by TM Watkins
I shrugged.
“No idea.”
Niko’s eyes narrowed as he turned to look at me.
“We have company,” Niko said softly.
His eyes shifted to the staircase, I stood and moved to see Brad at the bottom of the stairs. He looked a little angry.
Turning back to Niko, I shrugged.
“I guess it’s time.”
“So be it.”
I quickly walked down the stairs; Brad stepped back.
“Did you bring a guy home?”
“Uh, not quite. This is going to be really hard for you to accept, so I want you to calm down and come up to the attic.”
“No on both counts.”
“I did not invite him into the house, Brad. He was already living here. Come up to the attic please.”
Not waiting for his response, I turned and walked back up the stairs. Niko was sitting in his seat again, I guess this was his attempt at being less threatening.
Brad warily walked up the stairs, looking at what was up here and the man that while looked human, didn’t really look right.
“Okay, we’ll start with introductions. This is my uncle Brad.”
Niko nodded his head with a subdued smile. Hiding those fangs, for now.
“Brad, this is Niko Corbin. He is the original owner of this house; he was behind the wall in the basement, and he is a vampire.”
Slowly Brad turned and looked at me.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Bradley, please sit, and we can get to know each other as Evelyn and I have done over the past few days.”
“You kept this from me?”
“Well, you wouldn’t believe me when I said the wall spoke to me so what do you expect me to do when I find out it’s because we’ve got a vampire trapped in our house?”
Brad huffed indignantly, then lumped himself into the chair.
“Okay, regale me with this nonsense.”
“I was trapped behind that wall for sixty years, punishment for daring to be alive when another vampire had delusions of grandeur. This is the sad tale that we were yet to get to, Evelyn. Hades is actually Corbin territory. My second in charge decided that he wanted to rule and demanded that I handed it over to him. I would not do it, so he put me behind the wall. No doubt he claimed that I am dead and that I gave the rule to him.”
“Do you know why he didn’t kill you?”
“Yes,” Niko whispered. “I mean not to lie to you, Evelyn but it is something that I find troubling to think about. He could not kill me as it would not work, not when I had a child that could take over the leadership. All covens are ruled by a family member. When no one comes forward to take the claim after death, then the second in charge is given the posting.”
“Where’s your child?”
Niko shrugged, sadly looking away.
“I sent the child and my wife away for safety reasons, and I have not seen them since.”
Chapter 17
Brad was pacing the living room floor. He’d insisted that we moved downstairs because even though the attic was bright and airy, it was still creepy.
Was he angry? No, I think he was more confused than anything.
“So, let me get this straight. They can’t kill you because if they do, the rule of this town will pass to your child, the kid that you’ve not seen in over sixty years.”
“Seventy,”
“Yeah, okay. Seventy.”
Brad was about to roll his eyes but stopped when I frowned at him. It was not the time for it.
“And because Ryan saw the crack in the wall downstairs, he’ll go and tell the vampire that you’re breaking free.”
“He’s already told him. I overheard his daughter telling her friends. Audrey said that the vampire went off his tree about it.”
“Which means that he’s not happy and will be considering the next move. I anticipate that he will either send someone here to confirm the details or present himself to take me down once and for all. I cannot predict which one as I have not been around him in a long time. The state of his mind could be healthy or could be quite mad.”
He looked at me and in particular, the necklace. The arm stretched out as the glare hardened, pointing to the pendant.
“What’s that all about?”
“Evelyn and I have formed an agreement that benefits both of us and in turn, you. She is my familiar and through her, I can extend the familiar protection to you. If a vampire threatens your life, mention my name and all issues will fade away.”
“You mean the vampires that want you dead.”
“Yes, the very same. There is a code that they will adhere to regardless of any issues that they may have with a vampire. It is against our law to attack a familiar.”
“And when you’re dead?”
“I don’t plan on dying, but if the unthinkable happened, then I would suggest that you tighten your laces and run.”
I shouldn’t have smiled, but I did. I also shouldn’t have giggled but I did that too. Brad frowned at me. I stopped, pursing my lips in a vain attempt to stop laughing.
“So, what else am I missing out on? You pretending you were sick just to get out of school yesterday, the purple eyed kid, those Nephilim things?”
“I freaked out yesterday and panicked. Today was just as distressing, and I didn’t call you.”
Brad huffed, not impressed. I thought it was pretty good considering that I wanted to run all the way back here and not wait for Brad to turn up and scold me.
“The purple eyed kid is the Nephilim, and we’re still trying to figure that out.” Niko offered. “They are the product of a fallen angel and a demon breeding. The fact that it has presented itself to Evelyn twice now is an issue.”
Brad’s eyes widened as he turned and looked at me.
“Have you ever seen this kid or anyone else like him before coming here?”
Giving Brad a grim look, I shook my head. I would have told him if I’d seen a kid with strange eyes. I would definitely tell him that someone disappeared in front of me if it happened. The only reason I hadn’t told him of today’s interaction was that I needed to speak with Niko about it.
“Told you we were in Hell.”
“We should have stayed in Gainsport.”
“Where you are is of no relevance. The Nephilim will always find the person they are looking for. As for the vampire problem, this is just one of many, many towns that we are a part of. In fact, many towns had vampires before they had humans.”
“Well, yay for them,” Brad muttered.
With a heavy sigh, Brad sat in the lounge and frowned heavily. His lips were tight, and the fingers rapped against the armrest. He was thinking and it wasn’t good going by the look on his face.
“I’ll quit work; we can be gone by morning.”
“It won’t save her.”
His fingers stopped, and the frown fell quickly.
“You may not even need to worry. Just because there is a Nephilim hanging around does not mean that there is danger. I know that it said that they are coming for you to her, but that is no indication of a threat.”
“Why would this Nephilim have an interest in Evie?”
Niko turned his head to look at me. Assessing eyes dragged over me, no emotions on his face.
“I have my suspicions that it may have something to do with her father. As we have no way of finding out who he is, we may have to rely on their input into this.”
Chapter 18
The mind blowing revelation that my father might be more than just an average human was a little hard to take in. I sat down, staring into nothing.
Did my mother know? Was it obvious? I looked at Niko, and many aspects about him could be taken as one or the other. He looked human but he looked wrong. Knowing he was a vampire made sense. All these questions made me wish that my mother was alive so that I could ask her. If she was, I wouldn’t be here.
Maybe she did know what my father was. What were the chances that sh
e was his familiar? Was that the reason she was always gone at night and sometimes during the day? It certainly fitted the requirements. If that were the case, then maybe she wasn’t passed out in bed from drug use. Maybe it was sleeping off a feed.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Always,” Niko offered.
“Is it possible that my mother was a familiar for a vampire?”
“Anything is possible. What makes you think that?”
“She was always gone at night, sometimes during the day. I used to think she was high on drugs and sleeping, but I now think that she could have been low on blood after a feed. If she was lethargic, she would be irritable which could be the reason for her outbursts.”
I saw the exchanges that Niko and Brad shared. Niko returned with a vague smile.
“All are valid thoughts Evelyn. A vampire will feed on a familiar but usually, it is only if there is no other alternative. To make her lethargic though, he would have to drink a lot of blood which would have made your mother disorientated. If that were the case, it would be likely that she would struggle to stand upright, let alone the ability to return home. The other thought that you must consider is that if this vampire is your father, he would know that you exist and, in that case, you would reside in his home. There is no other alternative with this situation, vampires keep their family by their side and nothing else. This means that either the vampire in question is not your father, was not aware that you existed or was too dangerous for you to be around. I do not wish to be presumptuous of the relationship that you had with her but I heard the conversation that you and Brad had. If she beat you, then I’m inclined to think that she wouldn’t care if you were around a dangerous vampire.”
“Evie,” Brad said softly. “I know that you’re trying to find something that will make things fit, but I saw your mother’s police record. The woman from child services showed it to me so that I would understand because I didn’t believe her. No matter how much I said that your mother would have asked me for help, she wouldn’t hear it. I said that we would meet for lunch, she’d be happy and never ask for a single cent, the woman replied with the simple statement that I didn’t know that you existed. Think about that Evie. I saw your mother regularly and she never mentioned you. I did not know you existed until the funeral and I saw this kid in the front row, crying. I looked at her and I saw a younger version of my mother. I have no explanation as to why she kept you a secret but she did.”
Yeah, I had no idea why she did that either.
“Perhaps she knew that Evelyn was not completely human. If she displayed peculiar behaviour as a child, then it would stand to reason that she would think it was necessary to hide her.”
“But I went to school.”
“And she also beat you. A broken spirit can do more damage than what we see at the surface.”
“So, what are we talking about here?” Brad asked. “One of those Nephilim, angel, demon, vampire?”
“There are a few possibilities, and yes, those are all on the table as well.”
Brad whistled through his teeth.
“The others?”
“Well, it has been a long time since there has been a witch, but it’s possible that they still exist. For a while, there was a shapeshifter problem but that seemed to stop when the black plague hit Europe.”
“Wait, you were alive for the black plague?”
“Unfortunately, yes. If you are wondering, no, it does not kill a vampire, but the blood of the infected was incredibly foul. It is standard practice to leave the healthy alone in such times which made life rather difficult. This is the reason that my family travelled to this land and claimed Hades as our own. We were one of the first towns to attract humans to it.”
“Hang on, they told us that the town founder was Reginald Hades.”
Niko held his hands out with a beaming smile.
“So very pleased to meet you, I am Reginald Hades, town founder of this lovely little place. In a few years, I will, unfortunately, meet with a rather sticky end but do not fear, someone will be waiting to take my place. Over and over again until one day, no one will remember what any of the predecessors look like.”
“You?” I said dryly.
Niko smiled and nodded his head.
“Yes, me. I picked the place based on the location. Near the ocean, a little bit of flat land for lots of houses and a lovely forest to wander through. With a little land clearing and extremely reasonable purchase prices, they came in their droves, human and vampire. Within a few months, the,”
Niko paused and looked at the front door.
“What’s wrong?”
“We have company.”
“Good or bad?”
“Bad.”
Brad stood and carefully pulled the curtain back, looking out at the front yard.
“I can see about five people, men and women. Walking up the footpath, they’ll be here within seconds.”
Niko stood, flicking his hand to Brad.
“I am not here; you do not know who I am and you do not know that vampires exist. Demand that they leave. Do not let them into the house. Be forceful, be strong and no matter what, do not let them see Evelyn.”
“Or you.” Brad murmured.
Niko smiled with a nod.
My heart was racing as the shadows darkened the glass panels on the door. They were little triangles that were shaped into a half circle, sitting above my head in height. The glass was an odd colour yellow, almost mustard.
Carefully and quietly, Brad slid the safety chain over the door. When the person knocked on the door, I jumped. My hand flew to my mouth, holding back the squeak of shock. Looking at Niko, I saw an empty lounge.
Brad rallied himself. With a look of determination on his face, he opened the door.
Chapter 19
“Good afternoon, my friends and I are looking for a gentleman that goes by the name of Niko Corbin. Is he free by any chance?”
“No one here by that name.”
Brad pushed the door only to stop. I assume that the vampire stopped him. My position behind the door offered no view of what was going on.
“Forgive me, but I’m inclined to think that is not correct. We have a reliable source that says it was only a matter of time before he was uh, free if you will and we’d like to speak with him.”
“I think that you need to get your hearing checked because I said that there is no one here by that name. Please leave.”
“Brad, is it?”
He offered nothing but a frown.
“Perhaps we were not clear enough for you. We know that you are harbouring Niko, and if you do not provide us with access to him, we will be left with no choice but to report this to our leader. That is something that you do not want as he will not be happy. He will come here personally and then you and that darling niece of yours will be dead. Is that what you want?”
Brad didn’t respond straight away. It was almost like he weighed up the options. Would he hand over Niko to save us? I tried to make faces at him but Brad didn’t flinch, just looking at the vampire in front of him.
“Perhaps I was not clear enough for you. Leave now, or I will call the cops.”
The vampire chuckled mercilessly. It sent a shiver up my spine. The dark tone of his amusement was another attempt to threaten Brad and in turn, me. I’m sure he could detect another heartbeat close to him.
“We own this town.” The vampire hissed. “Your precious cops are on our master’s payroll. I know that you are fully aware of what I am and what you are facing. You know the danger that is in front of you yet you foolishly hide Niko with the belief that he will protect you when our master comes calling. You will regret that Mister Newton. That little chain will do nothing for you. Best get yourself something worthy to protect her. Otherwise, you will be on the ground dying, listening to her beg you for help. Will he come to her defence? Will he save you before death takes you? I don’t think so.”
I could see Brad’s jaw c
lench tight. He was struggling to remain strong.
“Until next time.”
The shadows slowly faded from the glass panels, Brad watched, and after a few seconds, he closed the door.
He turned and looked at me, both of us lost. Brad had just faced off against a vampire that essentially threatened our lives because he would not hand Niko over to them. Someone that he barely knew, Brad protected, and it could be the death of us.
“I hope you know what you’re doing here Evie.”
“Me? I know nothing.”
“Why are we trusting our lives to this vampire?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.”
Brad’s eyes shifted to the empty room. Walking quickly, he checked out the area and saw that we were alone.
“Pack your things quickly, we’re leaving.”
“Niko said that it won’t help me.”
“That was about the Nephilim thing. These vampires have directly threatened us, whereas that boy just keeps appearing. He’s not the threat here, they are.”
“You’re wrong. He said they’re coming for you. That sounds like a threat to me. Our best option is here with Niko. We have not been a part of this world; we’ve got no idea what the right thing to do is, but he does.”
Brad gestured to the empty room.
“You mean the vampire that left when danger showed up.”
“He would be somewhere close, don’t be so judgemental.”
“Why are you so insistent on keeping him safe at the cost of your own life?”
“You did too.”
“No, Evie. I stood my ground to keep them on the other side of the door. Because of that, they will return, and next time, we won’t be so lucky. Come on, what’s the deal? Are you in love with him?”
“No,” I hissed.
I moved to avoid Brad’s hard glare, but he shifted back into my space, blocking me from leaving.
“Get out of my way.”
“Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
Brad moved in step with me, getting in my way and generally being annoying.
“Stop it.”
