Eleven

Christina stood in the doorway staring at Adrian for several moments before walking in the guest room. He was sitting on the chair staring at the wall. The woman sleeping on the bed, she assumed, was Anneliese. She vaguely remembered the stories that Hayden told about her before his love affair with Amanda. Christina shook her head, pitying the poor woman. She did not deserve to lose the man she loved to Mandy.

Knocking softly on the open door, Christina stepped into the room. Adrian turned to face her and his eyes grew wide, drifting to Anneliese. They had not told Christina or Mandy about the unexpected guest. Christina gestured toward the hallway so they could talk without disturbing Anneliese. Adrian stood and followed her out. There were obvious signs of tears on his cheeks, stained with blood.

“Why don’t we go for a walk?” Christina suggested. “Maybe you could take me somewhere, if it’s still there.”

Adrian blinked, “I thought you weren’t talking to me?”

“I want to go to the hillside just east of London. Can you take me there?” Christina turned to Adrian, sorrow in her eyes. Adrian was staring at her in disbelief. He did not say a word as she leaned into him. For a moment, she felt like she was in two places at once, but then her surroundings changed. The hillside had been converted into a park with many more trees and flowers. There was a bench overlooking the view of the city. She sat down and patted the space beside her.

“I don’t understand,” Adrian whispered as he sat down beside her.

“I’m sorry,” Christina whispered, choking on tears that invaded her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” She leaned into him and he placed his arm around her, pulling her close. “I was standing in the kitchen, making breakfast. Suddenly I found myself lost in thought. I was thinking about this place, even though I haven’t been here before. Not in this lifetime at least. I was reliving the day I fell in love with you, Adrian.”

Adrian opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he rested his chin on the top of her head and ran his fingers through her hair. He closed his eyes, forcing back his own tears as he felt a single tear touch his hand. He reached his hand up and brushed the second tear away from Christina’s ocean blue eyes. He lifted her chin so he could see her face.

“I love you, Adrian,” she whispered. He leaned in to kiss her. His lips were quivering ever so slightly, but there was a blaze of passion behind his kiss. He had waited for two hundred years to hear those words escape Christina’s lips again.

As he pulled his lips away from hers, he whispered, “I have loved you since the day I first laid eyes on you. You are my everything, Christina. I have not lived a single day without regret. I hated myself for not being able to tell you sooner. I love you, Christina, from now until the day I die.”

The moon overhead was full, shining bright down on the two of them with a silver light. Adrian leaned in and kissed Christina again, inhaling her scent, taking every bit of her in. He laced his fingers around hers, staring up at the night sky. The view in London at night was breathtaking, even with the touches from the twenty-first century.

“I wish that every night sky could be as beautiful as this one. It is so peaceful here now. Everyone lives in bliss, unaware of what really happened all those years ago. Why can’t Los Angeles be as peaceful? Even humans are a great threat to themselves. Where does it end?”

Adrian sighed, shaking his head, “It will not end. But only one threat is greater than all the others. Martin must be stopped or he will destroy humankind, completely wiping the planet clean. All will be as it was when he was born. The few humans that did exist were pawns for the demons. It is an endless cycle.”

“What is next on your agenda? I feel so out of the loop.”

Adrian stared up at the moon, closing his eyes. “I am going to find my brothers tonight while Ashley and Anneliese perform a ceremony that will restore them to their old selves. I want to get them away from Martin, let them be safe from his men when they are revived.” Adrian explained everything that had been kept from her since he arrived in Los Angeles.

Blinking, Christina mused, “So we have to find this Demonslayer? Who is to say he is not still hiding away somewhere?”

“We don’t know where he is. Anneliese believes he is the key to destroying Martin, though. He is our last hope, and that is only if he chooses to cooperate with us. No one could even tell you where he wandered off to hide. The world has changed so much since he dropped off the radar. Who’s to say he’s not walking among us now?”

“What are we going to do about Amanda? She has to know something is going on, it won’t be long before her curiosity and hot temper gets the best of her.”

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with her. Destiny is in control of your memories. At least, that’s what Anneliese believes,” Adrian sighed. Everything was getting more complicated by the minute. He didn’t even want to think about how he was going to tell Christina what Anneliese had sensed inside her.

“Just hold me, Adrian. Until the sun rises. Then we can go home and find your brothers. Together.”

“Christina, I…never mind I want you to come. Anneliese is right about one thing. Love is our strength. If I keep worrying about you getting hurt, we’ll just end up back where we started. We will find my brothers tonight. Together.” Adrian leaned in and kissed Christina, pulling her into his lap. Above them, a shooting star tore through the night sky.

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Mandy sat at the kitchen table while Ashley unpacked the breakfast they brought home. She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. Things were changing all around her, and she didn’t even understand what was going on inside her own home. Ashley had allowed two vampires to enter her sanctuary and she couldn’t understand why.

A Hunter’s job was to kill the bloodsucking beasts, and yet she had to put up with two of them. Ashley was acting different ever since the night before. Even the air around her seemed different, and Mandy didn’t like it. Darkness was surrounding her. Had they changed her into one of them? She felt so out of the loop around her friends.

A wave of dizziness washed over her. Vaguely she could hear Ashley screaming at her, asking if she was okay. Then all was silent. Tears sprang to her eyes but she didn’t understand why. A flood of emotions enveloped her. Then she felt nothing. It was as if she didn’t even exist.

The darkness swirled around her for a what seemed like forever. Then, her eyes began to focus again. Ashley was shaking her now. Dusty was standing beside her. “What’s going on?” Mandy murmured. “What’s he doing here?”

“It must not have taken. She fought it off,” Dusty murmured to Ashley.

“Fought what off? What’s going on here?” Mandy demanded.

Ashley nodded, thinking, She has no reason to remember.

Dusty blinked. He had heard Ashley’s thoughts. Her power was developing fast and Dusty knew that she would be able to pull off the spell tonight with no problem. Adrian would be glad to hear that. “You’re right,” Dusty answered.

Mandy just shook her head. Out of the loop again. She stood and left the room without another word. She needed air. She grabbed her dagger off the desk and stuffed it in her belt as she walked out the front door. Outside, the wind picked up as she walked along the road.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

Mandy blinked and turned slowly, her hand at her dagger. A man she had never seen before stood behind her. He was a beautiful man with flawless milky white skin and muscles like she had never seen before. His platinum hair took on a color all its own in the sunlight. His eyes were deep set, flickering with all the colors she could think of and yet none at all.

“Who…are you?” she asked, her breath taken away.

He flashed a grin that enticed her. When he spoke, his voice was angelic. She couldn’t place her finger on it, he seemed surreal. Like he was not supposed to exist at all, and yet he was. “They call me Viper these days. I was once known as the Demonslayer.”

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Anneliese sat staring at the wall. It had only been an hour since Christina had come in, memory intact, to take Adrian somewhere to talk. She picked up her pillow and threw it. Why couldn’t she be with Hayden? She closed her eyes, knowing she was being childish. But she loved him. Loved him enough to give up her life for him.

“I hope they find you tonight,” she whispered to the empty room. “I want to say goodbye.”

Reaching up to the chain around her neck, Anneliese clenched her fist around Hayden’s ring. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks, staining them crimson. She had given her own pendant to him all those years ago. Martin had better not have taken it. Bitterness replaced her sadness as she slid off the bed.

Anneliese stared at herself in the mirror, able to see herself clearly for the first time. She laughed at the myth that vampires couldn’t see their own reflection. Those that had souls could. She wondered if Martin could see his own reflection.

“They will destroy you, Martin. It is only a matter of time,” Anneliese whispered to the mirror.

A thick voice rolled out of the shadows behind her, “Will they now?”

She froze. How long had he been around, watching them? Ashley should have put barriers on the house, preventing intruders. Want something done right…

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I won’t tell your father what you’ve done to yourself. He wouldn’t be very pleased, now would he?” Martin cackled as he stepped from the shadows.

Anneliese stared at the emptiness behind her in the mirror. Only moments ago, she was wondering if Martin had a reflection. He didn’t. Fancy that. “There are others in this house, we are not alone. What do you want?”

“You’ve been ordering my men around using your father’s name. I want it to end.”

Anneliese shrugged, turning to face the man that did not appear in the mirror. He was a beautiful person, she gave him that. His hair was naturally platinum, glowing like the moon. She couldn’t get over the depth to his endless midnight blue eyes. She had to tear her gaze away from those eyes, for fear she would get lost in them and never find her way out. He had that affect on people. They were never the same again.

“And what of Hayden and Eric? When will the torture you inflict on them end? I will continue to do as I please as long as they are under your control.” She took a step toward him.

“Your magic will soon fade now that your powers are no longer your own. It is only a matter of time before they will die and their souls will be mine.”

She grinned, “You know I will not allow that to happen. I have already prepared for that. Soon, this nasty side effect of my magic will be gone and they will be whole once again.”

Martin shook his head, “You lie.” His own lips twisted into a horrifying grin, “Even so, they will only die once again. There is no way you can stop me, you don’t even know where they are.”

“And yet I do. Leave me before you are discovered here, or your life will end sooner than you expected.”

Martin simply nodded and faded away in the shadows he arrived in. Anneliese let out her breath and sank to her knees, tears flowing freely. Damn him for having so much control over her, even after her life as a demon was over. Damn him.

A shadowy figure appeared in the corner. She stared at it and yelled, “I thought I told you to–”

“Relax, its only me. It has been a long time, Anneliese.”

Viper.