Page 4 of The Vampire’s Mercy (Blood Melody #1)

CHAPTER THREE

PARIS

Ileft the tram stop, bidding good afternoon to a human taking a piss in the corner of the glass shelter, and hurried over the road, passing the café and the supermarket and the flower shop I badly wanted a job in.

They even had a sign in the window looking for a florist. I could do that.

I wanted to do that. Maybe after I changed the world.

Ah, what a dream. Living out my days making arrangements for all occasions, happy to be amongst the flowers. Maybe even open my own flower shop one day.

Yeah. Right.

Shaking off fantasies which would probably never come true, I crossed the road, finally reaching the Aidan Temple I called home.

Aidan Temple, Weatherby. A building of red brick, a pointed slate roof, crowned with the golden knot reaching for Heaven. The Knot of Aidan, a tribute to His glorious strength.

I pressed my right hand to my heart, taking a moment to pray to him. To thank him for keeping me going in this sham of a life. Because that’s exactly what it was. A mockery, a kick in the balls. An executioner without any executing, apart from the big one a year ago.

Thank you for keeping my heart bright.

Bright enough to drive my stakeblade into the vampire king’s Heart of All, turning every single bloodsucker into crimson bone dust.

Bliss.

Tonight…

I fished in my pockets for my key, coming up empty. With a mighty sigh, I knocked on the heavy wooden door.

Fuck today.

“Who is it?” Hal’s voice drifted from behind the door.

What a sweet sound for my pointy ears. “It’s me.”

The door opened, Hal’s warm golden face poking out. “Paris? When did you go out? And what happened to your neck?” He stepped outside, reaching for me.

I let his hands find my shoulders. “I didn’t.”

“What?”

I stepped back, moving around him. “I’ll explain once I get out of these clothes.”

I really did pong.

After Hal gave me a tincture to work in tandem with the wolf healing, I finally took my bath.

The vase of peace lilies on the windowsill stirred happily in my presence, the white petals glowing, every inch of them becoming more lustrous. Flora did that around elves, receiving a boost as much as giving one.

I blew them a kiss. “So good to see you, sweeties.”

I soaked in the soothing heat for forty minutes, putting my thinking on pause. But I skirted the edges of becoming a prune, so I climbed out, wrapping myself in my favorite blue dressing gown.

Man, I felt so much better, so I headed to the living room, passing plants and flowers, greeting them all with kisses and waves as they sent energy to me.

Oliver, my precious pink orchid, stood proudly in a vase on the mantelpiece above the inactive fireplace. His hues brightened, his stem growing slightly.

“Hello, sweetness.”

I parked my backside on the overstuffed green sofa, nodding at Hal as he entered the room. He handed me a plate of caramel shortbread—the greatest food invention ever.

“Thanks,” I said, salivating.

“All good?” he asked.

I mumbled a yes with my mouth full, enjoying the wonder of the first bite. Caramel, chocolate, biscuits—the three components for major tastebud pleasure. And my buddy tapped the steaming mug of coffee, which only made things ten times better.

This certainly made up for the previous bullshit.

Our flat inside the temple, directly above the worship area, was a mishmash of colors and styles. Furniture and appliances gathered from thrift stores, all coming together to make a quirky rainbow. I loved the rejection of uniformity, and the coziness of it.

Hal kicked back in the orange leather armchair, resting his feet on the pink footstool. “Tell me what happened.”

I explained the details to my human mage fuck buddy, leaving him just as confused as me.

“No ideas, huh?” I asked, getting a hit of his metallic, human scent.

“A crystal dagger, the river, you passing out from weird visions,” Hal mulled. “Aidan only knows, my friend.”

“I wish he’d hand me a clue,” I said.

Was I asking too much from Him?

“Let’s pray,” Hal suggested.

We did, silently. Once we were done, he gave me one of his big, joyful smiles.

I couldn’t have gotten through this past year without his support. He’d been such a rock, holding me close through some of the darkest nights.

He scratched at his brown, buzzcut hair, those sharp green eyes twinkling, that tickly beard when we kissed.

I didn’t love Hal, but I cared about him deeply.

Met him five years ago when he arrived at our lost friend Suzanne’s sanctuary in the town of Cosgrove, north of Oreflame.

We became fast friends, then fuck buddies a few years later.

We found comfort in each other after Suzanne’s death, and then Pearl’s, always finding physical solace.

I trusted him with my life.

By Aidan, I missed Suzanne. My hero, savior of us executioners who needed shelter and safety. She gave us hope that one day we’d right the wrongs, rebuild the world in the correct, vamp-free way. A true acolyte of Aidan, a mage, and all-round diamond.

Cancer took her six months ago.

“Sorry, mate,” Hal said, stroking his chin. “I really am coming up empty here.” He twiddled his fingers, the orange sparks of magic dancing.

Mages drew from Aidan’s Fire to cast spells, a power only they were privy to touch.

Always human, mages were branded at birth with a small spiral on the face, drawn in permanent orange ink to set them apart from regular humans.

They honed their magical skills at Schools of Magic, which were still open across the world.

They were never able to be executioners, their bodies too weak to handle the influx of extra bloods.

That’s where humans with no magical ability came in.

Like Terry, a human my sister and I met out on the road.

The poor guy got shot in the stomach one night, a group of bounty hunters finding us—a time before we were shielded from scanning.

We had to leave him to die or get killed ourselves.

I carried the guilt with me every day.

Picking up my drink from the frosted glass coffee table, I took some hearty gulps of coffee.

“Aidan will guide us to the truth,” Hal said. “I promise you.”

Absolutely. I knew that. Aidan was our everything.

In the ancient Quintrealm, creatures of Hell burned their way across the lands, dooming the living to endless torment, never granted a moments peace from Heaven because the other deities were, well, not doing anything to stop it. Too caught up in their decadent eternities.

Hopeless days. Dark. Empty. Not how a world should work.

Aidan, one of those deities, descended from Heaven to save everyone. Unable to stand any more of the endless suffering, he arrived with his sword of heavenly fire to smite the pricks.

Man, I bet he’d looked so awesome.

After the liberation, he left us with love and freewill, although there were some conditions to that freewill:

Build temples for prayer and comfort.

Never lose sight of His gift.

Bask in His love.

Always remember there is light in any darkness.

Working out well, huh?

Not many people attended temple services now, only the odd faithful straggler.

But I did. I lived here in His light. Hoping. Praying.

Scheming.

Oh, did we scheme here in this flat. Hal and I were part of a network of rebels waiting for the right moment to deliver the final blow.

I didn’t have access to the contacts and stuff, but Hal did.

And he’d been planning tonight meticulously, researching the vampire king’s movements heavily, everything leading to this.

It was up to me to deliver the final blow. Soon, I’d be in the hornet’s nest.

I shuddered, the anticipation an endless flutter in my guts.

“Everything’s good for tonight,” Hal said, popping open a packet of cured beef bites.

Yuck.

“Awesome,” I responded, nose offended by the stink of his snack.

“Want to go over the details again?”

I tapped my skull. “I’ve got it all memorized.”

Attend the feeding ball, get myself close to the king, then get my killing on.

The anxious butterflies fluttered harder.

What would tomorrow look like? Could I finally leave city living behind and start a new life in the woods? After all, elves were meant to live amongst the trees.

I’d been born in Elmwhisper Woods, eastern Elf Domain, but I’d been given to Academy Fifty in central Human Domain, along with Pearl, days after birth.

I grew up surrounded by violence and metal and concrete, the vampire war dominating our childhoods until we turned fifteen.

I’d never been to a forest or patch of woodland in my life.

The names Paris and Pearl came while we were on the road. Before that we were Executioner 6710 and Executioner 6711 respectively.

We never knew our parents, not even their names, and had no idea if they were alive. Pearl was my only family, ripped away from me so violently.

Shit. My hands were shaking, so many future possibilities rattling through me, tangled with the pain of my past.

I couldn’t have this emotional shit throwing me off.

Hal clicked on the TV to a game of darts. “Ooo yes.”

The man loved his darts.

I got to my feet, tugging on the belt of my dressing gown. It fell open like a curtain, revealing my rock-hard dart winking in his direction. And it would be striking his bull’s eye this afternoon.

Obviously, I didn’t share the dart analogy with him. He’d only laugh and get me floppy.

His eyes found me. “Paris?”

I let the dressing gown fall to the pink carpet. “Fancy it?”

The TV went off.

And I went to him.