Ironic Sacrifice

by Brooklyn Ann

  The door slammed open and a large male burst into the room. “Traitor!” he growled at Jessica, “You are an abomination, you are—”

  Razvan seized him and sank his fangs into his throat. When Jessica gave a mewling gasp, he noticed how emaciated she was. He lifted his face from the vampire, noticing how her pupils went dark with hunger at the sight of the blood.

  “She starves you, doesn’t she?” he asked, trying to keep the pity from his voice.

  The female nodded. “She calls it ‘fasting.’” Her lip screwed in disgust.

  That explained why the vampires they fought had been so weak.

  Razvan grabbed the vampire’s head and bared his neck. “Feed, then. It’s not much, but it should give you the strength to help carry your friend out of here when I fetch the doctor.”

  Her fangs bared and she was on her former comrade in a second. Now he was just a meal. Her lack of loyalty to Selena had been proved. Razvan shook his head and wondered when he’d become so soft as he contacted Silas and informed him of this new development.

  By the time Jonathon arrived to load up his first patient, Silas’s group had slain the rest of the guards upstairs. He checked on Trey’s group. All enemies lay dead there as well. Best of all, they had located the passage on their side to the underground chamber.

  “Something must be going on downstairs,” Jessica said worriedly. “There should have been more coming up to fight…or maybe they have a trap lying in wait. You must all be very careful!”

  Razvan nodded as Jonathon helped her carry the wounded vampire out of the house. Now the rescue party was down to twelve, but they had some useful information. He reached out to touch his Mark with Jayden. It felt faint, as if she were on the other side of the world rather than right below him. His pulse leapt into his throat. Whatever Selena had done to her could not be good. I am coming, Jayden! He called, although he doubted that she could hear him.

  ***

  Jayden watched Xochitl Leonine being led up stone steps to what looked like a giant gallows. She was resplendent in an ethereal white gown, but she was in chains. Two moons; one silver and the other gold, shone full and bright in the night sky, bathing an enormous crowd of witnesses with their opulent light. Multitudes of cats wove in and around the audience’s feet and dragons flew in lazy circles above.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” a man in blue robes called out. “I present to you—”

  The sound of machine gun fire, impossibly loud, yanked her from the vision like an uppercut to the chin.

  Selena’s shrine and the reek of incense slammed into view as gunfire roared in her ears. Thumps from upstairs shook the ceiling.

  “My lord,” a vampire shrieked. “We’re being attacked!”

  Jayden’s heart leapt. Razvan was here with major firepower. If she could hold on a little longer, perhaps this insanity would end.

  Selena waved an impatient hand. “Then kill them! I am busy here. If you interrupt me again, I shall break every bone in your body.” As the vampire hurried out of the room, she grabbed Jayden’s hand and forced it back onto the guitar. “Go back!” she hissed.

  Jayden tried to keep her shields in place, but Selena’s mind and will crashed over her like a tidal wave. For a moment she felt split in two as the vision of Xochitl in that alien world played tug-of-war with Selena’s all-consuming madness.

  Jayden screamed from the pain of it and focused on the eerie twin moons. The oddest feeling came to her as she succumbed to that other world. It felt like the drama she was seeing was happening right now.

  The blue-robed man was locked in combat with another garbed in black. Fire and balls of colored light shot out of their hands like missiles.

  Another black robed figure approached Xochitl and snapped her chains with his bare hands. He lifted his hood and Jayden saw a familiar vampire. His skin was luminescent as the surface of a pearl and his hair was like spun obsidian shot through with starlight.

  “Uncle Del,” Xochitl murmured, “Thank you.”

  Delgarias looked past Xochitl. His eyes seemed to meet Jayden’s and he nodded.

  “I knew it!” Selena shrieked. “He wants to betray us all!”

  For a moment her mad fury sucked at Jayden, pulling her from the vision and into the chaotic chasm of her mind. Then she heard music and the other world coaxed her back.

  The crowd parted to reveal a crudely erected stage. Sylvis, Aurora, and Beau came into view and exchanged smiles with Xochitl as they began playing their instruments. Behind them a woman sat playing a piano and three more stood to the side with violins.

  A man on the gallows pulled a guitar from the folds of his cloak and handed it to Xochitl. It was a twin of the one Jayden held. Xochitl watched with tearstained eyes as Delgarias plugged the cord into an amplifier, powered by a glowing crystal.

  Xochitl struck the first chords on her guitar and took in a deep breath.

  “Noooo!” Selena’s shriek echoed aloud and into the vision simultaneously.

  Jayden’s skull exploded in pain and in that other world, Xochitl faltered. A frown of confusion marred her brow. Somehow, Jayden and Selena were affecting her. From a world away, they were affecting her.

  “Do it!” Jayden urged Xochitl.

  The singer’s eyes widened and she looked for the source of the thought.

  Selena broke through, trying to silence her. Jayden forced her back while mentally shouting to Xochitl, “Do it! Do it!”

  Though it only lasted milliseconds, the battle seemed to last forever. Her brain felt as if it were being pulled out of her nose and ears as Selena fought to gain her hold. With one last desperate thrust, Jayden threw her back. Xochitl’s eyes cleared and her voice, clear as spring dawning, rose up into the night.

  Selena’s scream catapulted Jayden back into her body. “You filthy blasphemer!” the vampire roared. “I’ll kill you!”

  The door burst open and a mass of vampires poured into the room. Razvan leveled a wicked looking gun at Selena. Jayden leapt out of the way.

  “I think not, bitch,” he said and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Razvan smiled in satisfaction as he awaited the sight of his former protégée being sliced apart. But in a split second, another vampire launched in front of Selena. Its body danced and jerked as the bullets tore through it. And then his gun clicked empty. He threw it down with a virulent curse.

  Selena cackled. “You cannot harm me. Mephistopheles protects me.”

  He shook his head ruefully. Her obsessive zeal had worsened over the centuries. “Your people protect you. But not for much longer.” He met Jayden’s eyes and the bruise on her cheek filled him with remorse.

  “I have been trying to tell you that I love you, but we keep getting interrupted,” he said idly before he moved forward.

  Jayden gasped and her eyes widened in the most adorable manner. He nearly reached her, his hand grasping for hers— then he was thrown to the ground by a pile of vampires. As Razvan's entire body was pierced by multiple sets of fangs, he thrust out his hand and yelled, “Silas, save her!”

  ***

  Akasha huddled behind an overturned bureau. The sound of gunfire still echoed in her head, freezing her as panic thrashed through her chest like a captive bird. She was a little girl again watching mommy and daddy dying under a hail of bullets. She had to get away or they would shoot her too.

  “No, no,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

  This wasn’t happening. After everything that Jayden had done for her, she wasn’t going to wuss out now.

  The gunfire passed and the sounds of the fight moved farther away into another room. When Akasha heard Jayden scream, she scrambled to her feet, gripping her sword until her knuckles ached.

  “Time to kill some more cult members,” she hissed and ran after the fight.

  She charged through the door in time to see a bunch of Selena’s vampires dog pile onto Razvan, biting at him like hyenas on a wounded gazelle.


  Another vampire stalked behind them and raised his sword over the writing mass. Akasha roared and brought the flat of her blade down on the back of his head. He crashed to his knees, but was not out.

  “The mutant!” Selena shrieked, pointing at her. The bitch didn’t look good. Bald patches and bloody scabs covered her head. It looked like she’d been tearing out her own hair. What was left hung in grimy orange tangles.

  “Fuck you.” Akasha raised her sword to spear Razvan’s attacker.

  Her blade clanged against the steel of his as he whirled to his feet to meet her strike.

  “Why hello, Akasha,” Michael said with a grin. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

  ***

  All was chaos.

  Jayden watched with her heart in her throat as a mass of vampires attacked Razvan.

  He’d throw aside one and another would take its place.

  When Michael raised his sword and Akasha beat him down, Jayden cried out in triumph and stood up on shaking legs.

  Selena jerked her back by the hair. “I am not finished with you!” she hissed.

  Let her go! Silas’s voice echoed in her mind. From Selena’s startled gaze, she heard him too.

  Silas, my love, you’ve come back to me! Selena’s face had transformed into girlish adoration.

  The Scottish vampire walked forward. He had lost his sword and Jayden wondered for a moment how he expected to fight Selena when the force of his mind crashed over them both.

  Break free, Jayden! He commanded.

  For one terrifying moment it seemed impossible. The two ancient minds threatened to drown her and it seemed she was tied down with lead weights. But then, Razvan’s last words echoed in her mind.

  He loved her and she would not disgrace him. With an agonizing pull, her mind wrenched free.

  Still, Jayden could feel the magnetic currents of the telepathic battle between the two ancients. The veins stood out on Silas’s temples in sharp relief and his eyes glowed like emerald stars. He trembled and beads of sweat gathered on his upper lip. It seemed that Jayden’s release had strengthened Selena and she was getting the upper hand.

  Then it happened. The hazy red tinge overlay returned to her vision just as it had the night of the Rage of Angels concert. Jayden could suddenly see the insides of everyone around. Razvan was weakening as the blood drained from his body.

  Get back! She screamed into their minds.

  Selena’s vampire’s froze and obeyed like puppets.

  Razvan rose up in the air with Silas’s fallen sword in his grasp. He spun like a dervish and sliced the nearest vampires in two.

  How dare you? Selena’s gaze focused on her.

  Jayden saw that one of her pupils was slightly smaller than the other. She probed deeper with her inner vision and saw the cause. Deep inside Selena’s brain was an unmistakable bulge in one of the arteries. She had a brain aneurism. It was probably from when she was mortal. Razvan likely saved her life when he changed her into a vampire.

  That alien force inside Jayden reached for it and wrapped invisible fingers around the delicate bulb.

  This time, she didn’t shrink in terror at the destructive urge. She gathered that strange force and squeezed with all her might.

  The result was instantaneous.

  Selena’s pupils doubled in size before her eyes rolled up into her head and she dropped like a stone.

  Razvan swung the sword in a shining arc and chopped off her head, sending it rolling towards the feet of her remaining followers.

  All dropped to their knees, except for Michael. Selena’s favorite apostle spun on his heel, his mouth gaping in shock. Akasha decapitated him in one swipe. His head flew from his shoulders and rolled next to that of his mistress.

  “Jayden,” Razvan dropped the sword and swept her into his arms.

  His skin was cool, clammy, and deathly pale. Blood ran freely from what looked like hundreds of bite marks. If he didn’t feed soon, he’d die.

  She brushed her hair from her neck and grasped his face, drawing him closer. “Drink, and heal,” she whispered.

  As his fangs penetrated her flesh, they stumbled into the makeshift altar of Rage of Angels memorabilia. Thankfully, a pile of tee shirts cushioned most of her fall. Jayden’s hand reached out for balance. As she touched the autographed guitar she once again sank into the world with two moons.

  Dawn broke forth, chasing away the darkness with crimson and purple light. The vampire Delgarias looked at her and began to speak. His words came from her lips as if she were his amplifier.

  “And the queen shall seek seven night walkers with seven brides to lead their brethren to battle the unholy father,” Jayden gasped. “And they will be joined by kin of the queen and those from allied worlds that hear her call.”

  She breathed the last words in a sigh as darkness flooded into her eyes and she sank into unconsciousness.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Razvan released Jayden gently. He didn’t mean to take so much, but he’d been so weak. As her blood coursed through his veins and healed his injuries, tears rose to his eyes. Again she had sacrificed herself to him and again he had hurt her.

  “What the hell did she say before she passed out?” Akasha’s voice intruded.

  “It was a prophecy of some sort,” Silas said. “Delgarias sent it.”

  Razvan raised a brow. “What are you talking about?”

  Silas’s eyes widened. “You didn’t see him when you fed from her? From the remainder of my connection, I saw everything. It should have been vividly clear to you.”

  He shook his head. “I had my mind closed off to protect her from further psychic intrusion, as I always do. Is Jonathon still here? I think I took too much from her.”

  The Lord of Coeur d’Alene smiled gently and held out his arms. “Let me see her.”

  Reluctantly, Razvan handed over his burden.

  Silas inspected her for what seemed to be an eternity. Razvan gnashed his teeth in impatience.

  “She’s going to be fine,” he said finally. “I think she passed out more from psychic overload rather than from blood loss. Still, you should be sure she eats a hearty meal when she wakes up.” He handed Jayden back to Razvan.

  “What about this prophecy?” Akasha interrupted.

  “Yes, yes, the prophecy!” The remainder of Selena’s cult murmured.

  Silas looked at them and rolled his eyes before he turned to his wife. “Delgarias was right. It seems that when Xochitl returns to this world, we are going to fight a war.”

  “You seem awfully calm about that,” she retorted. Still a smile of adoration hovered on her lips.

  “When you’ve lived as long as I have with powers like mine, little will surprise you.” He looked at his watch. “It’s only an hour until dawn. We need to feed and get home so I can make out a report to the Elders.”

  “The Elders!” One of their captives exclaimed in zealous fervor. “They will punish you when they hear what you’ve done.”

  Razvan laughed. “We have immunity. Didn’t your former mistress inform you of that?”

  The vampire shrank back. Her eyes bulged in horror.

  “Dear God,” she whispered. “If we had known, we never would have fought you! Please, have mercy!”

  “Speaking of,” Trey said, reloading his gun. “What are we going to do with them?”

  Razvan raked the six remaining cult followers with a furious gaze. “Give them a choice. They can surrender to us as prisoners, or perish in the fire.”

  “Why Razvan, you’ve grown soft in your old age,” Silas said with a grin.

  “What fire?” a small male asked.

  “We can’t leave any evidence for mortals to find, surely you knew that?” He glared down at the youngling until he was reduced to a mass of quivering flesh. Then he turned to the rest and asked cheerfully. “Now, who is surrendering?”

  All six hands came up.

  “Whose prisoners are they?” Chang asked. “Yours or Silas�
��s?”

  Silas answered, “It was Razvan’s woman they took, so they should be Razvan’s captives.”

  “Except for the injured one and the nurse,” Razvan said. “If you do not mind, Silas, I would like them to remain with your doctor. He could use a nurse.”

  Silas nodded. “Since they did not fight us, I thought of them as voluntary transfers, probationary, of course. I think the nurse will be agreeable, and we shall see about the other one when he is healed.” He took out his phone and called Jonathon. “You may bring the gas cans down now.”

  Trey and Sarah took charge of the six prisoners. Razvan doubted that they had enough bullets left between them to take care of all six, but no one had to know.

  Minutes later, they drove off in their vehicles before the first tendrils of smoke became visible from Selena’s soon to be former compound.

  Since they had nearly double the passengers, many volunteered to take taxis and score a convenient meal while they were at it.

  Razvan looked down at Jayden’s slumbering form. Her head lay on his lap and she was curled up on the back seat of Jake’s car. There was virtually no traffic on I-90 at this hour and they were making good time.

  “Would you please stop at the nearest restaurant that is open?” Razvan remembered Silas’s admonition that Jayden needed to eat. “Pick up the most fattening meal you find on the menu….and get yourself a quick bite if you are able,” he added.

  Jake raised a brow at the “please.” “Sure, boss.”

  Razvan settled back against the seat and ran his fingers through Jayden’s hair. Silas had also said that physical activity would help bring Jayden back into the world and keep her visions at bay. He looked forward to that.

  ***

  Jayden awoke slowly, reluctant to abandon the sensation of safety. Her cheek was pressed to something warm and firm. The smell of food and the soft sound of a television newscast reinforced the instinct that everything was okay.

  Her stomach growled and the surface cradling her shifted.