Of Angel's Blood (Chronicles of The Order Book 2)

by Martyn Currill

  “Seriously? A stupidly long flight, for that?!”

  “Watch your tone, Miss Dumfries,” Lorelei warned. “Deimos may have been your friend first, but he is still our lord now.”

  Kelly visibly reigned herself in, and I sent a psychic thank-you to Lorelei.

  “I’m sorry, It’s just...it seems a bit ridiculous, is all.”

  “Perhaps,” I told her with a smile, “and perhaps I gave her something to think about. Perhaps, by not forcing the issue, I showed her a different side, a side which shatters her preconceptions. I think we will hear from her, and pretty soon too.”

  We left the elevators and walked across the lobby, Kelly and one of her soldiers readying their car keys. Out of caution I extended my psychic perception, at the expense of giving myself another migraine-

  - and yelled for everyone to get down, a split second before our cars exploded. Debris and shattered glass was blasted inwards, but I raised my psychic barrier in time to deflect most of it.

  Most.

  One of Kelly’s soldiers gurgled painfully as a sliver of glass tore through his throat, and I silently cursed myself for not protecting them sooner.

  “Everyone else alright?” I called out, and Kelly swore violently.

  “Yeah, with the exception of Kevin,” she reported coldly. “I don’t think he’ll make it boss.”

  Just as I was about to offer her an apology, another voice cut through the chaos, obviously projected through a megaphone or something similar.

  “Come on out, Deimos!” the voice shouted, and for a moment I was horrified as I recognised the voice. “Come out and see your big brother!”

  It was all there. The cockiness. The arrogance. The self-important tone that said he was better than me.

  Only, once I thought about it, I realised he was wrong. Very, very wrong.

  “Stay here,” I commanded, and walked out to meet someone I had loathed for most of my life.

  I stepped out from behind the wreckage of the cars Setra had loaned us, keeping my eyes fixed on Remus, my older brother. I was also keeping my psychic barrier up, but they didn’t know that.

  “Wow, you’ve changed, brother,” Remus told me, his arrogant smile still marking his strong features.

  Of all of us, Remus had looked most like our dad. The same intense, dark eyes, the same strong jawline and the same nose that seemed slightly too big for his face. He was naturally broad-shouldered, and had a thick head of hair which he often spent an hour or so styling.

  It never made him look any better.

  “You have no idea how right you are, Remus,” I replied, offering him a hungry smile and displaying my elongated canines.

  “Well shit a brick,” he breathed. “never thought you’d actually become one of these fucking monsters!”

  “And I never thought my own family would lie to me my whole life, but that’s what happened.” He stared at me incredulously, and I spread my arms wide. “We’ve been on the wrong side of this war all our lives, brother. I learned that the hard way.”

  He shook his head in dismay, clearly not willing to believe his beloved father was a liar.

  “You always lived in your little fantasy worlds, Deimos,” he replied. “Always dreaming that you weren’t born to this, that you weren’t destined to fight these animals.”

  “I dreamed of being normal!” I snarled at him, and his squad of hunters raised their weapons defensively. None of them looked like professionals. Even Remus himself looked more like a poster-boy than a real hunter.

  “I wanted the life our mother wanted for us, to live like a normal fucking child, not to be forced to fight a war that we have no right to be fighting!”

  He clicked his tongue sadly, shaking his head again.

  “I didn’t want it to go this way, brother,” he told me, his voice laced with exaggerated melancholy. “I’m afraid I have to take you in. Dad can fix you up again, I’m sure.”

  I grinned at him, hungry to wipe that smug expression from his face.

  “My dear brother,” I said slowly, “you are welcome to try.”

  “Grab him guys.”

  How unsurprising, that he would get others to do the hard work for him. He never was that good at leading from the front.

  Four of his men advanced on me, and I wondered if Remus even knew the abilities of a vampire these days. I bolted forwards at my full speed, reaching the first hunter in a handful of seconds. I swatted his rifle aside and drove the heel of my hand upwards, connecting with his chin and snapping his neck instantly. Before he even dropped I grabbed his weapon and fired it one handed, dropping the second hunter even as I threw myself at the third. I grabbed his arm and ducked underneath it, wrenching the limb up behind his back, before dealing his right knee a crushing kick that dropped him to the ground. I gave his arm a sharp jolt as he fell, and the sound of his shoulder dislocating was audible even over his scream.

  The fourth hunter tried to back away in terror, but he didn’t stand a chance. I seized him and buried my teeth in his throat, keeping his body between me and my brother.

  “Oh yes, brother, I have changed,” I told Remus, dropping the corpse at my feet. “The question is, do you really want to know how much?”

  “Shit, everyone engage now, engage now!” he screamed into his radio, and a much larger group of hunters emerged from nearby buildings. Twenty of them at least, all with guns trained on me.

  I was ready for them, but I also wasn’t alone. Lorelei led Kelly and her surviving five soldiers out, all of them with weapons raised, firing the minute they had a clear shot.

  The street became a battleground as both sides opened fire, and I ran towards the hunters, projecting my barrier as I closed with them, and I could sense Lorelei running just behind me. We struck their line like a sledgehammer, both of us slamming against a hunter with enough force to shatter bone and send them flying back several feet. She grabbed a rifle from one and bludgeoned him with it, before dancing through a volley of gunfire to deal a vicious reverse roundhouse kick to another that broke his neck, following through with a forward kick that shattered another’s knee.

  I allowed my wrath to burn hot, grabbing a hunter by the throat and boiling his blood, his skin bubbling and cracking around my hand. I dropped the seared corpse and pushed on, driving a knee into the gut of another and grabbing his shotgun, slamming it into his face as he doubled over. Instead of using the weapon as intended I swung it like a club, hungry to shed the blood of these idiots. Blood sprayed hot against my face and suit as I smashed open a hunter’s skull, another I smashed his face to ruin with a single strike, blood and broken teeth spattering over the tarmac. A third I rammed the barrel into his mouth, shattering his teeth, then blew out the back of his head with a pull of the trigger.

  Frankly, I was surprised the weapon still worked after what I’d done with it.

  Kelly and her squad had made short work of the remaining hunters, and I looked around in alarm. I spotted Lorelei, leaning weakly against the side of a parked van, her suit and blouse torn with bullet holes.

  “Lori!” I shouted, running over to her in terror, and I held onto her to stop her slipping.

  “Don’t worry boss,” she gasped, evidently in a lot of pain. “They were...just silver rounds. Not treated...dug them out myself. Could...could use a drink though.”

  I didn’t waste time answering, instead grabbing hold of the hunter I’d merely incapacitated earlier and holding him up for her.

  Without pause she lunged for him and drank deeply from his veins, dropping the near-drained husk on the floor and not bothering to wipe her mouth.

  “Much better,” she said, her strength returning quickly. “You seen this boss?” She pulled up the bottom of her blouse, indicating one bullet wound in particular.

  “Messed up my new scar, the bastards.”

  “You’ll live, sweetheart,” I told her with a grin, and she grinned back at me.

  “Gotta say boss, Corvi was right about one thing,” sh
e said, still smiling.

  “What’s that?”

  “You look hot when you get vicious.”

  I hoped the bloody mess covered my heating cheeks.

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” I told her, trying to keep certain thoughts out of my head. “Anyway, save it for later. Where’s my brother gone?”

  “You mean this whining piece of pig-shit?” Kelly asked, her UMP aimed at the head of Remus, currently trying to get out from under her boot.

  “Yeah, that’s him,” I said, and walked over to where he was held.

  “What the fuck are you, Deimos?” he whined at me, and I grinned, knowing exactly how unsettling a blood-stained grin could be.

  “I’m free, Remus, far more than you’ll ever be,” I said, crouching beside him. “And I am so not your brother.”

  With that I dealt him a single punch that laid him out cold, and turned back to Kelly.

  “Cuff him and get him ready to be transported. We’re taking him back with us for interrogation.”

  “Got it boss,” she replied, not looking at me.

  “You alright Kelly?”

  “Aye, I just can’t look at you when you’re covered in brains and blood.”

  “Shut up, Kelly, you’re Scottish,” I told her with a laugh. “For you that’s dinner.”

  A small Omega Company force from the Toronto base arrived shortly after that, having been called by Kelly while I was talking with my idiot brother. They took care of Kevin’s body, giving us the assurance he’d be flown back to us on a separate flight, so that his body could be returned to his family.

  The other injuries the squad suffered were dealt with as much as possible, but some of them were going to require more comprehensive treatment back at Toronto.

  “With your permission, My Lord, I’d like to stay here with my people until they’re fit to fly back,” Kelly said, and I nodded. Her loyalty to her troops was what I liked about her.

  “Of course. Make sure they get back on their feet, then head back to us when you can. And...I’m sorry about Kevin.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Deimos, seriously,” she said with a shake of her head. “He was an idiot, sure enough, but his death wasn’t your fault. Are you two heading straight back?”

  “We’ll stop by the base to grab our kit, but yeah we are,” Lorelei replied, checking over her suit. “Fuck’s sake, man, I’ve only worn this suit, like, twice.”

  “Yeah, well this is the second of mine that’s been ruined,” I said ruefully. Kelly tapped Lorelei on the arm, and my aide looked at her.

  “Take care of the daft bugger for me, will you?” Kelly said with a smile. “Without me to watch his back, God knows what’ll happen to him.”

  “I will Kelly, don’t worry.” Lorelei turned her attention back to me and grinned. “Well boss, guess we better get back and have a shower before we fly out,” she stated, slapping me on the back. “Those wet blankets flying our ride would probably pass out at the sight of us right now.”

  I laughed and agreed with her, putting an arm around her in a friendly manner as we walked to our own waiting escort. I found I was looking forward to returning to the fortress, despite it being a return to the madness of running the whole organisation.

  I also found I was looking forward to another night of Lorelei’s company, but I decided not to dwell on that too much.

  There isn’t much to mention about the return. We went back to the base and showered - after Lorelei made what I assumed was a joke about sharing one - headed back to the airport, and caught our flight back to the fortress.

  Landing at six in the morning (German time) meant we were just as weary as anyone else flying ridiculous distances through a different time zone, and we both went straight to my room., albeit by different routes.

  “You know, I think Setra fancied you,” Lorelei told me, shedding her jeans and curling up in my bed.

  “Well I think Setra’s a fucking idiot,” I replied, setting out some clothes for the morning, and Lorelei propped herself up on her elbows.

  “Oh don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re a real charmer when you want to be.”

  “I see jet-lag hasn’t dulled your supposed wit at all,” I told her, smiling at her humour despite my ridicule of it.

  “Ah, fuck you, I’m hilarious,” she muttered, allowing herself to drop back against the pillow. “I suppose I have you to thank for her apologising to me?”

  I laid down beside her, and she immediately turned over to rest her head on my chest.

  “I’m sorry if you didn’t want me to get involved,” I said apologetically. “I just didn’t like the way she spoke about you. You’re important to me, and I owe you a lot. I won’t let anyone talk shit about you, not while I’m around at least.”

  She pushed herself up and looked at me again, her expression unreadable.

  “Thank you,” she told me softly. “People don’t often stick up for someone with my kind of personality, thinking we’re tough enough to deal with it on our own.” She laid back down again, curling her arm around me in a light hug. “But really, we’re just careful about who we let defend us. I certainly am, anyway. It’s a nice change, to be honest.”

  “What is?”

  “To have a friend I feel I can be vulnerable around, knowing I won’t get hurt.”

  I scoffed lightly.

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” I muttered darkly. “Everyone around me seems to die one way or another. Kevin today, Corvi two months ago, God knows how many we lost in the insurrection-”

  She tapped my cheek firmly, obviously intending it to be a slap but lacking the energy for it.

  “Shut up,” she chided. “None of that was your fault. None of it. You may be a vampire, and you may have abilities most of us don’t understand, but you aren’t a god. You can’t protect everyone, and we are still in a war against the hunters. People are going to get hurt or killed, and it is not your fault if they do.”

  I sighed despondently. Knowing she was right and believing it were two separate things.

  “Sorry,” I offered, and she kissed my cheek.

  “Just don’t be an idiot all your life,” she told me with a gentle smile. “Get some sleep. I’m fucking knackered, and I slept on the ‘plane. You must be half dead.”

  “I am dead.”

  “What did I just say about being an idiot?”

  I chuckled, and kissed her forehead.

  “’Night hon,” I told her, not even realising what I said to her until afterwards.

  “Yvas’nithahn, Eyathehn,” she replied, bidding me goodnight in Vampiric with that word again.

  I barely had time to register what had transpired before sleep claimed me - not that I actually understood what had transpired. Whatever it was, it troubled me, and I had a feeling it was troubling Lorelei too.

  Sooner or later, I was going to have to say something.

  CHAPTER 5

  Quite a vision to behold

  For the following couple of weeks, there wasn’t a lot of importance that occurred. I agonised frequently over what was happening - if anything - between myself and Lorelei. Despite my apprehension, however, we didn’t stop spending time together.

  The pain of Corvi’s death began to ease a little for both of us, although there wasn’t much to be done about the uncomfortable silence in my mind.

  More reports came in about vampires being killed in the same manner as those from Toronto, and each time Lorelei would go and update our maps in the new Ops room. At the same time, Lorelei and I devoted some time to trying to find out who Corvi’s sire had been, and the only result we managed to come up with was a single, probably self-awarded title: the Vampire Saint.

  With leads on him going cold, and no clear action to take regarding the attacks on vampires across the globe, everyone’s thoughts turned to matters closer to home - namely, the celebration that was looming.

  Well, for me there was another matter, and I continued to work on both matters at the same
time.

  While Lorelei was down in Ops, I would be making phonecalls, until I eventually got in touch with someone who could make a custom dress.

  Also, in the few scattered moments I spent without Lorelei’s company, I happened across a rather startling revelation.

  Lorelei’s family should never have been disgraced.

  Around 1733, her grandfather was accused of consorting with the eldest daughter of one of the Italian kings, an act which constituted treason and was punishable by death. It was only because of their previous endeavours and history of loyalty that he was spared death, and instead the entire family was stripped of all titles and lands, leaving them destitute. However, two years later, the daughter made a statement saying that she had in fact made up the entire incident - and Sharriana buried the information and actually encouraged the rumours of scandal.

  It turned out that the Selano family had actually been a popular choice to succeed Sharriana, whose reign over The Order actually ended - officially - in 1653, but through a series of manipulations and assassinations she removed all who would oppose her...including the Selanos.

  It took some doing - and a couple of conversations with most of the relevant people in the Italian Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister - but eventually I managed to persuade them to look into the matter. Nothing could be promised, and if they could restore the family’s honour then Lorelei’s title would be little more than a courtesy, but her family would no longer be scorned - and to her, that would mean more than anything else.

  After that, all that was left was to deliver my ultimatum to her.

  “I’ve finally reached a decision about the party,” I told her one morning, as we had our ‘office breakfast’ again. She hadn’t given me any more kisses, but still called me Eyathehn in private, and she still remained close by me in the night.

  She threw up her arms in a celebratory gesture, as if praising some deity.

  “Fuckin’ finally!” she cheered. “It’s only taken you nearly a solid fucking month, and with the party just around the corner as well!” She smiled at me, as if to let me know she was only joking.