Soul Taker's Redemption

by A. S. Hamilton

  Amelia gave him a slightly embarrassed look at being caught worrying about him and then she and Adrian stepped out onto the veranda.

  'I came back to remind you to make sure the sentries receive another refreshment in two hours.'

  'Already done, I had Adrian set an alarm on his mobile.'

  Shaking his head, Thomas said, 'If I did not know you better, I would swear you can read minds.'

  He made the comment with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He was making a quip at my expense; he knew I hated references to my telepathic abilities.

  A part of the mythology of becoming vampire is that we gain many supernatural abilities; to move fast, to heal incredibly swiftly, exceedingly acute night vision, and so on. Myth says that we acquire telepathic abilities, but the reality is that it is not an innate skill. It is achievable, but it is incorrect to attribute it as an ability we all possess or one easily gained.

  Jay chuckled as Thomas turned and went back up the hall. She still held her book, Waylander, in one hand and I gestured to it as I said, 'Are you enjoying your book?'

  'David Gemmell's books are always superb.'

  'Good to know,' I remarked.

  'You read fantasy books?'

  'I read a little of everything, depending on my mood and the kind of time I have.'

  'You can borrow it, if you like.'

  I dipped my head slightly in acknowledgement of her offer. 'Thank you, but I'll get it on my phone— it's more convenient that way. I'll be back later; I need to patrol the perimeter.'

  'I'll take that as a diplomatic way of saying you'd rather not have company.'

  'Quite the opposite. If Ceri-talen sends someone, this is the ideal time as Therion is not here to oppose them. I am often able to sense movement through the planes; thus, it is the time when I most need to be focussed.'

  'Oh, I see. I'm sorry, I should have thought of that.'

  'Not at all. You run a café, I expect, types of coffee, supplies, and staffing rosters are more in line with your experience, not when to expect an ambush from a being of another realm.'

  She frowned slightly and then gave me a sideways nod. 'That's true. It's a good thing you're here, then. Although, I suspect whatever Ceri-talen sends might not feel as blessed when they find themselves facing you.'

  I laughed at that. No, they certainly would not.

  I appreciated the quiet as I patrolled the border of the property and a little way beyond it. The only disruption was the sound of a car coming down the drive. I moved to a position where I could see it. I relaxed; it was the extra clan members Thomas was expecting. We've fought Ceri-talen's forces before and we'd rather have too many vampires than not enough. I headed back to where I'd left off my patrol.

  Not long after, the sound of shotgun blasts punctuated the silence and I paused. Ah, Yushoki was showing Jay how to use a shotgun. Not an ideal scenario, but if the house was breached and Jay cornered, she needed to know how to use a gun. I tuned the sounds out, not completely, just enough to be able to hear anything unusual that might use the sound as cover. What I wanted more than anything was for Therion to return. Every sense I had was on alert, searching for any faint signal that might be him. Because if he didn't return… It meant Ceri-talen had him.

  It occurred to me that the whole exercise of attacking Jay had been to lure Therion back to the Dark Realm. More than once Aurealis has had to protect Therion from Ceri-talen. Once the two gods even fought, which doesn't happen often at their level. What worried me most about the current situation was that Therion had entered the Dark Realm willingly and Aurealis wouldn't have a strong enough cause to extract him.

  I heard another car and changed trajectory to the front of the house and the small circular drive. I watched as Amelia's vehicle wound down the gentle slope of the drive.

  Amelia pulled up next to me and gave me a dazzling smile as she got out. 'That is such a cool room!'

  She was speaking of my weapons room. Meredith had texted me to ask if he could let her in there to help carry the gear I wanted.

  I returned her brilliant smile. 'Yeah, it is, isn't it?' I exchanged my grin for a very deadpan look. 'You didn't touch anything you weren't supposed to, did you?' I held the look for a long second and then smiled again to let her know I was kidding.

  I hefted the bag she had drawn out of the four-wheel-drive. 'Thanks.'

  I put the bag back down so she could give me a hug. As she pulled back, she said, 'I have to get back, I need a rest before sundown.'

  I'd forgotten that because Amelia is so young that this would be very taxing for her, so I gave her another hug to show my appreciation. 'Do you need another hit of special reserve?' It sounded like wine, but it was actually blood— my blood. Not that Amelia knew that, just that it gave her more oomph, as she said, than human blood. I'd given her a vial before we left for Jay's last night, knowing she'd need to cover for Thomas at the clan offices and it would likely entail some daytime activity.

  'No, no, I should be fine long enough to get back and have a nap. Text me if you need anything else.'

  I nodded and waved as she drove off and then returned to the house to find somewhere to change into my armoured clothing. The bathroom wouldn't provide enough space and all the bedrooms were occupied by resting vampires. It looked like the lounge room was my best option. When I entered, I found Jay in there.

  'I thought you were learning to shoot.'

  'I was, but my shoulder was getting pretty sore, it was injured the other day, so Yushoki sent me inside for a rest before a second training session.'

  'I need a place to change, all the bedrooms are taken and with my weapons, I need a bit of space.'

  'No problem, I need a coffee,' she said as she stretched and then wandered off to the kitchen.

  When she returned, I was just starting to put my swords and all my other weapons back in place.

  'Wow, there are enough knives here to supply a fleet of chefs.'

  'Or a cooking reality show,' I quipped. 'When is your mother due to return?'

  'Thomas asked her to stay in the city. My apartment is there, and Mum uses my guest room when she's working late and doesn't want to drive all the way home. Mum said they had a pretty heated argument over it, about her not coming back here, that is, but Thomas convinced her by saying that if he had to worry about her, he may not protect me as well. She even accepted the two vampire bodyguards he's sending over to my apartment.'

  Nodding absently, I finished gearing up. 'Thomas is right,' I finally responded. 'Although I am sure he can empathise with your mother, all parents want to keep their children safe.'

  'Thomas is a parent?'

  'Amelia, the—'

  'We met.'

  'She's his adopted daughter.'

  'She seemed nice.'

  'You'll likely see more of her if we have to protect you for any prolonged period.'

  'No offence, but I hope Therion returns soon.'

  I pushed the last throwing knife into place and straightened. 'So do I.'

  But I'd known Therion long enough to know that if he was away from an assigned charge for this length of time, it meant that something or somebody was stopping him from returning. Considering how powerful Therion is, that someone had to be equally, if not more, powerful, so his absence was a very worrying sign.

  Em

  Technically, we weren't supposed to run checks on people not directly related to a case. It wasn't just bad form to see if your neighbour had an extensive history of domestic violence, you could be penalised for breaching department ethics. But two vampires had recently come into my daughter's life and, considering how dangerous they were, I decided that this was an exception and a risk worth taking. It turned out to be for nothing.

  We had nothing on either vampire. Jay told me that Therion called Bastien, Bastien d'Estrees and Thomas had given me his business card so I could contact him, so I knew he went by Thomas d'Estrees, but I doubted they were authentically related. Although… it could be B
astien had made Thomas a vampire. It seemed unlikely to be the other way around; there was something about the blond giant that made me think he was older, more experienced.

  I glared unhappily at my monitor. Drat!

  It wasn't my only avenue of enquiry, I'd earned my share of favours both in the department and out, but I wasn't sure I wanted to use them up on what could end up being a fruitless pursuit. I very much doubted vampires allowed themselves to be documented to the extent modern society tracked its populations. With social media, government, and commercial businesses all wanting to know what everyone was up to and the technology to do that rather well, it was difficult to retain any kind of privacy these days, so I figured supernatural beings like vampires would likely avoid starting up a record in the first place…

  To heck with it, I typed d'Estrees into Facebook— nothing. Well, not anyone who matched either vampire.

  Huffing, I drummed my fingers on the desk. I'd left my daughter in the care of vampires. She seemed to trust them, but her trust was entirely based on the recommendation of a demon-angel who worked for a god. Leaning forward I rubbed at my temples, it all sounded utterly unreal.

  I had been contemplating whether I should talk to Tien about it. Sure, I'd come off as crazy talking about angels and vampires, but I was getting to the point where I wanted to discuss things with someone else. Someone not my daughter. Someone who could help me figure out a strategy for protecting my daughter. Someone I trusted.

  Tien wouldn't automatically dismiss me, we may not be biological sisters, but we were close. Without some kind of evidence, though, I didn't think I had much hope of convincing her that I wasn't having some sort of mental breakdown.

  I could invite Tien back to Jay's apartment for something to eat. I could tell her I wanted company; she'd accept that readily enough. There were two vampire bodyguards there according to Thomas, if I could somehow show her they were vampires, that— It was a ridiculous idea. The vampires would never willingly reveal themselves to my sister and even if I could prove it, just knowing would put her in danger. I was on my own. At least as far as the supernatural was concerned.

  At this point, I couldn't see that I had many options. Jay needed the kind of protection the vampires could offer. One of those bat-monsters could easily tear through a human bodyguard, if they didn't scream and run as soon as they saw it. I would have to accept their help, just like I'd had to agree with Thomas about staying out of their way.

  My phone pinged.

  It was a friend request from a Bastien.

  No way!

  I squinted at the notification.

  Sceptically, I accepted it.

  My phone pinged softly again.

  It was a message from my new friend— a vampire emoticon— that was all.

  I sent back my cop emoticon and a winking smiley.

  Bastien returned with the message: Jay, all good.

  Huh, who'd have thunk? Well, at least I had an easy way to get in contact with him now.

  Switching off the lamp on my desk, I gathered up my jacket and bag. Time to head over to Jay's place, I was tired and hungry. There was a nice little noodle place on the way, I'd stop in for something to eat. And perhaps a pot of tea to help me unwind before heading on to bed. Although, I wasn't sure I should hurry towards that bed too quickly, I may have agreed to stay at my daughter's apartment tonight, but I didn't see myself getting any kind of sleep.

  Therion

  [The Trooper Overture – 2Cellos]

  I decided that if I must be delayed by a fight, I might as well get as many supporters to join me as possible, especially considering that I was in a room lined with cages holding creatures for torture and experimentation. Each enclosure had a button to one side to open and close the access panels. As soon as I bought myself enough space, I launched into the air and shifted into a glide that took me by the cage doors. As the granoult and duwiner were streaming down the middle of the room, I was able to hit button after button unimpeded for almost the whole length of the room, at least until I had to change direction to dodge a spear. I twisted and spun up, moving to the other side of the room to open as many cages as I could. In my peripheral, I saw a granoult performing a series of leaps, from floor to workbench, to low light fixture. His path took him to a position where he could launch himself at me for a tackle that brought me crashing into a workbench. I threw him into some oncoming attackers to give me time to get to my feet. By then, those creatures I had released had started to emerge from their cages.

  There was no guarantee that any of them would delay their escape to fight— something for which I would not blame them. As it turned out, almost all stayed to fight even though several therilgalen now joined the granoult along with a number of other creatures that served Ulyn.

  The winged creatures— harpies, griffins, hippogriffs, manticores, and even the winged horses— took flight to attack from above. Between its deadly serpent's tail and lion-like jaws, the chimeras made fearsome opponents. The indrik, which I can only liken to a cross between a bull and a rhinoceros with a horse-like head, used its horn to smash the kelpie's aquatic enclosure sending a flood of water out over the lab. The shape-shifting water spirit responded by shifting into an immense, glossy-black horse with teeth like razor-wire. Screaming in rage, it seized the nearest granoult and dragged it to the ground before trampling it. The panlong did not wait for anyone to smash its enclosure, the water dragon started ramming its crocodilian-like head into the glass. As it swam to the back to have a another try, I obliged it by snatching up a dropped war-hammer and taking a running jump to smack it into the pane, sending large cracks out from the point of impact. Just as I drew back for a second blow, the panlong came lunging forth and finished the job itself. I took off to avoid the water and the panlong glided under me. The flow of water took it by two granoult, the aquatic dragon might be small in terms of its species, but its jaws easily enclosed the nearest granoult. My attention was caught by a therilgalen who was advancing on a hippogriff grounded by a spear through her wing, he was preparing to take her spirit. She had her back to the dark-angel as she tried to fend off the granoult and duwiner attacking her from the front. Between her sharp eagle-like beak and taloned front feet, she was holding her own, but once the therilgalen ambushed her, she would swiftly fall. Using the war-hammer, I knocked the therilgalen to the ground, reversing the weapon, I slammed the spear-like blade built into the end of the handle into his back and ripped his spirit from his vessel.

  Leaping up onto the hippogriff's back, I sent to her, 'I will remove the spear and heal you, concentrate on keeping your attackers at bay.'

  It took me but a moment and I only needed a small portion of the therilgalen spirit I had taken. I leapt off the creature's back, landing to one side.

  Having stampeded the granoult and taking their spears, the centaurs were now wielding them with fatal efficiency against their former owners. Indeed, right that very moment, a centaur reared, driving his attackers back, and bumping me. Shifting out of his way, I glanced towards Ulyn, who remained unmoving. Qu-te-se had shaken off the paralysis, though, and was now swooping towards me with, I realised, my long sword in his hand, but, strangely enough, still in its scabbard. He might support my escape, but he could not openly do so, he would have to be seen, especially by Ulyn, to be making a sincere effort to thwart me.

  Snatching up a dropped spear, I backed up to the nearest wall. As Qu-te-se landed, I charged him and, as expected, he dodged, turning to keep me in view and putting his back to the wall. I met his gaze and slightly nodded, hoping he would pick up on the signal and let me strike. Then, I attacked. Rushing forward, I used the spear to back him up, then, drawing it back, I rammed it through his upper chest, near his shoulder with enough force that it went right through him. He screamed, dropping my sword. I almost hesitated, it was a brutal strike, but nothing less would satisfy Ulyn that he was incapacitated enough for me to escape. I glanced over at Ulyn; she was starting to rouse. I could not affor
d to stay any longer because, to keep her immobile, I would have to use my shriek, which the granoult were mostly immune to, meaning they could keep killing their paralysed opponents. Letting go of the spear, I shifted back and rammed my shoulder into Qu-te-se hard enough that I felt his ribs give and breaking the wing beneath.

  I was now up against him, my mouth near his ear. 'I am sorry to cause you pain, brother.'

  Drawing back, I seized my sword and started running so I could launch myself. Just as I leapt into the air, talons wrapped around my ankle, jerking me back towards the ground. I swung my arm back and slammed my fist into the side of my attacker's head. A horn sliced through the vulnerable skin just below the scaled armour that protects the outside of my forearms and the back of my hand. Ulyn growled, her golden gaze misting with the blood-red of fury.

  I'd left it too late.

  Dread filled me. Do not get me wrong, I have killed una-sterath, they are not easy prey, but they are quite killable. Ulyn though… All my young life she'd had power over me, authority that she wielded with ruthless cruelty— she was one of the few beings I actually feared. I covered it with hate, that was easy, but I knew myself well enough to acknowledge the fear dwelling in the thick shadows beneath that hate.

  She had drawn a dagger and it was now charging towards me. I intercepted her wrist, bringing the blade to a halt just before it pierced my chest. Her other hand closed in a crushing grip about my throat, her talons digging into the soft flesh. Normally, she would follow the move by closing said talons and literally ripping her opponent's throat out. As it was, the matagot I had freed earlier landed on her face, clawing and yowling with fury. Matagots can be mistaken for an overly large domestic cat, but they are far from ordinary. A bluish misty glow was emanating from the creature. Ulyn let out an enraged yowl of her own.

  I took advantage of the reprieve to shriek. I almost faltered, my throat aflame due to the injuries Ulyn had inflicted, but a second, more determined, attempt paralysed all but those granoult who shut their ears in time. I scooped up the matagot and took off. Adding what Bastien calls my 'magical will', I lifted Bastien's scabbarded sword and rammed it through the glass roof.