The Nightling: Darkness Within

by Danae Ayusso

  I looked at him with wide eyes. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded. “The party was awesome. Not nearly as extravagant as your coronation in Moscow will be, but it was nice to see the family.”

  “There’s only two Princes listed but I heard over a hundred guests,” I argued.

  Luka smirked, closing the doors then headed down the sidewalk and I hurried to catch up to him. “The extended family, they aren’t tied by Mother and Father’s venom like we are. Some are merely the last of their bloodline or venom line, some are biological relatives through blood of either Mother or Father and are considered family because of that, but they weren’t sired by Mother or Father… It’s complicated. Due to Mother and Father being considered Originals, they aren’t permitted to Sire. They broke the rules with us, and we broke the rules creating you. Isn’t it awesome?!”

  Not the term that comes to mind.

  “Most of the others there you heard are nothing more than ass kissers that want to stay or get in the King and Queen’s good graces,” he continued since I wouldn’t entertain him. “It’s all politics and ass kissing. Mother and Father will only claim Andrei and me as crowned heirs because we’re her favorites, obviously. There are others they sired over the centuries, but we were their last. Now you, because of the venom and blood that created you, and at Andrei’s request for protection, they consider you their granddaughter and the Princess of the Vampires.”

  Now I know he was messing with me.

  “Where’s my crown?” I asked, making a face.

  “Greedy little creature. You don’t get it until your coronation,” he scolded, and I rolled my eyes. “It’s nothing like you see on television and in movies though. Only nobles and those of old blood know there’s a King and Queen, those of Original blood, and the youngest generation is ignorant to the truth and that’s kind of how they want it. When you know of the past, you are doomed to try to repeat that shit. No one wants that!”

  Of course Luka had that backwards, but I wasn’t going to point out the obvious.

  “The Queen felt different,” I said. “Not right to the touch. Compared to you and Andrei, her skin was cold and clammy, firm and wrong. Is that because she’s original or something?”

  Luka made a face. “It surprises me you noticed that. The Queen and King were not here, not in the physical sense. Never would they travel without an armada in order to prevent a war. You always get some asshole that wants to make a name for themselves by taking out a badass,” he explained when I started to ask. “What you met, what was there, were Golems. They were a representation of Mother and Father. They were controlling them through magical intervention from Moscow while in stasis. Everything they saw, said, felt, and did was as if they were actually doing it. But if someone would have staked one of them, they would have merely staked an animated clay vessel, and Mother and Father would have been safe, only the connection being lost. It’s a badass form of magic that is both Light and Dark, Vampiric and… This is what Andrei could tell you. All I know is they would never have ventured to America in their actual forms due to the risk.”

  That wasn’t at all disturbing.

  “So they can be around without actually being around?” I surmised.

  “Yes and no. It takes a lot of effort and resources,” Luka explained in typical half-explanation Luka fashion. “Manifesting that many guards and the King and Queen takes a lot of work. Not to mention, they had to wait until the connection was strong enough. We had to recover from the venom loss. The link required was through venom. And before you insult my intelligence, it isn’t solely my venom in your veins,” he said, giving me a look and my mouth closed.

  I was going to reiterate the story Andrei was adamant I maintain.

  “I’m not strong enough to sire a creature like you; not one that could awakened in this unusual state,” he said, motioning towards me. “Only Mother’s venom would be enough to bridge a Child of...” he caught himself and I wanted to scream in frustration.

  The annoying, infantile, immature, petulant, egotistical immortal knew what I didn’t and that was completely unacceptable.

  Andrei knowing and not telling me was one thing, but Luka was an entirely different story and wasn’t acceptable in the least.

  “Pretenses must be maintained, it is the Queen’s directive,” Luka reminded me. “Remember that, Girl. Now. Look around. All around you are mythical creatures,” he said, continuing his lesson. “You’ve been surrounded by them your entire life and yet you never noticed. You are a Child of Light.”

  And there was the slip he was initially trying to cover.

  There is no denying his roots are truly blond.

  “What’s that?” I asked, playing dumb.

  “Mother, she worships the darkened religions: The Dark Father and Bride of the First Lie. You pray to the Goddess, Moon Goddess, Horned God.”

  I nodded. “Wiccan.”

  “That is a religion of Light. There’s countless religions in the mythical world, and that’s where most of the religions of man came from. You know Jesus?”

  I really hoped he was messing with me, but I knew he wasn’t.

  “Not personally, but I hear me makes a mean taco,” I said.

  Luka laughed. “See, I like this side of you. When you aren’t being a moping human teenager that got their heart broken or whatever, you’re worth keeping around for-”

  “Purely entertainment purposes,” I finished for him.

  “Sure, we’ll go with that,” he said. “Before our little incident in the park, had you seen things that no one else saw?”

  I refused to answer because we both knew the answer to that question, and it made me sound crazy.

  “You don’t have to tell me, I already know,” Luka informed me. “Those times when you thought you saw something passing by you, but when you turned to see there was nothing there? The whispers in the dark that you could never find the source of? When goosebumps covered your flesh or the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end, but the source was unknown?” he mused, sounding as if he was telling a crappy campfire story that he couldn’t remember the ending of so he was dragging it out. “When you caught movement in your peripheral vision, but you never saw what it was?”

  Well, yes, obviously. That’s why he’s asking. He wants me to admit that I’ve always seen weird things, things no one else seemingly saw.

  “He sounds like a drunk fortune cookie that’s on Jeopardy,” Giovanni complained from the other side of me, walking with his hands in his pockets.

  I giggled, nodding my agreement.

  I missed my brother, and the week I spent moping in my cell meant he wasn’t there to keep me company.

  “Point and something I always questioned,” I admitted in order to keep the annoying vampire with me talking. “The doctors said that my subconscious was trying to process things differently and that was why I would sleepwalk. I had a bad habit of doing that when I was younger. Now so much… That’s part of the reason why I had so many locks on my apartment door. I haven’t tried to walk off in the middle of the day have I?” I asked in a panic.

  Luka shrugged. “Not a clue, but that could be why Mother left the golems to guard the main and upper levels of the church. Hellhounds are enough in the basement. Put them together and it is impressive daytime security even for vampire dignitaries.”

  Interesting and possibly terrifying.

  I wasn’t sure which.

  Golems I knew of from Jewish lore, Hellhounds were prevalent throughout many forms of mythology and lore so I had heard of them before, but never did I think they were real…

  And with Luka, he could have been screwing with me simply because he knew he could.

  I looked to Giovanni for confirmation, and he shrugged.

  “Oh so helpful,” I grumbled. “Where are we going?”

  Luka looked around. “To Vena Sera. You look like you could use some caffeine or something. Maybe some blood.”

  Giovanni shivered. �
��Ew. Have you been sucking on people?”

  I shivered, making a face of disgust.

  “Answer enough,” he said. “I’m glad to hear you aren’t going around sucking on weird men.”

  How we’re related?

  I’ll never know.

  Giovanni and Papà could have been twins; they had the same sense of humor and looked nearly identical. They were both natural born athletes, had a presence about them that stole the attention of all those they met, and they illuminated the lives of all those that had the pleasure of meeting them.

  I never envied them for that because I’d rather be overlooked in a crowd and have people even forget that I’m in the room then warrant the attention that Papà and Giovanni got.

  There was comfort in being overlooked in the world.

  “Not that way,” Luka said, grabbing my arm and pulled me down an alley between two buildings.

  “You could have asked nicely,” I said, pulling away from him. “Personal space violations are something you and your brother really need to work on.”

  He snorted. “Yeah, not happening. We do what we want and take what we want, always have and always will.”

  I glared at him. “That type of mentality has been the downfall of many men, much bigger men then you could ever imagine being. Do not touch me without permission again or else your balls will have a date with my foot. Got it?”

  Giovanni chuckled. “You cannot pull off the badass routine to save your life,” he said with a smile. “If he touches you again, I’ll figure out how to haunt his skinny ass. Seriously, what is he wearing?”

  I was wondering that as well.

  Andrei always dressed in fancy, finely tailored suits that cost a small fortune. That was his style. Business and class, refinement and old world charm. Luka, on the other hand, dressed in overly modern fashions from obscure designers of the Far East. They were overly fitted to his lithe frame, looked comical in my opinion, and something out of a graphic novel. He didn’t look bad, I suppose since more than one woman had given him a second glance as we went, but he didn’t look nearly as good as his big brother.

  “Why are you dressed like you’re in a K-Pop group?” I asked at length.

  Luka rolled his eyes. “Unlike my personality challenged brother, I’m not stuck in a century we’ve outgrown,” he said. “Look around. What do you see?”

  “A douche bag?” Giovanni offered.

  I giggled.

  Close enough.

  The buildings to the sides of us were smooth brick without any discernible markings. They were surprisingly clean, considering it was an alleyway; no mold, dirt, spray paint, trash or stench that you’d expect to find even in this part of the city. The ground went from uneven asphalt to smooth laid cobblestone. The heavy iron manhole covers that were marked as The City of Seattle Public Works were replaced by polished brass ones that had eloquent filigree surrounding a tree of life with winding roots that wrapped around it and up into the canopy. Delicate script circled the circumference of the cover, and it hummed in white light.

  “A marker for those of our world denoting where humans aren’t allowed,” Luka explained when I continued to look at the glowing script. “Each species specific establishment is marked with similar markings as to denote safe passage.”

  I guess that made sense.

  “So any vampire can enter the church?” I asked in a panic.

  Luka snorted. “No. You can enter any place, but they can’t enter ours. The royal seal means it is protected by those under the crown, and it protects those with a crown. You don’t let some random asshole in Buckingham Palace do you?”

  Giovanni rolled his eyes. “That was rhetorical, Sis.”

  My mouth closed.

  “When you pass the threshold you’ll understand the reason for markings,” Luka said in typical Luka half-explanation fashion, waving towards the end of the alley.

  I looked to Giovanni and he gave me a look, shrugging.

  “The alleyway is too long?” I offered, pointing at the very clear line where the asphalt ended and the cobblestone began.

  It shouldn’t have been that long.

  There should have been the back of a building marking the end of the alley, but there wasn’t.

  It appeared to go on…

  Luka threw his arm over my shoulders, causing me to jump, startled, before I slammed my elbow into his stomach. “Don’t assault the only person that’s willing to show you this new world,” he scolded.

  I glared at him and pushed him away from me. “Personal space,” I reminded him.

  In a movement that was almost too quick to register, he had me slammed against the wall, pinning my arms behind me, his entire body pressing against the length of mine.

  “Get off my sister, Asshole!” Giovanni shouted, swinging at Luka’s head but his airy fist passed through it.

  Luka shivered. “Did you just try to sic a ghost on me?” he asked, sounding amused.

  My eyes widened, as did Giovanni’s.

  “That’s amusing and not the threesome I’m used to, but it’s one I can work with,” he mused before curling his tongue.

  I shied away from him, trying to pull away but he wouldn’t let go of me.

  “If ya do not mind the girl’s boundaries, I will make ya mind them,” an interloper warned with a thick accent. “And if that means ripping your arms off so ya can never touch anything or anyone again, so be it.”

  Luka snarled. “She is ours,” he venomously warned.

  No, no I am not!

  The woman standing behind him cocked an overly full eyebrow before waving her hand through the air. Accompanying the movement, Luka was ripped away from me and slammed into the side of the neighboring building. She curled her finger and he lifted off his feet and was pulled up by an invisible force. His hands went to his neck and his feet feebly kicked, trying to break the hold she apparently had on him.

  I didn’t know who she was, but I was grateful, for the most part, for her interference…

  That is if it didn’t get me killed by Luka in return.

  There was a presence about the woman that warned she was strong and powerful, even if her smaller physical stature would suggest otherwise. Her dark auburn hair was short and shaved on the sides and styled in a messy modern mohawk, brows full, pale skin was decorated with tattoos and a dusting of freckles, and she had large gauge plugs in her ears and various facial piercings.

  “No creature belongs to another, regardless of what those of your blood and venom line think,” she snarled, her eyes solid white.

  Giovanni tried to console me but his arm passed through me and it was accompanied by a tear that rolled down his cheek. “I’m so sorry, Passerotta.”

  “Please don’t hurt him,” I whispered. “I don’t like Luka most of the time, but it would cause needless drama if he were to be harmed because of me. The Queen that claims him as her baby boy already hates me.”

  The woman softly growled under her breath before lowering her hand and Luka dropped to the ground with a shriek. When he landed, she was suddenly in front of him and grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his head back.

  “I do not care who your Maker is, the crown ya wear in their eyes, or whose annoying, troublesome, pain in the ass baby brother ya are,” she sneered. “Ya have no right to touch a woman, or any creature, without their permission. No longer is the mentality of the Dark Ages acceptable in any world. Do ya understand?”

  The woman didn’t give him a chance to answer and slammed the back of his head into the wall, knocking him unconscious. She quickly dug through the dozen pockets in his pants before finding what she was looking for. After relieving him of his money, she headed over to me and offered me the wad of cash.

  I shook my head.

  “The annoying child will not retaliate,” she promised.

  Giovanni gave me a look. “Take the money, Sis. You can finally get that damn cheeseburger you’ve been craving so I can stop hearing about it. Hell, I want
one because of your whining about wanting one!”

  The woman looked from me to Giovanni.

  “Can she see me?” he whispered, waving his hand in front of her face.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know… I don’t know anything,” I whispered.

  “Yes, I can see ya,” she said. “Necromancers see the dead, they just usually don’t find the dead hanging around the living like this,” she admitted, pulling a flask from her inside jacket pocket. “What a strange little creature ya be,” she commented before taking a swig from the flask.

  That I’ve heard way too much today, and I was tired of it.

  “Come on, let’s get ya something to drink so ya don’t freak out or try to bite me. It won’t end well for ya if you try to bite me,” she warned, wagging a scolding finger at me.

  My face dropped. “I have no longing to bite you or anyone else,” I promised.

  “Ya will,” she retorted. “I can only deal with one bitchy diva right now, and I need to be drunk to deal with that bastard’s big brother when he gets back. Come on with ya, I won’t hurt ya. Andrei and I work together, not by choice but we do.”

  “Really?” I asked, my interest piqued and I took the money she was trying to force me to take, shoved it in my pocket, and walked with her.

  “Bring your ghost,” she said before taking another swig from her flask.

  Giovanni smiled. “I like her!”

  Yes, he would.

  “I’m a lesbian, Casper,” she said.

  “And you’re not my type, Necromancer Badass,” Giovanni informed her, giddy he was able to talk to someone other than me for once.

  “I’m Marshal Mercy Connor, but everyone calls me Connor,” she said, offering me her hand.

  I started to take it but stopped.

  “What?” she asked.

  “People act weird when I shake their hand,” I said. “I don’t know if it’s my farmer’s grip or what. I’ve used a lot of lotion over the years to keep my hands from being overly calloused so they softened up. But every time I shake someone’s hand now they act weird and freak out.”