Kristy is on the ground, holding a hand to her head. She’s the one bleeding, and it’s just a scrape. She’ll be okay once she cleans the wound up. But Callie…Callie is under attack. A man, who smells just like the cells I was kept in at the Colosseum, grabs at her, desperately trying to get his hands around her throat. A ball of bright, white magical energy floats in the air above them, illuminating the surrounding area for the witches to see.
Rushing forward, I shove the man off of Callie. He’s human, but he smells dead, meaning he was either brought back with magic or he’s possessed. He falls to the ground, rolling back and hitting a tree. I put myself between him and Callie, waiting for the man to get up and try to attack her again.
I’ll do more than push him away this time. Anger burns inside of me, and I swear right then and there to rip anyone who harms Callie to shreds.
Bits of magic fall from the energy ball, burning my flesh when it makes contact. It hurts, but the wounds heal within seconds.
“I’m okay,” Kristy tells Callie, voice thin “What the hell is that?”
“I…I…I think it’s a man.” Callie comes over by my side. “And he’s possessed.”
The man looks like he’s been hit by a car and then dragged through the woods. His physical body is deteriorating at a rapid pace, yet he’s still walking around.
“Speak, demon,” Callie demands.
The possessed man sudden acts scared. “What happening? Where am I?”
“You don’t fool me.” Callie steps closer and I look away from the demon to admire her. She’s wearing a high-collared black dress that ends past her knees, and has a dark clock tied around her neck. Her face is set and she stares down the man without any fear.
This woman is fucking incredible.
“What is your name?” she asks.
“Please, help me!” The man rocks back and forth, eyes widening with fear.
“I know you’re possessing that body,” she continues “Tell me your name.”
I rush to the man, and grab him by the shirt collar. “I suggest you listen to the lady.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he presses
“Maybe the demon left.” Kristy’s voice is thin and shaky.
“Maybe,” I say, knowing it’s a possibility. “I know a way to find out.” Without any hesitation, I draw my fangs and bite the man’s neck, careful to avoid arteries or major veins. Right away, I can tell he’s possessed. I turn my head and spit out the putrid blood.
“He’s possessed,” I tell the witches and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “His blood is rancid.”
“You can taste the difference?” Callie asks.
“Yes. When a human is possessed, their blood tastes rotten.”
“Sulfur,” she suggests.
“Yes.” I look back at the man. “Want me to kill him for you?”
“Not yet,” Callie says, though I don’t know what she’s waiting for. Is she going to try to do an exorcism? I don’t think witches have the power to preform them, and even if Callie could, this body is too far gone. Without the demon keeping the man alive, he would have died a long time ago.
Callie holds out her hand and lowers the ball of light. I let the man go, pushing him down against a tree.
“Tell me your name, demon,” Callie tries again.
“You are not worthy to speak my name, unclean witch!” Foamy saliva drips from the man’s mouth. The demon inside has poisoned his body, and if there’s any trace of him that’s still alive, the poor fucker has to be in agony.
Callie brings the energy ball closer to the demon, eyes narrowing. She’s staring at him in question, but I see a desperation in her eyes. She’s searching for something, an answer to a question that’s eating her up inside. I know because I recognize the look from personal experience.
“What do you want with me?” She asks and brings the energy ball even closer, causing the demon to let out a yell from the pain. It’s toying with her, and it’s pissing me the fuck off. Growling, I move closer. Between me and Callie, the demon doesn’t have much time left on this earth.
Callie stares him down, heart speeding up at she looks at the demon. For a brief moment, the anger leaves her face and her expression is full of pity. I don’t think she feels bad for the demon, but for the man the demon possessed.
“Can you hold him spellbound?” she asks, pulling the energy ball back. “Try to get into his mind and make him talk?”
If the man is alive, there’s a chance. “I can try,” I reply. “There might not be much of his mind left.” I kneel down on the forest floor, making my face level with the demon’s. I look into his eyes, searching for even a shred of humanity to grasp onto. The man’s eyes are empty, and it’s almost like I’m looking into mirror.
The vast emptiness did take him over. It hasn’t claimed me yet, and with Callie standing behind me, I don’t feel like it will. I force my will deeper into the man’s mind, and find a tiny hook of sanity. I grab onto it and pull, until he’s under my command.
“What is your name?” I ask.
The man opens his mouth, fighting against the demon inside of him that’s trying to keep him from obeying me. Drool drips from the man’s lips but no sound comes out.
“Why did you attack Callie?”
A strangled noise comes from his throat as the demon causes the man’s body to twitch, trying to break my hold.
“Gate…gate…” he pants.
“Gate?” Callie echoes.
“Keep talking,” I command.
“Gate…gate…keep…gatekeeper.” The words come out forced and breathy, as if it took all the energy and life left inside of him to speak. The demon takes over, breaking my hold. He jerks away and throws himself on the energy ball hovering in the air.
His body sizzles for a few seconds before collapsing onto the ground. The demon killed itself before we could get more information, which can only mean one thing.
Something—or someone—would do far worse to it than we could. It’s working with or for another. Callie could still be in danger, and the thought of anyone else harmer her causes anger to ripple through me. I don’t know Callie. Shouldn’t care, but I do.
I learned a long time ago there’s no point in denying your feelings. And this woman is making me feel more than I have in over a century. She’s interesting. Dangerous. A little irritating. And, dammit, I care about her.
“Motherfucker,” Callie sighs. “What the hell does that mean? Gatekeeper? Gatekeeper of what? For all I know he’s here looking for the Key Master.”
Wiping the rest of the demon blood off my face, I look at Callie. She’s funny too. “Now that reference I did get.” I smirk and then go back to the body, checking his pockets for a wallet with ID, but come up empty.
“What should we do with him?” Kristy asks. “He’s somebody, you know?”
“Yeah, but we can’t exactly leave him,” Callie says. “The last thing we need is a bunch of nons walking through here. These woods aren’t the safest.” Her eyes go from the body to the woods beyond. She and Kristy were coming from a meeting with their coven. Do they meet in the woods?
“I’m still not wearing the right shoes for burying a body.” Kristy looks down at her shoes. “These boots are new.”
They’re not shaken by the sight of a dead body. Has this happened before? Maybe Callie and I have more in common than I expected. “Excuse me, ladies, but if disposing of the body is what you want, perhaps I can further lend my assistance. I’m probably better at it than you anyway,” I say.
Callie looks at me again, and I know what she’s thinking: I’ve been killing and burying bodies for years. Yet she doesn’t balk. She knows exactly what I am and has accepted it.
I’m a vampire. I drink blood to survive, and when humans lose a certain amount of blood, they die.
“You know what? That would be really helpful.” Her eyes meet mine for a half second, silently thanking me. She reaches for her friend’s hand.
“Let’s go. You’re still bleeding and I need to search my book for anything and everything on Gatekeepers.”
I watch them walk away before picking up the body and carry it deeper into the woods, wanting to put more distance between the burial site and Callie’s house.
It’s late May and the ground is soft from the recent rain. I get a hole dug in minutes and lay the body inside. I pile the dirt back on him, and then scatter leaves and broken branches over the grave, making it blend back into the underbrush of the forest.
Wiping my hands on my pants, I go back towards Callie’s house, stopping at my car first to change my clothes and clean myself up. I toss the dirty clothes in the trunk and shut it, turning around and looking at the little brick house. I’m walking up to the front door when I hear Callie’s voice coming from the back.
She’s sitting on her back porch, with a blanket over her lap. She looks up from the book she’s reading and her heart skips a beat again. A calico cat growls at me, then jumps onto the large book Callie just closed and set aside.
I speed up to the porch steps but don’t take another step forward. She already invited me in, and both she and I know I don’t need to wait for her invitation, yet I’m not going to push it this time.
“You changed,” she says, eyes running over my body.
“You didn’t. Though I have to admit I like the whole dark-Amish look on you. It leaves a lot to the imagination, and trust me, I’ve been imagining what you look like under those clothes since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“It’s the traditional dress code for gatherings.”
“You witches haven’t modernized much, have you? Criticize the vampires all you want but at least we don’t make our women wear high collared dresses,” I say with a grin, unable to help myself. Pushing her buttons is just too fun.
She takes the blanket from her lap and stands. “Most covens stopped the whole human sacrifice thing at least. I happen to like black, and not every black dress I own is this high collared. This one just happened to have the least amount of cat fur on it.”
“Very well.”
“So the body…it’s taken care of? No one will find it?”
“You act as if I’ve been drinking animal blood my whole afterlife.”
“Fine. I get it. You’ve done this before and know what you’re doing.” She takes a few seconds to collect herself, to try and conceal what she’s feeling from me—she isn’t. “And thank you.”
“You can thank me by letting me take you out to dinner.”
She goes to the steps and hesitates. “I think I’d like to go, but it’s just, uh, it’s been a long night.”
“I suppose being attacked by a demon is tiring.”
“Nah, that’s more annoying than anything else. Mostly because he killed himself before I could kill him.”
I look up at her, once again taken aback by this woman. She’s so fucking incredible. The black cat she called Mr. Prickle Paws follows her, winding between her feet as she walks. It’s a wonder he doesn’t trip her, though I’m sure they’re so bonded it hasn’t and won’t ever happen.
Callie moves onto the first step. “Want to walk with me? It’s the last day of the full moon phase and something about the moonlight always calms me.” She comes done the rest of the stairs, stopping at my side. She swallows hard and looks up, meeting my eyes.
A warm feeling grows inside me, and I don’t know how she does it. How she makes me feel like this by just standing next to me. I slowly move my head up and down and we turn, not talking as we walk toward the woods.
“What else happened to make this night a long night?” I ask.
“Somebody is hunting witches,” she says as a breeze blows her hair around her face.
“That’s a pity. Can’t imagine why someone would want to do that,” I say sarcastically.
“How do I know it’s not you?” she asks with a pointed glare.
“You don’t. But I have no reason to kill witches.”
“Really? An old vampire like you has no reason to kill witches?”
I rush forward, pressing Callie against a tree, pinning here there with my own body. “How old do you think I am?”
“Twelve hundred,” she says and pushes against me. She can’t physically overpower me and she knows that.
“I’m older that that.”
“Thirteen hundred?”
“Older,” I say and Callie puts her hands on my chest, giving me another shove. “Keep squirming, I like it.”
She does too, I can sense it coming off her in waves. She knows she shouldn’t and is resisting. It would be much more fun if she just gave in. Parting my lips, I tip my head down to hers. Then I grab her wrists and bring them over her head.
She could conjure an energy ball. Burn me and break away. We’re on a level playing field, and I fucking love it.
“Sixteen hundred,” she breathes.
“Bingo.”
Her mouth falls open as her eyes shut for a moment. Her body relaxes just a bit. She should be doing the opposite after finding out how old I am.
“You,” she pants and twists her wrists. I let go, missing the feel of her skin against mine the second she’s out of my grasp. “You lived through the War of Light and Dark.”
“I did, but I was not part of it.” I lower my head, looking deep into her eyes. They’re emerald green, lined with a ring of a dark, hunter green. She’s so beautiful, and I want so badly to bring my lips to hers.
Once I kiss her, I won’t be able to stop. I’d lay her down and fuck her right here in the woods, under the stars. I wouldn’t be fucking her out of my system, no, I’d be getting myself in deeper.
Because I could fall in love with a woman like Callie.
“I am sorry about your fellow witches,” I say.
“Thanks. I didn’t know any of them, but a witch hunter is never a good thing.”
“No, it is not.” I break away. I could fall in love with her, but would she fall in love with me? “I imagine this news makes you sad.”
“Of course, but it pisses me off more than anything. I’d love to find this motherfucker and burn him at the stake.”
“You have had a long day. Are you sure you don’t want to get something to eat? I hear humans raving about comfort food.”
“I’m never one to turn down comfort food.”
“I don’t know what comfort food actually is,” I admit and Callie laughs. We move away from the tree, and right when I expect her to put physical distance between the tension we’re both feeling, she falls in step with me.
“I suppose it’s different for different people,” she explains. “As to what you find comforting. It’s usually unhealthy and full of carbs. And cheese. Most people like cheese.”
“I have heard that as well.”
“Do you miss eating?” she asks and I shake my head.
“It’s been long enough I don’t remember what food was like.”
“That’s kind of sad.”
“I won’t call it that.”
Her dress catches on a thorn bush. She yanks it free. “Food is probably better now than it was sixteen hundred years ago goo.”
“I’m sure it is,” I agree and we walk the rest of the way back in silence that’s anything but awkward. It’s comforting to just be around Callie, and I’m starting to think she feels the same about being around me.
“You can choose where we go. Obviously,” I say.
“If we stay in Thorne Hill, we have exactly two choices: Taco Bell or Steak and Shake. A burger and fries sounds good right now. And a milkshake.” She pulls at the strings of her cloak. “Are you, uh, hungry?”
“I already ate,” I say, not going into detail. She nods and looks at me curiously before turning and putting one foot on the porch step.
“You can come in.” She picks up the large, leather bound book and goes inside, leaving the door open for me to follow behind. “I’m going to change,” she says and goes through the kitchen to the stairs. Sh
e runs up them, and I can hear her walking around above me.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. It’s Eliza, and I’m sure she’s wondering where I am.
“Finally,” she says when I answer.
“This is the first time you’ve called.”
“I’ve been wondering this whole time if you were dead.”
“You’d feel it if I were,” I remind her. “Just as I’d feel it if you died.”
“Don’t talk like that,” she spits. “Are you with her?”
“The witch?” I ask, speaking in French and not English anymore. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume Callie doesn’t speak French.
“Yes, the witch,” Eliza answers, speaking French now too. She spent time in the French countryside growing up, but wasn’t fluent in the language when I turned her. Having not been allowed to learn how to read or write as a human, I made it a point to learn as many languages I could in my afterlife, and pushed Eliza to do the same.
“I’m taking her out to dinner.” I walk through the kitchen and into the living room.
“Like on a date?”
“Yes, a date.”
“Be careful,” Eliza pleads. “I don’t want to lose you and we both know how much witches hate us.”
“Callie is different,” I tell her, though I’m not able to put my finger on exactly how she’s different. She just is.
“Just…be careful. Think with your head and not your dick for once.”
The stairs creak as Callie comes down. She’s wearing another black dress, but it’s much different than the other one. This one is low cut, showing off her perfect tits. I watch with hunger in my eyes, as her breasts bounce as she comes down the stairs. Her hair is swept away from her face in soft curls, and her eyes light up the whole damn room.
“Wait out the sun at my house, if you’d like,” I tell Eliza. “And I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I better fucking see you,” she snaps. “I’m going to be so pissed if you die.”
“I’d hope for nothing less.”
I end the call and pocket my phone, checking Callie out once again. “Black is your color, Callie.”
Immortal Night Page 6