by Peter Dawes
Bending to avoid two strikes headed for my neck, I rolled on the ground and hurtled my sword at the guardian to my right. While it failed to be a killing blow, it plunged into his shoulder, forcing him to drop his blade and fumble for mine. The action had his partner confused enough that as I lifted one hand, his gaze strayed back to mine, brow creased and eyes turning wide.
Smirking, I released the bolt of energy, hearing the clank of metal against the ground as the rest of his form turned to ash.
The action had extinguished the only light remaining in the room. Using what my vampire vision could yet make out, I crawled for the downed guardian’s blade, rolling to the side when my sword sailed through the air and hit the ground where I had just been lying. One of my hands reached for the other weapon’s hilt, while the other plucked mine from the ground. I came to a stand and held both swords aloft, meeting the vampire’s gaze with a deliberate one of my own.
He smirked, picking up his blade and swinging it by his side once. We sidestepped each other, holding defense postures as we moved in a circle.
‘Do you think I fear death, seer?’
I furrowed my brow, hearing the perfect English in my mind. He held his unwavering stare, while I tightened my hold on both weapons.
‘No,’ I responded, ‘Though I must say, I would not fear it near so much if I was in your position.’
‘You know nothing about my position. Have you even lived a century yet?’
‘No, I cannot say that I have.’
‘The humans have a word for it. Purgatory. This is what eternity is. That long wait until we face our final judgment. Why don’t we cancel out each other’s debts and finally burn?’
His smirk grew into a maniacal expression, which made my blood run cold. He came at me in a blur, the sword moving just as quickly as his charge forward, as though he could rend the very molecules of the air around us. I bent backward, watching the sword sail over my head and turned, swiping at his back with one of mine. It cut through his tattered clothing, drawing blood.
Rather than pushing him away, it only produced an unholy form of laughter past his lips. He turned, coming at me with even more ferocity, forcing me to use both swords in the effort to counter his blows. One blow caught the borrowed sword, knocking it from my grip. I secured both hands around the hilt of my katana while the guardian took two fevered swipes for me, forcing me to push him back with a few jabs of my own.
He raced for me, the sword’s blade extended outward like a jousting lance.
I twisted out of his path, swinging for his neck the moment he had his back to me.
Cutting through skin and bone, severing head from body, I bested my final opponent, and watched with fatigued relief when he turned to ash and descended to the floor. If I had need for breath, I might have been panting, my heart racing while I struggled to descend from those frantic last seconds. As it stood, I still felt my hand tremor, a few lingering seconds passing with me standing alone in the room at last.
Slowly, I secured the katana back into its sheath. My eyes flicked back in the direction of the center pillar, the little energy I had left dancing on the tips of my fingers to light up the room once more. While I could not tell for certain, as I walked back for the scroll, I felt a difference in the air, knowing this time, I would be able to pick up the box and take possession of it. When my suspicion proved true, I lifted the lid and nodded at the sight of another rolled up parchment within. Frowning, I held the prize while still musing on that last battle.
“Eternal purgatory,” I said to the empty room, recalling the final guardian’s words.
Scanning the rest of the crypt, I saw two makeshift beds carved into the walls just as the quarters upstairs boasted. A pile of bones lay in the far corner, with a trap door in the ceiling directly above. I frowned pensively while studying it, hearing Darshan’s message echo in my thoughts.
“… Many people disappeared in that area. Nobody ever knew where the missing went. The skeptics thought they drowned in the lake or were killed by others who lived closer to the mountains. After that night, I knew, though… The vampires had taken them. They’d brought them back to their crypt and ripped them into pieces.”
Swallowing hard, I decided to take my leave, needing to seek shelter before the dawn.
My exit from the tomb went much swifter without the fear of antagonists, even if something had left me unsettled about the experience. I ascended the spiral staircase, box in hand with several notions turning around in my head. They bore no hint of guilt or remorse; indeed, a part of my thoughts remained fixed on notions of mercy, wondering if I had just accomplished more than mere retrieval. The idea held steady, until I passed by the cells again and paused on the outside of one.
In my mind’s eye, I saw Monica, and surrendered to another frown. Acts of mercy and still, I pictured the woman I loved, bound within the confines of one of these dank, lightless prisons. I heard her tears and felt her pain and of all the acts of charity I could accomplish, freeing her was the one I cared the most about. I managed to leave the vacated ruins without incident, headed back into the city to see to my rest.
It was all I wanted. She was all I wanted.
And I would slay a thousand vampires to reach her.
Chapter Eleven
I stood outside the hotel, the wind kicking around my hair again, coat buttoned to conceal the presence of my sword. The inky black of night had begun giving way to the light of dawn, but still, I felt compelled to steal a few moments now that I had reached my destination. While the entirety of what had just occurred remained a dizzying prospect - the scope of my abilities tested without being certain if I had plumbed their depths – the idea lingering the most remained centered on my watcher.
For all of my gifts, it was still the one area in which I was powerless. On one hand, I had just laid waste to an entire company of immortals older than I dared consider. On the other, a task as simple as rescuing one girl continued to elude me. A tempest swirled around me and, more than anything else, I desired my compass again. That such was not to be my lot again agitated me to the point of frustration.
A frown overtook my expression as I walked into the hotel.
My stroll inside the building bore the same level of nonchalance as my gait outside of it had. I paid little attention to the early risers beginning the day’s activities, clutching the jewel-encrusted box close to my body and excusing the glances given to the bloodstains on my shirt collar. The trek to the elevators remained without incident and the ride to the room remained just as quiet. As I approached the door, I dug into my pocket for the key and entered into a well-deserved solitude.
The shades remained drawn, as I had left them. When the door swung shut, silence enveloped me, prompting a slow inhale of air, followed by an even slower exhale. A small table situated near the bed provided ample space for me to rest the box, and a phone poised beside it reminded me there were those who might care to know the outcome of my quest. Robin undoubtedly was ignoring the dawn in favor of attending to his work. The Order would probably be getting restless after not hearing word from me for several days. I stripped the sword from my side and propped it beside a chair, then draped my coat across the back. There would be no phone calls; no explanation. Not yet.
I had the right to be selfish and was bent on taking it.
My hands knitted together atop my chest, gaze fixed on the cracked ceiling above me. If I could slay a host of elder vampires, then surely I could do more than allow my watcher to languish. Distance might have separated us, but we had our dreams. As I felt fatigue nipping at me, that rebel notion that we deserved better gained fruition. Perhaps I had become drunk with power, or finally emboldened toward accepting who I truly was, but as I shut my eyes, the matter had been settled.
Sleep took me under. The psychic link between Monica and I came to life and the scene of our meetings took form within my mind.
***
My footsteps echoed down the corridor, soles hitting
the concrete in a deliberate stride as my gaze remained focused straight ahead. Both hands settled by my sides, I kept my powers at bay while wearing authority in the way I held myself at the same time. I might as well have been daring the powers-that-be to stop me, wagering with them that they would fail in their pursuit. Right then and there, my mission was with the girl in the last cell and by that point, I would have rent heaven and hell to be with her again.
I paused when I reached her cell, turning to face her with the deliberate tenor still evident in my posture. The corners of my mouth surrendered in a grin, however, as I regarded her lying on her cot, in the same repose I had settled into when I laid down to rest. Her head turned and eyes opened, a smile cut short when she caught sight of me and took in my appearance. Something had changed. She knew it, I knew it, and it swiftly brought her to a seated position. “Peter?” she asked, rising to a stand.
Approaching the bars separating us, I pressed against them and lifted a hand when she came within reach. Her brow furrowed as my thumb brushed against her cheek, my smile broadening at all the questions I saw laden in her eyes. “There are still so many mysteries,” I said. “So many things have yet to be explained to me in a satisfactory manner. But there is one thing of which I am absolutely certain, regardless of how much power I can wield.”
She leaned into my touch. “And what’s that?” she asked.
“I would do anything to be able to have you in my arms again.”
“Yeah… I know.” Her expression fell, a sigh escaping her lips. “I’m not much good to you in here.”
“I am hardly thinking of your worth to me as a watcher at the moment, love, though I wish I had your talents for that as well.” My hand lifted, fingers coasting across her lips before retreating. “I do not need another accomplice as much as I need to simply be Peter with someone. Not a vampire-seer, or a pawn in the greater scheme of things.”
“Ah, come on, I’m sure Robin’s at least given you a little bit of a break. Or do I need to come over there and make him leave you alone?” She winked.
I laughed. “Not for that purpose, no.” My gaze shifted to the cell door for a brief second before returning to hers. “Of all the places which exist in our minds we could choose to meet with one another, this has to be one of the depressing.”
“Well, I didn’t get to pick my own adventure with this one, otherwise I’d have a few better ideas.”
“As would I.” My smile turned mischievous. I drifted away from her, headed toward the door. “Do you remember when we snuck into Wesley’s home?”
She nodded slowly, her eyebrow arching again. “I think breaking and entering’s probably a better way of putting it.”
“Nothing broken. Just a lock picked.” I fell silent until I stopped in front of the door. Turning to face her, I watched confusion interplay with hope by the way her eyes studied me. It made me want to chuckle. “Now, I doubt this is the reason I have been given my supernatural gifts, but the Fates shall have to indulge me. Allow me to show you a trick.”
I waited for the slow nod before training my sights back to the cell door. While it hardly boasted any modern design, this worked to my advantage as the lock itself appeared straightforward. “I am surprised you have not attempted this yourself.”
“Who says I haven’t?”
A quick glance at her summoned back the smile that had started to fade. Her arms folding across her chest, she eyed me with a hint of feigned annoyance and I felt that warmth she inspired surge to life within me. “How foolish of me,” I said, bowing in recognition of the slight, which earned me a grin back from her. Directing my attention back to the lock, I narrowed my eyes at it, focusing for a few seconds until I heard it click. The door swung ajar and as Monica and I made eye contact again, I could feel the rush of excitement we shared in that moment. “Would the lady care to join me on the other side of those bars?”
“The lady would love that a lot,” she said, her first few steps cautious, leading her to the barrier between us as though she expected it to swing shut and lock on her again. One hand tentatively rose and pushed it forward while she stepped through. I felt my stomach tie into knots until the door closed behind her.
Tears welled in her eyes. Mere inches separated us, which disappeared within seconds when she closed the gap and threw her arms around me. I clutched her tight against me, kissing her hair and shutting my eyes while her cheek pressed against my chest. Yes, this was all in our minds; I held no delusion otherwise. In that moment, however, I could not have cared less.
“Get me out of here,” she whispered, her voice wavering as she spoke. “If I get a say in this now, then I want to dream about you and me somewhere else.”
“As you wish.” My eyes shut, mind visualizing the room in the hotel where I was staying in some silent prayer for us to be whisked away there. Her hands settled on my back and as I clung onto Monica, I felt a rush of air blow past, aware of the change in lighting before I could so much as open my eyes. Once my lids did lift, my shoulders slumped in relief at the change in scenery around us.
Monica’s grip on me slackened, her head turning and eyes peering around the small accommodations. “Where are you right now?” she asked.
“Northern India.” I took a deep breath, allowing her to drift from my embrace. “It is hardly the Ritz-Carlton, but compared to the cell…”
“It’s perfect.” Her gaze shot from her cursory examination of the drawn shades, finding mine. A soft smile touched the corners of her mouth. “I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess I’m not in Northern India. At the same time, this is a cozy room.”
“It was the only place I could think of taking you. We hardly have our own refuge yet.”
“Something about these damn vampires kidnapping me and taking me to exotic locations, only without the free tour.” Monica drifted close again. “Don’t worry about it, Peter. We’re here right now and I don’t want to waste it.”
She tilted her head to peer up at me. I lifted a hand, resting it on her cheek, allowing myself to get lost within her bright green eyes for interminable moments. Monica lifted up onto her tiptoes and I bent until our noses touched, lips hovering a hair’s breadth apart. My eyes shut once more. “I know I have said it before, but it never ceases to astonish me just how real this feels.”
“Incredibly real.” Her breath hit my face as our mouths connected, the sensation sending shivers from head to toe and back again. At once, every passionate feeling I had ever conjured with regard to her flooded my senses, lips motioning against lips until a series of searing kisses commenced. Our bodies melted together, Monica sliding an arm around my torso again and lifting her other hand to grasp the back of my neck. As though I might run away. As though I had any desire but to be in that moment with her. I clung onto her just as tightly and the dam of emotion suffered fissure after fissure before bursting altogether. She parted for breath, but by the time necessity demanded she come up for air, we had barreled past the threshold of no return.
“Take my breath away, why don’t you?” she murmured.
“Only the first of many goals I have in store for you.”
“Oh good, so we’re on the same page.” She pressed her lips against mine again, but this time, pushed at me until my legs hit the side of the bed. I sat slowly, pulling her down with me and groaning at the inevitable parting of our mouths again. Monica rested one knee on the mattress beside me, positioning herself on top of my lap. Both her hands rested on my shoulders, our noses brushing as she denied me another kiss, at least for the moment. “Tell me Robin’s nowhere nearby. Because if he wakes you up right now, I’ll be really mad with him.”
I laughed. “’Really mad?’”
“Seriously. I’d clip his ponytail.”
“That is underhanded.” A few lingering kisses interrupted my half-hearted attempt at chastising. She settled closer to me, provoking a groan. “No. Robin is not here. I am alone.”
“Good.” Her hand touched the si
de of my face, the intensity of our actions taking on a more fenzied tenor once they started anew. I took hold of her hips while one decadent embrace swept into another and as she pushed me flat onto the bed, I toppled down willingly. Monica straddled my waist. I kicked off my shoes as her fingers skimmed down my face and found the collar of my shirt. “My red and black devil,” she said, beginning to undo the first few buttons.
“My beloved sorceress,” I said in response, reaching for her neck and tangling my fingers with the long, flowing locks of her hair. Inch by inch of my shirt’s fabric opened up, our mouths connecting once more when the feel of her hand on my chest provoked another moan. She grabbed fistfuls of my shirt and tugged the tails out from my pants. Once the ends fell open, I rolled her onto her back, stripping off the article of clothing and tossing it aside.
She hummed with approval when I untied her scarf and kissed down her neck.
“Gods, this is visceral,” I murmured, continuing the path with my lips, down to her cleavage line. “You have no notion of how much I have missed this. Your scent. Your taste. I might have to lock you away for a year when I find you, and bid the rest of the world to leave us alone.”
“Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep,” she said. Her body wriggled when I licked a trail back up to her ear. I smiled against her skin at hearing the soft gasp lilt past her lips. “I might ask you for more than just a year.”
The way she spoke the words broke me from my exploration, if just for a moment. I lifted up, meeting her gaze with an eyebrow perked. “It is a promise I do intend to keep.”
“Then lock me away with you and throw away the key.”
