Half Blood Rising

I must have passed out for a good few minutes, because when I came around, I was lying on a large table, seeing gleaming yellow eyes that definitely didn't belong to someone who'd come to my rescue. My entire body was stiff, and dull pain was spreading everywhere. Even my throat felt like I'd swallowed razorblades, but it was probably from dehydration. I sensed magic slowly drifting around me.

"Fae are common, silly creatures who think they are better than us. I don't want to touch that unworthy piece of scum." A male voice reached me, but whoever was speaking was mumbling, so I could barely understand him. On top of everything, he had a strange accent.

Memories floated inside my mind as I sat up, and the warlock appeared in front of me, then I realised that the scary eyes I'd seen belonged to him.

"What the "

I couldn't even finish my question, because then I realised he had fangs. I was wrong... I'd been so wrong-he wasn't a warlock at all, but another vampire. He lunged for me before I could even anticipate wha he was trying to do, sinking his disgusting fangs into my neck.

It was all too much, the agonising pain paralysed me, and as he started drinking my blood, I became lost. Nothing else mattered; my limbs went numb instantly, as I drifted into a state of oblivion. I'd been weakened earlier, and now I had no strength left within me to fight him.

At least the craving for blood was slowly fading, but then I heard a whisper. I didn't want to listen when it told me I couldn't just give up. This vampire was draining my inner essence.

I didn't want to listen to the annoying voice inside my head. I just needed that vampire to keep drinking from me, to take all my energy so I didn't have to worry about anything else. Then the whisper became louder and louder, and I realised I had to keep fighting, that I couldn't just give up.

An image of Ramona and Lachlan rolled through my mind. They seemed happy and I didn't care anymore. Sometime later, I roared out in anger and kicked my oppressor between his legs, not even knowing where this added strength had come from. Everything was slowly coming back to me. He instantly pulled away, screaming and cursing.

Straight after, he struck me in the face, throwing a knock-out punch. I was done after that-done and dusted.

As I awoke the second time, I was immersed in darkness, in even more pain, and inside something that resembled a cage. My head was banging, and there was dried blood all over my neck. The wound was fresh. It stung, and I should have healed by now, so that meant I was still charmed.

"How long have I been gone?" A strong female voice startled me from out of nowhere.

I struggled but managed to pick myself up off the dirty floor. The vampires used some sort of old charm to break me down, and then one of them fed on me. I could hardly move, everything hurt. "Where are you?" I asked, trying to locate the voice. "I can't see you." I was still disoriented, trying to figure out why I'd missed the fact the warlock was a vampire, and why he'd drunk my blood. My inner energy rose slowly, but something seemed to be blocking it. Who I'd thought was a warlock, (now a vampire like I'd never seen before), had spellbound me and it had complicated things.

"To the right, I'm also in a cage," the voice added, and then to my right, I saw a flickering light. The vampires must have given her a lamp. I rolled my eyes, thinking that this was ridiculous. She was obviously Dorothy the daughter of the councillor.

My mind was working backwards, while I was trying to remember all the events of the previous evening. That ancient vampire had hypnotised me. Even he'd insinuated I was half-vampire and half-fae. Maybe he was right. Nothing made much sense to me anymore, but now I was stuck here, and no one from the team knew I'd been caught.

"Right, I can see you now," I said. "How are you doing?"

I closed my eyes, trying to breathe in, blocking out the pain and my own frustrating voice. I was healing slowly, but the internal charm was blocking most of my abilities. It was going to take longer than I'd anticipated to feel more like myself. The ancient vampire had lured me here, and now I realised he'd been talking about me when he'd mentioned a ransom. Ramona must have made some sort of deal with them.

"I'm all right, don't worry about me," she answered. "They've been treating me better than expected." She seemed fine, and all the research Karina had done on her was accurate. Her energy was still powerful and rich. Every supernatural had an aura, and most often, I could read them well. Dorothy's aura was intense and colourful. She must have been right; the vampires hadn't harmed her at all. To them, she was valuable.

"Good, because you'll be getting out of here soon enough. The ancient vamps want me instead of you," I told her, finally catching up with my thoughts.

I had to heal quickly time was running out. I must have been knocked out for several hours. I suspected no one from my team even cared I was missing. Who knew what the ancient vampires wanted to do with me next? It turned out I'd become someone's experiment, an experiment that was meant to fail. And afterwards, I'd been tossed on the streets to die... but, I'd survived, and only ended up with no recollection of who I was. At some point, someone was going to pay. I wanted revenge.

She came closer to the cage and grabbed the metal bars, staring at me. The dim light exposed her beautiful face. She had several fresh-looking scars sweeping down the side of her cheeks. Well, she'd probably lied about not being harmed. The ancient dude was probably torturing her, too.

"What? You're wrong. They won't just swap me. Leonidius wants to gain influence over the admission board, and now because he has me, he's gained leverage over my father," she said, sounding angry. "You need to get out of here, you must be valuable to them, too. If you escape, then you can pass a message to my father and the council."

I was confused. She didn't seem to be happy about the fact she would be leaving this place in one piece. No one apart from the ancient vampires cared about some rogue girl who might have been created illegally. Dorothy was much more important, and I still wanted to get her out of here alive, even if it meant I had to sacrifice myself in the process.

"A few weeks ago, I accidentally overheard a conversation with a few mages, and how they were upset about the admission selection into the Elite," I said, trying to figure out if her kidnapping had something to do with the meeting in the basement of the pub. "They wanted to help someone get in, someone who wasn't supposed to be there."

"That's why you need to do everything in your power to escape," she said, shaking the bars like she was prepared to bend them with her magic. There was no way I was leaving here without her. I couldn't tell her I was part of the team from Moonlight who'd come to rescue her.

"So, what do you have in mind?" I asked, knowing that, soon enough, my strength would return. The vampires had confiscated my knife, but I didn't need it. Being close to her kind of helped. She was strengthening my core, not even knowing it. I was certain that other vampires didn't have this kind of ability-Dorothy was special.

"We need to make them talk...

She was smart and quick with her thoughts, her plan made sense, but I wasn't sure what the ancients were planning to do with either of us. There was also Ramona. I had a feeling she'd been working for the enemy this entire time. At the same time, I couldn't comprehend how she'd managed to fool Oldman, too. The principal was smart, and she trusted Lachlan. Something wasn't adding up.

I listened, waiting and wondering if we would be able to pull this off. I had to get Dorothy out of here and bring her safely to headquarters. No one would doubt me after that, and I truly wanted to expose Ramona and Lachlan's betrayal. They were trying to jeopardise the entire mission, possibly even the school itself.

We waited all night, well, I wanted to presume it was still night-time outside. It would be difficult to figure out if it was night or day, until we escaped these cages.

***

"I need to speak to Leonidas," Dorothy said when one of the shifters showed up several hours later.

My wounds were healing, but the process was taking longer than I'd expected. The ancient spell was still blocking all my abilities. Damn it. I didn't have time for this.

Dorothy told me it was advanced magic, that the vampires weren't using warlocks to do their dirty work for them. They were smart.

"I'll see what I can do," the shifter answered abruptly, and then locked the cage. He'd brought her blood, and I was given something that resembled a meal. It was too dark to see, but I needed my strength, so I ate it. The food wasn't too bad. Time was dragging by, and I wanted to know what was going on. Five minutes later, we were finally alone again. Leonidas, another ancient vampire, was planning something tha had to do with the Elite.

"Okay, he's gone, so what now?" I asked Dorothy as I paced around the cage like an animal.

"Now we wait, and don't worry, he doesn't have much patience, so he'll be here," she answered, sounding confident. My stomach growled, but this time, it wasn't from hunger. I didn't feel right for some reason, and I needed answers. I wanted to know what that ancient vampire had done to me.

After several more minutes, we were both pacing around, waiting. The same shifter returned an hour later and he opened our cages. Then several lights flicked on, and I realised the vampires hadn't moved us anywhere we were still in the same abandoned building. Dorothy was a strong vampire, and maybe our plan wasn't perfect, but it could work.

"Come on, you two, they are waiting for you," the shifter said. He was short and stocky with a lot of facial hair. Dorothy was much taller than him, and even when she was walking next to me, she was doing so with extreme elegance. I needed to get my hands on a sword, because draining a full-blooded vampire was going to be much more difficult considering the condition I was in. Either way, this had to work. I couldn't return to headquarters empty-handed, defeated, without proof of Ramona's or even Pretty Boy's guilt.

We were taken to an even larger hall, but this one was filled with old rusty machines that had seen better days. However, instead of Leonidas, we were brought in front of three other shifters. They were wearing suits and talking in Russian amongst each other.

"Adonis, what the hell is this? I specifically asked to see the ancient," Dorothy said. She looked pissed off, and my own blood boiled.

"Master is busy, so he might see you later," the stocky shifter answered and then just walked away. We were outnumbered. I doubted I could take care of the three of them, considering my current state. "What did you want to speak to Leonidas about?" one of the shifters asked, approaching Dorothy. His English wasn't great, and he had a thick Russian accent.

"Challenge the one who looks the most intelligent, and I'll take care of the other two," I heard a voice inside my head.

I glanced at Dorothy, feeling empowered. I'd heard of this ability and read about it in books, but I never thought vampires could actually communicate with each other through mind-speak. In that moment, I felt like I was in a trance. She must have done something to me, feeding me with her energy, because I suddenly felt invincible. The pain I'd felt was finally gone.

"I bet you've never fought a half-blood. Why don't you show me how well you use that sword of yours?" I shouted at the shifter who was watching Dorothy. She was already hypnotising the other two as they approached. We didn't have much time; the lower floor was filled with ancient vampires. They all worked for Leonidas, but I needed to make sure I could get her out of here alive and in one piece. Adonis had probably brought us here without the ancients' knowledge. Maybe he had a soft spot for Dorothy.

"I don't fight little girls, get lost," the shifter answered, spitting on the floor. He glanced at the other two shifters and cursed in Russian.

He was close to me, so I didn't wait and attacked, kicking him squarely in the chest as my strength returned. He went flying across the room, then crashed to the floor. I glanced at my sparkling hands, confused and baffled. My own abilities had exceeded my expectations once again.

"Finish him, before the others realise what's going on," Dorothy told me, completely controlling the other two shifters. She was good, and together, we were leaving this damn building whether she was ready or not.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐