I take off, continuing to follow the trail and it’s not long before the scents begin to get stronger. As the scents get stronger I begin to pick up the sound of people conversing. I slow down my approach as their words become clearer, and it becomes obvious I’ve found the people I’m looking for. I sniff around, assessing my surroundings; smelling the trees around me. I click my tongue to discern how far away they are and walk over to what sounds like the nearest tree. It feels large and sturdy. I make quick work climbing up high into the tree top calculating how high I am as I climb so I can calculate how far the drop will be, then perch myself on a branch. From here I can easily spot the group of sanguidae I’m after. They’re a short distance away, all six of them. Each one illuminated by their different coloured auras, but each aura is outlined by a hue of blood red – common in the auras of sanguidaes. They’re laughing and enjoying themselves despite the fact they just murdered innocent people.
“That was amazing!” One cries, “I just want to go and do it again. I’ve never felt a rush like it in my life!”
“It’ll only get better from here. Don’t worry, we’ll find more people to feed on,” says another arrogantly with a thick Italian accent. No doubt their self-proclaimed leader. Interesting how the others have strong Kiwi accents but his is Italian. It’s possible he’s responsible for turning the others. He may have discovered how to do so by accident and then decided to do it purposefully, but I can only confirm that upon questioning them.
“Even after all that blood, I’m still hungry,” groans a woman’s voice in agitation. I can’t help but feel a little sorry for her. The blood lust for a sanguidae is incurable. That hunger will never go away ever, no matter how much they feed, but they can learn to control it and live with it, though I’m not sure I’d call it living.
“Me too, and why did she get to eat the hearts? It’s not fair!” protests another, her finger pointed directly at a figure who is sitting a little ostracised from the rest of the group. She’s keeping to herself and is the only one not speaking.
I internally cringe as I witness their leader backhand the girl who spoke up and wrap his hand around her throat. Though I’m sure that barely hurt, it was degrading, to say the least. There are many septs in existence around the world, each one registered with the Delegation. We tend to let them be, provided they don’t draw attention to themselves, don’t kill humans and the people in the sept are cared for. This is obviously an unregistered sept and to make it worse, their leader is abusing those under his care, which we do not abide by.
“You have no right to fucking question me. I don’t want you speaking or even looking in her direction. Do it again and I’ll fucking kill you,” he spits, tossing her to the ground. Hmm, he seems protective of the silent one.
I don’t care to witness more of this, so I decide it’s time to make my presence known. I leap down from the tree and make a quick dash over to their little gathering spot.
“I would greatly appreciate it if you didn’t manhandle her again,” I announce, causing each of them to turn in my direction.
“Who the fuck are you?” the leader spits.
“My name is Yildiz, an irshiust and member of the Delegation, though I’m sure all of that means nothing to you,” I say casually.
“I don’t know what you just said, but you just made a big mistake coming here,” he says smugly, a smirk in his voice as he walks towards me, “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.” He now stands in front of me, his frame towering over me in a predatory manner.
“Oh?” I ask in amusement.
“I’m a vampire and you just happened upon my coven. So it looks like you’re going to be our next meal,” he whispers against my ear. I detect not a single lie in his words. Though he is wrong, he believes the words he speaks to be truth and for that reason, I only detect truth. An annoying little loophole in our abilities.
“Oh good. The inmates are running the asylum,” I deadpan. The man pulls back, no doubt a confused look on his face. “First of all, vampires are not real nor are groups of your kind called covens, and it may have skipped your notice but I’m not human, in fact, I’m far less human than you,” I point out. My skin and eyes should have made that clear, and they are closer to human than I will ever be. They were born human. I wasn’t.
“What are you talking about?” one of them asks.
“You do realise you’re walking around in the sun, do you not?” I point out.
“So?” says another.
“So, you’re not a vampire. Vampires are not real; they are simply the invention of humans. What you are, are sanguidaes, and what you seem to have formed is a little sept of your own, though it’s not recognised by the Delegation. Not yet at least.”
“Was any of that English?” jokes one of the males, causing the others to snigger.
“Consider me supernatural law enforcement, and you have all broken many of our laws. Now I’m prepared to show leniency given you haven’t a clue what you are, let alone the laws you are expected to abide by. So, you can choose to come with me willingly and my sisters and I will teach you more about what you are and how to control your hunger. You’ll be given shelter and blood when needed and we will care for you until you can prove you’re not a danger to others,” I warmly offer.
They look at each other, their heartbeats calm and steady. Irshiusts have a calming energy to us. We can’t control it, it just naturally rolls off us, like pheromones. It helps keep those we encounter calm and civil to a small extent. But the higher the emotions the less of an impact it has, and I can tell it’s having no impact on their leader whatsoever as he continues to look in my direction. I can hear the anger in his breathing. He’s not going to make this easy, and I worry he’ll bring the others down with him. The more of an effect our presence has on someone is usually a good sign that they’re open-minded and will be more open for us to negotiate with, the less of an effect it has the more trouble we know the person will be.
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but we’re happy as we are. You see, we like killing,” he says with sadistic glee, “And if you want to try and stop us, I promise it won’t end well for you.” The young girl who has remained silent is pulling on his arm trying to get his attention. Still, she says nothing, but her actions indicate she’s pleading for him to stop, though he doesn’t seem to have an interest in listening.
“I do not wish to hurt you, but I will if you force my hand,” I warn.
“You really shouldn’t have come here alone,” he gloats, throwing a nod towards one of his followers.
In a split second, the follower he has signalled is launching himself at me. But quicker than he can react, I pull a cadmium blade from my belt and slice under his armpit as I duck out of his reach. Everyone takes a fearful step back as their comrade now writhes on the ground screaming in agony. He’ll live, but the burning pain he’s enduring will definitely keep him down.
“I’ll say this again. Come with me peacefully. This doesn’t have to turn into a fight. No one has to get hurt, and your friend here can even get treatment for his wound,” I promise. But my words seem to be falling on deaf ears.
“Kill her,” the leader spits, his voice dripping with the venom that runs through his veins.
His followers hesitate briefly but are then quick to launch themselves at me. With a sigh, I pull the second dagger from my belt, and with one swift action, I swipe past them, landing a single thin slice through each of their flesh. I stand calmly, and solemnly as I listen to them drop to the ground behind me, screaming in pain. I can hear as their collective blood drips from my daggers onto the ground, each drop filling me with regret. However, I notice the silent woman hasn’t moved, but I can hear the frantic beating of her heart. The poor thing is terrified.
“Your friends won’t die from their injuries, and this doesn’t need to escalate further. Do the right thing, for them and for you,” I beseech.
“I’m not afraid of you,” he snarls, “But I will take great pleasure in killing you,” he says in a low, maniacal voice. I don’t feel a single lie in what he’s saying, which tells me even if we did manage to teach him to control his hunger, he’d still go around killing people. He doesn’t kill out of instinct, he kills out of choice, and there’s no cure for that.
“Then you leave me no choice,” I say mournfully as I place the daggers back in my belt and draw the katana from its scabbard.
With a loud snarl, their fearless and sadistic leader launches himself at me, and the moment he does I swing my blade aiming for his throat. Three things happen in the second it takes for my katana to reach its target.
First, the silent woman speeds in front of her leader in an attempt to both stop him and use herself as a shield to protect him. Second, a large figure appears out of nowhere right in front of me, their frame silhouetted by the most vibrant blood-red aura with flecks of silver buried in the hue. So much happens at once that I have no time to react as my blade comes in contact with the new arrival’s back; the blade shattering on impact. Each of these things is significant in their own right, and yet each pales in comparison to that scent. That overpowering scent that tastes like the galaxy exploding on my tongue while frying all my other senses, and it’s coming from the person now standing before me.
My animai is here.
My body has become a livewire, every synapse firing at hyperspeed sending my senses into overdrive. My body feels hot and flushed as if I’ve been basking in the sun for hours. My heart has picked up speed and my mouth is salivating. My body is in such a state of overload I can’t move. I’m completely frozen, as a thousand questions race through my mind. Now that I am in close proximity to his scent, I can pick up the metallic undertone in his scent, but far more intense than what I’ve scented before.My animai is a sanguidae?! Why is he here? Why did he stop me? And how in the name of the Gods did his body shatter my sword?! I might have killed him! I have so much I want to ask I don’t know where to begin.“Not her,” comes his deep and warm voice that elicits a shiver from me.“What?” I whisper, trying to process that fact I’ve finally heard his voice and what he meant by what he said. I take what’s left of my katana and place it back in its scabbard.“I can’t let you hurt her, and as
An animai. A fucking animai. Has Zarseti lost her fucking mind?! How is that even remotely possible? This was meant to be a simple retrieval; how did this all happen? I had sensed the newly made sanguidae as soon as they turned. As the first, I am connected to each and every one, so I can feel when another comes into being. A fact that shames and disgusts me to my core. They had someone guiding them, so I didn’t interfere right away, but once I knew their supposed leader was as dumb as a doornail with the traits of a serial killer, I knew I had to step in. For thousands of years, I’ve managed to get to them before the Delegation could, but for once they beat me to it, but I never could have expected things to turn out this way. The moment I appeared; her scent overtook me. It nearly threw thousands of years of self-control out the window. Her scent was the most glorious thing I’ve ever smelt in my entire existence. She smelled of warm vanilla and orchids fresh on the vine at the pea
I disappear only to reappear in front of a large white double door. With no effort on my part, I push my arms in front of me blasting the doors open as my hands connect with the wood. I storm through the pristine 14,000 sqft villa of all white, turquoise, and deep blue accents with marble floors. I pass the living area, pass the kitchen and storm right out to the backyard. I step out into the oceanfront oasis seeking my target. I make my way through the white stone paths that divide the many swimming areas, proceed past the palm trees and up the stone steps until I get to the pool at the far end. As I reach the top platform, I look down into the clear turquoise waters at the woman I seek, her 7’1” curvaceous frame lazily floating on the water’s surface. Her fuchsia hair sprawled out around her and her white bikini clinging to her bronze skin. “Is there a reason why someone who can pop in wherever he likes, felt the need to break down my front door?” she casually asks, her eyes remain
After Beste and I returned to the Kartheca we debriefed our sisters on what had happened regarding the venator and sanguidae. I was sure to explain to my sisters about meeting the very first sanguidae and how he has been the one behind the disappearances all these years. That definitely got them all hyped up. I left out the part about him being my animai though. Omitting the truth is as close as we can get to lying and I am giving it my all these days. As soon as the formalities of the job are out of the way, I excuse myself and return my weapons to the armoury, being sure to clean them before putting them away. Except for the katana which is now just a handle with the remnants of a broken blade protruding from the handle. I then rush to my room, close the door, and take in a deep breath. “MOTHER! Mother, please. I need to speak to you. I don’t wish to question the gift you’ve given me, but I need to understand what’s going on. I need your help,” I beg as I sit down on my bed. I los
It’s taken a couple of days, but I’ve finally gotten the newborns settled at the safe house. It’s a 36,000-square-foot house I acquired in Sweden, so they’ve got plenty of room to wander and avoid each other if they have to. They’re struggling with their hunger but it’s to be expected. They’re at least willing to learn control. Either way, taking care of them is definitely keeping me distracted from thinking about a certain gold-glittery mocha-skinned beauty. For thousands of years taking care of newborns was an obligation, now it’s a welcome interference. While the newborns are doing well, the only person not adjusting – or trying to adjust – is Simon. He picks a fight with everyone and tries to act dominant. Which might go over better if it weren’t for how clueless he is. I’ve been meaning to have a chat with his maker and find out just what the fuck happened, but none of them were in a state for me to leave. They can’t kill each other, but they sure can inflict a lot of injuries on
I toss for the umpteenth time as sleep continues to elude me. Every time I close my eyes all I see are those liquid golden orbs staring back at me with so much disappointment. As if one God cursing me wasn’t enough, now another has cursed me in some belief she’s helping me. Is it a wonder so many on earth cuss out the Gods on the regular? It’s been two agonisingly torturous weeks since I met Yildiz. I thought each day I kept distance between us it would get easier, but boy was I fucking wrong. Her scent plagues my memories and at night I swear I can still hear the rhythm of her heart beating in my ears. Her blood still calls out to me like a siren’s song and I’m this close to shoving wax in my ears and tying myself to something to stop myself from being lured to it. I turn onto my back and stare at the ceiling hating where my thoughts are going. I told myself I would stay away, I intended to keep that promise, but I’m going out of my mind. Maybe if I could just see her for a moment o
As I begin to wake up, I can feel the warmth of the morning sun streaming into my room. I’ve only ever seen the sunrise once and that was with the aid of a makkari long ago. I wonder if each sunrise is different. Each morning is a new day so I imagine there must be some difference in the light it shines upon the earth. If it weren’t for feeling its rays on my skin I wouldn’t even be aware it was morning at all as I open my eyes and stare up into nothingness.The moment I’m fully awake the ache in my chest returns and I crave to return to the oblivion sleep brings. There’s been no word or contact with Osiah in two weeks and the pain it causes me each day only grows. I imagine it would be a thousand times worse if we sealed our bond, so I suppose I can take some solace in knowing that’s not the case, but I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this.Aulen has tried to help me to no avail, and I’ve screamed out to my mother every single day and again come up empty. As much as I yea
I’ve gone mad, and not the blood craze kind of madness, I mean a whole other type of madness. One that, up until recently, was completely foreign to me. It’s a madness of the heart. I told myself I’d stay away from Yildiz but as soon as it got too hard I was right there watching her sleep like a stalker. I told myself that would be the only time, but was it? No. One night turned into two, then two turned into three. Now I’m visiting her every night, just desperate to see her face and breathe in her scent. Last night I stupidly touched her. I knew I shouldn’t have but the craving was more intense than any blood lust I’ve ever felt. I tried to fight it, but I proved once again how weak I am. I caressed her face and felt her satin skin beneath my fingers and my heart nearly exploded when she reacted to my touch. She was asleep, yet she leaned into my touch. She shivered and her heart rate spiked, all from a single touch. I knew then I’d gone too far, and I cursed myself for it. She can