Crimson Dawn

by Ronnie Massey

  Irulan purred and leaned over, slowing reaching for the floor, grinding her soft ass even further into me. My breath caught in my throat as she glided back up my body and turned to face me. "Do you like it?" she asked as she ran her nails down one of my arms.

  I gasped as my eyes blackened over and my fangs dropped. "Of course I like it, tell me what it is."

  Her hand sliding down my back and cupping one of my cheeks drew another gasp from me. Her other hand wound itself into my hair and pulled my head down towards the mound of her breast. "I'll tell you what," she said, "You tell me exactly where I put it, you can't miss one spot, and I'll tell you what it is.”

  Running a finger down the side of my face, she inadvertently reminded me of the slap she'd laid on me and drew me back to myself. "I'm bound to get whiplash from your mood changes woman,” I said as I pulled back from her cleavage. "One minute, you want to ring my neck, the next..."

  She cut me off by digging her nails into my back and dragging them down the skin exposed by my tank, effectively drawing a heated hiss from me. "We're past that, Valeria. If I didn't know you better I'd think you were too chicken shit to take me up on my offer.” If she thought I was too scared to take her up on her dare, she was dead wrong.

  I smiled, "Am I moving from head to toe or vice versa?"

  Irulan shrugged her shoulders, "Your pick."

  I inhaled sharply as I dipped my head close enough to run the edge of my fangs across the skin of her exposed breast. Whatever she had on assaulted my senses and sent a thundering wave of desire through my body. "Here," I said and she nodded yes. I ran my fangs along her skin to caress the skin on her neck, "Here.” Again, she nodded yes.

  The music changed again, this time to a bass pumping pop song that got the crowd around us moving in a fast-paced rhythm, but the tempo of our dance didn't. We moved against each other slowly, sliding along the other’s body so smoothly it was as if the desire that rode us was tangible as heated body oil. I traveled down her body, my fangs lightly scoring the skin on her stomach as I let my nose lead me to her navel. I said the word 'here' so softly I wasn't sure she'd heard me until she softly moaned the word ‘yes’.

  There was no telling how many other places I would have found because Priest chose that exact moment to tap me on the shoulder. I was upright in the blink of an eye, furious at him for the interruption. Then I remembered why we were in the club in the first place. I stepped away from Irulan and turned to give my full attention to Priest. For the first time since I'd met him I looked at Priest and saw his skin flush with color. He was either embarrassed, excited, or both.

  Priest smiled and looked at Irulan, then back to me. "I know I've been a little heavy handed with the lesbian jokes but I was seriously just fucking with you. Up until now, I honestly didn't believe it. Sorry about that, Trumaine, no straight woman could have put on the show you two just did.” He looked around in the pulsating lights, and his smile got broader, "I hated interrupting you two, since almost every guy in here is sporting wood now, but it can't be helped.”

  He jerked a thumb towards the bartender. "While you two got your swerve on I was doing some actual work. The bartender says Aurieux should show up very soon."

  "Aurieux,” I frowned. "That's a Creole surname. Our boy is Gullah, Priest."

  Priest lay a finger to the side of his head, "Duh, do you people really believe I lack any intelligence at all?" Before he continued, he shot me a look that dared me to answer his question. "Creole father, Gullah mother, he was raised here on one of the islands.” He looked back at the bar and noticed the bartender pointing in our direction while talking to a young, coffee-skinned man sporting a low-cut fade and a serious expression on his face. We'd just been made.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I heard the soft click of Priest’s fangs dropping into place, in the blink of an eye. All the playfulness dropped away leaving nothing but Sentinel. "How do you wanna play this, Trumaine?" he asked as he took in the lay of the club, no doubt scouting any possible exits just in case Aurieux decided to bolt.

  I thought about it for a moment, and then made my decision. "We'll send Irulan to the bar. If he reads her aura, hopefully, he'll think Elf, that's better than Vampire. If he's running with Tristan, he already knows the locals. We may spook him.” He huffed, and I shook my head. "Besides," I said, "All Irulan's weapons are concealed under her clothes. Remember what she said about sudden movements."

  I didn't need to look back at Irulan to know that she'd heard me. She immediately began making her way through the sea of bodies until she got to the bar and took a stool at the farthest end. Good girl, I thought, don't rush him, take your time.

  Priest and I watched her talk her way through a throng of men and women until she appeared at Aurieux's side and ran a hand down arm to get his attention. I thought it'd worked until Irulan got a glazed look on her face and our glamour broke. "Not good, Valeria," Priest muttered as we began shoving our way through the crowd to get to the bar.

  Aurieux turned and headed for the door, stopping long enough to whisper something to a bouncer and point back at us. Before we knew it, Shifters and Weres surrounded us. A wolf grabbed me from behind and attempted to put me in a full nelson while another foolishly leaned down to grab my legs. I get that the guys were just trying to do their job, but no way was I having it.

  I jerked forward as I rammed the hilt of my sword backwards into the throat of the wolf behind me hard enough to send him crashing to his knees and clutching his throat trying to breath. At the same time, I brought my elbow down across the back of the other's neck, catching him at the base, effectively knocking him out cold.

  I looked over at Priest and saw him toss a Pantera across the bar and into the bottles lining the wall behind it. We backed into each other, both of our faces gone feral, as we prepared for the next group. "While we're playing footsy with the locals, our boy is getting away, Valeria," Priest said hastily. Another wolf chose that moment to dive at me with his hands changed into a wicked set of claws.

  I sided stepped his advance at the last minute and caught him by the throat twisting him in the air and began to shake him like a rag doll. "Do you realize you're interfering with a CMS sanctioned hunt," I yelled before tossing him across the bar to join his buddy.

  Priest caught the fist of an Ursidae as he was trying to land a punch, but missed the other one. The bear landed a booming punch to Priest's chin sending an arch of blood spraying from his busted lip. Another blow sent Priest crashing to his knees snarling and cursing bloody murder. I wanted to help, but if I took over, it would be a blow to Priest's ego. Male Vampires are funny that way. The mountainous Ursidae drew his leg back and kicked forward, aiming for Priest's head.

  To hell with his ego! I gathered myself preparing to flash into the bear and knock him across the room, when Priest shot me a look that froze me in place. I instinctively reached out and felt the aura of another vamp somewhere in the building. I tried to scent his house, but there were too many bodies for me to ascertain anything.

  Shit! I had to let him handle this himself. If I intervened and word of it spread through the Vampire community, then he would lose all the respect that he had earned over the years. I watched helplessly as the bear's booted foot connected with Priest's jaw, sending Priest flying backwards onto his ass. The bear stepped up to Priest and raised his foot above his head. I closed my eyes. I couldn't watch.

  Instead of the crunch of broken bones I was expecting, I heard the loud roar of the Ursidae as he screamed in pain. My eyes snapped open to find Priest latched onto the bear’s leg drawing blood from his femoral artery as fast his heart could force it through his body. The Ursidae kicked at Priest frantically with his other foot, but it was no use. Once a made Vampire was in the midst of a feeding you might as well give it up. Short of killing him, the only thing that could break Priest's hold on that bear before he was ready was his sire, and he wasn't anywhere around.

  I felt the gaze of every eye in the club bear
ing down on us like a ton of bricks. The situation had gotten out of hand in a manner of moments. Another wolf charged in my direction. I easily sidestepped his advance, reached out, grabbed him around the neck, and hugged him close to my body with his back to me.

  "Call your boys off now or you're next on the menu, is that clear?” I looked back towards the bar and saw Irulan shaking her head as if she were trying to get rid of whatever spell Aurieux had used on her. It was about damn time. We needed the extra set of hands, so we could get after Aurieux, who already had an enormous head start on us. I turned my attention back to the choking wolf in my arm and realized that he couldn't speak because of my grip on him. I eased up my hold and allowed him to catch a few breaths of air before telling him again. "Call off your boys now or you're next. I won't repeat myself again. Am I clear, mutt?"

  The rattled wolf bristled at me calling him a mutt, but he nodded as best he could with my arm around his neck. The remainder of his mob warily backed away but kept their eyes locked on me the entire time. On the right of me, I heard the soft thud of a body hitting the floor and then Priest was at my side, his chin covered in the deep red of the bear's blood. To the left of me I heard the shuffle of clothing as the river of club-goers parted to let Irulan through. A quick peek out of the corner of my eye told me why they'd moved out of her way so quickly, her eyes blazed with power, and both hands lit up like Time Square.

  "Glamour them, Valeria, and let's get the hell out of here before I do something I'll regret later," she demanded when she'd reached my side. Glamour worked differently for Vampires. Reading minds is one thing, even projecting thoughts, but the ability to control thoughts and minds is something extremely difficult. Instead of causing others to believe that we have taken on a different appearance, as the Sidhe do, we control the mind and modify the memory of our prey. From what I understand, glamour worked the same way in ancient Vampires as it did Elves and the Sidhe but over time it adapted into what we're capable of now. The only Vampires that possess glamour abilities similar to the Sidhe, now, are the Incubi and Succubae.

  I looked out over the crowd and drew a deep breath. "I've never tried to glamour this many people at once. I'm not sure if I can do it."

  Irulan moved to stand in front of me, so she could look me in the eyes. "You drained four Deadborns today, Valeria. They may not have given you new abilities, but their blood definitely boosted the ones you already have. Now glamour these bastards so we can get out of here. That little shit Aurieux and I have business to attend to."

  I opened my shields and pushed my will out across the expanse of the nightclub, smiling inwardly when I felt the multitude of minds give way to my probing. I released my hold on the wolf and let him drop to the floor, so I could concentrate on the task-at-hand. I carefully removed the memories of Priest and me and replaced them with an unruly Were and a pissed-off Shifter. I couldn’t change too much, or I risked damaging their minds. When I was done with my tinkering, the three of us tore out of the front door in search of Aurieux. I tossed Irulan the keys and my phone. "Priest and I are faster on foot, you'll never be able to keep up with us. There's a tracking app on my phone, follow us in the car.”

  Irulan nodded and took off for the SUV, while Priest and I both took in a deep breath. Priest shook his head in frustration. "This is no damn good, and you know it. We’re right outside one of our clubs. I'm catching scents from at least thirteen different races."

  I took another deep breath and a broad smile graced my lips. "It's not impossible, Priest, you just have to know what you're looking for."

  I starting running, not bothering to look back because I knew that Priest was behind me. We were moving so fast that Priest had to shout to make himself heard over the roar of the wind. "How do you know we're on the right trail, Trumaine? I smell Gullah, but it's all over this city."

  "His smell is wrong, Priest, the difference is slight, but it's there," I said, pausing long enough to scent the air and confirm that we were going in the right direction. "After spending time with Sophie this morning, I know what Gullah are supposed to smell like.”

  I slowed down as we came upon an older section of town. The majestic houses had the look of the plantation homes of old, and they were nestled in groups of towering magnolia trees. The wrongness of Aurieux's scent hung so strongly in the air I felt as if it coated my tongue like a layer of slime. "He's close, Priest," I said as we came to a halt and looked around at the houses.

  "Can you tell the difference now?" I asked as I noticed some had smaller cottages off behind them that looked far older than the main houses.

  Priest nodded and looked around trying to pinpoint a source for the odor. "Yeah, I can tell now that we're knee-deep in the shit, but the scent is so strong, I can't follow any definite trail.”.

  "There are only six houses on the entire street. We can search them all if we have to," I said. "We take them together, flash in and out. If we run into problems with the owners, I'll glamour them.” Priest agreed, and we headed for the first house on the long, palm-lined drive. We searched two homes in a manner of minutes, and the only thing we came up with was a demented Chihuahua that tried to hump Priest's leg with such vigor that I wouldn't be surprised if Priest birthed a litter of puppies in a few months.

  When we got to the third house, we came up empty yet again, but this one had a cottage far off at the rear end of the property, so slipping into the densely packed foliage, and using the vegetation for cover, we made our way towards it. As soon as we got within twenty feet of the building, the front door opened with a bang and out strode Aurieux, full of confidence and completely nonplussed by the fact that two Vampires were bearing down on him with fury in their eyes.

  Aurieux looked from Priest to me, and then decided to give me his full attention. "Ya'll aren’t welcome here. Best you get off my property," he said as two more men joined him.

  I stepped forward relaxing my facial muscles and letting them return to normal while holding up my hand, so they could see my signet ring. "My name is Valeria Trumaine. I'm a Sentinel for the Charlotte, N.C. CMS. This is my partner, Jacob Priest. We need to speak with Eddie Aurieux."

  Aurieux patted his chest as he spoke, "I'm Eddie Aurieux, what business ya'll got with me in Charlotte? I ain't been there since I was a young'un."

  Priest shifted his foot to move forward, and Aurieux raised a hand, "Nah-uh, boy, just you stay right where you are. Come any closer and I'm gon' see exactly how resilient you Vampires really are."

  "I haven't been a boy in over two hundred years, and I'd be careful if I were you. The right person hears what you just said to me, they might take that as a threat against an officer's life." Priest gave him a smile that was all fangs.

  Aurieux smiled back, "I'm sure they would, 'cause 'das how I meant it." He motioned towards his two goons, "We don't recognize your laws, Vampire. So again, get off my property.” The air around us took on a metallic taste as it charged with Aurieux's energy.

  I drew both my blades and fell back into a defensive position. "We didn't come here for a fight. We just need to ask you some questions. If you choose to pursue this route, I promise you, you will die tonight.” I heard the sound of Priests' two Ruger GP 100s as he slid them from their holsters.

  Aurieux smiled, "What kinda question you got for me, woman, that brings you out to my house armed they way ya'll are."

  "Questions about the company you've been keeping lately.” The air prickled my skin as I talked. Aurieux wasn't about to back down. Regrettably, I knew that this was going to end in violence, one way, or another.

  "Why don't you just go ahead and say his name?" Aurieux taunted me. "We both know it's Tristan Meriwether you're here about."

  A low growl escaped from Priest. "Well, since you know so damn much, why don't you tell us where we can find Tristan, and we'll be on our way?"

  Aurieux laughed out loud this time. "Now why in the hell would I want to do that, huh? I'm sho' ya'll ain't here to chat with that 'ole boy, and I
can't have him getting killed on me until the two of us finish what we started."

  "The only thing Tristan is gonna help you with is meeting your maker a lot sooner than expected," I reasoned with him. I didn't want any more casualties while I was in Charleston. "Sophie said he promised you power. Don't you see you've got more power than he does already or he wouldn't need your help? Tristan is using you."

  Aurieux frowned and looked back at one of his companions before turning to speak. "Sophie Blackmon had no right bringing ya'll into clan affairs, that girl has no business leading us, but everyone too afraid of her hag grandma, Belisare. I ain't afraid to do what needs to be done for the good of us all! Someone has to before them others run our clan into the ground."

  Aurieux moved his hand ever so slightly. If my eyesight weren't as keen as it is, I would have missed it. The two men flanking him charged forward, one for each of us. Priest's revolvers sounded off, and the Gullah charging him fell backwards with two deep red rosettes of blood forming on his shirt. One wound was in his torso and the other directly over his heart. Both were kill shots. He should have been writhing on the ground in agony, but that wasn't the case. The man laughed and reached back over his head with both hands to propel himself upright again.