Angel's Kiss (18 page)

He smiled wryly and twisted a finger in the air. “If you’re up to it, sure, no problem.”

All four became animated and lunged at me at once. I ducked and weaved until I was behind Danny’s chair. Not once did I try unsheathing the knife.

“No fair!” I complained. “Four at once is a bit much.”

“You need to be prepared for any situation,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but can’t I build up to it? After all, I’m still a learner and it’s not like I have to master
everything
today, is it?”

Danny sighed. “It would be better if you could, but I understand.”

The monsters backed off and went to stand in a corner, awaiting Danny’s command. He whispered something I couldn’t understand. The monsters eyes flared orange briefly before returning to their original colour.

“They are yours to command, for training purposes only. Anything outside of that and they’ll return to dust. They’ll also answer any questions you may have about the history of their species, vulnerabilities and attacks.”

I grinned. This was perfect. “Oh zombie, you pretty little thing, come here and play.”

In the background I heard Danny chuckle.

13.
Safety in Numbers

After a couple of days training with my new friends I was itching to put into practice what I’d learned and, of course, hunt and feed.

“I’ve had enough of training for the moment,” I pouted. “Can I go out and hunt today, please?”

Danny laughed. “Pouting and batting your eyelashes doesn’t work on me — angel, remember.”

I let my shoulders slump forward and sat in the chair dejected. I was very hungry, even though it had only been three days since I’d fed.

“Today,” Danny said, “I’m coming with you. I’ll do some preliminary scouting while you’re hunting, to make sure they’re not laying any traps for you. Now that they know you’re different — something to fear — they’ll be hunting you in greater numbers, nothing like the small groups you’ve had success with to date.”

“Ah, but they also know I hang out with angels. Well, one angel at least, and they won’t know if you’re nearby or not.
And
they don’t know about my new weapon.” I drew the knife out of its sheath, admiring the rainbow slick on the blade. “I keep forgetting to ask, what do the symbols on the blade mean?”

“On one side it says
God's soldier
and on the other,
She who kills
.”

“God's soldier,” I pointed the knife at Danny, “is that you?”

He nodded — God's soldier and she who kills, working together. I wondered if He would approve.

“We stay in my territory,” Danny warned. “If they cross the boundary you’re to let them go, at least for now.”

“Understood.”

He smiled and clapped his hands together, rubbing them eagerly. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

Danny held out his hand, warm and strong as usual.
A girl could get used to this,
I thought as I grasped his hand and we headed to our destination.

“Don’t venture down the tunnels,” he cautioned. “Now that they know you know about the tunnels, there are sure to be traps, or a watch detail, ready for you.”

“Damn,” I murmured. “I had a lot of fun in those tunnels.”

“I won’t scout far ahead of you. I’ll be within earshot. I suggest you follow the trail to the far right.” He smiled. “I think you’ll enjoy that one.”

“Wait.” I put my hand on Danny’s arm to stop him from leaving. “What do you want me to do if I come up against Drake?”

“The same as you’d do to any other vampire, provided you’re strong enough.”

I let go of Danny’s arm. He ran, whisper quiet, along the trail he’d suggested I follow. I touched my left arm, reassuring myself the knife was still there, and set off after him.

Within half an hour I came across three vampires — two males, one female — that had loosely surrounded a couple of hikers no older than me, but very scared. They knew they were in danger, but didn’t realise what sort of danger.

I stayed well back, to avoid being seen by any of them, mortal and vampire alike. This would be a true test — to kill the vamps and save the mortals. I knew Danny would not be far away. In fact, he was probably watching from the cover of the trees, ready to strike if necessary. I picked up a decent-sized rock and threw it as hard as I could. It hit a tree some twenty metres behind the little gathering with a loud bang. A shower of bark exploded outwards. It provided just enough of a distraction for me to rush in and grab a vampire from behind. I covered his mouth with a hand and quickly dragged him back to where I’d been watching them.

I needed to act fast. I kicked his legs out from under him and he fell, pulling me down with him. As we fell I turned my body so that I landed on top of his chest, my hand still clamped to his mouth. I pressed my lips to his neck and pulled his t-shirt out of his jeans, my other hand seeking his abdomen. With three points of contact, he was drained in less than thirty seconds. A personal best for me!

I stood up and, from the relative safety of my hiding place, threw his body out into the open. It made a loud thud as it hit the ground. I ran quickly then, to watch their reactions from a different spot.

“What the
fuck?
” one of them yelled out. “What are you doing, Damien?”

When Damien didn’t move, the one who called out turned to his companion, the female. “Keep an eye on these two. I’ll see what game he’s playing at today.”

She nodded and moved closer to the frightened hikers, hands on hips and tapping a foot.

I dashed out behind her, careful not to make any noise. Raising a finger to my lips I let the hikers know they should remain silent and not give anything away. As I wrapped an arm around the vampire’s neck, I waved them away with my free hand, mouthing the word
run!
They nodded and took off in the opposite direction.

I neutralised her, standing up, with little difficulty — the element of surprise on my side.

The other vamp was still leaning over Damien’s body, poking him with a finger, when I jumped on his back and knocked him to the ground. I held his arms out to the side, careful not to let my fingers find skin. I wanted this kill to last a bit longer. I wanted to savour the moment, and leaned down to touch his neck with my lips.

I felt his blood infuse my body with strength. This was body number seventeen … somehow I knew it still wasn’t enough. I was impatient to become whatever it was I was meant to be.

Danny appeared out of nowhere and together we jogged back to where we had started out from.

“You’re quite the killing machine,” he said.

“I thought you might be watching,” I sighed.

“What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“When someone’s watching I feel like some kind of perverse deviant, almost dirty. Maybe it’s just because I still feel a bit weird about the whole thing.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, the killing. I have to admit, though, the use of your hands as well is … what words could I use to describe it? If I try to look at it from a mortal viewpoint I think
strangely erotic
might suffice.”

I stopped in my tracks. It was funny how, only days before — at my first training session — I’d been oddly aroused by the blood. Now I was listening to Danny describing what I did in a similar fashion.

Always the call girl,
I thought.

“What’s the matter?” Danny asked.

“Nothing,” I lied. “I thought I heard something.”

“I don’t hear anything unusual,” he replied, and we set off again.

When we were back at the start, and I was picking out a trail to follow, Danny praised me for resisting the temptation to taste human blood, and for telling them to run.

I shrugged my shoulders. It was no big deal at all.

“I wasn’t tempted in the slightest,” I mumbled. “I smelled them, but their scent only evoked a sense of, oh, I don’t know, familiarity or kinship? Kinship isn’t the right word. It was more like something you’d associate with a favourite jumper that no longer fits, but you can’t bear to be parted from. They definitely did
not
smell like food.”

“Sounds to me like you still have a connection to your humanity, if only a psychological one.”

I shrugged my shoulders again. Who cared why, as long as I didn’t do what he feared I would.

“Let’s hope that time doesn’t erase that connection,” Danny whispered.

I continued to study the trails, pretending I hadn’t heard him. How long would it take for him to stop thinking of me as a potential threat — forever perhaps? No matter. If I was immortal, we had forever to work on it.

“This one,” I finally said, pointing to a trail that ran northwest. “This is quite fresh, still strong. I don’t think we’ll end up anywhere near the border.”

Danny nodded and took off. I waited a few minutes before following, enjoying the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees and the dust motes dancing in the air. It was a good day for a hunt!

I wanted to try out the knife Danny had given me, although I was torn between the blade, the hunger, and the need to be strong. My animal instincts won out. Why was I not surprised?

Considering Danny had said they were forewarned about me, I was surprised to still come across small groups. Presuming there was safety in numbers, it seemed stupid for so few to travel together. Perhaps they thought my abilities had been exaggerated. Surely they would know about the marks my hands had left, and have realised what had caused them? There would be no secret there.
Seems I can’t keep anything secret anymore!

What I wasn’t expecting to stumble upon, and Danny hadn’t seen fit to warn me about, was two vampires copulating on a bed of moss. It’s not like I hadn’t seen grown individuals doing it before — hell, I’d been involved in more than one orgy — but the frenzied biting they seemed to take pleasure in I found disgusting — the gratification of mutual bleeding. It turned my stomach.

Here’s to blowjobs that blow the mind!
I told myself silently, and gave a disgusted laugh.

They were too wrapped up in their own flesh to hear my laugh. I was uncertain if they could stop, even if they wanted to, so ferocious was the act that was taking place.

Looking on the bright side, at least I had an answer to my question about sex. The sexual drive was still there, though so perverted it was totally wrong. They seemed to be getting off on the blood more than the sex itself.
God, I hope I’m not going to be like that!

I casually walked up to them. Crouching down beside them, I laid my hands on bare flesh. I didn’t want to sully my lips on either of their bodies — that would be
really
wrong. My hands could do the dirty work. It was easy enough to wash them afterwards, if they felt dirty and soiled.

When the male — he was on top — tried to disengage himself, I placed my knee in the small of his back and pushed down with all of my might. My jeans were bloodied from the bite marks on his back. I resolved to destroy them after this day’s killing spree was done, rather than wear them again.

“This is
so
repulsive,” I said out loud.

I looked anywhere but at the vamps. In the distance I spotted Danny, waiting for it to be over as well. Evidently he, too, found it distasteful, as he made no attempt to come any closer.

“I guess someone’s got to do the dirty work!” I yelled in his direction. In response I heard a faint laugh.

As I walked away from their bodies I was overcome with a strange sensation. My knees buckled, causing me to fall on all fours to the ground. I struggled to stand, and hugged my torso. When I managed to gain my feet, the ground beneath me seemed to drop away. Was the earth recoiling from my touch?

A far-off voice was calling out to me. Was it calling
me?
Who
was I?
What
was I? Was I
real?

My body arched backwards, exposing my throat to the sky. A lamb ready to be sacrificed. Slowly my arms unfolded, stretching out on either side of my body, the palms of my hands facing upwards. I felt the sun suffuse my body with a heat that could turn the world to ash. Somehow I knew that I was burning, yet I felt no pain, only the heat of the fire that was consuming me. My eyes were blinded by the brilliance of it. Even though I could no longer see, the colour of the sun lingered in my vision — a beacon to light my way.

I was at peace, the voice no longer calling me. No, there it was! Very faint, like the buzz of a distant bee. Did I know the voice? What was it saying?
Helena
. It was saying
Helena
. A memory from my distant past was slowly bubbling to the surface. I could feel it struggle against other memories that tried to push it back down to where it had come from. The voice became louder.

HELENA!

I heard a primal scream and the sound of it distressed me, causing the bubble to burst and the memory of who I was to flood my mind.