Hi,

Guess what? I'm going to surprise you with an early update this week! I hope you like the chapter :-) Enjoy the read and have a great week!

Lara

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Chapter 58

Eyesight blackened like a candle flame snuffed out. Time got lost in wash of shadows and motion. Hands were prying, drilling into my head. I screamed and fought it, pushed against the heavy weight behind my eyelids.

The memory of old Latin, a spell taught by Giuliana, burned in my mind, fevered words dripping from my tongue. Walls built around my mind, a fortress embedded in stone.

My eyes snapped open. I was breathing hard.

Vladislav's face appeared in front of me, a ghostly apparition of death – too close to escape. The air turned icy, invested by the power of the grave, and the pressure increased again.

I repeated the old Latin, pulled on my cuff. Magic spindled through me, raced through my veins like a wild cocktail of drugs and my vision blurred.

Suddenly I was back in my fortress – my mind – sitting on a stone floor in a chamber imbedded deeply in the complex. My mind was my own and my fortress. I repeated the words, felt them flow through me like the rush of blood and magic pulsating in my veins.

The foundations of my own fortress began to shake, dust sifting through the ceiling. Noise trickled through cracks in the walls that kept widening. Deafening gunshot-like sounds echoed in the distance, rattling the walls like a giant's fist. The fortress shook, cracking sounds numbing my ears in a deadly dance of ricochets. Chunks of the ceiling fell down. Dust billowed in the air and entered my lungs.

I coughed. Latin, the words I'd fought so hard to make my own, they fled my mind. The walls around me stilled as darkness closed in on me.

Found you.

The words slammed into me as I felt the invasion, the sorting and sifting through. I could see him. He was coming. I stilled and lifted my eyes, stared at the monster at the doorstep to my mind.

Vladislav was there. In the innermost of my mind. The spell wasn't strong enough. Not against someone as powerful as him. My magic wasn't strong enough to conquer his power. And he was going to steal my mind!

Vladislav stepped into the room, dark, empty eyes zeroing in on me.

My parents. Maria. Blaze.

Dead.

Dead because I was not good enough. Too slow. Not enough power. Never enough. I closed my eyes and drew a shuddering breath.

Maria. Blaze. Their names ricocheted in my mind like hollow whispers. Both of their deaths were something I could have, should have stopped. I wasn't strong enough.

Oh Maria.

My skin prickled, goose bumps in a deadly march up my spine. The taste of bile and salt settled in my mouth. I was staring the devil in the eye and he was going to eat me alive.

Life's all about choices, from the moment you're born up until the moment your heart stops beating. When death comes knocking on your doorstep, you can let it in, accept it with open arms; or you can bar the door and fight, kick and scream. Beat the shit out of it like a madman. It might only prolong the inevitable because in the end, you go, one way or another. Still, you kick and scream.

Why? Because it's all about choosing. You choose how you go.

I stared up and closed my eyes. In the end I made this choice.

Something in my core snapped.

I stood up, felt the wetness on my cheeks. Vladislav took another step into the room and the scent of rotten ash drifted up my nose. I stared at him.

There was one place I could go. One power I could use that might be enough, once and for all. It was my last chance. One I once vowed I would never take.

Stinging wetness behind my eyes. A smile that wobbled and trembled the moment it appeared on my lips.

I closed my eyes and flung myself into deep dark waters I'd once shunned. I plunged into that dark place inside of me, buried underneath layers and layers of self-restraint, shot down into that narrow dark place inside of me. It was the place where power lay, a dark power I hadn't dared to fully access up until now. It was the place where I knew I could become a rogue witch.

The memory faded as I pushed against it with all my might. I was back in the here and now, alone in the street and yet I felt as if I was still there in that fortress with Vladislav.

I turned rogue and used dark magic – indulged myself in it. Craved it. Still craved it. And now Blaze was dead because of me.

I shook my head, as if I could rid myself of the memories by the simple motion. It sent me off balance and I took a step to the side in a heavy lurch. I couldn't seem to get enough air. The memory was sitting heavy on my chest, flattening me to the ground.

I clutched my chest, breathing heavily, and lifted my eyes to the sky.

The great three witches help me.

* * *

ANDY

I stared at Alexander. "Anna was here and you didn't tell me? What the fuck?"

Was "translating" the diary just a ruse? Did the head vamp just send me away to have some alone time with Anna?

"I think it's best if you leave now, Varner," Alexander said.

I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Forget it. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck's going on."

Time sped up, like grains of sand slipping through an hour-glass in fast forward. Alexander was suddenly in front of me, eyes shimmering in an unnatural blue. Adrenaline exploded into my system, my arms falling to my sides.

Bring it on. I was ready for a fight, if the head vamp wanted one.

"You do not understand the gravity of the situation," he said softly. The power of the grave pushed against me, no longer a subtle residue of power, but aggressive and threatening. Trying to make me take a step back.

Not happening. The fuck I was backing off.

"Enlighten me then," I said.

Something in those blue eyes moved. "How far are you willing to go for Anna's safe return?"

"I won't let her die, if that's what you're asking," I said.

I'll get her back. No matter what it takes.

Alexander stilled and watched me for a long moment, then backed away, slowly. He picked up his whiskey glass and took a sip.

"Anna was never supposed to leave this club by herself," he said.

"You wanted to have her shadowed?"

"If the situation allowed it, yes."

"Wait, you put a tracking device on her?"

Alexander smiled. "Of course. There was always the possibility that she would use a portal." The smile faded. "Anna might be in grave danger."

I ran a hand through my hair. "You think the Death Squad is on to her?"

"I am not talking about the Circle's pack of witches, Varner. A one-thousand-year-old vampire is walking through the streets of my territory – most certainly with the intention of harming me and what is mine."

I stared at him blankly. My mind flashed back to the Asian vamp Anna and I had tracked in the Red Zone.

"What the hell's going on? And who's this vamp you're talking about?"

Alexander stared at me with the stillness of a true predator. "My maker. His name is Vladislav."

I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Really. Vladislav as in Vlad? Isn't that a bit-"

"Whatever you think you know about Vlad the Impaler is irrelevant. You can rest assured Mr. Varner, you know nothing of my maker and what he is capable of doing. He thinks himself above all rules or laws, even in vampiric society. His power and age grant him a certain degree of invulnerability, even though he is hated and feared by the vampiric aristocracy."

I shook my head. "So what, you're saying this vamp's going after Anna?"

Alexander set down the whiskey glass. "He already has."

I started. "Come again?"

"Anna undoubtedly went rogue, but she could not remember how she turned."

I cursed. "You believe Vladislav messed with her mind?"

Alexander nodded. "If she lost part of her memories, it means Vladislav got into her mind before she went rogue. It complicates our situation in more than one way."

"What does that mean? Spell it the fuck out."

"I suspect Vladislav was in her head at least once before, a few weeks ago when we were in Italy. Presumably it was just for a few moments, but it was enough to severe the bond I and Anna shared. What do you think he could do if he had more than just a few moments?"

Bond. Alexander said bond. So Anna really had been his-

The meaning of what he said sank in. My eyes snapped to the head vampire.

"You mean he messed with her? That she might be under his... thrall? Under his control?"

"Hypothetical, but entirely possible."

I cursed. "Why the fuck did you let her go? You shouldn't have let her go!"

Alexander didn't move but something in his blue eyes was in motion. Alive.

"I can't hold her prisoner. Not the way she is now. If she used all her powers now, I would not be able to hold her."

Zack reappeared beside the head vampire. "We got a signal and located her."

Something in the head vampire's eyes moved and lit up. "Where?"

Zack's eyes flashed to me, then went back to the head vamp. "In front of Victor Crawford's mansion."