Dominique was sent to him to right your emotions and set you back on track.” To
Indigo"s surprise, Sable chuckled. “But even Dominique fell prey to his charms.”
Shifting her eyes to Dominique, Sable blew a spell across the table.
Dominique"s hood fell back and her hair brushed from her shoulders, exposing the
small puncture marks. Staring wide-eyed at the high priestess, Dominique"s chest
rose and fell heavily.
Surprisingly, the gleam in Sable"s eyes was not of anger and animosity, but
of understanding and acceptance. “Two of my strongest young priestesses,” she
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sighed as if defeated. “It seems I will have to think of another way to rid the world
of Satan"s creation.”
“So where are your love marks, my dear sister Indigo? If he marked
Dominique, then I"m sure he marked you.” Sheer mockery dripped from Kaverti"s
tone.
Indigo knew she wouldn"t get through the night without being gibed by the
insolent witch. The woman enjoyed trying her patience.
She rolled her eyes toward her and smiled daringly. “On my pussy.”
“Sister Indigo,” Cypress exclaimed, failing to tuck away a grin.
Snickers and mumbles echoed throughout the space.
Indigo kept her glare glued on her taunting sister. “Would you like to see?
Since you"re so interested in what goes on between my legs…”
“Sister Indigo, I understand you are extremely annoyed with this discussion,
but you must remember to conduct yourself as a lady in the presence of the
council.”
Moli"s voice summoned silence. The stunning Vietnamese priestess pulled
back her hood and shifted her eyes to every woman in the room. Indigo looked
down when Moli"s gaze came to her. She had royally fucked up if the woman who
never spoke during a council meeting had to shut her down.
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“If you all are going to behave like children, I"ll go home and be with my
own. I don"t have time for this nonsense. If you don"t have anything useful to add
to the table pertaining to the demon-vampire or the goddess of the dragons, then
you are to remain silent. If you do not know how to do this, then I will do it for
you.” Her soft accented warning jarred everyone in the room.
“I"m sorry, sister Moli,” Indigo said softly, hoping her apology was enough to
rectify her actions and her distasteful words.
Moli nodded, a signal of acceptance then looked at Kaverti, who sat with
her arms crossed and her nose in the air.
“Since you feel there is no need for you to apologize, sister Kaverti, you will
have nothing else to say through the remainder of this meeting.”
Kaverti"s eye stretched wide. Her mouth opened to intervene only to realize
Moli had pinched her vocal chords. Indigo glanced at Dominique and smirked.
Kaverti may be a strong priestess, but there was no way she"d be able to break a
spell set by Moli, one of the oldest priestesses in their coven.
“Since neither of you have anything useful to say, I will propose a notion.
We should not be concerned with the demon vampire or his minor obsession with
the human woman. If he turns her, then so be it. That will be an obstacle to
overcome if the problem arises. Right now, our main concern is the Dragon Queen
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and the demons crossing into this realm. Is that not why we are gathered here
tonight?”
“Sister Moli, if I may,” Sable intervened anxiously. “The Xsonri could make
the situation worse if we don"t—”
“Sister Sable, I"m not the least bit interested in your personal vendetta
against the creature. My concerns are about the here and now. Besides, seeking out
the creature for retribution is suicidal. Have you forgotten he carries the spirit of
priestess Katsumi with him at all times? She will surely absorb your soul if you
attempt to harm her master. Thank the Gods our sisters did not follow through
with your foolish plan, or two additional members of this council would have been
lost to us. ”
Sable open her mouth then quickly snapped it shut. A series of emotions
crossed her face before she asked in a bitter tone, “What do you propose we do
about the Queen? We have no way of tracking her. She"s still in human form. Even
the demons can"t find her.”
Moli smiled. “This is where the creature"s existence proves to be useful.”
“What are you saying?”
“Let him find her.”
Quiet murmurs trickled around the room amongst the priestesses.
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Indigo glanced nervously at Dominique. “But he can"t sense her,” she lied,
breaking into the hums following Moli"s statement. “Her scent is only trailing the
demons and pure evil.”
Moli waved her finger. “He can"t sense her yet. The Queen is shifting in
levels. As you know, the demons are first to sense her, then the shifters, and last
but not least, the vampires. For all you know, your lover is sensing her at this very
moment. This could be the reason he"s pursuing a human. You know the creature
better than anyone in this room. Am I wrong to say this is unusual behavior?”
“No,” she murmured, concentrating on keeping her disposition steady.
“What you are saying makes perfect sense, but I just don"t think it"s wise to use
him as bait to lure the Queen in. I mean, she"s out there on the hunt for the
strongest demon to mate with. I wouldn"t necessarily count Demetri out of the
category since he"s part demon.” She wanted to shoot another glance at Dominique
but feared it would look suspicious to the council.
They fell silent. Had she said too much? Had she tipped them off on the
possible truth? She opened her mouth to retract her previous words when Sable
broke the silence.
“And what will happen if he does find her?” She rustled her puffy mane. “We
all know he can"t kill her. His aura and strength will compel the Queen to give her
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blood to him. What do you think the devil"s advocate will do with power that
raw?”
Cypress shook her head. “The creature is too smart for that. Since sister
Indigo filled him in on the Queen"s true nature…”
Indigo tried not to appear shocked, but failed, miserably.
Cypress narrowed her eyes at her. “The next time you decide to take an
action against the council"s rules and call forth the prophecy guide in the presence
of a being other than a priestess, be sure to raise a barrier to conceal your
indiscretions.” A wry smile curved her lips. “But you are not to be punished for
this. You informing him of the prophecy proves sister Moli"s edict just.” She
glanced at Moli and Sable. “As I was saying, since he is aware that the Queen holds
both hell and heaven in her blood, I"m sure he won"t be so anxious to take what"s
offered to him.”
Indigo erupted in laughter and every eye at the table turned to her. “I
apologize,” she whimpered, trying to tuck away her grin. “It"s just that, he"s not in
the habit of turning down anything offered to him from the female gender.”
At her side, Dominique giggled beneath her breath. “If the Queen offers, he"s
going to take.”
The whole conversation became
quite amusing to her. It was almost like a
toss up, like gambling with the truth.
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Moli"s eyes squinted jestingly. “Then we"ll just have to wait and see what
happens.”
“Wait and see what happens?” Sable asked, slowly turning toward Moli. “If
he feeds from her and her consort finds out, then we"ll have a war on our hands.”
“There"s going to be a war regardless, sister.”
“What! A consort?” Indigo exclaimed. She looked to Dominique for answers,
but she was just as confused.
“No. Her consort will only come to her during her final shift. By then, she
would"ve killed the Xsonri to make way for her created lover, her king.”
“Not if Lucius gets to her first.”
“Who the hell is Lucius?” Indigo was on her feet, her hands out in confusion.
Moli shook her head as she continued. “This is why I say let the creature
find her. If he finds her, then we find her. As soon as we have her, then we make
haste, steer her from the path of hell and prepare her for the coming of the battle
angels.”
“Well sisters, we must act swiftly,” Cypress blurted in a rush. “I don"t know
if you"ve all noticed but the full moon holds a scarlet haze tonight…”
“Which means the Queen has tasted blood…”
“And that we"re running out of time.”
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“Hold on a second,” Indigo shouted, her hands pressed to her temples. “This
is not making sense. A consort? A scarlet moon? Lucius? The prophecy said
nothing of the sorts. What are you talking about sisters?”
Moli stood, held her hand out, palm up, and her colorful element stones
appeared. She tossed them to the center of the table and a divination spooled up
from the icy circle. “My apologies, sister. We should"ve told you this before
springing into our heated discussion.” A yellow flame erupted within the circle
then faded to a clouded vision. “You must see this in order grasp the truth.”
“The truth? What truth?”
Sable sighed. “That the prophecy was a ruse.”
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Chapter Thirteen
Blood Memories
Blood and tears stained his ivory suit. A woman"s body lay limp in his
trembling arms, her hair dripping with blood, her flesh torn and mangled, from
face to torso. He cradled her against his chest, covering her battered frame in his
red cape. His eyes burned in pain as he wailed out to the heavens for her fading
soul.
“Mother, please stay with me!”
Howls and screams spilled through the night accompanied with the smell of
seared flesh. Ash flurries from the disintegrated ghouls sifted with the breeze and
littered the fallen bodies surrounding him. Everyone he ever loved and knew had
been stripped from him by a mass of soul thirsty demons.
Placing his hand over her heart, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to
summon his gift to save his dying mother, but his spirit had been injured. Blood
and energy was falling away from him. Anger and sorrow rose within and engulfed
his being. He no longer wanted to live.
“Demetri.” A weak hand dropped on his shoulder.
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He looked back. His brother, barely clinging to life, struggled to stay on his
feet. His wife, Olivia, held him up, refusing to let him fall.
“Brother please, she is lost to us now. We must go.”
“No Maurisio! I will not leave her, not like this,” he sobbed. “I will stay and
perish with her.”
“Frère, écoutent moi…” Olivia"s soft voice momentarily eased his pain. The
French beauty brushed his bloody hair from his forehead. “They will not stop until
the Bithanos family is demolished. We are all that"s left.” Her deep amber eyes held
a wolfish glow. “Come with us frère. Live…live to fight another day.”
In the midst of his grief, a shadow fell over them. Sluggishly, he turned to
look up into a pair of familiar sterling eyes. “Lord Kaishan.”
“My friend, we have run out of time.” Kaishan offered his hand. “Your new
life awaits.”
To awaken with an unbearable pain in your heart was like dying.
Rayne couldn"t breathe. The grief and anguish tore her apart. Sweat coated
her skin. An uncontainable waterfall of tears ran down her face. No matter how
hard she tried, she couldn"t stop crying. She slapped her hands over her face and
wailed.
God, was this the pain Demetri carried with him?
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“Jesus, please…” she sobbed.
After she stared into nothing for what seemed like hours, she slid out of bed
and approached the mirror, which was now in one piece. Her naked skin had a
golden sheen to it and more strands of red threaded through her disheveled mane.
She swiped the tears from her face and pushed out an exhausted sigh.
Remembering the events from the night before, she stepped closer to the
mirror and pressed her hand to the cool surface. A spark of energy zapped her
palm. She snatched her hand back and stared as the reflective glass cast the image
of a house surrounded by a golden shield.
“Shrine keepers,” she said without thought.
Reluctantly she placed her hand over the image. The team was there. Their
familiar scent heading their way, they wouldn"t be for long.
She dropped her hand and shook her head in disbelief. There was no
questioning how she knew things out of the blue now. Nothing seemed real
anymore. Her life was literally one huge never-ending nightmare.
If she didn"t feel Demetri"s energy pulsing within her own heart, she"d think
he wasn"t real either.
“God, Demetri,” she breathed out.
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How did he keep going with all he"d been through? How did he find the
strength to sooth her anxiety after his mother and his family had been ripped from
his life?
If it wasn"t for the sun, he"d still be there holding her, rocking her to sleep,
telling her how well she"d done and how beautiful she was. He was her dark
blessing, yet he"d been damned to suffer so much pain.
“Baby girl, you up?” Sota"s voice boomed through the door followed by an
annoying series of knocks. “C"mon, let"s get moving. Twenty minutes and we"re on
the road.”
Right. Time to slip on the façade and pretend her world was not going to
shit.
“Brah, you see this part of my hand right here,” Rayne grumbled, glaring at
Sota from the passenger seat as they cruised the highway toward Orlando. “It"s
gonna come in swift contact with your throat if you don"t stop that off-key
singing. I"m serious. I"ll straight Jet Lee your ass. Keep it up.”
Sota bellowed out in laughter and sung louder.
During the miles of torture, she surfed the net from her phone, searching for
anything she could find on the Bithanos family or Demetri. She found nothing.
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Right when she thought her search was useless, six different addresses and
phone numbers popped up under the name Maurisio Bithanos. Gotcha!
Apparently, Demetri"s brother was still alive, or the walking dead, whatever.
Either way, he owned
six different night clubs—two in Florida, two in Georgia,
one in Vegas and one in Louisiana. The closest one to the photo shoot location was
Club Night Stalkers, downtown Orlando, about thirty minutes away.
She had to find a way to get out from under Sota"s watchful eye, so she could
get in touch with him. Maurisio was probably the only one who could tell her
where Demetri slept during the day. Sure it was a drastic a move, but hell she was
at a crossroads. She needed Demetri like she needed air.
As Roberto, a world renowned photographer, rambled on about his vision of
her as a sixteenth century queen, she tried to devise a plan to make her escape.
Going out the window was out of the question. The house they"d rented for the
shoot had large windows aligned on top of one another on each floor. Even if she
was somehow able to climb out the window from the second floor, someone was
bound to see her legs dangling through the glass below. There had to be another
way.
“You will be an African Queen, an Egyptian Queen, even the Queen of
England! Your face, your form—you will make these shots magnificent!” Roberto
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shouted, his excited Italian accent drawing all attention to him. “You are the face
of Silver Line Beauty, Queens Collection!”
Smiling warmly, she kissed his cheek. “I"m honored. Thanks, Roberto.”
Twenty minutes after stepping into the dressing room, she found herself
standing in front of the mirror, dressed in a stiff bustier covered in pearls and lace.
It fitted tight over her torso and pushed her breasts up prominently. A matching
cone-shaped skirt, trimmed in gold and lace, accented with a combination of
pearls and jewels rested on her hips. In addition, a heavy head piece emphasized
Brianna"s handy work, definitely giving her the feel of a sixteenth century queen.
Glancing at a photograph then at her hair, Brianna adjusted the headpiece
and stuck a pin in her updo to hold the difficult style in place. “Sorry to do this to
you, Ray but I couldn"t find a wig with this primed up hair style in such short
notice. And don"t think I didn"t notice you dyed more of your hair, girl. What I told