Scarlet Dusk

by Megan J. Parker

  “And that’s why you are here now?” Zane tilted his head, feeling unnerved by her story. He frowned at his own doubt, realizing he had no reason to judge her.

  Anyone would’ve done the same if they had watched someone close to them transform into a raging beast.

  Except Serena.

  “I’ve missed you, Zane… all this time,” Celine pressed her hand to his arm. “I was hoping to… well, I was hoping to spend some time with you.”

  “I-I don’t know, Celine,” Zane forced himself not to frown, “A lot has changed since…”

  “Please, Zane… I have nowhere to go right now,” she whimpered, squeezing his arm, “The only other place I had to stay…” she shook her head, “The plans fell through, and now I don’t have anywhere to stay.”

  Zane sighed, turning to her for a moment and felt a pang of guilt for the past. He had an obligation after everything that he had put her through in the past to at least offer her somewhere to stay. “I…I can offer you a place to stay, but that’s all,” he sighed and looked away, suddenly realizing how much time he was wasting not looking for Serena. “That’s all I can ever offer you.”

  “That’s more than enough for now, Zane!” Celine smiled and hugged him, “Thank you again!”

  “Yea, sure. No problem,” he quickly pulled away and finished his beer before he turned towards the door. His doubt grew, and he began to wonder if it was a good idea to be offering anything to anybody at that time, let alone a place to stay to a past lover he’d presumed dead for so many years. Once again, he found himself wishing that Serena were there to help guide him. But it was too late to retract the offer now; not comfortably, at least. “Let’s go,” he called out as he made his way for the exit, “I’ve got things to do.”

  Zoey smiled lovingly at Isaac, her therion lover, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. It had been so long since she’d been able to have a private moment with him and she needed the intimacy he was offering.

  “Are you alright, love?” Isaac smirked down at her.

  “I just want this moment,” Zoey smiled.

  “Oh?” he smirked, tilting her head upward, “well, let’s not keep the lady waiting any longer.

  Zoey moaned as Isaac’s lips crashed down on hers and she shivered at the pleasure that came with her lover’s kiss. She gasped as he squeezed her breast and he took the moment to slide his tongue in her mouth, running it against hers. Deciding that it was her time to take control, Zoey allowed her aura to rip their clothes off as Isaac pressed her back against their bed.

  “Mmm… have I mentioned how much I love having an auric vampire for a lover? It makes undressing so much easier, and so much more fun,” Isaac smirked, running his finger across her bare chest as he teasingly ran it around her nipple.

  She gasped, arching up, begging him to touch her, begging for the teasing to stop. She needed him inside her. It had been so chaotic for too long and Zoey cherished these moments with her lover. She watched as he leaned his head down, flicking his tongue across one of her nipples as his finger found her other. The shock of electricity running down her spine caused her to arch further up and she found herself pressing against his hardened member.

  “Looks like someone’s ready to go,” she purred, running her hand up and down his length, watching in pleasure as her lover rocked forward against her fist.

  Isaac clenched his eyes shut in pure bliss as she continued to jerk his shaft and finally, he was able to find the willpower to remove his lover’s grip.

  “Careful, love…” he smirked, “I don’t want to be finished too quickly.”

  She smirked playfully and spread her legs, allowing her sex to be in full view for Isaac and she watched as his eyes widened at the sight before he smirked and moved his hands down her torso, moving towards her glistening folds.

  “I-Isaac! Hurry touch me!” Zoey cried out, no longer able to hold in her arousal.

  Isaac smirked, quickly remedying his lover’s thirst as he began to slide his fingers inside her. She cried out as he readied her for his shaft and before long, she was climaxing on his hand. Breathing hard, Zoey looked up at Isaac as he positioned himself over her and leaned down, kissing her hard as he allowed himself to finally thrust inside his lover.

  “Oh! That’s it!” Zoey shivered, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist as he quickly picked up the pace.

  Isaac had finally gotten over his fears of hurting Zoey with his size and had finally realized that Zoey liked it rough. She smiled up at him, letting him know there was nothing to worry about, dousing any fear her lover may have had. Leaning up, she pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss as he continued to dive inside his lover’s folds.

  Shivering in ecstasy, Zoey could feel Isaac’s body tense as he reached the edge and she cried out, falling with him as they both reached their climaxes together. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and kissed him hard as they slowly came back from their bliss.

  Isaac fell to Zoey’s side, not bothering to pull out of her as she snuggled against his chest. He smiled, looking down at her bright blue hair and ran his fingers through it as she rested her face over his heart.

  “Mine,” she murmured into his chest.

  “Always,” he agreed.

  “What’s on your mind?” she turned her bright blue gaze to his and he smiled, her gaze perfectly matched the color of her hair.

  “Your blue-ness,” he grinned.

  She chuckled and teasingly slapped his arm, “no, really, what is on your mind?”

  “How can you expect me to even be able to speak, let alone think after that?” Isaac arched his eyebrow down at her, “what’s on your mind?”

  “Honestly? I’m hoping we find Serena soon…” Zoey bit her lip, thinking about her missing best friend.

  Not long after she’d first met Serena, the two of them had bonded; forming a nearly sibling relationship. This bond, though having nothing to do with their shared auric abilities, was tight enough to give them insight to one another’s wellbeing, and she knew then that her friend needed her just as much as she needed Serena.

  “I know. I’m worried about Zane too in that regard, I mean, I don’t know much about him,” Isaac sighed. “But, I’m worried about how he’s taking this whole kidnapping thing.”

  Zoey nodded slowly, “I know he can seem scary at times, especially in the past considering what his anger brought out,” she paused for a moment. “But, Zane is like a brother to me and despite all the appearances he puts up, he is truly a passionate and loyal comrade. He is loyal to the Vailean clan.”

  “I see…” Isaac frowned, “But what do you think he’s feeling about losing the curse?”

  “I’m a bit worried about that honestly,” she sighed, “I mean, on the one hand I do sense a great deal of relief, but on the other…” she shook her head. “I sense a growing concern for how he’s feeling about not being able to handle these new threats. That he isn’t strong enough without Maledictus serving as some sort of ace in the hole.”

  Isaac narrowed his eyes at that and looked over, “You mean he feels inadequate without Maledictus?”

  “Though it was an awful curse, Maledictus’ strength and power were, in many ways, a safety net for Zane. Now that that strength and power are gone, he’s afraid—though I know he’ll never admit it—that he might not be able to handle things on his own. I mean, I…” Zoey paused, looking away. “We need to go,” she sighed, using her aura to retrieve a fresh set of clothes for the two of them from the drawers.

  As they rushed out the door and down the hall, the two spotted Zane walking into the community room along with a redheaded woman; a sang.

  “Zane? Who’s this?” Zoey asked, nodding a quick greeting to the newcomer standing beside him.

  The woman’s aura, originally filled with an awed intrigue, shifted to nervous as Zoey and Isaac both approached them, and she moved closer to Zane. Narrowing her eyes at this, Zoey watched the woman, unsettled by something about th
e way she moved, before returning her focus to Zane.

  Zane bit his lip, his aura shifting with unnerved movements as the newcomer came in close to him. “This is Celine,” he finally confessed, “my… well, we were engaged a long time ago. She heard that the Maledictus curse had been lifted and came to town to see if it was true.”

  “Engaged? You mean the fiancé that Maledi—” Zoey’s eyes widened as she looked back to the woman, “So she isn’t dead.” Zoey forced a smile, hoping to not come off as rude during such an uncomfortable reunion. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Celine. I’m glad to hear that you’re alive and well,” Zoey started to offer her hand for a more formal greeting, but decided against it when she noticed the nervousness growing in her aura. Though curious about this, she decided not to pry out of respect for Zane.

  “Yea, I guess she got away from Maledictus before… well, before he could do what he’s known for,” Zane nodded, and Zoey could see he was forcing the words and gestures just so he could be rid of the need to do so. “Anyway, she doesn’t have anywhere to stay, so I figured I’d offer her a room here until she gets back on her feet.”

  “That was nice of you,” Zoey nodded before clearing her throat. “So, any progress on Serena’s whereabouts?”

  Zane shook his head, “No. I got a little sidetracked while I was out and…” He glowered, “I will find her, though. I need to. She’s in danger out there with him, Zoe, you know that.”

  “I know,” she nodded, setting a hand on his shoulder—sensing a swell in the newcomer’s aura as she did—and offered him a reassuring smile. “We have to have hope and just stay focused. In the meantime we just have to keep a level head on our shoulders and not get distracted.”

  “I would never let anything distract me from this,” Zane looked into Zoey’s eyes and she smiled, seeing that Zane wasn’t in any way deterred from his goals due to the Celine situation. “Nothing will stop me from finding her.”

  “Good! I’ll continue keeping an eye on all the city’s public camera networks and the police broadcasts to try and find any clues,” Zoey smiled.

  “Sounds like a plan. I’m going to go back out there while there’s still some time until sunup,” Zane’s voice had shifted back to his serious, not forced tone. “Have someone show Celine to her room and call me if you find anythi—”

  “I’ll go with you,” Celine suddenly offered, closing the distance between them yet again. Biting her lip, her aura shifting with embarrassment as she realized how her suddenness had come off, she cleared her throat, “P-please, Zane. I… I want to help you. If this girl—”

  “Serena!” Zane narrowed his eyes at her.

  “R-right. Serena. If this Serena means so much to you, then I want to help you find her.” Celine blushed and let her gaze shift between Zane and Zoey. “It’s… it’s the least I can do…”

  Zane sighed and shook his head, his aura shifting as he abandoned any cruel-worded rejections he’d wanted to respond with. “Do what you want. Just don’t get in the way. Zoey,” he turned back towards his friend, “if anything—and I do mean anything—turns up on any of the frequencies, don’t hesitate to call me.”

  “Will do,” Zoey went to turn towards the clan’s resource room, spotting Isaac a few paces back. As she walked by, he followed and fell into a pace beside her as she made her way to the surveillance room.

  “You were awful quiet back there,” she nudged him, smirking. “You shy?”

  “I don’t like strange vampires,” he confessed.

  “Yea, and she was plenty strange, wasn’t she?” Zoey chuckled, shaking her head. While this Celine seemed to be more of a nuisance than a danger, she knew that she’d have to keep an extra eye on her.

  Something in her gut told her that something wasn’t right with her sudden appearance.

  “You alright?” Isaac asked, tilting his head.

  “Yea, I’m fine. I was just thinking about what else I could do to search for Serena. I feel like I’m not doing enough.” Zoey bit her lip and shook her head before realizing that Isaac was beginning to look nervous. “It’s alright, baby, I’m just in business-mode, you know? I’m going to be pretty wrapped up on the computers—boring stuff—if you want to wait for me in our room you can.” She smiled and nudged him, “Without me to complain about the weak plot lines, you could watch your cartoons in peace.”

  “No, I’d rather stay with you,” Isaac nodded, taking her hand in his. “While all that technological stuff still bugs me, I don’t want to leave you alone. And if I can help find Serena, I’d rather do that than watch cartoons,” he nudged her back, “besides, I like it when you point out stuff like that, it reminds me how smart you are.”

  Zoey blushed at that, “Like you need a reminder.”

  ~893AD~

  ~ARMENIAN OUTSKIRTS; JUST OUTSIDE OF DVIN~

  ~PALACE OF MELEILZSI SHAYKH NAQSHBAND~

  MELEILZSI SHAYKH NAQSHBAND AND AREZOO, unlikely and unconventional as their union might have been, had something special between them; something genuine.

  Something that compelled Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband to do the unthinkable…

  In his mortal life, the powerful master had sired no children—produced no heirs to his conquests—out of spite and greed. To him, allowing a rightful successor to his glory was an acknowledgement that his goals for immortality might fail, and he felt that any such sign of doubt was, even if only to himself, a weakness that could fester and spread like an infection. So when the night finally came that he’d sent all of his servants away and barricaded himself deep into the cold, dry depths of his ceremony hall, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he’d emerge three days later an immortal.

  There were the tales of the life-feeders that scoured the lands at night. Few, if any, had not sat—wide-eyed and awed—and listened to the stories of the legends. And while many put little faith in the tales—tales of beings that wore the shape of men and dragged the young and elderly from their beds to consume their blood and rip the very souls from their hearts, and still others of men who abandoned their human skins to take to the nights as great beasts that consumed all they came across—there was rarely any who took the chance at such encounters. The magi were, for the most part, entrusted with keeping such evil from entering the great cities, and though Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband had no interest in repelling such creatures—not while they held so many delectable secrets—it was not his interest to come to them as anything less than their equal.

  Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband was far too proud to claim his legacy from any hand that was not his own.

  And so it was that, when he’d grown satisfied with his research and his spells, it was with his own hand that he tore out his heart and allowed his mortal body to fall within the geometric grid he’d drawn for exactly that purpose and die there in the cold, dry depths of his ceremony hall.

  All his work.

  All his hopes.

  All his power.

  All invested with such faith and determination that he’d entrusted everything he was—everything he’d achieved and everything he’d become—to the unquestioned hope that, as he spent his last moments, clutching his own heart within his trembling grasp, he was creating a new beginning rather than simply engineering an end. Forcing the gurgled chants to breach his quivering lips, Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband set his heart within a small hammock fashioned of virgin hair that hung just over what was to be his mortal body’s final resting place.

  The fading sight of his heart offering one final, futile pump of spurting life within the dark, woven strands had been a vision of hope.

  Hope…

  Unquestioning, unwavering, and undeniable.

  Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband had woken up, though a full day ahead of schedule, and as he found his first breath and, with it, his first pained-yet-victorious shrieks within the empty confines of his ceremony hall, he knew that his hope had held merit. It was with this pride and profound new power coursing through his body that he’d stood
and torn his mortal heart from its resting place and took his first bite.

  He’d been feeding on death ever since.

  Those creatures—those monsters—that Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband had once seen as something to be envied had become nothing more than animals to him. Everything that was ate something; the lions had their zebras, the peasants had their livestock…

  But all of them—each and every thing that ate of anything else—perished.

  Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband, however, had become a Liche; a being empowered by death!

  And if anything was more certain than life, it was death!

  Immortality was his, and he owed all of it to his hope.

  A hope that had returned to him when he’d found Arezoo…

  A hope that he would not be burdened to traverse the path of an unending life alone.

  A hope that, though he had sacrificed any possibility of ever producing a new life—life being the one thing he could not create—he might find a companion in death.

  And so it was that Arezoo, nothing more than a concubine in the eyes of all others within the palace walls, became not only his lover…

  But his apprentice.

  Holding once more to his hope, Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband taught Arezoo the ways of death—the energy and possibilities that could be drawn from life’s greatest of mysteries—and shaped her mind and body for the day that she, too, would descend into the cold, dry depths of his ceremony hall and, like him, watch her mortal heart’s last beat and be reborn an immortal.

  Despite all of his aspirations and romances, however, did not deter Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband from finding the time—he was, after all, an immortal with all the time in the world—to take pleasure in the powers he had earned. Nor was the great Liche master without his fair share of rivals.

  Shortly after his rebirth, he’d discovered that the legends and stories were not only all true, but grossly dulled and lacking in the glory they were deserved. Though they were, as the legends described, seemingly human in appearance, the vision his new powers offered him made spotting them within the crowds during his outings as simple as plucking the overripe dates from a proffered bowl. Challenging them, however, proved to be something of a challenge, as, though they were every bit as vicious and powerful as the legends credited them, they were infinitely more cunning. Whether they avoided Meleilzsi Shaykh Naqshband advances out of fear or urge to maintain their secrecy, none seemed willing to face him as anything more than just another predator amidst a sea of prey; an alligator among wildcats…