Page 9

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Wicked Existence

JEDIDIAH

ONE MONTH LATER

“ W here is she?” I demanded, plunging the blade into the demon’s heart. He hissed, blood spewing through his lips as he eyes squeezed shut, trying to bear the pain. “I won’t ask again,” I warned, twisting the knife. Black blood soaked his shirt, seeping onto my skin, cold and slimy.

“I told you! I don’t know!” His red eyes were wide and full of fear, which was good, but his fucking mouth gave me nothing. A single lightbulb hanging from a thin wire illuminated his ugly face and I paid close attention to every single detail. He thrashed against his chains, but it was no use. He would stay in this chair until I was done with him. I threatened to twist the blade again, which got him talking. “M-most of them fled the city after the Clash of Spirits! She—she must have, too.”

A low growl rumbled from the back of my throat. “See, I don’t believe you. Every night I go hunting, and every night I find one of you. Crawling around those seedy, dimly lit bars full of drunk mortals. Vampires are still in the city. And while the rest of my kind may not be doing a goddamn thing about it, as you can see, I’ve taken matters into my own hands.” I gestured to the basement around us, to all the desiccated bodies on the floor. Seven dead vampires.

“Unless you want to join your friends here, I suggest you tell me something useful.”

He sobbed. He actually fucking sobbed. A lethal, immortal, presumably ancient vampire, sitting here in front of me blubbering like a fucking baby.

Christ.

His agony and terror stunk up the room, coating every breath I drew with thickness. Vampires may have been cold, dead things but they felt fear and pain just like any other lifeform. Which made torturing them even more satisfying. Some were harder than others, I found. So detached from their emotions and humanity that it took a staggering amount of stabbing and slicing to finally get them to scream. But I always found the right formula of torment to make them sing for me.

This particular vampire, though, was exceptionally pitiful. His bawling was almost killing the vibe, to be honest.

Time to get this over with.

I held up the sketch. Which had been a huge pain in the ass to get. Wasting my time hunting down a mortal artist competent enough to draw her. I burned through three useless ones before a guy finally got it right. The details were freakishly accurate, capturing the demented essence of the demon who had murdered my best friends in cold blood. “This is the last time I will ask you. Where. Is. She?”

“I don’t know,” he blubbered, tilting his head back. “I don’t know!”

“Ahg!” I roared, fury corrupting my vision and taking hold of my reflexes. I yanked the blade out of the vampire’s heart, and he sighed with relief, but he reacted too soon. Without a second thought, I punched my fist into his chest, gripped his heart, and reefed it out.

His red eyes bulged, his jaw hanging open as he watched me. The wet, fleshy sound made my stomach flip and tighten, but I showed no discomfort on my face. I held the black, decayed organ in my hand and watched his mouth open and close like a fish out of water. His skin started to turn grey, his neck going limp, the barely-there light leaving his eyes.

Eight dead vampires. Not one fucking lead.

They were loyal, I’d give them that.

They were also a lot more magically equipped than I’d thought. They had means of glamouring their appearance, to alter their demonic eyes and hide their fangs. Half of the ones I’d captured had appeared totally human. I still hadn’t figured out how they’d done it, but was their energy that gave them away—and the rotting stench of death that clung to them.

Not to mention the help of the angeldust I’d snort before descending into one of their dens. It heightened my senses enough to hear heartbeats. Vampires didn’t have those.

I glared at my latest victim. Eight goes at this shit and I had nothing. Maybe I was the problem. Maybe I was killing them too fast. They just made me so fucking angry; I couldn’t help myself.

The leather jacket draping the vampire’s shoulders snagged my attention. I hadn’t noticed in my bloodlust how dope it was. I unlocked the chains trapping him to the chair, promptly ripping the jacket off of him before he slumped down onto the floor. I held it up, my brows lifting, impressed.

It was wicked. A custom made, genuine leather, black as night. Simple but bad ass. Heavy, too. I opened it up to see the inside and—

“Holy fuck,” I muttered aloud.

A two-in-one special. A jacket and a fucking artillery.

The inside of the thing was lined with different daggers and blades, a couple of stakes, a pistol. Even a grenade! I laughed to myself, suddenly not feeling like a complete failure. This was a score.

I left the basement to clean myself up and smudge the disgusting, rotten smell off the jacket.

I stood in the kitchen and went to work on my hands, fervently attempting to wash the black blood off my calloused skin. The shit was like tar—incredibly hard to get off. I grimaced as I scrubbed, applying more soap, and adding a bit of salt for grittiness.

I stared out the window as I washed, my mind reeling. The small sliver of moon hung low in the sky. The waves were moody tonight, crashing against the shore with a vengeance I could wholly relate to.

I hadn’t intended on staying in this house, this fucking Malibu beach house. But it ended up being the perfect place to hide in plain sight. No one thought to look for me here.

Not like anyone would be looking for me anyway, though. I was dead.

I considered finding a different place somewhere outside of the city, away from the fucking suburbs, but what was the point? I had everything I needed here. I’d Compelled my neighbours to ignore any strange noise or activity that happened here. I’d also spelled an energetic boundary outside the house, on the beach, which kept mortals away. So, for the most part, I went unbothered. Save for the fucking raven that was always showing up on the deck, cawing at me like a psycho.

While this house might not have seemed like the best place to torture vampires, the small cellar actually worked out just fine.

My eyes flashed to the piano, memories panging painfully through me.

It had been a month. A month since the two of them shot away into the clouds, never to be fucking seen or heard from again.

I swallowed the stone in my throat, watching the black blood swirl down the drain.

“Jedidiah.”

The soft, familiar, feminine voice had me jumping out of my skin. I whirled around, sink water splashing everywhere. My heart sank as my eyes landed on the woman standing before me. Here, in this house.

“Mom,” I croaked.

Clad in ethereal, silver robes, she offered me a sad smile. Her dark blond hair fell to her shoulders, duller in color than I remembered. Her eyes shone with something I couldn’t quite read. She’d aged—considerably. Crow’s feet lined her eyes, her small hands weathered as she clasped them together.

The only sound was the running water behind me.

I blinked, wondering if I was fucking hallucinating. I hadn’t seen my mother in over two years. She’d vanished, leaving the Celestial Society and everything to do with it behind. Including magic. Including me .

“You look unwell,” she voiced, her tone solemn. Her blue eyes flicked down to my hands. The black blood still coating them. “This isn’t like you.”

“How the hell are you even here?” I snapped, shaking my head in disbelief.

“I have come to help you, my son.” She stepped forward and I stumbled back, into the counter. “While spending your time hunting and slaying vampires might offer you temporary release for all that rage and grief you’re carrying inside you, the Goddess has another path for you. One that will truly fulfill you.”

I scoffed venomously, glaring at her. “You know I don’t worship your deity.”

“She does not require worship,” my mother supplied. “Your existence alone is both a prayer and a love letter to her.”

My miserable, wicked existence? I glanced down at the blood on my hands, shaking my head. “I doubt that,” I rasped back, hardly meaning to speak the words aloud. “What are you doing here, Mother?”

“I have come to tell you where to find who you truly seek.”

My blood ran cold.

“We both know it is not the vampire you are looking for. She is a distraction.”

“How the hell would you know?” I growled, lunging forward. She didn’t flinch, despite our difference in size and my unhinged demeanor. I searched between my mother’s dark blue eyes, trying to find answers within them. “Did you know about her? About him ?” My voice broke on the last word, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might break a rib.

She knew exactly who I was fucking talking about.

“Your father had many indiscretions over the years,” she sighed, keeping her gaze locked with mine.

“So that’s a yes.” I ran my fingers through my hair, blowing out a breath. “This is so fucked up. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Jedidiah, this isn’t what I’m here to discuss. We can come back to this another time. For now, I only wish to bring you the information you need to find the Morningstar girl.”

My heart sank at the mention of her.

I said nothing. My tongue ached with a thousand unsaid words but none of them managed to manifest.

“It is okay to be hurt, my son,” she cooed. “It is okay to care.”

I shook my head, my eyes burning. The lump in my throat was painful.

I found myself moving forward, my arms outstretched. Once, my mother was the only thing in the world that mattered to me. My safe haven. When she left, I told myself it was for the best. I told myself I understood. I buried her in the farthest closets in the back of my mind. Refused to think about her, to miss her. But now that she was here, in the flesh—

My hands went right through her.

She stepped back, her eyes wide, full of shame and regret.

“What the fuck?” I breathed.

“I’m sorry, Jed.” Silver lined her eyes as she looked up at me, her cool expression cracking. Tears slid down her cheeks. “I couldn’t come for real. You know that.”

“What the hell are you!”

“I’m a projection!” she gushed, her lips trembling. “It’s really me, but my body is elsewhere. I just came to tell you—”

“No!” I roared. My cheeks were flaming hot, my fists crackling with fire as I balled them at my sides. My chest heaved. “My mother cannot do magic. She gave up that right! This is impossible. Who the fuck are you!”

“It’s me!” she cried. “I have help, okay? There is a whole group of us who have dedicated our lives to this! I know you cannot understand, my son. I am so sorry. But listen to me. The girl you seek is in the San Gabriel mountains—where the academy used to be. You will find her there. And if you do not go quickly, it will be too late.”

“No,” I hissed, shaking my head, my vision turning to a watery blur. The ground shook, pictures rattling and falling to the floor. “Whoever you are, you better get out of here right the fuck now!”

“You know it is me,” the projection that looked like my mother professed. “I have said what I needed to say. Heed the call. Find your girl. Before it’s too late!”

I let out a furious cry and lunged for the pretender, but she disappeared before my eyes.

The world stopped shaking, leaving everything impossibly still and quiet.

Except for the water, still running behind me.