“Genosoa,” she says turning to look at me again, slinging the bow over her shoulder so that the string rests between her breasts. “He wants to keep you distracted.”
The puppet master comes out of the shadows, too bold a move for him, he must have something big planned. Anyone who pays attention in the City knows he is the one pulling most of the strings, but he never does so openly. My eyes narrow, I can’t see what his move is aimed at.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” she says. “But if he is trying to distract you, then something bad is coming and you’re going to need help.”
She’s right. Genosoa is bad news.
“Now, who the hell is this Lily?” she demands.
GRIOGAR’S WAY PART ONE
Lily
GRIOGAR’S HOUSE, WELL MANSION TO BE MORE ACCURATE, is massive. As I step out of the back seat of the car I look back at Athene where she remains seated, I don’t want to do this. Griogar always seems to know too much and I’m never sure what his game is. I look at her with a fading hope that she will tell me to forget it all but she just smiles at me with a far-away look on her face.
“When you see a crack in the wall, step back and let it shine on, you can be a pretty diamond.” She smiles at me broadly the scars on her cheek twisting her smile into a rictus of a grin.
I’m not sure what in the hell she just said to me so I smile and nod.
“You’ll be fine Lynx, this decision must be your own. I’m sorry I can’t make it for you.” She seems more lucid now and she looks sad as she talks.
“Will the driver pick me up?” I am unsure how I’m supposed to get home. Wolf walks constantly but Athene has her car and driver take her everywhere, I have nothing of my own yet so I’m dependent on her for any needs.
“Of course dear one,” she replies.
I turn towards the house while listening to the sound of the car’s retreat as Athene leaves me on my own.
I sigh and tell myself to suck it up and walk towards the gated entrance. As I approach it my skin begins to tingle. At first it is not unpleasant but the sensation gets stronger the closer I come to the gate, it grows from a tingling to something similar to feeling like bugs are running over my skin, then it starts to burn and itch. I feel my beast trying to lash out at the unknown source of the pain but I resist the urge to scream or start scratching myself. This sucks! I remember when Wolf and I first came here the way he grimaced as we walked through this gate but once he was through it, it no longer seemed to bother him. I focus on that, pushing through it, assuming I’m right it will end soon. The burning escalates and I can’t imagine that having napalm poured over me and being lit on fire could be any worse than this. I grit my teeth and push through with pure will and then it stops. Not even a trace of any pain lingers, it’s completely vanished. Relieved, I continue walking across the well-manicured lawn to the mansion’s door.
I raise my hand to its gargoyle knocker but before I can grasp it the door swings open and Balthazar stands in the doorway. I met him before I became a vampire, shortly after first meeting Wolf. He has a medium build and wears a dark blue suit with a silk blue handkerchief in his pocket. His nose is very sharp and hooked; his whole face is made of very sharp planes. He looks human right now but Balthazar is actually a gargoyle. I’m not sure if he’s made from stone or can just turn his skin to stone or how that works at all. I do know he can sprout wings, giant bat like looking things that come out of apparently nowhere, and fly. He is an enforcer in the City, when I was summoned to trial he showed up to make sure I came along.
“Balthazar!” I exclaim. I actually like him, he was quite nice to me when last we met overall and where I’m going anything that even begins to resemble a friendly face is worth grabbing on to.
“Miss Lynx,” he responds formally but he smiles as he does and it makes me feel warm and welcomed. “The Regent asked that I supervise your sessions to make sure you learn your lessons.”
Of course. I realize that Balthazar can only do things he is ordered to do, which must be a terrible way to live, actually no kind of life at all.
“Well, thank you for being here.” I say.
He steps aside bowing at the waist and motions for me to enter.
The foyer of Griogar’s house is familiar to me because I’ve been here before. Two sweeping grand stairs rise on either side going up to a balcony that sits between them, directly in front of me are oak double doors with brass trimmings. I start towards them, they are where I first met Griogar but Balthazar clears his throat.
“He wishes to see you in the garden Miss Lynx.”
I turn back towards him as he motions to a side door and starts in that direction, I don’t have any choice so I follow. We enter a hallway that seems to run the length of the house and start down it, we pass a lot of doors and almost all of them are closed. As we continue down the hall, the sound of something thudding drifts towards me and gets louder as we walk. Passing by an open door I glance in then half-stumble at what I see. A man is leaning over what appears to be a leather-covered wood frame. He wears a wrinkled dress shirt but his pants are on the floor around his ankles. His pasty white, wrinkled backside is marred by angry red welts. Gross! A woman dressed in really tight, black shiny material stands to one side of him, the outfit leaves her breasts bare as well as her arms and she has on a mask that covers her head leaving only her mouth, eyes, and ears exposed. She is wielding a whip-looking thing which she uses on the man without mercy, striping it across his buttocks, legs, and exposed back. Each hit leaves angry welts.
“Thank you ma’am may I have another!” he cries out as she hits him yet again and she complies with his request without a word. She pauses for a moment turning her head towards the door where I stand. I know those green eyes! Katherine Codman, the Keeper. Balthazar pulls my arm to get me to leave and I move on shaking my head in bewilderment.
“It is often best not to look into corners, especially in this house,” Balthazar says softly.
Why was she doing that? Here in Griogar’s house? She is a woman of power, she works directly with the Regent, and surely she isn’t here for pleasure?
We reach a glass-paned door. “Mr. Griogar MacGregor is through this door,” Balthazar announces. “He has asked to tutor you alone.”
I smile at him, exuding confidence whether I feel it or not. I like being around Balthazar, he doesn’t excite the beast with hunger or challenge. As far as the beast goes he doesn’t seem to exist, he elicits no response from it. It is oddly comforting and relaxing to not be struggling with it in the presence of another.
“Thank you Balthazar.”
I open the door and stride out into the garden. The three-quarters full moon hangs over the open area, a very well maintained garden with lots of bushes, flowers, and walkways winding through, and spreads its light nicely across the grounds. Earlier it had been an orange color, now it is returning to its usual silvery white. I don’t see any sign of Griogar so I start down the path immediately in front of me. It leads me around a few turns, the bushes lining the path are taller than me and prevent sight creating the feeling of a maze. I make another turn and stop, there in the middle of an open space is what appears to be a replica of Stonehenge in miniature. There are standing stones with others on top of them and in the center is what appears to be an eight foot table also made of stone. Griogar stands behind the table smiling at me.
“Oh, welcome! Welcome indeed! Young Lynx, oh my, this is going to be so much fun!” he is giddy with a broad smile on his face.
Control, I must maintain control. I have to ignore the way his voice makes my skin crawl. When he speaks I feel dirty, deep down, like something wrong is being pushed into me. There is an otherworldly air to him, something I just can’t nail down about his presence, it makes me feel creeped out and gross. I don’t let him see my revulsion, though, I know it’s part of his game and I’m not going to play it.
“Yes, thanks,” I reply. Words, they are only words, they
cost me nothing.
His eyes lock on to mine as I move toward him and his pink eyes look so deep, I can see how much he really does care. He’s not creepy, he’s just misunderstood. What? Mentally shaking myself I pull back from that edge, stopping whatever it is he was doing.
Griogar’s eyes widen and then his smile grows wider, too.
“Oh my,” he murmurs. “Interesting.”
What’s interesting you albino freak?
I know from our first meeting that he has some kind of ability to pull a person into an entrancement. That’s got to be what he tried just now. I assumed it didn’t work on vampires, but what was it he said to Wolf? Damn, now I remember. That was when he talked about forbidden fruit and how Wolf should not have been strong enough to resist him. So he’s trying to gauge my power level? I bite my lower lip; this is not going well at all, I’m giving too much away without thinking.
“Are we going to get started?” I demand.
My only option is to push this to its end; every moment I’m with him is another chance for him to learn something else about me, something he shouldn’t know. Knowledge is power, what a change in my life that is. Power before was a gun or being able to hide and avoid notice. Perhaps my skill at running under the radar would be good training for this pool of sharks I am swimming in now.
He smiles with those fangs of his hanging out and then motions for me to come closer. He reaches down below my line of sight and I tense at his motion, unsure what to expect. He pulls up a rabbit and sits it on the table. A fluffy, white, terrified beyond moving bunny. He smiles at me again as I stare at the small, innocent thing he holds down.
“Control,” he instructs. “Control is achieved by balance. You must learn to balance - but first - unless I miss my guess, you must learn to feed. Have you fed on any living thing?”
I feel his eyes boring into me but my eyes are on the rabbit. The monster inside me is rumbling, the thirst that nothing seems to quench roars through me louder than it has been, my joints ache with a throbbing pain, and my stomach tightens. I can’t take my eyes off of it as my mind fills with images that any sane person would consider the height of grotesque, but it seems so logical, so necessary.
“No,’ I protest when I find my ability to speak at last. I wet my lips with my tongue, I can feel my fangs are coming down, I just want the hunger and the pain to stop and somehow I know this is the answer even though I don’t want it.
Griogar lifts the rabbit holding it by its head and back feet, stretching the large animal out as he raises it towards me, bowing slightly in the same motion. “Take it,” he urges and god help me I do.
It’s over in seconds, there is much too little there to actually quench my thirst, if anything I feel even worse than I did. I feel dry, so dry I can’t describe it in words. I feel like someone is shattering my bones with a hammer, I tremble with unfulfilled need, I can’t stop it and I know he sees it but there has been no answer here, no satisfaction. I close my eyes and try to handle the pain; I feel a tear slide its way down my face.
I hear Griogar making a tsk sound. Wonderful, just what I needed. I steel myself; I will not lose control in front of this man.
“This is merely a first step, child. We are far, far from done yet.”
I hear him moving closer so I brace myself and open my eyes, suppressing the emotions and pushing the pain aside. He places his hands on my shoulders; I’m looking up at him into that otherworldly albino face. His smile is broad as he takes one finger and wipes away my tear, as his hand moves away I see red where my tear should have been. I wipe my eyes to remove any trace of the tears and looking at my hands I see they have small traces of red on them. I sniff and know instantly that it is blood, my blood. Wonderful, I cry blood now!
“All right then,” I can’t show weakness, not to this monster. I am the predator here and predators don’t cry, I will take charge of this. “What next? I can’t feed on an animal so now what you got?”
He steps out of my personal space, his hands lingering on my shoulders for just an instant longer than is comfortable. I narrow my eyes but bite my tongue, regaining control of the situation.
“We’ll move on to better things,” he says.
A light dances in his eyes and I know he is playing with me but I embrace what I am. I will be in control; I will master this monster inside me. My resolve steels around the idea, no matter what it takes, I will survive.
STALK THE NIGHT
Wolf
IT ALL FALLS BACK INTO ROUTINE SO EASILY. Luna runs at my side with ease making it feel like there has been no intervening years, no confrontation. Desire stirs in me as I watch her move while we run across the rooftops of the City. I feel myself hardening which is just a distraction. The way she leans into her run, the shape of her ass as she leaps, the power she quietly exudes, all combined with the smell of her is intoxicating.
I push myself to keep up with her. She is older than me, a lot older, which means she is innately more powerful. I’ve done things to level that field and the gap is not as wide as it once was but it is still there. She stops mere steps ahead of me so I stop too and take the time to appreciate her from behind as I walk up to stand beside her.
Staring at her, I can pretend it will be ok. I let myself for these moments feel the remnants of me as a human, as something, someone who is capable of feeling. My chest feels hollow, I ache with longing, my stomach clenches and I want so badly to throw it all away. I want her, not just carnally; I want her to want me. I want her to take me as me, to be mine. She is my Beta, she should be at my side leading hunts with me. I let myself imagine another path, one where we are together, my resolve wavers as I look at that possibility.
“You’re slow,” she quips arching an eyebrow.
I give her a smile. We stand in silence looking out over the City. Our territory, together we could rule it all. No one could stand in our way, they know this, it shows in how they try to maneuver the two of us.
“I’m sorry about Billy,” her voice is soft and I feel the sadness in it.
“Yeah,” I say. What else is there?
“We went too far,” she turns towards me, her fierce eyes boring into me searching for something. I feel the beast rise up as if to meet her challenge but I push it down. Whatever she wants to say or do, I’ll take it. “Billy wasn’t strong enough, we should have seen that.”
I hear the frustration in her voice, the regret for what she and I did. It was the tipping point, the final straw that sent her away from me. Words won’t fix it; nothing will put it back together again. She’s watching me, waiting, so I nod. Her open hand slams across my face, the beast roars to life, gritting my jaw I push it back down fast before it can answer the insult. My jaw stings despite having moved with the hit. I look up at her and see the rage in her shaking form. She struggles to contain herself. The ache in my guts and in my loins grows stronger but I push it away. I can’t have her.
“You led us down that path! We should never have followed it!”
“Someone has to. We have to know if there is a way out there. You want to follow Miranda and Calhoun? You think that we can find balance through peace? Love?” I tremble with the anger inside, the beast struggles to be free, and this is not going to end well. “We can’t live like this! Waiting for the humans to wake up one day, it will be just like the fires of the Inquisition but now they have much better weapons. They can kill us without ever sending a single man against us. They will come in force and our powers won’t matter. They outnumber us one hundred thousand to one. Their technology has outstripped our powers. Athene has seen what is coming and we’re running out of time! What price would you not pay? How much is too much?”
I look at her and wait. She knows the answer; she knows how far I’ll go. There is no limit to what I will do to find this answer. History sees the Inquisition as mostly myth and hysteria. That was just a lot of spin by some very smart vampires. It was really an example of what happens when too many humans figure out how
much vampires manipulate their world behind the scenes. It is the reason for Society’s Laws and for the Silence. They must not know but it’s only a matter of time. They will find out if we don’t change. If we can’t find the balance between what makes us human and what makes us beasts.
She sighs and I step closer to her. Her proud breasts brush against me and desire rises. I feel myself hardening again but there is no time for that distraction. She looks into my eyes as a single blood tear slides from her eye.
“I miss them,” she whispers, letting me take her in my arms. “I miss our pack.”
Our pack. Young ones we had taken under our wing, it was all she had wanted but they were weak. I had to make them stronger, had to make her stronger. We had to push the boundaries between what we are and what we could be. Billy was the last of them to fall, I killed him just a few nights ago after he completely lost himself to his beast.
“I know.” It’s the only answer I have.
“Do you remember Sarah’s face? When she walked into the sun, she was so sure she had found the way.”
I nod again, the brim of my cowboy hat rests against her head, I press my lips to her forehead pulling her closer, smashing her against me and inhale the scent of her. She evokes memory by her presence; I don’t need her calling it out to me by name. I don’t want this. The beast growls low inside me, my throat tightens wanting to express itself in voice as well as internally. It takes all my will to push that back, she won’t forgive me if I let that out; she needs the man not the animal.
The final test of finding balance, absolute mastery of the beast, is to walk into the sun. If you have done it, you survive, if you haven’t you burn. Simple, scarily simple. Sarah thought she had achieved it; she was the best of the pack. She could pace us in a hunt, she could stop herself from killing at will, and her control was complete. We had all agreed she was ready. She walked out with a smile on her face looking back at us just before she disappeared from sight in flames that erased that beatific smile. I see it often in my sleep.
Control Page 7
