by Maya Daniels
“I don’t know why I expected anything else from you.” His eyes soften for a split moment before he squares his shoulders.
I snap to attention like a good little trooper, as well.
“Where are we going?” Practically jogging to keep up with his longer strides, my head swings around, looking at all the distractions in the hallways. “And couldn’t they do this while it was still nighttime? They had to wait until my bitchy self is sleeping to try and attack.”
“It does seem rather peculiar, yes.” Not looking at me, he keeps moving purposely towards the lobby, dragging me along with him.
“Maybe that was the plan?” Gripping his hand tighter when it almost slips through my slick- fingers, I flare my nostrils in anger. “They want to kill me while I’m not strong enough to fight them all.”
Men and women, all dressed in a black uniform, run around us, giving us wide-eyed stares and jerky nods before disappearing through the hallways, doing who knows what. Occasionally, I jump up, tugging hard on Sebastian’s hand so I can see over their heads and shoulders, looking for Marcus and Andrei. The hotel is in chaos. Shouts and commands are yelled from one end to the other, answering hollers followed by the thumping sounds of footsteps.
Everyone is running.
“Don’t fret, my redemption. If it’s daylight, it’s only humans they sent.” Tightening his fingers on mine, he gives me a reassuring squeeze. I’m not the least bit reassured, I’ll tell you that much. “We can deal with humans easily.”
By this point, we reached the front lobby, frustration making me grind my teeth when I see the beautiful glass from the entrance shattered all over the crème tiles and oriental rugs. First, the assholes go and walk around the tunnels of my sewer, using it like it belongs to them. Now they come to my hotel—yes, I claimed the hotel as well since I’m stuck here—and they destroy this, too, like it belongs to them. Anger surges through me, and I see everything around me through a red haze.
The thick drapes are pulled tightly closed to keep the sunlight away from all the vampires positioned next to the windows, gripping all sorts of weapons in their clawed hands. Sebastian glides smoothly over debris and patches on the floor covered with bright yellow light from the holes in the front of the hotel. That betrays his declaration that he can deal quickly with the humans until the sun goes down. He can’t, but you can. The stupid voice in my head jolts me to a stop. Do I really want to attack humans? No, no I don’t.
Sebastian leads us to a window on the far right of the lobby where the shadows are darkest. I notice he can see through the gaps outside without being directly in the daylight. I don’t know why I’m surprised that he always finds a loophole to know everything and turn things his way, but I am. To my shock, I understand that I actually admire that about him. If I were more like Sebastian, I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in right now. While the internal debates and stupid random thoughts eat me alive, silence spreads around the hotel, not even a shifting of clothing or a deep breath breaking it.
Another blast rocks the ground, and the walls of the hotel groan, raining dust and plaster on all of us. Wrapping an arm around me, Sebastian holds me upright when I would’ve ended up on my ass.
No one moves.
When the dust and quacking stops, everyone is in the same position as before, their bodies and faces covered in gray power, turning them into statues with live gazes focused at something outside.
“Are we waiting on them to come inside?” Unable to stay quiet any longer, I jab my elbow in Sebastian’s side.
I can feel all eyes snap in my direction, Sebastian glancing down to look at my face. Pressing my lips in a firm line, I glare at him. It’s not like I yelled the question. Whatever his problem is, he can deal with it. This is my first official fight as a monster, not counting my rescue mission when I dragged him out of the coffin like the stupid little fool that I am. I was only half a monster at the time, even though I wasn’t aware of that little fact since I didn’t have fangs or claws. I have questions, damn it.
“Well?” Undeterred by his stern look, I lift my chin defiantly.
“No.” Amusement twinkles in his dark eyes and one side of his lips lifts slightly up. “We do not wait for them to come inside, my redemption. We go after them.” Cupping my face in his hand, he glides his fingers to my jaw, turning my head to the side. “Look.”
As if waiting on his words, dozens of Guardians start pouring out of the stairway entrance, moving stealthily through the lobby and heading straight for the front doors. Stiffening, I brace myself, watching them going up in smoke, but to my disbelief, they walk through the rays of daylight unflinching.
Humans.
Dressed in black just like the Guardians plastered to the walls, they spread out, going in different directions as soon as they exit the doors. They all look buffed and like they know what they’re doing. I knew we had humans here with us, but I’ve never seen these people before. Have they been hiding? If so, then where? Glinting at their chests as they pass like a river pouring out through the front entrance gets my attention. Flicking my eyes from one to the other, I see they all wear something that the vampire Guardians do not. A thick cord is tight around their necks with a fist-size medallion hanging on it, swaying with each step they take. Tiny crystals from it are blinking when they catch the light.
“What do they have around their necks?” Curiosity makes me blurt things out.
“Protection,” Sebastian says proudly, and I snap my gaze to him.
“Protection from what exactly?”
“Magic.”
Sebastian
I can see clearly on April’s face that she struggles to accept the fact we are dealing with a mage. Why this out of all things bothers her so much I don’t know. Many emotions cross her expressive face, from disbelief to incredulity, until they finally settle on doubt. I can work with that.
“We already talked about this.” She opens her mouth to answer but just shakes her head, sending her hair flying around her shoulders. “Why is it so hard to accept this, my redemption? Out of everything you have seen, of what you know that we are, magic is what tops the glass?”
“Stupid, I know.” Chuckling uneasily, she turns to watch the last of the humans disappear through the doors. “I know you said the Council used a mage and magic when they killed me, or that version of me, centuries ago, and I must say that’s easy to believe. Like fairytales, magic used so long ago is easier to accept than the fact that someone is using it now.”
“Go see for yourself.” Keeping to the shadows, I creep along the wall, getting closer to a hole in the wall the size of a chair. “Stay hidden, we don’t know how many are out there.”
“They’re flying on brooms or something?’ Murmuring, April leans on the wall, her fingers gripping it tightly when she bends to peek through the broken bricks.
I move along with her, her back pressed to my chest, so I can snatch her away if she is seen. There is a movement on the other side of the barricade we made around the hotel. My body hums with power, pebbling April’s skin where I grip her upper arms. She tilts her face, sniffing the air experimentally. I can feel where the magic is brewing from the left side across the street. She, on the other hand, ignores that, but keeps flaring her nostrils.
“Do you smell that?” mumbling under her breath, she cranes her neck to look at me. “What is that spiciness in the air?”
She did this earlier in the kitchens with the mole. Keeping my face calm, I search her eyes for anything that will tell me this is indeed something in the air from the blasts and not some unheard of development that I never expected. I know we can feel things like lies, or magic, but only through our senses, bonds, or instincts.. To be able to smell it…I’ve never heard of that before. It’s not a trait of a vampire, that much I know.
“What does it smell like?” Inhaling, I sort through the scents that assault my senses, trying to pinpoint what got her attention.
“I don’t know, it’s like breathi
ng in sharply while standing on top of a…” she yelps when I throw us both to the side, covering her body with my own.
“…fire” she finishes her sentence, the words muffled in my chest.
Luckily, she was pointing in the direction that whatever she was smelling was coming from. I saw the ball of fire hurled at the place we were watching a second before it collided with the wall, sending sparks all over the lobby. April can smell magic. I stay on top of her, incredulity warring with my rational brain. She can smell, not feel things.
“Get off me.” At the stifled command, I roll to the side, taking her with me.
“Where else do you smell the strange scent?” Waving a hand at one of the crouched Guardians, I watch her keenly. “Can you tell without getting too close to the open areas?”
April doesn’t answer. Her eyebrows pull tightly in concentration when she closes her eyes and lifts her face in the air. A shiver passes through my body at how animalistic her behavior is, even compared to a predator like me. Her nostrils flare, and her head moves from side to side before her eyes snap open, focusing on me.
“It’s faint, a lot less noticeable than when I was at the hole over there.” Waving a hand at the destroyed wall, she glances warily at the Guardian that answered my call. “But I can smell it coming from the exact opposite side too.”
“Send the humans to check,” I address the Guardian, not taking my gaze from hers.
“Is it magic?” She snorts and slaps a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I know it’s not funny, but I can’t help it. Anyway, is it magic I’m smelling?”
“It would appear so, yes.”
“Can you smell it?” With an arched eyebrow, she jams her hands on her hips.
“No.”
“Great! A freak among monsters.” Shaking her head, she turns around in a circle before stopping and facing me again. “Will this trait help to stop the asshole before he brings the hotel down on top of our heads?”
Two more hits rock the walls, sending bricks and furniture flying in the air around us. Ignoring the daylight streaming through the gaping holes that are rapidly growing, I grab April in my arms and bolt for the stairway. Clouds of smoke bellow around us, even after I push us both in the blessed darkness.
“Oh, my God, you are smoking.” April frantically pets my chest and arms, making me wince when her fingers touch the tender skin trying to heal from the sun’s rays. “What the hell is the matter with you?” Grunting, I can’t hide the shock when she punches me right in the sternum.
“I will not have you harmed.” Growling at her, I catch her fist in my hand when she swings at my head.
“I can walk in the sun, you idiot.” Seething, she is trembling in rage. “You, on the other hand, will turn into a lump of roasted meat!”
“I didn’t know you cared so much.” Smirking at her, I hide how her words spread warmth through my chest.
“I don’t.” Snapping, she yanks her hand back. “I’d just rather deal with your know-it-all ass than the Council right now. That’s all.”
“Right.” Chuckling, I wink at her, making her bristle. She’s beautiful when she’s angry.
“Oh, you…”
Her angry words are cut off when two explosions shock the hotel, and the building collapses on top of us.
April
I think that my bones have bones because I feel the pain of all of them breaking. If that was not enough, the excruciating pain of everything healing back together and returning to its rightful place finally makes me blackout. Not enough to go unconscious. I’m not that lucky. I can still hear the shouts and muffled words somewhere above the roof and stairs covering my body. So I wait. I know I’ll eventually crawl out of this grave they made for me, but I need my arms for that, and by the way my fingers are twitching uncontrollably I know they are not healed yet.
I really need a break, I think to myself while grinding my teeth, so I don’t cry out in pain. Crushed pieces of brick sting my eyes when I try to open them. Blinking profusely, I let the tears run down the sides of my face in hopes it’ll clear the stubby little bastards before I go blind.
“She is under there, dig.” Sebastian’s deep voice snaps from somewhere above me.
Of course, he is already out. I don’t doubt the broken building even bowed to the arrogant ass while moving away from him. Sometimes, I honestly believe that even the ground he is walking on is in awe of his presence. That’s just the aura he has surrounding him, and it leaves the rest of us following like puppets.
Funny how my mind decides to concentrate on stupid things just to avoid thinking about the pain.
“April?” This time it’s Marcus, and he sounds like he is right next to me.
Delirious from the agony from my mending bones, I snicker, imagining all three of them standing on top of broken pieces of the building with smoke billowing around them while they slowly burn alive. The gruesome thought snaps my eyes open and, ignoring the crushed rock and hurt, I curl my arms at my chest and start pushing on the concrete wall pressing me down.
“No!” The scream sounds like it’s in my head thanks to the tiny pocket of air I have available around me. “Run! Don’t die because of me. I’ll get myself out.”
“She’s here.” Marcus sounds excited.
“Of course I’m here, jackass. Get away from the sun.” I think my right arm is not healed yet because I feel the bone ripping into a muscle when I push on the flat wall. “If my arms heal awkwardly, I’m going to bring your ass to life just so I can kill you myself.”
The wall flies off me, and I blink stupidly, wondering if the panic has given me enough strength to fling it away one-handed. Of course it is the Sire asshole looking down at me with worry in his dark eyes who removed it. My idea to look like a badass goes down the drain when I forget about the still broken arm, and I use it to lift myself up. With a pathetic yowl, I drop back down, cradling it to my chest.
“She’s fine,” Sebastian says dryly, pissing me off. “Even more stubborn than ever.”
I glare at him. He smirks.
“At least your ass is not on fire. Unfortunately.”
I glance quickly at Marcus and Andrei, who are choking and coughing to cover a laugh. I think these two will eventually swallow their tongues with all the times they are suppressing their laughter. All my thoughts disappear when I see the dark sky above our heads.
“How long was I under the rubbles?”
“A few hours.” Scooping me up, Sebastian stands up. “It took a while to come around. Then we had to wait for the sun to go down before crawling out from under the wreckage.”
“Did the mages kill the humans?” I flop around, trying to look around us, and Sebastian almost drops me.
“Calm down, April. Only a few were lost.” Squeezing the words through clenched teeth, he tightens his hands around me, trapping me to his chest.
“You really need to stop telling me to calm down when I’m angry.” Snapping at him, I shake with the urge to slap him. “It pisses me off more.”
“Let’s move away from the open, shall we?” Ignoring my outburst, he turns, walking over broken pieces of the hotel. “You can be as angry with me and you’d like as long as we are away from prying eyes.”
“Did we get them?” Deciding it’s not worth it to argue with his stubborn ass, I stare at the broken lobby. “The magic assholes, I mean. Did we kick their ass?”
“No,” he snarls, pulling my attention to his face. “After they brought half of the building down, they must’ve left. The humans were guarding the destroyed lobby while we recovered. No one attacked after that.”
“Humph…”
“What?” At my huff, he looks down at me.
“It just sounds stupid.” Shrugging a shoulder, I turn to see Marcus and Andrei, who are walking next to us. They climb over bricks and furniture with thoughtful expressions on their smudged faces. “All that hassle so they can leave when most of us are incapacitated. It’s not what I would’ve done, but I’m not a mag
e so…”
“And what would you have done, my redemption?” Sebastian moves like a goat over everything, not taking his eyes off me.
“I would’ve dug them all out to kill them.” I’m surprised to feel that I actually spoke the truth. I’ll feel no remorse killing those idiots. “Or…” When I trail off, he nudges me with his chest in a silent demand to keep talking. “If I couldn’t do that, or I didn’t have time, I would try to hide close by so I can do it the first chance I get.”
“Precisely.” He smiles at me proudly.
“If I had any doubt these two are a perfect match, I don’t have it anymore,” Marcus tells Andrei conversationally, like we are not even here.
“Ha, ha,” I tell him blandly before ignoring their chuckling. “So, what’s the plan? We search for them?”
“I find it peculiar that you are your normal self.” Sebastian grouses, dismissing my question.
My entire body freezes, realizing how right his words are. It’s nighttime, the crescent moon the only light in the dark, cloudless sky. And I’m me, April I mean. I’m not angry, nor do I see through a red haze. Is it possible that I somehow returned to normal? Then I remember my rapidly healing bones, and I throw that stupid idea out of my mind. Grinning as wide as my mouth can stretch, I look at all three of them.
“I’m me! You guys, I’m not a crazy, murderous monster anymore.” If I expected cheering, I was disappointed.
Ignoring my excitement and pooping on my parade, the three of them talk like I’m not there. I so want to scratch both their eyes out, but then I remind myself I’m not a crazy monster anymore, so I keep grinning like an idiot, tuning them out completely. That’s until the asshole carrying me kills my smile, as per usual.