A Shade of Vampire 48 Read online

  A Shade of Vampire 48: A Tip of Balance

  Bella Forrest

  Contents

  Also by Bella Forrest

  New Generation List

  1. Phoenix

  2. Serena

  3. Aida

  4. Jovi

  5. Serena

  6. Serena

  7. Jovi

  8. Aida

  9. Serena

  10. Field

  11. Jovi

  12. Aida

  13. Phoenix

  14. Vita

  15. Jovi

  16. Serena

  17. Phoenix

  18. Aida

  19. Phoenix

  20. Phoenix

  21. Aida

  22. Jovi

  23. Serena

  24. Aida

  25. Vita

  26. Phoenix

  27. Jovi

  28. Serena

  29. Vita

  30. Aida

  31. Serena

  32. Serena

  33. Serena

  34. Aida

  35. Vita

  36. Aida

  37. Phoenix

  38. Aida

  39. Aida

  40. Aida

  Read more by Bella Forrest

  Also by Bella Forrest

  THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK (New!)

  The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)

  The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)

  THE GENDER GAME

  (Completed series)

  The Gender Game (Book 1)

  The Gender Secret (Book 2)

  The Gender Lie (Book 3)

  The Gender War (Book 4)

  The Gender Fall (Book 5)

  The Gender Plan (Book 6)

  The Gender End (Book 7)

  THE SECRET OF SPELLSHADOW MANOR

  The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Book 1)

  The Breaker (Book 2)

  The Chain (Book 3)

  The Keep (Book 4)

  The Test (Book 5)

  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: The Shade continues with a new hero…

  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 Power of Old (Book 38)

  A Rip of Realms (Book 39)

  A Throne of Fire (Book 40)

  A Tide of War (Book 41)

  Series 6: A Gift of Three

  A Gift of Three (Book 42)

  A House of Mysteries (Book 43)

  A Tangle of Hearts (Book 44)

  A Meet of Tribes (Book 45)

  A Ride of Peril (Book 46)

  A Passage of Threats (Book 47)

  A Tip of Balance (Book 48)

  A Shield of Glass (Book 49)

  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 thriller/mystery)

  Lights, Camera, GONE

  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.

  New Generation List

  Aida: daughter of Bastien and Victoria (half werewolf/half human)

  Field: biological son of River, adopted son of Benjamin (mix of Hawk and vampire-half-blood)

  Jovi: son of Bastien and Victoria (half werewolf/half human)

  Phoenix: son of Hazel and Tejus (sentry)

  Serena: daughter of Hazel and Tejus (sentry)

  Vita: daughter of Grace and Lawrence (part-fae/human)

  Phoenix

  “How do we get her back?”

  Serena’s voice was cracked. The color had deserted her face, leaving her with pale lips and red, teary eyes.

  We were still in the grotto, the air riddled with dust particles from Field’s wall-punching and Draven’s obliteration of the passage stone. I had never seen either so upset and capable of destruction. Then again, no one had betrayed us like this before. We’d never lost a friend to the Destroyers, either.

  “He knows everything,” Draven muttered, surfacing from the cloud of anguish as he headed outside.

  One by one, we followed, unable to say much until the cool night air hit our faces and the sight of the mansion sank in. I looked at it, wondering how it had all gone so wrong, and how not even the Daughters’ magic could stop those monsters from taking Vita.

  Rattled by a mixture of grief and anger, we paced around the front lawn, trying to make sense of everything.

  “Sverik played us from the beginning,” Draven said.

  Hansa and Jax stood next to Serena, who was slowly withering away. Aida was crouching, eyes wide open and lower lip trembling. Field lowered himself next to Aida, finally having enough self-control to be aware of what was happening to her.

  I looked over at the Daughter who was sitting on the porch steps with Eva and the two succubi. I felt her pain and sadness as she looked up at me, the corners of her mouth dropped into a frown. Violence was something that deeply troubled her.

  Bijarki was the last to come up from the grotto. His expression seemed carved out of gray marble. I could tell from the pained look in his eyes and the ribbons of red and black emotions oozing out of him that he was taking Vita’s abduction hard. My inner-sentry felt everything he was projecting, though I had a feeling he wasn’t aware of it.

  �
��They probably caged him to take any suspicion away from him,” Draven added. “He was carefully implanted into this, and he played us a little too well.”

  “He knows everything,” Field said, looking down absently. “He knows who we are and what we’re planning to do.”

  “The alliance,” Hansa completed his thoughts. “He knows about Mount Agrith and the rogues.”

  “How do we get her back?” Serena whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks.

  Draven stopped in his tracks when he saw her. Serena was devastated and unable to process anything. All she could think of was getting Vita back. She’d fallen victim to the same catatonic state as Bijarki and Aida. I wasn’t any better, and neither was Field or Jovi. Too much had happened at once, and our instincts had automatically started to prioritize things.

  Draven took Serena in his arms. She hid her face in his chest and sobbed, her cries muffled by the Druid’s shirt.

  “We need to warn them,” Jax said.

  “We need to get Vita back!” Bijarki lost his temper, his body trembling with rage.

  Draven gave Bijarki a sympathetic nod.

  “We’ll get her,” the Druid said, trying to sound reassuring.

  “With all due respect,” Tamara stepped forward with a straight face and sad yellow eyes. “As much as you might hate me for this, I feel like I need to point out the obvious. We cannot go rescue Vita now.”

  Serena

  I fought the uncontrollable urge to punch Tamara. I felt Draven’s hands gripping my arms as if he’d felt me move and had a pretty good idea about what I was about to do. He held me there, giving me a sideways glance that begged me to find a sliver of patience and hang on to it for dear life.

  “You must be joking, Tamara,” Bijarki muttered in response. “Or, you must be yearning to be thrown beyond the shield for the Destroyers to rip you apart.”

  Not exactly what I’d had in mind, but it did resonate with my reaction to the Lamia’s words. How could she say that? Vita was my best friend. We were family. She was everything to us, and, regardless of the consequences, we were going to save her. We would go after her.

  “I know it’s not what you want to hear right now,” Tamara replied, “but we are in no position to charge out and get Vita back. We’ll be dead the moment we set foot outside the shield, and the passage stone is gone. Most importantly, the alliance is in danger.”

  “Azazel has Vita!” I shouted, no longer able to control myself.

  “We can’t all die because of that!” Tamara shot back. “We have to think this through. We have to prioritize. We have to do this right, or we lose everything, including Vita, for good!”

  Silence fell between us. My heart broke. The thought of Vita in a glass sphere suspended in water felt like knives stabbing me. Draven’s fingers were digging into my flesh, forcing me to look at him. I felt another wave of hot tears threatening to surface.

  “I hate to say this, but Tamara has a point,” he muttered, prompting Bijarki’s fists to clench at his sides. The incubus was seething.

  “So, what? We let her rot there?” he spat.

  “No, we go after her,” Draven replied, “but not right now. Not like this. We have to secure the alliance. The fate of our world depends on it.”

  “There aren’t enough ingredients left for the invisibility spell,” Anjani said, looking around at us. “I don’t think we can get anywhere near Azazel’s castle without it. I have a hard time seeing us getting past Goren and his thugs without it, either.”

  “She’s right,” Phoenix said. “There’s barely enough to cover a couple of miles for two people, certainly not a rescue mission.”

  “Azazel knows we’d be coming, anyway,” Draven added. “He’d be waiting for us with arms wide open. We’ve lost the element of surprise thanks to Sverik.”

  “He’s mine,” Bijarki hissed. “Do you hear me? He is mine to skin alive and feed to the shifters!”

  I looked around for the first time and saw grief imprinted on everyone’s faces. We’d all been stricken with it. We were all simmering, barely holding it together. With each minute that went by, however, I could see the resolve reluctantly making its way back into our group.

  “You’ll get your chance, Bijarki, I promise,” Draven replied. “For now, the clock is ticking, and we don’t have much time. We need a plan.”

  “And a damn good one, too,” Jax interjected, giving Hansa a sideways glance. “We’ve got the skills amongst us, might as well use them.”

  I hated to admit it, but Tamara was right. We couldn’t storm Azazel’s castle half-cocked and out for blood. We weren’t going to make it ten feet past the shield in our current condition. I could tell that, as much as he hated it, Bijarki was reaching the same conclusion.

  He took a few deep breaths to bring himself under a rudimentary form of control, while I allowed Draven’s golden energy to pour through me and mend the breakage that Vita’s abduction had left behind.

  “Let’s take this inside,” Aida stood up, brushing the grass off her linen dress. “I can’t stand to be out here for another second.”

  Her bloodshot gaze found mine. We both understood that we were going through the same thing. The silent sympathy hung loosely between us, and she allowed Field to put his arm around her shoulder and guide her to the mansion.

  I went after them, followed closely by Draven and the rest of our group.

  “Wait,” Draven said, stopping in front of the porch steps, then looking at Jax. “Let’s bring the Destroyers’ corpses out here. We can’t keep them inside.”

  Jax went in first with Hansa and Jovi, and Draven followed. A few minutes later, they emerged from the mansion with four charred corpses wrapped in blue blankets on their shoulders, barely a third of the Destroyers’ original size.

  Jax nodded toward the magnolia trees.

  “Should we leave them there until we cremate them?” he asked.

  “No,” Draven shook his head. “We need to send them all a message. They need to know that if any of them get close, they will burn and die a horrible death. They can’t see us cowering in fear. They can’t think we’re hiding under the shield, weeping. We can’t give Azazel the satisfaction.”

  Without another word, Jax gave him a quick nod as they both walked over to the edge of the shield, followed by Hansa and Jovi. Just beyond the protective spell stood a dozen Destroyers, warming up by a fire.

  They dumped the bodies beyond the shield, startling the monsters. As the Destroyers came closer and recognized the remains as belonging to their mutated species, they looked at the blank space before them and hissed, baring their fangs as their forked tongues flicked the air. They got the message.

  Aida

  The house felt empty and cold, echoing my emotional state. I was still reeling from my horrifying encounter with Azazel—and the anger that had come over me once I’d realized he was keeping me there so I wouldn’t warn the others that his Destroyers were coming.

  The bastard.

  We walked toward the banquet hall, following in each other’s footsteps so we didn’t cut our feet on the broken glass. The foyer and reception hall were torn apart. Wood was splintered all over the place and glass shards were scattered across the floor. Doors had been smashed through, along with the large circular table that had once held a gorgeous Chinese Ming Dynasty vase in peaceful shades of white and blue. It, too, was sprinkled in tiny pieces over the laminated parquet.

  The Daughter stopped in the middle, glass crunching beneath her bare feet. Phoenix moved to get her off the floor, but she lifted an arm to stop him, giving him a weak smile as she closed her eyes.

  We all watched in awe as the mansion began fixing itself. One by one, glass shards returned to glass, and the wooden balustrade and table reconstructed themselves, inch by inch. Within minutes, any trace of a Destroyer invasion had completely vanished. A bloody hatchet left on the floor was the only sign that anything had ever happened there. I felt queasy at the sight of it, but I couldn
’t help but marvel at how the Daughter had restored everything so beautifully. Her abilities never ceased to amaze me.

  “Thanks,” Bijarki said. “Now if you could put Vita back in my room, I’d be most grateful.”

  He was lashing out, but none of us could blame him, not even the Daughter. She sighed, then went on to open the wide double doors leading into the banquet hall.

  “I’ve learned to work more closely with the ancient wards now, beyond better food,” she said as she walked in, “however, none of us are capable of doing that, Bijarki. I am sorry.”

  The incubus exhaled sharply.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” he muttered, then started pacing around the hall.

  She gave him a smile in return. It hit me then that she was probably feeling as bad as we were, if not worse. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have all that power inside of you and not know how to use it.

  The candelabras lit themselves as we all gathered around the dining table. Serena and I were the first to collapse into our chairs, followed by the others. There was a blistering sense of defeat hanging heavily over our heads, and none of us knew how to deal with it.

  “He was in my vision,” I was the first to speak, no longer able to postpone my concern. “Vita was the first to be taken, physically, but Azazel seems to be able to hijack my visions of him and pin me there. I am probably the next on his list.”

  Field instantly grunted, a dark line drawn between his eyebrows as he shook his head, clearly rejecting the premise.

  “What happened, exactly?” Serena asked, placing her hand over mine.