sanguineangels (59 page)

Devon’s energy grew silent as he contemplated his plan. This was all a game, and I had to play if I wanted to get back the one I loved. I would win, no matter what.

Meet me tomorrow night at St. Louis Cemetery #1. I’m sure you know where it is
.

And then he was gone.

“You can’t go. He’ll kill you.”

I got up from the floor and stretched, relaxing for the first time, realizing how tense I was. I had to save Veronica. “There’s no argument. You and I both know that. Besides, Veronica would do the same for me. You would do the same for your child.”

Aria remained silent behind me, knowing I was right. I opened the shutter and wondered how I would overcome Devon. He was stronger than I, but I was faster and more tolerant in the sun. He wanted to meet me after sunset. I would be ready, no matter what it took.

Part Five

Death

My name is Brenna
.

At nightfall, the hazy sunset hung over the city like a curtain being lowered, and I waited to make my curtain call. I stood outside my apartment, ready to go. I pulled a cloak of energy around me, shielding myself from people passing by. Aria wanted to come, but I told her no. I had to take on Devon alone. Besides, if he sensed her then he might go back on his word and hurt Veronica. I couldn’t chance that. What was the point? I didn’t know what to expect and if he won it was either my life or my sanity at stake. I didn’t know which was worse. I wasn’t afraid of dying. I had already done that. I was more frightened of ending up his obedient servant. I doubted that would happen. He thought I was like all the other vampires; he didn’t know I wasn’t torn asunder by a bestial personality. He thought I was some human-loving bitch trying to take his child away from him. By challenging his authority, I pissed him off, just as I had done with Malachai.

Well, I had played the subservient pet once, but I was not about to do it again.

I would never bow my head to another. I was as independent as a bird. I would not play the vampiric game. It was time the game had a new set of rules. I smiled at this. Their society was going to change. I would be the catalyst. It didn’t mean I would go out killing others of their kind, but I would defend myself if I had to. Never would I recruit mortals and make them in my image.

A slight breeze kicked up a few of the fallen leaves, and I knew it was time for me to make my voyage. Pulling the energy skin closer, I began my journey to the outskirts of the French Quarter, where the cemetery lay. By the time it had grown fully dark, I got to Rampart Street. I glanced at the projects on the left of the cemetery, hearing the inhabitants talking inside. Some lingered on the porch, watching the passing traffic, while small children played in the parking lot. I took a quick mental scan of the cemetery, detecting no living things in there. There could have been a hundred or so ghosts lingering in the place, but I didn’t care. There were no detectable heartbeats, human or otherwise. That meant nothing. Devon was probably keeping himself and Veronica cloaked.

I crossed to the other side and leaped over the wall of the cemetery, clearing it and landing on top of one of the raised crypts inside. I left my wings in, so I would not use the energy of pulling them out. The more I kept myself cloaked the better chance I had of taking them by surprise.

I surveyed the tops of the graves and didn’t see anything. I took a breath and hopped down, landing silently. I moved through the cemetery and found myself in front of Mary Laveau’s tomb. The cool surface helped to steady me. I moved in between a few of the rows, cautiously wondering when Devon would jump out and try to take me. I found nothing until I came to a crypt with a small bench in front of it. Someone lounged on the stone bench, hands clasped. I noticed the long, girl-like fingers and swore to myself, hoping that it would have been Veronica, but why would Devon keep his bargaining chip out in the open? No, he had hidden her somewhere.

“You won’t find her,” he crooned. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to bring her here?”

“You promised an exchange. Her for me.”

I stood a few feet from him. He sat calmly picking the dirt from underneath his fingernails. Irritation welled up in me, but that was just what he desired. He wanted me to give in to my anger so he could catch me off guard, but that wouldn’t happen. I took a deep breath and quieted my distraught emotions.

“I never said anything. I just said to meet me here.” He paused and grinned. His eyes shifted to a nearby tomb. “Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Master.” Aria’s distinct treble echoed in the night as she stepped out from behind a crypt.

I turned, shocked to see the ancient vampire standing there. She grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharpened teeth.

Fuck! How could I have been so stupid? I let her into my home, into my mind? I kicked up a cloud of dust from the gravel path.

“You were my friend. I trusted you.”

“Oh, poor Brenna. Did you really think I was just going to show up out of nowhere and help you? I’ve always done my Master’s bidding. He knew you would need some guidance. Why not send me?”

“Everything you said was a lie.”

She knew where I was vulnerable, what things were precious to me. I didn’t think. Devon had given her the perfect assignment. Infiltrate the enemy and get them to trust you.

“Not everything. I really was a Delphic Oracle, and you did wonderfully by killing Malachai. Before I lost my powers I told Master about the birth of a new kind a vampire, one that would be stronger and could survive in the sun. With it he could rule our kind. Moreover, it would be in his bloodline. He just had to control it. And then you came along. Just like I predicted.”

“Yes. Aria was wonderful in her day. And you have so much potential, Brenna. All you have to do is accept me as your Master. Veronica is a weak link in our world. Come with me, and I’ll make you greater than anything you have ever dreamed.”

I swallowed and took a quick assessment. I was outnumbered. I wouldn’t be able to take on two vampires all by myself. I gulped. My heartbeat picked up. Tension grew in the air. There was no way I was going to be Devon’s slave or become the prodigal child he wanted me to be. Without thinking, I bolted. I wove in and out of the gravestones, trying to make it to the back wall. If I could do that, then I would be all right. I rushed past worn down tombs and saw the back wall in sight, the part of the cemetery dedicated only to Protestant parishioners. Ten feet from the wall, I leaped, my wings bursting out of my back. My hand found the top of the wall when hands grasped my waist, throwing me off balance. Claws raked deep within my shoulders, stopping my wings in mid shift, as the pain of the wound overtook me. I cried out as I hit the ground, and Aria’s claws hooked me like a side of beef, dragging me through the cemetery over the worn paths with gravel digging into my ass. I struggled against her grip, but her claws only tore into me more, so after a while I stopped.

Aria brought me back and stood me up. Devon smiled, exposing twin fangs. His eyes bled red as he anticipated having a meal. A long, curved talon caressed my cheek, drawing blood. His tongue connected with my skin, lapping at the seeping wound. I pulled back as much as I could, but Aria held fast so I had to stand and endure him enjoying himself. He laughed deep in his throat when I tried to pull away, savoring the look of disgust on my face.

“You’re as good as I remember you. The first time I saw you on the street, I knew all about you. I peeked into your mind, discovering all your desires. Why do you think you took me home that night? I was what you were looking for, something to replace the meal you lost earlier. You are the most fun I’ve had in ages, and it got better when I fucked you. You didn’t even know I tasted you. Now that you’ve crossed over you’re even better. Aria has told me all about you like I instructed her to. You don’t have the beast. Intriguing. You’re unique like she said you would be, and now I own you. Hmm. Yes, you’ll be a wonderful one to break. I have to thank you for getting rid of Malachai, by the way. He’s been a nuisance ever since he created me. He thought he could control me. Forcing me to stay out of New Orleans, exiling me to Boston. I don’t know how one deals with the snow, but now I have reign over New Orleans and Boston. Hmm. What am I going to do? So much power, so little time. But you wouldn’t know that, now would you, little one? Or should I call you Raven? Yes, that name suits you better than Brenna. Raven it shall be. You’ll be my bird of prophecy. Be able to spy on others around me just like a modern day Marie Laveau. Arriana tried to turn her because she thought Marie was the one she had seen in her vision. Now Marie’s only an insane creature with too much bestiality. I couldn’t control her. But you. You’ll do wonderfully.”

I laughed.

Devon stared at me. Anger rose in his eyes.

“You think I’ll become your poppet. No one rules me. I call no one Master, not even my own creator. You’re dreaming, Devon. You know, you got me. Sending Aria in so I would trust her. That was brilliant. Honestly, though, I don’t know what it was I saw in you when I was human. I mean, your dick is small. Now I can really see how minuscule it is.”

He slapped me. The force of it could have broken my neck, but Devon hadn’t hit me at the right angle. I opened my eyes once the stars had cleared and worked my jaw as the pain dissipated. My power stirred inside of me, coming out of its hole, but I held it back. There were still too many things I had to take into consideration before I let loose my powers.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Raven. It’s no use fighting me. Aria did at first and then saw the error of her ways, didn’t you Arriana?”

“Yes, Master.” She bowed her head.

“I don’t know what the hell you see in him, Aria. He’s nothing but a murdering monster.”

“Enough,” Aria yelled.

She plunged her talons deeper into my back. Something ruptured.

“There’s nothing you can say to change her mind. She’s completely under my control. She has been since the beginning. When she was the Delphic Oracle, she saw her own future. When she first saw me she gouged her eyes out, hoping what she had seen had been a false vision, but when I brought her over, her lovely eyes grew back, and she was my slave. Now Veronica. She was a chore. I knew she would be trouble when I first bit into her. She’s nothing more than a meat-loving bitch. But you, you could be so much more. You could rule beside me.”

A feeling of dread washed over me as he said that. He wasn’t lying. Something about his words hit the psychic chord in me. I understood why Aria must have gouged out her own eyes when she saw the future, being in service to a thing like him for the rest of her days. I wondered what type of human she had been as the Delphic Oracle. Whatever psychic powers she’d had had been used up ages ago. Devon must have sucked her dry, taking away all of her individuality, which severed her cord from the universe. I shivered at the thought. He was not going to do that to me.

“So you say she predicted all of this? What was the outcome? Didn’t she ever tell you that the future isn’t written in stone? It can be changed, you know.”

Devon smiled, growing all of his teeth into points. The beginnings of horn buds poked through his forehead. His face bubbled and twisted as hair sprouted and bones rearranged themselves. He laughed, the sound becoming garbled like grating stone in his throat as his vocal chords reformed. His shoulders grew broader and his talons became their full length. I didn’t cringe as his foul-smelling breath swept over my face. I stared up at him as he looked down upon me. His curved talon snuck underneath my shirt, ripping it and my bra as his claw moved against my skin. He pulled my shirt off, throwing in it somewhere into the cemetery. His cold, hard talon moved along the curve of my breast, embracing the nipple as to not hurt me. The gesture was almost tender. His other hand came around and pulled me closer to him, caressing my ass. He growled something to Aria, who let me go. He moved one claw under my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. They were cobalt red, no irises, just red, as if his eyes were a liquid storm swirling around. I felt pulled into them.

The coarse hairs of his fur poked into me, burying themselves like wooden splinters into my skin. The more I struggled, the more embedded they became. His claw forced me to fall deeper into the storm. His mind pushed against mine. I resisted the best I could, but he knocked down my barriers as fast as I erected them. My eyes closed. His forked tongue snaked into my mouth. I didn’t want to respond to him, but my body didn’t know anything else. It wanted the ecstasy of his touch. His other hand pulled me against him. His dick throbbed against my thigh. I moaned, grinding my hips, wanting him to fuck me. All I wanted was him. I would do anything for him as his will took over my thoughts.

His cold talon moved inside of my jeans, finding the crack of my ass. I pressed in closer to him, not minding the small hooks of his fur, not caring that wherever it touched me bled; my body yearned for his dominance. “Tell me what you want, child. All it takes is one word and you can have it forever. What is it? Tell your Master, Raven, and I’ll be kind. I promise.”

The sound of my name on his lips was music to my ears. I was his Raven. His bird. I would use my powers to give him whatever answers I could. Anything. All I had to do was tell him what I wanted. And oh, how much I yearned for him. How much I wanted him to fuck me, ripping me apart with his cold, hard cock, working me with his fingers until I was raw. But…Master?

He had my jeans down around my ankles and backed me up against one of the cold crypts. His claws ran furrows in my flesh as he sought to get a good grip on my hips to lift me up and enter me. The smell of my blood perfumed the air. I heard footsteps on the gravel path coming this way, probably Aria coming to see if the master needed her help, or possibly other predators coming, being drawn by my blood. I didn’t care. They could all have a piece of me as long as I could have the ecstasy of having him ravage me over and over again, until the end of forever.

“Come child, tell me what you want?”

What did I want? Devon’s will pushed harder, wearing me down, but something deep inside wouldn’t give in to him, even though everything wanted to. That was an insignificant part that didn’t matter. It was nothing, something lingering from a past I hardly remembered. Something I had lost to my master’s hands. I opened my eyes and peered into my master’s face.