by Sarah Black
A scream rips from my throat as he sinks his fangs into the flesh at my neck. My fists beat upon him as the door flies open and sunlight pierces the dark corners. But just as soon as it began, his venom slips into my blood, numbing me. But it doesn’t alter me, not like another vampire I know. Lazarus’s moan fills the air just as Valentino stands over him with a stake.
A fucking stake.
I hold my hand up, warding him off as all around me the church explodes with a fight. “Let him drink.” A sigh escapes my lips as I push my own venom into my blood.
Just a thought.
But a deadly one.
I feel it the moment it hits him. He staggers back, his eyes full of horror. I push him off of me, watching him crumble to the ground. “You forgot the hiss of pain my blood caused you earlier, Lazarus.” I shove him down, drawing the knife out of my pocket, bringing the tip to his neck.
“What are you?” His voice is hoarse as he stares at me.
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for the last week. My powers are sharpening each day, honing into something dark that I never could have imagined.
“You should have thought about that before you bit me, Lazarus.” My venom won’t kill him, it will only paralyze a vampire like him. My blood spills her secrets with each drop I leak. I tighten the grip on my knife. “Did you kill my parents?”
His body begins to convulse, and pink foam bubbles from his lips. I tap his chin to make him look at me, my knife slipping just a hair into his throat. Oops, may have dosed him with a bit too much.
“Tell me.”
He spits at me, and I let the saliva and blood mixture drip down my face.
“Did you kill them?”
His laugh spills more foam. “You think this ends with them?” Blood bubbles from his mouth to drip on my hand. “It begins with them.” His laughter taunts me, his eyes straying to Aja. “Ask the shifter’s mother,” he snarls.
“Finish this, Penny, he didn’t kill them,” Valentino yells at me, as he rips the throats out of everyone who dares get too close to me.
He’s right. Yet I pause. Lazarus’s words will stay will me for a long fucking time. I want to torture him, but with each glance up, I realize that more and more enter the fray. The church now crumbles around us and not one of these fanged assholes untied Aja.
My knife digs into Lazarus just a bit more. His eyes wide as he stares at me, knowing he cannot prevent what’s about to happen to him. I lock onto them, making myself watch as he dies. “Now you’re beyond the jurisdiction of earthly courts. God won’t have mercy on your tainted soul.” I jerk my arm, shoving the knife into his neck, decapitating the base of his spine.
I watch as the light fades from his eyes.
30
There isn’t time to think. There isn’t time to dwell. My hands dip into Lazarus’s pocket, grabbing the pill to stuff it into my own. I only have the time to scuttle across the chipped floor toward Aja as, all around me, vampires cut into each other. Their battle harsh and a sobering reminder that these creatures are no longer human.
I’m not human.
Later, when I can in my own bed, which I’ll have to wrangle back from Valentino, I’ll playback this moment. Allow it to slow and filter through so that I may dissect the macabre dance of blood splatter and gore.
My palm slides in blood as I crash into Aja, her hands trying and failing to work at the lock. I grip the little pin and set to work.
“Are you okay?” It’s a ridiculous question, because she isn’t okay. But words fail me and conversation feels out of place.
Yet her chuckle warms me even as blood sprays overhead. “You know, I could go for a drink.”
“A drink and some doughnuts.”
Her body attempts to twist to look at me, her hands slipping from my wet grasp. “Federal?”
I grab her wrist again, forcing her to turn back around. “There is no other doughnut in my opinion.”
“Shit, you are too kind.” The lock breaks free. “You’re going to want to back up.”
Valentino already has me by the arms, dragging me away. I watch as Aja’s clothing shreds to pieces, her body morphing into a big cat. One moment she’s Aja, and the next a predatory creature with a human mind. Her body shakes as her mouth opens with a roar, saliva dripping from her sharp teeth. Jerking her head to the side, she tears into the nearest vampire, her teeth shredding through his body without hesitation or remorse.
“Come.” Valentino drags me back behind the old altar where rooms lurk in darkness.
“Did you find out anything useful?”
“Yes.” He glances over at me, his eyes glowing green in the darkness. “Never piss you off.”
I don’t blame him for that one. “Where are we going?”
“Getting you to safety.”
He pushes us out back into an old, stone graveyard. Tombstones dot the overgrown grass, some knocked over while others stand tall or crooked. A lone angel with broken wings weeps as she gazes to the east.
“You could never leave well enough alone, old friend.” From behind the statue, the vampire Mark steps out with the pizza delivery guy from last week. The robe is now replaced with a black suit, and his hair is slicked back much like Lazarus wore his. Pizza boy still has his pimply freckles, wearing board shorts and a pink tee. Which doesn’t at all match his complexion. I don’t even try to dismiss that odd thought, because it’s anchoring me to reality.
“What the hell?” My curse draws their eyes, soulless and dead. A look I’m quickly associating with Cain vampires.
“Like I said, you always need your hands in every pot, including a honeypot.” Mark’s eyes slide to mine, lecherous while his toothy smile has my body shivering in foreboding.
“Penny, let me introduce you to the head of House Cain, Malcolm.” Valentino doesn’t sound happy about the introduction, his face pinching in distaste as he grinds his teeth.
“Wait.” I point at him, shock thrumming through me. “You?”
“See, little witch, us old men can hide our powers, transfer our signatures. Confuse our prey. You just assumed I wasn’t a threat while in my robe.” He shrugs as though this whole conversation is a waste of time.
It is a waste of time. “I’m done. I want to sleep and drink for days.”
“But don’t you want to know why I’m here, Penny?” he teases, his brown eyes dancing with mirth.
“No, I don’t.”
He actually pouts, his playful demeanor more disturbing that fun. “But I thought you wanted to know who killed your parents.”
My heart stops. Valentino’s grip on my hand tightens. “Tell me.”
He tsks at me, his tongue like a snake. “Tell me what you’re willing to pay.”
“Nothing he says can be trusted, Penny. Nothing.” Valentino doesn’t once look at me, his eyes never straying from the true threat here.
Finally, I stare at the face of possible answers. A face of cold cruelty.
“Why did you attack me?”
“Because you are an abomination that must die.” He spreads his hands open, his voice that of a politician.
Though I know now who was behind our attacks. I shake my head, there was never a rogue vampire. Just House Cain orchestrating everything. “You killed my parents.”
“They were never yours.” It’s not an answer. But it isn’t a denial either.
Years of mourning catch up with me in that moment, condensing my will into hard stone. My emotions the pressure that turns coal into a diamonds.
I’m no longer grieving their loss. I have no more tears to shed. Not as I stand and look into the eyes of their killer.
“There’s so much you don’t know,” he taunts. “Come with me, find out the truth.”
“Then what? You drain me?” I shake my head, stepping back into Valentino.
Malcolm tracks that little step, his eyes tightening at the corners. His nostrils flare and his lip sneers. “Come with me or I’ll tell the council of your existe
nce.”
Unfazed, I shake my head once more. “They will eventually find out about me. I live on borrowed time anyway.”
“Then I’ll take your sister.” His smug face twitches.
He can try, Poppy counters, spying on me from somewhere. I’m glad she never gave me her location.
Not that he or anyone else could torture it out of me. With that, I step away from the shelter Valentino offers to advance on Malcolm. “Do you even know what I am, Malcolm?”
The pizza guy, not pizza guy, steps back, his face torn between loyalty to his boss and loyalty to his survival.
“I told you, an abomination.”
“Or perhaps I’m the balance.” I step closer, my short frame shadowed by his taller one. But right now, with my chin tilted and a dash of arrogance streaming through me, I face him.
The one who killed my parents.
“You will die.”
“Will I? Why not just kill us at birth?” I tilt my head to the side, a smile gracing my lips. “You can’t, can you? You have orders, don’t you? You’re nothing more than another pawn for someone bigger than you. Someone with sharper teeth.”
“Time will tell, Penny, and once all these creatures figure out what you really are, they will kill you, they will kill your sister. Your family isn’t even who they say they are,” he sneers, before continuing, “Come with me and I’ll protect you.”
I laugh. “Did you think your villain speech would truly work?” I push him back, breaking through his power barrier and latching onto his being, to the curse that makes him a vampire. I can undo him, right here. Right now. But that won’t help me in any way. “I don’t need you to tell me what happened, I can take it from you. I can take it from him. I can take it from anyone involved, and trust me when I say that you will all die a slow death. So, run along now, because I don’t need you or Valentino to protect me.”
“You should watch your back, widow.”
I smile, accepting his taunt of the nickname that falls from his lips. “Run,” I whisper at him.
I grit my teeth as he backs away with his creepy little friend, whose purpose I have yet to figure out. They disappear between trees and hedges. Out of sight.
“Why did you allow him to leave?” I glance over at Valentino, his eyes set to the last place Malcolm stood. His body is tense and he holds himself very still.
“Because in my sister’s attacker’s memories, he never saw who he was working for, only Lazarus. He doesn’t know. None of them do.” I rub a hand down my face, my body aching and my head throbbing. I glance back to the door. “Look, Valentino, I appreciate all you’ve done for me, but I need to talk to Aja.”
“You need to know her family’s involvement.”
“Yes.”
“It could ruin your friendship if you accuse her.”
“I know.” I squint up at him, the sun unforgiving. “Why do you suddenly care?”
“Friendship is rare.” He glances down at me with an odd expression on his face. “Here.” He digs through his pocket, pulling out the keys to the warehouse. “It’s safe there.”
One moment he’s there, and the next he’s gone. No goodbye, nothing. Behind me, the fighting dies down as humans flood the area. Joe’s backup. Too late. I get the feeling humans will always be one step behind the game supernaturals play.
“Hey,” Aja calls to me from behind a tree, her body wrapped in an old shirt.
“Hey.” I swallow, knowing I need to do this, I need to confront her. I have to know the truth.
“You’re okay.”
“I’m okay.” I wave a hand at her. “You look okay too.” Words strain and fall flat between us where a chasm grows, where once nothing existed. Where once we were the next best thing to sisters, friends. I debate for all of five seconds if asking her is what I really want to do. But if I don’t, I’ll never know and that will eat at me.
I also don’t want to take that answer away from her, and I know I could if I chose to.
“So, want to get those doughnuts?” She can’t even look me in my eyes, and that…that breaks my heart a little.
“Aja, I need to know—”
“Don’t ask me that question. I can’t choose.” Tears flood her eyes and my stomach drops.
“My mother worked for yours.”
“Dammit, Penny. I didn’t know. I didn’t know until recently.” She wipes the tears away with angry swipes. “I couldn’t tell you, but I could make sure you found out even if it cost us.”
“This whole time I lived there, called you family, and this whole thing was a setup.” I want to be surprised, but I allow myself to feel nothing as numbness washes over me. Out here amongst the tombstones, I realize the dead have more loyalty to each other than I’ve ever had thus far.
“All I know is that they were friends, best friends.”
“Was she human?”
More tears spill from her eyes, each droplet a wasted emotion. “Witch.” Her hoarse voice tears through me. “That’s all I know.”
“What about House Cain, did you know your mother was working with them?” I test Lazarus’s words, hoping they are nothing more than a lie.
She huffs out a breath, her eyes scanning the church behind me. “I know she was up to something.”
“The minimart? You didn’t stop there, did you?”
“She did.” Her chin warbles and tears flow from her eyes, but numbness washes over me. “I was in the car when she went it. I didn’t think she was really working with them. My confirmation came when we walked in there.”
Surprisingly, I believe her. “I just need some time.”
Betrayal. It stings like a bitch.
“Okay then, then we get those doughnuts?”
I can see the hope in her eyes, but I don’t know if this is a fissure we can zip up. No matter how much I damn well want to. “The lemon ones are my favorite.”
Her jaw quivers as she nods, backing away before turning into a panther once more. Her cry scatters birds and silences crickets. They mock the hole in my heart as she lopes away.
“Don’t shoot!” Joe yells, pulling my attention from the tree line. Behind me, Joe walks out with his gun drawn as men in swat type gear spill from the back of the church. “That’s my kid.” His brown eyes meet mine. My heart throbbing with the feeling of home. “That’s my kid.” He holsters his gun, pushing past the men to engulf me in his arms.
“Your kid, huh?” But I wouldn’t deny it. I’d never deny it. Not when I know now that he’s all we ever had. “Okay, daddy-o”
“Don’t say that, peanut, never say that again.” His arms tighten around me as his breathing shutters. His body vibrates with what I assume is worry.
“Okay.” I cling to him, my anchor, as I burrow my face in his jacket, inhaling his soap.
“You’re alright?” He pulls back, staring at me while my fist clenches the key, the metal digging into my flesh.
“I’m—” I shake my head. “Can we get some pie?”
“There’s always room for pie.”
“Good, I know a place.”
Epilogue
Outside, the whirl of the air conditioner kicks on, blowing hot air through the vents of the worn down diner. Outdated and leaking freon, it serves more as a heater than an A/C unit.
“You haven’t touched your pie.” Joseph points his fork at the young woman sitting across from him. Her blue eyes are lost and somber. Her heart broken again and again by those she loved and trusted.
Even me, Joseph muses. Even me. She just doesn’t know it yet.
There are things we do in this world, decisions we make that cause a ripple that may span decades. A butterfly effect that may destroy lives.
It wasn’t his intention. But good intentions are not fuel for action. They are nothing more than well-meaning thoughts in a moment of weakness.
A choice between two evils.
Earlier, he told his team she was his daughter, and the fact remains that his heart loves her as such. Prior to
that, his demand to Valentino that she learn her ability at all costs ate at him, until he saw her unscathed. She must survive no matter what.
But will she forgive me?
“You’re right.” She picks at the crumb topping, mixing it with the cherry filling before taking the smallest of bites. “I’m just…I don’t know what to do.”
Musing over a bite of caramel apple pie, he gazes at the one he calls daughter. He’d never tell her what to do, that isn’t his style. Instead, he will guide and hope that one day he’ll live up to the name of father. “One day, not tomorrow and not next week, but years from now, you will look back on this moment and wonder if there is anything that you could have changed. Could have done differently. You will see your power for the gift that it is.” He pauses, glancing at his hands, hands that have made many choices in his thirty-eight years on this earth, each new wrinkle representing a regret. “Every decision you make, ask yourself if you can live with that choice. Or will you look back and regret that moment for the rest of your life.”
Her beautiful face gazes at him with adoration that he doesn’t feel he deserves. But each time she looks at him like that, it’s a gift he cherishes. “I want to know the truth.”
“And if you find it isn’t something you can live with?”
“Isn’t knowing better than not knowing?”
“Not always, peanut, not always.”
She goes back to picking at her pie, her face now thoughtful. “I’m going to avenge the memory they gave me no matter who they were.” Her adoptive parents. Her blue gaze spears him to his core, the determined set of her jaw holding the promise of her truth. “Then I’m going to pave my way through this world, creating a place for Poppy and me.”
He holds back a smile as her teeth clack on her fork and she chews her pie like the bulldog she is. At least she isn’t lovesick over that damn vampire. Joseph will have to bargain with the leech to release her from their bond.
The burner phone in his pocket vibrates, the pie in his stomach turning to lead. That damn phone has been inactive for years. Why now?
With shaking hands, he reaches into his pocket, pulling out the old flip phone.