The Night's Baby

by Stina

  Adie stepped forward and blinked away the tears in her eyes. She nodded and moved a curl of hair from her eyes. “Okay, sister. I will follow you into battle as long as these witches keep their word.”

  Slowly but surely the other vampires agreed to fight as well. Aika took one of Adie’s hands in hers, and Dena’s in the other. Her eyes were on the other vampires, silently telling them to grab a hand too. When they did, they formed a circle, and the four witches on the outskirts began mumbling words that sounded meshed together.

  “What are you doing?” Dena asked.

  “Making your minds one. I am giving you all the power to read minds and feelings, along with sharing them with others. This will be important if you hope to defeat the Lykans.”

  Kesh watched the Great War flash before his eyes. It was a wonder that all nine survived it. The Ancient Lykans were malicious, more so than he could have ever dreamed. He did not know if either of the clans were going to be ready and up to fight that.

  “They will be, as long as you lead them,” Dena told him. “Never forget who you are, Kesh.”

  “How can I forget who I am when I don’t even know who I am?”

  “You don’t?”

  “I mean, now I do, but up until this point, everything has been false. Adie—”

  “Yes, she had a child with Daron. She fell in love with him the moment he turned her. There was no bringing her back from that. When she bore his child, she thought nothing could be sweeter, but of course, she didn’t know of her lover’s sinister plan for her.”

  “Did you ever locate her son?”

  “No,” Dena said sadly. “No one has seen him or Daron since long ago. That was another reason Adie left. She felt like we hadn’t held up our end of the bargain. And I tried to, I really did. But a hundred years passed, and then another—”

  “But still no sign of them.”

  “No,” she said. “And sometimes I wonder to myself if I checked the right places.”

  “There’s no telling if they are even still alive?”

  “Ajani, no. There is no telling. But Daron, oh, he’s still alive. I can feel him. And when I see him, I’m going to kill him. He has given me eternal life, but with that came eternal pain. This is no way to live. Before I met Adirah and baby Adis, I was torn apart. I have been torn for so long, but they put me back together. As they have done to you.”

  “Did Adie . . .”

  “Did she really love you?” Dena asked him and placed a warm palm on his cheek. “Oh, I believe she cared for you deeply and even wanted to love you as much. But my sister had a hole so big in her heart, I honestly think it was better that she didn’t. But Adirah loves you, with every fiber of her being. I can feel it. And that is what you should hold on to. Go find her. Make it right.”

  “I can’t.” Kesh shook his head once. “Not right now. I deserve her anger because I do not deserve her love. I think it would be better for me to go to the Malum camp alone. I don’t want the fact that we are not getting along to be the reason to throw us off our game. Talum and Calum’s love for each other is the only thing that saved them last time. I don’t want our dislike to be the reason for our doom.”

  “Understood. When will you leave?”

  “Tonight. Please tell Adirah that I am sorry.”

  “Why don’t you tell her yourself when you come back?”

  With that, Dena disappeared. Kesh knew that she didn’t teleport, but her speed was something never seen by vampires or humans.

  “If I come back,” he muttered.

  * * *

  Adirah stirred in her sleep. Something wasn’t right. Although she was still angry with Kesh, she did not want to go to sleep that night without him by her side. When she fell asleep, he was there, and baby Adis was in his crib not too far away from the bed. However, when she opened her eyes in the middle of the night, the baby was still where she’d left him, but Kesh was no longer in the bed with her.

  She sat up and ran to the hallway. Looking both ways down each long hallway, she fell backward on one of the walls and held her hand to her chest.

  “Don’t you dare let a tear drop.”

  Adirah blinked her eyes, and through her blurry vision she could make out Lira standing there. She had appeared out of thin air, it seemed, but Adirah was grateful for her presence.

  “He left me,” she whispered.

  “Not because he wanted to,” Lira told her. “I overheard him speaking with Dena. He didn’t think you’d forgive him in time to face the Malum, so he decided to go alone.”

  “No!”

  “Yes,” Lira said and shrugged her arms. “But good for you he literally just left. He and Dena are on their way to the passageway now. If you get dressed, you might be able to catch him. The passage only stays open for fifteen seconds after one of us touches it.”

  Adirah didn’t need to be told twice. When she was dressed in her most comfortable slacks, boots, shirt, and leather jacket, she leaned over Adis’s crib. “Will you look after him?”

  “Yes.” Lira’s voice was directly behind her. “With my life.”

  “Okay,” Adirah said and kissed her son lovingly on his forehead. “I need you to do something for me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Lend me your speed.”

  Adirah held her hand out, and Lira looked at it, smiling mischievously. “Only if you’re sure. Breathe!”

  On Lira’s last word, she grabbed Adirah’s arm. Adirah suddenly felt like she was on a ride that she wanted badly to get off of. The sights around her weren’t a blur; they simply didn’t exist. When they stopped moving, they weren’t in the castle anymore, nowhere near it for that matter. By the time Adirah took her next breath, she was in front of Kesh and Dena. Dena’s palm had just gone up to open the passage, but she stopped when she saw Lira and Adirah.

  “I knew I felt someone eavesdropping on my conversation earlier.”

  “Sorry.” Lira shrugged with a sheepish smile. “Adie wasn’t the only sucker for love.”

  Adirah walked up to Kesh and pushed his chest. “You were going to leave me? Seriously!”

  “Adirah.”

  “Don’t Adirah me! You were just going to go! And what? Fight both Talum and Calum by yourself?”

  “If I had to, yes.”

  “Do you know how stupid that is? What are you trying to do, make it so you don’t come home to Adis and me?”

  “Dira,” Kesh tried again, “you were so upset earlier, the look on your face tore me apart inside. I didn’t want to risk your heart anymore by taking you on this journey with me. But, before I go, I just want you to know that I love you. Not because you are kin to someone else I loved centuries ago, but because you are Adirah Messa. You fill me up in places that I didn’t even know existed. I learned to live without Adie, but I cannot learn to live without you. I just wouldn’t be able to. I’d stake myself right in the heart.”

  Adirah not only heard the sincerity in his tone, she saw it in his eyes. While the news that he was once in love with Adie was still unsettling, there was nothing that she could do about it. It was the past, and the past was that for a reason. She couldn’t deny her heart’s affection for him, nor did she want to. Her feet had a mind of their own when they led her into his arms. They embraced while the two Ancients looked at them, both with small smiles on their faces.

  “I expect more than just you two when you return,” Dena said and closed her eyes as if she were summoning something inside herself. She placed her hand forward, seemingly touching nothing but air. Soon the entire scene in front of them began to ripple like it had before and they could see through to the other side. “Good luck to you both. There is a car waiting for you on the other side.”

  Hand in hand, Adirah and Kesh stepped through the passageway. Sure enough, on the other side, parked in the snow by the mountain, was the same SUV they drove to get there.

  “Dammit,” Adirah mumbled. “I was hoping for a BMW this time.”

  Kesh grinn
ed at her as they trekked through the snow. As he helped her in the SUV, he told himself that if they all survived what was coming, he would make her his wife.

  Chapter 13

  Tiev drove his car to the gated entrance of the Malum camp and waited for the gate to be opened. He wore sunglasses at the tip of his nose, and one arm was hanging out of his Mercedes coupe. One of the Malum gate watchers approached the car slowly. Although they’d seen the car several times before, they always gave him a hard time.

  “Sefu.” The male vampire said the word as if it tasted like mud. He was tall and looked strong, but Tiev knew he would tear him in half in a duel. The malice in his voice was to be expected; they were enemies, after all.

  “Malum.” Tiev smirked. “Will you please tell your king I am here? I do not like waiting.”

  “I don’t care what you don’t like! You not only are a scum to us, you are a traitor to your own people.”

  “Botsu!”

  The other watching the gate came and put his hand on Botsu’s arm to calm him down. While he did not say anything else, Botsu snatched away and gave Tiev a glare that he could not forget.

  “Thanks, Botsu.” Tiev waved him away. “Now, like I said, open the gate.”

  Tiev wasn’t going to let a couple of nobody vampires ruin his mood. He was there on business, and it didn’t matter if anyone there liked him. Soon his name would demand the respect of all vampires alike if he played his hand right.

  He drove his car up to the round driveway of the house and, as always, he admired the home. He said that, once he could get all of the Sefu to follow him and only him, he would move them all into a bigger estate. At the moment, they were all so comfortable where they were. Some, it seemed, had grown accustomed to the college life. He was sure some of them really thought that they were students and the same age as the humans around them. He hoped that the knowledge that soon they’d have to move anyway would be enough to sway them more toward his favor, especially with Kesh being gone in the wind.

  Parking his car, he stepped out and headed toward the front door. He didn’t even get the chance to knock before it flew open and Calum greeted him. She was wearing a black dress with thin straps that hugged her curvy brown body. There was a slit at the side of her right leg that came up to her thigh. Tiev couldn’t help the fact that his eyes traveled her body like a plane trying to get to its destination.

  “Calum, looking as lovely as ever.” He offered her a fake smile.

  She stared at him, most likely trying to read his thoughts. He’d mastered keeping himself undetectable, as any vampire should in his position, and he was pleased at the look of irritation that crossed her face.

  “Tiev, I wish I could say the same about you.” She stepped back and let him in. “Talum is just out back.”

  She led him through the spacious home to the kitchen in the back of the house. It was large with yellow walls and a tiled floor. There was an island in the center of the kitchen with a deep sink in the middle of it. The décor was simply elegant. Whoever had designed the whole house deserved a medal.

  “It’s a shame that you can’t enjoy your meals in here,” Tiev said looking around. “What a waste.”

  They walked around the tall island and made their way to the glass patio door that would take them to the backyard. Through the glass, he was able to make out Talum standing with his back to them. The only thing that Tiev could see was that Talum was holding a glass and taking sips from it. When Calum and Tiev presented themselves to him, he turned to face them.

  “I see you have learned the skill of cloaking your thoughts, Tiev,” Talum said in an impressed tone. “If I weren’t expecting you, I wouldn’t have even sensed you coming. Scotch?”

  “Thank you,” Tiev said after Talum poured the glass and handed it to him. “I always took you for a bourbon type of man.”

  “I dabble a bit in both,” Talum replied and took another sip of his Scotch. He sucked his teeth and made an “ahhh” sound. “I take it you come bringing me news of the Sefu clan.”

  “Yes,” Tiev stated. “Partially. Kesh has not been seen or heard from in over a year. It is safe to say that he has abandoned his clan.”

  “And?”

  “And? Don’t you see? This is the perfect time to strike!”

  Talum paced on the concrete deck, swirling his drink around. Calum had taken a seat at the round table protected by the shade given by the wide umbrella. She stared intently at the two of them, interested in what her king would say.

  “Strike as in attack?” Talum asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Funny. I was under the impression that you wanted to become their king. But I could be wrong.”

  “No. You are right, but there is a process to everything.” Tiev gave a slick smile. “You see, we can give the illusion of an attack. A few casualties, of course, and then—”

  “You come in to save the day,” Calum interrupted.

  “Exactly! They will have no choice but to name me as their king and then you and I can both go our separate ways. We make a peace treaty, and our clans will never have to cross paths again. Nothing of this meeting can ever happen. We would seal it with a blood oath, of course.”

  Talum let Tiev’s words play in his ears over and over. At first, he was going to tell Tiev no and send him on his way. But the more he thought about it, the more he seemed to like the idea. “Under one condition.”

  “Whatever you want.”

  “When Kesh does resurface, he will not have the protection of the Sefu clan. You will let me kill him.”

  “Done,” Tiev said with no hesitation.

  Talum nodded. “I will retrieve the paper we will seal the blood oath on.”

  When he left Tiev was left with Calum. They did not speak to each other, but Tiev did sit down at the table with her. It took everything in him to hold back the smile that threatened to spread across his face.

  What a fool. Does he really think that I’m going to let him be the one to finish Kesh off? No. When the Malum attack the Sefu I will be ready and waiting to kill him and his queen. And when Kesh shows his face, I will be ready to kill him too.

  He felt someone staring at him, and when he looked to Calum, sure enough, her eyes were on him. She was once again studying him, trying to find her way into his mind. She didn’t trust him, he could tell. But she wasn’t his problem. Anything that her king told her to do she would do with no questions asked.

  “Are you in pain?” she asked.

  “No, not at all.”

  “Then why does your face look like you just got your dick bitten in half?”

  In the estate, Talum was upstairs in the bedroom he and Calum shared. That was where he kept his book of laws and agreements. There was something about Tiev that he did not like, but if the vampire tried to go back on the oath, he would have his throat ripped out. Talum’s thirst to see Kesh keeled over dead was clouding his judgment when it came to doing business with a clear blood traitor.

  Behind him, the door slammed shut, startling him because he did not hear anyone come in after him. “He is a blood traitor. Anything to see me dead, though, I presume.”

  Talum whipped around and was stunned to see Kesh standing very much alive in front of him. In his estate! “Kesh! How?”

  “How did I read your thoughts? It seems like you only had your thoughts cloaked when you were outside with Tiev and Calum.”

  “No; how did you get in here?” Talum instantly crouched into a battle position.

  “Put your claws away, brother,” Kesh said and made to take a step toward Talum.

  That step turned into many, as Kesh used his speed to get directly in front of Talum. The element of surprise was on his side because Talum’s mouth was wide open the way Kesh needed it to be. He took the elixir from his pocket and squeezed a drop on Talum’s tongue. When Talum tried to attack, Kesh put his hand out.

  “Stop!”

  Kesh’s command didn’t fall on deaf ears. Talum stopped in the mid
dle of his motion. The only things that he had control over were his eyes. It was like his entire body had been taken control of. Kesh was the master, and Talum was his dummy.

  “Sit and relax.”

  Talum, once again, did as he was told. He just knew it was the end for him. Why else would Kesh go through the trouble of sneaking into his camp? It had all been so easy. All that preparation, all of the training, was for nothing. Kesh still won.

  From the desk chair Talum was in, he watched Kesh’s movements. He wondered how Kesh would kill him. Would he rip his heart from his chest so that Talum could watch the stake go through it? Or maybe he would strip him of the ring on his finger so that the sun could turn him to dust.

  “Surprisingly, I am not going to do any of those things.” Kesh’s voice was low and deep. “If this were a year ago, you would already be dead; but now we have bigger problems on our hands. Problems even bigger than the ones between you and me.”

  What problems are bigger than the ones between our two clans?

  “Problems that you may think are a myth. Problems that threaten every vampire life on this earth. You are strong, Talum. I know you can sense it coming too, just like I can. You haven’t been able to sleep a full night, have you? Or shake the feeling that something is close?”

  Kesh saw glimpses of Talum’s thoughts flashing in his own head. They stopped on a recent memory of both Talum and Calum in the library of the estate. Kesh saw the passage that Talum had read. “The prophecy.”

  Prophecy? Then it is true: your son is the golden child.

  “Yes.”

  And that means the Ancient Lykans . . .

  “One or both of them have awakened. With the full moon approaching, the Lykans will be at full power to attack.”

  Attack who?

  “The Ancient vampires.”

  They are a myth!

  At that moment Kesh used his powers to share his recent memories with Talum. He didn’t show him their location, but Kesh showed him that they were very much alive.