Authors: Ella J. Phoenix
of voice.
‚No, I need to give it to him personally.‛
‚Why is that, black panther?‛ This time, Dyam’s voice resonated in
the woods surrounding them with a menace that made the air grow
thicker. So she
was
the jungle animal Dyam had tracked down at the club.
‚Because I don’t trust you, Cherokee,‛ she answered in a low,
menacing tone. ‚This message is for your king’s ears only. I will not
deliver it otherwise.‛
‚And why would he want to hear it?‛ Hikuro asked, measuring up
the woman on the other end of the bridge.
‚It concerns him and his kingdom.‛
A gush of wind crossed Tardieh’s face, and the scent of blue mist
flowers invaded his nostrils. He froze. A second later, he heard a whisper
behind him. ‚And because a gentleman always keeps his promise.‛
In a flash, Tardieh spun on his heels, raised his gun, and pinned his
target by the throat against a nearby tree.
Zoricah didn’t try to stop him or defend herself. She just faced him
with an unreadable expression on her face. Her long midnight hair was
neatly tied up in a ponytail; she wore no earrings or makeup. She didn’t
need to. Her honey hazel eyes glittered in the dark night and illuminated
her exotic features. Like her black panther, she was also wearing tight
black pants, knee-high boots, and a black tank top that was a tribute to her
perfect female figure.
‚What are you doing here?‛ Tardieh’s voice came out more like a
groan. His gun touched her right temple. ‚What is this all about?‛
‚I knew you would come,‛ Zoricah responded, pinning him with
her beautiful eyes. ‚It’s been a long time, Tardieh.‛
Hearing his name coming out of those lush lips made his mouth go
dry, but he managed to recoup some saliva. ‚Not long enough. What the
fuck is this all about?‛
Tardieh saw a small hint of shock in her glittering eyes but
whatever feelings he had stirred in her were quickly concealed. ‚We need
to talk. Can you please be so kind and lower your gun?‛
For reasons he didn’t know or didn’t want to dwell on at that
particular moment, Tardieh leaned forward. ‚Not until you tell me why
you trapped one of my guards and knocked him unconscious.‛
Her nose was inches from his. He could feel the warmth of her
body, her minty blue mist scent.
‚You are a very difficult male to reach, Tardieh, and my matter is
urgent.‛ She looked him straight in the eye, no wavering, no faltering, no
hint of hesitancy. She was dead serious. ‚My girl did not kill your guard
despite having plenty of time and opportunity to do so. It was not my
intention to offend you, but I had no other choice.‛
She had a point. After his father’s death and the attempts on his
own life that followed, Tardieh had learned his lesson. He’d never stayed
in one place for more than six months, never went to pre-scheduled
functions or meetings, preferring to show up unexpectedly. That way, his
enemies would never know where or when to find him. Until now.
A movement in his peripheral vision made him shift his gaze
slightly. Before he had time to turn around, a delicate hand touched the
nape of his neck. ‚Let her go, vampire, or I’ll fry you to dust.‛
It all happened too fast. In a second, Joel was pointing his gun at
the new female who kept her hand on Tardieh’s nape. The brunette
appeared a second later in her black panther shape, growling at Joel and
Hikuro, who had reached the spot at the same time. Soon after, Dyam
jumped in front of the panther, clearly prepared to take on her attack.
‚Stop!‛
Zoricah was furious. She had gone through the plan a thousand
times with her fighters and yet they still failed to follow it. She knew this
situation would very likely happen, and she wanted it to be avoided at all
costs. That’s why she’d had Yara and Sam distract the vampire guards
while she talked with Tardieh.
‚Stop!‛ She had to shout once more. ‚Remove your hand, Sam.‛
Sam did not move. Zoricah unlocked her gaze from Tardieh’s,
which had not wavered from hers the entire time, and found her friends’.
‚Sam, retrieve your hand. Now.‛ Her low, directive tones were enough to
make her friend follow her command.
Sam slowly removed her hand from Tardieh’s neck but kept her
stance, ready for another attack if needed.
Zoricah’s gaze found Tardieh’s again. ‚There’s is no need for
hostility. I come in peace.‛ Tardieh’s eyes narrowed even more. ‚This
matter concerns the healthy state of your kingdom.‛
He lowered his face, as if studying her between his long lashes.
Their closeness was starting to bother Zoricah in ways she had not
anticipated. She met his gaze squarely and said in barely audible tones,
‚Tell your men to stand down, Tardieh. I promise you there are no
enemies in this park tonight.‛
After a few more seconds, Tardieh lowered his gun from her
temple and said to his guards, ‚Stand down, my friends.‛ But he did not
remove his hands from her throat nor did he step away from her. ‚Why
are you here?‛
Zoricah saw pure hatred in his green eyes, a hatred she could not
understand. It had been two hundred years since they had last seen each
other, but she remembered every single minute of their encounter. For the
love of all gods, she’d imagined every type of welcome she might receive
but not pure loathing. She raised her chin and put her hand on his broad
chest, pushing him away slowly. ‚I am afraid I do not bring easy words,
king.‛
She felt Tardieh tense at her touch, but he did not resist and gave
her some space. ‚If you give me five minutes of your precious time, I will
explain my purpose.‛
‚Speak. The clock is ticking,‛ he replied dryly.
She noted his guards stood menacingly around them, ready to
decimate any threat to their king. It was an interesting bunch. A Japanese
samurai descended from one of the oldest vampire families in the world; a
Native American who was said to be the son of a shaman, and a blond
male who could have made a fortune as a movie star. As part of her
preparations to meet the vampire king, she had of course studied his
soldiers in depth. These three trained vampire warriors were known to be
his personal guards, closest friends, and advisors. Seldom did Tardieh
leave his home—or hiding place, as some said—without his trusted
guards. Seeing them there, ready to stand between their king and any
threats, made Zoricah understand why.
She gave one reassuring look to her own faithful friends, Sam and
Yara, and focused her attention on the tall male in front of her. ‚I have
been investigating a series of disappearances in the past eighteen months.
They started in the Middle East, Dubai to be more exact. Several females
disappeared in the city’s underground life almost two years ago. No one
gave the matter a second thought in the beginning because all of them
were sujhas until the daughter of a draconian senator met the same fate.‛
Zoricah could feel those females’ desperation boiling under her skin.
Having been outcast and labeled as non-pure by draconian society for
being the result of a fling between a draconian female and a dragon
god—apparently her father’s divine status was not good enough for her
race’s aristocracy—she felt for every sujah whose life was cut short for
lack of social shelter.
‚I fail to see the reason why I should care for draconian females
disappearing in the Middle East.‛ Tardieh’s voice was hard but carried an
edge to it, as if he was not entirely sure of that statement himself.
‚Because the females are not only dragons. There are vampires
among the abducted.‛
Tardieh’s eyes widened in surprise for a split second, but then his
features took on an even harder look. ‚I would have been advised if such
occurrences had happened in my kingdom.‛
‚Why? They were nothing but solitaire wonderers or outcasts,
sujhas who had gotten sick and tired of our society’s prejudiced laws. No
one missed them, so no one reported their deaths.‛
‚How do you know they are dead?‛
‚We found a mass grave just outside Dubai near a village called Al
Musaydrah.‛ She reached for her back pocket. Big mistake. Before the
thought formed in her mind, Tardieh had his gun at her forehead, his
guards had raised their weapons, Sam reacted by placing her hand on
Tardieh’s nape, and Zoricah could clearly hear the menacing roar of the
black panther.
Zoricah put her hands up as if in surrender. ‚I am just going to get
my dossier from my pants. That is all.‛
Tardieh narrowed his eyes. ‚Where is it?‛
‚In my back pocket.‛ Putting on her best innocent face, Zoricah
said, ‚May I?‛
‚No, you may not.‛ Without any warning, Tardieh reached behind
her and shoved his hand into her pocket.
‚Not the right one. It’s on the left,‛ she said with clenched jaw.
‚And watch it.‛
‚Don’t worry, goddess. Touching you is the last thing I want to do
right now.‛
That hurt. She felt his big hands grabbing what she called her palm
folder. It was a small black pentagram one inch high and just over five
inches long with no apparent openings.
After a quick look at the device, he said, ‚I thought you said it was
a dossier.‛
‚It is, an electronic one. Did you really think I’d fly around with a
briefcase hanging off my claws?‛ Zoricah’s patience was wearing thin. She
had come here to try to get his support, but ultimately she was doing him
a favor by trying to save his race from a predator. ‚Give me that. And take
this gun out of my face.‛
Tardieh complied, but Zoricah saw he was a little bit startled by her
harsh, commanding tone.
She stepped away from him, put the small pentagram in the palm
of her hand, and touched one of the sides. A flicker of bright blue light
crossed its surface just before a narrow rectangle opened in the center, and
a radiant translucent square of spread upward in front of everyone’s eyes.
Zoricah looked at Tardieh watching her little toy as if it were magic. She
had to bite the inside of her cheeks to prevent the smile that threatened to
come out.
She touched the side of the pentagram again, and a small picture
appeared on the glowing rectangle. Slowly, it grew to the size of a piece of
paper. The holographic photo showed mutilated bodies of vampires
dumped in a deep hole on the ground. After a few seconds, the image was
substituted for another one: headless bodies lay on top of more bodies, all
butchered, with their bellies open and entrails showing. The slideshow
carried on, and Zoricah noted that Tardieh was as intent on it as his
guards. They had all gathered around watching the macabre
demonstration.
Zoricah gave them a few seconds to take in the pictures, then
continued, ‚After weeks of investigation, we managed to track down
where the vampires and dracos were taken. We broke in and destroyed
the place.‛ Zoricah watched Tardieh’s eyes still locked on the images.
It was Hikuro who managed to first wake up from the ghoulish
trance. ‚What was it?‛
Sam responded, ‚It was a sort of hospital with beds and operating
facilities.‛
Zoricah saw Hikuro shift his dark gaze to Sam. Did Zoricah really
see her friend recoil? that made Sam go cold.
‚Who was behind it? And why?‛ Tardieh asked, bringing her
attention back to the task at hand.
‚We do not know. Unfortunately we got there too late. They must
have been tipped off because the place was empty.‛ Zoricah’s stomach
lurched with the memories. She still could not forgive herself for letting
them get away in Dubai.
‚But it was a close one,‛ Yara added. ‚All surgical apparatus,
bottles of medicine, and operating tools were still there when we broke
in.‛
‚We also found an inventory with a list of supplies dated a few
weeks back,‛ Zoricah said measuring Tardieh’s reaction. ‚It had a New
York address on it.‛
After the last image faded, Zoricah moved to put the pentagram
away, but Tardieh grabbed her wrist. ‚Pictures can be doctored, especially
with this sort of technology.‛
Without pulling her hand back, Zoricah agreed for the first time
with the vampire king. ‚Yes, they can.‛ Taking a deep breath, she looked
at her fighters. They were ready for an attack, but they wanted a specific
target, and it was not Tardieh. If they were going to succeed in this