Blood Tied (17 page)

I finally nodded. “You would be a big help,” I said.

“That’s all I need to hear,” Ben said, snatching one of the backpacks from my father. “So count me in.”

Pierce pumped his fist in the air and hooted. The only thing he loved more than kicking ass was fucking it. “It’s time to get this show on the road.”

His attitude riled my father. He puffed out his chest and glared at his eldest son. “You’re not going to a beach party, Pierce,” he said. “You’re being sent to—” He stopped and swallowed hard. He clearly couldn’t give voice to his fears.

I crossed to him and rubbed his shoulders. Fear fueled the anger that played across his face. Like most of our kind, he didn’t know how to process such a debilitating emotion, so he brandished the one that came more easily—fury. “We’ll be back, Dad.”

He locked eyes with me while a sneer curled his lip. “You don’t know that,” he said, his stern voice trembling.

“And you don’t know that we won’t.”

Mason and Pierce suddenly appeared on either side of him. He switched his gaze back and forth among the three of us, as if he were memorizing every curve and blemish in case what he feared most came true.

“We’ll be fine,” Mason said. “That’s a promise.”

My father held Mason’s cheek in his big hand and squeezed it. “What have I told you about promises?”

“Don’t make them if you intend to break them,” Pierce answered. “And we won’t break this one, Dad. We might blow smoke up everyone else’s asses, but not each other’s.” He hauled his big arm around my neck and my dad’s. Mason copied the move, drawing both my father and me closer to him as well.

Before long, the four of us were embracing, giving each other the assurance the family needed that we would see each other again.

“I’m gonna hold the three of you to that,” he said.

“Deal,” I replied.

He looked at Drake, Aiden, and Ben. “You better look after my boys.”

“I will, Mr. Blackmoor,” Drake replied.

“I’d gladly lay down my life for theirs,” Aiden said.

When Ben replied, he looked at me and not my father. “I’ve got it all covered.”

Chapter 7

EVERYONE GATHERED
around me in the library while I drew a door on the wall. This was how we were getting into Otherworld.

“With a piece of chalk?” Pierce asked. “Is that really going to work?”

I nodded. “It’s a symbol to focus the spell, to call forth the weakened barriers between our worlds.”

“And how do we get back?” Drake asked.

I glanced over at Aiden, who had traded in the sweats for a pair of my black jeans. He still refused to wear a shirt, and I wasn’t about to complain. “I can get us back easy and quick if need be with my portal.”

“Or we can just use this spell again,” Ben said. He most likely didn’t want to rely on Aiden to get us home.

Aiden understood the message. He arched one dark eyebrow at Ben before settling his gaze on me. When our eyes met, his lips hitched to the left. Ben might have quickly riled him up, but I just as easily calmed his hair-trigger temper. My stomach flip-flopped from the implications.

“Okay,” I said, tossing the chalk onto the desk. “It’s ready.”

Mason walked over to the wall and knocked on it. “Nothing’s happening.”

“Probably because I haven’t said the spell yet,” I answered with a blank stare.

He flipped me off and returned to Drake’s side.

“Is everyone ready?” I asked. Everyone except Pierce nodded. He gave me a thumb’s up and a wicked grin. He was evidently ready to crack skulls and get some answers.

Drake’s eagerness to go with us had turned into anxiety. He clutched Mason’s hand while staring intently at the wall that would take us to fairyland. Mason placed his arm around Drake’s waist in a lovingly supportive gesture. The changes I’d noticed in him since he’d fallen in love with Drake made me smile.

“Then let’s get started,” I said, taking two steps toward the wall. I placed my hands against the cool surface and closed my eyes, connecting to the magical energy that swarmed all around us. “
Aperi, porta ad mundum alternum
,” I began, sending forth my wishes for the portal to open into the land of the fae.

When I opened my eyes, I no longer saw the world as a human but as a warlock. Swirling bands of color twisted and knotted around me and converged upon the spot I touched. “
Furto noctis advenimus
,” I said, flexing my fingers against the wall. It was important for us to arrive under cover of night, and in response to my incantation, the swirling colors merged into one black thread that widened until it filled the chalk doorway with a swoosh of air. The wall disappeared, and a long dark tunnel stretched before us.

But there was one final phrase that needed to be spoken. We had to also arrive unseen. “
Et invisibilim
.”

Shadows within the portal sprung outward and surrounded the six of us before tugging us forward.

I glanced back over my shoulder at my father, who stood on the other side of the room. He bit his bottom lip, and after I offered him a thin smile and a nod that we’d return, the strings of energy pulled taut and tugged us through.

Once we pierced the barrier, our tethers sprang forward like a bungee cord and rocketed us through the dark tunnel.

Shimmering lights filled my vision as we zoomed through the void that connected my world to Aiden’s. Despite the breakneck speed with which we traveled, I didn’t register the velocity. My spell protected us from whirling forces. It gave us time to appreciate the surrounding vacuum, which reminded me of outer space. But this was inner space and it was beautiful and peaceful. As an added bonus, we had oxygen to breathe.

Pierce, who’d never been a fan of roller coasters, had turned an interesting shade of chartreuse and held on to the black tether that pulled us forward and toward our destination. Mason hooted and yelled like a dumb ass, while Drake spread his arms as if he were Superman.

On my right, Aiden reached out, trying to catch the glimmers of light that sped by. A gleeful smile spread across his cheeks.

Ben was an entirely different story. He looked around as if he were searching for something.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure if the low hum that surrounded us cancelled out my words or if he was ignoring me. I was about to repeat my question when his eyes grew wide, and he pointed behind me.

When I turned, my stomach sank to my feet.

Four vampyren flew straight for us, their talons extended. “We’ve been waiting for you,” hissed the one in front. Its long tongue lolled between razor sharp teeth as its friends smacked their lips in anticipation of the meal they planned to drink from our torn open throats.

How was this possible? Where had they come from?

A bolt of electricity streaked through the darkness, but the vampyren scattered and easily dodged the attack. “Fuck!” Pierce yelled. The speed at which we were being pulled through the barrier upset his aim. He punched the bands of energy that held us, trying to break their hold.

“We have to get free,” Ben called, pulling on the magical energy rope that bound him. “You have to release us.”

Was he out of his mind? “
Propellit
,” I uttered with a gesture at the vampyren. My spell worked and sent them tumbling backward. “If I do that, we might be lost between the worlds forever.”

“If you don’t,” Mason said. “We might not make it to Otherworld alive. We’re sitting ducks here.”

“And what are you going to do?” I asked. “Fly? There’s no place to stand.”

The vampyren screeched as they righted themselves and dove toward us once again.

Aiden sent a volley of fireballs hurtling toward the monsters. It caused them to scatter and slowed their progress, but it wouldn’t last. Before long, they’d be on us.

“You must do it,” Aiden said. “I can use my fae magic to keep us afloat.” His green eyes pleaded with me to trust him.

And I did. With one word in Latin, the black cords released us and disappeared, and for a few moments, we hung suspended in the air before the strange gravity that existed in the void exerted its influence. Ben, Mason, and Pierce fell down while Drake and I fell up.

In an explosion of light and heat, fiery wings sprouted from Aiden’s back, and embers of flame burned in his eyes. He reached out with his magic and grasped us in his power. He screamed in agony as he struggled to bring us together. A ring of fire erupted around us, erecting a fiery dome for protection and a floor of solid red light that provided the stabilization we needed to fight.

How powerful was Aiden? None of us could have done that.

Sweat poured down Aiden’s brow. “I can’t hold this forever,” he managed between gritted teeth. “I’d light a fire under your asses if I wasn’t so busy.”

“Attack!” I shouted to the others.

The words had no sooner left my mouth than blasts of electricity, darkness, sand, and ice were fired at the vampyren. They cackled and dodged the attack without breaking a sweat.

Their moves were so choreographed, it was like they knew what we were going to do. But how?

“Such pitiful creatures,” one of the vampyren said. This one was a female with long black-and-gray hair that slithered as if it were snakes. “Too blind to see the truth.”

What truth?

They broke their dive, banking left and wide before splitting in four different directions. With a hiss as a rallying cry, they plunged toward us like heat-seeking missiles.

“
Desinite
!” Mason yelled, obviously hoping his spell might slow them down. Instead of barreling toward us, they dropped like stones for a few seconds before regaining their speed and momentum.

At the rate they recovered, our incantations would no longer be useful. Vampyren built up immunity by prolonging exposure to magic. It was one of their abilities that made them so deadly.

That was when I remembered the backpacks my father had packed for us. Drake, Mason, and Pierce each had one, and inside them were the stakes we could use to end this. My gaze caught Ben’s, who nodded. He’d guessed my plan.

But before I could react, the world around me spun.

The vampyren crashed through Aiden’s magical fire barrier, shattering the invisible dome that protected us. Within moments, they were on my brothers and Drake. They ripped the backpacks from their shoulders and tossed the bags into the sprawling void.

They’d known we had stakes, but how?

“What are you going to do now, nephew?” one of the female vampyren asked Drake.

She clutched him and brought him to her snapping jaws.

“Who are you?” he asked in terror as her tongue slid over his face.

“You don’t recognize your Aunt Millie?” she asked before letting out a cackle that shook the air around us.

Drake cried in protest before Pierce punched her in the face. The vampyre claiming to be Drake’s Aunt Millie dropped Drake and lunged at my older brother.

Pierce punched her in the gut, but it did no good. She smacked Pierce in the face and landed on top of him, clawing at his flesh with her talons. The others quickly subdued Mason and Drake, yet they completely ignored me.

Ben, who stood a few feet away, raised his arms to unleash a sandstorm, but the other female vampyren snapped around, her tongue shooting out of her mouth. It wrapped around Ben’s neck, strangling him. He choked and gasped for air as she reeled him in.

“Thad!” Aiden shouted. He kneeled on the cracked remains of the magic that still supported us. It took all his remaining strength to speak and maintain our foundation. “Do something.”

I couldn’t. My muscles had grown rigid and wouldn’t obey. It was like I had lost control of my body. All I could do was watch as the vampyre’s tongue squeezed tightly around Ben. His eyes caught mine, desperately pleading for me to do something.
Anything
. But I stood there as she separated Ben’s head from his shoulders. In a squeal of delight, she sprang upon his corpse and drank his blood.

“No,” I muttered.

Drake’s eyes went wide when he witnessed Ben die. He yelled something, but I couldn’t make out what he said. Anger had clouded my vision. All I could see and hear was red. It was as if the color had come to life. It throbbed and pulsed around me, setting my blood on fire. This had happened to me once before, when I’d first tapped into my powers. The day I’d almost killed Mason.

The final remnants of my restraint snapped free and let loose what I’d been attempting to suppress.

“You fucking bitch!” I screamed. A torrent of emotion flew out of me, and a column of ice suddenly appeared. It slammed into the vampyre that had killed Ben and sent her sprawling off Aiden’s magical floor.

The others sprang to their feet, blood dripping from their teeth. Had they killed my brothers and Drake? Their bodies hid my loved ones from me, so I couldn’t tell. The lack of knowledge was like throwing gasoline onto my blaze of fury.

But before I could react, Aiden wrapped his arm around my waist, and he leaped with me into the darkness.

“No!” I yelled, reaching back up to the floating base where my family remained.

We fell a few feet before a flaming pinwheel formed underneath us. Its blazing wheels spun rapidly and opened a portal just wide enough for the two of us to pass through before reversing its rotation and closing behind us.

WE LANDED
with a thud amid a sea of fuchsia and lavender.

I quickly rose to my feet, searching the golden sky above for the vampyren I was sure had followed us through Aiden’s portal. Instead of snarling teeth and elongated, prehensile tongues, white, billowy clouds danced across the firmament.

I surveyed our surroundings, preparing for banshee, shadow weaver, or whatever hellish nightmare might be lying in wait, but only a field of pink flowers and purplish blooms stretched all around us. We’d landed in the middle of a clearing and along its edges stood majestic trees, their broad, cone-shaped canopies soaring into the heavens.

There was no one for me to fight, and the rage in my blood demanded payment.