The Lost Elixir

Chapter Twenty-One

Crimson Peak oozed with the stench of vampires, just by standing on the outer rim of it. Luminous trees, siren infested rivers, and gator bayous lingered nearby to warn those against entering, and when Rayne inhaled sharply, she quickly realized there were witches there as well. Jarrah had mentioned there being witches on the walk, but it still left her apprehensive just the same. Wolves knew little about the witches; just that they lingered around the vampires for whatever Ambrosius needed from them.

Did that make the witches an enemy? Or opportunists? Or perhaps both?

Either way, as far as Rayne knew, they were dangerous. And dangerous people couldn't be trusted.

On the topic of not to be trusted, a particular vampire with blood crusted at the corner of his lip caught Rayne's eye. He grinned to himself drunkenly and wiped at the bloody spot with a twirl of his finger, his fangs glittering in the moonlight. The thought of a drained mythical, or non-mythical, creature irked at the pit of Rayne's stomach. All she could think about was that poor shifter community, and the blood spilled from their body in horrific ways.

The corner of her lip lifted into a snarl and she nudged forward, her back tensed. She just needed him to walk a few more steps and—

Jarrah's voice of reason, however, stopped her from entertaining the thought of seeking out her early revenge.

"Rayne," he warned, holding out an arm in front of her to prevent her from lunging down the hill they were perched on. "Don't."

Rayne's expression soured. "Why not?" she demanded. "He just fed on someone!"

"I know," he confessed. "But we can't afford to be seen. We only have one shot at this, and if we want to blend in, we can't do anything irrational that'll draw attention to ourselves."

That only infuriated her further.

"So, what? You just want to wait up here until they slaughter everyone else too?" she demanded.

His jaw clenched at the question. "Do you want to just run down there blindly and get yourself killed? What help will you be to your people if you are? I don't want to see what happened to those shifters back there happen to you or your people. We have to be smart about this."

Jarrah was right. She knew he was.

But it still didn't stop that ravenous urge to lash out at every vampire sight. For now, she would have to table those feelings and revisit them at a better time. She couldn't screw up what they both worked so hard to achieve on the journey over. And just like Jarrah said, she couldn't protect her people if she got herself killed in the process of getting the elixir.

So, Rayne temporarily backed down and moved herself out of her poised crouch. Only then did Jarrah's shoulders relax with a breath of relief. He hadn't noticed it, but his hand had sought hers out when he first stopped her, before he moved his hand back to his side after she fixed her position.

"Fine," she gave in. Her gaze flickered back down to the city and then back to Jarrah. "What's the plan?"

His eyes scanned the area below. There wasn't much to look at in actuality. Abandoned buildings, clubs, bars, and an older building with chipped brick walls. She didn't know why it was strange to her, until he spoke up again, his vision fixated on the same building. "I need to get to their archives tomorrow before nightfall. They're strongest at night and considering there's only two of us, we wouldn't last long out there."

"Hmm. How do we find out where that is?"

He nodded down to the bricked up little building. "We don't have to. I'm guessing that's it right there."