Chapter 02
“Can't you pinpoint the location more accurately?” Uriel asked his brother, Haniel, over the connection he had established through the tablet resting on his knees. He lay propped against the fluffy pillows of a soft double bed in a private bed-and-breakfast near Regent's Park, in London. They could have checked into one of the bigger and more lavish hotels, but Uriel preferred the quiet and the domestic feel of smaller inns. They could also have used the London house of either the Damned or the Lost, but for that they would have had to go through a maze of procedures, and Uriel didn't care enough to bother, even though it would have been nice to have Sarniikzi at their disposal.
“There's too much interference,” Haniel replied.
Uriel looked at the map of London displayed on the tablet and sent the coordinates Haniel gave him to Michael. London was a big city and Shadows were hard to detect, which was why they searched for Akilueteers’ nests, hoping that Shadows would appear, lured to the nests by their hunger. They also relied heavily on the rumours circling around in the Akilueteers' underworld, which Anael and Michael obtained mostly through threats and torture. “Isn't there anything you can do?”
“I'll try, but don't count on it. You'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way. I'm sure Anael will manage to dig up something,” Haniel said, before he mumbled to somebody close beside him.
Uriel assumed that Haniel had covered the microphone or lowered the volume since he couldn't distinguish the words.
“Hey,” a woman’s voice replaced Haniel’s on the other side. A voice Uriel knew very well and which still managed to stir a feeling of yearning inside him.
Uriel clicked on the connection window and a female face appeared on the display.
A sad smile graced his lips and regret, just for a short second, crossed his mind before he pushed it out of his head; there was no place for it there. He returned Tina’s greeting. He could have contacted Haniel via the mental connection he shared with both of his brothers, but... in a way he had been looking forward to the chance he might hear her voice and see her face. And yet, she was one of the reasons he had left to enjoy his new-found freedom.
“How are you?” she asked.
“I'm well.”
“I miss you. When you are coming home?”
“Not any time soon, I'm afraid.”
She sighed and rubbed her temples, probably pondering whether she should try to convince him to return. She had been holding back for three months now; he hadn't expected that and he could appreciate her restraint.
“And you? How are you?” he asked.
“Fine.”
“And the others?” He thought of his -- What was Damon to him? He was the father of his brothers and Tina's Beloved, but there were no blood ties between them.
“They are fine too,” Tina said.
“The little one?”
“She is being a handful, like always.” Tina became more cheerful as she started to tell Uriel of Nuriel, the latest addition to their family, and her mischief-making.
He heard a knock before the door opened and, without asking permission, Anael strolled inside. She sat on the edge of the bed.
Uriel's eyes slid over the grey lines drawn on the bedcovers by the blinds that shielded the room from the weak rays of the evening sun, then continued upward until his gaze locked with Anael’s. “Just a moment,” he said to Tina. He turned to Anael, “Any news?”
She shook her head, her white shoulder-length hair swaying with her movement. She climbed higher up on the bed.
Uriel narrowed his eyes at Anael's boots, feeling annoyance bubbling inside him. Would it kill her to put on slippers? “Shoes,” he hissed.
She rolled her eyes, but did kick off her boots, and then neatly lined them up at the foot of the bed. “There. Satisfied?” She straddled him. “Who are you talking with? Haniel?”
He shook his head in a no and put a finger before her mouth, then urged Tina to continue with her story about how last week Nuriel had used her time distortion for the first time on Damon, stopping him in mid-air.
“Her?”
He nodded.
“Is that Anael that I'm hearing?” Tina asked.
“Yes.” Uriel pulled himself higher on the pillows.
“Well, it's seems you are busy,” Tina said. “We will be in touch later, right?
He nodded.
“Say hello to Michael.”
But not to Anael. “I will.” Uriel said goodbye, cut the connection and put the tablet on the night-stand. “Isn't it time for you two to get along?”
“She hurt you.” Anael leaned her forearms on his chest. “I should have snapped her neck. Or at least broken her leg.”
He smiled. “I hurt myself.” He ran his fingers through the white strands. Anael wasn't in love with him, he knew that for sure, but she did love him. “You are too protective of me. Shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, I was the one who was your caretaker when you were little.” And she had never displayed this kind behaviour with her siblings, the Numuns.
“You are too sensitive. You need somebody to watch over you.”
“Too sensitive?” Uriel chuckled. He doubted that many who knew him would share the sentiment. He didn't agree with it himself. If he were sensitive, he would never have survived his childhood years under Angelica, the angel-like creature who was angelic only in name and form, and who had brought Uriel nothing but pain and nightmares.
“You are. And you are also too kind and too sympathetic.” She nodded, a very serious expression on her face. Then she bent lower, her fingers sliding over the skin of his neck.
He caught her wrist. “You are not feeding on me.”
She pouted, something that she only showed to him and her two older brothers.
“No.” Uriel pushed her off his lap.
“Not even a little sip?”
“No.”
Another pout before she lay down on him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Haniel is right. You are becoming stingier.”
But Haniel's stinginess alluded to all the toys Uriel refused to buy him. He caressed her hair and smiled when she snuggled closer. This was another thing that she only displayed to him. “You will have your fill tonight.” Or so he hoped. He relied on Michael to have some news soon.
“It's not the same.”
No, Akilueteers' blood couldn't compare with the richness of Lueeshareteers'. “But you will have to make do with it. Unless you decide to claim an Aradma.” Like that would happen.
The sound of vibration came from the nightstand, to be replaced in the next moment with an old-fashioned ring tone. Uriel took his phone and looked at the display. It was Michael. But he didn't have any news about the Akilueteers' nest.
“I found something else, though,” Michael's voice came from the phone's speaker. “The same little group we saw the other night. They might lead me to the nest.”
“Where are you?” Uriel sat up, pushed Anael off his lap and shifted sideways. Last time he had given them a performance that should have kept them away from Akilueteers for a while, or so he had hoped. Stubborn, self-destructive fools.
“They are not important,” Anael said. “They are just Mamaels, what would they know?”
Michael told him and Uriel looked up the location on the tablet. “They may be Mamaels, but this is their territory. They know it better than we do. Michael, could you follow them, please?”
“Of course,” Michael said before he severed the connection.
Anael lay down on the bed with her arms under her head. “You don't believe they could be useful, do you?”
“Why else would I ask him to keep an eye on them?” Uriel put on his slippers and rose.
“To protect them.” Anael looked at him.
“And why would I do that?”
“Because it's in your nature,” Anael said. “You care too much, you can't help it. It's part of your sensitivity.”
Uriel raised his eyebrows and sighed as he scrutinised her face. Did she really believe it? “Don't be silly.” He pocketed the phone and took his sword and his black jacket from the wardrobe opposite the bed before he put on his boots.
“Where are you going?” Anael pulled herself on her elbows.
“Out.” He strode toward the door, putting on his jacket.
“To Michael, right?” She jumped up and hurried behind him, stumbling as she pulled on her boots.
#
Uriel's jaw tensed as he observed the Mamaels through the binoculars, the vampire hunters circled by Akilueteers. Careless, they were being so careless. He and his two companions stood on the roof of the abandoned warehouse looking down through the holes in the roof.
“Will you help them?” Michael asked.
Uriel could feel Anael's eyes on him. “Yes, but not yet. If we do it now they will never learn.”
“They might not last very long,” Anael commented.
The six Mamaels were vastly outnumbered, ten to one, and the way they randomly swung their weapons didn't give Uriel any confidence in their skill. Except... He focused on the girl, Jen. She stood with her feet firmly planted on the ground, the right slightly before the left, her hands holding the sword at her navel. She swung her blade and every strike increased the pile of Akilueteer dust that gathered at her feet. She needed practice, that was obvious, but she had a good stance and a solid base to work with. Too bad the same couldn't be said for her friends.
“Their fighting is pathetic. How had they managed to survive until now?” Anael asked.
Yes, he wondered about that too. Another look down, where Akilueteers were getting the upper hand. “I better get down there before anybody gets hurt, then,” he said before he took a step forward and flew down through the hole.
With his knee bent, he landed behind some Akilueteers.
In the next second he was up, his katana in his hand. He thrust it into the nearest Akilueteer, in the spot where its dead heart was, then cut the head off the one to his left.
The head hit the ground and rolled down, bumped against the heel of another Akilueteer that tried to force its way into the circle of Mamaels. It looked backwards and down to see the head fossilize then crumble into sand. Its head snapped up and it only had enough time to open its mouth before Uriel's blade sliced its head off.
Akilueteers were easy prey, too driven by instinct and thirst to pose any threat, which they could in larger numbers if they acted in unison.
Uriel moved around Akilueteers, wielding his katana swiftly and with precision, diluting their ranks. Using space distortion he slashed left and right, leaving clouds of dust in his wake until the last Akilueteer hit the ground.
He turned around, his eyes on the Mamaels. The tired, sweaty Mamaels, who had dust clinging to their damp hair, skin and clothes. He stalked toward them, ready to give them a piece of his mind. How dare they ignore his warning?
The Mamaels stumbled backwards.
Uriel froze in mid step. He hadn’t noticed it, not at first glance, the absence of that little, courageous slip of a girl, the only one who had dared to stand up against him, but now when none of them stood their ground... In the darkness his eyes searched the dust settling on the floor until he found her. The heap lying among the debris.
He transported himself to it, gesturing to Anael and Michael to join him. “Gather them and learn what they know,” he said to Anael, adding, “Don't harm them.”
His hand slid over the motionless form, over the side of her body, over her hip where blood streamed down to mix with the Akilueteers' remains. He touched her throat, looking for a pulse, for that little sign of life. Ah, there it was. He swallowed a sigh of relief, then frowned as he noticed the rip in the sleeve of her jacket. He examined the bleeding wound on her arm. It could only have been made by an Akilueteer's teeth.
He could hear Anael in the background, questioning the Mamael, and by the sound of it she had managed to terrorize one or two to the point of weeping.
“She was bitten and she is losing blood,” he told Michael before he scooped the girl up in his arms and rose. “Call Nat, ask him to give you the code to the London house and to notify its staff of our arrival.”
He looked down at her, at her face with streaks of dirt marring her ashen skin and the short ginger curls, hoping that he would be able to pull her from the clutches of death gripping her more tightly by the minute. She needed a Sarniikzi and she needed it now.