A Vampire's Hunger

by Carla Susan Smith

  He held the strand of black opals in both hands. They gleamed in the light, the brilliant red and green striations glowing with their own kind of demonic brilliance. The necklace was much longer than I had realized. In the box it had appeared as a single strand, but then I hadn’t spent a lot of time examining it. Now I could tell what Gabriel was holding in his hands was actually a lengthy rope of gemstones. I couldn’t even begin to imagine their value. And then I saw Gabriel’s body stiffen and felt a crackle in the air as he turned to me.

  “When did you accept him?” he snarled. “Before or after you saved Aleksei?”

  I was still trying to process his words, and the fury with which they were delivered, when I saw movement out the corner of my eye. The sheer curtains covering the wall of windows lifted as if a strong breeze had been welcomed inside to clear the air. I opened my mouth to speak, to ask Gabriel what he was talking about, but a second displacement of air knocked me off my feet back onto the couch.

  “Don’t even think about it!” Gabriel roared. “I will snap your neck like a twig if you try to insert yourself between me and my Promise!” His Promise. Not his fiancée, or lover, or even Rowan. Using my title reduced me to an object.

  Pulling the hair out of my face, I saw Gabriel had Aleksei by the throat and was holding him up against the open brick wall at the far end of the room. This wasn’t the first time the two of them had been involved in an altercation over me. Last time it had been Aleksei who was the aggressor. His knee-jerk reaction at hearing Petrov’s name had been all the provocation necessary. Gabriel had been forced to intervene to make sure the big guy didn’t hurt me. And now it seemed Gabriel was stopping Aleksei from getting to me again. Only I didn’t think this time the Russian vampire wanted to hurt me. I think he was trying to protect me.

  Gabriel tightened his fingers, and I heard Aleksei make a gurgling sound. The last time I saw Gabriel holding a vampire in this way it was psycho-bitch Katja. She’d fought him, fang and nail, to get free. It hadn’t done her any good. Aleksei was doing nothing. His arms hung by his sides, and he made no attempt to either free himself or prevent Gabriel from slowly choking the life out of him. It occurred to me that perhaps he didn’t have the strength.

  “Gabriel, stop it—let him go!” I shrieked, seeing Aleksei’s face begin to turn a pale shade of eggplant. I scrambled off the couch and threw myself at Gabriel, but he wrapped his free arm around my waist and held me off easily.

  “Do you understand me?” He gave the vampire a hard shake and suddenly launched into a completely different language. I had no idea what he was saying, but I didn’t need to know the words to understand the meaning. Aleksei was being issued a warning. It was, I suspected, the only one he would get. A gurgled response from the other vampire must have been the answer Gabriel was waiting for, because he opened his hand, and Aleksei crumpled to the floor.

  Ignoring the sounds of wheezing gasps and coughing, Gabriel carried me across the room like a sack of potatoes, dumping me on the couch. “I asked you a question.” He snapped his fingers in front of my face to make sure my focus was on him, and not Aleksei. “When did you accept him?”

  “Accept him? Accept who? What the fuck are you talking about?”

  My own temper was climbing up into the furious range. I was pissed Gabriel had threatened Aleksei for trying to help me, and scared to death his anger wouldn’t let him hear me even if I had the chance to explain. I scrambled off the couch, banging my shin on the edge of the coffee table as I did so, and began to fall back. Gabriel automatically reached for me. I grasped his hand, pulling myself upright, before slapping it away in anger.

  His eyes darkened at my rudeness, but I was beyond the point of caring about manners. I watched his nostrils flare and his chest expand as he took a deep breath and then let it out on a low whistle.

  “Are you telling me you don’t know where this came from?” He held out his hand to show the opal necklace roped around his fingers. He’d been holding it the entire time he had Aleksei pinned against the wall.

  “No, of course not—”

  “So you know what it is?”

  “Yeah, it’s a necklace.”

  No doubt a hugely expensive one, but still only a necklace. It had no meaning for me, and it never would. Given the fact that Gabriel’s temper was walking an unstable line, I figured now was not the time to mention why I’d been given it, or when I was supposed to wear it. There are some things those you love are better off not knowing.

  “No, it’s more than a necklace.” Gabriel’s voice was eerily calm. “It’s called a Bridal Night Chain, and is worn as proof.”

  “Proof of what?”

  “Your complete submission to another, and acceptance of his dominance over you.”

  “Submission?”

  “Guess your demon didn’t tell you everything, did he?”

  I could see I didn’t need to worry about trying to protect Gabriel’s feelings by not telling him the circumstances under which I’d been given the necklace. It seemed he already knew.

  “He’s not my fucking demon!” I yelled.

  “No . . . not yet,” Gabriel said coldly.

  Running the string of gems through his long fingers, Gabriel held his arms out so I could appreciate the full length. The stones sparkled and fell like a river of black gold.

  “I don’t understand . . .”

  “No, of course you don’t,” Gabriel muttered under his breath, his tone chastising me. “Let me explain.” He fashioned the rope of opals into a loop, securing them in a way I couldn’t see, and dropping the circlet over his fingers. “This goes around your neck, with the excess falling down your back. Oh, and did I mention you’re completely naked?” He looked at me and I shook my head. “Surprised you hadn’t worked that out for yourself, considering when it’s supposed to be worn.”

  Gritting my teeth, I did my best to ignore his sarcasm. “Now, where was I? Ah yes, down the back. The necklace is then used to bind and secure your hands behind you until—” He held up the end of the strand where the largest opal was attached. The size of a damson plum, it seemed to change color, turning first red, then green, then black. “Until this little beauty can be inserted inside you.” His eyes flicked to my crotch in case I didn’t get his meaning. “It stays there until it is removed by your lover’s tongue.”

  I know there are certain sex toys that can be inserted into a woman’s body, and left there, for the sole purpose of creating pleasure as she goes about her daily routine. All I can say is it’s not anything I’ve ever been even mildly curious enough to want to try. And seeing this massive, smooth opal wasn’t making me change my mind.

  “The opal is ensorcelled,” Gabriel continued. “Once inserted, it can only be removed by the intended recipient as described. You remain bound until then.”

  I gasped, and this time when I fell backward on the couch Gabriel did not try to stop me. I closed my eyes, able to see in my mind the demon standing almost exactly where Gabriel now stood, hearing his voice in my head.

  “When I take you, you will wear these . . . and only these.”

  “My Lord.” Tomas’s voice startled me. In truth I’d almost forgotten the sentinel was there. “I am certain your Promise had no idea of the gift’s true purpose. She has made no declaration of agreement to the intent behind it. Perhaps if she were to explain the circumstances—”

  “What is it that you think is beyond my comprehension, sentinel? Do you suppose a messenger was sent to act in his stead? If so, then I could allow for the possibility of confusion regarding intent.” Gabriel’s eyes were a dark, furious storm, and I could see the muscle in his jaw spasm with anger. “But we both know that didn’t happen, don’t we?” He fixed me with a stare. “We both know he was here, and you accepted his gift—”

  “No, Gabriel, you’re wrong. I didn’t accept—”

  “Don’t lie to me!”

  I’d never seen him so angry, and I knew it was a waste of time trying to explain
what had happened. Even if Gabriel allowed me to speak, he was in no mood to listen. His hand clutched the string of opals in a grip so tight I saw his knuckles blanch. Would the precious stones caught in his palm be pulverized to dust from the pressure of his fist? He came toward me and reached for my hand with his free one, turning it palm up. Opening his fingers, he pooled the smooth stones in my palm, closing my fingers over them when he was done.

  “I’ve told you before to never lie to me.” His disappointment stung.

  “Gabriel—please! I’m not lying! I didn’t—”

  “Shhh.” He placed a finger against my mouth. “If you had refused. . . you could not hold the stones in your hand.”

  Chapter 6

  The smell of fear, thick and heavy, forced Ryiel to rise from his sarcophagus before he was ready. The lone rune anchored over his heart scolded him with angry chittering sounds even as he plucked it free. Set to an appointed task, the runes did not take kindly to being forced to abandon their purpose before it was completed.

  “What is it?” Stavros asked, meeting Ryiel at the chamber’s doorway. The sentinel had felt the vampire surfacing moments before he’d appeared. Only a matter of the gravest importance would have caused him to waken before the sun was set.

  “Something is wrong.” Ryiel closed his eyes to better sense the world beyond the stone walls of the ancient monastery. “In the valley . . . there is chaos and fear.” His fangs dropped and he gave an angry hiss. “Where is Katja?”

  “Standing behind you.”

  Two heads turned to see the female vampire brace a hand against the stone wall and use the other to rub her temple in an effort to dispel the stabbing throb in her head. Like the sentinel, Katja’s bond also made her sensitive to the Original Vampire. His need to rise had penetrated her own semi-comatose state, but she was less able to tolerate being awake with the sun. Seeing her wince, Ryiel turned his face to the west.

  “The pain will disappear once the sun drops below the horizon,” he told her.

  She nodded and took her hand from the wall to massage the other side of her head. Seeing the iron manacle still attached to her wrist, Ryiel addressed his sentinel.

  “She was with you?”

  The bald head gleamed in the candlelight as Stavros nodded. “Until I put her in her chamber.”

  “She doesn’t sleep with you?” Ryiel allowed his curiosity to momentarily distract him.

  “He doesn’t trust me that much.” Katja made a rude noise. “I’m still being punished for bringing a knife to his bed.”

  “It’s true,” Stavros agreed.

  Ryiel opened his mouth to comment, but whatever insight he was about to offer regarding the unusual arrangement between his sentinel and his progeny was lost as a high-pitched scream drowned out all other sound. Carried on the frigid air, it came from beyond the walls of the monastery.

  “Tell me that was an animal,” Katja murmured, her throbbing head forgotten as she closed the distance between herself and her maker. For the first time since her arrival, Ryiel heard the thread of fear in her voice.

  The sound came again, shriller this time, and Ryiel saw Katja shudder.

  “It is an animal,” he answered, “but the kind that walks on two legs, not four.”

  Dark brows pulled together over amethyst eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  “Don’t you?” He arched a brow. “Do you not recognize your own kind, Katja?”

  Her eyes widened as she stared at him. “Are you telling me that’s a . . . vampire?”

  “More than one, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “And you think they come from the valley?”

  The question posed by his sentinel made Ryiel frown. He expected Katja to have doubts, but Stavros? Perhaps he was spending too much time fornicating with their guest.

  “Forgive me, my Lord. I meant no disrespect,” Stavros apologized hastily, seeing the look on the silver-eyed vampire’s face. If Ryiel told him the sound was coming from the sirocco-swept sands of the Sahara, then it was. Stavros had never known him to be wrong.

  “But how can it be vampires?” Katja asked, her frown deepening. “We cannot function in daylight, and the sun has yet to drop below the horizon.”

  “Indeed, that is puzzling,” Ryiel noted, “but no other creature on earth makes such a noise.” Ryiel put a hand on Stavros’s wide shoulder. “We need to go, my friend, although I fear it is already too late.”

  “Too late? Too late for what?”

  Katja’s question echoed off the walls of an empty hallway. All she caught of Stavros was a glimpse of his broad back as it disappeared at the far end, and Ryiel had already vanished into his chamber. He reappeared a moment later, dressed in his customary leather pants and heavy-soled boots, and she grabbed onto his arm as he strode past her.

  “Wait! Let me come with you.”

  “No.” His refusal was firm as he peeled her fingers from his forearm. “You must remain here.”

  “Why? I could help you.”

  Ryiel looked at her. Though she pleaded prettily enough, he caught the glimmer of something sly in her eyes. “I don’t think so, Katja. Not this time.”

  “When will you stop treating me like a child!” Amethyst eyes flashed purple fire. “If it is other vampires, I could be of help. He might be stronger than me”—she pointed a finger at the returning sentinel, now dressed in clothes more suited to brave the elements—“but he isn’t faster.”

  “That I cannot dispute,” Stavros grudgingly agreed.

  “How strange it is that you choose the most inappropriate time to issue a compliment,” Ryiel murmured. He nodded to his sentinel. “You will come with me, but you”—he caught hold of Katja’s upper arm and squeezed it for emphasis—“are to remain here.”

  A string of invectives filled the hallway as Katja tried her best to break free of Ryiel’s iron grip, but to no avail.

  “Stop it!” he commanded, shaking her hard enough to make her head snap back.

  Katja found the moment eerily reminiscent of the time she’d fought with Gabriel. Not wishing to be flung down the hallway, the female vampire stopped struggling. Instead she glared at her maker with malicious intent.

  “I have no time for this foolishness,” Ryiel snarled. “Must I break your legs to guarantee your obedience?”

  “My bones will heal!” Katja snapped back with a snarl of her own.

  “Not if I shatter them.”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  He dropped his fangs. “Try me.”

  Her shriek of frustration bounced off the stone walls. “Why must you treat me as if I were an imbecile lacking the ability to think and reason for myself? Do you truly believe fetching your stupid scrolls, sweeping floors, and fucking your sentinel are the limits of my capabilities?”

  “If you don’t want to fuck Stavros, then don’t. He can always find another female.”

  The possibility of being so easily replaced, even in a place as remote as this, pricked Katja’s vanity, and she muttered sulkily under her breath. Sensing Ryiel was running out of patience, she tried to soften her approach. “I don’t think you realize all I could do for you,” she cajoled, “how valuable I could be, if given the chance—”

  “To do what?” Letting go of her arm, Ryiel caught hold of her face. His long fingers braced her jaw, squeezing and tilting her head until she looked up at him. “Don’t play me for a fool, Katja. I know only too well the limit of your capabilities.” His tone became cold and unforgiving. “And do not mistake my tolerance for affection. The only reason your head is still attached to your neck is because Gabriel asked I not take it.”

  “G-G-Gabriel?” she stuttered, shocked.

  “Yes, I confess I too am perplexed by his request. You attempt to kill his Promise, and still he asks for mercy on your behalf.” He pulled her face closer to his. “Gabriel always was the very best of us when we were celestial beings, so it comes as no surprise he remains that way still. There are limits to what even the Void
can corrupt.” Ryiel smiled, a rarity in itself, and Katja found herself trying to pull back from a mouthful of sharp white teeth, and fangs that put her own to shame. “Of course, what happens going forward is another matter entirely. Give me a reason and I will mete out whatever punishment I see fit.”

  “You’re still not saying why I can’t go with you.” Her voice trembled, but she refused to back down.

  Stavros let out a noisy sigh. “Tell her, Lord, it’s the only way to stop her from following us.”

  Ryiel opened his mouth to speak, but as he did so another high scream broke the stillness. And this time Katja felt it lick her spine.

  “That sound is the voice of a vampire caught in the thrall of bloodlust. Something I have not heard for many centuries, and never thought to hear again.”

  “If it’s been that long, you could be mistaken,” Katja pointed out. “Perhaps it is only the wind.”

  “It isn’t.” The surety in Ryiel’s voice said he was speaking the truth.

  “But how can it be vampires when the sun is still . . .” She paused and turned her head to the west. The terrible pain in her head suddenly vanished, confirming the sun had set. “. . . was still above the horizon,” she finished.

  “That’s what I’m going to find out,” Ryiel said. “How many and why.”

  “And you are positive it is vampires?”

  He looked at her, his eyes turning almost completely silver with only tiny pinpricks of black in the center. “There are some things you never forget. That sound is one of them.”

  She shifted her stance, moving so her weight was now evenly balanced on the balls of her feet. Hands on her hips, she met her maker’s eyes with a steady look of her own. “You still haven’t explained why I can’t go with you.”

  It wasn’t Ryiel who answered her, but Stavros.

  “Everyone in the valley has been slaughtered, and the smell will be—”