Balance of Forces

by Ali Vali

  A few hours later Piper rolled over and opened her eyes, and she knew instantly that she was alone. The bed felt twice as empty with Kendal’s missing heat, but on the pillow next to her lay a single yellow daffodil with a note under it.

  These have always reminded me of sunshine. The woman I bought this one for, though, reminds me of the beauty in all things. Take the flower as a way of remembering all the sunrises you have left to enjoy and how beautiful you’ll make each day by simply being you.

  Stay safe. Kendal

  Piper refused to accept the flower as a good-bye. Even if it took the rest of her life, she’d find Kendal again. “I have a gift to give you as well, warrior poet.” She spoke the words to the card in her hand, and she knew now that the one who held her heart and had awakened her passions had written it. They would never have a moment of hesitation between them again.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  The front door was unlocked, as if the owners were expecting them for a cordial visit. Kendal stood in the foyer and listened for any human guardians in the house left to watch over their masters during the day. Only the ticking of the grandfather clock in the long entry hallway broke the silence.

  “If I were a bloodsucker, where would I hide from the sun?” she asked Charlie.

  He put down the human skull with a candle melted into the top that he’d found on the desk in the middle of the study. “Must’ve been someone either Henri or Ora cared enough about to keep a memento of them, or someone who had insulted them in some way,” she said.

  “If we were anywhere but New Orleans, I’d guess the basement. Having one, though, is an invitation to an indoor swimming pool in a light rainstorm.”

  “Let’s look around and see how creative they’ve gotten.” They walked through the ground floor, and Kendal found the first unique piece of furniture. “Cute,” she said, referring to the sunroom they were standing in.

  The long piece was wooden on the bottom, topped with a slab of thick granite. In any other location it could’ve served as a buffet, but the skulls carved in the wood made her itch to remove the stone. “Want to see what’s behind door number one?” Charlie asked.

  “I thought you’d never ask, Monty.” They worked together to make it easy. When sunlight streamed into the space, they didn’t get a close look inside before the vampire burst into flames. “Makes me wish we’d thought to bring marshmallows.”

  Charlie laughed, leaning against the wood base. It didn’t take long for the flames to die away and leave a pile of ashes. “We didn’t get a chance to say good-bye, but I can tell you who the dirt pile was.”

  “Elvis?”

  “Not unless he walked around with this under those shiny outfits.” He lifted a sword from the ash. The snakehead marked the demise of Wadham. “And I don’t think this guy could carry much of a tune.”

  “It would seem he’s alone down here, so let’s move up.”

  They opened five more boxes before reaching the house’s master bedroom, which was empty except for two sarcophagi in the center of the room. On top of the longer of the two sat a coiled king cobra. The serpent raised his head when they entered, but then he only swayed from side to side without showing his hood.

  “I never did like snakes,” she said.

  “It’s not like it can kill you.”

  “Neither can polyester pants, but I don’t have a fondness for them either.” She stepped closer and the snake grew more alert. “My brother always did have a sense for the dramatic.” She threw a dagger hard enough to pin the lethal reptile to the back wall.

  She held her hand out for Wadham’s sword. With a downward motion she buried it in the wooden floor between the two boxes. She pulled a small memento from her coat to show who’d visited and where to find her.

  “Why not just lift the lids and be done with it?” Charlie asked.

  “I would, but I gave him my word I’d face him like a warrior. I also want to see his eyes when he knows he’s reached the end of his life.” She ran her hand over the stone full of hieroglyphics telling the story of Abez’s life. Her name was woven into the pictures. “Now it’s just you and I, brother. Tonight you’ll pay for the life you have chosen and for the death of our father. On my sword I swear you won’t live out the night,” she said in their native tongue.

  In only four hours they would finish the saga that had begun in Egypt so many years before. The night of reckoning had arrived.

  *

  Ora opened her eyes, and even in the dark confines of her resting place she easily found her family’s crest carved in the stone in the area above her heart. The ritual she repeated before facing another night had worn the stone around the carving, but the circle strengthened the protection spell that enveloped her.

  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again when she found a new scent somewhere near. She pushed aside the heavy stone easily and found Henri already sitting up.

  “Here’s our proof that Kendal knows where we are.” She stared at Wadham’s sword and the camellia tied to the pommel.

  “The flower is from Oakgrove,” Henri said, looking at the same thing. “I came so close.”

  “Remember that coming close in anything focuses your enemies on defeating you.”

  Henri rose and took the flower so he could smell it. “Do you want me to wake Wadham for our retreat?”

  “I sense she’s left us to fend for ourselves. Our few defenders are gone.”

  Henri dropped Kendal’s gift and walked to the wall to pull the dagger out, the snake dropping to the floor. “Do you want to run?” he asked, finding the rendition of the devil’s face at the end of the dagger funny.

  “We don’t have time.”

  “If you want to leave, we can.” Henri tucked the blade into his belt. “She won’t be back tonight. The great slayer’s too honorable for that. That’s why she didn’t kill us when the sun was at its peak. Kendal’s waiting for us at Oakgrove.”

  “Did you think she’d come this close to us?”

  “The only way we can survive is to join forces,” he said, taking her hands. “You have to believe that Kendal has received too much credit for her fighting skills.”

  “What of the man who fights with her?”

  “Him?” he laughed. “I took his family, and he’s pretending to be something he’s not. He’ll be easy to contain.”

  From inside her sarcophagus, Ora removed a bag of polished carved bone and threw the pieces on the stone cover of his sarcophagus, then stared at them for five minutes before she spoke. “I’m not sure you have a true picture of your sister, my pet.” Ora picked the bones up and threw them again. “She’s strong and driven.”

  “Of course she is. How else did she come to lead her own troops in her mortal life?” He pushed aside her hair and kissed the back of her neck. “Kendal was too much like my father.”

  “Now would be a good time to remember Raad’s last words.” Ora looked at the position the bones had landed in. “Tonight is All Hallow’s Eve, and if we accept her invitation, our lives will be forfeit this time.”

  He glanced at the markings but saw only lines in bone, since she’d never shared those talents with him. To distract her, he moved his hands up from her hips to her breasts. “Haven’t you told me through the centuries that true power exists only in darkness?” When he circled her nipples with his index fingers, they grew rock-hard. “I revel in the darkness, and I won’t let you down.”

  She threw the bones again and finally smiled and pressed her bottom to his groin. “We have something to use against her, something you’ve used before to assure success.”

  “Leave those for now,” he said, leading her to the bed in the next room. “Kendal’s driven but has never learned not to care so much for these weaklings she has surrounded herself with. Tonight I plan to drain her, then bury her in the grave with the ashes of her beloved Angelina.”

  “Don’t underestimate her or overestimate how easy this will be. The bones never lie, and tonight
will be the beginning of a new order.” Ora dropped her gown, her body as perfect as the night she’d first revealed it to him.

  “Tonight we will defeat the Clan’s greatest warrior, and tomorrow you can take your rightful place as queen.” He entered her as she bit the skin surrounding his nipple hard enough to draw blood. The pain made him move his hips faster, bringing their climax to its peak as she sucked only enough to enjoy the taste of him as she had so many times before.

  “You have served me well, Abez, and your reward will be great,” she said, running her finger along his eyebrows.

  “Come, then. I’ve never tasted the blood of an immortal.”

  *

  Kendal and Charlie sat together on the porch of Oakgrove and watched the sun set over the far bank of the river. Kendal was smoking one of the cigars Piper had given her in silence, her mind blank. She’d put her memories away and made peace with what had happened to Angelina and Tomas. As painfully as Angelina’s life had ended, she could only imagine Angelina’s pain had she existed as a vampire. So gentle a soul could never have accepted living off the torment of others for survival. By sacrificing her own happiness at the time, Kendal had given Angelina eternal peace.

  “The time is upon us, Charlie. They will arrive soon.”

  Charlie stood and held out his hand, and they exchanged a warrior’s arm clasp before moving in for a friendly embrace. “For our women, then, and my sons.”

  She squeezed him one more time before letting go. “Celia and the boys are looking out for us, I’m sure. Fight well and stay away from pointy objects, especially teeth,” she told him with a small laugh.

  “You just remember the same thing.”

  Before she turned to go inside, she wanted to make one more thing clear before the heat of battle muffled their reason. “Promise me something.”

  “Anything, you know that.”

  “No matter what, these two die tonight. I’ll make no more promises to let Abez go free. I want the same from you, because I’ll sleep the sleep of the just or suffer an eternity of torture gladly if I know he’s dead. He and the bitch who made him.”

  Charlie nodded slowly. “I promise to do what it takes, but you’re going to fight like never before, right?”

  “She’ll need to, dear Lionel, for tonight the foe is like no other.” How Henri got there mystified her, but suddenly he stood there holding a very familiar object. The sight of it momentarily stunned her. “Do you remember, sister, how many hours he held it in his hands trying to teach us the art of the sword?” Henri asked, holding their father’s sword.

  “It hurts me that what meant so much to him has ended up with you, but aside from my feelings, it can’t hurt me.”

  “I never said anything about hurting you with this useless piece of metal.” Henri raised his free hand, motioning someone forward. Ora emerged from the darkness with a struggling Piper. “Fight me, Asra, or I’ll either take her like I did your precious Angelina, or I’ll finally put this to good use,” he said, pointing the sword at Piper’s chest.

  Kendal’s limbs felt leaden with fear, and she could only watch as Henri grabbed Piper from Ora and pressed her to his chest. Piper’s eyes were glassy with tears, as if she knew exactly what kind of evil had taken her. Kendal’s smile did little to change Piper’s expression. She had to change her attack plan, but no matter what happened to her, she’d get Piper back to her life.

  “You’re getting better at clearing your mind, sister, but when you love so deeply it’s like leaving blood drops to her door. You made it easy for me.”

  “Be still, little one,” she told Piper, still smiling to try to reassure her. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Henri ran his tongue up the side of Piper’s neck and nipped the tender skin at the base. “My sister loves making promises she can’t keep,” Henri said softly into her ear. “I, though, swear you’ll be mine before the sun rises.”

  Piper closed her eyes when Henri dropped his hand to her hip, but Kendal’s anger rose with his hand as he started to caress Piper’s body, ending at her right breast. She took deep breaths to keep calm, but something snapped when he placed his palm over Piper’s breast and squeezed.

  “I never have understood why you don’t bed these women you find,” Henri said, looking at her as he continued to touch Piper. “You’ve got talent for finding beauty, and yet you go through this courting ritual with such thoroughness that they become totally defenseless against that charm of yours. Is that the reason? You want them creaming their pants?” He laughed, then kissed Piper’s temple. “You don’t need to jump through so many hoops. Angelina struggled at first, but she was in ecstasy by the time we finished. She couldn’t get enough.”

  Breaking every rule of combat, she ran forward and lunged at Henri with her sword, trying to stab him anywhere she could reach without hurting Piper. Sparks flew when Henri pushed Piper aside and stopped her attack with his blade. With a flick of his wrist, he dislodged her sword and kicked her in the stomach.

  “This is the Clan’s great slayer,” Henri said, following with a kick to her face that made her mouth fill with blood. “You always thought me lacking, but I took what Raad gave me and improved it, just like I changed my life for the better by becoming something you’ll never be able to defeat.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” She spit the blood out and rose to her knees to deflect any more blows.

  “Raad gave me life, then pushed me aside when you came, only to destroy our family.” Henri stood in front of her, twirling the sword as if to impress her. “I paid him back by devoting myself to Ora and the power she gave me. I gave his sword to Wadham, and he made it over as many times as it took, waiting for this day.”

  “That’s your problem, Abez,” she said, grabbing his foot when he tried to kick her again. “No one pushed you aside.” He fell on his face when she twisted his foot hard, flipping him. “You were nothing but a drunk who thought if he whined enough about the unfairness of his life, you could get by without having to earn anything.” She didn’t let go of him as she stood up. “That act got old by the time you were ten, so don’t blame Father for your immaturity.”

  Henri tried to reach blindly for his sword, but she held him in place. “You became a monster so willingly because you didn’t get enough attention? You’re even more pathetic than I thought. I might have forgiven you if you’d told me that bitch forced you into this hideous thing you’ve become.”

  The moment she released him, Henri scrambled to his feet and looked frantically for his sword when he saw she had her katana back. “Pathetic better describes you,” he said, doing well to meet her stroke for stroke. “You’ve lived all this time for what? To do the Elders’ bidding but never join their ranks. That makes you no better than your slave Charlie. Ora gave me true life and, with it, the opportunity to rule with her.” He struck so hard she had to use both hands to defend herself, leaving her open to his fist that landed on the side of her head. “The beginning of the Clan’s end comes with you.” Henri stopped talking abruptly when she got past his defenses and landed two kicks to his chest. As he lost his balance, he screamed when she jabbed him completely through the leg.

  “It’s not that easy,” she said, slicing through his dominant sword hand. “You can say whatever convinces you of your importance, but don’t pretend you know anything about me or my life. Tonight is about you and everything you have to answer for.” She raised her sword, ready to bury it in his chest. “That list is long, and I’m here to collect.”

  “Then consider this my down payment, idiot,” Henri said, smiling.

  Kendal turned her head, but not in time to move before Ora drove her blade through her, and she saw the point when she glanced down. In dealing with Henri she’d taken her eyes off Charlie and Ora, and it had cost both her and Charlie dearly. He was behind Ora but holding his arm against his chest, and it appeared Ora had come close to severing Charlie’s hand.

  The pain was excruciating
, and she tried to stay conscious so she could save both Charlie and Piper, but as the blood flowed freely from her wound she saw no way to destroy either Henri or Ora. She bit back a moan when Ora twisted her blade and drove it in until the hilt rested against her back. She hadn’t blacked out because Ora’s hit had missed her heart. From somewhere she couldn’t pinpoint, Piper screamed in a way that haunted her.

  “Let me go, goddammit,” Piper yelled, apparently at Charlie. “I can’t lose her.”

  “Charlie, keep her from seeing the rest,” she said in French as loud as she could. “She doesn’t deserve those nightmares added to the ones she already has.” Her voice wasn’t loud but Charlie must’ve understood, because suddenly the night went quiet again.

  “All that loyalty wasted on Charlie, only to have him run at the first chance,” Henri said, laughing.

  “I owe you an apology, precious,” Ora said, yanking the blade free with another twist. “I’ve thought for so long I’d chosen the weaker of Raad’s children, but your sister shows the fight of a tame puppy. You’ve proven yourself smarter and stronger. Now finish it.”

  Henri picked up his sword with his uninjured hand and drove it close to where Ora had stabbed her. “I wanted Father’s blade to taste your blood before I take your greatest weakness from you.”

  “What’s that, my unfortunate luck in siblings?” she asked, gasping from the pain.

  “Your heart, Asra, and its infinite capacity for caring, sets us apart. I’m going to rip it from your chest, and while you watch it beating in my hand, I’m going to drain whatever blood hasn’t spilled down your shirt.” He bent at the waist and pressed his index finger to her forehead to force her to look at him. “Will it taste as sweet as Father’s?”

  “If you sit long enough by the river of life, you’ll see the bodies of your enemies float by,” she said to Ora with effort.