Sacrifice (Revelations Book 1) (5 page)

Meredith sighed. "Okay, those weren’t her finest moments."

"Are you kidding me? She used a spell to convince the entire town I was a sexual predator. There was an angry mob, Meredith, complete with torches and pitchforks for God’s sake."

"Alright, I get it. You don't like her."

"That's a fucking understatement. I don't like broccoli, I don't like traffic jams, I don't like the goddamn Beatles. I fucking loathe her and I'm constantly baffled as to how you came out of her evil infested womb." Meredith’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the bottle, her brow drew tight. Nico didn’t have time to react before she flung her beer in his face. He coughed, wiping the amber liquid away and chuckled. "Okay, I'll admit, that last part might have been a bit out of line."

"No, it's par for the course with you, Nico. You don't know how to forgive and it has turned you into an asshole."

"Yes, I'm an asshole. Arveda and I are never going to be best friends and for the record, she doesn't know how to forgive either. We both know it’s true. But you and I are friends, so I apologize, I never want you to have to be in the middle of Arveda and me." He took a swig from his bottle. "As you can see, Abby and I are getting along just fine. So tell your mother not to worry."

After a couple of calming breaths, Meri pointed to his wrist. "If you are getting along just fine, what's up with the bandage?"

He shrugged. "She's got to eat something and I don't see your mother offering up any of your sisters as dinner. I fed her the only way I knew how."

Meri's nose wrinkled with disgust. "You let her feed from you?"

Nico ignored the small snarl coming from the corner. "Don't be daft, woman. I put the blood in a cup for her, she knows the deal. As long as she doesn't fang anyone she can keep a full belly, but she is under strict orders to not bite anyone, not even me."

"Well, at least she's trainable."

"It remains to be seen just how trainable she is. Don't forget her mind is still mostly human, training her to fight and to kill might be more than her psyche can handle. We may just break her before we make her."

"Either way as long as the Gate doesn't open makes no difference to us."

"Cold, Meri, real cold."

"Coming from you I should almost be insulted, but I'm sure you've said far worse to the girl." She stood up and smoothed out her clothes. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a wolf I need to go see. The sun is almost down, are you taking the creature out tonight?"

Nico cleared the bottles from the table. "Nah, I think we've had enough excitement for her first day."

"Suit yourself." She made her way to the door and paused glancing back in the direction of Abby in the corner. The fiery Striga shook her head and left the house without another word.

Nico leaned back in his chair eyeing the darkness. "You going to come out?"

"Maybe."

Her eyes glowed red from the shadows. He sat back down at the table and drummed his fingers against the wood. "Would you like a written invitation?"

Her voice cracked. "Why are you all cruel to me?"

"Is a vampire really about to cry over being insulted by some humans?"

Abby came out of the darkness, her eyes shimmering as they changed from red to brown, and lifted her chin defiantly. "She is not human... You both talked about me like I wasn't even here. Like I was some second class citizen. I'm human, damn it, you said it yourself. I wasn't bitten."

He wiped his hand over his face and groaned. "You are still an abomination." He regretted the words as soon as they came out, but there was no taking them back now.

"You keep saying that but where is your proof? My fangs, my eyes, my hunger for blood? They are all a spell, it's not me on a biological level. Look at what Arveda did to you with a spell, how is it any different than the spell someone put on me? Everyone thought you were a sexual predator because of her magick, but it didn't make you one, right? A spell was cast on me, now everyone thinks I’m a vampire. It doesn’t actually make me one."

She was huffing and puffing and her eyes fluctuated between lethal red and their harmless chocolate color. He nodded as his eyes stayed locked on her. She was magick of a whole different kind, a tiny spark ignited inside him. Nico tried to ignore it but it still flickered in the darkness that filled him. The conviction in her argument sang to his soul. He wanted to believe in her. Concepts and beliefs couldn’t change overnight, but he was having one hell of a definite shift. His mind might be set on the fact she's a creature of pure evil, but his soul wasn't as easily convinced. He needed more time, he needed to see what she was capable of, see if she was able to restrain herself and learn.

Most of all he needed answers, but he was fairly certain the man upstairs wasn't going to be giving him any answers anytime soon. "You make a good point, Abby."

She crossed her arms as if she assumed his words might be condescending.

He patted the now empty seat and waited for her to sit down in a huff. "No really, you do make a good point. I need to recognize you might be different than a regular vampire, but you will need to give me time to collect some evidence. I don't go by blind faith anymore. I need proof. While we're getting to know each other why don't we do this, we'll focus on training you. You can work on controlling these new instincts of yours and I'll cool my attitude if you promise to work at this."

"I promise."

"Then you have my word. I'll tone down the way I talk to and about you. Deal?"

She gave a small smile and warmth stirred in his gut as she tucked a long strand of her chocolate colored hair behind her ear. "Deal."

“Rise and shine.”

Abby stretched on the rickety cot and ignored the slight mildew smell coming from her makeshift bed. “Is the sun still up?”

“No, it set about five minutes ago.”

She pursed her lips together and nodded. “I wonder if that is why my body started itching.”

“Itching?”

“Like something was irritating me. It woke me up.”

“Well, I’ve heard that vampires always know when the sun goes down. Sort of like an internal alarm clock. That’s probably what it was.”

“So, what’s the plan? Do I need to go see Arveda tonight?”

Nico leaned against the wall and rubbed the back of his neck. “No, you’re going to start training.”

“What kind of training?”

“Demon hunting.”

“But I’ve only been a vampire for one day and I don’t even really feel like a vampire to tell you the truth. Now you expect me to just wake up the next day and be an expert demon hunter?”

“No, I expect you to train and learn. First, drink this,” he held out a small glass of crimson fluid, “As much as you say you don’t feel like a vamp you still need to eat like one.” She took the glass as he added, “And then get dressed, we need to get in as much work as we can so you can start helping me patrol.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a fight. I’m not going to be much good to you.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. “Look, you might not like it but you are a vampire now. Maybe not a full-fledged one but one thing you need to know about yourself is that all of your human limitations are gone. You don’t need to breathe, you can see better-near perfect in fact- in the dark. You are stronger, faster, and you have an innate instinct inside you now that has the sole purpose of being the perfect predator. You will need some training, yes, but your instinct to kill will be the biggest asset you have. The thing you need to remember is to listen to your gut when you are fighting. Your body will know what to do long before your brain ever figures it out. I’m going to teach you some basics, but if you are anything like other vamps I’ve encountered you will be a natural at chasing down something and killing it. Drink your breakfast and get dressed, time’s wasting.”

She slowly sipped her meal to savor the taste as long as possible. He’d already gone into the kitchen before she’d even took her first taste, leaving her with a bit of privacy to get dressed. As she drank she scanned the room. The same room she’d been tied up in the day before, but it looked different tonight. She studied his nightstand. It was a sad sight. The old wooden stand held an empty bottle of Jack Daniels that hadn’t been there yesterday and a glass with a chip in the rim. The only other items he kept by his bedside was an empty picture frame, the Holy Bible, and an auto magazine that looked to be at least two decades outdated.

Abby shook her head. Why an empty picture frame? Did he have a picture to go in the frame? Had the picture gotten lost? It nagged at her like a riddle she might never know the answer to. In the kitchen she could hear him pouring himself something to drink, the strong aroma of coffee hung in the air.

Glancing down at the sweatpants and t-shirt he’d given her to sleep in she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. She practically swam in Nico’s clothes, but the thought of the revealing clothes that the Striga had dressed her in made her feel uneasy. It wasn’t so much about the clothes but the idea of killing something and having blood splatter all over her half naked body. Would it send her into a blood lust? Would she become the monster that Nico insisted she was?

She stalled by trying to catch the last drop of blood from the glass on the tip of her tongue when he called out, “I don’t hear you getting up.”

Abby groaned and pushed herself off the cot. “I’m up. I’m up, have some patience.”

“No time for patience, Creature. We have work to do.”

She glared at the name Creature and whispered under her breath, “My name is Abby.”

Nico’s voice came from directly behind her making her jump, “Abby. Happy now?” She spun to see him standing in the open space between the living room and bedroom. Before she could answer he added, “Hurry up.” As he headed to the back door in the kitchen and called out, “Meet me out back when you’re ready.”

After giving the Striga clothes one last glance she reluctantly slipped out of his sweatpants and t-shirt. There was no way she was fighting demons in short shorts and a halter top. Her choices might be slim but she had to make the best of it. Grabbing another t-shirt from his drawer she slipped it on and quickly cinched it tight around her waist and tied it with a knot in the back. She rummaged through the drawers again until she found another pair of sweatpants. After a minute of examining her newest find she ran to the kitchen, grabbing the knife Nico had used to slice open his wrist a few minutes earlier and returned to the bedroom. It took a moment for her to reign in her desire to lick the blade for any residual blood that might be clinging to the stainless steel, but when she finally managed to get herself under control she took the knife to the sweatpants cutting them into shorts that hung below her knees. It would do for now. Her outfit covered a bit more than the Striga clothes and she’d done enough to make sure she didn’t trip over the garments or get tangled up while fighting.

Five minutes later she was standing in the dark behind Nico’s house. An old green car was parked near the back door and Nico had lovingly run his hand over the hood as she came out. His focus had been on the automobile, but the minute Abby passed by he gaped. “What in the hell did you do?”

“What?”

“My clothes, you can’t just cut up my clothes.”

“Well, I’m certainly not killing anything in Meri’s clothes. I choose to be practical.”

“I have a limited supply of stuff, you can’t just go cutting up people’s things.”

“I needed something to wear. If you are going to make me go out and kill demons then I’m not going to be wearing booty shorts and a strip of fabric over my breasts. I couldn’t wear the stuff I slept in because I’m not sleeping in clothes that I’ve killed something in.” She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and shrugged. “And your clothes are like four sizes too big for me, so I had to do some alterations.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “Deal with it.”

A small smile played at the edges of his mouth. She tried not to fixate on it, but his smirk made her mouth water. There was a glimmer in his eyes, as if he liked her defiance. After a minute he nodded, giving in and dropping the argument. She’d won this round which boosted her ego to epic heights, but mostly it was the way he looked at her with that smile on his face that made her stand a little bit taller. He led her several feet away from the house and her eyes narrowed in on what he’d set up for her.

She was facing a table lined with weapons and in the distance she could see a row of bottles and one bullseye painted on a hay bale. “What is this? I thought we were training?”

“We are. You need to find a weapon you’re comfortable with.”

“What about hand to hand? My instinct to kill and all that stuff you said before.”

“Do you really want to kill a demon with your bare hands? I mean you’re more than welcome to have at it, but the cleanup is a real bitch.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I guess not. What weapon do you use?”

“A little of everything, but I prefer blades. Knives, daggers—”

“Swords?”

“When necessary. Killing a demon requires decapitation and burning the body. You can shoot it to incapacitate it but in the end you’ll always need a way to sever its head from its body and torch it.”

“Every single time?” Words could not describe how much she didn’t want to have to decapitate a demon, but deep down she knew there was no getting out of it. This was her new world, her new reality, and she was going to have to get used to it sooner or later.

“For you, yes. For one of the Hands of God, no. Holy warriors or anyone who has a holy weapon doesn’t have to decapitate and burn the body, but for us humans,” He paused and added, “and you vampires, it’s necessary otherwise we run the risk of them coming back to life. Demons are resilient little bastards, but holy light or holy weapons, can do the job in one shot.”

She took in the information. Nico had been out there for a decade cutting off the heads of every demon he killed. It seemed like such a daunting task for someone who appeared to not care about anyone or anything. “Can I ask you something?”

“I’ll probably regret it, but go ahead.”

“Why do you do this and why are you bothering with me? You don’t even like Arveda, so I don’t understand why you would do this favor for her.”

“That’s more than one question.” He laid his hand on a small handgun. “Try this one first, it’s a standard .45, aim for the big green bottle. Make sure the safety is off, here” he pointed at the back of the grip to a silver lever, switching it off and on to show her what to do before handing the gun to her, “Aim and squeeze the trigger.” She nodded and held the weapon, taking several deep breaths before she squeezed. The bullet struck the bottle dead center and shattered it on impact. “Good job, nicely done. How did you like the feel of it?”

Placing it carefully back in its spot on the table she shook her head. “It didn’t feel right. I guess it wasn’t comfortable.”

He seemed to understand what she was saying and moved to a bow and quiver. Before he picked it up he paused. “I do this because it’s the right thing to do. These people were kind enough to take me in when I was lost in the desert. They don’t deserve to have their children and loved ones dragged off and turned into a demon’s dinner. What kind of man would I be if I sat here and watched something bad happen to innocent people and I didn’t do anything to help?”

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, after looking it over he held up a fade hand-written quote for her to see. She whispered the words on the paper, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” She picked up the bow and notched an arrow. Now it made sense why he did what he did. Day in and day out. He was a good man even with his rough exterior and abrasive attitude. Deep down he was just a man, trying to do something good in a world full of evil.

He cleared his throat, “Do you need help?”

Abby gave him a sideways glance, “I think I’ve got it.” She drew back and released the arrow in what felt like a familiar action but with no memory attached to it she could only guess that at one point she might have done this before. Familiar or not it didn’t feel right. Like the gun, it didn’t feel comfortable. If she were going to use a weapon she needed it to feel like part of herself. Shaking her head, she placed the bow down and heaved a sigh. “What’s next?”

Nico started to reach for the crossbow sitting on the table but his hand hovered for a moment before he reached for something on his belt instead. “Try these.”

He held out two small blades. Abby took one and held it up to examine it. It didn’t look like any knife she’d seen before, no big bulky handle. It was a simple but slightly heavy blade, the handle was part of the knife with no extra grip to it. Abby ran her thumb over the blade. “It’s dull.”

“It’s a throwing knife, the blade doesn’t need to be sharp, it’s the tip that does the damage.”

She held the knife in the palm of her hand then switched hands trying to gauge how hard to throw it. She took a deep breath and gripped the knife at the hilt and drew back. Nico’s hand caught her waist, “Not like that.”

A shiver rushed through her body as Nico stepped behind her. She could feel his heart pound against her back and as he slid his hand over hers the beat quickened. Abby went still, this was too close for them. Too close for her to remain indifferent about this infuriating man. She inhaled and his liquor laden scent made a cold sweat breakout on the back of her neck. He flipped the knife around so that she was holding the tip between two fingers, his other hand stayed on her waist as he used his body to move her hips in alignment with the target. His whispered words tickled her ear making her shiver again, “Just flick your wrist,” His grip on her hip tightened, “Keep your body turned like this and release it in one fluid motion.”

“Okay,” there was a tremble in her voice that triggered what sounded like a growl from him. Her thighs quivered as she did her best to narrow her eyes on the target.

Don’t think about him like that.

Scolding herself didn’t help. She could feel his breath on her neck and the way his body tensed as he moved with her. The motion left her wanton and needy. She was panting quietly when his body pressed harder against her. She wasn’t sure why at first but with a sidelong glance she could see him leaning forward to peer through the darkness. “That’s a perfect bullseye. How’d you like it?”

Abby blinked. “I didn’t. I swear I—”

He’d pulled back and stared at her with a raised brow. “You didn’t like the knife?”

“No. I mean, yes, I liked the knife.” She took several deep breathes, “Sorry. I like the feel of the knife.”

“Then you are a bladesman. Or woman as the case may be. It’s probably something to do with your vampire nature. A blade is more of an extension of a person than a gun or bow. I’ll get you something from Lobo’s stock tomorrow. In the meantime, you can use mine.” He left for a second giving her a chance to breathe. The earth was spinning and she felt out of control. Leaning over she braced her hands on the table and dropped her head. After five deep breaths Nico was back and staring at her with wide eyes. “Everything okay?”