by M. Cheykota
“It is a very unique gift you have to offer humans and vampires alike. It would be a small price for any human to pay to become a vampire servant for a certain amount of time in exchange for a cure to whatever ails them. The downside is that it requires your blood. The thought of harvesting your blood for any reason does not sit well with me.”
“I was harvesting my blood anyway. I wanted to use it to cure diseases. The difference between your thoughts and mine is you want a different form of payment.”
Christien and I sit in silence for a few minutes thinking.
Whispering in uncertainty, I ask Christien the question that has been lingering in the back of my mind. “Are we okay?”
He brushes his lips against mine. “We are okay. I would like to reiterate my request that you do not feed from men. I can teach you how to feed from humans safely in case the need to feed from them ever arises so suddenly again. Do you know what triggered your hunger?”
I shake my head. “I was just going into the kitchen to get some coffee and the next thing I remember, I am standing over Ian and Logan. My mother did mention that my blood thirst is going to continue to increase until my angelic powers are fully online. Maybe I received another power boost.”
“Perhaps.” Christien says pensively. “Maybe you should take a nap and ask your mother if there is anything else you should be expecting before I have to return to the warehouse this evening.”
“That’s right. How are things going with the vampires? Is that where you were this morning?”
Christien sighs in discontent. “Unfortunately, some of the vampires were too damaged to be saved. Many of the vampires were tortured as I was as a fledgling. Their minds were too far gone to try to reform them. The rest are quite young. Most of the vampires I have added to my get are less than 30 years undead. This leads me to believe that I have wiped out Hassan’s ligne de sang. He was clearly trying to rebuild his ranks. If that is the case, I am the oldest vampire in his line now and all of my vampires are older than any he has left. I am certain that he has abandoned his vampires and returned to Europe. If his plans are to have the Vampire Council execute me, he will retain my vampires as a result. This cannot happen. Roman and Kayle have orders to slaughter my get that are not masters old enough to leave if that happens. I am sorry Jessica, but this order would include Tyler.”
My mouth drops open. “No!”
“You cannot fight me on this Jessica. Tyler will be the first to die because of his knowledge of you. Our only option is to make sure Hassan does not succeed in taking over my vampires.”
I nod in understanding. “Hassan will not be allowed to take anyone else from me.”
I can see that Christien is tingling with the desire to ask me to elaborate on my last statement, but he refrains. “You should go upstairs, rest, and talk to your mother.”
“Maybe you are right. Wake me before you leave if I am not awake yet.”
Chapter 5
Christien lifts me into his arms and carries me upstairs into my bedroom. He lays me gently on the bed and kisses my cheek before climbing into bed next to me.
The muscles in my body relax as I drift to sleep with thoughts of my mother floating through my mind.
“Is there something wrong, sweetheart?” My mother asks me as she materializes next to the bed.
“Mom.” I sigh in relief. It still amazes me that my mother communicates with me in my dreams.
Lily, my angel mother, and Jacob, my vampire father, were killed by Hassan, Demetri and Jacques when I was only hours old. Jacob disintegrated as all vampires do when destroyed, but Lily only returned to her angelic state in corporeal form.
“I see that you have unlocked almost all of your angelic powers. You will still need to gain strength to wield them, but the power does reside in you.” Lily states as she looks over my body.
I unconsciously stiffen my spine and check to see if my clothes are straight.
“Do not worry sweetheart, you look beautiful.” Lily smiles brightly.
I beam back at her. “How can you tell that I almost have all my powers? Is that why I nearly drained two humans of blood today?”
She grimaces. “I can feel the power within you growing. Over the next several months, you will likely have all of your powers and we will begin more of your training to control the other powers that may come online as you get stronger.”
I sit up in bed, leaving my physical body behind. “I thought that all angels could do was shape shift. All the other stuff like mind reading, speed, and blood thirst comes from the vampire side?”
Lily gives me a snide look. “Angels can read the minds of humans too. Vampires are just better at manipulating them. Angels usually have no need to use powers of suggestion as often as vampires do. Angels can also move faster than humans can. It is your limited knowledge of angels that has warped your perceptions on what we are capable of doing. That is my own fault. I have not been an angel in human form for nearly as long as some of the other angels have. My limited contact with humans is not going to help you much either.”
“Mom, you are rambling again.”
“Sorry sweetheart.”
“Maybe it will help if I were more specific with my questions?”
“There is so much to explain to you, my daughter. It is not as simple as running down a list and ticking off the attributes. As a hybrid of two, very different, and powerful species, there is no way of knowing everything you can or cannot do.” She explains patiently. “There may be some things that I can do, but you cannot, or vice versa.”
I think for a few minutes.
Lily browses items in my room while she is waiting. She stops in front of Christien on the bed and gazes at him adoringly.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“You certainly have good taste. He is quite handsome. He also cares for you deeply.”
“How do you know that? You can’t read his mind.”
Lily smiles knowingly. “I see it in the way he looks at you and treats you. I may not be able to communicate with you while you are awake yet, but that does not mean I am not around, watching over you.”
“Ugh, mom. Do not say that. I would like to know I still have some privacy.”
Lilly laughs and winks at me. “Of course, sweetheart.”
I roll my eyes defiantly before returning to our previous topic. “Since you cannot tell me everything at once, I will settle for specific questions answered.”
“Okay, what do you want to know?”
“Why am I not born with all of my angelic powers?”
“Hmm, I can only speculate on the reason, but I would say it is because you would not be strong enough to control all the powers at birth. As a vampire fledgling, the only powers they need to control are the blood thirst, strength and speed. Even those powers change as the vampire ages. Powers continue to strengthen and change the older a vampire gets. This is the same for angels. If you were to receive all the powers of an angel as an infant, your mind and body might not be able to handle it.”
“I understand that, but even now my body seems to be gaining power in phases.”
“Allow me to clarify what I am saying. Perhaps I am not being clear. You have all of your angel powers within you. As your mind becomes better prepared, parts of your angel powers are unleashed within yourself. As you become more aware of the world around you, the more angelic powers release from within. That is why many angels take human form. Although my time as a human was brief, I still managed to gain additional power before returning to corporeal form.”
Riveted by everything she is telling me, hundreds of questions are flooding into my mind. “How will I know what life experiences will unlock whatever power I have to gain?”
Lily shrugs. “There is no way to know for certain. I wish I had a better answer for you.”
“If I just gained more power, how will I know what I can do?”
“You will just know. Concentrate and clear your mind. That ability will come to you and you will k
now you can do it. A teacher could help. Mastering all of your abilities will take a lot of practice. The more you study, the easier it will become.” She replies as if her answer makes perfect sense.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Questions float through my mind, but I push them to the back of my thoughts. After what seems like a long time, memories of that morning come to the forefront. I am about to push the thoughts aside when I hear my mother’s voice next to me.
“Wait. Let this thought play through.” She says encouragingly.
I stop my attempts to bury the memory and allow it to play out. Minutes later, I realize what happened with the men.
“I can manipulate memories now. Not only can I capture their gaze and hypnotize them, I can change their memories. I am able to make humans believe whatever I want them to.”
“That is an ability angels and vampires share. Think of it as a type of memory alteration. An angel uses this ability to make people forget about our existence. Vampires use this ability to enhance pleasure during a feeding or to modify memories after feeding. Considering what happened earlier this morning, I believe you triggered this new power online when your blood thirst rose.” She explains.
“So, I could go back and change their memories? They won’t be in love with me anymore?”
“Technically, you could, but I do not recommend trying it right now.”
“Why not?”
“You may inadvertently damage their other memories. Until you learn to use it correctly, I would recommend caution.” Lily says warningly.
“How will I be able to practice if I may damage anyone I practice on?”
Lily smiles down at Christien sleeping. “I have a feeling your mate may have the solution you are looking for.”
“Mom, have you met Christien before?”
Lily frowns and steps away from the bed. “I have not been introduced to him, but I have heard about him during my time as a human from Jacob.”
“What have you heard about him?”
“He is a good vampire. He is not like some of the others you may encounter.” She says ominously.
“Do you know anything about Hassan?”
“Other than he was Jacob’s sire and he killed your father and me, no. Believe me sweetheart. If I knew anything about Hassan, you would already know about it. Jacob was very secretive about his life as a vampire. Now that I have experienced some of the things Hassan is capable of, I understand why Jacob was so reluctant to talk about his life as a vampire.”
“Okay.” Sighing, I let the topic go. “How long will I continue having these power boosts?”
“Now that they have begun, you will continue to have power surges as you experience life in human form. Unfortunately, the power surges will continue drastically until you reach maturity within the next year. You will receive the majority of your power during this time, but as you experience more things later in human life, the more you will be capable of.”
“Cool.” I think about different capabilities I may obtain along with superhero characteristics.
“Do not get carried away Jessica. Your life will always be in danger. That is a risk all angels take when they live their lives in human form.”
“Are there still angels living in human form now?”
“Angels have always been targets for all supernatural or preternatural beings. Vampires are just one of the species that has been hunting angels for thousands of years. Vampires nearly eliminated all the angels in human form, with the assistance of demons, off the planet around two millennia ago. Those angels not killed went into hiding. I am certain there are still angels in human form spread over the world, but most of us live in corporeal form. Our race is not large anymore. God chooses his angels very carefully, which is why there are not very many to begin with. After the angel and demon war, there are even less of us. Many angels only take human form for a short time to gain experience and learn about the world. Some choose to enter humanity through birth as I did. Others may choose to share a human of their choice and continue their knowledge throughout that human’s life. Very few choose to live as human and have children because of the danger angels are always in while in human form. As you are well aware, having offspring can be very dangerous. Angels must become even more cautious as not to alert others of their presence on the mortal plane. If an angel’s soul is captured, consumed by a demon, or other supernatural being that is able to catch our souls, it is possible they can absorb our essence and prevent us from returning to our corporeal form when our mortal bodies die. Consuming or destroying an angel’s soul is one of the very few ways we can truly die. The angels who do retain human form are reclusive and extremely difficult to locate, but I will do my best to find an angel to train you.”
“Why don’t angels communicate with each other?”
“Most angels, you would consider them arrogant. Some find life as a human boring and primitive.” Lily laughs. “I really enjoyed my time as a human. Granted, I was only human for a few decades, but I did not find it dull.”
I laugh with her. “Life around vampires is rarely boring. They tend to make things happen to keep themselves entertained.”
Lily nods in agreement. “Well daughter, if there are no more questions, I think it is time for you to wake your mate.”
All humor evaporates from my face. “Christien is not my mate. He is not even my boyfriend. We hardly know each other.”
“You may think that now, but he will find a way into your heart if you let him. You have had a difficult life. I apologize for my part in that. You deserve to find some peace and happiness too. He can give you that if you are not too afraid to seize it.”
“I am happy by myself. I don’t need him to make me happy.” I state firmly.
“You may not need him, but that does not mean that you do not want him. I only ask that you give this vampire a chance. He may be worth the risk.”
Before I can respond, Christien stirs, drawing my attention and snapping me back into my body like a rubber band. When I turn back around to look where my mother was floating, she is gone. I watch Christien for a few minutes when Christien speaks to me telepathically, startling me.
“You are awake.” Christien whispers into my mind.
“I thought vampires could not enter an angel’s mind.” I say to my absent mother.
Christien opens his eyes and sits up. “I cannot read your thoughts, unless you project them to me, or plant suggestions in your mind, but I am able to speak to you telepathically when you allow me to. You should be able to communicate with me telepathically too, if you tried. With some practice, you should be able to project into a human or were’s mind too.”
My mind is reeling with all that I have learned in the past few hours. Multiple emotions run across my face.
Christien touches my arm gently. “Is everything okay? Did you speak with your mother?”
I laugh. “Yes I did. She is quite fond of you.”
Christien smiles adoringly at me. “I am pleased to hear that your mother approves of me.”
“Well, don’t let it get to your head.” I snarl grumpily, losing my humor.
His smile widens a little more. “What did your mother have to say? Does she know what is happening to you?”
“She told me that I am coming into more angel powers. She isn’t certain of everything I will or will not be able to do, but she knows that my increased blood thirst is a good indicator that my powers are increasing. She says I need a teacher. I asked her if she knew of any angels in human form, but no such luck. She said she would try to find an angel to train me. She did mention that you could help me control my vampire powers, if you are willing?”
“I would be happy to train you. We have almost five weeks before we go to Europe. I will train you and Tyler simultaneously. Have you had any training?”
“Some. I met a vampire named Austin when I was on the streets as a teen. He took me in as his pet project and taught me how to feed without killing my donors. He
taught me how to make my bite pleasurable instead of painful. Mostly, he treated me like a doll and dressed me up. He’s the reason for my fantastic taste in fashion.”
“I admit your taste in clothing is quite amazing, but he failed to teach you things young vampires should know. Did he know that you are half-angel?” Christien props his head under his arm as he leans back against the pillows.
“No. I never told anyone until I met Rome. He was the first and only person I told until you. The only reason I trusted Rome with the information was because he became so suspicious of me and my avoidance of vampires, I had to tell him before he decided that I would make a good paycheck.”
“Roman would never betray you.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I couldn’t be sure. I trusted him because I needed help. I needed someone else in my life who would understand what I was going through. I thought about telling Tyler, but with him being human, he can’t even understand what it is like to be a preternatural being. At least Roman was a werewolf and he knew a little about vampires. I wasn’t in danger from him draining me dry if I accidentally cut myself around him.”
“I cannot imagine how you have lived among vampires for so long without your presence known.” Christien states in disbelief.
“I have been trained to fight for my survival since I was old enough to walk. My first word might have been ‘Sensei’. My mother knew that I would be fighting my entire life so she made sure that my aunt hired the best trainers to teach me. My aunt never allowed me to leave the house. She only let me leave her basement to clean her house. I didn’t know anything about where I lived until I left the night Hassan attacked me. I had tutors growing up. Almost all of my education came from books. I have never been to school or have had any formal education. Reading about things and experiencing them is completely different. I had limited access to TV and the internet. My aunt was successful at cutting me off from the world. She was cruel, vindictive, and selfish. The only reason she kept me was so the lawyer that wrote her a monthly check could see that I was still alive and in her care. I have no doubt in my mind that she would have let me die or would have given me to the state if it wasn’t for his insistence in seeing me every month as decreed in my parents’ will.”