by Jen Pretty
I stared at him for a minute. He was acting weird, and I did not understand what he was… then it occurred to me.
“It wasn’t a spell?”
“It was a vision. She showed you the future. Your future.” Frankie pushed off the side of the Hummer and walked away. I watched him in shock until he disappeared around the corner of the alley we had parked in.
I didn’t know what to do with that information. I wanted to chase down Frankie and do something. Say something. Instead, I stood in the cold ally beside the hummer until Drew got out and ushered me into the back seat, carefully closing the door behind me.
The implications were huge. Elliot looked like Vincent. Could vampires even have children? I had never heard of anything like that. It would be a miracle. Frankie must be wrong. The witch had used some weird magic. Even as I tried to convince myself it was all just a spell and not some vision of the future, my heart cried out for my sweet little boy.
Tears welled in my eyes and blurred my vision. Singh’s arm came around my shoulders, and I turned my face into his chest as sobs wracked my body. I cried for my boy and a bit for Vincent. The stupid vampire was under my skin and the idea we would have a son someday. A beautiful boy with soft eyes and so much innocence — it broke my heart. Durga tried to rise and steal my sadness, but I shoved her down and let every emotion pour out of me. She relented and drifted into her place inside me to wait out my sorrow.
When the hummer stopped, doors opened and closed, and I tried to pull myself together. I took deep breaths, but before I got it together, the door beside me opened, and Drew’s arms slid under me, lifting me off the seat. I turned my face into his chest, and he carried me. I peeked back and realized he was taking me into Vaughn’s mansion. The guys had already gone ahead in, and Singh was back in lion form, swaggering along beside us like a predator on the prowl.
“What’s happened?” Vaughn’s accented voice came from the foyer.
I pushed at Drew’s chest, and he set my feet on the ground. Vaughn took in my face and appearance.
“Is it over? Is my brother dead?” he asked, his face serious.
I looked down. I didn’t want to be the person to tell him I had killed his brother. I was sure he would take it the same way Vincent had and reject me, kick me out of his house.
He scooped me up in his arms and swung me around. “Thank you, Durga, for freeing my brother from his pain.”
I tried to look at him, and he set my feet down. My confusion must have shown.
“He was a good man and a gentle soul before he fell. He tried to lead us all on the right path,” he said. A tear fell from his eye, and he smiled sadly. “He was a good man. I am glad he is finally free.”
“Is Vincent here?” I asked. Not sure what to say to Vaughn. His reaction was unexpected.
“My brother stopped by to say goodbye and then left for home about an hour ago,” he said.
I nodded and moved to go up the stairs. Drew had gone that way, I wanted to find a bed and sleep in it for a few days.
“He will come around,” Vaughn said from behind me. I stopped my foot on the first step and looked back at him. Vaughn blinked at me with the same eyes as Vincent; as Elliot. I felt a stab in my chest at the thought. I took a deep breath and smiled at Vaughn though I didn’t feel happy. I didn’t want to rest all my hopes and dreams on one vampire. It was too much, but if that witch had shown me the future, Vincent would have to forgive me someday. I climbed the stairs and followed the sound of my lion snoring to a bedroom with a big plush bed. I hoped it was a spare room and Singh hadn’t just stolen someone's room as I kicked off my shoes.
I peeled off Vilen’s jacket and my bloody T-shirt. My sports bra wasn’t too disgusting, but my pants had to go. My broken leg had soaked my pants with blood. I grabbed the first thing I found in the closet and took a shower. It was harder than I imagined scrubbing the dried blood off my skin as tears blinded me. The clothes from the closet turned out to be a giant sweater, I pulled it on and crawled into bed with Singh, curling into his warm back. I couldn't sleep, but laying down with my eyes closed felt good. My muscles ached, but mostly my heart. What a ridiculous life I was living. After about an hour of watching Singh twitch in his sleep, I got up.
There were no pants in the closet that would fit me, but the sweater hung almost to my knees. I could apologize to whoever owned the sweater I had stolen, but the size suggested I was in Vilen or Ninel’s. I had met no other vampires as big as them here.
I wandered through the house towards the kitchen. Several vampires were in the dining room as I went by, but when I walked into the kitchen, Kelly was the only one around.
“Oh, you look like shit,” she said. I felt like shit, so it wasn’t a surprise. I laughed though. The laughter soon turned to sobs and her thin arms wrapped around my shoulders. I cried on her shoulder for several minutes as she rubbed my back.
“It will be ok, Lark,” she whispered when my sobs turned to sniffles.
"I’m sorry," I said, straightening and noticing the tear stains I had left on her shoulder. Shit. "I'm sorry."
“Don’t worry about it. Why don’t we get out of here? You could probably use a drink.” I think I loved Kelly at that moment. She picked out some clothes for me and shoved me toward a shower. I hadn't done a great job in the first shower, so I took my time and got clean, washing my hair and then brushing it too. I put on a cute tight dress and heels. Not my typical clothes, but I wasn’t feeling my typical self anymore. I wanted to be someone else for one night.
When Kelly stopped her car in front of a nightclub with music pounding, I knew I loved her.
We walked in, and eyes followed us. We nearly matched in our outfits. The fog of sadness faded. A few drinks later, I forgot my sadness completely. I danced and drank the night away. Feeling young and normal. Durga left me alone, but I felt her sadness under the surface occasionally when I was too sober. A few more drinks and I forgot all about Durga too.
By the time the club was closing, Kelly and I were laughing and chatting with some cute Russian men. Well, Kelly was talking, I was ogling and didn’t hide it.
“Lark,” a voice said behind me. I froze. I knew the voice and knew, deep down in my bones, something had happened, and I wouldn't like it.
I turned to look at Drew’s serious face. Singh and Ninel stood behind him.
I considered making a run for the ladies' room so they couldn’t say the words I didn’t want to hear.
Too late, he was right in front of me.
“They are reporting the slaughter of an entire village,” he said. Ruining my night completely and bringing me back to the real world. I looked at Kelly. She was still talking with the Russians. Laughing. Oblivious. Her life was so much simpler. I wished for her life.
I walked back over and said goodbye.
She hugged me and told me to be careful. I turned back to the team.
“All right, let's go to India,” I said.
At least it would be hot there.
MOURNING
LARK
Goddess Durga -Book 3
Jen Pretty
In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.
—Charles DickEns,
great expectations
CHAPTER ONE
The streets were dull and tired. The moon glowed between the black clouds that had been threatening rain all night.
“Can we go home now? We have been out here all night,” Drew complained. He was lagging. Durga kept pushing at me mentally, but I knew it wasn’t to look for rogue vampires in this city. She had a different target in mind — one who had been suspiciously absent for too long.
“Fine, let’s head back to the van,” I said, scanning the dark streets one last time.
Singh swung around and marched down the street. He had been dragging his feet too. Interesting that he found energy when we turned for home. His desires rarely went past sleeping
and eating now that the city was quiet.
After I killed Frankie's father and Vincent disappeared, our hands had been full with hunting vampires. Vincent spent centuries keeping order in the city, and when he left, there was a big influx of vampires who thought they could get away with whatever they wanted.
They quickly learned Vlad was just as tough if not tougher and Durga took no prisoners. Literally.
We hadn’t found a single rogue or fallen vampire in weeks.
Halfway back to the van, the clouds let go of the heavy rain they had been holding. Singh and Drew jogged the rest of the way, but I kept the same pace. The rain cooled my face, hanging off my eyelashes for a moment before dripping to run down my cheeks. It trickled through the seams of my jacket until my shirt clung to my shoulders beneath it.
The van pulled up beside me, and I slid the door open. Singh had shifted into a lion and draped his furry butt across the back seat. I slammed the door shut again and went around to the passenger side, sliding in with a squeak as my wet leather pants squished across the vinyl seat.
“You know it’s been quiet...” Drew said. He had brought up the topic four times this week already.
“I already told you, not yet.”
“I’m just saying. We don’t need to stay here now. Other teams can handle…”
“Just drive the car,” I interrupted. When someone leaves you in the dust with zero contact, it’s was weird to go chasing after them.
Back at the mansion, Drew went to the entertainment room where voices were cheering at some sports game on the TV. Singh sauntered up the stairs still in lion form.
“Don’t you dare lie in my bed all wet,” I called to him. He twitched his tail and turned towards my room. I made a mental note to find clean sheets before I went to bed.
I turned down the hall towards the office. I knocked, I still expected to hear Vincent's voice. Vlad’s gentler and more Russian accented, “Come in,” wasn’t as startling as the first few times I’d heard it through the solid wood door, but it still wasn’t right.
“Hey, Vlad, any news?” I asked, sitting down in the chair in front of what used to be Vincent’s desk. Vlad had left the decor the same in the room. It was like we were both just holding still until Vincent came back. The same books on the bookshelves and the same uncomfortable tiny couches lined the walls. When I looked at them, it brought back memories that I didn’t know how to handle.
“No, but as I keep telling you, don’t worry about it. Vampires often go off the radar for a few months and pop back up just as quick. It's like time flies by suddenly, and we don’t notice.”
I heard this already. It didn’t make it easier. I needed to hear from Vincent. As soon as I found out he left, I wanted to chase him down, but then vampires crawled all over the city, and I couldn’t go. Now Durga was napping most of the time and only coming out to push at my mind. It was like she was saving up her energy for something.
Probably something I would hate.
“Your warlock was hanging around looking for you,” Vlad said with a smile.
Great.
“Did he say what he wanted?” I asked, picking non-existent lint off my pants.
“Nope, he popped in and asked where you were.”
“Ok, I’ll see you later.”
Vlad winked at me. I shook my head. Although it was morning, I wasn’t tired, so I headed for the front door of the mansion. As I entered the foyer, the door swung open, and a smiling Trevor bounced in.
“Hey, Lark,” he said. His cheeks had colour to them, and he didn’t need to wear baggy clothes to cover his skeletal frame anymore. He was thin, but gaining lean muscle from yoga and the kickboxing the hunters were teaching him.
“Hey, how was school?” I asked
“Pretty good, you leaving?” he hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m just going out for a bit, I’ll be back later for our movie,” I replied. We had started a ritual movie time in the middle of the day since I didn’t need to sleep all day anymore.
“Ok, see you later!” Trevor said as he skipped off.
I walked out the door and went down to the garage to find my SUV.
I pulled into the dusty parking lot in front of The Crossroads bar, where all the witches and warlocks of Frankie’s coven hung out, and turned off the SUV, stepping out into the cool morning air. It was an unseasonably cold winter. Nothing like up north, but cool enough that I welcomed the sun that peeked over the horizon bringing a tiny ray of warmth.
I pushed the door open to a full house of witches and warlocks. Every magical head turned to look at me, and the busy room dropped to silence.
Several of the coven members scurried out the back door. A group of witches near me leaned away like I had the plague.
Frankie had visited me at the mansion a couple of times in the last few months, but I hadn’t been to their bar. I only now realized that was weird and maybe there was a reason for it.
“Lark,” Frankie said.
He waved me into his office. I walked past all the worried faces and into his office, closing the door behind me. Photos still covered the walls, but the pictures with Frankie’s father were absent, replaced with newer photos. Frankie pulled me into a hug and held me for a moment, but I pushed him back.
“They are afraid of me?” I asked. “Why are they afraid of me, Frankie?”
He sighed, like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “Because you turned into Durga and killed Bennet, Lark. They are all worried that Durga will think they are evil and kill them.”
I laughed, but there was no humour in it. “But you aren’t afraid that Durga will kill you?”
“No. I think she knows who I am by now,” he said with a cocky smile.
“Well, can’t you explain it to them?” It was bad enough a few of the vampires in the mansion still avoided me if all the witches and warlocks were afraid of me too?
“I’ve tried Lark.” he sighed again and threw his hands in the air. A helpless gesture. “I think they need more time. Why don’t we go out somewhere?”
“I don’t feel like going out anywhere,” I said, turning to leave.
“Please, Lark? This is a temporary problem. Don’t run away from me.”
“I’m not running away. I’m just tired suddenly.”
Frankie grabbed my hand as I went to turn away and pulled me back to his arms.
“I miss you, Lark. I never see you anymore,” he complained, brushing the hair back from my face.
His hair was shaggy, and his beard had a few days growth on it making him look more rugged than usual. His tall frame dwarfed me. He made me feel sheltered from the storm when I was in his arms. It was nice and sweet. It made me forget Vincent for a few minutes.
His eyes locked on mine and I realized I had wandered into thoughts of Vincent while Frankie held me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
He kissed my forehead and then let me go, returning to his desk. He always had work to do.
“Yeah, I have a lot of work to do now that my coven is smaller. I have no one who can do the books,” he replied to my unspoken thought without looking up.
I was making it worse. Keeping my thoughts under control was impossible. “I’m gonna go,” I tried to turn again, but he popped up in front of me.
“Wait, I’m sorry, Lark. I’m just stressed out. It's not your fault. I’ll stop reading your mind, ok?”
I snorted a laugh.
“OK,” Frankie laughed too. “I’ll stop taking what you think so personally.”
Doing something fun with Frankie might help me forget my problems, but I was just in a weird mood, and it wouldn’t be good for either of us.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, OK?”
He bit his lip and nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lark.” He leaned in and kissed my lips softly making my heart flutter and do foolish things. His hand came around my back, sliding up my spine and the sweet kiss turned into more. Time stood still, and I
got completely lost in the moment. When we both came up for air, I laughed. That was one thing Frankie and I were always on the same page about. He hugged me and then I walked back out through the now empty bar and into the morning light.
The drive back to the house was lonely. I was tired of feeling so alone.
Back at the mansion, I struggled to remember feeling lonely while pinned under a 400lb lion and wedged between two laughing hyenas. Ok, the hyenas were Trevor and Drew. They had chosen a comedy for movie time, and it was hilarious. Even my crappy mood couldn’t stop every bubble of laughter that lurched out of me. When it was over, the three of us worked together to roll Singh off, and we went to the kitchen to grab lunch.
“That was a good movie. We could watch the sequel tomorrow,” Trevor said.
“Great idea,” Drew agreed.
They both looked at me for confirmation, but I was considering something else.
“I think it's time to go, actually.”
“Go where?” Trevor asked at the same time as Drew said “About time.”
“I’m going to go find Vincent,” I replied as I stood up and returned my dishes and then went to tell Vlad.
Driving away from the mansion was a little strange. Like a ship set adrift, I somehow knew I wouldn’t be back for a while. Durga stirred inside me as if she had read my thought and agreed. When I blinked, her smiling image flashed on the backs of my eyelids. At least she was happy. This new feeling worried me but compelled me forward faster than the legal limit.
“We have plenty of time, Lark,” Drew said, gripping the door handle with white knuckles.
“That doesn’t mean I need to drive like a grandma.” I took the next turn slower, Drew still braced himself.
“No, but you don’t have to drive like we are in a road race, either,” he replied.
The speed limit was only a suggestion, and I wasn’t going that fast.
I was only bringing Drew and, of course, Singh. The three of us had become inseparable in the last few months. Cedric had taken over some duties at the house to help Vlad, so we barely saw him anymore.
