Charleston Past Midnight (7 page)

Body language interpretation is just as crucial as skill. I allow my opponent to close the distance toward me. I’ve already perceived that my adversary is an experienced swordsman, not only from the way he holds his fine weapon but also from his slow, measured movements. We are both measuring each other up for potential weaknesses.

Suddenly his pace quickens and he lunges for me. I shift to my right, missing his blade by at least two feet as he turns to stalk me once again. Because I’m right-handed and quite tall, I already know where I want to land my blow. I’m aiming for his superior vena cava, just to the side of his heart. If I sever that artery then it will be a quick finish.

My eyes track him with the intensity of a starving panther’s as we circle each other. Again, he lunges and just narrowly misses my left shoulder. Before he can reposition, I make my move. Thrusting with precision I go in for the killing blow, but he manages to jump back slightly as I enter his space. My blade misses and sinks swiftly into his lower left side, about ten inches south of my intended target. He shouts out in anger-laced pain.

I grit my teeth, furious with myself. From what I’ve learned in my studies of anatomy, my opponent might suffer some internal bleeding, but could well survive the wound. No, the fight is far from over.

I reposition and watch his free hand come across his body to tightly clutch against the large red bloodstain that is welling up on his light dress shirt. He’s furious. Even through the lamp-lit mist, I can make it out in his features.
Excellent.
Strong emotions lead to mistakes, possibly fatal ones.

Without warning I race straight in for the kill. I’m determined to land that blow, regardless of the outcome to my person. He raises his sword to deflect mine, but I knock it aside and thrust quick and hard. My blade sinks into the man, just south of his collarbone. Screams ring out around us in the morning air as he goes to his knees before me. His rapier is still clutched in his hand but the tip is lowered toward the foggy ground. I clutch his right shoulder and shove my blade in deeper as I tell him quietly, “Now you know that
no one
disrespects those I love.”

As I begin to step back, pulling my sword out of the dying man, a strange burning sensation opens up on my left leg. Before I can even cast my eyes downward, I know what has happened. With his last reserves of energy, he lifted his blade to slice my left femoral artery. I know this even though the mist prevents me from seeing my leg clearly. My leg is drenched and it has only been several seconds since I first felt the sting. I stare down in disbelief and his sinister eyes connect with mine one last time before he keels over onto his left side.

I blink twice, trying to formulate a plan of action in my frantic mind. My energy is rapidly depleting. I glance over at my family in the distance and see my sister and parents racing toward me. My knees hit the wet grass. I’m desperate to retain feeling,
any
feeling, so I clutch my weapon as tightly as possible, sighing deeply at the sensation of cool steel against my trembling palm. I fall onto my back in the white mist and hope that they will reach me soon so I can see their faces one last time before I die.

Without warning I’m dragged in a blur of motion into the darkness of the surrounding forest. I can hear Sabine frantically crying out for me, agony lacing her sweet voice. She’s petrified and bewildered that she can’t locate me. I stare up into the dark green canopy of trees, confused as to why I’m now far from the house. I see the numerous lanterns glowing brightly, but they are now far off in the distance.

I try to sit up, but hands press against my shoulders. A hypnotic female voice surrounds me in the thick shadows, “Shh … fine warrior. Rest now. Be at ease.”

I look up and struggle to make out what seems to be a radiant woman with flowing, scarlet red hair, leaning over me. She’s upside down in my line of vision but when she gets within a foot of my face I can tell that she is exquisite. Flashing eyes the color of amber watch me closely as she smiles serenely. Her sensual voice floats down to me once again. “Here, take from me. Drink to ease your pain.”

She turns her face out of my line of sight, and when she leans in closely, her full pink lips are glazed red with what looks like blood. I’m repulsed but too weak to move away. Using two pale fingers, she gently works my lips open before swiftly applying her damp wrist.

I gag as the warm fluid drips down into my throat. I try to turn away, but she is holding me fast. The metallic tang is foreign and unpleasant, that is, until it hits my system with the power of a lightning strike. Everything in my body comes surging back from the brink in a violent rush of energy.

The incomparable pleasure washes through me as I groan against her skin in total rapture. My hands fly up to latch onto her delicate wrist, desperate for more. I press it tightly against my mouth and draw deeply from the mysterious beauty.

Her free hand gently strokes my hair, and I marvel at the amplified sensation. I never knew a touch could be so profound.

Her unusual voice reminds me of tiny bells swaying in the wind as she says thoughtfully, “Now, brave warrior,
now
you will know the unfathomable strength that you have so valiantly earned.”

Chapter Eight

Present Day, 3:50 a.m.

White Point Garden, Tip of the Charleston Peninsula

“R
emember to clear your thoughts around him. Think of nothing specific. From my understanding, he can only zone in on one of us at a time anyhow.”

Alina looks over at me and asks, “What if things head South tonight? Do you want us on him as well, or is he all yours, Severin?”

“We’re only here tonight for a discussion. I told him that on the call. In the rare event that they attack, then he’s all mine.”

“Got it.” She glances around the shadowed waterfront park and tries to ease the tension by asking, “Hey, didn’t they used to hang pirates from these oak trees?”

I jut my chin forward, “Ask Ambrose. He saw it done.”

She spins around, places her hands on his chest and looks up, “You
did?
”

In an almost bored tone he says, “Yep. Those unlucky fuckers served as a warning for thieves to stay away from Charleston’s harbor. When they strung them up in the summer … now
that
was downright nasty. The smell would carry all the way up to Broad Street, and I won’t even get into the seagulls.”

She wrinkles her nose in disgust and murmurs, “Ew, glad I wasn’t even born yet. That’s just
wrong
.”

Ambrose shrugs casually, “Served its purpose. Made them think twice about trying to steal shit from Charleston.”

The massive Brit has seen so much carnage in both lives that he’s seemingly unaffected by it. I wonder sometimes how he can be so detached, but most likely it’s his primary coping mechanism for the continuous butchery he was exposed to even as a young man.

“Everything good, Case?”

“Yup.”

He cracks his neck twice, squares his shoulders and waits. Aside from the brief encounter at Mixture, he’s never crossed paths with Valdon and his crew. I know that he won’t make impulsive decisions, though. Case is solid. We’ve all agreed on this.

In the blink of an eye they arrive, standing silently before us.
Time to get down to business.

Valdon smiles placidly and strides across the grass toward me, wisely stopping ten feet away. “There is something you need, Severin?”

“There is nothing I need from you.”

He grins coldly. “I see. Not yet, anyway.”

I cut to the chase, not interested in being drawn into his mind games. “Stay away from the human woman. The one from the club.”

He laughs heartily and looks back over each shoulder toward his men in open amusement. “Are you attempting to give
me
an order?”

In a flat tone I say, “You heard what I said.”

He tilts his head, smiling arrogantly at me before he says in a stern voice, “No. She knows what we are and on top of that she is a seer. Because of that fact alone, she is extremely valuable to me. I will have her, Severin, and be warned: I will stop at nothing to do so.”

The air leaves my lungs as if I have received a quick jab to my gut. My worst fear has just been verbalized. I
knew
the instant she told me about her visions that she was in extreme danger, and to hear the one vampire on the planet that is a threat to me acknowledge it makes my blood boil like lava in my veins.

“She’s mine.” I glare at him as I grind the words out. My fangs have already dropped from the vibrating threat of violence.

“Ah, Severin, nothing ever changes between us, does it? Yet again we find ourselves in direct conflict over a female.”

“No, we don’t, Valdon. Katerina was different and you know it.”

I’ve pushed him too far. I can see it as his eyes flash and then narrow. He growls low, “Katerina was
mine!”

I take a step toward the massive vampire and give it right back, “Katerina was
never
yours and you know it!”

He’s livid and looks as if he’s poised to attack but changes his mind, saying menacingly, “Turn her soon, Severin, or you can be sure that I
will.”

No one dictates to me. Ever.

“You realize, Valdon, that you have violated the truce we had in place.”

“For her abilities, it’s worth the conflict with you.”

I stare directly into his eyes. “I’ll
never
let you have her.”

His voice is measured yet confident as he says, “Now that is a
very
arrogant statement to make, Severin. Good luck with such an impossible task.”

They disappear in a flash and I feel like the weight of a 747 is pressing down on me.

Case growls low, “
That
fucker needs to be chained up in a cage and dumped into the harbor.”

I turn around to face Ambrose as he asks angrily, “Why didn’t you tell us she is a seer? You
had
to know he would stop at nothing to have her untapped power under his control.”

“I was waiting to see if he knew. I’m trying to protect her. I want her to stay human.”

He shakes his head back and forth as he says solemnly, “We both know that’s not even a remote possibility now. I’ve never seen him so furious—in fact, I didn’t know the tosser was capable of emotion. Are you certain this girl is worth the hell you’re about to put yourself through on her behalf?”

“I have no doubts whatsoever.”

He stares at me for several seconds and then nods slowly before saying, “Then we keep the human away from him. Are we all in agreement?”

“Fuck yeah,” Case says cockily.

“You know it,” Alina chimes in.

Ambrose’s hand claps down on my shoulder “We’ve got you covered, brother. Now let’s get the hell outta here. This place always did give me the fucking creeps.”

Chapter Nine

Present Day, Midnight

Poco Loco’s, Downtown Charleston

“H
ey, babe! Can we get another bucket of Corona’s and a refill on the chips? Oh, and a few more limes too, darlin’.”

“Sure.” The large group of college guys have been here for well over three hours. They’ve already rung up close to a two hundred dollar tab in food, shots, and beer.

I hope they’re good for it.

They are my last table of the night. The hostess stopped seating tables nearly an hour ago, and my boss—greedy bastard that he is—often keeps the place running past normal closing hours as long as the customers are buying. Come to think of it, I don’t really blame him, but he can be overly demanding. I’ve been here since eleven this morning and was supposed to get off at five. Thanks to a no-show waitress, here I am, shoving twelve Coronas into a pail full of ice at midnight.
These guys had better tip. At least they are semi-polite.

Kiana closed out and waited around for me for over an hour before I told her to head on home. She’s working in the morning, and there’s no need for both of us to be trapped here. She was concerned about me driving home alone and made me promise to text her before I parked the car so that she could come out onto the porch to watch me walk up.

It’s true, our neighborhood is righteously awful but the worst that has ever happened to us are the relentless cat calls from the unemployed losers who seem to live on their front porches, hitting their bongs 24/7. Still, if we want to keep our heads above water with our school loans, the cheap little place is the best option. We’ve scoured the listings in the past and in a nice area, anything comparable would run at least triple what we are paying our landlord. We’ve nearly saved enough to have an alarm system installed, which would definitely help us both sleep better at night.

Still … Severin’s stern warning, and more importantly my promise to him to stay in at night, keeps echoing in a repetitive loop in my mind. He would be so pissed if he found out
that I defied him. I feel badly about breaking my promise, but it’s not like I have a choice. If I told my boss ‘No’ I would be looking for a new job. Immediately. And that’s not an option.

I drop the beer and chips and cup of sliced limes on the weathered wooden table on the back patio and say in a friendly voice, “Afraid this is it, guys. We’re closing down. Gonna have to move the party elsewhere once you finish up.”

There is a general grumbling as each guy reaches out to snag a frosty longneck.

The one wearing a purple polo speaks up, “Hey, didn’t we have an econ class together last semester?”

I look him over, trying to remember. “I think so. Enjoy your beer.” I give him a pleasant smile and walk away to start cleaning down my inside tables. I have a clear rule; I never date guys I meet at work. Most are half drunk when they ask for my digits anyhow. So
not
charming.

* * *

I’ve just finished cashing out my tips and am almost to the back door when my boss calls out, “Hey, thanks for staying on for the second shift, Calla. Bucket night is always slammin’. Enjoy your next few days off. You’ve earned ’em.”