Descended by Blood

by Angeline Kace

  Jaren turned on the TV and sat down on the couch.

  Mirko came out from behind a door that concealed the cockpit. “Nice, huh?” He relaxed on the couch next to Jaren and grabbed an iPod from the side table. “Check this out.” He touched the iPod and the flat screen turned off.

  “Sweet,” Kaitlynn said.

  “For sure. And we’re about to take off, which should be smooth as butter.” Mirko glided his hand through the air in imitation.

  I felt a slight jerk and then speed. I knew when we left the ground, but it was absolutely smoother than any plane ride I’ve ever experienced.

  “Impressive,” Jaren said. “Have you flown on it a lot, then?”

  “Some. It belongs to the Društvo. I do a lot of work for them, so I’ve used it here and there.”

  “Who’s that?” Kaitlynn asked. I appreciated I wasn’t the only one asking all the questions.

  “Društvo?” Mirko asked.

  Kaitlynn nodded.

  “That’s what we call the group of humans Garwin and Slatki’s mother belong to,” Mirko said, pointing to me.

  I didn’t know if Slatki was supposed to be an endearment or to grate on my nerves. “What’s it mean?”

  Mirko grinned. “You’ll have to earn it.”

  Jaren opened his mouth, but I had more important details I needed to find out.

  “So, what are you?” I asked and then blushed. “That came out wrong. I meant, please explain to me how being a Tao Sue makes you a different vampire than the Pijawikas.”

  Mirko laughed. “Zao Duh. Zao like ‘Tao,’ but with a ‘Z,’ and Duh as in ‘do.’ Zao Duhs are considered low-class Pijawikas. The difference is Pijawikas are born. Zao Duhs are made.”

  “Wait...my mom said you can’t be bitten and turned into a vampire.” Was he trying to confuse me?

  “She’s right,” Mirko said. “The process is a lot more complicated than that. The point is there are two species. You are part Pijawikan, the vampires that are born. I’m Zao Duh. I was made.” His eyes locked on mine as he spoke.

  I felt awkward with his gaze on me, and my cheek twitched.

  Mirko smiled. “I affect you, don’t I?” He’d seen the minuscule movement from my jaw. It was as if he was attuned to me.

  I didn’t know what to say. He already knew he unsettled me. What else did he know about me?

  “Right, we get how cool you are, but let’s get back to vampires, please,” Jaren said. I wiggled my toes within my sneakers, relieved he was taking Mirko’s focus off of me.

  “Not trying to be cool. It’s just true,” Mirko said. He gave me one last look, testing me, and then looked away.

  “How is being a freak at all cool?” I murmured.

  Mirko’s hearing must have been exceptional because he replied, “Well, little Slatki, you’re going to have to strengthen your freak side if you have any thread of hope you’ll make it out of this situation alive.” He stared at me, eyes piercing. They were firm and no longer held his teasing squint.

  “What do you mean? Why do I have to do that? Aren’t you supposed to keep me alive?” This sucked. What was the point of the whole running-across-country thing if he wasn’t going to protect me? And no way was I going to become even more like that guy I killed. I shuddered thinking about it.

  Kaitlynn grabbed my hand, giving me something to ground me.

  “What I mean is that you are up against a Pijawika that has lived for hundreds of years longer then you have. Whoever it is, they’re smart and desperate. Desperate—because they tried to take you when you weren’t alone. This person also has an almost endless supply of money and lackeys to come after you. They’re going to be smarter, older, stronger, richer, faster, and basically all around more in every area that counts in getting to you. So, maybe if you were a little bit more prepared,” Mirko said putting his thumb and index finger about an inch apart, “your chances would make me feel a lot better.”

  Wow. If his aim was to scare me, he’d succeeded. I wanted to get up, walk down the aisle to the bathroom I’d noticed earlier, and lock myself in there for the rest of the flight. Maybe even forever because I was doomed to die. There was no way I would survive this. And if I did, it’d be by becoming one of those…things.

  Kaitlynn’s eyes grew hard when my face drained of all color. “You don’t have to be such a jerk. She just had her life ripped out from under her, and here you are prancing in to supposedly save the day, but instead you’re telling her she’s going to die, anyway. What good is she going to be if she loses her mind?” She moved closer and linked her arm around mine to comfort me.

  “Pardon me,” Mirko retorted. “But we don’t have time to tiptoe around Slatki’s feelings. She has to buck up, and she has to buck up now. I’m not saying I’m going to stand aside and let somebody get to her. I told Garwin I would die protecting her, and I’m always good on my word. All I meant was that my job would be a hell of a lot easier if Slatki could kick some ass, too.”

  Jaren spoke. “I’m pretty sure she can handle her own if it comes down to it. She did take one of you out when she needed to, and I saw this dude. He was pretty wicked.”

  Mirko smiled. His eyes grazed over me.

  Jaren shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and cleared his throat.

  “Did the guy you took down say anything strange to you?” Mirko asked, getting back on track.

  “What do you mean? The whole situation was strange.” Did he expect me to be able to decipher what was strange in terms of a vampire? Yeah, not gonna happen. It was all strange.

  “Well, what did he say to you?”

  “He told me I had to go with him to his Lady. He also said something about a catalyst, but he pointed at me when he said it.”

  “So, it’s definitely a Pijawikan woman in power. Lucky for you, there are only five of them, so that narrows things down. The catalyst part doesn’t really give me much. We already know they want you for something or they would have killed you already.”

  “Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” I sighed.

  Mirko smirked at me. “It should. You’re not dead.”

  * * *

  We were quiet for a while after Mirko’s serious conversation. Jaren turned on the flat screen and watched a movie.

  Kaitlynn and I messed around with the powered seats until we finally left the controls alone to lie down and talk.

  I laid my head against my chair’s arm rest with my hair fanned out over the side. Kaitlynn ran her fingers through my hair—a usual for us when I was stressed.

  “Do you guys mind if I turn some music on?” Mirko asked, glancing at me with an eyebrow raised.

  “Depends on what you put on,” Jaren said. Mirko kept stealing flirtatious glances at me, and I think Jaren didn’t like it so much.

  “Only the best album out right now.” Mirko picked up the iPod and touched the screen to turn off the TV. He touched the screen again and music started playing.

  I recognized it from the first chord. I didn’t want to be all doom-and-gloom anymore. This was my favorite song, so I sat up, bobbing my head to the music, and laughed.

  “Yep. I agree with Mirko. Florence + The Machine is, hands down, the best album I’ve heard in a long time.” I clapped to the rhythm, and Kaitlynn and I started to groove our shoulders to Dog Days Are Over, slow at first, but we picked up our tempo with the first line of “Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father.” By the time the third line started in the chorus and Florence sang, “Leave all your love and your loving behind you,” Mirko stood in the aisle, dancing.

  Kaitlynn and I laughed. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up to dance with her and Mirko in the aisle.

  And Mirko could dance. He moved his hips like a viper climbed the air to the magic of a flute. Graceful, seductive. Dangerous.

  I almost felt scandalized when the melody slowed down, and he smoothed a body roll from his ribs, through his abs, over his hips, and down to his knees. Then he brought it back up. I blushed,
relieved when the drums started.

  Mirko moved closer to me, head tilted down, a wicked grin across his mouth, heat simmering from his brown eyes. “Come here,” he whispered.

  Awkward. The guy I wanted more than anything to be with—who probably still wanted to be with me, if he was honest with himself—sat two feet away on the couch, while a guy who, I won’t lie, looked very good and a part of me felt drawn to him, tried to get in my pants.

  “You know what?” Jaren growled at Mirko, killing the music. “I draw the line with you hitting on my girlfriend.” Anger flushed Jaren’s cheeks.

  “Oh, really? She’s your girlfriend, huh? Because I wasn’t getting that vibe at all. In fact, the vibes she’s been putting off are saying she doesn’t like you very much at all right now,” Mirko said.

  “Well, she is, so back off!” Jaren rose from the couch.

  “Whoa, Jaren.” I stepped in front of him. “You broke up with me. Remember? Either I’m your girlfriend, or I’m not. But you do not get to push me away and then stake a claim on me when another dog comes sniffing around.”

  Kaitlynn snorted. “Love the dog reference.” She reached for a high five.

  Mirko laughed. He raised his eyebrows at Jaren, challenging him for a response.

  Jaren stood in silence.

  Ouch. He couldn’t even put things right between us when he was in a pissing contest with another guy over me. That sucked.

  “Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Mirko shook his head.

  “Like what?” Jaren snarled. He’d made it apparent that he wanted to be with me. But he couldn’t do it.

  “Don’t like your little girlfriend’s fangies, do ya?” Mirko was good.

  Jaren boiled with anger.

  “I don’t have fangs,” I said. Thank God.

  Mirko tsked me. “Yes, you do. You just haven’t been shown how to extend them yet.”

  12

  Run

  Fangs? Really? Why me? I needed to sit down. The zeal from my favorite song evaporated.

  I grabbed Jaren by his arm and pulled him down as I sat. “Just sit. Please.” I didn’t want any more revelations today, so I sat in silence for the next hour and a half.

  The pilot came over the intercom, “Prepare for landing.”

  “Already?” Kaitlynn asked, looking at Mirko for confirmation. The flight did seem short going from Virginia to Utah.

  “This plane flies twice as fast as the commercial aircrafts,” Mirko said.

  I looked out the large window. “Hey, where are we?” We were at an airport, but it was a tiny one. I’d expected we’d land at Salt Lake International. This was not it.

  “We’re in Ogden. Figured we could remain a step ahead of whoever’s after you if we went to a smaller airport. Plus, I can’t use Sanjam on everyone. It would have been too risky.”

  “Garwin said we’re going to your compound. How far away is it from here?” Jaren asked.

  Mirko smiled. “I haven’t heard it called that in a while. We call it The Base. We’re about an hour away.”

  The plane bounced when the wheels hit the tarmac. It felt more like a Cadillac riding over a speed bump than it did a plane landing.

  The pilot cut the plane’s engine and opened the door for the stairs to unfold out onto the tarmac. Kaitlynn and I walked to the back by the oven, and grabbed our bags. Jaren followed; Kaitlynn had a lot of stuff, and Jaren was a gentleman.

  Mirko was the first to descend the stairs. A black Chevy Tahoe drove toward our plane. It looked very official and governmental. My breath caught in my throat. I almost went into panic, thinking the clerk at the airport in Lynchburg ended up getting caught and sent the feds after us. But then Mirko waved at the driver.

  A young guy got out. He looked to be about eighteen, and his light brown hair was cut similar to Mirko’s.

  “Ace, my man!” They slapped hands in some kind of handshake. “Have you been waiting here long?”

  “Nah,” Ace said. “I’ve been cruising around. They have a skydiving center down the road. Pricing’s not bad. We should take your friends here and go for a ride,” he said grinning and then grabbed one of Kaitlynn’s bags to put into the trunk.

  “That’s going to have to wait until we get this situation with Slatki over here resolved.” Mirko pointed back at me.

  We introduced ourselves to Ace.

  “Will you drive me up to the terminal? I’ll get things situated, then we can leave,” Mirko said. I knew when he said “situated” he meant that he was going to do some memory rearranging.

  “Sure,” Ace said, taking bags from Jaren and me to toss them, along with Kaitlynn’s, into the back of the truck.

  Mirko sat shotgun, and the rest of us got in the back seat. I sat in the middle because I wanted to sit by Kaitlynn, but I didn’t want it to be too obvious that I was avoiding Jaren. So, I sucked it up.

  Ace parked near the back doors of the terminal, and Mirko got out. “I’ll be maybe ten minutes,” he said before closing the door.

  “Quite the adventure, huh?” Ace asked me in the rearview mirror.

  “More like a nightmare.”

  “Even the G6?” Ace asked with wide eyes, pointing to the plane still on the runway.

  “Oh, yeah,” I smiled. “That part was nice. It’s all the other parts that suck.”

  “Can you really control everything through the iPod?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Haven’t you been on it?” Jaren asked.

  “No. I can never get it to work out for me. Every time I need it, it’s on the other side of the country. Mirko, the lucky punk, has flown on it a couple of times now. And every time he comes back, he tells me about the iPod.”

  “Well, the stairs are still down. I bet we could go back so you could check it out,” Jaren suggested.

  “Oh, that’d be sweet! But I can’t take the Tahoe. Mirko would flip if he looked out and it was gone.”

  “You could probably jog over there real quick and then jog back,” I said.

  “True, but I don’t want to surprise Pavao by having a stranger board his plane. Will you come with me?”

  “Sure.” Kaitlynn opened her door.

  We climbed out of the truck, and Ace took the keys out of the ignition. We walked toward the airstrip.

  When we stepped onto the road that lined the landing strip, I realized how much distance was left before we reached the plane. It didn’t seem that far from the terminal when we drove away.

  It seemed far now.

  I grabbed Kaitlynn’s arm. “Nah, you guys go ahead. We’re going back to the car.”

  Ace and Jaren looked at me as if I was lazy. Maybe I was, but I was tired. Kaitlynn and I left to walk back.

  With twenty yards left, a woman came into view from one of the side hills near the parking lot. Chills broke out on my arms. Why would a woman be out in the middle of nowhere hiding behind a hill, by herself? Something was off.

  I looked back. Ace and Jaren were out of sight. I grabbed Kaitlynn’s arm. “Run!” I demanded, pushing her toward the terminal.

  The woman sprinted for us at a speed unlike anything I had ever seen.

  “Mirko! Help!” I hollered, picking up speed.

  I turned back to make sure Kaitlynn ran beside me. She didn’t. She was way back there, and the woman came up fast between us.

  “Kaitlynn!” There was no way she’d make it past the lady and get to the truck.

  If these bloodsucking monsters wanted me, they would have to work for it. I used my new found vampire speed and charged toward the woman. This would give Kaitlynn a chance to make it back.

  The woman responded with a smirk on her face and charged at me. When we were close enough, I sidestepped, escaping her grasp, and ran down the hill on the other side of the parking lot.

  She was faster. Her chilled fingers grasped around the back of my bare neck. I flew forward from the impact, hitting the ground. I rolled down the hill with the lady’s limbs tangling with mine.
r />   I struggled to keep her hands away from my vital organs.

  This fight was different from the last one I had with a vampire. The intensity this woman used to try to take my life astonished me. I’m sure if she would have had a proper grip on my neck at the top of the hill, she would have ripped my head clean from my body.

  Her fangs dripped menace and her eyes promised the death she was sure to deliver.

  “Hey!” Mirko screamed from somewhere close by. I couldn’t concentrate on his location and focus on saving my life all at once. He wouldn’t make it in time. She was going to kill me.

  She raised her claw-shaped hand, readying it to deliver the final death blow.

  I struggled to get my arm unwrenched from behind me to stop the attack.

  The sun glinted off a charm she wore on a chain around her neck. The znak!

  She hissed, swinging her arm inches from my face. And then I was free.

  Mirko tackled her before she made contact.

  I sat up, readying myself to help him. Mirko clawed and swiped at the woman’s back as she fled. They flew all over the bottom of the hill. I could barely keep up with their location from one second to the next. I sat, stunned with the speed and ferocity with which he fought and she ran. It appeared to be a choreographed dance, if not for the violence and the blood spatter.

  She spurred forward with a sudden burst of speed. It was clear` Mirko wouldn’t catch her.

  When the woman disappeared from sight, Mirko dashed back to me with the same stunning speed he used in his attempt to catch her.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, barely breaking a sweat.

  “I…I really don’t know. She didn’t even try to take me. She started out wanting to kill me. Why?” I asked, looking up at him, desperate for him to make sense of it all.

  “I’m sorry, but I really don’t know yet. Something has changed, though.” Mirko touched the small of my back, guiding me back to the truck. “We have to get out of here. Damn it! How’d she get away?”

  “She was super fast,” I said, lost in shocked delirium.

  “You sure you’re okay? Did you knock your head or something?” Mirko turned me by my shoulders, peering into my eyes.