He walked up her driveway. The flat, inlaid stones were sleek and shiny from a mid-afternoon rain. His boots squeaked slightly as he made his way around the back of the house.
Edric pulled out his lock pick set and slid the metal into the groove, before giving the hooked end one sharp twist. The handle popped open, and he was in. A little dog raced toward him, all teeth and bright black eyes. He grabbed the animal’s soft white fur, the coat quickly turned red with the slash of his knife.
Animals disgusted him. But they hadn't once. They’d been the start to this very road of salvation and gave him an edge to hone his skills. Their killings had been fun for a while. Now they were little more than a hindrance. Something in the way of the real fun.
He threw the little body into the trash and wiped away the glistening puddle. It would be of no benefit to frighten the woman before he made his presence felt. As he thought of her yellow hair, he hardened inside his jeans and licked his lips. He wanted to make his presence felt in a big way.
This one’s hair was not quite as long as the blonde bitch’s, her face not as soft and beautiful. But he’d felt that unmistakable tug in his gut the first time he saw her. She wasn’t his blonde bitch but he’d take her anyway, again and again.
He wandered through the house, noting the male clothing in the basket of dirty laundry and circled back around to the kitchen, to look at the time. He’d need to work faster than he would’ve preferred. He didn’t want some husband breaking his stride. There was a method to breaking down a human. He knew the method well, but it took time, and time was wasting.
The squelch of wet tires caught his attention. He moved back into the laundry, listening. He moved back behind the wall while the key slid into the lock and the door opened. The footsteps sounded so close, he was sure he could reach out and touch her, so close he could do some damage.
From behind the laundry door he sneaked glances of her while she carried the two bags of groceries and set on them on the counter before re-locking the back door. He moved behind her quietly, his shoes no longer squeaking from the wet.
“I'd ask you not to scream. But experience has shown me, it's inevitable.”
She whirled, her eyes wide with fear. “Who… who are you! What are you doing in my house?” She stumbled back and knocked her hip into the counter, but she had nowhere to go. He’d stop her before she even moved.
“It's okay.” Edric brushed back the strands of blonde hair from her face. “It’ll only hurt until you die.”
She drew breath to scream. The sound probably would’ve been a bone-chilling scream if he hadn't hit her, a loud bone-chilling scream, which would’ve carried outside. He couldn’t have that. He punched her in the stomach over and over. His blows forced the air from her lungs. She doubled over and hit the floor. He walked casually back to the counter and drew the largest knife from the block.
“Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go.” He smiled and turned toward her.
The blonde scooted backwards, leaving a smear of blood across the floor. He moved fast, leaving her to whimper and moan as she tried to track his movements. The whimpering was the same with each victim. This can’t be happening. This just a dream.
“Please, no. This can’t be happening. It’s just a dream.”
She kept pushing back into the wall, even though she could no longer move. The knife was like an extension of his body. He whipped the blade back and forward. Cutting her dress down the middle, he jerked the fabric free from her arms. The blonde was left in nothing but her white lace panties, her swollen belly stretched tight and laced with stretch marks.
He bought the blade up to his face. In the metal, he watched his reflection change until he caught sight of her in the steel. There, right there…. His body surged and thickened, hardening in his jeans, while the memory of her returned. The feral anger, lips drawn back, ready to strike—just as she’d looked that night. Here she was. He closed his eyes, capturing the memory once again.
“There you are, you fucking bitch.”
When he was ready, he opened his eyes and moved toward the woman. With her image held tightly in his mind, he could imagine this was her. He grabbed the woman’s hair and pulled her up. The tearing of her scalp started her screaming again. He whipped his hand out, catching her mouth. Sweet silence filled the air again.
But the image in his mind wavered, crumbling like sand in water, and with it went his desire. He rubbed himself hard, squeezing and releasing. He needed to ride that edge again. His body betrayed him, leaving him soft and unresponsive.
“No!” He squeezed his eyes closed and searched for her. But she was gone. His heart lay silent in his chest. If revived, the organ would’ve been racing, driving his rage through his veins like a spike. He turned to the cowering, bleeding woman and in this moment saw only the woman he sought, but couldn’t find. She disgusted him. “Now, this is about to get messy.”
Chapter 23
Grimm
HE’D SEEN KALI change into this black mist once before and the decimation that followed was aptly named a plague. The black plague was here. There was no other word for this phenomenon. Complete destruction was all that would come now.
The whistle of an object cutting through the air caused Grimm to jerk his head up. But the warning came far too late for him to move and he was hit from behind. One second he was standing and the next he was on the floor with metal spikes piercing through his brain. Grimm clawed the floor beneath him, frantically holding on to his snowed-out world. He had to stop this. He had to stop Kali….
He sensed movement above him. A voice growled, “As I said, not impressed.”
Grimm tried to move his hand. He tried to stop what was about to come. Death was the only thing Grimm could think about. Death was all he saw. Not just the vamp’s death, but… everyone’s. Visions of the dead called to Grimm, dead humans who unknowingly stumbled into a fight between the Family and a group of demons many years ago. The black plague who was Kali would take no prisoners and know no allies. They were all dead. Every. Last. One. Of. Them.
He groaned and tried to roll into a sitting position. The room spun. Grimm could hear the human speaking to others, just outside the door. The brave stranger was trying to calm the other passengers. The attempt was obviously not working.
“Grimm… Jesus, about fucking time.” Jinx’s face came far too close, the image swayed and blurred. “You gotta go and calm the humans down. I’ve hypnotized most of them, but there might be others. I’ll stay here with Kali. Hurry. Go!”
Jinx jerked him off the floor. His head roared. Pain chased away the last dull thought and the level of shit they were in came flooding back.
He caught a glimpse of Kali, now no more than a hovering cloud of death, before he was ushered past the human and out the door… His heart twisted inside his chest, cramping, clenching, knowing they were all gonna die. He’d failed everyone.
An older woman with spiky grey hair and weathered skin grabbed what was left of his shirt. “I feel strange. I’m not sure what’s going on here?”
Jinx had done a half-assed job with the trance work. This woman looked high more than anything else. A few of the other passengers pushed their way to where Grimm stood. One woman carried empty food containers and a swollen stinking air-sickness bag. Grimm sniffed the air and instantly regretted the act. His stomach rolled and he gagged. “What’s going on in there? Where are the hostesses?”
He stared down at her. What the fuck was he supposed to say? He cleared his throat and tried not inhale. “Have you heard the good news about our Lord Jesus Christ today?”
Her eyes rolled and the woman groaned. “Fuck, this is all I need, some bible-bashing freak I can’t escape from.” She spun on her heel and strode off.
A yell had him wishing to God he knew what was happening in there, and in the next second he was glad he didn’t. Vampires shoved at the door and knocked him out of the way. He stumbled back and held out his arms, creating a barrier between them a
nd the doped-out humans.
The black plague followed them. It seeped from the compartment. Black tendrils of smoke reached toward him. Grimm backed up, forcing the humans to take a step back, or risk being trodden.
“What is that?” The fearful question came from behind him.
“Jesus, is it smoke? Is the plane on fire?”
Grimm felt a ripple of fear echo the rising pitch in their voices.
“I don’t smell smoke. Maybe fog?”
What came for them wasn’t smoke, nor fog. The black death snaked its way around the vamps in front of him, killing, consuming. The smoke wasn’t even Kali anymore. The vamps were lifted into the air. Trailing black soot hovered around them, wafting over their faces. They kicked and thrashed, dancing a crazy version of the Macarena, as blood oozed from their eyes and trailed from their nose. The black mist devoured the undead until whatever existence they’d once possessed was gone, and then dropped their lifeless bodies to the ground.
“Get back.” Grimm pushed at the crowd behind him. The mist reached out, snake like fingers edging toward them. “Just get the fuck back!”
Grimm held out his arms, using his body to shield who he could, knowing his actions were useless. In seconds they would be dead anyway. The black plague rose in a cumulus cloud, the shadow of unspoken horror brought to life. The humans behind him mumbled their slurred disbelief. They didn’t understand the atrocity they were witnessing. But he knew.
“Please,” Grimm whispered. His legs shook and he fought the urge to be submissive. The black plague hovered. Death, decay, and the scent of something older than the dirt filled his senses. He pleaded not for himself, but for the war—for the Balance. “Kali, please.”
The black plague waited, floating within reach, yet not moving to take hold. He glanced at the lifeless vampires on the ground. Immortality was no match for what Kali had become. So why did the plague stop now? What was she waiting for?
The mist took shape before his eyes, sculpting itself until the image of Kali appeared. Is it her? Can she hear me? She reached out to him, inching slowly, before she stopped. Kali wrenched her hand back, staring at him with a look of fear. Fear for what she’d become. Fear for what she could do. Then the murderous fog recoiled and swept back underneath the compartment door like the back draft of an inferno.
“What. The. Fuck.” Someone gasped behind him, breaking the silence.
Grimm waited, hovering on the precipice of everything going to goddamn hell before he surged forward. Grimm grabbed the first shirt he could reach and began heaving dead vamps into the baggage compartment, but he darted nervous glances through the receding mist, searching for Jinx. When he’d tossed the last one, he forced his balls out of his gut and stepped through the door.
He found the vampire trying his best to become one with the tiny lockers in an attempt to get as far away from Kali as possible. “I don't know what happened. I'm not sure what to do.”
“Just relax, okay. It’s Kali. You go out and finish spelling these humans and I’ll take care of her.”
“I’m not a witch you know?” Jinx snarled. “I don’t do spells.”
Grimm punted the vampires into the corner and searched the remainder of the compartment. “The bomb?”
“The plague... I mean, Kali killed the vamp after he went after you. I pulled out the wire and the countdown stopped.”
Grimm found his tattooed arm and rolled the vamp over. Sure enough, the display was stuck on thirty-three seconds. It was a close call, real fucking close.
“I think...” Jinx started. “I think the plague is trying to turn back into Kali, but she’s stuck.”
A tiny voice seemed to come from the ground. “Wait.” Grimm spied the mobile phone and pointed to the floor. “Jinx. The phone, get it.”
The vampire dug underneath the torn mess of arms and bloody torsos to pull out Kali’s phone. Grimm urged him to hurry. He wouldn’t be happy until the dead vamps were turned to ash. He could hear Scribe’s voice calling them. The faded sound became clearer as Jinx wrenched the handset from underneath dead bodies, holding the phone to his ear with an expression of distaste. His gaze bounced from Grimm to where the plague hovered in the corner, before he nodded and used the phone to gesture toward what used to be Kali. “Scribe wants us to put the phone close to her.”
“What? Why?”
“He said Rashda wants to communicate with her. I don’t know how, but he said to hold the handset out to her.”
“Rashda is in the phone, as inside the fucking thing?”
Jinx shrugged. “I guess.”
“Well? Hold the fucking thing.”
Jinx stared at the vampires around him, and then shook his head. “I can’t.”
Grimm got it. Dead vamps everywhere and Jinx was worried that Kali might add to the count. She didn’t hurt Grimm when she had the chance and he’d enough of being up close and personal with the goddamn plague. But this was Kali.
Grimm took the phone from Jinx and stepped forward, stretching his arm to its full length, holding the gadget gingerly between two fingers. He’d have to get close to her… to it. The phone wobbled in the air as he shook. Jesus, he felt like a fucking girl. “Kali?” The high-pitched squeak that came from Grimm confirmed his gender for good. Yep, fucking sissy….
The sound echoing through the device was distant, like a recording, but he quickly realized this was her, this was Rashda.
The chant was like nothing he’d heard before. Rashda’s voice filled the compartment. Long, sorrowful sounds drew him into every word, every inflection, and Grimm couldn’t help but be swept away.
Jinx’s voice jerked him from the trance. “Scribe said Rashda will calm her, so Kali can… turn back. She’s our only hope.”
“She?” The human muttered behind him. “That voice. I've heard it before.”
“No way you could’ve,” whispered Jinx. “There are not many beings alive who’ve ever heard that voice, human, or otherwise.”
The black droplets fused together, one after another, until the weightless outline of Kali appeared before Grimm once again. She looked at the phone in his hand and the voice calling her. She reached for the handset and Grimm could feel the cold brush of death against his skin. The plague was no more than a tremble away from taking his life.
Grimm tried to stop from flinching and whimpered. Kali jerked her ghostly hand back, and the black of her body faded to grey like the passing of a thunderstorm. The outline of her body hardened, as did the seductive curve of her lips. The last darkened wisps of smoke divided into strands to her glossy black hair and floated to drape the collar of her shirt once more. Out of death emerged a tiny, trembling, Kali. Grimm knew physically she was okay—every body part was where it was supposed to be. But there was something missing. Something only he could see. The sparkle in her eyes was no longer there, the glimmer stifled by the sheen of her tears as she stared at the phone.
The human moved toward her, reaching out. Grimm shouted, “No, don't touch her!”
Rashda’s voice wafted through the air, filling the silent space. “I’m telling you it’s the same voice. I had a dream about someone who looked like her. But, your eyes are dark. Hers were the most vibrant shade of purple I’d ever seen, iridescent almost.”
The soulful voice on the phone wavered, stopping mid-chant, then continued. The voice of the human drowned her out. “She held me as I burned. She rocked me and whispered everything was going to be okay. That I was going to be okay. She told me there were bigger things out there for me. Important messages I needed to tell others of my kind. A messenger is what she called me.”
“It wasn’t Kali?” Jinx sounded as engrossed in the story as Grimm. He now understood this human was important—for the Balance. Why else would the vamps choose this plane to bomb? What part Sebastian had to play in this macabre dance of life and death Grimm didn’t know, but what he did know was they just risked their lives to find out.
The human shook his head. Kali’s s
trained voice answered. “Purple eyes? That is my sister, my Rashda.”
Chapter 24
Rashda
THAT IS MY sister, my Rashda... Those words were the first Rashda had heard from her sister. She stood in the cavern, listening to Kali's voice, and her soul soared like an eagle on a summer’s day. Rashda held onto the sound of her sister speaking, even when others drowned her out. She held on like Kali was her life raft. Then, in the midst of pure elation, reality came crashing down.
What had she done? The repercussions of this could only be... catastrophic.
The crime had been done. Her crime. But who would pay the price for this betrayal? Not her, she was sure of that. She made an oath to the Master and Mistress, an oath she’d never forgotten. They gave with one hand only to take with the other; this was the divine order of things, Rashda understood that. Kali would be safe and protected, and in return Rashda would stay here in the darkness. But now that agreement was at risk, one phone call had broken her oath. Rashda’s stomach felt heavy. She had nothing left they could take. But the humans had their future, and her Family had their bonds to each other. The Master and Mistress would remain absolved, and they would take all.
Rashda pulled back into her physical form, then ran. She raced along the cave walls, desperate to get to the crevice.
Please. She prayed. Her panic climbed until the searing emotion drowned her. She bounced off the edge of the wall, and pushed her way into the crack in the mountain. Please, this is not their fault. Rashda fell to the ground, desperate for her soul to soar and reach her Master and Mistress. Her thoughts centered on one thing. She would seek their counsel and atone for her sins. She could not bear to exist in a world she alone had damaged by her foolish actions.
Breathe, Rashda, relax. She focused on her breath, trapping the air in her body, slowing the urgency. Until she felt herself lifting, hovering outside her body, before she flew.
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