Hi friends,
Here’s the first two chapters (not fully edited) of THE DARKEST VAMPIRE! Enjoy :)
The Darkest Vampire
Rite World: Vampire Wars Book 1
Chapter 1
So this was the place that would change my life?
I stared at the shop across the street—peeling gray paint, a rickety wooden door, a narrow window covered with twinkling lights. A precarious and rusty metal sign hung from the top with the shop’s name: Arcana’s Cove. I had driven from Forest Creek to Portland for this? I wrinkled my nose. This place didn’t look legit, but Rex had promised it was.
I reached down and patted my boot, feeling my dagger tucked inside. I had received it from my father when I was eight years old. Twelve years later, and I hadn’t used it yet, but I liked to know it was there, just in case.
With a sigh, I crossed the street, the cool wind of early September messing my wild hair, and opened the door. A bell jangled as I walked in and a heavy scent of sweet incense filled my nostrils. I glanced around. The place looked even smaller inside. A horrid pink and gold wallpaper covered the walls and dark stains covered the beige carpet. A small round table sat in the center of the room with two chairs, a red tablecloth and a crystal ball on top.
I frowned. Did people really think this crystal ball was real? Well, I didn’t know enough about the supernatural world. Maybe it was.
A short woman with unruly black curls and wrinkled brown skin and ridiculous orange gown with too much frou-frou walked out of the backroom, the green beads hanging from the doorway jingling in her wake.
“Welcome to Arcana’s—“ she started with a big smile, but when her dark eyes settled on me, her smile faded. “What do you want here?”
I glanced around. Was she talking to me? “Hm, do you know me?”
“No, but I can sense your magic,” she said. “It’s weak, but I know you’re a witch.”
“And so are you.” At least, that was what Rex had told me.
“I don’t deal with real witches, or any other supernaturals.” She gestured for the door. “You can go.”
“No, you pretend to be a witch and exploit innocent humans.” It was a nasty thing to say, but it was true. “Look, Fawn Strain, I’m not here to judge you.”
Her eyes bugged. “How do you know my name?”
“Rex told me.” He had also told me she went by Arcana to her costumers. Only a handful of people knew her real name.
She bristled. “Of course he did. And what is your name?”
“Lavinia,” I answered, telling her my real name. I had no reason to lie. “I just need some help and I’m willing to pay.” I fished the thick wad of cash from the inside pocket of my leather jacket and showed it to her. “All I’m asking is a few minutes of your time.”
Fawn stared at the cash in my hand, her eyes narrowing. Usually, I didn’t have this crazy amount of money with me, or in my bank account, but I had stolen a fancy bracelet from one of my customers last week and sold it to Rex, for this purpose only.
“Fine,” she snapped. She took one of the chairs around the table and pointed to the other. “Let’s make this quick.”
I sat on the chair and couldn’t help myself. I touched the crystal ball. “Is this real?”
Fawn snorted. “Of course not. It’s just glass with LED lights inside. But humans think it’s great.” She frowned. “Enough chitchat. What do you want, Lavinia?”
I let out a long breath. “When I was eleven, my mother put some sort of spell on me, like a blood promise, I think. She made me promise I would keep my magic hidden and only use it when it was absolutely necessary.” She had also made me promise I was going to live like a human and forget the supernatural world existed, but those had been only verbal. I hoped.
Fawn reached over and took my hands in hers. She turned them around, as if she could see inside them, at the weak magic running through my veins. “If it was a blood promise, I don’t think I can break it. Only your mother can.”
I was afraid of that, but … “I’m not sure it was a blood promise. I was young and didn’t know much about magic.” I still didn’t, but Fawn didn’t need to know about that. “Can you at least try?” For the amount of money I was offering her, I really hoped so.
The witch exhaled through her nose. “Fine.” She placed my hands on the table and rested hers over mine. She closed her eyes and started chanting under her breath.
A rumble of magic charged the air and I gasped. I rarely felt magic like this, like it was a current of air that brushed my skin. The hairs on my arms stood on end and I glanced around, as if I could see it. But there was nothing there. It was just magic.
My attention snapped back to Fawn as her chanting sped up. Her brows curled down in concentration. A jolt of magic raced up my arms and I bit my tongue not to yelp. My impulse was to pull my hands back, but Fawn held them in place.
“Don’t move,” she whispered between the chanting.
I stood still, barely breathing. If she could undo whatever had locked my magic away, I would endure this and more. I dug the heels of my boots into the floor and braced myself.
But no jolt or pain came.
Fawn stopped chanting, lowered her hands, and opened her eyes again. “It really is a blood promise, a powerful one. I can’t break it.”
My shoulders sagged.
That meant I would never be able to break it and I would never have my magic back. Without my magic, I wouldn’t be strong enough to hunt for my parents’ killers and avenge them.
I was stuck as a half-assed human.
“There has to be a way,” I said, my voice rising a pitch. It made me sound desperate. “Maybe you know of another witch, someone even more powerful than you, someone who could help me?”
Fawn offered me a sad smile. “No witch can break a blood promise, but the one who made it. I’m sorry.”
No, I couldn’t accept that. If she didn’t know someone who could help me, or if she didn’t want to tell me, that was fine. Portland was a city full of supernaturals. Someone would know something. Someone would be able to help me.
She didn’t seem willing, though. I swallowed the ball of frustration and disappointment that had formed in my throat and slapped the cash on the table. “Here. As promised.”
Fawn reached for it and her fingers brushed mine as she took the money from me.
Another jolt of magic ran up my arm, stronger this time. A heavy shadow fell over the room, darkening our surroundings, and a chill pressed against me. No, no darkness. A whirlwind whipped around the room, and my long brown hair danced with it, the red tips slapping my face.
“What in the …” Fawn’s eyes rounded, and her mouth fell open.
I followed her gaze and saw a bulky figure standing amid the shadows, a silhouette in the dark. I swallowed hard. “W-what is that? Who are you?”
“It’s not a real person,” Fawn said, her voice faint. “It’s not even a demon, or a ghost.”
Frowning, I turned back to her. “What do you mean?”
The figure ran around us in a perfect circle, faster than we could follow with our eyes. Even though it wasn’t more than a black and lean form, we could see it was a man.
It didn’t make sense.
The silhouette stopped.
“I haven’t seen one in many years,” Fawn said. “This is a harbinger. Something is coming, something enveloped in darkness.”
I looked at the shadows again, catching a glimpse of the figure before it disappeared. The shadows faded back and the lamps once again illuminated the space. “Or someone.”
The witch nodded. “Supernaturals have died in the Seattle area, and last week, a family of supernaturals died not even one hour from here.”
“Are you saying supernaturals are being hunted?”
Fawn scoffed. “Supernaturals are always hunted, but this is different.”
“Do you think this warning—” I gestured toward the room, indicating the shadow we had seen. “—is related to these deaths?”
“I don’t know.” She pushed to her feet and beckoned for me to do the same. “All I know is that our time is up. I have another customer coming soon.”
I stared at her for a moment. She could be lying about the client, but it was clear that she didn’t want me here anymore. Well, if she couldn’t break the blood promise, then she was of no use to me. It was a shame I had paid her so much for nothing.
“Thanks,” I muttered before turning to the door.
“Lavinia,” she called. I glanced at her over my shoulder. “Be careful. No supernatural is safe.”
I nodded then exited her shop.
As I walked to my car on the other side of the street, my mind reeled. Fawn couldn’t break the blood promise, which meant I would have to find another witch, someone even more powerful to help me. And what was that shadow thing? And that freaky silhouette? A harbinger, Fawn had said. Of what? The murders she mentioned?
I now had more questions than before.
I entered my car and turned on the engine. It was okay. Fawn said supernaturals weren’t safe. Well, my magic was weak, thanks to this damn blood promise, and only a handful of people knew I was a witch.
I was safe.
Chapter 2
Tired and upset, I drove back to Forest Creek—the small town one hour east of Portland where I had settled a few years ago.
After my parents’ death, I had roamed around a little until I met Delia while on an impromptu visit to Portland, she hadn’t exactly taken me in, but she’d influenced my decision to stay.
I parked my Corolla in my building’s parking lot in the back. I took the concrete steps two at a time to second floor landing, and rushed to my apartment. It was getting late. Tomorrow morning I had first shift at the tea shop, and I still had to eat dinner and take a shower before turning in for the day.
I punched my code on the keypad and pushed the door open.
A heavy feeling washed over me.
Something was wrong.
I reached for my flashlight inside my purse and the dagger inside my boot, then without turning on the lights, I walked in. I stayed close to the door, in case someone was in here, and searched for someone in the near dark.
I swallowed the fear rising in my chest—I had this thing with dark, hence the magical flashlight. I turned it on and pointed ahead.
“Is someone there?” I asked, feeling a stupid. As if a person waiting to commit a crime would answer …
My apartment was small—a tiny living space with a three-seat couch and a low coffee table, a flat screen on a narrow TV stand, a four-place squared table to the side, and behind it, an even smaller kitchen with a tall bar counter and two stools. In the back, there was a hallway, if you could call it that, with three doors—my bedroom, a bathroom, and the washer and dryer combo. Floor and table lamps sat in every corner. That was it. If someone was in here, there weren’t many places to hide.
I took another step inside, sure I was spooked after what Fawn had told me. There was no one in my apartment, and there was no heavy feeling.
I reached for the light switch.
A burst of magic enveloped me, freezing me on the spot. Behind me, the door closed on its own.
Oh, shit.
Panic flared in my chest as my flashlight went out and a shadow moved in the dark, a silhouette highlighted by the faint moonlight filtering through the window. Was this the same shadow from the warning? Was this the murderer?
“W-who are you? What do you want?” I jerked against the spell, trying to point my dagger at the shadow as it made its way closer to me, but to no avail. I was in the dark with a supernatural. The panic seized my lungs, making it hard to breathe. “Stay back.”
My flashlight turned back on and white light covered the space between me and the shadow, revealing a tall man with greenish skin, short horns behind his ears, and near black eyes. “You must be Lavinia.”
I swallowed. What was he? And how did he know my name? “What do you want?” I asked again, my voice breaking.
“I need your help,” he said. My flashlight shone brighter, flooding half of the living room. The man wore brown slacks and a nice shirt. “I know you’re good at stealing. I actually caught scent of you when a necklace you stole months ago ended up in my hands on the other side of the country.” I frowned. What the hell was he talking about? “The necklace was sold and resold, traveling around, and I followed the trail. At some point, it even ended up in Mexico. Did you know that?”
I blinked. “You’re not making any sense. What are you? What do you want from me?”
“I’m Taedon, a neutral demon, and I’m getting to what I want from you.” The man sat on my couch and crossed his legs. “I need you to steal something from me, something that doesn’t look like much, but is precious.”
“Why don’t you steal it yourself?”
“Because I can’t. But I know you can.”
If this situation wasn’t twisting my gut in fear, I would have laughed in his face. This was ridiculous! “And why would I do that?” I only stole small jewelry or cash from the tea shops’ rich customers, people whom I knew didn’t need the money, and I only used it for unselfish things.
Like paying a witch to try to break a blood promise so I could avenge my parents. Totally not selfish.
Taedon leaned forward, his lips stretching in a wicked smile and revealing very sharp teeth. “Because I have something you want.”
I stared at him for a moment. What could he have that I wanted? I didn’t want money, or power, or fame. “I doubt it. Besides, I don’t work with demons, especially ones who hold me down with cheap magic and threaten me.”
“I haven’t threatened you—not yet.”
Yet …
“Just … call back this spell and leave!”
The demon pushed to his feet and stopped right in front of me. “What if I tell you I could help you too?”
I snorted. “Like I said, I doubt it.”
Taedon sniffed the air in front of me. I wanted to recoil from him, but his spell had trapped me. “I can smell your magic. It’s locked inside of you. A blood promise, it seems? That’s why you went to that little witch this evening? To try and break it?”
My stomach dropped. “How do you—?“
“I came to this shitty little town to talk to you, Lavinia.” He reached up and grabbed some strands of my hair, curling the red ends around his fingers. “You weren’t here, though, but it was easy to find you again.”
“You’re a creep!” The panic was back in full force. I needed to move, to run, to kick his balls, and to plunge my dagger into his stomach. I needed him gone. I needed to flee.
“That I may be, but I’m a creep who knows things.”
“Whatever you know, I don’t want to be a part of it.”
“Oh, but this, you do.” He stared at me with those evil eyes. “For example, I know you want to break the blood promise, so you can go on a little adventure and find the one who killed your parents. You want to avenge them.”
The blood drained from my face. “You can’t know that.”
“I’m a special kind of demon, Lavinia. I know a lot. For example number two, I know you don’t know who killed your parents. And here’s where my part of the bargain comes in.” He dropped my hair, but leaned closer, his mouth close to my ear as he whispered, “I know who killed your parents.”
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