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“Didn’t need the two minutes,” Vix announced proudly. “Belinda said she’s already on it. It’ll open in a moment.”
I couldn’t imagine where Trixie had been taken, but I was pretty sure she was with my brother now. And two minutes with my brother was one minute too long.
If Trixie wasn’t alive when that portal opened...
Fates save us all.
Chapter 25
Trixie
“You’ve been working with Levian,” I spat at the vampire standing before me. I could see the tainted aura shrouding him—the same dirty magic Levian had last night on camera. “You and the elf paired up to take your brother down.”
Sebastian Kent studied me, his figure alarmingly still, perfectly stoic. “Gold star—you figured it out. Too late, sweetheart.”
“Your aura is filthy with black magic.”
Sebastian gave me a little smile. “I see what Dominic likes in you. Feisty. Pretty. But it’s just not going to work for me.”
There was a family resemblance that was impossible to deny between the two vampires. It was a little frightening to admit. They both possessed dark hair, a tall, intimidating stature. But where Dom was broad and sturdy, Sebastian was thin and wiry, like life had worn him down, sucked the very will to live right out of him. He was a junkie living on human blood and black magic from behind The Veil.
“What’s your problem with your brother?” I asked, taking a step backward on the grimy, basement floor so I stood further away from Sebastian. “Why are you going after him?”
“He’s trying to rob me blind,” Sebastian said. “Taking everything I have left, selling it, squandering the money. I live off back-alley blood, while he lives in a penthouse and sleeps with pretty girls like you. How terribly unfair.”
“Dom gave you a chance,” I said. “He took risks on you, and you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. You let the thirst get to you.”
Sebastian’s eyes were bloodshot as he approached me. “You don’t know what it’s like. Maybe my brother will finally understand what it feels like after tonight. Once I take something from him, something he truly cares about. Something like you.”
“Dom selling an apartment building is not the same thing as you killing me,” I pointed out. “Anyway, if you didn’t hear, we’re not a couple. It was all over the news tonight.”
“As if I believe that. A weak attempt to throw me off your scent,” Sebastian said. “You’re the only thing he cares about, and now you’re mine.”
I took a deep breath, scanned my surroundings. We were in a dank, dark basement. A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling. The walls were grimy, and something dripping in the background added eerie undertones to an already grim scenario.
Sebastian was close enough for me to smell him, and though I didn’t have a vampire’s sharp senses, I could pick up on Sebastian’s odor. The vampire smelled like he’d bathed in liquor.
If I had to guess, his portal had led me to a forgotten cellar somewhere. Somewhere nobody could hear me scream. Somewhere with dark enchantments keeping out everything hopeful, everything light and positive. Somewhere Sebastian could take his time with me and not feel rushed as he played with his prey.
“You could kill me.” I tried to keep my voice from shaking. “But we both know if you do, your life will be over before the week’s out.”
“Maybe,” Sebastian agreed. “But what sort of life do I have left? Sneaking around with people like Levian to get access to the magic behind The Veil? People chasing me down to pay my ever-growing debts? Not much of a life. This is the end, I’m afraid.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this. If you’re in danger, we can help you.”
Sebastian sniffed in a rare display of movement. “Oh, yes it does. The people after me won’t stop because my brother asked them to. So I might as well go out with a bang. Now enough chit-chat. It won’t take Dominic long to crack the portal, and I’d prefer you to already be dead when he arrives.”
This was not good. I’d thought I was getting somewhere with my stalling. I’d had the same thought as Sebastian—that somehow, Dom would’ve figured out that I’d disappeared and would be using his vast network of resources to find me. But the clock counting down to the time of my death was ticking audibly.
I glanced around, but there was nothing here to help me. No weapons, just a single lightbulb. The walls were bare, the floor plain, dirty cement except for a drain where a murky substance trickled through. The sound of the drip, drip, drip.
I felt a tingle in my belly, the same one I’d felt in the alley with the reporter who’d tried to corner me. The tingle of my magic rising up to protect me.
This time, however, it felt different. In that alley, the magic had poured out of me, a completely instinctual fear response. Tonight, I could feel each and every prickle like my entire body had fallen asleep. I had control now, at least a little bit, and my magic was waiting, gathering, listening for instructions.
I felt my hands start to glow, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. To summon the sort of magic that could stop a centuries old vampire like Sebastian required finesse. Practiced spells. Intentional use. I would have to intentionally funnel my magic at Sebastian with the intent to hurt him in order to save myself.
The trouble was that I didn’t know how. What an ironic twist of fate. I’d finally agreed to start unlocking my magical lineage, and it had backfired. Now I had too much control, and I didn’t know what to do with it. Maybe if I’d just kept everything repressed, power would’ve exploded out of me, and I wouldn’t have had to sit here and think about it.
