Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife)

by Robles, Joyce

  "He killed your coven," Jennifer looked at the ex-hunter next to her, "and you turned him, why?" It occurred to her that it was likely the mother Lydia had spoken of had been a part of the coven that had been James Walder’s last hunt. Had she turned him out of spite, she was still trying to force herself to believe it was even possible to be turned against your will, a terrifying concept.

  "It was more of a convent, like I mentioned, and I would have been all by myself," she pouted. "My mother had me hide in the library and when it got quiet and I came out I found him all bloody, he was the first boy I’d seen in over a hundred years."

  "Man, not boy," Cowboy corrected briefly, "and yur damn lucky I’m reasonable cause I might a killed ya when I came to."

  "Whatever," Jennifer couldn’t help it, she looked at the teenager beside her and couldn’t see an ounce of the hundred some odd years she should display. She shook her head, she had clearly landed in the odd bunch of vampires, she had to wonder suddenly if she hadn’t run across more vampires then she’d thought and simply couldn’t spot them because after a hundred years of existence they were so adaptive they still seemed to be eighteen.

  She could tell that there was probably more then one reason Ethan had chosen to sit her with these two. If he’d put her with the chainmaille twins she would have been exposed to exactly what she was used to from vampires. Heck they were still glaring at her like they wanted to kill her from across the way, but he’d sat her here to prove his point. He’d told her that vampires had souls, she hadn’t believed him, she had no reason to, not when she’d been told her whole life they were evil hell spawn and she’d never seen a vampire go out of it’s way to prove otherwise. But Lydia and Jim were so human it was almost disturbing, she’d been sitting next to the both of them for some minutes now and neither of them had gone vampire on her. No insane rages when you didn’t agree with them, no turning to stone and zoning off into space, and considering Lydia’s age that seemed unlikely. Even Ethan, who admittedly she knew nothing about, had gone all statue still on her on more then one occasion. She was seated with this very inconceivable pair of vampires probably because Ethan knew that they proved his point better then any words. He’d told her that vampires had souls, she had so much as told him there was no difference between a vampire and a revenant in answer. She had to admit he was good, but she had to wonder if some of what she was seeing next to her was acting or if this was how they really were. Before she could consider going Torquemada on the two of them and trying to get the truth, Ethan popped up behind her seat. "We may have a problem," he said and she hated the way he didn’t just spit out what the problem might be.

  "I haven’t shot anybody, I’d say so far we’re problem free," she jumped when Ethan went from behind her to suddenly in front of her, she really hated when they did that. Instead of waiting for him to say something she stood up to face him, admittedly she still had to look up while standing to do so but she didn’t have to crane her neck to quite an extensive angle. "What is it?"

  "Tobias may have been spotted on the premises," Ethan told her which still didn’t explain a thing to her but she did take note of the way tension seemed to gather again in the crowd around her.

  "Okay, I’ve heard of him," although only very briefly in passing some time ago, considering it was before, Nickolei had been alive then. "He’s just a henchmen right, someone who follows Ada around like a lost dog?"

  "An apt description," one of the twins issued from across the room in a Celtic brogue.

  "True enough, but he also serves as a very sufficient spy," Ethan told her, "if he’s here the rest of Ada’s people likely aren’t far behind. Given he probably took note of you with me on entry I think that it is more then likely if they are not already here they are in route."

  "Why," Jennifer gave a glance at the vampires around the room before giving her full attention back to Ethan. "Is it because of me or something else?"

  "I was a bit of an obsession for Ada at a certain point in history, that is another complication outsider of yourself, and me and mine might be operating outside of her command." Ethan shrugged, of course he would leave the very worst bit of information for last. Jennifer had met Ada on only one occasion in person, there had been no physical fight just Jennifer’s almost death. But that one encounter had been enough for her to know that while Ethan might not hang out with a typical vampire crowd, Ada was a prime example of a vampire who had a tantrum if things weren’t going her way. And having a vampire who was operating outside of her set parameters or orders was really going to piss her off.

  "Great," maybe the surrounding crowd had been expecting more hysterics on her part, she wasn’t the type to deliver, "so we leave."

  "Oh, I think I might be in love," Cowboy said behind her and she heard and briefly witnessed Lydia punching him in the shoulder.

  "Now would be ideal," Ethan answered just as pragmatically as she had.

  "Do we know where we’re going," she waited for him to turn and make his exit for the door before asking.

  "We’ve a good idea where he’ll be," she couldn’t say she’d been happier to hear anything in her life. The sooner this was over the more likely it was the world of weird she found herself in would shift back to how it had been before. That and if she could get her hands on Dimitri she was going to have herself a vampire style tantrum and rend him limb from limb.

  Chapter 23

  Jennifer kept pace with the vampire in front of her, some of her unease leaking back in even though it was Jim and Lydia that filed out of the room directly behind her, Dominik, Thadeus and the Twins content to give her space. She was distracted by trying to keep a mental lock on where each of them was so when Ethan stopped at the exit of this particularly dark tunnel she bumped into his back. She knew better then to ask him what was wrong, he wouldn’t have stopped so suddenly if there wasn’t something that needed to be dealt with, and considering the conversation they’d just had before leaving she likely already knew what the problem was. Vampires she’d dealt with before, fear was a common denominator, but she’d learned how to deal. Rolling her eyes she pulled the Remington from over her shoulder, instead of waiting to see how the vampires she was with would react she marched out around the corner, and was instantly confronted with definitely not a vampire. "What the...." she had a few seconds of time to look at the thing head on, vaguely human-esk form, but the back legs couldn’t be described as anything short of hindquarters, the calf section of the leg and foot bent at an animal angle to allow for it to stand in front of her on all fours. It’s elongated face was almost reminiscent of a muzzle and pointed ears added a definite canine look to its features. It was exactly what she would expect a werewolf to look like except it only possessed hair, admitted in larger amounts, on the parts of the body that a human would, top of the head, chest and naval.

  It dug claw tipped fingers into the wood paneled floor beneath it, it’s back legs bunching in a way she recognized because it looked exactly as Khan’s did before he jumped the fence in the back yard. In those few seconds she had to take in as many details as she could because two things were going to happen, this thing was going to spring and Ethan was coming out from around the corner behind her clearly intent on interfering. He didn’t get the chance, the thing in front of her lunged and she did what she would have done if it had been a vampire. Before it sprang she pulled the trigger, the first round catching it in the left shoulder, pumped, the second took half the things face off before the first shot could spin it off it’s feet. Jennifer reloaded, used to dealing with vampires, used to even a head shot like that not keeping them down. "I am so in love," Cowboy said again from behind her somewhere.

  "What was that," Jennifer looked to Ethan but he only stared grimly down at what she’d shot.

  "There’s no time, we have to go now, they’ve been sent to keep us from leaving before she gets here." Ethan made a hand motion and Jennifer felt the vampires behind her disperse in a gust of wind, all but Jim. "Stay with he
r," Ethan ordered before disappearing like the rest of his team, while she hated when they did that she could admit to being somewhat envious.

  "Looks like I get the fun job," Cowboy said beside her.

  "What do you mean?" She asked him but couldn’t take her eyes off of the thing that was on the floor in front of her.

  "Yur actin’ like you ain’t never seen a werewolf before," he chided and normally she would have said something back but she hadn’t seen a werewolf before.

  "Is it dead," she made to try and get next to it but Jim took hold of her arm and made to move them both in the opposite direction.

  "Nope," he answered once he had them headed away, "they tend to take a long time to put themselves back together though if ya shoot them in the head, ‘at’s why I thought you’d seen em before." The deeper into this particular rabbit hole Jennifer got dragged the more she realized just how sheltered she’d been in all this. She’d always thought that she’d seen the worst that the horrid underworld of monsters had to offer and now there were revenants and werewolves and probably more then she wanted to know about. "I’m surprised you haven’t, they’re usually tied to vampires one way or another." More information that she hadn’t been privy to, she had no idea why not, had Clive and Manson been as ignorant as she was. She found it unlikely, she found the idea of Tom being clueless even less so, at some point her and the cyborg were going to have to exchange words.

  "How do you kill them," Jennifer demanded more then asked.

  "Now why would you wanna take it out on Fido, ain’t like he has any say in the matter." He said that but another one of them popped out from an adjacent hall and he shot it square in the face. "What," he asked when he turned to face her, "I didn’ kill em," he gave the body in front of him a kick before motioning her to follow him.

  "Where are we going, and what do you mean they don’t have any say?" Not that she wanted to know, but if he wasn’t going to share how to kill them she might as well know why he thought she shouldn’t.

  "Well," he started talking once he had them moving down yet another tunnel she’d never been in, "poor bastard’s are always still born and male, not a girl in sight, and unfortunately for them they always seem to flock to a female vampire a some sort or another. Another unfortunate happenstance is that they never seem to find themselves a very nice female vampire. I met one fella who was a strong enough alpha type to tell his master vamper to fuck herself and take his pack a buddies with him, but given most I’ve seen I’m thinkin that’s a rarity." He shrugged, his explanation was vague at best, and in her opinion not a good enough one not to kill a potentially lethal adversary. "You are behind on the details a this little afterlife world we got goin for ourselves aren’t ya. This is all weird hoodoo magic that’s way beyond my pay grade, but I’m thinkin since yur tight with the Jesus-brigade you’ve got a better shot at answers then me."

  She couldn’t think of anything better to do then glare at him, why did everyone keep chalking this all up to magic? She did not see anything at all or remotely magical about any of these creatures, there was nothing magical or fantastic about a monster that wouldn’t die.

  "Are ya tryin to hurt my feelin’s," Cowboy asked from his place in front of her and she realized that yet again what she’d thought had been a monologue in her head was in fact something she’d said out loud.

  "Sorry," she said on reflex, he was too much like Clive or Manson, at least that was the excuse she was giving for why she was apologizing to yet another vampire.

  "No worries, I get it sweat heart, I been in yur shoes, an we’re hopin’ to keep you outta mine." She trailed after him for a good minute before she understood what it was he might be saying.

  "Ada’s coming here for me?" The idea freaked her out, she had really thought this was more of an Ethan versus Master issue.

  "Part’n parcel, you and Ethan got somethin’ goin she ain’t gonna like, first off vamper’s and Hunters don’t mix, and second you managed to get away from her, from what I heard, she really doesn’t like that. It’s why she’s so fixed on yur boy Ethan, and probably why she’s gonna be double fixed on you from here on out." Jennifer shook her head, she understood that her survival of vampire mind control could make her valuable, she didn’t understand how Ethan made her double interesting. "He likes you," the vampire filled in, "that makes you the first thing he’s shown interest in outside of gettin rid a Ada in some time. Power over you in her mind is another form a power over him."

  "Wait so you mean she might be coming here to kill me just because of Ethan," Jennifer asked exasperated.

  "You sure are dense sometimes, not kill ya, turn ya," he paused to look back at her like she was the kid with the dunce-cap seated in the corner. "A fresh turned vampire is at the mercy of it’s maker, compelled to do anything they’re told even if it’s against their will."

  "You’re bull-shitting me," Jennifer found all of this information not just hard to absorb but nearly absurd. "So you’re telling me that you’re completely under the control of Lydia?"

  "No, first off, she ain’t like that, and second I shoulda been more specific, Master vamper’s are usually the only ones that make another vampire. Occasionally, if there’s a particularly weak vampire that a Master made they’ll have them turn a person because it’s no never mind, that Masters blood is what’s in their veins, controlling one is controlling the other." He stopped in front of a room that was closer to the exit of the building and waited for her to stop behind him.

  "And Ethan," she asked as he grabbed for the door handle, "doesn’t he have Ada’s blood running in his veins?"

  "Master vamper’s are born different, they gain power quick, he was apparently a real freak-show a power as a toddler with fangs." As if he already trusted her at his back he pushed the door in and entered, he cleared one side and Jennifer reliably cleared the opposite.

  "Great," was all Jennifer could come up to say in answer yet again to this information.

  "You handle stress well," Jim offered with a particularly charming smile.

  "I told Ethan I work best when I’m a mess," she turned back to the door, this was the first room they’d entered, the rest they’d simply passed. "What are we doing?"

  "Waitin for the all clear," Jim shrugged, walked past her and closed the door. "With any luck the others can take care a the problem and Ada’s none the wiser about yur bein here."

  "That’s the plan," Jennifer huffed but took a seat because unless she wanted to shoot her current companion she couldn’t get away from him.

  "Prefer to meet the lady guns blazin’, last I heard that didn’t turn out so well for ya," Jennifer rolled her eyes and slung the Remington back over her shoulder.

  "You know what, I really don’t want to hear it from a hunter who is officially dead and now spends his time with an eighteen year old mooning over him." To her surprise the ex-vampire hunter, current vampire, turned that same human shade of pink. "I can’t deal with this right now," she had more important things to do then examine the twisted love life of an ex-hunter and the vampire teenager that had turned him. "I just want to kill Dimitri," she said to the ceiling, hoping there wasn’t a long wait ahead because she didn’t think she had an ounce of patience left at the moment. She’d raced into revenant hell this morning, lost two of her most valued friends, saved a child and just as quickly lost a person who had watched her back and that same kid in the same second. Now she was being told there was no safe place from monsters, that monsters weren’t necessarily monsters, and that there were more monsters in the world then she wanted to know about. She just wanted to kill Dimitri, avoid the zombie or revenant apocalypse, and take time to digest the rest later. Instead it was all being forced down her throat at once and instead of killing something, like she really, really wanted to do, she was being told werewolves were just lost puppies with no control so she couldn’t shoot them, she couldn’t shoot the vampires because currently one group was trying to keep her from becoming one and she couldn’t shoot t
he other because likely she’d just get dead. At the moment she really wished Ethan would just let her take her chances with Ada and the Remington.

  Maybe she’d die, maybe she wouldn’t, at this point she could only see her own death as a potential plus because at least she’d miss that impending apocalypse scenario. Then again if she faced the Master vampire and it was true that you could be turned against your will then her options just sucked all around. "Do ya think she’s got a thing for me?" Jim asked interrupting her train of thought before she could get too far into her own head.

  Jennifer looked to him and rolled her eyes, "are you kidding me," but from the look on his face she could tell that he so wasn’t. They were in a potential life ending crisis, for her at least, and he was fretting over whether or not the vampire that had turned him wanted to be his girlfriend. "Fine," Jennifer shook her head, "yes she definitely has a thing for you, you’d have to be blind not to notice." This job so didn’t pay well enough for her to be forced to dispense love advice to dead people. "Now can we talk about something useful while we wait?" He was too busy smiling to himself to answer so she went about interrogating him anyway. "You said these werewolf things are still born, what does that mean or how does that work?"

  "Babies that are dead when they’re born, I don’t know the mechanics of it, but hell I don’t know the mechanics of how I was turned into one a them." Jennifer gave her attention to the floor while he seemed to have an internal debate with himself about his new found reality.

  "You really didn’t consent," she asked unable to look at him.

  "I swear, Lydia’s a sweat girl an all, but before this I would a told her to burn in sunlight."

  Jennifer nodded and figured now was the time to ask, "can you walk into a church?"

  He shook his head before looking up at her with a somewhat melancholy smile, "been too scared to try."

  "Sorry," there she went again, apologizing, she should be delighted that he couldn’t come into a church, even if it was only because he was afraid to. "I can’t be a vampire," she said looking back to him grimly, "I’d rather be dead."