War of the Chosen

by Elizabeth Dunlap

  “Non. Blaming yourself will not bring her back. The important part was that you got justice for her. You killed the men who slaughtered her.”

  My hands formed into fists as I remembered that day. “I turned their worthless bodies into dust for what they did.” I met his eyes again, not hiding the rage that still filled me. He met it with his own and nodded to me, then he blinked and it was gone.

  “My apologies, Knight,” he said brightly, changing the mood. He pointed to the east wall of the house with two doors. “That is the guest room, and the guest bathroom. There is only one bed…” He checked my face before continuing with, “The couch is comfortable, Knight. I hope you don’t mind sleeping there?”

  “Not at all,” Knight answered. He picked up my bag and took it to the guest bedroom, then he disappeared into the bathroom.

  Galen glanced at me with a look on his face. He nodded his head towards the guest bathroom. “Your new companion?” I shook my head. “Your lover?”

  I scowled at him. “Why is that the question people keep asking me?”

  He smirked at me. “If you need to ask, I’m afraid I can’t explain it to you.”

  “We…” I looked to make sure the bathroom door was still closed. “We aren’t like that. Anymore. I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Galen put his hands up to signal he was staying out of it. “I’m going to rest, if that’s okay. It’s been a long day.”

  “Of course. Dinner will be ready in two hours.”

  CHAPTER 7

  A nap, a shower, and several minutes in front of the mirror later, I emerged on the back porch in time for dinner. I’d put on a simple black dress and braided my long hair. Galen deserved me putting some effort in. He’d never seen me not at my best.

  Galen had changed into a linen outfit with a tan jacket, while Knight was wearing a white shirt with a black jacket that was… stylish. When had he gotten that? I looked up to see his hair was in a man bun.

  A man bun.

  He held up his finger at me. “Don’t comment on the man bun unless it’s to say how awesome I look.” I pressed my lips together to suppress a laugh. “Also. You look nice.”

  “Of course I do,” I replied with a sarcastic smile. “I’m gorgeous.”

  Galen was staring at me with raised eyebrows. “Since when did you have a sense of humor?” He looked at Knight while pointing a finger at me. “When I was with her, this woman did not understand jokes, comedy, nothing. I gave her my best effort and she never cracked a smile. She was very stoic.”

  “Lisbeth? Stoic?” Knight laughed behind his hand. “We talking about the same woman?”

  “My previous companion, Cameron, he taught me humor,” I explained as we sat down.

  Galen looked disappointed, but happy. “Then he is a better man than me. I tried for ten years, I swear this to you.”

  “It was a valiant effort,” I comforted, patting his hand.

  He chuckled and poured us some white wine. “My Lisbeth. I have missed you.” He swirled his wine and took a long sip.

  “I have a question,” Knight chimed in. “And no offense to you, Galen. I really appreciate you inviting us to your home, I do. But Lisbeth has some explaining to do. So if you don’t mind, why are we here?”

  “Pardon?” I asked, picking up my glass to take a sip. He stopped my hand and took the wine from me.

  “No games, Lisbeth. You’re hiding something from me and I can feel it. Out with it.”

  My poker face needed work, so I looked away. “You know why we’re here. The pack negotiations. Can I have my glass back?” He slid it back to me and I downed it with one gulp.

  “You could’ve stayed anywhere for pack negotiations, but you came here, to him. Does he know?” He pointed an accusatory finger to Galen.

  “I came here because he’s my friend and I missed him.” I didn’t need help convincing Knight of that, because it was the truth.

  Knight leaned back in his chair in frustration. “That’s the only reason we’re here? You swear it on your life’s blood?” I mashed my mouth together. “What I thought.” He swore under his breath and downed his glass.

  Galen gently took my hand. “Lisbeth, Knight is worried for you. You checked out yesterday from a nightmare of all things, and why? You cannot do something like that without explanation. I wasn’t even there and I’m worried about you too.”

  It was going to be like this, then. They were demanding an answer, one that I could not give. I was going to drive both of them away.

  “I’m sorry that I’m scaring you,” I said, my eyes just barely looking at Knight’s face. “I regret to say that I cannot explain my real mission, and before you ask, it’s not because I don’t want to. I am sworn to secrecy, a secrecy that is on pain of death, and no, I’m not being dramatic.”

  “Are there things you can tell us? Anything?” Knight probed, his voice less angry now.

  “Some. They’ll be vague, and confusing, but I can’t help that.”

  Galen’s rough thumbs moved over my smooth skin. “You would risk your life for this mission? Why?”

  I looked into his eyes, and then Knight’s. “Kitty.”

  Knight’s face relaxed, like everything suddenly made sense to him. “Of course.”

  “Kitty?” Galen asked, confused. I pulled a photo from my underclothes to show him. His face softened and he smiled, his fingers running over the photo of my tiny daughter. “I see.” He handed it back.

  Knight looked ashamed as he met my eyes. “I am sorry I was forceful.”

  “No harm done. I’m sorry I can’t explain everything. I really am.”

  “What can you tell us?” he asked. I reached into the other side of my underclothes and pulled out the small bundle of cloth James had given me. “What all do you have in there? Is there a kitchen sink?”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, and unfolded the cloth. “This is blood from the person I need to find.”

  “Find why?” Galen asked.

  “To find someone else.”

  Knight sipped his drink. “So you need to find one person, in order to find a different person. Just to be clear.”

  “Correct,” I confirmed. “And you’re the only person on the planet who can help me.” I held the cloth out to him.

  He pointed to himself in surprise. “Me? Because I’m super special, right? My awesome fighting crime skills are renowned throughout the lands…” I cut him off by putting the cloth right under his nose.

  He sneezed all over it.

  “Knight, really? This is the only one I have and its over four hundred years old!” His eyes opened wide and the pupils dilated so far I couldn’t see his irises anymore. He gasped for air like he was struggling to breathe, and he knocked the table over, falling off the porch. “Knight! Knight, what’s wrong?” I hovered over him on the ground, his face turning a shade I didn’t like. Everything fell away except for Knight’s face and the slowly fading light in his eyes.

  “He can’t breathe,” Galen shouted, trying to shove me aside. “I have to give him CPR.” I hissed at him to back off but he kept shoving me until I moved away. He pumped Knight’s chest in a steady rhythm to try and save him.

  No, you can’t be dead. You can’t leave me again.

  Please.

  I can’t. Not without you.

  Galen pumped until his arms hung limply at his sides. He slumped against the porch, defeated. “Lisbeth, I’m so sorry.” He wiped his eyes and forehead.

  I crept up to Knight’s body and felt his neck. No pulse. I killed him. That stupid cloth that James had… James. James did this. He planned it from the start. I was going to wring his filthy neck. He would suffer so badly he would beg for death before I was done with him.

  I stood up, ready to march back home and extract every ounce of revenge I could think of.

  Knight came gasping awake, grabbing my ankle and making me scream. I fell and hit the porch edge hard. Galen jumped back to Knight and felt his pulse.

  “He’
s alive,” Galen said. I sighed in relief and sagged to the ground. Galen helped Knight sit up. “What happened?”

  Knight stared me down, his breath ragged and harsh.

  “I saw where Lucas is.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “I don’t know why I let you talk me into this,” Knight grumbled behind me.

  “Stop complaining,” I hissed, my boots clicking down the cobblestone road. Groups of tourists interrupted our way several times, making us bob and weave through the crowd just to stay afloat.

  “Knight, s’il vous plait?” Galen offered when we’d found a lull in the traffic. “I promise you many tasty meats when we’re finished.”

  That peaked his interest, but Knight still managed to look grumpy. “Assuming all three of us come back from Creepyville. I want it noted how much I protested bringing a human to meet a vampire we don’t know, and could possibly be a psycho. I’m betting super psycho.”

  His constant protests and nagging clicked in my head, and I turned around on the sidewalk. “You’re afraid to go in the catacombs. You, the big bad wolf, don’t want to go underground.”

  He pinched his mouth together. “That’s not…no…I’m just…” He pointed in the direction of the tourist entrance we were headed to. “Psycho vampire.”

  “I’ll hold your hand,” I promised with a pat on his shoulder. His face turned serious, his eyes going from my hand to my face.

  “Really?” The hope in his eyes made me pull my hand back and stuff it into my jacket pocket. I cleared my throat and turned back around. “Onward, to the cave of wonders.”

  My feet were hurting from all the walking when we got to the catacomb entrance. At the beginning of the very long line of tourists was a few signs that warned the squeamish (*cough* Knight *cough*) to turn back, and they said so in many languages, just to get the point across.

  I checked Galen’s face before proceeding. “You good? Not too scary?”

  “Fous le camp, I went here on my honeymoon.”

  “Language,” I chided, one finger pointing to Knight. “There are children present.”

  “You’re a children!” he protested. “Also I don’t like it here, can we go?”

  “We’re not even inside yet.” That was my job, and it wouldn’t be easy. I’d drunk just enough extra blood to have the power, and the feel of it coursing through my veins had a sickly effect. I could do this. It would burn off quickly and I’d be back to normal levels. The first step was knocking on the black door. There were no workers of any kind outside, they were all behind that door.

  The crowd behind me protested to us cutting in line, which we anticipated. I reached a hand out to them.

  “You will let us pass,” I shouted as loudly as I could in French. The power burst from my hand and out to the crowd, calming their protests. My hand shook when I dropped it to my side and the black door opened for us.

  A man with a long brown ponytail and a goatee to match poked his head out. “Wait your turn, stupid,” he spat in French.

  “Vous allez nous laisser passer,” I repeated to him with compulsion. His face slacked and he opened the door wider for us to enter. “Lead the way.”

  The man led us down through hallway after hallway, the air getting colder the further we went. Knight’s smell grew agitated with sweat. I reached between us to grab his hand, like I promised I would. He clasped it like a lifeline.

  We reached a small museum with the entrance to the catacombs. Some workers and tourists were in there, so I dispelled them with another order. Now I was starting to sweat from all the force of my commands. Knight gave my hand a comforting squeeze that gave me enough strength for one final command.

  Open the door and let us in the catacombs.

  Knight glanced up at the sign above the entrance. “What’s it say?”

  Galen answered, “Stop, this is the empire of death.”

  “And you went here for your honeymoon? Dude.”

  Galen shrugged apologetically. “My wife loved it.” He winked.

  Beyond the door, there were still more tourists, but at this point we were free to do what we wanted. We found a quiet unlit corner. Knight and I could see, but Galen got out his flashlight for his limited human sight.

  “Okay, Knight. We need you to navigate.” I still held his hand. Now that I had it, I didn’t want to let it go.

  “Gimme the thing,” he said, and motioned to my chest where the cloth was. I took it out, unwrapped it, and handed the blood soaked piece to him. My other hand joined the first to clasp his hand as tightly as I could. He looked down at it. “Oww?”

  I pulled away. “Sorry. Just…you died last time you smelled that.”

  He smiled warmly at me and took my hand back. “I’ll be fine, buttercup.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  He shot me a look before putting the fabric under his nose. Again, his pupils dilated and he struggled for air, but it passed as soon as it began.

  “I see him,” Knight said. His eyes stayed dilated, but he tugged my hand along with him down the corridor. My other hand went to Galen who took it and followed behind me.

  We walked down stairs, through paths, by countless skulls and bones. The air started to turn icy, like there was something lurking beneath and we were one wrong step away from finding it. The smell in the air went from normal cemetery to a smell I knew well.

  A vampire’s lair.

  My pupils dilated at the smell of blood. “We’re getting close,” I told Galen. Even so, we still had not found the heart of the lair. This was merely the entrance, warning off potential threats that a vampire lived here.

  Knight smelled the cloth every so often, navigating us until even I had lost track of where we had been. The scent of blood grew stronger with every turn, until it filled my lungs and I struggled to breathe. Knight too felt the effects and pulled up his t-shirt to cover his nose.

  “Someone needs Santa to bring him some wet wipes,” he said from under his shirt.

  Galen let go of my hand to examine the wall beside us. It was splattered with blood. Some old, some fresh. He opened his mouth to say something when we heard a high pitched screech from somewhere in the tunnel. I held out my hand and Galen took it.

  Eventually, the paths grew primitive, with earth instead of stone, and there were torches lit on the walls. Every so often we saw a stack of books, a chest of gold, a pile of jewels. How long had this Lucas been living underground?

  Knight gripped my hand even tighter when we passed one final junction. I could hear a faint sound, almost like music. Music underground? Knight passed the cloth back to me and I tucked it safely into my underclothes.

  “Galen, stay behind us,” Knight cautioned, and he stepped into the lair of the vampire.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Do come in, travelers,” a pleasant voice greeted us. We stepped into a room that looked as foreign as a tap dancer in a dojo. Pleasant classical music filled the warm air. The walls were intermixed with stone and earth, there was a rug covering the dirt floor, a fire in a fireplace, shelves upon shelves of books, and an antique dining table set with one setting of expensive china. A blonde haired man sat at the head. He was wearing a heavy dressing robe that matched the large armchair he was seated in. His plate smelled like Chinese takeout. “I said come in,” he repeated, picking up some chopsticks and taking a bite from his food.

  “Definitely a psycho,” Knight whispered, leaning close to me.

  Everything in front of me had just as an unsettling air as an unkempt vile sanctum would’ve had. It vaguely reminded me of James and his horrid mansion. Would Lucas bite me too?

  He chewed his food with a refined air and swallowed before taking a sip of wine. “Come. Sit. I won’t bite.” He laughed under his breath at the joke. “My name is Lucas, but you already know that, I trust?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  Wiping his mouth, he stood up and tossed the cloth napkin over his plate. “Hundreds of years hiding away. Cathedrals, cemeteries, aband
oned castles... an opera house. Humans discovered me now and then, until I came here. I’ve been here over a century, and the only humans that saw me were ones I wanted to see me.” He stroked his blonde stubble. I’d never seen a vampire with stubble. “And yet. In all the centuries, moving around, even with humans getting a glimpse, no vampire has ever found me before.” He faced me sternly. “How did you find me?”

  I reached a hand behind me to signal Knight should move. “I can answer that, but my friends will need to leave the room.”

  Lucas grinned and chuckled a few times, his eyes lighting up with understanding. “Ahh, I see. You’ve come because of Anastasia.”

  “Who’s Anastasia,” Knight asked in a stage whisper.

  “Sssh,” I hissed at him. “Don’t ever repeat that name back home. Not ever.” I turned so I was able to look at Knight, while still keeping Lucas in the corner of my eye. “There is a death penalty for mentioning her name, or anything to do with her.”

  “Your friends don’t know why you’re here, do they?” Lucas chuckled again.

  “That’s not your concern. I need to find her.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out making a raspberry noise. “Mmm…no. I can’t help you.”

  “Please.” My tone was too pleading. Begging wouldn’t get me what I needed. “You’re the only one who knows where she is.”

  “Why should I help you?” He tilted his chin, studying me. As an answer, I pulled out the photograph of Kitty and walked close enough to show him. He took it from me with a sharp intake of breath, and after a few seconds, he looked at me with a strange expression, his golden eyes searching. His fingers came up to grip my chin and he twisted it this way and that to look at my face.

  He held up the photo to me. “Who is this child?”

  “It’s my daughter,” I explained, still in the grip of his hand. He brought me closer still to stare deep into my eyes. What he found there satisfied him and he let me go, returning the photo with a swift twist of his fingers.

  “Fine. You have my assistance,” he declared. He turned, grabbed a bag off the floor, and started picking up random things around the room to stuff into it. “Put that fire out, would you?” Knight crossed over to stomp on it and I wondered how the room wasn’t full of smoke from the flames. Then again, Lucas had had enough time to figure that out. Lucas finished packing his bag so I came close to him and put a claw on his shoulder.