Martinis with the Devil, Part One

CHAPTER TEN

  There were about twenty in all. Vampires, at least one from each of the Seattle covens. So, Arianna was making good on her threat. She sure didn’t waste any time.

  “Here to kill me, huh?” I crouched down into a fighting stance and pulled my blade out, extra slow so it hissed like a serpent. The vamps fanned out around me. “Let’s get on with it, then.”

  If this were a movie, they’d come at me one or two at a time, so I could easily plow through them. But, being as how it wasn’t, they all charged me at once. I got a couple in the heart with my flying stars as they approached, and then my world became a blur as I spun, cut, whirled, slashed, lunged and punched. I knew it was hopeless from the moment I began, but I wanted to take as many of these motherfuckers to Hell with me as I could.

  Adrenaline pumped through my body so strongly I wondered if maybe my blood had turned to pure energy. The sounds of battle faded, and all I could hear was my heartbeat and the haunting melody of the centaur’s song from out on the street. Each chord was so pure and sweet I imagined I could see little golden music notes dancing in the air around me. Time seemed to melt away, and my sense of it ceased. I didn’t know whether I’d been fighting for one minute or ten.

  I realized I was losing blood. Or maybe it was someone else’s blood all over my hands. I wasn’t sure. Probably both. I staggered and fell to my knees. My vision blurred. Okay, a good deal of it was apparently mine. Someone grabbed my arm and twisted it until a loud snap broke through the gentle music surrounding me. A moment later a boot connected with my chin and I was on my back. I looked up through the halo of their faces. Only about ten left. Not a bad ratio. Had I ever told Quinn and Riley how I wanted my funeral to be? No, I hadn’t. We didn’t talk about stuff like that. I didn’t talk about stuff like that with anyone.

  The moon was huge, shining down on me like a spotlight. Or a gigantic white blinking eye. No, I was the one blinking. My vision faded out. I struggled to open my eyes again. I wanted to be in sight of the moon when I died. There had been a moon like this the night my immortal life began. When my human life ended. It seemed fitting that this second death should be under a nearly full moon, too. It was funny how many things I still hadn’t done even after over two centuries of existence. My eyes closed.

  A surge of power hit me from two sides. One surge from the moon, the other from the earth. My back arched off the ground and I gasped. Then I was on my feet, without even thinking about standing. A glow came off my skin, and it was building, building, building. The luminescence caught the eyes of the vamps around me, and for the first time, they actually looked scared. I raised my arms to the sky, and a blinding light flashed all around me.

  Then, silence. No more centaur song. No more racing heart.

  The remaining vamps had turned to piles of ash. What the hell had just happened? Somehow I’d destroyed them with my powers. I started to shake. I’d only done something like that once before, and that time had brought death, too. But many, many more had died. And not vamps, but innocent humans. I hadn’t tried to use my powers this time, though. They’d come without me calling them, and that terrified me more than dying.

  Looking at the ash that coated the grimy sidewalk, I knew I had to get out of the alley. Away from this chaos I’d caused, this complete loss of control. I took one step towards the street, then a second, and then I passed out.

  I woke up in my bed, my mouth tasting like soot. Riley sat at the foot of the bed, petting Malakai.

  “I feel dead,” I muttered, putting a hand to my head, which throbbed rather dramatically.

  “You were,” Riley said, his face serious for once.

  “What the hell happened?”

  Riley looked alarmed, and so did Quinn, who had just walked in. “We were hoping you could tell us that,” she said breathily.

  “It seems so impossible…” I stared at the ceiling until they began to fidget nervously. I was just trying to figure out how to explain it. “There were almost two dozen of them. At Arianna’s behest, no doubt. I fought them for I don’t know how long. But of course, I eventually fell, it was too many vamps even for me. And then—somehow my powers kicked in and blasted the rest of them to dust. I have no idea how I did it.”

  Riley’s eyes widened, and Quinn looked truly astonished. “Whoa,” Riley said for the both of them.

  “Yeah. Hey, what day is it?” I leaned back on the pillows, not quite ready to move yet. Life hadn’t been kind to my body these last few days. Although, all my bruises and cuts were gone and my bone healed. Huzzah regenerative powers.

  “Thursday,” Quinn said. “You’ve been asleep for about twenty-four hours, after we found you passed out in a pile of dead bodies and ashes and brought you home.”

  “Donovan sent over a few shifters to guard the apartment, since you’re apparently on Arianna’s hitlist now,” Riley added. “And Eli and the HR sent over a few of their warriors, too.”

  “What?” I was stunned. “So, it’s like a regular party over here, huh?”

  “Well, other than being worried sick about you, we can’t complain about the scenery.” Quinn giggled and blushed.

  A knock on the door. Eli. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure,” I said warily.

  He walked to the end of the bed and cast a glance at Quinn and Riley.

  “Um, we’re going to go feed Mal,” Quinn said, patting her thigh so the dog followed her into the kitchen.

  Eli had his arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes moved everywhere but to my face. “I’m really sorry about what happened last night between us. And I’m not just saying that because you nearly died,” he said. “You were right, and I was out of line. I just didn’t want to consider that someone I trust absolutely, someone I see every day, someone I’ve known my whole life, could do something like this. But it is possible, and we need to explore all possibilities.”

  “Okay.” I looked at him and waited.

  “And,” he took a deep breath, finally taking hold of my eyes, “I’m very sorry that I insulted you. It was a low blow, and very unholy of me.”

  Well, the boy could be semi-humble. I’d better check that Hell hadn’t just frozen over. “Apology accepted,” I said. “So, you want to hear what I found out about the Devil’s minions invading our dimension?” I proceeded to tell him everything Franklin had told me.

  “Oh, crap,” he said when I was done. His mouth hung open rather unattractively. Okay, well, it was kind of impossible for him to be unattractive, but it was not a flattering look.

  “Oh, crap? Really? How about holy fucking shit, the world is going to end, what in God’s name are we going to do?” I softened my words with a grin.

  “You cuss more than enough for the both of us,” he said with a smile. “But, yeah, I agree. Except about His name, because you shouldn’t say it in a sentence like that.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine, whatever.”

  “So, are we ready to get back to work?”

  Being on a stakeout is boring. Like, super boring. And we’d been outside of Arianna’s building for almost three hours. We were sitting in a boring sedan, looking through boring binoculars, making boring small talk. Quinn, Riley and some of Donovan’s crew were around the corner, some angels were around another corner, and the Non-Human Task Force was hanging around somewhere close, too.

  Yeah, apparently they’d gotten involved while I was sleeping off my death match. The NHTF had been created after Evo, and oversaw units such as the Portal Police and the Vampirism Reduction Squad. They had units all over the world, under the jurisdiction of Interpol. I had a general dislike of the NHTF, since they had a general dislike of supes and didn’t like my bounty hunting business. But now that we had Alexander on camera, the HR had gotten the government involved so we could arrest Alexander all legal and tidy. First though, we had to find him.

  I groaned. I was so over this waiting and shallow conversation. “What’s it like being an angel? Really?”

  Eli cast
a glance over at me, an alert and completely unbored looked. Then he continued looking through his binoculars. I thought for a second he was going to ignore me. “It’s interesting being created with your whole life planned out for you. Having a set purpose and all.”

  “Interesting?” My tone dripped without doubt.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I love serving God, and humanity, and the HR, and I wouldn’t choose anything else. But I guess it’s just the principal of the matter. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “Well, you could join the devil like those fallen angels.” I smiled. “Just joking. So, you truly have no choice at all in what you do?”

  Eli shrugged. “There’s a little variety. You can be a warrior, or a healing angel, or travel and promote peace, things like that. What I mean is, I’m completely defined by who I am. I can’t go see a bloody action movie without putting on a glamour, or everyone will stare. There are strict expectations for my every action, thought, feeling. It’s a little stifling at times.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense.” I leaned back in my seat and stretched my legs. “It’s been a little weird for all the supes coming out of the closet. But while everyone expects us to misbehave, the angels have got to be perfect.”

  “Exactly,” Eli said, darting another look over to me.

  “You know I’m going to see him if he comes out,” I said wryly. “You can relax.”

  He was definitely ignoring me this time.

  “Is it true humans and non-angel supes can’t go to the Heaven dimension, or do they just say that?” I pulled my knees up to my chest now, keeping one eye on the door to Arianna’s building.

  “It’s true,” Eli answered. “Like some of the other dimensions, some beings just can’t travel there. Until they die.”

  “So what exactly is that when you shoot up into the sky and we move through all that black space with the glowy white stuff? Some interdimensional back alley or something?”

  Eli cast me an appraising look. “Most people can’t see anything at all when I do that.” He paused, mulling it over it seemed. “But yes, you’re right. It’s a way to move between dimensions. Kind of a shortcut.”

  “Nifty,” I said, feeling a bit jealous. And that was something that didn’t happen often. “I wonder if I could learn how to do that.”

  Eli shrugged. “Maybe.” But he didn’t look like he held much hope. “So, what about you? What’s it like being Anam Gatai? I mean, I know you told me a little before…”

  “Well,” I said, looking at my nails, “About everything one could imagine being immortal, beautiful, super strong and extremely fashionable could be.”

  He laughed. “Come on. I gave you an honest answer. Is that the best you’ve got?”

  I sighed. “Fine, Dr. Phil. If you want the real answer, the real answer is that since I was turned, with each passing year I feel a little more of my humanity slip away. Now it’s little more than a fuzzy memory. A fable even, like a unicorn.” My tone was soaked with all the bitterness I felt. I shifted in my seat, kicking my feet up on the dash. “Whatever existence I live now is completely because of a stupid choice I made two hundred and forty-two years ago.”

  “What choice?” Eli’s eyes were bright in the shadows of the car.

  I looked out the window, away from that gaze. “Come on, Wings. The answer should be obvious.”

  “Falling for Alexander?”

  I turned back, feeling rather annoyed now. “Yes. I was a stupid love struck seventeen year old. It cost me my soul.”

  “You said your creator found other girls that shared the same fate as her?”

  A sigh escaped my lips. “Yes. It was my heartbrokenness over Alexander that attracted her. Anam Gatai are drawn to misery born of love and the betrayal of that love.”

  Eli was silent for a couple long moments. “Have you been hunting Alexander this whole time?”

  “No. Olga—my creator—and I traveled Ireland while she taught me how to survive. My magic, my powers as an Anam Gatai, they were extra strong, and got a little out of control sometimes. And one day—” I stopped abruptly. I didn’t want to talk about this. I’d never talked to anyone about it.

  He waited a full thirty seconds before prompting me. “One day?”

  “One day I lost control and demolished an entire village, every man, woman and child within.” The words hissed out in a rush, words I’d never said aloud before. It’s not true what they say. It didn’t make me feel an ounce better to admit my sins to another.

  Eli just looked at me. It’s not like there’s anything comforting one can say about something like that.

  “After that I gave up my search for Alexander, and parted ways with Olga. I started taking only the souls of those that harmed others, and here I am.” I stared intently through the binoculars, wishing very much to be anywhere but here.

  “Everyone takes the wrong path at one point or another,” Eli said.

  The silence hung thick between us, like a summer night in the Everglades. Despite his kind words, I knew that he had passed judgment on me, that in his eyes I was tainted. Hell, in anyone’s eyes I would be tainted. A darkness lived in me that could never be undone.

  “Now that Alexander has shown back up in your life, just remember that he’s not worth whatever you’re planning on doing to him. I’m sure the temptation is strong, but…”

  “I’d been willing to let it go, but he came here knowing this was my city. Plus, he’s trying to assassinate the HR. I think you should focus on that and not the purity of my intentions. I’m damned, remember? I can’t be saved.” I spat the last words out like they were poison in my mouth.

  “Zyan—”

  The door of Arianna’s building opened and a figure emerged. “Alexander,” I hissed.

  He was alone, and he headed right towards us. For a second I thought he’d seen the car, but he strolled past casually. Seeing his relaxed stance made my blood boil. For a liar, thief and assassin, he seemed to lack a care in the world. Before the night was over, I’d make sure he had a few things to care about.

  Once he was a safe distance past, I caught Eli’s eyes and nodded. I slipped from the car as he radioed our backup to let them know we were on the trail. Hands in the pockets of my jeans, I strode down the sidewalk, making my steps light. I watched Alexander travel down the opposite side of the street, across asphalt that glistened from a recent rain. With the stoplights casting cherry-red orbs on the road, and mist rising from the manholes like ghosts, it felt like we were players in a giant Pac-Man game. If only the stakes were that low.

  Eli alighted beside me. “The rest are following at a safe distance. We just need to keep him in sight and find a good place we can close in.”

  “There is no good place to close in on a two thousand year old vamp,” I said wryly.

  “Well, a better place than out in the open where he could grab a hostage or just take off.”

  “Hostages are expendable,” I said, straight-faced. My comment got the desired effect. Eli whipped his head towards me. I cracked a smile. “Joking.”

  “Try to focus, will you?” He gave me one of his classic glowers. I could tell he was still miffed about the exchange in the car.

  “I’ll think about it,” I said. “But right now I’m going to make sure I don’t lose our target.”

  I pointed to my right, where Alexander was disappearing down a side street. We crossed the street and ducked into the deeper shadows of the alley. I could just make out Alexander’s shape a ways down. We hadn’t take two steps into the alley when he turned, and then in a blur was gone. “Shit!” I took off.

  “Zyan, wait!” Eli yelled behind me.

  To hell with that stupid idea. I hadn’t waited in the car for over three hours to lose him now.

  The city became a blur around me as I melted into the night. I pulled on just a slight amount of my magic to aid my speed. Everything became mere streaks of color or varying shades of black, with occasional pinpricks of bright light. Everything
but my prey. Him I kept a firm eye on as we raced through the urban backdrop. I could hear his footsteps faintly, as I knew he could hear mine. And though neither of us technically needed to breathe, our hearts still beat in our chests, and I could feel that, too. I could even smell his expensive cologne on the air. He would not get away.

  I kind of lost track of where we were going until I smelled the fish. We were headed towards the bay, down in the grungy industrial section south of Pier 50. Alexander paused and looked back at me as he approached a low ramshackle building, then plunged inside. As I followed him through the doorway, I whipped out my sword, cutting through the darkness in case he tried to jump me as I came through. He didn’t. The lights flipped on, low rusty lanterns that cast brownish circles of light on the stained cement floor. I paused for a split second to let my eyes adjust. Alexander stood on the opposite side of the room. But he wasn’t alone. Another figure stood next to him, a woman with long black hair. The woman I’d seen in the safe room at HR headquarters. This time, however, she wasn’t wearing a mask.

  I blinked through the low light, searching every inch of her face. Especially the rich brown eyes, eyes liked espresso swirled with cinnamon. Eyes like mine.

  It was my sister. My sister Anna, who should have been dead for almost two hundred years.