Exiled - 01 (25 page)

Vincent shook his head, the wound on his chest closing rapidly. I’d used a silver blade, stuck it deep, and twisted it to make the wound larger; he shouldn’t be healing like this.

“I did no such thing. If I had thought you were going alone…Well, it would’ve been tempting, but I would never put Rayna in danger. If what you say is true, perhaps there was a problem with my source. For it seems I’ve been, how do you say…” With lightning speed, he moved and stood nose to nose with me, his bare chest inches from mine. “…duped, I think is the word,” he finished.

“No, somebody like you doesn’t get duped.”

“Perhaps, but I had it on good account I was giving you the location of someone who would help.” Vincent smiled.

I shot my hand forward and wrapped it around his throat, squeezing tight. Vincent looked unfazed and it only fueled my anger. “You lie,” I said through gritted teeth.

“You’re fast, hunter, faster than most, but I do not lie, this I swear. Besides, your threats are better left for when you have the advantage. Take your hand off of me, now.”

“It’s just you and me, Vince. What better advantage is there?”

Vincent smiled and it sent a chill down my spine. I turned to find a gang of vampires and vamplings behind me. Perhaps it hadn’t been the smile. The vamplings had their guns aimed, while the vampires were baring fangs and showing off their full demon forms.

“Death would be worth it to know that you, a traitor and deceiver, died at my hands,” I said.

I could see the fury even in Vincent’s pure black eyes. He pushed at me with superior strength and I stumbled back. He simply stood and stared at me. All that remained of the wound on his chest was the stain of blood.

“I’ve been many things, hunter. I’m a vampire who was once mortal, I’m a killer, and I’m an Underworlder. I play tricks with words to bend the world to my will, but a man who breaks his word I am not, nor will I ever be,” he stated.

It was the first time I’d ever seen him offended, and I didn’t know why, but I believed him. My gut told me he was telling the truth, despite my rage.

“Well, if you didn’t lie to us, somebody lied to you. Where did you get your information?”

Vincent shook his head, the black in his eyes receding and the gold shining through. His clear skin mutated back to milky white and the dark veins faded beneath it.

“My channels of information are my own. I can assure you, the one who gave me false information will be dealt with in time,” he said. “Will Rayna be alright?”

His change of tone caught me off guard and I couldn’t deliver the witty response I’d have liked. “She’ll be fine, no thanks to you. I still want to know where you got your information.”

“Everyone, leave us!” he commanded. His family and minions responded immediately and flooded out of the room. Their obedience was impressive. “Come, let us talk civilly, if you will?”

My anger was fading. “Fine,” I said.

Vincent twirled my bloodied blade in his hands across from me and inspected it intently. “You didn’t mean to stab my heart with this, did you?” he asked. I didn’t respond. I maintained eye contact and a blank expression. “Of course you didn’t. Someone like you doesn’t miss by accident, do you?”

“Not typically,” I said, and that was the truth, although after seeing him heal the wound I’d made, I wasn’t sure even a stab to the heart would have killed him.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what happened?” Vincent said.

I explained what had gone on at Rayna’s old house. I didn’t need to sugarcoat anything, like with Willy. I told him everything I knew, and he listened as though in a trance.

“So it’s true?” It sounded like both a question and an answer.

“What’s true?”

“The prophecy.” He stared at me but looked right through me at the same time.

“I don’t follow,” I said.

“There is a prophecy, one that is millennia old, that many have spent lifetimes trying to decipher. Others have searched for the original documents in the hope that they may contain a key that would help interpret it.”

“What does it say?” I asked.

“
And so shall the one of both bloodlines be the key to opening that which has been denied.
”

I shook my head. “What does it mean?”

“It means Rayna’s blood is the key, Chase. I can’t believe I couldn’t place it before. She was always different from the rest of the Underworld, an outcast for killing her own kind and interfering with Underworld matters. I thought that hunter friend of hers had her confused about her heritage, but I never thought she herself might be part hunter.”

“You said her blood is the key, but the key to what?”

“Many interpret it to mean the key to the other dimensions.
That which has been denied
is the portal to the Underworlds. She is of both bloodlines. She has the blood of the demons denied entrance to our world and the blood of the hunters who closed the portal to begin with. It only makes sense that she be the one to open it.”

“The hunters closed the portal and dedicated their lives to trying to destroy the demons, so why would they want to open the doorway again? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Think of the great powers of this world Chase, the power that the Underworlders hold and the power of the Circle. They have been diluted over time and aren’t what they once were. What if you could get hold of that magic in its purest form? There would be nothing that would stand in your way.”

“That’s why you wanted the scroll,” I said.

“Of course, should more power be offered to me I would be foolish to decline it, but I’m more interested in the power that keeps the seal in place, and the power inside Rayna. Before I was changed, I was a scholar of prophecies and legends. Becoming a vampire never took away my lust for answers to the puzzles that surround us. Searching for things that are said to exist but have not been seen for thousands of years has always thrilled me. If even one person had the knowledge of how that magic works, we would be one step closer to harnessing it. That could be most profitable. Hypothetically speaking, of course.” He smiled.

“You stay away from Rayna.”

“I could never harm my sweet Rayna, but it doesn’t make her ability any less intriguing.”

Before I could respond, I was interrupted by a cell phone ringing. It was a girlie ringtone and Vincent raised an eyebrow as the song chimed from inside my pocket.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Cha- Cha- Chase. Ray- Rayna’s awake and…” The rest of Willy’s words were muffled.

“Willy, relax, it’s good that she’s awake.”

I heard a loud bang through the phone.

“Willy? Hello? Willy, are you there?” The phone rustled loudly before Willy’s voice came through again.

“They’re here!” Willy yelled, sounding distant and full of panic.

“Who? Who’s there?” I heard Rayna scream.

“Hunters!” Willy’s voice echoed through the phone before a loud crash came and the line went dead.

“Hello? Willy?” It was no use. The phone displayed “Call ended.”

“What is it?” asked Vincent.

“The hunters have Rayna.”

I ran to the door and pulled it open. I didn’t stop for the elevator and hopped the railing without thinking. I soared down until my feet hit the concrete, which made a loud crack as my body made impact. The floor sank lower and the cement cracked in different directions. Dust and small rocks whirled around me and I hadn’t realized how high the second floor was until that moment. It surprised even me that I wasn’t hurt.

I ran towards the exit and Vincent called for me to stop but I ignored him. As I neared the door, a blur passed me and Vincent stood in my way.

“I’m coming with you,” he stated.

“Absolutely not. You’re the last person I’d want fighting beside me. I’d rather take my chances alone than with someone who’s just as likely to eat me as help me.”

“Whether you trust me or not, I’ve cared for Rayna for many years. You’ve known her only weeks. I am coming.”

“I know why you’re interested in Rayna, and I’m not letting you anywhere near her.”

“I am coming with you,” he demanded, and I felt a wave of his power wash over me. It pushed against my shields and I pushed back, not letting his will override my own.

“Fine. I don’t have time for your games,” I said. I pushed past him, opened the door, and stepped outside.

The sun beat down on my face and I looked at Vincent. “Come on, let’s go,” I said. Vincent backed away from the doorway as he covered his eyes. I shrugged and walked away.

“Chase, please.”

I stopped, hearing the plea in Vincent’s voice. “Wait here,” I said. After all, I didn’t
want
to be going into this fight alone, and his power would be useful. I’d deal with anything to help keep Rayna alive.

I ran to the Jeep and jumped in, pushed the pedal to the floor and took off with a jolt. Jerking the wheel towards the building, I crashed through the chain link fence, driving over it with ease. My foot slammed the brakes as I pulled the wheel hard again and skidded alongside the building. I dropped into reverse and stopped outside the door, popping the hatch open.

“Get in.”

Vincent disappeared and returned with a blanket, wrapped it around himself and jumped into the back. I shifted into drive and let the gas pedal hit the floor again, the tires squealing as we pulled away.

At the speed I drove, it took no time to get to the condo. I flew through the underground lot and sparks flew as the top of the Jeep grazed the concrete roof.

We both moved with supernatural speed to the elevator and it couldn’t move fast enough. I squeezed through the doors as they started to open and pulled my blades from their sheaths, sprinting for the condo. The door was off its hinges and I burst through the opening, ready for a fight.

The kitchen table was destroyed and the TV was shattered in pieces on the floor. The blood spatter was minor, but easy to spot on the white walls around the picture hanging askew.

“We’re too late.” Vincent pointed from under the blanket to the corner of the room where Willy lay slumped, blood dripping from his mouth.

I sheathed the daggers and fell to my knees in front of him. His eye was swollen shut. I put my fingers to his neck to find a pulse; it was there and steady.

“Willy,” I whispered. “Willy!” I said again louder, but he didn’t respond. I slapped his cheek. “Come on man, I need you to wake up.” Willy’s head shook back and forth a few times before he leaned over and spit blood onto the floor.

“I don’t think we can see each other anymore, Chase,” Willy said.

“I’m sorry, Willy. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how they found us.”

Willy opened his one good eye and looked at me. It also took in Vincent and he screamed, panicking and pressing back into the wall. His skin flashed different shades of white. “What’s he doing here?” he screeched.

“He’s here to help, not harm, I swear.” Willy stared at Vincent a moment longer before letting his eye fall on me again.

“It was magic. They used ma- magic to find you. I heard them talk- talking about it. They traced Rayna’s magic here. I told them she wasn’t here, but they didn’t be- believe me; they said a spell had led them here. They beat me with a silver chain until they found her in one of the bedrooms. I tried, I did, but I couldn’t keep her safe. I didn’t tell them anything, I sw- swear,” Willy pleaded.

“You did great.” I sighed. “On the phone you said hunters took her. Hunters can’t do that kind of magic.”

“There weren’t just hunters. There were warlocks too.”

My eyes widened and I could feel the blood drain from my face. “Are you sure?”

Willy made an attempt at a shrug, but it looked like it hurt. “I recognized them from Revelations: Drake and Darius Sellowind.”

Vincent made a strangled sound before stepping forward. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Of course I’m sure. You don’t mistake somebody else for the Dark Bro- Brothers. I’m not an idiot.”

Vincent looked like he was going to say something, but I put a hand up before he could respond. “Who are the Dark Brothers?” I asked.

“A pair of rather loathsome and overly powerful warlocks,” Vincent said. “Most of the Underworld steers clear of them just for the sake of staying out of their way, my family included. They practice dark magic beyond what most in the Underworld consider safe, and few can rival their power.”