by H. T. Night
She looked away. “Because I knew you cared about him. I did it for you.”
This whole thing was almost too much for me to handle. I sat down and cradled my head in my hands, thinking. “You’re going to have to turn into Daphne and go get his Mustang from the ranch. You are going to need to bring it back here. It’ll be dark soon, so I guess you won’t have a problem, you know, transitioning, or whatever you call it.”
Yari smiled and looked at me for a heartbeat or two. She reached out and took my hand, and we sat like that until the sun finally set. And when it did, she stood from the couch and stepped away from me. “Do you have an extra set of keys, Josiah?
“Yes, we both kept a set of each other’s keys in our bedrooms just in case of an emergency. Can you carry them as a hawk?”
“Oh, I can carry much bigger things than keys, Josiah. I’ll need the keys to the Mustang. Now.”
I nodded and fetched the keys, and when I returned, a beautiful red hawk was sitting on the arm of the couch. She opened her talons, and I carefully hooked the key ring inside the claws as they closed over the key ring. I opened the door, and the hawk shot out of my apartment like a cannon shot.
“Be careful!” I yelled after her, wondering what my neighbors were thinking. With any luck, no one saw the hawk.
About a half hour later, Yari made her way back in Tommy’s Mustang. During that time, I had packed a few things. We jumped into the muscle car and headed straight for the freeway. I kept looking up in the sky for ravens.
So far, the coast was clear.
We hit the 91 Freeway and eventually made our way to the 5 Freeway. I wasn’t sure how far north I wanted to drive, but Monterey seemed far enough. Monterey was a quaint beach city about five hours north, and it seemed as if it would be the last place anyone would think to look for me. If the Triat wanted me dead, I think she or it—or whatever it was—would have done it by now.
Then again, what the hell did I know?
Chapter Twenty-three
In Monterey, we stopped at a quaint bed and breakfast. I got us a room that only had one small window. Before the trip, I had packed the same duct tape that Yari had used to tape my own curtains shut. Yari and I proceeded to tape shut the curtain to this window, as well. We even duct-taped the blinds themselves, so that no light whatsoever could peek through come morning.
I was exhausted. In hindsight, I probably should have had the vampire be the one to do the driving through the entire night. Anyway, I got the room for three nights, so that we could figure out our next move. Even though, it wasn’t morning—in fact, morning was still a few hours away—Yari hit the sheets hard, crashing immediately. Dead to the world, so to speak. And for all I knew, she was.
I lit a couple of candles that I had brought and then I sat on the leather-back chair that was directly in front of the bed. Although Yari and I had been intimate previously at the party in Victorville, I felt I needed an invitation before lying next to her on this day.
So, I sat there and watched her sleep as the sun moved across the sky, which I only knew was happening from my wristwatch. I thought that I had read somewhere that vampires didn’t sleep, that they died all over again, and then were reborn come sundown. Well, say that to this softly snoring girl. She sure as hell sounded asleep to me.
I was exhausted, but was too wired to sleep. I didn’t want to put on the TV because the noise and light might bother her. So instead, I just stared. I sat there and looked at her in the candlelight. Her auburn hair flowed down her back like a red waterfall. Her body was long and athletic. She looked like a female superhero, something out of a comic book. And, like a heroine, she had saved my life. I didn’t know why, but she seemed always to be there for me.
I thought about everything, trying to wrap my brain around this vampire business. Had Tommy seriously been a werewolf all this time? The more I thought about it, the more it was adding up. Tommy had come out of nowhere. He had no family. He had an erratic temper that he seemed always to be trying to keep in check. True, he had disappeared for a few days, and, no, I had never seen any actual proof that he was in the Reserves. I just took him for his word. Who wouldn’t?
In fact, oddly—or perhaps hysterically—he even hated high-pitched noises.
My eyes were growing heavy, and I dozed off. Sometime later, I felt a hand guiding me to the bed. I cracked my eyes open and saw Yari pulling down the covers. She unbuckled my belt and slid my pants off like a mother putting a son to bed. Still wearing my boxers and T-shirt, she guided me into bed and tucked me in. She was sweet and gentle and kind in every movement she made. She slipped under the covers next to me, her body surprisingly warm.
“Aren’t vampires supposed to be cold?” I asked.
“I’m not a vampire,” she said patiently.
I nodded once. “You’re a Mani.”
“There’s a big difference.”
“Of course,” I said, and grinned.
I turned and faced her. “I don’t know what to do. Where do I go from here?”
“Don’t think about it, Josiah. Not right now. Tonight, just close your eyes.”
I could feel her breath on my face. I leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Thank you for saving my life.”
Chapter Twenty-four
I slept for a long time. It felt like years. I opened my eyes and saw that Yari had opened the single window because it was now dark outside. The clock on the nightstand showed 8:42 p.m. Wow, I had slept for fifteen hours. I sat up. The showerhead blasted the echoing tiles with water in the connecting bathroom. Considering that I had been out for the past fifteen hours, I needed to use the facilities.
Duty called. I eased open the bathroom door and could see Yari’s silhouette through the steamy glass shower door.
“Josiah, is that you?” Yari called out over the water.
“Of course it is. Who else could it be?”
“Who knows? Maybe the maid. I’m not sure how familiar the staff is at this bed and breakfast.”
I did my business. Luckily, she couldn’t hear it above the drone of the rushing water. When done, I started walking out the door. “Where are you going?”
“Outside. To give you some privacy.”
“Aren’t you dirty? Do you need a shower?”
“Yeah, I’ll take one when you’re done.”
“There’s plenty of room in here.”
I paused. “Seriously?”
“If you’re shy, I understand.”
“I’m not that shy.”
“Well, you better hurry up. I would hate to use up all the hot water.”
Oh, she was good. I looked at her silhouette one more time. That’s all I needed to see. My boxers and T-shirt were off in seconds. I walked over to the sliding glass shower door. I took a deep breath, as if I was about to enter a swimming pool. I pulled open the glass door. I looked in, and Yari faced me. Her body was perfect. The wispy shower steam did little to hide her curves. I tried not to stare, but the truth is, I haven’t seen that many women naked before—and the ones I had seen naked were nowhere near Yari’s jaw-dropping perfection.
Oh, my God.
Her skin was milky white. Her body as curvy and hard and smooth as anything I had ever seen. Her wet hair hung over her shoulder, and she put a long-fingered hand on one hip.
“You getting an eyeful, mister?”
So much for not staring.
“Uh, sorry,” I said. At least, that’s what I think I said. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I had any control of my mouth or my voice at that moment. My hormones were somewhere in orbit at the moment.
“Come over here, silly. I’m not lying about the hot water getting used up. This is a private bed and breakfast, not a Sheraton.”
I stepped into the hot shower, and she backed up underneath the shower head. The water flowed over her, accentuating her curves. I went straight to her like a moth to the flame, and into the epicenter of the water flow.
At first, the hot water shocked me and then it
felt incredible. Yari turned my body around and began lathering my back and shoulders with a bar of soap. As she did so, she gently massaged my skin and muscles. Oh, dear Lord. She next guided my head so that the water sprayed directly onto my scalp, and then poured some shampoo into my hair. Now she was massaging my scalp, and I think I died and went to heaven. I tried to turn around, but she stopped me.
“Hold on,” she said. “I have to wash out the shampoo.” She rinsed my hair thoroughly. I relished the feeling of her gentle fingers on my scalp. I couldn’t take all this sensuality much longer. My passion was burning, and I was going to explode.
I turned around and switched spots with her so that now she was underneath the flow of water. I ran my fingers through her thick, black hair and pulled her toward me. She came willingly. I kissed her passionately, and soon we were pressed up against the side wall, kissing hungrily. I had never kissed any woman in my life with this much intention. I wanted her to know how much I appreciated her and wanted her. Needed her. I pulled back and looked at her intensely. Then I leaned in and kissed her again and again. It was the first time I had ever felt in complete control in her presence. Everything up to now, she had dictated. I sensed that releasing control was somehow turning her on—more so than I had ever seen before in my life.
Stumbling and slipping, I led her out of the shower and into the bedroom. I threw her on the bed softly and proceeded to kiss every square inch of her body. I was in the midst of kissing her belly button when she reached around me and grabbed my buttocks and pressed me up against her. Then she wrapped her arms around me and just held me close.
I look down at her, gasping. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, Josiah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Josiah, I...”
“You what?”
“Josiah, I...”
“You what?” I was anticipating her saying that she loved me, which would have floored me. To be honest, I wanted her to say it. So, I pressed again. “What? Please tell me.”
“Josiah, I... have to kill you.”
“What?!” I jumped off of her.
“I know I have to do it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Josiah, the Triat led me to you. I never understood why. I thought it was because it would have something to do with Tommy. But I think the Triat led me to you because you were going to ultimately mess up the prophecy.”
“The prophecy? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The Children of the Night’s prophecy.”
I got up and put my jeans back on. Having someone tell you they were going to kill you sort of dampened the mood. “Sure, of course. That makes a tremendous amount of sense. Look, I was about to make love to you, and now I’m seriously thinking I have to stick an entirely different kind of stake in you. Start talking fast, or tonight’s about to get real ugly.”
I glanced around. I didn’t have a stake. Would a toothbrush do?
God, listen to me. I’m going nuts.
“Atticai, Hector, Wyatt, and I were all given the same prophetic dream. The four of us didn’t meet by chance. The Triat brought us together through dreams.”
“This just gets better and better. What was the dream?”
“The four of us were given the same vision in our dreams. This was fifteen years ago. We all had the same dream to meet on April 18, 1995, at midnight. We were to meet and form a clan called Children of the Night.”
“So you’ve known Atticai for almost seventeen years now?”
“Not quite. In the mid-1800s, Atticai and I were in a giant clan on the east coast. So, I met him first during the Civil War.”
“The Civil War?”
“Yes, Josiah.”
“You have got to be kidding.”
“Josiah, I was born October 18th, 1673.”
“You need to give me a moment here. You are over three hundred years old?”
“I look pretty good, huh?”
“I’ll say. Okay, so you and Atticai were in some giant Mani vampire clan during the Civil War? Just saying that out loud makes me think I’m crazy.”
“You’re not crazy, Josiah.”
“Says the girl who calls herself a vampire. Go on.”
“Not a vampire. A Mani.”
“Somehow that sounds even crazier. Anyway, go on.”
“Atticai was the head of our clan. There was a Mani named Krull who didn’t like the way Atticai ran things. Believe it or not, Atticai is not about death and destruction. He defends and protects the will of the Triat, but ultimately, he is a mediator.”
“Sure, he seemed real peaceful when he sicced half the rattlesnakes in California on my ass.”
“I can see how you would think that, but the will of the Triat is what makes him a killer. Mani, such as Krull, are the real killers. Such Mani are the reason why we often get referred to as vampires—and why so many Tandra—humans—have died over the years.” She paused and sat back on the bed.
God, I still wanted her. Did she just say she was going to have to kill me? Even that statement didn’t kill my desire for Yari.
She went on, “Krull and others like him want the Tandra to discover our world because then they have a license to kill. Atticai knew that’s what Krull and those who followed him were doing. Atticai put a stop to this, until Krull’s legions rose up over Atticai’s clan, and Atticai—and many others—were forced to flee.”
She paused and studied me a moment longer. Her eyes were so damn hard to read. “Josiah, there is a whole world of Mani out there that want to destroy all Tandra.”
“Where do werewolves—the Carni—come into it?” I discreetly moved over to my bag, where I had packed a pocketknife. I wasn’t going down without a fight. Even if I had to fight a female vampire.
Yari said, “The Carni are their own species and are equally protected by the Triat, although they have their own set of rules. The Carni have not as many rules to live by and are in constant opposition of the Triat.”
“Why doesn’t the Triat just have them killed off?”
“It doesn’t work that way. The Triat works through us and the only way the Carni will be destroyed is by the Mani.”
“Okay, that’s pretty heavy.”
“And that’s where the Children of the Night come in. For hundreds of years, there has been a prophecy. A Mani that will be so powerful, so pure, that he will restore order to the orderless. It is said that he will bring beauty back to us all so that we can live in peace.”
I nodded, not really understanding. Not wanting to, either. Because if I understood, then I would have to accept things.
Yari continued, “After Atticai, Hector, and Wyatt, and I all received our visions, we were told to form a four-person clan, or a cell. Once done, the next step would be revealed to us in further dreams.”
“And was it?”
“Yes.”
I nodded, guessing this part. “You dreamed of Atticai being the Chosen One.”
She shrugged. “Perhaps. There is no face to the Chosen One. At least, not yet.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “Why do you think it’s Atticai?”
“It makes sense. He fights for humans—well, for the most part—and he’s a Mani.”
Yari continued studying me, then finally said, “Unfortunately, there’s nothing pure and beautiful about Atticai.”
“So you don’t think it’s him?”
“It does not matter what I think, Josiah. I am an extremely small fish in a much bigger pond. Anyway, most people think it’s going to be Atticai. Already he is prepping to harvest a virgin on her twentieth birthday. When he does so, he will, according to legend, transform into the white eagle.”
“White eagle?”
“As you know by now, all male Mani transition into ravens and the Mani women into hawks. The Chosen One, however, will transition into a white eagle.”
“Err, what exactly do you mean by harvest?”
“A Mani will drain all the li
fe-blood of a Tandra—or Carni, for that matter.”
“Yeah, Atticai’s a real saint,” I said sarcastically, shaking my head. “So who’s this virgin that Atticai’s supposedly going to harvest?”
Yari was quiet.
I pressed. “There’s not too many virginal twenty-year-olds out there. Is he going to pluck a nun from a nunnery?”
“No. Our dreams were acutely specific on who the virgin is supposed to be.”
Confused, I looked at Yari and then it hit me. Everything now made perfect, twisted sense.
The virgin was Lena.
Chapter Twenty-five
“You’re talking about Lena, aren’t you?” I said. “Shit! Wasn’t it going to be her birthday any day now?”
“We all had the same dream and the same vision, Josiah. In each of them, Lena fits the image of the twenty-year-old virgin exactly. And as her twentieth birthday has come closer, the dreams have been out of control for us. Now we dream about what is to happen nearly every night. And just recently, there has been something else added to the dream. A new twist, so to speak.”
“And what is that?” I asked.
“There is this strong presence of evil. In the dream, Atticai is freeing us all by receiving the necessary blood. But there is an evil presence interfering that we can’t quite make out. We’re not sure if it is a fallen Mani or Carni. But there is something there, and it is exceedingly evil, and we are all on guard because of it.”
“Does Lena know any of this?”
“She knows only that, on that special night, she and Atticai will be joined together throughout all eternity.”
“But in reality, she’s not. In reality, Atticai is going to kill her.”
“Atticai is going to fulfill the prophecy, Josiah. He will then save the Mani. He will fly in as a white eagle. It has been prophesied for thousands of years. Do you understand how lucky each of us is to be asked to be a part of it?”
