Forbidden Drink (40 page)

The gunshots stopped firing at us and started sounding off in the other direction with a frantic
boom, boom-boom-boom, boom.
The staccato rhythm sending shockwaves through the air, the sound reverberating off the walls around us, even louder than those they had been firing at us before.

After what felt like an eternity, one in which we could have simply run the fuck away had we thought of it, the gunshots ended and all we heard was the sickening sound of flesh being torn. No doubt jugulars severed and blood spilled by the bucket load. Poor Tim. He thought he knew what evil vampires were all about. He knew jack shit, nothing.

Silence sounded out with a sudden finality, making my heart leap into my throat and my palms begin to sweat. I could feel her. I could feel her like she was standing right before me and she was calling my name. I went to stand up and Jett grabbed a hold of me.

“No you don't, mistress. The master can hear her too, in your head. You're not going anywhere.”

I struggled against him, getting more and more frantic to break free and run to that beautiful voice that promised so much. That told me I would be happy in her arms, that she could give me what I wanted; my family, my father, my mother, a sister or brother to carry on the gene, to have children for me to love and hold as though they were my own. She promised she'd make it happen, I would never be alone again. All I needed was to step out into the centre of the courtyard and she would come to me. She would save me from the bleak world I lived in alone.

I started crying when I knew I couldn't break free. When I knew I couldn't get to her. When I knew I wouldn't see my father again and I would be alone forever. Jett held me close and stroked my hair and kept repeating words in my ear I couldn't understand. And then finally, they broke through.

And all hell broke loose in their wake.

Gregor leapt up and joined in with the fighting, his vampires swarming into the scarcely light area with fierce and determined looks on their faces. Some carried weapons, knives, swords, machetes, you name it, they had it. And so did the others. I couldn't see her or feel her anymore, it was as though she had vanished as soon as Gregor's vamps jumped out of the shadows, as though they had scared her away.

Jett held me firm though, I knew he wanted to be out there too, helping Erika as she swung her Svante sword with such skill and grace. I watched as Amisi staked a vampire, Gregor shouting out in approval at her side. I saw Nero spinning, none of the vampires seeing the beauty that I could. So powerful, so perfect, so sure. He staked two vampires before they even realised he was there.

“She's gone, Jett. Let me go help.”

“No. The master has instructed me to hold you here. To keep you safe.”

God dammit, if we were back to this crap bloody control issue, I would throttle him. This was my job. This is what I am. The
Sanguis Vitam Cupitor
,
the
Prohibitum Bibere
, the
Lux Lucis Tribuo
.
This is what I am meant to do. To hell with the fact that I am outnumbered. I am an emissary of Nut, Michel cannot stand in my way. I gathered my Light and moulded it very carefully, then I let it out straight for Jett.

He took a deep breath in when it hit fair and square in the centre of that broad chest of his and then he toppled over backwards out cold.

“Sorry mate,” I muttered as I pulled him back behind the shield of the low wall we had been hiding behind. “I'm sure you'll thank me in the morning.”

He'd wake in about five to ten minute's time, thinking he'd had the best sex in his entire life.

Lucinda!

Oh, you're back.
Great.
Welcome to the party.

She may not have left and now you are unprotected.
Man, was he fuming. I could feel the fury down the line of our connection, it prickled against my skin like a bad rash.

Michel, stay right where you are. Promise me you won't come into the city. I can't feel her anymore, it's just vampires. You know the normal evil ones. Let me do my job.

I didn't wait for an answer, just lifted my Svante off the ground and headed towards the battle. I could have used stakes, but with this many, a sword allowed a certain distance. Distance was good when being attacked by multiple vampires. One on one, give me a stake any day. Multiples, I'm going all Highlander on their arses.

Besides, these bastards had swords of their own.

As soon as I entered the middle of the courtyard I knew Michel had been right. She was still here, she had just been waiting for me to play the hero.

I couldn't stop to think about that now, I was in full battle mode and those vampires closest to me were hungry. Their red rimmed eyes shone brightly in the night, when they spotted me, they saucered bigger and their lips peeled back to reveal long fangs ready to go.

Gregor's vampires tried to get around me, to hold them off, no doubt instructed to by Gregor, but I held my own. Slashing one then the next, unable to land killing blows but managing to keep their weapons off me, holding them at bay. We'd been at it maybe ten minutes, neither side making much headway. I could still feel old evil chick somewhere in the periphery, but she didn't seem keen to get involved, so I blocked her from my mind. Just kept a subtle check on her location and poured my efforts into what was in front of me.

Finally, I managed to land a jab in the right place and the vampire I'd struck burst into dust in the air. I felt like letting out a cry of celebration, but he was soon replaced by another and it started all over again. I wasn't tiring yet, I'm built for more than this, but I was beginning to wonder just how long this was going to go on for. If we were lucky, the sun would rise and the vamps would all burn. Of course, that would mean Gregor and his lot, as well as Erika and Jett, would have to seek cover, but you know, it was a tempting thought.

I didn't exactly feel cumbersome with the Svante, but I did feel disconnected. I liked my sword, I really did and I could do fantastic things with it, but I couldn't help seeing out of the corner of my eye, the simple and effective moves of Nero with just a stake. Sure he had to get closer to the vampires than I was, but by getting closer he was landing more blows. I was simply using the sword to fend off their advances, unable to land a strike because I was still too far away. I missed the feel of my stake. I missed the close confines of the fight.

To hell with this, I shouted at a nearby vamp to cover me, he jumped in front of my body and I re-sheathed my sword, managing the motion in a heartbeat. Practice, practice, practice. I slipped a stake out of my jacket and felt immediately calmer.

I let Gregor's vamp know I was back on the team and started getting busy for real. I've learned so much over the past two years, not just from Nero more recently, although his tutelage has been amazing, but also from the shape shifters, from Rick. I know every kick boxing move there is, every kick, every punch, but even more, I can fight dirty. Like a street fighter, the Taniwhas taught me that. I can roll and duck and flip and scamper like the best of them. Without my sword in tow, I became a breeze, a leaf in the air, fluttering from one point to the next. My speed has increased since I joined with Michel and came into my powers, I'm faster than even Nero sometimes, especially when I am in the zone.

I noticed Nero watching me with a look of pride on his face, even as he battled two vampires at once. I liked that he appreciated my skills. If there has been one goal in my life over the past couple of months, it would have been to have made Nero proud. He has always appeared the most accomplished, the most beautiful fighter I have ever witnessed. I don't believe I come even close to his natural style, his natural ability. Hell, he's had five hundred years to master it, maybe I could be as good as him, given time. But, he is stunning and to have him look at me right now with that wonderful look of pride on his face filled my heart to over flowing.

I was distracted from my thoughts by the vampire in front of me though, who had decided it was time to stop playing by the rules and simply tossed his mate right at my head. The vampire that flew through the air screamed like a girl and I ducked and rolled out of the way, only to have the shooter land on top of me and flatten me to the ground. Everyone was busy, no one could help, but I was used to one on one and just because he had me down, didn't mean I was out. I threw my head back against his face as he came in for a taster, smashing his nose a beauty and making him rear back in pain. It was enough to wriggle out from under him, twist over on my back and land a kick with both boots to his face as he crouched above where I had been held only moments before.

He swore and fell backwards, I didn't waste any time, but jumped on top of him to land my stake. He tried to swipe me away and managed to swat at my head, making stars appear briefly but my stake had already found its mark and simply required me to push it home. I did and landed in dust. I was up on my feet in an instant, ready to round on the flyer who had gathered himself together, crushed his inner girl and come back with fangs down and out. We danced, the usual dance, but I was getting my groove on now and had him staked within sixty seconds flat.

These guys were numerous, but not good. I picked they weren't
Iunctio
guards this time round, but effective only due to numbers. There had been a lot of them, now there were only a handful. I hadn't been the only one to get busy. Amisi was covered in dust and sweating, but still managing to look beautiful. Gregor and his vampires were like elite soldiers, all swift, economical moves, minimal effort, maximum gain. Erika and the now recovered Jett, were  fighting side by side and they worked well together. Complementing each other, setting one guy up to be ended by their partner. Jett would lure them in, land a few blows, get them into position and Erika would pierce the heart. It was also beautiful, in a cat and mouse tag team kind of way. Nero was just Nero. A flash of Light so bright he dazzled. I smiled as I battled with a loner vamp. I owed Nero a big fat apology. I'd been a real arse lately and he deserved so much better. He was an amazing trainer and an even more amazing friend. I vowed I'd make it up to him, as soon I finished this piece of shit right in front of me and we wound up for the night for real.

I knew we could do it, we were almost there. It was just a matter of cleaning up the dregs, glazing any nearby humans and hiding any evidence that any of this had gone down at all tonight. I almost started to relax, but the vamp who held my attention was slightly better than the rest and had just landed a rather nasty spinning back fist to my face, making blood start to trickle down from my nose and a sharp pain lance across my skull. The son of a bitch had probably broken it. So much for making a good impression on my teacher. Nero no doubt still looked like he'd just stepped out of the shower and into cleanly pressed clothes. Mine had rips and now blood splatters and it was only going to get worse, because don't noses just love to bleed when they've been hit? I swiped my arm across my mouth, catching the blood, but avoiding making contact with the now most sensitive part of my entire friggin' body.

I cranked my neck to the side and rolled my shoulders and then flew at the mofo, executing a beautiful side kick to his torso, following it up with flying punch to his face and what do you know? Blood started pouring out of his nose too. Payback is a bitch. Before he had a chance to swipe at it I sunk my stake in the sweet spot and put him out of his misery.

I was feeling a sense of pride at that move when I knew something was wrong. The sound of fighting; that hard core wrenching of a fist on flesh, air being pounded out of a body in a grunt, the splat of a face-plant to concrete, the stomp of a boot on the ground, the metal clang of a sword on sword or dagger, all of it had vanished. There was nothing but stillness in the air. I spun around and every living being in that square was still, suspended in the night air like grotesque mannequins in the shop window of
Smith and Caugheys
. It was surreal. It was unnatural. It was scary as fuck.

I knew, before I found her, that she had decided to say hello. I sensed her oozing out of the shadows, like something thick and viscous. She peeled away from the dark at the edge of my vision and began to slide across the ground towards me. I could still move, I could still fight, I could have run away, but I didn't. I stood there terrified by what slunk towards me, not human, not animal, just a dense black void of goo pouring across the pavers. She began to solidify a little, the closer she got, as though she couldn't help herself, she needed me to see her. I caught a glimpse of a beautiful face, but then it would be, if she was a goddess like Nut. I thought it looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. Maybe she looked like Nut, maybe that was it, maybe she was the evil twin or something, but I didn't know. I just knew she was evil, that she seemed familiar, but I couldn't tell if it was the feel of her evil or the look of her face that felt so familiar to me.

Just as she came to a stop in front of me and reached out a hand, she blurred in my vision, so I couldn't get a decent look. But I knew she was growing stronger and no longer just a shape of black, but becoming a person, a goddess. And even though I wanted to see her face, to know who this evil was, I was glad I couldn't. I felt relieved, but I also knew she was going to kill me and I wasn't doing a damn thing to stop her.

I wanted to lift my stake and strike her through the heart. I knew she had one, I could feel it beating. I knew she had taken on a corporeal form even though I could no longer see anything other than a blur.

I watched in slow motion as her hands raised up and a dark black shape began to form at the tip of her fingers, building, getting bigger, stronger, taking on more form and more substance. Kind of like my Light does when I'm about to thrust it out as a weapon. Oh shit.

This was it then and I stood by like a stupid untrained fool. Paralysed.

I'm sorry, Michel. I'm so sorry.

Suddenly, I felt a shift beside me, but it couldn't be any of the vampires, they were all wax models right now, but it was something, someone. I turned my head in time to see the glint of a stake in the light of the moon and the bright white linen of Nero's Egyptian clothing, as he shot out in front of my body, stretching out his arms and torso to cover mine, whilst throwing out his stake at the evil. And I watched in horror as his body took the full frontal force of her Dark striking out from the end of her fingers.

She flickered and wavered and poofed into thin air with a loud crack, the vampires and Amisi all around me falling to the ground with groans and moans and shouts and curses. And Nero landed on the ground at my feet in a crumpled heap of blood. So much blood pouring out of everywhere.

I was in shock, I was alive, I was crying even before I reached for him, because I knew what I would find. He was still breathing, he was still Dream Walking, he was still with me, but he was bad. His arm was barely attached at the right shoulder, his femoral artery had been severed on both legs. His neck had been sliced open and his chest - oh God, his chest - was a ruined mincemeat of red bloody flesh.

“Nero,” I whispered as I fell to my knees and tried to find a space to touch him. Everywhere looked painful, everywhere looked red and raw and bloody. I didn't want to hurt him, I didn't want to touch him, I didn't want to know it was real and if I touched him and got bloody then it was.