I nodded, crossing the sand and sitting down. I noticed Michael—the blond vampire I’d met with Jeramiah back in Chile. Michael Gallow, if I remembered correctly. He looked at me coldly, holding my gaze for but a moment before averting his eyes to the girl sitting next to him.
Jeramiah arrived and handed me my drink. He took a seat next to me and reached for Marilyn, who was sitting on a cushion nearby, pulling her by the arm to sit on his lap.
“Well, this is Joseph,” he said. “Joseph Brunson.”
The crowd looked at me curiously.
“Hello,” I said.
There was an awkward silence as Jeramiah started a side conversation with Marilyn. My eyes roamed the vampires, witches and half-bloods surrounding me. Counting those on the dance floor and those seated, there seemed to be at least a hundred. And there might still be more down below in the atrium. I couldn’t help but notice the same black cross Jeramiah had tattooed on each of their arms—even the witches’.
“Why don’t you dance for us, Marilyn?” Jeramiah said. Marilyn threw him a sultry glance before standing up. She slipped off the sheer coverall she was wearing to reveal a two-part outfit that showed her pale stomach. She raised her hands above her head and began to dance among those seated in chairs, weaving in and out.
Jeramiah watched her, a contented expression on his face, before addressing me again. “I’m sure you’re wondering where we have all come from, and how we found this place.”
“I am,” I replied, taking a small sip from my glass of blood.
“Well,” he said, “I suppose the story starts when I was still a human. A young man. Eighteen years old. I’d already lost both of my parents and, finding nothing better to do with myself once I hit my late teens, I decided to travel East. Whatever few possessions I owned I packed up and set off. It was a long, long journey, but I enjoyed the distraction. I traveled from country to country and ended up in North India. I stayed in the foothills of the Himalayas for several months. I loved it there.”
“Yeah, and he’s kept the long hair ever since,” the black-haired witch, Amaya, interrupted with a smirk.
Jeramiah rolled his eyes at her before continuing. “India was also where I first encountered a vampire. I was out for a walk late one evening. A vampire pounced on me and infected me with his venom. Hours later, I woke up as one myself. The same vampire who turned me ended up bringing me to a coven situated deep within the Himalayas. I spent the next God knows how many decades there. I lost track of time—one day just rolled into the next. But it was in that coven that I met everyone you see here today—except for our half-bloods, of course. They were created by us later.”
“Your witches belonged to that coven, too?” I asked.
Jeramiah nodded, looking toward Amaya again. “We have six witches in total. They’d been staying within the coven. Amaya and I used to be lovers.”
“Firmly in the past,” Amaya muttered.
“Anyway,” Jeramiah continued. “Twenty-odd years ago came the fall of the Elders. They were locked out of Earth and we were free to leave. Nobody was sure where we would go, though. But none of us vampires felt like staying where we were. It was a small place and it held too many memories we wanted to forget. I had heard about The Oasis. I’d heard of the Maslens’ demise. I led everyone who wanted to follow me here. With the help of our witches, we managed to salvage the place and make it inhabitable. It was a slow process to get The Oasis to what it is today.”
“I can imagine,” I said.
Jeramiah’s eyes glazed over as they fixed on the sky. He ran a finger slowly around the edge of his wine glass. “Life is good here,” he said. “No hassles. No responsibilities. We live like kings and do what we want, when we want. I’m sure you won’t want to leave.”
I nodded stiffly.
“So why don’t you tell us your story?” Jeramiah said.
I drank again from my glass, buying myself some time as I thought about what I should say. “Well, as I mentioned, I was taken in by the black witches. I stayed on the island that was governed by Caleb Achilles. I imagine my story is pretty typical amongst most vampires. I stumbled upon a bloodsucker one night and then got pulled into this crazy world. I haven’t been turned long, so there’s not much more to tell.”
Jeramiah watched me intensely. It looked like they all wanted to hear more from me, but I wasn’t going to offer it. The less said, the better.
I took another sip, and as I did, a light feeling began to form in my head. I looked down at the blood, wondering if it had been accidentally, or perhaps purposefully, laced with something. I placed the glass down on the ground and stared at Jeramiah.
“What exactly did you bring me here for?”
Everyone else looked curious to hear Jeramiah’s answer—except for Michael, who was now engrossed in conversation with the girl next to him.
“Well, it’s not often we come across a rogue vampire. Especially not a newly turned one. You had nowhere to go. We have room for you. I didn’t see a reason not to take you in.”
I was about to inform him about my inability to half-turn healthy humans, but I held my tongue. I would wait until he actually asked me to turn one before informing him of this. There was no point before then—for all I knew, the occasion might not even arise.
Jeramiah placed his now empty glass down on the sand and stood up. He walked over to where Marilyn was dancing. Catching her hands, he placed them around his neck and slid his hands down to her hips. He led her toward the main dance area.
I took that as my cue to leave. At least for now, Jeramiah appeared to have had enough conversation. And my head was feeling lighter and lighter. I couldn’t be sure if it really was something in the drink. Perhaps it was something about this desert air making me react like this. Whatever the case, I stood up.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m not feeling my best at the moment.”
Most of the crowd nodded understandingly. Jeramiah called to me as I passed him. “Leaving so soon? The party hasn’t even started yet.”
“Yeah,” I called back. “I haven’t managed to sleep since I got here. I’m going to try now.” To my surprise, a yawn escaped my mouth as I finished the sentence.
“Catch you later,” Jeramiah said.
I entered the trap door and climbed back down onto the platform overlooking the atrium. Descending in the elevator to my floor, I headed straight for my apartment. I locked the door behind me, my feet now strangely heavy. What is wrong with me?
Dropping down on the bed and closing my eyes, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
When I woke up several hours later, it was to a burning feeling in my right bicep. My head pounding, I sat upright and looked down at it:
A black cross etched into my skin.
It seemed that whether I wanted to become a member of this coven or not, I’d just been marked.
Chapter 20: Rose
I woke the next morning to find myself alone in bed. I sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking around the room.
“Caleb?”
I slid out of bed and exited the room. He wasn’t in the bathroom, or in the living room. I caught sight of him standing outside on the veranda, leaning against the railing and staring out toward the ocean.
I opened the front door and joined him outside. I walked up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my head against his back. His hands closed around my arms, holding me against him.
“Something has happened, Rose,” he said quietly.
He turned around to face me, looking down at me with a serious expression on his face.
“What?”
“The black witches. They’re now on a rampage like never before. They’re stealing masses of human teenagers.”
My breath hitched. “What? How do you know?”
“They’ve been caught on camera. Your father called a meeting in the Great Dome last night and requested that I was present.”
“Oh, my.”
br /> “The first victims we know of were a group of adolescents in a schoolyard. Your parents have left the island with Corrine. They’ve gone to try to warn the humans on the neighboring shores. In the meantime, Mona is trying to figure out if there’s any way we can end Lilith. Mona believes that she is the key to our problems.”
My mind was still fixed on my parents. “But how would warning humans do any good? Even with the warning, there would be no stopping those black witches.”
“Correct. But we need to make this as difficult for the witches as possible. We need to delay them in this ritual they are trying to carry out.”
“So they are meeting with the police?”
Caleb nodded.
“When will they be back?”
He shrugged. “We don’t know. Your parents hoped they would be able to return within a matter of days.”
My head was beginning to reel. So much had happened since I had fallen asleep several hours ago.
Frustration filled me that my parents had left without me. I didn’t want to just sit here on this island. I wanted to help do something to combat this situation.
Caleb seemed to notice my restlessness. He frowned as he looked down at me. “What are you thinking?”
“I hate sitting still.” I began pacing slowly up and down the floorboards. “Has Mona made any progress since they left?”
“I’ve heard no news.”
Caleb’s words replayed in my mind.
We need to make this as difficult for the witches as possible.
More difficult…
“My parents have left, but is everyone else still here?” I asked.
“To my knowledge,” he replied.
There were so many more of us on this island, just sitting here. It seemed a waste of time for us to just be sitting here doing nothing.
I sat down on the bench, dropping my head into my hands as I racked my brain.
Think, Rose. Think.
Caleb crouched down in front of me, placing his hands either side of me on the bench. “Your parents wanted us to stay put until they returned.”
But we didn’t know when they were returning.
As I looked up into Caleb’s eyes, an idea struck me. Now that I’d thought of it, I wondered why it hadn’t occurred to me immediately.
Placing my hands on Caleb’s shoulders, I stood up. “Wait here for me. I’ll be back soon.”
Chapter 21: Rose
I left Caleb on the veranda and began hurrying down the mountainside. I ran so fast I almost tripped up a few times, but I didn’t slow down until I reached the entrance to the Black Heights.
The doors had been left wide open. I ran inside and began hurrying along the tunnels toward the dragons’ residences.
I could feel my body temperature rising—sweat forming on my brow—as it always seemed to do when I was in these creatures’ proximity. I had already reached the first corridor where the dragons’ apartments were when I remembered that I was still wearing my nightgown. I had been too immersed in thought to pay any mind to my appearance. I straightened out the nightgown as best as I could and combed my hair with my fingers, trying to make myself look at least a little more presentable before approaching the nearest door to me and knocking.
Hopefully I’m not disturbing anyone too early. I had no idea who was residing in this particular apartment. When the door opened, I found myself face to face with Ridan. His brown hair was tousled and he wore nothing but a sheet wrapped around his muscled waist.
I took a step back. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”
He shook his head dismissively.
“I won’t keep you,” I continued quickly. “I just wondered if you could tell me where Jeriad is staying?”
Ridan poked his head out of the door and looked toward his left. He pointed down the corridor. “Jeriad’s door is right at the end.”
“Thank you.”
I hurried off and Ridan closed the door behind him.
I placed my ear against the wooden door as I arrived outside, listening before knocking. To my surprise, I could hear the strumming of some kind of string instrument emanating through the wood, giving me confidence.
I rapped against the door. The music stopped and footsteps approached.
The door swung open and Jeriad appeared behind it. He was fully dressed—at least, as dressed as these dragons ever seemed to get. His chest was still bare but he wore long dark pants and a deep green cloth wrapped around his shoulders. He raised his eyebrows in surprise on seeing me.
“What brings you here, maiden? Would you like to step inside?”
I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary. First, I wanted to ask you how it went last night with the, uh, damsels.”
A subtle look of contentment settled in on the dragon’s face. He nodded slightly. “This island is blessed with some beautiful females.”
“Did you manage to… single anyone out for the prince yet?”
“Not yet. We have arranged for another meeting with the maidens tonight, when each of us will talk further in confidence. After that, we should have come to a decision.”
“Ah, I see.”
It dawned on me that I hadn’t asked the girls how their dates had gone. I made a mental note to do that as soon as I could. I guessed, however, that most of them had gone well if the dragons were meeting them again tonight.
“I wonder,” I continued, dragging my focus back to the real purpose of my visit, “would it be the end of the world if you postponed those meetings to tomorrow evening?”
The dragon frowned. “Why would we do that?”
“Well, it might not be necessary, but I wanted to ask you for a favor. I wanted to ask if you would be able to accompany us on a trip. We would leave this morning and hopefully return by the afternoon, but… I don’t know exactly how it will go. It’s possible we won’t be back until tonight.”
“Where do you want to go? And how many of us would you want to accompany you?”
“At least fifty would be good. Honestly, we can’t have too many. As to where, it is somewhere not too far from here. Within the human realm.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, breathing out deeply. “I suppose that our prince won’t mind a day’s delay. Now that I think of it, it might be beneficial to have a short break between the meetings. It will give both parties more time to mull over our first meeting.”
“Thank you. I do need to speak to someone else before finalizing details. I will return in less than an hour. Would you be able to let the other dragons know in the meantime?”
He nodded, his aquamarine eyes boring into me. I felt them roam my nightgown, then settle back on my face.
“Thanks again.” I curtsied and turned on my heel. Hurrying away, I heard the enchanting melody strum up again as I exited the hall.
* * *
Now I had to speak to Mona. I hurried across the clearing and into the woods. I still wasn’t used to the speed at which I could travel now. It only took me ten minutes to reach Mona and Kiev’s tree, whereas previously it would’ve taken at least an hour—and that would be if I’d been jogging.
As I ascended in the elevator, I found the witch pacing up and down on the balcony, one hand wrapped around her midriff as the other rested against her temple. She seemed to be completely oblivious to me, even as I neared within a few feet of her. I had to call her name.
“What is it?” She raised her gaze to me. She looked irritated at being disturbed.
“Caleb told me everything,” I said. “And I have a request to make of you. I know you’ve got a lot on your shoulders right now, and I would much rather do this without you, but there’s just no way we can—”
“Rose, please just get to the point.”
“I want to ransack the witches’ islands. Both the island that Caleb used to rule and Stellan’s island.”
Mona’s eyes widened. Before she could object, I continued. “Do you think there’s any possibility that those humans
they kidnapped could be on their island?”
“It’s possible, I suppose,” she said slowly. “But Rose, this type of mission is extremely dangerous. You’d be marching right into their own territory. Things might have changed since you last visited. You don’t know what you might find there now.”
“But we have dragons. I already spoke to Jeriad and he agreed to let us bring at least fifty of them with us.”
Mona still looked doubtful. “I don’t think you should do anything until your parents return.”
I sighed impatiently. “But we don’t know when they will return. Isn’t time of the essence? In the meantime, we could be doing something to help. I know you need to stay here and think, and you don’t have to help us storm the place. We just need you to assist us in breaking through the first island’s boundary so we can enter. Once we’re finished there, we’ll try to take one of their vampires hostage so we can enter the second island.”
She fingered the ends of her hair. “And if you come face to face with Rhys? Have you thought about that?”
“It’s possible that the black witches aren’t even there. They could be on another kidnapping excursion. And if they are, well, many of them will be injured anyway from the battle here in The Shade. And those who aren’t injured… we’ll just have to be careful.”
Mona bit her lip. “Your parents may never forgive me for allowing you to go through with this,” she muttered. “But… all right. I’ll help you break through the first island’s boundary, and then you’ll have to handle things from there.”
Kiev entered the balcony, apparently having overheard our conversation. He walked toward me, eyeing me closely. “You have guts, girl.” Then he turned to face Mona. “I will accompany her.”
I could see pain in the witch’s eyes. The last thing she wanted was for her husband to go riding off into an attack with us, but she seemed to know better than to argue with Kiev when he was bent on something.