Shadowhunter (Nephilim Quest Book 1) (70 page)

The first night at sea Ambrogio came out of the casket, and told Selene what had happened. He explained that he was no longer an ordinary human, how he had killed swans to give them as gifts to the great goddess Artemis, so she would lift Apollo's curse. He could not bring himself to reveal what the swans really were, and so Selene believed that he had killed magical birds with silver blood.

Ambrogio told her about the world beyond, and of Hades's realm and Selene listened to him with shining eyes, bent forward, eager to hear more.
 

The hardest part was telling her about the deal with Artemis. He did not tell her that Artemis had made him immortal. Maybe he wasn't sure about that himself either. But he could not deny the changes in his body. So he carefully explained to Selene how he had made a deal with Artemis to become her Hunter. And for this reason he had been changed, so that from now on he would drink animal blood. This would make him a better hunter.

Selene accepted that. She ate meat, so she saw nothing strange in consuming the blood either.

Ambrogio stressed the fact they could not live as man and wife in the traditional way.

"Artemis told me that I will infect you if we do, and you will become very ill."

"Can't we touch?" she asked.

"I don't think so... My skin is so strange now that I am a Hunter," Ambrogio extended his arms so she could see his skin. "There is some kind of poison in it. It helps me to kill my prey. Maybe it will infect you."

His skin had changed again. Now it had become an odd pale golden color, translucent.

Selene looked him in the eyes and smiled, but Ambrogio saw the slight tremor of her lips.

"It does not matter," she bravely said, "I had already decided I would dedicate my life to the gods, maybe even be the next Pythia, if chosen, because my sister has become more and more ill with each passing year. The fumes of the earth do that to her. I never planned on marrying anyone before I met you."

"We can return. I'll take you back to Kirrha, if you so wish," Ambrogio said.

"No," Selene said, "I have made my decision. I shall remain with you."

And so they sailed together to Ephesus, to live together till the end of their days, as Selene thought.

Selene had brought with her some jewelry, and selling these meant that they could buy a small house for themselves. Ambrogio spent most days indoors, because his golden pale skin looked almost like marble in sunlight. Also his eyes had turned the same strange yellow color as Artemis's.

Ambrogio spent his time studying. The city was full of learned men, and he earned enough with the beasts he hunted to collect some savings. With these he bought copies of various written works. Studying these was a good excuse for him to stay indoors during the hours of daylight and he got himself a reputation of a scholar in a few years.
 

Sometimes he went hunting for days, wandering in the lonely hills where there were not many people. It was easy for him, because of the great strength, speed and agility of his body.

The did find a way to touch - Selene bought a thick, woven blanket, and wrapped it around Ambrogio. She could then hug him, and let her head rest on his shoulder. Or she wrapped herself in the blanket and he could put his arm around her. They sat like that in the evenings, under the stars, strangely content.

Their life was not rich, but they managed. Selene wove good cloth, and Ambrogio hunted. The animals that he brought to the buyers were drained of blood.
 

And then time began to show on Selene's face. Her young skin showed the first lines, and then its freshness began to dull. Ambrogio did not age, and began to believe that Artemis had actually made him immortal. He watched Selene with sorrow in his heart. He loved her so much, and did not want her to die and leave him alone for all eternity.

There had to be something he could do.
 

He had never tried to enter the misty world after Artemis had changed him. He was too afraid Hades would be there.
 

He decided he would try to contact Artemis. He still had the singing device he had used all those years ago to lure the silver wings to him. Now he ran far, into the mountains and attached the device to his throat. And then he began to sing Artemis's name.

She came so quickly it was as though she had followed him all along, and simply stepped out of a hiding place.

"How did you do that?" she asked. "What is this?"

She pointed at the device on his throat.

Ambrogio explained.
 

"Show me," Artemis said and Ambrogio gave her the device.

She turned it in her hands, and then put it against her own throat and sang.

The sound was so beautiful and horrible at the same time that Ambrogio could not move. She sang for a long time and the odd voice echoed from the mountains, silencing nature around them. Ambrogio was sure it froze every living thing. Her voice was so different from his human voice. Metallic, like enchanting layers of wind.

Nothing happened. No one came.

"Well, it seems they are all dead, and none is left to answer the call," Artemis said. "Here, you can keep it. It is of no use to anyone any more, and I have enough trinkets. Now tell me, why you called for me."

"My Selene is aging. She will die."

"But of course. She is mortal. Humans die," said Artemis with a lift of her brows."What else did you expect?"

"You made me immortal. Can you not do this for her too?"

"I do not need a woman to serve me. I needed a Hunter, and that is you," Artemis said and turned to leave. "I only transform people for my own needs, not from charity."

Ambrogio was certain she would disappear, but suddenly she stopped and turned.

"There is one thing no one has tried yet... might be an interesting experiment..."

"Yes, my goddess?"
 

"Why don't you try to make her immortal yourself? My blood is in your veins now. It should transform her. So far we have only made our own human Hunters, but no human Hunter has tried to do this to another human. Try that. You remember how I did it?"

Ambrogio nodded.

"If my blood works, she will be immortal too."

And then Artemis sank back into the mists behind the physical world and disappeared from sight.

Ambrogio went back home. Selene came to meet him at the door.

"You never grow old, my love," she said, as if reading his thoughts.

"That is true, Selene. And now I am going to tell you why."

Now, at last, Ambrogio told her everything. Hades, hunting for the silver wings, the shadow, and how exactly Artemis had made him immortal.
 

"And I met her again just now. She said I could do the same to you."

Selene watched him. Her eyes were dimmed with age, and her hair had white streaks. To him she was still beautiful, but you could see her time would soon come.

She nodded.

"Very well. I have nothing to lose, I can feel sickness inside me, and I will be gone soon. You can try. But we need to do this somewhere where no one can see us."

They left at night, and Ambrogio carried Selene, wrapped in her blanket. He ran until it was certain no one saw them. He put her on her feet on the slope of a hill.

They stood there, in silence, for a long time. The moon rose over the horizon. Suddenly Ambrogio felt Selene's hand taking his. Skin touching skin. He felt a surge of passion in his mind and turned towards Selene. She had raised her face towards him, and this time he did not refuse. He bent and kissed her.

They kissed forever and her hands felt so good against his. He grabbed them tighter, and kissed her longer, more passionately.
 
It was as if her skin made his blood sing. She let out small voices, he heard them, but he did not open his eyes.

Then, suddenly, something felt strange about the kiss. The tang of iron...
 

With a yell he opened his eyes and pushed Selene back.

It was too late. He had bitten her tongue, and tasted her blood. And now he could not stop himself anymore. The Hunter in him took over, pushing his mind aside. He yanked Selene to him, and bit her on the neck and the sweet, tasty blood filled him. It tasted so different from animal blood. Selene fought back at first, but then stopped.

He could not stop. The desire in him was irresistible, overwhelming.
 
When it was over, he opened his eyes, and lowered Selene's limp body to the ground. Her eyes were still alive and they... smiled.

"I am in you now, forever in you," she whispered and died.

"No!" Ambrogio yelled, and bit her arm. He tore open his own vein, and poured his blood into her wound.

Too late. Her heart had stopped beating, and so his blood could not travel in her veins.

"No!" he screamed again.

There was nothing he could do. He sat there on the steep hill, next to his beloved and cried in the silver moonlight.

"I'm forever here, Ambrogio," he heard her whisper from inside him, "forever here with you."

He fell silent and listened. He felt a presence. When he concentrated on them, his mind opened, and he saw Selene's memories in his mind. Now he could see her childhood, her youth, how they met. And the endless love she had felt for him all these years.
 

Though her body lay on the ground, still and calm, her mind was coursing inside him, her blood united with his. She spoke to him in her blood... Tears fell from his eyes, when he listened to her emotions, her memories, and was wrapped in her love.

In awe he realized that now they were together at last, for all eternity.
 

And after a while the thought was born that he could try to create her physically again. All he needed was another woman. He would try to transform her into an immortal being. When he would give his own blood to her, Selene would be physically present in the transformed woman, because she was there in his blood.

Suddenly, there was hope. He rose, and quickly carried the body Selene had occupied down the hill. With his strong arms he dug a hole in the ground and buried her there, gathering stones over her so animals could not reach her.

And then he turned back towards Ephesus, with new vigor in his steps.
 

He would create Selene again.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

89. The Attack

"Quick!" Lilith grabbed grabbed a locket hanging from her neck and dragged the chain over her head. "Here is the Key! Take it and leave right away!"

"No, we can't. I can't!" I said. I felt panic rising in me and tried to muster all my strength.

"If the shadows have breached our defenses, this is the first thing they'll be looking for – after Dana. They are not having either one. Leave. NOW!"

We heard sounds of fighting from the hall.

"Quick, everyone! Grab each other!" Grandma took control.

My heart was beating like thunder in my ears when everyone grabbed me and Daniel. Elijah grabbed the notebooks.

"Go, go, GO!" Lilith yelled.

And so we faded into the mists of the buffer zone.

"We need the mirror!" Grandma said. "Quickly, it is in the equipment room!"

She had barely time to finish her sentence when we were already in the room. She opened the little casket holding the mirror and grabbed it – but not quickly enough. We were suddenly surrounded by a dozen shadows, all nightmarish figures from hell.

I grabbed Grandma and screamed when a shadow caught me by my hand. Grandma turned and hit the shadow at the neck – I saw a rosy colored flash, which then bounced across the room and behind the door. She had dropped the Key, but none of the shadows seemed to have noticed.

Daniel's wings roared into life. Elijah's did the same. Like lightning flashes their hands and wings fell inexorably onto the shadows. They cut right through them and their power made the whole house shake.
 
The first wave of shadows fell and crumbled to nothing and it looked as if we were going to make it.

Then they began to seep through the walls as if the whole building had turned into mist with grasping hands and snarling jaws. Countless faces and bodies emerged from the shadowy mass. Time seemed to slow down and I found myself suddenly thinking that the nightmares of Hieronymus Bosch had come to life and this was the jaws of hell itself. Then a voice broke in on me, a voice that was filled with anguish and fury.

"Dana! Take the mirror! Go Go GO!" Daniel yelled, "NOW! GO!"

And I obeyed. My energies were so high that my wings opened on their own and filled the room. The shadows fell back from the energy wave. This would be our only chance. Grandma pushed the mirror into my hands and I concentrated... no, forced all my power into my hands.

Bright blue and silver threads shot out of them and the world began to disappear around us. The last vision I had of Daniel was when he was attacked by a mass of shadows that felled him to the floor, reaching for his throat. Elijah jumped on them like a wrathful god. Blue lightning flashes made the walls crumble around them.

Then the mists of time closed around us and we flew.

CHAPTER NINETY

90. Traitor

"Yes, my lady?" Ambrogio bent his head respectfully, but without obsequiousness.

Angel looked at her most trusted servant. He had been in her family since the times of ancient Greece. Her own grandmother had transformed him, and he was a legend among the Nephilim and vampires. The reason being that he was the original - the first one to create another human vampire. Before him the dark Nephilim had created immortals that survived by feeding on animals. They killed their prey by draining all the blood from it. Hunting their pray developed speed and skills, which were then put to good use when the Nephilim wanted someone, a human, to be killed. That killing had always been done in traditional ways, though, using weapons, or the sheer strength of the body.

But Ambrogio, for reasons no one knew, had turned to people as nourishment, instead of animals, and used the same method that Angel's grandmother had used to transform him: he drank from a woman in Ephesus, not quite killing her. Whilst her heart was still beating, he had opened her wrist and poured his own blood into her veins, and made her drink his blood as well. And she turned into the creature that was later known as a vampire.