by Mia Bishop
She snarled. The primal side of her wasn’t pleased with this new development. She liked a little fight in her meal but she was too hungry for a full on battle. Abby attacked again, this time bypassing Kara’s defenses. She gripped the Striga’s wrist and pulled her away from the wall before spinning her around and pulling Kara’s head to the side. The scent of fresh blood and a racing pulse were a siren’s call to the aching in her fangs and hungry stomach. Abby lowered her head, letting her fangs graze the pulse point in Kara’s neck. Her dinner squirmed in her grasp, but couldn’t break free. “You were pretty easy to take down after all.”
The crunch of gravel didn’t distract her, it was the sound of Nico’s voice that made her hesitate. “Abby, stop it now.”
There was power in his voice, she’d never heard it before. Her body refused to respond to her desire to feed. She blinked. What had he done to her? Keeping her mouth at Kara’s neck she turned slowly to look at him. “I have to eat. Would you kill me again by starving me?”
“You aren’t going to kill anyone. Let Kara go now.”
Her body was starting to relax, whatever control he’d held over had melted away. “No.”
She snapped her teeth to take a chunk out of the Striga when something hot hit her in the ribs. Abby yelped and loosened her grip enough that Kara pulled away. She needed to feed and now her meal was going to get away. There was a howl off in the distance, but the bigger threat lay in front of her. Nico held his knife out. “Abby, stand down.”
She shook her head and jumped at Kara. The Striga braced both palms face out and a bright yellow ball of light formed for a split second before it hurled at Abby catching her square in the chest. She screamed, the fire engulfed her instantly and all she could do was writhe in pain on the ground.
Nico cursed. “God damn it, Kara. Don’t kill her!”
“The fuck I won’t, that bitch just tried to eat me.”
His body shook, he couldn’t lose her again. “She’s confused, she’s scared—”
“She’s fucking hungry.”
“I know.” Nico growled. “Put it out, please.”
Kara rolled her eyes and with the wave of her hand the flames extinguished. “I hope you know what you are doing, Priest.”
He advanced on Abby, kneeling down beside her badly burned body. She wasn’t moving and he feared Kara’s spell had done unrepairable damage. “Me too.”
“We can’t just leave her here.” Kara rubbed her hands on her jeans and paced the alley. “You know I didn’t really want to kill her.”
He glanced up and arched a brow.
She smiled. “Okay, I did. But not at first. I tried to talk some sense into her. I only wanted to kill her once she tried to take a bite out of me.”
“I know.” He reached out to brush a singed stand of hair out of Abby’s face when her red eyes opened. She was wild and frightened, whipping her head from side to side. Her gaze locked on Kara and the wild eyed look grew even more panicked. “Abby, stop. We’re here to help you.”
“You can’t,” she croaked out in a raspy voice reminding him of when they’d first met. When he’d exorcised multiple demons from her and she could barely speak.
“We will find a way.”
She scooted back as Nico reached for her, but she sprung to her feet and ran. “Fuck!”
Kara shook her head. “You have to find her. If anyone is going to get through to her it’s going to be you.”
He nodded. “You get to the church and rest up. I’ll track her down.”
Kara started down the alley and murmured. “Hopefully before she finds someone else to make a meal of.”
He didn't think she would head back home, but just in case he checked there first. He opened the door slowly and stepped inside to hear a feral growl coming from the kitchen. "Abby?"
"Go away."
"I won't do that." He flicked on the light to see her huddled up by the refrigerator sucking down bags of blood. "Is that helping your hunger?"
She shook her head but kept her mouth latched on the plastic bag. After another long pull she muttered. “It takes the edge off, but it doesn’t override this urge to kill. Rosa is top on my list, I should’ve let you kill her.”
“You thought she could help you find Chloe. But I don’t believe she knows anything.”
“You never know.” She went back to sucking on the nearly empty bag.
“Anything Rosa would have told you about Chloe would have been a lie, you know that don’t you?” Abby glared at him, but he continued to move closer. He held out his upturned hands to show he wasn't holding any weapons. "She said Chloe killed herself, but I don’t think she would do that. It’s another trap. Whatever you do, when Rosa comes around don’t listen to her."
Abby released the bag and spat. "If she did kill herself it's my fault. That bitch planned this all out. Lucas is dead. Chloe is dead. The Gates are open. And you are going to kill me again."
"No, I'm not. Why would you say that?"
"Because you said you would. If I ever..." She didn't finish her sentence, she just let the unsaid words linger between them.
Nico knelt down in front of her. "I will never hurt you, Abby. I swear it."
"But there’s no cure now."
He shook his head. "You don't need a cure. I see that now."
"Why? Why the sudden change?"
"Because I love you. The moment you died out there I prayed for God to bring you back, any way possible. And here you are."
She gave him a dull stare. "You think God made me a vampire to answer your prayers?"
"No, I think the damn spell made you a vampire." He took her hand and squeezed it. "But when I lost you I realized it didn't matter what you were, you were made for me and I love you. Besides, you've been a vampire this whole time, we know how to deal with it."
"But this is different. I feel different. I don't feel sad or scared. I feel angry and hungry and what if—"
His brow drew together in a hard line. "What if you kill someone?"
"Yeah. For god’s sake I tried to kill Kara." She swallowed the last sip of blood from the bag. "You’ll have to kill me. Again."
"That won't happen. Look at Alex, he is a full-fledged vampire and he controls it, doesn't he?" She nodded. "Then so can you."
"But I'm so hungry, Nico. It's not like before. I'm hungry, like really starving. I've finished all the blood bags from Alex and all I can think about is that pulsing vein in your neck." She growled and added. "Can't you cover it or wear a freaking turtleneck, something?"
"Maybe something is wrong." He tried not to laugh at her suggestion of a turtleneck, he knew she wasn't trying to be funny. “Don’t give up, let me just think about this for a minute.”
Abby tried to ignore him as he paced the room. Instead she focused on her hunger and proceeded to rip open the empty blood bags and lick every last drop from the plastic. It was disgusting and she knew it, but she was hungry and she didn’t care that she looked like an animal. Nico finally stopped walking and turned slowly toward her. His eyes were the size of saucers. “What is it? Did you think of something?” He nodded but remained silent. “Well? What is it?”
“I’m not sure it will work, but—” He shook his head. “I just don’t know.”
“Nico, just say it. Whatever it is I’ll do it. I want to fix this.”
He turned toward her. “Abby there’s nothing to fix, this is who you are now. We can’t reverse it.”
“But I don’t want to hurt anyone and you said—”
“I know. I know what I said and I was wrong. You aren’t a monster. You never were a monster. Everything boils down to your first day as a newly made vampire and how we handled it before.”
“Then what do we do?”
“We feed you.”
She pointed at the empty blood bags all around her. “It’s not working.”
“No, we fed you fresh blood before, the first two times you fed it was fresh.”
She hopped to her fee
t and went to the cupboard. She tossed him the knife on the counter as she grabbed a glass. “Okay, let’s do this.”
“No, you didn’t feed from a glass the first two times.”
She stopped mid-stride. “I…”
She shook her head as Nico crossed the kitchen to cup her chin in his strong hand. “You fed from a Striga when you first woke up.” He paused and blew out a heavy breath. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”
"And? What the hell, do I have to drag it out of you?"
He held up his hands and took a step forward. "Remember your first day here?" She nodded. "I fed you first from my wrist until we decided it might not be the best idea and then from the glass, but it was always fresh in your first weeks or so." She nodded again and Nico rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, I think you need fresh blood, you're basically starting over."
Abby crouched down and eyed his wrist. "So you have to give me some of your blood then?"
"Yes."
She held up the glass again and Nico shook his head. "No glass this time, Abby."
Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Why not?"
"You need to feel the heart beating as you feed. You did that the first time, remember? You fed straight from my vein and from the Striga’s."
"Yeah, I remember and we both decided it wasn't a good idea."
"I trust you now. We didn't have trust then. And let's be honest, it was pretty intense. I wasn't ready for that."
"Are you ready for it now?"
"I think we are way past that point now."
"So I'm just supposed to bite you? Or do you want a knife?"
He tugged his shirt off and Abby felt every muscle in her body coil. Her mouth watered. The closer he stepped to her the more she felt her body ache. He shook his head. "No knife, just you and me."
"Then... Then I’m supposed to bite you?"
Nico licked his lips and she let out a small growl. "Yes, you bite me."
Abby stood up and closed the distance between them. Nico's bare skin radiated heat like the sun. She was almost afraid to touch him. She knew what just a single touch could conjure let alone what it would do to the both of them when she bit him. As apprehensive as she was, she was still moving forward. Her body was on autopilot while her brain was busy processing the pros and cons. Nico's arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her to him. Pressed chest to chest with the man she loved all she wanted was to claim him in every possible way, but she knew there was no time. "What about the Gate?" she whispered.
Nico seemed to shiver as her breath danced over his neck. "We will figure out how to close it after you eat."
"But you know what happened last time. You felt it too, right?"
"God, yes, I felt it." His hand was tangling in her hair, he pressed his hips against her and she could feel his cock hardening. He was already feeling it. She was too. "We have to fight it. Fight the urge, Abby. Just drink and I promise when this is all over I will bring you home and neither of us will move from that bed for a week." He tilted her head up to look in her eyes. His voice shook, "Don't ever doubt how badly I want you. I promise to show you as soon as all of this is over."
Abby caressed his cheek. “I don’t think you really want me to bite you. You’re afraid, aren’t you?”
Nico swallowed hard. “I’m a little nervous, anyone in their right mind would be. But I trust you and I never want to lose you again. I still remember what it felt like that first night with your mouth on my wrist. I was afraid of that feeling then, I’m not afraid now.”
She nodded. That was all she needed to hear. He felt it too, he'd felt it that first night. The desires from her drinking from him weren't one sided. He'd enjoyed it and he was promising more to come. For that she'd face down the apocalypse with a smile on her face. He pressed his lips to hers, his tongue darting in her mouth and caressing her fangs. Usually he avoided them but tonight he let his tongue caress the sharp tips. Abby shivered and moaned. Then he pulled back and guided her mouth to his neck.
Her eyes widened. The pulsing vein called to her. Abby’s core tightened, nipples hardened. She didn't have to think about where to bite, her mouth knew exactly where to go. She sank her fangs in slowly and felt him go rigid. His cock strained against his jeans and she made soft little mewing sounds as she grinded against him. Unlike in the movies it wasn't the bite that sent blood gushing out, she kept her fangs embedded in his neck for a few seconds to try to calm her instincts. Only a small amount of blood reached her tongue.
Nico groaned. "Abby."
The sound of her name on his lips made her stomach flip flop. She slowly pulled her fangs out of the puncture holes releasing the flow of blood to fill her mouth. She suckled and tongued the wound, keeping the blood coming. Nico's hands dug into her hips as he thrust and she grinded against his rigid cock. Her body was on fire. The only thing that would feel better would be to have him inside her. She wanted nothing more than to rip the rest of the clothes from his body and ride him until neither of them could move, but for now this was all they had time for, and with her hunger dying off this intimacy with the man she loved was pure bliss.
Colors burst behind her closed eyes, everything tasted intense, smells were stronger, and her skin tingled at the slightest touch. Her hearing became a thousand times better than before. All the while Nico rubbed against her, letting her have her fill. Her belly warmed and she could feel a calm settling over her. The fresh full meal and being with Nico sated her and she once again felt in control of herself. She didn’t need to fight or stamp down those baser instincts. Her body and mind were in sync. She pulled back and licked over the wounds. The blood flow stopped almost instantly. She found her footing and pressed her hands on Nico's chest. He took a shaky deep breath. Both of them were panting, flushed, and physically worked up to a boiling point.
She gave him a smile. "I feel better now."
"I should hope so, that was amazing"
She nodded. "Yeah, it was. We'll finish what we started when this is over, right?"
"Absolutely."
She smiled and picked up his shirt from the floor. "Then you’ll need this."
He tugged his shirt on and wiped a towel over his neck to clean up the smears of blood. "Are you up for this fight?"
"Yes. I feel good. I won’t be hunting anymore Striga tonight," she replied with a grin.
"You know I love you, right?"
She looked up through her thick lashes and kissed him gently. "I know."
"Good, now let's go figure out how to close those Gates."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nico held Abby's hand as they made their way through the melee. The knot of dread in her gut grew tighter with every step they took. Nico doubled over coughing. Abby stopped, waiting for him to catch his breath. "Can you keep going?"
"Yes. We aren't stopping until we close this thing."
She pressed forward without looking back. Abby’s steps faltered as the earth quaked beneath her. She held her arms out to the sides to help steady herself and even had to crouch down as the ground heaved up jutting her two feet higher than the rest of the landscape around her. The closer she moved to the center of the graveyard the hotter the air got. It was sweltering, she gave a glance back at Nico who was wiping sweat from his brow. A dust devil whipped past them and brought with it a thicker, heavier air than before. Struggling to put one foot in front of the other Abby reached back to grip Nico’s hand helping him along as best she could. "We must be close."
There was a howl not far from them and someone chanting a spell. Abby froze. If Rosa was summoning something else they'd all be in a world of hurt. She looked back at Nico and the fear must have shown on her face, he shook his head and shouted over the wind, "It's Meri, she's trying to contain Lobo."
“What do you mean, contain him?”
Nico surveyed their path while calling out. “I’ll explain later. He’s no normal shifter.”
Abby paused, mulling that revelation over in her head
and cursing herself for her naivety. Later she’d find out what it meant that he wasn’t a normal shifter, in this moment her focus couldn’t be lost on her allies especially if Meri had it under control. There were bigger things to worry about. She would have faith that everyone else could manage their roles without her and Nico overseeing everything they did. She squinted and could see the opening. "Nico, straight ahead. About a hundred yards or so."
"I see it. We've got to close it."
Abby looked at the hordes of demons still swarming the cemetery grounds. "How?"
"No idea." He grunted and stomped on a mangled demon squirming towards them.
"Nothing?"
"Nope, gonna have to improvise." Nico crouched down and Abby followed suit.
She called out, "I don't like the sound of that."
He grabbed her arm. Yanking her to the side and pinning her behind a tree. She was about to protest but Nico pointed towards the glow of the entrance. Four silhouettes stood in stark contrast to the firelight behind them. Each of them mounted on giant steeds. The first was white, then red, next was black, and at the back of the procession came a pale horse. No color could describe it, the best Abby could compare it to was a pale yellow like the light of the moon. Each time the Beasts’ hooves struck the ground sparks flew causing a shiver to run down Abby's spine. "Is that who I think it is?"
Nico's eyes were the size of saucers. "The Horsemen."
“As in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?”
Nico nodded. “That means the first four seals have been broken.”
Abby’s brow drew together in a hard line. “Me dying broke all four seals just like Jack said it would.”
His face darkened. “It looks that way, but according to the book of Revelations they were broken by the Lamb, not by humans or demons.”
Abby’s voice quivered, "What do we do?"
Nico shook his head. He was silent, simply observing the newest spectacle. The horsemen made a show of their arrival. Everything on the battlefield had stopped. Everyone stood in awe of their power, horrible as it was, the air was thick with magick. It was laced with fear that seeped so deep into Abby’s bones she wanted to run and hide. The steeds pawed at the ground any time their riders stopped their slow cantor. The closer they came the more details Abby could make out. Two were male, two female, all of them radiating power. They held their heads high, scouting the scene, as if they were above this battle. And Abby imagined that their interests were held by something far beyond the skirmish that lay before them. After all, these were the bringers of death and doom. Not a sound was made by anyone, even the demons seemed to feel the wave of fear that the Horsemen produced. In the distance the Wolfman had stopped howling and whatever spells Meri had been casting fell silent as well.
