The Smokiest Grave (The Unnatural Series Book 1)

by Tosha Y. Miller

  "Rebecca?"

  Hendrick held her by her thick platinum blonde hair and her hands bound behind her back. Cat gulped at the look of pure hatred tainting her sculpted brown eyes. It was Rebecca, no one could mistake her skinny, no curves body. What’s going on?

  Hendrick looked like he wanted to snap her in half, which Cat had no doubt he could do. He looked massive next to Rebecca. "Cathleen, help me, they are going to kill me,” Rebecca’s eyes were imploring and scared. “They are Dragonvires." Her squeaky voice made Cat feel uncomfortable, similar to vines wrapping around her and ripping her skin.

  She struggled with a fierce anger that had her breathless by the time she finished. Hendrick looked at her like she was a temperamental child. When Cat didn't move to help her, she stopped and tilted her head. As soon as it was clear to her Cat wasn’t going to help, that ugly look came back.

  Rebecca snarled, “You are a good for nothing whore! You’re with them, aren't you?” She hocked a loogy and spat the content at Cat from across the room. “Wait! Lusion was supposed to make you his slave. Where is he?”

  Cat was still silent, too stunned to do anything. But Hendrick wasn’t. “You mean the demon bloke? I killed him a while back, as easy as squashing an ant.”

  Marcus spoke next, his voice so throaty the heated voice sounded like a growl, “How do you know her Cat?”

  “Rebecca lives in my building, but she is my friend. What happened? I don’t understand.” Cat was confused. What the hell is going on? She looked around, seeing the walls of the small room destroyed. If she hadn’t seen the place before, it would have looked like an accident from the war.

  “I was never your friend. I waited for years for you to access the curse to free Lusion, but you wouldn't open your Goddamn legs for anything, stupid woman!” Hendrick pulled Rebecca’s hair tighter in warning. Cat heard an agonizing pop from Rebecca’s back that sounded like a bat hitting a baseball, “I hate you!”

  Cat lost her composure as the realization hit her hard. “Is that why you pushed so much for me to date?” Cat shook her head and looked up at the ceiling fighting off tears, “I confided in you, and I thought of you as a sister. You knew Lusion would kill one of the men you chose; you killed Bruce.”

  All the anger Cat had been bottling up from Bruce’s death spilled out in a tsunami of loathing. No one deserved to die that way. Pictures of his dead body flashed in her mind.

  The images made something inside of her darken and her thoughts turn deadly.

  Cat didn't know she even moved. It wasn't until she could feel Rebecca’s breath on her face that her actions registered, “I'm going to kill you myself.”

  Her hands reached for Rebecca’s throat. She sensed the throbbing in her neck, and something inside of her changed. The adrenaline pumping through her made her hands twitch. The tingling sensation made all her senses sharpen.

  She could hear Rebecca breathing and a liquid coursing through her body. Her eyes drifted to her neck that's where a steady flow traveled, and she wanted it.

  No matter the price, the witch was going down.

  Twenty-nine

  Pop. a strange stretching sensation like pop rocks exploding in Cat’s mouth had her whimpering. She contorted her face in pain. What the heck?

  After a few seconds, she relaxed as the pain subsided. When she opened her eyes and saw everyone’s horrified expressions, she stopped breathing. The way they all had scared wide eyes, and a gaping mouth made the hair on her arms stand at attention.

  Her eyes grew wide when she was going to say something, and before anything came out, everyone around Cat sucked in a breath. The tension in her brows increased as the air in the room was sucked out with that one unified intake. She worried when no one blew the air back out. They held it in standing like statues staring at her. Cat turned around. There was no new threat behind her.

  Nothing was there, no three-headed monster to startle them. She looked to everyone else for an answer, but no one would look at her, “What?” Cat asked, her nose flared in irritation. No one would look at her except Hendrick. He was staring at her teeth in stunned silence.

  Cat had enough of this stupidity. She turned her attention back to Rebecca, absently scratching her teeth. If I’m lucky I’ll have food stuck in my teeth.

  Deep inside she already knew what she would find. Although, when her cold fingers touched those new, extended canines, the fact was, it was still a shock and the long things pissed her off. Cat forgot how to breathe too. By the Gods, how did I become a vampire?

  As if admitting the change triggered something inside of her, a weak pull to her middle burned her insides, but it only intensified as she ignored the sensation. There was only one way to describe her tummy rumbling; she was hungry.

  The burn in her throat pleaded to get quenched. Nothing else mattered except her hunger. A hunger like she had never had before took over.

  The excruciating pain blazed like a flame and coated her stomach. She knew what would quench her thirst, her hunger. The all-consuming urge didn’t make sense to her, but she dove for the dark, throbbing line on Rebecca’s neck that called to her.

  She bit down hard and pulled at the warm and delicious thick liquid. One word kept repeating in her mind, MORE. She sucked hard until Hendrick managed to pull Cat’s clenched teeth away from Rebecca’s neck leaving jagged marks on Rebecca’s flesh that pleased Cat more than she wanted to acknowledge.

  The strength he had to use to pull her away surprised him. Most new vampires were weak and sloppy. She seemed different like she has been a vampire for years.

  But that newly found feeding frenzy only happens once, so there was no doubt Cat was a new vampire. He knew all too well what that was like, and what yearning was like. He pushed Rebecca away from Cat gesturing for Yvonne to help Cat with her craving. She would be able to keep her hunger at bay for a few minutes.

  Cat jumped at the touch of Yvonne’s tiny hands. The vibration traveling from Yvonne had Cat filling better. The sweet sensation of cold soothed Cat’s hunger enough so she could think.

  Cat stood straight up slowly, making her movement predatory. She couldn’t believe how much hatred she had inside for Rebecca.

  In the back of her subconscious the dead person registered in Cat’s mind. Oh Goddess, no, it’s Maria! What the hell happened! How can so much bad happen in so little time? The fire in her turned into a nuclear bomb. Someone she thought she could trust had killed Bruce, set her up to be a demon slave, and now she had killed Maria.

  The realization made even her soul turd black, and the anger built up into a tar. A bitter, nasty feeling coated her insides, making Cat feel dirty. If her mom could see her now, the hatefulness would repulse her, murderous Cat.

  Cat’s eyes blinked rapidly. Seeing an image of her mom’s sad face was like having a bucket of ice water dumped on her. Her mom’s large green eyes, dark hair, and muscular frame weren’t meant to be sad. It would kill Cat to have her mom disappointed in her.

  Hendrick put his hand on Cat’s shoulder, pulling her away from her thoughts, "Not yet love, she could know where Chris is," he said in a caring, but stern voice. The voice reminded her of her partner David when she had just done something stupid, like punch her superior. That soothed her temper.

  Cat’s new senses let her pick up on everything in the room, even if she didn’t want to sense any of her surroundings. Hendrick's wide eyes, Marcus’s hateful stare at Rebecca, Jake holding him back, Maria’s corpse in the small room, Yvonne away from the group to her left and secretly crying, and even further left, Keanu moaning in pain. But the one she noticed the most was Ethan’s stare. He spoke of murder.

  Not that she could blame him. In his eyes, ever since she had been in the Dragonvire world nothing but bad has followed them. He hadn’t met her until Chris was kidnapped, or been told about the chomper curse, her triggering the curse in the warehouse, distracting everyone while Maria went to her death, and now her best friend was the enemy.

  It d
idn’t matter that all of it was a coincidence; she could tell Ethan thought she was the problem. And all she wanted to do was help.

  That hunger inside of her spiked again. The wicked feeling that wanted Ethan to touch her, so she could rip his head off and drink from it. Whoa, where did that come from? Cat asked herself, the thought was enough to startle her back from her hunger again.

  ***

  The tension in the air was suffocating for everyone. Ethan was holding Marcus back, so when Ethan left him to get closer to Cat just in case she attacked again, Marcus was free. Being faster than Ethan he was only a few steps away from his revenge for Maria's death. He would run for his chance at killing Rebecca as soon as he saw an opportunity. There was nothing more important to Marcus than Maria. Chris could wait until they found another clue.

  ***

  Rebecca was glad she learned how to make an allusion wand, now. Lusion’s assessor, as much of a jerk that he was, he was right. It came in handy. She slyly pulled out the wand she had been concealing for her escape.

  All she needed to do was call forth the borrowed demon power to get out of here, and she’ll get the fortune the demon’s promised her. I can’t wait to buy a television and microwave. I’ll finally be living the dream.

  The green sour magic built up inside of her until the magical force settled in her fist. The energy was like a large bug closed in her grasp. It wanted out.

  Hendrick’s grip tightened on Rebecca and looked down at the floor where he thought the wand was… Nothing.

  “She’s got the demon wand,” he yelled right before she punched him across the room. Ethan ran for Rebecca, but she used the rest of the mystical force to punch him as well.

  She took a deep breath, letting herself build up more power. She was only a lower level witch, so the power Lucian gave her was hard to use. I have the strength for one more big incantation, then I need to get out of here. I took out their Blocker like planned. I’m not dying for them.

  ***

  What happened next occurred so fast a Natural wouldn’t have been able to keep up. Marcus took his chance. Rebecca was distracted by punching Ethan’s face in. Marcus got an angry grip on Rebecca’s neck and said harshly, “Now, you die.” He was so full of hate; he didn’t see her grip tightening on the wand.

  “Not by you, foolish boy,” she said, raising her wand to his head, "Mortem," Rebecca’s ugly, squeaky voice shouted.

  Everyone's heart dropped at Rebecca’s one horrid word because they all knew ‘mortem’ meant death. An invisible force slammed into Marcus, and he clasped his heart, crumbling to the ground. Everything in the room froze as his body fell to the floor, lifeless.

  ***

  “No!” Yvonne screeched in horror. Her sobs were loud and pained now. She didn’t care if the entire world knew she was crying. “No, no, no,” she whimpered until a fervent heat struck holes in her heart and she collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

  ***

  Cat couldn’t believe what was happening. She tried to help, but her body chose that moment to be overwrought by the idiotic emotions. All the emotions Maria had taken from her slammed back into her.

  She stood there looking at Marcus’s dead body unable to move, as a wave of emotions froze her in place.

  She could sense Hendrick to her right and vaguely registered Keanu crawling over and dragging Yvonne away. What the hell is wrong with me? How did I let it get this bad? She had never had a mission go this wrong before.

  ***

  Ethan and Hendrick were at Marcus’ side in the blink of an eye. Hendrick already had his knife out cutting his palm, ready to use his blood magic to help Marcus. But as soon as they touched him, they could tell he was an empty shell. Nooo!

  Hendrick didn't care anymore if she was the key to finding Chris. Rebecca needed to die. They would have to find another way. He looked back at Rebecca as she said an incantation with her wand.

  She was calling a portal to her.

  “Son of Hades,” Hendrick said as a green force began spinning behind Rebecca. Hendrick only had a second to think before he saw Cat leaping for Rebecca. She grabbed her upper leg as the bright light absorbed them.

  Hendrick dove for Cat.

  He reached for her legs and missed. Luck was on his side as his firm grasp latched onto her ankle instead. The swirling depths took Hendrick with them. Yet, no one else could follow for backup. They were on their own.

  Thirty

  Ugh, bloody hell. Hendrick's arms ached as he pushed his way through the slimy goo of the portal walls. He hated jumping into someone else's portal, the trip was painful and took a lot of strength to get through.

  If he wasn’t careful, he could get stuck. And to Hendrick, that would be the worst death possible. He would drown in all this goo, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything but let himself rot here until maybe someone stumbled upon his body. Which was unlikely.

  He would use portals more often if they weren't such darn expensive amulets to get. There were only two ways to call a portal, with an amulet, or with a demon wand. And there was no way he was using a demon wand.

  The few times he’d created a portal the trip went by quickly. Out in a flash of light was the way he liked to travel, but he was using someone else’s portal now so the process of getting through was substantially longer. And he couldn’t hold on to Cat’s ankle, so he had to fight his way out.

  If fighting through the sticky, squishy layers wasn’t bad enough, he also had to accomplish this blind. The light could burn his eyeballs. It didn’t matter who or what a person was, that would suck.

  Hendrick’s fingers grazed against the exit making another shot of adrenaline spike through him, “Damn lass is already a pain,” he grumbled as he smacked jelly obstacles out of his way.

  A ping of guilt had him moving quicker; it was his fault she was reacting with her anger. He couldn’t believe he had turned her into a vampire. She couldn't become a full vampire, though, because he wasn't a full vampire. Yet, she was darn close enough.

  All signs pointed towards a new vampire, except her new strength. That was a major surprise and made him worry. No Dragonvire had ever made someone into a vampire before. Their blood didn’t work that way, or at least it hadn’t.

  The end of the portal needed to be torn open. Thankfully, his dagger made it through with him, so he thrust it into the portal wall. The sound reminded him of pushing a sharp knife through thick skin.

  Once he got a hole big enough for his hands to fit, he ripped the portal opened and shoved himself through the narrow opening. It was arduous work. This was probably the only time he wished he didn’t have so much muscle because that meant the hole had to be bigger.

  He laughed to himself. Mother nature was giving birth to him. Somewhere in the portal, he must have taken a wrong turn because now the entrance was up in the sky. But he didn’t realize it until it was too late. As soon as Hendrick pushed out, he was falling to the ground. A portal dimension is a tricky place, it has a mind of its own, and the gooey depths loved to change for people.

  “Bloody Hades!” Hendrick pushed on his inner being, but his dragon beast wouldn’t form. Going through the portal-drained him. He couldn’t shift without feeding. “Come on now. Can a man get a break?” He kept falling. His muscles were not helping his descent. The extra weight meant he was going down faster.

  His eyes roamed, looking for another way. Here goes nothing. His already stressed arms reached for the tree on his right. The branches scraped and whipped at his arms, but he couldn’t grab hold of the trunk. At least it is slowing my descent.

  He looked down at the ground groaning, “I’m still going too fast.” If he fell at this rate, he’d still break bones. Every branch that cracked in his grip he used to pull his way deeper into the tree. Lashes of pain broke out as the tree whipped at him with a vengeance. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the tree was attacking him on purpose.

  Before he could come up with another strategy, he was clear of the
tree and falling toward the ground. He managed to slow enough so the hard-packed dirt he landed on only bruised his back instead of killing him. “That was close,” he was so breathless, but nothing could keep him from smiling at that moment. “Ye beauty, I could kiss you,” he shamelessly rubbed the ground as if it was the sexiest woman he had ever seen.

  Silently, he swore to himself never to go into someone else’s portal again. Life was too precious to throw it away. He looked at the sky thanking the Gods for not taking away his life.

  After a few long breaths, he got his bearings and looked around, hoping the lasses were there. But what he saw made his heart play drums with his lungs. The adrenaline that left his body during the fall poured back into his veins.

  Everything was a dreadful tan, “By the Gods, the lass wasn’t mistaken,” Hendrick closed his eyes to make sure it wasn’t his sight playing tricks on him. Didn’t think so. The curse was real and for some reason, the Rebecca wench used her wand to teleport here.

  If he turned into a chomper because of her, he was chewing on her first. “Alright,” he needed to focus his hearing and sense of smell to find Cat. Finding her would be the hard part, with her new beast he may not recognize her smell. He has been running on a low battery all night.

  Yvonne’s mocking voice chimed in his head from earlier, telling him she told him so. Next time, I will listen and pack blood bags and steaks in the car. However, even if he did bring that stuff, it was doubtful he would have gone to the car to fuel up.

  Hendrick was not able to use his vampire’s superior hearing, but he had always had great smelling senses. If Cat killed Rebecca now, she would be stuck with the vampire beast. Their only hope was that the virus she contracted from his vampire beast was the same as a typical vampire, which meant the cure was possible if she didn’t kill anyone.

  All they would have to do was find a powerful witch or demon to reboot Cat’s life. The vampire virus was like any virus and could be cured as long as the magic didn’t intertwine with her soul.