by Wyatt, Dani
Before I can react, the second guard moves behind my father and places another knife at his throat. Immortality has its weaknesses, and there are things that can kill even the undead. If you remove a vampire’s head or drive a wooden stake through their chest, they will perish.
I know my father is strong compared to any mortal, but he’s no match for these vampires. They’re pure-bloods in the truest sense of the word, and unlike my parents they’re well fed, their eyes glowing red as their power permeates the very fabric of the room.
“Let them go,” I manage. “This marriage isn’t going to happen. What benefit is there to any of us if you kill us all? I can be your ally, if you let us all live. If not, I can become your nightmare.”
“Two weak vampires and a mortal man. Seleme you have yet to prove your worth.” Alberto matches his father’s chuckle. “Do you want to be responsible for their deaths? Really, Seleme, just think about what you’re doing. Because that is what will happen. We have a contract. We protected you in exchange for our union. If you do not hold up your end of the bargain, we will kill dear old Mama and Papa right here, right now. And,” He tips his head toward Maxim. “The mortal just for fun. I’m hungry.”
“This goes against the rules of truce,” my father seethes. “While the blue candles burn–”
Michael bursts into laughter. “We’re the Messinas. Who’s going to hold us to account, Rudi? Nobody has challenged us in two thousand years.”
“Hey guys, I’m back! Where is everyone?”
Everyone falls silent as Anna’s voice echoes through from the kitchen. Where a second ago there was no sound, suddenly there are the clickity-clack of her stilettos on the marble floors. It’s almost surreal to hear her light tone as we all stand around threating each other with death.
“So, Seleme, I’ve been reading up some more and it seems — ”
She stops in her tracks as she comes out of the kitchen finally looking up from checking her fingernails.
“Anna,” Michael greets her in a tone that’s only half respectful. “Turn around and leave; this doesn’t concern you.”
“Well, excuuuuuuse me, Michael, actually it does. You appear to have my Goddaughter’s parents at knifepoint.” She glances my way. “Is it that time already? How long have I been gone? And who’s this human?”
“Anna, don’t test me...” Michael growls. “You’ve survived very nicely by not involving yourself in other’s disputes. It would be a shame for that to change now.”
“Gawd, so droll, I hate thinly veiled threats. Your mother will hear about this.”
“Do not involve my mother.” There’s a flash of fear in Michael’s eyes before he composes himself. “This is happening, the body count is on all of you.”
Michael moves too quickly for anyone else in the room to see, but I do. My senses have only grown more acute over the past few days. In the blink of an eye, he’s behind me, pushing me aside, and I’m unable to resist his strength. As I spin, I see him slip behind Maxim and wrap a hand around his throat.
“No!” I shout. “Don’t hurt him!”
“Well, it seems we now have something to grab your attention. Shame for your parents that you didn’t care this much about them, but I really don’t care about your priorities. Your family made assurances, and we have lived up to our end of the bargain, Seleme. Now it is time for you to live up to yours. I don’t care if you like each other.” He looks to his son then back to me. “It is your unique birth that gives you value, not your heart. It’s a value never seen before, and honestly, I’m interested to find out exactly what that means. But whatever happens, you will add power to our family by breeding with my son, and your offspring will make us nearly invincible. If you choose not to live up to what has been promised, I will kill the human first. Feed...Easy. Quick — as a token of how much I respect his courage coming here tonight. Then, you will watch as we remove your parents’ heads. That I will do slowly because I’m quickly losing respect for your entire family. It will be...” He shakes his head in mock distaste. “...messy.”
“Fucker.” Maxim struggles, his hands tearing at Michael’s arms, but it has no effect. His human strength is like the buzzing of a fly.
Anna takes a step forward, but Michael responds by squeezing tighter, and I see Maxim’s eyes roll back.
“Stop!” I beg, holding my hands out toward them both. “Don’t, please, let’s figure this out some other way.”
“There is no other way.” Alberto steps toward me. “We are wasting time. We gave you nearly twenty-one years. That was the contract.” He looks at the clock. “Now we have only minutes. You will mate with me. Before your twenty-first birthday. We will be bonded together for eternity. You will eventually marry me. But I don’t give a flying fuck if you love me. This doesn’t have to be a big issue. If you want to play with your mortal toys after tonight, it really doesn’t concern me, but you will fulfill your obligation right now. You will lie with me, you will belong to me, or...”
He looks at my mother, then my father, then at Maxim, as his father’s hand tightens and I see the life draining from Maxim’s eyes.
“Show her.” He nods at his father, who brings his other hand to Maxim’s forehead, and I know with one jerk he could tear the head from his body.
“Okay!” My gut turns. “I’ll do it.” Tears sting my eyes as Maxim loses consciousness and Michael lets his limp body fall to the floor.
“Of course, you will.” Michael swipes his hands together as though they are soiled from touching Maxim, and my heart wrenches. “Go. Take her before midnight. That is our contract. You will mate, and the bond will be formed. Her power will increase our own in ways we haven’t even started to imagine. We will be gods.” He turns to me with a grin. “And your family gets to live. Such as they are. Win-win.”
I swallow hard. Maxim’s chest rises and falls, and his life is in my hands as I look at my father.
“Seleme, do whatever you feel is right. I’m sorry I caused all–”
The vampire behind him squeezes, cutting off his words, and as my mother opens her mouth to say something, the guard holding her does the same, covering her mouth as her eyes go wide.
Anna looks at me, and I’m sure if I asked her she would try something, but there’s nothing she can do. Her powers protect her from harm, but they don’t make her strong. She can’t protect anyone else.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, to whom I’m not sure, as Alberto extends his arm toward the bedroom off the main hallway.
The thought of what we will do is horrifying, and I’ll lie with him, on bare floorboards, not a bed, appropriate for loveless, duty-bound mating.
“Shall we?” He grins, and I hear his father’s chuckle from my left. “Time isn’t on our side.”
I move toward the stairs as Alberto places his hand on the small of my back, pushing me forward.
“Don’t touch me,” I snap, knocking his hand away.
“Oh, I’m going to touch you. In ways you can’t imagine.”
“I’ll go with you, Alberto. Just don’t hurt them. I’ll do it, but you must promise me they will live. All three of them.” I turn to Michael. “Do you promise?”
He smirks, nudging Maxim’s shoulder with his foot. Then he shrugs, rolling his head on his neck, and I see he’s toying with me. “Fine. Consider it done. If you fulfill your promise, I will fulfill mine. But you better not dawdle, Seleme. You have two minutes to complete the mating. Gives new meaning to the word ‘quickie,’ doesn’t it?” His laugh turns my stomach.
Alberto urges me forward again, his hand on my back, but before I can smack him away again, he grabs me around my waist, throwing me over his shoulder as though I’m a feather, and I feel his strength as he locks an arm around my legs, my torso hanging down his back.
My hair hangs in my face as he carries me toward the door. The last thing I see is the sorrow in my father’s eyes, the horror in my mother’s, the fury in Anna’s, but the only thought I have is: Thank God Ma
xim does not have to watch what’s happening because I know it would kill him.
“Better hurry,” Michael says as Alberto steps through the doorway into the bare room.
As he does, there’s a flutter down low in my belly. The walls begin to glow. Everything is glowing. No, it’s not them, it’s me. It’s inside my eyes.
I’m changing. I can feel it.
Something is growing inside me, it’s pulsing.
I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s happening. I only have a few minutes left, and from the urgency in Alberto’s steps, he must feel it, too.
I take one last look at Maxim, lying on the floor, and try to push away all the thoughts of what could have been. He’ll never look at me the same way again, but an eternity with the memory of what we had, as brief and fleeting as it was, will sustain me through it all.
It has to.
As long as it saves the people I love.
Twelve
Maxim
BREATHE.
Slow.
Don’t let any of them know that you're conscious.
I felt it as that vampire gripped my throat, some sort of layer between his fingers and my flesh. It held him away as he tried to strangle me, and the voice in my head, the voice of the vampire they all call Anna, told me to pretend.
So that’s what I did.
Now what? I ask silently.
You’ve got one shot, human; don’t waste it. Your friend is about to come through that door, and when he does, you’re going to go for your knife. Put it through Michael’s heart if you can, but through any part of his flesh if not.
I laugh bitterly inside my head. I don’t think a knife is going to do much except annoy him, but sure, whatever, I don’t want to live without Seleme anyway.
It will. Pure silver is a cleansing agent. Pure-blood vampires are repelled by it. It will hurt the Messinas more than it does most vampires. Be ready. In a few seconds, all our lives will be hanging in the balance.
One shot, of course it comes down to that. A single roll of the dice. My life may very well end tonight, but without Seleme, it’s over already, so what the hell?
I feel the weight of my knife in the side of my boot.
My muscles tense as I gather all my energy for one surge of power. I’ll do as Anna says, but after that, I need to get to her. I have to stop what’s about to happen. I will die trying to protect her. I will not go silently.
As they start into the bedroom, Alberto stops, turning to his father.
“She’s pregnant.” He drops Seleme unceremoniously to the floor. “She’s pregnant, Jesus Christ, I can feel it.” He shakes his hands, his face twisted in revulsion.
“What? It’s not possible.” Seleme’s father’s voice is first, then Michael speaks revelation dawning on his face.
“She’s been with the human. She’s carrying his baby. She cannot honor the agreement. You will all die for this.”
A hush falls, and in the silence, I hear the door handle click. There’s a whoosh of fresh air, and I know this is the only chance we’ll have. I squint, opening my eyes only slightly to see what’s happening. Everyone turns to the sound, and it’s like it’s all moving in slow motion.
One.
Two.
Three.
On a roar, I heave and launch myself up off the floor, turning toward Michael. His eyes go wide, but my knife is already in my hand. I hear his scream, see his attempt to deflect me.
Just as his hand comes up, from the side a black flash comes flying through the open door.
A wild sound, an animal, and I see Maltese flying through the air landing on Michael’s head, his claws bared, mouth open and he grabs onto his face like that creature in Alien, giving me the few seconds I need.
I’m a man possessed, and I plunge the blade deep into Michael’s throat while he tries to tear Maltese from him. His last motion is to throw the animal to the ground, but his eyes are wide as I watch his mouth fall open, his body collapsing.
Before anyone else can react, I’m racing toward Seleme.
I see Seleme on the floor at Alberto’s feet, her eyes flicking to me as the tears stream down her face. I grip the wooden handle of the knife in my fist as I take the last four steps, then I roar as I drop into a crouch and barrel toward them.
Alberto growls, and there’s yelling behind me, but I have tunnel vision, my eyes focused on his neck, where I intend to plunge my knife in the next two seconds. There’s chaos all around, but she’s my only focus.
I lunge at Alberto as Maltese repeats his attack, only this time his leap lands him on Alberto’s thigh, rather than his head. But it helps, providing a much-needed distraction. Alberto is faster than his father. His hands find my throat even as my knife falls toward his neck.
I’m not fast enough. Maltese is tearing into the black fabric of his pants, but Alberto is oblivious. I gather everything I have left, wildly slashing my knife toward his neck.
“Maxim!” Seleme’s scream echoes in my ears as I feel the bones in my neck snap. Indescribable agony turns my vision white, and my legs crumple beneath me, but not before I drag the blade of my knife as deep into the fucker’s neck as I can, somehow slicing through like he’s made of butter, until his head hangs to the side and he crumples to the ground a few feet from me.
As I fall to the floor, it’s Seleme’s face I see. The clock’s chimes begin to echo around me, and as they ring in my ears her blue eyes turn red, the pink in her cheeks dissipating as her skin begins to glow iridescent like a pearl.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I manage, knowing my life force is draining away. Knowing her face will be the last thing I ever see.
Our mouths meet in a kiss of such hunger, my heart lurches in my chest.
“Don’t go,” Seleme whispers in my ear. “I won’t let you go.”
The pain surges through me as she brings her teeth to my neck, sinking them deep. My gut twists with anguish as I feel the teeth tearing into my flesh. As she feeds, though, acceptance washes over me. At least I’ll be able to give her this one last piece of myself.
I don’t know how much time passes.
It could be a split second, or it could be hours. The only sensation I have at this moment is weightlessness.
A laser focus, as though time has slowed.
When I open my eyes, my vision is sharper.
It’s like I’m seeing in four dimensions.
I watch Seleme dart across the landing, then down to the foyer in a single leap, snapping the neck of the first guard then tearing his head from his shoulders an instant before he gets to Dimitri, standing dumbfounded in the doorway.
Then, together with her father, she takes out the vampire that’s holding her mother, ripping his head from his shoulders in a flood of gore. Anna flings her arms around Seleme, then crosses to Dimitri, catching him in an embrace of pure joy as he looks on in disbelief at what’s going on all around.
Dimitri’s eyes are wild his mouth hanging open before he finally speaks. “What the hell...”
Feeling somehow stronger than ever, I push myself to my feet and turn, in a kind of haze and bounding to Seleme, running my hands down her cheeks, marveling at the cool of her skin where there used to be warmth.
“I...” she starts, and I see the doubt in her eyes, but there’s something else, too. I feel the life inside her. The life we created.
I press my hand to her belly, and she rests hers on top of it as our eyes meet.
Her parents come toward us, and I brace myself for her father’s wrath.
“We are bound.” Seleme looks to me, then to her father. “I’m sorry, Papa.” But she isn't. I can feel her joy. It's mine, too.
He lets out a long breath, shaking his head. “No, my precious daughter. I am the one that is sorry. I did what I thought was best for you. For us all. I was wrong.”
He looks to me and extends his hand. “Welcome to the family.”
Thirteen
Maxim
SNOW SWIRLS AROUND Rudo
lf and I as we walk the back of the family estate, just as we have every day since that night. We talk, man to man, and piece by piece he is helping me acclimate to my new reality. He teaches me how to use my new powers, how to control them, and also how to adjust to the infinite amount of changes to both my body and my mind.
Sometimes we hunt as well, leaving the property for the miles of forest land that are abundant with wildlife. I thought the hunting, the feeding would repulse me.
I feared the blood of animals wouldn’t be enough.
I was wrong on both counts. The hunt brings out a primal part of me, a man that wants to seek and fight and provide for what is his and in its own way, it is more humane than the way humans farm, raise and slaughter animals. Every life I take is a gift from the world, and I am never cruel or nonchalant to the enormity of that. From the first night, the hunting and feeding has felt as natural and necessary as any consumption of food and drink I did as a human.
“Being a vampire has its upsides, doesn’t it?” Rudolf smiles as the wind whips my suit coat open, yet there is no sense of the cold. The sky is gray, it’s barely dawn and the glow of orange sun is just hinting through the trees.
“That is does. Our heating bills are minimal for a start.” I let out a low chuckle.
In the days after the attack, Seleme and I stayed at the family home. Anna was there as well, counseling both Seleme and myself as we struggled and came to terms with our new selves and everything that happened that night.
There were many heroes but turns out Anna and Maltese were the magic silver bullet we needed. Anna can communicate with animals, another of her many unique powers. Turns out, Maltese was none too happy about the upcoming nuptials. When Anna came in the room, Maltese was already lying in wait outside the front door.
I’m still not sure if it was just coincidence that had Dimitri heading to the house at just the right moment to let the cat inside, or whether Anna had a hand in that as well. When I talked to him, he said he just felt this pull. Something told him to go to the door. Since he had the security code already, he thought something might be up so he followed his instinct.
