Joachim: Guardians of the Amphylon

By Kat Matthews

In a bid to save the world, Joachim failed in saving the only woman that brought light into his life, however short. Now the immortal guardian has immersed himself in battle if only to escape the haunting violet eyes that still torment him day in and day out. When he chases a rogue vampyr and confronts her, a vampyr is not what he finds, it is the very same tormented violet eyes he failed to save.
Danika was living a fate worse than death in the hell realms. She was captured by Galdour, a Demigod of the Realm of Chaos, intent on using her to be released upon the earth. When she was cast out of the hell realm and woke up on earth, she knew her life was forfeit. The only question was when.
The king of the guardians is out to destroy her, demons are out to steal her power and the demigod is intent on completing his plan and using her to be released upon the earth.
Can she survive the demon’s calling or would her will to live cast the world into darkness. Only one warrior has vowed above all others to save her no matter what it costs him, which may be his very soul. In the end is their love powerful enough to stop the evil threatening the world or will it all be for nothing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kat Matthews
• Release date: Nov 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311338297

Kat Matthews

Kat Matthews lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, one dog and a cat. She can be found many times either reading or writing all genres of romance. The never ending battering of her muse fills her imagination and forces her to write down her elaborate stories so the writing may never end. She would love to hear from her fans.

Book preview

Kat Matthews

Copyright © 2015 Elizabeth Machado writing as Kat Matthews

Smashwords Edition

Published By:

Elizabeth Machado writing as Kat Matthews at Smashwords

All Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author, except for brief quotations embodied in reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated.

This book contains mature content and is intended for adult readers.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

Cover by Kat Matthews

Dedication

For my cousin Tommy. The coolest cousin there ever was, sporting the long dark hair, fast car, rockin’ stereo system (always the newest badass system of course), complete with my favorite hard rock music. More importantly, he was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. And I know that despite this being a romance, I can bet money he would have read it. We always did have Buffy in common. We all miss you so very much and you will always be a part of my heart. Until we meet again!

Synopsis

In a bid to save the world, Joachim failed in saving the only woman that brought light into his life, however short. Now the immortal guardian has immersed himself in battle if only to escape the haunting violet eyes that still torment him day in and day out. When he chases a rogue vampyr and confronts her, a vampyr is not what he finds, it is the very same tormented violet eyes he failed to save.

Danika was living a fate worse than death in the hell realms. She was captured by Galdour, a Demigod of the Realm of Chaos, intent on using her to be released upon the earth. When she was cast out of the hell realm and woke up on earth, she knew her life was forfeit. The only question was when.

The king of the guardians is out to destroy her, demons are out to steal her power and the demigod is intent on completing his plan and using her to be released upon the earth.

Can she survive the demon’s calling or would her will to live cast the world into darkness. Only one warrior has vowed above all others to save her no matter what it costs him, which may be his very soul. In the end is their love powerful enough to stop the evil threatening the world or will it all be for nothing.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Synopsis

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Epilogue

Author’s Note

About the Author

Copyright

Other Works

Chapter 1

Pain. How else can you describe hell? It was where she was going after all. The burning sensation she felt around her ankle caused her to slip in and out of consciousness. For God’s sake had a blacksmith melted an iron band around her ankle straight out of the kiln? How long was she to descend into this pit of fire with this beast who held fast to her ankle?

Galdour, the demi-god. She knew its name well. She had watched in horror as her previous captor, Radu Vasilescu, the now dead Cimmerii vampyr, called out to the evil demi-god as he performed his sick ancient ritual. It was a desperate attempt to release the beast from its God forsaken realm and have full command over the demi-god.

She knew that would have been a failure. Nothing could overpower this beast. She was surprised that Vasilescu even attempted to harness a demi-god such as Galdour. Imprisoned by the Higher Archetypes of the Sacred Dimension, Galdour existed, waiting for his chance of vengeance against humanity.

But all was lost to the Cimmerii demon race. Vasilescu’s attempt to shift the balance between good and evil in their favor had failed. The war Vasilescu had longed for was once again averted.

Thanks to Danika, the woman Vasilescu sired and turned into a vampyr. And whomever else had a part in this cursed prophecy. The prophecy that had entrapped her in this hellish realm, complete with fire and brimstone.

Her blood debt to Vasilescu was fulfilled. Upon Vasilescu’s distraction, she thrust a sword through his heart killing him just as she had promised him. Thus preventing the demi-god, Galdour, access to the earthen realm.

Unfortunately, when Galdour saw that the ritual had failed, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her into this pit of hell right before the gate closed. This was her reward. No good deed goes unpunished right?

The beast looked at her then. His red and yellow speckled eyes tore through her thoughts. Pain pierced her skull and she screamed. The beast laughed at her agony. She slammed into the ground with such force it felt as though all the bones in her body had shattered upon impact. Unable to breathe, she begged for death, yet it did not come. The first of many unanswered prayers.

The sheer impact of the massive creature caused the ground to shake. Unaffected, it slowly stood to its full height. The size of the beast was enough to cause the gods themselves to tremble.

Its skin was a red so deep it looked black. It had slimy skin that glistened and a noxious stifling odor filled the air. Its massive horns, covered in blood, scraped the side of the underground wall causing dirt to fall on top of her.

It lifted her off the ground by her ankle and dangled her like a rag doll. She was surprised to find that she was able to keep her hand twisted tightly up in her filthy dress. She wondered how she survived the fall, how her limbs even worked was a mystery to her, but the pain was all too real. Pain. Such ungodly pain.

She hid a black dagger in her hand. It was the same black dagger that Vasilescu had used in his ritual to kill an Arch Adenine, a human with prophetic sight, and an immortal warrior. The two of them were a mated pair of twin souls or soul mates.

Vasilescu knew that to kill the prophesized soul mates would be an enormous boon for his vampyr race of demons. It would drastically tip the balance of the world in their favor and provide him with immense power. Enough that he thought he could control Galdour. How short sighted he was for an ancient. Because of Vasilescu’s death before completing the ritual, all was lost for the demi-god.

The portal that Vasilescu had opened that was to release Galdour had begun to close. Danika had used all her powers helping the Arch Adenine and the immortal warrior. She gave them her power in order to give them back their lives and in replace, gave up hers.

Her own reflexes had failed her as the beast had grabbed her by the ankle and drug her into the pit. At the last minute her eye caught the dagger and she grabbed it and twisted it up in her dress. She held onto it for dear life as they descended. Now was her time to use it.

When the beast twirled Danika around to look at her she quickly thrust the dagger deep into its chest. It roared in disbelief and pain then slammed her into the ground. The second blow was no better than the first. Her second prayer for death. Yet, again, she would find no solace in death in this hell dimension.

Death was not an option. Oh how she already longed for it. She had never felt such agonizing pain. It seemed like hours passed, but it was only minutes. It was the longest minutes of her life.

Being near the beast was enough to cause insanity in any human. But when it touched her, it was as if fire ants had bred beneath her skin. The need to scratch her eyes out when she looked at the beast was almost a compulsion. The thought of doing just that was the only comfort available.

Danika held strong. Her desire to live and be free, along with some left over powers from Vasilescu, kept her strength in check. She hadn’t expended all of her powers after all and she was damned thankful for it. Seemed as though someone was looking out for her. She just wished they would hurry up and get her out of here!

The beast ripped the dagger from its chest and threw it to the side. Danika lay on the ground. Was it dirt? She could have sworn it moved beneath her body. She felt a hand slide up her bare leg. She looked down to find a decrepit Cimmerii demon squatting next to her, eyeing her.

It smiled and then opened its mouth displaying its sharp teeth and two curved fangs. It was eager to feed on her. It looked like a rotting corpse. Its skin was hanging off its bones, oozing sores festered on its skull, and its yellow eyes sent chills down her spine.

As gruesome as it was, it was no shock. She had grown accustom to the creatures when she was Vasilescu’s captive. The ancient Cimmerii vampyr had fed many times upon her, and had many times allowed the others to feed on her as well. He always kept her on the brink of death but never let her die.

She was forced to feed on people that Vasilescu had brought in to keep from starving. He tried many times to get her to kill those poor souls but she refused. She was sure he would kill her for it, but he never did. He kept her as a pet. She was locked in that dungeon answering his every whim and sick demented desire.

Now she was someplace worse than that. The vampyr bent down to sink its teeth into her ankle, but before it touched her skin, she kicked it in the face with all her immortal might. The force knocked it into the far wall. It howled in pain and screamed in anger. Galdour laughed.

Still have a little power left you disgusting crypt keeper, she said in a low husky tone to the rotting vampyr. Obviously the dagger did nothing to Galdour since she was providing him with entertainment. So much for hanging on to it for dear life. She was lost.

The beast lifted her up by her hand; she hung at least ten feet in the air like freaking Raggedy Ann. Great, just great. Her skin was scalding. Blisters formed on the surface just from his touch. Pain racked her nearly unconscious.

The beast held up his hand and his fingernail lengthened into a sharp black talon. She watched in terror as that talon heated until it was bright red. This couldn’t be good.

It wasn’t. The beast slowly slid his nail down from her wrist to her elbow. Danika screamed in agony as it seared a deep wound in her arm. The beast muttered some kind of dark spell that caused her to vomit. She retched again and cried out. Then the burning pain on her arm began to spread.

The scorching tracks made a strange fractal-like design. She didn’t know how much more she could take before she passed out again. She was about to scream in pain again when the pain suddenly subsided. The beast had finally stopped chanting. A very small reprieve she was sure.

Danika felt something inside of her stir. It started out as a tingle in her chest, then a cool, soothing feeling spread through her body. She felt her soul crying out for release, trying to escape whatever was inside of her. She wanted it out and she wanted out of this hell realm! Please God get me out now!

Suddenly the beast roared in pain and anger. Its hand was smoking. Well that was certainly interesting. She didn’t think the creature could actually burn since it was hot as fire to begin with.

What was she doing at the time his hand started to smoke? Pain nearly overtook her and her eyes began to roll to the back of her head. She forced herself to re-focus. Stay conscious Danika, she told herself.

Oh yeah! She was praying! Ah, of course, that’s what pissed him off and made him smoke. So she really wasn’t completely alone in this hell dimension and she had an inkling that he couldn’t keep her long in this realm.

All she had to do was reach out enough. She heard some sort of sizzling sound but she was too weak to lift her head to see what was going on. Before she could reach out in prayer, the beast dropped her to the ground.

Danika awoke to more pain. She heard Galdour call upon his demons which quickly surrounded her. They all began to chant. She felt something bumpy underneath of her body. What was she lying on?

She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes. She saw strange symbols carved into the ground. Great, just freaking great. It looked as if she were in some sort of demonic circle for another ritual; and no doubt she was the main attraction.

What in the literal hell were they doing to her? She felt the power in the room, it vibrated in her body and burned terribly. She could feel the dark spell wash over her. She tried to protest but couldn’t find her voice.

She was sure the beast took it from her. She was definitely not blind to the ways of spell conjuring. She had seen Vasilescu perform enough of them to know she was knee deep in some seriously dark demonic shit, and it was not looking good for her.

She felt light headed and everything began to spin. The beast roared a command and pain seared her entire body as multiple sets of fangs sunk deep into her arms, legs, side and neck. She could suddenly feel the beast within her. She screamed in anguish, then everything went black.

********

Joachim drove his shiny, black, modified, Pontiac 6.0, GTO down the long dark highway nestled between the pine woods headed towards the city. He looked at the speedometer which read seventy five. He flipped his visor down and grabbed a CD then slipped it in. He hissed a long angry breath as the pounding beats of the band Slipknot’s song, Vermillion, fed his anger.

Probably not a good choice, he said to himself as he listened to the roaring lyrics of the heavy version of the song. It was an awesome song but hit a little too close to home for him. Joachim frowned. The damned song seemed to speak to him more than he cared to admit.

Impulsively he slammed his foot on the gas in reaction to the screaming lyrics. Flashes of Danika’s sad, violet eyes made him flinch. He watched the speedometer hit ninety five as the lyrics fueled his aggression.

He remembered her arms stretched out like a pagan goddess, her eyes clouded and white as she chanted in a demonic voice as if possessed. He shook his head to clear the memories of her but it was hard to detach himself from the message the song seemed to be giving him. He felt the incredible energy between the two of them as soon as he looked into her eyes. His foot pushed harder on the gas.

By this time the song was pounding and roaring at him, mimicking his thoughts. He was so drawn to her, his obsession. It was as if the darkness inside of him was answering hers.

Yet there was a purity involved cancelling out the darkness. It was a bizarre dichotomy. He was roaring down the road at one twenty before he saw the lights flashing behind him in the distance trying to keep up.

He felt sick to his stomach as he remembered her laying in his arms. How she seemed to recognize him, how she touched his face with her small, dirty, delicate fingers that seemed to brand his skin before rushing off to her death.

Shit, he bit out as he listened to the lyrics. Had they wrote the fucking song for him specifically? The lights caught his attention. He laughed at the cop trying to pursue him. The dashboard lights gleamed off his lengthened fangs as he smiled deviously. He glanced at the radio then glared into his mirror. He waved his hand as he stared at the police car. The cop turned off his lights and pulled over.

He drove faster down the long stretch of road devoid of cars at such a late hour. His speedometer hit one thirty five and the car was roaring. The music screamed out its desperate angry lyrics over and over again. He slammed his fist into the player smashing it into the dash.

Fuck! Definitely not a good choice, he said and continued to speed toward the city.

********

Danika felt something cold and wet on her face. Her cheek stung like crazy from being pressed against small pebbles and debris from the ground. She gasped and coughed and started shivering as she lay there in shock.

Her wet ragged dress was plastered to her skin. Something was pelting her in the face. Rain. Cold. Wet. Relief. She drug in a deep ragged breath and began coughing violently. Her eyes fluttered open but her vision was blurry. It was dark and she smelled something foul in the air.

Her hand flinched and she felt a burning pain race down the underside of her arm. The weight of her body pressed her hard against the asphalt. She slowly and painfully began to lift herself up. Small black pebbles stuck to her palms.

She looked around still in shock. She was in a dark alley somewhere in a city sitting on the wet ground near a dumpster. Trash and all kinds of decrepit debris you would find in the city slums, created a detestable décor. But it was the best décor she had ever seen. She was out of the hell realm.

Her vision cleared and she found herself sitting in the dark as rain poured over her soaking her through. The buildings were run down and very few of the street lights were lit. It was late and no one seemed to want to be out in the bad weather.

Of course no sane, normal, decent person would be caught dead in a place like this. Actually, she suspected many people probably were caught dead around here. She could only imagine the amount of drugs and crime that went down in this area and still it was the best place in the world right now.

She heard a loud bang as if something slammed into the large dumpster behind her. Someone grabbed her ankle and yanked. Whoever it was started to drag her from her spot. The asphalt scraped her skin causing scratches on her knees and legs and arms as she struggled to turn herself.

She swung her body around to find a Cimmerii vampyr dragging her further into the alley. She gathered her strength but found it was spent. He pulled her from the ground and sunk his teeth deep into her throat. She tried to scream but nothing would come out. The demon drank its fill being mindful not to kill her. Then flung her carelessly to the ground.

Get up, it hissed. Danika couldn’t move. It kicked her. Get up I said. It kicked her again when she didn’t move. It growled at her then sliced its wrist and forced her to drink. Danika fought the demon desperately but it was of no use. She placed her mouth on its decaying flesh and pulled the stagnant foul tasting blood into her mouth and swallowed under the demon’s compulsion.

It was horrible and burned her throat going down. Oh she was definitely going to kill this one when her strength returned. She could feel the power she still contained and some new foreign power she couldn’t place.

Enough! it said and slapped her across the face slamming her into the side of the dumpster. She fell to the ground and leaned back catching her breath. She could feel her energy returning and she smiled when she felt the new demonic power within her grow and she let it in.

Her arm burned and she held it up to see her new wound. The beast spoke to her, caressed her and soothed her pain. She smiled. The long mark was an intricately carved fractal-like design, a brand of the beast. She laughed. Her voice distorted with demonic undertones.

What are you laughing at you wretched bitch? it hissed at her.

She quickly stopped laughing and turned her murderous eyes to him. She flung out her hand and blasted the demon with a ball of fire that tore through flesh and bone and exited out his back.

The demon’s eyes flew open and it looked down at the large hole dripping with blood in its chest cavity. It screamed in outrage and dropped to the ground in a bloody heap.

She casually waved her hand as if chasing away a bug without a care in the world. The body burst into flames and disintegrated leaving only ashes behind that was quickly washed away by the rain. Danika stood up and smoothed her hands down her dress and carefully tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. She took two steps then passed out.

Chapter 2

Is she awake?

Shut up man!

Why so paranoid? Look at her she’s a fucking mess. Obviously no one is gonna miss the whore.

I said shut the fuck up! Let’s just do this before she wakes up.

Why, what’s the difference? We got her mouth all taped up. No ones gonna hear her. We do her just like the others then get rid of her.

Just hurry the fuck up. Two men struggled to drop their jeans in a hurry. They found this perfect prize in the alleyway that their gang owned. Officially in their world she was their property. Ain’t no one gotta know about this but me…and you. Got it?

Yeah, yeah, fuck, I got it already, like always, shit, the man mumbled.

Me first.

Aw come on man!

Shut up punk! The man who seemed to be in charge was tall and had short brown hair that was slicked back in a greasy style. He wore a white t-shirt with an open button down shirt and baggy jeans.

He pushed the other man out of the way and yanked up Danika’s dress. Her eyes flew open much to their shock. The so called leader yelped and leaned back. His friend, who was stockier than the leader but dressed nearly the same, started to laugh.

"What’s wrong with you? Afraid of this? You getting weak on me? Maaan, you got some issues."

Shut the fuck up. He looked at her, pondering her ever watching eyes. What the fuck you looking at bitch? He slapped her across the face. Danika winced and turned her head to the side. Her body started to shake. That’s better. Crying is much better, the man said with a victorious grin.

His features were pinched, and was the picture of a typical gang member. Maybe even more of a wanna-be member. He was still smiling, feeling the rush of power he had from his victims. Fear. He grabbed his cock readying himself. Suddenly Danika’s body started shaking more and she turned and looked at him as he was about to thrust into her.

Yo man that bitch is laughing!

What? The man looked down at Danika whose eyes had suddenly turned black and stared at him with a deadly glare. The man over top of her froze and started to gag. He threw his hands up to his throat trying to get rid of whatever was choking him. He scrambled off of her. Danika slowly rose from her spot.

What the fuck! the other guy yelled. He tried to run but tripped over his jeans that were down around his ankles. She gestured her head towards the man on the floor rendering him immobile.

She turned her attention back to the leader. She snapped the duct tape apart that was wrapped around her wrists as if it were nothing. Then she slowly ripped the tape from her mouth and smiled at the leader who was now on his feet and coughing from the near strangulation. She slid up to him and pushed her body seductively against his.

You wanna play boys? Growling hunger took over and she viciously ripped into the man’s throat and drunk heavily. The other man on the floor screamed. Danika let the body drop to the floor then turned to the other man. What’s wrong lover? Her voice was a blend of her own husky notes accompanied by a chorus of demonic tones from her partial possession.

I know you understand me. How much you get off on killing after you’ve had your way with your victim. I’m sure you can understand where I’m coming from. Mmm… She drew in a deep breath as if taking in his scent.

"And I can tell you have killed and gotten off on it many, many times. Oh how much fun we will have together." The voice was more demonic than normal as Galdour spoke to the man through Danika.

Danika’s arm burned and seared. Her hunger grew again. She approached the terrified man on the floor and sunk her teeth into his throat and drank her fill. The body flopped around for a bit before weakening.

She let him go, stood up and walked over to the nearest window in the abandoned building and looked down at the dark empty street below. She turned and threw a fire ball at the leader’s body incinerating it.

She heard the man gasp behind her. She walked over to him and looked down at him without feeling. She could read his thoughts. How many women they both had tortured and raped only to kill them in the end.

She felt their rush of adrenaline that each kill brought them, the power they felt, the strength. She easily lifted the man and walked over to the window. He was too weak to struggle and stared at her with utter fear. She looked down at him.

Oh how the mighty and powerful have fallen, she said and then threw him out the window. The body slammed into the street right in front of a car.

Shit! Joachim slammed on his breaks. The black GTO’s rear swung to the left then swung back to the right screeching and sliding on the wet asphalt before coming to a stop right in front of the body.

He leapt out of the car and ran to the mangled corpse. He instantly felt the surge of dark power. The man’s neck had been torn out. He looked up at the building and saw a slight figure, mouth covered in blood grinning at him.

"Cacat, shit, he mumbled Now look at you. There’s a sight you don’t see every day, if ever. A female Cimmerii demon? They usually don’t let you out of their sight," he said and felt sorrow that a woman was turned, the men always outnumbered the women and they were their light to their darkness. He hated to hunt a woman. He looked at the man in the street with his throat torn out.

"Cum îti asterni, asa te vei culca." You made your bed now you must lie in it. Joachim took off with blinding speed towards his quarry. Her eyes widened and she took off running. She laughed at the pursuit.

She raced across the littered room of the abandoned building eyeing a window towards the back and flung herself out into the night. She landed hard on top of a dumpster and took off with blinding speed but came up short when she slammed into something solid knocking her head over heels onto the filthy hard ground in the alley.

She threw a fire ball at the obstacle that impressively dodged the attack. She screamed in rage and flung out her hands scattering bolts of electricity throughout the area.

She heard a grunt then laughed when she saw her attacker down on one knee. She raced over to him and quickly sunk her fangs into his neck. She drank heavily swallowing five gulping mouthfuls. Joachim roared in pain and outrage. He quickly grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off his neck.

"Nenorocitule!" You miserable! He ripped her off his neck and when she tried to raise her arms to throw another one of those damned electric plasma balls through his body, he slammed his hands against her chest sending her careening into a dumpster. She hit it with tremendous force. She laughed then began to sink slowly to the ground. Her smile slowly changed from amusement to complete and utter fear.

Blood rushed through her veins. His blood was doing something to her. Blood of an ancient Nemuritor warrior. She knew this. Somehow she knew. She knew him.

His blood fed her soul, feeding her memories, her spirit, slowly bringing her back, sending lost images through her mind. Her mind. Not the beasts. Danika’s mind. My mind…my mind… she whispered out loud.

That voice. Joachim’s head flew up and his heart sank. Fear gripped him. His breath slammed out of his chest when he saw those piercing deep violet eyes staring into nothingness. Eyes that hunted his dreams, haunted his visions.

Eyes he’d painted a thousand times over. She was so filthy he didn’t recognize her, until he finally saw the real color of her eyes. Dupâ ploie vine soare, he thought to himself. After the rain comes sunshine. He raced to her side and gently took her face in his hands.

Danika?

Chapter 3

Danika slowly turned her eyes towards him. She wasn’t there. She was in turmoil, confusion made her rage. Such terrible rage! Her arm burned fiercely and she screamed. She tried to throw electricity into him but found her powers were spent. She screamed again pounding at his chest and face. Nails ripped into his arm making him bleed.

He pulled her into his solid arms and held her so tight she was barely able to breathe. She couldn’t move but she tried. She tried with every last bit of her strength until she was completely spent. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out. He quickly lifted her up and carried her to his car.

He looked at the body in the deserted street and felt his heart skip a beat. He swallowed and looked at her with new fear, he whispered a cleansing prayer and incinerated the body. Judging by his clothing and colors he was definitely a member of a gang, yet that meant nothing if he was an innocent. His heart was pounding. She’s here. She’s in my arms.

He manipulated the energy around her and sent, her into a deep unconscious state. He placed her in the passenger’s seat and ran around the car and got behind the wheel. He paused for a moment clenching his hands on the wheel. His place was only a few blocks away, the spell should hold until then. He started his car and spun his wheels taking off. Joachim shook his head in disbelief.

She was alive. At least mostly. He glanced at her. She was a complete mess and evil radiated from her causing him more pain than she could have possibly afflicted physically. He didn’t save her. He flinched at the thought. She was filthier than ever, looking every bit a demon.

What the hell was he doing? He should be killing her not giving her a ride. She was Vampyr, he could smell the evil stench of her, she’s definitely different than before, turned, the smell and feel was undeniable. The thought made his blood turn to ice. His fingers tingled in fear. He should turn her over.

No, he denied. Yet he knew his duty. He would take care of it himself. No one needed to know, he would end her life himself, and no one else would touch her.

Joachim. A voice telepathically contacted him. He threw his hand to his temple when the pain seared through his head from the Nemuritor’s form of telepathic communication. He instantly slammed the link closed.

Great. Just great. He just mentally hung up on his King. That didn’t look conspicuous, but the last thing he wanted was for Gavril to read his mind. He cleared his thoughts before reopening the link.

Gavril. My apologies, you caught me off guard.

Are you in the city?

Yes.

Have you found any Cimmerii? The elders are sensing a disturbance. Joachim looked at the unconscious Danika.

New York is a large place. Want to be more specific? he said staring at the little female.

The Bronx. Apparently near your place.

I’ll take care of it. With that Joachim slammed the link closed. Joachim’s stomach turned at the thought of them being able to detect Danika’s presence. Unless there were others. He knew Gavril would give him time before contacting him, he had been less than social as of late. Shit. He knew he would not be able to shield himself for too long. He should kill her now before she wakes up, before she looks him in the eye. The thought came unbidden.

But it was true; he should have done it in the alley. But that was before he knew it was her. Once he heard her speak all bets were off. In fact, just the thought of