Chapter 08
The narrow, frosted bulb that sat naked on the lamp post flickered in the darkness, exposing the wet pavement and the waxing moon’s reflection. The alley slept in a silence broken only here and there by the sound of music, laughter and voices that drifted from the main street.
“Your turn.”
Tina tore her gaze from the door visible in the faltering light of the street lamp and the twinkling of the net Muriel had set not a half hour ago -- not that she needed light to distinguish things in the darkness anymore. She turned toward Muriel and looked down, where a pile of cards lay on the leather surface of the car seat between Muriel and her. A nine of hearts on top of it.
From the fan of cards she pulled out a three of hearts and tossed it on the pile. When Uriel had said that they were going to take her hunting with them, she hadn't expected to end up in the car playing cards with Muriel, while the others, their swords drawn, strolled through that door down to where Petsha supposedly had an exclusive nightclub, for Deadeaters and their victims only.
She had fretted and worried for nothing. Her jaw locked, her eyes on the three of clubs that Muriel added to the pile. She didn’t mind being left behind in the car, but she did mind that they thought she needed supervision for that. Hadn't Uriel known that she wouldn't run -- there was nowhere to run anyway -- or that she wouldn't foolishly leave the car and follow them?
Like she would even want to after she saw how people shoved the door open and dashed across the street like a horde of confused chickens, with their mouths gaping like beaks; no sound coming out because of Muriel's barrier, which caused all the humans to lose their voices.
Muriel had assured Tina that the vibration of the electronic net coming from ten small cubes influenced the vocal cords only temporarily, and that when the people woke up in the morning, because of the substance that Deadeaters added to their drinks to make them more cooperative they wouldn’t remember what had happened. That assurance dispersed Tina's fear that she might have not seen the Dumes for what they really were, and she breathed a sigh of relief for not being on the bad guys’ side; because if hunting Deadeaters without harming humans hadn't made them good guys nothing else would, right? Yeah.
“It's your turn.”
Tina pulled out a five of diamonds to go over a five of spades.
Muriel threw a queen of diamonds on the pile. A soft grumble came from his stomach.
“Are you hungry?” Tina laid down her hand and pulled up the bag that rested at her feet. She rummaged among Haniel’s extra Lycra shirt, some sheathed short knifes, souped-up stun guns that Haniel had brought for her to use from god knows where, until she dragged out a small paper bag with sandwiches, which she had managed, with a lot of nagging and complaining, to get from Uriel on their way here. She offered one to Muriel.
“I’m not hungry. Now, it’s a queen, pick up two cards.”
“Are you sure?” Tina stuffed the sandwiches back into the bag, which she lowered on the floor.
“I don’t eat.”
Tina raised her brows. Of course he doesn’t eat, he refuses to grow up. She picked up two cards.
“It’s the subconscious response.” When Tina continued to stare at him he tilted his head. “Whenever we go hunting, we use Deadeaters to replenish our body’s stock of hemoglobin. And my stomach always grumbles.”
“Replenish? What’s that supposed to mean?” Tina kicked the unzipped boots off her feet and tucked her legs underneath her bottom. There seemed to be a story there.
“It’s a nicer expression for sucking blood.” Muriel threw the last of the cards, the four of diamonds, on the pile. “I win. One more?”
“You suck blood from Deadeaters? You are the same as vampires then.”
“Of course I don’t. And neither are others.” Muriel’s eyes transformed into thin lines and a small, quite adorable pout found its way onto his lips. He tucked the black bangs that fell on his face behind his ear. “You better not say something like that to Uriel, or anybody else for that matter.”
“Why?”
“It's like saying you are the same as a rat.”
“Really? An insult.”
Muriel nodded. “The worst kind.”
“Why?”
“Look, Haniel is coming.”
Tina twisted her body and looked over her shoulder, just as the door slammed open and Haniel crossed the threshold and the net, coming toward them.
The edges of Haniel’s unzipped black jacket flapped open and his long, black hair floated behind him as he closed the distance to the car. He untied the cord that held the sheathed sword on his back, then opened the car door and slid onto the seat beside Muriel. He slumped back in the seat and with a smile playing on his lips patted his stomach. “I’m so full.”
“You could at least wait until I get out.” Muriel grabbed the shorter sword, kodachi and similar dagger, wakizashi, that were in the net on the backside of the driver’s seat. He climbed over Haniel, who stuck his tongue out at him.
“You are too childish.” Muriel glared at Haniel before he pulled himself up. He closed the car door and strode toward the net and through the door.
“What’s that?” Tina scrutinized the small, dark, wet stain on Haniel’s lower lips.
Haniel’s tongue darted out and he licked his mouth. “Oh, that, it’s just a little leftover hemoglobin.”
“You mean blood?”
“Yeah.”
Tina inched backwards. She didn’t fear Haniel or think any differently of him -- he was Haniel -- but the feeling of wrongness nagged at the back of her mind.
She shouldn’t be here.
She should be at home, in the flat her grandmother had left her and looking for a job.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Tina rubbed the side of her neck. “It’s just weird to be waiting here while you fill your bellies and kill...” Not people, they were Deadeaters, but they might as well be people. She had never seen them, didn’t know what they were like. “Those things. And I don’t need a guard. I don’t know why I’m not able to wait on my own.”
“You heard Uriel. You have Gelbeliya’s blood in your veins and just a drop of your blood could give them a burst of strength. Any Deadeaters that come close to you could smell it and try to munch on you, and probably succeed. We are here to get rid of them -- and have a little snack while we are at it -- not make them more powerful.”
“Oh,” Tina leaned closer. She shouldn’t be interested. She should just pretend that she didn’t care, instead of wanting to learn everything that concerned Trinity, Damon and the Dumes, but this was about her, too. She leaned closer. “So if a Deadeater gets a chance to suck your blood, Beliya’s or Gelbeliya’s, he would gain power?”
“Yeah.”
“Why haven’t any of them done that?”
“Because there’s no way they could overpower any of us, duh. And besides when they are thirsty they aren’t known for their tactics or even rationality.”
“But Uriel said that Petsha is able to control his thirst. Why -- oh, I see. He might be rational, but his minions aren’t and on his own he isn’t strong enough, right?”
“Something like that.” Haniel stopped smiling, the dimples that accompanied every one of his smiles disappeared, and suddenly the resemblance to Uriel became painfully obvious. Even his voice adopted Uriel’s lecturing tone. “His subordinates are quite sane compared to other Deadeaters, but they can’t be controlled in that state, not after they’ve tasted blood -- we would be in trouble if they could. Their numbers would increase so swiftly without us controlling and reducing them, that if they ever united they would become a large problem, especially for Mamaels, the humans.”
“So you are doing this for humans.” She knew that they were the good guys. She just knew it.
“Of course not.” Haniel chuckled and all the likeness to Uriel condensed to the similar straight nose, slightly almond-shaped green eyes and the colour of the hair. “We need to do this because they are not exactly inconspicuous. It’s bad that Mamaels are writing books and making movies about them -- don’t ever mention that to Prva, she doesn’t know -- but if their numbers get out of control, Mamaels might learn that all those folk stories are true and they might even find out about us.”
“You mean she doesn’t know?”
“She doesn’t like entertaining gadgets like TV and computers. She thinks they’re a waste of time. And she doesn’t go out much.”
“But isn’t weird not to --” Since Haniel put his hand over her mouth, the rest came out as a mumble.
He stared out on the street.
She peeled his hand away and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
“Put your shoes on.”
Her feet dove into the boots and she zipped them. “What’s going on?”
“Shhh.” He tied the sword over his back, the hilt of the blade bumping against the car’s ceiling, and silently opened the door. “Take the bag.”
She picked up the bag and pulled it over her shoulder, then Haniel’s hand led her out of the car and across the street into the niche between the two buildings. “What’s going on?”
“Damon is near.”
“Damon? Are you sure?” she whispered back, her fingers tightly holding the edge of Haniel’s jacket.
“Yes. With one of his Beliya. Irene, I think.” Haniel hid her behind him, then drew the sword from its sheath.
“What are you going to do?” Tina browsed through the bag, pulling up a -- she looked at the thing in her hand -- knuckle blaster stun gun. Okay, this could come in handy. She pushed it into the pocket of the brown coat she had borrowed from Haniel before she put her hand in the bag again. A dagger would be good too. She slid it, together with the leather sheath, into her sleeve. Not that she would use it -- in a crisis, she would probably freeze up, delay too much or not even be able to use it on Damon -- but it gave her a sense of security.
“I don’t know. I can take on Irene, but I’m no match for Damon,” Haniel said, his body tense and his gaze searching the street. “I have told Muriel, and they’re coming.”
Tina, gazing over Haniel’s shoulder, noticed movement just by the street light. Her eyes zoomed in on the spot, but she couldn’t see anything, until she noticed that the movement she saw belonged to a shadow. She looked up, and there he was just beside the light. A human figure with large bat wings.
Does Damon even have wings? A wrinkle appeared on her forehead. It seemed that he did. “Where was he hiding those wings? In his pocket?”
“A few Gelbeliya and even some Beliya have wings.” Haniel withdrew backwards, his hand splayed on Tina’s belly pushing her behind him deeper into the darkness. “Now, could you stop talking, please. They might hear us. I wish you would be a little more afraid.”
“It’s not like Damon’s going to hurt me. Well, I don’t think he would.” And how could she be afraid when she suffered the absence of fear? Tina rested her hand on Haniel’s shoulder as she peeked over it. Her eyes found the silhouette that with spread wings descended to the ground. She watched as the boots touched the pavement, the wings folded and... disappeared. How was that possible?
“No, not you. But there’s a big possibility that he would hurt me.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Despite the distance Tina could distinguish the tilt of Damon’s head, how he turned around as if he were sniffing the air before he whirled around in their direction and stalked toward them.
She could feel the muscles under her palm tense.
“He shouldn’t sense you,” Haniel hissed under his breath.
The door at the opposite side of the street burst open, Uriel rushing through it. The edges of his long coat lifted, he disappeared for a second just to reappear at the entrance of the niche.
Tina, who just for a moment had taken her eyes off Damon, shifted her gaze to where Damon was supposed to be. But he wasn’t there anymore.
“Looking for me?” a gentle whisper caressed Tina’s ear and a strong arm wrapped around Tina’s waist.
Tina froze and her heart fluttered in her chest as if trying to get out.
Everything slowed down. She could feel Damon’s indrawn breath, the small shift as finger after finger put pressure on her hip, how slowly Damon‘s hand pulled her backwards and the warmth of Damon’s outward sigh as it brushed against her skin.
Her heartbeat slowed down. The bag fell off her arm as she stumbled and fell on Damon’s chest.
“Now be a good girl and don’t flap around too much. I would hate to cut something by accident.” His left arm around Tina’s torso, Damon pulled a long sword from the sheath hanging on his belt with his free hand. The sword was similar to a katana, but its blade was not curved like one. He aimed it at Uriel and Haniel who, with blades drawn, glared at him from two steps away.
“I would appreciate it if you boys would step aside, so I can pass.”
“You wish,” Haniel hissed. “Give her back.”
“To you?” Damon’s lips curved into a smirk. “She’s mine. I found her first.”
The silence that followed that statement pressed down on them. Tina could swear she could see them measuring each other. She should be afraid, and her body tensed, but she felt more uncomfortable than afraid, and a little annoyed by the testosterone that seem to sizzle in the air. If they were in the open and without her in the middle, they would probably be circling each other, their blades clashing here and there just to test their opponent’s strength and skill.
A soft clang sounded somewhere in the alley. Haniel, lifting the sword whirled around, the tip of the blade stopping behind Uriel’s head. Something flashed and fell down with a metal clang. Then another swing of the blade and new metal clangs against the ground.
Haniel whispered something to Uriel, who nodded, before he went out to the street; moving so fast that Tina’s eye had trouble following him. He was probably going to find the person who fired those shots.
“One on one.” Damon twirled his swords. “You are at disadvantage now.”
“Why don’t you stop using her as a shield and let me see if your strength matches your ego.” Uriel brandished his sword at Damon’s head.
Damon’s blade blocked the hit, it slid along Uriel’s katana before Damon pushed it forward, the tip aiming at Uriel’s heart.
Uriel ducked, then slashed his sword at Damon’s gut. Damon jumped out of the way, pushing Tina backwards. “This seems so much like fighting over a damsel -- how romantic and old-fashioned. I would be all for it, but unfortunately for you, I don’t believe in fighting for something that’s already mine.”
“You are just a coward hiding behind a Mamael,” Uriel spat, angling his blade forward at Damon’s right side.
“You don’t really believe that.” Damon’s lips curved into a smirk. His arm moved Tina from his front to his side as he brandished his sword. He parried Uriel’s attack with smooth ease.
So macho, Tina couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She should be screaming and panicking -- well, not exactly screaming since she had never been the kind of person to use her voice that way, but her heart should be loud in her ears and there should be something more beyond the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Was she so calm because of Damon’s arm that held her so safely and moved her out of the way so swiftly? Or was because of her knowledge of Uriel’s skill and the trust she had in Uriel’s swordsmanship?
Uriel pushed forward, but Damon blocked his every attack, moving Tina to and fro, and from side to side, his left hand never releasing its grip on Tina.
Tina was turned around and her head almost hit the wall. Her breath caught. She could see her skull smashed against the wall. She raised her arms, her heartbeat raced and again, everything slowed down. She could see the cracks in the wall, hear the swishes of Damon’s and Uriel’s swords. Then she was pulled back, away from the wall and away from harm’s way.
“Those stupid men,” she hissed under her breath. Time sped up. The sparks of steel against steel fell on her skin and sounds of clashes echoed so loudly in her ear.
Damon twirled her around; this time she ended up beside him, as he attacked Uriel from the side. She saw his long sword thrusting forward, aiming for Uriel’s heart, and it seemed that Uriel wouldn’t be able to prevent the steel from making contact with his skin.
Tina’s heart hammered against her ribcage, the world slowed down again. She pushed her hand into her coat pocket, her fingers slid over smooth plastic and glided into its holes. She pulled the stun gun out and shoved it backwards against Damon’s chest, her thumb pressing the button.
Damon’s hold on Tina loosened, he stumbled backwards and the blade fell out of his hand.
Tina watched as the sword seemed to float in the air, then it sped up and fell to the ground.
“I would have parried that,” Uriel grumbled as he surged forward.
Tina’s heartbeat sped up and everything slowed down again, she watched Uriel passing her by in slow motion, she could already see Uriel’s sword in Damon’s gut.
“No!”
No! Trinity voice screamed with her.
She struck out, the stun gun hit Uriel’s side and electricity shook his body.
Uriel fell down on his knees.
Then the time speed up again. She stared down at Uriel.
“You are being a handful. Just like Trinity.” Damon’s even voice woke Tina from a daze.
She turned around, her gaze slid over Damon, who doubled over and pressed his hand against his chest.
“I don’t want you to hurt each other. You are father and son.”
“He’s not my son.” Damon took a deep breath then he picked up his sword.
Oh, no you won’t. No more fighting, Trinity said. Quickly, think about something frightening.
Tina did and the world slowed down again.
Now use the same thing on him as you did on Uriel, and then run. They can’t fight if they are following you.
Tina obeyed her and not even waiting for Damon to fall down, she darted out on the street, not even knowing where she was going, her head empty. She started to run. The world around her moved at normal speed again but as soon as that happened, she thought about things that sped up her heartbeat.
Why didn’t you wake me up? Trinity asked. I told you to wake me up.
Tina’s lungs started to burn. She wanted to answer Trinity, but she just couldn’t spill the words out. She looked back over her shoulder, her breath caught in her throat. A large thing with wings followed her.
And it wasn’t Damon.
No, it looked like a mutation, a hybrid between human and bat.
Her foot caught on the edge of the pavement. She fell down. Her heart echoed fast and loudly in her ears and this time she didn’t need to think about anything to speed up her heart. She picked herself up and gathering all the strength that she had she ran toward the main street.
Wait, it’s okay. You can stop running.
Was she serious? There was a monster on her heels. And god knew to whom it belonged. Tina refused to listen to Trinity.
Something touched her shoulders. Tina looked at it. They were claws, long sharp talons. They grabbed her and lifted her up. Oh, god. She kicked and wiggled, trying to get out of the monster’s hold.
It’s okay, Muriel’s voice as a soft caress filled Tina’s mind.
No! It was not okay. Tina couldn’t really comprehend why would Muriel want to put her at ease. She continued to struggle even as the monster’s wings lifted them high above the buildings.
Stop struggling, Trinity ordered.
But Tina couldn’t obey Trinity. She just couldn’t. She wasn’t ready to give up. She wanted to stay with the Dumes. She wanted to play games with Haniel, she wanted to talk about books with Muriel, she wanted to learn all about swords under Uriel’s guidance, and to get to know much more about them.
She wanted to tell all that to Trinity, but then something touched her mind, something grey, cold and slightly familiar, and she descended into warm darkness.