Page 11

VIOLET

T he following day, at six fifty-five a.m., I stood motionless at the top of the stairs by the Coven's entrance. The night had faded into a gray, cloudy day, dulling and washing out every color. The wind was an icy bite, but I welcomed it: it was the only thing keeping me awake.

“Can’t believe it” a voice said, cutting through the silence. “Weren’t you always late?”

I turned around. Caleb was walking out the double doors of the building, followed by the rest of Omicron Team. It was weird. He still looked the same as he had at thirteen—the long ponytail, the lanky figure, the heart-shaped dimple—and yet, at times, I struggled to recognize him. He'd grown much, much taller, his voice was deeper, his features had hardened into adult ones.

“Good morning to you too” I greeted him. “You keep forgetting I’m not thirteen anymore.”

As his teammates spread out onto the portico, he stopped right before me. “Weird. You sure look thirteen to me. Your tits still have a little bit of growing to do, don’t they?”

“Shut up” I blurted out, pushing him playfully. “We’re grown adults now. Commenting on my tits is highly inappropriate.”

He booed. “You got boring, Hardy. What happened to your snarky comebacks?”

“You, on the other hand, haven’t changed at all” I replied. One quick look at the time told me I still had two minutes before seven. Maybe I could ask him about Daisy? But even in my sleepy, confused state, I realized it would be impolite. I’d disappeared for years without a valid explanation; I had to apologize first.

“So...” I shut my mouth as soon as I realized I didn’t know what to say. Sorry I ghosted you for twelve years, it was an accident? I got mad at you without a valid reason and I decided to cut you out of my life? Lame. “About that hot chocolate” I finally said. “Are you still up for it? There’s a few things I’d like to talk about.”

His mouth curled into a grin. “Are your guard dogs fine with it?”

“Why wouldn’t my Team be okay with it?” It came out a little more aggressive than I’d wanted it to, so I tried again. “Of course they are. Yesterday I was just busy.”

He nodded slowly, that same, knowing smile still on his lips. “Whatever you say, Viv. Whatever makes you sleep at night.”

I didn’t like the tone he’d used, but I didn’t get a chance to say anything else: my boys chose that precise moment to walk out of the Coven, their gazes immediately locking onto me… and my companion, too.

"Morning" Kenji said, sending an icy glare my way. "We'll take two cars and head northwest. You should already know the details of the mission; there is no use in repeating them now. Omicron Team will observe but not intervene, no matter the circumstances. Clear?"

A chorus of ‘yes’ echoed through the quiet morning.

“I have a question” Caleb announced, the moment Kenji nodded and walked past him in big steps. “Wouldn’t it be easier— and quicker—to just… teleport there? Moriarty’s great at it. I mean, we’re warlocks, not pilots.”

Nicholas snorted, the chains hanging from his jeans clinking loudly. “Let’s announce ourselves with megaphones, while we’re at it. How about some fucking neon signs? And a parade?”

"What Nicholas means is that vampires do, unfortunately, perceive magic's use" Quinn chimed in, taking a step forward to rest an arm on Nicholas's shoulders. "Teleporting there would mean sacrificing the element of surprise in favor of some short-lived comfort."

“We’re taking the cars” Kenji concluded. “Keep up with us. We aren’t waiting.”

As we made our way down the stairs, Caleb appeared by my side. “Want to come with us? I’ve got a van. We can catch up on the way there.”

“She can’t” was Nicholas’s answer, delivered so fast I didn’t even have time to process the question. “Teams have to stick together. It’s a rule.”

And since when did he follow the rules? Also, I’d never heard of it, so I had every reason to think he’d made it up on the spot. Liar. What was his problem? I would’ve said no, but why was he refusing on my behalf?

“Hot chocolate it is” he replied, winking at me. “Later, Viv.”

The car ride was painfully quiet. I tried starting a conversation here and there, but obtained nothing apart from cold, monosyllabic answers, a few half-hearted jokes, and absolute silence.

By the time trees were the only thing visible through the windows, and the familiar sights of Ravenfalls were long behind us, I had finally gathered enough courage to ask one simple yet difficult question.

“Are you guys mad at me?”

Their reactions were immediate: Quinn looked up from his novel—or so I guessed, since it was in Korean; Kenji met my gaze through the rearview mirror; Nicholas straight up turned to stare at me, an offended look on his sharp face.

“Why would you say such a thing, love?”

I shrugged. “You’re acting weird.”

While Nicholas grumbled something under his breath, Quinn patted my head as if I were a dog, his free hand busy reopening the book. “We aren’t mad at you. Merely focused, that’s all.”

“But…” But something was different. It was like they weren’t paying any attention to me, like they didn’t really care, and they hadn’t acted that way even when we’d first met. What had changed? I didn’t want to look whiny or paranoid, though, so I kept quiet, trying to convince myself everything was normal. “Okay, then” I murmured. “How long until we get there?”

???

There actually wasn’t a there : we drove to the last place where the vampire had attacked, the farm, in hopes he’d still be around.

“They’re territorial” Kenji explained, as he pulled a metal bucket out of the trunk. “Even deranged ones.”

Another bucket sat in there, so I went to grab it from the handle, only for it to drag me down to the gravel. It was heavy.

“Crap.”

Kenji lifted the bucket like it was nothing, stacking it on top of the other, and glowered at me like I was guilty of aggravated murder. “What were you thinking?”

“Why do you keep trying to hurt yourself?” Nicholas grumbled, as he helped me up and dusted the gravel off my pants. “Is it a new hobby of yours?”

“It looked light” I complained, rubbing my sore butt. “I wanted to help.”

Quinn appeared behind me, hands magically finding the right spot in my lower back to massage. I almost let out a moan. “How so very kind of you” he said in my ear. “You wanted to do a nice gesture, didn’t you?”

“Replace kind with stupid and we’re good to go.”

“New rule” Kenji said, after closing the trunk. “No lifting allowed when you’re with us.”

“You and your made-up rules” I scoffed, though Quinn’s skilled fingers made me want to produce vastly different sounds. “So you still care a little bit” I uttered, my voice so low even I had trouble hearing it. “Good to know.”

Before anyone could investigate my unintelligible mumbles, Caleb’s blue van pulled over right behind us, on the edge of the road, and Omicron Team joined us in a buzz of excitement.

“So, how are we drawing them out?” Marissa asked, a barely contained smile making her lips twitch.

“And what about the capture?” Spencer followed, practically bouncing up and down on his toes. “How do we contain them and take them back to the Coven? Is there a specific technique?”

Moriarty’s question was more practical: “What if we get bitten?”

"What if things go south and you need our help?" was Caleb's contribution. "Are we allowed to intervene in that case?"

“First off—blood.” Quinn’s fingers brushed the lid of the bucket that had taken me down minutes earlier. “No easier way to lure a feral vampire out, I fear.”

I suppressed a shudder. That’s what was in the buckets? Blood? And coming from where, exactly?

"I'd say there's no point explaining the plan since you'll see it in action" Nicholas chimed in. "I swear, if I hear another stupid question, I'll combust" he added in a hiss.

“And we won’t need help.” Kenji’s words sounded final. “Stay back and observe. Most importantly,” he gave all of them a long, indecipherable look, “don’t get bitten.”

Useful. Incredible words of wisdom, really.

We took the dirt path that cut through woods so thick the milky, sickly morning light seeped through in lines so thin they blurred with the foliage, casting a hazy veil all around us. Birds chirped and bugs buzzed and the wind made the leaves rustle, but other than that, silence reigned.

At the back of the group, Quinn was busy leaving a trail of blood at the edge of the path, tilting the bucket just enough for a red, clumpy trickle to pour onto the dirt. When he realized I was staring, he proceeded to wink and send a flying kiss my way.

We walked until both buckets were empty, stopping in a clearing covered in dead, damp leaves that squelched under my shoes.

“Now what?” Spencer asked. He looked so enthusiastic—they all did, truthfully. “Do we just wait?”

Kenji clicked his tongue. “In silence, possibly.”

And so, we did. We waited, waited, and waited some more, the time stretching and dilating so much it lost meaning. The light changed as the sun, though hidden by thickening clouds, rose to the top of the sky. The air warmed up enough for me to stop seeing my breath. Still, the vampire was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he sensed us?" I suggested, shifting my weight from foot to foot. "And that's why he isn't coming out?"

Quinn, leaning against a tree trunk and shuffling his usual deck of cards, shook his head. “Vampires only perceive magic when it’s actually being used. They aren’t the most receptive, I’ll admit.”

I looked past Moriarty and Caleb, who were sitting on the ground, and took in the trace of blood that had already been absorbed by the dirt. "Where does the blood come from?"

“Potions’ class scraps” Kenji replied. “Why?”

“Maybe it’s not… appetizing?” I nodded toward the dark trail of blood leading to the clearing. “Wouldn’t it be like rotten food to us?”

My question was followed by a moment of silence. Then, finally, Nicholas hopped off the low branch he’d perched onto with a grunt. “They ain’t exactly picky. They drain dead animals.”

I ignored the wave of nausea that his revelation brought along, trying to figure out what we were missing. The territorial nature made a change of location highly unlikely, and apparently, rotten blood wasn't the problem… "Maybe he doesn't like the type?" I suggested, though uncertainly, because it sounded ridiculous to my own ears. I knew they were far more experienced than I was, but the stillness and the waiting was killing me, wearing down my nerves.

“How about—”

“No.” Kenji cut Spencer off, not even letting him finish the sentence. “Observing only. I know what the problem is” he went on, turning toward us. “It’s not only about the blood. Vampires are natural hunters.”

"Meaning a trail of cold blood that doesn't lead to a catchable prey isn't enticing" Quinn suggested. "I thought since he'd gone feral… but it turned out quite the opposite" he concluded, as if he was talking to himself.

“We thought wrong.” A muscle in Kenji’s jaw twitched. “New plan. Nicholas, your pocketknife.”

I straightened up, eyes widening. “Shouldn’t we discuss this first?”

He spared me a quick glance. “I’d like to be home before sunset. So, no.”

“Think about it” I insisted, walking up to him. “You can’t be bait. You have to neutralize him and summon a portal to the Coven, and you can’t if you’re busy trying to escape.”

He looked at me without a word for a hot minute before inhaling sharply. “I can manage.”

"I'm sure, but why make things more difficult?" I insisted. "I could do it. And before you say anything," I added, when the three of them opened their mouths at the same time, probably to tell me to shut the hell up, "it's the smartest move. I have no role other than enhancing your magic. Quinn could… I think he could create an illusion of me to confuse the vampire." I looked at him quizzically. "While keeping the real me invisible, along with Omicron Team?"

“It’s not about what I could and couldn’t do” he replied, moving closer with his slow gait. “Because I could, undoubtedly so, but I won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because then you’d be bait” Nicholas barked. “And if you think we’ll let you do that, you’re out of your fucking mind.”

A mix of emotions churned in the depths of my stomach. Frustration, annoyance, exhaustion… among them, though, I felt something else. Something warm I recognized as relief: they still cared for me, after all.

“Please” I said after taking a deep breath. “It’s the easiest way, you know it. Besides… you said it yesterday.” I wet my lips. “As part of this Team, I have responsibilities. I don’t want to hide away anymore.”

“No. No, absolutely not, I’m not con—”

Kenji silenced Nicholas's rambling with a stiff gesture of his hand, his unblinking eyes locked on me. Above us, thunder rumbled menacingly. "We aren't using you as bait."

His words may have sounded final, but something in his gaze told me my battle wasn’t useless: a light of awareness, of understanding, that for some reason also looked vaguely pained.

"I'm not trying to put myself in danger, okay?" I assured him, before turning in Nicholas's direction. "Okay? That's not what I'm trying to do. But the plan is solid, and your roles are essential for the success of the mission. I don't have anything to do besides playing your echo chamber." I looked at Quinn, who, for his part, was trying hard to suppress a smile. A spark of hope bloomed in my chest. "You're the most reasonable. Kind of. Can you tell them this is the best way to catch the vampire?"

“Oh, but they know” he responded, finally letting his grin stretch his mouth freely. “They’re aware, love. We’re simply unwilling to put you in danger.”

“I won’t be in danger” I assured them. “I’ll stay back. The illusion will make the vampire think I’m somewhere else, that—”

“He’ll still smell you” Nicholas interrupted me. His words were accompanied by another thunder, low and scary like the growl of a beast. “Then what?”

I stood my ground. “By then, you’ll have already neutralized him.” I bit my lower lip, eyes jumping from one to another. “Please. I want to feel essential, too.”

There was a long moment of silence. My boys looked at each other, taking part in a quiet conversation I hadn’t been invited to, making me want to throw out of the window the self-imposed veto on using telepathy on them. There was nothing I craved more than knowing what was going on inside their heads.

When they finally turned toward me, I was about to explode from impatience and curiosity. “So? Is it a yes?”

“Rules to keep in mind” Kenji said, the warning edge in his tone making me stand up straighter. “Don’t move. Don’t intervene. Listen to us.”

I couldn’t help it: I squealed and did a little jump, before immediately composing myself. I didn’t want them to regret their decision. “Deal.”

“I’m being serious, Violet” he insisted, his tone a bit grim. “Don’t move…”

“…don’t intervene, and listen to you” I finished the sentence for him. “I got it. I swear.”

Nicholas pushed me back a few steps, to the edge of the clearing, and stared at me with such intensity I feared I might spontaneously combust. The icy blue of his eyes was filled to the brim with anger, but also something that reminded me of frantic desperation. He took a deep breath through enlarged nostrils and licked his chapped, pale lips. "I swear to God, Princess, if something happens to you…"

“It won’t, I promise.”

“You better be right” he mumbled, as he fished his knife from a pocket of his cargo pants. “Hand.”

“I can do it myself if—”

“Hand” he interrupted me, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Now. You’d nick a damn artery.”

I did as asked, extending my right hand with the palm up. Nicholas took it with surprising gentleness, hooking my thumb with his to keep me steady. “It will hurt” he warned me, as the tip of the knife inched closer.

“I figured.”

He shot me an exasperated look, his eyebrow piercing glinting in the weak light, then sliced my palm open. The cut was superficial, yet blood oozed from it as if it were a lethal wound.

“I’m sorry.” He said it in a voice so low I almost missed it, but the tremble was far too evident not to notice. He had the contrite expression of someone who wanted to tear their own hands off. “Don’t even think about touching anything” he barked, cleaning the blood off the knife with his white shirt. “Stay here and don’t move a muscle, Princess. I’m being dead serious.”

He looked like he was forcing himself to walk away, joining the others with a raging, relentless march that made me fear for whoever was about to emerge from the woods.

“Quinn” Kenji called, eyes scanning the trees. “Proceed.”

“Isn’t it too early?” he replied. “He could sense the magic and—”

“Proceed. He’ll be too focused on the blood to care.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I want her hidden now.”

Quinn didn't have to say anything else: with one look in my direction, he tapped into his magic, drawing mine like a moth to a flame. I forced my own powers to back off, letting the Nucleus emerge and vacuum Quinn's magic. I inhaled deeply. It was like being filled with sunshine, by a wave of joy in its purest form, by a lightness that made me believe I could levitate. Something was missing, though; I was painfully aware of Nicholas and Kenji's magic, buzzing right at the edges of my consciousness, but I didn't let them in. It wasn't their time yet. I took a long moment to enjoy the effervescent, popping nature of Quinn's magic, to savor the evanescent quality of his illusions, then I let the power resonate through me. I felt it course in my veins, ignite my nerve endings, twist my stomach in knots. It became part of me—Quinn became part of me. It made me feel so alive that, for a long moment, I forgot where we were and what we were doing.

Reality hit me hard a moment later. Something was moving in the woods. And according to the way my boys had tensed up, it wasn't an animal. I looked around. All was good: Omicron Team in its entirety was invisible, the intangible blanket covering them a solid, known presence in the back of my head; I was invisible as well: a perfect replica of me stood several feet away, bleeding hand up to her chest. I knew it was an illusion because I felt the strings of light and shadow Quinn was using to mold it, but it looked strikingly real. If I weren't so scared of the vampire, I'd be creeped out by that perfect double of myself.

“He’s coming. Thirty feet. Three o’clock.”

I looked up, and there he was. He stumbled out of a thick patch of trees, unsteady on his feet. Splatters of dried-up blood on his torn white shirt were the only detail that gave him away: otherwise, he could have passed for a very drunk mortal. He sniffed the air, a low growl echoing in the silence, and then flashed fangs sharper than a shark's. Yeah, maybe he didn't look so human, after all.

His watery, glazed eyes roamed around the clearing. A deep growl made the ground vibrate when he saw the illusion.

A few more steps were all we needed. A few more steps and he'd be in the middle of the glade, exposed to the sun Nicholas was about to summon.

He stopped, though. He stopped to sniff the air again, a moment of absolute stillness followed… then he charged full speed at Nicholas.

No. No no no.

With devastating clarity, I saw him wipe the knife on his t-shirt to clean it; I saw the blood streaking two long, angry red stripes on the white fabric. I was the bleeding one, but it didn't matter, because Nicholas was far closer to the vampire than I was.

He quickly backed off—too quickly: he somehow tripped and fell on the ground, his boots digging in the dirt to try and push himself back. It was useless: the vampire was onto him in less than a second.

I forgot everything I’d been told. When I saw him grabbing Nicholas by the collar to sniff his neck, every rule, warning, and ban evaporated, making space for a rage hot enough to make my blood boil.

“No!”

A surge of energy fought its way out of me, scorching hot, overpowering, demanding release from my control.

I didn’t try to stop it.

I just aimed.

The energy field took down everything on its path. It propelled the vampire back, sending him flying several feet into the woods. It burned a big patch of grass. It made a tree explode, pieces of bark shooting in every direction.

I walked through chaos, no thoughts in my head—just the urge to stop him from hurting what was mine. Once and for all.

My vision started getting blurry halfway there. Energy poured out of me like water from a pierced balloon, quickly, inexorably, forcing me to slow down. Was the ground turning mushy? And why were the trees deflating before my eyes? The vampire, too, looked weird: tall, so tall and looming, like he'd suddenly grown several feet. His face was a distorted mask of emotions I couldn't really name. Wait a second, why could I see his face?

A spark of clarity came back at me at the worst possible time: the vampire was about to make me his next meal. He'd stood up, apparently unaware of the unnatural angle of his left arm, and was dragging himself to me, fangs out and a vicious snarl resonating from the depths of his chest. His intentions were painfully clear.

Despite knowing it was pointless, I called to my magic. A few moments earlier it had been so easy, so natural to let my powers detonate at the top of their intensity, now I barely felt a sputter of electricity that died down in a second. Of course. Defending myself still wasn't in the cards, apparently.

I needed to get away. My arms buckled the second I tried to drag myself back, too weak to support my weight. A wave of panic trampled me as I realized the vampire was close—four, five more steps and he'd reach me.

I felt a scream start to form at the base of my throat. An instant later, Quinn dropped from a tree branch and landed behind the vampire. He grabbed him by the head, and with a look of lethal determination on his face, snapped his neck with a sickening crack. The vampire’s body went limp and collapsed onto the ground, lifeless eyes staring at me through dirty strands of hair.

“You’re fine” Quinn said, not a question but rather a firm statement, as he made his way to me. “You’re fine.”

Less than a second later, I was in his arms, his tight embrace preventing me from shaking. “Is he…” I peeked at the still body a few feet away, over Quinn’s arm. I could still hear the crack. “Is he dead?”

“No” a voice behind me answered. “We’d have to burn his heart.”

“He looks dead” I pointed out in a shaky whisper.

Kenji appeared in my field of view, hiding the non-corpse from my sight. “He’ll be up in a couple of hours.” There was a long moment of silence before he spoke again. “What was that?”

I swallowed. I knew what he meant, but it was easier to pretend I didn’t. At least for a second. “What are you talking about?”

I gave him the quickest look. Under the shiny, fluffy strands of black hair, his face seemed sculpted in marble, hard and sharp and cold. Only his trembling fists betrayed his collected facade. “We agreed. You agreed, Violet.”

“I know” I muttered, voice still unsteady. “He attacked Nicholas. He wasn’t supposed to attack Nicholas and—Wait.” I straightened my shoulders and took a step back, hands still gripping Quinn’s arms tightly as if seeking a semblance of stability that eluded me. “Is he okay?” I managed to ask. “Is he—”

“The fuck were you thinking?” his voice roared. “One thing! One thing was all you had to do. Stay exactly as you were.” His hands grasped my shoulders and forced me to turn. He had wide, reddened eyes, and his breath was labored, like he’d just finished running a marathon. “You’d made a fucking promise.”

I had the urge to shrink and disappear to weasel out of his anger, but I held my head high instead. That probably cost me more energy than generating that massive power detonation earlier. "You wiped the bloody knife on your t-shirt" I reminded him, nodding toward the stains. "The plan didn't work out. He was attacking you, and I… I couldn't stand and watch. I just couldn't. I won't apologize for saving your life."

“All you did was endanger yourself!”

“He was onto you, he—”

“He was exactly where I needed him to be” he cut me off, letting my shoulders go to take a step back, like he couldn’t stand being in my proximity a second longer. “All you had to do was follow a single rule, and everything would’ve unfolded the way we’d planned. But no, no!” He pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. A moment later, he lifted his head and closed the distance between us, making me bend my neck to examine it. “Are you hurt?”

I didn’t answer: I was too busy replaying his words in my head in a loop. He was exactly where I needed him to be. Everything would’ve unfolded the way we’d planned. That wasn’t the plan, though. I’d stepped in because things weren’t going out as they were supposed to.

Nicholas tried to unzip my hoodie, but I took a step back before he succeeded. “Did you do it on purpose?” I asked, backtracking until I had a nice view of the three of them. “The blood. Did you wipe it with your shirt on purpose?”

He clenched his jaw. “Not the point. You—”

“Did you?”

His silence was a clear answer. I was weak at the knees. This time, my draining magic had nothing to do with it. My eyes darted to Kenji and Quinn. “Were you in on it, too? Did you all lie to me?”

"I wouldn't call it a lie, love" Quinn tried, raising his hands as he took a careful step toward me. "It was a last-minute attempt to keep you safe and happy to help."

“A lie, precisely” I blurted out, the words getting caught in my throat. “You made me think I was contributing while you did all the work. Why? The plan was perfect and—”

"Far from it" Kenji chimed in, cutting me off. "And you know it."

“What I know is that it was a great plan” I replied, trembling with rage. “If you had stuck to it—”

“We would’ve lost you!” Nicholas shouted. “The plan would have been perfect if your powers actually worked the way they are supposed to, but they don’t. They don’t, Violet, and we’d rather lie to you than collect your corpse.” He rubbed his mouth with a hand, shaking his head, then he nodded to the limp body on the ground. “That thing was feral. Unpredictable. Meaning there was a chance we wouldn’t have been able to protect you.”

I had so much to say—Nicholas’s outburst erased it all. All I felt now was a bitter emptiness spreading fast as lightning. I hoped it swallowed me whole. I’d never felt more useless and pathetic than that. Because he was right, of course, but I couldn’t believe they thought I was dead weight.

Well, I should’ve known.

I nodded with a small smile, taking a few steps back. “I get it. I trust you can finish here without me, right?”

“Violet, don’t.”

“Nicki didn’t mean it that way, love. Please. Let’s discuss this.”

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

I walked away without turning back. Quinn’s illusion had faded, so Omicron Team was visible again—and they were staring as if they’d never seen something so entertaining in their lives. “Hey” I said, stopping right before Caleb. I was about to cry, but tried to smile, nonetheless. “Is it okay if I come back with you guys?”

He glanced past my shoulder for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, of course.”