Cheating Death (Wraith's Rebellion Book 2)

by Aya DeAniege

  My first few weeks as a vampire, servants died, but nothing else seemed to happen. Of course, the only other vampire I was around, was Lu. I killed mortals, I know that, but I always told myself that was an extension of my telekinetic abilities.

  It seems when I was unable to kill the one I wanted to hurt, my power manifested as a telekinetic ability. Perhaps it thought the way I did, take off the head of the beast, and he’ll be killed.

  However, for vampires, I do need that power.

  Are you worried I might learn your skill?

  Perhaps a little. My power is not something to play with. It is only to be used at the most necessary times, do you understand me? No killing sprees because Balor broke your heart.

  Not all women have a thing for that accent.

  Really, lying? You’re a part of the family now, that makes it a great deal easier to read you.

  Lu made no comment about power to me. I was presented to the Council as Wraith before I was captured by Sasha, which made it easier for me to lie later. I said that I had been made later than I had been.

  Though, in my defence, I thought I had been immortal only a little while. Once turned, you view everything in decades and centuries, so even when I tell the story of my being found and turned, no one questions. They believed I was an early bloomer and nothing else.

  The truth was, as I was on my way home from a visit with Lu, I stumbled onto a vampire. A woman, very old, this is not one of the ones I included in my tally before.

  What we did was very much a page, or six chapters, out of vampiric smut fiction. We stumbled on one another, got wound up in the other’s arms and spent almost a week in bed. It was such a cleansing ritual for me.

  “Your name, young thing?” she purred as she dressed to leave. “That I might look you up the next time I have an... itch.”

  “Quintillus,” I said.

  She sighed loudly. “And your Maker?”

  “Lu,” I said.

  “You poor thing, I’ve heard that one’s still got the tool shoved so far up his ass, it’s coming out his mouth again.”

  I almost giggled at that but recalled that manly men do not giggle. The stranger seemed to like my skills in bed, which I had learned from Lucrecia, so I assumed she’d want a manly man like Lucrecia said all women wanted.

  Instead of laughing, I made a little sound at the back of my throat.

  “And do you have a family, Quintillus, Progeny of Lu?”

  “Lucrecia is my matron,” I said.

  “Who is Lucrecia? That is not a name I’ve heard before.”

  “She sat the Council.”

  “I don’t keep track of those who sit the Council, as I am ever excluded from their number.”

  “Her Progeny is Sasha.”

  The woman’s eyebrows raised upward. “Two vampires I’ve never heard of.”

  “My Maker is very displeased with the two of them. Ranting about the women and how they haven’t the right.”

  “So why doesn’t he do something about it? Every immortal knows that Lu has the ear of Death.”

  “He says he cannot, that I am the only one who can get near them. He wanted me to do something about it, but what can I do besides return to my matron?”

  “If he were to trust you with the tool, that might aid you.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “But every vampire knows not just anyone can touch the tool and survive, let alone wield it.”

  “True,” she murmured, turning to pluck up her glove, the last remaining part of her outfit. “Well, I will look you up in a few centuries when the desire to be fucked by a man comes back around.”

  “But you’ve not given me your name,” I said.

  She huffed out a breath and looked at me. “I am Kali, daughter of no one. I am a matriarch in my own right, but I doubt you’ve heard of me.”

  Kali is on the list.

  Yes, she was, which was how I knew her name and her sin. It was she that spawned the first beast that dared call himself vampire then sent that vampire into battle against the Great Maker.

  I once asked Lu about that, about the difference of men from before and men from after. Those of before were the sort that we would not permit to live beyond the first night. They weren’t right in the body or head, but the original children of the Great Maker wanted only to use them as fodder. The malformed vampires were allowed to live for that reason.

  He had also taught me the list and how to identify the vampires, to make certain that the vampire was who they claimed to be.

  So, I knew Kali’s name and had seen enough of her body to see the brand the Great Maker had given her before turning, that of a dagger on her hip.

  I thought nothing upon seeing it, as we are taught from an early age to be blind to such things as would give away secrets. We are all very old, we all have out secrets, and none of us is without blood on our hands. So, we ignore the obvious to continue with our immortal lives.

  I knew that if I could lure Kali into a trap, Lu would be quite grateful to me. He might even be proud of me. But I didn’t know how.

  What I did know was the rising tension in my chest as I watched her then.

  Even now, even all these centuries later, I know that everyone on that list must die. The only one who could make an exception is the Great Maker, and she’s not exactly talkative, now is she?

  For a sin against our God, Kali had to die. It didn’t matter what she did between that day on the field and that night in my room. Not unless she had been pardoned by the Great Maker.

  “You know of me, I see,” she said with a smugness.

  “I know you marched against the Great Maker. You tried to have her killed out of greed.”

  “I will be a slave to no one,” Kali spat out.

  As she opened her mouth to say more, she coughed up that black sludge that we all do when ill. It just kept coming and coming, and it was projectile in nature. I dove for the other side of the bed as she continued on and on.

  The smell? Oh, it was worse than spoiled Maker’s Blood. The scent was so terrifying that because of it alone, there was a pounding on the door. All the poor innkeeper could hear was this woman retching and me screaming like a child.

  I was up on a chair as if there were a mouse in the room as the man opened the door, knocking Kali forward and into the pool of black sludge she had created. I screamed so much louder, except now there was disgust in my voice because she was flopping around inside of it, trying to get free. It appeared that where ever the sludge touched, it stuck to her and made it all the harder for her to move away.

  The smell turned putrid, now, putrid rotting flesh I could handle, but I still didn’t know what was going on. There I was, an immortal, watching another immortal be consumed by her own vomit and—what?

  I think I’m going to be sick. This is disgusting.

  You haven’t got a stomach. You can’t throw up.

  And vampires can’t just puke themselves to death!

  Oh, but they can.

  Before the very eyes of the innkeeper, Kali died. The black sludge consumed her, and I just kept screaming.

  The police, or some enforcement group, arrived, looked around the room and heard the man’s story. They built a bridge out of the door and a few other bits and helped me out, then thoroughly interrogated me.

  I knew nothing, but they found among Kali’s things a pagan symbol. They assumed a witch had met her grizzly end.

  The room was stripped bare. I went home to Lucrecia so very afraid. I couldn’t even bring myself to tell her what had happened, she just saw the look on my face, patted my arm and asked me if it was time that we had the talk.

  Most Makers have this talk with their Progeny in the first week, you see, because we know for certain there are powers involved and can begin to comfort and ready the Progeny for when they reappear. Lu obviously didn’t do that.

  When I tried to explain my power, she stopped me and told me to keep it to myself.

  We do not share our powers wh
erever we can. Or we lie, or we say that a transferred power is ours. The true power of a vampire is kept hidden except by those who know.

  So, you don’t believe Lucrecia can glamour someone.

  No, I believe she can, I just don’t believe that is her original power.

  You told me—

  Calm down.

  Last night you told me Wraith was the first proven transference, you bastard!

  I also told you last night that I was Quintillus, fifth son of a farmer.

  Are you not Quintillus, fifth son of a farmer?

  This is a small space; would you please keep your voice down? That’s not what I meant, and you know it.

  We have told mortals that one in five vampires has a power. A power, not lots of powers, a power. One power per vampire. Not, oh, by the way…

  Lucrecia can light stuff on fire with her mind and turn any liquid into acid and maybe has healing powers she can work on mortals.

  She can what?

  Ow, okay, that tone of voice and volume right there? That’s why we don’t tell the stupid mortals about our powers. Okay? Calm down!

  I think I’m some freak of nature and you just casually slip out that this is normal.

  Over centuries it’s normal. Over a night? Yeah, I’m sorry. You’re still a freak of nature.

  Jerk.

  Bitch.

  I’m sorry, what did you just grumble about my stupid face?

  Nothing I’ll mean in twenty minutes.

  Good.

  Someone is going to complain because you called me a bitch, though.

  You called me a jerk first! Oh, that’s right, I see how it is. Well, your readers won’t like what else I plan to do to you. Like, violate you in a park.

  It’s not a violation if I want it.

  I’m not certain how to respond to that.

  You were talking about power.

  Right, power.

  Lucrecia sent me off to teach myself how to control my powers. Something I will not do to you. You can’t use those powers on me.

  I’ve always felt it a failing of our system, that we send young vampires off with no instructions on how to control their powers. That was the scariest time of my immortal life, figuring it all out.

  I can’t tell if the killing part is an extension of the movement or the other way around. I’ve tried moving bits inside of a vampire, and it does nothing.

  Killing takes no more out of me than moving something.

  And then Lu started babbling at me. The further into the centuries we got, the madder he became, talking to himself even. The voice changing each time he switched personalities.

  It seems he had a theory for power. If you broke a mind right before turning, creating a sort of dissociative personality disorder, you’d spawn the opportunity, but not the guarantee, for two powers.

  So, Wraith kills and Quintillus moves stuff with his mind.

  No, it’s the other way around. There must not be oxygen getting to your brain, we discussed that as well.

  Hey, don’t be mean to the dead girl. Just correct her, okay?

  Fine, but I think I have a right to point out when you’re wrong.

  Wraith has only ever moved stuff.

  Damn it. I’m doing it again. Me as Wraith could only ever move items. I was only ever playing at Wraith while Lu was around, after all. I managed to do it around a few, you know, vampires that the Council sent me after.

  But the bits and pieces I left, that they talk about? Those were mortals, many of whom were supernaturals who crossed a line.

  The werewolves call me Fanged Death, and they’ve known since meeting me. They can smell something on every person that makes them unique, even if you wear cologne or perfume. They’ve never shared that information, and in return I allow some of the ones in training to use me as a squeak toy, as you’d put it.

  I help them learn how to take out and put down a vampire. They’re getting quite adept at it, but at the moment I only participate in fights.

  That part of me that the Oracle calls boy, he is naive and silly and scared to death of this thing he can do. Killing others when others cannot even kill themselves.

  The mess I leave behind is rather distinct, I’ve had to burn a few cities to the ground to cover my tracks.

  So, how many have you killed?

  Fifteen to twenty-five.

  From Lucrecia, I understood that I would go off accidentally until I learned to control my powers, which meant that I had to get out there and do something with myself.

  I went in search of names on the list because Lu had made me memorize them while still a fledgling. I know them all, and from there, I simply walked around and found strangers.

  And I broke our rules.

  I’d get them drunk on blood, throw whores at them if they were male, or bed them if they were female. I’d learn everything about them while telling lies. It didn’t take long to find another name on the list.

  The men who served on the field as fledgling conscripts were mostly dead, you see. They hadn’t had centuries of skill to help hide them from the initial cull. It was probably very difficult for them to hide the black spots and malformations that many of them took on.

  Can I ask you something?

  What is it?

  Is Bob on your list?

  Bob? No. Lu loves Bob. Thinks he’s utterly adorable. Death threatened more than one vampire and killed a few on his rampage through South America, but he hurt nothing in Bob’s city. I mean, besides the puny humans who got in the way.

  Lu loves Bob?

  He’s freaking adorable, who couldn’t love the guy?

  He’s squishy like a teddy bear.

  Exactly.

  I think I know what Bob’s power is.

  I’m starting to think the same thing, now that I’ve said it out loud.

  Anyhow, I found another conscript at first and dispatched him as I had Kali.

  The older we are, the more powerful we become. I caught Kali off guard, even caught myself off guard. With the conscripted vampire, it was more difficult to bring about. Harder to make him choke on his dying breath, but I did succeed eventually.

  From there I left and went into a forest. I stayed there for several years.

  Moving items, and learning to do so on purpose, was quite difficult. Frustrating even. You just sit there and tell a rock to move until it pisses you off so much that it flies away as if let off from a slingshot.

  Then nothing will move again.

  Eventually, I got a bumbling movement out of it. I forced myself to stay in the woods until I managed finer movement.

  Then I went looking for another on the list.

  Athena was a third-generation vampire. The Great Maker is a zero generation. So, she was far enough removed to be different. She was old enough that she could have had a choice, go to war, don’t go to war. There was a small faction that refused to go, and a first generation is rumoured to have been among their number.

  Gaia.

  How did you know that?

  You need to talk to your sister.

  Weird way to dodge answering my question, but all right.

  I found Athena by the Mediterranean Sea. She had situated herself on a cliff and as some goddess whose name has been forgotten by history.

  “Who dares enter my temple and demand I attend?” she said in all that authoritative tone that those who believe they are true gods could muster up. “I am she who lights the sky. I am she who gave birth to all the lands and the seas. Dare you enter my inner sanctum and claim yourself chaste enough to stand before me?”

  Really?

  It annoyed even me. But when playing at being a god, it’s typically suggested you monologue like you’re better than everyone else. Doing so typically makes them feel like you’re better than them and gives you control over them. At least, it used to.

  Educating the masses is a bad way to retain control.

  “I’m Quin,” I said with a grin.

  That’s it,
that’s all, and I introduced myself just so.

  “And what does such a young one as yourself want with a god as old as all the peoples in the world? I am all powerful, all knowing, I haven’t the time to tutor a young soul in the ways of being a god.”

  Which I think was her way of saying that she knew I was a vampire and thought I wanted to set up my base like she had her base set up. But I believe in the one true God and not in all the lesser gods. Becoming immortal put a damper on pagan belief for me.

  “I’m trying to learn how to control my powers,” I said, dropping my bag on the floor.

  Now, I knew Athena had a reputation as a warrior goddess. When a vampire has a reputation as a god, take that to heart. It’s not just a warning, but a tell of how they lived for centuries, it may even be a glimpse at their true self.

  “One of such a young soul must go out and visit the prophets for aid in the learning of such power. Then practice and train for centuries to obtain the kind of control that I, as God of all the world, has obtained.”

  Which I think meant she was honestly trying to help me by saying that I should see the Oracle, who I hadn’t met at that point. At the same time, she was giving me the same information that I had had for years. Exactly what Lucrecia said, coming from a third generation.

  How scary is that?

  “Oh, I know,” I said as I planted my feet.

  You thought you were some kind of bad ass?

  No, I was taking Athena at face value. As a crazy warrior goddess who could compete with the men at a time when the men were practically clones of Lu.

  To put it plainly, I was getting ready to have my ass kicked.

  She didn’t attack. She was more puzzled than anything.

  Never monologue, Lu taught me that. You only do it to distract the other person.

  Now you tell me.

  He’s read a lot of books, and it’s quite a popular trope. So, he doesn’t do it.

  “Whatever is the young soul planning to do? Do you believe you are the one spoken of in the darkest nights? Think you may syphon off my power, to take it into yourself—”

  Wait, what?

  I have no idea what she was talking about. Of course, we have a myth about a chosen one, most races do. Ours would take the powers of other vampires for themselves, eventually becoming the last remaining vampire because as they took power, they would make the so-called victim mortal. Able to live out their lives as they pleased.