“That's all you get for now.” He walked over to the dining room, flipping on another light switch. “If you can't obey my rules, then you can sit there in pain through the next night. Doesn't matter to me.”
“Getting it straight from the source tastes best,” I replied while glaring at him. “I think you know more than you're leading on. Carol lets you feed from her, doesn't she?”
“She trusts me, unlike you,” he replied. “Like I told you before, Lugat don't have to kill to eat. You kill primarily for the fun of it. I take what I need after she touches it. I'm not affecting her life, or putting her in any danger.” He walked down the hallway, disappearing from my view. Moments later, I heard the sound of a car approaching the house, followed by Carol's scent.
With each passing second, my belly ached. I attempted to pull the wood out, but could feel the small splinters creating smaller wounds in my hands. I couldn't take it anymore.
Carol walked through the door, wiping her soiled hands on her pants. When she saw me, she stood still, shooting me a look of someone who wanted to kill me right then and there. And oh, how I wished she would try.
Nash reappeared, with a black shirt and blue jeans. He set them on a table nearby and turned to Carol. “Did you bury Jack's body where I told you to?”
She nodded, still peering at me. “Next to Bobbi's.”
He approached her. “I'm sorry I dragged you into this.”
“Yeah, well, I'm sorry too.” She kissed him on his cheek. “I just can't wait until he's out of Forsan.”
I cringed at the sight of Nash placing his arms around her. It reminded me too much of Lucius and his female researcher back in Minneapolis. “You're just like my sire,” I said. “Falling in love with a human. How pathetic.”
“Your sire? Yeah, well maybe I am,” he replied. “Maybe we both understand that to survive in this world, we can't go around acting like wild animals. Maybe we both understand the concept of love, unlike you. We've evolved, Kei. You haven't, and I see now that you never will. You'll always be the same Deamhan without any friends if you continue down the same route.”
“I don't care about friends. You should know that by now.”
“Maybe you should start,” Carol spoke up.
“And maybe you should mind your own business, before I go over there and snap your neck.”
“Stop it,” Nash interrupted us.
Carol breathed heavily. “I'm going to take a shower.” She walked down the hall, disappearing from our view.
Nash scrunched his lips. “I'll take the piece of wood out, you'll get dressed, and we'll leave tonight.”
“I need to eat first to travel fast,” I replied. “Or did you forget that too?”
“No, I didn't,” he said. “I'll only take it out after you get dressed and we're far away from here. I don't want you coming back and harming Carol.”
“Oh, so you're still going to help me?” I said, indifferent to his stance.
“Unlike you, I keep my word. I'll go with you and help you, but only into Texas. After that, you're on your own.” He grabbed the clothing and threw it at me.
Rule Nine
Respect your Ancients.
Iheard the bathroom door open and Carol's footsteps sliding along the carpet as she made her way to their bedroom, closing the door behind her. The smell of lavender soap and warm water tingled my insides. “It's retarded for creatures like us to eat animals.” I said as I dressed myself. “Did you think that the more human things you did, the more human you became? Owning a bar? Not killing humans? Being with a human woman?”
“Believe it or not, I love her,” he said while he watched me closely. “Family matters a lot to me. I want to hate you so much, Kei, but I can't. I just can't.”
I straightened the clothing he gave me and held my arms out in the air. “There. Finished. Now take the damn wood out.”
“Okay. Let's get going.” He moved aside as I walked toward the front door. “I'll meet you out there. I have to say goodbye to Carol first.”
I walked outside, pretending not to acknowledge his next movements, even though I kept an ear perked. When I heard him walk down the hall towards the bedroom, I slowly went back into the house and edged my way into the hallway.
I didn't plan on leaving until after I killed her.
I peeked around the corner and saw him with his back facing me, leaning over Carol who sat in an old chair, facing the window. He leaned over, whispering in her ear while she brushed her brown hair. The more I took in her scent, the more I wanted her. Still aching, I knew I could only attack her and fend off Nash for as long as my body held out. I had to make sure my attack was flawless.
But Nash heard me and immediately whisked around. “Kei, don't do this.” He approached me and gripped me by the arm. Carol turned around with her eyes widened.
Being older and still much quicker, I used what strength I had left and I pushed him hard enough that he fell on the floor, crashing onto his back. I ran over him, rushing at Carol in Deamhan speed. I didn't give her a chance to stand and defend herself. Grabbing her by the neck, I raised her slightly off the ground. She slapped at my forearms, then reached down, trying to grab the wood from my stomach. I squeezed a little more and her gurgling sounded like water bubbles exploding in her mouth. I felt Nash wrapping his arms around my waist.
“I'll break her neck before you stake me,” I said to him. “Wood or not.”
He dropped his arms. “Kei, please,” he begged.
“Convince me I shouldn't,” I said to him.
“I love her, Kei. I can't live without her.”
Hearing the emotion in his voice disgusted me.
“She's the reason that I haven't turned into a psychopath like you,” he continued. “If you kill her, you'll become the devil in human flesh to me. I will hunt you down like the evil spirit you truly are.”
He was starting to sound like a Deamhan should. Hearing his change of heart and threat, I couldn't help but laugh. “Enough of your religious superstitions. I don't believe in any of that crap.”
“When the vampires came for you, they threatened to kill me if I didn't tell them where you ran off to. But you know what? I didn't tell them anything. I knew you used me as a diversionary scapegoat, but I still defended you with my life!”
“You're not convincing me, Nash,” I said.
“I'll do anything you want” He marched around to face me. “Just please, don't hurt her.”
“I won't if you take the piece of wood out.”
He paused and his eyes moved back and forth from me to Carol.
“Wood or Carol?” I said. “It shouldn't be a hard choice for someone who's in love.”
He grabbed the wood and yanked it out.
I held out my hand. “Give it to me.”
He handed me the wood and I saw the desperation in his eyes before they turned black, a signature Deamhan trait. It would've been easy to kill him right there on the spot, but I needed him; however not like this. Now, fully convinced that Carol was his weak spot, I knew she had to go.
With a flick of my wrist, I snapped her neck.
Instead of lashing out at me, he turned to face her and screamed the loudest scream. He ran around the room in a blur, tossing furniture, and punching holes through the window and the wall. His behavior caught me off guard and I stepped back out of the room, to observe his wild rampage.
After he finished, he dropped to his knees beside her, cradling her body in his arms. Slowly, his eyes looked up at me and I could see, for the first time that he actually wanted to kill me.
“Are you done now?” I glared at him. He moved quickly toward me, but again, I proved I could win any contest of speed by pinning him against the wall. “I think you're done.” I placed the piece of wood against his chest, right over his heart. “She tasted good. Reminds me of the pomegranates my mother used to pick when I was a child.”
He continued to struggle.
“You know what? I've come to the
conclusion that I don't need you anymore,” I said. “I thought maybe, by having you by my side, I'd stand a chance against Selene and Lucius, but no, you've proven to me that you're incapable.” I felt my eyes turning black, matching his in discoloration. “I could end you here, but that's what you'd want, to pursue your human lover in death.” I lowered the stake to his stomach. “But I don't want you taking the easy way out.” I slowly pushed the piece of wood through his skin. He grunted and squirmed, but I held him still. I felt his blood pouring out of his wound, covering my hand. “I want you to remember the way she looked at you for help, and how you couldn't save her.” I let him go and he fell to the ground.
“Don't try to get up.” I turned to walk out of the room. “I think you should stay here by the body of your dead human lover and marinate a while on that.”
Rule Ten
Follow and respect the rules of The Dictum.
Istood on the porch of his decrepit house, staring at the sky. I had about three hours until sunrise. That was enough to get as far away as possible from this stinking town. It didn't matter if Nash came after me or not. I was done with him and I needed to get back on track.
I stepped off the porch and began walking across the front lawn when I heard the sound of the front door opening.
“I will kill you!” I heard him screaming after me.
I shook my head, surprised that somehow he managed to get enough energy to stand on his feet and pursue me. “Yeah, sure you will.”
“Don't walk away from me!” I heard him shuffling his feet through the grass and I turned around. Blood poured from his mouth, and as he spoke, some of it splattered the air around him. “I trusted you!” I stood still and let him catch up to me.
“Your mistake.” I pushed the stake further into his body and muscled him onto his knees. I punched him as hard as I could across his face. I saw the muscles underneath his skin shifting as his eyes rolled back into his head at my unexpected blow. Now, helplessly on his back, I crouched over him, staring at his bruised and battered body. “If you loved her so much, you should've sired her.”
“I'm not a murderer,” he choked.
“All Deamhan are murderers.” I pressed the wood further down. He looked back up at me with widened eyes and wrapped his hands around the stake, trying to yank it free. “You just don't know it yet.” I increased the pressure, feeling the wood slowly burrowing into his flesh and out through his back, impaling him to the ground. “You'll understand that one day, Nash, and when you do, you'll thank me for it.” Standing back, I marveled at my crude creation of torture.
“Kill me,” he demanded in a grunt and held out his hand to me, like I was supposed to take it.
“Goodbye.” I turned to walk away, but stopped.
A gust of wind slapped me on the back of my neck, followed by cold hands that clasped me by my shoulders. Before I knew it, my body was traveling through the air, and colliding into a nearby tree. The blow stung me and I had no time to react. I was lifted again and felt a forearm wrapping around my throat. I couldn't catch the scent at first, but I knew that whoever it was had to be ten times stronger than I was at that moment. Again, I went flying through the air, landing on the grass just a few feet from Nash. I tried to lift myself up, but felt the tip of a sharp boot connecting with my midsection, and my body flipped upright. That's when it hit me. Selene and Lucius had found me.
I spat the dirt from my mouth. Selene, my sibling, was the only Deamhan who had the nerve to strike me with such force. As I mentioned before, her strength outsized my own, so there wasn't any way I could escape her attack. She stood over me, gazing at me with eyes black as night, before grabbing me by my neck, and lifting me up from the ground. My neck over-extended beyond normal and the pain made me dizzy.
Still, my eyesight was not affected. Dressed in a black cloak with the hood resting on her head, she snarled. Her eyes, filled with anger and rage, narrowed and her bright red-colored hair contrasted against the darkness around us.
She didn't bother hiding her thoughts. In her mind, I betrayed our sire, the one who gave us immortality. According to her, that's the worst thing a Deamhan could do so I didn't deserve to live. She hated me when Lucius sired me and she hated me even more now. Nothing I could do or say would ever change that.
However, deep down, she also feared me, and knew I had people who'd follow me to the death. When I ruled Minneapolis, she didn't make any attempt to come and rescue Lucius. She stood by the sidelines, and threatened me with a Decretum, which, upon consent of the other Ancient Deamhan, decreed that they would overrun the city and dethrone me. All I had left was my willingness to show her that I wasn't just some Deamhan she could manhandle at will. I needed to fight back.
Holding onto her wrist, I began to pry her clammy hands off my throat, digging into her arm. She reacted and snarled. I jerked forward, head-butting her. Quickly, she let me go and I landed onto my feet.
I jumped on her, but she easily threw me off. I tried avoiding her in Deamhan speed, but each time, she blocked my way. At that moment, I smelled another scent, Lucius's scent, floating through the air. He moved in so quickly, I didn't see him coming. I couldn't see anything, but felt the force of his fist on my cheek as my head crashed back into the dirt.
He also didn't bother hiding his thoughts, which were brimming with vexation. Because of me, he became a prisoner in Limbo, banished there to spend eternity among the Pure Ones of our kind. I wanted to see him suffer like I did when he chose the human over me.
I pushed myself up from the dirt and wiped the grains of it from my face. “What are you waiting for?”
I didn't see an ounce of movement from underneath his long, black trenchcoat. His eyes weren't black like a Deamhan in the midst of a fight or feeding, but hazel; like a human’s. Slowly, he walked over to Nash who still remained helplessly impaled on the ground.
“This is your child.” Lucius reached down and grabbed the wood, easily removing it from Nash's stomach. “This is the one you refused to tell me about. The one that I never questioned.”
Surprised, I watched Lucius helping Nash to his feet.
“And you're torturing him?” His eyes scorned me.
I took a defensive stance; my body hunched forward, my arms at my sides, and my eyes locked onto all three of them. “He's not my child,” I replied. “I broke our bond years ago, just like I did with you.”
Lucius asked Nash. “Would you die for your sire?”
I huffed. What kind of question was that?
Nash looked at me briefly before turning back to Lucius. “I wouldn't die for a murderer.”
“But he's your sire?” Lucius questioned.
“He killed my Carol.” Nash shook his head. “Never.”
Selene smacked her lips. “I told you, Lucius. Nothing good would ever come out of Kei's lineage.”
“But he's proof that you're wrong, Selene,” Lucius said. “His thoughts, about his human, aren't hard to miss.” Lucius gazed into his eyes for a few moments. “He would have died for her, like I would have died for Caroline.” He continued to read Nash's thoughts.
“He disobeyed the Dictum rules by helping his sire,” Selene said. “He should die.”
Lucius turned to Selene. “He served his sentence with the death of his human.”
Gripping his stomach, Nash nodded enthusiastically.
“You'll leave Forsan,” he said to Nash. “You will forget everything about Kei.”
Stunned, Nash said nothing. He took a few steps back. I saw dread in his eyes when we made contact and I knew I would never see him again. Whatever else Lucius said or showed to Nash must have scared him enough to leave his land, something he swore he would never do. He turned and took off in Deamhan speed, disappearing from my life forever. Finally, they both turned their attention to me.
“That Deamhan reminds me of your minions,” Selene said with a smirk on her face. “Just like the one who tried to kill Veronica.”
“Which one? I have so m
any,” I joked.
“Not anymore,” she replied in a cool voice. “Murphy was the one you considered special and above the rest, right?”
Murphy. The last time I saw him, I sent him after Veronica. I knew he failed when she showed up at my Gathering, but I never knew what happened to him.
Lucius started walking toward me and I watched his feet as they seemed to slide along the ground. “She told me you would come back here.”
She? I had no idea whom he referenced.
“You're an animal with familiar habits, Kei.”
“I can't say the same about you,” I said.
“I would have forgiven you.”
“Forgiven me?” I laughed at the thought. “Your stint in Limbo didn't change you one bit, did it? You're still the sissy type who believes that Deamhan can live among humans. You're the one who fell in love with that woman, choosing her over your own kind. Because of your poor choice, I had to step up and run things. I had to watch out for all Deamhan in the city!”
“Emotions are something that Deamhan have struggled with since the Pure Ones walked the earth,” he said. “We think that once we're turned, we have the right to abandon our humanity because we're no longer human.”
“Damn right.” I spat on the ground.
“But as you can see, we can still love,” he said. “We can hate. We can kill. We can feel pain. We have emotions, Kei. It's our choice whether we ignore them or not.”
“And I choose to ignore them.”
“And that's why you've struggled. I loved you like my own son. I loved you and still, you just couldn't accept that. You had to have more. You couldn't live knowing that I could love someone besides you or Selene.” Lucius lowered his head. “You repaid me by betraying me. You let your jealousy overcome you. If jealousy isn't a human trait, then I don't know what is.”
I expected something harsher, but not a fatherly figure type of spiel from him. But no. Nothing. I also expected Selene to do most of the talking and intimidation. She could never keep her mouth closed when it came to family matters. Instead, she remained quiet as Lucius persisted in his stupid attempt to educate me.
Deamhan Chronicles, Books 1-5: Deamhan, Kei. Family Matters, Dark Curse, Maris. The Brotherhood Files, Ayden. Deamhan Minion Page 29