by E. M. Knight
I throw him off with one of the few combat moves I’d actually managed to master while training under Dagan.
“Like I said,” I remind him. “There are other means for a vampire to kill.”
And I leave him there, on the ground, a second time flanked by his friends, as I briskly stride away.
Chapter Seven
Dagan
A remote graveyard
I glance at the female vampire at my side, so confidently staring into the jagged outcroppings of dry rock.
We are in the dead of night. There is no moon. The stars provide very little illumination.
Luckily, we don’t need light to see.
“It’s a trap,” she says, finally, after being still as a statue for the better part of an hour. “It has to be.”
I make a deep, growling sound of displeasure in my throat.
“You waited all that time to say that? I could have told you right away!”
Beth rolls her eyes and tosses her hair. “You would have been guessing. I am sure.”
We’re in a dark patch of the world, far away from civilization. The jagged rocks around us are ancient, weathered with age. The elements have had their go at them.
Nothing natural in this world can withstand the passing of time.
But the rocks are more than just a formation of the earth. They have been placed here, ages ago, by sentient beings. There are rudimentary markings visible on some, especially on the sides of the stones that were protected from the worst of the winds and rain.
The markings are not in any language I know, but it doesn’t take a genius to understand what they represent.
This is a burial ground. The stones around us are forgotten tombstones.
“Why did you lead us here?” I ask Beth.
She shoots me an annoyed look. “You know what we’re here for.”
“Yes, but in your own words—the coven we seek is still miles away.” I nod in the direction she pointed out before. “Why did we stop?”
“This close to the ancient coven, I won’t believe something like this is coincidental.”
I grunt, then turn my attention back to the features in the landscape that have us stalling.
One of the bigger stones has been recently overturned. The ground underneath is still fresh, as if it’s been dug into and turned over. That doesn’t particularly concern me. It’s the other side that’s troubling.
Because on the other side of the toppled stone is an opening leading somewhere into the earth.
Very crude stairs made of the same sort of stone offer a way down. Beth claims not to know what lies at the very bottom. I’d believe her… were it not for the fact that she led us specifically here.
“Look,” I say, my words coming out terse, “you made a detour to walk through this graveyard. You did it for a reason. Tell me why”
“I thought you might appreciate proof of the age of the vampires we are about to meet,” she says. “Their coven has been here for thousands of years.”
I scoff. “Thousands.” I do nothing to hide my disbelief. “What, before the rise of Christ?”
“Many, many years before that,” she says.
“And you claim to have been here before? You claim to know them?”
“You’ll see,” she mutters.
I rise out of hiding. “Then why are we stalling? Let’s go, let’s get there, let’s find this ancient coven and let’s see what they know.”
“You’re jumping the gun,” she says. “I’m sure they’ll welcome me. I do not know how they’ll react to you.”
“Should have thought of that before setting out on this journey,” I tell her. I grab her arm. “Let’s go—“
A flash of blue explodes from around Beth’s body, and I’m sent flying back.
She twists on me, standing tall, her features gruesome. “Never,” she warns, “never touch me without permission again.”
The light around her is so bright, it’s nearly blinding.
But I refuse to be cowed. I leap back up and advance on her slowly, full of menace.
“And you,” I growl, “promised not to use magic against me before. Or have you forgotten?”
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Dagan, if you’re trying to scare me,” she warns. The light continues shining unabated. “Do you not understand, still, who the stronger of us is?”
“I understand, all right,” I say. “But you’re still a woman.”
She bristles and steps up to me. “So?”
“So you’re ruled by emotion. You think you can be calculating, you think you can be cruel. Well, let me tell you. Those things belong to the man’s domain.”
“I could silence you without even blinking,” she says. “I could bind you so tight in chains of Air that you would never get out. I could leave you here, stranded in the open, for the sun to destroy you during the day.”
“You think the sun can kill me?” I shake my head. “I’m strong enough to withstand the full extent of those deadly rays. I did it in the desert, on my way to you.”
“For one day’s cycle, perhaps,” she says. “But when you can’t feed, when you have no way of recouping your strength? You won’t last the week.”
“Are you threatening me?” I demand. Anger builds up in the back of my mind. “Need I remind you who I am?”
“Need I remind you what I am?” she counters. “You forget yourself, Dagan. I’m not some common whore, waiting on your every word. I am a witch, and a vampire as strong as you, in addition.”
“You’re not as strong as I am,” I say softly. “You’re close, but you’re below.”
“And that rankles you so, doesn’t it?” she accuses. “The fact that you’re forced to go against the hierarchy and treat me as an equal.”
She turns away. Finally, the light winks out.
I think: Is that all?
She takes a few steps into the night. Then, she gives a great sigh, shakes her head, and turns back around.
Her eyes meet mine.
“I’m sorry,” she says stiffly.
I nearly step back in surprise.
“I’m sorry for lashing out,” she continues. “It’s just… damn, I’m so used to being alone. I’m not good with other vampires.”
“I spooked you,” I say. “Didn’t I?”
She looks at me for a long time, her face hard… and finally nods.
I take a deep breath. “Then I should also apologize,” I tell her. I can barely believe the words are coming out of my mouth. “I’ll know better than that in the future.”
She yanks me in, then quickly goes on her toes to kiss me.
I resist for as long as it takes the surprise to wear off. Then my passion explodes, and I grab her by the waist, pull her into me, and kiss her back harder than I’ve ever kissed her before.
When we finally separate we’re both short of breath. Beth’s cheeks even look flushed!
I’ll be damned if that isn’t a turn on.
“We should go,” she says. “It’s getting close to day.”
“What, we’re just going to forget this entrance?” I ask.
The most curious thing about the opening is that every once in a while, the scent of fresh, rich, human blood wafts out.
She nods. “If the coven knows about it, they will tell us what it is.”
“Do you really think so?” I ask. “This is their land. I’m certain they know. But why would they tell us?”
“Because I’m here,” she grins.
I can’t help but smile back. “Fine,” I say.
“My thinking is it’s there to lure in wandering vampires,” she tells me. “I can think of no other reason.”
I shake my head. “And what would the point of that be? If the coven vampires want to remain hidden, they don’t need anything like this as a distraction. If they are as strong as you say they are, especially.”
Beth rolls her shoulders. “So what, then? Do you want to go inside?”
“I think it�
��d be foolish not to.”
“Even though we both agree it’s bound to be a trap?”
“Particularly then,” I say. “I’m not one to shy away from a challenge. Between the two of us, I doubt there’s any being alive that can get the jump on me and you.”
“That might just be your naïvety speaking,” she says. “You’ve obviously never encountered vampires as strong as we’re about to meet.”
“Even so,” I say. “We have you. As you most recently emphasized, you are a witch. Surely, that’s an advantage.”
“Having control of the Elements does not grant one leave to be careless,” she mutters.
She turns her head in the direction of the coven.
“So?” I say.
She doesn’t respond right away. After a few long, quiet seconds, she speaks.
“This should be your decision. I’ve seen the ancient coven. It all depends on how quickly you want to get to them. If you’re apprehensive of the first encounter, going down into the unknown—“ she nods her head at the opening, “—could be just what you need to buy a little time.”
“I am not,” I begin fiercely, “apprehensive. Why would I be? You claim they’re friends of yours—“
“I wouldn’t go that far,” she says.
“Even so,” I break in. “Acquaintances. At the very least. They know you, and you know them. What is there to be apprehensive about?”
“No,” I continue. “The real reason is for us to investigate just what in the hell is going on below the earth. You smell the blood as surely as I do. Don’t tell me you’re not curious.”
“My curiosity is beset with caution,” she says.
“Cute,” I answer. “But yet, if you’re giving me the choice, then let’s do it. Let’s go into the earth.”
She gestures at the stairs with one hand. “After you, then.”
Chapter Eight
James
An airstrip in Canada
I set the plane down on the airstrip and taxi over to the far side. We had to call in our arrival, because there were no private, forgotten airfields that I knew of. The human attendants in the nearby building look at our plane with complete indifference from their little office.
Obviously, none of them have a clue of the sort of creatures contained inside.
“This is idiotic,” Smithson emphasizes, the moment I leave the cockpit. “Now the whole world will know of our arrival. You think the Crusaders don’t have their eyes on every airport within range of their facility?”
“I think you’re being paranoid,” I tell him. “Nothing at all would alert anybody of our true nature.”
I pick up the bag I’d packed on our departure, dig through it, find the cheap foundation makeup, and toss it to April.
She catches it and looks at me without understanding.
“For your face,” I motion over mine. “It’ll hide the marble vampire complexion. We don’t want to raise any suspicions from the humans out there.”
She looks at me skeptically, but unscrews the top and starts smoothing it over her face.
“All of you do the same,” I say. I pull out the other two containers I have and pass them around. “Make sure to cover your entire face, especially the area around the eyes. In a group of so many, even the slowest human will realize we are different without it. And we don’t want to cause alarm.”
As the pack members follow instructions, along with the Nocturna Animalia, I take Liana aside to have a word.
It is the first real one-on-one interaction we’ve had in quiet for some time.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
She looks at me funny. “What do you mean?”
I notice a smudge on her cheek and bring a thumb up to even it out.
“Oh, you know,” I say softly, focusing my attention on her lovely face. “We haven’t had much time to talk since you were converted.”
“If you’re asking if I’m scared, I’m not,” she tells me firmly.
I smile. “Liana, Liana, Liana,” I mutter. I tilt her chin up so that she looks into my eyes. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”
Her cheeks immediately flush.
“I have big plans for you and me,” I confide in her softly. “But before we take the proper steps to see them to fruition, I must know that I have your absolute loyalty. That I have all your trust.”
“Of course,” she says. There’s so much raw conviction in her voice that it even takes me by surprise. “You made me, James. I owe my life to you. I owe this whole, wonderful new existence to you.”
“If you are certain…” I say.
She nods her head with tremendous force. “I am.”
“Then I must let you in on a secret.”
Her big eyes widen. “Yes?” she asks.
I look past her at the other vampires on the plane. None are directly paying us attention, but I know how good their hearing can be.
I drop my voice to the barest whisper, so that even Liana needs to strain to hear.
“You don’t know the history of my family. But I can tell you now that I have two younger brothers. Phillip, and Raul. Phillip, you needn’t concern yourself about. But Raul… well, Raul fell in love with a girl named Liana two centuries ago.”
She looks at me without comprehension. “And?” she asks, as delicately as she dares.
“And,” I say, twisting a finger through her hair, “that girl looked very much like you.”
She takes a miniscule step back.
“Now, I’m not saying you two Lianas are related… only that the similarity is striking.”
“Are you talking about… reincarnation?” she asks.
“I might be,” I say. “And I might not be. All I know for sure is that my eyes have recently been open to some very new powers that exist in our world. Who’s to say that having a past life in a different body isn’t possible?”
“Well, I don’t care about Raul,” she tells me firmly. “I care about you.”
“That’s sweet,” I smile. “But you can be sure that the moment my younger brother lays eyes on you, he will very much care who you are and where you come from.”
“This girl… she was human?” Liana asks. “If your brother loved her, why didn’t he convert her?”
“That’s a complicated story,” I say, “best asked directly of him.”
“Well, I’ll tell you now that I am entirely myself,” she says. “I make my own decisions. I am defined by my own actions, my own life.”
“That’s good,” I say. “But you and I will have to figure out what we do, should our paths ever cross Raul’s.”
“We’ll deal with it when it happens, how about that?” she proposes. She looks back over her shoulder, seeing the other vampires getting impatient. “I think you need to get back to your crew.”
I sigh. “Very well. But now, Liana? Just know that you’ve done an excellent job with Smithson. It makes me proud of you.”
She beams.
“And,” I add, just before turning away, “it makes me think you will soon be ready for greater responsibilities.”
Before she can respond, I raise my voice and address all the rest.
“We will deplane in order of weakest to strongest. That means I go last. When you’re outside, limit your interactions with the humans as much as possible. We don’t want to rouse their suspicion.”
“Why don’t we just use our speed?” April asks. “We can be off the plane and in the surrounding woods in the blink of an eye. None would be the wiser.”
“An interesting thought,” I grant. My eyes sear into her. “One that you would have to believe me an absolute fool if you think I haven’t already considered it.”
She glares back at me, but the hierarchy prevents her from saying anything in return.
“Then why are we doing things that way?” Victoria ventures.
I grit my teeth together in irritation. “Must I explain everything to you?” I snap.
From the expectant
looks on all the vampires’ faces, I realize that yes, I probably do.
“I want the Crusaders to know we’re here,” I tell them. “In fact, my hope is that they’ll come to us. They can send an ambassador.”
“If you think they would ever do that, you’re sadly mistaken,” Sylvia says.
“And why would they not?” I counter. “If their mission is to eradicate our kind, surely they will have no better opportunity than on home turf.”
“You want to expose us to attack?” Smithson sneers.
“If it comes to that, yes,” I respond. “But mostly I want that first thing I said.”
“I thought the whole plan was to sneak up on them unaware,” Victoria deadpans.
“It was,” I say. “Before you failed me by not being able to cast the cloaking spell needed.”
She hisses. “I didn’t fail,” she counters. “You asked for the impossible!”
“You are the sole resident witch, the only one with sufficient abilities to do it,” I say. “If not you, there is no one else. You were incapable, and so, you failed.”
She makes a sound of grave annoyance.
“We’re wasting time,” one of the vampires of the pack says. “You told us what to do, so we’ll do it.”
“That’s the attitude I like to see,” I say. I motion at the exit doors. “Well then, go on. Liana, you’re first.”
I pinch her butt just as she passes, discretely, so nobody else sees.
Then I watch my procession of vampires deplane. When all are off, and I am the only one left, I quickly run back into the cockpit and retrieve a tiny velvet sack that I had stashed away long, long ago.
I put it in my breast pocket, then join my vampires outside.
All is orderly, just as I’d imagined. They look at me for the lead. I flicker my gaze in the direction of the hanger, where the main exit lies.
We have absolutely no trouble getting through the staff on duty. A few quick words on my behalf, coupled with a flick of the Mind Gift is enough to persuade them to let us through unaccosted.
Once again, on the other side, I find my group in an uninhabited forest.
“The closest town is a few miles that way,” I say, gesturing up the empty road. “We have some hours left before sunrise. I say we find a motel and check in.”