Into Death's Arms

by Mary Milligan

  Into Death’s Arms

  Into Death’s Arms by Mary Milligan

  Cover art by: Monte Siples

  Dedicated to Bug-Mom and Dad always thought you were Gods gift to them but I have always known the truth you are his gift to me.

  Disclaimer: this book is a work of fiction any resemblance to any persons, animals, places, or events is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  3

  Into Death’s Arms

  Chapter one

  Chapter two

  Chapter three

  Chapter four

  Chapter five

  Chapter six

  Chapter seven

  Chapter eight

  Chapter nine

  Chapter ten

  Chapter eleven

  Chapter twelve

  Chapter thirteen

  Chapter fourteen

  Chapter fifteen

  Chapter sixteen

  Chapter seventeen

  Chapter eighteen

  Chapter nineteen

  Epilogue

  3

  Into Death’s Arms

  Chapter 1

  “I’m going out Pop,” I yelled toward the kitchen. My voice echoed down the long hallway. My dad spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Admittedly, it was one of the biggest rooms in our house specifically for that reason. He liked to cook, which worked well for me because I liked to eat.

  “Whoa, it’s after dark,” he said as if I were still thirteen, not twenty.

  “Yep,” I threw on my black leather thighlength coat and shut the hall closet. It was mid-December and chilly in San Francisco. Okay, it was damn cold. This was my favorite coat because aside from being warm it hid all my essentials. You know my gun, my shoulder holster, and my two extra clips. The coat itself was Kevlar lined. Dad’s idea not mine. The Kevlar made it a little heavy, but the extra weight made it look way cool when I swung it just right. Just like in the movies.

  “How many clips you got on you?” and that was where our normal father-daughter relationship ended.

  “Three,” I answered slightly exasperated with the question I heard every day since I’d turned fifteen. Yeah, I’d been wandering San Fran with a Sig and at least three clips concealed on my person since my fifteenth birthday. He stepped out of the kitchen and wiped his enormous hands with a tiny frilly hand towel. The silly little thing was lace trimmed. It was almost as funny as the crisp white apron tied about his waist. The apron was not lace trimmed.

  My dad was a big guy. He was 6’5 and built like a mountain. He was all hard planes and rough edges. In the hallway, he looked like a giant lumbering through the house. I hadn’t switched on the light so he looked like some great hulking shadow-beast. He had the most vibrant green eyes I had ever seen in real life.

  He had straight red hair that fell to about mid-back. He was also a tattoo junkie.

  He had a tribal on either shoulder, an Iris in honor of my mother over his heart, an ornate cross spread the length of his back, and then of course there was the AoD tattoo. Let me explain, my dad was special not in the ‘I like to lick paint’ type special but in the ‘holy hell did that guy just decapitate a giant wolf with a claymore’ kind of special. He hunted Shadow-born, the nighttime creepy crawlies most of the world only dreamt about. He had sworn to defend humanity from those who would harm use their greater power to harm them. The tattoo that lay across his belly was a symbol of that vow. It is a sword flanked by angel wings. If he were an AoLi, it would be a tree of life flanked by angel wings. AoD was an acronym for Angel of Death. My father hunted the Shadow-born. AoLi was the acronym for Angel of Life. They didn’t hunt but healed the AoD when death itself had gotten too close. We weren’t really angelic; actually, the thought of being considered angelic made me chuckle. It was a title; it meant we just weren’t normal. Mostly human I guess we lived the same way, we loved the same way, we didn’t die so easily, but we could be killed. We didn’t get sick often, and for the most part, we healed up really fast when we were hurt; but we could be hurt just like a human. The truly great and terrifying part, came on our twenty-first birthday. On my next birthday, I would go through a sacred ritual called the Ascension; and if I survived the if part scared the hell out of me I would be either an AoLi like my mother or an AoD like my dad. With that title, I would gain power. I would gain new abilities, like the ability to heal. Oh, and I would live forever, provided I wasn’t torn into too many pieces or sustained more than one death blow at once. Or, God forbid, one of the monsters managed to behead me. I shuddered and dragged myself back to now.

  I thought all those tattoos were pretty, but I hadn’t gotten one of my own. I would soon. At least I hoped, because, if I didn’t, I’d be dead. I guessed I wouldn’t miss it much.

  My dad used to smile a lot. He hadn’t in a long time, but you could still see the vague smile lines he earned a long time ago. He had quit smiling about the time my mom had died. Sometimes I could coax a little grin but no one got the full out smile anymore. Sixteen years and he still grieved like the day she passed and he wondered why I wasn’t into anyone. I buttoned up the last few buttons on my coat and kept my eyes from him. As a single parent, dhe had an uncanny ability to see when I was up to no good or thinking about things that made me upset.

  He raised his left eyebrow, and for a moment, I wondered if he had figured out the direction my thoughts had taken. “Only three?” His tone firm as he placed one of his massive hands on the wall and leaned a little to the left as if he were trying to see through me or guess where I’d hidden them. Good, I thought I didn’t want to have the ‘I know it’s been hard being raised by a man talk’ again. Instead, he led into one of his favorite topics. He’s a firm believer in massive firepower. I understand this…

  I sighed heavily and patted my coat where I’d hidden my Sig. “Yeah, only three. If I find something that the first clip doesn’t take down. I am running like hell, three is sufficient,” I shrugged, making the edge of my coat brush the hallway wall. I wasn’t kidding, anything that could take a bullet and keep going wasn’t something I was going to stick around and fight. I was going to run from it. He shook his head; his big shoulders shook slightly I couldn’t see his face clearly in the semi-dark, but I knew he was laughing at me. I didn’t really care; I understood it. When you were the big bad hunter, you didn’t have to run. He didn’t ever run, but hey, I wasn’t like him yet running was still an option. The best option really.

  “Alright, but call in at Midnight. It’s…” he stood straighter as he spoke, pushing himself to his full height and authority.

  “Yeah,” I interrupted; I’d seen this show before. I worked really well on the PTA, and I was sure it scared the crap out of the Shadow-born. I was Caden Reece’s little girl, I wasn’t afraid of him. “I know,” I finished, the man was going to make me crazy someday. Really, he was extremely paranoid. I loved him anyway. “Love you,” I said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. The stubble from his beard scratched me. “Damn, shave once in awhile, Dad.” I patted his cheek and laughed as I walked out the front door. He rubbed his cheek where I’d pecked him.

  “Be careful,” he warned as he let me go. I could see the concern in his eyes. I was all he had left. Of course he worried. Sometimes, I wished he would find something other than me to occupy his time. His career wasn’t enough; like an inner city cop, it just made him more paranoid.

  Laurna, my best friend, was waiting in her brand new car. I didn’t know what it was, something sporty. Laurna would know, but it was important to her, it wasn’t to me. I knew her car was black, went fast, and cost more than the average American’s gross annual income. “So your dad’s okay with us going out tonight?” Her voice had an almost musical quality to it.
The car still had that new car and leather smell. I took a deep breath through my nose. She knew the answer was a big fat ‘NO,’ but at least he didn’t follow me anymore. I called the cops on him once, claimed he was a stalker. It was big fun until I got home that night. He didn’t think it was as funny as I had thought it was, and at the time, I’d still been a minor.

  I shrugged. Why answer a question she already knew the answer to? She laughed, put the black car into gear (hey, something else I knew it was a stick) and pulled away from my house.

  Her blond hair flew around her like a little tornado as we pulled out, and I was thankful for the ten-thousandth time that I had cut off most of mine. My hair was red, and most of it didn’t even reach my chin. I didn’t keep it long because it was too easy to grab onto. Laurna talked me into this cut. She’d explained the messy look is supposed to be sexy. I was just glad it didn’t have a lot of upkeep. I brushed it when I got up, put a dab of the funky styling product she’d bought into it, messed it up on purpose, and let it go. To my surprise, I loved that.

  Laurna and I had been friends since the second grade. A bully had been taking her and most of the other kid’s lunch money. He was a big kid, fifth grade if I remembered correctly, but I’d grown up with my dad and nobody knows how to fight dirty like an AoD’s little girl. I stuffed him into the trashcan and gave her back her cash. Afterward she had dragged me to her lunch table and introduced me to, well, everyone. It was the start of a firm friendship. I took care of her physically and she took care of me socially. Believe me, I needed it. Back then, she had been a pretty little thing. Now she was gorgeous. The kind of girl people took notice of. I thought it was a kind of curse. She couldn’t just go to the mall and pick something up without having to turn down several date offers. She could keep it. I didn’t want it. Okay maybe I did a little…

  I mean it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to have someone notice me, one really hot man just for me. Yeah, I could live with that.

  Her blond hair was naturally wavy; she used all kinds of product in it, and took something like an hour to perfect it every day.

  Her makeup was always in place and never looked like she put it on.

  Her fingernails were real. Who had real fingernails anymore? She always had them done up in a French manicure.

  Her figure was round in all the right places and flat in the correspondingly correct places.

  I was just flat everywhere. I had no butt and no chest. It was all the muscle, but hell, I was built tiny, wait the word is petite yeah, because I was 5’6” which wasn’t too small, but the rest of me was little.

  Laurna was 5’7” and was much more shapely than I was, we couldn’t share clothes. She always smelled like honeysuckle. It was some expensive perfume she preferred.

  I was lucky if I remember to sprits myself after a shower with the body spray she’d bought for me for my birthday one year. I usually smelled like deodorant, Dove original scent.

  She talked incessantly; I talked rarely, and it worked for both of us. The radio was blasting on her favorite channel and the rhythmic thrum covered up whatever she was rambling on about. At that moment, everything was perfect. The night air, the music, a friend that was more like a sister to me.

  I nodded like I knew what she was saying. She smiled at me because she knew I wasn’t really listening. I was like that with music I just got lost in the rhythm, pulled into the tempo, and all else was gone. She hit the radio button and I was plunged back into the vehicle with her. I looked sheepish. “What?” It was almost a complaint.

  She bit her lip, and I knew I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “I want to go to Deception.” Her face was full of hope.

  I didn’t want to go. However, I managed not to scream Hell No at her. It was a struggle. I took several deep breaths. Deception was a new nightclub and she knew it was a place I avoided. She didn’t know why, and I couldn’t tell her.

  I wasn’t even sure how that conversation would go. Me: “We can’t go there honey cuz it’s chock full of Vampires.” Her: “OoooKay. Somebody’s off her meds!”

  I must have made a face because she sighed. “Whatever. We can go somewhere else.” She was disappointed. I could hear it in her voice, and it was her birthday. It’s just bad karma to disappoint your best friend on her birthday.

  I started to nod before the words left my mouth. “Just this once,” I asked while rubbing the leather seats for comfort. Tactile comfort… I needed something solid beneath my hands were trembling pretty badly and I did not want her to see it.

  “Really,” her face lit up and I realized my discomfort would be worth it. Besides how could I say no? It was her twenty-first birthday, and if Deception was where she wanted to go, that’s where we would go. It’s okay, I reminded myself. I was armed to the teeth I reminded myself. I was the tough the daughter of an AoD and AoLi, Shadow-born didn’t scare me. I continued giving myself that pep talk. Even though I knew, it was bull. I was scared. Scared for me and scared for Laurna. She lived in a happy world where there weren’t really monsters hiding under her bed. She didn’t know the real world, but I did. I could protect us both; I took a deep breath, I hoped.

  She hit the radio button again, and we blasted toward Deception. I resisted the urge to shudder and pushed myself back into the soft leather seat, but my best friend was happy.

  When we pulled up in front of Deception, I grimaced I couldn’t help it. I mean really, how many Goth wanna be's could be trying to get into the same place at the same time? “This place is awesome,” Laurna said happily as she parked. Yeah awesome, just fricken fantastic, I thought. She practically skipped to the line. Yes, let’s frolic to the Vampire club, and later we can beg for our lives together. It’ll be fun! I thought bitterly.

  The big building was made of dark brick. To me, it looked like blood had seeped into the very foundation of the building. It lurked there in the dark as if it were crouched down, stalking the other taller brighter buildings around it. The neon sign with the word Deception printed in a gothic font sat on the front of the building, like bright glowing malignant eyes watching us in the night. Yeah, that pretty much summed up my feelings toward this place, and its owner, Dayton Tameron.

  We waited about fifteen minutes before one of the Bouncers noticed how gorgeous Laurna was, and how low cut the top she decided to wear that night was. She leaned toward him and licked her lips for good measure. I almost laughed. She could be such a tramp. She knew what she liked. Sometimes, I envied her. I mean most days I would give almost anything to be as confident, as sensual as she was, but I didn’t feel that way just then. The Bouncer smiled like she’d just promised to make his night. Hell, he could read her mind maybe she had. Ewe, I wanted to tell her the truth about him, but I knew it wasn’t allowed. I kept the secret. I always kept the secret. I didn’t always want to. Sometimes I felt just sick about it. He led us in. His lime green eyes didn’t waiver from her while he walked. Stalked. Lumbered. Lurked. Walked. Whatever. I took a deep calming breath. He was terrifying at 6’6”, he had to be 260 pounds of pure muscle. His brown hair was chopped in the front, and it hung down around his eyes and chin. It almost looked like he’d gotten board and hacked it off with a knife instead of going to see a professional. His face was all hard lines. I swear somebody could have chiseled him out of marble; his features were so sharp. Laurna smiled encouragingly at him. The only good thing about gigantor was how he smelled, Dolce and Gabbana mmm…I have to say I loved that stuff. The cedar type smell. Hell, I wasn’t just sniffing him was I? Ehh yeah, I was. Yuck, I felt sick, again. Oh yeah, he was a Vampire. As far as faults went, that one was huge.

  Laurna trailed her hand along his stomach, smiling like an angel, he growled kind of low while he asked for her phone number. He radiated menace. How she didn’t feel it, I’d never know.

  No sense of self-preservation, I guess.

  He was scaring the crap out of me, and she was eating it up. I know the whole dangerous thing is supposed to be hot, but the ‘
he’s probably considering where to hide her- body-thing’ just didn’t do it for me. She gave it up easy. Damn it, I’d have to get her phone and block him later. We went inside. At least he let us go without a struggle, apparently having her phone number was good enough for him. “He was cute,” she giggled at me.

  I gave her my (are you nuts?) face and said, “He was a little too serial killer just before a rampage for me but if you’re into that sort of thing, I guess, yeah, cute.” I shrugged my shoulders at her and rolled my eyes.

  As we went inside scary Vampire guy was temporarily forgotten, ah God, the music in the place I could have just lay down on the floor and floated away. Except eww have you ever seen the floor of a club when it was empty? So gross! The music thrummed through my senses I could feel it through the soles of my boots. Unfortunately, the room was also a cacophony of smells. Liquor, cologne, perfume, soap, leather, and the smell of too many people in one place filled the room like a tangible thing. You know normal for a nightclub. My sense of smell was sensitive. I didn’t like being in a crowd.

  Laurna must have seen the face I made because she hit me in the arm and stuck her tongue out at me. “Spoiled sport,” she accused. If only she knew. “I’m getting a drink,” she sang and waved her driver’s license because it now said she was old enough to drink. I looked down at the stupid under twenty-one bracelet they had made me wear. It sucked, mostly it sucked because she could buy drinks and I couldn’t, but what the hell in thirty years she would be settled with two point whatever it was kids in college, aging gracefully and I would still look like I was twenty-one so I guessed she could have the day. I smiled I couldn’t help it. She helped me feel alive, less scared. I spent too much time afraid. She was happy. When she was happy, I felt happy too. She got a drink and found some boy to dance with. He was normal I was good with that. I liked normal.

  I found someone normal to dance with too. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, which I liked, I’m not big into men who dress better than I do and it’s not hard to dress better than me. I worried that I would run into another one of the nightclubs less desirable denizens. The Shadow-born are kind of drawn to the Ao. It’s genetic, just like human’s are drawn to Vampires, the Vampires were drawn to us. The predator drew in the prey. Most of the time, I just thought of myself as a supernatural bug zapper, only my zap wasn’t so tough yet. I seriously couldn’t wait to turn up the voltage.