by Jasmine Walt
“Dollars?” Luc gasped, the shock in his voice clear.
“No bicycles. Of course dollars.” Dimitri shrugged. “That’s the weekly buy in for my poker games.”
“I don’t have that kind of money,” Luc said as I started to get to my feet. No one seemed to notice me.
Dimitri shoved Luc against the wall of the van. “That’s right. I forget how poor you humans are. Good for only one thing.” Dimitri leaned in and licked Luc’s neck. “Blood money it is.”
A shudder ran through me at the prospect of fighting them all by myself. Six vampires seemed like a lot, even if they didn’t seem very old. For there to be this many newbies around, there had to be a nest nearby, but how could that be? The only masters still alive were old enough to know they should play by the rules. But what if Luc was right? What if there was a breakdown between the information I got back home and what was really happening? If that was true… No, I didn’t want to think about that. If I did, I was going to feel responsible, and I wasn’t. I just wasn’t.
“Who is your master?” I asked, brushing myself off and turning toward the vamp who had pinned me, but even through his sunglasses I could tell he wasn’t quite sure what I was asking him.
“What are you talking about?” Dimitri asked, stopping short of Luc and looking over at me with confusion evident on his features.
“Who is the vampire who created you?” I smiled as best I could as I held up one hand. “You’re clearly just a baby, so I’m guessing you didn’t make all these guys yourself.” I gestured to his compadres. “Unless you have a thing for guys who look just like you.” I smirked. “That’s cool if you do, I don’t judge.”
“What’s she babbling about?” the vampire closest to me asked as he leaned down and smelled me, actually smelled me. Even though lots of supernatural creatures did that, it was always a little unnerving. “She doesn’t smell like food either.”
Dimitri took a step away from Luc and rounded the car in an instant. He was pretty fast for a young vampire, much faster than Ralph had been, and by the look of it, I was guessing he was two, maybe three years old… about how long it’d been since the Dioscuri civil war.
The vampire grabbed me by the collar, his hand twisting my sweatshirt in his fist as he pulled off his sunglasses and gazed into my eyes. As a rule, you weren’t supposed to meet the eyes of a vampire, especially an older one because it could lead to some crazy mind games. Thankfully, this guy was just a baby by vampire standards.
The force of his stare slammed into me, and I smiled back at him as sweetly as I could. “Oh, that sort of tingles. You’re pretty strong…” I shook my head. “For a baby. The one’s we use during our training to withstand a vampire’s gaze are at least ten times your age.”
“What are you?” he asked, letting me go and taking a step backward, horror etched across his features. “When I looked in your eyes… it felt wrong…” I tried not to take his words personally. I’d heard it from vampires before, and like always, it shook me. I wasn’t sure what the vampires saw when they met my gaze, but let’s be real here, a vampire had just looked into my eyes and gotten scared. How could I not shiver at that?
“I am Lillim Callina, Hyas Tyee of the Dioscuri.” I reached up, straightening my sweatshirt. “Hyas Tyee is our highest rank, in case you wondered.”
“Dioscuri…” the one next to me said, rolling the word over in his mouth. He pulled off his glasses, revealing his blood-colored eyes and looked at me like I was some sort of mythological creature. “We’ve heard of you… but our creator said you were all wiped out a few years ago.”
“Well, your creator lied to you.” I turned back toward Luc, ignoring the two vampires. “Get back in the car, Luc. Let’s get out of here. The Owls have a chateau a few cities from here. Let’s pay them a visit. If there’s a bunch of mooks like this,” I jerked my thumb at Dimitri and his counterparts, “doing things like this in broad daylight where they could get discovered by the humans, they will definitely put a stop to it.”
Luc gave me a strange smile before opening his door, presumably to get back inside, when Dimitri put his fist through the hood and tore something important looking free in a shriek of tortured steel. Green fluid spurted into the air as he dropped the hunk of twisted metal to the ground with a thud.
“No one’s going anywhere. We have a right to be here. We have an agreement with the Owls. We keep the wolves, the spooks, and the others out of here, and they let us do what we want.” He grinned at me, baring his fangs. “If you expect them to help you, you’re wrong.”
I believed him because vampires couldn’t flat out lie. They could twist the truth like hell, and for all I knew, what he said wasn’t true, but this guy believed it was. Still, what he’d said made no sense. Why would the Owls, one of the most powerful vampire castes, align themselves with these scrubs?
“Is that so?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “I find it incredibly hard to believe the Owls would make a deal with you or your creator. Most of them would find you less valuable than the gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe.” I looked at him, trying to suck understanding from his eyes and failing. Mostly because there was nothing there. Clearly, intelligence was a mostly foreign concept. “Unless your creator is a member of the Owls?”
“That’s none of your damned business, Dioscuri. Now back the hell off,” Dimitri snapped before turning his attention back to Luc and ignoring me like I didn’t even matter. It was irksome to say the least. I was a Hyas Tyee of the Dioscuri dammit. Did he know how hard it was to climb to that rank? And he was ignoring me? The jerk would pay for that.
“Are you seriously ignoring me?” I asked, and the next thing I knew, a hand was on my shoulder, squeezing hard enough for it to hurt, but not hard enough to break anything.
“I say we find out what happens when we drink a Dioscuri. Remember when we caught that werewolf? That was intense…” the vampire gripping my shoulder trailed off, savoring the memory.
“You die when you drink from a Dioscuri,” I replied, spinning as fast as my magic-fueled muscles would let me. I grabbed the vampire by the back of his shaved head and slammed him face first into the van hard enough to dent the metal. “I mean it isn’t instant or anything. See you drink my blood. I get pissed off and tear your undead heart from your chest and set it on fire.” I shrugged as I let the vampire’s stunned body slump to the floor. “That kind of thing. It’s more cause and effect, I’ll admit.”
The rest of them were upon me in a heartbeat, but I’d sort of expected it after smashing one into the vehicle. I pulled Set from its sheath in one smooth motion and drove it straight through the heart of the closest vampire. He collapsed onto his knees gripping the weapon as it flared with red light. The smell of electrified flesh filled the air.
The creature fell backward in a smoking heap as one of his friends came at me. I ducked the vampire’s swing and drove my elbow into his stomach with as much force as my muscles could generate. It was enough to fling the monster backward and send him skidding across the pavement.
Dimitri leapt, landing on the hood of the van and denting the front, which probably didn’t matter since the vehicle was probably useless. Then he came at me. I was instantly thankful his three friends were still back by their car.
He crashed into me, tackling me to the ground, and my skull smacked against the pavement with a wet thud. His jaws came snapping at my neck, and I instinctively threw my arm up to block. His teeth clamped down on my wrist, and the moment his fangs pierced my flesh, a strange sense of euphoria clouded the edge of my consciousness. He wasn’t old enough for me to totally succumb to his bite, but it was enough to take the edge off my concentration.
Then his head detached from his body, teeth still wrapped around my arm. Luc stood over me, holding my wakazashi. Blue light flared up his hands and arms as he grabbed the still bleeding headless vampire and flung it at the three oncoming creatures. The body hit them like a sack of wet cement, and they all went down in a
heap.
How had he done that? And, more importantly, why was his skin glowing like a goddamned sapphire torch? I was about to ask him when he jerked me to my feet and tore the vampire’s head from my arm, ripping my flesh in the process and spattering himself with my blood.
His eyes went golden for a second, and it was then I realized they were ringed with red and silver. How could that be? What was he?
“Get down,” he said, shoving by me and taking the head off the vampire behind me with one swing of my wakazashi. As it hit the ground, Luc spun and actually leapt ten or so feet, landing next to the downed vampires as they flung their headless companion to the side.
Not that it mattered because he pulled a bottle from his pocket and flung its contents on the creatures. The smell of gasoline hit my nose as he flicked open a lighter and tossed it on the vampires. Flame swarmed over them as they fell back to the ground, thrashing and clawing at the fire like they could somehow put it out.
“What are you?” I asked as he walked toward me, the light around his body making him seem like some kind of blue angel.
Instead of replying, he held out my wakazashi to me. “My name is Jean Luc. I thought we were past this part?”
4
“Yeah, so that’s when we decided to steal Dimitri’s car because, well, he doesn’t need it anymore,” Luc said into his silver cellphone as he weaved through traffic. There was noise on the line I couldn’t understand. “Well, I’ve always wanted a Mercedes. Anyway, we’re on our way over. The Dioscuri needs some medical attention.” He shrugged as though the gesture would be visible through the phone. I didn’t think it would be, but then again, what did I know? He pulled the phone from his ear a moment later and tossed it in the cup holder as the screen faded to black.
“Who was that?” I asked, not because I cared exactly, but I’d been sitting in the car bleeding as he drove yammering for the last ten minutes. He hadn’t even asked if I’d minded if he made a phone call. I wasn’t sure if he was supposed to do that, but it seemed like he should have.
Part of me was still pissed off about the fight, but only part of me. I couldn’t believe one of them had bitten me. Granted, it was on my wrist where I’d stupidly blocked his lunge, but it was the principle of the thing. It wasn’t very deep and didn’t even really hurt, but thanks to the anti-coagulant in their blood, it hadn’t actually stopped bleeding yet. It would eventually so I wasn’t that worried. My body was more than strong enough to fight off the effects of their venom.
No, I was angrier about Jean Luc. Apparently, he was some kind of vampire fighting superhero. So why the hell had he been playing dumb and asking me for help? He clearly hadn’t needed it. And furthermore, if he was so strong, why hadn’t the vamps shown him more respect? Something was definitely off with the whole situation. I just didn’t know what. That should have made me curious to find out more, but instead, it just made me want to get as far away from here as possible. Hey, a girl has to have priorities, right? Survival was high on my list.
“Remember my friend with the dead parents? That was her,” he said, face going from cheery to solemn in the space of a moment. “She worries when I’m out working. She’s a nurse though. She’ll have you fixed up in a jiffy.”
“Oh,” I swallowed, suddenly embarrassed though I didn’t know why. “Are you two, like, together?”
He laughed then, glancing at me as the sound bubbled out of him. “Oh, heavens no. She’s like twice my age. She used to watch me when my mom went to nursing school.”
“Ah,” I said because I had no idea what nursing school was. He had also called the lady a nurse and said she could help with my arm. Maybe that meant she was some type of healer?
“Sorry to keep you in the dark about my abilities by the way,” he said as he drove around a girl in a silver car who was too busy putting on lipstick to drive in only one lane. “I’m normally not quite that strong. Most vamps don’t have the power to give me that kind of pick me up unless they’re really old. But just one drop of yours…” He shook his head. “You must be really strong, Lillim.”
“Not so much,” I said a moment later as I stared out at the passing cars. So he was some sort of power absorber, and he did it via blood? I knew some of the Owls could do that, but I didn’t get the impression Luc was a vampire. No, he was most definitely human. “I’ve never seen someone absorb power from blood like that.” I shivered as the memory of his glowing body flitted into my mind. He had dropped those vampires way easier than I could have.
“When we get back to my apartment, I’ll explain everything. I promise,” Luc said, and as I turned to look at him, I realized he was holding the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles were white with strain.
“Okay,” I said because I wasn’t sure what else to say. “So why do you need me at all?”
“You’ve never come up against a threat so big you needed a partner?” he asked, and I got the impression he was really worried about something in particular. Then again, he had said the city was infested… maybe there really were just that many of them?
“Sometimes,” I replied. “But not for normal run-of-the-mill vampires, at least not for a long time. Werewolves, sure, but vampires?” I shook my head. “There’s something you’re not telling me. Let’s just put this on the table right now. I’m not a fan of surprises.”
“They control the police,” Luc said. “It’s simple. All the hunters who come here to help get thrown in jail.”
“Even still…” I shrugged, but I could see how that would be a problem for someone who, you know, actually lived within the city. If the vampires controlled the police, they could route hunters fairly easily. I shifted uncomfortably. Killing that first vampire had been riskier than I’d known. “What are you hiding? It’s something more, isn’t it?”
Luc didn’t say anything, but the silence between us grew tense. I was determined to wait him out, but even still, I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to tell me, which meant it was bad. If it was that bad, I wanted no part of it. No, I was going to disappear given the first opportunity, but maybe I’d throw a hail up first and get some Dioscuri boots on the ground. They could clean this place up in a day, you know, provided they could find time to actually do it. Which they probably couldn’t…
“You should just tell me. Not everything that goes bump in the night is easy to kill, and there’re a lot more of them than there are of us.” I let out a slow breath. “Not all of us are looking forward to dying at the hands of a horde of undead monsters.” I didn’t add the next part of my sentence even though I should have. “Like Dirge had done…”
“I’m not asking you to die for my cause, Lillim,” Luc replied, voice annoyed. “I’m just asking you to do your damned job and help me.”
I glared at him as heat filled my cheeks. He was right after all. It was my job to stop monsters from taking over, and I had tried to abandon it. The thought made me sick to my stomach. I had tried to shirk my duty and foist it on a guy like Luc. It was stupid because at the end of the day, he was just a normal guy with a neat trick up his sleeve. Thinking he could do this without me getting my hands dirty was a laugh.
“I might consider helping you if you told me what the problem really was. Going against an unknown threat is suicide!” I snapped. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll be gone so fast, you’ll see a dust cloud sitting where I am now.”
“So you would just let me die down here? By myself?” he asked, suddenly angry. He smacked the steering wheel again and nearly swerved into a blue jeep on our right. “You’re supposed to be a hero, not some scared little girl.”
I tried my best to ignore the barb, which was really hard, let me tell you, and instead said, “It’s not supposed to be this bad down here,” like it meant anything at all because it clearly was that bad down here.
“I’m glad you feel that way, Lillim Callina of the Dioscuri.” He shook his head. “Where is Dirge Meilan when you need her? She would have just gone and killed all those vampires
before teleporting back to her cloud city.” He gestured at me with one hand. “And here I have you, who won’t do anything at all.”
“Don’t compare me to Dirge,” I said, the heat in my voice surprising even me.
“And why shouldn’t I?” he yelled. “She was my friend. She trained me under the table. Helped me hunt down that werewolf who tore up the high school a few years ago…”
“Dirge is dead,” I replied, and my voice was shakier than I’d expected. I thought I’d come to terms with her death, but evidently, I’d been wrong. So very wrong. Tears clouded my vision as Luc turned toward me, and I looked away from him. “She can’t help you. She’s not back from the grave. Sorry I’m not good enough.” The words tumbled out of me before I could stop them. “I’m sorry.”
“Um, what’s going on?” he asked, confusion filling his voice. The car slowed, and I realized he’d pulled off the road.
“Nothing,” I said, pulling off my seatbelt and flinging the door open. I was on the street a moment later, walking away from him and his stupid stolen Mercedes. “I shouldn’t have tried to help.”
“Something is clearly wrong,” Luc said, feet crunching on gravel as he jogged toward me.
I whirled around as he was about to touch me and grabbed his wrist. I squeezed, and he winced. “You keep talking about Dirge being so awesome, but you didn’t mean a damned thing to her,” I snarled, releasing him. He tugged his hand back and rubbed it. “Don’t you get that?”
“We were friends,” he said, looking from his wrist to me and back again. “I don’t understand what just happened.”
“You know how I know you meant nothing to her?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Because I don’t remember you. Not even a little bit.”
“Um, so what? We’ve never met before,” Luc replied, bewilderment filling his face.
“After Dirge died, well, she got reincarnated.” I poked my chest with my thumb. “Into me. Into little Miss Lillim who can’t do anything right and is always told about how awesome Dirge was. So thank you for letting me know once again that I’m not good enough. It’s awesome. I’d almost forgotten for a moment.”