Playing with Shadows (2 page)

Vlad was haunted by his past. A demon
had murdered his son and wife leaving him with no one. It was what
made him so cold. Nicola knew he was a hard master to live under,
but he cared about every one of the vampires and ghouls he made.
She knew she had a special place in his undead heart, but it had
never resonated as strongly as it did in that moment.

Nicola’s emerald eyes met Vlad’s dark
ones in silent pleading. He sighed and ran a hand through his long
hair.

“
You have my permission to
help the ghost, Nikki. And I’ll help you in any way I can, but
please don’t ask me to do more than I’m willing to. I don’t deal
with demons.”

Nicola nodded, but didn’t say another
word. She knew her victory had been slight and she wasn’t going to
hurt Vlad anymore than she already had. He left the room hurriedly.
As the door swung shut behind him, Nicola finally looked at
Christian. He hadn’t said a word since the argument started and he
looked uncomfortable.

Giving him a small smile, Nicola
decided if she was going to help him save his family, she might as
well start now. “So who are we supposed to protect?”

Chapter 3:

The Westminster Cathedral was one of
the most popular spots to visit in London. People flew in from all
over the world to come see the gorgeous historic building while the
residents of London used it as their primary place of worship.
Nicola hadn’t been in London in years and the beautiful city struck
her to her soul… or whatever was left of it.

“
So I guess it’s fair to say
that your family is still Roman Catholic?” Nicola asked as she
pulled her suede jacket closed and buttoned it up. She didn’t need
the jacket since she couldn’t feel the cool November air around her
like others did, but she needed to keep up appearances. Humans
surrounded her in every direction and she didn’t need to draw
attention by wearing a tank top in mid-November.

Christian floated next to her and
nodded at her question. He was staring at the cathedral with wide
eyes. “I haven’t been here since…”

“
Since you died?” She
guessed out loud. People who were walking passed paused to stare at
her as if she was insane, but she ignored them.

“
Precisely.” Christian
breathed out in wonder. Nicola couldn’t hide the grin that fell
upon her lips. It was sweet to see him so captivated by the
church.

Vlad had refused to accompany them.
They were going to retrieve Christian’s family member or as Nikki
had taken to calling her, his super great granddaughter, from the
cathedral and put her into hiding until they were able to locate
the demon. Nicola wasn’t sure what to do about the devil. She had
no experience in dealing with them so she had no clue about how to
find one, let alone kill one.

Nikki hadn’t brought this up
to Christian yet and she hoped there was still enough time to
figure it out. She had never even
seen
a demon before. She hoped she
wasn’t getting in over her head.

Nicola didn’t have time to ponder it
too closely because once inside the enormous cathedral, her eyes
landed on the young woman kneeling at the altar. Her long blond
hair flowed to the middle of her back. Nikki noticed it curled
slightly. It was similar to how Christian’s hair fell. The woman
was thin, but not sickeningly so. Nicola could see curves through
the slacks and sweater she wore.

“
Is that her?” Nicola
whispered to Christian. She didn’t want anyone else who might be in
the cathedral to overhear her.

Christian nodded. “That is
Carolyn.”

Nicola slid into one of the vacant pews
and glanced around as she waited for Carolyn to finish with her
prayer. She had never really attended mass when she was a human.
She hadn’t even been religious and it felt strange for her to be
sitting there. Tapping her fingers on her knee, Nicola couldn’t
help it when her eyes roamed the statues and the candles
surrounding them. Everything had taken on an eerie glow and she
couldn’t quite put a finger on what was so creepy about it all.
Christian floated beside her looking as if he were truly
sitting.

“
Can we really help her?”
Nicola couldn’t help but ask as they sat there in the silent
cathedral. “I’m not sure how we’re going to do this.”

“
You worry too much for a
vampire.” Christian stated with a small laugh. “I thought your kind
was supposed to be overconfident.”

“
Believe me when I say we
have our overconfident vampires, but most of us are just looking
for a reason to exist.” Nicola realized how she sounded. “I’m not
complaining. I just like feeling as if I’m doing something
important for the world.”

“
You technically are no
longer part of the world.” Christian said a little
bluntly.

Hurt by his words, Nicola turned away
from him to watch Carolyn once more. With rosary beads in her
hands, the young woman had stood up from where she was kneeling and
was making her way towards the pew in front of Nikki. Once seated,
Carolyn started to hum the melody of a hymn Nikki had once heard in
her human childhood. Unsure of what to do or say, Nicola glanced
over at Christian for assistance.

The ghost rose up as if he had been
sitting and cleared his throat. “Carolyn- this woman beside me is
here to help you. You have nothing to fear when Nicola is around.
She will keep you safe.”

Nikki didn’t know what to say. Did
Christian really think this woman could hear-

“
Are you sure she can be
trusted?” Carolyn’s soft voice responded. It was so low that anyone
human wouldn’t have been able to hear her, but with her
extraordinary hearing abilities Nicola had no problem listening to
the words Carolyn spoke. “She isn’t human.”

“
She will protect you.”
Christian told her kindly. “I trust her. That should be enough for
you to trust her too.”

Silence followed Christian’s
statements. Nikki was surprised to learn Carolyn had a psychic
ability. Humans usually didn’t have the ability to see or speak to
spirits. The fact that Carolyn could only cemented her usefulness
to a demon. A demon would use Carolyn as a bartering tool with his
or her boss to get a promotion. If that didn’t work, then why not
use the girl for his or her own purposes of power? There were no
laws governing what demons did so it wasn’t likely that anything
would happen to them over a pathetic human.

Carolyn glanced over her shoulder at
Nikki. She studied the vampire as if she were trying to judge her
character and abilities in one look. She closed her eyes in the
next moment and sighed.

“
If you trust her,
Christian, then I will as well.”

Christian relaxed after she spoke.
Nicola hadn’t noticed that he had been worried about Carolyn’s
likeliness to obey his wishes. He seemed confident now and he
smiled in the vampire’s direction.

“
Carolyn- we have to move
you somewhere safe.” Nicola started to explain seeing as Christian
was, as the expression goes, ready to get the ball rolling. “If
this demon finds you-”

Carolyn’s eyes widened and she shook
her head. “Christian never said I had to leave my home. There was
no discussion of this!”

She kept her voice low, but some of the
humans on the other side of the room were starting to stare at
them. It was a small blessing that they couldn’t see Christian
floating there as well.

“
Carolyn.” Nicola whispered
as low as she could, but loud enough so the human could hear her.
“We have to move-”

“
No!” Carolyn snapped,
shaking her head fiercely. “I refuse to leave my home to the demon.
You can’t force me.”

Nicola raised an eyebrow at this
statement, but didn’t respond to it. She knew Carolyn didn’t mean
it literally since they both knew that Nikki could force the human
if she so desired. Sighing, Nikki decided it would be easier to
just give in to what Carolyn wanted instead of causing a
scene.

“
Fine. Where do you feel
most safe?” Nikki asked, trying to keep from growling out the
question.

***

Staring up at the apartment complex,
Nicola felt an overwhelming need to grab Carolyn and go back to
Vlad’s. The building was practically crumbling at some parts and
Nikki couldn’t help, but think the human was playing a joke on
her.

“
You feel safe…
here
?” Nikki’s green eyes
met the bright shiny blue of Carolyn’s.

“
Are you trying to be
funny?” Carolyn snapped at her defensively. “This is my home. I
won’t invite you in if you’re rude.”

So Carolyn knew nothing
about vampires…
Great.
“Look- Vampires don’t have to be invited into your apartment
let alone anywhere else to enter. We can come and go as we please.”
Nikki knew better than to scare the woman she was supposed to be
protecting, but she needed Carolyn to realize she wasn’t safe
anywhere unless she had someone to protect her.

The young woman lifted her chin in
defiance. She didn’t speak however. It was quite obvious to Nikki
that the thought of a vampire coming into her home whenever it
pleased unnerved her. So instead of arguing anymore, Nikki followed
Carolyn into her apartment in silence. Christian floated beside her
and though he kept sneaking glances at her as if she couldn’t see
him, she still ignored him.

Even though the building itself was a
standing deathtrap, Carolyn’s apartment wasn’t half bad to be in.
Of course it was nothing like Vlad’s castle or Nicola’s childhood
home, but the small one bedroom had a cozy feeling that made it
almost feel like a home.

Carolyn placed her keys on the small
kitchen table before shrugging out of her light coat and placing it
on the back of a chair. Toying with the hem of her sweater, she
avoided eye contact with Nikki. “Is there anything you
need?”

“
No.” Nikki answered curtly.
“I fed before I came to the Cathedral.”

Carolyn nodded absentmindedly. It was
obvious having Nicola in her apartment was disconcerting. “I have
to sleep.” She muttered mostly to herself. “I have work in the
morning.”

“
I don’t sleep.” Nikki
stated, answering the unasked question. “I’ll keep an eye
out.”

Carolyn nodded once more before
retreating to her bedroom. Once the door was closed securely, Nikki
sank onto the loveseat in the tiny living room. She didn’t know how
she could possibly help keep this difficult woman safe, but Nikki
was determined to do what she could. Christian floated beside the
loveseat in silence. He wasn’t watching her, but staring out the
window over her shoulder. Nicola wasn’t going to be the one to
break his reverie so she said nothing.

After a few moments more, Christian
turned his gaze from the window and glanced down at her. “I would
like to thank you for helping us. I was beginning to think the
worst of your species, but you have proven that not all vampires
are untrustworthy or selfish.”

The declaration was definitely not
something Nikki expected to hear.

“
I don’t understand.” Nicola
told him with a frown.

“
I’m thanking
you-”

“
That is what I don’t
understand. Why?” Nikki snapped at him. “I haven’t done anything to
help. I should be at Vlad’s with Carolyn right now, but since she
doesn’t want to leave her home, I have to find a way to protect her
here!” She stood up from the sofa and began to pace. She paused to
glance over the expansive view from the window before turning to
face Christian once more. “Vampires never feel so
useless.”

“
You are not useless,
Nicola. You are doing great things by helping humans.” Christian
floated beside her and she gave him a distressed look. “I’m being
genuine in my assessment. You are helping people.”

Nikki sighed sadly and glanced out the
window.

“
Nikki-” Christian began,
but Nicola lifted her hand to stop him. Something wasn’t right with
the situation. Her senses were on edge. It was too quiet outside
for it to be natural.

“
Christian…” Nikki didn’t
look in his direction, but her bright eyes darted quickly over the
parking lot trying to find the source of her unease. “Did Carolyn
tell you what the demon wanted?”

“
No, but it only made sense
it wanted her child.” Christian answered dutifully. “Why do you
ask?”

This wasn’t something Nicola was
prepared for. Not at all. Now that a child was involved... “A
child? When were you going to tell me this?”

“
I'm not sure it's relevant.
The demon is the issue and we must resolve it.”

Nicola didn’t have the chance to
respond because the next moment Carolyn’s screams ripped through
the apartment. Pulling an athame, a long double-edged dagger she
liked to carry, from her belt loop, Nikki burst through the door
into Carolyn’s neat room. The young woman was no longer sleeping
soundly in her bed, but dangling in midair. Her face was contorted
in terror and she was screaming shrilly, not even noticing Nikki
had arrived to help.

An odd smoke began to wrap around the
suspended human. It started off as a dull gray then suddenly
flashed to a crimson red. Nikki felt the hairs on her arms and the
back of her neck stand up at the odd sensation pulsing through the
room. If there were any supernatural creatures in the vicinity of
the apartment, Nikki was sure they would all sense it and run for
safety.