Chapter Twenty Four
"Nergal." She mumbled in her sleep.
In her minds eye she could see Nergal in his true form and he vibrated with malevolent mirth. Skin a toxic green, oozing with pustules and black poison blood. His teeth as large as knives, as sharp as needles dripping with saliva.
He was this and he was also those she had known him to be: Gideon Parasyn, Sybil Wilbur, Tony Gavet and even her father, Alexander Burrows. He was the once worshipped god of the underworld, the bringer of war, pestilence, fever and devastation. He was brother to Apollyon. The lover of Agrat-bat-mahlaht.
She felt their lives intertwined, as surely as Draconi was the other part of her soul. And she Nergal's cruel gnarled hand wrap around Draconi's throat like a chord and with a great cry she sat up.
Nergal had found his perfect host. "Draconi."
She was once again on the silken sheets, her head filled with sheer panic. The room had been refreshed since she had left half of it black and singed. She turned to find Draconi was no longer beside her.
He had taken her back to his private apartments that night and they had violent sex as if they could work the frustrations of their memories on one another's flesh. Vampires healed fast, that was what Alex learnt that night.
Trembling, she picked up some of the clothes that were strewn about the room and headed for the door. Canis stood as if ready for her, staring blandly. "Draconi?" She asked for softly.
"The master is gone." He replied.
She nodded and pushed past him..
"This came for you, mistress." He held out a crisp white envelope.
"I'm not your mistress, Canis." She said taking hold of the envelope.
"Of course." He bowed by way of apology.
She opened it carefully whilst he waited beside her in perfect silence. The paper was unsigned and formal, the words hardly worth reading. Pope had acknowledged their separation and rescinded all protection from her person, cancelled all her allowances and routs of travel. She let out a shaky breath.
This was proof of her freedom from Pope but now she was prey. Pope could have her hunted for sport but didn't think he would do it. The Tribunal would be more likely to order her be hunted and Pope wouldn't be above dropping a hint to them to do it.
"I have to go." She said softly to Canis who gave another bow.
She made a quick journey to Cal's apartment where she had her files backed up on a usb pen drive she had wedged between the mattress and the bed. From there it didn't take her long to find her way back to Tasi's encampment, she had not taken pains to conceal her whereabouts from Alex and Alex hoped this was deliberate on Tasi's behalf. It was not long before she sat before Tasi once again who looked almost overnight more aged and exhausted than before.
"Do you bring me news, Alexandra?" She asked with a forced smile.
"The Tribunal have sanctioned my execution." She pushed the pen drive toward Tasi. "Here are the details I have on their movement in the city and where your territories clash. They'll target your people, no doubt trying to get to me. This is a friendly warning as there has been an understanding between us."
Tasi closed her fingers around the plastic staring at her clenched fist before looking up to meet Alex's eyes. "Then I suppose I owe you something in return, Alexandra."
Alex shrugged.
Tasi sighed and debated inwardly with whether to disclose her information. She began to talk after sucking in a great mouthful of air. "Becoming a vampire is more complicated that the mechanism of the dark rebirth. There are rules, Alexandra and someone has broken those rules in making you. The Council will also have a warrant for your arrest leading to a formal execution unless of course your maker is willing to bring a case forward before the Elders."
Alex shook her head, Draconi was not likely to make a case for her survival before any one. He wasn't a vampire who played by the rules, gliding above and beneath the radar of the Night.
"Even then many will not allow you to live, what with your connections to Pope. If you do not have permission and your maker can not stand to convince the Council then within two weeks there will be assassins dispatched to eliminate both you and your maker."
Now without Pope's protection, without anonymity from the Night World, and Nergal's presence she was a target for everybody and everything. She had been prepared for this, but then she was only one being, a needle in a haystack.
"However."
Alex hung on her words but Tasi's mouth formed a malevolent smile.
"However, there is a Circle amongst the spell casters who revere all life and accept all allies to their cause. They preach peace and wish to forget the Burning Times, as you can imagine they've been a thorn in our side for many years." She drummed her nails on the table surface as she spoke, nose wrinkled in distaste at the thought of them. "They raise half breeds, accept humankind without charging a fee and they do not allow murder etc etc."
Alex had heard of such things but had never looked into it. "Do they have a name? A location?"
"They call themselves Circle Daybreak. They're based in Vegas, represented by a powerful vampire; though it is not common knowledge. His name is Lord Descourdres. Thierry Descourdres."
Her thoughts drifted to the brief encounter with Maya. I have business in Las Vegas. She laughed under her breath. "Thank you, Tasi."
"I'll miss you, princess."
She turned back to glimpse the vampire woman. Her eyes were large and liquid and she felt a chill as if those words held portents.
She offered a wan smile and left.
*
Alex knocked on Draconi's door and listened to the sound of approaching foot steps. As expected Canis opened the door, his expression grave as his set eyes on her face. "The master is busy, he does not want to admit visitors at present."
"I am not a visitor." Alex said mildly and forced the door open wide.
Canis' eyes widened but he tried to remain firm. "I am sorry, but the master-"
She took him by his throat and felt his delicate parts grind beneath her palm, she raised him off the floor and her eyes became orbs as bright as lava. "Where is he?"
Canis stuttered and trembled uselessly before confessing and she released him, he slid down the wall. She marched through the apartment, pulled irresistibly by the toxic cord that bound them, spilling from her solar plexus to his and back again.
She came upon a room layered in smoke and veils like a harem quarter in a sultan's palace. She parted the curtains and veils, eyes adjusting to the reams of smoke that clogged the den. There were several human women draped in various stages of undress.
Draconi reclined somewhere in the midst of it all, shining like a pearl. Dark hair and bright purple eyes standing out beneath human flesh and the mist of smoke.
Alex took a bold step forward and several pairs of eyes sluggishly turned toward her. She gave the women such a look that sent them reaching for their discarded clothes and stumbling toward the exit.
When they had gone Draconi sat up, his vision cleared to encompass the sight of her, blood still fresh on his lips.
"What do you want?" His voice dripped venom.
The violence that had been in him had not yet subsided, he would harbour his hatred for a long time to come, she knew. Seeing Maya had sent him spiralling, glutting on blood and flesh as if he were a younger vampire.
"You're in trouble."
"This is not a word I know."
She glared at him. Couldn't deny the sliver of jealousy that ran through her. "We need to talk."
"I am through talking."
"Then listen." He bared his teeth in a snarl.
She told him about Pope, about Tasi and what she had said. She spoke of the Circle that had risen in the West. She explained her dream, the demon wanting to possess him like he had possessed Cal. She told him everything and he stared impassively at her.
"Let the demon come." He hissed.
She grasped his smooth chin in her fingers and forced him to look at her. "Nergal wants you, Draconi, he will plunder your soul to possess your body."
He was frozen by her touch and she was all too aware of the sensation of his skin beneath hers. It was too intimate. She let go and stepped away.
"You're afraid, Sarima." He said softly.
"Alex." She corrected. "You should be afraid, Draconi."
"I am afraid of nothing."
"The last demon you tangled with, Prince, cost you your mortality."
He hissed, a hollow reptilian sound. She thought of Cal, the last victim of Nergal and how she had ended committing chunks of his flesh to the salty waters of San Francisco bay. She closed her eyes and summoned every shred of energy from deep inside herself to say one word: "Please."
He smiled slowly, showing fangs and malice and Alex shivered. For all the vampiric strength she now possessed, Draconi was a honed weapon, a being of incredible magic. For all the memories and magic that flowed through her now she could not harm Draconi. She knew this as surely as the oily black chord pulsed between them.
He had saved her from Nergal and she could not let Nergal have him now.
"You thought I would just accompany you to the desert as you pleased?" He did not look at her in the time he spoke.
"Yes." She replied honestly feeling anxious at the set of his shoulders.
He laughed under his breath but there were beasts in that sound, echoes of terrible suffering. "I do not know Alexandra Burrows."
She sat down suddenly, watching her fingers lock together, the unnatural pallor of her skin the veins running with stolen blood. She was not human anymore. Not really Alexandra Burrows. Maybe she never had been.
"You know me, Draconi." She said softly. "Know me enough to trust what I'm saying is true. I have never deceived you."