Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
I knew Mack sensed it, too, because her shoulders tensed. She stared at me in confusion, her eyes lowering to the tattoos circling my wrists.
“How are you—”
Before she could finish the question, the barred door to my cell slammed shut, closing her and Vincent in with me while the rest of her goons remained outside. I glanced momentarily at Vasilios, and he shot me a meaningful look. Suddenly, his voice was in my head.
Pretend you can use your magic. It’ll scare her enough to leave you alone.
“What’s going on? Open this door!” Mack demanded while Vincent advanced on me.
“Do as the lady said,” he seethed.
I quickly realised that Vasilios had somehow opened his mind to me, and I could talk back. How is this possible? The tattoos should be blocking your magic, I said.
Never mind that. You need to use this moment to scare her. Get her to back off.
He was right. This moment was opportune in more ways than one. Vasilios had just shown me he could access his magic, which brought me one step closer to completing my undercover mission, but I also had to use the moment to show Mack that she couldn’t mess with me.
I stared her down just as Vasilios caused the locks on the barred door to click over. There was a flicker of fear in her eyes, and I realised what her weakness was. She was terrified of magic. As a vampire, she’d been born with enormous physical strength, but the trickery and mysteries of magic were something she’d never understand.
“Do you want me to keep showing you why you should leave me alone?” I asked, infusing my voice with as much confidence as I could muster.
She narrowed her eyes, staring back at me as though trying to suss me out. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but I knew she wouldn’t back down so easily, at least not in front of the other vampires. “You can keep showing me reasons, girl. We are, after all, quite starved for entertainment in here,” she replied, pretending she wasn’t scared.
Well, crap. She was calling my bluff. The vampires outside the cell pulled on the barred door, but it wouldn’t budge.
“You really don’t want me to do that,” I said, eyeing her coldly.
She folded her arms and smirked. “Oh, I think I do.”
At that moment, Belinda appeared. “Darya, you’ll never guess what I just learned how to do,” she said before looking around and seeing my predicament. “Oh, shit.” A pause, then, “Hold on a sec. I think I might be able to help you.”
I was still locked in a stare-down with Mack when Belinda, invisible to all but me, approached the diminutive vampire, leaned down, and blew on the back of her neck. I knew Mack felt it when she jumped in fright. “What was that? Who’s there?”
Belinda went to the bed and effortlessly picked up the mattress before tossing it across the room at Mack and Vincent.
“What the hell! Stop it,” she shrieked.
Now, I was the one to smirk as I tilted my head. “Still want me to continue?”
Mack’s eyebrows drew together as she shared a glance with Vincent. “No, you’ve made your point.”
With that, the lock on the cell door clicked back over, the door sliding open on its own, thanks to Vasilios. Mack glared daggers at me before she left, and I knew she hated me even more now that I’d caused her to lose face. Hopefully, she was too wary of the “magic” I supposedly possessed to try and mess with me again. The other vampires retreated, and I slumped down onto my bed.
“Well, that was intense,” Belinda said once they were gone.
“Yeah, thanks for helping out,” I replied, shooting her a grateful look. “It seems she’s terrified of magic. Your intervention made her believe I have some powers.”
“No problem. I’ve learned that I can do a few spooky things, like move physical objects or blow on the back of people’s necks. It’s been a very illuminating day.”
“Is that so? Well, I knew being a ghost had to come with some fun perks,” I said, glancing up to where Vasilios had been standing. He was gone now, and I was eager to quiz him about what had just happened. If he was comfortable enough to show me his abilities, then maybe he already trusted me more than I thought.
“You think scary vamp granny will leave you alone now?” Belinda asked.
“Who knows? Hopefully, she’ll leave me alone long enough to complete my mission,” I whispered, just in case anyone was eavesdropping. I stood from the bed. “Speaking of which, I have a few things to do. You want to tag along or stay here and practice your new ghost skills?”
She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “As if I’d stay here waiting for you in this hellhole. My grandmother has a beach house on the coast. I’m going to do some relaxing there for a few hours.”