Deamhan Chronicles, Books 1-5: Deamhan, Kei. Family Matters, Dark Curse, Maris. The Brotherhood Files, Ayden. Deamhan Minion

by Isaiyan Morrison

  “Bring me the girl.” Kyra demanded again.

  Ayden looked to me with widened eyes. “Go, Maris. Don't make her wait.”

  I hurried in their direction, turning the corner, and coming upon them. Nicias and Kyra sat at a small table across from Silvanus. When they noticed that I had walked into the room, they turned to face me. The area filled with an uncanny silence. “I'm Maris,” I said. “I'm the one you're looking for.”

  Their faces showed no emotion, only Silvanus who smiled briefly before saying, “If you haven't noticed. She's a stronger Ramanga now.”

  Kyra turned back to Silvanus. “It still doesn't change the situation.”

  “Oh yes, true. But she now has a chance to protect herself.”

  Nicias stood up from his seat and he approached me. I wanted to step away from him and his Metusba scent, but I held my ground, refusing to show any signs of fear. He placed his hand underneath my chin and raised my head slightly. “She's a frail little thing,” he said, as he moved my head again. “Who would scar such a pretty face?”

  “Dorvo vampires,” Silvanus replied.

  “Oh, those creatures.” He dropped his hand. “So, Kyra, do you plan on doing this now or later?” He looked to her as she got up from her seat.

  “Now.”

  He gently pushed me in her direction. “Good. The sooner the better. I don't want to stay awake any longer.”

  My eyes didn't waver as I spoke to them. Their strength filtering from their bodies should have made me afraid. But I started to think about Finley and my never ending desire to free him from Ethel's clutch. If I was to give these Ancient Deamhan what they wanted, I would need something in return. “Before I do this, I need your word.”

  Nicias tilted his head to the side. “This isn't a bargain, Ramanga.”

  “You want something that I have and I am willing to give it to you,” I said. “But not without something in return.” I pondered and bit my lower lip, forcing myself to say what was on my mind. When I finally admitted that I wanted my Finley returned to me and Ethel to pay for what she did, Nicias looked to Silvanus for an explanation.

  “Finley is her sibling,” he said. “She's bonded to him.”

  “This isn't about a bond,” Nicias replied. “That doesn't concern us.”

  “It does if you want me to submit to you.” I didn't understand why Nicias became hesitant in dealing with Ethel. I didn't fear her and I could tell, from his scent, that he was much older and stronger than she was. I had to stand my ground for Finley and for Jesse, knowing deep down that they had power to force me to obey them. But I swore to myself that I would fight until the bitter end, if it came down to it.

  “Ethel will not die because I won't allow it,” Kyra said.

  I looked to her. “Why? Surely, you're older and stronger than her.”

  “This isn't about age. The choice to kill a very old Deamhan like herself can't be made overnight.” Kyra moved toward me quickly and in a blink of an eye, she rested her hands on the side of my head. “Now hold still. This will be quick and painless.”

  I slipped out of her reach, stepping farther back. “No. I will not let you until I have your word.”

  She dropped her arms. “You don't have a choice.”

  “Then I will fight back until I kill you or you kill me.” I looked to Silvanus, hoping that he would stand alongside me, but his eyes told a different story. He looked shocked and petrified that I had threatened the oldest Ramanga on the face of the planet without so much as a thought. Ayden also carefully stepped forward, frightened that Kyra or Nicias would strike me dead where I stood.

  “Don't test us, young one,” Nicias warned me.

  Eventually Silvanus spoke up to ease the tension. “In The Dictum, it states that once a Decretum is declared, all Deamhan have to obey it. You are one of the authors of our laws, Nicias. You can't say this is not true.”

  “Do not tell me what I already know,” Nicias replied to Silvanus. “Decretums can also be challenged if it's not appropriate, like the one you created against Ethel. This is me challenging it.”

  “How can it not be appropriate? You see the havoc she is creating in the city. Also, The Dictum doesn't say that age permits any Deamhan from ignoring the decree. You are older than Ethel as are you.” Silvanus looked to Kyra. “Yet you both ignore it, knowing that what I did was necessary for our survival.”

  Finally, someone who could explain the situation better than I could! I stood proud that Silvanus took my side. Kyra and Nicias respected him; that I could easily tell. Still Nicias wasn't convinced.

  He laughed. “So you want us to clean up your mess?”

  “Yes. I want you and Kyra to clean up this mess.”

  “Straight to the point. I do like that about you.” Nicias blinked slowly. “But you are also an old Ramanga and considered an Ancient. You can take care of the quandary without our help.”

  Kyra held up her hand, putting a quick end to the conversation. “Give us a moment.”

  Silvanus nodded and he grabbed my wrist before leading me out of the room. We stood in the hallway quietly and waited. My mind filled with millions of questions. Why wouldn't they help us? Were they afraid of Ethel? Silvanus hushed my thoughts by tapping my shoulder.

  “Believe it or not, Kyra and Ethel have been associates for a very long time,” he whispered to me. “It's not easy for her to make this decision.”

  “She won't get anything from me unless she kills Ethel,” I whispered back. “That is the only way.” I left Silvanus and walked down the hall toward a group of Deamhan that had gathered near the front door. I stopped near Ayden who shot me a horrified look. He disagreed with my actions but I didn't care. I didn't want to obey anyone's rules any longer. I missed my free will and my life with Finley and Jesse. Ethel took that away and she had to pay for it. She would pay for it.

  “Maris, where are you going?” Ayden asked me.

  “If they aren't going to help me then I don't belong here.” I turned toward the crowd. “All they want is what's inside my head and my blood. After that, they don't care what happens to you or to me or any Deamhan in the city for that matter.”

  We heard footsteps approaching behind us and I turned to look. Silvanus walked down the hall with Nicias and Kyra following. They stopped just short of the crowd and Kyra eyed us.

  “If that's your wish, Maris,” she said. “I will kill Ethel.”

  “However, we don't share the same concerns you have about Finley.” Nicias looked at me with his eyes staring into my soul. “He is an offspring of Anastasia, like yourself. However unlike you, he is tainted and needs to be put down like the animal your sire is.”

  “Finley is part of the deal.” I walked over to them. “As long as he remains unharmed, I will submit to you both.”

  Nicias folded his arms and his eyes danced at Silvanus. “From what Silvanus has told us about the past activities of both your sire and Finley, I'm astonished that you would want to save him.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Survival

  I didn't expect Kyra or Nicias to stick to their word. After all, I had learned by that time to not trust a Deamhan, especially any older than myself. Still, Silvanus told me that Kyra kept her promises and if she said she would do something; she would follow through. But Nicias...well, he was a character all of his own.

  Nicias didn't like Anastasia, but who did? In fact he loathed her and any Deamhan she sired. His reason for hating her wasn’t crystal clear, but I didn't expect a full explanation. Like many Deamhan, he had his own grudge against her and I wondered if it had anything to do with Ayden. They were both Metusba Deamhan. The only Deamhan in my sire's bloodline that he partially enjoyed was Kyra but only because she was his elder.

  After the meeting, Nicias and Kyra left the sanctuary to go God-knows-where, taking Silvanus with them. I remained in my room, thinking about what to do just in case Kyra didn't kill Ethel. I decided that whatever happened, I would find Finley and we would final
ly leave Chicago.

  A few days passed until they returned. In that time, rumors began to spread among the Deamhan that Ethel and her cohorts were still attacking The Brotherhood. In return, the humans began to kill any Deamhan on-sight. Any Deamhan they captured and that refused to talk were subjected to extreme tortures. They would make large cuts on their prisoners' arms and place a small clamp to keep the wound open, draining the Deamhan dry. These rumors did nothing to sway the opinions of Kyra and Nicias. They didn't care if Deamhan were dying by the dozens. Their only concern was to kill Ethel in exchange for the information inside my head and still I hadn't heard anything about Finley.

  I was told to wait for months before finally Kyra and Nicias went on the hunt. Nicias led the savage attacks against sanctuaries of those who still remained loyal to Ethel. Regardless if they were big or small places, he killed them as if they were nothing while Kyra stood by and watched. They went to Iowa, killing a Deamhan family that consisted of a mother, father, and two sons who had once housed Ethel. The father had just been turned and decided to sire his human family. They also went to Ohio, invading a new sanctuary consisting of only women. Nicias managed to kill half of them before the rest finally told them they knew where Ethel was hiding.

  Their scrimmages soon came knocking on the doorsteps of Chicago sanctuaries. Nicias took out several groups in a bloody hoorah and this time Kyra helped. In due time, they wiped out the majority of Deamhan in the city. They both made it seem so easy. If that was the case, I wondered why they didn't do it before.

  Finally the day came.

  Ayden woke me shortly before sunset, telling me that they had planned to make their move that night. It just so happened that Kyra and Nicias tracked and found Ethel fifty miles from the city. I didn't waste any time and as soon as I was ready to go, I followed Ayden out the door and in Deamhan speed we ran across the vast open plain. We ran for what felt like hours until we stopped next to an abandoned ranch house alone in an open field. Ayden eyed the environment suspiciously before his body relaxed and he faced me.

  “Silvanus said Kyra and Nicias will meet us right here.” Ayden stepped over a large rotted-through wooden beam and he began to walk slowly and carefully around the perimeter of the ranch house.

  “They're running late.”

  He shook his head. “No. We're early.” His voice creaked and I noticed that he began to worry. “I wanted to bring you here so we could talk without them overhearing our conversation.”

  I gazed at the ranch house. “What is it?” I rubbed my hand over its rough surface.

  “Finley.” He looked at me. “Silvanus said that he is also there with Ethel.”

  Quickly, I wanted to rush into the house, but he stopped me.

  “But I think you should know that… he isn't the same Finley you knew from before.”

  I glared at him. “What do you mean?”

  “He's a distraction,” he replied. “He's detrimental to—”

  “What he and Anastasia did to you was wrong. I can admit that. But he is my sibling, Ayden. I'm bonded to him.”

  He huffed at my reply. “Bonds only expose weaknesses. For you, Finley is your life and you'll do anything for him, including placing the lives of every Deamhan on this planet in jeopardy. Maris, he isn't the same Finley from your past. He-”

  The wind suddenly picked up, blowing my hair to the right. In an instant, Kyra and Nicias appeared in front of us and seconds later, Silvanus appeared standing behind them. Wearing a shawl that draped over her head, Kyra looked up at the sky and her nostrils began to flare as she took in the scents of the environment around us.

  She jerked her head to the right. “This way.” She took off again, disappearing from our view.

  She wasn't a woman of too many words, but I had no need to start a conversation with her. I just wanted to get this over with. We passed through smaller neighborhoods and open fields along the way to the sanctuary. The smell of fresh water began to invade the air and soon we stopped on a big patch of land located right next to Lake Michigan, gazing at the wonder in front of us. I wondered how Kyra and Nicias could have missed searching this place.

  The three-story Spanish Revival mansion looked like nothing I'd ever seen before. It rivaled the Silvanus' London sanctuary in height and beauty. It had pitched-clay tiles on its flat roof, two balconies, and double-hung windows with iron trim. We walked up the wide driveway that had each side decorated in thick rose bushes. In the distance, it looked vacant, but the smells emanating from there proved otherwise.

  As we approached the archway entrance, we saw a double-gated door. Another archway that led to the courtyard was to our left with another archway on our right leading out to the lake's shores. I reached out and touched the stucco walls, admiring its smoothness on my fingertips. My brain couldn't process—no, it wouldn't process—that all of this belonged to Ethel. She didn't deserve to live in this type of luxury.

  Kyra pointed at the home. “She's hiding in there.” She then dropped her hand. “She knows we're here.”

  The air carried other scents of Deamhan, but I couldn't smell Finley. Before I could ask, Ayden moved first with Nicias and Silvanus in tow. Kyra waited where she stood and when I moved forward, she placed her arm in my way.

  “I'm not staying out here,” I said to her.

  She didn't look at me when she replied. “You are not going in there.”

  I pushed her arm aside and in defiance I moved quickly but she soon followed, standing in my way. “You are too important.”

  “Stop telling me that!” I shot her an annoyed look.

  “It's the truth.”

  “I'm tired of your truths,” I said. “I'm tired of others deciding what's best for me. I know what's best for me.”

  “Finley isn't what's best for you.” She stepped forward.

  “You know he is,” I replied. “You're all afraid that I would run off with him to someplace where you can't find me.” I walked around her and headed toward the home. The nighttime air was hot and muggy. I stopped just short of the front steps and Silvanus pulled out a small stake.

  “In case you need it.” He handed it to Ayden.

  “I prefer my bare hands.” Ayden ignored Silvanus' gesture. He volunteered to be the first to go inside. Before he opened the door, I saw Silvanus release the Ramanga inside of him through his now-black eyes and sharp fangs.

  Nicias snickered at Ayden's response. “Just because we Metusba don't have fangs doesn't mean that we are useless, Silvanus.”

  We all quieted. I couldn't smell any Deamhan and by the look on Ayden's face, he couldn't smell them either. We listened and I didn't hear anything underneath our feet except for a tiny mouse scurrying in the dirt.

  “It's so quiet,” I said.

  “Oh, they're here.” Nicias smiled. “They can't trick my Deamhan hearing.”

  A noise on our right grabbed our attention. Soon we heard another to our left and we homed in on its location. A quick sniff and I immediately picked up the scent of a Deamhan, younger than myself, just as I saw the image of a body appear from the left, launching itself at us.

  Silvanus quickly caught the Deamhan in the air by the neck. The Lamia snarled at him as he snapped its neck and tossed the body aside. Three more Deamhan appeared and I stepped back, avoiding the bite of a male Ramanga. Ayden wrapped his arm around the male's neck and with his other hand, Ayden gripped him by the hair and began to pull.

  “Maris, help me.”

  I also grabbed the Ramanga by the hair and we pulled together, finally detaching his head from his body. They seemed to come from everywhere, outnumbering us ten-to-one. However, the odds remained in our favor since we had Kyra and Nicas, two powerful Deamhan by our side.

  Kyra appeared and she quickly moved around us. She slashed at their necks, ripped out their hearts, and crippled our attackers to the point that the remaining few, now startled, took off into the night. What I thought was going to be a full fight ended up being nothing more than a
skirmish. Kyra stood in front of us and with bloodied hands, she gripped the doorknob and ripped the wooden aperture from its hinges.

  The inside of the home amazed us as well. We were first greeted by a spiral staircase that seemed to shoot up into the sky to the second floor. The wooden floor beneath our feet was smooth and bright enough to see our own reflections. Tall glass bookcases filled with marble busts and other artwork lined the walls to our right and left. We followed Kyra, who walked down a long hall until we came upon a large, polished wooden door with metal handles. She kicked it open.

  There we stood, confronted by Deamhan of all sexes and races. At first glance, I counted about thirty of them only to realize that I had missed two standing in the back corner. Mounted over our heads in the middle of the ceiling hung a large crystal chandelier.

  That's when I saw Ethel.

  She sat against the window in a wooden chair. She looked better than the last time I saw her. Her smooth skin radiated throughout the room and her auburn hair, now longer, rested gently on her shoulders. Just by the way she looked, I assumed that she asserted her dominance over the other Deamhan.

  She didn't seem afraid of Kyra, Nicias, or the rest of us. She smiled and held out her arms. “Have you come to join me in the fight against The Brotherhood?” she asked. “Or have you come here to follow through on Silvanus' Decretum?”

  Kyra looked around the room.

  “Oh, you came here to kill me.” Ethel repositioned herself in her chair and she rested her chin in her hand. “I hoped that wasn't the case, Kyra. Nonetheless, it is good to see you again. It's been a long time.”

  Kyra nodded. “Too long.”

  Ethel moved her attention to Silvanus. “I rejoiced when I heard that you survived the fire, but I was confused on why you declared the Decretum against me.”

  “You know exactly why.” Silvanus folded his arms. “We never saw eye to eye Ethel. This was bound to happen sooner or later”

  “I was expecting later and under different circumstances.” She looked at Nicias. “I'm surprised to see you after all these years. I thought you were Hibernating.”