Chapter 20: The Volunteers

I opened my eyes and noticed the pipes above me. Cold concrete beneath my body and my head hurt as if I had it filled with wet sand. Dorian was kneeling beside me and still gripping my hand.

He bent down closer to me. "Back with us?"

I nodded, even though every single move made my skull ache. Raze was silent inside me, but I could feel him. He wasn't pressing hard, but I could sense his patience.

Jenna squatted on the other side of me. "We need to discuss what to do next. The binding spell is prepared, but we need a willing vessel."

Vance lifted the grimoire. "Let's execute this binding spell while she is weak. That will solve the problem once and for all."

Jenna shook her head. "The spell needs a willing vessel. If you bind Raze to Arya, he will stay in her forever."

Zoe stepped closer to the circle of our knees. Her tear-streaked face and split lip with a scab gave her appearance of despair and exhaustion. "I will be your vessel then. I don't care what will happen to me."

Vance glanced at her with sympathy in his eyes. "Now you are human, and the binding spell will not affect you anymore. It requires a witch or a nephilim as a vessel."

Everyone stared at Vance with shock and disbelief. He held both hands in front of him as if he was stopping the traffic. "Don't you dare look at me like that. I am not dying for you people."

Mira rose from the corner with her hands wrapped around her knees. Her expressionless face and lifeless eyes gave her an illusion of indifference. The soft steps on the floor brought her to the circle. She stopped next to us.

"I will be the vessel," she said, her tone was dead and lifeless.

Dorian turned to Mira. "Are you volunteering to be the vessel?"

Mira nodded. "I am the reason for your coven's death. I am the reason why Arya lost control of Raze. Let me fix everything for you."

Jenna turned to Vance. "Will it work if she will be the vessel? She is a witch."

Vance paused for a moment before answering. "Technically, yes. She still has her magic even if it is not as powerful as Arya's one. The spell will bind Raze to her instead. However, it will require Mira's true willingness for it."

Mira gazed at me, and my brown eyes met hers. She looked older than I remember her, and the dark rings around her eyes proved that she spent nights awake thinking about me and what I've done.

"I've had nothing but second thoughts for half a year now," Mira said. "This is the first thing which I'm really sure about."

Before I had the opportunity to say anything, Raze started pushing against my consciousness. The movement in my hand directed towards Mira and opening mouth were beyond my control.

"You think I will fit that wretched bloodline of yours inside me?" Raze snarled through my mouth. The echo of his voice reverberated around the pipes. "I want her." He pointed to me with his finger.

Dorian took my hand and pressed it against the floor. "Try fighting him, Arya."

My eyes flickered between black and brown colors. "I'm fighting him."

Jenna dragged Mira away from me by her arm. "We haven't got any time for an argument. Vance, bind Raze to Mira now before he takes control over her again."

Vance opened the grimoire and heard a loud noise coming from the staircase. The footsteps sounded too numerous and too heavy to belong to one person only.

Cross walked into the boiler room with six vampires following him. His nose was swollen red because of my punch, but he was smiling brightly.

"Did you think I would let you leave with my book?" Cross pointed at the grimoire in Vance's hands. "I decided to take everything: the witch, the demon, and the spell."

Dorian stood up and blocked us from Cross' view. "I will protect her from you."

Cross laughed sarcastically and evilly. "I would be delighted to go through you."

Cross lifted his hand, and six vampires moved slowly to cover us with their yellow eyes.

Vance closed the grimoire and backed against the wall. He looked pale with fear. "This isn't working well for us."

Zoe grabbed a piece of rusty pipe from the ground. Her trembling hands wrapped themselves around the metal.

"I will not become anybody's vessel again. I will rather kill myself before I turn into a monster," Zoe said.

Cross smiled cruelly and glanced at Zoe. "Well, I can arrange it for you."

I tried pushing myself up on my elbows. Even though my legs felt as rubbery and my head still ached, I needed to stand. Dorian understood what I wanted to do and offered to help me.

"Stay behind me," he said.

I shook my head. "I'm not staying behind anybody."

Mira stepped closer to us and stood behind me. Her hands were empty, but her fists tightened.

"I'm done running from you, Cross. You have used me and thrown me like garbage," Mira said.

Cross tilted his head, and smiled nastily. "That is right. That is exactly what you are, Mira: garbage."

Dorian walked up to Cross and tried grabbing the neck of one of the vampires. He managed to throw the vampire against the pipe with a loud groan. However, the vampire landed smoothly on the ground and continued watching us with yellow eyes.

Cross didn't even flinch and just smiled more widely. "You are outnumbered and wounded. Give me the witch and the book, and I'll let you live."

Jenna took a canister with salt from her pocket. "You are lying."

"Of course I am lying." Cross shrugged. "But you've got no other choice."

Before I realized what was happening, the pressure grew inside my skull and my vision was covered in blackness again. When my sight returned, my hand was aiming at Mira's throat.

I stopped my fingers inches away from her skin. I scratched my palm till the burning pain made me withdraw my hand.

"Get out of my head!" I whispered through clenched teeth.

Raze laughed evilly. "Make me!"

Cross took a step forward and advanced towards me. Vampires formed a ring around us.

Vance shouted. "I can execute the spell in thirty seconds, but I need somebody to hold him back."

Dorian looked at Jenna. "Are you ready to do that?"

Jenna showed the second canister with salt. "I can try."

Zoe raised her pipe and aimed at the closest vampire. She hit him with her rusted pipe on the shoulder, but he didn't fall to the ground yet.

Cross moved faster towards me. The yellow eyes of the vampires surrounded me.

"Your last chance, Arya. Come with me, and I promise I won't burn you to ashes." He looked deep into my eyes. "I need your magic, not your corpse."

I glanced at Mira. She nodded encouragingly.

I looked at Dorian. He still hadn't moved; his jaw was set and fists clutched firmly.

Then I glanced at Zoe. She was aiming with the pipe again.

"Thirty seconds," I said. "Execute the spell now."

Vance opened the grimoire. He started reading.

Cross attacked at me.