by Jane Kindred
Without question, the François sisters were torn in far too many directions. The missing Originals had to be located before humans were attacked, and the Originals who were already confined needed protection from the Cartesians. It didn’t take a world of common sense to realize they couldn’t be everywhere at once.
To aid in the matter, the Benders had established a plan and built an electric field charged by their scabiors, the weapons they carried. The field, which the Cartesians couldn’t penetrate, canopied each location where the Originals were kept. The North Compound for the Loup Garous, the Louis I Cemetery for the Chenilles, and, of course, the catacombs beneath St. John’s Cathedral for the Nosferatu. The idea was to keep the Originals they now had safe within these electric domes, which would give each team time to search for the Originals who’d gone MIA.
The first time Evee witnessed the Benders’ scabiors in action, she’d been nothing short of amazed. Alone, a scabior appeared toylike. A steel rod approximately eight inches long, its circumference about a half inch. A quarter-size bloodstone capped one end. But handled by a Bender, that which initially appeared benign turned into a weapon like no other Evee had ever witnessed.
A quick flip of the Bender’s wrist, and the steel rod twirled between their fingers with a speed that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Once the scabior was charged and aimed at a Cartesian, it shot a bolt of electricity that pushed the monstrosity back into the rift, out of one dimension and into the next. The Benders’ goal was to push the Cartesian back to as many dimensions as possible. The farther the dimension, the longer it took the Cartesian to find its way back.
With the electric dome charged, they could search for missing Nosferatu again.
It was dark outside, but barely, which meant she, Lucien and Ronan had plenty of time to search for the missing Nosferatu before feeding time arrived.
Suddenly, someone took Evee by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake, breaking her reverie. It was Lucien.
“Evee, you have to do something to get the Nosferatu under control,” Lucien said. “I realize they’re impatient and want freedom, but keeping them under the scabior dome’s protection is crucial. Do something. A calming spell, anything that will keep them from destroying one another.”
Evee took her time responding. She was overtaken by the depth of Lucien’s green eyes bearing into hers, his shoulder-length hair the color of a black stallion’s mane, his neatly trimmed beard and mustache that barely hid two prominent dimples that appeared whenever he smiled, something he definitely was not doing now. Evee guessed Lucien to be in his midthirties. He stood about six foot three and weighed maybe one seventy-five. Since she was only five foot seven, Evee had to look up at him, which she did feeling hypnotized. She couldn’t help it. It made her feel like a slug, ogling him despite the fighting going on inside the catacombs, but it seemed beyond her control. She wanted nothing more than to breathe in Lucien’s scent, a mixture of earth and musk doused by a fresh summer shower.
She was about to answer Lucien when Ronan suddenly appeared at her side. Another over-the-top hunk of a man who made it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
“Evee, whatever malaise has overtaken you, you really need to snap out of it,” Ronan said. “I know things may seem hopeless to you right now, but if the Nosferatu continue fighting this way, I’m concerned it will weaken the electric dome over the catacombs again.”
“What makes you think that?” Lucien asked.
Ronan pointed to the dome. “Look.”
Sure enough, the sparks of electricity that came from the four bloodstone-attached steel rods in four different directions had begun to flicker.
“We must calm them down,” Ronan said.
Evee studied him for a moment. His collar-length black hair combed just so, his five o’clock shadow that accented a square jaw. His black eyes held such an intensity in them he could have melted a gold bar simply by staring at it and concentrating. Although he appeared a few years younger than Lucien, his height and build were similar to his cousin’s. The biggest difference between the two men was Ronan’s serious nature and the ease with which Lucien smiled.
Because there had been four cousins and three of the Triad, Evee had been paired with two Benders. Although they were two of the most handsome men she’d ever had the pleasure to meet, her initial intention had been to not allow attraction to enter into the serious business at hand. She’d never wanted to be drawn to either of the two men, although their good looks were second to none and each possessed unique qualities. But slowly and surely something other than the electric dome they’d created with their scabiors had begun to pulsate. Every time she looked at Lucien, she felt a jolt of electricity flow through her. When she studied Ronan, she felt sparks flutter through her, but not with the same intensity as she felt with Lucien.
Not that either mattered. They were men. They were human. She had no choice but to stay at arm’s length.
Lucien pulled Evee away from the pillar she’d been leaning against and stood her upright, facing him.
“Please do something now, Evee,” Lucien said.
Evee shook her head slightly as if just waking from a deep sleep. “I don’t even know if my spells will work. Even my sisters seem to have problems with theirs.”
“You have to at least try,” Ronan said. “It’s the only thing I can think of that’s causing the dome to fade.”
“What thing are you talking about?” Evee asked.
“The energy coming from the fighting Nosferatu.”
“That can affect the dome?” she asked.
Ronan pointed to the arcs over the catacombs. “What else could it be?”
With a sigh of resignation, Evee went to the gates of the catacombs, pressed her body against it and raised her arms up by her sides and began to chant.
“Quiet now, ye creatures’ mind,
Let thy actions turn from rage to kind.
See thy angst, fear and pain in vain,
So it is said.
So shall it be.”
No sooner had Evee finished speaking the words than the Nosferatu that had been ripping into one another broke apart. They looked about, seemingly confused, as if unable to comprehend what they had just been doing. Each shuffled off to a corner and sat licking wounds, which immediately healed. A quiet hum soon filled the catacombs, except for an occasional impatient grumble from one of the Nosferatu.
At least the fighting had stopped.
“Why didn’t you do that earlier?” Lucien asked.
“I—I don’t know,” Evee said. “I guess I was afraid it wouldn’t work. Just another failure.”
Lucien took hold of her chin with a thumb and forefinger and turned her head so she faced him. She had no choice but to look into his eyes.
“None of this is your fault. Whatever is causing the sporadic instabilities of your spells is not your fault. The Cartesians are powerful creatures, and their intention is to create havoc, to destroy the Originals and the Triad. Don’t give up on your powers. Don’t let the Cartesians see or feel your weakness, because that’s what they’ll focus on. We need to make sure you and your sisters stay safe, and the way you can help make that happen is to remain strong.”
Evee nodded, reprimanding herself silently for having succumbed to complacency. There was no room for it when it came to protecting her Nosferatu, for it was her job to keep them safe.
Ronan nudged Lucien. “We need to strengthen the canopy again, then go hunting for more Nosferatu before it gets any later. It’ll be feeding time before we know it, and the ones that are missing are going to be looking for food. That could mean attacks on humans if we don’t find them and bring them into the fold.”
Without a word, Lucien pulled his scabior from its sheath, which was attached to his belt, and Ronan followed suit. Together they did a
quick flick of their wrists, twirled their scabiors around their fingers with lightning speed, then aimed them at the opposing poles. From the bloodstones that sat atop their scabiors shot a fierce bolt of lightning into the poles. They did the same with the remaining two poles, setting them alight until the catacombs lit up like a football field at game time.
Nosferatu scattered from the brilliance of the light, hiding behind crypts or crawling onto death shelves.
“Looks like that should hold them for now,” Lucien said.
Evee nodded and then motioned Pierre, her overseer, to the catacomb gates. She told him what they had in mind, and that he was to keep tabs on all the Nosferatu within the catacombs just as he had been doing prior to them getting out of control.
Although Evee trusted Pierre with her life, she feared that if they didn’t hurry and collect the missing Nosferatu and get all of them to the North Compound for feeding time, more fights would break out. Then they might lose the protection of the scabior canopy, and the Cartesians would find her Originals and annihilate them. Then it wouldn’t be long before humans throughout the city would die senseless, useless deaths.
Evee feared that might be going on even now with her Nosferatu. She felt in her gut that somewhere in the city more deaths had already taken place. She could only hope she and her sisters wouldn’t be next.
The Benders seemed very confident in their abilities and seemed to have a solid plan in place, or as solid as one might have in such a situation.
Evee, on the other hand, had not known this much fear—ever.
Copyright © 2017 by Deborah LeBlanc
ISBN-13: 9781488031359
The Dragon’s Hunt
Copyright © 2017 by Jane Kindred
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