The Dominion Series Complete Collection

by Lund, S. E.

  "Of course I will."

  He leaves my side and walks down the lane to the monastery without looking back. When I glance back to the garden, the old man stands in the center where Julien died, still unprotected from the rain that now falls in torrents.

  Chapter 19

  "They sicken of the calm who knew the storm."

  Dorothy Parker

  Michel's waiting in the dojo when I arrive for my shift at seven, and as soon as I see him, I'm like Pavlov's dog, all excited and breathless. On top of my desire for him, there's a strange excitement in my belly at the prospect of him teaching me how to kill a vampire properly – and as acting as his proper submissive.

  I remind myself what he said – that I must obey him, no questions asked about his decisions. That I must trust him completely.

  I'm not sure if I can do this. I'm so used to being my own woman, making all my own decisions. I've been alone for my entire life, with no siblings, and most of it without my real parents. I just don't know if I can play this role.

  I've dressed appropriately in sweats and a t-shirt, my hair back in a tightly coiled bun like I used to wear when I danced as a girl. I enter the dojo, bowing slightly, and then stand before him, still a bit shy around him after last night's intensity.

  "Hello, Eve," he says softly.

  "Michel," I reply and I can't not smile up at him, because I'm so glad to see him even after such a short separation.

  "Eve…Don't smile at me or I won't be able to concentrate."

  I cover my mouth with a hand, trying to stifle my smile, and wait for him to speak.

  He picks through his duffle bag and pulls out a red bingo stamp. He hands it to me and I take it and make a face, examining it.

  I give a nervous laugh. "A bingo stamp?"

  "You've got to show me that you can hit exactly where a vampire's most vulnerable. So," he says and steps in front of me. "Tell me what you think you know about killing a vampire."

  I bite my lip for a moment.

  "This is standard stuff, Eve," he says, all serious now, his eyes intense. "You should know and would have known if we hadn't lost your case when you were put in the foster system."

  "Stake them with wood," I say. "Only thing that kills them. Cut their head off and burn their bodies to ensure they can't be revived."

  "Yes, but how do you stake them? Where?" He takes off his shirt and I admire his smooth pale skin and well-developed abs, a trail of dark hair leading down from his navel to below his own sweats. "Show me where. You've taken anatomy and physiology. You know where my heart is."

  I touch his chest, and even that makes my heart skip.

  "You're heart's behind the sternum, more of it to the left because of the structure of the heart."

  "And if you were to thrust a stake right into the sternum?" he says and touches his chest there. "You'd hit a solid plate of bone and only the strongest weapon could pierce it. To stake a vampire, it's best to come up under the sternum and angle your thrust so that it goes towards the center line. Show me with your stamp," he says, his hands at his side.

  I can't hold back my smile and tilt my head to the side. "You want me to attack you with a stamp?"

  "This isn't a joke, Eve," he says, and I can tell he's trying not to smile back but his eyes soften a bit and he's staring at my dimples again. "Remember what I said last night. I want you to use the stamp so you can see where to hit a vampire with a stake. Go ahead. Do it."

  I make a half-hearted thrust at him, pressing the stamp on his skin just below the sternum, but it's hard to take this seriously. He grabs me and turns me around so that my back is facing him, his arm around my shoulders, my hands confined behind my back. His mouth is on my neck, which he bites playfully, tonguing my skin, his fangs retracted.

  "And because you weren't really trying," he whispers, his voice only a bit angered, "the vampire now has you just where he wants you and all those freaky vampire hunter skills are useless." He releases me but even the brief moment of his confining me arouses me and I feel all flushed from his touch. "Try again, and this time, take it seriously."

  He waits until I've turned back and waves me on. He's trying to get me angry to make me focus but all I can think of is how desirable he is and how even now, I really only want to just feel him on top of me.

  "Come on," he says, hands on his hips. "If you don't, I'll have to get rough."

  I shake my head and look away, and then lunge at him, and jab him with the stamp before he can respond.

  "Good," he says. "That's more like it." He glances down at the mark I've left.

  "Slightly off target and you haven't hit me hard enough to drive a stake into me. But it's a better effort. Finally," he says and shakes his head. I smile at him and tilt my head to the side, trying to look coy.

  "Stop that, Eve," he says and steps closer. One hand goes behind my head and he presses his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, his expression all serious. "Please take this seriously. My brother has already been killed as have several Adepts. I have to leave you and I don't want you to be in danger. Remember our talk."

  "I'll be fine," I say. "I was fine before you came along, and I'll be fine now."

  "You won't be fine," he says, his voice firm. "Not anymore. Remember what I said."

  I do remember, but something in me fights back, despite my promise.

  He steps back, all business again.

  "You almost had it. Try once more," he says and takes a blue stamp from his duffle bag and marks the spot I should hit. "Try to hit me right there. Remember to thrust up and to the center, not straight in."

  I hit him again, and this time, my aim is more accurate.

  "Your strength still isn't there." He grabs me and has me in his arms once more, my hands tightly confined, his grip a bit painful, biting a bit harder on my neck so that it actually hurts.

  "You have to hit harder or you'll just make a surface wound, and that will only make a vampire angrier," he says, his mouth now at my ear. "Remember, you'll have to go up under the sternum. The other option is to come down between ribs," he says and demonstrates, "but you need to really practice that one before you can count on it and you need to use your body weight."

  He releases me once more and I think he doesn't realize how he affects me. I stand across from him, my pulse increased, breathing more heavily.

  "Why not just use a crossbow?"

  "They're good," he says and nods. "You should always have one in your weapons cache. But you can't carry one around with you all the time. You need to be ready to fight with whatever you have at any time."

  "Why do you think I'm in such danger?"

  "You read our personnel files," he says and it's the first time he's mentioned my little breach of security. Then I remember that every single Adept who's worked with the SCU has died. "Now that you're working for the SCU, you're a target. Other vampires will eventually find out you're an Adept and might just decide to steal you from me."

  "So I'm your property?"

  "Yes," he says, his face dark. He steps closer and cups my cheek. "No, not really. You're under my protection. I told you how this has to work, Eve. All in or all out."

  "I want all in," I say, intending the double meaning, smiling and he makes that little throat sound and smiles in spite of himself.

  "You are so impatient," he says and grabs me, and pulling me against his body, holding my hands behind my back. My heart jumps, my body responding to his intensity. God, he makes me dizzy just touching me… He kisses me, hard and passionate. Then he kisses my neck, holding his lips there, his breathing harsh.

  Then he pushes me away and I'm standing there, my own breathing fast and shallow.

  "Now, concentrate. We don't have long."

  "How can I concentrate when you do that to me?"

  "How can I not do that to you when you display your dimples like some temptress?" he says, grinning.

  But then he's back to business and stands at the ready again, waving me on.
r />   "Look around you when you're in a compromised situation," he says. "If you feel under threat, you'll fall into a fight trance. Look for anything wooden you could use as a stake. If you need to, break a broomstick, or anything else wooden. Even a pencil will work if it goes directly into the heart. If there's nothing wood, use something metal. It won't kill the vampire permanently, but it'll give you a few moments to escape while the vampire recovers."

  "Why is that?" I say, looking at the stamp in my hand. "Why wood?"

  "It's organic. Metals don't kill vampires, although silver weakens us. Our bodies repel metals except silver, which if it remains in our bodies, draws out our strength. Sure, metal weapons create a wound, but that wound heals rapidly, in moments. Unless you stake us with wood first, you can't cut our heads off. Remember – our bones are very hard. All you'll end up doing is making a hideous wound that will heal in a very short time so it's pointless to try," he says, his face dark. "Unless you want just to torture us, and if that's what you want, use silver. It burns and directly saps our strength. Now enough delaying. Attack me once again. This time, hit harder. You've got to push the stake up and into the heart. It takes considerable strength so you might want to use your bodyweight to assist. Jump at me."

  He crouches down a bit and waves me on again. I'm embarrassed to have to try this.

  "Don't make me get rough, Eve. Believe me, I can and will. This is deadly serious."

  "I can't do this," I say and hold up the stamp. "It's too silly."

  He stands up straight and sighs, then goes to the weapons case on the wall. He unlocks the padlock, and withdraws a short steel dagger about four inches long. He returns and hands it to me.

  "Use this."

  The blade is smooth and sharp and short. I turn it over in my hands. "You want me to attack you with this?"

  "No," he says. "I wanted you to attack me with the stamp, but it's too silly for you. I thought maybe a dagger would be less silly. Maybe you'd take this seriously."

  "I can't," I say, shaking my head. "I can't really stab you."

  "Eve, you must. I'm leaving and you'll be in danger. Please understand I won't be here to protect you."

  He looks so earnest, his voice so insistent, I feel a lump in my throat.

  "Just think of your poor mother dying in front of you," he adds. "Think of the vampire who did it, who took her from you and ruined your life. Use that anger."

  I shake my head and stare at the dagger.

  "I can't."

  "Come on Eve. Just do it." He slaps me, his hand meeting my cheek with a sharp smack, my head jerking away. I wasn't expecting it and it hurts and makes me mad.

  His face is dark, his brows furrowed. "I said I'd have to get rough if you don't take this seriously."

  "You want me to stab your heart with this?"

  He nods. "Do it once, and you'll remember the feeling, you'll know almost how much force you need to use. You'll know how to do it with a stake. Now, come on, vampire hunter. Pretend that's a stake and stab me."

  "But it will hurt you…"

  He shrugs. "In eight hundred years, it's happened a half-dozen times. I'm tough, Eve. It'll kill me for a moment, disable me for about five minutes, and I'll bleed but I'll heal or I wouldn't let you do it. Go ahead. Do it. Just remember to take the blade out immediately, or it'll take longer for me to recover."

  I just stand there, unmoving, a sense of horror going through me. Then he attacks me, slapping me, shoving me, getting in my face so that I stumble back and almost trip. I fall into fight trance without trying, and it's like I'm no longer in the same time dimension he is.

  I have the dagger in him, exactly where it's supposed to go before he can even move and I know the blade has done its job. He groans, his face contorting and he falls against me. I try to hold him up with my body but he's too heavy. He slides to his knees.

  "Take it out," he manages to hiss between gritted teeth.

  "Oh, God, Michel," I cry out when I come out of fight trance and pull the blade out. He slips onto his front, his face smacking against the mat, his eyes closed, and I struggle to turn him over onto his back. I touch his wound, pressing on it to stop the flow of blood, his skin slick with it.

  About three minutes pass before his eyelids flutter and in that time, I almost run upstairs to find Ed. When he opens those blue eyes and grimaces, I kiss him, my tears welling up because I killed him, even if only for a few minutes. He just lies there, breathing heavily. Finally, he struggles to sit up.

  "Jesus Christ that hurts," he hisses through gritted teeth.

  "I'm sorry," I say, my voice breaking. "But you wanted me to."

  "Don't worry," he says, cracking a tiny smile. "You did it perfectly. But remember," he says and tries to sit up straighter. "You have to use more force with a stake. A metal weapon is always easier to use but won't kill the vampire. Only wood will and only if it's directly in the heart."

  My hands are bloodied and I wipe the tears off my cheeks with the backs of my hands.

  "It's OK," he says and brushes my cheek with his fingers. "See? I'm almost all better and it's only been a few minutes."

  I shake my head, my throat constricting.

  "All this time, I've fantasized about killing vampires – you know, really doing it. Especially the vampire who killed my mother. I never thought about what it meant to actually do it. I don't know," I say and glance away from him. "I don't know if I can do this. I wanted to do research. I wanted to use my mind to find a cure or a poison. Not actually have to stake vampires."

  "Hopefully, you won't have to. Hopefully," he says and takes my chin in his hand and turns my face back to him. "You'll spend your time looking at evidence and maybe now and then, reading a vampire to see their last kill and you won't have to ever stake one. But at least now you know you can."

  He leans in and kisses me tenderly, his lips soft against mine and I just melt into him, my hands on his chest.

  "Come and wash up." He stands up, only a bit hesitant, one hand over his chest.

  "Are you sure you're OK?" I reach out and touch his chest where the only sign of a stab wound is a thin red seam and blood that spilled down his chest to his belly.

  "All better." He pokes at the wound. "Just a bit tender. Now come with me and let's get you cleaned up. We're going to Franklin Park to look for vampires."

  I hesitate. "What?"

  He walks off the mats towards the locker room.

  "I'm going to take you out so you can see vampires at night. See where they go, what they do. There's quite a few in town and you can bet some will be at the park, looking for willing blood whores. It's illegal but it's not grounds for prosecution. The blood whores need the money and so it's more of a nuisance. The Council mostly looks the other way."

  "Will I be in danger?"

  He shakes his head.

  "Not as long as you're with me."

  We wash off in the locker room and then Michel pulls on his t-shirt. Before we leave for Franklin Park, he reaches into a pocket in his jacket and withdraws and small piece of cloth, which had been folded up into a tiny package. He unwraps it and takes out a piece of flesh colored rubber with two red gashes in it – a fake vampire bite.

  "Here," he says and tilts my head to the side. He peels the backing off the fake bite and then kisses my neck softly before placing the fake bite there, just below my ear.

  "If, for whatever reason we're separated, this is for your protection. I want you to look like you're claimed. Otherwise someone might try to take you. You could beat them if they didn't ambush you, but if there are more than one, you might not be able to fight them all off. That will take further training."

  I touch the fake vampire bite, frowning. Then, his face changes, his fangs extending, eyes red-rimmed, and he bites his wrist, daubs his finger in some blood and smears it first on my chin, then some on my face next to my mouth. He actually looks scary when he's in his hunter mode and I frown, touching my face, my fingers coming back bloody.

&n
bsp; "What are you doing?"

  "Any vampires in the park will smell my blood on you and think I've claimed you. They'll believe that you're my blood slave and they'll know that they'll have to fight me if they want you. I'm one of the older surviving vampires, so they won't challenge me."

  I examine my fingers. "You're marking me like a dog marks its territory."

  "That's exactly right, Eve," he says and sighs, his face reverting to its more human look. "That's what we do."

  I look at my fingers and then to him.

  "Why teach me to fight if I'm not going to use it?"

  He shakes his head. "Sun Tzu once wrote that supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. Fighting's dangerous. You could be hurt. If you're ambushed, you might be overcome. If you get too close to a vampire without realizing it, you could succumb to their powers and be helpless to fight. Better not to fight at all." Then, he reaches into an inside pocket in his trench and withdraws a small thin stake with a round handle.

  "But if you have to, use this and do what I taught you. Use your full body weight and hit at the right angle. Remember, we're bloody hard to kill, even for an Adept."

  I take the stake and feel its weight, passing it from one hand to the other, finally taking it in my right hand.

  "Here?" I mime staking him with it. He frowns and steps back for a moment, as if he thought for one moment I'd actually do it.

  "That's right," he says, his voice a bit shaky. Finally, he smiles. "Just don't get any ideas."

  I don't smile back. "I already killed you once, remember?"

  "How could I forget?"

  I look at the stake in my hand. "I didn't like it."

  He nods. "I'm glad you didn't. Don't get a taste for it. At least not for me."

  "I do have a taste for you," I say and smile and that elicits a little throat noise from him and he grabs me once more and kisses my cheeks, his tongue touching my skin and I feel something surge inside of me.

  "Lets go," Michel says and leads the way out of the Foster Building.

  Chapter 20