Death Devours

by J. C. Diem

  Huddled at my side, Geordie threw a frantic look over his shoulder. I copied him and squinted against the faint touch of light that was beginning to bloom. “If we do not make it, chérie, I want you to know how much I adore you,” the teenager said solemnly. For a brief moment, I was touched. Then he had to ruin it with his next comment. “And how very badly I want to see you naked.” Luc’s lips twitched in amusement. Nicholas gave the kid an affronted stare, as if he was insulted on my behalf.

  Gregor abandoned his usual urbane demeanour when no sounds of approach came from within and shouldered the door open, breaking the flimsy lock. We piled inside what turned out to be a kitchen. Luc closed the door a millisecond before everyone but I would have turned into moist stains on the porch. As the sun finally burst into life in its usual suffocating blanket of heat, Geordie lost consciousness. I caught him as he became limp and dragged his arm over my shoulder.

  A thick curtain on the door blocked the pale light effectively but the curtains on the windows were far flimsier. Twin beams of sunlight speckled the worn linoleum on either side of us.

  Taking a look around the kitchen, I saw that it was in desperate need of repair. Once dark brown and now faded to tan, the wallpaper was peeling and water damage showed in several places. The linoleum on the floor was grey, stained and scuffed. It was difficult to tell what colour it had once been. Most of the appliances looked at least forty years old. By the general atmosphere coupled with the musty smell, I deduced that an elderly person lived in the house.

  Huddled together, we heard the almost dainty snores issuing from a human somewhere in the building. “What do we do now?” Nicholas asked softly. With Geordie currently unconscious and hanging limply at my side, there was no one to scowl at the overly muscled vamp for simply daring to open his mouth.

  “One of us needs to approach the owner of this house and request that we be allowed to spend the day here,” Gregor said. There was no way to tell how safe the rest of the house was from the sun until it was searched.

  Gee, I wonder who is going to have that privilege? “Since I’m the only one who won’t die immediately if the sun touches me, I guess it’ll have to be me,” I said dryly.

  Nicholas gave me an incredulous stare. “Are you saying the sun cannot kill you?”

  “I thought you guys were going to fill Nicholas in on my strange and whacky powers,” I said to Gregor and Igor, neatly avoiding answering the question.

  Igor shrugged then gestured at his unmoving apprentice. “Hand him to me.” I gladly foisted Geordie off onto the Russian then moved away from the door. The others huddled closer together in an effort to stay out of the still weak yet deadly rays flanking them on both sides.

  Staying within the band of shadow, I crossed the room and pushed open a door to the living room. The furniture was overstuffed but looked comfortable. Rows of framed photos lined the mantle above the fire, which had almost burned out. It was much gloomier in here and far safer than the kitchen. I motioned for the others to join me. After some careful shifting, Luc held Geordie by the feet and Igor had his hands wrapped securely around the teen’s torso. Shuffling forward, the group managed to make it into the living room without incident. With the door closed, they would be safe from the sun for the moment.

  Following the sounds of snores, I moved past three dim bedrooms containing double beds and pushed open the door to a fourth. An old woman lay on her back beneath a mound of blankets. Her toothless mouth was slack, allowing her snores to escape unhindered. Pure white hair floated on the pillow, almost blending in with it. For a second or two she strongly reminded me of the Romanian prophet. Ancient and wrinkled, she looked almost as much like a mummy as he had. The only difference was that she smelled like mothballs rather than cinnamon.

  I didn’t want to wake her but my friends needed to rest. Clearing my throat loudly made her twitch and mumble something unintelligible. Clearing it louder worked and she woke with a start. Sitting up, she groped for a walking stick beside her bed. “Is someone there?” she asked in a voice that quavered slightly. The room was dim but she was looking right at me. Her gaze was centred over my shoulder and I realized she was blind.

  “Hi,” I said in English, hoping she could understand me. “I’m sorry to intrude but my friends and I…” My explanation trailed off when she shifted the stick to her shoulder. That’s not a stick, that’s a shotgun.

  “So, you and your friends thought you could break in and rob me blind,” the old lady said in mangled English. She’d homed in on my voice and both her gaze and gun were pointed unerringly at me.

  “Well, technically, you’re already blind,” I pointed out. “Anyway, we’re not here to rob you, we just need somewhere to spend the day.”

  Glaring in my general direction suspiciously, she shifted her grip on the weapon but made no move to put it down. “Why were you travelling at night instead of during the day?”

  Thinking frantically, I gave her the only explanation I could think of. “There’s a lot less traffic at night and we can make really good time.” Her suspicion didn’t waver at all and only deepened. “We can pay you,” I said with a hint of desperation. Being blind, it would be impossible for one of the guys to bamboozle her into submission and I didn’t want to kill or incapacitate her.

  Brightening immediately, she swung the weapon down and placed it against the wall again. “Why didn’t you say so?” Holding out her arthritic hand in my direction, she was all toothless smiles. “I am Irina.”

  “I’m Nat,” I replied as I shook her hand carefully.

  An expression of commiseration settled on her wrinkled face and she patted my hand consolingly. “You poor thing. Some parents have no shame. Imagine naming your child after an insect!”

  Gregor’s muffled laugh floated down the hall to me loud and clear even if the old lady didn’t hear it. I was just glad Geordie wasn’t awake to hear her. He’d never have been able to contain his shrill giggles.

  I gave Irina a few moments alone to dress then politely escorted her to the living room. After introducing my friends, and Nicholas, to our hostess, I was glad for her blindness. Explaining Geordie’s condition would have been difficult. You could have told her he’s narcoleptic, my subconscious said sourly. That had been Luc’s explanation to curious airport staff when I’d fallen dead asleep while travelling by air once. Being lugged around while dead to the world was embarrassing, even if I didn’t actually remember it.

  Sharing a very quiet and private conversation with the others, I volunteered to stay awake. Someone had to make sure Irina didn’t accidentally kill anyone by opening the curtains in the bedrooms. It was doubtful she would since housekeeping didn’t seem to be one of her top concerns. A fine layer of dust lay on the furniture and carpet. Airing out the bedrooms was probably fairly low on her to-do list.

  Hoisting Geordie over his shoulder, Igor disappeared down the corridor and took the first room on the left. Gregor and Nicholas followed, branching off into the other two spare bedrooms. Nicholas hesitated in the hallway, sending me another heated glance in an unspoken invitation to join him. Luc’s response was to pull me in close and kiss me. It was long, thorough and had my flesh hunger rising by the time he pulled away. The ex-courtier entered his chosen bedroom and slammed the door shut. Wearing a smile of self-satisfaction, Luc sauntered down the hall to join Gregor.

  Pottering around in the kitchen, Irina was oblivious to the petty, silent squabble. She emerged minutes later and I hurried over to help her with the tray she carried gingerly. She’d made a pot of tea and insisted on pouring me a cup despite my protests that I wasn’t thirsty. Pretending to sip the hot liquid, I heaved an internal sigh. I had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

  Chapter Four

  I’d never been so grateful for sundown when the last rays of light finally departed and my friends rose for the night. When they were all ready to leave, I thanked Irina for her hospitality. Gregor pressed some money into her wrinkled hands and we were o
n our way again.

  “I would like to travel with you tonight, my Queen,” Nicholas said formally as we approached our vehicles. Geordie cut him a glare and his lips thinned in annoyance. “I believe I would find your company to be far more pleasant than some.” He might as well have turned and pointed a finger at the only teen in our midst.

  While I could sympathize, knowing just how irritating Geordie could be, I didn’t want to be burdened with the newbie. I was cranky after spending the entire day without any sleep and attempting to converse with Irina. She was in her nineties and her idea of entertainment was to listen to ancient music that held absolutely no appeal to me. She didn’t even have a TV or books. The few magazines I’d scrounged up had been thirty years old.

  Geordie had a simple solution. “If I annoy you so much then I will ride with Luc and Nat,” he said testily. His double usage of our nicknames sounded weird in his French accent.

  Luc nodded before I could shoot the teen down. Crestfallen at his request being denied, Nicholas climbed into the back of Igor’s car reluctantly. Following the dark sedan at a greater distance than usual, Luc revealed the reason why he’d agreed to let the kid ride with us. “What have you learned about Nicholas so far, Geordie?”

  Resting his arms on the backs of our seats, Geordie had squirmed as far forward as he could. He wore a light scowl but at least he had transferred his hostility from Luc to Nicholas for the time being. “I have learned that he is an egotistical fool who thinks he is the most handsome vampire to have ever walked the earth.”

  While I sniggered, Luc waited patiently for Geordie to calm down. “Have Gregor or Igor attempted to question him?”

  Nodding, Geordie swiped his hair out of his eyes. “They have asked him many questions about the Comtesse and her fellow Councillors. He says he is not aware of their plans. He says that his only goal was to escape from them so that he could be at ma chérie’s side.” Scorn at the idea made his scowl more fierce than usual.

  “What did he plan to do once he was at Natalie’s side?” Luc queried softly. I noticed that his shoulders had risen slightly, as if he were tensing.

  Geordie’s answer was as dark as his scowl. “I think we both know the answer to that question.”

  They think Nicholas wants to do the horizontal mambo with me. Unfortunately, I thought so, too. “That’s not going to happen,” I said. “Yes, he’s pretty to look at but he gives me the creeps.”

  Cocking his head to the side, Geordie sent me a coy look. “Are you saying that you do not find Nicholas to be attractive?”

  That was a hard one to answer. My flesh hunger had almost forced me to jump the ex-courtier’s bones but I had resisted it successfully, mostly because he’d been asleep at the time. “He’s attractive but I’m not attracted to him.” Neither man seemed to understand. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman that you thought was beautiful but you didn’t particularly want to have sex with her?”

  Luc met Geordie’s eyes in the rear view mirror and they shared a decidedly sexist chuckle. “No,” they replied in tandem.

  I gave up and changed the subject. “Are you deliberately trying to drive Nicholas nuts, Geordie?” The kid was often unintentionally annoying. I could only imagine how irritating he’d be if he really put his mind to it.

  Geordie’s reply was unabashedly honest. “Yes. I am hoping to drive him away but it does not seem to be working.”

  “Maybe he’s telling the truth and he really does think the praying mantis will kill him if he returns to the Court,” I mused. Geordie sniggered at the nickname I’d given the Comtesse. At just under five feet tall, she had a small waist, voluptuous hips, white-blonde hair and was beautiful in an exotic way. I’d named her after a creepy insect due to her wide-set, soulless eyes. The praying mantis was minus a hand now, thanks to me. She had kept Luc as her sex slave after she’d ordered him to chop off my head. My retaliation had been to relieve her of one of her body parts. I hoped one day to relieve her of a lot more than that.

  Luc allowed Geordie to answer for both of them. “He is up to something, chérie. But do not fear, I shall keep a close eye on him.”

  Wow, I feel a lot safer now. I kept the semi-sarcastic thought to myself, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “Thanks, Geordie,” I said, carefully hiding my grin. “I get the feeling you didn’t like Nicholas much even before he joined our group.” It wasn’t strictly a question but I lifted an eyebrow in enquiry.

  Squirming on the seat with reluctance, Geordie finally fessed up why he disliked the muscle bound courtier. “He used to make fun of me when I was newly made.” His lower lip pooched out in a pout.

  “Why?” I didn’t want to pry at old wounds but my curiosity made me ask.

  “Do you know about my origins?” he asked me and slanted a glance at Luc.

  I nodded in sympathy. “I badgered Luc into telling me a bit about you and Igor.” Luc drove with serene calmness, listening in but contributing nothing.

  “Then you know that I was turned by a young girl.” The teen hung his head at the painful memory.

  “I know she was killed for breaking the rules,” I said so he wouldn’t have to.

  Nodding, Geordie raised his head again and stared at the car ahead of us. “Nicholas used to torment me about it. He made fun of me because I was turned by someone so low in the Court hierarchy.” He scowled at the hulking outline of Nicholas in the sedan ahead. “He said I had no right to exist and that I should have been killed, as if I was a runt not worthy of survival.”

  Reaching back, I put my hand on his narrow shoulder in wordless support. My esteem for the ex-courtier had just managed to drop even lower.

  “Why didn’t you mention this to Igor?” Luc said with a tone that seemed calm but held undercurrents of anger. “He would have put a stop to the taunts.”

  “I did not want anyone to know the horrible things he was saying to me,” the teen said with heart wrenching dignity. “Besides, what could have been done about it? Taunting unwanted fledglings is not against Court rules.” He sounded very cynical for someone who looked so young.

  “Let me know if he says anything like that to you again,” I told Geordie. “I’m not going to put up with any bullying.” He gave me a grateful look then subsided back against his seat. Geordie remained quiet for far longer than I’d thought possible. His wounds might be old but they were far from faded.

  We didn’t want to make it too obvious that we didn’t trust Nicholas so the next night Geordie swapped cars with him. I was far from comfortable with the newbie sitting in such close proximity. I might not be able to die but I just didn’t trust him where I couldn’t see him. My solution was to turn and engage him in conversation. Since most Europeans thought I was uncouth anyway, maybe it was time to use that trait to my advantage.

  “I’ve been wondering about something, Nicholas.” He lifted a sculpted dark brown eyebrow in invitation to ask the question that was on my mind. “Who made you?” Ok, that was blunt even for me.

  “My master was a rogue servant of little importance, my…Natalie.” He smiled apologetically but the phrase was beginning to grate on my nerves. The irritated look Luc flicked him in the rear view mirror told me I wasn’t alone in my annoyance.

  “Tell me about it,” I offered. We knew practically nothing about him and I wanted to dig for as much information as I could. If he really thought I was his liege then he should have been all too happy to answer me. “Why did he make you and what happened to him?”

  Casting his eyes downward, the ex-courtier gathered his thoughts. “I was made because my master’s master enjoyed men and my master did not.” It took me a couple of seconds to wrap my brain around that. “Jacque, my master, was more inclined towards women,” Nicholas continued. “He thought that if he could present his master with someone attractive enough, he would be spared from his master’s advances.”

  My lips were wrinkled back from my teeth at the idea of being made simply to satisfy your master’s sexual desires. I
was pretty sure that had been what my maker, Silvius, had intended for me. Thankfully, I’d speared a cross into his heart before he could do anything worse than kill me and turn me into the undead. “I gather Jacque’s plan didn’t work out so well?”

  Shaking his head, Nicholas’ shoulders slumped. “Jacque was killed for his imprudence and I very nearly suffered the same fate. One of the Ladies saved me from being destroyed and offered me a position as a guard for the Court.”

  “How long ago was this?” I was always fascinated by when and why my kin were made. We all seemed to have one thing in common; none of us had asked to be turned into monsters. The decision had been made for us and we’d all had to learn to adapt to our new circumstances, no matter how horrendous they were.

  “I was turned shortly after the Court was formed…Natalie.” He grinned at me for remembering to call me by my name that time. If my one true love hadn’t been sitting right beside me, I might have been tempted by Nicholas’ pretty face. Since my shrivelled heart already belonged to someone else, his beauty had little effect on my libido. If Nicholas was telling us the truth, then that meant he was about two thousand years old. I’d have to speak to Igor and see if he could corroborate this story.

  “You were a lowly guard for two thousand years then the Comtesse suddenly turns you into a courtier.” I was silent for a few seconds, trying to think of a diplomatic way to say what was on my mind. “Why would you turn traitor against her after I killed the First? You could have stayed with the Court and become one of the high and mighty. By joining us, you’ve pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be just a lowly commoner again.”

  Nicholas struggled to come to terms with this revelation. “Will you not be forming a Court of your own?” he asked uncertainly.

  “Hell no,” I scoffed. “Why do you think I keep telling you not to call me your Queen?” He still seemed not to get it. “There will be no Court surrounding me because I am not a ruler. Lord Lucentio and Lord Gregor are just plain old Luc and Gregor now.”