The Lion's Den (Knights of the Darkness Chronicles)

by D N Simmons

  “Hopefully once he’s done with him, he can handle them.”

  “We’re the diversionary tactic?” Adan asked.

  Xander nodded sadly. “Unfortunately, they are far too powerful for our presence to have much of a physical effect against them.”

  “All right, ‘diversionary tactic’ we are then. I can live with that.” Adan turned toward Xavier. The vampire seemed almost in a trance as he steered the car effortlessly through traffic. He looked out of the window and notice the cars were parting for them, he knew then that Xavier was manipulating the minds of te drivers, getting them out of their way. He thought that was very cool.

  ***

  Kysen stood in front of the main entrance having just imploded the door with the force of his thoughts, sending thick wooden splinters into the castle. He stepped inside, needing no invitation.

  Marcus entered the parlor, confronting him. “How rude. You know you could have knocked, I’ve been expecting you,” he said, looking at the splintered remains of his heavy oak door.

  “I’m not in the mood for false pleasantries, you have someone who belongs to me, and I’ve come to take him back,” Kysen said. He eyed the female known as Raven moving along the side of the wall, closer to him. “Don’t toy with me little girl; you’d be wise to stay where you are.”

  Raven hissed at him, baring her fangs. A low growl bubbled up from her throat as her nails turned into long claws.

  Kysen scoffed, but kept his eyes on Marcus.

  “You must be referring to Darian. I can see why you turned him; he’s magnificent. I must say I’m very upset with you. I was just getting ready to slide myself through those luscious lips of his when you interrupted me.” Marcus took another step closer.

  “I have neither the time nor the inclination to stand here and trade remarks with you. I want him and I intend to go through your mutilated corpse to attain who I came here to get.”

  Without another second wasted, Kysen made his move, traveling faster than Marcus had expected, appearing behind him. Sensing Kysen was near, Marcus moved, but not before the other vampire had a chance to cut a thin wound across his bared neck. Marcus flew upward, landing softly on the ceiling. He looked down at Kysen who was looking up at him. Marcus smelled blood before he knew it was his. He dabbed his neck, felt the wetness there and pulled his hand away. He stared, shocked, seeing his own blood on his fingers. He looked back at Kysen, unable to hide his amazement.

  “You’re faster than I expected. There are ways to deal with that.” Marcus growled low, baring his fangs at Kysen, who only stood there, his facial expression blank.

  Raven advanced on Kysen at the same time Marcus did, expecting to complete a duel attack. Kysen vanished, teleporting across the room. Marcus stopped himself before he collided with Raven. Alicia saw when Kysen rematerialized, so she lunged toward him. As Kysen felt her presence, he punched her, knocking her through one of the beautiful handcrafted floor length windows, shattering the glass. She landed hard on the moss-covered ground, skidding across the pavement.

  “Ah, too bad it’s not high noon,” Kysen quipped.

  “Enough of these games!” Marcus growled, his frustration mounting.

  “Now you’ve developed a distaste for games? I thought you were the ultimate gamer, as theay these days. Why, look at where your amusement has led us,” Kysen said, making a sweeping motion around the castle.

  Raven began to change, taking her strongest form. Alicia regrouped from the attack and came storming back into the house. Seeing Raven change, prompted her to do the same. Kysen looked at both females, not liking the fact that they were taking their strongest form. He could sense that he was stronger than Marcus, however, now he knew he would be taking a huge risk fighting all three at the same time. He smiled to himself, thinking about what his other companions said. So they were right after all. ... He needed them.

  “What are you smiling for? Do you think you can win this?” Marcus asked, snarling.

  “I’ve never been unsure of anything in my life, and I don’t plan to start doubting myself now. If you think you can take me, the three of you, then please do so,” Kysen stood his ground, hoping he could stall them long enough for the others to arrive to provide him with the distraction he was going to need to eliminate Marcus.

  The two women charged forward first, attacking from both sides. Kysen slashed his nails across Alicia’s throat, catching her by surprise. Blood gushed from the wound, splattering Kysen’s cream cashmere shirt. Raven tried to grab him from behind, but he moved, managing to avoid her hands, but inadvertently ending up in Marcus’ who was using the opportunity to get a hold of him. Raven slashed at Kysen, but he kicked her hard in her midsection, causing her to double over. His other hand gripped Marcus’ arms, stopping the vampire from breaking his neck. He could hear the seams of Marcus’ clothing coming apart and knew the other vampire was taking his strongest form, which might give him the advantage. Not in four thousand years has Kysen been forced to take that form. Like most vampires, he thought the form ghastly, void of beauty, purely demonic. However, now it was necessary that he change, it would be the dividing factor between life and death. Kysen forced his change, ripping out of his clothes in the process. His skin became darker, almost black and more leathery in appearance. Both of their hands grew wider, fingers elongating, as did their limbs. Muscles grew harder, more prominent under the skin. Both vampires stood together, taller, stronger and more hideous than they were only seconds ago.

  Marcus growled loudly as Kysen began prying his hands from around his neck. Both vampires looked up, surprised by the car that came plowing through the opposite set of floor length windows, sending glass and woodwork in all directions. Xavier steered the car toward Raven, who was healing Alicia. She dodged it easily, landing softly near the fireplace. Xavier slammed on the breaks as Elise, Xander and Adan climbed out. All three were already in their strongest form. Alicia charged forward, grabbing Adan by his mane, claws coming down to rip his head from his body. Xander stopped her, biting deeply into her flesh, which he rather would prefer not to have done due to the highly addictive taste of vampire blood, but he had no time to hesitate.

  Alicia hissed, jerking her arm away, slinging Xander across the room. Xavier took his strongest form as both he and Elise went for Raven. Marcus didn’t have time to worry about the other members of his coven as he fought with Kysen. The other vampire was stronger than he had anticipated and he was beginning to feel the tiniest inking of fear creeping into his mind. Never had he fought with one so powerful! Kysen flipped Marcus over, clawing at his chest, attempting trip the vampire’s heart from its cavity. More hissing, snarls and growls between the two men as they battled to the death. As Marcus twisted from Kysen’s grip, he flew upward, taking Kysen with him, slamming him hard against the ceiling. Plaster cracked and sprinkled to the ground. Marcus continued flying, dragging Kysen across the ceiling, crashing into the glass and chrome chandelier sending it smashing to the floor, glass shattering every which way.

  In mid air, Kysen flipped, pressing his feet to the ceiling he jumped off, slamming Marcus into the floor. The power of his force sent both men through the stones, into the basement level, their bodies crashing with a resounding thud as dust and debris clouded around them.

  Adan tried his best to take Alicia out, but he was no match for her. She pressed him against the wall, her hand locked around his throat, choking him. Xander was unconscious, his body lying half in and half out of the Anaconda Pavilion’s now shattered windshield where Raven had tossed him.

  Alicia changed back into her human form and began laughing. “You’re pathetic! I could kill you with one hand and I will. Why did you even bother coming?”

  Xavier saw what was happening to Adan, but he was unable to help. Raven held Elise up with one hand, while she pinned him to the floor with her foot. Raven decided to change back into her human form as well, believing the two she held captive were not a threat to her.

  “You came
for your man, didn’t you?” She asked Elise. “I’ll say this, he talks a lot of shit. But just so you know, later on tonight, once we’re done with you, I’m going to make sure he puts better use to that tongue of his.”

  Elise kept calm in spite of the anger she was feeling. She wanted to slow her circulation down. She pretended to lose consciousness from the strangulation, letting her limbs fall limp. When she heard Raven laugh and felt her grip loosen a bit, she lashed out, clawing out one of Raven’s flame red eyes. Raven screamed and tossed her away, sending Elise crashing into the car, knocking it onto its side. Elise changed back into her human form. She peeked over the car, seeing Raven staggering back, her hand clutching the now bleeding and empty socket.

  Elise stepped around the car. “I guess you’re looking for this,” she said, holding up the bloody eyeball, the nerve endings dangling from its end. She dropped the eyeball on the floor, squashing it with her foot. “Well, you can stop looking now.”

  Raven screamed in rage, she charged for Elise, but Xavier intercepted from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist, slowing her down, but not tackling her. Elise took that opportunity to try to get the upper hand. She ran forward, but was stopped by Alicia. The vampire’s hand punching through her back, shattering her spine, the vampire’s fist coming out through her stomach. Elise gasped and coughed. Blood poured out from her mouth as she stared down at the hand protruding from her torso. Alicia pulled her hand free, then tossed Elise to the side. Xander came to in time to see what had happened to Elise. He went to her aid, licking and soaking the wound with his saliva as fast as he could. He wanted to find Miranda as another born shifter’s blood of her own species would help her heal faster. However, he didn’t want to leave her in such a critical state. Alicia saw Xander leaning over Elise, and began walking toward him. Adan called out to her. She turned.

  “Yeah, you bitch!” Adan yelled across the room at Alicia. “I wasn’t finished with you.”

  She advanced on him as he darted around the room, trying unsuccessfully to widen the gap between them. Alicia grabbed him by his hair, pulling locks from their very roots. Pain shot across Adan’s scalp, but he refused to expose the vital areas he was protecting.

  Raven pried Xavier’s hands from her body, then whipped around in front of him. “You’ve been more than a pest! I’m going to enjoy killing you in front of your lover!” She punched Xavier several times, faster than he had time to react to. Within seconds, he was knocked unconscious. She threw his body to the side. Then went to see if Marcus needed her help. “Alicia, take care of them but don’t kill them. That’s for later. I’m going to Marcus!”

  “Don’t worry about me, just go!” Alicia responded, before returning her attentions back to Adan. “The only reason I’d let you live is to see if Marcus still wants you.”

  “I was his original target, don’t you think that still means something?”

  “We’ll see,” she said. “If nothing else, I’ll enjoy ripping your insides out inch by inch.” She punched Adan, knocking him dizzy. Before she could punch him again, Xander came up from behind, biting her shoulder. She hissed and clawed his face, ripping open his cheek. Xander’s bite was unrelenting and Alicia had to release Adan to pry the shifter off her shoulder.

  Much like Adan, Xander was protecting his vital areas, making sure Alicia couldn’t slice his throat even as her nails raked across his biceps and back, shredding his flesh, ripping chunks of skin away. Xavier came to as did Adan, and the two men converged on the vampire, hoping to keep her from killing Xander. They hoped their duel attack would at least buy them time.

  Raven made it to the level below, which was in shambles. Glass, plaster, shattered furniture and wood splinters were strewn about. She could hear the two vampires fighting in the next room and she ran in just in time to see Kysen slamming Marcus into a huge mirror. Jagged pieces of mirrored glass stabbed the vampire in his shoulder. Raven ran top speed toward Kysen, hoping to keep him from Marcus long enough for her Master to regroup. Kysen sensed her coming. He had long since grown agitated with her interference and was now better prepared to deal with her. As she drew nearer, he waited, for the right moment, never taking his eyes from Marcus, who was pulling large shards of glass from his wounded shoulder. When Raven was close enough for his attack, he lashed out. His claws ripped her throat open, splattering blood over them both. With a backward slash, he severed the remaining flesh ending with a clean decapitation. Marcus screamed in a cloud of rage as he rushed forward. Kysen twisted around, catching the vampire from behind. Without wasting another second now that the opportunity was present, he buried his fangs deeply into Marcus’ jugular, piercing his flesh. He drained the vampire quickly, feasting greedily, which healed his own wounds he’d acquired during their battle. Once Kysen had taken as much blood as he could hold, he changed back into his human form and leaned forward, toward Marcus’ ear.

  “Who’s pathetic now?” he asked. He slid his claws under Marcus’ chin then digging deeply, he punctured the flesh. With a quick jerk, he ripped the vampires head from his body, killing him instantly.

  “Nooo!” Alicia cried out, sensing her Master’s life instantly drain away. She turned, leaving Adan, in hopes that she could flee the room. Kysen intercepted her path, blocking her. His hand reached up, catching her by her throat.

  “Where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?” Kysen said. He growled at her, pulling rank, flashing three sets of fangs. two at the top, one set at the bottom.

  “Kill me, I don’t care!” Alicia managed to say through feeble gasps.

  “Just what I had in mind.” Kysen punched through her torso, impaling her on his forearm. In his hand, he held her heart, the bloody arteries still attached, dangling from their ventricles. Blood gushed up from Alicia’s mouth spilling forth, splashing his shoulder and chest. Her eyes bulged forward, shocked by her own death. Kysen pulled his hand free, dropping her body at the same time. He looked at her heart as he held it in his hands, then he turned toward Adan.

  “Hungry?” he asked, smiling.

  “She was your kill, not mine. Besides, I want no part of them,” Adan said, turning down the proffered meal. “Were you badly injured?”

  “Not critically, but yes. I’m completely healed now, so no need to worry about me,” Kysen said, tossing the heart to the floor. “My main concern is getting to Darian, he needs me now.” He knew the location of where the others were. Adan followed him to a huge solid sterling silver door.

  “Jesus!” Adan gasped, looking at the door.

  “I assure you, he had nothing to do with the construction of this door, carpenter, though he was,” Kysen joked as he turned the knob, breaking the lock. Before he opened the door, he turned toward Adan. “Let me go in alone.”

  Adan stepped back, nodding.

  Kysen entered the room, looking around. He saw Christopher naked and chained, fluids he knew all too well were dried on his flesh. He turned to the sound of his voice being called out.

  “Kysen, Darian’s hurt and for that matter, so are we, please get us down,” Sergio said, trying not to pass out from the intense pain the silver chains caused.

  Mentally, Kysen broke the locks on the chains, freeing the supernaturals. The four shifters of them fell to the ground, weak, exhausted, and still in pain as their flesh begin to heal. Sergio was the first to rise, followed by Miranda.

  “Thank you, Kysen,” Sergio said.

  “Your woman’s life is in danger, she may already be dead.”

  “What?!” Sergio looked at him. “Where is she?”

  Kysen told him how to get to her then watched as he and Miranda sped from the room.

  As Christopher was assisted by Adrian, he could feel sharp pains shoot through his stomach, causing him to double over. “God, I don’t think Ive ever been this hungry before,” he whined.

  Kysen looked at the two men. “He really needs to feed, he’s young. Your father is upstairs; he’s all right, although, badly injured as well,”
he told Adrian.

  “Thanks,” Adrian said as he walked past him, with Christopher. Gabriel followed the two men, nodding at Kysen as he passed by him.

  John looked at Kysen. “Do you need my help?”

  Kysen shook his head. “I’d like to be alone with Darian now.”

  John nodded and left the room. He had never seen Darian in that state. He, like the others, hated it. He respected his Master even more than before for what he had endured. He didn’t think it was possible for him to love Darian more than he had, but he did. As he made his way up the staircase toward the others, he gave thanks that he was still alive.

  Kysen watched John ascend the staircase then he closed the door. He looked down at Darian’s incapacitated form. “My, my, my, what a fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into, my love.” He began walking toward him, taking a seat on the cold stone floor beside him. He lay down, taking Darian into his arms. His eyebrows creased as he witnessed a violent hunger pang rack Darian’s body, causing him to whimper softly. The whites of Darian’s eyes showed beneath his half-closed lids.

  “Feed.” Kysen opened a vein in his wrist, pressing the bloody wound to his immortal child’s slightly parted mouth. Another violent spasm raced through Darian’s body, causing his back to arch as the first drop of blood hit his tongue.

  “That’s it, Darian. Drink!” Kysen urged.

  Darian’s pull was feeble at first, in spite of his raging hunger. The more blood he was able to bring into his being, the stronger his pull became. His limbs grew in strength and he took hold of Kysen’s wrist, at that point, Kysen pulled his wrist free, breaking Darian’s grip.

  “More!” Darian growled, fangs bared.

  “It’s coming, my love.”

  Kysen offered Darian his neck and without a second’s hesitation, Darian plunged forward, biting viciously into the pulsating vein protruding under his Master’s dark chocolate skin. Darian crushed Kysen under him as he fed ravenously, drawing the blood into him with a forcefulness that was painful to Kysen. There was no pleasure, no rapture. It was need, pure and simple, Darian’s need. Kysen only held his child as he fed, until the urgency of Darian feeding began to slow, becoming less painful. Kysen panted, feeling weaker the longer he was drained. A wave of nausea rippled through him and he swallowed hard, fighting it back, knowing it was an effect of the massive loss of blood and the speed in which it was drained. Finally, it was over. Both men released moans the moment they separated, Darian rolling onto his back beside his Master.