The lion whirled around, fear flickering across his silvery eyes. They almost looked human. "Don’t struggle. I’ll be right there."
"What do you mean don’t struggle? It’s sucking me under! I’m going to drown."
"It’ll pull you in faster the more you fight it. I’ll get there soon as I finish off this creep."
"Who’s the creep?" Ashlok picked himself up and swaggered drunkenly toward the vampire. "You’re invading our territory."
"Just turn us loose. Well gladly leave."
"Too late. No time to put anything else on tonight’s menu." Ashlok stared at Zanna, licking his gruesome lips.
She didn’t breathe or move a muscle and the sucking had slowed but not completely stopped. She willed Dmitri to save her, sending all her psychic energy to him.
"How about rat tartar? Before the creature had time to ponder the man’s words, Dmitri snapped his neck with a swift bone-crunching frontal kick.
Wasting no time, he sprinted for her. Two feet away, the mangled ball of flesh hurled at him and knocked him unconscious and into the center of the mire.
"Dmitri! Wake up!" Forgetting his edict to remain completely still, she tried to wade to him and hold his head up. The muck sucked hard at her feet, and yanked her further into its maw. She had never felt so powerless.
Manic laughter filled her head. Above her in the mist, she spied a huge eye watching, waiting. Had it been there all along? Or was she delusional in her final moments?
Suddenly, the mist evaporated, she was back in her bed, and both the fiend and The Lion had disappeared.
* * * *
"Sire. Awake. We need you." Sacha’s voice dragged Dmitri back from the astral plane. A heavy hand shook his shoulder, forcing him to return.
Fighting to stay and protect his lady love, grouchy, Dmitri bared his fangs and growled. Nikolai had unleashed Ashlok… No good could possibly come of this. "This had better be good." He had left Zanna to Ashlok’s mercy. "I must go back."
"You can’t go back into rejuvenation so soon. Your constitution isn’t strong enough." Mikhal shook his head as he clucked his tongue.
"We’ve managed to escape Nikolai in the heat of battle. Now he’s decimating New York City. We’re crippled. But if we allow Nikolai to destroy Earth, we won’t have a home to return to." Sacha towered over Dmitri’s prone position, bristling.
Dmitri sat up, then lowered himself slowly when blood rushed to his head, making him dizzy. "Weapons and engine status? Did we suffer any hull breeches?"
Mikhal glared at Sacha, his gray bushy brows knitted together, his fangs just protruding far enough to see a glint of light flash off the razor sharp tips. "Go easy on my patient. You also know that a being can’t be safely yanked out of rejuvenation just like that. What am I to do with the both of you?" Scowling, he snapped his fingers under Sacha’s nose.
Sacha’s nostrils flared and his eyes glittered, but he remained at parade rest. In his most regal voice that Dmitri knew well, he informed the physician, "I know this. However, if we don’t act now, Earth may not survive. If I do react, we may not."
"You’re in command. Make a command decision." The doctor tsk-tsked and shook his gray head.
An inkling of an idea sparked in Sacha’s silvery eyes. "I thought perhaps we could fight Nikolai on the astral plane as well…."
Dmitri tried to clear his head of the pea soup muddling his thoughts. He had never been able to return to the real world from a rejuvenation session in a mere instant. No vampire could. It took time to merge the body and spirit. His head ached from his sudden return, but he fought to focus. Rubbing his forehead, he stared at Sacha who wasn’t as sullen as the doctor. "As he also has this power, would it benefit us to attack on equal footing?" Besides, little did Sacha know that he hadn’t exactly been engaged in hand-to-hand combat in his last session….
Mikhal snickered behind his hand, and then pretended to clear his throat when Dmitri turned his head to stare at him and let his fangs protrude an additional half inch.
"It still may, since we wouldn’t be putting our ships at risk. And as they are engaged in physical combat, we will gain the element of surprise." Sacha’s scheme had merit, but Dmitri was besieged with a delicious twist on his idea.
"Your plan has much merit, my friend. But you know how physically weak and vulnerable travel to the astral plane leaves us…."
"And them as well, Sire." Sacha helped him to sit up when his arms wobbled and wouldn’t support the move.
"They outnumber us at least forty to one, infinitesimally so if reinforcements arrive. We have no additional troops to come to our aid. Our ships are limping now. Our crew is exhausted and disheartened that we have come this far to meet such resistance. These humans have long memories and even longer rancor."
"So what do you suggest? Tuck our heads between our collective asses? Ignore the human’s plight? Turn tail and run? Let them blow to bits the only lush planet in the galaxy?" Fire flashed from Sacha’s glowing red eyes.
Dmitri rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes, staring off into space. "Not at all my impatient friend. We need to be sneaky and hit below the belt." About three inches below.
Sacha frowned. "I don’t understand…."
Mikhal chuckled and clasped his hands eagerly. "Brilliant Dmitri. Bravissimo!"
Dmitri bit back a sigh and gazed up at his second-in-command. "As the human flower children would have said, ‘Make love, not war.’"
Mikhal sighed deeply and rested his chin on his hand. "How I miss the flower children. They made such good succubus’."
Dmitri shot an alarmed look at his friend. Drug-infected donors made for terrible sustenance.
Sacha blushed under his swarthy complexion, rare for most vampires but not for the neurotic man. "We will seduce Nikolai and his entire clan? We don’t have sufficient numbers for that. Who will be left to man our ship?"
Dmitri cursed lack of vision in his crew, especially his Number One. "We will concentrate on the leaders and sub-commanders. Assemble all officers not on battle stations in the conference room in ten minutes. No time to squander." He managed to stand up without swaying too badly. Damn but that had been a grueling projection to leave him so drained.
Sacha placed his hand over his heart, clicked his heels, and bowed in deference to Dmitri. His long braid fell over his shoulder and grazed his worn boots. "As you command, Sire."
"Lean on me," Mikhal commanded, curling his arm around Dmitri’s waist and propelled him forward. "I’ll help you there."
Mikhal’s wiry head fit under Dmitri’s arm, so that Dmitri felt like a drunken scalawag trying to hang onto the smaller man and as he put one foot in front of the other. The longer they were away from Earth, the weaker they grew. "Thank you."
Dmitri’s strength surged back so that by the time his crew gathered in the meeting place, he stood tall and confident again. His near success in the bedroom with his lifemate buoyed his confidence that the plan could work. He was just afraid that rather than seduce her, he had alienated her by leaving her adrift on the brink of orgasm. Women, especially his Tanya, didn’t appreciate callous treatment. He would do his best to make it up to her, just as soon as he briefed his crew.
After all the vampires took their seats, Sacha took his place at Dmitri’s side, his hands linked behind his back. Dmitri stood tall, letting power surge through his veins. "As you know, Earth is under attack by Nikolai’s forces."
Deathly, silence suffocated the room.
"But our fleet is rag tag and our clan minuscule in comparison to the enemy. We must attack on a subliminal level." He paused to allow his words to sink in.
Clan members looked at one another, hazarding guesses as to his battle strategy, and then turned back to him with rapt expressions on their faces. One brave soul, Lucius, stood and asked, "Why should we protect the humans who drove us out? When they fight now to send us away again?"
Dmitri reached into the depth of his soul to answer. "Because Earth is still our ho
me. We cannot permit Nikolai to destroy our planet." Or his lifemate.
Sacha stepped forward and pounded the podium with his fist. "We have traveled far and wide trying to find a planet like Earth, and none have come close. Maybe if we keep searching we will find her in four hundred more years, maybe a thousand, if our ships don’t disintegrate first. We need to save this planet and find a way to coexist."
Lucius glared at both his leaders. He looked as if he wanted to spit but settled for a snarl and full extension of his fangs. "We had no problem with coexisting before. It was the humans who had a problem and who obviously haven’t let go of their resentments."
"Perhaps if we save their planet, they will look upon us with more favor and have reason to stop fearing us," Mikhal said, mildly.
"Don’t count on it," Natasha said, standing in solidarity with Lucius, her pointy chin thrust forward. "I remember how grateful they were whenever we tried to save one of their necks before. Surely your memory is not so short-lived, Sire."
Dmitri’s anger burst forth. "This is not up for debate. We need to move swiftly. Everyone in this room will be given a target to seduce…."
"As in sexual intercourse?" Natasha’s silvery-gray eyes widened but a grin curved her black-painted lips which she licked seductively before jutting out her ample breasts.
Dmitri raked his hand through his hair and cleared his throat. "Yes, at least in most cases. Distract them. Turn their minds from war." He couldn’t take his eyes off those powerfully seductive lips, although his mind superimposed a much lighter, preferable set over them. "Just keep doing what you’re doing and progress from there."
Natasha chuckled wickedly. "Since when were vampires shy about sex? You in particular…."
"You will not address your King that way!" Sacha roared, leaning heavily across the podium. Liquid silver blazed in his eyes and he was tensed to pounce across the room and rip out the female’s throat.
Dmitri clapped a stilling hand on his adjutant’s shoulder. "De-escalate. Let’s not expend our energy fighting each other."
"Make love, not war," Mikhal interjected, the eternal Zen man.
Dmitri nudged the doctor. "Make the assignments now so we can send them on their way. You have the enemies’ files. We’ll need you and your staff to remain here in case of emergency." He turned to Sacha. "You’ll remain here, in charge."
"And what will you do, Sire?" Butter dripped from the doctor’s mouth. "Rendezvous with Tanya? Don’t think I don’t remember her. One cannot forget such a beautiful rose, even amongst the thorns."
Dmitri ignored the question as it was a moot query. He addressed the waiting assemblage. "We need you to seduce the enemy to our side, or at least to cease hostilities. If possible, hypnotize them to disable their ship. If nothing else, distract them long enough to create havoc in the ranks. Armies cannot function without leadership."
"And what about the humans?" Lucius asked. "Will they not blow up the ships if they are all screwing around in bed instead of manning their defenses? We’ll be on those ships and blown up with them."
"You’ll be on the astral plane and I will personally take charge of the human threat." But that reminded him that the commander wasn’t the only human of importance. Unfortunately, they didn’t have detailed histories of the human enemies as they did of Nikolai and his clan. "I will need a band of twenty to accompany me to disable the Earth defenses." He selected his most trustworthy to accompany him on the critical mission.
"Cook! Serve up our feast." First, his people needed their nourishment to do the job well. He whispered an aside to the doctor, covering his mouth with his hand to prevent lip reading. "Do you have anything to fortify those accompanying me?" He needed a boost, too. It had taken all his self control not to plunge his fangs into Tanya’s creamy neck and feast upon her. As wonderful as it had been to taste of her ambrosia, he longed to sink his cock into her folds.
Synthesized blood popped out of the table tops, served in long-stemmed glass goblets. If not for their replicators, they would have starved on their pilgrimage.
He lifted his glass in a toast. "I want to commend you for your service beyond the call. I know how much everyone wants to go home. We have come so far. We are so near, and yet so far. I hope that it is not too great a sacrifice to request that you give your bodies in passionate, seductive sex all night long, and perhaps longer." Everyone chuckled lustily. He put his hands together and bowed. "Find a quiet place in your quarters that is free of distractions. May the shadows protect you and the Goddess smile upon you. Blessed be."
His crew clinked their glasses in salute and repeated, "Blessed be."
Dmitri made his way to his own quarters, adjusted the lighting and room temperature. He removed his clothing and footwear and draped in only a robe. Then he lied down in his coffin and stared at the stars reflected on his ceiling.
He stilled his thoughts, quieting his mind, and felt the tension drain from his jaw, his shoulders, and his neck. The relaxation flowed lower, to his arms, and hands, then his torso and hips. Finally every part of his body was at peace and the objects in the room and the stars in the sky became too hazy to see clearly.
Focusing on his breathing he inhaled deeply through his nose and held the breath until it became uncomfortable. Then he exhaled slowly through his mouth. He repeated this for several more breaths as he gave himself the mental suggestion to visit his love.
Blackness filled the room. After a time, gray-scale light patterns shifted across his closed lids and his body began to tingle. Then he dissociated himself with his physical form and saw himself orbing, a silvery being attached to the prone form by a silver umbilical cord. Detached, he watched himself floating away from his physical body.
* * * *
Zanna awoke slowly, breathing a sigh of relief that the awful Ashlok nor the sexy vampire was present. They had seemed so real she half expected them to be in her room. The lovemaking before Ashlok had arrived had felt so genuine, so erotic. But the fear had been extremely genuine, too.
But dreams weren’t real and the hero of her dreams was her sworn enemy. A vampire. Definitely not a hero.
Two things she knew. As a commander in the Unified Earth Defenses she lived for combat. Secondly, that the vampires were not their friends, no matter how handsome, charming, or sexy their leader appeared. She couldn’t allow them to terrorize Earth’s population with their blood lusts and feeding frenzies. Their weapons were locked on the ancient city of New York. They didn’t seem to know that Kuatar where the historical city of Omaha had once stood, was now the Amalgamated American Continents capitol or that Edinburgh was the capitol of the Amalgamated British States. Obsolete technology and unspace-worthy vessels should make them a pitiful opponent, but she wasn’t in the habit of underestimating her foes, especially ones who viewed them as cattle to feed upon. She wasn’t a blood replicator, at least not speedy enough to quench their ravenous hunger.
Her hair was layered short so that it was low maintenance and within military regs. After she ran a comb through it and fluffed it with her fingers, she forgot about it. She didn’t need make-up but would have shunned it even had her skin not glowed naturally and if her lashes weren’t thick and dark. She donned battle gear, ready to ward off the demons now that she was refreshed. Lastly, she pulled up her snug knee-high gray leather boots that molded to her legs and matched her uniform.
Standing tall she pushed her command bracelet and teleported to morning assembly where her troops were falling in. Reveille sounded and she stood at attention, her hands crossed over her heart as she led her troops in the Oath of Loyalty to the Unified Earth Coalition.
She stood beside her mother and her contingent as she addressed the troops, watching their rapt expressions. She made it a habit to know her allies as well as her enemies. Her life depended on them as did the future of their world.
"We are Earth’s last defense against these monsters. We banished them once. We can do it again. I won’t delude you that it will be ea
sy. Such fierce, crafty fiends don’t die easily. The ancient oracles tell us that the only way they can be killed is to sever their heads or drive a stake through their hearts."
Zanna cleared her throat and whispered in an aside to the admiral, "Or shoot them with silver bullets."
The admiral nodded sagely and then spoke loudly to the troops. "Or shoot them with silver bullets. We are not sure our lasers will have any effect against them if ancient legend is to be believed. However, this is untried territory."
Her mother moved aside and nodded to her. Zanna took the podium and studied the sea of faces before her. "As the admiral told you, these aren’t ordinary humanoids. They are vampires. Should you fall prey to one of them, it is far better that you sacrifice yourself than let them drink your blood and assimilate you into their clan. That will lead to eternal damnation."
Zanna tried not to shudder at the horrifying concept that had lingered on the fringes of her nightmares for as long as she could remember. She prayed that the Eden Project wouldn’t need to be invoked, but this was the only time since the Vampire Wars that Earth had been in such danger.
She paused at the expected gasps and whispers until the chatter died down to a hum. Every soldier in this room had studied the Vampire Wars at the Academy and should be well versed in them, but legend and reality tended to crash headlong. "This is not false legend. We have to exterminate the vampires before they can infest us and feed off our children as if they were cattle. It won’t be easy, but it’s imperative." Then she did something she never did before an assembly—bowed her head and led them in prayer.
"Battle stations! May the grace of God go with you." She fingered the Decade Rosary bracelet hiding in her uniform pocket. Then she saluted her mother and prayed she would break fast with her again.
Chapter Three
Dmitri slipped into Zanna’s dream, determined to remind her of their love.
"What are you doing here, vampire?" Bristling, Zanna went into an immediately warlike stance eyeing him distrustfully, taking a step back each time he took a step forward.
Eternal Damnation Page 3
