Leilani

by LM DeWalt

  “Oh, thank you. Thank you, I will go,” she said and turned, hugging her still barking ball of fur to her chest as she ran down the hall.

  Reaching the door to the apartment where the humans were hiding, we found the door locked. Kalia stepped back and kicked it open. We ran inside and an eerie silence greeted us. We stood still and quiet, listening for the beating of their hearts.

  “They’re not here,” Fiore said. “Where could they…?”

  Laughter coming from somewhere down the hall froze us all in place and chilled my spine. I knew that laugh.

  “Maia?” I yelled. A door slammed and the laughter disappeared.

  “They took them upstairs,” Aaron said.

  “What makes you think up and not down?” I asked. The stake clutched in my hand almost felt like an extension of my arm.

  “We would’ve passed them if they went down. How many more floors are there?” he asked.

  “Just one more and then the roof,” I answered already on my way to the door.

  “Ok,” Aaron said as we climbed up a flight. “We will check this floor first. We can listen for their thoughts.”

  After a few moments of walking the hall, we agreed they weren’t on this floor. Of course they were on the roof. Where else would they be? Determined not to let my fear of heights hinder our rescue attempt, I led the way up the last flight of stairs. I took a deep breath and pulled the heavy metal door open. Wind whipped my hair around my face hard enough to make it feel like a slap. The sound of hearts beating way too fast flooded my ears before I could look around.

  “Oh, shit,” Fiore said, her usual proper speech forgotten.

  “What?” I asked holding my hair in my hand to keep it out of the way. “What is it?”

  My stomach rose up to my throat and the ground felt like it was tilting. On a metal pole that was probably once one end of a clothes line, Jose Luis, Leilani, and Alegría were gagged and tied. The other pole contained Lucia, Tomas, and Paco. Paco’s head hung as if he were unconscious. Tears streamed down Lucia’s cheeks and her bottom lip quivered silently.

  “Jesus Christ,” Aaron said behind me. “Look.” He pointed toward the ground at the base of the pole.

  Wood had been neatly piled around the base of both poles. Just then, as if awaiting her cue, Maia stepped out from behind a small cement structure used for storage. Her mouth held a fake smile, as if she were posing for a photograph. She tilted her head to the side and looked down, then back up at me.

  “No!” I screamed and ran toward her, my focus only on the red gasoline container she gripped in her hand.

  FORTY-THREE

  Fiore grabbed me again and stopped me by wrapping her arms around my waist from behind. As I struggled against her, Kalia stepped forward.

  “Maia, what are you doing?” Kalia asked and dropped to her knees. Aaron placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Please don’t do this.”

  Maia smiled at the woman who thought of her as her daughter without an ounce of emotion. Regardless of the fact that it was already dead, it broke my heart.

  “It was nice having you both as parents for a while, and I thank you for all you did for me. Of course I liked the money and the traveling best, but that’s beside the point,” Maia explained with one hand on her hip while she swung the gas can back and forth with the other. “But to tell you the truth, the cozy, happy family thing just isn’t for me. It was nice while it lasted but you have her now,” she nodded toward me. “And her husband and children. You can all be a warm, loving family together. As for me, I like power. I like being a vampire, a killer. That’s what I’m supposed to be, a killer. Not some avenging angel like your perfect Lily. Melinda lets me have that. She understands me and what I really want and is always so encouraging.”

  “But that’s not really you, Maia,” Kalia cried. “Aaron and I know you better than that.”

  “Oh, but that’s not true. I put on a good show for you, that’s all. What I really want is to be a feared and powerful vampire, the way we’re supposed to be, not human-loving pansy asses like you. What good does it do to be superior to humans if we can’t control them?”

  Kalia forgot her pain and stood. “You ungrateful little brat!” she yelled.

  “Little brat? You’re that angry and you can’t even curse? Wouldn’t you rather have called me a little bitch?” Maia mocked with the smile still on her face.

  “No,” Kalia answered calmly. “When I think of ‘bitch’ I think of a grown woman. Brat fits you much better.”

  Maia’s smile wavered and I wanted to laugh. I would have if I hadn’t been trying to plan how to get to the poles and untie the humans and Jose Luis. Just as Maia started to answer, the door opened and the others stepped through. Melinda was led by the arms by Christian and Riley. The others followed behind them while Pierce helped Giovanni, who looked a little out of it but otherwise uninjured.

  “Where is Margarita?” Giovanni asked in a weak voice.

  Maia ignored him and addressed Christian instead. “What have you done to her?” she asked as she looked at Melinda.

  “She’s fine,” Christian answered. “She just wasn’t strong enough for all of us.”

  “Maia, make them a deal,” Melinda said locking her eyes with Maia. Maia looked confused for a moment and then smiled again as she understood.

  “Let go of Melinda and drop your weapons,” she announced. The door to the storage building opened and Maria and Ryanne walked out. Margarita was led by a vampire I’d never seen. This one was small and thin and couldn’t have been much older than sixteen.

  “Margarita! Are you ok?” Giovanni perked up when he saw her. She nodded.

  “Maria, take their weapons.”

  “Wait!” Aloysius said holding a hand up to stop Maria’s approach. Maria’s face drained of all color as she froze in place. “What’s the rest of the deal?”

  Melinda nodded to Maia. Maia cleared her throat and her eyes met Aaron’s for a brief moment. The hesitation was apparent in her eyes, but it didn’t last. “Release Melinda and hand us Lily. Then we walk away and you can untie them.”

  “That is out of the question!” Christian yelled. He walked to stand behind me and wrapped his arms protectively around me.

  “Christian, it’s fine. I will go with them,” I said. The gasps heard from both sides were unmistakable.

  “No, Lily. I can’t let them take you. They will kill you,” Christian pleaded. “That’s all they want. To kill you to avenge that bastard, Ian.”

  “Listen to her, Christian. Isn’t one meaningless vampire’s death better than the deaths of all these innocent humans and children? How could you live with that?” Melinda chastised. Riley grabbed Melinda’s hand with her free hand and yanked her head back.

  “Oh, Melinda,” Maia tried to get her attention though Melinda couldn’t look at her. Riley had not released her hair. “I think I’d like to keep the cop for myself.”

  “Are you insane?” Matt balled his hand into a fist and growled. Maia looked a bit scared but hid it with a laugh.

  “Oh, yeah. You’re perfect for me,” she said with a new smile just for him.

  “You make me sick!” Matt growled out the words.

  “Just me and Melinda. Matt is not part of the deal,” I interrupted what was about to turn into a fight between Matt and Maia.

  “Lily, no!” Aloysius intervened. “That is not even an option.”

  “It’s my fight, Aloysius. It’s always been my fight,” I answered him with as much courage in my voice as I could muster. “Let me end this once and for all.”

  Christian stepped out from behind me. His eyes focused on the gas can in Maia’s hand. His brows furled as he tried to focus his power on it.

  “Stop him or he dies!” Maia yelled to me. “His telekinesis bullshit isn’t going to solve this. There’s already a layer of fuel on the wood so I can still light them up and turn them into a bon fire. I even brought marshmallows.” She laughed at her own joke.


  “Christian, please look at me,” I stepped directly in front of him, trying to get him to focus on me and not Maia. “Please let me do this.”

  “I can’t, Lily. You’re my wife, for Christ’s sake. I love you.”

  “And I love you. I will always love you, no matter where I am. That will never change,” I explained. “But these children need you. Jose Luis needs you to teach him what to do. Leilani needs you to help her grow up.”

  Red tears rolled down Christian’s face as his head lowered and his lips met mine. His kiss was wet but it didn’t matter. I grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer to me, relishing in the taste and feel of him and his love, the love that would get me through where ever death took me. “Please take care of them. Please always remind them both of how much I loved them.”

  Aaron stepped behind Christian and gripped both his shoulders, pulling him away from me and toward the others in our group. I did not turn to look at any of them for fear that I would change my mind. Instead, I went to where Melinda was and took her arm, pulling her away from Riley. Riley only struggled for a moment before releasing her grip and lowering her eyes to the floor.

  “I will go with you, Melinda, but they go first,” I said. “If they do not leave here in one piece, there’s no deal.”

  Melinda thought about it for a moment and then grabbed my arm, pulling me to the side. “Fine. Untie them and take them away from here.”

  Kalia, Beth, and Raul ran to untie the humans and Jose Luis. They picked Leilani and Alegría up, carrying them toward the door as the others followed with each other’s help. Maia smiled at Kalia as she passed. Kalia didn’t look at her. She walked to the doorway with the others and stood behind them as the humans and children made their way downstairs.

  “Lily,” Kalia said. “You have my permission.”

  “Huh?” Maia uttered. Before Kalia could say anything else, I pulled my arm back and punched Maia right in the nose. The loud cracking of her shattering bone caught the others’ attention.

  “Get them out of the building!” Aloysius yelled to the guards running down the stairs with the humans.

  Jose Luis ran back in through the door and stopped next to Kalia.

  “Leilani, no!” Giovanni yelled. Just then, Leilani ran in and grabbed her brother’s hand, standing her ground.

  “Go with the others, Giovanni,” Aloysius said. “We can take care of her. Just get the others out of here.”

  “You lied,” Melinda said as her face scrunched in anger. “You made a deal and you didn’t follow through.”

  “Let her go, Melinda,” Aloysius said. “It’s twelve against nine. You’re outnumbered.”

  “No, that’s not right,” Leilani said from behind Jose Luis’s legs. “It’s thirteen against nine. Don’t you know how to count?”

  Melinda laughed at the authority in Leilani’s voice. “And what are you going to do? Oh, I’m so afraid I can’t stop shaking.”

  “I can—”

  “Leilani, please be quiet,” I said winking at her. “This is between the adults.” Melinda’s attention focused on Leilani gave me the opportunity I needed. I turned slightly in her grasp and elbowed her in the face forcing her to stumble back a few steps.

  Ryanne took that as an invitation to go crazy, as only she could do, and dove through the air, landing on Raul. Her stake went up so fast and back down into Raul’s chest that no one had a chance to react. The skinny vampire sliced Raul’s head without much effort. Riley approached them, her teeth clenched, her hands in fists, and none of us could tear our eyes away. Even Melinda stood still watching. Riley wrapped her hands around Ryanne’s forearms. Ryanne’s eyes widened and the hair on her head started standing as if a balloon were being rubbed against it. We all watched with shocked fascination as Riley electrocuted Ryanne with her touch. After a few minutes of Ryanne staring into Riley’s eyes with fear and silent pleading, Ryanne’s skin started to burn. It turned brown and smoke came off her though there was no visible fire. The smell of burning flesh forced most of us to cover our noses with our hands. A few moments later, Ryanne was nothing but a pile of ashes blowing away in the wind. We ducked to avoid getting bits of her in our hair.

  “Who’s next?” Riley asked as she marched toward Melinda.

  “Riley, no,” I put my arm out to stop her approach. “This one’s mine.”

  “And mine,” Christian said from behind me.

  I turned to see who else was ready to fight and spotted their human, Maria. Her jaw dropped when I looked at her.

  “Please, don’t kill me. I will leave. I will not ever come back. Please,” she pleaded, tears streaming down her face as her chin trembled.

  “I told you they would never give you what you wanted,” I told her reminding her of our previous conversation. “They were just going to use you and then throw you away. Just go. Go live a normal life that doesn’t include serving power hungry vampires.”

  “I will. Thank you,” she said as she ran past us and out the door, slamming it behind her.

  Maia, who had stood quietly holding her nose and watching the exchange, ran toward Leilani and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from Jose Luis. Before I could do anything to stop her, Kalia ran to Maia and grabbed her arm. Maia kept walking, pulling Leilani and Kalia toward the ledge of the roof.

  “Maia, please. Get a hold of yourself,” Kalia begged. “What are you going to do? Throw an innocent child off the building and to her death? That’s not you!”

  “That’s exactly what I am going to do, Mo-ther,” she pronounced the word as if it were poison in her mouth. “It is me. It’s always been me. You were just too blind to see it.”

  I ran toward them but it was too late. Leilani was pushed aside, landing at Aaron’s feet in a heap. Before I could even say anything, Kalia grabbed Maia’s head and turned it fast and hard, breaking her neck with a loud crunch. Maia fell to the ground, her terrified eyes frozen wide forever.

  “Jesus Christ!” I screamed as Kalia dropped to her knees. Her eyes blank as she stared at Maia’s lifeless body. “You killed her.”

  As I dropped to my knees to attempt to comfort Kalia, the wind picked up and debris flew toward us from the open storage room. Looking around the roof, I spotted Arturo standing with his arms up and his face toward the sky he attempted to manipulate. His lips moved rapidly as he chanted his curse. Christian was busy fighting the skinny vampire and Aaron had Leilani in his arms. Beth and Pierce had Melinda by the arms. Melinda stood and stared at Maia, her shock and disbelief apparent. That gave me the opportunity I needed.

  Focusing my mind on Arturo, I opened a path to his mind. I invaded his thoughts without him having to make eye contact. He was too busy trying to conjure up his storm to move his eyes. I scrunched my eyes, my head pounding with the effort. I heard a scream but couldn’t look away from Arturo. When I was about to give up, Arturo finally made a move. He lowered his head and, with his arms still in the air, turned and walked toward the ledge behind him. Lowering only one arm, he grabbed on to the short cement wall and climbed on top. He stood balancing himself in the wind and slowly turned to face me, his eyes wide with terror. His mind fought against mine, increasing the pain in my head. I held on with all my might. I raised my hand and waved, smiling at him, before he stepped off the ledge like a marionette with the strings cut and plunged to his death without so much as a scream.

  Refocusing on a scream I’d heard earlier, I turned to see Carlos, one of our guards struggling against one of their vampire’s raised stake. I took over Christian’s fight with the skinny vampire and motioned for him to help Carlos.

  “I got that,” Christian said as he focused his attention on the stake pointed at Carlos’s heart. Within moments, the stake floated in the air above the vampire’s head and I took that opportunity to break the skinny kid’s neck and tossed him aside.

  “No!” Beth screamed as she grabbed Riley in her arms and stopped her from falling.

  Everyone stopped again when we reali
zed Riley was missing her head. Melinda stood with the bloody sword in her hand. The whole roof suddenly turned red and my ears hummed as if a thousand bumble bees had made my head their home. I walked toward Melinda in even, measured steps. She smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world but by the feathers growing out of her ears, her transformation to a condor had already begun. She was about to make her escape. There was no way that was going to happen, not today!

  As she flapped her dark wings and raised herself into the air, she held her eyes on mine. “Are you proud of yourself for the deaths you’ve caused? Are you happy now?”

  “I won’t be happy until I know you’re rotting in hell!” I replied as she made her way higher into the sky. “And you’re making that trip tonight!”

  I bent my knees and extended my arms above my head. Flying from land was not an ability I’d worked on developing, until recently, anyway. With a scream that made even my blood curdle, I grabbed her talons. Her disgusting wrinkled skin in my hands made me want to gag and let go, but I held on as tight as I could, trying to push the feel of it out of my mind, and avoided looking down.

  “Lily, can I help?” Leilani screamed from below. Though Leilani was a human child, Melinda had been her captor for some time. Arturo had been her first captor, but he never made her share her blood with hungry vampires like Melinda did. Leilani deserved her shot at Melinda just as much as I did.

  “What is that useless child yelling about?” Melinda said. That’s when I noticed her still-human head. The image made me queasy even though I had seen her this way once before. The only bird part she had from the neck up were the ridiculous feathers sticking out of her ears. “I should have done away with that useless little pest a long time ago!”

  “Be my guest, Leilani,” I yelled down to her. From this distance, she looked like a little animated doll, so precious and innocent. “Just aim high! Don’t hit me!”

  “Hit you? What are you—?”

  Melinda’s words were cut off as a fireball struck her on her left side, forcing her to deviate from her upward route.