A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21) (18 page)

I
’d only made
it halfway to the beach when I was met with an unexpected, though by no means unwelcome, surprise. I came across Amaya in the woods.

“That was fast,” I remarked, half delighted and half confused. “Why have you removed your invisibility?” I was still invisible and, if I hadn’t noticed her, we would have missed each other. “And how did you get back inside the boundary without me?”

Amaya shook her head. “No,” she breathed. “I haven’t even made it out of this island yet. The Shade’s witches have put up an extra boundary, barricading land from the ocean. I cannot even reach the waves. They must have done it as a response to the merfolk infestation. I tried to break through it, but I’m simply not strong enough. It’s the combined effort of at least half a dozen witches. I lifted my invisibility spell hoping that I would come across you on my way back.”

I cursed beneath my breath. Amaya hadn’t been able to break through the outer boundary of the island either. Hence we had waited for Benjamin’s submarine to come along in order to gain initial access to the island.

I should have considered the possibility that they would put up a second boundary. Although it had been a thrill to infest their beautiful waters with the vile sea creatures— something that hadn’t been difficult to do with Amaya’s beckoning potion and our ability to pull them inside—now it was working against me.

I reached up to my hair and raked my fingers through it. “Let’s think,” I said, breathing out slowly. “There must be a way around this.”

Amaya held her breath.

“There has to be someone on this island who has permission to pass in and out,” I mused. “And if anyone has that permission, who else would it be but the rulers—Derek and Sofia Novak?”

“I agree they’d be the obvious choice,” Amaya replied, tight-lipped.

“So,” I went on, “only a slight change of course is in order… Our targets must be captured sooner than we had planned.”

A
dream
. I had to intercept a dream. It could be anyone’s dream. I was too desperate to care. But who might be dreaming at this time of day? There had to be someone in The Shade taking an afternoon nap.

I left the Great Dome and headed toward the Residences. Though, after Kailyn’s death and the fires that had shaken the island overnight, I was doubtful that any supernaturals would be sleeping. Still, it felt like the logical place to start. But as I arrived at the courtyard outside the Sanctuary where the funeral had taken place—now cleared of people, though still flooded with flowers—I stopped short.

The Sanctuary. That was where my aunt had been resting. My now human aunt, who had just recently given birth. If anyone was likely to be taking an afternoon nap right now on this island, it would be her. Plus, she also had psychic abilities. Maybe that would make it easier for me to get through to her. I changed course abruptly and ran headfirst through the door of the witch’s temple.

I hurried to the room where I had found Vivienne resting with her baby, but as I arrived outside, my heart already sank in disappointment. Two voices emanated from the bedroom—Vivienne’s, and that of my uncle. I pushed my head through the door all the same, to verify that yes, she was awake, sitting upright on the bed and feeding her beautiful baby, while Xavier sat by her side and they talked in hushed tones.

Dammit.

Still, although she wasn’t sleeping, Vivienne was prone to prophetic visions even when awake… Perhaps, just perhaps, she might sense me… I moved further into the room and spoke her name, walked up to her bed and tried to touch her arm; anything to get her attention. But she didn’t respond in the slightest.

I had to find someone else. And fast. I resumed my original plan—head to the Residences. I darted through the trees and, once I neared within twenty feet of the burnt wreck where my parents’—and my—penthouse had once been, I lowered myself to the ground in front of a tree and leaned my back against its thick trunk.

Then I took my thoughts back in time to when I had shared a dream with Ernest. I closed my eyes, as I had done then. Slowly, I cleared the debris from my mind, even as it felt like the most impossible task in the world. Ernest had been adamant about that—that my mind be relaxed and open, to make it receptive to the minds of others.

I wasn’t sure how close I had to be to a person to pick up on their dream, but as I kept my eyes sealed closed, forcing myself deeper and deeper into relaxation, I was relieved to find that it wasn’t long before I encountered my first dream.

The vision of a grand hall lit by flaming torchlight trickled into my mind’s eye. Its walls were covered with crimson draperies, and the chamber was bare except for a long table that ran down its center. Piled up on the table’s surface was enough food to feed an army. Despite row upon row of steaming pots, there was only one seat that was taken, at the head of the table—by an ogre. A female ogre… Bella. Although there appeared to be savories aplenty—I was certain that I even spotted some fried human toes—a towering cake was set in front of her. It looked like a wedding cake—with pure white and light pink icing—and it was so high that it reached the height of her chin.

Cupping her hands, she dug both of them into the sides of the cake at once, withdrawing two sticky handfuls. Raising one hand, she slapped its contents into her mouth…

I lifted my head and opened my eyes, shaking away the dream.
What is it with me and ogres’ dreams?
I’d thought to myself that absolutely anyone would do, but something told me that competing with that cake for Bella’s attention would be a losing battle.

No. I had to find someone else. But the fact that I had managed to intercept this first dream so quickly gave me hope that I wouldn’t have to wait too long before another one came along… and this time, hopefully not Brett’s.

I leaned my head against the bark and closed my eyes again.

My hope of finding another dream soon—and an ogre-free dream at that—was not dashed, but the second dream I came upon I spent even less time in than Bella’s. It must have been the dream of either Claudia or Yuri—since those were the two figures who’d been writhing around on a silk-adorned, four-poster bed. Reminding myself that Claudia was pregnant, I guessed that it was hers. It made sense for her to be taking an afternoon nap.

Trying to forget what had just blasted through my head, I settled myself against the tree and closed my eyes again for a third time. Hopefully, this time would be lucky.

I saw nothing but blackness for the next five minutes, or at least what felt like five minutes. I was beginning to feel tense, wondering if it had been a grave mistake to dismiss the previous two dreams so quickly. Perhaps I should have tried to communicate while I’d had the chance. I had just taken it for granted that a third one wouldn’t be far away… And then it arrived. A third vision took over my consciousness.

Stretching out all around me was a dark ocean, its waves glistening beneath a starry night sky. The moon was full, and roaming along the beach was a lone figure. It was our beach—The Shade’s beach, just near the port—and the figure… the figure was River.

Would she really be sleeping at this time? Last I knew, the humans were not aware of the devastation from last night. That would not have kept her up worrying. And the last time I had seen her, she had certainly looked worn out and tired.

She was wrapped up in a thick shawl which she held close to her chest as she gazed out into the distance. Her eyes were fixed intently on a spot above the waves. As I followed her gaze, I realized what she was staring at—the shiny roof of a submarine, partially visible in the water. It was moving quickly toward the shore—so fast it was almost as though the vessel possessed supernatural speed. It arrived at the Port and stopped by the jetty. River’s breathing quickened. She ran toward it. As the hatch opened, a head of dark hair emerged above the roof.

“Ben!” she shouted.

It was a man climbing out of the submarine and as he turned around to face her… the man was me. The other me’s face lit up as River closed the distance between the two of us and she threw herself at me. I stared as my lips locked with hers, my arms engulfing her small waist and pulling her flush against me. My hands moved up her body and into her thick, dark hair as we kissed with all the passion of a newly-wedded couple.

“River,” the other me said, detaching my lips from hers to catch a breath.

Tears burned in the corners of her eyes even as she smiled. She buried her head against my chest and whispered, “I was afraid, Ben. So afraid. I thought that you might never return. How are you, and what took you so long?”

“I’m okay,” the other me replied, cupping her face in my hands. “I was away a long time because the Elder was stubborn. But I’m finally rid of him. Everything is all right now.”

Those last words coming from my mouth grated on my nerves.

“No!” I shouted. “Everything is not all right!”

There was a stunned silence, and to my shock, River turned round around to face me. The real me. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected to happen—I’d shouted more out of frustration than anything else. But now she gazed at me, her eyes wide and her face twisted with confusion. She looked from me to the second me and then back again. Then the second me evaporated.

“Ben?” she breathed, gaping at me as though she had seen… a ghost.

She moved toward me across the sand, slowly and cautiously, as one might approach an alien. She reached a hand tentatively up to my face, and… I felt her. Her fingers against my jaw. Her soft touch. I reached up my hand and closed it around hers. I was able to hold her hand.

Taken by this revelation that a ghost could feel in dreams—even if it was just the illusion of feeling—I dipped my head down and pushed my lips against hers. Her breath hitched, and then her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me in closer as my tongue parted her lips.

I lost myself in the moment, relishing her touch. Touch I’d thought that I might never be able to experience again… But although I could’ve continued kissing River for hours, or however long her dream lasted, I had to tear our lips apart.

She gazed deep into my eyes. Her beautiful features were still marred with a frown.

“Which one is you?” she whispered, casting her eyes over her shoulder to where the second me had emerged from the submarine and stood with her near the jetty.

“This is me,” I assured her, gripping her head in my hands and planting a firm kiss against her forehead. “I promise.”

My hands slid down her shoulders and gripped her hard.

“You must listen to me,” I said, my eyes boring into hers. “My parents and grandfather are in danger. Jeramiah is on the island with the witch, Amaya. He’s planning to round up all three, take them to the cluster of rocks—near The Shade’s port, but outside the boundary— and hand all three over to the hunters. You need to warn them urgently. He could strike anytime between now and 3PM.”

Her eyes filled with fear as they shot back over her shoulder toward the dark island.

I forced her attention back to me. “You must tell them to stay near witches at all times, and they need to smoke Jeramiah and the witch out of The Shade. His base was in the old farmhouse near the potato fields. I don’t know if he’ll return to that house, but there is a chance that he might. The two have been roaming the island beneath the protection of an invisibility spell, but you’ve got to find them.”

River nodded fiercely, even as she looked panicked. “O-Okay,” she said. “I’ll go right now! You should come with me, too!”

“You need to wake up, River,” I said. I pushed my mouth against hers in a short, passionate kiss. “Wake up. Wake up now.”

“But your parents!” she exclaimed, glancing again at the island. She took a step back and, gripping my hand, began attempting to race toward the Port. “There’s no time to lose.”

“Yes, but you have to wake up first.”

I reeled her in and pulled her against me, even as she tried to keep moving forward. I clutched her shoulders and shook them hard, harder than I would have liked to, but I reminded myself this was just a dream. And I had to jolt her into wakefulness. If I let her go wandering off, she would only keep dreaming.

Finally, my firmness worked. The scene around me faded away, along with River, and the feel of her shoulders in my hands. Now, with my eyes still closed, all I saw was blackness. River’s dream had ended.

M
y eyes shot open
. I looked around, my consciousness returning to the dark forest surrounding me.

Now that River was awake, I had to pray that firstly, she would remember the dream, and secondly, she would find it in herself to act on it. Sane people didn’t act on dreams. Why would they when dreams were, for the most part, nonsensical fabrications of the subconscious? I had to hope that, somehow, River would be able to sense that this dream was different. That I had infected her with my urgency.

I left my spot beneath the tree and began to race toward the Vale. Dashing along the streets, and arriving outside River and her family’s townhouse, I walked through the closed front door. As I entered the hallway, I heard voices coming from the kitchen at the end of the corridor.

I hurried through a second closed door to see Jamil and Nadia— who looked much better than when I’d seen her earlier— sitting around the kitchen table, bowls of pasta in front of them, while River stood leaning against the counter. She wore the same day clothes she had changed into earlier. Were it not for her mussed hair and bleary eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she had just taken a nap. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she barely looked more refreshed than the last time I’d seen her.

I walked up to her and tried to take her hands in mine, as I would’ve been able to do in the dream. As my fingers drifted right through her, I stared down at her, watching every expression that crossed her face intently.

Come on, River. Come on. Remember what I told you.

She reached a hand up and clamped it around her shoulder before rolling her neck slowly. There was a restlessness about her demeanor, and that gave me hope.

“I didn’t mean to doze off, actually,” River murmured.

“You needed it, honey,” her mother said, eyeing her with concern. “Go sleep some more if you’re tired.”

River shook her head. “No,” she said. She left the counter and took a seat at the table, opposite Jamil.

“Won’t you eat something?” Nadia asked.

“Maybe a bit later,” River replied vaguely. She breathed out, leaning her elbows on the table and rubbing her fingers against her forehead. “I had a strange dream,” she admitted finally.

That’s it. Come on, River.

“What was it?” Jamil asked, glancing up curiously from his food.

“I saw Ben again… two Bens actually. One of them arrived back on the island in a submarine, and assured me that he was fine. But the other… he looked so pale, so ethereal. He told me that Jeramiah was on the island. He said that Jeramiah managed to get through the boundary with his witch companion, Amaya. And he said that Derek, Sofia and Aiden are in danger from the duo.”

She paused, looking from her brother to her mother for their reactions.

“That was the whole dream?” her mother asked.

“That was the gist of it… it ended with Ben shaking me and urging me to wake up. And then I did.” She released another breath, looking unnerved.

“Dreams can be the strangest things,” Nadia muttered, spooning pasta into her mouth.

“Come on, River!” I said, out loud this time.

Silence fell between the three of them.

“I mean,” River continued, “it was just a dream, but… isn’t it strange how I woke up just when he told me to? It was like I actually felt his urgency. I woke up in a panic, and I was sweating.”

“Why don’t you go talk to Derek and Sofia?” Jamil suggested, eyeing his sister, his fork paused mid-air. “Since they returned from their journey, you’ve wanted to go see them anyway, haven’t you?”

I couldn’t have felt more grateful to a person than I did to Jamil Giovanni in that moment.

River nodded. “Yes. I am going to go and talk to them. Now.”

Thank God.

Now, River, you need to hurry. You need to run like you’ve never run—

She got up from the table and headed for the door.

“Well,” her mother called after her, “there’s lots of food waiting for you when you return.”

“Thanks,” River murmured. She reached the front door and pulled on a pair of boots.

“Where are you going?” Lalia called from what sounded like the sitting room.

“I’ll be back soon,” River replied as she closed the door behind her.

Emerging on the street outside, she looked right and left. I was glad that she chose to take a left and headed toward the town square. That would be the quickest route out of the town. I hoped that by now, even though she hadn’t been on the island all that long, she knew her way around well enough to find my parents. As she left the borders of the Vale and entered the thick forest, she sped up into a sprint, whipping almost as fast as a vampire through the trees. But even as she hurtled forward, I wished that she would move faster.

When she approached the Residences and arrived at the foot of the tree where my and my parents’ penthouse had once been, she gazed up toward the burnt tree tops and let out a gasp of horror.

“Oh, my…” she mouthed.

She gazed all around the area before her eyes fixed on the neighboring tree. I guessed that she was about to climb up to find out what happened when footsteps crunched behind us.

It was Rose and Caleb approaching.

“Rose,” River called. She hurried up to my sister. River cast her eyes upward again at the treetops before returning to Rose. “What on earth happened here?”

My sister’s face was blanched. “There was a fire,” she said, her voice several tones deeper than usual. “Both here and in my grandfather’s mountain cabin. My parents are okay, and so is Aiden… but his girlfriend, Kailyn… she didn’t make it.”

“Oh, God… And you don’t know how the fires started?”

“Lucas’ demon son,” I hissed.

“We’re not sure,” Rose replied. “My father is launching an investigation as we speak.”

“Where is your father?” River asked.

“In the Great Dome, along with my mom and the rest of The Shade’s council.”

“I need to speak with your parents.” River’s face had drained of all color. “I just had a dream involving Ben. He told me that Jeramiah was on this island, that somehow Jeramiah managed to gain entrance and he’s targeting your father, mother and grandfather. Oh, God.”

Rose looked bewildered, but I was relieved when she didn’t delay River with any questions. She reached out and grabbed River’s hand. “Come with me,” she said. The three of them turned on their heel and began to dash through the woods.

Hurrying after them, I found myself running side by side with Caleb, who was about the same height as me.

“How long ago did you have this dream?” he asked River as they ran.

“Just now,” River replied breathlessly. “Like ten or fifteen minutes ago.”

Caleb’s expression darkened. Silence fell between the three, and none of them exchanged another word until they arrived outside the Great Dome. Caleb was the first to reach the entrance. He clutched the handle and pushed open the heavy door. It caused a loud creak and as the three of them burst into the meeting room, all eyes turned on them. I was relieved to see my mother and father sitting at the head of the table, but when I scanned the room in search of my grandfather, I couldn’t spot him.

“River needs to talk to you urgently,” Rose said, still clutching River’s hand. She led her up to my parents at the head of the table.

As my father stood up, his imposing form towering over her, River looked rather intimidated to be standing before The Shade’s king, though she began to explain in a surprisingly steady voice. “I think I know who is behind this. I believe that Jeramiah ‘Stone’ Novak is on this island with a witch. He’s targeting you, your wife, and Aiden.”

So stark was the silence that followed, it was as though someone had hit the mute button.

My parents gaped at River.

“What brings you to this conclusion?” my father asked.

At this, River faltered a little. “I–I had a dream. Just now. Ben was in it. He told me that his cousin was on the island, that I needed to urgently warn you to keep witches near you to protect you at all times. He also said that Jeramiah was staying in an old farmhouse, the one near the potato fields?”

A hundred questions crowded behind my parents’ eyes but, seeing River’s earnestness, they turned to face the others. “You know that old house.” My father’s voice boomed through the chamber. “Search the building and its surrounding area immediately.”

The council shot to their feet and began piling out of the hall.

“Do you know where Aiden is?” River asked, her eyes filling with worry as they trailed along the line of people leaving the room.

My mother’s face tensed. “He didn’t attend the meeting,” she said. “Last I saw of him, he was sitting by the lake. He just wanted to be alone.”

“We need to locate him at once,” my father said. He turned to Ibrahim and Corrine, who had hung back from the crowd. “Will you two accompany us?”

“Of course, Derek,” Ibrahim replied.

“I’ll go search for Aiden, if you like,” Corrine offered. “That will free the rest of you up to join the hunt.”

“Yes,” my father said. “Please do that, Corrine.”

The witch gave him a curt nod, and then vanished.

My father glanced again at River before addressing Ibrahim. “This could be nothing but a fabrication of River’s imagination, but I’m not about to take the risk that it isn’t.”

“I have no idea why I had the dream,” River said, her expression still mired with confusion, “or why on earth I dreamed Ben telling me all this, but… I didn’t even find out about your penthouse or Aiden’s mountain cabin burning down until after I woke up. It just seems like too much of a coincidence.”

“I agree,” my father murmured, even as he began hurrying to the Dome’s exit. “And even if it does turn out to be a wild coincidence,” he continued once they’d piled outside, “no harm’s ever done by taking extra precautions.”

With that, everyone formed a circle around Ibrahim and they vanished. They would no doubt join the others in the fields. Satisfied that, thanks to my love, River, everyone had received sufficient warning, I was now burning to locate Jeramiah and the witch again. Ever since I’d lost sight of them, not knowing where exactly they were on the island had been eating away at me. I prayed that Corrine would soon find my grandfather, and they hadn’t managed to swipe him already. He had been all alone and vulnerable by the lake…

I tried to stop thinking about the worst-case scenario, and focus on what I had to do next.

I need to think.
When I parted ways with them, Amaya had left to deliver Jeramiah’s note to the hunters, while the vampire was supposed to follow soon after her. His plan had been to wait just within the boundary, and then assist Amaya back in once she had successfully completed her task.

Now the question was, had they already managed to complete the first part of their plan?

Truth be told, I’d expected it to take longer to raise the alarm around the island—and that was if I’d even managed it at all. But it had not taken much time for the idea of intercepting dreams to occur to me, and then the dreams themselves had been fast in coming. And now, thanks to River’s receptiveness, warning the others had gone smoothly.

I was uncertain if enough time had passed for Amaya to deliver the note to one of the vessel’s captains. Hopefully, the witch was still hovering near the naval ships, while my cousin waited in the waves by the boundary for her return. Jeramiah and Amaya still being outside the island would have been the best possible thing that could happen. But there was only one way to know for sure.