31

On the Turkish side of the Bulgaria-Turkey border, the customs officer accepted the documents Constantine handed to her, without lifting her gaze. Her red nails tapped on the desk behind the counter while she checked the IDs. She glanced up at him, her small grey eyes inspecting him for a mere second before looking away.

Then, suddenly, she raised her head to his face once again. Her fingers ceased their rhythmical dance. Her pink-painted lips spread in a wide smile and her eyes met his with a newborn sparkle. “Where to, Mister… Ivanov?”

Constantine stared back at her with an expression that, he knew, suggested he found her yellow-stained teeth as fascinating as she was finding him. “Mersin, madam. Going for a holiday.”

She returned his documents without having a second look at them, nor at his companion in the SUV. “Well, have a good time.”

Constantine waved goodbye and got inside his car, inhaling the pepper-rose scent filling the interior. A wave of excitement crawled down his torso but he ignored it. Now was not the time for fooling around.

“No need for me to walk out of the car?” Diana, the source of the aroma, asked.

“No need.” He turned on the engine.

A few feet down the border, he had to stop for the mandatory baggage check. He got out of the car, approached the customs officer until he was within arm’s length, and planted a thought in his mind that they didn’t require a check. The last thing he needed was somebody sniffing around his hidden weapons.

Back in the SUV, as he sped along the road to Mersin, Diana said, “Life’s been easy for you, hasn’t it?”

He side-glanced at her. “What do you mean, Diana?”

“You either charm them, or you manipulate them. The first customs officer was drooling all over you.”

“Trust me, life has never been easy for me despite my gifts.”

Her gaze burned up and down his profile. “Why?”

He clutched the steering wheel. A necromancer and an easy life were incongruous. “There were times when I couldn’t charm them, manipulate them or even beat them up. It took me years to learn how to tap into my necromancer energy.”

“Are the stories true? That in the past, other species hunted down necromancers?”

“‘Hunted down’ is the mildest way of putting it.” His jaw clenched. The memories of his childhood always had that effect on him. Before Diana could ask him another question, he said, “Where did you learn to fight like that?”

The vampire played with her velvet curls. “All my life, I’ve been hanging around my brother’s friends. They taught me how to protect myself and kick ass.”

She was lying, and he wasn’t fooled. The skills that she’d demonstrated in Alberobello suggested professional training.

Constantine hesitated. He needed her for the information she could give him on her brother and the portal, but ever since they’d left Italy, he wasn’t making any progress on that.

He wasn’t accustomed to women being immune to him. Her behaviour was rather unexpected… and pretty tempting to the aforementioned necromancer energy. But Diana wasn’t really his type. Her looks were exquisite, sure. Her soul, on the other hand… It was pure. Light . An innocence that his darkness both despised and was eager to corrupt.

He glanced at her. “You’re not much of a talker, are you, dove?”

She sighed. “I’m surprised you are.”

“We’ve got six hundred miles ahead. Why not break the ice with some chatting?”

“I don’t do chatting. Breaking the ice, either.”

Constantine ground his teeth together. Maybe he should just fuck her. Erase that arrogant pout on her lips with a kiss. Bet she would be much more compliant then.

He was artful at moving the tide. Not that he usually needed to, especially with the opposite sex.

“I’m sorry. I’m worried about my brother,” she said.

Constantine concealed his surprise. Well, that was unexpected. It was the first honest sentence he’d got from Diana since they’d left Italy. “I told you, your brother’s fine.” But he wouldn’t be for long. Constantine had seen his debilitating state in Mada’s memories. The deal with the Higher Powers was already taking its toll.

Which made him wonder about himself. The fucking witch had been blocking his supernatural powers and had threatened to destroy him until his physical body decayed, as well. He wouldn’t have believed it, if it wasn’t for the oppressing heaviness that had set inside his chest ever since the underground chamber.

Constantine chased the thought away and seized the opportunity to further exploit Diana’s sudden softening. “What’s that thing your brother was after that made him play with dark magic?”

Her scent attacked his nostrils once again as she crossed her legs. Sensing her eyes crawling up and down his profile, he glanced at her.

“A means to unlock a secondary form,” she said. “Something that improves the regeneration so it’s enough to sustain a New Gen creature during their first transformation.”

His fingers clutched the steering wheel.

Constantine fell silent for a long time after that. A means to unlock a secondary form did not exist. If it did, the Hospital and the Council would have been the first to know. Fuck, they would probably be the ones to invent it.

Something that improves regeneration? Such creation would require a lot of knowledge. Medical knowledge. As far as he was aware, besides the Hospital, there wasn’t another immortal gathering in the world with their resources and, most importantly, the expertise to develop it. Or maybe humans had been involved?

Constantine removed one of his palms from the wheel and rubbed his neck.

The vampire faced him. “You said you wanted to chat, but now you’re the one who’s gone quiet.”

His gaze flickered to her, fingers still on his nape. “Your brother has been chasing rabbits. You know that, right, Diana? What he seeks does not exist.”

She stared at him with indecipherable emotion in her warm eyes. They had the shape of almonds and the colour of toffee. Beautiful. Constantine returned his attention to the road. And so inexperienced.

“My brother’s the smartest creature I know.” Her voice was sharp. “If he’s made the deal, he must have been sure of the prize.”

“So he wants a means to unlock his secondary form? What for?” Constantine asked.

“We’re New Generation.”

He let out a short laugh, the low vibrations full of irony.

“What?” Diana shifted in her seat, turning her upper body to him.

“I find it funny you think it necessary to enlighten me about your New Gen status.” He grinned. “When it’s written all over your face.”

“Pardon me?”

“Stalking a necromancer for days? You do realise that if I had caught you in Istanbul, I would have ripped your head off?”

The vampire raised her chin. “But you didn’t catch me.”

His lips curled. “Pure luck. Do you want to know a secret, dove? Mada has been blocking me for weeks. I couldn’t use my necromancer senses, otherwise I would have tracked you. A more experienced creature would never have chased a necromancer the way you did.”

“I—”

“You wonder what else a more experienced creature would never have done? Strolling down the street with a real blade and intruding on three immortal men, convinced that she has something to trade with them. We could have tied you up and tortured you until you spilt your dirtiest secrets. You were lucky again, because Mikhail deemed you insignificant.”

“ Insignificant ?” Her mouth gaped open. “I helped you with the witches!”

“You would have been as good as dead if Viktor hadn’t turned. You’re skilled with the sword, but you’ve been acting irrationally for the short period that I’ve known you and I’m not saying it to insult you. I, too, have done many stupid things during my first century, including going to Hell.”

“You’re calling me irrational?” Diana huffed. “I’ve survived by myself for years.”

“A true feat, considering what I’ve seen. All your actions have been ignited by emotions and the urge to find your brother. Your last mistake? Getting trapped with me. You didn’t even ask for proof that your brother was alive. You readily jumped in the car with me, led solely by emotions .”

She shook her head. “You know what? I don’t care what you think about me. Just take me to my brother. He’ll tell you all you want and then we’ll go our separate ways.”

“As you wish, dove,” he said, eyes fixed beyond the car’s dashboard.

There was one slight problem, however.

Her brother wasn’t going his separate way, because he wasn’t going anywhere at all. He would be dead come morning. And since, during their trip, Diana had proven she had no valuable insights about the situation they faced, Constantine would have no choice but to consume her brother’s soul.

***

It was child’s play for Constantine to navigate the night streets of Mersin. The link he had established with Diana’s brother was like a tight rope between them, guiding him. When he parked his SUV before the desolate construction of a building, Luka’s presence became tangible.

Dark shadows welcomed them from the open terraces, a smell of decay crept from the inside, and traces of desperate souls still lingered in the air. A feeling of doom, as well. Constantine supposed the deserted structure was a hideout for drunkards and drug addicts.

Diana observed the building. “Are you sure Luka’s here? It doesn’t fit him.”

Nothing fits him anymore , Constantine could have said. Except the Otherworld . “He’s inside,” he said instead. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“Sure.” Her tone was reserved, but her eyes darted sideways, a flicker of unease in their depths.

They found the entrance and Constantine walked in first, kicking some empty bottles out of their way. The smell of piss filled his nostrils when he started up the staircase using his strong eyesight to lead. Diana’s catlike steps were inaudible despite the silence, but he sensed her presence behind him. Her sweet, heady scent cut through the building’s stale and rancid air.

Once they climbed to the second floor, Diana leapt from behind him and ran to the pile of clothes in the middle of the empty space.

“Luka,” she whispered in the dark.

It wasn’t a man, but a shell of one.

Constantine remained to the side, giving them some privacy. Anyway, Death was close. His tendrils crawled all over the walls, his eyes observed from the shadows. Constantine could feel his eagerness to reap inside his chest, as though it was his own.

The necromancer awaited, too.

Diana knelt next to her brother, seemingly trying to make sense of the babbling nonsense coming out of his mouth. She brushed his forehead, whispering encouraging words, and then begging him to stand up.

It didn’t take long for Death to arrive.

When he did, Diana hauled her brother’s body into her arms and hugged him, her soft whimpering filling the silence. She was hurt, vulnerable, and indifferent to the necromancer behind her back. Engulfed by sorrow, she didn’t see Constantine turn into a skeleton.

He scanned the place with his necromantic vision, hunting for Luka’s soul. Two ghosts in the corner froze at the sight of the turned necromancer, but he wasn’t here for them today. He sent his consciousness up, like a boomerang aimed after the departing soul. He would find it and capture it, and then return to his skeleton…

Only, his mind remained in place, as if glued to his shape. No matter how much he attempted to, he couldn’t travel upwards. What the fuck? Constantine struggled once again. Nothing happened. He was in his secondary form, but separating his consciousness was impossible.

Was this part of Mada’s curse?

He returned to his human shape, swearing inwardly. Diana was still crying over her dead brother’s body, her shoulders shaking slightly with her sobs.

Constantine approached her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “He’s gone.” And so was his trail leading to those who had hired the vampire to deliver the head.

A low sound – a suppressed sob, half a wail – escaped Diana. Constantine’s grip on her shoulder tightened as he drew her into his embrace, and she allowed him to. In a low and comforting voice, he said, “He’s gone, Diana. Him, his soul. That’s just a corpse you’re spilling your tears over.”

The acrid smell of the space around them and the distant hum of flies filled the air. Diana nodded, but her eyes remained fixed on her brother’s lifeless body. Constantine understood – underneath all that armour, she was just a young creature who had lost a loved one.

He tugged her closer and her body trembled against his, her pain palpable. The scent of roses and pepper enveloped him, mingling with the salt of her tears, which soaked into his shirt.

For better or worse, she was now his single lead to find justice for the beheaded Kaliope Gazis.