Cassius knelt beside me and pried my mouth open, forcefully pouring the liquid inside. I resisted at first, but when the vampire threw a punch to my stomach, I gave up weakly and let the liquid flow down my throat.
"Behave yourself" he warned "We wouldn't want to wake Elizabeta now, would we? She's been through a lot, and needs her strength"
"I've seen how you look at her" I muttered, as I leaned against the wall weakly.
My stomach still hurt from the punch, my face still stung from the assault.
"You love her. But she's blind to it"
Cassius disposed of the empty bottle in a bin, and I saw a sad expression wash across his face before it was quickly hidden with seriousness.
"We grew up together. I was fifteen when Flavius took me in, raising me as his own" he explained "And then, he turned me when I was a grown man of twenty-one"
Cassius strode around the room, hands crossed behind him "I've loved her ever since, but she has only ever had eyes for your boyfriend, Dragos"
His lips curled in disgust as he spoke of Dragos. "I never quite understood why she was so taken with him, apart from the fact that he was the Alesul. I'd seen photographs of him in the past, but seeing him in person today made me understand why she was so smitten"
The scowl on his face grew "Of course, there was his beauty. How he spoke. How he moved. Everything was too... perfect." He spat out the word with contempt.
"Why do you make it sound like it's such a bad thing? Being perfect?" I asked carefully.
He frowned "Sometimes it is"
After a while, I spoke softly "I'm sorry about your father," My voice was filled with sympathy. "Dragos killed him because he conspired with other members to deceive the vampire community, altering their beliefs. They even attempted to kill me."
Cassius scowled "If anything, Flavius cared deeply about our kind. Everything he did, he did for the betterment of our community," he countered in defense.
"By lying about history?" I asked. "For centuries, humans could have known about your kind and coexisted peacefully. Instead, they selfishly hid the truth and even went ahead to enact a ridiculous rule forbidding vampires from loving humans" I argued.
"So he chose to massacre them?" Cassius asked, his voice expressing disbelief. "Like that was the solution. For someone vying for peace, he sure is quick to violence"
"When he confronted them with the truth, they showed no remorse and even opposed his efforts for peace" I replied "They refused to listen and tried to stop him. It was a matter of survival... Either them or him" I replied, then added quietly "He also defended me"
Cassius seethed, his fangs peeking out as he spoke "Well then, since he's so good at 'defending,' let's put his abilities to the test. We'll see how well he can protect you, now that I have you with me."
Before I could reply, he raised his hands and sent a blow to my face. As I blacked out, I heard his footsteps retreating as he turned to walk out of the house.
†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
DRAGOS.
Half an hour later I, together with my uncles were in the private jet.
While the two of them discussed plans, I remained silent, my thoughts fixed on Dawn and the multiple ways I pictured murdering Cassius.
I wouldn't hold back on my wild instincts when I faced him. Cassius had crossed a line by taking Dawn captive.
"... Dragos? Dragos!" Geta's voice broke through my reverie as he snapped his fingers in front of my face. "We need you to pay attention."
"Sorry," I muttered, sitting up and clasping my hands in front of me. "Catch me up to speed"
"We were just talking about Ryker"
"Ryker?"
"Our contact in Germany," Dacianus explained.
My face brightened in realization "Oh. What exactly is he? A sorcerer?"
"He prefers the more modern term... alchemist" Dacianus corrected. "But trust me when I say he's our guy"
"And how do you know this... alchemist?" I asked, curious about our ally.
My uncle offered a small smile "I've crossed paths with him a few times in the past. He's a lone wolf, but his knowledge of dark magic is unparalleled. If anyone can help us track the portal, it's him."
I nodded, a bit at ease "If he's able to help us, he'll be greatly rewarded"
"Remind me again why we have to fly over there. Can't you just call him to magically fly himself here, or portal even?" Geta asked.
"I would've if I still had his contact" he replied. "I don't. The last time I saw Ryk was sometime in the 80's. I only remember his hiding place"
Geta exhaled and relaxed into his seat. "Oh well, we have a long way ahead of us"
The journey was long, taking over ten hours, but eventually, we landed at the Stuttgart Airport in Germany by eleven midnight the next day, where a sturdy Land Rover Defender 110 awaited us, having made prior arrangements for it.
Ordinary humans would've been drowsy, but as creatures of the night, we were unaffected.
Finally, we found Ryker's shed hidden deep in the Black forest. It was wedged between two ancient towering oak trees.
As we approached it, Geta scoffed, turning to face his brother. "Your man truly is a recluse"
When we entered the shop, we were greeted by the scent of potions and musty books. Shelves were lined with all sorts of mixtures in beakers, with strange-looking trinkets adorning the walls.
Ryker, languorously lying on a settee, rose on seeing us enter the shed. He was clad in a vibrant, multicolored robe, and his neck was adorned with various neckpieces.
His long, dark hair was gelled to the back, and underneath his eyes were lined with black kohl.
"Gentlemen, welcome," he greeted, leaning casually against the counter. "Dacianus?" Ryker said in surprise "Good to see you again. It's been how long, now?"
It felt as though he had been expecting us.
My uncle shrugged. "I have no idea. You look well."
"As do you," he replied, giving him a pointed look. "Still haven't aged a day."
Dacianus grimaced. "Good genes."
"Why does it seem like you knew we were coming?" I asked suddenly, drawing Ryker's attention to me.
"Let's just say my customers have a knack for visiting at night," he replied with a smirk.
Dacianus stepped forward and leaned in, gesturing to Geta and me behind him.
"These men are family," he explained, as Geta and I looked around the shop suspiciously.
"We need your help," He continued.
Ryker blew a raspberry in response. "Obviously," he said, striding out from behind the counter. "What do you require of me?"
"We're trying to track a portal."
The alchemist's eyes twinkled. "Ah, I see. Portals," he mused, a hand subconsciously stroking one of the chains around his neck.
"Got anything I could use?"
"Yes" Dacianus gestured to me and I stepped forward, bringing out a little bottle where we'd collected the sample of the portal dust. "Here"
Ryker collected the bottle and led us to a table cluttered with strange powders and herbs, glass vials, and strange-looking tools.
He poured out some of the dust on a flat surface and carefully examined it under a specialized microscope.
After a moment of silence, he straightened up. "The composition of this dust is quite unique," he began "It's not of this world, but from a specific sand found only in a particular place"
"Where's that?"
"Hell"
"Hell?" I repeated in surprise.
"Yes. Hell," Ryker paused for a moment and crossed his arms, allowing his words to sink in before continuing. "Whoever conjured this portal must have allied with a demon, tapping into dark, dangerous powers."
I stepped forward impatiently "Can it be tracked, though? The portal?" I demanded urgently.
Ryker nodded slowly, his expression serious. "Yes, it can. But it won't be easy. We'll need to use an old ritual to trace the final location of the portal."
He motioned for us to gather around the table as he began to get his things ready.
"Was someone taken from you by the conjurer of this portal?"
"Yes," I replied. "My girlfriend"
"I'll need a connection to the essence of her" Ryker explained. "A keepsake. It could be anything that belonged to her"
"Belongs" I corrected through my teeth. "She's still alive"
"My apologies"
I reached into my pocket and brought out a necklace I had taken from Dawn's room before embarking on the journey.
The alchemist nodded in satisfaction, as he took it from me "This will serve as our link to her energy."
He spread a map across the table and placed the pendant at the center of the map. Then he produced a small dagger from one of the inner layers of his robe.
"I'll need some blood," Ryker said, his gaze meeting my eyes. "At least a drop from you since you're the one with the strongest connection to the one who was taken"
"Take whatever you must" I replied, unhesitantly extending my hand to Ryker.
As he made a small incision on my palm, a single drop of blood welled up.
He held my hand, squeezing out the blood over the necklace, and poured out some of the portal dust on it.
Then, Ryker cut his own palm, adding a drop of his blood to the mix, and began to chant in strange tongues.
Geta scoffed. "So much for being an alchemist" he muttered, glancing at Dacianus.
The blood merged with the portal dust, causing a small wave of energy to spread outward. Then, it formed a weird pattern that danced across the surface of the map.