Crown of Smoke and Blood

by Sadie Jacks

  I’d survived worse.

  “Whatever you do, do not run.” With that warning, I closed my eyes. Sank deeper into myself. I had no idea what my siblings did to access the creatures within them. My own system worked well enough for me…us. Whatever.

  I opened my mental eyes and saw a hallway. Each door shown with the religious system the creature came from. My Shideem was housed under the Jewish Star of David.

  Stopping at the door, I knocked on it. “Deema. You’re needed.”

  The Jewish demon turned on her chair and looked at me through the bars that made up the cage. Her clear blue eyes were so startling. For whatever reason, I never associated pretty blue eyes with demons. Even though I housed one.

  “You call me now. Why?”

  “The women you found moments ago. I need to find them. I’m allowing you time out of here to help the people with me.”

  Deema perked up and rushed to the cage. Hissed as the iron and blood-coated bars singed her pearlescent skin. “Yes.”

  I nodded. Known she wouldn’t put up a fight with the gift of freedom on the table. “But hurt any one of them, and I will find a way to destroy you.”

  Deema nodded. “I promise.”

  It was the best I was going to get, and it was still too little. But it would have to do.

  Reaching out, I slid my hand into the lock and pricked my finger on the blade within it. Once my blood saturated the cage, it released its bars.

  Deema flowed out—a beautiful woman who was bound to no god or faith system. Father had found ways around that. And I would be learning the tricks too so I could give my creatures back to themselves. But that was a quest for another day.

  “Come back when you’re done.” I said the familiar words even though I knew I would have to fight her for control of our body. My body.

  She didn’t even bother to nod before she evaporated.

  Now came the pain. Wrenching myself and my soul from the form of our body was nothing but pure torture. Worse than anything father and his scientists had done to us. It was agonizing and brutal. The only thing I could say for it was that it lasted less than a heartbeat.

  Remember. Do not run, I sent to Koehn.

  Deema enjoyed the chase almost more than freedom. It got messy when she found something she considered worthy prey.

  Chapter 26 – Koehn

  Remember. Do not run. Vari’s words trailed through my head like smoke. Less vibrant than before, but I had a feeling it had something to do with the woman now sitting before me. Vari’s form, but definitely not the woman I’d come to crave.

  This one—with her long blonde hair and icy blue eyes—gave me the shivers. And not in good ways. Her long nails click, click, clicked over the single piece of granite countertop that hadn’t been smashed under vampire strength.

  “Sweet feck,” Gideon breathed next to me. Once again, he drifted forward as if his feet didn’t touch the ground at all. His golden eyes wide as he stared at the woman now inhabiting Vari’s body.

  Vari’s mouth smiled, making ice rush through my veins. “Hello, Curious Kitten. Who are you?” She lifted her hand as if she were a ballerina. All graceful lines and deceptive strength.

  Gideon hurried forward. “Gideon. But you can call me whatever you want.”

  “I’m Deema.”

  Gideon bowed over Deema’s hand and kissed it. A low moan filtered through the air. “You smell like sunshine and strawberries.”

  Deema chuckled. The sound low and throaty. “Thank you, Gideon. How kind of you.”

  “Deema, I’m Koehn. We need your help finding some women.” My words were a hard knife thrust into the simpering between them.

  Deema turned, her icy blue eyes flickering slightly. “Yes. Vari said something about that.” She sighed. Pulling her hand from Gideon’s, she shoved him back slightly and dropped to the floor.

  The leathers and cloak that molded to Vari’s form hung loosely from Deema’s more svelte figure.

  I fought not to wrinkle my nose. Vari was perfection. And this...thing had changed her. I didn’t like it. One bit. “Yes. If you could point us in the right direction, we’ll take care of it from there.”

  Deema laughed. Her head tipped back, the ends of her long blonde locks dancing over her arse. “Koehn, was it?”

  I nodded.

  “If there is anything to ‘take care of,’ it will be done by me.” When she lowered her head, her icy blue eyes held a hint of frost that I could feel against my skin.

  “Great. That works perfectly for us as well.” And it did. If we could find the women, get it witnessed and verified, then there would be no reason not to bring Vari back. And quickly. Added to it that the women would be safe and Michael’s death justified.

  Deema’s smile made my back go stiff. “You’re much easier to work with than others of your kind.” She spun on her heel and walked off.

  I had absolutely no idea what she meant by that remark.

  Gideon followed along behind her like a faithful pup. I was going to start calling him Fido if he didn’t get his shite together. The man was an embarrassment to our kind.

  I looked at Ambrose and Hector and saw the same disgust on their features.

  I do not like this woman at all, Ambrose shared mentally.

  Nor do I, but if we need her to clear Vari’s name, and get Vari back, then make sure you’re at least polite. I stared at him to make sure he understood me.

  Ambrose let out a sigh through his nose. A faint whistle rang through the air. If I must.

  I nodded. I insist.

  Hector pouted—privy to the Council network we all shared. She is truly the worst. No flare or drama at all. Other than the blatant kind. And you all know how much I hate to share the limelight. With that, he stuck his nose in the air and followed after Gideon and Deema like the diva he pretended to be.

  “Are you coming, Koehn?” Deema called from somewhere deeper in the house.

  I gritted my teeth. “Yes.” This was going to be a torturous night. I could already tell.

  **

  We traveled around the city for hours as Deema led us from one end of it to the other. At a couple points, I thought she was going to actually do the job she’d been called for. But, alas, no such luck.

  As we crossed the middle of downtown—for the third time—I’d had enough. “Deema. Do you, or do you not, know where you’re going? And stop leaving a blood trail everywhere we go.” I stopped in the middle of the street. If this woman dripped one more drop of her blood on the pavement, I was going to kill her.

  I was surprised none of my coven had shown up. The scent was exactly as Gideon had described it: sunshine and strawberries. And both of those were things I knew most vampires would kill to taste again.

  But I didn’t sense any of them. Not a single one. Which was odd. More than odd. And something that needed more investigation than what I could safely manage at this particular point in time. I did make a note to follow up with it, though. If something was wrong with my family, I needed to know about it sooner rather than later.

  Just as Deema opened her mouth to shoot me what was undoubtedly another petulant remark she probably thought was witty, I felt the pull of the sun start to drag on me.

  Ambrose and Hector withstood it better, but I could almost feel the energy of them start to leak away as the sky shaded just a touch lighter.

  “We’re out of time, Deema. Either point us in the right direction, or allow Vari to come back out. She is the one who is in trouble.”

  Deema jerked her head around and stared at me with her mouth gaping open. “Perfect Vari is in trouble?”

  Shite. Shite. Shite.

  Deema’s eyes gleamed in the low light.

  Wait. Maybe I could use this. I nodded. “She’s wanted for the murder of killing one of my vamps.” Maybe if I whetted her appetite, she would finally pull the stick out of her skinny arse and lead us somewhere. Before we all died of sun exposure.

  “Well, if you’d just sa
id something earlier.” She darted off back the way we’d just come. Her steps silent over the cobblestones of the historic street. “Right this way.”

  Gideon, still loyally at her heels, jumped into motion after her. “Be careful, my dove. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

  I rolled my eyes as I shoved the sun’s draining effects aside. I wasn’t really wanting to test the limits of my ‘newfound’ ability to withstand the sun without anyone but Deema around to help me if things went sideways.

  Gideon’s steps began to slow as Deema flitted down a couple streets and turned right. The alleyway was full of shops and boutiques that catered to the hipsters who called this neighborhood home. Too many coffee shops, slouching beanie hats, and scarves for my taste. Although it did make me wonder how Michael had been able to hide in their depths. The man was as far from hipster as could possibly be.

  Once we finally got to the shop door—a solid black that was marked with MAINTENANCE across the front—Deema was standing there petting Gideon. Her pale hands coasted through his long, pale hair.

  Probably imagined petting herself, their hair was so similar.

  “And?” Ambrose asked.

  Deema looked at me. She’d avoided both ancients as if they weren’t with us at all for the whole night. Probably because they weren’t panting after her. Not that I was, but being King did have its advantages. “They’re through there.” One long nail stabbed at the air in front of the door.

  I swear Gideon’s leg was going to start thumping any second. The moron. “I’ll protect you, my dove.”

  Deema cooed. “You’re so sweet, Giddy baby.”

  I threw up in my mouth a little bit. Shoving between them, I kicked the door open and stomped inside. We had just enough witnesses to make this work. If we found the women.

  Walking down the long, dark hallway didn’t pose any particular risks—other than the rats we’d disturbed. The lack of light meant nothing as my night vision kicked into full gear. And nothing so crass as to be tinted green like the humans kept trying with their gadgets.

  At the far end of the hall, another door was bolted closed. A heavy, shiny padlock had been added.

  Fecking Michael. I walked up to the door. Grabbing and yanking on the padlock, it opened immediately. The door’s latch shifted free, and the door swung open on its own.

  Five pale women skittered back as if I had come to eat them. Hands flew up to protect faces. Puncture marks littered their arms and necks. From the scent of old blood, I had a feeling they had puncture marks on their legs as well. Michael did have a penchant for femoral blood.

  Pulling my phone from my pocket, I hit the button for the flashlight. Shined it around. “I need witnesses.”

  Ambrose and Hector rushed down the hall, even though I hadn’t yelled for them. Their scents preceded them into the room.

  The women all shrank back. Whimpers and stifled tears filled the room.

  “We’re not here to hurt you,” I said. But from the fear turning their pupils to pinpricks, I knew they probably hadn’t heard me. Right now, anyone would probably scare the shite out of them if they didn’t come with badges.

  Ambrose and Hector both stopped at the door. “So witnessed,” they each said.

  I looked behind them, wanting to see Gideon’s stupid face right now. But the man was probably rubbing up against Deema’s leg. Scent marking her. Idiot.

  “Gideon, get your arse down here now. Stand as witness.” I shoved all of my authority into the order.

  His grudging steps finally sounded after about a solid minute of no movement. “Coming, my King.”

  “Hurry it up, damn it,” Hector called. “These poor dearies are about to faint dead away.”

  Ambrose turned back towards the hall. Glared. “You take another step away from our king and I’ll rip your head from your shoulders.”

  “Fine. Damn. It’s not like they can’t wait a couple more minutes.” The callousness of his statement—something he would normally never say—was my breaking point.

  I handed my phone to Hector. “Hold this, please.”

  His smile was savage. “Of course, my King.”

  Right then, I didn’t even mind the formal title. They’d been using it all night and I think it was the only thing keeping Deema from simply abandoning all of us. But I couldn’t wait to go back to just Koehn as soon as possible.

  I pushed out into the hall. Collaring Gideon, I shoved him in front of me. “Stand as witness. Now.” Frog marching the lust-struck idiot, I got him into the room in short order.

  “So witnessed. Now let go of me. I need to get back to Dovey. She might need me.” He flapped and slapped at my hand.

  Grabbing him by the throat, I got right into his face. “Snap out of it, you imbecile.”

  He snapped his jaws at me as his eyes darkened to black. “You can’t have her. She wants me. I’ll kill you if you touch her. I swear to the gods, I will.”

  Wrenching his head to the side, I leaned in and bit his throat right over the rapidly thumping pulse point. Sucked down some of the magic that infiltrated his blood. It swirled around my head, but didn’t taste anything like Vari. None of the lemon or berries. Under the disgust, I realized that it did taste different: sunshine and strawberries. How could one body carry different blood scents and flavors?

  It was another question for a different day. Pulling my head back, I spat out the blood. I didn’t want the taste of that foul woman in my mouth or drifting in my veins. It was bad enough she was hitching a ride with Vari right now. No need to keep a permanent reminder of the experience. Especially as an immortal.

  Looking back up into Gideon’s face, I saw the gold of his eyes filter back through the black. They also lost that crazed shine he’d been sporting for the last handful of hours. Thank the saints.

  He shook himself. Hard. Backed up for a second. Shook his head again. “What the hell?” He looked around the dingy space. Back at me. “Where the hell are we?”

  I shoved him back into the room. “Stand as witness.”

  He bucked against my grip, but went still when he saw the women. “Oh gods. Wh—,” he turned back to me. “These are the women Michael kidnapped?”

  I nodded. “Will you witness?”

  He nodded. “So witnessed.” As he crouched down, I allowed my hand to slip from his neck. “I’m Gideon. We’re here to help you.” He reached out slowly, as if the women were feral animals he’d found on the street.

  Only one of the women didn’t skitter back from him. She didn’t actively invite his touch, but she didn’t pull away when he offered her his hand. “What’s your name?”

  “Georgia Mae.” Her American accent was fluid and strong. The syllables drawled out like juice seeping down a peach in the hot summer. “Georgia Mae Anderson. A-a-are you like him?” Her voice shrank to a whisper on the last word.

  Gideon shook his head. “Nothing like him, lovie. You’re safe with us.” He smiled at her. “Can you get to your feet?”

  She shook her head. “We’re all chained.”

  In the quiet room, I heard all of us grit our teeth at her answer. Angry magic swirled through the room. I tried to tamp it down, tried to get a better hold on all of us. It was up to me to make sure these women were returned to their homes and families without further injury.

  I just wished Michael was still alive. I’d kill him all over again. And a lot more viciously than Vari had done. She’d done him a mercy by killing him so quickly.

  Gideon nodded. “Not to fret. We’ll find some keys or some way to get you free.” He turned and looked up at me. “Isn’t that right, boss?”

  I nodded. We only had four men, so one of us would have to do double duty, but I was going to guess that Gideon would be able, and certainly willing, to give these ladies some level of caring comfort.

  Gideon turned back to Georgia. “Are any of you actively bleeding or unable to walk?”

  She looked back over the dim room. Each woman caught her gaze. Shook their
heads gently.

  I took a deep inhale through my nose. Knew they told the truth about the blood, at least. All of their wounds were at least twenty-four hours old. I couldn’t tell if they had any serious, non-bloody injuries, though. We’d need a lot more light for that kind of inspection. And they probably wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

  Georgia turned back to Gideon. “No. We should be well enough to leave.”

  Gideon smiled. “Perfect. We’ll get you out of here in a jiff. Now look at me, Georgia Mae.”

  She lowered her chin slightly, the power of his persuasion already sinking into her mind. “Yes, Gideon.”

  Ambrose, Hector, and I all moved into the room slowly. I pushed my persuasion out, tried to capture the remaining four minds until the others could get to one of the women.

  Only one mind struggled against my magic. She huddled in the far back of the room. Had I been working with merely human vision, I probably would have missed her. But as it was, I saw her clearly. Making my way to her, I felt the slight retraction of my magic as the other men started working on the remaining women.

  I knelt down in front of her, careful to keep out of her personal space. I could do what needed to be done without frightening her further. “I’m Koehn. What’s your name?”

  She stared at me out of bruised and bloodshot green eyes. The fading yellows and greens on her mouth spoke of her strength and tenacity. Trying to fend off a vampire intent on feeding took not only enormous strength, but a particular kind of resiliency.

  “Catriona Amorna.” Her Irish accent was soft and almost sluggish. “What day is it?”

  I blinked at her question. “Friday.”

  She shook her head. “The date?”

  My eyes widened. “August twenty.”

  She closed her eyes as tears chased down her cheeks. “Three weeks.” She curled in on herself and started to rock. “Thank the goddess you came. Thank you.” She reached out and braced her hands on my cheeks, pulling me forward slightly. She leaned forward, pressed her forehead to mine. Her words blurred together until I couldn’t understand any of what she said.