Giver of Light

by Nicola Claire

  That had me stopping short of the bedside table, my hand outstretched, ready to pick the cellphone up, but now hovering in the space between, a small tremor running through it back up toward my shoulder. The longer I was away from Michel, the weaker I would definitely become, but as soon as he knew Jonathan was here, the quicker he would return to me. He wouldn't stay in America, he would leave that task to Enrique and Alessandra and his men and he would come straight back to me. It would mean only a couple of days apart, that wouldn't have too adverse an effect on our strength. Any longer though and that could be quite different.

  I picked the cellphone up and started tapping in a message to send, but answered Jonathan at the same time.

  “We have strength to burn, Jonathan. We have spent every second together in each other's arms since my escape from you.”

  I knew the effect that statement would have on him and I wasn't disappointed. A low, loud growl rumbled down the line, sending a shiver down my spine I couldn't stop. An automatic reaction to all that anger that accompanied the sound, prickling along my skin and wrapping around my throat, the knowledge that he could use his Sanguis Vitam on me over the phone, making me have to fight that panic all over again. This vampire was strong and I wasn't sure if I could face him on my own. I needed help.

  “You shall pay for your transgressions, Lucinda. You are no one else's, but mine.”

  I swallowed past the restriction in my throat, not a lump of fear, but the angry prickle of his power slowly constricting my wind pipe.

  “I will never be yours,” I managed in what sounded decidedly like a squeak. Not exactly the inflection I had been going for.

  Just hang up. Just hang up. Just hang up. It was all I could think to end the connection, but my hand couldn't move the phone from my ear in order to hit the end button. It was glued in place with concrete.

  “Now, sweetheart, let's not fight. I would like our reunion to be a happy one. I have such plans for our reconnection.”

  I did manage a shiver at that thought, a genuine reaction of revulsion, not Sanguis Vitam induced in the slightest. I knew exactly what Jonathan's idea of reconnection would entail and it would not be nice.

  My thumb was hovering over the send button on my cell, I had already typed the short message out. Simple, to the point: Jonathan here in Auckland. I hit send before he could distract me further. It was done, the cavalry would be on its way. The text was programmed to reach not only Michel's cell phone, but Erika's, Jett's, Gregor's, Amisi's and my two personal guards downstairs. I hadn't yet managed to put Samson's number in my address book, but he wasn't far away. I could just shout.

  “So, my love, why don't you come out and play?”

  I had no intention of playing with Jonathan, kill maybe, but not play. But I needed to be prepared, there were still too many variables in this little party he had planned, I needed to narrow down specifics.

  “What did you have in mind, Jonathan?”

  “Mm. I do love it when you cooperate, sweetheart, it swells my heart.”

  I did not want to think of any part of his body swelling, but I also didn't want to give too much away. If he had no idea anyone else was aware of him being here, so much the better.

  “So?” I prompted, as he had gone silent on the other end of the phone. “What did...”

  “You have been very naughty, my dear,” he abruptly interrupted. “Did you think I wouldn't know you'd call for help?”

  As the meaning of his words sunk in, Marcus and Matthias appeared in the doorway to my room, Samson behind them, all of them looking decidedly ready to fight. I held a hand up to stop them talking and returned my attention to the phone.

  “What do you mean?” How could he know I had sent texts out? Did he have some way of intercepting my cell?

  “You know, Lucinda. You are not playing by the rules and rule breakers must be punished. It pains me, but I will have to set an example and as I have no wish to mar that gorgeous perfect skin of yours again just yet, one of Michel's vampires will have to do. Who shall I pick?”

  What the fuck? This was all wrong. He knew too much and he couldn't possibly have one of Michel's vampires already. What the hell was happening here?

  “Maybe the big burly one behind the bar. You there! What's your name?” He sounded like he had lowered his phone and was shouting at someone near him. I couldn't hear the answer, but then I don't think I really needed to. The sun had set here in Auckland, all of Michel's vampires left behind would be in his club and the only one near the bar would be Doug. “Doug,” Jonathan confirmed that same second. “How unoriginal. So, Lucinda, shall it be Doug or perhaps one of the nine other vampires Michel left behind for your protection? Not many, is it? He really doesn't value your safety, my sweet. I would have ensured you were surrounded by at least 100, in fact, I intend to make sure you always are from now on. You shall never escape again.”

  The words were out before I even considered the ramifications. “You don't have me yet, Jonathan.”

  He just laughed, a cocky, self assured, I-hold-all-the-cards laugh. “Don't I?” Then I heard the scream. I couldn't tell who it belonged to, because it was so raw with pain, so high pitched and yet guttural, full of agony and fear. “Doug does make a lot of noise, doesn't he, sweetheart?”

  I had lowered myself to the edge of the bed, unaware of what I was doing. The thought of Doug being hurt, tortured, was unbearable. I wanted to run to Sensations, to blast through those doors and to stake every offending vampire in that club right now. I felt Samson's hand come down on my shoulder. He could either sense my distress, or more likely, hear what was happening down the phone line and see the effect it had on my face. His presence centred me, allowed me to breathe and made me focus on what was important.

  If I was to rescue Doug and Michel's vampires, I needed a plan and a level head.

  “So. I think my point is made.”

  Yes. It had been, hadn't it? But, I don't crumple that easily. Doug was a powerful and old vampire, he could last a little longer I was sure. Where this hard and mechanical thought process had come from, I didn't know, but I did know I needed to be like this to get through what lay ahead.

  Just then my cellphone chirped. I glanced down and read the text. It was from Gregor. Short and to the point, just like me. I'm on my way. Amisi to stay here. I breathed a sigh of relief. All I needed now was to hear from was Michel or Erika or Jett and I could unclench my heart and actually let it beat.

  “Now, I'm sure you can understand the situation, Lucinda. I have all those at Sensations imprisoned and will kill them one by one for each hour you delay in getting to me. It's simple, them for you. Are you strong enough to sacrifice these vampires, my love?”

  He didn't wait for my reply, but simply ended the call. I listened to the dial tone for a moment and then when the phone went dead dropped it to the floor.

  Matthias appeared before me. “We can't reach Michel.” I didn't want to hear that. I looked up at him and just stared. “He is shielded somehow, we have no connection and he has not answered your text, has he?” No, he hadn't. “I think we are on our own.”

  “Gregor is on the way here now.” At least that was something. I allowed myself a moment to search for Michel down the Bond we shared and received static in reply. I'm guessing, that's what Marcus and Matthias had got as well. Nothing. No emotions, no sense of wellbeing or fear or pain or distress. Just white noise nothing.

  My cellphone interrupted my downward spiral with a buzz, this time a call, not a text. I fumbled for it off the floor and answered without looking at the number.

  “Yes,” I demanded, thinking it was Jonathan.

  “We're surrounded, it's been well planned,” Gregor's voice informed me. “He's cut us off from helping you. Have you heard from Michel?”

  My mind was a swirling mass of torment, questions spinning like a tornado through grey matter, slicing at any calm I had left in me and churning up panic and fear in its wake.

  “No,” I ma
naged.

  “Who do you have with you?” He didn't sound surprised or fazed in the slightest, straight into assessment and regroup and no doubt, plan and attack would quickly follow. I wished I had his concentrated reserve.

  “My guards, Marcus and Matthias and my vampire Samson,” I replied mechanically.

  “That's all? Where are the vampires Michel left behind?”

  “Jonathan has them.”

  “Shit!” No more concentrated reserve. “Shit!” he said again to emphasise. I couldn't have agreed more.

  “I can't help you, Luce. We are barely holding them off as it is. I'm going to have to help my men soon, we've retreated as far as we can. I'm so sorry.” And he meant it, I could tell. There was so much unsaid in his voice, but that didn't mean it wasn't still all there.

  “We'll manage,” I answered with far more strength than I actually felt. “Take care of yourselves.”

  I hit end before he could answer. He needed to concentrate on his problems, not on me.

  “We're on our own,” I told the vampires before me. “If you've got weapons to secure, I suggest you arm yourselves now.”

  “What do you plan?” Matthias asked, while the other two headed out to saddle up. “You know Michel would want you to protect yourself no matter what cost.”

  He would. He would rue the loss of so many of his line, but he would be furious at me for trying to rescue them and getting myself caught. Ten vampires at Sensations was not a price I was prepared to pay however. I shook my head at him and he just crouched down before me, to look me in the eye.

  “What about the Prophesy? With you gone there is nothing to stop the Dark.”

  “Playing Devil's advocate, Matthias?” I asked, feeling a sense of numbness start to invade my body, hardening my resolve and stealing me from distractions. My father had said it in that letter. I had to do anything I must in order to survive, but that I also had to remain true to myself. I could not let ten vampires meet the final death because of me, Prophesy or not.

  “I don't plan to die, Matthias. And he doesn't plan on killing me. But, he will kill them.”

  He ran a frustrated hand through his long hair. “So, you're just going to give yourself up to him in exchange for their lives? Then what?”

  “I am not without abilities, I will think of something.”

  “This isn't exactly a plan, Luce. This is suicide.” He stood up though and didn't add anything else, just headed out the door to grab his weapons. He was right, I didn't have a plan and I needed one. Three vampires and a Nosferatin against an untold number of Jonathan's men. We may be familiar with the territory, but we sure as hell didn't have the upper hand. I needed an ace up my sleeve.

  I grabbed my jacket from a nearby chair, pocketed my cell next to one of the two stakes already in situ inside and headed down the stairs and out towards the Land Rover parked in the drive. Samson and Marcus were already waiting, Matthias followed me out not long afterwards. All of the vampires were heavily armed, not just hidden beneath their clothes, concealed and tucked away, but strapped across their broad bodies and displayed with pride and no doubt, a little threat. Hell, if they weren't sworn to protect me, then I would have felt bloody threatened myself.

  “Where to?” Marcus asked from the driver's seat. I'd grabbed the front passenger seat and Samson and Matthias had slipped in the rear.

  “Newmarket,” I answered. He swung me a puzzled glance but started the vehicle anyway.

  “What's in Newmarket?” Matthias asked from the rear.

  Hopefully a friend, I thought quietly, but instead said aloud, “A bar. I need a drink.”

  All three vampires looked at me as though I was mental, as though I had totally lost the plot.

  I just smiled and tried to hold the laugh in, getting hysterical right now was not an option. But, I couldn't help thinking, wait 'till you meet my friend.

  Vampires and ghouls do not play well together. I was hoping Pete would make an exception, if the price was right.

  I was also hoping, I had something worthy of payment.

  Ghouls did not come not cheap.

  Chapter 33

  Payback

  The trip to Guts and Glory was relatively quick, although a fair bit of traffic on the road for a Thursday night, Marcus had the usual vampire driving skills; not only lightning quick reflexes and a heavy foot, but an uncanny ability to avoid traffic snarls and red lights. Dodging down side streets, taking the teeniest, tiniest gaps when presented and generally not having to stop once. It was impressive, if not a little uncomfortable from the front seat.

  The entire time I watched wide eyed and nervously spun my wedding ring around my finger, as though the speed I turned the metal could counteract the speed in which we travelled. It didn't. Go figure.

  We parked within walking distance of the bar. Newmarket, as usual, being busy but not clogged like the CBD near Sensations. It certainly had a whole different feel to it, although only a few kilometres from Queen Street, it was like a completely other world. I had never been a Newmarket groupie. The shopping was good, not just the boutique style shops, but also a nice selection of chain stores to offer an enticement to a wide variety of clientèle. And after dark, bars, bars and more bars.

  Guts and Glory is a sports bar. I would have preferred an English Pub or even one of those flash Wine Bars, I know very little about sports. The obligatory plasma TV always displays the most recent All Blacks rugby game, or sometimes a cricket match and on ladies night, the Silver Ferns playing netball. All of which are just games to me, nothing more. But to the patrons of Guts and Glory they are Mecca. This was a popular bar, but not just because of the the huge TV and not overly priced beer, but also because it was spotless, pristine, shiny like a brand new toy. Pete did not like a mess in his bar. In fact, if you were caught making a mess, you were lucky to just get evicted. Ghouls took punishment of misdemeanours to a whole new level.

  Not that the average Joe knew Pete was a ghoul. Ghouls look like you and me, just well built, strong and quick to anger. Oh, and they like their meet raw, really raw, like practically running raw. Not that they tend to attack too many humans any more, they may not be vampires, but they firmly fall under the Iunctio's rules and therefore under the Master of the City's rules. Ghouls are not allowed to attract attention to our world, so that means dead raw meat and no hunting.

  They might grumble and bitch about the restrictions, but the flip side is they can blend in better this way and every ghoul likes to feel useful. A ghoul without purpose is a loose cannon waiting to go off. And my friend Pete here, is the employer of almost every ghoul in the city. Sure they all have day jobs, but Pete is their boss, they answer to him first and Michel second.

  I've known Pete pretty much since I moved here. Not that he sought me out, like Michel did, I was just drawn to him. Similar to how I found Rick, my old Taniwha friend. I simply followed my nose and turned up on their doorsteps within days of shifting house. And although they didn't know what I was immediately, they both felt it; the difference, the supernatural thing that is me. And both of them, bless their souls, took me under their wings. Unfortunately Rick turned out to be a bad apple, but Pete has never let me down.

  That may be because I'm a good bet. I pay well and I play by the rules. Pete's rules. Ghoul's rules. You see, ghouls are the information highway of a supernatural city. They are the eyes and ears of what's happening at any given time and every decent vampire hunter needs a good source of information. Pete is my man. It's just that his price can sometimes be high and ghouls don't accept hard cold cash. No, their currency is knowledge. And they definitely work on a you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours philosophy.

  So, it was with a little bit of trepidation that I led the way into Guts and Glory, three vampires at my back. Not only was I not sure if Pete would step outside his information exchange network for me, but I really didn't know how he'd take my companions. As I said, ghouls and vampires don't mix. But, I wasn't leaving them in the car.
Protection, protection, protection.

  The atmosphere in the bar shifted as soon as we entered, not that there were too many ghouls in the room, maybe about four or five, that I could sense, but enough to change the whole feel of the environment, to tip it out of whack. The Norms would have only felt a slight ominous shift in the attitudes of those around them, not enough to be alarmed by, but enough to make you want to maybe finish your beer and try out the new Irish Pub down the street. Vampires were bad for ghoul business, but only because the ghouls couldn't help reacting to their presence.

  I approached the bar carefully, but purposefully. No point beating around the bush. Pete was behind the bar, his favourite spot, the other ghouls dotted here and there. I knew exactly where and how far away and I was betting the vampires behind me did too. I slipped onto a bar stool, my M & M guards standing either side behind me, backs to me and fronts to the bar, Samson looming over my shoulder, eyes on Pete. Jeez, Marcus and Matthias had recruited Samson, no longer just a tag team of two, this had progressed to a trio. I shook my head and suppressed the urge to say down boys.

  Pete didn't waste time finishing with his current customer and sauntered over to me, not a care in the world. Maybe because he has an unprecedented accord with the Master of the City and no longer has to fear any of Michel's vampires controlling his ghouls. Vampires have the ability to command ghouls to do their bidding. Naturally this is a cause for concern for all ghouls, but because of me, Michel showed his softer side and gave Pete and the local ghouls freedom from such manipulation and control. No other ghoul in history has had that kind of exemption to the supernatural rules.

  Pete really did still owe me for that one, but I was guessing he'd think the debt had been paid. Any new help would cost me.

  “Hey, Pete,” I offered with a smile.

  “Luce.” Pete's a man of little words. What's with all the barmen in my life, they so do not fit the normal bartender persona.