Chapter 319: Vampire Virus
I was still standing there, staring at the glowing light, when the door behind me opened. I spun, tucking the box behind my back, as Charlotte strode in, fury snapping in her wolf eyes.
"You're free to go," she said with a snarl.
"I thought I had to stay in custody?" It was a real relief to know I could escape the room.
"Evidently not everyone was under the same rules," she said, her accent worse as her temper flared. "What is true for one must be true for all. When I spotted Odette and Benita Santos talking in the hall I told the Enforcers either make them return to their rooms or rescind the ridiculous order. The Enforcers weren't exactly all that willing to listen to reason."
"Okay." I found myself grinning at her savage expression. "Obviously the first suggestion didn't go over. Mind telling me what you did to make them listen to the second?
Charlotte's eyes tightened, her entire body wound like an animal ready to attack. "I didn't do anything," she said in a growl as her eyes altered to wolf coloring. "I just asked them. Nicely."
Yeah. Right.
Her body relaxed, her own smile coming to her lips. "After a few minutes of asking, with some help, I was told to release you."
I glanced over her shoulder, saw Violet walk past the room. The old witch wiggled her fingers at me before continuing on.
Brilliant.
I turned to Dad's statue and tucked the little metal box in behind his feet, hidden from view. Charlotte cocked her head to the side, anger replaced with curiosity.
"Never mind," I said. "Let's go for a walk."
She followed me out the door and down the hall toward the foyer. The moment my foot passed the threshold, I felt something pulling me back into the room. I refused to listen, trying to jerk free, but the tugging was stronger than I expected.
I staggered to the side as the mansion rattled, a ripple of power passing through the stones. It took me a moment to understand what was happening, to recognize the flavor of the magic.
Vampire. Connected to me, thanks to Dad. And it was not happy.
Crap. I turned and headed back, Charlotte's brow furrowed in concern as the place shook again. Witches cried out, some ducking fearfully behind doorways, looking up and around. I almost laughed, heard whispers of demon armies and wondered what would happen if I yelled boo.
The shaking didn't stop until my foot passed back over the threshold. Then, as if an earthquake had been shut off with a faucet, everything settled. I hurried to the foot of Dad's statue and retrieved the box, opening it again.
"Sydlynn," Charlotte said, "was that you?"
"No," I turned to her, showed her the glowing white marble. "But it does mean trouble."
I had yet to see Charlotte truly afraid. But when I filled her in on what the jewel contained her pupils flared to almost crowd out the color as she took a step back from me, breath coming in short, hard gasps.
"You carry the essence of them in that?" I'd almost forgotten the old feud between vampires and werewolves and found myself wondering where it came from and if it was as contrived as witch's abhorrence of blood magic.
"Of the virus, yes." I sighed and tipped it out into my hand. It rolled around in my palm, warm and pulsing like a living thing. It reminded me of the crystal now melded with Dad's statue. It too had a life of its own. But the crystal had been benign, welcoming, helpful. This was the opposite. Need and hunger circled around inside it, tempting me, begging me to release it, to meld my power with its heart, how powerful we would be, how undefeatable. Mom would be safe, the world would be ours, enemies crushed underfoot-
What the hell is that? Gram's mental voice practically slapped me. Syd!
I came back to myself, blinked. Well, that wasn't good.
It's the vampire virus. I slid it back into the box. It fought me, snarled, shot pain through my hand. And the second I closed the lid, the shaking started again.
Of all the stupid, irresponsible... Gram ran on for a bit, swearing in a few languages. At least I'm pretty sure she was swearing. Just her tone made me blush. What the hell was Harry thinking?
He's right. I shut her down as I opened the box and glared at the gem. This is my responsibility.
Gram sighed. Idiot, she snapped. Fine. The moment the vampires are up, you hand that thing over. We have work to do.
What do I do? I tipped it into my hand again. It freaks out when I put it back in the box.
You have to wear it on you, silly girl. Gram sounded incredibly put out, like I'd done something so childish it astonished her. What have these fools taught you about magic, anyway? Harry should never have let you open the damned box.
Oops. He hadn't said a word.
You'll have to make a necklace for it, wear it under your clothes. Gram shot images into my mind. You need platinum. You do know how to make basic elements?
She didn't have to be so huffy about it. Yes, Gram.
Then do it, girl, we haven't got all day.
Okay then. I closed my eyes, focused on earth. Shaylee perked immediately, offering all kinds of precious metals. Gram shoved her way into the conversation and told my Sidhe princess third in no uncertain terms exactly what was required. Shaylee was shaking and furious when Gram was done, but helped me extract a thread of platinum wire from the ground beneath me, bits and pieces sliding together, forming in the air before me until I had a very precious spool hovering before my eyes.
Gram took over, buffeting my power this way and that, making links, connecting them, whispering as she bound them with my magic. Nice to be a passenger in this little train wreck. When she was done, a thin chain dropped into my open hands.
Now bind the thing to the chain, Gram snapped. And be quick about it. The platinum will help reinforce the seal and keep it contained.
When I hesitated Gram sighed again. Never mind. She took the remaining wire in her power and formed a basket out of it, winding the threads of metal through each other until it was a perfect fit. I quickly rolled the gem into the little wire container before it could fight me and sent a burst of power to it, sealing it shut.
The vampire virus shrieked its unhappiness, but this time the walls didn't shake.
So far so good.
You think so, do you? I hated it Gram could read my thoughts. I slid the chain around my neck and under my shirt, the glowing marble falling between my breasts, a hot, heavy heart beating in time with mine. I shuddered away from it a little, from the pull, but it was much easier to ignore now.
Suck it up, Gram snarled. She grasped onto my demon and Shaylee and shook them a little. You two watch her and keep her safe.
My demon growled while Shaylee struggled to pull free, but they both agreed.
You didn't have to do that. My anger flared at her.
Yes, she said, blunt tone almost painful. I did. Because somewhere inside you there has to be a lick of sense. I just don't think you'll ever find it.
She barged her way out of my mind, like she was slamming the door between us. It shook me, left me unbalanced, while I tried to hold off the steady, taunting pressure coming from the stone.
Charlotte caught my arm, face wreathed in concern. But before she could say anything, someone knocked, the door swinging open only a moment later.
"Night comes," the Enforcer said. "Time to resume the trial."
***
