by SJ Himes
The vampire ran. A stumbling blur of smoke and ruined flesh, it ran, leaving behind the humans. One human, the one Eroch knew by scent only, tried to escape, but he lashed out with a front paw, claws slashing across his midriff. Blood gushed and organs splattered to the floor.
Fire crept up the wall, along the carpet, and Eroch hissed, pulling his lips back from his fangs, and he moved so he covered Daniel completely. He had the last human trapped between the bed and the door, the window along the wall shattered, wind from the cold night howling into the bedroom. The human began muttering in a language, the same Angel used to cast, and Eroch acted before he could finish. He snapped out his head, his long neck letting him reach the human with ease, and the man died with a gurgle of blood as Eroch crushed the human’s head, neck, and half his shoulder with one bite. The metal thing on his chest burned Eroch’s tongue and he growled, the pain nothing but an annoyance.
Eroch tossed his head, throwing the corpse away, and curled over Daniel, tail thrashing across the floor. Shouting came from the outer rooms, more vampires and humans were approaching. Eroch grumbled in warning, and he gathered Daniel closer, the youngling’s terror enough to keep Eroch on edge, defensive.
A new presence filled the doorway, and the old undead creature Angel called Batiste took a cautious step into the room. Blue eyes darted around the destruction, surprised and a bit nervous, and Batiste lifted a hand when Eroch mantled, warning the vampire against coming any closer. More figures crowded the hallway behind the master, and the blood from the corpses spilled across the floor in a widening puddle.
“Eroch?” Batiste asked, clearly shaken. He narrowed his eyes, spying Daniel where the boy huddled under Eroch’s chest, clinging to his scales. Eroch kept a great paw on the boy, refusing to let him go. Three hunters had come for Daniel in the vampire’s lair, and Batiste was supposed to be the strongest of them all. Eroch could not trust him with Daniel, not again. Daniel was not safe here. “Eroch, is Daniel well? Let him go, let us tend to him.”
Eroch dipped his head, keeping one large eye on those in the doorway, and he sniffed over Daniel, ruffling his blond hair. Daniel was fine, aside from his fear. He clung to Eroch, eyes shut, shaking. Eroch growled, a low rumble that made several people in the hall take a step back. He lipped at the manacle on Daniel’s wrist and slipped a fang under the clasp. It fell away, leaving a red welt behind, and Daniel didn’t react. The boy’s terror had shut his mind down. Only Angel would be able to reach the youngling now.
“Eroch, please let us see Daniel,” Batiste asked again and risked a step closer. Eroch snapped at the vampire and backed away, wings scraping the ceiling, the walls. He was as big as the room, his body breaking furniture, claws raking the floor.
Eroch sneered back at the vampire, not trusting him at all to protect the youngling. He turned for the window and the clear, cold sky. “Eroch!” Batiste yelled, following as Eroch went to the edge of the broken window. He used his tail, the spikes on the end, to brush away the remaining shards, and cradling Daniel to his chest with a sure grip, he pushed away, claws gouging the floor, leaping into the night air.
They fell, fast, until Eroch snapped out his wings, cupping the air and hurling them skyward. He called out into the night, the sound echoing off the buildings around them. He curled in his other paw, making sure to hold tight to Daniel, keeping the youngling pressed carefully to his chest, where the scales were warm. The boy was quiet, still in shock, and Eroch aimed across the city, wings spread wide, furiously beating, and they rose over the skyscrapers, leaving the Tower far behind.
Angel gasped. He clutched at his chest, and Simeon paused. He whistled to Scáth, the hound circling back to pant at their feet. Simeon set Angel down, and Angel moved away, grabbing at his chest, trying to breathe. They were on a path on the campus, the park not far away, trees rustling in the wind, the sky clear but for a few dense clouds racing across the stars. The wind was wet and chilly, stealing any heat in the spring air.
“Angel?” Simeon put a hand on his back, concerned. Angel leaned over, the odd, tight sensation in his chest scaring him until he realized it was the seldom used familiar bond.
“Call Batiste,” Angel gasped out. The tight band around his chest was loosening. Now he knew what it was he wasn’t instinctively fighting the pull on his power. “It’s Daniel. Eroch is pulling on the bond.”
Eroch was drawing on Angel’s power along the familiar bond.
Something was wrong.
19
Impasse
Simeon pulled out his cell and swore. “My master sent me a message. Stellan escaped.” Simeon swiped at the screen, and Angel fought to pull in more air. Eroch had stopped pulling magic from Angel, but it had been sudden and severe, the distance making the experience difficult to bear.
“Something is wrong with Daniel.” Angel said, voice rough.
Simeon’s phone rang in his hand, making Angel jump. “Fuck,” Angel flinched then began pacing, stretching out his arms. He was going to have a word with his precocious familiar when he saw him next. Simeon answered it, going tense, his eyes seeking out Angel.
“Was the boy alive?” Simeon asked, and Angel froze, heart beating hard. Simeon nodded. He pulled the phone from his ear and spoke to Angel.
He took the phone. “What happened?”
“Stellan Ariella escaped with help from a vampire. I sent Bridgerton to find him, along with two of my unranked masters and a squad of soldiers. My children tracked him to a nearby gas station where he made a phone call and a vehicle picked Stellan up. The video footage from the station showed the plates. It belongs to the consulate. Stellan went to the Council.” The Master’s tone was sharp and cold, promising retribution.
“And?” Angel knew something else happened. Eroch wouldn’t draw on their bond for anything less than life and death.
“My children returned, except for one.”
It didn’t take a genius. “Bridgerton let Stellan go, told him to go to the Council, pretended nothing was amiss so he could leave without needing to explain himself then probably went straight to the Council himself. Bridgerton betrayed you.”
“Yes.” A pause. Batiste’s voice went chilly. “It was at least three hours before we noticed Stellan was gone. Before Bridgerton’s treason was discovered, a vampire and two humans snuck back into the Tower. After his treason was determined, I sent others to find him, and in my error, I failed to see they would return so soon. The cameras were deactivated in the main elevator and outside Simeon’s suite. The cameras in the maintenance lift are also disabled. The scents are blurred as if by magic. They broke into Simeon’s suite and attempted to take Daniel captive.”
“What did Eroch do?” He had a pretty good idea.
“Your pet did…I do not understand. He grew immense, killed Stellan. The body is in two, and burned, but the face is undamaged. There is another dead human, a practitioner by the scent of his blood, and the brooch on his jacket is the Council’s. The vampire is gone but smells of smoke and blood. The scent may be masked but I believe it to be Bridgerton. He left via the maintenance lift and the loading dock. There are a set of iron chains and a brown sack that stinks of fouled spells on the floor of Daniel’s room.”
“Where are Daniel and Eroch?”
The pause was longer this time. The tugging on Angel’s power was less, but the sensation of it being active was still present. Angel looked to the dark horizon, tracking the feeling as it swung away from where the Tower was. It went south.
“Eroch is flying around the city as a full-grown dragon, isn’t he?” Angel said, wishing it wasn’t the case since the humans would likely freak out, though it was the only thing that made sense.
“Yes. And he took Daniel with him.”
Eroch circled over the dark mansion, legs curled in, tail drifting out behind him. The wind was steady, coming in from the ocean not far away. Angel was somewhere out in the city, but there were too many humans between him and his bondmate, and Eroch couldn
’t risk returning to the apartment for the same reason. He heard startled exclamations from those below him as he flew high above, leaving the city as fast as he could, heading south. Instinct told him humans would react badly to a giant fire breathing lizard in their midst. They might think him cute and sweet in his normal form, but they would fear him and panic when faced with him now.
He had been here a few times before with Angel when his bonded mortal needed to reclaim things from his childhood nest. It had been several months, but Eroch remembered the way to the Salvatore Mansion. It spread out beneath him, the gardens waking in the cool spring nights, the roof of the large, sprawling mansion covered in wet clay shingles that caught the moonlight. Eroch lazily flicked his tail, turning toward the greenhouse near the bottom of the expansive gardens, hidden by a thick grove of pines trees with a single stone path leading back to the house.
Daniel was unconscious. Eroch could hear his heart beating, strong and steady, so the boy was uninjured. Eroch banked above the gardens, sharp eyes investigating every inch of the grounds, looking for danger. He needed to land before humans saw him and came.
Movement near the greenhouse drew his eyes. A figure slipped from the building, walking out onto the stone path, illuminated by the hunter’s moon, staring up at Eroch high above.
“It has been evenings beyond count since I saw such a sight,” he murmured, voice awed and melodic. His senses, greater than those of humans or vampires, allowed him to hear the words with ease. The being below spoke as if they were face to face. Eroch tilted his head, drawing in scents that rose from the earth. He smelled green magics, the headiness of newly tilled dirt, the sweetness of flowers, and the fresh, clean scent of magic. The magic tasted of clear spring water and green grass in a sun-warmed field. Eroch churred and circled above, curious. He could sense no aggression from the being below him. “Your burden needs help, ancient one,” he said. “Bring the boy down. You’ll both be safe here.”
The creature gestured smoothly and bowed before carefully backing away. Eroch tucked in his wings, barreling for the ground, hurtling through the air. The being made no move to run, unperturbed by the sight of a large predator dive bombing from the sky. Eroch snapped out his wings at the last second, cupping the air, feeling gravity and inertia dragging on him as he slowed then stopped, dropping to the ground with a quiet thump. The stones beneath him groaned, one snapped, and his tail dragged in the flowerbed next to the path.
Eroch held Daniel to his chest as the figure approached slowly. Eroch reached out his snout and sniffed. His eyes went wide as he got a decent scent.
He knew this fae.
Moss green hair fell in a thick, straight sheet to the middle of his back, bright amber eyes, pale skin shimmered in the moonlight, Ruairí Brennan moved like liquid, soft as a breeze. He was shirtless, clad only in leather pants, feet bare. Eroch reached out, and Ruairí paused, holding still, Eroch snuffling and scenting. A pale pink scar was over his heart, evidence of the great wound that nearly took his life.
Eroch twisted his head, eye to eye with the fae. He grumbled, a warning, but he didn’t think he needed it. Angel did not consider this fae to be a threat, and he smelled of lush green forests and sweet streams. His littermate smelled of cold stone and sharp winter winds, remote and harsh. There was nothing of the cold predator in Ruairí though he moved like a hunter. This one was dangerous too, but not like the cold one with whom he shared a face.
Eroch lifted away, and Ruairí stepped forward. He took Daniel in his arms and backed away with a bow. “I shall tend to him and guard him with my life, ancient one. You have my word.”
Eroch grumbled and flipped a wing tip. Daniel was cold and needed warmth, and Eroch was too big to fit in the greenhouse like this. Ruairí backed away, out of range of Eroch’s wings, then left, heading down the path to the greenhouse. Inside a lamp glowed, silhouetting plants within the structure. The fae carried Daniel with great care and slipped into the building.
Eroch grumbled, eyeing the sky. He would love to remain big and strong, but the power wasn’t his and Angel was hunting. His bondmate needed to focus and Eroch’s pull on the bond would distract him. Eroch mourned his bigger size, but one day he would be this big on his own. He let go of the bond, ceasing the drawing of magic. Almost immediately, he fell, head lower, startled.
His body shrank, wings to snout to tail tip, and he fluttered on the stone path. Trying to readjust to his normal size again. He chirped, then took to the wing. He flew into the greenhouse, following his nose to where Daniel and the fae awaited.
“Eroch’s released the bond,” Angel told Simeon, able to breathe freely again. “He was too far from me when he did it and the strain hit me hard, unlike the first time he did this.”
Simeon looked confused and Angel waved a hand. “I’ll tell you later. Can Scáth find the trail again?”
Simeon didn’t have time to answer. A scream tore through the night air, and the hellhound barked before disappearing in the direction of the sound. They were close, whoever screamed, and shouting and the sound of things crashing came from around the bend of the path just ahead of them. Angel sprinted ahead, Simeon at his side. Scáth had his jaws locked around the lich’s lower leg, or what looked to be a leg.
It was unlike anything Angel had seen before. Three times the height of a man, it was an amalgamation of bones, twisted joints, long claws, and wide jaws stretched open beneath a crown of antlers, and its eyes were empty except for green flame. This lich was less corporeal than the wendigo, it was vaguely bipedal, though its feet were nothing but bones held together by dried tendons, and it dropped to all fours, slashing with its front legs. It had a long spine covered in desiccated flesh, tendons that snapped, and a thin, taut, membrane resembling leather over its rib cage. The head resembled a trophy a hunter might have on his wall with massive tall antlers stretching to the sky, its muzzle long and full of white teeth. It was as if someone took a reindeer, stripped all the meat from its bones, taught it to stand like a man, and gave it a long tail that slashed back and forth behind it.
The lich snapped at Scáth, who flung his head back and forth, gnawing on the long thin leg he had in his jaws. Mist rose in a noxious cloud around the lich, the stench reaching back to where Angel and Simeon stood in shock.
It was covered in blood, and its lack of flesh and organs explained the complete carnage left behind. It had the desire to eat, insatiable and starving, but it had no stomach to hold what it consumed. It was forever hungry and it would keep attacking anything living until it was full—but it would never be sated. Shadows moved on either side of the path as the bloodclan soldiers Simeon had sent out in search of the beast approached the lich from all sides.
A couple vampires pulled out what looked to be batons from their jackets, and another pulled out what, to Angel’s surprise, turned out to be a short sword. The edge flashed in the moonlight, the vampire twirling it as he approached the undead creature. The lich snapped at the hellhound but did no damage Angel could see. To his frustration, aside from the death grip the hellhound had on the lich’s back leg, Scáth was doing next to no damage. Angel swore under his breath and jogged a little closer. The vampires swarmed the lich and attacked.
The batons made dull twangs as they impacted on bone. The sword cut through the air with a sharp whistle, hitting the lich’s hip with a deep bite, the blade lodged in the bone. The vampire wielding the sword tugged as hard as he could, but as mist rose from the damaged spot, the vampire gave a horrific screech, letting go of the sword. His hand was blistered and weeping blood and fluids. Simeon darted into the fray, grabbed the injured vampire, and pulled him back out of range, just in time to avoid the lich’s long tail snapping around. It hit the ground with a resounding thud, dirt and leaves flying up into the air.
Angel could hear sirens in the distance approaching. He moved to the side, trying to get a better angle, and saw humans beneath the lich’s feet. One of them was dead—head removed, spine exposed. The other hu
man was alive and trying to crawl away. The batons the vampires wielded were doing nothing to the undead creature. The hellhound still had his grip on one of its legs, and he had dug his claws into the ground, refusing to let go.
“Simeon! Get the human out!” Angel shouted and pointed. Simeon and the two uninjured vampires moved so fast they were a blur of dark colors, sweeping in and grabbing both humans and depositing them down the path several feet behind Angel. Angel backed up until he was next to Simeon, and the injured vampire came running to join his friends, his hand healing, but far slower than Angel had ever seen a vampire heal before.
“It can’t be physically hurt. Scáth isn’t doing any damage. Only thing we have going for us right now is it isn’t doing any damage to Scáth either. If the hellhound doesn’t let go, we have it.” Angel told Simeon. “Someone go back and find the cops, tell them what’s going on. They are not to approach.”
The injured vampire nodded once and ran the direction of the sirens. Angel pointed to the two remaining soldiers. “Do a sweep, make sure there are no more humans or mortal creatures around the lich can attack. Hurry.”
The two soldiers gave him a nod in acknowledgment and disappeared as well. Leaving Angel, Simeon, and Scáth to handle the lich.
“Simeon, tell your pup to not let go. If he lets go, we may not catch it again before it kills someone else.” Simeon shouted the order to his hellhound in Irish Gaelic, and Scáth responded by digging in deeper with his claws, growling deep in his throat. The lich screamed and thrashed, trying to dislodge the hellhound, but for now, they were locked in a stalemate.
“Mo ghra, do you know how to destroy it?” Simeon asked. “Can you do to it what you did to the wendigo?”
