But I am her daughter. Half of what makes me me comes from her.
I let my Light out through the room in a gentle rush of brilliance, fingertips of bright white reaching for every corner, every crevice, every shadowed hiding hole. Light swelled up inside me, swirled around the rafters on the ceiling, and then streaked under doors and into the back room.
Yes. There. Darkness. I couldn’t see it, not like my mother does. But I could touch it with my Light.
Frank blinked. It was a skill not many knew I possessed.
Two birds. One stone.
My eyes held the sparkling hazel of the ghoul’s across from me.
“Who is he?” I mouthed. The Darkness was in a back room and if watching through the closed circuit cameras Frank used, he’d see my lips move. I wasn’t hiding a thing. But speaking loudly seemed to invite danger.
More danger. The Darkness pulsed beneath my Light. Danced with it. Tangled with it. Called to it.
Half of what makes me me comes from my father. He may not be all Dark, but he is vampyre.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Frank said deliberately.
“Not good enough,” I whispered back. We’d established an info exchange. Even if we hadn’t been trading. I’d just given him a doozy. He knew it. And I knew it. He had to pay.
He shook his head, ever so slightly. Regret marring his impassive features briefly. It might have been missed on the video feed.
“Run, Ellie,” he whispered in return. “Run and don’t stop until you reach your father.”
My Svante was in my palm in the next instant. That gut churning feeling moving my hands, shifting my body, lining me up to take the oncoming attack face to face.
A dark blur sped through the room. My sword came down; swiped at nothing. A streak of blood swelled up along a fine cut on the side of my neck.
I spun around to face the coming threat, my body on instinct, the ribbons inside my stomach twisting into gnarled knots. I breathed through my mouth; punching air as though I’d run a marathon. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, making my vision sharpen and my ears tingle.
A soft breath along the back of my neck. My elbow connected with something solid. But by the time I’d turned my head, my body swinging ‘round just as swiftly, whatever had been there had moved on.
A tear ripped through the leather of my sleeve. The sound of fabric shredding filling the hushed quiet of the room. My Sigillum blazed brightly through the gap; mint green, lime, sage.
I was scared.
This was no ordinary vampire. This was no simple master.
Two level one Sanguis Vitam vampires in Auckland City and my father wasn’t watching them?
I lowered my sword, tip to the floor, shoulders relaxed, both hands calmly fisted around the hilt. My chest rose and fell. My senses heightened. Those fucking ribbons danced and swirled inside like demented branches of a twisted tree.
Frank had disappeared. At a guess, all of the ghouls had. It was just me and a shadow, and my gut screaming at me to move, to run, to do what Frank had warned me to do. Anything but stand there and wait to be dinner.
Neither of us moved. A slick oily sensation washed through me, intimately related to those twisted ribbons deep down inside. This vampire was Dark personified. There was nothing here of Light.
My hands were full. Replacing my sword in its sheath could be the last thing I did before I died. But the need to palm a stake was excruciating. Nosferatin Pull finally springing to life.
This is what I was born to do. Stake evil, rogue vampires. If this vamp had been long in Auckland, it hadn’t yet hunted. But it hunted me tonight. I might not be a Norm, but part of me, a very small part, is still human.
The Pull recognised an innocent about to be drained dry.
It was almost enough to make you laugh. I even huffed out an incredulous breath of air.
I was far from innocent.
And then the reality of the situation came to me.
My mother would have sensed the Pull too, and would be making her way here right now.
I couldn’t let her walk in on this. She could handle it, I was sure. But finding me at Frank’s would raise questions I wasn’t prepared to answer. Even to my mother.
Mama could keep a secret. But she also could see through me in the blink of an eye.
Something had changed this morning. Something in me, something connected to the ribbons inside.
Something connected to my Nosferatin maturity.
Mama could see many things. And what she couldn’t she’d just ask her best friend to see in my aura instead. My Aunt Amisi was too damn perceptive by far. The last thing I needed was for the Egyptian Nosferatin to come and visit.
Auckland was already too full as it was.
The shadow finally moved. Temptation had caught many an impatient vampire. I couldn’t see his human form, just that which made him vampyre. Sometimes when my father moves, and I’m looking from the corner of my eye, I see his dragon. Beautiful, majestic, frightening. Green scales and leathery wings, breaths of pure fire.
It wasn’t a talent. I’d had it since I was a small child. I could see the vampire-within, but only when I wasn’t trying.
I’d taught myself to control it. I’d taught myself to calm enough so my body relaxed and my mind floated. It wasn’t easy. Especially when facing a very determined, very fast, very Dark vampire like the one I faced right now. But he was keeping to the shadows. He was hiding in plain sight. I had nothing to go on.
And to blast a vampire with my Light, I needed to see it.
I half closed my eyes, let his shape take form.
Bear. Black. Drooling. Insane with hunger and something else. Something red and pulsing, something attached to its hide as though a parasite.
I almost felt sorry for the beast, and then I slammed it in the centre of its chest with my Light.
I staggered to one knee, a gasp escaping. My grip on my Svante loosened, making me damn near drop the sword at my side. I sucked in lungfuls of air, shook the haziness from my vision, and concentrated on the vampire standing before. Transparent and extremely riled.
“Who are you?” I rasped, the effort required to contain him in a Dream Walking state almost too much after having just done the same with Alain. Mere hours apart, and with little sleep between them.
How could I have slept after what had transpired?
Alain had been the least of my daytime worries, but he had found a way to come back and haunt me now.
The vampire growled, red glow from his eyes as Sanguis Vitam attempted to break my hold over him. He was strong. Stronger than many I had faced recently. He didn’t look like he should be strong. He looked demented. Deranged. Half dead already.
Shame there was something off about him. Maybe he would have made a good match in an arena.
But we weren’t in an arena now.
Guts and Glory was still deserted. The smell of beer overridden now with the scent of ozone.
Fey.
Oh, fuck no.
I stumbled to my feet, sword swinging wildly in front of me, as the vampire raged against his invisible cage and the Dream Walk took every ounce of strength out of me.
I staggered, blinking spots away from my eyes. Where was that smell coming from?
The enraged vampire swung himself against the binds that held him, each thud of his big body felt like a blow inside my head. I couldn’t concentrate. Bile rose up my throat. My legs began cramping. My knuckles turned white with the effort it took to hold the Svante aloft.
“Who are you?” I yelled at the hazy image of the vampire.
It snarled and snapped elongated fangs wildly. Unable to reach me. Unable to breach the gap the Dream Walk provided. I couldn’t keep this up much longer, but staking him would mean his death. His final death. I wouldn’t be able to tailor my strike effectively. This depleted of strength, this close to collapsing, I would have only one hope of survival.
Kill or be killed.
/> But a vampire controlling the ghouls. This was not something to be taken lightly. The ghouls in Auckland were under protection of the Master of the City. Something my father had established when he had been the Master of the City… way back then.
Auckland might house the Iunctio now, but it still had a Master of the City like any other vampire metropolis.
Jett would not appreciate a ghoul being influenced. Not that Frank had appeared completely controlled; he’d still managed to warn me, in his own warped way.
But he’d been afraid of this vampire, enough to leave me to my fate.
Not much scared a ghoul like Frank. I had to find out what I could before I took this vampire’s life.
“Last chance,” I growled between clenched teeth. “Who the fuck are you?”
Red eyes stared at me. No sentience behind them at all. No recognition of who or what I was. Just the twitch of his nose to let me know he was still smelling my blood where he had spilled it. The scratch had already healed. The blood no longer fresh.
Tell that to the demonic vampire.
“Goddess damn it!” I muttered, sheathing my sword - taking two efforts to achieve it - and reaching for a stake at my side.
I stepped forward, the Dream Walk realm the vampire existed in pressing against me. I could cross it. But then he would be able to reach for me, and getting back after I staked him required my mother.
I can send them there, I can accompany them, I just can’t do any of it by myself.
“Who are you, vampire?” I asked, layering the question in more precious Light. It damn near killed me.
The vampire snarled.
Then leaped.
And as I raised my stake, I let the Dream Walk dissolve around it.
Sounds became indistinct. The slavering of the vampire seemed too loud. And yet I couldn’t hear the snapping of its teeth millimetres away from my cheek. Drool and blood - my blood, I hazily realised - dripped off two sharp fangs. It licked its lips, raised its head to the empty room, and howled.
Taniwhas howl. Not vampires.
A shudder raced through me. The stake met its chest.
And as its jaw unhinged and wrapped around my throat, I felt the Darkness leave him.
The weight of a dead body fell against me, and then a split second later turned to dust.
I lay there, panting and choking on vampire residue, feeling the partial fang marks in my neck start to itch as they healed. Sweat coated my skin, the cold, clammy kind that leaves you shivering. A sickness invaded my body, forcing shattered breaths from deep down inside. The need to vomit overwhelmed me. The ribbons began to unfurl, slowly. Still too tangled to completely let go of the fear and dread they’d brought this time.
Some talent. It told me the obvious. Dark vampire equals fight or flight.
I’m a Nosferatin. I don’t run.
I made a sound as I rolled over onto my stomach, a blood stained stake in one hand, the other fisted as I tried to rise. My body gave out and I face planted.
“Get up,” I growled to myself. “Get up, now!”
Ghouls could be returning. My mother would be here any second. That vampire was not alone.
All breath left me. I had no idea where that thought had come from, but the ribbons agreed.
That was not the last demonic vampire I’d be facing.
“Get up,” I growled, pulling myself to my feet.
I swayed. The room spun. Lights from the still playing TV flashed before my eyes.
I took a step toward the front door, and then thought better of it. Mama would storm through there.
I turned around, lost my balance and fell face first into a broad chest.
“If you wish to avoid your mother,” Ediz said calmly. “Then best you move now, Nosferatin.”
Relief washed through me. Not my mother. Not my mother. So that might be why I let him help me, wrap a strong shifter arm around my waist and guide me through the back doors of the bar.
“How’s your master?” I asked, my words slurring.
Strangely the ribbons didn’t seem to mind, even though I knew I should have been alarmed. Spots of bright light and dark dots flickered before my eyes. Not good.
Ediz growled, the noise reverberating around the small hallway we were in and then tapering off to a hiss at the end.
I smiled. Gotta get your kicks where you can.
And then my mother said, from just behind us, “Take one step further with my daughter… and I will kill you.”
Ah, Goddess damn it.
8
Motherfucker!
“What the hell were you thinking?” my mother hissed at me, her eyes target locked on the shifter.
Ediz leaned back against the far wall of the Guts & Glory sports bar, fishing a toothpick out of his pocket and cleaning between his teeth as though bored. His canines were long. The toothpick almost disappeared behind them.
I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. My head hurt. My body hurt. My fucking little pinkie hurt. I was just one big ball of hurt.
And I was tired.
Facing off against my mother was a challenge at the best of times; she was one switched on lady. But when she was pissed at me, it required a certain level of deviousness I simply did not possess right at this minute.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead.
“Luc’s missing.” Somehow it felt better sharing it.
My eyes locked on those of Ediz’s. I could drop him in it. I could tell my mother that he was connected to the vampire who held my brother, her son. He wouldn’t stand a chance against the Prophesied. I could do it. I should do it.
He held my gaze and waited patiently for me to make up my mind.
“We know,” my mother said softly. It didn’t surprise me. Not really. How could they not have known? Papa was the Champion and Alain was his spy master.
Alain who had agreed to join with me because of my dad.
Alain who had been trying to locate Luc as long as I had.
They probably knew about Hakan Bahar, as well.
“What I want to know,” my mother continued, “is why you’re staking rogue vampires in a ghoul bar and the ghouls have fled.”
Cutting right to the chase, that’s my mother.
“There was something wrong with that vampire,” I admitted, feeling like a little girl again, replaying the many, many, many times I’d had to justify my actions to my mother inside my head.
She’d taken my training seriously. Luc had been Papa’s to guide. I had been Mama’s. Mama could be a tough teacher when she tried.
My mother flicked concerned eyes to my face and then returned her attention to the shifter. Now was not the time to have heart to hearts about feelings. I was sure she was watching me for clues as to what talents I’d manifested. Any statement I made now was far from simple in her eyes.
I heaved another sigh.
“And this shifter?” Mama enquired.
I looked at Ediz again; he’d stopped cleaning his teeth and sat quietly. Almost as though he’d let me drop him in it without offering any opposition at all. I wondered briefly why he was even here. I wondered why Hakan had sent him.
“He was helping me.” The words were out before I could second guess them. Those ribbons now twisting in an anticipatory form of delight. Thoughts of Hakan Bahar were messing with my mojo.
“OK,” Mama said with a nod, accepting my explanation. The relief I felt was astounding. “Thank you for your assistance,” she said, addressing Ediz. “You may go.” Dismissal from an Iunctio councillor was not something you could argue with.
Ediz bowed, did that fancy hand flourish thing again, and then started for the front door. He stopped midway, his green eyes landing on me. Reaching inside his jacket he pulled out a cloth wrapped object, and held it out in the palm of his hand.
I reached forward, my eyes on his impassive face, and lifted it up. A silver tip flashed in the dim light. My stake. The one I had used to incapacitate Hakan.
The
air rushed out of me and those blasted twisted ribbons twirled and danced inside. Half excited. Half appalled. And a whole lot heartbroken. None of it made any sense.
The door swung shut behind the shifter and I just stood there staring at the stake in my hand.
“Yours?” Mama asked. She knew damn well it was. She was giving me space to admit it. I was not the easiest person to get information out of. She’d had to adopt a cunning interrogation style.
I nodded my head slowly.
“And the shifter had it, why?”
My eyes lifted to her face, taking in the worry and concern there. The shadows beneath her dark eyes. She always worried about me. She never stopped. She’d made damn sure I could look after myself, had given me the backing I needed to get out there on my own in the big wide world, and silently bit all her nails to the quick while she watched from the sidelines to see if I’d survive.
Ours was not a safe world to reside in.
But I couldn’t talk about this. Not with her. Not with anyone. Hakan Bahar left me feeling wrong, somehow.
And also left me feeling so very right.
I cleared my throat and pocketed my stake. Then cleaned my hands off on my trousers. Vampire dust floated up on the air all around me. I must have looked a fucking sight.
“I need a shower,” I announced. My mother just smiled.
She knew. She knew me too well. Part of that was because I was just like her. Part of that was simply because I was her child.
“Your father wants a word,” she advised, taking a look around the bar and moving towards the door. I opened my mouth to say Goddess alone knows what, and Mama beat me to it. “I’ll cover for you, Ellie. But he’s not a patient man. Sooner or later he’s going to track you down.”
I let a relieved breath of air out and then sucked it back in again at the realisation of her words. He would track me down. Not Alain. Not one of his vampires. Him.
“How long have I got?” I asked on a dry swallow.
“Twenty-four hours,” she replied, opening the front door of the bar. “And Ellie?” She looked over her shoulder at me, long dark hair hanging straight down her back, form fitting dress hugging an immaculate figure. My mother was a babe. It made me smile.
kindred 08.6 - blood enchanted Page 8