Chapter 47
Sam
It was so fucking cold. I didn’t mind when there was a chill in the air. Sometimes, I liked it. This was intense, though. All I could imagine was that I’d been deposited in the North Pole and was waiting for Santa to invite me into his creepy elf-filled castle. You couldn’t convince me the guy didn’t have some weird shit going on. He spent his eternal life making children’s toys. Creepy.
Clearly, nobody was coming to save me, which meant a bitch had to save herself. I could admit that in the past I’d made quite a few, well, reckless choices. Running headfirst into danger. Probably giving Lock an immortal aneurysm. It was childish and dramatic, but that was our dynamic for most of our relationship. Whatever I’d gotten myself into now, I had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to save me.
One day soon, we’ll be far away from here.”
It felt like that had been repeating in my head for a long time. Where was ‘here’ and were we far away yet?
Suddenly, I was aware of a sound that wasn’t there before. It had been so eerily quiet, I jumped, but quickly relaxed. It was soothing, melodic.
A deep voice broke through the walls in my mind, shattering them like some giant piece of ice. Warmth finally reached me and it was such a relief, I shook, not from cold this time.
After a moment, I recognized the sounds of a guitar. The voice wasn’t speaking to me. It was singing.
What he was singing made his accent stronger and it was an odd sort of comfort to me. He had one of those accents that sounded beautiful and added character, whereas the one I used to have spoke of deep south roots and Klan rallies. Not that my town was part of that crowd, but I honestly wouldn’t put it past them, the bigoted pieces of shit.
I’d wanted nothing to do with that place, so I’d ripped myself away so forcefully, I’d all but expelled it and its people from my mind. Now they were gone, save for a few I’d deemed worthy of forgiveness and given a chance at a future. Honestly, it was more about the power trip, of holding their lives in my hand.
Ruth deserved a chance, I thought. Maybe. We’d see how it went. Where was she? We were supposed to meet them at the tower, but I couldn’t remember making it. From the smell of the room, I was pretty sure I was home. Why was Raf with me and why was he singing?
Opening my eyes, I squinted at the light. Raf’s singing stopped and the room got dark, then he appeared at my side on the bed and resumed playing the guitar.
“What’s going on?” I rasped. My throat felt raw, like I hadn’t drank anything in days.
“How do you feel?” he asked without pausing the song.
“Like death. Answer my question.”
“We’re at the tower.”
“I know. I…” A cough cut me off and made my chest ache so badly, I clutched at it.
“Hey,” Raf said softly, taking my shoulders and helping me sit up. “You need blood. Here.”
I took the bottle from him, draining it in one breath. He passed me another and I did the same. It helped ease some of the pain, but there was a hollowness inside of me that didn’t budge. Something was missing. No, not missing. It had been carved out of me, torn directly from my chest.
“Joseph,” I cried, the memory assaulting me all at once.
The bloody ice stake. His shocked expression. The fear mixed with unwavering trust.
“Sam. I love you.”
“Tell me he’s not dead,” I pleaded, gripping Raf’s arm. “Please tell me he isn’t dead.”
He pulled me against his chest, stroking my hair. “I’m so sorry, Sam.” His own voice shook, which just made me feel worse.
I couldn’t do this. Not at all, but definitely not alone.
“Lock. I need him. Where is he?”
I was a little pissed off that he let Raf stay in here with me. Maybe he was plotting or dealing with business, but I wanted him here. It was like the moment I woke as a vampire all over again. He was gone, I was terrified and in pain, and the only one I found when I needed someone was Raf.
“Sam, there are some things we need to discuss.”
“We can do that when Lock gets back. Where’s my phone? I need to call him. Maybe send him a strongly worded text.” I looked around the bed, then at the nightstand, but didn’t see what I was looking for.
“He’s not here.”
“I know he’s not here. Instead, he left me with you, which is a weird fucking thing for him to do, regardless of how supportive he’s trying to be.”
“He was taken, Sam.”
Everything stopped. I was frozen to the spot, not even breathing. Raf was watching me warily, clearly trying to judge my reaction. Everything was completely still, flat, unmoving. Hollow.
“What do you mean?”
“Davi took him in the commotion back at the rest stop.”
“No.” I jumped to my feet, trying to ignore the pain in my chest. “No. That’s impossible.”
“We’re going to get him back.”
“No!” I screamed, backing up until I hit the wall. Gripping my roots tightly, I bent forward, trying to keep from releasing a surge of magic that was teeming just under the surface. It felt hot, chaotic.
“Breathe, Sam. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
When he touched my shoulder, he was flung backward. He shifted before he could hit the window, then materialized a few feet away, putting his hands in front of him.
“Please let me help you.”
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
The bed was engulfed in flames that reached the ceiling. The fire was spreading quickly, burning so hot it turned everything it touched to ash within seconds. Raf swore and subdued it. As he did that, wind picked up outside, banging against the window as if it was trying to break in. It was inside already, though, whipping both of our hair around, the sound making my ears hurt.
“Calm down, Sam! I need you to calm down.”
They wouldn’t get away with this. Everything that was happening here would come for them tenfold. I’d unleash everything I had, even if it killed me, as long as I took them down with me. They dared to touch what was mine and for that, I wouldn’t even give them the chance to beg.
All of them would burn. They’d be torn into a million pieces, particles so small they wouldn’t even be ash. Their hearts would become solid ice in their chests. They…
I gasped, suddenly recognizing what this emptiness was. Fire was burning through the room, the air was violent and chaotic, creating a wind that scattered everything around us. That was it. I had nothing else. Lightning didn’t rage outside and rain wasn’t falling from the sky.
“It’s gone,” I whispered, dropping to my knees.
“What’s gone?” Raf asked, cupping my face.
“Ice. The magic is gone.”
“I don’t understand. You can’t find it?”
“‘They don’t belong to you.’ That’s what Vas said.”
He put a hand over his mouth. “Shit. If you don’t have someone in your Nexus that can use it…”
“Joseph is dead. It was his magic.”
Mark’s scent hit me as the door opened. He rushed toward us, shoving Raf out of the way. I let him pull me to my feet and crush me to his chest. My tears finally fell, sobs making me shake so violently, he had to hold me tighter.
“We’ll get him back,” he promised. “We’ll get Lock back.”
“I need to go.”
“No.”
I pulled away from him and looked at him in disbelief. “Excuse me? They have Lock and I’m not letting them keep him.”
“They want you to go running after him. You will die and so will he.”
“I don’t care. I’ll gladly die for him.”
“That’s fucking stupid. You might as well just kill yourself right here if that’s the case.”
“Fuck you, Mark.”
“Sam,” Raf interrupted firmly. “Mark is right. We need a plan. Now, you’re down an ability.”
Mark’s brows shot up. “Down an ability?”
“Joseph’s magic,” he explained. “She didn’t get to keep it.”
“How many do you have now?”
“Two,” I sighed. “Air and fire.”
“Not the worst things in the world, but we have to account for it.”
“Just let me go try.”
“Absolutely not. We’re making a plan, Sam. You don’t get to argue about it”
“You can’t keep me here.”
“You’re right. What I can do is make you see reason. Running off right now is suicide. Not only did you lose part of your magic, but you’re also weak. Losing Joseph appears to have done something similar to losing a mate. You need to recover.”
“How long?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Your guess is as good as mine. Look, Sam, I want to save Lock. We’re going to save him. I won’t accept either of you dying, which means we’re doing this together and we’re doing it smart. No Sam stunts. No running off or sneaking out. All of us are going to trust each other and work as a team.”
“Are you saying you trust me?” Raf asked with a smirk.
Mark ignored him. “You have an entire coven at your disposal. Use them.”
“I’m not asking them to risk their lives for this,” I disagreed. “Putting them in danger is not an option.”
“Yes, it is. That’s what it means to lead. Lock understands this perfectly. He would never ask them to do something he would not or has not done for them. If you’re doing this, you have every right and obligation to include them in it.”
“But they could die.”
“And some of them will. That’s life, Sam, especially one seeped in blood and power. If it was you in his place, Lock would move heaven and hell to get you back. He’d use every resource at his disposal. This place wasn’t built simply so we could drink blood and lounge around. He has been creating an empire for a hundred years and now it belongs to you as well. Use it.”
“I don’t even know if they’ll listen to me. Why would anyone want to follow me? I’ve been a coward and nobody has seen me since I changed.”
“They’ll listen because they want to,” Mark said. “Even as a human, they respected and wanted to protect you. Now, it’s time for you to claim your place as Domina of the San Francisco coven. You’re mated to Hemlock Giudice, the most powerful vampire in existence, the stuff of nightmares. What you never stopped to understand is that he is mated to Samara Byrne, and you are the thing the world forgot, a descendant of what they once knew to be gods. So, suck it up, Sam, and start acting like the badass you were meant to be.”