Ex Tenebris: A Dark Fantasy (Nëphyr Book 1)

by Cindy Mezni

  “And why shouldn’t I call him?” I said as I turned around to face her.

  She swallowed hard. I probably seemed ready to order her killing with my cold expression and the shining irises of my green eyes.

  “It isn’t that bad. I’ve said nothing compromising about us to vampires or lycans and the humans know nothing of our trips outside the territory so the clan is ok—”

  “Are you taking me for an idiot?” I said when I heard the absurd end of her defense speech. “The clan is okay? Are you kidding me? Did you do anything else other than getting laid these last days? The clan isn’t okay! It’s on the verge of implosion! And you, my dear Venom, have got something to do with it!”

  “What?” she blurted out, stunned.

  “Your Släva, or rather the blood slave that you ‘borrowed’ from a vampire, is certainly one of the causes of the Reserve’s attack.”

  She shook her head, again and again, as if she was refusing to let her brain assimilate this hypothesis.

  “He wasn’t with anyone. If he’d had a master, he’d have been with him. He belongs to no vampire.”

  “Use your brain a little, damn it! Your human has scars all over his body. And the only way for a slave like him to be freed from his master is death. So he does belong to a vampire and the latter was either too busy with another slave or human in the club or he sent this human to seduce you so he could infiltrate New Hell.”

  “But . . . it’s stupid! If what you say is true, how could he have contacted his slave once he was here? And how could his slave have passed on useful info to him? He was with me at all times.”

  I stared at her for a long time, wondering if a creature dumber than her could exist in this world. I highly doubted it.

  “Many vampires have the gift of telepathy. And if they don’t, there’s also this thing called phone calls for communicating at distance, you idiot. So he could very well have been in contact with his master since he’s been here. And as I know you, you must have given him a tour of New Hell to show off your precious little Släva to everyone here. Suffice to say that his master probably had all the information he needed thanks to you.”

  She finally seemed to realize the extent of her mistakes. Suddenly alarmed, she glanced at the closed door behind me. Rage washed over me, the beast rumbled inside me. I rushed at her before she was able to try to flee and encircled her neck with my fingers.

  “Slutty and dumb, okay, but a coward?” I said, my set of teeth modifying as my primal instincts totally submerged me. “There’s no way out for you! You’re going to take responsibility for the things you’ve done and that have put our clan in jeopardy! By your fault alone, our clan may end up being eradicated!”

  “I—I’m sorry . . . Please Nemesis, don’t—”

  Her pathetic words sparked things off. Never have I had so much needed to let my inner monster express itself. My sharp teeth headed for her throat to rip it to shreds. I bit deep into her flesh and a desire different from revenge overwhelmed me. Venom struggled. She dug her nails into my skin, lacerating it. Then she yelled with pain and distress, which had the effect of jolting me out of my trance. I loosened my hold on her and lost no time to break her neck to silence her and put her out of commission for a moment. Her unmoving body slumped in my arms. I dropped her unceremoniously and moved away as much as possible, the mere thought of doing it again horrifying me. With the back of my hand, I wiped away her blood which was running down my chin. What had I been doing? I hadn’t been about to make her pay for her foolishness, I’d been about to eat her. Her, a congener. It was an unnatural act that meant a death penalty for whoever dared to do it. Oh Lucifer, what’s happening to me?

  “Venom?” called a voice in the room.

  I started. My gaze fell on Evan who was sitting where I’d thrown him a few minutes before. He still seemed stunned as his eyes scanned his surroundings. My anger came back with a vengeance as I faced this mortal, who, in spite of his innocent appearance, had almost led me to do something irredeemable. Who had led my clan to its current situation. A wicked smile appeared on my face. Even if he was under the influence of his master, he was going to pay for this. Plus, the predator that I was was so hungry! But before doing anything to him, I had to obtain some information. So I came closer to him and, because he was still sitting on the ground, I squatted down.

  “Evan, right?” I said, smiling to him to reveal all my monstrous teeth.

  He looked at me but didn’t even seem frightened by what he was seeing. He must have seen similar things with his master or in the clubs for creatures.

  “You have a blood master, haven’t you?”

  “No,” he answered right away with a dull voice and a blank stare.

  This idiotic human was really in a pathetic mental state. But I wasn’t going to pity him. Firstly, because I was incapable of it. Secondly, because he’d chosen his ordeal, knowing what sort of mess he’d been getting himself into.

  “Are you sure? You aren’t the slave . . . the companion of a male or female vampire?”

  “No.”

  I took a deep breath and force myself to remain as serene as possible. He was a blood slave. It was a sure thing given his scars and the place where Venom had found him. Hell! Why didn’t he admit it?

  “Listen, I’m sick of this. So either you tell the truth or I break your bones one by one or, I don’t know, I disembowel you . . . Still don’t want to stop lying?”

  “No,” he said.

  Enough was enough. He didn’t believe I could follow through with my threats? A little demonstration and he’d change his mind. I grabbed him at the elbow and shoulder and squeezed until several bones gave way under the pressure. He howled with pain. Annoyed, I violently slapped his face so he would stop screaming and get his attention. He stared at me, his features contorted with suffering, but he silenced his cries.

  “Well, now that you know I’m not joking, I’m going to repeat my question and you’d be well-advised to tell the truth. Are you a blood slave?”

  “No,” he murmured with trembling lips.

  Still, his look was completely alert now and he almost looked like he wanted to tell me something through it. Too bad for him, I wasn’t in the mood for a guessing game. I wanted to end this quickly.

  “You’re the slave of one of them, I know it, so talk! I don’t care if you see yourself as a companion, a lover or something! You were with a vampire until recently so say it!”

  He remained quiet and kept looking at me in the same way, but his expression was now tinged with fear. He knew he had to speak but, even so, he didn’t do it. Why?

  “Answer!”

  During long seconds, he seemed in conflict with himself.

  “N—No,” he finally said.

  I suddenly understood. If I hadn’t been so obsessed by my intense desire for blood and flesh, resentment and my envy to tear this man’s guts out, I’d have understood what was wrong earlier. His spirit had been conditioned and programmed so that he could only answer negatively to any question about his master or the real reason of his presence here. He’ll never confess to anything. He was a lost cause. Scum in the eyes of the human world because he had associated with monsters; disregarded by his beloved vampire who didn’t want him anymore now that he’d served his purpose; living on borrowed time because the blood of Creatures he’d drunk was slowly killing him. The best thing that could happen to him was for me to spare him the agony. I was not one bit altruistic, but I was starved and he was condemned. So we were going to help each other out. Not waiting any longer, I stuck my sharp teeth in his flesh and began to drink his blood. He didn’t resist, apparently conditioned by his master to stand docilely when someone fed on him. The beast in me very quickly got the upper hand. In a frenzy, I tore a piece of his skin out and blood spurt out. He tried to yell but could only make a gurgling sound. I wrung his neck to end his pain. I continued to feed on him until I remembered Venom’s presence. She would awake when her broken neck was back to it
s original state.

  “Nolan!” I shouted when my teeth and jaw had a human shape again.

  Venom’s henchman came into the room. He probably hadn’t been very far and had heard everything since my arrival, given the fact Venom always kept him close at hand. He looked at the human’s damaged body and Venom. Then he looked at me, but glanced down immediately. I probably frightened him even more than usual with my face smeared with blood.

  “Venom is . . .?”

  “For now,” I said to him, impassive. “She’ll soon be alive again.”

  He nodded, his eyes still cast on the floor, even if he couldn’t help but take a glance at the corpse from time to time.

  “I want you to find me chains coated with Emenaïd* to dissuade her from running away and keep an eye on her until Xander comes to pick her up . . . and do the cleaning,” I finished while gesturing to the man. [* Product acting as a very painful poison to a Nëphyr when they are in contact with it, especially if their blood is contaminated by it. In very high doses, it can be fatal. In low doses, it only incapacitate a Nëphyr, rendering their power (if they have any) unusable.]

  Once again, he nodded in approval and I had time to see that the iris of his eyes were shining. So it wasn’t his fear of me which caused him to react as he did so far. He simply didn’t want me to detect his hunger. I used the Illusionaë to remove the blood on me and the tears in my dress for me to be presentable again.

  “By the way, you can have the rest,” I announced to him and he finally looked me in the eye. “It’s no use to let this body rot in the mass grave of New Hell if it can still serve, right?”

  He answered me with a smile.

  “About what happened here—” I began.

  “Something happened here?” he said to me with a fake innocent look on his face.

  I grinned. Oh, there was a chance I’ll end up liking this Nëphyr . . .

  I left Venom’s apartment and searched for Xander in the residence. I checked room after room, floor after floor, but the Reaper was nowhere to be found.

  Back on the first floor, I quickly forgot what I was looking for when, after opening an umpteenth door, I discovered a Nëphyr with a crazed look and covered with ebony blood. My Queen’s apprehensions were taking life. The hunger was making my people sink into madness.

  Or, more exactly, into the bloody fury called Furäm Sanguië in Nëphrä. An overwhelming rage that struck aimlessly at some Nëphyr during a long period of fasting and which obsessed the Nëphyr who was affected by it. The fury always came along with horrible pain, but especially with an incredible ferocity and a tenfold increase of strength. As it was hard to control kin in this state, rare were the ones who survived it. Most of the time they were killed to prevent them from massacring everybody without distinction.

  I slowly moved forward, not wanting to fight against a Nëphyr suffering from this terrible illness. Strangely, he still hadn’t noticed my presence. He wasn’t acting like those affected by this fury—and I knew what I was talking about because I had previously suffered from its effects in the past. Suddenly, my bare foot landed on something soft, hot, and wet. The consistence of this thing wasn’t unknown to me. Neither was its smell. Prompted by an uncontrollable need to see it with my own eyes, I looked down.

  It was indeed a heart I’d just stepped on. And it was that of a Nëphyr, seeing the black blood on it.

  “What happened here?” I asked with an incredibly quiet voice, considering the situation.

  It was useless to shout and have everybody coming here, or frighten this male and have him go for my throat. It was better to act calmly, even if the anger was certainly present when in front of such a slaughter. I still didn’t know what had happened but something told me that it was worse than anything I could imagine. The young male eventually realized I was here. He had no reaction, didn’t utter a word. Since he didn’t make a move, I took the heart on the floor and went straight toward him, brandishing it under his nose.

  “I repeat my question. What—”

  I stopped talking. Prey to uncertainty and having doubts about what I was smelling, I sniffed again at the bloody organ in poor condition. My sense of smell definitely wasn’t playing a trick on me. It was Owen. Well, his heart and blood. Having smelled his scent many times during the regular fights destined to outlet our natural need for violence, I knew I wasn’t mistaken. I wasn’t going to regret him. He’d been transformed during his teenage years and Satan knew the pain in the ass this eternal kid had been.

  “Where’s Owen’s body?”

  He frowned, his vacant stare on me. His attitude so far didn’t lend credit to my hypothesis.

  “Owen?”

  “Yes, Owen,” I repeated, trying to keep calm despite my mood. “Why did you fight each other? And where is his body?”

  “Owen . . .” he said, looking completely absent.

  Close to my breaking point, I was ready to yell at him, even if it was a bad idea, when I saw him licking blood off his fingers, appearing to be savoring every little drop. Reality struck me hard. He wasn’t affected by the fury. He hadn’t simply fought with Owen to the point of killing him. No, he had attacked Owen and fed on him! By all the damned . . .

  “What did you do, you fool?” I shouted involuntarily while dropping the piece of Owen I was holding.

  I gripped the male by his throat and squeezed hard. His act wasn’t only unforgivable, it was also sheer madness. By creating us, Lucifer had made sure the strength and the gift or gifts of a Nëphyr were flowing through his veins, but that nobody could use them except himself. That was why whoever tried to steal the invaluable nectar of life by drinking it went crazy. He then quickly wasted away to death, his brain eaten away by the blood he had consumed.

  “You have no idea what mistake you’ve just committed.”

  This poor bastard had sentenced himself to the worst torture existing for a Nëphyr, after the stakes of Hell, the Selem Sescä—or simply called the Never Ending Torment—and the Furäm Sanguië.

  “I was hungry!” the barely-adult Nëphyr whined, as if it was a valid excuse.

  “We’re all hungry,” I bitterly pointed out to him. “And we’ll always be hungry. Yet we don’t feed from each other.”

  But maybe it wouldn’t take long before we did . . . I thought gloomily. I snapped his vertebrae. He didn’t even have time to understand what was going on. I let the inert body fall to the floor. I was afraid this Nëphyr was only the first one of a long list to commit such an act if Drake didn’t quickly find a solution to restock the Reserve with humans. Anyway, if this wasn’t solved quickly, the High Instances would hear about the situation of our clan and would come to make some heads roll—mine first. I sighed, trying in vain to forget these morbid thoughts. There was more urgent matters than to mope around about my hypothetical—but very likely—death. A broken neck didn’t immobilize a Nëphyr for a long time. It meant I had to find Xander and fast. Or this story and that of Venom would quickly spread. The probability of a rebellion or my execution would strongly increase, if that happened.

  “James!” a hysterical feminine voice screamed.

  The next moment a mass was hanging onto my back and sharp teeth were trying to tear my throat apart. I let out a furious cry. Grabbing her by the hair, I got rid of this madwoman who was clinging to me by throwing her away. She crashed against the wall on the opposite side and dislodged some bricks due to the strength of the impact. She got up right away, ready to come at me again, when she froze. Her eyes went wide with surprise and fear when she recognized me. She fell to her knees and ducked her head as a sign of submission.

  “I—”

  “Keep quiet!”

  Three attacks in one day was more than my nerves could bear. I had had enough!

  “Get up!” I ordered her curtly.

  The female Nëphyr hastily stood up and her frightened gaze met mine. I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Why? I didn’t really know. A few seconds ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to kil
l her but now I had other plans for her.

  “It’s your lucky day,” I announced to her and her gaze became suspicious. “Find me The Reaper and tell him to meet me in the basement as soon as possible. If you hurry up, maybe I’ll spare your life. Otherwise you’ll be executed with your dear lover.”

  She frowned as her look went from James’s body to me and back several times.

  “But . . . He . . . You can’t . . .”

  I rolled my eyes. She was worrying about her partner when her own life could be over very soon. What an idiot! Did love really deprive people of their sense of priorities and survival instinct? Or was she simply born stupid?

  “In your place, I’d worry about my own fate. Your James is going to die for Owen’s murder anyway.”

  One tear, a second, and then a myriad of others followed. Her face was covered with tears of inky blood. I was surprised. It’d been a long time since I’d seen this kind of phenomenon. There had to be a minimum of humanity left in the Nëphyr and her sorrow had to be immensely strong for tears to flow. Obviously, she really cared for her James. A pity for her he didn’t love her enough to refrain from feeding on his kin . . .

  “Please,” she hiccuped between two sobs. “I beg you, don’t—”

  She burst into tears again before she was able to finish her sentence. I quickly got tired of the show she was making of herself.

  “You better let Xander know quickly that I want to see him in the basement.”

  Without another glance to the female, I grabbed James by an arm. I dragged his still unmoving body behind me. I hoped he would remain like this long enough for me to put him in a cell. Not that I was afraid of losing against him if it came to a fight, but considering what had happened with Venom, today wasn’t the day to let my inner animal take up the reins again. Because it’d be a massacre for sure. And somebody like Caine or the deceased Yegyen was capable of using this outburst of savagery to convince my clan to rebel against me.

  It was in moments like this that I hated my title of Queen and especially Efflamm who’d chosen me to succeed him. After all, what was the use of being a monster if I couldn’t behave as such?