Playing with Shadows (5 page)

The young vampire was unsure of how to
proceed. She would never harm Vlad. Not really. Having the silver
knife pressed to his throat was making her uncertain as it was, she
didn't need Vlad pressuring her on top of that.

“
Go ahead.” Vlad taunted her
with a stoned expression. His neck was still exposed. “Kill
me.”

Angry at how his pride wouldn't let him
accept defeat, Nicola leaned down towards his ear. Her auburn locks
brushed against the side of his face making him freeze in
apprehension at her close proximity. “You have information I
need.”

Nicola could almost hear Vlad grind his
teeth together as if stopping himself from doing anything drastic.
Submitting was not something Vlad Tepes did well.

A chuckle came from the direction of
the exposed doorway. Nikki brought her gaze to the form standing a
few feet away watching the spectacle. A grin graced his face as he
crossed his arms and leaned against the destroyed
doorjamb.

“
Oh please- don't let me
interrupt.” Alistair’s brown eyes nearly sparkled in his enthusiasm
at the sight before him. “I'll stand here quietly and watch.” He
waved a hand as if to prompt Nicola to continue whatever she had
planned on doing. “Proceed.”

Her returning glower was frigid enough
to make him chuckle once more.

“
I must admit, however, I
find it oddly relieving to have Vlad Tepes on his back for
once.”

The remark brought Nikki back to
reality. Glancing down at her master lying beneath her, she felt
blush creep into her face. Scrambling to her feet, she backed away
from Vlad so he could stand as well. Alistair didn't say a word as
Vlad found his footing and straightened his clothing.

“
Now that you've had a laugh
at my expense, can we please move on?” Vlad asked with an
undercurrent of sarcasm.

Nicola nodded, but refused to say
little else.

“
Al- my little scion decided
she has to know how to kill a demon. Shall you enlighten her?” Vlad
sounded angry, but his face was free of emotion. Nikki shivered as
a feeling of fear passed over her.

Alistair stayed by the doorjamb with
his arms crossed, but he was preoccupied. “Perhaps this isn't
wise-”

Vlad spun to face him with fire in his
gaze. “I said to explain and you shall do so.”

Alistair met his old friend's eyes with
a challenge of their own. After a moment, he sighed, defeated. He
knew he couldn't fight Vlad on this. Nicola was Vlad's fledgling,
not his. “The only way to kill a demon is with a knife made from
the bone of another demon.”

“
Oh.” There was nothing else
she could say. She didn't have a weapon like that and as far as
Nikki knew, Vlad didn't either. She was sure demons weren't found
too often walking the Earth. She was positive they didn't give up
bones freely either. “Where would we find one of those?”

Unable to stop himself, Alistair gave
her a smirk worthy of a few swooning women. “It just so happens
that I carry one of those very knives with me.” Walking towards
Nikki and Vlad, Alistair seemed to enjoy her shock. “Let's say I
'borrowed' it from the last demon I came upon.”

Chapter 7:

The three vampires and their ghostly counterpart
set out for the
Galaţi steel works, located
in Galaţi, the largest port city on the Danube River. Christian had
managed to track the demon back to the old building and had relayed
this to Nicola and her master. The smoke stacks billowed as the
steel works continued to make its metal even in the dark night. The
group had dispersed among the property once crossing the threshold
into the steel yard. Christian floated behind Nicola as she made
her way towards the building where Carolyn was being held. Nikki,
Vlad and Alistair had decided their best chance at getting to
Carolyn would be to split up once they arrived at the steel works
and once they'd determined the danger, they could then approach the
situation.

Using a crane as cover
against prying eyes, Nicola assessed her surroundings. All of the
workers had gone home for the evening so there was no life in the
vicinity.
No
,
Nikki thought to herself,
Carolyn is in
there.
She was well and alive as far as the
sound of her heartbeat gave away. Nothing was out of the ordinary
except that the young woman was very much afraid. If she listened
closely enough, Nikki could even catch the fluttering of Carolyn's
child's heart while he slept in the womb, unaware of the danger he
was in.

The energy and power
pulsing around Nicola solved the question as to why the demon had
chosen this place to hide Carolyn. Not only did the power surges
from the generator cover up the magic radiating off of the demon if
a supernatural creature was close by, but there was a strong ley
line, a magical current linking dimensions, that ran beneath the
concrete of the yard. If the need arose, the demon could easily
grab Carolyn and jumped the ley line back to Hell. Grumbling under
her breath, Nikki knew this would be difficult.

“
The demon knows we are
here.” Christian said solemnly. He was beside her and she could see
the distracted look on his face.

Unable to comfort him,
Nikki did the only thing she could. She smiled. “I figured the
thing would sense us as soon as we crossed into the steel
yard.”

Christian was surprised by
her response. “You knew this and yet, you still decided to come to
Carolyn's aid?”

Nikki pulled her gaze from
Christian's translucent one. Though he was the semitransparent one,
Nikki felt as if the ghost could see through to what was left of
her soul. “I help people, Christian. It's part of who I
am.”

The ghost nodded his
understanding. “I see.”

Nicola glanced into the
dark around them seeking out Vlad or Alistair. One of them had to
be close to learning if there was a trap set. Her conversation was
becoming too personal with Christian and God help her if she began
to have actual feelings for him. He was a phantom, untouchable...
it was beyond anything she could imagine.

“
You are quiet, Nicola.
Tell me- what's on your mind?” Christian asked, the silence between
them making him feel slightly awkward. When she didn't respond, he
continued, “I know you help people, but you do not know me. I am
nothing but a nuisance to other vampires, but you saw it inside of
yourself to care. Why is that?”

There was no dodging the
question. Giving a halfhearted sigh, she met his gaze. “Because
this also affects my people. If I am going to be worthy of being a
master one day, I must see to their safety and care.”

Christian lifted a ghostly
hand as if he were to put it on Nicola's shoulder in comfort then
dropped it as he realized he couldn't touch her. “It is a wonderful
gift to care for others, but-” He paused as if he were afraid to
say another word.

“
Go on.” She prompted
hoping to hear what was bothering him so.

“
I do not want anything to
happen to you as a result of hunting this demon.” Christian told
her without meeting her eyes.

A smile inadvertently
crossed her features. Nikki was flattered that he worried for her
safety, but she knew better than to be troubled. “I am perfectly
able to take care of myself.”

This response didn't
appear to surprise Christian. He grinned instead. “Yes, I know. You
handled Vlad well earlier today.”

Nikki felt the blood she'd
ingested for dinner rise to her cheeks in a blush. Ever since she'd
died three years before, she thought she'd lost the ability to
blush or feel abashed all the same. It was odd that a ghost was the
reason these were possible now. Allowing her long auburn waves fall
in front of her face to hide her embarrassment, she spoke quietly,
“I can be fierce when it suits me.”

She didn't want to meet
his gaze, but he was so close to her. Nicola could have sworn she
felt his breath on her cheek. Unable to stop herself, she turned
her head just enough so her eyes were peering up from under her
eyelashes. Christian was smiling down at her fondly. The tender
countenance squeezed at her heart.

Suddenly the smile that
had been prominently displayed on his handsome face disappeared. In
its place was despair. The expression shook Nicola to the
core.

“
What's wrong?”

Christian didn't meet her
eyes as he spoke. He stared at the warehouse in the distance. “We
must get Carolyn out of there.
Now
.”

Then he was
gone.

He was gone.

Nicola was rooted in her
kneeling position behind the crane. She didn't know how she should
go forward. Neither Vlad nor Alistair had given signal that it was
safe to proceed. All around her was silent and yet... it wasn't.
The energy from the ley line beneath the ground had begun to pulse
in unease as if...

As if someone were about
to jump them.

Nikki's legs were moving
before her mind had caught up. Carolyn was in danger. She couldn't
wait for plans. She had to stop the demon from returning to Hell...
at least, stop him from returning to Hell
with
Carolyn.

Chapter 8:

No sounds escaped from
within the warehouse. Nicola stood outside of the door where would
gain her entry. Her ear was pressed securely against the thick
metal door, but even with her sensitive hearing, she heard nothing.
Her green eyes searched the night for any sign of her vampire
companions. After a moment longer, she knew Vlad and Alistair
weren't going to come to her aid. They most likely hadn't even
noticed that Nikki had moved from where she'd been
hiding.

The scent of smoke tickled
her nostrils. Stiffening, Nicola knew her time had run out. She had
no choice, but to rescue Carolyn without her backup. Making a
silent prayer that Vlad and Alistair would find her sooner rather
than later, Nikki reached for the handle of the door and
pulled.

Smoke choked her as she
stepped over the threshold and into the warehouse. She hadn't
expected the heat that accosted her once she was inside. But then
again, the fumes had warned her of what she would find. Fire had
spread around the warehouse blocking off any chance she had to
retrieve Carolyn. The young human was huddled near one of the many
steel beams that held the building's structure upright. She didn't
seem to realize Nicola had come to her aid. Her head was pressed to
her knees and the sobs that racked her body left her shivering. A
crack in the cement floor lay a few feet from where Carolyn sat.
Nikki knew exactly what the demon would use that for. Easy access
to the ley line. Searching for a clear path through the flames,
Nikki's heart sunk into her stomach when she noticed there wasn't
one. The fire had spread enough prior to her entrance that any hope
of making an easy journey to Carolyn was nearly
impossible.

“
Blast it all.” Nikki
cursed under her breath. She knew what she had to do yet it didn't
make it any simpler. Taking a breath to calm her own deep-rooted
terror, the vampire rushed into the surrounding fire before she
could talk herself out of it.

The heat was nothing
compared to the pain of the flames licking at her sensitive skin.
Because of her condition, fire could not only scorch her skin, but
it could also incinerate her body as if she were nothing but a
sheet of paper. As if she weren't a living being. Sadly, as the
flames that had caught to her clothing and her loose auburn hair
burned freely, Nikki remembered she wasn't a living being. She was
dead and here she would die again. Carolyn lifted her head from her
knees and stared at the vampire in front of her. At the sight of
her savior on fire, her blue eyes widened in panic.

“
Oh!” Carolyn gasped,
shuffling backwards into the steel beam as she tried to get as far
from Nicola's inferno as possible.

Heat engulfed Nikki as she
tried frantically to beat down the flames. Agony settled upon her
wounds as the pyre seared her skin. It felt like nothing Nikki had
ever experienced in the entire twenty six years she'd existed. It
was as if her skin was literally melting from the bones. All she
wanted in that instant was to die so she'd no longer be exposed to
the torment.

The air surrounding Nicola
was suffocating. She barely had time to register this before the
fire dissipated into hot air. The vampire stood in silent awe. The
flames had disappeared in the blink of an eye as if they hadn't
been there a moment before. The only proof she had was the charred
bits of her clothing and the singed pieces of her hair.

“
What the-”

Christian materialized
beside her. The sight of him stunned Nikki and she gasped, her hand
covering her mouth.

“
I apologize, but this is
the best I can do with the fire.” Christian said with a frown on
his face and a wave of his hand. He was motioning to the burns on
her sensitive skin. She hadn't even noticed them before in her
shock. As a vampire, she had the ability to heal wounds almost
instantly, but these weren't healing at all.

“
Why am I not healing?”
She asked the ghost as her fear began to overwhelm her.