by J. Meyers
Luke grabbed Sera’s hand and hauled her to her feet, then looked around. All attention was now on them. So much for Plan A.
Lilith waved her hand in the air and they were surrounded by vampires. Time for Plan B. If only they had one.
“Fey teach you that?” Luke said, eyeing them all.
“Jonas. He said go for the throat. They’re as easy to kill as humans.” Sera shook her head. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Yeah, well, desperate times,” Luke said. “Got anymore knives?”
She shook her head again.
Luke sighed. “Wonder Twin powers then?” he said to her.
Sera dove for her knife on the ground, but one of the vampires kicked it away. Hissing and snarling, the circle of vampires closed in on them. Sera held out her hands to touch anyone who came close. Back-to-back with Sera, Luke was cursing that he hadn’t gotten the Fae Fighters to loan him some sort of weapon. He had nothing. He patted his pockets.
Wait, he had keys. He could at least hold them between the fingers of his fist to make his punches more painful. He pulled them out and placed them in his hand, then quickly checked the rest of his pockets. There was the flask in his back pocket.
Holy water! Yes! He’d totally forgotten about it. He grinned. He had holy water and was surrounded by vampires.
He pulled it out of his pocket. “I’ve got holy water,” he said quietly to Sera. “Do you want it?”
“It doesn’t work on them.” She shook her head. “It’s myth, like a lot of vampire stuff.”
Luke cursed to himself and shoved it back into his pocket. He looked around the dark room, up at the stone ceiling.
“I could use some windows right about now and bright sunlight.”
“That wouldn’t help either,” Sera said. “At least not on most of them. Sunlight only affects the Old Ones like Lilith.”
At least he still had the keys.
He swung out with his keyed hand as a vampire got close and was rewarded with deep bloody gouges across the guy’s face. Then he spun around to find Sera gone. Two brutes had managed to grab Sera’s arms without being touched by her hands, and though she was kicking and thrashing, she couldn’t free herself.
“Shall she be the first to die, Seer?” Lilith’s voice was right next to his ear and he flinched away. Chills covered his body at those words. The words that had haunted him for months.
This was it.
She looked at him and nodded. “Yes,” she said. “I think so. Her healing makes her the more dangerous.”
Luke’s eyes widened in horror as he watched Lilith reach behind her neck and unlatch her necklace. Time slowed down for Luke, as if to emphasize each terrifying moment of his vision finally coming true in spite of everything he’d done. Lilith’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Sera and closed the latch on her necklace, readying it for flight. She ran one finger along the edge of it, and Luke gasped at the deep slice the finger bore as she lifted it away.
He whipped around to look at Sera. There was nothing he could do. She was trapped, an easy target. Too far away.
And he was helpless.
His fingers brushed against the flask of holy water. Hell with the myths, he thought. What if this one was different for Lilith, too? Besides, he couldn’t just stand there doing nothing.
He wrenched the flask out of his pocket, then turned back to Lilith in time to see a sadistic smile stretch across her face. She bent her arm to fling her necklace at Sera.
“The Children of the Prophecy must die!” Her voice echoed off the walls of the cavern.
Everything moved in slow motion as Luke ripped the top off of the flask, yelling “NOOOOO!” He threw the whole thing at her. Water splashed out of it as it tumbled over and over through the air, hit her in the chest, and then fell to the floor.
Droplets flew everywhere and splashed one by one onto Lilith’s bare arms. Steam rose from the water as it hit her skin.
She screamed and jerked back as her arm arced forward and she hurled the necklace toward Sera. She looked down at her arms, at the raw gaping holes forming there as the holy water burned through her flesh to the bone. Her skin sizzled and bubbled wherever the water had touched.
Lilith’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the flask lying at her feet and then turned to Luke. Then she looked around the room at the vampires who’d witnessed it all, and her expression became murderous.
Jonas’s face behind her, Luke could see, was frozen, his eyes huge, mouth slack. He stared at Lilith as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His eyes touched on Luke, then widened in alarm as he focused beyond Luke to Sera.
As Jonas vanished, Luke whirled around to look at Sera. She was crumpled at the feet of two vampires who stared dumbly at Lilith. Blood ran down Sera’s right arm from a deep gash in her shoulder where the necklace had hit her.
Off target.
Chills shivered up his spine and covered his scalp as Luke fell to his knees. He’d done it.
He was shaking so badly he couldn’t stand. He also couldn’t take his eyes off of Sera. She was alive. He’d changed the future. Jonas appeared at her side, said something quietly to her. She looked up and met Luke’s eyes. He laughed. He actually laughed out loud looking at his sister bleeding in the lair of some maniacal vampire woman. She grinned weakly at him. She knew he’d done it. They’d done it.
“You never listen, do you?” she said loud enough for him to hear.
“Nope.” He shook his head, still grinning. “Good thing for you.” She pointed toward his lap, and Luke glanced down to see that his ring was glowing.
Fey appeared at his side and planted herself between him and Lilith. There was a buzz around the room as the vampires broke out of their stunned silence and started talking. Lilith gave one last furious glance at Luke, then Sera, and was gone.
“What’s going on? Where did she go?” Luke said.
Fey spoke quietly. “They’ve all seen how she can be hurt—her weakness. She can’t let word get out about this, and she can’t trust them all to keep her secret. She will kill them all. Vampire damage control.”
A scream echoed from the corridor where they’d entered Lilith’s lair. Then small movements caught Luke’s eyes. Vampires were falling suddenly, bursting into nothingness, all around the room.
“You think you can betray me?” Lilith said, her voice thundering through the vast room. Faster than Luke could see, ten were down. Twenty. Thirty.
“You think I’d let you leave after what you just saw?” Fifty.
“So you can plot against me?” A hundred.
“Try to kill me?” Two hundred. It was impossibly fast. As the last vampire burst away, Lilith appeared, wiping off her necklace.
The room was empty of vampires save for Lilith and Jonas. Dozens of Fae fighters were scattered about the room, shock registered on their faces at what Lilith had just done to her own kind. Her force.
Lilith was suddenly behind Jonas, her blade at his throat. His face betrayed no emotion.
“I should kill you, too.” Lilith spat the words in his ear.
“But you won’t.”
“Why won’t I?”
Jonas was quiet a moment. “I really don’t know.”
She lowered her blade and her threat, but stayed where she was behind him. Jonas did not turn to her.
“You lied.” Jonas stated it simply. It wasn’t an accusation, just fact.
“Of course I lied. Why would I ever tell anyone that the myths are true for me but not for the rest of you? You young ones are all alike. So quick to believe that what’s true for you is true for us all. Of course I took advantage of that. How else would I have stayed around all this time? My charm?”
“You could have trusted me. You know I would never betray your trust.”
Lilith put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to face her. “Ah, mon cher, this is why I cannot kill you.” She reached up and touched his cheek with a gentle stroke. “You are so unlike
me, how could I not keep you around?”
She turned and glared at Luke. “You, however,” she said, “I don’t have that problem with.” And she stormed toward him.
“No!” Fey stepped in front of Luke, her blade drawn. She grabbed hold of Luke’s hand. Luke hoped she could talk Lilith out of killing him again because he really didn’t like the look in Lilith’s eyes.
But it was Jonas who stopped her. Luke watched him disappear and then an instant later reappear in front of her.
“Lilith,” he said, holding a hand out to halt her, “you cannot hurt him.”
“Oh, but I think I can. My army is destroyed thanks to him. There is a lot of blood on his hands.”
“No,” Jonas said. “The blood is on your hands and I won’t let his blood be there as well.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, stared. “You would fight me?”
“No. You know that. But the rest here are not bound by such sentiment.” He waved his hand around the room, indicating the remaining Fae Fighters. “And though I will not fight you, I also will not let you harm him. It’s over.”
She stopped, took a deep breath, looked around the room, calculating. To Jonas she said, “It is never over. It is merely interrupted.” Then she turned her back on them all, and walked slowly up to her dais. “Go then. All of you.”
Fey signaled to two Fighters over by Marc’s cage. They broke open the door, and gently lifted Marc up. Propped between them, he was barely able to walk out.
“Marc!” Luke struggled to his feet.
“Stay away from me,” Marc said, shaking his head at Luke. His eyes flitted to Sera gingerly holding her injured arm.
Marc shook his head again. “All of you stay away from me. You LEFT me here. TO DIE. I want to go home.” The Fighters looked at Fey, and she nodded.
Luke just stared, his mouth hanging open. “Marc—I’m sorry. There wasn’t—” But the Fae Fighters flew across the room with Marc propped between them and disappeared into the corridor.
Marc was gone.
Luke turned to Fey. “Why did you do that? Why didn’t you let me explain? You didn’t give me any time. Or Sera.”
“He needs time,” Fey said. “And we have more important matters at hand.” She gestured at Sera, Jonas, and Lilith.
Luke glared at Fey. He couldn’t believe she hadn’t even give him a chance to explain to Marc, to apologize to him. He shook his head. Sometimes he didn’t understand her.
He pushed past her to where Lilith had stood, where his dad’s flask lay on the ground. He picked it up, held it in his hand a moment, then slid it back into his pocket where it belonged.
Jonas approached Lilith, with Fey following close behind. The holes on her arms were already beginning to heal and scar. Scars were rare amongst the undead. They were sure to draw attention, inspire curious questions. He hoped Lilith had not thought about that yet.
“Lilith?” he said.
“Go now, Jonas. And take your little friends with you.”
“I will keep your secret,” he said, and her eyes snapped onto his. “I will tell no one of this. All will continue to believe it is myth for all of our kind.”
“In exchange for what?” Her face was stone. Her eyes flicked to Fey, then back to Jonas.
“Sera and Luke. You must leave them in peace. For as long as you do, your secret is safe with me.”
She laughed, a hollow angry sound. “And what about all of them?” She waved her arm around to encompass all the Light Elves there. “What will hold their tongues?”
“I will,” Fey said. “They will keep your secret under the same condition.” She looked between Lilith and Jonas. “Are we agreed?”
Lilith stared for a moment and then turned her face away. “We are. Now go.”
Jonas nodded to Fey. Lilith, he knew, was only going to be sated for so long. Soon she’d need more victims to vent on, and he wanted to be sure it wasn’t any of them.
“Gather your people and get out now,” he said quietly to Fey as they walked away from Lilith. “I’ll help with Sera and Luke.” He took a determined step toward them, but Fey’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“I told you to keep her out of the Realm. What were you doing here? You almost got her killed.” Sparks raced up and down her arms, flew off the ends of her fingers.
Jonas raised an eyebrow. “Could you have kept her from coming after Luke?” He glanced over at the two of them. “As well as you kept Luke from coming after her?”
Fey pressed her lips together.
“Precisely.”
“Can we trust her word?” She spoke low, and indicated Lilith with a very small movement of her head.
“No,” Jonas said. “She’s not been injured in thousands of years. She’s sure to believe this is due to the Prophecy, rather than sheer luck on Luke’s part. It will not sit well with her that anyone knows she has a weakness. For as long as we all exist, no, we cannot trust her to keep her word.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Marc parked his car in the cemetery, not far from the Shadow’s trees, turned off the lights, and cut the engine. He sat there staring, willing himself to get out of the car.
He wasn’t afraid. Not anymore. Not after what he’d just been through. Because, if he thought about it, what could they do—really—that could be any worse than Lilith, sadistic queen of the night?
Nothing. And he had nothing left to lose.
He was done. With the Shadows. With Sera and Luke. With this whole evil-other-world crap. He would either leave it all behind or he would die trying.
And he didn’t really care which.
He couldn’t even think about Sera or Luke. They’d looked so hurt when he’d said that he just wanted to leave the Realm, when he hadn’t wanted anything to do with them. As if they had anything to feel hurt about. It was their fault he’d been there in the first place. And then Luke had actually left him there. To die. He was going to be glad to leave them. At least that’s what he told himself.
His car still smelled like a fast food joint, though he’d eaten everything already. He’d been so weak and hungry when the Elves had brought him back, that he’d not even bothered to get cleaned up before getting into his car and going straight to the closest drive-thru. It certainly wasn’t the best food, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. He already felt much better for having eaten, and actually thought he might be able to walk with some dignity over to the trees.
Well, time to see. He opened the door and pulled himself out. So far, so good. He was standing. On his own. Already, that was a huge improvement. But, man, he hurt.
He squinted at the trees and was about to curse himself for forgetting his flashlight yet again but stopped when he realized the trees and gravestones all cast dark shadows on the ground, and that he could actually see pretty well. As if someone had left a light on.
He glanced up at the sky. A full moon. That was different. He’d never gone to meet with the Shadows during a full moon before. When he looked at the copse of trees, he thought he saw dark movement in their midst.
Marc stumbled his way closer to the trees, feeling pretty good about his ability to walk on his own, even if it lacked his usual grace and flair. He paused to zip his coat up all the way, and turn up his collar. Shivering, he wished he’d had the forethought to grab his hat and scarf before he’d come.
He was tired of the cold in Vermont. He couldn’t wait to head south.
Or die.
Either way.
“Marcus,” the voice said as Marc got close to the trees. “You have news? We were surprised to hear from you so soon.”
“Yeah, I have news.” Marc stuffed his hands in his pockets and felt his heart race in spite of himself. He didn’t care. He didn’t care. He didn’t care. “I quit. That’s my news.”
He was met with cold silence and three pairs of orange eyes glaring at him from the inky blackness.
“That is not wise. We thought you were smarter than that.”
/> “Yeah, well, I’m done. I just got back from being a human lollipop for Lilith.” Marc gloated at the surprise he saw in their creepy floating eyes. “Oh, yeah. She’s onto them, too. So I’m out. Done. Finito.”
Marc turned to go.
“You still need our medicine, Marcus. Our help.”
“I’ll take my chances. I don’t want to be a part of this, a part of whatever it is you and the rest of the creatures of the night are doing. I was sucked on by a vampire. Do you understand me? Lilith tried to kill me today. Slowly. Painfully. FOR FUN.” Marc threw his hands in the air. “I’M DONE.”
He turned again to go, but the sudden pain in his head brought him to the ground. A blazing fire was burning his brain. Hundreds of thousands of voices crowded into his head, all screaming their thoughts.
Marc grabbed his head, moaning, and couldn’t even form enough of his own thoughts to be pissed that he was about to lose his much-needed dinner right here in the graveyard. Again. He retched and retched, hardly able to breathe in between.
Then there was silence. Blessed silence. Marc was curled up tight and was rocking himself slightly from side to side, moaning.
“Without us, that is your life, Marcus. Is that what you want?”
“I don’t care.” Marc coughed, his throat raw. “I’m not doing it anymore. I’m not going to end up vampire fodder. I’d rather die.”
“Oh, you will, Marcus. You will. But you will wish it had been Lilith who killed you.”
Marc cried out as the pain shot through his head, the voices overwhelmed his mind, and his stomach rebelled again. Suddenly meeting the Shadows in a cemetery seemed like the perfect spot. If he was going to die, what better place to do it?
“Don’t pick me up! I’ll walk.” Sera pushed Jonas’s hands away for the second time.
His voice was low, urgent. “We have to get out of here quickly before her anger surges again.” He nodded toward Lilith who sat on the dais, staring at the wall, appearing to ignore them. “And surge it will. I’ve seen it, and I don’t want you or anyone here near her when it happens. You are hurt, you’ve lost a lot of blood. I need to carry you to get us all out of here as quickly as possible.”