He managed to tear his eyes from Mamoru’s and realized that the man had saved him with an ornate silver handled knife that he’d buried into the tiger’s skull. It wasn’t taking off the beast’s head, but it was enough to stop it forever. Chopping and burning were just a guarantee.
“No!” Genoveva screamed, followed by Desmond’s deep grunt as he was slammed into the wall and left to drop into the water, forgotten. “Miw-sher!” the angry, wild vampire screeched, took a step as if to come to her precious pet’s rescue and then stopped, realizing it was too late and bared her teeth. She let loose a string of curses and then her power welled, making the others gasp at the pure enormity of it. The whole cave shook, making chunks of earth and stone fall all around them.
“Kuso!” Mamoru hissed and reached for Ash as she reached for him in turn. They met and together tumbled over and off the tiger to land next to Tristan.
“What’s—” he started to asked and then gasped as the others pulled the large, dead animal on top of them.
The room all around them continued to shudder as Tristan’s nostrils were filled with the musk of tiger and wet earth, the cloy of old blood. Somewhere off to the far side Desmond was splashing loudly in the water, cursing up a bloody Scot storm. The sound of the room trying to shake itself apart was so loud it eventually drowned out even Desmond. Mamoru let out a surprised yelp when something big landed on the dead tiger covering the group. Head hidden under his arms, curled between a vampire and an Uruwashi, and pinned by a three-hundred pound tiger, Tristan screamed as he realized that the crazy vampire was pulling the cave down around them. There was nothing to do but cower and pray.
12: High and Dry
THERE was nothing but the slow, measured drip of water from ceiling. The stillness of the room was almost enough to drive Tristan mad, but he was too afraid to move. He was afraid to open his eyes to discover that he’d been buried alive under the dead body of a jikininki with no way out. A small hand pressed down over his pounding heart and Tristan grabbed it and pulled it to his lips to kiss.
“Ash,” he breathed, feeling out of breath and dazed. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. Mamoru?”
The man coughed and spit. “Good if you don’t mind a mouthful of jikininki blood.” He cursed under his breath and then gave a deep groan as he pushed at the tiger to free them.
Tristan wasn’t so sure about being able to help as he uncurled himself to join in pushing. Ash joined in too, grunting and panting her own frustration as the tiger refused to move. A stab of panic heated Tristan’s belly as the thought that they were really buried alive solidified.
“Now now, no need tae be so bloody dramatic,” Desmond said over them.
Tristan may have hated the guy, everything about him, but right then he appreciated the distraction. He’d never admit it, but he needed Desmond, he needed someone to direct his fear and anger towards and what better than the smartassed Scot who always had the wrong thing to say.
“Get this off me,” Ash snapped sounding a little panicked.
“Aye, jist a tick and—” He gave a deep heave and then the ground next to the three shook with the weight of something heavy being dropped. “Right then, up yew go.”
The three pushed at the tiger and this time her dead weight easily tumbled off. Tristan let out a huff of relieved air and sat up, only to stop mid-puff as he laid eyes on a boulder the mass of a large person. It was no wonder they couldn’t shift the dead animal before.
Ash was trying to stand but showing difficulty. Mamoru tapped into his faster reflexes and found his feet before Tristan, reaching out to steady her.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, nearly pushing the man away.
Tristan sighed and went to her, clutching his arm where the jikininki had torn into it.
She blinked up at him for a moment and then smiled warmly. “Hi.”
Tristan was stunned for a second before laughing. He hugged her tightly. “Hi.”
He let her go and took a step back, taking her face into his hands. He brushed the dirt from her face way, smoothed back her hair. Though darker and a little damp, she still felt the same under his hands. “Holy shit—are you okay? God, look at you. What happened?”
“I’m okay.” She was clutching her right arm to her, trying to hide her missing hand under the one that was left. It broke Tristan’s heart to think that her hand was missing. Sure, he believed what Mamoru said, that she’d be able to heal it, but it was the thought of the pain and torture—physical and mental—that Ash had endured the night and half with that monster.
She licked her lips slowly and then lifted up on her toes. To his surprise she kissed him, sweet and gentle, her eyes fixed on his the whole time. Her lips were bone dry and cracked, and Tristan thought it odd for a vampire. She pulled back and lowered to her flat feet again, the front of her body pressed to his. “I have survived her before… And I find now, more at peace with myself, that she holds no real sway over me.”
That was only partially true. Ash still feared that vampire. But the impact wasn’t nearly what it had been in years past. Ash wasn’t one-hundred percent herself yet, but she was getting closer.
“God,” he breathed and held her to him, resting his head on hers. “I can’t even—I don’t have words for how happy I am to see you. And just look at you.” He stroked his hands over her cheeks. She was colder than she looked. “You’re… dark. Both of your eyes are the same color and you’re just stunning.”
“My eyes are the same, really?” That would explain why she could see out of the once dark eye again. She looked down to her remaining hand, sure enough, the skin was dark and olive, just as it had been in life. “I am just happy you are okay. It was reckless coming here.”
“What kind of asshole would I be if I didn’t?”
Ash sighed, but was smiling. “Rather an asshole than reckless.”
Tristan shrugged. “I love you too much to lose you.”
Behind them a clap made Tristan tense. “Bloody sweet, but can we no’ focus on the current problem, aye?”
Ash sighed, shot Desmond an annoyed look to match Tristan’s and crossed her arms about herself again.
“Can we have a minute to fix up Ash before we go running after that insane freak?” He looked down at his arm. And maybe stop his own bleeding, though it didn’t really hurt yet. Must have been the adrenaline.
“Aye. A whole bloody lifetime.”
Something cold coiled in Tristan’s belly that wasn’t the freezer burn of a Desmond’s presence as he finally got a good look around. Genoveva was gone, but he didn’t need his eyes to know that. It was the rest that shocked him silent. Apparently that last growl of seikonō energy was Genoveva putting an end to them. At least that’s what it looked like she tried to do. The large open mouth of the cave was completely caved in, blocking any chance of getting out. Rocks the size of VW’s bugs were scattered all over the place. All but one of the lights had been buried under the rubble. The last bastion of light was pointed upward and flickered every now and then, threatening to immerse them in uncertain darkness forever. The small island that welled in the middle of the cave was all but gone as the water level had risen.
“Well… shit.”
“Aye. Trapped.” Desmond went to the closed entrance and poked around in the water with a foot looking for an opening.
Ash sighed and sat down. Standing seemed like such tiring work right then. “Can I have my hand back?”
Mamoru flinched and then made a little noise, darting to her. “Sorry,” he muttered as he dug in his bag.
Tristan wasn’t sure exactly how her hand could reattach or the process for it, but he was sure it involved blood and he turned his back on them. He started when he finally looked at Desmond. The Scot was covered in blood.
“Not mine,” Desmond said softly with a nod.
Tristan spun just as Ash bit into Mamoru’s wrist and cringed. The man had a big cut over his eye that spread into his hair. It was still bleeding
slowly, blinding his left eye. It wasn’t life threatening, but between that and the blood he was giving Ash, Tristan was sure the man would need some rest soon. Ash wasn’t that in good of shape herself and Tristan was only human. That left…
He let out a resigned sigh and turned back to face Desmond again. “How do we get out of here?”
The big man grunted and lowered himself to his knees but they buckled at the last moment and he fell the last few inches to land in the water.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tristan asked, eyeing him suspiciously. If all the blood on the big Scot was Mamoru’s then by all rights Tristan should have been worried about the Japanese man’s health, especially now that he was feeding Ash. But there was something more about Desmond’s manner that made Tristan doubt his stability. He seemed almost… docile.
“Nothin’,” the vampire grunted and sunk his hands into the cool water with a sigh. He shut his eyes and let his power stretch outward. All at once the great expanse of the Mediterranean Sea answered his call and filled his core with the cooling oppressiveness of dense salt water. “Ah, bloody brilliant…”
There was a sucking noise and then Ash asking in a soft voice, “The cave opens to the ocean?”
Tristan turned slowly to look. Ash sat between Mamoru’s legs, his knees pulled up with her right arm draped across it. He was holding the hand that had been severed. She held her wrist with her other hand over the wound. When she saw Tristan staring, she smiled and carefully opened her hand as if she expected the other to fall off. But it didn’t. There was a thick, angry looking red line around her wrist, but her hand was attached. And just to prove it, she wiggled her fingers, swallowing back a groan and a wince. Not all of her fingers were working yet, but the ones that moved were enough to ease Tristan’s mind, knowing that she would be okay.
“Aye,” Desmond answered with a splash as he tried to stand and slipped again, falling into the water. “Right oot.”
“Okay,” Tristan said, understanding their situation and hating it. “We can swim out, I’m guessing, which is great… So where’s the but? I hear a great big but coming.”
Ash sighed, pulling her arms into her lap and looking to Mamoru, her thoughts veiled behind fluttering lashes as she was overwhelmed with fresh Uruwashi blood. “Desmond can aid us in swimming out…”
“But,” Tristan offered feeling his ire rise.
“He can’t right now,” Mamoru said, eyes narrowed on the vampire.
“Why not?” Tristan spun to look at the Scot and started. Desmond was sitting in the water with his legs spread out before him, looking tired and oddly childlike even with that fucking depressing frown on his face.
“Hadn’t a bite tae drink yet… was hoping tae take me fill from Genoveva. Spent what energy we had intae throwing me seikonō at that fooking monster.”
Tristan frowned. “I thought vampire blood wasn’t nutritional to you guys.”
Desmond quirked a brow, eyes flicking to Mamoru for the barest of seconds. “Aye. But if I’d had me fill on a human beforehand there were no guarantee that I’d be strong enough tae empty Genoveva too.”
Tristan scoffed and put his back to the big vampire. “So you risked yourself, and everyone else’s life, because you wanted to get the kill?” Selfish prick.
Ash blinked up at him, expression empty, yet peaceful. She had a slight flush to her cheeks. Behind her, Mamoru looked pale and Tristan wondered if he was going to be okay. He trusted that both of them knew what they were doing when Mamoru let Ash feed from him.
When Desmond finally answered his voice was low and dark, his accent trickling away with each new sharply spoken word. “What you saw, that was only a fraction of the things that devil did to Asta. I carry all of that fear and hate in me still.” Desmond wobbled to his feet, hard look set in his bright green eyes.
Ash’s attention snapped around to Desmond. “You showed him?” she snapped angrily. “By the Goddess, Desmond—”
“Aye, we ken. But it were necessary.”
Ash bit into her lip, wondering if Desmond did it topically or if there was blood involved in that showing. That Tristan seemed normal though told her Desmond had mind enough to keep his blood out of Tristan’s system. Small niceties, she supposed.
“We can show yew more,” the Scot was saying to Tristan with anger in his eyes. “But it might break yur feeble mind.”
He bristled and spun back to face the vampire. “What makes you think you’re the one to avenge her anyway, huh? That’s Ash’s right and Ash’s alone. Keep your fucking nose out of our business you fucking prick.”
Desmond lifted a chin and took two big steps towards him disturbing the loose dirt to fog up the clear water. “I was the only one to give a bloody damn. I was the one tae hold her the nights she feared the most. I was the one tae comfort her when she asked for it. That’s right,” Desmond chirped at the look of understanding that crossed Tristan’s face. “She begged me tae fook her, tae make her forget and feel something other than fear.”
“You son of a—” Tristan splashed through the water as fast as he could, fist cocked to slam into Desmond’s face. A second before he could make contact though his feet were taken out from under him and he gasped before getting a mouthful of murky water.
“Desmond!” Ash snapped, stumbling to her feet. “Stop it!”
The Scot let out a colorful string of curses in a language that none of them knew. When it looked like he was about to kick Tristan while he was down, Ash rushed him and gave Desmond a kidney shot that would have killed a human. The big vampire cursed again and stumbled back, caught off guard.
“What the fuck!” Tristan screamed as he shot upright out of the water now that Desmond was no longer keeping him prisoner by it.
Desmond sniffed, looking cross. “Guess we had a spot of seikonō tae use still, mate.”
“You fucking bastard,” Tristan growled as he stood up out of the water. He was starting to shake, more from anger than being cold, but that would come too, after his head had cooled and the night had dragged on.
“Tristan,” Ash said gently, putting a hand on his arm. “We are trapped in here for the night, let’s not make things worse, yes?” Said the one who clocked Desmond hard enough to knock him off his feet.
Tristan looked at her for a breathless moment and then sighed. “Fuck this, god.”
“She’s right,” Mamoru added. “None of us have the energy to leave here right now, not without rest or blood.”
Tristan looked to the man. He was still pale and looking like he needed to catch his breath.
“Desmond’s out of seikonō and unfed. Ash is recovering from a grave injury, all her energy is going to repairing her hand regardless of her will. And I’ve lost too much blood between fighting Genoveva and feeding Ash. I’ll be able to feed the vampire’s again, but I must rest.”
“I can feed them,” Tristan said plainly.
“No,” Ash said quickly, taking her hand back. “Absolutely not.”
“Oh come on—Look, you don’t have to sink fang into me to have a bite.” He lifted his arm to show them. See, already bleeding. Damn, it was starting to ache now.
She licked her lips as she remembered the taste of his blood on them. The taste she sampled in Audric’s home was nothing like the shock of waking up in that dungeon later to find that not only had she lived but that her mouth was full of Tristan’s blood. And Tristan’s blood, it wasn’t right and yet it was still dangerously seductive.
“We don’t want a bloody drop from a traitor,” Desmond said sounding more childish than fierce. “Neither of their lot.” Never mind that he had a taste of Mamoru earlier. The problem was, he liked it too much.
“Look, there’s obviously something wrong with Ash.” He glanced back at her and smiled sloppily. “No offense.”
She shook her head only in an attempt to hide her smirk.
“No!” Desmond snapped, sounding childish still. “Won’t bloody do it. Not a fooking drop.”
&nbs
p; Ash dropped her shoulders and lowered her head to rub at the bridge of her nose with the fingers of her working hand. “Men and their pride. Fine,” She looked up again, stance shifting gracefully into something more annoyed. It was enough to put all the men on edge. They knew that attitude all too well. “What do you suggest then? Because Tristan’s right. I cannot tap into my seikonō. Genoveva gave me a spell… I am nothing more than a human right now with a perverse sense of hunger.” And as strong as Desmond was, he was no Earth vampire. There was no way he could move those rocks.
“That’s why I can’t feel you in my blood.”
“You…” Ash put a hand on Tristan’s arm and he looked down at her, focusing on her face. “You can’t feel me?” She couldn’t feel him, but assumed that it was just the spell and that he could still feel her. She truly was all but human. And while her motonō and seikonō were gone, she still saw into Mamoru’s blood like a vampire, what he allowed anyway.
“Not even a little.”
Ash licked her lips slowly to wet them, eyes taking in every small movement as she tried to decipher their hidden thoughts. “I need to find the one who did this to me.”
“You don’t know?” Mamoru asked.
She turned to face him fully and shook her head. “I was out when it was forced on me but I tasted something that might be a signature. It is one I do not know but will recognize it if I taste it again. I do have a few thoughts on who…”
Tristan frowned. Apparently, because of the blood used to quicken most pythia spells, one could actually taste who made it if they had the right palate. Each pythia had their own signature flavor and logo that they liked to stamp everything they created. But if Ash had never sampled the pythia before that stirred the spell than there was little to no chance of finding its owner.
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