Ageless (21 page)

“I would rather die first,” she
spit out.

“Oh, you’ll die anyway,” Elysa said
with a small smile. “But it will be very, very painful, I’m
afraid...” Her voice was cut off as her eyes bulged out of her head
in surprise. Violet watched in horror as blood slid from Elysa’s
mouth.

A wooden tip was exposed in Elysa’s
chest, poking out at Violet. As Elysa slid to the floor, Violet
found herself staring into her grandmother’s eyes. She
gasped.

“Thank goodness we don’t have to
listen to that drivel anymore, don’t you agree?” Riveka said. She
moved closer, and Violet could see that her feet never touched the
floor. Violet knew with certainty that her grandmother was
possessed. But she didn’t know by who.

“Astonishing, really, you look so
similar to her. The bloodline must not be as diluted as I first
suspected.”

A horrible idea blossomed in her
mind. “Bruckhart Ward,” she breathed.

Her grandmother clapped her hands
in delight before nodding. “Yes, my little granddaughter. You are
clever, aren’t you? I never thought I’d see the day that my
bloodline would produce another powerful witch like me. You are the
one I have been waiting for. You are the one that is going to set
me free.”

“What are you talking about?” She
kept trying to move but the bonds wouldn’t budge. Riveka moved
closer and Violet could smell death in her breath. It was the
breath of someone who had been dead for a thousand
years.

“You are the one, Violet. Anyone
who feeds on your blood will have miraculous benefits. Humans will
become immortal. Vampires will be saved from their bloodlust. And
the dead will be able to walk again. You make the things you touch
ageless. It is a wonderful and powerful gift.”

Violet was stunned. If what Riveka
had just said was true, Violet was the Fountain of Youth. “You
can’t kill me then,” Violet said, trying to buy time. Riveka’s
finger reached across the inches left between them, and Violet felt
it stroke her injured cheek.

“Who said anything about killing? I
will take your power, and then you will be completely under my
control and the key to my total domination over this whole new
world. Humans and vampires alike will make me king in a bid to gain
access to the ability to be healed and live forever. I will be like
a god.”

Violet was nauseated at hearing
Bruckhart’s plans out loud. He was planning to turn her into a
human blood bank. She couldn’t let that happen. She closed her
eyes. She needed to gather her strength.

“Oh no, little one, we’re done
playing now,” Riveka said as she felt the magical energy from her
grandmother’s body push at hers. It felt exactly the same as in her
foray into the phantom world earlier, only this time the pressure
was much stronger.

She pushed back with all her might.
Sweat broke out on her forehead. She grimaced, expecting to feel
him rip her power out and gut her, but when it didn’t immediately
happen, she dared to crack open an eye. The pressure hadn’t
lessened, but Riveka was staring behind her.

“You will not interfere,” she
snarled.

Then Violet smelled it. Roses. A
rush of warmth enveloped her and then it pushed back with her.
Riveka, and Bruckhart with her, was pushed back. Violet felt the
push of his energy against hers again, but then again with Rose’s
help, she was able to deflect it and push it back. Then the bonds
holding her broke and she was free. In that moment, she let loose
everything that she had in her mind, and she heard Riveka’s
yell.

Every light in the barn flew on,
and when Violet saw the entire scene in the barn that had been
hidden in the darkness, she screamed.

Everywhere she looked, Violet saw bodies. All of
them looked like their skin had been ripped to shreds. In the area
just beyond the circle of candles, Violet saw an achingly familiar
face tied to a post on the far side of the bar. It was her
grandfather.

“NO!” she yelled. The fury of her
pain pulled energy from the ground beneath her, and she felt more
than just Rose’s power being added to hers. She gathered all of it
into herself and struck out with everything she had.

Riveka was picked up and thrown
across the room. Her body connected with a wooden gate that had
once been an animal’s stall and she disappeared from view. Violet
stepped over Elysa’s body. She was angrier than she had ever been
in her life, and she wasn’t going to be a victim any
longer.

She closed her eyes and sent out a
mental signal to try to find Riveka. Then she saw a white mist rise
from the stall and slam straight into her grandfather’s chest,
immediately absorbed into his flesh. Violet cried out and went to
dive toward him when strong arms wrapped around her. Even as she
struggled she felt the once massive amount of energy seep from her
body in a flood.

Her grandfather’s eyes opened and
he winked at her. He reached up and yanked on the ropes holding him
in place and they fell to his feet. She was trying to find the
energy to reach out to him but there was nothing left.

“Stay still.” Jeremiah’s words in
her ear were urgent.

Her chest was heaving. She watched
as Nicholas straightened the collar of his shirt and then reached
out as if testing the length of his arms. He stood tall and a
wicked grin crossed his face.

“Jeremiah,” he said. “How not so
pleasant to see you again. I’d rather hoped someone would have
staked you by now.”

Violet felt Jeremiah’s arms around
her tremble. She didn’t know how he was managing to stand up, much
less fight to keep her in place. She felt a war raging inside of
her. She wanted to protect him but it was her grandfather in front
of her; or at least her grandfather’s body being worn by someone
else. She had no idea if her grandfather was still inside or if he
could be saved, but she felt like she had to try. But now, each
time she reached for that mysterious core of energy, she found
nothing there.

“Your time is over, Bruckhart. It
has been for a long time,” Jeremiah said. “You have no power
here.”

“Au contraire, Mr. Montrose,”
Nicholas said. “My time is just beginning.”

Violet was suddenly glad that she
had Jeremiah’s arms wrapped around her. Her grandfather’s eyes
danced with madness. Then they settled again on the space behind
her, and Violet felt her presence. A ghostly form stepped next to
them, and for the first time Nicholas’s face showed
fear.

“I told you that you are not to
interfere,” he snapped.

“You will do no harm here,” Rose’s
voice whispered. “I will not allow it. I will not allow you to harm
our own blood.”

“I wasn’t planning on harming her,
per se,” Nicholas said with a salacious grin in Violet’s direction.
Jeremiah’s arms tightened around her.

“Leave,” Jeremiah
growled.

“You killed me once, vampire. I
have gotten much craftier over the years as I bided my time on the
other side; you won’t be so lucky this time,” Nicholas said with
narrowed eyes.

Violet felt a small hum within
again. Her powers were returning. “Release my grandfather!” she
cried out.

Nicholas’s eyes settled on her.
“No,” he said.

Violet closed her eyes to strike, and then she felt
Jeremiah push her behind him. It interrupted her train of thought
and she started to yell as she saw Jeremiah leap into the air. Rose
had already lifted a hand and then Jeremiah landed where Nicholas
had just stood. Laughter echoed through the barn.

“You amuse me, Jeremiah. Until we
meet again, granddaughter.” Then a loud explosion rocked the barn
and there was silence.

Violet found Rose studying her.
“He’s gone,” Rose said.

A deep-rooted anguish filled her
chest.

“You are strong, but you aren’t
strong enough yet to take on my father. The only reason you were
able to land a blow tonight is because I stepped in to help you.
Don’t be foolish,” Rose said. “Consider it a gift we were able to
drive him away at all.”

“My power was returning,” Violet
said weakly. “I could have saved him.”

Jeremiah tried to pull her into his
arms as tears fell down her face. “I’m sorry, Violet.”

Violet pushed him away and made her
way across the barn floor, avoiding looking at the bodies hanging
all around her. She crept slowly up to the stall and then dashed
inside, kneeling next to Riveka’s prone body. She put her finger on
Riveka’s neck, but there was no pulse. She pushed down the sobs
that threatened to bubble up her throat.

She looked up and found Jeremiah
watching her. His face was streaked in blood. His shirt had been
ripped to shreds, but underneath all of the tattered pieces she
could see that his skin was healing. She reached down and gently
pushed Riveka’s eyes closed.

“We should go find Jonah and
Margo,” Jeremiah said. “I will make sure that she is well taken
care of, Violet.”

Violet stood and nodded. There was nothing she could
do. She had the power to save them within her reach, but she had
failed them. There was no one to blame but herself.

Jeremiah took her hand and pulled her with him
toward the entrance. Violet kept her eyes cast downward.

“I think Elysa helped your
grandmother cast what was supposed to be a protective spell, and
Bruckhart took advantage of the situation. What Riveka did to call
him forward was very dark, very powerful magic, Violet. You are
lucky you weren’t killed,” Jeremiah said softly.

Violet didn’t feel so lucky. As
they reached the door opening of the barn, Violet could tell that
the spell around the barn was gone. She couldn’t sense any other
magic. As they stepped outside, they found Jonah and Margo waiting
for them. Margo had a gash across her face. Jonah had no outward
signs of harm, and he looked relieved to see them.

“What the hell happened to you?” he
asked Jeremiah.

“Elysa got her pound of flesh,”
Jeremiah said.

“Is she gone?” Jonah asked, looking
behind them.

Jeremiah nodded with a sigh.

Violet stepped away from him and
went to Margo. “You don’t look much worse for wear.”

“Too bad you can’t drink vamp
blood, Vi. Those scratches are probably going to leave a mark,”
Margo said, glancing at Violet's cheek.

“Bruckhart Ward possessed my
grandmother and killed Elysa,” Violet said. “When Rose and I fought
her, he killed Riveka. All very neat. Then he possessed my
grandfather and disappeared.” Even though she had just lived it,
saying the words out loud made the whole thing seem like a horrible
fairy tale.

“I’m so sorry,” Margo said with a
stricken look on her face.

“Nicholas was the catalyst in the
spell your grandmother used. There’s no way to know if she knew
what would happen or if she did it on purpose,” Jeremiah said. “I’m
sorry, Violet. Blood calls blood. He won’t be able to occupy your
grandfather’s body for long, however. He’ll be looking for a way to
become fully corporeal again soon.”

Violet smiled weakly. “Guess that
means that I should be expecting a visit again soon from dear old
granddad, huh?”

“We’ll stop him, Violet,” Jonah
said, looking menacing. “Now that we know what we’re up against,
you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Violet wasn’t so sure.

“We need to burn this place,”
Jeremiah said. “We can’t let anyone discover the atrocities that
have happened here.”

Jonah nodded, and the three of them
set to work. Violet sat on the fountain and watched them. As the
fire began to burn, she wondered if she was ever going to be the
same again.

A week later, Violet sat in front
of the mirror in the bathroom of her room in Ganterwood Hall. Margo
was fussing with Violet’s hair, trying to make every strand
perfect. Violet appreciated her friend’s effort, but she felt empty
inside. After burning the barn at Cove Point, Jeremiah deposited
her back in his house in North Carolina and left her in Jonah and
Margo’s care as he went out to try to find out where Nicholas had
gone.

She knew that she had things to
clear up with both Margo and Jonah, but all of that was eclipsed by
the fact that she was trying to come to grips with the fact that
she physically carried the cure to basically all of the world’s
ailments. Rose had been right; she had a lot to learn about what
she could do. She didn't want to admit it, but she would have to
wait until she knew what she was doing so that she didn't lose
anyone else.

She had no idea what to do next. She missed
Jeremiah. She wanted to talk to him and find out what else he knew.
He called every evening and spoke to Jonah, but had not asked to
speak with her. She tried not to take it personally. Cleaning up
after a mass murder was a lot of work.

The only time he had spoken to her
since the incident at Cove Point was when he called to tell her
that he had arranged for her grandmother’s funeral. They agreed to
keep it small and announce it only after the fact. Her
grandfather’s absence would be conspicuous, and Jeremiah’s other
concern was that Nicholas would actually show up to cause trouble.
He was certain that Rose’s influence wouldn’t extend beyond Cove
Point, so Violet’s first prerogative was simply to gather her
strength.