by Cheree Alsop
The sun set as we flew. Moonlight glowed through the darkness that had settled between us. I was closest to the left hand door and so unfortunately, the light didn’t reach my side, but a patch of it trickled past my knee. I held out a hand and let it pool onto my palm that had been burned by the silver baton.
The light tingled and sent cooling ribbons up my arm as it healed. The flesh that had blistered and burst turned pink and then pale to match the scarred skin across my hand. As soon as it was done, I switched hands and let it focus on my right one, which was worse.
“Okay, that’s just cool!”
I glanced over to see every member of the team watching, including Sutter, who had made the exclamation. I pulled my hand back with the realization that I was showing a weakness.
“No, keep going,” Riot’s voice crackled over my headset. “You don’t want to go against a demon injured.”
I glanced at Virgo. He knew my palms were a mere annoyance compared to my side, but I wasn’t about to give that one away. At his encouraging nod, I sighed and held my hand back out.
The play of light was more reassuring than any weapon. Moonlight had always felt that way to me. No matter how crazy things got at the Lair, or how strange my life had become outside of it, moonlight calmed my troubled soul. Even sitting in a helicopter filled with armed strangers on a mission to hunt a demon couldn’t dampen the effect of the light. My shoulders relaxed and the tension eased from my body. By the time I sat back, even my anger at Virgo had eased.
“Too bad dhampirs don’t have that ability,” Riot said. He twirled a knife as he grinned at Fray.
She rolled her eyes and looked out the window.
“Dhampirs don’t need that,” Sutter said. He pushed his glasses up his nose. “That’s what PN blood is for.”
Virgo glanced at the young man. “What’s PN blood?”
“It’s an acronym,” Sutter replied. Serian shook her head, but he didn’t notice and continued to explain, “It stands for paranormal blood. Blood from a paranormal entity helps dhampirs heal faster than regular blood.”
A shudder ran down my spine.
“You drink paranormal blood?” Virgo said in shock.
Instead of replying to him, Fray turned her full attention on me. The intensity of her gray eyes set my teeth on edge.
“Does that bother you, werewolf?” she asked.
I held her gaze as my instincts screamed for me to get as far away from the vampire spawn as possible. “Should it?”
“Probably, if you’re smart,” she replied.
“Plan on using me as an elixir of life?” I shot back. My nerve endings tingled at the thought.
Her eyes narrowed. “If you don’t die from the demon’s poison.”
“One could only hope,” I replied levelly.
Riot looked from one of us to the other. The knife he had been twirling was completely still in his hand. The tension on the helicopter was palpable. A faint burnt wood scent of fear wafted from Sutter. I wondered if he thought we were going to throw down right there on the chopper.
I sat back in my seat and forced my expression to be calmer than my blaring instincts demanded. “Riot, can I see one of those?” I asked.
His eyebrows lifted, but he handed me one of his knives. I twirled it through my fingers the way he had been doing. It was the opposite direction than I had trained in my youth, and I dropped the blade.
Sutter jumped even though the sound of it hitting the floor was inaudible past the thump of the chopper’s blades.
Riot smiled and held out his hand. “Maybe you should leave knives to the master.”
I picked up the knife. “These are weighted well,” I told him without giving it back. I balanced it on my finger for a moment, then flipped it up and twirled it the way I had spent years doing. It flew through my fingers with barely a wisp of feeling.
“That’s much harder than the way I do it,” Riot said with an edge of surprise to his words.
I glanced at him without stopping. “That’s why I chose to learn it that way.”
He pulled out another knife and flipped it backwards through his fingers the way I was doing. After the second flip, it fell to the floor.
“The key is to avoid the tip when you flick it downward,” I told him. “In this direction, no matter where you end up, you’re ready to fight.” I spun the knife and swiped at the empty air, spun it again, and showed him the same move.
Riot nodded. “I can see the advantage.”
I noticed that the others in the crew had sat back as far away from our conversation as possible. Aware of how uncomfortable me holding the bare blade made them, I flipped the knife the other way as Riot did and handed it out to him without dropping it this time.
“You’re a fast learner,” he noted, accepting the blade.
“Had to be,” I replied. I sat back. “It’s amazing what you can pick up when your survival depends on it.”
“You mean a lair, don’t you?” Sutter asked.
“Sutter,” Serian said with a note of discouragement.
The young man ignored her and scooted forward to the edge of his chair. “You came from one of the original lairs, the vampire dens of the seven, didn’t you?”
At my lack of answer, he pressed, “Which one was it? Breath, or skin, or bones—”
“Blood,” I replied. “And he’s dead along with Elioran, the one who fed on breath.”
I didn’t know why I answered him. The fact that he knew of the seven vampire masters was reassuring in a strange way. I had been fed so many lies during my youth that I questioned everything I had been raised to know. There was comfort in the thought that the seven had been real, that the world was safer after the deaths of two of them.
“They’re dead?” It was Fray who spoke.
“Yeah,” Virgo replied for me. “Zev was the mastermind behind the plan, but he had help from the rest of us.”
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” I said.
I didn’t take my eyes off the dhampir. The knowledge that she was made by a vampire sleeping with a human came with the realization that her sire may have been one of the seven. Had I slain her father? The thought that she owed her very existence to one of the leathery, bat-faced monsters sent a wave of disgust through me until the voice in the back of my mind reminded me that I did as well.
I turned my gaze from hers. “I’m glad they’re gone.”
“The world could do with fewer vampires, that’s for sure,” Sutter said.
Serian cleared her throat meaningfully.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sutter glance at Fray. His eyes widened. “But dhampirs, of course, are just great. Give us more dhampirs.”
“Nice save,” Serian said dryly.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fray replied. “The world would be better without us.”
It was a sentiment I couldn’t agree with more wholeheartedly, although I had the distinct impression that she was lumping me into her statement.
I turned my gaze to the window and ignored the conversations that continued behind me. I would be out of the team as soon as I had done enough to convince Captain Roarsh to leave the werewolves alone. I didn’t need the bonding or camaraderie of sharing experiences with others. I would be thrilled to leave them; and given their fear of me even holding a knife, they felt the same.
Chapter Three
The helicopter touched down at sunrise.
“Radio me when you’re done and I’ll drop the nets,” the pilot told Kai.
The older man nodded. “Will do.”
“Put in your earpieces,” Fray directed. She held out several small, black items. The others put them in their right ear. Virgo and I glanced at each other before doing the same. I wondered if he felt as out of his element as I did, but it wasn’t the time to ask.
I shoved the door I was next to open and was met by the rotted vegetation and standing water scent of swampland.
“Pleasant odor,” Virgo said as h
e followed me out of the chopper.
“Bet you’re loving it,” Fray said to me.
She bumped her shoulder against mine on purpose as she passed. I managed to keep back a growl, but barely.
“She’s peachy,” Virgo noted.
“She grows on you,” Riot said.
We both shot the man doubtful looks.
He grinned. “She’s good to have at your back.” He eyed me. “Unless you’re a werewolf, apparently. I haven’t seen her hate someone so quickly.” His grin increased. “It usually takes a few days.”
“Come on,” Serian said. “You don’t want to miss all the fun.”
Sutter hurried after her. The young man was consulting his tablet again. “From what I’m reading, the borgun lures hikers into the swamp with its fascinating lights and then shoots them with its poisonous spikes. I can’t say what size it is, but I’m guessing by this pencil sketch that it’s quite large.”
Virgo and I joined the others on the edge of a pool of bracken water. Scraggly trees lined the pool hung with moss that draped into the dark liquid. At first, I couldn’t see anything out of place, but the heavy scent of death and pepper let me know we were practically on top of it. The stinkweed stench of anger lay over the demon smell. I wondered what made it so mad. Perhaps it was always angry?
“You sure this is it?” Serian asked.
“This is the last place it was seen,” Sutter replied. “I think we just—”
“Sutter, wait!” Fray shouted.
She grabbed the human’s arm before he had taken two steps into the water and pulled him back onto the bank. I followed Sutter’s blank gaze to a flickering blue flame that danced above the water.
“But it’s pretty,” the young man said as he struggled to rise to his feet again.
The dhampir kept him down easily with one hand on his chest. Her sharp gaze flickered to Riot and Kai. Both of them had the sense to avert their gazes from the light.
“Take each side,” Fray told them quietly through her earpiece. “See what we’re dealing with but don’t attack unless it does first. Captain Roarsh wants it whole.”
“Will do,” Riot said.
Kai headed in the opposite direction. He held his pistol loosely in one hand. Despite his calm demeanor, I could smell the pine sap scent of tension from him. I had to give the man credit for not letting it show.
“There’s more lights,” Serian reported. She watched the water through her fingers. “It’s like the demon’s toying with us. He wants us to….”
Her words faded away and she stepped toward the water. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back beside Sutter.
Fray nodded to Virgo. “Keep these two here and don’t look at the water.” The exasperation in her voice said the order should have been obvious.
She glanced up and found me watching. A slight crease of worry showed between her brows. “They usually don’t make these kinds of mistakes. Something’s off.”
“I’ll check around,” I told her.
She nodded, but it was clear by her expression that she doubted I would be of much help. I ground my teeth against a reply and pulled one of the wrapped silver blades from my vest.
I pushed the button on my earpiece and said, “Demons feed on the taste of fear. Try to think happy thoughts.”
“Did the werewolf just make a joke?” Kai asked.
Riot chuckled quietly. “Happy thoughts. I like that. Fray, you got any happy thoughts?”
“The thought of us leaving this place in one piece,” Fray replied dryly.
“Seconded,” Kai said. “Let’s get out of here as fast as we can. I don’t like the feeling of this mission.”
“Look out!”
I turned just as Virgo threw up his shield to protect Sutter and Serian. A dozen spikes hit the outside of it and stuck there quivering.
“Riot, get out of there!” Fray yelled.
A glance over my shoulder showed the man scrambling away from the rapidly rising swamp. Only the water wasn’t flowing down the hill as it should have been. Instead, it hung suspended, defying the laws of physics until my werewolf vision made out the faint outline of deeper darkness around it.
“The demon is the swamp!” Kai said with horror in his voice.
In answer, the creature rose high above us. Eyes surfaced in the murky water and glared down at us with fiery hatred. Massive legs the size of tree trunks made squelching sounds when the demon pulled its claws from the depths. A mouth made of bent reeds and broken branches parted. A gurgling rumble shook the ground beneath my feet.
“I think it knows why we’re here,” Sutter said.
A glance showed the young man on his feet again. Virgo struggled to keep his shield on both Serian and Sutter. The demon let out another roar and more quills flew from its mouth to strike the shield. Virgo’s hands shook with the effort it took to protect them.
“Shoot it!” Fray commanded.
I withdrew my gun as darts flew into the muddy depths that had risen in front of us. I doubted the tiny objects could do much damage to a beast that size. It took a step toward Virgo and the humans.
“Riot, break out the big guns,” Fray barked.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the man withdraw the gun he had strapped to the back of his vest. He shoved two tranquilizer darts the size of grenades into the barrel and took aim. One and then the other struck the demon’s back with deep thunks. It reared into the air with a gurgle of protest.
“Now we’ve done it,” Kai said.
The demon swept a massive set of claws toward Virgo.
Leave me alone, he rumbled in my head.
Shock swept over me as his deep tones grated through my mind. It might not have hurt as badly as the Master’s voice, but it made me nauseous to have another voice in my head. I let out a growl and shot it close to where Riot’s darts had hit.
The creature ignored the tiny darts. Its claws crashed through Virgo’s shield and wrapped around Sutter. The human gave a cry of pain as he was lifted into the air.
“Let him go!” Fray yelled. “Riot, now!”
Two more massive tranquilizer darts hit the demon. This time, he lurched forward toward the bank.
“Give me peace,” he demanded in a bellow.
“You killed people,” Fray replied with her gun aimed up at him. “You aren’t supposed to be here. You’re not of this realm!”
“I own all realms,” the borgun replied. Mud flew like spittle from his mouth and landed around the dhampir.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said. She lifted her voice. “Riot, again!”
This time when the tranquilizers struck, the demon lurched forward. His claws opened and Sutter flew into the trunk of a tree before hitting the ground with a moan.
“Bind it,” Fray said.
Serian, Riot, and Kai pulled long white cords from their packs. Serian climbed up the monster’s back as though she ascended swamp demons all the time. The borgun tried to shake her off, but the human proved as stubborn as a flea in a wolf’s hide and refused to be dislodged.
“Tie it,” Fray ordered.
“Catch the end,” Riot shouted to Virgo.
The warlock snatched the white cord out of the air and helped the human lash it around the demon’s front leg. They looped both ends around a tree trunk for leverage.
“Pull!” Riot said.
I grabbed the rope with Virgo and we heaved as hard as we could. The demon teetered, then fell to its side with a massive shudder.
No, he moaned in my mind.
“More cord,” Fray said. “Kai, check that tail. We don’t need one tearing free like the zapiro last year. That was a mess.”
“Will do,” Kai replied.
Don’t let them take me, the demon said.
I found myself looking up into one half-shut eye. It was clear he wouldn’t be able to fight the effects of the tranquilizers much longer.
“You hurt humans,” I said quietly so nobody else could hear. “You deserve
this.”
Not the lab. Nobody deserves that.
That caught my attention. “Lab?”
Experiments, pain, suffering, for as long as they can keep us alive, the demon replied in a slurred line of thought. Why else do you think we hide?
I looked from where Virgo was helping Kai wrap cords more tightly around the demon’s legs to Fray as she knelt over Sutter, checking his wounds.
“What do you expect me to do?” I whispered. “I can’t let you go. You’ve killed people. You deserve this.”
Death. I deserve death. Nobody deserves the lab. Please.
He was a demon. He had killed humans. He deserved whatever punishment those who brought him in would mete out.
Unable to move. Electric shock. Poison. Close to death and then brought back to the brink again.
A memory that wasn’t my own pushed into my mind. A huge dark room filled with electricity and cloaked in the heavy scent of fear overtook my thoughts. The sounds of other demons shouting, of creatures I had never seen before calling out for help or relief nearly overwhelmed me. It vanished again as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me breathless and shaking.
The wolf inside of me bristled against such a life. The thought of being caged, bound, and tortured set my teeth on edge.
“You’ve been there before,” I said.
I escaped and tried to be good, but I can’t help my nature, the demon replied. I am a killer. It’s all that I am.
“They deserve justice for what you did to them,” I said. My words tasted hollow as though I was speaking my own judgement.
Kill me, the borgun said again. I ask a small mercy, that is all. Death instead of infinite captivity and pain.
I lifted my gun.
“Zev, what are you doing?” Fray demanded from Sutter’s side a few feet away. “It’s ready to go! Daskin’s on his way.”