Women of the Dark Streets

by Radclyffe

  “Again, I call bullshit. My mother looked me in the eye and told me that she wouldn’t have me in her house because I was…I am…a lesbian.”

  Vespera put a hand on her arm. “I know what she said to you and I can tell you it was a lie. She loved you until the day she died.”

  In her heart, Adriana desperately wanted to believe that was true. But the look on her mother’s face that last night lingered in her memory. That look of scorn had broken her heart. She’d wanted to believe in the unconditional love of a parent, and it had turned out to be a fairy tale—at least where her mother was concerned. Her father had been a different story. He’d been a huge support as she’d struggled with her sexuality and finding her place in the world. The only time she’d ever felt like he’d let her down was the day he’d died. Her heart still hurt.

  Outside the night grew darker but the house held a stillness that hadn’t been there before. She wasn’t sure if the spell Vespera put on the place was responsible or if it was something else. Didn’t matter. She just wanted her to finish her fiction and leave her alone. Bad enough she had to return here. All this bizarre talk about her mother’s love and a dangerous woman stalking her was a bit much.

  “You hold a secret that could destroy two worlds. The only way to keep both worlds safe was to send you away. As long as you didn’t know the secret, you couldn’t expose it. If your mother didn’t know where you were, neither could she. You were safe and both this world and Tigeran were safe.”

  “Tigeran? What is that?”

  Vespera smiled as if just the thought of it warmed her heart. “It’s the place where you were born.”

  “I was born in New Haven.”

  “No, you grew up in New Haven, but you were born in Tigeran. It’s a beautiful place and you, my dear, are responsible for keeping it safe.”

  No, none of this was true. Adriana had seen her birth certificate and she’d been born right here in the Yale–New Haven Hospital. “That’s not right.”

  Vespera gave her a small smile. Vespera looked so much like her mother that despite wanting to believe she was some crazy woman who’d wandered in to terrorize her, she found herself listening.

  “You and I come from a beautiful world called Tigeran. Your mother is of magical blood, as am I, and as are you. Your father, as I told you, was a great warrior who fell in love with Sabira and took her as his wife. You were but a tiny infant when the call came. You see, we are from a long line of Sorcerers, all with great power and all charged with keeping the worlds safe. When this town was very young, Bernael, a bitter and evil warlock, used a magical dagger to part the veil between the worlds. He came through intending to destroy the barrier so he could rule both worlds. He would kill any and all who refused to serve him and enslave all others. To give the dagger full power, the hilt held five stones: a peridot for rebirth and growth, an onyx for vigor and strength, a fire opal for dynamic energy, an amethyst for nobility, and a bloodstone for purification.”

  A bloodstone? Adriana’s hand went reflexively to the stone that lay between her breasts. Her father had given it to her only days before his death and she’d worn it ever since.

  Vespera nodded as her gaze followed Adriana’s hand. “Yes, that bloodstone. Without the final stone in the hilt, the power of the dagger waits. Our ancestors followed him through the veil and, after removing the stones, placed a spell on Bernael that has kept him captive for centuries.”

  “Why not kill him?”

  “To kill him, we needed the dagger lost during the initial struggle. Though we’ve looked over the years, we’ve never been able to locate it. He had help, you see. They call themselves Keepers and over the years they’ve found four of the stones. All they need to restore Bernael to full power is the bloodstone. A Keeper was outside this house tonight. I believe they’ve suspected all along what your parents did to keep the stone safe and have been waiting for your return.”

  “Me?”

  “You and the stone you carry around your neck.”

  “So let’s just kick her ass and be done with it.”

  Vespera laughed. “You are so like your mother. Do you understand why she sent you away now? She couldn’t risk you coming back, couldn’t risk knowing where you were. She didn’t care that you were a lesbian. Not at all. She loved you deeply and simply wanted to keep you safe and prevent Bernael from coming back.”

  Even after all the years of feeling bitter and angry, she did believe. And why not? Considering she was in love with a vampire and belonged to a group tasked with fighting rogue preternatural creatures, finding out she was from another world really wasn’t so shocking. She could hardly wait to tell Riah and the others.

  As if everything she’d ever struggled with suddenly clicked into place, Adriana felt the weariness swept away. “So what do we do now?”

  Chapter Six

  The first day of May dawned bright and lovely in Adriana’s hometown. Or rather, what she’d always thought was her hometown. How did a person get to be her age and not realize she wasn’t from this world? She’d always felt different but figured it was because she was gay. To live in a society where being anything but straight was often frowned on seemed to pretty much explain her feelings.

  After talking most of the night with her aunt Vespera, her life seemed to make a lot more sense now. The most amazing part of the whole story was that in Tigeran, the world where she was born, being in love with another woman wasn’t unusual. The way Vespera described it, Tigeran sounded like a heaven. People were free to love who they wanted with equal rights and protections. Heaven.

  The only problem? She would be a hunted soul in Tigeran. Even more hunted than she found herself right now. It seemed power struggles were not relegated to this world alone. In Tigeran, the right to rule was just as bloody as here, and had been forever. As the daughter of a warrior and a Sorceress, she’d have a target smack in the middle of her back. At least here, there appeared to be only one gunning for her. In Tigeran, according to Vespera, there were many to be wary of.

  Of course, with Riah at her side, who would dare to touch her? Her beautiful, sexy Riah could make confetti out of anyone, man or woman, so she figured she’d be pretty safe no matter where she lived as long as they were together.

  The thought stopped her. Would Riah look at her differently once she found out Adriana wasn’t even from this world? Riah loved her unconditionally…right?

  No, she wouldn’t even go there. They were together. Forever. She refused to think any differently.

  On the sofa, Vespera slept while Adriana stared out the window at the landscape of her childhood. Little had changed in this neighborhood during the years of her absence. She remembered the trees, the cemetery just down the street where so many notables made their final resting place. Yale University sprawled nearby with its beautiful Gothic buildings and interesting history. It felt as though she’d never left.

  Except everything was different. Even beyond the absence of her parents. Everything in her life was different—her past and her present. As shocked as she was about her heritage, in a way learning the truth felt great. She’d been the odd man out, so to speak, in the Spiritus Group. The only one without a paranormal background. She wasn’t a vampire like Riah and Ivy, or a vampire hunter like Colin, or a werewolf like Cam. Neither was she a witch as Kara had so recently discovered. No, though an integral part of the Spiritus Group, until last night she’d believed she was the only straight-up human. Not any longer.

  If her aunt was right, she’d better darned well get some rest. A war was about to begin and she was marshal of that parade. Clutching the bloodstone, she headed upstairs to her old room. Maybe she could get a few hours of sleep before the funeral.

  Chapter Seven

  Elizabeth sat in the back of the church listening as the minister droned on about Sabira’s virtues. Bah. If they only knew. She’d been a fraud, as had her man and the child who now sat in the front pew with Vespera. She watched the backs of their heads, knowi
ng they’d feel her eyes on them.

  The dagger waited inside her bag, its power radiating through the leather and into her skin. Beneath her feet, he waited, his days of slumber nearly at an end. The way Vespera shifted in her seat, Elizabeth could tell she felt it too. The magic the Sorceress had called upon to cloak the church wouldn’t last long. Already she could feel the power of the dagger eroding the spell. By the time darkness fully engulfed the church, the only magic surrounding the place would be hers. Vespera and the daughter they called Adriana would be dead.

  Finally, the service came to an end and the family began to greet the mourners at the back of the church. Elizabeth waited until they were all gone and the minister had retreated to his office to shrug out of his funeral finery and be on his way. Since she was the church caretaker, he would leave it to her to lock up.

  Dusk was beginning to settle, a rosy moon just starting its ascent into the night sky. Energy from below seeped through the floorboards, sending a buzz of excitement through her whole body.

  At the door, Vespera turned and their eyes met. A flash of recognition made Vespera’s back stiffen. Her hand went to the other woman’s arm. Elizabeth smiled before turning and fleeing to the crypt doors. At the top of the stairs, she paused, listening until she heard the soft sound of footsteps quickly coming her way. At that moment, she sent her magic out, wiping away the last traces of Vespera’s protective spell. As she did so, she heard the sound she’d been waiting decades to hear. He was rising.

  Chapter Eight

  Adriana stopped in her tracks as the floor literally rolled beneath her feet. “Sweet mother of God, what the fuck is that?”

  Vespera’s face paled, a pretty good trick considering the darkness of her skin. It wasn’t comforting.

  “He’s here,” she whispered and Adriana didn’t miss the note of fear in her voice.

  She was about to ask who and then the lightbulb came on. “Bernael?”

  “Yes.”

  Not good. “What do we do?”

  “We stop him, and no matter what happens, do not let go of the bloodstone.”

  Adriana’s fingers curled around the pendant. Damn straight she’d hold on to it and kick some wizard ass while she was at it. She’d been around Riah and the Spiritus Group long enough to learn a thing or two. Squaring her shoulders, she steadied herself for battle.

  “Any suggestions?”

  “You’ve got to call the power. I know your parents never clued you in, but you’ve got it. You’re of the blood, and now’s the time, training or not, to use it. This world may very well be destroyed if you don’t.”

  The floor heaved and rolled once more beneath their feet. This time, it nearly knocked Adriana off her feet. Vespera didn’t need to tell her they were running out of time. She wished Riah was with her. Damn, she wished the entire Spiritus Group was here. If she’d have even an inkling of what was happening here, she’d have blown the whistle. Now there wasn’t time.

  The bloodstone, nestled between her breasts, grew hot against her chest. It had never done that before. That it was doing it now made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

  We are trav’ling in the footsteps of those who’ve gone before/and we’ll all be reunited, on a new and sunlit shore. Oh, when the saints go marching in/oh, when the saints go marching in/Lord, how I want to be in that number/when the saints go marching in.

  “Mama?” Adriana stopped halfway down the steps leading to the crypt. The voice she heard was as clear as if her mother was standing at her door softly singing just as she’d done before…before she’d sent Adriana away.

  And when the moon turns red with blood/and when the moon turns red with blood/Lord, how I want to be in that number/when the moon turns red with blood…

  Tears began to course down her cheeks. “Thank you, Mama.”

  She understood—everything.

  Chapter Nine

  The scream she heard was a voice she now recognized. Vespera. Adriana ran the rest of the way down the stairs. Her aunt lay in a crumpled heap near a pile of earth and bricks. She couldn’t tell if she was still breathing. Another woman stood, a wicked smile on her face, her long hair tangled, a silver dagger held in her hands.

  At her side, he rose, skin pale, eyes narrow, power throbbing in the air that circulated in the enclosed crypt. Once he might have been handsome. Now he was dirty and smelled of rot and something she didn’t even want to put a name to. Their eyes met and ice slipped down her spine.

  The woman was muttering, a curse, probably. The air grew thicker. No time. Adriana frantically searched. So many headstones.

  She felt it more than saw it, and moved sideways toward a headstone, dark and leaning. The other woman screamed, the sound like something from the bowels of hell. She ran straight for Adriana, the dagger pointed at her chest. Adriana’s movement was automatic. Her foot came out and she swiped it across the bricks just as the woman got close. The attacker went down on her back, the dagger flying out of her hands. Adriana caught it and just as quickly plunged it into the woman’s chest.

  Adriana looked up from the dying woman to see the man shaking off dirt. He almost seemed to shimmer. That couldn’t be good. She pulled the dagger out of the woman’s chest and turned once more to the headstone. There!

  JOHN SAINT III

  Above his name was a depression eerily similar in shape to the bloodstone pendant she wore. She wrenched it from her neck and knelt in front of the headstone. The song her mother used to sing to her all the time now made sense. Here was the saint with a number. And there was also the other little thing…a moon turning red with blood.

  She’d wanted to be home with Riah tonight, not just because she didn’t like to be anywhere but by her side—no, she’d wanted to share the rare occurrence of a blood moon. That moon combined with the other pieces of the seemingly innocent folk song told her what to do to stop this monster.

  She fit the bloodstone into the depression on the headstone. The rush of power was immediate. Across the crypt, Berneal screamed. The brick floor shifted and heaved as though some giant moved beneath the stones. Headstones tilted and shuddered. She kept the dagger in her hands, and when Berneal rushed her, everything happened as if in slow motion.

  His dead, cold hands wrapped around her neck. She couldn’t breathe while his words seemed to come from inside her head.

  “Die, bitch. You can’t stop me.”

  As he picked her up and her feet left the soil of John Saint’s grave, her feeling of power faded. Black began to tinge her vision. As her breath was cut off, the blackness continued until all that remained was a pinpoint of light. Her fingers ached as she held on to the dagger.

  Call on your power. You can stop him.

  Her mother’s voice again. She thrashed, fighting him until once more her feet touched the earth of the grave. At that instant, a hand gripped her ankle and she didn’t care that it had risen from beneath the soil. All that mattered was that the moment those fingers wrapped around her flesh, power roared through her and before the blackness obliterated her vision, she plunged the dagger into Bernael’s chest.

  Adriana came to lying on the brick floor next to the undisturbed soil of John Saint’s grave, with Vespera holding her head and wiping dirt from her cheeks.

  “What happened?”

  Vespera smiled broadly. “You stopped him.”

  Adriana pushed up and looked around. It didn’t make sense. They were alone. No Bernael. No screaming crazy woman. No disturbed graves. The only thing that let her know it wasn’t a dream was the dagger in her hand and the bloodstone still stuck in the headstone. She reached out and took it back.

  “That’s it?”

  Vespera nodded. “Once you pierced his heart, it’s as if he and his keeper were never here. You destroyed him forever and will be given a hero’s welcome back in Tigeran.”

  Yeah, Tigeran. The mysterious place of her birth. As she and Vespera left the crypt and walked outside, Adriana peered up at the moon, glowing
big and red in the sky. She suddenly smiled and shook her head.

  “No, Vespera, no Tigeran for me. I’ve got to go home.” She put the dagger and the bloodstone in her aunt’s hand. “My place is here.”

  “You’re certain?”

  “One hundred percent.”

  Vespera touched Adriana’s face. “I can’t protect you if you stay here.”

  “I can protect myself, and I have the Spiritus Group to watch my back.”

  “I hope they are strong, for others will come looking for you.”

  Adriana smiled, thinking of Riah and the others. “The strongest.”

  “They will come and you must be ready. We’ve won this battle, but the war is far from over.”

  Adriana covered Vespera’s hand with her own. “I’ll be ready.”

  Vespera nodded. “I believe you will.”

  Turning her attention to the dagger, Vespera returned the stone to the hilt and then quietly called her power. Dagger in her hand, she seemed to part the air. Then she was gone.

  Alone, Adriana stared at the spot where a moment before her aunt had stood. They will come. The three simple words echoed in her mind. The implication scared her, but only a little. Bring it on, demons, fallen angels or whatever else Tigeran wanted to send her way. She had her own power now and she’d be ready. More importantly, she had Riah and the Spiritus Group. It didn’t matter what world she was in—with that kind of backup, how could she lose?

  Smiling, she slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “Hey,” she said when Riah picked up after one ring. She could picture her standing in their bedroom, long hair flowing down her back, dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She’d look incredibly sexy. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

  Plagued by Darkness

  L.T. Marie

  Malakai stood looking out over the dark city, her long leather jacket whipping at her sleek, muscular body. She stood there many nights, gazing out over the lights, watching people stroll the streets as a hawk would its next meal. Tonight, though, she had a particular human in mind that she wanted to observe. She’d been watching her for weeks—had memorized her nightly routine. The woman’s raw beauty captivated her the moment she’d laid eyes on her, yet the woman had no idea Malakai even existed. It had to be this way.