by Lucy Lyons
“Your mind is damaged. I don’t feel anything in you but I feel like your psyche has been torn and you’re damaged.” He slid his hand down my throat, to my sternum. “Were you hit here?” he asked; touching me just below my ribcage.
“That’s where I feel the snake inside me. But I wasn’t hit there. I wasn’t hit at all except when David slammed the door open into me.” Nicholas sat back and watched me without touching me. I felt whatever was inside me, moving like poison into my bloodstream and I gasped as I felt it race through my body.
“Oh, God. Oh, my God.” I babbled and curled in on myself as I hugged my knees to my chest. Nicholas grabbed my arm and I heard him curse.
“I’m sorry Caroline; I don’t know what else to do,” he murmured into my ear. I felt blackness closing in around me and welcomed oblivion, sure that death was overtaking me and grateful that Nicholas didn’t have time to change me. I was dying, but I would die a human.
Chapter 8
The first thing I felt was the grit and foul taste of morning breath in my mouth. I tried to coax saliva into my mouth and worked my tongue along my teeth. I opened my eyes slowly, nervous. Wherever I was, it was dark and as I woke up further I was hit with panic. My hands shot out in front of me as I shook and cried with relief when they met with air on all sides. I let my fingers rest on the covers I was under. They were satin, cool to the touch and soft as they slid against my skin.
The bed was wide and I felt my way to the edge until my fingers met a post. Instantly; I realized where I was. I’d awakened in the very same bed after Nicholas had healed me from my first attack. With relief, I ran my hands over my body, tracing the same path with my energy. The poison in my system was completely gone. Instead, I felt a touch of the cool power of death in the place where the snake had coiled inside me.
Nicholas had healed me. It was his power I felt at my core and in my limbs as I moved around the room from memory. I made a few mistakes and banged my shins hard at one point as I tried to reach the light switch. I knew the switch was along the wall I felt my way across. Occasional stops to go around furniture slowed me down. The total dark of the room was frustrating. After all it was the bedroom of the master of the city of Los Angeles. The heavy metal plates I knew covered the windows were for his protection, not mine. It helped to seal him off completely from the sun.
I reached the switch; realizing I probably would have found another much sooner if I had searched in the opposite direction. As the lights flickered and filled the room with soft, dim light, I saw Nicholas standing across the room near the cold fireplace. I gasped and fell against the bookcase in the corner.
“What the hell are you doing? You scared the daylights out of me!” I huffed. Nicholas watched me with that neutral face I’d grown to distrust. “What’s wrong?” I asked, scowling at him. “I feel your power inside me. I feel healed.”
“But you couldn’t sense me in the room with you.” He stated.
“So? I wasn’t looking for you.” He shook his head.
“You know that isn’t it. I was standing here and you couldn’t tell because of the part of me that’s inside you. It confuses your senses.”
“Oh, is that all?” I laughed. “Okay; how long until it wears off? I was completely normal and boring after a couple of days the last time you healed me and I didn’t even take blood this time.” It didn’t take psychic ability to see that there was something he didn’t want to tell me. For just one minute, I wanted to feel normal, or as much so as the life of a Venatores hunter could be. Just one time I wanted it to be good news but that was simply not to be.
“Blood would not have healed the wound you have, little one.” His face was pensive as he paused, almost sad. “Much as I have longed to share this bond with someone; I did not wish it to be this way.” My blood froze in my veins.
“Nicholas, what have you done?” My voice was husky with fear and I sat down when my knees started trembling.
“I have given you my mark. It is the binding tie between a master and human servant.” I couldn’t breathe as he finished. My chest felt like it was in a vise and I’d never fill my lungs again.
“Like the social secretary, I met when we tried to visit your home before?” I asked. “I’m one of your flunky humans; those idiots who think if they’re obedient enough, you’ll turn them and give them everlasting life?” He shook his head and rushed to me, kneeling at my feet.
“Never, Caroline. Please don’t do me the disservice of treating me like I’m a pimp who just turned you into an unwilling prostitute. The mark is sacred. It gives the human so much power that just severing the tie usually kills both servant and master.” I slowed in my rocking and gazed down into green eyes so dark they were almost black. They were impossibly beautiful but they no longer held power over me.
“So, if I die, you could die?”
“Yes. And the reverse is also true. The mark can only be shared once in a vampire’s lifetime; only a master powerful enough can survive the binding.”
“So. What you’re saying is that I’m your one and only chance at the power boost of having a human servant. On top of that you could’ve died binding me to you.” He nodded.
“And all of this is God’s, honest, truth.” He scoffed.
“You have the library with all the Venatores lamiae books on vampires; look it up yourself.”
“If I’m your servant now, don’t I have to stay with you?” He shook his head and got to his feet. He offered me his hand and I took it as he led me to the fire, starting it with a flick of the ignition switch.
“Not only do you not have to be proximal to me, but you’ll be able to sense me better from a distance for the time being. I think it would be best if you don’t tell your fellow Venatores what I had to do to save you.” I stared unseeing at my hands in my lap.
“You think they’ll see it a betrayal.”
“I think it was a Venatores hunter who poisoned you and if they know killing you will kill me, it will put you in greater danger.” I sighed; David! He’d hit me from behind, I thought with the door. If it wasn’t the still unnamed monster that had poisoned me then he was the only other option I could see.
“I need to catch that new monster. Simi said she needed to examine the bodies. I’ve got to get back to her so they know I’m okay and we’ve got to find the monster”. I was still struggling with the holes in my memory, but Vladikk had jogged one when we were in the alley. “What did Vladikk say about a warrant?”
“He said the warrant was still active and they’d come serve it when they retrieved you.”
“They have no intention of retrieving me. The warrant is a carte blanche declaration that any kill in the city of Los Angeles is good, up to and including you.” I wracked my brain. “I think I’m still hazy on so much. I know if I go back, I’ll have to drink more of Dominique’s potion.”
“You cannot do that,” he argued. “The chance of it working properly and not hurting you or me is slim to none.” Best to just skip it. I sighed.
“Okay, then back to the hotel so I can put together money to bribe a medical examiner and a mortician, if I’m correct. Do you happen to know where the bodies of the victims are right now?”
“I know four of the seven they’ve found so far are at Headquarters and at two ended up at Hollywood. The first victim has probably been interred by now but I can have my people find out.”
“No thank you, that’s enough to start with. If we can’t find the clues we’re looking for on six bodies I don’t think digging up a seventh will help. None of them have tried to rise?” I needed to be sure that there wasn’t just some new vampire sadist at play.
“I watched them myself; no one rose as a vampire. Just like you did not.” I almost apologized, then I remembered that I had been tied to him for all eternity without my permission.
“You’ll be waiting a long time if you want me to say sorry. I can’t believe I’m your human servant and I didn’t get a say in it.” He turned away from m
e and stared into the cheerful little fire and I wished for a bucket of water.
“You are not my human servant as you pointed out. You did not make the decision yourself and the final mark on your soul is entirely within your power. I can’t force you to take it.”
“So, you could be stuck forever without a servant because of me?” He nodded. “And if I die, you still die?” he opened his mouth, then shut it again with a snap and thought before answering.
“Honestly; I don’t know. But, I’d rather not test the theory that one or both of us could survive.”
“What happens when you hibernate?” He rubbed his hands together, either a very old habit from his human days or an attempt to appear more human to me.
“Again; I honestly don’t know. If you were to take the second mark, then I wouldn’t have to “hibernate” as you put it. I would draw from your strength and you would draw form my immortality. It isn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened to you,” he added, frowning. It may not have been but I the only thing I could think of that was worse; was being a vampire. It would have been imprudent to remind the master vampire of the city that what he was equaled my worst nightmare.
“I will never take the second mark. I don’t want immortality. I don’t want you having more power. I don’t even know where your loyalty lies.”
“I risked everything and gave you power over my very life and you don’t know where my loyalty is?”
“You benefit from that exchange, Nicholas. Having me here allowed me to tell you that your whole clan is in danger and going to be destroyed, legally, by the order of the Vatican and the high council.”
“I’ll keep my people safe. Thank you for telling me about the warrant. Now; if you believe you’re safe enough to do so, you must get back to your own people.” He strode toward the door and turned before leaving. “I truly am sorry for what I’ve done. Please understand my only thought was of saving you, and forgive my bungled effort to keep you safe.” Then he was gone. I listened for a click of the lock but only silence came from the hallway.
He’d left with me angry and hadn’t tried to kiss me before he went. I was irrationally disappointed and glad that he was gone before I had the thought. I was starting to miss hearing him in my head; knew that meant it was long past time for me to go.
I tried the door. Sure enough, it was unlocked and I made my way down the stairs to the bright grand entrance. The windows let in so much light that it was blinding and painful after the soft dim lights of the master’s bedroom and the stairwell.
At the bottom of the stairs I ran into the same human I’d spoken with when Dominique and I had first visited Nicholas. Without hesitation; I was given food and a cab was called to take me back to the hotel. I was astonished again by how hospitable the staff were toward me. I was less astonished, once the young lady with a clipboard attached to her hand and a headpiece growing from her head greeted me as the master’s servant.
For now, the benefits of my mistaken identity outweighed the drawbacks. That would change in a blink if the Venatores really thought it was true. I would have to wait to tell Dominique. She was the only one I trusted; not only with my life, but with my secrets. As weird as it was we had a common interest in Nicholas. She was his past and at least until I figured out what to do with the unwanted gift he’d given me; I was his future.
Only another magic-user in the guild would understand the weight of my secrets and help me with the burden. Unless; a niggling thought burst my bubble, she was the one who poisoned me. I sighed, my head beginning to ache from the stress of it all.
“Step one, find the thing killing the humans in LA,” I thought to myself. “Step two, free myself from the master’s bond and try to get my life back.” I paused and thought for a moment. “Step three, find the coward who tried to assassinate me and kill him.” The cab pulled up to the hotel and I tried to feel out my Venatores companions.
With no effort at all I located every member in the hotel and identified them in their rooms. I could tell Simi was napping, Somayo was cleaning his guns and Dominique was on the telephone. I focused on her and could hear the words she was saying
“Daemonibus febricitantem,” she said; then repeated it. “The Devil’s fever. How stupid to poison her in front of the entire leadership of the Venatores and in such an obvious way!” She hissed at whoever was on the other end.
My heart sank, but I repeated my steps to myself as a mantra. Take care of the LA murderer first; then free myself. I fought back hot tears that stung my eyelids. Then, kill my mentor and her accomplice. In the end, it was just another Tuesday as a Venatore; given the circumstances.
Chapter 9
The way that the vampire mark had boosted my normal abilities was incredible and terrifying. As soon as I heard the admission from Dominique; I wanted to confront her. Part of me wanted to rip out the sorceress’ throat. I felt Nicholas calling to me and let him into my mind.
“Did you ask before entering out of respect, or does the mark keep you out of my head?” I could almost feel him roll his eyes in exasperation so I called him out on it. “Did you just eye-roll me?”
“You make things much less pleasant than they could be. Couldn’t you have just said ‘hello’, instead of wasting time with petty irritations?” I felt awfully petty, but I imagined he knew that already.
“Was there a reason for you to, uh… call?” I felt humor and warmth, like the quick hug of a friend and I jumped. “This damned mark!” I felt him retreat and tried to send him my regret the way he was sending emotions.
“It’s okay, Caroline. I feel terrible about how this happened. I wanted it to be you, do not mistake me. However, I would have courted you properly for the honor. I never intended to make you hate me.” I felt guilty. The problem was that I couldn’t tell if it was me or if he was projecting his own guilt into my head.
“Nicholas, I heard Dominique talking on the phone. She knew about the poison. She was mad they did it where it could be identified.”
“I have known the sorceress for centuries. I do not believe she would do this.”
“I know what I heard.” I felt that same stab of jealous anger that he was taking her side. I didn’t care that he could feel it too.
“I’m not choosing her tiny huntress. I’m trying to keep you alive. Don’t pick a fight you can’t win.” That he was right, only made me angrier. I slammed the door on him and walked into the hotel. The elevator ride gave me time to cool off and admit that he really was right. I couldn’t win a fight against an ancient sorceress from an assassin clan. I could bide my time and gather evidence against her. I knew I wouldn’t be weaker than her forever. Until then; I hoped the vampire mark and my growing skill would keep me alive.
Feeling defeated; I dragged myself to my room. I’d never mastered the art of deceit. There was no way I was going to be able to keep my feelings to myself about Dominique for long. Keeping my power boost and its origin a secret would only be even more difficult.
I was standing outside the door trying to calm my nerves when the door was thrown open and Simi grabbed me in a bear-hug. She dragged me into the room and threw me down on the floor with an undignified thump as I landed on my butt. Dom; Simi and Clayton all stood around me with their weapons drawn.
“Can I help you?” I asked. I knew better than to move, so I kept my hands where they could be seen and silently cursed Dominique. “How long did it take you to convince my friends to kill me; you lying, traitorous bitch?” I thought as I glared at her from the floor. She blinked and raised her eyebrows and I realized she hadn’t shielded herself from me. I pretended not to notice her reaction and glanced at the others in turn without speaking.
“How did you get back here?” Simi demanded.
“Lyft, actually,” I replied. “Surfer dude with a Prius,” I added with a shrug.
“Yeah?” Clay asked, lowering his weapon a little.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend it. The Prius, not Lyft. They have no heart, yo
u know?” I made a slow driving motion with my hand. “No get up and go.” Clay holstered his gun and held out a hand, but Dom and Simi weren’t convinced.
“You aren’t a vampire?” I tilted my head and rolled my eyes at Simi. Then, I glared directly at Dominique.
“I’m not dead from the poison, either. Somebody must be disappointed.” Dominique relaxed her stance and held out a hand to help me up. I ignored it and stood on my own.
“You were poisoned?” Simi put down her sword and hugged me again, almost as tightly as she had when she attacked me. “I don’t see bite marks. Are you okay?” I didn’t know how upset and exhausted I was until I started to cry on her shoulder.
“You must be tired. Why don’t you lie down and rest?” Dominique gently pried me off Simi and guided me to my bed in the room adjacent. I glowered at her from the bed as she puttered around the room. There was no way I was going to close my eyes when I was alone with her.
