New Dawn

by Sharon Stevenson

  Nadine is watching a reality TV show in her bathrobe while she picks at the pizza we had for dinner. She tells me the cheese tastes better cold. I refuse to test out that theory.

  “Hey. Is there some kind of spell you could…”

  She moves her attention to me as soon as she hears the word ‘spell’. Her raised eyebrow kills the rest of my sentence. “Dawn, you have the strength of a vampire, without any of the weaknesses. Whatever happens tonight, you’re going to be fine.”

  “Right.” I seem to keep forgetting that. The stapler I broke in half at work reminded me a couple of days ago, and waking up feeling like I was having a panic attack despite the fact I don’t actually need to breathe anymore, and freaking out over not having a heartbeat.

  “Relax. You’ll have a good night.”

  I try to take Nadine’s words to heart. It turns out to be a good night, even if I’m too paranoid about my lack of a pulse to dance with any guys. I’ve gotten the knack of breathing even though I don’t need to. Nadine helped me with that before I started working at her old office. She told me it’s the main thing to keep people from asking any weird questions. Eating now and then helps too, which I was fully aware of. Oddly my appetite seems larger now that I don’t need to eat. I walk home after I push a more than tipsy Donna into a taxi. She tells me to watch out for big bad monsters. I don’t bother telling her I’m one of them.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I start to feel like I’m being followed about five minutes after I leave the taxi rank. I change direction a couple of times, just to check. It doesn’t stop the feeling. I turn into an alley I know is a dead end. Sure enough, the sound of footsteps follows me in. I have a stalker.

  I feel his gaze burning through me as I walk. If I was still alive, still completely human, I’d brush it off as paranoia. And that would be a mistake.

  I slow to a stop, looking in my handbag. It’s an open invitation to my stalker to make his move. I’m ready for an attack. The seconds pass by and I’m beginning to wonder what’s going on. My enhanced senses are picking up nothing right now. Strange. I’d been so sure…

  “You really shouldn’t be out here alone,” a familiar voice makes me turn.

  Tristan has managed to sneak up on me, and the warring emotions his presence wring from me are almost suffocating. I can’t think straight. My clever plan to lure my stalker to his doom is forgotten as the blond vampire moves towards me.

  “Tristan.”

  “Dawn,” he says, with a whisper of a smile.

  “What are you doing here?” I don’t know where the question came from but I’m glad my brain seems to at least be functioning again.

  “That’s all you want to say to me?” He sounds amused, and my insides twist up.

  Memories of being trapped inside my own body flood my mind. Nisha always liked to amuse her lover, to hear his throaty laughter. The things she did were cruel, and seeing him laugh over them was creepy to say the least. I so didn’t want to be reminded of that right now. Not when he’s looking at me with those eyes, his stare as intense as it had been every time my demon had looked at him.

  “Are you Connor?” It’s a safer question, and one I really want to know the answer to.

  He frowns, glancing away. “It doesn’t matter who I am.”

  “I think Nadine would disagree with that.”

  His wince tells me everything I need to know. He doesn’t need to tell me.

  “Tristan is the demon,” I say it out loud to gage his reaction. I’m already sure it’s the truth.

  “We have something else to talk about.”

  “We do?”

  He nods back and I notice the girls walking past as he ushers me further back. We end up in a dark corner together and all I can think about is every sordid little thing Nisha ever did with this guy. The feel of his skin against mine, the touch of his hands.

  “I’ve missed you,” he murmurs, a hand brushing my hair back.

  “You have?”

  He smiles and it sours as his hand falls to my neck.

  “He has. Maybe. It’s hard to tell when that cunt is weeping in the back of my goddamned mind day after day.”

  He squeezes and, at first, I panic and struggle to breathe. His smile deepens, his gaze cold.

  “I was going to kill you. But I know a witch. And she’s perfectly willing to put Nisha back inside that hot little body of yours.”

  Not human anymore, remember? Come on, Dawn. Get a move on.

  I push him back, using all of my enhanced strength. He is lifted off his feet and crashes into the wall at the other side of the alley. I take off before he can get up, knowing my best shot is to run. He’s as strong as I am. My inexperience using my powers makes for an unfair fight. I need to take every advantage I can find.

  I run all the way home at top speed, feeling him behind me and wishing I knew something else I could do to stop him. I just get inside the flat and his body crashes against the door with an explosive bang. I don’t get the chance to lock him out, not that I’m convinced a lock would stop him.

  He opens the door and walks inside, glowering at me as Nadine comes out of her room in a vest and leggings. She stares at him.

  “Connor?”

  I shake my head. “Tristan. We need to…”

  “You need to shut up,” he snaps at me. “Nadine. I need your help.”

  She frowns at him. “What did you do to my brother?”

  Come on, Nadine, throw a spell at this guy!

  “He’s with me now,” he says with a laugh.

  Nadine mutters something under her breath. Please be a spell!

  He collapses and looks passed out. She smiles at me.

  “He was going to try and put his demon girlfriend back in my body.”

  “Definitely not Connor,” she says. “Shit. This is not good.”

  “What do we do?”

  She shakes her head. “Do you know who his maker is?”

  “His maker?” I vaguely remember something he spoke about with Nisha about makers. Neither of them had wanted to give up being vampires, and apparently, he’d lucked out when his maker was killed by another vampire. “I think he’s dead. I don’t know who he was. Does it matter?”

  Nadine’s expression tells me it does. “It means he has to remain a vampire. I don’t know the spell he used on you. I wouldn’t know how to replicate it. It might be the only hope we have of clearing his demon out of his body if his maker is already dead.”

  “Shit. What do we do with him?”

  Nadine sighs. “I think we tie him to the couch and wait for him to wake up. He’ll likely be pissed. I can magically bind him, but physical restraints are a smart back up plan.”

  “So, we wait for him to wake up and try to get the spell out of him?”

  She shrugs. “If he’s Connor.” She looks at me, hope in her eyes. “Did you ever meet him before, or was it all his demon?”

  I thought back to that one night where he treated me differently. I’m not sure enough to say yes. Shaking my head, I say, “It was always Tristan. At least, until he cast that spell.”

  Nadine’s expression melts into apprehension. “What if there’s nothing left of Connor to save?”

  Her words spook me. What if he’d thought that about me? Would I still be trapped inside my own body with a murderous demon? I shake my head. “We can’t give up on him. There has to be something we can do.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The vampire awakens in daylight. He doesn’t seem so happy about the sun light streaming in the window so close to his leg. He squirms and scowls at Nadine who smiles sweetly at him from the seat next to his.

  “Wakey, wakey, little brother.”

  “I’ll make you suffer for this, witch.”

  “Oh really? What are you going to do? Leave a nasty burn mark on my couch when you go up in flames?” She flourishes her hand and the curtain pulls back slightly, making the sunlight reach his knee.

  He wriggles away from it an
d she moves the curtain again.

  “How long does it take a vampire to go on fire anyway?” She cocks her head at him. “Any idea, demon?”

  Oh, she’s good. I don’t even get a hint of fear from her and this is her brother’s body she’s endangering here.

  He narrows his eyes at her. “You’re a crazy bitch, you know that?”

  “Let me speak to my brother and I won’t leave the curtains open all the way and leave you to burn.” She doesn’t flinch for a single second, and pulls them back a little more with her spell.

  He can’t completely stay out of contact this time. There’s no escaping the light. The thin wisp of smoke that rises from his knee-cap is almost black. He scowls at Nadine and his head falls back, his body going limp. I get out of my seat, shock taking hold.

  “Is he—”

  Nadine pulls the curtain back down, shaking her head but not taking her eyes off him. “I think this would be compliance.”

  He sits up and frowns at us. “You both need to get out of here.”

  “Dawn, meet my half-brother Connor.”

  “Oh, so we’re using the half part now?” Connor’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “I wonder why.”

  “You’re really going to waste time squabbling over semantics right now?” she says, shaking her head. “Cough up the spell, brother.”

  He shakes his head, his gaze drifting to me. “It was a one-time deal.”

  “Bullshit.”

  He shrugs. “We can’t use it again. Don’t make me tell you why. It’s a long fucking story and this demon is getting squirmy. You two better leave town before he comes back.”

  She snorts. “Okay then. You asked for this.”

  The spell she begins creates an expression of sheer horror on his face. “No. Nadine, don’t do it—”

  She smiles. “Okay, let’s try that again. What’s the spell, brother?”

  I’m not quite sure what she did, but by the frown on his face as he spilled the beans I’d say it was some sort of truth spell.

  “It’s a trade off,” he bit out, sounding more like the demon now that he was apparently pissed off. “I traded something to force her demon back to hell. I can’t make that trade a second time.”

  “Give me the exact spell,” she said, picking up a pen and notepad from the coffee table.

  He speaks the strange words out loud, a few at a time, while she writes them down. She puts the notepad on his lap and the pen in his hand before she asks him for the activation word.

  He writes it down and she takes the pad back.

  “Okay. You need to get talking, because this whole can’t trade the same thing twice excuse is starting to make me think you did something really fucking stupid.”

  He scowls at her and glances at me. “Make her leave.”

  Nadine frowns. “I will not. Tell me what you traded, now.”

  He sighs before he answers, avoiding making eye contact with either of us. “My eternal soul. It’s not like it wasn’t already marked for hell anyway.”

  Nadine’s smile stiffens as she turns her attention on me, disbelief in her eyes. “And why would you do that?”

  For her, unsaid, the implication floated on the air. I don’t understand either, but it hasn’t fully sunk in yet.

  “I had to. The demon was killing her. Any longer and there might have been nothing left to save.”

  The silence in the room caused by his confession is stifling. I can’t stay there a second longer, feeling Nadine’s accusing gaze on me. I cost her brother his soul, and I don’t know what I’d done to deserve that kind of sacrifice. I got up and left the flat. I had to get out of there.

  New Dawn: Part Four

  The Takeover – Connor

  Chapter Sixteen

  He did it. He managed to trick me. The false sense of security was ripped away the moment I locked eyes on Dawn. It was what he’d been waiting for all along. For me to bring him to her. The fight had barely taken a second. He’d pushed me back without resistance and I wasn’t able to take back control, no matter how hard I tried.

  So, now she was stuck with my demon and he apparently had his heart set on having Nisha take possession of her body. He was determined, he had more than one plan to make it happen. Contingencies in their multiples.

  I had allowed this to happen. All because I had to see her one last time. And for what? I didn’t even know. She’d want answers I couldn’t give. I barely knew who she was besides that one rare glimpse the night Nisha was stoned by the blood of a teenager she’d drained. I don’t think she even realised she was the one in control. It was probably just as well, considering it hadn’t lasted very long. But that was the moment I knew I had to use Tristan’s spell to free her. She was still in there, still trapped by the demon. Her soul hadn’t been joined or absorbed. So, the next time I took control over Tristan, I freed her. I’d expected some resistance. It never came. He wasn’t aware of what I’d planned, too arrogant to listen in to the thoughts of the stupid little human buried at the back of his mind.

  Dawn did the smart thing the second she got the opportunity, she ran. Tristan caught her up too easily. My mistake became more apparent the moment she’d darted into Nadine’s apartment building. She’d led him to where she was living now. Even if they managed to incapacitate him, he knew where they lived. He’d come back. They’d never be safe here.

  Being struck unconscious had been a blessing. I could only hope my sister would be able to wake me up instead of the demon.

  She did manage to get Tristan to release control. Unfortunately, she was determined to drag the truth about how I’d freed Dawn out of me. The answer satisfied no-one, and Dawn ran out while my sister was still irritable.

  Nadine scowls at me as she loosens my restraints.

  “Why do you always have to play the hero?”

  “Do you really think you should be doing that?” I wonder why the hell she’s untying me when Tristan is just waiting for his chance to leap back into the driver’s seat.

  “Relax.” She puts a leather corded crystal around my neck and steps back. “Your demon has been charmed to sleep.”

  I touch the crystal and move it under the neck of my T-shirt. “This crystal shit really works then?”

  She slaps my arm as the ropes fall away. “Nice way to thank the sister who saved the day.”

  I smile wryly. “Thanks, half-sister.”

  “Oh, screw you,” she says, getting up and folding her arms.

  “I should go and find her.” I’m not convinced it’s the best idea, and not just because the sun is burning the sky out there. She needs to know it’s safe to come home. Sort of. Shit. Get a fucking plan, Con.

  “You should leave her alone.” She had a bit of snap to her tone which convinced me to stay put.

  “How’s she been?”

  “As good as can be expected. She’s jumpy as hell, but she was starting to settle in. Why did you send her here? Who is she to you?”

  Women. They always want answers.

  “It’s complicated,” I told her, no longer under the grasp of her truth spell.

  “Well she has less weaknesses than you do now, so she doesn’t need your help anymore.”

  She’s probably right. “It was a mistake to come here. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “At least now I know you didn’t disappear off the face of the earth.”

  “You knew I wasn’t dead?”

  She shakes her head at me in exasperation. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s not easy to take control when you have a demon under your skin. I stayed away from everyone to protect them.”

  She blows out a breath. “Well, you’re here now at least. We can figure this thing out together.”

  “This thing?”

  “How to get rid of the demon and save your soul from that awful trade you agreed.”

  The first thing didn’t sound so bad, the second made my stomach lurch.

 
; “You can’t break those kinds of deals, Nadine.”

  She raises her eyebrows. “We’ll see about that.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  When night fell, Rob met me at White Oaks one and only supernatural nightclub, Haven. I’m not interested in drinking or meeting someone. It was the low-cost basement rooms that made me think of this place. I had paid for a couple for the week and we headed down the stairs.

  “So, I noticed there’s a nightclub upstairs.” He didn’t miss a trick.

  “Aye,” I mutter, finding one of our rooms and unlocking the door. I ushered Rob inside.

  “And it actually lets in other vampires and stuff?”

  I nod, though I’m sure vampires were less welcome than they had been previously, due to an incident in the lower floor event room.

  “So, when are we going up there?”

  The word ‘never’ was on the tip of my tongue. I pulled it back and tried to smile without grimacing. “Maybe tomorrow.”

  The excitement went out of his eyes. If I hadn’t already gotten supplies for the night from the butcher in town I might have had to take him on the hunt. So, for my foresight and for a town that catered well to its night-creature population, I was glad.

  I hand him one of the bags from the butchers and he frowns as he looks inside. “What is this?”

  “It’s blood.”

  “Blood.” He screws his face up at me. “Are you serious?”

  Less than a week old and he’s being fussy about where he gets his meals?

  “We can’t always make time to hunt down fresh meat. This is how it goes when you’re trying not to be a complete monster.”

  Rob rolls his eyes. “Fine. Whatever. Knew there had to be a downside to this thing.”

  “You think that’s the downside?”

  He shrugs and puts the blood down on the nightstand. “So, what now?”

  “Now, you get some rest. If you want to be taken on a hunt tomorrow night.”

  I use compulsion to be double sure he stays in the room, and to make sure he drinks the apparently repulsive blood I’d given him.