“Maris?” My eyes expanded to the size of fists. “Why?”
“Do you really have to ask that question Ayden?”
I leaned back, shaking my head frantically. “I can’t kill her.”
“I’ll give you an incentive. Either you kill her, or I’ll kill you.”
The music in the club changed from the slow paced song to another full of bass beats, clicking noises, and screams. The dance floor began to fill again and the humans moved their bodies widely to the music. The couple in the booth stood to their feet and ran for the dance floor as if their lives depended on it.
“Kill her?” Still in shock, I couldn’t believe what he’d just said. “Is this what Kyra wants?”
“Think of it this way Ayden. You’ll be doing all Deamhan a favor.”
“Maris hasn’t done anything to deserve this,” I replied. “Throughout her whole existence she’s been used and abused by her own kind. First by her sire, Anastasia, then by Kyra, and now by you.”
“The longer she lives, the more in danger we all are.”
“What about putting Amenirdis back in Limbo where she belongs?” Again, I wanted to read his mind, but he knew how to block my advance. Only if I could penetrate his thoughts, the conversation would end quickly and I could fully understand the nature of his request.
“Don’t make Kyra rethink your loyalty.”
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “I’m loyal. I always have been.”
“Then act like it.” He tapped the envelope on the table.
“But she can’t ask this of me. Not after all this time.”
He raised his hand to silence me. “She can ask anything of you. After all, you belong to her, do you not?”
“Of course I do but-”
“Did she not take you in and treat you like her own offspring?”
“Yes she did but-”
“So you will do as you’re told.” He tapped the envelope again. “Here is money to pay for your trip. When you get there you will go to Birchwood Hotel, located in the downtown area. I will be there waiting for you.”
I glared at the envelope, feeling my tongue tied and my thoughts traversing at a million miles a second. I couldn’t and I wouldn’t kill Maris. That much I already knew, but I had to warn her. I had to tell her that once again, her life was in danger. However, there weren’t any Ancient Deamhan coming for her. This time it was me.
“I don’t need your help.”
“I’m not going there to help you, silly boy. I’m going there to make sure you do as you’re told.”
No matter how much I wanted to say no, I couldn’t. Cut between my loyalty for Kyra, and my friendship with Maris, I had to make him believe that I’d obey like a slave submitting to its master.
“Any questions?” he asked.
I looked at his emotionless face. “None.” I grabbed the envelope and stuffed it into my pocket.
He then stood up from the booth. “After you’ve completed this task, you will then get the piece from the human and give it to me.”
“You expect me to march right into Blind Bluff Manor and just take it? What about the other Deamhan at the sanctuary?” I looked up at him.
“Expendable, just like you.” He held out his hand for me shake, as if we had just made some under the counter deal. I ignored his attempt at ending our conversation.
There was one more thing I wanted to tell him. Something simple that I should’ve said right after he revealed to me what Kyra wanted. “This won’t be easy. I’ve heard that Amenirdis will kill anyone who harms Maris. If I do manage to kill her, she’ll come after us.”
He looked at me and his eyes slowly turned stark black. “No Ayden. She’ll come after you.”
2
SENTEMENTS
Minneapolis is a small metropolitan city nestled near the Mississippi River with its twin, Saint Paul. The first time I came to the city I dragged Maris along with the intention of getting revenge without realizing the complications of my actions. Now I had to swallow that objective and like Nicias said, place it on the back burner.
Our conversation remained fresh in my mind. I tried to find the reason why Kyra would want Maris dead, even though I knew the answer. This time I just wouldn’t allow myself to get on board with her goal. I wasn’t going to obey blindly.
The city itself didn’t interest me. Why Deamhan made it their hub that I’d never know. The state of Minnesota suffered from more drastic changes in weather than I’ve seen. The onset of spring brought flowers, cold rain, and the smell of wet grass through the air. Summer brought humidity, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and bugs as big as the tips of my fingers. Fall sought to dry the leaves from the tree branches to let them fall, covering the ground in a yellow and orange covered blanket. And then there was winter. Nature’s way of providing the final blow and removing any trace of the beauty and chaos that the other seasons brought.
The city had its fair share of death when it came to my kind. Deamhan went against each other, fighting one another when Lucius was placed in Limbo by his offspring, who later assumed the role of leader of the supernaturals in the city. During that time sanctuaries were set on fire. Deamhan murdered humans in broad daylight, and the vampires hid in the comfort of their own crypts to wait it out until the end. The crime rate blew through the roof. The humans responded by providing more cops to patrol these afflicted areas (little did they know, that did no good.) Still, I didn’t care about the bickering and fighting. Whether they fought each other out of house and home, made little different to me. They dug their own hole. However, none of us had any idea that the entire fiasco would end up with Amenirdis being released from Limbo.
I made my way to Birchwood Hotel like Nicias ordered me to. It was a large building, encased in white marble with its name in yellow flashing lights. I hadn’t turned the corner yet before I caught the scent of humans. I straightened my clothing to look presentable. After all, I was entering an upper class human establishment, and in no way could I signal their attention that I wasn’t human.
A male chauffer greeted me by opening the door and giving me a quick nod. I walked in and stopped immediately in my tracks. Nothing could have prepared myself for the strapping scents which made my body shiver in desire to feed at that very moment. They were all around me; above and below. Groups of them on my right and left and a line of them waiting by the Check-In counter.
Mirrors decorated the floor underneath my feet and the raised ceiling, along with golden chandeliers. I heard male and female voices in mid conversation along with a ringing sound of the three elevators opening and closing its doors. This wasn’t a place that I would stay in at. I preferred Deamhan sanctuaries, but not Nicias. According to what Kyra to me, he preferred wealthy surroundings. As a human, he was raised in a Greek family, who had immense power and land in the city of Thessalonica, during the Roman Era. He was made Deamhan in 390 during a massacre by Gothic troops, led by the Roman Emperor at that time. Kyra described his life before that moment as pure luxury. He lived in lavish homes and acquired as many slaves as money could buy just for the hell of it. 1700 plus years and he still craved more wealth and power. He had stashes of money in banks around the world, making him the richest Deamhan to have ever lived—surpassing Kyra’s own wealth. However, I still didn’t understand how he could immerse himself around so many humans and control his desire to eat them.
“If you’ve lived as long as I have Ayden, you’ll find that it is quite easy to do so.”
I heard his voice to my left and snapped my head in his direction. He sat on a red plushy couch with his legs folded and his head immersed in a news magazine. Upon seeing me, he tossed it aside, stood to his feet, and approached.
“Would you please stop reading my mind,” I whispered in response. “It’s annoying and you know I can’t block you from doing so.”
With a flick of his wrist he motioned me to follow him as he approached stairs on our right. “The room is on the top floor.”
“I prefer the steps.”
Deamhan didn’t tire so easily so a few thousand steps didn’t matter.
“There’s a horror convention going on this weekend,” he said as we continued to ascend. “Have you ever been to one of those?”
I shook my head.
First he took one step at a time and later progressed, jumping from landing to landing. I struggled to catch up to his ever growing speed.
“They’re very interesting. I highly suggest going, at least one time.” He stopped at the 20th landing. “The humans are so obsessed with what exists in the dark. Their imaginations about creatures are detached from the reality. They dress up as vampires, aliens, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures. They pretend to get bitten and turned. They imagine how they would live if they were immortal.”
“That sounds like something vampires would go to.”
“Oh yes, there are many real vampires who do go, searching for either a snack, or a lifetime mate. Believe me.”
The normal pain of hunger stirred in my stomach, signaling that I needed to eat. Ignoring it, we continued until we reached the top floor.
“There are too many vampires in this city because of what happened,” I said.
“Yes, but not too many to stop the Deamhan here from reestablishing their dominance among them. You and I both know that our kind aren’t reliable when it comes to working together. We always fail in that job. This city is now lost.”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing,” he said.
“It can be for our kind. We are outnumbered.”
We walked down a red carpeted hall to a door located at the end. When he unlocked and opened it, I caught the whiff of a female human, which caused my taste buds to fire off. I walked in, taking little time to admire the extravagant and large interior of the room. Nicias closed the door behind me, made his way over to a large panned window, and pulled back thick red curtains.
“You can see everything from here,” he said. “The view is remarkable.”
“There’s a human in here.” I snapped my head to the left and right to seek her out.
“Yes, and you will not eat her.”
I marched to my left, to an opened door, leading to a bathroom. I viewed the tub inside which reminded me of Kyra and her fascination with long hot baths. Things were simple back then. Leaving the bathroom, I jogged to another door located on the opposite side when Nicias snapped his fingers and gave me a direct order to sit down.
After taking a seat, I saw the door open slowly. A woman, with medium length brown hair and Betty Page bangs, stood in the doorway. Underneath her long dark trench coat she was dressed in a business casual suit and skirt, complete with black high heels. When she looked at me, her eyes widened as if I was a new discovery, but I didn’t feel the same about her. I knew exactly who she was. I held my composure, noticing that Nicias placed greater emphasis on her life than I ever would. He held out his hand to her and she took it. They smiled at each other and he offered her some water, to which she declined in a soft voice.
“Ayden, I would like you to meet Bridget.”
She smiled at me.
“She’s my minion.” He kissed her gently on the cheek, making her blush.
I had no tolerance for minions and I didn’t like them. They were nothing more than humans who wanted to be Deamhan. They subjected themselves to our wills, doing what we wanted, to whoever we wanted, without so much as a thought. Kyra had plenty of them and at one point, she made me work alongside one, decades ago in Chicago, until the human’s death. In the end she found that they couldn’t be trusted. I refused to have humans do my work. I could handle my own affairs.
“I’ve heard so much about you from Nicias,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
I stood to my feet. “Is there a reason why she is here?”
“Biddy is not only a minion, but she was born and raised right here, in this city. She knows everything that happens after sunset.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. “Plus, I admire her cute qualities.”
“Biddy?” Stewing in my dissatisfaction, I turned with my back toward them. “You gave your minion a nickname?”
“I give all my pets nicknames.” He patted the top of her head. “There’s one thing you have yet to learn about humans. They are frail, little things. They’re much smarter than the ones we dealt with over a hundred years ago. They’re much more useful.” He glared at me. “I’m handing you over to her for the time being. She now belongs to you, so be careful with her. She breaks easily.”
I glared at the human from over my shoulder, finding her skin exhilarating and tempting. My hunger returned and he noticed this change in me as well.
“Not to eat, Ayden.”
I turned away. “I don’t need a minion.”
“Biddy, go and grab the two humans you found and bring them here.” He looked to her. “We’re hungry.”
She obeyed, like a slave would its master, and left the room. Now free from her prying ears to complain, I wasted no time going off at Nicias. I couldn’t see how the human would benefit me and I didn’t care what connections she had in the city. His minion wasn’t good for anything, but he didn’t see it that way.
“You’re going to go to Dark Sepulcher to find Maris.”
“Dark Sepulcher? The vampire club?” I questioned. “She wouldn’t go there.”
“She’s been seen there. Take Biddy with you. That way you won’t stick out like a sore thumb.”
“I will not take her.”
A rigid look replaced the smile on his face. “You will take her.”
I soughed, crossed my arms, and dug my chin into my chest. “She’ll only get in the way.”
In a sudden rushed movement, he stood up from his seat and pinned me into my own, with his hand around my neck. His eyes, now murky and full of rage, tore into my own as if he tried to peel back my conscience. My neck palpitated, and the only way I could react was to also look back at him with my black eyes, knowing that it wouldn’t do me any good. Overpowered, he moved in closely and as he spoke, his lips brushed over my own.
“You’ve always been a pawn, Ayden; a Deamhan minion if you will. You were taught to do as you’re told.”
Struggling, I managed to say a few words in a feeble attempt to stand my ground. “Minions are humans. I am not human.”
“Minions are those who obey.” His grip increased and I thought I heard the bones in my neck beginning to crack under pressure. “And you obey.”
He removed his grip and now with his hand on my chest, he pushed me further back into the couch. The color in his eyes returned. “I never looked at you this close before.” Rudely, he pushed my head to the left and then to the right. “Kyra said you had beautiful eyes.” He gazed into them. “But know I’ll rip them from their sockets if you ever question my authority again.”
The noise of the hotel room door opening interrupted his strict lesson of the evening. Biddy returned, accompanied by two teenage human males. Upon seeing them, Nicias took no time in getting first choice. He had thrown himself on top of one of them with such force that he snapped the human’s neck before the humans realized what was going on.
Unlike him, I preferred to eat my victim while they still breathed. As Metusba Deamhan, we didn’t have to kill our victims like Ramanga, Lamia, and Lugat, had to. We could feed silently without signaling our dark intentions. But no Deamhan was immune to the thrill of the kill, not even me. Still, I had to think about the repercussions of just killing whomever and whenever I wanted, especially in the city. The Deamhan who lived here never did and that caused the humans to question exactly what was happening around them. We had to remain unknown and in the shadows.
Picking up on my thoughts, he looked to me. “Don’t worry. These two humans won’t be missed.”
“I don’t feel like killing him.”
“Eat him.”
&nbs
p; I grinded my teeth. He had no problems issuing orders so easily. The other troubled teen looked at me from the corner of his eye as I approached him slowly. His thoughts ran rampant from his young sister who had just celebrated her birthday yesterday and why he had agreed to go with Biddy so he could have sex with another male when he wasn’t homosexual in the first place.
Human males and their libidos. I never understood it, even when I was human. Sex drove all humans to do crazy and unspeakable things to themselves and to those they loved. Not once did they think of the penalties they faced, regardless of their preference. The teen liked the way I looked when he first saw me. I also sensed that his dead friend was the one who had convinced him into this line of work in the first place. He planned on getting enough money to buy a one way ticket out of Minneapolis to the West Coast. He wanted to be a movie star. He wanted to be famous and known. He wanted to win the Oscar, and he perfected his speech by practicing in his bathroom for hours at time. While Deamhan had no desire to be known, humans strived for that possibility. After hearing all this information, I somewhat pitied him. He would never have the chance to see his dreams and desires play out because I had no choice but to follow Nicias’ strict order.
Biddy watched with a gleam in her eye. She didn’t hide her thoughts from us nor did she show any compassion toward the victims and her involvement in their deaths. Instead she was curious, watching how we fed closely, admiring Nicias’ precise and quick action, and how I took my time.
I didn’t take my eye off of my meal as I had him pinned against the wall. As I began to drain the life force—the essence in his aura into my own body—his legs quivered underneath him. He wanted to scream, but I covered his mouth. I took in more and more, listening to his gradual heartbeat until I heard nothing at all. His eyes now revealed nothing; just an empty shell. His soul had withered and left.
I laid him gently on the floor and looked back, seeing Nicias who had finished before me, now wobble as the energy within him rejuvenated his body. Like a lion after eating its prey, he fell onto the couch and relaxed, as if he could fall sound asleep like a baby.
Deamhan Chronicles, Books 1-5: Deamhan, Kei. Family Matters, Dark Curse, Maris. The Brotherhood Files, Ayden. Deamhan Minion Page 75