Authors: Lydia Michaels
“I can smell her. Do not
insult me with your lies.”
“She will not go to you.
I suggest you return from the place you came.”
Cerberus lifted his face
a scented the air. “You have much of my property in this house,” he said,
blinking curiously as though her were trying to place the puzzle of what he scented.
“What else are you hiding?”
“There is nothing here
that belongs to you. Leave.”
The shutters slapped
shut and the pocket doors of the den rolled and slammed, trapping them in.
Every extinguished candle leapt to life, tall flames licking ten inches from
the wick. His sire’s gaze snapped to the bishop’s.
“You will die tonight,”
Cerberus hissed. “Not the death of an immortal, but the death of man. You will
know the agony I have known as your body slowly begins to decompose leaving you
too weak to be anything more than fodder for the insects that eat at your
flesh. Make no mistake, I’m older, stronger, and a vengeful son of a bitch to
my enemies.”
Christian gave the
bishop much credit for the way he did not flinch at the threat. “I will not
fight you,” Eleazar said. “But I will protect the ones I love. Leave here. You
do not love her and she is of no threat to you.”
“All right,” Cerberus
said. “I’ll leave here under one condition. You trade me all the females in the
house and you may keep Girl.”
A growl ripped from
Eleazar’s chest. “No. You will leave as empty handed as you came and never come
back.”
Cerberus was silent for
a moment and then tipped his head back and laughed. Suddenly, his glare
returned to the bishop and his arm swept outward. Eleazar’s body took to the
air, crashing into the plaster wall and sending him sliding to the floor with a
pained grunt. “You hold no power over me,” Cerberus taunted. “I am twelve
hundred years old. No one presumes to tell me what I will and will not do.”
He twisted his hand and
the bishop roared in agony. Christian stepped forward. “Stop.”
His father stilled and
turned to him. “What a pity your life has been, living here on a
farm.
You
are an immortal for Christ’s sake. Look at yourself! No male from my loins
should live in such plainness. I find you a great disappointment.”
“Your opinions carry no
weight here,” Christian said as the bishop held his stomach and staggered to
his feet, steadying himself on the wall. “Get out.”
Cerberus chuckled. “No.”
Pain lanced through
Christian’s head and he roared, gripping his temples and dropping to his knees.
The door crashed open and there was a sharp click followed by an explosion.
The agony squeezing his
skull ceased, leaving a throbbing ache in his head. He glanced up and saw his
mother in her shift, hair down like wild flames around her shoulders and a
smoking rifle in her hands.
“Adriel, no!” the bishop
hissed, but his mother did not acknowledge his warning.
She stepped into the
room and cocked the rifle again, sending another explosive shot into the air.
The bullet sunk into his father’s chest and he grunted, his eyes mad with rage.
“Get out,”
she hissed through long
fangs.
Cerberus seethed. “
Girl…”
She cocked the weapon
again and stepped forward. “My name is Adriel Schrock. I am the eldest of my
lineage and belong to
no
man. I have not been a
girl
for a very
long time and I am not the weakling you claimed. Hurt my son again I swear upon
all that is holy that I will see to your death myself, you vile impression of
man.”
His eyes narrowed and
his palm rose. The rifle went off a third time and he grunted, taking a step
back as the bullet punctured his flesh. Blood bloomed, soaking his clothing and
spattering against the plaster walls.
“Bitch!”
he hissed and she shot
again, sending him stumbling into the mantle. He roared and threw out his
claws.
His mother screamed as
her body propelled into the air and crashed through the window like a sack of
bones.
“No!”
Christian roared and
attacked. His skin tore under the sharp swipe of claws. Fangs bit at him and he
became an immortal possessed.
Eleazar sunk his fangs
into Cerberus’s throat, tearing flesh from tendons and Christian knew this
night would leave the bishop with murder on his soul.
Cerberus was incredibly
strong, throwing them off and gaining upper ground even with several bullet
holes gaping in his chest. A blow crashed into Christian’s face driving his
body into the hall. And then came the mortal cry of his friend the bishop.
Weak, Christian pushed
up on his palms only to falter. Pressure knifed into his spine and he
collapsed. Panting, he gazed at Cerberus, who was dragging the bishop’s limp
body along the ground.
“No,” Christian wheezed.
Cerberus sent a jolt of
paralyzing weight onto him and sneered. “Do not make me kill my son as well.
Stay there.”
It was of no use. His
father was of too many years and possessed an evilness Christian could not
contend. He collapsed to the ground and watched, helplessly as his sire dragged
Eleazar from the house.
* * * *
Delilah sensed his pain.
It cut through her like a searing blade and once it set in she could no longer
ignore it. Nearly pulling the door from its hinges she shot down the hall like
a bat out of hell, crashing to her knees at his side.
A cry ripped from her
throat when she saw what a bloody mess he was. “Oh my God, Christian!” Her hand
trembled as she brushed the hair from his eyes.
“Delilah,” he wheezed.
“He did this to you?”
The pain was tangible, her need to heal him already taking hold of her fingers
as she pulled the negative energy from his body.
He weakly caught her
wrist. “Do not.”
“Christian, you’re hurt.
Let me help you,” she cried.
His fingers tightened.
“My mother. Find my mother.”
“But…”
“Please,
pintura.
She
is in danger. I will be here when you return.”
She didn’t want to leave
him, but his eyes pleaded with her. Reluctantly, she sat back. “Okay,
Christian. I’ll be back.” She pressed her lips to his temple and prayed he’d be
okay.
Rushing out the door,
her senses scanned the area and she quickly found Adriel lying unconscious
amongst shards of shattered glass. She went to the woman and brushed her fiery
hair from her face. Spatters of blood showed like tar on her pale flesh. She
pressed her palm to the woman’s forehead. “Adriel.”
Her red lashes fluttered
and she tensed. Her eyes opened and she hissed.
“It’s me, Delilah. I’m
here to help you.” She pulled the pain from her, taking it into herself until
it seeped away leaving lethargy in its wake.
Adriel sighed as she
helped her sit up. “Where is Cer?”
Delilah looked into the
dark night. The horizon showed shades of violet as evening faded into day. “I
don’t know. Christian’s hurt. I need to get back to him.”
The woman’s eyes skipped
about with panic. “I must leave this place. I must go now before he returns for
me. Eleazar…where is Eleazar?”
“The bishop?”
“Yes,” she answered with
alarm.
“I don’t know.”
“You must find him,
Delilah. You must stop Cer from killing him.”
Her breath came quick.
“I’m not that strong. He hurt Christian. I’m afraid.”
The woman’s eyes bore
into hers as she gripped her hand. “Do not let them convince you we are less
because we are female. You are
strong
, Delilah. You have gifts like I
have never seen. Block him and he won’t be able to hurt you. There is a light
in you that pain cannot touch. Eleazar needs you. Go!”
She didn’t think the
woman was thinking clearly, but she felt the mental push to do as she was told.
Standing, glass crunched under her bare feet. “Where will you go?”
“Away from here,” the
woman said sadly. “Take care of my son, Delilah. He needs you more than he
realizes.”
“I will.”
Adriel took her hand and
squeezed. “When all this is over, you must go to the bishop. He has a book,
The
Book of Confessions.
It is a journal. On those pages, you will find my
story. It is a painful memory I do not speak of, but Eleazar made sure my
trials were put into the records. Ask him for that book and take it to my son.
I believe I made a mistake, never speaking to him about his father. I did not
even share his name with Christian, because speaking it was too painful. But he
must see. Show him
The Book of Confessions
and tell him, having him as
my son, made everything worthwhile. He is my proudest accomplishment in this
life and I want him to be everything his father was not.”
Delilah nodded and with
that Adriel was gone, her silhouette racing into the dawn before Delilah could
beg her to stay.
Her head turned and she
scanned the area, listening for any telltale sign of where Cerberus had taken
the bishop. In the distance there was the sound of something scraping, followed
by a sprinkling of sorts. She dropped to her haunches and pressed her
fingertips to the cool grass.
The slightest
reverberation met her palms. Shutting her eyes, she drew in a breath and
focused. She could do this. She just needed to focus and find her inner vampyre
Jedi. The scrape sounded again and she sniffed the dewy air.
There it was. The scent
of Cerberus Maddox. Her mind retreated to her parlor and their meetings. His
scent had evolved since then, grown more distinct. And most of all, what she
picked up on now, was the scent of her mate’s blood on the other man’s flesh.
She growled, her lip
curling reflexively as her vision changed and she lifted to the balls of her
feet. She may be vampyre, but she wasn’t quite Amish and she had no problem
opening up a can of whoop ass on this mo-fo. She was going
samurai-ninja-you
don’t fuck with my man-crazy bitch
on this bloodsuckers ass.
She sprung into a dead
run, following the curious scraping sound. Her feet traveled several miles and
she never once faltered as she raced over the dewy fields. When she found him,
he was holding a shovel and patting down a patch of freshly turned ground.
Her body whipped to a
halt and she narrowed her eyes, her fangs pressing into her lips as she growled
out a snarl so threatening and deep. He tossed the shovel to the ground with a
clank.
“Ah, Ms. Starling, we
meet again.”
“You hurt my mate.”
His shoulder lifted and
she was pleased to see evidence of his own blood. “I warned the boy not to
interrupt. These Amish…” he said, picking a fleck of dirt from his nails. “They
don’t know how to fight.”
“Lucky for you I’m not
Amish.”
He gazed at her chemise
and made an unimpressed roll of his eyes. “Lucky for you I have no issues where
you’re concerned. Let’s keep it that way.”
“I’d love to, but you
hurt Christian and now I’m afraid I’m going to have to fuck you up.”
He laughed. “Don’t be
foolish. You underestimate my strength. Provoke me and I’ll take your head and
leave your body where you stand.”
She really hoped that wasn’t
true. She liked her head attached to her body. Her bravado faltered, but she
continued to talk smack. She really wanted a piece of this guy. “Try it.”
“Don’t tempt me.” There
was a shuffle from behind and Cerberus glanced over her shoulder and frowned.
“What the…”
She quickly glanced over
her shoulder and her eyes went wide. An enormous bull, several horses, and some
angry looking chickens were lined up like the frontline at the Battle of
Falkirk.
This is my army?
Taking a deep breath she
faced Cerberus. “You’re outnumbered.”
He laughed. “Hardly.”
The bull stepped forward
and scraped its hoof in the dirt. Steam billowed from its dripping, flaring
nostrils. More animals arrived and she wondered how they were all getting out
of their pens. If he hurt single one of them she was really going to go bat
shit on his ass.
He stopped laughing.
“What is this?”
She shrugged. “They like
me. But they don’t seem too fond of you. Do you know pigs can swallow a man,
chewing up everything down to the teeth?” A tusked bore scuffled over and
grunted at his feet. He looked repulsed as he stepped away from the grunting
beast.
The sky turned pink as
the sun crested the horizon. Birds of prey circled overhead and Cerberus
glanced to the sky.
“We want you to leave,”
she said, sensing his fear.
His eyes glowed as he
returned his glare to her. “I will, once I have what is mine.”
“You’re too late. She’s
gone. You lost your chance.”
He growled. “You lie.”
“Nope. I watched her
leave, helped her even.”