Until Dawn

by brett hicks

  “Of course not, but I have never heard of your romantic proclivities leaning in that direction.”

  I blinked and tipped my shades down, meeting Seri’s eyes.

  “Hey, what’s wrong with you Seri? You’re being extra catty, and that is quite the accomplishment for you.”

  She looked at me and she huffed.

  “He is not of my domain but can live here for college purposes. I will not apologize for being cautious.”

  That was news to me.

  “So, all one has to do, is go to school at NYU to be allowed to hang out in your backyard?”

  Seri rolled her eyes.

  “Please, give me a little more credit than that. If I didn’t want him here, then he would have been gift-wrapped and sent back to his parent’s domain north of here. Besides, I know people at NYU; he wouldn’t have been accepted if I was not willing to host him for the duration of his education.”

  Henry looked tense, and his nostrils flared at her statement of fact. Henry wasn’t usually this prickly, but then again, Seri did flip my switch too, so I couldn’t totally blame him.

  “Ok, got it, can you two behave, for me?”

  I barely knew Seri, so why I thought that would work, I was not sure! Still she huffed and looked at my friend for a moment longer. Finally, she shrugged casually, and her eyes softened a shade.

  “He has behaved himself as of this date, so I see no need to assert my control over the area.”

  That was likely as close as Seri every got to an apology of any kind. I nodded, satisfied that no one was going to bite, or hex one another. Apparently, that was about all a girl could hope for in this brave new world. I also hoped not to be set upon by a throng of redcaps again, that sucked balls!

  “So, are you cool to hang here tonight? I’m sort of not allowed to stray very far from Seri’s watchful gaze. She is afraid that I will start snacking on the locals.”

  Seri sniffed indignantly.

  “Must you villainize me at every turn?!”

  Her tone was annoyed and colored with an undertone of exhaustion. I gave her a grin and shrugged.

  “I’ll let you know in a couple hundred years, how’s that?”

  Seri looked like she was going to bite me for the sassy retort, but she managed to keep her now visible fangs to herself. Also, I noted that the humans passing right beside us took zero interest in the three-and-a-half-inch fangs protruding from her perfectly pink lips.

  “Don’t they see?”

  I pointed to my canines, which were still thankfully human sized now. She twirled a long strawberry strand of her perfectly glossed hair and her mood turned thoughtful.

  “I will have to teach you about glamour, and about geas. You should have been able to work both since childhood, even before you met me, or became a mixed being.”

  I shrugged and gave her a wan smile.

  “We’ve established that many things should have been different for me, but I cannot change my past and I’m not exactly sorry to be me anyway.”

  Her eyes traveled my curvy Latina length and a tiny smile tickled her lips lightly.

  “No, I would think not in this particular case.”

  She hid the flirtation well, but I have a lot of practice at deciphering women. After all, it’s really awkward to mistake a straight girl’s compliment for flirtation! I made that mistake more than a few times and it led to a few lost friendships!

  “So, what’s on the agenda for tonight boss-lady?’

  I cleared my throat and acted as nonchalant as possible. Seri smiled brighter now.

  “We have a few local grunge bands playing the club tonight. You shall be serving drinks and helping Liam, while I attend to some business in my offices. If you feel your blood-hunger slipping from your control, either find Liam, or find me. We shall get you used to human interaction in a safe and controlled environment.”

  I bit my lip and considered her logic for a moment.

  “That’s not a bad idea actually…”

  Seri narrowed her eyes at me.

  “I’ve walked amongst humans for three-hundred-years, please, your lack of faith in me is becoming disturbing.”

  “And, she’s back…”

  I muttered sarcastically to myself. Seri quirked a brow and huffed throwing up her arms, sauntering off to hand out her royal proclamations elsewhere. That was progress, right? No one was bitten, and everyone still had all his or her digits intact!

  Nine:

  Gothic and grunge mixed décor filled the room and so did a sea of people. So many humans were all cheering for the first band on the stage with heightened expectations. With a mix of more classic punk tributes, like The Clash and The Sex Pistols, the whole joint was thumping and banging. Energy infused the air, and so did the alluring smell of human blood. Blood I could practically taste through the air, even with the people intact.

  Serving drinks had been a little more difficult than I had first imagined it to be. Part of me had expected this ridiculous limitation of my social interactions to be overkill. Not now, I could totally see why new vampires might go crazy and maybe bite a few people too many if allowed to roam freely.

  Even with my scruples against hurting people, instinct seemed to press on my temples, and set the back of my throat to a burning throbbing ache.

  Henry had hung with me for about ten-minutes, and then he ran off to find better things to occupy himself with for the night. Being a babysitter to a newly changed vampire must not rank up on his list of priorities. That, or the fact that witch seemed to make the list of appealing beverages of choice might factor into his decision to steer clear of me.

  Bright spotlights swung around in the lowly lit crowd, and dancers jumped and thrashed to the rhythm of the four-chord progression that was classing punk themed rock. The noise had begun to bother me, so I had found a supply of earplugs in the office next to Seri.

  Seri was mingling and playing vampire hostess like she was born to the role—and she sort of was really. Part of my mind couldn’t begin to wrap itself around the complexity of her birthright. I didn’t know much of anything about the domains, or how they operated, other than a king or queen of that land ruling them. I did understand that Seri was somehow destined to rule them all as a final authority.

  She seemed hell-bent on avoiding said destiny, but I had no idea why. Besides, she wasn’t exactly thrilled with my attempts to inquire deeper into the matter. She looked about as broody as the Salvatore brothers did, from The Vampire Diaries. Broody, gorgeous and deadly, Seri was the ultimate honey trap for a girl like me!

  My hunger flared up several times, and Liam stuck close to me. The supernatural men were aware of my status, and they kept a safe distance, but the human ones who just saw a sort of cute Spanish girl, were all over me for hours on end. It was a wonder I didn’t bite them, just to gain a moment of peace and silence—yes, I realize the irony of such a statement inside a music club!

  Liam was a godsend. I even forgave him the for-show groping he gave me to make the other men back off. He was cool, but friends do not grope other friends’ asses in public, unless they are female and have a succulent pair of… well you get the point.

  Even with the burning in my throat and the incessant male harassment, the ambience of Cold Coffin was spectacular! Of course, something had to go wrong, or my luck would have been too good!

  Bix found me serving a tray-load of bourbon and beer to a massive table of college-age hipsters. I grinned at her, until I saw the dire expression on her face. While Bix seemed to carve out her own definition of the word “professional” this looked scared, or even perplexed.

  I waved to her with my free hand and she came close into my personal space, towering over me.

  “What’s up?”

  I tried to keep my voice casual.

  “Come with me.”

  Her tone brokered no arguments, just a statement of fact. While I could have thrown another fit about being ordered around by someone I barely knew, I felt in my
bones that something was terribly wrong. Something akin to me being attacked by redcap’s kind of wrong.

  I swallowed and nodded my understanding. Bix spun and began to lead me towards the far-back door, to the club-side access to the apartments above. I swallowed down my nerves and I practically jogged after her. Damn her and her long ass legs making me run to keep up with her!

  My eyes caught a strange shimmering around the entire back wall surrounding the door. I could see figures on the other side milling about. I squinted my eyes and I saw someone lying on the floor unmoving. My instincts were surging my body full of adrenaline now. I didn’t have to be a seasoned detective to tell what I was seeing as we walked through the glittering light around the area. This was a crime scene, and Seri stood a few feet from a prone female form. She was slim and had chestnut hair that was cut to her shoulders.

  There was a pool of cooling blood rushing from the open neck wound. She was a fae, a light fae from my limited knowledge of their distinctive differences. Her golden skin tone told of her love of sunlight, a hallmark trade of a light fairy. She was shorter than Seri, about five-two, and she looked to be all of nineteen.

  I felt my throat tighten with my nerves. My gut churned, but I managed not to toss my cookies all over the active crime scene. Seri looked over to me and her eyes were pure glowing ice. Power zipped around like unseen electricity in the air. Her ire bore down upon me as if all the evils of the world could be laid at my feet.

  My gut dropped when I realized I had not been brought to help, rather to be accused. Seri looked at me with a cold heat that promised me everything but death, for death must be too good for one who would cross her. Death is final, and Seri didn’t seem like anything would ever satisfy her.

  She stalked forward with a prance that no cat in nature could ever manage. Her intoxicating beauty was staggering, even under these circumstances with a body between us.

  “I thought you might be willing to explain why you have done this. Have we not been tolerant of you? Have I not been forgiving of your insolence? Well?!”

  I flinched at the last bit and my eyes were fixed on hers. I hadn’t moved since she began to close the gap between us. That primal part of my brain was screaming at me to stay still. I felt outrage, sure, and I felt righteous fury towards the vampire I did indeed owe my life to, but I was smarter than to let my temper free right now. Nothing good would come of me losing it, not here, or now.

  I closed my eyes for a moment and I sucked down a deep steadying breath. When I opened them again, I found Seri waiting for my response, no less angry than the moment before.

  “How long ago was she killed, and who found the body?”

  I asked her levelly and kept my eyes trained on hers. Seri’s brows scrunched in confusion at my questions. She had been expecting something else, likely begging, groveling, or out-right denial. Instead, my criminology training was kicking in.

  “Thirty-minutes ago and Bix found her body when she came to get her wallet from her apartment. That was fifteen-minutes-ago.”

  So, the killing took place half-an-hour-ago. I knew exactly where I was at that precise moment in time.

  “Have Liam come over and confirm that I was being rescued from six tall frat guys, by him at that time. We then went back to restock vodka; the bar was running a bit low at that point. I remember the time, because I could see it reflecting through the window out front. Besides, Liam didn’t leave my side after that, until just now when he sent me to pass out the shots and beers. He was worried I might bite one of the drunken frat pricks who wanted to score with a Mexican chick.”

  Seri seemed to be so still that she looked almost like the world’s sexiest mannequin. I could see her gaze was still trained on my features, and she finally nodded once.

  “Bix get Liam, I will keep an eye on her for now.”

  Seri didn’t even spare the woman a glance, her focus was on me.

  “You think you’re clever, preparing an alibi and using Liam of all people?”

  She pointed to the floor beyond the victim and I spotted chalky marking in the floor. They looked like squiggles and hexagonal outlines around each. My memory was already rushing to where I had seen these before, and I didn’t like the answer I gained a fraction of a second later.

  “Henry… He had stuff like this in his house, along with ceremonial daggers and bowls. He had spices, and all kinds of Wiccan things. What are these? What do they mean?”

  Seri’s rage peeked, and she grabbed me by the shirt and threw me into the hall. I flew past the dead girl, whose name I still didn’t know. I had hardly begun to meet any of the residence here, considering how fresh I was.

  I hit the first series of stairs with a meaty thud and I yelped in pain. I felt something snap, I wasn’t sure if it was a muscle or a bone. My back was agony. I took a few pained breaths and Seri was on me again. Her rage was legendary.

  “You think you can talk your way out of this little girl? I saved you, I brought you into my home, and this is how you repay me?!”

  I coughed and hacked. I locked my eyes on her and I tilted my chin up. I was used to assholes trying to take shit out one me, so I wasn’t going to break for her. Not when I didn’t do what she’s trying to lay at my feet!

  “Fuck you bitch! I told you I didn’t do this, and I didn’t know that Henry was going to either! He’s a friend, but not someone I would break my own morale code for! I am about to join the NYPD you stupid thunder-cunt! Why would I go around murdering some fairy girl I didn’t even meet yet? Why? I was dead earlier this week, so if you’re going to kill me again, for no reason, just do it and spare me your short-sighted temper tantrum!”

  Seri balled her right fist and raised it, but a large male hand caught her fit. Liam stood in front of me, cutting her off from me.

  “Seraphina Herrington, this lass is telling the truth. She was with me the entire time, and she lost track of that arsehole of hers hours ago! She was asking me if I saw the bloody bugger! She is not lying! Damn you Seri, think! Does this lass strike you as a bleeding criminal?! Shite woman, yer goin to be the death of me!”

  Seri snarled a strange blend of hiss and animal growl. It was a very vicious combination.

  “Lassie go pack up yer things and I’ll see ye back ta yer loft, yeah.”

  I began to scrape myself up off the ground and I felt one of my back muscles screaming in pain. Torn muscle, at least nothing was broken! Liam held Seri at bay long enough to let me get to the hidden parking deck they had bellow the high rise. Somehow, he had beaten me here, even whilst holding the master of this domain at bay.

  Liam leaned against a silver Audi sports coupe with a turbo logo on the front fender. I wasn’t much of a car girl, mainly due to being extremely poor, but this looked a lot like the car in the Iron Man movie.

  Liam gave me a very tired looking smile and waved me forward.

  “Come on; let’s go get ye tucked in for the night.”

  Ten:

  Libby Chase had been the name of the dead girl, and she was indeed a light fae. Apparently, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Her father was a domain lord of legendary power. Libby was also the closest thing to a real friend that Seri had.

  Liam was sitting on my couch and I brought over two cups of hot tea. Sometimes I enjoyed the Earl Grey, instead of a cup of coffee. Liam gave me a warm smile.

  “Bless ye lass.”

  I sat his teacup in front of him and I sat opposite him on my small couch. I had very sparse furniture, and all of it was second hand. My place was a mess, but not as bad as I remembered it being. He must have straightened up a bit last time he had been here to gather some of my belongings.

  “You’re sure I didn’t poison it? I mean, everyone else seemed fine thinking I kill that girl.”

  Liam’s eyes narrowed, and he looked ruffled with my attempt at morbid humor.

  “Yer not going to win any new friend like that lass, but no I don’t believe you to be a coward. If you wanted us dead, then you’
d bloody well do it to our faces, not skulking about in the shadows and using necromantic runes.”

  A chill traveled down my back.

  “Necromantic runes are you telling me that those were the work of a necromancer?”

  Liam wagged his hand.

  “Yes, and no. Those were rituals to a necromancer’s spell, but the use of chalk and herbs screams armature, or at least weakling. A girl of your power wouldn’t need the bloody runes to begin with, besides, you have permission to move freely through that area. We attuned the wards to you while you slept. We just hadn’t gotten around to explaining any of this to ye.”

  I blinked rapidly.

  “So, there is some kind of what, magical lock on the back door?”

  Liam nodded and took a sip of his tea. He was the picture of Scottish grace and proper manners now. Clearly, something drilled into him from living in a time when such social niceties were considered a must.

  “So, whoever did this, they used some kind of necromancer spell to get behind the ward, thing?”

  Liam snorted and nodded at the same time.

  “Aye those wards are very strong too lass, so none of us expects to have trouble once we close that door.”

  “So, she was not on guard for a possible attack there? And, the killer used something that would implicate me?”

  Liam nodded again.

  “But why necromancer runes, because my knowledge of death magic is that it is mostly used to raise the dead or speak to the dead. How could someone draw necromancer runes and expect it to break a ward? Besides, wouldn’t Seri have felt her warn being tampered with?”

  Liam’s eyes seemed to be looking into the past now, recalling something from a long time ago.

  “I have heard of such a necromantic pattern of runes before. It deadens a spot in the magic. Magic has life of its own you see, so if you can deaden it with death magic…”

  I cut in, finishing for him.

  “You could walk right through a protected area without raising suspicions!”

  Liam raised his teacup in a mock-toast to me.