Into Death's Arms

by Mary Milligan

  “No, not until yesterday,” I hiccupped. Laurna nodded as well.

  She smiled; it lit up the whole room. “So brave,” she said. “To face all of this alone,” she waved an elegant hand as if to encompass the entire world. She opened a small bag she had brought into the room with her. “I often told your father I thought he did you no favors raising you away from the others.” Her lips pressed together in an agitated expression. “I think I was wrong. No one has ever stood up for me as your young friend did for you today. And, you have something none of the rest of us has a true understanding of humans. I protect them because I was trained to.” She frowned marring the perfection of her brow for a time, “but I don’t really understand them. I don’t really care what happens to them. I think it will give you an edge.” She smiled again and began to apply cosmetics to my face.

  I had to ask. “Were you afraid?” I sounded hopeful. I hated that in my voice to sound weak before a stranger, but I couldn’t help it. You really don’t contemplate the things you are going to miss until there is a chance you won’t have them anymore. Laurna’s laugh, my dad’s constant nagging that said more than anything did how much he loved me. The way the air smelled in the winter crisp and clean. There was so much I was going to miss.

  She nodded, “terrified,” she said in a conspiratorial tone. “Furthermore I know for a fact Caden was terrified as well. He tried to run away. Iris told me,” she winked making herself seem much more reachable she probably wouldn’t thank me for the comparison but she seemed more human.

  I gasped. My father running away, “no way,” I said shocked to my socks. He was the epitome of masculine bravery well unless I was involved then he was kinda a chicken but scared of death? Not my dad, she nodded.

  “We are ready now.” She piled all the makeup she’d used on me back into her little bag, took Laurna’s hand, and led her from the room. “We will wait for you out back.”

  I looked at myself in the mirror. Not bad, all my red hair was piled on top of my head, pinned into place with invisible hairpins. I don’t know how she made it stay like that. Heck, I didn’t even know I had enough hair to make it do that. I couldn’t see the makeup Deanna had applied, but I knew it was there because I had never looked better. My eyes looked like ferns on the edge of the lake.

  I had to find out how she did that. The dress barely covered all my parts. My belly, my back, and my arms were bare. Boy was I glad I had a flat tummy. I took a deep breath. I think I can. It was okay. My dad had been scared, and Deanna had been scared. Being scared didn’t make me weak, it made me normal. I smiled at that. I’d never thought of myself as normal before. I spied my gift from Laurna lying on the bed, unopened forgotten. I peeled back the paper. Inside lay a wooden case, I frowned, opened the case, and caught my breath. The sword that lay within the case was a work of art, totally exquisite. I picked it up, testing the weight. I swung it a couple of times experimentally. It was short and almost rectangular, a gladius, the sword the Roman’s had used. I liked the way the Roman’s fought. Laurna and I had argued the merits of Roman blade work over more modern blades many a time. Usually in the middle of history class just to annoy our professors. My dad believed I could do this. Laurna obviously believed I could do this. My confidence grew. I put the blade back in the case, closed it gently, and left my room.

  Chapter 5

  My back yard was lovely. Of course in San Mateo, you have to fork out a lot of cash to have any kind of yard. Sunlight glinted off the pond. I was freezing. I shivered as I watched them standing together. Everyone waited for me, far enough away to be out of the shade of the house. No shadows could touch my body while we performed the ritual. Redwoods framed them in the background, squirles chirped their annoyance as leaves skittered across the lawn. A humming bird flitted past me and for a moment time stood still. Laurna looked worried, but she was the only one. Deanna and my dad smiled benevolently. Both looking peaceful and content. I was happy somebody felt peaceful. A space had been cleared of trees, shrubs, and anything else that might interfere. Father Mike stepped forward. He was in his full priestly garb and held an air of authority. He carried with him an air of power that I would never have suspected. His confidence helped me to gain back a measure of my own. “Macyn Devlyn Reece, come forward.” He held out his hands. He wore black and white, a man of the cloth. My father wore black. Deanna wore white. Death and life. Laurna wore white. Once white had been the color of mourning. We still use it but I didn’t tell Laurna. I should have. I was wearing white. It was supposed to symbolize my leaving this life for the new one I was about to embark on. Like a wedding dress, I suppose, but the last time I’d worn a white dress had been to my mother’s funeral. That was not helping my confidence.

  I stepped forward, walking barefoot in the grass. God, how I loved walking barefoot in the grass, the cool feel sliding between my toes, the soft blades tickling my feet as I took the next step, the sweet smell that enveloped me with each step. I hoped fervently this wouldn’t be the last time I ever got to do so.

  I loved the way the sun felt on my skin. I took another deep breath. I loved the pride in my father’s eyes and the way he always supported me even when I was wrong. I loved Laurna for her straight laced demeanor and her stiff sense of humor. I just had one more thing to take care of in case I didn’t survive. “Father,” I knelt before Father Mike, “I owe you an apology. No matter how I felt, I should not have spoken to you as I did. It was disrespectful.” There I had said it. I had admitted I was wrong. If I died, I could do it with a clean conscious. I didn’t like it, but it was said.

  He smiled lighting up that little grey face with a kind of inner joy. I felt it all the way to my toes. “You are Caden’s daughter, aren’t you?” He took my hands. His hands were smooth, the hands of a scholar. I nodded. He said the words I’d been hoping for, “I forgive you. Step into the light child.” I did as I was told. My skin heated. “Today, we offer up this daughter unto you. It is our hope that she will serve you well. As all Ao have served over the years. Are you ready to accept the light into your heart child?”

  I took one more deep breath. I still wasn’t sure I was worthy, but looking into Father Mike’s eyes left me with but one answer. “Yes, I am.” My voice sounded over loud in the silence of the yard. I wondered what would happen, what would it feel like? And then it happened. The light burned through me. My organs burned. My skin was on fire. It tightened. I felt like someone had pulled a latex suit on over my entire body. Oh God, how could anyone survive this? I was wrong. I wasn’t worthy.

  I tasted blood in my mouth I and I choked on it.

  I felt my eyeballs melting. I smelled burning flesh and tried not to retch. I was able to answer the age-old question is it possible for your hair to hurt? Yes, it is! I opened my mouth to scream and felt fire burn my tongue and teeth. I screamed anyway. I actually felt the moment my organs liquefied. I felt it shoot through my body, and then like a flash bulb going off my brain was scorched. I saw my mom, my dad, Laurna, and Dayton Tameron, weird that he was the last person I thought about before consciousness left me.

  I came to, to the sound of Laurna crying. That and the soft hum of a tattoo needle. Did I mention that we get tattooed when we ascended? Yeah, that didn’t hurt though. The thing that happened before, that had hurt. Now I just ached everywhere. There was no room for any more pain. Someone could have put a pickaxe through my skull at that point, and I wouldn’t have felt it. Deanna smiled that serene smile at me again. I was beginning to hate that smile. I wondered if she looked like me when she had ascended or if she smiled that peaceful fucking smile and kept going. “Someone is conscious.”

  “Is it done,” I croaked. Was that my voice? I sounded awful, really awful. Like I’d drunk acid. I still smelled burning flesh and blood like my nose was full of it.

  My father leaned down close to my face so I could see him. My vision was all blurry. “All except for the tattoo AoD.” His eyes glowed with pride. I felt tears start to run down my face. Ao
D, like my father, I was an Angel of Death. I had kind of known I wouldn’t be an AoLi, an Angel of Life. I wasn’t nice enough to be a healer, but it would have been my luck to find myself in a role I was unsuited for. Father Mike was tattooing the ancient symbol for the AoD into my stomach. With angel wings and a sword all in sharp angles, it was almost tribal looking. Human’s now days never looked twice at the symbol, except maybe to exclaim, “Nice tat.” Being tattooed was so commonplace now.

  Laurna was still sobbing softly. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear her. She was such a softy. She’d make a hell of an AoLi if she had the blood. “Tell Laurna it’s not so bad.” My voice rough like I’d swallowed an entire quarry of gravel. Everything still hurt, and as I slid back into unconsciousness, I felt like I could fly. I was an AoD.

  I woke later in my own bed and only had one thought: ow, ow, ow, I hurt. “You look like shit,” I heard a soft voice nearby and smelled Laurna’s honeysuckle perfume. It was funny. I knew she was upset. She was swearing at me, again.

  “Yeah,” I said. “How about we throw you on the barbeque grill and see how you look after?” I asked, but I was smiling.

  Laurna took my hand very gently. She was afraid to hurt me. She really didn’t need to worry everything hurt anyway. “Nah, my dad worries enough about the tanning service I use,” she said sarcastically. We both laughed. That hurt too. “I like the new ink by the way.” She ran her hand over my abdomen. I ground my teeth together and managed not to scream bloody murder, but it was a challenge.

  “That hurts,” I growled at her.

  She snatched her hand back but laughed even harder. “You sounded like your dad.” I still couldn’t see, but she quit touching me, so I was okay. “Father Micheal says you’ll be kind of grumpy for a couple days. I told him that was normal.” She giggled at me. It was normal. I was a grumpy person. “Of course, if I got my insides fried, I’d feel grumpy for a couple of days, so I forgive you in advance. But, I’ve got to go home.” She looked at her watch. “It’s past ten, and I have class tomorrow. I’ll stop by your classes and pick up your stuff. I am all prepared to cry at your professors and tell them how you were in this terrible accident involving a Mac truck, and I don’t know I didn’t know when I would recover.” I heard her move toward the door. She was so great.

  I sighed, I hadn’t even thought about my classes. “Thanks. I really appreciate it, and I really like my present.” I meant it, I did. She was the best.

  She nodded and left. I heard her phone ring before she left the house. I heard her out front. Go super hearing! “No. I’m on my way home. Yes, okay.” The car door slammed. Well darn. Apparently, I couldn’t hear through car doors but hey no wonder my dad had always known what I was up to when I was little.

  Speaking of the devil, he came in with a smoothie. Have I mentioned I love my dad? “Hey AoD,” he whispered, but I could hear the wealth of emotion behind those simple words. He handed over the smoothie. Strawberry mmm, I love strawberries, and right now smoothies sounded fantastic. “Hard food isn’t possible tonight, but tomorrow night you’ll be right as rain.” He sat in the chair Laurna had vacated. It creaked under his weight. The smoothie slid down my throat, icing all those hot hurting places.

  We sat together for a bit in silence. I was working on my nerve. I didn’t really know what he was thinking. Finally, curiosity won out…

  “I have some questions,” I said evenly. I was sounding much better and my throat didn’t feel like I’d eaten glass when I talked. See smoothie good.

  He nodded, and I knew he was expecting AoD type questions. Boy was he in for it. “What did Tameron mean when he said you were damned over a child?” I took another sip of my smoothie. Dad blinked about six times. He wasn’t expecting that at all.

  Then he shook his head. “We’re not going there. What else?” His voice was hard. He really didn’t want to answer me.

  I smiled, can’t hide from me damn it. “What kind of punishment will Deanna and Father Mike get if they are caught disobeying the council?”

  “You got any questions I’m willing to answer?” he asked still using that even tone. I hate that even tone. I wanted him to get upset. I wanted answers. I felt like I deserved them. Apparently he didn’t.

  I thought about it for a minute. “When did Tameron almost kill you?” It seemed I had Tameron on the brain these days.

  He sighed. “The second time?” He asked in return.

  “Sure the second time,” I said softly. At least he was willing to answer that one.

  “I decided to hunt him about ten years before I met your mother. He handed me my ass but didn’t kill me. I still don’t know why. I would have finished him had our positions been reversed.” I knew there was a whole lot he wasn’t telling me about this situation, but he seemed honestly baffled, so I left it alone.

  “And the first time?” I gasped out.

  He shook his head. “I’m not discussing it with you baby,” he said and did something he hasn’t done in years. He kissed me on the forehead and left the room. He flipped the light switch as he went out the door, leaving me in the dark. I wanted to yell, carry on, something, but I was pretty sure my sore throat wasn’t going to have it so I didn’t. I tried to get up and go after him, but my legs still weren’t cooperating. I did the only thing I had left to me. I went to sleep.

  I’ve always had pretty vivid dreams, but lately they’ve been downright realistic. Sometimes I wish I didn’t dream at all. This time I saw Bouncer-Vamp. He opened the front door to his high-rent apartment. He smiled a radiant smile. “I was not sure you would come.” His deep voice sounded unsure.

  Laurna stepped through the doorway. My heart hammered in my chest. “I told you I had some things to do first,” she said softly. He slid her coat from her shoulders and hung it on a coat rack near the door. Who had coat racks anymore? I thought irritably. She eyed him and bit her glossy lower lip. He was wearing faded blue jeans, and a black dress shirt, unbuttoned to show a good expanse of his well-muscled chest. He looked like he could bench press cars. Oh God, Laurna was not ogling Vampires. I was not ogling Vampires.

  He was barefooted. They were staying in? Shoeless meant staying in, didn’t it? I fought to squelch the panic I felt.

  He stepped back again. It almost looked like a nervous gesture; Vamps didn’t get nervous, did they? This was just too much. “I cooked,” he said softly and tilted his head toward the kitchen.

  Laurna smiled. “For me?”

  He laughed, showing very white teeth. “I ate earlier, so it is not for me.” He held out a hand toward her. His hands were massive. They had to be the biggest set of hands I’d ever seen.

  She took his hand and looked up into his lime-colored eyes. Then she touched his cheek. “You don’t have to put this on for me you know,” she whispered.

  He ran his free hand through his collar-length brown hair. It was wet as if he’d just stepped from the shower. “Are you sure? I know it this not what you are used to.” He had that unsure look again. I almost felt bad for him being so self-conscious. I could identify with that. Wait, did I just say I could identify with a Vamp? I was going nuts. That was it. I was going plain out crazy.

  “Yes. I’m sure,” she sighed still looking into his eyes. He dropped his human suit. I choked down a scream. His eyes glowed neon as he gazed down at my best friend and he looked hungry. My heart thundered. She seemed to be having the same problem but not in the same way I was. She looked back up at him, and she looked hungry too.

  His fangs were pressed against his lower lip. He dragged her closer to his body. “Laurna,” he breathed reverently like a prayer.

  “Yes,” she sighed again. They were not going to kiss. My oh so normal best friend would never kiss a monster. He leaned down and took her mouth with his. He kissed her hungrily. You know the kind of kiss that you see people indulge in and you just have to turn away because it’s just to intimate to view? She slid a hand into his hair, clenching him to her. He withdrew from her and she
pulled him back. “More,” she hissed.

  He pulled back. Thank God. “My love.” Oh no, there was no my love. He was a Vampire. They did not love humans; they ate humans. “Your food is getting cold. You need to eat.” He looked concerned. This had to be the craziest dream ever. Vampires concerned over whether or not their victims had taken time to eat. Yeah, I had lost it.

  Laurna looked up at him through her blond lashes. “Do you have a microwave?” She reached for the first buttoned button on his shirt. His response was completely nonverbal. He nodded his head like a bobble head doll. She unbuttoned another button. “I’ll heat it up,” her voice was breathy like she’d been running a marathon. No, no, no, my mind screamed. This was so not happening.

  She unbuttoned the last button and ran her hand down his smooth chest. All the while, she was looking up at him with those hungry eyes. He ripped the shirt from his body. “I like that,” he said as he slid his massive arms around her again and buried his face in her throat. She moaned in complete abandon. He was biting her, taking her blood. She was going to die!

  I woke screaming. My limbs were still uncooperative. I managed to grab my cell phone. I dialed her number and got the generic this number is no longer in service message! No! I struggled to breath. I hung up and stared blankly at the phone. I had a text message. I clicked it out of habit. It was a phone number. I dialed. It rang. “Laurna,” came a voice from the other side.