Tegan's Magic (The Ultimate Power Series #3) (24 page)

I feel my hands begin to shake and my lip quivers, my emotions somehow overriding my magic. I try to push past the fear and bring my magic to the surface, but right now it just isn't working.

Whitfield laughs and sings, “Your death is coming for you, Tegan. Can you feel it? It's in the air. Aw, look at that,” he puts on a theatrical frown before grinning at the vampire beside him, “she's frightened. Isn't that just hilarious? How funny it is to see fear on the face of a heartless murderess.”

“You're the one who's heartless,” I spit, finally finding my voice. “I killed your daughter in self-defence. If she had never come looking for me then she'd still be alive today.”

“I care nothing for your excuses,” he hisses, before shouting an order to the vampires around him. “Get her.”

Finally my magic comes to me, and I whip out a spray of sparks at Whitfield's cronies. They jump away, cringing and hissing from the burn, but they're not deterred for long. I panic with the knowledge that this is a dead end; we're surrounded. There's no getting out off of this roof.

However, just as thoughts of giving up begin to overtake me, I spot something out of the side of my eye. It's another ladder. It's almost the same colour as the wall so it's slightly camouflaged. It leads up to the next building, which is substantially taller than the one we're currently on.

Before I even have the chance to consider using it as a means of escape, Ethan has thrown me onto his back and is running up the ladder with me. And when I say running, I mean
zooming
. There's just no other way to describe vampire speed. When I look behind me I see that there's only a couple of feet between us and Whitfield, who's hurtling after us with about five other vamps.

When we get to the next roof, Ethan keeps going. He leaps across the couple of feet gap between the building we're on and the next one. The force of our landing shatters through me. This happens several more times, and I can't help but look to see that Whitfield is still coming for us. Keeping one arm firmly around Ethan's neck, I drop the other and squeeze my eyes shut, concentrating on creating a stream of sparks in our wake. It slows Whitfield down a little, but he and his crew just keep dodging them. God, that vampire doesn't give up easily.

At one point I feel us going down another ladder and dropping onto the street. Ethan brings us across to a high-rise building, and I can just about make out a stairwell as we zoom up it. Then we're outside again on another roof. I can't gauge how much distance we've travelled, but it seems like we've gone a long way. It's only when Ethan stops running that I see that's not true. All we've been doing is run around in circles, because now we're on a building directly across from the one we'd started out on.

“Why did you come back here?” I cry at Ethan.

“I didn't have a choice,” he answers. “The streets are crawling with Whitfield's men. There's no escape.”

I look down and see my friends still fighting off a never ending stream of vamps as they climb up onto the two storey building. Then when I peer at the street below my heart drops. The place is full to the brim with vampires. I can't even see the humans anymore, and I dread to think that that's because the vampires have killed them all. Glancing down Campion Row and out onto the Hawthorne River, all I find is more vampires coming over to this side of the city. I've felt hopeless many times in my life, but never more so than this. Ethan's right, there really is no escape. That fact is further reinforced when Whitfield comes to a stop before us.

“Now, now, Cristescu, that's bad form. I never pegged you as the tucking tail and running away type.”

Ethan pushes me behind him protectively, before addressing Whitfield. “You have penned us in. There's no shame in running away when you are outnumbered hundreds of times over.”

Whitfield brushes off his response with a laugh. “Is that sour grapes I hear in your voice, old friend?”

“You're no friend of mine,” Ethan fumes, “so stop referring to me as one.”

“There's no need for such anger. I said you were free to go. It's the human I'm after.” He stops and sucks in a savouring breath. “I've rarely smelled such appetising blood as hers in all my years. I will relish finally getting the chance to taste it.”

“I thought you wanted to kill me because of Eliza?” I say shakily.

Whitfield looks at me condescendingly, as though I'm an idiotic child. “Of course I will be killing you as a tribute to my daughter. Your blood is simply an added reward for my loss.”

“I'll take you down with my bare hands before you ever get to her,” Ethan threatens.

“Go ahead and use your bare hands,” Whitfield pulls his sword out of its holster. “And I will use my sword.”

He swoops down on Ethan, who shuns his bare hands in favour of pulling out his own sword. I'd all but forgotten he had it with him. They spar against one another, and it strikes me that both of them possess sword fighting skills you don't encounter in this day and age. Skills possessed only through the necessity of living in a time when guns were not so readily available. Not to mention their moves are lightning fast, nothing like how a human would do it.

Seeing that the other vamps are trying to get past Ethan to capture me, I begin moulding my palms together and creating balls of sparks to throw at them. This act exhausts me, and I can practically feel my magic dwindling away with the effort it takes to create them. However, right now they're my only bet at keeping the vampires at bay.

At one point a female jumps high into the air and before I know it she has her hands on my throat and her fangs are coming down on me. As quick as I can, I pull the stake out of my pocket yet again and stick right into her heart. Her dark blood sprays in my face and her body crumples to the ground.

The victory is short lived, because my fight with her allowed the others enough time to get to me. I do my best to gain my previous momentum and start throwing sparks at them again. I glance at Ethan and Whitfield just as Ethan makes progress and slashes Whitfield's arm. The vampire governor reels back, hissing at the strike.

Just before he has the chance to recover from the blow, strange purple smoke begins to seep out of the ground around us. It comes from everywhere, pouring eerily through the bricks and cement. It becomes so thick that it practically blinds me, and for a few brief seconds I can't see anything. The purple clouds my vision and those around me vanish. Slowly, the smoke begins to blow away and when I can see again I rush to Ethan, affixing myself firmly to his side.

Things were bad before. There was no way of us fighting off the vampires for much longer, but now the situation is ten times worse, because standing before us are Rita and Theodore. Their black eyes are identical.

And when Rita's land on me, she smiles.

The Day Has Come Where I Have Died, Only To Find I've Come Alive

It's not a friendly smile, it's the smile of a killer just before they take their knife and gut you like a fish. My entire body turns as cold as ice.

“Hello, Governor,” says Theodore, his dark eyes landing immediately on Whitfield. “I've been searching for you. What a coincidence to find you here with my dear little treasure.”

I have always hated Theodore's pet name for me, but right now I hate it with every fibre of my being. It's almost like he's mocking me, like he knows how frustrated it makes me to have all of this power bottled up inside and not know how to use it, how to tap into it. I'm a treasure for anyone who can capture me, but hardly ever for myself.

“Rita,” I burst, “what are you doing with him? Please, just stop this and come back to me. I know you're in there somewhere, you are!”

Theodore wags his finger in my direction. “No, no, no, she's mine now. Contrary to what you might believe, my daughter has only just become her true self. Before she was a shell, had not yet discovered her potential. Oh, isn't it marvellous how grief can transform a person, how it makes them see the world the way it is truly supposed to be seen?” He pauses and glances at Whitfield, who has suddenly lost the confidence he had before the sorcerer showed up. All of a sudden, getting his revenge by killing me is no longer his top priority. “I suppose I have you to thank for that, vampire.”

“What do you want with me?” Whitfield demands, his voice coming out strong and firm. It's clearly a façade, because it's obvious even to me that Theodore's sudden presence has shaken him. I don't think he was even aware of the sorcerer's presence in the city until now.

“With you?” says Theodore. “Why dear Governor, I want to kill you of course. You might not yet have heard that I recently ended Pamphrock. Now I only need to take care of you and the city will be mine again.”

Angered by Theodore's words, Whitfield gestures for his men to advance on the sorcerer. They barely get the chance to move an inch before Rita's hands come up and black waves pulse out of the palms of her hands. The waves halt the vampires in their tracks and then they are still as stone, unable to move their own bodies against her magic.

“Isn't she just magnificent,” Theodore beams, his eyes cutting slyly to me, as if to rub it in my face that Rita is now his to use as he sees fit.

Seeing how Rita is holding his vampires captive within their own bodies, Whitfield becomes desperate. This is clear when he pleads, “Look, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement. I could simply hand the city over to you and command my people to do your bidding. Look down onto the streets and see how many vampires there are, and that's only half of them. Why waste what could be a beneficial alliance by killing me when you could have an army of vampires at your beck and call?”

“When stripped of your bodyguards, you really are spineless,” Ethan quietly fumes, interrupting Whitfield's ruthless proposal.

Whitfield lets out a harsh laugh. “This coming from the man who only a few minutes ago was running away from me like a coward.”

“I ran away like a man who has a brain in his head and knows when he's been outnumbered. But unlike you, Jeremy, I would never sell my people out to a sorcerer. Do you even realise the gravity of what you have offered? To save your own skin you would enslave the very people who look up to you to guide them. If that is not cowardice then I don't know what is.”

“Do not talk down to me. I am hundreds of years older than you, Ethan Cristescu. You have no idea what it takes to survive that long.”

Theodore coughs loudly, an amused expression on his face. “I hate to break up this little domestic you vamps are having, but I do believe I'm the one holding all the cards here.”

Whitfield loses the hateful expression he'd been wearing when speaking with Ethan and turns back to Theodore.

Satisfied that the attention is back on him, Theodore goes on, “So, if I'm understanding this correctly, you are offering to serve me and to command your vampires to serve me too if I spare your life?

“That is correct, Sorcerer,” Whitfield answers, affecting a supplicating demeanour.

“Well, I have to say, that is certainly an attractive offer,” Theodore rubs at his pale chin thoughtfully. “With my magic and the physical prowess of your vampires no one would dare try to overthrow me.”

Well, he's certainly changed his tune. Before he had planned on driving the vampires from the city by starving them of blood.

“It's true. We vampires are far stronger than any humans,” Whitfield agrees, a little too enthusiastically. “I promise you would not regret gaining a vampire following.”

Theodore takes a moment to study him, before gesturing him closer with a wave of his hand. “Come with me, we shall discuss this away from prying ears. Daughter, be a dear and make sure that my dear little treasure and the vampires don't try to flee.”

Rita doesn't breathe a word, her expressionless face gazing straight ahead. The black magic streaming from her hands keeps Whitfield's vampires at bay. I momentarily wonder what would happen if I simply hopped onto Ethan's back again and told him to run. Would she use her black magic to freeze me too? Or would she somehow remember that I'm one of her closest friends and let me go? Right now I don't have the balls to test out the theory. Besides, as Ethan said, we're penned on all sides by vampires, so we wouldn't get very far even if we did try to run again.

This is it. I stare at Whitfield and Theodore, who are deep in conversation on the other side of the roof. Theodore has his hand on Whitfield's shoulder, a gesture that could be interpreted as either new-found friendship or dominance. In my gut I'm going with dominance.

Theodore might seem like he's interested in teaming up with Whitfield, but let's face it, he's only doing it so that he can add to his strength. Moments ago he was all set on killing the vampire governor to get him out of the way. And to be honest, I don't get why he doesn't just kill him. Having the vampire population at his beck and call aside, Whitfield is clearly only biding his time by offering this deal. The very moment he spots a weakness in Theodore's armour I have no doubt he'll dive right in for the kill himself.

But I don't know why I'm even bothering theorising about all of this. I should be spending my time worrying for my own life and for Ethan's, because let's face it, we are the weakest of the three opposing teams on this roof. After using so much of my magic tonight, I feel drained. I wish I could somehow fill it back up, but something tells me it'll take time to restore itself. Sort of like when you lose blood and it takes a while for your body to recuperate.

Thinking this, my thoughts fall on my blood and all of the power it can give to a vampire if ingested, or a witch if used in a spell, which makes me wish I could somehow wield that power myself. If only I knew more about spells then maybe I could cut myself right here and now and cast one to get me out of this mess. The problem is, Rita had only ever gotten around to teaching me the basics. I don't know any spells powerful enough to help me in this situation.

Frustration consumes me as my attention returns to Whitfield and Theodore, who now have both their heads drawn close, most likely throwing together some dastardly plan or other. I'm practically shaking with fear as I see my death coming for me. Whitfield was right when he said it was in the air, because I'm as good as dead now. Seeing how I'm shaking, Ethan takes my hand into his to calm me. I look up into his beautiful eyes as he stares down at me, his expression full of affection and grief. He knows it too, knows that the both of us are done for.

Closing my eyes to stop myself from crying, I turn into him and rest my head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat drum a rhythm so different to my own. I think of Ethan's physical strength and how powerful he has always seemed to me. I guess no matter how strong you are, there's always someone out there who's stronger.

As I'm thinking this, the strangest thing happens; the book opens in my head again. I say strange, because the book normally only comes to me when I'm determined to get past some barrier, but right now I'm not determined, I'm resigned to my fate.

The pages flick more slowly this time, before landing on a page titled, “The Mythology of the Ultimate Power Blood”, which contains all of the known facts about what my blood can do. I don't get why it's showing me all this, because I know everything that's written down on the page already.

I know my blood can transform a vampire into something new and unbreakable. I saw it with my own two eyes when Eliza drank from me right before I staked her. I almost get annoyed at the book for showing me this page, because it's like it's rubbing my own weakness to vampires in my face. But then I realise that's not what it's doing at all. It's trying to
remind
me. Remind me that my blood can make vampires immortal, can transform them into a being that's indestructible, something with a strength that has never before been matched.

I pull my face from Ethan's chest and look up at him again, everything falling into place. We can get out of this. Theodore and Whitfield may have joined forces, but would their combined strength be enough to rival that of Ethan when transformed?

Preventing myself from hashing over the idea for a second longer, I whisper to him, “Bite me.”

His eyes flicker at my words, and he appears taken aback. “Did I just hear you right?” he asks, whispering too.

“It's the only way we're getting out of this,” I tell him urgently.

His hand comes up to caress my face. “Do you know, I never even considered...” he trails off, hunger blazing in his eyes as thoughts of drinking from me take him over.

I glance quickly back at Rita, but her attention is caught on one of Whitfield's men, who looks like he's struggling not to faint under the force of her magic. Theodore and Whitfield are still talking, not paying us any heed. This is our only chance.

Ethan pulls me close, brushing my short hair away from my neck. “Are you sure?” he asks. “If I do this, it will change everything.”

“Look around you, Ethan. The city has gone to ruin. Everything is changed already.”

He fingers my throat with one hand, the other gripping me firmly by the hip. I can't keep my eyes from his mouth as his fangs descend; I'm mesmerised by how sharp they are. They shine in the darkness. I swallow hard and my body comes alive. I've always feared being bitten by a vampire, but in this moment I welcome it. With every fibre of my being, I want Ethan to drink from me. I want to feel his fangs cut into my skin and his mouth suck the blood from my veins. I want to see him take a part of me inside of him so that we are bonded forever.

He kisses me then, just lightly on the lips, but because his fangs are out he nicks me. I feel a tiny trickle of my blood run down my mouth and Ethan kisses me harder as he licks it away. His body gives a powerful shudder and his mouth pulls away from mine. He gazes down at me and I'm vaguely aware of the fact that this is the last time I'll ever see him as the Ethan I know. Once this is over I don't know what or who he'll be. All I know is that doing this is our only hope of survival.

He leans down to me, scraping his fangs along my earlobe, and breathes out those three little words, “I love you.”

I don't even realise I'm saying it when my mouth moves of its own volition. “I love you too.”

With that, his mouth moves to my neck, and I'm practically shaking with the anticipation of his bite. He sucks on my skin, and between one second and the next his fangs clamp down on me. My eyes close and I fall limp in his arms.

Every moment we've spent together since we met over two years ago flashes rapidly through my mind. I feel myself slipping, losing something I didn't know I had in the first place, and then his mouth is off me and I slide to the ground. With my hands braced against the cold, hard concrete of the roof, I stare up at him as his eyes and skin turn silver, just like Eliza's had. His body seems to be hardening, his skin resembling flawless marble even more so. It all happens so quickly and then the silver dies down. His skin returns to its normal colour, however his dark blue eyes are now edged in silver.

 Rita is the first to notice that Ethan has changed. She aims her palms at him now, instead of Whitfield's men, but her black magic only seems to bounce off him, causing no harm at all. She makes an angry noise at this, which draws Theodore's attention. His black eyes flicker over us, and within seconds he seems to have deducted what has happened. Instead of his usual confident expression, his pale face suddenly seems even more colourless.

“No...” he whispers, his voice filled with dread as he takes in Ethan's transformation.

In the blink of an eye Ethan zooms to Whitfield, takes the vampire governor's head in his hands and pulls it straight off his shoulders. He holds the bodiless head in his grip for only a second before tossing it over the edge of the building. His new eyes gleam at Theodore, as he takes a step toward the sorcerer. Undiluted fear seeps from Theodore's features as he backs away, and before I can blink he and Rita have disappeared in the same way that they arrived, in a cloud of purple smoke.

My little human heart beats in my chest as I watch the other vampires sink to their knees at the sight of Ethan. My body feels so weak from blood loss that I can hardly move. I manage to gather just enough strength to crawl half a foot to the edge of the roof. Ethan gazes at me only for a moment. It seems like he's trying to communicate so much in just that one glance but I can't decipher a single ounce of it.