The Blood Talisman (23 page)

“We agreed to let him find the talisman
by any means necessary. We want what is best for all parties, but
it is paramount that we become immortal.”

Sol, taken aback by her outright
admission of carelessness, said, “I didn’t realize that both he and
the vampire Administration were willing to betray one of the
immortals in order to gain immortality for themselves. That’s a
little counterproductive, don’t you think?”

She grew silent and her shoulders
swayed slightly downward. Her young mind seemed to be churning but
she said nothing. Sol wrapped an arm around her and they walked
towards an elevator close by.

“
Let me put a thought into
your mind and you let it stew awhile before you approach
Administration. What if I told you that… what’s your
name?”

“Cami.”

“What if told you, Cami, that you would
be able to run Administration. Head of this hospital. CEO. Everyone
could come to you with their vampire problems and you could tell
them to fuck off or help them. No Ram and eventually no
Administration. I can get you to that point.”

“But I don’t want that responsibility.
I hate making decisions, and when I become immortal I definitely
don’t want to make those decisions,” she protested.

He stopped her and grabbed her by her
shoulders. He resisted the urge to end her since manipulating her
was better.

“
That’s the beauty of it,
Cami. I will teach you how to kill immortal creatures and everyone
will be too terrified to come to you with anything.”

“I don’t get why everyone else in
Administration is so terrified of you,” Cami replied. “You are so
much nicer than they make you out to be.”

“You are a very smart girl, Cami. Very
smart.” Sol sealed their agreement with a devilish smile before
getting onto the elevator with her. “Show me around, will you?
Never seen how a hospital operates. We might even have a little
fun, but first could you tell me exactly where Ram is?”

“Sure. I can get his flight schedule
for you. My office is up on the second floor, where the ICU
patients are. That’s where we kept Alex when he first came here.
You can see what we’ve done with all of the other soldiers that
land in here.”

“Sounds positively
entertaining.”

She pressed a bright red fingernail
onto the second floor button in the elevator and said, “I meant to
mention that the sick vamp you saw is the wife of Alex. You know,
the guy that your sister is head over heels for. She bit your
sister and there she lays.”

“Well, you’re just full of interesting
information. I think we are going to be great friends.”

The elevator doors shut to and they
slowly rose to the second floor.

Chapter 27

The plane landed just after dawn. All
of them were weary, taking turns yawning and stretching as they
exited the terminal in Jackson, MS. Alex and Selene were ushered
into a rental car driven by John while Ram and his cronies took an
SUV.

After driving a couple of hours they
arrived at the graveyard that Ram had seen in Selene’s eyes. A
funeral precession was finishing up and everyone was driving away
as they pulled in.

Two giant lion statues guarded the
black wrought-iron fence at the entrance. A weeping angel sat on a
judge’s stand just inside, and many gargoyles guarding the dead
buried below them hovered in a close watch.

Alex and Selene exited the car. She
paused and looked around at all of the ominous tombs and
statues.

“
I haven’t been here in
ages.” She said with wonder in her eyes.

“I know this is going to be difficult
for you. We can take a day and come back if you need more time,”
Alex said.

“No. I want to get this over with.”
Selene took his hand. “I’m sorry for not believing you earlier. I
don’t want you to blame yourself or someone else for what comes
naturally when you are a werewolf.”

“
I want this to be over,
same as you. My actions are my fault. I choose to kill people. I
have control; I just need to learn to claim it.”

“
Learning control is
difficult. It takes some werewolves years. In the meantime, they
ruin their relationships, they destroy their belongings, and they
destroy their own lives. I don’t want to see that happen to
you.”

“
I think it’s a little late
to worry about my sanity and my relationships. You’re the only one
who has stood by me through this mess.”

She smiled at him, knowing he
appreciated her being there for him. He may not love her loyally
but those feelings were there. They had a history and now they had
a present. All she could ever hope for was a future between them.
Only time would tell.

“
Let’s go,” ordered
Ram.

They walked on into the graveyard
looking at the names of each tombstone until they came to a massive
mausoleum that stood in the middle of the graveyard. It was marked
with the name of ‘Neighbor’. Selene stopped dead in her tracks and
everyone behind her followed suit. They all stared at her as she
examined the huge marble columns and statuesque floral
bouquets.

She walked up the first two steps. Just
shy of the third step, she placed her hand on the last of three
floral statues and it came alive before them. The flowers twisted
and grew as they opened the marbleized door to the mausoleum. She
casually walked in and the rest of them cautiously followed behind
her.

The front hall was filled with marble
coffins. She trailed her fingers across each one as she passed by.
A set of stairs stood at the back of the mausoleum, leading down
into a tunnel beneath the graveyard. She stopped short of the
stairs and looked over at two metal suits of armor guarding each
side of the dark stairwell. She placed one foot onto the top stair
and the seemingly empty suits of armor lowered their axes,
preventing her from going further down the stairs.

“Thou shalt not pass unless thou art
worthy of a sacred trinity,” the suits of armor said in a haunting
unison.

“I am worthy.” Selene
responded.

A bright blue glow of energy came out
of their axes and passed through Selene’s chest. She spread her
arms out on either side of her as the glowing blue light became
brighter and brighter until she disappeared.

Alex ran to grab her but, it was too
late. She was gone. Ram grabbed Alex up by his collar and slammed
him against one of the marble coffins.

“You knew about this, didn’t you?” Ram
growled.

Alex wrenched Ram’s hands away from him
and said, “No, now take your fucking hands off of me.”

Alex felt the wolf within, ready for a
fight. John raised the tranquilizer gun up to his neck again,
threatening to make him sleep. Alex’s eyes quickly turned yellow
and his claws began to grow.

“I will rip your throat out before you
pull that trigger,” Alex promised John.

Ram released Alex’s shirt and pushed
John away. “Now’s not the time. Let’s just see if we can follow
her.”

He signaled for one of his three
cronies to head for the stairs. The unsuspecting vampire did so
willingly and placed one foot on the steps. The armored suit
statues placed their axes on either side of the vampire’s
chest.

“Thou shalt not pass unless thou art
worthy of a sacred trinity,” they said in unison.

“I am worthy,” the vampire said with
every bit of confidence.

The bright blue light formed at his
chest and he raised his arms on either side, as Selene had done.
The blue light wavered then turned red. The vampire struggled to
move but could not. The light turned redder and redder until the
vampire burst. Blood and flesh exploded throughout the mausoleum.
They were all completely covered in his remains.

Ram turned back to Alex. “You had to
know about this.”

“I knew nothing,” Alex growled, in his
deeper wolf voice.

Before John could even raise his
tranquilizer gun, Alex was completely in wolf form. He raised his
fist at John and punched him across the room. John landed hard on a
marble coffin. He was unconscious and the gun was nowhere to be
seen.

Ram picked Alex up by the shoulders and
threw him across the room. He landed on another of the marble
coffins, breaking it completely into. The bones within let a foul
smell into the air and dust particles flew everywhere. The other
two of Ram’s vampire cronies gathered around him to aid in the
fight.

Alex quickly jumped up from the ground
and punched Ram in the jaw, knocking him against the wall. The two
vampires seized both of Alex’s arms and pulled him back against one
of the coffins. He struggled to get himself free but the vampires
proved to be too strong together.

Ram walked over and backhanded him.
Alex’s head turned slightly but quickly snapped back. He gritted
his wolf teeth at them. His mouth watered for the taste of their
blood.

The marble door behind them thundered
open and two werewolves stood at the door. The vampires holding
Alex down immediately dropped him and backed away.

“I wondered when the army would come
along,” Ram said to them.

They changed back down to their human
form much more graciously than Alex would have. It was
instantaneous. Alex bent his wolf body over and changed slowly down
back to himself. Alex stepped forward towards them but Ram placed
his arm over Alex’s chest, preventing him from going
further.

“How do we know we will get him back?”
Ram asked.

“He will return with the other member
of your group. Hyperion wishes to see him.”

“So he is here?”

“Yes. He is home.”

Ram lowered his arm, allowing Alex to
proceed further.

Alex walked into the stairwell with the
other wolves. The marble door closed behind them, leaving the three
vampires remaining in the marble mausoleum alone with John
unconscious on the floor.

Ram straightened his shirt and dusted
it off. He smeared vampire blood droplets and dust together. It was
a brown and bloody mess on his designer clothing. He wasn’t pleased
with the situation but he felt helpless to change it. Not being in
control was not his strong suit.

John was starting to wake up in the
front corner of the mausoleum. One of the skeletons had fallen
close to him and it startled him. He backed away from it making a
girly grunting sound.

Ram peeked over at him and rolled his
eyes.

Chapter 28

Alex followed the bare wolves down
into a deep, dank stairwell. It wound down what must have been four
stories until they came to a well-lit basement area. Candles
illuminated the pathways. It looked like an upscale foyer. It led
into a living area that contained huge animals that had been
stuffed and hung up on the grand stone walls. The heads of
antelope, deer, and bison glowered over them all.

The wolves showed him into the room.
Hyperion and Selene stood in the center of a giant white bear rug.
Selene reached her hand out for Alex to take. He walked over to her
and clasped it tightly. The wolves that had led him in retreated to
one of the five doorways.

He felt extremely uncomfortable,
standing there shirtless.

“
We are well accustomed to
half-naked men around here. This place is watched over by many
wolves. As so you’ve probably learned, vampires are not welcomed
here,” Hyperion said to Alex.

“
Yes sir,” Alex replied. He
felt as nervous as he did the first time that he met Selene’s
father. But he wasn’t just an immortal witch who created vampires
and werewolves. He was also a father wanting the best for his
daughter.

“
There is no need for
nerves. Please sit.” Hyperion waved his hand towards two hand-made
couches. They were covered in brown bear skin and made of what
looked like the bones from the bears. The bones formed crosses on
either end of the couches. Hyperion sat across from them in an
oversized chair made of the same material. Alex petted it when he
sat down.

“
It’s real bear. I’m sure
that some humans find it cruel, but that bear actually wanted me to
keep his fur for an eternity. As I have done,” Hyperion
said.

“
No, it’s nice. Very…
unique,” Alex said nervously.

Selene looked up at him and smiled.
She found his nervousness cute.

She turned to her father.

“
Father, you know why we
are here. I beg of you, please let me carry the talisman. They want
your head on a platter and I don’t feel as if I have a
choice.”

“
The choice is yours, my
dearest daughter. Nobody can choose but you. The talisman cannot be
given freely. You know that.”

“
Surely it can be if you
will it.”

Hyperion stood and yelled, “I can’t
will the talisman. There must be a sacrifice. This is magic. It’s
not about a heritage or me simply handing it over. You know I must
die for a new Immortal to rise to power. It is my blood and my
life. It is your sister’s blood, your brother’s blood, your
blood.”