The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 50

The buzzer went off in the entry and Bellamy went to answer it. She came back and told us that the witch was here. Talia called Marius so he could be there.

I set out the map and went upstairs to get Echo's hairbrush. Having something from her might help. When I returned, I saw a tall, willowy woman with dark blonde hair standing off to the side. She was wearing black pants and a deep purple top. A flowing black cover went down to her knees. She was taking in everything going on around her. Marius had arrived and was making insulting, off-hand comments about wolves. Bellamy looked bored, but Grayson looked like he was about to get himself in trouble.

"Master Marius, welcome back." I said, turning their attention to me.

"Why wouldn't I be here? I come every night and watch you fail to find my childe. I grow less impressed with you every time I have to leave without seeing her again." Marius sneered.

"We have a new lead that Queen Bellamy's wolves are working on, and this witch is here to render her assistance." I told him, indicating the woman.

"My name is Lila. Can we start?" She asked.

"I'll head out to meet with my team and join the search. I'm not a fan of dark magic." Bellamy said as she turned to the doorway.

"A dark witch held Bellamy for a few months when she was a child." Talia explained.

"Must have been an empowerment spell. It's easier with fae royal children and young alphas. I would never do that. I may be dark, but I'm not 'kill a kid' dark. I'm going to fill my bowl and start my spell. Who am I using?" Lila asked. "Me." Marius said.

"Okay, handsome. Just wait by the table for me and I'll be there in a minute." She replied giving him a long look up and down.

He appeared to be deeply insulted. Grayson growled a little more. Probably at the nonchalant tone she was using.

Lila filled the bowl and brought it to the table. I handed her the hairbrush. She nodded and shooed me away.

Without a word, she started mixing ingredients into a stone bowl and crushing them together while chanting an incantation. She pulled a long strand of Echo's hair from the brush and let it fall in a circle around the edges of the bowl. Then she added the powdered plants.

She looked into the bowl, like she was watching something. I watched her eyes flick around the bowl as if she were following movements. She winced a little.

"The wolf who punched her is dead." Lila murmured. "He displeased the man he was working for. He almost killed her with the hit and she's been healing for the last few days. That may be part of what was blocking her. I also see a spell surrounding them. I can't see any faces. I can't make out where they are. There's no girl in the room. This is the past. I'm blocked from seeing the present. I don't know if this will work. Give me your hand, cutie." Marius gave her a deadly look. "My name is Marius Aconitum. You may call me Master Marius."

"Sweetheart, I don't call any man 'master' outside of the bedroom. I'm the only one who was willing to even try this. You can either do what I say, or I can leave." She smirked.

"I like her." Talia laughed. "Go on, Marius. This might help us find your daughter. Debase yourself with the living one more time for her sake."

He huffed and took Lila's hand roughly. I was expecting her to jump or ask him to let her go.

"Mmm, baby, you know just how I like it. Enough playtime, though. We need to find your kid." She purred.

It was a struggle not to let my jaw drop. Anyone could easily sense the danger around Marius, but she didn't seem to care. Talia looked like she was about to start crying with laughter. I could imagine this story would've been making the rounds in the High Council, if not for the secrecy involved.

Lila picked up a crystal on a chain and dipped it into the water before bringing it to the map of the city. She started swinging it around in a circular motion. It only took a few moments before the crystal planted itself on the map.

A thrill went through me. We knew where she was! I looked to Grayson. He closed his eyes and started sniffing the air. I wondered what he was smelling when the scent hit me.

It was a mix of fresh turned earth, rich and warmed by the sun, and zesty lemon. I looked around for the scent's source, and it seemed to be coming from the bowl of water. "Echo." He whispered.

That wasn't Echo's scent. Not the way I knew it. She always smelled a little tart and mouthwatering. The appeal of a dhampyr.

"What was that, boy?" Marius growled.

"I smell Echo." Grayson said.

Lila focused on the water in the bowl. "Keep holding my hand, honey. Your connection is breaking through the spell. Come over here, wolfie. Put your hand on my shoulder." Grayson did as she ordered. The smell grew stronger. I moved closer to them.

"What do you see?" I asked.

"She's in a room. Like a cell. The walls are stone. She looks confused and scared." She murmured.

I wished I could see what the witch was talking about. I wanted to see Echo.

"Someone came into the room. He has a bottle. I can't hear them." Lila said with a frustrated tone.

My arm brushed hers as I leaned in. I knew it was futile, but I missed seeing my Echo so much.

"Put your hand on my shoulder, now." She ordered.

I did what she said with no hesitance. If it helped find Echo, I would do whatever the witch wanted. The smell was powerful now.

"It's like she's standing right here." Grayson whispered.

That smell was Echo? It was perfect, delicious. The scent of blood washed over it.

"What happened? I smell blood." I said.

"She tried to run and he caught her up against a wall. He's forcing the bottle into her mouth and she's choking on whatever's in there. It's blood. She coughed some up. He's leaving. She's whispering something. 'Please, Victor, please come save me again. I'll be better this time. Please find me. Who's Victor?" She asked.

"I am." I told her. "This was not even an hour ago. I heard her say that."

"I can feel that you're bonded with her. That was what made the connection strong enough that I could hear. Let me try scrying again." Lila said and dipped the crystal back in the water.

I focused on Echo. On the sound of her voice. On the feeling of her in my arms. On the new scent that I knew was hers.

The crystal pinpointed a different location. That didn't make sense. Had they moved her?

"That's not it either." She sighed.

"What do you mean?" Marius asked.

"There's a magical deflection spell. It's used to mess with location spells. Whoever has your girl assumed you'd use some sort of location magic. This was crafted by a dark witch. Someone died for this spell. It's powerful if all of these connections to her are still throwing me off. Most of all, I know that she's not there because those are all new construction with no basement. This is an older house with a stone basement." Lila explained. "Can we break it somehow?" Grayson asked.

"Only with a death. If you all have someone I can sacrifice for this spell, then I'm more than happy to cast it." She offered.

"We can't do that! You can't just kill someone for a spell! You said you weren't 'kill a person' dark." He said indignantly.

My eyes rolled and I met Marius' gaze. He was as unimpressed as I was. We were vampires, we'd killed people for less. Grayson didn't realize the darker side of being supernatural.

"I said I'm not 'kill a KID' dark, scruffy. It's the nature of being a dark witch. We dabble with darkness and are more powerful than light witches because of what we're willing to do in the name of that power. A human sacrifice here or there isn't a bother. You kill other wolves. What's the difference?" She scoffed and shrugged his hand off her shoulder, maintaining her grip on Marius' hand. "Echo wouldn't want someone sacrificed so we can find her." Grayson muttered.

I scowled. "That man is forcing her to drink blood. Echo is blood adverse. She hates it. Hates watching people drink it. She even cringes a little when we drink the blood tea she makes. That's the only reason I didn't have her drinking blood to heal. I was more than happy to let her heal as slowly as she needed to keep from having to do something she would hate. You don't know anything about Echo! She hates basements. She's afraid of being alone. She's brave enough to step forward and take pain in the place of another, but terrified of being hurt at the same time. She doesn't want to be where she is and she thinks it's somehow her fault. If she never finds out, then she can never feel upset about it. I'll do anything to find Echo."

"I'll do anything too, except killing someone!" He shouted.

"Then you don't deserve her. Echo deserves someone who values her life over all others." I replied and let go of Lila's shoulder.

Grayson growled as he glared at me. I caught his eye and started using my hypnosis on him. He went pale and whimpered.

I snarled at him and he began shaking. I could smell his fear. He wasn't anywhere near as frightened as he should have been.

"ENOUGH!" Marius shouted, making me look away. "I have several prisoners slated for death back in my territory. How long to you need to make this spell?"

"Forty-eight hours from the time I can get back to my home and start mixing it. Normally, it's longer, but I can use my proofing oven to speed it up." Lila said cheerfully.

"Let me give you my phone number, you can call me when you're ready and I can bring the sacrifice to you." Marius told her.

"Mmm. And can I get you to bring me other things?" She asked.

"Do you need something else for the spell?" He questioned back.

"Only my payment. I'm not working for free, sugar."

"What payment do you require? I'll pay whatever you want." Marius stated firmly.

A slow smile spread over her face. "Five hours of your life." She requested.

"I don't understand."

"Five hours of you doing anything I want, daddy. I have enough money, and I do love to dabble with darkness." Lila licked her lips.

Marius looked to me, then to Talia. He had said he would pay whatever she wanted. I couldn't just stand by and not say anything. I would also pay anything for Echo's safe return home.

"Will I do instead?" I offered.

"No. Only him. He's powerful and ancient. I like older men. It's up to you, daddy. Is she worth it?"

"Payment after service. I want to get what I'm paying for first." He growled.

"Payment at time of service. It will take forty-eight hours to prepare everything else and another five hours for the spell to be ready after I've mixed all the parts. When we're done, I'll tell you where she is. Trust me, daddy, you're going to like it. Maybe I'll even call you master... if you're a very good boy." She giggled.

He shifted so slightly that any human might have missed it. He was uncomfortable. I glanced at Talia who was watching with a mixture of horror and glee.

"Agreed. I'll walk you to your car and we can exchange information." Marius said resignedly.

"Awesome! Let me just get my stuff together." Lila grinned and started packing away her items after emptying the bowl of water into the sink.

After they left the room, Talia burst out laughing. I couldn't help myself and chuckled, more from relief than anything else. It would only be a couple of days before we had Echo back home.

"She's going to be mad at all of you." Grayson muttered.

"She never has to know. This person would've died anyway, and I can almost guarantee it would have been far more painful and far less important than being sacrificed so we can save Echo. If you're going to be involved with vampires, you have to learn that we have different morals and ethics than humans and werewolves." Talia said, suddenly serious.

"Grayson, they're feeding her blood. That means they know she needs it. Werewolves don't know that about dhampyrs. Only vampires do. That means the wolves are working for a vampire. All of those bad things you thought about my relationship with Echo are what that vampire most likely intends with her. It will take a lot of time and a lot of blood to get her healthy enough to be considered 'viable' for breeding. We're cautious by nature. He's waiting for the search to die down before moving her out of the city. We need to make sure everyone keeps looking until this spell is done. If he leaves with Echo, we may never see her again, or she might be... used, when we do. I can't let that happen." I told him.

"Echo doesn't deserve that. I can't condone killing for a spell." He said softly.

"Come here, Gray. Let me tell you a secret." Talia smiled.

Talia got him to bend down and look her in the eyes as she spoke. The worry and tension in him seemed to go. Much like Marius' ability to change memories, Talia could erase small pieces and fill in the gaps. Not huge chunks, but enough that Grayson would forget about the ingredients for the spell and all talk of them.

He stood up and turned to grin at me. I smiled tightly. He seemed excited.

"Alright, so we keep going and pretend we're not going to find her in a couple days. I can do that. I won't tell anyone." Grayson said.

"Good man, let's go start our search. Everyone will expect to see us out there. And thanks for turning on the heated blanket for me today." I smiled a little.

"No problem. I was just trying to think of what Echo would want, and I was having trouble sleeping. I remembered her doing that on Saturday. I'll take care of it until she's back to do it herself." He replied.

Talia decided to stay behind. We were keeping one person at the house in case a ransom demand came in. It was what everyone expected.

Grayson and I headed to the older part of town. Echo had to be in an older house with a basement. We used our noses to explore the basement windows of every house we saw.

After a few hours, we were walking down the street when Grayson stopped moving. He got a distant look in his eyes. I wondered if Trent had found something. Maybe Marius wouldn't have to be the witch's payment after all.

"Echo." He whispered.

"What? Do you smell her? What's going on?" I asked.

"I heard her. Like a mind link. She said she was sorry for not giving me a chance and for not rejecting me sooner. She said she hopes my next mate is a better person than her. I tried to link back to her, but it was like talking to a wall. Victor. Why's she saying that?" Grayson asked.

"Because the vampire intends to mark her. It must have been revealed to her. Don't worry. We'll find her before that can happen. Then you just have to worry about fighting me for her." I winked, trying to keep the conversation light for him.

"I think I can win against you. I don't know about the other guy. If he marks her, what happens? Is it the same as if I marked her?"

"Since she is a living dhampyr, she will be bound to him even after her death. She will lose her bonds to both of us until his death. If she marks him as well, then she will die a true death when he does. Even if we killed him, she wouldn't be free. A vampire's mark goes beyond traditional death, sharing marks is an eternal bond." I explained.

"We can't let that happen. Will we make it in time?"

"We have to. Ask your moon goddess for help. We'll need all the help we can get." I sighed. "Let's get a few more blocks searched before we head home, Grayson."

"Sure thing, Victor. Let's find our girl." He grinned.