Page 48 of The Rising Dark
“Pretty sure,” Octavia said.
“That’s not what you said five minutes ago.”
“Maybe you should stop asking.”
Quintia huffed, holding the binoculars in front of her eyes.“I don’t see anything.”Vampire eyes were powerful, but not omnipotent.The Sisters lay on the rooftop of an empty warehouse, closed for the day, looking over the estate to a building on the far side.It was a good choice from a tactical standpoint.It lay on the intersection of a pair of roads and had doors along three sides of its walls.Not easy to surround.Unless you brought seven of your Sisters.
“There was some movement a little while ago.”
“What if it’s just some bored human security guard?”Quintia challenged.
“Look closely at the doors.”
Quintia repositioned the binoculars.“Shit,” she breathed.
Lavinia knew what her Sister would see.Sigils had been painted in black onto the sheet metal of the doors.Some kind of ward.Whoever was hiding inside that building most definitely wasn’t an innocent human.
Lavinia crawled back, letting herself drop from the ledge of the roof onto the ground.The leather of her armour creaked.They had all changed into their battle gear, their weapons at the ready.They were only waiting for one thing: for the witches to finish their ritual.
Three of them sat cross-legged in a small circle in the shadow of the building.One of them was the forever child, Balor; she didn’t recognise the other two.The scent of magic wafted from them, the warm smell resembling cinnamon or cardamom.Whatever they were doing, it wasn’t visible.
Lavinia left the witches to their meditative trance and walked up to Arran, who paced back and forth between some parked trucks.
“Anything?”she asked.His normally unflappable demeanour carried a dark cast.Perhaps there were things that disturbed the witches, too.A vampire who could use magic probably fit the bill.
“Not yet,” he said.“They’re trying to break through the wards.”
“Is that possible?”
He shrugged.“There will be a crack somewhere.And once pressure is applied to the weak point…”
Lavinia suppressed the urge to shudder.Give her a sword and an enemy, and she could rise to the challenge.This battle of the mind, probing invisible magics, was something she wanted nothing to do with.It was a good thing the witches were on their side—kind of.
Time crawled, the shadows lengthening as the sun made its way to the horizon.Still, the three witches did not move.A breeze picked up, blowing through the strands that had escaped Lavinia’s braid.Somehow, the wind didn’t affect the three witches: their clothes remained perfectly still, not even a hair tossed about.Lavinia went back onto the roof to escape their eerie unnaturalness, preferring to keep watch away from them.
She could see Arran pace back and forth, back and forth from the corner of her eye.Then, he suddenly stood still, snapping his head towards where the rogue was hiding.“They found it,” he said, almost conversationally, though no one stood close by.
The vampires crowded around Arran, his three companions still sitting, motionless.It seemed to Lavinia like nothing had changed except for an air of anticipation.
“How long do we have?”Luce asked.
“About five minutes.Once the wards fall, you’ll have to move quickly.He will notice them being broken.”
“Alright.Vesta, Brigh, you take the east door.Vin, Octavia, the south one.Quinn, you’re with me.Messalina, you will take float and make sure there isn’t some exit we don’t know about.Once we engage, you can approach.Clear?”
They all nodded.
“What about…them?”Brigh asked, inclining her head in the direction of the witches.
“We will do what we can from here,” Arran said.“We may move in, should that be necessary.”The vampires were about to march off to their positions before he added, “Don’t be…alarmed.If you see some things.”Without any further qualifications to that ominous statement, he stalked off to resume his restless pacing.Lavinia lifted her eyebrows at Luce, who pulled a face that said,don’t ask me.
With Octavia by her side, Lavinia snuck towards the south-facing door.It was more of a gate, large enough for a small vehicle to drive directly into the warehouse.Their footsteps were lost in the whispers of the wind and the rumble of the nearby road.The breeze came from the northeast, hopefully masking their scent until it was too late.The dark sigils looked jagged, foreboding.Lavinia crouched, checking her weapons: the sword at her side, the daggers strapped to her thighs.Beside her, Octavia pulled her twin short swords.
The wind tugged at her braid.They sat unmoving, awaiting the signal.It was the quiet before the storm, this pocket of time.Lavinia thought of Michelle and was glad she was safe.After tonight, she would be safer still.
Lavinia’s heart beat steadily in her chest, a war drum keeping time.One, two, three, four.The others would be in their positions now.Five, six, seven, eight.The five minutes were almost up.No movement from inside the warehouse, no sound.Nine, ten, eleven, twelve.Her muscles clenched, ready to face whatever was coming.
The dark symbols on the gate burst into bright, green flames, flashing briefly.That’ll do it.Lavinia charged at the gate, Octavia behind her.Picking up speed, she crashed through the gate, the sheets of metal tearing from their hinges.Something whirled towards her, and Lavinia ducked instinctively, hoping that Octavia was doing the same.The end of her braid singed, the stink of burned hair filling the air.What the hell was that?Behind her, the remainder of the gate blasted outwards, heat radiating from the glowing metal.
