I can see the tenseness around his eyes and know that the thought of running is abhorrent to him. As it is to me, I don’t run from anything.
He shakes his head fiercely, “I will not allow you to be anywhere near that danger, Adonia.” His expression morphs into sadness as he says, “You will have to say goodbye to your family. I don’t know when or if you will ever see them again.” His tone is as desolate as my heart when I hear the words.
Never seeing my family again shatters me into a million pieces. I can’t imagine a life without them in it. It will devastate us all.
His eyes are filled with concern and sympathy. I stumble back and fall onto the edge of the sofa suddenly feeling dizzy. Everything is happening so fast that my mind is shutting down. I can’t take anymore life-altering news at the moment.
He reaches for me but I hold my hand up, “Just give me a moment, Khai. This is a lot to take in and fuck, I’m having a difficult time piecing it all together.”
He nods but I can see the uncertainty in his eyes. I take several deep breaths and will my heart rate down.
Finally I look back up, “Where will we go?” I ask crisp and focused.
He stares at me then says, “I’m still trying to work that out in my head. The closer she gets the better I can read her intentions and her next move. Right now she is focused solely on destroying you then taking me down.”
I see red again. The forcefulness of this new rage takes me by surprise and I realize that there is a huge part of me that I never knew existed. I’m strong and protective and I will fight anything that tries to hurt what I love—who I love.
I stand, “Let’s go, but I don’t want to run. Let’s find a place that we can do this on our terms. Where we have the advantage.”
He stares at me and the look on his face is utter bewilderment. He blinks several times, “You absolutely confound me, Adonia. I’ve never met anyone like you. You really are a born warrior.”
I give him a small smile because I just don’t have the energy, “I’m no warrior, Khai but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit back while someone threatens to hurt you. It’s not how I’m made.”
He closes his eyes and inhales sharply through his nose. When he looks at me again his eyes are black with fire. “I will make you mine in every way, Adonia and we will spend the rest of our eternity as one. Forever.” He vows and my human instinct kicks in when I realize his intention.
He’s going to turn me.
But before I can process that revelation his body shifts and his eyes train on the black cloud racing over the cityscape.
He scoops me into his arms and we are running again. I close my eyes because I can’t take the blurring environment around me—It’s too much. I realize we are running in broad daylight down Madison Avenue.
I gasp but his lips are at my ears, “Trust me. I’ve got this, beautiful. This is second instinct for me. These people will never get a chance to see us.” I can hear the humor and excitement in his tone and I know that he is in his element—enjoying the thrill.
I lean into his face; “I guess there isn’t any real call for you to go barreling down Madison Avenue amid thousands of people on a normal day at the office.”
He laughs, “No, I guess not. It’s been a while, my love.”
I bury my face in his neck and try to forget that we are probably traveling faster than a plane and I could become bug splatter on a building at any moment.
He laughs louder than I’ve ever heard, “Trust me when I say that isn’t a possibility.”
I just shake my head and chant the National Anthem over and over to distract myself.
Moments later the light gives way to black darkness and fear laces up my spine. He holds me tighter and the only way I know we are still moving is the wind on my face, blowing my hair wildly around my head.
When we stop he places me on my feet and it’s utter pitch-black darkness. I can smell musty water and stale air hovering around us. I hear the creaking of metal beams above me. Being claustrophobic makes this all the more terrifying. I realize I am in a basement and the thought paralyzes me.
Seconds later the ping of fluorescent lighting fills the space and the harsh rays of the bulbs cover the area and enlighten the objects around me.
I scan the room and moments later Khai is at my side. We are definitely at the subterranean level of a massive high-rise. I gape at the metal beams and tubing surrounding us. It’s a mass of concrete and metal.
I look up at him in absolute fear, “Where are we?”
He strokes my face, “Please wipe the fear from your mind, Adonia. I will protect you. Nothing is going to harm you—ever, love.”
I blink all around me taking in the scene. I can hear the swaying of the building above creating an eerie shrieking noise as the metal gives and protests against the movement.
My mouth goes dry, “Why?” I whisper.
“Because the manmade elements will hinder her ability to track me momentarily until I can figure a permanent location.”
I am processing those words when I hear a seductively ominous voice float across the damp space.
Khai tenses and I hear a deep growl work up his throat and vibrate his entire body. He grows too hot to touch and I am forced back and I feel the heat radiating off his skin.
Suddenly she comes into view and I am stunned into silence. She is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her hair is like a mane of blonde silk and her eyes pierce me with the depth of amber. I gasp.
She glides over as if she’s floating rather than walking and comes to a stop feet from where we stand.
Khai has shifted in front of me and she is looking at him in mild amusement. “So,” she purrs and her voice reverberates in my ears, silkily, “This is the creature that has finally tamed the heart of Khai Garai.” There is a subtle awe in her voice.
He steps forward, “You may destroy me, Mehi but I can swear that you will go with me.” Suddenly the humor is gone in her expression and it’s turned to fury. He shifts me back against the concrete pillar, “You’ll never touch her.” He hisses and fear snakes up my spine at the menacing sound of his voice laced with utter contempt.
They stare at one another for several minutes. The tension in the air is palpable and has created a thick fog surrounding us. For several minutes time is suspended and they remain statues facing each other measuring each emotion.
Then before I can blink an earsplitting crash crushes me and suddenly I am in the vortex of a tornado. Wind and dust are swirling around me with such force I feel as though I am being lifted into the air.
I can hear something that sounds like a freight train barreling through a tunnel not large enough to fit and the metal protesting against the rock. It’s deafening and then I begin to feel chunks of concrete rain down on my head.
The lights are soon destroyed and I’m left in an abyss of darkness with a crumbling structure around me. I scream out for him scared that this is the end and I can’t hold his hand. I long to feel his strength and when I go I want my last thought to be of his beautiful face.
The screeching of the metal begins to get intolerable as the structure continues to collapse. The concrete beam beside me splits at the bottom and I hear the fissure where it connects with the ceiling overhead.
I move but as my feet separate the floor cracks open and I am nearly swallowed by the crater. I jump to the side as it grows wider and shifts the walls. The metal overhead is beginning to bend inward and I can hear glass shattering in the windows above.
Suddenly the space is illuminated and I realize its fire. In seconds it engulfs the entire space around me and I am standing in the middle of a lake of fire spreading fast toward me, licking up everything in it’s path.
The black smoke floods my lungs and I feel my legs buckle and my knees hit the crumbling concrete floor.
This is it. My worst fear realized. I close my eyes and chant the prayer my mother taught me as a child and pray for forgiveness. There are many thing
s that I am ashamed of and I don’t want to go to my grave with those on my shoulders.
I beg for a quick end and I pray that Khai lives and loves again. I press my face against the cold concrete and let his face play across my eyes.
I’m so tired.
I say goodbye to my mother and father sending all my love across the sky. I pray that my brother find true happiness like I have with Khai—true love.
An explosion rocks my ears and I wince into the smoke wondering if I’ve died and this is hell—all the fire around me burning my skin and engulfing me.
I hear an ear curdling scream and then silence before the metal above me finally gives way and I watch as it slowly bends and begins it’s collapse upon me.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
KHAI
I’ve never felt terror. It’s a foreign feeling that my kind never experience but seeing Adonia lying on that concrete floor not moving sends such a jolt through my body that I feel the first experience of pain in my entire existence.
I can feel the structure caving and I sense the frantic escape Mehi makes to save herself after I nearly seared her to the wall. I move faster than I ever have, motivated my absolute fear and scoop her into my arms.
Half a second later I am flying up the levels propelling us into the night air. Complete concentration and determination sends me through the air across the midnight sky directly toward my building.
When I see the lettering for my company emboldened in front of me I feel the first wave of relief. I bring us down on the deserted side of my employee entrance. I delve into her mind and find that she is sleeping. I place my tongue to her skin and taste the chemicals in her body. She is healthy and healing against the smoke.
I exhale a breath I’ve held since the fight began. All tension and worry have evaporated and all I want to do is reassure her safety. I want her anxiety gone.
Mehi will recover and after our battle she will come at me with everything she has. I must get Adonia out and away from Manhattan.
I glide up the building to my private entrance off the balcony. Once inside I take her over to the sofa and sit with her in my arms.
I caress her face, “Baby, can you hear me?” I whisper in her ear. After several attempts when she doesn’t respond and I feel the fear snake up my neck. I grip her more solidly and cup her face, “Adonia, please baby, talk to me,” I plead.
But she doesn’t stir and the terror of never seeing those beautiful emerald eyes again seizes me in panic.
I pull her lips to mine and skim my tongue over her lower lip tasting the chemicals flowing through her body. It’s a mix of antibodies and red-blood cells devouring the plague of the smoke.
I whisper against her skin, “Please baby, wake up.”
Moments later I feel her mind stirring, sifting through the last horrific moments. Pure terror washes over her then peace as she lingers on my face when her eyes close.
It’s the single most emotion I’ve ever felt. Her last thoughts were of me and peace filled her body. She calls to me on a soul deep level that I thought was buried along with my humanity but she is opening me up to that side again and as foreign as it is I’m finally alive.
Her thoughts are beginning to flicker and I know she is moments from awakening. I lean into her ear, “Adonia, you’re safe. I have you and you’re safe. Look at me, please.”
Her eyes flutter and then snap open wide and alarm is the first register in her mind until she focuses on my face and I feel her entire body sag with relief.
It’s paramount what that does to me.
Her arms fly around my neck and she buries herself into my neck inhaling me as she sobs.
“Shhh, it’s ok, love. You’re ok—we both are and we’re together. She’s gone and we made it.” I soothe into her ear.
Her sobs begin to settle and I clench my teeth watching her memories of the final seconds of the fight.
Mehi gave me a glimpse into her mind as we tore each other apart and I now know her weakness and I know how to defeat her.
She’s much older and much more powerful that I but she’s not fighting for what I am. Her desire to have me destroyed is not even a tenth of the force behind mine. I will destroy her.
She will go to ground to heal from the burns I inflicted. I have three days at max to get Adonia to a safe location and plan my attack for Mehi. She’ll know I’m coming but she won’t be prepared for what I bring.
I need an obscure place because she will inevitably destroy anything in her path to get to me. New York will be reduced to ruble.
I need rivals and that will be the first hurdle for me to cross. Our kind do not band together, we are solitary creatures that have fierce territory reign—each possessing a power that could potentially destroy the other.
I’m the one they don’t want to see coming because the only true death for us is fire. But that doesn’t mean that I can destroy them. I know of a loner in the South of France that has the ability to derange your mind. So if he saw me coming he could turn my mind on itself and cause me to destroy myself.
A thousand years ago there were almost a hundred of us in existence but with the war with Mehi, she claimed twenty in one swoop with a massive volcano eruption in Pompeii.
They never had a chance because she catapulted the lava so forcefully that it ate up the entire city in minutes. The ash baked them where they stood at the base of the mountain. She had planned it and lured them in effectively wiping out half our population.
She made one other vampyre apart from me and he lives in central Algeria with a massive empire built from a major oil reserve that supplies to most of the Middle East and Europe.
I’ve owned many businesses over my lifetime and always had wealth. Our ability to predict and read reality garners us fool proof on any trade, simply because we know how and when everything will happen.
He will be paramount to taking her down. I don’t know of his allegiance to her anymore I can only deduce that it traveled the same path as ours—control then defiance. She nearly destroyed me when I called the stand and marked myself sovereign.
Our feud spanned several weeks and encompassed all of Europe effectively wiping out villages in our wake.
Eventually she conceded but not before she stripped me of everything and annexed my empire then exiled me from the Middle East—my home.
That’s when I began to travel—nomad—through all of Europe then South America eventually landing in North America and settling in Manhattan. Out of all my travels it is my choice of habitat. I have everything at my fingertips and the world is at my feet.
But before I make the trek to Bassam, I need waylay myself in Greece and seek out Fatima—our maid from many centuries ago—the one who protected Nanu—Adonia.
Their kind—Papyri Graecae Magicae—are respected yet loathed by our existence. They have the ability to render us helpless. They cannot defeat us but they can suspend our powers and unilaterally defy our demands.
I need to bring her to my side—to Adonia. She must have protection and Fatima can provide that.
Adonia peers up at me and her eyes are pleading—begging for a solution—an answer.
I smile, “Beautiful, I’m going to protect you and keep you safe.” She says nothing but she doesn’t have to I see it in her mind—she is scared but resolute. Adonia Kostas is a fighter.
There are several open wounds on her hands. The cuts are superficial and already begun the first stage of the healing process but the sweet smell of her blood has the ache spreading up my throat and into my teeth.
I need to feed. I pick her up and walk her to the shower in my adjoining washroom. “I’ll lay a towel for you. I have fresh shirts and track pants in the closet.” I lean in and place a kiss to her lips. “I must take care of something but I’ll be back quickly.” She nods and turns for the shower peeling the soot covered shirt from her chest.
I turn and close the door behind me. This will not be about the lure and feast; I need to find someone quickly.
I step onto the balcony and search the adjoining building. I catch the steady heartbeat of a woman climbing the stairwell in the office building across from mine.
I waste no time and hover over the entrance to a suite with an unlocked window. I slide inside and scan the area for workers. Two custodians are breaking in an adjacent room otherwise the floor is vacant. People will be arriving within the hour to begin their day.
I walk to the entrance for the stairs and ease the door open. I sense her two flights down enjoying the burn in her muscles as she climbs the stairs. She’s fit and toned and the ache becomes feral in my throat.
I begin down the steps and put a smile on my face as I round the landing she is just getting in her sight. When she appears on the first curve of the landing I hear her breath hitch when she sees me and then I remember what I must look like—disheveled and charred from the black smoke.
I quickly cough and she halts where she is—she knows something is off. Not caring about appearances anymore because the burn is overwhelming I stalk toward her and before she has a chance to catch a breath I cover her throat with my hand and lean in, “Don’t fight,” I hiss. I feel her throat work as she tries to swallow. I quickly scan for any nearby bodies.
The closest person is five flights down and nose deep into a monitor. I turn back to her and watch her pupils dilate with the fear and realization these are her final moments.
Her blood is rushing through her veins and I can smell the richness of her diet as it soaks her organs and feeds her system.
She blinks up at me and finally gives up that last bit of hope then closes her eyes as I lean into her neck. My teeth pierce the flesh directly over her carotid and sink into the capsulated vein.
Rich warm blood flows down my throat in waves as I pull every drop from her body. When she grows cold I drop her to the floor and place my hand over her chest feeling for the first time, a pang of guilt.
As her ashes sprinkle down the concrete steps I realize that the sudden and abrupt changes in my temperament are all because of Adonia. She is awakening the human emotions in me and it’s affecting my decision-making—it’s foreign and I don’t like it.
The Last Vampyre Prophecy Page 14