Vampire Princess Rising by Jami Brumfield
“Is that gold?” Savannah eyed the knife carefully.
“No, it’s stainless steel. We may or may not need it.” Hunter picked up the crystal on a black neck tie and handed it to Savannah. “I suggest we all take a different area of the map and see it we can find her with the basic locating spell first.” He handed one to Maverick. Natalia and Catherine picked up their own crystals.
“Repeat after me. Me voi̱thí̱sei na vro̱ to agapi̱méno mou Theé mou kai theés archaía”
“Huh?” Savannah stared incredulously at him.
“And while you are saying the words in ancient Greek, ‘help me find my loved one oh god and goddesses’ you need to be thinking about Rebecca. I laced each crystal with a strand of her hair to help strengthen the search tool.” Hunter continued as he began chanting.
“Can’t I just say it in English?” Surely the gods and goddesses would understand English.
“You can, but the ancient words are more powerful. Try again.” Catherine urged Savannah with a soothing voice.
Everyone else around the table began chanting the words. Savannah worked on pronouncing the words in the ancient language. Her tongue had difficulty moving the words around but after about ten tries she started to get the rhythm and was able to join them in the chant. They all swung their crystal over their portion of the map, waiting for guidance. And somewhere along the line Savannah started to regret her decision in not calling Viktor. At least he’d be taking action.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Rebecca
Rebecca was tossed unceremoniously into a warehouse office. She held back the bile that rose in her throat as her hands and clothes became coated in some kind of slimy mess. She had no idea where she was. Phoenix and all its suburbs was a huge place and if she’d lived her fifty years she still wouldn’t know all the area. The skid across the filthy floor assaulted not only her sense of touch but her sense of smell. She focused the rest of her supernatural senses around her to discover where she was or at least get some kind of hint as to what she was dealing with.
Underneath the scent of grease and grim she caught a hint of sea air which was odd since Phoenix was separated from three hundred miles of mountains and deserts before reaching the ocean on either side. There was also a strange smell of lilacs in the air. Nothing about this place smelled familiar and she began to fear their assumption of an alternate dimension destination was a possibility.
The room was dark, very little light filtered in from the large shaded windows. With her wolf sight she was able to make out the interior. It was definitely an abandoned warehouse. A desk in the far corner was overturned. She could smell something else as she neared the desk. Her fingers ran over the scarred wood and she felt bullet holes embedded in the grain. It wasn’t her first clue she was in danger but it reinforced her uneasiness that she was in a perilous predicament.
Just as her eyes were adjusting to the lack of light someone opened the window shades and momentarily blinded her.
“Hello, Rebecca. I’m so glad you could come.” The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
“How could I refuse your invitation?” Sarcasm dripped from her clipped words as she closed her eyes and tried to refocus her sight.
“You’re right, my people were unnecessarily rough with you. I apologize for their behavior.”
Rebecca was beginning to make out figures. The woman who was talking pulled out a gun and shot one of the men in the head. His body went limp as he fell to the ground. The woman who was holding her captive in the van let out a startled gasp and fell beside the man. Deduction told Rebecca that the driver was dead because she guessed the girl wouldn’t be upset to see the man who held a gun to them die.
“That was unnecessary,” Rebecca told the girl with the gun but silently she mourned the dead man and the woman grieving over him.
‘Good girl. Never show weakness,’ Siren purred her approval in her mind.
Rebecca felt a small amount of pride fill her from the rare support of her wolf. “Who are you?” Just as Rebecca asked the question her sight finished adjusting and she was able to identify the woman who called her here. “Savannah?”
The girl laughed. “Savannah died when she was seven in this dimension. I’m you, well, a tougher and stronger version of you. Call me Becky.”
“More like a criminal cut out of me,” Rebecca growled. “Killing someone doesn’t make you stronger, it makes you cowardly.”
“You really are goody-two-shoes, Rebecca.” She laughed. The sound grated on Rebecca’s ears and she hoped she didn’t sound that awful when she laughed.
Rebecca’s alternate double wore black leather from head to toe. Unlike Rebecca’s typical blue jeans and tank top. Her hair was not blonde either, it was chocolate brown and she wore the length to her shoulders where Rebecca wore hers to the middle of her back.
“Why did you bring me here?” Rebecca asked.
“I wanted to make a deal with you. I figured since you are me and I am you that it would be easy, but I think I may have underestimated you.” She talked with a melodic tone to her words. Almost as though life was a joke to her. It was like looking into the mirror at an insane version of herself and it freaked her out.
“Get her a chair!” Becky barked orders like it was second nature to her. “And get that body out of here, it’s starting to smell.”
‘They are shifters…dragons.’ Siren advised gently.
‘Dragons? We don’t like dragons much, do we?’
‘No. And they’re extinct in our dimension.’
‘Wonderful.’ Sarcasm thickened her words. Another look-a-like enemy. ‘How did their extinction happen?’
‘They were the top of the shifter food chain and that meant they had a lot of enemies. Not to mention humans who were terrified by the fire breathing animals. They were massacred by the hundreds. If any survived the attacks long ago they would’ve left our world for another.’
The girl rushed to get Rebecca a chair and the two guys picked up the body and started carrying it out of the room. The crying woman followed them out of the room. Rebecca felt sorrow for her despite the fact that she just punched her minutes ago.
Becky got her own chair. Put the back facing Rebecca and straddled it like a horse as she sat down, gun still in her hand. “So tell me, Rebecca. Did I underestimate you?”
Rebecca and her wolf began sizing up the situation. She was in danger and she had no way of escaping. But she was pretty sure her double wouldn’t kill her. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to get out of this dimension since she was blindfolded when she was brought in. Dimensional traveling was tricky at best. She had no idea where the portal was to return home. And even if she found a portal it could be to a completely different dimension. She was regretting her decision to have Gabe stand down.
‘We need to play her game,’ the wolf said softly in her mind.
‘Okay, any suggestions on how to do that?’
It was a serious question. She didn’t know how to play nice with this treacherous version of herself.
‘You would know better than me since she is how you’d be if you had lost your sister when your parents died.’
Rebecca took a deep breath and started talking. “That depends on what you want my help with.”
Becky tilted her head. “Smart girl. But then you are me, so I expected no less.” She motioned around the room. With the lights on it looked even more devastating than what she first imagined. There was a thick layer of dirt, dust, and grime on every surface in the room, making it clear the warehouse hadn’t been used in a long time. “As you can see, things aren’t very peachy in this place. Those not destroyed by the biochemical war zones are either on the run from the government, fleeing from mandatory genetic mutation hospitals or are living as cybernetic organisms after going through the process that became a requirement when the president passed the safe citizen act.”
“Cybernetic organisms?” Rebecca was having difficulty wrapping
“Yes, many believe the government sparked a second civil war by taking away basic human rights. Then it became civilian against government and they were ready for us. It became a war between military and the people on our own soil. The supernaturals stepped up and offered help, revealing themselves to the humans. It was the first time in history that humans and otherworldly creatures united and humans had a fighting chance. Only there were so few in numbers and they came to the battlefield late. The government won and mandated that every human left had to be implanted with cyborg parts. Now the human cyborgs are killing off the supernaturals and converting humans.”
“Humans and supernaturals joined forces? I bet the Authority had a problem with that.”
“Authority?” Becky shook her head. “There was no Authority here, only the gods. It took them awhile to give us permission to join forces, but it finally happened.”
Rebecca was flabbergasted. Her head was spinning and as the tale unfolded she found herself thankful she was not a part of this universe. “Is that how you became a dragon?”
“That wolf nose is very good.” Becky grinned. “Or is it the alpha?”
“Both.” Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest. “You haven’t answered my question.”
Becky sighed. “I was getting there. When my family was killed by muggers I went a little loca.” She circled her finger around her head to reinforce her point. At least that signal was universal. “Anyway…Catherine died shortly after my family which made me a ward of the state. The family that adopted me couldn’t have children of their own. They were dragon shifters. They’ll never admit it but I think they sensed the witch magic and wanted to add that to their treasures—dragons LOVE treasure.”
“So they used you?”
Becky stood up and kicked her chair across the room with so much force it went through the wall. She turned an insanely evil glare at Rebecca and hissed. “Mother and Father would never use me.”
Rebecca felt a spark of magic light the room and felt her own magic wake up in response. Fear be damned, she wouldn’t let her alternate intimidate her. She also stood, only her chair stayed in place. Their eyes locked and the intensity grew.
“So they made you a shifter,” Rebecca spoke to move the meeting along. It wasn’t a question, just an observation.
“Yes but not as you might imagine. You see the virus that creates dragons has just as much of a chance of killing the host as changing them.”
“It’s the same way with wolves.”
Becky continued without acknowledging Rebecca’s statement. She was lost in her story, if the faraway look in her eyes was any indication. “They were never planning to make me a dragon. They wanted me to live my human life. But fate had different plans. I never really got over the dark abyss that swallowed me up when my family was killed. One night…” She swallowed hard. “One night I decided to end the pain. I jumped off the highest building I could find and as I flew through the air I realized my mistake…but it was too late. I was plummeting to my death. Father, in dragon form, caught me moments before I hit the ground. In the rescue he infected me.” Becky shrugged and refocused her eyes on Rebecca, a dazzling smile on her face. “And the rest is history.”
And apparently the dragon virus never healed your mind. Rebecca thought silently. “That is a fantastical story.”
“And you chose to be a werewolf. Chose to give up magic for revenge,” Becky stated. It wasn’t a question.
Rebecca nodded. Apparently Becky had been watching her for a while. She didn’t think it was wise to tell her she still had magic but curiosity made her wonder if Becky still had magic too. “Yes.”
“And how is that going for you?” Becky managed to get herself another chair and sat down.
Rebecca mirrored Becky’s motions and sat down as well. “I’ve learned there’s a lot to the old saying, ‘if you’re seeking vengeance be sure to dig two graves, one for your enemy and one for yourself.’”
“I understand you got your Savannah killed.” Becky chewed her bottom lip.
“In a roundabout way, I suppose.” Guilt was clearly written on her face.
“You should feel guilty for your part. But I never imagined Savannah would be so upset over the situation. I mean, she’s immortal. That is quite a gift.” Becky shook her head.
“If you think that, then you don’t know my Savvy.”
“I suppose not.”
“So forgive me for asking, but I still don’t understand why you brought me here.”
“I need your help.”
“You have a funny way of asking for it.”
Becky smiled maniacally and Rebecca felt a shiver of dread slide down her spine. There really is something missing in Becky’s eyes. Her alter ego shrugged her shoulders. “It’s the way of my people. I make no excuses.”
“Fine, how can I help you?” Rebecca just wanted this meeting over so she could leave. She had a party to get to.
“Well, we’d be helping each other.” Becky stood up and began to pace the floor across the room. “The local werewolf pack here is gaining power and has decided it wants the dragon sect eliminated.”
“Okay?” Rebecca didn’t know if there was any way for her to help Becky with a local pack dispute. She had no control over other packs, only hers.
“The local pack is run by Brick Ashton and his mate Ophelia. Ophelia has a bit of a grudge against the dragons.”
Rebecca gave Becky a deadpan stare.
“Okay, she has a grudge against me. I killed her last mate. But in my defense it was self-defense.”
“I thought wolves only mated once in a lifetime.”
“You would know better than me.”
Rebecca had always assumed mating was a lifetime thing. ‘It is, for the most part,’ Siren answered as if on cue. ‘In rare cases, when a mate dies and they have not bonded life forces, the surviving mate has the opportunity to take another.’
“Okay, but I still don’t see how you think I can help you.”
Becky tapped the gun to her forehead. “Think, Rebecca. Brick is your pack member in your world.”
“Okay.” She still didn’t understand. Brick was not hers in this world. He was the pack leader here. She had no power over him.
“The wolves from this world are dealing fairy blood in your world.”
“Why?”
Becky laughed. “You really are dense in political matters. Look around you. This world is falling apart.” She waited a minute and then continued on when Rebecca was not picking up what she was putting down. “I have it on good authority if the wolves get their way with my sect they plan to take over in your world. That means they need to eliminate the current pack.”
“Good luck with that.” Rebecca’s pride spoke up first. Apprehension snaked through her next and the reality of what was happening started to come together. “So Brick is innocent, it is a set up.”
“Now you’re getting it. One thing about Ophelia is that she’s diabolical.” Becky stopped pacing. “So you and I need to work together.”
“Okay, I can see the value in working together, but we’re going to have a better way of communicating. You can’t be kidnapping me every time you need to talk.”
“You see, that’s the problem.”
“What?” Rebecca didn’t like her cryptic word play.
“Step toward me.”
Rebecca took a couple steps forward. Each step got harder. It felt as though she was being pushed back. Almost repulsed the way two magnets push against each other.”
“Do you feel it?” Becky asked as she stood her ground.
“What is that?” An air barrier popped up in front of her, restricting her from going another step further.
“So you are an air witch too.”
It was the same barrier that app
“Your powers are set to protect you. Very nice.” Becky approached the barrier with obvious resistance. She touched it and was repelled backward. The magnetic push reduced ever so slightly.
Realization hit Rebecca. “So we can’t ever really touch?”
“Nope, it’s called the twin theory. Two objects of the same material cannot occupy the same space.” Becky flipped up from the floor and went back to her chair and sat down. “What I am proposing is simple. You help me bring down Ophelia and I will help you eliminate the blood brokers in your universe before your Protectors fall for the set up.”
“It sounds like you’ve thought this through pretty well. I think I need some time to process all of this.”
“Of course. I’ll have my people bring you back.” Becky stood up and headed toward the door. “I really hope you decide this is good for all of us.” She offered a small smile and then left.
Rebecca shivered like her grave had been walked over. It wasn’t odd seeing her double, Savannah was almost identical to her, but this was different. Becky was her minus the dark hair, only she was a her that became different because of different circumstances. A crazier, deadlier her.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Savannah
Savannah glared at Hunter, Natalia, Maverick, and Catherine. “You’ve got to be kidding me! With all your experience you can’t find Rebecca anywhere?” She started pacing the backyard. “So what does that mean?”