Chapter 371: Ameline's Plot
The dark basement, stone walls weeping with moisture, was full of more bodies, though most of these had their own wits about them. Charlotte hissed, crouching as the wolf inside her reacted to the dozen or so vampires who lurked around the edges of the large space, though the leader, the vamp I recognized from the attack on me in the Yard and from just earlier that night as he escorted my friends into the house the first time, stood next to Ameline on her left as though they were friends. If the evil-to-the-core witch had friends. Most likely she was simply using him and would discard him when it was convenient for her.
Or whenever he became inconvenient.
About another dozen witches, all young, hovered behind Darin who stood at Ameline's right hand. The smile on his face, so twisted he lost all semblance of humanity, made me want to shove it through the back of his head.
Couldn't wait, actually.
Only two thralled subjects remained amid all the magic users and creatures in that basement-my friends, Rupe and Simon. Rupe sat at Ameline's feet, one of her hands locked in his hair, though from the way he leaned into her touch it was clear he liked it.
Ew.
Simon, on the other hand, knelt in front of Darin and looked more out of it than aware. The sight of him crushed and broken in the hands of my enemies was almost enough to start the fight. Almost. If it weren't for Sunny's steady presence and the ever-soft calm of the vampire inside me, I'm sure I would have acted before I had all the facts. The last time I'd underestimated Ameline I'd almost died in the parking lot at the Hilltop Hotel in Wilding Springs. This time I didn't have Mia to bail me out.
"Welcome to the Star Club." Darin's giggle came out girly, but he didn't seem to care, obviously just excited I was here. Which meant, of course, he thought they'd won.
I couldn't bring myself to be afraid.
It didn't help his case when Ameline casually turned and struck him. The blow seemed inconsequential, but the witch staggered and fell to his hands and knees next to Simon, blood gushing from his broken nose.
"Your place, little witch," Ameline said in her crystal clear voice, flat and emotionless as her piercing blue eyes stared into me. "Remember it."
He groveled at her feet, but couldn't reach her because Simon was in the way. Rupe. "Forgive me, mistress."
I allowed my power out to check the rest of the house while she entertained herself. And came across sleeping witches, all older. All adults, even as Uncle Frank and Liam paused to check on each of them. "What have you done to the others?"
"Nothing," Ameline said. "Except silence those who don't clearly see my vision."
So they were more than sleeping. I felt that now, their life-forces waning. Had the vampires fed on them? There wasn't much I could do about it at the moment, not until I'd crushed the stunningly evil girl into the cold stone floor.
Ameline's lips quirked slightly as she went back to running her fingers through Rupe's hair. "I saw this delicious one with Mia," she said. "And simply had to have him." Blue eyes glittered. "I take it you don't approve."
I shrugged. "Not like you to bother with normals."
She laughed softly, the sound making my skin crawl, though most people would have found it charming. "He'll do for now," she said. "And will make a lovely meal later."
Rupe smiled up at her in absolute adoration while I found my stomach churning.
"Meal?" She was going to eat him? Had she become some kind of cannibal? I knew she was a blood magic user, but what was that doing to her?
Too late, lost in my confusion, I noticed the vampires had oozed forward and now had us cut off, Sunny's back to me, Charlotte's too so we formed a little protective triangle of power. I raised my shields around them, lending them my strength if they needed it, but knew they could take care of themselves.
"Piotr," Sunny said. "What is the meaning of this?"
The lead vampire smiled at her. Wait, she knew him?
"Dear Teresa," he said, dark eyes matching his long black hair and floor-length leather coat. "It's been too long. Your family has missed you, my dear."
Now, I had been sure my whole life Sunny wasn't Sunny's real name. But I'd never asked her real one, partly out of respect for the past I knew she regretted. Hearing her real name thrown out there with such casual disdain sent my temper flaring higher.
But Sunny had it handled. "You are no longer my family," she said. "I'm a DeWinter now."
"So you claim," Piotr drifted closer, his vampires tightening around us while Ameline smiled and watched. "But your blood calls to blood, Teresa, and you cannot resist those who made you." What was that accent? Something European. Not French, more guttural, but not as harsh as Charlotte's.
"The vampire who turned me is dead," she said.
"But the blood line he came from isn't." Piotr reached out to touch her cheek, but couldn't through the hum of my shield. "And we own you, as much as we ever have."
"The Blood Clan Wilhelm has no hold over me," she said. "See for yourself."
He frowned at her, suddenly not so cocky. Sunny turned her head, whispered to me. "Just trust me," she said. "Let him in."
Eep. She was asking a lot. But I parted the way, because it was Sunny and she'd never let me down when it really counted.
Piotr touched her cheek then, his long fingers stroking over the flawless flesh. White fire burned in Sunny's eyes as he tried to wrap her up in his power. There was a brief flare of light I squinted away from, only to find his power falling away from her even as Sunny laughed.
"What have you done?" Piotr's frown was more shocked than upset.
"I told you," she said. "I'm a DeWinter now. My leader, Sebastian, drained me, my clan filling me back up again."
That sounded... dangerous. From the horror on Piotr's face, I was right.
"It should have killed you." He pulled away from her, his vampires falling back as though they were affected by his disbelief.
"My family sustained me," she said, pride shining in her, power rolling forward as she shoved him back. "Something my birth clan never did." Her smile was as bright as the sun she was named for as she shuddered softly, blonde hair rippling. I'd never seen her so beautiful. "I'm free of your evil forever," she said.
Piotr retreated, his vampires moving away with him. The small smile on Ameline's face was now gone as her forehead pinched in the barest of frowns and when she spoke her voice was as icy cold as her heart.
"Kill her," she said. "I brought you here for a reason."
So Ameline knew I'd recruit Sunny to help. Of course. Way to start a vampire war, you bitch.
But Piotr shook his head, his long, black hair shuddering with the motion. "I have no jurisdiction," he said. "She's not a Wilhelm any longer."
"So what?" Ameline pointed at Sunny, her fury finally showing. "Kill her!"
"I was more than willing to remove her from DeWinter's grasp," Piotr grated at her, "but that was when I thought she was still one of us." His dark eyes drifted over Sunny again, in a way that made me wonder if they had a real history. A personal history. "But I have no claim over her. And if I were to attack her now, it would mean instigating a war between clans. That I am not authorized to do."
"You've broken lots of rules so far." Ameline was practically spitting in rage.
He drew himself up, as cold as she had been, pulling away from her like he only then understood with whom he had allied himself. "No," he said, "I've only tampered with mortals and witches. They are fair game. But to break clan law... that I will not do."
Ameline's hand lashed out, much as it had when she struck Darin, but Piotr was a vampire, faster, stronger. He caught her wrist in his hand and held her while he sneered down into her furious face.
"Be grateful you still have the support of my mistress," he said. "Or you would be dead for daring to strike me, witch."
Ameline jerked free of him. "Fool, weakling. Don't you see? None of this matters." She glared at me. "None of it. It's just the first step, one small step that would have made my job easier. I don't need you anymore."
"What are you up to, Ameline?" I kept my tone light, knowing it would piss her off. "It seems like your little alliance here is falling apart. And the witches who supported you aren't exactly up to your standards."
She glared down at Darin who still groveled beside her. "Inferior," she snarled before her face schooled back to blank ice. "But they don't matter either. Not while I continue to gather those to me with the vision and foresight to use the power we were destined to wield."
Blood magic. Had to be. My heart clenched as I stopped to take a breath.
"You're creating a coven," I said as the understanding of her real purpose dawned. "A blood coven."
Ameline laughed then, harsh and grating, not her usual tinkle of pretty false joy. "Very good, Sydlynn," she said. "I see I've underestimated you again. A pity. But yes, you're correct. These," she waved at Darin and the witches who waited for her orders, "are my first members. But I have more, don't you see?" Madness tinted her eyes red as the blood magic she'd been using rose to the surface. "Many more, everywhere. The movement is growing. Soon I will be strong enough to take on the Council."
"And after them?" I wanted to brush off the whole world domination thing, but she was just scary enough in that moment I really believed she would do it.
Ameline shrugged. "Things are about to change," she said.
I had to stop her. And now that her vampire supporters seemed to be backing down, we had a better chance of doing so. Hopefully.
But attacking Ameline took a back seat when the door at the top of the basement stairs slammed open and Mia leaped down them, her magic propelling her forward while she shrieked like a woman possessed.
Right. At. Ameline.
***
