He scanned the wad with his eyes and within seconds he tossed it back to her. “I don’t need your money.”
“Of course. Looking at the attendance, you probably have more than you can spend.” She nodded in the direction of the dance floor.
“Business has been booming since a majority of Deamhan left the city,” Lambert replied back. “I guess you of all people should know that.”
“But we smell so much better.” Remy lowered himself into the plush seats of the couch. “I thought vamps had that sense of smell thing?” Remy smoothed his hand along the back of its surface.
“We all have different qualities, Remy. Just like your kind.”
“Oh, so like how your kind need an invitation to enter a human’s home when my kind can, you know, just walk right in.” Remy placed his hands on the back of his head in a triumphant pose.
“Or how we vampires can sire a human overnight when it takes a few days for your kind to sire a human?” Lambert replied back. “And let’s not talk about Deamhan feeding habits being so difficult.”
“What can I say? We are a complicated but superb species.”
“Would you also include the fact that we can control our humans with thoughts alone?”
“At least we can read their thoughts,” Remy added.
Tired of their antics, Anastasia groaned. “Stop.” She folded her arms across her chest. Lambert squinted his eyes at her and Anastasia knew he had the perfect lie to say to her. She couldn’t read his rolling thoughts but she was good at reading his body language. He loved rubbing in the fact that vampires now outnumbered Deamhan in the city.
“So, how can I help you, Anastasia?” Lambert’s comment didn’t change her stance. She remained still and erect. He sighed. “It’s been rather peaceful since the Decretum was ordered.” He leaned back in his chair. “Thanks to you and Selene and Lucius. So what would you like in return?”
His sarcastic tone annoyed her, but he spoke the truth...somewhat. Selene ordered the Decretum against Kei. Anastasia wanted to but she wasn’t an Ancient Deamhan. However, she did most of the cleanup and ever since then the sanctuary fires in the city came to a halt. “You knew this would happen,” Anastasia said.
“Of course. I planned on it.” Lambert clasped his hands together. “I was there at Kei’s Gathering when Selene ordered it, Anastasia, or did you forget?”
“I remember.”
“And you got Lucius back from Limbo. Like you all wanted.” Lambert scrunched his eyebrows. “But you’re not here to talk about that, are you?”
“No,” Remy spoke up. “She’s not here for anything. I’m here to talk all things Kei.”
“Just because I don’t mind catering to the Deamhan doesn’t mean that I know everything that goes on in the Deamhan world,” he replied. “Why should I even care about that imbecile,” he stood up from his swivel chair and held out his arms, “when this is all I care about?”
“Because you take the time to know everything about us,” Anastasia answered. “That’s what you do.”
“Oh and you did allow Deamhan to hunt right here under this very roof,” Remy added jokingly. “And you knew that Lucius didn’t like that.”
Hunting under the roof of Dark Sepulcher had its perks. Humans by the hundreds flocked to the venue, lured by advertisements for cheap liquor and scantily dressed girls, packaged all together to make the club sound alluring. There wasn’t any need to hunt in the open, fearing that a human would see them. Dark Sepulcher became the natural aphrodisiac environment for Deamhan.
“Allowing your kind to hunt here, contained, meant that I didn’t have to worry about the humans finding out about us. It kept your kind happy. It now keeps your kind happy... that is, whatever Deamhan are left remaining in Minneapolis. We vampires have no competition in choosing our food; be it here or out there.” Lambert took off his jacket, revealing his pale, masculine arms.
Anastasia relaxed her arms. What he said was true. Hunting in the venue curbed the necessity of her kind to dispose of the human remains. It kept Deamhan content. Dark Sepulcher provided everything a Deamhan needed to survive.
“But as you can see,” Lambert continued, “there are no Deamhan here tonight. The majority of them are either hiding or left the city. Or maybe they’re in their sanctuaries, hiding from Lucius and Selene.”
“The problem with that theory, Lambert, is that if humans find out about us, they will eventually find out about vampires as well.” Remy smiled. “And when we can’t hunt them, who do you think we’ll come after next?” He leaned in closer. “Deamhan love the taste of vampire just as much as the taste of human.”
“Is that what you two came here for?” Lambert asked. “To threaten me?” He tilted his head slightly. “No offense but I’m delighted your kind are few and far between. Attendance is up in Dark Sepulcher. My vamps are happy.” He paused. “But you, Anastasia. You are now walking a thin line.”
Anastasia remained quiet.
“You and Lucius and Selene,” Lambert continued. “If I were you, I’d rethink my association with them before it’s too late.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“But it is.” Lambert shook his head. “Do you know that Selene and Lucius have been back in Minneapolis for a few weeks? Oh, Selene went to the local Brotherhood Chapter a few days ago. How about Lucius who came here just last week and slaughtered some Deamhan on the dance floor in front of my human and vampire patrons?” His eyes widened. “Should I go on?”
For the first time since she could remember, Anastasia felt defeated. Never would she allow any Deamhan or vampire to speak to her the way Lambert did. If she had the strength she would’ve attacked him, tearing him into shreds. But he had no reason to lie to her. If Lucius and Selene had come back to the city, why didn’t they tell her? She had no clue what to do next. She started to doubt what she’d accomplished in the first place by going from sanctuary to sanctuary killing any Deamhan that supported Kei and his betrayal in the first place. She once respected The Dictum, the rules of the Deamhan, but now she broke them on a daily basis. Again she couldn’t help thinking that Remy was right. She was not the same Anastasia of the past.
“Oh, your mind is racing.” Now in tuned with Anastasia, Remy tilted his body toward her. “Continue.”
She snapped from her doubtful thoughts and her eyes darted over to Remy who giggled slightly.
“Boy, would I love to know what she’s thinking right now,” Lambert added.
The sound of the door opening interrupted their conversation. Alexis walked in, dragging a male human victim slightly behind her with a leash. His hands were chained together and his mouth was gagged. Tiny fragments of concrete littered his greasy brown hair and dried blood plastered his scuffed dirty jean shorts.
Alexis rejoiced, seeing Remy’s flabbergasted stare. “We’re out of women.” She pushed the tired male toward Remy. “But he’s the next best thing.” She placed the leash on Remy’s lap. The intense smell of the human’s repugnant body odor engulfed the room, making Remy cover his nose.
“I might have to skip out if this human is all I have to choose from,” Remy joked at the victim’s appearance. The human collapsed to the floor at Remy’s feet.
“Never mind that.” Lambert pointed to the victim. “Food is food.” He turned his attention back to Anastasia. “Would you like a bite?”
“She eats squirrel now,” Remy joked.
Lambert chuckled. “Perhaps I can find her a few out back. Or maybe that rat that none of my human workers can catch who raids the garbage in the alleyway.”
Alexis chimed in. “Squirrel is low on the food pole, Anastasia. Even for you.”
She ignored their comments. “Do you know where Lucius and Selene are now?”
“Maybe.” Lambert shrugged. “But I would be careful. There was something different about them, if I remember correctly.” His eyes widened. “Lucius acted a little strange when he was here. He smelled different.”
&nbs
p; Remy lightly kicked at the human, trying to get it away from him. His body tumbled forward but then rolled back onto Remy’s leg. He looked up, his eyes widened and the size of golf balls. “Don’t you get them alive and clean anymore?”
“They expire so quickly.” He shook his head. “It takes work to keep them alive.” The human moaned in pain. Remy moved his legs onto the couch, avoiding the human like the bubonic plague.
“Smelled different?” Anastasia’s curiosity grew.
“Lucius smelled...older,” Lambert spoke slowly. “It was odd to me. But I know it wasn’t his usual scent.”
“Lucius was also very commanding.” Alexis picked up on the conversation. She slowly lowered herself into Lambert’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the forehead. He returned her affection by kissing her gently on her cheek.
Anastasia sucked in her lips, watching their copulation reaching a level that she didn’t want to be around to see.
“And Kei?” Remy asked.
“Why do you want to look for him?”
“I just want to have a conversation with him, Deamhan to Deamhan.”
“Well Kei, I’m not sure. But Selene; last time I heard she was going to some rat hole on Industrial Boulevard and Broadway,” Lambert answered. Alexis began to lick the side of his face. “An old truck gas station with a brick building in back. Used to belong to the city of Minneapolis but it was abandoned years ago.” He placed his arm around Alexis’ waist and grinned, exposing his white lucent fangs. “That was a few days ago.”
Anastasia stood up. She turned to walk away before Lambert stopped her.
“Oh, one more thing before I forget. Word on the street is that something huge is happening in the Deamhan world and Selene and Lucius are behind it. If I were you Anastasia, I’d watch my back.”
She scrunched her eyebrows. “I’m not afraid of anyone.” She looked over to Remy who was still mesmerized by the besmirched human victim.
He looked up at her. “Have fun without me.” With his foot he forced the male onto his back. The victim let out a small whimper. “I’m going to snack.”
She opened the door and without looking back, she quickly headed down the stairs. The music thwacked her ears along with the opened thoughts of the humans she passed standing on the stairs. When she reached the lower level she felt a gnawing stare tickling her back. She looked over her shoulder, observing two men and a woman staring back at her. Their vampire scents filtered through her nostrils.
She strolled through the crowd and toward the front door. On her right she felt the cold hard stares coming from a group of male vampires, watching her every move. On her left she sensed a young vampire, newly embraced, who took a delighted refuge in watching the other vampires who watched her.
She pushed the front doors opened and they swung violently back, knocking against the outside walls. Without thought she walked around the building, away from the line of humans, and she placed her hands in her pocket.
Anastasia felt her muscles relax and she took off in Deamhan speed. The stares of vampires inside Dark Sepulcher still nagged her and thinking about how Selene and Lucius came back to Minneapolis without telling her delved deep into her skin. She followed Lucius’ commands and now she grew tired of being his Deamhan minion. She wanted to know what was going on. She also had to be careful and play it safe. The Deamhan leaving the city created a void, now teeming with vampires and other little uglies.
This path she made for herself proved to be dangerous. First she had to find Selene and Lucius. Then she would go after anyone in Minneapolis who threatened to kill her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Broadway Avenue ran from east to west and Industrial Boulevard ran north to south. Just blocks before the intersection, Anastasia noticed a group of rowdy teenagers walking down the uninhabited street. Just like Lambert said, abandoned buildings with boarded windows and empty parking lots surrounded the area. A used-truck shop sat vacant on the corner. A vibrant neon sign that read ‘Used Trucks Sold Here’ illuminated the street corner in sporadic light.
The smooth spring breeze brushed against Anastasia’s arms, slightly lifting her dark hair back and forth. In the distance she heard the sound of cars cruising down the freeway and a train blowing its stacks. The noise proved to be a slight distraction but she concentrated on the shadowy figures on the opposite side of the street, headed in her direction.
The group of teens crossed the street, unaware of Anastasia’s presence. She didn’t try to hide it. They weren’t on her ‘things to kill tonight’ list. Instead she stepped on a broken piece of the glass and it shattered underneath her feet. Two males and a female quickly glanced up at her and slowed their pace.
Anastasia stared straight ahead. Their strong scents, mixed with an odor of marijuana and beer, were seeping from their pores. One of them (the taller male with dyed red hair) inhaled his cigarette. His tenacious scent intrigued Anastasia. For once in a long time, she actually thought about interrupting her mission with a late night snack, but she quickly remembered her promise to herself. She wasn’t going to kill any more innocents unless they gave her a reason to.
The teen tilted his head back and blew the smoke smoothly from his lips. “Hey.” His tongue glazed over his bottom lip. His eyes scanned her from head to toe. It was her black jeans and her tight-fitted shirt that caught his attention. “What’s up, shorty?”
Shorty? Slang speech racked her nerves. The teenagers of this century, especially this decade, lived unhealthy lives. They filled their minds with thoughts of sex, money, and power.
The human teen lusted after her. She didn’t think of herself as attractive, even during her human years. Those days and those memories blurred together thanks to her long existence. Yet she remembered small fractured details of her human family and the night she found herself in the unsteadied world of the Deamhan.
Anastasia turned her attention back to the task at hand.
She didn’t respond to the teen. She continued forward, staring at the houses ahead. Nowhere did she see an old truck gas station and nowhere did she see a brick building that Lambert spoke about.
“If you’re going to the party, it’s too late,” the shorter teen said.
Anastasia stopped quickly and looked over her right shoulder. The female leaned on the other chubby male for support. She sensed her intoxicated state.
“Some chick came in and busted it; told us to go.” The tall teen inhaled again. “They threw everyone out. They even told us to take the kegs. What the fuck is that shit?”
“Where?” she asked sternly, knowing they could’ve been talking about the place she searched for.
“Around the corner,” the shorter teen answered. “No reason to go now. The party’s a waste.”
A waste for them could turn into a godsend for her. The location they referred to could be the exact location of where she needed to go. The short male gripped the female by the waist and she pushed him away. She curled her lips as if he had somehow disgusted her by his forceful grip. He ignored her gesture and played it off by repositioning his stance. He stood up straight with his shoulders back and chest protruding.
His thoughts ran freely, making it extremely easy for Anastasia to pick up on. The youngest of these delinquents posed as the tough one of the bunch even though he lacked the courage to take risks. He feared treading in dark places, he slept with his lights on, and he always exaggerated the truth when he told his friends about his fake run-ins with the police. He feared pain and strong women. He pictured Anastasia with him in the backseat of his two door shit of a vehicle with her head immersed in his crotch.
She continued forward and she turned the corner. The darkness of the street fooled her vision for a short moment, making distance seem farther than normal. She crossed a defunct railroad track, sunken deep into the asphalt of the street. She finally saw the old gas station and the boarded up brick building surrounded by a chain link fence. Her eyes picked up on a gaping hole, la
rge enough for an adult to fit through near its edge. She crouched and walked through it. She looked up, seeing a large rusted water tower positioned on the roof. She stepped over shards of broken bottles and large pieces of wood. An abandoned Ford truck sat motionless with all four wheels completely deflated and its doors’ windows completely shattered. A female’s raucous laughter traveled in the air.
Anastasia quietly lowered herself behind the front of the truck, watching another group of teens walk through the hole in the chain link fence and down the street. When the scent of humans dissipated she continued forward, keeping her eyes and ears open.
She didn’t know what to expect. The large building was unlike any sanctuary she ever visited in Minneapolis. She didn’t understand why Selene would come here. Maybe she still hunted Kei and she was the woman the teens spoke about earlier? She looked up at the only window on the third floor that wasn’t boarded. The light flickered, possibly a candle and a shadow moved across the wall. Someone was still there.
A loose board that creaked as it swung back and forth in the wind covered the entrance to the building. She walked in, stepping on a dirty blanket. The smell of rotten wood mixed with ammonia from dog urine swirled in her nostrils. The walls were stained yellow and black from years of accumulated dust and filth.
While Anastasia kept her hearing sharp, the smell she now encountered became commingled. The distinct smells of Deamhan, especially Metusba, Lamia, and Lugat were apparent however the smell of any Ramanga besides herself didn’t exist. She walked up the stairs and slid her hand up the railing, reaching the third floor. The tiny sharp ends of her fangs rested on her lower lip and her eyes slowly filled with the darkness that made her Ramanga. Her body became rigid. If she was going to move she needed to move now.
In Deamhan speed she jumped forward, spanning a non-human distance. She landed silently in a crouched position with her nails gripping the boards in the floor. Her skin tingled to the slight touch of air around her. Her mind became blank and she became alert, ready for the kill. It didn’t matter if her life ended that moment. The lure of virulent behavior that made her Ramanga now consumed her.
Deamhan Chronicles, Books 1-5: Deamhan, Kei. Family Matters, Dark Curse, Maris. The Brotherhood Files, Ayden. Deamhan Minion Page 37