by K. A. Jones
Arius and Mackinley smiled and nodded their greeting and turned their attention back to the screens. Day walkers could be seen tending to the lawns and flower beds, inspecting the outer walls and generally looking like they were doing maintenance to the building and grounds. It was usual practice for older vampires to have day walkers to protect them whilst they slept, but what impressed me was the fact that they interacted with one another. I’d been led to believe that day walkers were nothing more than a vampire’s puppet, bound to follow orders.
Day walkers were humans that wanted to become vampires. It was like a trial run, they had to prove their worth to the vampire before the vampire fully changed them. They belonged to the vampire – in this case Dario. From what I understood from my hunter training, the humans wanted to become a vampire and agreed to work for the vampire until he saw fit to fully transform them. Dario certainly had his own army of day walkers piquing my interest to find out why, when he already had an army of guards.
I watched in awe at the beautiful scenery playing before me, sunshine, lush green lawns and colourful flower beds. Everything looked like it did in books that I had read. The sun would burn us to a crisp even as a hunter, so we avoided it like the plague. I did feel a tiny bit envious watching the day walkers wandering about the grounds, soaking up the rays. I guess the draw of the night and the life of a vampire was enough to make some people want to give up such simple pleasures. That and the fact they thought they would be immortal. Nothing is immortal, everything that lives can die. Vampires didn’t turn to dust or crumble to ash when they were killed, they simply died, period. My trusted silver dagger had proven many times that not everything you read in books is real.
The footage came to an end and Mackinley and Arius excused themselves, promising that before the night was over I would have my game of truth via the snooker table.
I stood, putting a little distance between us. If Dario wanted to play it cool, then so would I. “So, a quick grand tour and then I need to go and collect my belongings.”
He smiled and shook his head, “I will have Arius take your bags to your room.” Well damn! “It’s not safe for you outside of these walls Shyla. You saw how easy it would be for a hunter to find you. They know we are here, we are both on the hit list and they would be quite happy to take cheap shots at us with silver bullets rather than face us like the cowards they are.”
It wasn’t a case of being a coward, the hunters knew that Dario had guards and they also knew that I was a vampire now. For some inexplicable reason, my boss always knew when he lost a hunter. I hadn’t figured it out how, but the fact that I had dumped my phone and was no longer in contact with him, would alert hunter to the fact that I had failed my mission and, as I wasn’t dead, that could only mean one thing. Would my boss know that Dario had sired me? Or would he think that I was just a regular vampire with hunter training?
“Come my fierce Princess, I want us to pick up where we left off yesterday.” The way I remembered it, I was ready to fling myself at him and beg him to make love to me, but judging by the worried look on his face, those thoughts were the furthest thing on his mind.
Keera was putting a tray with tea and coffee pots, and fancy cups and saucers onto an end table when we arrived in the lounge that Dario liked to unwind in. She beamed a smile at Dario, completely ignoring me standing at his side. “Miss Diana had no use of me today my Prince, I will return to my quarters until you have need of me.” The way her hand automatically caressed her neck and the seductive smile she gave him made my blood boil. Who the hell did she think she was, offering herself to Dario this way? He smiled and softly said “Thank you Keera, but that won’t be necessary this evening. If Mackinley or Arius seeks you out, make yourself available to them.” Her lips pouted and she frowned a little, but she quickly recovered, curtseying with all the grace of a ballerina and left the room.
As soon as she had closed the door, I rounded on Dario. “At least when I choose a lunch date I don’t flaunt it in your face. I can’t believe you would want me to feed from her knowing that you had done god only knows what with her previously!”
Surprise followed by a look of annoyance flashed across his face. “Have I ever let you experience my feelings whilst I am feeding?” I shook my head, he hadn’t. I had never known when he was feeding. Dario had talked me through every meal; spoke into my mind telling me what to say, when to feed and when to stop, when to force my will on them so they would forget. “Then why presume that I have had a sexual encounter with the girl?” I gave a small shrug of my shoulders as I reigned in my temper. “Then let this be an end to the matter. We have to feed Shyla, I will continue to support you for as long as you need me, but know that I will not tolerate you leading a man on anymore, especially when I have willing donors here.” Not done with telling me off he said, “And whilst we are on the subject of males, I will kill anyone that you chose to seek your sexual relief with!”
That simple last statement ignited the fading embers of my desire for him. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried hard to fight the urge to pounce on him. He casually walked to the couch and sat waiting for me to join him. I paced the floor several times until I settled in front of the window. Looking out, I could see several guards training on the lawn. I concentrated on watching them, letting my lust fade away. When I was focused enough to form a coherent sentence without screaming out that I wanted him to make love to me, I turned back to face him.
“So, it’s time for you to tell the truth or so help me, I will slay you right now for tormenting me like this.”
A grin spread across his face, lighting his eyes. “Have you considered why I didn’t stay with you last night and why I deny you what you want?” I didn’t want to play games, nor did I want to get distracted again.
I went and flopped onto the couch next to him. “Dario please, let’s not get into this now. I need to stay focused and find out why the hunters want you dead.”
His grin turned into a grimace and he sat back, laying his arm across the back of the couch. “How much do you know about the feud between hunters and vampires?”
I smiled sweetly. “I know that we are natural sworn enemies and I know that hunters take care of the more unsavoury vampires that grace our land.”
Sworn enemies and here I was practically throwing myself at him!
His fingers played with the length of my hair as I got myself into a comfortable position on the couch. “Then my dearest Shyla, I will start at the beginning.” He waited for me to nod that I was ready.
“My father produced three sons; he sired three different women to achieve this. First there was Marco, then myself and then Demetrio. His actions instigated a war between vampires for refusing to reveal how he was able to achieve such a feat.” He tilted his head slightly to the side and asked, “Did you know that elders can only father one child with their sired Consort?” I quickly nodded my head not wanting to interrupt him. “My father didn’t want others to know how he had achieved it and in the end, he paid the ultimate price. He took this knowledge with him to the grave when he was killed.” He paused making sure I was keeping up.
“So your father had three sons, by three different women that he’d sired and took his secret to the grave?” It sounded so uncaring the way that I had repeated it. I gave a small smile of apology.
Dario nodded. “Demetrio set about finding fathers secret, brutally raping women in his quest to sire them. You see, Demetrio was different to Marco and me. He wanted the power that the knowledge my father took with him. Being the youngest, he would remain a Prince for hundreds of years, unlike Marco who took up my father’s royal position once he was announced dead, and became King.” Dario shook his head and I saw anger in his eyes. “The women Demetrio raped weren’t his chosen life partner; I doubted he even loved them which is why it made his actions seem all the more preposterous. Marco on hearing of our brother’s quest stripped him of his royal privileges and cast him out of the DeLuise family. At the time,
Demetrio’s actions were causing unrest with the human population and vampires were being killed in their sleep. Marco’s actions restored peace between the humans and slowly everything returned to normal.”
I sensed Dario’s sadness as he told me about the feud between his brothers. I caught hold of his hand and leaned in to him. Dario tugged me closer so my head rested on his chest and his arm wrapped around me. It was strange, I had never felt the need for comfort until Dario came into my life, and now, I was trying to offer a small comfort to him.
Once we were comfortable, Dario continued. “Eventually my youngest brother fell in love, sired his true mate. She was a witch, her blood tainted our bloodline and a new breed was born.”
My voice came out in a small whisper. “Hunters?”
Dario nodded. He held me closer, gently kissing the top of my head a couple of times. “Demetrio’s son Carlos was different, when he got older he sowed his wild oats and as a result, babies were being left on their doorstep. All of the babies had red eyes. Demetrio and his Consort witch cared for the children and when they had a small army trained them to fight, bringing them up to believe that their purpose in life was to rid the world of vampires. You see, Demetrio never forgave Marco for stripping him of his title. He lost everything when Marco removed him from the monarch.”
His fingers gently twirled my hair before he wrapped his arm around me once more. “Carlos fell out with his parents, eventually killing them. He realised that the hunters had potential, but as times were changing and vampires were accepted in society again, Carlos realised that the hunters would be seen as cold blooded killers and instead of being hunters, they would end up being hunted and killed by humans. He retrained the hunters to become silent killers and took on work for the government and continues his struggle to claim his father’s title, but it’s disguised as a service to the humans. I’m on his list because with me gone and Marco gone, he will be next in line as King. Our kind needs a strong ruler, one who will lead. Vampires will accept him as King because he still has royal blood flowing through his veins.”
My mind whirled through everything I had learnt as a hunter. There was nothing in the text books to say that hunters derived from a vampire and witch. In fact, our race was just accepted as always being around, much like the vampires. I sensed nothing but truth in the words Dario spoke. Not that I had any kind of witchy magic flowing through my veins that could detect lies. Somewhere way down in my bloodline, things had got mighty twisted and all for the sake of power. I’d killed countless vampires thinking I was doing a service to the human population; I’d killed mindlessly because my boss had given me a contract and paid me to do a job. Carlos was actively leading his own army with the approval of the humans and slowly picking off his targets.
No-one as far as I knew had ever laid eyes on my boss, heck, until today I didn’t even know his name. Whenever a call came through you knew it was him immediately, his voice rang with authority and he would always say ‘Hunter here,’ and then without further a-do, tell you what you needed to hear. Emails were pretty much the same with him signing off as Hunter. I’d never questioned it before, and now…. now I was annoyed that I could have been so naïve. For generations, hundreds of years – we were purely the small army that thought we were doing a great service to the humans, when all this time it was to get my boss back his royal title – no, it was to get him a ‘better’ title!
Anger rose inside of me like a volcano waiting to erupt. I sat up and moved away from Dario. I needed to get my head straight and get rid of my frustrations without actually harming anyone in the process, and there was only one way that worked for me. “Does this place have a gym?”
“Assault course, gym, swimming pool, we have a weights room if you’d prefer or if there is a particular sport that you want to do, I will arrange to have any equipment shipped in. Whatever you need my love.”
I went to my room and switched my jeans for a pair of sweat pants that were in my bags that someone had kindly brought to my room. I quickly brushed and tied my hair up and waited as instructed for Dario to return. Anger radiated from me. I could feel Dario hovering in my mind; feel him trying to comfort me as I paced the floor.
Arius, Mackinley and Dario walked me to the outdoors assault course. There were several guards patrolling the area, and a few hidden away just outside of the grounds. I could sense them even though I couldn’t see them. After yesterdays near death experience, I took comfort in knowing they were there. I glanced about checking the area, it was what I always did when I went somewhere new. I guess my hunter training had some benefits! I had to hand it to Dario; he knew where the weak spots were and chose areas to set up equipment for training that were behind high walls or on higher ground making it difficult for any roaming hunters to get a clean shot at him. I focused on the assault course knowing that my anger could be put to better use. It had been days since I’d trained.
Mackinley flexed his muscles trying to make me smile, but the mood I was in, it wasn’t likely to happen any time soon. I heard Dario and Arius making bets. Arius upped the ante, “Hunters are fast, but Mackinley will beat her. Two hundred says he whips her butt.” Dario shook his head and said “Shyla will beat him; I’ve no doubt about that.”
I don’t know what happened, but before I could engage my brain I said “A grand says I can beat the three of you.” What the hell was I thinking? I knew I would be faster than Mackinley and Arius, but Dario? I wanted to smack myself on the head and blame it on nerves, but I could see the challenge in their eyes and it called to a dark place inside of me that I didn’t know existed, it made adrenaline pump around my body and fuelled the need to prove myself to Dario and his men.
Word was spreading fast and more bets were being made. I shoved any doubt away and stood assessing the men, assessing the guards and Dario. I needed a plan.
Once the hand shakes were done and the bets made, I turned to Dario, melted into him and gave it my all at seducing him with my mouth and hands. His body responded to my demands, his tongue thrashed with mine, duelling for dominance and I felt his erection press against my stomach. I couldn’t help the mischievous grin that was forming in my mind and surely showed on my lips.
Quickly pulling away, before I got lost in the sensations of pure lust, I said, “Ready, set, go,” and ran at full tilt.
‘You don’t play fair Shyla, how am I supposed to run like this?’
I sent a victorious giggle through the connection and said, ‘touché Dario, I can play games too!’
Since becoming a vampire I had so much more speed. I was agile, nippy on my feet and could climb the side of building with little or no problem, so long as there were small foot holes and places to grip hold of (and providing no alcohol was involved!)
I scurried under netting, jumped over ditches filled with muddy water, shimmied up metal poles and swung across monkey bars. I climbed high walls, dropping to the ground and sprinting on to the next piece of equipment. I dodged in-between wooden poles, and faced guards that blocked my way, knocking them to the ground as they tried to stop me from making it to the finish line. I guess they had taken bets and were losing!
I crossed the line closely followed by Dario. The guards I noticed quickly scrambled to get out of his way.
Dario picked me up and spun me around before heading to the wall threatening to throw me over, but I knew by the proud look that he was giving me, throwing me over the wall was the last thing on his mind. I loved this playful side to Dario and hoped that I would see it more often.
I could feel curios eyes watching us, or rather, watching Dario.
He was oblivious to them as he lowered me to the ground. “Do you fancy burning off some more energy sparring with me?” I’m not sure that ‘getting hot and sweaty’ because of sparing was the kind of ‘getting hot and sweaty’ I was looking for, but given that he seemed to have me on some sort of sex depravation programme, it would have to do. I nodded and Dario cupped my face, bent his head down and slow
ly brought his lips to mine, kissing me so softly. “Well done on winning the bet. I expect there will be a few challengers stepping forwards after that.”
We wandered back to the finish line hand in hand. Arius and Mackinley got jeered by the guards and I took great pleasure in flexing my muscles at Mackinley. I grinned at Dario and said, “Brains and brawn, looks like you got the perfect package Dario.”
Mackinley and Dario shared a look, one that told me that Mackinley approved of me. He patted Dario on the shoulder and said, “I will take care of things here my Prince.”
Arius gave me a small nod of his head and a slight smile before turning to Dario. “We will take a few men and patrol the area to ensure that there are no hunters. Security will be stepped up tomorrow ready for the arrival of our King.”
Surprise flitted through me. Dario instantly whispered into my mind ‘Relax my love, my brother wishes to meet my Consort.’ His hand gave mine a small squeeze and to Arius said, “Prepare the great room ready to receive our King.”
Dario led me through the castle; I made a mental note of the direction we were taking, objects, paintings etc so I could find my way around. I was drawing a map in my mind, it helped when you had to get in and out of a building that you wasn’t too familiar with. If you had a few objects on your mind and a sense of which way to go, you could find your way about pretty easily.
Concrete steps led us under the castle. I didn’t remember seeing it on the screens when they viewed the footage from the day light hours. My eyes adjusted to the small lights that lit up the stairwell. I felt a little uncomfortable as the walls seemed to close in around us as we took the spiral steps. Dario noticed my sudden hesitation as I put a little distance between us, letting him lead the way. I was beginning to wish I’d put my dagger in my waistband of my sweatpants and was mentally kicking myself for leaving it in my room.
“Why do I sense your fear sweet one? I thought you wanted to spar with me? Are you afraid that I will hurt you?”