Death Conquers

by J. C. Diem

  “I was created to act as a guardian for humankind.” Astonished murmurs swept through the sailors at that revelation. “I was also designed to kill anything that poses a threat to you.”

  “Including your own people?” the commander asked astutely.

  “Unfortunately, yes. I destroyed the vampire Council and their remaining courtiers because they treated humans like cattle.” A wave of tiredness swept over me and I swayed. Luc and Geordie immediately steadied me.

  “You need to feed,” Luc said quietly but several of the sailors overheard him.

  “Will feeding you turn us into vampires?” one of the men asked.

  “No,” I replied. “You’d have to drink my blood for that to happen.”

  Sending an enquiring glance at his commander, the sailor stepped forward. “I’m willing to donate some blood for the vampires who are going to save our arses.” His sentiment was echoed by most of the others.

  “My men also need blood,” I told the commander. “Would you allow your soldiers to feed them?” Again, I couched it as a question, but it was really a command.

  “Of course,” he replied then turned to his men. “Anyone who wants to volunteer, line up. Everyone else, return to your duties.” Their duty would be to repair Shadow and to make sure the vessel was operational as fast as possible.

  Only a small handful of sailors went about making the necessary repairs. Everyone else lined up neatly. I approached the first man in the line and he gulped when my fangs descended. He trembled in fear when my hands settled on his shoulders but he still offered me his neck. My teeth sheared through his skin and unerringly found a vein. I drank a few mouthfuls, enough to reenergize me, then I let him go. The small wounds on his neck would fade quickly and, in a few hours, would appear to be as harmless as mosquito bites. He gave me a dazed smile that he’d survived the process without feeling much pain.

  Feeling more alert now, I waited for my army to finish their snacks. My soldiers were becoming used to biting humans, but they weren’t particularly comfortable munching on other men. I was glad no human women were present and dreaded the rise of their flesh hungers. I cringed at the thought of unleashing them on any poor, unsuspecting females. Even if they hypnotized the women into giving their consent, it would still be wrong. Worry about that if and when it happens, my inner voice advised. What do you mean if? My response was heavy on the sarcasm. It’s going to happen sooner or later. I just hoped it would be later.

  Dawn was only half an hour away when we’d all finished feeding. “We’ll return after dark,” I told the commander. “I sincerely hope we won’t find an ambush waiting for us when we see you next.” It was a subtle warning and he nodded his understanding. My hypnotism would last far longer than usual, if I willed it to. I hadn’t tried to make it permanent, but I would if it became necessary. As long as the sailor continued to follow my orders, he would retain the ability to think for himself and to make crucial decisions. The instant he thought of doublecrossing us, I’d turn him into my flesh puppet. Gone were the days when I’d ever be able to trust a human completely.

  The boat’s hull had been cleaned of the corrosive substance that’d coated it, but it would be hours before it would be ready to be used again. It was time for us to return to the catacombs to rest. At my gesture, everyone crowded around and I zapped us back to France.

  Since they were still awake when they arrived at our base this time, my soldiers spread out to find somewhere to sleep for the day. There were enough beds for everyone on the courtier level and no one had to descend to the servants’ quarters.

  Igor rounded up the two teenagers and headed for the cells where the ammunition was stored. We’d come close to running out of ammo and we needed to stockpile some more. Interested in learning more about modern weaponry, Danton and his warriors joined them. Although useful at carving paths through flesh, blubber and membranes, their swords would be no match for the octosquids.

  Kokoro joined me as I took a seat on an antique couch. Sitting beside me, she stared at the carpet pensively. Some effort had been made to make the courtier’s quarters pleasant. Instead of raw dirt, floorboards had been installed and were covered in thick, luxurious carpet. All of the furniture was old-fashioned but in good condition despite not being tended to in over a decade. A thick layer of dust coated most surfaces but that could be easily remedied with a good cleaning.

  Waiting for Kokoro to speak, I deliberately stayed out of her thoughts. I doubted she’d appreciate me prying, even though she’d delved into my private thoughts on more than one occasion and at highly inconvenient times. It became impossible to keep the door between our minds closed when she said my name.

  I turned to her and she was staring at me strangely. “You heard that?”

  “You said my name.” It hadn’t been with her mouth, but with her mind.

  “It was a mere whisper of a thought,” she said.

  “I tend to notice it when someone is thinking about me specifically.” That’s what had drawn me to their meetings so often while I’d been sulking in the mausoleum.

  “I’d like to test your ability to read minds. It might be handy to determine how powerful your ability is.”

  She was the expert and she’d know how to test my capabilities better than anyone. “Ok.”

  “We already know that you are able to read minds from halfway across the world. I’d like to see if you can pry into thoughts that someone wants to keep private.” I sensed a twinge of jealousy that she quickly suppressed as she shielded her mind from me. “Try to read my thoughts,” she invited.

  Circling the thought that Kokoro kept hidden, I probed it and easily broke through to the meat inside. If it’d been able to, blood would have rushed to my face in embarrassment at the picture of her and Gregor naked and entwined for the first time. It was a memory that was precious to her and one that I wished I’d been unable to invade. She could tell by my expression that I’d breeched her defences.

  Biting her bottom lip, she flicked a quick and guilty glance at her beloved. Gregor and Luc sat on another couch across the room, quietly discussing our chances of beating our adversaries. “I did not expect you to be able to pry that memory from me so easily.”

  “Has anyone ever been able to block you from their thoughts?”

  “Not often,” she replied. “Ishida was very skilled at shielding his secrets.” He’d managed to keep the fact that he’d known all along that she was his master for ten thousand years. “Let’s try again,” she said as she readied another memory.

  Uneasy at what I might find, I closed my eyes and concentrated. This time, she’d locked her thoughts away and they were much harder to pry free. In my mind’s eye, I pictured Kokoro holding onto a treasure chest. Small and golden, it was held shut with an intricate lock. Zooming in on the lock, I examined the inner workings. I wasn’t sure how I did it, but, bit by bit, I worked at the lock until the chest finally sprang open.

  I received far more than just the one secret she’d been hiding. All of Kokoro’s forty thousand years of memories cascaded over me. They started towards the end of her mortal life and I saw her as a human slave who had been prized for her beauty. The emperor at the time had used her to feed his sadistic hungers. He’d almost killed her when feeding both his blood and flesh hungers at the same time and had turned her into his creature when he realized he’d drained her too much.

  He hadn’t stopped using her body when she’d been reborn as a vampire. Having a pet psychic that could foresee the future and read minds added to his already overblown ego. Kokoro had eventually engineered his death but not out of revenge. She knew her suffering would pale in comparison to what her people would endure beneath his reign. She’d chosen the next four emperors, knowing their reign would be temporary. Ishida had been the final emperor that she’d chosen to rule their small nation.

  Sagging back against the couch, I put a hand to my forehead as the images began to fade. My expression was a combination of shock, fury
and compassion. Kokoro’s face pinched in ancient pain at having her memories dredged for a moment before her brow smoothed out. Forcing a chuckle, she patted my other hand. “That is what I get for testing the venerable Mortis.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to see so much.”

  Going still, she peered into my eyes. “What did you see?”

  The memory she’d chosen for me to attempt to pry out of her was when she’d been turned into a vampire. She hadn’t meant for me to see her entire history. “I saw everything,” I said then covered my face with both hands as I fought down my pity and sorrow.

  Her arm came around my shoulder and the two men hurried over. “What is wrong?” Luc asked as he knelt before me.

  “It is my fault,” Kokoro said. “I was testing Natalie’s abilities and she accidentally saw my memories.”

  Feet thudded on the stairs as Geordie came at a run. He’d sensed my misery from two levels down. “What happened?” he demanded.

  Dropping my hands, I tried to soothe their concern. “I’m fine. I just saw Kokoro’s past and it was…upsetting.” My bottom lip quivered and so did Geordie’s.

  “What happened to you, Kokoro?” the teen asked.

  Appearing in the stairwell, Ishida answered on behalf of his maker. “She suffered terribly beneath the rulers that came before me. They did not appreciate her gifts and they used her as if she were nothing more than a toy.”

  Everyone knew what he meant by that. Gregor already knew of his beloved’s past and he put a hand on her shoulder in empathy. Geordie turned to me and his expression was fierce. “Promise me that you’ll never let another vampire do that to anyone else ever again!”

  It was a vow that would be easy for me to keep. “I promise, Geordie.” I’d seen all too well the cruelties that our species were capable of. None of my friends or allies had sadistic tendencies, which was why they still lived. I would have to keep a remote eye on Millicent and her crew to make sure none of them became megalomaniacal tyrants or created anyone who might eventually become one.

  “You’re tired,” Luc pointed out. “You should get some sleep.”

  Dawn had arrived and I didn’t argue with him. Instead of retreating to the safe house for privacy, we opted to remain with our group. We searched for a room that wasn’t occupied by soldiers and stripped down to our underwear. Dust also coated the furniture in the bedrooms but I didn’t have the energy to search for fresh linens. Neither did Luc and he merely turned the pillows over and stripped off the top coverlet. The bedding and mattress still smelled musty, but they would suffice.

  Sensing that I wasn’t in the mood for naked acrobatics, Luc gathered me in close and wrapped his arms around me. Still mourning for all that Kokoro had suffered, I slid into a deep sleep that was anything but peaceful.

  ·~·

  Chapter Twenty

  When I opened my eyes, the ruins of an ancient building stared back at me. A low, full moon bathed the crumbling walls in a silvery light that made it seem slightly sinister. If I’d been human, I would have been terrified. Instead, I was merely curious. My dreams were usually messages of some kind and I was already intrigued by this one.

  Only two walls still stood. They were made up of large brown-grey blocks and were covered in dead vines. A robed man stood unmoving directly in front of me. It took me a moment to realize it was just a statue. Skilfully made, it was very lifelike and was made of the same brown-grey stone as the rest of the ruins.

  Moving closer to the statue, I examined it in detail. It stood in a carefully cut out section of the wall. Moonlight filtered through the archway, casting a deep shadow over the statue’s face. Up close, I saw that a hood covered all but the mouth, which was grim and unsmiling. The figure held a large, shallow bowl that conjured up images of blood sacrifices. I went onto my tippy-toes to peek into the bowl. It was empty at the moment, but a dark residue remained. It might or might not have been blood and was too faint for me to tell.

  Peering through the archway, I saw the edge of a cliff not far away. Behind the drop was a distant mountain range. Turning in a slow circle, I felt eyes watching me but I saw and sensed nothing. Hearing stealthy movement behind me, I whirled around. A large, misshapen creature hulked on all fours in the shadows. Its head was higher than mine but it was looking away from me so I couldn’t see its face.

  Turning to see what it was looking at, I heard a leathery flap of wings and something flew at my face. I ducked down and felt talons whoosh past my head. A few strands of my hair were yanked out and I considered myself lucky that I hadn’t been scalped.

  Standing up again, I turned and found myself teetering on the edge of a staircase. It was deep in the shadows and I hadn’t even noticed the opening. Before I could regain my balance, the creature that I had yet to identify lunged forward and hit me with its shoulder. I tumbled head over heels down the stairs. Thumping and bumping my way down two flights, I sprawled to a stop on my face.

  Metal grated on stone as something heavy was pushed over the opening. The moonlight disappeared but faint light came from below. I climbed to my feet and descended another two flights of stairs to the bottom. A single light bulb weakly illuminated the hallway. A wide, long tunnel stretched out ahead of me with multiple doorways on each side. The doors were made of thick metal that even I might have had trouble breaking down.

  Reaching the first door, I glanced through a barred window to see a pile of straw in one corner. My nose wrinkled at the smell of excrement that was smeared across the walls and floor. They weren’t ordinary rooms at all, but were instead cells. Whatever had been kept in the cells hadn’t been human. The jungle smell of wild animals permeated the entire hallway.

  A different type of door waited at the end of the hallway. Also made of solid metal, it lacked a window or a handle and it didn’t move when I pushed it. Abandoning my clothes, I reverted to tiny particles and filtered beneath the cracks to the other side.

  Becoming whole again, utter darkness made me blink several times as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. I went still as several large shapes moved when they sensed my presence. Red light flared to life and swung towards me. Staring up into the face of a creature that was both alien and strangely familiar, I felt huge claws close over my shoulders from behind as a face lowered towards mine. Trapped between two monsters, I could only stare up at the thing towering over me in fascination. Twin horns curved upwards and were stained dark red, presumably from goring something, or someone, to death. A mouth opened to reveal fangs that were several inches long. Its head darted downward but I was thankfully woken up an instant before my face could be bitten off.

  Grateful that I had avoided the imaginary pain of being de-faced, I opened my eyes to see Luc looking down at me in concern. “I take it you were having a bad dream?”

  I nodded then grimaced. “I was having a nightmare about being locked in a dungeon with a bunch of creepy monsters.”

  “What did they look like?” Intrigued and knowing my penchant for dreaming about the dangers that we might face, he propped his head on his hand.

  “They were like nothing I’ve ever seen before, yet they were somehow familiar,” I replied. “I’m not sure what they were, but they were huge.”

  “Were they as large as a human that had been turned into a Viltaran clone?”

  “Way larger. They were several feet taller and far bulkier. Their skin wasn’t grey, either. It was a greenish-brown, I think.” I’d only caught a brief glimpse of their bodies, not enough to give him much of a description. I could describe their horns and teeth with far greater accuracy.

  “Hmm.” Mulling over my dream, Luc’s eyes dropped down to my chest and he lost his train of thought. An image of him burying himself inside me rose to the surface of his thoughts.

  Sending out my senses, I found Geordie pacing the floor of the room he’d chosen across the hall from ours. “Let’s go somewhere more private,” I suggested and whisked us both to the safe house. The others might be used
to having no privacy in the bedroom, but I wasn’t and I doubted that I ever would be.

  Away from the prying ears of the others, I was free to make as much noise as I wanted as Luc feasted on my body. His teeth grazed my neck as he joined us together and set a fast pace that quickly brought me to my peak. Other girls might like to take things slow and easy but I preferred to get to the good part quickly.

  My eyes sprang open when Luc’s fangs pierced my skin. I wasn’t sure which of us was more surprised when he bit down and began to feed. I was instantly catapulted into another orgasm as he sucked hard at my throat. Then he was shuddering above me as he found his own release.

  As my one true love collapsed beside me, I felt my neck. The skin was already unbroken. I felt shame emanating from Luc and took his hand. “I’m glad you bit me,” I confessed. “Now I don’t think I’ll feel quite so bad when my minions’ flesh hunger rises.”

  Rolling onto his side, Luc studied my face. “Why is that?”

  “Because it felt pretty freaking awesome having you sink your fangs into me,” I said with a grin.

  Relieved that I wasn’t angry or disgusted with him, he lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never bitten another vampire during sex before.”

  Doing so would have ended in his death, so I could understand why he’d resisted the urge. “You know my blood can’t hurt you now.” The army of soldiers that I’d created testified to that fact.

  “Yes, but it was rude,” he said almost primly.

  “You have my permission to be rude anytime we’re horizontal together,” I said gravely.

  “You truly enjoyed it?”

  “Would I lie to you?”

  Amusement glinted in the depths of his dark eyes. “Probably.”

  “If your blood didn’t taste like arse, I’d bite you again, too.” The urge to bite down on the vulnerable flesh of his neck was almost overpowering at times. I’d succumbed to the impulse once and had been inundated with his memories, just as I’d been with Kokoro after our little experiment at prying into her thoughts.