Blood Coven Vampires 7
by Mari Mancusi
Rayne meets with Mr. Teifert. He tells her that he has a paying job for her from Slayer Inc. The Consortium has hired them to go after Magnus and Sunny.
Mr. Teifert blares music to avoid being overheard by Pyrus’ spies. Slayer Inc wants to take out the Consortium leader, but they need to build a case and get support from other covens to avoid a war. Rayne needs to convincingly pretend to look for Sunny so that Pyrus doesn’t ask to terminate Rayne with the nano-virus.
Rayne goes to Jareth to explain what is going on. After some convincing that Slayer Inc. ins’t all bad, he gives her his full support.
Laying low, Rayne spends her time hiding in her Las Vegas room. The newly recovered and now gorgeous Bertha comes along to tell Rayne they are partners. Bertha is determined to prove that she is the best slayer in the world.
Back at the Blood Coven headquarters, Rayne fills Jareth in on the new development. he shows her a picture of Bertha and Pyrus together. Rayne wants to warn Sunny, but Jareth thinks that will put them in more danger. He gives Rayne a bug to plant on Bertha.
Rayne finds Bertha’s room at the Bellagio Hotel. She goes to put the bug in her bathroom when she discovers that Bertha has not fully recovered from her eating disorder. Bertha breaks down and Pyrus dumping her. She tell Rayne that he knows Sunny and Magnus are underground in New York.
Rayne and Jareth get on a plane and go to New York. She admits that she forgot to place the bug on Bertha.
They make their way through the sewers and tunnels beneath the city. Jareth leaves Rayne to rest while he searches for the underground community.
Rayne is attacked by a chupacabra that is called off by an elderly vampire. She explains her story, but receives no help until Jareth comes along and gives him the password.
Drake, the elderly vampire, takes them to his hidden coven. The inhabitants are barely surviving off of rat blood that Rayne forces herself to drink. Drake explains that he was Pyrus’ sire, but was forced to flee when he tired to stop his power from growing.
Sunny appears and Rayne tells her the whole story. They wait for Magnus to return from a hunting trip. He is furious when he shows up. Magnus points out that Pyrus likes to plant trackers in clothes and the chupacabras find one on Jareth.
Pyrus’ army of werewolf mercenaries descend on the coven. Magnus makes Rayne get Sunny out of there. They don’t make it far before Bertha appears. Sunny stops Rayne from killer her. Bertha slashes Sunny with an iron knife. Rayne is able to kill Bertha, but Sunny still dies.
Rayne makes it back to the camp where she finds out Magnus gave himself up to save the others. Jareth is wallowing in guilt, wanting to be alone.
Rayne wanders the streets of NYC and almost snacks on a woman, who is saved by her Race Jameson tattoo. Rayne thinks of rehab and calls her rockstar sponsor.
Race picks up Rayne and helps her out. She fills him in and he leaves briefly. When he returns, he has his drummer with him, the Prim Reaper. He explains that Rayne might be able to convince Hades to release Sunny.
Taking as much human blood from Race as she can carry, Rayne returns to the refugee coven to find Jareth. She convinces him to help her save Sunny, but he wants to be alone for eternity after they complete their mission.
Prim and Race lead the way to the backyard of a condo where they will use a hot tub to enter Hell. Jareth shows his frustration with Race hitting on Rayne (which she takes as a good sign).
Prim leads them to the River Styx only to be stopped by the ferryman, Charon, because they can’t pay for passage.
Rachel, who saved Rayne and Corbin at the slay school, recognizes Rayne. he says Sunny had exact change to cross and points them in the direction of Torrid, the shore’s oldest resident. He suggests they might be able to charm Charon with music.
Rayne forms a band and they are so awful that Charon agrees to take them across the river for free to make the stop playing.
On the other side, they travel through a boring middle-America where souls wait to be judged. They take a bus to the pearly gates and Cerberus, the three headed dog, tells them they need to fill out a request to see Hades and will probably wait three years.
Finding a place to stay is difficult because they are living. They run into one of Race’s groupies, who helps find Rayne’s dad’s address on “Hellbook.” A demon patrol finds and arrests them.
Hercules comes along and rescues them. He takes them to Elysian Fields and instructs them how to find Rayne’s dad before going off to see his girlfriend, Persephone, who is also Hades’ wife.
After a few moments of hesitation, Rayne knocks on her father’s door. She is reunited with him and Sunny. She fills them in on what has happened. Dad says he might be able to get them an audience with Hades. Jareth walks out.
Rayne goes to talk to Jareth. He explains that slayers threatened to take out the entire vampire race if he tried to save his family. His hesitation cost them their lives. Rayne and Sunny make a plan to find them.
Under the guise of taking advantage of being able to eat food, Rayne takes Jareth to his family. They welcome him and his sister, Sarah, explains that she can bend people’s wills, which is why he hesitated the night his family died. The demon patrol shows up and Jareth’s family hides him and Rayne in a secret room behind a book shelf.
Jareth gives himself up to save his family from punishment. Rayne later brainstorms with Sunny and Race. She thinks that Persephone might free Jareth if they blackmail with her affair with Hercules.
Persephone (Percy) is a sucker for love stories and agrees to help Rayne, who didn’t need to use blackmail. Jareth is set free and while he and Rayne reunite, Percy works on getting Hades to talk to them.
When they meet Hades, he is enthralled with a video game Rayne is familiar with. She helps him through a level and then he is ready to talk.
Hades explains that he can’t release Sunny, but he offers Rayne a do-over. They would go back in time and only the twins would have their memories.
Rayne discusses her choice with Jareth. She decides to accept his offer.
Sunny wakes up thinking she is dreaming of her past, normal life. Rayne tells her about the deal she made with Hades.