“If the scent is this alluring to me, it would be more so for the workers in the mine. I have come here to ensure that none are tempted to indulge,” he explained calmly, though a knot of unease formed in his gut. The Devil had never questioned his intentions before. If he had finally come to suspect him, he had even less time than he hoped.
The Devil shrugged. “Why should it matter if one does indulge?”
Deq’on drew his brow down in a frown, more for the Devil’s sudden interest in his motivations than for his voiced reason. “I would prefer they not be distracted from their duties.”
He took vivid notice of the infinitesimal narrowing of pale, white-lashed eyelids just before the emotionless voice replied, “Your concern is for the Vampires, and not the humans?”
“My concern is for the mine,” Deq’on shot back. “Any distractions may have disastrous consequences.”
He almost sighed in relief when the Devil’s bottomless black eyes fell away from his own, signaling the end of the unusually probing line of questioning. He made a show of dusting some unperceivable bit of grime from the sleeve of his black coat before turning to meet Deq’on’s gaze once more.
“I see. I’m afraid I will have to tear you away from your post for the moment, Deq’on. I require your assistance.” The Devil turned on his heel to make his way down the hall to his lab, then suddenly stopped. He glanced thoughtfully at the glass prison for a moment, before raising his hand. A subtle, but noticeable shift occurred in the air around them, though Deq’on perceived nothing out of the ordinary with his eyes.
Nodding minutely to himself, the Devil glanced back over his shoulder at Deq’on, in a clear indication to follow him. “That should prevent their scent from drifting into the mines,” he explained succinctly. “Does this satisfy you?”
Knowing that the Devil did not expect an answer to his query, Deq’on slowly bowed his head in a show of appreciation.
“Good. Come with me,” the Devil demanded. He sauntered off down the hall, the Vampire shortly in tow.
Upon entering the lab, Deq’on saw to his shock that the glass cages previously housing the Devil’s Nightstalker experiments remained empty. In fact, it almost appeared as if the beast had packed up shop. The room still housed quite a bit of equipment, but someone had significantly tidied it up. The books he’d often noticed the Devil writing in and muttering over now neatly adorned the shelves above the expansive black glass workspace. Said workspace, usually littered with all manner of small bottles and contraptions, now stood nearly empty, each object tucked away in its own designated place.
Deq’on tried gravely not to attribute any significance to the sudden change in behavior by the eccentric White Devil. He considered it foolishly premature to expect that the monster was considering a change of scenery. After all, the Vampire realm accommodated the Devil’s purposes far better than any other realm would. Only one thing would ever rid them of the Druid menace: force. He just silently hoped that the Devil’s sudden tidiness didn’t indicate some form of choler. This turn of events, though, made one thing clear to him: he had just run out of time.
“I have a meeting to attend,” the emotionless voice of the Devil drifted over from his left. “See that my work is not disturbed in my absence.”
“Of course,” Deq’on immediately responded. As he watched carefully, steeling his resolve, the monster approached the far left wall and pulled a knife from the confines of his black jacket. He sliced into the tip of his finger, then lifted the steadily bleeding digit to draw an unfamiliar symbol on the glass surface. As it quickly began to disappear, absorbed into the glass, a swirling vortex formed before him. Without a single backward glance, the White Devil stepped into the waiting portal.
Relaxing in the absence of the menacing Druid, Deq’on ran a long-fingered pale hand through his equally pale hair. Unlike most of his race, he kept his strands trimmed. Although he could weather even the most extreme climates with little notice, it tended to cling uncomfortably to his neck and scalp in the constant heat of the mines.
Raising his eyes to stare at his warped reflection in the glass surface of the wall, he tightened his lips in a thin line, and came to terms with the consequences of what he would now do. He only hoped that he could succeed in his mission before paying that ultimate price.
* * * *
Kaelyn sat cross-legged on the glass floor. Eyes closed, she took a deep breath in through her nose and let the air out slowly between her lips. As she did this several times, the suddenly Vampire-hybrid teenager across from her watched expectantly, all the while slowly biting a hole through the tip of his left thumb. The steady tick of Caleb’s knee as he bounced it up and down matched the rhythmic drum of blood rushing through the vein in her temple. She fought furiously against the urge to reach across the space between them and strangle the kid.
“Any luck?” Caleb asked suddenly, barely pausing in his task of worrying his thumb.
Kaelyn slowly eased her eyes open, then glared flatly at her hyperactive companion. She wondered silently how much money she could make from bottling whatever caused the teenager to twitch like a methhead all the time, and selling it to caffeine addicts.
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” she acrimoniously drawled, before slouching forward with an exasperated sigh.
When Caleb suggested that Kaelyn try contacting Tyrian through their bond, she’d almost smacked herself on the forehead at the obviousness of the plan. She had yet to admit that she wanted to do anything other than incur the wrath of her newly bonded mate. However, she’d agreed to try. She quickly discovered that whatever connection she’d had with Tyrian previously had shut down, whether by accident or design.
Caleb grabbed Kaelyn’s shoulders and shook her, bringing her sullen gaze back up to his hopeful one. “Concentrate. You should be able to feel him, no matter how far away he is.”
Heaving a sigh, Kaelyn rolled her eyes and irritably shrugged off Caleb’s hands. “I have been concentrating, okay? I got nothing.”
After shooting to his feet, Caleb paced to one side of the cell, then swiftly turned on his heel and made his way back across. As the boy created a pattern of pacing the cell, Kaelyn let out a strangled whine. She violently resisted the sudden urge to beat her forehead against the floor.
“The Druid must be blocking you somehow. Damn it,” Caleb muttered around the stub that had he had made of his thumbnail.
Kaelyn rested her elbows on her bowed knees, dropped her head into her hands, and slowly slid her eyes closed. At least she could ignore the pacing as long as she didn’t see it. “Tyrian will find us.”
Her disgruntled admission did nothing to halt the rampant pacing of her tightly wound cellmate. “Wish I had your confidence,” he grumbled. He threw himself against the wall in frustration, and slid down to flop onto his narrow behind.
Kaelyn sighed again, but in a mixture of exasperation and elation this time, at the cessation of Caleb’s incessant fidgeting. She collapsed onto her back, stared forlornly up at the ceiling, and admitted softly under her breath, “More like my bad luck.”
The heavy glass door moved suddenly, shifting inward, and both of them jumped. Kaelyn swiftly rose to her feet. Caleb suddenly sprang up right in front of her, and she strained to get a glance around him, at whoever had opened the door. Caleb held his arms out, seemingly to both keep her behind him and prevent their intruder from harming her.
She just made out the pale skin and hair of a tall, thinly toned man. The muted gray tones of his jacket and pants did nothing for his complexion, but he didn’t appear washed out, as she would have expected from such a stark combination. Maybe it was his eyes, she mused, those darkly vibrant amber-hued pools capturing her own. She couldn’t help but find him uniquely attractive.
“Who are you?” Kaelyn found herself asking. His appearance was unlike anyone she’d ever seen, though since coming there, she’d only encountered one person: the Druid who had locked her and Caleb up together in this accurs
ed glass prison. Somehow, without really understanding how, she recognized him, and immediately knew that he was a Vampire.
He took a moment to regard her before responding to her inquiry, seeming to address her alone. “I am Deq’on, of the royal house of ’On.” His low, silky tone invaded the silence of the room like a tangible thing. It weaved around her, stealing the trepidation she should have felt. After all, she now stood face to face with one of the most violent predator among the thirteen sentient species within the connected realms.
She suddenly understood why they were considered so dangerous: she found everything about him, his appearance, his voice, his scent, wholly seductive. For some reason, though, she didn’t feel aroused physically, but felt a weight around her mind instead. She parted her lips and swallowed heavily, her chest too tight, and her limbs seeming to turn into lead weights. Staring into his eyes for so long felt a bit awkward, but she couldn’t seem to find a good enough reason to break his gaze.
Caleb, however, appeared to be immune to the Vampire’s alluring aura, and partially blocked the spell Kaelyn had fallen under. His familiarly scathing wit shook her back to her senses as he addressed the man. “Vampire royalty stuck doing that Druid bastard’s dirty work?”
Kaelyn blinked; Caleb’s words sank in slowly. She must not have paid much attention when the Vampire introduced himself, because she had completely missed his claim of royalty. She opened her mouth to question him, but the Vampire quickly extended a long-fingered, pale hand in her direction.
“We have not much time before the Devil returns. You must come quickly,” he urged. His bright eyes shone with a hidden desperation that bespoke the truth of his plea.
Caleb would have none of what this Vampire was dishing out. He took a step back, and pushed Kaelyn even further behind him. His bright blue eyes, also, shone in the dim lighting as he stared down their odd rescuer. “Why should we trust you?”
The Vampire sighed, dropped his hand back to his side, and pinned Kaelyn with an unreadable, soft stare. “Because I am your father.”
Kaelyn’s heart exploded inside of her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Of all the reasons she could have thought of for this Vampire to help them, that was not one of them. Even during her scheming to open a portal to the Vampire realm, she’d never considered that she would come face to face with the one who had sired her. She had no response for him, not one easily put into words.
Luckily, the sudden admission hadn’t stunned Caleb. “Uh, okay, Vader,” he drawled, shooting him an ostentatiously incredulous look. “Do you really expect us to believe that?”
Leave it to the caustic teenager to snap her out of whatever weirdness her life had drowned her in. Placing a hand on his arm, she urged him to the side, and stepped out from the protective bubble he’d sequestered her in. “Caleb, I think he’s telling the truth.”
Kaelyn considered that the Vampire had most likely never seen the cult classic. Therefore, he would not only not understand the reference, but feel no inclination to use it in this situation. Nonetheless, she found herself strangely open to the possibility that he had spoken the truth. For one thing, his eyes, which she was still staring into, were nearly identical to her own. She held out her hand to Deq’on, palm up in greeting.
“I’m Kaelyn; it’s nice to meet you.”
She watched in muted fascination as a sudden look of unease entered Deq’on’s expressive gaze. He stared at her hand, then slowly slid his palm over hers. He raised his eyes to meet hers once more, and a hopeful wonder entered his gaze and chased away the trepidation she’d noticed there.
“You are the spitting image of your mother,” Deq’on breathed, his voice barely above a whisper, and he swallowed again.
She smiled at him softly, marveling at the range of emotions that flashed across his face as his gaze drank her in. “Did you know her well?” She did not really care about the answer, but she suddenly craved a sense of familiarity with the man she’d never dared hope to meet.
He shook his head softly. “Not at all, actually. Our acquaintance was...fleeting.”
Kaelyn let out a small chuckle, and shrugged. “That sounds like her.”
Blinking, Deq’on seemed to harden his gaze. He pulled his hand from hers disjointedly, as if fighting with himself to stay and get to know her, yet knowing that they needed to leave. “We must go.” He turned and stepped out into the hall, then gestured quickly for them to follow him.
Kaelyn glanced at the strangely silent teenager to her left. Caleb stared at Deq’on with a mixture of suspicion and confusion. He turned his unnaturally blue eyes to her and rolled them, exacerbated, then held out one arm toward the door in an open “after-you” connotation. She shook her head curtly, promptly turned, and jogged out the door after her Vampire sire, Caleb hot on her heels.
Deq’on led them through a seemingly never-ending network of tunnels. How in the world he knew what turns to take baffled her; every one of the tunnels looked exactly the same to her.
Jogging to catch up with his long strides, Kaelyn addressed the Vampire once more. “How are you here?” She glanced up at his sternly concentrated face.
“I lead the workers in the mines,” he explained simply.
Well that certainly explained his knowledge of the tunnels.
“I’ve seen you with the Druid,” Caleb’s guarded tone sounded from directly behind them. “You work for him.”
Deq’on looked downward suddenly, but did not pause in his single-minded mission. After abruptly turning, he led them down another corridor, seemingly identical to the previous one. “It is complicated.”
“No shit,” Caleb conceded derisively. “Where are you taking us?”
“To my brother. He will protect you,” Deq’on answered swiftly, seeming completely confident in his vow.
Caleb drew his brow down in a frown, and narrowed his eyes. He inched closer to Kaelyn. “What makes you so sure?” he asked carefully.
“He is with your Hunter,” came Deq’on’s soft admission. He openly avoided Kaelyn’s shocked gaze.
“Tyrian?” she breathed. She’d known he had come there, but the prospect of reuniting with him after having just found her estranged father… She struggled to keep up with the myriad of emotions assailing her.
“He fights alongside my brothers to retrieve you.” Deq’on finally brought his soft, hazel pools to meet hers.
They suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Caleb shot his arm out to hold Kaelyn behind him, away from the Vampire. His blatant distrust saturated the space around them. He glared at Deq’on; the two faced off in the small, dimly lit glass tunnel.
“Bullshit,” Caleb declared. “No way would Tyrian side with Vampires.”
The teenager’s contempt hardly seemed to phase the Vampire as he coolly stared the boy down. “There is much you do not know, young one.”
Kaelyn placed a hand gently on Caleb’s shoulder, and forced him to let her out from behind him. “Caleb, we can argue about this later. Right now I’d really like to get out of here, and I think Deq’on is sincere in helping us. Please?”
With their gazes locked, she silently pleaded with him. He eventually stood down, shook his head irately, and turned his back on them both in a huff.
“Let’s go,” he grumbled.
All of a sudden, Caleb tensed. In her peripheral vision, Kaelyn noticed Deq’on do the same. Then a voice drifted over the shoulder of her self-imposed protector.
“Well, isn’t this touching?”
A familiar voice—that of Cynric.
“No,” Kaelyn breathed. Devastation enveloped her, nearly buckling her knees. They’d come so close to freedom, only to have it snatched away from her. She wrapped her arms around herself, to hug her middle.
The monster who’d kidnapped Caleb and captured her came sauntering past the stunned teenager, right up to the stony form of Deq’on.
He stood there for a moment, silently staring into the Vampire’s eyes. “You are a remarkable actor, Deq’
on; I must hand it to you. You even had me convinced. However, although I may have believed you, I never trusted you. It seems now that my suspicions are confirmed. The father of the Vampire Medium…that I did not see coming, although I suppose it should have come as no surprise. We are unable to see anything concerning the Mediums. I admit I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not making the connection. I never was able to read you. Have you anything to say for yourself before I kill you?”
The threat was not veiled; it was spoken as an inevitable consequence in response to Deq’on’s actions, one the Vampire had been expecting if the look on his pale face was any indication. Kaelyn shot forward purely on instinct, and threw herself between the Vampire and the monstrous Druid.
“Don’t!” she shouted.
Cynric cocked his head to the side slightly. He glanced between the Medium and the Vampire briefly, before settling on Kaelyn. “Suddenly feeling compassion for your sperm donor, Medium?”
Kaelyn curled her upper lip in a sneer. She balled her hands into fists at her sides, and spat back at him vindictively.
“You are a vulgar, pretentious monster,” she ground out through clenched teeth as she stared hatefully into the void of his eyes. She couldn’t rightly remember ever feeling hatred in her life, not until faced with the utter evil that stood across from her now.
“Yes, I am,” Cynric stated succinctly. In the blink of an eye, he shifted out of her line of sight.
Caleb winced and turned his eyes away, covered his nose and mouth with his hand, and turned to face the wall. Kaelyn shifted her gaze to the side slowly, then forced herself to turn, emotion tightening her chest and throat.
Cynric stood over the fallen form of Deq’on. The Vampire’s head now dangled by his spinal cord from one of the monster’s pale hands.
Kaelyn struggled to process the realization that Deq’on had now left her life as swiftly as he’d come. On the whim of this mad Druid, he simply existed no more. Through wide, unfocused eyes, she took in every vivid detail of the scene before her, even as her mind screamed at her to shield herself from the horrible image. Rooted to the spot, she couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
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