Page 15 of Vampire Sins
Rolling my eyes, I wasn’t sure if I loved or hated Nimra. Probably a little bit of both.
Liam seemed used to Nimra’s antics and cleared his throat as he squinted at the text. He pronounced each word slowly, allowing Luke to listen.
When he was done, we all fell into silence and peered around the room. Aside from the slight rumble of bombs, no additional calamity descended on the city.
“Do you think you can remember that?” Xavier asked Luke. “You’ll have to recite it perfectly.”
Luke frowned and rubbed his chin. He did that when he was being self-conscious. “Yeah. I can do it.”
“Good,” Xavier said and clapped Luke on the back. My angel stiffened, but didn’t retaliate. “You’ll be on your own,” Xavier warned him. “When the sun rises, Nimra will take you to the highest point in the city where you can begin the spell.”
Luke glanced at me. He knew where I’d be... busy getting it on with a vampire. “You going to be okay?” he asked.
I blushed. “Yeah,” I said. Xavier was all-business right now, but I noticed how he leaned towards me, his body betraying that he was more than ready to get to the next stage of our plan. When his red eyes found mine, I swallowed hard. “I’ll be fine.”
To the Tower
Luke
LeavingSonya with the coven of vampires was just about as easy as ripping out my own eyeballs, but this was what she wanted—what she needed.
I knew that she suffered from a darkness I couldn’t explain. I could rationalize her nightmares just as much as I could explain the bond that connected her to me. I was one of her weapons, one of her strengths, a piece of her soul she’d somehow lost along the way. She needed me and I’d do anything to make sure she was whole again.
My insides still ached with the unforgiving power she’d lashed through me when we’d had sex. I knew that she was a succubus and what that meant, but to feel her merciless power was an entirely different story. She didn’t realize that going full-force on me had nearly killed me. The noxious poison of her kiss had lulled me into a sense of security, but the overpowering pleasure eventually waned, leaving the knee-buckling agony that was left behind. Had I been human, I’d have been dead long before I’d given her the pleasure she needed to survive what was coming next.
It gave me a small sense of security to know that it was our lovemaking that would help her survive Xavier and the transition into becoming a vampire. She’d change from the Sonya I knew, and a little voice in the back of my head constantly worried about what ways she might change. Perhaps she’d lose what feelings she’d garnered for me. Perhaps she’d fall under Xavier’s spell and become his thrall, breaking the fragile bond I didn’t yet understand.
Or perhaps I was a giant douche thinking about myself and she’d finally be happy.
It didn’t matter. I emerged onto the streets of a battle-torn Venice and followed the female vampire down smoky streets. Derek was ripping this place apart looking for Hades and Sonya. What few vampires had managed to trickle down into the bunker brought news of those who had been interrogated. Derek’s incubi had killed any humans who resisted, but vampires they kept alive for questioning. They wanted to know where Hades slept, as well as where Sonya was hiding. Derek knew she was here, and it was my job to make sure he didn’t find her until she was ready.
“Keep up,”Nimra chided and I upped my pace.
Everything in me hurt and the last thing I felt like doing was prowling the streets with a vampire on my way to perform a spell. Sonya had fed on me before, but nothing like this. I didn’t have time to sit down and allow my body to heal. There was a city to save.
When Nimra climbed cobbled steps of a tower covered in moss, I groaned. “Can’t we just do the spell down here?”
Nimra paused and sniffed the air, her ruby gaze scanning the empty streets. The bombing momentarily paused while Derek’s men worked their way through the rubble. We were in the heart of the city and there wasn’t a soul in sight, but it didn’t mean we were safe. Derek’s men could come around one of the cobblestone corners any minute.
“Clearly you don’t know how spells work,” Nimra said as she glowered. She pointed up at the ancient structure. “Vampires built Campanile di San Marco under the guise as a lighthouse, but we’ve used it for years for witch spells. You need its height to reach that many people.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Magic needs altitude?”
Nimra rolled her eyes. “It’s just as much about altitude as it is aboutattitude, and yours stinks right now.” She waved me on and stomped her boot on the first step. “Power’s down, so we can’t use the elevator the fat tourists prefer. We’re taking the stairs.”
With a grumble, I followed Nimra inside and the scent of old dirt hit me... as well as something else.
I was part angel, which was a heritage I was still trying to come to grips with, but I’d never considered that my mother’s magic could have been hereditary. She was a Seer and could see the future, which meant she was some sort of witch. If that made me a warlock, then so be it. I didn’t care what I was as long as it meant I could help Sonya.
When we reached the top of the tower, my legs burned and my head swam with exhaustion. I still hadn’t recovered from Sonya sapping my strength. There was one thing I needed to heal, and it was one thing I didn’t have right now: time.
“I hope I don’t need energy for this spell,” I said when Nimra pulled the grimoire from her pack. She’d said that I didn’t need to read from it, but the spell wouldn’t work without the original witch’s runes. It was written power, which meant I needed to touch it as I spoke the words.
She opened to the dusty page and gave me a hearty slap on the back. “No need to be energized,” she assured me. “You just need to be awake long enough to say the words.” She took my hand and shoved it onto the book. A connection tosomethingran up my fingers and I shivered as she continued to bark instructions. “Once you start the spell, you’ll get tired. Very tired. All supernaturals that aren’t vampires are going to be affected, and even though you’re a special breed, it’ll hit you too.”
I glanced at her, wondering if she cared at all about the rest of us. “And Sonya?” I asked.
Nimra held up her phone. “We’ll get a text once she’s started her turn. We don’t have time to waste. You’ll need to start the spell the moment I tell you we’re ready.”
