“I should, but no. I am your servant. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.” He sipped some water. “I’m going home. I need to read through some books so I can find out how to kill the assassins.”
“You don’t know already?” I asked, my words dripping with sarcasm.
His shoulders dropped and he closed his eyes. “Not yet.” His voice was barely above the whisper.
“Laeddin.” I was tired of fighting, tired of feeling on edge around him, and beyond tired of his anger.
He rubbed a hand over his face, and my eyes were drawn to the tattooed cuffs around his wrists. Proof he was still my servant, not a man of the world, but a slave to my whims. That must be awful.
My soul plead with me to release him. Even the words, Laeddin, I wish you free, came into my mind. But I couldn’t utter them. My mouth wouldn’t open. Guilt washed over me as I realized what a selfish person I was. Death would probably be better than being tied to me. I sighed. “I’m so sorry. Can we start over? Can you forgive me?” Tears pressed against the back of my eyelids, but I held them at bay.
He opened his eyes. “There’s nothing to forgive.” As he spoke he came over. “But understand this. I don’t need saving. If I die, I die. You’ve already sacrificed enough. Okay?” His hands rested on my arms. “I’m sorry I’ve been so irritating, Princess.”
I swallowed, forcing myself not to start sobbing. “Okay.”
He seemed relieved and I was glad of that, but if it came right down to it, I would use my final wish to save him again.
“Good.” He pulled me into a hug.
I resisted at first, but finally allowed myself to hug him back. He smelled delicious as usual, especially his blood. It wasn’t nearly as tempting as it had been when we first met, but I still desired it. Him.
Laeddin’s chest was taut and warm. I snuggled in. He rested his cheek against the top of my head.
We stayed like that a long time. I allowed my thoughts to wander. My heart felt like a Ping-Pong ball or a yo-yo. I kept going back and forth between Troy and Laeddin. And don’t forget Christopher, my mind whispered. What was wrong with me? Until a week ago I’d believed Troy was the guy for me. He was fun to hang out with.
But he was also a gone. Without even saying good-bye. The reason I knew where he’d gone was because of Sharra. I’d been with her and overheard Professor Pops telling Troy he’d found a lead. I understood why he left. Troy had told me about Cole. The two of them were like brothers. And Cole had been sucked into another realm. I got it, but he could’ve texted. Especially since the last time I’d seen him he’d been a jerk about me getting the crown. I intended to use it to destroy Sharra and get my wings back, but there was more. Laeddin had said I could use the crown to create more vampires like me—like I’d been. An original vampire possessed of wings and magic. Then I wouldn’t be alone. But Troy thought that was a bad idea.
And then there was Laeddin. He’d granted me my most desired wish, become my friend, and I’d thought even more. But since our kiss he’d been cold, and mostly angry.
I sighed, secretly wishing things could be different.
Laeddin cleared his throat. “I agree,” he said into my hair and we both laughed. “Will you be okay while I’m gone?” He held me at arm’s length and searched my face. “I shouldn’t be long.”
“Why don’t I come with you?” I asked, hoping our moment of peace could continue.
He shook his head. “You need a shower and some sleep, Princess.”
At his words I was suddenly tired. “Fine, but hurry back.”
He was gone before I finished speaking.
After I showered, I dressed in pajamas, climbed into bed, and fell asleep as soon as my eyes closed.
Three
“You didn’t let me kill the genie and now you’re going to suffer more than you’ve believed possible. Even at this very moment Ariel is dying or dead. See?” Pictures of dozens of Akuma attacking Ariel in her city appeared and I watched while they ripped her apart.
“Noooooo!” I screamed and sat up, opening my eyes. I was in my room. Sweat dampened the sheets. I climbed out of bed and went to the window. How could I find out if what Maleficent had shown me was the truth? Without my wings and my magic I couldn’t just return to my land. A shadow crawled across the yard and I jumped back, frightened.
“Laeddin,” I whispered and waited.
He didn’t come, but Gatsby did. The cat suddenly appeared outside my window. His yellow eyes stared through the glass.
“Let me in, vampire,” he said, lifting his paw.
It was weird that the cat could talk, even weirder that he seemed to know so much, but beyond that, he was adorable, a shorthaired gray cat with yellow eyes.
“Gatsby,” I said, taking a deep breath to slow down my heart, and pushing the window up.
“Hi yourself.” He sounded grumpy.
“What’s wrong?” The air had a slight chill, but there was no wind. It was crisp and smelled of roses. I stood back as the cat jumped off the sill, onto the floor and up onto my bed.
Once he was settled, I came over. “Gatsby?”
“Nothing.” He closed his eyes. “Have you found the first piece of the crown yet?”
“Yes, but I have a more pressing matter at the moment.”
Gatsby opened one eye and stared. “And? Where is the crown?”
I clasped my hands together, frustrated. It seemed unlikely he could help, but still…
“Well?”
“We weren’t able to take it. The assassin sworn to protect the piece appeared and said he would have to kill me if I tried.
Gatsby snorted. “So why didn’t you kill the assassin?”
“Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, I didn’t know how. Neither did Laeddin. He’s actually back in his realm right now trying to find a way.”
“It’s easy,” he said, licking one of his front paws.
“Really? How then?” I turned on the bed.
He closed his eyes and I blew out my breath and decided just to blurt the information about my grandmother. “Ariel is in trouble. I think she might be dying.”
That got his attention. “What?”
I explained what I’d seen from Sharra. Without a word he hopped off the bed and went to the window. It opened on its own and the cat jumped out. Not down, like one would expect from a cat, but out, like he could fly. “Gatsby.” I ran over to make sure he was all right.
Instead of a cat there was a gigantic golden dragon. The force of his enormous wings beating against the air blew my hair back. It landed and then looked up, blowing smoke at me. “Well what are you waiting for?”
The smell of brimstone filled my nose and I guessed it came from the dragon. Something about his eyes was familiar. They reminded me a little of Troy’s, but they were too bright and too yellow… like the cat’s.
“What did you do with Gatsby?” I asked, trying not to let my fear show.
He shook his head, flapped his wings once before they settled at his side, and curled his tail around his body, the same way Gatsby did with his tail. “I am Gatsby, you foolish girl.”
“No you aren’t. Gatsby is a cat.”
He opened his mouth. I watched the fire build in the back of his throat. And he roared. Then shook his head again. “In cat form I am called Gatsby, but I have many forms, including that of a dragon, in which case I am called Abernathy. Now get down here and let’s go. We haven’t much time if you want to save your grandmother.”
He seemed to know a lot about me and even though he looked completely different he sounded just like the cat I’d been talking to a moment ago.
“Hurry up.” His head was bigger than my window, but he brought one eye down so it was level with me. “Don’t make me ask you again.”
I yelped and dashed down the stairs.
When he saw me he lowered his head. “Climb on. You can use my tail.”
As he spoke I carefully stepped on his tail the way I’d done with Troy, shimmied up his back an
d situated myself in front of his wings so I was out of the way.
“You act like you’ve done this before.” He stood and with one giant beat we were in the air.
“I have,” I responded without thinking.
“How is that possible?”
I was about to tell him it was Troy when I had a thought. Could Abernathy be— I didn’t let myself finish. Of course not. Troy had said his father was absent all the time, that Professor Pops was more of a father to him. I couldn’t believe that would be the case. “You obviously have your secrets and I have mine.”
He snorted, sending a large puff of smoke into the air. “Fine. Hang on.” Abernathy jolted forward and upward and the same time. Like a rocket he soared higher and higher into the night sky. I held on to the tendrils of his thick mane and forced myself not to scream.
Four
So high up, the stars were bright and beautiful, and amazing. A coil of sadness snuck its way around my heart. I missed my wings, missed them more than I ever believed possible. Like my pinky fingers, they seemed like nothing more than a small addition, one I could live without, maybe even do better without, but that wasn’t the case. My wings weren’t just a small addition. They were a part of me. Without them I didn’t feel whole.
“How long will it take us to get there?” I shouted against the wind.
A deep rumble filled his throat. “No need to yell, vampire.”
“Sorry,” I hollered again.
Without warning, Abernathy dove. We were over an ocean and I realized we’d travelled a great distance in a very short amount of time. The dragon picked up speed and we went faster and faster.
“What are you doing?” I asked, suddenly terrified.
“Hold on tight.”
I didn’t say anything, just closed my eyes and tightened my grip on Abernathy’s hair like my life depended on it.
When Abernathy’s head hit the water I felt it. There was a whooshing sound and I opened my eyes. A bubble surrounded him, which included me. I knew I didn’t need air to breathe and I figured it was highly unlikely Abernathy needed it either. As a giant whale swam by, I realized the bubble had more to do with keeping away possible issues than anything else.
I’d never been underwater before. The experience was surreal. Abernathy took us deep and we swam fast, but I caught sight of several schools of fish, dolphins, whales, and even hammerhead sharks. In no time we came to the city of Mizu surrounded by a gigantic bubble and lit up like a snow globe at the bottom of the ocean.
“Where are we?” I asked, curious about how far we’d come.
“The outskirts of the city, Jasmine. I thought that was obvious.” Abernathy almost seemed like he was in a good mood.
“No duh. I meant which ocean.”
“Oh, interesting.” He turned back and winked at me with one of his gigantic yellow eyes. “You are a curious girl.”
I smiled at the almost compliment. “Are you going to tell me?”
He thought a moment. “I guess according to the current maps of the world it would be the Indian Ocean, about a hundred miles south of Africa.”
“Cool.” I wanted to be more excited, but I was nervous about whether or not my grandmother might still be alive.
“Not really. It’s actually quite warm this close to the Earth’s core.”
I wasn’t going to argue with him about the slang I used. Besides I could tell something wasn’t right about the city under the sea. “Hurry,” I urged, jabbing my knees into his neck.
Under different circumstances I think Abernathy might have fought me on my comment, but he seemed tense. I felt it within his scales. He lowered his head, said some words I couldn’t understand, and we went through the bubble and into Mizu.
Orange, red, and yellow flames licked the sky and smoke swirled around us and pushed against the bubble. Like a deranged snow globe, the sky rained gray ash instead of snow. Buildings crumbled, shaking the world as the strange rocks crashed to the ground. If I’d ever stopped to consider what Hell might look like, I would’ve imagined the scenery around us, except it would be less of a reverse fish bowl and more a vast, endless wasteland.
“What should we do,” I shouted. Different species and creatures screamed and ran in every direction. It was pandemonium. I didn’t know where to look or who to help first.
“They’re running from Akuma or each other because they’d already been turned. We must find Ariel.” He tilted his head as though listening, then circled until he landed on the roof of a building still mostly intact. “She’s three floors down,” he said. His weight caused the floor to shudder. I clung to him, my hands grasping at his warm golden scales.
When the building settled, I slid off Abernathy’s back and landed on the shell-encrusted roof. The floor shook, sending bits everywhere and I put my hands out to steady myself and took a moment to search my surroundings.
From the building directly across from us I noticed a large shadow beginning to take shape. It reminded me of… “But that can’t be,” I whispered. Aquamarine eyes glowed from the wispy body and a double sword formed on his back. The assassin from the tunnels? “Not possible.” I took a step toward it, squinting, unable to believe it was real, that it wasn’t some trick of the thick smoke. “Abernathy?”
“I doubt this building will hold for long. Hurry.”
He was right.
I didn’t have time for what I thought I saw. Ignoring my fear, I rolled my shoulders and nodded. “Okay, but… the others.” The citizens of Mizu were in agony; their cries seemed to crawl inside my head.
“Rescue Ariel and we’ll go from there,” Abernathy’s voice boomed making the floor shake again.
“Got it.” I ran to the shimmery door made of shells and yanked on the handle. It was also locked, but I crushed it in my hand, breaking the lock as I yanked open the door. Darkness engulfed me and the smell of death was strong. Thankfully I didn’t need light to see. I ran down the stairs, listening for signs of Akuma.
When I got to the correct floor, I opened the door and ran into a group of Akuma. I knew because of their scent. It was like death mixed in with formaldehyde. Not pleasant, not at all.
“Hey, little girl.” A male that looked like a cross between a human and a sea horse grabbed my arm. He drew back his lips to show me his teeth in a growl. I punched him in the throat and waited for him to collapse. When he was on the floor I jumped over his body. “Ariel!”
“In here. Please help.”
Several other Akuma appeared in the hall. One had a head like an octopus with eight tentacles surrounding its neck. Another had a crab face with pinchers where the ears should be. I saw an eel and a shark Akuma too.
Never in my short life had I been more grateful for the training my parents put me through as a child. I went through them quickly, knocking them down, and whirling out of the way before they could get their hands on me. Then I kicked open the door where I’d heard my grandmother’s voice. She sat in the middle of the room and was tied to a kitchen chair.
“Ariel.” I just couldn’t bring myself to call her Grandma. I didn’t know her well enough. “Are you okay?” With my bare hands I shredded the rope the color of seaweed.
“I think so. As long as she doesn’t come back.” Ariel rubbed her wrists.
“She who?” I asked, hugging her when she stood.
“I’m not sure who she is.” She buried her face in my neck. “How did you get here?”
“A dragon,” I said.
She straightened. Tears stained her cheeks. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said, swiping a piece of hair off my face.
“Me too.”
“You two are so sweet.”
Ariel and I froze and I was surprised to see Maleficent or rather Sharra in Maleficent’s body. Angry fear shot through my gut. I had my vampire abilities, but I didn’t have my wings. She’d stolen them from me. In fact she was wearing them. Flaunting them. Ugh. I wanted them back!
“Get behind me,” Ariel whispered.<
br />
I shook my head. “No.” My grandmother may look twenty, but she wouldn’t stand a chance against Maleficent. “Let me handle her.” I wouldn’t stance a chance either, but I had to try. So I faced her, pushing Ariel behind me. “What are you doing here?” My eyes went to the place where I’d watched her stab herself with the silver dagger. If I hadn’t watched it happen with my own eyes, I’d never be able to tell she’d been mortally wounded.
“All realms will be mine, including this little city.” She shrugged gracefully. “Although in a few hours there won’t be anything left but my Akuma. Still, at least they’ll be loyal.” She raised her hand and opened it. Glittering red dust appeared on her fingers. She lowered her head, pursed her lips, preparing to blow it in my face.
There was no way I could move fast enough to get away. I’d almost resigned myself to what would happen. I would become Akuma as well. But suddenly the walls began to tremble and buckle. Debris rained from above.
“What?” Maleficent glanced up.
I grabbed Ariel around the waist, picked her up like a rag doll, and ran her to the door. All around us it sounded as though something gigantic was tearing through the building. Suddenly, the roof vanished and I turned in time to see Abernathy’s large head appear. Relieved, I took a breath.
“You!” Maleficent’s already pale face went deathly white.
Smoke curled out of his mouth and nose. “Guard your grandmother, Jasmine,” Abernathy growled, focusing one golden eye on me.
“I will.” I ran with her into the hallway just as Abernathy released a stream of fire. I didn’t see it, but I felt the heat even from a distance.
“Stupid dragon! It’s going to be fun watching Arthur destroy you,” Maleficent screamed. The air crackled with electricity.
Abernathy sent another wave of fire into the room. Flames licked the doorframe and I tucked Ariel into my chest.
The dragon’s head appeared above me. “She’s gone. Let’s get out of here.”
I ran with Ariel back into the room as Abernathy forced his body down far enough that we could climb on.
Vampire Nights (Vampire Wishes Book 3) Page 2