The Demon Girl Part 12

I s.h.i.+vered, and started off at a slow walk. I was not afraid in the blue and purple forest surrounding me. It was peaceful. As I wandered back, I slid my glamour back on, and tugged at the gaping hole at my back where my tee s.h.i.+rt had given way for my wings. The world became darker and it felt like I was draped under a heavy curtain. My limbs dragged, and my hearing, sense of smell became muted. How had I functioned like this for eighteen years? Finally alone, I took a moment to think on everything that had happened to me. The day seemed endless, and I hoped there were no more surprises in store. I didn't know how much more I could take. I was dying to pee, so I squatted behind a tree and relived my self, humming low in my throat.

Back on the compound, I was reaching for Bayou's door when a heavy hand landed on my shoulder. The hand was warm, human warm, and it spun me around and pressed me back into the door.

"Lord Cleric," I protested and pushed forward, but he held firm.

I was stronger than him of course, but I let him pin me to the door as the Lady Cleric from that morning came out of the shadows. I dipped my head in a show of respect but my mind was racing. This was not good. It was the middle of the night, I was not asleep in bed like the other Disciples, and I looked like I had been to h.e.l.l and back.

"Hai, Disciple," the Lady Cleric said in a nasal drawl.

She had a slight accent and upward tilt to her eyes. She was a small thing, tiny hands and feet obscured by mittens and clunky black boots. Her mousey brown hair hung straight, severely parted in the centre and cut blunt at the ends, and over her eyebrows in a fringe. She was not attractive, or ugly either she just looked mean.

"Hai, Lady Cleric," I replied.

I didn't know her name, so I simply said the honorific keeping my eyes downcast and my voice small and quiet at an attempt at meekness, whilst I scrambled around my head to get my story straight. This treatment of me was against the rules. This told me two things. One, that they suspected me to be the girl in the forest that morning. Two, they had already tried the official route and had probably been told to take a hike by the Priests. Oh G.o.ds. Or they were acting with Sect approval and their orders where to take care of me quietly.

And I'd handed myself to them on a platter.

"Looks like you're doing some hard thinking there," Tu said. "Why so nervous, Rae?"

I looked my teacher in the eye, and could not hide the flash of hate in my glare. He faltered and the pressure on my shoulder eased. I used it to slide away and stand up straight. I felt the wind blow past and sent a chill up my exposed spine. How would I explain my ripped top? I lifted my chin and looked between them.

"Is there something I can help you with? I'm tired after my run, and I would like to sleep."

They shot looks at each other. "Do you often run in the middle of the night?" The Lady Cleric looked me up and down. "Looking sodisheveled?"

I scrunched my fingers into fists behind my back. "Yes, Lady Cleric. I like to run at night. I find it soothing."

"Do you run in the morning?" Tu asked quietly.

I nodded my head. "Sure. The security guy often lets me out in the pre dawn. I circle the Temple grounds and come back.

The Lady Cleric tilted her head. "Sounds innocent enough."

I smiled somewhat tightly. "Do you run, Cleric? If you do you will know how peaceful it can be."

"Yes. I too find it soothing. Killing demons can be stressful."

I flinched, just a little, but enough to confirm their suspicions. Normal people did not flinch at the mention of killing demons. It was seen as a good thing.

"We know all about your morning runs, Rae. But that's not why we are here. It's what led us to you, but not why we're here."

I swallowed a couple of times before I could say. "I don't think I follow you. Led you to me?"

"You know there is an in and out list for the gate?"

I closed my eyes briefly, realizing the blunder before I answered. "Yes, Lord Cleric.

"This morning, you went out as usual, but you didn't come through the gate again." He pointed behind him, where the black iron gates lurked. "You showed up in my cla.s.s sure enough, and asked a fewconcerning questions. When we came back to the cla.s.s you looked most preoccupied. Then you skipped all of your afternoon cla.s.ses. Most concerning."

My hand reached behind me and curled around Bayou's door handle.

"I understand Lord Cleric," I said humbly. "I will come to your cla.s.sroom tomorrow morning to discuss my punishment."

The Lady Cleric's face twisted. "No, Disciple Wilder. You are coming with us. Now."

I jerked the door open and bolted through it. Taking the stairs two at a time a hand snagged my ankle and I went down. I smacked my head on the stair in front of me, and was half dragged back down by my calf. Flailing to grab the railing rus.h.i.+ng by, I caught one and held on. I half turned, and kicked with my other leg catching the Lady Cleric by the side of her head. She let me go and I scrambled up the stairs on all fours. Up the second flight, I heard her close behind me and plucked my key out of my back jean pocket. I heard her take the second flight of stairs, cursing the G.o.ds as my hand tried to slot my key in the lock. My hand trembled. As it slid in and clicked, I opened the door and turned to get the Lady Cleric's fist straight square in the face. Pain exploded out from my nose and radiated across my cheekbones. I flew back, and landed hard on my back with a flat thump. The Lady Cleric stepped in and kicked the door closed behind her. Glamoured as human, I could see nothing in the dark, but I could hear her raspy breaths.

I wiped at my bleeding nose. Why was it not healing?

"Demon b.i.t.c.h," she spat. "That's what you are, isn't it? A demon. That was the only way you evaded the dogs, my tracking."

"It's not what you think," I sobbed and crawled backward.

"I knew it was you, but Tu wasn't sure. He tried to convince me it was just a coincidence. That one of his precious students could never be one of them." The venom in her voice made me tremble even harder. "You disgust me, I read your file. You've been hiding among us since a baby. Fooling that old Priest into thinking that you were an abandoned ward."

"No, it wasn't like that." My heart hurt when I thought of the Priest who had found me outside his door. I would never do anything to hurt him. It was him who had suggested I be enrolled at Temple when he saw how I had survived at the orphanage. I shook my head again. "It wasn't like that."

I was afraid. Had I been this afraid when I'd met Breandan? Or when I'd met- I swear, my heart stopped then kicked twice before a cold sweat broke out on my palms. I couldn't even think his name, because then it would be real. The horror of what was about to happen would become a reality, and there would be no taking it back. I hobbled up and pressed myself against the wall.

"Tomas," I whispered.

I felt him s.h.i.+ft beside me before I saw his silhouette slink forward. I heard his snarl a second before I held my palms up and out, the words to call him off dying on my lips when I thought hard about what she would do to me. Would she have taken me to the Priests for judgment, or would she have killed me?

I watched. I watched him move silently around her, and watched as his fangs ran out. She was still advancing toward me, hyped on hate, and unaware her own death was less than a moment away. He grabbed her head, and clamped a hand over her mouth to smoother her scream. Yanking her shoulder down, he curled his fingers around her cloak to rip it away and expose her flesh. His head hung suspended against the smooth ivory of her neck, and I watched her eyes widen in horror. Instant tears make them glisten as Tomas twitched then bit down. A spray of blood splashed against the wall and my face. I was unable to look away. It was loud, grizzly and violent. The heels of the Lady Cleric's boots thumped on the hardwood floor, and the salty smell of her blood filled the air. Her dying wail was heard only by me as a senseless keen, a single sustained note. It lasted a few seconds. It lasted an age. Then, when he was done, Tomas let her lifeless body fall to the floor with a hollow thud.

It took me less than a moment to see the immense danger of my situation. I started to creep along the wall, keeping myself as small as possible. Tomas stood in the middle of the room, savoring his kill. Good for him, bad for me. I made it all the way to the door then the darkness swarmed around me.

Before I could squeal, Tomas had hold of my wrist and yanked me forward. I pulled against him, again pressing myself into the door. I held still as his tongue swept over my skin, smoother than a normal tongue. He lapped up the blood I'd wiped from my nose and groaned. He loomed over me, brown eyes liquefying.

"You smell like sunlight," he said darkly.

His fingers brushed over my pulse point then his eyes flashed black. He bent my wrist back and I cried out in pain.

"You have to let me go," I said and kept a tight rein on the urges of my nature.

Fear pressed on my mind made it hard to think. Made it hard to remember he was here to talk not hurt me. This demon, this vampire who right now thirsted for my blood wanted to talk, and I'd left him here for half the night, hungry. He'd just sucked the life out of a Cleric, but it didn't seem to have been enough. She had been a small thing. If I attacked it would be fatal, for he would succ.u.mb to his baser instinct.

Fangs still dripping with blood, my blood; his chest started to rise and fall rapidly.

"Are you going to bite me, Tomas?" I did not s.n.a.t.c.h my hand away; it would excite rather than subdue him. "You promised no biting and I trusted you. I trust you."

"I am what I am," he said, slowly.

Bringing my wrist back to his mouth, his fangs grazed over a vein and the lush tearing of my skin punctured the edgy silence. He made a noise half way between a growl and a pained keen.

"Don't do this." I tugged my hand, unable to help myself. His eyes heated. "If you don't let go-"

"What will you do?" His voice was dark, filled with antic.i.p.ation. He pushed my sleeve further up my arm to expose more of my skin. "I want to taste you. I have since the first moment I breathed your scent."

With a sigh of triumph, he opened his jaw wide, and bit down.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I felt my skin divide as his fangs sank into me. G.o.ds, it hurt, it hurt. His cold lips brushed my skin and it burned as he sucked. Then it changed. Subtly, the burning started to sweep over me in tingly pulses of pleasure. My eyes flickered open and I moaned. A tide of l.u.s.t flowed through me and invaded secret places they had no business being. Thick blood gushed down my hand and overflowed from his mouth, only for him to lap it up. A wave of fatigue had my knees buckling.

"Tomas," I shouted and reached out to the well of energy now mine to control, all I had left to defend myself with. I pushed power into my voice as I called his name and it boomed. It was loud, and echoed through me, made the walls quake.

Head flying back, dark hair streaming across his face, he gasped and clutched a hand to his head. He spun, dragging me with him like a rag doll and threw me across the room. Before my body hit the floor, for a split second it was like I could fly. Had I been a clever girl, I would have dropped my glamour and used my wings to land softly on the floor. I was too messed up to do anything but cry. When I landed, I rolled and rolled before cras.h.i.+ng into the base of the wall. Thank the G.o.ds my room was small. Tomas staggered back and hit the wall on the opposite side. He bent over, trembling and mumbling incoherently to himself.

"Tomas," I repeated, quieter this time.

I needed to know he was okay. If not I would need to run. I didn't want to fight him, so I would run. He was by the door, but I had magic now and I knew how to use it. Not very well, I was likely to create a fireball big enough to obliterate us both, but it would be better than being sucked dry.

"Wait," he said hoa.r.s.ely. His eyes cleared up and he fell to his knees. His hand reached out to me; palm up and it shook. "I'm in control now. Wait."

I nodded and pressed myself into the wall. Tomas's vampire smell and the salty tang of my blood filled my nostrils. Sweat trickled down my brow, and I focused on controlling my breathing as my body repaired itself. Oh G.o.ds, thank you. My nose felt better already, as did the rest of my body. When Tomas had tossed me my shoulder and left side had taken the brunt of the impact when I'd hit the ground. I'd felt a rib or two crack. I was upset but strangely calm at the same time. Ana had said a vampire would bite me and she had been right, of course she'd been right. Tomas was a vampire, but I had held my own and taken care of myself. Yes, I had been thrown across a room and used as a tasty post dinner beverage, but still.

After a few beats he stood and crossed the s.p.a.ce. He stopped a few paces shy of me.

"I was hungry. You were supposed to be here at sunset. I could not leave without talking to you."

"I didn't have a choice." I glared up at him, my fear becoming anger. "The fairies came back for me during the day, what was I supposed to do? I tried."

"We had an agreement. You broke it."

"If I came back here before they had shown me what they needed to they would have found and killed you," I said harshly. "I wouldn't have been able to stop them."

"Stop them?" There was a trace of surprise in his tone. His dark eyes narrowed.

I met him stare for stare. "Like you said, we had an agreement. I promised to hear you out and a safe dark place."

"I saved your life and you repay me with disrespect."

"I've kept my end of the deal. I'm here aren't I? I'm sorry I am late, but it was unavoidable and y'know what, ditto. I saved your life too, you ungrateful a.s.s. How long would you survive in the sunlight against a fairy or two?"

He was disquieted. I could tell this from the way his face and body became motionless. The pulsing dark that surrounded him thickened, and it was like I could almost hear it humming. It extended in curling wreathes and drifted forward to settle over me. It was not a restraining blanket of fear this time, but gentle welcoming. We were silent for a long while, taking comfort in each other's presence. It was strange. Now the dark had embraced me it was like I could perceive Tomas. He was no longer a scary vampire-boy, but a boy who just happened to be more than human. The balance had s.h.i.+fted between us, stepped into something unknown. Curling my wounded arm into my side, already flaring up and healing, I pulled my sleeve down to cover my wrist. Tomas helped me stand and straightened my clothes. I wiped at the blood smeared across his mouth, looking at it made me queasy and if I saw him lick it up I may be forced to try running away again. His skin was icy and slick.

"Breandan can never know," I said and stepped away.

"This Breandan is who?" he asked curiously then stiffened. His voice was dark and angry, yet still, it stroked me from the inside out. He stepped closer and sniffed at my hair. Then he dipped his head and slid his mouth along the side of my neck, lips cold and smooth. "He is the fairy I smell on you."

"He'll kill you."

I checked my forearm. It had healed and I fingered the two crescents now permanently scarring my skin. Good thing I wore my hooded jumper with its sloppy sleeves like a second skin.

"I have no plans to talk to this fairy. He will never know, not that it would be the first thing I would say should we meet."

"What would be the first thing?"

"Nothing. We would fight and one of us would die, of course." He sounded as if it were a simple, common thing. "And now we talk, the night calls to me." I waited silently, like a good girl, but he paused. Rather, he hesitated. "Rae-"

We locked eyes and the blackness enveloped me. There was no more s.p.a.ce between us, nothing to stop us coming together. He reached out, clasped my hip and pulled me into him. As my body molded to his, his lips nudged my head back and he tangled his other hand in my hair. The scent of him was inexplicably appealing. He still smelt like a vampire, but it was no longer repellent. He smelt like Tomas, a blend of minerals and wet gra.s.s. His face was no longer shadowed and ugly but mysterious and full of character. His skin was icy to touch. He teased my lips open with his, as my teeth nipped his bottom lip. He growled, and I responded with ferocity to equal his. I stood on my tip-toes to reach his mouth, press myself against him. Sliding his hands beneath my thighs he hoisted me up and pushed me against the wall. It was then my glamour dropped and my wings spread and curled down as I sought his mouth again. His cold tongue slipped between my lips and stroked mine. Then his fangs ran out and sliced by bottom lip open. He jerked back, but it healed almost instantly.

I ran my tongue over my lips and smirked. "I'm not as breakable as I look." I said.

He chuckled darkly. I found myself not afraid, but intrigued and I licked the sharp tips of his fangs. He groaned. Was it me? The feral and demanding girl with her legs locked round a vampire-boy's waist, digging my hands into his shoulders, dragging him closer.

The kiss deepened and I clung onto him, one hand fisted in his hair and the other roving across the nape of his neck. Tomas pushed forward, securing me into his solid frame, and ran his hands down my sides. My skin was on fire, my blood boiling. He broke away to trail kisses down my neck then was still, holding me. Both our chests heaved. I realized he was hot, hard and had his mouth at my throat.

He swallowed loudly then slowly, deliberately kissed my wildly jumping pulse, and leaned away.

We locked eyes again. I figured the look of shock and confusion must have been mirrored on my face. I so had no expected that. The biting, sure, that was bound to happen some time or another, but a kiss that flooded every vein in my body with fire? When did that become a possibility? Oh G.o.ds, what have I done?

"That was-"

"Different," I said and swallowed.

"This is not normal, Rae. My kind and your kind do not mix." His eyes travelled over my wings. He did not look repulsed but intrigued.

"I didn't expect I mean, I'm sorry if I have upset you." He reached out and stroked my wingtip. I felt the caress down to my toes. "Oh," I breathed.

He nuzzled me and whispered in my ear, "I am not upset."

"I'm glad because I..." I blushed. "I liked it."

"You feel good to me too, but what shall we do now?" My legs were still around his waist, and the wall supported my back leaving his and my hands free. His wandered to the edge of my jumper, then swiftly pulled it over my head.

My face felt hot. Never had I been kissed like that before. Or treated like this. Breandan had been my first kiss and it had felt wonderful. But my second from this vampire had felt oh, it hadn't felt as nice as what his hands where doing now. "That feels-" I sucked in a breath and my eyes fell to the body of the Lady Cleric. All the blood left my face and my eyes twitched back to his.

"Good?" he finished for me and raised an eyebrow.

He raised his head to kiss my neck and I couldn't help it, I arced myself into him.

There was a gush of air as the door crashed open. Splinters of woods flew like daggers and embedded into the wall around us. Breandan thundered into the room and launched himself at Tomas, knocking me to the side as he did so. They smashed through the wall and were lost to my sight.

I was curled into a small ball and reality was suspended. I found it hard to breathe right, my chest still felt too tight from the emotions that had overwhelmed me during Tomas's embrace. I waited but the hole in the wall remained, letting me see the night sky. I was feeling overwhelmed but it helped centre me. It was all so much it made me step outside myself and take control. The snarling, growling noises where getting louder. I rolled up, darted forward and looked down, carefully leaning on a patch of wall that looked solid.

Tomas and Breandan rolled around in the gra.s.s like two fools, but two fools with dangerous weapons. Breandan straddled Tomas, a shard of wood in his hand. The tendons on his arm and neck were bulging, and the deadly point of the wood was a mere jerk away from spearing Tomas in the chest. My vampire-boy was on red alert. He looked menacing with his fangs fully on display and his eyes glazed black; nostril's flared. Snarling up a storm his mouth snapped for Breandan's neck.

I grabbed my jumper off the floor and dropped through the hole. As I landed my already abused ankle twisted, and I dropped like a stone. Why it had not healed?

My emotions were wide open, and wildness seeped from Breandan's nature to mine. It rubbed me up the wrong way, and I found myself unable to stop the fight, because I was battling the more carnal of my urges. It was telling me a threat, a vampire was close and to attack. The conflicting feelings of hate and l.u.s.t I felt for Tomas had my stomach in knots.

"Calm down," I said through my teeth, and staggered up. "Breandan, look at me."

He didn't look, but his ears twitched and I knew he was listening. First I was going to try and talk him out of trying to stake my vampire then I was going to tear him apart.

I could hear voices around the corner. The noise of them busting through a brick wall had been loud and messy. We had woken the building up and it was only a matter of time before confusion made way for ruthless order. Three floors up there was a ragged hole in the side of my building leading into my room. There was no way I'd even be able to hide it. It had demon stamped all over it. The Clerics were going to piece it all together, and that would be it for me. The Clerics would come and find us. In fact, Lord Cleric Tu was probably up there with the body of his dead partner. He would know it was me in the forest. He would know somehow I had gotten demons past the Wall, and into the Temple. All of this pa.s.sed through my mind in less than the time it took me to glance up at the hole then glare at Breandan, since he was still on Tomas like white on rice.

He turned his head to look at me, and his expression was wary. d.a.m.n right it should be. I was beyond p.i.s.sed.