by Lucy Lyons
I glanced up a Simi and jerked my head toward the alley. With a nod, she slid into the shadows ahead of me and we moved between the buildings to the edge of where I’d been able to sense from our last location. Ahead of us was an art gallery. Inside was an unfamiliar power. I stopped abruptly and focused my psychic feelers on that one energy signature. It wasn’t vampire power; it was closer to Dominique’s, Sophia’s and mine. It was; for lack of a better description; ALIVE. The power hit me in hot waves like the sun on a summer’s day; too warm for the cold half-life of a vampire. I pressed my hand to the back of my neck and let my fingers cool against the fevered skin.
“Caroline?” Simi asked touching my wrist. She yanked her hand back and stared at it, “You’re burning up!” I touched my face; my fingers felt like ice on my skin. I drew my power back into myself and pushed a psychic shield into place. Then I took Simi’s hand and did the same for her. Her eyes widened but I didn’t speak until I knew we were both as protected from psychic attack as much as my power would allow.
“There is something in there with all those people; I’ve never felt anything like it. I’ve never read about anything like it,” I looked her in the eye. “I’m scared Simi, and I don’t admit to that easily.” Simi lifted her wrist to her mouth and repeated everything to Somayo and I felt a brush against my mind, like the caress of a worried parent to a sick child.
“Caroline. Stay where you are tiny huntress. I will come to you.” Nicholas’ voice was soft and pleading.
“Don’t come Nicholas. There are about to be a dozen hunters on site and not all of them will care if you get caught in the crosshairs.” I sensed disapproval from him, but I shut him out so I could focus on the power inside the art gallery now that I was shielded better from the back blow. I glanced at Simi. “We have to go in right now. If I can’t get closer, I can’t tell the hunters who to mark. Whoever it is isn’t a vampire, which means; we might not be able to tell him from the humans just by looking at him.”
“Caroline, do you sense only one or are there more of them?” Somayo asked; his voice tinny in the earpiece. I shrugged and looked at Simi helplessly before answering. “I think one, but I don’t want anyone making any assumptions that I’m right. Even if there is only one, there might be more nearby just out of my reach.” Simi nodded and gripped my shoulder.
“Sounds like any other hunt then. No worries.” She whispered.
“If you can’t even tell us how many there are, what good are you?” I heard David’s voice shrill in my ear. Simi rolled her eyes and shook her head, her forehead furrowed in a frown. She opened her mouth to speak but Somayo cut in first.
“I’d take her level head into battle before any of the hotheads we’ve got.” Somayo said in his usual diplomatic way. “Radio silence until Caroline paints a target.” The chatter ceased. Dominique appeared next to us, materializing out of the shadows of the alley like a ghost, “or a vampire,” I thought to myself. She held out a hand and I reluctantly handed over my Beretta and the holster. She raised an eyebrow and I pouted; then gave her the utility belt as well. The Glock in its shoulder holster was well hidden enough to leave; Simi kept all her weapons.
Apparently before the next hunt, I needed to get some tips on hiding my weapons better. Honestly; as short as I was and with a such a small frame, I liked having my weapons out where everyone could see them. I found it helped to dissuade people from escalating fights, which seemed to be more of a concern every day.
“Are you certain you want to be the one to go in there?” Dom asked me.
“You’re on the high council. I must protect you as much as we need to protect the people in that gallery. Do you have any idea what it is I felt?”
“I’m sorry Caroline, I truly don’t. I don’t want you going in there without another psychic. What if that power can find you the same way you found it?” I shook my head.
“You felt it, Dominique. It’s wild, there’s no conscious thought behind it. It’s like,” I paused, afraid of sounding stupid to my mentor.
“What?”
“Like a werewolf story,” I said, hunching my shoulders. “It sounds like, you know, ‘a werewolf in London or something’. But, werewolves aren’t real, are they?”
“Not in a long time they haven’t been. They were killed off before I was born; in a great war between shifters and vampires. That war is one of the reasons we don’t go to war with the vampires now. Complete genocide.” She met my eyes; I understood what was at stake. My part was to bring about a new peace, where warrants of execution were no longer executed at an every-increasing rate.
I rolled my shoulders and nodded my head to Simi. If we looked like a celebrity and her body guard; that’s how we were going in. That way if Simi was forced to draw her weapon no one would question it. In this city celebrity was worn as an accessory. It would be hours before anyone bothered to care that I wasn’t important. More likely; if I could pull off the minor glamour Dominique had been teaching me, everyone would be sure I had been important. The daughter or niece of some unnamed director, a hazy memory people would fill in however they chose to.
I strode to the door and the attendant asked for my invitation. I panicked for a moment, but Dom stepped up behind me and the man waved us through. I felt her power push at him and took a deep breath.
“Don’t panic; you can handle this,” she breathed into my ear.
“You need to go.”
“I have protection of my own, tiny huntress,” she mocked me as I glanced around me wildly. There in a corner; holding a glass of champagne in each hand was the pale perfection of Nicholas.
Chapter 7
His eyes glittered dangerously as he watched us walk towards him. I pressed my fingers against Simi’s wrist, increasing her shielding and felt his masculine laughter in my head. I knew that if he pushed hard enough there was nothing I could do to stop him. But now he knew I didn’t want him to go there and I expected him to respect my wishes if he didn’t want a bullet in his head.
Even wanting to go to him as badly as I did; I wouldn’t risk Simi for him. Loyalty was all I had anymore. Where his loyalty was, as far as I could tell; was with himself and his own kind. We met him in the corner and as Dominique freed up one of his hands; he managed to snag another glass for Simi.
“What are you doing here tonight, Lord D’Elbrecht?” Dominique asked, using the correct pronunciation of his title.
“I have always been a patron of the arts, Lady de Borgia. I must say, I would have dressed for the occasion had I known such beauty would be in attendance.” The sorceress rolled her eyes and scoffed. Simi looked at me in askance and I shrugged.
Nicholas had everyone else in the gallery outclassed and out-dressed. The true red of his duster accentuated the green in his onyx and emerald eyes. His skin, so pale it was almost translucent, seemed to glow under the gallery lights and his black hair was longer than I remembered, curling softly to his chest. I stifled the urge to reach out and run my fingers through it. I felt the heavy black silk in my hands from memory and my mouth went dry with need.
His eyes bored into mine and my heart raced as he closed the distance between us. His hand went to my hip and electricity shot through me; chasing the air from my lungs. I gulped and took a deep, measure breath, then another, to clear my head.
“Caroline, you look so beautiful tonight,” he murmured, his face close to mine. I laughed shakily.
“So do you, my lord.” I replied with a small bow. I took a step back from him and the room sprang into focus. “Stop it,” I chided him, but he felt my desire as much as my need to focus on the reason I’d brought the magical head of the council into a dangerous situation.
“Do what you do, huntresses,” he replied with a deep bow to Simi and me. “The mistress de Borgia and I can get reacquainted with our backs in this corner, away from the windows and the hunters gathered outside.” I checked the perimeter. He was right, they were waiting. From the anger being pushed back at me, patience was wanin
g. I fought the all-too-familiar pang of jealousy at the flash of victory in Dominique’s eyes as she slid closer to his side. They were lovers, once. We never had been. I had no claim to the master of the city. I needed to remember that not only now, but every minute from now going forward.
I sipped some champagne and handed him my glass, feigning disinterest. In reply; he slid his hand over mine, licking his lips as his touch electrified me. I huffed at him and he chuckled and bowed to me. Moving away from them; I stretched my fingers at my sides. Then I shook them out and relaxed them. I glanced at Simi; at her nod I moved through the room, my fingers barely touching the guests of the gallery as I moved among them. I set a pattern, but tried to make it look like I was randomly surveying art as I moved through the people, making my way toward the back of the exhibit.
“Do you get the impression I’m being tested by those two, or am I just being paranoid?” I asked Simi as we paused in front of a large painting of a naked woman reaching out toward a river from her perch on the bank. She tilted her head to one side, considering the painting.
“You are absolutely being tested, Caroline,” she replied. “Are you getting anything?” I nodded. There’s a man behind us. Long, blonde hair, stocky, but it’s muscle, not fat. Do you see him?” Simi turned and exchanged her empty glass of champagne for a full one.
“He just moved back toward the emergency exit. Are you calling it?” I shook my head.
“I’m not absolutely sure it’s him; the power has disappeared. I’ve been following a cooling trail since we started but there is something about him.” I pursed my lips. Tell them to be ready, then place yourself between him and the humans.” My whole body trembled. I’d never led a training exercise and now real lives were at stake. So I did the only thing I knew for sure would flush him out; I spun on my heel and raced toward him. I made it two steps before he pivoted and made a beeline for the emergency exit. Simi stayed behind him as I’d asked and I managed to reach the door at the same time as he did.
The air was pushed out of my lungs as he slammed into me and pushed his strange, wild energy through me. I was ready for it though; I met him with the full force of all the raw power I possessed. I had only done it once before and managed to almost topple an entire room of vampires. This time though, I knew what I was doing and pushed it with razor-precision into his face; forcing him to swallow it as surely as if I’d held his mouth open and poured it down his throat.
He dropped to a crouch and lashed out in a low kick; I side stepped it and slammed my palm into his face. Unfortunately, it brought me within reach of his much longer arms and he grabbed my throat; lifting as he stood. My feet dangled off the floor and I struggled against his strength as the edges of my sight blurred and greyed. I was losing consciousness quickly and stopped fighting his grasp. Instead I was pulling my energy together for one last push of power before he choked the life out of me.
Suddenly I was on my butt on the stone floor; Simi and the man were fighting in earnest. The crowd started to press forward; watching the fight. Instead of trying to press my power at the man; I focused on the group. I felt Dominique take over, as her power ran through mine; twisting with it, making it stronger. Nicholas added his and it braided; exponentially stronger than any of us on our own.
The result was that the entire patronage of the art exhibit; except for Nicholas, the stranger and us Venatores were catatonic. I turned my attention back to Simi and tossed my butterfly knife at her back, sending an image of it arcing through the air to her. She reached back and it fell into her palm with a satisfying slap; just like in practice.
She pulled her blade just as Nicholas and Dom reached us. The man glanced at us and backed away from Simi. I stood between him and the door, blocking his exit. He let out a deep breath and held his hands out in front of him. The air shifted around us. We were all at attention but we could feel the fight drain out of him. He was beaten.
I saw his eyes widen and a smile start to curve his lips an instant before the door swung inward, slamming into my body and threw me into Simi. The man took advantage of the moment and leaped higher than I’d ever seen anyone jump before, right over the open door. He disappeared into the darkness over David’s head; as David stared up gaping like a fish.
“Moron!” Simi yelled. She shoved me back and we pushed past him into the alley. Hunters were converging on us, but none of them had seen where he’d gone. David swore the man had been a vampire and had flown off.
“You colossal screw-up!” I yelled at him as I shoved through the hunters surrounding him. I slammed my fists into his chest. “We had him! We freaking had him and you set him free because you can’t follow bloody orders!” he threw me off him and I kicked out. He wasn’t expecting it and I connected with the side of his face, knocking him on his ass.
“Caroline!” I heard the disappointment in Somayo’s voice and backed away with my chest heaving.
“He didn’t fly Somayo; he jumped. He jumped like an animal gathering up his hindquarters and leaping over David who decided to be helpful and open the door for him.” I paced as David got back on his feet, rubbing his jaw and glaring at me.
“So you say.” Simi grabbed my shoulder before I could attack him again.
“How many times are you going to screw yourself and everyone else around you before you take responsibility for your actions, David?” I turned to Somayo and Vladikk; working to control my breathing and speak normally. The Viking giant watched me carefully but didn’t seem angry yet. “He was incredibly powerful. I think he would’ve fought Simi to the death if he wasn’t outnumbered. He wasn’t a vampire; his power was not death. It was alive,” I craned my neck to meet the hunter’s eyes. “His power was life.” Vladikk looked over my shoulder at David.
“What do you mean, his power was alive?” His words were measured, and I felt like I was only seeing half of what was happening around me.
“I got a fever from his power brushing against mine. When a vampire does that it feels cold. It feels like I’m dying. This felt like I was going to burst out of my skin.”
“Like something else was going to come out of your skin.” He made it a statement, but I nodded in response. He glanced at Somayo. “Well, this is something.” He scowled at me with his face furrowed in a thoughtful frown. “The warrant stands until we have proof. You’d better warn your vampire lover to stay away if he wants to live.”
“I’m sure the master of the city heard you perfectly,” I replied coldly, looking over his shoulder. Nicholas stood holding a hunter pressed against his chest. His face was neutral but I knew Nicholas well enough to know that look was his mask. There was no telling what he was really thinking or feeling. I pressed against his mind with my power and he batted me away; flicking me off him like a flea.
I growled my disapproval and his face registered surprise just before mine did. Somayo looked at me and I quailed and dropped my shoulders and tilted my head to the side; meeting his eyes with a sideways glance.
“Caroline, are you okay?” Somayo asked. I whimpered and pressed my fingers to my pulse. It was racing faster than I’d ever thought it could and my skin was hot to the touch.
“I’m not sure, sir.” I answered. “I feel strange. Like I can’t get all his power off me. It’s sticky and it clings to me like bubblegum in my hair.” I laughed shakily. “I… am so… angry.” I panted. “I don’t feel quite in control.”
It was Vladikk who stepped up and pressed his wide mouth against my forehead. I heard Nicholas make an animal sound; warning him off me, but the hunter ignored it. He pried my eye open and a light was flashed in it, blinding me.
“You get bitten while fighting little one?” he asked very close to my ear. Even as I fought the rage that was slowly winning the fight to control my body; I understood he was trying to protect me from his own hunters.
“No. This is different. It’s not in my body I feel it; it’s in my head.” I trembled; icy cold and burning up at the same time. “What’s happening
to me?” Vladikk nodded.
“Master of the city, I offer you a trade. You take this sorceress and leave my hunter untouched.” Somayo started to argue, but Vladikk raised a hand and cut him off. “This is my hunt, Moor. The vampire takes this one as his hostage. We will retrieve her when we deliver our warrant, dead or alive.”
In a flash, Nicholas held me in his arms and we were blocks away from the art gallery and the hunters. In his arms, I felt the heat and rage dissipate; retreating from the cold of the vampire’s power. It didn’t leave. It coiled inside of me, a venomous snake in my gut; waiting for the cold to recede before it struck again.
“What do you feel?” Nicholas asked as he sat me down on a park bench next to him.
“Do you mean, how do I feel?” I clarified, confused. He stared me down and I sighed.
“I feel it inside me; waiting for you to go away. Whatever it is, it’s afraid of you. But, it’s attached itself to me. I don’t think I can fight it off.” Nicholas pressed his fingers to my forehead, then placed them on both temples.