She spoke in a thunderous voice. “Lamia, I like this game.”
“I don’t.” He remained close to the cave wall and kept his eyes on her.
She walked to the cave’s exit. Knowing that she was going after Lambert and Ruby, he had to stop her. “I take it that Amenirdis sent you here?”
Her white eyes narrowed in on him. How beautiful yet shallow they appeared to look to him. He wondered what things those eyes had seen. “The Dark Mother isn’t interested in you.”
“Hey, all Deamhan are interested in me.” He did his best to not appear nervous.
“You aren’t fit to serve her.”
He paused. “Good because I don’t do well in servitude. How about we talk out our differences, Deamhan to Deamhan?”
I don’t like this game!
Pain rocked his head again. “Stop with the mental communication,” he replied to her telepathic voice. “Use your voice, sweetheart.”
She stepped over the body of a vampire whose arms had been ripped from their sockets. “Obedience is what the Dark Mother demands.”
“Well, she certainly won’t get that from me. I’m just a little unimportant Deamhan who—”
She ran at him in such a speed that was too quick for him to comprehend. “Your friends have what belongs to our Mother.” She opened her mouth and pushed her lips back into a smile. “She’s been welcoming to let them keep what is hers for this long.” Her canines rested on her chin. “But now, that has passed. She’ll take what belongs to her.” They were sharper than the fangs of any Ramanga or vampire put together, and without a warning, she sank them into his neck.
Pain traveled throughout his entire body. He felt his blood draining straight from his veins and he tried to push her away. “Stop!” He struggled against her strength. He couldn’t go out like this, especially at the hands of another Deamhan. It only took moments for her to drain so much that his body collapsed under its own weight. He rested against the wall, watching Anzuna lick the excess blood from her lips with her thin tongue.
“And she’ll have Anastasia.”
He placed his hand over his wound, noticing that it had yet to heal.
“Now, I will play a game.” She lurched forward and pushed him.
He slid to the ground and she stood over him like a champion. She raised her foot over his arm and stomped. Bones shattered underneath his skin and Remy yelped in agonizing pain.
“Mother will be pleased.”
He grabbed his arm and rocked back and forth along the dirt.
“Now I like this game.” She also stood over him and clacked her fangs. “Do you like this game?”
“Can’t say that I do.” His superb Deamhan healing went to work but when each bone popped back into place, the pain grew worse. His neck felt like someone had lit a match and placed it against his skin. He felt a foreign substance rip its way through his bloodstream and his body ached in pain.
“We all are part of this game.” As she spoke, her lips feathered over his right cheek, “The Defiler is part of this game. This is a game we all can play.” She stepped over him and calmly proceeded to the exit.
After she left, Remy stood to his feet. Still his wound hadn’t healed. “This isn’t good.” Once out of the cave, he plopped on the ground. The foreign entity or whatever was inside him snaked down to his legs and to his feet. It felt like tiny worms squirming through his body.
Her bite!
Being bitten by another Deamhan wasn’t a common occurrence. Being drained like a human was. “I guess this is how it feels.” He looked up and saw Lambert sulking in the bushes. “You can come out now. The bitch from hell is gone.”
Lambert stepped out.
“Did you see where she went?”
“No. I circled back after making sure that Ruby was safe. What happened to you?” He helped Remy to his feet.
“Oh, you know how we Deamhan interact with one another. She tortured me for a few seconds before taking a chunk out of my neck.”
“She bit you?”
“She did more than that. She fed from me!”
“That’s better than killing you.”
“You think?” He looked around. “Where did you take Ruby?”
“She’s safe with a few of my vampires. I’ll take her to Blind Bluff Manor.”
“Good. I need to get there.” Remy stretched his arm out in front of him, watching it, bent unnaturally, push itself back into place.
“Can you make it there on your own?”
“Jesus, Lambert. I’m hurt. I’m not dead.” He examined his neck wound again. “I can make it back on my own.” When his arm fully healed, he dropped it to his side. “She mentioned something. At first, it sounded gibberish to me until I heard ‘the Defiler.’” He scanned the dark cave with his eyes, seeing the horror that Anzuna left behind.
“The Defiler?” Lambert awed. “Are you sure?”
“I heard it as clear as day.” He pointed his finger at him. “See, this is why I don’t come out. Crap like this always tends to happen.”
“Go. I’ll clean up this mess, make sure no humans come across it.” He placed his hands on his hips. “And make sure you eat someone along the way. You look like shit.”
CHAPTER FIVE
ANASTASIA
The darkness pulled back like a thick curtain on a stage, revealing Blind Bluff Manor in the distance. What looked like a stage light glowed upon the sanctuary and Anastasia found herself smiling at the sight. The tall pine trees came into view with wet grass at their feet and the deafening silence.
Traveling through the shadows not only proved dangerous but also exhausting. After a few seconds, she found herself hunched forward with her hands on her legs. Deprived of food, she desperately had to feed if she planned on being at her strongest.
The others didn’t look as affected by the travel as she did. Ayden still remained close to Maris. Krerina and Sia stepped out of the shadows and whatever darkness she used in their travels, closed shut behind them. Anastasia still found it awkward and indescribable. Being this close to an Adze Deamhan still managed to make her uneasy but not as uneasy as having Krerina by their side.
She made it her priority to find out Krerina’s true intention when it came to helping Maris. She also wanted to know about the objects she had in her little box, like the knife, that could suck out any dark magic and render a Deamhan dead within seconds.
She made her way over to the keypad and typed in the number 38006. They heard the metal latch snap and she pushed the gate back.
They walked up the pebbled driveway, lined with large trees and small bushes. Ayden pointed at a rabbit as it hopped by and he looked overhead at a flock of birds moving by them. “It must be nice,” Krerina said.
“What do you mean?” Anastasia questioned.
“Living here, away from the city. Away from the danger, under a human’s roof.”
She realized that she, herself, had never taken the time to stand back and admire just how great the sanctuary looked from a distance.
A sense of pride came over her. Yes, this is my home. Yes, this is the most stable environment for any Deamhan. But her last statement grasped at straws. Blind Bluff Manor had seen its fair share of brutality and horror lately but that was nothing compared to what the sanctuaries in the city of Minneapolis had gone through. “Nathan isn’t just any human.”
“He’s your friend?”
“Yes, and I would do anything to protect him from Deamhan,” her eyes hovered over him, “and humans alike.”
Ayden chuckled at her response. “You don’t have any friends. Just people you haven’t crossed yet.”
She bobbed her head. Could Nathan be her friend? According to the invisible ‘Deamhan’ code by which they all seemed to live, there was no way she could view him as such. However, they’d been through enough in the past that she trusted him with her life. It was a supernormal thought.
“He was the first human to help me when I stepped foot in Minneapolis.”
“So, you’d do anything to protect him?” Krerina nodded. “That’s admirable, but what if you’re the threat?”
“I would never be the threat.”
“How do you know?”
She was done with the conversation. “Stop talking and be quiet.” She didn’t know who they’d encounter at the sanctuary. The night she left, Ruby and her Dorvo vampires attacked the place in search of the missing tablet piece. They invaded her home domain and would’ve done much worse if Sia and her psychopathic sister, Anzuna, hadn’t shown up. Remy, Hallie, and Nathan fled and stayed at Lambert’s secondary home. For two years, the manor stood empty.
“I can smell your acquaintances,” Sia spoke.
“I guess I should take your word for it. Your sense of smell is more pristine than my own.”
“I rely heavily on it since I can’t see.”
Only when they made it to the stairs did Anastasia pick up on familiar scents, including Nathan’s, which seemed sicklier than before. She knocked and waited, hearing footsteps approaching the door from the other side. When it opened, she saw Hallie, shocked and surprised.
“Ana?”
She scanned her from head to toe and noticed that Hallie looked a little different. “You cut your hair.”
“Yeah. I decided it was time for a new look.” She combed her fingers through her shoulder-length mane. “And you! You look…” she paused, “hungry.”
There weren’t any hugs or any emotional celebration for her return. Anastasia didn’t expect the youngest Deamhan in the manor to fall over in pure spirit. She didn’t leave Minneapolis on good terms with anyone there. She broke Hallie’s neck when she didn’t listen to her and she fed Nathan vampire blood against his will. More than likely, they still held resentment over her willingness to do what others wouldn’t in a time of need.
Hallie’s eyes scanned over Maris and the others before she stepped to the side. “You brought people with you.” She cringed at the sight of Sia.
“Yes.” Anastasia walked in. She sniffed the air. Among the scents of dampness and dust, the interior was missing a familiar scent. “Where’s Remy?”
“He’s in his room.” Hallie couldn’t keep her eyes off Sia. “But he’s not doing so well.”
Anastasia studied her. “What happened?” She didn’t bother to wait for her to explain. Another scent crossed her line of smell; one she didn’t expect.
She took a sharp left and made her way into the study. She saw Nathan standing in front of his bookcase, immersed in his journals. He had yet to notice her. Although his health concerned her, she didn’t have the time to address it, not with Ruby who sat near the back of the room. Both her ankles and wrists were secured with rope and someone had taped her mouth shut.
She knocked on the wall and he turned around. “I’m back and I’ve brought company with me.”
“I see.” Upon seeing that she wasn’t alone, his tired eyes moved to the others. “We got her.” He pointed to Ruby.
“How did you manage to capture her?” Sia walked in.
Just like Hallie, Nathan too became mesmerized by the Adze Deamhan’s fierce appearance. “Lambert and Remy found her about an hour ago. After we tied her down, she wouldn’t stop talking.”
“That’s what I remember about her.” Maris stood next to Ayden. “She never stops talking.”
“So, she’s been in the city this entire time?” Anastasia asked.
“Lambert said she came back,” Hallie replied. “Well, someone told her to come back.”
“Nathan,” Anastasia began her introductions, “this is Sia. She’s an Adze Deamhan.”
“An Adze Deamhan?”
“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Sia bowed her head slightly. “I wish we could’ve met under different circumstances.”
“Pleasure’s all mine.”
“And you already know Ayden and Maris,” Anastasia continued.
“Yes, I believe I do.”
Krerina pushed her way forward. “I’m Krerina.” She held out her hand and Nathan shook it. “I’m here for the piece of the Dark Curse tablet that you have in your possession.”
Nathan eyed Anastasia for an explanation.
“Krerina is a Kashshapu,” Sia answered for him.
His eyes expanded. “There are still practicing Kashshapu out there?”
“Yes.” Krerina straightened her posture to look more important.
“Well, follow me.”
After they left the room, Anastasia slowly walked around, faced Ruby, and ripped the tape from the Dorvo vampire’s lips.
Her blue and brown-colored eyes turned to Maris. “Ahh, it’s good to see you. How long has it been?”
She held tightly onto Ayden’s arm, long enough for Ruby to notice.
“Where’s the other one? What was his name? The one who tried to kill you when he figured it all out in the end?”
“Finley.”
“Yes! I’ve always wondered if you were able to find a replacement for him. Now it looks like you have.”
“I killed Finley before he could kill me,” Maris replied.
Unwilling to go down that route and stir up past confrontations, Anastasia placed the rag and the tape back over her mouth. “We’ll interrogate her later.”
“Which means you’ll torture her,” Maris said.
“Yes, if it comes down to it.” She changed the topic of the conversation. “Hallie, where’s Remy again?”
“In his room,” she answered. “When he went with Lambert to find Ruby, the Deamhan with the scary eyes bit him and he’s not healing.” She walked to the table. “I’ve been trying to look for something, anything in the Journal of Blank Pages—”
“Anzuna,” Sia spoke. “Her bite is toxic.”
“What do you mean it’s toxic?”
“Anyone who has been bitten by her dies in the end.”
“So, Remy’s going to die?” Hallie placed the journal under her arm. “Isn’t there something we can do?” Her deep-seated eyes looked to Anastasia for an answer but it was Sia who replied.
“We need her blood. It will cure him. Just one drop will reverse the effects.”
“Yeah, and who’ll get close to her to get that drop?” Hallie asked out of frustration.
“If I have to, I will,” Anastasia replied.
“If you go, you risk revealing us to the Dark Mother,” Sia said.
“I’m not going to let Remy die.”
“Maybe Krerina can help. Maybe use the dark magic to—”
“No.” Anastasia flat out refused. “You may trust her with your well-being but I don’t trust her with Remy’s.” She left the study and hurried toward the stairs when Sia’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Someone else is here.” She stood in the doorway and pointed to the basement door. “Who is the male Ramanga downstairs?”
Anastasia stopped. She too smelled Kenneth and she shot Hallie an evil eye.
“Hey, don’t blame me.” She spoke in a high voice. “That’s all Remy.”
What in the hell? Why is he still alive?! She’d thought Remy would’ve taken that bastard’s life by now. She expected him to, especially for what he’d done. That was the entire purpose of siring him in the first place!
Maris and Ayden noticed Kenneth’s scent as well.
“He’s a fairly young Deamhan, a few years old at best.” Sia approached the door. “Anastasia, who is he?”
“He’s my business.”
“Is he your offspring?” She grabbed the knob.
“I said, he’s my business.”
“You sired someone else?” Maris gazed into her eyes with the look of disbelief plastered on her face.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t know I had to.” She knew that no given reason could satisfy Maris, especially the truth. She sired Kenneth only to torture him and nothing more.
“Why are you hiding him? Embarrassed?” Ayden teased her. “
I just read his thoughts. He was a Brotherhood researcher before you made him Ramanga.”
“A researcher?” Maris’ eyes widened. “A researcher?” she repeated in wonderment.
“Does it matter?” Anastasia asked with little remorse in her voice.
“But a researcher?” Her grief with Anastasia was a dam waiting to burst. “How could you? Why would you do something like that and not say a word about it?”
She shocked them all by not holding back. “Because I had to and because I could.”
“No, you wanted to,” Ayden said.
Sia’s mouth dropped. “It was the human who was here that night the Dorvo vampires came here, isn’t it? The one who worked alongside Ruby? I remember him now.”
“Good, so explain it to them.”
“No, you’ll explain your actions,” Maris argued. “You’ll tell us why you would do something like this?” Her honey-colored eyes took shape, turning dark and skewed.
“We all can do something like this. We’re Deamhan,” Anastasia replied.
“Oh no. I’m not letting you off that easily.” Angered, she screamed back, “I know you, Anastasia. You don’t do anything unless it benefits you and only you.”
“You’re right. His pain did benefit me. I enjoyed the fact that I made him into what he is. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on Remy.”
“I can do that.” Hallie showed Anastasia the journal tucked under her arm before climbing the stairs and heading down the hallway to Remy’s room.
CHAPTER SIX
REMY
As long as Remy felt the foreign liquid swimming in his veins, he couldn’t sleep. With nothing else better to do, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom.
He remained on his back, in his bed, and at first, he thought he heard Anastasia’s voice from the main floor in the manor. He sat up and his body felt as if it had been run over by a freight train. His upper torso ached and his legs felt weak. He moved to the edge of his bed for a few moments until he gathered enough strength to stand to his feet.
Divination (Deamhan Chronicles Book 4) Page 6
