Demon Day

by Penelope Fletcher

  Cold lips pressed onto the back of my neck. My hair was pushed aside to fall over my shoulder as Tomas ran his mouth up the side of my neck, breathing in. His hands slid under the folds of the blanket I was wrapped in and travelled gently over the bruises covering my hips and sides.

  “How much do you hurt?” he asked.

  “It’s bearable,” I replied breathlessly. “I’m healing.”

  He turned me in his arms so I faced him. I stared hard at his chin, avoiding his eyes, not wanting to see my reflection in them, afraid to connect.

  He waited patiently.

  The silence deepened and stretched on. Instead of becoming comfortable, it rubbed me up, and unsettled me to the point tears threatened to fall.

  I noted he wore all black again, right down to his boots.

  “Do you take your clothes off when you sleep?” I blurted then blushed and stammered to apologize. “I mean, I just thought … it makes sense you’d be naked since your clothes would get muddy, and yours aren’t. But don’t answer.” I waved my hands; still I had not looked past the smooth column of his neck. “I’m sorry.”

  Soon, my gaze drifted up, over his strong square jaw, firm, wide lips, and sharp cheekbones. I paused at his crooked nose that should have been repulsive, but instead was dear to me. His skin was ashy, pale, and cold-soaked. I could feel the frosty temperature seeping through the blanket, and I shivered at the contrast, as a fairy I ran hot. Finally, I reached his eyes that glinted beneath his jutting brow and broad eyebrows. His coal black hair was swept back off his high forehead and was cut close at the neck.

  He swallowed hard, and I watched his throat bob. “When I sleep in the ground … yes it is more comfortable and practical to sleep without any clothes. I simply hide these nearby until I need them.” A strange expression flittered across his face, and I would have said it was embarrassment but he was a vampire, and they were beyond such petty emotion. So I will say he looked enamored with the idea of feeling bashfully discomfited. “Sleeping in the earth is an experience I would like to share with you,” he said formally.

  Unable to find a suitable response, I cleared my throat, and rubbed my nose.

  Tomas slowly unwrapped the roughly woven blanket, and without taking his eyes from mine, wrapped it tighter around my torso. He tugged off his shirt, ruffling his hair, and making him shake his head to smooth it down then handed the thin, black material to me wordlessly.

  I took it from him, my fingers brushing his. “Ta,” I murmured.

  His head tilted with the slightest inclination as he stepped around me. “Turn around,” he said to Lex and Ro, whom I assume did so without question, as I heard no argument from either of them.

  I dropped the blanket, glad to be rid of its itchy confines, and paused, realizing how ridiculous it was to be stark naked in a forest at night. Instead of feeling abashed, I felt outlandishly liberated. Pulling on my glamour my hearing, sense of smell and range of vision was muted as a blanket of magic transformed me into human form. I scrunched up my nose; never had I thought I would miss my tail and wings.

  Leaves crunched underfoot as Tomas walked back round to stare at my face. “Rae?”

  I was simply not bold enough not to blush, and I clutched the shirt to my chest. “Turn around.”

  “No.”

  I blinked, fought a smile. “Uh, turn around please?”

  “I find I like looking at you.” His eyes flicked down and he grinned, all toothy, his fangs somewhat extended.

  I glanced behind me and found Ro and Lex were steadily walking through the trees back towards Temple. Lex looked like a floating ghost as she passed in and out of sight behind the broad trunks.

  Tomas touched my collarbone. My heart kicked and sped up. I tried hard to slow it down, but it was a useless task when his hands were on me, and I fidgeted when his smooth palm travelled over my stomach, traced my waist, and settled on my hip.

  Being with Tomas wasn’t like being with Breandan, not at all. I felt bold, confident when he looked or touched me. I could relate to him. He wasn’t perfect like Breandan was … he was flawed, like me.

  He pulled me closer and leaned over to murmur in my ear, “Do you remember how you felt when I held you like this before?” His hands were busy, and my mouth went dry remembering how I had felt the first time he kissed me in my dorm room at Temple.

  I dragged in a shuddering breath, experiencing tunnel vision. “I will never forget.” The tunnel suddenly glowed silver and were the edges of the world had gone blurry everything snapped back into focus. “But Brean–”

  With a snarl, I was shoved back until I hit the dirt, Tomas over me. His was furious, and I felt a prickle of fear replaced with a surge of lust as his hand swept over my stomach.

  “Do not say his name.” He kissed me, full of fire and anger. I felt a sharp prick on my tongue and he sucked. He pulled away, quivering, and his fangs ran out. “You know you want me not him.”

  As I looked into his eyes, I felt something within me stir. It resisted the passion I felt and prickled my insides as if hands with sharp nails scored my heart. I wanted him? Yes, I wanted him, but did I feel for him enough to turn my back on Breandan? I knew it was a possibility, but my mind shied away from it. No … I knew what I wanted. The prickling at the back of my mind became a sharp pain as I pushed him away.

  He resisted, frowning. “What is the matter?”

  “Get off me.” I wriggled from beneath him and snatched at the shirt. It pulled taut, the end caught underneath his frozen form. “Do you mind?” I yanked on it until he shifted his weight.

  Hands shaking, I pulled the shirt on to cover myself. I wrapped my hands around my stomach, and took a deep breath. My body was going haywire, but I did not want it to be like this. I did not want the fear of making the wrong choice to spoil my first time. I wanted to have a clear heart and conscious when I bedded the one I loved. Tomas had this way of making me forget myself. Ungh. I did not do things like this, so why when this vampire came near me did I loose all sense of self?

  “You don’t want me,” Tomas said slowly peering up at me, his hands open on his lap. His voice was remote, cautious, but there was a trace of a question, hope.

  Pushing the hair from my face, I exhaled sharply. “Gods, I’m sorry. It’s just I touch you and think–”

  “That you should be with him,” he cut in. Well, he said it so I didn’t have to. Tomas sighed and stood smoothly. Careful not to touch me he forced me to look into his bottomless eyes. “And when you are with him you think no thoughts of me.” It was not a question.

  I stumbled over my words, unable to lie. “That’s … not true.” Not entirely.

  His cold fingers brushed along the outside of my arms causing the skin to goose-pimple. “Not in the way I wish you to think of me.”

  My instinct was to lie, but I couldn’t physically bring myself to do it. I twisted my hands into the ends of his shirt and winced when it ripped a little under the strain. It was already threadbare, and it smelt like freshwater and minerals. It smelt like Tomas. I fingered the fabric. “You washed your clothes?”

  He nodded. “In the river.”

  Standing there, half dressed in the presence of my vampire was suddenly awkward. In the time we had been apart I had taken a moment to think about my actions, and I had seen just how wrong my behavior had been. When I had first met Tomas I’d been nothing but wary of him. Yet the spark of lust I had experienced in Bayou dorms had shown me an exciting and dangerous side to our relationship.

  After spending time with Breandan, I knew it was a side I no longer wished to pursue. Oh, there was desire, and want, but what we want was not always what is good for us.

  I couldn’t be his girl, but I could be his friend.

  Patting his chest, I kissed him on the cheek. “We will talk,” I said and kissed him again before stepping back. “We’ll learn everything there is to know about each other. I will help you, Tomas. I swore I would.”

  He did not move, blink
, or speak. He became still, and I felt him withdraw from me entirely.

  “Tomas?”

  With a gasp, he stumbled back. His fangs were still down and his chest heaved. Disturbing since Tomas didn’t actually breathe. He placed a hand over where his heart might beat and shook violently.

  “Tomas!” I was concerned now.

  Not that it should have been possible, but his skin looked paler and a stain of darkness spilled from his pupils to blot the whites of his eyes black.

  I hesitated, unsure as to why he was reacting so strangely. The darkness was no longer there in the corner of my mind for me to tug on to glean a better understanding. It was still inside me, I could feel the blood tie, but it was hidden from me. Should it be able to do that – hideaway in my own consciousness?

  I might have focused on how wrong that was had Tomas not cried out and fallen to his knees.

  In two steps, I was right there with him, ignoring the damp and dirt. His hands wrapped around my wrists and I did not know if he was going to crush me to him or throw me away. As it was he simply held me then collapsed forward, his dark head resting on my lap as his entire body shuddered under the strain of his emotion.

  “You choose him,” he groaned and rocked back, seemingly unable to stay still.

  He let his head fall back, the pale column of his throat taut with tension, moonlight streaming across his tormented expression.

  His hands slipped away from me and slammed into the earth. Roaring his aggression, he beat at the ground causing the earth to shift and split open, creating shallow curvatures where he pounded. My cool and rational vampire went mad with jealousy, and his resentment and hurt were palpable. When delivering blows to the ground did not ease his pain he turned his fingers into rakes and scraped finger wide gouges into the earth. I trembled as he raged around me, gutturally screaming in what must have been dead languages. I prayed to the gods I would never hear such words uttered again, so evil and malignant they sounded as they rasped across my ears, and tore into my soul.

  In the midst of his frenzy, I placed my palms on his cheeks, and slowly moved my head from side to side.

  “I need you to understand.” I let my hand move over his head, ran my fingers through his soft hair then gripped two fistfuls tightly. “Please.”

  “Why?”

  I let my head drop, unable to meet his gaze as I mumbled, “It was one kiss, Tomas. It shouldn’t have happened, and I’ll never be sorry it did as it probably saved your life.” I looked him in the eye. “If you hadn’t taken my blood I probably would have let Lochlann kill you. So no, I’ll never regret it, but I’m rational enough to see that whatever this is between us,” I motioned to him than me, “would never work. Not when I–”

  “A bond with magic is not love,” he bit out harshly.

  “And a bond made enraptured by bloodlust is better?” I pressed my fingers to his jaw, not trusting myself to touch him any other way. “The first moment I saw Breandan he ensnared me. I was lost before he touched me and the bond was made. Do you remember the first time we met? How terrified I was? The first time I met you I felt nothing but fear. Can’t you see? Our blood tie was made from succumbing to desire not love.” He tried to pull away from me, but I grabbed his hair and tugged his head back. “I am your friend, and I trust you. So don’t ruin what we have by forcing me to explore a side to our relationship destined to fail.”

  Regaining some calm, he watched me silently. His fangs slid up and his eyes cleared. “Then what do you ask of me, friend?”

  I winced at the coldness of his words. “I could use your help. I made a pact with an Alpha to save his daughters. They’re still beneath Temple.”

  He blinked at me, and I could never say what passed through his mind. Taking a series of short breaths, he grunted and rose from his knees. He offered his hand.

  “Come then.” I curled my fingers around his and stood. I flushed when he paused and did not let go. “May I hold your hand as we catch your allies up?” he asked so politely I found myself nodding.

  I was faster than him but reined my speed in so we could run side by side. It seemed my vampire could move faster than me, but only for short periods of time. I wondered why that was. Was it to do with how their bodies moved and how much blood was left in their systems? Did a lack of blood tire him like a lack of sleep and food would tire me?

  “Have you eaten,” I blurted.

  Tomas slanted me a look out of the corner of his eye. A felled log was in our path and instead of zipping round it like I had planned he yanked on my hand, swept me up into his arms, and jumped over it. My heart thumped as I remembered the similar jolting sensations from when he had first carried me. He did not let me go when we touched down on the other side. He did pull me closer and look down on me with the saddest expression on his face. I used both my hands to smooth away the lines the troubled look caused, letting my fingers linger on his bold and objectionable features. How had I ever thought him ugly? He had character, and an aura of charming imperfection only those tied to the dark could acquire.

  He made a rumbling noise low in his throat and leaned down to slide his nose along my neck, inhaling deeply. I bit my lip and my eyelids fluttered.

  “Rae?” Lex’s voice was soft and apologetic.

  Tomas set me down on my own two feet. He moved away to stand before the Wall and waited, staring at the wires with rapt attention, making me think he was not actually seeing the Wall.

  My palms dampened with sweat even as my mouth went dry. I had done this before, so I could do it again. The klaxon had only gone off last time because my power had whiplashed out unexpectedly, a side effect of my exhaustion and emotional turmoil.

  Lex rolled her eyes and walked over to the wires red hot with electric current. Like a spider scuttling up a web she scaled the Wall as if it wasn’t sending high-voltage bolts of electricity into her body. She vaulted over and climbed down, her arms and legs moving in a liquid crawl. Her colorless hair fell forward and obscured her face. When Lex reached the bottom of the steel web she walked forward on her hands, legs stiff in the air and toes pointed. With an odd jerk her back bent and she lowered her feet to the floor. Bowed in a rigid arch on all fours, stomach facing the sky, her torso rolled her upright. She turned on her heel and waited for us, hair still covering her face like a veil until she flicked her head back.

  Ro shrugged. “Whatever.” He jerked his head to the wires to remind me that I was supposed to be creating us an opening.

  “Can’t we go through a gate again?” I asked.

  Ro shook his head. “They might know we used it. They’ll patrol the entry points in case we try to use one again.”

  It made sense. The Clerics would not risk us getting back so easily. Since our exit hadn’t been scheduled no doubt they would have posted guards anyway, but with my disappearance they would know I had inside help, and would leave nothing to chance.

  Without thinking about it too much, I focused my energies, and sent my magic to the wires. They unraveled and pinged apart leaving a small tear big enough for us to crawl through. The edges cooled but the color slowly faded back to deep red confirming the current still flowed. Had I ripped the entire fence in half no doubt the klaxon would go off – I would have broken the circuit completely – but this way the electricity still had a path to flow through, and the surrounding area remained blessedly silent. Ro went first, then Tomas, and I shimmied under last. I closed the tear with an easy thought tossed over my shoulder.

  Between Ro and Lex’s knowledge of the slums, and mine of the upper dwellings, we managed to plot an obscure path back through the human city that steered clear of the Sect Temple. We raced through the upper dwells, holding our breath, and praying we would not be seen. The maintained homes abruptly became dilapidated huts as we crossed over into the slums.

  Ro visibly relaxed the deeper into his childhood home we travelled.

  The shack structures were predominantly built from wonky wooden frames filled by breezeblock
s, and covered in plastic. Piles of rubbish were clumped together under huge overflowing dumpsters every twenty paces or so, and the rats that squeaked and scuttled across the floor made me grimace. Bats darted overhead and I shivered, they were worse than ravens. I was not sure when bats were introduced to this region, but I knew they were not native. They had adapted to the climate and were bloody huge, bigger than crows and incredibly intelligent winged creatures.

  A young girl rummaging around in a pile of junk, paused, peered at us then grabbed a three legged chair and trotted off, clutching it to her like a lifeline. Scavenging was the slum lifestyle, and if you were not good at it you wouldn’t survive. No doubt the young girl had plans to trade the smooth wood and seat fabric for food. She had looked painfully thin and I hoped she was able to barter for enough to keep her going for a few weeks.

  The slum dwellings held a mish mash of old and new human cultures and several colorful walls of art caught my eye as we briskly walked down the main street. It was busier than the upper dwells, and running would draw too much attention. Most people who saw us had their own troubles, and turned their back when their eyes landed on Ro. His broad shoulders and confident gait were intimidating, but the hard expression on his young face – evaluating every dark shadow for danger – was warning enough that he was not be to messed with.

  Tomas kept his head down. Alex was wedged between Ro and me, arms wrapped around her middle and back hunched. With my glamour on I looked human, horrifically scarred, but human nonetheless, and my lack of dress was nothing out of the ordinary here.

  It was quiet. The darkness shielded us, and we kept close to the walls, avoided passing too close to the fire drums that spat ash and small specks of burnt wood.

  An old man dressed in rags and crouched on the pavement, boney hands shoveling noodles into his mouth, happened to glance up. His wooden bowl clattered to the ground. His eyes went wide as he took in Lex’s inhuman appearance, and his toothless mouth gaped.

  Humans born here were a creamy tan in skin colour, and generally had hazel eyes and dark hair, like Ro. A tall, chalk-white girl with translucent hair and electric blue face marks was something outlandish to behold indeed.