Love and Bloodlust: The Sacred Objects

by Melinda Clark

  Detective Ashford leaned back on the pew and yelled after her, “Now that, I believe.”

  Avery pressed up against the hallway wall, breathing deeply to calm her nerves. How dare he!

  After a moment of composing herself, she heard a faint voice and decided to explore further into the church. She went downstairs into a dim-lit carpeted basement area. All was quiet until she came across a room with children in it, an elderly woman talking to them and showing them pictures in a book. Sunday school? She stopped and listened through the door.

  “God favored Abel’s sacrifice of the lamb over his brother’s crops as an offering. This made his brother very angry and jealous…”

  Yeah, I would want meat over veggies too. While her guard was let down, she felt someone come up behind her and whipped around. It was a short, stout old man with a big smile on his face. Avery had seen enough movies to recognize that little black and white-collar thing he wore. This was the Pastor of the church.

  “The children are learning about the first sin. Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel, both gave offerings to God, and the Lord gave respect to Abel,” he whispered to her while glancing in the doorway.

  “Is that so?” Avery sarcastically replied.

  The pastor smiled and turned around, shuffling down the hall, grabbing a book off of a shelf and bringing it back to Avery, “If you have some extra time, read this, and you’ll find out.”

  Avery reluctantly accepted the book.

  “Wait. You look really familiar,” he stopped her as she turned to leave.

  “My sister used to go to this church,” Avery started off, not wanting to chat about it further. She re-navigated her way back to the exit, and upon leaving, she noticed the atmosphere change immediately. Not just that it was chilly out compared to the temperature inside, but while she was in the church she seemed to feel light-headed. Coming outside was like stepping back into a cold, empty reality.

  Ten miles later, Avery clicked the ‘close’ button on Talon’s garage door remote and tried to be quiet as she entered the house. She was greeted by candlelight and delicious aromas.

  “I’ve been meaning to take you to dinner, but I liked this idea better,” Talon appeared with a bottle of wine and smiled.

  “You made me people food?” Avery was taken back by it. No one had done this for her before.

  Though the noodles were a bit salty, Avery ate every last bite on her plate. It was the first time a man had ever cooked for her. She had spent the time telling Talon about her newly discovered bloodline. Avery then mentioned to him the dream of the two brothers and how it sounded like the Bible story she had overheard at Sunday school earlier. She disappeared briefly to retrieve the book from the backseat of Talon’s car where she had thrown it and plopped it onto the dining table in front of him.

  “The pastor loaned me this; told me I should read it.”

  Talon took the children’s story in his hands and studied it, “Oh yeah, the story of Cain and Abel.”

  “You know it?”

  “Hey, just because I am a vampire now doesn’t mean I didn’t have religion growing up. It seems that your dreams are obviously more than just wild imagination. They sound like they are trying to tell you something.”

  As they skimmed the pages together, Avery concluded ever more so that this may be it. The brothers from her dreams were the very same or similar to those first two brothers of the Bible. She had always considered that these stories were good morals, but not that they had actually happened. So what happened to the bad brother to make him…change?

  “And you swear you’ve never heard this story before?” Talon sounded amazed.

  “I swear. I never went to church as a kid, and Kyrie knew I never really cared for it,” Avery puzzled in her mind for a moment. “Do you know who the first vampire was?”

  “I’m old. I’m not that old.”

  “Well, have you ever heard about how vampire-kind came to be?”

  “I was told that the father of our race was a man who made a deal with the devil himself.”

  “In my dream, the brother who committed the crime was exiled and in anger, and was intercepted by some mysterious, robed guy.”

  “I don’t know. It’s farfetched, but… I suppose it’s possible.”

  Avery sat in thought. She remembered all the dreams Kyrie would tell her about that were eerily right. Were these truly premonitions? What would be the consequences if Avery didn’t take these dreams seriously?

  Four glasses of wine later, Avery was feeling pretty good about herself. She started talking less about her work and more about herself and finding that she was asking more questions about Talon as well. “I feel like… this is how our first date should have been. Except, you would be just as buzzed as I am right now,” she joked.

  Talon couldn’t help but laugh at her, “Too bad we didn’t get that far. But maybe it was for the best to get the charade over with so we could get to know the real us.”

  “Whaddaya mean?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t have told you I’m a vampire or how old I truly am,” he pointed out.

  “Very old,” Avery emphasized with a grin.

  Talon smiled at her, “And I couldn’t be honest about my past at all without giving that away. I assume that you don’t go on a date planning to come forth with information that your occupation is that of a slayer, correct?”

  Avery nodded in agreement.

  “Even your goals and darkest desires; you would have had to fabricate everything.”

  “As would you,” she rebutted.

  “Indeed. So I am glad we never had to believe lies about each other just to find out the hard truth later. Seems simpler this way,” he gave her a small smile.

  “I never really thought about that before,” Avery confessed. She went to pour herself another glass, but Talon grabbed the bottle from her.

  “I think that’s enough for you, ya lush.”

  Avery gasped, her mouth wide open, trying not to smile. “What!? How dare you call me that!”

  She reached for the bottle, but Talon pulled away. “Hey! Someone has gotta finish that last bit.”

  In a moment of silliness, Talon stood up and away from her reach to guzzle the last of the wine. He gagged and cringed while Avery laughed at him.

  “Tastes just… horrible,” he sputtered.

  Avery sat and stared at him, unable to stop herself from smiling. She was starting to enjoy being around Talon more and more every day, something she never thought would happen. The more she enjoyed him, the more she started noticing how perfect his features, physical and personality-wise, had come to seem to her. It was as if there was something there that she just didn’t see before. She decided to let go, for the moment, the stresses of knowing that their relationship couldn’t possibly work out and concentrated on enjoying his company while she could. Talon must have felt uncomfortable being stared at, as he puffed his chest up unconsciously.

  “What?” he looked unsure of himself.

  “Nothing. I just…I really like you,” she gushed, and it felt like someone else had made her say those words. But the more she thought about what she had just nearly confessed, the more she convinced herself the words were true, and it was okay to feel that way.

  Talon smirked and deepened his voice a bit, “I can make you more than just like me.”

  That sent a tingle down her spine. She realized her mouth was hanging open a little bit,

  “Really? And how is that?”

  Talon pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it across the dining room, exposing his pale, milky pecs and abs.

  Avery was wide-eyed, “Well, that’s certainly a good place to start.”

  In the blink of an eye, Talon was a mere inch from her face, staring intently at her lips. Avery caught her breath and went in for the kiss. She closed her eyes and let her nerve-endings guide this. Her hands cupped his jaw, and her body arched toward him. His hands stroked down her neck and then lifted her by her wai
st. She wrapped her legs around his waist, continuing to kiss and suck on his lips. They spun around, and she heard silverware clang and glass shatter on the floor as she was sat on the tabletop. He let go of her long enough to help her pull both her sweater and t-shirt over her head. Talon held onto her hips and started kissing and nibbling the top of her breast. Avery flung her head back and grabbed the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair as warmth enveloped her chest. She felt his hardness pressing up against her jeans, and it was damn near driving her crazy. She arched her body forward as he started to lay her back, onto the now cleared table. Then everything seemed to slow down. Avery took a deep breath as she focused on Talon’s intense gaze. His blue eyes were lit up as if the epic battle of fire and ice was within them, and he looked up and down her curves with a predatory stare, then to her face. He kept his eyes on hers as he carefully unbuttoned her pants with one hand, his other hand supported his weight as he leaned forward. He planted a much softer kind of kiss on her lips, pulling at them with his mouth as he came away from her with her jeans in hand. He smirked when he saw the surprise on Avery’s face as she did not even notice them being pulled off. At least these pants would stay intact she humorously thought to herself.

  Avery lay there before him in her black, lacy bra and underwear. She must have anticipated he would see them because she did not wear such racy underclothing last time they were intimate. He could hear her heart thrumming in anticipation. He had the same feelings in him, the tightness of his chest, the burning need, and blood rushing to excitable areas, even if he lacked a heart beat. Her eyes betrayed her euphoria as they begged him to keep touching her. He would oblige.

  He leaned forward and put his hands on her back, bringing her chest up to his mouth once again. Avery exhaled her delight as he moved his lips over the top of her breasts and collarbone. Talon undid her bra and threw it behind him. He could feel the blood rushing through her and growled low in his throat as the beast within him demanded he move faster. But the man left in him kept that beast at bay, and he controlled his instinct to sink his teeth into her. Instead, testing himself further by nibbling on her breasts, giving special care to her hardening nipples. He felt her reach down to his face. “Let me do something for you.”

  Talon was confused. Wasn’t this for him? It gave him great happiness to be able to touch her body and bestow pleasure upon her. Avery wrapped her legs around his lower back and pulled his head down into a passionate kiss. “Don’t resist. Just let me do this.” She breathed in his ear lightly. A groan escaped his throat. She then used all of her strength in her legs to flip him, so he was now beneath her. He was surprised but waited curiously to what she had in mind. Avery scooted down his body, so she was straddling his knees and was slowly unzipping his pants where his pressing need presented itself. She reached in past the slit in his boxer-briefs and pulled his manhood out. She bent down, her hair tickling his stomach, and took him into her hand and mouth. There was a brief ‘Oh my’ in his thoughts as he closed his eyes and focused on the warmth of her. No woman had ever done this for him, and he never had asked before. He didn’t know what to do with his hands as he was forbidden to help her, so he awkwardly lay them down on the table at his sides. He was a pleaser, but tonight, she wanted to please him, and it excited him.

  After a couple minutes of enjoying his gift, Avery flipped her hair up and looked him in the eyes to gauge how well she had done for him. She appeared satisfied with what she saw. She climbed back up to position herself over him, moving her panties slightly to make room before allowing him inside her. She sucked in her breath sharply before slowly starting to rock back and forth on him. He lifted his hands to grasp her outer thighs but continued to allow her to be in control. He watched the movement of her breasts as if his very existence depended on it. Every movement she made was tensing, tingling, and increasing in speed. He could no longer maintain self-control and lifted her up by her waist slightly while sitting up to kiss her moaning mouth. He matched his own movements to hers until they both started to drip with sweat. Avery’s breathing became louder and heavier, and she was tightening up around him. He would make her wait just a bit longer for the release he knew she craved. He stopped mid-thrust and kissed her with more need this time before he lifted her by her butt to thrust again, slower but firmer, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and gasped in his ear. He knew by the intensity in her whimpers and her ever-tensing around his manhood that she was on the edge. He increased his speed again and held her tight, and she let out her cries for him. “Talon!” Hearing his name escape her lips in the most exotic way he never thought possible, helped him release into her as they came to the edge of their ecstasy together. They pawed at each other's slippery skin until their shudders came and went.

  Avery started to go limp in her thigh and Talon picked her up and carried her over to lay her on the couch. The leather sofa was cold against her and gave her the chills, but she was still too euphoric to move. Talon tucked his manhood back into his pants and plopped down next to her head. Avery lifted her head to lie on his thigh. The glow washed over her as he stroked her hair with his fingers, and thought about something that happened while they were ‘in the moment.’ She could have sworn she saw Talon mouth ‘I love you,’ but no words actually escaped his lips. Did he just say them because of the moment they were enthralled in, or because he actually… loved her? Or maybe she was mistaken. She wouldn’t dwell on it, as he never actually said it, so she shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

  She hardly closed her eyes in exhaustion when a sight came to her. The black-winged angel stood before a hoard of the undead as if he was the leader of an army. And he had a book in his hands. It looked like the old, dusty brown tome Daedra had conducted the vampire spell with. Avery snapped back to reality, eyes wide and peering up at Talon in confusion. His hand froze in her hair, and he looked at her concerned.

  CHAPTER 15

  There was still a lot of debris from the explosion untouched. Apparently, the town was in no hurry to clean up the old mansion. The fire department and police had searched through the remains, finding nothing and leaving the site as it was after that. The cold nipped at her nose and turned her cheeks bright red, numbing her face, but she pushed on clearing debris in search of the one item she thought useful. Her white gloves were smudged black, but she paid them no mind. Her flashlight reflected off of something shiny amongst the black and gray. She pulled out a necklace and blew the ash off it. It was a gothic cross. The one Gunner had been wearing that night. Was this her confirmation that he did die in the explosion? She threw it aside and kept looking for what she was there for, expecting, but dreading, to come across some remnants of her comrades as well. She heard Talon call to her from across the estate and she followed the sound of his voice through the dark until he popped up in front of her, startling her. He handed her the book they were seeking, the edges charred but surprisingly quite intact considering the size of the fire. She held her flashlight under her chin and flipped through the pages that crinkled inward, but a lot of the writing was still legible. She stopped on a page showing a picture of what Daedra’s circle had looked like with all the items around it, but there was something red filling up the circle, which looked like blood. The words were in some kind of Latin, and Avery racked her brain trying to figure out what it was depicting. From what she had witnessed, Daedra had the magick without the blood sacrifice.

  “I have a feeling that the witch did more than just summon herself power,” Talon murmured from over her shoulder.

  “We need to find someone who can read this,” Avery stated before handing the book over to him.

  Avery pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contacts, finding Rose’s phone number pre-programmed under ‘Best Friend You’ll Ever Have.’ She snickered to herself about it as she waited for Rose to answer the other end.

  “Are you in trouble?” And that was Rose’s response almost every time she called her.


  “Actually, I gotta question. Do you know anyone who can read Latin?”

  “Why? What are you up to?”

  “I have the book Daedra did her spell with. But I can’t read it myself.”

  “Avery! Burn that thing! It’s bad juju.”

  “I think it has answers. Trust me, if it wasn’t important, I would be rid of it,” Avery looked at Talon’s face as he listened as if he would confirm it to her.

  Rose was silent a moment on the other end, then groaned her response, “Hmmm… I may know a certain witch that can help you. I’ll give her a call.”

  “Thank you so much, Rosie. I am free anytime, so set up a time she can meet me at our place.”

  “You owe me Ave. Oh, and when you get home, we need to talk about Caleb.”

  “Uhhh,” Avery hesitated.

  The call ended. That was definitely not something she looked forward to. Avery spun around, searching the dark for Talon, and found that she was alone. All she could see was the little bits of moonlight coming through the trees, illuminating her puffs of breath in the cold air. He wouldn’t have taken the book and left her, right?

  Bright lights blinded her before she realized it was the Mustang. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and jogged toward it. Just as she was about to open the passenger side door, another car pulled up. It was some kind of black sedan, with tinted windows. Talon got out of the car to eye the newcomer. “Do you know who that is?” Talon asked her.

  A tall, olive-skinned man emerged from the driver’s side of the suspicious vehicle. Avery let out a pained sound and shoved her phone into her pocket in frustration. Talon stood halfway in front her, acting as a partial shield.

  “I didn’t peg you for a scavenger, Miss Langdon,” Detective Ashford joked. “May I ask what you are doing at the scene of an arson?”

  Avery chirped up before Talon could, “This place was always a fascination for those of us who grew up here. We were just exploring what’s left of a town legend.”