VEILED Complete Boxed Set

by Victoria Knight

  “Yes, dear.”

  She stepped forward and slowly knelt down by Polyxia. The witch seemed to relax the moment Nikki lay down beside her. She reached out and took Nikki’s arm, running her finger along the gash on her forearm. She then wrapped one of her bony arms around Nikki and gave her a hug that, for one moment, reminded Nikki of the grandmother on her father’s side that she had only seen once yet had lived her life with a deep affection for.

  Nikki could feel Polyxia’s shallow breaths and noticed the way the old woman’s body felt like nothing more than a bag of bones beside her. She closed her eyes, not sure that she could stomach the sight of watching the poor old witch die. The smell of her blood was thick but completely different than the scent of blood as she was used to it. Polyxia’s blood smelled strange, almost sweet.

  Roughly thirty seconds after Polyxia had wrapped her arm around her, Nikki began to feel an incredible heat coming off of her. It came from Polyxia’s body in a wave and settled onto Nikki’s like a heavy blanket on a cold night. She felt certain areas of her body tingling: her legs, her heart, behind her eyes.

  Once, right after high school, Nikki had done ecstasy with a girl that she had never considered a friend but had ended up hanging out with a bit after graduation. The sensation she was getting as Polyxia transferred her magic into her was incredibly similar to that. As the power coursed into her, Nikki thought she could feel every single blade of grass and strand of weed in the field around them. She thought she could feel the expanse of sky above her and just how deep below her body the earth ran to its core.

  And just like that, it was gone.

  The warmth and the tingling were just echoes along her body. Nikki opened her eyes slowly, realizing that Polyxia was no longer taking in those shallow breaths. In fact, the old witch was not breathing at all. Nikki wanted to get up but her body felt as if it were frozen. So she lay there for a moment while Saul placed his fingers to Polyxia’s throat, searching for a pulse that was no longer there.

  Nikki managed to roll over once Saul placed his hands on her. His right hand gently stroked her shoulder while his left ran through her hair. “Nikki…are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said, still not quite certain why she was on the verge of tears. She had not known Polyxia at all and less than two hours ago would have been only slightly saddened at her death. But now it was different—now it felt as if part of Polyxia remained, lying in sleep inside of her along with the magic that had been passed on to Nikki.

  Nikki slowly got to her feet, still feeling slightly disoriented. She leaned against Saul, waiting for the world to tilt back into focus. She felt incredibly tired, but knew that any thought of sleep was futile.

  “What’s supposed to happen?” Nikki asked.

  “I don’t know,” Saul said. “I think you’ll know when you’re supposed to. For now, I’d like to bury Polyxia.”

  4

  When Jill pulled the car down the dirt road that wound down into Filth Camp, she saw Saul, Nikki, and Gestalt huddled together. A large mound of dirt sat to their left and Jill instantly knew what this meant: Polyxia hadn’t made it.

  She parked the car at the edge of the field, facing the railroad tracks. Penny was sitting in the passenger seat, while Ray and Paul sat in the back, helping to support Kara’s comatose body. She helped the men get Kara’s body out of the back of the car and with Paul’s aid, got her over to where Saul, Nikki, and Gestalt stood.

  Saul filled them in on what had occurred between Polyxia and Nikki and Jill found herself rather jealous. Still, she kept the feelings at bay. If she survived this, she didn’t know if she was going to stay with Saul. Sure, she’d come to him willingly enough when he had called and needed her help but if this entire ordeal had proven anything to her, it was that she was not meant to be in Red Creek.

  The next hour went by quickly as their ragtag group went about a series of different tasks. Jill tried to help wherever she could, not wanting the Marked to feel that they were in any way being seen as secondary in this process. Without Kara there to serve as their center, Jill could see that they seemed to be hesitant about everything, not sure that they had any real place in all of this.

  Jill helped Penny, Ray, and Paul create a makeshift bed for Kara with an old tarp and a coat that had been tucked in the trunk of the car. They placed her bed in the woods along the edge of the field, hiding her away from direct sunlight. As they set her onto the tarp, Jill was glad to see that Kara was beginning to get some color back into her cheeks and that her breathing was back to normal.

  “How long does this last?” Ray asked.

  “It depends on how quickly her body and mind adapt to it. I’ve seen it last only a day or so and I’ve seen it take more than a week.”

  Saul came up behind them and joined Jill. The rest of the Marked looked at him with a reserved awe.

  “Kara wanted this to happen,” he said. “She came to me and asked me to turn her. When I refused, she left pretty angry. I don’t expect her turning process to take long at all.”

  “I have to ask,” Paul said. “What about the rest of us? Would we have time to turn if you bit us?”

  Saul closed his eyes and looked, for a moment, like a disappointed parent. He shook his head and sighed. “I told Kara that I wouldn’t turn her for a myriad of reasons. You have to see it rationally—if I turned you just to have more of an advantage in the fight that is sure to come, then what happens after that? Once the fight is over and if you survive, you would live the rest of your lives as vampires.”

  “So what you’re saying,” Ray said, “is that being a member of the Marked really doesn’t open us up to any privileges. That we’re just a couple of normal jackasses that somehow got mixed up in the middle of your little Twilight Zone soap opera, right?”

  “Ray…” Paul said, warning in her voice.

  “It’s okay,” Saul said. “I have no authority on what the higher powers have planned for the Marked. I do know that Marked members are all chosen for a reason. What those reasons are, I have no idea. That’s why I am hesitant to turn any more of you. I would not want to interfere or disrupt anything. The consequences of doing so may be worse than what is happening right now.”

  It was obvious that Ray had much more to say, but he remained quiet. Penny came up behind him and placed her arms around his waist. She whispered something into his ear and he nodded.

  “I’m sorry,” Ray said. “To say I’m a bit on edge would be a severe understatement.”

  “I understand,” Saul said. “And I am sorry that I pulled you into this.”

  “You didn’t,” Penny pointed out. “Kara told us that Magdeline caused our being assembled.”

  “And then she had Rogues attempt to kill us,” Paul added.

  “And you survived that,” Jill pointed out. “And you survived the fight this morning. As normal humans, don’t you think that’s saying a lot?”

  “That we’re lucky?” Paul asked, but it was evident that he had taken Jill's words to heart.

  “So what do we do now?” Penny asked.

  “We wait for Kara to wake up,” Saul said. “Then we make sure she understands what has happened and that he understands how to use her powers.”

  “And after that?” Paul asked.

  Saul's face hardened.

  “Then we finish the fight.”

  5

  Night fell and Kara remained asleep. She seemed to be sleeping normally now. If there were any changes going on within her, they were so minute and minor that they were not showing in her physical appearance. Just before dusk, she had started running a fever, but it had broken quickly. Once the sweat from her brow had dissipated, the fever had not returned and she continued to rest peacefully on her tarp in the forest.

  The group quickly realized that they had no supplies to speak of. In their hurry to escape the fight earlier in the day, they had forgotten basic necessities such as water and food. Gestalt had volunteered to take the car into town where h
e was able to walk into the abandoned and disheveled grocery store and take his pick. He came back with three loaves of bread, bologna, cheese, water, and beer.

  As night wound down, they all decided that they would allow themselves time to rest. Paul stayed with Kara, stretching out on the very edge of the tarp. Penny and Ray had retired to the car where Ray slept in the front passenger seat and Penny slept in the back. Nikki had sat by Saul until she could no longer keep her eyes open; whatever transfer had occurred between her and Polyxia earlier in the day had wiped her out.

  As midnight closed in, Saul, Jill, and Gestalt sat around a small campfire that Nikki had made. They were sipping from cans of beer that Gestalt had brought back, letting the silence of the night sink into them. As vampires, clear nights calmed them and helped them to get better oriented with the world around them. But there was much on their minds and it was hard to find any real sort of focus.

  “I want to say I’m sorry,” Gestalt said. “I know it’s a flimsy thing to say after everything I have put your family through. But you must know…I had no idea. I didn’t know just how deplorable the Guard was when I… when I killed your father. From there on, I was basically trapped by them. They said they wanted you dead after the Greely clan failed so, I stepped up. I wanted to be in their favor.”

  “I appreciate the apology,” Saul said. “But I am well aware of the lure of the Guard. That’s why I served them for several months before you came into town. I thought that if I played nice, they would give me the answers I so desperately wanted. But that never happened and I slowly started to see them for who they really are. So you don’t need to apologize.”

  “Seconded,” Jill said, taking a gulp from her beer.

  “And I’m sorry about Paula,” Saul said. “I have no idea what was going on with the two of you, but there at the end I could tell that you cared for her.”

  “I did,” Gestalt said. “And I have no idea where that came from. I originally selected her, at random, to be my mistress and servant. For a few days, right up until you bested us, that’s the only thing that she was.”

  There was silence around the campfire again. Saul finished his beer and set the can down. He preferred wine over beer but he was suddenly seeing a human convention play out before him. Gestalt had been hurt and needed companionship. The ritual of drinking, regardless of the fact that alcohol had no real hold over vampires, had allowed him the courage to speak his mind and try to make amends for past sins.

  “We nearly killed you,” Saul said. “From what I have gathered, close brushes with death allow us to see things differently. Perhaps you didn’t want to die without feeling something.”

  Gestalt nodded. “Yes. I realized that I want what you and Nikki have. Something that seems real and almost predestined at the same time.”

  Saul looked over to Nikki. She was sleeping soundly in the field and to Saul, the spot next to her was looking very comfortable.

  “Help us beat these bastards tomorrow,” he said, “and maybe you’ll have that yet.”

  6

  Kara opened her eyes and saw tree branches overhead. There was a very soft light above them—either dusk or dawn, she wasn’t quite sure. Her eyes felt odd, as if she had just come from the optometrist after having her eyes dilated. She blinked several times, trying to clear them, and her vision seemed to intensify. She could now see the very tips at the end of the branches overhead. She could see the dirt and grime on them, the dust and pollen.

  Kara tried to focus on this but was too distracted by an intense cramp that rocketed through her stomach. She slowly sat up and when she did, she was more aware of her body than she had ever been before. She could feel every muscle in her back as she sat up and the tendons in her feet as she put more weight on them.

  Sitting up, she could tell that it was morning. It was more than just seeing it, though. She could feel it. The way the temperature was slowly rising rather than decreasing and—

  It all came back to her then. She remembered getting injured while fighting the Guard and then blackness claiming her as Saul came to her side and placed his face by her neck.

  Kara glanced around, noticing Paul beside her at once. He was still asleep, dozing on the edge of a blue tarp that she had been placed on. To her other side, the forest petered out and gave way to Filth Camp. She saw a few sleeping bodies out there and knew right away that they were Saul, Nikki, Jill, and Gestalt. Their scent was unmistakable — and very different from the smell coming off of Paul.

  Kara turned back to Paul and realized that something in her very badly wanted to hurt him. He had done nothing to her, of course, but some new part of her that she could not quite identify wanted to hurt him, to spill his blood, to—

  Blood.

  Kara got on her hands and knees and crawled towards Paul's prone form. His head was turned away from her, his sleeping face pointed in the other direction. The right side of his neck was exposed and it looked delicious. It looked like it was meant for her. She felt every nerve in her body leap toward his flesh, demanding the sustenance it contained.

  Kara leaned closer and inhaled Paul's scent. She smelled sweat and even the detergent and dirt on his clothes. But underneath that, there was the rich and sweet smell of blood. It was like popping the cork on a bottle of expensive and precious wine, taking that first deep inhale of the aroma and knowing that the taste was going to be sensational.

  Kara placed her right hand on Paul's chest, successfully pinning him down. As she did, his eyes opened and blinked sleepily. Paul looked up into her face and gave her a confused look. His eyes then filled with terror, realizing what she was about to do.

  Kara threw her head back and opened her mouth, revealing two large fangs on either side. She lowered her head even as Paul fought against her, his struggles useless against her newborn strength.

  Kara's mouth was less than two inches away from Pauls’ neck when she was struck hard from her right. She went sprawling to the ground and got back up immediately, fallen leaves and other debris all over her back. She looked up and saw Saul standing over Paul.

  “Good morning,” Saul said with a hesitant smile.

  Kara looked away from Saul and back to Paul. Confusion and horror began to spread across her face. She got out of her defensive position and simply sat there on her knees. She clutched her fingers in frustration, battling the new instincts that still roared for blood inside of her.

  “It will get easier,” Saul said. “If you’re taught restraint from an early stage, you’ll have more control over the bloodlust.”

  “I didn’t want to hurt him,” she rasped.

  Paul sat up, nervously inching away from Kara and closer to Saul.

  “Paul,” she said. “Please… I woke up and it just… it came over me. Please know that I would never purposefully hurt you.”

  Paul nodded but said nothing. Saul placed a hand on Paul’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go join Ray and Penny in the car? Let me talk with Kara in private, please.”

  “Sure,” Paul said. He seemed relieved to be leaving the two of them. He gave Kara one last glance before heading to the field and the car parked at the end of the thin dirt road.

  Kara glanced up at Saul and felt instantly ashamed. She said nothing, hoping that he had some consoling words of wisdom.

  “I’m asking a lot of you,” Saul began. “I don’t think we have much time before we’ll have to finish our fight. And because you’ll be fighting alongside humans, you’ll need to have your energy and talents focused.”

  “I feel like I’m high,” Kara said. “I feel euphoric but… I don’t know… angry, too.”

  “It’s normal.”

  “But the thing with Paul,” she added. “It was terrible. I wanted blood. I was ravenous for it.”

  “And are you now?”

  “No. Ever since he got up and left, it’s gone.”

  “That’s good. We have bread and bologna here with us. Get some food in you and the other cravings will go away for
a while. They’ll always be there, but if you learn to control them as soon as you can, you'll have a better chance of overcoming them.”

  “Does it ever affect you?” she asked. She was on her feet now, looking down at the field. Jill and Nikki were awake, both looking towards them.

  “Every now and then. When it hits, I usually go out and kill a deer or a fox or something. Blood is blood. Human blood has certain taste to it, but in terms of satisfying the craving, one is just as good as the other.”

  “What else can I do to get ready?”

  “Come on down into the field. You have four vampires here that can walk you through it. But the fact that you’re not frothing at the mouth for blood after coming so close to getting it from Paul is a very good sign.”

  Kara nodded and followed Saul down into the field where their little army was beginning their day.

  7

  Benali could not remember the last time the Guard had been comprised of less than six members. Aimon had been the last to join, completing their circle of seven. But now that Dominiscus was dead and Polyxia was no longer part of their group, the Guard was at its lowest count in its long and glorious history.

  It made him nervous but, more than that, it made him angry.

  He looked around the closed circle that he and the other three remaining Guard members had made. They had taken the rundown barn as their lair ever since arriving in Red Creek in their mortal forms. The other members had their eyes closed, concentrating on summoning the powers of the land and each other's presence. Being that they were in mortal forms, the process was harder than it had ever been. But that meant that they appreciated it more.

  Benali loved each and every one of the Guard's members. He had spent an eternity with them. Alongside them, he had seen civilizations rise and fall - had played a hand in the victories and losses of mortals and immortals alike. Now, it was time for another world to collapse: That of humans.