Sunlight: Blood Magic Book 4 Read online

  I stopped the van a good distance away and scanned the area, just sitting for a couple of minutes and trying to think. That was when I noticed something odd. Vehicles were coming through the barrier from the outside, but nobody could leave from the inside.

  It all suddenly made sense. If people travelling into Tribane couldn’t get past the barrier, there would be havoc and the outside world’s attention would be on the city. The fact that people could get in but not out meant that there wouldn’t be any suspicion. Well, at least not until someone started noticing that those who travelled to the city never returned.

  Eat your heart out, Hotel California.

  A chill ran over me. People jumped up and down, waving their hands at the vehicles coming inside, urging them to go no farther, but the people on the outside seemingly couldn’t see in. It was all a part of the magic.

  This needed to be stopped before things got even worse.

  I started up the engine again and drove back in the direction of the city. This old wagon wasn’t going to last much longer, and I needed a mode of transport that I could rely on. There were dozens of vans at the DOH compound, so I headed in that direction.

  There wasn’t a single whisper of life when I got there, and my gut sank. I’d been internalising the loss, trying not to feel the pain of losing something that was my entire reason for breathing for so long.

  Everything was changed, I reminded myself, but all wasn’t lost. I could start again.

  I held onto the sentiment because otherwise I wasn’t sure if I could keep going. Keep on fighting a battle that was no longer the same one I’d been fighting for so many years. The idea of peace chipped away at me. Ever since Alora told us about her vision, a sense of longing filled me.

  A part of me wished to live in a world where there was no more fighting or killing.

  Once I finally reached the entrance to the compound, I used my swipe card to get inside. The emptiness of the place echoed as I headed to the garage and picked out a van. I loaded it up with a couple of crates of stakes, several handguns, some new arrows for my bow, and lots and lots of bullets.

  Once done, I leaned against the side of the van and exhaled. I was torn between the need to kill vampires and the urge to just live a normal life. I’d spent so many years on edge, always waiting for the next catastrophe, that I wasn’t sure I could ever be normal. What if there was peace? What sort of life did I want for myself in that world?

  I was about to leave when something prickled at the back of my neck, some sixth sense telling me to watch out. Crouching low, I moved down the side of the van just as a dark-haired vamp appeared in front of me, fangs out and a smile on his face like all his Christmases had come at once.

  So much for a normal life.

  “Sorry, not tonight, Josephine,” I told him with a wink. “There’s a park down the street where I hear the rent boys do a booming business. You might want to try your luck there.”

  The words barely left my mouth before the vamp hissed and lunged at me. Luckily, I’d holstered one of my guns while I loaded weapons into the van, and I shot him in the stomach before he had the chance to bite me. The bullet wouldn’t keep him down for long, but I didn’t need long. I just needed one moment of opportunity.

  I pulled a stake from my pocket and slammed it straight into his heart. Damn, that felt good. Nothing like a bit of vamp-staking to blow off some steam.

  Oh, but if only it were that easy. At least another five came crawling out of the woodwork, and I swore loudly.

  “We thought you’d all been killed,” said a sharp-eyed female. “I guess there’s always one that gets away.” She licked her lips and stared at me like I was a prime piece of meat and she’d been starving for weeks.

  “You don’t want to do that,” I warned her, aiming my gun at her head.

  “Oh, really,” she purred. “And why is that?”

  “Because I’ll blow your pretty head off. Now, kindly take a step back. I’ll get in my van and drive away. Pretend this never happened.”

  She laughed at me as though amused. Fucking bitch. I hated vampire theatrics, and I’d witnessed plenty in my time. They had a bone to pick with slayers, and let’s face it, why wouldn’t they? It meant they were always very cat-like in killing us. They didn’t just end our lives. They wanted to play with us for a while, see us squirm before they crushed us.

  Her laughter ceased, and she dove for me. It almost looked like she was flying for a second. I dropped to the ground and rolled out of her reach before putting a bullet in her head just like I’d threatened to do. I breathed heavily and swore again. That’s when I realised I’d been stupid, because while I focused on the lady vamp, I hadn’t been watching my back.

  In this city, you always had to watch your back. I felt fangs sink into my neck before I saw him, a ginger-haired vampire with heavily muscled arms. His hand grasped my neck and squeezed.

  “You don’t want to kill me,” I managed to sputter.

  He grinned when he released my neck. “Sure, I don’t.” A trickle of my blood ran down his chin, and my stomach churned.

  “No, really. Cristescu will be mighty pissed if he finds out I’m dead.” Only because he probably wanted to do the honours himself, but lying was the only way I was getting out of this.

  The vampire’s grip loosened. “What did you just say?”

  “Cristescu’s your new Personal Jesus, right? He’s a friend of mine. We go way back.”

  “A friend?” the vampire asked, gaze narrowed.

  “I helped him out when you all had him exiled,” I continued. “If you kill me, you’ll be the next one in the ground.”

  I saw the cogs turning in the vampire’s head as he made his decision. “Fine,” he said, grabbing my wrists and pulling them behind my back. “I’ll take you to Cristescu, and we’ll see what he has to say. If you’re lying, I’ll torture you before I kill you.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” I quipped as he and his friends guided me away from the compound and into a garish canary yellow Ferrari, one vamp on either side of me to make sure I couldn’t escape. The vamp I’d shot in the head was still lying on the ground unconscious. I expected she’d be making her own way home when she came to.

  “I see you boys like to ride in style,” I commented on the drive, earning myself a sharp punch to the jaw. Shit, that hurt. I wanted to rub where he hit me, but I couldn’t since the vamps had tied my arms behind my back with cable. I was going to have a real pretty bruise on my mug in the morning.

  A couple of minutes of total and absolutely creepy silence passed before we turned onto the street where Cristescu had been living before he was exiled. It looked like he’d decided to take his residence of choice back now that he was a supervamp.

  We came to a stop in front of the large, three-storey house, and I swallowed hard. Guess I wasn’t going to have the chance to wait until morning to see him after all. I could only hope that Tegan was there and that he’d listen to her when she told him not to kill me.

  6.

  Tegan

  I’d died and gone to heaven. Well, maybe not that, but it was close.

  I lay on Ethan’s bed while he licked me, his head between my legs and his tongue working some kind of freaking miracle on my clit. I grabbed tight onto the blankets, fisting them as I moaned. I’d never felt anything more exquisite.

  Ethan raised his head for a brief moment, his voice a husky command as he said, “Come for me, lumina mea.”

  I couldn’t hold back as I stared into his eyes and his tongue returned to my sweet bundle of nerves. His fingers thrust inside of me, and I undulated, shivering with an orgasm. I dropped my head back into the pillows and sighed, a big, stupid smile on my face. Ethan crawled up my body and nestled his head in the crook of my neck, pressing light kisses to my skin.

  We’d had sex three times tonight, and I could already feel him hardening against me, eager for round four.

  “You’re unbelievable,” I said, laughing, and
he laughed, too, just as there was a knock on the bedroom door.

  “Go away,” Ethan ordered.

  A second later, Lucas called, “There’s someone downstairs to see you. I think you might want to take care of this now, Ethan.”

  “La naiba,” he muttered grumpily as he climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. I’d heard him say this phrase a few times. I thought it meant something like, damn it or fuck’s sake. Either way, it always gave me a tingle. There was just something about a man saying stuff in a sexy foreign language that was incredibly appealing, especially when you had no clue what he was saying. He could be uttering romantic declarations or talking absolute filth.

  Ethan threw on a T-shirt and some shoes before opening the door. I pulled the blankets over my body so that Lucas didn’t cop an eyeful. He stood outside waiting and cocked his head inside as Ethan emerged, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of me in a state of undress.

  Amanda arrived at the house a couple of hours ago, and I’d settled her into one of the spare rooms farthest away from Lucas’s room. I told her he was here, and she straightened her shoulders at the news, telling me she could handle him. I was proud of her at that moment.

  “Tegan might want to come, too,” Lucas said to Ethan.

  “Why?” both Ethan and I asked in unison.

  “Because it has to do with your slayer friend,” Lucas explained.

  “Finn?” I said, brow furrowed.

  “Yes, he’s downstairs and only minutes away from being slaughtered by several of our people. He really knows how to kick up a ruckus, that one.”

  My heart skipped a beat, and I shooed Lucas away so that I could get dressed. What, oh what, had Finn gotten himself into this time?

  When I arrived downstairs fully clothed, I found Ethan and Lucas in the living room with another vampire I didn’t recognise. Finn was sitting on a chair with his hands tied behind his back. A bruise was emerging on his cheek and there was a bloodied bite mark on his neck. Shit.

  I rushed to his side, kneeling on the floor by his chair. “Finn,” I breathed, my voice more air than sound. “Are you okay? You look like hell.”

  “You should see the other fella,” he replied with a casual shrug.

  Oh, Finn. Ever the comedian. I pulled him into my arms and hugged him tight, surprised by the amount of relief I felt at seeing him. I heard Ethan’s low growl from where he stood on the other side of the room, but I ignored it. Finn was my friend, and I was so incredibly happy to see him, so Ethan was just going to have to suffer through me hugging him.

  “Where are the others?”

  “They’re safe.”

  “What’s going on here?” I asked as I surreptitiously eyed the muscular, red-haired vampire who was glaring daggers in Finn’s direction.

  “I got jumped by a couple of vamps. I told them your boyfriend might not take too kindly to them killing me. Though, to be honest, by the way he’s looking at me right now, I think he’d take very kindly to it indeed.”

  I pulled away from Finn and turned to look at Ethan. “Stop it. Nobody’s killing Finn tonight. Or ever.”

  The red-haired vampire stared at me in awe as I addressed Ethan, while Lucas shook his head as if I were ridiculous for having the gall to give orders.

  “He murdered one of my people tonight,” Ethan spoke coolly.

  “I’m sure it was only in self-defence,” I countered. “And anyway, how many humans have your people killed in the last couple of days? If you want to kill Finn, you’ll have to go through me first.”

  Just to show how serious I was, I summoned some of my magic, allowing it to spark and crackle from the palm of my hand. With each day that passed, it was becoming second nature to use my magic. Rarely did I need to be threatened anymore for it to make an appearance. I simply needed to call on the magic and immediately it answered. The red-haired vampire’s body startled. He clearly didn’t know I was a witch, and while it felt strange to say it, technically that’s what I was.

  A witch.

  It wasn’t an unpleasant thought. In fact, my magic practically purred under my skin as I accepted my new identity. It was like I’d finally come into my own.

  I stared at Ethan just as sternly as he stared at me. “Have you forgotten how Finn welcomed you into his home not too long ago and made a pact to work with you when your own people shut you out?”

  “No, I haven’t forgotten,” Ethan replied. “And really, I care very little for whatever killing has taken place. It is the way he looks at you that makes me want to murder him.”

  “Now you’re being ridiculous,” I retorted as my stomach tightened from the possessive gleam in his eyes.

  “Hey, man,” Finn interrupted. “I know she’s with you now. There’s no need for the caveman routine.”

  I inwardly wished Finn didn’t always have to be so ready with a smart comment. He had a way with words that managed to rile people up, even when he was supposedly trying to be civil.

  Ethan took a step forward, and I stood, placing myself in front of Finn. “If you hurt him, you’ll lose me forever,” I said, and I meant it.

  Ethan looked deep into my eyes, an internal struggle going on in his own. The tension in the room was so thick it made me want to flee, but I stood my ground.

  After what seemed like forever, but what was really only a matter of seconds, Ethan exhaled and turned his attention to Finn.

  “You are lucky Tegan favours you,” he said before dismissing the vampire who brought Finn here with a simple wave of his hand. The red-haired vampire looked palpably disappointed with Ethan’s decision as he walked out with hunched shoulders.

  “Well, now,” Finn said once he was gone. “Who’d like to do the honours of untying me?”

  I walked around to the back of his chair and slid the blade he’d given me from my jeans pocket, cutting through the cable tie.

  “It’s a good thing you decided to pardon me, your highness,” Finn said, speaking directly to Ethan. I poked him in the shoulder, urging him to drop the sarcastic tone. He was way too cocky for someone who just barely avoided getting killed. He shot me an amused look before continuing, “Because I’ve got some news you might be interested in hearing.”

  “Oh?” Ethan said, going to sit down on the couch. “And what news is this?”

  “Do you know about the barrier around the city?”

  Ethan gave him a bored look that said, Of course, I do.

  “Okay, but do you also know that while the barrier isn’t allowing anyone to leave, it’s letting people come inside? They just can’t get back out once they pass through it.”

  Now he had Ethan’s full attention as he sat up straight. “How do you know this?”

  “Saw it with my own two eyes,” Finn replied. “It spells trouble whichever way you want to spin it. There’ll be riots and all sorts of trouble before the week is out. I spoke to two police officers earlier today, and they said people have been looting the stores and stockpiling food.”

  “That does sound bad,” Lucas agreed.

  “You need to find Theodore and figure out some kind of truce. Tell him he can have a portion of the city for himself if that will keep him happy,” Finn suggested.

  “If I thought that would subdue him, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” Ethan said. “But Theodore isn’t a man who will accept a percentage. He wants it all.”

  “You could at least try,” Finn muttered in annoyance, and nobody spoke for a minute.

  I was the one to break the silence. “Hey, I got Rebecca back from Emilia,” I said to Finn, and he nodded, smiling.

  “I know. You beat me to it. I went there today, but all I found was a distraught butler who told me Emilia had been taken by Theodore.”

  “Yes!” I exclaimed. “It was so weird. One minute Emilia was setting fire to anyone who got in her way as she chased us for Rebecca, and the next, she was gone. I saw Theodore holding her and laughing before he disappeared.”

  “Creepy.”

  “
So creepy,” I agreed.

  “Have you other news, slayer?” Ethan interrupted us icily.

  Finn scratched at his head. “Actually, yeah, I do.” He paused like he was unsure whether he should disclose this other news or not.

  “Out with it,” Lucas interjected impatiently.

  “Fine, fine. The other night we came across a woman.”

  “What woman?” Ethan asked.

  “I was driving along when a limo came speeding out of nowhere. All this white light was streaming from the windows. Magic, I’m guessing. Then this woman jumped out right in front of us. I almost ran her over. Then, get this, our old friend Michael Ridley emerged to chase after her. She was scared witless of him. We managed to fend him off. Well, actually, Ira did by biting off his hand.”

  Lucas chuckled at that. I grimaced and swore under my breath. Ethan remained stoically silent.

  “So anyway, this woman, her name is Alora and she’s half-elf. She can see into the future. Ridley kidnapped her two years ago and had been using her for her powers. He tried to cast a spell to take her ability from her, but it went wrong and ended up blinding her. I’ve kind of taken her under my wing, and she has these visions. She said that up until recently her visions were always different, but now she keeps seeing the same thing over and over.”

  “What does she see?” I practically whispered, enthralled by Finn’s story.

  “She sees a little blonde girl who will bring peace to the city. I think it might be Rebecca.”

  I gasped and eyed Ethan, gauging his reaction to this information. His expression showed nothing except a tiny hint of interest.

  After a stretch of silence, Ethan clasped his hands together, a thoughtful look on his face as he said, “So, we will keep Rebecca as safe as we possibly can. If she is to lead someday, and if this elf woman’s vision is correct, then no expense will be spared to ensure she reaches adulthood. I will see to it myself.”

  Finn studied him, looking a little shocked by his response. “You care that much about peace?”

  “You might not believe it, but I don’t enjoy war and bloodshed. If I had my way, all supernatural creatures would be able to live peacefully in Tribane.”