Shadow Chaser (Undeadly Secrets Book 3)

by Aaron L Speer

  Nathaniel closed the distance between them and sat cross-legged. “Let me help? I can help. Really I can.”

  “I don’t want you to get hurt. Nathaniel, you have to stay away from me.”

  Nathaniel gave her a playful pat on the hand. “You can’t hurt me…”

  Alex made a frantic bid to grab Nathaniel’s hand as he was violently dragged back from her by an unseen force. “NO!”

  His little body was lifted and vaulted into the wall, then the opposite side.

  “I warned you, slut.”

  The voice boomed all around her. Nathaniel reached for his own neck even though nothing was appearing to hold him. But Alex knew better. “Please, no! Don’t hurt him.”

  Nathaniel was flung to the ceiling, splintering the plaster before free falling to the ground. His chin bounced and split open. Alex crawled as fast as she could to the toddler but he was raised over her head and suspended upside down. The boy heaved and the shadow’s voice gave a touch of exertion. The sound of a punch struck Alex like a gong. And another.

  Blood fell from the boy’s mouth as he hung limp and lifeless in the air.

  “For the last time. Give me your power.”

  Alex’s tears fell like Nathaniel’s blood, screaming, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t have any!” Every bone in her body was screaming at her not to answer. She didn’t understand this, but something inside was telling her she was very important, else the shadow wouldn’t want her.

  Nathaniel fell in a heap and did not move. Alex wanted to go to him but felt her path blocked. She knew the beast was in front of her. She could feel and smell its putrid breath on top of her seconds before it came into her view. A dark shadow shaped like a person, just like in the mirror. Yet more pronounced. Clearer.

  She felt something akin to fingernails trail up her quaking, already damaged cheek as she struggled to stop her tears. “Still so blind. So stupid. Get on your knees. Bow to me.”

  “I’ve told you, you’ve got the wrong person. You might as well kill me. I’ll never get on my knees for you,” she said flatly.

  Alex fell back as a stinging slap cut across her face. “Yes. You can be sure I will. But I haven’t yet given you enough reason to beg me to kill you. Let us see if I can’t do a better job than the vampire.”

  Alex felt like an eagle had gripped a chunk of her hair and dragged her backwards towards the bedroom. She kicked and shouted. For Nathaniel. For Dante. For anyone.

  Chapter 40

  The Stuff of Nightmares

  Dante parked in his usual spot and stretched his neck. Despite all his faults, he felt proud of his efforts tonight. The escalating violence between the Forgotten and the vampires of Sydney was becoming a problem and not just in the death toll on both sides. The increase in body count was gaining more and more media attention, but the facts about the blood feud were still hidden. For now.

  Dante did not have access to the funds and resources that Vincent had for silencing the leaks that ventured into the mainstream, so he had to come up with something else. Hate just brought more hate. Both sides fighting fire with fire was not going to lead to any lasting conclusion. It was time someone thought outside the square.

  Tonight, he had put himself in the middle of the two groups facing off. The vampires easily outnumbered their human counterparts. The fact that Dante had physically stopped the vampires from engaging was no doubt a powerful demonstration to the members of the Forgotten. All Dante had said was, “Not tonight.”

  These were hollow words on his part, he knew. Yet for that moment, they held power. He was fairly certain he had only delayed the confrontation for a while, but the capacity for reason was there, and so there was potential for peace, albeit uneasy. Dante wasn’t sure anyone had thought that possible before.

  He stepped out of his car just as a taxi pulled up beside him. Michelle jumped out, hastily paid the driver and rushed to him.

  “Michelle? What’s wrong?”

  “Is Alex here?”

  Dante looked toward his apartment and back to her. “I don’t know. Why?”

  “She came to my place a little while ago and we… She… It doesn’t matter. But she ran out—like bolted out the door. When she wasn’t at her place, I figured she’d come here. Dante, I think something is really wrong with her.”

  Dante could see Michelle’s cheeks were flushed. She wasn’t wearing a bra under her shirt, which he concluded meant she would’ve had to get hastily dressed to chase Alex. Getting dressed meant she had no top on while Alex was there.

  It wasn’t jealousy that gripped him, more alarm. Something had to be very wrong with Alex.

  Dante and Michelle both jumped as an earth-shattering scream bellowed from the top floor.

  “YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT… GIVE IT TO ME!”

  “Let me go!”

  “NEVER…”

  “No, DON’T!”

  A torrent of sobbing reached both of them as a sound like great exertion was heard from the other occupant in the room. Dante and Michelle both said the same thing at the same time, the name on both of their minds as the wails upstairs turned into howls of pain and vicious, aggressive grunting.

  “Alex!”

  Dante leapt high and landed through his bedroom window and the sight that met his eyes halted him. Alex faced him upside down, suspended naked almost four feet in the air. Her clothes lay in tatters underneath her. Arms spread out, hair hanging like a blonde waterfall. Her body was being jerked with the violent thrusts of an unseen force. Her face, a mask of torment, her mouth wide in a silent scream.

  Dante roared, flashed his fangs and leapt over her. Even his vampire vision could only just make out the tall, dark shimmer between Alex’s legs, but he was not quick enough. With a huge puff of air, the room was vacated and Alex dropped to the bed like a stone. That unspeakable thing had gone.

  Dante placed his hands on Alex’s face. Slow pulse. Wheezing breaths. Cold as ice.

  Dante ripped his shirt in two, flinging it to the side, and brought her into a sitting position, pressing her close for the heat, rubbing her chest and arms.

  Michelle appeared from around the corner, having taken the stairs, dashing into the room. “Oh my god…”

  “Run the bath. As hot as you can make it.”

  Michelle bolted away as Dante wrapped Alex in his arms and hurried after her, careful not to jostle her. When he reached the bathroom, steaming water was cascading into the filling pool. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Let’s get her in.”

  Not wanting to drop her in the water, Dante stepped into the bath with Alex in his arms. He lowered Alex a little more so the water submerged most of her body. “Keep talking to her. Keep warming her.”

  Michelle leaned over the edge of the pool, scooped the water and let it flow over Alex. She quickly caressed her cheeks and her chest, covering her shoulders and back again. “Alex…c’mon. It’s us. Please wake up, hun.”

  Alex continued to stare blankly at the ceiling, her eyes covered in an almost luminous film. Michelle used a more forceful technique, and looked up at Dante. “We’re losing her.”

  Dante lifted Alex by the neck to his lips, and breathed a strong, steady breath into her mouth. “She needs warmth. This isn’t enough!”

  “The water is as hot as it can get. I could boil some in the kettle.”

  “It would take too long.” Dante knew what he had to do. “Give me your wrist.”

  Michelle looked up. “What?”

  “I can make my skin warmer. Together, we can save her. But I need blood. I can’t feed from her in this state.”

  “You can’t feed from me with what Vincent did to me.”

  Dante knew that the VB poisoning in Michelle’s blood would kill him in a matter of seconds. It was designed by Vincent to kill vampires, but in reality, it was nothing more than Dante’s punishment, ensuring he could never feed off Michelle again.

  “We have to.”

  �
�No. There has to be something else.”

  “There is no time! We have a chance to save her. She might be dead in minutes if we don’t.”

  “You will be dead if you do this,” Michelle screamed. “I want to help Alex more than anything, but I also can’t let you kill yourself.”

  “Michelle, please… She’ll die.”

  “Do not make me choose between you! I can’t lose either of you. I love you. Both of you.”

  “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

  Dante snatched Michelle’s hand and bit. Hard and fast, drinking quickly.

  “Dante, no!”

  Michelle tried to pull away, but Dante managed to keep her wrist still. The taste of Michelle’s poisoned blood made him want to gag, to vomit, but he resisted, concentrating on heating up his skin temperature. Soon, the water surrounding them was steaming even more, practically boiling.

  Michelle sobbed his name, begged him to listen. But as his body filled with her blood, warming his skin, they both knew he was seconds away from letting go and leaving her, leaving them both forever.

  Alex let out a gasp, it was only that which made Dante let Michelle go. Alex coughed as fresh air reached her lungs. Michelle supported her with both hands.

  “Alex! Talk to me.”

  “Where…am I?”

  “You’re in the tub… You’re at Dante’s”

  “I’m so glad to see you.” Alex, still seemingly in a daze, turned and spotted Dante smiling down at her. “My girl and my boy, together.” Alex ran her fingers under Dante’s chin, and then nestled her head against his chest before drifting off to sleep. Her breathing was steady. Whether she would remember tonight’s ordeal, was another question.

  “It worked…” Dante whispered.

  *

  Dante tucked Alex into his bed. He stepped out of the room to talk to Michelle, determined not to close the door or let Alex out of his sight.

  “Do you think it will be back?” Michelle asked. She had taken off her sopping t-shirt and was wrapped in a towel.

  “I don’t know. I think it… It’s had its fill,” Dante replied, disgusted.

  “Good…” He saw the slap a second before it reached him, but stood and absorbed it as best he could. “Fuck you!” Michelle seethed in a harsh, yet low voice. “You know I would do anything for the both of you, but that was bullshit! How dare you fucking bite me like that. I am not yours to do with as you please, Dante.”

  “I know,” Dante replied, trying to comfort her, but Michelle backed away.

  “Why aren’t you sick?” she spat.

  This question had been eating away at Dante as well, once he’d been sure Alex would be safe. He should’ve been bleeding from every orifice—the effect of drinking VB-poisoned blood. Then it hit him. “Nick,” he replied. “When he gave you his Alpha blood to heal your Dream State coma, I think it must have healed everything.”

  Michelle took a second to absorb this. She was back, perfect. Just as she was when Dante’s donor. “Did you know this before you bit me?”

  Dante shook his head. “No. It was just all I could think of to save her life. It was the only way.”

  “Aw, jeez, Dante! You keep saying stuff like that. There is always another way. Haven’t you learned that yet? Haven’t you learned what happens when you try to play God? How many more times can you roll the dice? Sometimes I wonder how much being as old as you are has limited your scope of reality.”

  “You did the exact same thing to save me, remember? The night I finally got the assassin hunting her?” He jerked his head toward the bedroom. “You risked your life to save mine that night.”

  “I remember you were just as pissed off as I am now. Maybe more.”

  Dante gritted his teeth and sighed. “Perhaps this makes us even.”

  “Not funny, you know. This isn’t about keeping score. You can’t keep doing this to us.”

  “Us?”

  “Dante, I get why you did what you did. Like you said, I would do, and have done, the same. But that was just between us. Alex is a part of this now. How the hell would she feel if you’d died like that? She still hasn’t gotten over what Nick did. And you would do the same thing. You’d save her, but you’d also cripple her for life.”

  Dante touched her cheek, a tear dropping onto his thumb. “You may find you’re underestimating her mental strength.”

  Michelle leaned her face closer into his hand, scraping her face against his fingers. “You may find you’re underestimating what you really mean to us.”

  Michelle held both sides of his neck and kissed him briefly, before turning her head and resting it on his chest. Dante pressed his lips into her hair.

  “I’m sorry…”

  Michelle nodded into him. “I know. I’m just… I’m just glad it worked. But, Dante, we have to help her. Whatever that thing was, it was way too close to killing her. What is it? What are we gonna do?”

  Dante glanced through the open door at Alex in his bed, peacefully asleep. This force, this entity, whatever it was, was a greater threat than he ever imagined. Like nothing he had ever faced before. For the first time in years, he felt the stabbing twinge of fear. It had hurt Alex. Abused her. Violated her.

  The one person in the world he had done so much to protect and it had meant nothing. He wanted to tell Michelle everything would be all right, that they would get through this. But that was a lie. Rage bubbled inside him.

  “I don’t know.”

  The doors of the bedroom burst open, startling Michelle. Alex stalked her way out into the corridor, turned and faced the two of them. The lights surrounding them flickered and ebbed. Her eyes had changed to a yellowish green, her skin was paler and her hair was matted, still damp from the bath. Black smoke surrounded her body like a shield.

  The demon hadn’t left. It hadn’t needed to. It had taken her over.

  “How?” Dante asked.

  “She wouldn’t give in to me willingly. She wouldn’t kill, so I took what I wanted by force,” Dante grit his teeth, his fangs lowering. “She was a poor fuck, if I do say so. I’d only give her a four out of ten.” The voice was powerful, sneering. Not like Alex at all.

  Dante pushed Michelle behind him and lifted his heels, standing on the balls of his feet, preparing for a fight.

  “Come then, vampire. Let us see how good you are. Let us see what she means to you.” With a small running step, Alex was airborn, heading straight into Dante with outstretched fists. She struck him in the chest and they both fell to the ground.

  “Alex, listen to me!”

  “Alex isn’t here anymore vampire. You saw to that.”

  Michelle clasped her arm around Alex’s neck and pulled her back off Dante. “Alex, stop!”

  Alex laughed, and gave a mere shift of her shoulders. Michelle was thrown away and onto her back. “Ah, yes… Her little fantasy comes to life. Both of you at the same time. How truly repressed she is, to want both of you.” Alex spun around and kicked Michelle furiously in the stomach, gleeful at hearing Michelle’s howls of pain. “Let’s eliminate an equation, shall we?”

  Dante had no choice, Alex—no, the demon—wasn’t stopping. He would have to get the thing out of her before he could save her. Dante snapped up and launched a series of kidney punches into her back. He grabbed her by the back and chest and pummelled her into the wall. He glared into her sickly eyes and sneered, his fangs flaring.

  Alex laughed in her not-Alex voice. “You’ve lost. Give up vampire.”

  Dante answered with a punch into her face, but again it was laughed off. There was absolutely no effect, save for her teeth getting stained by her blood as the soft flesh of her lips was torn on the inside. “My children will rise. Her power is filling me. Everything you do to make her weaker, strengthens me. You have nothing, vampire. All your power, and for what? Let me show you what real power is.”

  Alex gripped his throat like a snake striking its prey. Within seconds, the pain was excruciating and Dante could feel his o
wn blood trickle from her fingers and down his neck. She lifted him as if he weighed nothing. She rose in the air with him. The black smoke that surrounded her spread out from her back, like sinister wings. Raven wings. They hovered in the air for a few seconds before Dante felt them both rush forward through the hallway, bashing from wall to wall as Dante struggled to free himself, crashing through the door to the wading pool. Alex ascended to the ceiling. “Ah, the room where she first dreamt of your cock. Let it be of some comfort to you as you drown.”

  Dante felt himself drop from a dozen feet in the air directly into the water. His torso broke the surface as he was hit in the face with a chunk of stone from above. Then another. He used a hand to cover his eyes but saw what was going on. Alex had punched her way into the very ceiling and had found something to grip, straining, pulling. With a tremendous grind and clang, Alex pulled at the area just above her. The cement cascaded down as the joists and beams snapped and broke free. Alex hurled the piece she held down into the pool, crushing on top of Dante.

  He struggled to get out of the deep bath, but the water slowed even his vampire speed. Another chunk of ceiling sunk him to the bottom of the pool, the end of an iron spike digging into his side. The water had burst with red blood. His feet were trapped, and his head held fast beneath the surface. He couldn’t get air.

  Dante strained to move the weight, but all he could do was heave it a few centimetres. He had lost so much blood, he was too weak.

  A vampire didn’t need to breathe, but he had to break free somehow. His lungs were filling with water and he was bleeding out. If he couldn’t find a way to break free, he could still die at the bottom of this pool.

  Dante tried again to sit up. To breathe. But he couldn’t. The water was turning a darker red, and Dante’s eyes were feeling heavy when he heard a splash and felt hands under his arms from behind, raising him up so he could breathe. He coughed and vomited red water, gasping and heaving as his lungs cleared.

  “It’s ok. It’s ok.” Michelle said, desperately holding his head up. “It’ll be ok. She’s gone for now. I’m here.”