Totem of Aries

by D. N. Leo

  She thrust the sword at Ciaran.

  “Stay here,” he said and pushed the door open, expanding the sword to full length at the same time. She had seen him fight several times before. Even as a mere human, Ciaran should never be underestimated, especially with the proper weapon in hand. She heard roars and then she saw the legs of the vampires on the roof run to the hood. Their flesh sizzled, and their bodies fell to the road on the side of the car. There, Ciaran finished them off.

  Other vampires, seeing the casualties, froze. Some turned and ran, vanishing into thin air. Seven remained.

  Madeline stepped out of the car. She knew the vampires who had run away had jumped into the dimensional gateway, but she had no intention of pursuing them.

  “It’s a smart move, jumping into the dimensional gateway,” Ciaran said.

  So he knew about the multiverse even before we met, Madeline thought.

  Ciaran gave the sword back to her and pulled a gun from his pocket. To the vampires, he said, “I have six silver bullets. One for each if you do the math. And Madeline will handle the last one standing with her sword—right, Madeline?”

  She smiled as graciously as possible and nodded.

  Ciaran continued. “I know you vampires are fast, and we might not be able to kill you all. But I’m certain we can kill some of you. Which of you want to make the sacrifice?”

  There was no response from the vampires.

  Ciaran nodded. “I’m sure you work by contract, but no money is money enough for you to die. I’m offering you a chance to go back to your client and tell him that we’re open for negotiation. There’s no need for bloodshed. And in this case, it’s your blood that will be spilled.”

  Still no response.

  “Now go!” Madeline raised her voice at them. The vampires turned and scrambled into the dimensional gateway, vanishing in the middle of the road. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a silver bullet gun?” she asked Ciaran.

  He smiled. “Because I don’t have said gun.”

  Chapter 16

  Lying on the roof of the temple, peering through a skylight into the room inside, Alex was glad he was a vampire and didn’t have to hold his breath. They had imprisoned him in a dark brick building next to this temple, so he figured this was some sort of important central location. He looked down to the ground and saw the dog sitting still, waiting for his command.

  Inside the temple were five guards marching around some sort of altar. He couldn’t make out the god they worshiped, but that was irrelevant. All he needed to know was what kind of creatures they were. He was sure they weren’t vampires.

  Under his instructions, the dog went inside and sat at the entrance. The guard didn’t pay him any attention. The dog trotted over to pillar right in the middle of the temple, lifted his back leg, and urinated.

  “Oi!” a guard shouted. The dog charged out the door.

  But the guard didn’t follow.

  The dog stopped at the entrance and lifted his leg again.

  Several guards cursed, and a couple of them went after the dog. The dog ran out and around the side of the temple. When the guards turned the corner, Alex descended on them from the roof and twisted their necks. They were dead before their brains registered what was happening. He grabbed their swords and returned to the roof.

  He positioned himself above the altar where the remaining guards were patrolling. He stomped his foot hard on the skylight so that it shattered, creating an entry for him. The two dead guards had used swords, so Alex guessed those remaining wouldn’t use guns.

  When the vampires in the temple heard the noise from above, they drew their swords, but it was too late for them. A double-sword attack was Alex’s favorite combat technique. He cut off three heads with a single swing of the two swords in opposite directions. Their heads rolled across the stone floor, their eyes wide open, and their mouths open in an futile attempt to shout profanity.

  Then Alex heard clapping. A stunning woman walked out from behind the altar. She had long golden hair and magnificent brown eyes, and she wore a long blood-red gown. “Well done, Alexander.”

  “Who are you?”

  “You can call me the Red Widow.”

  “That’s not your real name, but it will do for now. I guess you’re the one who paid these creatures to capture me. I’m sorry they didn’t do a better job. What do you want from me?”

  “A conversation—and a favor.”

  “I can talk because talk is cheap. As of for the favor, it depends.”

  The Red Widow smiled. “There have been a lot of rumors about you. And you certainly don’t disappoint.”

  “I get the point—I’m infamous. So what?”

  “You’re perfect for the job. You came from nothing to become the mayor of the vampire city, and that’s respectable.”

  He chuckled. “Whatever the job is, I decline. As you said, it took a lot of effort to get where I am. I won’t do anything to jeopardize it.”

  The Red Widow smiled graciously. “I like you, Alexander. But unfortunately, if you don’t do what I ask, there will be consequences. None of which you would want to experience.”

  “Try me!” he growled and turned to walk away.

  Feeling a puff of wind behind him, Alex pivoted and swung his swords. The metal clashed with two gigantic blades—the transformed arms of the Red Widow. In the blink of an eye, she had grown to be eight feet tall. Alex’s arms went numb with the impact, and he staggered a few steps backward. However, he regained his footing quickly and charged.

  They exchanged a few rounds. The vibration of metal clashing against metal cracked the wall on the side of the temple. Soon it began to crumble. Alex darted outside just before the entire temple collapsed.

  Through the whirl of dirt, rock, bricks, and wood, the Red Widow walked out intact. She smirked at Alex.

  “I dislike fighting women, but you forced my hand.”

  “You don’t have to fight me. Just obey me, and I’ll let your family live in peace.”

  “You’re using me to make my family go to war?”

  “I’m impressed you figured that out. Yes, that was my intention—before I met you in person. Now I think you can carry the job on your own. I don’t need to blackmail your family. The job isn’t difficult, and I pay handsomely.”

  “Keep your money.”

  “I didn’t think it was possible for a vampire mercenary to grow a conscience.”

  “I have no intention of growing a conscience. You either have one, or you don’t. But there has been one talent that has saved my ass several times over the last hundred years. I can tell when people are lying to me, and that’s what you are doing right now. Whatever promises you make, you won’t keep… Why would I bother?”

  As he walked away, the woman grabbed him with her steel arms and ripped the flesh from his shoulders.

  Alex hissed with pain and whirled around.

  The woman staggered back, looking at the blood dripping from his wounds. He would heal fast, but it still hurt a lot. Alex frowned at the woman’s reaction. “You won’t kill me.” He advanced as the woman staggered back. “Either you need me, or there’s a reason you can’t kill me.” He advanced again.

  “Stop right there. Don’t force me.”

  “Who’s forcing whom?” He moved closer to her.

  The woman swung her arms. A puff of silver dust pumped out from her sleeves. It wasn’t a lethal dose, but it paralyzed him. The world seemed to spin out of orbit, and his knees buckled. The woman approached to grab him. He pushed her away, but his efforts produced no result.

  Then there was a bark. The dog bit the woman’s leg and growled angrily. She kicked it, and it flew through the air, landing several feet away. While she was distracted, Alex swung his sword again. The woman jumped backward to avoid the impact and thus released him.

  From behind Alex, a small shadow darted forward. He saw a flash of metal. The small female shape in front of him plunged a dagger deep into the Red Widow’s abdomen
. The widow let out a hollow scream and tossed the small woman who was attacking her aside. She darted into a dimensional gate and vanished.

  The woman approached Alex. “Can you walk?”

  “Yes…” he said and then collapsed onto her.

  Chapter 17

  Ciaran looked up at the helicopter and gave a signal so they’d know they were at the right location. Madeline had requested him not to engage his brother Tadgh and his most trusted staff member Lindsay, so the only choice he had was to call in his shadow troops. They came straight to his lab and brought him the weapon he needed.

  “The operation can’t be as subtle as you want,” he said to Madeline, “but the situation calls for this. I’ll ask the chopper to drop us in the open field, and then you can reconnect with your people.”

  She nodded.

  The helicopter landed. An officer in uniform approached Ciaran and gave him two handguns. He smiled. He had missed them. He’d developed them to be used against what he called unexplainable forces, and by that he meant extraterrestrials. These weren’t silver bullet guns for hunting vampires. But there was some silver in the properties of the ammunition. All he needed was to increase that level.

  He tucked the guns inside his jacket and was about to guide Madeline to the helicopter when he saw a sign in the distance. It pointed to a property whose address was 13 Black Rose Avenue, Heaven Path. That was where the woman at the hospital had told him Margaret was.

  He shook his head and looked again. The sign was still there.

  “Ciaran!” Madeline called out.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “What are you looking at?”

  “There’s a place I’d like to visit before we go. Why don’t you stay here? I’ll be back shortly, Madeline.”

  She shook her head. “I’m going wherever you go.”

  “Do you see that?” He pointed in the distance.

  “No.”

  “Well, that’s where they’re keeping Margaret. A woman at the hospital told me the address 13 Black Rose Avenue, Heaven Path is real.”

  “Margaret? The girl you met at Oxford University?”

  “Yes. She was attacked by the vampires because of me.”

  “You don’t know that, Ciaran. She could be the soul trader that wants to mark you.”

  “If she were, then she would have had plenty opportunities to do so already. I can’t ignore the fact that she’s still missing. I’m not convinced she would do me any harm.”

  Madeline paced a few steps. “All right, I’m going with you.”

  “But then I have to worry about you as well.”

  “I won’t be a burden.”

  He shook his head but understood there was no way to shake her loose. He gave instructions to the troops and headed toward the bush.

  Light pouring from a small window of a house hidden in the bush suggested to Ciaran they were in the right place. He was sure there was no official record of this address.

  “There are two people in the house,” Madeline said as they crouched behind some bushes. “One is asleep, and the other is a vampire.”

  “Thank you.” She had told him she was a mind reader, but now Ciaran saw the advantage of her ability. “Can you tell who the sleeping person is?”

  “No.”

  “It’s Margaret.” The male voice came from behind them, sending Ciaran and Madeline scrambling to their feet.

  “Vampire!” Madeline said.

  Ciaran pushed her behind him and pulled out his guns.

  “You’re trespassing on my property, and you have the nerve to point guns at me? Who are you?”

  “I’m the one with the guns. I get to ask the questions. Who are you?”

  “You shouldn’t care about who I am, but more about what I can do to you.” As fast as lightning, the man turned around and darted back toward the house. Ciaran raced after him, careful to look out for traps. But as soon as he ran past the fence line, he knew something was wrong.

  He had just run past a dimensional gate, and his human body wouldn’t be able to cope. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t speak. His body seemed to weigh a ton. He staggered and grabbed something that looked like a tree.

  Madeline wasn’t affected because she was from another universe and had traveled across dimensions. She recognized something was wrong with Ciaran. She pulled her sword and stood beside him.

  The house had disappeared, and a short distance away, the vampire had returned. He smirked. Hand-to-hand combat wasn’t an option for Madeline, and Ciaran wouldn’t let her fight for him.

  If the vampire thought Ciaran to be a normal human being, he was sadly mistaken. Ever since Ciaran had been four years old, he’d had control of something his father called the blade of fury. He had the ability to will a gigantic blade in his mind that was capable of digging up an entire hillside. Using it now wouldn’t come without a cost, but he had no choice.

  As Madeline began to charge at the vampire, he pulled her back by the elbow. Then he concentrated and blasted his mind blade at the vampire. The creature was fast enough to jump backward, but the blade sliced off one of its arms. It let out a bloodcurdling roar.

  It worked! Ciaran thought and sent the blade once more.

  He missed the second time, and his use of energy made his knees buckle.

  The vampire returned like a threatening storm. He grabbed Ciaran, throwing him backward and sending him rolling across the ground. It picked him up again and tossed him down hard. Ciaran felt his bones rattle.

  The vampire gave him one more hard whack to the ground. He couldn’t move. As he lay there, looking up at the vampire standing over him preparing to land the final blow, he saw the flash of a red blade. The head of the vampire left his body. His body crumpled to the ground on top of Ciaran’s. From behind the vampire, Madeline stood tall, the sword in her hands still vibrating with the impact.

  She crouched next to him. “Ciaran, tell me you’re okay. Answer me, please.” She touched his face.

  He couldn’t speak. He tried but couldn’t get a word to come out of his mouth. He wanted to explain to her that they had just passed the dimensional gateway. Her body could handle it, but his had not yet developed that capability. He hated to see her cry. He wanted to wipe the tears off that beautiful face. But his body wouldn’t obey him.

  Then he recalled she was a mind reader. He had to try. He willed a thought in his mind and hoped she would read it. As the thought started to form, he saw recognition on her face. But with the last drop of his energy, instead of telling her to take him to the other side of the gateway, he used it to say to her, “Behind you!”

  Then his world went black.

  Chapter 18

  Madeline swung the sword behind her back as soon as she read Ciaran’s last thought before he passed out. A woman yelped and jumped out of the way.

  “I just want to help. The vampire over there said I need to get you out of here,” she said and pointed.

  Alex stood about fifty feet away in the dim light. Before Madeline could ask any questions, the woman said, “Alex said you’re in a cross-dimensional zone at a gateway. He can’t come in.”

  Madeline understood. Alex had been weakened because of the time travel. If he crossed dimensions now, he’d be an invalid and useless on this mission. “Can you help me carry Ciaran out?”

  The woman nodded. “Why did you let a human cross into this area? You’re supernatural, right? Can’t you see this is a cross-zone?” the woman asked.

  They lay Ciaran down on the ground next to where Alex stood. Madeline looked back to the zone where they had just been. She still couldn’t tell the difference. “I can’t tell,” she told the woman.

  Alex looked at Ciaran. “He’s too damaged,” he said. “A vampire can always tell. That’s how we’re able to offer people a chance to be turned when they’re near death.”

  Madeline wiped the tears off her face. “I’ll take him to the hospital.”

  “It’s too late, Madeline. When
I can sense death in a person, it’s too late to medically save him,” Alex said.

  “It can’t be. It’s not possible. The prophecy said a soul trader will take him in the future. Not now. That’s why I’m here.”

  “You time traveled,” the woman said. “That goes against nature. You want to change things in the past, but it causes more changes. It might be his fate to die now.”

  “I can’t let that happen. It will mean we won’t meet, and we won’t have a family.”

  “There’s nothing you can do about it. Let him go,” the woman said.

  Madeline whirled around. “Who are you to say?” she growled.

  “I’m Frida, Margaret’s sister.”

  Madeline pointed at the area where they’d just been. “So that was your house? You said humans shouldn’t cross into that zone. Does that mean you’re not human? Why did you and your sister set that trap for Ciaran?”

  “Our house is nowhere near here. What you saw was a trap, a cheap trick. My sister was being cared for by a vampire called Egon. She just went missing while in his care, and he blames Ciaran. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. Egon must have set that trap.”

  “But I killed that vampire,” Madeline said.

  “No, you killed one of his minions.”

  “I don’t care. I just want to save Ciaran.”

  Frida shook her head. “Egon is an old, experienced, and dangerous vampire. If he wants Ciaran dead, there is nothing you can do. I rescued Alex hoping he could help me handle Egon. But Alex has just been injured, and an immediate fight with Egon is impossible. I don’t know who you are or where you come from, but it’s bad timing for you to be here right now. The paranormal world is at war. There will be human casualties.” Frida turned and walked away.

  “I can’t let Ciaran die.”

  “You want me to turn him?” Alex asked reluctantly.

  “No. I’ll do it my way.” She pulled out her wrist unit. The communication screen was still dead. A conversation with Jo now would be extremely helpful, but it wasn’t an option available to her. She flicked the screen.