Deception (Deamhan Chronicles Book 3)

by Morrison, Isaiyan

  All I could remember were his dark eyes. Really dark and demonic looking. After that I woke up a few days later in some run-down shack, far away from my family and anyone. He was there and that’s when he told me that I was a Deamhan. He sired me because he needed someone who spoke the language. He was hunting the Dorvo vampire for a while. For what, I don’t know. What I did know was that he didn’t sire me for company. He couldn’t care less if I survived or not. He said he needed me until his sire and sibling came for him.”

  Anastasia didn’t know where his conversation was headed and she didn’t know what it had to do with her current situation with Nathan.

  “When they came for him, my sire left me to fend for myself and that’s what I did. I stayed in Hong Kong, watching my family mourn for me. I watched my father wither and die because I thought that if I gave him my blood, he’d turn into what I was. I watched my brothers and sisters grow up and have families of their own. I watched my mother die. One day I couldn’t handle it anymore. I grew angry and attacked anyone who came within inches of me. I decided to find my sire. I wanted to confront him, tell him he ruined my life. I wanted to kill him. It took me awhile, but I tracked him to America, to Minneapolis. And when I found him, when I finally had my chance to tell him how I felt, I couldn’t do it. All I wanted was to be close to him and he let me in. We bonded and, finally, I felt wanted. He was the leader in the city. I attended his Gatherings, did what he wanted.”

  She blurted out, astonished. “Your sire was Kei?!”

  “Yep, the one and only.” He looked up, giving her a weak smile.

  Soon after, she wanted to thrash out at him. It was because of his sire that things had gone downhill for not only Deamhan in the state but their kind in Northern America and now around the world.

  He sensed it yet still he continued to smile. “From that day, I looked up to him. I did whatever he wanted. I killed for him. I was so blinded by him that I would have given my life for him if it ever came down to that. But there was one thing I wouldn’t do for him.” His smile faded. “He wanted more, what he called, ‘soldiers,’ in his fight against the human researchers. He wanted me to sire as many humans as I could. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it—to make others suffer like I suffered. That’s when I met Ji.”

  “Ji?”

  “The Lamia. She was one of the orphans at the sanctuary.”

  Anastasia vaguely remembered her, along with Malik, as the two most outspoken orphans during her visit.

  “When I met her, she was so innocent. When Kei found out that I wouldn’t sire her, he took her and had a Lamia do it instead. That’s when I realized that he wasn’t the sire I knew him to be. He was cruel, uncaring. He let his Deamhan emotions run his life and I didn’t want that. It wasn’t what I wanted to be.”

  “Sounds a little like my own sire,” she said.

  “Actually it sounds like the majority of Deamhan. I was there for the massacre at his Gathering. I remember seeing you there. I remember Selene and Lucius. When Lucius had me on the ground, ready to rip me apart, I knew at that moment what Kei had told and taught me was all a lie. I didn’t want to live like he did. I didn’t want to be like him.”

  “Lucius spared you?”

  “He gave me a second chance. He remembered me from Hong Kong. He understood that I wasn’t like Kei. He had to.” Enlai stood up from the ground. “After that I decided that instead of killing, I was given the chance to show other Deamhan that our lives are our own. That we can make the choice. We don’t have to give in to our urges. This is what I tried telling the orphans at the sanctuary. After you destroyed all those sanctuaries, all they could think about was killing you and Lucius. I tried to show them that there was another way to live.”

  Still intrigued about his connection to Kei, she demanded for him to tell her everything he knew about his sire.

  “I know what you know,” he replied. “Kei wasn’t a saint, but he was all I knew for a time. But in the end he was just like Lucius and Selene. All Deamhan over a hundred years old are alike.”

  “No. Kei was different. He was egotistical; a maniac.”

  “And his sire wasn’t? Lucius planned on bringing an end to all Deamhan by releasing the Pure Ones. Now that he’s dead, he left us to deal with the aftermath. It that’s not egotistical, then I don’t know what is.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “Why are you defending him?” he asked. “He’s dead. You have nothing left to prove. We want to live our lives, right? We all have that right? Why don’t we?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Nathan has the right to decide if he wants that second chance. You can’t make that decision for him. But you can make that decision for you. I can make that decision for me. In the end, every living creature wants the same thing.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “You can’t get a second chance by hunting and killing. How long do you think you can go on living by doing that? Just because your sire and my own didn’t teach us how to live doesn’t mean that we have to continue to be a slave to the blood inside us.” He placed his hand on her chest. “How do you want to be remembered, Anastasia? As the blood-thirsty Ramanga who provided nothing to this world, or a Ramanga who changed for the better?”

  “Redemption? Is that what this is all about?” She eyeballed him for a few seconds before he pulled his hand back.

  “What else could it be?”

  All this talk made her teeter on the edge of getting something to eat.

  “I couldn’t care less what others perceive of me. What matters is making sure that those I know around me survive another night.” She stepped toward him. “That does not include you.”

  “The point is not how long you live, but how nobly you live.” He repeated his quote from earlier. “If that means allowing those you care about to make their own decisions, then let them make their own decisions. Think about it.” He turned to walk back into the mansion when the door opened unexpectedly.

  Alexis stood in the doorway, wearing jeans and a tight-fitting black shirt, glaring at them with a look of urgency on her face. She looked cleaned from earlier; however, her cause for concern startled them both.

  “He’s not here,” she said.

  “Who isn’t here?”

  “Nathan and the other one,” Alexis replied. “They aren’t here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They aren’t here!” she repeated again. “They’re gone.”

  Anastasia pushed Alexis aside and stormed into the house. She called out Hallie’s name and waited for a reply.

  “Go and find them. They’re your responsibility,” Alexis said.

  In Deamhan speed, Anastasia frantically searched her room. She moved on to Nathan’s and, finding it empty, she returned back.

  “They must have left early,” Enlai said.

  “I know where they went.” She looked back at Alexis. “You’re coming with.”

  Alexis quickly refused.

  “And what do you think Lambert will do to you when he finds out that you let something bad happen to Nathan?”

  She snarled and grunted.

  “They won’t make it far. Nathan won’t make it far.” Anastasia studied the landscape and tried to pick up on any Deamhan scent besides her own. “I’m sure the vampire blood already wore out—”

  “Wait. Just wait a fucking second,” Alexis interrupted her. “What vampire blood?” Her eyes billowed. “Nathan drank vampire blood?”

  “And he’s going to need more. If not, he won’t make it.”

  Enlai zipped up his jacket. “I’m going with you.”

  At this point she didn’t care who accompanied her. She didn’t speak up against his offer. Instead she continued to confront Alexis with more questions. “Which way is the city? Is it that way?” She pointed to their left.

  “Yes, and I’m not going,” she replied. “What the hell! You know that Nathan didn’t want any. Lambert told you! Why in the hell did
you do it?”

  “Lead the way!” she screamed at her. “Or I’ll drag you along. Your choice.”

  Alexis slammed the door shut and stomped toward the front lawn. “Fine, but I don’t know where the fuck they’re headed.”

  Anastasia knew and she didn’t waste any time in telling them. “They’re going to Blind Bluff Manor. Where else?”

  1

  DECEPTION. DEAMHAN CHRONCILES #3

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  With eight hours to spare before sunrise, Alexis took her time leading Anastasia and Enlai in the direction of Blind Bluff Manor. They traveled through miles of open landscape, avoiding smaller towns along their route. After a few miles, Anastasia felt her hunger begin to set in but she ignored the sensation. She focused on finding Nathan before the night was over so she could inform him about her troubling dream.

  She pressed Alexis to pick up the pace, but the vampire remained uninterested. She pouted and growled the entire way. Soon they reached an area that looked all too familiar to her. She saw one of the major freeways that connected the outer suburbs to the inner city.

  “Follow the freeway,” she said. “You don’t need me anymore.”

  Yet Anastasia didn’t want to let the vampire out of her sight, knowing that she had a connection with the Dorvo Coven. The last thing she needed was for Alexis to inform them of their location.

  She watched the cars speeding down the freeway. She saw the city of Minneapolis in the distance, knowing that they had to go around it to get to Blind Bluff Manor.

  Grabbing onto Alexis’ arm, she moved swiftly. Deamhan moved in a different speed than vampires, which forced Alexis to struggle harder in order to stay on her feet. Running down the side of the freeway, Anastasia glanced back, seeing Enlai not far behind. When they made it to the 94W and 35W intersection, she curved to the left, running through Loring Park and the Basilica. Eventually they made it back near the 94 freeway where they continued, cutting a quick path through North Minneapolis before nearing Brooklyn Park.

  “I’m tired. I need a break,” Alexis called out. They stopped just short of a neighborhood and Anastasia released her grip. She watched Alexis bend forward with her hands on her hips.

  “I can’t run as fast as you, not if I haven’t eaten anything.” She straightened the wild strands of her disheveled hair.

  “Do you always have to feed?” Anastasia never took the time to understand a vampire’s true nature and how their blood worked inside their bodies. She only knew about the small differences between their species and her own.

  “No, but it helps,” she replied.

  “Find someone and do it quick.”

  “Don’t you know anything about vampires?” An enigmatic smile appeared on her face.

  “I know how to kill them.”

  “No, I’m talking about how we feed and when we feed?”

  “No, and I don’t care.”

  Enlai stepped in. “Vampires are picky about who they eat and when they do find someone, they like to cherish that moment. You know, they don’t kill them right away. Sometimes they don’t kill them at all. They take enough to get them through the night.”

  “There you go!” Alexis agreed. “At least one of you understands.”

  “It’s like having leftovers,” he continued.

  The idea didn’t make any sense, but Anastasia didn’t have the time to contemplate or ask questions. She pushed them onward and, against Alexis’ wishes, they were on the move.

  They took another break just a few miles just outside of the city after Alexis tripped and tumbled to the ground. She landed on her stomach with her face implanted in the dirt.

  “I hate this.” She lifted her head, covered in soil. She spat a few a chunks from her mouth.

  “Good,” Anastasia said to her. They were halfway to Blind Bluff Manor. She could sense it.

  Alexis stood to her feet and wiped the dirt from her face and her arms.

  “You missed a spot.” Enlai pointed to his own chin.

  She shot him a half smile. “Thanks.”

  “Let’s go.” Anastasia turned, ready to move again.

  “Can we just… walk this time?” Alexis pleaded. “My feet are killing me.”

  “How far are we?” Enlai asked.

  “Not far.” Anastasia walked away, hearing their footsteps follow her. Rows of trees towered over them on both sides of the two-way road. The noises of crickets and the breeze ruffling the leaves accompanied the sounds of their footsteps on the hard asphalt. They walked by the abandoned gas station—the only standing building that Anastasia used as a marker to tell her that Blind Bluff was near. Soon they saw the tall dark gate and the building in the distance.

  When they approached it, the front door of the manor opened and she saw Hallie exit their home. She stood on the porch before traversing up the trail toward them.

  “You were right,” Enlai whispered to her.

  Quickly and without warning, Anastasia moved, startling the unsuspecting Deamhan when she appeared in her way.

  “Oh, my God.” Hallie placed her hand on her chest. “How did you get here?”

  “The same way you got here.” Her bottom jaw clenched as she spoke. “Where is Nathan? Is he okay?”

  Hallie nodded. “Yeah, he’s in the manor. I’m going to get him some medication—”

  “You’re not going anywhere.” She grabbed Hallie’s arm by force and began to pull her back toward the door.

  She slapped at Anastasia’s hand. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  Enlai and Alexis, who still limped, approached them.

  “You said you didn’t care about what I did,” Hallie replied.

  “That was before I understood the dangers in the city.”

  “Nathan is sick. He needs help.” She pulled out an empty medicine bottle from her pocket. “He needs a refill.”

  “And he will get it. But first we’re going back to Lambert’s place.”

  “Not this time.” Hallie stood firm. “I don’t need you to look after me. I can look after myself.” She ignored her demand and walked forward. “I don’t need you to babysit me.”

  “You need someone to keep you in line.”

  “No, that’s what you want. Whatever makes you feel comfortable, right?” She rolled her eyes. “Please. And don’t try to tell me that you’re doing this for my—”

  Anastasia quickly snapped her neck. Hallie’s body went limp and she caught her before it fell to the floor. “Bring her inside.” She handed the body over to Enlai. “And take Alexis with you.”

  Finding himself placed in an awkward position, Enlai blinked and nervousness began to set in. “Don’t you think you went a little too far by doing that?”

  “I don’t care.” She felt her eyes morph. “She’ll die if she goes to Minneapolis on her own.”

  “Go with her.”

  Anastasia’s lips pressed in a slight frown. “No.”

  “I can go.”

  “I don’t trust you.”

  “You need to start trusting someone.”

  “I will, but I won’t start with you.”

  “I’m here as a friend. That’s it. I’m not here to trick you.”

  Anastasia viewed Alexis. “You know what Nathan needs.”

  The vampire closed her eyes.

  “Do you hear me?”

  Still Alexis remained silent and when Anastasia tried speaking again, she raised her hand. “Shut up. Lambert’s calling me.”

  She viewed the area around them. “He isn’t here.”

  “He’s calling me telepathically.” She opened her eyes. “I have to go to Dark Sepulcher. He needs me.”

  “Hand over some of your blood and I’ll let you go.”

  Alexis placed her hands on her hips, defiant. “I’m going.”

  “You can try, but you won’t make it far.”

  “Fine.” She picked up the empty medicine bottle from the ground. “But it’ll coagulate soon unless you refrigerate it.” She p
laced her forearm up to her mouth and, with her fangs extended, bit into her own flesh. Her blood poured quickly, filling the bottle to its brim, and she handed it to Anastasia.

  “There. Have fun.” She turned away from the manor and dashed out of their sight.

  “You can’t give that to Nathan,” Enlai said. “That’s not what he wants.”

  Anastasia placed the top back on the bottle and stuffed it into her pocket. “You can’t stop me.” She grabbed Hallie from Enlai’s grasp and pushed him toward the manor.

  ****

  She gently laid Hallie on the table in Nathan’s study. Still feeling unsure by Anastasia’s wild behavior, Enlai remained silent.

  Upon seeing them, Nathan’s eyes billowed. “What did you do? Is she dead?”

  “If she were, she would just be a pile of blood, dust, and bones,” Anastasia replied. “Of course she isn’t dead. She’s just…sleeping. She’ll be up and moving about soon.” Staring at Hallie’s face, a feeling of resentment of her actions flooded her mind.

  Nathan stood on his feet and leaned against the fireplace mantel. He watched the embers burn into oblivion. He looked much frailer than he did the previous night. His skin was pasty with an almost wet look to it. Anastasia didn’t know how to break it to him, but she had to do so—and quick. She had to get him safely back to Lambert’s place.

  “I think I found new information about Revelation,” he said in a stone voice.

  “I think I’ve found something as well.” She thought about her dream.

  He tapped the side of his head. “When I was feeling better, everything I read these past few months came back to me. Things started to click. It all made perfect sense.”

  Vampire blood can do that? Anastasia thought to herself. “What made perfect sense?”

  “What we know about Limbo—what the journals tell us—are just small pieces, scattered,” he said. “Together, it revealed that Limbo isn’t self-sustaining. We know that it’s a magical place, void of time. It needs nourishment. It needs bodies to maintain its shape.” He freakishly looked around the room. “Where are they?” He began to search, glancing at his bookcase that was once stocked with journals. “Where are they?” He directed his question at Anastasia.