“You could have left us alone decades ago, but your greed for youth drove you to use more of us,” he snarled in her face.
“That’s not true. Many were willing to give me their blood,” she choked out while clawing at his hand.
“Once you trapped them, they didn’t really have much choice, did they?” Blake said as we approached.
“I gave them immortality. You may live a long life, but you will eventually fade away,” she yelled.
“As it should be,” Elias said. “I’ve heard of your dealings with vampires. Not one of them is still alive. You lied.”
“Had I not used their blood to extend my life, it would have ended long ago. I offered to give them immortality, and the ability to walk in the sun, they gladly gave me their blood,” she tried again to convince us.
“You cannot give a gift you do not possess. The power of immortality is not within your grasp, and nothing can make a vampire impervious to the sun,” Eliassaid and squeezed a little tighter. “Pity you’re still just a weak human.”
Thirty-Three
Blake
For a moment I could not move. A deep growl came from both Marlon and Josiah as we all watched Elias. The plan had been to wait for her to pass outside her trap and grab her if we could so none of us risked being trapped again. But when she put up no fight, I was shocked. The humans who were supposed to have enhanced strength and abilities were confused and wandering the area.
In a split second, everything changed. Drayana gripped Elias’s hand and ripped it away from her throat. His eyes widened in shock at her display of strength before she threw him toward the area we’d all been avoiding. Marlon pushed me back with one hand and rushed to grab her.
“Stop, vampire. I’m not nearly as breakable as you perceive me to be,” she said, and wove her hands around her and above her head. A blue glow covered her from head to toe, and sparks flew from her fingertips. “If you value the rest of your existence and that of your mate, you’ll back away.”
“What do you want?” Marlon shouted. He leaned forward nearly in a crouch, and I gripped the back of his shirt sensing how hard he was trying to hold back.
“I will leave this place, and none of you will ever see me again,” she said, but I could sense there was more. Elias said nothing, but his eyes begged me for something from where he now stood inside her trap.
“At what price?” I asked.
“Let me take the old one with me. I’ll place a spell on him, and he won’t know what’s happening,” she said as though her slowly draining himagainwould be acceptable to any of us. But I was surprised it wasn’t me who stood up to her.
“You’re going to leave now, or you’ll never leave this place,” Mark said.
“Ah, the newest seems to think he’s the bravest,” she said in a mocking tone.
“Leave,” Josiah shouted and tucked Mark behind him.
“Oh, I plan to, but not without one of the old ones,” she said as her face contorted into an ugly mask.
She strolled over to where Elias stood, grabbed his throat, and held him high enough his feet dangled off the ground. He made a strange choking sound as she continued to hold him by his neck. But I knew even though she held his neck for control, she couldn’t suffocate him. His eyes met mine, and I knew. He’d become the trap. In a flash, he pushed off a nearby boulder with his feet and ended up behind her. Now, his hand was again at her neck as he perched on her back.“You had a chance to accept mercy,” he said before biting her neck as he yanked back her head.
“Not yet,” Marlon growled and walked closer to where he held her restrained. Her eyes were wild as she looked from me to Marlon. “How do we destroy your little trap?”
“Why should I tell you? You’ll end me either way,” she said, but there wasn’t nearly so much confidence in her voice now, and the blue glow had all but gone as soon as Elias had bitten her. His fangs still pierced her skin, but he waited to see what she did as a thin trail of blood slid down her chest.
“If you don’t, we’ll just destroy any stone we find that you’ve written your spell work on, and we might let you escape once you weaken. Not that it would take long for the blood you’ve stolen to wear off,” he said, and pointed to where her hands were now bony and covered in age spots and wrinkles. “Remove whatever enchantment you’ve put on this area, and we’ll let you leave now before you weaken more than you already have. Not much of a choice, but it’s up to you.”
Hereyes met mine, and her lip lifted in a snarl. I knew her decision before she spoke, and we all watched as she raised one arm and drew a glowing symbol in the air while chanting a language I’d never heard before. The surrounding air rippled before a rush of it moved toward the trap and was immediately repelled. Several stones exploded, and when the dust settled, the witch appeared to have aged by decades, something Elias realized the same moment I did and shoved her forward after withdrawing his fangs.
He spat her blood onto the ground and wiped his face with the back of his hand. “If I ever come within a mile of you, I won’t hesitate to snap your neck,” he said, his voice full of menace.
She narrowed her eyes at him and turned to walk away, back to the small town where she’d been taking humans from. The two that were there fell in line behind her before looking at each other with confusion. “What are we doing here?” one asked the other, who shook his head as they stumbled off toward the road.
“Should we make sure they find the road?” I asked.
“They’ll be fine. It’s a well-defined path,” Marlon said and took my hand.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
