Blood and Magic (Blood and Darkness Book 1) Read online

  Blood and Magic

  Melissa Sercia

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Afterword

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  Additional Titles

  BLOOD AND MAGIC

  By

  Melissa Sercia

  Copyright © 2018 Melissa Sercia

  * * *

  Edited by Amanda Roberts.

  Cover Design by Mibl Art and Tina Moss.

  All stock photos licensed appropriately.

  * * *

  Published in the United States by City Owl Press.

  www.cityowlpress.com

  * * *

  For information on subsidiary rights, please contact the publisher at [email protected]

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior consent and permission of the publisher.

  Author’s Note

  Don’t miss book two of the Blood and Darkness series with FLESH AND BONE

  Three months after the victory at Infitum, Gray’s dark magic has grown stronger and threatens to consume her. She fights against it at every turn. But when her partner Aldric mysteriously disappears, she must rely on her powers to find him.

  * * *

  With zero leads and nothing but a strange drawing to go on, Gray seeks allies in the Hall of Secrets. During her search for Aldric, she discovers a mysterious cult, an ancient curse, and a family secret that is darker than she could ever imagine—an organization deadlier than even the Consilium.

  * * *

  In the wake of this new threat to humanity and her kind alike, Gray must rely on the one person she distrusts the most—Dragos. As her former lover and recent enemy, he knows more than he lets on. Traveling through the streets of New Orleans to the shores of Scotland, to the Romanian woods, and all the way back to the Underworld, Gray must find new magic and raise an army.

  * * *

  With the fate of humanity and Aldric’s life hanging in the balance, Gray shall embrace her dark side once and for all, but in doing so, she may have to make a choice between love and survival of the species—or risk losing both.

  BUY NOW!

  To my strong and beautiful grandmothers

  Violet Campbell and Agatha Sercia.

  * * *

  You will always be a part of me.

  I miss you both more than you could ever know.

  “Demons have many faces, like shadows, if you look close enough. In the light that casts a glare between them, you will find the exquisite truth.”

  One

  The room Valentina hid me in was the size of a closet, bare except for yellow curtains and an old cot in the corner.

  Pacing around, I tugged at a strand of my dark hair, pinching it tight around my white knuckles. The vein above my breast throbbed and pushed through my skin like a fresh tattoo.

  “You still haven’t told me what happened.” My throat ached. Every breath I took scratched my lungs.

  I needed blood.

  Valentina lowered her eyes and bit her lip. Ribbons of curls fell upon her shoulders, blood red and scented with lilac.

  She stifled a sob. “I…I’m sorry, Gray. I couldn’t stop them.” Her voice trailed off into a whisper.

  A lump formed in my throat. I swallowed hard to keep the bile down. A thousand questions raced through my mind. My muscles were stiff, clenched and aching. “How long was I asleep?”

  Valentina wiped the tears from her eyes. Black eyeliner smeared across her cheeks. “Three years.”

  Every hair on the back of my neck stood up. I leaned up against the wall to keep the room from spinning.

  “I don’t understand.”

  Her lower lip quivered. “It was Dragos… He betrayed us to the Consilium.”

  Dragos. The room was spinning. Do you still love him now, Gray? The wounds were old but as fresh as the salt being poured on them. Like a fire in my veins that I couldn’t put out, the fury was growing. He made a fool of me. I locked my knees to keep them from shaking.

  “What did he do to me?” The thought of Dragos creeping around my lifeless body made my stomach turn.

  Valentina gazed out the window, her eyes red and swollen. “He was with Pythia. She put you under with one of her spells. You weren’t dead, but you weren’t alive either. She trapped you in your own mind.”

  My skin prickled into a cold sweat. How could I not remember anything?

  “How did I wake up?” Pythia’s magic was dark and ancient. It would have taken an entire coven of Witches to break me out of that spell.

  “I…I don’t know. You just did.” She scurried around the tiny room, gathering our belongings. We didn’t have much, except for a few trunks of clothes and weapons. She avoided my gaze while she packed.

  “I have been sleeping for three years, the man I love has betrayed me to my enemies, and you don’t know? What aren’t you telling me, Val?” As my fists tightened, my nails dug into my skin, drawing blood. A sinking sensation formed in the pit of my stomach.

  She waved me off. “That’s all I’ve got, Gray. I’m as surprised as you are. What I know for sure is that when they found out you were planning to go against them, they wanted you out of commission. All that matters now is that we keep moving. Once the Consilium finds out you’re awake, they will come for you again.”

  The Consilium had always been one step ahead of us. I had been tracking them for the last four hundred years, but every lead always led to a dead end. Their organization stretched all over the world and their resources were limitless.

  I watched her shove our things into a bag like she was shoveling dirt onto a fresh grave. “I’m assuming you have a plan?”

  Her eyes shifted to the ground. “Yeah, but you’re not gonna like it.”

  My shoulders tensed. Valentina’s methods were not always rational. She took a deep breath. “We’re going to go talk to Lucien.”

  My blood curdled. “Lucien? You must be joking. How do you know he won’t double cross us?”

  As the leader of the London Dhampir coven, he had direct ties to the Consilium. I’d never met him, but I knew enough not to trust him.

  Valentina sighed. “Gray, I promise, I’m not going to lead us into another trap.”

  A pang of guilt stabbed at my chest. “I’m sorry. I didn�
�t mean to—”

  “No. You’re right to doubt me. We both trusted Dragos, but he is my brother. I should have seen it coming.”

  The sound of his name didn’t always make my stomach turn. It used to send tingles up my spine, sending me into a state of breathless anticipation for his presence. Those days were long gone. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

  Valentina nodded, her eyes glistening. “Look, Lucien is an old friend. He won’t turn us over to the Consilium.”

  Guilt clawed at me again. “You’ve kept me safe for three years while I’ve been sleeping. I’m not going to start doubting you now.”

  Valentina tossed me a straw and a blood bag as she moved toward the door. “When we get there, let me do the talking. Lucien doesn’t like surprises.” She shivered, grabbed her coat, and sauntered out into the dark London fog. It was going to be a long night, and dealing with Lucien would only make it darker.

  The pavement was slick. Cold and wet with dew. The mist followed us as we stomped through the dark. The streetlamps glowed, dim and muted, casting faint particles of dust between the shadows.

  Sliding down the sewer entrance to Lucien’s compound, my chest tightened. The walls of the tunnels that wrapped around the city in a maze were slimy, coating the palms of my hands with a thick sludge. No human would ever make it down here, but as a Dhampir, I shimmied down without difficulty.

  Valentina advanced with ease, leading us through to each checkpoint, and past the guards Lucien had stationed at each one. Dhampir soldiers. Young, but well trained. Created solely for a life of servitude. They let us pass without hesitation.

  Approaching the last checkpoint, a guard motioned for us to wait. Beads of sweat gathered on my brow.

  A few minutes passed before Lucien emerged from the dark, stretching out before us. His lips curled into a smile, but his eyes were as black as night and hinted at madness.

  “Valentina, my darling. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  She twirled a lock of her red hair. “Lucien. I don’t need a reason to pay a visit to an old friend, do I?” She winked, batting her eyelashes. A signature move she displayed when she wanted something.

  Lucien grimaced. His skin was sallow, reeking of musk and sewer water.

  “You’ve brought a friend. You must be the infamous Gray I have heard so much about.” His hands twitched as he took a step toward me.

  I stiffened. The way he surveyed me up and down made my skin crawl.

  Valentina chuckled through gritted teeth. “The one and only. She is a woman of few words, I’m afraid.”

  Lucien’s lips quivered as if he had just tasted the sweet nectar from fresh blood. “I see the stories are true. She is enchanting. I hope that we can all become very close friends.” His eyes trailed down to the peak of my breasts.

  With clenched fists, I leaned in close to him. “I want the bastards that did this to me. I’m cranky, hungry, and really pissed off. So, if you could be so kind as to tell me what the Consilium is up to, I might not rip your head off.”

  His guards rushed toward me, weapons drawn. Lucien raised a hand for them to halt. “Ah, so the stories are true. You are feisty. I like that. But still, holding a grudge against the ones who made you? Tsk, tsk. That was centuries ago. Get over it.”

  My hands shook. I wanted to wrap them around his scrawny neck. “Unless you start talking, the only thing I’m going to get over is your dismembered body.”

  Lucien smirked, but his eyes narrowed down at me like daggers. “The thing is, you seem to forget you are far outnumbered. However, I don’t want to get your blood all over my floor. It draws the rats.”

  I started toward him. Valentina stepped in front of me. “Let’s all just calm down. We don’t want any trouble. You’ll have to forgive my friend. She just woke up from a very long nap and is not herself right now.” She shot me a glare.

  Lucien’s hands twitched again. “Yes, of course. Perhaps I can forgive and forget. What do you want?”

  I drew in a sharp breath. “Where can I find the Consilium?”

  The tension was thick. His guards stared straight ahead, blank, but fixated. Their eyes were dark and hollow, like black holes.

  Lucien erupted into laughter. It echoed through the tunnels, scraping the air like knives carving into pavement.

  Blood rushed through my veins, hot and erratic. “Did I say something funny? Because I’m pretty sure I just asked you a serious question.”

  He rolled his eyes. “No one can find the Consilium. They find you. They are nowhere, and they are everywhere.”

  “You must know something, Lucien,” Valentina snapped. “Don’t toy with us.”

  Lucien chuckled. Annoyed, I kicked a hole into the tunnel wall. Chunks of rock and dust sprayed out around us, soiling Lucien’s shirt.

  He snorted, flinging dirt off his collar. “I have no idea how to find them. If I need anything, I call my handler. She comes to me.”

  My jaw tightened. “This is a waste of time. Val, let’s get out of here.”

  Valentina clasped his hands. “Then point us toward someone who does know something. Give me a name. Anything. You owe me.” A look passed between them that I couldn’t place.

  Lucien flinched, but nodded, reluctantly. “There have been whispers of something brewing across the pond. In New Orleans. Some of the Witches have spotted unsanctioned Dhampir activity in the French Quarter.”

  My pulse quickened. This had to be the Consilium. No one else would be stupid enough to stir up trouble with the Witches.

  Valentina cleared her throat. “So, where can we find these whispering Witches?”

  Lucien feigned a yawn. “The Wolf and Crescent. Ask for Josephine DuMaurier. She leads the coven there. But be quick about it. Everyone must check in with her when they arrive. Trust me, you don’t want to get on her bad side.” He paused to lick his lips. “Now, I have better things to do. So, I insist that you take your leave.”

  I cringed as Valentina made a spectacle out of thanking Lucien for his help. There was a strange energy between them. The way their polite courtesies dangled between icy handshakes and loaded glances. Dragos used to tell me it was the words that we didn’t say that spoke the loudest. I didn’t understand until now.

  “Farewell, Gray. I have no doubt you will find what you are looking for.” His lips pursed like his mouth was full of bitter fruit. Spinning on his heel, his guards encircled him, and they disappeared down a dark tunnel.

  Gulping back stale air, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. With dirty hair and cheeks, I scrambled up the sewer drain like a hungry rat.

  My hands hit the cold pavement and I breathed a sigh of relief. The crisp London air filled my lungs, easing the ache in my chest. The silence was welcoming, but I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. “What’s the story with you two?”

  Valentina shrugged. “Not much to tell. We had an arrangement that worked for a while, and then it didn’t. So, it ended.” Her tone was sharp and final.

  I decided not to push the issue. Some cards were better kept close to your chest. We all had our burdens to bear. Especially in the world we lived in.

  Valentina placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Gray…you all right?”

  They will all be dealt with.

  I was far from all right. The Consilium had taken everything from me. My humanity when they turned me into a Dhampir. My only family when they converted my mother. They even turned the man I loved against me. They stole three years of my life that I could never get back. But I was done being their pawn.

  Valentina waved a hand in front of my face. “Gray…?”

  My chest heaved, adrenaline coursed through my veins. “They should have killed me.”

  Two

  I had never been out of Europe before, and I didn’t know if I would ever see it again. It never felt like home, but it was the only place I’d ever lived. A twinge of sadness crept up. You can’t miss what was never yours to begin with.

 
We arrived in New Orleans just before dawn. A black town car waited for us on the tarmac. A portly, grey-haired driver stepped out, avoiding eye contact. He opened the passenger door, fingers fumbling. The scent of his fear was palpable. Did he know what we were?

  As we drove into the city, echoes of celebration rang through my ears. Glasses clanked together amidst music and laughter. Voices were layered over trumpets and saxophones. It seduced me and crept into my bones. My ears tingled from the chaos.

  Valentina’s eyes lit up, wide with wonder. She leaned out her window to get a closer look. Painted faces sang and danced around each other with wild abandon. Some wore masks and colorful feathers. Others hardly wore anything at all. Their bodies rocked and swayed against one another.

  Turning down Bourbon Street, a strong wave of magic hit me, followed by the sweet scent of magnolias. As a Dhampir, my senses were always heightened, and magic was something I could trace. The presence of it meant only one thing. Witches. Their whispers followed us. It was only a matter of time before Josephine DuMaurier would learn of our presence.