Authors: Michelle Marquis
The Supplicant (6 page)
"The ghouls," he said, staring out over the crashing waves as they walked. "We are constantly hunting and killing them off because they are careless and dangerous. They are the forsaken ones, people who vampires bit and fed from but didn't help their victims complete the transformation."
"Can't you complete their change now instead of kill them?"
"No, because their change is long past it. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't change them from what they are. The same thing would have happened to you had I not taken you as my supplicant and cared for you."
"So I take it I'm part of this war too."
Krysis stopped and gave her a sober look. "I chose you because you were a police officer. I knew you had a lot of skills that would be useful to us to help us in our fight."
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"It's not my fight," Sin said, feeling a little used.
"It is now."
"What do you expect me to do?" she asked after a brief pause.
"I expect you to help us find their lair, and when the time comes, I expect you to help us kill them off."
"And if I refuse?"
Krysis searched her face. "That's up to you."
"What happens?"
"That depends on how the others feel about your refusal,"
he said with a cold detachment.
"You mean if they attack me, you won't step in to help."
"Sin," he said, "being a vampire isn't like what you've seen on TV. We are predators and have our own internal ranking.
You are new to the group, and you're going to have to find your place among them. I cannot protect you. They will challenge your will to survive, and you're going to have to prove to them you've got what it takes."
"Or they'll kill me," she finished for him.
Krysis nodded. "I'm afraid so."
"I had a feeling my life was a little too easy so far."
"You have another choice," he said.
His voice had taken on a dark, evil current, and Sin felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "And what's that?"
"If you don't want this life anymore, I can take it from you."
Sin ran her fingers down the side of his face feeling the muscles beneath the skin. "Would that be easy for you?"
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"No, but I don't want to see you hurt, and believe me, the other vampires will hurt you if they detect weakness."
And with those words, the mystery of why Krysis had no woman was solved. They apparently hadn't survived the initiation process. Sin wondered if she was going to have to fight all three of them off. That would be challenging even with her newfound powers. Then a new thought occurred to her.
"They're waiting for me, aren't they?"
"Yes."
"Well," she said as a surge of adreline flooded her blood,
"let's get this contest over with."
"Are you sure you're ready?"
"They don't scare me. I was a cop for seven years, and I've faced my share of badasses. They're usually just a lot of big, loud talk. But even if they are all that, I'm not going down easy, so they better bring their
A
game 'cuz Momma's ready to spar."
"I think I'm more worried about them than you."
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The
showdown house
, as Sin liked to call it, was another beach house but not nearly as elegant as the one Krysis lived in. As she followed the Master Vampire in, her instincts immediately came to life warning her that she was being watched from the shadows. Then, the other two vampires emerged, a black man and a Hispanic woman. Each was attractive in his or her own way.
"So you're Krysis's new plaything," the woman said with a sneer. "We were wondering how long it would be until he finally brought you to meet us."
Sin rolled her shoulders and took in each of her rivals.
"Let's cut through the crap, okay? Krysis filled me in on the gig. You all want to kill me, and I plan to keep on living. So if both of you think you're tough enough to take me out, I'm waiting."
A ripple of nervous fear filled Sin, and she turned to see the black vamp trying to jump her from behind. With a speed and agility she didn't know she had, Sin sidestepped his attack and slammed her fist into the side of his head. He snarled and tried to grab her, but she used his momentum against him and threw him to the ground, where he landed on his back.
Next, the female vamp tried her luck, followed closely by the male. They circled around her looking for a weakness. But Sin wasn't planning to wait around for them to find one. She lunged at the female, grabbed the woman's arm, and swung 57
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her around into her male companion. The female vamp screamed out her rage and tried to claw Sin's eyes out, but Sin flung her against the wall. Another ten minutes of fighting ensued, but no matter what the vamps tried, Sin managed to keep her attackers at bay until finally Krysis stepped in.
"This fighting is pointless," he said, stepping in between Sin and the other two. "She's proven herself enough for me.
Let her be."
The vamps seemed to relax their posture. The black male extended his hand to shake. "You're certainly more aggressive than any of the other women Krysis has brought to us. Welcome. I'm Blackjack."
Sin hesitated. Was this a trick? Well, she'd have to extend the olive branch sooner or later. She held her hand out and shook his. The woman moved in closer, and Sin eyed her cautiously. "Is this over?" Sin asked the female.
The woman shrugged. "For now."
That wasn't the right answer for Sin. She didn't want to have to run around watching her back all the time. Without warning, she grabbed the woman and put her in a headlock.
Krysis and Blackjack laughed but made no move to help the lady vamp.
"If you want to take this further, I'll just snap your neck right here," Sin warned, surprised that she actually meant it.
The woman held out her hands as best she could bent over as she was. "Okay, okay," she said angrily. "I'm done. You win. I'm Kat."
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Sin let her go and held a hand out for a truce handshake.
Kat rubbed her neck and glared at Sin. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"I grew up in Detroit," Sin said smugly. "We come out of the womb fighting."
Kat laughed and extended her hand. The two women shook. "I think I'm starting to like you, lady cop."
"So I'm in?" Sin asked, glancing over at Krysis and Blackjack.
Krysis came over and gave her a steamy kiss. "You made your point. You're in."
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Paul came into the caretaker's shed where Henry was attaching some clean bones to a full skeleton. "He failed," he announced.
Ignoring Paul, Henry stepped back from his masterpiece.
He made a few adjustments and then hung the skeleton up on a hook. It dangled well. Finally he said, "Who failed?"
Paul sighed. "The boyfriend you sent to kill the vampire cop. He got chased out of there like a naughty schoolboy."
"That's a shame," Henry said. "I had such high hopes for him."
"What do we do now?" Paul asked.
Henry grabbed a soiled rag and wiped his hands clean. "I'll have to go and have another talk with him. I think I can convince him to go back out there and finish the job."
Paul stared at the skeleton and chewed his bottom lip. "I fear he may be too incompetent. If he shows his face back over there, those vamps are likely to kill first and ask questions later."
Henry smiled, running his tongue along his long, jagged teeth. "Better him than one of us." He crossed the room and took a seat in a torn leather chair. "We must get rid of that cop. She's dangerous to us."
"Why is she any more dangerous than the other vamps?"
"Because she has investigative skills. It won't take her long on a computer to ferret out where we've been hiding and the vehicles we've been driving. She has resources and knows 60
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how to use them. We have to kill her before she gets on our tail."
"But this boyfriend of hers is a complete idiot! I'm not convinced he could do the deed even with a map."
"Don't fret so much, Paul," Henry said. "I'll go and talk to him. He trusts me. I'll just put a little more panic in him this time. It'll be all right. You'll see."
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Krysis came into the bedroom after the hunt to find Sin sitting in bed reading up on ghouls. The book was an old one, written by an ancient vampire Krysis had known and given to Krysis to help him hunt the ghouls and kill them. He was surprised Sin had been interested in something so violent.
"A little light reading before bed?" he joked.
Sin dog-eared a page and closed the book. "This is fascinating stuff." She placed it on the table next to her bed and ran a hand gently over the ornate cover. "Have the vampires ever gotten close to wiping out all the ghouls?"
"No," Krysis said. "There are outlaws among us that don't give much thought to who they create. When the hunger is on them, they feed. Simple as that. They don't give a shit about their victims and couldn't care less if the victim stays human."
"Is it hard to make sure a victim remains human after a vampire bite?"
"Not if you're careful not to drain too much from them."
Sin nodded thoughtfully. "So my guess is you may never kill off
all
the ghouls. There'll always be vampires who are careless when they feed."
"True, but we have to keep their numbers down for obvious reasons. They are treacherous and wicked. I mean, who else but a ghoul would stoop to convincing your ex-boyfriend to kill you?"
"You think the ghouls did that?"
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"I know they did. How else would he have known you were a vampire and where you were staying?"
Sin nodded. "You're right. I didn't think of that. I guess I never really gave much thought to how Dennis found me. So much has been happening so fast that I'm still reeling and trying to get my head straight."
Krysis came to her grinning. He kissed her cheek and lifted his shirt off, inviting her to touch his flesh. Sin's eyes shone with supernatural hunger, and he knew she could smell the new blood in him. Opening his arms to her in welcome, he said, "Come and let me feed you."
Sin placed her hands on his belly and slid them up to bare chest. Her lips touched first his right nipple, then his left, and trailed up to his throat and the pulsing artery there. Then a not too gentle pinch and she was inside him. Krysis ran his fingers through her short, dark hair and inhaled her warm, fresh scent. He could feel the delicate agony of her drawing his stolen blood, and when the agony of his loss became too great, he pushed her away. Sin didn't fight him this time. She just stepped back and licked a crimson smudge off her lower lip.
"When will I be able to hunt for myself?" she asked.
Krysis eased out of his pants and let them fall in a heap on the floor. His erection was thick and strong, eager to be inside her dark, wet center. "Soon," he replied, picking her up and carrying her to the bed. He climbed up over her and kissed her lush, full lips.
"It's frustrating for me to be dependent on you all the time," she complained.
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"It won't be for much longer," he reassured her.
"
When?
I want to know
when
you're going to teach me to hunt for myself."
Krysis glanced out at the red hue emerging over the sea's horizon. Morning was coming. He got up and pulled the heavy drapes closed. "Tonight," he promised, returning to the bed.
"I'll begin teaching you tonight."
"And when will you take me with you to hunt the ghouls?"
Krysis laughed. "As soon as you're strong and knowledgeable enough to hunt by yourself. I'm not taking any chances with you, my beloved. I've waited a long time to find a woman like you, and I want to make sure you're trained right. That's the only way I can be sure you're truly safe."
Sin touched his face and smiled. "Okay," she whispered, pulling his arms around her.
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According to Krysis, the best places to hunt were the nightclubs and back alleys of the red-light district. Sin should have guessed as much. She'd patrolled them often enough when she was alive.
Alive
. Even after a week, the word seemed surreal and distant. Death was something that happened to other people, not her. But not anymore. She wondered if she was happy about being immortal and came away unsure.
Krysis and Sin cruised through the streets in the black car scanning the sidewalk for suitable victims. For Sin, it was unnerving. She was a former cop, one of the good guys, and here she was looking for a victim. It just didn't seem right.
For his part, Krysis seemed as cool as ever. His face was calm, serene, as if he were on a Sunday ride through the countryside. Sin watched as streetlights cast pale stripes along his cheeks, only to see them slide off a moment later.
There was so much about him and the others that she didn't know, and a part of her was afraid to ask. What if they weren't the good guys they claimed to be? What if the ghouls were the true victims in all this? Time would tell.
"How does a vampire choose a victim?" Sin asked, staring out the window as an intoxicated couple stumbled out of a bar and into a dark parking lot.
"They aren't victims," Krysis corrected. "They're sources.