Please enjoy a sneak peek of Marcel’s story, which is now available. VB xx
Marcel of The Lone Mountains.A Vampyre’s story by Veronica BlackChapter OneMarcel’s POV“Open your eyes and watch, boy.” My father snarls through gritted teeth, spittle flies from his taught lips into my face. He roughly grabs the loosely tied pony tail at the back of my head and wrenches my head back, which forces me to look up and watch the carnage unfolding in front of my eyes. My jaw tightens in frustration but I bite my tongue. I hate that he calls me ‘boy’. I haven’t been a boy for over a century, but he still looks down on me as if I am dirt beneath his boot and nothing more than a juvenile inconvenience. “This... is what we are. This... is what they made us. You can not fight nature son.” He shakes my head, pulling my hair out at its roots, as he aggressively makes his point.He is not wrong about not being able to fight nature, however, we are anything but natural. He continues his speech, the same one I have heard almost daily for decades. “They call us demon, devil, night walker, shadow reaper, but we would not be, were it not for their meddling.” The venom dripping from his words is putrid. He stands tall and firm in his conviction beside me, and contentedly watches the new-borns tear the unsuspecting coven apart. Women, cradling their children, run for their lives but are quickly caught and fed upon. This isn’t nature, it’s a massacre and I am one man, helpless to stop it.The children watch, wide eyed and wailing in terror before being bundled into waiting cages. They will be brought back to the castle and put to work until they are old enough to turn or grown enough to satiate the hunger that burns inside my kind.The infants are left to wither and succumb to the elements, mewling in their mother’s limp arms. They are too young to be of use and their blood barely worth the effort of a bite. Of all the cruel acts committed here this night, I believe that to be the worst. This is my father’s vision for our future, and if I remain here much longer it will be a legacy tied to my name too. He is determined to find a way of turning a witch, but his efforts have been fruitless thus far. I want no part of it.The newly turned recruits need to ‘cut their teeth’, is how he put it this afternoon. He believes these witches are descended from the ones who created, us and they are on the menu this evening. My father acknowledges no difference between these innocent men, women and children and the creators of Vampyres, my race. To him, they are all fair game and just as culpable.“They will pay with their blood and their family lines will end.” He sneers in my ear like a serpent.“So they must pay for the actions of their ancestors? What price will my descendants pay for your misdeeds I wonder?” I don’t usually speak out against my father and I have no desire to create a lineage of my own, but that is beside the point. He is deaf to any opposition and my efforts are always fruitless. Even as a child I knew I was different and I learned that to survive, I must at least appear to fit in in his dark world.I have chosen to turn a blind eye as often as possible. I only feed when I must, and even then, only from willing humans who know exactly what I am. Such humans are not easy to find but fortunately for me, my position in the clan affords me certain freedoms and privileges.The humans who seek us out and revere my father all wish to be turned, for reasons known only to them. I suspect many of them have fled impoverished living conditions or have maladies with no known or reliable cure. Never one to miss an opportunity for exploitation, father keeps them as his pets. He tells them that if they are willing to serve us they will be rewarded for their loyalty. True to his word he has turned many, he has healed several others by feeding them his blood.His actions are not philanthropic, rather they serve only to fuel the fire and keep the rumour mill grinding, Blackledge is the sanctuary of the damned. The Vampires he creates are lesser in strength and resilience and far more unpredictable and savage in nature. I believe his appetite for the kill passes to his creations, but it is not a theory I have explored, nor do I intend to. No matter the reason for their inherent wildness, they are a liability and our future already teeters on a knife edge.The humans who seek out immortality hear the stories of average men gaining the speed and strength of a god, they suffer no illness or frailties, heal from near death, and live a splendid life in the notorious Blackledge Castle. It’s a fairy-tale my father perpetuates to bring him more willing sacrificial lambs. “Like moths to the flame.” He chortles over his drink every time a new one arrives.When he hears whispers of dissent and that faith in his promise is growing weak, he will turn an unlucky few and put them to work in his raiding parties. For him, there is no downside. Blood without the risk of the hunt, although he constantly complains about missing the thrill, and a seemingly unlimited supply of foot soldiers for his invasions and raids.My father is the head of our clan, he calls himself ‘Lord of the Shadow Reapers’, feeding into the human hysteria and absolute fear of our kind. I have no doubt that the reputation he has built is the sole driving force of the hunting parties that seek to destroy every one of my kind.The fact that he took my Grandfather’s title and land after prematurely ending his life, is a bone of contention between my parents, and many of the tenant farmers close to the borders do not recognise his authority. They do recognise my mother’s birth right and my father is well aware that she is the only reason there has not been an uprising. He would never admit it, but we need the harvest and meat from the farms just as much as the farmers need his protection. It has become a multi generational stale mate.The witches terrified screams fill the cool night air and pull me away from my thoughts of what has led up to this moment. I don’t have to strain to hear them, and the sound of tearing flesh sets my teeth on edge. We need to feed, that is in our nature, but the barbaric practices of my father and his ‘cullings’ as he calls them, are an atrocity in my eyes. As a being who has never lived, not in the conventional sense anyway, I find his blatant disregard for the sanctity of life abhorrent.My father, Halen, was one of the first. He tells the clan the story of his creation at every opportunity, using it as propaganda, firing up the clan for another culling. His speeches rile up the troops, glasses are thrust in the air in appreciation and admiration of their Lord and leader. The paintings on the walls of the banqueting hall rattle with cheers, and cries for witch blood. I will say one thing for him, he knows how to get them in line and singing from his hymn sheet.His creation is a story I could recount from my childhood word for word, but the truth has diminished and been replaced by ever more fanciful indulgences with each retelling. His curse is a punishment and his companions suffer with him. The High Priestess took their lives with a single word, then pulled their twisted souls out of the darkness and returned them to their bodies. Their already deranged minds became more twisted, their souls would never know peace and they would merely exist in a world where they didn’t truly belong.She made them reliant on the blood they so cruelly and unrelentingly spilled in their quest for notoriety and fortune. If they wanted to survive they had to feed on the blood of those who feared them. Halen embraced his curse, taking what was meant to be a disadvantage and using it to gain even more wealth and influence. I daresay that was not the Priestess’ intent when she worked her magic.I have given it much thought and our abilities make no sense. We are strong, fast, able to enter the minds of lesser beings and bend them to our will, heal and kill with our blood and our bite. What the Priestess created was an apex predator. Nothing adds up. Every time I think about it I get a bitter taste in my mouth, I have been fed a lie and I am determined to learn the truth of my existence.Halen has always been a monster. The kind of creature parents would tell their children stories about to scare them into obedience and keep them from wandering. He and the five men he travelled with from village to village were beasts of another kind. They pillaged, raped and reived their way across the land from coast to coast and back again. No village, farm, town or keep was spared... until they found Blackledge Creek, my home.The way he tells it, the group had acquired a hoard too vast to keep moving and they decided to settle and build an empire over which to rule. My mother tells it differently. She says that when the two of them met and instantly fell in love, he could not bring himself to leave her, so he convinced the others to remain and build a life in Blackledge. I find it hard to imagine my father being capable of loving anyone. There are times, when he believes no eyes are upon him, that he will let his mask slip and show my mother some semblance of the man he once was. Those instances are fewer and further between and my mother is more dismissive of his occasional affection than ever before.At first Halen and his men were welcomed with open arms and given food and shelter at the castle. My mother’s father, the landowner and highly regarded Lord Blackledge, wrongly assumed that the wealthy men passing through his land would bring opportunities for trade to his peaceful, secluded corner of the world.Lord Blackledge was delighted to observe the affections and attentions the leader of these men lavished on his only child, and he blindly welcomed the men into his home and at his table. That was the beginning of the end for my naive grandfather.I couldn’t tell you if Halen was looking for a place to hide from the repercussions of a life time of destruction, but the tale of events which unfold soon after meeting my mother tell me that he and his companions had stumbled into a powerful coven during his travels. Their actions brought the full force of the High Priestess’ might down upon them and their associates.My mother had long forgiven my father his past and the fact that their marriage meant she was cursed alongside him, but Halen continues to seek retribution for his perceived unjust punishment. He can’t see that his actions are doing more damage than the curse and my mother is at her wits end.This little hamlet has been on Halen's hit list for some time. As I watch the simple stone buildings being set alight, the woven thatch of one roof catches and carries the fire quickly from one dwelling to the next.m I know I can’t be the man he expects me to be.“I can see your disgust Marcel. You fool nobody by hiding in your chamber and deluding yourself. You won’t be able to outrun your hunger forever, feeding only from a handful of servants, it is your curse too. The sooner you accept it for what it is, the sooner you will know the inner peace you seek from your books and endless, pointless enquiries.” Halen snorts derisively and releases his grip on me when the last anguished cries fade. It is no secret that I escape reality by submerging myself in literature, but the regular visits of soothsayers, augurs, clergymen and oracles, I had believed to be undiscovered until now. My quest for the truth has hit a stone wall and I am directionless.If he had known I was exploring my options and looking for a way to rid myself of this god forsaken place, surely my guests would not have been allowed to leave the castle grounds alive. My father may have a low opinion of me but he never displays his contempt in public. His chastisement is delivered behind closed doors as to keep up the pretence of solidarity amongst the Vampyres. If he knew, I would have been punished, wouldn’t I?Even in our clan the class distinction is as apparent as it is amongst the humans. Halen, my mother Constance, Thebus, Damon, Alderon, Quintus, his wife Lydia, and Conon and his wife Glynnis, were all turned by the High Priestess. My grandfather and uncles were turned also, but my father put them out of their misery long before they became an obstacle to his desires. Many, many years later, decades in fact, I was born. My birth was followed by children of both Quintus and Lydia and Conon and Glynnis.My father proclaimed that all those born of pure blood would be called Vampyres, those created from humans would be known as Vampires. Though the two words sound the same when spoken, our written records would clearly distinguish between the pure of blood and the lesser of the species.Our entire history, weaknesses, strengths and deeds are painstakingly recorded in great detail in a specially commissioned, leather bound ledger that he has come to call ‘The Vampyre Chronicles.’ The Vampyre being referred to is himself, not the race as a whole. He is beginning to believe in his own legend and that is not good for anyone, myself included.By the time I reached the tender age of nine years old, the other pure blooded Vampyres had left Blackledge with the believed intention of expanding our empire and growing our numbers. Halen could not see that he was losing his grip on his empire. His comrades had no intention of living under his rule and formed clans to rival our own.The children like me, the ones I had grown up with, are now my enemies. Our clans are at war for land, battling for the richest and most densely populated villages and towns. To them they are nothing more than cattle, a herd to be left to multiply then culled when the need arises. The memories of seeing a culling for the first time nauseates me even now.The stench of blood makes my skin itch and my mouth water. The herbs and tonics I acquired from the medicine woman ran out days ago and my lust for blood grows stronger with each passing second. That is why Halen brought me here, to tempt me to feed. He often says that nothing happens in his castle that he is not aware of, I’m beginning to think it was more of a warning than the thinly veiled threat I always believed it to be.I have spent night after night wondering why Halen is so angry about our curse. He relishes in all of this, even before the curse he was a monster. It doesn’t make any sense to me. He is his own worst enemy. If he hadn’t gone on killing spree after killing spree, the humans and witches would not be as aware of us as they are. My father’s legend strikes fear in their hearts, and that fear has led to a desperate need for survival. They have found the Vampires’ weaknesses and more often than not they fight back. There have been many instances where Halen has lost the majority of his men, which only fuels his anger and breeds more rage inside him.I think that is what angers him more than anything. His own actions have backed him into a corner and he is fighting a losing battle. Unable to see his own faults he blames the witches, they caused his creations to be weak, they feed the fear amongst the humans, they teach them how to fight back, it’s all them, and he will not hear anything else.The ground is soaked with blood and I have to tread carefully around discarded bodies or else lose my footing. I know not where I am going, but I cannot stand and watch as the children who tried to run for their lives are rounded up and caged with the rest.I stop walking when I reach a building which is set back from the others. The large spruce planks of the doors are held together with thick wrought-iron straps and crudely forged nails. They are not like anything I have ever seen in such a small settlement.My fingers mindlessly trace the rough lines of the runes which have been carefully carved into each stone block that forms the doorway. A rush of understanding and cautious excitement comes over me. This is their sacred place, a church of sorts.It is not just any church. I recognise the sigil carved into the top most stone. I have seen this marking before in the chronicles. It is the mark of the High Priestess Hikura, the one responsible for my father’s curse and my current plight. I was forced to come here tonight, and now I wonder if fate had a hand in bringing me to this place. Are the answers here? Slaughtering Hikura’s people is not likely to win any favours from the Priestess, I need to break away from my clan or I will be pulled down with them.Chapter TwoConstance’s POV With the raiding party away, a rare calmness has come over the castle. I often find myself eagerly awaiting their departure so I can let down my guard and just be. This place is the only home I have ever known. I grew up within these walls and every room, every portrait and piece of furniture is attached to a memory of my life before, though it feels less and less like my sanctuary as Halen continues to fill it with his experiments.He says we are all one clan, the vampires he creates are family and that his creations will assure our safety and our place in the world. I know he believes every word he speaks but I can not get a moments peace with them around. I am constantly on edge, waiting for one of them to go feral and kill the human pets Halen keeps around for us to feed upon. He is adamant it will not happen again, but I have quickly learned that his belief in something doesn’t make it so.The dining hall is my second favourite room and as I walk ar
Liberty’s POV“We will cross that bridge if we come to it.” Christian is here, his voice carries a bit of a warning and a lot of fear. I can hear his words but feel like maybe it’s a dream, or a memory. His presence, regardless of form, soothes me.The salinity of Marcels blood wakes my taste buds, and my mind slowly rouses further. It’s definitely not a memory. Not a conventional one anyway. I have taken the place of Luna Serephena and my mother in my vision. Everything has come full circle and I’m laying here on the damp forest floor being fed the same blood that once sustained my mother, and in turn, me.I’m surprised to notice the blood trickling past my lips is cold, tepid at best. I didn’t think it would be cool on my tongue. I mean, I never really gave much thought at all to what blood would taste or feel like, but I certainly would have expected it to be warm. I tentatively swallow as more of the life sustaining liquid pools around my teeth and gums then slides down my throat,
Lottie’s POVRosaline warned me that coming home would be overwhelming and my ties to this place and the land, would be empowering. I believed every word she said, but I didn’t realise how much more power I would have access to just by being back on home turf. I can feel it moving under the ground, spreading from root to root until it channels up through the earth and into me, its willing conduit. I think some of what just happened was probably fear and survival instinct, but it’s not like I was just lighting candles from across the room like I did under Rosaline’s guidance.I’m telling you, those flames must have been ten feet high. I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked in a mirror and saw that I have no eyebrows or eyelashes. My powers might be impressive to an onlooker, but I find them intimidating, especially after the couple of mishaps I had back at the beach house. The less said about that the better. I’m not sure I’ll ever live it down, and I don’t doubt my brothers will hear all
Marcel’s POVI never expected to find a true friend in Liberty. It’s hard to admit to myself, but things would be easier if I had kept a degree of separation.I thought I would watch from the side lines, oversee my plan, and make sure it unfolds as expected.There is something about her that makes it impossible not to be drawn in, she has a kind of inescapable gravity about her. It’s not her beauty, at least not for me. Nor is it her warm, friendly and inviting personality. I know that is what a lot of people ramble on about when they say they are drawn to someone.It’s more primal than that. She is the first soul I have felt a real connection with in many years. When I first arrived here, I had assumed our connection was due to what happened with her mother when she was carrying her, but this transcends even blood.She is a warrior, a survivor. She has seen and experienced the worst the world has to offer and remains untainted by the unimaginable atrocities she has experienced in her
Zander’s POVSelf control is both a blessing and a curse. It means the burden often falls on me to put my own needs last. There is a constant expectation to be there and pick up the pieces, be the strong one, lead everyone else when the shit hits the fan. Of course that falls under my remit as Alpha, but our pack has two Alphas, yet I seem to be the one putting myself on the back burner.I’m not blaming Christian, he is only doing what I have always allowed him to do, and it was Gabe and Uriel who dragged me to the hospital to have my leg rebroken and aligned. It just really boils my piss that yet again I am not there for Liberty when she needs me. I know, I’m being petulant. All that should matter is that she is okay. But that isn’t what my heart feels and when I saw her, she was far from okay.When the lightning struck me, the only thing I saw, all that occupied my thoughts, was her. Liberty has become the centre and my life and world revolves around her. I may be more reserved and
Gabe’s POV I have spent weeks avoiding Lottie, but now that she is back there is no way I can go on like this. The very moment I set eyes on her again in the forest my wolf started going crazy inside my head. He has been on the verge of losing it ever since we realised what she is to us, that day we saw her heading towards the cabin to meet Liberty for the first time, and he is done waiting. My wolf, Ezekiel, prefers to go by Zeke. He says Ezekiel sound too old timey and he needs to change with the times. From the first time he spoke to me on our sacred day I knew there was something different about him. The way he talks is not like anything I have ever heard, and his overall demeanour is un-wolflike, for want of a better word. During our first weeks together he went through all the usual things, helping me learn how to control my shift, getting to know each other and solidifying our bond, the same as every other wolf before and since. The ways of the goddess are unknown to us, and
Imelda’s POVPack politics! It’s enough to drive a woman to drink. Not that I feel the need for an excuse, it’s always six o’clock somewhere.This is why I was so disappointed when my daughter left our coven to join her mate in his pack. Isla had always been far too trusting, always choosing to see the best in people, regardless of whether their actions supported her unwavering loyalty.Of all the packs I suppose I had fewest reservations about Celestial Moon, until I visited for the first time, I had only ever heard positive things about the Alpha and Luna. Then I found out who her mate was. Of all the wolves, in all the world, she was bonded to the next in line to be Alpha. That was the day I discovered my love of rum. My usual herbal teas and elixirs just weren’t cutting it, so when one of my sister witches, Rosaline, insisted on a night on the town, I threw caution to the wind and went for it.I’ve out grown those days now, time has marched on despite the devastating losses of my
Zander’s POVI don’t know what just happened. I left like a pup, being admonished by my mother. Obviously it got my back up, being told what to do in my own pack, and when it comes to Liberty I’m even more defensive. Imelda was right though. Chris and I were in a sorry state and the shower and food has done me a world of good.I can’t settle when I try to sleep. I know I need it, but it doesn’t feel right sleeping in my old room, and our bed feels so big and empty without Liberty sprawled across it there was no way I would get even a wink of sleep in it in her absence. Christian can’t sleep either so he has gone to find Gabe. He disappeared after giving me, Chris and Hunter a piece of his mind, and Lottie left in a hurry only seconds after him.It doesn’t take much to guess that she was running after her mate. That really is going to take a little while to sink in. I didn’t know what to expect for her future. As far as I know she is still without a wolf. But then, she said herself, a
Chapter TwoConstance’s POV With the raiding party away, a rare calmness has come over the castle. I often find myself eagerly awaiting their departure so I can let down my guard and just be. This place is the only home I have ever known. I grew up within these walls and every room, every portrait and piece of furniture is attached to a memory of my life before, though it feels less and less like my sanctuary as Halen continues to fill it with his experiments.He says we are all one clan, the vampires he creates are family and that his creations will assure our safety and our place in the world. I know he believes every word he speaks but I can not get a moments peace with them around. I am constantly on edge, waiting for one of them to go feral and kill the human pets Halen keeps around for us to feed upon. He is adamant it will not happen again, but I have quickly learned that his belief in something doesn’t make it so.The dining hall is my second favourite room and as I walk ar
Please enjoy a sneak peek of Marcel’s story, which is now available. VB xxMarcel of The Lone Mountains.A Vampyre’s story by Veronica BlackChapter OneMarcel’s POV “Open your eyes and watch, boy.” My father snarls through gritted teeth, spittle flies from his taught lips into my face. He roughly grabs the loosely tied pony tail at the back of my head and wrenches my head back, which forces me to look up and watch the carnage unfolding in front of my eyes. My jaw tightens in frustration but I bite my tongue. I hate that he calls me ‘boy’. I haven’t been a boy for over a century, but he still looks down on me as if I am dirt beneath his boot and nothing more than a juvenile inconvenience. “This... is what we are. This... is what they made us. You can not fight nature son.” He shakes my head, pulling my hair out at its roots, as he aggressively makes his point.He is not wrong about not being able to fight nature, however, we are anything but natural. He continues his speech, the s
Grace’s POV I looked out of the window just as a dozen men in leather armour jogged past. It looks like they are surrounding something but I can’t see it the middle of the protective huddle.“Something is happening.” Lena sticks her head around the door of our shared room. Of course she would be one of the first to know if something is going on, her intuition is razor sharp and she is rarely wrong.“I can see that, but it’s none of our business. We should not go meddling unless we are invited. You know that.” I tell her in warning. Alma made it abundantly clear that we are to stay out of pack business unless she tells us otherwise. I’m more than happy to heed her advice and stay well out of it. The fewer people I meet, the less likely they are to find out anything they need not know.“It is our business. I have a really strong feeling we are meant to be part of this. Whatever they have brought back is tied to us. Come on. We will just watch, from a distance if that makes you feel bett
Marcel’s POV Imelda’s room has remained untouched. Not one of us has been able to face going in there. It just hasn’t felt right, like it’s too soon to close this chapter. Part of me wants to believe she is still in there, plotting and scheming ways to make Averson suffer. She may have been more understanding of what happened and why, but causing his discomfort had become a bit of a sport to her and it kept him on his toes.On my way back from breakfast with Claudel I walked to my room, the same as I have done every day for weeks. Claudel has been talking of leaving for a little while and it seems he has decided to bid us farewell in a few days. He has had his amusement and knows our clan will be anxiously awaiting his return. He and Vitandi have been getting along surprisingly well and it wouldn’t come as a shock to discover that Vitandi will join Claudel and spend some time at our home in the Lone Mountains. There is a palpable tension between the dragon and the Alphas and a parti
Lottie’s POVThere has been a sense of fragile peace and calm around here for a few days. I doubt it will last very long, it never does. It’s sad to think that at a time when we should all be enjoying every day, we are waiting for the other shoe to drop.My father is in the dog house with my brothers, they are both livid that he went off script and rained fyre down on the Katasan. He did what he set out to do, but it could have ended differently. Luckily when Christian, Zander and Marcel returned they had Alma, Grace and Lena with them. Without Grace’s healing magic Uriel would almost certainly still be in the hospital, but everyone is acting as if all is well that ends well.Speaking of Uriel, he has been happily holed up in his room with May, who we all now know to be Amaya, the mate he thought he had lost. I’m happy for him, if anyone deserves to find happiness he is right at the top of the list. Putting up with my brothers, he was due some good fortune, and Amaya has been through
Uriel’s POVA few of us noticed Liberty and Wendy disappearing into the woods whilst we gathered around the tables laid out for Thomas, Zachary and Imelda’s wake. Gerald was quick to his feet, signalling with a discreet nod of his head for three of the Old Guard to follow at a distance.Concern for the Luna has been spreading through the pack. She seems to have lost touch with reality ever since the night she had the pups. When I returned with Vitandi and Averson I expected to be read the riot act, punished, shamed, relieved of my command or at the very least given the dressing down I deserved from my Alphas. Fortunately for me they were otherwise occupied. By the time they had been reassured by Doc Wood that their mate and pups were remarkably in perfect health, their anger at my disobedience had dissipated.The excited tremor of success, when I debriefed the group about our mission, was short lived. Marcel had been nowhere to be seen so we began without him. It was strange holding a
Liberty’s POVI stand and watch as flames engulf the three carefully built pyres, and I feel completely numb. I can’t tell any of them how I feel or what happened when I saw Aadhya again the night I had the twins. Emotions in the pack are high, the loss of two of our warriors and Imelda has rocked the pack to it’s core.I couldn’t tell them I wasn’t coping or that I had died, no matter how briefly it might have been for them, it felt like a life time for me. Aadhya came to take me home with her and that feeling has not left me. She talked about all of the good I would be able to do on the other side, she told me my pups would be loved and cared for by the entire pack and they would never walk alone, but all I could think was that I’m not done.That is when I realised it was over. My life, everything we had been fighting for, the future I had grown to want and cherished the idea of. The pack would have to carry the burden without me. Lottie, Imelda, Esme, Hunter, Christian, Zander and
Marcel’s POVI like to think that in my long life and varied experiences, I have seen pretty much everything there is to see in this world. Since coming to Pine Lake, my belief in my own wisdom has been put into question on many occasions, as has my mastery of my emotions.Alma, Lena and Grace are another anomaly I can’t explain. Their power and knowledge rivals that of Imelda, which should not be possible, not unless they are all connected in some way, by blood or by magic. I can’t explain it and they won’t, not yet anyway. There is no denying the energy of the three of them individually, but when they come together you can feel it in the air like static electricity.By the time we reached the bunker I was certain that Alma is indeed a high priestess, and far older than her appearance portrays, and that she has taken the other two under her wing to teach them the ancient magic that has been all but forgotten. I was excited to introduce Alma and Imelda, the two of them are so similar,
Uriel’s POVPlanting the explosives is turning out to be the easiest part of this suicide mission. Getting out of this labyrinth in the next few minutes is proving harder than you might think. The whole base is like damned a maze. Every corridor is just like the previous one. There is no signage and the map is all but useless now. We have been turned around a few times, choosing to avoid oncoming soldiers rather than waste precious time fighting.“How long?” Averson calls ahead to me.I glance at my watch and know it is going to take a miracle or an act of the fates to get us out of here.“A minute and change.” I call back as I skid around the next corner, not putting on the breaks hard enough and slamming sideways on into the wall.“Move your arse.” Averson catches up, grabs me by the back of the neck and forces me forward with him. Hitting the wall at high speed stunned me for a moment but I’m alright now.The next, seemingly endless, corner we turn brings a welcome sight. There, la