Demonstorm: Heart of a Vampire #6 (10 page)

Soon they were bouncing through the forest, laughing like loons at each new approaching danger.

For some reason, the laughter made her feel comforted. Lighter, as if her worries had flitted away for a little bit.

They reached the peak of a steep hill, crested it. Sean slammed on his brakes, sliding to a stop only inches from the edge of a thousand foot drop-off.

Laughter died as they stared into the abyss, then turned to glance at each other.

She snorted, crazy with the giggles again.

Sean silently shook his head as he reversed and turned the truck to drive along the side of the cliff. “Sorry.”

She tried to contain herself, since this time, her humor was tinged with a bit of hysteria. He didn’t realize she wasn’t worried. At the moment, she wasn’t fated to die.

Not yet.

Not until she faced Brüs.

Chapter Nine

S
ean woke as the sun rose in the distance. They were parked in a small clearing, surrounded by sheltering trees and thick clumps of bushes. This time, they’d slept in the cab of the truck. No way for her to constantly roll toward him, pressing herself along his body, keeping him awake with fantasies he was doing his damndest to repress and ignore.

At least this time, after about six hours of sleep, his brain seemed to be working at full capacity again.

Birds sang in the trees above them, a soothing melody helping him stay relaxed for the moment.

From the cooler, he slipped out his last two bags of blood and drank them down, then started in on a few of the remaining sandwiches. They needed to push through this area and get to Alaska. He’d called home and gotten a list of blood suppliers. Good thing as his stock was nearly empty.

He didn’t relish hunting down some forest animal to drink, like he’d been forced to do in the past. He especially didn’t want Mayah to see him in such a state. She was demon, not vampire. She wouldn’t understand.

As if knowing he was thinking of her, she stirred. She rubbed her eyes, then blinked, smiling at him sleepily.

His heart stuttered and his lungs quit working.

Her look of complete innocence stunned him. Everything he was learning about her captivated him.

He shoved the driver’s side clear of blankets and continued on. Today, Mayah seemed lighter. And a hell of a lot more talkative. She kept up a constant stream of chatter, drawing him into discussions he found himself enjoying.

She spoke of her family, her brothers. Her voice was soft, full of love for them.

“Is Cyrus older or younger than you?” he eventually asked, curious about her family, and demons in general.

“Technically, I’m the youngest, but my two brothers and I were born at the same time.”

“You’re triplets,” he said, surprised.

She laughed lightly, though the sound was tinged with sadness. “Demons usually become pregnant with multiple babies. It’s part of why most don’t survive childbirth. It takes a great love to even try to have children.”

Her words startled him. Yet another thing he didn’t know about half of himself. The words slipped out before he could stop them. “Tell me about demons.”

Her eyes widened, and she smiled, launching into a lesson. “Well, I assume you know that unlike vampires, sunlight doesn’t weaken us. You’ve been fine this whole time.”

He nodded. “To a point. I feel the vampire weakness during the day, just not as much as others do.”

“Interesting. Another difference is that vampires need blood to retain their humanity. Demons, on the other hand, fall into a bloodlust if they drink it.”

He glanced at her. “I’ve never heard that.”

“Most believe that’s why half-breeds go crazed. Blood is something a part of them needs to survive, but it turns their other half to destruction.” She scooted sideways in her seat to look at him fully. “If your mom’s a vampire, is your father a demon?”

“No. They’re both vampires.”

She spoke slow, soft, as if unsure she was treading in dangerous waters. “Then how did you become a half-breed?”

With a silent sigh, he tried to sum it up short and quick. “A demon captured and imprisoned my mom right after she was bitten. She was pregnant with me at the time.” He shot Mayah a glance to gauge her reaction, but she was wearing her mask once more.

“He did some strange things. Using magic, he didn’t allow my mom to give birth for years so that he could ‘experiment’.” The last word left a bitter taste in Sean’s mouth. “Eventually he somehow infused part of his demon essence inside me. When I was born, I aged like a demon child. When I hit a century the guy figured I’d go crazy. I didn’t.”

“How did you escape?” she whispered.

“Long story.” He shrugged. “The silver lining is that I’m good at running without being caught.”

She tried to smile, but it wobbled.

“Hey, it’s fine. I’ve come to terms with my past. It doesn’t affect me anymore.”

“Is that ever truly possible?” she asked, twirling one of her long, many-colored braids around her finger.

“Yeah. It is. A lot of hard work, but it’s possible.”

She sighed, still playing with her hair, as she sat back in her seat. “Why don’t you use your demon magic?”

He’d avoided answering her before, and he almost did again. But she was keeping things from him. Maybe, if he opened up a little, she’d share her own secrets. “I can’t control it.”

“Have you ever tried?”

“A little. But it’s…”

“Scary?” she supplied.

“Maybe,” he stated, ashamed at being afraid of something that was a deep part of himself. “Every time I try to use any of my magic, demon or Fey, it’s like the demon part of me starts thrashing and clawing to get out. I feel dark urges, to kill, to drink blood—not as a vampire, but as a monster.”

The truck hit a bump. He turned the wheel to avoid a nearby boulder and a branch scraped alongside the door. Mayah let out a small squeak at the grating sound.

After a few long minutes of silence, she said, slowly, “I have seen demons and vampires alike who have given into their blood lust. They have lost any semblance of humanity. All conscience. Morality. They became nothing more than animals running on the instinct to kill, feed and survive.”

He thought about some of his worst nightmares, turning into such a thing, just like the demon sorcerer had assured him would eventually happen—assured him repeatedly during the centuries Sean had been chained in his dungeon. “Has anyone ever come back from such a state?”

“Not that I know of. Your Magic Council tends to kill them quickly, before they spread too much damage. I don’t know if one of them would even want to. They seem to truly enjoy what they become.”

Chills skittered along his spine.

As the trees began to clear, he let out a sigh of relief and gladly changed the topic. “Welcome to Alaska,” he said.

She forced the idea of animalistic beasts right back in his mind as she replied, “Brüs keeps soulless creatures—vampires, shifters and demons—as hunting dogs.”

Lovely. And they were willingly heading into his trap? How many more surprises would come up?

Another chill hit him, like some nameless, indefinable premonition of dread.

* * *

Mayah studied Sean imperceptibly as he turned onto a highway and headed for a town he’d been told could replenish his blood supply. She realized he’d been drinking at times she wasn’t watching. It startled her that he must have been able to read her hesitation, and slight revulsion, at the sight.

She knew he needed it. But watching him actually do it was another thing. She’d been brought up with her father warning her of all the deprivations demons had done while in the bloodlust. He’d reminded her again and again to never give in to such urges. She hadn’t.

Never would.

They hit town and Sean made quick work of restocking, including a few bags of canned and dehydrated food, in addition to water and his blood.

Soon, they were on the road once more, headed north to Brüs’s fortress.

And her brother.

She worried about Cyrus, not knowing if at this very moment he was being tortured. She absolutely refused to consider the thought that anything worse might be happening, and instead, embraced her most recent vision of him, fighting alongside her and Sean.

She’d just have to make sure she prevented their deaths. She couldn’t believe anything other than it would be possible to stop.

Twirling her hair around her finger, she watched the landscape. She’d never been anywhere in this realm, having spent so much time locked within Brüs’s castles. But she’d heard of Alaska. A wild, cold place.

Instead, fields of grass and wildflowers stretched out on both sides of the highway.

“Where’s all the snow?” she asked.

Sean glanced over before returning his attention to the long, winding road. “It’s nearly summer. In these lower places, the snow melts.” He nudged the map he’d picked up at the last gas station. “Where we’re going, it’s colder. And once we hit the higher mountains, you’ll get your snow.”

Something rammed into the back of the truck. The seat belt jerked painfully into her ribs as her head slammed against the dashboard.

Dazed, she glanced up, only to see the world outside spinning around and around.

“Son of a bitch,” Sean yelled, struggling with the out-of-control steering wheel.

The truck jerked to a stop along the side of the road. Voices shouted, car doors banged as whoever hit them rushed to exit their vehicle.

The scent of demon, of hell fire, filled the air. So did the stench always carried by those working with Brüs—blood, decay, death.

His men had found them.

She ripped her seatbelt off and grabbed her golden box, then shimmied on her battle gloves.

Beside her, Sean was already drawing his two thin swords from the sheaths laying on the back seat. He glanced at her, opened his mouth, then snapped it shut and pushed out of the car. She knew he’d been about to tell her to stay inside.

Lucky for him he’d stopped himself.

Jumping out of her side of the truck, she faced three men. One a towering, humanish demon. Two other men who smelled like shifters.

One of the shifters pointed a shortened shotgun at her stomach. She recognized him. He was one of the rougher men, had killed more than one of Brüs’s poor concubines.

Adrenaline rushed through her. The thrill of a fight. The thrill of killing those who deserved to die. “You can’t hurt me with that.” She laughed, striking the gun with the crystal covered back of her hand.

He jumped, staring at the barrel, even shorter now. As if in reflex, he pressed the trigger. A loud
boom
cracked the air, echoing over the deserted plains. Buckshot crashed against the side of the truck, over her legs. All of it pattered uselessly to the ground.

“You should have read up about Demon auras,” she sing-songed, lunging forward and backhanding the man. He screamed, head snapping to the side. Her spiked gloves left deep bloody furrows down his face and neck.

She spun, punching the other shifter in his overflowing gut.

On the driver’s side, Sean shouted. The sound of swords clashing rang out.

Mayah watched the demon facing her. He’d been standing back, as if letting the stupid shifters try to take her down, while knowing they would fail. In his massive hands, he held a thin, shiny net.

The two shifters stumbled and tried to regroup, then rushed her together. The demon spun the netting, getting ready to fling the mesh that would cut her off from her magic and effectively stop all movement.

She dropped, falling to the ground and rolling under the truck. The shifters growled behind her.

A hand, in the middle of shifting from human to animal, swiped at her. Long talons raked across her arm. The scent of blood spilled into the night.

She kept rolling. Taking a second to assess the situation on the other side of the truck, she spotted Sean, swords locked with a huge, horned demon. Beside them, another demon thrust a spear at Sean.

From the bloodstains on Sean’s shirt and jeans, the asshole had managed to hit him a few times already.

She rolled again, coming up to the guy’s feet. Fisting her hands together, she pushed her strength into a swing against the front of his knee. Bone cracked, snapping backwards. The guy screamed, falling to the ground beside her.

Mayah swung her double-fist at his throat.

His sound cut off as her crystal spikes dug through his neck, rapping against the road beneath him.

Sean shot her a startled glance.

Before she could get up, the two shifters, their change complete, bounded over the truck bed, landing within biting distance.

A huge bear roared. The other looked like some sort of deformed hell hound mixed with a lion and a great bird of prey. Or a raptor right out of the Jurassic, with those huge claws on all four feet.

Unnatural sorcery.

Its eyes were wild, as if in the throes of bloodlust.