Marked - Prophecy of Aries - Book 1 Read online

  He crawled along the corridor, begging her not to kill him. She looked at him with disgust. He curled up on the floor as if in pain, then he pulled out a small gun tucked inside his polar bear jacket and was on his feet in an instant.

  But before he could pull the trigger, Emily flew at him with her knife, piercing it deep into his chest. The gun fell from his stunned fingers.

  He slumped to the ground, grimacing in pain, drawing in his last breaths in harsh rasps. “Months of hard work, Emily. I’m sorry to let you know, I’ve got the talisman you were looking for inside the chamber.” He sucked in a gurgling breath and grinned. The grin stayed on his face as his dead eyes glazed over.

  “No, no, no!” Emily punched at his chest, but he was already dead. She knew they had little time. She stood up and darted toward the back corridor. Madeline and Adam were right behind her.

  CHAPTER 16

  C iaran and Antonio stared at the sea of vampires blocking their gateway back to the other, safer, dimension.

  “Are you sure that is the only way out?”

  “There is no time for rhetorical questions, Antonio. I can pass these vampires easily by myself. But I can’t take you.”

  “Then go,” Antonio said, looking at the menacing vampires.

  “I don’t have a habit of leaving my men behind.”

  Suddenly, the front line of the vampire moved and split. From behind them walked the formidable vampire that Ciaran had clashed swords with a few nights ago.

  “Good to see you again,” Ciaran said.

  The vampire looked over Ciaran’s shoulder, to the rubble behind him. “It seems you’ve wiped out my tower.”

  “I thought it was Isabel’s tower,” Ciaran said. “She’s a Mayor of this city, isn’t she?”

  The vampire smiled, but his eyes were hard. “She used to be. I am taking it over. Effective … now. Whatever the equivalent time it is in your dimension. Then again, I don’t know which dimension you live in.”

  Ciaran smiled, equally as hard. “You seem very knowledgeable and open minded for a very old vampire.”

  “The first part is right,” the other said, lifting an eyebrow. “I like learning. But I am not open minded.” His face grew tight with suppressed anger. “I am now in charge for this city, and you’ve just killed my citizens. What would you do if you were in my position?”

  “Your people held me against my will. I was just trying to get back to my world. What happened in there was an accident.”

  “You are with a vampire hunter…” he glanced at Antonio and back to Ciaran “and you have an arsenal of anti-vampire weapons on your body. How can I believe what happened in there was an accident?”

  The crowd of vampires rumbled when they hurt the word ‘hunter’. They looked as if they wanted to charge.

  “I’m the hunter,” Antonio said. “He’s not. Let him go.”

  The new Mayor of Vampire City smiled. “So, you’re not a coward. I don’t regret saving you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Antonio growled.

  “The child at the market, Michael Martina, I paid him to alert you that your head was on the kill list.”

  The men were silent, taking in this surprising news.

  “It was almost too late,” Ciaran said. “A vampire had nearly killed him when we arrived.”

  “I know,” the elder vampire said and sighed. “I apologize. But you got there in time. So, I owed you that one, Ciaran. That’s why I didn’t kill you at the bunker.”

  “Why do you want to save me?” Antonio asked, still trying to understand.

  “Personal reasons,” the vampire shrugged. “Also for personal reasons, I won’t kill you now, Antonio. But I can’t let Ciaran go.”

  Ciaran arched an eyebrow. “Me against an entire city? Is that how you lead?”

  The vampire’s nostrils flared. “No,” he said tightly. “We haven’t finished our sword fight. If you beat me, one on one, I’ll let you go. To be fair, use your supernatural power, whatever it is. I don’t use my vampire power against humans.”

  “Later,” Ciaran said. “I have something urgent to see to. I will come back to fight you once I’m finished.”

  “No. I don’t trust you, or anyone. Want to leave, beat me.” The vampire pulled his sword. “Antonio, stand aside. I can’t guarantee your life against an accident.”

  Ciaran pulled his king sword and swung it to stretch out in full length. He and the vampire circled each other, eyeing, measuring.

  The city of vampire surrounded them, watching.

  CHAPTER 17

  Emily clawed at the gigantic steel door of the distiller. Tears streamed down her face. She looked at the security patch on the lock. Then she peeked into a small window. Inside the massive distiller, bodies of all the staff in the station had started to disintegrate.

  Then she cried again. “Do you know the pass code?” she asked Adam.

  “If you don’t know, how would I?”

  “The staff are beyond being saved,” Madeline said gently. “What is the talisman, Emily?”

  Emily said nothing. She gathered whatever she could and whacked at the door. She tried to smack the window.

  Nothing worked.

  She pulled over a laptop and plugged cords into the security patch. Madeline had seen Ciaran do this before. She knew what Emily was trying to do, without success.

  But when it came to decoding any lock or program, Madeline knew who the best in the cosmos was for that.

  When the computer didn’t work, Emily cried non-stop. Madeline tried to help, but she had to ensure she was helping the right people.

  “Who is the talisman for, Emily?”

  She said nothing and kept trying new codes in the computer, tears streaming down her face.

  “If the talisman is for the man you love, clawing at the computer and crying isn’t going to help.”

  When she had done everything she could on the computer, Emily flopped to the floor and wailed.

  Madeline looked into the distiller. On the floor was a small steel box, which was starting to catch fire.

  “I know who could help open this door,” she said to the other woman. “But I will only ask if you tell me what this talisman is for.”

  “I can’t tell you… you’ll kill him … people will kill him if they know this secret.”

  “I’m not anti-creature, Emily,” Madeline told her sharply. “If you want me to save him, I need to know I’m saving the right person. A good person. Is he a vampire?”

  Emily nodded. Tears streamed down her face. “Please help him. I need to get that talisman out.”

  “Is he a good person?”

  “Yes. Yes. I promise.”

  Madeline narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying to me, Emily.”

  “No, please. He didn’t have a choice to do what he did.”

  “What did he do?”

  “No, please. Don’t ask. If you need to kill someone in his place, then take me. But please, help me open the door.”

  Madeline saw herself in the devastated woman in front of her. Not long ago, it was her in the begging position for Ciaran. Nobody asked her whether Ciaran was a good man. Because at that moment, she would have done whatever it took to save him. Whatever it cost. Whatever the world thought of her. She didn’t care.

  She’d just wanted to save him.

  Madeline stared at the lock and then engaged her wrist unit. She wasn’t sure if the communication worked this way, but she had to try.

  She triggered her wrist unit and used verbal command, “Connect to Ciaran.”

  The small screen came to life. The operation signals were working. She waited.

  CHAPTER 18

  T he last clash of the sword sent both Ciaran and the vampire backward. The vampire was strong. Ciaran skidded several feet before he could plant them and regain his stance.

  The vampire took it hard as well. He was still on the ground, and couldn’t regain his stance.

  It looked as if Ciaran was
winning.

  The vampire slumped totally to the ground and turned even paler, if it was at all possible for a vampire. He was in his thirties. By Ciaran’s gauge, he was a good soldier. Ciaran would like to recruit the vampire to be his commander. If he survived this. Either way.

  The vampire didn’t look as if he could get up. He dropped his weapon.

  That isn’t right, Ciaran thought.

  “Kill me,” the vampire said.

  “You’re already dead.” As he spoke the words, he felt his wrist unit signal Madeline’s call. He looked at the screen and said, “Engage.”

  Madeline’s face came onto the screen. “Are you okay, Ciaran?”

  “Yes, things went as planned. But I’m quite busy at the moment.” He kept his eyes locked on the vampire. The vampire looked as if he was disintegrating.

  “I need your help, Ciaran. I need to decode a lock … lock … ahhh signals …”

  “Where are you?”

  “At the station. We found the station. We know what to do. But Emily must open the door of a distiller to take something out. It’s locked. She needs codes.”

  “Distiller? Is it going to explode when you open it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Jesus Christ, Madeline. Get away from it.”

  Emily’s voice came across. “It’s not going to work, is it? You’re not going to help us, are you?”

  “I need more information than that, Emily. I have the entire city of vampires watching me at the moment. So, if you want me to ignore the ocean of vampires here and help you on some sort of door, you really need to give me absolutely outstanding reason—”

  “Vampire City?” she interrupted him. “… you’re there … please tell Alex I’m sorry. Please tell him I love him.”

  “I don’t know which one is your Alex …” From the corner of his eye, he saw the vampire’s head perked up. He still couldn’t move, but he looked at Ciaran.

  Ciaran shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “Is that Emily?” Alex asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  Emily’s voice pierced through Ciaran’s unit. “Alex! Alex, is that you? Let me see him. Please. Please, Ciaran.”

  Ciaran approached Alex and tilted his screen so Emily could see. Alex was on the ground and was fading away by the second. “I’m sorry, Alex. The talisman is burning in the distiller. I can’t take it out. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s all right,” Alex said weakly. “Don’t cry, Emily. I knew this day was coming.”

  Ciaran cursed on the inside. Alex was weakened because his talisman was burned. Not because he beat the hell out of the vampire. Setting his ego aside, Ciaran asked, “What kind of lock is it, Emily?”

  Madeline came on the screen. “This might violate our codes of ethics, Ciaran. Emily wouldn’t tell me what Alex did.”

  Ciaran shook his head. Rules. Regulation. Code of honor. All the things he used to rule his universe. He could only save worthy men. That were the rules of Eudaiz.

  But here, he was in the city of vampires. “Alex, what did you do to end up with the talisman on your head?” Ciaran asked.

  “I was an assassin.”

  Ciaran nodded.

  “But I don’t kill humans,” the dying vampire explained. “In the last job, Emily was in the same place with those I had to kill. That’s how I met her. I couldn’t do it. I was in breach of the contract, and that talisman is held against me.”

  “Who was the client?”

  Alex grimaced and drew in a breath. “Hoyt Flanagan.”

  He could hear Madeline gasp. Hoyt Flanagan — his all-time number one enemy — the most notorious, sadistic, gruesome sorcerer of all time. The man who made Satan appear like an apprentice.

  Ciaran looked at Emily’s anxious face in the small screen of his unit, “Emily, I need a visual of the lock. Have you plugged all the cords into the right places?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right, just do what I say. This isn’t a complicated lock.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Emily was on the floor, typing in the last code Ciaran had read for her. She followed the instructions religiously. Madeline smiled on the inside. She was glad Ciaran had broken the rule to help them. It wasn’t the first time he had done so.

  She was proud of him.

  They took several steps backward, letting the pressure in the distiller come down before opening the door. If she hadn’t grabbed at Emily, she would have jumped right into the distiller to grab the box.

  That woman was so in love, Madeline thought and absently rubbed her thumb on her wedding ring.

  Eventually, they retrieved the box from the distiller. Emily had pulled the talisman out, rubbed it in her hands and slid it into her pocket protectively.

  Before they could celebrate, they heard the noise as a door opened and footsteps. They peered down from the top platform and could see Isabel and ten vampires walking in.

  “It’s time, Adam,” Isabel called out. “Where are you?”

  “It’s way too early,” Adam whispered to Madeline. He signaled. They sneaked into the side door to a small compartment. Madeline whispered into her wrist unit, “Ciaran, Isabel is here with ten vampires.”

  “Can you hold them until I have the shield delivered?”

  She bit her lip. “How long will you need?”

  “A few hours.”

  “I will see what I can do. Bye for now.”

  “Madeline.”

  “Yes, Ciaran.”

  “I love you.”

  The feeling of his love washed over her. “Then come back to me safely.” She disengaged her wrist unit before she teared up, then pushed at the door to see if it was secure.

  Outside, they could hear the footsteps of vampires and Isabel’s heels stomping on the metal platforms.

  “You don’t want to play hide and seek with me. I am not a patient woman,” Isabel said.

  “Doctor Costa’s dead!” a vampire’s voice echoed along the cold steel corridor.

  “Oh, is that so? I’m devastated.” Isabel’s throaty voice sang. “All right, if they’ve killed the good doctor, then something has happened here that didn’t go as planned. Have you found Adam?”

  “No, Isabel.”

  “Who reported the two bitches stirring some trouble here?”

  “It was me, Isabel,”

  “Oh, aren’t you are good boy? Where did you say they were heading?”

  “Upper compartment.”

  “Good!”

  Footsteps stomped everywhere, so close that Madeline didn’t care for it. She could jump out and fight those vampires. But Adam and Emily couldn’t. And she didn’t think she could protect them, fight and also prevent Isabel from taking the key at the same time.

  Absently, she withdrew deeper inside the compartment. Her back pressed so hard against the steel, it started to hurt. She wondered what Ciaran was doing, and she absently rubbed her thumb on her wedding ring again. She could see Emily was rubbing her hand against the talisman. She turned it around and around and clutched it tight in her hand. It was as if her life depended on it.

  Her life did depend on it.

  In the last hour, there were many time she thought Emily would jump over the rail and land on the ground floor head first.

  Damn love! She rubbed at her wedding ring again.

  The entire steel wall behind them began to lift open. Madeline, Emily and Adam lost balance, falling outside. They lay on the cold steel corridor and looked up at the endless legs of the most beautiful vampire she had ever seen. She knew it was the one they called Isabel.

  CHAPTER 20

  C iaran had crossed back to the dimension where Antarctica was. Alex had recovered quite swiftly after Emily retrieved the talisman from the distiller. Now, Alex and Antonio followed Ciaran to help. They still eyed each other and Antonio still growled at the old vampire whenever he could. In the middle of the snowfield, Ciaran was sure Antonio’s human eyes couldn’t see much.r />
  “This is the cross-over point between the Antarctica and the Vampire City dimensions,” Ciaran explained. “I have ordered a shield to be delivered here. Once I have placed the shield, Madeline and Emily can take the Virgo key without the designated consequences.”

  A signal arrived at Ciaran’s wrist unit. “It’s here,” He muttered and engaged the communication. They saw a flash in the sky and a teleport opened in magnificent blue and white light. Inside, a round shape divide that looked like a gigantic cylinder appeared.

  The light circled, glowed and vanished. On the ground was a two story tall shiny steel column.

  “Stay here,” Ciaran said and approached the cylinder. He flipped open a panel of the surface and typed in commands.

  A monotone robotic voice came across, asking for verification. He pressed his left palm on a square glass panel. The computer greeted him:

  Verified.

  Ciaran LeBlanc

  King of Eudaiz

  Mission: HGY1245.234

  Time: 24.23.658 XR

  Weapon number: ikh.1256.klo.23

  Status: activate on command

  Task: extermination

  CIARAN HADN’T REALIZED that Alex had stood next to him and peeked through his side to see the screen.

  “What does extermination mean?” Alex asked.

  “Check the dictionary, Alex,” Ciaran growled. “Get out of my screen.”

  A compartment door popped open. A text command appeared. “Insert key stone.” Ciaran quickly pulled the power stone he stole in Isabel’s office out of his pocket and dropped it into the compartment. He slammed the door closed.

  Alex saw the stone and recognized it. “That’s our power stone. What are you doing with it?”

  He pushed Ciaran away and grabbed the door. He hissed and withdrew it as his hand burned.

  “It’s silver, not steel, Alex,” Ciaran said.

  Alex drew his sword. “What is a silver bomb of this size doing at the cross dimensional zone between Antarctica and Vampire City?”