Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  “You know as well as I do that I could kill everyone here in a matter of seconds. But,” he maintained his half grin, “that’s not what I’m here to do. Not yet.”

  “Then what do you want?” I glared at him, clenching my fists. Just looking at this guy pissed me off. I wanted to lunge at his face and tear it off. Just because I didn’t know how to purify him didn’t mean that I couldn’t inflict a lot of pain.

  “I just want to talk, that’s all,” he slipped his hands out of his pockets and held them up, implying that it wasn’t a big deal.

  But it was. Oh, it was a super big deal. “Then talk. And leave,” I ordered him. “Before I make you.” Well, sometimes threats just slipped out. Even though, I reminded myself, I couldn’t exactly go through with the threat, because he’d kick my butt in a matter of minutes.

  “We both know that you couldn’t make me do anything. But I would like to see you try,” Crixis smiled, egging me on. When I didn’t answer, he carried on, “What have I done to deserve such contempt from you?”

  “Oh, I wonder,” I mocked him deliberately. “It couldn’t possibly be because I’ve seen what you can do to whole towns without looking back. To what you can do to entire species. The way you murder and maim innocent people. How you deceive everyone you meet.”

  “I love the way you describe me. You do it so,” Crixis licked his lips, “perfectly.” His eyes glanced to the ground, making me suddenly realize that he was less than a foot away from me. Rapidly I felt my courage melting down into a little puddle. His voice fell to a whisper, “You have no idea, do you? Why did Raphael lie to you?”

  My breath came out in a rush. “How do you know about that?”

  Crixis didn’t answer right away. He was silent and looked me up and down, circling me and making me feel very uncomfortable. I was frozen. I couldn’t move. I felt the exhalation of his breath on my neck. I could feel his face, not even an inch away. He was right there. He placed his chin on my shoulder, murmuring, “The people you love are hiding things from you. They have terrible secrets.”

  My eyebrows went together. What was he talking about? I knew Raphael must be hiding something from me, but he said people, not person. And how did he know Raphael’s name?

  He removed his chin and rested it on my other shoulder, whispering into my ear, “You should ask them. Find out what they’re hiding before it comes and bites you someplace private…” Crixis put a hand on my butt, squeezing gently. “…and you pay the ultimate price,” he finished with a devilish half grin on his face. In a flash, an inhuman flash, his hand was gone. And so was he.

  My skin burned where he touched me, and I wanted to ram myself into the concrete wall.

  What was going on?

  “Where is the food you went off to buy?” Gabriel demanded as I gradually made my way up to him, taking my time as I sat down next to him. “Kass.” He saw the look on my face, changing his tone instantly, “What’s wrong?”

  Keeping my mind focused on the football game, I said, “Nothing.” But it came out shaky. Well, that was a dead giveaway. “I just…remembered I have no money.”

  “You’re lying.” Gabriel put his hand on mine, in my lap. I concentrated on the game too hard to react. “Why?” His voice was earnest, and it utterly made me give in.

  I stared into his deep blue eyes. Why couldn’t I have a normal life? Why did I have to be a Purifier? Why did I have to always be in danger, in life and death situations? Why did Crixis want me dead?

  I felt Gabriel’s hand squeeze mine as he said, “Who’s Crixis?”

  Closing my eyes, I remembered every detail of the day I almost died three years ago. The red-eyed Daywalker. Then I recalled the night in the cemetery. How he fought me again, offered me an explanation about the Osiris ritual, and almost killed me once more.

  “Oh…” Gabriel seemed at a loss of words.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “He was here.”

  Claire and Max both stood up and tripped over our legs, trying to get out. Claire turned to me, saying, “We’re going to get some food. Be right back.”

  When they were out of earshot, I heard Gabriel whisper, “Have fun, lovebirds.” His full attention was back on me. Fantastic. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No. Not this time. I think,” I paused, my mind reeling with possibilities, “he’s trying something different. Something…deeper than just physical wounds.” Gabriel began to ask why, so I kept going, “He’s trying to stir up trouble. He’s trying to hurt me emotionally, I think.” I lightly placed a hand on my chest, directly over where my heart was. “And, Gabriel,” I said, feeling the doubts creep in my mind about Raphael and whoever else was hiding things from me, “I think it’s working.”

  His mouth pursed, letting me know that he was pissed. But not at me. At Crixis. I saw the muscles in his jaw tense. His hand tightened around mine. “What did he tell you?”

  “That the people I love are hiding things.”

  “But he didn’t tell you who?” he clarified. When I shook my head, he whispered, “It’s all right.” Gabriel moved hair away from my eyes, which undoubtedly had become very frizzy from the humid air. “Crixis won’t hurt you, I promise. And I’m not hiding anything from you, you can count on that. You know as well as I do that when it comes to you, I’m an open book.”

  A small smile came across my face. He was so sure of himself. But Crixis was unlike anything we’d ever faced. I couldn’t stop him. And neither could Gabriel.

  “Hey,” he lightly pushed me, “have a little faith. I could stop anyone. Especially if they’re after you.” Gabriel set his finger on my nose. “And don’t you forget it.” He removed his finger, saying, “Do you want to go home? Because we can. Max’ll be fine here by himself.”

  Looking to the floor, I rubbed my eyes. A headache was approaching me, fast. Claire and Max were back. Already. A ringtone entered my ears. Claire glanced to her pockets, handing Max her hot dog and nachos. Max took them and sat back down. Before she made her way to her seat, she dug her pink cell phone out of her pocket.

  Flipping it open, her eyebrows creased. “Hello?” My eyes didn’t leave hers as she gasped and dropped her phone, completely shattering it on the concrete. Without saying a word, she turned and ran down the steps.

  I stood and started to run after her. Gabriel and Max soon followed. I almost caught up to her, but I stumbled to a halt as I watched her run out of the gate. Crixis stood there, leaning against the fence, directly in my path.

  Gritting my teeth, I stormed up to him and grabbed his shirt. “What did you do?” Everyone was too busy watching the game to realize that a fight was about to take place by the back gate. Hopefully.

  But Crixis was unthreatened by my display of moxie. In a flash I was picked up by my neck and slammed against the rickety fence. “I am appalled you think I caused that. But you’re not wrong.” The pressure around my neck increased sharply, causing me to wince in pain.

  “What—” I tried taking in a breath. “—did you do?”

  The evil half grin appeared as he said, “I paid a visit to her father.” Crixis leaned in, closing the space between our faces and stopping when there was less than an inch there. “He’s not doing too well.”

  “Let her go.” Gabriel stood firm a good few feet away, glaring at Crixis with unmatched hatred.

  Crixis sized him up, moving himself farther away from me, and answered, “I remember you, boy. Last time I saw you, you had quite the good contact with my fist. One little punch and you were out like a baby.” He constricted his grip even more.

  I reached out to his own neck, but my arms were too short. It was just like before. Three years ago. My arms had been too short then, too.

  “You caught me at a bad time,” Gabriel took an aggressive step forward. “But now I’m ready for you. Max, go after Claire.” Max nodded and ran around the scene that was surely about to enfold.

  My eyes closed. What small vision I had left grew beyond blurry. There was only one thing I could
think to do. With all the might I could muster, I lifted my leg up and kicked Crixis between his legs. It would make any man stumble and double back in pain.

  I thought I did a pretty good job, but all he did was glance down at my leg and back up to me. Crixis smiled and said, “One of the benefits of being a Vampire.” His hand tightened around my neck and he threw me. I spiraled in the air until my body met with Gabriel’s.

  We both landed hard on the ground. Shaking off the lightheadedness that circled my head, I sat up. Gabriel was up in one second, looking for Crixis and then declaring, “I am going to enjoy kicking that guy’s—”

  Crixis was gone. He was gone and he hurt Claire’s father. And it was all my fault. I collapsed back down onto the gravel and buried my face in my hands. All these people were dying because of me. I wasn’t trained for that. I was trained to save them.

  Gabriel put his hands on my hips and forced me into a standing position. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t let him mess with your mind.” Gabriel looked around and, seeing that two cops were running in our direction, said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “What?” Michael stood up and tore off his glasses.

  Gabriel shot him a glare, slamming a hand down on the kitchen table. He was furious, and rightfully so. I placed a soothing hand on his arm, but he shook it off. “No, this is not okay.”

  “Calm down,” I told him, right away regretting it. Telling someone to calm down never helped. It only made them more upset.

  “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down.” Gabriel clenched his fists.

  “Gabriel,” Michael set his cup of tea down, “Kass is right. You need to calm down. Crixis is only a Demon. And if what you say is true—”

  “It is true,” Gabriel spoke through clenched teeth.

  “—then we need to notify Koath immediately,” Michael finished, giving him a fixed stare. He picked up the cordless phone that was resting in its rightful place. “Straight away.” His nervous fingers dialed erratically. “Please,” he told us, motioning for us to leave the room, “this is Council business now.”

  “What do you mean this is Council business now?” Gabriel mimicked perfectly. “Council business is our business!”

  “Koath,” Michael said into the phone, ignoring Gabriel and his anger. “Yes. Kass and Gabriel…” His squinting eyes landed on us.

  I rolled my own eyes and grabbed Gabriel’s arm, dragging him to the living room so Michael could speak to Koath in private. Though it’s not as if we were ignorant little kids. We knew what was going on. We probably knew more than they did, actually.

  I guided him to the couch. He plopped down with a hard thud, saying, “This place sucks.”

  “I know,” I said, sitting next to him and spreading my legs over his lap. I knew he wouldn’t object.

  He stared at them for a moment before continuing, “First the Osiris thing, then John, and…oh, we can’t forget Kirk, can we? The guy who’s ancient and who was a major creep while you were beaten half to death.”

  “He saved my life,” I cut in. But he kept going, paying no attention to me.

  “And now Crixis.” Gabriel’s blonde head fell back onto the cushion. “What now? God, I’m so angry, you have no idea.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” I agreed with him. “But I do know what you like to do when you’re angry.”

  He gave me a knowing look. “We couldn’t…could we?”

  I shrugged. “Well, it wouldn’t be the smart thing to do. But as I see it,” I leaned up and swung my legs off him, “we haven’t been the smartest people lately anyway.”

  An eyebrow rose. “That is true. Who knows? Maybe we’ll run into him while we’re out there.”

  We stood up and I held a finger out to him. “You better hope that we don’t run into him, otherwise, we’re dead. Seriously. You can’t purify this guy.”

  Gabriel deadpanned, “I can try.”

  I held in a moan. Did he not recall the small fact that I staked the Daywalker three years ago?

  Chapter Twenty-Six – Vincent

  ‘My love.’ I caressed his clean face. ‘I have something to show you.’ He smiled down at me and said: ‘Ah, a surprise, is it? Wonderful. I do love surprises.’ I let loose a small laugh and hooked my arm inside his. I guided him to the magnificent gardens that spread out behind my home.

  In the full moon’s light, the roses were beautiful. The water shimmered. The birds chirped. It was the perfect environment. And yet, there was still some trepidation inside me. I felt his hand squeeze mine. I spoke: ‘it is a charming scene, is it not?’

  His head nodded: ‘I am inclined to agree with you wholly on that.’ I felt the blood pumping through me speed up. It was the anticipation. It had to be. His engaging green eyes were upon me as he asked: ‘What is it that you wished to show me?’

  I unhooked my arm and stood in front of him. My head tilted slightly upwards, making up for the height difference between us. ‘What if I was to say there is more to this world than meets the eye?’ His face broke into another smile as he responded: ‘I would say I already knew that, my love.’

  ‘But that is not what I mean.’ ‘Then what do you mean?’ At first I did not answer. Slowly I brought my gloved hands up to his face and said: ‘Do you trust me?’ His response came quick, just as I suspected it would: ‘Of course I do.’

  I felt my teeth grow underneath my lips as I said: ‘Good. Then know I’m not lying when I say this will only hurt for one second.’ My sharp teeth pierced his neck in an otherworldly flash. Soon he was dropping down before me, dead.

  Gingerly I wiped the corners of my mouth. His blood was delicious. Just as I thought it would be. In minutes he would awaken and we would complete the ritual. For if I was right, and he did not drink my blood after reawakening, he would die yet again. And this time, he wouldn’t come back. First, I had to bring him to my bedroom. There, I would have him like I’d never had him before.

  I needed a break from reading that journal. I did want to finish it as soon as possible, but it was just so much to handle at once. I set the diary down and, after checking to see if my contacts were all right, walked out of my hotel room.

  Stepping onto the sidewalk, I cracked my knuckles. I couldn’t believe that this woman went through with it. Deep down I guessed I knew all along, but I didn’t want to believe it.

  A growl ricocheted through my ears. A growl that humans couldn’t normally hear. I could hear it because I was a Shifter. My hearing was far better and had a wider range. But…this growl startled me. The last time I heard this growl was back in England.

  I certainly did not think that I would hear it again, for I had wiped out the whole family of Zenys. But, unless my ears deceived me, which they did not, there was one here, in America.

  That wasn’t good.

  It was a good thing my body was the only weapon I needed. Though…my boots, the ones with the metal toe and heel, laid in my room, just waiting to be used. However, I couldn’t afford to go back and get them. I needed to take care of this creature now.

  I broke out into a brisk run, following the growls. Soon I was on a cliff that overlooked a field of flowers. My eyes searched the horizon. The darkness hampered my vision only slightly, because my eyes weren’t exactly normal, either.

  I spotted the graveyard about a mile away. The beast was there. Except as soon as it saw me, it ran toward me with fantastic, supernatural speed. It made me wonder how a Demon with three legs could run so fast. It was now in the middle of the daisy-filled field, so I figured it was time I ran to meet it.

  Leaping off the steep cliff, I landed on the ground with a hard thud. The eight-eyed beast stopped in its tracks, letting me see it in its full glory.

  This one was huge—so huge that it put the other ones I defeated to shame.

  It roared, opening its double-jointed mouth. From where I stood, I could see the rows and rows of teeth that twisted back
and forth. It was like this beast’s mouth was alive and a separate entity.

  I’d seen mouths like this before, but none as large.

  I stood my ground as it scratched the grass before charging me. At the last possible moment, I kicked myself into the air and landed on its back. Grabbing the black fur with one hand to hold on, I lifted the other as it swirled into a thick sword.

  Hesitation crossed my mind. This could be the last of its kind. And this was also one of the things I needed to do the ritual that was spoken about in the diary. The note said I was a stranger to true power. That I needed true power to kill the man who slaughtered my entire family.

  But, in my opinion, I already had true power, so why the hell would I need to turn myself into a Vampire?

  I forcefully shoved the sword into its back. It reared, throwing me off and rolling me on the flowery ground. Spitting out petals, I clumsily stood up. This wasn’t only bigger, it was stronger too.

  That wasn’t a good thing.

  Nope. Definitely not, I decided as it speedily grazed my chest with its six-inch-long talons. Blood began pouring out, and for a moment I simply stood there and stared at it. It was the first time in a while that I bled this badly.

  That only made my mindset stronger. I was going to kill this thing even if it killed me. And, hopefully, that wasn’t going to happen because I had someone else that I needed to end.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven – Kass

  “We’re stupid, aren’t we?” I kicked the grass, tearing a clump out and sending it flying across a gravestone. We came to the cemetery to de-stress ourselves by purifying some Nightwalkers. But were there any Nightwalkers? No. Not one.

  Gabriel nodded eagerly. “Oh, yeah. You bet. The stupidest.” A foolish smile was on his face as he said, “An ant has more brains than us, and all they do is gather food. At least, that’s all I’ve ever seen them do.”

  A pained expression entered my face. At least I hoped it was a pained expression. What was this boy talking about? I shook with laughter, saying, “You’re ridiculous, and impossible.” I started to walk around him, clutching my sword tighter. My rose blade. The same one that I lodged in John’s heart. I only had this sword for a few weeks and yet we’d been through so much together.