by Shéa MacLeod
One minute. If Kabita didn’t show in the next sixty seconds I was going in alone, stupid idea or not. Something was wrong, I could feel it. Every instinct I had was screaming at me that I needed to get into that building.
I paced some more, checked my phone again. Thirty seconds. Before I could continue pacing, a scream shattered the still night. It was a scream that chilled to the bone, a scream of someone in mortal terror.
Forget Kabita. Forget the danger of going in alone. I ran for the door.
Chapter Eighteen
Just before I hit the door, headlights flashed down the block. I slid my sword out of its sheath across my back and waited in the shadows as two figures got out of the car. Kabita and Inigo. I breathed a sigh of relief. Without waiting for them to catch up, I hit the door to the warehouse. I could hear Kabita cussing up a storm behind me.
The warehouse door led onto a short, dark entry with a set of narrow metal stairs. It was pitch black, the only light streaming in from the streetlights outside the open door. Kabita clicked on a flashlight and shone it low on the steps. Major points to girlfriend for being prepared. I’d have gone up without the light, but then my night vision seemed to be getting better these days. My mind shied away from thoughts of just why that was happening. No time for that; we had vamps to kill.
Our feet made clunky ringing sounds on the metal treads. “Which way?” Kabita pointed the flashlight beam up and then right. We’d hit a landing. Another flight of narrow stairs led up into the darkness. To the right was an equally narrow doorway.
I focused on that tight tingling at the back of my skull that warned me when a vampire was near. Now that we were inside the building, I could feel it again. They were close, but not close enough. “Up,” I pointed up the stairs holding back a sneeze as a little cloud of dust trickled down from between the floorboards above our heads.
Kabita raised an eyebrow, but Inigo nodded in agreement. He didn’t have quite the same sense for vampires I did, but he still had a way of feeling things out that went way beyond that of a normal person. With a shrug, Kabita led the way, shining the light in front of her. This was going to get interesting if we had to fight in the dark.
The stairs opened onto a cavernous room. This was it. I could feel them all around us now, hovering in the dark. I placed my left hand on Kabita’s shoulder and squeezed gently, letting her know without a sound that we’d reached the right place. She halted, Inigo and I ranged out behind her. I might have been the official vamp killer, but she was the boss and she wanted to make sure the bloodsuckers knew it.
Her light played over a figure sprawled out on the floor, blood oozing from dozens of vicious tears in the flesh. For just a moment, I thought they’d killed someone while I’d been waiting outside. Then the body moved and I realized it was a vamp. They’d tortured one of their own to try to force my hand, hence the screams. Sick bastards.
I touched Inigo’s hand and leaned in close to his ear. “How many?” Sometimes, when it came to details, his senses were better than mine.
“A dozen. Maybe more.”
I tried not to sigh aloud. That’s what I figured; at least a dozen. Shit. “See if you can find a light.” Light would give us the advantage. A very slight advantage, but I’d take it. Vamps didn’t see very well in the light.
Inigo nodded and slowly edged away. I turned and placed my back to Kabita’s. Never a good idea to leave yourself exposed from behind. Good way to get dead. Plus I could see better with the light at my back.
I shifted my weight, a floorboard creaking under my feet. Not that it mattered. The vamps already knew we were there and exactly where we stood in the room. They were just waiting for Kaldan to order them to attack. I had no idea what he was waiting for. Toying with us, probably. Kind of like playing with your food. Older vamps were sometimes sick that way. I guess after a century or two of the same old diet, they needed to alleviate the boredom somehow.
Eddie had warned me against using the whole Darkness thing, but right now I needed it. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and focused on all that darkness around me. I imagined it as a thick, black cloud. I focused on drawing it into me. Nothing. I tried again, this time visualizing the darkness as inky ocean waves. No good. Shit.
I felt a rush of wind against my face and leaned back just in time to avoid getting my throat ripped out. I heard the flashlight hit the floor and circles of light danced crazily against the walls as it spun out of control. For one panicked minute, I thought something had happened to Kabita before I realized she’d dropped the light so she had both hands free for weapons.
I felt another rush of wind and this time I hacked out with my sword, the silver edged sharpness slicing through muscle and sinew and bone with a dull, wet sound. Blood rushed out of the vampire’s neck and flowed down my left hand making it slip on the grip of the sword. Human blood was warm and fluid when freed from the vein. Vamp blood was cold and viscous and slightly sticky. Frankly, it was kind of gross.
I quickly swiped my hand against my pant leg then stepped in to follow up, the short blade in my right hand thrusting between the ribs, slicing through the intercostals and straight into the heart. The vamp exploded into dust and ash. That’s when it came.
One minute everything was normal, at least as normal as it ever got for me. The next minute I could feel it rushing and billowing toward me. The Darkness crashing over me, inside me like a living creature, until I felt like I might burst from it. I realized I could see and not just in a really good night vision way. The dark all around me had become bright as day. A sort of purple tinged day, but day nonetheless.
There were more of them than we thought. Oh, the monsters were good at hiding. There were at least twice as many as we’d guessed. To my whacked out vision they appeared as dim, blue shapes tinged with dark blood red. I turned toward Kabita who was a glowing ruby red outlined in hot orange and pale yellow. Ingo was a living flame of oranges and golds with a touch of turquoise. Bizarre.
I didn’t have any more time to think after that. Two vamps rushed toward me, saliva dripping off their fangs, eyes the same strange glowing red as the vamp that had attacked me outside the restaurant. The one I’d dusted later at the Waterfront. The same red eyes I’d seen on all the vamps lately. I filed that little jewel away for later inspection.
Fierce elation that was mine and not quite mine surged through my veins and I threw my head back and laughed. Even to my ears I sounded like a crazy person. Then with a snarl that rivaled that of any vampire, I hurled myself toward the oncoming vamps.
I don’t remember much after that. There was a lot of blood and dust and the flashing of blades, a few screams and an odd glow like something on fire. I was totally in the moment yet standing outside myself at the same time as I slashed and hacked and stabbed.
I could feel my blades ripping through flesh, shattering bone, the copper tang of blood filling my nostrils. Every cut and hack and spray of blood sent bubbles of delight shooting through me until I wanted to scream for the pure joy of it.
And then I was kneeling over Kaldan himself, my blade against his throat, my knee pressing into his chest. His laughter held an edge of insanity.
“Stupid child,” he hissed at me, ignoring the blood that slid down his neck from the shallow cut of my blade. “You think I’m it? You think I’m the one?” His laugh was harsh in the sudden quiet of the darkened warehouse. “You think I have the power to control the vampires of this city? You fool. You can’t even see what is right in front of your face.” His own face twisted somewhere between pain and victory.
“You can kill me, Morgan Bailey, but it won’t do you a damned bit of good. He will still destroy you in the end. You and all your kind.” His eyes flashed with the same eerie reddish glow as the others.
I struggled to speak past the Darkness that screamed at me to end his miserable existence. I needed to know what he meant. “What are you talking about? My kind? What does that mean? Do you mean Hunters?”
A
thought struck me. I didn’t want to ask, but I had to. I dropped my voice to whisper, “Do you mean Sunwalkers?”
He just snarled back, so I shook him. Hard. “Tell me! Who controls the vampires?” I had my suspicions, but I wanted confirmation.
He laughed at me. “You already know the answers to your questions. You are just too stupid to figure it out. You pathetic, useless humans. One day soon, you will all serve us as we serve him.”
“Yeah? Well, you won’t be around to see it.” My blade sliced through his throat, and blood gushed across the floor in a thick, syrupy mess as his head toppled from his body. As he turned to dust under me, my mind whirled furiously. Kaldan had admitted he wasn’t controlling the vampires. Someone else was. Someone I knew. Right in front of my face, he’d said.
Dammit but the Darkness made it hard to think. The Darkness didn’t care about finding out who controlled the vampires or why that person wanted to subjugate the human race. The Darkness just wanted to kill. I wanted to kill. But there was no one left except Kabita and Inigo who were both staring at me like they’d just seen a whole lot of crazy and weren’t quite sure it was over with. I guess they had sort of a point.
I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes. I willed the Darkness to leave. For a moment I didn’t think it would, but then it slowly withdrew like a wave pulling back from the sand, rejoining the night and the shadows all around me. When it left me, it left behind a wave of exhaustion so deep, for a minute I thought I’d pass out. I sank down into a heap unable to so much as lift my head.
Inigo scooped me up off the grimy floor and held me against his oh so solid chest. Man, did he have some serious muscles going on under there. I let my head fall against him, my nose pressed into that sweet spot where shoulder met throat. He smelled of sweat and man and, oddly enough, smoke. Wood smoke. Like from a campfire.
He was warm, too, far warmer than even someone who’d just fought a bunch of vampires should be. It struck me as odd, but I was too tired to try and figure it out. All I wanted was to go to bed and sleep for a hundred years, preferably curled up against all that heat. Yeah, that sounded good.
“Morgan.” Kabita’s face swam into view. She looked worried. More worried than I’d seen her in a long time. “Are you … are you OK?”
“M’fine. Jus’ need sleep.” Great, I sounded like a drunk.
“OK, we’ll get you home. Don’t worry.”
Just before I passed out, a single thought flashed through my overworked brain. Darroch. Brent Darroch was the freaking leader of the vampires. He was no vampire himself, so I didn’t know how or why he was doing it, but he was. I knew it sure as I was still breathing.
I started to struggle in Inigo’s arms. I had to get to Darroch. I had to stop him. I had to…
Inigo whispered a single word in my ear: “Sleep.”
I did.
***
The cold night air made my cheeks sting and my eyes water. I wanted to be home in my soft bed with the plump pillows and silken coverlets, but the big warrior had made me promise not to speak. Not to make a sound. A princess keeps her promises.
The warrior held me tightly, almost too tightly, curled up against his warm chest. Usually a member of the Warrior Line would never have been allowed to touch me, but this warrior was also descended from a priest. That made him very special and Nana had promised me I would be safe with him. Nana always kept her promises, too.
He’d come in the dead of night, whispering to Nana in that tone grownups use when something terrible has happened. I know that tone of voice. The High Priest himself once visited Nana and whispered in that same voice. That was the night my father died. The night the High Priest moved Nana and me into a secret part of the palace. Before he left, he’d leaned down and said, “You will be safe here. Just remember: never leave this part of the palace until I send for you.” He’d turned away, then hesitated and leaned back down. “It’s a secret.”
Then he was gone. From that day on, I never left the three rooms or the tiny garden that became my world. Until tonight.
“There it is.” It was the first time the warrior had spoken in what felt to my child’s mind like days and days, though it was still the same night. “The Temple of the Moon Goddess.” The temple glowed softly in the moonlight like something out of one of Nana’s magic stories. I could feel its soft light pulsing inside my own soul, whispering to me of adventures yet to come.
He set me on my feet before the great doors of the temple and raised his fist. The door swung open before he could knock and a woman nearly as tall as he stood before us. She was scary in a way even the warrior couldn’t dare to be. The warrior was strong and brave and noble, like all Warriors of the Priest Line. But this woman was something else. She wore the robes of a Priestess, but her eyes were fierce beyond belief and her entire bearing spoke of power and magic. I tried not to quiver. A princess is always brave.
“Thank you, Warrior,” she spoke softly, but there was power in her voice that made even my brave warrior stiffen. “You may return to your duty. You must protect the Key at all costs. She will find you when the time is right.”
The warrior clasped his right hand over his heart in salute and bowed his head. “Yes, my lady.” He turned and bowed to me. “Your highness, it has been my great honor to protect and serve you, but now I must go. I bid you farewell.”
Then he was gone into the night, blending into the darkness until he was one with the shadows. I knew I would dream of him for many nights to come. I felt a tear slip down my cheek and roughly brushed it away. A princess never cries.
I turned back to the Priestess, feeling scared for the first time that night. I missed Nana. I missed my home. I even missed my warrior, though I’d only known him a short time. The Priestess bent down and brushed her finger across my cheek. It was rough, like a warrior’s hands, yet gentle like Nana’s. When she smiled, there was kindness and love in her eyes and I could see the light glowing brightly in her soul.
“Don’t be afraid, little one. I am Amaza, High Priestess of the Goddess. You will be safe here. This I swear on my life.” She took my hand and led me through the gates of the Temple of the Moon.
***
My eyes flew open and I found myself sprawled out in my own bed staring at the cracks in my ceiling. I really needed to get that painted. Maybe I could bribe somebody. Brownies. Brownies were always a good bribe.
I rolled over and winced as my head gave a vicious throb. Great, it was going to be one of those headaches. The kind of headache that only sleep will cure.
I sniffed the air. Cinnamon. I sniffed again. Vanilla. Maybe some cardamom. I loved cardamom, but why did my house smell like it? My bedroom door swung open, light slicing across my eyes and sending my head throbbing so badly I thought I’d have to make a run for the bathroom.
“Sorry.” It was Jack. How did he get in here?
“How … how … in here?” Fantastic. I was making no sense whatsoever. Not a good sign.
I felt Jack’s smile more than saw it. “Kabita called me.”
“Kabita?” Kabita called Jack? Had the world ended? I still wasn’t entirely through being pissed at her for killing my Sunwalker and I was pretty sure she wasn’t convinced he wasn’t a monster. Whoa. Wait. My Sunwalker? Where the heck did that come from?
“Yeah, she was worried about you. She and Inigo had work to do, so she called and I came.” Of course he did. He set something on my bedside table. It was my favorite mug. The one that read, ‘I like cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.’ I loved that mug. It always made me smile. The scent wafting off it was the same spicy scent I’d smelled earlier.
“I brought you some tea.” He sat down on the edge of my bed, dipping the mattress so I rolled toward him a bit. I didn’t mind. His energy was really soothing. I’d never noticed that before. “It’s my own blend. Something I picked up … well, a while back. It helps when I have headaches.”
“You do this Kissing the Dark thing, too
?” He was a Sunwalker, after all. Maybe we had the same weird super powers.
He shook his head. “No. That is something beyond my abilities, I’m afraid. I can channel some energy from the sun, as it is my nature, but Dark is … Dark is hard to channel without … “
“Without?” I took a sip of tea. It was sweet and spicy and tasted like heaven. Seriously, I needed the recipe. My head gave a throb and I winced.
“Never mind; we’ll talk about it later. Here, drink some more tea.” He helped me sit up a bit so I could drink without spilling it down the front of myself. His arm behind me was hard and warm, and places in me went all tingly from his touch. This was so not the time to be getting all hot and bothered. I was going to have to give my libido a serious talking to. Not that I thought it would listen, but I figured I should give it a try.
He took the mug from me and helped me lie back down. “Get some sleep. You need your rest to cure the headache.” I nodded carefully and snuggled back down under the duvet.
His ocean colored eyes caught mine for a minute and his full lips quirked in a smile as he stroked my forehead. I felt myself drifting, sleep stealing closer and closer. Right before I drifted back to sleep I felt him slide under the covers next to me and gather me in his arms.
Chapter Nineteen
“Wake up, princess. We must hurry!” I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking me. For a moment, confusion befuddled my brain. In the ten years since the Warrior had brought me to the Temple, no one had called me by my title. I was simply another acolyte of the Moon Goddess, nothing more. For my own safety, Amaza told me on that fateful night, no one could ever know my true identity. I’d seen her rarely since, instead spending most of my time training with the other acolytes.
It was Amaza herself standing over my bed dressed, not in the robes of her station, but in full battle armor. “We must leave now. They’ve found us.”
