Created Darkly (10 page)

“Of course, I saw that flashing eyesore. Who could miss it? It said
Devil’s Playground.
Am I right?” I took yet another blue shot. “Pretty cool name for a club. A little morbid, maybe, but fitting.”

“So?” she asked.

“So what?” I giggled, and then hiccupped. I was pretty sure I hit drunk a while back. I was coasting on the
having a fanciful time
ride.

Addie huffed and pushed into the seat next to mine, leaving the guys alone to chum it up. She grabbed two shots and downed one, and then another.

“You’re drunk, Kris. And to that, I have only two things to say. First and foremost, we are partying tonight with none other than the owners of this here fine establishment. Devil—Get it? Devil’s Playground?—and his dashingly handsome partner in crime, Rafe Devereaux.”

When she received only a shrug from me over her ‘big’ news, she smiled and shook her head. “And two,” she said, grabbing up another shooter, “it’s high time for me to catch up with you.” That one was red, and it looked just as yummy as the blue one. She chugged it back.

I lifted up a red shot, eager to try the new flavor. “To that, I say…‘Cheers!’”

A
s result of having too many of those blue and red shooters, I teetered back and forth on my barstool. A sudden loud boom and the acoustic rattle of base, vibrating from the speakers on stage, almost had me toppling over altogether.

“Careful,” Rush said, gently grabbing my shoulder. “Maybe you should switch to water for a bit. Here, you can have mine.” He pushed a tall glass of ice water in front of me.

“Yeah, you’re right, but I’m feeling so good right now.” My voice sounded low and seductive. Was my drunken ass trying to seduce him? That didn’t take a genius to figure out. The answer was ‘yes.’

Rush laughed and pushed a straw against my lips. “Just a couple of sips, and I’ll leave you alone.”

That sounded reasonable enough. But instead of a few sips, I ended up drinking the whole glassful. “Thank you. But I’d rather you not leave me alone.”

Instant heat blazed in his eyes. I leaned over and rubbed my shoulder against his. “How about another shot?” I asked.

His hand cupped over my bare shoulder. With a gentle brush, he rubbed small circles with his thumb. I relaxed against him.

“We’ll talk about shots after another glass of water, beautiful. Is that okay?”

I sighed. “I guess so.”

On stage, the curtain began to open. I blinked several times to try and focus my shaky vision as the lights in the club dimmed. Excited chatter began to rise all around me. Anticipation swelled and I looked over at Rafe and Devil, who had stopped talking and were both staring anxiously at the stage.

“What’s going on?” I whispered to Addison.

“Every weekend night, before the bar closes, Devil’s harem performs. I’m usually up there with them, but I shirked my duties tonight. I wanted to spend time with Rafe and my new friends.” Addie entwined our arms and squeezed gently. “It’s quite a show. Watch and see for yourself.” She pushed her hair back over her shoulder and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. “I hope you don’t get offended easily.”

I glanced back over to the stage. Addison had managed to give the show quite an interesting intro. She piqued my curiosity, making me somewhat nervous and intrigued all in the same turn. I lifted the glass and slurped down the final drops of water with a straw. I was beginning to feel even dizzier. Good thing Rush had cut me off.

“Remind me to never drink those red and blue shooters ever again,” I groaned to everyone at the table.

“You okay?” Rafe asked.

“She’s fine,” Rush answered.

I nudged Rush in the side with my elbow. “Yes, I am, thank you.”

Rafe smiled and turned to watch the stage.

Everything dimmed to black. The nervous chatter all around the room ceased, and any errant eyes were, all at once, looking towards the stage. The music started to flow. Winding notes that produced a lilting melody had everyone swaying to the sensual beat, almost hypnotized, like docile cobras with hoods unflared, in their seats. I had an overwhelming urge to stand up. It was a compulsion to be freed from inhibitions and throw caution, and my clothes, to the wind, so I could gyrate naked amidst the beauty of the music, which so completely reached inside of me, soul deep. But somehow, my ass stayed planted firmly in place. Thank God for small favors. In my condition, a stunt like that would’ve most assuredly left me face down on the floor. 

“It’s about to begin,” Addison whispered, giving my arm another squeeze.

The deep red, velvet curtains swept across the stage, opening wide to reveal two of the most visually enticing women I’d ever seen, not counting their counterpart who happened to be sitting snugly at my side, giggling. The two women stood poised, arms wrapped around each other in different erotic poses.

Their costumes hung from tender, soft curves, silver coins dangling from gossamer material; each outfit was a different, vibrant shade. A voluptuous redhead was garbed in an eye-catching emerald green. And then my personal favorite, a sable-haired temptress, showcased a sapphire blue ensemble. After taking a second look, I noticed that the two women kept subtle eye contact with Devil and Addie. I doubted anyone else could see past their beauty to notice the slight action.

“What color is your outfit?” I asked Addie.

Her eyes twinkled. “My paramour outfit is the purest white, almost transparent, with diamonds, instead of silver, hand sewn across the bodice. I’m Devil’s main bride, the one that’s been with him the longest.”

“How long have you been with him, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“It will be two centuries next month. I have something wonderful planned for our anniversary.” A happy, yet mischievous, look crept across her face.

My jaw dropped. I knew for a fact that Addison wasn’t a vampire or a necromancer, and she was obviously not a ghost. So how was she sustaining a youthful appearance?

I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, now I know your messing with me. You look twenty-five, if a day. How could you possibly be over two hundred years old? You’re screwing with me because I’m a little drunk, aren’t you?” I asked with a laugh.

I looked to the side to see if anyone was listening, but the men weren’t paying attention to anything other than the erotic performance unfolding onstage. I didn’t blame them.

Devil’s brides were moving seductively across the wood planks, hips swaying to the slow, thumping bass, arms swirling in front of them, reaching up, always moving forward. When they met in the middle, bare feet stopping in front of a pile of pillows, they merged. The red-haired beauty cradled the other woman’s jaw in her hand, her fingers pressed into the flesh at her hip. They moved a few beats, swaying and thrusting together. Sable hair cascaded to pool on floor when the second bride leaned backwards, arching her back and reaching out. Gentle fingers crawled over flesh pulled tight from the backwards incline. She smoothed her hand over the sumptuous contours of the dark-haired bride’s heaving breasts, and lower, skimming her midriff. Dropping her other hand, the red-haired bride knelt to the floor. 

With a smirk, I looked back at Addison, the women on stage almost making me forget what we’d been discussing. Her confused look swept across my face. I didn’t blame her. For a Creator, I knew little, to almost nothing, about the supernatural world and its laws, but I always thought I knew one thing for certain. The use of life magic was restricted to only the strongest of necromancers, Creators. So how could she be practically immortal without dying first, and then being awakened?

“Devil has kept me young and by his side all these years. You are curious as to how he was able to do this?”

I nodded.

“The answer is simple. He lets me drink from his vein regularly. I’m the only one of his brides who receives this gift, because it weakens him a little every time we do it,” she said, hushed.

I blew out a breath. “I didn’t know that was even possible. Can every vampire do this?”

“Last time I checked, yes. However, the older the vampire, the more potent their blood is. Younger vamps need to hoard their magic to better sustain themselves. It takes a baby vampire about half a century before their blood is strong enough to sustain a drudge or bride.”

Addison obviously had a lot of experience with that kind of stuff, but I’d been ignorant about a lot of things. I hiccupped and looked across the table at Rafe and Devil. Even though they faded in and out, because of my skewed vision, what my beer goggles could make out was that on the outside, they both seemed so normal, almost human, like with their excitement and in the way it was evident, how much they had missed each other. They didn’t seem like monsters at all. But who really knew what lay beneath the façade of those two well-groomed, gentle-mannered vampires? They indeed had the looks, strength, and animalistic instincts to wreak all sorts of havoc on mankind.

Yes
,
looks could most assuredly be deceiving
, I reminded myself, especially when blood lust was involved. I licked my lips and tried to act sober, but my mind was still fuzzed out by the booze. Somehow, I was able to manage a coherent thought through the muck and ask, “What’s a drudge?”

“Rafe was Devil’s drudge until he rose anew as a vampire; he was his companion, of sorts, for longer than I’ve been Devil’s bride. Those two are closer than brothers. Although drudges are usually considered assistants, in earlier days, they would have been the equivalent of a slave.”

I blanched at that.

“Now, hold on,” she continued. “Consider the alternative. Servitude to a good and just master is a small price to pay for the chance at centuries of youth and the possibility of becoming a vampire, if you ask me. It’s all in whom you know, and of course,
whom you do
.” She turned and looked at me with the brightest smile. The intensity of it scared me, and it made me wonder about whom I was spending my time with.

“Case in point,” she said, pushing a strand of hair from my face. “I’m now in league with a talented Creator. I’ve only met two of your kind in my entire existence. You’re as rare and elusive as a mystical unicorn in a child’s fable.”

Her compliment made me blush. It was either that or the copious amounts of alcohol running amuck in my system, making my face flush and swarm with heat.

Before I could take the conversation any further, an urgent nagging in my gut had me anxiously scanning the room for distress signals. The atmosphere had quickened into something ominous, and my hand jerked to the back of my skirt, only to find bare skin, instead of the gun that I had stowed away in Addie’s purse. I reached down by her feet and yanked the bag into my lap, knowing that I would feel a lot better if I had a weapon in my hands. I buried my arm to the elbow in her purse and quickly brought out my security. The cool feel of metal against my palm had an instant calming effect.

“Is there a good reason why you pulled a gun out in my club?” Devil asked in a warning tone while clearing his throat. The man was observant, or I was sloppy.

Rafe frowned, looked between Devil and me, and then scanned the room. “What’s going on, Kris?” he asked.

I closed my eyes and focused once again on the tremor of dread that rode the air around me. Something wasn’t right, and that something was making me feel rattled. I looked over at the two vampires; their eyes glossed with confusion. I said, “I’m sorry about the gun, but something’s about to go down.”

Rush stood up, moving in next to me like a guard dog. The gesture was nice, but all I could think about was how our bodies’ proximity might encumber my accuracy in regard to aiming and shooting my gun. That thought might seem odd to most people, but for me, it was second nature. I was always alone when I hunted down and killed vampires. There was no one to aid me in those dark alleyways when my life was in grave danger, so I had learned how to become efficient in one-on-one combat.

I bore a really nasty scar on the back of my right shoulder and another one, ragged and puckered, on my lower back to prove it. The scars had been put there by two different vampires. Both of them had bitten me, their fangs ripping through my flesh like warm butter. The scars from those bites itched at the memory. That hurt!

“I’m scared, Devil. Maybe we should leave.” Addie’s voice trembled.

Devil pushed out of his seat and rushed to Addison’s side. He banded a strong arm around her shoulders. He shot a perturbed look at me while trailing his fingers across Addie’s neck to calm her. He growled, “That’s enough, Kris. Put that gun away and shut up. You’re setting everyone’s nerves on edge. Nothing is going to happen. No one would dare cause trouble here.”

If only Devil’s statement had been true. Without warning, the stage lights extinguished, and the music, which had taken me and the room over earlier, fizzled out. The building was thrown headlong into darkness. Then all at once, I heard glass shattering around me and people screaming. A loud booming sound shook the ground beneath my feet.

I found myself face down, on top of our table; it was broken into several pieces. My ears began to ring, and I could feel several parts of my body being pelted with glass, small shards of it burrowing under my skin, along with splinters of wood. And if that wasn’t enough, smoke began to fill the room. Suffocating tendrils crept down my throat, quickly filling my burning lungs. I coughed, trying to clear out my airway, to no avail. No amount of hacking was going to help. I couldn’t breathe, talk, or even move. I could still see vague images around me, even though they were out of focus, unclear. But what I could make out over the smoke and debris was a grizzly scene—a room resembling a place that truly lived up to its name, Devil’s Playground.

W
orry pulsed with each beat of my heart while I watched in horror as Kristina’s body was lifted up like a tethered marionette and thrown through the table. The explosion that caused it had produced sound waves so intense that it had jumbled everything and everyone inside the club’s confines like objects in a shaken snow globe, while leaving the club’s walls intact. I knew what kind of device was being used against the bar and its patrons. I knew because it was a special weapon issued solely for the Center. We called the bombs
Audibles
, because the blast waves that emanated from them were made up of sound, not heat.

I had been so consumed by Kristina being injured that I hadn’t noticed the barstool careening across the room, heading right towards me. It hit me square in the chest, knocking the wind out of me. I drew in a few long, strangled breaths and shook off the pain. I could hardly hear the battle raging around me or feel my feet hit the littered ground as I made my way over to Kristina. My heart never stopped thumping. It beat like I was on speed, never slowing.

My only thoughts were wrapped around one person… Kristina. When I reached her, my finger went straight to her neck. After a few tense moments, I felt her pulse tap against my fingertips; she was alive. Before I knew what I was doing, I gently pushed the hair from her eyes, tucking it behind her ear, and gave her curved brow a kiss. I was able to breathe again as my forehead rested against hers. But my relief was short-lived, as I remembered that we were both still in grave danger. I raised my head and put my arm around her waist, pulling her into my arms. I struggled to tear my eyes from her, so I could scan the room.

Three figures appeared out of the gloomy dust. I could tell that two of the three were men by the broad set of their shoulders and the way they walked with their legs, and not their hips. But the third silhouette was definitely female, with curves and a shift in her gait that was both confident and seductive. The woman jumped onto the stage. With hand signals, she ordered the two men with her to stay back. They obeyed.

I stayed hunched and hidden as I watched the woman creep across the stage with purpose. She didn’t stop until she reached Devil’s women. One of them was out cold or dead, her body spread limp across the stage. The other woman, who was whimpering with fear, began to crawl backwards, away from the woman stalking towards her.

“What’s happening?” a deep voice demanded from beside me.

My head swung towards the voice, my eyes landing on Rafe. He was busy pushing debris from his body. His shirt lay open, ripped from the blast, exposing the eagle mark on his left pec. He had been knocked unconscious by the blast. Confusion set hard in the crease of his brow. It took little time for understanding to flood his expression. His mark flashed a bright white as soon as he caught sight of Kristina and the state she was in. The vampire growled a deep, low rumble that brought his fangs out. He threw his head back and let out a piercing yell. The woman on stage, who was holding a gun to the temple of the whimpering woman’s head, froze when she heard the guttural call of death. She yelled an order to her men, and all three of them turned their attention on us.

“Fucking perfect!” I seethed. “Are you going to throw a fit like a little bitch, or can you shut up and help me get Kris to safety?”

The look Rafe threw at me was scorching. “You can take her up there,” he said, pointing to the second floor staircase. “I’ll take care of those pieces of shit.”

“You’re newly made, which means you won’t heal super-fast. Try not to get shot too many times.” And with that, I hefted Kristina’s petite body and stood. 

“Where do you think you’re going in such a hurry, pretty boy?” a feminine voice mocked from behind me. “I have my gun trained on the back of your skull, so unless you want your brains scattered all over your pretty, little blood-whore, I’d suggest you turn around and stay a while.”

The sounds of Rafe in the midst of battle filled the room; the two men must have attacked him while the woman behind me chose to go after us.

“I will kill you if you hurt her.” It was a promise I made with sincerity, and I was certain my voice rang with dire truth.

I began to turn around, tucking Kristina’s unconscious body closer and deeper into my arms. She snuggled in close to my chest; surprisingly, my rapid heartbeat didn’t jar her awake. My mind worked frantically to find a way to keep her safe, but the only course of action left for me was going along with the woman’s demands. I couldn’t risk taking a bullet in the back; the chances of it traveling clean through my body and hitting hers were too great.

“If you cooperate with me, I promise no harm will come to you or your slave.”

Slave? All at once, I understood the woman’s hostility towards me…well, part of it, anyway. She thought I was a vampire and was convinced that Kristina was my drudge or bride.

“I am not a vampire,” I said, turning around to face her.

When my eyes landed on my assailant, we both took in a shocked breath. I felt a deadly expression take over the contours of my face, and the woman in front of me lowered her gun.

“I didn’t recognize you, sir,” she pushed out between trembling lips.

She lifted her fingers to her mouth, never relinquishing her gaze from mine, and whistled loudly. Several feet away, the men who had been taking down Rafe stopped their assault and awaited further orders from their leader. Both the soldiers’ strength was impressive. It wasn’t an easy feat to take down a vampire. Newly made or not, a vampire held the strength of ten men.

She made another one of her secret signals, and the men fell in line behind her. Rafe pushed off the ground and stood on unsteady legs. Blood poured from a deep slash across the bridge of his nose. He limped over and leaned against a table, which was miraculously still standing in one piece, and smiled a big fangy grin at his attackers.

“A couple more minutes, and I would have had both of you,” he mumbled.

Ignoring Rafe, I pointed a stern finger at Duska. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

She holstered her gun. The men behind her stayed as stiff as a board. If I hadn’t noticed the rise and fall of their chests, I would have thought they were robots trained to follow her every command. If only my family’s servants obeyed so well. I mentally threw glaring daggers at Conrad’s granddaughter.  

***

Blacking out definitely does have its advantages. You get to miss out on all the pain that being smack dab in the middle of an explosion causes your body. But much like adrenaline, once the cradling arms of oblivion fade away, the agony of reality comes barreling back. I couldn’t help it. I screamed. Pain racked my body, hitting me like a freight train, before I was even able to fully crack open my eyes.

“Kris, everything will be okay. Just be still.” I felt a slight shift of my body and a cool cloth being placed over my brow. “Do any of you have something to give her for the pain?” I heard Rush grit out between his teeth.

I believe it was Devil who said, “Yeah. I have some oxy. Be right back.”

I tried to sit up, but Rush nudged me back down. “Give it a minute. I want to make sure you’re all right. You’ve been out for a couple of hours.”

If that was true, that would put the time at around five o’clock in morning. I bounced my hand off the side of my breast, checking for the cell phone I’d stashed there. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found it. Missing Wolf’s phone call would be disastrous. The patting motion sent a twinge up my shoulder, so I did what Rush said and stayed put.

It wasn’t just my shoulder that was injured. My whole body ached, and my right hip was on fire. I opened my eyes and searched for Devil. I really needed those pain pills.

Instead of Devil, I saw a room full of people I didn’t know. There was a young lady staring at me from across the room, and two unassuming males stood by her side. She looked familiar, with medium-length black hair that was straight as a line. Dark lashes outlined a pair of bright green eyes. She was dressed head to toe in dust-covered leather, and her beautiful face had a fresh cut across the cheek. She was maybe five-seven, and her build was curvy, but toned. She had a thick tension around her that screamed
Don’t fuck with me!
But my mouth opened to say something, anyway. I never was any good at erring on the side of caution.

“Who are you?” I asked in a clipped tone. At that point, niceties were a thing of the past. I needed to catch up with the rest of the class fast. I was lying injured in a room full of people, only two of whom I knew, and even those two were only acquaintances to me. I looked up at Rush, who was gently cradling me in his lap, and realized rather quickly, part of that thought was wrong. Rush had become more to me than an acquaintance, but in what sense was yet to be determined.

I flicked my eyes back to the familiar stranger who was walking towards me. The muscles in her toned arms slightly bulged as she moved, stretching the sleeves of her tight jacket. The girl obviously hit the gym hard, and on a regular basis.

Against the protests of Rush’s arms trying to hold me still, I sat up. Big mistake, that was. The buzz I had earlier paled in comparison to the way my head was spinning due to the sudden movement.

“Stay back, Duska. You’re making Kris nervous,” Rush said.

The woman Rush had called ‘Duska’ stopped in her tracks. She folded her arms and looked at the ceiling. “Fine.” She huffed. “I can speak to her from here. It’s just rude.”

“You know her, then,” I stated.

“Her family works for mine. They span centuries in our service.” Rush’s face was set with grim lines as he sent a reprimanding glare Duska’s way. “She knows what she did tonight is strictly forbidden and punishable by death. She has disgraced her family’s name.”

Duska flinched like she’d been slapped across the face, but quickly hid her pain by lifting a prideful chin. It made me feel sorry for her and envy her strength, all in the same go.

“What could she have possibly done to deserve all that venom?” I asked, truly curious.

“She deserves far more than my stern words, Kris. Duska, along with her jolly band of morons here, is responsible for tonight’s attack on Devil’s Playground.”

My mouth dropped open. I didn’t feel sorry for Duska anymore, funny that. If she and the two men standing beside her were the ones responsible for the attack on Devil’s Playground, which left me and probably countless others injured or dead, then why were they not in handcuffs, being hauled off to jail? Or rather, how did they escape death by Devil’s own hand? I asked the obvious question, “Why hasn’t action been taken against them?”

“Because apparently, these three terrorists are on the same mission you are,” Devil answered for Rush. He had caught the tail end of the conversation as he walked into the room, or his vampire hearing was good enough to hear through walls—one of the two…or both. “In consideration for you, my best friend’s Creator, I held off judgment until you woke up.”

“Um, okay. I appreciate that, but how, or more importantly, why is it my place to judge? Duska is Rush’s problem, not mine.”

“Hey,” Duska said, her face showing offense.

“Sorry, lady, I don’t know you. And from what I’ve seen so far, that might be a good thing. I have my own problems to work out. It’s as simple as that.”

Speaking of which, the pain in my hip flared wide, crawling down to reach the space right above my knee. The agony left me panting, but I tried to cover it up by taking deeper breaths. Devil must have noticed, because he rushed over with a glass of water and dumped a couple pills in my hand. “Thanks,” I whispered, and shoved the pills into my mouth, swallowing them down between several gulps of water.

Creators healed faster than a human, but in comparison to a vampire’s ability to regenerate, we healed at a snail’s pace. All in all, I would be hurt for several more hours, but after that, my body would be as good as new and in tip-top shape to save my sister.

Duska said, “I can’t change what I’ve done, and I’m certainly nobody’s problem, least of all, yours. But it seems we have something, or rather, someone in common. It’s why I came here and thought I had reason to attack.”

“Oh yeah?” I pushed out between breaths. “This should be good.”

Duska uncrossed her arms and reached inside her jacket pocket. She pulled out a folded photo and shot a look over at Rush. “Can I show her?”

With Rush’s approval, Duska crossed the space between us in three long and confident strides. She didn’t move like someone who took orders, but like someone who should be giving them. Regardless, she obeyed Rush with little complaint.

She handed me the photograph, reluctant to let it go. She seemed attached to it. The picture was worn out and creased, torn a bit at the edges, but I could tell the picture had been taken recently. I knew because of the image it reflected. It was the smiling face of my sister; she was standing next to the same woman who stood in front of me. Torra and Duska had their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders. It was a show of camaraderie and friendship. I handed the photo back to Duska. My heart ached; stress, lies, and my injuries weighing heavy on my body. More and more, I was beginning to realize that I didn’t know my sister at all.

“Tell me why you showed up here, guns blazing, in search of Torra. And while you’re at it, I want to know how you two even know each other.”