by M. Cheykota
My brain seems to shift itself back into normal mode, because Christien has Kayle by the throat again, high above his head. Roman is standing where I would have been and looking around the room. He sees me in the corner and does a double take before coming over to me.
“Damn, I’ve never seen you, or anyone, move that fast. How the hell did you do that?” He asks in half-amazement, half-awe.
I can hear Christien speaking quietly to Kayle in rapid French. Kayle’s eyes widen and he turns his head in my direction. He looks down at his shirt to see the cut over his heart and nods to me in acknowledgment before returning his attention back to Christien.
“What’s going on between you and Kayle? I know you don’t like him, but your rant sounded a little personal.” Roman asks, keeping his voice down.
“Just forget it. We have work to do. We don’t have time for his bullshit.” I get to my feet and make my way back to the vent giving Kayle a wide berth now that Christien has released him.
“Jessica…” Christien begins, but I cut him off.
“Now is not the time.” I wave a hand at him, dismissing his request for my attention.
As I am trying to think of another animal to shift into, I hear the sound of rats or mice scuttling somewhere overhead. The thought of what the mice might look like brings on my shift.
A second later, my shift is complete.
Christien cups me in his hand and nuzzles my nose. “Be careful, ma souris petite. Do not put yourself in any danger. If anyone is in the room, you come back to me. I am sorry about Kayle. I will deal with him when this is over.” He runs a finger along my smooth white fur before levitating to place me in the vent.
Chapter 40
Refusing to look behind me, I crawl towards the second building. My sight is different as a mouse so it takes some time to adjust so I do not keep bumping into the walls. I reach the end of the shaft and peer down into the isolated room.
The room is very large. I cannot see very far into the room because of the mouse’s eyesight range. What I can see are many closed coffins. I look in the direction of what I think is the door, but my sight doesn’t allow me to distinguish any lever to open it. I do see what I think is Demetri sitting in a chair asleep below me. There are several bodies around the room, likely asleep, on the floor. I strain my mouse senses but I cannot sense, see or smell Hassan. I turn back to the other building but as I am leaving, I hear voices in the isolated room. I return to see Jacques waking up Demetri. He informs Demetri that there are vampires outside, surrounding and entering the building. Demetri and Jacques go to an area I cannot see clearly and talk about how they will attack when the sun goes down and have all their vampires at their disposal. Demetri reassures Jacques that the room is secure. After a little more muffled conversation, Demetri returns to his chair and falls back asleep.
I go back to the men. Christien brings me down from the vent. I shift back into human form and let everyone know Demetri and Jacques’ plans. Although I was unable to see Hassan, they still believe he is somewhere in the room with Demetri and Jacques. After I am finished explaining everything I could see, Christien pulls me into his arms and kisses me almost desperately.
“I was so worried about you. You were gone too long. I do not like having you here in this dangerous situation. If anything happens to you, I will lose a piece of myself. I will torture the person who hurts you for a very, very, very long time.” He tells me between kisses.
I smile because of the sweet words and because Kayle is watching us with a perplexed look on his face.
“Okay you two. Save it for later.” Roman says while rolling his eyes.
Christien steps away from me, eyes silver with emotion, but keeps my hand in his.
“So, what are we going to do now?” I ask.
“Did you see another entrance into that room?” Christien asks.
“I couldn’t see the whole room, but it is huge. All the baby vamps are asleep. That is why they are waiting until tonight. They somehow know that we have found them. Maybe there is a security system that we can tap into.” I suggest.
“I have a buddy with us that is good with surveillance systems. I will go back outside and get him. I’ll let you know if we find anything.” Roman says then heads back upstairs to the first floor.
Kayle suggests that I go back into the vent and gather more information.
Christien objects, saying it is too dangerous, but I agree with Kayle.
I shift back into a mouse and climb through the vent. Everything is quiet. Demetri still seems to be sleeping. I slide my nose through the bars, trying to get a better look or to pick up anything else with my senses. If I could get the door open, Christien, Kayle and I could take care of Demetri, Jacques and any other vampires that might be awake. If we wait until dark, we will be outnumbered again. I decide to take the chance on the door.
I have never shifted from one animal to another without returning to human form. I am about to try it now in an air duct above a room full of vampires.
This is not a good idea Jess. I think to myself.
I look through the vent to the ground. It looks like a long way down. Logically, I know the ceiling is not that high, but looking down from a mouse’s perspective really puts butterflies in my stomach. I feel a tingling sensation as my body shifts into a butterfly.
Panicking, I have a moment to think. I need to be more careful of my thoughts when it comes to animals.
I have no idea how loud or quiet the shifting process is. I’ll make sure I ask Roman or Christien if I survive this. I walk to the edge of the vent. I can no longer tell if Demetri is still sleeping or not, but I can see he is still sitting unmoving in the chair below me. I take the chance and step out of the vent. I begin to fall. I completely forgot that I have never mastered the art of flying. I try moving my arms like when I’m a bird, but flying as a butterfly is different from flying as a bird. As a bird, my arms are wings. As a butterfly, the wings are on my back so I have to figure out how to get them to move as I tumble towards the ground. I am still trying to open my wings when I hit the coffin just below the vent. The impact splays my butterfly body out on the coffin and I bang my head against the wood, knocking myself out. I must not have been out for long because I wake to find myself in human form, lying halfway on a coffin and Demetri standing in front of me with his fangs extended.
I scream, kick Demetri in the groin and scramble to my feet. He crumbles, clutching his privates while taking shallow breaths.
I hear pounding at the concrete door but it is faint.
I pull my Kensei sword and move between the coffins, trying to find cover.
Jacques says, “Well, well. Look who we have here. I am not sure how you got in here, but you will not be leaving. Our master will be happy we have you at last.”
He reaches for me and I swing at his arm with my sword. Demetri moves to my flank sluggishly, trying to get behind me. I move backwards until my back brushes a wall.
The banging on the concrete door is getting louder.
Demetri comes at me from the side at the same time as Jacques attacks me from the front. They are still two far away for me to use my sword, so I drop my sword and pull my twin baby eagles from the dual shoulder holster. With my arms wide, I am already firing once I point them in the direction of the two vampires, not wasting time to aim. The bullets inside the baby eagles are not lethal to vampires as old as these two are, but they are leaving a big enough hole to make even these vampires hesitate. Several bullets plow through each of their chests, leaving holes and a bloody mess in their wake. Both vampires stop their attack. I leap over one coffin and crawl under another, sprinting to the cement door. As I am looking for the lever to open the door, another vampire comes from somewhere to pounce on my back, knocking me into the cement door.
We fall to the ground, the vampire on top of me. I grab the arm on my shoulder and pull it out of the socket. The vampire howls in pain. I elbow him, breaking his ribs and roll to my feet.
Demetri turns to verify the door is still intact.
I use the distraction to wrap my legs around his, twisting my body to move him off me. Caught off guard, his head smashes into the coffin next to us hard enough to knock it off the stand. The coffin falls to the side. The lid opens and a vampire in a coma-like sleep hangs halfway out of his coffin on the floor. I crawl backwards away from Demetri only to run into the legs of Jacques. He pulls me up by my hair to a standing position. I yelp from the pain. Throwing my legs backwards, I kick one of his legs from underneath him, almost dislocating his knee. He lets go of my hair to regain his balance. There is a blasting sound from the cement door. I cover my head automatically to protect it from flying debris. The air is hazy with cement particles, making it difficult for me to breathe.
Unlike vampires, my angel side requires me to breathe and my heart must beat. I cough and gag as the dust begins to settle around me. I hear grunts, movement and scuffling near me. The haze is still too thick for me to see clearly. I feel a hand reach for me. I scratch and kick at the hand and arm, crawling away, out of its reach.
That is when I hear Demetri speaking. “Christien, how good it is to see you big brother. Master has finally granted us permission to kill you, no more restrictions. I will enjoy listening to you beg me for your life.”
“It will be you who is begging for their life, Demetri.” Christien disagrees then leaps on top of Demetri, riding him to the ground as he rips the appendages from Demetri’s body with his bare hands.
Demetri’s scream is full of pain and agony. I cover my ears, trying to block the sound.
The screaming stops briefly and I call out. “Christien?”
I rise to my feet when I see him across the room. As I start to walk towards him, his eyes widen and he yells. “NO!”
Christien is already moving towards me as I turn to look behind me. Jacques is coming at me with a large knife from feet away. His knife poised high in the air, aiming at my heart through my back. There is no time to move because he is already too close. I feel the wind around me move and a push on my back. My body is moving towards Christien, away from Jacques as his arm with the knife lands in the spot where I was standing.
“No!” Christien screams as he catches me. He releases me immediately, pulling a large blade from a sheath somewhere from his body and removes Jacques’ head. I can hear Roman and the other vampires or Weres entering the room. Roman quickly rips off Demetri’s head using his werewolf strength before he can heal. Another were does the same for the other vampire that attacked me. Roman and the other vampires scour the room looking for Hassan.
Christien rushes pass me, dropping to his knees to huddle around a figure on the floor. Shuffling a little to the right, I see Kayle has a knife sticking out of his back and he is lying very still on the floor. Moving closer, I crouch down until I am on one side of Kayle. Christien is on the other.
“Kayle?” I call out apprehensively.
He opens his eyes.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
Christien looks at me, eyes full of emotion. “Would you allow Kayle to feed from you to heal this wound? I need to remove the knife from his back at the same time he is feeding. This may be the only way to save him. He should already be dead. Thankfully, Jacques did not have enough time to damage his heart beyond repair.”
I look at Kayle. His eyes watch me, studying my reaction to Christien’s request, waiting for my rejection.
“You don’t even like me. You could have let Jacques kill me. There wasn’t enough time for me to react and Christien was too far away. Why did you save me when you don’t even want me around?” I ask Kayle softly with all sincerity.
His eyes move to Christien then return to me. “I saved you because Christien loves you. You are not like the women he has brought around in the past. I was quick to judge you and I thought I was doing him a favor by what I said to you and how I behaved. I was wrong about you and I am sorry.”
“What is he talking about?” Christien asks me. “What did you say to ma chatte petite?” Christien asks Kayle as his temper rises.
I rest my hand on Christien’s arm. “Now is not the time for this Christien. Calm down and pull the knife out. He can feed from the vein on my arm so he can stay face down. Oh, you might want to have the other vampires in the room leave just in case he is a messy eater.” I tell Christien jokingly.
Christien looks at me and nods. All of the vampires leave the room in vampire speed, leaving the weres in the room to finish the search for Hassan.
Lying flat on my back next to him, I lay my arm out underneath Kayle’s mouth. Adjusting my arm position in small movements until he is satisfied, he bites down, taking slow, lazy pulls, as his eyes turn silver.
Christien removes the knife swiftly with a surgeon’s precision to prevent further damage to Kayle’s heart. Kayle takes a few more pulls from my vein then stops feeding, retracting his fangs. Lowering his head to the ground, he lies very still for several minutes.
I look at Christien expectantly.
Christien exhales in relief. “He is healing. He is focusing all his strength to fix the damage to his heart.”
Roman and another werewolf approach us as Kayle opens his eyes. Glancing at the now healed wound on his back, Christien helps Kayle into a sitting position.
“Hassan is not here. We have searched most of the room and we have not found any passages or hidden rooms. He must be somewhere else. Demetri and Jacques must have been here only to guard these vampires. Where do you think Hassan could be?” Roman asks Christien.
“Most likely, he will know that we have infiltrated this lair and have slain his two oldest vampires. Either, he will want revenge, coming after us with everything he has at his disposal tonight, or he will retreat to rebuild his forces or ally himself with another vampire. Based on my previous experiences with him, he will flee. My sire is a coward. He rarely does is own fighting and he knows he has lost this battle. These young vampires are no match for us, regardless of their quantity.” Christien says smugly.
“Should we kill all the vampires in the coffins?” Roman asks.
“No.” Christien states firmly. “When they wake this evening, they will receive a choice. Swear their loyalty to me by blood and become part of my get or die. This is often done when master vampires battle. It prevents vampire deaths and human deaths in the end by not requiring more vampires to replace those lost. I would like to leave some Weres and vampires here to control the fledglings and offer them the choice. Those who say they will blood oath to me will do so. Those who will not join my get, we will kill. I would like to keep this building for myself if it is in Hassan, Jacques or Demetri’s name. If not, we’ll strip it bare and I’ll have to find another location to house this many fledglings. The security is already in place here so it makes sense to keep it if possible.” Christien finishes.
Kayle nods. “I will see to it.”
“I am sure you will Kayle, but I have something else in mind for you. Get a few of the other older ones to assist Roman and his Weres. They can deal with these young vampires.” Christien nods respectfully to Roman.
Roman returns the nod and goes back to the coffin-to-coffin search.
Epilogue
Christien, Kayle, and I return to Christien’s place. The sun should be setting within the hour. The skies are an angry red and purple mixture. The stars are starting to pop into the night sky one at a time.
Christien sends Kayle to his room and demands that he rest.
Christien guides me to his bedroom. We take a quick shower together, washing the grime of the battles off our bodies and lie on the bed naked in each other’s arms talking.
Christien describes to me the plans he has for Kayle. “I want to send Kayle on a mission to find Hassan before he can report to the Vampire Council about what has happened here. If
Hassan reports that I have attacked him without just cause, the Council will believe him and come for me. If he mentions anything about me absorbing his get, I will have to answer to the Vampire Council for breaking the law.”
Christien admits to me that he should have asked the Vampire Council for permission before going after Hassan or at least had a valid reason for his attack. “Hassan is my sire. The Council is not going to be pleased that one of his own offspring is powerful enough to challenge him, with or without Demetri and Jacques. The Vampire Council will be very curious, possibly sending a representative to investigate when they find out I have claimed Hassan’s get and have killed Demetri and Jacques.”
Snuggling closer to him, I ask. “What will they do?”
“The Council may come to challenge me and my vampires to see if we are capable of overpowering a tête de ligne de sang. Hassan’s vampires may be young, but Hassan is a formidable opponent and they know how ruthless he can be. I expect they will come to investigate what happened here over the past couple of days. If the Council, somehow, finds out my get has more power then they should, they will investigate me and mine. During the investigation, they could find out about you. If they do, they will send their enforcers to seek and destroy you. The Council may eventually decide to terminate me for breaking Vampire Law.”
Christien confesses that he wants me to move in with him now that it is no longer safe for me to stay alone while the whereabouts of Hassan is still unknown.
For tonight, I’ll keep myself warm in Christien’s bed. I haven’t decided whether I will take him up on his offer to move in with him. Admittedly, I find his offer appealing. Regardless of my growing feelings for the vampire lying in bed beside me, I can’t help hesitate, thinking I might be better off on my own.