Blood of the Gods (The Vampire from Hell Part 5)

by Ally Thomas

  “Who is that? Who are you talking to? Give me the phone!

  “Who is this? Who are you? You can’t talk to my girlfriend, you fuck!”

  Silence on the line.

  “You hear me? You fuck! I know who you are.

  “You leave her alone. She doesn’t love you!”

  Phone drops. Line still functioning. Being recorded.

  “Steve, don’t! Please. Don’t.”

  “Oh no, you aren’t getting away with this. Come here. I’m gonna make you regret the breath you pull into your filthy lungs. You would be nowhere without me. You came back because you need me. Not him! I’ll show you what you need. You need a good beating.”

  Furniture smashing. Screams. Thumps. Bumps. Smacks. Slaps. Cries for mercy. Fabric ripping. Bones cracking.

  Chapter 17

  Back in Black (Rayea’s Journal)

  ***

  “A kiss? The renunciation of the heart when one is no longer alone.” ~ Unknown

  ***

  10/22. My homecoming was miraculous. I was happy, happier than I had been in my life. It was obvious, quite literally actually. At first, I hadn’t thought anything about it, but when I discovered that my vampire fangs no longer retracted, I freaked out. But Blick and Ra reassured me that it was okay. I could learn how to hide them when I spoke to humans and things would be fine. I stressed about it some more. The realization drove me nuts for several days until I finally decided just to accept it.

  “It is very freeing to be comfortable in your own skin, whatever type of skin that may be,” Blick had said to me.

  He should know, I told myself. He had shifted into many forms, just in the time I had known him. A hellhound puppy I found by the River Styx, a large and raging werewolf when the shit hit the fan, a seven-foot tall angel, a wolf god, and my fiancée – those last three shapes being human of course.

  After reading my book that Grace and Lynn published, my mother told me I should be proud to be who I was. “If people can’t handle the fact that you have fangs, then that’s their tough luck,” she had said.

  Blick’s explanation I got. My mother’s, no so much. It pretty much came down to me adjusting, yet again, to a new me. Vampire from Hell, child of Satan, dragon shape-shifter, all around nice person if you don’t fuck with her. That was how I thought of myself. Oh and add, silly girl in love. That summed me up.

  Finally, I stopped pouting about my protruding fangs and my self-image, and moved on to making up for lost time with those in my family I loved. And yes, that did not include my father and sister who I forced out of my thoughts as often as I could.

  Maybe I was selfish wanting to spend time with my mother and stepfather, Ra, but I justified it. I needed time with them. I needed things to be as normal as possible. Really, I just wanted to be happy. Period. Blick and I were inseparable as well. Maybe I was the clingy one, or maybe he was. I don’t know. We were in love and I did not care who knew it.

  It had been weeks since our return from Valeria. Things there had quieted down and J had told us the region had been abandoned. No one, especially those who had been imprisoned there by Mehen, wanted to return to the place. The Ancient Council had been turned over to G and Max, and a few others like J and Demetri who consulted here and there. Blick and I stayed out of the politics, at least for now, and concentrated on things closer to home. However, G had told me that I was welcome to join the hierarchy anytime I wanted, even if it was simply through consulting. I had graciously acknowledged his offer and politely declined.

  I did not tell anyone, even though I knew Blick understood my decision, but I understood after Mehen’s stunt that I had to keep some distance between me and the other celestial beings, the ones who were my friends and the ones who weren’t. I needed to do that for my own sanity or their protection, or both. It may not work out in the end, but at least I had to try.

  I had mentioned to Ra that we should return and wipe Valeria off the map with a little firepower, but he had told me it wasn’t worth it. Being a dragon shape-shifter as well, Ra was the only one – other than Blick - who reminded me when I was getting too big for my pants. I told myself to calm down, the little inner dragon in me now wanting to kick ass as often as possible, and instead took comfort in the fact that many supernatural creatures were safe and happy, living a life of their own somewhere remote. Demetri had yet to figure out where most of the creatures had vanished to after I freed them, but he and J were sorting it out. I decided to let the topic drop and turned my attention to my life on Earth.

  Since Blick and I could not agree if we should buy a home before our wedding day or not, we opted to stay at my mother’s home in Sausalito. My mother and Ra insisted and I loved being near them. My mother and I chatted often about my wedding plans and future house decorations and visited with her friends. Having teatime with her knitting circle as they called themselves was a blast. I learned a lot about the history of the Fanged community from Maia, Typhean’s oldest daughter who was my mother’s best friend and a powerful sorceress in her own right and of course Eos, the goddess of Immortality when she popped in.

  Being a long time healer, Maia had become fascinated when she learned that my blood had healing properties. I was asked to provide samples of my blood more often than I liked because it interfered with my drinking my mother’s wonderful blood tea. After Maia pricked my fingers, I had to sit and smile nicely as I held cotton balls on my fingertips and attempted to balance my cup of tea. It was ludicrous, but I was certainly not in a position to tell an ancient sorceress who had been around since the beginning of time ‘no’. Some days, I could not get over how my daily life had changed. Breakfast in bed with Blick, lunch and shopping with my mother, teatime with the goddess ladies (as I called them), a quick hunt in the evening, and then a midnight swim in the ocean with Ra. My days rolled one after the other into blissful oblivion.

  Being near the water again satisfied my inner dragon spirit. Ra and I would shift into our dragon form and travel out pass the Golden Gate Bridge to the other side of the bay. Being a dragon, swimming in the water was a completely freeing experience and I loved exploring the depths of the ocean at night. Blick and J had reconciled, and thankfully Blick had let go of his jealously. Blick had feared that because J was a vampire now like me that I would forget about him. Me forget about Blick? Never! I dismissed his fears instantly and limited spending time with J. If J has any questions about being a vampire, he can talk to Michael,” I had told Blick. For the time being, that seemed to have satisfied Blick.

  As my thirst for blood grew less and less, my mind turned to domestic delights. The wedding day was a year away and would be here before we knew it. We both had a lot to do.

  It was very unlike me and unlike that of a vampire’s nature I suppose, to worry about planning a wedding, shopping for a home, and so on. I did not let that bother me. I was enjoying life, probably for the first time ever and I had my routine down. After I had some down time, I contacted Grace and we started going hunting a couple of times a week. I logged back on to my social networking sites, deleted my posts on Deadit.com, just for security issues, and started a new journal. I reconnected with my friends online and finished my homework, which was reading the published version of my previous online journals. One last thing to do was to find out where Lynn lived because she had stopped responding to our text messages. It was not like her at all.

  A few weeks earlier, Grace had alerted me about not knowing where Lynn was. I had told her to find out where she lived and we would pay her a visit. When Grace talked to Ashton, Lynn’s boyfriend and discovered she had broken up with him, Grace and I became alarmed. It was a sudden decision and with no real reason, or at least one Ashton could understand. It was not like her. Ashton was an actor and drop-dead handsome. Granted he had been filming a lot lately, he said, but the long distant relationship hadn’t seemed to bother either one of them. That was Ashton’s story. But I knew Lynn. She would not do such a thing like that without some big reason.
Grace decided to locate where Lynn lived and let me know what she found out. I made a note in my iPhone to make a few calls in the meantime to see if anyone else had heard from her.

  When I checked the clock on my phone and saw what time it was, I shut down my computer. I wanted to make dinner for Blick before he got home from his meeting with Demetri. I did not care so much that he had been working a great deal with Demetri to track down Beelzebub’s brothers, the remaining princes of Hell. I disliked being away from him now and just as important, I did not want to know what he would find. I knew some evil demon would show up on my doorstep soon enough. I knew the brothers were out there because I could sense it like something you know you need to do but can’t remember what it is. That was the creepy feeling I had churning around in the back of my head, an overpowering thought of dread.

  I raced around the kitchen with vampire speed to see if I could drive the feeling away. Of course, it did not work, so by the time I had cooked up Blick’s favorite meal which consisted of a steak (medium rare), salad, mashed potatoes, and garlic bread, I poured myself a glass of red wine and headed down to the cellar to find a vial of blood stored in my mother’s cellar.

  Being a blood god with connections to people in high places, Ra kept a large supply of essential nourishments stocked in a walk-in freezer that connected to the wine cellar. I had never seen so many steaks and bottles of vintage wine in my life. When Blick and I had moved in, he had installed a vacuum-sealed vault for my needs. He had told me to select any type I liked and I had been sampling various bloods of the gods that they had donated to ‘my stash’ which was the name I called the vault. I asked Ra what was the catch and he replied, “I think it’s their way of thanking you. Besides what vampire turns down blood of the gods?”

  I could not disagree with Ra on that point. The blood was delicious and once I got over the fact that it reacted well with the wine, I enjoyed drinking it that way. I tried to push out the memory of my father using wine as the delivery system to turn me into a vampire. His blood had been in the wine and that’s how it had triggered my change. A nagging thought, however, remained in my head. Using any type of liquid, water or wine or whatever, to poison someone was rather effective. The person would not realize it until it was too late.

  Next to hunting, the best way I enjoyed getting my dosage of blood was through Grace’s blood pills. The blood freeze-dried method Demetri and Blick had designed while I was away. Of course, I loved Blick’s blood smoothies but I had to agree with Grace, grabbing a few pills to go was easy and certainly did the trick.

  I was glad Grace and I had started hunting a few nights a week. I needed to stay in practice and on the alert. I did not want to become complacent just because I was enjoying life and taking it easy. My life had never been calm and uncomplicated. I knew it would return to being chaotic soon enough. Anything could change at any time so I wanted to remain mindful of that and be thankful for every blessing I had already received during my second chance at life.

  As the evening wore on, I got a text from Blick saying he had gotten tied up with Demetri and they were figuring out another sighting of Asmodeus, one of Beelzebub’s brothers. I groaned and replied, “I’ll try to wait up, dear.”

  He thought that was hilarious because, as he knew, I had not been sleeping a lot. I got maybe two or three hours a night and that was it. I was at work on another book and had been writing up practice chapters on my new blog.

  ***

  10/23 – 6 am

  “What are you doing still up?” Blick hovered over my computer, resting his hands on my shoulders. It was the best feeling in the world to have him so close again.

  “Reading my story again,” I laughed as I sipped on my cup of blood tea.

  “Eos hasn’t given me my copy back yet,” he grumbled as he caressed my shoulder.

  “I’m sure she’ll get it to you when she’s done.”

  “I’m sorry I was gone all night.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

  Blick did not say anything for a few moments which worried me.

  “Blick?”

  “Demetri’s looking in to it. I thought I would come home, get a shower, and meet him later.”

  Concerned, I swiveled around in my office chair. “What’s going on?”

  “Weird stuff. It may be nothing, but Asmodeus showed up on J’s new detection system so I agreed to go with them and check it out.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “I’ll go to then.”

  “Rayea.”

  I glared at him.

  “I’ll take my phone with me and text you often. Okay?”

  “Fine,” I agreed, trying not to show the worry I felt growing inside me.

  “Do you regret your book being shared with the world?” he asked, growing more serious.

  Lately, I had enjoyed hanging out with the carefree Blick, the one who did not worry about work. Here at 6 am in the morning, serious Blick had returned. Seeing him like this was a bit of a downer.

  “What if your father is still out there somewhere and reads it? I mean…”

  I reached for his hand and held it to my cheek. I listened to his heart beat in time with mine. Ever since he had restarted my heart, it had been like that. It had become a favorite past time of mine, simply listening quietly to the sound of our hearts beating as one. I didn’t fully understand it, but I love it just the same. Finally, I spoke up and startled him. “I'm tired of being afraid, Blick,” I said. “That was the old Rayea. I won't be afraid anymore. I have you by my side and as long as I have you, and my friends, I will not yield to my fears.” I glanced up at him. “Blick, I’m not going to let my father or my sister destroy my future, our future. I want us to finally move on. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. My father and sister may be out there still, but I won’t let that dictate how I live my life. Not anymore. I don’t care what snaky shit they throw at me.”

  Blick growled at me. “Language! Stop the cursing, okay?”

  “Fine! But don’t you agree?”

  “The new Rayea indeed,” he chuckled, leaning over to kiss me on the head. “Dragon lady!”

  “Stop that! I can shift, yeah, but I’m a vampire at heart. Always will be.”

  “Are you just a werewolf or a wolf god?”

  “I’m many things. Being alive as long as I have been, it happens. To some I am a werewolf, sure, when that part of me comes out. To others, I’m a guardian angel, a helpful way out of a bad situation.”

  “Like the werewolf who threw me up in the air as Mehen shot her death ray at me.”

  “I didn’t do that all by myself. J helped too.”

  “I know.”

  He nodded. “Really I don’t think of myself as a werewolf. Do you think of yourself as simply a vampire?”

  “I did. Now I’m not sure.”

  “I can see that,” Blick debated. “It’s probably different for each celestial being. But being able to shift means you can be a lot of things. It’s the power of the blood you’ve received, the power of the gods. It may be more than you think. I’m interested to see how far your powers go. You have shifted from black cat to red dragon and back. That’s a big jump.”

  “I see what you mean,” I muttered, realizing my love life had simplified itself just as my celestial existence had become extremely complicated.

  “Did you think about it before you shifted, really focused on the end result?”

  I gritted my teeth not wanting to examine myself so soon after being dead a year and having faced Mehen when I could not shift. “Maybe I thought about the cat thing some, but it just worked. It was rather easy. The dragon shift. Not so much.”

  Blick smiled at me, his eyes blazing radiant amber as they reflected in my computer screen.

  I turned around again just as he knelt down before me.

  “That’s what I thought,” he whispered and propped his hands on the arms of the computer chair.

  “So I could shi
ft into a dragon at anytime then?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

  “Or more I would guess. Of course, I think you can control it. I’ll teach you how I control mine. I’m wondering though if the blood of the gods you have had means you can far surpass what it means to shift.”

  “I have no idea what you just said, Blick.”

  “I know. It’s okay. I’m still working it out in my head. All I mean is what if you can think of something you want to shift into and do it. If you let your fear go, and just be that other shape. You may not be limited by your house, the House of the Dragon because you weren’t raised there. It wasn’t your home. You received their mark. That’s all.”

  Blick continued his self-induced debate. I realized with hearing his thoughts that he and Demetri had been discussing my shape-shifting abilities. There was more about Asmodeus going on than he wanted to share with me. He continued, “Technically you were raised in the House of the Wolf, granted after it fell in the hands of your father and he renamed it, but still.”

  “And I have a tattoo of a wolf now after we…” I paused, not finishing my sentence.

  Blick knew what I meant. “After we had sex?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said, blushing slightly.

  Lovely, I thought. Here I believed shifting into a dragon form was super-cool. What was next? Shifting into a wolf like Blick or the body of anyone I wanted to overpower? Merging my mind and body with theirs?

  “Possibly,” Blick replied aloud. “I’ve read about natural shape-shifters, but I’ve never met one until now.”

  “Sweetie, you’re freaking me out. Can we table this for now? You need to get ready.”

  He blew a kiss at me. “You’re in the big leagues now, missy. But you’ll always be my little pussycat.”

  “And you’ll always be my little scared fluffy black hellhound I found by the river that day, want you?” I pursed my lips at him. “Shall I make you go fetch something?”

  “It was a disguise. It wasn’t who I am. Simply a device to gain your trust.”