The Savage Vampire (The Perpetual Creatures Saga Book 5) Page 5

She ripped her fingers horizontally across his belly with such speed that she spun in a full circle and faced him once more before his bowels spilled out upon the floor. Then she punched him in the face, shattering the bones in his skull, and knocking him back the remaining few feet to the rear wall.

  The metal cell rang like a bell… or maybe that was just his ruptured eardrums and pulverized brain. Sebastian couldn’t really distinguish which. He regained consciousness a fraction of a moment later with a sudden realization that he was not yet dead. This was partly because his vampiric anatomy had repaired his scrambled brain enough to form the emotion of regret, but mostly because of the pain he now felt from Othella stomping his twisted, stunted legs into sacks of pulp.

  The maniac vampire demoness worked her way up from his feet all the way to his pelvis. The floor was slick with the Dwarf’s blood, but Othella never faltered. By the time she had moved from stomping his private area to smashing his tiny hands and arms, the Dwarf’s ears had healed, and he could once again hear his own pitiful shrieks of pain.

  Finished with his arms, Othella raised her foot high over his torso. His heart or his brain? Which would she smash first? Sebastian silently hoped she’d choose his brain. Maybe then he’d finally find peace.

  As Othella’s last strike started downward, Cot and Mathias appeared on either side of her, moving with such vampiric speed that they seemed to materialize out of thin air. Each man snatched her by the arm and yanked her backward. Her foot struck like a god-hammer, denting the thick, blood-coated metal floor.

  Othella, still enraged, ripped her arms free and started for the Dwarf once more. Cot and Mathias grabbed her once more, but Sebastian sensed the utter fear the men had for the dominant woman. If she turned her fury upon them, they would stand down and allow her to slake her murderous thirst upon the Dwarf.

  “No,” Cot said in a stern but cautious voice. “He’ll go savage.”

  “We only need him for a little while longer,” Mathias said in a calmer, more diplomatic tone. “After the change, do with him what you will.”

  Othella’s ridged form relaxed. Her features softened, going from ferociously hideous to stunningly beautiful in mere moments. Beauty and power were the pinnacle standards imposed by the High Council and Stewards, and Othella was blessed in both departments.

  Sebastian watched her transformation from one eye. The other had ceased to function somewhere in the middle of being mauled, and he wondered if it was still in his skull. Othella wiped the Dwarf’s blood from her soft, girlish face. She couldn’t have been over twenty-five when turned. Her eyes, the color of dreaming thunderclouds, drifted away from him in disgust. She smoothed her hair, a long cascade of silk the color of cinnamon.

  There had been a time, long ago, when Sebastian had been in love with Othella. She had bewitched him the first time he saw her. That had been back when he was still human, hiding and spying within the walls of the Ice Sanctuary like a rat. The infatuation lingered for a time, even after he had stolen the vampire spirit.

  Oh, the foolish boyhood dreams he had conjured of her. That he could somehow win her affections. But it had dashed his dreams to shards the first moment those stormy eyes fell upon him. After that, he quickly came to know the cruelty of the black heart within her.

  Countless others had looked upon the Dwarf with revulsion. But none had ever pierced him so deeply as Othella.

  Perhaps that’s why he hated her so much now.

  In the closing moments, just before he was going to strike down her mind with his telepathic rapier, he had allowed her to see into his heart. To know his love for her. That was what had unleashed the scream that had foiled his one chance to escape.

  Othella’s hatred of him, her utter loathing of the twisted, deformed imp, had been more powerful than any telepathic attack he could ever muster.

  The pain of Sebastian’s shattered body could never compare to the anguish of his broken heart.

  Othella turned her back to the Dwarf, stepped over the corpse, and exited the cell. “Enjoy your new companion.”

  Cot and Mathias shared a quick look of fearful concern before exiting and leaving the Dwarf in near darkness.

  Sebastian didn’t have to be an augur to know what the male Council members were thinking. They were right to fear. With Marjek and Heidi both dead, Othella now reigned as the alpha vampire. Imagine the outcome if she transferred her reprehensible mind into a Divine body.

  It took a little longer than he had hoped, but eventually, Sebastian’s body repaired itself. After his arms and legs were functional, he scooped his bowels back inside his open torso. After that, he picked up his shattered teeth, returning them to their place one by one. Then, at the end, he licked up his own blood like a hungry dog.

  Sebastian sat in the silent dark until he felt the sun peek over the horizon. He was about to drift into oblivion when the dead man suddenly sat up.

  “We need to talk,” the corpse said.

  Chapter Five

  Silvanus tumbled over and over, slamming into a tree with enough force to shatter the thick trunk. He tried to regain his feet, but the blast of sonic waves washing over him knocked him back down.

  A boulder the size of a compact car pushed itself upward through the dark soil and dense undergrowth. It hovered in the air for a millisecond before hurtling toward him like a rocket.

  Though being crushed by a ton of solid granite couldn’t deliver a mortal wound, it was an experience Silvanus could do without. He closed his eyes and teleported just as the boulder annihilated the remains of the tree they pinned him against. It continued through the jungle for another quarter of a mile, destroying everything in its path, before splashing down in a deep river-fed lake.

  Silvanus reappeared fifty feet away, directly behind the short, stalky red-headed man, and the pale-skinned beauty with short brown hair.

  Augustus and Danielle turned with startled speed, preparing to unleash another attack, but Silvanus blasted the ground before the pair with twin columns of hellfire. The fire knocked them both from their feet and sent them cartwheeling along the same path as the boulder.

  “You shouldn’t stand so close together,” Silvanus shouted after them. “It makes you an easy target.”

  Moments later, Danielle and Augustus came walking back up the path. Their clothes were smoldering, but they were otherwise unharmed.

  “I knew it was you the whole time,” Augustus said, patting out a tiny flame on his shirt collar. “We were just messing with you.”

  Silvanus gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. “I’m sure you were.” He took Danielle’s hand and kissed it. “It’s good to see you both.”

  “Good to see you, too,” Danielle said. “We were starting to worry about you. We heard about what happened with Jerusa. We’re so sorry.”

  “What exactly did you hear? And how did you hear it?”

  The other two Divines glanced at one another as though unsure if they should bring up such a sore topic.

  “We were searching for you,” Danielle said. “We came across Jerusa’s coven. They were talking about her… and you.”

  Silvanus smiled, and that seemed to disturb the other two. “I take it they didn’t know you were eavesdropping.”

  “No, they never knew we were there,” Augustus said.

  “Well, Jerusa is why I’ve come. I need your help.” They looked at Silvanus with puzzlement. “Not here, though. Let’s leap somewhere more hospitable.”

  Danielle shook her head. “We don’t leap anywhere anymore. It might lead that creature back to us.”

  Silvanus gazed down the path of destruction they had carved through the jungle. That explained why they had walked back instead of just teleporting.

  “I’ve been leaping all over,” Silvanus admitted. “I’ve not seen the last umbilicus even once. I don’t think it’s leaping that would attract him, anyway. If anything, he’d be drawn to us now that we’re reunited.”

  Augustus turned in a slow circle, eyeing
every dark shadow… and there were a lot of them. “Don’t say that if you want me to stick around and hear what you have to say.”

  Silvanus doubted that the umbilicus would show up, but it was still a good idea to stay aware. He had been so engrossed with following Jerusa that he hadn’t given his last surviving bastard son a second thought.

  “We know his weakness now. He has reason to fear us.”

  Danielle shook her head. “Reason to fear you. Not us. We can’t all conjure hellfire. We don’t even know if our powers will affect it, and that’s assuming we’re lucky enough to catch its disgusting stinger before it sticks us with it.”

  Silvanus couldn’t argue. “Then we’re safer together. C’mon, leap with me into the nearest city.”

  They reluctantly agreed. The three Divines held hands and closed their eyes. Life flourished all around them, making it harder to pinpoint their destination. But it was there. Human life-forces, throbbing like a massive heart. A churning hive of thoughts calling to them over the distance.

  They took a single step, leaping from the jungle to an urban maze stacked high with concrete and metal. They materialized atop a tall, dilapidated apartment building in the center of the city’s poorest slum.

  A group of young children were running back and forth, kicking a ball to one another among the various garments drying on several long clotheslines. The rambunctious children all drifted to a silent halt at the sudden appearance of the three strangers.

  They didn’t scream or attempt to run away. Not one of them looked up at the Divines with fear. Silvanus laughed. Human children were so wonderful. Far more perceptive than adults.

  They left the children to play their rooftop games, walking down an internal stairway and out into the crowded street. The aroma of cooking meat danced upon the air. The roar of a thousand conversations going at once could easily be mistaken for the rush of a waterfall. The air warbled above the hot pavement, giving the world an ephemeral quality.

  Silvanus swam against the current of pedestrians, brushing his fingertips against as many as he could. Augustus and Danielle followed, each of the three spaced a small distance apart. The humans never realized they were being fed upon. Tiny sips, of course.

  It only took a short walk through the busiest part of the city for the three to be fully refreshed. Augustus placed an impatient but friendly hand on Silvanus’s shoulder, bringing him to a stop.

  “Okay, what’s this all about?” he asked. “Why are you here?”

  Silvanus cracked a tiny half-smile. “Maybe I was lonely and just needed to be with my own kind for a while.”

  “That’s understandable.” Danielle placed a gentle hand upon his arm. “Especially after losing Jerusa. But something is wrong. I can read it in your face.”

  Silvanus sighed. “You know what I love about children, like the ones we met on the rooftop? They’re pure. From their thoughts to their motives right down to their acceptance that there is still magic abiding in the world.”

  “What are you getting at?” Augustus asked in gruff frustration.

  “They’re not safe,” Silvanus answered. “No one is. Not the humans. Not the blood drinkers. And certainly not us. Death is inevitable, even for such as we.”

  “Do you mean the last umbilicus?” Danielle asked.

  The corners of Silvanus’s mouth pressed downward as he considered what he needed to say. “Yes and no. It’s true, as long as that one lives, we’ll never be safe. But there is still a hidden army of savages stationed around the world, and my heart tells me Suhail is still alive.”

  “Killing Suhail is no big deal,” Augustus replied. “He’s just a savage. After we dispatch him, we’ll remove his little army. No problem. The umbilicus, on the other hand, is a slightly more perilous path to undertake.”

  “We have no choice but to hunt that thing down,” Danielle interjected. “I want it dead. I’m tired of being afraid.”

  Silvanus shuffled his feet and buried his hands in his pockets. It was a completely human gesture, but he liked behaving like a human. “There’s one more little snag I think you should be aware of.” The pair stared at him with pensive expectation. “Jerusa didn’t die.”

  “Come again?” Augustus said, as though the words made little sense.

  “Jerusa’s alive. She’s a Divine Vampire.”

  Danielle smiled as she nodded. “I thought as much.”

  Silvanus eyed her for a moment, unsure if she was telling the truth or just messing with him. “How did you know?”

  “Because she’s a woman,” Augustus said, playfully rolling his eyes. “Women know everything. Especially the immortal ones.”

  Danielle offered no argument, shrugging her shoulders instead. “She’s your great love. No creature alive feels love as deeply as we do. You’re much too calm and put together for her to be dead. You’re troubled about something, no doubt about that, but not devastated.”

  Moments like this reminded Silvanus just how young he was. Not in terms of his body (there was no telling how long he had existed), but in his mind. Danielle had had ages to purchase wisdom, while he had only been awake for a few years.

  “Okay, so the girl is alive,” Augustus said. “But something is amiss besides the savages; otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

  “She doesn’t remember you, does she?” Danielle asked.

  “No. Everything from before has been wiped away. I had hoped that her short time inside the stone cloak would leave her with at least some memories. It didn’t.”

  “It’s the cost of becoming a Divine Vampire,” Danielle stated. “We all paid that price. You know that. There are no exceptions. Your only choice is to teach her who she was, and move on from there.”

  “I wish it were that easy.”

  Augustus turned in a tight circle. “Oh, I don’t like where this is going. Everything used to be so simple. There were the humans, the blood drinkers, the savages, and then us. We all had our little place, and things had finally reached a nice balance. Then you come along, turn that ghost seer into a vampire, and all hell breaks loose. What is it now?” He looked as though he wanted to say more, but cut off when he caught Silvanus and Danielle staring at him.

  “No offense.” Augustus waved his hands before his chest. “I’m sure she’s a lovely girl.”

  Danielle turned from Augustus to Silvanus. “What’s happened?”

  “Jerusa is a Divine Vampire, but not quite like us. The blood drinkers held some ritual, performed by a human called the Necromancer.”

  “And this doomed the world?” Danielle asked.

  Silvanus searched for the right words to better explain the situation. “Jerusa’s ghost companion, Alicia, wouldn’t allow her to drink any blood… ever. That’s how she contracted the stone cloak. The other vampires were just trying to save her.”

  “By having that necromancer break the ghost’s hold on her,” Augustus finished.

  “Yes. The ritual worked, but it was too late to stop her transformation. She awoke a week later, but whatever they did to her…” Silvanus wasn’t sure how to explain.

  Augustus and Danielle took a step closer to him, as thirsty for the mystery as they had ever been for life-force. He had grown to appreciate them tremendously, despite their rocky beginnings. The days when the Ten had confined him seemed only a dream.

  “There’s no good way for me to tell you,” he said, much to their disappointment. “You need to see her for yourself. Will you come with me?”

  The pair seemed apprehensive, and who could blame them? Every time Silvanus made an appearance, something always went astray. They glanced at one another, then back to Silvanus.

  “Take us to her,” Augustus said.

  Silvanus placed a hand upon each of their shoulders. “I must warn you, if your life-force isn’t fully replenished, you should probably feed again before we go.”

  Augustus’s red eyebrows nearly fused into one as he scrunched up his face. “That’s an odd thing to say. But I’m fin
e, thanks.”

  “I don’t need to feed, either.” Danielle tilted her head and flashed him a cute little smirk. “I’m almost afraid to ask why?”

  “Because Jerusa will probably feed from us.” Silvanus leapt the three of them from the jungle city before they could ask any more questions.

  Silvanus had no idea where they were leaping to. He had no set destination in mind. No vision of a location. Only the thought of Jerusa. The natural perfume of her skin. Her soft, auburn locks tickling his face as they kissed. The way her tender voice made his legs weak. How her emerald eyes captured his soul every time he beheld them.

  When the three Divines next opened their eyes, they found themselves inside a dimly lit room. The floor was concrete. The walls and ceiling were forged of steel, and a heavy door, like that of a bank vault, stood at their back.

  But this vault didn’t hold money. Neither was it for the expensive carpets covering the drab gray concrete, the exquisite furniture positioned about, or the priceless artwork and tapestries adorning the metal walls.

  This vault was constructed to protect vampires during the daylight hours. And those same vampires were now screaming in anguish as Jerusa’s savage wraiths ripped the perpetual life from them.

  The calamity was overwhelming. Danielle and Augustus stood thunderstruck by the torrent of black entities—somehow visible to them—rushing around the room like debris caught in a tornado. Silvanus counted thirteen vampires trapped in the vault, running in wild madness, smashing through furniture, bashing into one another, looking for any escape from the parasitic wraiths.

  And in the center of the room, stood Jerusa, her eyes red like a savage’s, the scar upon her chest glowing like a star.

  The clamor of screams rose to a zenith, then like the snap of a finger, all went silent. The thirteen blood drinkers fell to the floor like marionette puppets with severed strings. The maelstrom of wraiths returned to Jerusa in a flood, vanishing within her body without so much as displacing a hair.

  “What is this devilry?” Augustus whispered.

  “She’s possessed by savage spirits,” Silvanus whispered back.