by Ariel Marie
She nodded as the queasy, unsettling feeling remained in her stomach as she stared at the trio.
“Yes, that’s me,” she answered nervously. “You have information on my brother?” she rushed out, reaching for her pocket.
“Hey!” the leader shouted. Samara jumped as her eyes landed on his hand, poised over the weapon resting on his hip. She looked to the other two, who both had weapons in their hands.
She paused. What had she gotten herself into? She pulled her phone out slowly, and they all relaxed as she held it up for them to see.
“My phone,” she said. “I was going to show you Stefan’s picture.
“I apologize. We are not here to hurt you,” the leader said, his hand coming away from the gun. “In our line of work, we have to be overly cautious. Please, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Jeremy Roy, and these are my associates, Ty Levy and Maya Cornell.” Ty and Maya each murmured a greeting as they secured their guns back into their holsters.
Samara released the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. She opened her senses, and could see they were telling the truth, so she let her body relax. She was used to being able to sense people’s emotions without them knowing it.
“Well, it seems that you already know my name,” Samara noted, nodding to each of them. “But how do you know my brother?”
“We don’t.” Jeremy looked around the empty parking lot. “We can’t stay here long. Maya here saw the flyers you had posted around town. She recognized him from the people we have been tracking.”
A chill slithered down Samara’s spine. They were tracking a group of people? She looked at the trio with their grim faces. Who were these three people in front of her? By the looks of their weapons, they were very dangerous people.
What had Stefan gotten himself into?
“It’s true. I’ve seen your brother with them,” Maya confirmed.
“Who the hell are them?” Samara demanded to know. So many questions were running wild through her mind.
Fear slowly morphed into frustration. They knew something, and all they had to do was tell her. She refused to leave without word on Stefan’s whereabouts. Maya shot a look to Jeremy, who nodded, as if giving her permission to let Samara in on the secret.
“Please, tell me. This is my brother we’re talking about. He’s the only family I have left,” Samara pleaded, running a trembling hand through her hair.
“The versi.”
“So, you’re telling me that my brother is being controlled by these beings? These… necromancers?” Samara asked in disbelief. She had never heard of such a thing.
Jeremy had insisted they move to a more secure location for them to explain everything. Only because of her desperation to find Stefan did she follow them. She drove behind their dark SUV to an old apartment building in the warehouse district of the Flats, not too far from their meeting place. The brick building had the look of being rundown and abandoned, but once they were inside, it was anything but that.
It reminded Samara of one of those action movies that Stefan loved to watch. She sighed, trying to process the information they were giving her. According to Jeremy, everyone in the building was part of an organization called the Rebels. He explained that the Rebels were a secret organization whose mission was to protect humans from the paranormal world.
“Necromancers are powerful creatures that are proficient in black magic,” Jeremy explained.
“So, they’re witches or something?” Samara asked, just as Maya sat down a steaming hot cup of coffee on the table in front of her. Who hadn’t heard of someone proclaiming that they were a witch?
Samara knew that her telepathic link to her brother—and being an empath—was rare, and she wouldn’t dare share it with anyone. Her mother had drilled that into her and Stefan’s brain. No one could know that they were different.
“No, they’re not witches. Witches are a different species,” Ty spoke up from his side of the table.
“Are you telling me these creatures are real?” Samara shook her head, sipping her coffee. She held in a groan as the delicious silky drink coated her tongue. God, the woman could make a good cup of coffee. “Next you’ll tell me that vampires and werewolves exist.”
Jeremy, Ty, and Maya glanced at each other before they each turned their gazes back to her. She slowly sat her mug back down on the table.
“No,” Samara whispered, shaking her head.
“The world as you know it is about to change,” Maya declared.
Chapter Four
Nicu
Nicu frowned as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway. His body tensed as he waited. Whispers could be heard, and he knew instantly that these were not the rogues. They had nothing to hide when they patrolled past his jail cell, so there would be no reason for them to whisper.
After his confrontation with Sodan in front of the necromancer council, Nicu had been dragged down to the lower level of the building to be left until his execution.
Nicu had lost count of the days since he’d become a prisoner of the necromancer king. Apparently, there would be a ceremony of his execution. Sodan had taken great pleasure in boasting about how he would kill Nicu in front of his subjects, and it would be broadcasted for the entire world to see.
Nicu could feel himself growing weaker as each day passed, but he would die before he admitted that to anyone. The necromancers were denying him blood, ensuring that he would be in a weakened state. But Nicu was one of the strongest vampires around, and it would take a lot more than a few days without blood to break him. His fangs had descended and refused to draw back up. He knew that it was his body’s way of telling him he was past the time to feed.
Nicu growled, pissed off that he was still imprisoned. Where the fuck were his brothers? Adrian, Toma, and Teague? Where were any of the Shadow members for that matter? He cursed under his breath.
He was running out of time.
If he were to see them before his death, he would make each of them answer for why it took them so long to come for him. If he were to die before they reached him, he promised that he would haunt each one of them from the afterlife.
The whispers grew louder as they drew closer. Nicu’s eyes narrowed outside the bars of his jail cell as he waited.
He let loose a string of curses as five figures stopped outside of his cell. Where the fuck did they come from?
Humans.
~Samara~
* * *
Samara felt her eyes grow wide at the massive man that sat on the floor of what looked to be a prison cell. She felt a presence approach her from behind.
“That, my dear innocent, is a vampire,” Jeremy announced quietly in her ear.
“How can you tell?” she whispered, unable to take her eyes off him.
She opened her senses to him and almost fell to her knees as she was hit with such intense rage and animosity. She unconsciously took a step away from the cell bars as the vampire’s eyes narrowed on her.
It didn’t take much for her to figure out that this was one dangerous man.
A vampire.
She swallowed hard as her heart pounded away inside of her chest. She couldn’t even hide the fear that she was sure was broadcasting across her face. She may have been naïve to the paranormal world, but she was far from stupid.
“Let’s go,” Jeremy said, tugging on her arm.
The Rebels had tracked one of the versi to this secluded building. Maya was sure that Stefan would be here. According to Jeremy, they had never caught one before, but had been tracking their activities for months. Jeremy, Ty, and Maya had given Samara a crash course in the world of the supernatural.
Samara’s brain was still spinning from all the information she had received. According to Ty, the necromancers were at war with the vampires. Samara glanced at the vampire again and wondered why, if they were at war, was this vampire sitting in a cell? Who was he?
“Are we going to leave him there?” she asked, turning away from the
vampire’s intense gaze.
Rage may have been burning through the vampire, but she could sense there was something deeper that the vampire was harboring.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Ty snapped with a roll of his eyes. “Jeremy, I told you it would be a mistake bringing her.”
“Samara, he’s locked up for a reason,” Jeremy said, grabbing her arm. “We need to move now, if we’re going to find your brother.”
“If he’s in a cell, it’s for a reason,” Ty said, walking away toward Maya and another rebel by the name of Lonnie. “He probably deserves whatever’s coming to him.”
Samara held in a gasp at Ty’s cruel words. She stared down the windowless hallway at the waiting trio before turning back to Jeremy. She just couldn’t leave someone here to die, knowing that they were here against their will by their enemy.
“I don’t know how you humans got in here, but if you go any further, you’ve signed your own death warrants.” A deep baritone voice broke into Samara’s thoughts, causing her to jump.
“We’re here looking for my brother.” Samara rushed to the bars, desperate for any news of Stefan. “He was last seen with those people called the necromancers.”
Samara watched in awe as the vampire rose from his sitting place. He slowly stalked toward the bars, his eyes locked on Jeremy. She could feel Jeremy wrap his hand around her arm and tug on her, but she was unable to move.
She had never felt power like his before. Samara was mesmerized by the intense ice blue eyes that flickered to her for a moment, before returning to Jeremy.
“Who are you people?” the vampire demanded to know. Samara had a feeling this man was used to being in charge, or commanding a small army.
“My name is Jeremy, and I’m the leader of the Rebels,” Jeremy announced proudly. Samara would have sworn that his chest puffed out a little at his declaration.
The vampire released a snort and shook his head. His large hands gripped the bars as he leaned in closer.
“Are you one of them?” he asked her. Unable to respond, she shook her head slowly as she stared up into his eyes.
“No, they’re helping me find my missing brother,” she whispered.
“Let’s go,” Ty whispered fiercely from his position in the hall. “We don’t have much time.”
“If you follow them up those stairs, you will die,” the vampire said.
“Who are you?” she asked, keeping her voice low as she wrestled her arm away from Jeremy. Twice now, this vampire had mentioned them dying if they went upstairs to search the building.
“My name is Nicu Olaru.”
Chapter Five
Nicu
Nicu had to hold back a growl at the mention of the human rebellion group. They had been a pain in the ass for Nicu in recent years. By the widening of the leader’s eyes, Nicu was sure that the human recognized his name.
Good.
The Rebels were humans who thought that they knew everything about the dark underworld of supernaturals, but their knowledge didn’t even scratch the surface.
As the leader of the Dark Shadows, it was up to Nicu to ensure that the vampire nation remained protected and out of sight from human eyes. The Rebels were humans who believed they were protecting the humans by trying to expose vampires and other supernaturals to the world. What this Jeremy and his followers didn’t understand was that in exposing the vampires, it would lead to a worldwide panic.
Them being here was proof. They were leading this innocent female into the belly of the beast; the necromancers. They would not only sign their death warrants, but hers as well.
How the hell did they even get into the basement?
“You don’t scare me, vampire,” the leader, Jeremy, said. Nicu snorted. He knew the truth. He could see it in the human’s eyes that he was terrified of him. “I know who you are!”
“Well, if you know who I am, then you know you need to get me out of this fucking cell,” Nicu growled. He glanced back at the caramel skinned female who had yet to take her dark brown eyes off him. “It’s either them or me.”
“Maybe he’s right,” the female said, looking to Jeremy. “If he’s a vampire—”
“If?” Nicu snorted again. “I am a vampire. I am the commander of the Dark Shadows, and next in line to the vampire throne.”
“Samara, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jeremy grabbed her arm again, this time forcefully, pulling her with him down the hallway where the others waited. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s go find your brother.”
Nicu’s fury beat at the surface at the sight of the human dragging her out of his line of vision. A growl vibrated from his chest at the thought that this innocent was about to be dragged into a hell she couldn’t even begin to imagine.
If her brother was truly with the necromancers, then there was nothing she could do for him. The necromancers lived off the energy of living souls. The unlucky bastard would be dead and turned into a puppet, a versi.
“If your brother is with the versi, I guarantee he’s dead.”
“Wait!” A few curses were heard before footsteps sounded down the hall. She slowed to a stop, directly in front of him. Her dark eyes captured his, and for some reason, he couldn’t look away. He frowned slightly.
What the fuck?
“How do you know?” she whispered as a lone tear slid down her cheek. “It would explain why I can’t—” She paused, her eyes growing wide.
“Explain what?” he snapped. She jumped at the harshness of his voice. What the hell was she talking about?
“Look.” Another female came into view. “We don’t have much time.”
“Open the cell,” Samara demanded, her voice low and hollow. Nicu knew instantly that she believed him.
“Oh, hell no—”
“Open it!” Samara screamed. Her frantic wide eyes flickered from one human to the other as they all came back and joined them.
“He’s told me more than any of you about what we would find in this building. He’s not going to hurt us.” Samara turned to him. “Are you?”
He glanced around at the humans, easily reading the doubt in their eyes. A commotion above them rattled the ceiling. The necromancers were coming.
“Get me out of here, now,” Nicu growled around his fangs. The rumble drew closer to the entrance down the hallway. “If they find you down here, you’ll be no match for them.”
Nicu was a strong vampire, and even though the necromancers had tried to starve him, he knew that he would still be able to take them on. A fierce need to protect the innocent buried itself in his chest. He watched as one of the human males came forward, pulling tools out of his backpack.
Nicu growled as the cell door swung open. Shouting could be heard from the top of the stairs. The humans immediately backed up, on guard.
Fear was in all their eyes.
Except hers.
Samara’s eyes were full of awe.
He knew the image that he projected—a fierce vampire, a hunter, a warrior. His crimson eyes held the promise of death to every enemy that faced him down in battle. He was more dangerous than the beings that were stomping down the stairs.
“Go back the way you came,” he growled as he stepped out of the cell to face what came down the stairs. The humans took off without a word. His body braced, ready for battle as two rogue guards appeared at the foot of the stairs.
He grinned on the inside, knowing that these rogues would be no match for him. He could handle two rogues in his sleep.
He tensed, feeling a presence at his side.
Samara.
Was she insane?
“Get out of here,” he snapped, clenching his hands. “Go with the other humans.”
“Not without you,” she snapped back, stubbornness shining in her eyes. “I need you.”
Fuck. Just what he needed—a stubborn human.
“Vampire,” one of the rogues shouted from the end of the hallway. They started making their way to him. Two hundred
feet separated the rogues from Nicu.
“Get out of here,” he demanded, not taking his eyes off the rogues.
“No.”
He growled and pushed her away from him as the rogues made it to him. They didn’t hesitate in their attack. A scream sounded from Samara as she flew down the hall. The first rogue crashed into Nicu in a low tackle to the waist.
Nicu grunted from the impact, but instantly brought down a sharp elbow to the rogue’s spine before grabbing him by the neck with a twist, cracking the rogue’s neck. Nicu tossed the body to the side as the other rogue dared to take a step in his direction.
But Nicu was the seasoned warrior.
Using his vampiric speed, he grabbed the rogue by the neck and crushed his windpipe.
“How dare you,” Nicu growled, ignoring the gasp behind him. He ignored Samara. He couldn’t think of her right now.
This rogue must die. Nicu would unleash his wrath on this piece of shit.
The rogue’s eyes widened as he frantically tried to tear Nicu’s hand from his throat. Nicu gripped tighter, cutting off what little air he was able to drag in. “You’re a fucking abomination and don’t deserve to live.”
The rogue’s feet continued to kick wildly as Nicu held him in the air, before slamming his body into the concrete wall. A painful ache pulsed from Nicu’s abdomen, reminding him that he hadn’t had blood in a while.
In an instant, Nicu sank his fangs deep into the rogue’s neck. Thick coppery fluid—that was slightly sour—filled his mouth. Consuming blood from a rouge wasn’t Nicu’s first choice, but it would do for now to ward off the pains.
Nicu continued to draw from the rogue, not caring that it’s body flailed, trying to buck him off, but Nicu’s powerful frame didn’t budge. The rogue would never be able to overpower the formidable Shadow commander.
He would drain the motherfucker dry.
“Oh. My. God!”
He snatched his mouth from the rogue’s neck and turned to the voice, having forgotten that the human female was still in the hallway. In his haze, Nicu found Samara, frozen, horror etched on her face as she stared at him. Even through his blind rage, something tugged at his cold heart.
