by J. L. Myers
Rose-colored tears blurred my vision, the crazed spell breaking as they fell. Like waking from a nightmare, something was terribly wrong. My fangs were free, embedded in hot flesh. The taste of blood coating my mouth couldn’t be confused.
“Ty?” I scrambled off his lap, stopping as my back hit a tree. It was one of the many trees that surrounded the parking lot where our bikes were stashed, all the way across the field, and well away from the council building. “W-what happened? Why—”
“You fell from the window ledge and I caught you, then I rushed you back here,” Ty said. Then the walls in my mind dropped, and I heard Kendrick and Ty speak in unison. “You had a vision.”
Troy flipped a stake in one hand, body tense and ready to fight. “And tried to fucking kill me.”
I attacked Troy? Great way to mend mortal enemy bridges. “Troy, I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”
“It’s okay,” Ty said, standing up and moving closer. “I stopped you.”
In the gentle breeze their scents carried around me. Even after what I’d taken, the lust was still dominating, controlling. My crazed attack replayed in my subconscious. Self-loathing edged my words. “And that makes it okay? Attempted murder is okay, just because I had a freaking vision? What a crock of shit. I’m no better than—”
I froze, just flat out stopped speaking. Even the hate for myself ebbed a fraction. The horrifying vision of the manor filled with slaughtered vampires returned.
Amelia, has it already happened? Kendrick’s words rushed. Is it too late to send warning?
Somehow I knew there was still time. “No. I’ll call him now.”
Ty stepped forward to take my hand. “What is it?”
I jumped back before he could touch me, hands raised to stop him. “No. I can’t be near you right now. I’m too hungry.” Even as I said the word I zoned in on the pulsing vein along his neck. The marks of my attack had closed over, but scarlet torrents still marked a path down to his collarbone. My tongue ran over my teeth. “I need you both to leave so I can call Marcus. His family’s in danger.”
Troy came forward and pushed Ty back. “Come on.” He jumped onto his motorbike, firing up the engine. His stare on me was full of loathing. “Time to go.”
Ty nodded and I threw him the keys to my Ducati. “Here.” Shaking restraint was fast taking over my arms and legs. There was no way I’d be able to drive home without crashing. “Take mine. I need the run, anyway.”
“We’ll wait back at your place.”
Without waiting for a response I took off through the trees. In the background my Ducati’s engine revved to life. I took a much needed breath. The surging and painful thirst remained, although the distance from any living, breathing thing began to clear my thoughts.
You did well, Kendrick voiced as I cleared the park to take to the streets.
I wanted to kill my boyfriend, again.
All the progress I thought I’d made was nothing if every time I had a vision I lost all control. But my bloodlust was small fry compared to what I’d seen. The Vladimirs’ lives were at stake.
I whipped out my iPhone, noticing scratches across the Icon For Hire case. All that thrashing had left more than a mark on Ty. Shit. I pressed down my similarities to the slaughterers, ran harder, and dialed Marcus.
You’re going to tell him about your visions. Aren’t you? Kendrick already knew the answer and he was far from happy about it. What if he enlightens The Council to your ability?
How else can I explain knowing his family is going to be slaughtered? Besides, whether you do or not, I trust him. He won’t tell The Council.
The ringing stopped and the line picked up. “Amelia? Is everything okay? Caius is M.I.A. and I think he’s headed your way.”
“I know. But this isn’t about him.” I laid out everything I’d seen, including the replay of his father’s gruesome death. I even detailed my ability and promised the vision hadn’t played out yet. Hearing a speaker announcement over the line, I asked, “Where are you now? Can you get to them or send warning?”
“Give me a sec.” The line went silent and a moment later Marcus was back. “Shit. There’s no,” his voice broke with emotion, “there’s no answer. It’s probably daylight there now.”
I cleared Portsmouth’s suburban streets, hitting the winding, tree-shrouded road that led toward the beach. “Daylight where?”
“Russia. I’m at the airport now, heading to the manor for a family reunion.” He cleared his throat, forcing some control back to his voice. “Every Vladimir in existence will be there.”
I gulped, wondering if Marcus had been in that ballroom in my vision. Had he been killed there, too? “Oh God. Be careful. Don’t go alone, please.”
Last call for American Airlines flight 6984, sounded in the background through the phone.
“I’ve gotta go. That’s my flight.” In the background a woman greeted him. “I’ll keep calling from the plane. And don’t fret. I’ll be far from alone.” The rush of his words subsided and his voice lowered. “Oh, and as always, your secrets are safe with me…Oracle.”
~
Back home I made for the kitchen and bounded around the limestone breakfast bar to the double-door fridge. I snatched a bottle of blood. The glass shattered in my desperate, clutching hands, shards falling to the tiles in a red mess. Fangs still aching, I went for another bottle, twisting open the cap. The glass was empty before the lid hit the tiles, the blood spreading quickly through my body. The last of my maddening thirst receded and I hurriedly mopped up the mess.
No longer a threat to everyone with a pulse, I hit the foyer and launched up the stairs. Everyone was waiting up in the rec room. I flashed fangless teeth as I entered. Troy kept glaring from the open, high-arched window.
Ty took my hand and led me to the leather couch. “Are you alright now?”
Far from it. After what I’d done to them, his acceptance made me feel like a fraud. “Sure.”
Troy mumbled a curse, while Marika shifted to his side, eying me the whole time.
“Any more news?” Dorian asked. He looked up from the iMac Vanessa was drumming away at as the screen flashed up a list of flight times.
“No,” Kendrick answered for me. He sat forward in the armchair beside the coffee table and messed his hair. “You know there’s not. The plane will be taking off by now.”
Vanessa glanced up from the screen, the desk lamp making her red hair glow like flames. “He’ll arrive in daylight. So even if he can’t get through on satellite phone, as long as he can get out there with backup fast, they should be able to evacuate.”
“Unless the attack happens while this guy’s still in the air.” Marika’s tone was direct and without sympathy. She could clearly care less if a whole line of vampires were obliterated.
Ty began to reprimand her and I patted his hand. “No. She’s right. I don’t know when they’ll make their move, only that no one is left alive. Not even children.” I fought the need to scream out for all those innocent young souls. Instead I sent out a silent prayer to whoever would listen.
Ty grasped my hand and squeezed. A flare of jealousy streamed from Kendrick, but given the circumstances it was watered down. Still, he wanted to be the one to comfort me, the one to relieve my pain and guilt. Unfortunately nothing was going to help that. Not even one hundred blocks of chocolate could make a dent.
“And the attackers,” Vanessa chimed in. “They were all damned?”
I nodded. There was a possibility that they were rogues. Though after everything we’d witnessed recently, I couldn’t ignore the facts. Besides, during one of Marcus’s lessons at the Armaya, he’d stated that rogues were solitary, not pack hunters. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
A strangled smile fell from Vanessa’s face. “The Council should have listened. So many lives could have been saved.”
Everyone’s eyes shot to her in question. She waved Ty and the others off, turning off the computer screen. “Even before your attacks, I’d expected their return for ye
ars now. The occurrence of human deaths and disappearances has been steadily rising. But vampires taken through full consumption? That’s not rogues. They prefer easy prey. And still The Council refuses to acknowledge that they’ve returned.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “You mean our council, the Royal Vampire Council?”
“Yes,” she said as a matter of fact. “We have a long standing relationship with the RVC, among others.”
“Not all the Royal Council,” Kendrick added, kicking his feet up on the coffee table, “disbelieves the damned have returned.”
At last, something that was news to Vanessa. Her sapphire eyes shot across to him. “Really?”
“I’m sure of it.” I slumped onto the couch, pulling Ty down beside me. “Uriel Aswind was very clear. She believes they’ve returned. She also revealed something else. The damned can be created, and she didn’t mean through bite and infection.”
“No wonder the numbers have soared.” Vanessa forked her fingers through her wavy hair. “Given you’re all associated with royals, whether you’re pure or not, you’re clearly in serious danger.”
“Hand-to-hand battle isn’t going to cut it,” Ty added. “The bow and whip are good, but not in short-range battle. You need something more.” He caught Vanessa’s eye and she nodded.
“Alchemists always assist the greater good.”
Ty stood tall, the remnants of my attack still marking his neck. “Tomorrow we all meet at Vanessa’s for supplies. Then it’s on to the next step in training. It’s time you all learn to kill.”
~
After school we made our way past a rickety gate and into a garden so overgrown that it resembled a jungle. Vines climbed trees and leaf litter was everywhere. After following the overgrown path, we mounted cracked wooden stairs to a dilapidated mansion’s weathered double doors. The stained glass was coated in dust and a few panels were even cracked.
Ty eyed me, Kendrick, and Dorian. “Stand back for a minute…just in case.” Then he raised his hand to knock.
Light footsteps across hollow wood rose beyond the barrier, growing louder as someone approached. The door swung open, revealing an old man. Vanessa’s father, I guessed. Though something about him seemed familiar.
The man with white hair and wrinkled features smiled at Ty. Then his sapphire gaze registered me, Dorian, and Kendrick. His body stiffened, brittle bones creaking, and his eyes grew wide. “Code red!” he screamed over his shoulder and reached for the first drawer in a rickety cabinet.
Kendrick and Dorian tensed, moving to block my body.
The old man’s fingers grasped a silver stake as Ty moved to catch his wrist. “It’s okay, Tom. They mean no harm.”
With much effort the old man yanked his wrist free and raised the stake.
Vanessa shouted out, emerging in body-hugging black from behind him. “Stop!” She glanced at Ty. “You’re early.”
“Only five minutes. You’ve had thirty minutes since school finished.”
Looking confused, Vanessa’s father backed up to her. His arms spread wide in protection of his daughter. She placed light hands on his arms and forced them down to his sides. Although he allowed the movement, his do-or-die grip on the silver stake remained.
“It’s okay, they’re kind of my friends,” Vanessa said, apology staining her voice.
After a long-winded explanation Mr. Aquinas knew why we were here and what we were up against. Still, even after accepting our explanation, he refused to loosen his ready grip on the stake in his hands.
“Will you assist them, Grandfather?” Vanessa asked.
“Grandfather?” So this wasn’t Vanessa’s father. “Where are your parents?”
“Rogues killed her parents,” Ty said, taking my hand. “Tom has taught her everything she needed to know to win out against the things that go bump in the night.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” I felt horrible. No wonder this old man feared us and wanted to drive that stake through our beating hearts. And he’d clearly taught Vanessa how to be strong. Even among the wolves she held rank. Troy and Marika never challenged her, and even Ty respected her opinion. I studied the old man’s features. Apart from his white, thinning hair and aged face, he had an uneasy stance. Probably because he’d just had a bunch of vampires turn up to his home. Except…no. I’d seen those shifty eyes before.
“You’re the delivery man!”
Kendrick moved closer to me while Dorian and Ty exchanged confused looks. Vanessa had on her usual cool, nothing-can-shock-me expression. Mr. Aquinas on the other hand, looked like an animal that had suddenly been caged.
“What delivery man?” Dorian asked.
Kendrick flanked my side. “The one who delivered the vial results.”
The old man’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not a delivery man.”
“You’re an alchemist,” Kendrick said. “Like your granddaughter. We know.”
“That’s not what he means,” Vanessa said. She and her grandfather stepped aside to let us into the narrow entryway. With the door behind us closed, gentle sunlight filtered through the stained glass, highlighting dust motes in the air. “Most of our work is for the wolves. But my grandfather has a long standing alliance with the Vladimir line.”
“Marcus’s family?” My blood ran cold. If my vision came true that alliance would be as dead as every member of that Pure Blood line. Without being able to get through to Marcus’s phone, I had no idea if any of them, including Marcus, was still alive.
Vanessa touched her grandfather’s arm. “Please meet Simon Beatty.”
“What?” The news was like a bomb blast in my mind, shifting the reenacting terror of my vision aside.
“The Blood Analyst,” Dorian murmured.
Mr. Aquinas cleared his throat. “Yes, I am. So now that I know what you’re facing, I will assist your group. First though, there’s something you need to know.”
The old man secured the silver stake in his belt loop and led us down the hall, past faded wallpaper hung with photos and shelves filled with musky books before pausing. Ty moved to slide a bookshelf aside, revealing a door in the wall. Mr. Aquinas used a large brass key to unlock it. The door creaked open and a light flickered on. The dull glow lit narrow steps leading below ground. He gripped the rail and descended, one step at a time. This old man, although he had seemed alert and prepared to fight when we’d first arrived, now revealed his true age in his shaky slow steps.
As we emerged below ground, a rectangular space opened before us. Another set of fluorescents flicked on, illuminating everything. I stared around the space. What a set-up. Workbenches littered the room. Some were cluttered with glass cylinders and test tubes, all filled with varying amounts of colorful liquids, bubbling and frothing. Their chemical smells married in the frigid air. Other benches housed metals and woods in all shapes and sizes. An anvil sat to one corner. And what appeared to be a cauldron hung by chains from a roof beam. Beside it was a small dirty alcove. A fireplace. The most eye-catching part was the walls. Similar to Ty’s training room, they all housed hanging ancient and rusting weapons.
“What is all this?” I asked, my curiosity peaking.
Vanessa walked up beside me. “Our experiments. Our life’s work.”
Mr. Aquinas and Vanessa stood behind the workbench with bubbling beakers. “This is where I compiled the results for the substance you sent me.” He took a dropper and filled it with a thick black liquid from a corked test tube. He squirted the substance into a petri dish. Then he lifted a UV lamp over the top of it. As soon as the light hit the edge of the liquid it burst into a flaming ball. A second later the fire died and the liquid was gone.
Kendrick’s amazement seared through the bond while Dorian moved to take a closer look.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Damned blood.” Vanessa shrugged, handing another vial to her grandfather.
This one was filled with a watery silvery liquid. Mr. Aquinas took the vial and repeated the process. This
time when the UV light touched the liquid, nothing happened. No crackle. No smoke. No flames.
“Is that supposed to happen?” Dorian asked at the same time I said, “What was that?”
Mr. Aquinas re-capped the second vial. “This is the substance you sent me, in diluted form. And no, that is not meant to happen. With the makeup of the liquid you sent me, it should burn like the damned blood. But it doesn’t.”
“Why?” Kendrick asked. “If it’s Pure Blood and silver nitrate, why would it burn? I mean I know we can still feel the sun, but royals are mostly immune.”
As I stared at Mr. Aquinas a glint of knowledge sparkled from his ancient eyes. “You know what the unidentified substance is.”
He nodded. “I do. But I was under instruction to keep any mention of them from public knowledge.”
“But since you all already know they exist,” Vanessa interrupted. “There’s no reason to keep it from you.”
A shiver ran down my body, chilling past my bones and solidifying the marrow inside. At any moment I expected to crack into a million pieces. I knew what the third ingredient was. “I was infected with damned blood.”
~
A little later Mr. Aquinas retired upstairs with Ty’s assistance. When Ty reemerged he rubbed his hands together. “Now for the reason we came here.”
Vanessa smiled and strolled to the far right wall. Considering the other walls all housed hanging ancient and rusting weapons, this one appeared empty. She pressed her finger onto a silver button in the wall. With a click then clatter of rattling chains and cogs, an eight-foot-long section of the wall spun from the middle. “Think yourselves lucky. Not many have seen the extent of our hand crafted stock.”
My mouth hung open at the hidden room inside the wall, fitted with floor-to-ceiling hanging weapons. But these weren’t just any old weapons. These were shimmering and deadly weapons of all sorts. Like Ty’s training room, these weapons were sharp, made to kill. Every piece was edged with silver, if not coated in the metal. There were guns too, automatics, semi-automatics, handguns, rifles, and shotguns. Dark metal glistened from guns of all shapes and sizes. So this was where Ty’s stock had come from.
