Blood and Fire

by Gabriela Fišerová

  He really needed to leave as soon as possible.

  “This humanity is an illusion.” She practically spat the word. “And it’s wrong. We aren’t humans. We shouldn’t have to act like them. And once the angels take over, we’ll never have to pretend anything ever again.”

  “Are you done?” James asked, barely managing to keep his voice neutral now. Many, many times, he’d thought about just killing some unfortunate, random person and getting rid of all that guilt and self-loathing, all those horrible memories. But he couldn’t go through with it. There was just something in him clinging to whatever humanity he had left. The humanity this vampire seemed to not believe in. It felt very real, however. Awfully real.

  “The longer you try to keep this going, the worse it will get. You’ll see,” she said, sighing. “But yes, I’m done.”

  James breathed out. He really hoped she meant that because he didn’t think he could manage much more of this. No wonder the catch was that he had to listen to their mission statement before getting the bracelet removed because he’d definitely run out of here immediately after.

  “All right, so now what?”

  She didn’t reply, just gave him a look that James interpreted as her telling him to be patient and reached under the table, pulling on something that James realized a second later had to be a drawer in the table. She brought out a folded piece of black fabric, which definitely wasn’t what James had been expecting, but then again he had no idea what to expect in general. He said nothing, though. The less they talked the better, definitely. He just watched as the other vampire spread out the fabric on the table, only then noticing some white scribbles written in a circle on it.

  “Put your hand in the middle,” she instructed, tapping the middle of the symbol circle. James did so, still saying nothing. He didn’t think he’d stayed silent for this long in his life. If he didn’t want to leave so fast, he’d antagonize her by asking which hand she’d meant, too.

  For some reason it felt very awkward to just keep his arm on the table like this, but he ignored that. Instead, he kept his eyes trained on the woman who had in the meantime removed a necklace from her neck, which she had apparently been hiding under her shirt this whole time. The necklace wasn’t exactly pretty though, just a small black capsule on a steel chain.

  And then she opened the capsule, and James immediately understood the purpose of it. He blinked as his eyes were assaulted by bright, blue light that lit up the whole room, casting long shadows on the walls and floor. What the hell was this thing?

  “Angel blood,” the female vampire explained without actually being asked. James scowled at the thing further. Angel blood? This didn’t look like a liquid. Though he could barely see it through all the damned glowing. With a great amount of squinting, James could see that there was something of a darker blue color in the transparent vial that had been covered up by the capsule, whatever that was made of, but it still didn’t look liquid.

  Neriah had never told him much about angel biology, so he supposed it was entirely possible their blood wasn’t a liquid at all, but James didn’t think he could wrap his head around a concept like that. That said, if it really was blood, James wasn’t pulled to it at all. So either it wasn’t drinkable, or the glass, or whatever it was held in, blocked that instinct off.

  “They just give you that?” James asked, still gawking at the thing.

  “Of course not.” She started waving the necklace just above James’ wrist, making it go in circles. “Only a few others aside from me are trusted enough to have this.”

  James hummed. “So either these angels are super selective, or you guys don’t have a lot of members.”

  He just couldn’t help himself, could he? Shutting up would have been a valid option too.

  “It’s both.” She didn’t sound annoyed, which was equal parts a relief and disappointing. “We are very selective about who we approach.”

  “Should I feel special?”

  She completely ignored him, starting to mutter what was definitely an incantation of some sort. James could tell by his complete inability to understand a single word she was saying, despite his enhanced hearing letting him hear every word. He could barely tell when one word ended and another began. It sounded like she was just saying random sounds with far too many consonants.

  James was about to ask how long this was going to take when the necklace started shining even brighter. But not just that. The glow seemed to start flowing into the bracelet, at first so slightly that James was sure it was just a trick of the eye, but soon it became undeniable. Especially once the metal the bracelet was made of started dimly glowing too.

  The vampire continued her chanting as a thin, vertical, glowing line appeared on the bracelet, the light growing in intensity with every second that passed. And suddenly, there was a loud crackle, and the light retreated back inside the necklace.

  But James wasn’t paying attention to the vampire, or her necklace. He was instead staring at the bracelet. It was open now, with a large hinge at the bottom, as if that had been there the entire time and he’d just never noticed. He snatched his hand away immediately, looking at his now free wrist. He couldn’t believe it, even though he was looking at it. He could do anything now, without Aegis breathing down his neck.

  “You really weren’t lying, huh?” James muttered, feeling a bit dazed. He’d had the thing around his wrist for over a month. It felt odd without it. A good odd, though. Very good.

  “No. Not once.” She sounded really annoyed now. Which he supposed was fair. He still didn’t believe what she’d told him, though. He believed that she believed it, but that was about it.

  “Here,” she said as she folded up the magic cloth and reached into the pocket of her jeans, bringing out yet another business card. Were angels part-time businessmen? Because they definitely had the mindset.

  James decided to just take the card without a comment. There was only a phone number on it, with the little Circle logo.

  “Call this number when you change your mind.”

  She sounded so sure he would. But at least she’d apparently given up for now, which was good. James wondered how many members this organization had now, but if this was their recruitment plan, he doubted it was a lot.

  “Right, so I’ll just….” James pointed at the door with his thumb, already getting up. She gave an overly neutral nod, and he took that as a very clear sign to finally leave.

  He breathed in deeply when he got outside and shut the door. He didn’t even care that there was snow falling in his eyes right now. He just felt so much lighter.

  But that only lasted a second because immediately, he remembered that now he had to go explain things to Arkemoz. And no matter how much he didn’t want to face him, he had told him he’d be right back, and it was already way past that.

  With a heavy heart, James started to make his way back to his place, trying his best to prepare himself for this. Was Arkie going to be sad or angry now? James could handle anger better, so he was hoping for that. He’d really fucked this up, hadn’t he? But given how much he’d panicked at that moment, he was pretty sure it could have ended up way, way worse.

  James chuckled humorlessly. Somehow James doubted Arkie would appreciate that sentiment.

  He felt like an idiot, standing in front of his own apartment door, trying to put together enough courage to open it, but he felt even more stupid when he did, and Arkemoz wasn’t there. James also felt a tiny bit relieved, and he hated himself for that. This didn’t give him a free pass to let this be. He needed to talk to Arkie, this changed nothing. It just meant that he’d have to look for him now.

  And so he turned around again, walking out and heading to Arkie’s apartment. That was the next logical place to go.

  Once again James found himself frozen in front of the door, but fortunately it didn’t take too long for him to get it together enough to knock softly.

  “A-Arkie? You there?” He really hated how unsteady his v
oice was. He waited for a moment, unable to move an inch. If his heart were still beating, he was sure it would be trying to leap out of his chest. Though he was still getting uncomfortable feelings there, despite the organ not working. He wasn’t sure how that worked.

  When nothing happened for what felt like entire minutes, James tried again, this time using Arkie’s full name. It felt wrong to say it, but he had no idea if the nickname pissed the demon off or not. He hadn’t said anything like that, but James couldn’t assume that meant he liked it.

  But once again, there was no reply. Not even to tell the vampire to go away. James pressed his ear against the door, listening for any movement, just to make sure that Arkemoz was in fact in there. And the more he listened, the worse the sinking feeling in his gut got. Because there wasn’t any sound at all.

  James took a step away from the door and began to pace in circles. So, Arkie clearly wasn’t home, or at James’. Where could he have gone? He realized that a demon was probably more powerful than anything else around, and therefore should be safe, but James was still really getting worried, especially since Arkemoz had been stabbed and bitten just a while ago. He’d really made a mess of things, hadn’t he?

  He let out a defeated sigh, his shoulders sagging. Maybe Arkemoz just wanted some alone time and had assumed James would try to bother him here, so he’d just gone on a walk or something. James was probably just overthinking this. Arkie was fine. Of course he was.

  James had stopped his pacing, but he couldn’t move away from the door. He just kept staring at it, as if that would somehow make Arkemoz appear. And that possibility sounded just as terrifying as him not showing up at all.

  James shook his head, huffing. He was being ridiculous. Arkie was fine. Fine. He would check on him tomorrow. Surely he would be back by then. Or at the Aegis headquarters.

  James swallowed thickly. He wished he was selfish enough to just leave town this instant, but he couldn’t make himself do that. He knew that much. And even though the thought of waiting so long was making him incredibly anxious, he would just have to deal with that.

  In the meantime, he would walk around town aimlessly, though. Maybe he’d get lucky and run into Arkie that way.

  9

  Arkemoz groaned as he slowly became conscious again. His head hurt so much. What had happened? He couldn’t remember, and there was just fog in his mind. Even opening his eyes turned out to be a real struggle, especially since he had three pairs of them.

  Wait. Three pairs? Oh no. Oh no, no, no.

  His blood went cold as he forced them all open and saw his feet. Which were now black, prolonged, and armed with sharp claws. This was really, really bad.

  Trying to control his panic, Arkemoz looked up at his arms, which had been apparently chained up to the ceiling of what looked like a small, dank basement. The sight of the obsidian skin of his hands and clawed fingers almost made a gasp make its way past his lips. Lips which he no longer had. And there seemed to be something stuck in his mouth.

  Arkemoz growled, focusing on his anger instead, biting down at what he was now realizing was some kind of metal bar that dug into the corners of his mouth and prevented him from opening it. Those vampires were probably afraid he’d try to bite them now that he’d been forced into his true form.

  His eyes widened in realization. He remembered now. Remembered how stupid he’d been. But he’d had no idea this Circle, whoever they were, knew so much. How had they made him show his true visage? And...how come his clothes still fit him?

  He’d not even realized that until now, but he was still wearing the clothes he’d been captured in. Except for his shoes and socks, but he assumed the claws had ripped those apart. Was he the same size? Sure, he’d never been considered particularly tall in Hell, but he’d thought he was at least a little bigger than this.

  Arkemoz shook his head. This was no time to focus on something so inconsequential. He needed to try to escape somehow. The cuffs binding his wrists to the ceiling seemed strong, but he should still be able to rip the chains from the ceiling itself.

  Putting all his strength into it, Arkemoz pulled, making the chains rattle, only to stop a few seconds later. He felt exhausted from just this. Biting down on the offending piece of metal in his mouth, Arkemoz tried again with all the force he could muster. But after a few seconds of pulling on the chains, he sagged in them, breathing hard through his now snake-like nose. It seemed that the only thing he was achieving was making his wrists hurt.

  And then he finally noticed it. There were symbols etched into the cuffs. Just barely glowing, which was probably the only reason he could see them in the thick darkness. More angelic magic no doubt. That must have been why he was so weak. Arkemoz sighed. This was just getting better and better.

  The only thing Arkemoz could move was his tail, but he couldn’t reach any of the chains and cuffs. He glared down at the razor sharp tip of his now thicker, darker tail. Maybe he couldn’t use it to free himself, but he could stab anyone who dared step too close.

  Oh, and he might be able to get the metal out of his mouth. He could feel a chain looped around the back of his head. That must have been what was holding it in place. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to cut through metal, but he would try.

  He raised up the tail as far up as he could, dragging his coat up as it went, reaching blindly for the chain. He gingerly touched the back of his head with the tip of the tail, almost immediately coming in contact with the metal. Gritting his pointed teeth, he struck, but it did nothing. All it did was make his tail hurt.

  Before he could try again, he flinched when he heard a door somewhere in the darkness before him open, followed by footsteps. Arkemoz growled, showing off his teeth even before he saw who it was.

  “Took you a while to wake up,” the man said as he finally walked close enough for Arkemoz to see him. Of course it was the one who’d captured him. Arkemoz growled at him again.

  “I get now why you prefer that scrawny emo look. Anything is better than this, isn’t it?” the vampire continued, wrinkling his nose. Arkemoz glared at him fiercely with all six of his eyes, though he couldn’t ignore the slight twinge in his heart at that. And that just made him angrier.

  Who was this vampire to mock him, a demon? A being more powerful than him?

  Feeling rage build up inside of him, Arkemoz decided it was time to strike. He practically threw his tail at the vampire, aiming for his neck. If he could cut off his head, the vampire should die, and since he only had a tail to attack with, Arkemoz would take the chance.

  But before the tip could hit its target, the vampire’s hand shot up, catching the tail in an excruciatingly tight hold. Arkemoz whimpered, biting down on the metal bar and squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. Had it always been this painful having his tail squeezed? He didn’t think it had ever happened, but it really, really hurt.

  “Oh, don’t like that, do we?” the vampire mocked him. Arkemoz forced his eyes open, just to glare at him again. But he had no doubts that it came across as quite pathetic. “The angels are very interested in acquiring you. So they told us how to trap you, keep you contained, and….” He squeezed the tail even more, making Arkemoz cry out again. “What your weak spots are.”

  Finally, finally, the pressure let up. Now he was just simply holding the tail, not tightly enough to hurt, but enough to keep Arkemoz from snatching it back into relative safety.

  “But they didn’t specify in what condition we should bring you to them,” the vampire continued, producing a knife from his jacket. Arkemoz pulled on his chains weakly, desperate to get away. There was nowhere to go though. “Do you think they’d mind if I cut off your tail?”

  Arkemoz swallowed, glaring as fiercely as he could manage with how scared he was right now. Why did the angels want him? He’d heard tales about what they did with demons, and he had no interest in taking part.

  “Maybe just a bit, huh?” the vampire continued, putting the knife right under the flared out tip of the tai
l. Arkemoz tried to tug it away from him desperately, suppressing a whine as the vampire’s hold on it became tighter. “Or maybe I could help you get rid of those extra eyes. No one needs more than two.”

  Arkemoz froze, staring at the blade of the knife now pointed directly at his upper right eye. Could he heal an injury like that? Probably not. He wanted to move his head to the side, close his eyes, just anything. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. All he could do was watch as the knife got closer and closer.

  “The angels want him unharmed,” a sudden female voice said, which finally made the male vampire step away. He wasn’t letting go of Arkemoz’s tale, however. “You know that.”

  The male vampire sighed. “Yeah, but he didn’t.” He pointed the knife at Arkemoz as he said this, rolling his eyes. “You take the fun out of everything, Donna.”

  “If you want to torture someone, find a human.”

  The male vampire sighed dramatically. “Fine. Can I at least get his blood, then?”

  “We are both getting his blood,” the vampire, apparently called Donna, snapped. Arkemoz still couldn’t really see her with her staying in shadows, and the male vampire blocking most of his view. Of course they were also after his blood. How was he going to get out of here? He couldn’t risk being brought to angels. They would either keep him as a prisoner to torture forever, or just kill him. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

  “Sure, sure,” the male vampire muttered, letting go of Arkemoz’s tail after what felt like forever, and walking over to the corner on the demon’s left. Arkemoz quickly hid his tail behind himself as best he could, wincing at how the movement made dull pain shoot through it. The damned vampire must have bruised it.

  Before he could even flinch, he noticed that the male vampire had come back to him again and was pulling something over Arkemoz’s head. Some kind of fabric, through which he couldn’t see anything at all. Arkemoz tried to shake it off, but it was already being tightened around his neck.