Davina (The Immortal Prophecy 3)

Jiyama yelped, but I was blind from greed. I needed more of that magic. The Immortal’s power was starting to build again. It was spreading through me. The more Mori magic I felt, the more my power rose. This time I wasn’t afraid of it. I could do something with this magic. The channel could be opened again. If only—

“No.” Lucan caught my hand.

I salivated for more, but crashed against the cage.

Jiyama stared at me. Her face still looked blank, but some

thing was stirring in her eyes. They had turned from brown to red, a dark red. “I gave you a gift. Something you could not have had, you have now.” She looked down. “But you must protect your gift.” She held her hand out, and another burst of magic came from her. It shot through me, sealing something, but The Immortal slammed against me. She wanted to get out. She wanted the Mori.

“Stop!” Lucan pulled her back. “Jiyama, leave. This is not the one you can learn English from. I have others.” He placed a hand between her shoulders and led her to the door.

She went, but looked back over her shoulder. “Others?”

He nodded. “They are below. They are not dangerous. This one is dangerous. Do not come here again.”

She finally nodded and went into the hallway. His shoulders sagged in relief as he shut the door.

I held onto the cage bars. “You are not their leader, are you?”

His shoulders tensed immediately before he swung to face her. Resigned.

I saw his answer. He didn’t have to say a word. A smile came to my face and I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t want to stop it. “You are a guest, aren’t you? They have no idea who I am, who the others are, or that we’re even here. What are you to them?”

Lucan frowned at me, studying me. “The Mori saved me years ago. Lucas nearly killed me once. They found me and took me in. They healed me and became my family when my real family turned on me.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” I laughed. “They have no idea who you are, what you’re trying to do.”

“What am I trying to do, Davy?” he asked, softly. A keen look came to him, and he started to advance forward. With each step, he asked, “What is it that you think I’m really trying to do?”

“Kill me. Take ultimate power from me. Rule all the vampires.”

He stopped, but sent me a dark look. “I am trying to better the vampire race. I am trying to make it so that we don’t have to hide anymore. Humans can know that we live among them. We won’t have to worry about a war with the werewolves. We will be safe, once and for all. And yes, that means the Mori, too. They can finally come out of their hiding. They can show the world who they are.”

“You’re mad,” I murmured. “I don’t think you even know anymore what you want.”

Everything changed in that instant. His shoulders stood upright. His smirk came back, and he gave me a radiant smile. “I want The Immortal thread. And I won’t stop before I get it, Davy. One way or another, I will figure out how to rip it out of you. When I do, you will die slowly, painfully, and I will enjoy watching it.”

There was no sound, no change in the air. I didn’t smell anything new, and the hairs on the back of my neck didn’t stand up, but when I lifted my head, I knew who I would see. And I was right.

Jiyama stood in front of the cage. There was a determined look in her eyes, and she squared her jaw as she reached through the cage to me.

I stood from my sitting position and stepped close.

The Immortal slammed inside of me. She wanted the Mori. She was salivating like a newborn vampire for blood.

I held her back. “What are you doing?”

Everything in me wanted to go closer, to grab her hands, and take what I could. The Immortal was snarling, an angry tornado, but I stood firm. What would happen if I took those hands? The Immortal wanted it so bad, I wasn’t sure I could control myself. And that was when I realized I was scared. Not of myself or the situation, I was scared when The Immortal would take over, and in the next second, I admitted a second truth to myself. The Immortal would take over. I didn’t know when, I didn’t know how, but she would.

She was too strong, and she was no longer a part of me. She had separated from me.

Her eyes flashed, and she jerked forward. Her hands caught mine, and before I could react to pull away, The Immortal surged inside of me. She burst through our connection, and I saw the Mori’s head get thrown back. Her mouth opened wide, and a bright light burst from her. Her eyeballs were like flashlights, and even her fingertips burst forth with light. It was a blinding white light.

“Your magic and mine are sister threads.”

I frowned. It was the Mori. She was in my head, and her English was perfect.

“It’s our connection. I have obtained everything from you, as you have taken from me.”