Well, last week was most certainly not one of my favorites. Having to ride the bus isn’t something I’m allergic to, but walking up there and then getting off to walk all the way up to the park-&-ride? Blah. The only good thing is that I’ll loose some of that excess weight that has been bothering me. The downside is that, well, I don’t have a car. I called the police station about that on Thursday just to see if they found it and never bothered calling me, but just as I’d thought, it was still MIA. This is why I am a realist.
SaSu has been going well in my opinion, but I once again find myself wondering about other places to find a larger audience. The pageviews here just aren’t that great. I’ll probably end up mirroring this site at LiveJournal or BlogThings. I’m not too crazy about the last, but it isthe most popular blogsite online.
Anyway, on the topic of SaSu, I haven’t had a chance to go through and edit chapter seven yet, so if there are some small errors, they’ll most likely still be there until around Wednesday or so. Other than that, here are chapters eight and nine.♥ Thanx for waiting, and enjoy!
Chapter 8
I had been as quiet as I could be for the rest of the evening. I didn’t want to eat dinner anymore. I wanted to be left alone so I could think. My wish came quickly enough. Caroleena was tired and had work in the morning, and since dinner had been her bright idea, we all left when she was ready.
Caroleena had offered me a ride home just like I had predicted. I refused. Belarda and Penni were in that car ride. Belarda I could handle, but since she had wanted to sit in the backseat with Penni, that meant I would have no choice but to give Penni my back, and I was absolutely not doing that. She’d said she wouldn’t kill me in the bathroom, but she never actually said she wouldn’t try to kill me later. Better to be safe than sorry, and I wanted to chew out Mateo anyway. Where the hell had he been while I was held at knife point?
…where was he now?
I spun around twice, looking for him while making it look like I wasn’t really looking for him. There was no one else outside as far as I could tell, but the tension in my shoulders told me the werewolf wasn’t quite as gone as I thought he was. That would be a feasible explanation for Mateo still not showing. He wasn’t supposed to be around anyway, and if Penni wanted the werewolf to watch me, he’d also be looking out for reasons to kill me. A bodyguard showing up out of the blue when I was supposed to be having a night out with the girls would probably have been reason enough to kill me right now. Or to kill Jeddah right now. Guess I’d screwed myself into walking home alone tonight.
The streets were more bare than usual. Most of the local vampires were probably staying closer to Jeddah for the time being, and when a master vampire has an established territory, there aren’t a lot of free-range vamps around. If a loaner wasn’t coming to serve the master or hadn’t previously arranged for safe passage, they were toast.
I was sort of relieved not to see anyone. It meant Penni probably wasn’t going to wipe me out as fast as I thought she would. Mind you, I had no doubt there were spies within Jeddah’s ranks. How else would she know if I spilled the beans and told him the truth? The questions now were who, and how many.
It had to be someone reasonably close. Someone who knew of his ailment, and knew this would be the perfect time to launch an attack. Or rather, to make Savino go into a defensive attack against us and do all the work for them. But were they counting on him attacking in full force and exhausting his resources? If that was the case, they would be sorely mistaken. Savino is like a god of war. He has over one hundred fighters under him, and Jeddah doesn’t even have half that many with every single member of his clan added into the mix. If Savino ever did come knocking, the smart choice for Jeddah would be to give up. Then again, that advice is coming from someone who hasn’t exactly earned a purple heart for all of her courage in the face of danger.
I used to be brave, back when I thought I had a reason to be. Back when I had something to be brave for. But bravery is like putting your trust in someone; once you loose it, you can never quite give all of it back to them. Who I was back then—what I was supposed to be today—is gone now, and is never coming back. Someone else has probably taken up my post by now, anyway…
I held myself as I walked around the corner and glanced at the same window Caroleena was at earlier today. The clothes inside reminded me of the dress she had me buy. The damn thing was still in her trunk, and probably at her house by now. I pulled my cellphone and started to call her, but stopped before I flipped it open. Caroleena wasn’t in any trouble, and I was glad I didn’t have to carry that dress all the way home. If I ended up in some kind of a struggle and it got wrecked, she’d probably kill me.
And it seemed like some kind struggle was exactly what I was in for.
It’s hard to feign ignorance when you’re a demon, partial or otherwise. What I can’t smell I can sense, and I could sense someone following me. Someone that wasn’t human, or wraith.
I dropped the phone back into my purse and continued up the street, pretending not to notice anything, but picking up my pace. Just a few more blocks, and I’d be within earshot of people who would rush to help me. Just a few more blocks…
Whoever was behind me was coming up on me fast. Faster than I could manage to stay ahead of without making it obvious that I knew someone was back there. A flat out run was tempting, but you know what they say: never run from a predator. Well, unless you know you can outrun them. I had a feeling I could have, but there are plenty of people out there who still think I’m human, and running like I wanted to would blow my cover. That left me with only one other option, and only a few seconds to follow through.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the knife Mateo had given me, spun around expecting to see a werewolf on my heels, and saw…nothing. No wolf, no person, nothing. Not even a tumbleweed or a plastic bag blowing in the wind. It was a little unnerving. I knew someone had been back there. I could hear the breathing. Feel the power.
I felt nothing but cool air now, and smelled nothing except the stick of the ocean. My eyes are good in the dark, but I couldn’t see anything of interest, and was starting to get a little nervous. The only sense that wasn’t registering was sound. Either I had suddenly become deaf, or that eerie stillness before something kills you was settling around me, nice and snug.
I really should have accepted that car ride.
*******************
Chapter 9
Stay and fight, or run like hell. I didn’t really know what to do. Running would give me away. Fighting too hard would give me away. Escaping with broken bones that would be fine tomorrow would give me away. Hell, sneezing would probably give me away at this point. So what’s a girl to do when everything she could do may blow up in her face and get her master killed?
My name has two different meanings. Tonight, we are going with meaning number two; screaming rain.
I took as deep a breath as I possibly could, and let out the worst and most bloodcurdling noise I could make on one single breath. I heard a lot of things moving around me when I did it, and a few seconds later, the werewolf that was stalking me came tumbling out of hiding place, holding his ears and rolling on the ground. I wanted to scream louder and make his eardrums rupture and his skull crack, but the pitch I was at was about all I could muster without splitting my vocal chords and bursting my own eardrums. Only real banshees can get louder and be fine afterwards, and I am supposed to be a singer by nature, not a screamer.
The sound was long and vaguely melodic—I couldn’t help that—but it had gotten the point across that I was a woman in danger, and lights turned on all over the place. A good number of heads started popping out of windows to see what was going on, but by the time they had gotten around to doing that, there wasn’t anything for them to see.
The werewolf had rolled out of site before it could be seen, and I had my head tucked under Mateo’s neck, his arms tightly around me. He had snapped down and grabbed me before too many of the lights were on, and launched us both up to the roof before anyone saw me. Behind the dark shaft of someone’s chimney we hid, him apologizing for not being able to help, and me slowly fading into unconsciousness.
Screaming like that when it isn’t in one’s nature to do so can be costly in many ways. Rupturing my eardrums and splitting my vocal chords are among the first things that can go wrong. The worst, in my opinion, is the effect it has on your brain. Blowing out all of the air in your lungs cuts off all of the oxygen to your brain, which can cause dizziness, nausea, or worst-case scenario, can cause you to blackout for a period of time.
I couldn’t remember how or when I got to my bed, but I was there now, on top of my blanket, with Raleigh laid out against my side. My shoes were off, but the rest of my clothes were on. I guess that was good enough, but I took off my socks and decided to pad down the hall. I heard voices downstairs—lots of them—and was hopeful that at last, the rest of the clan was home.
Some things just aren’t meant to be.
There were lots of people, just like I had thought, but most of them were wraith. There were about five werewolves there from Brad’s pack, though. Four of them were blocking the stairs for me to get down by, and one was standing close to the left side of Jeddah’s chair—Belicia was on the right. The back of the chair was too high for me to be certain Jeddah was sitting there, but I guessed as much. The only ones who sat in that chair were Jeddah or Belicia, and if Belicia was standing, Jeddah was sitting.
I was careful to be quiet and stick to the shadows as I watched them from above, but I couldn’t hear a thing. They were all speaking in insanely low tones, and I damned myself for not being able to hear any better than I was capable of. It didn’t really matter though. I watched as Jeddah raise his pale hand for silence, and a few moments later said, “Sairyn, your input into the situation might well be beneficial. Come.”
The guy on his left turned around and smiled at me. It was Brad, in more clothing and more sober than I was used to seeing him, and everyone else’s gaze followed his to me.
As his packmates cleared a path for me and offered their hands in place of the railing they were blocking, I briefly wondered if Brad knew I was there as long as Jeddah had. Jeddah has an excuse—he’s my master. But Brad? I hadn’t thought he was that good.
“Welcome, Sairyn,” Jeddah said, all but the bareness of his arm still hidden from my view. “Please, have a seat.”
He gestured to an area on the sofa in front of him, and the wraith that was originally there got up and out of the way without hesitation. I took his place, and he took up a new one, standing behind me. That was sort of irritating because I don’t like people behind me, but suddenly feeling like I was on trial was even worse.
I glanced at some of the eyes watching me and started to feel a little overwhelmed. There were a lot of people in the room, and my steak was starting sit poorly in my stomach.
Jeddah waived his hand. “Give her room.”
Just like that, the ten or so wraith that were way too close for my comfort left, gathering off to the sides silently, and giving me the sofa all too myself. That felt so much better.
I lowered my head and said, “What does my master wish of his servant?”
He was quiet for a moment. “I am curious to know what you have leaned from the practitioner Caroleena.”
I kept my head down when I answered. “Unfortunately, I was unable to ask her the questions you desired answers to. She was accompanied by two other practitioners, and I did not feel safe asking her of the coven’s business when they are not allowed to discuss such matters.”
“So you failed, then?”
Ouch. He was not in a good mood. “Forgive me, master.”
He breathed, but said nothing more, and his silence made my chest tighten. Belicia, however, was just bursting with questions.
“How many opportunities did you have to be alone with her?” she asked.
“Not many, my lady. I—”
“Oh? I have reports that you had several opportunities to speak with her while you were dressing.”
“My lady, the other two were still too near, and Caroleena could have gotten—”
“Gotten what? Caught? Is that what you were concerned with?” She took a few steps closer to me. “Was that allyou were concerned with, hmm? You would rather spare your sniveling little friend a small exile and have our master die because you got cold feet? Is that it? You are more concerned for a witch than your own master?”
My head snapped up. “No, that’s not—!”
I should have kept my head down, because before I could finish defending my actions, she ripped four long nails right across my face. The force of it made my head spin, and I had to catch myself before I toppled across the sofa.
“What is it you are not telling us, Sairyn?” she screamed. “I can smell the lie on your skin!”
Belicia was coming in for another swing, this time aimed at my side, but was stopped in mid motion. Brad had her arm in a death grip, and if he had squeezed any harder, it probably would have broken.
“Don’t you dare hit her again,” Brad said with a rolling growl deep in his throat.
Belicia hissed at him, her fangs getting longer as she did. “I will do whatever I wish, dog! Now unhand me!”
She tried to jerk free and almost made it, but it would have cost her an arm, and apparently, she wasn’t willing to give that up no matter how well it would heal. She hissed again and gave one last jerk, and Brad let her go with a push. I wanted her to fall on her ass, but Tristan was right there, and caught her before she looked like too much of a graceless mess.
I was entirely too entranced by the way her normally green eyes lost their pigment and melted to white, leaving only a black pupil and the blood-red ring of her iris the only signs that her eyes hadn’t just rolled backwards. I had never seen a vampire that angry before, and like an idiot, I just sat there and stared. The only thing that snapped me out of it was the sound of Brad’s bones popping behind me.
His face had gotten longer, and the veins on his hands were starting to bulge as thick hooked claws pierced their way out of his fingers. He wasn’t furry, and his muzzle was short and still human-looking, but he could transform the rest of the way on top of her if he needed to. The thing was, I knew he didn’t really want to fight her. He would have transformed all the way if that was really his intent. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure if Belicia gave a damn or not. She was aching for something to rip apart, and if it couldn’t be me, he’d do just as well.
I was drawn back to Belicia by her movements. She was rearing back for a lurching attack, and very nearly followed through with it until a soft voice said, “Stop.”
Belicia froze, Brad froze, and I actually froze too, unsure of whether or not I had heard something. I glanced over at Jeddah and watched him roll a black cherry along the rim of his martini glass with his eyes closed. The glass was empty, but the ghostly skirt of dark red fluid that started leaking from the cherry as he rolled it confirmed that the drink had been very thick dark blood.
Jeddah doesn’t usually drink thick blood. Most vampires don’t, actually. Not unless they’re planning on hibernating. A rich blood like that has greater mass and takes more time to digest than normal blood, but is ultimately a poor choice if you plan to be alert enough to fight someone. It has far more protein that way because it’s heated and thickened with cream and eggs, but all of the other vitamins are cooked right out of it, and without those vitamins, vampires don’t stay awake.
Jeddah finally stopped rolling the cherry and let it roll back into the glass. He opened his eyes and set the glass down gently, then got to his feet. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but Jeddah wasn’t wearing any shoes. Not even any socks. His feet were just as bare as mine were, except for the four tiny silver loops he had on both of his second toes. They all matched some of the ones he had on his fingers, and even the necklace chain of those same rings he wore. His earrings, however, were black, and they matched the other color of rings he was wearing. With the flowing black pants and snug fitting vest, he looked like a gothic million bucks.
He stood between them and glanced at Belicia. Her eyes faded back almost instantly, and her fangs receded at much the same speed. I always wondered if it hurt when that happened, but since it was Belicia, I hoped it hurt like a bitch.
She lowered her head. “Forgive me, my master, but this whore,” she looked over at me, “is clearly hiding something. I will not stand for her putting her little witch friends before you.”
Belicia didn’t see Jeddah smirk, but Brad and I sure did.
“A touching speech,” Jeddah said, and offered his hand to me. I waited until Belicia was watching before I took it. Hey, I’ve got to take my jabs where I can get them, and Belicia was plenty pissed.
“Master,” she said, but was silenced by Jeddah’s hand.
“Fighting amongst ourselves will solve little of nothing. The Salemwolves are our allies, not our enemies. We do not attack them, and they do not attack us.” Jeddah helped me stand from my seat. He looked at me when he said, “Is there any question I have asked you tonight that you have not answered in full, Sairyn?”
I shook my head. “No, master. I have answered all questions you have asked of me.” It was the truth. I had answered truthfully. It wasn’t my fault if he didn’t want to ask a few more questions.
He turned to Belicia. “Then we are finished here. Brad,” he turned to face him, lacing his fingers through mine, “you and your pack have your orders already. Keep your eyes on the peninsula, and your ears on Seattle.”
Brad nodded. “Yes, milord. Let’s move boys,” he said to the others at his back, and I realized he had actually brought seven with him, not four. My mistake.
“Belicia?” Jeddah said.
She lowered her head. “I will report on any activities in and around the port, master.”
Jeddah nodded his approval. “This meeting is over,” he said, and took the lead as he tugged me along with him.
Whatever else was being said apparently didn’t matter much to Jeddah, and he didn’t care whether or not I heard any of it. He drew me up so I’d be closer to his side, the hand he was holding pulled across the front of his chest, his other free hand resting on my hips, and we walked through the corridor to his bedroom like that.
Maybe it was the length of that long dark corridor. Maybe it was the sparse placement of candle-lights along the way. It even could have been how unusually intimate he was being with me. The reasons were unclear, but my feelings were plain for the world to see.
I did not want to be here.
