CREAM (On the Hunt)

by Renquist, Zenobia

  Fredrick screamed, “What is this? How are you doing this? What are you?”

  The other attackers all stopped advancing. The scent of fear filled the air. Two men started backing into the shadows.

  Teaghan said, “Jeliyah, don’t let them leave.”

  “On it.” She raised her arms. “Enclose.” Her personal shield dropped so it could reform around the group.

  A scream filled the air as one man tried the barrier and died for his trouble. The others stared at Jeliyah in open horror. Fredrick was among that number.

  She said, “You’ve seen our little surprise. We can’t let any of you leave here alive. In your next life, choose your friends better.”

  Fredrick pulled a gun and fired, hitting Jeliyah in the chest. She went down with a scream of pain and Teaghan bellowing her name. Teaghan ran to her side, dropping his sword so he could cradle her in his arms.

  “I don’t like guns but we use the tools available to us,” Fredrick said as he pointed the gun at Teaghan. “Goodbye, Teaghan. You can join your little necromancer bitch in hell.”

  Teaghan laughed. He dropped his forehead so it rested against Jeliyah’s and indulged his relieved amusement. Jeliyah wasn’t dying. Fredrick had hit her heart but the bond she shared with Teaghan kept her alive. Teaghan could feel his life sustaining hers, keeping her with him while she healed the vampire equivalent of a fatal wound. She would live.

  “What’s so fucking funny, you bastard?”

  “You haven’t noticed something very important, Fredrick.” Teaghan raised his head and met Fredrick’s gaze.

  “What?”

  “Look around.” Teaghan waited as Fredrick did a quick glance about. The others did the same before bringing their gazes back to Teaghan. He could almost see the ripple of realization as each man figured out the problem.

  Fredrick was the last. His gun pointed at the ground as his grip went slack and his jaw dropped open. “How? I shot her.”

  Teaghan glanced up at the still-crackling barrier that would keep everyone inside until Jeliyah lowered it. Actually, until Teaghan lowered it. Jeliyah had given him control of the spell so she could focus on healing.

  He laid a kiss on her forehead before lowering her to the ground and standing up straight. Confronting Fredrick, he said, “She said it already. You’ve seen our surprise. You can’t leave here alive.”

  “Fuck you!” Fredrick tightened his grip on the gun and fired.

  Teaghan sidestepped and the bullet passed him without damage. “There’s a reason vampires don’t use guns, Fredrick. You know that. You want me dead, you’ll have to man up and do it the hard way.” He glanced at his discarded sword. He could get it if he left Jeliyah’s side but that wasn’t going to happen. He sighed and shook his head. “I’m done playing with you, Fredrick.”

  “You—”

  “Sever.”

  A slice of wind passed through Fredrick’s neck. The man’s shocked expression would remain frozen in place until his head was destroyed.

  Teaghan knelt beside Jeliyah again. Her chest wound had closed but they were both weakening from the repair job. He glanced at the vampires awaiting his next move. He gave them props for not pleading for their lives like cowards. They were all enforcers—without their necromancers, no less. Whoever had been giving Fredrick orders must have wanted the higher-ups kept out the loop. That meant leaving the necromancers at home, like Ephraim had done the night he introduced himself to Jeliyah.

  Since Teaghan didn’t know the men, that meant they weren’t high enough in the ranks to be missed.

  He decided to try one last spell and hoped it worked the way he wanted with the energy he had left. “Frozen.”

  The remaining men all jolted as the spell held them bound. Teaghan could feel the barrier weakening. He had to act fast. He ran to the closest man, bared his neck and bit him.

  Teaghan drained the man, feeding for himself and Jeliyah. The sustenance made the barrier sizzle to renewed life. Teaghan went to his next victim. By the time he finished, Jeliyah was off the ground and feeding on one of the others. She picked up the technique from his thoughts.

  Teaghan smiled and stood back to watch. He would need to stop her so she didn’t get drunk. It was a human misconception that vampires could only feed on human blood. Blood was blood. Human was more potent than most animals, and vampire blood was easier to assimilate. Vampires didn’t feed off one another as a courtesy. Besides, human blood tasted better.

  Jeliyah made a disgusted noise. “I hope so. This is nasty. If I wasn’t so hungry, I wouldn’t have drunk as much as I did.”

  Teaghan jerked his chin to one of the last four men standing. “Do one more before we kill the rest and get out of here.”

  She looked around at the bodies strewn about. “What about cleanup?”

  “Not my problem. Feed.”

  Teaghan heard her mind balking as she bit the next man. He didn’t like seeing her lips touching another. Only the knowledge that she needed blood kept Teaghan from pulling her away.

  She finished with another disgusted noise. The vampire she’d drunk dry, killing him, dropped to the ground when she released him. She said, “Break.”

  The last three men exploded. Teaghan watched the phenomenon with morbid interest. He preferred Cleanse but he also preferred death. Jeliyah was the type who wanted it quick, if not clean. Break provided that.

  He lowered the barrier and then stopped short. Their little light show had gathered an audience. He moved to shield Jeliyah from the group of vampires surrounding the perimeter of the barrier.

  A woman walked through the crowd, which parted for her. Lanore, head of the Marceaux family. She looked around at the carnage before leveling her gaze on Teaghan. “Why have you done this, enforcer?”

  “They got in the way of my bounty and tried to kill my necromancer.”

  “Who is your bounty?”

  “Fredrick.”

  Lanore frowned. “He is a member of the reserve, not a rogue.”

  “He’s a traitor and Niccolo put a price on his head.”

  “Niccolo?” She looked thoughtful. “Do you belong to him now, enforcer? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I’m saying I got stabbed in the back for doing my job. Since Fredrick did the stabbing, I took the job to collect his head. Simple as that.”

  “And if I take offense at you accepting a bounty from an outside family while on my territory, in my front yard?”

  “You can if you want but I did you a favor. Fredrick was helping a usurper to your power.”

  “Do you have proof of this or merely Niccolo’s word?”

  “What I’ve got is a whole lot of don’t give a shit. You can play indignant and oblivious if you want. Let me know how that works out for you when the one gunning for your ass gets the balls to do it in the open.”

  Jeliyah fisted her hands in the back of his shirt. Her anxiety at his irreverent attitude played through his mind. He couldn’t do anything to calm or reassure her. Either they were leaving or they were dead. No matter the outcome, he wasn’t kowtowing to some wannabe royal bitch who probably hadn’t stepped out of her house in decades.

  Lanore regarded him for a long while. She narrowed her eyes before heaving a sigh and waving. The vampires dispersed a few at a time until only five remained. She said, “Take Fredrick’s head back to Niccolo and never return to my territory, enforcer. If you do, I will have you hunted as a rogue.”

  “Fine by me.” Teaghan kept Jeliyah close as he walked over to Fredrick’s head.

  “Leave the girl.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “You will watch—”

  “I repeat. Fuck you. She’s with me and I’m with Niccolo. You don’t like it, take it up with him.”

  “You haven’t left my territory yet, enforcer.”

  “Oh, I’m sick of this shit. Jeliyah, if you please.” He glanced over his shoulder at her.

  She startled with wide eyes and then looked at Lanore. Wit
h a shrug, Jeliyah said, “Ghosting.”

  The sentries tightened around Lanore and pulled their swords.

  Teaghan didn’t know why. “Ghosting?”

  “Like Ghost Status but it makes us invisible, not just the marker. Grab the head. This takes a bigger toll than Ghost Status and I’ve never cast it before so I don’t know how long I can hold it.”

  “Right.” He balled his fingers in Fredrick’s hair and, with his free hand, pulled her along behind him back to the car. The sounds of pursuit soon reached him.

  For the first time since meeting her, Teaghan watched Jeliyah jump into the car, not bothering with the door. She said, “Good thing we did all our errands before this. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “Don’t gotta tell me twice.” Teaghan passed her Fredrick’s head, jumped in the car and screeched out of the parking lot at top speed. He didn’t know if Lanore would continue the pursuit after they left her estate, and had no plans to stop outside the front gate to find out.

  He tossed his phone on the dash after hitting the speed dial. The phone rang twice before Mekhail picked up. “Hello, sire.”

  “We’ve got the head and trouble. Tell Niccolo to call in a favor or something or you might have a war.”

  “Of course, sire. I shall call back with news.” The line went silent.

  Teaghan glanced at Jeliyah. “How you doing?”

  “I’ve felt better, which isn’t saying much since I’ve only been a vampire for a short time.”

  “Deactivate and go down. If trouble hits, I’ll wake you.”

  “Okay.” She looked at the head she held. “Before that, do you have a bag for this?”

  He gestured to the glove box.

  Jeliyah pulled out a plastic bag, stuffed Fredrick’s head in it and then dropped it on the floor between her feet. She heaved a tired sigh that Teaghan wanted to echo. He was too busy straining his senses for sounds of an imminent attack.

  All he heard was the empty night, which had him glancing at Jeliyah every few seconds to make sure she was still there. Her lack of heartbeat shouldn’t scare him as much as it did but he couldn’t forget the hole she’d had in her chest minutes before and how he’d thought he’d lost her. He never wanted to feel that again. That meant hearing an attack before it hit.

  The phone almost deafened him when it rang. He stabbed the talk button. “Tell me good news.”

  “Of course, sire. Niccolo has contacted the Marceaux matron and explained the situation to her. She is angered at your disrespect but has called off the hunt for your head. You can return at your leisure.”

  “We’re headed back now. Have food waiting for us. Jeliyah will need it.”

  “We await your return, sire.”

  Teaghan ended the call and let himself sag. Things had gotten deeper than he’d liked. At least they came out of it alive. He glanced at Jeliyah. In a few hours, they were going to have a long talk. He wanted all the cards on the table. He knew she wanted the same.

  At the end of the talk they would know if what had passed between them in the woods was a one-time thing or the basis for a lasting relationship. He hoped for the latter. Jeliyah was his. Her near death had solidified that notion for him.

  He planned to keep her no matter what.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jeliyah dribbled water through her fingers so she could watch it fall. The large tub full of lavender-and-chamomile-scented water soothed her senses. She needed that after the week she’d had. Half of it didn’t seem real and yet her new life’s direction was proof that it was.

  A knock at the bathroom door drew her attention. Teaghan asked through the door, “You coming out or am I coming in?”

  She looked down at the water, contemplating his question. They needed to talk. That wouldn’t happen if she was naked. She stood. “I’m coming out.”

  After wrapping herself in a fluffy robe, she exited the bathroom. Teaghan sat on the bed with his bare back to her. His hair was loose of the cornrows and wet. The mid-back-length red mass dripped into the towel he had wrapped around his waist.

  “I used the shower in the other room.” Teaghan glanced back at her.

  “Oh.” Nervous energy made her shy. She didn’t want to do this and yet she knew she couldn’t avoid it. They hadn’t spoken on the trip back and both had slept as soon as they reached the bedroom. The silence had persisted after they woke so Jeliyah had retreated to the bathroom to get clean and think of a way to break the ice.

  “Redo it.”

  “What?”

  He jabbed a finger at his head. “My hair. Rebraid it.”

  Jeliyah snapped, “Just because I’m black doesn’t mean I automatically know how to braid hair.”

  “And I didn’t say anything about your color. Stop acting indignant when we both know you can do it.” He stood. “Now where do you want me?”

  She couldn’t argue with him because he was right. Yet another fact about her that he’d pulled from her mind without her permission. She gestured to one of the easy chairs near the roaring fireplace. “On the floor.”

  Teaghan waited for her to gather the hair supplies and sit on the chair before he sat on the floor between her open legs. He looped his arms over her knees, which forced her robe open and exposed her pussy. She pulled the halves of the robe together in a futile effort to cover herself. She should have dressed before coming out here.

  It irked her that Teaghan didn’t seem to care about her unease. He was relaxed and waiting for her to start. This position was probably one he’d been in tons of times with hundreds of other women. Jeliyah wondered how many times hair braiding had led to sex for him.

  “None,” he said softly. “I learned to braid my own hair. I’ve been doing it ever since.”

  “Really?” She touched his head, remembering the neat rows. “You did a great job.”

  “Decades of practice. And that was me being lazy. I was in a hurry when I did the last ‘do. Give me something better.”

  She nodded then picked up the brush and started pulling it through his hair. She decided a spaced basket weave of braids would look good. Sectioning off a hunk of hair with the rattail comb, she started plaiting.

  She was half finished when she asked, “Why did you apologize?”

  Teaghan grunted a questioning noise.

  “In the forest, after… You apologized. Why?”

  “That. Yeah.” He tapped his palms against her legs. “I fucked up your life, so I apologized.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “How do you figure? You’re a vampire now because of me and the shit I got you into.”

  “I’m free of the campus now because of you. Niccolo was right. The only way to be free of them is death. Recognize started the bond but it probably wouldn’t have been enough. I would have spent the rest of my life dreading the day when I finally had to return.” She smiled at the back of his head. “You changed that for me. There’s no going back, no more threat. I feel like I have a life, now that I’m dead.”

  “You’re not dead. You’re just not mortal any longer.”

  She nodded. Silence fell between them once more and she continued her task. She was putting the last elastic band in place when the image of an axe swinging in front of her eyes made her jerk back with a startled cry. The axe stopped.

  “Relax,” Teaghan said in a monotone. “It’s a memory. My memory.”

  “Teaghan?”

  “Just watch.”

  She nodded and tried to relax once more as the axe resumed a swing that ended buried in Teaghan’s chest. He stared at the axe, reaching for it with shaking hands. He wanted to pull it free but the pain made it impossible. His blood-streaked gaze traveled to the face of the man who’d swung the axe—Gutun, his older brother.

  Jeliyah asked in a breathy voice, “Your own brother? Why?”

  Teaghan and Gutun-in-the memory said in unison, “You’re weak, little brother. I’ll not have you bring ruin to our clan with talks of marriage and compromise b
ecause you’ve no stomach for battle. Die like the coward you are.”

  It took her a moment to digest the words before she realized what was wrong with them. “But you said you loved to kill. That you became a vampire on the battlefield.”

  “I did. My sire pulled the axe from my chest and raised me from mortal death to be a vampire. Bred of a warrior clan, I was trained and honed to fight, yet I yearned for peace. All in my family saw it as weakness except my father who, in his old age, felt that peace served his clan better than battles with uncertain outcomes and great losses.

  “My father was clan chief and I a favored son. To keep me from swaying his thinking any more than I had, my brother killed me during a skirmish with a rival clan. He then blamed the clan for my death and used that to rally my father into fighting on.”

  Teaghan rubbed her leg with an absentminded gesture. “The girl I was to marry to solidify the peace was made my brother’s whore when he captured her. He abused her because she had belonged to me. Her family retaliated to get her back. When the dust settled, both clans were half what they were and easy pickings for a third clan that swooped in and massacred them both.”

  Jeliyah didn’t know what to do so she hugged his shoulders. Teaghan was sharing his life with her. As he spoke, his memories flitted through her mind, vivid as though she watched a movie. He’d forgotten nothing in all this time.

  Teaghan said, “I watched it all. Forbidden by my sire from interfering but forced to bear witness. In the span of seven years, I saw my family fall into ruin before the last of my blood was led from our ancestral land with a chain around his neck. I could only shake my head at the stupidity before turning my back on them. I haven’t set foot on that land since.”

  “Why did he make you watch?”

  “To harden my heart. My sire needed warriors to build his empire. He had dreams of being a head of his own family. He finished the training my family started, gave me a taste for killing I’d never had before.” He snorted a derisive laugh. “Then the damn fool went and got himself killed. His little army didn’t match his ambition. I barely escaped with my life. I’ve been freelance ever since.”

  “Did you love her?”