Helpless (Blue Fire Saga) (19 page)

29. BLACK ASHES

L
eesa didn’t know that Rave was less than ten miles away, and that the hunters had located their quarry.

Hidden from sight nearly a hundred feet back in the trees, Rave and his companions heard the vampire battle begin. As planned, they waited a few moments, listening closely to be sure the vampires were fully engaged. When Rave was certain the time was right, he gave the signal. The three volkaanes raced silently forward to join the fray, weaving through the trees with blue flames flickering from their fingertips as they turned up their magical fire. They didn’t hesitate when they reached the struggle.

As always, speed and surprise were the volkaanes’ main advantages, and they were even more important now, against these unnaturally powerful vampires. Rave launched himself toward Stefan and Jarubu, who were locked in hand-to-hand combat. Dral and Bain hurled themselves at Melissa.

Twisting nimbly in midair, Rave avoided Stefan and threw himself upon Jarubu. Still struggling with Stefan, Jarubu was unable to prevent Rave from grabbing his head in a powerful grip. Before Jarubu could manage to free his arms from Stefan’s grasp, Rave locked his mouth across the black vampire’s mouth and nose and unleashed the full force of his magical fire. Searing volkaane heat shot into Jarubu’s body, burning the life force out of him from the inside out.

In moments, it was over. Rave let go and Jarubu’s inert body fell limply to the ground. There was none of the pleasure Rave usually felt when he tasted a vampire’s life force, though. There had been something perverted in this one.

He turned to check if his companions needed any help, but they had matters well in hand. Bain’s mouth was locked tightly over the female vampire’s face. Dral stood next to him, ready to provide aid if necessary. A moment later, the vampire’s body collapsed to the ground.

Rave turned back to his own victim and watched as the vampire’s body began to grow insubstantial and translucent. Stefan stood next to him, staring down at his enemy’s remains. The body began to hiss and crackle as it slowly dissolved into an oblong pile of black ash. The color surprised Rave—usually a vampire left behind ashes that were gray and white, not pure black like this. Rave guessed the color must be the effect of the black magic Dominic had sensed.

As if on cue, the wizard appeared out of the shadows and strode over to the pile of ashes at Rave’s feet. He bent to examine them, being careful not to touch any of the ashes with his hand. Until he knew more, there was no telling what kind of signal direct physical contact might send. Dral and Bain ambled over and stood near Rave, watching Dominic.

Stefan and his comrades backed off a few yards and watched as well. The sight of two vampires reduced to ashes was not a pleasant one, no matter how necessary their destruction might have been. None of them ever wanted to suffer the same grisly fate.

Dominic straightened up.

“There was black magic here,” he said, loud enough so the vampires could hear him as well. They had risked their lives; they deserved to know that much, at least. “The magic was the source of their hidden strength.”

Stefan was surprised, but not all that much. He had known Jarubu possessed some hidden power, he had just not known what kind.

“Where would they have obtained black magic?” he asked Dominic.

“I do not know.” Dominic did not want to reveal any more about himself than he already had. He suspected the magic was Josef’s work, but with the bodies reduced to ashes he could not be certain. He was not going to tell the vampires anything about that, though. Later, he would discuss it with Rave and Leesa, because the information was important.

He nudged the ashes with the toe of his shoe. “The magic is gone now. You no longer need worry about it.”

Stefan nodded. “We will go, then.” He looked at Rave, locking eyes with him for a few seconds. “Thank you for your help, volkaane.”

Without another word, Stefan led his companions off into the darkness.

Rave watched the vampires disappear. He was glad to see them go, despite having willingly joined them for this mission. There was something very unnatural about fighting at their side. Still, he was pleased with the hunt’s success. Two very bad and very powerful vampires had been destroyed. Many human lives had been spared.

And now he could fulfill his promise to Leesa.

Far to the north and west, Josef sensed the demise of his pet vampires. He was mildly intrigued that they had been defeated and wondered how they had allowed it to happen. He had sensed no magic through them before they were destroyed, so Dominic had not been involved. Perhaps the matter was worth investigating anyway, he thought.

He had nothing better to do, so he started walking south.

30. Rave’s return

L
eesa and Cali were most of the way through
The Hangover 2
. Leesa had thought the first movie was hysterical, but wasn’t finding this one nearly as good.

“Anyone feel like a late night walk?”

As usual, she had not heard Rave approach, but there he was, standing in Cali’s doorway with a big smile on his handsome face. She bounded up off the bed and threw herself into his arms.

“You’re safe!”

Rave kissed the top of her head. “I love it when you’re this happy to see me,” he said, smiling.

“I’m always happy to see you,” Leesa said, “but sometimes I’m beyond happy. Did everything go okay? Is everyone all right?”

“Everything went great. Stefan’s plan worked perfectly.”

 “Did Dominic need to help at all?” Now that Leesa knew Rave was safe, her worry shifted to being forced to leave Weston.

“Not a bit. Three volkaanes and three vampires were enough. He did learn something, though. He wants to talk to us about it.”

Leesa removed her arms from around Rave but kept hold of his arm as she led him into the room.

Cali had remained on the bed, giving Leesa and Rave some space, but now she got up and joined them.

“Do I get to hear about your fight with the supervamps?” she asked.

Rave looked to Leesa, who shrugged.

“I told her what you were doing,” Leesa said. “I was worried. I needed someone to help distract me.”

Cali made a motion in front of her lips like turning a key in a lock. “My lips are sealed, remember? But I love hearing about all this stuff.”

“I want to hear, too,” Leesa said.

“I have to give Stefan credit,” Rave said. “He had it figured perfectly. He and his comrades engaged the other vampires and kept them distracted. Dral, Bain and I were on them before they knew what happened. There’s nothing left of them but two piles of black ash.”

“More details, please,” Cali begged. “What was their superpower?”

Rave chuckled. “They didn’t have any ‘superpower.’ They were just much stronger than they should have been. Especially Jarubu. He was too powerful for Stefan to deal with without our help.”

“Oh,” Cali said, clearly disappointed. “I was expecting some-thing a little more special, like flying vampires or mental force fields or something cool like that.”

Rave smiled. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

“I’m guessing you took on that Jarubu guy, right?” Leesa asked.

“With Stefan’s help, yes.”

Leesa sighed. “Even though I hate the thought of you putting yourself in danger, I know you saved a bunch of lives. I’m glad you did it.”

“Don’t you volkaanes ever want to get credit for the people you save?” Cali asked.

Rave shook his head. “It’s better that people don’t know vampires exist. The same goes for volkaanes.”

“I get the vampire part,” Cali said. “But why can’t people know about volkaanes? You never hurt humans.”

“People fear what they don’t understand. They already tell stories of us performing human sacrifices—and that’s when they think we are merely a human cult of some kind. Imagine if they knew the truth about our nature.” Rave grinned. “As a matter of fact, I have it on good authority that you told Leesa such stories when she first met me.”

Cali blushed. “Uhhh, I might have. But it was just in fun.” She turned to Leesa. “Remember that thing we talked about the other day?”

Leesa wasn’t sure what thing Cali was talking about. “Which thing?” she asked.

“The carrying thing.”

Leesa smiled. “Oh, yeah.” She turned to Rave. “I told Cali if she was good, I’d ask you to pick her up so she could see how amazing it feels when you carry me.”

Rave grinned. “You did, did you?”

Leesa turned up the wattage on her smile. “Yeah, I kinda did. Would you, please?”

“How can I resist when you ask like that?  Besides, a promise is a promise.”

Rave turned and swept Cali up into his arms before she even knew what was happening. He cradled her gently against his chest just like he did when he carried Leesa.

“Wow! You picked me up like I was a feather,” Cali marveled. She snuggled against his chest for a moment. “It’s so warm up here, too. No wonder you love this, Leesa.”

“I told you, it’s the best,” Leesa said.

“Uh, Rave…Leesa also said I could try one of those kisses she’s always raving about.”

“Ha! You wish.” Leesa laughed. “I did not tell her that, Rave. No way.”

“Oh, well,” Cali said, grinning. “You can’t blame a girl for trying. Rule sixty-six: nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Rave put Cali back down onto her feet.

“Thank you, Rave. That was way beyond cool. Leesa, I am sooo jealous!”

“I told you he’s amazing. The absolute best.”

“Okay, girls, enough,” Rave said. “All these compliments might go to my head. Leesa, about that walk—do you want to go? I know it’s getting pretty late.”

Leesa didn’t care how late it was. “Of course I want to go. I’ve even got my parka here with me.”

“Great. Dominic is probably still outside. He can come with us and tell us what he learned tonight.”

Leesa turned and gave Cali a hug. “Thanks for letting me hang out tonight. I hate to think what it would have been like if I was alone.”

“Hey, what are best friends for?” Cali said. She turned to Rave and winked. “Besides, the reward was more than worth it.”

Leesa shook her head and smiled. Cali was definitely one of a kind.

Outside, Dominic was leaning against the front fender of his Blazer when Leesa and Rave emerged from the dorm. He smiled when he saw them.

The night had grown much colder than earlier, when Leesa had said good-bye to Rave and the others back at Brennan Field, but the breeze had died. As she limped down the walkway, Leesa’s breath floated out of her mouth in puffs of white mist. The clouds above had thinned greatly, and the moon now shone through them as if they were no more substantial than the clouds of Leesa’s breath.

Leesa gave Dominic a hug. “I’m happy you didn’t have to join in the fight tonight,” she said.

“As was I. I’m glad I went along, though.”

“Rave said you learned something that you wanted to talk to us about?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I invited Leesa for a walk,” Rave said. “She’s got a bunch of pent up anxiety still inside her she needs to get out, I think.”

Leesa smiled. How well he knew her—the knots of worry in her stomach had not yet completely disappeared. A quick walk would be just the thing.

“Come with us, Dominic,” she said. “You can tell us what-ever it is you learned while we walk.”

“You sure you don’t mind? It can wait until tomorrow if you would rather concentrate on enjoying your walk.”

“No, please come,” Leesa said. “Otherwise, I’ll just be worrying all night about what you need to tell us.”

Dominic nodded. “Okay. I can understand that.”

“Let’s go, then,” Leesa said.

She linked her arm around Rave’s and the three of them started down the sidewalk, heading toward the center of campus.

This late, there were only a few other students outside, especially with the night being so cold—cold if you didn’t have your arm linked around a volkaane’s, that is. Everyone they saw was walking rapidly, hands tucked into their pockets against the chill, probably heading home after a late night studying at the library or working at one of the two bars on campus.

“So, what did you discover out there with Rave tonight?” Leesa asked Dominic.

“Not too much, I’m afraid. When a volkaane finishes with a vampire, there’s not very much left to study. But I did learn a few things from the remains.”

“I watched Rave kill a vampire once,” Leesa said. “There was nothing left but a pile of ashes. I’m impressed that you could learn anything.”

“Black magic lingers, even when subjected to a volkaane’s fire. There is no doubt black magic was the source of the vampires’ hidden strength. I wouldn’t be surprised if it also drove their hunger as well. Stefan said they had been feeding much more than normal for a vampire, even ones who did not care how much attention their killing might draw.”

“I knew there was something perverted about them right away,” Rave said. “There was none of the pleasure I usually feel burning the life force from a vampire. This one tasted foul. And the ashes were black, not gray and white.”

Leesa thought for a moment, remembering something Dominic had told them a while back.

“You said you felt two blasts of black magic a few weeks ago,” she said to Dominic. “Do you think that was Josef putting his magic into the vampires?”

Dominic shook his head. “No, what I felt then was killing magic. But I suspect Josef may have used it as a demonstration, to give these two vampires incentive to do what he ordered. There were probably four of the creatures to start.”

“How did they get the magic then? Did he impart it to them like you did to me?”

Dominic smiled. “No, hardly. That cannot be done with vampires, who are not ‘alive’ as we know it. Besides, these two did not have magic, really. They merely had increased strength and hunger. I suspect Josef made them drink a bit of his blood.”

“Why would he do that?” Rave asked.

Dominic held his reply until they walked past a pair of students coming in the opposite direction. When they were beyond earshot, he answered.

“I cannot say for sure, but I believe he was probably using them like advance scouts, extending the range from which he might sense me.”

Leesa stopped walking. “Does that mean he knows where you are? Is that why they were here?”

Dominic shook his head. “No, I do not think so.” He laid his hand on Leesa’s shoulder, reassuring her. “I suspect it was just pure chance that brought the vampires near here. In fact, it prob-ably means Josef is far away. He would not have sent his servants somewhere already within the range of his own senses.”

“Phew. I’m glad to hear that,” Leesa said. “And even more relieved you didn’t need to help Rave and Stefan with your magic. I don’t want to have to leave here.”

They resumed walking.

“Josef will have sensed the destruction of his creatures,” Dominic said. “He will know there was no magic involved, but he might still be curious about what happened to them. Vampires infused with the blood of a black waziri are not easily destroyed. We need to be extra careful, in case he decides to come this way to investigate.”

Leesa did not like the sound of that. It seemed like Dominic was saying their days here in Middletown might be numbered after all.

“Should we go back and scatter the ashes, or maybe even move them,” Rave asked, “to make them more difficult for Josef to find?”

“I considered doing just that,” Dominic replied. “But Josef will find the spot regardless of what we do. I think it better that he knows beyond a doubt his vampires were destroyed by volkaanes. You are natural enemies—such deaths should arouse no suspicion in him.”