Snow Covered Moon

by L M Adams

  “Continue with the other two,” Valentine orders.

  Two vampires go around the back and start in again. I jump at the not-wolf howls. The third vampire alternates between the two of the not-wolves on the front. He’s not careful of the soft bits.

  I’ll try to get her to kill them before I leave. I don’t know how long she plans on torturing them, something tells me until they die. Which they won’t, not until you take their head. Some people think the threat of death will scare people into talking. It will sometimes. But this will be endless years of torture. What’s the point in keeping secrets in the face of this? Not much will keep someone’s mouth sealed with this kind of torture. Nothing but pride, mental illness, and fanaticism. And even all of those things will fail sooner or later once the spirit is broken.

  “What is your name?”

  “Slave,” it whispers out.

  You wouldn’t know it’d just been torn to shreds if not for the blood still running off it.

  “My name is Jaevia Knightley, I’m the Grigori of Baltimore. Do you know who the Kindred is?”

  “Our enemy.”

  “What?” I ask, confused.

  “The time of your rule is coming to an end.” It begins to cackle madly.

  No way could these things think to make war against the Kindred. They may be hard to kill but not impossible, and the Kindred would cleanse this city with the wrath of the gods; not-wolf, human, and anything else would be annihilated.

  “Who did this? Who’s doing this to you?”

  It cackles. “Our Mistress.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Mistress.”

  “Where did you come from?”

  “Hell.”

  “Tell me where your base is, where are you hiding?”

  I watch as its eyes roll up into its head and its body begins to convulse, I step back quickly. What the fuck?

  Its body stays suspended in what I can only assume is horrible pain. Sweat pours from it, its mouth hangs open in a scream, but no sound emits from its mouth. It is caught in some kind of unending hell. I watch its body shudder for another minute and sag into the chains as it breathes in the first breath since I asked it my question. Blood begins to trickle from its wolf ears atop of its head.

  “Goddess,” I breathe out softly. What a horrid spell.

  “Please do not ask those questions. I cannot tell you, it hurts for you to even ask them.”

  “What questions can’t I ask?”

  “I won’t know until you ask them, it’s the way her magic works, pain first, always pain. You do right, pain for your reward; do something wrong, pain for your punishment. Because she feels like it, pain.” Its voice is hoarse like it’s been chewing gravel.

  What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Hurt it with every question I ask? I’m sure anything that could lead me to their base or who is behind this will lead to another bout of pain for the creature.

  So? My succubus whispers.

  Not right now, I think towards her.

  I turn as the door opens, Lucien and Tabari walk in. I have to tell them we’ve hit another dead end. I notice Jack’s body stiffens when he sees Lucien. I sigh, I guess that whole mess isn’t over either. It’ll be a relief when they start to get along, or kill each other.

  Not a nice thought, Jae, I admonish myself.

  Tabari is talking quietly to Valentine; she nods her head listening to him. I walk towards them, weary to the bone, and it’s not even noon yet.

  “They won’t last more than a few hours,” he says.

  “Who won’t?” I ask.

  “The not-wolves, whatever they are using to turn them, the enzyme or chemical, magic. If they don’t get regular doses, they die. Their bodies break down.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I examined two of them. Their organs aren’t right, even the insides are mutilated. It’s truly not meant to be. The energy in their Chi seems to hold it all together some sort of way. The signature of the energy flowing through their Chakras still seems familiar. I just can’t place it. Whatever they are using does the rapid healing, keeping them alive. The only way to stop the flow is to cut the power to their central nervous system. Which is why taking their head is the only thing that works. But it takes a lot to hold them together, and their Chi is already burning through the power they hold… exponentially.”

  “Could we feed them power?” I ask.

  “No more than a wolf could get power from the Blood King. I don’t even know what is feeding them, no idea the frequency of their power.”

  “I have worse news,” I pause. “When I ask them questions, even if willing to answer, some spell takes over. Torturing them keeping them from saying anything.”

  “Really?” Tabari asks in a voice of wonder. “Show me.”

  “Brother,” I gasp, shocked.

  He wants me to purposely torture the creature: but then he doesn’t really seem bothered by being in this room either. One of those rare moments hits me when I realize someone I’ve always thought was morally righteous, good to the core, may not be, and may be more complicated than I thought.

  “It’s what needs to be done, Jae. I need to see the spell in action to see if I can break it,” Tabari says softly.

  I look around to the rest of them- Valentine, Lucien, Jack waiting for them to raise their objections, but there is only silence. In what world am I the champion of kindness and moral obligation?

  “I will do it.” Valentine turns away.

  “Hold!” she shouts again; the vampires drop the whips to the side of their bodies, standing, waiting in stone stillness. Waiting to begin their torturous delights again.

  “I am speaking to all three of you abominations, understood?’

  “Yes,” the not-wolves voices ring out clearly, breaking them in indeed.

  “Where is your hideout?” Valentine asks.

  I watch as their bodies begin to shake in pain; their muscles bunch and then stretch so tightly it seems their bodies are suspended in air independent of the chains they hang from. Their mouths open, screaming in silent misery.

  Tabari walks up to each of the wolves, his eyes are glowing, hair lifting at the ends. Third eye wide open. He runs his hands over the air, only inches from their bodies.

  “Continue asking them questions until I say stop,” Tabari’s voice overlaps on itself, heavy with power.

  I refuse to leave the room, but I turn away. I cannot watch this. Valentine asks question after question, no break in between. The smell of fear, terror of pain; it’s rancid in the air. I hear their bones break under the pressure and strain of the magic. And still she does not stop questioning them and Tabari does not tell her to stop.

  The shameful, horrid truth is, if I were to reach down my pants right now, I’d be soaking wet and ready; the smell and sound of their pain is a heavy aphrodisiac for me. I may object on the surface, in my heart even. But some evil bit inside, something that has taken root inside of me, loves every minute of this.

  We are what we are. My succubus offers, perhaps as some cryptic bit of comfort. I do not feel like a good woman now.

  “Enough!” I scream it at the top of my lungs.

  “Goddess above, enough. As the Grigori, I order you all to stand down.” My voice breaks in emotion, what am I doing, what am I doing? And who are these people so easy to let this happen and say nothing?

  Jack walks towards me. I feel the cool, calming power of him beat against me. But there is no anger for him to cool. It is mortification, shock, shame, and at the bottom, hopefully where no one can see, desire.

  “Just stop, Jack. Please just stop,” I plead, voice broken. His eyes settle back into the graphite blue I’m used to. Tabari walks over to me.

  “Can you really do anything by torturing them like this? Is there no better way? Is there no way you could read their mind? Anything at all that doesn’t require this?”

  Tabari gives me a flat look. “I swear, blotting out the sun isn’t enoug
h for you. No, I can’t read minds. I can read Auras, but theirs of course…”

  “Are twisted.” I finish for him. He nods his head sadly.

  “I cannot promise this will work, Jaevia, and I’ll not lie to you, I’ve barely begun. If whatever spell that tortures them doesn’t kill them, me trying to unravel it very well could. It’s intricate with trips and layers. It’s definitely Coven and death magic. But past that…” He shrugs his shoulder.

  “Well, do you need to torture all three of them?”

  “No,” Tabari responds, “one would suffice.”

  “There’s no point in torturing all of them.” I look to Valentine. She shrugs her shoulder.

  “Valentine,” I say in a low voice, but sharp.

  “Fifteen of mine will not see the moon rise; I gave their lives to my vampires.” She nods her head to the three vampires. “One of my vampires now walks the shores of Vayrá. His name is Tyro. He has been Michelle’s lover for almost a hundred years. She deserves vengeance and this hurts the monsters who have destroyed the happiness so many of us had just hours ago. This pleases us.”

  “It won’t bring Tyro back,” I respond plainly.

  “Those are not my lives to give to you, Jaevia, and I’ll not order them to do so. What would your men do if you lay dead? What would you do if one of them had died?”

  I look to Lucien and Jack and even Tabari, what would I do? Probably worse than Michelle is doing, but it doesn’t make it right. Torture someone for information? Perhaps. Ugly things must be done for beauty to exist in the world… right?

  I would torture them gladly if they held my loved ones and it was the only way I could find out where they were. To save an innocent life? Yes, I would do this. But I just don’t believe that torturing them will make the deaths of the vampire’s right. Or give them peace. Or give us the information we need.

  Even with all that’s been done to me, I do not wish this on another soul. I don’t want to believe that torturing someone is ok; it would make me less of a person. How can I hate Sheba for what she did to me, for what she forced me to do to others, and yet condone this?

  I could set them free. I could drain their Chi, give them the kiss of death. It’s an old succubus power, one I’ve never used. I know how it’s done and maybe in the process I could gain some information from them. But to bestow the kiss of death I must seduce their seven, draining each Chakra of its power. The act will give me at least glimpses of things they’ve experienced.

  Whatever did this to them will have left a deep enough impression for me to see, hopefully. But it will kill them, which is sadly my larger concern. It is the only way I can stop what is happening here.

  I could call their deaths an accident, two birds, one stone. But first I need to get close; I need power, I need to find out what these not-wolves may hold in their psyches.

  “I could seduce the seven.”

  “No!” Jack shouts, making me jump for the strong reaction. “No, Jae, No! Enough is enough.”

  “Seduce the seven?” Valentine asks.

  “I can twist Chakras, the seven main chakras. I may be able to get impressions or visions from them when I make a link to their third eye. It wouldn’t be detailed information, just impressions; maybe visions if I’m lucky. It depends on how strongly I can bind them to me, how much of a scar has been left by what was done to them.”

  “You do not know what it would do to you, Jae. It affects you as well and you know it. No Jae, if you care for us at all, you won’t do this thing. We will find out what we need to know another way. Tabari could still learn how to undo the spell.”

  “There is no other way, Jack! Tabari cannot promise that his way will work. We have no clues, nothing to go on. We don’t know why these things are hunting. There are too many of them and we are out of time!”

  “Lucien! Do not let her do this thing.” Jack turns to Lucien.

  “You don’t need to have sex with them, do you?”

  I shake my head no.

  “Jaevia is her own woman; I’ll not make the same mistakes as before. She is also my Grigori. If she says this is the only way, then it is the only way.” Lucien’s eyes are steady and trusting as he looks at me. His faith and trust give me strength.

  He sighs and turns to Jack. “I will tell you a secret about being with Jae. You have to pick your battles. I do not agree with this, but neither will I stand in her way.”

  I nod my head to Lucien in thanks. I do wonder how much of his agreement is because he trusts me or because he is honor bound to follow a direct order from me as his Grigori. I hope it’s because of the former and not the latter.

  “You would need a lot of power to do this thing, sister; more than you have stored right now,” Tabari whispers.

  I see in his eyes he doesn’t want me to do it either. But he will not stand in my way. He knows what seducing the seven is, I’m sure. Something is making him believe I have a better chance my way, so he will support me no matter the risk. Tabari always does what needs to be done, no matter the cost. It’s one of the ways we are so much alike.

  “You could fill my Chi,” I say simply.

  “No sister, after the night before last, I wouldn’t do that so soon. Physically you are healed, but mentally…” he shakes his head no. “You should feed in your own way.”

  I sigh and look to Lucien. We’d have to have sex for me to feed from him and he’s only let me feed from him once before. Even when we are on good terms, it’s not something he wants or likes for me to do. We’d have to have sex well into the night for me to get the power I need from him; he has to come for me to feed. To be honest, I’d hate for our reunion to be under these circumstances.

  “And no men,” he says simply.

  I nod my head. It’s the same rule we came up with together, after Lucien had beaten someone almost dead. It was only a flirtation, no sex.

  No men, that’s all he asks. I can have as many women as I want, but he is to be the only man. The fact that he is dealing so well with Jack isn’t lost on me either. Lucien has finally bent.

  I look to Valentine.

  “I cannot, Jaevia. It’s taking too much power to hold my clutch together; many have been hurt or need the power to feel reassured. I have not fed since last night either and you’ve already taken a lot from me with that spelled collar. Even I do not have endless amounts of power. But I’m sure another vampire woman would welcome you to their bed,” she says softly.

  “Front!” she yells, signaling the vampires to begin their tortures again.

  There is much whimpering, but no begging. Begging does nothing to stop the fall of the whip, lesson two I had learned under the hand of Sheba. Lesson three was not begging makes it worse.

  I shake my head pushing the thoughts of Sheba away, none of that will help me now.

  I need a huge power dump; I’d need three or four of her most powerful vampires, maybe twice that many. Everyone is tired after the battle, depleted, I’d have to drain each of them almost to death. And still, this idea may not even work.

  I’m completely empty of power, I’ve already used what I had in reserve during the battle and then to heal myself. There’s only one person who could give me what I need without danger to himself, he has so much inside of him, so much he can access. So much to give.

  I don’t want to have this conversation here, but I finally look to Jack. The one who doesn’t want me to use my power on the not-wolves.

  I know why; because I seduced his seven, we did form a connection, and he’s afraid. I am too, but I can think of no other way. It’s either him or the vampire women, and a lot of them, and we simply do not have time for that. After I make my decision I look into his eyes, steady with the weight of it.

  “I could order you to. Or you can help me do what needs to be done.” I say finally. Would I order him? I don’t know, maybe. Hopefully the threat is enough and we will not have to cross that line.

  “It will be at a price, Jaevia,” Jack says softly.
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br />   I know the price is heavy whatever it is. I also know I’ll pay it to keep from forcing him. I know bribery is not much better. But I don’t want to lose the ground we’ve made. He’d do it if I ordered him but I’d be doing nothing more than power-raping him. Something would break between us if I did such a thing. I know that truth in my heart. For once, I don’t want to destroy the good things in my life. I want to walk the world with my two men.

  “What?” I whisper looking at his silvered eyes, the deep blue barely flashing through.

  “It will not be cheap. Do you accept, yes or no?”

  His eyes burn with the cool of the ocean trying to control himself, ebb the anger he feels. I know in my heart the price will be high. Is it worth it Jae? Because whatever you are about to agree to, could destroy you, destroy Jack, destroy your budding relationship.

  But with the howls of the not-wolves being tortured as a soundtrack to my thoughts, I can only give one reply.

  “I will pay whatever you require, Capaneus.”

  Jack grabs me by my arm dragging me from the room. We move at vampire speeds almost. We race down a series of black marble hallways and through another door, everything is a blur of black marble. When I blink again, we are in a room.

  He pushes me to the bed. A large bed, with a thick metal head board, and cuffs to restrain the victim from moving. I look around; this must be Jack’s old room. It’s nice, huge TV hanging on one wall, a desk and chair with a laptop on it, a dresser and a closet. Probably filled to the brim with expensive shit.

  “I ask you again, Jaevia, do not do this thing. They are abominations; I cannot allow you to form a tie with them. No. I don’t care if you order me to, I will not do it. You will not have my power.”

  “You promised.”

  “Then I’ll be sure my price is too high, even for you. I will not allow this!”

  “Let’s get something straight, slave. You do not allow me to do anything. You raised your concerns, I listened. I still think it’s worth the risk. End of fucking discussion, Jack! I said I will pay, I will pay; now tell me what you want, slave!”