Alukah

by Leslie Swartz

  Back at the club, the Governors began trickling in. Hartley got them up to speed and assigned them apartments on the third floor while she waited for further instructions.

  “Hart?” a voice called. She turned in its direction and spotted a man she hadn’t seen in decades. “It is you! You look unbelievable!”

  “It’s ‘Hartley’ now.”

  “I see that.” He looked her up and down, a wide smile curling up his lips. “Seriously, you look amazing.”

  “You think so?” She couldn’t help but flirt. Oliver had been an old flame, someone she’d dated back in the nineties. He’d attracted her right away with his Australian accent and chiseled features, but things fizzled, as they always did between her and other vampires. As much fun as she’d had with him, something never felt quite right. Her, probably.

  “I do. You look…well, you look like you were always meant to.”

  She gave a proud smile, noticing how handsome he still was. “So, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

  “Busy. I opened a casino in Atlantic City.”

  “Finally! Congratulations. I know it was your dream.”

  “Yeah, it was. Still is. It’s better than I could have hoped. People love throwing money away to forget their problems.”

  “That they do.”

  “So, I hear there’s a pack of ruffians causing trouble.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, I’m sure the Queen has it under control. She’s nothing if not capable.”

  Her phone rang and she held up her hand to excuse herself as she answered it. “Yes?”

  “It’s Phindi. I need to speak to Her Majesty at once.”

  “She isn’t here. Can I help you with something?”

  “You are loyal to the Queen, yes?”

  “Of course.”

  “You can be trusted?”

  “Yes, Genera-- I mean, Duchess. Your Grace. I am assistant to the Queen and I--”

  “Yes, fine. I have information on the so-called ‘King’. He’s in Jordan. I’ve found his precise location and I need the Queen’s permission to launch a full-scale attack. I have an army ready and waiting just out of his sight. And, there’s something else. He’s holding a man. A human. He’s taken him prisoner and is keeping him hostage. I don’t understand his reasoning for this, but the man has been given water and food. If he’d not been so badly beaten, I would think he was being kept as a pet.”

  Allydia appeared in a blur, snatching the phone from Hartley’s hand. “Duchess Phindi, this is your Queen. Bring me the human alive. As for the ‘King’ and his sycophants, do what you must. Anything you have to. By sword, scythe or sun, kill them all.” She handed the phone back to her assistant. “Text me his exact location.” Hartley nodded, the fire in the Queen’s eyes sending a chill up her spine.

  Allydia went to the center of the floor, her presence filling the room. “Attention.” The music stopped. The lights went up. All eyes were on her. “As you may know, there are those among you that would see me overthrown. They call me ‘distracted’, ‘weak’, and ‘unfit to lead’. If anyone here feels this way, I demand that you now come forward and state plainly that you oppose me.” The crowd was silent, each vampire steady in their obedience to her. All, but five. She snuffed them out by the way their hands shook ever so slightly when she spoke and the grimaces they tried to hide. She moved faster than even they could see, plucking each one from the crowd, tearing their heads from their bodies with her bare hands, pulling hearts from chests and eyes from sockets, and piling up the parts at her feet for the others to see. “Anyone else?” she growled, licking blood from her palm. “Now is the time. With me or against, make your choice known.”

  The vampires bowed their heads, each taking a knee.

  “Good.” She turned her attention to Hartley. “Lock it down. If anyone threatens the faithful,”

  “I will eviscerate them, my Queen.”

  She lowered her head. “Call everyone. Tell them to be ready for rebel attacks, even in the day. I’ll handle the ‘King’ myself.” She kicked a heart out of the way as she moved toward the door. “And get someone to clean this shit up.”

  Allydia cried as she washed the blood of the children that had forsaken her from her hands. Their betrayal was enough to cause her heartache, but what hurt more was the realization that this was the first shower she’d taken in her own apartment in weeks. She’d become accustomed to waking up and going to sleep at Wyatt’s, his scent filling every room, his energy soothing. Now, just minutes before sunrise, she’d have to go to bed alone. Her stomach churned as she wept, covering her face with her hands under the scalding water. She knew that she was breaking, but she couldn’t allow it. She had to rescue Navid and save her people. Only when that was done could she mourn. Only then could she decide how to proceed.

  Chapter 14

  Navid struggled with the shackles that dug into his wrists as he fought the dizziness that threatened to overtake him…again. He’d been in and out of consciousness since he’d been thrown in the cell, mostly due to the way he was being held there: by chains, upside down, hanging from the ceiling.

  When he’d first arrived, vampires had swarmed him, stripping off his shirt and scratching his chest and back, licking his wounds as he tried to break free, all wanting a taste, every one of them gobsmacked by the familiarity they sensed in his blood. Some showed signs of trepidation while others laughed maniacally, savoring his flavor on their lips like a fine wine. Only when their leader, the one they called ‘King’, shooed them away did they leave him be. He’d brought him falafel, dates, and water, all of which he’d refused for fear of being poisoned. The food sat, untouched on the dusty floor and had begun to attract flies. He was drenched in sweat, dehydrated, and starving. His jaw ached from the gag in his mouth holding it open while muffling his angry screams. He growled in frustration as he tried to climb up the chain, hoping to release it from the hook on the ceiling, but his arms were too weak. Just when he thought he might pass out again, the cell door swung open.

  “That’s an unsettling shade of purple,” the ‘King’ said, studying his face. “Toasted plum, I’d call it.” With one hand, he unhooked the chain, dropping Navid hard on the floor. He winced as searing pain spread through his back and shoulders. He rolled to his side, facing his captor, wishing he had the fluid to waste by spitting on him, if only he weren’t gagged. “You should eat, Navid.” He knelt down and slid a new plate of food toward him which he batted away like a defiant cat. “Have it your way.” He tucked his shoulder-length hair behind his ears as he looked down at his hostage, almost feeling sorry for him. “I’m not going to kill you. If I’d wanted to, I would have already and I wouldn’t taint your food. I would just eat you. Do you know why you’re here?” He shook his head, though he had a pretty good idea. He’d heard bits and pieces of vampire chatter since he’d arrived, not to mention the blathering by Jack and Simon. This ‘King’ was staging a coup against Allydia and was using him as leverage. Didn’t take a genius to figure it out. But, if he could keep him talking long enough, maybe the wooziness would subside and he could use his chains to strangle him and make a run for it. Not a solid plan, considering the place was overrun with vamps, but what choice did he have?

  “You’re here because it will infuriate the Queen. Nothing more, nothing less. When this is over, I will let you go.”

  He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

  The King sighed. “You see, the Queen has always been feared. Respected. Beloved. That changed, however, when she all but disappeared for three years. She abandoned her people. Left them to their own devices. When she finally emerged from her sabbatical, she had the nerve to require their service in a war that was not their own. They fought and died in a battle for what? Do you know? Because none of us do. She rejects her own kind and instead takes a human lover and now we discover she has a living descendant. It seems that the Queen’s priorities have shifted. Her people are simply learning to
adapt to their new reality. They need someone new to lead them. They see me as their savior.” He burst out laughing, causing Navid to jump in his skin. “Me. It’s absurd. Do you not see the irony?” The bound man’s expression told him that he didn’t. “Oh, of course, you don’t. Allow me to introduce myself properly. Some call me The Betrayer, a name earned yet still hurtful. My given name is Judas Iscariot.”

  Navid’s eyes grew to saucers as his labored breathing quickened. His heart thudded against his chest and his mind raced. The gravity of what he was saying hit him like a ton of bricks. Could this be true? And, if it was, what did that mean? The implications were mind-blowing.

  Judas turned his head to listen for eavesdroppers before addressing him again, his tone hushed. “The Queen’s army marches as we speak. Most of my followers are here, awaiting battle. A few are scattered, awaiting orders. You’ll be safe as long as you remain chained. The Queen has no intention of surrendering her crown. She is too proud. It is what I’m counting on. I have no interest in ruling over these foul creatures. My goal is the complete destruction of their kind.”

  Navid tilted his head, more confused than ever.

  “Their gullibility and old-world misogyny make it easy to sew seeds of unrest. I control them like puppets on a string.” He leaned in, twisted determination coloring his face, his voice dropping an octave. “I’ve barely lifted a finger in this fight. They were itching for war, so I’ve given them one. A civil war that will end this putrid empire once and for all.”

  Michelle crawled into bed, wrapping her arm around Will’s waist and resting her head on his chest. He’d been asleep for hours, but as the sun began to make its ascension, she was just getting tired. His body was warm against her skin and the sound of his heartbeat was soothing, like a lullaby encouraging her to drift off. She listened to the air fill and escape his lungs, so grateful for the sound of it, she almost cried. As she began to fall asleep, she drew in a sharp breath, startled by the realization that she’d completely forgotten to tell him. She’d been so thrilled to have him back, it hadn’t occurred to her that he should know. She had to tell him…now.

  “Will,” she whispered, sitting up and gently nudging him. “Will, wake up.”

  “Hmm?” He rubbed his eyes and sat up. “What time is it?”

  “Six-thirty. I need to tell you something. Something important.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, I’m just…a vampire.”

  “Are you hungry? You can drink if you want. It was kind of gross at first, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. You have some bags left, right?”

  “No, I’m not hungry, it’s something else. I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just gonna start at the beginning.”

  “All right.” He took her hand, seeing how serious she was giving him a twinge of anxiety.

  “After I turned, I went with the vampire that made me to her place in Scotland. We had to hide because if the Queen found out she’d sired someone without permission, she would have killed us both. I was hungry all the time. Like, more than normal. Hattie kept me in blood, but it was never enough. After a few weeks, it was clear why.” She cleared her throat, stalling for time. “I started…showing.”

  He did a double-take. “You started what?”

  “I was pregnant, Will.”

  His muscles tensed and his chin dropped. “You…how?”

  “The morning after pill must not have worked. Maybe it was expired or something, I don’t know. But, I was pregnant before I turned, so--”

  He looked her over, putting his hand to her belly, the vacancy evident by the flatness of her abs. “But,” His eyes shined with tears as he assumed the worst. “The baby died?”

  “No,” she told him, grabbing his hands and holding them to her heart. “No. Because of my weird vampire physiology or something and your Nephilim hyper-speed aging thing, she grew fast. Like, so fast, my ribs broke from the muscles underneath stretching out so quick. She didn’t die, Will. She’s fine. She’s perfect.”

  “She?” Tears sprung from his eyes like water from a fountain.

  “Her name’s Sinclair, for you.” She, too, began to cry. “I tried, but I couldn’t keep her. I wanted to, you have no idea. When she looked up at me with your eyes,” She stopped, choking back sobs as she tried to rein in her emotions. “But, I was afraid.”

  “Of what?”

  “Of me. I was scared to death that I would,” She covered her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut as the pain of missing her baby proved too great to contain.

  “Okay,” He held her close to him and settled back against the pillows. “It’s okay. I understand.” He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her arm. “It’s early. You should sleep. We can talk about it tonight.”

  She sniffed, her eyelids feeling heavy. “Gabriel says she’s okay, but I wish I could see for myself. But, I can’t. I can’t risk it. I would die if something happened to her because of me.”

  He lifted his head. “Gabriel?”

  “Yeah, I gave her to your aunt. She’s the only person I could trust.”

  “Mm. Okay, get some sleep.” But she was out before he finished the sentence.

  Chapter 15

  “Where’s my daughter?” Will exploded, causing Gabriel to choke on her banana.

  “Boy, you are lucky Lucifer’s still asleep. He can’t know about her, yet. And, don’t tell him I was eating fruit. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.”

  He threw a ball of lightning past her and into the kitchen wall. “Where?!”

  “Yo!”

  “Tell me or I’ll--”

  “You’ll what?” She stood from her seat at the island and stepped toward him, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. “You’re upset, confused, clearly pissed. But, don’t forget who I am. God knows I never can.”

  “What’d you do with her?”

  “I didn’t hurt her. What kind of monster do you think I am?”

  “The kind that would send a girl who should have been in college to spy on her nephew and kill him if she had to.”

  “She was never supposed to kill you. She was supposed to tell me if I needed to.”

  “I swear to Christ.”

  “She’s with Uriel, your Aunt Valerie. She’s fine, I swear. She made a friend at the park yesterday. Did him a favor. She’s doing well. You don’t have to be so grouchy. Eat something and settle the fuck down.”

  She went to the pantry, grabbed a box of granola bars, and tossed it to him. He tore it open, stripping a bar of its wrapper and gobbling it up in two big bites. He took another from the box and sat, his body finally beginning to relax.

  She got a glass and filled it with milk, setting it in front of him and returning the jug to the fridge. “I would never hurt Sinclair,” she promised, sitting across from him and taking a granola bar for herself. “She’s different than you. She’s in full control of her powers and her emotions and thoughts are always in check. I don’t have to worry about her like I do you.”

  “Can I tell you something?”

  “Any time.”

  He looked her in the eyes, hands trembling as he fumbled with another wrapper. “I’m worried about me, too.”

  Her eyes softened and she patted his hand. “You’ll be okay.”

  “You don’t know that. Look what I just did.”

  “Will,”

  “The headaches are back. Not bad, but it’s starting, just like before. When I’m with Michelle, I’m fine. I feel like me. But, any other time, it’s like a bomb waiting to go off and the seconds are ticking down and I don’t know how much time I have before--”

  “Shut your mouth. Nothing’s gonna happen, you hear me? I won’t lose you again. Especially after what it did to,” She stopped herself, taking a bite of her breakfast and looking down at the counter.

  “What it did to who? To Dad?”

  She looked back up and chewed, not wanting to answer.

  “Lucifer wouldn’t tell me, either, but it doe
sn’t take a genius to figure it out. He tried to kill himself again, didn’t he?”

  She swallowed hard, knowing her brother had no intention of ever telling his son about what happened after he died. “I shouldn’t tell you.”

  “But, he did, right? He tried? What’d he do? Slit his wrists? Pills like in college?”

  “No. No, not pills.”

  “What, then?”

  “Why are you asking about this? He’s okay now.”

  “Because I’m back. But, if you have to--”

  “No.”

  “But, if you do, I don’t want him to fall apart.”

  “He didn’t get better because you came back. He got better because,” She dropped her granola bar at the sudden realization. “Because of her.”

  “Her? The vampire Queen?”

  She nodded.

  “She helped him? She actually cared about him?”

  “Yeah, dude, she loves him. I’ve never felt love like that and I know everything everyone around me ever feels. Except you. And Wendy, which is nervous-making, I’m not gonna lie.”

  “I didn’t know it was that serious. I mean, I thought I saw something in her eyes when she looked at him, but…” He swallowed another bite. “So, now she’s gone and if I have to die,”

  “He’ll feel alone again. Shit. Well, that’s it. You can’t die. Ever. You have to suck it the fuck up and figure out a way to control your shit because I will not lose my brother, do you understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he muttered.

  She folded her arms and bit her lip as she slowed her breathing, trying to get her heart to stop booming in her ears.

  “I should go to Dad’s.”

  “He’s on his way to New Jersey. He’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “What’s he doing in New Jersey?”

  “It’s been some time, Mr. Sinclair. Tell me, what’s spurred this sudden return to therapy?” Dr. Stratford sat with hands folded in his lap, his notebook and prescription pad at the ready on the table next to him.