The Surien Series Blood Guardian (8 page)

“Sybris, suri,” he told the wolf, using the Atlantean word for protect.

Back down stairs in the bar the girls had decided to play pool, girls against the boys it was decided. “And use of any god powers is strictly prohibited,” Symarah had warned.

Jareth and Daire were confident that they would not be needing any help winning, what they did not know was that Symarah and Kassie had been competing in tournaments most of their adult lives and actually played at a professional level. After having their asses handed to them by the girls for about the third time, the guys suggested getting some drinks and finding a table.

“So how long do you think we’ll have to wait for Farkas?” Kassie asked as they sat down at a table right by the still empty dance floor.

“I don’t know; the night is still young for a cursed god, it could be a while,” Jareth answered.

“Well, at least we have good music,” Symarah said cheerfully.

“What song is this?” Jareth asked.

“What song is this?” Kassie said in disbelief.

 “I can’t believe you don’t know,” Symarah agreed in complete astonishment,” It’s
Lullaby of a Sadist
…by
Korn
.”

“Jeez, ya don’t know movies, ya don’t know music; what’s with you people, have you been living under a rock?” Kassie asked.

“No, just an ocean,” Daire joked.

“I’m bored Sym, let’s dance,” Kassie said.

“It’s not exactly dance music,” Symarah replied.

“Where is the music thingy?” Kassie asked the guys.

There isn’t one; Dacian controls the music, he chooses what plays,” Jareth answered.

“Hmm, I wonder,” Symarah said, as she bent down and whispered something to Sybris.

The wolf let out one long howl and a few seconds later the song changed from
Korn
to
Slow Down
by
Selena Gomez
.

“No way, did Sybris change the song?” Kassie asked.

“No, he told Dacian to change it,” Daire answered.

“We can communicate with animals,” Jareth explained, “all the gods can.”

“But how did he understand what Sym said, she’s not a god.”

“He is Atlantean as well,” Jareth told her. “All Atlanteans, even our animals, have the ability to communicate with every living thing.”

“That is so cool, where can I get one?” Kassie asked.

“Only an Atlantean god can gain the loyalty of such a creature,” Jareth answered.

“Damn. Oh well, let’s dance,” Kassie exclaimed, jumping up from her chair.

“Thank you Sybris,” Symarah said, as she gave the wolf a pat on the head and walked off toward the dance floor.

“Do you think Farkas will tell us anything useful?” Jareth asked.

“Well, if he won’t tell us anything I’m sure Dacian can get something out of him,” Daire answered, unable to take his eyes off of Symarah.

Watching her dance brought back all those desires that he had been trying so hard to ignore. The way she moved her body, the way her mouth looked as she sang along to the music.

“Don’t look now, but your prince is watching,” Kassie said. “I don’t get him; I mean last night he was all over you, then today he avoids you like the plague and now he’s drooling like a hungry tiger with a steak; talk about mixed signals.”

Kassie was right, he was sending mixed signals but she understood exactly how he felt. She knew they couldn’t be together, it was just too complicated, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him.

“He knows we can’t be together.”

“Yeah, I know it’s too complicated, blah-blah-blah,” Kassie rolled her eyes.

“Shut up and dance Kass,” Symarah chided.

Just then, two men who had been eying the girls approached. The taller of the two men began dancing with Kassie. He was gorgeous, with spikey blond hair and green eyes. The other man; about 6’ 3”, with short black hair and ice blue eyes, began dancing with Symarah. He was devastatingly handsome, not as hot as Daire of course, but close.

The next song was a slow one,
One and Only
by
Adele
. Symarah started to walk back to her table, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back, pressing up against her. She tried to push him away but he wouldn’t budge.

“Mind if I cut in?” Daire said.

“The lady is with me,” the man replied with a sneer.

“I wasn’t really asking,” Daire said menacingly.

The man turned toward Daire but before he could respond, Sybris lunged at him snarling and snapping his teeth and backing the man out the door.

“Thank you,” Symarah said.

“Anytime my lady,” Daire bowed and turned to walk away.

“Uh-uh buddy, you said you wanted to cut in and then you chased off my dance partner, so now you have to dance with me,” she teased.

 “Actually, it was Sybris who chased him off,” Daire reminded her, as he took her in his arms and started to dance.

“I love this song,” Symarah told Daire, as she began to sing along.

She took his breath away; singing the soulful song with her eyes closed, her mouth so close to his. He wanted to feel her soft lips on his again.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed him staring at her.

“Daire,” he heard her say his name softly. He loved the way her lips moved when she said his name. He leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against hers.

Symarah knew she should stop him. She knew that nothing could ever happen between them, they could never be together, but when he touched her, common sense went right out the window. She ran her fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair as she kissed him back. Her soft touch on his skin sent waves of heat through his entire body. He knew they couldn’t be together; he’d gone over all the reasons why in his head a hundred times or more but anytime she was near to him all reason was lost.

“I hate to interrupt but Farkas is here,” Dacian told them, pointing to a table in the back corner.

Farkas was about 5’ 10”, scrawny, with short brown hair and lifeless brown eyes. He was wearing a pair of old raggedy jeans and a worn out flannel shirt. It looked as if he hadn’t showered in months.

“I’ve got your back if you need me,” Dacian offered.

“I think Jareth and I can handle him but thank you.”

“No problem old friend,” Dacian said, and headed back upstairs.

As they approached the table where Farkas was sitting, Symarah couldn’t help but wonder how some of the gods could be so painfully beautiful and others, like Vaiden and Farkas, could be so unattractive. At least Vaiden looked like he may have been good-looking at some point, but not Farkas; he looked just like any other average alcoholic loser.

“We need to talk,” Daire said.

“Daire, I knew you’d show eventually, and your little boyfriend. Hello Jareth.”

“You’re drunk,” Jareth said.

“I see you brought the bitch with you.”

“Watch your mouth Farkas,” Daire growled.

“Vaiden didn’t think you would bring her, said you were too smart for that, but I knew better.”

“This could get messy, let’s take it out back,” Jareth suggested.

“Let’s go Farkas,” Daire ordered, as he reached to help him up.

“Fuck you Daire, I don’t need your fucking help,” he said, as he got up and headed for the back door.

Standing in the alley behind the bar, Daire began questioning Farkas.

“Where is Vaiden?” Daire asked.

“You’ll see him soon enough,” he answered.

“Don’t fuck with me Farkas; I’m not in the mood for your drunk-ass bullshit,” Daire said, as he grabbed him by his shirt.

“Vaiden is the least of your problems right now,” Farkas said with an evil laugh.

Suddenly the alley filled with demmic. There were at least fifteen of them. Two men grabbed Kassie and two more grabbed Symarah.

“You’re going to watch them die,” one of the men said to Symarah. “First we’ll kill your boyfriend and his friend, then we’ll turn you and your little girlfriend here into slaves.”

The girls began thrashing about trying to get free of the men.

“Oh, don’t worry princess, it won’t hurt. You might even enjoy it. See, first I sink my fangs into that pretty little neck of yours and I drink your blood, one drop of your blood on my tongue and I’ll be tied to you forever, I’ll know every emotion, every thought, everywhere you go,” he whispered in her ear, “and then right before you draw your last breath, you feed from my blood and become my slave; you will live to serve me and be compelled to do anything I ask of you. It can be tricky though, see our blood is like poison to humans so if you take too much you die.”

Symarah was trying not to panic; she couldn’t see Kassie or Farkas, and Daire and Jareth were severely outnumbered.

Daire was doing his best to fight off the demmic but there were just too many of them. He couldn’t see the girls and although Jareth was putting up a good fight, he was just as outnumbered as Daire was.  He grabbed one of the demmic by the arm and threw him across the alley into the back wall of the bar as another kicked him in the back; he turned to the other demmic and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He had a split second to look around for the girls before he was attacked by three more demmic.

“Looks like your lover is down for the count princess.”

Symarah could see that Daire was on the ground with about five or six demmic on top of him and Jareth wasn’t doing much better.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” the demmic said to Symarah, as he dipped his head down and ran his tongue across her skin. She could feel the tip of his fangs pressed against her neck ready to pierce the skin.

“If you value your life, I wouldn’t do that.”

Symarah looked up to see Dacian standing in the alley with Sybris by his side. She still couldn’t see Kassie, and Daire and Jareth were still struggling with the demmic.

“You must be the great Dacian,” the demmic smirked.

“That’s the rumor,” Dacian said with a sly smile.

“You’re a fool; in case you haven’t noticed, you’re outnumbered.”

With a wave of his hand Dacian somehow made all of the demmic disappear except for Farkas and the man who had Symarah.

“You suck at math,” Dacian said, as he calmly raised two Desert Eagles and aimed them at him.

“You can’t kill me with a bullet; you have to cut my head off, you know that; besides, you wouldn’t want to accidentally hit the girl,” the demmic said with a cocky grin as he used Symarah as a shield.

“You know what your problem is demmic?” Dacian said with a wicked smile.

“What, soldier?” he said defiantly.

Daire smiled as he caught a glimpse of the thin metal wire coming out of the barrel of one pistol and disappearing into the barrel of the other.

Dacian pulled the trigger and fired one shot from each pistol at the exact same time. As the bullets whizzed past the demmic’s head on either side, the silver string sliced through his neck cutting and burning his flesh at the same time.

“You’re too fucking tall,” Dacian said, as the demmic fell to the ground, his head rolling toward Symarah’s feet.

“Eww, eww, eww!” Symarah said as she ran to Daire.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine, just a little grossed out that’s all. Where is Kassie?” she asked, looking around frantically for her friend.

“She’s fine,” he assured her, “Jareth took her upstairs.”

“What happened to the man that was attacking her?” she asked.

“Sybris was hungry,” Dacian smiled.

“Have I mentioned EEWWW?” Symarah said as she walked back toward the bar. “What about that guy, we can’t just leave his dead body lying in the middle of the stree…”

Before she could finish her sentence the demmic’s body turned to dust and blew away.

“Self-cleaning dead guy, that’s handy,” she said as they headed upstairs.

After making sure the girls were okay and getting them a stiff drink to calm them down, they all went back upstairs.

Symarah didn’t usually drink, but she figured after what she had just seen she would make an exception.

“Wait, what happened to Farkas?” Kassie asked.

“He got away,” Jareth answered.

“But not before I got hold of him,” Dacian said. “I persuaded him to give me a location.”

“He told you where Vaiden is hiding out?” Symarah asked.

“Not exactly, but he did narrow it down to the Delmar area before all hell broke loose and he disappeared in all the commotion.”

“Delmar, that figures,” Kassie said.

“Delmar is the worst area in Sarasota,” Symarah explained, “with the highest crime rate.”

“Well, if you need backup you can always call on me,” Dacian offered.

The wolf let out a quick howl.

“And Sybris as well,” he added with a smile.