Scarlet Night (Limited Edition) (31 page)

Though she and the rest of her tribe had never had much direct business with The Council, she understood that there had long-since been a shaky truce between them and all Taroe, who—because of their practices and knowledge—posed a potential threat to the Mythos community’s secrecy, which, from what Nikki had gathered, was a key motivator to most of the laws they worked so hard to uphold. In this regard, however, she was in understanding, since her people had always thrived
because
of fact that they hid their activities from the humans. While there was nothing inherently inhuman about her or any other Taroe—who, though she hated to admit it, were
still
just humans with an advanced understanding of magic—their paranormal activities were enough to draw the attention of the supernatural creatures who valued secrecy and ambiguity as much as they did. Still, while The Council’s affairs had never
directly
impacted her, she was very aware of the power they wielded and what that power meant for every living being on the planet; human or Mythos.

A power, it turned out, that Keith was using for selfish and vengeful purposes. And while she hardly considered herself an expert in the subject, it was worked into the minds of every Taroe youth that entered into adulthood with the tattooing rites that power of
any
kind should never be wielded in such ways.

It was why the
Maledictus
curse had never been used before—or after—Zane had brought it down on himself.

An act, ironically enough, that brought The Council down on their tribe.

Just like the elders had warned; power wielded against somebody in anger will only bring anger back upon them.

And though she was supportive of their goals, she could not will herself to be interested in the tedious planning process they were applying to it. As the group’s incessant banter cycled back and began again she tried to hold back a yawn
.

And failed.

“Is something boring to you?” Serena asked, lifting her eyes to her.

Nikki frowned as the attention of the room turned to her, “I just feel like
you’re thinking about this
way
too much.”

Serena frowned, “You’re saying we
shouldn’t
plan our approach?”

“I’m not saying
not
to plan,” she offered, “So much as I’m saying you might not want to make your plans so rigid. You can plan for
years
on how to react to an attack from the front, but, if when the day comes to fight, you’re attacked from the
side
, then you wasted all that time and focus on something that didn’t allow for any adaptation. Furthermore, if you’re dealing with a
perfect
vampire—who can use his aura to
read
your thoughts
and
attack with the speed and strength of a sang—then would it
really
be in all of your best interests to walk in with everyone
thinking
the same thing?”

A collective frown washed over the room as everyone realized that what she said
was right. Though she had successfully shifted the judgment on her, she nevertheless resisted the urge to jump onto the table to do a victory dance, knowing that it would only serve to reverse what she’d just achieved.

“So, wh
at would you suggest then, Nikki?” Zane glared, stepping behind Serena and setting his hand on her shoulder.

Nikki
frowned and felt her chest tighten as the tension rose, but forced herself to shrug it off, “Well, I haven’t known any of you for very long, but I see no reason why you shouldn’t be able to handle yourselves using your natural abilities. It looks like you all understand the situation and how you want things to turn out, so why shouldn’t you all be able to do what’s come natural for so long?” She smirked, “Besides, it’s not like he or his followers can plan any more than you can, since both of you”—she nodded towards Serena and Zoey—“can ‘see’ their thoughts just as easily. Plus, and I hate to be the one to say this, but you
do
have your ace-in-the-hole.”

Zane frowned at her, “And what would that be?”

Nikki bit her lip as she watched him brace himself for what he knew was coming and she sighed, “You, Zane. If it gets too bad out there,
Maledictus
will do what it’s made to do.”

A deep, rumbling growl started in Zane’s chest and started up his throat. Just before his lips had a chance to part to let it out, Serena’s hand raised and came to rest on his sternum, stifling his growing rage and muting the encroaching snarl in the process. Startled, he looked at her, uncertainty warping his enraged features.

Serena smiled warmly at him and nodded, “They’re
just
tattoos, Zane. Don’t let
them
wear
you
.”

Zane bit his lip, “But we can’t just—”

Serena increased the pressure on his chest, “We will do whatever works for us.” She looked at Nikki and smiled, “I remember, when we were still young, playing in these woods with Keith. One of my favorite things to do was play a game called ‘stronghold’. Keith
hated
the game not only because he could never win, but because it was also the
only
thing I beat him in
every
time.” She leaned forward and nodded at Nikki, “Now, the rules of ‘stronghold’ were simple: we each built a small structure—our personal strongholds—with materials we found around the woods. We would pick different spots to build on to try and vary the outcome, but it never worked for Keith. You see, once we were finished building our strongholds, Keith got to send an auric blast at both of them. Just one blast against both structures—the
same
force against both of them—and the winner was whoever’s stronghold was the
least
destroyed.

“What you just said about not relying on a single, reinforced plan reminds me a lot of why I always beat Keith. Even as a kid Keith was all about strength and rigidity—I swear he was
born
with a stick up his ass!—but I knew that when his aura hit our strongholds, that if anything was too stiff, it would drag everything else with it. He could
never
figure out why his strongholds—which were built from the thicker, harder branches and always bound tighter and tighter and built taller and taller with each new game—toppled every time and mine—built with thinner and more flexible branches that I wove loosely in a pyramid shape—hardly shifted under the force of his aura.” She laughed, “He actually started throwing harder and harder blasts, and while he
did
start causing some damage to my stronghold, his would be
demolished
!”

Zane looked over at her, “Serena?”

She beamed brighter and nodded, “I like you, Nikki! You’re not afraid to call an entire room on their bullshit
and
prove them wrong in doing so. And, though he hates it, Zane’s situation
can
help us in a pinch. No matter how hard my asshole of a brother and his followers hit us, if we can hit him just as hard and be more flexible while doing i
t
,
t
hen none of them will be left standing. My father once told me that what separates a
good
leader from a
great
leader lies between knowing you’re good enough and admitting when others are better.”

Zane and the rest of the room stared at her in shock.

Nikki blushed, “What are you saying?”

Serena smiled and nodded,
“I’m saying that when we step out there to do what we need to do, I want you to lead us. I’m saying that I want you to be our general!”

“Ah! It feels so good to
have a place to work out again!” Nikki mused to herself as she stepped into the training room where a few of the therions of Isaac’s pack were weight-training. As she started to get settled in, however, their activities fizzled until they just stood and watched her begin to stretch with a little too much interest. Smiling at the attention, she turned to them and winked, “Sorry, boys. I’m still getting over my
last
therion lover.”

They groaned and scowled as they moved on to other activities and
Nikki smirked before she channeled her energies around her and began to throw her empowered punches and kicks into a reinforced punching bag.

“Th
at thing is going to get
demolished
by the time you’re done!” The therion named Isaac mused as he paused from his sparring with the vampire named Zoey long enough to watch her assault on the sandbag. Nikki had noticed the two had been really close since she had gotten there.

She shrugged and drove her fist into it once more, “Better it than me, right?
” She grinned.

Turning back to the sandbag, she narrowed her eyes at it, imagining Zane’s face for a moment before driving her fists into the center of the bag repeatedly.

“Nikki, we need your help with the plans,” Zane called out as he stepped into the room.

“What plans? I thought we’d decided
against
too much planning!” She shook her head and sighed, sending another powerful punch into the center of the training bag.

“Please refrain from destroying our equipment. It’s not made for your type of mag
ic.” Zane sighed.

She smirked, noticing that a few of the supporting rails above her had begun to warp,
“Didn’t know I was
that
strong! You should probably invest in stronger equipment.” She rolled her eyes and turned to Zane. She could certainly see the appeal that the Serena girl saw in him, he wasn’t a
total
loss in the looks department; though it didn’t change the fact that he was a grade-A asshole. Still, she
could
get used to the face and body.

Besides, it wasn’t him she liked.

“So what do you need?” She asked.

“It’s this whole Keith mess
.” He said simply.

As if it wa
s ever that simple, she sighed. “Oh? You sound like you have something in mind.”

“Not particularly, but if you’re going to be leading us then I’d like to know what
you
had in mind.”

Nikki smiled and looked at the punching bag and shrugged, “Well, one of the benefits of being what I am is knowing that very few understand what they’re dealing with. A human would think I was a monster and a Mythos would think I was nothing more than a human,” she smirked over at him knowingly, “
So, at any point in a battle, I’m either against somebody who’s either
already
afraid of me, or underestimating me.”

Zane frowned, “Is there a point to this? I’d like to get back to Serena soon.”

“Oh I won’t be long,” Nikki chuckled, throwing a gentle punch into the sandbag, “Anyway, what I’ve come to learn from this is that—afraid or unafraid—it’s never hard to get the enemy to get sloppy. Either their nerves get to them and you get them desperate
not
to die,” she drove several more punches—growing in tempo with each strike—into the sandbag, “
or
they shift their focus because they’re certain they’ve already won.” Zane frowned as she continued to throw her magic-laced punches and began to mix some kicks into her approach and the sandbag continued to shift and pitch under the impacts, “Either way, when the opposition gets sloppy, their hold on the situation gets weaker and weaker until…” she drove her fist into the sandbag, letting it swing out before driving her leg into the side and tearing it from the ceiling and sending it crashing to the floor and spilling sand all over the gymnasium.

Zane sighed, staring at the mess and looking up at her, “You know you’re paying for that, right?”

Nikki smirked, “I’ll make you a deal,
Maledictus
; if I succeed in leading you and the others in tomorrow’s battle, then consider me settled up. Otherwise, I’ll pay
ten
times the damages!”