Mira shook her head and straightened her shoulders. “No, we continue.” Her tone was strong and firm again despite the fear I could still feel hanging in the air around her. With her head up, Mira turned on her heel to walk up toward the house. “It was nothing. A trick of the light and shadow.”
Her explanation sent a chill down my spine. A nightwalker’s eyesight was better than any nocturnal creature’s regardless of his or her age. I was reluctant to dismiss Mira’s partial glimpse, but there was nothing we could sense in the area. For now, a house full of vampires eagerly awaited our arrival.
TEN
The warped wooden boards creaked and groaned as we stepped onto the sagging porch. The sound echoed through the desolate neighborhood and a small woman with dark hair pulled open the door and quickly stepped aside to let Mira enter. She kept her head bowed when she saw the nightwalker and her smile was timid. Yet when her large, brown eyes fell on me, a soft hiss erupted from her throat and she leaped several feet backward. A flurry of Spanish escaped her, but I was unable to catch it all. It didn’t matter what the words were, I understood the sentiment and there was no mistaking the fear in her eyes.
“He is my guest, Rosa,” Mira proclaimed, her gaze never wavering from the terrified vampire’s round face. However, her voice was loud enough to carry to everyone on the first floor. It was a general announcement to all those assembled.
“But…he is…the…the hunter,” Rosa stammered, her mind struggling to wrap itself around the implications. Of course, so was mine. It was going to be an awkward night.
“He is my guest,” Mira repeated. Her voice had hardened to the same steely consistency as her will. She was giving them an unspoken choice; accept my presence or face her.
“Of course, Keeper,” Rosa said, bowing her head again. She pushed away from the wall she had pressed herself into to escape me and ushered us through the dimly lit narrow hall to the living room.
It was a small room made even smaller by the dozen vampires and their human companions strewn about the room like so much gothic decoration. It was a motley assembly ranging from the traditional Hollywood garb of black leather, dark makeup, and silver chains to the ultra-sophisticated in Armani, Valentino, and Dolce and Gabbana. These midnight predators were draped over the worn and faded furniture like pretty decoration. Some barely moved when we entered the room, nothing more than a quick flick of the eyes, while others shifted away from me.
Knox stood in the far corner with his arms folded over his chest. Mira’s second-in-command gave me a brief nod, which was more than I had actually expected. The blond nightwalker named Amanda stood near him, her hands shoved in the front pockets of her jeans as she stood staring at the floor, avoiding my gaze. But then, most of the nightwalkers in the room refused to meet my eyes.
Mira barely looked at any of them, keeping her attention on the vampire who had opened the door. “Are we ready to begin?” she demanded.
“Yes, whenever you are ready,” Rosa replied, wringing her hands.
“Then let’s begin. I have other business tonight,” Mira said. Around us, vampires rose to their feet like marionettes being pulled up by their strings. I barely managed to stop myself from pulling my knife at my side at the nightmarish sight. If I ever slept again, I knew this scene would be replaying for years to come in my mind. A few swept by us and back into the hall, but they never looked at me. For many, humans walked at their side, so silent one would think we were entering a cathedral for Mass.
Mira placed her hand in the crook of my left arm, drawing my eyes to her upturned face. It was only when she touched me that I realized that my heart was pounding and every muscle was tensed. The lavender-eyed nightwalker winked at me, one corner of her mouth quirked in a half smile as she guided me back to the hall. While she was teasing, I could still sense the underlying thread of worry running through her mind.
In the hall, we abruptly turned and marched single file down a set of wooden stairs into the basement. As Mira preceded me, she removed her hand from my arm, and placed my left hand on her slim shoulder. I didn’t question this sudden need for physical contact. At the moment, I was in their world and would have to play by their rules. In the brief second that she touched my hand, she also took the opportunity to touch my mind.
Relax, she whispered in my thoughts. For once, I didn’t mind the invasion. I needed the reassurance that we had not walked into a trap.
The basement was large and open with only an old cast-iron furnace resting in the far corner. A pair of bare light-bulbs dangled from the low ceiling, vainly attempting to push back the darkness. Vampires and their human companions alike stood and sat along the walls. They were all silent, but I could feel the faint pressure of the mental conversation among the vampires in my brain. These deadly creatures were completely still, standing like carefully arranged mannequins in the attempt to simulate life, but the air tingled with a strange mix of hunger and excitement.
In the center of the room sat a thin waif with stringy brown hair and sunken cheeks on a metal folding chair. Her skin had a sickly gray pallor. At a guess, this was the newborn, fresh from death. Behind her stood a man with blondish brown hair and clear blue eyes. When he had been reborn, he appeared to have been no more than eighteen or nineteen. While it was hard to pinpoint in a room with so many nightwalkers, he didn’t feel very old. In fact, he felt a lot younger than I had expected.
Mira paused not far from the foot of the stairs and lifted my hand from her shoulder. She looked up at me one last time and winked. Stay here. Don’t move unless I say to, she silently directed. While I wasn’t fond of the idea of following her commands, I had a feeling we would both live a lot longer if I did.
Yes, mistress, I hissed back.
Mira nearly choked on the bubble of laughter she fought back and failed. Shaking her head, she turned her back on me and walked over to stand in front of the fledgling and her maker.
“Welcome, Keeper,” the male vampire said, his hand tightening on the back of his child’s neck. There were lines of tension around his eyes and mouth.
“David,” Mira replied stiffly, her hands resting on her hips. I couldn’t see her expression any longer, but I could hear her draw in a long, deep breath. Expelling the unnecessary air, she made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. “She smells more of death than life.”
“She must feed,” David quickly countered, looking a bit confused.
“Blood drawn tonight won’t fix that,” Mira snapped. “You made her too quickly.” She placed her right hand under the girl’s chin and lifted it so that the fledgling was forced to meet her gaze. “You both are too young.”
“She will survive,” David stated, as if by sheer will he could keep the newborn vampire alive. But I doubted it truly worked that way.
“Will she?” Mira shot back. The threat hung heavy in the air. Around the trio, the vampires seemed to lean in, intent on the conversation. When Mira continued, her voice had dropped to a whisper. “You didn’t heed my advice. You sought me out; asked if you should turn her. I said no.”
For the first time, David’s strong voice wavered. “I don’t need your permission to create a companion.”
“No, but you went against my direct wishes,” Mira hissed. David tried to take a step backward, but it was too late. Mira’s hand flashed from the fledgling’s chin to David’s throat. With little strain she tossed him across the room and into the wall behind her. At the same time, the gathered vampires scattered, allowing David to slam into the cinderblock wall.
I tensed, waiting for the others to attack Mira, but no one moved. The excitement in the room doubled, thickening until I could nearly taste it like honey. Several vampires were now smiling, eagerly watching the display. The emotions pounded against my brain. And with it grew a red haze. They were hungry and the bloodlust was growing. The room suddenly grew hotter and there was a buzzing in my brain. The dark creature that seemed to live inside of me stirred to life, as if the potential fo
r bloodshed had awakened it.
Coming here had been a very bad idea. Mira was aware that I could sense her emotions and thoughts, but she seemed to forget that I could also sense the emotions of other vampires. I had been around other vampires when their lust for blood filled them, but only a couple at a time, so I could fight off the feeling, suppress it so that it didn’t overwhelm my own thoughts. But here in a small room with more than thirty vampires, it was swamping me.
The monster wrapped around my soul dug its claws deep and roared, demanding release. It demanded bloodshed and violence, and my hands ached to wrap around the handle of a blade. At the same time, the vampires’ bloodlust beat against my brain, leaving my teeth throbbing, my tongue searching for nonexistent fangs.
With my jaw clenched, I drew in a slow, deep breath through my nose, and pushed the demon back down. I forced my attention back to David as he picked himself up off the ground. He kept one hand on the wall as if he was too scared to move away from it and closer to Mira.
“She didn’t wish to grow any older,” David said.
There was a gasp in the air at his admission and the vampire near him sidled away. The bloodlust ebbed under the weight of the shock and I was able to get a grip on myself again. Mira had been in the process of turning to look at me when David’s words stopped her, allowing me to see a faint glow filling her eyes in the dim light.
“So you obey a human over me,” she said in a deceivingly calm voice.
“No!” he cried. “Please, I love her.”
“I have a remedy for your loyalty issues,” Mira replied. For half a breath, David’s eyes flitted over to me and then back to Mira. Enraged, she lunged at him, grabbing the front of his white button-up shirt. She threw David to the ground with a heavy thud and straddled him so that she could more easily wrap her hands around his neck. The vampires shifted; the excitement building, but I was ready for it this time, strengthening the walls around my mind. I couldn’t read their thoughts without forcibly pushing my way into them, but a call for David’s death hung ominously in the air.
I found myself leaning forward, my heart pounding in my chest as I waited to see if Mira would kill him. She had destroyed others of her kind as a test of power and skill. The Fire Starter was teetering on the edge as she battled her own bloodlust that was screaming in her mind. I could feel her frustration and her anger at David’s choices, but there was something else gnawing at her thoughts that I couldn’t quite define.
“Your problem lies with me,” she growled through clenched teeth. “Not with the hunter. You are weak and you have created something less than chum. Neither of you will live long.”
“No! David!” the fledgling cried, leaping from her small, metal folding chair. Mira launched herself off of David and into the young woman. Catching her by the shoulders, Mira slammed her into one of the metal columns supporting the main beam in the house.
“Who is your master?” Mira snarled.
“David,” the girl cried, bloody tears streaming down her pale face.
“Wrong answer.” Mira pulled the girl back and slammed her into the column again, causing a deep, hollow bong to echo through the silent room. “One last try.”
“I—I don’t understand,” the fledgling cried.
“Mira!” David shouted. He had rolled over onto his stomach, but froze in the act of pushing to his feet. “Mira is the keeper of the city and member of the coven. She is your master below our liege. I am your sire. Next to Mira, I am nothing.”
“Very good,” Mira murmured. She released the young vampire, letting her slide to her knees as tears poured down her cheeks. Turning on her heel, she gazed down at David, who remained lying on the dusty floor, afraid to move. His neck had been cut where Mira had grabbed him, staining the collar of his shirt red. “She has much to learn. I am going to be merciful, though I should kill you both. Teach her, David. Teach her everything you know.” Mira lifted her eyes and slowly looked over the assembled group of vampires that surrounded her. “The naturi are here and we cannot afford to be weak.”
The excitement drained out of the room to be replaced by a tremor of fear. Several vampires drew their human companions closer as if suddenly desperate for their warmth. The subterranean room grew cold and the air was stale. No one met another’s eyes. Mira wasn’t the only one haunted by the threat of the naturi. While I had a feeling that she was the only one who had experienced the dark threat of the naturi firsthand, the assembled mass could sense her fear and hatred when she spoke of them. That was enough.
Squatting down before him, Mira grabbed a handful of David’s short hair and jerked his head up so that his wide eyes were locked on hers. “For now, you belong to me. You serve me and obey my wishes to the letter until I choose to release you.”
Mira stood and walked back over to me, her face carefully blank. But the connection was still strong between us. I could sense her frustration and self-loathing burning away at her soul like acid. She hadn’t enjoyed it like those hanging on her every movement. Dirty drifted through her mind for a brief second before she could catch it and hide it from me. The threats and violence had been a necessity. It was what her culture was built upon, what they responded to. She told me herself months ago that the most important thing in her world was power and the only way to express it was through fear and violence. While she might not like it, she was a master at the art.
Reaching up, I slipped my hand under her hair and touched the tips of my fingers to the back of her neck. It was easier to communicate using my thoughts when we were touching. It required less energy and I was trying not to draw the attention of the others to us as they watched David crawl over to his child. Mira flinched at my touch, surprised that I was reaching out to her.
You had no choice, I said firmly in her mind.
There is always a choice. Her emotions were solemn and dark, creeping into my brain like an icy fog.
You have to maintain control. It’s like you said, you can’t afford to be weak.
When her thoughts reached me again, they were weary. I should have killed them both.
Her statement made me pause. True. But they do not think you are weak because you showed mercy.
Mira’s thoughts were blank for a long time as we watched David cradle the young vampire in his arms, soothingly brushing her hair from her face. Her sobbing had slowed to a soft whimper. Her initial fear had begun to subside and now the steady throb of hunger had begun to overwhelm her thoughts. I could feel it in my brain beside Mira, a burning need next to her cool, somber presence.
A quick death from me would be more merciful than one meted out by the naturi. Her haunted whisper crept back into my brain, surprising me.
You don’t know that is their fate.
But it’s mine, and the naturi will destroy everything in their path to get to me. Mira reached up with her left hand and gently pulled my left hand away from her neck and drew my arm around her slender waist. I tried to pull my arm free without struggling, but she held tight to my wrist. She leaned into me, pressing her back into my chest. Some of the tension eased from her shoulder and her mind was silent.
Mira. My tone had hardened and I tried to sound threatening, but her calm mood was leaking into mine. I had wanted to ease her worries because any distractions could put us both in danger, but for all intents and purposes, we were still enemies. Right?
Hush. It’s about to start.
We’re going to watch her feed? I demanded, pulling at my arm again.
And then some. I could feel the slight rumble of laughter roll through her mind and into mine. My attention darted back to the center of the room as a slender man in his late twenties pushed off the wall to my right and walked toward David and his child. He wore a pair of worn blue jeans and a faded black T-shirt. The man’s eyes never left the two vampires in the center of the room except to briefly flick over to Mira. Kneeling beside the young woman, he ran his hand over her head and down her back, smoothing her hair.
D
avid leaned close and pressed a kiss to the man’s temple then whispered something in his ear that I couldn’t quite make out. The tension around the man’s mouth eased and he almost smiled.
Mira?
He be longs to David. I think his name is Peter, but I’m not sure. He will be Emma’s first meal.
I was about to question how she knew the fledgling’s name, but remembered that she had already spoken to David about bringing the girl into the family. There was also the chance that Mira had dipped into Emma’s mind, inspecting her.
The newborn nightwalker turned in David’s arms so that she was now facing Peter. I caught the faint glow of her eyes before her back was to me and her hunger was now pounding in my brain to the point where I could barely feel Mira’s presence. I pulled against Mira’s grip and tried to take a step away, but she held tight. I had to get out of there. I couldn’t watch this. I couldn’t watch another creature feed upon a human. I was drowning, my breath coming in shallow gasps between clenched teeth. The hunger was not just coming from the fledgling anymore, but from every vampire in the room. A cold sweat broke out across my arms and rolled down my back despite the chill that hung in the air.
Wait for it! Mira’s voice sounded almost breathless in my mind, eager and a little desperate.
I never saw Emma place her mouth to Peter’s throat, but I felt her sharp fangs piercing his flesh. I flinched, resisting the urge to touch my own throat to see if I was bleeding as well. And then the first wave hit.
Sensations exploded outward from Emma and Peter, slamming into my chest with enough force to push me back a step. The wave sucked me under, bathing me in a feeling of warm, liquid pleasure. I breathed deeply as the blissful sensation sank into my rigid frame, melting my bones. The air grew warm, drying the cold sweat that had formed just moments ago. Time slowed until I could crawl between the seconds and hold them apart. Tension drained from my limbs to pool at my feet.
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