She’d pulled up the carpet in her room, and on the subfloor beneath, she had drawn an intricate pattern of circles and symbols. Each one was a specific formula. She was used to casting spells at a moment’s notice, but that kind of casting required more blood. If she had time to prepare, she could do so much more. Nothing would power her magic but human blood, but preparation would offset some of the cost.
The low rent wasn’t the home’s only benefit. There was a ley line running through the earth nearby, amplifying her power even further. Sometimes they were difficult to find but well worth the effort. Savanna dropped into a lotus position in the middle of all her circles. A prick of her finger and a drop of blood on the innermost circle started the fire. The formulas filled with power, first drawn from her blood, then the ley line. Savanna let the magic wash over her. It engulfed her and filled her. Her lips twitched into an involuntary smile.
She couldn’t maintain the spell for long. Her body could absorb only so much before it burned out. She gathered her will and focused on the exact thing she needed. Just a glimpse of the future—their future—to see if her mother was still a threat.
The room darkened, and her vision wavered. The house vanished. A bloodred sky opened above her. The moon hovered in the distance, big enough to fill the sky. Something wasn’t right, though. Savanna’s visions were usually just that—visions. This was different. More real. She could feel the breeze against her skin and hear screams in the distance. The scent of burning wood reached her. All around her lay an ocean of devastated homes, broken and burning.
The burned wood underfoot creaked as her weight shifted. Small bits of charcoal rained down the side of the collapsed house. She made her way off the pile to the road below.
“What in god’s name happened here?”
She looked to the moon again. The sky was all wrong for nighttime.
Because it wasn’t. That wasn’t the moon; it was the sun.
The orb hung in the sky above the western horizon, shrouded by a red shadow that obscured much of its light. Movement caught her eye. Savanna turned to see a woman sprinting through the ruins, her clothing covered in soot and hanging in tatters. A dark shadow pursued her and then overtook her. The woman rolled down the hill, screaming. Two more shadows converged on her at the bottom of the incline. Savanna watched in horror as the creatures drained the woman so completely there was nothing left but a husk.
The shadow raised its head, looking in Savanna’s direction with red eyes narrowed. Evil rolled off the creature in palpable waves.
It’s just a vision.
Savanna’s breath came in gulps as she fought the overwhelming urge to run. The dark shadow rose and advanced in her direction.
Just a vision.
It didn’t feel like a vision. Savanna stepped backward involuntarily, her fingers digging into the rubble for support. The shadow moved so quickly, he was on her between one heartbeat and the next.
Just a vision!
Savanna screamed. The creature hissed as it sunk its fangs into her neck.
Victor crashed through the door. Wooden splinters sprayed the room. Savanna flinched, her hands over her head fending off the imaginary attack. She scrambled to the wall to protect herself.
“Savanna?”
She clapped her hands over her mouth, sobbing. She could still feel the fangs in her neck and see the red eyes in the darkness around her.
“Savanna!” Victor knelt in front of her, taking her by the shoulders. “What happened?”
“I—” She looked around. Everything in the vision had felt so real. She’d never experienced anything like it. The destroyed ground, the air filled with ash and burning embers. The woman and the vampire. All of it was gone, and her room was just as it was before—though with a few added shards of wood, thanks to Victor’s enthusiastic entrance. The pink light of predawn filtered in through the window.
“What time is it?” she asked Victor.
“What?”
“What time is it? Where is Alexi?”
“It’s almost five in the morning. I dozed off, and then I heard you scream. Are you okay?”
“Just a dream. I’m fine. Alexi?”
“She doesn’t exactly check in with me,” Victor said. “I didn’t see her, but maybe she came in while I was dozing.”
Savanna rose unsteadily to her feet, still feeling a little jumpy. She felt like taking a shower—she could almost feel the soot still on her skin. “I’m okay, really.”
Victor eyed her, unconvinced. He probably knew more about her powers than she gave him credit for after the time he spent in her mother’s service, but he didn’t press the issue. “I’ll put some coffee on.”
He left her alone. The room was much colder when he left. His massive body warmed the place up just by standing in it. Savanna grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off her face. She needed to talk to Alexi. They could make some sense of the vision together.
There was no answer when she knocked on the door. She knocked again, louder this time. No response. Savanna opened the door. Alexi’s bed on the floor remained untouched.
“Victor!”
It was almost dawn. If Alexi wasn’t home soon, the sun would destroy her.
***
The roof of their little house stood tall enough that Alexi could see the mountains in the east. There wasn’t much in the way of varied terrain in that part of Washington. Mount Rainier stood tall and proud in the distance. The horizon stretched on forever, the dark of night replaced by the gray of predawn. The cold September air left her untouched, as did almost all sensation now.
Tears splashed down on her leather coat. One sensation didn’t leave her. It remained with her as if she had fed moments before. Her pupils dilated, her skin tightened with goose bumps, and she felt a warmth in her stomach that was absent from her life. The very thought of feeding on that girl sent a thrill through her that both excited and disgusted her.
No, she couldn’t do that again, not ever.
Death first.
The dawn approached and, with it, her fate.
“Alexi,” Savanna’s voice called out to her.
“Damn it, how did you find me?”
“You’re not exactly hiding in a vault. You’re on our roof.”
Alexi shifted uncomfortably away from Savanna. She didn’t want the girl to see her tears. Her footsteps approached, light and careful. Something ugly awoke in her. She smelled Savanna differently. Felt her differently. Visions of her squirming helpless while Alexi fed flooded her mind. She choked back a sob and put her hands on her face. Savanna sat down next to her, so close their hips touched. She draped an arm around her shoulders. Alexi wanted to push her away, to run, but she couldn’t.
Instead, she cried. Tears held back since she first woke in the nightclub flowed down her face like a river. Savanna’s comforting presence pulled them from her, allowing her to express the emotions she had held in check for so long. She leaned into her friend and sobbed for long minutes.
The tears abated with the emotions. Alexi sniffed and wiped her face as best she could.
“I almost killed someone tonight, Savanna, an innocent girl no older than you.” She half expected Savanna to run, scream, and condemn her as she did herself. Instead, she squeezed her shoulder.
“Almost? So the girl lives?”
“Yes, but that’s not the point. I have to feed, Savanna. The longer I hold it off, the worse it gets. Until . . . until I don’t care who I hurt as long as my thirst is quenched. I’m no better than those who made me.”
Savanna sat there in silence. Alexi struggled to explain how she felt. The hunger inside of her was all-consuming. A single image she couldn’t exorcise from her brain. Even the thought of it sent her down a spiral to its inevitable conclusion. She would kill someone.
“Alexi, you’re trying so hard to be who you were or who you think you need to be. Is that why you came up here, to let the dawn end it all for you?”
Alexi nodded, her face
flushed with shame.
“Savanna, I don’t want to be a monster. I saw something . . . a man, like me. But . . .” Her voice trembled. “He was disgusting. His skin just hung on his bones like leather and his eyes—” Her mouth hung open, unable to express the horror that she had seen.
Savanna pulled her close. She ran her hands through Alexi’s soft hair.
“I’ve told you before, I’m no expert, but you’re nothing like the other vampires I’ve met. You can see yourself in the mirror, holy symbols and water have no effect on you, and you still have your humanity. I’ve met a few vampires and spoken with people who’ve met more than me, and they all say the same thing. Cold bastards with no regard for life. That’s not you, now is it?” she asked.
Alexi squeezed her eyes shut, her head in her friend’s arms. She tried to shut out the memory of what she had almost done. If it weren’t for her sudden burst of willpower, she would have put that girl in the morgue instead of her boyfriend’s car.
“I’m not now, but what about in a year? Or five? Or a hundred? What happens when I stop being human?”
Savanna held her in silence. The dawn couldn’t be more than five minutes away.
“Listen, you have me, and Victor’s with us. We can overcome, okay? You’re a good person, and you don’t have to be evil. You can choose, and we can help you.”
Alexi sniffed. She raised her head to look at her friend. Savanna’s violet eyes burned with conviction. Whatever she was, whatever she became, Savanna was right about one thing. She could choose. And while the temptation to feed weighed heavily on her, everyone had their cross to bear. This was hers.
“Okay Savanna, you win.” She wiped her face. “Let’s get down before I go all s’more on you.”
Once back in the house, Alexi noticed all the shades were drawn tight. She normally wasn’t up with the sun. Blackout shades covered all the windows.
“Where did all this come from?”
“Victor bought them while you were out. He’s working days at a warehouse nearby. He really wants to go back to Michigan to see if any of his pack are still alive, poor guy.”
As if he had heard them, he wandered out of the kitchen holding two cups of coffee. He handed one to Savanna and sipped from the other one. He still looked rock hard, even dressed in jeans and a button-up shirt. Alexi sighed as if a huge weight had left her shoulders. All she needed to figure out was feeding, and everything else would be okay.
“Give us a sec, okay?” asked Alexi.
Savanna nodded.
Alexi watched Savanna go down the hallway to her room. The girl turned before entering and gave her a smile of encouragement.
Alexi’s feelings for Victor terrified her. She didn’t know who she was or what the future had in store for her, but she couldn’t help but feel an attraction to him. The moment they’d met her stomach had clenched and her breath had come in gasps. There was just something delicious about him. When they had been in the van and he’d held her, she knew he had felt it, too.
“I owe you an apology,” she said as she sat down cross-legged next to him.
“No, Alexi, you don’t. You and Savanna . . . you didn’t have to save me or help me. You could have killed me and, honestly, part of me hoped you would. It’s why I took the chance and brought you back to Illyana with her.”
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Victor.” Her fingertips glided across his arm for comfort. She couldn’t help but notice the tension under them.
“I don’t think I’m ready to talk about what happened, but I can tell you this. I will do anything to help you. I owe that girl more than I can ever repay, and I owe you just as much. Ask of me and I’m yours.” His voice sounded thick with emotion. He put his hand on hers. That strange spark jumped between them, and Alexi caught her breath.
This can’t be a real feeling, I know that, but it’s just so intense.
She leaned forward. Her lips brushed his hand. They shifted together on the couch to face each other. Alexi brought her lips to his. For a moment, he resisted. Then his lips parted. Warmth rolled off him. It drew Alexi in. She needed to be next to him, to bask in his heat.
She lost herself in his touch. His hands roamed her back, and their mouths explored each other. With each second, she felt a warmth inside her grow. Since she had woken up, the cold had been her constant companion. Whenever she neared another person, the first thing she noticed was the warmth of their blood. Victor felt like a furnace . . . no, a volcano. She could drink of his warmth and never feel cold again.
Her lips brushed his neck. He shivered. His hands ran up her back to her head and into her hair.
“You can feed on me, Alexi, if you want.”
She froze. Her fangs were partially extended, and she hovered over the artery in his neck. She hadn’t consciously realized what she was doing.
“No,” she muttered, “I won’t.” Deliberately she pushed herself away from him. The absorbed heat leached out of her, leaving her cold to the bone. She whimpered from the sudden loss. But she would not feed.
“I can’t, Victor. Don’t ask me, please. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”
He nodded. She withdrew to the far side of the couch. Victor rolled to the floor, resting on his knees in front of her. Even on the floor, his eyes were almost level with hers.
“Alexi, you have to eat, and there is going to come a time when you want to feed uncontrollably. Don’t let that happen. Feed on me, and you won’t have to risk hurting anyone.”
The tears she had shed earlier were all gone. All that was left was the cold certainty that she would kill someone someday, and she didn’t want it to be her friends.
“I can’t. Not now. Maybe not ever.”
His head fell.
“I understand. I wanted to protect my pack. I worked hard, and they were safe and secure. When a new threat emerged, I took the only path I saw to their safety. It led to their destruction because I was unwilling to accept help that was freely offered.”
His brown eyes were glassy with emotion.
“Don’t make that same mistake, Alexi. Let us help you the way you’ve helped us.”
TWELVE
Sara gazed at the clock. Fifteen more minutes and she would be free! The packed restaurant rumbled with its crowd. She moved carefully between tables carrying two plates in each hand. For the most part, the customers ignored her, except for table eighteen. They insisted on being as chauvinistic as humanly possible.
In a sports bar, there was always some element of that—she couldn’t avoid it. But these frat boys were the worst. Sara worked hard for her money. She managed to make enough to go to community college with what little her parents gave her and her student loans. Something no one in her family had done—ever.
Being a journalist was her dream, and she would make it happen—even if she needed to wade through an army of groping frat boys to do it.
Her long shift ended. Sara threw on her light coat to cover her less than modest outfit. The bus stop was three blocks away, and if she hurried, she could make that last bus. They stopped running at midnight, and she didn’t want to walk the three miles back to her apartment.
She clenched the coat tightly around her; September wasn’t normally this cold. Her footfalls echoed on the sidewalk. The dark shadows of the moonless night shifted and collided with each streetlight she passed.
Halfway to the bus stop, a tingle ran up her neck. The part of her brain that rarely spoke screamed at her to run. She looked behind her—nothing. With a shake of her head, she continued on. She couldn’t lose the feeling that someone was following her, though. Her hand shot into her pocket to grip the pepper spray she concealed there. She would be no one’s victim.
She turned the last corner and could see the bus stop not a block away. Bright headlights from the bus were a few block beyond it. She needed to hurry.
That feeling in her brain wouldn’t go away, though. She picked up her pace. Once she started jogging, her brain unconsciously kick
ed her into a full run. Hot air blew from behind her. Heavy wings beat in the air behind her. The bus stop was just feet ahead. She left the amber pool of one lamp and entered the dark space between it and the next one. As her foot fell into the shadows, the ground disappeared. Sara screamed. Needle-like claws punctured her shoulders, and the world rocketed away.
She looked up to see giant wings carrying her aloft. A creature with a wicked face of evil laughed at the fear in her.
She screamed even louder when he dropped her from above the clouds.
***
“What a waste of a perfectly good pair of—” the officer began.
Connor turned steely eyes on the man in uniform, daring him to finish the sentence. “Go make yourself useful and get me some coffee.”
The man stiffened. “Yes, sir.”
Connor sighed as the cop left. He couldn’t be too hard on the guy. There were only a few ways to process something as gruesome as the crime scene they had on their hands at the moment. Little yellow markers had been placed carefully around the edge of her . . . body. Not that he could really call it a body, per se. More like a collection of parts that had once made up a body.
“Sing? How far do you think?” he asked his partner.
Sing looked up from his phone. “Uh . . . still calculating—but from the . . . splatter . . . I’d say thousands of feet. Many thousands. People that fall out of planes usually hold together better than this.”
The asphalt surrounding the . . . remains . . . had spider webbed on impact. There was blood everywhere. Her personal belongings had been scattered over a quarter mile, as though they had fallen first. It was dumb luck that they tripped over her driver’s license. Even with it, they’d need dental records to be completely sure.
“Look at the impact crater, though.” Sing crouched next to the body. “A good ten feet, right?”
With the Dawn (Faith of the Fallen) Page 10