Rivalry (War of Nytefall Book 3)

by Charles E Yallowitz

  Snatching the food before it falls, Clyde notices that there is a table set for two with a golden candelabra in the middle. The wardrobe that once stood in a corner is gone, but Mab’s neatly made bed has been pushed against the wall. Seeing his partner standing next to the table, he tries to figure out what is different about her before he realizes that she is wearing his necklace. The burglar’s lips are redder than normal and there is a darkness around her eyes that makes him wonder if she is wearing makeup. Her black top has a slightly lower neckline and he swears her pants are half a size too tight. As he notices that she is barefoot, Mab coughs and gestures to get Clyde to put the door back in place. Moving backwards, he picks it up by the knob and jams the whole thing into the cracked frame. Not wanting it to fall, he squeezes the pieces of the hinges together, which gives his partner time to take her seat.

  “I’m going to be selling this place, so I’d like you to really fix that once we’re done,” Mab explains while pointing at the opposite chair. Waiting for her guest, she slices up a piece of steak with her claws and flicks a chunk into her mouth. “I’ve moved most of my belongings into my new place. It’s going to need some work though considering the previous owner. We can talk about that later. I think we have a conversation that is long overdue. This whole thing with Jewelz, who I really want to forget, made me realize that I’ve been rather selfish. You need me by your side and I keep running off to do my own thing.”

  “That really isn’t a problem, Mab,” Clyde says, his mouth full of turkey. Surprised by how delicious it tastes, he devours it quickly and grabs a roll that is warm to the touch. “As I’ve said before, I chose to be a leader. That doesn’t mean you have to do the same. All I want is for you to be happy and help me out. If it’s only as a partner when you aren’t stealing then I’m okay with that. Nytefall isn’t your-”

  “But it is my responsibility and so are you,” the burglar states with a sigh. Taking off the necklace, she gingerly hangs it on the candelabra and gives the corn-shaped bauble a tap to make it swing. “I brought you out of the ground and helped you start this path. Without me, none of this would have happened. You need me to take this seriously and be your equal. That’s a fact that I’ve been avoiding for years. Our old life might never return, so I have to stop waiting for it to happen and carve out a new one with you.”

  “That almost sounded like a proposal.”

  “I’m serious about becoming more involved with Nytefall.”

  “That would be great, but you don’t need my permission.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You’ve always been my equal, Mab, so I don’t see why you have to act like you’re not.”

  “Then I guess everything is settled.”

  Clyde slowly chews his food and leans back in his chair, his ears picking up his partner’s rapid heartbeat. “You know, it was a long trip back and I didn’t get to rest that much when I was on Apelios. I’d kind of like to relax and make sure no disasters need my attention. Don’t get me wrong. The food is good, but I’m not really hungry. Let me know if you need any help selling this place or setting up in your new house. I should be okay after a few hours of sleep unless you have something else to talk about.”

  “I think I covered it all,” Mab blurts out before she can stop herself.

  Clyde takes his time standing, his eyes never straying from the burglar, who is starting to blush. The way the other Dawn Fang shifts in her chair is disturbingly out of character for her, which puts him on edge and causes his mind to race with possible reasons. Nothing makes any sense since all of their enemies have either been killed or sworn to a truce. He is about to take his necklace, but decides to leave it for later due to a flicker of anger on his partner’s face. Heading for the door, Clyde hears Mab blow out the candles and take a shuddering breath. His keen ears are able to pick up a few muttered curses that gradually turn into her lecturing herself about being an idiot. He pauses at the doorway and wonders if he should stay when the sound of a chair falling over echoes through the room.

  Before he can turn around, a hand bursts from a shadow on the wall and yanks him into the void. He is immediately pulled out on the other side of the room and Mab leaps up to wrap her legs around his waist. With her hand still gripping his shirt, the burglar kisses him hard enough to gradually create a small dent in the brick behind him. Her body quivers when he presses back and wraps his arms around her body, the embrace turning into a flip that puts her against the wall. Planting her feet, Mab pushes off with enough force to break the stone and spins to take Clyde to the floor where she straddles his chest. Seeing that a chair is too close, both vampires shove it away and send all of the furniture crashing through the door. With her holding his head up and awkwardly bending herself in half, the pair ignore the discomfort of the odd position until their lips finally separate.

  “Sorry in advance,” Mab gasps while sliding down her partner’s body. She catches the collar of his shirt with her fangs and rips it off to run a claw along his skin. “I tried to be romantic and serious, but it didn’t work. Missing you for fifty years was a nightmare and I was afraid it would happen again. Everyone is right that I have to . . . Forget it. I want us to own each other completely from now on. Doesn’t matter if it’s mushy, lustful, or whatever else we choose as our path. I want to be more than your partner.”

  “So, it was a proposal,” Clyde replies before rolling her onto her back. He is about to pin her when she flips him over her head and gets on top again. “This is really aggressive. Is this love or lust, Mab?”

  “It’s just me giving in to what I really want and not caring about what it’s called,” the burglar replies while removing her own shirt. She leans down to bite her partner in the neck, the taste of his blood giving her goosebumps. “To be honest, I’ve wanted to do stuff like this with you since you came back. I was just too angry and stubborn to admit it. All that time I wasted being an idiot, which I’m sure you can relate to. Let’s make up for lost time since we have a year of peace. By the way, I already moved into the fortress.”

  With a growl, Clyde gets to his feet and pushes Mab against the wall, his fangs turning a slight silver. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wanted this too. Being a monster made me want to wait for you to make the decision. So, I take at least half of the responsibility for letting it go for this long. After all, you’re the one who keeps me sane and human. Even when I was buried, it was thoughts of being with you again that helped me survive. Without you, Mab, I would have fallen into the abyss decades ago.”

  “Right back at you, lover.”

  “Want to move to the bed?”

  “I don’t think that thing is going to survive us for long.”

  “This house might not make it either.”

  “I’m willing to take the loss,” Mab whispers into Clyde’s ear. She slides one of her clawed hands into each of their waistbands and impishly smirks. “So, how attached to these pants are we?”

  *****

  After a long day of teaching the womb-born about their powers, Gregorio is happy to get some time to himself. He hits a sigil on the wall next to his bedroom door, which creates a glistening barrier that drops behind him. Wiping the sweat from his bald head, the gnome changes into a robe that he warms with a small ball of heat. The aching in his ancient muscles gradually vanish and he is left in a blissful state of numbness as he collapses onto the bed. His eyes are about to close when he hears a faint tap on the cobblestones. A wave of golden energy rises from his body to coat the room and he groans as he turns onto his back. Holding a charge of electricity in his hands, he scans the room and stops when a cloaked figure materializes in his favorite chair.

  “Your cancellation power doesn’t work on me, Lord Roman,” Kai says as he pushes his cowl back. He holds up his hands and goes down on one knee, but never looks away from the more powerful vampire. “I needed someone to talk to about a discovery I made. First, I need to ask you a question. How deep does your neutrality run? If you
feel that you may favor one side of the war then I will leave as silently as I arrived.”

  “I wish for peace and I swear to keep all secrets that have been given to me,” Gregorio replies while the web of energy flows back into his body. He refuses to dispel the lightning that is jumping between his fingers, but relaxes enough to show that he will not attack. “By the way, it’s good to hear that everyone came back from Apelios. I was worried that Clyde and Xavier would settle their feud instead of work together. Guess their pride was too strong to allow them to be manipulated. I assume this has something to do with the Vampire Queen. Sadly, I have very little information on her.”

  “That is why I am here . . . I wish to share my discoveries,” the spymaster admits, his lips twitching. Taking out a flask of blood, he takes a quick drink to steady his nerves. “I would normally share this with Lord Tempest and Lady Sylvan, but I fear it would interrupt the truce that is in play. Also, what I have learned is fairly dangerous. While my loyalty is to Nyte, this information can cause chaos among all of our people. At least, that is the worst-case scenario that I would rather not risk. Telling my masters means that our enemies can discover the truth and then it will be used against us.”

  Intrigued by the evasive explanation, the gnomish Dawn Fang slides to the edge of his bed and leans closer to the old-world vampire. “If this is about how Jewelz created her Dawn Fangs then I assure you that it was unique to her. One should be more concerned with Mistress Talon’s transformation, which is possible for any of your kind. Yet, I have sensed that the sacrifice is great. An army of those monsters would bring destruction down on all of our heads. Am I close to what you wanted to talk about?”

  “No, which is rather comforting.”

  “What did you do when the others were away?”

  “I played with my new test subjects.”

  “You mean the Apelios agents that you captured in Nyte.”

  Feeling nervous, Kai gets to his feet and checks to make sure the door is locked from the inside. Worried that a curious womb-born might be eavesdropping, he balances a glass cube on the handle and taps the top. It expands to cover the entire wall and vibrates to create a low hum that will hide their voices. Pulling another artifact from his pocket, the spymaster puts the soft ball against his ear and gently shoves it into his skull. Wincing at the discomfort, he feels it turn into a thick mist that protects his brain from psychic probing. For a moment, his eyesight gets blurry and the world is upside down, but his senses are fixed with a single sneeze. He offers one to Gregorio, but the gnome politely refuses and has half of his brain run through every invention he has ever made in agonizing detail.

  “I have learned how to kill a Dawn Fang,” Kai softly whispers. Seeing a quizzical look on the gnome’s face, he sighs and returns to his seat. “Yes, I know it isn’t that amazing because many have been destroyed. Although, it has always been utterly instead of surgically. Torn to shreds, melted, disintegrated, and the list goes on. I am talking about the least amount of effort to destroy what Lord Tempest and Lady Sylvan have become. I discovered it while attempting various methods of execution on the Apelios agents. I decapitated a woman and left her head on the table like I had done with others. My intention was to try poisons, but they failed and she was on the verge of breaking her bonds before I finished the deed. I figured she was gone until I accidentally bumped the table. Her head rolled to the body and the neck fused together. She was back, which means all of those Dawn Fangs who were merely beheaded can be revived at any moment.”

  “That sounds like the opposite of what you promised,” Gregorio points out while he jots down some notes.

  “Of course, I had to investigate this further and see if there was a condition that would prevent this type of recovery,” the old-world vampire says as if he was not interrupted. His leg shakes and he gets up to pace around the room. “There are two sources of life that need to work in unison. The heart and the brain are both essential. So, I experimented with them. Decapitation alone creates a coma while removal or destruction of the heart alone turns a Dawn Fang into a slightly stronger old-world vampire. They can still regenerate wounds at a faster rate, but sunlight reduces their power and prevents the use of their abilities unless they have feasted on a lot of blood. I asked a time caster to help me and the organ can be healed in about a year. The mortal has been disposed of too. Of course, I wanted to see what happens if both injuries are inflicted. Accomplish the two fatal blows and the Dawn Fang will die. The head does not attach if put to the stump and the heart does not regenerate. What do you think?”

  “That is not an easy feat to accomplish,” the gnome replies with a nod. Dropping into a waiting pair of slippers, he waves for the portly vampire to follow him to the back wall. “The truth is that what you have learned is a fact of life. All of us must die and it is curious that you are only the second person to discover this method. It is probably due to the savagery and destruction involved in our battles. Dawn Fangs unleash their full power when fighting, which tends to result in both injuries happening by accident. That or the head is thrown so far away from the body that there is no chance of the parts reconnecting. Even so, I always wondered why this remained a mystery for so long. After all, beheading is one of the oldest methods of killing a vampire. It would be foolish to believe such an act wouldn’t have the same affect on a Dawn Fang.”

  “I’m sorry, but you said second person.”

  “Now, I have a question for you, Mr. Stavros.”

  “Yes?”

  “Will you keep my secret just as I keep yours?”

  Gregorio creates an elemental charge on each of his fingers and taps them against the smallest stone in his bedroom wall. He makes sure to stay within its border while he plays two rhythms at once. With a dull grinding noise, a doorway opens and a wave of light green gas flows across the floor. Pushing the alchemical gas back into the chamber with a wind blast, the gnome leads the way into the sparkling darkness. A single ball of fire floats ahead as the entrance closes and it ignites an enormous candle as soon as they hear the click of a lock. Kai stares at the sigils that cover the walls, floor, and ceiling to prevent anyone from getting inside, including Mab through the shadows. A tug on his arm from Gregorio draws the spymaster’s attention to the large pit that surrounds the candle. Covered in the chemicals, hundreds of decapitated bodies have been placed in a haphazard pile. The Dawn Fang’s heads are encased in metal boxes that line the walls below and are emblazoned with their faces.

  “I ask again, Mr. Stavros. Will you keep my secret?” Gregorio asks with a smile.

  The war continues in:

  War of Nytefall: Eradication