Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick (33 page)
Read Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick Online
Authors: Mandi Casey
Smoke started to rise from Kieran’s flesh.
Screaming in frustration, Trevor said, “Take your hand off me, you fool!”
Kieran pushed his body passed the cell’s entrance taking Trevor, still gripped in his hand, with him. Smoke billowed all around them as Kieran slammed Trevor’s body down against the cement floor. The vampire grabbed something out of his jacket and uncorked the small plastic container with one hand. Kieran lifted his fist high up into the air and brought it down on Trevor’s face, knocking the demon senseless.
Kieran opened the container and shook a white powdery substance over Trevor, covering the length of his body.
The white powder seemed to have a mind of its own as it traveled over, then disappeared beneath the demon’s clothing. Kieran took a step away from Trevor and put his hands up to block his face, just in time.
The shell of what was the demon burst into a cloud of white dust. The lights in the ceiling of the basement highlighted the fine particles as they slowly floated to the floor. Nothing was left except Trevor’s clothes.
Back at my side, Kieran grabbed the leather straps binding me to the mattress and yanked them, one-handed, away from me. He put an arm underneath my shoulders and gently helped me sit up.
“Sydney, we must be away from here. It won’t be long before they realize what has happened. There are a few of my Knights outside of the compound’s perimeter, and they are waiting for Andras. If he should come before we escape, they will distract him for as long as they can. But for now, we are on our own.”
He tried to reassure me with his artificial vampire smile, but the dread in the pit of my stomach wasn’t going to be placated by the glimpse of a fang from the vampire coven leader faking optimism. Aunt Judith was still at the house with that rogue just waiting for a reason to kill her. If I had the opportunity, that rogue who dared to threaten my aunt would have one coming to her. No one hurts my family and gets away with it.
Kieran helped me stand. I was still a little wobbly from being strapped in the same position for...I’m really not sure how long.
He lifted my hair away from my neck. “Those bites should heal quickly. With my blood now in your veins, you will be able to heal all injuries faster than ever before.”
Anger blossomed in my chest. Renewed strength started taking over my body. Somehow, from deep inside my Selected power, my body knew it would be okay. The paranormal community wanted the abilities they could only get from me, and what those abilities were was unknown. It was clear, however, they would do anything to keep that resource available to them.
I looked into his red glowing eyes, and asked, “Exactly what does it mean to me now that I’ve consumed some of your blood? Can you communicate with me like you can with the members of your coven?” The possibilities were endless, and downright scary.
Humor and something else glinted in his eyes.
“I think we’ll save that discussion for a later time. Right now, we need to get you out of here.”
We passed the mound of white powder, all that remained of Trevor’s body.
“What was that stuff made of to disintegrate Trevor like that?”
Kieran laughed. “Unfortunately, that may not be the last we see of the demon. They are able to reincarnate one another. He may not have the same vessel to cause trouble in, but he may be back. That powder was compliments from your Aunt Judith. You must give my thanks to her.”
A gasp escaped me. He’d spoken with my aunt?
“She called me before Trevor did. We were already aware you had been taken. When Blake told her you weren’t at the house where you told the wolf you would meet him.” He paused. “Your aunt told me about the rogue waiting outside. She and her friend came up with a flour mixture that would dissolve a lightning demon’s skin like acid. Her friend, Meredith, had some at her dwelling. We picked up the powder before coming here. So far, it has all worked out pretty well. Don’t you think?”
I thought he looked pretty smug with himself. In reality, he and Morris had bigger fish to fry than petty land disputes. Vampire and werewolf rogues were working for the lightning demons, who were hooking up with the bigger, scarier demons that controlled legions from Hell. Yeah, they definitely had big problems coming their way. Now that Kieran had dissolved Trevor’s current body, the lightning demons were going to want revenge.
“We’ll see how good your rescue plan works when we both get out of here alive.” Stepping away from Kieran’s supportive arm, I brought my wrist to eye level to study the rogue vampire’s bite marks. The bones in my wrist were distorted, like they had been crushed by the vampire’s jaw, but the bites didn’t appear to be oozing with pus or be as swollen as they had before Kieran gave me his vampire blood. He was right. My body was healing faster than it normally would before his blood dripped in my mouth. Right now my mind didn’t want to process the fact that his blood didn’t taste all that bad and how disturbingly refreshing it was.
We quietly climbed the stairs. Kieran took the lead, opening the door into what looked like a mess hall in a military institution. My Selected senses picked up the rogues down the hallway before we heard them talking about the great demon, Andras. Their words were filled with awe and fear. From what they said, they were afraid that if Lisa wasn’t turned immortal from the vampire’s blood, they may all perish from the high demon’s wrath at being deceived by his betrothed and her people. Andras wasn’t known for his mercy.
Off the mess hall to the right was a door leading away from the rogues. We both crouched, trying to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible, and ambled to the exit. Just before we made it to the door, a loud boom erupted from down the hallway. A rogue screamed in agony.
A flash of light flickered, filling the hall. We looked at each other and had a silent conversation. He said,
Andras just arrived.
My response to the news of the big scary demon was
Yeah, we should hurry up so we don’t have to meet him.
It was definitely time to get out. Together, we scrambled through the door.
Outside, we were met by the chill of the Wisconsin night air in February. I only had on a torn sweatshirt and jeans. Kieran took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Let’s get out of here. The coven needs to set up a meeting with...” Before he could finish what he was saying, a giant black boot connected with Kieran’s face. His body vaulted into the air, landing in a pile of snow.
We were in serious trouble.
“Kieran!” Someone grabbed me by the arm before I was able to go over to him to see if he was okay.
I looked up into death’s eyes.
Andras.
The high demon tightened his grip around my bicep and squeezed. From his strength, he was clearly capable of crushing my bones, but he didn’t. He only squeezed hard enough to make tears burst from my eyes.
When he spoke, my body shook to the core. Never before had I heard anything as evil as the demon’s voice.
“Selected. My woman has unfinished business with you.” He yanked me from my crouched position.
Andras, with his white hair, stormy blue eyes, and massive frame, dragged me back toward the door we had just exited. Before he grabbed the door handle, I heard a thumping noise. The pressure on my arm released, and the big demon fell to the ground with a whomf.
Kieran was back at my side.
“We must hurry.” He enveloped me in his arms, and we disappeared into thin air, like traveling on a magic carpet, without the carpet.
In the blink of an eye, we were standing outside of my house. My chest heaved, and I gasped for air and tried to catch my breath. Kieran’s leather jacket was still wrapped tightly around me to keep the cold air from chilling me to the bone.
“If you can do that, why didn’t you just snap your fingers to get us out of there in the first place instead of killing Trevor?”
Kieran looked down at me from his great height. “I would have, if that were possible. The walls in the basement where they kept you were lined with iron. I had to wait until we were out in the open.” He lifted his head and closed his eyes. “Your boyfriend is in the house, waiting for you.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “How do you know who’s in my house?”
The coven leader of the local vampires grinned mischievously at me. “Blake called after your aunt did, and we agreed he would come to the house since he was already close by. It was my blood they needed to make that woman immortal. Your aunt is fine, by the way. They are waiting for you inside.”
“Kieran, is there any way to thank you for saving me?”
“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you if my coven has anything to say about it. I’ll be in touch.” He curled a finger around my hair, gave it a gentle pull like a big brother would do to a sister who was always in trouble, and he was the one to step in and save her. Was that the way our relationship would remain?
“We still have to talk about that blood sharing thing you did back at Trevor’s, and what’s going to happen when Andras finds out his wife-to-be isn’t an immortal?”
Kieran directed me up the front porch steps, and said, “Sydney, you remind me so much of Maria. It is almost painful at times. I can’t look at you and not think of her. She was very special to me. You will always have my help, but there will be times when my coven will ask things of you that you will not like. But that is neither here nor there, for now. We’ll talk another time. I do not wish to have an encounter with your wolf. We were able to work together long enough to make sure you and your aunt were safe. Now that you are, it’s time for me to leave.” He looked down at my purse and motioned toward it. “Don’t forget, the blood gift to you is still in there. Use it wisely if you ever find yourself in such a position again. There is always more where that came from.”
Before he evaporated into the night, I asked, “Are you going to contact Morris about the vampire and werewolf rogues working together?”
Kieran nodded. “I will consult with my Knights, then the decision will be made on how to handle the rogues. Morris will be made aware of what we plan to do before any action is taken. After all, some of the rogues are wolves, possibly ones that once belonged to his pack.”
He grasped my hand in his, lifted it to his lips, and placed a kiss on the top as his body dissolved into the dark night air.
So maybe the vampires weren’t as terrible as the wolves thought they were? Kieran had the perfect opportunity to get my blood, as willing as he was probably ever going to get me. But he didn’t force me. He didn’t take advantage of the situation, when his entire race would have been able to walk in the sunlight. That is, if it was me who was truly the Selected the prophecies told of.
I slung my purse over my shoulder. I was glad that I’d thought of grabbing it on our way out of the compound and went into the house.
Big, strong arms wrapped around me even before I could shut the door behind me. Blake was there, waiting for me to enter. Aunt Judith was also there in the living room, smiling, tears of relief in her eyes. Blake’s embrace made it barely possible to breathe; it was that tight.
“Blake.” I tapped him on the back to signal to him that he was crushing me.
Blake took a step back, sniffed the air, and asked, “Why do you smell different? You smell like a vampire.”
Exhaustion began to set in and take its hold on me.
“Yeah, about that. It’s been a really long night.” Walking over to Aunt Judith, I gave her a big hug, and kissed her on the cheek. We said goodnight once we were both sure that everyone was okay and the proper wards against unwanted rogue vampires and werewolves were placed on the house. Aunt Judith told us she was also going to plant powder bombs around our home, in case the lightning demons decided to pay us another visit.
After she went to her room, Blake stood staring at me with hunger in his eyes. He had remained silent while letting me soothe and reassure Aunt Judith that it was just another day in the bizarre life as the Selected. I grabbed his hand and stared into his beautiful gold and bronze eyes. I reveled in the heat he gave off and pulled gently on his hand to guide him over to the couch.