Alec heard Devin’s suggestion and exclaimed, “It’s about time!” He tossed his pool cue on the table, downed his drink, and walked over to the area where the weapons were hung on the wall. After grabbing a couple fighting sticks, he tossed one to Devin as he entered the area and said, “Let’s play.”
Chapter 12:
Techno Syndrome
With the sensual dancing causing intimate thoughts to form in Nikki’s mind, she was grateful for the planned change in activities. Since the Vampires were going to battle, she quickly found a new spying location above the fighting area. While getting into position, Devin came flying up over the rail. His sudden and unexpected appearance caused Nikki to screech, fall on her backside, and let out a cloud of Pixie dust like an octopus squirting ink.
Seeing her reaction, Devin snickered and said apologetically, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just rarely take the stairs when you aren’t here.”
While restarting her heart, Nikki asked, “Just warn me before you do that again. By the way, why did you come up here and scare the living daylights out of me?”
“I just wanted to warn you before you see what’s to come.”
Nikki righted herself and breathed slowly to calm her racing pulse. She then asked, “What’s coming? You’re just going to fight, right?”
“Yes, but I wanted you to know that as we battle we’ll all physically change. Both our features and actions will transform to match the animals inside us.”
Nikki asked in reply, “Would it be okay if I take some pictures? Not to show the world. I want to add them to my book to document the truth about your kind.”
Devin was grateful that Nikki seemed more curious than fearful, so he thought about her request for a moment. He then replied, “Yes you can take pictures, but the scene may not be pretty to your eyes. Just stay back and alert. We know that you’re up here, so we’ll all watch for signs that anyone in our group is losing control and putting you in danger. Any time you feel threatened even a little, I want you to promise that you’ll lock yourself in the bathroom and call Cassandra. Okay?”
After Nikki agreed to the terms, Devin jumped back over the rail in one graceful leap, returning instantly to his guests and his waiting battle partner.
Once everyone gathered where the battle was to take place, Alec said to Devin with a menacing sparkle in his eyes, “Get ready. It’s time for a little Mortal Kombat.” He banged his weapon on the floor, making the sound echo off the walls, and added, “For tonight, call me Kano.”
Devin twirled the weapon in his hand and replied, “Then call me Sub-Zero.”
Jett roared in delight and, once he quickly took his place on the sidelines, he shouted, “I claim the character Johnny Cage.”
The two main combatants then kicked off their shoes, pulled off their shirts, and began to circle each other with weapons in hand. Nikki’s eyes were momentarily locked on the sculpted lines of their bare, toned chests. Without realizing it, she let out a Pixie purr. When she noticed what she was doing, she quickly covered her mouth. She had hoped that those downstairs didn’t hear her, but their chuckles told her otherwise. With her cheeks pink, she whispered to herself, “Those damn Vampire ears.”
As the Vampires focused back on the battle, Nikki’s hair began to stand on end with the power that filled the room and she watched intently as their inner animals came forward. While they bared their fangs, their eyes became focused, menacing, and flashed as they reflected the dim light in the room. At the same time, the contour of their muscles grew more pronounced and their movements more predatory.
When the transformation seemed to be complete, Jett yelled, “Mortal Kombat!” With another loud crack of his weapon on the floor, the battle began.
Both Devin and Alec let out a roar as they attacked each other. Nikki jumped when the first strike was made and she soon understood why they were masters of the night. They held nothing back and Nikki cringed at the force of their blows. Although completely frightening, she also thought it was breathtaking. It wasn’t chaotic as she expected. Instead it was almost like a dance with every movement calculated and planned as they studied and adjusted to their adversary’s every subtle muscle twitch.
As the battle continued, Nikki discretely took pictures to capture the action. She knew that the Vampires were very aware that she was watching them because, even as she moved to better positions, they kept glancing at her exact location in the shadows. While Jett supplemented the fight by making video game sounds with every move and strike, Alec kept glancing over at Nikki with an expression filled with fascination. Devin, on the other hand, glared at her with expressions of longing and frustration.
As they exchanged fighting partners, Nikki gave up trying to hide and leaned directly against the rail. Some battled with weapons in hand while others used only their natural gifts. The women, although not as physically strong as the men, made up for their gaps with flexibility and creativity. Nikki found herself letting out cheers for them, which they nodded back to her in appreciation.
Although Jett joined in, it was obvious that fighting wasn’t his forte. His innocent boy next door appearance made him look more like a member of a boy band than a warrior. Nikki guessed that his weapons of a baby-face and bright eyes caused young woman to flock to him naturally—no hunting required.
In stark contrast to Jett was Wolfe. When he let his inner hunter forward, his features contorted to the point that he looked more animal than Human. When Nikki saw his yellow reflective eyes, she instinctively backed away. His movements were a perfect match to his hunting techniques, which reminded her of a wild animal stalking his prey. When he attacked, the room echoed with his snarls and his skills were so honed that he fought several Vampires at one time.
When his fellow combatants took a moment to catch their breath, Wolfe glanced up to the loft. His stare made Nikki catch her breath and she moved even further back into the shadows. When he crouched low as if to spring, she clutched onto her cell phone and prepared to race away and lock herself in the bathroom. Just before she initiated a hasty retreat, the entire group of Vampires attacked Wolfe, forcing him to reengage in their battle. They had sensed the danger and didn’t let up until Wolfe’s need to fight was sated and the danger passed. Once he left the combat area, Devin took him over to the bar and fixed him a very stiff version of a Bloody Mary. He knew the Nikki ache all too well and, as they toasted each other, he hoped that the drinks would help ease Wolfe’s pain, as well as the other physical urges that were building inside himself whenever Nikki appeared in his mind.
Although Nikki had seen everyone’s techniques, she hadn’t yet seen Blade with a sword in his hand. That omission ended once everyone was sweaty from the workout and Kara announced, “Your turn Blade.”
Blade took his place in the field of battle and corrected her, “Call me Scorpion.”
Kara looked at those around her and asked, “Who wants to be the one stung tonight?”
Nikki didn’t know what she meant by her question but, when Alec stepped forward, she moved closer to the rail to investigate. He gave Nikki a nod, grabbed a sword, and took his place opposite from Blade. She guessed that Alec was going to try and impress her again. As the battle pair began to circle each other and Nikki saw that Blade was still unarmed, she and Cupcake gasped. Blade heard their sounds of concern and gave them both a wink. He then glared at his adversary and motioned him to attack.
Nikki and Cupcake both put their fears to rest as they watched Blade battle. Based on previous fights that she had witnessed, she already knew that Alec was an exceptional fighter, but Blade made him look like a child. He moved with such speed that Nikki had a hard time tracking him and he managed to easily avoid every one of Alec’s strikes. She was also shocked by the lack of sound Blade made when he fought. If she had closed her eyes, she wouldn’t even had known he was there.
When Blade decided to change things up, Alec instantly found himself unarmed with his sword in Blade’
s hand. Devin then jumped in. Although someone tossed him a matching sword, it was useless. Devin tried to defend himself from his opponent’s strikes, but was soon unarmed and flat on his back.
*~*~*~*
Nikki quickly snapped a photo and sent it to Cassandra with the text, “Boy, can Blade ‘dance’.”
Cassandra replied, “There’s a reason that he’s the most feared Vampire I know.”
*~*~*~*
After several more tries, yielding the same results, Blade pointed the tip of his sword at Devin’s chest and said, “You’re not in your normal form tonight. Let’s call this battle over.”
While panting with exhaustion, Devin spread his arms and said, “I surrender.” After Blade helped his friend back onto his feet, Devin caught Nikki staring down at him intently and her expression of concern touched him. He tossed Blade a second sword and said, “Show all of us what you’ve got, Scorpion.”
Nikki knew that Devin had made the request to Blade for her benefit. Now she was going to see the full potential of his skills without fearing someone was going to be killed.
While Blade made his first strike, Devin walked to the sidelines and collapsed to the floor, trying to recover from the growing fatigue that he guessed was coming from Nikki.
As Blade fought with an invisible adversary, he showed off his talents with a wide variety of swords and knives. Nikki was awe struck and her wings flittered excitedly, watching him fluidly move with grace and precision. She observed that his preferred weapon seemed to be two identical swords that were exceptionally long, thin, and slightly curved with beautiful wrapped leather hilts. They were ones that she’d admired when she had explored the fighting area the first morning in the apartment. She recalled that these particular swords had signs of obvious wear and tear and wondered how many times they had seen real battle. Her wings drooped when her thoughts led to images of his skills being used against her people. Until now, she never questioned why Pixie’s wanted all Vampires dead. After all, they were lethal killers and her people would never stand a chance against such gifted fighters. It would be like leading lambs to slaughter. But when she looked at Devin and Blade, she now saw them as friends. She suddenly felt like she was betraying her people by watching in awe the Vampire prowess that most likely was used to attack and kill her kind.
Nikki wasn’t the only one that had admired Blade’s moves. When he finally put his weapons away, Cupcake jumped down and into her favorite Vampire’s arms. She no longer feared for her own safety if Blade was there to protect her.
Putting her thoughts to the side, Nikki snapped another picture and sent a text to Cassandra that said, “I think the fearless Vampire has been vanquished.” The picture she attached was of Blade cradling Cupcake in his arms. To the cat’s delight, he was scratching her upturned belly affectionately.
Jett picked up Blade’s swords. Instead of putting them away, he stayed out on the floor and tried to imitate Blade’s moves. His overly exaggerated moves and silly sound effects made Nikki laugh out loud, causing a cloud of Pixie dust to fill the air. While Jett hooted, Skye and Kara felt a warm, tingling sensation as they danced under the sparkling snow. The others breathed in the scent and tensed with interest. To Devin’s relief, Wolfe was still across the apartment sitting at the bar and not impacted by the dust.
Nikki instantly cowered, waiting for Vampires to come flying over the rail. But when they started to laugh at the effect, Nikki decided she had tested fate enough and decided to call it a night. After putting on her favorite Hello Kitty pajamas to calm her nerves, she started the fireplace and crawled into her bed. The moment her head hit the pillow she realized just how tired she was and her eyes started to flicker shut. She sent Cassandra one last picture. It was a selfie of herself under the covers with the caption, “I’ve had enough excitement for the day. I’m going to sleep.” She sent a similar text to Devin.
After Devin read the message, he sighed in relief. Her growing fatigue was beginning to feel like heavy weights on his shoulders. He read an additional message from her that said, “Thanks for letting me get a glimpse of your world.” Knowing what his race did to her people, he was shocked by her genuine openness to learning about his kind. He was now driven more than ever to show her that a Vampire can be something other than a killer and her mortal enemy.
Cupcake had seen the glow from the flames in the fireplace and, moments later, jumped onto Nikki’s chest. While listening to the muffled voices from below and Cupcake’s purring, Nikki closed her eyes and quickly fell into another night of restless sleep.
Chapter 13:
Animals
Several hours later on the main floor of Devin’s apartment, Alec was staring down into his glass of scotch and asked his pool partner Blade, “Where does Devin stash the real drinks?”
Blade knew what Alec was interested in and said, “It’s in the silver refrigerator in the kitchen.”
Alec tossed his pool cue to Wolfe and said, “Practice for a few minutes. You need it. I’ll be right back.” He walked to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle from the refrigerator. Being a nomadic Vampire, he rarely drank blood other than directly from a vein and avoided synthetic blood whenever possible. Since he saw no other options, he downed a swallow and instantly grimaced at the taste. While staring at the offending liquid, he whispered to himself, “This stuff is nasty and absolutely lifeless.”
He set the bottle on the counter and, as he moved to return to the other Vampires, his exceptional hearing allowed him to catch a cooing sound coming from the loft. Knowing who it was coming from and that her Pixie blood was flowing warm and inviting, his inner animal took notice. Although Alec had been warned to not go near Nikki, the draw of her blood was too great. He tried to convince himself that, if he could take just a little quickly and influence her mind, his actions would remain unnoticed by everyone—including Nikki.
In an instant, his decision was made and he glanced across the apartment at his fellow Vampires. He found everyone occupied in some kind of activity. Even Nikki’s cat had joined the party and was sitting on top of Blade’s head, watching him play pool with Wolfe. Alec took advantage of their distractions and, like a ghost, silently slid up the stairs. He stood at the end of Nikki’s makeshift bed and, to his delight, found her lying on her back with her neck exposed. He let his keen senses take over his every thought and action. Seconds later all sounds within the apartment faded away and were replaced by Nikki’s accelerated, but steady, pulse. He bared his fangs as he watched a vein in her neck pulse with each heartbeat.
Like a mist rolling in, he silently crawled on top of his prey and hovered above her. He was momentarily mesmerized by the sounds that she made and the shimmer on her skin caused by light reflecting off the flames from the fireplace. Both tickled awake every one of his senses. While completely focused on his prey, he pressed his body down on top of her and quickly placed his hand over her mouth.
Nikki woke with a start. Seeing the reflective eyes of a Vampire staring down at her, she began to struggle. As she continued to fight him, he held firm and whispered into her ear, “Don’t fight me and I’ll make this quick.” Knowing that his window of opportunity was extremely limited, he didn’t waste any time and sunk his fangs into her sweet smelling skin.
While Alec futilely attempted to influence her mind, Nikki was forced to focus all of her internal energy to hit her attacker with her balls of electric sparkle. But, to her complete dismay, her hands wouldn’t respond to her command. Instead of being able to shock him, her body offered only a strong tingling.
Downstairs Devin was once again with Skye in his arms, trying desperately to push the limits of the ‘no intimacy’ part of the curse. Suddenly he jumped away from Skye who was busy nibbling on him. While he rubbed a sore spot on his neck, he asked in irritation, “You’re getting a little rough, aren’t you?”
She gave him a confused expression and asked, “What do you mean? I haven’t even broken skin...yet.” She flashed her fangs playful
ly at him.
As the pain intensified, he replied, “Then why does my neck hurt like hell?”
Hearing Devin’s words, Blade quickly scanned the crowd and, noticing their missed comrade, he yelled, “Alec!” Blade tossed Cupcake up into the rafters and then, in a flash, disappeared.
Everyone’s attention shot up to the loft as they heard a cat’s hiss followed by a loud roar. Devin’s muscles instantly tensed and he sprang. Using one of the loft support poles, he swung himself up and over the railing. By the time his feet hit the floor, Blade already had Alec pinned to the floor with a very angry cat attached to Alec’s face. With the attacker subdued, Devin raced to Nikki’s side and pulled her protectively into his arms.
While almost cutting off Alec’s air supply, Blade looked to Cupcake and said, “You can let the piece of shit go now. I have him covered.”
Cupcake released her captive, but not before she made sure that her claws raked across Alec’s neck. Blade quickly replaced Cupcake’s claws with the edge of a brand new, shiny, and lethally sharp knife.
Seconds later, the rest of the Vampires arrived and Jett and Wolfe raced to assist Blade so that they avoided the temptation of Nikki’s blood, whose scent now swirled seductively in the air. Skye pushed back the lure as best she could and raced over to help Devin with Nikki. Kara went to Cupcake’s aid, who was babying one of her paws. Cupcake accepted her assistance only after receiving encouragement from Blade that she would be safe in Kara’s arms.
After confirming that Nikki wasn’t severely injured, Devin snapped his head toward Alec and yelled, “What the hell were you thinking? I warned you about staying away from Nikki.” Seeing Alec gasping for breath, he added, “Blade let him respond. Based on his answer, you may get your chance to finish what you started.”
Blade eased his hold on Alec and, after taking in several gasping breaths, Alec replied, “She’s Pixie.”
Mistyx Sonata (Mistyx Series Book 1) Page 15
