Diadem of Blood and Bones

by Ripley Proserpina

  “Marcus,” she began as she placed her hands on his sweater-clad chest. “I promise I will not be stupid. I will run if it will help us. I will hide if it is necessary. But I can’t promise not to do everything possible to keep you safe the way you keep me safe.”

  “Briar…” He drew her name out. One of his arms went around her back, and the other to her waist until he embraced her. He took a breath as if he had more to say, but blew it out. “Okay,” he finally replied. “Okay.” Eventually, he let her go, but not before he grabbed her hand. “Come on, I know Sylvain is going to enjoy your outfit.”

  Rolling her eyes, she followed him out of her room and downstairs to where the rest of the guys waited. All of them wore a variation of her clothing choice. Hudson’s jacket was dark blue, not black, and Valen’s was a deep gray, but all of them would blend into the darkness.

  Sylvain’s clothes, however, had her laughing out loud. Not only did he wear a long-sleeve, black crewneck, but he also wore black jeans. And his hair, like Briar’s, was gathered into a ponytail at the base of his neck.

  His whiskey-colored eyes flashed as he scanned her. “You look awesome.” One side of his mouth lifted into a smile, crinkling the skin next to his eyes.

  “You do as well,” she answered.

  Striding toward her, he wrapped her in his arms and lifted her off her feet. Marcus continued to hold her hand, so Sylvain let her down again. “You look beautiful in black.”

  “Do I look tough, though?” she asked.

  “The total badass.” Now both sides of his mouth lifted and Briar smiled back.

  “Thank you.”

  Marcus squeezed her hand once and then started talking, “We’ve seen most of the attacks coming from north or west of Boston. That club video was taken near MIT.”

  “MIT is across the river from you,” Briar said to him.

  “Yes. Then there was one from Waltham, Newton, and the one up near Cambridge.”

  “Most of the attacks have happened in populated areas,” Hudson interjected. “But they’re near reserves and other wooded spaces. I suspect that’s where they go during the day.”

  “The ones who didn’t get the medicine,” Briar added. “Right? The crawler from today must have been Asher’s since he came during the day. The soldiers and crawlers that were his had been given the medicine.”

  “Yes,” Hudson said. “But even so, they’ll want to hide. They aren’t as strong or as deadly as a vampire, so they’ll always search for safety. The crawlers will dig under the ground, cover themselves in earth and then emerge at night.”

  “And the soldiers?” she asked.

  “They can blend, but they don’t know that. They’ll follow the crawlers’ lead. Often, vampire masters pair them together, so they’ll naturally gravitate toward each other.” Hudson stuffed his hands into his pockets. “If we find one, we’ll find the other.”

  “And you don’t think they’ll move around while we’re looking for them?” Why would they stay in one place when they were hunted?

  “They’ll definitely be hunting,” Valen said. With his broad shoulders thrown back and light hair covered by a dark knit cap, he made an intimidating sight. “But they’ll return after they feed. And no, I don’t think they’ll run from us.”

  “Why not?” Briar leaned against Marcus as she waited for Valen to answer.

  “Because they’re already coming to you,” Sylvain said before Valen could. “And I’ve got the ash upstairs to prove it. They won’t be running from you, Briar. They’ll run to you.”

  The hairs on the back of Briar’s neck lifted, and her stomach clenched. It was one thing to hunt the crawlers and surprise them. It gave her an advantage. But what if they were tracking her and waiting for an opportunity to make themselves known?

  Every crawler she’d met was more disgusting than the last. Their evilness trickled from their pores like the venom from their teeth. And the soldiers… their strength and speed when honed in on their victim was frightening.

  Thus far, her battles had only been fought against crawlers. How would she fare against an opponent whose sole purpose was war? Suddenly, the promise Marcus exacted made a lot more sense. It wasn’t that she’d run scared, but she wouldn’t have the skills that her vampires did. If she bumbled her way through a fight, and they’d be better off without her there, well, she had no trouble running her butt up a tree a few miles away and waiting.

  “Did you really leave the ash on the floor?” Marcus asked Sylvain as they started for the back door.

  “I swept it into a pile,” Sylvain muttered.

  “But you didn’t throw it away?” Marcus opened his eyes wide and stared at his brother in disbelief.

  “I couldn’t find the vacuum.”

  Briar giggled at the image of Sylvain sucking the ash into a canister vacuum. “Modern day vampire cleaning.”

  Sylvain winked at her as he held the door open. “Come on, blossom. As we run, I will tell you about the time I fought a bear with only a horse shoe and a broken bottle.”

  As they ran west through Boston, he did just that. It distracted her from the run, from the scenery, and from the danger they were running toward. At one point, Sylvain had her laughing so hard she had to stop and catch her breath.

  “This is the worst time for these stories, Sylvain,” Valen whisper-yelled.

  “Where are we?” Briar asked. She didn’t recognize the town where they’d stopped. In front of them was a classic New England town square. A white steepled church sat on one end while white clapboard Colonials framed the other three sides.

  The trees had long since turned here and reached skeletal branches toward the sky. “We’re a bit more north than I meant to bring us,” Valen said, sucking in a breath. “Breathe in, Briar, what do you smell?”

  She did as he asked, holding the air in her mouth and nose. At first, she didn’t know what it was she was supposed to smell, but then it came to her—a coppery, tangy edge along with a hint of turned earth and rot. “It smells like the crawlers, but with something else…” Briar rubbed her hand on her nose like it itched. “It hurts my nose.”

  “Soldiers,” Hudson explained. “Together with the crawlers.”

  “Where?” she asked, swiveling her head to find the vampires. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Use your other senses,” Hudson said. “Follow the scent.”

  It was hard not to rely on her sight to lead her to their prey, but she did as they asked. In order to take away her reliance on her dominant sense, she closed her eyes and moved her head from left to right.

  A breeze, salt and brine, blew from the east and with it, a stronger blast of copper. “Toward the ocean,” Briar said, opening her eyes.

  They took off at once. A part of Briar that had never existed before a few days ago knew exactly what to do. She followed the scent like a bloodhound, automatically taking the route that was darkest and least exposed.

  The distance between them and the scent shrunk, and soon the smell was overwhelming. Growls and groans, low but constant, teased her hearing. Every so often, the sound would crest then die away again.

  “Stay behind us,” Marcus said.

  His voice cut through her hyper-focus, and she fell back. Sylvain and Valen stayed at her sides while Marcus and Hudson went ahead and then suddenly stopped.

  Like they had when they would walk with her on campus, the guys kept her blind. Their height blocked anything ahead or to the sides of her. Now, however, she could use her hearing and smell.

  And what she heard confused her. Grunts and hisses were followed by dark warnings, “Quiet! Hurry!”

  Nudging Sylvain’s arm to get his attention, she mouthed, “What’s happening?”

  He shook his head. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to tell her. When he tried to look away, she gripped his arm.

  “Too late,” he replied and all the sounds made sense. They were fighting over food.

  And humans were food.

  His eye
s were sad as he watched her, as if he could see when she finally understood. She opened her mouth to speak, but the smell hit her. Hard.

  It overpowered the rot and metal.

  Blood.

  It was fresh. Unlike the blood Marcus had given her, this had a tinge of oxygen still attached to it as if it had just spilled from someone’s veins. Briar’s throat closed, and she had to shut her eyes to keep from retching. When she opened them, she met Valen’s confused stare. His upper lip puffed out—a sign his fangs had erupted from his gums.

  His reaction was nothing like hers. The scent didn’t disgust him or turn his stomach, but enticed him. Briar wondered how long it had been since he’d fed. From the way his pupils slowly expanded, she guessed it’d been a while.

  The voice of her vampire whispered in her mind. Touch him. Anchor him. So she did. She took Valen’s hand in hers and held on to him tightly until the blue returned and he squeezed her hand back.

  Wait. Boy, this vampire was bossy. She couldn’t see how many soldiers and crawlers there were. It wasn’t as if she was going to launch herself over Hudson and Marcus and start ripping heads from bodies.

  Her vampire sent her a vision of her doing just that the first time she’d run into the crawlers, and she had to hold back a snort. Okay. Maybe she’d gotten a little overzealous.

  But she was determined to be smart and not make a dangerous situation worse by being impulsive.

  Valen touched her elbow and put his finger to his mouth, indicating she should be quiet, before jerking his head toward the left.

  What was she doing? Breathing too loud? How was she supposed to be quieter?

  Holding her breath, she followed him. Each step she took was carefully placed. Toe. Heel.

  It was easier than she expected. Her body knew how to adjust its position to land lightly and make the least noise. Valen moved effortlessly. Perhaps one day she would be as confident and graceful, but for now, it took all her concentration and planning.

  With Valen in her periphery, Briar moved to a spot where she would be hidden. They’d skirted the area where the soldiers and crawlers were concentrated, but she could still see them from this vantage point.

  She could see everything—the pale hand with palm turned toward the stars, the band of gold gleaming in the moonlight. A moment later, her breath caught in her throat as Hudson, Marcus, and Sylvain threw themselves into the mass of bodies.

  The crawlers were the first to react. They screeched and wailed, begging for mercy. The soldiers merely fought.

  Sylvain caught one around the shoulders, twisting in a move so smooth it must have been executed a thousand times. A crack sounded through the space between Briar and the melee. The soldier remained upright, but his body was wrong. Despite the soldier’s torso bent toward its hip at a forty-five degree angle, he continued to fight. His balance was off, and his body jerked and twitched, but he went after Sylvain with bared fangs.

  Unconcerned, Sylvain merely yanked the soldier’s head from his body and punted it like a football toward the ocean.

  Briar could make out her vampire’s smile and it hit her, Sylvain was enjoying this. Warily she eyed Hudson, Marcus, and Valen. Hudson and Marcus fought with single minded focus. Their faces held none of the pride Sylvain’s did, but every so often, they would catch one another’s eyes and nod, or shake their head.

  “Give me something to punch,” Sylvain had once said. He was a warrior and watching him now—his skill evident in every move—Briar was dumbstruck.

  Maybe it should have scared her, or horrified her, but it didn’t. Sylvain was protecting her. Each soldier or crawler he turned to ash was one less danger she faced.

  It was as if Briar could see inside Sylvain’s mind and read the pattern his thoughts made. Like the ripples of a wave, they projected toward her and all she had to do was follow them. The closer the waves got to Sylvain, the more the world around her grew hazy until it disappeared altogether.

  Protect. Protect. Safe. Love. Words blanketed in their corresponding emotions overwhelmed her. She could feel everything Sylvain felt. He was committed to ending every single soldier and crawler he found. With each death, profound relief swamped Briar.

  Not her relief.

  Sylvain’s.

  From behind her, something screeched like an eagle and hit her hard. Briar rolled, held tight in a claw-like grasp. Above her, a vampire struggled to claw her. His teeth were bared, fangs so long they sliced into his lips, and his blood dripped onto her face.

  A moment later, he disappeared, launched by Valen into a copse of trees. But it didn’t stop him. He was up and attacking again. Sylvain, Marcus, and Hudson had their hands full with the soldiers and crawlers, which meant it was up to Briar to help Valen.

  “Run,” he said. A surge of excitement from Valen hit her hard, and she stumbled back. He wanted this fight. Yearned to tear into this creature who had threatened her.

  His confidence in his abilities gave Briar the permission she needed to do as he asked. It was what she’d promised, and if she hadn’t been so sure he’d be fine, she couldn’t have left.

  Whatever this new vampire skill was, she liked it. It took the guesswork out of decision-making. Valen didn’t lie to her to get her to leave. She saw a set of moves and countermoves he planned to make—all of which ended in this vampire’s death.

  As she dashed away, she heard another screech and glanced over her shoulder in time to see another vampire rush toward her.

  Briar stopped, her speed causing one leg to dig up a huge divot of earth as she braced herself. The vampire hit her full force, and they tumbled over each other. This time, however, she landed on top.

  “These are my soldiers, woman,” the vampire said. “My army!”

  This wasn’t a question that needed an answer. It wouldn’t stop these vampires from attacking to know that somewhere in Boston, one of Asher’s children sought to control the same soldiers. Lifting his head, the vampire hissed, drew back his lips, and sank his teeth into Briar’s shoulder.

  It hurt. For some reason, she thought she wouldn’t feel pain now that she was a vampire, but clearly, she’d been wrong. His teeth sliced into her skin before he raked them toward her biceps. Gritting her teeth, she gripped his hair with one hand and pulled his head toward the dirt. He fought her, but Briar was not going to give up.

  He released her as she pulled harder. Her grip angled his head back, exposing his throat. Strike! Strike now! Fast as a snake, she bit into his throat and his blood coated her tongue. This blood was different than human blood. This was like drinking pure energy. It sizzled down her throat and into her stomach before seeping to her veins.

  The vampire yowled, and she bit down harder until her teeth met and she jerked back. The blood buzzed in her system as she stared down at what she’d done. The vampire was dead. His throat gone. Lifting a hand to her mouth, she swiped away the blood she felt smeared over her lips and dripping down her chin.

  “Briar!” Marcus yelled, and she leapt to steady feet.

  Something was happening to her. The world was as bright as morning and each bird and insect call shrilled in her ears. She slapped her hands over her ears to muffle the sound, but it was too much. The last crawler turned to ash under Sylvain’s hands, and she heard every cell desiccate and peel away from its body until it was nothing but dust.

  “Briar.” Marcus quieted and touched her hands, slowly drawing them away until her focus was on him.

  Where his skin touched her, a new sort of sensation formed. The spastic, frantic energy dissipated, but Briar could still sense it. It was as if it had moved to the edges of her being, waiting for when she needed it.

  “What do you need?” he asked. “What can I do?” His sea-foam green eyes were wide and concerned. And his thoughts… Help her. Protect her. I love you, Briar.

  “I love you,” she said and went into his arms. He caught her up and didn’t resist when she plastered herself to his front.

  “You listened wel
l, little one,” Valen said, his voice low and even.

  Lifting her head from Marcus’s chest, she studied Valen, searching for injuries. He was a little dirty, a little bloody, but whole.

  “I ran,” she said and then glanced at the place she killed the vampire. Inside, her vampire blew on her nails and buffed them on her shirt. “But I didn’t get far.”

  “It’s my fault. I was distracted.” Valen kicked at the dirt.

  Briar shook her head as Marcus cut in. “All of us were. We didn’t expect vampires to work together.”

  “Though perhaps we should, since the four of you do,” Briar said. “Five of us, I mean.”

  “Yeah.” Sylvain wiped his hands over his pants. “We should have. At least we got this group, but we’re going to piss off the other vampires.”

  “We’ll do what we do.” Marcus wrapped his arm around Briar’s shoulders, and she tucked herself into his side. “If they threaten, they die.”

  “How many do you think there were?” Briar said. “This wasn’t all of them.”

  “No,” Hudson answered. “Asher had hundreds of soldiers and dozens of crawlers he kept near him. They were disposable, and he just made more when they died off. There weren’t enough here.”

  “There’s still plenty of night left.” Briar glanced at the sky and then rolled her eyes at herself. “I don’t know why I did that.”

  Marcus laughed and squeezed her. “It’s been years since I’ve looked at the position of constellations to tell time.”

  “That could be a fun lesson,” she said. “Staring up at the sky, watching the stars.” Her voice took on a dreamy quality as she imagined nights spent in their arms, their voices in her ear.

  Cool lips nuzzled her neck, and she shut her eyes to savor the sensation. “Yes.” Marcus’s voice was a soft promise in her ear. “I’ll bring a book. So we can double check our accuracy.”

  Briar shivered. “You know just what to say to a nerd.”

  Marcus chuckled and pulled her against his body so they stood, her back to his front. After a moment, he spoke again, but this time to Hudson. “Did you see the vampires?”