Breathe Under Water - Shadows of the Night 1

Chapter 38

"Interesting that you would refer to your kind as sheep, Medici," Alexander threw in, voice rich with that familiar flavor of darkness and absolute control.

The Raven didn't miss a beat. "You know what I'm thinking about right now? I'm thinking about how it will feel to kill you. Imagine the headlines: Head Vampire killed by the Raven. It will set things into action, and I can't wait."

I opened the door, inch after painful inch, and searched for the source of the voice. I had to see with my own eyes, know who our enemy was.

And there he was: Raphael Medici. The light brown eyes were the first thing I recognized. Obliquely opposite the door, his back was half-turned to me. Light, silvery strands parted the dark brown of his hair. With nothing but a picture to go, he looked obscenely ordinary, if on the handsome side.

Seeing him in the flesh, the way he acted and moved, removed all doubts that this man was the notorious criminal we were looking for. If not the way he held himself, the menacing smile playing along his thin lips was a worthy indicator of a sharp, sinister mind.

There was something in the Raven's words that appealed to me on more than one level. A world without vampires, without bloodshed and blood junkies. A world without nightmares and walking time bombs. He made it sound like it would be easy to kill them all. It was tempting to simply agree with Raphael's statements, but nothing was ever that simple. Not anymore.

The Raven moved, hands outstretched in front of his chest. Air and power stirred around him as he conjured up a tremendous sphere of electricity, seemingly without effort. The power level was frightening. I could feel the electric currents in the air even without my magical senses. He sent the sphere towards Alexander in a flash, and the vampire dissolved into nothingness.

My eyes widened, straining to see.

The living corpse appeared behind the dark witch. His fist came down with inhuman speed, sending Raphael flying through the air. I expected him to crash into the wall behind. He didn't. Instants before he would have made contact a sheen of electricity flashed into existence, stopped him hovering in mid-air like a freaking shield.

Raphael righted himself, feet touching steady ground. "Come on, is that all you got? I thought this was going to be a challenge." He smiled and it was all shark and teeth. "You haven't got the kind of power it takes to go up against me."

The two were facing each other, the room filled with choking tension.

"And you are a fool if you believe that I am using my power level to the full at this moment," Alexander finally said.

The invisible explosion of power almost knocked me to the floor. I stumbled backwards before I staggered to the side, burying my nails into the wall. All at once it was so damn hard to keep standing on my own two feet.

My red aura streamed out of me, settling into familiar place. Unmasked, my magic was back again, ready and for everyone to see.

I could sense it. Feel it. Violated, the aerial landscape was a mess of trembling particles and power imbalance. I closed my eyes. There was this sick urge to know what was happening inside of me and it was too strong to neglect.

Slowly, second sight flickered up in gray patchwork patterns, only to be snuffed out and conquered by absolute darkness. Behind the safety of the half-closed door and concrete walls of the outer wall I watched and read the auratic signature of the head vampire – that same aura that was one with my very own twice already. What I was watching now was different from the time our auras had been linked. Very different.

Black nothingness burst out of its boundaries, fulminated in destructive waves. The power of the grave settled around the room like icy, heavy fog in the darkest of December nights. It reached my carefully erected shields of air, trying to penetrate them. A thousand tiny needles pricking invisible, auratic skin.