by E E Everly
Jakob grins. “He should know his place. There’s a hierarchy, a food chain, so to speak, and should he slip up, not a single bloodsucker would hesitate to drink him.”
“I get it. All right.” Thandoran adjusts his jacket. “I’ll wait in the hall. Yell if he tries to kill you.”
I scrunch my nose at Thandoran’s back as he leaves, scrutinizing his swagger. Cocky sprite. He knows I’m watching, so he stretches up and smacks the doorframe above his head.
I roll my eyes.
Jakob snorts as he sets up his equipment.
“Can you collect my blood in vials this time?” I ask.
Jakob tilts his head, his fangs are still extended.
“Put those things away,” I say.
Jakob licks his gums and presses his lips together. When he speaks, his fangs are gone. “Ah. I know what you’re getting at. Need to bribe your vamp guards.”
“More like desensitize them to my taste. A little at a time. One vial at a time.”
“Can I get a few? I can draw twelve vials without draining you too much. That’s four for each of us. One a week. It will last until you come in again.”
“Fine. I suppose I do owe you more of a payment.”
“Yes.” He nods, a greedy excitement on his face, and jabs the needle into my arm.
I wince. “Just don’t give it to any other vampire.”
“I’d never dream of it. Storm sprite blood is rare.”
Don’t I know it. I haven’t seen another storm sprite on Earth since the dead girl in my dorm twenty months ago. And now Thandoran.
Jakob fills the twelve vials, and then I’m on my way with eight of them. Thandoran sulks after me. “You have all these vampires eating out of your hand. They would do anything for you.”
I bat my lashes. “It’s because I’m so adorable.”
“Tasty. You’re tasty.”
Even though I know what he means, I say, “Thank you.”
He stabs the elevator button, not pleased by my unconcerned manner. “So what can I do to fend off vampires? There has to be something.”
“Your storm. Give them a good shock.”
“By the time they grab me and I go to shock them, they will have bitten me, and I’ll be dead. I want some of the vampire strength you have.”
We ride the elevator to the next floor. Thandoran’s silent. Narrowed eyes. Deep in thought. Brooding. Killian used to brood. Why am I so attracted to moody guys?
“It’s not because of the vamp strength,” I say. We head down the hallway. “Their power gives me speed, healing, enhanced senses. If I had just vamp strength, I would be more or less equal to Natalia and Dumitru.”
“But you held them as if they were practically nothing.”
“You want to know what else I have?”
“Yes,” Thandoran says softly, seductively.
Geez. Does he think I’m swayed by how sexy he is?
I might be a little.
Thandoran shoves his hands into his jacket pockets when I don’t answer.
We’re out to the nearly empty parking lot by the time I resign myself. I sigh. I don’t like to give out the demon powers willy-nilly. “Here’s what we’ll do.” I pull the amulet from my pocket with my gloved hand. “Hold out your hand.”
“What’s that?” He doesn’t hesitate even though he has no idea what I’m going to do to him.
“I’ll give you the one strength that’s stronger than a vampire’s. It really is their only advantage. It’s how I held off Natalia and Dumitru.”
“Demon strength.” Thandoran doesn’t look concerned by his guess.
“Yes.”
He holds out his palm. “Do it.”
I press the amulet to his skin. There are tons of demon powers rolling around inside it. As far as I know, the amulet can contain endless amounts. A few seconds should give Thandoran what he needs.
The amulet glows, and Thandoran stiffens. He gasps and pitches forward when I pull the amulet away. “Wow!” He pants as he supports himself on his knees. “That has a mighty kick.”
“You should be well protected. Let’s head to the flat. I want to put these vials on ice.”
I give the bag on my shoulder a jiggle, and my vials clink together. I step toward my car but turn back. “Are you coming?”
Thandoran catches my eye and flashes a wicked grin before blinking out of existence.
I stare at the air where he stood. I’m such an idiot. I forgot about the demon powers of teleportation.
Apparently Thandoran knew all about them.
THIRTEEN
I dial Natalia’s number in a panic, but the first thing I ask about is Dumitru. “Please tell me he’s fine.”
“Dumitru? He’s great,” Natalia says. “The silver didn’t have any lasting effects.”
“Oh thank the droning dryads.”
“He’s not mad either. He’s mostly concerned about you. He thinks Thandoran’s a snake.”
Aw.
“But I von’t let Dumitru leave the mansion,” Natalia says. “He’s throwing things around in the veight room. He’s upset about attacking you.”
“I have an idea.” I tell her about the blood vials.
She’s hesitant at first. “I’ll ask Dumitru if he’s villing to try it.”
“I’ll give you one a week. Just drink it when you’re far away from me.”
Natalia doesn’t answer for a few seconds. She’s moving around. Her room lock clicks. She must have stepped into the hall, but the upper floors in the mansion are carpeted, so I can’t hear her smooth vamp steps. I strain with my enhanced hearing. There’s an obvious commotion—vampires shouting.
“What’s going on?” I climb into the SUV.
“A bunch of vamps are rushing downstairs. Something’s happening. I need to go.”
“Hold on. One thing. The reason I called.”
Natalia waits patiently as I tell her about giving Thandoran demon powers.
“He could be anywhere, Nat, and I gave him the power to teleport wherever he wants.” I drum my fingers on the steering wheel. I haven’t started the vehicle. I’m fuming in the cold silence.
“I don’t think you have to vorry about anyvhere.”
“What do you mean?” I paw through my pocket for my key.
“He’s here, in our foyer,” Natalia says. “I’m staring at him, from the top of the stairs.”
“How’d they find him?” Where had Thandoran teleported to that they could grab him? “He has the strength of a demon! Why’d he let the vamps nab him?”
“They didn’t nab him. He just valked right in through the front door.”
I freeze, with my key in the ignition. “You’re kidding?”
“He’s up to something. I told you he couldn’t be trusted.”
“I’m coming to Deorc. I want to know what’s going on.”
“Okay,” Natalia says. “But I varn you. Ciprian is creepier than Anya.”
“I can handle him.” Since acquiring vamp powers and demon powers, I’ve been training with Dumitru. I don’t know why he’s so worried about me. He’s trained me well. I’m a force to be reckoned with.
“See you when you get here.”
“Oh, and, Nat?”
“Yeah?” she asks.
“Stay out of my way. I’m going to make an entrance.”
FOURTEEN
I’m seething as I disappear from the front seat of the SUV and appear in my bedroom. I shove the vials into the refrigerator and slam it shut. Curse that stupid storm sprite. Not only is he putting his life on the line but mine as well.
I could just leave him.
No, Sasha. You can’t.
No matter how much Thandoran irks me, I still can’t let a vampire suck him dry. I draw a deep breath and summon my demon powers.
Let’s do this.
I owe Ciprian a visit anyway. It’s only polite and all to make introductions to the new vampire coven leader.
Even though Deorc Mansion is on the outski
rts of the city, well away from my flat, I teleport to the vamp headquarters instantly. I stop within the gated courtyard, right outside the gothic entrance. The place is ancient and majestic. Its ghastly vibe makes it intimidating or maybe that’s because a zillion vamps reside within, and underneath, in the catacombs far below.
Not surprising to me, vamps blur out of the shadows as soon as I arrive, but I knock them backward with several well-placed palm thrusts. Thank you, demon and vamp strength.
I waste no time stirring the elements. As I lift my arms, my storm builds a whirlwind around me. Gravel and sticks fly about. Rain peppers down. The storm is so thick I can’t see the outdoor lights that dot the exterior.
I laugh maniacally. It’s been a while since I’ve harnessed a storm this powerful, and it feels amazing. I feel unstoppable.
My storm wraps me in safe torrents and showers down around me, but my body likes the elements, likes the way the water sprays me and plasters my clothes to my arms and legs.
I can’t feel how cold it is. Winter weather be damned.
The vampires I knocked back attack me again, but they can’t push through my onslaught.
It’s incredibly satisfying how they fly away like rag dolls when my storm touches them.
Now that my tempest is strong enough, I step toward the door. My whirlwind moves with me and blows the double front doors off their hinges. Vampires inside the mansion scatter when I step over the threshold. My long dark hair blows straight up. I’m these vamps’ worst nightmare. I’ve become the predator, and they know it. Even though I haven’t spent my time stealing powers from the vampires as I do the seed demons, the vamps know I could turn on them.
I know exactly where I’m headed. They brought Killian and me here, to the heart of the mansion, to meet his sister, the once leader of this local coven. I expect the new head vamp to be in the massive hall where he greets guests.
Furniture collides with the walls. Wood cracks and splinters. My whirlwind is smaller in the rooms I pass through, and I leave the downpour outside. The vampires who do not flee in time plaster themselves against the brocade wallpaper, and not by choice.
I blow the doors open to the great hall. Smack in the center is the lead vampire, Ciprian. He holds Thandoran against himself, with a pale hand that matches his equally pale hair. Ciprian’s a thin, corpselike man. No meat on his face, just sallow skin. His eyes are black, and his fangs extended. His long nails dig into Thandoran’s neck, but blood has not been drawn.
Which is a good thing for Thandoran.
“Your storm is not necessary here, Sasha darling.” The vampire speaks loudly over the whistle of my wind.
I open a palm, and the storm’s path widens. “Let him go, and I’ll stop the theatrics.”
“Oh, but, Sasha, he wanted to come for a visit.” Ciprian braces himself against my wind’s push.
Thandoran doesn’t fight Ciprian. “It’s okay, Sasha. He’s only holding me because of your storm.”
“I don’t believe you.” How can I trust Thandoran when he so willingly walked right into vamp central? “Release him,” I say to Ciprian, “and then we’ll talk.” I lash out with an arm of my storm and rip a portrait from the wall. It crashes over a vampire, who screeches and covers his head.
“You are a very impolite guest! Cease this storm or I will drain him!” Ciprian curls his fingers, ready to puncture Thandoran’s neck.
Oh sugar nymphs! The instant he draws blood, it’s over.
I let my storm drop. The air in the room stills, and the knickknacks caught up in the storm clatter to the floor.
“You are quite powerful, indeed.” Ciprian purrs, but he keeps a firm grip on Thandoran. “My precious Anya may have been no match for you, but you better dare not cross me!”
“Your precious Anya?”
“Oh, Anya was a dear. I doted on her.” Ciprian spits his next words. “Until you killed her.”
“She shouldn’t have drunk from me.” I will hold no remorse. A breeze brushes my palm. Killian’s here. I swallow. He knows what she did. He knows I have every right to loathe her, and he still forgives me for killing her.
“She was unrestrained,” Ciprian says. “I should have bridled her properly.”
Bridled her? Ew. “Were you her sire?” Which would make him Killian’s sire. The hairs on my forearm stand on end; Killian confirms the truth with a simple touch even before Ciprian speaks.
“I was more than merely her sire.” Ciprian turns his head away from Thandoran and closes his eyes. “But you wouldn’t understand.”
Like a father? Lover? What? Vampires are so creepy. I brush my hair back over my shoulder and ignore his odd emotions. “Why are you here, Thandoran?”
He remains still. His eyes are blank, as if he’s distancing himself. What’s his plan?
Ciprian doesn’t relax his hold on Thandoran, but he does smooth his light blond hair with a gnarled hand. Knowing vampires, he could hold his position for hours. Thandoran has demon strength, so why doesn’t he fight his captor?
Do the vampires know Thandoran has demon strength? If they did, I doubt Ciprian would be so casual in his grasp.
“Please, I must make formal introductions.” A stiff smile curls on Ciprian’s face. “I am Ciprian. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am pleased you have come for a visit, Sasha.”
Yeah right. “I’m not here for a social call. Give me Thandoran, and I’ll be leaving.”
“But don’t you want to know why he was so willing to walk into a den of bloodsuckers?”
“I don’t really care.”
“Oh, Thandoran.” Ciprian sticks out his long, narrow tongue and draws it slowly across Thandoran’s cheek as if he were licking a sticky lollipop. He smacks his lips together and hisses his words into Thandoran’s ear. “You must tell her.”
I cringe. Thandoran doesn’t make a face or even twitch, but he does lift his gaze to mine, with an intensity that says he’s ready to kill.
With my storm down, vampires have crept into the room. They hover on the edge, but the distance makes no matter. They can blur toward me in seconds. True, I can meet them in combat or teleport out of here, but I’m not leaving without Thandoran, even if I am ready to kill him myself.
Why doesn’t Thandoran teleport?
Why am I risking my neck for him?
What’s his deal?
Natalia and Dumitru creep into my peripheral vision. I’m glad they were allowed into the mansion, but will they be on my side if Ciprian spills Thandoran’s blood?
I don’t think they’ll have a choice. Not after how they reacted last night.
His blood is different, Natalia said. Different as in harder to resist?
“They have my sister,” Thandoran finally says with dead emotion.
Sister? That would explain why he was stupid enough to come here. Sister. I can’t wrap my brain around how the vampires caught her. When?
Ciprian does this horrid cackling shriek. I gasp and shudder, trying not to convulse with revulsion.
“That’s right. We do have her.” Ciprian cackles. “Tasty Kaelea. She’s so precious to us.”
“Let her go,” Thandoran says evenly. How he can stand being in Ciprian’s clutches is beyond me.
“She’s much too precious to let go.”
“What can I do to persuade you?” I flick open my palms and crackle the air with static.
“She can’t be moved.” Ciprian places a flat palm on Thandoran’s abdomen and presses in. “Her state is too delicate.”
At this, Thandoran shoves his shoulder into the vampire, but Ciprian holds his ground and doesn’t let Thandoran go.
“What do you mean her state is too delicate?” I ask. My brain is screaming at Thandoran to cool it.
“She’s incubating.”
I swallow back revulsion. “What?” What the hellfire could this psycho possibly mean?
“We’ve been harvesting her offspring. Her children are quite tasty. You know, storm sprite blo
od and all. But fresh, untainted storm sprite blood from an infant, even better.”
“You monster!” A sick feeling builds in my gut.
Thandoran doesn’t move with my outburst, but his nostrils flare. His eyes contain an anger that’s on the edge of release.
It’s hard for me to look away from them. It’s hard for me to gauge Thandoran’s next move. His purpose? What?
I can’t read him. I don’t know him at all.
But here I am, willing to stick my neck out for him.
And his poor sister.
I cannot allow Ciprian to have her any longer.
“Eee! You can barely contain your anger. Your rage pumps your blood faster.” Ciprian licks his lips. “Maybe I’ll have a taste to see what the fuss is about. Natalia tells me your blood is something else entirely.”
I glance at Natalia. Her eyes are sorrowful. She made a trade of information to be welcomed back into the coven, I wouldn’t doubt. I don’t blame her.
“Go ahead. Drink me!” Thandoran roars so loud I jump. The vein at his neck pulses. Vampires slink closer, swallowing saliva and licking lips.
Ciprian runs a nail down Thandoran’s neck but doesn’t draw blood.
“What are you waiting for? Drink me!” Thandoran goes rigid and angles his head away so Ciprian has a clear view of Thandoran’s throbbing neck vein.
I’m not sure why he’s so adamant.
Ciprian studies the pulsing vessel, and then his voice turns cold. “I don’t take demands from storm sprites.” He shoves Thandoran to the floor. He catches himself on his hands and scrapes around to glare at Ciprian.
“Your sister isn’t held here. You won’t find her. She’s under protective wards, so she’s untraceable.” He squeals his horrible laughter. “We aren’t about to give her up. Every nine months she gives us a fresh infant. The blood goes to the highest bidder. She has been quite profitable for us, so you see, we won’t let her go easily.”
“Tell me where she is,” Thandoran hisses.
Something’s building inside him—a storm. A pressure change pops my eardrums. His body rounds on itself, pulsating with energy. I’ve never seen a storm sprite build his storm with this much ferocity—this much ire.
