Forget Me When the Sun Goes Down (Forged Bloodlines Book 11) (11 page)

Carys was awake and sitting next to Bishop on the couch by the time we made it back to the great room.  Jakob still slouched in his corner, and Aubrey hadn’t budged except to grab another bottle of liquor. 

Nelleke had a short list of items she needed to cast the spell.  Rob stood beside me as I looked it over, his arm wrapped around my waist, holding me near.  I did feel closer to him, the beginnings of our bond knitting together again at the easy familiarity.  With my memories coming back, I started to feel more like the strong, confident vampire I knew I should be, more certain of where I belonged.  Until I looked up and caught Bishop’s eyes on me again, and we both quickly looked away. 

Luckily, the things on the list didn’t look like they’d be too hard to find.  Candles, salt, chalk or charcoal, olive or almond oil.   

“This is the spell we’re doing, here?” I asked, studying the page.  “To remove the barrier?”

“Yes, that is right.”

Something about it didn’t look quite right to me.  Not that I knew much Old Norse, but a few words here and there stood out to me.  If it was supposed to be a spell for getting us out of there, why did I see the words for heal and strength?  It occurred to me that we were placing a lot of faith in the hands of the only human in the room, and we didn’t know a thing about her. 

There was only one person I trusted enough to ask about it who might have an inkling whether or not my suspicions were on the money, but first I had to get Nelleke out of the room.

“Rob, why don’t you help her find those things for the spell?” I suggested with a faint smile, channeling my inner Black Widow. 

“Sure thing,” he agreed readily.  “I think I know where we can find most of this.”

I waited until both of them were well out of the room before I called softly, “Bishop, could you give me a hand with this for a moment?”

He looked up in surprise.  “Ah, yeah, sure.  What do you need?”

I kept my voice low.  “I don’t mean to sound all paranoid, but does this look like a spell to bring down a force barrier to you?”

His brows knit together as he studied the page.  “This word here at the top,
foss
, means force, but the word next to it...
lífdagar
means life.” 

“So life force?  Doesn’t that sound off to you?”

“Yeah, that’s right.  This still could be the right spell though.  We don’t know what they might’ve called a magical barrier like this in the past.”

“Fine, but this means heal, right?  And strength.”  I pointed out the other words I recognized.

“Yes, and this means restore.”  His finger skimmed to the bottom of the page.  “And I could be wrong, but this looks a lot like
ofre
, the word for sacrifice.  I think you’re right, this doesn’t look like a spell to remove anything, it looks like something else entirely.” 

“What do we do?” I whispered.

“I say we confront her.  Ask her point blank what she has in mind.  Compel her if we have to in order to get the truth.”

“The direct method, huh?” I nodded.  “Okay, but not here in front of everyone.  It could get ugly super fast.  Let’s go find her before she comes back.”

We found her and Rob in the kitchen, looking over bottles of oil.  “Just working on the last ingredient now,” Rob reported with a faint smile that faded as soon as he saw my face.  “Something amiss?”

“That all depends.  What spell are we getting ingredients for, Nelleke?” I asked, my eyes boring into hers until she looked away. 
I knew it!

“I...”  She swallowed uncomfortably, shifting from one foot to the other.  “You are knowing what the spell is for?”

“I know it’s not to remove the barrier,” Bishop replied, his face stern enough to make
me
feel guilty, and he wasn’t even looking in my direction.  “So you’d better tell us what’s going on, or we’ll compel it out of you.”

Her shoulders bowed in defeat.  “I am not wishing to deceive you, but the spell is important.  It is the reason we are all here.”

“You know why we’re here?” I gasped.  “Did you trap us in here?”

“Yes, but you ask me to.”

“I did?” I blinked in surprise.  “Why would I do that?”

Bishop held up a hand.  “Wait, go back to the beginning.  Have you had all of your memories this whole time?”

“No!” she insisted, her brow puckered with distress.  “No, I only remember bits and pieces, but I am telling you what I know.”  She took in a deep breath.  “I remember I am the one who cast the spell, but Anja is the one who ask me to do this.  The barrier is to keep us safe until the spell is complete, but something is going wrong, and we all wake up like this instead.”

“Safe from what?  What kind of spell were you trying to cast?” I asked.

“I cast the lifeforce spell to restore Jakob.  Without it his chicken is cooked.”

“What you going on about now?” Rob’s brow wrinkled in confusion, and I waved him off.

“She means goose.  Are you saying Jakob will die without this lifeforce spell?”

“Yes, he is growing weaker each day, and I remember that I cannot bear this.  I think... I think maybe I am in love with him.”

“You and Jakob?” Bishop murmured, his brows rising.  “But that doesn’t explain why we all agreed to this spell.  I’m sorry the guy’s sick, but what does that have to do with us?”

Nelleke looked at each of us in turn.  “According to the spell, we need everyone from Jakob’s line to complete it.”

That didn’t make a whole lot of sense.  “How can we all be from his line?  We’re all vampires and he’s... we’re not sure what he is, but he’s not like us.”

“He is
Ellri
,” Nell replied, her face lighting up with excitement.  “I don’t know why I am not thinking of it sooner. Of course he is a supreme being.  You have only to look at him to see this.”

Something clicked when she said that word.  “You guys, she’s right.  I just didn’t have enough info to put together what that means.  It makes sense now why I hooked up with him, he’s my Sire.”  Suddenly I didn’t feel quite as slutty anymore. 

“An
Ellri
... of course,” Bishop nodded.   “But I thought Carys was my Sire.”

“You’d still be of his line if Jakob sired her,” I pointed out.  “But if he’s an
Ellri
, why is he so weak and dying?  And why did his blood poison Carys?  I distinctly remember Rob feeding from him before, and, ah... me too.”

Nelleke shrugged.  “I am not knowing, I only know I must restore him at all costs.  I would give my life for him if I could, but I am not his progeny like you.”

“And
I
asked you to lock us in and do the spell?”

“Yes, I remember you ask me to make sure to secure the space.”

“Securing the space doesn’t mean trap us in here by magic,” Bishop said.  “I’m pretty sure we could’ve locked the doors.  It seems like we’re in the middle of nowhere.  Do you know where we are?”

Nell shook her head.  “I am not knowing this, it is still coming back to me in pieces.”

It sort of made sense.  If Jakob was my Sire, I knew I’d want to try and save him if  I could. I imagined the rest of my brothers and sisters would do the same.  “So, if we do this spell he’ll be restored?”

“Yes.”

Bishop’s brows furrowed together.  “You can’t be thinking about completing the spell.”

“That’s what got us into this, maybe it’ll get us out?”

“But we still don’t know what went wrong.  Attempting it again would be crazy.”

“Maybe one of us changed our minds about being sacrificed?” Rob suggested.  “Maybe that’s what made it go all pear shaped?”

Nell shook her head again.  “It is only taking a little bits from each of you to restore his lifeforce.  There is no permanent sacrifice.”

“Is there a spell in that book to drop the barrier and get us out of here without completing the lifeforce spell?” Bishop wanted to know.

Nelleke hesitated, and I thought he was about to compel her, when she finally answered, “Yes.”

“Then that’s the spell you should be focusing on for now.”

“But Jakob will die,” she hissed, wringing her hands in anguish.  “He is only the shadow of the man he should be.” 

“Look, I feel for the guy, really I do,” Bishop said.  “But it won’t do him any good if you end up flubbing it again and we have to start this all over.  If you sincerely want to help Jakob, it seems like you should hold off on that spell until more of your memory comes back.”

“He’s right,” I agreed.  “If you drop the barrier we can go get help, maybe even find out what went wrong.”

“My sister’s a witch,” Rob said out of the blue.  “I reckon she could lend a hand if needed.”

I wondered for a split second if I’d known that.  Was she a vampire too?  Could you even be a vampire witch?  More importantly, it meant we had options, we just had to make Nelleke see that.  “See, there you go.  If the two of you put your heads together, we stand a much better chance of curing Jakob.”

“Or at least get fresh blood for Jakob,” Bishop added.  “There’s only so much we have to spare before we give in to the thirst as well.”

“What do you say, Nell?” I asked, giving her my most winsome smile.  “Will you drop the barrier?”

She looked at us each in turn, struggling with her decision.  “I only wish I am knowing why the spell go wrong in the first place.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Carys declared, clomping into the kitchen in her heels.  “Do the spell to remove the barrier or I’ll tear the arms from your body.”

I turned to her, my eyes narrowing to slits.  “Do you actually think you’re helping right now?”  I didn’t care if she was my sister under Jakob, I was ready to look for another chopstick. 

“Fine,” Carys sighed.  “I apologize.  You will remove the barrier now,” she added to Nell, gazing at her intently.

“I will remove the barrier now,” Nell agreed woodenly.

“What did you do to her, you...” I demanded, but Rob cut me off.

“What difference does it make, as long as we get out of here?”

“This affects me, doesn’t it?” Carys replied in a lofty tone.  “I have a right to secure my freedom in any way I can.”  Insinuating herself next to Bishop, she wrapped her arms around his bicep.  “Now then, shall we begin the spell?” she asked sweetly.

“How do we know we can trust her?”  Aubrey fixed Nelleke with a skeptical stare.

“Because I compelled her to work the spell,” Carys replied in the same tone I’d use with a toddler.  “She has no choice.”

“I do not like this magic,” Jakob said in a small voice.

I squeezed his hand.  “At least you don’t have to get naked this time,” I smiled up at him, and he lost the fearful look.

“I would not mind as long as we all disrobed,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

“Nobody’s getting naked, let’s get this over with,” Bishop said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.  He looked about as jumpy as I felt. 

Though I understood the spell components Nelleke had assembled, I had no idea what to expect.  “How does this work?”

“We’ll join hands, I’ll begin the incantation and you will be feeling a tingles, and then the spell is counteracted,” Nelleke replied, though I wished she looked more confident when she said it.

“It’ll be okay,” I said, half to her, half to myself, and Rob squeezed my other hand, giving me a quick wink.  The rest of us joined hands, forming a circle around the runes Nell had drawn on the floor. 

A pregnant pause hung in the air as we all waited for something to happen.  Nelleke’s lips moved, but the words she spoke were indistinguishable, apart from the random word I picked out here and there. 

“How long is this going to take?” Aubrey muttered, and then the chalk symbols within the circle sprang into blue flames, several feet high. 

Every single one of us took a hasty step backwards, and Rob clutched my hand tight.

“Don’t let go, no matter what,” he called out.  “There’s no telling what might happen if we disrupt the spell midway through.  The backlash could hurt her or us or both.” 

The blue flames climbed impossibly high, licking at the beams of the ceiling, obscuring my view of the others across the circle from me.  It was hard not to run like a scared bunny, but I took strength from Rob’s steady hold.

Bright blue sparks arced from the fire, and lightning surged from the flames in unpredictable arcs.  The electricity lanced through the contents of the house, dangerously close to us before it reached the walls and pulsed there, crackling ominously.  Carys screamed as she was nearly struck by one of the arcs, landing half on top of Bishop in her attempt to dodge out of the way.  Nelleke sagged as Carys’ hand left hers, the circle broken.  The smell of burnt ozone hung heavy in the air, and then the lightning disappeared all at once, the flames extinguished, leaving only a sooty imprint on the hardwood floor. 

For long moments nobody spoke, each recovering in their own way from the showy display.

“Did it work?” Aubrey asked at last.

I looked to our witch, hoping it’d been enough.  “Nell?”

She shook her head.  “I am not knowing.  The chain was broken, but already the spell was cast.” 

“Only one way to find out then, yeah?”  Rob dropped my hand, and I was hot on his heels as he went for the front door.  Bracing himself for the sting of energy, instead his hand closed around the doorknob and he gave it a turn.  “Won’t open,” he frowned.

“That’s because you didn’t try the deadbolt,” I grinned, reaching past him to twist it.  “Try it now.”

The door swung open with a squeak of hinges, and we all stared at the opening, hardly daring to believe we could actually leave.  There was a crowd for the door, all of us spilling out of the house, taking in the snowy scenery with wonder.  It was dark out, with at least a couple of hours left until dawn, but there was a bright moon giving off more than enough light to see by.

We were definitely in the mountains, and there were no neighboring houses in sight.  Enough snow had fallen to obscure the driveway, but not so much that we couldn’t see the path to the road below.  I didn’t feel the cold, but both Jakob and Nelleke huddled close together without coats. 

“Well, we made it out,” I observed, my shoes crunching in the snow. 

“Does anyone feel different?” Carys asked.  “I can’t remember anything more than I did before.”

“Then I guess we know the barrier spell didn’t have anything to do with our memories,” I replied.  I hadn’t expected it to restore them anyway.  “So, now what?”

“Now we get the hell out of here, that’s what,” Aubrey replied, already starting down the driveway.”

“Except we don’t know where here is, or what we’ll be walking into at the end of that driveway,” I called after him.  “You don’t even know which direction to go when you get to the road.”

“Anywhere sounds better than here,” he called back with a wave. 

“We’re in Montana,” Bishop reported, checking out the cars that sat in the driveway.  “These all have Montana plates, and these two have license plate frames with car rental companies on them.”

“That makes sense given the architecture of the house,” I agreed.

“Montana?  What are we doing here?” Carys asked, and Rob shrugged. 

“Maybe we live here.”

“I doubt I live in such a backwoods place,” she sniffed in disdain.  “I could hardly tell you where it’s located in the Colonies.”

“I’m not sure any of us has settled here permanently,” Bishop replied.  “It’s shifter territory, from what I can recall.”

“It’s funny how you remember that, but not what your last name is,” I pointed out, and he gave me a teasing smile.

“Maybe Bishop
is
my last name?  Maybe I’m Frederick Bishop Junior?”

Carys’ nose crinkled at that.  “I’d never turn anyone named Freddy.  I prefer Ulrik.”

“I’ll stick with Bishop for now if it’s all the same to you.”

“Oh, just one name like Sting or Magneto,” I grinned.  “I like it.”

“Well then, as long as you approve,” Bishop smiled back, and I felt Rob tense beside me. 
Oops
. 

“Shall we go to town then?” Rob clicked the remote on the keys in his hand and opened one of the vehicle doors.

I could understand him wanting to separate Bishop and me after the chat we’d had, but I wasn’t sure that was the smartest idea.  “Maybe we’d better come up with a plan before we go charging willy nilly into the world.”

“What kind of a plan do we need?  I say we get while the gettin’s good.  It’ll take me less than five minutes to gather up our things from inside and we can be out of here.”

“You know we can’t do that,” I reminded him.  “We have to come back, Jakob still needs us.”

“I d-do?” Jakob asked between chattering teeth. 

“I am needing to rest before I attempt such large magics,” Nelleke said, and I realized how pale she looked, in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. 

“Why don’t you go in and sit down?” I suggested, but her attention was distracted by the sound of Aubrey crunching his way back up the driveway.

“I thought you wanted to leave,” Bishop called out to him.

“That was before I saw what was out here,” Aubrey scowled in reply.  “I’m not wearing the proper shoes for this, my socks are getting sodden.”

“It’s not like you can catch a cold,” I muttered, but he still heard me.

“Doesn’t mean I enjoy standing around in wet socks,” he smiled at me.  “Now then, who’s got keys to the cars?”

Both Rob and Bishop produced a set of keys to the rental cars.  The keys to the other SUV must’ve been somewhere inside. 

“Alright.  Anyone who wants to stay here, go on back inside.  Anyone who wants to  go into town and do a little recon, come with me,” Bishop suggested. 

“I could use a bite as well,” Rob said, and I nodded in agreement. 

“Me too.”  While I wasn’t starving, I definitely needed to eat after the blood I’d given to him.  

“Okay, we’ll take two cars just in case,” Bishop agreed.  “Who’s coming with me?”

“I will,” Carys immediately volunteered.  “I need to get one thing from inside.  Don’t leave without me.”

“Fine, but don’t take too long.  Anyone else?” Bishop asked, and I joined Rob by his car. 

“I’ll go with Rob.”

“What about me?” Jakob asked, undecided.  “Who should I go with?”

“Actually, you should stay here where it’s warm with Nelleke.  She’s too weak to come with us, and she’ll need someone to protect her,” I suggested, even though I was pretty sure it was still the other way around, even with Nell being wiped out by the spell. 

Jakob’s chest puffed out with pride.  “I will protect her with my life.”

“Nell, does that sound okay to you?”  I wasn’t sure if she was still afraid of Jakob trying to bite her, or if she might like it since she’d remembered having squishy love feelings for him. 

“Yes, I am liking this plan,” she replied, casting a shy smile up at Jakob.  “But you will return, like we talk about?”

“We’ll come back, I promise,” I assured her.  “Won’t we, guys?”  Rob and Bishop replied almost immediately, and so did Aubrey, but I found it harder to believe him.  And I knew Carys would go wherever Bishop went, so that took care of my promise. 

Carys sailed out of the house wearing a cream colored shawl and clutching Nelleke’s spellbook to her chest.  “I’ll be taking this book of magic with me,” she declared, and Bishop’s brows drew together in confusion.

“What for?”             

“Because I don’t trust this witch.  How do we know what we’ll be coming back to?  We might return only to be trapped again.”

“Jeez, you’re paranoid,” I sighed, coming to stand before Nell.  “Nelleke, you won’t do any magic until we return.  Do you understand?” I asked, adding a burst of compulsion.

“I understand,” she murmured.

I turned to face Carys, holding my hands out for the book.  “Is that good enough for you?”

“Fine,” she sighed, handing it over. 

“Good.  I think it’ll be much safer here, and Nell needs to spend some time figuring out the next spell, right?”

“Right,” Nelleke nodded, accepting the book.

Aubrey pulled open the passenger’s side door to Bishop’s car.  “And I’ll ride with you, sweeting,” he smiled at Carys, who dimpled prettily, but Bishop didn’t look so thrilled. 

“No, you’re staying here unless you feel like hoofing it.”

“I’m getting tired of everyone ignoring me,” Aubrey glowered, but Bishop only shrugged. 

“I’m not ignoring you, I’m saying no.  I’m not in the mood to ride with your mouth.”

“Oh, Bishop, what would the harm be?” Carys pouted.  “We’re all kin, are we not?  We’ll go hunting together, shall we?”

Aubrey beamed like the cat who’d eaten the canary, handing her into the car with a flourish before slipping into the back seat.  I shot Bishop a brief commiserating smile, but he didn’t return it. 

“We’ll rendezvous  back here in two hours.”  Bishop’s voice was terse, and it rubbed Rob the wrong way.

“We’ll come back when we bloody well feel like it,” he growled, climbing into the driver’s seat.

“We’ll see you then,” I added in a softer tone.  Boy, was I glad I didn’t have to ride in their car.