Hope still existed, even as I felt imaginary chains wrap around my body, pulling me away from those I loved. And with that resolute hope came something else just as miraculous.
A line had definitely been drawn in the sand now, and with one last deep intake of fortifying breath, I crossed it. Until that moment I had not truly believed. But I did now. I chose to believe the dream conversation with my grandfather. I chose to believe everything that I could do now was because of what I had become. Two days in a pit of dirt, four days connected to the Earth. And now this.
Acceptance of what I had become felt... liberating. I was a Gi Ekmetalleftis. And I had the rest of my very long immortal life to get what I wanted.
And I wanted Theodoros Petropoulos. He would be mine.
"I love you," I whispered in answer, seeing the comprehension of what my declaration meant mixed with the joy of hearing my words wash over Theo's face.
I didn't say it to hear him say it back. Theo Peters was a hard Athanatos, bred to handle loss and sacrifice, styled to never show his inner thoughts. Oh, he slipped occasionally, but he was very good at what and who he was. Powerful, arrogant, princely.
But then, Theo Peters was also the most confounding man I had ever met.
He reached forward and wrapped me up in one final embrace. I savoured it. I closed my eyes and prayed I'd never forget his warmth, his Fire, his scent. Never forget this moment. His lips brushed across my ear, his breath washed down my neck and his Stoicheio reached inside the very core of me, and touched my heart and soul.
And he rasped, "And I love you too, Casey Eden. Eternally."
Dear sweet heaven, he'd said it. He'd said the words. So beautiful, so bitter-sweet, so heartbreakingly poignant.
A sobbed breath hitched in my throat, an ache so real I felt it in my blood, in my bones. He loved me. And I loved him.
Theo reached down and cupped my chin with his finger and thumb, tilting my tear stained face up to his. With an unimaginable depth of pain and sadness, he leaned in and touched his lips to mine. Softly. Tenderly. Too briefly.
Then he was gone. Walking away and taking a part of me with him.
How did I survive this? How?
My knees gave out first, then my breath, my heart, as pain tore through my chest. My fingers digging into the soil at my sides automatically, seeking comfort, desperate for relief from the ache.
And as the Pyrkagia prepared to leave the golf course I heard a hardened command inside my head, sinking barbs right into my heart.
Anaisthetikos, now! the Gi Rigas' voice echoed in my mind. I don't think he knew I could hear him. My fingers dug further into the Earth, determined to catch his next words. And kill her Thisavros.
My mouth opened in a scream, but only I could hear my warning shout. The last thing I saw, before my world became an insular bright white haze and nothing else, was a thick vine wrapped around Theo's neck. Blood pooling on his collar as skin was torn.
My screams never stopped; an aching, heart-wrenching accompaniment, as the vision of my beloved fighting for his life was seared on my mind...
His gold blazing eyes on me; a final message of love staring out of a terror-filled face.
Theo.
Oh God, no!
Theo.
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Look out for book two in the Elemental Awakening Series: The Soothing Scent of Earth. Coming soon!
Read on for the first chapter in Kindred (Kindred, Book 1) in the Kindred Series by Nicola Claire:
Chapter 1
Night, Night, Sweetie
I knew things weren't quite going according to plan when his fist connected with my jaw. The pain sent a sharp stab up through my skull, making me grit my teeth, hear bells ringing in my head and my vision begin to blur. But, for the life of me, I could not understand why. Never one to dwell too long on the morose, I decided the best course of action was to come out guns blazing. As I don't actually own a gun, I settled on a taunt instead.
“Is that the best you've got?” I managed to squeeze out between my still clenched teeth. I shouldn't really be antagonising the nasty stinking creep in front of me, especially as I was still down on all fours spitting blood out of the side of my mouth, but I just can't help it. Call me a sucker for punishment, it's just how I work. Never let them see fear, that's my motto. So far, it's kind of worked.
Not so sure about that today though.
“Oh sweet Hunter, you think your witty repartee will distract me?”
Huh? Why do all the bad guys sound so freakishly prim and proper all of a sudden. Where's the good old, take that you bitch gone? I don't know about you, but I kind of like the simplicity of an evil bad guy dropping his h's and missing his t's. It just goes with the territory, ya know wot' I mean, luv?
And here comes the foot again, straight into my rib cage. I heard the crack this time, it sounded like a gun shot in the alley we were in. It reverberated around the brick walls on either side, or was that just inside my head? I couldn't tell, but breathing was suddenly a challenge. Oh God though, it hurt. And how did this upstart get the drop on me? I mean it all seemed so easy.
There he was, down the far end of the dark alley, against a dirty brick wall, like all good evil vampires should be, with his arm casually about the blonde's shoulders, looking into her eyes and mind fucking her, fangs down and glow on. It should have been a walk in the park, he was distracted, about to get his fill, no where to run, but somehow here I am on the ground struggling to inhale and there he is with a cocky grimace and the upper hand. What the?
“They told me you were stronger than this, more clever too. Hmm, I guess they were wrong, my sweet. You are nothing but a little girl, playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Where is the big bad Hunter I have heard so much about, hmm? Where indeed.”
Where indeed sweetie? That's just what I was thinking. Not trying to be egotistical or anything, but usually my hunts go a hell of a lot better than this. And usually I don't have to battle more than one blood thirsty vampire in a night. This, however, is the third numbskull vamp to cross my path trying to feed off the innocent. I'd have to ask Michel about this influx of careless vampires, eating in such a public way, disregarding all of his rules when entering his city.
That's if I could get out of this little encounter alive. So far, the jury was still out on that one.
I rolled onto my back, feeling the wet muck of the alley seeping in through my light chiffon blouse. The stars were out tonight, no clouds in the sky from the earlier downpour, almost a Full Moon, but not quite. Old evil face was slowly stalking closer, if you could call it stalking. It's always more of a glide with the older vamps and this one was about 150 years, judging by the power level oozing off him like thick syrup. I could almost reach out and touch it, so thick and sweetly smelling. With a hint of rot underneath.
I had to stall him, get back on my feet. He had disarmed me as soon as I had approached; a simple flick of his wrist, a magical brush against my fingers and the stake was gone. It was now down the far end of the alley, by the entrance, where all of a sudden not a single soul was walking by. Go figure. Not that I'd want a Norm to get involved in this, but I did kind of feel alone right now. Even just the sound of late night “clubbers” would have been welcome, but no such luck.
Still, I haven't honed my skills over the past two years without arming myself with more than one weapon. I shifted slightly to my right, casually slipping my left arm into my belt at the top of my skirt, all the while making full eye contact with fang-face.
“You seem awfully sur
e of yourself. What makes you think this isn't some kind of a trap?” I hedged, all the while watching him stalk ever closer; so slow, so predatory, so sure.
He glanced over his shoulder quickly at that though, I must have managed to ruffle his feathers, or cape. It was enough of a distraction to slip my little silver knife out of its sheath at my waist and hide it behind my wrist and arm.
“I don't think so, Hunter. You work alone. I know a lot about you, you could say, your name is on the most wanted list with my kind. An all-points bulletin. We even study your moves.”
Huh? It was just one of those nights for surprises I guess. I didn't know I was that popular amongst the otherworldly nasties, but there you go.
“It's always nice to be recognised for my efforts,” I replied, whilst lying perfectly still and taking small shallow breaths to ease the pain. It was just a constant ache now, no longer that sharp stabbing pain, as though a rib was about to pierce the side of my skin.
He noticed of course, they always do when you're injured. Something about the predator in them. They sense the weak, they sniff out the pain to use it against you. I'd have to time this just right. One shot and one shot only.
There's one thing you can count on when it comes to vamps though, they're arrogant sons of bitches. He may know all my moves, or thinks he does, but he wouldn't believe for a moment that I could succeed in using them on him, could succeed in getting the drop on him, if you will. I'm betting he'd be wrong there. Pride before a fall and all that.
He leaned over me, fangs obvious in the glint of the moon streaking down the alley above us. There was a fat drop of blood hanging off the right one, threatening to spill on my shirt. He'd either bitten himself accidentally, or more likely, he did manage to get fang to neck on the now unconscious blonde in a pile over by the dumpster. Bastard!
“I'm going to enjoy teaching you a lesson, Hunter,” he whispered as he moved in for the strike.
“That's what they all say,” I countered as my arm arced gracefully across the front of him. I knew I couldn't get the heart from the angle I was at. That wasn't what I was aiming for, but that pretty face of his would certainly feel the silver as it sliced into his cheek.
A howl rent the night air. An excruciating sound of anger and guttural, visceral pain. He sprang back against the far wall, with his hand covering the slash from his left ear to mouth, already healing, despite the silver of the knife. It takes a lot to permanently damage a creature of the night.
I used the distraction and distance to get to my feet, not as ladylike as I would have liked, but hey, no one was watching. Well no one who mattered. Old sweetie pie hadn't taken his eyes off me for a second. They can be very focused when they need to be.
“You shall pay for that!” he spat. “I've been holding back, toying with you, but no longer, Hunter. The game is up.”
Indeed, it was. We began slowly circling each other, me with my, now somewhat pitiful slender silver knife, him with his fangs which only seemed to be getting bigger and longer the more I looked at them. Oh what big teeth you've got, I thought bizarrely. Losing it now was not an option. Luckily for me, since my first encounter with a vampire, my strength at resisting their spell-binding gaze had increased. To such a point that only the rare higher level master vamp had any effect on me. This guy, was only a level four on the Sanguis Vitam scale, strong, but not strong enough. So, I could look him in the eye when I said, “Right back at ya, Sweetie”. And then forced a grin.
I've always felt confidence in a retort could only be achieved when making direct eye contact, somehow the effect is lost when you have to look at your shoes.
He came at me in a flash. I was expecting it, but still, they can move and you don't even see it. Especially when they want to and this chap had had it with me. Anger poured off his skin in waves. I only just managed to raise the knife enough to glance the sleeve of his shirt and knick the skin ever so slightly. I might as well have been a mosquito for all the good it did. But, his arm crashed against the side of my face, throwing my head and body around and against the hard and unforgiving brick wall. I tasted blood and felt my vision blur again, but the hit hadn't been a direct hand punch, thankfully.
I used the momentum of springing back off that solid mass of brick and concrete to roll away and under his approaching bulk, sweeping out my leg as I passed him. It only made him stumble, but still... go me!
He rounded on me in that lightning speed. But I rolled to the left, closer to the entrance of the alley, making what would have been a killer blow, into a somewhat lesser one. Pain in my back erupted like a burst balloon, shooting up my spine into the base of my head. I thought my back would snap, it was so bad. Tears started rolling down my face, my fingers tingled and then went numb. Now, I was mad.
I rounded to face my killer. No way was I going down without a fight. He grinned; a typical evil bad guy grin, all teeth and smirk. He hardly had a scratch on him. Some reputation I've got. I took a step back, towards the entrance and light, towards the safety of a crowd. He cocked his head as though to say, you think you can make it?
I couldn't and we both knew it, but I could reach my stake. I moved, right before he flew through the air towards me. I rolled head over heels, transferring my knife to my left hand and picking up my stake with my right, as I sailed over it. All those hours play-fighting with my best mate Rick's shape shifter Hapū was paying off. I landed in a crouch, half twisted towards him. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. His arms came out around me, his head and face over my left shoulder, he grabbed my hair and jerked my head to the right, lifting me off my feet. I felt a few hairs come loose and my back was screaming for release, but his hold was slack, not crushing. Stupid. Never lower your guard.
I twisted with the pull of my neck, not resisting it. I brought my right arm across my chest and up under my left armpit, directly towards his chest. The angle wasn't great, but it was close enough. As soon as he felt the silver of the stake breach his skin and enter his chest wall, he froze. I took my advantage and pushed the baby home.
There was a sickening squelching sound as the stake slid further in, resting on the edge of his heart. His arms fell away, no longer responding to his commands and he crumpled backwards towards the ground. I went with him, twisting round to face him completely, not letting my grip on the stake release, or the stake move anywhere but further in. Lying on top of him, looking into those red-rimmed glowing eyes, I twisted the stake minutely, feeling the moment it touched the chamber of his heart.
His eyes widened slightly, a look of utter incredulity on them. I smiled and said, “Night, night, Sweetie” as the stake finally sunk home. For an instant, nothing happened and then I was face first in a pile of dust, coughing and choking on vampire residue.
I rolled away, grasping my side, trying to stop the racking coughing from tearing my already tender ribs further apart. Finally after several minutes, I managed to control myself and slowly sat up.
It took a moment for me to get my bearings. There was still a low level humming in my mind, the last of the vamp's Sanguis Vitam seeping into the night, but there was no other indication of power in the vicinity. I took as deep a breath as I could manage, then hauled myself over to the blonde.
She was coming round, groaning. There was a slight mark on her neck, not deep, he hadn't managed to fully penetrate. Thank God. “You'll be all right now,” I said. She opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Who the hell are you?” she demanded, speech a little slurred.
See, here's the thing. When a vamp glazes you with his gaze, he can have you thinking any number of things. Hell, he could make you jump off the Harbour Bridge if he wanted to, but most of the time, they're not that inventive. It's usually a vision of utter happiness, if they're kind, or in Sweetie Pie's case, a feeling that you're drunk and just having a quiet moment in the alley to yourself. Waking up and finding a dishevelled female leaning over you is not the most pleasant of visions, even if you think you're smashed.
I pulled back. “There's a taxi stand down the street by McDonald's,” I said, indicating the direction with a nod of my head. “You fell over, must have been a good night, huh?”
She struggled to her feet, still glaring at me, but started to take a shaky step away. I wanted to reach out and help, but vampire induced psychosis is not something you can easily get involved with. The glazing just doesn't allow it. She'd be all right though, no real harm done.
Me, on the other hand, I ached. From head to toe. I haven't been that badly beaten up for months. This was going to take some getting over.
I dusted down my skirt and straightened my blouse. No rips, cool. And was just reaching for my stake and knife when I heard the humming and felt the low level power of a baby vamp nearby. Only young, less than 50 I'd say. Easy on any ordinary night, but tonight was shaping up to be unusual. You never knew.
I spun around to face it, stake out and knife ready to go. Shane Smith walked round the corner of the alley and stood ten metres away. He smiled his shy smile and thrust his hands deep into his pockets. His shock of white curly hair caught the glint of a street light, his pale features in contrast to his black attire, regular wear for members of Michel's inner circle.
“Hey Shane,” I said as I sheathed my knife and pocketed my stake. “What's up?”
Shane had been turned no less than thirty years ago, by none other than Michel Durand, the Master Vampire of Auckland City. He was now serving his time as Michel's gopher, the vamp who took messages and parcels where they needed to go. He was a weakling, as far as vamps go and always would be. But I liked him, I couldn't help it. I felt sorry for the guy. Who knew you had to give up your soul and live for ever like a doormat when offered life for eternity. He was a sorry excuse for a vampire, but he meant no one any harm.
The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) Page 27
