Evil Spark (27 page)

But this was what it all led to, what I had been aiming for all along. Not trying to blast him to bits—the spillover would be too much for Kate to take and I wasn't sure I could handle the aftermath either.

But taking his magic, claiming it as my own, strengthening my body and my power, that I could do, and each breath of blood magic I consumed fortified me, but, as I knew it would be, the cost was terrible.

The vampire inside of me grew, and I felt the disdain for humanity, the belief in my superiority, rise as Yrjo weakened. I cared little for the world, for its people—they were mine to play with and I thought nothing of them. I became cold and heartless, yet I knew I had to continue.

Sucking and gulping like a starving beast, I was insatiable and unstoppable. Knowing what I was becoming, I let his darkness consume me, take me over until I was almost lost. Struggling up as Yrjo sank back to the floor, I watched Kate without caring as she spat and cried with hurt, deep in the throes of the sickness as the energy grew greater by the second.

"It's mine. All of it," I gasped, as Yrjo clawed at my body and my face as if he could take back what I drew from him. It was in vain. I was full, brimming over. He had too much, too much for a human being, which is what I still was. Just. I let it go, thankfully. Dark magic, tainted by the soul of an uncaring vampire, leaked into the room, but I sent most back to the Empty where it belonged. Where it would remain uncorrupted and pure, as it should be.

"No, no, no," he hissed as his mouth extended grossly as if the blood magic manifest physically, before it spewed from him in a violent wave and came to me, a perversely intimate swapping of life force.

Yrjo shrank as I got to my feet and reveled in the strength and coldness that gripped me, turning me into everything I hated about the vampires. I was lost and I was immortal.

I stared at the shriveling frame of Yrjo and I laughed at him. His weakness, his fallen pride, his puny body, ancient and pathetic. I laughed at his shame and humiliation as I sucked him in. He grew smaller and smaller, becoming just a man, then less than a man as he lost it all, what he had taken for millennia. His body morphed, true age creeping upon him year by year as he danced through the ages in a slide show of corrupted spirit.

Skin stretched and his frame shrank as the aging process escalated until he was little but a husk. Then he was nothing. Before he was gone entirely, he stared at me with shock and horror, knowing it was too late, that he had overplayed his hand, been too confident in his own magic. Different to mine but no less powerful if he'd acted with more caution.

I exhaled, emptying dark magic into the room. Then, with a final deep breath that stretched my lungs and my ink until I felt something rupture inside of me, I took what little he had left.

There was no last threat, no final words spoken to haunt me. Just his eyes as they stared into mine with hate—all he had left as his bones crumbled to dust. Then there was nothing, just clothes, and ash that drifted around the room lazily before blowing out of the smashed window to sparkle in the air as the sun made its first appearance of the day.

Everything was still, the air as dead as the vampire, but my body was bursting at the seams. This was not me, not who or what I was, and I didn't want it. I stared at Kate, alone, vulnerable, sick and unable to cope. She saved me.

Just seeing her there, in pain, it beat the promise of power and the ability to step outside the realms of mortality to be something other, where there was no sadness, no regret, and no emotion. Where I would be free from pain and sorrow unless I inflicted it on others. All of that was as nothing compared to what she promised.

I smiled at the new blouse. She looked pretty.

She saved me, so I let it all go. Breathed out and gave it all away. The Empty took it gratefully, purifying it and me. I was back, retching on the floor, body aching like I'd been danced on by every demon in the netherworld. It felt glorious as I rolled onto my side, gripping my stomach and moaning, as my belly spasmed and my flesh was consumed so I could stay alive to fight, and hopefully love, another day.

"Let's not do that again," I said, tears rolling down my face.

"Good idea," said Kate, her head next to mine on the floor.

We stayed like that for some time, heads almost touching, staring into each other's eyes. Closer than we had ever been, smiling despite the pain that gripped us and wouldn't let us go.

But it passed, as it always does, leaving us deflated and exhausted, two half-people, disconnected from the world but not from each other. We were lessened because of the theft of the magic as it took its payment for what we abused, but we survived.

Time passed, so did the sickness. We stood in a daze, blinking at the clear blue sky that promised a warm and humid day. The air was thick with the smells of the water and the city drifting up through the missing window.

I stepped back from Kate and held her at arm's length. "Kate, I have a question to ask you." She looked worried. "No, nothing bad. Um, you know we've been, er, getting closer, and I just realized, although I think I always have, that I love you."

"I love you too," she said, serious and meaning it. Good job too. Imagine if she'd said she'd changed her mind and wanted to run off and join the circus or something.

"So, um, can I stay here tonight? Er, today? My house has got a bit messy."

"Of course. Of course you can stay."

There was a smell of rotten eggs.

"What about me, can I stay too? The kids are driving me nuts."

"Hey, Intus," I sighed.

"Hey," said Intus, claws scratching on the table as she took in the dead vampire. "Hello, Kate, you look lovely. Is that a new blouse? And is that a dead vampire? Smells like one."

"Um, hi, Intus. Yes, it is new, and yes, it's a dead vampire."

"Thought so," said Intus cheerily. I had the feeling she already knew it was, and had just been waiting to appear once it was safe. "Now, where was I? Ah, Faz, I've got an emergency. Do you know anything about making up with trolls? Illus and I were just messing about, doing our job kind of thing. We swapped Hard-Head's secret stash of chalk for sugar and for some reason it got a little angry. Trolls, eh? And the kids are driving me wild. Can I stay with you? Um, I mean Kate. Faz, your place is a right state, mate, you need to keep on top of the housework."

"You did what!?"

"Hey, don't you judge us. How were we to know trolls go a little funny if they eat sugar? Anyway, it's not very happy and I just, you know, wondered if you could help us out. Eh, buddy. My very best friend." Intus suddenly seemed to realize where we were and whistled. "Whoa, the place is nice, Kate. Sweet view."

"Thanks," said Kate.

"Look, can this wait? It's been a long day. Um, night."

"Well, not really. Look, help me out with this and I promise I will never steal another one of your socks as long as I live. Cross my heart and hope to die."

"No!" Kate and I screamed.

Intus put a hand to her mouth but it was too late.

We stared at each other in horror as time stopped and the air sang.

"Oi, what do you think you are doing?" said the faery, sprinkling wonderful dust around my head as she waggled a finger at Intus. A tiny piece of paper and dripping quill appeared.

She peered at me suspiciously. "Do I know you? Have you been misbehaving?" she accused. Fae have awful memories. They are so busy, have lived so long, that they hardly ever remember you as they can't hold that much information in their immortal minds.

She leaned forward and I swear she stuck out her chest, even smiled.

"Nope. Don't think so." I gulped. "No. Never seen you before."

"Are you sure?" she asked, giving me a mischievous smile and putting her hair behind her ear.

God, those ears! I wanted to lick the lobe, tickle it, and keep it close forever.

"Uh-huh," I managed.

"Sign here please," she said, thrusting the paper and quill at Intus.

"No, there's been a mistake. It wasn't me. It was another imp. It's just gone, honest."

"You naughty liar! Imps. You lot are so untrustworthy." The faery got up close to Intus and I swear she turned her head and smiled slyly at me. "You did it, didn't you? You're a liar!"

"I am not," said Intus, hands on hips, thumbs through her leather dungarees. "I wouldn't lie."

The faery stared at Intus, then in a sneaky voice said, "What, you saying you always tell the truth?"

"Well, er, maybe. But I'll never lie again. Cross my—"

"No!"

Let's just say it was a long morning.

The End

Book 3 in the series is
New Spark.

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