Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

Sarah came by just then and gave me a questioning look. I waved my hand and said, “It’s their business. He wants to be an asshole; he’s going to lose friends. That’s his prerogative.”

“Somehow I’m guessing you’re involved,” Sarah said.

I sighed and told her about the vision and the ensuing fight. I even told her about Mason’s girl problems, though I didn’t tell her how he felt about her. No reason to stress her further. And it was between me and him.

“You’re right in that case, Reese. Scarlett is as toxic as pig crap.”

I smiled. “She’d love to hear you compare her to pig shit.”

“Well, she is. She practically ruined my life. The only good thing to come out of it is you and your family.”

“Thanks, babe.”

I drove in silence and when I stopped at the Nicolai house, I sensed that something was wrong. I couldn’t hear any vampires within, not even Chris or Selena. I heard Zie puttering around, and Cirino was sleeping, but that was it.

“Hold on,” I said, before Sarah could open her door. “Something’s not right.”

“What’s wrong?” Her eyes went wide with worry. “Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone’s gone. It’s just Zie and Cirino here.”

“How is that weird?”

“Because at least one vampire should always stay in their territory to protect it. Besides, what if other vampires smell the humans and realize no one’s home? It’s snack time.”

Sarah went pale. Before I could stop her, she ran to the house and stopped at the front door. She pulled a note off the door and walked back to my car. She handed me the note.

The servant and baby are not in danger, but you are. Go to the cabin in the woods.

It was followed by a set of coordinates. Stomach roiling, I told Sarah to get in, and sped away to my father’s house. I ran up the steps, and spotted a note on the door.

Go to the cabin in the woods. Your father is there as well.

Feeling ice cold, I went back to the car, staring at the coordinates. The same coordinates on Sarah’s piece of paper.

She was staring at her paper as well.

“Well, you know these woods better than I do,” she said.

“Oh, no, you’re not going.”

“I have to, Reese. They’re my family, too.”

“It’s what he wants.”

“So? I can handle it.”

I shook my head. “You don’t know this guy. I do. His daughter has magic beyond belief. She’s the one who burned me and Mitra and tried to burn you.”

“Then I’ll take her on myself.”

She stormed out of the car and headed straight toward the woods.

“Sarah, wait. At least let me carry you.”

“I’m not a damsel in distress, Reese. I can always fly there.”

“Fly…you’re not serious!”

“I’m totally serious. I’ll use my wings if I have to.”

She took off her jacket, then her designer top, revealing a tight white tank top underneath. She unhooked her bra, then lifted the back of her shirt. Her wings slowly grew out of her back. They began as flesh-colored nodes, then began to change color and turn lavender with white tips.

Soon, they were as big as her, and she spread them out and flapped once, shooting up to the sky. I was a bit worried, since she was braless and topless, but she didn’t seem to care. She flew back down and grabbed her clothes before taking a pair of scissors out of her jacket pocket and cutting slits for her wings.

She put her clothes back on, and they now housed her wings as well.

Feeling an icy depth in the pit of my stomach, I programmed the coordinates into my phone and turned on Directions.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – THE ENEMY AT LAST

With Sarah flying and me running, we found the cabin within the hour. I could smell several vampires within, including my family, a few uncomfortably familiar smells, including Jordan and Nales, a werewolf, a rotten egg smell, and few scents I didn’t recognize, one of which was the smell of jasmine and gardenias.

I opened the cabin door, and Sarah slowly slid her wings back into her back, before following me into the cabin. In the center of the room was a long table, surrounded by family. I even saw Mason and Krauvas.

“Ah, we’re all here now,” Samuel said, smiling. I recognized him by his expensive suit and thinning blond hair. Alana sat beside him, wrapped in a black cloak, her red eyes cast down.

I chose a seat between my Uncle Soren and Mother, and Sarah sat inbetween her two mothers.

“Now, I suppose you’re all wondering why you’re here. It’s because this man,” he pointed at Uncle Soren, “-took something from me, and he would not share it. He wound up killing my son in the process. So I’ve been trying to come up with a way to get my revenge. He is an extremely powerful vampire, after all. And then it hit me: I could destroy his kingdom. I started simply with the dead warlock. I was not aware that Krauvas knew the man, or I would not have chosen him.

“And then I killed the old witch and spilled some Nightmare Potion in the house, which scared these two boys. Odin, do you have anything to say?”

My eyes shot up, and they landed on a man with long white hair and white beard and an eyepatch, wrapped in furs. He shrugged and said nothing.

“I also killed Verity Slaughterman, which I knew would affect the Emerson men, because she was the lover of their friend Max. Actually, Alana killed Verity.”

He patted Alana on the back, but she stayed silent. He looked around. “Aphrodite, don’t you want to meet your mortal descendants? Sarah and Sabine Cresley.”

Again, my eyes shot up, and they landed on a beautiful woman who wore a purple silk dress and had long straight blond hair and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. Her lips were bow-shaped, her skin was smooth and golden, and she wore gold jewelry. She was the one who smelled like jasmine and gardenias.

Aphrodite pursed her lips and looked across the table at Sarah, who was looking on Alicia’s other side, where Sabine sat. Sabine and Sarah stared at each other, then Sabine looked down, looking ashamed.

“You never met two sisters with a more complicated relationship. At least they’re not competing for the same guy,” Samuel teased. “Sarah’s guy was there with Soren when he killed my son. Reese, you’re a smart boy, but you’re too young for the Night Market. Why did Soren bring you?”

“How am I supposed to know?” I snapped. Father took in a deep breath.

“Manners, boy, or you’re first. The reason why Soren brought you is simple. He needed protection, and he knew Mordecai would never go with him if he knew what he was planning to do. Neither would Louis. He brought you, Reese, as a distraction. Your uncle is so self-centered that he was willing to put your life at risk for a dumb book.”

I looked at Uncle Soren, sure Samuel was lying, but my uncle stared at the table and didn’t say anything.

“The book in question.”

Alana reached into her cloak and pulled out a thick, old book.

“Bound in the skin of an unwilling virgin saint and a thousand years old. The Librum Autem Mortis et Transformatio, or The Book of Transformation and Death. The only way I can bring back both my dead wife and my dead sons.”

“Sons?” Alexander quipped.

“Yes. There was a boy that made friends with your boy. He was a lot like Alana. His name was Kellan.”

Mother suddenly gripped my hand. I knew why she was worried. She’d killed Kellan because of how toxic he was.

“He was there when Marina killed him, and he was there when Mordecai asked Sarah if she’d be willing to sing, and she said yes. Only, it wasn’t Sarah talking. It was Jordan.”

Father paled and put his head in his hands.

We all looked across the table at the blond witch whom I’d so desperately tried to ignore. Michael Nales was there too, along with his parents, Brian and Claire.

“Jordan is secretly the twin of Mr. Nales,” Samuel continued. “Only, when they were born, Brian and Claire couldn’t afford to keep them both, so in comes Gwen and Simon Hart.”

I looked over at Scarlett’s black-haired, black-eyed parents.

“The Harts agreed to raise Jordan as their own until either she found out about the switch or she came of age. That happened sooner than later, and not to everyone’s happiness. For there was one other thing Jordan was capable of. And that is murder. You tried to kill Sarah, did you not, Jordan? She’s alive now, but you frightened her and tried to make her jump off a bridge when she still had the baby in her. But it would not have been your first murder. Oh, no. There was another child, wasn’t there, Mr. and Mrs. Nales?”

Claire was weeping now, and Brian looked pale and tired.

“There was a little girl. She was a pretty little thing, she had hair just like her sister’s, and eyes as brown as chocolate. But you killed her, Jordan, when you were eight years old. You smothered her with a pillow and suffocated her. Then Gwen and Simon said a strange man got in and killed her and shipped you off to a mental institution. How was it there?”

Brian and Claire were openly sobbing now. Although it was news to me, it was like reopening old wounds for them.

“You corrupted Scarlett and had her show you her best magic. Then you both began a ruling clique and ruled for two years and three months, until you attacked one of your own.”

Samuel grinned at Sarah, who was weeping softly. I longed to reach out and touch her, but I couldn’t. Not with Alana there.

“You both came from magical families. You used the dark arts to become beautiful and popular. But it corrupted you. Powerful magic always has a price, especially spells to be admired as openly as you two were. Do you know how I know all this? Why, one of your own told me. I won’t say who, but let’s just say she’s not as she appears.”

“Mia,” Sarah said.

Samuel looked at her in surprise, but said nothing else. Then he looked at Mother.

“Marina, as much as I admire you, I do have to punish you for killing Kellen. Your punishment will be the death of one of your children.”

“No!”

“I’m sorry, love, but it’s the way the world works. An eye for an eye. A child for a child. So, pick one. Reese, Selena, Sarah, or Sabine?”

Mother shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“Choose, or I’ll choose for you. How about…your son?”

He reached across the table and grabbed my arms, but Uncle Soren grabbed me around the waist.

“Let him go, Samuel,” he said. “If anyone is going to be destroyed today, let it be me. I’m the one who killed Samuel Jr.”

“Fine,” Samuel grumbled, letting me go. I plopped back into my seat and sighed loudly. Mother still sobbed and was now clutching me like a vise. “I think I can do better than that. What do you think, Alana?”

Alana stayed quiet.

“My thoughts exactly,” Samuel said. “Let’s start with another. How about…Louis?” He reached across the table for Louis, who was prepared. He socked Samuel so hard I heard the bones crack, and Samuel fell back, holding his nose.

“Nice punch, son,” Uncle Soren grumbled. Louis looked at him in surprise, stretching his fingers.

“This is ridiculous,” Grandfather said, who had been so quiet I hadn’t even noticed him. “If anyone is going to die today, let it be me.”

“Father!”

“No! Grandpa!”

“Sorry, boys. I’m old, I’ve lived for thousands of years, and my time is drawing near. I’m going to die soon, and you are going to have to deal with it.”

I felt tears prick my eyes, and I saw tears in Louis’ eyes, too.

“No, old man,