Chapter 24

Istepped over the bodies of the dead vampires and had to be grateful that Syn had left my boots on. However, I was definitely going to retrieve my leather jacket after I finished with this bullshit.

I stepped to the end of the hallway where all the private dance rooms were and, apparently, the door to the basement. I cautiously looked around the corner, expecting to see naked dancers gyrating on the stage. Instead, the stage was empty, and though the sound system loudly played another 80s song, Cherry Pie seemed inappropriate for what was happening in the main entertainment room.

Bodies were lying everywhere. Men were lying across tables, on the floor, and slumped back in the plush seating. I looked closely, studying the bodies without seeing any signs of life from any of them. I could only guess how Syn had accomplished it, but she somehow managed to murder her entire clientele. The sound of singing that could be heard just over the thumping music was my first clue.

I had never seen Syn in her demon form before. I shivered in revulsion as I watched the demoness half covering the body of a dead man. Her tail was long, probably a good six feet. The tailfins had long ribbon-like protrusions from the end that narrowed into sharp, thin points. The scales were iridescent, with blue, green, and purple glowing from within as if they were part bioluminescent.

Her naked torso was spotted with the same iridescent scales that covered her tail, and a large dorsal fin was situated along her spine. There were smaller fins along her forearms and the back of her upper arms. Her fingernails were dark purple and long, shaped into sharp points, easily able to puncture a victim and hold it to her. There was no need to use them at that moment, though, considering the man she was face to face with was dead as a doornail.

A body stepped up beside me as I watched Syn feeding from the poor soul. “I wasn’t expecting to encounter a Siren when I decided to see to your complaint personally.”

I turned to Crispin with a snort. “Does anybody really expect to see a Siren?” I grinned at him, and we grabbed each other’s forearms in the way of the brotherhood. “Fight hard.”

He responded to the greeting the way we always had nearly a thousand years ago. “Die well.” He pulled me toward him, and we slapped each other’s backs. “It’s good to see you, Valen.”

“Vampire, huh? How did that happen?” I asked as I turned back to watch Syn slide her body from her current victim and over to another, starting her process all over again. I noticed that the body she’d left behind looked like a chalky pale gray, as if he never had any life in him at all.

“It’s a long story, but I’ll make it short,” he said as he caught one of his men by the back of his collar and pulled him back to where he’d been standing. He stuffed his finger in the man’s ear, pushing the earplug in deeper. If I had to guess, I was sure I’d find similar earplugs in the vampires I’d left to bleed out in the hallway. “I was stabbed in the stomach with a sword. Kane said he admired my spirit and strength. Since the woman I’d thought I loved married another man, I had no reason to say no to his offer of eternal life.”

“I remember the hatred you’d held to fuel you in the ring.” I eyed him up and down, noting his crisp suit and the formal posture. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was some kind of foreign royalty with his faint European accent that I could detect as I listened closely to his speech. “You’ve come a long way from the leather and chainmail days. How is it you are able to withstand the singing?”

“I suppose it’s because I am mated?” He eyed me with speculation. “Same as you, I would guess. How long have you been mated?”

I held up my wrist so he could see the black symbol forever branded on my flesh. “Just a day ago, actually.” I jerked my chin in Syn’s direction. “She’s the one responsible for my mate being kidnapped by those rogue vampires you are here to deal with. But that Siren? She’s mine.”

He clapped me on the back again. “Understood. I’m surprised you haven’t already ripped her heart out.”

I frowned as I considered it. “How does one go about killing a Siren demon?” I asked as I turned to look at the man who’d once been human and who I had considered a friend and teammate. “I’m afraid to say I don’t have a lot of knowledge when it comes to demonkind.”

“There are a lot of myths out there about Sirens, just like all the other supernatural creatures. Most of them are made up stories by humans, though. Just like most creatures, losing the head, heart, or both should do the trick.” I grunted. If he were to cut out my heart, I would simply regenerate a new one while my body shut down in suspended animation to allow time to heal. When I’d lost my head, I grew a new one. I am glad that there were no cell phones or cameras back then to document the event.

“Alright, let me take care of this so I can show you where the vampire nest is.” I strode forward until I stood in the middle of the room. The music was finally turned off in the middle of a Poison song, making the room eerily silent other than the sounds of Syn’s deep breathing as she continued to suck the remaining life force out of the bodies. “Syn!” She jerked her head around when she heard her name.

Double rows of razor sharp pointed teeth snarled at me. They appeared to be serrated, and just the sight of them made me want to back away in revulsion. She hissed, her Siren song cutting off abruptly. Her expression swiftly changed from fury to embarrassment and finally to shock. “You escaped.” Her voice was different in her Siren form. Her words made a hissing sound the way I would expect a talking snake to sound. She blinked as she stared at me in contemplation, her vertical pupils briefly disappearing behind vertical eyelids.

The rest of her face was just as strange. Her nose was a small bump with tiny slits for nostrils. I figured if she were a fish, she likely had gills on the side of her neck or behind her ears. Her stringy hair was falling forward, so I was unable to see them. Her mouth was lipless, and when she closed it, there was just a wide slash that concealed her jagged shark-like teeth.

“Of course I escaped. I’m insulted you thought some chains and manacles would be enough to keep me captive.” I stalked closer to where she was lying still over the man she’d been inhaling. “I want my leather jacket back.” I tilted my head as she moved to slither off the dead body of her victim. It was strange to witness a giant fish move around awkwardly on dry land. “What did you do with it?”

She leaned on one elbow as she waved her hand nonchalantly. “I think I put it in my office,” she pouted, the slit of her mouth pulling down into a frown.

“Good,” I nodded as I showed her the knife I had been holding down by my leg. “Do you want to do this in that form, or…” I trailed off as I considered the possible attack points. I knew she’d have weaknesses in either form, but though she was incapable of standing as a Siren, I couldn’t discount the strength of a demon in its true form. Plus, she had those sharp claws and nasty teeth.

She opened her mouth, and as she spoke, what she said came out melodic. “You don’t want to hurt me, Valen. I’m your best friend and want to be so much more. You want to be more, too.”

I could feel her words burrow into my skull and try to dig their way into my brain. It somehow hurt like a piercing dagger and felt soothing, like a caress at the same time. I chuckled.

“Did you forget I have a mate, Syn? Though, even if I didn’t, I doubt you would have any effect on me anyway. Nice try, though.” I held up my free hand and waved my fingers toward her in a come hither motion. “Let’s get this over with. I have a mate to rescue and the rest of eternity to spend with her in my arms.”

Her face twisted in a vicious snarl that I could see being the cause of nightmares for hundreds of sailors. I expected an attack, but I hadn’t anticipated how quickly she could move out of the water. She lunged forward with her claws extended, aiming for my throat. I side-stepped with plenty of time. She may be fast and have built-in weapons, but I had experience on my side.

I spun around, slicing the dagger through the air. At the heavy thud of her body falling to the ground, her scream of pain and outrage had the unexpected effect of making me want to claw out my own eardrums. Perhaps it was another weapon in the Siren’s arsenal. I shook my head to rid myself of the lingering effects.

While Syn lay there clutching at her bleeding belly, I took the chance to look back at Crispin and his vampires. They were watching in fascination while Crispin had his arms crossed, watching with a critical eye.

“Are you critiquing me?” I asked in disbelief.

He merely shrugged. “I wanted to see if you’ve lost your touch.” He waved a hand toward the bleeding Siren. “You’re doing well so far, though you’ve barely gotten started. Carry on.”

“Arrogant bastard,” I huffed out, then turned to walk back to Syn. She looked up at me with tears in her strangely shaped eyes. I had a moment of pity for the woman I had actually liked once upon a time, before I learned about the monster inside her that she had hidden so well. Or maybe I hadn’t wanted to see it back then.

A large part of me regretted what I was about to do. Instead of allowing that useless emotion to keep me from following through, I focused all my attention on the fight in front of me. I reached down to haul Syn up, her heavy weight making it more of an effort than expected. I tightened my grasp on her dark hair, exposing her neck.

Just as I was about to plunge the knife into her neck, her demeanor changed from the one of hurt, weak prey to a vicious monster. Her claws swiped out, catching my side. I sucked in a breath at the instant pain that flared hotly from the wound. I didn’t bother to look down at it; it was deep, and I could feel the way my blood was already running freely down my side. Knowing that regardless of how such a wound would have killed a mortal, I pressed on. I would heal quickly enough to finish this fight.

She wriggled then with so much effort I couldn’t maintain a grip on her hair. Her body twisted and writhed, truly giving the appearance of a fish on a hook. As the hair I was holding tangled in my grasp, I could feel strands of it breaking at the root. If she continued her actions, she was going to have quite a large bald spot.

I bared my teeth at her, showing who was the biggest predator in the room, but she chose to ignore me, her only focus being her attempts to get away. Unfortunately, with her wild twisting, I was having trouble trying to aim properly with the knife. I arced the blade down, aiming for her chest. She seemed to sense my intention because she focused back on stopping me from stabbing her, forgetting her fight to get loose for a brief moment.

This time, when she swiped her claws at me, it was with the intention of severing my arm from my body. I dropped her hair at the final second and jumped back out of reach, but she’d still managed to leave deep groves in my forearm. I bent to grab her again. Perhaps I would just slice her through the way she seemed determined to do to me. Before I could follow through, she lunged as fast as a cobra.

Those razor sharp serrated teeth dug deep as Syn sank them into my thigh. I ground my jaw against the pain and used her distraction to my advantage. With her mouth firmly attached to my thigh, doing her best to take a chunk from my flesh, I gripped the knife tightly and, without hesitation, plunged it to the hilt straight into her heart. At least, I hoped it was where her heart was. There is no telling with demons in their natural forms. Her heart could have been in her tail for all I knew.

With a pained gasp, Syn finally released me. She dropped back to the floor, lying on her side, and panted. I watched her carefully, not trusting her to fake another injury. As I watched her face, her slitted pupils wide with pain and disbelief, I twisted the knife, intending to cause as much damage to her organ as I could.

She jolted as I withdrew the knife covered in dark purple blood. I shifted my gaze from the knife back to her face and watched as that same dark purple began to pour from her mouth. Her body spasmed, and she coughed, causing the blood to spray over the floor and her own body. She moved her lips, attempting to speak. I doubted there was anything that she could say that I wanted to hear. She’s already said enough.

“L-love,” she paused to cough again before continuing to struggle to get her final words out. “You.”

I shook my head, sadness filling me. “Love isn’t like this, Syn. Love is accepting the person for what and who they are and wanting them to be happy.”

Knowing I needed to finish her death and ensure it was one she couldn’t recover from, I slid the knife across her neck. I kept slicing, digging the blade in until finally, her head rolled away from her body.

I stood to my feet and limped toward the door separating her office from the rest of the club.

“I’m going to get my jacket. I hope someone grabbed my motorcycle.”