Reluctant Storm

by P. A. Warren

  I hold my hands up and look at Jason, who somehow managed to find a lantern. I see him trying to figure out how to light it. I pull a lighter out of my pocket and slowly maneuver my way over to him. I grab the lantern and carefully open the door and flick the lighter on until the wick is lit and then hand it back to Jason to put it on the table. I turn my back to him and stretch my arms over my head, trying to get the kinks out. I turn back towards him and he is right behind me, shining the light directly in my eyes.

  “Seriously dude? Why are you so close to me? You’re in my bubble. Get. Out. Of. My. Bubble.”

  “Look, I know you don’t like me. I didn’t actually plan on kidnapping her, but come on; wouldn’t you have done the same?”

  “Um, no! I don’t have a death wish…although,” I say with snap of my fingers, “if I’m stuck with you much longer I might wish it on me.”

  Using the lantern, I gesture towards the table so I can pretend as if I have no idea what’s going on. I act like I’m trying to figure out what our next move is going to be.

  “Okay, what are the reasons he would kidnap Claire?” I ask, running my hand over the scarred wood, mentally seething inside having to do all this pain in the ass acting; useless is what it is.

  “Well let’s see, she’s the king’s unknown daughter, “Jason says, ticking the fingers on his hand, “She’s pretty—”

  I burst out laughing. “That is not a reason he would want her. He has a harem of beautiful girls.”

  Jason looks over at me with his eyebrow cocked. “But I do know something she has that he doesn’t have, The Maji.”

  “Oh, she has a Maji? What’s a Maji?” I ask, feigning interest, as if I have no idea what a Maji is…puhlease. I’ve had one since I could remember.

  “She does…and I have it,” he says, pulling the old leather book out of his back pocket.

  Whoa he should not have that Maji in his hands, ever. Sitting up straighter, I hold out my hand for the old leather book and pull it out of his grasp as he continues to boast about his knowledge of the Maji.

  “This is like the holy grail of vampire history books. It’s a vampire witch spell book. Vampire witches that have power use it. Claire told me that her grandmother, the King’s mother, came over to her house one day and gave this to her.” Jason says.

  I reverently touch the binding, thinking back to the day when it was given to her. I knew then that she would one day be mine.

  “Have you opened it yet?” I question him softly, still rubbing the Maji but not opening it.

  “No, supposedly only those with the gift are able to open it, so I never tried.”

  “Try it,” I goad him as I watch him shaking his head nervously.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  I study Jason, who’s sitting there with his arms folding across his chest. I shrug and think what the hell. I grasp the old leathery book and slowly stick it in my jacket pocket. The door bangs open behind us and slamming against the wall, splintering the door in two. I jump up, sending the chair toppling over. I bend down and grab my knife from my boot, unsheathing it as I race forward without a second thought. I sink my knife into the intruder, and as I’m pulling my knife from the person, I feel the cold sharpness of a knife at my throat as someone grabs me from behind. Dropping my knife, I center my thoughts into all the training I’ve had and disregard what the Queen instructed me to do. I slam my head back and hit the person holding me with a satisfying crack, forcing them to let me go. I drop kick the shit out the guy who’s trying to knife Jason. I toss Jason another knife from my other boot. Everything’s going fine until I hear the cocking of a hammer, and feel the cold steel of a gun at my temple. I’m aggravated for being in a situation where I can’t use my powers, nor fight as I’ve been taught. They quickly tie me and Jason to the chairs. It happens so fast and so silently that I barely have time to ascertain what just happened.

  “You didn’t think you would be able to kidnap Anya, did you?” The King throws his head back, laughing. “I could have had you killed within two seconds after you kidnapped her, but I didn’t. It’s amazing what people will do for money, right Mikail?” He beams at me, and I refuse to look at him. What a son of a bitch. The jokes on him though, since I’m also working for his mom, the Queen.

  “Yes, take it in, Jason. Mikail had been working for Griffin, until I found out and offered him triple the pay to double cross him, and then when he told me that he saw Claire and you in the park with the Maji of all things, the Maji!” he screams, his voice softening eerily. “Do you know what it feels like to have your own mother turn against you?” He walks around the chair and presses the knife into my neck. Slowly, I shake my head, inwardly flinching as I feel the sharp end of the knife cut into me, drawing a sliver of blood. He grabs the Maji from the table and fumbles it while trying to put it in his jacket pocket.

  “Betrayal is a horrible thing isn’t it, Jason?” he asks as he jeers at me. “I killed my mother when I found out what she did, and I felt no loss.”

  I lift my head sharply as I absorb what Antony said, my eyes widening. The fact that he thinks the Queen is dead and that he killed her is brilliant on the Queen’s part.

  Closing my eyes, I take it all in, the liar of a man standing in front of me holding a knife to my throat, and who hired Jason to protect Claire, a job he would never be able to do and was basically a farce. For him to hire me to take care of his daughter by killing her, and then Jason only is astounding at the intricate and confusing web he has weaved. And now he’s trying to take the Maji from me. It’s one big clusterfuck, and I can’t see the right from the wrong anymore. Antony slaps me across the face with such force my head snaps back. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of letting him see me in pain. I hang my head and spit out the metallic tanginess of blood before I say the one thing that has been bothering me from the get go.

  “You set Claire up, didn’t you?”

  He claps his hands together and smiles “You are such a smart boy, Mikail. Do you really think I would hire someone with your pedigree to watch my daughter? Claire is nothing but the offspring of my time with a whore, son. You have to understand, she had what I wanted, and now that they have her, they won’t take my rightful daughter, Anya.”

  I listen to him as he spouts his crap and think about poor Claire. She’s just a pawn in his sick game. I glance over at Jason, who’s been listening to the entire conversation without a word. He just stares in silence at Antony with a look of anger and disgust on his face.

  I glare at Antony in disgust; I was right not to be fooled by him. Even though I always knew how Antony was, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I see and hear it happening in front of me. I pull at the rope, and suddenly remember the knife I keep attached to my wrist. I also have a gun in my holster under my jacket. If I can get out of this rope and keep him distracted, I can take them all out. I find there is a bit of give in the rope, so I try and pull at my jacket sleeves to bring the knife down. All it takes is a few tugs and it drops into my hand. I look up at Antony and see that he’s facing the other direction, talking with a guard and not even paying attention to me. The idiot, if only he knew. I hit a button and the knife quietly pops open. Once I find the rope, I start sawing at it, wincing as I hit my wrist a few times. I freeze when I feel eyes on me.

  “It’s no use; you won’t get out of that rope, Mikail.” He looks over at me, dismissing me and going back to his guard.

  I smile and ask for some water, much to his amusement.

  “What do you think this is? A restaurant?”

  “Look, I just want a glass of water before you kill me; you aren’t so cruel that you would deny a man a glass of water, would you?”

  “Fuck off.” He spits at me, apparently deciding not to get me my requested water. He laughs as he walks away, not caring if I antagonize him or not.

  It’s then that I feel the rope give way, and as Antony disregards me as a threat, I feel the ropes slide down to the floor. I say a thankf
ul prayer that I wore a hoodie zip jacket today as I slide my warm gun out of the holster. I aim and pull the trigger, hitting my target and causing a warm spray of blood to hit my arms. With a wheezing sound, I watch as the guards fall to the floor one by one, and Jason stares at the King and then me as I nonchalantly pull the trigger. Jason’s face is expressionless as he bears witness to the King’s demise as he falls to the floor, dead. Thank you, silver bullets.

  “I never did like the man, and I don’t much like traitors either,” I mutter, looking at Jason and smirking. Now, it’s time to fix the mess Antony made when he opened his big mouth and let Jason know who I was working for.

  Chapter 19

  Jason

  “You just killed the King!” I shout at him in disbelief. “You couldn’t have just captured him? That has to be high treason or something!” I look down at the dead body again, a gunshot wound in the heart and one in between the eyes. His dead eyes stare back at me eerily. I almost expect him to wake up and kill the both of us or something.

  “That man kidnapped you, or did you forget that?” Mikail says in that superior tone he has as he shoves his gun back under his jacket.

  “No, I didn’t forget.”

  Now that he’s dead, I no longer have to do what he ordered me to do. I’m free. I can leave and go back to my normal life, but a question still nags at me.

  “So, you didn’t sell me out?” I question him, still strapped to the chair.

  “No, why would I do that? What you and everyone else have to understand is that my jobs pick me. I don’t pick the jobs, and my current job is to stick with you and get Claire out of there,” he says, reasoning with me.

  I have to hand it to him, he has an amazing poker face, so I let it go and don’t push him any further. Even though I’m still pissed as hell that he did that. He pulls the final rope loose and the feeling comes back to my arms in lots of tiny tingles.

  “Oh, and I know Antony’s dead and all, but you’re staying with me. You know way too much about everything that’s going on to let you leave,” he says to me.

  “Like you could stop me?” I spit out angrily at him.

  Using my speed and strength, I knock the chair and table out of the way and shove Mikail against the wall. I have my arm at his throat and my mouth at his ear. “Don’t you ever do that to me again. No more freaking surprises, or I’ll drain you of blood, and I mean that,” I snap at him.

  He laughs and manages to knock me to the ground with his leg, taking me by surprise. With no effort, he puts his knife to my throat and in a hoarse voice replies, “I can kill you in two seconds flat. Don’t test me, and don’t ever do that again.”

  He gets up agilely and walks out of the room without bothering to give me a second glance before he has his phone pressed against his ear.

  I let him go and step outside to cool off. Walking out into the summer night, I lean on the porch railing and let my head hang down. I now remember what or who is in the car. I walk slowly down towards the car and open it to see if Anya got away, or if she is still in the trunk. I’m pissed off that I ever thought it would be a good idea to kidnap her. I angrily open the trunk, lifting it up, and before I even have time to react, she punches me in the eye.

  “Don’t you ever leave me locked in a trunk like that again, asshole!” she snarls at me, huffing her small body and inhaling the fresh air as she glares up at me. I grab my eye and stumble against the car as she leaps out and runs toward the house without a backward glance.

  “Impressive,” I tell her with a shrug as I hold my eye that would be black if I was human. With the day I’ve had this doesn’t even phase me. I can’t help but watch her fine skirted ass walk away and wonder how on earth I thought I could ever keep her in line. I slam the trunk closed and walk back into the house to deal with that demon girl. Today has not been my day, but it can’t get any worse…can it?

  Chapter 20

  Claire

  I am still lying on the floor when the door slams shut. It’s within the space of seconds that I feel Riley’s arms wrap tightly around me. He rests his chin on my head, and I can feel him shaking, his energy thrumming off him in waves. Moving my chained hand, I grip my other hand trying to quell the shaking. Despair washes over me, what kind of people do this?

  I’m not sure what to make of this man holding me. He is a fierce man who obviously has no problem killing, and yet I can’t help but feel attracted to him. I should be declared insane to even have thoughts like this.

  He rubs my back, causing me to yelp in pain. I flinch when I see the dark look in his eyes, and I cower from him. He stops my movement and pulls my shirt up, breathing in sharply when he sees my back. He jerks his shirt off and presses it against my back, causing me to hiss and hold back a scream.

  He picks me up as if I was a child, and carries me into the room with the tub. Seeing that tub again scares me and I begin twisting in his arms.

  “Stop Claire, you have blood all over you.”

  “Please don’t make me go in there,” I plead with him.

  He turns the tap on, letting it run for a minute, before testing it. Looking at me, expressionless, he pulls off my clothes and gently sets me in the tub. I grip his neck in fear as I sink into the warm water that’s slowly turning pink from my blood. He walks over to a cabinet and pulls out a bar of white soap and hands it too me.

  “We only have a few minutes so bathe quickly so I can get you back into the cell, in case Griffin decides to come back.”

  ****

  Once back in the cell, I stare silently at the wall as Riley runs his fingers through my hair. He softly starts humming a song, and it throws me into confusion. Here is the man that’s holding me against my will, and yet I feel comfort in his actions. What the hell is wrong with me? He sits next to me and rubs my arms, leaving goose bumps along the way as his fingertips slowly glide against my skin. We sit this way for hours just staring into space. He holds me close until I break the silence.

  “Can I ask you something?

  “You’re sitting here, you were almost raped because of me, and I killed a girl in front of you. Ask as many damn questions as you want,” he says in a level tone.

  “Why are you protecting me? Wouldn’t it just be easier to kill me?”

  “Probably, and I don’t know why I’m protecting you to be honest. It’s like a light switch came on the other day, and I can’t get you out of my head. I think we may have bonded,” he says matter-of-factly.

  “Bonded? What the hell is that?” I ask in alarm, scared of the answer.

  “There is so much that you don’t know,” he says, rubbing his face roughly.

  “So tell me. I mean it’s not like I have anywhere else to go, thanks to you or your dad.”

  Sighing, he tilts his head back and leans it against the concrete wall, shifting me on his lap before he starts talking. “Do you know who your dad is?”

  I shake my head forlornly and lay it against his hard chest, “I’ve never met him before in my life, but Griffin mention something about him being a King or something. My mom always blamed me for him leaving; I think it’s why she’s hated me my entire life.”

  “So no one told you anything about your ancestors or heritage?”

  My silence answers for me, as I continue to wait for him to move the conversation along.

  “Okay, we have to do this a different way.”

  He shifts me off him and moves across from me to sit down so we can talk face to face. He sits cross-legged and has me hold out my hands. He takes the chains on my wrist and snaps them in half as if they were nothing more than a twig. My breathing falters as I watch the chains crumble to dust in his hands.

  “Are you a vampire, like Griffin?” I whisper, looking at him in both fear and awe.

  He nods, confirming what I thought was true.

  “It’s not just what I am, Claire…but what you are.”

  Letting go of all of my fear and inhibitions, I lean closer to him. A wave of calmness wash
es over me and I no longer fear him no matter what he or I am. “What exactly am I?”

  “You’re a hybrid, Claire. Part vampire, part human, and from what I’ve heard, part witch.”

  I feel my mouth fall open as I stare at him in shock before bursting into laughter. “What?! No, I’m not! That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” Vampires are something you read about in movies. Whatever sick joke this is, it’s pathetic. “Where are the cameras? Seriously?” I glance around the cell but stop when I feel his hands grab my chin, turning me to him. He’s so strong I couldn’t move my face even if I wanted to. His fingers grip my chin tightly, and the Riley that I fear comes out. Wincing, I feel tears start streaming down my face.

  “Then you leave me no choice.” His eyes narrow as he lifts his wrist to his mouth and bites down, the entire time keeping his eyes locked on mine. I stare down at his arm in disbelief and shock. What kind of screwed up person bites themselves? With his eyes still intent upon me, he lifts his arm up and lets blood streak down his skin. I stare as the dark red blood flows down his arm. I have this very strange urge to lick it off his arm, but another part of me is disgusted by the thought. Another wave of contentment comes over me, and before I can even process what I’m doing, I lean over and grab his arm. I greedily suck the blood from his open wound. It creates feelings in me I have no idea how to name. The blood is as sweet honey as it fills my mouth. It slides easily down my throat and once it’s down I crave more of it and start sucking harder. I hazily hear Riley talking, but ignore it as I continue sucking.

  “Claire, stop.” I vaguely hear Riley’s command. I manage to pull my head away and he wipes his wound with his fingers. I look up wildly with the need for more blood. The taste of his blood still echoes through my mouth. I wipe the back of my hand across my chin as some blood runs down my chin. “I thought it would be weird to drink blood, but it’s so good I want to have more.”