Death Devours

by J. C. Diem

  I’d loved the red suit I’d worn when killing the First but it did tend to stand out. The suits he’d just presented me with were the typical ones worn by his female soldiers. “Thank you, Emperor Ishida.” We bowed to each other and I climbed into the van to change. As always, I had to contort myself to do the laces up at the back. The suit was a perfect fit and contoured to my body as if it had been made to suit my exact measurements.

  I drew stares when I exited the van for the second time. Luc lifted an eyebrow in approval and Nicholas unconsciously licked his lips. Geordie playfully batted his eyelashes at me as I settled the twin sheaths into place across my back. “Let’s go,” I said and took off into the jungle.

  With the flesh hunger still raging through me, I wanted to sprint and try to put it behind me. That would mean leaving my friends and allies behind as well so I matched my pace to Luc’s. He sensed that I was troubled and what was troubling me. “Can you hold on until after our next battle?”

  Nodding, I didn’t trust myself to speak. Sensing vampires ahead, I narrowed my focus to the job at hand as we burst into a clearing. A quick glance around the tiny village told me we were too late. Most of the humans had already been mostly drained and lay on the ground, ashy with blood loss.

  Fledgling vampires only wanted food at this stage of their creation. It would take several days before their flesh hunger would also rise. Since several women had been used to feed someone’s flesh hunger, I knew that at least one of the disciples had to be somewhere nearby.

  Ishida motioned his men and women into action and they began to attack the still feeding vampires. My head snapped around when I heard strangled human screams and I ran towards a hut at the far end of the village. Monstrous, muffled chuckling came from within.

  Ducking to enter the hut, I was confronted with three dead children, a drained man and a weakly struggling woman. I paused in shock at my first glimpse of one of the disciples. His flesh had withered away from starvation and he was just a skeleton wrapped in grey skin. Several clumps of long, matted hair clung to his skull. Despite his prolonged entombment and lack of nourishment, he was still far stronger than a human. He’d regained enough strength from repeated feedings to be able to feed both of his hungers at the same time from the poor human.

  Sensing that he was no longer alone, the vampire stood with dreadful speed, holding the naked human in front of him as a shield. Utterly fleshless, his skin lay against his skull and his eyes were hollow caves. “You must be the one my brother warned me of,” he gurgled around his last mouthful of blood. “Have you come to kill me then? I, who am greater than you shall ever be? I am the Fourth and you,” he looked me up and down with a sneer, “are less than nothing.”

  I lunged forward, not bothering to wait for him to issue any more insults. My sword took him through the right eye and he dropped his meal in surprise. In most modern vampires, the injury to his brain would have been fatal. Our kind really has weakened over time, I observed. He grasped the blade, slicing his hand to the bone and tried to yank the weapon out. I speared the other sword through his chest and he jerked back a step.

  Dropping his uninjured eye to the blade, he looked back up at me in bewilderment. “But…you can’t,” he whined.

  “I just did,” I replied and pulled both weapons free.

  He might be fifty thousand years old but the Fourth was as susceptible to death as any of our kind, barring me of course.

  His victim still breathed but was close to death. Scared and full of pain, her eyes drifted up from the mess the Fourth had left behind. They found mine and beseeched me wordlessly to end her suffering. Fulfilling her silent request, I ended her life with a quick thrust of my sword. She would join her family in whatever afterlife they were destined for, if such a thing truly existed.

  Outside the hut, the sound of humans screaming and fledglings feeding triggered something inside me. My flesh hunger evaporated and battle lust descended. Turning, I left the hut in search of prey.

  With their overwhelming need to feed their blood hunger, the fledglings didn’t even seem to realize that their maker was dead. Maybe the Fourth wasn’t their maker. Any of the ten disciples could have been. One thing seemed certain, the ancient vamps had separated and no longer remained in one group. They would now be able to hit multiple villages in the same night. If we didn’t put a stop to it, there would be an infestation of our kind in a matter of weeks. It’s like fighting the First and his minions all over again. My thought was full of despair mixed with weary resignation. I didn’t remember ever signing up for this job but, somehow, I was stuck with it.

  Wading into battle, my mind emptied and my hands took over. It occurred to me dimly that this particular attack might just be a diversion. The Second had proven he was intelligent by splitting his forces up. He might also be crafty enough to cause a delay to give himself enough time to build a bigger army.

  When the last of the fledglings were dead, we were left with the unenviable task of checking for survivors. I found a small family huddled together in a hut on the outskirts of the village. Twin toddlers clutched their mother’s legs, screaming in fright and confusion. Shaken and bleeding from a wound in her neck, she flinched from my glowing eyes. She hadn’t been drained of her blood but Kokoro’s warning echoed in my mind. Every human that had been bitten could eventually turn into a monster. Her mouth was free of bloodstains but I couldn’t take the chance that she’d been infected. At least her kids were spared the sight of my blade sliding into her chest. Hopefully, they would be too young to remember this night of horror.

  Only a handful of humans had survived the slaughter. Gregor checked each of them carefully for wounds before deeming them to be ok. “I found a couple of kids in that hut,” I pointed at the tiny dwelling I’d just left. “I don’t think they were bitten but someone should check them over.”

  Gregor chose one of the surviving women and attempted to escort her to the hut. Sobbing in terror, she resisted him as well as she could but her pitiful struggles were no match for him. The most urbane of us kept his expression neutral but I could tell that he regretted causing her further fear. The survivor ceased her struggles when she spied the children. She disappeared for a few seconds as she ducked inside before emerging with the toddlers in her arms.

  The remaining villagers huddled together, uncertain of what we expected from them. We weren’t equipped to deal with them and I could only think of one solution to our problem. I’d left the radio in the van so jogged over and retrieved it. “Sanderson, are you there?”

  “I’m here, Natalie,” he replied almost instantly. “Did you reach the village?”

  “We did but it was already under attack.”

  “Were there any survivors?” he asked with an undertone of bleakness.

  “We found five uninfected adults and two children. What do you want us to do with them?”

  “I’ll send a team to pick them up. What’s your next move?”

  My next move was to wash the fledgling blood off my shiny new suit. My blood hunger began to rise at the smell coating me. Fledgling blood was too close to human blood for my liking. “We’ll head for the next village as soon as we finish up here.” We should have time, if we hurried.

  Sanderson paused before speaking. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

  “Nothing,” I lied through my fangs that had descended from my increasing hunger. “I’ll give you an update soon.” Throwing the radio onto the seat, I turned to find Nicholas standing right in front of me. Staring down at me, he ran a finger down my arm then licked the blood off the tip, proving that it hadn’t yet turned diseased and deadly. His flesh hunger had risen again and now mine rose to meet his, driving the blood hunger away. My body couldn’t decide which hunger it wanted to feed more. He moved to touch my cheek and I snarled at him in warning.

  “Tell me what you would have of me, my Queen,” the muscled vampire said softly. “Name it and it is yours.”

  “I want you to leave me a
lone,” I said and it came out as a throaty growl. The orange glow of my eyes was reflected in his. He bent his head towards me and my sword was touching his neck before I could order my hand to move.

  Before I could shove the weapon home, Nicholas was yanked backwards. He went sailing through the trees and landed with a crash somewhere in the distance. Luc stared after him then turned his gaze on me. He was furious but his ire wasn’t directed at me. Sensing my need, he took my hand. “Gregor, get everyone moving towards the next village. Natalie and I will catch up to you shortly.”

  “Where are they going?” Geordie asked plaintively. We moved out of range before I could hear Gregor’s explanation for our sudden disappearance.

  I raced with Luc through the trees, easily dodging or jumping over obstacles in my path. Activity was what I needed to drive the hungers that were assailing me away.

  We couldn’t run forever and Luc eventually stopped at a wide stream. I halted beside him with my diseased blood all but thrumming in my veins. Dropping the swords and sheaths to the ground, I plunged into the water to wash off the gore. The picture of Nicholas licking the red liquid off his fingertip played over and over in my mind. I wanted fresh blood and I wanted it now.

  “What is wrong, Natalie?” Luc asked. He was watching me carefully from the bank.

  Slicking my drenched hair back from my face, I shook my head. “I don’t know why but my hungers seem to be getting stronger.”

  “Do you think it might have something to do with the imp blood that you were forced to drink?”

  It seemed obvious as soon as he mentioned it. Thanks to the new infusion of alien blood, I was now imbued with the imp’s battle lust. It had also apparently strengthened my blood and flesh hungers. My thoughts trailed off when Luc shrugged off his jacket then pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground. Nicholas had a beautiful body but it was just too bulky for me. Luc’s physique was perfect. Lean and muscled, he had a light dusting of hair on his chest that did nothing to hide his torso.

  I’d left the creek without even realizing it and fumbled for the laces of my suit. Luc stepped behind me and brushed my hands away. With a few tugs, the top of my suit came free. Strong hands slipped around me and cupped my breasts. Luc was hard against me and my dead heart tried to lurch in my chest in excitement.

  Spinning me around, Luc’s mouth descended on mine. He paused long enough to strip my suit and his pants off before reaching for me again. A haze came over me and we were on the ground, grappling and rolling, fighting for dominance. Then he plunged into me and I threw my head back and voiced a scream of intense pleasure.

  He moved with the blinding speed and strength that I craved. I anchored myself with my hands on his shoulders and my legs around his waist. Sliding over the edge, my body bucked and Luc’s bones snapped. He swore in pain but kept going until he reached his own release and finally collapsed on me.

  Tracing a finger over the unnatural bumps on his shoulders, I winced in sympathy when the broken bones popped back into place. Rolling onto his side, he rode out the healing process with his usual equanimity.

  “How many was it that time?” I asked him guiltily.

  “I believe it was only four,” he said with a definite smile in his voice.

  How can be smile after I caused him so much pain? “Which ones?”

  “My femurs and both clavicles.”

  Putting my hands over my face, I willed away the lump that wanted to form in my throat. Almost every time we were horizontal together, I broke something in my one true love’s body.

  “I do not mind, Nat,” he told me. Luc’s rare usage of my nickname made me drop my hands and turn to view his face. He took my hand and planted a kiss on the holy mark on my palm. “It is a small price to pay to be with the woman I love.”

  Threading my fingers through his, I leaned over and kissed him gently, as if that could somehow make up for the agony I’d caused him. Deep in the back of my mind, I wondered how much stronger my hungers would grow and whether I’d lose control of them entirely.

  Chapter Eleven

  Dressing quickly, we retraced our steps to the village. A gigantic bonfire had been built in the centre of the clearing. Bodies of the fallen humans had been piled high. The smell of pork that wasn’t pork lay thick in the air and made me want to dry heave.

  Sanderson’s men hadn’t arrived yet and our friends and allies had already departed for the next township on the map. It was easy enough to follow their tracks. We moved far more quickly along the rugged dirt road than the lumbering vehicles could.

  Hearing the sounds of battle ahead, we put on a burst of speed. Luc was at my side, sword in hand when we entered the next village. This time, far more humans were still alive. Curiously, only a small number of fledglings were attacking them. For a moment I thought I sensed one of the disciples nearby but the sensation rapidly faded.

  One of the fledglings launched herself at a fleeing human. A bolt struck her in the back, piercing her heart and halting her in mid-flight. She hit the ground and lay there unmoving. Only when the bolt was removed would she turn to slush. Geordie, clearly terrified, reloaded his weapon, head swivelling in search of another target.

  Igor emerged from a hut, cleaning his long knife on a filthy piece of fabric that had probably once been a loincloth. His stoic expression belied the fact that he was in the middle of a warzone. I spied Gregor slicing the throat of a hissing vamp that was trying to sidle around him to reach a cowering trio of children.

  Ishida held a stained sword in one hand and motioned imperiously at a quartet of fledglings to engage him in battle. The child king, along with several of his guards, was shielding a family from attack.

  Intent on feeding, the fledglings scuttled forward, ignoring the danger. Ishida proved he’d been well trained when he moved with fluid grace to intercept them. He ended their lives with controlled thrusts and slices, keeping his expression blank and almost bored. I could tell by the way he moved that we’d shared the same instructor.

  Every one of our friends and allies were defending the villagers. All except for Nicholas. I couldn’t see him anywhere. Anger began to stir but I willed it away. I couldn’t allow my hungers to rise each time I fought our rabid new kin or I’d be perpetually hungry for either blood or sex.

  Luc and I joined the fight, hacking apart any vamp that wasn’t on our side. With far fewer fledglings to face this time, the battle was fairly short. Many humans had fled from the village but I hoped they would return when Sanderson’s soldiers arrived. Some of the escapees may have been bitten. I’d have to warn the colonel to check them for fang marks before they faded to faint spots that could be mistaken for insect bites.

  I finally saw Nicholas emerge from one of the huts. Blood smeared his clothing and mouth as well as the machete he’d appropriated from somewhere. He sent me a burning look and I gave him a bland one in response. Taken aback at my lack of reaction, he hesitated. Luc put a hand around my waist and our overly muscled ally’s expression darkened. He used his sleeve to wipe the blood from his lips.

  “I am going to kill Nicholas one day,” Luc said mildly.

  “Not if I kill him first,” Geordie muttered as he joined us. “I was worried about you, chérie. Are you well?”

  “I’m ok. My hungers were getting out of control so Luc helped me to take care of them.”

  Gregor ambled over in time to hear my explanation. “The imp blood is taking its toll, then?”

  “What was that about imp blood?” Igor queried as he joined us. Nicholas wasn’t far behind him.

  “It seems to be making my hungers stronger,” I explained when they had all gathered.

  “Has Kokoro had any visions in relation to the imp blood in your system?” Gregor asked. The seer had appeared just after the battle ended and stood beside Ishida. Either reading our minds or feeling our gazes on her, she touched the child king on the shoulder and they started towards us.

  “I have not had any specific vi
sions in relation to the new blood that has invaded Natalie’s system,” the prophet said when they reached us. She’d plucked the thought out of our heads and didn’t require a verbal query from me.

  “Did you know about the four imp shadows I had following me around?” I asked her. They had been quickly killed off by my vampire shadows before the final four had then turned on each other. They’d managed to whittle their numbers down to three, I’d killed two of them and then I’d been back to having only one again. Once I killed the First, my original shadow had lost its sentience and had thankfully reverted back to normal. That had been a great relief to me. Especially after I’d discovered that they’d been able to see, hear, taste and feel everything I did. That included my bedroom antics with Luc. I hadn’t told him about that yet and wasn’t sure I ever would.

  “I knew their presence would not harm you and that they would be with you only temporarily,” was Kokoro’s serene reply. I wanted to be angry that she’d known what I’d be faced with but couldn’t dredge up the emotion. Did I really want to know every weird thing that fate had in store for me? Hell no! If I did know, it might cause me to give up on all hope that I’d ever have a semblance of a normal life again. As it was, I barely knew what ‘normal’ was anymore.

  Nicholas was staring at the seer as if she were a bug that he’d like to squash. “What other information have you been hiding from us, witch?”

  Ishida’s eyes widened slightly at the insult and his guards reached for their weapons. Kokoro put a soothing hand on her leader’s shoulder and gave Nicholas a chilly look. “I have been called far worse by better men than you, servant of the Council.”

  Rage flickered over the only recently appointed and already ex courtier’s face. He clearly despised being reminded of his former lowly status as a guard. Good one, Kokoro, I thought at her and received a tiny nod in response. Nicholas wasn’t going to live much longer if he kept antagonizing everyone. I sure as hell wasn’t going to object to it when someone staked him to death.