Of Blood and Passion (25 page)

To her ever-loving relief, he slowly did as she commanded, shuffling back around, his body teetering one direction, then the other. As he looked forward, she saw that the dark column was still there, no more than three feet in front of them. Within those dark shadows, illuminated by the flickering torchlight of Sakamoto’s castle, she saw Kassius, Sakamoto, and the twins eyeing one another worriedly.

Step forward, Wizard.
As the sound of the car engine drew closer, she began to get frantic.
Move!

He did, shuffling one small step.

Not enough! More, more. Keep moving.

The sound of the engine grew louder. The car was not slowing and she doubted the driver even saw them.

Wizard!

As she stared at the spot where the worlds bled together, at the door she could so easily walk through if she had the slightest bit of control of this body, it disappeared. The dark column winked out.

The break between the worlds had closed with Quinn and the Black Wizard stuck on the wrong side.

Z
ack clung to the kitchen counter with one hand, steadying himself as he peered into the fridge. He wasn’t feeling right. Hell, he was feeling seriously wrong, kind of the way he had when the magic sickness first attacked him, back in D.C., his body cold despite the sky-high fever, and kind of wobbly. Not all the time, thank goodness. Not even most of the time. But every now and then, like now.

He’d decided maybe he just needed something to eat. But he knew that wasn’t really the case. The truth had to do with magic and curses and crap he couldn’t control.

He was dying. He could feel stuff happening inside of him just like before. As if his organs were getting ready to turn to stone.

It wasn’t like he cared, except that Quinn would be so torn up about it for a while. The worst part was that with him gone, who would rescue Lily? Yeah, the vampires said they were looking for her. And he knew Quinn wanted to find her, too. But Quinn was so focused on saving
him
that she couldn’t…or wouldn’t…think about anything or anyone else. And maybe if he died, she’d finally turn all her attention to finding Lily.

Latching onto a bowl of leftover potato salad, he closed the fridge, and was pulling a fork out of the drawer when the back door opened and Rinaldo walked in, a stranger behind him.

Zack eyed the skinny, pale-skinned youth with interest. He was young, or appeared to be. No more than early teens. But Zack knew from experience that apparent age had nothing whatsoever to do with real age, not when it came to vampires. And though he couldn’t be certain, his gut told him vampire.

“Wait here. I’ll get…” Rinaldo saw Zack and stopped in his tracks. “Neo!” he called, instead of going after him as he’d obviously planned.

Why? Because Zack was the
little brother
and heaven forbid they not protect him 24-7. Fuck. That. With a grunt of disgust, he turned and left the kitchen, but was only a few steps away when he heard Neo greet the stranger.

“Alesius,” Neo said warmly. “To what do we owe this honor?”

Zack stilled. Yeah, definitely a vampire. Who named their kid Alesius these days? Curious, he moved into the shadows just outside the kitchen doorway.

“I seek Kassius. I bring word on the human he’s had me looking for.”

Zack felt the fork in his hand begin to bend beneath the force of his sudden grip because,
fuck
, it was Lily Kassius had sent someone looking for.

“Kassius isn’t here,” Neo replied. “But he should return soon. Will you stay? Or would you prefer I convey the message?”

“I can’t stay. Please tell him the female is believed to be hiding somewhere in the Anacostia Forest.”

Zack’s pulse began to pound.

“How did she get there?” Neo asked.

“It’s believed she hid in a Trader’s wagon, then slipped out of it before the Traders even knew she was there.”

“How long ago did this escape take place?” Neo asked carefully.

“Three days. Two and a half. It’s possible she’s still alive.”

Possible.
Zack’s gut clenched.

“But unlikely. That forest is no place for humans. The last I heard it was a popular haunt of a splinter faction of the Herewood wolf pack.”

Zack’s breath lodged in his lungs.

“I’ll pass your report on to Kassius, Alesius,” Neo said.

“Sorry I couldn’t have brought better news.”

“You brought the information we sought. That’s all we could ask.”

Zack waited until the back door clicked shut before striding into the kitchen. “We have to go after her.”

Neo turned around, eying him with dismay.

“We have to go now. She’s in danger, Neo.”

“Zack.”

It was all Zack could do to keep his temper in check at the placating tone of Neo’s voice.

“Your sister will be back soon. Wait until she gets here, then discuss it with her.”

He was fucking
sick
of everyone treating him like he was twelve! Lily was out there in a forest somewhere. Alone.
With werewolves.
But Neo wasn’t going to be pushed. Zack knew that about the male. He was nice for a vampire, and had a crap ton of compassion for humans, but he was no pushover. If Neo suspected he might take off on his own, Zack would find himself enthralled or locked up until Quinn got back. For his own safety, of course. He was too
precious
to be allowed to leave on his own, which was dog shit. He was nothing.

Setting the bowl of potato salad and fork on the counter with more force than necessary, he turned and stalked away, descending the stairs to the sprawling underground. Moments later, he pounded on Jason’s bedroom door.

“Come in,” a voice called groggily.

Zack strode into the tiny room, lit the bedside lamp, then closed the door, crossed his arms, and stared at his friend, who’d clearly been sleeping.

“I’m going after Lily. You can come or not. Your choice.”

Jason peered at him with groggy confusion. “What?” He ran a sleepy hand through his hair and struggled to sit up. “They found Lily?”

“They know where she is. Somewhere in the Anacostia Forest.” The panic he’d been struggling to keep at bay tore through his lungs. “It’s full of wolves, Jase.”

“How long has she been there?”

“Two and a half days.”

“Zack…”

“Don’t say it! She’s smart. Too smart to get herself eaten.” His jaw tensed. “I’m going after her.”

Jason swung his legs over the side of his bed. “Quinn and the others will be…”

“Fuck them. I’m tired of everyone thinking I need my sister to protect me. Besides, you know what will happen. She’ll tell me to wait here, like she has every other time I’ve tried to go with her.
Wait here, stay safe
. Fuck. That.” Zack turned and reached for the door handle. “Come with me or not, Jase, but don’t say anything. They’ll figure out I’ve gone as soon as Quinn gets home. You can tell them then.”

“Zack, wait, man. You passed out earlier.”

Zack whirled back, turning on him. “So what? I’m
dying
. Don’t you think I know that? But hanging around here doing nothing isn’t saving me. All it’s doing is wasting what time I have left when maybe I could be saving Lily.”

Jason met his gaze, his own somber, but thoughtful. “You’re right.”

Zack stared at him. He was?

The ex-Marine grabbed his jeans off the foot of the bed and started to pull them on. “I’ve been itching to get back out there for days to hunt for my wife.”

“Then why didn’t you leave before this?”

Jason glanced up, meeting his gaze. “And miss watching you morph into Superman?” He stood, fastening his jeans, then grabbed his boots. “I’ve been telling you all along that when you were ready, we’d leave together—you to find Lily, me to find my wife. It looks like that time has come.” A smile flickered across his face. “Let’s see what kind of vampire ass you can really kick.”

Despite the bold words and the disappearing smile, Jason’s eyes were as serious as the grave. Trying to kick vampire ass usually got a human killed. Zack had seen that during his own days as a captive. He and Jason stood an excellent chance of dying out there. But staying safe in here was no life, not when the women they cared about were missing. Or in danger of being eaten by wolves.

T
he blast of the car horn startled the Black Wizard, nearly making him stumble. It infuriated Quinn. The asshole driver clearly saw the old man in the middle of the street, but instead of slowing down and going carefully around him, he let his own annoyance at being ever-so-slightly inconvenienced scare the crap out of the ancient male.

She felt the Black Wizard’s arm shoot straight out at the car, a small Lexus, and suddenly the car stopped. Just…stopped…as if it had hit a brick wall, its airbag erupting.

The moment Quinn saw the driver move, and knew he was basically unharmed, she smiled, mentally.
Nice job, grandfather.

“I stopped the dragon. I will kill it.”

No, no, don’t kill it. It’s not a dragon, just a human driving a…horseless carriage. You stopped him and he’s uninjured. Let’s leave it at that.
They needed to get out of the street.
Do you see that building to the right? Walk over to it. Quickly.

“
But the dragon…”

Is disabled. It won’t hurt us. Move, grandfather.

Finally, he did, shuffling at the speed of a tortoise. Not bad for a male she now knew to have been over seven hundred years old when he died, although he
was
, technically, using her body. At least she thought he was. It was hard to tell exactly how they’d merged. All she knew for certain was that she was no longer in charge, and had been flooded with his memories from the moment she got here. He’d had surprising honor in his younger years, had loved deeply numerous times, and raised several families. But in his later years, he’d lost all patience with humans. And while that might be understandable, he’d used his abilities unconscionably.

A grumpy old man with infinite power was not a good thing, as it turned out.

Finally, he reached the curb and climbed it. Quinn breathed a small sigh of relief, though only a small one. She still had to get them back to Vamp City.

“Why do you call me grandfather?” he muttered.

Because that’s what you are, generations and generations back. I have the same ability to throw vampires against the wall as you have. And I’ve learned how to create bubbles in which to trap vampires and werewolves. Unfortunately, that’s about all I can do since, while my mother was one of your heirs, my father was of Levenach.

“That could never be,” he spat.

The feud between you died with you.
None of Levenach’s progeny were ever sorcerers, thanks to your curse. And your line has almost entirely died out. They’re calling me the last sorceress. And I may be that. But the Levenach curse is strangling most of the magic I inherited from you. I cannot be what I am meant to be, the Black Wizard’s heir, until that curse is lifted. And you’re the only one who can lift it.

He was silent for several minutes as he studied the houses lining the street and ran his hand along a black metal fence. “If I lift the curse, all those of Levenach’s blood will suddenly come into a magic they did not know they possessed. The world will be filled with wizards again,
Levenach
wizards.”

Hell. Was it possible he was right?

As she tried to come up with a counterargument, he continued down the sidewalk, seemingly fascinated by the porch lights and streetlights. When his gaze moved to the sky, she was half-afraid he was going to lose his balance and fall backward.

“Where are the stars?” he asked.

There are too many lights to see them.

“Then how will we find our way home?”

For a moment she felt sorry for him.
This is all a bit overwhelming to you, isn’t it?

“Overwhelming is an inadequate word. This is the world that will die?”

Not this one, no. The other one. The quiet, safe one. This is the real world now.

“A pity.”

A lot of people who live here would probably agree with you.

He turned the corner onto a side street.

Grandfather, where are you going? We need to stay close to where we came in. Let’s go back, shall we?
She might be able to find another sunbeam, but it could drop them anywhere in V.C.—in the middle of a contingent of Cristoff’s guards or a pack of hungry wolves who wouldn’t recognize her in the ancient male.
Grandfather, stop!

But the stubborn old male just continued to walk father and farther away from their safest path home, in his unsteady, shuffling gait.

Chapter 27

“A
x! We’re out of time. Unless you want to get stuck here for the day, we’ve got to go back.”

The sky was beginning to lighten in the east with approaching dawn, purple clouds smudging a lavender sky over the Washington, D.C. skyline. They’d reached the neighborhood on the east side of Rock Creek Park which he believed to be the location of Sakamoto’s castle in Vamp City, but though they’d been racing up one street and down another, they’d found no sign of the dangerous old man.