B006P1R39O EBOK (24 page)

Because the vampires were outnumbered by humans, and could no longer live in the light, they became known as creatures of darkness. The vampire was destined to dwell just beneath the surface of reality.

Time passed, and to humans the vampire became a myth. This is the way we wanted it. If people were to know the truth, hunting them would be so much more difficult. But it would do more than that. The truth would rock the very foundation of human society.

It was agreed that no one should know the truth about the vampire and their beginning, not even other vampires. This secret has remained with the ancients for thousands of years, until now.

Ophelia’s betrayal has blackened my soul, but that was only the beginning of the monster that I am now. I was tricked into feeding on the most evil and tarnished blood in existence, the blood of a demon. That demon then became my master. It had been his plan to do just that. If I were the master of all vampires, and he were my master, he would then be unstoppable.

I foiled his plan by retreating into isolation. If I did not take my place as ruler of all creatures of the night, he could not use me to harvest the souls of the living. But then he would use temptation. He is a master of disguises, and at first I thought he was the Gatekeeper of the wolf spirit, promising me that the blood of an angel would cure me.

An angel would be born among the wolves. If I were to feed on this angel, the disease would be cured and I could finally rest in peace with the dead. Kathrina was that angel. It would have worked if it were not for her falling in love with Donavan. He took her away so that I would never find her.

But someone did find her, and they killed her, but not before she gave birth to another child. That child would have her mother’s blood; the divine blood of heaven. To feed from her would cure me; it is what Azazel promised, but the demon’s trickery and deception knows no bounds. He did not tell me that she would be a part of me - a part of my soul. To kill her would be like killing a part of myself.

To take her soul would be a major triumph over heaven, but there is only one way for him to do it. I must disregard the love between us and feed on her, taking her soul as I do. I am his reaper.

To release my soul from this body it would almost be worth it, but still I cannot bring myself to do this. I must let her go, but he will never let her go. As long as she lives, the demon will stalk her. Only she can end it, and that is what the hellish creature fears most of all.

Kathrina set the book down, but before closing it, she noticed what looked like quick notes scribbled at the bottom of the page.

My sweet angel, what happened to you that night in the gas station was real. Because of my disobedience, the demon has taken matters into his own hands. He pulled you into another dimension where he could take physical form. You must never let this happen again. While you are in that world that is known as hell, he can harm you physically. In this world he can only possess and manipulate. It is doubt and despair that will make you vulnerable to him.

This time Kathrina did close the book. She was forced to clasp her hands together just to keep them from shaking. The terror of that night was still fresh in her mind and now she knew for sure that she wasn’t crazy.

And that stuff about her mother and herself. Her life had taken on a dream like quality where nothing seemed solid or real. No it was not really like a dream, more like a nightmare.

While reading the book, she had detected little tenderness from him. Was he really that much of a monster that the only thing that mattered to him was saving his skin or his soul?

Kathrina couldn’t let herself believe that.

Luciano was trying to help her by giving her the information that she needed, and then getting out of the way. She had to remember that Luciano was still in servitude to this demon. Kathrina shuddered to think what the demon would do to Luciano for defying him.

How was she supposed to fight a creature from hell? She didn’t even know that much about demons. Kathrina could count on one hand the number of times that she’d attended Sunday services.

She could ask her father for help, but she suspected that if Luciano were powerless against the demon, her father would be too. Of course there was that ornery old priest, Father Rovati.
             

Kathrina tucked the book under her robe and left the guesthouse. Once she was back in her room, she hid the book beneath her mattress. She then dialed Ethan’s number.

“Hello, “ she spoke into the phone. “Ethan … I need to get in touch with Father Rovati.”

* * *

Her nerves were fried. Every few minutes she would look up at the digital board to see if Father Rovati’s flight had landed. Flight 1254 from New York had been scheduled to land several minutes ago, but there had been an announcement that the flight would be late due to weather. As far as she knew, the priest’s trip from Rome had gone smoothly and without incident. He’d phoned her from New York before making his connection flight.

What if something had happened? What if the demon had somehow managed to bring the plane down?

Though she was practically crawling out of her skin with anxiety, she did her best not to think of the possibilities. If something like that happened, she’d have all those people’s deaths riding on her shoulders.

Why hadn’t she thought of the consequences before calling the priest?

Kathrina jumped when she felt someone touch her arm. She looked up to see Chad staring at her. Behind him, his parents looked on in confusion.

“I’m sorry,” the man told her. “He insisted on talking to you.”

Chad continued to stare at her, not saying a word. Kathrina could have sworn that there was a spark of recognition in the boy’s eyes, but it was so faint that she wasn’t sure.

“It’s no problem,” she smiled at them before turning to Chad. “Are you okay? Is there something I can help you with?”

The boy leaned over and whispered in her ear. “She gave it to me … the angel.”

As soon as he said that, he backed away from her. It was as if he couldn’t understand why he was standing so close to someone he didn’t know. Turning away, he strode off with his parents without saying another word.

For just an instant, Kathrina had hoped that he would remember her, but then she felt ashamed. To remember her, he would have to remember the rest of it, and no child should have those kinds of things in their head.

The angel gave it to him!

That’s what he’d whispered in her ear.

She had to assume that he was talking about the sword. Just like the Book of Anu, she had hidden the sword beneath her mattress. She’d had a hunch that she might need it again.

Just then she saw flight 1254 come up on the board. The priest would meet her in the coffee shop where she was waiting; it had all been prearranged before he’d left Rome. They both felt that the fewer people that knew they were talking, the better for both of them.

Father Rovati sat across the table from Kathrina, eyeing her with a skepticism that she hadn’t expected. After all, he was a priest. This stuff was right down his alley.

“That’s what happened,” she finished telling him about her experience in the gas station and what Luciano had told her, at least part of it.

“Look … I still have the marks,” she said, pulling up the sleeves of her blouse to show him the scratches.

“Does this demon have a name?” he asked her.

“I think he the name was something like … Azazel.”

The priest visibly paled at her words.

“What can I do about this demon? How do you stop a demon from haunting you?”

“Normally you would stop it with an exorcism,” he told her. “But … this isn’t really a case of demon possession. If what you are saying is true … and I do have serious doubts … he cannot possess you because of what you are. A demon cannot possess an angel.”

“But I’m actually a vampire. I mean I was born with fangs.”

The priest leaned back in his chair and studied her. “Well as odd as it is … it would appear that you are both.”

“So what do I do?” Kathrina was getting impatient. She wanted some answers and Father Rovati was the only one she could turn to.

“What exactly is it that you want?” he asked.

“I want to destroy this demon … and I want it to release Luciano’s soul.”

“The only way that would be possible is to go into that dimension where he is physical … and you must be aware of how dangerous that would be?”

“I have a golden sword and I have reason to believe that it was given to us by an angel.”

Father Rovati’s mouth fell open. “There is a story that when an angel goes into battle with Satan, he or she will carry the sword of the Archangel Michael. What if this sword is the same?”

“Then it would be proof that what I am saying is true.” Kathrina was finally feeling some confidence. The priest seemed to be coming around.

“Okay, let’s say all of this is real. How would you get back into that dimension?”

Kathrina tapped her fingers on the table, deep in thought. She had no idea how she’d gotten there in the first place, let alone how she would get back. “Where are the gates of hell?” she asked.

Rovati shook his head. “They are anywhere the evil one chooses them to be. They are everywhere and nowhere.”

“What about a witch? Could a witch open a portal to this hell dimension?”

Rovati nodded. “Possibly … if she were powerful enough. But I must warn you, this could all be a trap to get you inside that dimension where you are at his mercy.”

Kathrina closed her eyes. She knew the priest was right, but what else could she do? There was no way that she could go through life knowing that his soul was imprisoned by that demon. In fact, she was no longer sure that she could live without him at all.

“I’ll chance it,” she told the priest.

She’d made the decision. All that was left was getting in touch with her sisters. It would take all three of them to do this. Sarah was a witch; she could protect them and open a portal. Nicole was half human and half vampire, living proof that the two species could coexist in peace. Her existence was evidence that love was more powerful that evil.

The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that this was what their true destiny had always been.

* * *

When Kathrina finished her story, Sarah and Nicole were dumbfounded. It hadn’t been easy to get a message to them, but she’d finally been able to find someone that could cross into
Outerlands
and find them. After receiving Kathrina’s message they’d come as soon as possible. She’d told them it was a matter of life and death.

Now she could see annoyance in their eyes. They thought she had finally lost her mind.
             

Kathrina looked to Father Rovati, hoping he would back her up.

“I cannot confirm the truth of this story, but she does seem to know a lot about this demon.”

The priest’s words hadn’t really helped any. “Listen … I would never have asked you to come back to New Orleans if I didn’t truly believe that I needed you,” she told them.

Nicole’s eyes softened. “I know.”

Sarah shrugged. “You know, just because she is the youngest doesn’t mean that she doesn’t know more than we do. Maybe she’s onto something.”

“You could be right,” Nicole said. “I thought I would feel different in some way after Omar was destroyed, but I don’t. I don’t feel any kind of release or freedom. It’s like I’m not done.”

“Exactly,” Kathrina said, breathing a big sigh of relief. Finally they were starting to believe her.

“So where do we start?” Sarah asked.

“Kathrina needs to remember exactly what she did that night she was attacked by the demon,” Father Rovati told them. “She must have done something to trigger that rift between this world and the underworld.”

Though Kathrina had been pondering for days, she couldn’t think of a single thing that she did out of the ordinary that night, unless she counted going to the church. That wasn’t exactly common for her.

“I did go to the church,” she told them. “It was after I left the church that things started to get weird.”

Father Rovati was thoughtful. “It could be that by you going to the church, the demon felt threatened. Maybe it was the demon’s fear that caused some kind of instability between worlds.”

“Isn’t there a spell that could open the door to that dimension?” Nicole asked Sarah.

Sarah nodded. “There is, but we call it the incantation to the land of shadows. No one has ever used it … that I know of anyway.”

“Could you try?” Kathrina asked.

Sarah was obviously reluctant. “You know there’s a reason that witches don’t open that door. You just never know what you are going to encounter, and most of the time it won’t be good.”

“But will you try?” Kathrina asked again. She suspected that Sarah might be their only way in.

Sarah suddenly turned pale. Clearly shaken, she stared at them with a stunned expression on her face. “I think I just heard a ghost … a woman.”