by Mia Bishop
Five minutes later she was standing in the dark behind Nico’s house. An old green car was parked near the back door and Nico had lovingly run his hand over the hood as she came out. His focus had been on the automobile, but the minute Abby passed by he gaped. “What in the hell did you do?”
“What?”
“My clothes, you can’t just cut up my clothes.”
“Well, I’m certainly not killing anything in Meri’s clothes. I choose to be practical.”
“I have a limited supply of stuff, you can’t just go cutting up people’s things.”
“I needed something to wear. If you are going to make me go out and kill demons then I’m not going to be wearing booty shorts and a strip of fabric over my breasts. I couldn’t wear the stuff I slept in because I’m not sleeping in clothes that I’ve killed something in.” She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and shrugged. “And your clothes are like four sizes too big for me, so I had to do some alterations.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “Deal with it.”
A small smile played at the edges of his mouth. She tried not to fixate on it, but his smirk made her mouth water. There was a glimmer in his eyes, as if he liked her defiance. After a minute he nodded, giving in and dropping the argument. She’d won this round which boosted her ego to epic heights, but mostly it was the way he looked at her with that smile on his face that made her stand a little bit taller. He led her several feet away from the house and her eyes narrowed in on what he’d set up for her.
She was facing a table lined with weapons and in the distance she could see a row of bottles and one bullseye painted on a hay bale. “What is this? I thought we were training?”
“We are. You need to find a weapon you’re comfortable with.”
“What about hand to hand? My instinct to kill and all that stuff you said before.”
“Do you really want to kill a demon with your bare hands? I mean you’re more than welcome to have at it, but the cleanup is a real bitch.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I guess not. What weapon do you use?”
“A little of everything, but I prefer blades. Knives, daggers—”
“Swords?”
“When necessary. Killing a demon requires decapitation and burning the body. You can shoot it to incapacitate it but in the end you’ll always need a way to sever its head from its body and torch it.”
“Every single time?” Words could not describe how much she didn’t want to have to decapitate a demon, but deep down she knew there was no getting out of it. This was her new world, her new reality, and she was going to have to get used to it sooner or later.
“For you, yes. For one of the Hands of God, no. Holy warriors or anyone who has a holy weapon doesn’t have to decapitate and burn the body, but for us humans,” He paused and added, “and you vampires, it’s necessary otherwise we run the risk of them coming back to life. Demons are resilient little bastards, but holy light or holy weapons, can do the job in one shot.”
She took in the information. Nico had been out there for a decade cutting off the heads of every demon he killed. It seemed like such a daunting task for someone who appeared to not care about anyone or anything. “Can I ask you something?”
“I’ll probably regret it, but go ahead.”
“Why do you do this and why are you bothering with me? You don’t even like Arveda, so I don’t understand why you would do this favor for her.”
“That’s more than one question.” He laid his hand on a small handgun. “Try this one first, it’s a standard .45, aim for the big green bottle. Make sure the safety is off, here” he pointed at the back of the grip to a silver lever, switching it off and on to show her what to do before handing the gun to her, “Aim and squeeze the trigger.” She nodded and held the weapon, taking several deep breaths before she squeezed. The bullet struck the bottle dead center and shattered it on impact. “Good job, nicely done. How did you like the feel of it?”
Placing it carefully back in its spot on the table she shook her head. “It didn’t feel right. I guess it wasn’t comfortable.”
He seemed to understand what she was saying and moved to a bow and quiver. Before he picked it up he paused. “I do this because it’s the right thing to do. These people were kind enough to take me in when I was lost in the desert. They don’t deserve to have their children and loved ones dragged off and turned into a demon’s dinner. What kind of man would I be if I sat here and watched something bad happen to innocent people and I didn’t do anything to help?”
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, after looking it over he held up a fade hand-written quote for her to see. She whispered the words on the paper, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” She picked up the bow and notched an arrow. Now it made sense why he did what he did. Day in and day out. He was a good man even with his rough exterior and abrasive attitude. Deep down he was just a man, trying to do something good in a world full of evil.
He cleared his throat, “Do you need help?”
Abby gave him a sideways glance, “I think I’ve got it.” She drew back and released the arrow in what felt like a familiar action but with no memory attached to it she could only guess that at one point she might have done this before. Familiar or not it didn’t feel right. Like the gun, it didn’t feel comfortable. If she were going to use a weapon she needed it to feel like part of herself. Shaking her head, she placed the bow down and heaved a sigh. “What’s next?”
Nico started to reach for the crossbow sitting on the table but his hand hovered for a moment before he reached for something on his belt instead. “Try these.”
He held out two small blades. Abby took one and held it up to examine it. It didn’t look like any knife she’d seen before, no big bulky handle. It was a simple but slightly heavy blade, the handle was part of the knife with no extra grip to it. Abby ran her thumb over the blade. “It’s dull.”
“It’s a throwing knife, the blade doesn’t need to be sharp, it’s the tip that does the damage.”
She held the knife in the palm of her hand then switched hands trying to gauge how hard to throw it. She took a deep breath and gripped the knife at the hilt and drew back. Nico’s hand caught her waist, “Not like that.”
A shiver rushed through her body as Nico stepped behind her. She could feel his heart pound against her back and as he slid his hand over hers the beat quickened. Abby went still, this was too close for them. Too close for her to remain indifferent about this infuriating man. She inhaled and his liquor laden scent made a cold sweat breakout on the back of her neck. He flipped the knife around so that she was holding the tip between two fingers, his other hand stayed on her waist as he used his body to move her hips in alignment with the target. His whispered words tickled her ear making her shiver again, “Just flick your wrist,” His grip on her hip tightened, “Keep your body turned like this and release it in one fluid motion.”
“Okay,” there was a tremble in her voice that triggered what sounded like a growl from him. Her thighs quivered as she did her best to narrow her eyes on the target.
Don’t think about him like that.
Scolding herself didn’t help. She could feel his breath on her neck and the way his body tensed as he moved with her. The motion left her wanton and needy. She was panting quietly when his body pressed harder against her. She wasn’t sure why at first but with a sidelong glance she could see him leaning forward to peer through the darkness. “That’s a perfect bullseye. How’d you like it?”
Abby blinked. “I didn’t. I swear I—”
He’d pulled back and stared at her with a raised brow. “You didn’t like the knife?”
“No. I mean, yes, I liked the knife.” She took several deep breathes, “Sorry. I like the feel of the knife.”
“Then you are a bladesman. Or woman as the case may be. It’s probably something to do with your vampire nature. A blade is more of an extension of a perso
n than a gun or bow. I’ll get you something from Lobo’s stock tomorrow. In the meantime, you can use mine.” He left for a second giving her a chance to breathe. The earth was spinning and she felt out of control. Leaning over she braced her hands on the table and dropped her head. After five deep breaths Nico was back and staring at her with wide eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Yep” She straightened and worked her fists open and closed to regain some stability. “I’m good. What’s next?”
He held up a pair of what she could only think to call daggers, except they had a slight curve to the blades. “Take these. You’ll need them.” The long blades gleamed in the moonlight and something inside of her came roaring to life. The instant she held them in her hands her smile beamed. “You seemed to have found your perfect match.” Nico paused and turned back towards the house. “Keep ‘em. I’ll get another set for myself.”
All she could do was nod as he left her alone in the darkness. She swung the two blades and grinned even wider at the slight humming sound they made as they cut through the air. These were her weapons, the match to her speed and strength. She felt more sure of herself than she had in the past twenty-four hours. She glanced between the daggers and Nico’s house to find him leaning against the door jamb watching her. His arms were folded over his chest and an amused look on his face. Her stomach fluttered under the stress of his gaze, she cleared her throat. “Is there more training tonight?”
“No, come on inside and I’ll show you how to take care of your blades. We’ll start killing stuff tomorrow.”
He pushed off the door and Abby recoiled, tomorrow she would have to kill something, it wasn’t a pleasant thought. Maybe she was already a killer and didn’t know it. Looks could be deceiving, maybe she only looked like a college student, she could in fact be a stone-cold killer and none of them would be the wiser. Tomorrow would be the thing that would either make her or break her. As she carried her new weapons inside she mulled over her last thought… “Tomorrow I have to kill something.”
An hour after Abby had woken up the next day she was alone and pacing the living room. Day three of her new life was shaping up to be rather uneventful. Nico had left a note next to her cot telling her that he’d be back soon and that she needed to stay put. That was no real surprise. There was no way in hell he was going to let her go out to explore on her own. Especially since this was only her third day as a freakish vampire with no memory. She’d toiled around the kitchen doing her best to ignore her growling stomach for the first twenty minutes of her morning, after it became clear Nico hadn’t left her anything to eat she started her route of pacing between the living room and the bedroom.
The shoddy house wasn’t much and there was no separation or privacy between the rooms, except for the bathroom which she was increasingly grateful for. She’d already decided that room, the only room with a door was going to be her sanctuary in this dreary life. Heaving a sigh she headed for the bathroom. There was still no sign of Nico and if she was going to have to stay inside she was going to relax. The shower took several long minutes to heat up and Abby took her time brushing out her hair and stripping down while she waited. As soon as she stepped into the hot stream she moaned. It was worth the wait. The water warmed her to her bones. The aching chill left from hunger slowly dissipated as she washed her hair and scrubbed her body down with soap.
She couldn’t bring herself to look down. She didn’t want to look at her body. She didn’t want to fixate on the fact that demons had invaded her. It was a violation and she couldn’t bring herself to face it. There was nothing she could remember about the attack. She had no idea if it had hurt, but she imagined that it did. Her body ached when she gained consciousness at Arveda’s, it had to be a sign of what was done to her either by the demons or by Nico when he pulled them out of her.
Abby inhaled catching the scent of liquor in the air that burned her nostrils. Nico was back. A slight smile crossed her face. The priest, or ex-priest for that matter, was the lesser of any evil she could think of right now. Sure he was sullen and mean, but he was teaching her to fight. He clearly couldn’t stand her being a vampire but when they’d touched she’d felt something and there was no denying that he’d felt it too. She could feel his body harden when he’d pushed up against her while teaching her how to throw the knife. Biting her lip to keep her grin from spreading she rubbed her legs together, giving a slight moan to the slick friction building at the junction of her thighs. That man was terrible, mean, and yet he set her body on fire.
His messy brown hair, piercing green eyes, and lightly stubbled jawline gave no indication that he used to be a holy man. He was handsome, in a rugged sort of uncaring way. Like he couldn’t be bothered to clean up properly but it didn’t matter because he could still take a girl’s breath away while he showed her how to handle a weapon. Abby shuddered and shook her head as the water turned from hot to ice cold in an instant. She shut off the faucet and hopped out of the shower. The cold didn’t affect her too much but it was uncomfortable and that was enough to put an end to her day dreaming.
She tilted her head to the side when she heard Nico laugh from the other room. His voice was muffled through the door as he mocked. “How’d you like that hot water?”
“Oh, shut up.” Rolling her eyes she dried off and put her cut off sweat pants and tied up t-shirt back on. Her sopping wet hair left a puddle of water on the floor as she wrapped it up in a towel. On her way out of the door she tossed another towel down and cleaned up the floor before throwing it in the hamper. “So you’re back? Do we get down to business now?”
He looked her up and down. His eyes lingering a bit too long on the curves of her body and he shook his head. “You can’t wear that.”
“Well, I don’t have anything else to wear.” Nico tossed a bag at her. She caught it easily enough and took a look inside. “What’s this?”
“Kara thought you might like some non-Striga attire and some personal items, she’s a bit more practical than Meri.”
She gave another peek in the bag and pulled out a black lace g-string. “I’m supposed to fight demons in this?”
Nico coughed and stammered. “I… Um… Well, no. Don’t be ridiculous.” He picked up a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. “You’ll wear this to fight in. I don’t know when the hell she thinks you’ll need to wear that.”
She narrowed her eyes at the package. “And what is it, exactly?”
“Leathers.”
“Pardon me?”
“Leathers. They’ll protect you.”
“So you got me armor?”
“They aren’t armor, but it is thicker than regular clothes and Arveda lent a bit of her magick to it as well. They’re designed to let you still move freely and yet you’re not going to get sliced and diced in a fight.”
“Okay.” She took the package and headed off to the bathroom. She paused at the door and glanced back at him. “Thank you for looking out for me.”
He nodded and gave her a wave to shoo her away. “There’s the asshole I’m used to.” She muttered under her breath as she shut the door behind her. Placing the package on the counter she tore into it like a kid at Christmas. As soon as she could look into the box her breath hitched. She reached out to touch the leather. It was soft and supple and yet sturdy at the same time. She gave the material a tug and it held firm. Picking it up she bit into the leg of the pants with her fang and pulled back. It didn’t even leave a pin hole. Abby grinned. After several minutes of inspecting the pants and the strange lacings she pulled off her borrowed clothes and eyed the bag of clothes from Kara.
She chuckled to herself as she pulled on the lace panties and matching black bra. They matched with a full leather outfit. If she was going to go out killing things she might as well look good doing it. When she tugged on the pants she stared down at the lacing running down each leg. She bent over to cinch them up but when she stood up they were still baggy. “Great.” Her next task was the top, it felt s
oft against her skin but the side laces and lacing in the back were still a challenge. Giving up she blew out a breath and walked out into the living room. Throwing her arms out to the side she glared at Nico’s smug smile. “Well? How do I get this thing to tighten up?”
He pushed himself up from the couch and winked. “You ask for help, Creature.”
Again with the name calling. She rolled her eyes. “Fine, can you help me? Please.” Nico nodded and walked around her twice as if sizing her up. “Would you hurry up?”
“Settle down. I’m trying to see where I should start.”
He stopped in front of her and his green eyes focused in as if she were the only person in the world for that brief moment. His hands seated on her hips he knelt down in front of her and Abby shivered. Her hands itched to run through his hair. To hold his head right where he was. She mentally shook herself for entertaining the thought. In the shower it was one thing to fantasize, but right here with him, that was a whole different story. He turned her to the side, his fingers deftly working the laces. Pulling them hard, but not too tight. His palms heated her skin as he worked his way down one leg and then the other.
He seemed to be taking his time. Checking and rechecking the stitching. She couldn’t be bothered to mind at all. His touch was tender, even if he hadn’t meant it to be. There was something between them in these quiet moments like when he showed her how to hold the knife. God only knew what it was, but there was no denying that she could feel something. She reminded herself it was something she could never be tempted by. The ex-priest would be horrified if he figured out she was daydreaming about him. As he came up she bit her lip and whispered, “All done?”
