Longest Days

by C. L. Quinn

  “I haven’t. Although if I had it would have been none of your business.” She drew a deep breath and looked at Bas. “Before I explain further, I need your promises, all of you, to not overreact, and above all, you must promise not to hurt him.”

  The other vampires exchanged glances, and then stared at Daniel.

  Daniel threw his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I don’t care what you do. I deserve anything at this point.”

  Eillia stepped in front of him. “Well, I do. Promise, my dear friends.”

  More hesitation because they really couldn’t imagine why she would ask such a strange thing and knew it didn’t bode well. But Park stepped forward.

  “Of course we promise. We love you and we trust you.” She glanced at the huge men behind her. “Right, boys?”

  A few reluctant nods later, Eillia sat back down on the stool. “Pull up a chair. This will take a minute. Bas, I am so sorry, but this centers on you.” Drawing a deep breath again, Eillia continued. “Daniel, this man behind me, is, or was, a mercenary soldier.” She noticed Bas’s jaw clench. He’d already figured it out. “He’s the one hired by Alvin to destroy your home last year.”

  Bas pushed away from the bar, followed by Park. She whispered to him, although all the vampires understood them because of excellent vampire hearing. He shook his head, Park took his hand and laid it on her chest. She pressed it to her heart and touched him. His breathing calmed, and Eillia could feel him get control.

  Park had extraordinary skills. She had found out she was a vampire, and a first blood as well, only after a horrid childhood that included extreme neglect and a cruel mother who destroyed her self-esteem. Now, having found the vampire community, and discovered her true nature, she was one of the most powerful of them all. The combination of her very powerful father and human mother had produced a new generation of first bloods. And Park, with Bas, had borne a daughter who was foreseen as even more powerful.

  Eillia watched Bas and Park pull their spirits together to support each other and protect each other from news that would be impossibly hard to hear. Moments later, they turned and walked back to take their seats.

  “Go on, Eillia,” Park said, still holding Bas’s hand.

  “Alright. Daniel was a tool, an instrument, of that vile vampire. I can’t defend his choice of profession, or what he did to you…”

  Koen cut her off. “To you! He killed Hamid! Surely you aren’t telling us you forgive him!”

  “I can’t say I forgive him. But I can say he isn’t a bad person. His heart is pure. Because he knows what he’s done and he’s offered his life for justice. He’s handed me his life as payment for the one’s he’s taken. For being involved in Hamid’s death. Hamid did not die by his hand. But I might have, if he had been truly unforgivable. He saved me from the same fate. He carried my lifeless body from that place, and not knowing I was vampire, not truly dead, he gave me a proper grave.” She looked at Daniel and their eyes connected. Then she heard a deep groan from Koen.

  “Well, you may not have forgiven him, but I can see from the way you look at him. You’ve been with him.”

  “Careful, Koen. You’re going to get that ass-kicking yet. What I’ve done with him is not your business.”

  “It is because of who he is. What he’s done. He’s the reason for all your pain this past year.”

  “There’s enough pain to go around. It’s really, really complicated. I couldn’t explain it right now even if we had all the time in the world. I just found out myself, and I still have a lot to work through. But I know he isn’t the enemy. Right now, we have to deal with those who do want to hurt us. We need to find Tamesine and that unpleasant little vampire.”

  “It isn’t a problem. I can channel my power through you guys and find them. And I agree. This is immediately important. We’ll deal with the mercenary later. If you would all come to me, and link hands.” Park had already stood up and stepped back to make room for Eillia, David, and her father to join her. Bas was a very strong vampire, but he was not first blood. He kept his seat and forced himself not to get up and beat the quiet human who stood behind the counter into a bloodied pulp.

  Hands linked, heads bowed with closed eyes, the four first blood vampires concentrated, and Park weaved her power through each of them. Daniel stood fascinated, watching them move closer. He could almost feel them when they merged. More likely he could feel Eillia, like he had done so before. But this was on a greater scale he realized, when he saw Park open her eyes. They were glowing, like Eillia’s had done a few times. She spoke quietly.

  “There. In town, at a business. A restaurant. They’re waiting there for us. Tamesine knows we are here. She’s happy. The other vampire is not. He’s smarter than she is. He knows they’ve lost and that they should be running. He knows it’s too late.”

  Park lowered her head and gently released Eillia and Koen’s hands.

  “Well, that’s where we need to go. But it’s daytime. And although there will be no sunlight, I know there will be more people around. We should wait until late night and they are all gone home.”

  “We can’t,” Eillia said. “Tamesine won’t care. She’ll hurt them and they are people I care about. We have to go. We’ll compel the humans to leave and then deal with Tamesine and Bas’s traitor.”

  Koen stepped back and grabbed the car keys he’d left abandoned on the counter. “Okay, let’s ride. The human stays here.”

  Eillia nodded and walked over to Daniel.

  “You’re safer here. If you need anything, we’ll be back shortly. Within the hour. I hope.”

  “Let me come with you. I can help. I have a pretty good idea how to protect you.”

  Her eyes searched his. Yes, she guessed he did. Alvin had tutored him well in what killed a vampire.

  “You don’t need to. My family will be with me, and they are the most powerful beings on earth. You’ll just be a liability. I can’t have you trying to be noble. I’m sorry to do this, but I think you’ll ignore me and show up anyway.” Her eyes trapped his, and he couldn’t look away. “Daniel, you will go to the storage room and lay down in a comfortable place. You don’t need to sleep, but if either of the vampires that were at my cabin come in, you are to defend yourself just as you need to. You know the score.

  If I don’t come back by tomorrow morning, you will be free of this compulsion and will go away someplace far from here. You will have a good life and do good things and be happy. You will not remember me, or anything about me, from Vancouver or here. Or any of these vampires you have met tonight. Goodbye, Daniel.”

  She turned to Koen. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  The vampires walked out the door, none of them watching as Daniel walked slowly to the back of the bar and laid down on a rug in the storeroom where he’d made love to Eillia just a few days earlier.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “What the hell is taking them so long!?”

  Alvin sighed as Tamesine’s patience waned. In a hurry to die? Because I’m not, he thought. Because that was exactly what would happen if things went the way he expected them to. He’d thought about heading out, but he knew he didn’t have enough time to get out of range. Bas, his sire, was with them, and he could easily find him this close. No, sadly, his only chance now was if Tamesine was somehow victorious over the group of vampires she told him were on their way here. It was accurate to say that his mission to rid the world of vampires was a lost cause. Alvin knew he’d be lucky to see another night.

  Elbow deep in raw steak, Tamesine looked at him pacing.

  “Sit down, you’re pissing me off. We’ll be fine. I’ve faced them all before and I’m still here. I’m a first blood, they won’t hurt me.”

  “You’re a first blood who tortured one of them and was going to kill another tonight. What makes you believe they wouldn’t hurt you? I’d fucking gut you for that.”

  Tamesine threw a chicken leg at him.

  “Asshole! Why did I ever think I could work wi
th a mere “made” vampire? You are so inferior. Weak. Stupid. Cowardly. You don’t have to worry about them killing you. I’ll probably do it before they get here. Make you into a little gift for them. Tie a bow around your severed head. Yeah. Keep saying shit like that, Alvin. Now, I liked you, so I’m going to try to stay civil. Just don’t open that cakehole and force me to kill you forever!”

  “Fine. What the fuckever. I know I’m dead before dawn. Kind of doesn’t matter now who does it.” He dropped into the chair opposite hers at the table. “Where’s that cheesecake?”

  “Umm. Here, you eat the chocolate. I’m saving this maple pecan cheesecake for myself. Eillia really is a

  fabulous chef.”

  “Bravo,” he said unenthusiastically, and shoveled a huge piece of cheesecake into his mouth. Hmm. It was pretty nice. Might be his final meal, so he tried to enjoy it.

  But seconds later the door blew out and he was looking at the biggest vampire he’d ever seen in his life. Had to be a first blood. Power emanated from him like no one he’d ever met. Or was it just his impressive presence? It was at that moment, when the enormous vampire stood there beside another huge man, the gorgeous redhead he knew was with Bas, and the first blood who they’d “caught” earlier that night, that he knew definitively. He was dead.

  But that crazy-ass bitch didn’t. She pushed out of her chair and rushed to Koen to embrace him.

  “Brother!”

  Then she moved to the next, then the next, then the last, with hugs and welcomes.

  “I’m so glad we’re all together. David, you’re looking well. I knew you’d come through with flying colors! And Park, my goodness. Koen, your daughter is so very, very lovely. Please, all of you come in.”

  With just a slight hesitation, she looped her arm through Eillia’s and walked toward the table she’d vacated.

  “This woman is a really fine cook. Would you mind? I’ve been eating this steak without cooking it and it’s a little gross. I need your magic skills. Shall we dine?”

  Koen stepped forward and pulled Tamesine off Eillia, his hands on her arms.

  “Tamesine, we’re here to take you home. You told me in Iceland you wanted to go home. We’re here to do that. Okay?”

  She stood still in his loose hold. Tilting her head, she looked into his eyes. He could feel her pushing to enter and he knew she could read him. He wasn’t strong enough to keep her out. Tamesine had always had a greater mental skill than any of them. He wasn’t even sure Park could help her. But he knew Park could hold her in freeze while they collaborated on the best way to get her to Paris.

  “No,” she said suddenly, and as she started to swing around, her feet stopped moving, then her hands. She shrieked.

  “Not again. Not her again. I thought I could stop it this time. How is she this strong? Koen, you said I could go home.”

  “You can. Tamesine, you must let us help you. Otherwise, it won’t go well. We don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I promise I’ll be good. I promise. Could you make your daughter let me go now?”

  The redhead came up to Tamesine and touched her arm.

  “Calm,” she said to Tamesine. The touch worked on humans, some vampires, and she hoped on Tamesine. But it didn’t.

  Tamesine’s eyes glittered with anger. “I’ll get you when I get free. And know this, I will get free. Your moments are numbered, little newbie. I’ve been alive over a thousand years. You cannot defeat me.”

  “I don’t want to defeat you. I’d like to help you. My father says that you’ve been troubled for a very long time. Wouldn’t you like to get well?”

  At the table, watching everything unfold and his life go to shit, Alvin realized he was frozen, too. Yeah, they wanted to help the supercrazy vampire bitch, but they were going to flay him and snap his head off. Justice. He hadn’t tortured and killed one of their own!

  Eillia came forth. “Tamesine, I forgive you for your intention to kill me. You need help. I think Park and I can help you if you will let us.”

  “Oh, yeah, let’s have a party in my head. Last time I let someone in my head, they tried to kill me.”

  Koen rolled his eyes. “No one tried to kill you. We were trying to help you then, too, but you freaked out and bolted. That’s why I was shocked to see you last year in Iceland. We all thought you’d died centuries ago.”

  “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “Just let these women help you. If we were going to, we would have killed you as soon as we walked in here.”

  That silenced her. She was considering his statement because it made sense. Her expression was exactly that of a confused child.

  Bas walked up to the immobilized vampire at the table and kicked him.

  “Well, Alvin. It doesn’t appear you’re in any position to kill me now. The question is what to do with you.”

  Alvin smiled. “Let’s say I’ve learned my lesson, so letting me go would be nice. I’ll disappear. You’ll never see me again.”

  Bas squatted down on his haunches and brought his face next to Alvin’s.

  “Make no mistake,” he said, almost a whisper, which made it worse. “You’re going to disappear. I’m never going to see you again.” He moved closer, his lips almost touching Alvin’s cheek. “No one is.”

  Then Bas stood and walked over to Park, who put her hand on his arm and leaned into him.

  “Father,” she said. “You and David get the chains out of the car. I’m going to attempt to put Tamesine into a sleep. Eillia, will you merge with me?”

  With a nod, coming up beside Park, Eillia pushed in to displace Bas with a grin. “I’m up, big guy. Why don’t you try some of my cheesecake? I have it on the best authority that it is excellent. I doubt I’ll ever make it again once I’m home.”

  Bas kissed Eillia on the cheek, Park on the lips, and wandered over to the counter to slice off a large hunk of the pale cheesecake left abandoned on the counter.

  Park took Eillia’s hands, then moved to Tamesine, who squealed as they placed their hands on her shoulders.

  “Stop it! I won’t give you any…”

  Tamesine’s cry choked off as she went limp, then fell in a heap at Park and Eillia’s feet.

  With a sigh, Park dropped and checked her breathing. It was very shallow.

  “I think that does it. I’ll hold her in freeze now until we can get her properly bound. Then the council must decide how to deal with her after we get her back to France. Eillia, it’s been over a year and I just want this all behind us. A final clean break. I lost Eugene, almost lost Bas, thought I’d lost you. If I had been killed, my lovely daughter would never have been born. We need this done.”

  Bas slowly walked to them, a second piece of cake in his hand. “I’m going to take Alvin out of here. He is responsible for all this pain. It’s going to be done, baby. He won’t hurt anyone again. I made him, it’s up to me to kill him.” He scarfed the rest of the cake. “Eillia, it would be a shame if you didn’t make that again. It’s exceptional. You’re good.”

  “Thanks, but I’m leaving that to Marcus from here on out.”

  “Um, Marcus is gone. He didn’t want to work the household without you. He went home to the Ural mountains about a month after we got home.”

  “Ah. I’m sorry to hear that. Well, someone will cook for the household. Perhaps I will do some for a while. But I agree, Park, we all have lives to get on with and back to.”

  Bas walked up next to Alvin and grabbed his neck. “Baby, release him.” Park waved a hand and Alvin bolted out of Bas’s grip and was gone. Bas rolled his eyes and disappeared too.

  Koen and David came through the door with heavy chains, attached to wrist and ankle cuffs. The locks were spelled by Park.

  “God, I hope these do it.”

  “She’s asleep now. I don’t think she’ll waken until I want her to. I think we’ll be alright. Let’s just get home,” Park told them and turned to look at Eillia.

  “You’ll miss this place, I can feel it.�
��

  “I will. It helped me heal from the greatest pain of my life.”

  “Are you sure that was this place? Not someone across town at a shabby bar?”

  Eillia shook her head sadly. “No. He was the one who brought me back. And he really did save my life. But I can’t be with him. Our history, what he did, what I’ve done to him. It isn’t possible. I need a clean break, too, like you said. I’ll take his memory before we leave this place.”

  Park nodded and walked to the counter. “Now, my turn. Oh, it does look good!”

  Alvin ran with every last piece of power and speed he possessed. He knew it was unlikely he could outrun Bas, but he ran like he had the devil on his tail because he did. He’d rather take his own life than give that asshole the satisfaction. At vampire speed, the snow and ice made moving much more difficult, but he barely touched the surface once he mastered it, and had a considerable lead. He thought.

  Rounding a stand of trees brought him face first into Bas’s huge chest. His hands sought anything to break his fall, but Bas had shoved him down so quickly he smashed face first into the hard packed snow. It stung, both physically and emotionally. No escape now. Just take the beheading like the vampire he was and let it all end. The relief of knowing he was done suddenly overwhelmed him. Peace in knowing your future. He crawled back onto his knees.

  “Just do it. Now.”

  Bas looked at him for a moment.

  “You think it’ll be this easy? That I won’t make you suffer for what you put people I love through for the past two years? You’re a lucky man, Alvin. Because I don’t have time to do that. Because my entire family needs to move on and forget the pain we’ve suffered. Knowing you don’t exist in this world anymore will bring peace enough. So, yeah, I am going to do it. Now.”

  It wasn’t in his nature to kill, he hated doing it. And although this piece of shit had earned this fate, it was still a tragedy to Bas that he had to destroy one of his “makes.” Bas’s hesitation gave Alvin the chance he needed.