The Shadow's Son (The Witch Hunter Saga)

  "You can and you will."

  "Compulsion won't work on me."

  Zac laughed again. "I'm not trying."

  "What else could you possibly want from us?"

  "You want to finish the Coven and I want to finish the Romans."

  Maximus' eyes widened.

  "Let him in, Max," Coraline placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's an arse, but he's with her."

  He frowned at her, obviously confused. "Fine, come in."

  Zac pushed past him into the house. "I need to go back to London, but you have to do something for me first, Coraline."

  "What?" she asked warily.

  "You're going to help me put an end to Regulus once and for all."

  "And how am I meant to do that? If I have to go back with you, then why did you bother bringing me all the way here in the first place?"

  "No," Zac shook his head. "You need to give me something."

  Understanding flashed across her face. "You mean?"

  "He's protected against you."

  Coraline's eyes widened. "But not against you."

  "I can see your brain cells are rubbing together."

  "You're not much of a people person are you?"

  "Firstly, I'm not a person."

  "Guys," Maximus interrupted their bickering. "I know witches and vampires are not the best of friends, but we're on the same side. At least I hope we are, so hold your tongues."

  Coraline sighed and led them through to a cozy sitting room where a fire burnt merrily in the hearth. "How is that even going to work?" she asked, sitting in an old leather armchair and pulling a rug around her shoulders.

  "How is what?" Maximus interrupted. "What does he mean Corrie?"

  "He means to borrow my power," she said.

  "But I don't understand. Is that even possible?"

  "Victoria was the vampire who turned me," Zac said, amused at the shocked expressions on their faces. Max and Corrie - something was going on there. "You can give me your power."

  "You have Celestine blood?"

  "Neat, huh?" He rolled his eyes, annoyed.

  "But what about you?" Maximus seemed alarmed at the notion of her giving away her Celestine power, even as minuscule as it was.

  "He won't have it all," she reassured him. "Only a strong dose of it." Turning to Zac she said, "You'll only get one shot at this, so make it count."

  "Oh," he sneered. "I plan on it."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Truth was, Zac was expecting the shit to hit the fan when he walked back into the apartment. Maddox and Pyke were on their feet when he came through the door, Rix not far behind.

  "What the fuck, Zac?" Maddox pushed him hard, his shoulder hitting the wall.

  "What kind of stunt was that?" Pyke slammed Zac's head against the wall, cracking the plaster.

  The warm trickle of blood that ran down his forehead was enough to darken his eyes and Zac pushed the vampire back with all the force he could muster, sending him hurtling across the room into the island in the middle of the kitchen. He landed with a grunt, holding his side. Rix took a swing and before his fist could connect, Zac grasped his wrist and squeezed, feeling the bone crack with a satisfying snap. Before Maddox could have a go, Nye was pushing him away, a hand on Zac's chest.

  "Hands off," Nye snapped holding them apart. "What the hell is going on?"

  "This fucker crashed our car and snapped my neck," Maddox seethed, pointing at him.

  "And the half-breed witch is gone," Pyke exclaimed.

  "Zac?" Nye looked him up and down.

  "Get your hand off me," he spat, knocking the spy's arm aside.

  "Hey, calm the hell down," the spy pointed a finger at him. "And you," he turned to the three vampires, "No blood in the house. You know the rules."

  "Fuck the rules," Pyke spat.

  "If he's double crossed us, then we have more problems than blood in the house," Rix said.

  "Leave this with me," Nye said sharply, staring down the two vampires.

  "If you can't sort this, Nye, then I'm going to Regulus," Maddox declared, waving a finger at him.

  "Piss off, Maddox."

  "If I find out you've helped him, so help me god, you'll go down with him."

  "Get the hell out before I kick the shit outta all three of you idiots." Nye asserting his authority was something else. The three vampires backed down immediately, but not without a great deal of tension in the air. They walked from the room, shooting glares at Zac before the front door slammed behind them.

  Nye was listening to their footsteps recede downstairs and when they faded, he turned to Zac. "What exactly are you playing at mate?"

  "Revenge," he said simply.

  Nye's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what he was doing.

  "I thought you of all people would have gotten it by now."

  "Obviously not," the spy said. "She turned you didn't she? When you said she tortured you..."

  "She didn't turn me," Zac exclaimed, offended. "I was never turned to begin with."

  He watched Nye as he ran a hand over his face, whatever he was thinking carefully guarded. He would either hand him over to Regulus or kill him on the spot. Which one would it be? His money was on turning him in, there was no way he could know that Coraline had given him her power. Then it would be done sooner than he thought.

  "What did you do with the witch?"

  "Coraline," he said, reminding the spy of her name. "She's safe."

  "You're going to kill Regulus?" Nye looked up at him in disbelief when he finally put two and two together. "It can't be done."

  Zac didn't reply, instead waiting for the inevitable, but deep down he hoped that this semblance of a friendship he'd struck with the spy would win out.

  "Zac, you can't be serious."

  "He has no right to do the things he's done. He has no right to know the things he does. Regulus deserves to die. And I will be the one to deliver him."

  "But, mate, you're linked to him. If you kill him, then you'll die as well."

  "I'm aware of that."

  "You'd really sacrifice yourself to end him?"

  "I can't control this thing I am, Nye. Every time, every fucking time I lose it I slip further away. And the corpses keep piling up. Innocent fucking people who don't deserve to have their throats torn out. I've fought wars as an excuse to sate my hunger. I do that and I can't stop it. One day I'll be so far gone, I won't come back."

  "Mate…"

  "If I die ridding the world of Regulus, then it will be worth it. All this time I've spent struggling with this thing inside me would have been worth something."

  For once in his life, Nye seemed lost for a comeback.

  Zac looked away, shaking his head. "She was wrong to try and protect me."

  Nye clapped a hand on his shoulder, making him look into his face. "No," he said. "Protecting someone you love is never wrong."

  Zac snorted, "Maybe not, but there's got to be a better way of going about it."

  The spy let his hand drop. "You've got some explaining to do, mate. The sooner the better."

  "I know. But, it's a long story."

  "We've got time," Nye said, glancing at the front door. "But, lets go someplace else. Something tells me that we don't need those three idiots listening in." He walked into the kitchen and came back with another coat on, since Zac was already wearing his. "Do you trust me?"

  "Do you trust me?" he grinned, wryly.

  Nye looked him up and down. "Yeah," he said. "Strangely enough, I do."

  Nye didn't take Zac far away from the apartment. They sat on a rooftop above a bar called Gilgamesh, that sat smack bang in the middle of Camden Market. It was broad daylight and thousands of humans swarmed below them, music and various food smells filtering upwards into the cool air. Everyone was too busy looking at the stalls around them to bother looking up. It hadn't rained so far, but the sky was heavy with promise.

  "I don't know where to start," Zac said, fiddling with the buttons on what wa
s now his coat.

  "How about at the beginning?" Nye said with a chuckle. "Once upon a time…"

  "It's just… it's too much, you know. The Romans and Aya. I mean, it's more than just who pissed off who."

  "I understand Arturius turned the Hunter, but why? Zac, what exactly is she?"

  "You don't know, do you?" Zac was a little shocked. "I thought you had it all worked out."

  "Know what? I have no idea what she is a hybrid with, but I know it has something to do with the half-breed you busted out. Are they the same?"

  "Kind of," he shrugged. "That's something I only know second hand."

  "Then what?"

  "She was a Celestine."

  "Celestine…" Nye said thoughtfully, testing the word out. "I've heard that before."

  "You have?"

  "Yeah, but I have no idea what that means."

  "The Celestines were the ones who made the first witches. They were creatures of power," Zac said with a sigh. "Katrin was one of the Five and betrayed them. Aya was one of the last of her kind before she was taken by the Romans. Taken by Regulus."

  "Oh, man. It's all starting to make sense now."

  "Katrin wanted to know the secrets to their power and thought by creating the first vampires she could take by force whatever she wanted. Take from their blood."

  "She obviously failed," Nye said, watching Zac with an odd look on his face.

  "Yeah, when they all realized Aya couldn't give them anything, Arturius took it upon himself to turn her. She escaped, killing one of the Romans, but they killed her entire family as retribution."

  "Fucking hell," the spy hissed. "That's bloody brutal and I'm guilty of some brutal stuff myself."

  "They're all dead save for Regulus. After what he did to me through Victoria and what he's doing to me now, can you understand why I want to end him? Not just for Aya, but for myself."

  Nye nodded with a grimace and looked out across the market. "He never told us any of this."

  "For the longest time, Aya believed that if she gave away her secrets something horrible would happen. I have no idea what, some kind of curse maybe, but nothing ever did."

  "We've hunted her ever since I was on the scene," Nye said. "But I never knew the reason for it."

  "All this time Regulus has never told you why? And why he wants into the Coven?"

  "I can see it's got you all worked up," Nye said. "Explain the Coven part to me, then I might just help you in your crazy suicide mission."

  "The Coven believe they are trying to wake the Original Witch. The first in their line. From what I understand, she was made with Celestine blood, which is why her decedents carry it. Why Victoria did and why I do."

  "Regulus wants the Original Witch?"

  "Aya said that this witch would be unstable. The Five were never given Celestine blood, it would be too much for a human to handle."

  "Oh great," Nye threw his hands into the air. "Another psycho witch? That's just great. My favorite thing."

  "I trust Aya will end the Coven. I know as much. What I also know is that she will never be able to get close enough to Regulus to kill him."

  "Zac…"

  "No, Nye, listen to me," he said sharply, not wanting to be convinced otherwise. "I'm the only one who has the ability to take Celestine power and I'm the only one who is able to get close enough to do the job."

  "So that's why you busted out Coraline? So she could give you her power?"

  "Neat, huh?" he said dryly.

  "Neat when you're dead."

  "A matter of consequence."

  "Zac, are you really sure you're ready to die?"

  "I already told you my reasons, Nye. Nothing is going to change." He looked over to the spy, gauging his reaction. "What I want to know is what you're going to do. Turn me in to Regulus or kill me now. It's up to you."

  Nye regarded him for a moment and Zac was almost ready to fight him then and there if he had to, but the spy let out a long sharp breath, his head dropping to his knees. "Fuck, Zac," he said. "You haven't thought about door number three, have you?"

  "Door number three?" he asked with a scowl.

  "The one where you get to say goodbye to the woman you love? You know? Hello? Don't just go and off yourself, mate. What are you going to do about her?"

  "Nothing."

  "Screw that."

  "So, you're going to help me then?" Zac said to change the subject.

  "I'm a man of the world. I've always been my own and Regulus knew that he never had me. I stayed and took his orders because it was better than going it alone. I needed someone to order me around in the beginning. It was all I knew. Soon enough it was just easier to stick around. Then you came along with all your psycho Celestine shit and now it seems I've got something to fight for. Something right," he said, looking out over the market.

  "Wow."

  "Don't get a big head, mate. I've done some pretty fucked up shit in my time. Maybe now this is my chance to repent for some of it."

  Zac snorted.

  Nye glared at him. "You believe in what you're doing. So does Regulus, but he doesn't have half the conviction you do. And I like to think that we're mates on some macabre level. I'd throw my lot in with a mate over a founder any day."

  "I've never sworn fealty to anyone, Nye…"

  "Mate, first rule of being a bad ass vampire is never to swear fealty to anyone. Not even the founders of your race."

  "Suppose that makes me bad ass, then."

  "Right on, brother," Nye declared with a lopsided smile.

  Brother? Sam would kill him if he knew what his big brother was doing. He couldn't even stop to think about Sam. Poor fucking Sam who had had his life stolen as well. He would be shattered to hear of his death. And Liz… he'd loved her once but now that was a different kind of love. She was with Sam and that made her his little sister. And then there was Alex. They had never been the best of friends had they? But he'd helped Aya when he couldn't and for that he'd be ever grateful.

  He'd fought it and fought it, but he'd really had a family in death no matter how mismatched it was, and he would do anything to protect them.

  "What do you think Regulus wants with the Original Witch?" he said, desperate not to think about the people he'd be leaving behind.

  "No clue," Nye shook his head. "I've been a part of the Six for close to three hundred years and I don't even know a quarter of the things Regulus gets up to. It could be anything and that's what worries me the most."

  "Why?"

  "Why?" Nye raised an eyebrow. "Because that man is capable of anything."

  "All the more reason for him to die."

  "We need to do something about the others," Nye said, standing up. "They're going to want to know what I'm going to do with you."

  "And about Coraline."

  "Mate," Nye sighed. "Let's go get you an alibi."

  Maddox shot to his feet when he laid eyes on the two vampires. The apartment was deathly quiet and the sound seemed to echo on forever.

  "Sit down, Maddox," Nye rolled his eyes. "Where's Rix and Pyke?"

  "Gone for take-out," the assassin said with a smirk. "What about him?"

  "I'm taking him to help me fix his mess," he nodded at Zac.

  "We should take his fucking head. If Regulus finds out, then we're all done," Maddox exclaimed.

  "Mate, don't you trust me?" Nye was using his leverage over the assassin to get him to back down.

  "Of course, but…"

  "But nothing. The half-breed has gone into hiding and I have an idea where she might be holed up. If we're not back in twenty-four hours, then you tell Regulus."

  "Why?"

  "Because if we don't come back, then we're dead," Nye said like it was the obvious answer. Probably because it was. In twenty-four hours it would be over one way or another.

  Maddox stood again and edged towards them, placing himself between the two vampires and the front door. "What are you playing at, Nye?"

  "Don't try and stop me
, Maddox," Nye said darkly. "Or do you want to end up on the floor again?"

  Maddox grimaced, glaring at Zac, but he reluctantly stood aside and let them pass.

  "I'm going to fix this mess, Maddox. If I find out you messed with this," he shoved the assassin in the shoulder, making him stumble back a step, "then you're ass is mine. Understand?"

  "Understood," he said reluctantly, his jaw set.

  Nye grabbed Zac's arm and shoved him out the door as much for show than anything. Neither of them were in a hurry to go and die.

  "Where to now?" Zac said, once the door was closed behind them. Maddox could still hear them and he wondered what the spy would say.

  Nye opened the door to the stairwell and turned back with a sly smile plastered on his face. "Door number three."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  It had been two days since Aya had let Zac go and for two days she'd done nothing.

  Truth was, Zac had rattled her. He'd said that there was another way to end Regulus, that he was working towards finding and executing it. Whatever it was, she couldn't fathom it. So far, she'd been the one to kill the founders. Five out of six. Why should Regulus be any different? Except the fact that he knew she was more than capable, there wasn't any reason for it not to be.

  After everything with Zac and the Coven, Aya had lost her nerve. Everything had gone to hell faster than usual and this time the stakes were about a billion times higher. Death, real death, was a very real possibility.

  "You need to make a decision, Arrow," Tristan said, pulling her thoughts back to the present.

  "Soon enough," she murmured.

  It had also been two days since she'd left the hotel, wandering the halls, swimming in the pool, compelling handsome young men in the bar to sate her hunger and not once had she thought about the Coven to make a decision. It seemed like an obvious choice, but it would need more thought before she did anything. Aya had said it to Tristan and to Zac, one day she wanted to truly die, but if she could get Zac back...

  Tristan's cell phone began to ring and Aya shook her head at the sudden trill, thoroughly annoyed.