The Renfield Syndrome

by J. A. Saare

His fingers dug into my back, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him tight. This could very well be the last moment we would ever share together, a snapshot frozen in time. I was grateful he couldn’t see into my mind as Disco could. Right now, he needed to believe what I told him, and thank God he did.

  When he kissed me, I gave as good as I got.

  This thing between us wouldn’t change. Too much had transpired. I had seen into the soul of the man, had learned how far he was willing to go for someone he loved. And it was love. Of that I was certain. He might not intervene when it came to fate, but he would do everything in his power to protect those he cared for.

  It felt as if I was torn in two as I pulled from the comfort and solidity of his embrace, prepared to greet whatever would be. He wasn’t as willing to let go of me as I was of him, holding on as long as possible.

  “Let’s get this show on the road.” Victoria’s smug grin, one that came along with pride and a sense of victory, made my choice all the easier. Do or die. Life or death.

  I’d been there before, and I wasn’t afraid.

  “Dimitri,” she said as she waved dismissively at the circle.

  A man stepped from the vampires at her back and strode toward the circle. He was human, and he was a necromancer. I felt the power radiating from him, so much more powerful than I’d ever experienced with Goose or Sonja. Watching as he began summoning the demon made me itchy, a prickle beneath the skin. I kept telling myself to be patient, to wait it out. Still, I couldn’t keep that tingle of anticipation from traveling up my spine.

  The mirror I would use soon vibrated, a bright flash of light overtook the room, and the smell of sulfur accompanied it just as a figure appeared inside the mirror. Like with Zagan, there was a strange desert behind it, the very realm of Hell appearing before us.

  “Nemnoc, I summon you to do my bidding.”

  “I do not owe a debt to you, human.” The demon was as androgynous as Zagan, tailored in unisex clothing. Instead of bronze-colored strands, its hair was bright, vivid silver. Strange black markings also marred its temples, and its eyes were the same opalescent hue I’d seen inside the face of the monster that had placed me in this predicament.

  “No, but you owe one to me.” Victoria stepped into the circle, arrogant and haughty as ever.

  “Victoria DelCrux.” The demon grinned and began moving through the mirror. The edges changed, become almost liquid as it passed into the realm. Within seconds, an unmistakable heat permeated the area and the creature stood before us all.

  “You owe me a debt, which I’m willing to end if you use your leverage to sever another debt.”

  “Interesting.” Nemnoc’s grin didn’t waver.

  “I thought you might think so.” Victoria moved closer to the demon but didn’t leave the circle. “I have a human in my midst who owes a debt to Zagan.”

  “Zagan?” The creature’s grin became a full-fledged smile.

  “All demons owe you a debt of some kind, it’s common knowledge. Sever his debt to the mortal in question, and I will end your severance to me.”

  Nemnoc glanced around the room, until its gaze rested on me. “Again, interesting.”

  “I didn’t summon you to fuck around.” Victoria was no longer happy-go-lucky, but the demon didn’t seem fazed. If anything, her agitation amused it.

  “I don’t see how any fucking can be accomplished, Victoria DelCrux, as you remain in the safety of your circle.”

  “True.” She shrugged, and though her back was turned to me, I knew she had to be smiling.

  Fucking bitch.

  No one noticed me as I edged away from Paine, with the exception of the vampire himself. I felt something grab at my back, but it was too late—I was already in motion. Only steps separated me from the demon who could rip my ass a new one, but if things went as I hoped, it wouldn’t be an issue.

  “I have a bargain for you, Nemnoc. One you can’t possibly pass up.”

  Victoria’s head whipped around, and she glared at me. “Step back in line, or I’ll have you placed there.”

  “Rhiannon Murphy.” Nemnoc studied me as I neared. “Rumors of your bargain have spread through Hell.”

  “I’m sure they have.”

  “The terms of your bargain,” Nemnoc said. “I’m listening.”

  “It’s true that if the host you owe a debt to is killed, you are no longer bound to the contract. Correct?”

  The demon seemed intrigued by the question. “Yes, it is.”

  “Then I offer you the life of Victoria DelCrux. In exchange, you will return to your dimension and consider the debt paid.”

  “Guards!” Victoria shrilled, and I reached inside my sweater, pulled the amulet out, and wrapped my fingers around it. I remembered Kibwe using the same chant, but it was the cleverly crafted notes from Sonja that allowed me to recall it so readily now—when I needed it most.

  “Tribuo mihi vestri vires fortitude, quod presentia. Ego libere tribuo myself vobis.” Present me your force, physical strength, and presence. I freely give myself to you.

  I thought I would collapse at the sheer force of the power that engulfed me in a raging inferno, white hot, so radiant and pure. Yet I remained standing as fear became something else, something I was unaccustomed to. I no longer felt human, nor did I feel contained by mortal frailness or weakness. I felt like a god, a deity stronger than any presence around me. The energy wrapped around me, entered my body, and built from the inside. It didn’t stop, but kept growing until I wasn’t sure I could contain it. And then a frightening realization hit me.

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  Turning from Nemnoc, I lifted my hand at the approaching group and said softly, “Stop.” It was instant, the order overtaking them the very moment my lips formulated the syllables. But it wasn’t only the vampiric guards who were frozen, so were all of the vampires in the room—the undead—those I was born with the power to see and, fortified by the amulet, control.

  “Rhiannon, don’t, please.” Paine’s plea seemed distant, muffled by the ever glorious rubbing of power against my skin.

  “Dimitri!” Victoria screamed. “Kill her.”

  The necromancer exited the circle, and I waited like a lion would for the lamb, eager as he approached. He didn’t stand a chance. The moment he was within reach, I grabbed him by the throat. One quick flex of my fingers and the delicate bones of his neck were crushed. He toppled over like a fallen tree, too dead to brace for the fall.

  “I accept your bargain, Rhiannon Murphy,” Nemnoc called out from behind me. “End the life of Victoria DelCrux, and I will leave. Our debt will be relinquished.”

  It was music to my ears, the one thing I wanted to hear. I was offering a demon a way out without demanding payment. I thought it was too good to pass up, and I was right. Victoria produced dual blades from hidden seams on her skin-tight leather skirt, her high-heeled boots planted firmly as I stepped into the circle.

  “I’ll rip out your throat, you ungrateful bitch.”

  Smiling, I reached for the knife at my back, pulled it free, and pointed the tip in her direction. “Give it your best, psycho. You and I have unfinished business.”

  She came at me and I dodged easily, watching her as if she moved in slow motion. She was well trained, handling the blades in her hands like extensions of herself, but it didn’t matter. I laughed as she kept trying to make contact but missed time and time again. With the amulet, I was just as fast if not faster. It became a game to me, a way to draw out her torture, knowing that the end result would be the same. She would die, I would win. The only variable was how long it took to take us there.

  “Rhiannon!”

  How many times had Paine shouted before I heard him? I wasn’t sure, but when he broke through the blissful surge of the amulet’s influence, I reacted. A deft kick to her chest forced Victoria
onto her back. I stepped on one of her wrists until she relinquished her hold on her blade, then I followed up by immediately forcing her to release the other. I kicked her weapons away before I straddled her like a pony. Her beautiful green eyes were full of terror. I suppose I could understand. It wasn’t often you met your maker.

  Grasping a handful of her hair at the top, I lowered my head until we were eye to eye, nose to nose. “Before I kill you, I want you to know something. I’m going to go back, and when I do, I’m going to do the same thing I’m about to do to you to your brother. Afterward, I’m coming for you. We will meet again.”

  Before she could respond, I yanked on her hair, presenting her neck, and buried the blade into her throat. There was no blood, as the blade did as I was told it would. It drank from her, feasted on the lifeforce she provided. I continued applying pressure until the knife broke through bone and met the ground below. It was only then that a pool of red stained the floor.

  “I now honor our bargain, Rhiannon Murphy.”

  I heard the odd sounds that indicated Nemnoc was, in fact, leaving. As I lifted my head, I saw the bewildered stares of the vampires who had just lost their primary source of power.

  Accepting the look of horror on Paine’s face was just another price I was forced to pay.

  I lifted onto my knees, tucked the blade into the back of my pants, and reached for my butterfly knife. I had to mingle my blood and Victoria’s before I could finish what I’d started. I cut into the fatty portion of my hand—over the healing tissue from exorcising Sonja earlier—and reached into the dark, red pool, gathering as much of Victoria’s blood as I could. Then I crawled to the edge of salt, scooped some up, and stood.

  “What are you doing, Rhiannon?”

  I turned when I heard Goose who was being held back by his daughter. His revulsion mirrored Paine’s. The few humans in the room were too fucking petrified to move, their mouths gaping, eyes wide.

  The sadness in my voice was very real. “What I have to.”

  Turning in a circle, I released the salt as I opened my hand, creating a very skimpy circle of my blood, Victoria’s and the salt that would bind the two together.

  “Marigold Vesta, I summon you to bargain. Heed my call and appear before me.”

  The mirror distorted, but it was not the same. The glass cracked, as if it was going to shatter. The walls vibrated, causing several of the light fixtures to topple from the walls. Then a white light brighter than the sun blinded me. Everyone gasped and cried out. Blinking rapidly, I shook my head. When I was able to see clearly, I stared at the woman standing before me.

  Her hair was the blond of a child, streaked naturally from the sun, and her skin was as pale and fair as the most beautiful and cherished of China. Her bright violet eyes took in the scene before her, and oddly enough, the cries and voices around us vanished, as if she and I were the only people in the room. Then her gaze turned to me. As our gazes met, she smiled so vibrantly her features created their own brand of light.

  “I see the amulet made its way back to you as I intended.”

  “I want to strike a bargain.”

  “I already know what you desire, Rhiannon Murphy. I’ve known since you arrived here. That’s why I ensured the amulet returned to you. Zagan was stupid in forgetting you’d obtained it through a blood rite—a slight on his part. Not that he deserved the power the amulet bestows.”

  I didn’t give a shit about Zagan, or the blood rite, in that moment. “If you know what I want, then name your price.”

  “I desire to be revived, something that is easily within your power to do.”

  It sounded easy enough, but I remembered all too well how ignorance had nailed me in the ass before. “I need to know the conditions, requirements, timeframe allotted, as well as the penalty I will incur should I not do as you’ve asked.”

  “Good, you’re learning.” Her smile was as breathtaking as the sun breaking the evening tide. “That will serve both our purposes.”

  “Don’t forget your mistakes,” I said, another one of my Laws, “or you’re prone to repeat them.”

  “My body is in a location I am unaware of. You have to locate it and perform a ritual to return the shell that once contained my soul to life. Considering it will take time to locate, I’m willing to negotiate the contract for the term of one year.”

  “And if I can’t do as you ask?”

  “Then you will willingly summon me, open your circle, and offer your body as a sacrifice. Although I’d prefer the face I’ve always carried, you can freely offer your body to me, presenting it as the vessel of one of the fallen. I can exist in your form while you pass on to what awaits you.”

  “And my soul?”

  “That depends.”

  “On?”

  She arched a blond eyebrow. “On what terms you are on with the Holy Savior, of course. It is His will that prevails in such matters. Not mine.”

  There were so many unanswered questions, such as how she landed in Hell in the first place, how an angel became one of the fallen, and what she’d done to become Lucifer’s familiar—the very ruler of Hell—as well as his concubine. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time or the luxury of asking them.

  “I agree to your terms, but there is a stipulation.”

  “Which is?”

  I grasped the amulet in my fist. “I keep the amulet. Regardless of what happens.”

  Her smile waned, and her eyes darkened several shades. “Already you are basking in the glory of its power. It should indicate how dangerous the magic you wield is, how seductive.”

  “I’m going to need it when I return.”

  Her unrelenting stare was a force to be reckoned with. “If you say so.”

  “Do you agree to the terms?”

  “Step from your circle, Rhiannon Murphy, and I will return you to your time. Your debt to me, as well as the time you are given to see it done, begins the moment you return. Consider the bargain made.”

  Before I did as she asked, I turned and faced Paine. He was frozen in place, but that didn’t hinder the way his brows creased and his lips pressed together, nor did they interfere with what appeared to be pools of red in his eyes—vampire tears.

  Was it possible for my heart to shatter more than it already had?

  “Things will be different between us,” I told him, meaning every word. “I promise you.”

  He implored me with his eyes, his distressed gaze nearly impossible to turn away from. “Don’t go.”

  I turned from him because I was unable to bear not giving him what he wanted and stepped from the circle. Just as I did, the sound of doors being demolished resounded through the room. I watched, mortified, as Carter appeared with a posse of werewolves at his side. Jennifer was among them, situated in the middle of the pack.

  Carter’s gaze drifted to the very dead demon in the circle just behind me, his eyes growing wide in bewilderment. Then, without warning, the werewolves began to shift, and I realized crossing over wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought.

  “Move!” I shouted, releasing the vampires from the grips of the magic that contained them. Just as I was about to accept Marigold’s bargain, striding toward her still form, I felt strong arms grip my waist—Paine’s.

  “I won’t let you do this.”

  Werewolves and vampires clashed all around us, sending torrents of blood across the room. I tried to wrest free of Paine’s hold, but he refused to let go, locking his hand around my wrist.

  “Carter!” I thundered over the fray, frantically searching for him in the chaos. “Please, listen to me!”

  Paine let me go when he was hit from behind. The force of the blow knocked us both to the ground, sending us in separate directions across the floor. Carter positioned himself between us, changed into the half-man, half-beast that was so macabre in its ferocity.

 
“You betrayed me, vampire lover,” he snarled, advancing one claw hand at a time.

  Jennifer came out of nowhere, partially changed herself, and barreled into him just before he could touch me. They wrestled, although it was quite clear who was the stronger of the two. As they did, Paine returned, attempting to tug me to my feet, when he was hit in the chest by another werewolf who snapped razor sharp teeth in his face.

  “You promised,” I heard Jennifer whine as Carter pinned her to the ground, trapping her on her stomach. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”

  “She’s a danger to us all,” Carter snapped. “She can’t be allowed to exist.”

  “Then I won’t tell you anything else.” Jennifer growled and lifted her head to stare at me across the distance. “Kill me if you want. I don’t care. I won’t be the pawn of one monster in the place of another.”

  “Don’t cross me, little girl.” He increased the pressure at her nape, causing her to whimper, but she didn’t cave or say another word. Roaring in fury, he lifted his head and looked at me. “What is it that you want, you traitorous bitch?”

  Pointing at Victoria, I informed him, “I killed her. She is no longer a danger to you or yours. You need to bring your numbers together and prepare for the next half-demon in line to inherit her place. This isn’t the doing of vampires—it’s the doing of those who made them. There can be a peace between vampire and Lycae.”

  “Lies!” He bellowed, eyes shifting color.

  “The truth,” I responded firmly. “You have the opportunity—right here, right now—to make things right. You can make that difference. Paine controls the city now. I’ve made that possible. He won’t betray you.

  “Please, listen to me.” I moved closer to Carter, movements slow and unthreatening. “It’s time for a change. Things can’t continue like this. Call your men off.”

  “I’ll call mine off if you call yours off.” He grinned, boasting as he was unaware that I now had that very power.

  I looked around the room, made sure Paine was clear of harm, and called out, “Stop!”

  It took several moments, and the deaths of many of Victoria’s men, for Carter to realize I’d done as he’d asked. As he became fully cognizant of that, he followed suit.