by Unknown
Lorelei showed me to the bathroom and pointed me at the mirror, and I was shocked at what I saw.
It wasn’t the redness of the healed tissue around my eye, the freshly-regenerated eyelids, or even the presence of a brand new eyeball, however bloodshot it might be. That much, Lorelei told me later, would go down in a few hours.
No, what shocked me was that my new eye was sporting an entirely unexpected iris of bloody crimson.
“Is...that normal?”
“Yes and no,” Lorelei answered honestly. “It has been known to happen, but it’s rare, as I said. How does it feel? Can you see alright?”
I closed my right eye, testing my visual acuity from the new orb, and although it was slightly blurred it was continuing to improve. I figured it would be back to normal within the hour, just in time for meeting our incoming guest.
I relayed the information to Lorelei, who nodded.
“Good. As long as it doesn’t hurt, I’d say you’re good.”
“But what does it actually mean?” I asked her as we left the bathroom again, and se gave a small shrug.
“In general terms? You’ve inherited some traits from someone else in that vampiric bloodline. Could be the one who turned Corvi, or someone further back than that. Either way it’s a physical trait of older purebloods, which may have an influence on what other traits you inherit. In specific terms though?” She shrugged yet again. “I haven’t got a clue. It could be anything. It’s such a rare occurrence that it’s never really been looked into much.”
“Great. So I’m a freak of nature even to other vampires now.”
“Actually, most of them will respect you more, not less. Anyway, I’m getting back to work. You should give that a clean before Lev and her girlfriend get here though.”
I grunted in agreement and walked back into the bathroom to do just that, and supposed that getting dressed properly afterwards would be a good idea.
Just a shade over an hour later, I was stood in the car park with four of Lieutenant Tavoy’s best soldiers, because I wasn’t taking chances with an unknown element. They were armed with our standard issue G36C assault rifles, although one of them was armed with the same light machine-gun the guards at Sharriana’s fortress carried.
I watched as the familiar muscle car snarled into the car park and was thrown haphazardly into something that vaguely resembled a parking spot, before the engine cut off with a sound like a barely-placated predator.
Lev and her passenger got out and walked over to my small group, and if it hadn’t been for the fact both my eyes saw the same thing I would have believed my new one was hallucinating.
“Guys, D, I want you to meet my girlfriend,” Lev said, with just the slightest hint of the blush she’d shown the day before. “Everyone, this is Libby Wyles, Libby this is-”
“Deimos Black,” Libby said with a broad grin, and Lev looked at her in confusion.
I could scarcely believe what I was seeing. Despite the hair dyed vibrant red, despite the black eye-shadow and crimson lipstick that somehow enhanced her natural beauty, despite the multiple piercings in both ears, despite it all I recognised the young woman standing before me.
I’d grown up with her for sixteen years, after all.
“...Tis?”
Any breath I might once have had would have been knocked out of me after that, as my sister threw herself against me and pulled me into the fiercest hug I’d had in a long time.
Our family reunion was interrupted by the thunderous report of one of Lev’s Desert Eagles, and we both turned to look at the white-haired woman who now looked extremely pissed off.
“Okay, time out.” She walked looked between the two of us, and we both must have looked thoroughly ashamed - even though this situation was nothing to do with me in any way shape or form.
“Can someone please explain to me what the almighty fuck just happened?!” Lev shouted to us. “You’re saying that you’re not Libby Wyles?!”
I suddenly realised something in that moment, something that I could explain.
“Yes, she is - well, sort of. You know what Libby is short for?”
“Generally speaking, it’s short for Elizabeth, but what-”
“Exactly,” I told her. “Tisiphone Elizabeth Black, named after our mother.”
Lev looked between us a few times, a range of emotions apparently warring for her attention.
“And ‘Wyles’?”
“I had my name changed to protect my family,” Tis explained. “I...I’m sorry if you feel like I lied to you,” she said, stepping back to Lev and taking hold of her hands. “Please...I was just trying to keep them safe...keep my brother safe. You can understand that, right?”
I found the exchange difficult to be near. Not because I had anything against same-sex relationships, but because it was my sister and my best friend. It was just...awkward.
I turned around and focussed my attention elsewhere, letting them have a quiet discussion in relative privacy.
A couple of minutes later they both appeared next to me again, Lev blushing quite fiercely and Tis looking suitably admonished.
“You two sorted things out?” I asked my sister, and she nodded with a blush of her own.
“Yeah. I’ll be spending the next couple of months making it up to her, probably quite energetically-”
“Okay okay, I don’t need details!” I really didn’t want to hear the details of my little sister’s nocturnal activities, because...well, do I really need to explain why?
“Now then, brother dearest,” Tisiphone said, in a tone so much like our mother, “maybe you can explain the many things wrong with this picture, like what the hell you’re doing here and why you don’t have a fucking heartbeat.”
“So you got married, and you didn’t even invite me?!” Tis cried, thumping my shoulder to punctuate her exclamation.
Funny thing was, when I’d last seen her, even a playful punch would leave a bruise for days. Now, I barely felt it.
Being technically dead certainly had a few perks.
“Like I said, they took my phone,” I explained to her. “And I never memorised your number.”
Tis sighed, shaking her head in that disappointed fashion that parents manage so well. It was amusing to me how much she alone took after our mother, in mannerisms as well as looks.
“Well, that explains why I couldn’t get hold of you when I moved back into Oxford a couple of months ago,” she told me. “I didn’t know what had happened to you, but I was pretty sure you weren’t dead yet.”
“No, but he came close a few times,” Lev added seriously. “Otherwise his wife wouldn’t have needed to turn him - and we should really get your good lady to talk to you about that eye thing, D. She might know more.”
Tis looked at me again, looking at my differently-coloured eyes - one the natural hazel of my family, the other the deep crimson of...whoever it may have been.
“I think it looks awesome,” she said with a smile. “So who is my new sister-in-law?”
“You remember that ceremony I told you I had to attend a couple of weeks back?” Lev asked her, and Tis nodded.
Lev simply responded by gesturing towards me, and Tisiphone looked at me with renewed shock.
“The boss?! Fuck me, Deimos, you don’t aim low do you?”
“Can’t help who you fall in love with,” Lev offered in a sing-song voice. “You should know that well enough.”
Tisiphone blushed and hid her face. She always was a bit shy.
“Well,” she said when she’d finally recovered, “at least that’s one girl Remus can’t steal from you.” Lev laughed at the thought.
“Oh god, I�
��d pay to see anyone try and win Corvi away from your brother!” She dissolved into fits of laughter before she could continue, and Tis put an affectionate hand on my shoulder.
“So she really cares for you then? She loves you, looks after you, worries about you?”
“Vampire wedding ceremonies don’t go ahead without the assurance that both parties genuinely love each other,” I explained to her. “So yes, she really does.”
“I’m glad.” She smiled at me and hugged me again, when suddenly Corvi’s psychic voice entered my mind.
Maria is dead, Sythan’en, she told me. I was about to start searching for her, when I felt the link end. I’m sorry.
Not your fault hon, I replied, moving away from the war table and walking over to Lorelei’s console again. I’ll see what we can dig up this end.
Very well. I’m on my way over, I might be able to help.
Her mental voice went silent again, but not before she’d sent her love for me through the link, and I focussed my attention on Lorelei and her work.
“Any news? Please tell me there’s news.”
“We’re onto something, boss,” she answered, without looking up. “We’re just tracking it back now, we should have a location soon.”
“Good. Lev, get Tavoy and his troops ready, I want to be ready to move on this as soon as Lorelei’s team get us something.”
Lev moved off quickly to do what I had asked, and I wondered what to do about Tis. As soon as Lorelei’s team found what I wanted, we were going to attack the hunter base, and I didn’t want my little sister anywhere near the fighting.
“Don’t even think of leaving me behind with a bunch of strangers, Deimos Black,” Tisiphone warned me, as if she’d read my mind. I sighed heavily, walked over to her and hugged her tight.
“Tis, I don’t want to put you in danger, alright? And besides, Lev would murder me if you got hurt.”
“She’s going with you, you idiot,” she countered, pushing herself away from me for a moment.
“Exactly, and I don’t need her distracted looking out for you.”
“Pfft. I can look after myself, brother, believe me. I haven’t been sitting on my arse for the past two and a half years, I have some skills.”
Typical. Tisiphone not only had our mother’s smarts and beauty, but she also had our father’s stubbornness and argumentative streak.
Basically, she was a force to contend with whenever anyone told her ‘no.’
“Fine,” I relented, realising this was a fight I was never going to win. “But for god’s sake, be careful, stay back and keep your head down.”
Just over an hour later - Corvi had less tendency to ignore speed laws - and my wife pulled in to my base’s car park, and her timing couldn’t have been better. Only a few minutes prior to her arrival, Lorelei had pushed a satellite image of the hunter compound to the war table’s built-in screen.
As soon as Corvi was escorted in by a pair of Tavoy’s soldiers, she bolted away from them and wrapped her arms around me, kissing me fiercely as if she hadn’t seen me for a month.
I ran a hand through her hair as I pulled her deeper into the kiss, savouring the spicy taste of her and using my other hand to pull her body against mine. Every time, she had that effect on me. Every time, she made me hungry for her.
Someone politely cleared their throat nearby, and Corvi reluctantly pulled away from me.
“There are children present, you know,” Tis quipped casually, and Corvi’s hand immediately went to her sword.
“Who is this?” she demanded, her blade suddenly free and held ready, and I quickly put myself between the two of them.
“Sorry my love, I should have warned you - Corvi, this is my sister, Tisiphone. Tis, this is my wife, Corvina.”
Corvi blushed slightly and sheathed her sword, relaxing again as she realised there was no threat.
“Forgive me, Tisiphone. A pleasure to make your acquaintance at last, Deimos has told me much.” She extended her hand to my sister, who shook it warmly.
“The pleasure’s all mine, Corvina. It’s not every day someone gets to meet a sister-in-law who saw the Battle of Hastings.”
Corvi seemed to pause for a moment, a look of concentration on her face.
“You know, I had completely forgotten that this makes us technically related,” she said with a bashful smile. “May I...give you a hug? As family?”
The beaming smile that spread across Tisiphone’s face at that moment was positively child-like, and she spread her arms wide in acceptance.
Corvi, to her credit, was careful and tentative, not wanting to make Tis uncomfortable despite her willingness. She carefully put her arms around my sister and hugged her gently, although Tis was a little more vigorous in returning the embrace.
“Welcome to the family, sis,” Tisiphone told her, and I could sense the shocked joy that Corvi felt.
“Thank you,” my wife said softly as they parted. “That...means a lot to me.”
“If everyone’s done with the mush-fest?” Lev interrupted, gesturing to the war table. “We have work to do.”
“Lorelei, if you want to talk us through what you guys have found?” I said, once everyone relevant was gathered around the war table.
“Okay, here goes. We’ve located this compound, little more than a country house with a perimeter wall, and Corvina has kindly confirmed that this is where we’ll find Maria, who is now dead.”
She looked around briefly, making sure everyone was still following what she was saying.
“Force estimates suggest a maximum of two hundred hunters, but most likely less. Vehicles are light, we’re talking jeeps and technicals, nothing armoured or heavy. However, the most interesting thing is this.”
She tapped a few commands into her tablet computer, displaying the same image, from the same sattelite, but with a different camera type. Looking at the masses of coloured splotches, it was obviously a thermal imaging view - and it indicated a massive heat source below the country house.
“This energy source is too big for that building, and other views suggest that there are some parts that are sealed up like a lab complex. The things we could learn from this place are likely to be immensely valuable.”
“Damn,” Corvi said quietly, and I looked at her with an unspoken question.
“I didn’t bring my combat suit.”
“Don’t worry hon, I’m sure we can find you something that will fit,” Lev reassured her. “Besides, we’re better than these muppets anyhow. Shouldn’t be hard.”
“I’ll be remaining here to watch the live feeds,” Lorelei told us, “and to help you with any technical issues you might have. I’d suggest we not leave this too long, since they could be reinforced at any time, or worse - leave entirely and erase the base.”
“Let’s get to it people,” I told them steadily, despite my building tension. “I want to know what they have, and this place is as good a chance as any. We move out in an hour.”
As everyone moved away for their final preparations, Corvi placed a hand on my arm, bidding me to stop.
“We need to talk, dearest,” she said quietly. “Can we go to your room a moment?”
I escorted her to my private room and closed the door, concerned about what she had to say to me.
“Don’t fret, my beloved,” she said soothingly, a small mental caress easing my tension. “I just...I noticed your eye.”
I nodded, suitably reassured that she wasn’t about to announce anything world-shattering.
“My sire - the man that turned me - he had eyes like that. The crimson irises are a mark of being particularly ancient, and as such they herald a lot of power. My sire was known
for being an immensely powerful telekinetic, and this is what concerns me - I think it’s that power that Sharriana wants to unlock in you. Only now, we’ll never know how she intended to do it.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what to say. As far as I was concerned, not knowing Sharriana’s plan was hardly going to be a new thing, the real problem was that we didn’t know what her scheme was going to cost.
Knowing her, it would cost a lot.
“I know, Sythan’en,” I said finally. “We can’t predict what’s going to happen, so...just be safe, my love.”
She pulled me into her arms again, and kissed me softly.
“I love you, Deimos. I feel I haven’t said it enough, not in person anyway, and I wanted to be sure I said it now.”
I held her tighter, inhaling the spicy scent of her.
“I love you too, Corvi. Ithka’raen devahn kosai.”
Although she had little understanding of the language, she could feel the intent of the words well enough from our link, and she held me even tighter, placing a small kiss on my forehead.
Essentially what I’d said was “until all is devoured by darkness,” but...well, you know what I’m going to add there. I’ve mentioned it enough.
It doesn’t translate well.
After that, we both prepared for combat. I got into my combat suit, the first time I’d worn it since having it made, and made sure my blade was sitting at my left hip. In the armoury I took a pair of USP .45s, sitting in holsters at the base of my spine; an MP7 Personal Defence Weapon, a vicious little weapon chambered for an armour-shredding 4.7mm round and holstered on my right hip; a G36C assault rifle, as standard, and the often-seen but little-known SPAS-12 shotgun, slung over my back with my rifle. On each leg I also had my beloved throwing knives, resting in their pouches.
The hunters were going to get a very unpleasant message - The Order is here to stay, and we will defend ourselves against any attack.