The Vampire Flame (Vampire Sorceress Book 3)

by T. L. Cerepaka

  “You were successful,” said a voice behind us. “Congratulations.”

  Again, Lucius and I both turned around, this time to see Timmy leaning against the wall opposite us. He was chewing on a piece of straw, like he was some kind of good old country boy or something, but he spat it out as soon as we looked at him, though he didn’t move from his position against the wall.

  “Were you standing there the whole time, waiting for us to return?” I said in disbelief.

  Timmy shook his head. “Nope. I’ve got better things to do than sit around and wait for a couple of unreliable mortals to save the Flame. But I did sense you two enter the Shadow Way, so I came quickly to find out how successful your mission was.”

  “Well, we succeeded,” I said. “The Mistress is dead. We didn’t get the Flame, but it probably got itself out in time before the Mistress’ moon base collapsed.”

  “Her base collapsed?” said Timmy in surprise. “Ah, that explains why the door fell apart. There’s nothing for the door to lead to now, which means that it is now impossible to get to the moon. Or at least, it is impossible for someone to get to the moon through that particular way. There are other doors to the moon, though I won’t show you to them now since you don’t need to know about them.”

  I had to admit that I was a little surprised to learn that there were multiple doors to the moon. Why would you need multiple doors to the moon? One for the dark side of the moon and one for the light side? Or one for the interior of the moon and one for the exterior? It probably didn’t matter, but it still bothered me.

  Then Timmy’s eyes darted to Jane, who still lay unconscious in Lucius’ arms. “Who is that?”

  “My friend, Jane,” I said. “The Mistress kidnapped her to use her to gain control over the Vampire Flame.”

  “I see,” said Timmy, looking at Jane with greedy eyes that I didn’t like. “She is rather attractive. You wouldn’t mind if I—”

  A low, deep growl emitted from Lucius’ throat. His red eyes were looking at Timmy in a warning way, clearly warning him to stay away from my friend unless he wanted to deal with Lucius.

  “I think you should just keep your hands to yourself,” I said, folding my arms in front of my chest. “It would probably be better—and safer—for you that way.”

  Timmy, as usual, didn’t look phased by Lucius’ growl or my words. He just shrugged and said, “I was just joking around. I would never think to take a mortal woman with me, at least not when Lucius is around. Besides, I have better things to do than mess with mortal women, such as informing my people of the success of your mission. All of us have been eagerly following your progress and are interested in knowing whether you were successful or not, including our leader.”

  “You Strangers have a leader?” said Lucius, who sounded genuinely surprised. “Who?”

  Timmy smiled in a very creepy way. “You’ll find out eventually. For now, let me lead you back to the nearest door to Earth. After everything you did for us, it is the least I can do.”

  Timmy raised a foot, but then lowered it back onto the floor of the Shadow Way and looked at me. “Oh, I just remembered. The Maze thanks you for saving the Vampire Flame.”

  “The Maze?” I said. “Did it tell you to say that?”

  Timmy nodded. “Yes. Don’t be so surprised. The Maze always expresses gratitude toward those who help it. I imagine that the Vampire Flame must have returned to the Maze by now and the Maze knows who has helped it and who has hurt it. You are definitely one of the people who has helped it.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, given how I didn’t know how to tell a maze ‘you’re welcome,’ so I just nodded and said, “Well, that’s nice of it, I guess. It’s always good to hear thanks from someone you’ve helped.”

  Timmy looked at me as if I had just said something stupid. “’Good to hear’? That is the understatement of eternity. The Maze rarely thanks anyone. To receive its gratitude means you’re a very special person indeed.”

  “Oh, I’m nothing special,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m just an ordinary woman … who happens to be half-vampire. And really, I couldn’t have done it without Lucius’ help, either. Or God’s help, for that matter.”

  Timmy instantly frowned. “God, huh? Interesting. I thought I felt … never mind. My people are waiting for me, so I will take you three back to Earth so I can return to them quickly. Come.”

  Timmy immediately started walking down the Shadow Way back the way we originally came. Lucius and I followed closely behind him, though I could not help but look over my shoulder at the remains of the door to the moon one last time, thinking of the figure I had seen in the Flame and what it meant.

  All I knew was that I was grateful that the Mistress was dead and that the world, at least for now, was safe.

  One week later …

  I pulled up to Dad’s driveway, parked my car, and hopped out of it. It was a cloudy day today, so I didn’t need to dress up as much as I normally did in order to protect my skin from the sun’s rays. I still wore my sunglasses, however, and gloves and jacket, mostly out of habit at this point.

  I walked up to the front door and knocked on it loudly a few times before stopping and stepping backwards. I didn’t have to wait long, because a second later, the door opened and Dad stood there, still wearing his white button down shirt and blue slacks from church.

  “Hi, Tara!” said Dad. “So glad to see you. Come in. I’ve got lunch ready for us, so come on in and let’s eat.”

  I smiled and said, “Sure, Dad,” and walked inside and followed Dad to the kitchen, where he had set up a simple lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for both of us. As a half-vampire, human food wasn’t enough to sate my hunger, but I could still eat it and enjoy it despite that. Besides, I’d already drank a glass of monkey blood prior to coming here, so I wasn’t really hungry. I just came to visit with Dad and find out how he was doing.

  I took my seat at the table and pulled my sandwich closer to me, but before Dad could sit down, his phone started ringing. He looked down at the screen and said, in a slightly sheepish tone, “Oh, it’s Rachel. Do you mind if I—”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “If you need to talk to her, then do it. You need to have a woman in your life anyway. The house is such a mess every time I get here that I’m surprised you manage to find anything in it.”

  Dad smiled at my joke before raising the phone to his ear and walking out of the kitchen. I heard him enter the living room and start talking to Rachel, though I couldn’t quite make out what they were talking about. Whatever it was, it was probably none of my business. I was just happy that Dad was seeing Rachel at all, because I’d been worried about how lonely he was for a long time, ever since Mom died, and Rachel seemed like a good woman for Dad. I’d been introduced to her the day after the whole Vampire Flame fiasco and she seemed almost like Mom in some ways, but was very different in others. In any case, I was interested in seeing Dad and Rachel’s relationship develop. She didn’t know I was a half-vampire yet, though, or that Dad was a retired vampire hunter, but I figured that if their relationship became serious, Dad would let her know all of that in time.

  But Jane knew. When Lucius and I returned to Earth last week, we had taken Jane to my apartment, where, after a few hours, she had finally woken up. She seemed convinced that her entire experience in the moon had been a nightmare of some sort, and Lucius had wanted to let her keep thinking that, but I didn’t feel comfortable with lying to my best friend in the world about an experience that had been one hundred percent real.

  So I told Jane all about my true nature as a half-vampire, as well as the entire story of the vampires and sorcerers. She didn’t believe me at first, for obvious reasons, but when Lucius displayed a few of his vampire abilities and I cast a few spells, all of Jane’s doubts were washed away in an instant. It was kind of surprising, though, because Jane seemed to accept the reality of vampires, sorcerers, and magic even faster than I did. Then again, J
ane was always a lot less skeptical than me, plus she had way too much undeniable proof that I was telling the truth to just ignore or disagree with everything I said.

  As a result, Jane was now just as aware of magic as me. It would take her a while to fully accept the reality of everything, I knew, but she wasn’t going to pretend that none of it existed. She even promised to keep that knowledge to herself, which was surprising, because Jane was a terrible secret keeper. Still, it was good that she promised to do that, because if she hadn’t, she would have been at risk of being killed in order to preserve the Secrecy Pact.

  Even better, Jane did not reject me on the basis of my half-vampire nature. She seemed a little worried when I told her about my lust for human blood, but she said she still considered me a friend and would always support me no matter what. I guess she was convinced that I was still good because I’d saved her from the Mistress and hadn’t tried to hurt her, which was a relief, because one of the reasons I had not told Jane about my half-vampire nature was that I was afraid that she might want nothing to do with me anymore if she knew what I really was.

  Unfortunately, Jane had now gotten into the habit of asking me if Lucius had any other attractive male vampire friends who were single. I tried to stress to her that most vampires weren’t as friendly toward humans as Lucius and that most attractive male vampires would see her as a meal rather than a mate, but Jane still insisted that I introduce her to any handsome vampires I happen to know. That was how I knew it would be a long while before the reality of vampires actually hit her, but hopefully that would be soon, because the last thing I needed was Jane getting romantically—worse, sexually—involved with vampires.

  In any case, Jane seemed no worse the wear for her kidnapping, which meant she was a lot tougher than I thought. I was glad about that, because I had been worried that she might be traumatized from everything that happened to her. I should have known better. Jane may have been small and frail, but she was a lot stronger than most people realized.

  As for Lucius, he had gone back to the Vampire Council, as usual, to report on the success of our mission. He didn’t say when he would come back or see me again, but I was under the impression that the Council would probably send him on another mission as soon as he reported back to them. I wished that he would have asked me out before he left, but Lucius, as far as I could tell, wasn’t interested in me in that way. Or maybe he was and he was just really bad at expressing his feelings, though given how snarky Lucius could be, I kind of doubted that.

  The Vampire Flame, as far as I knew, was also safe. I had not seen it at all since going to the moon, but given how I could still use my magical powers and Lucius didn’t immediately crumble into a pile of black ash upon returning to Earth, I figured that it must have indeed returned to the Maze, where it would be safe from all threats for the time being. I had, of course, already known that, but there was a difference between knowing something and feeling something, and right now I felt that the Vampire Flame was safe.

  Just then, Dad walked back into the kitchen, putting his phone back into his pocket as he walked around the table and took the seat directly opposite me.

  “What was Rachel calling about?” I said casually, taking a bite out of my sandwich.

  “Just calling to confirm our next date,” said Dad. “It’s Thursday and I’m taking her to Ricardo’s Place for lunch.”

  “Just make sure that you don’t leave her alone at your table,” I said. “Otherwise, a crazy sorcerer might kidnap her for his plan to take control of the Vampire Flame. Ask me how I know.”

  Dad chuckled. “Right. Well, I doubt that will happen, but if someone tries hurt her, I’ll make sure they don’t. I might be an old man, but I can still go toe-to-toe with boys half my age.”

  Remembering what Lucius once told me about how the Vampire Council didn’t want to kill me because they didn’t want to piss off Dad, I said, “That would be kind of funny to see you do, fighting some guy half your age without magic.”

  “It would end badly,” said Dad. “For him.”

  I would have chuckled, but Dad said it so seriously that I realized he wasn’t joking. So I just nodded and took another bite from my sandwich, but at the same time, a question occurred to me about the Vampire Flame. It had been something I had been thinking about for the past week or so, on and off, but now that I was sitting here with Dad, I decided that this was the best time to ask him about it. He might be able to confirm it for me.

  “Dad?” I said, speaking slightly more hesitantly than usual.

  Dad—who had been about to start eating his sandwich—looked at me. “Yes, Tara? What is it?”

  “Back on the moon,” I said slowly, “when I saved Jane from being sacrificed in the Vampire Flame, I fell inside instead.”

  Dad paused, staring at me in surprise. “You did? I don’t remember you telling me that when you got back home after defeating the Mistress.”

  “That’s because I didn’t,” I said. “Not because I’m trying to keep secrets from you or anything, but because it was such a strange experience that I’m just not sure what to think about it.”

  “I’ve never heard of someone entering the Vampire Flame and surviving,” said Dad. “There are legends which state that the Sorcerer’s Fire burns up any vampires who get too close, but I wasn’t sure if the same applied to half-vampires or not. Evidently not, given how you’re still alive.”

  “But it was killing me,” I said. I put a hand on my chest. “It hurt. It ate away at my clothing, my skin, even down to my bones. It felt like I was being broiled alive. I should have died.”

  “Well, why didn’t you?” said Dad, tilting his head to the side. “How did you manage to escape?”

  I lowered my sandwich back onto my plate. “I didn’t escape on my own. Someone inside the Vampire Flame helped me.”

  “There was someone inside the Vampire Flame?” said Dad. “With you?”

  I nodded. “Yes. I couldn’t see who it was, but he helped me get out alive. He told me that my mission in this world isn’t done, that I still have a lot to do, but he didn’t explain what he meant by that. He just told me to lean on him.”

  Dad stroked his chin. “Did Lucius or anyone else see this figure?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m the only one who saw him. I thought I had been hallucinating at first, but the more I think about it, the more I think I know who it was.”

  “And who do you think it was, exactly?” said Dad.

  I hesitated, but then said quickly, “I think it was God. Or maybe one of his angels. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. It explains why I was able to see and feel him, but no one else. And I can’t think of any other being in the universe who could possibly survive being in the heart of the Vampire Flame itself like that, nor one who could protect and rescue me from it.”

  To my surprise, Dad nodded. “Yes, I think that’s it. At any rate, it was definitely miraculous, which is what God is in the business of doing, after all.”

  “Why don’t you find it hard to believe?” I said. “I don’t even have any proof. I—”

  “It reminded me of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,” said Dad. “In that story, those three men were thrown into a furnace to burn to death, but then God himself appeared in the furnace and protected them. It sounds like something similar happened with you.”

  My grip on my sandwich tightened. “But why would God save me, of all people? I’m a half-vampire. I should be condemned to eternal punishment.”

  Dad tapped his chin thoughtfully. “There’s still much we don’t know about half-vampires and how they relate to God. I always used to think that half-vampires were just as condemned as actual vampires, but ever since you became a half-vampire, I’ve been forced to reconsider that theory of mine. I think that God isn’t done with you yet, and that even if you are tainted by your vampire half, that doesn’t mean God can’t use you for his glory or to achieve his will.”

  I couldn’t hide
the smile on my face. “You mean that there might be hope for me after all?”

  “It’s not my place to say who is and isn’t saved,” said Dad. “Having said that, though, I wouldn’t worry so much about your fate anymore. It’s clear to me that God still has great use for you. I don’t know what he has planned for you or what awaits you in the future, but I suspect it is better than you or even I think.”

  “Yeah, Dad,” I said, nodding. “You’re probably right.”

  I resumed eating my sandwich, but I was no longer really paying attention to my food. I was filled with happiness at the thought that maybe my salvation wasn’t in jeopardy anymore after all, that perhaps God had not turned away from me, that there might still be hope for me and my soul yet.

  And that was the best news I’d heard in a long time.

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