying lifeless on the floor. I’m not losing him.

Knowing if I wait just one more second, logic might take over, I reach out toward the portal. A black, shadowy hand emerges and with no hesitation, I take it.