The Amazon and the Beast (Mythos Book 1)

by Hati Bell

  Riz walked up to the baby vampire. “If you tell me his name, Levi will quench your thirst and I won’t kill you.”

  “Moloch,” the baby leech whispered.

  The temperature in the dungeon dropped to the level of a mini-Ice Age.

  Leroy felt his lion shaking with rage and trying to claw his way out. He was barely able to force his claws back.

  “Moloch,” Levi hissed. His eyes had turned black and the veneer of civilization he’d adopted had completely disappeared.

  “Tell me Moloch isn’t the reason why Kellsey needs the helmet,” Leroy said. However, he already knew the answer before Riz’s look spoke for him.

  Lestat started to laugh, a maniacal glaze in his eyes. “And they built high places for Baal so that their sons and daughters could pass through the fire to Moloch. This while they knew they sacrificed their own children, and those who had no children bought infants from the poor and cut their throats as if they were little lambs. The mothers stood by without a tear, because should they let fall a single tear, they had to forfeit their money, and their child would be sacrificed nevertheless to Moloch. And the area before Moloch’s statue was filled with the noise of flutes and drums so the cries of wailing would not reach the ears of the people.”

  Riz beat Leroy to it when he severed Lestat’s head from his body. The female vampire didn’t even have time to blink before she became his next victim.

  “You should’ve told me,” Leroy said. If he had known the importance of the helmet, he would’ve never chased after a cure for himself.

  Riz sent him a cool look. “I think I was clear when I told you it was a Hades and She With the Icy Name situation.”

  “We’re not finished discussing this,” Leroy said grimly. “After I’ve found the helmet, how long has she got?”

  “We already have it,” Levi said. He pointed to a dark corner of the dungeon where a kumiho was chained to the wall. Leroy hadn’t noticed him yet through all the lingering body parts. “He must’ve heard us talking about it. Like the cunning fox he is, the idiot wanted to con us by selling the helmet he stole back to Riz.”

  “I’m gonna promise Kellsey an eternity,” Leroy said. It was time they knew about what his place in Kellsey’s life would be. She deserved that he completely gave himself to her. No more holding back. He didn’t want her to doubt his love for another second. “You know about my curse. It’s the reason why I stayed away from her, but that’s over now.”

  Riz folded his arms across his chest. “So, you decided to give it a chance.”

  “Yeah,” he said cautiously. Not that what Riz thought would change his mind.

  “Good. I want her to be happy.”

  Leroy looked at the dhampir. Levi would be his biggest obstacle if he decided to stand in his way. The dhampir was like an octopus whose fingers reached everywhere if he wanted to make one’s life difficult. There was a difference between granting his sister her childhood love and his sister making a commitment to someone who was on the blacklist of a goddess.

  “You’re an extra shield,” Levi said cryptically.

  “Glad we sorted that out.” Leroy looked at Riz. “Now, let’s talk about why Kellsey needs an extra shield.”

  “Almost twenty-five years ago, I promised Kellsey’s light to Moloch,” Riz said, suddenly sounding tired. “She was the price to leave the Chaos dimension. She was the seventh piece of the puzzle I needed to escape.” He fell silent for a moment. “When I gave Moloch my blood oath, I didn’t expect that I would love her.”

  “None of us did,” Levi said tightly.

  “That’s why you’re looking for objects of the gods,” Leroy surmised. “You’re hoping that these objects will be stronger than the blood oath.” Shit, shit, triple shit. “Tell me you have a plan.”

  19

  KELLSEY

  When Kellsey walked into the kitchen a week later, she found Qasim and Jo sitting at the kitchen island. It was the first time she had seen her friend since her new, undead status. Levi hadn’t allowed her to see Jo because a baby vampire attacked anything with a pulse in its first month. Which was fruitless, because only the blood of her master could nourish her. But apparently, after only a week, Jo was already able to be among them.

  The freshly turned vampire held a mug in her hands. She had dark shadows under her eyes and looked pale.

  Shay sauntered inside, an eyebrow raised questioningly when she saw Jo. “And who do we have here? Bloodshot eyes, pale as the arse of a frost giant, and an ugly cardigan. You must be Levi’s experiment the thirteen covens won’t stop talking about.”

  Kellsey realized this was the first time the two had met. Shay had been gone for the past week for an exhibit of her drawings. After which she had treated herself to a spa weekend because, as she put it, she refused to mope about Conn any longer.

  “Shay, this is Jolene Wylde. Jo, this is my bestie, Shay,” Kellsey said to introduce the two.

  Jo uttered a greeting and then frowned, as if Shay’s words just now registered. “I’m not an experiment,” she said.

  Shay took a lollipop from the kitchen drawer and took the seat opposite Jo. “Of course you’re not. Just like I’m not a hybrid djinn-slash-frost-giantess.”

  “I don’t care what people think,” Jo said stiffly.

  “Aha, already going through a vampire teen phase?” Shay asked. “You better watch out before your master hears you and rips out your tongue for being a disobedient disciple.”

  Jo pushed away her cup. “Then it’s a good thing I’m a vampire now. My tongue will grow back on.”

  “What a bitchy remark,” Shay said, and she pointed her lollipop at Kellsey. “I like her. She can stay.”

  Kellsey smiled and leaned against the kitchen cabinets next to Jolene. “You okay?” she asked. “You look pale.”

  “I’m perfectly fine,” Jo said tightly.

  Shay was less diplomatic. “You look like death warmed over.”

  “She refused to go to Levi last night,” Qasim explained. “She has to feed, or it’s gonna get worse.”

  Kellsey wondered about the deal between Jolene and Levi. It had taken a lot of pleading to persuade Levi to take a vampire. He’d insisted on talking with Jo first before he agreed. When Jo came out of his room, all the color had been drained from her face, but she had refused to tell what they had discussed.

  Kellsey wanted to ask, but didn’t know how to bring up the sensitive subject without stepping on a lot of toes. Jo hadn’t voluntarily chosen for this life: a choice between death and being undead wasn’t a real choice, after all. She doubted whether Jo liked hanging daily on Levi’s tap like a leech. Then again, she couldn’t imagine her brother dripping his blood into a glass. It was dangerous to have your blood linger around. If it fell into the hands of the wrong mythos you had a problem. Of the deadly kind.

  “I’m fine,” Jolene insisted. “You know me better than this, Kells. When was I ever not up to a challenge?”

  “Never,” Kellsey admitted. “But you weren’t undead with a blood addiction before. An addiction where Levi is the only one who can provide your fix.” That didn’t sound very nice, but Jo had to accept what awaited her.

  “So, you’re sucking Levi?” Shay asked Jo.

  Jo looked mortified.

  Qasim groaned and put down his cup, looking grossed out. “I need to bleach my eyeballs to get that image out of my head,” he complained.

  “Shay!” Kellsey hissed.

  “What? The thirteen covens have been asking the same thing. Don’t kill the messenger.”

  “This isn’t a ‘don’t kill the messenger’ situation.”

  “Also, Riz believes that you should always kill or at least maim the messenger,” Qasim chimed in.

  Shay walked over to the kettle and poured herself a cup of tea. “Killing or maiming the messenger sends a message,” she quoted Riz, after which she sat opposite Jo again. “Tell me about the divine Leviathan Callahan. Is it true what they say about dhampir bloo
d? Does it make you all hot and tingly? And was it a mutual sucking experience?”

  Kellsey threw her mug at Shay, which she easily dodged. She loved her bestie but Shay had absolutely no filter.

  To her surprise, Jolene took no offense at her words. “If I can manage a night without his blood, it means that I only have to ask for blood every other day instead of on a daily basis,” she said as if she was explaining calculus. “And there’s where my profit lies.”

  “How nice that your master’s in economics finally came in handy,” Kellsey said dryly.

  Jo’s “tap with blood” appeared in the doorway. As usual, Levi was dressed in an immaculate black suit. “I’m leaving for some business and won’t be back until tomorrow.” After that comment, which was seemingly meant for no one in particular, he walked to the coffee maker.

  Jo clasped her fingers tightly around her mug. “I’m fine.” Kellsey thought it sounded more like a prayer than a reassurance.

  Levi poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the wall. “You’re not acting rationally, duchess.”

  “Don’t call me duchess, Leviathan.”

  “I’m gonna be walking out that door soon. Next time you see me it will be while you’re crawling to me on your knees.”

  Kellsey pulled a face. She’d almost forgotten how cruel Levi sometimes could be.

  “Jolene Wylde doesn’t crawl,” Jo said icily.

  “And Leviathan Callahan doesn’t beg,” Levi fired back and he left without looking back. Kellsey also knew that her brother didn’t do second chances. Never again would he offer Jo his blood. Her friend would have to ask for it for the rest of her undead life.

  “You know, this reminds me of a scene from a book,” Shay said all of a sudden and then she frowned. “Nah, that can’t be it. I only read manga and the duchess is nowhere near as cool as an anime character. Maybe it was the film version of a book?”

  “Pride and Prejudice?” Qasim guessed.

  Shay tapped her lollipop against her lips, pondering. “Hmm, no, it was something else.”

  “Gone with the Wind?” Kellsey guessed. A few months ago Shay had accepted an assignment to design a manga picture book of the famous classic epic.

  Shay snapped her fingers. “That’s it!”

  Jo groaned and Kellsey decided that she needed a distraction. It was time to introduce her to the weekly Friday night ritual of a rock chick.

  ***

  Seven was filled with the delightful deep bass of “Seven Nation Army” from the White Stripes. Kellsey waved at Zlatan while happily bouncing to the beat of one of her favorite songs. The pub was packed right before Celtfest, but Zlatan left his position behind the bar and came to their table.

  The centaur was closeted regarding his mythos nature, but apart from that, he fit well in the group. Once he realized that she wasn’t planning to make him her slave, the lad could finally relax. Kartal had rented him the apartment above Seven and given him more and more responsibilities in the pub.

  “May I have a merlot, please?” Jolene asked, ever so polite.

  Zlatan’s eyebrows almost hit his hairline. “A merlot?” he asked.

  “She’s a fresh baby vamp,” Kellsey explained.

  Jo frowned. “Did I ask something odd?”

  Shay laughed right in her face. “Not if you’d been dining with the queen.”

  “I’ll have a kick in da nuts,” Kellsey said. “That’s a mojito named after me after I’d kicked my first boyfriend in the balls for kissing another girl,” she told Jo.

  Shay ordered a djinn in a bottle. “That’s a gin and tonic, named after me,” she said with a grin.

  “After Shay had locked a djinn in a bottle and thrown him into the sea,” Kellsey explained. She wondered if the djinn was still floating around or if Krik had fished him out. The last scenario would certainly explain why they had never seen him again.

  “The asshole called me a hybrid bitch,” Shay snorted.

  “So you each have a drink named after you?” Jo asked, her tone wistful.

  “Yup,” Shay said. “If you’re bad enough, I’m sure one day you’ll get one too.”

  Zlatan cleared his throat. “Actually, Jolene already has a drink named after her. I’ll bring it in a minute.”

  They didn’t have to wait long. Five minutes later, Zlatan brought their drinks. A green beauty for her and a gin and tonic with extra cucumbers for Shay.

  Jo’s glass was a hot pink. “What’s this?” she asked as she took the cocktail.

  “It’s a Shirley Temple,” Zlatan said. “Levi named it the duchess.”

  Jo let go of her glass as if it had burned her. Zlatan coughed and quickly walked away.

  Kellsey tried her best not to laugh. Judging by Jo’s narrowed eyes she hadn’t quite succeeded.

  Shay began to whistle when “She’s My Cherry Pie” started to play. “I forgot that it’s a full moon tonight.”

  “What’s this song have to do with the full moon?” Jo asked, turning the straw in her drink.

  “She-wolves are extra-sensitive during the full moon,” Kellsey explained. “Their bodies then desire… eh….”

  “Hot monkey sex,” Shay filled in.

  “That’s not entirely true,” Kellsey protested. “Mature she-wolves go into heat because of an extra dose of energy that is linked to the moon. Nobody knows exactly how it works. Some she-wolves work out to get rid of the extra energy. Others….”

  “Have a sex marathon,” Shay said.

  “It’s common for mated werewolves to seduce their lasses, since she-wolves are extra-fertile during a full moon. Alpha werewolves seduce a woman who smells like a potential mate. It is said that the smell of a potential mate is strong during the full moon.”

  Jo now looked horrified. “So she-wolves are used as a breeding machine during the full moon?”

  Kellsey snorted. “Don’t let them hear you say that. No one can make a she-wolf do anything against her will, unless one wants his paws chewed off.”

  Shay waved to a group of she-wolves who were sitting at the bar. “Do they look like they want to become someone’s baby mama to you?”

  The she-wolves had a row of empty glasses before them. One of them growled to an approaching young wolf. The werewolf made a hasty retreat with his tail tucked between his legs. His friends snickered at him and ordered him a drink as a consolation.

  “Most of them come here during the full moon for free drinks,” Kellsey said. “The only ones being used here are the wolves, not the she-wolves.”

  “Aha, like on a Friday night at a human pub,” Jo surmised.

  “Exactly,” Kellsey said. Apart from the age limit and the lack of magical pub fights, a human pub didn’t differ much from Seven.

  “Whatcha think? Classic, hard rock, or metal?” Shay asked.

  Kellsey followed her gaze to the computer behind the pool table. It was connected to the speakers in the pub. There was a young warlock standing before it, typing something. He wore a University of Edinburgh sweatshirt. It was an unspoken rule that patrons could choose a song from the playlist or add their own song to the ever-growing list.

  “He’s such a laddie,” she mused, thinking about the kinds of music that he could possibly choose.

  “I love young warlocks,” Shay said as she slid a finger over her lips. “They’re so eager to prove the strength of their wand.”

  “I don’t like boys, but men. A man of the world,” Jo said. “A man should know the difference between sparkling wine and champagne.”

  Kellsey couldn’t stop from rolling her eyes. “I’m beginning to understand why you are still single.”

  “Seriously?” Shay asked wryly. “You’ve been in a relationship for, what, like, five minutes?”

  “That’s right,” she said with a wicked grin.

  Shay made a choking sound. “Madly-in-love people nauseate me.”

  Kellsey knew, however, that Shay was happy for her. “There’s another kind of in-love people?”r />
  “Yes, the tragically-in-love,” Jo said.

  “Like you and Leroy used to be,” Shay added.

  “But to answer your question, I bet he chooses something from Justin Bieber,” Kellsey joked.

  “Sacrilege!” Shay cried out and she took a sip of her drink. When the new song started to play, she sprayed it out. All over Kellsey’s AC/DC tee.

  “Crap, Shay, this is a limited edition top,” Kellsey complained as she wiped the drops off her top.

  “I know,” Shay whispered. “I’m the one who bought it for you.”

  The pub had gone silent. Nobody moved. Even the waiters stood still with drinks in their hands. All eyes shot to the warlock at the computer screen. His friends at the table started to look around nervously.

  “What?” the warlock asked when he finally realized all eyes were on him.

  He didn’t have to wait for an answer for long. Kartal appeared right in front of him, in all his exasperated glory. Kellsey’s brother didn’t waste any time with an explanation. He simply grabbed the lad by the scruff of his neck and threw him outside through the open window.

  “Guess that explains why the windows here are always open,” Shay said, slurping her cocktail.

  Kellsey shook her head. “I can’t believe he dared to pick a trance song in Seven.”

  “Even Bieber would have been a better pick,” Shay declared.

  “I like the new Bieber,” Jo whispered in a tone of voice as if she confessed a dark secret.

  “What happened to wanting a man of the world?” Kellsey asked.

  “Why do you think I was whispering?” Jo answered.

  “Good thinking,” Shay said. “You don’t want to be the next one thrown out. Anyone with a few brain cells knows that the only kind of music played in Seven is rock.”

  “Don’t forget about Bob Marley and Taylor Swift,” Kellsey said.

  “And those two,” Shay acknowledged.

  Jolene aimed a dubious glance at Kartal, who stood behind the bar. With his blue Mohawk, Harley Davidson tee, and leather wristbands, he didn’t exactly look like a Swiftie. “Kartal likes Taylor Swift?”