“I would have offered her the world!” he exclaims. “The Order has divisions in nearly every single country. We have people in governments, in the alphabet agencies, in highest levels of organized religion. Her abilities, coupled with our help, would have made the Order absolutely unstoppable!”
I can tell he’s still hiding something. He had some other, specific plan for Cierra, I know.
I have to discover it in time.
I turn to Paul. “What safeguards against magic do the Crusaders have?”
He frowns. “Safeguards?”
“How would you counter somebody who could access the Elemental Forces?”
“Counter? No, no. We would not counter. We would seduce and bring into our organization.”
“You have weapons and technologies you use against vampires.”
“Yes, of course.”
“But you have nothing against magic?”
He hesitates. “We have pure military might,” he says. “While my colleague’s organization—” he motions to Smithson, “—dealt with infiltrating world governments, we dealt in working for them. We have contacts also—perhaps contacts more important than Smithson has been able to procure.”
“Speak clearly,” I command him. “Do you have anything that can counter magic?”
“Not directly, no,” he says. “But this witch, she is only human, am I right? We know that even immortal vampires can be exterminated from this world. Why not apply the same principle to her?”
“Why not, indeed,” I murmur. “What are you suggesting?”
“An ambush,” he says clearly. “You set up the meeting place. She arrives. And my men—” he offers a vicious smile, “—descend upon her and kill her.”
“You presume I have some means of contacting her,” I say. “I do not. I promised her a vampire cure. She gave me thirty days. At the end of that time, she will find me.”
“So we make sure you are in a strategic location when the time is up,” he says. “I can arrange all that.”
“James,” Victoria interrupts.
I look at her. “Yes?”
“I do not think anybody here appreciates just the sort of witch we’re dealing with. Cierra is called the Black Sorceress for a reason. She takes joy in death. There are no human weapons on this earth that can be used against her. Not without a huge number of casualties being sacrificed.”
“And you can’t just go somewhere surrounded by the Crusaders’ soldiers,” April cries out.
We all turn to her.
She shuffles closer to Paolo.
“Do you have something else to add?” I ask.
“I… I saw what they did to Liana!” she exclaims. “I saw how easily they destroyed the other vampires of the pack. These are not ordinary human soldiers, James! They’re trained to kill. Trained to kill vampires!”
“I know all that,” I say impatiently. “Do you have anything of substance to add?”
“April and I were both awakened by the Divine Sight,” Paolo steps in. “We survived the massacre for a reason.” He glances at her. I think I see a bit of affection in his eyes.
“I agree that it is too big a risk to place you at the mercy of those men,” he concludes.
“Then what?” I snap, feeling like I am at my nerve’s end. “Cierra will come for me, nonetheless. I bought myself thirty days, but when that time is up, she will discover I lied about the vampire cure and destroy me! The only chance I had was learning how to harness my own magic, and that chance died with Melvin! And no,” I add, “I will not be going to chase some specter of the slender man.”
“There is one possibility we haven’t considered yet,” Victoria says slyly.
I turn to her. “What?”
“Return to The Haven,” she says. “The Queen is strong.”
“I will not go running back to Mother.”
“Why not?” she counters. “She is a powerful witch. And she has Eleira. Together, they might be enough to stop Cierra.”
“I don’t think you remember,” I say sardonically, “the terms on which we left The Haven.”
“That doesn’t matter!” she exclaims. “You want to live past your next encounter with the Black Sorceress? This is the only way I know how.”
“Well,” I say slowly, thinking. “Perhaps not the only way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Father has a coven as well,” I say carefully.
“What? James, are you crazy? You talk to me about how we left The Haven, and then you suggest we return to The Crypts? Why?”
“Because now,” I say, glancing at Paul, “I have something concrete to offer Logan.”
“No,” Victoria says. “No, I won’t let you do it. It’s suicide!”
“You hate The Crypts just as much as I do,” I say. “But if we take shelter there, even if father refuses to help, we will have a strategic advantage.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Think! Father has The Ancient at his command. We think magic is the only thing that can counter magic. But we are vampires! We are strong! Do you really think the strongest ones of all fail to match up against some goddamn witch? And what’s more, Father has thousands of vampires there, thousands, all of whom have been strengthened by The Ancient’s blood. I would rather have such an army of vampires behind me than any number of humans!”
“Logan won’t help you,” Victoria says with contempt. “If you think he will, you are a fool. He will imprison all of us the moment we are in the vicinity of his coven.”
“Yes, that is a possibility,” I say. “But then Cierra will have to break through all of them to get to me. Either way, the vampires of The Crypts will go up against the Black Sorceress. And I think,” I add with a smile, “they will be quite successful.”
Chapter Eleven
Eleira
The Haven.
An army of white screechers appears over the hill.
They run at us, thousands upon thousands of them. They make barely a sound, leaping over the ground with limbs light as air.
I feel the vampires behind me start to push forward. I spin back.
“Stay there!” I command them. “None of you are to leave the safety of the barrier. That is a direct order from your Queen!”
The creatures keep coming. When I turn back they’ve already crossed a quarter of the distance. There seems to be no end to the horde, with more and more of those white things appearing over the crest of the hill like a tidal wave.
How the hell did so many of them spawn underground? I wonder.
Another few seconds pass, and they’re now halfway. I take a deep breath, channel all the calm that I have, and grab hold of the Elemental Forces.
When the Tentoria reach the three-quarter mark, I unleash my magic on them.
A beam of pure fire bursts from my hand. I sweep it across the army, from left to right. Hundreds of those in the front ranks instantly perish.
But the rest of the horde shows no sign of slowing down.
At the top of the hill, a section of the army has stayed behind. They take their positions, open their mouths, and emit that awful scream.
It slams into me, and I stagger back. Goddammit, the torrial was supposed to protect me! With great haste I fashion a pair of invisible earmuffs, made entirely of Air, and tie the weave off.
I’m now completely deaf, but that means I can fight.
Anger surges through me at that misstep. The screechers are still running straight at us, leaping over the ashes of their comrades without a care.
I ready another fire beam and unleash it on them. It burns through rows upon rows of the horrid creatures. But more keep coming over the hill. It’s a tsunami that cannot be stopped. For each one I kill, five more appear.
In desperation, I clutch onto weaves of Air and Fire. I use them to erect an invisible wall between me and the screechers, pushing my arms out as I do so.
The first row of screechers slam into the wall and fall back, stunned. I afford myself a small smile. I start readying another fire attack, but then, to my complete shock, the screechers simply start to climb the barrier.
I blink. That doesn’t make any sense! The wall is smooth as glass, there is no way they should be able to get a grip on it.
But there, right in front of my eyes, is evidence of the contrary.