A Shade of Vampire 66: An Edge of Malice

by Bella Forrest

  They left the carcasses behind for the carrion birds to feed on. Those, there were plenty of, with that much death on the shore. It was devastating to watch. Just behind that fancy diamond colosseum, Ta’Zan’s Perfects were destroying the wildlife.

  I didn’t need a biology degree to understand what they were doing. The pashmiri were big enough to feed entire colosseums. The blood could be used for biomedical and chemical purposes, maybe even to feed the vampire and Mara prisoners, and the bones could serve as a raw material in jewelry-making, or, powdered, for medication. The lard could be processed into oil and fuel. The Perfects were acting like a plague, destroying their and all their fellow creatures’ environment.

  My eyes stung. The pashmiri songs tore me apart on the inside, as the survivors swam around me, crying. I knew they were crying. The grief transcended everything, even the barriers of animal language. What was happening here was downright horrific, and it was no wonder the Hermessi were getting tired. This kind of brutality couldn’t be tolerated. They had to be stopped.

  I was pulled underwater, and I wanted to go back up, but the current was too strong.

  Everything went white again. Seconds later, I could feel my body.

  Cold and wet.

  My eyes popped open. I was back in the underground pool, the water lapping at my neck. The pashmiri surrounded me but kept a few feet’s worth of distance. My heart stopped for a moment, as I tried to assess my unexpected situation.

  I’d been overwhelmed by the pashmiri song. Kallisto was right about their effect on us, but she’d failed to mention anything about their ability to induce out-of-body experiences. I’d left this place completely, my consciousness projected into the body of a pashmiri, out there in the ocean. I’d witnessed the mass hunting, the carnage and the atrocities that the Perfects committed for Ta’Zan.

  In my transient state, I’d slipped through the hole and fallen into the pool. And now, I was surrounded by massive pashmiri whales. I didn’t know anything about their behavior. I had no idea whether they were responsible for my visions. But I did know that, with their jaws and rows of sharp teeth, they could easily chomp me into bits and pieces.

  I floated in the pool for a while, carefully watching the pashmiri swim around me. Careful not to irk them in any way, while trying to keep my wits about me after what I’d just seen, I slowly moved toward the edge of the pool.

  Something bumped me in the back. I gasped, then stilled.

  A second bump followed, this time a little bolder. I held my breath.

  The third pushed me forward. I yelped as one of the pashmiri nudged me onto the stony edge of the pool. A few seconds later, I rolled onto the floor, breathing heavily and crying my heart out. The pashmiri had helped me out.

  Their song made me bawl like a little girl, with hiccups and endless streams of tears pouring down my cheeks, like a late-August rain. I didn’t even see Araquiel join me until I felt his hands gently squeezing my shoulders.

  I looked up and noticed the concerned look on his face.

  “Ara… Araquiel, what… what are you doing down here?” I managed between sobs.

  “I wanted to talk to you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere,” he said. “I followed your scent through the hole in your room, then I heard you down here. Are you okay, Rose?”

  I stared at him for a while. Eventually, I nodded and burst into another round of tears. I told him everything I’d seen through the pashmiri’s eyes. He could definitely feel my pain. It was written all over his face.

  “They showed me,” I croaked. “Araquiel, the animals of Strava are showing me the truth… And the others need to know. It needs to stop. We have to stop him. We have to stop Ta’Zan.”

  “We will, I promise. They’re destroying the natural balance here. Overfishing will affect the ocean life. It’ll destroy entire habitats. It will cause a devastating chain reaction,” he replied gently, then used his thumbs to wipe the tears from my cheeks.

  I looked into his strange eyes—one blue and one green, like the monster that had created him—and couldn’t believe what a gentle and noble creature he’d turned into, in the absence of his memories. I had a feeling that, much like Douma, Araquiel would prove himself to be crucial to our mission. He could lead the Perfects, later on, and usher in a better “new age.”

  “They’re multiplying and expanding too fast for nature to keep up. We’ve already established that,” I said. “This damage they’re doing to the pashmiri is worse; it goes beyond the need to feed all these Perfects. Ta’Zan is deliberately hurting Strava, and not for the sake of survival. He’s doing it because he can. Because he doesn’t think the pashmiri are important enough to live and thrive. To him, unless you’re useful alive, you must be killed and chopped up, like livestock.”

  “And that will stop,” Araquiel said. “I understand what I did in his name, and I plan to do everything in my power to fix it. We’ll take him down, Rose.”

  I gave him a soft nod, then looked at the pashmiri again. They poked their heads through the water, elevating themselves high enough to be able to get a glimpse of me. I exhaled, the grief settling in my bones.

  Then and there, I made them a promise. I made a promise I intended to go to hell and back to actually keep, if needed. These creatures deserved better. We all did.

  “We’ll take him down, all right.”

  Vesta

  As the night went by, and as we all waited by the lagoon for the Hermessi’s response, I tried to get over my experience with Aya. She’d basically possessed me. She took over my body, and I lost control. For the first time in my life, I felt as though I was drowning. Flickers of my life passed before my eyes, as the water filled me and blocked my airways. Then, everything went black.

  It would take a long time for me to get over this insanity.

  Despite the possession, something good had come out of this trip. We knew, for a fact, that the Hermessi were displeased with what Ta’Zan and his Perfects were doing to Strava. The planet was taking the brunt of it all. Its trees were coming down, its mineral resources were being violently extracted, and, given their increasing numbers, it was safe to assume that the Perfects were also hunting and fishing beyond the ecosystem’s limits. Their existence applied painful pressure on the environment, and the Hermessi were tired.

  Aya, the water Hermessi, had helped us more than once. She’d drowned Douma, and she’d also tackled the Perfects on Merinos, by the river. Even the earth Hermessi had intervened, providing us with a safe, albeit bumpy escape from Cassiel and his Perfects. But I wasn’t sure what the earth elemental was up to. Prior to infiltrating the colosseum, Elonora had told us about their encounter with Cassiel, and the earth opening up and taking him away—if the earth Hermessi had decided to help Cassiel, we had every right to be doubtful, even concerned.

  Cassiel insisted that he was playing a long con on Ta’Zan, that he needed his maker’s trust in order to truly defeat him. He’d betrayed us, though, and it was extremely hard to take him at his word. But a part of me was tempted to trust the Hermessi. The earth must’ve had a reason to help him. After all, the Hermessi were the entities of this planet, the natural elements, its guardians. Maybe Cassiel was being truthful.

  “How are you feeling?” Zeriel asked me, breaking my train of thought.

  I’d settled on the narrow beach, a few yards from the rest of our crew, letting the water gently lap at my bare feet. I didn’t even see or hear Zeriel until he was seated next to me. I gave him a weak smile.

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “I think we’re past the stage where we can tell each other such insignificant lies,” he replied, then put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “How are you feeling, Vesta?”

  We had our back-and-forths, and we were also deeply drawn to each other, well beyond the physical attraction. I gave him the hot-and-cold treatment because I seemed to enjoy the power it gave me over the Tritone king, but I couldn’t reject his affection. Not now. Aya’s p
ossession had freaked me out, and the only one who could soothe my stretched nerves was Zeriel.

  I leaned into him, welcoming his embrace and his oceanic scent, which filled my nostrils with each deep breath. His muscles were firm and toned, but soft enough to provide my heavy head with much-needed comfort. His fingers drew invisible lines up and down my arm, while his lips pressed a soft kiss on the top of my head.

  “Like crap,” I murmured. “My body hurts, and I nearly drowned without even being in water. Which, by the way, is impossible. I can’t drown.”

  “The possession, right?”

  I nodded. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was scary.”

  “And you’re never really scared, are you?” he replied. I could sense him smirking down at me, but I was getting softer with each second that passed, practically melting in his hold. “You fierce little thing.”

  “I do what I can with what I’ve got,” I said, feeling my cheeks blush hot. “I may not be as tall as Lenny or as fierce as Douma, but—”

  “You’re more than all of them combined, my darling fae,” Zeriel replied, his voice low.

  I looked up to find his blue eyes peering into my very soul, his gaze darkening as it found my lips. Zeriel had this way about him of canceling everything around us, whenever he looked at me and whenever he spoke to me. The whole world disappeared when his skin touched mine. The past, the present, and the future became mere abstract concepts when our lips met.

  I couldn’t help myself. I craned my neck and kissed him.

  His lips were soft, and he tasted of summer and spices. It was a welcome reprieve, and the cure for what had been ailing me since Aya’s possession. Who would’ve thought that all it took was for Zeriel to kiss me, to fix everything that was suddenly wrong with me?

  “You are strong, and you are fierce. Vesta, you’re the four elements combined in one compact and gorgeous body. Granted, it’s tiny, but come on, we all know that the best things come in small packages,” Zeriel added, chuckling softly.

  “I’m not tiny. I’m petite. Big difference,” I shot back, my lips brushing against his.

  He pulled himself back and firmly gripped my shoulders, the shadow of a frown settling between his eyebrows. “Vesta, I cannot promise that I will be able to stop Aya from possessing you again. I am nothing compared to the Hermessi. But the one thing I can do is make sure you’re okay, that you recover from it, and that you are always protected.”

  I blinked several times, finally realizing why it didn’t come as a surprise that I was falling in love with Zeriel. He was a grinning charmer, most of the time, but he wasn’t the Tritone king by accident. Despite his airy nature, he was still strong and determined, noble and caring, and, most importantly, just and realistic. He didn’t promise anything that he couldn’t deliver, and he’d stuck his neck out for his people more than once. I’d seen it often during our missions on Strava.

  So, when Zeriel said he’d look after me, I knew he meant it. While I’d grown accustomed to being on my own, to fighting tooth and nail for what I wanted, it did feel nice to have Zeriel so close to me. Granted, his spine-tingling magnetism was a delicious bonus.

  “You are quite the character, you know that?” I whispered, smiling at him.

  “Only with those I deem necessary to my existence, Vesta. And I’m afraid you’re one of them.”

  He said it with such ease that I didn’t even register it at once. I almost chuckled, then stilled when I understood the implications of his statement. I needed him to say more. My heart ached for clarifications.

  “What… Um, what do you mean?” I asked.

  He cupped my face with both hands, and I lost myself in the deep blue pools of his eyes.

  “Vesta, have I not made it obvious enough? Do I need to spell it out?” he replied.

  “You could draw me some pictures, too. I’m slow like that sometimes,” I retorted.

  “From the moment you set foot in my kingdom, I was never the same again,” he said. “Vesta, I have fallen in love with you, and I can’t undo that, I’m afraid. Is that what you needed me to spell out? That I love you?”

  My eyes stung, tears glazing them and clouding my vision. My heart exploded in my chest, and butterflies swarmed in my stomach. He pulled me closer and kissed me deeply, putting everything he had into this simple, yet perfect gesture.

  The Tritone king was in love with me. Me! This little—no, petite—fae that had, until not long ago, been lost on Neraka. He loved me! That was good, because I was head over heels for him, and I didn’t know what to do with that, for days on end.

  “Yeah, just say it again,” I murmured against his lips. “I’m a bit of a hard-head.”

  He laughed, then kissed me with ravenous passion. “I’m in love with you. Happy?”

  “Maybe,” I said, then pursed my lips, pretending to think about it. “Mostly. Yes.”

  “Mostly?” he asked, both eyebrows raised. “What else must I do to make you happy?”

  I pressed my index finger on the tip of his nose. “I’m kidding. I’m already happy. Of course, I’ll be happier when we get out of here.”

  Zeriel smirked, then wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me a third time. His tongue slipped through, as he demanded everything. I gave it to him, then let my head fall back as his lips moved down the side of my neck, his teeth nipping and grazing along the way. I shivered in his arms, astonished by his effect on me.

  Heat rose up to my neck, followed by chills. The latter got more intense, to the point where I felt uncomfortable. It was as if I’d just been swallowed by Dhaxanian frost.

  I stilled.

  I felt him pull back and look at me, but I couldn’t see anything anymore. Something was happening. Something I had absolutely no control over.

  “Vesta… are you okay?” he asked, his voice trembling and echoing somewhere in the distance.

  My lungs filled with water. Panic smashed into me like a violent tide. My airways closed. I was drowning again. I thought I was flailing and struggling to get back to the surface, but I couldn’t feel my body anymore. A plug had been pulled. My brain and my body were no longer connected.

  A black ocean swallowed me, and I seemed to be no more.

  Ben

  When Zeriel called out to us, my instincts immediately kicked in.

  “Help me! Somebody help me!” he yelled from yards away.

  We all sprang to our feet and rushed over to him, fueled by a terrifying sense of urgency. I froze at the sight of Vesta lying in the sand and convulsing, while Zeriel tried to hold her down. Her eyes were white, rolled into her head. Every muscle in her body twitched, her limbs flailing as she struggled to breathe.

  “What the hell is going on?!” Lumi croaked, then dropped to her knees and helped pin Vesta down.

  I joined her on the other side, holding Vesta’s legs. Our young fae was completely out of it, shaking and squirming as we tried to keep her from hurting herself.

  “Whoa… What’s wrong with her?” Taeral breathed.

  “We don’t know,” I replied, “but I need to keep her down until it stops.”

  Taeral nodded, and joined her on the ground to help her hold Vesta down.

  Kailani kneeled by Vesta’s head, gently pressing her fingers against her temples. She muttered a spell under her breath, but it didn’t have any effect on her. She and Lumi exchanged glances, then they both whispered another spell, closing their eyes as they helped keep Vesta down.

  “I don’t know what’s happening,” Zeriel said, his voice trembling. “She was okay, we were talking… Then, the next minute, her eyes rolled up and she started convulsing.”

  “There’s water coming out of her,” Serena murmured, her eyes wide.

  Draven joined me in holding Vesta’s legs, and we all looked at the fae. Water was trickling out from her mouth, her nose, her eyes, and her ears, much like during Aya’s possession. But this crisis was nothing like that particular episode.

  So
mething was happening to Vesta, and we didn’t know what. The swamp witch spells weren’t helping, no matter how many times Kailani and Lumi uttered them. Taeral and Zeriel held her down, while Kailani and Lumi kept trying to cure her of whatever it was that ailed her.

  Bogdana, Bijarki, and Serena were stunned, unable to take their eyes off her. The worst part about this was that, without knowing what exactly had triggered these convulsions, we couldn’t do anything to help her.

  “Is this the Hermessi’s doing?” Bijarki asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be. It would explain the water that keeps coming out of her, but we should see Aya emerging at some point. This feels… different.”

  “It is. She’s drowning,” Lumi replied. “Quite literally.”

  “She’s a water fae; that can’t be right!” Bogdana gasped. “How can she drown?!”

  “She’s more than a water fae,” I said. “Most of us have a connection to all the elements, but master one, in particular. Vesta has a near-perfect command over all of them.”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that fae cannot drown!” Taeral chimed in.

  The lagoon water began to bubble, as if it was boiling. Steam rolled from the surface, rising in the air, scattered by the swelling winds.

  “Speaking of the elements,” Bijarki murmured, looking around.

  The ground started to shake. Storm clouds gathered overhead, swirling around like black ink over the starry sky. They swallowed the stars and the moon before they ripped open and unleashed a powerful storm. The winds grew stronger, making it harder for us to stay upright and also keep Vesta down.

  Her fingers twitched, and her chest hummed in the strangest fashion.

  Bogdana looked terrified. “I’ve seen this kind of seizure before,” she said. “This is Vesta’s doing.”