Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1) (23 page)

Nolan let me move, no longer holding onto me, although he was prepared if I hadn’t corrected my center of gravity. Now free of his grasp, I felt my fatigue wear off a bit. I raised a hand to Nolan, waving off any need for further assistance. I stamped my feet onto the floor and remained in place. My head ached and I felt nauseous.

“You haven’t been drinking,” he said more to himself than me. “So, what’s—”

The bell above the entrance jingled, announcing a visitor. It now dawned on me that I hadn’t locked the door, which explained why Nolan, and now, this visitor had appeared. I glanced in that direction and saw Darius step through the threshold.

He met my gaze, expressionless. But when he set his eyes on Nolan, they widened. With lightning speed, he crossed over to us, reached over the counter, grabbed a fistful of Nolan’s shirt, dragged him across the countertop, and threw him at the wall closest to the front door.

Nolan slammed against the drywall. He appeared only a little bit phased by the blow. He stepped away from the wall and met Darius’s gaze. “It’s you: the stalker from last night.” Then he must have recalled that I’d mentioned that Darius protected me because he looked my way. “Why is he protecting you?”

“Do not say a word,” Darius shouted at me. Then he raced across the floor and swung an uppercut that Nolan sidestepped, only to send off a punch of his own. Darius slipped under it with unexpected speed and plowed a furious punch into Nolan’s solar plexus, eliciting a grunt. Darius followed up with more intended damage, but he landed only one blow for every three punches until Nolan bashed a fist across Darius’s cheek, sending him skittering across the floor.

A second later, Nolan had vanished, the only indication that he’d left being the jingling bell over the doorway.

What the hell just happened?

Watching Darius shake his dazed head, I rushed over to him, unwilling to let him chase after Nolan without first getting an explanation as to why he attacked him. “What the hell are you doing?”

He got to his feet with incredible speed, but he took his time dusting off his suit, looking irritated. “My job. Protecting you.”

“From Nolan? Why? He’s not a threat.”

“He’s not entirely human. Power vibrated off him in waves. I don’t recall ever meeting anyone like him.” He examined me with suspicion. “You couldn’t sense it?”

“No. Am I supposed to?”

“You’re probably too new to magic. But yes, with time, you’ll be able to identify and distinguish between all supernatural beings. And this creature…it seemed like he’d just hooked into a power grid. I’m fairly certain he’s a trillium.”

I shook my head, unfamiliar with the term.

“With a simple touch, a trillium sucks the life out of those with supernatural powers.” He looked pensive, disturbed.

“But Nolan’s not...” Then I realized that, both times Nolan touched me, I felt weak, followed by effects similar to those of being more than a bit tipsy. Had Nolan lied to my face…after saying that he found honesty incredibly important? “He’s not a liar.” I couldn’t be certain, but it sounded like I was trying to convince myself…more than Darius. “But what is a—”

“A trillium is half-demon and half-human.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“That’s impossible,” I said, hoping that my words would influence reality.

“Depending on the power source, once a trillium extracts life from a supernatural being, he has enhanced strength, speed, and stamina. He is also resistant to pain and injury. You saw me throw him into a wall. Did he scream in pain? Was his head busted? And yet you disregard what you’ve seen?”

“He wouldn’t have lied to me—”

“In all probability, he didn’t even know about his demon side until there was a tear in the fabric of your line. Just like everything in the magical world, there are three possible groups that Nolan might fit into: near-mortal, balanced, and near-demonic.”

“This can’t be happening.”

“Your magical abilities will hasten the recovery period, depending on how long the trillium had you in his grasp.”

“It was less than a minute,” I said, barely able to comprehend Darius’s words. True enough, my headache and nausea began to subside.

“I’m uncertain how much time he sucked out of your lifespan. Nevertheless, you are now older than your actual age.”

“Great. I’ll bet you’re a hit with the ladies!”

“Near-mortals are mostly similar to humans. They often think in human terms and show no physical indication that they are demon offspring.”

“He can’t be a demon.”

“A balanced demon,” Darius said, ignoring my remark, “is just that: mentally, physically, emotionally, instinctually, spiritually, and supernaturally split between the two. However, every half-demon has free will to determine his path. Once he selects a side, he begins to develop the temperament of either the near-human or the near-demonic, the latter of which favors immortal parentage, although these creatures are able to resist the pull of a full-demonic entity.”

“This is all a bunch of—”

Without warning, Darius grasped my upper arms and tossed me aside with unusual force.

Slung sideways, barely able to see straight as I swiveled in place, I managed to right my balance and prevent falling into the back counter. My martial arts training prepared me for an unexpected attack like this, while giving me the tools to remain on my feet to mount a counter-attack. If this was how Darius “protected me,” I wondered how our relationship would shift if he considered me an enemy.

He obviously hadn’t anticipated that I’d avoid falling to the floor. He hurried to the door, but not hearing my body crash to the ground, he stopped a few feet away and spun around to check on me.

At that moment, I’d rushed forward and threw a right hook to his left cheek.

His head snapped to the side, and he grunted in irritation, rather than surprise or anguish. “Must you continue with these childish antics?”

Stunned that he regarded the blow as anything but painful, I wished I’d had a couple more seconds to put my body weight into the punch.

“You are trying my patience,” he said.

“He’s not a demon.”

“I’d wager that he is,” Darius said between clenched teeth.

“Why are you so certain? Have you ever seen a trillium before?”

“Yes.”

I waited, hoping he’d expound on that answer, but he didn’t. “We finally get a badass guitarist, and he turns out to be demon. You know, a lot of band members around the world have issues with drugs and alcohol, so I guess we should count ourselves lucky to have a guitarist who merely sucks the life out of people.”

“Not people, only those with supernatural abilities.”

I relied upon humor for two reasons: first, to distract Darius, thereby giving Nolan a chance to put more distance between them; and second, because I didn’t want to admit how deeply it hurt to hear what might potentially be the truth. To find someone I was interested in on a romantic level, as well as a friend, dashed my hopes of a potential relationship that might never gel.

“It looked like you wanted to kill him,” I said.

“That was my first inclination. But he might be of service in another capacity. Simply put, I have not yet determined your
friend’s
fate.” He turned back to me with a sneer. “No need to worry about my seeking him out. Now that I have caught his scent, it will be all too easy to locate him.” He went to the door, swung it open, and met my gaze with an irritated expression. “Besides, it is quite obvious you have taken a liking to him.” Far from the gentleman he’d resembled earlier, Darius now looked feral and ravenous. “One need only find you…to find him.”

“I refuse your protection,” I said, frightened by what Darius might do next.

“You think it’s that simple? This curse has haunted me for hundreds of years. I’ve tried to remove it countless times…in more ways than you can possibly imagine. No, ignorant one: if it were that simple, I wouldn’t have wasted my time on you.”

“But you pushed me. That wasn’t very protective.”

His smile brightened. “I must safeguard you from paranormal beings, but magic does not prohibit
me
from hurting you.”

“So why did you choose to protect me? If you wanted to protect someone in our line, you should have chosen Celestina. No,” I said, shaking my head. “You came here looking for the grimoire.”

“And yet,” he said, removing both hands from behind his back, “you would be wrong. I have sworn to protect the weakest witch in your family. And you, ignorant one, are the most unimportant witch in the history of your line.” A harsh laugh erupted from his throat. “How pitiful!”

A sickening possibility entered my mind. “Whenever the line breaks, you turn humans into vampires. When it reconnects, you are cursed to exterminate the vamps you created.”

“How you hadn’t figured that out earlier astonishes me.”

Now I knew why Grams didn’t fully trust Darius.

“I must admit: I enjoy your simplistic mind.” He smiled, rubbing his hands together like a child who peered through a candy shop window, contemplating which treats to purchase.

I now presumed that Darius mulled over how he could use Nolan to his own advantage. Likewise, given how Darius had slowly transformed from genial to sadistic, I suspected that, the more our line fractured, the more sinister Darius became. Based on the rate of his transformation, our line had recently begun disintegrating with greater speed. It also meant that demons and other creatures might slip through the veil more frequently.

“Now that you’ve had some time to deliberate on dear old Lorraine’s death, I bet you have some questions.” He shut the door, folded his arms, and even bounced a little on his tiptoes, eager to impart some wisdom. “Ask away.”

I was unprepared to deal with the situation, but now that Darius looked at me like a plaything, I doubted he would kill me…yet. I sensed that he drew pleasure from the fact that I felt anxious around him. While I did my best not to reveal my fright, Darius had heightened senses, and he could no doubt smell it on me. Nevertheless, I might never get a better chance to learn more about a world containing demons and monsters.

“Did you ever care about Grams?”

“She was my responsibility,” he said without the least bit of emotion. “Nothing more.”

Darius’s voice hadn’t quivered, nor had he displayed any other sign that her passing affected him. It felt wrong, illogical. It seemed that his innermost feelings had vanished, which made me question if he had a soul. I made my way behind the counter again to put as much distance between us as possible. I knew he could attack me before I could mount a defense, but I felt a little safer this way.

Darius slowly made his way opposite me. “I realize that losing your grandmother was quite a blow.” He lowered his gaze, lost in his thoughts for a few moments. Then he met my gaze again. “But life is loss, is it not?”

His reaction seemed too planned, too premeditated. He also looked like he was trying
not
to feel something, but he couldn’t muster enough feeling to make it happen.

“No, it’s not,” I said. “I haven’t lost Grams. She came back to me. She was the one who wanted me to stab her.”

“In spirit, yes. But not in form. You will not embrace her again. You may once more catch a whiff of the perfume she wore and you may see her visit you again, but she will be nothing more than a vision.”

It reminded me that Grams’s blankets and pillows were still on her bed, that her clothes still hung in the closet, not to mention that her Buick LaSabre was still parked in the garage. Rather than let my thoughts center on Grams, I redirected my mind to Darius’s lack of “protection” tonight. I needed to know when he stopped looking out for me: it might reveal to what extent the line was severed.

“Where were you tonight?” I asked. “Did you see me slinging fireballs at a bar? How about afterwards when I had a fire-and-ice throw down with Alexis?”

Impassive, he stared at me for a long moment. “While still an imbecile, you are a quick learner. To go from throwing fire, to harnessing it, to hold your own with Alexis in such a short time shows that you are quite instinctual.”

Since that response didn’t supply any information, I decided to get as much background information about Darius as possible, because I doubted he’d be so forthcoming in the future. “If you created every vampire, who created you?”

“Zephora.”

“What? How?”

“I failed to protect her.” He flinched as though the incident had happened three days ago, rather than three centuries ago. Darius spun around and turned his back on me. “I couldn’t save her in time.” He shook his head in a maddened state. “That’s when Zephora demanded that I protect the one person in her line most similar to her.”

“And that’s me?” I asked, incredulous. “That’s crazy! What about Delphine? She’s wacko just like Zephora. Or how about Alexis? That girl has some serious issues.” Although I felt quite a bit of compassion for her, I still stuck by my beliefs.

“Zephora didn’t blame me,” Darius said, as though I hadn’t responded to his statements. “But I was so ashamed.”

I sensed that he hadn’t admitted these feelings to anyone, let alone himself, so I remained silent. And now that he became introspective, his creepiness subsided, which unsettled me even more. I couldn’t determine when he’d shift from one demeanor to another.

“I went mad,” Darius said. “I lost my mind. I couldn’t live with what happened.” He sighed as though doing so cleansed him from reliving the memory. “And because of that, Zephora changed me.”

I waited a long time, hoping he’d continue talking, but he just looked at me with a dazed expression, startled that he’d let those feelings slip past his lips. Rather than let him get lost in his thoughts, I decided to get him back on track. “How could Zephora do that? Turn you into a vampire? Did she just snap her fingers, and the next thing you knew, you vamped out?”

“I’ve spent three centuries trying to determine not only how she got her powers, but why she got them. But in all that time, I have nothing to show for my efforts. As to how she managed to turn me…” He shook his head, mystified. “You would think I could recall the exact moment it happened, but I cannot. I believe she deliberately made that memory inaccessible to me.”

“You think she hexed you to forget it?”

“Precisely.”

“If you let her down and Zephora didn’t blame you, why would she turn you?”

“Perhaps to end my torment. As a favor. I suspect her spell makes it all but impossible for me to remember why I felt such self-loathing.” He looked aggravated that he couldn’t solve that mystery. “Through it all, one question eluded me: if I cannot recall why I failed Zephora or how she turned me, why am I so certain that I felt such shame for neglecting to protect her?”

“Maybe it tore you up inside so much that it left a scar in your mind.”

“That is the most logical conclusion. But given Zephora’s penchant for magic, I couldn’t discount the possibility that she allowed me to keep this memory to ensure that I would do everything possible to protect those in her line.”

Why did Darius feel such disgrace for an act that he couldn’t recall? Still another mystery interested me even more, one he hadn’t answered yet, so I decided to repeat the question: “Why would Zephora change you into a vampire? And how could she? She’s a witch, not a vampire.”

“Ah, yes. Well, that I
can
explain. She wanted to ensure that I wouldn’t let down another witch in her line.”

“The insinuation being that you weren’t strong enough or fast enough to help her?”

He nodded. “It adds more disgrace to that which I have endured. It’s a constant reminder that my job isn’t completed until I either protect every witch I have sworn to defend or until I die.”

“You’re the life of
every
party, aren’t you?”

He showed no recognition that he’d understood the joke.

I wanted to press him about now shirking the responsibilities he just mentioned, but before I had a chance to open my mouth again, he cut me off.

“I don’t think Zephora intended to punish me. I suspect she changed me so I wouldn’t
feel
weak.”

“Did you feel that way before she changed you?”