Sacrifice (20 page)

“I wonder if they’re the savage beasts the giants spoke of,” Victor whispered in my ear, and the warmth of his sweet breath caressed my neck and sent a tingling down to my toes.

“That’s a possibility.” I whispered back, nearly out of breath.

It was now time for the entertainment. The chorus line of gyrating dancers were fair- skinned black girls. Strangely, they were all taller than five foot six in height and probably as young as we were.

All throughout the show, which lasted about two hours, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Evan and Evangelia. He sat next to me on my right and she sat on his right. Victor was on my left and he knew that I was observing their body language. Oddly enough, Evan didn’t seem to care if Victor and I shared any moments of heightened aura or chemistry.

Evan held conversations with her as well as everyone else at our table and successfully blocked his thoughts from me. Evan was being careful and I couldn’t forgive him for it. It only meant that he was hiding something monumental. All I heard was Victor’s thoughts and they were pretty much of the same context – making love to me. In Evan’s defense, he did ask me, several times, if I was enjoying myself, but not once did he really wait to hear my entire answer or did I feel that he really heard me.

I tried to distract myself by watching the vampires mingle and by blocking Victor’s torrid thoughts. Finally, the extravagant and well-choreographed act was ending and I prayed to the gods that the torture I was being put through would end along with it.

“Now for the real show!” Bethany squealed as we all stepped out of the Cotton Club, which I silently dubbed the unrealistic maelstrom of whites and blacks.

“Where to, doll?” Nikolas asked his beloved as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Just a few blocks down on Fifth Avenue.”

“What’s to see there?” Evan prodded with a raised brow.

“Well, while the pretty girls danced and danced, I had a vision, but we’ll have to see just how accurate it is. It’s something I think we all should see.”

“Lead the way.” Victor said and grabbed my hand.

His hand was warm and I allowed myself to be comforted by how stifling his heat grew with my touch. Evan stared at us as his lips formed a thin line across his beautiful face. His sky blue eyes darkened to a deep turquoise. He finally noticed me for the first time since coming out tonight. Good, I thought.

What felt even better than his painful gaze, was that as we all walked to our vehicles he left Evangelia behind. She pretended to be in deep conversation with Hedea and Bertrand, but all the while, her crystalline eyes were glued to his face.

Victor held the door for me. I was about to step into the motorcar when I caught the wide-eyed expression of a young flapper. She sat alongside her escort in the back seat of a Rolls Royce limousine. Terror spread across her face and my heart raced, but it was too late. The gentleman looked directly in my direction as he jabbed his sharp fangs ferociously into her neck. I looked up at Victor, just as their car sped away, and new that he had seen the attack.

“I guess that’s all the proof we need,” he said. I nodded.

“Did you see the way he looked at me?”

“I caught that,” he smirked.

“Do you think he knows what I am?”

“I couldn’t be sure, yet it’s understandable that you caught his eye. You are quite stunning,” Victor whispered into my ear. My cheeks grew warm. I looked away from him and couldn’t help smiling as I got into the car.

The location Bethany spoke vaguely of appeared to be in a totally different part of the city, but was actually still in Harlem. The place was drastically different from the Cotton Club’s ostentatious exterior, brightly lit marquee, and posh double doors. A silent man sat at the front window and yanked a long metal chain linked to a large bolt on the entrance door. The man never made eye contact before he allowed us in, but in we went.

We were led down a steep flight of stairs to a raw cellar. The concealed space was dank and didn’t seem large enough to accommodate more than a hundred revelers of all mixed races, but somehow nearly two hundred Lykanos were jammed in. I smelled their potent rancidness immediately, and assessed the crowd, which included at least a dozen packs. We all sensed them upon entering the room, even if the men were dressed in silk, striped shirts and gabardine slacks and the women wore bright hued, low-scooped neckline dresses.

They were gathered around two dozen or so wooden tables and squashed together. The packs sat on wire-legged or wooden café-styled chairs. They drank the lowest grade of bootleg liquor poured from bottles that displayed faux labels. The Lykanos filled the crowded dance floor dancing the Lindy Hop, wildly, and the Black Bottom to a fundamental three-piece band accompanied by a torch singer. The singer sang of unrequited love, something I was beginning to understand first-hand, under bright light bulbs.

The music continued to blare as the decimal rose. It was three o’clock in the morning and New York City’s mandatory curfew laws were being ignored. The packs drank, necked, and gyrated against each other as their eyes blazed in crimson with excitement, oblivious to the divinity that just walked into the room.

This many werewolves in one place meant that packs from all over the U.S. and Europe had migrated to Manhattan. The growth of numbers also meant that these werewolves’ litters have multiplied by at least three from their usual two to three pups per litter.

I had never thought the Apolluon vampires and the Lykanos could evolve as they have, but could they really be coexisting in the same city. If so, I wondered how it all would change now that we were here.

Twenty-Three -
Cordelia

Visibility

It had been a long night and I fell asleep the moment my head hit my satin pillows.

I dreamt of violent things, carnivorous beasts, and peaceful giants. When I woke, the sunshine breaking through my filmy curtains was a welcomed sight, but I knew better than trusting the sunny outlook of the day. After the early morning sightings in Harlem, I had confirmed what I was already certain of– darkness always eclipsed the sun.

I called on the one person who may be able to give me some insight, although I knew she would leave me with a trail of puzzle pieces.

“You’ve made some discoveries.” Athena said as she glided into my room on a breeze.

“Now that you’ve found what you’ve been searching for, you mustn’t forget their love for you, divine sister.” Her eyes were focused on me and floated to the foot of my four-poster bed.

She was dressed in a gilded, armor breastplate over a flowing, white tunic. Delicate tendrils of her chestnut hair swayed from beneath her shimmering Attic and golden plume helmet in a gentle wind that seemed to surround only her. She laid her golden shield and spear on my chaise lounge as the bronze feathered owl fluttered around my room for a moment before it finally perched itself on the top of one of the posters of my bed.

“Do you mean my parents?” Obviously, she wasn’t talking about the new and improved Apolluon vampires or the Lykanos.

“Yes.”

“Athena, they’re hearts are gone,” I said and jumped up and marched toward her. “I thought that I was the only one who could see them. How could someone take them?”

“You and any deity of higher power have the sight to see their hearts.” She informed.

I had never known that my parents’ hearts were accessible to the gods, but it made perfect sense. They had access to us all at any given time.

“How can I get them back?” I asked as I gazed up at Athena. She had to be at least six foot eight inches tall.

“Don’t focus on getting them back. You will see them again and when you do, you must remember their love for you.”

“When will I see them?” I asked and clenched my medallion.

“You must accept the invitation.” Athena said, looking down at me. “It is how his work will be revealed.”

“Do you mean Zeus? Will he anoint me?” I asked, impatiently.

“It is not our father’s work that I speak of, but Zeus will anoint you once you have satisfied him with the course you take,” she explained, vaguely. My sister goddess always made you work for the clues.

“You mean I have to choose Victor in order to please our father.”

“You must always please him. The son of my brother is our father’s choice for you, although Victor is under the influence of the God of War.”

“Is that a bad thing?” I cocked my head to one side.

“Ares would throw his own children into the pits of the Underworld, sacrificing them if he felt doing so would guarantee a victory. Victor shares some of my brother’s most defining traits – the need to win, the lust for power, and being driven by desire.”

“I see.” I sighed. The description fit Victor, perfectly.

“You must govern this great empire with opened eyes. Once your eyes are open, you will be better prepared to make your choice.” Athena advised floated away from me.

“Wait!” I yelled, as she vanished in the breeze, which she churned. The goddess was gone and I was left alone. The pointed edges of the lightning bolt shaped diamond medallion piercing the flesh of my hand.

Athena gave me a lot to think about. The heat within started to boil as I wondered what was meant by Victor being influenced by his godly father. Ares was deceitful and couldn’t be trusted as an ally. He was known to sacrifice anyone or anything in order to win. How did this apply to Victor? As I thought about what Victor may be up, I couldn’t ignore the clenching in my chest. It was as if my heart was being twisted into a knot. 

Athena’s words about my parents were nagging at me as well. Her message had been strange and confusing. Of course, I remembered how much my parents loved me and always would. That wasn’t a question, but why wouldn’t my parents remember that they had loved me? Athena said that I would see them again. I hoped she meant they would be alive again. I had no idea of what invitation she spoke of and whose work would be revealed.

If Athena hadn’t meant Zeus’ work, than perhaps she meant Hades’ work. I shuddered at the thought of him.

I didn’t care for riddles of any kind and Athena only spoke in them. She took our godly father’s rule of not interfering seriously. That way she couldn’t be blamed for revealing too much.

I dressed in a simple pale blue chemise – loosely belted at the hip, leather T-bar heels and a low-brimmed, light-blue, crochet cloche hat. I closed my eyes and summoned Evan. Within a few seconds, I heard the elevator doors slide. I couldn’t believe how badly I needed to see him and how quickly he had come, but that was Evan – devoted. Nevertheless, it didn’t excuse his behavior last night.

Evan strolled into my sitting room dressed casually in a heather gray linen suit, and perforated wingtips. His turquois paisley tie made the blue in his eyes appear brighter. I could see that his deep auburn hair was slicked back behind his ears beneath his straw boater. Although the corners of his mouth curled upward the moment he saw me, he also began blocking my intrusion into his mind. I had no idea what he was thinking. I’ve never felt the need to confirm if he really wanted to be near me, until now. As I gazed at him and searched his face, my heart tightened and the pain felt foreign, but not nearly as severe as what I just felt when I thought of Victor.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted you. I needed to see you.” I said and looked into his clear blue eyes. 

“There’s no need to apologize.” Evan said and cleared his throat. “I was just speaking to Victor about training Evangelia on how to teleport.” Evan said and looked away from me.

There was that tightening in my chest, again, but now it was accompanied by an arctic chill. Her name alone sent icicles down my back. Why would
he
train her? Couldn’t Victor train his own sister?

The stifling blaze crept through my soul. Block by fiery block, the heat continued to build within me as I thought of her.

Damn it. I hated feeling jealous.

What I hated even more was the nauseating feeling that came along with the possibility of losing Evan. I wasn’t even sure if I still had him.

“Oh, you’ll be training her? I would have expected Victor to. I mean since she’s his sister and all.” I was rambling and I didn’t know what to do with my hands.

“Victor gave me the order to make training his sister my first order of business.” Evan said walking over to the French doors and peering out onto the terrace.

The air was caught in my throat and I couldn’t disguise my shock. Immediately, I knew what game Victor was playing. This is what Athena must have meant.

“He ordered you, huh?” I got up and paced the floor.

“Yes.” Evan said and took a seat on my sofa. “Kind of wish you had left things the way they were, right?”

“What do you mean?” I stopped and stared at Evan. He just shrugged.

“At least he could be controlled when he was powerless. Now he’s on a power trip.”

“I can handle Victor.” I snapped, while clenching my jaw.

“Atta girl. But would you prefer that I didn’t train Evangelia?” Evan’s eyes pierced through mine and this time it was my turn to turn away.

The idea of overriding Victor’s command was excruciatingly tempting, but I couldn’t allow Evan to see how jealous I was.

“You have the power to overrule him,” Evan added as he stared into my eyes.

“Train her. It doesn’t bother me at all.” I said turning away from his gaze.

“Are you sure? You seem a little… annoyed.”

“I’m fine with you training her. That doesn’t bother me.” I faced Evan.

“Really? Alright, then what
is
bothering you?” Evan stood up and walked toward me. He wrapped his muscular arms around my waist and I forgot all about what had transpired between him and Evangelia at the Cotton Club.

“I just don’t like Victor ordering you around.” I leaned my forehead onto his.

“He knows that I have to answer to him, Delia. He’s wielding his power. You can exert yours and order me to
not
work with her.” Evan smiled.