We made our way into the courtyard and past the remains of the burnt tree. I had half expected to see the horribly mutated dead creature still lying beneath it, but of course, it had been removed.
We walked quite a distance away from the sanctuary into the heavy brush. The moon was full and the forest was fully illuminated as the snow threw up the satellite’s reflection. Even someone without vampire sight would have had no trouble walking through the trees on this night. The sounds of night creatures exploring and stalking all around us filled the cool, dark air.
There was a soft snowfall on and off and if I had been in my human body I would have bolted for inside on such a night, but I was perfectly warm and the soft wavering snow only made things more beautiful and perfect. We sat in a gathering of trees and I opened up my extended hearing.
The sense was getting sharper. I could hear coyotes howling from a distance. Gavin said they had to be at least a mile off but I heard them just as if they were standing next to me. I heard a lynx stalk and kill a rabbit and I even picked up on a conversation being had in a house on Chapel Island, the reservation next to Soldiers Cove. A couple was talking about having a baby. I picked up on some of the woman’s thoughts as well. She was thinking of baby names. I felt their happiness too. I didn’t know if this was a special skill or if I was just in a good mood and genuinely happy for these people who had no idea they were being listened in on.
The woman’s happy thoughts were interrupted by a loud male voice. Not somebody who was in this cove or on the island or even in the country. The thoughts were distorted by distance and I had to focus hard to make them out. Stretching out I pictured this unknown person’s mind and walked myself into it.
Before I knew it I was being directly addressed. “What do you think you’re doing Rachel?” the voice said. I jumped.
“What?” Gavin said.
“Wait.” I stretched out again to reconnect and a few seconds later tapped into him again.
“For someone who has such good hearing,” the voice went on, “you sure are good at acting like you’re deaf. I asked you what you think you’re doing.” I didn’t respond.
“Do not connect with my thoughts do you understand?” The connection was lost as the feeling of a spike being driven through my head jarred me out of my state. It felt so real that I reached up to see if one was actually there. Then the voice was gone as suddenly as it began.
“Are you alright?” Gavin said.
“Yeah I’m fine, but…”
“But what? What did you hear?”
“I heard Samuel. I was in his mind and he was talking to me. He knows I tried to reach into his thoughts. He told me not to do it anymore.”
“Damn. We have to tell Angus this and see if there’s any way you can reach into his thoughts before he knows you’re there. We need to know exactly what he’s planning.” We stood up to leave but as we made our way I picked up on strange footsteps following us, not human.
“We’re not alone,” I said tugging on his shirt to make him stay still. Gavin drew his fangs and signaled for me to do the same. We stood there in the dark as the sound came closer, our bodies tensed with a readiness to spring as we turned to face the direction of the sound.
“You vamps are so paranoid,” a husky voice said from the darkness. “Don’t bite, it’s only me.” A man appeared from behind a large tree. He was tall and very muscular which was evident due to his lack of a shirt. His hair was long, wavy and dark and he had a pair of large dark eyes that were molten black. The muscles in his legs were also very huge and extremely hairy. I could see every one of them due to the fact that he was also lacking pants. I could also see that Mother Nature had been far more than generous so to speak.
Looking further down I spotted the reason I had not heard human footsteps. This creature did not have feet; he had what looked like goat hooves. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Greetings Gavin,” he said very politely, “Is this your mate?” he said smiling at me seductively.
Gavin’s entire body tensed even more so. “Yes she is. Rachel this is Aries. Aries, Rachel,” he said making an awkward introduction. Looking more closely at his face I could see the name suited him, as he had horns like a ram and pointy elfin ears, which seemed to make his chiseled and handsome face stand out all the more. I would say he was a beautiful man, but he wasn’t a man at all.
“I don’t suppose you’d consider sharing,” he said cocking his head to one side. “I’m so lonely out here, and I’ve never had a vampire before. She’s still partly human isn’t she?” Suddenly I had the uncontrollable urge to touch his hair. I reached out with my hand extending my thirsty fingers as far as I could. He took a step towards me but Gavin gripped my wrist. “And she’s very responsive. What do you say?”
The trees began to blur in the darkness and a sense of excitement came over me. All at once everything seemed a wonderful and beautiful dream. Oh, how badly I wanted to touch this man, every inch of him.
“You’re not going to have this vampire either so cut that out,” he ordered. “Why don’t you go find a deer or bobcat female to mate with?”
“Well I can but we can’t make a baby. Would you like to make a baby?” he said fixing his eyes on me. I could feel my head involuntarily nod yes. What was I doing?
“I told you to cut that out,” Gavin snapped.
“Oh fine,” he said. He broke eye contact with me and I was rudely awakened to clearer thoughts.
The need to touch his hair was gone too. “You vamps are too possessive. I’d share a female with you.”
“Deer don’t turn me on bud. What are you doing out here?”
“Like I said, I’m bored and lonely. Just looking for a lady friend I can make a baby with. Is that so wrong?” The creature looked wounded.
“Well find another female. This one’s not up for any baby making with a satyr.” Gavin then took on a more serious tone. “Hey, Aries, you might want to warn your boys that Samuel is on his way back here and we have reason to believe he’s bringing revenants with him. You might want to steer clear of these woods for a while.”
“Revenants? My word, there’s a blast from the past. You know most of my men are pretty good with swords, perhaps we can be of assistance to you? Our physical needs are not being met the way they should be so we have a lot of pent up frustration that might come in handy in a fight.” That was more information than I wanted to know.
“I’ll bring it to Angus for consideration. How many could you bring?”
“Say fifty or so? You talk it over with him and come find us if you need to.” The creature seemed hopeful he’d get to fight revenants, which was a lot more than I could say for myself. He turned his attention back to me for a moment. “So maybe we’ll make a baby some other time? Lovely to have met you.”
“You too,” I stammered.
“She has a good smell,” he said breathing in the air around me. “One you can’t forget.” And with that he took off through the night with the sound of his hoofs echoing in the distance.
Gavin saw the look of confusion and smiled. “You were ready to run off with him weren’t you?”
“Of course not.” He didn’t seem too upset for someone who just pretty much accused his girlfriend of wanting to leave him on the spur of the moment.
“It’s ok, you don’t have to lie. He’s a satyr it’s what he does.”
“Ok, so maybe I had a slight overwhelming urge to touch his hair.”
“Yeah, they have that effect on human women.”
“Well how could he have that effect on me if I’m not a human anymore? I don’t understand.” I was getting more confused by the minute. I had just met a creature who I thought was a myth and now I was questioning what kind of creature I even was.
“You’re still in your transformation year. Your eyes will adjust, your appetite for human food will lessen and your appetite for blood will settle down. Likewise your susceptibility to the satyr’s pheromones will dec
rease until it is non-existent.”
“So you’re saying he could have me if he wanted to? I don’t think so,” I laughed.
“No, it’s true. You felt the pull. If you had actually touched him I would have had to drag you away from him kicking and screaming. Therefore, I would suggest if you ever happen to come across one and you’re alone to bolt in the other direction. They are desperate to mate right now.”
“They are? Why?”
“Two reasons, firstly it’s early spring and that has always been their traditional mating time, not that they refuse it any other time. And secondly because they’re dying out.”
“Dying out?” it didn’t seem possible the vital and animated creature could be part of a dying race.
“Yes, they can satisfy their carnal urges with other animals, but they need a human woman, or vampire even, to produce a son. They always produce a boy and when he turns fifteen he joins them.”
“Well if he’s that irresistible why is his race dying out?”
“Think about it. How many women do you know go walking alone in the woods at night? Many years ago this land was even more rural than it is now. No cars, lots of walking to and fro at all hours of the day and night. People weren’t afraid like they are now. It was fairly easy for them to seduce a woman and send her home to her husband unsuspecting that she had been impregnated with a satyr baby.”
“You mean nobody ever said anything?”
“The women didn’t remember. He can’t play that particular bit of magic on you but a human woman would not even know it had happened.”
“That must have created more than a few problems for the unmarried ones.”
“I’m sure it did,” he said smiling at me.
“Wait,” I said remembering something I had read in a mythology book. “Aren’t satyr’s the creatures who are supposed to mate with nymphs?”
Gavin stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening. “Very impressive,” he said.
“Yeah I’m not as dumb as I look I guess.”
“No, no that’s not what I meant of course. But, yes, they have in the past. But nymphs are extremely rare. They can mate with them, but they may produce a female child that way.
The human women always bear males and so for a long time that was their preference.”
“Sounds like it had a bad effect on both species.”
“Yes, too much pride and preference on both sides. They didn’t realize that until it was too late. Angus may or may not want them there. You’re the only female that would be susceptible in our clan right now, but it might be too much of a distraction for them to be useful. They might all want to claim you and start fighting amongst themselves. A vampire mate for a satyr would be highly desirable. You are immortal and could give him a son every year for centuries.”
Sometimes Gavin spoke like he was from another time and it seemed when he was talking about his supernatural world that he would flip into storytelling mode. Probably relating the stories the way they were told to him by his parents who were quite old themselves was my guess.
“That’s a lot of babies,” I said making a face. Gavin laughed his loud goofy laugh.
“You don’t want to bear two or three hundred sons?”
“I think I’ll pass.”
Chapter Nineteen
“No, no, no!” James was protesting. He sounded like a child instead of someone who should be in a position of authority. We had gone to Angus to tell him we had important information and he had convened an emergency meeting. Now we were sitting here being judged once more instead of being listened to.
“It might not be a good idea since Rachel is going to be joining us to face Samuel,” Angus said.
“They are great swordsmen; we could use them if she wasn’t here,” James said with disgust. “Just another way she is going to get us all killed.”
“Some of them are ruthless if they know a female is susceptible to them, but Aries is reasonable. He doesn’t want the revenants taking over any more than we do,” said Gavin. “And if he tells his men not to pursue her they won’t. If I can talk to him and get his word that he will order them to leave her be would you have them join us?”
Angus thought about this for a minute. “I have dealt with Aries before, and what you say is true. Yes, talk to him. But make sure he understands. I don’t want two fights going on at once; it’s bad enough we have the one that is coming.” Gavin nodded respectfully.
“Lunacy,” James said under his breath “she obviously can do no more for us in terms of hearing Samuel’s thoughts if he knows she’s listening in. He must be very powerful to realize that. The girl is no good to us anymore. It’s time to think about our safety.”
I had heard enough. “Why don’t you just shut your mouth and kill me right now you pompous little coward?” The room went silent.
“What? It’s no secret he wants me dead. It’s the only thing that will make him happy, so why doesn’t he just do it himself instead of trying to convince the council?” James gave me a smile that said he was enjoying the fact he had gotten under my skin.
I felt the violence rising in me as I replayed his violation in my mind, and before I knew it I was lunging for his throat. I heard myself make the same deep growling noise I’d heard Gavin make in times when he came under threat. My maker leapt up and caught me at the last second, spinning me around in midair and slamming me into the floor.
“That’s enough,” Angus boomed. “James I am ashamed of you. Whatever your opinions are I expect you to behave in a respectful manner inside the confines of this room.” He turned and looked at me as I stood once again, “and the same goes for you little one.” Gavin let me up staying between us as both James and I nodded as humbly as schoolchildren.
“Angus, is there any way at all she can reach into his thoughts before he knows she’s there, even if it’s just for a few seconds at a time? There has to be some way around this.” Gavin sounded desperate for an idea, any idea.
“The only thing I can think of, and this might not work, is if you combine your abilities.”
“How do we do that?”
“Well, I’ve only heard of it being done once before and it was done by two vampires who each had mind reading skills. One didn’t want her husband to know she was listening to him and so she combined her skills with her sister’s. The husband couldn’t pick up on who was watching or listening. Gavin you have your gift to communicate only with animals but it might be just enough mental power to work.”
“It can’t hurt to try,” Gavin said.
“How does it work?” I asked.
“There is a book that tells the story in the records. We don’t know if it’s a story of fact or fiction though. The stories are a thousand years old and neither vampire happens to be around for us to ask. They both met with…unfortunate mishaps.”
Seeing as how the only way to kill a vampire was to burn them, stake them through the heart or chop off their head I would say they met with very unfortunate mishaps indeed.
“Here is the name of the book,” he said scribbling it down on a piece of paper and handing it to Gavin. “Please be careful though. We don’t know what other effects it might have on you, and we are going to need you both.” With that we excused ourselves to get to work.
“He has the best interest of the clan at heart,” Gavin said, “James that is. He’s just being stubborn. You’ll win him over.” The thought of that made my stomach churn. I wondered how Gavin would feel about him if he knew his brother was the reason for my draining.
We found ourselves back in the dank and dusty record room. “What’s the name of the book?” I asked as I thumbed through the shelves.
“The Cape Breton Book of the Dead,” he said. “That sounds familiar to me for some reason.”
“Do you know what it looks like?”
“Can’t say I do,” he said not sounding totally sure of himself. We searched the entire first bookshelf and found nothing. We went on to search all the shelves
and still did not find what we were looking for. Finally we took a break and sat on the floor together exasperated.
“There aren’t many books here,” he said, “I can’t imagine we’ve missed it. Maybe it’s being kept somewhere else.”
Off to one side of the room there was a smaller door. It was only about two feet tall and locked. “What’s in there?” I asked.
“That? It’s just a sort of crawlspace. Looks like it’s locked. Probably nothing in there, I can’t imagine someone keeping one of these important books in the crawlspace.”
“Well if there’s nothing important in there they won’t mind us breaking the lock,” I said smiling at him. “It’s not on the shelves.”
“I like the way you think,” he said giving me a sly wink. He stood up and gave the old padlock a kick. “Oops I tripped,” he said knocking the rusty bolts right out of the wall. He eased the small door open and reached his hand in. “There’s a box in here,” he said stretching his arm all the way in. “I can’t reach it, hang on.”
Gavin looked around the room and spotted a crowbar on top of one of the shelves, “well that would have come in handy a second ago.” He reached the curved end into the crawlspace and hooked it onto the box. A moment later we had it on the floor between us.
It was sealed and Gavin punctured the seal with the sharp edge of the crowbar. We opened the box and sure enough there was a black leather bound book with gold embossed writing that read, “The Cape Breton Book of The Dead.”
“You’re so smart,” he said leaning forward to give me a kiss. We put the crowbar back and placed some cleaning supplies in front of the crawlspace door to conceal the fact that we had broken the lock on purpose and then headed back to our room.
We sat on the bed and flipped through it. I questioned why someone wanted to hide it because it was simply a book of stories, it read more like an old children’s book than a book that contained any useful information on how to ward off a deadly attack by zombie vampires.
We came to the story that Angus must have been talking about. It was called simply: “Annie and Adelia”. As Gavin listened I read aloud.
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove Page 12
