The Glittering Halo

by Liddie Cain

  ***

  The two of them stood there silently, their expressions blank. The first one that had walked in had very white skin, waist length blond hair and a breathtakingly beautiful face. He wore modern clothing, but he still managed to look old fashioned with the way his shirt was buttoned up to his neck and his suit jacket a bit long in the back while still fitting him in the shoulders. He was handsome until he swept his blue-eyed gaze across everyone in the room. There was no warmth in that gaze. No spark of humor or kindness. He was dead inside.

  Beside him stood a tall and muscular black vampire with long braids that were pulled up into a bun with the sides and back of his head buzzed short. His eyes were a light amber color, but unlike the blond, they were not empty. His expression was guarded and neutral, but he left me with the impression that he was not a cold and unfeeling cog in the Imperium machine. He and Jason made solid eye contact and greeted each other with a single nod each as if they already knew each other.

  “Macory Jacobs,” the blond vampire said.

  Mac released the vampire he had been fighting. Wisely, the vampires on the floor did not try to continue the fight now that two of the Imperium officers were here. Mac got to his feet and gave a half bow. “I am Macory.”

  “I am Lawrence. This is Alec,” he gestured at the man behind him. “We are here to investigate the allegations of a vampire abducting one of the humans of this town.”

  He walked over to where the two new vampires still lay on the floor. “Why is the district magistrate having to fight you?” He asked them as he gestured for them to stand. “And what are your names?”

  “I’m Marcus. This is my brother, Alexander. It was just fight for dominance,” he said as he shrugged off the altercation. Mac kept his face blank, but I could feel his surprise that Marcus didn’t try to plead his case to the Imperium. The mark on my side binded me close enough metaphysically to Felix and Mac that we could sense each other’s emotions and speak to each other telepathically.

  The Imperium had its own leadership outside of Hell, but these were chosen by the overlords from below. They did answer to the demons in charge like Devina. It had been decided that it was time to go public with vampires. While there had been conservative opposition to be faced, going public had greatly increased the number of humans that traded their souls for a chance at immortality. Heaven had backed the formation of the Imperium since it made it harder for vampires to harm humans. If a human chose to become a vampire, that was their free will right to do so.

  “Macory Jacobs is the magistrate of this district and proved himself a stronger vampire in your fight. There will be no more challenge for dominance,” Lawrence stated flatly.

  Marcus bowed and replied, “Of course.”

  “You may go. I only need to speak with the magistrate and his officers.”

  Marcus, Alexander and the two other vampires that had arrived with them took the suggestion and left quickly. Marcus shot Mac one more meaningful glare before the four of them went out the front door. Lawrence looked at Alec. Wordlessly, Alec nodded, then followed the Vegas vampires out into the night.

  “Magistrate,” Lawrence said sharply after Alec had left. “I would taste your human pet.”

  Sylvia stiffened, reaching behind herself to touch my arm protectively. He saw the gesture and leaned to the side to make eye contact with me. I could feel the pressure on my mind as he tried to entrance me with his gaze.

  “Come to me, little human.”

  "No."

  It took a moment for my denial to register on his face. You didn't get to be an officer of the Imperium if you weren't an old and powerful vampire. He likely had not met many mortals that were not instantly brought under his spell by his gaze.

  "You refuse to let me drink from you?"

  "Yep," I replied sharply.

  Lawrence narrowed his gaze at Mac. "Are you not loyal to the Imperium?"

  "I am," Mac replied, "but Rozalyn is not a blood bound pet. She is my partner and Jason's partner."

  Sylvia shifted, putting herself more squarely in front of me so Lawrence couldn't look directly at me.

  "Ah," Lawrence said. "Interesting. I will need to speak to you in private about a few things."

  "We can speak in my office if you'd like?"

  A loud knock on the door made everyone pause. Arthur, the human house manager, must have already realized that someone had arrived because he walked down the stairs as soon as the first knock sounded and went to open the door. Uniformed police officers walked into the room with Detective Stevens leading them.

  "Mr. Jacobs, after we left we got back some results from forensics. I'm sorry to tell you that we are here to take Hugh Draper into custody."

  Everyone that knew Hugh looked at him incredulously.

  "There has got to be a mistake, Hugh wouldn't be able to do this," Mac told him.

  "His fingerprints were found instead the vehicle that Emma was abducted from."

  Some officers walked through the living room and headed out back where Hugh and Joletta's living quarters were in the guest house. I walked over to Mac and Detective Stevens, reaching out and touching the detective's arm. "Hugh would never hurt anyone."

  "We will keep on investigating, but right now he is our primary suspect and he will have to come with us."

  Mac saw that I was about to argue with him about it and put his arm around my shoulders. "Let them do their job," he said. "We will figure it out." He released me and walked with Detective Stevens as he went outside where the other officers had gone to arrest Hugh. Lawrence went with Mac, so when I was left alone with Sylvia and Jason, they leaned in to speak with me quietly.

  "We need to figure out where the girl is," Sylvia said.

  "Agreed. Grab your purse and everything, Roz. Let's get this figured out before Hugh runs out of time."

  There was no such thing as time on death row for vampires convicted of killing a human. Once convicted, they went straight to execution since there were few cities that had prison facilities that could hold them. I laid my hand against Jason's face for a moment because I was scared for our friend. He laid his hand over mine and said, "I know, baby."

  I would have loved to had stood there and let him continue to comfort me, but we didn't have the time. I hurried back to Mac's office where I had left my purse and car keys and grabbed them. As me, Jason and Sylvia walked outside, Hugh was being put in the backseat of one of the police cars with handcuffs on. I stopped in my tracks, watching him be shut inside the car. Joletta stood there crying and arguing with Detective Stevens while I made eye contact with Hugh. Those hand cuffs nor that locked car door could technically hold him. He could easily snap those cuffs and peel the metal back on that car to get back out of it. But he didn't.

  He allowed himself to be arrested with faith that it would all be worked out.

  ***

  Sylvia grabbed my car keys as Jason walked with me over to the car, slid into the backseat with me. We left before the police had driven away with Hugh. I tucked myself up against Jason's side as Sylvia was saying, "They investigated the old shirt factory last night. I think we should start there."

  "How did you find that out?" I asked.

  "The detective who questioned me told me."

  "He just volunteered that?" Jason asked with a grin.

  "I might have enticed it out of him," Sylvia replied, flashing a mischievous glance over her shoulder at us and making us both chuckle at her. I settled back into the seat and against Jason, threading my fingers through his. I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was waiting for us around the corner despite being happy to be held by someone I loved with my hold heart and in the car with a friend I cared about. Then I remembered something that I wanted to ask Jason about.

  "Did you know the other Imperium officer? The one that left like he was going to follow Marcus?"

  "Alec is my master, the one who made me."

  "Oh. Does that give you a special bond to him?"

&nb
sp; "In the beginning it does. Masters can force the bond to stay as you get older. Alec chose to release me into independence once he was sure I had the hang of things."

  "Think he can be trusted?" Sylvia asked.

  Jason's face was thoughtful as he replied, "Alec was always a loner. I am the only vampire he has ever created that I am aware of. Truthfully, I didn't know him well before we went our separate ways. He never did anything that wasn't honorable in the time that we spent bonded. And he taught me kindness. If there are other sides to him, I never witnessed it."

  "We will be cautious of course, but perhaps Alec would help us if we needed it."

  "Possibly. I don't know how much his sense of honor would force him to follow his orders from the Imperium if it came to that," he replied to her.

  "Sylvia? Do you have a maker?"

  "Yes, but he lives in Canada and also released me to be independent a couple of years after he brought me over. His name is Xavier and he runs a large theater company in Toronto."

  "Were you an actress?"

  "A singer. Xavier specializes in bringing over artists that inspire him."

  "I'd like to hear you sing," I said excitedly, then was surprised when she just took a breath and started belting out "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees. Her voice was smoky and rich. She sang with a soulful style that immediately gave me goosebumps. When she finished, I leaned up and hugged as best as I could from the back seat.

  "You have such a wonderful voice. Can I talk you into performing for other people?"

  "Yes," she replied with a laugh. "I've been thinking about it. I used to sing at a club in my old district and I do enjoy it."

  "Good. That's something to look forward to when all this mess is over."

  I sat back against Jason again as we pulled up at the abandoned factory. It was a popular place for the teens from town to sneak out to, so there were plenty of tire marks leading in and out of the old dirt road. It was a standard square production building that the windows were now busted out of and spray paint graffiti covered the lower half of. What was unusual was that Song was standing in front of it as we pulled up.

  She waited as we got out of the car, looking between the three of us as we walked up to her. "Figured you guys might not be far behind. I heard Sylvia entrance the info about this place from the detective."

  "Did you find anything?" Jason asked.

  There was interest in her blue gaze as she looked him over. Jason just smiled mildly. "I haven't checked inside yet."

  "Let's have a look then," I said. We walked over to the front door, which the lock had been broken on a long time before. Sylvia caught my wrist to keep me from walking in too quickly as Jason and Song went ahead of us. Jason called out a few moments later, "You can come in."

  The inside of the building was mostly empty. Someone had brought in a few old couches and crates. Empty beer cans littered the floor. There were the charred remains of logs where someone had built a small bonfire while hiding out here to drink at some point. The old cement floor and two-story ceiling left the building safe enough for a small indoor fire.

  "Emma was here. I can still smell her scent," Sylvia said.

  "Think she was alive?"

  "Yes," Jason answered as he walked over to one of the old couches and knelt in front of it. "She bled here, but not enough to kill her."

  "More like a messy eater," Sylvia added as she walked up behind him.

  "You know she probably knew about this place. What if she suggested it?" I asked to no one in particular.

  "Wouldn't be the first teen girl to run off with a vampire," Song said.

  "How do we find them now though?" I asked.

  "Well," Jason said as he stood back up, "Meredith would be able to tell us."

  "Was afraid of that," I muttered.

  "Me too," Sylvia said.

  "I'll tag along," Song stated as she was already heading outside.

  "I need a few human minutes at home before we go."

  "We need to let Mac know what's happening anyway," Sylvia said as we all loaded back up in the car. Song sat up front with Sylvia.

  "And find were Conall has Maeve and Meredith at," I added.

  "That too," Jason agreed as he pulled me into his arms again. I was in a car full of vampires, so there was no real reason to worry about buckling up. Jason was strong enough and fast enough to get me out of the car before we collided with anything. As we snuggled close, Song turned to look at us.

  "Is your relationship closed?"

  Since we had already seen her give Jason the once over, I knew where she was headed and said, "Jason can date who he wants."

  "But he doesn't date."

  "Often. I don't date often. Haven't found a girl that would mix well yet. Most of them want me to be their primary partner, and I spend too much time with Roz for that."

  "I'm not looking for a steady boyfriend," she quipped. Her blue gaze shifted to me again, and she gave me the same analyzing once over that she had done to Jason earlier.

  Sylvia noticed it too and told her, "Roz is disappointingly straight."

  Song looked at her with one arched eyebrow and said, "Well, if she hasn't been tempted by you, I have no chance."

  "I'm pretty sure you're just using me as an excuse to hit on both Sylvie and Jason right now," I laughed. "I think I might be offended."

  Song shot me the first grin I had seen from her. That blue gaze lit up with that smile and dimples peaked out on her cheeks, transforming her into someone that was warm and approachable as opposed to the cool aloofness she typically exuded. It was such a drastic difference that it caught me off guard. She must have been aware of the effect because she schooled her face, but still had a pleasant expression as she said, "You have excellent tastes in lovers and friends. It is a compliment."

  "I do have great tastes," I said with a smile up at Jason. He wiggled his eyebrows at me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking about Song coming onto him. He didn't seem annoyed, but he wasn't really flirting back much with her. Song seemed to drop her quest and turned back around to face the front again to start chatting with Sylvia. Since their attention was elsewhere, I caressed my fingertips up Jason’s thigh and felt the muscles in his stomach tense up.

  Sylvia was used to us touching and he wouldn’t care if Song minded. He let go of my hand and looked at me mischievously as he took me by the waist and lifted me onto his lap. I turned, so that I was facing him, touching his face, loving his playfulness. He slipped his fingers under the hem of my shirt on my back and rubbed his way up across my skin and around to the front of my body. When his fingers plunged down into the cup of my bra I gasped.

  “Do I have to tell you guys to get a room again?” Sylvia asked, amused.

  “Song wants touch,” Jason replied to her, confusing me.

  “And you won’t do it without Roz,” Sylvia stated, sounding like she was explaining it to Song too.

  “We are a package deal,” Jason said.

  Song was suddenly beside us in the back seat, her expression back to being guarded and blank. Jason reached up and gripped her by the back of her neck suddenly. It was way more aggressive than anything he had ever done with me. He imprisoned her with that grip, an unmovable vise that I would have no hope of working myself free from. Song’s eyes rolled back in her head, her lips growing slack as a sigh passed across them. I looked at Jason with widened eyes. He used his free hand to pull his face down to mine. The touch was gentle, his lips a caress. All the while he griped Song like he would snap her in two.

  He gave me one more sweet and lingering kiss before he pulled away and bruisingly covered Song’s mouth with his, forcing her mouth open without releasing that grip on the back of her neck. But she was a vampire like him, and she could handle that kind of physical aggression. Was my mortality making Jason hold back? I had one of those moments that I seriously questioned the man I was with. I cherished the tenderness he treated me with and had never questioned that it meant as much to him. As
I sat there and watched him top Song so thoroughly, and skillfully by her reaction, I was left wondering how many of his needs I wasn’t meeting.

  Sylvia turned the car onto a dirt road that was only about a mile from Mac’s house and was actually on the district house property. She tucked the car into the trees and reached back to grasp my hand. “I’ll be waiting on y’all at the house.”

  I nodded and squeezed her hand before she got out of the car. Then Jason pulled my attention back to him again as he brought his gentle mouth to mine again. I realized that he and Song with both now topless. Her breasts were small and tear dropped shaped, with the bottom side being a little fuller than the top. My own breasts were fuller at the top, so it made my nipples face more downward.

  “Would you like to touch?” Song asked when she saw me looking at her. I hesitated. I had no issue with touching her, but I also wouldn’t be turned on by it. I struggled to find a way to say that without killing the mood.

  “If we touch while we are with Jason at the same time, I will be indifferent about it, but an enthusiastic participant if it heightens the experience for the two of you.”

  “Yep, you’re pretty straight,” Song said with a laugh. I nodded at her as Jason lifted my shirt up over my head so he could trace his mouth across the tops of my breasts.

  “Will you enjoy her touching you?” He asked me.

  My voice was thick with arousal as he buried his face in between my breasts. “Yes,” I said simply. He unhooked my bra, tossed in the front seat, and pulled one of my nipples into his mouth. Song leaned him beside him and traced her tongue across my other nipple. I shuddered for both of them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. Jason released my breast and kissed me again before saying, “This has to be a quickie.”

  Both he and Song moved in a blur then, clothes tossed into the front seat. I found myself laying on top of Song, our breasts pressed against each other. Jason traced his hands down across my ass and across that sensitive center of me. Song’s was directly below mine so Jason could sweep his hand down across me and further down to touch her. I felt the hard length of him travel the same path. The tip teased down across my wetness before moving down to Song. I watched her face as he rammed himself inside of her.