Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  Along the way, I couldn’t resist glancing at the girl and her bunny.

  She must’ve been only twelve or thirteen when she was turned. Her chest was as flat as a boy’s. Vampiredom was a long and tedious road. To get stuck in a girl’s body for the remainder of forever couldn’t have been fun.

  Oscar was slouched on a sofa in the foyer when we entered my mansion. “Symphony, good to see you.” He offered a lopsided grin.

  The girl inclined her head as she took a seat on the couch across from him. Her short legs dangled down without touching the floor.

  Gaven moved to a position behind Symphony. “My mistress returns your greetings.”

  I wanted to go back to my room, but that would have been ill-mannered. The mansion was, after all, my property, so I was technically the hostess, albeit a forced one, so I dropped to the sofa beside Symphony and Oscar.

  “When are the others coming?” I asked.

  “Tonight,” Oscar said.

  Damn. It meant I couldn’t ditch them now. But then, it also meant this would be over sooner than I thought.

  I spread my dress around my legs and looked out the window, waiting for the others to come.

  Symphony Spear was the quietest vampire I’d ever met. She didn’t make a sound as Oscar slurped down a glass of red liquid that could have been wine from my basement or blood from his latest victim.

  Dozing off wasn’t the brightest idea in the midst of centuries-old vampires, but it wasn’t as if I had my sleep earlier. I propped my arm on the armrest and closed my eyes. “How many more are we expecting?”

  “One more.”

  A new voice, too close to me, made me jump. I sprang open my eyes to stare at the vampire just steps away from me. I must have been even more drained than I thought to allow another vampire to sneak past my guard undetected.

  The boyish face, completed with rumpled russet locks and dimples in each cheek, looked no more than twenty. His smile curved from ear to ear, and his eyes disappeared into thin lines, but the tension in my shoulders didn’t relax. A certain feeling I couldn’t explain had my body on edge.

  Oscar sat up on his seat, all traces of amusement gone from his face. “Blake Thunderhorn.”

  The name alone explained everything. Why I felt like I was caged in with a lion, no matter how widely he smiled.

  Blake Thunderhorn, the vampire who wiped out an entire city when I was shaken over my first kill.

  “I didn’t know they sent you.” Oscar was still clasping his wine glass. I was surprised he didn’t snap the neck off with the force he was using.

  Blake widened his smile further, if that was even possible.

  “Who is the last vampire?” I blinked away the stir he had caused. Blake Thunderhorn was overrated. His name had spread throughout the vampire realm because I was too young at the time. If we were the same age, it would be me everyone would be talking about, not him.

  “Celtric Tran.” Blake dropped another bomb.

  As out of touch with the world as I was, I recognized that name too. Everyone in the vampire realm knew Celtric Tran. He was the golden child among vampires. I remembered when I was still a human, my birth mother had always compared me to the girl next door who had the most flawless skin, impeccable etiquette, and gorgeous everything. That was what Celtric Tran was like in the vampire world: handsome, strong, and unbeatable. But of course, rumors were just rumors. No one was actually that perfect.

  Oscar’s hand froze for a moment before he resumed sampling his drink.

  Blake leaned against the wall closest to a window, and I closed my eyes. So what if Originals sent Blake Thunderhorn and Celtric Tran? They might be big names, but they didn’t mean anything to me.

  The grandfather clock ticked against the wall. At every hour, it made an ear-splitting chime. I forgot how many times it sounded, but surely it had been way too many. I tapped my index finger against the side table. Again and again, again and again, until my patience ran thin.

  Golden child or not, Celtric Tran was pissing me off. The sun was about to rise, we had all been waiting for him the whole night, and nothing had gotten done. I didn’t know why my sire and other Originals had even told us to get together. The task was simple: go to Hunter Academy, find the stake, and return home. I could’ve done this during the time I’d spent waiting for Celtric. I already knew where Hunter Academy was, and I had some ideas how to get past the academy gate.

  The grandfather clock chimed again, and my last thread of patience snapped. My palm hit the side table, and I jumped up from my seat. Without another word, I headed for the door.

  “Where are you going?” Oscar asked.

  I considered not replying. I didn’t answer to him. A team of vampires was a joke. Vampires didn’t make teams. “To Hunter Academy.”

  “We’re still waiting for Celtric Tran!” he called after me.

  “You can wait for him.” And while they did, I would get the ensorced stake. By the morrow, it would be in my hands. Five descendants of Originals was an overkill for such a simple task. I would spare all of us the discomfort of working together.

  “Izella, come back.”

  The light bulb above my head exploded. I stepped forward, getting out of the way before the shards fell.

  I didn’t know why Oscar had been so uncharacteristically patient about waiting for someone who should’ve arrived hours ago, but I didn’t feel compelled to follow his example. There was an ensorced stake I had to retrieve and Jayson’s cottage I had to explore in Hunter Academy.

  “Damn you!” Oscar seized my shoulder.

  I turned around and clamped my fingers on his wrist. Our gazes locked, and I crushed his bones as he crumpled my shoulder.

  My shoulder hurt, but he wasn’t faring too well either.

  “Now, now. There is no need for this.” Blake walked toward us, all smiles.

  I didn’t pay him any heed until he grabbed both Oscar’s and my hands to separate us.

  He was strong. I gave him that. When he pulled me from Oscar, an overwhelming strength forced me to release my hold. For a second, I considered resisting. I wondered what would happen if I gave my one hundred percent. Would Blake Thunderhorn prove to be as overrated as I thought or was he worthy of his name? The moment passed, and I allowed him to drag Oscar and me apart.

  “I don’t have time to spend my whole night waiting.” I folded my arms across my chest. I had to complete my mission and I had to explore Jayson’s cottage, preferably without onlookers. The fewer vampires knew of my obsession with a vampire hunter, the better. If I allowed these descendants to tag along, everyone would discover my secret.

  Blake’s eyes disappeared deeper into his grin. “I am sure Celtric didn’t mean to make everyone wait. Something probably came up that he needed to address right away.”

  Sure. The golden child had something more important than joining us to complete this mission. He didn’t have time to deliver a message. I completely understood.

  “What do you suggest? Should we continue to wait for him? My mistress wants to know.” Gaven never left his spot next to Symphony.

  Blake looked from Oscar and me to Symphony. How he could see without opening his eyes was beyond me.

  “Since Celtric is busy, I guess we could start the mission without him,” Blake said. “Maybe by the time he arrives, we’ll have the ensorced stake in our possession and he wouldn’t have to bother himself with completing such a petty task.”

  Oscar finally stopped glaring at me and nodded in agreement.

  I tilted my head. “I happen to know where Hunter Academy is. Maybe I can just go myself and return with the ensorced stake, and none of you would need to bother yourself.” A tinge of guilt tugged at my conscience. If Rune hadn’t taken me there, I wouldn’t have discovered the location. I brushed the feeling aside. Hunter Academy had existed for two hundred years. Even if I kept it a secret, sooner or later Blake and Oscar would learn the whereabouts of the academy from other sources.

  �
�You underestimate Hunter Academy, Izella. I’m sure you would need our help,” Blake said. “But you can save us time if you take us there.”

  I considered for a moment. I could ditch them and go myself. No matter how old and powerful they were, they couldn’t keep an eye on me twenty-four seven. Oscar would laugh in my face if he found out about Jayson. Blake and Symphony would also pass silent judgments. But then I thought about Blake’s overwhelming strength. If Hunter Academy housed more than the children I had seen last night, I might need backup. My sire had never asked me to accomplish a mission before. The first and only meant I couldn’t fail.

  “Fine.” I decided. If the ensorced stake was so important that my sire and the other three Originals would send their best descendants to retrieve it, then I couldn’t take a chance.

  The door flew open as I brushed past. One step, and I was a mile away from my mansion. Mortals wouldn’t know what happened even if I walked right past them. I didn’t look back to see if Blake and the others were behind. If they weren’t, then it wouldn’t be my fault they couldn’t keep up. And if they couldn’t keep up, then they would be of no help to me anyway.

  The three-hour drive to Hunter Academy took a matter of minutes. For the second night in a row, I stood there, looking up at the towering gray building enclosed behind an iron fence.

  The news from last night must’ve spread, for the security around Hunter Academy was tighter than before. Whereas no one had stood guard at the gate last night, I detected at least seven hunters policing the entrance now.

  I took a step back, blending myself into the shadows of a tree.

  “So this is Hunter Academy,” Blake said. “I only knew it was somewhere in California.”

  I didn’t need to turn around to know Blake, Oscar, and Symphony were behind me. Gaven was not here, which was not too much of a surprise. He wasn’t a descendant of an Original, so he didn’t have our supersonic speed, among other gifts.

  “There is a spell on the gate. Alarm will go off if a vampire touches the gate.” I still remembered the scorching pain from last night. “Supposedly, no vampire has ever made it into Hunter Academy.”

  “Really?” Oscar stepped to my side until our shoulders brushed.

  I didn’t like the overconfident sneer on his face or the gleam in his eyes. He walked forward. His shadow zigzagged its way between the hunters so fast that I doubt they could see him. Before I could stop him, he was already at the gate, his knees bent, ready to leap.

  I realized what he was trying to do. The gate was enchanted, so he just had to jump over it. No matter that the gate was three times his height, he could easily make it. Logically, I knew it wouldn’t work; otherwise, the vampires who had discovered Hunter Academy before would’ve broken in already. But when I was about to yank him back before he caused a commotion, I hesitated. The same idea had crossed my mind. I’d shoved it aside because it was too simple. Now I wondered what would happen if a vampire tried it.

  An ear-shattering alarm pulsated in the quietness of the night. Oscar’s body slammed into an invisible barrier in midair and fell with a thud in front of the gate, stirring up a cloud of dust and dirt.

  “Who is there?” a hunter cried. In a split second, hunters surrounded Oscar.

  Crap! I knew it couldn’t be that easy.

  The blaring alarm gave me an intense headache. I charged into the middle of the hunters, grabbed Oscar by his collar, and retreated back a mile before anyone could react.

  This far away, my sensitive eardrums found peace.

  Oscar slapped off my hand and straightened his collar. “That is unnecessary. Don’t ever do that again.”

  Way to show appreciation for saving his ass.

  “You should’ve told us before you tried something.” Irritation seeped into my voice. Now Hunter Academy would be even more cautious than before. We’d lost our element of surprise. Although I had no qualms about charging in and overtaking the academy by force, it was just not the most efficient manner to complete the task. We didn’t need to kill off every last one of the hunters. We just needed to find the damned stake.

  “I didn’t realize you’d become the boss of me.” He gave me a sidelong glance and took a couple steps toward the academy, purposefully bumping into my shoulder on the way.

  That was why Originals should never assign a task to all of us. Working with Oscar tried my patience. And the others … Wait, the others! Where was Blake and Symphony? My stomach sank. They hadn’t followed us. I thought I gave an obvious signal to retreat. Why the hell were they not here?

  I transported myself back to Hunter Academy. The alarm was still blaring, albeit less intense than before. There were a lot more hunters. They surrounded Blake and Symphony in multilayers. In stark contrast to the tense atmosphere exuding from the hunters, Blake was all smiles and Symphony’s young face lacked an expression.

  What did they think they were doing? I leaped up a tree for a better look.

  “You aren’t the vampire from last night,” the dove-eyed woman said.

  “I’m afraid not,” Blake said.

  “Who are you? Why are you here? Where is Izella Pristin?” Brydon bombarded him with questions.

  “I’d love to chat, but you see, my time is limited. I have to retrieve a certain item from Hunter Academy tonight. Would you be a doll and tell me where it is?” Blake was still smiling, but his smile chilled me to the bone, and I remembered his reputation for wiping out an entire city overnight.

  Shoot! He was not doing that again.

  “What item?” Brydon asked. I didn’t see Rune among the hunters.

  “There is a stake,” Blake said.

  “Like the ones everyone is holding? I didn’t realize vampires were into stakes.” Dove Eyes sneered. “Here. I’ll give you mine.”

  The moment she spoke the last word, she charged at Blake. Her speed was commendable, her strength formidable, and her stance near perfect.

  Too bad she was facing Blake Thunderhorn. He swatted her down like a fly in two seconds flat.

  “As I was saying, it is a special stake.” Blake’s expression didn’t change, like slamming a girl to the ground was no big deal. “Can someone please go retrieve it? You see, it matters a great deal to me.”

  “Screw you!” The boy who bent down to check on Dove Eyes threw himself at Blake with the ferociousness of an animal.

  Blake kicked his chest, sending him to the nearest tree.

  Then all hell broke loose. Hunters charged at Blake and Symphony, only to collect injury after injury. The smiling vampire and the girl vampire were brutal, snapping off wrist bones and clawing through bodies without hesitation. There were only two of them, yet they faced the dozens of hunters without breaking a sweat. When a pile of squirming hunters fell near their feet, Blake hadn’t lost his smile and Symphony was still clinging to her bunny with one arm.

  “Everyone, go back into the academy! If I’m not mistaken, these are descendants of Originals!” an older hunter cried. From the spectacles on his hooked nose and his age, he must have been an instructor.

  The young hunters scrambled into the opened gate. Instructor Hunter planted himself in front of Blake and Symphony, buying time for his students. Blake cocked his head, an amused smile on his lips. Instructor Hunter might be years older than the students, but he was an infant compared to some of us who’d lived for hundreds of years.

  I had to give him credit though, for he did detain Blake and Symphony.

  I stared at the gate. A closed gate had burned me last night and blocked Oscar from leaping across earlier, but what if the gate was open? It was one of the ideas I’d intended to test out.

  The gate was starting to close. Someone must’ve turned a switch. I had no time. It was either now or never.

  I kicked against the trunk of the tree, propelling myself forward. My body practically shot across the parking lot into Hunter Academy.

  When I was about to cross the gate, the dying alarm resounded louder than before. The
gate burned bright red, and heat scorched my skin, whether I touched it directly or not. Oddly, it didn’t seem to affect the hunters, some of whom were as close to the gate as I was.

  The smell of my singeing flesh reached my nostrils. I jumped back before the heat burned me into charred meat. Instructor Hunter slipped into Hunter Academy, slamming the gate closed in our faces.

  Pain radiated throughout my body while it repaired itself. I kept my back to Blake and Symphony until I was positive the burns on my face, neck, and hands had healed.

  Oscar appeared at my right. “So much for being discreet.”

  And so much for a secret mission. There was now no secret anything. Oscar had practically hollered all the hunters over, and Blake had told them what we were looking for outright. Had they no brains? Didn’t they realize it would be much harder to find the stake if Hunter Academy knew what we wanted? They reminded me why I hated to work in a team.

  “We can’t leap over the gates. We can’t walk through even if the gates are open.” For the first time since I had met her, Symphony spoke. Her voice matched her appearance, young and crisp.

  Blake approached the gates until he was within one meter of it, which was the closest I’d gotten before I felt unbearable discomfort. There were still quite a lot of young hunters behind the gates, peering at Blake and us with undisguised interest.

  “What are you looking at?” Oscar asked Blake.

  “I was admiring the strength and beauty of the spell.” Blake touched the gate. I could hear the sizzling sound of his fingers frying.

  “Well? Did you find a way to break through?”

  “I’m afraid spells are not my specialty.” Blake retrieved his hand, and skin regrew over his angry burn.

  “Then let’s go,” I said.

  Now even more hunters gathered behind the gates to point and gawk at us. I felt like one of those polar bears in zoos. The older instructors openly speculated who they thought we were. Some of the young ones were flipping through a history book!

  Then Rune arrived. He grabbed the iron poles of the gates to stare at me. His gaze was hard, unlike how he’d looked at me when he thought I was a witch. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I’d murdered his parents and raped his brother or something similarly atrocious.