With surprising strength, Nepta peeled Tatiana's fingers off her wrist. "What do you think I am? Some human child who doesn't know her feet from her fingers and who wandered down here by accident?" she hissed through the gap. "That demon took everything from me—my family, my home, my friends."
"What are you if you're not human?"
Nepta grinned wide, revealing a vicious row of sharp pointed teeth. "I'm a full-grown imp. Here, take this bread. It's all I can manage for now, but you'll feel more awake in the morning." She thrust a few dried crusts into Tatiana's palm. "I have to go."
Tatiana returned to her bed. The pieces of toughened bread near broke her teeth, and she had to moisten the edges before biting off and chewing it in tiny pieces. As she waited for sleep that night, her mind was clearer than it had been for a while. Nepta was an imp. Thinking of the pale little creature warmed her heart. At least she had a friend in this hellish place. Tomorrow she would ask more questions.
Chapter Thirteen: Tragedy
Vanse inhaled a long slow deep shuddering breath, but his eyes didn’t open nor did he regain consciousness.
Forked Lightning, Fabio, and Eva stared in silence at his smooth, golden skin as the last drumbeat faded. When they started the ceremony, an oak-handled silver-bladed knife had stuck out of the middle of the vampire master’s chest, and now there was no sign whatsoever of any recent trauma.
"Where do you think the knife went?" Forked Lightning gazed at the unconscious vampire.
"Maybe those who gave it to Tatya took it back?" Eva whispered as if a loud noise might wake him. She'd never seen Vanse before he arrived strapped to a wooden board two nights ago, and only knew what Tatya had confided in her.
They gaped at the prone figure.
"I didn't know vampires breathed." Forked Lightning's eyes were wary, and he nimbly climbed off the bed. The ceremony had accomplished at least one of its goals, and now he was eager to put as much distance between himself and Vanse as possible.
"He didn’t when the knife was embedded in his chest, but, of course, we breathe. Those turned by Vanse are half-demon and normal vampires just breathe slower than humans. But, I am in awe of your power. If I'd known you could achieve this, I would have asked you sooner." Fabio regarded Forked Lightning with a new respect.
"Normal vampires?"
The other two ignored Eva’s question. Many humans were unaware of how many supernatural beings walked among them. Though Eva had more information, if not experience, than many.
"Will he wake soon? This is an improvement, but…" Fabio's relief was laced with anxiety.
"My guides told me yes, he will, but they couldn't say when. We must leave him next to Tatya and keep their hands touching. They said she has been taken, but didn't go willingly, and being physically close to Vanse might help her find her way back from wherever she is. They thought this might be Angelus's doing, and are searching for her.”
"I fear they are right." Fabio paused, whipped out his phone, and took a close-up shot of Vanse's chest and face. "Now I have proof our master isn’t dead, I must leave. I have a plane booked for New York, and an appointment to plead our case before the High Council. If they say Serkan must leave, he will have no choice but to obey. Eva—” The rest of his sentence was lost as Forked Lightning’s phone rang.
“It’s the hospital. Just let me get this.”
The screaming voice at the other end of the phone echoed tinnily in the quiet room.
Forked Lightning blurred toward the door.
Seconds later, Fabio and Eva heard the squeal of tires on gravel as Forked Lightning’s truck departed.
“You’ve got super hearing, haven’t you? What was that about? Is Leyla okay?” Eva asked chewing at her lower lip.
Fabio raised his eyebrows, ignored her question and continued. “I will leave Meera here. She must stay in this room, in case our master wakes. Can you provide her with a supply of blood bags in a cooler?" Fabio’s voice made it clear he thought it wouldn’t be long before till his master awoke.
“Did Forked Lightning say Angelus?” Eva whispered.
“Yes, Vanse’s demon maker who’s supposed to be locked away in Hell. Now, can I be assured you will take care of my master and Mona?” When Eva didn’t respond, he spoke again, this time he added a touch of glamour to his voice. “Eva, look at me.” When he had eye contact, he continued, “provide my assistant with a large supply of blood bags to feed herself, and for Vanse, and anything else she might need. I need your compliance.”
Eva stared into Fabio’s brown eyes, wondering why she hadn’t noticed before how gorgeous he was.
“Eva!” He clicked his fingers. “Did you hear my instruction?”
She nodded.
“Then obey!”
Eva snapped out of whatever bewildered state of mind she’d been in since she witnessed the dagger retreat from Vanse’s body and disappear right in front of her eyes. “Of course, of course. Go to New York and do whatever you need to. Don’t worry about the blood packs. I’ll get on it right away, but get back here as quick as you can.”
Forked Lightning knew something was seriously wrong when he raced into St. Raphael’s reception.
People stood in groups or milled aimlessly, confusion or horror or both on their faces. Doctors, nurses, and paramedics were herding people away from the exits, and attempting to calm several hysterical patients as security guards muttered into their walkie-talkies and unbuttoned their holsters. One elevator opened and medics rushed out with a pregnant woman on a gurney.
Forked Lightning blurred through the crowd faster than the eye could catch, and in seconds was inside the elevator and pushing the button for the fourth floor. As the elevator rose, far too slowly, he could barely control the compulsion to change. The ability to change at will came with a vulnerability to his emotions. He balled his hands into fists as his claws extended. The sharp cuts in his palms reminded him to resist. He needed his human aspect in control; he needed rational decisions, not an emotional instinctive animal response. When he reached the fourth floor, the doors pinged, and he was out.
Kohana, his lieutenant, along with eight others who'd been on the security detail waited for him outside the ward. Werewolves, like vampires, and many other supernatural species healed quickly, and from far worse injuries than a human could, but these showed signs of serious injury, and their clothes were bloody. Every door gaped open, and there were no patients or nursing staff. Other than his pack members, the ward was deserted.
"Where is everyone? Where is Leyla?" He peered passed the group into the empty corridor.
Kohana blew out a breath. “They came for Leyla,” he said, his voice flat and expressionless.
Nine wounded members of his pack stood in front of him. The group moved restlessly, avoiding each other’s gaze, and barring his entrance. "We did everything possible."
"Move out of my way.” Forked Lightning’s eyes glowed, and his voice deepened to a rough growl. “That is a command. I want to see my wife.” His skin rippled, tan and black fur appearing and disappearing in strips along his neck and hands, his lower jaw elongating and thickening, and his teeth growing and sharpening before reverting.
None of the weres moved, but their nervousness increased, as they glanced at their leader.
Forked Lightning didn't wait for an answer, but lunged forward, attempting to barrel his way through their cordon.
But the pack was ready and he only got half-way before they had him on the floor. He writhed and struggled to throw them off and free himself, but they had his arms and legs restrained, and a couple sat on his back panting with exertion as he continued to fight them.
After a minute, he relaxed. "Okay, okay. Let me up."
Kohana nodded to the others, and they climbed off him. "Forked Lightning, we are in a public place. The cops are already on their way. You must control yourself, no matter what. If these humans see you as a wolf, they'll kill you."
Forked Lightning's breathing slowed, an
d his eyes lost their preternatural glow. "I’m listening."
"Serkan and his vamps attacked. Fifty of them came out of nowhere. They swarmed us and tried to kidnap Leyla, but Daniel stopped them." Kohana's breathing quickened as he relived the attack.
Forked Lightning shook his head. "Daniel?" he said as he if only just realized the old leader was missing. "Where is Daniel? Don't tell me—"
"No, Daniel is alive, but he's in emergency surgery. They're doing their best to save him."
Forked Lightning ran his hands over his face. "And Leyla?" The desperation in his voice was impossible to miss.
"I am sorry." Kohana lifted his hand to offer comfort but he let it drop when he saw the expression on his leader’s face.
"Go on."
Kohana swallowed and continued "When Serkan saw how many of his vamps were down, and realized he wouldn't be able to take Leyla—Daniel said he wanted to exchange her for Vanse…" Kohana stared at Forked Lightning's chest, unable to meet his leader's eyes. His voice wavered as he continued. "When he understood his plan had failed, and he saw he was losing too many fighters,” he ended in a whisper, “he killed her."
Forked Lightning closed his eyes and stood motionless. The weres around him tensed, ready to restrain him again. "I have the right to see my wife." He betrayed no emotion.
Kohana gestured, and the group stood aside.
"By myself." Forked Lightning was in control again and his men watched as he straightened, strode along the corridor, and entered his wife's room. For a minute, he fixed his gaze on the floor. He didn't want to look, but he had to—he raised his eyes.
Leyla lay motionless in the bed, her face and body covered with a white sheet. Dark red blood stained the area around her belly.
Forked Lightning blinked away his unshed tears, crossed the room and lifted the sheet. He gasped, a short quick intake of breath as he took in the sight of his wife’s body.
Leyla could almost be asleep she looked so peaceful, except Serkan had broken her neck, and her head lay at an odd angle.
When Forked Lightning saw the knife in her belly, and realized where the blood had come from, he collapsed, sobbing, to the floor. Slowly his cries became whimpers as he balled his pain into a small tight lump. He dragged himself to his feet and gathered his courage as he thought about what he must do next. Serkan would pay with his life for what he had done. Not content with getting revenge by killing Leyla when the attempt to kidnap her went disastrously wrong, he'd gone one step further. He’d eliminated any chance of emergency surgery saving the baby by making sure her unborn child would die with her.
Forked Lightning’s hand trembled violently. He closed his eyes and breathed deep, waiting for the tremors to pass. When he was ready, he grasped the handle and removed the knife with as much care as he could manage. After wiping the blade on the sheet, he stuck it in his belt. This was the second knife he'd removed that day. The first had, hopefully, returned life. This weapon had taken it. At the sight of the blood staining his dead wife’s nightgown, he couldn’t contain his despair. He threw back his head and howled. His anguished cry filled the room, spread through the ward and beyond.
People throughout the hospital looked fearfully around for the source of the keening. Up on the fourth floor, nine weres bounded along the corridor and skidded to an abrupt halt.
Inside the room Forked Lightning's restraint barely held him in human form as he finished his lament, and stood with his head thrown back and his arms raised to the ceiling.
The pack members filed in and surrounded Leyla’s bed in silence. They lowered their eyes in respect.
Forked Lightning took Serkan's knife out of his belt, and rolling up his sleeve, bared his arm. The weres followed suit. He made a shallow cut in his wrist, enough to start the blood flowing, and held it over his wife's belly, over the place where his dead child had waited to be born. "With this blood, I vow I shall not rest till the murderer of my wife and child is dead." He held his arm out, letting the blood drop and mix with the still drying blood on her clothes. He handed the blade to Kohana, who repeated the action, replacing the words ‘my wife and child’ with ‘Leyla and her child’. Each werewolf standing around the bed uttered the binding words of the blood vow, before Forked Lightning cleaned the knife for the second time, and thrust it into his belt. Blood from the living mingled with that of the dead creating new stains.
The elevator pinged, and a voice shouting orders alerted them. They weren't alone anymore.
As Forked Lightning emerged from the room where his wife and baby had been deprived of life, Sheriff Corwin, his deputy Branton who was looking surprisingly disheveled, several more law officers and the hospital security guards stepped into view. Every single one carried a weapon: guns, rifles, and crossbows with silver-tipped bolts.
Corwin turned and locked gazes with Forked Lightning. He said something to the surrounding men, and they lowered their weapons a fraction.
Forked Lightning, his pack hustling close behind him, marched toward Corwin and his men. "Sheriff, how kind of you to come, but you're too late. This is between vampire and werewolf, therefore we shall settle our disagreement outside your jurisdiction."
"Forked Lightning, we’re here to investigate a human murder, not one of your people."
Corwin remained motionless as the pack leader stepped in close, invading his private space. "The murdered human you speak of was my wife, and she carried my child. That makes it my business, not yours. Believe me, you do not want to get in the middle of this."
The security guards tensed. Every one of them could see Forked Lightning was ready to explode, but Corwin remained unfazed. "And I'm sincerely sorry for your loss. But anything which happens to a human comes under our jurisdiction."
The two men, equally stubborn, glared at each other, neither giving way.
The elevator pinged again, and the doors slid open.
Forked Lightning shrieked a high screaming wail that raised the hairs on everyone's body and froze them to the spot as he leaped toward the open elevator, his wolf taking over as he jumped.
“Branton!” Corwin bellowed.
The deputy fired his gun, and Forked Lightning crashed to the floor, half in and half out of the elevator as he transformed back into human form.
“Stay where you are.” Corwin raised his gun and pointed it at Kohana’s chest. "He's not dead. We knocked him out with a tranquilizer dart, and he’ll wake with a bad headache.” The sheriff marched toward the vampires crowding the elevator. “Serkan! I ordered you to stay in the basement.”
“My apologies, Sheriff. I misunderstood.” The sneer on the vampire master's face as he studied the unconscious werewolf lying at his feet belied his words. “Dogs should be trained before they’re let out among the public.”
A growl erupted from the weres.
Serkan pushed at Forked Lightning’s prone body with his foot, a look of disgust on his face as if he was touching something dirty. “We put mad dogs down. We don’t allow them to roam free among civilized people.”
Kohana snarled.
“Keep your weapons ready,” Corwin ordered his men. “And you,” he spoke to Kohana, "you keep your people restrained unless you want more deaths here today.”
The pack glared at Corwin, but they obeyed.
The sheriff nodded at two of his officers, who picked up Forked Lightning under his arms and hauled him out of the doorway.
"I'll be seeing you later," the sheriff told the vampire master as he punched the elevator button. The door closed, and Serkan and his vamps disappeared from sight.
"We’ll take him from here, Sheriff.”
Corwin pointed his Colt at Kohana's chest again. “No, you won’t. I’m keeping him overnight. He needs to calm down. You can pick him up tomorrow. If you continue this war in public, every werewolf, every vampire, and every other supernatural around will be expelled from Orleton. As this is now an official crime scene, I’m asking you to give your statements to the officers here, befo
re you leave the hospital and its grounds. Branton, make sure Forked Lightning gets to the station in one piece. And make sure he stays there.
Chapter Fourteen: Respite
Fabio and Mona sat side by side in the plush penthouse reception of the North American Vampire High Council headquarters. The room was tastefully decorated in white and gray, with black leather couches and glass tables with a few glossy magazines.
Both vampires wore Calvin Klein business suits in pale gray; Mona’s version had a tailored skirt, and Fabio’s a silk waistcoat. Both wore their hair in slicked back ponytails and gave no external sign of their jangled nerves or the crisis their family faced.
The receptionist, a human female, tapped industriously on the keyboard of her computer.
Mona flicked listlessly through Vogue, then moved to a pile of National Geographics, while Fabio gave up on Architectural Digest and walked over to the floor to ceiling glass window and stared out at New York.
The sky was blue, not a cloud in sight, and the view over Manhattan’s financial district was stunning. Sunshine sparkled on the waters of the Hudson River on one side and the East River on the other, and in between, an assembly of rectangular shaped stalactites of different heights huddled together.
Fabio sighed.
Mona rose and moved closer to him. “Is there anything I can do?”
“I was just wondering when we’ll hear from Meera.”
“You know she’ll ring as soon as something happens."
“I believe I'm sweating."
"This whole situation is a first."
"I’m not going to mention Tatya. Although I’d hoped to bring her with us as named consort, with the situation as it is, the less they know the better. Much depends on the outcome of this meeting."
Mona inched closer to Fabio, slid her arm through his, and rested her head on his shoulder.
He patted her hand. “I wonder how they are doing. We know Serkan is draining them. This interview has to go in our favor, or else—”
The Kala Trilogy: An Urban Fantasy Box Set Page 54
