Page 52 of A Touch of Brimstone

“It’s just a sleep spell,” she assured me. “I can wake him or do whatever you wish me to.” A cruel smile feathered across her lips. This is not how to ingratiate yourself to a person. This is not normal. Be more normal.

“Wake him and let him go,” I said, watching the thrill from the anticipation of violence eke from her face. It wasn’t the violence she wanted; it was domination.

She scoffed. “Let him go? It’s not that easy, Luna. He knows. Right now, those are the rules.” She bristled, her voice tight with irritation. “But it doesn’t have to be that way. That’s what we’re fighting for. Our acknowledgment and place in this world. No longer will we have to go through such extremes to hide our existence or be penalized anytime we risk exposure.”

“Don’t hurt him. Get him out of here, or all talks are over. I’m leaving.” I had bargaining power and I had to wield it to help Jackson out of a mess that I was moored to.

With a sound of contempt, she nodded in agreement and looked in the vampires’ direction. A woman started toward us, her auburn hair a stark contrast to her limestone-fair skin. She possessed an overwhelming presence, despite her slight build. Her movement toward us was done with the ease of someone floating through the air. I glanced at her eyes but refused to hold focus with the vampire as she attempted to hold mine. As if it was instinctual. Compel the human, get them to do your bidding.

With the vampire at Jackson’s side, the witch whispered a spell, and a brilliant silver light moved over Jackson’s face. He eased up on his elbows, like he’d been awakened from a deep sleep. Confusion was all over his face at me standing a few inches away, the stern-faced witch in front, and the vampire’s tranquil features that vied for his attention. Which he surrendered to easily. Transfixed by her eyes, he was lulled into complacency.

Her brusque, stilted voice didn’t sound melodic or entrancing, but Jackson was enchanted by it. Enthralled by her. I remembered that feeling—and hated subjecting him to it. Forcing him into a faux need to please her and follow her wishes without challenge. Even if it was her simple request that he go straight home and remember that it was a lazy day for him.

Attentive to her directions, he stood when commanded to, walked out the door, and didn’t look back, just as she had instructed. He obeyed, without any signs of being controlled by someone else, which seemed the most worrying thing about vampires and their ability to compel. How did you determine if a person was acting of their own volition or at the behest of a vampire?

“This is why living in the shadows is ridiculous. He should know who we are, what we are capable of, and leave us the hell alone. Spending our talents hiding, making sure the simple little humans don’t know of our existence is foolish. We’re giving them power over us. Over us!” the vampire hissed. Nothing about her voice was beautiful or lyrical, despite the hold it had over Jackson. It was arctic, cold and sharp as a blade.

“It’s always power with you all, isn’t it?” Anand acknowledged, moving from the shadows, a blade in hand, taking in the five people in the room with the disinterest of looking at common nuisances.

The witch stood and squared her shoulders. Her lips furled as she placed a laser-sharp focus on him.

“Abandon this Awakening absurdity and walk away unscathed,” Anand urged.

“Or you can stop following Dominic and the Conventicle’s restrictive and insidious rules and join us. Why should we be hidden from humans and forced to accommodate them? Why are we required to bow to their whims and not the other way around? Why are you complicit when the most powerful of our kind are being jailed to satisfy the Conventicle’s ego and flaunt the control they have over us? We don’t need regulation and anonymity,” she challenged.

“Rei, this misrepresentation isn’t befitting of you. Own your belief and your true desires,” he told her. “You believe revealing magic will put you on top of the food chain. That you’d be allowed to be openly reckless without consequences. You all want exemption from governance and rules under the false belief that it will be liberation. It won’t. It will lead to a great deal of violence and everyone vying for domination.”

He closed the distance between them, forcing her to adopt a defensive stance despite her shifter and vampire allies spreading out to surround him. She was clearly a powerful witch, and the others were undoubtedly just as formidable, but faced with Anand, apprehension and fear lingered in their postures. Forcing them to be reactive. He had the lithe, calm assurance of a person who thrived on adrenaline and danger. Surrounded by predators and powerful magic, he carried himself as if he was a wolf surrounded by lambs.

“How is that different from what we have now? The Conventicle making and enforcing the rules.”

“Rules? You mean, not using magic on humans, not stealing magic from other witches, and not killing other supernaturals. Are those rules too hard to follow?”

Rei tutted. “They break them all the time.”

I wasn’t totally convinced that the world knowing about supernaturals was a bad thing. We could learn to coexist. Were the Awakeners the bad guys or the good guys? I was getting a stress headache trying to figure out who the good guys were and where I stood.

“Most of the time it’s fixing issues that arise as a result of you and your ilk being reckless and trying to reveal yourselves.”

“I don’t care. It’s time for new rules and governing.”

“You don’t like the rules? Fine, let me put you out of your misery.”

Rei’s eyes flicked from Anand to Helena, who had taken up a position next to him. She was dressed in slim beige slacks she’d paired with a burgundy draped crisscross tank that revealed another network of markings twining up her arms, similar to Dominic’s. The magic-restricting marks were still in place. Flawlessly shadowed eyes with thick mascara, liner forming a peak at the end, cherry-red lips, and defined cheeks highlighted by blush. She’d pulled her tresses back in a severe ponytail. She looked as if she was going to an event and not a potentially violent ambush. But this was Helena; maybe she might consider this an event.

Rei swallowed, stepping back, her lips moving ardently and her hands circling around each other. A blast of spherical magic launched from her like a rocket, smashing into Helena and dissipating over her body.

Rei’s breathing became more ragged as she shuffled back a few more steps, more aggressive magic springing from her with no effect. Her face was panic-stricken as she looked at her companions. The vampire was the first to react. A lightning strike movement placed him just inches in front of Helena. A self-satisfied smile traveled over Helena’s lips as he looked down at the stake embedded in his chest. His shock barely registered before the blade she held in the other took off his head. Instead of a body, there was just a splattering of dust piled on the floor and the bloodstained stake.

I swallowed the scream. Rei’s lips furled into a snarl as she made quick slashes in the air. Books flew from the shelves like a whirlwind, whipping around the room and striking at Helena and Anand, who used their weapons to slash and hit them. Another slash of Rei’s finger, and the pages of the books ignited. Fire blazed, books launched, the strain of the effort heavy on Rei’s face.

The room was pure chaos at Rei’s hand as Anand and Helena dealt with the flaming books being hurled in their direction and chairs being magically flung at them.

“Animal,” was all I blurted as one of the shifters morphed into a bear without breaking stride. Seeing the quick change from human to beast was shocking, no matter how many times I witnessed it. The bear pinned Anand to the ground. Anand delivered blows hard enough to make the animal huff and growl in pain.

Too preoccupied with fighting off the flaming books and warding off flying furniture, Helena couldn’t help Anand or counterattack.

The supernatural that I suspected was a witch cupped his hand, and a whirl of white, blue, and black coalesced. His brow furrowed as he concentrated, making it bigger. As black overtook the sphere, the room clouded over. His face showed strain as he directed the sphere over Helena. She gasped for breath, her color waning. The witch had found a workaround by affecting the environment.

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