Chapter 32
Chapter
Thirty-Two
We load into two cars and head toward Sealy Castle.
Knowing we couldn’t get in unnoticed by simply driving up and parking, we came up with a plan to park along the road and walk through the woods.
Antonio has never been to the carriage house, but he’s heard it talked about enough to have a good general idea of how to find it.
He grabbed several hunter journals from the office before we left, remembering passages that mentioned the carriage house—small details about its location, the way the path curved, how the trees grew denser the closer you got.
We’re not far from it, but the drive still feels like it takes forever. No one talks much. The air in the car feels too tight, too heavy, like we’re all holding our breath without realizing it. Every minute that passes is another minute Vivian could be getting closer to succeeding.
Following the plan we came up with on the way—which, if I’m being honest, isn’t much of a plan other than find Vivian and ask her, not so politely, what the fuck—we park along the side of the road, engines cutting off one after another, plunging us into a silence that feels louder than the drive.
Gravel crunches under our shoes as we step out.
The woods loom ahead, thick and shadowed even in daylight.
“Remember,” Antonio tells us as we start heading into the woods, “we have no idea how many people are with Vivian right now. We should try to subdue any hunters rather than kill them if possible.”
Xavier looks away as he talks, not liking that Antonio is trying to take charge, but also not wanting to argue. He’s only holding back for my sake.
I agree it makes more sense for the vampires to lead the way. They’re faster, stronger, and frankly better equipped for whatever we’re about to walk into. I fall to the back of the group with Mabel.
She’s wearing a blue dress that reminds me of Cinderella and brand-new white tennis shoes that are already picking up dirt with every step. The contrast is almost ridiculous—like she wandered out of a fairytale and into a nightmare.
“This is the second time I’ve been on a hunt,” she says, looking around with wide, curious eyes. Then her eyes land on me, and her expression softens. “The first time was more fun.”
“It was,” I tell her, remembering how we killed a succubus at the nightclub.
It was fun. But this…this isn’t fun. This is life or death and it’s my life on the line.
It’s always a bit of a mindfuck to think about Mabel being a member of the Order.
Even though she wasn’t permitted to hunt—because back then women were seen as nothing more than glorified cooks and weapon cleaners—this could have been her life.
We move deeper into the woods, the air growing cooler, thicker.
The pale moonlight struggles to break through the dense canopy above, leaving everything cast in muted greens and grays.
The further we go, the quieter it gets. No birds.
No insects. Just the sound of our footsteps and the faint rustle of leaves underfoot.
Then Xavier stops so suddenly the rest of us almost run into him. I feel it a second later, like a cold finger being slowly dragged along my spine.
“What is that?” she whispers.
“Something demonic,” I reply, tipping my head to the side.
The gemstone that blocks the demon’s connection is in my pocket, feeling suddenly heavier.
I brush my fingers over it, debating for a moment whether to take it out and throw it as far as I can.
Let the demon into my head so it can see what’s happening.
But that’s a risk I’m not ready to take.
Xavier is at my side in a flash, positioning himself between me and whatever’s coming. His body is tense, ready.
“It’s not him,” I say quietly. “Something else.”
Theo doesn’t wait. He moves forward, a little too eager, like he’s been waiting for an excuse to tear something apart.
Something crashes through the brush ahead of us.
It happens fast—too fast for anyone human to react—but Xavier is already moving. He slams whatever it is against a tree with a force that makes the trunk shudder.
It’s a man, well, what’s left of one.I conjure a string of light, illuminating the dark woods so Leo, Antonio, and I can see. The man’s eyes are inked over, letting us know he’s possessed. But something is wrong—it’s like the demon is functioning at half power.
It snarls weakly at Xavier, making a half-assed attempt to get away.
Blood is smeared across his face, and when he opens his mouth to growl, I can see several of his teeth are missing.
Whether they’ve been knocked out or pulled out, I have no idea.
Blood drips from his mouth, and losing his patience, Xavier snaps his neck and drops him, the crack of bones echoing throughout the forest.
The demon inside doesn’t leave immediately. Instead, the body trembles and seizes as it makes its escape, slowly oozing out from the eyes and nose.
“What happened to no murder?” Leo asks.
“I did him a favor,” Xavier says shortly, stepping over the body. “I could smell the organ failure from several yards away.”
“Did you know him?” Devon asks, glancing between my brothers.
“I don’t recognize him,” Antonio says, crouching briefly before standing again. “But the dagger on his belt is standard Order-issued.”
Leaving the body where it fell, we keep moving.
The sense of dread grows heavier, settling into my chest like a weight.
The air feels thicker, harder to breathe.
Demonic energy can have that effect on a person, and this is the time where most people get that “I need to leave” feeling.
It’s not as heavy as before but still, I can sense how wrong this is.
How unnatural.
We don’t make it far before we find another body.
This one is worse. He’s sprawled on his back, arms twisted at unnatural angles.
His face is frozen in an expression of pure terror.
And his eyes are gone, looking like they’ve been burned from the inside out, leaving behind only dark, hollow sockets.
Bits of melted eyeball stick to his face, look like goopy eggs that haven’t been fully cooked.
“I’m no expert,” Zeke mutters, nudging the body with his foot, “but this isn’t a good sign.”
“Definitely not,” I say absently, pressing my fingers against the small pinprick wound in the center of my right hand.
The carriage house comes into view not long after. It rises out of the trees like something out of a nightmare: dark wood, weathered stone, windows like empty eyes staring back at us. The closer we get, the worse the feeling becomes.
We stop right outside the door so the vampires can listen. We all go still, holding our breath as we wait a moment.
But there’s nothing. No heartbeats, no movement…nothing alive.
Not waiting, I lift my hand and push my magic outward, throwing the front door open with a sharp crack that echoes into the silence beyond. We pause again. Nothing happens. Everything is quiet and still yet again.
Xavier steps inside first, and I follow immediately, unwilling to let him out of my sight.The most eerie feeling of déjà vu washes over me, and it’s like I’m back at Camp Dogwood and the warehouse at the same time.
It’s not just that things are set up similarly; there’s a sigil drawn on the floor in blood and this time, there are three black candles, burned down to stumps.
But it’s the sense that something just happened, and I walked in right after it.
Someone definitely set up for a ritual…and Vivian is nowhere to be seen.
“We’re too late.”
Xavier moves forward, crossing the room in a blur. He kneels, picking something up from the floor. It’s a vial, one used for collecting blood. He holds it up. It’s empty. My stomach drops, knowing what it is before he says anything.
“This is your blood,” he says.
My lips part, but no words come out. But I don’t have to say it. We all know. Vivian is trying to break the sigil—and free Vaelric herself.