I had a hard time deciding where to look first. Her exposed mid-rift was ripped; her arms well muscled, as were her legs where her sweats clung to them. She was apparently braless and either cold, if in fact vampires could get cold or excited. But ultimately, I came back to her piercing eyes. They were curious and measuring. Her gliding walk was graceful even by comparison to the other vampires, and she was right in front of me before I could quite gather my thoughts. The smell of lilac and jasmine flowed over me. Her eyes were now locked on my bare chest and after a second I realized the talisman that hung round my neck captivated her.
It was an interesting piece. The arrowhead, made from flint, was probably early Mohawk. I had found it my first week at my Gramp’s farm. The rawhide thong had come from a buck harvested from the farm. The broken eagle feather behind it had its own story. The Mohawk reservation of Akwesasne lies on the U.S./Canada border and comes equipped with a casino. My Gramps has almost no vices, but he does like to play the blackjack tables from time to time. On one of his forays to the casino, we encountered a tribal elder of Gramps’ acquaintance. It was he who identified the arrowhead as Mohawk and after examining both it and me, he had reached into a small leather bag that had hung around his own neck and pulled out the rounded tip of the broken eagle feather. Smelling of pipe tobacco and leather, he had explained that he had found the partial feather and recognized that it was looking for a proper home. While he spoke he fastened the feather behind the arrowhead, making it a both a background for the flint point and a cushion for my eight- year old chest. That necklace had been with me for every demon hunt and banishment that I had ever been on. It had absorbed some of my power each time.
Tatiana reached for it tentatively and as she did an idea occurred to me. Again, I don’t know why it mattered, but for some reason I still felt like I needed to protect her from Hellbourne. In between struggling in and out of various clothes, my dizzy brain had been worrying at the problem of leaving Tatiana unguarded. I was either dead soon, or if the clothes were a sign that I might see the morning then I needed to go home, soon, blood loss making me completely ineffective for fighting Hellbourne. The vampires seemed to be useless at noticing the demon that wanted her blood. The necklace was the answer. While she was holding it, I took the leather thong from around my neck and slowly slipped it over her head, her big blues widening as I did it. Arkady chose that moment to come back down the corridor, three SCUBA-sized tanks strapped together and held effortlessly by one hand, the other hand holding a sprayer wand. “Aww, is cute that we are giving friendship gifts now.” he said sarcastically.
I didn’t look up as I responded, “Well, seeing as the Hellbourne walked within two feet of your blind ass on his way to kill Tatiana, maybe you don’t have a friggin’ clue what you’re talking about?”
“You call me Tanya. Not Tatiana,” the black haired girl said, a bit forcefully.
“Oh, er, sorry, no offense,” I said quickly. I’m so not good with girls.
Lydia spoke up. “She wants you to call her by the name her friends and family use, not her formal name.”
Her meaning was clear: Tanya wanted me to speak to her as a friend. Not dinner. Things might be looking up.
I backed up and examined her with my Sight, which made me even dizzier. She now stood in a sphere of purple-hued light, her own soul and aura blazing brilliant white. Humans tend to shade toward blue and I’m told my own aura is violet in the same shade as my odd eye color. It looked pretty strong, but it occurred to me that I could strengthen it.
“Explain please.” Galina requested, just shy of a command.
“Well, when I banish demons, I give off a lot of …power. Objects made of stone tend to absorb some of that power and sort of store it, like a battery. I usually carry a piece of carved soapstone with me when I exorcise a house or apartment, Indian fetishes. I leave it behind as a protection. If any other demons come around, they will shy away from the stone. They’ve have helped a few people who for one reason or another tend to draw demon kind.”
“Is that arrowhead such a fetish?” she questioned.
“Better. I’ve had it since I was a kid and it’s absorbed some power every time I have kicked Hellbourne ass. Which would be something like, oh about..thirty-seven times or so. Not counting exorcisms.” I answered, still studying the violet sphere. Yes I could definitely up its amperage.
“Why?” Tanya asked. I didn’t understand.
“Er, what?”
“Why do you give it to me?” Her eyes were still wide and, oddly, there was something very vulnerable in them. Vulnerable vampire? I tried to shake it off, but her eyes mesmerized me.
“Well, the demon that wants your blood will be back. If it is during the day tomorrow, I’ll probably be able to nail his ass. But this should protect you, if I’m not here. It will make you invisible to him and it will repel him as well. But I want to boost it if I can. I’ll feel better if it is ramped up a bit more.”
I hesitated. Galina looked at me expectantly and said, “So do it!” Okay, that was definitely a command.
Ah shucks. Stop. Your profuse thanks are embarrassing me. It seems the rich all feel the same sense of entitlement, be they vampire or human. Fucking rich people!
Nika snorted as I thought this and covered her mouth to hide a grin.
“Well, I’m gonna spill a drop of my own blood and I’m just wondering……?”
“Go ahead, we can probably control ourselves.” Galina said sardonically.
I nodded and grabbed my folding knife from the pile of pocket junk and flicked the blade open. After pooling my aura in my right hand, I pricked my trigger finger. I push power out of my right hand and draw power in with my left. The reason for this isn’t clear, but that’s just how it works. I squeezed a fat drop of blood onto the tip and then dabbed it onto the back of the arrowhead. “Ah, that needs to be against your skin, um like under your shirt.” I explained with all the composer of three year old. Tanya tucked it into her shirt, between her breasts, her eyes watching me the whole time. The view momentarily snuffed out my feeble thoughts. I wiped my finger on my pants and tried to ignore the way they all stared. I rechecked the necklace. The purple sphere was now twice as big as before and much denser in color. I don’t see auras like Reiki masters do. No different layers, just solid hues, sometimes with streaks of other colors.
“I don’t know what you people do during the daytime, whether you go to sleep or lie in coffins or whatever, but you two,” I pointed at Nika and Lydia,” might want to hang close to her. It can probably protect all three of you. You can leave Arkady out by the door as bait,” I suggested, putting my knife in my pants pocket. A hiss sounded from where the big male vamp was spraying the blood covered wall and floor with some chemical cleaner. With nothing else to do I wrestled myself into the white Plasma long-sleeve tee shirt that Lydia had provided. It was a tight fit, but I immediately felt a little warmer.
“Officer Gordon, you are remarkably blasé about this situation. Most of your kind are scared witless by our presence, if in fact they live through the introduction. How is it that you aren’t?” Galina asked.