The Daemon Within Page 5

  The voice belonged to Gregory. Turning around, “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  He slowed up, having been jogging for a long time by the looks of it. “I could not go along with what they-” His attention left me and found Isa. His face went white, fear gripping him. “No, it is not true!”

  I was confused. “Gregory, what are you talking about? That’s just Isa.”

  “Gregory,” Isa confronted him. “Now’s not the time or place, understand.” Never seeing him in this spot, Gregory just gulped and made a tiny noise that sounded like okay. Pleased with his quick compliance, “It’s getting late and I’ve dealt with the Chernybog one too many times as it is. We can discuss matters back in Chernobyl,” she said. “That is, if you are still coming with us.”

  He looked at me for help, but I was in the dark. That’s when he made a quick decision. “Okay, I will come along,” he agreed. “If only for Vic’s wellbeing, Izabella.”

  Chapter 9

  So, what’s a guy supposed to do when he finds out he’s romantically involved with his ex-girlfriend’s mother? Drink, that’s what he does. And Dmitri had a lot of Vodka back at his dwelling to share. Drinking straight from the bottle, “Can you believe this?” He gave me this look like, don’t get me involved in your messed up love life. “I’m pretty sure that’s something you tell someone,” I slurred out.

  Even though I couldn’t sense them, Gregory and Isa were outside, waiting for me to either pass out or come out guns blazing. At this point, either option was still on the table, but I was pretty well drunk. I wasn’t sure my brain would translate the right words needed, so I downed a few more swigs of vodka and fell out of the chair.

  ****

  The light hurt my eyes. My head was pounding and my body hurt. I didn’t notice it at first, but there was a hand rubbing my back. That sure did feel nice. I cracked my eyes open, just enough to see I was on a bed and not the floor at Dmitri’s. As my body began to respond, the awful smell of vodka and vomit filled my nose, making me feel even sicker.

  “You drank quite a bit of that swill,” a pleasant voice informed me. “Gregory informed me that you had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol. I can only imagine what proof Dmitri had lying around.”

  “You lied to me,” I croaked. My throat was raw and angry. Probably from vomiting.

  “If you mean I omitted parts of my very long past I wasn’t proud of, then I am guilty as charged.” She didn’t back down. “However, I never lied to you, Vic. Anytime you’ve asked me a question, I told you exactly what happened to me.”

  I was in no position to sit up, so I closed my eyes and kept talking. “Don’t you think it was important for me to know about you being Liz’s mom?”

  Her hands left my back and began working on my shoulders. “To tell you I was the mom of the daughter who hated me so much, she tried to kill me – that’s a hard conversation to start.”

  “She is right, Vic.” Gregory was here, too. “Izabella and I had a very long conversation last night. Trust me when I say things are not always what they seem.”

  A vote of confidence from him was very telling. I wish I hadn’t drunk all that suspect vodka. “I’d love to hear this story. I think you owe me that much, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Her story was a long and complicated one. Not long after Liz successfully killed her father, Drakel, but failed to kill her mother, Isa escaped into central Europe to hide. She lived off the land for centuries, avoiding other vampires and trying to deal with all the atrocities she helped commit with the other members of the council. Eventually, she befriended the ancestors of the Chernobyl wolves, well before they had to deal with the fallout. It was during that time she became complacent.

  “One day, when I was out with Dmitri’s father gathering supplies, I was ambushed by three vampires – Roderick, Cristof, and Jonathan.” That was something no one seemed to ever mention. I was pretty sure Liz didn’t even know about this chance encounter. “I was bound and gagged, only released by Roderick when he put me on Neverland. Pan’s prison became my own.” She closed her eyes, as if to relive a painful memory. “As I said before, Jonathan nearly killed me once, and I lost count of the numerous times Pan was sent after me.”

  Speaking of the little devil, “When Pan escaped, why didn’t you leave, too?” I asked.

  “What did I have to live for back on the mainland? And I had my friend, Marko.” Marko was a very large troll who sacrificed his own life to help us during our final escape. “With Pan gone, my life was relatively free of turmoil, minus a random orc attack.”

  Wow, I didn’t know what to say. “And that’s when you ran into me.”

  “For the first time in a very long time, I met someone who didn’t know me as this terrible bringer of destruction. You just knew me as Isa, just a girl who met a boy.”

  The effects of the vodka had worn off enough here I could sit up without getting sick. “You haven’t had it easy, have you?”

  She shook her head. “Don’t feel too bad for me. I brought a lot of this on myself,” Isa admitted. “At the time, between Caesar Alexis and my long gone husband, the allure of power was overwhelming,” she added.

  “Liz has no idea you are alive,” Gregory told her. “Roderick and Cristof have never mentioned anything about this.”

  She appeared a tad hurt, but maybe it was my imagination. “Why would they? The moment my daughter found out I was alive, she’d be on some crusade to correct that.” It was true. From just the little bit Liz ever mentioned of Izabella, there was a great deal of hatred. “Why do you believe me, Gregory?”

  That was a decent question. He’d known Liz a long time. If anyone would’ve been chomping at the bit to run off and tell her, I would’ve counted on him. “The old council was not good,” he told her. “But, we have made a lot of the same mistakes. Sending vampires to wipe out a pack of wolves that have caused no harm, that is something we should be ashamed of.”

  “You understand then?”

  “Yes I do, Izabella.” It was a surreal scene, Gregory accepting of Isa. “And if you have gained the trust of Vic, that also says a lot about your current character, not of your past deeds.”

  I almost expected a hug, but Gregory excused himself, saying that it was clear that the two of us had a few more things to say. On the way out, “I am here to follow you, Vic.” And with that, he left us alone.

  Isa was still working my shoulders, which felt great. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, this is one weird situation.”

  “I never meant to make your feelings be conflicted, Vic.”

  “That’s the thing, you personally didn’t.” She’d been right, from the moment I met her she’d been nothing but good and true towards me. “Good lord, you vampires and your messed up families.” That reminded me of something. “Wasn’t Cristof one of your lovers back in the day?”

  She laughed at this. “Is that what my daughter has been telling people?” Isa looked mortified. “We were in need of strong warriors and none could match Cristof. When I proposed immortal life to him, he asked that we bed first, the pig,” she said disgusted. “Keep in mind that this was a very long time ago and women were considered objects, not true people.”

  “Old Cristof is certainly different these days.” It was hard to imagine the guy who was obsessed with shoes being such a jackass. “I guess that’s another example how people change.”

  Her hand found its way into mine. “It’s been a very long time since my heart has opened to another.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out where this was going. “The last man I could be myself with, he wasn’t a good man. I’d like to think all these thousands of years later that my taste has greatly improved.”

  At the mention of thousands of years, it hit me just how different our lives had been. Yet, it didn’t matter to her, why should it matter to me? “Don’t you feel like you’re robbing the cradle?” I joked with her.

  “Age is a fickle thing for vampires, as I’m
sure you learned.” She gestured towards the door. “Gregory will never be anything more than a nineteen or twenty year old man, physically,” she said. “Mentally, he is wise beyond even his vampire years, but still all the same.”

  “I’m glad you told me everything.”

  “Me too,” she assured. “It was very hard to keep that one fact from you. I was worried you’d hate me for who you were told I was.”

  “Not a chance.” I leaned in and kissed her, forgetting all about my hard night of drinking. If it bothered her, she didn’t react.

  Before things could get too heavy, Gregory came hustling back in. “I’m sorry to ruin what was probably a tender moment.” We’d already stopped kissing, giving Gregory our full attention. “The Silver pack called your bluff, Vic. There are thirty wolves surrounding the wolves’ sanctuary.”

  The last bit of my hangover disappeared. Grabbing my tanto and gun, “Let’s go show them just how serious I was about the use of lethal force.”

  Chapter 10

  When the Silvers appeared, most of the Chernobyl pack was safe, tucked away deeper into the outskirts of the power plant. I knew these wolves were probably gun shy about being in the exclusion zone to begin with; this was as far as they were willing to come. Dmitri, Gregory, and Isa were beside me, ready to confront these intruders.

  The wolves parted, allowing someone I’d never seen before to walk to the forefront. “Anna,” Gregory called her. “This is a bit bold, even for you.”

  The vampire’s blonde hair was almost white. There was something about her eyes I didn’t like, either. “This is my territory, Gregory.” She took another step closer. “If my coven is to know peace with the wolves, then doing what is necessary is what I’ll do.”

  I cocked my gun and pointed it right at her head. At this range, even her vampire reflexes would be strained to avoid a silver slug to the forehead. “You don’t know much about wolves, missy.” She didn’t like me, that I could tell. “Appeasing one pack, that’s not how you broker tranquility. Don’t these wolves deserve the same courtesy?” I asked.

  “No.” Her answer was blunt. “The Silvers can offer me so much more than a feral, mutated pack can.”

  This lady didn’t know the first thing about feral wolves. I’d dealt with one, my own cousin Kano. But I knew bigotry when I saw it. There’d be no convincing this Anna lady that the Chernobyl pack was anything more than a bunch of dangerous, renegade wolves. It was time to back my earlier promise up.

  Dmitri was on all fours, howling to the cloudy sky above. The Silvers across from us responded to his challenge. Anna, drifting back, away from us, gave one final statement. “Gregory, this is your last chance to rejoin us and do the will of the covens.”

  “I will take my chances with my friend.”

  “So be it.”

  Anna gave the command to attack. The Silvers had been waiting for this moment and the herd rushed forward to attack. As the first wolves came close, our secret weapon went to work.

  The blonde vampire in charge of this attack was clueless as to who Isa really was. With my grandpa’s silver tanto in her hand, the slaughter of wolves began. Silvers in werewolf hierarchy were generally the strongest of the three packs. That goes to show you just what Isa was capable of. As body after body hit the frozen ground, Anna whistled and the remainder of the wolves stopped.

  Isa’s whirling tornado of an attack came to an end as well. The two female vampires locked eyes, Anna unsure of what to do next. My gun was still pointed at her when Gregory placed his hand on my wrist and lowered it. “Now’s not the time.”

  Anna approached Isa, pulling out a pair of nasty looking daggers from sheathes on her belt. “You are the mysterious vampire that Elizabeth keeps talking about.” With a sneer, “The one who stole her dog of a boyfriend.”

  With the silver blade held steady in her hand, “Just how old are you?” Isa inquired.

  Puffing herself up, “Nine hundred and eighty-two.”

  To anyone else, that may have been quite impressive. However, in the company that was standing here, you had Gregory who was over one thousand and Isa who smiled and said, “Come talk to me when you are over three thousand years old.”

  I knew the number was high, but something about hearing three thousand nearly broke my mind. Even Gregory’s eyes became extremely wide. Whispering to me, “My God, she may be one of the first vampires to walk the Earth.”

  I tried not to think about that. “I’m guessing Anna there should probably back down.”

  Her expression showed a big old heaping of doubt for just a minute before her resolve kicked back in. “Lies,” Anna told Isa. “All the old ones are dead, with Forte being killed by none other than Cristof.”

  “Funny you should mention him. Seems he forgets to mention that he’s encountered me over the years.” Anna’s determination began to wane again. Isa went on, “Unless you put those sharp toys in your hand away, you will die today.”

  Anna looked to Gregory, almost as if to silently plead for his help. Gregory was torn; he didn’t want to see anyone dead, but he also agreed with us that the Chernobyl wolves should be left alone. He broke away from her look, leaving her out on an island.

  I felt the time was right to get involved in this mess. “As we’ve shown you, we’re not afraid to take ruthless measures to defend these wolves.” Sweeping my arm around, “Call off the attack and we’ll let the Silvers take their fallen and leave without further attacks.”

  One of the wolves returned to their human form to talk to me. “Today is lost. As Beta, I accept proposition.” He snapped his fingers and the rest of the hit squad relented their wolf forms and began the process of gathering the fallen warriors. As I promised, we just stood there while they did what was necessary.

  When the final corpse was picked up, the wolves retreated back into the forest. With the wolf threat gone, Dmitri, still transformed, walked back to his pack. I couldn’t blame him; he probably wanted to let everyone know that the threat was gone, at least for the time being.

  The only person who stayed behind was Anna. While the Silvers gathered their dead, her eyes never left Isa. Something must’ve clicked, recognition into who Isa really was. “You’re her mother, are you not?”

  “You shouldn’t have said that.”

  Gregory flinched even before it happened. One minute the blonde vampire was standing there with an evil smirk on her face, the next, her body fell to the ground, her head no longer attached. The speed at which Isa moved to defeat her opponent was uncanny.

  As she wiped the blood off the silver blade, “I’m sorry that had to happen. If I had another choice, Gregory…”

  He put his hand up to stop her. “You owe me no explanation.” His face darkened a bit. “Whether anyone is willing to admit it, today was a turning of the tide. Their invasion was the first act of war.”

  “That seems a bit over the top,” I remarked.

  Forgetting he had countless lifetimes more experience than I did, “Victor, you are fortunate enough to have lived your life in a place that saw no real large scale travesties.” This was true. “In the rest of the world, packs do not get along and when a stronger pack sees a weaker one ready to be eliminated, they will do anything necessary.”

  “I’m just sorry the vampires were asked to get involved,” Isa offered. “I can’t believe the council would buy what the Ukrainian Silvers were selling.”

  “They sold us on the fact these wolves were unstable killers. They promised us in return for our help that they would bring the remainder of the packs together, forging a new alliance that would include the European and Asian covens,” he clarified.

  The old scratch my back and I’ll scratch your back deal – that added up. “Man, what it must’ve took for those Silvers to suck up their pride. I mean, no offense,” I backed off, “but getting vampire involvement to deal with these wolves, who are just farmers and hunters, that’s kind of sad on their part.”

  “The Silvers were afraid,�
�� he declared. “Not of the wolves that lived here, but of the dark being who lives in the Wormwood, as well.”

  “The Chernybog?”

  “That’s the one, Vic.” It was clear he knew of this creature. “The Dark God is not to be trifled with. I am just thankful you have not had the displeasure of running into him.”

  Isa scoffed, turning her laugh into a cough, but not quickly enough. Gregory raised his eyebrow at me and there was no need to deny it. “Ummm, yeah, that might not be true.” He dropped his head, rubbing his temples. “Believe it or not, it’s a pretty funny story.”

  “Somehow I doubt that,” he countered.

  Interlude I

  **Isa**

  Victor was fast asleep and Gregory was at Dmitri’s house using the phone to call some girl back in America. This was the perfect time to sneak out and make contact. The village was quiet and getting into the Wormwood almost took no skill. It was truly a shame; I always liked to challenge myself where I could.

  I made it to our rendezvous point before he did. However, I expected him soon; he knew my displeasure at being forced to wait. And right on time, “I’m sorry I’m late,” the Chernybog said.

  Reaching up, I grabbed him by the neck and forced him hard into a tree right behind us. The blood of Cain pumping through my system made even his power seem feeble. The midnight black eyes and the perfectly straight hair that fell to his shoulders glistened in the moonlight. His pale skin matched mine as my fingers dug hard into his neck. Gasping for air, “What did I do wrong?”

  “Never, and I mean never, threaten Victor again,” I said in a low growl. I dropped him to the ground, where he struggled for a minute before picking himself up. “I told you explicitly he was off limits.”

  The Chernybog was one of my most trusted subordinates, but his rash for doing his own thing annoyed me to no end. He brushed off his dark robe before bowing to me. “I’m sorry, Lady Izabella. You gave me a directive to make sure I was feared by all. I made the poor assumption that included your wolf.”