M&L03 - SS (30 page)

“Thank you both for coming on
such short notice,” Danarius began, and we inclined our heads. “I’ll get right
to the point so we can all get back to the stadium before the final
hand-to-hand match begins.” His dark eyes focused on me. “I know you can seal
this world off and prevent anyone from coming or going. Can you do that with
other worlds as well?”

I was surprised by the
question and looked to Dragon before answering. We usually tried to hide the
extent of my magic when it came to security matters. Dragon nodded so I
answered Danarius honestly.

“Theoretically, I could seal
off any world; it would simply be a matter of finding the right spells. This
world is very small with only one weak spot between realms. Therefore, it is
already sealed off from outside worlds. I just have to prevent anyone from
opening portals. The human world on the other hand, is very large and not only
has thin spots in its barriers, but also several gateways that anyone with
enough supernatural blood could pass through at will. Closing it off would take
very strong magic and a multitude of spells that would take me years, if not
decades to perfect.”

Danarius sat forward with his
forearms resting on his thighs and his hands clasped between his knees. “What
about the shadow demon realm?”

Now that was an interesting
question, especially considering who was asking it. The shadow demon realm was
the only known world where caprius plants could be found. The seemingly
innocuous plants were beautiful with their multicolored flowers but it was the
oil found in their stems that kept them in high demand. Caprius oil was the
main ingredient in Oblivion.

Again, I looked to Dragon and
he nodded. “I’ve studied the shadow demon realm at length and I believe its
natural barriers would do most of the work for me. Only pure blood
supernaturals and very powerful sorcerers have enough magic to cross over into
the shadow demon realm. A second barrier that requires human blood would keep
the pure bloods out and I have a few spells in mind to deal with the other
sorcerers. Everything I need to shut down the shadow demon realm has been in
place for decades now.”

“Considering how you and your
people feel about Oblivion, why haven’t you asked Solomon to cast his spells?”
Danarius asked Dragon.

“The political fallout would
be too devastating. The drug is too popular in the supernatural community for
me to simply cut off its supply without any backing from the other leaders.
Hell, even my own people use it when they’re away from our territories. And I
don’t have a problem with that so long as it doesn’t fall into human hands.”

“What if there were plans to
use Oblivion against the humans to take over their world? Would you give the
order then; consequences be damned?”

“If the rumored plans had any
chance of coming to fruition, then yes, I would have Solomon seal off the
shadow demon realm. But those plans would require large amounts of Oblivion to
orchestrate, and I’m told the shadow demons make it nearly impossible to
harvest the caprius plants with any kind of regularity. One trip usually only
yields a few plants.”

“That’s true,” Danarius
agreed. “Shadow demons are ruthless killers and they don’t approve of anyone
stealing their sacred caprius plants, but someone has found a way to get around
them. The plants are now being harvested by the truckload.”

Dragon and I both sat
forward, startled by the alarming news.

“How long has this been going
on?” Dragon demanded to know.

Danarius raised an eyebrow,
but answered, “It’s only just begun, but by my estimates, they will have enough
plants to carry out their plans by the end of the month.”

“Who exactly are they, and
what exactly are their plans?” Dragon’s eyes were glowing red, but not quite
flaming.

“If we are going to work
together, you will need to control that temper of yours,” Danarius quietly
informed Dragon. “I am not one of your subjects. As a Master Vampire, I command
nearly as many souls as you do. You will give me the respect I am due, or I
will walk out that door and leave the human world to its fate.”

My phone vibrated in my
pocket, but I ignored it and waited for Dragon to rein in his anger. Slowly,
the red faded from his eyes, leaving his usual warm brown in its place.

“My apologies,” Dragon said
with an acquiescing motion of his hand. “Would you care to elaborate on this
disturbing news?”

Danarius smirked. “But of
course, that was my reason for requesting this meeting after all.” His face
hardened as he continued, “The interracial summit you’ve been planning will
never take place. The councilors who followed Travali in the old council are
only going through the motions to keep you from looking too closely at their
operations. They told you they were horrified by Travali’s plans to unleash
blood-crazed vampires on the human world, but in reality, many of them are
growing stables of their own for just that purpose.”  

“Are they out of their
minds?” I interrupted. “The humans out number us twenty to one and they’re not
going to take an attack of that kind laying down. Between their military and
police forces, and their ability to walk in the daylight, they could easily
wipe us out, or drive us from their world for good.”

“They plan to cause worldwide
chaos by taking out military leaders and government officials from all the
major countries using Oblivion. After that, they will release the blood-crazed
vampires into the major cities.” Danarius told us solemnly.

I marveled at the capacity
for evil within the supernatural community. Then I pictured the White House and
the Pentagon overrun by sex-crazed maniacs. Images of blood-drenched streets
swam through my mind and I had to shake my head to clear it.

“How long would it take you
to get your spells up and running Solomon?”  Dragon asked, his face a mask of
stone cold determination. No matter what kind of fallout this decision brought
down on our heads he wasn’t going to back down from this particular fight. The
human realm was our home and we weren’t going to allow anyone to start a war
between us and the humans.

“No more than a few days,” I
promised.

“Good. Get started right away
and keep me updated on your progress.”

“If I may,” Danarius said to
Dragon before I could stand to leave. “I have reason to believe you were right
all along. Sergio is not the faithful servant I thought him to be. He will use
his maze to assassinate me, and possibly you if given the opportunity. Your
sorcerer should be there to watch your back.”

Dragon inclined his head to
the vampire. “I need you to remain in the stadium until Sergio’s maze has been
completely dissolved. Counter any spells that you feel go beyond the normal for
this type of competition. Protect me as you normally would, but keep Danarius
safe as well. He just might be our most valuable ally in the coming war. As a
further precaution, shut down all portals leading into or out of this realm
until after tonight’s competition.”

I stood and fisted my hand
over my heart, then bowing slightly to Dragon, I said “Yes, My Lord,” before
taking my leave.

The two leaders were
discussing the economic consequences of their decision when I left the room. As
the largest distributor of Oblivion in the United States, Danarius stood to
lose a significant portion of his revenue. It said something about his
character, that he wanted the shadow demon realm sealed off even with the
possibility of financial ruin hanging over his head. Many of our people were
skeptical of the vampire and his motives, but I was starting to believe he was
on the up and up.

I decided to make a quick
stop at my apartment to pick up some extra supplies before I shut down the
portals. I’d known there might be trouble during the finales, but now I
suspected it might have a capital T. If Sergio was conspiring with the other
councilors and they knew Danarius was on to them, then he would come at the
vampire with guns blazing. Without Danarius in charge, his vampire nation would
splinter and the resulting factions would be unlikely to aide us in a war
against the mostly demon opposition.

The marksmanship finale was
just coming to an end when I finally made it back to my seat. Lucien had taken
top honors for the first time in ten years and Liliana seemed to be riding his
high as she rushed off to meet him in the locker rooms below.

A quick look around told me
that Renee and Katerina were both absent, and when I thought about it, I hadn’t
seen Doyle since the night before when I’d sent him to the lake.

Where the hell was everyone?

Then I remembered the text I
received during the meeting with Dragon and Danarius. The text was from Renee,
explaining that she’d gone somewhere with Katerina. I wondered what could be so
important that it couldn’t wait until after the tournament was over. I
concentrated on the bond, but the only thing I got from Renee was annoyance,
which I chalked up to her having to miss all the excitement.

With the women at least
somewhat accounted for, I wondered again about Doyle. I asked several of our
friends seated in the area if they had seen or heard from him, but they all
just shook their heads. His unexpected absence was a complete mystery. I sent
him a text, asking him to check in when he got it, and then asked Rook to have
some of the security staff try to locate him.

Having time to kill, I played
a few games on my phone and waited
for the final match to
begin.

~ Solomon ~

Rivers of molten lava poured
from the ground, bubbling up through hundreds of cracks and crevices. The lava
built upon itself to form the walls and tunnels of the final maze. Once the
labyrinth reached the lowest level of seating, the lava continued to flow but
rather than adding height to the maze, it ran off in trenches and pooled in the
various chambers. Tendrils of smoke and steam spiraled into the air, rising
from nearly every surface of the maze.

The maze was impressive and
drew several gasps from members of the audience, but it was also unexpected
since the prey for this round was another fire demon. We usually designed the
mazes to even the odds between the prey and the competitors. This maze would
not only enhance the demon’s ability to wield fire, but it would also drain
Danarius with the blistering heat that could be felt even in the stands. Thankfully,
Dragon could make himself nearly impervious to heat and flames by covering his
human body with dragon scales.

A portal opened and the fire
demon emerged on the far side of the maze. He took off without hesitation and
moved quickly through the maze, clearly energized by his surroundings. He raced
through the corridors like he’d been given a map, never once taking a route
that came to a dead end.

The competitors entered the
maze and immediately began searching for their prey. They prowled quietly through
the narrow passageways, but unlike the fire demon, they spent most of their
time backtracking after taking one wrong turn after another. Of course, their
sense of direction might have worked a little better had the tunnels and
corridors not been changing position every few seconds.

Several minutes into the
match, Danarius ran into the first trap. He came to a tattered old rope bridge
with most of its wooden planks broken or missing. I noticed there were runes
carved into many of the planks and wished I had a way to warn Danarius before
he made a deadly mistake. He’d never hear me from this distance though. No
matter how loud I screamed, my voice would be drowned out by the rest of the
audience cheering and shouting advice of their own.

Danarius tested the strength
of the bridge, stomping and jumping a few times before starting out to cross
it. As he crept slowly towards the other side, I watched closely. Magic built
in the air as he stepped on one rune after the next, and I knew something very
unpleasant was coming. When he was only a few feet from the other side, he
stepped down and his foot went right through one of the planks. The instant
that broken plank hit the lava below, a fountain of liquid fire rose up and
barely missed Danarius as he scrambled for the other side. The bridge turned to
ash but the vampire reached his goal with only a few minor burns that were
healed by the time he caught his breath.

As the match continued,
Danarius narrowly escaped one pitfall after another. He had to dodge flaming
arrows, best a phantom assailant, and jump through a wall of flames. Most
people would say all of that was to be expected during the final match of the
tournament, but I could see the spells before they were triggered. Sergio’s
magic wasn’t as transparent as most, so I couldn’t always tell what the spells
would do, but I knew exactly where they were located. The shifting corridors
kept Dragon from running into anything dangerous including the prey, while they
put Danarius on the path to disaster time and time again.

About half an hour after the
match began, Dragon was clearly tired of his fruitless wandering. He came to
yet another dead end, but rather than turn back around, he launched himself
into the air. Usually that would be considered cheating, but it was clear to
everyone that he was intentionally being kept away from the action. He kept his
human form except for his arms, which became the powerful wings of his dragon.
He was only in the air for a handful of seconds but it was long enough. He spotted
his prey and angled his body to fly in that direction.

Just before Dragon landed
behind the fire demon, Danarius turned a corner and came face to face with his
prey. Half a second later, he ducked back around the corner to avoid being
burned to a crisp. While the fire demon held Danarius back with a stream of
fire, Dragon snuck up behind him. The Dragon King landed a kick that sent the
demon flying into the nearest wall. He recovered quickly and turned to face
Dragon with flames covering most of his body. The two of them traded blows for
a while, punching and kicking as their furious growls echoed through the
stadium.

The fiery display of skill
continued for so long that the crowd grew restless. Many of the spectators rose
to their feet, shouting and cursing, unable to contain their excitement or
their thirst for blood. They called for the demon’s head and they were
eventually given exactly what they asked for - just not the way they thought it
would happen.

The flames began to die down
as the fire demon’s strength waned. Not even surrounded by molten lava could he
sustain the raging fire indefinitely. That was when Danarius found his opening.
He’d been waiting nearby, watching intently for just the right moment to
strike.

The fire demon went sailing down
the corridor after being thrown by Dragon. He smashed into a wall and then
quickly regained his feet. When he turned to face the Dragon King again,
Danarius was there instead. The vampire swiped his claws across the fire
demon’s throat. The demon wrapped his hands around his own throat as blood
gushed from the wound. Danarius took full advantage of the demon’s distraction
by grasping his head and twisting with all his might.

I felt it a second before the
demon’s head was wrenched from his body. I shouted, trying to stop Danarius,
but it was already too late. Magic flared dark and sinister the instant the
fire demon lost his head. Less than a heartbeat later, the ground fell out from
beneath Dragon’s feet and he disappeared down a deep, dark hole. At the same
moment, the lava rock forming the maze began to liquefy from the base of the
walls up. Danarius jumped on top of a wall, but he was quickly surrounded by a
sea of molten lava. He desperately searched for an escape route but there was
none to be found.

I tried everything I could
think of but my magic couldn’t touch him or Dragon. I wasn’t even sure Dragon
was still in the stadium, although I was almost certain he was still in this
world. After all, I’d done as ordered and shut down all portals except for
those leading elsewhere in this dimension. When the vampire’s island of safety
was almost completely melted, I had to give up and ask for help.

“Rook, you have to reset
time!” I shouted to the time demon a few rows in front of me. He and Angela
were both trying to keep Serafina from diving in after her mate.

Rook turned his swirling
silver eyes to me and growled, “There’s something blocking me.”

Dread filled me, making every
breath seem like an impossible chore. If Sergio managed to take out Dragon and
Danarius at the same time, our world would be thrown into chaos.

An ear-piercing screech drew
my attention and I looked up to see a red dragon with a black underbelly diving
towards Danarius. It wasn’t our king, but the beast was a welcome sight,
especially when it snatched Danarius from his shrinking perch just before it
disappeared completely.

As the last bit of lava rock
was swallowed by the fiery abyss, all eyes were focused on the spot where
Dragon had gone missing. Where was he? Was he buried beneath this ocean of
liquid fire? Would he be able to escape? Had he been transported to an entirely
different location?

We barely had time to worry
because a few seconds after Danarius was rescued, the enormous black dragon we
all knew as our king came up through the boiling lava like a rocket being sent
to the moon. He twisted through the air, shaking off the thick, fiery liquid
before it could cool and solidify on his body and wings. The crowd went
absolutely ballistic, cheering for their beloved king. I breathed a sigh of
relief and glanced up at the sorcerer’s booth to confirm what I already knew.
Sergio was long gone, having already made his escape.

Dragon landed beside Serafina
on his human feet and she threw her arms around his neck, sobbing hard enough
that her breathing was erratic. He tried to console her, but nothing he said or
did seemed to have any effect.

“Solomon!”

I heard my name but I wasn’t
sure who called it. Scanning the crowd, I finally spotted Claire waving her
arms in the air. When she knew she had my attention, she mouthed, “Get us out
of here.”

She was right of course. The
crowd was closing in on Dragon and Serafina fast. Its members were only seeking
comfort after such a close call, but Serafina’s well-being had to come first.
Plus, there was always the chance that Sergio had something else planned that
hadn’t yet been triggered.

I opened a portal beside the
royal couple and Dragon swept Serafina up into his arms. They disappeared
first, followed by Rook, Angela and Claire. I closed the portal quickly before
anyone else could follow, and then wrapped a portal around myself. When I came
out on the other side, Serafina was laying on the sofa with Dragon kneeling
beside her. There were several burns on his body where not even dragon scales
could protect him, but at the rate they were healing they’d be gone within the
hour. I’d sent them to their suite, thinking it would be quiet and well
protected - the perfect place for Serafina to regain control of her emotions. A
moment after I arrived, Rook came from the bedroom with some clothes, which he
handed to Dragon.

While Dragon slipped them on,
he asked, “Did Danarius make it out alive?”

“Yes,” Claire answered.
“Katherine swooped in and saved him.”

Everyone looked as stunned as
I was but only I asked, “That dragon was Katerina?” Normally we would have
recognized the dragon and known who it was, but aside from the glimpse we had
earlier that night, it had been hundreds of years since any of us had seen
Katerina in her animal form.

“Of course it was,” Claire
replied simply, as if we all should have known that already.

I could tell everyone else
found the news surprising, knowing how Katerina felt about vampires, but I was
taken aback for an entirely different reason. Renee’s text said she was with
Katerina. So if Kat was close enough to know Danarius was in trouble, then
Renee should have been in the stadium too. I concentrated on the bond and
realized I could barely feel Renee. She was alive, but it felt like she was
sleeping somewhere far away - not in this dimension. Knowing there was only one
way to leave this realm I started to wrap a portal around myself.

“Wait!” Rook demanded,
grabbing my arm. I went to shake off his hold but time froze and it was only me
and him - everyone else was immobilized. “What’s wrong and where are you
going?”

Knowing I either had to
answer or spend the rest of eternity stuck in this moment, I told him, “I got a
text from Renee earlier saying she was with Katerina, but now I’m sure she
didn’t send it herself. I think she’s been taken by someone and they left
through the weak spot behind the waterfall.”

His face darkened with anger.
“I just tried to lock onto Renee and I couldn’t. Whatever was blocking me in
the arena is blocking me from helping her too.”

“I’m going to find her.” I
started to wrap a portal around myself again.

“Go to the lobby first,” Rook
insisted. “I’ll find Grayson and have him meet you there. As a sorcerer and a
time demon, he might be able to help you undo Sergio’s spells. He’s also pretty
good in combat, especially for his age and lack of formal training.”

I inclined my head and he
released his hold on time just as I disappeared from the room.

Down in the lobby I paced in
a tight circle, impatiently waiting for Grayson to arrive. When he finally did
show up, it felt like I’d been waiting for hours when in reality it had likely
only been a few minutes.

Grayson came to a stop in
front of me. “Rook filled me in. Lead the way.”  

“Stay close and keep quiet.
When we come out on the other side I’ll wrap the shadows around both of us in
case anyone is there waiting.”

Grayson nodded and I opened a
portal. The narrow cave behind the waterfall was deserted, but it was obvious
someone had been there recently. Smoke still lingered in the air and the ground
was littered with rubble. Someone had blown a gaping hole in the barrier
between this world and the fire demon realm.

Coming out of the shadows I
told Grayson, “I’m going in. If you’re coming with me, know that I don’t intend
to leave anyone who helped kidnap Renee alive.”

“I understand, and I would do
the same in your shoes.”

“Wait!”

Grayson and I both spun
around to see Jasper coming out of the shadows.

Grayson narrowed his eyes on
the other man. “What are you doing here Jasper?”

“I followed Rachel here when
she left with that fire demon,” he replied in a rush, holding his hands in front
of him like he thought one of us might hurt him.

Grayson jerked as if he’d
been struck. Then he opened his mouth to speak.

“Which fire demon?” I asked,
cutting off whatever else Grayson was about to ask.