A Bond of Blood (A Shade of Vampire #9)(27)

Tears began to spill from Rose’s eyes. Vivienne pulled her onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her in comfort.

My mind reeled. “What do you think will happen to them? Those who were left behind.”

“The honest answer is that we just have no idea, Corrine. I’d like to comfort you, but I’m as clueless as you are. Nobody there would give us any idea why we were being held captive there.”

Eli cleared his throat. “Actually,” he said, “I think we do all have some idea. Or at least I do. I believe, now that they know where this island is, they want to raid it. They know what a huge population of humans we have here. And clearly, they are in constant need of humans… I’m sure that if they knew our location sooner, they would have tried to tap into our resources years ago.”

“Y-you think they will come here?” Rose gasped.

“I think,” Eli continued, “that they were holding all The Shade’s most powerful vampires and witches for a reason. They want this island to be vulnerable so they can swoop in and take whomever they want.”

“From the sounds of it, Annora could swoop in even with them present,” I murmured. “She was able to overpower all of you.”

“True,” Eli muttered.

“How did you all escape?” I asked.

“I still don’t quite understand it. The lights went out, and with them, Annora’s powers also vanished. Ibrahim helped free us from the cells and we all made a run for it. But her influence wasn’t gone for long… a few minutes.”

“And the others… they were all alive when you last saw them?” I croaked.

“They were.”

I was about to ask more questions, but Eli held up his hand and stood up, looking around the table at all of us sternly.

“We don’t have much time now. We have no idea what Annora has up her sleeve. But I believe that she is going to attack. We need to start preparing for the worst.”

We looked at each other. It was clear that we were all thinking the same thing.

How could we even begin preparing against such a force as Annora?

I wasn’t sure that I was powerful enough to keep the protective spell over the island even with the help of all the witches here if she decided to attack. And once the spell was gone, the vampires’ brute force was useless against her magic, and she could easily overpower us witches.

I hadn’t thought it possible, but I felt more powerless now than when the Ageless had stripped me of my magic.

Chapter 25: Corrine

The hours that followed were a blur. When Rose asked me where her brother was, I barely had time to give her an answer.

Our first priority was to evacuate the humans from their houses and herd them back into what used to be their home many years ago: the Catacombs. They were safer in the shelter of the mountain than scattered around the island in their townhouses.

After we’d done this, I called a meeting with the witches in the Sanctuary, while the vampires began preparing themselves. They’d only come in handy if she brought vampires with them. But I doubted that the witch would bother.

I looked at the witches sitting with me around the table. “This temple is the most potent place on the island. You should remain here while Annora carries out her attack on the forcefield. Right now, your main priority is to help me keep up the protection over this island. With our combined effort, it should become at least six times stronger than it is now.”

They nodded, looking nervously at each other.

“I’m going to go out now and scan the shoreline. In the meantime, stay here. I’ll be back with further instructions.”

I left the Sanctuary and made my way to the port and walked along the jetty, standing at the very edge of it and scanning the shoreline, breathing in the fresh sea air, trying to calm my nerves.

Eli joined me a few minutes later.

“Now all we can do is wait,” I said, shivering as a cool breeze touched my skin.

“Xavier has stationed vampires at all the lookout points,” he said.

I sat down on the edge of the jetty and pulled my cloak tighter against me. “This could be a long night,” I said.

Eli sat down next to me, and we both stared out at the empty horizon. We sat for hours in silence. By the fourth hour, I stood up. I was too restless to sit any longer. “I’m going to walk further up the beach.”

For all we knew, they could come tomorrow, or the day after. Or in a week’s time. We had no idea what this witch was planning. It was all speculation.

I removed my shoes, feeling the sand beneath my feet. Digging them in deep somehow made me feel more grounded.

I walked along the beach for a couple of hours, doing everything I could to keep myself from thinking about Ibrahim. The worst thing was not knowing. It set my mind loose to imagine all sorts of scenarios that were probably worse than the reality.

By the time I’d circled almost half of the island, I turned round and began to retrace my steps.

Then, as I was nearing the port, I saw it.

Forming over the ocean in the distance, a dozen miles beyond our spell’s boundary, was a dark vortex. A whirlwind that was becoming stronger and higher by the second. Gathering speed, it was heading right for us.

My limbs shaking, I vanished myself from the spot and manifested myself back next to Eli who was still sitting on the jetty.