Ravana Clan Vampires: Complete Series

by Moore, E. M.

  He looked down, nodding at the ground and my hand fell off his shoulder.

  Footsteps sounded in the doorway and we both looked up to find Soren there. “It’s time.”

  “I know you can do this,” I told T.J., but he was already in fight mode. His hands roamed over his black tactical getup. He walked toward Soren and grabbed a long, sword-like weapon that leaned against the wall. It was about three feet in length with the tip sharpened into a wooden point. I’d never seen the weapon before, didn’t even know what it was called, but I was instantly intrigued.

  Soren turned and led us out the guard hallway and further to the makeshift arena in the open space I could look down on from my bedroom window. As we got closer, the crowd roared. Jolts of energy shot up my body until my fingertips tingled. We moved closer to the opening that led to the circular grassy area. Guards and vampires alike from our side touched T.J. as we moved through, their faces covered in earnest expressions, some yelling at T.J., others squeezing him as if to give him words of encouragement. My heart lodged in my throat.

  When we were close, Soren stopped and moved aside so T.J. could continue walking into the center. He moved just off middle and I saw his opponent standing there. The vampire was tall, bulky, and muscular unlike any other vampire I’d seen. He was bare-chested with black and brown rope necklaces hanging from his tree trunk of a neck. His hair was scraggly, almost wet-looking as if he’d already sweat a gallon of water or had just gotten out of the shower. He wore a pair of cut off pants, the edges frayed and olive green strings dangling from his unhemmed cuffs. To me, he looked more like a man from the amazon than a vampire getting ready to fight. Fear struck my heart and I grasped the first thing I found. Luckily, it was Nicolai’s hand. “Holy shit, we’re not going to do this.”

  I looked up to find that Nic’s face was white. Gone were his usual shadows, his darkness that barely let the light in. He was a ghost-like figure standing there. I wanted to run out to T.J., I wanted to tell Gregor to stop this thing. What were we thinking agreeing to this?

  But before I knew it, a loud horn blew and then the tension in the air hit maximum overload, like a physical force swept over us and around us, like we were swimming through fear and apathy and turmoil.

  The huge hulk of a man, Torrent, Soren had called him, ran toward T.J.. He started out slow, but his vampire abilities kicked in and he was on T.J. before I could even register that he was moving slower than I imagined. From behind his back, he took out a large, wooden-handled spiked metal ball. The tip was like a metal porcupine, bigger than T.J.’s head. He swung it and T.J. ducked, narrowly avoiding the crushing blow.

  Heat shimmered behind my eyes. I felt all hope drain from me. Cursing myself, I realized I’d been a child-like fool with innocent thoughts. Look at that guy. He was going to crush T.J..

  T.J. turned and smacked Torrent on the back. The vampire growled, turning his back to us where I could see a welt starting, blazing across his backside from shoulder to hip. As encouraging as it might’ve been, Torrent just shrugged it off and came for T.J. again who was a lot closer this time. He struck out with the metal spiked ball, glancing off T.J.’s shoulder who grimaced in pain. His mouth clamped shut, and Nicolai’s fingers wound through mine. “He’s tough,” he said into my ear.

  On my right, Soren bent over to whisper, “T.J. knew all this. Torrent comes out fast. He’ll want to wear T.J. out because he knows he’s got his vampire abilities on his side. I know it doesn’t…look good, but this is about what we expected.”

  I turned an exasperated look toward him, but when a loud thwack echoed through the arena, I immediately looked back. The spiked weapon was inches away from T.J.’s foot. Flipping his weapon to the other side, I saw in T.J.’s choice what I hadn’t before, a blade about a foot long. He sliced it across Torrent’s chest and a trickle of blood immediately seeped through.

  “What is that thing?” I asked Soren. “I’ve never seen it before.”

  “Because of Torrent’s strength, we needed a strong weapon. It’s metal infused throughout with of course the wooden stake at the very end. If Torrent gets his hand on that, he’ll have a hard time breaking it apart due to the metal. If T.J.’s quick enough, he can wear Torrent down. Bleed his strength, his abilities, before he goes in for the kill shot.”

  Soren’s hands gripped the the wood post before us. His knuckles tightened as T.J. moved out of the way, putting more space between him and his opponent. Closer to us now, I could see that he was favoring his shoulder though. His black shirt was wet there, making it almost shiny, and I knew he was bleeding.

  Stephan moved past us, his face pale. He looked at me. “When he wins, he’s going to need care.” His hands trailed over my fingers as he walked away, and I saw true sickening sadness there. It was a wonder why Stephan had even come out to watch at all. He just didn’t have the heart for this stuff. He was too good. Too kind. I wanted to assure him, but at the same time, I knew I needed to be right here, no matter how badly a part of me wanted to be with another part of me somewhere else, reassuring him that though there was evil in this world, we weren’t all overcome by it. This was just a means to an end, and as soon as we defeated Dumont, we could go back to our everyday lives where death, and injury, and loss weren’t even on our radars.

  The crowd erupted on the far side of the grassy arena when Torrent once again managed to hit T.J. with his medieval weapon. Their jubilant response was cut short though when T.J. kicked out at the bad leg of the beastly warrior. His leg buckled, and for a moment, he was off balance. T.J., again, struck out at him with the blade tip of his weapon. More blood seeped down his chest, and the vampire roared, a deafening cry that would’ve silenced the night creatures of the forest if they hadn’t already been silenced. He didn’t yell out of pain or agony, but out of exasperation. He fumbled forward, impatient swings of his weapon toward T.J.’s body, which he neatly dodged all the way across the fenced-off area until one last swing down when T.J. narrowly avoided the head of it. Instead of the spikes breaking his skull, it smashed through one of the wooden posts, wood splintering everywhere. The first row of Dumont’s clan reared away, hands shielding their faces and cries rising up until Torrent pulled the spiky ball from the Earth again, following T.J. into the middle of the arena.

  Torrent charged him again and at the last second, T.J. dove and rolled out of the way, his weapon flicking out and catching his opponent in his bad leg again, a gash opening up on his calf, hobbling him. But T.J. didn’t get out of the exchange unscathed either. The weapon had hit his foot and he could barely put weight on it as they stood facing one another once more.

  “Kill him!” a voice bellowed.

  I looked across the grassy area to find Dumont, his face pulled into a mask of scowling rage. His nostrils flared as his barreled chest rose and fell with his quick, thunderous breaths.

  That man, he was clearly furious, staring down his warrior as if he’d slighted him. It made my stomach twist in disgust, and the next attacks by Torrent were quick, and clumsy in his earnestness to end the match. By all means, he should’ve been a sure winner from the outside looking in. He had brawn, strength, paranormal abilities that T.J. could never have, but he lacked a few things we didn’t. A reason to fight. The understanding of a leader, who now, as I looked down past my princes and caught sight of Gregor and Isabelle, I understood even more. They stood stoic, their hands entwined with shock and horror pulling at their eyes and corners of their lips. Skin creases marred their usually perfect faces. A shot of pride overwhelmed me.

  “Come on, T.J.!” I screamed, knowing full well that he probably couldn’t hear me, but did it even matter? He was putting his life on the line for the rest of us. “Take your time! Wear him down!”

  “There you go, Young One,” Soren said. “All is not lost.”

  At that, T.J. spun out of the way of another of Torrent’s attacks and thrust out with his blade. It sunk into the vampire’s bicep. A smile poured from me, but in the next insta
nt, I winced as T.J. ran away without his weapon in his hand. He scrambled for a stake at his hip while Torrent pulled T.J.’s weapon from his arm and bent it over his knee. The stake portion splintered off, the metal core gleaming underneath as it fell to the grass in a useless heap.

  Terror struck me, but as I looked on, T.J. faced Torrent with a curved smile. I held my breath and looked to my right. Soren’s knuckles had turned white. With both fighters broken and bloody, a thousand different things ran through my mind. I should’ve told T.J. I liked him. Though it wasn’t in the same way he liked me, I did care for him. He was a great fighter, a great friend. Moments should never be taken for granted. They should be lived to the fullest extent because you never knew when you were going to be facing down the likes of Torrent. A problem as insurmountable as one could seem. But still, as T.J. stared him down, he didn’t look like the hurt, broken warrior that he was. He still looked calm underneath the mask of blood and limping. He looked confident though he had but a small stake in his hand. All odds were against us. In some ways, they always had been, but I never stopped believing.

  “Attack,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. My hands clenched at my sides as I saw Torrent take his first step toward T.J.. He brought the spiked metal ball down with a roar. Unlike the other times though, T.J. didn’t move fast enough. It crashed into the same hurt shoulder and T.J. tumbled to the ground. Torrent stood above him, smiling like he was a victor to his prey. T.J. scrambled backward, his hands and legs sinking into the trampled grass as he tried to get away.

  Torrent was right on him though. He ran forward, sinking a heavy knee into T.J.’s chest as he pulled his weapon above his head.

  I stopped breathing. My heart even stopped beating.

  Everything moved as if in slow motion even though when we were talking about vampires, that simply wasn’t possible. Torrent swung his hands down like thick mallet heads grasping the very thing that could kill T.J. in an instant. Beside me, Nicolai tensed, still as stone as we both watched wide-eyed at the scene before us.

  I leaned toward Soren as Torrent brought the crushing blow down. It was like watching something I knew would hurt like hell, but couldn’t take my eyes off anyway. The spiked metal was almost there now, but then, a quick movement. Torrent stilled. T.J. moved his head as the medieval weapon fell just a hair’s breath away from his skull and fell to the ground. I leaned closer, gasping when I saw T.J.’s hands move away from Torrent’s chest.

  Torrent fell to the side and T.J. scrambled out from underneath him and got to his feet. He stared down at the broken piece of his weapon sticking out of Torrent’s chest. He’d grabbed the splintered wood and impaled Torrent with it at the last possible second. The crowd hushed at once. Torrent shuddered. His breaths became laborious. T.J. glanced at Gregor and whatever he saw there, just walked—limped—back toward us, leaving Torrent in the middle. It was clear he couldn’t go on, was possibly fighting for life at that moment. I couldn’t even smile for T.J.’s victory because a harsh sadness overwhelmed me.

  Then, a sudden blur. Soren ran forward, but it was too late. Dumont was already there, his foot on the splintered stake, pushing it further into Torrent’s chest. As soon as it sank all the way in, Dumont turned, a frenzy of clothes and darted away, his followers not far after him. A gaping hole filled their side of the circle, the leadership having all gone with their warrior’s death. Somber and slow, a few of the vampires from the other side walked to where Torrent lay and pulled him up by the shoulders to carry him away. I watched all this, slack-jawed, more surprised than I should’ve been.

  I was instantly grateful Stephan wasn’t there. He would be…furious, and sad.

  T.J. limped toward us and Lex, Samuel, and Soren rushed forward, taking away our warrior with the dignity he deserved, leading him away as the rest of the crowd stayed eerily silent, hands reaching out to him as T.J. made no emotion.

  He wasn’t overjoyed. He wasn’t proud.

  This had all been just a means to an end.

  7

  Stephan was waiting for him.

  I stood back as he worked over him, watching as Lex and Matthews congratulated T.J.. Our eyes met a few times, and I nodded, but what was there to say really that anyone else hadn’t said? I was glad he was alive. I was glad he won. That just meant we were one step closer to putting all this behind us. One step closer to realizing that Gregor wouldn’t have to go in there to fight that lunatic Dumont.

  I waited everyone out, until Stephan shooed everyone from the room and sent for aides to take T.J. inside. Hesitantly, I walked up. T.J. reached out and I squeezed his hand. Stephan tried to give us space while also clearly interested in the exchange.

  I cleared my throat. “You did good,” I said. “I knew you would.”

  “It was a little scary for a second there.”

  “Nah,” I said, lying through my teeth. “Like I said, those girls are going to flock to you now.”

  He stifled a laugh, then cringed and moved on the bed, hissing in pain until he got into a comfortable position. Stephan came over, but there wasn’t anything for him to do. T.J. just needed to rest and recover. He would live, and he did all of us a great service.

  “Do me a favor, Stephan?” T.J. said. He looked to me. “You and your brothers better do right by her.”

  Stephan laid a hand on T.J.’s arm. “No one will take better care of her. You can trust me on that.” Stephan peeked at me then looked back. “Thank you for what you did out there. I knew you were brave, and strong but…” He shook his head.

  “I know the feeling,” T.J. said, laughing and then wincing again.

  “I can give you more pain reliever…”

  T.J. shook his head. “It’s not all physical…”

  Two women dressed in white, nurse-like uniforms came in. Stephan helped move T.J. to a gurney and the other two vampires wheeled him away. I watched after him until two hands surrounded me, pulling me into a warmth I wasn’t sure I deserved. “That was tough to look at. Do you need anything?”

  “Just you,” I said, pulling his hands closer.

  He kissed my cheek, his brown hair tickling the skin there. He bent at the waist, pulling my legs up and we ran out of the tent, into the estate, through the halls until he placed me gingerly on the bed—my bed. I breathed out, pulling him around me again.

  “Where are the others?”

  “Christian said they were going right to the meeting. Lex and Samuel are done deciding so…”

  “We’ll know soon,” I said, patting his hip.

  “Soon,” Stephan said.

  * * *

  Nicolai

  The tension in the room mounted. With the reassurance that T.J. was going to be okay, there was only a little bit of happy chatter around. All of us saw what happened out there—well, not Stephan, but he wasn’t here anyway. The rest of us, we saw what it took for T.J. to do what he did. Picturing Ri do that…

  Nope. I shook my head.

  Lex stood. I caught her gaze and held it, trying to look as menacing as possible. They sure as fuck were not going to pick her. She didn’t have to know we didn’t let it happen. She couldn’t know. She’d be furious, but what else could you do when your reason for living was the one out there making all the sacrifices and you were in your nice, cozy fucking cocoon doing shit?

  “Samuel and I have come to a decision.” She took a deep breath, her lips frowning.

  My fingers braced against the chair and I started to stand.

  Mom shot to her feet beside me. “Stop!” Every eye turned to her. She was shaking. Her face was white, terror-stricken. She took in a few gulps of air, her face never leaving the smooth of the wood finish on the table before her. She shook her head. “I can’t stop myself from saying this. I won’t stop.” She turned her eyes upward and met Lex’s gaze. “After seeing that out there, I’m making a request of you. You both,” she finished, looking at Samuel too.

  My heart stammered. My mother was a brilliant, beautiful woman, but
she hardly ever spoke up at Council meetings. She left all that up to Gregor.

  “I can’t sit here and listen to whatever names you’re going to say, and with saying what I’m about to say, I know full well how selfish I’m being. But, I can’t help myself. For the sake of my family, I ask only one thing. That Ariana be kept off the list.”

  My stomach plummeted. There the words were. They were out there. And with it, if Ariana found out, would be beyond pissed. Her eyes would flash and she would storm around with the passion that lit her soul inside her. But it was what every one of us were thinking even though we were being spectacularly unfair. Who were we to make demands? Rulers, sure, but that was the exact reason we shouldn’t be saying any of this.

  Gregor shifted in his seat. Lex blinked.

  “I know full well the weight of my words and I’m willing to take any consequence given to me, but I am pleading, begging, with you. Do not send our Ariana into that pit. She’s too…special.”

  “Isabelle,” Gregor chastised, reaching up to take her hand.

  She pulled hers from his grip and stepped away. “I know, I know. Who am I to say who should live or not? I can’t just sit here and listen to you all make decisions about those I care about. I can’t.”

  Christian stood and moved toward Isabelle. He put his hand softly on her arm and she immediately turned toward him, her chin resting on his shoulder as she hid her face from us all.

  “She has to live,” Isabelle whispered. “She has to.”

  I wasn’t sure if Lex could hear, but Samuel certainly could. He stretched his neck and then bent over to whisper in Lex’s ear. She nodded, her eyes glassy as she watched the scene before her.

  Samuel stood, squaring his shoulders as he caught the attention of Gregor. “We have the names of the remaining fighters. They were chosen due to many characteristics, chief among them skill, and bravery. As Isabelle has just said, our minds were even more made up after watching T.J.’s brave showing. We need fighters like him. We need those who will take us to victory, so it won’t come down to the fifth fight. In fact, we’re hoping it won’t even come down to the fourth fight.” He looked around the room. I moved to the edge of my seat, my fingers digging into the table in front of me. I willed the shape of his lips to take on another name. I willed them to speak about someone else, all the while, deep down knowing how hurt Ariana would be if she could see inside me to know what I was really thinking. My throat closed as Samuel began. “Our next fighters are…”