Blood Curse (28 page)

"The Blood Revelation.” Mary shook her head in disappointment, and the world outside Aria's bedroom suddenly filled with screams.

Aria ran to the balcony and nearly vomited at what she saw. Beneath her, bodies littered the streets, and blood ran along the sides of the roads like red rivers branching out from an ocean of blood. The shrieks that sent goosebumps crawling across her flesh came from all directions, filling the night air with their agony. “What has happened?"

"Your descendant was supposed to destroy the beast. This is what will happen decades from this moment, Aria, because you were too scared to fulfill your destiny. You had only one job—to provide life for a special child."

"And I didn't do it."

"No, and you let the one man who loved you more than any other die."

"No!” Aria turned and ran back into the room to Rialto, but all she found was a pile of ash

Aria jerked to a sitting position as a scream cut through the air, pulling her out of sleep. She blinked, bringing the church's interior into focus while her heart struggled to return to its normal beat. The dream seemed so real, her heart was still beating wildly in her chest. She couldn't get the image of Rialto's ashes out of her mind, but she tried to push it aside as she noticed frantic parishioners running out of the church. Another scream rang out from somewhere outside, bringing her fully alert.

"Aria, I have to help! Stay here!” Christian was bent over her, talking into her ear. By the time she opened her mouth to respond, he was already running out the door. Alarm bells clanged in Aria's mind, but she couldn't place what was setting them off. Something wasn't right, a subtle change in the air, something . . . off.

She glanced around, noting only a few people remained in the building with her, huddled together in fear of what was outside, yet she had a strange feeling the real terror was inside.
Where is Rialto? Why did he leave me here?
She shivered, fear taking over her body. Christian was a vampire, but he hadn't drunk fresh blood in ages. He wouldn't be powerful enough to go against anything stronger than a mortal man, and Jonah Porter was her only other source of protection until Rialto and Seta returned. She knew the police detective was parked somewhere outside watching her. Rialto had sensed him when he brought her to the church, unless the screaming from outside had diverted his attention.

Aria stiffened as she felt something behind her, something close enough to raise the hairs on the back of her neck. She started to turn her head, but two hands came from behind her and a rag soaked in something with a sweet, slightly chemical smell was pressed over her nose and mouth.

She didn't have a chance to see her attacker before the world faded to black.

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Christian ran down the dark alley in search of the woman in distress. The terror he heard in the scream indicated she was in grave danger. He continued on until the screaming stopped abruptly, then turned into howling laughter. A group had formed in the spot where the sound seemed to bounce off the buildings like a reverberating echo, but there was no source for the sound.

"What the hell?” One of the men in the small group scratched his head, looking up and around, searching the fire escapes and dark shadows for the woman they all heard but couldn't see.

Christian's heart slammed against his chest as realization punched him in the gut. “It's a trick."

"Eh?” The man turned toward him. “What's that?"

"It's a trick. An illusion.” He didn't wait for a response before turning on his heel and racing back to the church. Like an idiot he'd been lured away from Aria, leaving her behind to face who knew what. Since he wasn't drinking living human blood, he wasn't at his full vampiric strength, but he could still run faster than a mortal. He counted on his speed to save Aria, but his hopes were dashed when he entered the church and found her gone.

He let out a roar of rage so powerful the few parishioners who had started to file back through the door fled in the opposite direction. He searched the remainder of the church, hoping Aria had hidden somewhere. He called her name until his voice grew hoarse, never getting a response. She wouldn't have hidden beneath the church, not with people inside who could see the hidden door. She was gone.

Christian focused all his attention and energies on Rialto and Seta, trying to call to them, but it was no use. Lack of living blood limited his range of telepathic communication and they were too far away. Neither carried a cell phone. With the situation out of his hands and the weight of Aria's possible death on his shoulders, he fell to his knees and prayed to the only one he knew who could help.

"Well, look at that. A perfect display of sacrilege. I always knew church was the place to go when looking for hypocrites, but this takes the prize."

Christian didn't have to open his eyes to know who his new visitor was, but he did anyway, taking in the tall, slender but powerfully built man's angular features, light brown hair flecked with gold, and intense, narrowed green eyes which were burning with hatred. He was dressed in his usual attire of dark T-shirt and jeans, his uniform for night stalking and demon hunting.

Christian groaned in disbelief of what a bad day he was having. “I do not have time to deal with you tonight, Jacob."

"My enemies call me Jake, and I suggest you make time. My brother is missing."

"I have a missing person of my own to locate, and I really don't wish to be your enemy. I don't wish to be anyone's enemy."

"Too late for that. Your kind killed my best friend."

"I'm sorry that happened, however, your kind has killed several of my close friends and I'm not holding it against you. Now, please, I need to find an abducted woman. “

"Aria Michaels?"

"How do you know her name?"

"Her mother was killed by someone who left fang marks. My brother is investigating the case. He was following her after he caught sight of your other two vampire friends. Tell me, Christian, what is Aria to you?"

"None of your concern, Jacob."

"It's Jake and it is my concern when my brother is involved. He was following her and now his car is sitting out on the street, abandoned. The woman's mother was murdered by what appeared to be a vampire, and now she's involved with one. What's going on?"

"If you've truly researched my kind, you know a vampire wouldn't have left marks."

"I know. That's why I'm here. What is it that's killing these women, and how are all of you involved?"

Christian clenched his fist, frustrated by being delayed. “I'm going to have to ask you to leave now, Jake."

"I don't think so.” Porter quickly reached behind him and pulled a gun from his waistband, leveling it at Christian's chest. “You're helping me find my brother. Wherever the girl is, he's bound to be there too."

Christian laughed as he glanced at the gun's barrel. “I thought you were a pro, Jake. You know that thing won't kill me."

"It wouldn't if it were full of regular bullets. These UV bullets are nasty little bitches though."

Christian gulped. “UV bullets?"

Jake nodded, an arrogant smirk spreading across his lips. “Each bullet is full of pure UV, designed to enter your bloodstream and burn you alive from the inside out. It's quick, but I promise you it's painful."

Christian studied the man's face and determined he wasn't bluffing. “What do you want of me, Porter?"

"Who took the girl?"

"I don't know. They believe they've found out who the killer is, but I wasn't told anything except they suspect demon involvement."

"This
they
that you refer to are the other two vampires?"

"Yes."

Jake's eyebrows furrowed together. “So the killer knows he's been discovered and has taken the woman for revenge."

"Possibly."

"So ask your friends who it is. For that matter, why the hell aren't they here? Have they already gone after the thing?"

Christian shrugged in frustration. “A friend of ours, Eron, was taken a couple months back. His diluted scent was found on the body of one of the victims. We think a mortal has been experimenting with him, stealing his essence."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I don't know!” Christian yelled in anger. “It sounds insane, but we found a journal written by a man who used to hunt Eron, and we think it has something to do with what's happening. Seta, the female vampire your brother saw, went to Eron's home to find out what she could from his Keeper. We think his Keeper aided in his capture."

"So why are we standing here? Use your telepathy and see what's going on."

"I can't. I haven't drunk living blood in nearly a year. I'm too weak to reach them. I've already tried."

Porter's mouth dropped open, and then he snapped it shut and said, “Are you shitting me?"

"I'm afraid not. Most of my vampiric abilities are not at full strength. I can't reach Seta and Rialto, and I'm no match for a demon unless, of course, I drink living blood and refuel my immortal strength."

"Oh, hell no,” Jake said as Christian studied him, licking his lips as the scent of his blood seemed to intensify. He hadn't craved living blood so strongly in a long time, but his body was preparing for battle and knew what it needed. “Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No,” Christian answered as he noted that Jake had unconsciously lowered the gun, a move the slayer normally would have never been foolish enough to do.” But I do think I'm faster than you."

He twisted the arm holding the weapon behind Jake's back and plunged his fangs deep into the struggling man's neck while he had the chance.

Pain exploded through Aria's body as she struggled to regain consciousness. At first her eyes only produced a useless blur, but her nose was more helpful, picking up on a mixture of chemical smells. She tried to rub her eyes, but her wrists were bound to something, as were her ankles. Her back ached from the hard metal beneath her, and she felt something sharp in her neck, like a pair of needles.

"Finally coming around?” a deep, male voice asked from above her. She blinked her eyes, trying to bring the fuzzy face hovering above her into focus. After her vision cleared, she looked into the face of someone who was so familiar and yet a stranger.

"I take it you're Curtis's twin?” The man was identical to Curtis except for the absence of bruises on his face and the harsh cruelty in his soulless eyes.

"And you're part of The Blood Revelation."

Aria's eyes widened in fear. “What are you talking about?"

"Don't act stupid, woman. I followed Curtis after I figured out he'd stolen my journal. I saw you leave the library as a tanned white woman. Now you're much too dark to be purely white, but I tested your DNA and you're not a vampire. The only way that could happen is if you're mated to the male vamp I saw at your apartment and you've drunk enough of his blood to bring out the full strength of your physical attributes, something that doesn't normally occur in mortals. So don't play coy with me. I know what you are and so do you."

"You were watching us all the time?”
Why hadn't Rialto sensed him?

"I can follow people without ever leaving my home, a gift from the dark master. I would have grabbed you at your apartment, but your vampire sensed me. After the vampire left you at the church, I went to fetch you and got the man who was following you as an added bonus.” He nodded his head to the left and Aria's eyes followed until she saw Jonah Porter, beaten, bloody, and bruised, shackled on the wall before her.

"Jonah!” She started to cry, horrified by what she saw, and enraged by the laughter erupting from the vile man who stood beside the table she was strapped to.

"His torture will be over soon,” the evil twin said. “He will be lunch for a very hungry vampire."

Aria once again followed the man's gaze, angling her head to look behind her where she was able to just barely see another man imprisoned on one of the stone walls. His head of dark reddish-blond hair fell forward, and his body hung limply from the manacles clamped around his wrists and ankles. His body was built of corded muscle, but she could tell that there was no longer any strength in his limbs.

"Eron.” Aria spoke the name impulsively, and the pale man looked up, only able to hold his head upright long enough for her to see the pain and hunger burning in his eyes. Huddled on the floor close to him, staring at her with wide, frightened eyes was Curtis.

"How long have you been starving him?” she asked.

"It was his own choice,” the man said. “I brought him live girls, but he wouldn't take their blood. Hell, I even brought him a man in case that was his preference, and he wouldn't take that either. Defiant little twit. But he's been smelling yours and your friend's for a while now, and I know it's getting to him. He won't be able to resist much longer."

The sharp twin pains Aria felt in her neck seemed to intensify, but she couldn't move her head enough to see what was causing it. “What have you done to me?"

Her abductor laughed. “I'm killing you the same way I killed your mother and the other women. This little gizmo of mine makes what looks like fang holes in your neck and drains out the blood. I developed a blood thinner which makes the blood pour out like water, but I've decided not to use it on you. I want your blood pure. It's going to be a slow process compared to what your mother went through, but it will be nearly as effective. Once your blood stops dripping, I'll burn your body. I have to make sure you never have the chance to bear a child. “

Aria tried to lunge forward, but the manacles around her wrists and ankles, combined with the sharp pain inflicted by the tubes in her neck, made the act impossible. “Who the hell are you? Why are you doing this? Why did you kill my mother?"

"My current birth name is Carter Dunn, and I'm doing this as a promise to my father, Lucifer."

"The devil is your daddy?"

"Yes."

Aria decided to let that one go. “So what's with the vendetta against vampires? Why are you killing women and making it look like vampires did it? Why
my
mother?"