Angel's Kiss (12 page)

He
grinned,
I
leapt
. It was perfect! He fell backwards, my brazenness taking him by surprise. My lips sought his throat instinctively. The rush of blood made me heady, the flow so quick that I was able to drink deeply. A soft moan issued from my lips. I briefly wondered why the blood would flow so fast if his heart no longer beat.
Who cares!
I told myself. As long as I could drink it didn’t matter.

It was over very quickly, the blood pumping so fast it almost filled my mouth to overflowing. I thought I liked a small vein better. It enabled me to take my time and savour the sweetness. As long as my prey couldn’t fight back or hurt me, and I wasn’t in a rush, that is what I’d do from now on.

From now on,
I thought.
What have I become? Will I crave human blood now? Will I need to be destroyed?

I couldn’t stop myself. The desire — the need — drove me on. I left the body on the branch and continued to scale the tree, in search of the others. Their scent trail indicated they’d crawled through the canopy to the treetops and had used them, leaping from tree to tree, to make their escape. If I could scale trees like they did, could I leap like them as well?

Only one way to find out,
I told myself, and jumped.

The feeling of soaring through the air as I leapt from tree to tree was liberating and wonderful — I was flying. I felt like I could do
anything!
The trail was getting stronger — I must be catching up — and then it led down through the trees again. In my eagerness to catch them, I didn’t take the time to listen to the noises of the night. If I had, I would’ve heard a good many voices on the ground — far too many for me to manage. It was only when I was about to jump onto the last branch that I paid attention, the voices suddenly loud and abrupt.

“The others are taking care of the wolves. What about our hunt? Do we continue now or wait till first light?”

It wasn’t a voice I recognised, though with the number of vampires that had been in the shelter I’d be hard pressed to recognise many at all.

“We hunt now.”

That was a voice I knew — Drake.

Quickly, and as quietly as possible, I climbed back to the top of the canopy. I headed over the treetops, in the opposite direction. I’d detected at least fifteen different scents — far too many for me to deal with if they worked cooperatively. When the breeze picked up I knew it would carry my scent to them. They would be on me in a flash.

Where, oh where was Danny! If ever I needed to get out of a scrape it was now. As long as my strength held out I might be able to outrun them. I’d been a good runner at school and had maintained a reasonable level of fitness. I was able to outrun a number of unsavoury people in the past — people you wouldn’t want catching you.

I glanced behind me and saw, in the distance, the first of the vamps step onto the canopy. I had at least a couple of hundred metres head start and took off again, not looking back. I was running, and leaping when the need arose, as fast as I could, yet wasn’t even working up a sweat.

I could have gone on running forever, if the trees hadn’t thinned out considerably. I fell thirty metres to the forest floor, with nothing within reach to grab onto to slow or stop my fall. There were broken bones, of that I had no doubt whatsoever. The pain in various parts of my body was a testament to that. I was lucky to be alive.

I’m a goner,
I thought.
If they find me I’m dead
.

A very short distance away I heard howling.

Is it werewolves?
I thought.

What monster would I prefer to kill me — a werewolf or a vampire?

Well,
I told myself,
I’ve been there done that as far as vampires are concerned. Let the wolves have their chance. Maybe they can do a better job of it.

Apart from my ragged breathing — it’s hard to breathe quietly when your ribs are broken — I lay still and silent. Let them think I was easy prey. Perhaps I’d get to take one or two of them down, before I died.

I felt the ground shake slightly. The vampires must have landed, yet I couldn’t see them in the gloom, nor hear any gloating at my predicament.

Come on,
I thought.
Hurry up and get this over and done with.

I heard two very distinct types of snarls — one low and guttural, the other more high-pitched — and the sounds of a fight, perhaps fifty metres away. How many were involved I couldn’t say. Were the vamps and wolves fighting it out over me? Had all the vamps joined, or were they cunning enough to split their forces — some to keep the wolves busy, and the rest to execute me?

A faint glow on the horizon heralded the dawning of a new day. My last day. It would be easier for them to find me in daylight, seeing as the sun didn’t seem to bother them. My time here was drawing near an end.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me, but couldn’t twist my head to see who it was. Not a wolf, I was sure of that — there were only two footfalls. Was it Drake, or another vamp?

“Helena, at last,” Danny sighed in relief. “What have they
done
to you?”

“Danny,” I whispered. “It was my own stupid fault. They’re not far away though.”

“I know, I can hear the fighting,” he said. “Large groups of vampires and werewolves have been gathering here for days now. I’ve been unable to determine why. It’s not like it’s the annual jamboree of Boy Scouts.”

I let out a single laugh and cringed at the pain it caused in my chest.

“Forgive me. I don’t have time to heal you here. I’ll try not to cause you any more pain.”

He crouched down, gently slid his arms underneath my body, and lifted me as carefully as possible. I clenched my teeth together to stop from crying out in pain — a dead giveaway to the warring factions. I closed my eyes as we entered the lights. I couldn’t bear to see their brilliance while I was in such pain.

9.
She Who Kills

Danny gently laid me on the bed. He cupped his hands and let them slowly drift along the length of my body, never making contact. The sound of bones realigning filled the air. Were it not for the pain I would have cringed.

“I can’t heal your internal injuries,” he sighed.

I coughed and tasted blood in my mouth. “What about your blood?”

“And how do you suggest I get it to where it needs to be?”

“Let me drink,” I replied. It was the only answer.

Danny pulled back from the bed, torn between wanting to help, and the unknown — what would happen to him if he let me drink?

“I don’t think I necessarily have to drink
from
you. Just a few drops on my tongue …”

In an instant he was hovering over me, a blade slicing his palm. As long as I didn’t need to latch onto him to drink he was prepared to try. I opened my mouth and allowed his blood to land on my tongue before sliding down my throat. It may have smelled like nectar, but it tasted, to me, like Brussels sprouts — something I’d loathed since childhood.

I pushed Danny away. There was no way I was going to drink more of
that
.

“
Ewww!
That tasted gross!’ I complained.

Danny chuckled. “Well at least I don’t have to fear you’ll get a taste for my blood.”

“No way.” I snorted. “It may smell really good, but it tastes
yuk!
Now I
know
angels aren’t perfect.”

“I never said we were.”

“I know, but in
my mind
they were.”

I didn’t say out loud what I was thinking. I’d tasted vampire and angel blood … I wondered what other blood — human blood — would taste like.

Tears began to form in my eyes as his blood worked its miracle on the inside of my body.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“I know it’s working because it
burns like hell!
” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“Huh!” Danny scoffed. “You have no idea how hot it can get in hell.”

“Lighten up,” I said, my teeth still clenched. “It’s only a saying from the days when I was mortal.”

When the pain had abated, and I could stand up, we headed into the living area to sit and talk. A fire was crackling in the fireplace. I was not cold though, Danny having cleaned and dried my clothes for me while I was still wearing them. It was handy having an angel around!

“When I took off to distract our unwanted company, I wasn’t aware they’d planned a diversion, to separate us. By the time I got back you were already gone. At one point there were so many scent trails and none was yours. I couldn’t find you. Even my eyes in the sky couldn’t locate you, until you were on the treetops. Tell me what happened after I left.”

I told Danny of the two vamps that had been responsible for my capture, and how I’d been taken to what I thought of as their nest. How a decision had been reached that I would be hunted, and to make it more sporting how I was given a head start. I told him of the mistake I’d made during the rain, in sheltering in the tree, and how, in doing so, had dispatched four vampires and chased and killed another.

“It’s interesting to know you can feed like them, and that
both
your hands are lethal. I wonder if you could use your hands without the catalyst of a bite, though.”

I’d already wondered the same thing, and still hoped to test it out, given further opportunity.

“It was such an amazing feeling, such a
rush.
”

“Sounds to me like you’re a glutton, and you know gluttony is a sin, according to mortals,” Danny teased.

I’d not heard him talk like this before, and it was strangely exciting, like we were on the edge of flirting. I enjoyed flirting. It made me feel that I had a measure of control, of power.

“Seriously though, your body is going to crave more blood, until you’re at full strength. Then you’ll be able to control the urge.”

“That’s nice to know. I wouldn’t want to be out with the girls and suddenly get the urge to drink them dry,” I replied sarcastically.

“What girls?” he asked. “You don’t have any girlfriends.”

I rolled my eyes. Clearly he’d not had many dealings with mortals — surprisingly he knew how to tease though — and didn’t understand sarcasm.

“I was being sarcastic, Danny.”

“I like the sound of my name on your tongue,” he whispered.

I wasn’t sure if he meant to say it loud enough, though barely, for me to hear or not.
Too long on his own,
I thought. I cleared my throat, trying to bring him out of his reverie.

“How many more bodies will fall before I’m at full strength?”

Danny looked up, distracted. “Sorry, I was thinking of something else. What did you say?”

I wondered what that something else could be, and whether or not it involved me.

“I said, how many more bodies will fall before I’m at full strength?”

“It varies from individual to individual, but at a guess a fully grown adult female of your height and weight would require the blood of around a couple of dozen victims.”

“Twenty-four,” I said in disbelief, “
that many?
”

“It’s only a guess. Look at it this way, if you stick to vampires you’ll be ridding the world of things that are evil by nature, while you’re getting stronger.”

I could live with killing vampires, and vampires alone. It was just how long it was going to take to be at my peak that drove me crazy. If the first one counted — Chris, the one that had changed me — I had seventeen to go, give or take. That was a tall order given the number of injuries I was likely to sustain.

“I don’t want to have to wait for chance encounters.” I leaned forward in my chair, bringing me that much closer to Danny. “Will you help me? Will you show me how to hunt them?”

“You already
know
how to hunt them, but yes, I’ll help you.”

“I don’t know how to hunt vampires!” I scoffed.

“Yes, you do,” Danny insisted. “You follow the scent trail. The stronger the scent, the closer you are.”

Of course, what an idiot I was!

“I’ll provide the transportation. Call me by my name, my real name, and I will come if you need me,” Danny said.

He stood up and offered me his hand. Within moments we were in the small clearing where I had tumbled from the treetops. The scent trails were still strong, and I was reasonably sure I’d have no problems following them.

“Wish me luck,” I said.

“God’s speed,” Danny replied, walking away.

Sheesh, enough with the religious mumbo jumbo,
I thought.

I chose a trail that had the least number of scents associated with it — one that only three vampires had chosen to follow. If I was successful in locating and killing them I’d return here to choose another trail to follow.