Dark Descent (Vampire Hunter Book 5) (9 page)

“Is it doable?”
Lucas asked.

“I don’t know.
Some of this stuff I can buy from the dude who sold me the book, but then
there’s other items I can’t even identify. For example, it says here that I
need fur from the hellhound that guards the head vampire. What does that even
mean?” Henry asked.

Nicholas and Lucas
looked at each other. “It means we’re playing with fire,” Lucas said.

“You don’t want to
fuck with the head vampire,” Nicholas added.

“
What
is
the head vampire?” I asked.

“There’s a
hierarchy amongst vampires, kind of like the one the demons have in Hell,”
Nicholas explained. “Lucas and I, we’re not exactly part of it. The fact that
we hunt – and kill vampires when needed – makes us outcasts. They
think we’re traitors.”

“But you only hunt
bad things, right?” Henry questioned.

“Yes, but that
doesn’t matter to the vampires,” Lucas said. “To them, it’s a numbers game.
It’s illegal to turn a human, so if we kill a vampire, we’re essentially
eliminating one more member of the race; they think we’re supporting eventual
extinction.”

“Although, like
all rules, there are exceptions,” Nicholas added. “If a vampire is killed,
anyone can petition the head vampire to investigate the case. He – or she
– works with the hunting agencies, our bosses, and determines if the
vampire was wrongfully killed. If so, the vampires are allowed to turn a human
– to replace the vampire that was staked.”

“That’s awful!” I
exclaimed. “Does the human get a say in the matter?”

“Nope,” Nicholas
replied. “In order to keep things ‘fair’ they have a lottery system. Only
humans between the ages of sixteen and thirty-five are considered. They want
the vampire race to be physically young and strong.”

“Why didn’t you
tell me this?” I asked Lucas. In all of the talks we’d had about vampires,
about Lucas’ past, he had never once mentioned that there was a head vampire.

“I didn’t think it
was important,” Lucas replied. “There’s politics everywhere. I just try to stay
out of it, to do my own thing.” He turned to Nicholas. “The last head vampire I
heard about was Jet. Is he still it?”

“Yes, according to
my latest copy of
Vampire Weekly
,” Nicholas said. We all laughed at his
joke.

“Jet?” I asked.
“That doesn’t sound like a vampire. That sounds like some surfer boy trying to
catch the next wave.”

“Jet’s been around
a
long
time,” Lucas said, his face serious. “Even longer than Nic and
me. He may have a goofy name, but don’t let it fool you.”

“What about the
dog that guards him?” Henry asked.

“Oh, yeah,”
Nicholas replied. “Like Lucas said, we aren’t exactly heralded as role models
in the vampire community, so I don’t have all of the details. But I can tell
you that, years ago – it was during my lifetime – the vampires
managed to get their hands on a hellhound. They live in Hell, but come to earth
for various reasons. Usually because someone sold their soul and it’s time to
collect.”

“Like Senara was
doing?” I said.

“Right, they would
take the soul back to the fairy or demon who brokered the deal,” Lucas
answered.

“The vampire who
stole a hellhound bit the dog, tried to turn him, to make him a loyal vampire
mutt,” Nicholas explained. “It didn’t quite work as planned – the dog
wasn’t turned – but it still got them what they ultimately wanted:
vampire’s best friend. He sits outside the head vampire’s residence, ready to
attack anything that threatens his master.”

“How in the world
are we going to get his fur?” I asked. “It’s a suicide mission.”

“Maybe not,”
Nicholas said. He glanced at Lucas. “Hear me out, bro. Aurora killed those
douchebag twins. She can take on a hellhound. Besides, all she’ll have to do is
pull some fur off his coat. Maybe he won’t even notice? She won’t really have
to fight him. Just move fast enough to avoid his attacks.”

Before Lucas could
protest, I said, “Since we’re all sharing, I need you guys to know what
happened on Monday. Nicholas is right; my power is here. I just have to learn
how to control it.” I told them what I had done to Benji, not omitting any
details, even the one about me almost killing him.

“Why didn’t
you
tell me about this?” Lucas threw my question back in my face.

“I said I’ve been
doing damage control,” I retorted defensively. “Between school and making sure
my family believes I wish I could spend every waking moment with them, I’m
exhausted.”

Lucas sighed.

“You’re going to
have to get used to the fact that in order for us to
live
through this,
I’ll have to take some risks,” I said gently. My comment was directed at both
Lucas and Henry. Only Nicholas and Emmett seemed to get it.
But they don’t
have romantic feelings for you.

“Great,” Henry
said sarcastically. “So you’re going to see both Magnus and Tobias, and then
after that stop by the head vampire’s lair to pull some hair off his dog?”

“Aurora can do
this,” Emmett said. We all turned to look at him. “She’s stronger than you give
her credit for – stronger than you can understand.”

“This sucks,”
Henry muttered.

“I agree,” I said.
“But how many times do I have to prove myself?  Where is Jet, anyway?” I
asked Lucas and Nicholas.

“I’ll find out,”
Nicholas said. He turned to Henry. “Meanwhile, if you can translate all of
these kooky ingredients into English, we can go over the list and I’ll help you
get the rest of them.

Henry smiled.
“Thanks, man.”

“I have to go home
before we meet Magnus,” I said, standing up.

“Why?” Nicholas
asked. “You getting all dressed up for the former King of Hell? Sorry, bad
joke,” he quickly added.

I laughed. “We
need you here for comic relief, Nicholas. I never get tired of your jokes, no
matter how bad. Actually, I just have to check in with my mom and dad. Make
sure they’re cool with me going out tonight.”

“Let’s go then,”
Henry said, also standing up.

“Yeah,” Emmett
commented, “time for me to go, too.”

Nicholas and Lucas
got up from their seats on the floor. “By the way,” Nicholas said to Henry,
“I’m happy you’re still here. You survived a vamp bite. Impressive shit.” He
slapped Henry on the back.

“Thanks, Nicholas.
But I wouldn’t have lived without these two,” Henry said, motioning towards
Lucas and me.

“Bye,” I called
over my shoulder as we left. “I’ll be waiting for you outside to go see
Magnus,” I told Lucas. My eyes locked with his for a brief moment and his face
broke into a smile. Lucas’ beautiful face. So heavy with worry. I forced myself
to turn away and follow Henry to the car.

After Henry
dropped me off, I headed to my room, my mind spinning about what I would say
tonight. Lucas would run interference with Magnus, but it was down to me to say
and do the right thing when I saw Tobias. I had acted blasé about it, but I was
terrified.

My parents were
surprisingly agreeable about me going out on a school night. “It’s close to the
weekend,” Dad had said. “And Aurora, we can see how much you’re trying to be
open with your mother and me. It speaks volumes.”

So there I stood,
waiting for Lucas outside my house. I had changed into black jeans and a red
tank top and pulled my frizzy hair into a tight bun. I was trying to look
professional,
confident
.

“You look great,”
Lucas said when I got into his car.

“Thanks,” I
replied. “I wanted to look
businessy
.”

He smiled. “I’ve
never worked in an office but I’m fairly sure jeans and a tank top isn’t the
typical attire.”

“Do you think this
will take long? I have a couple of hours at least; I told my parents I was
going to a movie,” I said.

“With me?” Lucas
asked.

“No, with my
imaginary friend Kelly.”

Lucas glanced at
me. “Long story,” I said. “It was part of one of my many lies to my parents.”

“Morally opposed
to lying?” Lucas questioned. “Sometimes, it’s necessary.”

“I’m not opposed
to it…it’s just different. Before, I didn’t have a reason to lie to them. Now,
they know next to nothing about my life, and I’m afraid I’ll start getting all of
my fabricated stories confused,” I replied.

“Lucas, can I ask
you a question?” I turned to look at him.

“Of course.”

“I know you had
parents, a family once. Did you stay in touch with them after you became a
vampire? Did they know what you were? And what was it like when everyone you
cared about died?”

“Woah, I think
that qualifies as more than ‘a question,’” Lucas said, laughing.

“I’ve just been
thinking a lot lately. Here I am, not even appreciating this time with my
parents, my sister, and it’s not going to last forever. They’ll all die while I
live on.”

“I didn’t have the
type of parents who would have understood what I had become,” Lucas said. “And
I couldn’t stay home, not around my family, not around the
blood
.” Lucas
paused.

“Once you were
turned, you never saw them again? Did you have any siblings?” I asked.

“I had a younger
brother and an older sister. My sister, Margaret, died when I was eight years
old and she was twelve. They didn’t know what it was at the time, but she probably
died from pneumonia. After Nicholas turned me, we left our hometown. I felt bad
about it, especially leaving my little brother, Michael; he looked up to me,”
Lucas said.

“Why didn’t you
turn him?” I asked.

“I thought about
it,” Lucas admitted. “But he was just too young, and my parents had already
lost
two
children. I sent letters to Michael in the mail every few
months at first, letting him know that I was okay but that I couldn’t come
home. I didn’t tell him why.”

“Eventually I
stopped writing Michael, but I still kept track of him. He grew up, got married
and had a kid. He lived a good, fulfilling life,” Lucas continued. “My father
died shortly after I left, but my mother lived into her 70s, which was unusual
for that time. When I found out that she was on her deathbed, I went to see
her.”

“What happened?
Did she recognize you?”

“Yes, she
whispered my name before she died. Although I’m not sure if she knew that I was
real and not a hallucination.”

“I won’t be able
to stay here forever,” I said sadly. “Even though my parents know the truth,
there are only so many years I can get older in age but look the same.”

“You will have decisions
to make,” Lucas agreed. “But you’ll get through them. Whether you were mortal
or not, your parents were going to die before you. Well, most likely,” he
amended. “If you forget the fact that Leon killed you.”

We turned onto
Magnus’ street and parked in front of his house.

“I’ll do the
talking,” Lucas instructed. “You just sit there and look pretty,” he joked.

I laughed nervously.
“What if he asks me about my demon killing powers?”

“Say what you said
last time. That you can do it.”

Magnus answered
the door a moment after Lucas rang the bell. He smiled. “How nice to see you
again, Aurora. And you, as well, Lucas,” he said politely. “We’ll talk in my
study again.” We stepped into the house. “Please, after you,” Magnus said,
motioning towards the study.

“No,” Lucas
replied. “After
you
.”

Magnus laughed.
“Have it your way,” he said, opening the study door and walking inside. “Think
I have a trap set for you? I do not.”

Lucas and I didn’t
say anything. We sat down on the couch, in the same spots we were in last time.

“Care for a
drink?” Like before, Magnus stood by the cart containing bottles of liquor and
poured himself a drink.

“Look, can we cut
to the chase and dispense with all the small talk?” Lucas asked.

“Ah, that’s right,
Aurora here can’t drink, and
you
only have a taste for the red stuff.”
Magnus sat down in his chair across from us and lit a cigarette. “I could get
used to this lifestyle,” he commented. “Although I wouldn’t care for the
tediousness of everyday human life. A job, listening to coworkers prattle on
about their boring lives and being forced to feign interest. No, it’s nice to
vacation on earth once in a while, but I belong in Hell – ruling it.”
Magnus paused. “Which brings us to the reason you two are here, I presume?”

“Yes, Aurora will
double cross Tobias, let you push him into Hell,” Lucas said.

“And kill Leon?”
Magnus questioned.

“That, too. But
there’s a condition.”

“I’m not sure
you’re in much of a position to be making demands, but please, do go on,”
Magnus said.

“This person
you’re possessing – let him go. You can visit the morgue and pick out a
new meat suit there. I’m sure there are plenty of models to choose from,” Lucas
said sarcastically.

Magnus’ eyebrows
shot up in surprise. “A vampire with a moral code? Didn’t you used to kill
people – innocent people?”

 “We’re not
here to talk about my past,” Lucas said. I could tell he was fighting to keep
his tone even.

But Magnus wasn’t
ready to drop it. “Or how about all the humans you’ve turned? Poor,
unsuspecting people that
you
decided should become a monster. I don’t
see how you can even suggest my possessing this ‘meat suit,’ as you so
eloquently put it, is immoral.”

“Look, Magnus,”
Lucas said angrily, “cut to the chase. You get out of the body you’re in and
Aurora does what you’ve asked. Otherwise, no deal.”

“There’s just one
little problem with that,” Magnus said. He paused and took a drag off his cigarette.
“You see, I don’t like
sharing
. Having the person constantly trying to
take over his body – even though we’re far more powerful than humans
– gets annoying. So, when I find a body worthy of possessing, I kill the
pesky human first.”

Lucas sat in stony
silence.

“In fact,” Magnus
continued, “I quite like this chap Simon’s body. I may even take it to Hell
with me and wear it around there until I tire of it. When I go back as king, of
course.” He looked at Lucas. “Any other requests before we talk specifics?”

“That was the only
one,” Lucas growled.

“So, when should
we schedule this? The sooner the better.”

“I’m going to see
Tobias after we leave,” I said. “I’ll tell him that I want to help him, that I
can show him my power now. Then, I’ll take him to the gates and you can push
him in.”

Magnus nodded.
“Good. I’ll have one of my followers ready to tie up Tobias. He won’t be hard
to restrain. Tobias will stay hidden in Hell until Leon is dead and I return as
king. Leon will not get one ounce of credit for Tobias being sent to Hell.”

“Where are the
Gates of Hell?” Lucas asked.

“Do you really not
know?” Magnus said incredulously.

“I’ve never had a
reason to worry about Hell before. Why would I know?” Lucas countered.

Magnus laughed.
“Why do you think Tobias set up shop here? Why do you think
I’m
living
here?”

Magnus paused
again to take a sip of his drink. He was intentionally dragging this out,
trying to wind-up Lucas.

“You see, the
Gates of Hell are right here, in your lovely little town.”