“Hello,” she said as friendly as she could.
“Hey,” a rasp greeted her back.
She stepped inside and closed the door. The room was dimly lit, but she saw them both laying on the bed. Gauze wrapped around their hands, and bottles of blood sat on their nightstands. It was a young woman and man, probably newer Vampires. At least they were healing quickly.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Better. We can’t thank you all enough for saving us.”
“No need.” She shrugged her shoulders and took a seat in a nearby chair. Her legs crossed. She likely still looked like a crazy mess.
“I heard your residence was only a couple of blocks from here. Can you tell me some more information? Maybe about the attack, too?”
“Yeah…” the man began. He was lean and on the short side with short-cropped chestnut brown hair. His ears were slightly oversized for his head, along with his nose, but oddly, it didn’t distort his appearance. His voice was what stood out: a deep baritone that really did not seem to match his small frame.
“…There were four of us originally. Every night, there are raids all over the city, the nation. We kept our home boarded to make it appear as if it was an abandoned house, and would make as little noise and light as possible. Apparently, they grew suspicious after walking our neighborhood a few times over the past week. They busted in and that’s when they found us. We didn’t have time to run. It was unexpected. We managed to break away for a few minutes on the walk toward the interrogation building, but that didn’t work out so well. That’s when you found us out front.”
“And you said there were others at your residence?”
The female stared at her. She was quiet. Her eyes were dark, matching her light chocolate skin tone, and there were still burns on the side of her face healing.
“Yes,” the male answered. He seemed to be the chatty one.
“There were two others, but they escaped during the commotion. Or at least that’s what I’m guessing. They were there one minute, and the next, gone. The Hunters didn’t see them. They only thought it was just us.” He glanced sideways at the woman, touching her hand with gentle reassurance.
“Male? Female?” Zarah inquired of the missing Hiders.
“Both male. One of them was…strange. He’d only just arrived two days ago asking for a place to stay until he could get a more permanent residence elsewhere. The other was Cherise’s nephew.”
Zarah nodded in understanding, and met the eyes of the female, Cherise, again. There was worry there. But deep down, she saw something else. A warrior’s strength and loyalty. It’d become personal to her now that the nephew was missing.
“Tell me, Cherise, were you or any of your family a Guardian once?”
The vampire swallowed. It was likely a struggle for her to speak still through the burn wounds, but she was fascinated by her. Hiders generally consisted of vampires who were created from humans, not born into the life. Sometimes in rare cases, Guardians who left the career and wanted to raise families without going out on missions every night for the bosses.
However, Zarah could always look at one and see it. The drive for the fight. The desire and passion and loyalty that comes with a natural warrior’s blood. Just like what she saw in Cherise the moment she stepped into the room. The female was powerful, tall, and elegant—despite the burn marks that were healing. Her long, curly black hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a gold ring, and she lay on the bed wearing a white, sleeveless dress. It contrasted her milk chocolate skin. She even found herself admiring the exotic beauty. After a glance sideways, Zarah almost laughed out loud at the odd pairing, but she would never judge. It was apparent the male was very much in love with her and she was with him.
“Yes, my father was one of the first Guardians many years ago. He trained me as a child before I was fledged. I met Ray afterward though and decided not to join,” Cherise interrupted her thoughts.
Zarah looked over at the male the same time she did. Ray looked down sheepishly.
“You turned him?”
“Yes.”
She nodded and forced a smile. In a way, it was sweet. A happy love story for a couple. She sighed, thinking of her own dysfunctional love life.
After an awkward silence, she stood and began to head for the door.
“We’re going tomorrow night to your residence. With some luck, your nephew and the other vampire would have stayed close enough in the area so that we can find them and bring them back here for temporary safe-keeping.”
“Wait,” Cherise started, standing from the bed. When she approached, Zarah saw how tall she was and stared up at her in awe.
“We’d like to come with you, please. This is our fight also. We want to join. And it’s my nephew.”
She nodded.
“Sure. Get rest tonight. Heal up. But I hope you both can do a better job than earlier with those Hunters.”
Zarah walked out before another word passed.
Seventeen
The hallway was silent. It was a nice change, and after the bout of celebration earlier, Zarah welcomed the muted noise when she made her way down the winding corridors toward her room. There was something else nagging at the back of her mind though. It was too quiet.
She turned around and stared into The Lounge. Empty. Frowning, she made long strides toward the end of the hallway and pushed open the double doors of the gym. A few Fallen sat inside, cross-legged on the floor, talking amongst themselves.
“Hey. Where’s everyone?”
One of them laughed.
“Probably in bed. It’s been a restless couple of days.” Cam said from across the floor. He smirked. She pursed her lips, her brows furrowing together in annoyance.
“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. I hadn’t realized how late it was.” As she replied, she heard the familiar sound of the automatic shutters closing on cue around the building’s windows for the day. She sighed and began to turn back out of the gym with a half-hearted wave to Cam and his electric blue hair.
Halfway down the hall, she heard the doors whoosh open again and turned around on impulse.
“You should be sleeping.”
Cam walked up beside her. She forced a smile at him.
“What makes you think that’s not what I was about to do, and now you’re interrupting?”
“Because I read into people well. It looks like you’re not going anywhere near sleep for a while. Something bothering you?”
She shrugged one shoulder, turning into The Lounge and collapsing on a cushioned couch. He followed, taking a seat across from her. Zarah thought Cam was nice the few times she interacted with him, but could she trust him? Hell, she barely trusted Seth. Especially after the lies.
She narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion; his widened in return at her and he raised his hands in defense.
“I haven’t done anything if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“No. I’m just trying to see a family resemblance somewhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you all blood-related with Seth? He calls you brothers.”
He laughed. It was a loud guffaw sound that made her outwardly cringe. Running his fingers through his shaggy wild-blue hair, he shook his head.
“No. No actual blood relation. Well, it’s complicated really.”
“How so?” she asked with a confused frown.
“Some of us are blood-born related, but as a whole, we’re not all brothers. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She gave a short nod.
“Yeah, I think so. Like Landon and Daniel are twin brothers. So they’re definitely from the same family,” she started. Her chin was in her hand with interest. He smiled and nodded in return.
“Exactly. Heath and I are brothers, too. Half. Same mother, different father.”
“Oh really? You two look nothing alike. I’d never thought you were related.”
He chuckled, leaning back and tucking his arms behind his head.
“So, what’s the question?”
“Why do you call each other brothers?” she wondered.
“We are warriors, exiled, and banded together. Despite that we’re not all blood-bound, we are brothers for eternity. We fight together always. There is never abandonment among us. One falls behind, and we all go back.”
“Interesting.”
Zarah let an awkward silence pass before she gave in.
“How are the Fallen Masters playing into our war?”
“You’re a curious Vampire, you know that? Seth told me how you’ve been asking a lot about us recently.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. The nerves began to bounce around in the pit of her stomach. Not only Seth had been talking about her to the other Fallen, but it was likely they wouldn’t answer any of her questions either.
“I don’t understand why he just doesn’t tell you though. You’re kind of important around here. You should have the knowledge at least,” he added with a smirk. She smiled.
“He’s told me a bit more. But that’s me: curious. I’m always thinking of new questions.”
Cam shrugged. “Not my business.”
“So, you’re not going to tell me anything at all, huh?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you a few things. But you have to promise to go get sleep as soon as I’m finished. No rushing off to Draven or Thomas, or even Seth. Maybe…some of the information I give you isn’t exactly information you should have yet.”
Zarah stared at him in shock. His eyes were dark gold and serious. She sat up and leaned forward with curious anticipation.
“I promise,” she whispered.
Eighteen
Cam had told her more than she’d thought he would. They’d sat in The Lounge late into the morning talking, mostly in whispers, until he finally pointed to the open doorway and told her to get to bed in a stern, but friendly command. That was when she’d started collapsing from daytime exhaustion. She knew he’d been right to push her out; she was going to need the sleep for later when her and the team were going to step out into the streets for the first time in days to fight.
“Many centuries ago, Fallen and humans interacted freely. Half breeds were normal. But when a Vampire male and a Fallen female bred a child, it caused chaos among the species. The half vampire-half fallen grew, and the father fledged him. It brought out much of the same kind of power you possess. It was frightening. The Halfling took advantage of it and held humans as slaves. It wasn’t long before there were more from his own creation, whether from breeding or by forceful feeding. Our Masters began to seek them out, destroying them. A war was sparked one evening after two of the Masters’ Warriors brutally murdered a Fallen’s mate. She was a vampire. He vowed vengeance while they claimed ignorance, saying it was a mistake. They’d thought the vampire was one of the Halflings they were ordered to hunt. Many assumed they’d been set up by the Masters to spark the controversy. Either way, by this point, the Masters didn’t care. They didn’t even want the Fallen mating with Vampires for the risk of creating more abominations. The heartbroken and widowed Fallen exiled himself. He left everything behind, and as he traveled, began to meet others along the way who were starting to find themselves abandoned, destroyed by loss, or angry at the Masters for their ideas. That is the story of how the Exiled Ones came to be, how most of our feud with the vampires started so long ago. Though, as you can see, you won’t find much of a problem being a vampire or Halfling amongst those that are Exiled. It’s the Warriors you have to watch out for because of their commands to destroy you.”
“Are you created from angels? Like Heaven?” she’d asked.
“It is said the first Fallen came to be from the mating of an angel and demon. Those beings are long extinct now. We just roam this earth as odd creatures with no real idea like vampires.”
Cam had surprised her. The stories stunned her beyond words. They kept playing out over and over in her head as she curled up beneath her thick comforter in the bed. It was the first time she felt like she knew something other than half-truth, half-lie. She knew history. She felt it. An energy hummed somewhere deep inside her while she thought of the poor Exiled Fallen who’d lost his mate. The first Exiled One. She wondered who it’d been. She hadn’t had the chance to ask the blue-haired guy before he shoved her from The Lounge with orders of getting sleep or else he was never going to tell her anything again. And she definitely wanted to learn more.
Zarah was dreaming again. She had to be. It was rare for a full-fledged to dream. But now she seemed to more often since her change. She remembered dreaming a lot as a child, though she didn’t remember the dreams themselves too much. It’d been too many years.
But here she was, experiencing her third dream-like state in the last six months.
Fog encased her. She squinted. It was lifting slowly to reveal that she was inside a lighted tunnel. The end wasn’t visible; it just stretched on endlessly in both directions as she spun around to find herself alone.
“Hello?” Her voice echoed loudly in the small space when she called out.
“Zarah.”
She turned on her heel in a flash and faced the voice. He wasn’t there a moment ago, but of course, this was a dream. He could appear when he pleased, how he pleased, and where he pleased. A thick lump formed at the base of her throat and tears threatened the corners of her eyes.
“Dad.”
“Hey baby girl.” His smile reached his eyes and he leaned forward to wrap her in a warm embrace. He and Thomas definitely shared a resemblance. Except her father had been a little older during his change, so he had more of the age appearance of a thirty year old.
“You still love me?” The question was blurted out in shock. She pulled away from him with wide eyes.
“Of course. Why would you ever think I don’t?”
“I…we…killed you.”
“Stop. Stop that right now.” His voice grew stern. The tunnel faded away around her and they were suddenly standing on grass. She looked around, her mouth gaping at the sight of their old home. The house her and Thomas had to burn him in. The house where Mom died on the front lawn. She looked back at her father.
“You did what you had to do. I expected no less from you or your brother. I was Rogue; it was your duty. I couldn’t live like that.”
“But I could have saved you. Thomas—” she started. His fingers gripped her shoulders.
“No. I gave Thomas specific instructions. I told him the night I was injected what had happened. He knew. He knew all along that something was corrupt with Nathanial; he just didn’t know exactly what was planned. By the time he’d figured it out, it was too late for him, too. That’s why he turned you Rogue. He knew he had to start fixing the mess somehow.”
“Thomas knew you were injected the night you disappeared, but he didn’t tell me?”
“I told him not to. I wasn’t even supposed to contact either of you. It was lucky that Nathanial didn’t find out. I barely called in time before the poison set in.”
“Why do you have me here?”
“Draven.”
A wind from somewhere whistled around her and she stared at her father in confusion. This was suddenly reminding her of her mother’s dream visit.
“What about him?” she asked in a suspicious whisper.
“Do you remember much from before your fledging? When you were still mostly human?”
She shook her head and swallowed. It was true. Small memories flashed on occasion: dress-up parties, studying on the couch for night tutoring at The Compound—which hadn’t been offered for the last two decades because most children had went into home schooling instead thanks to the advancement of technology. She also remembered some training days, sparring with Thomas, as she learned kick boxing and martial arts. But most memories from so long ago, since the Change and the short time as Rogue, had grown fuzzy.
“There was a young man that visited on occasion
to help me with my projects. Once in a while, he helped you answer some of your homework questions. He’d been homeless. But it was later I found out that he was an Unclaimed.”
“You’re talking about Draven? I’ve known him longer than I think?”
Her father nodded with a sad smile.
“I couldn’t tell anyone who or what he was. Nathanial had met him once and grew suspicious just by looking at him.”
“Why don’t I remember?”
“It’s been a long time. And you didn’t see him much like I said. You were also Rogue at one time, honey. Coming out of that probably took a lot of your memory as it was.”
“What happened that night? I saw the video. Mom directed me to it I guess you could say.”
Her father became dreamy-eyed.
“I figured she would. That Kathleen is the most amazing woman I’ve met.”
Zarah almost smiled. Even in death, he still showed his love and loyalty for her mother.
“It happened just as you found out. She was coming home from the store and she was ambushed. She’d been an Exiled One, but when the Masters discovered she’d mated with a Vampire, it didn’t matter. They ordered her execution, hoping to prevent any Halfling anomalies. I was grateful they hadn’t learned about you and your brother because you both were just inside the house and so close to the danger.”
“So…Warriors destroyed her?”
“Yes.”
“What was Draven’s part?”
That’s when she noticed his nervous swallow. He stepped back from her, turning his face toward the house with a distant gaze.
“Dad? What was it?” she repeated. Her voice began to sound hollow. She feared waking before she could find out the answer.
“He was there to save you from Seth.”
Nineteen
Zarah awoke with a loud gasp, sitting straight up in her bed. It took her some minutes to adjust to the room. She had to focus after the dream, but the words still rang loudly in her head.
Through These Wicked Nights (Guardians of the Night Book 2) Page 8