Caged Queen (Blood and Magic 1)

Chapter Five

Aspen

The soft click of the key turning in the lock, made me blink my eyes open in the dark. I hadn’t been asleep, although after three days of staring out the window and only seeing a fleeting glance of my mum when she thrust food through my door, I had been dozing off.

No sleep, hardly anything to eat and I was feeling weak. Which was probably what the vampire wanted. They wanted me weak and petrified. It was the only reason I could come up with as to why they hadn’t come yet. They were drawing it out.

“Aspen?” My mums soft voice spoke from the doorway. “Are you awake?” she sounded as frightened as I felt. All the anger I had been feeling for her locking me in my room vanished at the sound of her voice. She was my mum and I needed her. even if there was nothing, she could do to save me now, I needed the comfort of her arms and her soothing voice.

For whatever little time I had left I wanted to be her little girl.

“Yes mum.” My voice broke. I had given up crying after the first day, but the hysteria was still there. Bubbling up to the surface and begging to be let out. “Mummy.” I broke, sobbing her name the way I use to when I was a child.

She was across the bed in a second. Gathering my grown form into her arms. In the darkness I lay there in her arms and just cried. She held me, rocking me slowly like I was a child again and her tears fell on my face even as mine soaked the front of her blouse.

“it’s ok Aspen, it’s going to be ok.”

I wanted to believe her but how could I? I was going to die. It didn’t matter what she said. Any chance I had had of getting away vanished three days ago when she had let George lock me away. There would be no running for my life now, all I had was to face my death with dignity.

“When will it be? When will they come?”

She held me away for a second, searching my face in the darkness. But it was only for a moment before she gathered me back up in her arms. her hand smoothing back my hair. “I don’t know Aspen, soon. Which is why we need to move quickly. And you need to be brave.”

I blinked up at her. “Move quickly? I thought you had locked me in here to wait for them, I thought…”

“George locked you in here, Aspen not me. He has gone to beg for your life as our ambassador. He has links within their court and…”

I cut her off. “Do you trust him? anyone who works that closely with those leeches.”

My mum didn’t let me finish. Untangling her body from mine she straightened up. Her eyes flashing. “Yes of course I trust him, but no I do not trust the vampires which is why I have made plans of my own. The coven and I,” She smiled a little sadly.

Her words brought new hope flooding into my chest. She had gone to the coven for me, they had a plan. “What is the plan?”

“I will explain soon but we need to be moving get dressed Aspen.” She turned every which way before gathering up one of the discarded sweaters I had thrown on the floor. “Put this on.”

I caught it out of thin air. Frowning at the soft material in my hands. “No robes?”

“We don’t have time for that Aspen, your life is on the line. Get dressed now. And quickly. Ill meet you downstair in five minutes.”

Something was wrong. The coven, for all their lack of magic was all about pomp and ceremony. It was all they had to tie them to the old ways. Still, my mum was right. Things were desperate and I had always lost so much time.

Tugging on clean clothes, I didn’t bother to pull abrash through my tangled hair. Opting instead to throw it up in a ponytail, that was more than half knots. A million thoughts flashed through my head. I didn’t know what kind of plan they had. The coven was magicless. At most all they could do was pray that the goddess take pity on me. Maybe a potion. One that would kill me quickly and painlessly.

I froze. If they offered me a way out without pain, would I be able to take it? Yes, I admitted to myself. If it came between death my blood sucker and taking my own life. I would choose the latter.

Slowly, trying not to make a sound I headed towards my mother’s voice. She was speaking quietly. And I could hear the hum of the coven’s voices around her. just hearing them gave me new hope. They were my family. Centuries of magical blood tied us together. I was one of theirs and they would protect me. Because that’s what family did.

“Mum?” hesitating in the doorway of the living room I let my eyes sweep around. The furniture had been pushed back against the walls. Leaving an open space in the centre. Candles flickered on every surface. There light throwing shadows dancing on the walls.

“In here love.” She reached for me, bringing me forward into the centre and the other people in the room quickly encircled us. There were no barked ordered, they had already prepared everything.

“You are going to try a spell?” Flicking my eyes around, the realisation hit me. The hope that had been igniting in my chest, diminished. What good would a ritual do when the only person in the room that could do real magic was me. “How will that work?”

“Trust us, we are just waiting for one more person. They are bringing us an amulet and then…” My mother’s voice faded off as she tuned her eyes on our high priestess.

“You are going to lock away all your magic away in it, Aspen. Not just your magic but everything you are. All of your past will be locked away and then you will run.”

It took me several seconds for her words to make sense. “You want me to stop being Aspen? My magic is soul bound I would need to give up everything I am.” I shook my head. I wasn’t sure I could go through with it. Death seemed like a better option.

“I can read your thoughts clearly on your face aspen. You have prepared yourself for death. But this could give you a chance, don’t you want to live? Don’t you want to try?” Her words were soft but there was steel in her grey eyes. “We are just waiting or George and then…”

“I am here.” George’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere. None of us had heard him come into the house.

“George, where have you been we have been wai-“ My priestesses voice broke off as two men stepped out of the shadows behind them. A collective hiss went up from the witches around them. From my place in the centre of the room, I had no where to hide. No one I could duck behind. I stood there frozen as the two vampires stepped into my living room. And their very presence seemed to pull the life out of the room.

Two pairs of too bright eyes fixed on me unblinking. It was a battle of wills who would look away first. And I lost. I couldn’t look at them not head on. I could feel their power. Like ice cubes rubbed across my skin, they made every vampire I had come into contact with previously feel like new borns.

So much power, so much death.

“You betrayed us George.” My mother’s voice was agonised. “You betrayed me and my daughter and your brought them into a sacred circle.” She was surprised but I wasn’t. My instinct about the male witch had been spot on. I had just ignored them.

“Its ok Mum.” Slowly I lifted my eyes to the two men in front of me. if they were going to be my death then I wanted to face it with dignity.

“If I had powers I would.”

She positioned her body half in front of me, like her small almost human body would be some protection from them. It wouldn’t be. They would snap her like a twig, they wouldn’t even break a sweat.

“No mum, you need to step back now.” Turning to her, I beseeched her with my eyes. “Live for me mum, please,” Somehow my voice didn’t break. I was quiet but my words came out strong.

“You need to listen to the young witch now.” The one furthest back said. “Fighting now would be futile.”

I watched as he stepped around the taller man, and my eyes fixed on the golden hair that flowed down on either side of his face. Longer than was fashionable but somehow it didn’t look old fashioned. It made him look like some kind of rock god. And like a groupie I wanted to worship him.

He was a master, not just him. They both were.

They were the masters of the city.

“I can’t just let you kill her.”

Golden head threw his look with his equally golden eyes. A smile that was more than half a sneer lighting up his face. “Kill her?”

His question made a murmur of unease go up from the witches behind me and I couldn’t blame them or that. His choice of words made me uncomfortable as well.

“We aren’t going to kill her. we are going to offer her a choice.”