by Julie Wetzel
“There was no ‘let’ to it,” Darien said, amusement coloring his voice. “He practically demanded it.” He looked over to where Vicky was walking. “He’s tried to claim Miss Westernly.”
Elliot was surprised. “It’s been a long time since Zak staked a claim on anyone.” He smiled at Darien. “You had better watch out, or he’ll steal her from you.”
The look on Darien’s face darkened slightly as he remembered the argument he’d had with the small creature. “We’ve already had words.” It had taken him a long time to convince the fay Vicky was not an item to be owned.
“Did you warn Miss Westernly?” Elliot asked.
“No.” Darien let out a deep sigh. “Zak has promised not to run off with her, and I’ve also asked her not to take off the medallion. She should be safe.”
“All right.” Elliot shrugged. “But you may want to mark her before something less friendly tries to claim her.” He studied the girl. “She is very pretty and easy to like.”
Darien looked at the man next to him. “That’s one of the problems we have to address tonight.” His voice was low with anger as his eyes went back to the woman. “An ifrit caused the fire in her apartment.”
“An ifrit!” Elliot gawked at him. “I haven’t seen an ifrit in…” He tried to remember when the last one was around.
“A very long time,” Darien supplied the answer. “Victoria bears its mark, and if we don’t do something about it, she’s as good as dead.” He held out his hand for Elliot’s. “Let’s get this over with.” Elliot gave him his left hand, and Darien poked his finger with the dagger and added his blood to the mix on top of the stone.
It took another hour for everyone to show up and they were ready to start the parlay. The three groups hung back separate from each other. Vicky recognized Rupert and Sue standing among a group on one side of the room. Karl, the werewolf, and a man Vicky had bumped into in the street talked quietly together at the front near the edge of the circle.
On the other side of the circle were the vampires and some of their menagerie. Clara, Daniel, and Rachael stood waiting for things to start. Several of Clara’s gang waved to Vicky from outside the circle, but none of them stepped over the silver line set in the floor.
The third group stood between the other two groups on the side of the circle closest to the door. Vicky recognized the long, silver hair and purple eyes of Lord Dakine, dressed in his elfish robes and a long traveling cloak. The two fay standing with him looked just as regal.
One was female, tall and thin with raven-black hair and a bronze dress that hung to the ground. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light of the warehouse. The second was a short, stocky man with a neatly trimmed beard of red. He wore a simple shirt of deep blue and jeans. It didn’t take Vicky much imagination to cast him into the role of a dwarf from the Tolkien books.
The rest of the fay gathered behind them were harder to describe. Vicky’s eyes kept wanting to look away from them. When she did force her gaze on them, she found more wings and tentacles, and it made her head hurt slightly.
Zak wiggled over to her as she sat next to the bowl on the floor and whined as he rubbed against her.
“I’m okay,” she reassured the fay as she rubbed her temple. The pain had subsided as soon as she looked away from the mass.
“It’s time.” Darien reached down to help Vicky to her feet.
Zak gurgled and writhed his way to the edge of the circle closest to the werewolves.
Vicky smiled as she watched the group back up slightly from the little creature brandishing his dagger.
Zak stepped over the line of silver without touching it.
Vicky stood up, and Darien led her to the side of the circle farthest away from the fay.
He placed her on one side of him, and Elliot took up the other. He cleared his throat and said something Vicky didn’t understand.
She could feel something rush behind her along the silver line. It tingled like electricity in the air.
“I’ve called you here to join me in a Council of the Night. May three from each step forwards and join me in parlay.” Darien’s voice rebounded off the walls of the warehouse.
Rupert, Sue, and the man Vicky had seen in the street stepped up to the silver line; Lord Dakine and his two companions stepped up to their edge; and Clara, Daniel, and Rachael stood ready on their side.
“Three have come from each to parlay: Rupert, Sue, and Phelan from the wolf pack; Dakine, Einin, and Roisin from the Court of the Gray; and Clara, Daniel, and Rachael from the Council of Vampires. Please step in and be welcome.”
Vicky felt the power thump as the nine people all stepped over the silver line at the same time. Darien raised his hands and spoke again in that strange language. The candles around the room bloomed to life at the same time. He spoke another word, and Vicky felt the air behind her harden.
“Nine have come to parlay. Three stand inside to guide, to guard, and to govern. One stands without to guard. If any should object, speak now.” Darien paused to give anyone time to object. When no words came, he continued. “Then I call to order this meeting. Remember the rule of three governs all. Speak as you may, but be wary of using more than words.” Darien relaxed and stepped towards the bowl, placed his hand over it, and spoke another word of command.
Vicky felt weak for a moment as the magic took hold of them all.
“Now that the formalities are done,” Darien stood up and looked at the three leaders, “I think we all know why we’re here.”
Clara’s jaw was set in a hard line as she and Rupert glared at each other. “We’re here to talk about what’s plaguing this city,” Clara said.
“Other than vampires,” the wolf Phelan said softly.
Daniel bared his fangs at the man and hissed. “It’s the wolves that have caused the problems in this city.”
Vicky stared at them with wide eyes.
“We’re not the ones draining innocent people and leaving their corpses to rot in the street,” Phelan growled.
“We didn’t grab several of your numbers and drag them out in the sun to burn while they were sleeping,” Daniel hissed back at him.
Darien covered his face as they dredged up these old conflicts.
“It’s been more than fifty year since that happened, and the wolf responsible has been dealt with,” Rupert growled at him.
“There are still those among you who had a hand in Justin’s murder.” Anger colored Clara’s voice. “He was my friend and did not deserve his fate.”
“Not all the ones you hunted down and drained deserved their fate, either,” Rupert countered. “Many of them were innocent of crimes you claimed they committed.”
Darien hung his head and thought about the best way to mediate this situation. A while back, there had been a grave misunderstanding between the two groups that had ended in bloodshed. The only thing that stopped them was Darien stepping in and demanding a truce between the two groups. It had worked, but the wolves and vampires had never worked together since.
Vicky stood silent and watched as the two groups yelled at each other.
“Please.” Darien stepped between the two leaders and held out a hand towards each, glad the parlay prevented them from outright killing each other. “I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but we’re not here to talk about those at the moment.” Clara and Rupert glared at each other around Darien. “We’re here to see what can be done to save our city from an outside source.”
Both of the leaders looked up at Darien.
“What outside source?” Rupert asked.
“Wasn’t it the wolves causing all the problems?” Daniel sneered, and the two groups broke down into yelling at one another again.
Elliot shook his head and went to help Darien control the chaos.
Dakine and his fay stepped back out of the fray.
Vicky watched the excitement from her side of the circle, not sure if she should step in and try to help. As she held her ground, she considered
what she could do that Elliot wasn’t already doing. She let out a cry of surprise when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind. Her back was pulled into a very warm, male body.
The fighting between the vampires and werewolves stopped abruptly at the sound of Vicky’s scream. Every head turned to see what had caused the mortal woman to cry out. A tall man dressed in reds stood behind Vicky with his arms wrapped tightly around her. One arm held her across the middle and the other held her at the throat. The ifrit had fine features set in olive skin, with long hair the color of wet ashes. The top of his hair was pulled up into a bundle at the back of his head.
He grinned as shock rode the face of the group inside the circle.
Elliot grabbed the hilt of his sword as Darien clenched his hands in anger. The pair started towards the ifrit.
“Stop there, or I will kill her.” The ifrit’s voice was warm and full of promise.
Darien and Elliot stopped in their tracks and glared at the jinni, pressing its sharp nails into Vicky’s throat. Zak had circled around outside the barrier so he was as close as possible. The little fay snarled and thrashed his tentacles.
“What are you doing here?” Darien growled at the intruder.
“I came for what has been promised me.” The ifrit rubbed his cheek against the side of Vicky’s head.
Vicky whimpered slightly at the contact. Zak snarled louder behind him. “You have no right to her!” Darien yelled. “Release her.”
The ifrit laughed a sultry sound Vicky recognized from the fire at her apartment. “You may have prevented me for a while, vampire,” the jinni taunted, “but you can’t keep me from what is mine.” He squeezed her tighter, and Darien clenched his teeth. “Your little charm may protect her from my powers, but you can’t stop me now that you are bound by your own magic.” The laugh came from the creature again. Vicky’s mind whirled as she thought about what to do with the ifrit taunting Darien. She could feel the strength in his hands and knew she’d be in serious trouble if she fought back.
“Release her,” Darien snarled at the ifrit again. “She’s mine!”
This drew another laugh from the creature holding Vicky. “No, vampire,” it purred. “This one does not belong to you. No bite addles her mind. No ring binds her heart.” The ifrit’s hand shifted so that it grabbed Vicky hard across her stomach, driving a pained noise from her. The intruder clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “She doesn’t even know your seed.” The ifrit shifted his hand up Vicky’s body, and trails of smoke curled up as he rent her shirt with magical fire. He slipped his hand in against her exposed stomach and caressed the skin lovingly. “How could you resist such tempting flesh?”
Darien took another step forwards, and the ifrit squeezed Vicky’s throat, causing her to squeak in pain. Darien stopped again.
Vicky could feel the power rolling off her boss. “That creature has more of a claim to her then you do.” The jinni jerked his head towards Zak, thrashing against the wall of the shield. “And that can easily be taken care of.” The ifrit moved his hand to Vicky’s hip, and a line of blue flames ripped down the side of her pant leg, just brushing against her skin. The flame caught the delicate ring of flowers, and the bracelet snapped and slid to the ground with a soft tinkle.
Zak roared and doubled in size, trying to get into the circle. Darien growled, and Elliot grabbed his shoulder to stop him from stepping forwards again.
“Remember the parlay,” he warned Darien.
“Yes, remember your parlay,” the ifrit mocked, rubbing against Vicky again. He pulled his arm up to caress her flesh. “You can’t do anything to stop me.” She whimpered as the man holding her nuzzled the curls just behind her ear. “I can do anything I want.”
“I’m not bound by the parlay when it comes to you.” Darien pulled his power to him.
Vicky could feel the air in the circle thump with the energy Darien was gathering.
“True, but if you try for me, you will hit your precious woman.” The jinni peeked around Vicky, using her as a shield. “It would be nothing for me to break this charm away and disappear with her.”
Darien trembled with rage.
“Just a little tug and she would be free from you.” The ifrit caught her necklace with his finger. “I was just going to burn her up and take what was promised to me, but I think it would be more satisfying to savor this one.” The ifrit turned burning eyes to Darien and taunted him again. “To feel her flesh against mine as I burn her from the inside. Or, I could just pull her heart out while she lives.” The grin that spread across the ifrit’s face was pure joy. “I might even tape it so I can enjoy her screams over and over again.”
Elliot released Darien and took a step in anger.
The ifrit stood up a little. “I could send you a copy so you can enjoy it, too.” The ifrit pulled on the cord and pushed Darien over the edge.
Roaring in anger, Darien drew up a ball of energy and hurled the raw power at the ifrit. The creature laughed and dropped Vicky from his hands. Darien quickly drew another blast and cast it at the pair before the first ball hit. The energy of the first attack skittered warmly across Vicky’s skin. It tingled and stole the rigidity from her muscles, but it didn’t hurt as the magic governing the parlay rebounded the power back on the caster three times over. She fell to the ground as the second, and significantly larger, ball of energy flew over her head and slammed into the ifrit, pushing it back through the tear in reality from whence it came.
It felt like an eternity as Vicky lay on the floor twitching from the power coursing through her. The din Zak made as he hammered on the barrier didn’t quite drown out the commotion from the crowd around the room. She listened to the worried cries as she tried to regain control of her body.
Elliot knelt next to the limp woman. “Are you all right?” His hands were gentle as he pulled her into a sitting position.
Zak stopped screaming as Vicky sat up and leaned against the tall vampire. She raised shaking hands to her face and breathed deep, trying to recover from the numb feeling in her body. “I think so,” Vicky said as she slowly regained control.
Zak let out a garbled bark, calling to her.
“I’m okay, Zak,” she called to the ball of tentacles that was now the size of a Great Dane. He wiggled helplessly outside the circle, trying to get in. “What happened?” she asked as Elliot checked her over for injuries.
He carefully helped Vicky to her feet. “Master Darien broke parlay and attacked you and the ifrit.” She leaned heavily on him, unable to stand properly. “He was trying to drive the ifrit off you, so he could hurt it.” Elliot supported her against him as they turned to where her boss was crumpled on the ground.
“Darien!” Vicky gasped looking down on his still form. Someone had shifted him to a comfortable position on his back, and the dark-haired elf knelt by his head with a slender hand pressed to his forehead.
“He’s not dead, or the circle would have broken,” Elliot reassured Vicky as he helped her limp over to Darien. “But he is an idiot.”
She looked up at the blond holding her.
Elliot shook his head and sighed. “He hit you with something he judged was survivable three times over, but he forgot to take your medallion into account. The energy he sent came back to him six times over.” She looked down at the motionless vampire but couldn’t see any physical injury on him.
“Master Darien does live,” Roisin said softly. “But the spark fades. He needs blood.”
Rupert started pulling up his sleeve to expose his wrist. “Take mine.”
“No, wolf.” The woman looked up at him. “Your blood has too much magic in it. It could overpower the spark and kill him.”
Rupert dropped his hand to his side.
“Will mine work?” Clara asked.
“No.” Roisin looked up at Vicky. “He needs blood untainted by magic, and quickly.”
Vicky drew in a breath as she realized what the fay wanted. “Mine.” She stepped forwards on trembling l
egs.
The woman nodded.
Vicky’s heart pounded with fear as she sat on the floor next to Darien. The thought of feeding someone her blood terrified her, but the circle Darien had placed kept out anyone else who could help. If she didn’t do it, he would die. She couldn’t allow that.
Vicky pulled the dagger from where Darien had stuck it in his belt and drew the blade out. The light glinted off the steel as she took a deep breath and told herself that it was just like donating blood.
Roisin touched Vicky’s hand before she could pull the knife across her wrist. “Just a little is needed to call him back,” she warned, “but it will take more than blood to call to his mind. When he first wakes, he’ll be driven by need alone. You must bring his mind back, or he will not stop.”
Vicky swallowed hard as Roisin’s words hung in the air. There was no need for the fay to go into graphic detail about what would happen if Vicky failed to wake him. She nodded her understanding and moved a little closer to Darien’s head.
The sharp edge of the dagger parted Vicky’s skin almost painlessly. She squeezed her hand, and the little nick on her right wrist bled lightly as she moved it to Darien’s mouth. Roisin stood up and away from them as Vicky rubbed the blood on Darien’s lips before forcing her wrist into his mouth. The blood ran across his tongue, but nothing happened. Vicky held her breath as she bent her wrist slightly so the cut would bleed a little faster. She shuddered when she felt his fangs lengthen against the skin of her wrist. His hands came up from his side to her arm, and he bit down, breaking through her skin. Vicky winced in pain as he started to feed.
“Mr. Ritter,” Vicky called to him, “wake up.” She tried patting his head. “Come on.” With her free hand, she ran her fingers through his hair. “Master Darien, it’s time to wake up.” She tried, but he did not respond. Vicky called to him several more times in different ways. Trying to pull her wrist away only made him growl as he continued to suckle at her. “Stop that right now!” she scolded to no avail. The light-headedness that comes with blood loss was starting to press at her. Leaning her head forwards, she rested it on his forehead. “Stop, Darien,” she whispered. She was starting to feel cold. “Please.” The last word was breathed against him just before passing out.