A Vampire's Hunger

by Carla Susan Smith

  “Oh yes,” Stavros confirmed. “Their culture’s history included accounts of vampires, and the village elders were extremely pleased to see one for themselves. Ryiel was greatly admired by all.” Knowing the vampire’s disdain for the modern world, as well as his preference for self-imposed isolation, I wondered if he’d found the sudden rock-star attention difficult to handle. “Not at all,” the sentinel assured me, “although if they had tried to put him on YouTube, it might have been different.”

  We all laughed at the notion.

  “They were proud he had chosen them,” Stavros continued, “and were pleased to offer themselves to him when needed. In return, they accepted his offer of protection. We had no idea something like this would happen.” His face crumpled as big, glossy tears slid down either side of his nose to fall from his quivering chin. “I have never seen Ryiel so devastated,” he added hoarsely.

  “But Ryiel was certain it was the work of vampires?” Gabriel asked.

  Stavros nodded and used the linen napkin on his lap to wipe his eyes. “He told me they were newly made and had been let loose with no guidance. He said their savagery was like when he was first made.”

  “Newly made vampires don’t behave in such a way,” Gabriel frowned. “Our DNA prevents such barbarity.”

  Stavros slapped his hand on the table, making me jump. “Ryiel thought their creation was unnatural. I am such an idiot for not telling you this first.” Possible, but I wasn’t going to be the one to say it. “And they disintegrated,” he continued. “Did I tell you that?”

  A shiver went down my spine. How did you create a vampire in a way unnatural enough to make it disintegrate?

  Gabriel was filled with curiosity. “How did they disintegrate? After Ryiel took their heads?”

  Stavros described the piles of ash as well as the one vampire who had simply fallen at Ryiel’s feet and become a pile of ash in a matter of moments.

  “There must have been something left behind,” Gabriel said. “Bone fragments or fangs?”

  Stavros shook his head, which shone in the soft overhead light. His head wasn’t smooth like a bowling ball or anything else. The surface was bumpy and scarred and, for some strange reason, made me think of pictures I’d seen of the moon’s surface. It was kind of appropriate when I thought about how well he matched Ryiel’s silvery gaze.

  “No,” he replied, answering Gabriel’s question, “they became nothing but dust. Fine gray dust. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have known I was looking at the remains of what had once been sentient creatures.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “About the sentient part, I mean.”

  “I don’t know how they were changed or why, but I am certain they were all someone’s son or daughter at one time.”

  I dropped my eyes, suitably humbled by the gentle rebuke. Gabriel’s hand covered mine in understanding.

  “And what happened to Ryiel?”

  Stavros seemed as perplexed as Gabriel by the other Original Vampire’s condition. He recalled the details as best as he could. The swiftness of the assault, the agony it produced, and his very real belief that Ryiel would take his life. Getting up from the table, Gabriel went to the bar, returning with a bottle of cognac. He poured a hefty amount into the sentinel’s after-dinner coffee.

  “Did his eyes look different?” he queried in a low voice.

  The sentinel paled and described the sudden change in the vampire he served. “Do you know what has happened to him?”

  “I’m not sure,” Gabriel replied, “but I think Ryiel has been broken back to his first transition. It would explain the unfettered rage I could feel pulsing through him.”

  From the way Stavros fussed with his utensils, it was obvious to me he wanted to ask for an explanation, but I guess he thought it would be impolite for him to do so. Luckily I had no such problem. “What’s the first transition?”

  Gabriel’s hand returned to mine and squeezed my fingers. “It’s when two species join to become one. You witnessed mine,” he added solemnly.

  I would never forget. The clearing in the forest, the icy cold of the night. Gabriel falling to the ground and the large cat-like creature that brushed past me to give the best of himself to a disgraced celestial being in the hope of creating a superior predator in return. The sacrifice and the reward. Both had been magnificent.

  “What’s happening to Ryiel now?” I asked, seeing Stavros take a big gulp of his doctored coffee.

  Gabriel closed his fingers around my hand and placed it on his chest over his heart. “The beast within us never dies, Rowan. It is present in every single breath we take, and sometimes, when necessary, it will remind us it is there.” I thought about the times I had heard Gabriel growl. Not the playful noise he sometimes made to excite me in bed. This was a more feral sound that made the hair at the back of my neck stand up. “I believe Ryiel has lost the link to his beast. He has gone to the only place where he can reclaim the beast as his own.”

  “The Void . . .”

  Gabriel nodded. “The only true power in the Dark Realm.”

  “Will Ryiel find himself again?”

  “If he doesn’t, I’m going to be really pissed with him,” Gabriel declared, leaning forward to kiss me quickly on the mouth.

  “Is there anything we can do?” This, too, I asked more for Stavros than myself.

  “We can wait. For as long as it takes,” he added anticipating my next question.

  A sudden realization struck me. “But that means you can’t use your sarcophagus.”

  “No, I can’t, but it is not an issue. I would do the same again, Rowan, as I know he would for me.” Proof of the respect and affection Gabriel had for the vampire.

  From across the table, Stavros drained his mug and looked at both of us with an expression that was almost fearful. “There’s something else I need to tell both of you.” He cleared his throat. “It’s about Katja.”

  Shit. I’d forgotten all about her. Of course, she was Ryiel’s progeny, and like any good, caring parent, he had put her under house arrest for trying to kill me. Personally I thought it was kind of lenient as punishments go. I would have preferred something slow and horribly agonizing, but there were some areas where my opinion didn’t actually carry much weight. This was one of them.

  “What about her?” Gabriel was cautious.

  Stavros poured another measure of cognac into his mug, and then pushed the bottle across the table to Gabriel. “She’s gone.”

  Chapter 14

  Ryiel felt as if someone had taken a molten-hot metal spike and was determined to drive it through his forehead and out the back of his skull. The agony was unbearable.

  The Void welcomed him like a prodigal son returning home. It pulled him into the dark heart of its embrace with no promise of release. But freedom from the Void held no appeal for Ryiel. He had made his choice long ago, which explained why he kept his Promise secluded from the world. Taking back his soul to receive redemption and reclaim his rank in the Celestial Hierarchy was not a future he coveted. And it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances to make him change his mind.

  He gave himself to the Void completely. The absence of stimuli was as familiar to Ryiel as the tattoos across his chest. Those he had committed to memory, seeing in his mind’s eye every sweep and curve that tarnished his smooth skin. The hand that had sought to shame him with the markings had failed in its endeavor. The vampire wore his disfiguration with pride. It was why he had selected his torso for the application, and why he never covered them up. He felt no shame, no dishonor, for having stood at Gabriel’s side so long ago.

  Drawn deeper inside the Void’s sphere, Ryiel emptied himself of all emotion. He knew that, when the moment presented itself, the Void would reveal his purpose and set him on his path. It was a journey he had taken before, but then it had always been his choice. This time was different.

  This journey was not of his choosing. It had been forced on him by another, an
d events had unfolded contrary to his wishes. Whatever had happened in the valley, the breaking of his bond with a vampire he had not voluntarily released had nearly broken him as well. Ryiel had barely survived, and he was grateful Gabriel had not tried to reach him through the bond they shared. Had he done so, he would have found only echoes of a long-forgotten past, with nothing to identify him as the vampire he knew.

  But Gabriel had been astute enough to recognize that Ryiel needed to return to the source that had been instrumental in their creation. The Void had taken the best of each of them, melding it with the choice of the lesser beasts. Each animal, sacrificing itself freely for the greater good, had blended seamlessly with its chosen fallen angel, until no Original Vampire could tell where he ended and the beast began. And now this unprecedented catastrophe had ripped Ryiel’s beast from him. He felt lost and, for the first time in too many millennia to measure, terrifyingly alone.

  Unable to register the concept of time, he did not sleep, he did not wake, he just was. Hunger and thirst were unknown to him. He existed in a place where, it was rumored, the light came to die. At first, he had been able to distinguish the sound of his own heartbeat, the whisper of his own breath, but he had ceased to hear either long ago. Was his heart still pumping? Did it need to? If it did, did it make a difference? He was in a sea of nothing, surrounded by nothing.

  Ryiel continued to drift, unaware he was surrounded by insidious forces wanting to steal what was left of his senses. He might have continued in this non-existence for eternity, and perhaps in some part of the time continuum he did, but the Void was obligated by an agreement made long ago. A private covenant made with the Creator, which continued no matter who ruled the Dark Realm. Any Original Vampire that returned to the Void, no matter the reason, was to be sent back to the world of men, whole and intact.

  With fang and claw and hot, boiling blood, the beast was slammed back into Ryiel with the same violence that had been used to separate it from him. Feeling the rush of blood once more filling his heart and pumping through his body, the vampire returned from the brink. Muscles expanded and tendons flexed, and slowly his mind woke up, and he was aware of two things. The first did not surprise him, but the second did.

  He knew exactly how Katja had broken her bond with him. And he had summoned Sinisia to him. Though why he would need the keeper of his soul, he could not say.

  Chapter 15

  For the first time ever, Gabriel went to bed angry with me. Actually, angry might be a little dramatic. Irritated? Definitely. Exasperated? Oh yeah, and then some. And all because of my choice in sleeping attire.

  “You’re kidding, right?” he said as I pulled on a pair of shorts and a faded tank top.

  “Surely you don’t expect me to sleep naked?”

  “Why not? You usually do.”

  “Yes, but this is different.”

  “Different how?”

  “Well, Ryiel is here. What if he needs to pee like a racehorse in the middle of the night?”

  “Highly unlikely.” Gabriel arched a brow. “But what if he did?”

  “Um, he has to walk right past our bed to get there.” I pointed from the closet to the open doorway on the other side of the room that led to the bathroom.

  “So?”

  “So you have no problem with him possibly seeing me in my birthday suit?”

  “You’d be asleep.”

  “What if I woke up?”

  He sighed and got out of bed, his naked backside giving me an incredible show as he disappeared into the closet. Gabriel had absolutely no qualms about Ryiel or anyone else seeing him naked, so he had a hard time understanding my own insecurities about how I looked without clothes. No matter how many times he told me he worshipped every curve of my body, every freckle, every dimple, unless I could wake up with a body to rival Gisele Bündchen’s I wasn’t about to dance on the dining room table in my birthday suit. Even if it was one of his most ardent fantasies.

  “If you insist on wearing something to bed”—he held a padded hanger out toward me—“at least wear something sexy.”

  I stared at the black garment, which seemed to stare reproachfully back, as if it knew it wasn’t coming off the hanger tonight. Purchased during Gabriel’s Fifty Shades of Undies moment, it was one of the items I’d yet to model for him. Yes, he had impeccable taste. Yes, it was practically indecent how sinfully gorgeous every piece of lingerie felt next to my skin. Yes, I had forgiven him for his arrogance . . . well, almost. The black material shimmered as Gabriel waved the hanger back and forth.

  “That’s not something you wear to sleep in,” I pointed out.

  “I know.” He gave me a sexy smile. “How about if I make sure you’re too exhausted to wake up unexpectedly?” The glazed look in his eyes left no doubt about how he intended to make sure I reached such a state. Unfortunately, his fantasies were also going to be taken off the menu.

  “Um, yeah, about that . . .” I shook my head and took a step back.

  His brows pulled together as he realized what I was saying. The sharp vertical line looked positively painful. “Are you serious?” he growled. I tried explaining how it was when family came to stay for the holidays. At least how it was in Laycee’s house. She was always having to give up her room for some elderly relative, and with the multitude of cousins, there was absolutely no privacy. “Are you saying we would never have had sex in your father’s house if he were still alive?”

  “Something like that,” I mumbled, pulling the end of my braid through nervous fingers.

  “But this isn’t—”

  “I know, but it feels the same.” If I had to choose, I’d prefer the dark-haired vampire got an eyeful of me starkers than with Gabriel’s cock in my mouth. Of course, it would be even better if I didn’t have to make a choice.

  “You’re being ridiculous,” he snapped, stalking back into the closet to return the lingerie to its place on the rail.

  Feeling both miserable and angry, I got into bed. My unhappiness was compounded when I felt Gabriel get into bed but roll away from me. For the first time ever, he did not take me in his arms, or stroke my skin, or kiss me goodnight. And by the time I got up the nerve to approach him, he had already succumbed to the daylight and was in a state of inertia.

  I didn’t recall falling asleep, but I must have because the sound of the shower woke me. Automatically I stretched out my hand, but the other side of the bed was empty. I threw back the covers and walked quickly over to the closet. The far wall remained solid, telling me our guest was still on the other side. I knew there was no way I could overcome all my anxieties and confidence issues overnight, but there was one way to get back in my lover’s good graces. Gabriel was inordinately fond of sex in the shower.

  I stripped and unbraided my hair and, feeling the burn of anticipation running through me, headed for the bathroom. Clouds of steam billowed out from above the top of the shower door, creating a scene to rival anything Victorian London had to offer. Condensation glistened on the tiled wall and fogged the mirrors. Gabriel, it would seem, had been in the shower for some time. Sliding open the glass door, I stepped in behind him.

  With his hands braced on the wall in front of him, he was bent far enough over to allow the spray to pound the back of his neck and shoulders. I reached past him for the bottle of body wash, but the hand on the wall unexpectedly dropped and long fingers gripped my wrist.

  “You don’t want to do that.”

  Three things hit me all at the same time. His voice had changed, his grip felt different, and—oh shit, shit, shit!—there were no tattoos on his spine. And, in case I needed confirmation, that wasn’t the light playing tricks with a cloud of steam, but a ribbon of dark hair falling over his wide shoulder. Not dark as in water-wet, but dark as in natural color dark. The noise that escaped my mouth sounded a lot like a cat being strangled.

  “I’m going to let you go, and not turn around,” Ryiel said, “and no one will ever have to know.”

  I’m pre
tty sure I had the sliding door to the shower already open before he let go of me. Grabbing a towel from the rack, I backpedaled as fast as I could, closing the bathroom door once I was back on the bedroom side. I turned around, fully expecting to see Gabriel standing behind me, but as luck would have it, I was still alone. Perhaps he was still mad at me. If so, I’d never been so grateful.

  Dressing quickly, I forced myself to take a couple of deep breaths. My fingers were shaking so much I could barely do up my shirt. I was lucky my hair was only damp, not wet, and I was able to pull it up into a loose ponytail. The sound of the shower cutting off pushed me out of the room. In the kitchen, I fixed myself a cup of coffee. If either Tomas or Stavros noticed the way I blew past Gabriel, they kept their comments to themselves. I was spooning sugar into my cup when I felt strong arms around my waist.

  “I’m sorry about last night,” he murmured, nuzzling the back of my neck. “It was childish and immature of me, and I promise it will never happen again.”

  Suddenly overwhelmed at being saved from making the world’s worst mistake, I turned in Gabriel’s arms and pulled his head down so I could kiss him. Surprised by my unexpected demonstration of forgiveness, he quickly matched my passion. Guilt may have been the initial reason behind my action, but it was quickly swept away by lust as I slid my tongue between dropped fangs.

  “Oh for the love of—not on my kitchen counter!”

  Tomas’s censure was as effective as a bucket of cold water. Burning with embarrassment, I buried my head in Gabriel’s neck as he picked me up and carried me into the living room.

  “So I’m forgiven?” Gabriel asked, lowering himself onto the couch and pulling me onto his lap.

  “Ryiel’s awake,” I blurted out.

  “Oh, so you’ve seen him then?”

  More than I expected. “He was in the shower.”

  “That explains it.”

  “Explains what?”

  “Why you look so guilty.”

  Shit! Shit! Shit!

  “You were worried he might catch you getting dressed,” Gabriel concluded with a grin.