armor of magic 02 - rising light (11 page)

“I shoulda known.”

“Yes, but you didn’t.” Lucius leaned his head against the window, closing his eyes. “Wake me up when we’re there.”

I wasn’t sure what we would do with Diamond after we had Charlotte. Integrity was important to me, but how could I allow the vampire to walk away only to continue draining innocent people of their blood and bank accounts?

nineteen

Rocco parked in the underground garage. Apparently, the portal to Diamond Escorts was through a service elevator on the lowest parking level. As we drove deeper into the structure, my senses kicked into high gear. Lucius wasn’t to be trusted. Obviously. And after being tricked into believing Cagliostro was Charlotte, I wasn’t entirely sure I trusted myself. What was that sage advice Ezra had mentioned on a few occasions?
Trust no one.

Rocco parked the sedan, and we got out. The parking level was void of vehicles, but that didn’t stop Rocco from doing a quick sonar scan just to be safe. After his check, he lifted Lucius out of the backseat and draped him over his shoulder. Lucius was so pasty white, he could’ve easily passed for a sack of flour.

We stepped into the service elevator. I would be the one going through the portal to pick up Charlotte, while Rocco would stay behind with Lucius, who was our collateral.

“Now what?” I asked Lucius.

“Press the blue button and stand back,” he instructed.

My nerves were like fireworks rocketing through my body. I was excited to finally get Charlotte, but nervous because I didn’t know what she’d be like. What if Lilith had changed her? What if Charlotte had joined the forces of Darkness? She was the only family I had left, the only person I could trust with all aspects of my life. I wouldn’t know until I looked into her eyes. This time I’d know if she was really Charlotte. Also, I planned to come up with some sort of identity test to make sure I’d never mistake a demon mage for my best friend
ever again
.

I pressed the blue button, and we waited in silence as the back wall of the elevator began shimmering. First a small circle of iridescent light appeared, then it grew into a pool of neon lime-green light that vibrated and spun like a whirlpool. Nothing about the portal looked safe or fun. It looked more like a vortex leading straight to hell. But if I wanted to get to Charlotte, I’d have to walk through.

“Tell me why I should trust you, Diamond,” I said.

“If you don’t find Charlotte on the other side, you can kill me,” he grumbled.

Rocco stared at me a moment, his hardened eyes telling me he was planning to kill the vampire either way. The seasoned detective knew better than to make deals with supernatural bad guys. Unlike me, who was still learning the painfully hard way. My willfulness was a blessing
and
a major pain in my ass. But Rocco wore jaded like a loose garment, and I trusted his decision-making skills more than mine. I’d just turn the other way when he killed Lucius, telling myself it was necessary. After all, he
was
the most powerful vampire in the AOV and despite his current feeble condition, he was super evil. The world would most definitely be better off without him.

No more stalling, it was time to go through the portal …

I stepped closer to the spinning pool of neon light and turned to Rocco. “If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, come for me, okay?”

He gave me a sturdy nod. “If I end up going through that portal, you can count on me taking out every son-of-a-bitch in that place.”

“You’d never survive,” Lucius murmured.

“Don’t test me, vampire,” Rocco said, then looked at me. “If you ain’t back in three nickels, it ain’t gonna be pretty.”

I moved closer to the portal, and an icy chill filled my veins. I closed my eyes and blindly stepped into the light, praying it wouldn’t hurt too much.

It didn’t hurt at all. And in a blink, I was in an old-fashioned parlor that looked like a place where wealthy businessmen from the Victorian era might’ve taken respite. The chaise lounges, tiffany lamps and Persian carpets were lavish, but antiquated. Had I traveled back in time? Judging from the men in their modern suits and the cosmetically perfected ladies flirting with them, I’d say no. Many of the men sat on the antique velvet couches while the women giggled and whispered into their ears, running their polished fingernails through their hair. Other ladies in corseted negligees strolled about, flaunting their wares to potential customers. Couples would saunter off behind a dark red velvet curtain to another section to finish their business transactions.

My Armor glowed, so it was still in activation mode. I tapped the top of my head to cloak myself. I had fifteen minutes before Rocco came blazing through the portal ready to fight. That wouldn’t end well, so I needed to hurry up and find Charlotte.

I did a quick scan of the room. Charlotte wasn’t among the scantily clothed ladies flouncing around the parlor. The tightness gripping my throat had loosened a little. Hopefully she was safe. I wouldn’t know for sure until I explored behind that red velvet curtain.

I slipped through the folds of the thick fabric and entered a long hallway. Endless doors lined the hall like a house of mirrors. Great. I’d never be able to check every one of those rooms in less than fifteen minutes. I could’ve used Rocco’s sonar skills at the moment, but all I had was my acute sense of smell. Was I supposed to sniff out Charlotte like some kind of supernatural hound dog? I couldn’t even remember if she had a distinct scent.

Suddenly, a strong odor of rotting flowers—roses to be precise—curled around me. The fetid scent made my stomach curdle. I’d know that smell anywhere. Lilith, the diabolical succubus, was in close proximity, no doubt draining the life out of some gentleman caller. I followed the trail down the hall a few yards and stopped in front of a door. I didn’t have to press my ear against the wood to hear the man moaning as Lilith purred spells into his ears. I didn’t want to enter the room and never be able to un-see what was going on, but I only had about ten minutes before Rocco would barrel through the portal and slay anything in his path.

I took the safe route and knocked on the heavy door. When no one responded, I pounded harder. And when that didn’t work, I used my magical boot to bust down the door. The thing came off its hinges and slammed to the plush carpeting. I stepped over the plank of wood, holding up my shield and sword, and entered the suite.

Lilith jumped from the king-sized bed stark naked and glared at me. “Fiona Farrow. What a nice surprise.”

“Where’s Charlotte?”

She cackled and quickly shifted from the gorgeous blond supermodel into the slithering, scaly succubus. The man lying in the bed rolled off to the floor and scurried to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Lilith’s long tail came out from behind her and charged at me like an arrow, which I deflected with my shield. The shock gave her a jolt and she stumbled back a few feet. Her jagged teeth chomped at me as she hissed.

“Can you please shift back to your regular self? This is disgusting. And played out. You don’t stand a chance against me.”

She didn’t appreciate that in the slightest and sprung at me, claws out and tail dripping venom. I lifted my sword and came down hard across that unruly appendage, cutting so deep that the tip dangled by a few strands of scaly skin. The succubus dropped to the floor shrieking in agony. I had to look away to keep from throwing up. Lilith had no choice but to shift back into her human form.

“Please. Don’t kill me. Please,” she cried, pain gripping her face.

I held my sword over her, ready to lop off her head at any moment. “Give me one good reason not to.”

“I’ll tell you where Charlotte is.”

I pressed my sword up against her slender throat. “You’re going to tell me where she is either way.”

“She’ll never talk to you again if you kill me.”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. So just tell me where she is. You have thirty seconds before I start slicing off body parts.”

Lilith curled up into a ball and sobbed. My sympathy for her wasn’t helping the badass sword fighter persona I was trying to live up to. As much as I hated her, killing her seemed so drastic. After all, she was my best friend’s sister. Did I really want to ruin Charlotte’s life? I knew how hard it was to lose family. But the succubus had tried to kill me once before. And in college she had stolen away every guy who had shown interest in me. Oh, and she did turn me over to Cagliostro for a blood sacrifice a few months back. Screw her.

I closed in and brought down my sword, cutting off her foot. She screamed, crying for me to stop.

“Where’s Charlotte?” I asked again.

“You’ll never get out of this place. You can’t get out through the in door. But I know how to get out. If you let me live I can help you.”

I most definitely didn’t trust Lilith, but we’d need to get out after I found Charlotte. I approached her again, lifting my sword and coming down hard on her wrist. Her cries pierced into my brain. Guilt hit me again. It wasn’t like going up against a stranger, but I had to get Charlotte and fast. I positioned my foot above her head, ready to come down hard on her skull.

“Let’s try this one last time: where is your sister?”

“Fine. Fine! Just please stop! It’ll take months for me to regenerate. She’s in room 4113. At the end of the hall.”

I smiled, cocking my head. “If she’s not there, I’m coming back to finish you off.” I kicked her stomach and she let out a screech, then passed out. That would have to do for the time being.

I went back to the hallway to find some of the escorts peering out from their rooms to see what was happening. At the far end of the hall, a team of guards wearing black coats and sunglasses appeared. Vampires. Just like the ones Lucius had with him earlier that morning. They’d be fast. I cloaked myself and dashed down the long hallway toward room 4113. I didn’t have much time, knowing that even if I was cloaked they’d follow my scent. Those high-powered bloodsuckers weren’t messing around.

Banging on the door, I called out, “Charlotte, are you in there? It’s Fiona. Please open the door!”

As predicted, the vampires caught my scent and sped toward me. Charlotte still hadn’t opened the door. I didn’t blame her, I could’ve been anyone posing as her best friend. Since I was cloaked, I darted back down the hall, zipping past the vampires. They caught my scent again and trailed after me. I entered a room and started busting through walls with my shield. My adrenaline was so incredibly torqued, nothing could stop me. Not even walls.

But my luck ran out when there weren’t any more walls to careen through, and the pack of vampires caught up and cornered me. The Armor would hold up against the vampires for a few minutes, but eventually my own strength would give out. Fortunately, I still had my small canister of mace in my coat pocket. I de-cloaked and sprayed the mist into their growling, fanged faces, causing the entire pack to collapse.

With the vampires down for the count, I dashed back to Charlotte’s room and banged on the door again. I tried busting it down with my boots, but there was some sort of magical spell on the door that I couldn’t break through. I had approximately two minutes to get Charlotte and head back through that portal.

“I’ve come to get you out of here!” I yelled through the door.

Finally, she spoke. “How do I know it’s really you?”

“I’m your best friend.”

“Everyone knows that,” she said.

“I’m twenty-one and I’m still a virgin,” I yelled.

“Also something everyone knows!”

“When you were little, you healed Lilith’s broken arm and from that moment on you knew you wanted to help others.”

Silence.

Then the rattle of the door handle. Standing before me was my best friend, wearing pajamas, her dark hair pulled back into a short ponytail. A halo of soft pink light radiated off of her. The healing light.
She was still a healer.
I stared into her big brown eyes and felt love swell in my chest. Definitely Charlotte.

“Fiona!” She gave me one of her rib-cracking hugs.

As happy as I was to see her, this wasn’t the time for a reunion. I grabbed her wrist and yanked her into the hallway just as another group of vampires entered.

“You still have your powers, right?” I asked.

She nodded.

“We’ll need to combine forces to get around the bloodsuckers. You ready?”

“I’ve been ready!”

We held hands and an electric shock jolted my arm. Charlotte’s powers had grown since we had last been together. We zipped down the hallway, me slicing through the vampires along the way. We arrived at the portal just as Rocco and Lucius entered the parlor.

“Stop!” I yelled, halting just before them. “We have to get out of here! It’s swarming with vampires.”

Rocco spit out his matchstick. “We can’t. Apparently, the portal only goes one way, and this prick bloodsucker won’t tell me where the exit is.”

twenty

Lucius leaned against the wall for support, half smiling. Though he was only a shell of his former self, he once again had all the leverage.

“You still have the silver?” I asked Rocco.

“Yep.”

“Go guard the entrance,” I said. “And stick with him, Charlotte.”

They went over to the red velvet curtain, and Rocco roped a stanchion of silver chains across the entrance to hold back the seething and hissing pack of vampires that would soon be coming for us.

“What’s your plan, Fiona Farrow?” Lucius grinned, no more twinkle left in his dead eyes. They looked like two moss-covered stones. Empty.

“Are you gonna tell me where the exit is?” I asked.

“Why should I? You’re just going to kill me.”

He was right about that. I no longer cared about keeping my end of the bargain. I wanted the vampire dead, along with all the others in the building. Maybe even the entire AOV. They were too powerful, and now that Cagliostro was gunning for them, the Monarchy would most definitely be in danger. I couldn’t imagine a world without Light, but that’s exactly what the evil bastards wanted. They wanted everything.