The lower deck door opened, and Aerona and Morgan joined us.
“Everyone should have one of these yachts,” Aerona said excitedly, leaning over the railing.
“Let’s not forget why we’re here,” I reminded her.
“To be tasty vampire appetizers?” she teased.
“Not funny,” Morgan said, his voice sober. “Last week, I would have laughed, but now that I’ve been turned to stone and that I’ve seen an actual vampire rip off a troll’s head, vampire appetizer jokes are no longer funny.”
We found Ember and Rain in the large glass-walled room in the main deck. Rain was seated on one of the several plush white couches. He kept his back toward us as he stood up, staring out the glass wall into the black of the night. He had traded in his tattered, bloodstained shirt for a black zip-up hoodie.
“Welcome,” Ember greeted us. “Please have a seat and make yourselves at home.”
Kasiah and I sat on one of the couches across from Ember, and Aerona and Morgan sat on the one next to us. The couches were as comfortable as they were expensive.
Rain turned around from the window to study his new guests.
“Such an eventful evening,” Ember started. “You must be hungry. We have a fully stocked kitchen and a fantastic chef ready to prepare anything you desire, and I do mean anything—he’s wonderful.”
“You have a lovely yacht,” I said, breaking the tension, “and we can’t thank you enough for getting us out of the city so swiftly, but I think we’re all fine for the moment.”
Ember sipped from her glass of wine. “It was my pleasure,” she said. “After all, you came to my rescue without even knowing who you were rescuing. I’m the one who owes you a thank you.”
“Let’s call it even,” I replied.
Rain wasted no time in getting right to the point. His eyes moved from me to Aerona and back. “So,” he began, “I’ve seen enough to know you two aren’t from this world.”
FIFTEEN
I felt no reason to lie or bend the truth with a Shadow Vampire in the room. They’re typically not very forgiving creatures. “My name is Aeron,” I said. “I’m a warlock from the Shadow World. This is my sister, Aerona, also a warlock. Kasiah and Morgan are both with the FBI.”
Kasiah and Morgan traded glances of confusion, as if I had just blown their cover.
“What were you doing at the club tonight?” Rain asked.
I met his eyes. “Looking for you,” I told him.
“Do you care to elaborate?” he asked, studying me closely.
“Have you been watching the news?” Morgan questioned.
“As little as possible,” Ember responded. “It’s too negative, and they only tell you what they want you to hear to promote their own narrative and please their advertisers.”
I felt the yacht make a slight right turn. It was a smooth turn, but we definitely changed course.
“Very true, Ember,” I said. “Well, the one thing they have reported accurately is a serial killer has been leaving a trail of bodies from the east coast to the west, and we believe it’s a Shadow Vampire like Rain.”
Rain tensed, his eyes narrowed.
“Like Rain,” I stressed again, “Not Rain. We’re here for your help in tracking down the killer. We need to fight fire with fire, and you’re it: a Shadow Vampire.”
Rain looked confused. “Shadow Vampire?” he asked.
“That’s what you are, aren’t you?” I asked hesitantly.
Now I was the confused one.
“I am a vampire,” Rain said. “My thirst for blood tells me I am. But I’ve never heard of a Shadow Vampire.”
I exchanged a confused look with Aerona.
Ember detected our confusion. “You should know,” she said, interjecting, “Rain doesn’t exactly remember his past. All he knows about the Shadow World is from what I’ve told him, and I know very little, being a fairy. We were forbidden to even say ‘Shadow.’
“But your strength and speed as you instinctively attacked those trolls,” I said, redirecting my attention back to Rain, “combined with the ability to ignore fresh human blood, you’re more advanced than any vampire created in this world. You’re a Shadow Vampire.”
“Created in this world?” he asked.
“Yes,” I nodded. “Vampires created in this world have certain weaknesses. For example, they don’t have control over their thirst. A single drop of human blood can send them into a feeding frenzy, similar to a great white shark. They literally can’t help themselves. You didn’t even think twice before walking away from Spider.”
“I’ve tasted biker blood before,” Rain said, grinning. “It’s like a bad beer. You only drink it if there’s nothing else.”
“Speaking of the bikers,” Kasiah joined in, “why were they after you?”
“The short version of the story is,” Ember replied, “a few years ago, some of their biker buddies caught me in human form without my dust. They were ten seconds away from raping me when Rain came to my rescue. Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, Rain has a way of saving people that sometimes results in a few broken arms, crushed necks, and a dozen crashed motorcycles.”
Aerona jumped in. “I’m thinking they don’t let something like that go easily.”
Ember took another sip of her wine. “Apparently not,” she said.
“There really was no avoiding them at the club tonight,” Rain explained, “and we just had no idea they were friends with werewolves and trolls.”
“Well,” I said, “I think we may have had something to do with that. The werewolves and the two trolls may have been sent by the other Shadow Vampire we spoke of—the one we’re tracking. He had probably heard the bikers were searching for you, then paid them to let a few of his own henchmen tag along to make sure we didn’t meet. Based on their bikers’ surprised expressions, they had no idea they were traveling with trolls and werewolves.
“So why is this other Shadow Vampire after you?” Ember asked. “Shouldn’t he be out on his killing spree?”
“We crossed paths with him in Madison,” I explained, trying to tell the next part delicately. “A situation ensued, and we lost Kasiah’s sister, Amy.”
Kasiah leaned back into the sofa, fighting back her tears.
“His name is Atmoro,” I continued, “and he is definitely not working alone. In Madison, he had several other vampires working with him, ones turned in this world. Also, we don’t believe this is a random killing spree. He’s searching for something—the blood of a stone.”
Ember shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “The blood of a stone?” she asked.
“Does that mean something to you?” I asked eagerly.
Ember was quiet for several seconds, debating whether to tell us what she knew. “Perhaps,” she began cautiously, “it has something to do with a story I was told many years ago as a child. By definition, a stone is an angel who has been cast down to Earth to live with mortals, which doesn’t happen often. Actually, from what I’ve been told, it hasn’t happened in well over a century. See, being cast down to Earth is considered the worst form of punishment for an angel. They start growing old, but not as fast as typical humans. It takes a long time for an angel to lose all their power. It may even take a few decades for their power to drain. Eventually, their powers dwindle, they grow old, and die. That’s when their soul is given a second chance.”
“Atmoro wants the blood of an angel?” Kasiah asked, more to herself than anyone else.
“What is he planning to do with it?” Morgan asked. “Does that make some kind of super vampire or something?”
Ember’s additional insight into the mystery was an interesting discovery. I just wasn’t sure where it would take us next. We needed to figure out how the blood of an angel would open the Forgotten Shadow City—and why.
“I have a friend,” I said, thinking Jess might provide the help we needed. “A hacker who’s been helping us try and piece together this little riddle. Let’s see what she can fi
nd with this new piece of information. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions right now, but it sounds like Atmoro intends to use the blood of an angel to open the Forgotten Shadow City.”
“And that’s bad,” Rain commented, “right?”
“Bad isn’t exactly the word I would use,” I said, reminding myself of the type of criminals locked away in the prison. “I think catastrophic may be a better description or maybe the end of life as we know it. If the lock spell to the Forgotten Shadow City is broken, it could release all the Forgotten Shadows who have been imprisoned there for hundreds of years. This scenario is definitely filed under disaster.”
That’s when it struck me.
Aerona sensed my mood change. “What is it?” she asked.
I paused, knowing Atmoro would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. “I think I know what Atmoro is after,” I said, wondering if it was possible.
“A cure for insanity?” Aerona kidded.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “He intends to break his wife out of the Forgotten Shadow City, and unfortunately, the only way is to release all the Forgotten Shadows.”
Aerona recalled the same story from long ago when word of Atmoro’s death spread throughout the Shadow World. “Christine!” she exclaimed. “Atmoro knows his wife was sentenced to the prison for jumping to the Light World.”
“That’s the only thing that makes sense,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “That kind of motivation will push Atmoro to do whatever it takes to find a stone that bleeds. He’s looking for the blood of a fallen angel.”
“We know what Atmoro wants,” Kasiah reasoned, drawing from her FBI experience, “and what he plans to do when he gets it. So, who in the room knows how to find an angel? There can’t be very many stones wandering around. If we can find one, then maybe we can calculate Atmoro’s next move.”
Ember sipped her wine. “The only thing harder than finding an angel,” she started, pausing to take another sip, “is finding a stone. Angels may lose their powers, but they have the greatest minds any world has ever known. Stones are ashamed of their punishment, and they’ve had centuries of experience hiding their true identity. They’re so good at hiding themselves, even the FBI has never heard of them.”
“Well, my brother and I,” Aerona added, “know a few things about keeping secrets and hiding in the Light World.”
“And even you two,” Ember insisted, “had never heard of stones until today.”
“True,” I said, wondering how it was possible that I had never heard of stones. “Even so, we have more resources now. We have two warlocks, two federal agents, a fairy with knowledge of the Light World, and a Shadow Vampire. If anyone has a chance of stopping Atmoro, it’s us. I, for one, like my life the way it is, and I don’t want Atmoro to destroy it. We have fought too hard for too long to keep our existence a secret.”
Aerona leaned back in the couch. “Atmoro and his crew of misfits,” she said, “have caused enough commotion in the Light World. By now, news of a rogue vampire on a killing spree has certainly reached the Shadow Council. They may not know it’s Atmoro and have no reason to suspect it, but they’ll dispatch a hunting party to stop the vampire soon enough.”
“That’s a good point, Aerona,” I said, considering her comment and wondering how we could use that to our advantage without leading the hunting party to ourselves. “We’ll have to keep an eye out for a hunting party. We don’t want to cross their path.”
I felt the yacht change course for a second time, ever so slightly.
“The council you keep talking about,” Morgan suggested, “why don’t we just let them take care of this problem?” He was hoping we could all just wake up tomorrow and pretend like nothing ever happened.
“We have to assume the council doesn’t know they’re dealing with Atmoro,” I said. “As far as the Shadow Council is concerned, Atmoro is dead. It’s likely they believe it’s a vampire created in this world that doesn’t have any self-control over its thirst for human blood. The council had probably assigned a single Shadow Vampire to the hunt, not realizing Atmoro is behind all this chaos. For all we know, Atmoro has an entire army of vampires, werewolves, trolls, and probably even more. I’m sure he’s anticipated the Shadow Council’s involvement, and he may even be counting on it.”
“Why don’t you two contact this Shadow Council and tell them exactly that?” Morgan continued. “Inform them that Atmoro is trying to break into their prison. We could get the FBI involved. You and Aerona could show them your unique abilities.”
“Aerona and I have spent the last hundred years pretending to be dead,” I explained, disagreeing with Morgan’s suggestion, “so we could protect our own identity. If we tip off the council, there’s a possibility we would be found out and labeled jumpers. We’d end up in the Forgotten Shadow City for violating Shadow law.”
“The only upside to that,” Aerona said, always the optimistic one, “is then we’d both be rooting for Atmoro to succeed, so we could escape the Forgotten Shadow City. I think we’ve already shown that the FBI doesn’t have the skills to deal with an army of Shadows. It would take far too long to convince the U.S. government that they have a war of worlds on their hands. They’d probably lock us up. Those idiots would spend millions of tax payer dollars dissecting us and trying to figure out how to market my beautiful flaming hands to China.”
Aerona smiled her best evil smile as she held up both hands, palms up, with a baseball- sized rotating fireball hovering in each.
Ember’s eyes widened. “No fire on the yacht!” she exclaimed.
Aerona extinguished the fire.
“Aeron’s right,” Kasiah added. “The FBI doesn’t have the resources to deal with something like this.”
One of the yacht’s crew members entered the room. She walked directly to Ember, whispered something in her ear, and then left the room as quickly as she had appeared.
Ember sat quietly for a few seconds before she stood up. “There’s another vessel following us,” she said. “It’s about three miles behind, but it’s been on our radar for the last twenty minutes. The captain has changed course twice, and the other vessel changed its course to follow. Right now, they’ve slowed down to match our speed, and they’re still trailing us.”
“Please tell me,” Morgan started, “you have some kind of actual defenses on this floating building.”
“We have him,” Ember said, pointing to Rain.
Aerona laughed out. “I had no idea vampires could swim.”
Ember didn’t seem amused with Aerona’s comic relief—most people aren’t.
“My crew has extensive defense training,” she said, reassuring us that her vessel can protect itself. “And we have a well-stocked armory. We sail this yacht around the globe, and believe it or not, pirates are still a large threat on more than one ocean. In about ten minutes, we’ll be in Canadian waters. If it’s the U.S. Coast Guard, sometimes they escort large vessels to the edge of U.S. waters. If it’s anyone else, we’ll slow down and launch the small boat. Rain will slip back. He can see in the pitch black of night better than we can on a sunny day.
“You have a boat on your yacht?” Morgan asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Ember nodded, assuming everyone had million-dollar toys. “We have a twenty foot, 260 horsepower ski boat and two jet skis. They all launch from the stern. We use the boat for water skiing, parasailing, and going to the shore for supplies whenever shallower waters make it unsafe to dock the yacht at port. The jet skis are just for fun. The boat can be launched in just a few minutes.”
“I’m clearly in the wrong profession.” Morgan said, shaking his head. He’d be lucky to afford the smaller jet boat on his FBI salary, let alone a ten million dollar yacht.
“It’s not a good idea for Rain to go alone,” I protested, “considering what was waiting for us outside the club tonight.”
“I can handle myself,” Rain stated.
I almost forgot I was talking to a Shadow Vampir
e that could kill everyone in this room.
“I’m just saying if you would like help,” I reasoned, easing the tension, “count me in. I may be able to shut the vessels electronics without even boarding, which means their radar won’t work, and we could leave them safely in our wake without any more bloodshed.”
“My crew is monitoring the other vessel on radar,” Ember added. “They’ll report any changes to me immediately. If we need to take defensive action, we’ll make the decision then.”
“Atmoro is somehow able to track our movements,” I said, still confused how he is tracking us. “Our cell phones may have been compromised. What other communications do we have with land?”
“We have a satellite phone,” Ember explained. “It has a secure link to a fairy satellite. You are more than welcome to use it.”
“Fairies have their own satellites?” Morgan asked, surprised again.
Ember smiled. “I’m beginning to think you could fill an entire warehouse with all the things the FBI doesn’t know.”
Except Morgan, we all laughed out.
“I need to contact Jess and give her this new information,” I said. “Maybe she can piece the rest of the puzzle together and help us find a stone.”
SIXTEEN
“I just uploaded the video,” Jake said, holding the phone between his chin and shoulder. He pressed a few more keys on his laptop. “You should be able to access it now.”
Atmoro, more than a thousand miles away, logged on to the secure website set up by his hacker/tech. He clicked the play button on the latest video from Jake, and the screen came alive.
“I can see it now. I’ll call you back when I’m through,” Atmoro said before hanging up.
The video bounced back and forth and up and down as Jake ran while filming. He stopped at the corner of a brick building to steady the camera and focus across the street. The image panned slowly left, then right, showing a typical downtown street lined with storefronts, a few park benches, and several large, evenly spaced maple trees lit by equally spaced street lights.
The Blood of a Stone Page 11