The Vampires of Soldiers Cove

by Jessica MacIntyre

  Finally about a half an hour later he let out a deafening cry, shuddered heavily, and filled me with warmth again.

  He laid his head on my stomach while gently and lovingly stroking my leg. I still felt like I was in a drug induced fog, but it was beginning to subside a little.

  “You bit me,” he said sometime later, still resting his head on my stomach.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “It was the pheromones,” he said, “they went into your bloodstream and when you bit me, you transferred them.”

  “I feel so stupid. I should have let Hermes go look for my sword instead of going into the woods alone.”

  “It’s not your fault.” He picked his head up and gave my belly a gentile kiss. “They are extremely powerful.”

  “What do you think Angus will do to Aries?”

  “Hopefully ban him from the grounds at the very least. He’s lucky Angus got to him when he did because I was going to snap his fucking horns off. I should have been watching you more closely.”

  “I don’t know how I got out from behind you. It was all so confusing.” I felt like I had let him down.

  “I’m going to ask Angus to keep you inside the sanctuary when the time comes. Under the circumstances I think that would be the wisest course of action.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll stay with you.” Even I knew this was a bad idea.

  “No, you can’t do that. It’s obvious you’re one of the best swordsmen they have. You need to be out there defending us.” The thought of Samuel getting into the sanctuary at all filled me with fear.

  “I’m your guardian and I’m going to stay with you. I’ve failed you too many times already.” I could tell he really meant it, but I had to make him see reason.

  “No, you need to be outside. It’s what’s best for everybody, and maybe there’s something useful I can do by staying with Angus.” Gavin pulled himself up on his elbows and looked me directly in the eye.

  “My place is where you are, and I’ve not done a great job, I know that. But this is serious business. You could be killed.”

  “And a lot of other people could be killed if you’re not where you can do the most good.” I could tell by the conflicted look in his eyes that he knew I was telling the truth, even if he didn’t want to admit it to himself. He brushed his lips against mine gently. Maybe it was the relaxing quality of the pheromones but my guard was completely down. I read his thoughts. He was absolutely terrified of my death even more than his own.

  “Nothing bad is going to happen to me,” I said. He lay his head back down on my stomach and rubbed it softly. My words had done nothing to stop his fears.

  He was still thinking I’d be in danger if he wasn’t there, and that was something he didn’t want to risk. I ran my fingers through his curly mass of hair, all tangled and damp, trying to comfort him, but his thoughts remained unchanged.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  “That is a pretty serious accusation,” Angus said when we told him about the blood influence, and that we figured it must have been Mariah. “Why would she use a blood influence to make you fight? To what end?”

  “I’m not sure,” Gavin said, “but I’m anxious to find out. Why don’t we call her in here and ask her?”

  “She is at rest,” he said. “I’ve ordered everyone to get sleep for a few hours today whether they need it or not. Which reminds me, did you two get any sleep last night?” Angus seemed to know the side effects of satyr pheromones a little too much for my comfort level right now.

  “Not really,” Gavin said trying his hardest not to look embarrassed. Angus smirked a little bit.

  “Well I suggest you do, and between you and me Gavin I’m not one hundred percent confident in your sister’s ability to spot such things. She’s been wrong before.”

  “A long time ago,” he reminded him.

  “Be that as it may, we have too much on our plate today to deal with that matter. If we fail to succeed against Samuel tonight we might be on the verge of a full scale war on this island. Vampire against human, and vampire against vampire. We need to focus.”

  “Of course.” I could tell Gavin was agitated with the dismissal of his concerns, but he also knew that Angus’ mind was made up and there was no point in arguing. “What will happen to Aries?”

  “He has agreed to make restitution toward us.”

  “Restitution? That’s it?” Gavin was trying not to yell now. “What kind of restitution could he possibly make for that? If Aries had his way this morning she would be carrying his child.”

  “I’m aware of that,” Angus said. “The seriousness of his actions doesn’t escape me, but you have to also understand their predicament Gavin. They could very well go extinct at some point in the next century. They’ve become a little desperate.”

  “That’s no excuse Angus. He agreed not to touch her and he went back on his word.”

  “Did he touch you?” Angus said turning to me now.

  “No.”

  “He didn’t go back on his word then, there’s no need to make a bigger issue out of this than it already is.” I was beginning to share in Gavin’s frustration. Sure Aries hadn’t physically touched me, but he was just about to when Gavin had toppled him over. Angus was splitting hairs.

  “We need him and his men in this fight, you saw them last night, and we can’t afford to sully our relationship over something satyrs do that’s perfectly within their nature. We’ll keep her separated from them while they are on the grounds; it won’t happen again.”

  “Speaking of which,” Gavin said, “where are you putting us? I want to make sure she is protected.”

  “Gavin, we talked about this.” He began to protest but I kept talking so that he couldn’t object. “Angus Gavin needs to be where he can do the most good, and that is with his sword. I obviously can’t be of use to you there, so if you can make good use of me somewhere else you will have to separate us. We need to do what’s best for everyone here.”

  “Right you are,” Angus said. “Gavin you know she speaks the truth. I need you on the outside ring. If we can keep Samuel and his army from getting inside we might stand a fighting chance.”

  Gavin gave a solemn yet angry nod.

  “As for you my dear, you’ll be with me. You’re going to be sitting in the council room sealed off from everything with me and the guards, you’ll be safest, and most useful there. You’ll be our ears and if we have to get out of the sanctuary we will be relying on you to give us the heads up.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Good. Alright now you two get out of here. Get some human food and blood feed if you need to, and get some actual sleep. It is critical that we focus on getting through this next day.”

  Back in our own room again we sat on the bed silently. I tried to think of something to say to ease the discomfort I knew we were both feeling, but nothing came.

  “Do you feel like you need to blood feed?” he asked me.

  “Not really.”

  “Human food then?”

  “Maybe later.”

  “How about sleep?” I did feel tired and I could tell he was feeling that way too.

  “Eventually.” I reached out and he held his hand in mine. “I’m afraid,” I said.

  “Tell me why.”

  “I’m afraid that something will happen to you and I’ll be alone. I’m afraid these next few hours will be the only hours we have left together, and I know we need to sleep, but I don’t want to.”

  “I know,” he said squeezing my hand.

  “What’s it like to fly?” I said remembering seeing him change from vampire to crow. It was a pretty significant revelation and it was strange we hadn’t talked about it. I wanted more than anything to know all about it now, seeing as how we might not have much time together.

  “It’s like a dream.” His eyes closed reliving the feeling. “It’s like you are a part of something bigger and older than yo
u are, but at the same time, it’s like you’re part of nothing at all. You take off and nothing matters. It’s just air and sky and nothing can stop you.”

  “That sounds amazing.”

  “It really is Rachel.”

  “How did you discover you could do that?”

  “One day, not long after I was transformed, maybe it was a year. I was upset, resentful and filled with hate for my father. I hadn’t spoken to him for any of that time; I hated him for what he’d done to me. I didn’t understand that it was out of love, I thought he should have just let me die.” Gavin opened his eyes just then and turned toward the window, looking but not seeing out into the world. His eyes focused on the memory.

  “I was walking through the woods and saw a crow and I remember thinking how perfect it was, how beautiful. How if something was bothering you, you could just fly away from it and be somewhere else. I watched the same crow for a long time, wishing I was like him. I wished so hard that all of a sudden I was close to the ground.”

  “I didn’t know what was going on at first. And then I saw the wing.”

  “So you just wished for it and it happened? Sounds like when I wished for fire,” I said.

  “Exactly, sometimes you stumble on your talents by accident or necessity. I started flying and just kept going. But then I realized I didn’t know how to undo it.”

  “That must have been scary,” I said.

  “Oh yeah, so I just kept flying. I ended up in Port Hawkesbury,” he laughed to himself. “I had to call Dad to make the forty five minute drive to come and get me, I was too exhausted to change back and fly home. So there I was, naked and huddled behind the shopping center. Over time I’ve been able to get better at it, but sometimes I still have trouble.”

  “Do you think you’ll be able to do it tonight if you have to?”

  “I think so, if I get some sleep.”

  “Well as much as we don’t want to, I guess we better sleep. I’ll need it to be able to use my hearing.” We hesitated but eventually we drew back the covers of the bed and lay down together, and with our arms around each other we fell into sleep.

  I had the urge to kill. I wanted to feed on as many humans as I could for as long as possible. The overwhelming urge to gorge myself on human blood controlled me as I fed, leaving a trail of bodies as I progressed. I saw myself walking down a street as it ran with the warm red liquid. Other vampires joined me, and the humans cowered, or ran. It did no good, they were slow and pathetic compared to us. We were clearly the superior species.

  A young woman was about thirty meters from me. She saw me eyeing her and knew what I was thinking. I was hungry for her to run so I could hunt her. I longed to feel the beating of her frightened heart as she begged for her life.

  My mouth watered thinking of her fear soaked adrenalin. I was ravenous and she would taste so good after being so frightened.

  She was trying to decide on her best option, to run or to hide, I could see it in her eyes. It didn’t matter; there was no hope of escape for this pathetic animal. She decided to run and I threw my head back in laughter, elated at the sport I was about to partake of.

  Clumsily the human moved her legs one in front of the other. I let her get a good head start. She looked back at me and for a second I could see the hope in her eyes. Perhaps I was letting her go? Not a chance. With one swift burst I took off and was in front of her. She screamed in terror and tried to run the other way. I caught her by her mid length blonde hair and turned her to face me.

  This was the moment I longed for. Her heart was pounding so hard I worried she might pass out from fear and exhaustion. I needed her to be awake when I killed her. My fangs ran out and I made sure she was facing me as they did. The fear in her now was delicious; this was the moment she realized she was going to die. Tears began to fall down her cheeks as I whispered in her ear.

  “Would you like to say a prayer?” She looked at me with confusion. “Go ahead, I’ll let you have your final plea for salvation. If you have any sins, you’d best confess them to your God now.”

  The woman began to pray and as she did I moved slowly to her neck, allowing her to comprehend that her insignificant existence on this earth was almost over. She tried to break away, but I held her tightly.

  Her prayers were taking too long, “That’s enough,” I said. “Now, death.” The woman began screaming in protest. Hard, loud screams that came from somewhere deep inside.

  I ripped a gaping hole in her neck and pressed my mouth to the sacred red fountain that poured out of her. She had a good and steady heartbeat, and I listened as it slowly came to a stop. Her screams died into whimpers, and soon she was limp in my arms, unconscious at first, and then dead a few moments later.

  I discarded her to the ground and looked down at my hands. They were long and slim and full of blood. I was wearing a large oval shaped black onyx ring, which was also covered in blood. I held them up and admired them with pride. A symbol of my strength.

  When I woke up Gavin had already showered and dressed. He was loading his swords into their sheaths.

  “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  “If things don’t go our way it might be the last chance you get to sleep for a while.”

  “How much time do we have?”

  “About an hour,” he said.

  “Just an hour? I wish you’d woken me up sooner.” I stared at the floor not wanting to move. “This is all happening too fast.”

  “Hey,” he said. He sat down on the bed next to me taking me by the shoulders. “Everything is going to be alright. We’ll take care of Samuel tonight, and tomorrow you can go back to your home and to your life.”

  “And what about you?”

  “I’ll be wherever you want me to be,” he said, “and whatever you want me to be for that matter. As much or as little as you need.”

  I had taken off the ring he had given me when I had been under the blood influence and had made the snap decision that I didn’t want to accept his proposal. I reached over and slid the drawer of the bedside table open and took it out.

  “I’ll be needing you to put this back on me then,” I said. His eyes grew large and round.

  “Really? You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure, and I’m sorry I ever took it off. Can you forgive me?” He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

  “There’s nothing you need to be forgiven for.” He kissed me between small happy laughs. Gavin took the ring out of the box once more and placed it on my hand. “We can face whatever comes,” he said.

  “I want to marry you as soon as all this is over.” I didn’t think it was possible for him to look any happier than he just had, but he did.

  “Oh Rachel,” he said holding me close to him, “Thank you.”

  There was a knock at the door so I grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom to change.

  “Send them away,” I said. I could tell he thought I was kidding but I wasn’t. If we only had an hour left I would have liked to spend it alone with him. That wasn’t to be, however, because when I came out of the bathroom Gavin was sitting in our little living room space.

  He and Gavin shared several features, and biologically looked almost exactly the same age. You’d never know John had about four hundred years on his son. They both looked up and smiled at me at the same moment. I reciprocated and joined Gavin on the couch.

  “How are you doing my dear?”

  “Nervous. How are you Mr. MacDonald?”

  “Oh please, call me John. I’d be lying if I said I was calm, cool and collected.”

  “What do you think our chances are?” I asked.

  “Well, if we can keep them from getting on the grounds I don’t think our chances are too bad altogether. That’s the trick though isn’t it? We still don’t know how the lone one got in, if we did that would help us a lot.”

  “There’s a lot I don’t understand about this,” Gavin said chiming in.

  “I think we all know how it happened, bu
t very few want to say it out loud,” John said.

  “You think we have a traitor here too?” I couldn’t say I was shocked to hear his thinking had gone along those lines.

  John nodded and quickly changed the subject. “I’m afraid your mother is not too happy with me.”

  “She’s not?” I had assumed they were in agreement about him fighting tonight.

  “I’m afraid not. It’s very likely some of us won’t be coming back. We’ve been together for over four centuries; she threatened to not speak to me for a century after this if I survived it.”

  “It’s going to be a silent century of farming for you then Dad.” Gavin was trying his best to be positive, but the worry reflected on his face.

  “They tell me you’re going to be inside the sanctuary with Angus, is that right?”

  “Yes,” I said, “that’s probably where I can do the most good. If I can follow the thoughts and feelings of all of you outside I’ll be able to warn him of danger. He feels that would be a good way to get a head start if he has to make a quick exit.”

  “Have you spoken to Holly?” Gavin asked, “Where have she and Daniel been placed?”

  “On the inside of the sanctuary. The courtyard, just on the outer ring.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked

  “It means that if Samuel and his army get through, Holly and Daniel will be our first line of defense.”

  “Yes, and they have placed far too few on the courtyard in my opinion. Most of us are on the outside. Hopefully if they get in we can get enough of our people inside without too much of a delay.” He looked at me, “If we can’t, well, you may want to pay close attention to Angus when he briefs you on his escape plan.”

  I swallowed hard. The long awaited nightmare was coming to pass. We were really going to square off against Samuel, who was as ruthless as the devil himself by all accounts, and his army of ‘zombie vampires’. I had almost been killed by just one of them; I didn’t want to think about what horrible damage a whole army could do. He was coming with at least a hundred, maybe even more by now. I was very tempted to leave the sanctuary for the safety of my little bedroom in my house. Although if we lost, how safe would it really be?