Birth of a Vixen (Shadow Faith Book 1) Read online

  "House Maarten will not stand for this, Grump. If you don't do something soon then we're just going to do it ourselves." A bald man, in leather biker gear, shouted as we strolled into the conference room.

  Track lighting poked through the ceiling panels from one end to the next. A dozen round tables with varying numbers of black plastic chairs sat full with the local vampire population. Smoke clung to the air in a light fog. The room was full and almost everyone was smoking a cigarette. An ashtray was set at each table; most were already full. As they smoked they argued. Judging from the way the room was set up there was a House per table. This was not a bad turn out for such a small area.

  Guillermo took a seat at the closest table. Then going around the table clockwise was Jared, Kaelanna, myself, then Jazz sat next to Guillermo. The local vampires were so distracted that they did not notice our arrival.

  The biker paced before a rectangular table at the head of the room and continued badgering his Primus. "There are too many rumors to tell what is actually happenin’ in those other cities. Who is this guy anyway? What is he after? You need to have these answers and ya don’t. What the fuck are you doing with yer time?"

  There were three chairs behind the rectangular table. Grump slouched back in the middle seat. There was an empty chair on either side of him. His olive suit was wrinkled and his mound of brown hair was unkempt. He seemed unscathed by the nasty complaints.

  "I’ve sent the Gancheru to investigate the assault against Cincinnati. They will report when they know more. Now sit down Brutus before I have you removed. Do not think for a second that because both my lieutenant and my sheriff are not here that you can just get away with breaking the rules of hospitality." Grump said understatedly.

  Brutus sat down with his House. A blonde female vampire, dressed in matching biker gear, leaned over and whispered in his ear. He smiled and chuckled, but never took his eyes from Grump.

  I watched Grump as he examined the faces of the Commissioners in each House. Commissioners were easy to spot out. Like Guillermo they had an air about them that separated them from the rest of their House. The air was different than the one Jared carried; his was evil, pure and simple. The best Commissioners didn’t carry that. They were the best of the best and tended to sit or stand a little taller. They exuded power, which made others see them as dignified unmovable mountains. I felt their confidence. Nine times out of ten those that had this sort of presence were the Commissioners. However, that tenth time was the scariest one of all.

  "Now is there any new business? Or does anyone have news about the attacks that were not able to be heard a moment ago?" Grump opened the question to floor.

  Guillermo raised his hand. "I do."

  "And you would be sir?" asked a very broad man with a square face shaped with a goatee, big brown eyes, and dressed in an Armani suit. He sat between two tables, surrounded by Housemates that were dressed as expensive as he. There was no doubt in my mind the Armani clad vampires were members of the Kaiser House.

  Not taken back by Mr. Armani’s distraction, he continued. "My name is Guillermo. I represent a party that would like to help you with the army knocking at your door. I speak for all those sitting here with me. We are El Diablo Cebo. Perhaps you’ve heard of us?”

  "No, I can't say that I have. In what way do you think you can help?" Grump replied.

  "I know of them, you’re Majesty."

  I jumped at the unexpected voice that came from behind.

  Kaelanna patted my leg under the table in an attempt to calm me down. I needed to control my nerves. We'd be lost in this place without the okay to be here from Grump. If he thought for one second we were not up to the task then it didn’t matter how much Thromdin paid us. We would be forced out of the city.

  A tall, lanky man stepped out from the dark corner behind me. His attire was unexpected at a vampire meeting. He was dressed in black slacks, a black button down shirt not topped with a tie, but the clerical white collar threw me. He was a catholic priest. His sunken eyes were a dirty shade of green that darted quick as he scanned the room. His skin was stretched taunt over high cheekbones and a hawk nose. A sharp pointed chin accentuated the harsh angles of his face. His hair was cut close to the scalp. Short bangs came down less than an inch over his tall forehead. Thin lips and large teeth made each word that passed through them have small trace of a hiss. "I have heard of El Diablo Cebo from my travels within the Ubilazian Order. They are assassins."

  Those were three words we didn’t need mentioned, Ubilazian Order and assassins. All eyes went from Grump and the Priest to us. “Well shit." Kaelanna breathed out. I caught her staring at Guillermo with caution in her gaze.

  "Before you get the wrong impression, your Majesty," Guillermo interjected, "We have been hired to come and take out this possible threat to your region before it gets here. We thought it best to introduce ourselves, in the open, rather than slink around your city without you knowing and being disrespectful." He glanced at Brutus.

  "You know who you are after?" Grump asked.

  "Yes. The leader of the army coming this way is Lucian of the Ravana House. He is from the Ubilazian Order, which the good father here was nice enough to bring up in conversation. This vampire is not working with the Order however. He is on his own, without their backing. They want him stopped as much as you do because, well, let's face it if he is able to take down the Cabal Ministry and hold the territories, what’s to stop him from going after his own sect after he is down with yours."

  "You admit you are who Father Khel says you are then?" Grump unfastened his middle coat button and sat back in his seat. He laced his fingers together over his lap.

  "I do. We have no need to hide this fact. I believe you have bigger fish to fry."

  "Who are the rest of your companions here? What Houses are you all from?"

  Being as open and honest came with a price. Guillermo said who we were, then we had to give up information. That could cost us everything if Grump and the rest of the city got picky, especially when it came to Guillermo and Kaelanna's House.

  "Stand up and be heard everyone." Guillermo ordered us. He stayed seated. “Sound off."

  "Jared, House Maarten."

  "Jazz, House Rama”

  "Kaelanna, Artyom House." Kaelanna glared at Guillermo. Artyoms tended to creep most vampires out. It took them awhile to change the shape of another person but if the vampire was strong enough they were capable of amazing feats. One second they had two arms the next, dozens. They transformed into an army of one. Being open and honest was one hell of a gamble.

  "Excuse me. Did you say you’re an Artyom?" Mr. Armani said. Whispers grew throughout the room.

  "Yes," She stood cool and collected, but I saw that her pinkie finger shook. Her nervous tick never reached her eyes. If I hadn't known her as well as I did I would not have seen it. She dared them to call her out. She pulled a mirror from her coat pocket. "Excuse me".

  She pretended to examine her eye makeup, even though she wore none, and pointed the mirror at my face. I saw my reflection. She touched my bare arm. I hadn’t mastered my power over emotions. And she knew I couldn’t keep her out. Her fear blasted through my shields and I absorbed it all. I hated being an emotional sponge. My world went dark. I succumbed to Thais’ assault on my psyche. Kaelanna played the trump card. All conscious thought vanished as Thais took over my body.

  Retaking control of my body was normally a good thing. The moment I opened my eyes to a sea of green leather, entrapping me, I realized this was the exception to the rule. Jazz's beanbag had landed on my head. I threw it off.

  The table and benches were bolted to what used to be the floor and was now the ceiling. Garbage was everywhere, broken glass, papers galore and busted blood bags saturated the cabin. The side door handle dug into my back. My head ached. The damage must have woken me up. I scanned over the rest of me. The dress was torn and covered in blood. Four fresh scars were on my chest and I realized some of the blood was mine.r />
  The last thing I remembered was the meeting. I was used to bad things happening when Thais was in control, but I never came back to a mess this horrific. What the hell happened?

  I searched for someone to answer my questions. I hoped we had time for questions to be answered, and weren’t still in serious danger. Jazz limped in wolf form over the debris scattered over the broken sink cupboards. She dragged Guillermo by his shirt collar to me. I doubted they would be of much help.

  An exasperated groan came from beside me. Kaelanna lay sprawled across the front passenger seat. She moved in slow, achy movements and plopped onto the armrest.

  Jared's body drooped lifeless in his chair. His arms were entangled in the steering wheel. His head rested peacefully against the horn. Well, peacefully if not for the fatal gunshot wound to the head. Blood dripped from his broken sunglass’ frame. The back of his head was blown out. The dark cavern in his head had a faint glisten to it from the streetlight like rotten meat soaked in melted rubies.

  I grabbed the back of the passenger’s seat beside Kaelanna's leg and used the seat to haul myself up. I stood, shaky, unsure of how my body felt until I moved. "Kaelanna, you okay? What happened?"

  "Yeah, I will be." She stretched her neck. Then she noticed her captain lying on the cupboard. "Guillermo?"

  I crawled over the trash to Jazz and Guillermo. Jazz pawed the cupboard door next to him. His face was damaged during the collision. Bruises darkened his left eye. "He's out cold."

  Outside two motorcycles circled the accident. The only sound louder than their motorcycles was their laughter. Their cries of victory echoed throughout the cabin.

  "Come out, come out wherever you are." I recognized Brutus’ voice.

  "What are we going to do?" I turned to Kaelanna for guidance.

  Her hair tie had fallen loose, which left her wild fiery curls in a disheveled mess littered with broken glass. Various cuts and scrapes ran along her cheeks and nose slowly healed. She attempted to stand but slipped on the beanbag. Kaelanna caught herself on the counter's edge. Her gun, still in hand, clanked against the counter. I was proud of myself for not jumping at the loud unexpected clang.

  "Move." She shoved me out of her way. I inched back against the passenger seat. Kaelanna grabbed Guillermo under the arms and pulled him closer to her. She untucked his bloodstained shirt to reveal three gunshot wounds in his stomach and one in his right shoulder. With the shirt gone the suction the shirt had made against the wounds ceased, blood escaped his pale abdomen. The wound began to heal.

  "He'll live." Her body sagged a little from the sudden loss of tension.

  "Okay, Thais, here's the game plan." She pulled out the gun cartridge, and checked her ammo.

  “I’m Angela.”

  “Shit." She slumped her head on to the counter. I heard her count to ten and watched her regain her composer. She spoke through gritted teeth, “Okay, Angela, I need you to crawl back there and get the bag o' guns. We’re gonna have to fight our way out. There are only two of them left so I should be able to handle this without any more problems. After you get me the guns I’m going to pop out of the emergency hatch and fire. Jazz, that is when I need you to pick up Guillermo and carry him to safety. Angela, you’re going to follow them. Try not to draw any attention to yourself. Only fire if they get past me. Do not come back for me. Whatever you see or hear just keep running."

  I nodded while I visualized the plan in my head. She caught my shoulder and stopped me in mid-crawl to the back. "I need you to stay calm and focused. I can't spare a second for you to retreat to your happy place and let Thais do this. I, we, need you to stay with us. We don’t have the time for it. Got it?"

  "I'll do my best. What happened?"

  She shook her head. Her eyes lacked their brilliant shine. “Brutus is just a prick. Other than that, I have no clue who sent him after us. But I’m betting it had something to with Thais. The vamp we questioned seemed pretty damn spooked by her.”

  “This is all my fault.” A large weight tightened my chest. I swore if it wasn’t one thing I did wrong it was another. This time I had no control over any of it.

  “Don’t start. I could easily say it was my fault for triggering you or changing the way you look. Guillermo could say it was his fault for not forgoing the contract and getting the fuck out of here. In the end," she checked the ammunition in her gun, then snapped the clip back into place and cocked it, "it's everybody else’s fault, but yours."

  I couldn't say anything. What could I say? It was the first rational and honest thing Kaelanna ever said to me. In that moment she taught me the meaning of bravery. She put up a good front, came up with a strategy plan, but under all that she was scared. Her feelings didn’t matter. She knew that and kept going. I vowed that, if Kaelanna didn’t finish him off, someday Brutus would get what he deserved. Whether it was my fault or not it was the least I could do for them risking their lives because of my alter ego.

  I crawled to the back to retrieve the weapon’s bag. Perched on the last cupboard, so as to not step on the bag or the broken bed, I dug through to find it.

  "Excuse me puppies." I wiggled my foot at the dogs and shoed them away from the debris. The two mastiffs climbed free. The remains collapsed and filled the void their large bodies left behind. "Dang it."

  I tossed parts of the pile aside one item at a time. My search took me closer to the broken windowpane. I was so focused in what I was doing that I paid little attention to the world around me. I found the bag in the far corner. "I found it."

  Only after I shouted to Kaelanna did I realize the error of my ways. The motorcycles were quiet. There was no laughter. Only that stinging tension of being watched rang in my ears. That sixth sense that most people got when they were about to be killed warned me of the inevitable danger that lurked behind me. I turned as if gravity fought against me. Brutus stood there staring down at me.

  "I've got some candy for you little girl." The air around him screamed with his malicious desire. He grabbed me by my hair and yanked me from the wreckage before I could react.

  I dropped the bag in order to rip his hand off my head. He had a vice grip I couldn’t break. I kicked and screamed but did not fight the pull. I tripped over the window ledge. Both of our grips on my ponytail kept me from falling to the street. I collapsed against his leather-clad body and kicked him in the shin.

  He grunted from the quick stunt of pain. "Little bitch. I never figured you as an ankle bitter." Brutus twirled me around. With a jerk of my hair my neck was wrenched back into an elongated position that tore a whimper from my throat. "Oh, you like that, huh? Then you'll love this.”

  I felt him move behind me. The distinct whistling sound of steel sang through the air like a bell over me. He brought a katanna down past my face. Its clean shine reflected the street lamps light back in my eye.

  "Yeah that's what I thought." He lowered the sword to my chest, the point rested on my bare neck. He guided me backwards from the window. "Kaelanna, I've got something of yours."

  Brutus’ partner stood on top the Winnebago. He paced around the side window with a shotgun aimed inside the cabin. I felt Brutus nod to him. His friend nodded in response to whatever they had planned.

  "You have until the count of ten before I open this little girl up." We shifted sideways to the left of the vehicle toward the grassy highway divide. He started to count. "One...two...three"

  A growl came from the cabin. It was a menacing sound that promised an attack eminent.

  "Four...five...six..."

  John, Ransack, and Jazz leapt from the broken windowpane, then as a pack joined with one solitary purpose they crouched low to the ground. They stalked us around the corner of the vehicle. Jazz's salt and pepper fur stood on end. The intensity in her eyes scared me.

  Brutus hastened his count, "Seven, eight, nine,"

  The Winnebago lit up. Flashes of gunfire from inside the cabin sparked. The shots flew through the side window, shattered what was left of the g
lass and almost hit the vampire on top the trailer. The Maarten staggered for a breath of a second, regained his balance and returned fire.

  Brutus' grip on my head loosened a touch. I took the opportunity my friends gave me and ran with it. I dug my thumbnail between the small bones in his wrist, punctured the skin, and blood squirted up. He groaned. That groan grew into a yell. He jerked my head back once more. The tip of the sword scraped across my throat. A hot fresh stream of blood ran down my neck and chest.

  I kicked my heel backwards. I struck him with my tiny dress shoe's heel again and again hoping this time it would work.

  Brutus hopped on one foot. “God."

  He jerked me by my ponytail before he tossed me to the ground. I skidded across the road. "I'm going to enjoy gutting you."

  John rushed the remaining yards and bit Brutus' calf. Brutus stopped in mid-lunge and cried out. He sliced John up the middle. The mastiff let go of his leg, bounded to the side, and fell to the ground. Brutus spun to attack my dog again.

  Ransack and Jazz sprung into action. They tackled him to the road. Brutus covered his face with both arms to protect himself from their savage attack.

  I got to my feet and ran back to Kaelanna. I opened the emergency hatch. Then crawled halfway in. "Kaelanna."

  She hovered over Guillermo's unconscious body while aiming above her at the window. "Kaelanna, come on. We can get out this way."

  She acknowledged me by waiving her hand my way. "One second."

  "We don't have time. I don't know how long Ransack and Jazz can keep Brutus occupied.

  "Got it.” She leaned over to kiss Guillermo's forehead. “I'll come back for you. I promise." Then backed up to hatch. She never took her eyes off the window by the upside-down table.

  I climbed back out to give Kaelanna room. My feet kicked the air. Unable to reach the street I prepared to jump backwards when a wet hand grabbed my ankle. I shrieked as I was pulled from the cabin. My head hit the top lip of the hatch and I fell to the ground.