Shadow's Messenger: An Aileen Travers Novel

by T. A. White

  A snarl of rage greeted my efforts. I flew through the air and crashed into the kitchen island. Something cracked in my back when I hit. The granite countertop crumbled under the force, spilling me to the ground in a bloody, broken mess.

  Pain consumed my being, making it hard to breathe. Blood bubbled out of my mouth. A rib had probably punctured the lung. What worried me more was the hideous agony in my lower back and the crack I’d heard. I didn’t think even my accelerated regeneration would be able to fix this. Looked like I wouldn’t owe that sorcerer any time, after all.

  A silver blade clattered on to the tile next to me.

  Boots came to stand beside my head and a pair of blue eyes glared into mine. “That was unwise.”

  Yeah. I’d gotten that message.

  He gave me a confused look. “What is taking so long? Fix yourself.”

  Would love to but I didn’t think this was something I could fix. Maybe the sorcerer could. Did sorcerers have the ability to heal? That would be such a cool super power, much better than an addiction to blood and an allergy to sunlight.

  The world was going fuzzy around the edges. My thoughts were starting to slow. I was losing consciousness. After all my struggles to survive, I couldn’t believe this was how I would go.

  His face reflected puzzlement. “Why aren’t you healing yourself?”

  I wondered what my parents would think of this. Jenna. She’d be so upset that our last conversation ended in an argument.

  Fresh pain jolted me back to the present. I screamed as it slammed through my body.

  Angry eyes glared down at me. “I don’t know what game you’re playing at but whatever it is won’t work. Now fix yourself so we can be off.”

  It took effort and wasn’t pretty, but I managed to get the words out. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He cocked his head and his eyes flared with suspicion. “What clan are you?”

  I snorted at him. No way was I answering any questions from the man who killed me. It felt good to deny him in this even if it wasn’t much of a rebellion.

  “You don’t have to die. Just tell me what I want to know.”

  “Wh- What do you mean?” I gasped out.

  His face was grim as he reached out and a cool power danced across my skin, raising goosebumps in its wake. It felt good, the way a wet cloth on a hot summer’s day did. Abruptly, the cool gave way to burning pain, searing through the flesh all the way down to the bone. I screamed, a long, thin sound.

  Deep inside, in a sensation I never wanted to experience again, tissue knit together. Breathing got easier and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.

  “Now, my answer please,” the vampire said.

  I gaped at him. He’d healed me. How had he healed me? Not everything was healed. My body was still broken and hanging by a thread, but whatever he’d done had fixed my lungs, making speaking a lot easier.

  “You still have a lot that needs fixing. I would take advantage of the situation before I get impatient.”

  I didn’t want to give up my secrets, but I didn’t want to die. I’d seen enough in my life to know that my injuries would kill me if left alone.

  “I don’t have a vampire clan.” The words felt odd on my tongue. I wanted to pull them back as soon as they’d left my mouth.

  The man looked surprised. It was the first real emotion I’d seen besides anger or predatory interest.

  “Impossible. You can’t be more than a few years old.”

  “Surprise.” My voice sounded weak to my ears. Even with what he’d done, I wasn’t going to last much longer.

  He heard the weakness and shifted to touch me again. I flinched. Whatever he’d done before had hurt, even if it’d helped. The pain had rivaled what the sorcerer had inflicted on me. I was not looking forward to experiencing it again.

  “Feel what I do,” he told me.

  His power caressed my skin before once again turning to searing heat. This time though, I concentrated, following it with my senses as it swept through looking for the broken bits of me. I saw what it was doing as it forced things to regenerate and then knit together the parts that had been damaged.

  Something inside me swelled, rising to meet his, helping where it could. It wasn’t much. My power was so much weaker than his, awkward and fumbling where his was graceful and efficient. Between the two of us, we repaired the damage.

  By the time we were done, sweat beaded on my forehead and even the vampire was looking a little ragged around the edges.

  When the worst of the damage was healed, his power withdrew. He sat back with a sigh. I took the opportunity to sit up, amazed that I could with only a twinge of pain. This was amazing. It almost made up for getting beat all to hell to learn this skill was in my repertoire. It didn’t make me any more dangerous, but it might make me a lot harder to kill.

  I probably couldn’t do a full repair as he had. I was too young for that, but it did up my chances of surviving.

  I looked up to find him studying me.

  “Your power is extraordinarily weak for a vampire out of her hundred years of service.”

  I looked down at the scrapes and cuts I still had. He hadn’t healed any of the superficial stuff, just the life threatening ones. It meant I had some impressive scrapes and bruises.

  My power might be weak for a hundred year old but not a two year old.

  “Though if you had reached your majority, I would expect you to have the knowledge and skill to heal such minor injuries. For that matter, a small fall like that shouldn’t have caused the damage it did.”

  I avoided his eyes, staring off into the other room. It was only a matter of time before he arrived at the right conclusion. Or the wrong one for me.

  “How old are you?” he asked.

  “That’s a rude question. Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to ask a woman her age?”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Should we start this whole process again?”

  I grimaced. No thanks. I had no interest in doing that again. “I’ve been a vampire for two years.”

  Thunder clouded his face, his eyes turning nearly black and his fangs slid out as he growled.

  I scooted back, not wanting to be too close in case he tried to grab me again. As fascinating as it was watching him turn bestial, I thought one flying lesson for the night was more than enough.

  “Where is your sire?” he snarled.

  I said carefully, “Your guess is as good as mine. I woke up in the morgue and have been on my own ever since.”

  “You should have been reported to the local clan. They should have taken you in to educate and train.”

  He made me sound like a puppy.

  He grabbed my arm and hauled me up. I struggled in his grasp, my feet sliding among the debris from the island countertop.

  “What are you doing?” I snapped, punching him in the ear.

  He snarled, showing both fangs. “Stop that.”

  Like that was going to happen.

  I kicked him in the knee. He barely broke stride, giving me an irritated look.

  “Let me go,” I yelled.

  It didn’t matter what I did. It was impossible to slow him as he marched me to the door.

  “You’re coming with me. I must take care of this matter, but when I’m done I’ll put out feelers and find a clan to take you.”

  My struggles doubled until he was pretty much dragging me bodily down the hall. I was not going to make this easy for him. Vampires weren’t derailing my life a second time.

  One of my feet caught him right in the back of the knee, sending him stumbling into the wall. His grip loosened and I shot past him, running for the door. A tackle sent me crashing to the ground with him on top of me. I turned into a raging typhoon of claws, biting teeth and vicious blows.

  He grabbed my collar and lifted me an inch off the ground then slammed me back down, momentarily stunning me. He thrust his face close to mine and said, “Enough. Continue this and I’ll b
reak both legs and carry you out of here.”

  I glared up at him. It was clear he was stronger than me. I needed to bide my time until I could escape. I wouldn’t be able to run if my legs were broken. For now, I’d let him think he’d won.

  Seeing the surrender on my face, he hauled me up and pushed me in front of him.

  “Let’s go.”

  He’d won for now, but one thing I was extremely good at was being patient. I just needed to wait for my moment.

  Chapter Five

  The vampire pushed me forward, forcing me through the back entrance of a well-known nightclub just off Spring Street in the Arena District. The place was only a ten minute walk from the condo, but the vampire chose to drive, taking nearly a half hour instead. Once again, I’d had to leave Cherry behind.

  Like the wolves, the vampire hadn’t bothered to tie my hands or disable me in any way. It seemed like he planned to rely totally on his own abilities to keep me contained. I wasn’t complaining. It’d make escaping a lot easier. Still, it was a little insulting how nobody seemed to have even a hint of wariness regarding my abilities.

  A woman stepped into the hallway and came to a halt when she noticed my presence. Her mouth dropped open when her eyes shot past me to land on my captor.

  She stammered, “Enforcer, what are you doing here?”

  “I did not realize I had to report my itinerary to a servant,” a cold voice said from behind me.

  Asshole. I hoped she blistered his ears. I know I would have. There were several sarcastic replies that would be appropriate for the situation.

  She blushed bright red and bowed. No shit. A bow. Who did that in this day and age?

  “Forgive me. I did not mean to presume.”

  I snorted. This was unreal. It was like the middle ages had taken up residence in this nightclub.

  A shove landed on my back, and I stumbled forward.

  “She is unclaimed. See she is fed and any wounds attended to.”

  Her eyes darted to mine, curiosity and suspicion alive in them.

  “Of course. I will make the guest comfortable.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that,” I told her. “I’m not really a guest. More like a kidnap victim.”

  She gave me a cool look that held none of the deferential treatment the man received. “If you’re not a guest, then you’re a prisoner.”

  “Works for me,” I said with a smirk.

  There came a sigh behind me. “Make sure you keep an eye on her. I have a feeling she’s a runner.”

  The woman nodded again.

  “I will be reviewing the tapes of the attack. When I’ve finished, I will come for the yearling.”

  Yearling. Like I’m a horse or something.

  She murmured an agreement and dipped her head as he passed.

  She watched as he disappeared down the hall. I looked back at the exit. It was only a few steps away. She didn’t look that strong. Perhaps I could make a run for it.

  She grabbed me by my jacket and threw me up against the wall, lifting me until my feet dangled inches off the ground. Her eyes nearly glowed with a fey light, so bright they cast shadows in the hallway.

  I grimaced. Not this again. Perhaps they taught the move in vampire academy. There might even be a “How to subdue other vampires 101 class” and they were graded on how well they threw people against the wall.

  “You show great disrespect to your elders, girl,” the woman snarled, her fangs coming out to play. I was quite amazed she could speak without the slightest speech impediment. Me, I’d have a thick lisp, making it impossible for my victim to understand me.

  “Well, I am a millennial,” I told her. “Along with being the boomerang generation, we’re known for a lack of respect. Ya’ll should really have thought about that before you conscripted me into your ranks.”

  “There was hardly any force required,” she said, her fangs withdrawing with a snick. “Every candidate is carefully vetted and given every chance to reconsider along the way. Every one of you comes to us voluntarily.”

  My lips quirked in a half smile. “Not all of us.”

  Her hands loosened on my shirt, and I slid out of them to stand on my own two feet. I smoothed down the jacket, suspecting it was a lost cause. It was ripped and twisted beyond redemption by this point. It was one of my favorites too.

  My words had disturbed her more than I thought. “Is it true you were forced?”

  “Yup.” I drew the word out making it into three syllables.

  Her forehead wrinkled.

  “Anyways, he said something about you feeding me. Got any chocolate?” I’d been craving it since I woke up.

  “You must be joking.”

  “I never joke about chocolate.”

  Her lip curled in disgust. I’d take that as a no then. Too bad. It might have made this night a little better. If my entire life was going to be uprooted again, a little chocolate would have gone a long way.

  She regarded me as if I was a wayward pupil that needed to be given a certain amount of leeway. I’d been on the receiving end of that look on more than one occasion. I’d really thought I’d never have to be the recipient of it once I left school.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up and then fed.” She gave my clothes another look. “On second thought, perhaps we’ll feed you first.”

  I followed reluctantly, casting a quick glance back at the exit. She was too strong for me to go against her directly. I’d have to wait for a better moment. Best to play the docile yearling before making my move.

  The club’s non-public parts were much bigger than I’d ever expected. There was practically enough room for a second club behind the real one. I wasn’t the best at judging spatial areas, but I was pretty sure the outside size did not match up with the interior. How did they get all this extra space?

  There was a soft laugh beside me, and I realized I had said the last bit out loud.

  “You have a lot to learn, little sister,” the woman said with a smile. “Part of it is illusion, the other half is done with the help of a few spells.”

  I felt the urge to correct the woman. I wasn’t her sister and had no intention of toeing the vampire line, whatever that might be. But I would take every drop of information she imparted even if it meant letting her make certain assumptions.

  “What is your name?”

  Now that was going a bit far. I had no intention of giving these people my real name. It would be too easy to track me with it. There couldn’t be too many Aileen Travers in the city.

  I couldn’t entirely ignore her, not if I wanted her to keep talking and lower her guard.

  They used to call me The Animal when I played sports in high school because I was vicious and scrappy when I went after the ball. Somehow I didn’t think that name would work in these circumstances. Same with any of the nicknames I’d gathered in the military.

  I could see she was starting to get suspicious of my hesitation. Needed a name. Any name.

  “Lena,” I said, giving her a shy smile.

  It seemed like she bought it because she smiled back.

  “I’m Kat.”

  I hoped the name wasn’t too close to my real one. It was all I could think of on short notice. Jenna used to call me that when we were kids. I missed it. She hasn’t called me ‘Lena’ in years now.

  “How long have you been a vampire?”

  Truth or lie?

  “About two years.”

  This was a rare chance to get some good intel. I’d stick to the truth as much as possible.

  She stopped and stared at me in horror. I stopped too.

  “Impossible. Vampires have little discipline for nearly a decade after their turn. They require strict control and near constant oversight by a guardian. No newly turned could survive without leaving a massive trail of bodies behind them.”

  That did not do a lot to inspire my confidence. A shiver skated down my back. If what she said was true, I had posed a much bigger risk to those around me than
I had realized.

  She could be lying.

  “And yet I have managed to not kill a single person since my turn. Maybe those stories about the freshly turned are just exaggerations.”

  It was possible. I was proof you could do it without the oversight of a clan. Perhaps this was all I needed to convince them to let me go my own way.

  “They’re not stories,” she said with a distinct look in her eyes. Her eyes focused on me again. “We’ll make sure your luck holds. I’m glad you don’t have to live with the deaths of your loved ones on your hands.”

  Looked like they weren’t going to give up on this claiming so easily. It had been a long shot anyway.

  She opened the door we’d stopped in front of. The smell of warm, living blood wafted past me.

  Hungry. So hungry. Food. Need. Blood.

  A warm neck was in my mouth, my fangs posed to bite down. Distantly, I heard shouting and panic. It was hard to concentrate. The blood was so close, and it had been so long. All I had to do was bite down. It’d be like biting into a grape, a slight pop and then all the blood I wanted could be mine.

  My jaw ached with the need.

  No. I wouldn’t do this. Not this way. Not if I wanted to live with myself. Not if I ever wanted to go home to my family again. I do this and I was the vampires’. I’d turn myself over to them rather than risk going on a killing spree as the woman had hinted at.

  I forced myself to straighten. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Harder than that time I’d climbed a rope in basic with a broken, swollen hand. Harder than the twenty five mile ruck march I’d done in hundred degree heat.

  Peeling back one finger at a time, I eventually let go of my victim. Sweat beaded on my face. It took everything in me to step back.

  Only now did I realize it was a man’s neck I had been mouthing moments earlier. It was attached to an attractive body, muscled in all the right places, and a handsome face that currently looked terrified of me. His curly brown hair flopped over his ears. He was in his early twenties at the most. Probably a college kid looking for a good time who just stumbled into a situation way over his head.

  “Admirable restraint in one so young,” an amused voice said from my right.