The Nightwalkers Saga: Books 1 - 7

by Candace Wondrak

  I nodded along with Raphael. “Exactly. That’s why we need to team up. He needs our help and we need his, whether we want to admit it or not.” I couldn’t believe what I was saying. In this entire room, I should be the last person to say anything like that.

  “No,” Michael declared, “this is ludicrous. I will not allow this discussion to continue.”

  Slowly Michael became aware that I stared him down from my opposing position. My famous death glare made him instantly uncomfortable, I could see it in the way he sharply looked away and jiggled his glasses.

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Max accused the Englishman with a scrawny finger, raising his voice to an unimaginable volume. “You don’t have a friend who’s dying as we speak!”

  Taiton quickly defended him, “Crixis will only betray you once he gets what he is after, and I will not give consent. There is no possible way I could justify this to the Council—” He was cut off by a furious Max.

  “To save a life! A—” Max paused, and to me it was completely clear that he wanted to call her something else. Something that would probably not have gone over well with Steven. At least, not now. “—civilian!”

  “You’ve been after him ever since the Council formed.” Gabriel breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down. We all knew he didn’t calm that easy. “We’ll save Claire, help stop the all-powerful maker lady, and then you’ll have Crixis right where you want him. Take care of him then,” he told Taiton, “and we all get what we want.”

  “A Vampire as learnt as him?” Michael shook his head. “There’d be no way. He’d see right through us…”

  Gabriel leaned to his Guardian, almost falling off the couch while doing so. “Would he? Maybe he’s too wrapped up in the resurrection of his maker. This might be the one and only shot we get to purify. We all want him dead. Doing it and preventing the destruction of the world? Win-win. What have we got to lose?” His sapphire eyes locked with mine, not daring to drop my gaze.

  Frantic, worried, anxious eyes flicked from one pair of frantic, worried, anxious eyes to another. No one knew what to say next, because Gabriel did have a point. He had a very good point…up until his last question.

  In reality, we had everything to lose. Wait, no, Claire and I had everything to lose. Everyone else? They’d just be caught in the cross-fire and get out alive. Maybe.

  I finally tore my eyes away from Gabriel’s stare, because, deep down, I loved staring in his eyes, and I wasn’t about to give myself the satisfaction. Not at a time like this.

  The second hand was abnormally drawn-out in its journey to the twelve. Five seconds and counting…four…three…two…one…

  Three o’clock.

  A shrill, irritating ringing erupted from the house phone near me, shattering the apprehensive silence. No one moved a muscle, no one except me. I did what I had to: I walked to the phone, picked up the receiver and said, “We’ll help you.” I hung up the phone.

  “Kass, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Gabriel spoke, coming out of nowhere behind me, startling me a bit. “Everyone will understand.” He pulled me from my uncomfortable location on the wooden doorframe and hugged me.

  What was with all the freaking hugging?

  Claire was on her deathbed. My father was just murdered. I was angry at all times. And I agreed to help the same Demon who caused all of this. That didn’t mean I wanted a hug every fifteen minutes.

  “No,” I wrangled out of his grasp, “I have to do this. We all have to do this.”

  “There’s still time.” His hands cupped my face, forcing me to look up at his towering figure. “You can change your mind.” His thumbs, which were softer than I imagined them to be, caressed my cheeks.

  “I can’t, for Claire’s sake,” I murmured under his smooth touch. Somehow his hands ended up on my shoulders, and I was thoroughly enjoying the rub. Gabriel was mind-blowingly amazing with his hands. It was the moment when he draped his kneading hands on my back that I recovered my usual manner and deadpanned, “As much as I’d like you to give me a full body massage, Gabriel, I need to concentrate.”

  Raising an eyebrow, his smile sent butterflies into my stomach. What was wrong with me? “I owe you one, then, after this. I can only hope you’ll concentrate on my skillful hand abilities as much as you are this…you know what? Never mind. That sounded better in my head.”

  “I bet,” I managed to laugh out.

  “Hey, look on the bright side,” Gabriel told me seriously.

  Quizzically, I responded, “What bright side?”

  His blue eyes dashed to the kitchen, and I knew he was probably thinking about food. Food, at a time like this, no less. What a boy. “Anyways.” He attempted to change the subject, but I hit him in the stomach. I wanted to know what this so-called bright side was.

  “Tell me what the bright side is.”

  “You are temporarily without your infallible bodyguard, Taiton,” Gabriel answered, as if it should have been known from the beginning. Actually, I should have noticed that from the beginning. “Which, to tell the truth, would make having intimate relations especially easy.”

  I was about to scream his name, the way I always did when he made comments like that, but was stopped short by a single knock on the front door.

  “Kass,” Gabriel warned as I reached for the knob, “you still have a chance to…” His voice disappeared when he took in the fact that I wasn’t about to stop. And the door was already opened to a relatively unperturbed Daywalker.

  “Oh,” the blonde boy’s tone changed right away, “if it isn’t the most despised monster of all time. Tell me three things: how do you sleep at night knowing you’ve murdered thousands of innocent people, how do you live for so long without going bonkers, and how do you keep your hair looking so good after all this time?”

  I used all of the restraint I had to keep myself from slapping Gabriel. Harassing Crixis wasn’t a good idea.

  Throwing him a glare, Gabriel shrugged.

  “I very rarely get more than two hours of sleep, I keep myself in check by interacting normally with humans, sometimes without killing them, and my hair’s naturally windswept,” Crixis answered with an evil half-grin. “A God-given gift, I suppose.”

  That response shut Gabriel up immediately.

  His bright green eyes turned to me. “Why, aren’t you a vision today?”

  “A vision?” Gabriel soon regained his sarcasm.

  “You are certainly the charmer,” Crixis said while taking a step in the house, nearing within a foot of me. His sinful gaze was upon me once more, making me extremely nervous and on edge. My mind ran through the dream I had last night, recalling the feeling of his mouth and the sheer coldness that enveloped me before I woke up.

  He parted his lips ever so slightly, saying, “It—” I could feel Crixis’s eyes eating me up, and it sent shivers down my spine. “—is a wonder why you haven’t claimed her yet. You’ve had plenty of time.”

  He was speaking to Gabriel while staring at me. Talking as if I were a possession. Sexist.

  Gabriel was stunned speechless. I, however, was not. “This isn’t the fifteenth century,” I seethed, “I am not a prize to be won or something to be claimed.”

  “Think what you want,” Crixis replied, leaning down over me and causing Gabriel to quickly pull me back to put some space between us. “The man who claims you will indubitably have his hands full.”

  Squinting my eyes, I ignored his previous statement and commanded, “Shut up and follow me.” I spun on my heels and took him to the room Claire was still in. No, scratch that. The room everyone was in.

  Once the door was pushed open, and the eight pairs of accusatory eyes were on us, I said, “Now go fix her.”

  Crixis carefully guided his way through the crowd of fuming people, avoiding the intimidating and threatening poses and postures in the room, and reached Claire’s side. I was mere seconds behind him.

  The tension in the room was palpable. Havin
g your worst enemy and relying on him for help tended to make people uneasy. I’d never experienced this feeling before, and it truthfully wasn’t easy to handle.

  Studying the ghost-like girl on the bed, Crixis sighed. “She isn’t doing too well, is she?”

  “You—” Max yelled, lunging at the responsible Daywalker, but Michael held him back, knowing he’d be no match for the ancient Demon.

  Crixis rose a finger and swayed it back and forth to Max, saying, “Temper, temper. If I were you, I’d watch that. One day it might get you killed.” He ended his sentence with a twitch of a smile.

  “Was that a threat?” Max snarled, struggling free of Michael’s grasp and dropping his bug glasses on the floor in the process. I watched the red-head bend over and pick them up. If we were lucky, Max would hold off and wait until our agreement with Crixis was complete. He could go Rambo on him later.

  “Just a suggestion. Calm down, boy,” Crixis laughed, “it’s as if...” Recognition dawned in his evil eyes. “Oh. Sorry, I had no idea that you and this Morpher were together.”

  Max abruptly looked away, whispering, “We’re not.”

  “But you wish to be.”

  I cut through Crixis’s speech by saying, “Did you bring the cure?”

  “That goes without saying,” he replied, receiving numerous jeers from the other people in the room. “But before I heal her, I need your word.” His jade eyes glanced around the small room. “From all of you, that if I do this, you will help me in return.”

  “I promise,” I was quick to say. I thought we were done with this stuff?

  A few more evil chuckles from him sent more shivers through me, raising the hair on my arms. “Not from you, though it is welcomed. I meant them.” His head motioned to the remaining people.

  I glanced around the room, without a thought saying, “Promise him.” When no one responded, I repeated at an increased intensity, “Promise him. I don’t like this anymore than you guys, but we have to do this.” I hoped my little speech would make them hurry this thing up.

  “How do we know,” Gabriel was the first to speak up, “that after we help you, you won’t return to your normal hobbies of terrorizing Kass and killing everyone she’s ever loved?”

  “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” Crixis let a long, dramatic pause interrupt the flow of his rebuttal. “You all are. The fact of the matter is that you’ll have to trust me. If you help me with my predicament, then I will leave you alone. I will leave you all alone.” With an intense look from his green eyes, he said, “I promise.”

  Gabriel growled. Yes, he literally growled like a feral dog at Crixis, simultaneously saying, “Fine.” His fine was trailed by several nods and whispered pledges. Taiton was the only one who said and did nothing.

  Crixis, though, obviously didn’t care about Taiton enough to make a big issue of it, because he bowed over Claire and opened her mouth. In a flash, he bit his wrist. With another grotesque flash, his bleeding wrist dribbled large amounts of blood over her mouth.

  His blood was the cure?

  “The blood should make its way through her system in a few minutes,” Crixis said after a single lick to his wrist. “The Morpher will be fine.” His glances to everyone in the room caused them to freeze.

  No one moved. No one blinked. No one said a word. Why? Possibly because they were afraid of Crixis, or maybe no one knew what to do or what to say. No one but me.

  Sending a glowering stare to Crixis, I spoke, “That’s it? Are you sure she’ll be okay?”

  He cocked his head at me, letting a small piece of hair fall over his eye. “I may be many things, but I am not a liar.” There was something in his low voice that made me feel very unnerved.

  Gabriel’s puffing of his chest indicated that he was just seconds away from going off on him, and I didn’t blame him. I wanted to go off on Crixis as much, if not more, than anyone here. All the things he’d done…one good deed, one forced good deed, wasn’t going to make up for anything.

  The blonde boy’s rage was evident in his appearance and his voice, “You know what I think? I think you’re lying about not being a liar. I think you’re the best liar around. You’ve had more years to master it than anyone else around here.”

  A rough snicker left Crixis as he crossed his arms, creating creases in his black dress shirt that I shouldn’t have noticed. That dream. I blame my ultra-awareness on that dream.

  “Before we deal with your problem,” I said, walking over to the door. “I would like to make sure Claire comes out of this.” Once again: no one moved, no one blinked, no one said a word. Were they really that clueless? “I want everyone besides Max and Steven to leave.”

  “No. I’m not leaving,” Gabriel stated, storming to my side and giving me an icy stare.

  “You will. And if you know what’s good for you,” I whispered through clenched teeth, “you’ll take everyone with you. The last thing she needs is to wake up to a room full of people.” At least, that’d be the last thing I would want.

  He mumbled some swear-word ridden response and walked out.

  Michael came by me, said “I hope you know what you’re doing,” and left the room.

  It was like the final battle scene from a movie; where everyone who’s alive on your side stopped in front of you, said their last words, and went to their positions (where they’d probably end up dying because the enemy soldiers outnumbered them twenty to one).

  Liz smiled softly and said, “Ease her into this, Kass.” I nodded and watched her leave, hustling to reach Michael and grab his hand. Were they a couple now? Were they a real item, or was it a short fling while she stayed here to find Max a new Guardian?

  Rain muttered “Do not trust him” before exiting the room. There was something different about him, a new skip in his step, but for the life of me I couldn’t place what exactly that something was.

  John kept his eyes averted and said not a word. Pretty much what I expected from the ex-psychopath.

  Alyssa flicked her brown eyes at Crixis before whispering, “No matter what happens, I’m with you the whole way.” Her faint voice reminded me of the good old days.

  A stern-faced Raphael was next in line. “Be careful, Kass. Crixis is known for his trickery.”

  What a fantastic warning. Too bad I already knew that. Too bad Raphael was a Daywalker and the first Purifier. Ever since we found that out, things hadn’t been the same. Gabriel hated him even more, and I…well, I didn’t look at him as an attractive priest anymore.

  I expected Taiton to come up to me next, but was quietly shocked to see Crixis standing before me. What a malicious, vindictive, spiteful Demon who I wished I could end.

  “In all my years—” His white teeth contrasted with his supremely tanned face. “—I’ve never suffered that much distrust,” there was a slight pause, “in the same room.”

  My mouth ran without comparing notes with my mind, “That’s because you’d rather kill people than let them be. It’s the only thing you’re good for.”

  “Oh, I beg to differ on that.” Crixis stepped closer, a mere three inches between us. “I’m good for certain other things.”

  Taiton pulled him away from me, declaring in a threatening manner, “Do not get near her.”

  “Very well,” Crixis replied, shooting the dark giant a provoking glare, “I shall save it for her dreams, then.” As my mouth dropped, he laughed curtly and left.

  To look down at me, Taiton had to bend his neck at a tremendously awkward angle. “I do not like this plan,” Taiton announced. “I do not think it wise to aid the enemy, no matter what it promises us. If he lays a hair on you, the deal will be off and I will do what I came for.” With one, last squint of his black eyes, he straightened himself out and moved towards the door.

  Well. Not wholly unexpected, there.

  Chapter Twenty-One – Crixis

  Their staircase wall was filled with pictures, just as I was sure countless of others were. In all of my time, I had never see
n so many pictures together. I, personally, never understood the point of pictures. If one wished to remember a loved one or a pleasurable memory, one had his mind to do it, not pictures.

  Tilting my head, I stared at a picture that must have been taken many years ago. Kass was still a child, and the defensive blonde one was rubbing his fist in her hair. What’s the word for it? Ah, a noogie.

  They seemed truly happy.

  If my maker was raised, everyone’s happy memories would be the last thing on their minds.

  No one could fathom her, and I wasn’t positive if it was because they thought I was the worst thing to have entered their lives or not. I may have made Kass’s life miserable, but there were times when I had little choice.

  Sometimes creating mayhem was the only way I could control the Demon inside.

  Though that wasn’t always the case.

  A loud cough broke my intense concentration on the wall of pictures. My peripheral vision spotted the Council Agent glaring at me from the bottom of the stairs. He definitely didn’t like me, did he? Why was that? Oh, that’s right.

  He was sent here to purify me.

  What a ridiculous concept purifying was. The God-sent Council simply needed a new name for killing. They differentiated between the two by believing that one could only purify a Demon, not a human. Never a human. One could kill a human, but that was a sin. Purifying a Demon, though, wasn’t a sin.

  Humans and their specifics.

  There were some times when I could barely identify with them. It’d been so long since I’d felt anything but hatred and malice. The only time I felt anything remotely different was when I was near death.

  Odd how death could make me feel alive.

  “Move it, ass,” Gabriel hissed on his way up the stairs.

  I leaned against the rails, smiling at the fact he had a bug up his own. No one enjoyed having me around, I knew that before I stepped foot in this house. They would never trust me, after everything I’d done.

  Their trust was a thing I did not need anyway. All I needed was their help, and then I’d be gone. They thought they were tricking me now. What a laugh. With my inhuman hearing, I knew they planned on purifying me after we defeated her the first moment they proposed it.