John The Deliverer

by Rhiannon Neeley

  Raven moved the light up to his brother's face. He let the beam play across Eric's eyes, wanting to draw his attention, hoping to wake him. Raven kept the spray bottle of water at the ready behind the door, finger on the trigger. He couldn't be too careful. He flicked the light on and off. Then, left it on, pointed directly at Eric's eyes.

  Eric's eyes opened a crack. Raven saw him wince at the light. Raven moved it from Eric's eyes but still left it on the lower half of Eric's face.

  Eric's opened his eyes wide then, and looked at Raven.

  Raven stared back, waiting for his brother to make some sort of move or give him a sign.

  A smile formed on Eric's mouth and he winked. He kept the rest of his body perfectly still so as not to disturb the others.

  Raven smiled back, his heart easing a bit with Eric's smile.

  Raven began to move the light over the group again. He had yet to find Devlin in the mass of body parts.

  The more he looked, the lower his heart sank. He looked back at Eric. Raven mouthed the word, 'Devlin'.

  Eric gave a slight shake of his head, frowning.

  Raven's mouth formed a thin line. Devlin Morse was not here.

  This sure throws a wrench in the works, he thought. He looked back at Eric, raised a finger.

  Eric blinked.

  Raven eased the door closed again.

  His hands clenched the tools he held, anger settling over him. He was going to have to wait. Devlin wasn't here and he couldn't afford to destroy Devlin's followers right now. If he did, Devlin would come after him tonight. And probably Madison, too.

  Raven couldn't chance it.

  He was going to have to rethink the situation.

  Raven left the basement and made his way back to his car.

  Somehow, he was going to end this thing before the next dawn.

  He had to.

  * * * *

  Madison opened the front door.

  Leah opened her mouth but before she could say anything, Maddie grabbed her by the arm and jerked her inside.

  "Good grief!" Leah said, stumbling into the living room. "What is up with you?"

  "We've got work to do," Maddie said, leading her into the kitchen.

  "What kind of work?"

  Maddie let go of Leah's arm when they reached the kitchen and poured her friend a cup of coffee.

  "What's all this?" Leah asked, waving her hand toward the kitchen table, which was covered with folders, papers and notebooks.

  "Research," Maddie said, handing the cup of coffee to Leah. "We've got to go through my notes and find every possible thing needed to destroy a vampire."

  Leah sipped her coffee and looked over Maddie's shoulder. "Are we doing this for the book you're working on?"

  Maddie let out a hearty laugh. "I wish." She looked up at Leah. "We're doing this so we'll be prepared."

  Leah frowned. "For what?"

  "We're going vampire hunting."

  * * * *

  An hour later, Maddie still wasn't sure that she had convinced Leah that vampires were real.

  She flipped through her notebook, taking new notes and trying desperately to get Leah to see what she was talking about. "Do I need to show you where Devlin Morse bit me?"

  Leah shook her head as she shuffled papers. "Let me get this straight. You said Devlin Morse came to your door last night, seduced you and drank your blood. Then, the Raven guy showed up and gave you a cream that would take the vampire poison out of the wound. Am I right so far?"

  Maddie nodded. She had kept the part about the outrageous sex that she and Raven had had to herself. It wouldn't do Leah any good to know Maddie had let another man drink her blood on the same night she was claiming a vampire had attacked her. "Do you want to see the wounds?" she asked again.

  Leah slammed her hands down on the table. "Yeah. Show 'em to me." She gave Maddie a determined look.

  Maddie sighed. "Okay." She lifted her t-shirt up. She hadn't worn a bra today, fearing it would hurt.

  Leah started to say something, then just stared.

  Maddie lowered her t-shirt. "See?"

  "But ... I don't know what to say." Leah looked at her. "Do you need to go to the doctor? Maybe you should go to the hospital and get checked out?" Concern etched her voice. "Those look like animal bites, Maddie. Did you put anything on them?"

  Maddie smiled. Now Leah sounded more like the mother hen that she was. "Yes, Raven gave me the stuff to put on them and they're really not sore now. If I needed to go to the hospital, I'm sure Raven would have told me."

  "I don't know. How can you trust this guy? You don't even know him," Leah said.

  Maddie looked her friend in the eye. "Yes. I know him. I know him very well." Then she proceeded to tell Leah about John Raven and how she had dreamed of him for years. And about how she was in love with him now.

  Chapter Ten

  Raven spent the rest of the day trolling around the town of River Bend, searching for a trace of Devlin Morse's evil thoughts. As the day wore on, Raven became more and more angry. This was getting him nowhere.

  The sun was beginning to go down. He needed to return to the vampire's lair before sunset. At least he would return with a plan.

  Raven could keep the fledgling vampires at bay with the threat of the blessed water, but he needed one of them to call Devlin to them. That way they would all be in one place.

  Raven had returned to his hotel room at one point during the day to retrieve a vial of absinthe. He would use it to drug Claire, then make her call Devlin to her with her thoughts. Raven had a feeling only Claire could tempt Devlin. Once he had Devlin there, Raven would unravel his plan to destroy them all and rescue Eric.

  Then he would be free to pursue Madison Woods.

  Raven wondered how she was feeling, if her wounds were healing. He glanced at the clock on his dashboard. He had time. He'd stop by and see if she was okay. He hadn't felt anything in his mind indicating she was in danger today. Devlin must have slept all day long. But night was coming on soon.

  Monsters came out at night.

  * * * *

  Maddie paced the floor. She and Leah had spent the day gathering the tools of a vampire hunter, traveling throughout the town, purchasing odd things. They couldn't find wooden stakes so they went to the sporting goods store and settled for tent stakes. These were made of steel but Maddie figured if she washed them in the Holy Water they had borrowed from the Catholic church's baptismal font, they would at least cause the vampires pain. They had managed to take five bottles of Holy water before hearing someone and making their escape.

  Then they had bought ten big cloves of garlic at the grocery. Maddie's car still smelled of it and she didn't think she would have to worry about Tinker coming near her anytime soon. At Leah's suggestion, the two women went to the Christian store and purchased Crucifixes. Each bought a necklace with a small, silver cross and a larger Crucifix at least eight inches in length--Leah's in gold, Maddie's in silver.

  She and Leah were ready. Now all she had to do was to wait for Raven to show up, then follow him.

  He had told her that there were three other vampires besides Devlin Morse. If Raven could kill two, that would leave one each for Maddie and Leah.

  Maddie glanced at her friend, who was sitting anxiously on the edge of the couch. "You okay?"

  Leah's head jerked up. "What? Oh. Yeah." She shifted on the couch. "I think I'll go get a drink of water," she said, her voice shaky.

  Maddie bit her lip, hoping Leah would keep her nerve. It was bad enough they would have to sneak behind Raven without his knowing they were there. She didn't want Leah to wimp out on her at the last moment.

  Maddie glanced out the front window again. The sun would be down behind the horizon soon. Where was Raven? She was sure he would stop by as soon as he could to see if she was okay. She sure hoped that Devlin didn't make another visit.

  She was still amazed at how easily Devlin had controlled her the night before. Strange, she thought, that he w
ould approach her if he believed she had been a vampire hunter. Maybe he liked the challenge. Maddie shook her head. She hadn't been much of a challenge. Her face flushed with heat as she remembered the things he had done to her.

  "Well," Leah said, returning from the kitchen, "are we just going to wait here all night?"

  Maddie crossed her arms and turned from the window. "We'll wait a little while longer. I'm sure Raven will come by. Then we'll have to follow him."

  Leah chuckled.

  Maddie turned to her. "What's so funny?"

  "We'll going to tail a guy who portrays himself as a vampire so he can hunt vampires and we're tailing him so we can hunt vampires too. Don't you find it a bit odd?"

  Maddie shook her head.

  Leah chuckled again and raised her glass of water. "Well, I for one, think it would make a great book."

  * * * *

  Devlin Morse came slowly awake. He opened his eyes, trying to remember exactly where he was. The others weren't with him.

  He sat up and looked around. His body was warm, the heat in this place raising his temperature. Devlin nodded to himself, remembering.

  The woman early this morning. His haste to find someplace to bed. Her attic.

  Devlin stretched his arms above his head, working his joints. He licked his lips. Hmmm. He was hungry.

  With one quick jerk, he was on his feet and to the attic entrance. As he exited the attic, he wondered how Miss Madison Woods was feeling this evening.

  There was only one way to find out.

  Devlin moved through last night's dinner's house, pausing only for a moment to look at the woman's pale, drained body where it remained on the couch, then he was out the door and into the dusk.

  Walking briskly, it didn't take him long to reach Madison's house. He approached from the back, moving over the lawn as the darkness took on the bluish cast of night. There were lights in the neighboring houses. He could hear people talking. Children.

  Devlin smiled viciously as he peered around the corner of Madison's house and noted the children scampering down the sidewalk, dressed in costumes. It was Halloween tonight. The children were trick-or-treating, gaily threatening the neighborhood, filling their sacks with bribes of candy so they wouldn't play pranks on the neighbors. As if they would.

  Devlin wondered if Madison was handing out treats at her front door. He moved along the house, keeping himself close to the side so as not to be seen. He stopped at the kitchen window. There were lights on inside. The kitchen issued a warm glow, a yellow rectangle of light falling onto the grass below it. Devlin eased himself to the edge of the window and peeked in.

  There was no one in the kitchen, but papers were strewn all over the kitchen table. Devlin wondered just what Madison had been doing.

  * * * *

  Raven got out of his car and walked up the sidewalk to Madison's front door. He had to dodge a three-foot tall ghost as the creature ran for the next house. Madison did not have her front porch light on, which Raven knew meant she wasn't handing out candy. That was good, he thought. With vampires in the area, it was dangerous to answer your door anyway. The sight of the children just made Raven more anxious to destroy the monsters before they made any of these children their tiny victims.

  The door flew open as soon as he reached the top step and Madison's hand caught his jacket. "Get in here," she said, tugging at him.

  He had barely stepped through the door when she slammed it behind him. Madison then grabbed his wrist and led him into the kitchen. It barely registered in his mind on his way through the living room that there was a woman sitting on the couch, looking at him with wide eyes.

  "Slow down," Raven said when they reached the kitchen.

  Madison whirled around and threw her arms around his neck.

  The next thing Raven knew was that Madison's hot tongue had invaded his mouth as her body pressed up against his. He took her tongue in and sucked on it, drawing it deeper as he crushed her against his chest. Madison moaned deep in her throat and tangled her hands in his hair.

  Raven immediately swelled with lust for her. His hands moved over her round buttocks, squeezing, drawing her into his hardening desire.

  Madison pulled her head back, breaking the kiss and gazed into his eyes. She licked her lips, her hands moving down to knead his shoulders. "I think you're glad to see me," she said, an ornery glint in her green eyes.

  Raven growled, pulling her even closer. "I could take you right now."

  Madison shuddered in his arms. She smiled wickedly. "I have company. She might hear."

  "So?" Raven caught her mouth with his own, ravishing it. He wanted to be inside her, to feel her silky skin under his palms, to slide his fingers into her lust-slick places and hear her panting with pleasure.

  Again, Madison pulled away. "We'd better stop," she said, her breath ragged. "I'm not kidding."

  "I'm not either." But Raven gave her a bit of room, releasing the viselike hold on her. "How are your wounds?" he asked, taking slow deep breaths to calm his pounding heart. He could have taken her right there, on the kitchen table, if it hadn't been covered with papers.

  "They're better but still sore." She looked up at him, her eyes questioning. "I don't need to see a doctor, do I?"

  Raven shook his head. "No. Just keep using the cream. You will be fine within a week."

  "If you say so."

  Raven gave her a squeeze. "Don't you think we should return to the other room before your company wonders what has happened to you?"

  Madison nodded. She took Raven's hand and they returned to the living room. "Leah, this is John Raven," Madison said. "I know you've seen each other but you've never been introduced."

  Raven nodded, giving the woman a small smile.

  "I've heard a lot about you," Leah said, blushing.

  Raven glanced at Madison, wondering exactly what she had told the woman. "I hate to leave so soon," he said still looking at Madison, "But I have some matters to attend to."

  "It was nice meeting you, John," Leah said.

  Raven squeezed Madison's hand. "I know that it's Halloween but please don't answer the door until I get back."

  "You're coming back?" Madison asked innocently.

  Raven eyed her. She was sounding too innocent. "Yes. And don't go anywhere, all right?"

  Madison smiled and nodded. "Whatever you say."

  Raven wasn't sure if he believed her. But her friend was here so maybe that meant they were staying in for the evening. He hoped the friend was gone by the time he returned. If he returned.

  Raven moved to the door, more determined than ever to destroy Devlin Morse and do it quickly.

  "I'll see you in a while," he said, touching Madison's cheek.

  "Be careful," she said.

  Raven opened the door and stepped back out into the night.

  Getting in his car, he looked back at Madison's house. He could see her, standing at the front window, watching him.

  He hoped that he made it back. In one piece.

  * * * *

  Madison stood at the window and watched Raven climb into his car. "Get ready," she said, not turning to look at Leah. "As soon as he pulls away, we're out the door."

  "Gotcha," Leah said, getting up from the couch and heading for the kitchen where they had left their bag of vampire hunter goodies.

  Madison bit her lip, hoping they wouldn't lose Raven. She had no idea where to look for a vampire. She hoped that one wasn't looking for her. "You got the stuff?" Maddie called out. "He's starting his car."

  Raven's headlights flooded on. He slowly started to pull away from the curb.

  "He's leaving!" Maddie dug in her jeans pocket for her car keys, pulling them out. "Come on, Leah."

  "I'm right here," Leah said, the bag of vampire stuff slung over her shoulder.

  Maddie began to move toward the front door. "There. He's heading down the street. Let's go." She burst out the front door, Leah close on her heels.

  They both jumped into Madd
ie's car at the same time. Maddie jabbed the keys into the ignition. "Keep your eye on him. I don't wanna lose him."

  "I'm watching. Just drive." Leah said.

  Maddie started the car and threw it in gear. The tires gave a little squawk as she pulled away from the curb.

  "Take it easy. There's a lot of kids out here, you know," Leah scolded.

  "Sorry. Which way did he go?" Maddie said, her eyes scanning the streets. Children were everywhere, darting across streets, running down sidewalks. She'd be lucky if she didn't run over an infant vampire before it was all over.

  "Turn left at the corner," Leah said. "That's the way he went."

  Maddie bit her lip. Silently she prayed. Please God, let me keep up with him. I can't stand to lose him now.

  * * * *

  Raven parked in the same place he had earlier that day. It wasn't too long after sundown. Hopefully they would all still be there and Devlin along with them. If not, well, he'd just have to lure him there.

  Raven got out of the car and squared his shoulders.

  This time, he had an awful lot at stake.

  His brother Eric's immortal soul.

  And his lover Madison's life.

  He slung his tool bag over his shoulder and with a confident step, headed for the den of the beasts.

  * * * *

  Devlin had watched through the window as Madison so lovingly greeted Raven. How had he trapped her heart so easily? Devlin raged inside. If Raven thought he was going to outdo Devlin Morse, he was crazy. Devlin was the leader of the Clutch and if he wanted Madison Woods, he would have her. When Raven and Madison disappeared from the kitchen, Devlin circled the house trying to get a better look.