Her smile was one of deep and genuine amusement, but she said nothing more, just dissolved in a sparkle of lights.
Bloody gods.
It was bad enough I'd had no time to prepare for this hunt, I did not need surprise visitations from gods. My original plan was to locate Lena Exeter and quietly get the information I wanted before killing her…
How dare she? God she might well be, but how dare she imply she had control over me. I was not in service to Aurealis, she had no right, no jurisdiction over me or any other vampire. I ground my teeth, my outrage building every moment I thought about it. Aurealis might be a god, but the telari were lesser dragons, godlike but not all powerful.
Just then my prey walked into the room. I would have to consider the problem of Aurealis later. Right now, I didn't feel like being careful or judicious. Without seeing my kill, knowing where she was, I could not have afforded the risk of being reckless. But now she was in sight.
As soon as I saw the Lena Exeter emerge from the dimly lit hall and into the lounge area I rose and, faster than he could see, moved to the guard's side. He had just drawn on the cigarette, lighting up the end with orange embers. His neck was broken before the embers could fade. I quietly dropped him to the ground. And there my stealth ended.
Using my elbow, I smashed the window, no easy feat with safety glass, unless you're a vampire. I ignored the others in the room. They started rising, drawing guns, protesting my intrusion. I caught Lena's gaze, held it long enough mesmerise her and then said, 'Do not move.'
Not all vampires can do that. First, you have to have some level of psychic ability so vampires that feed on emotional energy are more likely to have it than vampires like Thomas who feed on blood for the most part. Me, well, I'm a very different kind of vampire. Being born with psychic abilities, I have had centuries to hone them, and I had another advantage: I was not born in this realm.
With Lena frozen in place, I turned my attention to the other people in the room. I had four guns pointed at me and from the smell of gunpowder in the air, they had fired. I gave myself a quick mental once-over. They weren't very good shots; no bullets had hit me. But then, the glazed look in the eyes of one shooter and the wobbly stance of another suggested they were possibly too drug-addled to do anything properly. They were poor pickings in terms of prey. The remaining male seemed to be sober though because he was moving, making his way around the lounge, yelling at me, who did I think I was, etcetera. I closed on him first, grabbing his gun hand, breaking his wrist in sharp flick, yanking him towards me I pushed my fangs forward. I sank my teeth in deep into his throat. His blood tasted rancid and I thrust him aside. Not chancing another befouled blood source, I leapt over the lounge, taking the gun from the man with the glazed eyes and hit him with it hard enough to shatter his skull. The woman started to scream, so I shifted to her next, grabbing her throat in a grip tight enough to cut off all sound. Pointing the gun at the remaining man, I shot him in the head. By the time I turned back to the woman; she was dead, I'd crushed her throat. Letting her go, I stepped up onto the lounge and then over it, heading to the hall where I could hear a man running from the front part of the house. As he came into the short hall joining the front section of the house to the back, I side-stepped as he rushed forwards and I slammed my fist into the side of his head. He almost went through the wall. A moment later, his heart stopped beating.
'Bloody gods,' I muttered softly.
I looked back at the slaughter behind me. Lena still stood in place, her body trembling, her fear intense and foul on the air.
Stalking towards her, I said, 'Now you have an inkling of how the children you lured into your brother's grasp felt. Except you are fortunate, Lena. Your torment will end this night. Theirs will last their lifetime.'
Her mind was in a panic: don't admit it, don't admit it, if he thinks you're someone else, he might let you go, send him upstairs, get free, get help.
'That won't help you,' I murmured. 'I would apologise to you for not giving you as pain free a death as your allies, but let's just say that you definitely haven't earned such mercy or consideration.'
I moved behind her, one arm about her waist, the other over her mouth, nose, and chin as I turned her head to expose her neck. When I bit into her, she tried to scream but my hand was closed tightly enough to smother it. If she were not the cruel being she was, I might have felt guilty. Normally when we feed we kiss or lick the area, just enough for the numbing agent in our salvia to take the pain out of the bite. There's also another chemical in it, the same one that contributes to our swift healing, which allows the wound to close quite quickly once we finish. But I wasn't feeding.
I drank just enough blood to put her into a deep thrall. Her panicked attempts to breathe ceased. Her automatic functions like heartbeat and breathing would still operate in this state, but with my hand over her nose and mouth she would not attempt to save herself. I removed my hand as I did not want her dead just yet. I turned her around and tipped her chin up so I could look into her eyes. There was no consciousness in her now.
I took a moment to establish the psychic link I required and then ripped all her memories from her. Even if I had the time to do this with the finesse required to make it painless, I felt that the children who had suffered because of her actions deserved some justice. She was fortunate, her pain, though excruciating, would last mere seconds, the children she traumatised would have to live with that pain all their lives. Some would suicide, some would struggle to form intimate relationships, others might put on a brave face, but inside… I knew from my telepathic abilities that they all suffered, no matter how well-adjusted they appeared. I would sort through the memories later. The only downside to the process is that the psychic link meant I felt a reflection of everything she felt, so although the pain was not quite as intense as the pain Lena experienced, it still left me feeling exhausted and nauseous.
Once I finished, I pulled my mobile from my pocket. There was far more mess and evidence than I'd planned on leaving and I knew a guy, well, dwarven more precisely, who was capable of taking care of it.
'Paul? Bastien, here.'
'Aye. What is it that has ye callin' me well after any respectable person's bedtime?'
Paul had a Gaelic brogue that sounded charming when he was in a good mood but got rather thick when he was distracted or irritable. At the moment, he was both, so it took me a moment to decipher his question.
'Are you implying that I am not respectable?'
'Yes. But that be not news to ye.'
I laughed softly.
'Ye sound tired. Been a day, has it?'
'I need a fire.'
'A fire, ye say? That it?'
'I'd not be calling you if that was it. I need one of your specials, the kind that leaves nothing behind. I also need removal of—'
'I dunna need th' details, just th' address. And this'll cost ye, I'mma in th' middle of training a neural network, which I was wantin' to finish this eve, but knowing the impatient sort ye are, I'mma guessin' ye need it done right this minute.'
'I do. Just send me the invoice.'
'Send me the address. Wait fer me girls to get there before ye leave.'
'Girls? You sending the trio, then?' He spoke of three dwarven sisters. I'd had them do work for me before. On first impression they came across as misfits who took nothing seriously, but they were highly intelligent, reliable, and, most importantly, very good at their jobs.
''Course I am. Bunch of little pyromaniacs they may be, but those lasses know how to get a good fire going, keep it from spreading where it ain't wanted, and to burn mighty speedily.'
'I'll pay double, then, but make sure they get an equal cut.'
Paul made a sound of disapproval. 'Don't be doing that, now. They already dote on ye, they'll go on fer weeks 'bout how saintly ye are, and I've not the ear for that kind of twaddle.'
'Charge me for some earplugs, then,' I retorted with a chuckle. 'Paul,' I added in a more sombre tone. 'I
need them as soon as possible. I'm not sure how long this place will stay empty. I don't want to add to that removal task if I don't have to.'
He hung up. That did not worry me, it meant he was getting in contact with 'the girls' as he called them. I texted him the address so he would know where to send them.
I looked at Lena, eyes still glazed but alive. The people Paul was sending wouldn't burn the place with a living person inside. I broke her neck cleanly and gently lay her down. A better death than she deserved, but I was not the monster she was.
Em
It'd been a long time since we'd hiked up the trail all the way to the summit of the mountain behind my place together. Most times Jay stops at the half-way point where there's a lookout with a picnic area and some toilets, while I go to the top— I'm an all-or-nothing type.
When I told Kate, the officer who normally watches Jay, to take the weekend off because I wanted to spend some time with my daughter, Jay had been excited and suggested we have a movie marathon. We'd stayed up until almost three in the morning watching the extended edition of The Hobbit movies and Jay was thinking we might switch it up a bit with genres and binge Sherlock Holmes or Maigret— the reviews with the newest actor to play the title role had been propitious, she'd said. I'd countered with the suggestion that if we were going to spend the evening scoffing popcorn and watching movies, we should spend at least some of the day outdoors. I think Jay was regretting her easy agreement as we finally reached the top of the hiking trail.
The summit has a much smaller lookout consisting of a couple of benches and a stone wall for people to lean on and enjoy the view or take photos from without losing their footing and coming down the side of the cliff. Jay walked over to lean on said wall and gaze out over the wooded serenity below while she caught her breath. I moved to one of the benches and sat crossed-legged, sipping from my water bottle while I watched my daughter. I knew she wasn't as fit as she used to be and I'd promised her we'd take it easy— and we had— but she looked like she could do with a longer break before we started back down.
I could feel her guardian angel, Garry, somewhere near me, but he hadn't made an appearance. I couldn't always feel him, but Jay said she could. She said he was almost always around, which worried me. It meant she needed protection. Garry had learned pretty quickly that if he appeared, Jay would talk to him and then he spent the rest of the time trying to figure out how to politely disappear. I think he appreciated that all I ever did when I saw him was give him a nod and leave him be. Although, in Jay's defence, Garry was her only source as to why the angels were around her, so she had good reason to want to talk to him.
Jay told me that she found Garry's behaviour disconcerting. It wasn't that she didn't like him, but, she said, he didn't seem as physically attached to this world with his brief, and often silent, appearances. Therion, Jay told me, had run, walked, moved through this world. He had connected solidly with everything around him. Unlike Garry, who didn't want to talk at all, Therion had a sense of humour that Jay described as subtle and dark.
I was concerned by the way she talked about him, it reminded me of when she was a teenager and there was a boy she liked, but this was no 'boy', this was, as far as I could tell, a much more dangerous being. An angel that surrounded himself in shadow, who killed… Damn right I was worried when my daughter described him as complex and intelligent and said it would be interesting to get to know him. She wanted to know what his life was like, where he came from, how he came to work for the light-dancers, as she called angels like Garry. It was true, there was an untouchable, undiscussable, unrealness to the angels, and— like a dream— I often surprised myself by managing to forget my encounters with them until I saw the next one. Jay expressed a very similar experience, so it seemed like the forgetfulness was something the angels could induce. Not that they seemed to be bothering about that with us any longer. Jay's curiosity about the angels lacked fear, lacked any sense of caution, and while that might be okay with angels like Garry, Therion seemed more unpredictable. Why did he need to be redeemed? What had he done that required this redemption he was undertaking?
'You ready to head back down?'
I looked at Jay, she'd crossed over to me, but I hadn't registered her movements. I nodded in answer to her question and we both took a swig of water before turning and heading back down the trail.
About half an hour later I paused to sip my water again when I heard a shout. I stilled, holding my breath a moment and cocked my head to listen.
An indistinct female voice sounded again. Her tone and the regularity of her calls made me think she needed help.
'Jay. Did you hear that?'
Jay had paused to wait for me but walked back up and stopped to listen. Then, she nodded. 'A woman, I think.'
We both started trying to pin-point the direction the sound was coming from.
'I can't make out what she's saying.' Turning slightly, I frowned, hoping she'd yell again. She did, enabling me to pin-point her; down the hill and to the south. 'This way,' I told Jay as I left the trail, jogging over the debris of fallen twigs, leaves, and rocks littering the ground. Twice more we heard the woman yell and altered our direction accordingly. She was getting louder as we closed the distance, and I could make out what she was saying, which wasn't much, just a cry for help. There was no panic in her tone, just urgency. My guess was that she was another hiker who had twisted her ankle or something similar.
I stopped to get a better bearing on her, waiting for her to call out again. As I turned to look at Jay, I saw Garry appear just behind her. I gestured with my head for Jay to look behind her, so she didn't get a fright later. I gave Garry my standard nod of greeting. Jay turned back to me, but I could see she was listening for the woman, who had been yelling about every three or four minutes.
When we heard nothing, she turned back to Garry. 'I don't suppose you could track her down and lead us to her?'
'I am your protection, not hers.'
Jay scowled at his response and then we heard another yell. She was much closer.
I called out, 'We hear you, keep yelling.'
'I'm here!' The cry was louder and had hope in it. 'Help me, I'm hurt. Please hurry.' The tone had changed, although she still sounded distressed, there was relief and hope in her voice now.
'We're almost there,' Jay called.
As we jogged in the direction of the voice, the trees thinned, giving way to a clearing. The sight of a dark-angel brought us skidding to a halt.
At first I thought it was Jay's dark-angel, Therion, but I quickly reviewed that impression as I took in the blood-red colouring— Jay had described Therion as having gold colouring, it was his opponent, she'd said that had the blood-red markings, which did not bode well for us. What was even more disturbing was the clear, feminine tone coming from his mouth. If I'd been blindfolded you wouldn't have had a marshmallow's chance at a bonfire of convincing me that I was not hearing a woman yelling for help.
I heard a crash behind me and saw Garry disappear into the bushes as a blur with black feathers crashed into him. He gave back as good as he got, flinging his assailant into the one coming for us, who had stopped his mimicry to charge us. Garry's assailant hit his companion hard and they rolled to the ground in a tangle of wings and limbs. Garry didn't continue to attack them though, instead, he spread his wings wide and launched himself into the air. Looking up I saw a third attacker, heading straight for us. My instincts were screaming at me to run, and I almost did, but my beautiful, idiotic, daughter wasn't going to abandon Garry to face three of them alone. So, rather than be sensible, she charged the two on the ground while they were struggling to get up.
'Jay, don't be daft— Run!'
She didn't listen though, jumping so she could land all her weight on the nearest dark-angel's wing. The snap made my stomach lurch. My daughter wasn't finished though, she rammed her elbow into the kidneys of the dark-angel she'd landed on. I did not want to fight these beings, but it looked like I
'd have to. As if some god realised my despair, the dark-angel flung Jay off him, sending her flying through the air. I saw her squeeze her eyes shut as she waited for the inevitable, and painful, impact. Gravity did not let her down as she landed on her back and a sharp oophing sound indicated that all the air had been driven from her lungs. I raced to her side; she'd landed far enough away that I hoped to drag her further into the brush before she got her breath back. I may well have taken her to self-defence training when she was young, but I'd never intended she use it to take on the demon-angels attacking us now. Sometimes the smartest defence you can employ is to run.
Jay was rolling to her stomach as I reached her. 'Take a breath, it'll hurt, but you're going to need it to run.' She was drawing herself to her hands and knees, I felt resistance in her back muscles as I put my arm about her to help her up. 'Jay, I know you're worried about Garry, but this is not a fight you or I can win.'
As she staggered to her feet, still breathless, I glanced up to see how Garry was fairing. The angels were still sky bound. Garry had manoeuvred himself above his opponent and now seemed to be driving him towards the ground. The two dark-angels still on the ground had risen, and I could see that one had a distinctly bent wing. Dread settled heavily over me as I watched one take off. The one with the injured wing pulled it round and jerked it back into place. He paused for a long moment and then gave us a slow, wicked smile as he flexed it. The blood-red eyes seemed full of malicious promises as he took off.
I realised, then, that their intention was to ignore us while they overpowered Garry. As much as I wanted to believe he was invincible, facing three of them seemed like very slim odds to me. I had my gun with me— ever since Jay's attempted assassination I always carried it— but I had a feeling my Glock was not going to be much of a deterrent to beings like these. Perhaps if I had another gun… And several grenades... And maybe a rocket launcher.
Soul Taker's Redemption Page 23
