Raven Walks Page 19

  Raven was still figuring that out. “Nothing else to do on a Friday night,” he quipped.

  Sebastian poured his own drink. “So what does this Creature have against you?” he asked Raven.

  “Not sure,” he sighed. “I’ve been around a long time, I’m sure I made some enemies along the way.”

  “Think back to Greece,” Hunter suggested. “That’s where this Creature began his bloody journey.”

  Raven took a deep breath. “Greece is where I turned Constantine all those years ago. He was terminally ill and had fallen in love with his brother’s wife.” He glanced at Hunter and saw the remark had hit home. “Constantine decided he wanted to live with her forever in a strong, immortal body. When he found out I was a vampire, he begged for me to turn him.”

  Sebastian nodded. He’d heard this story before on the many nights he had counseled Raven on how to deal with his rogue protégé.

  “Problem was, Nina was so distraught by his death she decided to raise him from the dead herself. But she didn’t come to me for that. She went to a man named Argos, a man the village suspected of being a warlock.”

  Hunter had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. First vampires. Now witches. What was next? A couple of werewolves and a killer Leprechaun?

  “Turns out Constantine wasn’t the only one who loved fair Nina, or wanted her for his own. Argos gave her some spells he never expected to work, and thought maybe she’d come back to him as a consolation prize. The cemetery gatekeeper found her at Constantine’s grave with all the spells and offerings and so he alerted the town. She was burned at the stake by morning.” Off of Hunter’s look, “It was a superstitious kind of time. Kill first and ask questions later.” He took a breath and continued. “Needless to say I took Constantine and fled before his brother Demetri, a known hunter, would be forced to destroy him.”

  “And never told him about Argos,” Sebastian supplied, “because he knew that Constantine would go back to Greece for his vengeance.”

  “And that would be a mistake?” Hunter asked.

  Both vampires nodded. “Argos was an old warlock, centuries older than me. With his advanced age and his advanced knowledge of witchcraft, the only way to survive him would have been to turn him into a vampire like me. As his master, killing me would have meant killing himself.”

  Sebastian sipped his drink. “But never the two shall meet,” he said. “A mutant such as that would be a plague on the planet with no allegiance to either cursed side of himself.”

  Hunter’s eyes widened. “So you think this Creature is Argos?” he deduced.

  Raven took another drink of his water. “It’s certainly possible. After I took Constantine and left Greece I heard that the town figured out that both of us were vampires. Maybe he figured out what had happened and blames me for Nina’s death, not knowing that Constantine had done it to be with her forever.”

  “But how would he have turned into a vampire?” Hunter asked, confused.

  “Not sure,” Raven told him. “Any number of scenarios apply. If he was tracking me down by my victims, he might have found one of our victims who converted him along the way.”

  Hunter took a moment to let it all sink in.

  “So you see, we have to find Gina before she tries to face this thing on her own. If she’s attacking it as a vampire, she is going into the battle half-prepared.”

  “And Abi?” Hunter finally asked.

  “She’s safe with Constantine,” Raven told him. “If this creature is Argos, he is not attacking or going after Constantine’s conquests, only mine.”

  “That’s not necessarily true,” Sebastian pointed out.

  “What do you mean?”

  “All the victims this thing has targeted are people who have been the obsession of both of you. It attacked Abigail in an alley after Constantine had brought her to the bar. It killed my Sonja, after both of you had taken her in the back room. It went after Lillith, who has known you both in the carnal sense.”

  Hunter and Raven shared a scared glance. “That means that Abigail, not Gina, is the one he will go after,” Hunter decided.

  Both he and Raven bolted for the door.

  ***

  Abigail floated somewhere between a dream and reality, heaven and hell. She felt her body drift along on the coolest breeze as clouds caressed her skin as she drifted by. Her body tingled all over, as the most powerful orgasm of her entire existence slowly ebbed from her body and carried her gently back to earth.

  As her eyelids fluttered open she realized she still lay on top of the satin bed covers, now soaked with sweat and blood. She dragged herself up into a sitting position, so weak from the blood loss but still, inexplicably, alive. She glanced down at the black and blue marks around the puncture wounds in her groin. He had obviously meant to take her life but had stopped short for some reason.

  “Constantine,” she called out for him in a hoarse voice.

  “Constantine is unavailable,” a raspy voice said in return.

  Abigail looked up to find the Creature standing over her, paper-thin skin stretched over ancient bones and remnants of muscle. It wore tattered old clothing that hung from its frame like a hanger. Its eyes glowed red like hot coals. She tried to scream but was way too weak, which only made the Creature laugh at her. “Save your strength,” it told her. “You will need it.”

  A groan came from another part of the room and Abi turned to find Constantine tied up in a chair, blood on his head where he had been struck – probably while feeding on Abi.

  She had been too near death to notice.

  “Abi,” he mumbled as he tried to gather his wits.

  The Creature went over to where he had Constantine bound. “Yes, Abi,” it said through yellowed teeth and long fangs. “Not as pretty as Nina, but she’ll have to do.”

  Constantine’s eyes widened. “Who the hell are you?”

  “You’ll see,” the Creature promised.

  It tore the silk sheet into strips with its bony fingers and before Abi could find her strength to dart away it was pinning her to the bed and tying her wrists to the headboard of the bed. “Please, no,” she begged.

  The Creature merely laughed as it tugged the knots securely. “What’s the matter, human? I thought you had a taste for vampires.”

  She sobbed quietly as she shook her head. “Please, I beg you...”

  “Yes,” the Creature assured. “You will.”

  “You touch her and I will kill you!” Constantine promised as he struggled against the restraints that had him bound. It was just a simple rope, he realized. Why couldn’t he break free?

  “You could try,” the Creature told him. “But you would fail.”

  Abi was crying in earnest when the Creature bound her feet, one to each foot post. She laid spread eagle, naked and vulnerable for this despicable creature and the only person who could save her was strapped to a chair.

  The Creature ran a fingernail from its claw of a hand along her skin from her shoulder down over her breasts, her stomach and then between her legs. She struggled against the silk ties but still was robbed of all strength from Constantine’s feeding.

  “Why do you fight?” the Creature asked. “I watched you allow this monster to touch you, to kiss you, to taste you.” It ran its tongue over sharp teeth.

  She screamed as it drew closer to her. “No! Please! God, no!”

  “God?” it mocked. “I am your god now.” It stood at the foot of the bed and looked at her spread out before it. “But I understand your reluctance to fuck a real vampire. You think there’s something more acceptable when we wear a human suit.”

  It walked over to where Constantine fought against the ropes that bound him. “You want someone who looks like a man but fucks like a god. Invincible. At least...almost,” it amended as he dove into Constantine’s neck.

  The younger vampire fought and struggled under the powerful jaws of the Creature as it drained him of all the blood he’d taken from Abigail. She watched in h
orror as Constantine gradually slumped, unconscious in the chair.

  She stopped screaming as she watched the Creature transform right in front of her. Muscle and fat filled out under skin, as blood brought life to his ancient veins. Skin spread out and covered gaps over bone, muscle and flesh that seemed to grow younger and more alive by the second. Gray hair grew out into a dark brown mane that cascaded in waves over his now flesh and bones shoulders.

  His eyes went from red to brown, and his face turned youthful and even beautiful – like a statue of a Greek god. His voice deepened and turned to silk as he gave her a smile full of white even teeth except for two prominent fangs. “Is this better?” he asked as he approached her again.

  He removed his clothing as he knelt at the edge of the bed, his cock rigid as it flung free from the fabric that held it bound, a silent statement of intent on what he fully intended to do to her.

  Despite his less frightening appearance, she still shook her head and struggled against her restraints as he moved closer. “No, please!”

  He just laughed held himself over her. “Don’t worry, darling,” he crooned. “It will all be over soon.” He bent down for a hard kiss against unwilling lips.

  “Get away from her, Argos!” a male voice bellowed from the other side of the room.

  Instead of being fearful, the Creature just smiled as he turned to find Raven standing there with Hunter in the doorway.

  “How cute,” he mocked without moving a hair. “The vampire and the hunter come to save the damsel in distress.”

  “Hunter!” Abi cried and tried to scoot away as the Creature used his knees to spread her legs wide. She screamed as he tried to impale her with his cock with a deliberate, forceful stroke.

  Hunter growled as he flew across the room and tried to tackle the Creature from where he had mounted Abi. He broke their embrace, which made Argos turn on him with angry red eyes. With a roar he reached back and swung at Hunter, his punch sending him across the room and against the other wall. Hunter slid down to the floor in a heap.

  His eyes still glowed red as he resumed his position over Abi. “Where were we?”

  “Nowhere,” Raven informed, holding a bottle of water in his hand.

  Argos just laughed. “You think that will work on me?”

  Raven just shrugged. “Worth a shot,” he said and then flung the contents of the water on Argos. His renewed skin burned like acid under Hunter’s and Gina’s “Vampire-B-Gone”. He howled with pain as he stumbled off the bed and away from where Abi sobbed uncontrollably.

  “You are no match for me, Raven Crowe,” Argos vowed.

  “We’ll see about that,” Raven told him as he grabbed another bottle of water from the backpack he held .

  Argos just smiled, half of his face exposed to the bone by the holy water. He turned to Abigail. “Till we meet again.” He glanced back at Raven. “Because we will.”

  And then he exploded in a bloody red mist and was gone.

  Raven ran to the bed and gently untied Abi, but she was far too traumatized to do anything but weep. Her body was sore, weak... invaded. She could still feel the Creature’s claws as they roamed over her like she belonged to him.

  This had been far too close a call. She had been attacked in the place they felt was safe, with the people meant to protect her.

  Everything had changed, and it seemed no one could save her.

  Chapter Twenty-One: Walter

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Constantine asked Raven as he rubbed his bruised wrists and glared at Raven. His neck still hurt from the insatiable hunger of Argos as he drank from him to restore his human appearance, and he still didn’t know exactly why he couldn’t break free from the ropes that had held him bound. Only Hunter had been able to set him free – which meant that whatever Argos was, vampires weren’t really that much of a threat.

  “I told you,” Raven repeated quietly. “I thought it was best.”

  Constantine glanced over to where Abi laid on the sofa, a cool cloth over her eyes as Hunter stroked her hair. “Best for whom?”

  “Nina was gone,” Raven reasoned. “If we had stayed – or gone back – we would have been pile of ashes at the end of a stake just like she was.”

  Constantine gulped back the heartache he still felt for his lost love. “I could have killed him before he turned into this beast.”

  Raven just shook his head. “You’d have been the one to turn him into what he is now. It’s not easy to kill your children, even when you despise what they become. Trust me. I know.”

  Constantine looked into Raven’s eyes. Years of animosity still lingered between them, but it was true. Their connection was strong. Which is why they always ended up together. Soulless soul mates.

  “Fine. So how do we handle this thing now?”

  Raven took a deep breath as he stared into the fire that Hunter had started to warm Abi’s near dead skin. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  “What about this Gina?” Constantine offered. “She’s a huntress.”

  “She’s still human.”

  Constantine shook his head. “She’s not like any human I’ve ever known. Or you. She’s got to be the key.”

  “Then I guess that means we have to find her,” he countered. “She can’t do it alone.”

  “You can’t save everyone, Raven,” Constantine warned. “If she has decided to sacrifice herself to defeat this thing, we can’t stop her.”

  “Then explain why I feel I have to,” Raven said.

  Constantine just chuckled. “Because you let humans get under your skin. You always did.” Then, with more sincerity than Raven thought he could muster, Constantine told his master, “Don’t let that be your downfall.”

  Raven said nothing as he watched Constantine head off to his room.

  The sun was almost up.

  After the vampires had retired to their quarters, Hunter carried Abi to his room and laid her down on his bed under the covers. He cradled her in his arms, stroked her skin and kissed her hair, willing her back to life.

  He felt sick. Everything had gone to hell. He’d come to defeat that sick creature and instead he was knocked flat first blow. He hadn’t saved Abi, a vampire had... using his very own weapons against it.

  He wasn’t thinking when that monster climbed on top of Abi. It reminded him of another vampire making love to another woman he loved, and his first reaction was blind anger.

  Walter had warned against that, but he had completely reacted out of impulse rather than think it through.

  At least Gina would think things through, he thought to himself as he cuddled Abi close. Otherwise he’d have to make an impossible choice between the two sisters he loved. Eventually he’d have to choose, and no doubt he’d choose the woman he held in his arms, but until then he had to protect them both.

  Because he loved them both.

  Right or wrong.

  He had just started to doze when she woke up from a nightmare, screaming and thrashing with renewed strength. He held her tightly and spoke to her softly, and soon she realized where she was and who she was with – and thankfully it wasn’t that horrible creature from before.

  “Hunter,” was her grateful gasp as she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. “You came back.”

  “I’ll always come back, Red,” he told her gently.

  Her eyes met his with an unspoken question. He’d never said the words, and suddenly she never needed to hear them more.

  “I love you,” he said, low but firm.

  A tear chased down her face as she cupped his face in her hands. She reached up to kiss him tenderly on the mouth, and he pulled her as close as he could without hurting her bruises or injuries. She was broken, and she was his to repair.

  All she needed was Hunter and for him to say those three words she’d waited entirely too long to hear. “Tell me again,” she asked.

  “I love you,” he said without reservation. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”


  He didn’t give her sister a second thought.

  ***

  Thankfully Gina was doing enough thinking for the both of them. She used the wee daylight hours to investigate Sebastian’s club, trying to dig up any clue to figure out what exactly this Creature was that she was tracking. It was quiet during the day, as most of the revelers were night dwellers who couldn’t be caught out in the sun.

  She took full advantage of their deep, deathly sleep and crept around their sleeping chambers to gather any evidence she could find. And it was in Sebastian’s room that she found exactly what she was looking for.

  She prowled around his body until she found the leather-bound journal that was tucked just under his pillow. She pulled it free and then stowed it in her backpack where she had begun to stow many of the things she’d collected for what she intended to be the first and only showdown with the Creature.

  In better lit bar area of the club she was able to scour the journal. His most recent entry offered her all the information she needed. She got a name, and it was that name she texted to the only other person in the world who could help her.

  By nightfall he had called her back – from a local number.

  “What are you doing in New Orleans?” she asked, stunned he’d come back to the states. He’d always felt his mission was in Europe – where vampirism had truly taken hold of the human race so many centuries ago.

  “Where else would I be?” She could almost see his good-humored smirk “You need me, I come.”

  As she scribbled down his hotel information she grew more anxious. For him to come meant this thing was even scarier than any other vampire lord they’d faced before.

  When he opened the door to her, she stepped into his welcoming embrace with relief. He, like Hunter, had taken her under his wing after she had been left heartbroken from losing Stephen. They gave her a purpose, and it was something she desperately needed.

  She’d lost so much, it felt good to take control over her life, to do something brave that would save others from her fate.

  To love that which they can never have.