by Jen Pretty
“Oh, god,” I said.
His mouth was at my throat, his lips and teeth nipping at the sensitive skin and doing crazy things to my insides.
He laid me down on my back, covering me with his towering frame. He was a few degrees cooler than I was, making me feel like I had a fever. His hands caressed my body as his mouth licked my neck.
“Bite me,” I said on a breathy voice.
I felt the sharp prick of his teeth, and then ecstasy flowed through my veins, relaxing every muscle in my body. I arched my back, and he licked my neck, closing the twin puncture there.
The night wore on as we got lost in each other.
“I love you,” he whispered as I rested in his arms beneath the blankets. The sun was rising out the window.
"I love you too, Vincent.” I figured if Durga killed me now, I would die happy. She could take her rules and fuck off. I could love this man and still fight her war. I could and I would. Durga pushed at me. I sat up, but she didn't want me to go anywhere, she had something but was asking to talk instead of forcing her way out. It was weird.
“What is it?”
“Durga has something to say.”
“OK,” he said, sitting up too.
Durga rose and the early morning sun shone red as my eyes shifted. Vincent's eyes changed from pink to purple, making him look even more beautiful than normal.
“I beg of you. Please do not hide her away. I will not interfere. That doesn’t work anyway, but please, I must do my work.”
“I would never stop her from doing what she wants. I have never stopped her from fighting the battles,” Vincent said. He reached out and touched my cheek.
“Let me keep her. That is all I ask.”
Durga slid back into her place inside me, leaving me free to do what I wanted. Vincent's eyes slid back to their usual vampire glow, but before they did, I memorized the exact shade of blue. They were brighter than Elliot’s sky-blue eyes.
I reached out and ran my fingers across his stubbled cheek. “What colour were your eyes before you became a vampire?”
“My brother tells me we all had light blue eyes. It was our mother's eyes.” He smiled, and my heart melted.
I wanted to tell him about Elliot, but it was way too soon to talk about kids. Could vampires even have kids? I bit my lip.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, sitting up on an elbow.
I slapped a smile on my face. “I can tell you later.” I leaned in to kiss him again, but he stopped me with a laugh.
“Tell me first.”
I bit my lip again and tried to decide if I should tell him or not.
“Please?”
“The witch in the tunnel showed me a vision,” I said hesitantly.
“What kind of vision?” he leaned back on the bed and tucked one hand behind his head. His chest was bare and the morning sun glinted off him, making him look like he was a God.
“There was a little boy.”
“Uhuh?”
I chewed on my fingernail and studied him for another moment. He lay there blinking at me. I knew he could stay like that for as long as I could. Damn vampire. Finally, I shook my head and just spit it out.
“He was our little boy. He looked just like you.”
He looked stunned. His eyes wide and staring at me as if I had just told him the river was on fire.
“Um, Lark,” he said cautiously. “Vampires can’t reproduce.”
I looked away from him and let the sunrise burn my eyes. I wanted to take back the last five minutes. When he hadn’t said that, I had hope. As tears stung my eyes, I pushed them back down and took a deep breath. Then I rose and started across the room towards the bathroom. A shower and some food and I would forget all about this conversation, go hunt down the bad guy and go home.
Maybe I could rebuild my yoga studio and get a cat. I could get a few cats. Vampires weren’t allergic to cats. I was too young to worry about children, anyway. This was foolish.
“Lark.” Vincent's arms wrapped around me and his body slid against mine until I buried my face in his chest and his arms held me together. He loaned me the strength I lacked as I fell apart.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered over and over as sobs shook me. Stupid crying. I needed to stop. I pushed him away and passed him, going into the bathroom and closing the door. I flicked on the light and the shower. The bathroom was beautiful with ceramic tile everywhere and tall brass taps. I stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess after the night Vincent, and I had. My eyes were red and swollen. Fuck. I needed to get it together. I didn't want to be this girl. I asked Durga to take it away like I had a hundred times in the desert, but she ignored my plea. Instead, I played back my memories of the sweet boy in my dreams. I was such a masochist. I told myself I could adopt a little boy if I wanted, just as soon as this business with Mahishasura was over.
Steeling my resolve, I had a shower and tamed my wild hair. I dried myself off and wrapped up in a thick bathrobe. I wandered out determined to find everyone and make a plan of attack. I wanted to kill the stupid buffalo.
That is how I would get through. I had the man I loved, what more could I possibly need?
I told the little voice in my head to shut up. It was fighting time.
CHAPTER SEVEN
In the dining room with the long wooden table, I found Nara and several of his vampires. Vincent was also there as were Trevor, Singh and the female vampire who had fought with me against the fallen vampires in the city, Peri.
She smiled and waved at me. “You look pretty again,” she said, and I laughed with her. I sat between her and Vincent and dug into some breakfast as soon as they set it in front of me. I was starving and needed to fuel up if I was going after the stupid buffalo.
Everyone was talking and discussing strategy and logistics about travelling. I looked over at Peri and winked. “Do you want to come fight a demon with me?” I asked her with a mouth full of flatbread thing with yummy spread stuff on it.
“Absolutely,” she said. I gave her a thumbs up and stuffed more food in my mouth. They were still discussing things like airports and rental vehicles.
I chewed quickly and took a sip of the mug of coffee sitting in front of me. “I’m driving. No way am I getting on a small plane. Forget it.”
Everyone stared at me like I was crazy and maybe I was.
“It will take days to get there by car,” Vincent tried to mansplain to me.
“I don’t care. Peri and I are gonna hit the road like Thelma and Louise.” Peri laughed. Nobody else did. At least someone thought I was funny.
“Has she been drinking?” Trevor asked.
“I have not been drinking. But it would take more than desert moonshine to get me in one of those tin cans. We can take turns, drive all night and get there in no time.”
Everyone still looked doubtful. I rose slowly to my full height which wasn’t much, but they were all still sitting. Durga helped by turning my eyes red, and I spoke slowly, so there was no mistake. “This is my show. I will do as I please!” I punctuated it by slamming my hand down on the table. Everyone jumped except Singh who curled his lips in that weird lion smile thing he did before he went back to licking his plate. I looked around the room, pausing at every pair of eyes for a moment to the soundtrack of Singh's rough tongue removing the glaze from the ceramic plate they had served him on.
A round of “Yes, Durags” later, I pulled my chair back in and used a napkin to sop up the coffee I had accidentally spilled in the name of dramatic effect. Shit. I glanced at Peri who bit her lip so she wouldn’t laugh and I gave her another wink. She might be the best friend I ever had. She liked killing vampires and getting bloody, and she wanted to drive across the country with me.
“Road trip,” I whispered. She grinned and did a tiny happy dance in her seat. Yup. She was mine.
That reminded me. “Where is Drew?” I asked Vincent.
“He is in America. Helping Vlad with the city while I’m gone.�
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I nodded, then chugged my coffee and went to find clothes.
“I would like to come with you,” Vincent said from behind me as I rifled through the closet of women's clothes in my size.
“You can fly if you would rather. I wouldn’t mind getting to know Peri better. She fought with me, you know. She’s funny and good with a blade.”
“Are you pushing me away?” he asked, his eyes avoiding my gaze.
I backed out of the closet.
“Are you insecure now? I didn’t know you had an insecure bone in your body,” I teased as I approached him. I kept walking until I pressed my body up against his. I slid my hands around his waist and wove my fingers together locking him in place.
His eyes landed on mine. “I wasn’t insecure until I met you. I’ve never made so many mistakes with someone in my life. It’s like I can’t see straight when I'm around you.”
He dipped his head and caught my lips with his. He relaxed wrapping his arms around me. I hummed in his mouth, and he lifted me off the floor. My legs wrapped around his waist before he turned around and pressed my back into the wall, trapping me against his body.
He broke away and took a few heavy breaths before he spoke again. “I don’t want to lose you again.” He rested his forehead against mine.
“You won’t,” I said.
He kissed my forehead before setting my feet on the floor and taking a deep breath.
“Ok, we will fly out in the morning and meet you two at the Aurangabad Airport. It's south of the caves, so we can meet up and go together. Promise you won't go in alone?”
“You know you can’t fight Mahishasura, right? Only Durga can.”
“I know, but I want to be there when you face him. If he has a lot of rogues around, I can help. I'll bring some of Nara's men. Plus, I have a score to settle, and I want to see it done.”
I patted his chest. “OK, we will see you there.”
I walked past him and grabbed clothes, changing quickly. I grabbed a few extra sets of clothes, just in case, and headed out to find my road trip buddy.
Vincent found us a nice rental. It was a new car, and I suspected he purchased it off the lot, but let him tell me it was a rental, anyway. He had a thing about cars. It was a nineteen-hour drive to Aurangabad from Jaisalmer, so we would arrive in the morning.
The nice lady who always fed us packed a basket of food and snacks. Peri had driven south before so knew all the best places to stop if we needed to. I was sure we would at least need to stop for a bathroom break because I drank another cup of coffee before we left the house.
“Farewell, Lark. I hope we meet someday again,” Nara said as I threw my extra clothes in the back seat of the car.
“I’m sure we will,” I said with a smile and hugged him. As he pulled away, he took my hand and kissed the big ruby ring he gave me. Vincent glared but didn't rip Nara's head off, so that was nice.
While I had my back turned, human Singh slid into the back seat of the car.
“You can’t take the plane?” I asked.
“Nope, I’m coming with you. I will stay a people, so I don’t scare truck drivers.”
“You will stay a people?” I asked.
He nodded, and I laughed at the ridiculous lion. I gave him two hours before he was itching to shift.
Vincent grabbed me up and kissed me hard. I laughed as he set my feet back on the ground. Then I got in the passenger seat. Peri had called first dibs on driving the new car. I let her, hoping she might dent it and teach Vincent a lesson about the value of old cars.
The car ran silently and slipped through the city like a ghost. I fiddled with the radio station until we were on the highway and I gave up on finding an English channel. The car radio had satellite, but I couldn't figure out how to switch it over, so I turned it off.
“Thank god,” Singh said from the back seat.
“So, what do you do for fun, Peri?”
She smiled at me. “Hunt vampires and watch movies, mostly.”
“Have you ever done yoga?” I asked.
“I have. I lived with a yogi in Tibet for a decade.”
“Yes! I knew it. We need to do yoga together. I had a studio, but it got blown up,” I said.
“You aren’t very old to have had so much stuff happen to you.”
I laughed. “How old are you?”
“I’m 462.”
“Holy crap,” I replied.
Singh huffed in the backseat, and I turned around to find he was a lion. Already. “You didn’t even make it an hour in human form? What happened to ‘I’ll stay a people?’ You will scare truck drivers.”
He set his head back down on the seat and closed his eyes.
Peri was laughing from the driver's seat which made me laugh too. God, life was weird.
When our laughter died, I continued my questions.
“So how did you end up living here?” I asked as she switched lanes and passed a truck full of goats.
“I was travelling the world and fell in love with India. I’ve been here a long time. The magic is kind of gone, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go.” She glanced at me before looking back to the road. “When we kill this demon, I’d like to talk to Vincent about moving back to the US.”
“That would be awesome. He can always use good fighters. I want to travel for fun, someday — not because some monster is killing people.”
“I can understand that. I like fighting though, so I’m glad you are here. It’s been boring the last hundred years.”
“Glad to be of service,” I said with a laugh.
We settled into a comfortable silence for a while. I watched the country go by out the window. It was mostly sand and scrub brush with the occasional wispy tree.
We switched at the first rest stop, and I took over the driving. It was awkward to drive on the wrong side of the road, but soon the desert gave way to more grass and shrubs. There were busses and cargo vans along with dirt bikes all vying for road space. People walked along the highway with goats. There were small tractors and the occasional cow roaming lose. I imagined hitting one would do some serious damage, but people here drove fast, and I loved it. The road was new and smooth. Between the other drivers' speed and the open land, it didn't feel like I was going one hundred and thirty.
I slowed as we approached a small town. People and cows roamed the crowded streets. Motorbikes lined up in front of square buildings and goats running around. The center of the road had a cement partition in places or just a fence. I wasn't sure if it was to discourage cow crossing or pedestrian, but both were in ample supply. I coasted through and was nearly to the other side when Durga made herself known. She had been quiet since I came back from near dead or whatever I was. I slammed on the brakes and skidded to a halt on the narrow shoulder. Cars honked behind me and tires screamed on the hot pavement, but I had already unbuckled my seatbelt and thrown my door open.
“Yes!” Peri cried as she jumped out of her seat and skidded around the car to follow me.
She reached in and grabbed the keys, locking the car as I moved silently towards an old shed. It was rundown, and the door was half hanging off. Durga didn’t push me to run, but she wanted me to go in the shed; it was curiosity.
As I approached, I realized someone chained the shed door closed. Wrapped through holes drilled in the steel door and padlocked was a thick chain. Rust ran across the lock as if no one had opened it in a while. I reached out hesitantly to touch the lock, but Durga lost patience and made me grab it and pull. Apparently, we were The Hulk now because the chain broke and the door swung open.
“Oh shit,” I said taking a step backwards. There, in the dark, sat a vampire. He was gaunt like the ones in Nara’s dungeon, but he also had his fangs removed. His mouth had two gaping black holes. Someone had chained him by the neck to the back wall, and it was the only thing holding him upright.
“That’s disgusting,” Peri said as she unsheathed her blade.
“Wait,” I said. Durg
a rose and looked at the vampire. He was pathetic, and Durga felt sympathy for him. Not hatred or disdain like she had for the fallen rogue vampires in Jaisalmer.
The vampire's eyes remained locked on me with a plea for help. I think he would have begged if he had been able to move.
I stepped into the darkened shed and squatted down in front of the man. He didn’t snap his teeth or try to bite me. He wasn’t even fallen. He had been in here god knew how long and kept his sanity and humanity? I reached out and pulled the chain around his neck, breaking the heavy links. He hit the ground with a thud, and the chain rattled and clanked against the steel wall.
Durga reached out to touch the man's face. His sunken cheek was cold under my fingertips. I wanted to ask him his name, but I knew he couldn’t speak. I could see now that his clothes were bloodstained and torn as though someone had beaten him. Durga warmed my fingertips. “I’m sorry, this will help.”
As my hand grew hotter and hotter, the man's eyes grew wide, and his mouth opened slightly wider in a silent scream. A single bloody tear sprung to his eye, it was thick like sour milk. I watched it ran slowly down his face as the pain of the fire burned away the damage that someone had done to him. He gasped a breath and closed his mouth. His hand rose to cover mine on his cheek, and he tipped his head into my palm. He blinked away the last of his tear and sighed.
“Thank you, Goddess.” His voice scratched like an old record.
“Who has done this to you?”
“It was the demon.” The voice sounded familiar now, but I couldn’t place it. It was someone I knew.
“I will slay him.”
“Of course, you will.” The vampire's lips curled up into a terrifying smile, and I finally recognized him as Ninel. Little of his appearance remained. If not for the curve of his smile, I would not have figured it out.
“Where is Vilen?” she asked
“He remained behind, Goddess, to continue your work in Moscow.”
“Very well. You need a good meal and rest before you are fit. Come, I will find you a willing sacrifice unless you rather end your journey in this world. I have learned it is not wise to force those who do not wish to continue to do so.”
