Blood Life Seeker (8 page)

There was a soft cough from the corner of the room. A clearing of someone's throat. The spell, or whatever the hell it had been, was broken and we both turned swiftly to the source of that sound.

Michel stood there with his hands in his pockets, relaxed and at ease, but his eyes shone a deep magenta, softly, he was controlling it, but it was there. Magenta is the big bad no-no, I never liked witnessing it in those beautiful deep blue eyes. He may not have been able to see Nero, but he had seen me. I couldn't have fought the blush that suddenly rose to my face even if my life had depended on it. At one stage I would have said that right now it did. The only saving grace was that if Michel killed me right now, he'd only be killing himself. It kind of limits the options for revenge, doesn't it?

“Your training seems to be progressing rather swiftly.” His voice was even and low. At any other time I would have wrapped it around me, I would have let it draw me to him, right now however, I blanched.

Nero stood slowly, a stake appeared in his hands like magic. First it was just a closed fist, then poof, a silver stake shone in his grip.

I sighed. “Put it away, Nero. What are going to do, stake him and kill me?”

He didn't move, didn't look at me, but kept his gaze on Michel. “I will protect you at all cost, Kiwi.”

“You do not need to protect her, Nosferatin, she is not yours to protect.”

“Am I yours, Michel?”

“
Oui
.”

Always a bad sign when he reverts to French in everyday conversation. This, however, was not an everyday conversation, was it?

“So, what now? Do we just stand here all night, a stalemate? Draw pistols at dawn?” I could have said,
it's not what it looks like
, I could have denied that anything was going on, it wasn't really, but even that would have been a lie.

“
There has been news on the
Iunctio
.
” I didn't think Michel could have surprised me any more than he did with that statement. It was so unexpected. I had been bracing for a fight, for some form of confrontation, that would only have ended in bloodshed and tears.

“What news?” I asked.

“Your secrets are no longer safe. They know what you are capable of. They know you can Dream Walk to them, that you can destroy them without them even knowing you are there. They also know you can
seek
them.”

“How is that possible? Gregor only knew I could Dream Walk, how have they heard that I can
seek
?”

“I do not know, my dear, but they know it.”

“So, what does this mean, Michel?”

“It means, that they are prepared. It means, that they will be on the lookout for you. It means, they will no longer hunt alone.”

Suddenly, what could have been an easy task had become so much more harder. Alone I can battle a vampire, just, but in groups it was damn near impossible. The odds were no longer in my favour.

I had stood when Nero had, but now I sank back down into the couch. This changes things. If I thought I could just go to the aid of innocents being hunted by the evil out there when I sensed it, then I was wrong. I couldn't battle groups of vampires, it would be suicide. Vampires as a rule don't hunt in groups, they are territorial, they don't want to share, but it wasn't unheard of, so therefore quite possible.

At least I'd sense if there was more than one of them on a hunt, but what good would that do?

“
Has the
Iunctio
given a ruling?” This was Nero, the first time he had said anything since Michel had dropped that little bombshell.

“They have advised for us to use all methods possible to avoid Lucinda's abilities,” Michel replied, his eyes still firmly on me.

“Why would they do that? If vampires are hunting indiscriminately, breaking their rules, why would they encourage them to avoid my abilities?” I asked dumbfounded and not in just a little shock.

This didn't make sense, I was practically their pet policeman. I am the one that punishes those that have broken their rules. They have always accepted my part in their world, the need for my kind. I'm the Nosferatin equivalent of their Enforcer. That little thought did not sit well.

“They have recognised the shift in power to your kind. We all felt it just now. As though a switch had been flicked and suddenly the Light is more dangerous than the Dark. They are scared, they do not relinquish power well. What has just happened,
ma douce
, to have made that sudden tip of the scale? What have you been doing?”

His stare was intense, not at all friendly. I didn't know what answer he expected for me to give, but from the looks of him right now, I was sure he did not want to hear it, not really. The anger was there now, it rolled around the room like a caged tiger, it brushed against my sides, pinning me to my seat. Michel didn't usually have this effect over me any more, his powers can not influence me now we are joined. I had no idea how he was doing this, but I did not like it. Not one little bit.

“What the hell, Michel? How are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” he asked calmly.

“I can feel your power, it's crushing me. You shouldn't be able to do that.” My voice was weaker than it should have been, my breath was coming in short gasps. Nero had knelt down beside me, he obviously wasn't feeling it, Dream Walking can have its benefits sometimes, but he could see the strain on me as I pushed back against that
Sanguis Vitam
and all its force.

“Stop it,” he said. “You are hurting her.”

Michel just laughed, a short sharp harsh sound that filled the room with stabs of pain. “The
Iunctio
has sent us all power, power to combat the Light. It appears it has negated our joining.”

“Is this what you want, Michel? To hurt me?” I was on my side now, curled in on myself like a ball, my words just a whisper, each one a strain between clenched teeth and small breaths of air.

I couldn't see Michel, I couldn't even sense the Bond, it was as though he was just another vampire out to kill, as though my Michel had ceased to exist.

Abruptly the
Sanguis Vitam
retreated. I took a deep shaky breath in and almost whimpered in relief. Nero was rubbing my back.

I sat up slowly, Nero helping me with his arm around my shoulder. I looked at Michel, there wasn't a shadow of regret on his face, just blank, his mask. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, what he was feeling. The Bond was back, in the background, I could sense that, but nothing else. The mask he wore made it hard to think, it shattered my confidence and squashed my strength. I couldn't have summoned the energy to read his aura if I had tried.

“Leave us, Nero.” Michel almost spat his name out. “I wish to talk alone with my kindred Nosferatin.”

I looked at Nero, begging him to not leave with my eyes. He shook his head and whispered, “I am sorry, Kiwi, I cannot Dream Walk with you if he does not allow it. It is a fail safe of the joining and Bond. If your kindred vampyre wishes privacy, my Dream Walk must obey.”

He bent and kissed my forehead, his lips just above my skin as he said, “You have a strength in you, Lucinda, a brightness of Light that cannot be destroyed. Trust it. Trust yourself.”

And with that he was gone.

And even though Michel stood there in that room with me, I felt so alone, so very, very alone.

“You can be a bastard, you know that?” I shot a look of hatred at Michel. He really had pissed me off.

“I have been more than patient with the infatuation you have for this Nosferatin.”

“He is my trainer. My teacher. Nothing more.” I said each word slowly, clearly, trying to convey the meaning of what I was telling him.

He laughed, not quite as short and sharp as before, but not Michel's usual dripping-with-sex laugh either. It had an edge to it I didn't much like.

“If that is how you look at a teacher, my dear, you would have been an impossible temptation at school.”

I glared at him.

“Tell me. What happened just now?”

It was a command, I could feel it, wrapped up in
Sanguis Vitam
pushing against my mind. I almost succumbed, but even before we joined I could fight Michel's hold over me, the effect of his power. The knowledge of that warmed me inside and helped to push away the cold his power had brought. It was clumsy and not altogether successful, but he felt it's backlash and that only made me more determined to push out the rest.

His power left me in a snap, like a twig had broken, or the mast of a yacht under full sail. I almost fell back against the couch with the recoil it produced.

He nodded his head slowly, a sign of defeat. He even smiled a little, just a hint, not too much. His eyes were still full of magenta, but his fists were no longer clenched.

“Please,
ma douce
, it is important.”

He always could get me when he was polite. Michel was so used to demanding what he wanted, hearing him say please was always a slight shock. Even when I was mad at him, like now, it somehow managed to break down a carefully constructed wall.

I let a breath out in a long huff and ran a hand through my hair.  “Nothing happened, Michel, we were just talking about Gregor and my new power.”

“Not when I came in the room.”

“Nothing happened. What else do you want me to say?” I was getting angry again, my voice had risen slightly, my back had gone stiff.

He hadn't moved from his position against the closed door throughout all of this, but he took a step forward now. He stopped though, as if coming closer would cause him pain. My heart ached at that.

“Did you...” He paused, swallowed thickly. “Did you feel a connection between you?”

Huh? How did he know?

He sighed, he'd seen the look on my face, felt the emotions rolling off me. I don't think I have ever seen Michel look so defeated before. I wanted to crawl to him, to wrap my arms around him, to beg his forgiveness. Then a little part of me rebelled,
nothing happened, you do not need to feel guilt.

He looked up at me then. I knew that thought had reached him. I hadn't meant it to be thrown out, it just had.

He nodded. As though he finally accepted my explanation, my defence. He came the rest of the way towards me and sat down on the couch.

“
A connection between you and Nero.” He rubbed his forehead, ran a hand through his beautiful shiny dark hair. “The
Iunctio
has announced that you are the
Sanguis Vitam Cupitor
, is that true,
ma douce
?”

“Yes.”

“This is the power you told me of before? I had not recognised it. If you have a connection with Nero, then he would be your Herald. True?”

“Yes.” I hadn't taken my eyes off him, nor moved from where I sat, still rigid, still waiting for him to pounce. How is it that I could love this man yet be so scared of him too?

He didn't say anything for a while, just sat there thinking.

“The connection you felt to Nero activated the Prophesy.”

“You know about the Prophesy?”

He laughed a bitter laugh. “We were there when it was uncovered.” He sat back against the couch, almost relaxed, I knew better.

“The Prophesy can only be fulfilled if the Herald recognises the
Sanguis Vitam Cupitor.
If he does not, then no further part of the Prophesy can come true. You are both, in point of fact, the keys to the whole thing. Without Nero, it does not come into existence, without you, it does not get fulfilled.”

“How is it you know so much about this, you personally can't have been there when it was written?”

“I was not, no. But I was on the
Iunctio
.
Remember,
ma douce
?”

Yeah I remembered, buddy-buddy with old Gregor.

“The
Iunctio
will do everything in its power to stop the Prophesy. They may have tolerated your powers, your abilities to hunt those of us that breach the law, but the Prophesy they cannot ignore. It represents the end of their position of dominance. It is prophesied that
the Light will capture the Dark, and will hold it dear
. Vampyres do not like to be held captive,
ma douce
. No matter the beauty of the creature who captures us.”

“How do you feel about all of this?”

He turned to look at me, he had a strange combination of emotions playing across his face; tenderness, anguish, fear, longing, regret, disbelief. I couldn't keep up with the progression of it all. For a being that does not feel too many emotions naturally, he was doing a mighty fine job of displaying them all.

“
The power the
Iunctio
is projecting right now is designed to turn all vampyre against you, including me.” His voice was low, rough, as though he was forcing the words from between his lips. “I can fight it,
ma douce
, but not when I have such raw emotion to battle too. The sight of you as I entered this room was too much to bear.” He closed his eyes slowly and took a deep breath. “Tonight, it would be better if you stayed in your apartment. The wards there will protect you from my kind. I cannot be near you, I am sorry. Not until I get this under control. It would not be safe.”

My hand was covering my mouth trying to hold the cry I wanted to release in, to stop from making any sound that would tip me over the edge. My eyes were stinging with tears I refused to shed. My chest was tight, my head hurt, my body ached with an emptiness that appalled me. My heart was shattering with such raw pain.

“Please,
ma douce
, try to rein it in. I am so close to the edge, I do not want to hurt you.”

Too late
,
I thought numbly as I stood and took a couple of steps away, keeping my front to him, placing my back against the wall.

Michel looked awful, in such pain. His body was rigid with the effort it was taking to maintain control, his face was twisted in agony, his fists clenched at his sides. I hadn't noticed until now that he held handfuls of the seat cushion bunched in his grasp. He was shaking in a fine tremor, right across his body. I could see sweat gleaming on his forehead and upper lip. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Bruno burst through the door then and stood looking at me, he slowly turned to Michel. I held my breath. Bruno was big, hell he was enormous compared to me, I did not want to know if he was under the same spell as Michel, a spell the
Iunctio
had set in motion.

He took a small step towards me, when I yelped and jumped back against the wall, he held both hands up in a placating manner, trying to tell me he meant me no harm. I wonder why I didn't believe him?

“Luce. Michel has commanded me to protect you. To get you home. He has commanded all of his vampires to give you safe passage. We can fight the
Iunctio
's
power for a while, but not long. You need to glaze me to reconfirm Michel's command. With your glaze, I can resist the power indefinitely.”

Shit. Did this qualify as a life or death situation? Hell yes.

I nodded. He walked towards me slowly, hands still out in a pacifying stance, trying not to scare the skittish Nosferatin. I could feel my heart in my throat, a huge lump that was hard to swallow passed. My breathing was rapid, my palms were sweating. This sucked big time.

He stood a foot in front of me, looming over me. He couldn't help it, even if he bent over and scrunched his shoulders he would tower above me.

”What do I say?” My voice was tiny, barely a whisper.

“Make it a command. Not a request. Command me to protect you and get you home safely.”

I swallowed and nearly choked on my fear. I had to do this and I had to mean it. I'd only glazed a couple of times, but both times I was full of heightened emotion, desperate, kind of like I was now. I took the step closer needed in order to place my hands on Bruno's shoulders. It was quite a reach from my height, but I managed. I'd had my hands on Bruno's shoulders the last time I glazed him, so it just felt right.

I looked into his eyes and felt a door opening, wide, before it had a chance to slam in my face I commanded, “Bruno, get me home safely and protect me at all cost!”

There was a brief moment when his dark brown eyes flashed golden yellow, then he just nodded. In an instant he had me in his thick muscled arms and we were out the door. I didn't even get a backward glance at Michel. We moved with such speed, the interior of the club was a blur. I didn't feel any elevated
Sanguis Vitam
as we passed. Bruno mumbled against my ear, “The line has been ordered to leave town for a few hours, even if they can't fight the
Iunctio's
power, we will be at your home before they can return.”

Michel had thought of everything. Despite being in the grip of the
Iunctio
, he had ensured the best possible chance for my survival. Of course, it was only self preservation at its best.

It took mere seconds to reach my apartment, vampires can move faster than even me. Bruno placed me down in front of my door then turned to scan the area outside the building. The wind made the nearby bushes rustle, giving me a shiver down my back. I fumbled with my key and finally managed to get the door open, stepping across the threshold. By the time I turned to tell Bruno to stay outside, he had pushed me back and closed the door behind him. He quickly did a circuit of my flat. It took three seconds. It's a small apartment. He came back and stood in front of me.

How had Bruno got in my home? I had no idea, but also no desire to rescind any invitation I may have made. Weird. I did know however, that I didn't want him indoors with me.

“You can't stay in here.”

He looked at me oddly, his head slightly tilted to one side.

“Are you rescinding my invitation?”

Huh. I must have invited him in at one time, funny, I didn't remember it.

I found myself saying no, even before I had thought of it. He just smiled.

“I shall step outside, but I will not leave your front door until dawn. Good night, Lucinda. Safe sleep.”

He flashed in a blur as he exited, door clicking softly behind him. I could see his bulk on just the other side of the glass in the door, a shadow against the night.

I closed the curtains and checked all the locks. Not that I didn't trust Bruno, or that any vampire could really get in. Michel had placed a protection ward on my property for some time now, he recently used some of my powers to enhance it even more. I knew I was safe from the average vampire. It was Michel I was worried about though tonight.

I turned and glanced around my tiny apartment. It's cream on cream, simple, small, but all me. It's home. I have always felt so safe in my home. Not tonight.

I went and sat on the three seater sofa, staring at nothing, feeling a little numb. The only emotion I could identify was fear. It was strong and constant and determined to stay. I don't know how long I sat there, unfeeling, unmoving, barely breathing. The lights were off, it was dark, I didn't have the energy to get up and switch them on, despite the fact that a little illumination would have been nice right now. My mind was a riot of thoughts, so messy, all tumbled together, I couldn't decipher one from the other. It would have been nice to have a friend with me right now, but who is there? Rick no longer fills that role. Celeste couldn't even if she wanted to.

I have acquaintances, work colleagues, people I rely on for information, contacts and the like. I wouldn't want any of them to be in the middle of this. It would have been nice to have Nero here, but he's Dream Walked once tonight, he couldn't risk another, I may need him again soon. There would be no point Dream Walking to him, it would be like burying my head in the sand, leaving my body out unprotected for anyone to harm.

I reached for my bag and pulled out my stake. The feel of it's weight in my hands as I held it loosely in my lap was reassuring. I ran my fingers over the smoothness of the silver, every stroke a comfort, a balm to my ragged nerves. I'm not quite sure when I lay down on the couch, when I let myself drift off to sleep. I hadn't meant to. I'd actually had no intention of sleeping at all, wanting to stay awake all night. Not that it would have helped. Gregor was somewhere in Europe, if it's night here, it's day there. I knew he wouldn't be asleep, he's a master vampire, he only needs to be indoors, protected from the light. But somehow, the thought of making it to our daylight was appealing. If I could last until then, then I could stay awake all day. Michel would get himself under control, he would find a solution to this mad, mad problem. He would save me. He had to.