Fighting Destiny (Central Coven) (29 page)

I opened my mouth to whisper Grey’s name to tell him that I needed him to return, but the increased adrenaline pumping into my system made my heart begin to race, and without saying a word Grey reappeared instantly by my side. 

“Who is your lovely friend Chloë?” Alexander asked, while staring hypnotically at Cynthia.  She, however, was too drunk to be taken in.  “We are not friends. I mean come on! Can you really see me hanging around with this freak?” Cynthia exclaimed.  Alexander laughed darkly, “Too bad. I had hoped to become acquainted with a friend of Chloë’s tonight. I suppose you are lucky then.” “Oh, God, whatever!  Are all your friends freaks like you Chloë?” Cynthia slurred.

She turned to Alexander, oblivious to the danger she was in and continued, “Then you should meet Anita. That is the only friend this loser has.”  “Ah, yes, lovely Anita. She and I have already met, but thank you for the suggestion,” Alexander purred.  “Whatever, this conversation stopped being interesting long ago. God!  This party is so lame, now that they are letting
anyone
in,” Cynthia said. She walked away, no longer absorbed in a conversation that was so focused on anyone but her. Besides, it was obvious she thought Alexander was the creepy kind of weird.  Maybe she’s not as stupid as I assumed.

I
really
wanted to send Alexander flying with a jolt of magic, but we were in a crowded room.  Thankfully Grey maneuvered through the crowd, and pulled me away from Alexander. Grey was more frightening in the costume I conjured. Much more than Alexander’s favorite character, himself.  Both of them were showing their fangs in full view of the public. Not that anyone believed they were real. 

“We never get a chance to sit and catch up old friend,” Alexander said to Grey, with false sincerity.  “Cut the crap Alexander, what are you up to?  You can’t fight us here, unless you
want
to risk exposure,” I pointed out.  “Sweet naïve Chloë. I think I am beyond
risking
exposure here.  You should give in and join me. I have a special place for you.  An extraordinary friend of mine set it up. You might actually like it there, since you seem partial to the company of vampires.”

I sent a small charge down to my fingertips. I was about to give Alexander a taser like shock, when I heard someone scream from the lawn behind the apartment complex.  My eyes locked with Grey’s. I noticed Alexander’s smirk out of my peripheral vision, and then like smoke, he vanished. 

Several things happened at once. For a split second a deafening silence fell over the entire party, both outside and in.  Then a riotous roar of fear came from everyone in the back as they desperately tried to escape.  Bodies began bashing into each other as they attempted to flee.  Standing still in the chaos, I saw Alexander’s “extraordinary” friend. Her red hair blew casually in the October night air.  It was Simone.

I quickly saw Finn and Dean follow the crowd out the front door. They were trying to lead them to safety, and keep track of them at the same time.  Anita, Grey and I pushed our way out the back to confront Simone and Alexander. 

Next to Simone was one of the few remaining enchanted vampires, at his feet laid an exchange student.  I noticed her on the mall in the throng of slutty nurses and fairytale characters.  I heard her speaking to a small crowd of male admirers.  Her accent was delicate and musical.  She was tall, thin, blonde, and looked like she came from Finland or Sweden.  She could have stepped out of any male’s fantasy.  Now she looked more like a character from a slasher flick.

Her hair was glued to her neck with rust brown colored blood that was still oozing from two puncture wounds on her throat.  Her eyes were opened wide in horror. She looked like she wanted to scream, but had forgotten how. Great, not only was magic exposed on campus, but now we also had an international incident.  Simone needed to die painfully. If only that were possible. 

“Hello Chloë. I brought you a present,” Simone said, with a smug smile plastered on her over-confident face. The vampire next to her kicked the girl.  “What nothing for me?” she pouted, feigning hurt feelings.

“Oh, how rude of me. Let me fix that,” I retorted. I conjured balls of energy with more power than I ever created before.  Then, I released both of them into her center. My intention was to cause intense pain and lasting injury.  If I couldn’t kill her, I would make her wish I could.  “Here you go,” I grunted.  She gasped loudly, and fell to the ground.  

Alexander began to pick up the girl, but I wagged my finger at him and revealed another swirling ball of energy in my other hand.  I was ready to hit him if he took her.  “Leave the girl,” I ordered.  I was glad he didn’t comply fast enough, because I was itching to hurt something. 

The
Council
has numerous rules on the level of retaliation we are allowed to use against other supernaturals.  I was skirting the line, but I didn’t care. Alexander and Simone were sadists that reveled in the suffering of others. They needed to be stopped, so I threw the energy ball at him.  “I am so happy that your group is filled with such slow learners,” I said grinning. 

“Are you sure she is one of you?  She seems somewhat sadistic to me,” Alexander asked Grey as he stumbled to his feet.  Grey laughed, “Keep testing her, she appears to be enjoying herself at the moment.  However, if I were you I would take the wounded witch and leave while it’s still possible.  A few less witnesses and she might just decide to kill you.” 

“But you are just a child,” Simone murmured weakly.  I laughed humorlessly. “Look where that belief got you tonight. I’m over this discussion, I think you should just continue it with my mother.” I started to dial my cell phone. Alexander immediately held up his hand. “We will leave.”  “Do so.  Don’t come back. I hear Marguerite has a chamber especially set aside for unwelcome guests.  Rather unpleasant from what I understand, but fitting for your behavior,” Grey stated.

“Will they go?” I asked Grey, watching the party descend into madness.  “No, Alexander never backs away from a challenge.  I don’t know Simone, but they have brought this too far now.  They cannot run. Their only option is to fight or face the
Council
’s judgment.”  Dammit, he was right, and I knew it.  They won’t stop, but I didn’t know how to harness enough magic to keep fighting them now.  I pushed too much magic into the blasts I used on Simone.  Passing out was not my favorite activity, especially in the middle of chaos.

I turned to Grey and Anita and asked, “The girl?”  “She’ll live.  She needs medical attention and a blood transfusion,” Grey answered.  “Has 911 been called?” I asked. Grey’s lip quirked up crookedly. “Yes, I overheard the conversation moments ago. She will be perfectly fine.  She won’t even end up like Anita.”   “Not that there is anything wrong with that,” Anita snapped at Grey.  “Of, course,” he winked.  I rolled my eyes.  Those two, I swear.

I leaned over the girl, and tore a piece off her costume.  I pressed it against her neck to stop the bleeding.  I didn’t ask her how she was doing, or what her name was, because I was afraid the effort would make her bleed more.  Anita leaned in closer, and Grey grabbed her arms and held firm.  “Watch yourself,” he cautioned her.  I propped her up against the house and told her I was going to get her help.  I cast a protection spell on her, to keep her safe until an ambulance arrived.

“Come on, I have to see how many people Finn and Dean managed to catch up to. I only hope there is anyway this disaster can be contained.”  I had a sick feeling in my stomach that nothing was going to be the same after this.

It seemed the world was spiraling into chaos.  Anita was entranced by the exchange student’s blood. People were trampling each other in order to escape the house.  Eighteenth Street was filled with people running, but in no particular direction.  The world around me had descended into chaos, and even with all of my power, I couldn’t stop it.

I teleported myself to where I could sense Finn and Dean.  Grey and Anita ran around the building at the speed only a vampire could reach.  Dean and Finn were standing near four other people from the party, three guys and a girl.  Others were hiding behind cars, banging on doors, or just wandering aimlessly.

I can’t read minds, but it wasn’t necessary, it was clear they had seen too much at the party. I reached out and touched the girl on the shoulder. Touching her allowed me to glimpse what she saw in the backyard before I went out there.  My mind whirled back in time. 

She went out to grab a cigarette.  One of the guys, the tall one, had encouraged her too drink too many beers, and she stumbled out the back door.  She ran into the exchange student, who helped her up when she tripped.  “Thank you,” she said.  Suddenly she saw a streak of movement, and the nice blonde started to gurgle blood.  A menacing, vampire, held the other girl in his iron grasp, and continued to bite the girl.  She screamed, and all hell broke loose.

I let her go.  I knew what happened after that, I was there.  The problem was that she knew what happened before.  A couple blocks away the sounds of police sirens were approaching.  I felt certain that being questioned by the police would not make the
Council
pleased with me.  If I had any chance to limit this disaster my name could not be mentioned as a witness in a police report or worse, a newspaper.  We needed to leave, quickly.  I hate to influence humans’ free will with magic.  It seems like cheating somehow, but this time I didn’t see an alternative.

I lifted my wand. The clear quartz on the end began to glow green with my will and desire.  My eyes blazed with the same color.  “Oublièr tout. Rien passé ce soir.”  I told her to forget everything from tonight, nothing happened.

They blinked several times, and then looked past us, as if we weren’t there. I was sure the spell worked, but we didn’t stick around to be completely certain.  The sirens were getting closer. 

Grey nodded his head for us to follow him.  “We need to get back to the campus and get someone’s car.” I started to interrupt, but Grey shook his head no. “I know you were about to suggest teleporting everyone, but Chloë you are exhausted.  Anita, Dean and I are really fast.  We can run back to the campus. Teleport yourself and Finn, and wait for us by Dean’s truck.” 

I nodded, because he was right, I was wiped out.  “Take care of her Finn.  Don’t let her use anymore magic after teleporting you.  Anymore than that and I think it will be lights out for her,” Grey said. 

“Don’t worry.  I’ll always take care of Chloë,” Finn promised.  Maybe it was my exhaustion, but a defeated look flashed across Grey’s face.  “I know. Believe me, I do know that,” Grey responded resigned.

Everyone walked around Grey’s living room in stunned silence.  It took several minutes to grasp the gravity of the events that had transpired.  Thank God it was Halloween.  That was the only way our fellow “human” classmates wouldn’t understand what had happened. Still, even if only a few caught on, we were in grave danger.  Simone and Alexander had outed the supernatural community tonight, and everyone would suffer for it.

Anita was the first to react rationally.  She commandeered Grey’s computer and began to search for any news about the attack.  “The local news is reporting that a CWU exchange student is being transferred to Yakima for medical attention after being attacked at an off-campus party. It says the police are still searching for the assailant and will comment further when new information becomes available.” 

She continued searching the school web-site and checked her campus e-mail.  “Well here is some good news, classes are cancelled tomorrow. The school says that ‘Due to recent incidences on-campus, and tonight’s attack, classes will be cancelled to ensure the safety of the student body.  More information will be provided as it becomes available’.” 

“Why is that good news?” I asked confused. She looked at me like I was hit with a stupid stick.  “Duh, no class.”  Right, Anita really wasn’t a star student.  I should have known she would have felt that was good news.

I let out a strong breath that I didn’t realize I had been holding.  The stress was taking its toll on everyone.  We were all in the same place, and yet each of us in was in our own little world.  I looked around and watched my friends react to this latest disaster.

Dean wanted so badly to have a foot in both the human and supernatural worlds, but realized tonight how difficult that would be.  Anita witnessed how vicious vampires could be, and was now even more terrified of what she could become.  Grey was tormented by the guilt of having created Alexander. Finn still didn’t know how to harness his powers reliably, and felt useless when people were scared.  I was full of power, but unable to use it without completely exposing all of us.  What a mess.

The air began to swell with magic.  My skin tingled as the charge raced up my arm.  My hair blew gently behind me.  The others gathered behind me preparing to face the oncoming threat.  The charge on my skin was so familiar, almost as familiar as my own.  “Aw hell,” I snarled, “The
Council
is coming.”

The air thickened, jewel colored mists appeared, and coalesced into three of the head
Council
members. The
Council
delegation was made up of two witches and a wizard.  My mother Marguerite, Astrid (a Danish witch nearly as old as my mother), and Octavian (the oldest wizard alive) stood before us.

“Chloë, we have to stop meeting like this,” my mother admonished.  I bowed to recognize three of the most powerful members of our world, and tried not to show that my stomach was tied up in knots.  “I believe you all know why we have come,” Octavian said with a thick Latin accented English.