NEWBORN: Book One of the Newborn Trilogy (21 page)

“Stand!” is the order. “Face me like a
man!”

My head is pounding from being thrown. But I
stand up and face her, my eyes darting around the campsite. I’m so
alone. But sarcasm is instinct. “I’m not a man,” I say to her. “So
how can I face you like one?”

“Nor am I,” she retorts. “But you’ll have no
mercy from me! Fortunately for you, I haven’t worked up my appetite
yet. Finding a meal isn’t usually
this
easy,” she says by
way of explanation. “So this is our itinerary. You will talk to me
until I’m hungry enough to eat you. Understood?”

You have time
, my alter ego instructs.
Put it to good use.

I will try
, I respond wildly.

“I understand,” I tell her, my brain
whirring.

Fucking fuck!

What do I do now? Easy, I realize. Keep her
talking as long as possible. Must buy time. No idea where Gabriel
is or why he’s taking so fucking long. I can’t take this
uncertainty. This doubt of his existence.

“Sit!” the vampire instructs. I sit by the
fire. “Good,” she purrs, taking a seat beside me. “I’m so glad you
lit this fire! Otherwise I would not have been cold,” she remarks,
smirking as though this is hilarious. I don’t get it. “My name is
Amoretta,” she says, eyes burning brighter than the flames.

“Oh,” I say. My brain is white noise. “That’s
an unusual name.”

“You think so?” She’s cocking her head to one
side. “I think it’s an
extremely
unusual name. So unusual
I’m bound to be unique. As though my parents gave me no choice.
Don’t you agree?”

“Yes,” I say automatically. “Totally.”

She narrows her eyes, then relaxes them
determinedly. “You seem very comfortable with the idea that
vampires exist,” she says. “Unusual for a human. I suppose your
wizard buddy clued you in. I’m displeased. I like it when a human
can’t believe it. When I taste the shock in the flesh – a tenseness
that otherwise wouldn’t be there. Seems like you will be a subpar
meal.”

I shudder.

“There we are,” Amoretta says gleefully.
“That’s the reaction I like. That’s the reaction I can taste on my
tongue. You haven’t told me your name yet, sweetie. Tell me – I
like to say it in my head as I chew.”

“N – Nora,” I stutter.

Panic is filling me.

Where the hell is Gabriel? Why is he taking
so long? What could he be waiting for? Doesn’t he realize I could
die at any minute?

Maybe he does
, my alter ego suggests,
yet doesn’t care
.
You’ve been abandoned.

No
, I answer.
He – he wouldn’t. He
couldn’t have…

“Nora,” Amoretta repeats appreciatively.
Raising a painted hand, she strokes my chin. “Nora – a yummy name
for a tasty morsel. You’re gorgeous, Nora. Wonder if I should taste
you
before
I eat you…”

Holy bejesus fuck!
Did she just!

My eyes are wide. “What do you mean?”

“Sex,” Amoretta breathes into my face. “You
can’t be that unworldly! Women can have plenty of fun of their own.
If you don’t believe me…well – let me show you, Nora. Let me taste
you!”

“I’m not a lesbian!”

Painted eyebrows rise. “Virgin?”

Oh geez! Can Gabriel hear us? Hopefully not.
I nod once.

“Sweetie,” Amoretta sighs, her red eyes
eating me, “you poor, ignorant thing. How little you know yourself.
Yet so beautiful,” Amoretta tells me, her painted hand stroking me.
“Has anyone ever told you?”

The answer is no. Not Gabriel. Not Wolf. Not
Kiri – though why would she? The point is nobody has. Nobody but
Amoretta. That knowledge is going to fuck me up later big time. She
reads it on my face.

“Poor thing!” Amoretta remarks, brushing my
cheek with a maroon nail. “You deserve better! I will fix it, Nora.
I will fix the attention you’ve been missing. You won’t die a
virgin. But you will die tonight!”

Her lips are blood red as they sink to
mine.

“Nullify!”

A jet of purple light misses. Throwing
herself backward, Amoretta jumps to her feet, red eyes filled with
fear. “Where are you?” Her voice is a roar into the night, painted
face crazed. “Show yourself, coward!”

“Decimate!” Gabriel yells, emerging from the
trees, wand held aloft.

The jet of light is red. It misses, exploding
off a tree behind the vampire.

Gabriel and Amoretta are staring at each
other. They are illuminated in the light of the fire. Determination
stretches Gabriel’s expression while recognition settles on
Amoretta’s. She squints in the dim light.

“Jack?” she says. Turquoise eyes widen in
confusion. He raises his wand. “Jack!” Amoretta cries loudly. “It’s
me! It’s Amoretta! Don’t attack! I’m so glad it’s you, Jack! Hold
your fire!”

“Don’t listen to her!” I shout at Gabriel.
“She’s trying to trick you!” My joints are seized in shock,
immovable. “Kill her! She was going to kill me!” I gasp, the hate
filling me. I’m surprised by it. “Do it! Kill her!”

Gabriel is staring at Amoretta, the turquoise
of his eyes uncertain. “Why do you call me Jack?”

Amoretta breathes her relief. “Because you
are. When are we turning the game on this human?” Silence. “Fine,”
Amoretta spits, “if you want to fuck her she’s yours. But she’s
my
dinner, Jack. You
have
to share, you greedy fuck,”
she says, bright red eyes flashing dangerously. “Kill her! I’m
hungry!”

Confusion is tearing Gabriel’s expression
from him. He wrestles it back. “Torgi!” he cries, pointing his wand
at Amoretta. Her feathery dress bursts into flame around her thin
frame. Screaming in agony, Amoretta seizes a rock from the
fireplace and lobs it at my head.

“Decimate!” Gabriel yells, pointing his wand
at the rock as it flies through midair. The rock explodes,
showering the night with fragments. Closing my eyes against the
melee, I cough dust from my lungs.

An owl screeches nearby. Merri! Unsure of
myself without vision, I sink to my knees and wait for the
kill.

“Annihilate!” Gabriel roars. “Nullify!
Decimate!” Smoke fills the air. I smell it. Retching, I shudder
against the ground.

“Get up, Nora.” I’m so pleased to recognize
the voice as Gabriel’s. Standing, I open my eyes. The smoke is
clearing, drifting up to the star-strewn sky, the remainder
emanating from the fireplace. Gabriel is standing beside the fire
with Merrifeather perched on his outstretched arm.

The vampire is nowhere in sight.

“What happened?” I gasp.

Turquoise eyes are furious. “She’s gone!
Escaped!”

“Gone!” I exclaim. “How? Where to?”

“If only I knew,” Gabriel answers angrily.
Agitated, he swipes his blond hair to the side of his forehead.
“I’d send Merri looking but she hates hunting at night. Fuck!” He
throws his wand to the ground. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This never
happens! I never miss at this close range. I don’t know what’s
wrong with me!”

I’ve never seen him so upset.

“Who’s Jack?”

Turquoise eyes are blank. “I don’t know,” he
says, his usually confident voice hollow. “Could be anyone. Anyone
at all.”

* * *

We set up a makeshift camp. The temptation to
go back to Evergreen tonight is strong, but so is my determination
not to exert myself any more today, the whole of which has been
exhausting. So Gabriel and I do what we can to make the site as
comfortable as possible for the night.

He makes a tent appear out of nowhere with
his wand – a sizeable looking one, too – then conjures a leather
couch from the void and sets it beside the fire. I sit and watch
him walk around the perimeter of the clearing, his wand held aloft
and his voice murmuring strange words. I can only guess.

“What are you doing?”

Gabriel doesn’t answer, instead proceeding to
finish his chore before coming back and sitting on the leather
couch beside me. “Safety spells,” he says at last, his turquoise
eyes reflecting the fire. “To ward off potential invaders, the
least of which are vampires,” he adds with a grin.

I’m glad to see him calm. He didn’t stop
fuming for ten minutes after Amoretta escaped. He’s one of those
people who acutely feel their failures. I’m not – thank goodness –
for there are too many of them to count. But I was never as good at
anything as Gabriel claims to be at killing vampires.

Leaning against the arm of the couch, I brush
my hair over my ear. I’m endeavoring to get my wizard friend’s
attention. I follow his gaze to the flames. “Why do we need safety
spells? Do you think she’ll be back?”

“Doubt it,” Gabriel answers. “Not tonight.
But I have a feeling she will keep looking for you, Nora. Long
after tonight. You sparked in her something more powerful than the
thirst for human blood.”

Oh fuck
!

“What?” I think I know the answer.

“Lust. Amoretta lusts after you, Nora. She
wants to have her way with you before eating you alive. Achieving
that is going to require kidnapping you, which is probably what
she’s planning now.”

I shudder. I still see them – a pair of
bright red eyes and an elegant face carved in paint. Gabriel
doesn’t pay me any heed, preferring to stare into the fire, his
thoughts hidden from me. He better not be planning to use me as
bait again. The whole experience was far too close for comfort.

“Is she the Newborn?”

“Amoretta?” Gabriel says in surprise. “No. I
don’t think so.”

I frown at him. “How can you tell?”

“Because if she’d been the Newborn you would
be dead. Newborns have a terrible time controlling their hunger.
They don’t fool around with torture and rape – they just eat. Very
quickly,” he adds, grimacing. “Usually there’s a lot of blood.
Fountains of it.”

I’m not giving him the satisfaction of making
me queasy. Besides, a roaring bout of dissonance is rising in me.
“Hold on,” I say, staring at him in shock. “You mean the whole
thing you said about how vampires usually play with their food
wouldn’t have counted if she’d been the Newborn?”

He averts his eyes. “Kind of.”

“Gabriel!” I shout, anger pumping through me.
“How could you!”

Agitated, Gabriel swipes his blond hair to
the side of his forehead. “It’s not as bad as it sounds! I wasn’t
going to sacrifice you to the Newborn! I was basically sure the
vampire following wasn’t the Newborn! So there was no risk.”

“No risk! How could you have been sure it
wasn’t the Newborn?” My tone is laced with doubt.

“The same reason,” he answers dully, his hand
holding his forehead, “because if it’d been the Newborn following,
chances are it would have attacked at once. Its hunger would have
superseded personal safety and patience. Amoretta is restrained.
Well, in some ways. She’s not the Newborn.”

Crossing my arms, I stare at him furiously.
Oh no – he’s not getting off this easy. Sacrificing me. The nerve!
If I knew magic I could duel him!

And fucking lose
, my alter ego adds.
You know you would
.

Yeah
, I concede.
Probably.

Geez, I hate being useless all the time.

We sit in silence. My demeanor continues to
be antagonistic while Gabriel’s continues to be tired and
withdrawn, his gaze finding flames. What is he thinking about? I
realize Gabriel is all too happy to remain silent.

“What were those spells you used?”

He looks over as though surprised to find me
still sitting beside him. “Oh, those,” he remarks. “Offensive
spells. Would have used defensive spells had I been dueling a
wizard. Against a vampire they are hardly necessary,” he adds, his
tone self satisfied.
And
he’s back. The old Gabriel.

His wand sits on the arm of the couch.
Picking it up, he begins twirling it in his fingers. “I don’t worry
about issuing a spell while holding the wand,” he explains,
“because each spell requires a certain mental state as well as the
incantation. Take Nullify – the stupefy curse – for example. You
imagine the person in question stupefied when attacking. Makes
attacking an unseen enemy difficult.

“There’s Decimate – the maim curse. With
Decimate you have to want to do damage. To hurt somebody. It’s the
same with Agonio – the torture curse – if your heart isn’t there,
it doesn’t work. You have to want them to hurt –
want
them
to be consumed with pain to either be maimed or tortured.”

I have an impulse to shudder again but it
passes. “There was another,” I tell him. “I can’t remember – it
issued a bright white light at Amoretta. It missed her but it
looked powerful.”

“Annihilate.”

I frown at him. “Huh?”

“The kill curse,” Gabriel says, “Always
issues a bright white light. Decimate always a red light and
Nullify always a purple light. The color of a curse never changes,
Nora. For most spells, anyway. Remember this just in case: You can
come back from the purple light in good health. But red and white
are serious. Especially white. If you see the bright white light,
death is near.”

“I’ll try and remember,” I tell him, unable
to keep a straight face. “Although the only person who can curse me
is you.”

Gabriel shakes his head, his expression
somber. “Not true. If the Bureau of Magic sends agents to
investigate, you could be in danger. Remember,” he adds darkly,
“the Bureau of Magic will most likely send representatives from the
Bureau of Beast Control. People like me. Releasers. They will have
the same license I do – a license to kill vampires, werewolves, and
– yes – humans.”

Swiping my hair over my ear, I frown over at
him. “Why would they send people? We haven’t done anything
yet.”

“Not
yet
,” Gabriel begins, “but –”

I can’t help myself. I rest my feet on his
lap and smile sweetly at him. “How about now? Are we crossing the
line now?”