by Diana Graves
I didn’t know how long I stood out there staring at Katie’s blood, but eventually Fauna came out of the house. I never even looked to see if she was home, but of course she was. It had to be nearly ten o’clock at night. She came at a run, wild red hair flying behind her like a brilliant cape.
“Raina! Oh dear, thank the Goddess you’re all right!”
She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. At first I patted her back lightly, but then I got a whiff of her scent; cinnamon and jasmine. She smelled like home, and goodness and warmth. I let my guard down and the weight of yet another night of horrors came crashing down on me and I couldn’t keep my footing. I crumbled to the ground and cried. I cried hard, with all my fear and physical pain and frustration and anger, so much anger! I screamed my tears until my throat was raw.
“Hush, hush,” Fauna said softly. “I’ll fix you some tea.” She pulled me up into her arms and guided me into her house. The neighbors were watching us. I felt bad that I didn’t care what they thought, because I knew Fauna did. And, she had to live with them after all; I didn’t. Not for much longer.
She slowly let me down onto the sofa as I tried to catch my breath. I had worked myself up pretty good. So good I was hyperventilating. “Breathe, Raina,” she said.
“I-I need to go see Katie. I need to make sure she’s going to make it,” I said with what little breath I could muster.
Fauna waved a hand, “No need, and at this hour, no can do. When I came home John, next door, told me about what happened. He said they took Katie away in an ambulance. I went to the hospital.”
“And? Is she okay?”
“She’s—doing well, considering…”
“What does that mean?” She breathed deeply and I could already see her eyes moistening around the edges. She went very tense from her head to her feet. I put my hand on hers and found them clammy. I had never seen Fauna so shaken. She closed her eyes.
“The nurse said that she was drugged. Meth was injected into her body. That’s the only reason she was able to walk here from her mom’s. She had so much of the drug in her.” Fauna closed her eyes. “The police were there waiting for her to come out of surgery. They said that she probably passed out from the pain of—what he did to her, so he might have given her meth to keep her awake during the rape.”
I had to close my eyes. I was happy he was dead, but it wasn’t enough. He burned alive but I hadn’t seen it, felt it. It hadn’t been on purpose. It was my body’s natural reaction to being threatened. It happened once before. I was too near death, so flames burst from my body to protect me. Damn it. I wanted to kill Jed in a more fitting manner.
“But, she’ll pull through. No permanent damage was done, right?”
Fauna gave me such a look, half terror, half hatred like I’d never seen. “That—I don’t even want to call him a man. He broke bones, gave her a concussion. He castrated her! He shoved things inside her and sewed her up! She’ll never be able to have children.” Fauna was in frantic tears. She was shaking and I held onto her. “He’ll pay for what he’s done!”
“He already has, but not enough, not nearly enough,” I said.
Fauna put me at arm’s length and looked at me with questioning eyes. “What are you talking about?”
For a terrible moment I thought I misspoke, I thought she was going to condemn me as Tristan did… “I went to Rachael’s house with the intent to kill him, but I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t kill him in cold blood, Fauna.”
“What happened? If you didn’t kill him why were you home so late?” She must have seen some lingering hurt run through my eyes, some tell I was not aware of because she became very upset. “What did he do to you? If he hurt you, I swear to the Goddess he will pay for what he’s done!”
I flinched. “He attacked me, and it was—but I killed him in the end. I’m sorry.”
Fauna’s eyes went soft and she clasped my hands in hers. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
She guided me into the kitchen. It was a witch’s kitchen; a huge half kitchen/half library, but unlike my mom’s, Fauna’s was very well organized and sleek. Though, at that moment it was in a bit of disarray. Silent wind rushed in a cyclone full of debris. Books and pots and oils and spice flew about the room, crashing and breaking. It was complete chaos, but there was no sound. It was a vacuum. I screamed my questions at Fauna, but nothing came out.
Fauna walked against the wind to her broom closet. When she opened it several things flew out. One of them was her staff. It flew past her but she caught it with cat-like reflexes. It was six feet of smooth pine stained green by the herbs she used to cleanse it after each use. At the top was a large crystal. Fighting against the wind, she made her way toward the center of the cyclone. It was a swirling pillar of salt.
Fauna disrobed, revealing honey white skin, perfect but for her witch’s birthmark; red tinted skin that covered half her back and half her front. Mine was of similar quality, but it was small and located at the base of my scull, fully hidden by my hair. They say a witch’s power is greater the larger the birthmark. In my case, that belief fit.
I pressed myself against the wall by the door in the hope that nothing would hit me, but Fauna stood tall in the midst of the silent chaos unwavering and untouched. She moved her arms out, and the crystal on the staff began to glow. Quickly she brought her hands together and hit her staff on the floor. Instantly the debris fell to the floor, though. The wind did not let up and there was still no sound. I could see someone, something at the center of the cyclone. It was breathtaking. Great arches of nearly blinding light encompassed the thing, whatever it was. It was slightly humanoid shaped, but it was made of and cloaked in light, pure energy. And, though it had no face I felt its gaze fall on me. It had a weight, as though it was seeing through me and knew all my secrets, all my shames and it judged me. I closed my eyes tight until its gaze passed.
The creature and Fauna seemed to be looking at one another and communicating. She hit her staff on the tiled floor in an unrecognized patter that lit the crystal with each smack. The creature released bursts of light in turn. I watched in awe as this form of communication went on for a short while. Fauna gave it a low bow and backed away without giving it her back. When she reached where I stood she bent down again, lower this time. I saw her lips move but heard no words. Even so the creature reacted to them. The light the creature was made of grew brighter and brighter until I could no longer look at it. I had no choice. I had to close my eyes or be blinded by the light. Even with the wind sweeping through the kitchen I felt a great heat build and build and then nothing. I opened my eyes and it was gone. There was a circle of clean tile where the creature had stood and the rest of the kitchen was a disaster.
I heard my heavy breathing before anything else. “What was that?”
Fauna stood and walked over to her robe. She shook out the spices before putting it back on and looking at me. “That was an angel.”
“An angel? You’re no Christian.”
She shrugged. “Angles don’t discriminate. The Hebrew call them the Malak, Buddhists and Hindu call them devas, the Norsemen call them Valkyries, but they are all the same... ”
“So that was an angel.”
“Yes, one of the Thrones, Raziel.”
“Are angels always so—messy?”
At the mention of the mess, Fauna started cleaning and I helped her. “The mess was my doing, actually. I called the wind to work as a cooling system so that I wouldn’t burn. Angels are sentient energy, and energy is hot. The protection circle protected us from some of the heat, but not all.
“And, the silence?”
“When they speak, the noise they make can be deafening. I created a vacuum to protect my ears.” Fauna looked at me. “I called it to heal Katie’s injuries. Doctors can do a great deal, but they cannot give her back what has been taken from her.” Fauna hated humans, but that was a general prejudice, and Katie was a real person, a kid. She was in need and need trumps hate.
I held the dustpan as Fauna swept the herbs and spice and broken glass in. “If I’m not mistaken, Raphael was the angel of healing, not Raziel”
“The Throne is an order of angels interested in justice and healing. I made my case to Raziel. It’s in their hands now. Though, with Jed already dead…”
“Are you mad at me for killing Jed?”
“A little, but only because I wanted a part in it.”
Her words shocked me. I stopped cleaning and stared at her like she was a stranger. Elves don’t kill, not to protect themselves and certainly not for revenge. “My mom would be devastated if she knew what I’d done, and Tristan would hate me even more.”
Fauna didn’t stop cleaning to say, “When someone is half one thing and half another, they have more options. Anna and I are both witch and elf kind. I choose to be a witch first and an elf when it suites me. She chooses to be an elf first and a witch when it suites her. Witches take their due, and protect their own. Elves endure. They don’t fight, they don’t hunt, they live and let die. If something happens, it was meant to happen. Everything happens for a reason,” she said with a frown. “I can’t be that passive. It’s just not in me.”
I smiled at that. “You speak my mind exactly. I wish Mom was more like you.”
She smiled as she filled a mop bucket, “And, if I had a daughter I would be proud if she were like you.”
We cleaned quickly and quietly and when the garbage was full of the unsalvageable and the sink was full of the dishes that could wait until tomorrow, we made ourselves a late dinner; cucumber sandwich and sweat tea. I kept it to myself, but for the first time in my life I craved meat.
FROM WORSE TO DEVASTATING
BRUSHING VAMPIRE TEETH proved to be entertaining as well as destructive. The long canines near the front— the ones that in most human mouths were smaller incisors— were sharp enough that they damaged my toothbrush and long enough that the face I was making in order to get all my teeth clean was laughable. I definitely wouldn’t want anyone watching me brush. After washing the toothbrush bristles out of my mouth with mouthwash I made my way to bed, and crashed down on it, face first.
“Raina,” came a man’s voice.
I rolled over and sat up with a jolt of fear. I was only just on the edge of sleep when I heard the voice. “Hello?” I asked into the darkness.
“I didn’t want to wake your aunt. She’s sleeping on the couch in the living room,” said Mato as he climbed through the window. The moon gave him a silvery outline.
“Did I leave that window open? Oh, never mind. I don’t care.” I was just so happy to see him, but he wasted no time in ruining the moment.
“I hate that I have to give you such bad news.” I moved to make room for him on the bed, but he stayed standing. “I am not here for the pleasure of your company. I am looking for Nil.”
“Why are you looking him?”
“When Nil was being prepped for discharged from the VCC earlier tonight he attacked three members of their staff. He killed them, Raina.” I just stared at him in shock. I couldn’t think past it, I couldn’t feel past it. “For you I would spare his life, but I cannot stop the families of his victims from requesting he be marked.”
Still I said nothing, and for a long time we sat there as I fought a conflict within myself, a conflict of love and hate. Maybe it was the same conflict Tristan had fought over me, to love me or hate me, and he chose hate. But Nick and I were different. I killed a bad man for revenge and protection. Nick killed innocent people for Goddess knows what reason.
“Who did he kill?”
“Two nurses, Gerardo and Stanly, and Doctor Tasha,” he said quietly.
“Why? He was free to go. Why did he kill them?”
“He did not just kill Tasha, he tortured her,” Mato said. I covered my face with my hands. I didn’t need to cry anymore, my eyes were swollen to the max. “He wanted something from her, and the only thing missing was your file, and your blood work.”
I let out a gasp. What had Tasha found and what interest was that to Nick? Why did he kill them over it? A cold shiver of fear ran up my spine.
“You need rest, and I have a hunt to manage.” Mato stood to leave, but I stopped him with a hand on his thigh. He looked down at me, golden eyes shining through the darkness like those of a cat.
I’d almost forgotten about Nanuet and the larva she’s brought with her. “Nanuet is getting dangerously close to Darkness. I don’t know how she is tracking Nenet or why the hell they’re still dogging me if they don’t need me, but I thought you should know—.”
“How did you come by this knowledge?”
“Nanuet’s people have been following me. They’re still trying to hire me, but they seem to be doing a bang up job on their own,” I said.
“Perhaps there is something to be gained by you. They want you, but do not need you—that is a curious matter.”
“They have the man power. If they wanted me, they could just take me.”
Mato stared at the floor for a moment, his eyes pinched in thought. “They could just take you, but they want to hire you instead. Perhaps there is something in the hiring process that they need, or want.”
Like a contract. “Maybe they want me to sign a contract?” It was the only thing that made sense, but, “To what end? Why do they want me?” I was tired and my brainpower had long been spent, but I tried to focus. “Contracts can be laced with magic, like some Rumpelstiltskin shit. But, what do I have that a giane or a larva would want?”
“The only giane I know is Nenet, and the only thing she desires is the fluids of others and a good lover. She often can find both in one willing man.”
Mato’s last statement made me do a double take, but I forced myself not to think such thoughts. Mato wouldn’t cheat on me. He’s too sweet, and for whatever reason he loved me. He wouldn’t hurt me like that.
“Fluids, so food then. Food and sex—I’m a woman and I have fluids, but most women match that description.”
Mato snapped his fingers, almost jumping with sudden knowledge. “You are very rare in that you are a living vampire, Raina. And that, I am afraid, is common knowledge. If my understanding is correct, from how Nenet described the larva they are ferocious eaters and dangerous lovers. That is why the giane species is so endangered. Gianes are half larva, half humanoid, but larva so easily kill their mates that they can either only mate with their giane children or a very strong humanoid…like a living vampire. Someone they can bring near death, feed off of time and time again, and she would never die. They want to turn you into a breeding machine. That is why they hunt Nenet, as well. They want her to bear children, but they also want you, a compliant you. If you sign an enchanted contract you are theirs for always.”
“Damn…” They say it’s good to feel wanted, but this was ridiculous. “That’s it, Mato,” I said before plopping back down on my bed face first. I looked back at him. “No more problems. My plate is full. I just need to get a house and take in Thomas and get this demon off my back. Katie will live with me when she’s discharged and I will do everything in my power to help her heal.”
“And, Nil?” he asked.
“He’s beyond help. He’s murdered innocent people. It’s only a matter of time before he’s dead.” It truly hurt to say those words and I wanted to cry so hard, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have it in me to cry anymore that night. Later maybe—most likely—definitely.
I felt Mato’s weight on the bed as he sat back down. He stroked my back like I was his kitty, and it felt so good on my tender muscles. “Do you know why he would kill for your file?”
“No,” and that was the truth. Even if Tasha found out that I was a demigoddess, what good was that to Nick? How did that help or hurt him? Why would he care so much about whatever information Tasha found?
Mato began to add force to his hands, targeting muscle groups and attacking knots. I was forced to let out a couple groans and moans. Lovely.
“And Nanuet?
” he asked, totally ruining the newly formed, but short lived ambiance of rest and wellness. I was so close to letting myself forget my troubles, but clearly that was not allowed.
“I’ll leave it to EI. They know what they are hunting. I have faith in their ability to do their job.”
Mato scoffed. “That does not sound like the Raina I know.”
“This Raina,” I pointed at my face weakly. “Has had one hell of a week. And, it’s only Monday.”
DREAM HOME
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY went by quickly and without incident. The news reported the fire at Rachael’s house as a murder-suicide. Jed killed his fiancé; he nearly killed his soon-to-be stepdaughter and then burned himself alive. I was incredibly lucky that no one saw me entering her house or flying away with Alistair. I wasn’t exactly being sneaky about it.
Ruy and Mato still hadn’t found Nick and I was trying to stay out of that mess. I just wasn’t sure how I felt about what he did. Well, I could say I was disgusted by it, but did I hate him for it? Not really. He was still Nick to me, mostly, still my big goofy brother Nicholas Cadell Kirkland… I just didn’t know my next move with regards to him.
I didn’t know how the hunt for Nanuet and her larva was going either. EI hadn’t contacted me with any news, and if Nanuet’s people were still following me, I couldn’t tell. Mato said they moved Nenet from their safe house in the woods to deep inside their underground nest. If Nanuet wanted her daughter, she’d have to fight through over a hundred vampires to get to her.
