Primal Kill (The Order of Vampires #5)

Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

“ D ane!” Juniper raced out the backdoor, heart pounding franticly in her chest. “Dane! Where are you?”

“I’m right here.” He stepped out of the shed with a set of hedge trimmers in his hand.

“He found her! We have to go! Now!”

“Who?”

“Adriel! Cerberus has her and she’s in trouble. We need to leave, now .” She rushed inside, stuffing her books into an old leather carryon she found in the closet. “Pack whatever you want to bring. I don’t know if we’ll be back.”

“Wait. What about Ruth?”

“Ruth will be fine.”

“How did this happen? Did you do a locator spell?”

“I didn’t find her. She found me.” She hurled a bag at his chest. “Pack!”

“Tell me what happened! ”

“I don’t exactly know. I can’t explain it. I’ve never felt anything like it. She was just there, in my head, telling me to find her parents.”

“Her parents?” His face pinched with a mixture of surprise and confusion. “They must be older than dirt.”

“Really fucking old.” She couldn’t deal with the added pressure of in-law stress right now. “Please start packing.”

“Why now, all of a sudden? Are you sure it was her? What if it’s him doing that traveler shit again?”

Her heart hammered against her ribs, her fingers trembling as she clutched the ancient leather-bound grimoire to her chest. “It was her.” Doubt wheedled in. “Shit. No. It was definitely her. I could hear her voice.”

Her body shook with worry. What if they didn’t get there in time? What had Cerberus already done to Adriel in the time he had her? Such questions led her to a dark and dangerous place, one she feared could destroy her.

He caught her arm. “June?”

She looked up at him, fear choking her. “We have to find her, Dane. I can’t—” Her words cut off as she sucked back a sob. “I can’t lose her like this. Not to him. I can’t bear the thought of her suffering.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” He quickly pulled her into a hug. “Don’t get worked up. If we’re going to help her, we have to stay calm and focused. We’ll find her, June. I promise.” He lifted the bag. “I’ll go pack what I need.”

They had a harrowing journey ahead of them, one Juniper wasn’t sure they would survive. She couldn’t stand the thought of her sweet, innocent Adriel in the clutches of a monster like Cerberus, whose cruelty knew no bounds.

She could still hear the fear in Adriel’s voice when she contacted her. Hints of abuse were there, beneath the sound of desperation. If Adriel wasn’t already hurt, she was absolutely terrified. It was the only reason she would have reached out the way she had in such puncturing haste.

The good news was that she was still alive. But they needed to hurry.

Juniper’s hands shook as she packed the last of the grimoires. The urgency of their mission was palpable, every second ticking away like a countdown to doom. Juniper loved Adriel with an intensity that transcended lifetimes. She would stop at nothing to save her, even if it meant delving into the deepest, darkest corners of witchcraft.

Why was she sending them to her parents? She quickly jotted down the message verbatim so she wouldn’t forget Adriel’s exact words. She said she their names were Lilias and Lazarus Schrock. Was that enough to find them?

If they were out there, they would be ancient immortals. Juniper hoped they were friendly and willing to help rescue their daughter, but she honestly had no idea what to expect or how to prepare for such a task. Her own immortal father wanted nothing to do with her, so it wasn’t like blood was necessarily thicker than water when it was also on the menu with these bloodsuckers.

Her mind raced as they quickly gathered helpful items throughout the house. Ruth watched her shows undisturbed in the den. When Juniper opened the window to let nature in, the scent of herbs and candles mingled with the bite of winter in the air. She concocted a few spells to help them on their journey—things they could grab on the go in an emergency. She stashed the ingredients in small jars throughout both her and Dane’s bags.

The link she briefly felt to Adriel had severed. It felt like she was truly gone. No matter how often Juniper tried to reconnect, nothing was there but cold, empty oblivion.

She feared they were already too late. What if Adriel was wrong, and Cerberus planned to kill her? Her hand rushed to her chest as the unbearable thought created a physical pain in her heart.

"How can I help? Give me something to do," Dane insisted, his deep voice steady but urgent. His eyes scanned the room, taking in the counters lined with jars of mystical ingredients Juniper had collected for weeks. “We can’t possibly take all of this. TSA would never let us through.”

Juniper waved away his words, her resolve hardening. “I’m not worried about customs. It’s a simple sleight of hand that shifts a person’s perception. I can make them see whatever I want on their little computer screens and X-ray machines.”

He chuckled. “I like this cocky side of you.”

“I’m not being cocky. I’m confident. There’s a difference.”

“Yes, ma’am. What else?”

"I need some personal items of Adriel’s. Something with her DNA. Her hair brush. I might be able to use that to find Lilias and Lazarus.”

“That’ll work?”

She bit her lip as worry climbed into her throat. “I don’t know. But I’m confident we can try.”

Dane ran upstairs as Juniper set up the spell with practiced precision. Her strategy rested in the belief that anything was possible. She told Adriel to have faith, and that was the plan. As long as Juniper believed she could do this, the spirits and elements would all come together to assist her.

“I’m counting on you guys,” she whispered under her breath, praying they wouldn’t abandon her now. “How do you feel about airports?”

She tried not to panic when she felt nothing.

“Got it!” Dane yelled, returning to the kitchen with Adriel’s hairbrush in hand.

Needing all the help she could get, Juniper took the necessary tools out back. With chalk, she drew a large, intricate circle on the brick patio, inscribing ancient runes around its perimeter. At the center, she placed a map of the world, a lock of Adriel's hair, spelled ink made of berries and herbs, and a moonstone that shimmered with an ethereal light.

“Let’s hope this works,” she whispered as she knelt beside the circle, her hands hovering over the map.

Closing her eyes, she channeled the spirits and grounded into the earth. Her breathing slowed as she chanted in a language older than time itself. The air around them crackled with energy, the temperature dropping as the spell took hold, and the comforting sensation of phantom hands pressing power into her shoulders.

They were there, by her side, offering their assistance. Thank the goddess.

Juniper's voice grew louder, more insistent, as she poured her will into the incantation.

“Adriel, filia Lilias et Lazarus, revela mihi sanctuarium tuum progenitum …” Her voice resonated with power. The crystal casted an eerie glow outward. “ By blood and by bond, ostende mihi ubi sint."

The map shifted, rotating slowly beneath her hands as if alive. She poured a puddle of ink onto the center. It spread into fingers, the lines morphing and twisting to converge on a single point.

Juniper's imagination blurred and sharpened as she was transported to another place, another time. She found herself in an ancient town. The vision was vivid, every detail etched in her mind with stunning clarity. She searched for carved signs etched in the granite walls .

It wasn’t the words that told her where she was. It was the letters. They were ancient and curved the way they often were over the American doorways of fraternities and sororities. But this was no college campus. This place was old. Very, very old.

“They’re in Greece!”

“Where?”

?ργο?. “I don’t know. Everything’s written in the Greek alphabet.”

She closed her eyes, focusing on the foreign letters, regretting all the years wasted in Se?or Jimenez’s Spanish class. The city’s name looked to start with an A, but she didn’t have a clue how to translate or pronounce the rest of the name into English.

Her mind pressed into the word, and she pulled from the support of the spirits, mentally requesting anyone of Greek descent come forward to help her. That was when the city’s name whispered through her mind.

Argos.

The city was a tapestry of history, its cobblestone streets winding through clusters of white-washed houses with terracotta roofs. Juniper's gaze was drawn to a secluded cottage on the outskirts of town, nestled among olive trees and vibrant blooms of the bougainvillea flower.

Ivy crawled up the walls, weaving in and out of the wrought iron balcony that overlooked the town. Lanterns hung in large, arched windows, spilling a warm, golden light from the shadows. The scent of salt from the nearby Aegean Sea mingled with the aroma of blooming jasmine, creating an intoxicating perfume that hung in the warm air.

Her body jerked as a woman with long auburn hair appeared. She carried a basket of linens. Her eyes were green as emeralds, and her skin as pale as a fresh lily bloom. There was no doubt in Juniper’s mind that this beauty was Lilias, Adriel’s mom. Their loveliness appeared almost identical, save the length of her hair and the fullness of her hips.

The vision faded and Juniper gasped as her body jolted back to the present. Her eyes snapped open. “They're in city called Argos in Greece. I saw their house—it's beautiful, secluded, surrounded by olive trees and flowers. We need to get there right away.”

“What about passports?”

“Leave that to me. You load the car while I finish packing and say goodbye to Ruth. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

“June, they aren’t going to let us past the first gate without the proper documentation.”

“Dane, I’m working on it,” she said, plucking a strand of hair from his head.

“Ouch!”

“You want a passport?”

He scoffed. “You’re so bitchy when you’re witchy.”

She smiled, hearing the affection masked in his voice and trusting him to have her back through whatever came next. Grabbing his arm, she said, “You know I’d still be in the cell if it wasn’t for you. Whatever happens next, Dane, I want you to know that I love you like a brother. We might not be family, but?—”

His chest slammed into her as he gripped her up in a bear hug. “I’ll be your pseudo-brother, June. Right now, you’re the only family I’ve got.”

“Same.”

He let her go and rubbed his head where she’d yanked out his hair. “Let’s go save our girl.”

As soon as Dane went to gather the bags, Juniper’s fingers flew over the pages of the old grimoire. It was a simple masking spell that started with a carbon base that would act as a carrier. She used tree bark since it held the energy of the elements and the vitality of the sun.

Once she had the needed tools set on the altar, she muttered incantations. Her hands wove through the air as if conducting an orchestra, and the sky filled with a faint, shimmering light as particles gathered around the bark, transforming it into a rather convincing document.

She placed a piece of her own hair next to Dane’s. Moments later, the passports were complete, photos and personal details authentically printed inside.

Juniper stuffed the grimoire and documents into a worn leather satchel alongside the vials of potions and bundles of some powerful herbs.

“That’s it,” she said, her voice tight with urgency. “I feel completely unprepared, and we need to be ready for anything.”

“We’ve got this.” Dane slung the heavy satchel over his shoulder, his expression resolute. “We'll save her, June. He doesn’t get to win this time.”

She thought of all the others. Her evening visitor. The monster that took Dane’s sister. Jonas. All of her vengeance pulled from those past atrocities and worked into one clear target. Save Adriel. Kill Cerberus.

She met Dane’s stare. Their bond had been forged through shared traumas of very different battles that somehow formed a sense of unwavering loyalty in both of them. “If we actually do this, it will be our first kill. Are you ready for that?”

He hoisted the last of their bags over his shoulders. “The world needs less monsters. If I get to kill one, good. I couldn’t pick a better primal kill.”

As they stepped into the cold night, the weight of their mission shrouded them from distraction. The journey ahead would be perilous, fraught with danger, uncertainty, and the stress of getting through customs with a shit-ton of witch paraphernalia. Two half-breed hybrids off into the great wild yonder to confront two ancient vampires and kill a monster. What could go wrong?

Everything.

But together, they would face whatever horrors awaited in the shadows. And they would risk all that they owned in this world, including their lives. For Adriel, for love, for family, and for the promise of a brighter future.

The doors of their little stolen rental car slammed, and they both drew in a deep breath and let it out in slowly. Juniper smiled nervously. “Let’s rock and roll.”

Dane turned the key, and the engine purred to life. “Let’s go fuck some shit up.”