Love by Night

by Stina

  Kesh put up his hand. “Let’s be calm and think. We can’t be like them . . . killing others senselessly. The whole reason I defected from the Council was so that we could be defenders and try to make a life among the living.”

  “No. We’ve been thinking too long. You said that last time, and we lost five people during that attack, Kesh. We can’t keep letting them attack us like this. Don’t you understand? We thrive off the living.... Killing is what we do to survive. There’s no way around it,” Vila replied adamantly. Her statement elicited grumbles of approval from the clan.

  Kesh shoved his hands into his pants pockets and lowered his head, thinking. After he was turned, he had learned that Adie, his maker, was a direct descendant of the king of the Sefu Clan. No one had made her; instead, she was one of the few vampires who had been born that way. Once Adie turned him, Kesh had quickly become the most powerful of all his kind, because his maker had never been a mortal. Kesh had learned later that he was one of the only vampires who could reproduce like mortals did, but he never had and he had never told anyone. He never wanted to have offspring who would have to live the life he lived . . . walking the earth forever, never able to know that one day he’d rest in peace. It wasn’t that he was weak; he was just tired. He wanted to find love and give up being king. He wanted to stop running from the Malum. His mind raced....

  Atlanta, Georgia

  August 1900

  Kesh sat with Tiev, discussing their next move. “It is not easy defecting from the Council, Tiev,” Kesh said, his head in his hands. “There will be repercussions—”

  His words were cut short when the door to his room splintered open with a crash. Kesh and Tiev swiveled their heads around at the same time. Kesh’s face immediately folded into a frown.

  “Tiba! How dare you enter my space like this . . . unannounced!” Kesh chastised.

  Tiba, a warrior who’d been with him since he left the Council, could barely control her breathing. Her eyes were as round as dinner plates. Kesh’s entire clan, especially Tiba, knew never to enter his room unannounced unless there was an emergency.

  “Wait. What is it, Tiba? Why do you look so frightened?” he asked, having finally noticed her flaring nostrils and quivering cheeks.

  “Th-they’ve found us. The Malum are coming now. I think the Council sent them,” she huffed, her lips white with fear.

  “We have to go!” Tiev grabbed Kesh by the arm. “Get dressed. We have to move!”

  Kesh shook his head. “No, we have to stay and fight! We can’t run forever.”

  “No, Kesh,” Tiba told him. “They want you. It is you that they have always wanted. We cannot risk it. Without you, there is no clan. We are all prepared to die for you, but if you die for us, we will no longer have a purpose.”

  “She is right, Kesh,” Tiev said. “We must go.”

  Tiba ducked and spun around at the booming sound of an explosion. She drew her sword with shaky hands. The entire room shook, and the sound of glass shattering cut through the air. Screams and shouting let Kesh know that the Malum had made their way inside. Kesh could hear the voices of his clan members in battle cry.

  “I will not let my clan die defending a leader who runs away from battle. Go round up the others! Get them out of here!” Kesh commanded, barreling past Tiev and Tiba.

  Kesh jumped the entire flight of stairs and landed so hard that his feet cracked the marble floor below. His chest heaved until it swelled up to his neck. Adrenaline coursed though his veins. His senses were heightened. He could smell fear and anger, and he could hear the pounding of the Malum Clan’s feet, and their desperate breaths, as they rushed toward Kesh and his clan.

  The members of the Malum Clan were descendants of ancient Europeans who had come to America to pillage and loot. Their leader, Tulum, had been made by a white man . . . a slave owner. Kesh had known Tulum for decades, but when they were both handled by the Council, it forbade Tulum from exacting revenge against Kesh. When Kesh defected from the Council, the rules changed. It didn’t help that Kesh was so much stronger and faster than Tulum, who secretly thirsted for the same power. When Kesh took a clan of defectors and became king of the Sefu Clan, deciding not to follow the most violent vampire tenants, Kesh’s defiance infuriated Tulum and the Council. After all, in their eyes, Kesh was a black man. . . . He had no right to rise up. Kesh was open to attack. Although vampire law stipulated that a vampire was not to kill another vampire, Tulum didn’t care. He had the blessing of the Council to go after Kesh, and that was all he needed.

  Kesh followed his clan’s battle cries until finally he entered the large living area. He ducked as one of his own men went flying through the air, narrowly missing Kesh’s head. Bodies were tangled in combat, fists flew, sharp fangs were bared, and a vicious battle played out before his eyes. Kesh’s stomach churned at the sight of the bloodshed. This was not what he wanted. His decision to leave the Council had been a personal one. He hadn’t intended for there to be bloodshed. In fact, he had hoped for the opposite.

  He moved with purpose, his fists curled, as he eyed the lifeless bodies of some of his clan members. His canines instantly extended into animal fangs; and his fingernails, into sharp claws.

  “There!” one of the Malum yelled out. “There is their king!”

  The other dozen vampires turned toward Kesh and dropped into low battle stances.

  “You want me?” Kesh barked angrily. “You’ll have to show me how badly you do!”

  With that, Kesh moved with supernatural speed, advancing on his rivals instantly. The rival closest to him was a woman; she was the oldest of all of them. Kesh could smell the age seeping from her skin like death and burnt earth. Kesh backed off a few steps. Out of respect, he momentarily stopped his advancement. His admiration for his elders had been ingrained in him in childhood.

  Although Kesh had stopped his progress, she kept advancing, with a wild look in her eye. Kesh’s reverence for his elders was replaced with a desire for survival. Kesh thrust his left hand forward. Instead of ripping her heart out of her chest, he ripped her throat from her neck and shoved it into the mouth of the male Malum Clan member beside her.

  “Argh!” Kesh let out a ferocious cry as he plowed into the others effortlessly.

  They tried to stand their ground, but Kesh was just too fast and powerful for them. He easily overwhelmed them. Kesh threw two of them through the air. They hit the wall behind them so hard that Kesh heard their skulls crack. Their bodies slid to the ground and joined the other ten whom he’d defeated. There was only one left. Kesh walked slowly toward him. After witnessing the awesome power that Kesh possessed, the man was paralyzed with fear. He stood wide-eyed, with his mouth agape. Kesh wrapped his bloody hand around the intruder’s neck, then hoisted him up in the air like a rag doll.

  “What do they call you?” Kesh barked.

  “I—” The rival choked from trying to speak. Kesh didn’t loosen his grip. “I am Orlum . . . aide to King Tulum,” he croaked out.

  “King?” Kesh scoffed. “That is what he is calling himself these days? Where is he now?”

  “He—he stayed behind,” Orlum rasped. “We were to weaken you.”

  “Coward! And you call him King? He who will not fight me at full strength?”

  Orlum surprised Kesh by laughing. It sounded more like a cough, but the smirk let Kesh know that the vampire in his clutches found something amusing.

  “Tulum is no coward,” Orlum said. “He just knows that your weakness is, and has always been, this clan of misfits. Look around you, King. You have grown so used to running that you have not even trained your followers to fight! Your numbers have dropped to half in a single night because of your benevolence. King Tulum did not send us to harm you physically. What we have done is far . . . far worse.... We want to watch your slow demise. Tulum is coming. And even you aren’t man enough to face him and an entire army alone.”

  The words were like an openhanded slap to Kesh’s face. His jaw went stiff. His
anger turned to fury, and his growl turned beastly. Kesh brought Orlum’s body down so that he could put his mouth by his ear.

  “One thing you need to know about your king . . . he cares about nobody but himself. He sent you here to kill, but he also sent you here to die!”

  With that, Kesh was done speaking. He placed a hand on Orlum’s shoulder to get a grip on him and, with one swift tug, decapitated him. The black vampire blood, the blood of the dead, spurted on Kesh’s face and chest. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but he had to. Tulum had turned this into an all-out battle, and there would be only one winner. If Kesh hadn’t killed Orlum, it would have shown that his clan was weak. Orlum had been right about one thing: Kesh’s clan was not prepared for the bloody war that lay ahead. He had to lead by example.

  Kesh collapsed to the ground. His fangs retreated, along with his nails. His chest pumped up and down, getting slower with each passing minute. He wanted nothing more than to go find Tulum and end him. The cries of sorrow from his clan grew louder and louder in his head. He closed his eyes and squeezed his skull, hoping to drown out the screams of his clan. Kesh gathered his resolve, pushed past the doubts, and regained his authority. He finally drew himself up from the floor and made his way back to the stairs.

  “My king!”

  Kesh turned to the sound of Tiev’s voice. He noticed Tiev standing there, holding a shirt, socks, and a pair of boots.

  “Everyone is ready to move! We must go now, before the Malum return,” Tiev told him. “So far they have been defeated, but we cannot withstand another battle tonight. We lost many Sefu. Too many of us have been killed. We will lose if we stay here.”

  Kesh nodded his head but still went toward the stairs. There was something he had to get.

  “Your chest? Tiba has it. It is safe,” Tiev called out.

  Kesh stopped in his tracks. He nodded his head and turned, then made his way to Tiev. He thanked his friend and dressed in the clothes he held. The blood that was still on him instantly stained the fabric of the shirt.

  “Brother,” Kesh said, placing his hand on Tiev’s shoulder, “I have been negligent in thinking that I could protect them all. I was wrong.”

  “What are you saying, Kesh?”

  “I am saying that the Sefu must learn to fight again. Like we did so long ago. During the revolution and during our fight for freedom. I have to build a strong empire.”

  “Well, well, well . . .”

  The words yanked Kesh back to reality. Gasps rose and fell over the group as they all turned at the sound of the voice and the crunching gravel underfoot. Kesh lifted his head. His chest swelled and he squinted his eyes into slits at the sight of his biggest enemy, Tulum.

  “If it isn’t Keston Priolou, leader of the defectors,” Tulum announced viciously. “The king of the rejects. The weakest of our kind.” Tulum laughed raucously at his own jokes, his long black leather jacket flapping behind him.

  Kesh’s jaw rocked at the sound of his birth name. “What do you want, Tulum? Why are you here? Why are you following me? Nothing else to do . . . ? Are there not enough mortals for you to kill? You have to go after other vampires? All these years later and you’re not satisfied?”

  It had been decades since the war between the two clans had ended. Or so Kesh had thought. For a hundred years Kesh and his clan had been traveling the world, untouched and left alone. A truce had been called, and each clan had gone its separate way. It had been agreed that it was better for the survival of their race if they ended their battle.

  Tulum threw his head back and cackled some more, his pale face turning bright pink. “Why am I here? Oh, c’mon, Keston. You always know why I am here.” Tulum walked closer to Kesh and lowered his voice into a sinister baritone. “I want to see you suffer, Keston. Why else would I be here? I am the defender of my ancestry, just like you’re the defender of yours. I want to destroy you piece by piece, bit by bit. Black against white. We are the only pure breed, and we will work until eternity to make sure that you don’t have a legacy.” Evil flashed in his dark, dead eyes.

  “This rivalry is stupid. The war was over one hundred years ago. I just want peace,” Kesh said. “And about your brother . . . he was stupid to attack me when he knew he couldn’t win. He brought it on himself. He tried to kill me, and I defended myself. I didn’t seek him out to kill him. I can’t understand hate based on skin color . . . because understand something, Tulum. We are all vampires.”

  Tulum lifted his hand and jerked it backward and forward. His powers picked Kesh up off his feet and sent him flying backward into the air. Kesh landed on his back with so much force that something cracked at the base of his skull and the air in his lungs involuntarily escaped his mouth in a loud rush. Kesh groaned, dazed from the impact of the fall.

  Gasps and groans rose up among Kesh’s clan. Several members rushed over to help him up. Tiev drew his silver-tipped sword and put it to Tulum’s throat. The other Malum Clan members moved in close to their king, and the Sefu members came up behind Tiev.

  Tulum laughed. “Well, I guess this is what it looked like back then . . . right here on the grounds of the Billet plantation. Whites versus blacks, good versus evil, in a heated standoff,” he said, glaring at Tiev.

  Tiev growled, his lip trembling, and his eyes hooded over. “Leave. Now.”

  “I could destroy you all right now, but I’ve been having too much fun keeping you on the run and picking you all off one by one,” Tulum replied, smiling like they were all a joke.

  Tiev pushed his sword forward slightly, the vein in his left temple thumping against the surface of his skin. “I said leave.”

  “I’ll leave, but I want you to know one thing. Your clan will never survive. You’ll all be done. Your king is weak, and I will never let him have a queen,” Tulum snarled. “He can’t change our entire culture because he wants to be good all of a sudden. A good vampire? What an oxymoron. He’s stupid for even thinking he could pull this off. The Council and other clans are not happy. Not happy at all. I know why Keston wants a queen.... I know why he wants a certain queen too. I’ve seen her. I’ve smelled her. I know all about her gifts. She’ll never be queen. There will never be a better queen than mine.” Tulum held out his hand, and his queen, Calum, stepped closer to him.

  He went on. “Keston will never change how vampires exist. I won’t let that happen, and the Council is backing me. They want me to destroy him. With my queen by my side, I will remain more powerful than Keston or Kesh, or whatever you call him. My queen can’t be stopped.” Tulum moved his hand to Calum’s ass. She licked her lips hungrily, kissed his cheek, and trailed her tongue down the side of his face. “You’ll never have a queen. We will see to it that you don’t,” Calum hissed.

  Chapter 5

  “Take my hand, Dira. I missed you,” Adolphis chimed, giving her that heartwarming smile that had always gotten him out of trouble when they were little.

  Adirah moved her head from side to side and opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. It was as if someone had stolen her voice.

  “C’mon, I can take you to see him. He can save your life,” Adolphis said, smiling cheerfully. “Just take my hand, Dira. You have to take my hand so you can come with me. We can be together . . . forever. You’ll like it here with me. I promise. Just take my hand.” He extended his hand out to her and wiggled his little fingers. He looked the same as she remembered him. He hadn’t grown up at all.

  Adirah smiled at her brother, but she still couldn’t speak. She’d missed Adolphis. The way they would play tag and hide-and-seek. The times they were supposed to be doing a daily prayer but would giggle behind their mother’s back. She really missed him. He was right. They could be together. Adirah extended her hand toward her brother, but she couldn’t reach him.

  “Take my hand, Dira. Please,” Adolphis pleaded now, but some unknown force was pulling her farther away from him. “Dira! Hurry! Take my hand!”

  Adirah was trying desperately
to reach him, but she was failing. She couldn’t speak to ask what was happening.

  “Dira! Don’t go!” Adolphis screamed at her, wide-eyed desperation playing across his face.

  Adolphis was fading away, but she could still hear his cries echoing in her head.

  “Come back, Dira! Take my hand, please! Don’t leave me here all alone again! Dira! Dira!”

  Adirah wanted to scream her brother’s name, but again, she couldn’t speak. She stretched her arm farther. But the more she reached, the farther away he moved. Tears sprang to her eyes, and her mouth opened into an O. She stretched and stretched, but she couldn’t reach him. He was still fading away, but she could still hear him calling her.

  “Dira! Dira! Dira!”

  Adirah’s eyes shot open, and she sucked in her breath until her throat made a loud noise. She tried to sit up, but some unknown force held her down. Her chest heaved and her head throbbed with every slam of her heart. Loud ringing came from her right. The sound of people shuffling around her came from her left.

  “Dira? Dira?” Kesh’s voice called out from afar.

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to move.” Adirah opened her eyes in time to see a nurse pushing Kesh away. The nurse turned back to Adirah. “Calm down, honey,” the nurse’s soothing voice sang. “Calm down, or you’ll make yourself worse.”

  Adirah took command of her body and shifted her head. She squinted against the lights, and finally the nurse—a chubby-faced woman in pink scrubs—came into focus.

  “I’m Angie, your nurse. It’s okay. You’ve been out of it for a little while, but you’re alive . . . and that’s a good thing,” Angie soothed. “I’m going to get you another sedative so you’re not in pain. You were in pretty bad shape, but I’m happy to see you awake.”