Running From the Night (11 page)

Jelani laughed. “You act like I don’t know I can’t beat her on a snowboard. And why are you all just now getting here?”

“We thought to take our time and enjoy the way down,” Daniel said, “not grind it all away in one run.”

“Well, that was a good enough practice run for me,” Christopher announced. “I’m off to the diamond runs.”

“And then the double diamond,” Jelani added. “You’re crazy.”

“You haven’t tried it, my friend. There’s no rush like it.”

“The rush of disaster being just a mistake away? Nah, that’s alright, you go have fun, dude.”

The group broke into two parts, Christopher and Nikki heading for the black diamond slopes, and the rest of the group heading to the other blues.

“I suppose you didn’t see that crow pacing you for a little while before it banked off to the right?” Daniel said in a low voice beside him.

“Are you kidding me?”

“It didn’t stay long, but it was there for probably thirty seconds before it flew away.”

“Is she playing games or something?”

Daniel glanced at the sky as they made their way to the lifts. “I think she’s having fun.”

***

Chapter Thirteen

Jelani, Daniel, Wen, and Alisha skidded to a stop at the bottom of the mountain. It had gotten considerably colder since the sun had set an hour ago, and they were eager to warm up. Jelani stepped out of his snowboard and flipped it over, wiping the snow off with a gloved hand. The towering lights above illuminated the dark grounds with their pale bright light, and for all that they could see, it might have still been daylight.

“I can’t believe we just did this from noon to eight o’clock at night,” Alisha said.

“And you know Chris and Nikki will probably be up there at least another hour or two,” Jelani added.

“Well I’m up for some hot food and then some hot chocolate afterward.”

“Mmm, hot chocolate!” Wen said, hugging herself and twisting her body left and right. “Yummy!”

The village was alight and festive, with people heading to and returning from the mountain while tourists milled about the many stores, shopping for souvenirs and other items at inflated prices.

“You ever think about what it must be like to ski the Alps?” Jelani asked.

“Ask Chris,” Alisha said.

“I don’t have all night.”

“I’d like to go there one day,” Daniel said. “We ought to plan a trip there, maybe next year?”

“Hello, Jelani.”

He stopped, everyone else stopping a few feet farther away. Jelani wanted nothing more than to disappear at that moment. Not now. God please, not now!

“Hey, Saaya,” he said, making his best effort to sound happy to see her. This time, at least, she was dressed somewhat appropriately. Somewhat. She wore purple tights and a matching coat that looked like it would keep the wearer warm in weather at least two dozen degrees warmer. She wore no headgear of any kind, and her silky black hair blew gently in the night wind as snowflakes collected and fell to her shoulders. The others came to join them, and Alisha gave him a “who’s your friend?” look.

“This is Saaya,” he said, then introduced everyone in turn. He tried to include Daniel in the introductions as though they’d never met, but Saaya promptly defeated that effort.

“Of course I remember Daniel. How are you?” She smiled up at him.

“I’m good, thanks,” he replied stiffly. “You up here for a little skiing?”

“My trip up here was a bit last minute for that, but I thought it still might be fun. A different kind of fun than what’s been going on lately down in Vancouver.” That could have meant anything. Did she mean the Hunter was up here, or that he wasn’t? “I love the snow,” she said, looking around at the white-roofed buildings.

“We were just about to have dinner,” Alisha said, nudging Jelani with an elbow.

Jelani nearly jumped at the prod. “Oh, would you like to join us? We were just about to decide where to eat.”

Saaya made a show of thinking about it, then smiled. “I appreciate the offer, thank you. But my brother is waiting for me and I must go now. I hope to see you all again. Maybe tomorrow?”

Jelani couldn’t think of a safe response, so he tried as neutral a path he could think of. “Where are you staying?” he finally asked.

“Oh, just right there.” She pointed to the hotel lodge at the corner of the bend in the street. “How about you?”

Trying to hide his discomfort, he pretended to be surprised and pointed to the same building. “Same one. How did that happen? They’re low on rooms.”

“Guess I got lucky!” she said cheerfully.

“Well, we’d better get going, so we can eat and you can catch up to your brother.” Jelani gave her an awkward hug. “Tell him I said hello.”

“You’re sweet. I’ll tell him.” She looked at the others. “Nice to meet you all, and good to see you again, Daniel.”

The others waved goodbye and started away. Jelani turned away and she caught his arm in a grip that was like iron. Stronger than iron. This time he didn’t mask his disbelief. She could easily crush his arm if she’d wanted to.

“Clever move,” she said, smiling at him. It was a smile that made men climb into arenas and beat at each other to obtain. That smile made him look over his shoulder in alarm. “Do not worry,” she said, her voice still cheerful. “They won’t know you were gone.”

“How—”

She held a hand up to forestall the incoming question.

“You two have done what has never been done before, Jelani. You have eluded a Hunter, not once, but twice.”

“Not really,” Jelani replied. “Both times we would have been dead as that Jacob guy if your brother hadn’t prevented it.” She tilted her head, conceding the point.

“Perhaps, but you managed to survive before we came to your aid. That is no small thing,
jaan
. Trust me, a Hunter’s target typically has a lifespan of less than twenty-four hours.”

“Two questions,” Jelani said. “First; why do you keep calling me
jaan
? What does that mean?”

She smiled at him. “It is a term of endearment. It literally translates into ‘life,’ in English. But in my language, it could be the same as calling someone ‘my love.’ Does this bother you?” She looked at him with smoldering eyes.

“Ah. No. Just wondering.” He blinked a couple times and continued. “My other question is the same one that’s been hanging unanswered for four days now. Why are you here? You claim you have no real reason to help me, but you’ve helped me twice. I don’t understand what amusement you’re finding in this situation, but you’ll have to pardon me if I don’t share it with you. You say it’s impressive we’ve lasted this long. To what end, if we don’t have much or any chance, and you only help when it suits you?”

“Don’t be angry with me, Jelani. I do not wish you any ill will, but you intrigue me.”

“What? Like a squeaking mouse intrigues a cat?” To his shock, her responding expression suggested just that.

“We have different natures, you and I,” she said. Suddenly there was power behind her voice. The air was heavy with it, crackling with it.

What the hell is this girl? “Saaya. What are you? I want an answer now. What are you?”

“Would you force an answer from me?” she asked.

Jelani sighed and stepped closer to her. “Look, I know you could crush every bone in my body. I can feel that. I can feel things about you that make me really uneasy.” He had a thought. “And speaking of this, what’s up with the crows? I know it’s you. Do you see through them, or something?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. I ask them if I may travel with them, and they agree.”

“Are all vampires able to do that? If so, I’ve probably got a serious problem.”

Her eyes narrowed at him, but there was no malice in her expression. “You know I’m not a vampire, love.”

“Then you are …”

“Different.” She moved closer to him until her body was almost touching his. When she looked up at him, the weight of her gaze drew him in, as if the world only existed in her eyes. “What I am may be difficult for your sensibilities to understand. I am something the same as you, but something more, as well.”

“More?” The word fell awkwardly from his mouth. He could feel his thoughts mushing together and he shook his head. “What do you mean more?”

A glimmer passed across her eyes, and he felt his face lowering closer to hers.

“Would you really like to know?” Her voice was an echo in his mind, a deep whisper in the wind. Instead of hearing her voice, he felt it. She leaned forward, and this time her body touched his. His pulse quickened just before her soft lips touched his. The kiss was subtle at first; a hint of something more. Then, her lips pressed more decisively, drawing him in.

In a sudden flash in his mind, he saw a young girl taking her first steps, proud parents watching. Then it was as if he was in the young girl’s mind. He felt the elation of making an object levitate with her mind for the first time.

He felt the joy of finally being able to communicate with an animal. Then she was a teenager, and the mental clarity seemed far beyond her years. She could now move objects with her mind at will. She could speak to animals and birds, and they would do things when she asked them to. She felt her strength growing with every year that passed. She was as strong as an adult male twice her size. She could see colors in a vividness that was beyond anything he had ever experienced.

Then she was nearing adulthood. Her father had not aged a day, but her mother, though youthful, had aged through the years, albeit gracefully. There was an impending decision. He felt as though something long thought about would have to be decided very soon, and it involved her parents. She was many times stronger than her mother now, stronger than any woman, or man. She’d inherited her mother’s beauty, and her father’s strength. And something more. Something far more.

And then he felt it. On her thirtieth birthday she stopped aging. And there was power there! So much that he couldn’t fully grasp it. Where her thoughts went, there was influence. She could influence things and people from great distances. Her physical strength was incomparable to any human, but her mind was even more powerful. Mortal creatures had such fragile minds and bodies.

Her mother stood before her, smiling. She was different, now. She stood tall and regal, not a blemish on her skin. And her eyes. There was a red tint to her eyes that hadn’t been there before. The decision had been made, and so her mother would share in her immortality.

Jelani’s mind screamed, but it was a tiny thing immersed in the memories in which he swam.

The thirst for blood, while overwhelming for her mother, was more easily managed by herself and her father. They were different, yet because her mother had been re-made by her father, she, too, would eventually control the thirst better than others of their kind.

Time warped and shifted, and then she was leaving. Setting out into the world to sate her curiosities and smite her boredom. Her parents understood and did not lament her departure. They had forever to await her return.

The visions ended and Jelani’s mind returned to the kiss in which they were still engaged. After what seemed like eternity wrapped in a moment, they parted, though it felt more like she’d released him. He took a steadying breath and looked at her. Her hand rested gently on his chest, and warmth radiated from her palm.

“Is that how you normally transfer information?” he breathed.

“If I choose,” she replied, still close. “It is more efficient, and more enjoyable, than recitation, don’t you think?” He nodded dumbly. She stepped back and he leaned toward her, but her hand held him where he was. “I think you should catch up with your friends now.” She nodded her head in the direction of the departing group. They were walking in the direction of the nearest restaurant and were almost there.

“So you’re … you’re a …” he stumbled over the words. “You’re a half vampire?” He felt his pulse quickening with his trepidation.

“The short answer is yes,” she said, and before he could say anything more, she indicated his friends again. “Join your friends, Jelani. You don’t want to keep that lovely lady waiting. She is fond of you.” He half turned, half stumbled toward them, then turned back, startled but not surprised to see that she was no longer there. He looked around, but there was nowhere she could have gone that quickly. Could vampires disappear?

He half high-stepped half ran until he caught up with the others. As Saaya had said, they hadn’t noticed his absence. How did she do that?

“… And then maybe we should try night skiing with Chris and Nikki,” Jason was saying. “What do you guys think?” There was a general murmur of agreement and Jelani joined in.

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ll just have to see how cold it gets before I give a definitive answer,” Alisha said. She looked up at Jelani. “You have a distant look. What’s up with you?”

“Just got some stuff on my mind,” he answered absently.

“Some stuff, or someone?”

Jelani had anticipated the response and was shaking his head before she’d finished talking. “No, it’s not like that. I’ve had a few things on my mind for some days now, and I was reminded of it, that’s all.”

Alisha cast him a dubious look but let it go.

***

Chapter Fourteen

Saaya remained still, watching Jelani catch up with his friends. She hadn’t moved when he looked away and then looked back in her direction. He had looked directly at her, though to his eyes she had gone. One of the many talents she possessed was the ability to bend the light around her as if she was invisible. The trick was to remain absolutely still, which was no problem for her.

Humans milled about the street, passing right by her in every direction. None could see her, yet none walked into her either. Through a subtle technique with her mind, she surrounded herself with an aura that gently nudged those nearby to step around.

She couldn’t remember ever being as fascinated by a human as she was with these two. They would have died if she had not intervened the previous night, but the fact that they had so effectively fought off Jacob was no small thing. She honestly wasn’t sure whether or not the
shaquora
would have managed to kill them. Before Yako had intervened, it had looked like the other one, Daniel, might have been able to kill Jacob.

“Hmm.” She watched until they entered the restaurant and were out of view. Saaya had used the excuse of fairness of the hunt to intervene in the Hunter’s kill. Deep down, however, she couldn’t deny it was more than that. These humans interested her, and Jelani in particular, interested her more than she wanted to admit to herself. What stake did she have in his survival? When she thought about it, she couldn’t say she had any stake in his survival, other than the fact that she found him interesting. More than interesting.

When the group disappeared through the doors of the restaurant, her smile shifted to a more thoughtful look.

“A human has arrested your thoughts.” The sound of her brother’s baritone voice pierced her musings, and she let her camouflage fall as she turned to face him. Kafeel could see her whether she stood, plain or hidden. She knew of nothing that could fool those eyes, mostly dark brown, sometimes lavender. He and Saaya were of the same father, though they didn’t share the same mother. Kafeel had been born long before Saaya’s mother’s ancestors walked the earth.

“I find him … interesting.”

“More than that. Take care,
kipepeo
.”

She smiled at the sound of his nickname for her, which meant “butterfly” in his native Swahili tongue.

“What do you think will happen, brother? Do you think I will fall in love with him?”

“By the Hunter’s sword or inescapable mortality, he will be gone to you in but the blink of an eye.”

She didn’t bother to respond because he was already gone. Kafeel was like that. He spoke little, and would often depart abruptly. She could always feel when he was near. Whatever she was capable of, his talents eclipsed hers.

“Is he right, Jelani?” she asked in a low voice that the human certainly could not hear. “Should I leave you to your fate? Either way, your life is but a flicker in the span of eternity.” A sparrow landed on the ground a dozen feet away, bouncing around in its search for food. She smiled at the tiny life form at her feet.

“But then, the scope of a life is relative.” She turned and walked in the opposite direction. After a few steps, she stopped and half turned her head and looked at the rooftop of a nearby building, a smile stretching her lips. The moment passed, and she continued on her way.

O O O

He watched the half-breed until she disappeared around the bend in the street. He watched that bend for a few moments before turning his attention to the restaurant that the two humans had gone into. Yako breathed a slow, even breath, but since his body was no warmer than the crisp mountain air, his breath did not cloud as it would with one of the warm-blooded.

His frustrated stare lingered on the building for a time. He could do nothing. He knew that. He’d known it from the moment he discovered the destination of those two. Though he could have easily enough dispatched the entire vehicle full of humans, there would have been dire repercussions for such an act.

He was no filthy
shaquora
, skulking the streets like a starved rabid animal, desperate for a kill. Nor was he a weakling
skiek
. Such unfortunate creatures as half-breeds were the weakest in the hierarchy, and thus targeted by all. That stray thought made him glance back in the direction the
skiek
girl had gone. If not for her powerful brother he would have dispatched her along with those two humans. In truth, if he’d had to choose, he would have killed her instead. Humans were what they were; a weaker species to be endured and share the world with. And occasionally harvested.

Purebloods were the true rulers of the world, and only the elite warriors of the pureblood hierarchy could attain the rank of Hunter. Yako had become a Hunter nearly three hundred years ago and had eliminated countless targets. Some were as resourceful as the two humans he hunted now, though he had to admit to himself that those two were more skilled than most. Still, their skills and resources should have meant little.

His eyes narrowed. Even if they’d have known his personal weakness to fire and silver, they never would have been fast enough or strong enough to exploit it. Even garlic could have incapacitated him enough for them to stand a chance, but they wouldn’t know that either. Whatever her motives, the half-breed girl had not revealed enough to truly help them. Yako found that puzzling but wasted no time considering it.

His mind was focused on only one thing; how he would eliminate them. He couldn’t do it here, with so many witnesses. He could, perhaps, cause a mass confusion and make it look like a random killing, but that was leaving a good bit to chance, and the directives were specific. When a target was established, only that target was to be dealt with. Only under specific circumstances was any other human to share the fate of the target.

He thought about that tall one that always hovered near the girl named Saaya. He was pureblood for certain, but what was his lineage? Yako had never, ever, met a vampire that strong. Even the strongest of the pureblood hierarchy would bend before that one.

He would have to find a way to eliminate him first, but that would be the problem. He had tried to locate the tall pureblood after that first night when he was caught unawares; when dealing with the human. The Hunter’s jaw clenched. It all should have ended that night. The human witness and the
shaquora
would have been eliminated before the waning of the night, and Yako would have been on his way back to the coven.

As it stood, the turned vampire was eliminated, but he now had the two humans to deal with, which would not have been so bad, if not for the presence of that other pureblood.

Again, Yako’s gaze went to the bend in the street. The half-breed girl was little concern, as he could deal with her with little more difficulty than a human. He could sense the age in her, and he wondered how a
skiek
could have lived past a normal human life span. It mattered little, for once Yako had found a way to deal with her brother he would eliminate her, then turn his attention back to the two humans. They would likely become complacent when Yako failed to confront them for a few days.

It had been a long time since he’d hunted another pureblood. The trick was finding out what their personal weaknesses were. All vampires were different, and depending on their age and lineage, their strengths and weaknesses would vary. Yako was vulnerable to sunlight, fire, and silver, and bore an extreme allergy to garlic. The latter was mostly an allergy of all vampires, since the blood that flowed through their veins was both slow-moving, and thin. A human would see it as anemia, though that was not exactly the case.

His gaze continued to linger on the bend in the street. The little bitch had known he was watching. She’d even had the audacity to smirk at him over her shoulder before rounding the corner. Did she not care for her life? Surely, having lived a bit over a hundred years she should have known she was no match for him. But then, why should she be afraid with that demon of a brother as her shadow. Yako’s eyes narrowed further. He would test her confidence personally once her brother was dealt with.

***