Chapter 18 pt. 3

The light was dim and it was almost uncomfortably warm but there were also too many human bodies packed into the space. Old photos of soccer teams and old beer ads littered the walls so that virtually every inch was covered but none of them drew my attention. It wasn’t a human either.

Sitting in a booth across from where I was sat a vampire with Kris’s face but his hair color was different. There were hints of red in his light brown mop. Had I seen him before or was his face familiar because it was the same as Kris’s?

As fast as it came to me, it disappeared and I choked on the blood that hit the back of my throat. I coughed and tried to blink to get my vision back to normal.
“What are you doing Raven? You need to drink it. You don’t have to prove anything to us,” Leo tried.

Kris sniffed from across the room. “You didn’t see her in that practice room, Leo. She became something else; something wild with black eyes. She went for my throat but stopped suddenly.”

Both of them watched me as I caught my breath then gulped down what remained in the cup. After setting the empty cup on the side table, I sighed and relaxed into the couch.

“Do you have anything to say?” Kris asked impatiently.

I looked over his face and his dark hair that was cut close to his head. “Do you have a brother?”

Anger gathered like a cloud over his face. “Why?”

“His hair is lighter than yours."

“Where did you see him? Did he tell you something?”

“What’s going on? Raven, how did you know he had a brother?” Leo wondered.

“I didn’t talk to anyone. It was a vision when I tasted your blood Kris. I don’t know anything more than what he looks like,” I answered quickly, trying to reassure him.

“Good. Don’t go looking for him.”

“He’s a vampire, Kris,” I added carefully.

I could see his jaw tighten but I didn’t understand why.

“Okay guys. Let’s go back to why Raven lost it in the practice rooms. Do we know why it happened?” Leo tried changing the subject.

“Raven, promise me you won’t go looking for him. If he’s a vampire, it can’t be good. Do you understand?” His voice was so strong and full of anger and fear that neither Leo nor I could make a sound after. He had dominated the small space of the apartment. “Please, just promise me you won’t so that I don’t have to come save you from him.”

The last part confused me. Kris’s fear and anger confused me. “But I think he’s in London…”

“For Christ’s Sake Raven!” he shouted, standing to cross the room and stand over me. “Make the promise and swear it by the blood in your veins.”

“Kris, I don’t know what you’re asking me to do,” I tried.

He grabbed my arm and cut my wrist with a flash of some kind of metal. He did the same to his wrist, while I protested and tried to pull myself from his grip.

“Kris why are you doing this?” Leo tried calmly.

“Because I trust you not to go after him and she’s an outlier right now,” he growled. “Be the witness.”

Leo sighed and pressed our wrists together so that the blood ran together. “Repeat after me Raven and it will be over in a minute... I swear by my blood…”

I repeated nervously.

“...that I will not search for Kris’s brother… no matter the case… unless I have express permission from Kris himself… and so it will be…”

Kris released my arm as soon as the last word had fallen from my mouth. “A little much on the last bit, Leo. We don’t need all the drama.”

“You can say that again,” Leo mumbled.

“Someone tell me what that was please,” I requested while I examined my wrist and the thin black line that now encircled it.

“It’s an unbreakable promise. If you break it you risk your life,” Leo answered relaxing back into the couch. “Can we go talk about what happened in the practice room now or is there something else we have to get angry about?”

“I can’t help any of this. I didn’t mean to see him and I didn’t mean to leave my body when Kris attacked.”

Kris looked at me confused before sitting down. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, it wasn’t me I left my body somehow and watched from above. I told it to stop before it killed you and like a second before you hit me.”

Kris sighed, relaxing into his own chair.

“How were you out of your body?” Leo asked, confused.

“It just happened. One minute I was normal and the next I’m looking down at my body as Kris came in. I tried to get back but I couldn’t until he hit me.”

“Alizya said that a witch can be torn in two in times of danger. She also said that it shouldn’t have happened at all,” Kris added.

“Right, I thought she bound your magic,” Leo tried.

I nodded. “She told me that she may have underestimated your power.”

“And what does that mean for Raven, exactly?” Leo growled.

I put a hand on his arm to try to calm him down while Kris put his head in his hands.

“Guys, I realize that this is bad but there has to be something we can do. Just give me time to think and I’ll come up with a plan.”

Kris shook his head. “Alizya already has a plan. We just have to figure out your cover story back here.”

“She’s not going back into witch territory!” Leo protested.

“I was never in it before,” I countered. “Alizya is smarter than that.”

“She’ll be at a safehouse on the edge of witch territory. It is generally used for treaty negotiations but it’s empty now since negotiations won’t be for another nine years.”

“So we just drop her at this safehouse and wait for the witches to kill her? I’m not onboard with this,” Leo continued.

Kris opened his mouth to retaliate but I stopped him with a hand in the air before wrapping myself around Leo. “Leo, baby, you know that I have to do this. I have to figure out the magic so that we can get back to normal. I’ll be okay and I’ll text you every night so you know for sure that I’m alive and well. I’ll be back before the week is up and you can take me out hunting.”

“If I don’t hear from you, I’m coming to get you,” he growled.

“You’ll hear from me for sure, Leo. I’m going to be just fine.”

“If I can arrange it, I want to keep training her so I will go over there as much as possible without raising too many alarms,” Kris added.

Leo opened his mouth to protest again but I cut him off. “Before you start, he’s only coming to train me. The less distractions I have the faster we can get back to normal. Understand?”

He nodded sullenly.

“How long before I have to leave?” I sighed, feeling heat in my right palm before opening it to find a flame dancing contentedly.

“I can’t have you doing that in front of people here. You have to either control your emotions or we have to knock you out.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, pushing away how I felt about leaving the only people I felt I knew. When I opened my eyes the flame was gone. “Leo, I’m sorry, if we say goodbye it will come back. I will text you the moment it is safe. I promise.”

I saw his mouth open but then he was gone.

Correction.

I was gone.

Kris’s apartment had been replaced by the safehouse kitchen with Alizya sitting at the table with a cup of tea.

“Put me back,” I growled on the verge of tears.

“You don’t have that option right now. You can either follow me down the hall or I can move you again.”

I was about to retaliate. I was about to stand up out of the kitchen chair and shout at her, but I blinked and I was in a different place. Fire surrounded me and my anger fueled it higher. I had no time to think about burning or be afraid. There was only rage and the need to escape.