The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (23 page)

"So mote it be." I whispered to myself,
letting Justin's voice penetrate my thoughts.

Taryn glanced from me to Justin and
smiled. "Hail to the spirits of the West, element of Water, be with
us tonight. Please, accept our open arms and bear witness to the
magic we release tonight. Bring to us, your, happiness, emotions
and your friendship. Help us to complete this working. So, mote it
be."

We all turned and looked at the fire
before us, and I closed my eyes, letting the light of the moon just
wash over me. When I opened my eyes, the three of them were looking
at me. I smiled and looked up at the sky, my arms wide open, and I
focused on the moon.

"With open eyes and open arms, I look
upon the heavens and ask, If things are wrong, please make them
right. End these nightmares; stop the fright. I beg and plead, on
this full moon night, to rid the evil that resides, within the
darkness of my mind." I stopped, and looked at the fire, as it
suddenly turned black. This wasn't right; this wasn't supposed to
be happening. Something was wrong, very, very wrong.

Suddenly, as if it were a rush of the
wind, I was knocked over and out of the circle. Justin turned to
look at me, as I lay half-sprawled out on the sand. He wanted to
move, I could see it in his face, but he looked down at is shoes,
trying to move his feet. It was as if they were rooted to the
ground. The two girls yelled, but all I could see was the black
fire and the sudden blackness that jumped out from it. He stood
above me, as if by magic, the man from my dreams.

He smiled down at me, then, bending his
knees, he came closer and smiled at me. "You can't get rid of me,
child. I am eternal."

I listened to him, then gathered all my
strength and scurried backwards, away from him. He laughed, got up,
and followed me. The nearer he got, the faster I moved. I closed my
eyes and began to envision the blue wall around me, protecting me,
and with a burst of power that I hadn't felt since I first met
Justin, I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by the
protective blue light. The man backed away, but he continued to
smile at me.

"You little magic tricks won't protect
you forever, my dear. I'm out, thanks to you, and your little
friends, and all hell is about to break loose." He
smiled.

"You weren't supposed to come out; you
were supposed to go away!" I said sternly, but my voice seemed to
choke. He laughed aloud and then shook his head.

"Silly girl, you must have read the
spell wrong." He mocked.

I couldn't figure out what was going
on. He reached out and touched the blue wall and I watched, in
horror, as it slowly faded. He grabbed my arm as I tried to shield
my face, and brought me closer to him. I looked into his dead black
eyes and noticed the power there. He smiled wider and wrapped his
arms around me.

I watched, as he drew me closer, as the
fangs began to grow, and with one quick motion, his fangs were at
my neck. I struggled with him as I felt them penetrate my skin. I
pushed, screamed and pulled at his hair, but he didn't let go until
I heard a voice, very authoritative, who yelled his
name.

"VICTOR!" He yelled, and this made
Victor look up, breaking his hold on me. I listened to the deep
throated laugh that came from the man who held me, and then he
dropped me, letting me fall to the ground. I looked up at David, as
he stood there, in all his brilliance, with a wooden stake in his
hand. "Get away from her!"

"David, my dear friend." Victor smiled
at him. I tried to move, but I was weak from the blood loss. The
world around me was fading and all I saw was darkness.

Chapter
12

David watched as Sage's eyes slowly
closed, as she looked weakly up at him, and the dark puddle of
blood, near her neck, grew. His heart started to beat, wildly,
thinking about the death of another friend and his eyes turned red
with anger. He looked towards Victor, who glanced at Sage, then
back at David.

"What are you going to do, David? There
isn't enough time. Kill me, or save her." He laughed and moved
closer to him, and when he was only a foot away; he spoke, in a
low, quiet voice. "It's her or me, David. Who are you going to
chose?"

"I'm going to send you back to the hell
you escaped from." David snarled. Victor laughed, and clapped his
hands together.

"So, you made your choice? Kill me, and
let your precious girl die?" He smiled, and then it faded a bit.
"Know this one small detail, before you let her go. Choosing wrong
will result in not only her life lost, but also the life of her
unborn child."

David stopped, as he raised the stake
to go after him, and looked at Sage. He knew it. He had felt it in
the library, earlier that day. She had been alive with power, a
kind she didn't have when he first met her. He looked at Victor,
again, and then walked up to him.

"The next time we meet, you better be
prepared to die." David threatened. Victor's smile
returned.

"You can't kill me, you silly boy. I'm
already dead." He laughed, then, slowly, faded away. David looked
through the transparent Victor, then walked passed him to
Sage.

David knelt by her, and closed his
eyes, as he reached down and touched her neck, feeling for a pulse.
He sighed as he felt the rhythmic beating in her veins, but then he
looked at her neck, and saw that the two holes that Victor had left
were slowly healing. He looked over at the other three.

"Justin!" He hollered. "Uproot your
feet and get your ass over here."

Justin struggled with his roots, then,
as if commanded, it let him go, making him stumble to regain his
balance. He walked over and knelt by Sage, looking up at
David.

"You need to give her blood." David
whispered. Justin shook his head. "She's lost a lot, Justin. She's
going to die."

"I can't, I promised Michael that I
wouldn't do an exchange with her." He sighed.

"Listen, I don't think you understand
the magnitude of this." David assured him. "This isn't just her
life we're dealing with."

"What does that mean?" Justin asked.
David looked at him, shocked to see that the young man had no clue
about the condition his girlfriend was in. Justin, seeing the
strange look on David's face; looked down at Sage. "Tell me, what
you know about her."

"She's pregnant, Justin." David
whispered, and then looked up at Taryn and Bobbie, who were just
coming over from the fire. He looked back down at Justin. "Look, I
don't think she knows yet, or I'm sure she would have told you,
which means that the girls don't know yet."

"Wait, how do you know?" Justin asked,
suddenly.

"Victor just told me, but after he did,
I thought about it, and she's different. Her presence is stronger;
her power is, too. Don't you feel it?" David asked. Justin sighed;
he had felt it, but it never occurred to him that pregnancy would
be the problem, or the cause. "Do it, Justin. The child is yours,
it won't harm it any to have your blood."

"How can I be sure it's mine? Vampires
can't have children." Justin sighed, suddenly, doubting.

"Julian told us what happened that
night, when he brought Sage to meet his friend. Didn't she tell you
what Caitlyn said about the Kingdom of the Nine? A vampire child. I
was sitting right there when she told you." David insisted. Justin
shook his head, closed his eyes and thought back to that
night.

He had been sitting in the chair, in
the second floor family room, when David had come in to get a book
and Sage followed, telling them both about the incredible story of
the nine young men. He opened his eyes and looked down at
Sage.

"Do it, Justin." David said and took
him by the wrist. "Your blood won't hurt her or the
baby."

"What about Michael?"

"What about him?" David replied. "I
think he'd rather see her alive than dead, Justin."

"Is she all right?" Taryn asked. David
looked up at her, and then at Justin, who rolled up his
sleeve.

"She will be." David replied. Justin
used one of his fingernails to make a small cut on his forearm. He
then took one hand and slipped it under her neck, then placed his
bleeding wound close to her mouth. David leaned down close to her
ear. "Sage, come on, baby. You have to do this."

Justin closed his eyes, as he felt her
tongue touching his flesh, and she began to take from him, but, as
if knowing her limits, she pushed him away. David watched as Justin
pulled her close and her eyes opened. She looked quickly at David,
then at the two girls, and back at Justin.

"I let Victor out." She whispered,
almost inaudible

"It is okay, Sage." Justin whispered,
and kissed her forehead. "He would have gotten out one way or
another."

"But, the circle is broken." She
whispered again. David giggled, and she reached back and grabbed
his hand. "It's important that the quarters are released and the
circle is taken down."

"We know, Sage." Bobbie said, softly.
"It will be down; just let the boys bring you back to the house."
She looked at Justin and David, then at Sage. "Let them take care
of you."

"Okay." Sage whispered. Justin picked
her up and then three of them walked back to the house.

* * * * *

I sat by the window, looking out at the
bomb fire that still burned on the beach, then, as I sighed, I
looked at Justin, who sat on the bed, then at David, who stood by
the door.

"How did I screw up?" I asked them then
shook my head. "I thought I did everything right."

"There's some sort of logical
explanation for this." David sighed. A wave of nausea suddenly,
came over me, and I closed my eyes. "Sage?" I put my hand up, and
then sighed. "What is it?"

"Maybe it's just the blood Justin gave
me, or the fact that it's about three in the morning, and I'm
tired." I replied.

"Maybe you should go to sleep." Justin
said, softly, walking over to me. I nodded, then got up and walked
over to the bed, passing the dresser on the way by. I stopped, when
I saw the spell book on dresser and looked down at its open page,
the one I had taken the spell from. I looked at the title of the
spell, For Stopping Nightmares, and then watched in horror as it
changed right before my eyes: For Releasing Nightmares. "Sage,
what's wrong."

"He did it." I said, swallowing hard,
and then I grabbed the book and looked at Justin. "He switched the
spell. Look!" Both David and Justin walked over and looked at the
book in my hand. I shook my head. "The son of a bitch let himself
out."

"You couldn't have known." David
sighed. "But, I think we should tell Michael and Julian." He looked
at the two of us, then at me. "No, wait. You go to bed; Justin and
I will explain this to them."

"I don't know if I can sleep." I
sighed. Justin ushered me into bed and then looked me in the eyes.
I could hear his voice in my mind as he stared me down. I let him
do it, put me to sleep, and I welcomed it.

* * * * *

David looked at Justin, who in turn
looked at the room full of men, then back at him. Justin shrugged,
and then looked at Michael.

"Victor's out." He said bluntly. The
two of them listened to the how and whys of the others, then Justin
put up his hand. "Listen, relax, and we'll tell you what
happened."

They quieted down and listened as
Justin explained the spell he had found, and the circle they had
cast out on the beach, then how Victor had come out of the fire,
and Sage was knocked from the circle. Justin explained how he was
trapped in the spot where he stood, and he couldn't get loose to
stop him from biting her, which made Michael jump up, and Quinn and
Cristian's eyes become angry.

Justin told them about how David made
him let go of her, and faced him, choosing to help Sage rather than
fight with him right then. Victor leaving the circle seemed to
break the hold on him and he was able to go over and help her.
Justin looked at David, who shrugged at him, letting him know that
it was his call to tell them about the baby. Justin looked back at
the others, then only at Michael.

"She was going to die, she had lost a
lot of blood, and at the time there seemed to be only one thing to
do." He said and sighed, as he put his hands on his hips. "I'm
sorry Michael. I broke my promise to you."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked. He
watched Justin look down, shake his head, and then he rolled up his
sleeve, showing the faint, quickly fading scare on his forearm.
Michael looked at it, then at Justin's eyes, which pleaded for
forgiveness, and he left the room.

"You didn't." Julian asked. Justin
nodded and looked over at him.

"It was the only way to save her." He
whispered. "I had to, I had no other choice."

"There's always another way." Cristian
replied. Justin looked at him, then, as his eyes darkened again, he
shook his head.

"I saved her life." He replied, in an
angry voice. "I did what I had to do, and I have my reasons for
doing them. If you can't understand that, than I am
sorry."