She shrugged. “Yeah, his arguments can be quite persuasive.” The fork full of hotcakes cutting off anything else she may have added.
I shook my head in disbelief. I never thought Michel would be able to get Amisi to bend to his will, she was just so damn independent. Wonders never cease.
We finished off our enormous breakfast. Despite it being eight at night, we often called the first meal of the evening brekkie. Both Amisi and I had taken to a nocturnal schedule completely now, when I returned to the bank things would change. A small voice in the back of my mind laughed at that thought.
If
I returned to the bank.
Great.
Amisi and I decided to take my car,
M & M
could follow behind my BMW in their own Land Rover. I really did not need them chauffeuring me any more, I was adamant I'd get myself back in the swing of things and my life firmly back under my control. It was fantastic to be in my car again, at the wheel, tearing along Tamaki Drive. I didn't bother to put the roof down, although summer was well and truly here, it was a particularly chilly night. A wind from the South had decided to coat the city in icicles straight off the Antarctic.
We'd made it as far as Mission Bay when we felt it, a thrill running through my body at the thought of the hunt. It felt like a lifetime since I last confronted a vampire and slid my stake home. This was what I was born to do, the absence of it lately may have been unavoidable, but now I was back.
“This one's mine,” I told Amisi, she just smiled a knowing smile and nodded in return.
We parked up a block from the pull, just off High Street. The goons managing to find a park not too far away despite the popularity of the area, high end bars and restaurants, in amongst the closed for the day fashion boutiques and hair salons. Matthias was at my side even before I made it out of the vehicle.
“What is it? Why are we here?” he demanded, not even bothering to hide his dislike at this side trip. We had intended to go directly to
Sensations
, this was outside of the plan.
“Ease up, Big Guy, it's just my pull. Hunter business, you know? Just hang back and let Amisi and me deal with it.”
I could see him battling with indecision, no doubt his instructions were to get me to
Sensations
safely, this was not what he had in mind for safe transit to the end point.
“Are we going to have a problem here, Matthias? You and me? You know what I am and so does Michel. This is my job. This is what I do.”
He looked at me with those startling blue eyes, no emotion showing in their midst, just an empty pool of glass, reflecting a non-existent sunlit sky. Finally he nodded, a swift short motion of his head.
“We will watch from the shadows.” And with that they both disappeared into the dark at the sides of the street.
Shit. That was impressive. I looked at Amisi and noted the wide eyes and startled expression. “They're good,” she whispered, then palmed her stake.
My heart leapt at the sight of her weapon, silver glinting in the glow of the old style lamps that dotted this part of the CBD.
I slowly took out mine and sent my senses towards the vamp we were hunting. He was on his own and hungry, his blood lust rising at the sight of his victim's rapid pulse.
Just as I said, “Let's do this” another pull yanked us both in the opposite direction.
“Bugger,” I muttered. How often did we experience two at once? Hell, it was hard to come by one a night, let alone two at the same time. The second wasn't too far away, towards the bottom of Queen Street, we could just deal with this one and then chase down the next. There was still time.
I was about to suggest this to Amisi when a third and then a fourth pull, both in precisely the opposite direction of the CBD from where we were, slammed into our chests. We both bent double and gasped.
The sudden realisation that more than just an ordinary night on the hunt was unfolding, had me sweating and straining to control my rising panic.
Oh no, this was not good. Not good at all.
As the oldest Nosferatin and also the Nosferatin of this city, Amisi naturally deferred to me. She raised her eyebrows in a question, waiting for me to issue the command.
Without hesitating I took the reins she offered and swung towards the shadows watching intently at our sides.
“Marcus take Amisi up Queen Street, she'll tell you where.”
He peeled away from the darkness and materialised in front of me.
“My orders are to stay with you. We both stay with you.”
Shit. I didn't have time for this. Four evil pieces of crap in my city about to strike. It was only a small miracle that we had a second Nosferatin to call on at all, without Amisi being here, I wasn't so sure I'd be able save every one of the innocents currently under threat.
The two closest felt like the biggest threat, that's why I'd chosen to stay and face them, they had a hint of something other than the normal Darkness that makes vampires stray from the rules. It was familiar, yet also nothing I could put my finger on. I felt a little out of practice and the sooner this current series of confrontations was over and successfully tucked up for the night, the better for my peace of mind. Not to mention my returning confidence.
“Amisi is just as precious to the coming battle as I am. We cannot afford to lose another Nosferatin to Jonathan.”
That had him stopping in his tracks. He flicked a glance back towards the shadows, where no doubt Matthias was hiding and then with a short nod he grabbed his keys out of his pocket and motioned to Amisi to follow. They ran off together to the Land Rover and I turned my attention back to the immediate threat.
I felt a fission of tension run down my spine, then with a roll of my shoulders I was off. It didn't take long to find the first vampire, down a small alley between a designer clothes shop and a well known fine arts store. His prey was lying at his feet, undoubtedly glazed into submission or just plain unconscious. I wasn't sure which I preferred. Glazing from a vampire could be complicated and if the vampire was strong and intelligent enough, dangerous. The human no longer a simple victim, but also a threat. If they were just unconscious, I could ignore them until it was all over and then call for an ambulance to help them out.
I took in the crumpled form, but couldn't tell which reason it would be for his current collapsed state. Moving my gaze up to the vampire above him, I did a quick scan of what called me to this spot.
Of medium height, he had shoulder length blonde hair and flat grey eyes, staring out of a slack, unmoving pale face. He was casually dressed, but not messily. There was no dirt or rips and tears on the cream sweater, or over the pale blue denim jeans. His boots only sported a couple of scuffs, nothing to indicate a Rogue, but he wasn't a sophisticated master either, just barely a level five as it was. His own gaze stayed fast on me throughout my assessment, his fists clenched at his sides, no obvious weapons to speak of.
“So,” I started with. “What's up?”
His aura fluctuated slightly, giving me a hint of the Dark within, but also of a desperation that enveloped his entire body. I frowned. Either I had forgotten what the normal pull was like, or this was something else altogether new to me
“They said you would help.” He had an English accent, middle of the road, fairly pleasant.
“In what way?” I asked fingering my stake.
No two hunts were ever the same. Sometimes, there'd be no conversation, the vamp would spot me and simply go in for the bite. I'd have no choice but to act swiftly and certainly, without hesitation. Stake straight through the heart. Sometimes, they wanted to play, a little sparring, obviously confident they could get the better of the Nosferatin in front of them. And at other times, they'd decide a bite from me was more appetising than the human in their arms and they'd change their target. And then again, sometimes they'd want to talk. I could never predict what way a hunt would go, so I had long ago stopped second guessing and just gone with the flow.
But, on this occasion, something felt decidedly different.
“That you'd stop it.”
I tried not to sigh, he just wasn't making sense. I hated twenty questions and I was conscious of pull number two nearing its prey. If I didn't wind this up soon, I'd be too late to help the next Norm, currently being sized up for supper. I was vaguely aware that Amisi had taken out one of her vampires already and was closing in on the the last. I had to catch up. But, no matter what happened now, here in this alley, the outcome would be the same, it always is. We'd either fight, or banter, or I'd simply end his life. Either way, he'd end up with my stake between his ribs. So, why did I bother to entertain anything else whilst on a hunt?
Even vampire hunters despise the act of killing.
Tonight though, I didn't have the luxury of thinking there could be an alternative outcome. I had always approached each hunt as though maybe, this time, they would back down, apologise for what they had done and walk away reformed. It had only ever happened once before. And really, the only reason why I didn't kill that vampire immediately, was because I was unarmed. Gregor had been able to get the better of me in that Dream Walk and I'd had little choice but to let him go.
As it happened, he had been remorseful and had eventually reformed.
But, he was an exception to the rule. No other hunt had ended that way, regardless of any hopes or wishes I harboured.
So, this was going nowhere new. Time to end it just as Amisi had done her first vampire back at the top of town. And the pull further down Queen Street was getting stronger, almost impossible now to ignore.
“
Are you going to behave yourself and walk away from this?” I asked as my last act of
giving them a chance
, but I was already stepping closer, my stake rising up in front of my advancing body.
His eyes flashed on the silver and then back to me, with an almost pleading voice he said, “They said you would help.”
Maybe, if I hadn't have been under such pressure I would have asked more questions, investigated this strange turn of events more, but just then I felt pull number two strike and I was well and truly out of time.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I'll help.” The look of relief that washed his face was the last thing I saw before my stake entered his unguarded heart.
“Fuck,” I whispered, as the dust began to settle about me. “That was not right.”
Matthias was beside me in a second. “Do they always seem so desperate for you to end it?” he asked, surprise written all over his large face.
“No,” I muttered, cleaning off the dust on my stake and returning it to my pocket. “And we're not done yet.”
I quickly dialled an ambulance while checking the victim on the ground. Probably just fainted, but the paramedics would make sure. After getting the person comfortable and ensuring help was on the way, I turned towards that second pull. It was too close to bother driving, but it was a block or two away, so the run provided an opportunity to reflect on what had just happened. That vampire had wanted something other than the final death, I was sure
of it. And he was certain I could have provided it. I tried to settle the churning feeling that had started in my stomach, the sense that I had missed an opportunity was looming like a giant above me. All grisly teeth and snarly eyes, it felt like any second I'd get crushed in a pudgy oversized hand, the giant's voice echoing that, I
was meant to help
.
I knew, with conviction, that I had not helped at all. I had missed something and it made me feel sick. But, there wasn't time to consider my mistake, I had to suck it up and help this next innocent survive.
This vampire was better dressed than the last, although still casually attired in jeans and lightweight shirt, his clothing looked immaculate and expensive. Not Michel or Gregor expensive, but chosen with care. He was a level four master, so climbing the ladder, but not yet impossibly powerful to pose any real threat and was again just medium height, this time blonde long hair, tied back and deeply brown eyes. Not a bad specimen and not my usual hunted Rogue at all.
I skidded to a stop a few metres away. We were hidden from the street and any passing Norms by a billboard advertising
Tip Top Ice Cream
. The picture showing a young attractive girl eating a
Trumpet
, chocolate topping and chopped peanuts popping out of the picture like fireworks on New Years Eve. I walked slowly past the sign and stopped in the shadows to face pull number two.
He was still holding his victim, which I instantly knew had been glazed into a stupor. When the vamp spotted me, he lowered the inert body carefully to the ground. Reason number one to be suspicious. They don't usually take this sort of care with their meals. Again, this vampire reeked evil, the Darkness oozing out of his pores. But again there was a sense of desperation, as though this was his last chance at something. Something he was prepared to die to get.
“You came,” he said softly, his face a mask of awe. "I did not think you would.” Once again a Brit. I guess there just seems to be a hell of a lot of vampires in Britain. Strange to have two in one night.
“You're not exactly hiding your Darkness there, bud. It's kind of hard to miss,” I answered, trying to assess where the strike would come from. His hands were bare and he didn't look to have any concealed weapons on him, but then again, if they were concealed, I wouldn't see them, would I?
He smiled and he actually looked like a normal vampire, not a crazed blood thirsty freak about to eat an innocent victim on the sly. OK, reason number two to think something was definitely hinky here.
To hell with this. “What exactly do you want from me?”
He blinked slowly at my question. “Release of course.”
I scratched at my ear in frustration. Release could mean a stake through the heart, but something still held me back.
“How do you suppose I give you that release then?”
He did look surprised then. “I would not know, you are the
Lux Lucis Tribuo
, you should know how to release us from the Dark.”
Holy Mary Mother of God. It all came crashing in on me, in a mad rush of comprehension. These were not my usual pulls, the evil-lurks-in-my-city pull, they were part of the Forbidden Drink, called here by my blood, by the Light within my soul. They were seeking the balance the Prophesy could give them, but I had never been confronted with this readily requested desire. Every other vampire who had come to me because of my Light, had been evil through and through and just couldn't help themselves. Like automated robots, they came when called and then just mindlessly did what all vampires at their hearts do when
laced with so much Dark, took an innocent and prepared to chow down in front of me.
These guys, the two at least I had faced off against, were conscious of their moves, of why they were here, of what I could offer them. Shit. I had no idea how to help him and if I didn't give him what he wanted, what then? Would the evil inside him take over and strike back?
“What if I can't give you what you want?” I asked unsteadily. This was all such new ground.
He looked genuinely puzzled. “But you are the
Lux Lucis Tribuo
, how could you not?”
Yeah, right. I may be the Giver of Light, but I have no idea how to give that Light, do I?
I ran a hand through my hair. This guy, for all his Dark, seemed pretty normal. I was sure he would be an exception to the rule, surely not all of those seeking my Light would be as communicative, as cooperative, but this chap seemed able to control that Dark, at least for now. How he was holding it at bay, I didn't know, he seemed to be all but Dark within, yet here he stood, openly asking me to help. I got the distinct impression that he would let me do anything I wanted to him right now.
“
OK. I've got to admit something. I haven't actually... um... helped a Dark vampire before. Other than to stake them. I don't know if this will work. And, ah... as I kind of don't trust all that Dark seeping out around you, I'm going to ask a friend to come out of the shadows and help me out. Don't freak OK?”
He looked expectantly at me, but didn't seem at all surprised by my crazy ramblings. Maybe he faced off against crazy Nosferatins on a regular basis, with all that Dark I wouldn't have been surprised if
Citysider
knew him well.
“Matthias,” I said softly into the night. “Can you come here, please?”
Matthias appeared at my side and the Dark vampire did take a step back then.
“Who is he?”
“He's my personal guard. I kind of ran into a little trouble recently and I no longer take my safety for granted. He will only do what I ask of him and no more. You need not fear.”
I waited for the vampire to nod and then I asked - the first time I had ever asked this question of a Dark vampire I thought I may have to stake before - “What's your name?”
He blinked that slow blink again, as though every action he made was an effort. I could only imagine holding back the Dark and functioning on a normal level was hard work. That thought made me think time was probably not on my side right now and I had better get a move on with whatever the hell it was I was planning to do. Shame I wasn't sure right now what that was.