She threw a Fang of Baelin through the back of the vampire Avery was working over. The woman picked up her toy and grinned.
"Rose. I didn't think I'd see you here," Avery tried to suppress her panting as to not show her weakening state.
Her comrade winked at her. "You know me. Where vampires gather, it's easy pickens'."
“You look a bit barehanded,” Rose commented before handing her a sword.
"And you came right through the front door too. I like your style," Avery looked around. "Where's your second in command?"
"Caleb's outside, finishing up the Iblis demons. They're his specialty."
Avery laughed, "So he thinks.”
Talon ripped the heart out of the vampire in front of him, after eavesdropping in on Avery and the newcomer's conversation. He found it interesting how Avery knew these slayers, but chose to be a loner. He watched the blonde behead the last vampire in front of her, and then realized she had turned her attention on him. She shot an arrow at him from a crossbow rigged to her arm, but Talon deflected it. He backed away slowly, but Rose raised her sword and started slashing in his direction. "Whoa, I'm on your side!" he tried to convince her. He evaded the attacks as quickly as possible and tried to force down the instincts to attack her back.
Rose had him against the wall, but he stood his ground. She brought her sword down on him, but Avery had jumped in front of him and blocked the blow with her own sword. In one swift move, Avery parried the sword out of Rose's hands, sending it gliding across the warped wood floor. Talon admired the move.
"He's with me," Avery affirmed.
Rose clearly was in shock as she watched Avery walk over to pick up the sword, and barely caught it as it was tossed back to her. That should show Miss Blondie a thing or two, Talon thought to himself. The slayer faction had the room cleared out in minutes, leaving just them and the crate.
Avery watched his back to make sure no one made a move on him as Talon walked to the center of the room and kicked the crate to pieces, then dug through the packing peanuts until he found what he was looking for. Talon pulled out a sword that had a skull on the hilt and studied it. He felt no tingle of power in his hands at all.
"It's fake."
"What do you mean?" Avery came up behind him.
"I can't feel any power from it," He turned the blade over to read the print 'Made in Taiwan' and showed it to Avery.
She cursed, "Shit. A big ‘screw you’ from whoever set it up? If this was just a trap, why have a sword in here at all?”
Rose came up to Avery, followed by her group of slayers. "Hold up. There was a gaggle of vampires and Iblis demons here protecting this ugly thing… and you're teamed up with one of them. What in the hell is going on?"
Avery looked at Talon, and then averted her eyes back to Rose's, "I should probably fill you in. All the slayers in the area should know what’s coming."
Daedra babbled gibberish while scrying over a map of the city for hours. Finally, in her mind, she envisioned a young, dark-haired girl, going through a jewelry box and picking up the ruby red ring.
'This is pretty cool. I wonder if Avery has earrings to match it.'
Daedra opened her eyes immediately as the pendulum stuck to the south side of the map. "Gotcha."
Avery looked out the car window at an apartment complex she considered 'the slums' on the east side of town. Talon pulled in and parked. He got out and looked around, muttering, "I swear if someone even scratches my car...” Avery ignored his comment and led the way to a first-floor apartment, number 5A, and thrust open the door with Talon in tow.
The hoard of a living space held a foul odor that made Avery cringe. What were once white walls were now laden with dirt and food stains. Avery looked up to find the food flung upward. How do you manage to get food on the ceiling!? Her mind squealed in disgust. The two unwillingly shuffled through trash and junk on the floor, until a short, equally as dirty looking man came into the main room.
Avery narrowed her eyes and headed toward him with a vengeance. "Rico, you son of a bitch...."
"Av, baby, sweetie. Nice to see ya. Who's the boy toy?"
The short man tried to smooth talk Avery with his annoyingly loud voice, rival to that of Gilbert Gottfried.
Avery got in his face, which was the same height as her own, and tried not to be repelled by his pungent smell. "You sent us into a trap."
"I just heard about a gathering and figured that was the place you wanted to be."
Talon grabbed Rico by the collar and slammed the back of his head into the wall, a few inches above him. He bared his fangs and red clouded his icy blue eyes slowly, like food coloring in water. Rico panicked.
"Please don't hurt me!"
Avery wanted to laugh at seeing Rico's face while Talon did her bullying for her. It strangely warmed her heart to think that Talon might do this for her, more than for the sheer joy of torturing the hobbit-like man. She hid her smile and got back into Rico's face as best as she could while he was being held above her.
"I can't guarantee your safety if you try to trick me again. Ya see, if I didn't think your 'help' over the past couple years had been useful, I would have my friend here tear you limb from limb, you pathetic piece of shit."
Talon smiled cruelly at Rico, causing more of a panic. "I swear, I didn't know."
Talon pushed the little man harder into the wall, and bits of drywall fell to the floor. "What the lady's saying is you better not screw up again, Ricky. It might be your last." Talon dropped him to his knees and followed Avery out. Rico looked at the new addition to his wall art and complained.
"My landlord is gonna be furious! Who's gonna pay for this?"
Avery and Talon stopped and turned to face him. Avery scoffed, "Have you seen how you live? I think you have bigger problems with your landlord than a little dent." They continued out, Talon yelled behind him, "Be seeing you around, Ricky."
Upon their exit, Rico scrambled to get up amongst the clutter while pulling a cell phone out of his pocket. He speed dialed and in moments choked out, “They survived."
Talon parked his car in the lot across from Avery's apartment complex. As the two walked toward Avery's home, she joked with him, “You’re pretty good at playing the hired muscle.” Talon didn’t respond but instead found himself constantly glancing her way. Avery's cheeks were bright red with the cold bite of the wind, and her long hair flowed around her face, only slightly mussed by the night's events. It made her look doll-like. A fragile little doll...and it was hard for him to resist the urge to pull her tiny self into his arms and kiss her full pink lips. It wasn't lust like he had tried to convince himself before. She was intriguing to him in a way he didn’t quite understand yet.
"How do you meet guys like that?"
Avery drew the lapels of her jacket in closer to her chest, “Like Rico?”
He nodded.
Avery half-smiled as she shoved her hands in her pockets, "Must be my curse. All the men I have ever interacted with turned out to be, well…" She changed the topic before Talon could press further, "It's a good thing Rose showed up when she did. They were kicking our asses pretty bad tonight."
"They kicked yours, you mean," Talon argued. For some reason, he liked to get her riled up.
"And what do you call what they did to you?"
"What do you mean? They were cowering in fear at my very presence."
Avery breathed out with almost a chuckle and smiled, "Whatever. At least we got the ring. They can't finish the puzzle without all of the pieces."
Talon had realized quite a while ago that for him to see a smile on her face was rare. So anytime she did smile around him, it made him that much happier to be near her. He froze in his tracks. His nose was picking up that sweet metallic smell his inner monster craved. He forced the burning in his throat to leave his mind. "I smell blood. Lots of it."
Avery looked around them for a sign to the smell, while Talon's eyes focused in the darkness on a lump on the ground. He cou
ldn't make himself move at all when he realized the familiarity of the smell. Fear and dread of the next few minutes flickered through his mind. He just wanted to grab Avery and hold her back. Talon booked it ahead of her and knelt down by the girls' body on the ground. He again fought down the burn in him and lifted her head to feel for a pulse. Avery caught up and froze.
"Kyrie?" She tried to catch her breath and fell to her hands and knees next to the bloody mess that was her sister. “Kyrie!”
Talon handed her over to Avery gently and backed away, "She’s not breathing. I'm… sorry."
Avery’s hands trembled as she grasped onto her sister and repeated one word over, “No, no, no, no, no.” It had appeared she had been torn up by claws, not bitten. The wounds would have incapacitated her, then she was left to bleed to death, judging by how much blood soaked the ground around them. Talon knew what they came for, and Kyrie just happened to be in the way of it. Avery's pleading eyes met his own, and he thought she would shatter into pieces before him. His heart lurched at the sight of the pain in her face, a much deeper hurt than anything physical. He knew this feeling. It was the same as he had the day he lost everyone he loved. The glossy accusing eyes of his brothers were still burned in the forefront of his mind. He knew Avery would never forget this sight.
“There’s so much blood,” Avery whimpered and looked up at him. "Can you do anything?"
Talon wished to the gods that he could. But there was nothing he could do with a body that had no pulse. "She's already gone."
The tears that threatened to reveal their presence overwhelmed Avery's eyes, undoing her. She sobbed into her sister's chest, while Talon kneeled down beside them and put his arm on Avery's quivering shoulder.
CHAPTER 6
Avery sat on her couch in her green pj’s. The affliction she felt caused her to have barely eaten anything, making herself sick. Her stomach hated her for the last couple days. Her whole body was physically exhausted from the stress. Rose had come to keep her company for a while before she was going to ‘work,’ but there was nothing that would cure Avery’s grief. The last of her loved ones had fallen to the enemy.
Rose had tried all evening to get through to her. "I know it’s only been a week since Kyrie was...taken, from you. But you can't lock yourself away from the world forever, ya know?"
Avery felt a bit of insensitivity from Rose and blurted, "I would love to be like everyone else my age. Run around ignorant, thinking the worst things in life are exams and getting busted at parties by the cops. But you know as well as I do, we can't be like that. I gave it all I had to try and protect her without totally smothering her, and now I have nothing. No family, no job, no money… I can’t even afford to properly bury her for god’s sake.”
"Avery."
"This whole thing is...”
"Not your fault."
Avery's eyes brimmed with her guilt. It was like her whole family was cursed to die, and she was cursed to watch. "I should have known the ring wasn't safe here. My stupidity led to this."
Rose was silent a moment in her own thoughts. "If what you say is true, about the clan gathering these things for something big...you can't just stay here and let it happen." Her words fell on deaf ears. Avery started playing with the silver cross she now wore around her neck. Not for the religious reasons, but because her sister had given it to her. Kyrie had complete faith in her and Avery had let her down. Another relationship Avery had screwed up, but this time there were no more chances.
Rose got up and started for the door, "You know where to find me if you need me."
After seeing the blonde leave, Talon slipped in to find Avery in the same spot he last saw her in. He also noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as well. Every night he had discretely come to check on her, knowing she hadn’t left her apartment in days. Every moment he spent away from her, he thought about her. It was hard for him not to worry about her physical and mental health deteriorating. He had to know that she was going to be alright. He walked over and sat on the opposite end of the sofa Avery was on. He was about to speak but got temporarily distracted by her scent. Her usual vanilla scent was tinged with saltiness. She did not look at him, but he could see the tear streaks down her cheeks from her puffy, darkened eyes. She appeared to have not slept at all.
"There’s nothing you can say that will help me," her voice concealed her agony, only laced with the same distaste she used to show him. He commended the fact that she wanted to be strong, or at least appear that way. Talon took a moment to decide whether or not he could open up to her. It hurt, but he wanted to show Avery that he knew her pain. He trusted her not to throw it back in his face.
"I lost my family too before I became what I am now. Mom, dad, little brothers..."
Talon thought back to that humid summer night, coming home to the family manor outside of Bristol and finding them all slaughtered, along with the servants. How his only clue had been a bloodied sword. How he ran to his best friend’s house and couldn’t find him either. “The colors and odor are still vivid in my mind. Even after all this time, the grief has never really left me.”
Avery still did not make eye contact with him, though he knew she was listening.
"Revenge was what kept me going. It's all I had. I am alone in the world, but you are different Avery. You aren't alone. You still have friends here for you, and you shouldn’t take that for granted."
Talon gave a moment to let his words soak in. She was so inhumanly still, he wanted to touch her to be sure the warmth of life had not left her. "You obviously need some more time. I've been watching the clan closely. I'll let you know when they make their next move." He decided to say no more and to leave her be. Talon stood up to leave when Avery came back to life. The whites of her eyes red from crying, making her irises appear a new color of green.
"What do you see when you look at me? Someone hopelessly pathetic? Something to eat?"
Talon's heart felt as if it were being twisted in his chest until the burn spread throughout his body. Only she could invoke these hurtful emotions from him. "You don't know why I stick around, do you?"
Avery stared at him, as if waiting for him to agree with her suggestions and was mentally preparing herself for the answer to crush her. Talon paused, trying to find the right words.
"I see stubbornness and a lot of pent-up rage," he looked straight into her eyes as if he was speaking to her soul. "But also...strength, goodness, and light. A woman who can help deliver me, from myself."
Avery broke the eye contact and almost blushed. "I'm sorry you think that, but I'm not fit to help anyone."
Talon watched Avery mentally crawl back into herself at that moment. Why did she fear to show him any positive feelings? Had she truly been hurt too many times?
After Talon had left, she felt more alone than ever. As if the room she was in may as well have been an abyss. Avery laid across the couch, thinking about what he had said to her. He at least had an idea of her pain. The devastating trauma and loneliness was something they had in common. It had been days since she had slept well, and the need for it weighed heavily on her. Her eyes fluttered before she succumbed to the vast darkness of sleep.
Avery came awake to a cool touch on her forearm. Her vision was hazy but cleared slowly to focus on a familiar smiling face. "Kyrie? Are you...”?
Kyrie sat next to her on, the edge of the sofa. "In a better place."
Seeing her sister again was almost as painful as her death. Avery wasn't sure if this was a dream, but she would take advantage of having one last moment with her sister. She looked Kyrie up and down, concluding that she seemed unharmed and content.
Kyrie smiled wider at her as if she knew her thoughts. "Why aren't you helping people anymore?"
Avery felt shameful, but couldn't tear her gaze from the magical glow of her sister's face. "What's the point? I couldn't even help you."
"Stop beating yourself up, Sissy. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known that I was going to..."
Avery lunged into her sister for a hug. She intended not to let go so her sister would have to stay here forever with her. "It is my fault, and I want to be forgiven."
Kyrie embraced her back, "Well, can you forgive yourself?"
“I don’t know,” Avery started to cry.
Kyrie pulled away, her voice echoing in Avery’s mind, though her mouth never moved, “What do you believe in?”
Avery opened her eyes and sat up.
Had it truly been just a dream...or more? She felt cold tears on her cheeks, wiping them away before looking at the clock on the wall. She had actually gotten almost 3 hours of sleep, a record as of late. She hardly ever dreamed, but after Kyrie’s death, she had been having many in the short bits of rest she got. This dream obviously had greater importance than all the others. What was it that Kyrie asked? What did she believe in?
Her sister believed in the power of prayer. Avery believed in a life of helping others, whether there was a heaven, hell, or nothingness waiting for her when she died. Did she believe in God? Maybe she did believe there could be one but was uncertain of the role he played in her life. However, she was certain that she had more of a reason to kill the monsters now than before. She couldn't let them win, and she had nothing left to lose. And when she had gotten her revenge, she would continue on protecting others from experiencing her nightmare.
Avery showered quickly. While walking in a towel from the bathroom to her room, she stopped by Kyrie's door, looking in. She envisioned her sister still lying on the bed, reading. Avery touched the cross around her neck. Kyrie always tried to watch out for her, even though Avery was the oldest. It felt like she was still here, with her. Avery knew what she needed to do, but needed help. She was going to have to let her friends into her life again. She quickly got dressed in jeans, a plain white tank-top, and black boots. She threw on her leather jacket and set out into the night.
Love and Bloodlust: The Sacred Objects Page 7
