A Power of Old Read online

  A Shade of Vampire 38: A Power of Old

  Bella Forrest

  Contents

  Also by Bella Forrest

  The “New Generation” Names List

  1. Ruby

  2. Hazel

  3. Ruby

  4. Rose

  5. Tejus

  6. Ash

  7. Hazel

  8. Tejus

  9. Ruby

  10. Ash

  11. Rose

  12. Ruby

  13. Jenus

  14. Sherus

  15. Hazel

  16. Hazel

  17. Ash

  18. Ruby

  19. Ash

  20. Ash

  21. Tejus

  22. Rose

  23. Hazel

  24. Ruby

  25. Jenus

  26. Rose

  27. Ash

  28. Benedict

  29. Rose

  30. Ben

  31. Ash

  32. Hazel

  33. Rose

  Read more by Bella Forrest!

  Also by Bella Forrest

  THE GENDER GAME

  The Gender Game (Book 1)

  The Gender Secret (Book 2)

  The Gender Lie (Book 3)

  The Gender War (Book 4)

  A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES

  Series 1: Derek & Sofia’s story

  A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)

  A Shade of Blood (Book 2)

  A Castle of Sand (Book 3)

  A Shadow of Light (Book 4)

  A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)

  A Gate of Night (Book 6)

  A Break of Day (Book 7)

  Series 2: Rose & Caleb’s story

  A Shade of Novak (Book 8)

  A Bond of Blood (Book 9)

  A Spell of Time (Book 10)

  A Chase of Prey (Book 11)

  A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)

  A Turn of Tides (Book 13)

  A Dawn of Strength (Book 14)

  A Fall of Secrets (Book 15)

  An End of Night (Book 16)

  Series 3: Ben & River’s story

  A Wind of Change (Book 17)

  A Trail of Echoes (Book 18)

  A Soldier of Shadows (Book 19)

  A Hero of Realms (Book 20)

  A Vial of Life (Book 21)

  A Fork of Paths (Book 22)

  A Flight of Souls (Book 23)

  A Bridge of Stars (Book 24)

  Series 4: A Clan of Novaks

  A Clan of Novaks (Book 25)

  A World of New (Book 26)

  A Web of Lies (Book 27)

  A Touch of Truth (Book 28)

  An Hour of Need (Book 29)

  A Game of Risk (Book 30)

  A Twist of Fates (Book 31)

  A Day of Glory (Book 32)

  Series 5: A Dawn of Guardians

  A Dawn of Guardians (Book 33)

  A Sword of Chance (Book 34)

  A Race of Trials (Book 35)

  A King of Shadow (Book 36)

  An Empire of Stones (Book 37)

  A SHADE OF DRAGON TRILOGY

  A Shade of Dragon 1

  A Shade of Dragon 2

  A Shade of Dragon 3

  A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY

  A Shade of Kiev 1

  A Shade of Kiev 2

  A Shade of Kiev 3

  BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY

  Beautiful Monster 1

  Beautiful Monster 2

  DETECTIVE ERIN BOND (Adult mystery/thriller)

  Bare Girl

  Write, Edit, Kill

  For an updated list of Bella’s books, please visit her website: www.bellaforrest.net

  Join Bella’s VIP email list and she’ll personally send you an email reminder as soon as her next book is out! Tap here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com

  Copyright © 2017 by Bella Forrest

  Cover design inspired by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations LLC

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The “New Generation” Names List

  Arwen: (daughter of Corrine and Ibrahim - witch)

  Benedict:(son of Rose and Caleb - human)

  Brock: (son of Kiev and Mona – half warlock)

  Grace: (daughter of Ben and River – half fae and half human)

  Hazel: (daughter of Rose and Caleb – human)

  Heath: (son of Jeriad and Sylvia – half dragon and half human)

  Ruby: (daughter of Claudia and Yuri – human)

  Victoria: (daughter of Vivienne and Xavier – human)

  Ruby

  I was so glad that we were back in Hellswan castle. I might have hated the gray, oppressive stone walls, and the constant lurking of muttering and secretive ministers, and even the fact that the sky was always the same gray as the stone, but it was what I’d reluctantly come to regard as ‘home’ in Nevertide. I felt almost safe here—safer than I did in Queen Trina’s kingdom at least.

  Yelena and Jenney had been clearing up after the kids, who had all fallen asleep in random spots in the living room—some lying on sofas, others on the carpet with only a cushion, the luckier ones were lying three or four to a bed.

  Benedict’s and Julian’s beds were the only ones that remained empty. I suspected the rest of the kids avoided sleeping in them out of respect…but it might have been fear – as if their bad luck was contagious somehow.

  It was dark outside. I should have been getting some rest but sleep just wouldn’t come. We still had a bit of time before Benedict was expected to come stone-hunting. I dreaded seeing him under the control of the entity. I had heard what had happened to Yelena, and putting two and two together, I figured that Benedict had drained me too on the night before the disk trial. I didn’t mention it to anyone—what would be the point? It just made my blood run cold to know that Benedict was capable of such destruction and power.

  Ash came in through the servant’s entrance and slammed the door shut behind him.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, noticing the scowl and tense shoulders. Jenney gave him a wide berth.

  “Just been to see if I can get my job back,” he muttered.

  I looked at Jenney. Apparently, it wasn’t good news.

  “Why?” I asked, my question genuine. After the trials, Ash hadn’t expected to return to kitchen service.

  “I don’t really have much choice. The ministers here definitely won’t hire me now, since I’ve worked for Trina, and it’s not like I can go back there again.” He shrugged. “Maybe something will come up—but for now, it’s best that I stay in the castle.”

  I hadn’t thought about what might happen to Ash if he set Julian and I free from Queen Trina’s dungeons. I thought the only reason he was staying in Hellswan was to protect me and Jenney.

  “Ash, I’m so sorry—I didn’t think—”

  “It’s fine—really. None of this is your fault, Shortie. Trust me when I say I’m happy not to be employed by a psychopath.”

  “I’m glad to have you back, Ash,” Jenney chimed in. “It won’t be like this forever.”

  “I know.” He smiled, looking at me with warm eyes.

  My stomach fluttered a bit, giving me goosebumps. It looked like Ash and I might be back on for the whole return-to-Earth plan, which suited me just fine. Repressing the thrill that ran through me at the thought of Ash arriving in The Shade, I smiled back.

  Don’t get ahead of yourself. It wasn’t like we were any closer to getting out of here. And I hadn’t even told Ash about The Shade or GASP.

  “Well, it would be nice if the food around here
improved,” I teased.

  “Don’t push your luck, Shor—” Ash broke off, jerking his head in confusion.

  What?

  I meant to say the words as I thought them, but no sound came out. I tried again. Nothing.

  What’s going on?

  Jenney and Ash simultaneously tried to talk. It would have been funny, if it wasn’t for the freaky circumstances. I sighed, realizing what it was. I marched over to an old desk and pulled out a sheet of dusty parchment. Grabbing a piece of lead, I started to scrawl on the page:

  ‘The pestilence of silence. I think it’s one of the weird apocalyptic signs.’

  I showed it to Ash and Jenney, and their shoulders sank. Yeah. This really wasn’t ideal. Ash scratched his head, back to being irritated.

  Then a thought occurred to me. This was supposed to be the last sign. We’d had the red rains and the fire of ice that had been promised in the books that Hazel and Tejus had found. What did reaching the last sign mean? Was the entity at full strength?

  ‘The final one!’ I scribbled down on the page, showing it to Ash. He nodded grimly. Oh. He’d already worked that out.

  Guards burst through the door, and the sudden noise made us all jump. They looked at us, confused and bewildered. I shrugged at them. There was nothing any of us could do—we’d just have to wait this one out like all the others.

  One of the guards stepped forward, holding out his hand in a ‘stop’ sign. He gestured to the rest of his men, pointing at the door.

  I guess we stay here then.

  I looked at Ash and he nodded, glancing toward the servants’ entrance, undetected by the guards.

  Right. If we needed to leave, we could go that way.

  The guards retreated, and shut the door behind them. Just as that door shut, another opened, and Julian stumbled out looking bleary-eyed. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to go into any detail—and my mime skills weren’t the best—I added another scribble to my paper and showed it to him.

  ‘The pestilence of silence. I think it’s one of the weird apocalyptic signs.

  ‘The final one!

  ‘Long story!’

  Julian reached for his glasses, and then read what I’d written. He looked at me in bewilderment, going through the same motions of trying to speak that we’d all tried a moment ago. I waited till he had finished, patiently showing him the sign again. This time he just sighed with resignation. Yelena was next, coming up from the servants’ quarters. When I tried to show her the paper she flapped her arm at me. ‘Yeah, yeah,’ her expression seemed to say, ‘I got it.”

  I hid a smile. That girl was quite extraordinary for a human.

  Scribbling again on the paper, I conveyed to the group that we should really go and find Hazel and Tejus—they might have an idea of what this meant in terms of the entity’s rise to full power.

  The others nodded, and Yelena started for the door, but I pulled her back, pointing to the servants’ entrance.

  We all headed down the narrow steps, and then through a deserted kitchen—some of the stoves had been left on, with great vats of unappetizing-looking stew still boiling. Ash went around dousing the fires with water, and then we made our way back up into the main body of the castle. From what I could see, it looked like all the servants had fled, but the ministers were still rushing around, panicking and wild-eyed. I repressed a smile. They must really be feeling the pain of not being able to mutter to one another.

  An imposing male figure was marching along the hallway, ministers moving out of his way as he approached. When he came closer, I recognized the granite face of Memenion. I waved, and he nodded in greeting. As he approached us he peered curiously at Ash, but then turned to me and fished something from his pocket.

  It was a letter, creased and stained with a faint splatter of dried red liquid. It was addressed to me in scrawled ink. I turned it over, and the signature of the Hellswan house was stamped on the back—below that were initials. ‘Cdr. V.R’.

  Commander Varga?

  I looked up at Memenion and he smiled at me sadly. It was him, then. I could feel Ash giving me a puzzled look, and, not wanting to delay getting to Hazel and Tejus, I shoved it in the pocket of my robe.

  I’ll read it later.

  Not knowing how to thank Memenion, I briefly placed my hand on his arm in appreciation. He looked surprised, jerking it back, so I smiled awkwardly instead. I recalled the king’s wife saying that they weren’t closed-minded about humans, and I had believed her—though I couldn’t help but wonder if our kind took some getting used to, just the way theirs did to us.

  We continued our journey, watching more ministers sweep past us in frenzied panic. I didn’t know where they were hurrying to or from—what did they think they could do?

  When we got to the stairwell of Tejus’s tower, there was no one around. I briefly wondered where all the guards had gone, but perhaps Tejus had sent them elsewhere…Didn’t he feel that he and Hazel needed protection?

  As we walked along the corridor to Tejus’s living room, our path was suddenly blocked without warning. I realized what he had done. There were protective barriers up, blocking the entrance to his room. I sighed, further irked to see a conceited-looking lynx yawning at us obnoxiously before sticking his head up in the air and marching off.

  I looked over at Ash in frustration.

  What now?

  He shook his head at the obvious, but unspoken question. There was nothing to do but wait – it wasn’t like we could call out to them or anything, we’d just have to stay put until they emerged. I hoped it wouldn’t be long.

  Yelena and Julian slumped against the walls, folding their arms and looking irritated. Eventually I joined them, not knowing what else to do. Ash paced up and down, intermittently scowling at the smug-looking lynx.

  I must have dozed off for a while, because the next moment Ash was shaking me gently by the shoulders. I smiled at him sleepily, still only half-awake. He gestured back at the corridor – the cat was long gone. I jumped up, testing the air where the barriers had been. They were gone.

  We quickly woke Julian and Yelena, and hurried toward our destination. Without knocking, we pushed open the heavy wooden doors and strode purposefully into Tejus’s living room.

  The first thing I saw was Tejus, standing by the window with a shaken expression on his face. He barely bothered to glance in our direction, looking off into the corner of the room instead. I followed his gaze, registering Hazel curled up in a ball, her face turned in my direction, but unseeing, as if I wasn’t even there. She was wrapped up in a bed sheet, and her usually pale face was even whiter than normal. Her eyes were glazed, and I belatedly realized I was registering the tell-tale signs of extreme shock.

  What the heck happened here?

  Hazel

  I registered my friends entering through a haze of fear, hunger and bewilderment.

  I didn’t know how long it had been since my transformation had started to take effect. I could hardly look at Tejus without being infused with a crazy sensation of hunger. I wanted to gorge myself on his energy. It seemed so bright, so vibrant. It was like the gold threads of our past mind melds were constantly flowing through his body—through every single vein, every vessel.

  How could I not want him?

  How could I not want all of him?

  All I seemed to be able to do was sit in the corner of the room, forcing my limbs to become like concrete, not allowing myself to move a single muscle in case my body launched itself toward Tejus and my mind took over, sucking his energy dry. Was this what it was like for him? Or was it because I was new to the sensation? It must be the latter, otherwise every single sentry in Nevertide would be locked in their homes, shaking and cursing themselves for wanting to do their loved ones harm.

  Now I needed the rest of them gone.

  Ruby’s mind beckoned to me; she stood stone-still in the middle of the room, staring at me in confusion and deep, deep concern. Her mind was so strong though—I could p
ractically feel it from where I sat.

  Don’t go there, Hazel—don’t—you’ll never forgive yourself.

  I repeated my mantra and gritted my teeth, trying my best to keep my mind to myself and not try to go exploring others.

  Not knowing what to do, I just sat there, hoping Tejus would warn Ruby away before she got too close. How could I be around anyone? I was a danger to them all—sentry or human, it didn’t seem to make a difference.

  How had my night with Tejus—the most amazing experience of my life—turned into such a nightmare?

  Ruby took a step closer, arms rising to embrace me. I looked over at Tejus, my eyes imploring.

  Help me! Stop her!

  I drew my body closer inward, though it didn’t seem to help—my mind had started to drift toward hers.

  No!

  Tejus strode forward and put out an arm to halt Ruby. She glared up at him furiously, trying to bat his arm away, but it was immovable. Ash took a step forward, placing a hand on Tejus’s shoulder as a warning. I could tell that things were going to escalate quickly, but Tejus didn’t respond with rage or aggression. He moved to stand in front of me, blocking my friends’ view, with his arms held out to pacify them.

  His eyes must have conveyed that he meant me no harm, because eventually they backed off. Ruby still looked mistrustful, but she stepped away with the rest.

  A moment later, we were all distracted.

  The door to the tower had started to rattle. It was soft at first, like a single gust of wind had shot down from the turret, and the door struggled to break free from its hinge. The rattling increased, the door slamming back and forth—it felt like there was someone on the other side, pushing and pulling against it. I half suspected the entire thing to fly from the frame, but instead, in the next moment, it went silent.

  Next, a faint scratching sound came from behind the door. I looked at Tejus, my heart in my throat. It was a sound that would haunt my dreams for the rest of my life, the same sound I’d heard the night Benedict had tried to get into our living quarters.

  Tejus nodded slightly, acknowledging the fact that we would not open the door—the creature behind it wasn’t my brother. Not even close. I knew that, and Tejus knew that—but Julian, not seeing my warning glance at Tejus, and not knowing the hell we’d been through with Benedict, was obviously curious.