Vampires & Vigilantes (Sorcery & Science Book 1) by Ella Summers

Author:Ella Summers [Summers, Ella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Night Spark Media
Published: 2017-08-11T16:00:00+00:00

15

Keys

I’d met Keys a few times back in my former life as the Princess of Laelia. Looking up at the mage now, I hardly recognized him. The Keys I’d known had always been bursting with energy and enthusiasm; the man staring down at us now had one foot in the grave. He looked as frail as a skeleton.

It wasn’t just his starved appearance. Or his dirty, unkempt hair. Or even his torn clothes. His eyes were unfocused, suffering from a persistent twitch—and a spark of madness.

“Keys,” Ariella said, calling up to the man on the cliff.

Keys let out a goofy laugh. “Uh, hello there. Do I know you? I hope you’re not going to try to eat me.”

“No one here is eating anyone,” I assured him.

“Are you really absolutely positively sure?” asked Keys. “Because that’s what they all said.”

“Who said?”

“Oh, you know, the dragons, the beasts, the birds, the machines…all of them.”

“They talked to you?” I asked.

“Of course. Didn’t they talk to you? Those beasties and machines have such silver tongues, you see. They speak such nice words, smile such sweet smiles, and then…boom! They go in for the kill.”

“He’s gone mad,” Ariella muttered.

“Why don’t you come down here, Keys, and we’ll talk about it,” Father said. His voice echoed off the golden cliffs. “I promise we’ll protect you from any machines or beasts that try to eat you.”

“Well…all right then. But I warn you, I’m armed. So don’t try anything funny.”

His head ducked out of sight. Rock scraped against rock as he stumbled his way down the backside of the hill. Less than a minute later, he squeezed through a sliver between two rock faces, sliding to a stop in front of us.

His gaze danced about from one thing to the next. Once, his eyes had been a perfect color match to his hair. But now his hair was caked with oily dirt and his eyes alight with madness.

“You’re here,” he said brightly. “How do you like my new home? It’s here and there. There and here. Over and over again, always in circles.”

“You have traveled through the Hellean portals,” said Father.

“Portals, yet not really portals. There’s no magic in them.” Keys yanked his fingers through his hair in jerky strokes. Again and again and again. “They wanted to know how to make portals.”

“The Helleans?” I asked.

Keys bobbed his head up and down.

“You were trying to make portals,” Ariella reminded him.

“I tried with magic. The Helleans did not. Their portals aren’t natural. They made them with flashy, bouncy bursts of energy. Technology made to imitate magic.” He shook his head. “But they aren’t the same. Not the same at all.”

“You made a portal,” I said. “And it brought you here.”

“It wasn’t supposed to do that.” He frowned. “This is a bad place. Many, many days and nights. Running, running, running. Always running.”

I caught him as he stumbled forward. Keys stank like old sweat and fresh blood. And like madness. Most of all like madness.

“The portal went pop. Sucked me up and spat me out.

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