With the silence gained from our genetics, we melted into our surroundings and fled away from the club and towards the Dark that called to me, like an old friend. I had no idea if we would see another sunrise, I had absolutely little belief that I was stronge enough to do this, but I had faith. In Nut. In Nero, who had guided me to this point. I had faith and that would have to be enough.
I sensed Jonathan's men moving immediately, following us as one. I felt the prickle of power in front of me, the sensation of Michel gathering his own Sanguis Vitam around him. And then we were there.
She didn't come out running to meet me, she stayed hidden, like she had before and let her minions attack as soon as we set foot in Aotea Square.
They fought like well trained soldiers, close formation, skilled, harsh and alert. They were armed with shiny swords, so sleek and long and sharp. Michel's men weren't unprepared and the clang on clang of metal rang out in the night, like the bells of distant churches pealing, pleading, for all to hear.
My Svante slashed through the numbers, unable to land a killing blow, but holding my own, keeping them at bay. My thoughts briefly touching on Erika, all she had taught me, all the times she had taunted me, how close she had pushed me to the edge. At the time I had thought it was to help me perfect my skills, to master the sword, but as I felt myself become one with the weapon in front of me, as though I'd held it centuries before, as though it was an old remembered weapon from battles fought before I was even born, I knew I hadn't needed those harsh lessons she had forced upon me. And that she had recognised it too. Her only goal was to watch me suffer, to see if I would crack. Had she been a friend at all?
I pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on the here and now. We'd been battling for a good ten minutes, neither side giving an inch, nor gaining an inch either. This could go on all night. Something had to give.
No sooner had I thought that, when Jonathan appeared before me. Where the fuck he had come from, I did not know. One minute I was fighting, what I had come to realise was most definitely an Iunctio guard and the next the American was two feet in front, his own sword clashing against mine.
“Sweetheart, you are a beauty to behold. I had not realised your skill with the sword was so advanced. I shall take great delight in watching you fight my men.” And no doubt, delight in my being slashed by their swords as well.
“You don't have the balls to fight me yourself, Jonathan?” I countered, performing a perfect spin and landing behind him, to make him lose his balance and respond to my move.
He grunted as he fended off my strike, then righted himself and prepared for the next thrust of my sword. We settled into a rhythm. I wasn't feeling the urgency to finish him off anymore, I had a few a questions of my own.
“I am fighting you now, am I not?” he finally answered.
Barely, I thought, but said instead, “So, how did you convince Erika to join your band of merry fuck knuckles?”
He flashed an angry smile at me, a hint of fang behind his lips. “Many women have found it difficult to resist my charms.”
“Oh, you have got to be kidding,” I said, slicing a gash down the front of his shirt, but not able to connect with flesh.
He recovered and circled around me. “Is it so hard to believe I am attractive to the opposite sex, sweetheart? I had you all but convinced at one stage, I do believe.”
I felt Michel's rage at that comment from where we stood and I knew he was some distance away, on the other side of the square, facing off against three Iunctio guards at once. Unable to come to my aid and wishing so strongly that he could just slice his sword though Jonathan's heart right now.
Easy. I sent the thought towards him. He's not worth losing your concentration over.
I sensed him pulling back some of the fire that had engulfed his mind and settle back into a rhythm with the guards. I returned my full attention to the upstart before me.
“So, she fell into your bed and disowned all she stood for. Just like that.”
“Oh, she wasn't easy to turn, believe me. Her warped sense of loyalty to her previous master was strong, even after I stole her.”
My stride faltered and Jonathan managed to land a knick in my arm, the blood hot and wet as it slid down towards my elbow and pooled in my jacket.
“You broke her blood bond to Michel?” I asked incredulously, ignoring the pain at the gash.
“Of course. And managed to hide it from even him. I do have certain skills beyond the bedroom, sweetheart. I would be happy to show you some time.”
I couldn't believe he had succeeded in duping Michel. Erika had seemed so tightly bound to him, so loyal, so true. And all along it had been a charade, an act, her loyalty was to America, a place she claimed to despise. I guess we should have picked up on that, she was always so quick to mention her relief at returning to New Zealand, to be by Michel's side. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Damn Erika. I had trusted her too. I had let her in, like I had Rick and both times I had been let down disastrously. A girl could get a complex over this.
I straightened my shoulders and decided I'd about had enough of all the news I could handle in one day. Time to end this. I know Michel wanted to be the one to slice out Jonathan's heart, but that honour looked like it was all mine.
I centred myself, allowing all other distractions to fall away and renewed my efforts in earnest. He picked up on the change of pace, the glint of steel in my eyes and easily countered my every move as though he had expected exactly that.
“I don't want to kill you, sweetheart, but I will harm you enough to get that damn drug on board and then she will let us go,” he said a little breathlessly, the speed in which we were now parrying and meeting each blow of our swords, only a blur to a Norm's eye.
“Not if I can help it,” I gritted between clenched teeth.
I was ready for that final strike, he wasn't exactly making it easy, but I knew I had him. I was better at this than him, I was more determined and had a hell of a lot more to lose, but I hadn't counted on the Dark.
Jonathan had always had a large amount of Dark in him, not completely, but enough to know it was there. The Light within sometimes prevailed, but his underlying essence was all Dark. And with her so nearby, I should have expected it. She would call to his Dark, she would make it stronger, make it surpass the Light. She could all but control him if she wanted, but what she wanted was for me to falter and fall.
The Dark rushed through him, my natural Sanguis Vitam Cupitor powers responding to the blackness that grew within. For a moment I was literally blinded by the sight of all that Dark in front of me, my mind closing down the environment around me and retreating to the map I held inside. The one that showed me where all the Dark was at any given time, how much of it prevailed, where the vampires were who sported it, how much lived inside their souls. All I could see was that map with its blinking red lights, the brightest, the biggest, in Auckland and of course right before my eyes.
I lost my footing and collapsed to my knees. Jonathan didn't pause, the syringe came out of his pocket, his sword dropped to the ground at his side. I heard Michel scream a warning in my head, loud enough to clear the map and bring me back to the moment, in time to raise my hand and gather my Light. I had to banish the Dark. If nothing else, I had to do to Jonathan what I had done to Samson several nights before. As Jonathan struggled to hold me still, the syringe with its long, sharp needle inching closer, I built the Light up and moulded it, ready to banish that Dark.
So close.
So close.
So close.
Just as I felt the sting of the needle on the side of my neck, I let my Light go. And all hell broke loose.
The square was shrouded in a thick black blanket of Darkness, her presence a tangible weight on our chests, even Jonathan faltered and fell back. His arms leaving my shoulders, the needle, having not been depressed, hanging loosely from the puncture mark at my neck and my own hand losing contact with his skin. It was too late to stop
my Light, it spread from me to Jonathan, as though along a stretchy cord between us, the cord getting longer and longer and longer, and then he fell backwards from me and I fell backwards from him, the crushing weight on our chests getting ever heavier, but despite the growing distance the cord held true. It didn't break, it remained strong and my Light blasted down the length of it and slammed right into Jonathan's chest.
I struggled to breathe against the Dark that had blossomed around us. I couldn't think of a thing to do to battle it, to make it go away, but I was immediately conscious of the connection between Jonathan and me. No longer the cord that had stretched and held true, but a line just the same, similar to what I had with Samson, but not as strong, not as intimate, not as close.
This was more of a sense of awareness, as though I would always know where he was. Not necessarily what he was feeling, he didn't belong to me, but that he was connected to me in some way. Not like Samson. Not like Michel. But, still connected, still drawing on me, although it was difficult to ascertain why.
It frightened me. When something strange and unknown pops up in your face, it's hard to stop yourself from running away. Some people poke at it, prod it, test it, to see what it is, others hide and flee and cover their heads in sand. Me? I just sat there and felt it all and shook from head to toe in fear.
I knew beyond a doubt that Jonathan was connected to me. Forever.
And didn't that just suck?
Chapter 39
Light Giver
Precious seconds passed as the Dark got heavier and closer and my breathing all but non-existent. This was it. How could we fight such an entity, such a power? It was so black, so dense, so thick and so strong. Darkness everywhere. Was this what would become of the world? An evil stench reeking through the ether, wrapping around our throats, constricting our breathing and controlling our movements.
I tried to roll over, to move a limb, to grasp my sword and prepare to defend myself against the coming death, that slowly stalked me, like a hungry tiger through the underbrush of an empty urban wasteland. There was no sound, I couldn't hear Michel, but I could still feel him, down the Bond. She couldn't take that from us. So, even in death we would be connected. I could feel his fear, his pain, similar to mine. And his despair. All of it laced with a love so blinding, it was brighter than light. Brighter than the sun.
I tested my other connections. To Samson, who was there, also fighting a losing battle, also scared, but determined to struggle, like us, until the end. Then, because there really wasn't anything else to do, while I waited for her to finish playing with us, tormenting us, I tested the new connection to Jonathan. As expected, I could feel him, not like Michel or Samson, I couldn't tell if he was fighting, or scared, or had expected this and just rolled over to die, but I could feel the Dark in him and for a moment, I didn't comprehend what it was that I actually felt. That it was different from before. That it had changed.
Given more time, I probably would have figured out the difference, but I had other things on my mind, like the heaviness that was cracking my ribs, the fact that I hadn't drawn a breath for at least two minutes. And the knowledge that this was soon to end.
I felt so useless. So much for being the Saviour of the World. Where was my noble steed? Where was my shout of victory? We were losing and it was all my fault.
Although encased in a black nothingness, a Darkness so all consuming, I began to see spots of white light before me eyes. I knew it wasn't a stray moon beam, or the flash of a street light, this was the onset of unconsciousness, the last bastion of a brain firing randomly, electrical impulses flaring spasmodically, as one by one, everything shuts down.
This was it and man, it sure as hell happened a lot quicker than I had thought it would. I had at least expected to face off against her, woman to goddess, Nosferatin to Queen. I thought at least I'd get the chance to look her in the eye. But, no such luck, we had never stood a chance, she was always going to be stronger, faster, Darker, than us. My fate, my destination along that path through life, was always going to end here.
Why had Nut even bothered to give us hope, if this was the end point all along?
Strange. I thought her incapable of playing games, but if this was how it was supposed to end, then what had Nut been doing, other than playing a wicked game?
Sometimes I wonder, really, whether I am worthy of Nut's faith, because I seem to be so ready to accept her failings. And right when I think all is lost and I'm pondering the most horrible and awful thoughts about my goddess, she appears, like all good deities should. I felt her in my mind, a brightness that brought relief. I took the first breath in I had managed in some time and felt the dancing spots of white shimmer a little, fade a little. I even felt my hand shift at my side.
I thought she might talk to me, scold me, urge me to fight. At the very least, I thought she'd bathe me in Light. But nothing as obvious as that happened, it was more of a hey, I am here with you, now what are you going to do? kind of thing. Not that she said it in so many words, it was all really just me. My mind wandering, repairing, fighting. Maybe she wasn't here at all, who knows what the mind manifests when bordering on extinction.
What was I going to do? Not lie here and become fodder for the Darkness, that was for sure. I couldn't move properly, I could still hardly breathe, but I could call my Light. It was still strong inside me, unaffected, untouched by the Dark. I did feel a little stupid then, I mean, why hadn't I called on it before? I brushed that admonishment aside and pulled my Light together. No time for something pretty, just a collection of all that power, that brightness, that Light and then one great big explosion from inside me, to wash away the Dark.
At first it just blinded us, the whole square became bright white light, then a sonic boom followed, shattering windows around the periphery, making bench seats come unhinged from the pavers and tumble backwards and away. All the leaves on the nearby trees, providing Norms a little shade in the heat of the day, lost their grip and scattered in the wind, a flurry of greens and browns. And then the branches creaked with movement, as the Light blasted past. Even good can be destructive when it has to, even Light can cause a shit-load of mess.
I sprang to my feet in a crouch and took in my surroundings. The vampires around me groaned in pain, writhing on the ground and I'm not entirely sure, but maybe in a little pleasure too. I didn't want to look too closely at that response and anyway, I was too busy trying to find her. She had retreated, but not vanished, just licking her wounds and no doubt, preparing for a counter attack. I hadn't scared the evil bitch off, I'd only bought us a reprieve.
Michel was beside me in the next second, flushed, eyes shining and bright. He grabbed me in a rough embrace, his lips claiming mine as my body crushed against his chest. His hands all over me, in possessive motions, his tongue making a quick path to the back of my throat and if he had his way, I was sure, his body would follow, he seemed intent on climbing right inside.
“Michel,” I squeaked, as he lifted me off the ground, wrapping my legs around his hips, his excitement obvious at having survived the attack, or maybe just the Light I had blasted him with. Or even the fact that he had denied himself when we had been in the shed, all catching up with him, so that now, he seemed crazed and horny and completely unable to control himself.
“Cut it out!” I managed as I pushed against his chest.
He laughed in delight at my response and slowly lowered me to the ground, but didn't let go, just held me loosely in his arms and looked down with such love and wonder. So, some control still left there then. Good to know.
We stood still amongst the recovering vampires for a moment and just when I sensed some form of rational thought returning, the flash of realisation that we weren't out of danger just yet, he stilled. Pain washed over his face, so raw and urgent and he thrust me away from his body as the tip of a sword protruded from his chest, right above his heart. He collapsed to his knees, a look of shock now mingling with the pain across his face.
&nb
sp; I screamed and reached for him, but Jonathan just pushed him out of the way. I watched, in slow motion, as Michel's body tumbled to the side, the sword still lodged right through him, not killing him, but immobilising him and racking him in pain. I couldn't tell if he was still conscious, I couldn't believe you would stay awake for such an ordeal and then I had my hands full fighting off a rabid vampire with nothing more than my fists.
Somewhere along the way, I had lost my Svante and although I had stakes and silver knives and daggers on my person, Jonathan was relentless in his attack. His fangs were down and his snarl filled the now still air. I had no idea what Michel's vampires were doing, I could only presume they were fighting Jonathan's men, but all I could think was we don't have time for this, we don't have time for this, we don't have time for this, over and over and over again.
I blocked out all thought of Michel and how injured he was. He was alive and for now that had to do. I just worked on fending off those fangs. Maybe Jonathan had had enough of trying to drug me and just wanted to drain me dry, it certainly looked like that was the sole purpose left in his undead life. His jaw snapped like a Taniwha at my neck, his fingers clawed at the skin on my arms, he moved with supernatural speed which I barely had the energy to avoid and still I knew this was a waste of time. She would return and all of this fighting was irrelevant, ridiculous, a waste of friggin' time.
“Stop it!” I shouted between dodging a blow to the side of my head and rolling over debris from my Light blast. I could feel something sharp and hard break the skin at my shoulder and dig right in as I rolled over the top of it. It felt like it had sunk right down to bone, but when I pulled it way, it came straight out, just leaving a gaping hole for blood to ooze out of and drip down my back. My arm immediately lost all feeling and hung limply at my side.
“Stop what?” Jonathan growled in response and leapt towards my weaker side, grabbing my arm and spinning me around in a circle, then letting me fly free through the air to crash against a rubbish bin. The bin went flying, surprising it was still there after my Light blast and I lost all breath from my lungs.
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