Christa leant over the railings just in time to see Bredia’s face disappear beneath the surface of a water coloured by sporadic blooms of spent jinn blood. As she sank, her eyes remained open, her gaze fixed on the darkening sky and the London skyline overhead.
Epilogue
Once, the vampire Dylan had feared nothing and no one. He’d rampaged throughout the world on a seemingly never ending quest to fill his eternal years with the finest, most outrageous extravagances; with exquisite, soft-limbed young women and copious amounts of rich, vibrating blood. But now he was a father, and such hedonism was often impossible.
Christa had given birth to his daughter on a clouded Thursday evening, mere days after Bredia’s bloody demise. They named her Kelena, in memory of the fae who had given her life to stop the jinn. Dylan had barely been able to put her down. She looked like her father, with huge, mesmeric azure eyes and a thick shock of black hair, but smiled easily like her mother.
For two months they had lived like some strange, modern family with a blood-drinking aunt and uncle and various visiting fae godparents, in a small cottage in the emerald fields of Kent. It was idyllic and surreal, but Christa and Dylan knew their time there was limited. The jinn who had escaped the battle in London were grief-stricken and furious, intent on finding the witch who had slain their goddess and exacting some terrible revenge. The new parents tried to put this knowledge to the back of their minds as they cared for their baby, taking it in turns to feed her in a tall, leather backed chair before the open fireplace; yet the nagging fear and doubt, the uncertainty about their future was never far from their thoughts.
Winter had begun to bite the day that Christa called Dylan to her side, stripping the trees of their leaves and snaking insidious flurries of cold wind beneath the creaking doors of the cottage. “We need to talk,” she said, her voice small and tired.
Dylan put down the book he was reading and walked to the fireplace, stopping before the leather rocking chair where Christa sat, a sleeping Kelena tight in her arms. “What about?”
“You know what about.”
Dylan hung his head, nodding his understanding. He crossed the small room again to retrieve a chair from the kitchen and returned to place it before the fire. “You’ve been talking to Ramon,” he surmised. He sat down but was unable to relax, leaning forward with his hands on his knees.
“He said the jinn are getting closer. Virikay found two of them sniffing around near here, asking questions about us.”
“Let them find us,” Dylan said. “You still have most of your powers, don’t you? If you can turn Bredia’s mind to mush I’m sure you’ll have no trouble dealing with a few jinn.”
“Yes, but what happens when my powers disappear? They were supposed to be temporary. Ramon said he’s surprised they’ve lasted this long.”
“Ramon doesn’t know everything. It’s not as if this sort of thing is well tested, you’re the only Deiwo they’ve ever had. I still think if you haven’t lost your powers by now, you’re not going to. You’ll still be slipping inside peoples’ heads when you’re eighty, getting yourself a free cruise or cheating at bingo.”
Christa smiled but her eyes remained dark, misted with barely suppressed tears. “Well, whether I keep my powers or not," she said, "the jinn are never going to leave me alone. They’re scattered now, leaderless. The only thing that connects them is their hatred of me.” She paused before continuing, drawing in a long, shuddering breath. “As long as Kelena stays with us, she’ll be in danger. I can’t live like that.”
“What are you trying to say, Christa?” Dylan knew exactly what she was trying to say but he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe that this happy home, a home he thought he’d never wanted but now cherished, was about to come to an abrupt end.
“I’m trying to say I think Kelena should be taken away from here, somewhere safe.”
“Somewhere away from us?”
Christa was unable to answer. She turned her face away from him, the bitter tears she’d been holding in for hours finally unleashed.
“You can’t do that,” Dylan said, his voice rising. “You can’t leave her, you’re her mother for Christ’s sake.”
“I’m not doing this on a whim,” Christa cried, her face reddening. “It’s all I’ve been able to think about for weeks. I love Kelena more than I thought I could love another person, but if we keep her we're just being selfish, don’t you see? We'd be placing her in danger because we couldn’t bear to be parted from her. Ramon said the fae would be happy to look after her. She'd be safe in the Inbetween. The jinn won't even be searching for her, they never realised I was pregnant.”
Dylan sat back in his chair, feeling as if all the air had drained from his lungs. When the front door opened and slammed shut behind him he whirled around in a fury, angry at the interruption. “Great timing, Darrell,” he snarled.
Darrell paused and stared at them both in confusion, a bulging bag of groceries in each hand. “What's going on? Have you two had a fight?” Then, realisation dawning on his face, “Oh, you’ve told him then.”
“What?” Dylan roared, jumping to his feet. Darrell sank back against the door as the vampire advanced towards him, teeth bared, ebony hair lit red and gold in the light of the fire. “So you and Christa have been plotting behind my back, making plans without me? How dare you. I’m Kelena’s father, not you.”
“Calm down,” Christa said. “It’s not Darrell’s fault, I asked him not to tell you. I wanted to be completely sure about this before I talked to you about it.”
Kelena woke with a start and began to howl, her legs kicking in the air and her hands balled into tiny fists.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Dylan said to Darrell. He walked to Christa’s chair and bent to take Kelena from her, holding her close to his chest and rocking her until her cries petered away. He sighed as he watched her stretch and relax into his arms, wiping away the tears from her downy face with his finger. “I don’t want this,” he said. “I want us all to stay together.”
“I know,” Christa whispered. “So do I.”
***
Christa decided they would be the first to leave the cottage. It somehow seemed easier to leave Kelena behind than to have to watch her be taken away. When the dreaded day came, she spent the afternoon alone with Kelena in the bedroom, whispering her goodbyes, her regrets and hopes for her future into her ear. With what she imagined was the last of her powers, she also impressed upon her daughter's consciousness a knowledge of her parents; not the blackness of her father’s heart, but a sense of the fierce love and protectiveness of her he would always carry with him. Of herself she imparted the feeling of a mother’s love, something Kelena could envelope herself in for those times in the future when she would yearn for her mother’s touch. She also instilled her own courage and hope into her daughter's DNA, so she would grow brave and strong and fearless. Finally exhausted, Christa gradually drew her energy away. She looked up, face wet with tears, to see Dylan standing in the darkened doorway, hesitant to disturb them.
“I think I’m ready,” she said.
“You’ll never be ready,” Dylan said. He walked into the room and sat beside her on the bed. “We still don’t have to do this. We could travel again, keep on the move. We can protect Kelena together.”
“No,” Christa shook her head. “One day the jinn will find me, however far we run. I might be able to fight them off, but it would only take one of them to hurt Kelena. I can’t take that chance, I can’t do it.” She bit back a sob, her shoulders heaving. “So please stop talking like this, because you’re going to change my mind. You’ll change my mind and something terrible will happen and it will be all my fault.”
Dylan drew her close to him, cradling her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just can’t stand this.”
They sat that way for half an hour, cradling each other between their baby as night’s cold air swept in from the countryside and the
stars began to burn, punching their way through the thick cloak of grey cloud overhead. Finally, Christa shifted and pulled away, trembling as she placed Kelena in Dylan’s arms. He gazed down at his daughter, putting his little finger inside her soft mouth and smiling as she began to suck on it like a dummy. Christa knew he kept expecting, and fearing, the day when he would find a tiny pair of sharpened fangs pushing their way out of her tender gums.
“Come on, then,” Christa said. “Let’s do this before I lose my nerve.”
She stood up and Dylan followed, making her pause in the doorway. “I do love you,” he whispered. Christa could only nod and smile, her eyes streaming with fresh tears.
Waiting patiently in the front room of the cottage were Ramon and Virikay, and Darrell, Rob and Jenna, standing in a line like silent army recruits. Christa stopped in front of the fae, her face solemn.
“This is a sad day, indeed,” Ramon said. “Yet I think you have made the right decision.”
“Well, that’s a matter of opinion,” Dylan said.
“I take it I have no need to tell you how important Kelena is to us,” Ramon continued. “She is born of the Deiwo, and therefore carries our magick. We will protect and teach her as though she was our own child.”
“We have a present for you,” Virikay said, presenting Christa with a parcel wrapped in blue paper. “It’s a very special travelling cloak, made from the same fabric you admired on Mamur while you were in the Inbetween. It will keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer.”
Christa tore open the blue paper and held the cloak up. It shimmered in the dull light of the cottage, a galaxy of tiny stars woven from delicate strands of silver thread appearing to undulate across its surface. Dylan fastened it around her neck.
“Thank you,” she said to the fae. “That’s very generous.”
“We will be able to keep track of you, while you still have your powers,” Ramon said. “When they diminish so shall our ability to follow your imprint.”
Christa took Kelena from Dylan with shaking hands and held her close to her chest one last time, trying to memorise the smell of her skin. She kissed her gently on the forehead before passing her to Ramon.
“Will you tell her about me?” she whispered. “Will you tell her how much I loved her?”
“When she’s old enough to look after herself, when the jinn are no longer a threat, then you can tell her yourself,” Ramon said.
Dylan laid a hand on Kelena’s cheek, stroking her tiny face until she looked up at him and smiled. “We'll see you soon, princess.”
They finally stepped away to take their leave, signalling to Rob and Jenna who began swinging various bags of clothes and supplies onto their shoulders.
“Come on, babe,” Rob said, taking Jenna’s hand in his. “Time to show you the world like I promised.”
Dylan turned to face Darrell, looking small and lost towards the back of the room. “So where will you go?”
“I was thinking about going back to Hawaii,” Darrell said. “I could stay with Makaio at the leper colony.”
“Sounds like a party.”
Darrell ignored him. Christa gently touched Dylan’s arm. “Darrell’s like a brother to me and I’ve already given up one member of my family today, I’m not prepared to give up another. He's coming with us, it's non-negotiable.”
“He really means that much to you?” Dylan said.
“Yes, he really does.”
The two men eyed each other. “Get your gear," Dylan finally growled at Darrell. “It's time to leave.”
The two otherworldly travellers and three vampires exited the cottage and turned into the brisk Kent night. Just before they reached the gate at the bottom of the driveway, Christa glanced back at the window, hoping to see a glimpse of Ramon holding her daughter. The window was dark and blank, making her chest burn with grief. Dylan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side.
"It's going to be okay," he said. "She's safe."
Acknowledgements
Lots of lovely people helped to bring this novel to completion. First of all I have to thank Jason for encouraging me to finish it and for being excited when it was done. As always, Mum was an excellent proof reader and butt kicker - Jinn Nation would still be gathering virtual dust on my hard drive if it wasn't for her. I'd also like to thank Dad and Angela for cheering from the sidelines, and Lesley for her unwavering, if unconventional, love of the vampire Dylan.
Very special thanks are reserved for Andy Isaacs who made me the most beautiful book cover and saved Jinn Nation from a cover consisting of a stick man and some poorly placed Comic Sans.
About the Author
Caroline Barnard-Smith has been writing stories since she was five years old. Having graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, she now lives in Devon, England with her husband and baby daughter where she writes about ruthless vampires, lovelorn zombies and heinous blood cults.
Her short stories have been published in numerous small press magazines, including Ballista, Hungur and Night to Dawn, and on the web at Dark Fire Fiction. Caroline's debut dark fantasy novel, Dunraven Road, was published by Immanion Press in June 2009 and is available to buy from Amazon.
Find out more about Caroline's fiction at her website: www.carolinebarnardsmith.co.uk
Also Available
Dunraven Road by Caroline Barnard-Smith
ISBN 978-1-904853-65-7
In the sleepy backwater of Dunraven Road, a group of hedonistic friends are trapped in a deadly prison of their own making. When Zach, their enigmatic leader, brings his long term plans to fruition and paves the way for a sadistic vampire cult, their fragile world begins to break apart. Fuelled by dangerous passions and an insatiable craving for the substance they call red, the group must decide whether to succumb to the sweet lure of the abyss, or stand and fight for their very survival.
Find out more: www.carolinebarnardsmith.co.uk
Also Available
The Undead Alliance by Caroline Barnard-Smith
ISBN 978-1456593469
A new novella from the author of Dunraven Road.
He’s a stinking, undead, rotting carcass with unfortunate brain activity. She’s a human captive, kept alive so that her vital organs can one day help sustain her rotting zombie masters. Romeo and Juliet they ain’t.
Gabriel thought that waking up as a zombie was the end of the world. In fact, a new world was just beginning - a world of dark, creeping horror overseen by a decomposing eccentric in a pirate costume calling himself Captain James.
Five short years later and the dead have risen up to claim the UK. Gabriel finds himself in charge of the North Sector Harvesting Plant, watching the daily influx of the living with a weary eye. Having become increasingly disillusioned with the Undead Alliance and its practices, the arrival of the very human Daisy seems to be his salvation - but who would ever love a zombie? If he wants to convince her he’s more than just the sum of his maggot infested parts, he’ll have to break her out of the harvesting plant and defy everything the Alliance stands for. All of which is easier said than done, especially when he has to deal with the unwanted attentions of Princess - the icy paramour of Captain James himself.
Is Gabriel strong enough to turn against his charismatic yet ultimately evil leader? Or will he watch Daisy die?
Paperback / Amazon Kindle UK / Amazon Kindle US / Amazon Kindle Germany
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