by Mindy Majors
Watching her dance brought back all those desires that he had been trying so hard to ignore. The way she moved her body, the way her mouth looked as she sang along to the music.
“Don’t look now, but your prince is watching,” Kassie said. “I don’t get him; I mean last night he was all over you, then today he avoids you like the plague and now he’s drooling like a hungry tiger with a steak; talk about mixed signals.”
Kassie was right, he was sending mixed signals but she understood exactly how he felt. She knew they couldn’t be together, it was just too complicated, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him.
“He knows we can’t be together.”
“Yeah, I know it’s too complicated, blah-blah-blah,” Kassie rolled her eyes.
“Shut up and dance Kass,” Symarah chided.
Just then, two men who had been eying the girls approached. The taller of the two men began dancing with Kassie. He was gorgeous, with spikey blond hair and green eyes. The other man; about 6’ 3”, with short black hair and ice blue eyes, began dancing with Symarah. He was devastatingly handsome, not as hot as Daire of course, but close.
The next song was a slow one, One and Only by Adele. Symarah started to walk back to her table, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back, pressing up against her. She tried to push him away but he wouldn’t budge.
“Mind if I cut in?” Daire said.
“The lady is with me,” the man replied with a sneer.
“I wasn’t really asking,” Daire said menacingly.
The man turned toward Daire but before he could respond, Sybris lunged at him snarling and snapping his teeth and backing the man out the door.
“Thank you,” Symarah said.
“Anytime my lady,” Daire bowed and turned to walk away.
“Uh-uh buddy, you said you wanted to cut in and then you chased off my dance partner, so now you have to dance with me,” she teased.
“Actually, it was Sybris who chased him off,” Daire reminded her, as he took her in his arms and started to dance.
“I love this song,” Symarah told Daire, as she began to sing along.
She took his breath away; singing the soulful song with her eyes closed, her mouth so close to his. He wanted to feel her soft lips on his again.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed him staring at her.
“Daire,” he heard her say his name softly. He loved the way her lips moved when she said his name. He leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against hers.
Symarah knew she should stop him. She knew that nothing could ever happen between them, they could never be together, but when he touched her, common sense went right out the window. She ran her fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair as she kissed him back. Her soft touch on his skin sent waves of heat through his entire body. He knew they couldn’t be together; he’d gone over all the reasons why in his head a hundred times or more but anytime she was near to him all reason was lost.
“I hate to interrupt but Farkas is here,” Dacian told them, pointing to a table in the back corner.
Farkas was about 5’ 10”, scrawny, with short brown hair and lifeless brown eyes. He was wearing a pair of old raggedy jeans and a worn out flannel shirt. It looked as if he hadn’t showered in months.
“I’ve got your back if you need me,” Dacian offered.
“I think Jareth and I can handle him but thank you.”
“No problem old friend,” Dacian said, and headed back upstairs.
As they approached the table where Farkas was sitting, Symarah couldn’t help but wonder how some of the gods could be so painfully beautiful and others, like Vaiden and Farkas, could be so unattractive. At least Vaiden looked like he may have been good-looking at some point, but not Farkas; he looked just like any other average alcoholic loser.
“We need to talk,” Daire said.
“Daire, I knew you’d show eventually, and your little boyfriend. Hello Jareth.”
“You’re drunk,” Jareth said.
“I see you brought the bitch with you.”
“Watch your mouth Farkas,” Daire growled.
“Vaiden didn’t think you would bring her, said you were too smart for that, but I knew better.”
“This could get messy, let’s take it out back,” Jareth suggested.
“Let’s go Farkas,” Daire ordered, as he reached to help him up.
“Fuck you Daire, I don’t need your fucking help,” he said, as he got up and headed for the back door.
Standing in the alley behind the bar, Daire began questioning Farkas.
“Where is Vaiden?” Daire asked.
“You’ll see him soon enough,” he answered.
“Don’t fuck with me Farkas; I’m not in the mood for your drunk-ass bullshit,” Daire said, as he grabbed him by his shirt.
“Vaiden is the least of your problems right now,” Farkas said with an evil laugh.
Suddenly the alley filled with demmic. There were at least fifteen of them. Two men grabbed Kassie and two more grabbed Symarah.
“You’re going to watch them die,” one of the men said to Symarah. “First we’ll kill your boyfriend and his friend, then we’ll turn you and your little girlfriend here into slaves.”
The girls began thrashing about trying to get free of the men.
“Oh, don’t worry princess, it won’t hurt. You might even enjoy it. See, first I sink my fangs into that pretty little neck of yours and I drink your blood, one drop of your blood on my tongue and I’ll be tied to you forever, I’ll know every emotion, every thought, everywhere you go,” he whispered in her ear, “and then right before you draw your last breath, you feed from my blood and become my slave; you will live to serve me and be compelled to do anything I ask of you. It can be tricky though, see our blood is like poison to humans so if you take too much you die.”
Symarah was trying not to panic; she couldn’t see Kassie or Farkas, and Daire and Jareth were severely outnumbered.
Daire was doing his best to fight off the demmic but there were just too many of them. He couldn’t see the girls and although Jareth was putting up a good fight, he was just as outnumbered as Daire was. He grabbed one of the demmic by the arm and threw him across the alley into the back wall of the bar as another kicked him in the back; he turned to the other demmic and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He had a split second to look around for the girls before he was attacked by three more demmic.
“Looks like your lover is down for the count princess.”
Symarah could see that Daire was on the ground with about five or six demmic on top of him and Jareth wasn’t doing much better.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” the demmic said to Symarah, as he dipped his head down and ran his tongue across her skin. She could feel the tip of his fangs pressed against her neck ready to pierce the skin.
“If you value your life, I wouldn’t do that.”
Symarah looked up to see Dacian standing in the alley with Sybris by his side. She still couldn’t see Kassie, and Daire and Jareth were still struggling with the demmic.
“You must be the great Dacian,” the demmic smirked.
“That’s the rumor,” Dacian said with a sly smile.
“You’re a fool; in case you haven’t noticed, you’re outnumbered.”
With a wave of his hand Dacian somehow made all of the demmic disappear except for Farkas and the man who had Symarah.
“You suck at math,” Dacian said, as he calmly raised two Desert Eagles and aimed them at him.
“You can’t kill me with a bullet; you have to cut my head off, you know that; besides, you wouldn’t want to accidentally hit the girl,” the demmic said with a cocky grin as he used Symarah as a shield.
“You know what your problem is demmic?” Dacian said with a wicked smile.
“What, soldier?” he said defiantly.
Daire smiled as he caught a glimpse of the thin metal wire coming out of the barrel of one pistol and di
sappearing into the barrel of the other.
Dacian pulled the trigger and fired one shot from each pistol at the exact same time. As the bullets whizzed past the demmic’s head on either side, the silver string sliced through his neck cutting and burning his flesh at the same time.
“You’re too fucking tall,” Dacian said, as the demmic fell to the ground, his head rolling toward Symarah’s feet.
“Eww, eww, eww!” Symarah said as she ran to Daire.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine, just a little grossed out that’s all. Where is Kassie?” she asked, looking around frantically for her friend.
“She’s fine,” he assured her, “Jareth took her upstairs.”
“What happened to the man that was attacking her?” she asked.
“Sybris was hungry,” Dacian smiled.
“Have I mentioned EEWWW?” Symarah said as she walked back toward the bar. “What about that guy, we can’t just leave his dead body lying in the middle of the stree…”
Before she could finish her sentence the demmic’s body turned to dust and blew away.
“Self-cleaning dead guy, that’s handy,” she said as they headed upstairs.
After making sure the girls were okay and getting them a stiff drink to calm them down, they all went back upstairs.
Symarah didn’t usually drink, but she figured after what she had just seen she would make an exception.
“Wait, what happened to Farkas?” Kassie asked.
“He got away,” Jareth answered.
“But not before I got hold of him,” Dacian said. “I persuaded him to give me a location.”
“He told you where Vaiden is hiding out?” Symarah asked.
“Not exactly, but he did narrow it down to the Delmar area before all hell broke loose and he disappeared in all the commotion.”
“Delmar, that figures,” Kassie said.
“Delmar is the worst area in Sarasota,” Symarah explained, “with the highest crime rate.”
“Well, if you need backup you can always call on me,” Dacian offered.
The wolf let out a quick howl.
“And Sybris as well,” he added with a smile.
“The only thing I wanna do right now is go home, take a long scalding hot shower, and go to bed,” Kassie said.
“I second that,” Symarah agreed.
Thank you for all your help Dacian, you saved our asses out there, and thank you Sybris,” she said, as she gave the wolf a little scratch behind his ear.
Kassie and the guys thanked Dacian and Sybris as well.
“Anytime,” he told them, if you ever need me just call to me, or Sybris; we’ll be there in an instant.”
They said their goodbyes and once Jareth and Daire managed to drag the girls away from Sybris, they flashed back home.
CHAPTER 6
It had been three weeks since their encounter with Farkas and the demmic, and they were no closer to finding Vaiden than before. They had argued many times about going to Delmar to search for him but Daire and Jareth thought it would be too dangerous. Although neither of the girls appreciated being treated like helpless damsels in distress, they knew that they couldn’t go alone. They didn’t stand a chance against Vaiden without Daire and Jareth. The guys were still searching for information but they were getting nowhere and Symarah was beginning to feel like a sitting duck, never knowing when Vaiden would strike next or where. Kassie had left early to run some errands and check on the progress of her new shop, leaving Symarah to entertain herself since the guys didn’t get up until sometime after six in the evening. It was 2:00 p.m. and Symarah had just returned from a peaceful afternoon on her private stretch of beach. She shed her wet clothes and stepped into a steaming hot shower. Her shower was made completely of glass except for the back wall, which was water cascading over stone; there was a glass bench that ran along the back wall and up the sides. There were square tile shower-heads on the whole left side of the ceiling and a small section on the right where there was no water. She stood in the large area on the left letting the water fall down on her like rain. She rinsed the sand and saltwater from her hair and body; once she was clean, she sat down on the bench. She let out a long sigh as the hot water washed away all her anxieties. She decided to try and forget about Vaiden for a few hours; she knew he couldn’t strike in full daylight. Instead she chose to focus on Daire. He had been much more attentive since their visit to The Lone Wolf; flirting with her, touching her hair, even holding hands. It was like they were dating. She knew that it wouldn’t last, that they couldn’t be together, but she figured if Daire was willing to suffer Athena’s wrath then so was she. She decided to enjoy it while she could. It had only been a month since Kassie’s shop had burned down, the night she found out that Daire was real, but she felt like she had known him her entire life. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the glass, the water streaming down on her. She couldn’t explain her feelings for Daire, why they were so strong. All she knew is that she had never felt like this about anyone before. She missed him even now. He and Jareth occupied the guest quarters on the lower level of her home during the day. He was only three floors away and yet she actually missed him. The water was starting to turn cool so she turned off the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off. It was only three o’clock and Kassie wouldn’t be back for a few more hours; the guys wouldn’t be up till sometime after six so she had some time to kill. She decided to take a stroll down to her favorite spot. After she dressed and picked out a book from her library, she headed out toward the dolphin fountains and seated herself on the bench facing the statue. She laid the book down on the bench beside her and spent some time admiring the fountains. The graceful dolphins of pure white marble leaping from the water made her think of fairytales and children laughing; it was the perfect place to immerse herself in a fantasy world created by one of her favorite authors. She picked up her copy of Realm of the Deorum and began reading.
As Kassie sat at a secluded back table of the public library, an assortment of books before her, she couldn’t stop thinking about that night at The Lone Wolf. She never did scare easily but that was by far the most terrifying experience she’d ever had. She had never felt so helpless and she was determined to never feel that way again. When she was ten her grandmother told her that she was a witch, but she didn’t want to believe it. She’d said that all Kassie had to do was dedicate herself as a witch by performing a simple ritual and she would be given access to her full powers. At first she thought her grandmother was crazy, but when she turned thirteen something happened that made her change her mind. She was walking home from school alone when Stacie “the skank” Sanders walked up with her little skank minions and shoved her. Kassie refused to fight because she was outnumbered and that’s when the “skankettes” grabbed her by the arms and held her so Stacie could punch her in the face. Stacie started to swing but before her fist could make contact, Kassie willed her to stop. She didn’t scream or even raise her voice, she simply said “No.” When Stacie asked her what she had just said, Kassie calmly said, “You’re going to turn around and walk away and you’re never going to bother me again.” Stacie stood motionless for several seconds. She looked as if she was struggling with herself and then she just turned around and left, along with her minions. It was then that Kassie knew her grandmother had been telling the truth; still, she had no intention of dedicating herself as a witch. Kassie never told anyone this, not even Symarah. She was afraid of losing the only real friend she’d ever had. Symarah was always pretty accepting of anything supernatural but Kassie didn’t want to take that chance. This was the only thing she had ever kept from her best friend and she wasn’t looking forward to revealing her little secret after all these years. All she could do was hope that Symarah would forgive her. Hell, if she can accept the fact that Atlantean gods exist, she should be able to handle her best friend being a witch; besides, we need all the help we can get defending ourselves against Vaiden and the demmic, Kas
sie thought to herself as she took a book of spells and potions from the top of the stack and started searching for the dedication ritual.
After about an hour of reading, Symarah decided to go back to the house. She closed her book and headed up the winding path toward the patio. She admired the landscaping as she casually strolled through the live oaks, passing various statues and smaller paths. She passed the last hedge and started across the small clearing that stood between her and the patio. Just then she heard a man’s voice coming from behind her.
“Hello Symarah.”
She turned to see a large man standing by the hedge that she had just passed. He had called her by name but she didn’t recognize him.
“Can I help you with something?” she asked politely, thinking he was a crazed fan and not wanting to provoke him.
Hopefully he would just ask her to sign a copy of her book and then leave.
“No one can help me now, only thaison,” the man replied.
“Who is thaison?” Symarah asked, confused.
“You know him as Vaiden,” he answered.
Symarah’s blood ran cold at the mention of his name. She knew this man was not a demmic as he was standing in broad daylight, but if he was working with Vaiden he was undoubtedly dangerous. She knew Daire and Jareth were still resting and even if they were awake they couldn’t help her, the sun would turn them to dust before they could reach her. Her only hope was to run. If she could reach the patio door and lock it before he caught up to her then maybe she could get to the guest quarters and wake them up or at least call the cops and hide before he managed to break in. She turned and bolted for the patio; only thirty more feet to go. She didn’t dare look behind her to see if he was gaining, she just kept running as fast as she could. She finally made it to the patio and ran toward the sliding glass door that led to her kitchen; another twenty feet and she would be safe inside. She didn’t even make it another five feet before the man grabbed her from behind and put his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. Symarah fought to get free but it was no use, he was too big and too strong. The man pulled out a large knife and aimed it at her chest. Symarah had no intention of dying at the hands of one of Vaiden’s thugs, if he wanted her dead he was going to have to do it himself. If she could just get to the patio door she might have a fighting chance. She stomped on his foot and thrust her head backwards, breaking his nose. As he let go of her and put his hand over his nose, she turned around and kneed him in the groin. Before she could turn to run he grabbed her by the wrist and lunged at her with the knife, cutting into her chest. Just then the man went flying off the patio as if thrown by an unseen hand. Symarah turned to see Daire standing just inside the patio door shrouded in shadows. She ran to him and as they were closing the sliding glass doors, her attacker apologized and ran off toward the front of her property.
