by Lynn Landes
“You do know I have exceptional hearing,” Sebastian snaps.
“I know it. Do you wish to tell your precious council about this meeting?” Vorn asks.
“Not yet. I will step out to feed. Give me a moment.” Sebastian leaves to choose a neighbor to drink from. They will not remember it and he will be in better control of his emotions.
“Keane, you should know the history between the Fae and Vampire, is volatile. This Caius bred an army of Vampiric Fae, in order to attack and destroy the Fae Kingdom. It was only with the help of the Shadow King and his bride that they were stopped.”
Sebastian slips inside unheard and startles both of them when he speaks. “Stopped is a polite way of saying exterminated. She killed every last one of them. In that battle, Caius was wounded and presumed dead, unfortunately, he escaped.”
“True enough.” Vorn looks at them and hopes this is the right answer. “Leave your weapons, they wouldn’t do you any good anyway.”
“How do we get into the Shadow Realm?” Keane asks tossing his weapons down on the couch.
“One does not just go to the Shadow Realm. It comes to you.” The lights flicker inside the house, casting the living room in darkness. “Here we go, try not to scream like girls.” Vorn snickers.
“Funny,” Sebastian starts to move, but Vorn snaps, “Don’t move, wait for the light.”
A bright white light shines blinding them for the moment. “Turn and find your shadow,” he whispers. “You are going to step into the shadow and keep walking until you break through.”
“Brilliant!” Keane grins and steps forward. When he reaches his shadow on the wall he pushes through and it stretches behind him. “Keep going,” Vorn encourages.
The shadow stretches covering him completely in inky blackness. It feels for a moment as if it’s not going to allow him through until finally, he breaks free. Sebastian is next. He feels the intense heat of the light on his back and he welcomes the relief the darkness brings. He leaps into the shadow with all the power of an ancient.
The darkness envelops him only for a fraction of a second before Sebastian is free of it. It snaps with a popping sound, leaving an inky mess behind. He grins until he realizes they are surrounded by Fae. Both shadow and light face them with all weapons trained on them. His fangs erupt and his eyes flicker with the flame of reckoning.
Vorn is the next to enter and immediately he bows to the Kings and Queens before him. “Forgive my snarly friend, he’s a bit temperamental.”
“Is it under control,” Reese demands.
“I can speak for myself.” Sebastian glances around the room, “You are the ones surrounding us with countless weapons. It would seem you brought your entire army with you. I am honored you consider me so worthy an adversary but is unnecessary. I came to share information with you and ask for your help.” Sebastian shocks them all by bowing. “I assure you this is a peaceful meeting.”
Chapter 18
Caius has lived alone for centuries, preferring his own company to those of this pathetic world. Humanity is a necessary evil for his kind. A food source, prey, nothing more, nothing less. The one question that has plagued him for his lifetime is, what if? What if the vampires were no longer dependent on them? Most of his species care not for his radical ways of thinking. They destroy his precious creations every time. The last time the Fae helped them. Everything evolves or dies off. All creatures have to evolve, why can’t they see it would be best for their species? He has not been strong enough to fight back, until now. With a hand resting on the book of the Herald he continues to scour its pages, seeking as much information as possible.
A grin of excitement appears as he discovers the four gates location. Scotland, Africa, America, and Siberia. Apparently, the twelve were not as stupid as he thought. Those that fell refused to tell him the locations of each gate unless he could gift them with immortal powers. Caius let them think he agreed with this plan, while he searched for the book. Freedom, true freedom, for all immortals is the ultimate goal. The next plan is to eradicate the Council. When he thinks about harvesting them, he giggles like a giddy child. The fools have been so busy “hunting” that they have left him to his own devices. Watching them take turns inside the bio dome and he knows that his assumption was correct. A predator can only cage its instincts for so long, and he is tired of being told how to live. After all, he has given them, they believed they could still control him by placing restrictions on his beasts. They demanded that only the council be allowed to hunt, until they could decide if it was detrimental to their species. It seemed a miracle to him that they believed they could control him, but he let them think it.
The scent of human blood shakes him from his thoughts. He turns to greet his newest victim. “So, my love tells me that you have some information to share.” Foster is brought inside by two vampires. He immediately drops to his knees in front of the ancient immortal.
“Yes, my King. She promised that you would return my immortal gifts if I shared this information with you.” Foster is pale and remembers all too well the pain of being turned, but nothing can hurt worse than this deficient, weak, and powerless body.
“I see. Leave us.” He waits for them to leave and removes Foster’s binds while guiding him to a chair. “Come join me for tea.” Foster stares at him in shock. This was not what he expected. The Vampire King was said to be ruthless and he appears more… bookish.
“Thank you, my King.” He sits quietly at a small table near the large doorway. The chamber they are in appears to be a library. His fortress is built into the side of a mountain in Hawaii, and this particular stone room has a balcony overlooking the rocks below.
“Tell me everything you know.” He knows she would not have sent this human to him without a just reason. Patience is something he has perfected. Self-control above all else must be maintained.
Foster pours the hot water and sips on his tea, sighing as it quenches his thirst and calms his nerves. “Excellent,” he sighs. Foster tells of the bar, how the female entered the bar and appeared to all his vampiric senses to be human.
“When I bit her, I couldn’t release her! It was as if she controlled my mind. When the pain started it was unbearable!” Foster’s hands tremble as remembers the attack. Caius knows immediately that this female is the same one who attacked him.
Slowly, he lowers his shuddering cup to the saucer. “She drained you of your immortal gifts, completely?” Of course! That is why he took so long to heal. “Tell me Foster, where is this creature now?”
Foster stares at the King and for the first time, he sees him as he truly is. Powerful, ancient and livid. The illusion he held, falls and he exposes his true expression. Hairless, rippled and scarred beyond recognition. His skin appears to have been melted like hot wax, sealing the corner of one eye and lip. The opposite side of his face is perfection. Lush black hair, and alabaster skin.
“She ran from the club, after fighting with a Drow, and killing another vampire. My King, she killed two ancient vampires, with her bite. It is rumored that only the newly turned are sapped of our vampiric abilities and returned human.”
Caius stands, walking to the balcony, he steps outside and looks up into the open sky above. Foster follows slowly, afraid to speak and break the spell or incur his wrath. “This fortress was built in a dormant volcano. I found it appropriate, it reminds me of myself in some ways. The power is there, always ready to be released, but prevented from showing its strength, because of the elements that surround it.” He stares at Foster with intensity.
“Let us discuss your payment. Foster, do you wish to return to your vampire form? It seems to me, that a great many vampires wish to be given the gift of humanity again. Have you thought it through?”
“Yes, my King. I can’t stand to be so… impotent. This body is frail and powerless,” he drops to his knees in front of Caius and waits for his decision.
Caius lifts the young man slowly and looks down into his face. His fangs erupt a
nd he grins at him. “Thank you for this gift.”
The door opens to his suite and two vampires return. “Where is Magdalene?” Caius demands.
“She is with Lady Faygin.” The females replies.
“Excellent, turn him, but save the last bite for me.”
“Of course,” the female pulls Foster to the center of the room and sniffs his throat. “You smell good. The second male walks around behind Foster and places his hands on his shoulders. “I get his throat,” he growls.
Foster’s heart pounds and he grows aroused by the foreplay. “Yes,” he moans and his head falls back when the female beings to unbutton his shirt. She circles his nipple with her teeth and traces her long red nails over the pale skin following a vein with her nail.
“Together, bite me together,” Foster demands and sinks his hands into the female’s long hair while she nips at his body, intensifying his pleasure. A hiss of pain and she sinks her teeth into the vein below his nipple, at the same time the male vampire takes his throat.
Caius watches with a soft smile. He loves this part of conception. It makes him feel God like, to be present when one of his children is born. Stepping forward, to join in the creation, he stops in his tracks when Foster screams out in pain. Those leaching from his body attempts to release him, only to find they are stuck. They begin to melt together, a hot boiling cauldron of blood, skin, and mass. The glob inches towards him and a hand reaches for Caius, who quickly backs away. Within seconds, the three are one liquefied mess on his floor.
“No! It can’t be?” They were natural born vampires. How many times will this abomination try to kill him? He spins and rushes to the book. Flipping it past the location of the gates, he seeks the Prophecy of the Herald. If what the books says is true, the Herald will be born when an imbalance occurs. The death of the Angel, Lailah and her child, could that have been the trigger? Or his own twisted versions of immortals that he has created beneath the very mountain he is in? “Whatever the reason, the gates must be destroyed, and this ‘Herald’ captured.” If he can persuade her to join him, he will have a weapon that is untouchable. Caius grins and calls for someone to clean up the mess in his suite before seeing to Magdalene.
Chapter 19
Like the building in Dubai, Caius runs his true business from the ground floors in the big island of Hawaii. It offered a private place to work and play, with excellent opportunities to import and export goods. Though most of his imports are endangered animals, the government here believes he is in the art business. Straightening his red tie on his black suit he checks his teeth before exiting the elevator and talking to the two guards on duty.
“The shipment is due any moment, sir.”
“Excellent, these baboons are extremely aggressive. Make sure you avoid their teeth.” He laughs wickedly. “Bring Brody to cell seven,” he orders before walking off.
Caius hesitates outside of the cell Magdalene is in. She has proven to be more difficult than he had anticipated. No doubt due to her misguided loyalty to her brother. The council was adamant about persuading her and not killing off the entire blood line she carries. There are ways to handle that if he should he be forced to kill her.
The door opens with a puff of air and seals behind him. He flips a switch and the bright, ultra violet light flares to life. Magdalene hisses and squeezes her swollen eyes from the burning glare. Caius can smell the sweat, blood, and fear, floating around the room. It almost makes him feel something. He sighs and steps closer to her. Magdalene hangs from the ceiling, chained above a concrete floor with a drain, for such a purpose as this.
“Maggie, I grow tired of waiting for a change that will not come. I am creating a new race on Earth, all one species. Driven by one purpose, driven by the same needs, desires, and hunger.”
“The Angel’s will not…” Magdalene tries to say, but he turns on her and hisses.
“DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OF ANGELS! They control us…” Caius grips his forehead and stalks away.
The door opens and two male vampires push a rolling cage with a black tarp over it inside the room. They do not make eye contact with her as they rush outside. Caius jerks the tarp off and laughs when the creature lunges at the cage. He points at the cage where a Bengal Tiger hisses and spits at them.
“Magnificent, isn’t he? Look at him, Magdalene!” Caius grabs her face by the chin and forces her to stare at the tiger. “A predator needs to hunt. We are driven by an uncontrollable urge to take, seek, control. No longer will we be declawed, neutered or defanged.” Caius stalks back to look at her hanging form.
Her legs are chained to the floor below and the pain in her arms is unbearable. Three days now, she has been without nourishment and the hunger grows worse every minute. The tiger has a strong heart beat and his blood rushes through his body, driving her to distraction.
“Magdalene, I know you have felt it… the call to your soul. Can you deny it?” Caius walks closer to her and smiles when blood red eyes glare back at him. Her blood lust is intense now, “His name is Brody. Wait for it,” he giggles when the animal falls to his side in the cage and twitches uncontrollable.
“No matter how hard I try, I can’t change what he is.” Brody’s body stretches out and his bones begin to crack and pop, reshaping itself into the naked form of a man. “I can change how he looks, but not the instinct.” He stalks back to the cage. The large man has rolled to his side and crouches on his feet. Blonde hair, tan skin, and an exquisite muscular body greet him. His yellow eyes never leave Caius’s face. When he gets close enough the man lunges at the cage reaching through in a desperate attempt to grab his captor. Roaring in rage, he grabs the metal bars and shakes them, hissing and spitting.
“You see. Predator and prey. That is all he sees. It’s a shame, really.” Caius mumbles. “His brain remained the same. Only a tiger. I can give him the ability to shift to human form, but not the brain.” He turns back and looks at her. “Like you he is unchangeable. Magdalene, surely you’re smarter than this beast! The instinct is very much alive in all of us. Do you deny the truth in it, that you feel the pull of it?”
A tear of shame tracks down her cheek. “No, I can’t,” she whispers. Caius is stunned by her honesty and looks at her with shocked eyes.
“You do not deny it? Then why are you fighting me?”
Lifting her tear stained face, she snarls, “Because, you are no different than the ones you seek to destroy. You chain me, take away my freedom, and seek to dominate my will.” She looks behind Caius to a glass wall where they watch her. “I feel you. Know this, I will never bow to you! I choose freedom!”
Caius stalks to the glass wall and stares through it, to the council members watching behind. They nod at him and stand up filing out one, by, one.
“Freedom on my own terms, not yours!” She screams, breathing hard, she struggles violently against the bonds that hold her. The council does not look back because they know what comes next. “Bastian will destroy you for this!” she screams at their retreating backs.
Magdalene lifts her head and stares past him, to the man in the cage. Once again, he is on his feet, pacing, but this time, she could swear she sees compassion in his beautiful eyes.
“I had hoped to keep at least one member of your family alive. The archives are important and the next chapter on the evolution of our species, will be magnificent.” Caius walks to a steel table where his instruments are laid out. He picks up a syringe and taps the glass vial, giving a squirt to remove the air inside.
“Whatever you do to me, know that Sebastian will hunt you down, and burn you for this,” she whispers trying to not show her fear.
“Really, because he did nothing when I killed his beloved and harvested her, just as I will you,” Caius grins and steps toward her. The man growls low in his throat and shifts back to the animal.
“I think Brody wants to help me get rid of you. Perhaps that would be for the best.” Caius jams the needle into her thigh and squirts the neurotoxin into her system.
Magdalene screams as the poison burns its way inside her body.
“You will be found, mutilated, by a beast, and no one will ever know any differently.”
“Sebastian will know, and he will kill you.” Magdalene slurs her words as the poison begins to work. The room spins and her head falls forward.
“We shall see.” Caius sets the needle down, as a knock sounds outside the cell. He presses a button on the intercom and snaps, “What is it?”
“The police are here with a search warrant.”
Caius snaps out orders, “Damn, again. That’s two times this week. Stall them,” he says and turns to look at her. He presses a button and Magdalene crashes to the floor as the cuffs, snaps open, releasing her.
“Be a good boy and clean this up for me, Brody.” Caius steps to the door, as he presses a button to unlock the cage. He slams the door just before the animal lunges at him. The two-inch steel door reverberates from the impact and Caius laughs as he runs upstairs. Damn police are constantly watching his imports and exports. They will have to be dealt with.
Brody turns and sniffs the air, before stalking over to the female. He rolls her over with his paw and stares at her. Shifting into his human form, he leaps up and rushes to the cabinet across the room. “I know it’s here, dammit!” He digs through the cabinet, tossing meds behind him, knowing the crashing sounds will be expected. Brody sighs in relief when he finds the epinephrine. He has seen it used time and time again during Caius’s experiments.
Brody turns quickly and checks her pulse. If he can wake her enough, she should be able to push the poison from her body. Her heart is stuttering, and her breathing is shallow. “Hold on beautiful,” he jams the needle into her thigh and injects her. Magdalene’s eyes shoot open and her pupils are totally dilated. She screams and shoves at Brody, tossing him across the room and against the glass wall.
Brody shifts back to tiger form, thinking, ‘Oh, shit’, just as the glass explodes around him.
