Death Embraces

by J. C. Diem

  “I think you are capable of anything.” It seemed to be the simple truth and I accepted the compliment without protest. So far, I had accomplished a lot and had done most of it on my own.

  “Most of the rescue plan was concocted by Gregor but Igor chipped in with a few good ideas.”

  “Did I hear correctly when the guards screamed about holy water bombs?” Luc smiled at my nod.

  “I wish I could have seen their faces when Igor and Geordie started lobbing the water balloons.” I’d been a little busy climbing up to the fourth floor by that stage.

  “How many guards did you fight in the hallway before you came to my rescue?” He was both curious and puzzled. His attention strayed to the twin swords lying on the chair I’d dragged over to the bed. “It sounded like there were dozens.” So, he hadn’t been in a complete daze, then.

  “I’m not sure, there were too many crammed in together to count them properly. Did you actually see any of the guards on the fourth floor?”

  “No,” he said and shook his head.

  “So you don’t know what they really are yet.” I mused about how to tell him then figured show and tell was always a good way to go. “I have a story for you that you might not believe unless you see something first.”

  Climbing out of bed, I dressed quickly in the change of clothes Gregor had packed for me. It was another pair of Geordie’s pants and a jumper. I had zero body warmth and walking around naked was out of the question. When I was ready, I stood between the pair of lamps high up on one wall. They were positioned so a normal vampire should have had two shadows.

  Luc stared at the wall, counted, recounted then turned his baffled gaze to me. “Unless my eyes are deceiving me, you have four shadows.”

  “Four?” I turned and verified that he had counted correctly. “There were only three…before I drank your blood,” I concluded and rubbed a hand over my face. I had a feeling that this development wasn’t going to end well for me.

  To my relief, Luc didn’t run screaming from the hotel room. He dressed, sat back on the bed and patted the spot beside him. “Tell me everything,” he invited.

  Knowing the story was going to be a long one, I made myself comfortable beside him and recounted the entire saga. Luc’s black eyes were glazed and disbelieving by the time I finished filling him in.

  “The First isn’t just real,” he repeated either for his benefit or mine, “he is creating an army of monsters that breed and give birth in a week and his ultimate plan is for world domination?”

  “Yeah, that about sums it up,” I said with a fake sunny smile. On the inside I felt like screaming or crying, maybe both.

  “I don’t suppose Gregor has a plan on how to deal with this mess?”

  “Um, no.”

  “You intend to locate the First and kill him before his army becomes too great to contain?” His disbelief was evident but he made a valiant effort not to voice it out loud.

  “Yep. I was going to torture his whereabouts out of the Comtesse but I ran out of time.” Hey, at least I got to cut off her hand. Let’s see how she liked being cut into pieces.

  Musing, Luc put an arm around my shoulder and hugged me to his side. He seemed to have lost his fear about my holy marks because he also took my hand. “You think the Comtesse will eventually become one of these creatures but hasn’t yet been turned?”

  “The First is using her, probably to control the Court. Once he has them in his reach, he can force the shadows of the ones who have become damned to ascend. I have a feeling we have to be in his presence before he can actually change us into imps.”

  “It is beginning to make sense now,” Luc said and stood to pace.

  “What is beginning to make sense?”

  “The recent disappearances within the Court.” He paced some more before explaining his revelation to me. “Slowly, one by one, courtiers have stopped attending our gatherings. There was speculation that they had deserted but I know this isn’t possible. Most of the Court were created by the Comtesse herself and aren’t capable of running.”

  I had a momentary flashback to my dreams of the cavern of doom and the courtiers I’d spotted. Their disappearance from the mansion gave weight to my vision. “Hang on, exactly how many servants does the praying mantis have?”

  “Over a thousand,” Luc said.

  “How is that possible? What about the rule that she can only have twenty servants?” I was outraged that the blonde bitch had managed to thwart the rules so blatantly and still get away with it.

  “The Comtesse is very old and extremely clever. If a human catches her eye, she turns them and forces her existing servants to pretend they are the true master of the newly turned.”

  “Like she did with you and Monique,” I said then wished I hadn’t when he frowned suspiciously.

  “Who told you about Monique?”

  “I must have overheard someone talking about her,” I lied. “I just assumed the rest.”

  Still suspicious, not quite believing me, Luc shrugged off his disquiet. “It would seem that she has been sending her servants to the First for the past several months.”

  “How many of the missing were female?”

  After a quick search of his memory, Luc’s shoulders hunched. “Most,” he whispered and I shuddered at the implications. The First must have a regular baby farm set up wherever he was hiding out.

  “I wish there was a way we could follow the Court women that are being sacrificed,” I said and thumped a hand on the mattress in frustration. Springs twanged and the bed shuddered in protest.

  Luc smiled and it transformed his face from handsome to almost beautiful. “Natalie, you might be young but you are most assuredly not stupid.”

  “Who said I was stupid?” I was ready to be insulted but he ignored the question. It was probably for the best since I was pretty sure most vampires I’d met thought I was a complete idiot.

  “When are we scheduled to meet up with our trio of merry men?”

  “Tomorrow, at midnight.”

  His smile became an outright grin. “Perfect. That will give us time to become properly reacquainted and to work out a plan.

  Luc’s idea of becoming properly reacquainted was to spend the next few hours naked and in bed. I found I had no objection to this arrangement at all.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Gregor had decided that the safe house might be too close to the Court mansion to actually provide any safety after we’d rescued Luc. Instead, we met on a hilltop a two hour drive away from the mansion.

  Luc and I had arrived early to scout for any enemies. He was aware that the First’s progeny had the ability to sense me and wanted to make sure that our hill was defensible.

  I’d dressed in one of my black leather suits and was kitted out with both swords. Luc, wearing black slacks and a cashmere sweater he’d bought just before the men’s clothing store had shut for the night, eyed me appreciatively until the others arrived.

  Geordie bypassed Luc and enfolded me in his skinny arms. “I am glad you are still alive, chérie. I still have hope that I can attain my dream of holding you to my naked body one day.” He batted his eyelashes at me then dodged away before Igor’s slap could connect.

  “It’s nice to have a dream,” I said lamely and glared at Luc’s obvious amusement.

  “I am glad you are safe, my old friend,” Gregor said to Luc and gave him a hug that made his ribs creak. Igor contented himself with a nod at us both. For him, it was as affectionate as a kiss on the mouth.

  “Natalie has told me of the First and his plan to enslave both humans and vampires,” Luc said to the small group. We’d instinctively huddled together but threw frequent glances over our shoulders. Since we were in a rough circle, we would be able to see if anyone approached us. We also had room to move if we were attacked. I didn’t sense any imps close by but the First seemed to have the capacity to mask them from me. I felt exposed out in the open like this and hoped we could agree on a new plan quickly
so we could get out of there.

  “We must stop this madness,” Gregor said. “But to do so, we must locate the First and his hordes.”

  “Natalie and I have a plan,” Luc said. I wasn’t surprised by their surprise that I’d had anything to do with the plan but I was still a bit cut by it.

  “Tell us,” Igor said with his usual gruffness. Geordie was pressed tightly against my side, more for comfort than in an effort to flirt. He was like a pet dog that constantly tried to climb onto your lap no matter how many times you shoved it off, shedding hair and drooling on your legs all the while.

  “Female members of the Court have been disappearing for months,” Luc began. “I propose that we keep the mansion under surveillance, see who is removing them and follow the kidnappers,” he finished, laying out the plan for the others.

  “Why would the First be taking only the women?” Geordie asked. “Because they are weaker than the men and are easier to handle?” I cut my eyes at him to see if he was joking but he seemed to be serious. Sexist twerp.

  “He is taking the women so he can turn them into monsters and get them pregnant, idiot,” Igor said.

  “Yes,” Gregor agreed with distaste. “He’d want to increase the size of his army as quickly as possible.”

  “Be glad you’re not a girl, Geordie,” I told the kid. “Although, if we put you in a dress, maybe…,” Geordie’s lower lip pooched out but I saw a flash of laughter cross his face.

  “You would make far better bait, my dear,” Gregor said. “It is a pity that is out of the question. Every vampire in the Court knows what you look like and your Australian accent is a dead giveaway.” It wasn’t said unkindly but I felt like an uneducated bumpkin anyway.

  “Ladybug,” Geordie said almost beneath his breath and sniggered at me.

  “Ladybug?” Luc’s hearing was even better than mine and he’d managed to snag the word out of the air.

  “Silvius was a lord and he was my master,” I explained. “Now that he’s dead, that makes me a lady. I’m Lady Nat or Gnat,” I emphasized the G for him.

  “I see.” Luc turned away but I caught his smile anyway. Great, now my supposed friends were laughing at me. It was wonderful to be a constant source of amusement to vampires all over the world.

  “Did you notice a pattern to the disappearances?” Gregor queried.

  Luc was about to answer but paused when Geordie jerked then looked fearfully over his shoulder. He sensed them only an instant before I did. As he shifted nervously, I had the prickling sensation in the back of my neck again.

  “We have company,” I said grimly and the conversation broke off. My swords were in my hands and I turned in the direction I could feel most of the monsters coming from. I slid the sheaths to the ground so they wouldn’t get damaged during the battle that was about to erupt.

  “How many are there?” Luc asked from beside me.

  “Lots,” I said succinctly.

  “I see them behind us,” Geordie said in a voice that quavered with fright.

  “To the sides as well,” Gregor put in. Igor didn’t say anything but shouldered his crossbow. Geordie took a long knife out of his belt and Gregor pulled an axe free from his.

  “There are too many,” Luc said in a low voice as dark shadows slipped up the hill towards us.

  “No there isn’t,” I contradicted him then leaped to the attack. The imps hadn’t expected me to take the fight to them. They’d thought we would cower in a group and conveniently die together. Dying wasn’t on my agenda and my cowering days were now behind me.

  Moving almost too fast to be detected, I cut my way through the first row of grey minions. Screaming, they either bled and writhed on the ground or died quickly and quietly. My hands moved in graceful arcs, relieving the monsters of their limbs and necks of their heads. I pierced hearts, sliced throats and hacked at anything within my reach.

  It took only minutes to reduce the small horde of minions into steaming piles of dead flesh and I barely had a scratch on me. Then I heard a piercing, girly scream from the top of the hill. I was racing upwards before Luc, Gregor and Igor could react to the sight of a seven foot imp holding Geordie by the throat.

  Legs kicking, hands futilely clawing at the batlike, grinning face of the monster, Geordie threw a pleading glance at me. The minion’s free arm drew back then rammed forward, impaling Geordie with a rusty sword. Geordie gave a gurgling cry then was dropped to the ground.

  Bending to retrieve the sword, I was there before the imp wrapped his hand around the hilt. The imp looked at the arm I’d just severed as it flopped to the grass then shifted its gaze to me. Orange irises blinked at me in dull stupidity. A sword, not mine, flashed in the moonlight and then the monster’s head joined its arm. Igor dragged Geordie free before he could be crushed by the creature as it toppled.

  “Chérie!” Geordie called weakly and beckoned me closer. I knelt beside him, despairing when I saw that the sword that had gone directly through his heart. “Give me just one kiss before I die,” he managed to choke out and gave a weak cough.

  I admit I came close to falling for his act and even bent to bestow the kiss he’d asked for. Then I realized that he should have been dead by now. Igor shook his head in disgust and drew back a foot to administer a kick to the kid’s ribs. With a high-pitched shriek of laughter, Geordie leapt nimbly to his feet.

  “What the hell just happened?” I asked in bewilderment. “How is he still alive?”

  “He was born with his organs on the wrong side of his body,” Igor explained. “He was a freak as a human and he is an even bigger freak as a vampire.”

  Geordie was doubled over, pointing at me and giggling hysterically. “You almost fell for it. One more second and you would have kissed me!”

  My face was blank as I stalked over to him. Geordie backpedalled and almost tripped over a fallen imp. He wrung his hands when I reached for the sword sticking out of his chest. He gave me a cheeky smile. “You would not kill me just because of a little joke, chérie?”

  Yanking the sword out, I gave him a nasty smile as he swayed on his feet in pain. Then I leaned forward and planted a kiss directly on his mouth. His surprise and momentary silence was worth my fleeting feeling of being a cradle snatcher. “There, I’ve kissed you. Please don’t play any more practical jokes on me again.”

  “Oh, Natalie,” Geordie dropped to his knees and held his hands up to me. “Your lips are like silk, like spun gold, like morning dew, like…,” his rhapsodizing was cut off when Luc grabbed him by the arm and lifted him back to his feet.

  “If you think her lips are good, you should see her breasts,” my chivalrous protector muttered.

  “I live in hope,” Geordie said humbly.

  “We should leave before more of them arrive,” Gregor said uneasily.

  “It doesn’t matter where we go,” I told him wearily but started down the hill with Luc at my side. “They always manage to find me.”

  “How?” Igor asked, jogging to catch up.

  I didn’t want to answer that particular question but they had a right to know. “They can sense me, just like I can sense them. Except when the First is shielding them from me.” No one seemed to like the explanation much.

  “How can they sense you, Natalie?” Gregor asked the next uncomfortable question. We had reached our cars, both were hidden from the road by a screen of trees.

  “Because,” I paused then gave them the answer they all knew was coming, “I’m pretty sure I’m becoming one of them.”

  “How?” Igor asked gruffly. “You are less than a year old. How could your blood have altered enough for you to become possessed already?”

  I really didn’t want to tell them this part but they had a right to know. “In my dream, the First told me he has control of all vampires. I think that he is able to force his offspring to ascend just by being in their presence.”

  “Natalie,” Gregor said slowly, “in this dream, did the First attempt to make your shadow possess y
ou?”

  Sometimes, I hated how perceptive the older vampires could be. “Yeah,” I admitted reluctantly. “But so far all that’s changed is that I have four shadows.”

  “Four?” Geordie squeaked. “I thought you only had three.”

  “I, uh, ingested some more vampire blood,” was my mumbled response. Luc suddenly found something interesting on the ground to study.

  Geordie looked from me to Luc, shook his head and threw his hands up in disgust. “Fantastic! I’m sure this won’t turn out to be bad.” From the frowns Gregor and Igor wore, I was pretty sure they agreed with him.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Luc remained silent as we followed Igor’s car to our new safe house. He kept his attention on the road but I sensed he wanted to slide his gaze towards me to gage my mood.

  “How long do you think you have?” he asked me almost pleasantly after half an hour of intense quiet.

  He makes it sound like I have cancer. “I don’t know,” I replied with a shrug. “There’s never been anyone like me before. It could take centuries or it might be only days.” One thing was sure, the instant I came face to face with the First, he’d call my shadow forth and I’d be lost. Don’t you mean shadows? My snide subconscious had to put its two cents in as usual. This time, I couldn’t just shrug it off. I was in deep trouble. We all were.

  “Have you noticed anything strange about your shadows yet?”

  “Other than that I have four of them?” I threw a look at him then shook my head. “Not yet.”

  “Then we still have time,” Luc said almost serenely.

  I nodded, keeping my emotions under tight control. He was right. Until my shadows began to act independently, I couldn’t be turned into an imp and become a baby making machine.

  “When Alexander dripped his blood onto your heart,” he said, changing the topic abruptly, “you gained the ability to heal much faster.” I could also hear the sentient shadows but it didn’t seem important so I didn’t bother to mention it.