The Fabled (4 page)

“You can’t wait until tomorrow night? Or you
could find another Fabled.”

“You don’t want me anymore?”

“It’s not that. I just think you should find
someone more permanent. You know I can’t always come when you need
me.”

“I do use some others but none of them hold a
candle to you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I believe the expression is meant to
represent how much better you are than others.”

“I know what the expression means. I’m
wondering what you mean by using it.”

“Exactly that. I would prefer to be with
you.”

“Because you can extract more energy?”

He was silent for a second. “There is that,
yes. And, other reasons. I’m sure you don’t need me to go over all
the reasons a man would want to be with you.”

I sighed. “I’ll come over tonight but I want
you to find someone else to suit your needs. I can’t just come
whenever you need me. I’m back on full duty now and I’m pretty sure
the case I’m working is going to keep me busy for a while. It’s
time to find someone else. Do you understand, Doyle?”

Again he was silent. “Yes Sun, I understand.
As they say, all good thing must come to an end.”

“I’ll see you in fifteen.”

I didn’t wait for him to respond. Instead I
hung up and pulled back out into the street. I would have to take a
portal to Doyle’s home as he lives in Virginia and I live in
Georgia but it won’t take long to get there. The portal I usually
take is the same one I took to Dallas this morning.

As I drove my mind wandered back to the night
I first met Doyle. I was chasing down a group of rogue Vampere.
They had been smuggling drugs, spells, people; anything they could
sell on the black market and leaving a trail of dead bodies in
their wake. All attempts to find their sire were futile and even if
we found her, it was unlikely she would have been able to, or even
wanted to, bring them to heel.

It took me several weeks to find them since
they changed their location almost every day or two. One routine I
found they always stuck to was they would meet at the docks every
night after their business was concluded. I figured their stash was
hidden on one of the boats so after I finally found them at a local
motel and exterminated them all I returned to the docks and located
the boat that belonged to one of them.

I expected to find drugs and magical
paraphernalia but instead I found four coffins wrapped in silver
chains. That was the cruelest form of punishment for a Vampere.
Barring any injuries that would require healing, a Vamp can survive
for a long time without blood. They would weaken considerably and
the power they lost during their imprisonment would take centuries
to recover but they would live. Could you imagine being locked in a
box for decades or longer with nothing but your own thoughts to
keep you company? It would drive the sanest person mad and most
Vamps aren’t that sane to begin with. Well, at least not the ones
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Something about the blood magic
changes them. Some are saner than others but they’re all at least a
little crazy.

Anyway, I found some extra silver chains
laying in a corner and wrapped them around my neck, crossed over my
chest and around my stomach. Then I pulled my sword and used it to
cut the chains of the first coffin. Without opening the lid I
stepped back and waited. After a minute I figured the Vamp was too
weak to open the lid himself so I slowly did it. He was dead and by
the looks of the body, had been that way for quite a while. The
first thing I noticed was that he had not died slowly. Or, he
hadn’t died over a series of years like most would in his
situation. He had died of silver poisoning. The body had shriveled
in death but his mouth was still open on a scream and the inside
was coated in silver.

One by one I opened the coffins. The second
Vamp was as dead as the first only he had died without the silver.
I was beginning to think all I would find is dead Vamps when I
opened the third coffin and the Vampere inside jumped out at me. He
grabbed my sword hand and brought it toward his mouth. I could see
his razor sharp fangs extending as he opened wide to bite deeply. I
did the one thing I knew would kill him. I sent my magic to my
forearm where the Vamp’s skin touched mine, used my magic to cling
to his and began pulling it into me. Usually it takes several
seconds to kill someone this way but the combination of me pulling
his magic in as fast as I could and his lack of energy to begin
with had him losing his grip and falling to the floor almost
immediately. I grabbed his hand as he released mine and continued
to absorb his magic until there was no more.

Once he was dead I stood back up to catch my
breath. My head began to pound and I thought I might pass out from
the pain of it but I managed to retain consciousness. It always
hurt after absorbing too much of another’s magic which is why I
only did it as a last resort. It was better to be in pain than to
be dead. The headache is my body’s way of telling me I need to
expel some of the pent up magic. Only I couldn’t just release it. I
would have to use the magic until it was gone. The good thing about
absorbing magic like that is I get whatever abilities the Fabled I
absorbed from. Unfortunately, the only abilities other than growing
fangs Vamps have is mind control, running fast and healing quickly.
So, unless I wanted to make a few trips around the park at warp
speed or cut myself several times then run around making a bunch of
people cluck like chickens, I was pretty much stuck with this extra
magic until it wore off. That could take several days.

I still had one coffin to open so I shook off
the pain and better prepared myself when I lifted the lid on the
fourth coffin. If this Vamp thought he was going to get away with
eating me as a snack, he had another think coming. I couldn’t
absorb his magic too like I did his friend but I made sure to hold
my sword at an angle that would kill him if he lunged at me. I
removed the chains but held onto the lid so he couldn’t push it
open then slowly lifted it and was surprised by what I found. There
was no Vamp in the coffin but instead a Demon lay within. He looked
at me and smiled. I must say he was one of the most handsome males
I have ever laid eyes on and then I could feel his magic. It was
calling me, pulling me, making me want whatever he could give me.
His green eyes seemed to look into my soul and his copper colored
hair was begging me to run my fingers through it. The thought of my
nails on his scalp had a sigh escaping my mouth.

I put my sword to his throat. “Stop trying to
seduce me incubus or I will end your miserable existence right here
and now.”

He smiled and tried to look apologetic. It
didn’t suit him very well. “I am quite sorry but it is very hard to
control when I am in such need.”

“How long have you been in this box?”

“I would not know the date, my lady.”

“When were you put in?”

“December fifteenth, nineteen hundred and
ninety-four.”

“You’ve been locked away for almost
thirty-five years then.”

“That long? Seems like only yesterday I was
running amuck in this fine city. We are still in Virginia, are we
not?”

“Yes. Why were you locked in here? I want
details.”

“And why would that be? If you don’t like
them, will you kill me?”

“Probably not. I will know if you’re lying to
me but, also, if your master mistreated you, there are actions that
you can take against her.”

It wasn’t often demon lived on this plane but
when they did they almost always aligned themselves with someone
stronger. It gave them protection and I guess they were used to it
based on the hierarchy of the hell dimension.

He smiled fondly at me. “My mistress punished
me for not completing a task for her.”

“I said details. What was the task?”

He was still lying in the coffin but I kept
my sword aimed at him in case he attacked.

“To kill a Human. I could not do it.”

“Why not?”

“She was beautiful. Both outside and in. A
light in the dark. To snuff out that light would have been to deny
this world one of its most precious treasures.”

“Wow. A sentimental demon. That’s not
something you see every day.”

He huffed. “We have hearts too. Just some are
smaller than others. I, myself, am a lover not a fighter.”

“Yeah, I bet you just love your victims to
death. Why did your mistress want this Human killed?”

“Jealousy, I think. Of course her reasons are
her own but I believe she was envious of this woman because the man
my mistress loved was in love with this beautiful Human.”

“So your mistress decided to eliminate the
competition.”

He nodded slightly.

“I’m sure you could post a complaint with the
council. We’ve been unsuccessful with finding your mistress so far
but we’ll find her eventually.”

“We? You work for the council?”

I smiled and held out my hand. “Sunny Dubois.
Council enforcer.”

He slowly lifted his hand to meet mine and
when our skin touched I felt a tingle run through me. It moved
around inside and slowly worked its way back to my hand and on to
his. He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed it. Another tingle
ran through me stronger this time.

“Sunny. Yes, that sounds apt. Doyle McConnell
at your service madam.”

I pulled my hand away and stepped back. I
noticed my head wasn’t pounding as strongly as it had been. He had
absorbed some of my magic just through that small touch.

Doyle sat up in the coffin and brushed
himself off. I don’t see why. It wasn’t like dust had managed to
seep into the airtight coffin and collect on him.

“Ah, that’s better. A little more magic and
I’ll be right as rain.”

“If you kill a Human to gain your magic, I
will hunt you down. Right now I don’t have any reason not to
release you though I urge you to press charges with the
council.”

He laughed slightly. “There be no need for
that, my beautiful Sun. Wouldn’t want to bother the council with my
personal affairs. There is something you could do for me though. I
fear in my current state I would not be able to help myself if I
were to encounter a Human.”

“I’m not sure how you want me to help you
with that. Do you want me to take you to some place Fabled
frequent? Possibly a Vampere, Witch or Wizard could help you.”

He smiled at me. “I was thinking of a more
hands-on way of helping me.”

I drew my brows together wondering what he
meant. He slowly climbed out of the coffin and approached me. I
didn’t move as he got closer and he must have taken that as a sign
that I was cooperating. He brushed my hair off my forehead with his
thumb and I could feel that tingle follow. My headache was
temporarily appeased. He was almost a foot taller than me and
lowered his head so he could look me in the eye.

“Poor Sunny. How it must pain you to keep all
of that inside. I can help you with it. Allow me to and I will take
your excess. In return you will prevent me from hurting someone
else. Perhaps it was fate that you found me tonight.”

He ran his thumb across my bottom lip and I
closed my eyes as relief ran through me again. I wasn’t stupid.
This was a demon. One that killed by seducing women and sucking
their energy out. He could take from other Fabled without killing
because they could easily replenish the magic taken but Humans
couldn’t absorb energy like we could and would die. A lot of demon
prefer it that way. They got their own pleasure from killing their
victim. It seemed as though Doyle would prefer his meal live and
kicking.

Maybe he was right. If he absorbed my extra
energy it was a win-win. He would get what he needed and I could
off-load the magic that was causing me pain. It would help me and
him to function. The only problem was the way he took magic from
others. I know he couldn’t absorb much through touching alone.
Incubi gained the bulk of their magic through orgasmic release. But
then again he was one nice looking guy, I haven’t been with anyone
since…I’m not going to think about him, and it was well-known that
incubi were the greatest lovers on the planet. Until they killed
you at least. I wasn’t worried with Doyle. Why would he want to
kill me? I could be the ultimate cash cow for him. Maybe I should
think of a new name. I don’t particularly like being called a cow.
But the point was if he took my excess energy, I was likely to use
him on a regular basis.

“So you want to take only my extra energy. Is
there a way I can give the energy to you? That way I know you’re
only taking what I want you to have.”

His smile spread across his face. “Yes, my
Sun. You can give to me instead of me taking. You must simply set
aside the energy that is not yours. Of course, this will need a
more intimate interaction.”

“Sex, Doyle. It’s called sex.”

“Yes it is. At the time of your release you
let go of the magic that is not yours and I will take it.”

“How do I let it go? I’ve never been able to
release it before.”

“I will be pulling it. All you have to do is
shield your magic and the rest will come to me. Do you agree?”

How the hell do I shield my own magic? I
thought about it for a minute. I closed my eyes and looked inside
at the magics as they intertwined inside me. I could easily
determine the difference between my own magic and the magic I took
from the Vamp. I reached out and touched Doyle’s arm. I could see
the magic move toward my hand so I pulled back my own and allowed
the Vamp’s magic to continue to my hand and into him.

I opened my eyes. Yes, I could do this. All I
had to do is keep a hold on my magic and that was easy enough. I
looked at Doyle and nodded. He was kissing me before I
finished.

This would work for both of us. I wouldn’t
have to worry about killing someone using magic anymore because I
would have Doyle to take it from me afterward and I also wouldn’t
have to worry about one day having to kill him because he would
have a constant source of energy in me. The fact that I get to take
the edge off with great sex was an added bonus. Like I said
win-win.