by Kade Cook
“I don’t care anymore what the Covenant thinks.” At the mention of the Covenant, Gabrian’s hands begin to clench again. She withdraws from the conversation and becomes quiet as the sadness finds her once more. “I just want the pain to stop. I don’t want to feel like I am dying inside anymore.” She slams her hands against the steering wheel in front of her and buries her face in her fists, trying to fight the whirlwind inside—desperately grasping for something to keep her still.
“I can help you, you know.” His voice is gentle, becoming earnest.
She sits up, revealing her tear-stained cheeks. She drops her hands to her side, wanting to believe he has the answer.
“I can show you how to make the pain go away.”
“But...”
Adrinn smiles at her assumption. “But all I ask in return, when you are strong enough, is that you lend me some of your reapings.”
No longer angry, all she feels is the emptiness of loss, and it cuts through her like a dull blade. She knows there may be a good chance that this deal maker is probably just as crazy as she feels, but Gabrian decides to take the offer—anything is better than this.
***
ADRINN ENTERS THE bar with Gabrian at his side. Although he is completely invisible to everyone else but her, she can see him and walks by his side—feeling strange about his ability to walk right through people. They sit down at the bar, and she orders a Cape Cod.
“Enjoy it for the both of us, will you?” Adrinn says, licking his lips. His stare never leaves the sight of the crimson drink, clearly missing the taste of alcohol.
A dark mood swallows Gabrian up, and her placid blank look is replaced with widened pupils and a wrinkled brow as her eyes dance over the crowd—watching the light show of floating auras before her. Her innards begin to burn, making her testy from hunger.
“No worries there. I will.” She tips the glass up and swallows it down, hoping it will take the edge off, but it barely scratches the surface. “You said you would teach me how to feed and end my suffering.” She reminds her invisible friend, getting antsy to start feeling the after effects of his promise.
“I did indeed,” he purrs as a menacing grin creeps across his mouth, narrowing his eyes—making the gold flecks of his irises shine from behind his dark lashes.
“So...teach,” she growls, tipping the rest of the drink down her throat before turning to meet his stare with icy eyes, no longer caring what he is as long as he keeps his word.
“I want you to look out into the crowd of people,” he says, drawing near to her—stretching out his transparent arm and waving it over the unsuspecting masses. “I want you to watch them, observe how their essence flows around them. Find the one that appeals to you the most and concentrate on it.” He turns to her and presses his fingers to rest on the center of his temples, closing his eyes. “Focus only on it.”
“Okay,” she drones, looking through him, and searches the room with her mind.
“Once you find your muse, use your mind’s voice to get their attention.” His eyes open, and he taps the side of his temple before curling his lips into a grin. “Make them believe that they want to be near you, and that they need to be close to you. When they come to you, let them.” He releases his stare and returns his gaze to scour the bodies piled together on the dance floor like fish in a barrel, waiting to be taken. “Let the fractals of light dance around and encase you in their splendor. But be careful to pull gently at them and take only what you need. Then release them, still intact.”
Gabrian turns to look at him abruptly, and he smiles at her knowingly.
“It is very important that you to stick to this rule.” He twists again in front of her and points his finger in her face, ensuring that he is stating his words and making them perfectly clear in her mind. “That way there is no harm, there is no foul.”
“What if I cannot stop?” Gabrian stops her aura surfing and searches his eyes for an answer—biting her lip, flooded with guilt as she recalls her few moments of indiscretion at the park.
“You must learn to stop,” he says calmly, his face drains of the little colour it holds, and he stares at her with golden eyes that have seen too much. “If you drain them, or take too much, the watchers will know.”
“Watchers?” Tilting her head and glancing over across her bare shoulder, she glares at the vaporous form beside her, searching for understanding.
“Yes, Gabrian.” He meets her naïve stare, his eyes filled with answers that teeter somewhere between truth and deception then lets them drifts back into the crowd. “Do you really think the Covenant is just going to let you walk around freely?”
She does not know what to say and her face goes blank, lost in thought. She knew they were keeping an eye on her after training and gave her a probation period when she left for Manhattan, but after the funeral, she never truly thought too much about it.
“Do not let them fool you, Gabrian.” Getting close to her so she can see his face, Adrinn locks his focus on her, making her a little uncomfortable. “You are under their thumb now. And because you are Boragen, of the Vampire bloodline, they are never going to leave you alone. They are ready to pounce—eager to squash you like a bug.”
Angry from Adrinn’s words, but knowing there is truth in what he says, she hesitates with going forward with her friend’s plan to renew her energy and settle her suffering.
Hearing her concern filter through her mind, Adrinn quickly acts and attempts to pull her back on board. “What are we doing, sitting around talking about this nonsense? We have the whole night ahead of us. Let us find someone for you to dance with.”
“I am not sure about this anymore. What if I get caught?”
Adrinn knows she is faltering on her decision and pulls out another cruel truth that may hit the nail in the coffin. “What would be worse, Gabrian, my dear, getting caught and being punished by the Elders of the Covenant of Shadows or living out the rest of your life tortured by pain? Either way you look at it, you are in Hell.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Running with the Devil
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT, Gabrian tells Rachael that she needs to go out, not returning to the house until the early hours of the morning. Tonight will be no different. Again, she slips out, leaving her friend standing alone at the kitchen door, helpless to comfort her and knowing she needs her space.
Eager to learn from her new teacher, and yearning for a taste of tonight’s forbidden fruit, she smiles wickedly as she hurries out the door, sliding into the driver’s seat of her parent’s car. Flying down the driveway, she sees Ayden standing by the gate, waiting for her. She does not bother to slow down as she reaches him. Ayden materializes in the passenger’s seat beside her once the gate is crossed.
“So, what is on the agenda for tonight?”
“Well, the last few nights, you have done very well, my dear.” Adrinn grins, hiding a little something up his sleeve. “So tonight, I thought we might go on a bit of a journey to somewhere special.”
She does not care where they go. All she knows is that these last few days since she started following Adrinn around—and obeying his rules of conduct—she can actually say she feels good. Her mind is clear, her energy is up, and her nightmares have left her alone, at least for now. If he asked her to go to the moon at this point, she would not even question it.
“I think it is time we step your training up a notch.” She raises her eyebrow at his suggestion and glances over her shoulder at him briefly—trying to keep her eyes on the road, curious as to what he has in mind. “I do not want to draw too much attention to you. A girl that looks like you in the small town of Bar Harbor, attention is all that you are going to get.” His eyes drift across her body, studying her attire while wagging a finger pointedly at the shortened hem of her dress then looks away, tapping his finger on his bottom lip. “No room for mistakes here. So what I propose is a jaunt to Bangor for the evening.”
“We are going all the way to Bangor?” Her eyes
leave the road once more to peek at her peculiar passenger, seeing a wide grin spread across his face.
“Indeed, my dear girl,” he concurs, turning to meet her infrequent glances with a mischievous glint in his eyes. The rings of golden flecks that orbit his widened pupils brighten against the silhouettes of night’s shroud “It is bigger; it is louder—” he continues with vigor, rubbing his vaporous hands together, causing his smoky aura to haze the edges of his form. “—and I know just the place where you can go to let us say...spread your wings a bit.”
Her eyes jot over quickly once more, hearing the enthusiasm in his words. Ayden has not done anything but help her since the night he showed up in her car and stopped her from killing someone, so for Gabrian, trusting him is not an issue. So seeing the exit sign up ahead with ‘Bangor’ shimmering against the glare of her headlights, she turns the blinker on and grins at him, following his counsel willingly. “Sure, why not.”
Within the hour, they hit downtown Bangor, and she already hears the music slamming against her eardrums from outside the night club. Now that she feeds on pure essence, her own senses are becoming more acute to stimuli, sometimes causing her the need to shut things out once in a while to be able to concentrate on normal everyday activities.
She sits in her car, sensing the abundance of life thriving from within the walls of the bar, pressing up against the stone entryway and seeping out every time the door opens to let someone in.
Not able to resist her curiosity of why she is here any longer, she steps out of the car, onto the asphalt, and slowly glides across the parking lot in her short, black tightknit dress that she had purchased earlier that day. It hugged and accentuated every curve of her body but offered little constriction to her movements in case of unforeseen difficulties. Her long black hair hung loosely down her back, gently swaying with the rhythm of her purposeful movements—each step eloquent and precise, like a hunter on the prowl. Every head that stands waiting in line to enter the bar turns her direction and watches as she heads for the entrance.
The front door opens and two people stagger down the stone steps, out into the night. She catches the eye of the bouncer. After many years of working the door, he knows what makes for good bar business, and he yells out into the crowd, but it is only meant for her.
“I can take one more.” He waves his hand for her to come up the steps and enter the bar. The crowd grumbles at his decision to trump her to the head of the line but still continue to wait their turn, not wanting to lose their place.
Gabrian’s mouth curves upward provocatively as she glances briefly at Adrinn, who keeps pace with her advancement. “Shall we?” she purrs.
He returns her smile with an evil grin. “After you, my dear.”
She carefully ascends the stone steps and enters the bar with Adrinn slithering behind her, unnoticed by all.
Inside the doors, the bouncer displays a special interest in her and roams up and down her sleek body with his hungry eyes. He gives her a wanting look and licks his lips, implying to her she might look like something he would like to taste.
Gabrian is revolted by his presence and by the disgusting fantasies generating within his half-witted brain. Yuck! she screams in her head but smiles seductively at him anyway, keeping up her facade.
His breath quickens at her engagement, and he bites his thumb unconsciously. “No charge for you tonight,” he insists, getting uncomfortably close to her.
“Thanks.” She runs her long delicate-looking fingers across his sweaty knock-off designer shirt, letting them linger over his stomach as she slowly walks away and disappears into the crowd.
“Disgusting pig,” she utters under her breath once she is through. She wipes her hand on her dress, trying to remove his scent from her skin. Gabrian wonders if maybe this guy is the sort of prey she should test out her new skills on. She is quite sure that if she messed up and lost control with him, it would not be much of a setback for her or any other girl.
Catching a waft of familiar cologne, her subconscious conjures up thoughts of Ethan. She hears his gentle voice in the back of her head telling her that she should not punish herself for making mistakes. A twinge of guilt flutters through her as Gabrian recalls all of Ethan’s kindness toward her.
Feeling Gabrian slipping back to her old self, Adrinn moves in to kill any conscience that may ruin this for him. He slides in close to her, and whispers in her ear, “Come along now, Gabrian. Everyone is waiting for you to come out and play.”
She shakes her head, pushing Ethan out of her thoughts, and follows Adrinn’s lead. With the crowd swarming all around her, and the colours meshing in amongst each other, she quickly forgets about Ethan’s lessons and becomes elated with all the possibilities that lie before her.
Adrinn stands quietly beside her with his hand holding his chin, grinning from ear to ear as he watches her become excited with her new surroundings. She takes a moment to survey the large open dance floor stuffed with people then quickly looks over at Adrinn, like a child waiting for permission to go play on the playground—only this playground is for hunting. He releases his hand and waves it out over the crowd, inviting her to join in on the fun.
She immediately falls into her new routine, scouting for the most vibrant essence there. On this hunt, it happens to be a young dark-haired girl about Gabrian’s age, with skin the colour of toffee. She quiets her mind to listen for the girl’s thoughts, preparing to allure her, but to her pleasure, the girl is already quite aware of her presence. This is going to be easier than I thought.
Gabrian catches the girl watching her and smiles back at her with a devious grin, sending her amorist images to help bait the trap. Listening to her muse’s response to her suggestive gestures, Gabrian becomes certain that she now has the female’s full attention and steps down into the crowd, heading for her dinner.
Chapter Forty-Four
Missing in Action
AFTER A COUPLE of weeks of being absent again, Shane returns to check in on Gabrian. Stepping out of the Veil and into the hallway upstairs in Gabrian’s house, he quietly walks over to her bedroom door and looks in. Not finding her there, he begins to check the rest of the house.
Rachael hears his footsteps on the ceiling above her as he marches from room to room, knowing exactly what he is looking for. He stomps his way down the stairs and enters the kitchen.
“She is not here,” Rachael says, refusing to look up from her book.
He stops and glares at her. “Well, where is she?”
“Out.”
“What do you mean out?” Shane’s stomach turns in an uneasy flutter, remembering the last time Gabrian had left the house alone.
“She is out. Gone. Not here,” Rachael growls at him through tightened lips, spitting out each word heavily laced with disdain just for him.
Growing impatient with Rachael’s intentional cattiness, Shane’s voice grows louder, and he reaches over to slide her book down, away from her face. “I can see that. Where did she go?”
“I have no idea. I didn’t ask her where she was going,” she offers, setting down her book and inhales a deep breath—glaring at him all the while.
“Why did you not go with her?” Shane rubs his hand through his dark chaos of curls, looking around the room to avoid her icy stare.
“I offered to go, but she didn’t want me to,” Rachael says, shrugging her shoulders while picking her book back up and plants her eyes into its tale, much more interested in what it has to say than listening to him. “She wants to be alone.”
“You should have gone with her.” He rushes to the nook and grabs the sides, leaning in to bare down on her with an attempted intimidating look. “The last time she left the house alone, she nearly killed herself.”
“Umm, the last time I checked, I was not her keeper!” Rachael spits out, slamming her book down on the table and returns his glare, unscathed by his efforts. “That would be your job, if I recall correctly.”
Shane rubs his hand throug
h his dark curls and begins to pace the kitchen floor, frustrated with the conversation. “She has been lying in bed for days. She hasn’t moved. I can only watch her sleep for so long before it drives me crazy.” Not sure if Rachael buys his alibi or not, he continues to pace and tries to turn the blame. “I have only been gone a short while, and the minute I leave, she takes off.”
“The minute you leave? Are you kidding me?” Rachael fumes at his attempt to deflect his neglect. “Ah!” she grumbles in agitation, taking a deep breath as she tries to calm down. “Whatever!” She huffs, waving his lame excuses away with her hand. She narrows her eyes at him, hoping they will bore a hole through his senses and his ego. “The fact is, you were gone.”
Shane stomps around the kitchen, trying to think of where she might have gone. “What a nightmare this girl is.”
“Listen, you overinflated idiot.” Shane stops moving immediately and turns to glare at Rachael. “She is suffering and in pain. And if you had been doing your job and fulfilling your obligations properly, you would have noticed that.”
Shane attacks her verbally, feeling the sting of guilt setting in. “Do not talk to me about pain. I know far more about pain than you, little youngling.”
“Really? Huh.” Rachael shakes her head with disgust. Folding her arms across her small frame, she sits back in her chair and tilts her head then twists her pouty lips into a smirk, not feeling any concern for his well-being. Becoming bored with his act of self-pity, she decides to try to get to the bottom of his problem with Gabrian. “So what is the deal with you anyway?”
“What?” He jerks his head sideways to scowl at her—his eyes flare in reaction to her statement—confused, and his messy curls bounce from the quickness of his movements.
“First you like her, then you hate her?” Rachael asks, fluttering her doe eyes at him condescendingly, and flips her hand pointedly back and forth between the imaginary choices. “What kind of game are you playing?”