by C. M. Owens
“This isn’t good,” Chaz grumbles, handing a bullet to Kane as he walks around some of the corpses we’ve veiled from sight.
“Son of a bitch. The anointed are definitely modernizing,” Kane groans. “This is an anointed mark. One of ten I’ve seen so far.”
“How many bloodlines are we looking at?” I ask, even though it’s just to distract me.
Ella walks up, eyeing me curiously as the sun rises even higher. She knows I need blood, but it’s not like I can drink it right out of her arm. I’d have to use dragon’s breath venom or poison’s kiss. I’m not putting her in pain or fucking her, so both options are out.
“There have been a lot of conflicting points on that so far,” Kane says, glancing around to make sure we’re alone. The humans pass on the street, oblivious to all the dead bodies we’ve piled in the alley to burn. No one can see us through the veil. “Some legends say twenty, some say fifteen, some say more. But I think it’s closer to ten true bloodlines with actual strength who can form their own weapons. The others can just use the old weapons already forged. However, just because they can forge weapons, it doesn’t mean they have the knowledge to do so. It’s not as simple as it sounds.”
“What’s that mark from?” Chaz asks him.
“The second strongest family line. Then they were called the Domingas. Not sure what they are by now. Most of the family trees were stopped from being recorded. A lot of adoptions went on with all the families so they could ensure their children survived and one day had a chance at killing us all again.”
“How many of our kind did they kill last night?” I ask. “I know him,” I add, pointing to one of the men with four bullet holes through his heart. The last thing we need to worry about are bullets. It’s never been a fear of ours until now. “He was a decent guy. He came in the club a lot and didn’t even have a kill record at all. His self-control from his formative years was astounding. If they killed him, then they don’t care who we are. They just want blood.”
Kane nods. “I don’t know how many of them are us. Dice said Karma isn’t feeling well at all, so she can’t help us. She’s gotten worse. Alyssa is with her now, but she’s so weak herself. Dray can’t seem to do anything at all for Karma either.”
“I can scent several night stalkers,” Roslyn says. “And numerous other types of fey. It’s just a little overwhelming though, because all the blood has mingled. It’s hard to tell who is what.”
“We should get back and try to help Karma,” Ella says, vanishing before anyone can argue.
“We should do something about these and worry about the bigger threat out there. Maybe we can set the new flock of anointed killers onto the red jinns’ trail. There’s definitely more than one in town,” Roslyn states while throwing her hand out at the bodies.
They incinerate within a blink, and all that is left behind is ashes. It’d be nice if she could do that to the live ones so easily. Life itself would be easier.
“I can’t believe they’re not all extinct,” Chaz says more to himself than anyone. “They could feed on magic without doing this and without killing anyone. They’d have to know this would put someone on their trail to chase. Why do it?”
He looks genuinely pissed off, but he doesn’t say anything else before also vanishing.
Gage appears, and before I can think about what I’m doing, my fist slams into his face. Blood spews from his nose as he staggers backward.
“The fuck?!” he barks, glaring at me while cupping his nose. Thad grabs me and jerks me back before I can charge the stupid fucking dark user.
“You fucking locked us in the house, but forgot to lock her in, you stupid son of a bitch,” I growl, still glaring at him.
The only thing that stops me from losing it is the genuine confusion on his face.
“Leah got free,” Thad tells him. “She didn’t even get slowed down at the doorway, and Zee had to break out.”
Gage’s eyes widen in disbelief. “That spell won’t work unless I lock everyone in. There’s no way she got out.”
“You did something wrong, because she got out just damn fine.”
He still looks befuddled and lost for words, and I shrug Thad off while running a hand through my hair, messing it up worse than it already is. I feel the color shift against my hand, but I can’t seem to control it anymore.
“Is this the time to be changing the color of your tips?” Thad muses, trying to defuse the intensity with humor. “I mean, I love a good hairstyle, but the timing is odd.”
I growl, Gage looks at him like he’s stupid, and Thad shrugs. “You two don’t look ready to kill each other anymore. My job is done. See you back at the house.”
He wraps his arms around Roslyn, and they dematerialize together as she takes them home. Blowing out a breath, I look back to see Kane studying me.
“You’re crazy. That means—”
“That means siring her is all that is on his mind,” Gage supplies, spitting out blood.
It’s just the three of us now, so I don’t bother trying to play it off.
“I’m having to drink Ella’s blood.”
Kane’s eyes go silver in a flash as anger and rage fills him.
“From a glass,” I add, swatting off his death-glare. He immediately relaxes. “It’s strong enough to keep me sated for a while, but I’m still hungry. Gavin fucked me up. I need to talk to him and see what I can do. Morgana invaded my dreams twice last week, calling to me, offering blood. She didn’t count on Ella helping me out. She thinks I’m too prideful to admit my weakness. All you old fuckers keep thinking I’m stupid as shit.”
Gage’s lips twitch, and Kane cocks an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’re stupid. I do think you’re right about talking to Gavin, but Morgana is probably hoping for that. She’s more than likely watching you and us at every moment of the day. They need him back. He’s brilliant, strong, and he’s under their control. So talking to him is out of the question, because it could lead her right to him.”
“She wouldn’t be able to get him out,” Gage says dismissively.
“We don’t know what they’re capable of,” Kane points out. “But I’ve changed my mind about Zee getting close to her. I don’t want him around her at all.”
“Standing right here,” I remind him dryly.
He looks back at me. “Stay away from her. And stay away from Leah. If you’re craving to sire someone, it’ll consume you and you’ll only grow hungrier. With the added power, it could end up controlling you instead of you controlling it. I know. I once wanted to sire Alyssa.”
That has Gage and me looking at him with bemused expressions. “You felt the calling?” I ask skeptically.
“Yeah. Why do you think I went crazy every time I couldn’t find her?”
It’s like a punch to the gut. “I thought the calling could only come from humans,” Gage says, sounding as confused as I feel.
He shakes his head. “No. It can come from anyone who can be sired. Alyssa was creature goddess. She was also mortal when I found her, and we’ve learned we can be sired as creature gods until immortality. Unless a hexer places a curse on you to keep you in night stalker form.”
I scrub my face, relaxing a little. “So only creatures who can be sired. It’s doubtful Leah is a creature goddess, considering she wasn’t able to use power against us.”
“But she did break out of my spell,” Gage points out. “Things aren’t adding up.”
“We’ll deal with this later,” Kane says, letting the veil down. “Let’s get back to the house.”
He walks over to a corner out of sight. He’s gone when I reach it, and I follow suit. I feel Gage close to me, and I resist the urge to reach through the planes and punch him in the face again.
My body rematerializes as soon as I feel the house, and I walk out of the woods with Gage on my heels.
“I really didn’t mess that spell up. Something else must have gone wrong. Did you really punch your way out?”
I nod, clenching my jaw shut. I
seriously need blood right now.
Chaz walks up to me as soon as I walk in, and he hands me a glass as though he was in my head.
“Try mine. I think you’ll find it helpful.”
I cock my eyebrow at him. “Duster blood will do me no good at all. Only witches and creature gods have edible blood.”
He shoves it closer as Thad walks off.
“Don’t play dumb, Zee. You know I’m more than a duster. I’ve seen you studying Karma and the way she looks at me. Trust me. Try it.”
I don’t bother saying I haven’t noticed. He knows I know he’s a hidden freak, but it’s his business. Not mine. He’s done too much for us, and I know he’s trustworthy, so I don’t really give a damn what he is.
“For the record, you pull off acting like a duster really well. Gold dust trails and all,” I retort, taking in the scent of the blood. It’s not as appealing as Ella’s or Morgana’s.
Maybe because it belongs to a dude.
He smirks. “That’s a necessity. Drink. I’m going upstairs to pull out some old books on red jinn. I know there’s a spell in there about tracking one.”
He’s my age, but they all treat him like an old fucker. He’s definitely done his homework on the fey world. The only thing I care about are the things that want me dead.
Turning away, I drink his blood, and my knees almost give out after one sip. It’s soooo fucking good and strong. It’s even more satisfying than Ella’s, even though I know for a fact she’s more powerful.
By the time I finish the glass, I’m sated for the first time in several long weeks. Even if it’s temporary, I don’t feel as crazy and twitchy as I did five minutes ago. It’s nice to feel like me for even a brief moment.
Dice walks by me, looking crestfallen instead of annoyingly chipper. “Karma bad?” I ask him.
“Yeah,” he mumbles. “I’m a dumbass.”
“That’s not a newsflash,” I point out.
He glares at me before pulling several random things out of the refrigerator. “I meant, we haven’t been feeding her. I assumed since she was half human that she didn’t need anything other than just food. And she eats a hell of a lot of it. But I think using her powers so much is weakening her. She said they did something to strengthen her when she got too weak in the cages, but she doesn’t know what. Possessions don’t weaken her, but using her actual powers do. And we don’t know how to feed her.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. How did we miss that?
“I’m trying blood, lust and everything else I can think of. Hell, I’ll fetch some human hearts if that’s what it takes.”
He walks over to where Karma is lying down on the sofa. I hear her insisting to stay for the meeting, and Dice starts trying his tray of possible fuel candidates on her.
“Let’s lay out all the facts,” Kane says, drawing my attention. “Gage’s mother and my sire were working with someone else within the slave rings. We can assume it’s this Master person we’re dealing with.”
“Monster Evil, not Master,” Dice interjects, but Kane ignores him and continues.
“They wanted something from purgatory, and it sure as hell had nothing to do with a higher power ruling them. Thad hasn’t been a target, so it’s safe to assume whatever they wanted from purgatory has been let out, since he’s a gatekeeper and it takes two gatekeepers to open purgatory—”
“What if they’ve found more gatekeepers?” Karma interrupts, coughing when talking apparently takes too much energy.
She looks a thousand times worse than she did the last time I saw her. Going down this quickly isn’t good at all.
Everyone’s eyes flash with pity, but she glares at us. “I’m fucking fine. I asked a question,” she growls, but the wheeze deflates any intimidation factor she has.
“According to legend,” Kimber says, trying to grant Karma’s wishes, “only two gatekeepers can exist in one life. Basically one of them has to die for a new gatekeeper to be born. It’s unlikely there are two more out there. But magic does evolve, so we’ll have to keep it in mind.”
Kane moves to sit down before continuing his interrupted summary. “Assuming there aren’t any other gatekeepers, we have to be wary that whatever they needed is out. There’s still someone alive who was a part of this plan but was smart enough to stay in the shadows instead of standing at Hilly’s side during the purgatory opening.
“They don’t have an anointed, but they want one. And they could be responsible for drawing attention here by using the jinn. They may be trying to trap an anointed. They also need the bloods of the firsts, and they’re somehow recreating them. I’ll keep searching the books for rituals that could predate the magic we know that would require this.”
He blows out a breath before running a hand through his hair.
“Alyssa can help me, but I’m limiting what she knows. I’ve already sent her home. She can barely stand up right now. The baby is sucking all the energy out of her, and the less stress, the better. One thing is for sure, he or she will be very powerful. Not even Ella weakened her like this.”
Ella sits down close to me, and I squeeze her shoulder. She’s carrying a lot of weight on her shoulders since she’s the strongest one of all of us.
“So to sum it up,” Dice interjects, “the baddies need the bloods of the firsts, they were entangled with two of the baddest bitches ever known, and they’re brutal enough to attempt to massacre a town just to catch an anointed. Oh, and let’s not forget they desperately want Gavin back. Apparently it’s hard to replace him. They were desperate enough to send Morgana to seduce Zee. Who would go through all this elaborate scheming? Definitely a fucking woman.”
Ella glares at him. And well, so does every other woman in the room.
“Interesting theory.” A new feminine voice has us all jerking our eyes to the front door that is closed.
Gage jerks it open to reveal a familiar face I sure as fuck wasn’t expecting to see. Chaz is coming down the stairs, but he immediately goes back up when he sees her.
Kya is leaned against the doorway, just barely out of reach of the perimeter spell Gage has up.
“Should have cast a soundproofing spell if you don’t want eavesdroppers. I suggest you get on that, dark user,” she tells Gage.
The smug look on her face doesn’t match the broken girl Kimber explained her to be when she first met her.
Gage glares at her, but she just looks bored before asking, “Care to let me in?”
“Why the fuck would we do that?” I ask before anyone can stupidly oblige.
Her eyes flick to me, and then her gaze drops to a weary Karma. “For one, Karma will die if you don’t let me in.”
Everyone exchanges a look, and Kya’s eyes come back to mine. “We’re immortal. There’s no death unless someone kills us,” Dice growls.
“You’re not taking her symptoms as seriously as you should,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “She and I are half human. Immortal? Yes and no. We can live forever, but only if we feed properly. You assholes go savage if you starve yourselves for too long. We actually die. Believe me. I was brought back from the brink of death numerous times after starvation tests. They barely revived me once.”
She looks at Dice, eyeing him curiously. Any alliance of Slade’s can’t be trusted, though.
“And we’re just supposed to trust you and let you in?” Gage asks skeptically.
“You think I came to hurt her? Or any of you?”
She rolls her eyes when no one speaks.
“Why would I come here and announce myself? I’m not stupid. If I wanted you dead, you’d already be dead. Be thankful Slade has bigger issues, or he’d have probably already killed you himself for constantly getting in our way like the Scooby gang meddling in ghost stories. You’re trying to fight battles, and we’re fighting a war. Never mind. I’m not here to talk about your stupid politics and shit. I just came to save her and to teach you how to properly take care of her. We need a special diet.”
“
Demons don’t have diets,” I remind her.
She brings her gaze back to mine. I swear she’s fighting a smirk. “True demons don’t. They possess a body and live off of what it needs. They don’t have bodies of their own. But we’re not true demons; we’re half human and half demon. Turns out our human half is drained constantly by the fey half.”
“What does she need?” Dice growls. “I’ll get it for her.”
“It’ll take too long. Her body is on the verge of shutting down. It’s not like you can just conjure up what’s needed. I’ll share with her, then you can help her hunt.”
“Hunt?” Thad asks suspiciously.
“Yes. Hunt. Let me in.”
Karma doesn’t speak. Honestly, I don’t think she trusts her any more than we do.
She groans before continuing. “Let me guess; she’s been possessing someone often?”
Everyone just stares, but she takes that as a yes.
“When she possesses them, it fuels her for a while if the host’s body is properly nourished. Then she stops and tries to use her powers but it drains her.”
No one answers. I haven’t paid much attention to Karma.
“Just tell me what she bloody needs!” Dice snaps.
“Not until I walk out of here. I’m not stupid, and I know what you’ll think. Your group shits rainbows and dreams of a happy place where we all live in harmony. It’s not possible for some of us. Let me save her, and I’ll give you the knowledge you need once I’m safely out of reach.”
That can’t be good.
“For the record, your theory on the red jinn is wrong. Master didn’t use them as a decoy. The jinn have been getting starved for centuries. They’re feasting to regain strength before they go mad. Leave them be, and they’ll leave you alone.”
The warmth of the air is suddenly lost as we all tense.
“You know the Master?” Kane asks in a deceptively calm tone.
“I know the name. Not the person. I spent a long time in the cages. However, the jinn I do know. Trust me, they will kill you. They don’t make mistakes, and they’re older than anyone in here. They’re paranoid, cautious, and incredibly hungry. One mistake, and you’re their next course. Once they’re at full strength again, they won’t make any more noise.”
