Authors: Ronnie Massey
Once Tristan's spent his energy, he fell to his knees, looking at me with disbelief. "It's not possible, you should be dead."
"I'm hard to kill, Tristan," I said as I pulled him up and drew him close to me.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
My fangs dropped, and my face shifted as I pulled his head to the side. "I'm not going to kill you, Tris. I'm going to drain you to within an inch of your life. Do you know what that means?"
I ran my tongue down the side of his neck, and tsked when he tried to shy away from me. "I'll have all your power. You'll live as a weak, pathetic excuse for a Vampire for the rest of your life. Even Deadborns will look down on you."
I tore into his neck, oblivious to his screams and pleas for death. I fed from him until his skin began to shrived and crack. When I let him fall to the ground, he looked like a living corpse. Actually, I'd seen corpses that looked better that he did.
I stepped over his body and called Kether. The Pixie darted forward with a broad smile that looked bigger than his face, the Pixie dust that surrounded him allowing him to slip easily through the shield around me. "Yes, Highness?"
I pointed at Tristan. "Take the prize that you've been tasked to collect."
He bowed at the waist and clucked at me. "I never doubted you for one minute, Darkling."
I returned the gesture and began scanning the sidelines looking for Irulan. When I saw her, she was still struggling to get away from Fazion and his goons.
"What's the problem, guys? Tristan is harmless. You can let her go now."
I headed toward them and walked straight into a barrier. "What gives, Fazion? Tristan looks like a slab of beef jerky. Why haven't they lowered the shield?"
Irulan looked at her cousin and pleaded. "Fazion, you've got to trust me. She's not going to hurt anyone."
What the hell? I just saved all of them, and now I'm the bad guy? I growled my discontent. "Listen to her, Fazion. You don't want to be on my bad side."
Just to show him I was fully capable of destroying their shield, I held out my hand and directed a small bit of energy into it. Everyone in the room flinched with the backlash of power.
"Val, not helping," Irulan called. "Fazion, let me go!” She finally pulled free of their grip and slowly crossed the floor.
When she got to me, she waved her hand in front of the barrier, and it took on a metallic sheen. I looked at my reflection and couldn't believe my eyes. "Is that me?" I asked.
Irulan nodded softly. "Yes, baby, it's you. That's why everyone's still on edge."
The blue flames that covered Tristan's hands had engulfed my entire body. Bolts of energy crackled and hissed as they swirled around me. I waved a hand past my face and laughed as the flames trailed behind. "This is so cool!"
"Yes it is," Irulan agreed, "But you've got to power down. Everyone is scared."
"Oh, yeah sure.” I looked inside me for the off switch, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the flames. "Um, baby, a little help?"
"You're the tub, and the place where your power is stored is the drain, just reach in and pull the stopper, Valeria."
What the...oh well, it was worth a try. I stood there and imagined drains and faucets, not even noticing the flames were gone. I looked up as Irulan pulled me into her arms. "I am so proud of you, baby," she cooed right before she attacked me with her lips.
We spent two more days in the FaeLands. We took the first day so I could get to know Francesca. She was a lot more accepting than her brother was. The other we spent celebrating in Mag Mell. The Light and Dark courts called a tenuous truce. Not all of the Fae were happy about it. Something tells me it’s not going to last for long.
Before we left, both Mikilos and FaeVar reminded me that I would have to make yearly visits to Faerie, or I might start to fade again. Changes, changes and more changes. I was starting to worry that with all the changes I was going through that the things that made me Valeria were going to get lost in the shuffle.
"Don't worry, baby," Irulan said as we walked through the doorway that led home. "I'll never let that happen.” My mother and father were there waiting as we walked out of the woods dragging Tristan behind us. His stay in the dungeons of Tir Na Nog was less than pleasant, but they did allow him to feed from livestock. He didn't resemble a Slim Jim anymore, but he still looked terrible.
My mother pulled me into her arms, oblivious to my load. My father, on the other hand, walked right by us and shoved Tristan with his foot, never flinching when he saw his lack of eyes. "Looks like you had quite a trip, Valeria," he said.
"You have no idea, Daddy."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Pulling into the parking lot of the CMS wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I expected all the feelings of hurt and anger over how they fired me to resurface. I anticipated longing for a job that I'd used to help redefine who I was as a person after I'd hit rock bottom. Surprisingly enough, I felt nothing but the need to be done with this task, so I could move on with my life.
I backed my car up to the main entrance, right between two of the majestic columns that I'd always admired, ignoring the growing number of auras I felt gathering on the inside of the reflective glass that made up the walls, and popped the trunk. Gasps of surprise rang in my ears as the onlookers saw exactly what I had in the rear. I shook my head and bit back a laugh as I hauled Tristan from the trunk and dragged his unconscious body through the lobby.
Onlookers of various races silently parted to let me through with my load, only to huddle together in speculation as I passed. I threw my free hand up at the receptionist as I walked by and offered a quick hello. If it had been under previous circumstances, she would have called me over for a quick chat before I headed down to the Sentinel's levels, but today the best she could offer me was a nervous wiggle of a few fingers.
I had made it all the way onto the elevator before I heard the high-pitched alarm go off signaling a hostel loose in the building. “
You're getting slack boys
,” I thought. “
I should have never made it across the lobby without tripping those alarms.”
Marcus was clear the last time we talked that I would be unwelcome at the CMS from now on. If I had any correspondence for him, I could send it through his nephew, Thade. Part of me was sad that it had come to this, but it couldn't be helped.
The security camera whined as it began to rotate in my direction but I fried it with a small bolt of the energy that was stored in me. No fair peeking. I wanted my present for Marcus to be a total surprise. The intercom crackled as a deep voice came through. "Ms. Trumaine, the elevator is about to come to a halt. Please cooperate with security as they escort you to a holding cell."
I closed my eyes and let my head drop back against the wall as the car came lurching to a halt. "A holding cell, really Wallace, is all that necessary? I just came to drop a present off to Marcus.”
Wallace's surprise was evident in the tone of his voice. "How'd you...nevermind...Listen, Valeria, a dead body ain't much of a present and you're not allowed on the grounds anymore. I'm sorry, kiddo.” Wallace was the rare Human that worked security to make extra money. Even though I was older that him by thirty some odd years, he still insisted on calling me kiddo.
"Believe me, Wallace, Marcus wants what I've got. Please stay out of my way. I'd hate for you to get hurt.” The crackling stopped, and the intercom died. Maybe I could have gone about this in a better way, but it was too late for regrets now. Everything was almost over. I just had to make the drop off, and I would finally have the closure that almost cost me my life.
I trained my ears on the hallways beyond the doors and heard the thunder of footsteps as the guards ran to take up position outside. Despite the numerous clicks that signaled the presence of weapons, I didn't want anyone harmed. I had worked with these people for years. They were good people, and they were only doing their jobs. Time to see if I could perform the same trick twice.
I focused on the energy within, searching for the part that was Irulan’s, and drew from that. I gathered everything that was hers and focused it in the palm of my hand much easier than I had in the FaeLands. The moment the doors slid open, I threw it ahead of me, praying that it formed the shield I had seen her create so many times.
Forcing the group back into the walls with the shield cleared the wide hallway for me to pass. “Sorry, fellas, it's nothing personal," I said as I walked by. I paused long enough to break off the bit of energy, leaving the men frozen in place. Oh yeah, I thought, I'm gonna have some fun with this when I see my brothers.
I made it to Marcus' office without any more incidents. When I walked through the door, he was standing with both arms folded across his chest, and he was sporting a look hard enough to cut stone. "I thought I made myself clear five days ago that you were no longer allowed in this building."
I shrugged a shoulder. "Well...I was never one for rules. You know that.” He raised a finger in protest but I quickly cut him off by hauling Tristan from behind my back and tossing him onto a nearby couch. "Just wanted to drop him off. Now you can call off the hunt and save the taxpayers the cost of all the overtime."
Marcus jumped back as a low growl escaped his lips at the sight of the man who had caused us so much trouble. "I don't understand. We’ve had hundreds of Sentinels out searching night and day for weeks now. A few days out of the hospital after he almost killed you and you come waltzing in here, dragging him along like a harmless pup."
The Sentinels had quietly gathered at his door, so he motioned for them to come inside. "Take him to a warded cell and get someone from the Arcane Arts Division to add extra protection.” He looked down at Tristan and ran a hand through his hair. "Lock him down with mahogany spikes embedded into the skin just above his heart, but not deep enough to make contact. He needs to be alive when the VC gets here."
I didn't bother telling him that Tristan was harmless now. They'd figure it out on their own…eventually. Once the room was clear, he rounded on me and began bombarding me with questions. Where did I find him? How did I take him down? Why this? How that...I shrugged my shoulders at every single question.
Marcus was so infuriated at my refusal to answer his questions, that I could see his wolf rolling beneath his skin begging to come out and put me in my place. "Damn it, Valeria, when I ask a question, I expect an answer!" He roared as his energy pushed against me.
"I'm not a Sentinel for you to boss around anymore, Marcus, and I'm not one of your wolves.” I let my own power build inside me until it pushed back at the power of the Alpha before me. It was no contest. Marcus looked completely stunned before he reined his energy in and gazed at me with an almost sad expression. After a few moments of thought, he held out his hand. We clasped each other around the elbow and shook, his way of acknowledging me as an equal. "I've never left a hunt without catching my mark. I wasn't going to let something as small as losing my job stop me."
Marcus sighed and took a few steps away from me, "For what it's worth, Trumaine...I didn't expect you to. I knew you'd end this one way or another.” He took a seat at his desk. "I don't have anything against you, Valley Girl, but don't come here again unless we call. I can't let you cost me my job."
I nodded and turned to leave, "See you around, Marcus.” I pulled the door shut and stood there fighting to contain my composure before anyone saw me with tears in my eyes. For so long, Marcus and the CMS had been such a huge part of my life that. I wasn't sure what I was going to do now without my job to give me a purpose.
The sound of footsteps pulled me out of my stupor. I flashed the entire way out of the building and to my car. Just as I was about to open the door, Priest came barreling out of the building. "Wait up, Trumaine. I need to talk with you.” I hadn't seen him since Charleston when Irulan and he went running off into the night to save those kids. So much had happened since then. I'd changed in ways that my mind was having a hard time believing.
The bear hug Priest gave me caught me completely off guard. He crushed me so tight against him I could swear I heard a rib break. He spun me around in a few circles before finally putting me down. "When I saw them carry you out on that stretcher, I thought you were dead.”
I ran my hands down the length of my body with a smile on my face and began wiggling my fingers. "Nope, sorry to disappoint. I've even got all ten fingers and ten toes attached."