Twenty-Eight
Marlon
Iwatched as Blake bolted to where we’d seen the three enter through the wall. It was enchanted with symbols and writing I could read from a time long gone, but I did not understand its meaning. I knew enough to stay away from it. Blake had no knowledge of witches or their spells and hurried through the opening.
“Fuck, why would he do that?” I said through clenched teeth. My mind raced with what could happen to him. They could drain him too;, or use their magic on him and turn him into a puppet to use until they destroy him.
“Marlon, trust him. He’s new to this life, but he’s smart. Trust him,” Elias said without looking away from where Blake had disappeared.
“What if he stays there too long and when he comes out the sun is up? What then?” A growl of frustration and fear grew deep in my throat.
“His intention wasn’t to go against you. We’ll wait as long as we can,” Elias said and settled down on the ridge so he could see anything that happened below us.
Thoughts of Blake being used the way Elias had been ran through my mind while the minutes crawled by and I feared I’d never see my love again. Somewhere since meeting this stupid human, he had stolen my heart, and even though he was my mate, the love I felt for him was stronger than the bond that said we were meant to be for some reason neither of us understood.
Love we understood, and both of us felt it deeply.
Finally, a shimmer appeared where he’d entered. He leapt as soon as he was out, landed next to me, and immediately pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry. But I knew you wouldn’t let me go,” he murmured close to my ear.
I wanted to be mad and throw him off me, but I was so relieved I could only hold him tight. “My love,” I whispered.
“I wasn’t sure their magic would affect me the same as it did you,” he said to Elias. “I knew you’d want to go in, and I couldn’t risk anything happening to you.” He met my eyes again, and I understood his reasoning, but it was based on nothing.
“You put yourself at risk,” I said. My face twitched with anger and the Herculean effort it took not to lash out at him. But I loved him, and only a moment ago I’d languished in the thought of never seeing him again.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and cupped my cheek. “But I found out a few things.”
“Were you able to enter and leave without them knowing?” Elias asked.
“Yes. Since they’re more interested in old vampires, I think their spells are specific to their blood. I walked in and hid. It’s an enormous cavern inside. They have two vampires chained to one of the walls.”
“Who was it?” Elias asked.
Blake’s eyes went to mine. “One of them was Josiah. I don’t know who the other one is. They don’t consider his blood to be old enough. The other one is new like me. Maybe I wasn’t the only one he turned,” Blake said, and I had to force the hiss back that threatened at the mere mention of his fucking name.
“Are they able to escape if we free them from the cavern?” Elias asked.
“They look like you did. Weak and gaunt. I don’t think they have much time left,” Blake said before looking at me. “We have to help. If we get them away from the witches, it’ll be harder for them to continue using vampires. Or at least it will slow them down until they can find another,” Blake said, and his eyes pleaded with me to help.
“What should we do? If Elias or I try to enter, they’ll know. You were lucky, but we won’t be. Elias only survived because we found him in time. I don’t want to end up the same,” I admitted, making him flinch.
“The witches can’t take much more blood from them without killing them, and I don’t think they’re at their most powerful right now. They were all complaining about how they needed a recharge, and I don’t think they meant caffeine. They’ll come out soon,” Blake said, and I knew he believed what he said, but I wasn’t so sure.
Then within five minutes of him saying it, out they came. “There isn’t enough for all of us to reach full power, and if I don’t have my dose, then I’ll start to age. You two will only lose your newfound strength, so the rest of what we have is mine,” Drayana said.
“Won’t we start to die? I mean, that’s what you’ve told us, we have to drink their blood or we’ll die,” the man said.
“I guess we’ll know soon enough,” she murmured under her breath, just loud enough for us to hear what the humans would not. They may have enhanced strength and speed, but they were not fully supernatural and did not share all of our powers. They hurried down the trail and away from us.
“I’ll go get them and bring them out,” Blake said, and once again ran off before I could stop him. He passed through the barrier and in a few seconds walked back through carrying Josiah. He set him on the ground before returning for the other vampire. When he came out with him, he looked even worse than Josiah did.
“Marlon, we need to help them,” Blake said. I watched as he walked off down the trail followed by Elias before I threw Josiah over my shoulder. I’d carry him, but I didn’t have to like it, and I didn’t have to give him any care. Once we were off the trail and near the road, Blake suggested we find a hotelnow so we could help them without worrying about the sun.
“I don’t like that idea. I’m not sure I even care if Josiah burns up in the sun,” I said, drawing a frown from Blake.
“I understand how you feel. It was me he tried to kill, but if we’re going to find out what’s going on, then I think we need to do all we can to make sure both of them survive,” Blake finally said, his voice so full of disappointment I didn’t need to guess how he felt before he turned and ran toward where we’d left the truck.
“Fuck,” I grumbled before hurrying to catch up to them.
