by Ally Thomas
“I know it took me an eternity to get here, to this one moment in my life. I know it took my dying to figure a lot of stuff out, but you’ve always cared for me Blick and I treated that like it wasn’t a big deal. Well it is! I promise you, I’ll never leave your side. You’re stuck with me. Okay?”
“I don’t need a marriage contract to know you’re mine and I’m yours. I have been - and always will be - here.”
Clutching my body close to his, he placed his hand over my heart.
Again, I heard the crowd rejoice. Jax nudged my leg in approval.
My heart too responded, quietly fluttering awake for the first time since I had died, and then slamming itself hard against the bones of my rib cage as if it was reaching out for Blick’s touch.
“What’s that?” I yelled.
“My heart beats for you, and yours shall beat again, for me, forever, if you’ll have me?” Blick asked me.
As my heart restarted itself, I heard his thoughts invade my mind.
Rebirth for any celestial being begins with the honesty in their heart and soul. Only through death can you truly have life. I’d be honored to marry you.
He caressed the curve of my face and tapped me a time or two on the chin. Feeling his touch again after so long halted my breath.
“I’m going to kiss you now in front of all these people…” Blick began.
“Not just yet,” Demetri called out, instantly appearing at my right side. “Let us do this properly. Shall we?” Demetri motioned to Blick. “Stand here please.”
Blick took my hands in his and did as Demetri asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I wondered if I had seen Demetri wink at Blick. A secret between the two?
As the crowd grew excited, Grace pulled up to my left side and whispered in my ear. “Rayea, if I didn’t know better I would say this looks like a makeshift wedding.”
I forced a laugh out of my clenched teeth. “They can’t be serious,” I muttered, feeling my fangs want to declare an objection as well. What about a gown, guests, the usual wedding celebration on Earth things? I thought.
“It’s Demetri’s plan to flush em out. Trust me, it will be okay. We have to get you judged and out of here,” Blick assured me. “Then we can start our life together.”
The realization hit me square in the face. I was about to be married in the same place I had awaken from only moments before. Flush who out? I was to be judged too? I had hoped that by killing Beelzebub, my judgment had been forgotten. And yet here I was. Only in death could I achieve stability, I thought. “Wait!”
Go along. Blick’s words bounced into my head.
“Rayea, what’s wrong?” Blick whirled me around to face him, becoming angry. “You don’t want to do this?” He threw up his hands in disgust, adding more drama to the situation than I thought it deserved. This wasn’t like Blick.
“Of course, I do. I asked you! Remember? But we can’t get married alone. I want my mother here and Ra, your loved ones, J and G, Grace and Demetri here, and Lynn. Everyone I love. I want them to witness our union. Is that too much to ask? All these friends of ours.” I used the word ’friends’ loosely because I didn’t want to call them former walking skeletons. Was this a resurrection of the dead I had participated in? “All these friends of ours here,” I continued. “We should invite them to a proper place on Earth or somewhere and make it a banquet, a real celebration. Don’t you think?” I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen. I had always joked with Demetri about my being confident enough one day to propose to my man. If that had anything to do with whatever he and Blick had cooked up, I dealt my hand and waited for the consequences.
Blick gathered me up in his arms again, holding me against his chest. Bravo, his mind whispered to mine.
Demetri clapped his hands and spoke to Jax, the white fluffy wolfhound I had saved who bounced over to him. “I think we can come clean now. Don’t you?” Demetri asked the dog.
Blick wrapped in his arms around me again, this time protectively. “It’s all about theatrics with these people. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
Sensing danger from his actions and certainly from hearing his words, I let my fangs fall forward, and backing my body into Blick’s tall frame, reached out for Grace. “Drop your fangs, and get over here,” I ordered Grace as I pulled her by the wrist toward me.
Demetri announced to Jax. “You have the floor. I shall return.” With a sudden whirl of his body, Demetri slid next to us and gave Grace his leather jacket. “You may need this,” he said. To me, he added, “This is the weirdest judgment day I’ve been to yet. I need more to defend you with.” Then, in a flash, Demetri vanished and only a cloud of black smoke remained as it drifted over us. My heart sank. My Judgment Day was already underway.
Chapter 12
(Grace’s Diary)
***
“Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” ~ 1 Peter 4: 5
***
As Demetri draped his jacket over my shoulder, I saw Jax nod to us and stand up on his hind legs. Then he shifted from a white wolfhound puppy into J, G’s son and Rayea’s mentor. In shock, I bumped shoulders with Rayea. We both jerked upon seeing J alive again. I knew her eyes were probably as wide as mine were. I tried my best to remain calm.
After reading Rayea’s book, I had learned that J had almost gone dark when he had attacked her that night in Max’s bar, the Golden Skull. That was the night I had been forced to sit at a table in the back watching J and Rayea’s sister, Stephanie, drink and carry on. Even though J attacked her, Rayea had tried to save him because she admired the man immensely. Unfortunately, she had failed.
I felt Rayea move away from Blick and me, probably because she wanted to run up and hug the tall, distinguished man. Blick refused to let her go join him. I heard Blick’s deep voice. “Later,” he said. J heard Rayea’s protests and raised his head in our direction, smiling politely.
Speaking to the crowd, J pointed at Rayea and Blick. “The vampire confessed her love for the wolf god. That should be proof.” J threw his hands about in wild gestures. His clothes were dirty, disheveled, torn, and stained in blood. He wore the same khaki green T-shirt and black jeans, now shredded and faded. The clothes barely clung to him. His feet were bare and he looked like he had just crawled up out of a grave.
I glanced around to see whom in the crowd he was talking to, but I could not identify the party. He continued his debate in Rayea’s defense. “She proposed to him! That should be enough proof!”
In her journals, Rayea had written about this man she admired at some length and went on about his wardrobe of Italian suits he had in some detail. He had shown her several powers she now called her own. The best I could figure out about J? He was an expert on vampires, and yet was not one of us. I wondered what was so grand about him as he stood there lamenting in his torn and faded rags. Why did Rayea need to be defended?
Bursts of white lights shot through the crowd of people of Valeria, the former souls no longer imprisoned in bones, the walking dead of a forgotten land that Rayea had set free. Two of the three wolfhounds standing near us shifted as well and appeared as humans, or technically as gods I realized. G, J’s father and Max, my former boss at the Golden Skull emerged from their canine shapes. Immediately G walked over to his son, hugging him for a very long time. Once their embrace ended, G put his fingers to the side of his son’s face and closed his eyes for a moment. A whirl of golden light flew around J. When the light faded away, J stood before everyone, clean and shaven, in a white suit with bright blue tennis shoes. “One always needs a hint of color,” G chuckled.
J nodded and flipped his feet up once or twice as if he was doing a two-step dance. He hugged his father again. Their bond was solidified again, I thought. A pain of jealously filtered to my heart. I had no family, only Demetri and Rayea who was finally facing a judge and jury we couldn’t see. What if I lost her?
“Since this seems to be our impromptu judgment trial f
or the accused, I’m glad to be here with you all today.” G walked over to Rayea, Blick, and me and held out his hand to Rayea. “My dear, are you ready to do this? Now? So soon?”
“Yes,” Rayea said. “I’d like this over as soon as possible. I’m ready to move on with my life.”
“I agree,” G said as he returned to the front of the crowd. By this time, many individuals had sat down on the ground or perched on a nearby rock or other structure. The judges of the council remained hidden.
“This proposal of hers,” G continued, thrusting his burly chest forward and raising his hands, “proves she is capable of love and we should be capable of forgiveness. She tried to save my son, J, not destroy him.” Standing for a moment, he let his words drift through the crowd. Despite his small height, he was an impressive sight with his attire of all white and a confidence that few could rival. He reminded me a lot of Max, my former boss.
Just then, Max joined the discussion. He walked over in his long denim shorts and black AC/DC t-shirt. His unruly gray hair was pulled into a tight ponytail that cascaded down his neck. “Hasn’t this gone on long enough?” he asked as he stood before me, Rayea, and Blick. “I call upon the council to make a decision now. This is ridiculous. Show yourselves. If she were one of my daughter’s or G’s for that matter, would you be taking your sweet ass time deciding her future? No, you wouldn’t. May I remind you, blowhards, that Mehen is still flitting around somewhere doing who knows what! You clearly haven’t stopped her since many of you seem to be hiding here on Valeria, and not on the Summit where you should be. Am I wrong?”
“We are observing,” a voice from the crowd said.
“Beelzebub promised us a safe haven,” another one offered.
“Bullshit,” Max yelled. He threw up his arms and walked over to stand near G and J. “You are cowards!”
I wanted to pinch Rayea on the side of the arm as I heard Max’s words. I had no idea he kept such high and mighty company, but the man spoke his mind and I loved that about him. If the situation had not been my maker’s judgment day, I would have wanted to pull up a seat, munch down some popcorn, and have Blick blend up one of those famous smoothies of his. Instead, I gave Rayea’s hand a tight squeeze and stepped forward to share with the mystery council, still hiding in the crowd of people, a piece of my mind.
“If you are worried about this Vampire from Hell turning evil, you are looking at this situation all wrong. She is fighting the evil out there. She is the good guy. I have met her sister, Stephanie, the snake woman, if you can call her that, who refers to herself as the New Medusa. If you end Rayea’s existence, then you had better figure out a way to stop Stephanie and Mehen who are probably in league together by now. It’s just my opinion, but if it were my decision, I’d rather have a vampire dragon shape-shifter on my side instead of the other way around.”
More flashes of light surged from the crowd of people and finally a few figures came forward. These people must be the Ancient Council.
“Who is this creature that dares address us?”A very tall old man dressed in white and holding a long staff asked.
I stepped back in line with Rayea, hoping I had not really messed up the situation.
“Zeus, this is Grace, Max’s daughter and my niece,” J spoke up as he walked over to Rayea and me. J grabbed my hand. My mouth fell open. I’m what?
“Rayea saved Grace after she was attacked by Stephanie. I owe her a lot for saving my child. Because of this vampire, the future line of the House of the Lion did not end that day,” Max added.
“She’s saved both our children,” G interjected. “From this evil that you are comfortable to ignore.”
“Or hide from,” Max piped up.
J returned to stand by his father and uncle. “Yes, I don’t know where I would be if Rayea’s blood had not diluted the poison of Stephanie’s. Of course, I now have the blood gift, but I am still here to see another day.”
As I struggled to process what I was hearing, I reached out again for Rayea’s hand. Instantly she pulled me closer to her. Leaning my head on her shoulder, I rested for a moment and tried to take all of this new knowledge in. My eyes blazed for a moment and I felt the flames of my blood rush to my fingertips. Pulling away, I shook my head. “No, he didn’t,” I growled.
A large hand came out of nowhere and Blick patted my shoulder roughly. “Ladies, let’s not make a scene. We’re almost out of here, I hope.”
“Where is Demetri?” I spoke up, realizing I had not seen him for a long time, since this witch trial got underway. The blood in my veins wanted to boil over. “J has a blood gift?” I whispered to Rayea out of the corner of my mouth. “What blood gift?”
As I saw her barely shake her head, I shut my mouth and remained quiet. She too was stunned by the unfolding events. How more insane was it going to get? I wondered.
“These acts of kindness the vampire has shown prove nothing. She killed her father, sister, and many others. We can’t allow this to continue,” the council member demanded.
Both G and Max interrupted. “Zeus, you can’t…”
“Yes, I can! Without more testimonies, I can decide this creature’s fate. Push me further and I’ll judge both your children, the young redhead and your son. I’m assuming they are vampires now as well because of this Vampire from Hell. Sharing the blood gift indeed.” He hissed out the words in disgust.
Just as I heard Rayea gasp, I felt like I had been kicked in the teeth, or fangs, I suppose.
J flashed us a full smile, his vampire fangs showing completely.
“My god, what have I done,” Rayea whispered.
Had she not reacted to Zeus’s words, I still would have known what this knowledge, that she had given J the blood gift too, meant to her. The guilt would consume her. As I struggled to understand my new family tree, I could only imagine how it pained my maker. “Do you want to sit down,” I asked her.
“No, no, I’m okay. J’s alive. I didn’t kill him. That’s all that matters. I can deal with my sister and father being dead, but not J.”
“Blick,” Rayea blurted out under her breath. “Was this J’s greater plan all along? To become a vampire as well?”
I saw Blick reassure Rayea. He caressed her shoulders and whispered down to her, just so that I too could hear. “It was decided long ago that both of you were the future of the houses. Keeping you out of harm’s way has been our number one priority.”
“And risking your own lives,” I asked Blick.
“Secondary,” he mumbled.
I gritted my teeth and contemplated any next possible move. I wasn’t sure how much more of this trial I could witness. The shit was getting too deep, as Max would say. Who else would they bring forward? Would it matter to this Ancient Council who seemed to consist of only one stubborn man, or god, Zeus? We’d have to be ready to move, I thought. When I remembered the blood pills I had stashed in Demetri’s jacket that I now wore, I slowly reached for the bottle hidden in the inside left pocket. It was still there so I flipped open the plastic top and snatched a handful to share with Rayea. “Here,” I muttered, pushing several of them into her hand. “Take these in case you need them.”
“Whose blood is in these?” she quietly asked.
“Demetri’s and Blick’s, a concentrated form they have been sharing with me.”
“Hot damn,” she giggled under her breath and slid me a side glance.
“Bring it,” I replied as I nudged her in the shoulder.
Blick glared down at us with a stern expression. “What are you two going on about?”
Rayea and I both popped the blood pills in our mouths and commenced to chewing them up like there was no tomorrow. Hopefully, that would not be the case. We returned a smile of mischief to Blick, and then giggled like partners in crime. I’d defend my maker’s life with every flame in my body. Let the council do their worst.
Chapter 13
Rayea’s Reprieve (Blick)
***
“Do you not see ev
en stones yield to the power of time, lofty towers fall to decay, and the rocks molder away? Temples and statues of the gods go to ruin, nor can the gods themselves prolong their date or get reprieve from fate.” ~ Lucretius
***
As quickly as he disappeared, Demetri showed up again, this time considerably pleased with himself. He rushed over to us.
I grabbed his arm. “Any luck?”
“I think so! I had to cash in a few favors, but I think we have a way out of this for Rayea,” he said.
“For Grace and J too?” I asked.
“I believe so,” Demetri answered.
“Like what,” I asked, glancing down at Rayea and Grace. Amid the front of the crowd, G and J continued discussing benefits for not issuing a request for extinction elimination as Max paced the floor and grumbled. Zeus preoccupied himself with saying hello to people. We did not have much more time before he tried to declared Rayea’s sentence.
“Is Zeus really the final decision?” Grace asked.
“If my mythology serves me right, you can’t go higher up the food chain than Zeus,” Rayea said.
“That would be true if you were human,” I replied.
Rayea glanced at me and smiled. She walked over and laced her fingers into mine. Having her near me again was wonderful and I did not mean to lose her anytime soon just because of some stupid celestial politics. “But I’m a vampire. See?” She showed me her fangs and I laughed.
“Only a blood god can pass judgment on a vampire. However, blood gods cannot pass judgment on one another,” Demetri qualified.
“Did you find them?” I asked Demetri as he joined us.
“I did and they should be here very soon.”
Excellent, I thought to myself and then wondered what the ramifications meant for Demetri. “Are you absolutely sure?”
Rayea glanced up at me. “What’s going on, guys?”