by Slay (epub)
The weight of Jackie’s words pricked at her. But then she looked into Jackie’s eyes and past her at the suffering elementals. They are residents of earth and guests here just like we are. Even if Council members hadn’t shared everything about the virus or had lied, she could never be a part of a solution that included enslavement. It would go against everything her family line stood for, fought for over the past two hundred years. How could she, a vampire whose sires had once been runaway slaves join someone like Jackie? I can’t. There’s got to be some other way besides what this mad half-assed scientist proposes.
Shonda threw the star shaped poison dart as she had practiced so many times before. It caught Jackie in the notch of her throat. A perfect throw, Shonda thought with momentary pride. Pride, however, turned into confusion as Shonda watched the skin on Jackie’s face bubble as she ripped out the dart. She was supposed to faint. The older vampire did sink to her knees but didn’t fall into unconsciousness. She kicked and writhed. And panted…and shrieked.
In her shock, the folder slipped from Shonda’s hand.
“What did they send you to do?” Jackie screamed; no trace of smugness left. The skin on her hands and arms sloughed off in wet, blackish strips. A powdery blue fire beginning at Jackie’s feet quickly engulfed her torso.
Magic! Dread set in as Shonda realized for the first time ever that perhaps the Council had not been truthful with her.
A feeling of helplessness flooded Shonda as she bent close to the dying vampire. Dark crimson foam bubbled out of Jackie’s mouth as she shook her head side to side. “Someone lied to you,” she sputtered. “I was not the enemy. Read the file-” Jackie’s form stilled.
Chills spilled down her back. She had just taken part in an assassination, not an investigation. A loud pop drew her attention to the cages. A thin line of blue flame encircled them and began melting the cages. Shonda grabbed the file from the floor, scrambled to her feet and rushed to the earth elementals. Maybe I have a chance to get them before whatever magic that took out Jackie takes them out, too. Earth elementals were convulsing inside their cages. Their greenish blood burst from their ears. Concentrating with gritted teeth she locked on the last two living earth elementals. Three seconds later Shonda transported herself and the ailing elementals into her car. As she prepared to speed away, a feeling nagged at her. Her thoughts raced. What if she had just accidentally killed the only vampire who might be able to help her brother and other vampires? Was she set up? Would others on the Council believe the truth?
An explosion of chittering and Fae language that she could not understand made Shonda turn to look in the backseat. The two earth elementals clung to each other. One was silver-haired (the one that tried to spit on her earlier) and the other had hair as dark as onyx, though little of it remained, besides a few tufts that dotted her head. The Fae let go of each other and began flapping their wings and stretching.
What am I going to do with them? “I’ll take you wherever you want to go,” Shonda said.
More unintelligible chittering commenced between them. The silver-haired earth elemental leaned forward and said. “We want to find the others.”
“Others?”
“That Jackie took. Our brothers and sisters.”
Shonda nodded. “Yes, of course. It’s just that,” she paused and ran her hand through her processed bob of thick hair, “It’s just that I don’t know who to trust. Things have gone seriously sideways and-”
The other earth elemental dug her hands into the leather interior and moaned with such force that for a moment the whole car shook.
Narrowing eyes that reminded Shonda of yellow amber, the silver-haired Fae said, “You said you came to help us. Vampires rarely do, so we should not be surprised.”
No good deed goes unpunished. “Look, I don’t know how to find them, they’re probably all over the U.S! Why can’t you find them?”
The Fae placed a hand around the neck of the other and brought her close. This gesture calmed the other. When she spoke again, her voice was low, “Most of us live in or near the old forests. When old trees are cut, we are weakened. That is when we they trap us. Jackie worked with rogue Fae to learn spells that can bind us. We are not strong enough now to find and save them all.”
Shonda wondered if those same Fae were working with members of the Council. The divisions between humans, vampires and Fae are getting worse.
While the hidden tree frogs began their trilling that signaled evening’s full promise, an idea came to Shonda. “We can’t trust the Council to help us now. But, maybe we can help each other.” The dark-haired Fae looked away, but the other’s eyes sparked with interest as Shonda shared her plan.
Within the half hour Shonda and the silver-haired Fae, who finally introduced herself as Eledia, were back in the now eerily quiet lab squatting over Jackie’s ruined form. The magical blue fire had sloughed off most of Jackie’s skin, leaving her bones exposed yet covered in a strange coppery ash.
She noticed the sour look on Eledia’s face as she looked at her former captor. With caution, Shonda put a hand on her companion’s arm.
“I promise you. She will pay for what she has done.”
Her words sounded more confident than she felt.
I don’t even know if what I’ve proposed will work. Eledia decided to trust me, so that’s a start.
Shonda removed a knife from her boot and used it to make a diagonal cut across her palm. It took a moment before her sluggish blood seeped to the surface. Seeing her own blood was such a rare occurrence that she watched with interest before turning her hand over, letting the sticky blackish drops drip on Jackie’s face. Eledia placed one hand on Jackie’s head and one hand on the laboratory floor. She beat her wings, first in a quick rhythm and then settled into a slow pace. Eledia’s face contorted as she threw her head back and released a guttural moan unlike anything Shonda had ever heard. Eledia’s wings quickened in a rhythm that made Shonda feel as if she lay inside a great drum played by a giant. he current of magic that swelled thrilled and scared her. The floor cracked, and laboratory equipment crashed to the floor around them.
Jackie’s corpse made a gurgling noise. The coppery ash dissolved into her bones. What was once the elegant Jackie Shelton was no more. What sat up was a hairless, coughing and wretched looking skeletal being with terror in its eyes.
Jackie croaked, “You brought me back. How? Gods, everything hurts.”
You have no right to complain. Shonda nodded toward the Fae. “Eledia did most of the work.”
Eledia stood and drew herself up. “We are the oldest of all the Fae and can summon life from the earth itself.”
Shonda watched with fascination as rough patches of skin formed on Jackie’s body. The reborn vampire drew its arms around its thin legs and mumbled, “I never thought I would have to say these words to anyone, but I am in your blood debt, Shonda.”
“We want to know all the places that you have enslaved the Fae. You will tell me, and I will go and release them. In exchange for your help, the Fae will take you into their territory. They will hide you until I can find out the truth about what it is going on.”
Jackie heaved and shook her head, “They’ll kill me as soon as I am no longer useful.”
Eledia stamped her foot. “Unthinkable. We keep our word, unlike humans or vampires.”
“Although you deserve it, they gave me their word. At an appointed time, you will account for your crimes.”
“And,” Shonda grabbed Jackie’s arm and continued, “You will tell me about the virus and how I can save my brother.”
Jackie shivered and after a long pause nodded. Shonda stood and helped the former enslaver to her feet. She would save her brother. And she would finish this mission, just not in any way the Vampire Council could imagine.
About the Editor
Nicole Givens Kurtz is an author, educator, and publisher. Her novels have been named as finalists in Fresh Voices in Science Fiction, Dream Realm Award, EPPIE Fin
alist in Science Fiction, and a member of SFWA. She has over 40 short story publications, three active novel series, and produced works for White Wolf, Serial Box, and Baen.
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Additionally, Nicole is the owner and publisher for Mocha Memoirs Press. Since 2010, their mission has been to amplify marginalized voices in speculative fiction (SF/F/H). Join the newsletter to support and stay abreast of their new releases, coupons, author spotlights and more.
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If you like, SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire, Support Diverse Speculative Fiction!
These Authors SLAY
Alicia McCalla writes stories for both new adults and adults with her brand of Black superheroes, dark paranormal, and horror. Her stories always include strong black women heroines who fight back, sometimes to the death. She is a native Detroiter and lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband. Readers can find her at www.aliciamccalla.com where she has Diverse SciFi & Fantasy stories podcast, thoughtful blog post musings, and other fun things. They can also sign-up for her subscriber’s list to get free reads and special deals.
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Alledria Hurt is an African-American author of diverse works. She has written in the realms of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror with nearly 30 published pieces across those genres. When she's not busy writing, she's being a full-time cat mom, an A+ actress, a stellar ghost tour coach, and an on again off again health enthusiast. She can be found on the internet under http://linktr.ee/alledria.
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Balogun Ojetade is Master Instructor and Technical Director of the Afrikan Martial Arts Institute and Co-Chair/Founder of Blacktasticon, the largest gathering of Black science fiction and fantasy creators and fans in the South. He is the author of the bestselling non-fiction books Afrikan Martial Arts: Discovering the Warrior Within, The Afrikan Warriors’ Bible, and the Urban Self-Defense Manual and a score of bestselling novels, including, MOSES: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman (Books 1 & 2), The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman: Freedonia; Redeemer; Once Upon A Time In Afrika; Fist of Africa; The Scythe; The Keys; A Haunting in the SWATS; Beneath the Shining Jewel and Kill City.
Balogun is also contributing co-editor of three anthologies: Ki: Khanga: The Anthology, Steamfunk and Dieselfunk and contributing editor of the Rococoa anthology and Black Power: The Superhero Anthology. He is creator of the Steamfunkateers Role Playing Game and the comedic martial arts role playing game, The Ice Cold RPG.
Finally, Balogun is the Director and Fight Choreographer of the feature film, A Single Link, and the short films, Forward Motion, Rite of Passage: Initiation and The Dentist of Westminster; co-author of the award winning screenplay, Ngolo; co-creator of Ki Khanga: The Sword and Soul Role-Playing Game, creator of the comic book series Jagunjagun Lewa and co-creator of the comic book series, Ngolo.
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Colin Cloud Dance is a science professor in Cape Town, South Africa. Colin began writing to explore race, science, fantasy, the future, and the past in the imaginary. In 2020, Colin's collection of short stories based in South Africa, Cape Town Curios was published (MVMedia). The collection started with writing the short story "Free Me!" written to honor Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela during his long illness in 2013. Colin won a place in the 2014 Writivism Class which included workshops and mentoring and is meant to encourage African fiction (http://writivism.com/). In Cape Town, Colin has read several short stories on the former Taxi Radio. 'Quadrille' is Colin's first vampire story. Colin continues to write Afrofuturistic fiction, speculative fiction, and romance.
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Craig Laurance Gidney writes both contemporary and genre fiction. He is the author of the collections Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories (Lethe Press, 2008), Skin Deep Magic (Rebel Satori Press, 2014), Bereft (Tiny Satchel Press, 2013) and A Spectral Hue (Word Horde, 2019). Craig is the recipient of the Susan C. Petrey Scholarship to attend Clarion West Writing Workshop (1996), Gaylactic Spectrum Finalist for “A Bird of Ice” (2008), Lambda Literary Finalist: Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories (2008), Skin Deep Magic: Short Fiction (2014) and A Spectral Hue (2019), Bronze Moonbeam Medal (2014) and Silver IPPY Medal(2014) for Bereft. You can find Craig online at http://craiglaurancegidney.com, on Twitter at ethereallad
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Delizhia Jenkins is the proud author of multiple books ranging from adult paranormal romance to urban fantasy for young adults. She has always been a fan of the paranormal and the unseen. As a matter of fact, when she’s not lurking in the shadows, you will find her researching the missing books of the Apocrypha or waiting for the next installment of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Some of her personal literary favs include L.A. Banks; Karen Marie Moning and Christine Feehan.
She’s a shapeshifter writer who simply wants to leave her own mark on the literary world, leaving behind a legacy that will extend for generations to come.
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Dicey Grenor is a black woman, attorney, author, podcaster, screenwriter, and all-around misfit known as Spicy Dicey. As author of The Narcoleptic Vampire Series and other erotic romance, sci-fi, fantasy, horror books and short stories, Dicey enjoys crossing genres, writing inclusive characters who overcome trauma, and sexy creatures that don’t stay dead. With eleven novels, over thirty short stories, and three scripts, writing isn’t just a career for Dicey. It’s a calling.
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Jeff Carroll is a writer and filmmaker. He is pioneering what he calls Hip Hop horror, Sci/fi, and fantasy. His stories always have lots of action and a social edge. He has written and produced 6 films and has written over 15 science fiction and nonfiction books. His short stories have appeared in The Black Science Fiction Society’s anthology and their magazine as well as other anthologies. Jeff produces The Monster Panel a traveling sci-fi panel which features writers of color in a lively discussion of comic books, movies and Black people. His comic book series Horror Streetz features a variety of black horror stories. He has written in novel, film and comic books.
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He is also is the Hip Hop dating coach is a leading voice of Hip Hop reform and his book The Hip Hop Dating Guide is used by public schools and community groups nationwide. Jeff Carroll is also the author of the non-fiction book, The Hip Hop Dating Guide. When he is not writing Sci-fi stories he enjoys speaking on healthy dating to college and high school students everywhere and goes by Yo Jeff. He writes out of South Florida where he lives with his wife and youngest son.
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Jessica Cage is an International Award Winning, and USA Today Best Selling Author. Born and raised in Chicago, IL, writing has always been a passion for her. As a girl, Jessica enjoyed reading tales of fantasy and mystery, but she always hoped to find characters that looked like her. Those characters came few and far in between. When they did appear, they often played a minor role and were background figures. This is the inspiration for her writing today and the reason why she focuses on writing characters of color in fantasy. Representation matters in all mediums and Jessica is determined to give the young girl who looks like her, a story full of characters that she can relate.
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John Linwood Grant is a pro writer/editor from Yorkshire, UK, with some fifty short stories and novelettes published in a wide range of magazines/anthologies over the last few years, including Lackington's Magazine, Vastarien, Weirdbook, and Space & Time. He writes disquieting dark fiction, both contemporary and period supernatural tales. “His Heart Shall Speak No More” was picked for Best New Horror #29, and his novel 13 Miller’s Court (with Alan M Clark) won the 2019 Ripperology Books award. He is the editor of Occult Detective Magazine and various anthologies, whilst his eccentric website greydogtales.com, features weird fiction and lurchers. A further collection of h
is weird fiction, Where All is Night, and Starless, will be out from Trepidatio next year.
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Kai Leakes is a St. Louis native, hopeless romantic, and vampire lover. She began her obsession with all things fantasy, romance, and the dark as a teen. Kai is the creator of the popular dark fantasy/horror series Sin Eaters: Devotion Books, Sin Eater Chronicles’ novella & steamy romance: Love, Trust & Pleasure: BOK series. Kai's unique passion for romance with a touch of darkness has allowed her to be featured in the HWA award-nominated horror anthology Sycorax's Daughters, and sci-fi anthology The City. So, with fantasy and romance always on her mind, watch out for the darkness and magic that always follows. Learn more at: www.kaileakes.com
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K. R. S. McEntire lives on a healthy diet of fiction and tea. She loves art, photography and travel because, like books, they allow her to explore new worlds. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and runs the Facebook page Diverse Fantasy and Sci-Finds, where she shares book recommendations with other bibliophiles.