Nightfall (Nightfall Book 1)

“You can’t do this,” Arkemoz snapped, trailing behind James as the vampire walked toward the car, their footsteps echoing loudly in the underground parking lot, followed by Denise’s somewhere behind them.

James wasn’t going to be the one driving for once—probably because Aegis didn’t trust him not to drive away and escape—which was unfortunate because he could really use the distraction. He and Arkie had been arguing since he’d shared what the plan was.

James had expected Denise to be the one to yell at him, but she’d accepted it after having him confirm that this was indeed James’ idea and that he wanted to do it. The demon didn’t care about any of that, however.

“Sorry, Arkie, but I gotta,” James replied, not really sure why he was bothering. He had already said the same thing several times now, to the same effect of Arkemoz swinging his tail angrily from side to side, glaring at him.

He felt like he was being scolded, which was funny given his age, but James hated making Arkie mad. Still, there was no helping it this time. The demon was overreacting, anyway. It wouldn’t be nearly as dangerous as he had imagined it to be, given that Aegis was going all in on the old warehouse they had somehow traced one of the traitors to, sending many people with him.

Apparently they’d somehow tracked down a car using cameras, or something like that, which didn’t sound plausible, but James suspected he hadn’t been told the exact means they’d used on accounts of him not understanding anyway.

A good call, honestly.

“No, you don’t have to do any of this,” Arkemoz grumbled, his voice finally losing some of its intense anger. But if anything, hearing him be resigned was worse.

“What’s the alternative, then?” James asked him, turning around as he reached the car. The vamp who was supposed to drive him was already inside, staring at her phone. Good, at least she didn’t seem like she was interested in eavesdropping.

“We can simply attack and capture some of them,” Arkemoz replied, narrowing his eyes up at James as he folded his arms over his chest. His tail continued swinging left to right to complete the image of irritation.

“Or we can try this first, possibly learn more information as a result, and then capture them, anyway.”

Arkemoz opened his mouth to argue, but he ended up saying nothing. He scowled in displeasure, looking down on the ground and huffing. “What if they kill you?”

James blinked at the soft tone full of worry. He didn’t think he’d heard Arkemoz sound like that before. It had taken him completely by surprise—so much so that it had taken him a moment to react. “They won’t. They need my blood for something.”

“That’s an assumption,” Arkemoz argued, glaring up at him again. There was fear and concern in his eyes still, though. “I don’t…want you to die.”

James couldn’t help but smile at that. He had been trying not to laugh in situations like this since Arkie had trouble recognizing when he was being made fun of, but hopefully a smile wouldn’t give him the wrong impression.

James put a hand on the demon’s shoulder, looking him right in the eye in a way he hoped was reassuring. He wasn’t very used to encouraging people, not having done so much, ever. Though he did know that right now he should probably avoid pointing out that taking part in an attack on an enemy base wasn’t likely to improve his chances of survival either. “I’ve lived this long. I’m not planning on dying just yet.”

Arkemoz huffed, rolling his eyes, but there was a hint of smile on his face as well. Damn, why was Arkie so adorable? It made it all the harder not to take his side. But James stood by what he was saying. This was worth a try, at least.

“Besides, Qironin cast that tracking spell on me, so if things go wrong, you can always find me, right?” James also had a tracking chip somewhere in his pocket, which he still thought was a bit of an overkill, but he wouldn’t argue with the Aegis leaders. It was always better to just do what they said.

“Assuming you are not killed immediately, yes,” Arkemoz grumbled, sighing.

James couldn’t help but look away as his inside went all warm and fuzzy. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever felt that way before. If he had, it must have been when he’d still been human, but he couldn’t remember. The little guy really cared about James too, didn’t he? Maybe not the way James wanted, but it was nice to hear in any capacity.

James suddenly got the urge to grab Arkie and run away from all of this once again, but he quickly stomped that thought down. They’d already had that discussion. There was no going back.

“It’s gonna be fine, Arkie, all right?”

Arkemoz said nothing, only huffing and giving him a nod, his tail stilling it movements and now hanging limp as he walked to the car and got inside. James sighed. He really hated making Arkie cranky, but there was no avoiding this. There had to be a reason those vampires had been managing to avoid Aegis at every step. He certainly had no high opinions when it came to Aegis, but he didn’t doubt their overall competence, and he didn’t believe it was all just bad luck.

Either way, since he would have Aegis right behind him, this was going to be very low risk for the amount of information they might gain.

“You okay?” Denise asked him as she caught up. James was sure she’d waited for them to finish their argument before approaching.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” James replied, letting out a tired sigh. He appreciated that she cared, but he’d already talked too much about his feelings to do it again right now. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Without another word he also got in the car, choosing the passenger seat instead of sitting with Arkie in the back. James wasn’t sure if the demon cared about that, but James didn’t want to risk annoying him further.

He barely paid any attention to the vampire behind the wheel, and she didn’t seem to pay much attention to him in turn, only waiting for Denise to join Arkemoz in the back before starting the car and driving out of the underground garage.

James blinked as sunlight assaulted his eyes, resisting the urge to flinch. Even after working for Aegis for so long, he always found daylight startling, even though he very well knew that the car was enchanted or whatever to make it safe for vampires.

He stared out at the road in front of him, trying not to think about anything in particular. But given that he would have to wait until sundown to approach their enemy, no matter when they got there, meant that he would have far too much time on his hands.

As expected, they arrived at the place they’d been told to go much earlier than it was safe to leave the car, but thankfully it had started to rain, creating a protective barrier between them and the sun. James hated being out during the day even with clouds as it made his skin sting, but it was better than nothing and fairly harmless, so he would take it.

The warehouse wasn’t in as much disrepair as he’d been expecting, with only a few windows smashed. It stood in the middle of nowhere, at the edge of some town James hadn’t cared to learn the name of. The fact that the sight of it was reminding him of the night they’d rescued Arkie was making him angrier than was probably reasonable, though. He would have to tamp that down if he was to negotiate with the people who had attacked Arkie in the first place.

If anything, that thought made his anger burn hotter. He hadn’t dared to think about this for this exact reason, and he would do his best to continue not thinking about it. If he didn’t he might just kill the person he wanted to meet, and while that would hardly be a loss, it would slow them down.

He got out of the car as soon as it came to a halt, ignoring the rain that hit him immediately. He wished he could just march over to the warehouse and get this over with, but he knew Black wouldn’t like that.

At least he was assuming Black had gone with. But that wouldn’t really matter—if Black wasn’t here, one of James’ superiors would be.

He made his way over to a nearby cluster of trees he could see several vampires standing under and discussing something. He would think it was to get out of the rain, but it was probably more to do with staying undetected. Though any other vampire would be able to smell them if they came close enough.

As James approached, he did spot Black among them, glowering at the warehouse in the distance and looking anxious. He didn’t seem to be taking part in the discussion, which turned out to be about where Aegis’ forces would position themselves for an ambush.

It seemed Black had lost all of his more pleasant demeanor over the last few hours, which James didn’t really mind, as it had never come across as entirely genuine. Still, it was a bit concerning to see him this way after so long of him being overly positive and self-assured.

“Ah, good, you’re here,” Black said without even looking at James, prompting the other vampires to go quiet. Hearing footsteps behind him, James looked over his shoulder, only to lock eyes with Arkie looking pissed.

James swallowed, quickly looking away. So he was still upset. James supposed that wasn’t surprising, but he had been hoping Arkie’s mood would improve at least a little during the long trip over here.

“Right, so do I go knock on their door, or…?” James asked Black, pointing back at the warehouse behind him with his thumb.

Black finally turned to face him, looking very unhappy with the situation still. James wasn’t sure what his problem was with this. He either thought James would really try to make a run for it, or he was overly concerned about being killed, and both of those options were ridiculous.

“Here.” He handed James a small, black pin. James took it, frowning down at it as he tried to figure out what the hell this was. “It’s a microphone. Just pin it on the inside of your shirt. We will be able to hear what you do in case, um, things do not go according to plan.”

Well, that was nice and ominous. But it made sense, James supposed, so he didn’t bother thinking about it further and attached the microphone-pin-thing to the collar of his t-shirt, off to the side, so it wasn’t too obvious. Though he was wearing a black t-shirt, so he wasn’t sure if it could be noticed even if he put it right on the front.

“Good. If you could describe things as you see them, as well, that would be most appreciated,” Black added with a sigh. He looked like someone was making him say all of this, which James supposed he was given that he was the only one of their bosses who didn’t agree with this plan.

“Right, that should be natural and not suspicious at all,” James muttered sarcastically, pulling his jacket closer to himself. Aegis would have to do with him only occasionally mentioning that an item or a person was present because there was no way he’d manage to describe anything more than that without raising some eyebrows.

Going to knock on the door of an enemy clubhouse was going to do that fine on its own, anyway, though.

“So, am I good to go now?”

Black gave a firm nod, which James was grateful for. He didn’t need the man try to discourage him from doing this. It certainly wouldn’t take much.

Behind him Arkie huffed and walked farther up the road. James wasn’t sure if that was just for show or if the demon truly didn’t want to be around James at all right now, but almost immediately, he felt Denise pat his shoulder. She grimaced at him with sympathy before following behind Arkie, hopefully to cheer him up. Even though James doubted that could be done right now, if anyone one could do it, Denise could.

“We will surround the warehouse,” Black said, nodding towards the other vampires next to him. “If anyone tries anything, we will attack immediately.”

Wait, was Black saying he would be taking an active part in the fighting? Rationally, James wasn’t really that surprised by that given that Aegis had just lost many of its employees just hours prior paired with the fact that Black was definitely old and therefore very strong, but James had never seen him outside his office, let alone on a battlefield.

It was going to be a very strange sight if this went south.

James looked over at the warehouse. It was time, he supposed, though he couldn’t help but feel awkward when he imagined just marching over there. Awkward wasn’t the image he wanted to project.

Giving Black a nod, James started walking, blinking as a drop of rain fell directly into his eye. He wanted to just run straight to the warehouse, but in case someone was watching him, using his unnatural speed to get over there as fast as possible would only make this look more suspicious.

He glared at the rusted doors of the warehouse as he made his way through the wet grass, ignoring how he occasionally stepped into mud. Not that ruining his shoes would make him look any worse. Nathan had been right when he’d called his appearance dreadful. Nate tended to be dramatic, but James wasn’t sure if that had been the case this time.

James ran his fingers through his now damp hair, pushing it out of his face and behind his ears in what he hoped was a better look than when he simply let it hang in his face. He was about to pretend to have betrayed Aegis, and he knew very well that a blood-drinking vampire had no empathy, so looking pathetic wasn’t likely to work. The only things they respected were confidence and power, so James would have to act more like his old self if he were to get their attention.

Finally reaching the door, James took a deep breath as he ran his eyes over the rusted, uneven surface of the metal. For a moment he considered simply trying to push the door open, but then he shook his head. He might get killed immediately for that.

So instead he raised his fist, banging it against the door three times. He then took a step back, folding his arms and straightening his back in what he hoped was an arrogant enough pose to project confidence. He didn’t use to have trouble with this when he had still drunk blood, but now he just felt unsure and awkward. Hopefully that wasn’t showing, though.

As the following silence stretched, James started to consider banging on the door again when finally, with an awful screech the door swung open, revealing a surprisingly young-looking brown-haired man. James wondered if there were more vampires around other than this one. James couldn’t smell them, but then these vampires had protection against that kind of thing, and the way the warehouse door was open was showing him only a tiny bit of it.

“Adley?” the other vampire said with both surprise and suspicion. James just flashed him a smile as he tried to remember if he had seen this vampire before. He didn’t think so, but then again, he barely paid attention to anyone at Aegis.

“The one and only.”

“How did you find this place?” the vampire asked, glaring. He was staying where he was, with practically only his head sticking from between the doors, as if he was afraid that James would kill him if he gave him too much of an opportunity. But to be fair, that was a good call. James was probably much stronger than this guy.

“Well, I had some help, but I managed to get here before Aegis did,” James lied easily, hoping that saying half-truths would make this more plausible. It was probably not going to work, but he didn’t have much to work with. “I’m sure they’re on their way.”

The other vampire cursed under his breath, making a move to slam the door shut but James managed to catch it, gripping the edge and forcing it open further. “Not so fast. I didn’t come all the way out here for a friendly warning. I want to join your little club.”

The other vampire’s glare stayed, but it was softened somewhat by surprise. “That’s not my decision to make.”

“Yeah, but you do know the decision makers, don’t you?” James prodded, pulling the door open even more. The poor vampire couldn’t even stop him from doing that, judging by how much the hand he was holding the door with was shaking, so James was definitely much stronger than him. That was good to know.

“Maybe I do,” the vampire replied, narrowing his eyes as he finally let go of the door. “But why would I trust you?”

“Why wouldn’t you? Aren’t your bosses looking for vamps like me?”

The vampire looked him up and down, clearly trying to figure out what the trick here was. Too bad, he wasn’t as stupid as James had been hoping for. But at least the disparity in strength gave James the upper hand here, which made the entire situation much less stressful.

“All right. Then I propose a test,” the vamp said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a bottle full of blood. James had to do his absolute best not to grimace at the sight of it. Not only because it was blood, and the very sight of it made his mouth water and his fangs grow, but also because it was in a plastic bottle, and who knew how old.

This was offensive and absolutely disgusting on all levels. And James was pretty sure he already knew where the situation was going.

“Drink this. Prove that you aren’t Aegis’ puppet anymore,” the vampire said, handing the bottle to James, who begrudgingly took it, his mind already going a mile a minute trying to figure out how the hell to get around this.

Thankfully, he came up with something almost immediately.

James raised his hand enough to show the bracelet enough so he could point dramatically to it. “This little device will make a fuss if I do, remember? I am trying to get rid of it. Why else would I want to see those angels?”

But unfortunately, the other vampire wasn’t fazed by this at all. “All it will do is show Aegis your location. And you yourself said Aegis already knows about this place.”

Goddammit, that was a really good counterargument. And this whole thing was really smart, despite the fact that this vamp had come up with it on the spot. Drinking blood would divulge his location and what he’d done to Aegis, so if James had truly been in the position of trying to betray them, they would know immediately, which would leave him no choice but to either run or go with this guy to the angels. And if this were a set-up, which it was, James wouldn’t drink the blood. Doing so was about the last thing he wanted. It was disgusting and wrong, and just the idea of it made him sick with guilt. And, of course, the cherry on top of this stupid cake was the fact that he might also possibly get himself addicted to blood again.

His stomach churned as he looked down on the bottle in his hand. He could feel fear join in with the guilt that was spreading through his heart. He gritted his teeth, swallowing thickly. Well, if this vampire thought James would be smart and back off now, he was dead wrong.

Unscrewing the top, he put the bottle to his lips before he could even smell the putrid stench of the blood, downing about a third of it before he could even taste it. But once he did, he had to fight with every fiber of his being not to puke it all out immediately.

Oh God, the awful, metallic taste…. Why was it always so delicious? Why couldn’t it taste as disgusting as it should? The fact that he enjoyed it, the fact that it made his whole body buzz with excitement for more—that was what made this all so terrible. He had been hoping he wouldn’t like it after so long of not drinking it, but if anything, it tasted better.

But he had to keep it together. He couldn’t break down in front of this vamp. He had a mission to do, and now that he’d tasted blood to see it through—practically the worst thing he could—he wasn’t going to mess this up.

James pretended to scoff as he gave the bottle back, making sure to show off his bloody fangs, as if he needed to show evidence. He just had to focus on keeping his voice even. “I hope you don’t drink this all the time. If I had to choose between this stale monstrosity and nothing, I’d rather starve.”

Oh God, he could already feel his brain going fuzzy with bloodlust. James was infinitely glad there were no humans around. He wasn’t sure he could stop himself from biting someone when he was like this. The urge to vomit came back with full force then, but he managed to keep the blood down somehow.

“To each their own,” the other vampire said with a scowl, waving James inside. Why wasn’t the vamp putting the bottle of blood away? Why did he have to hold it in plain sight? James turned his eyes to his now brightly glowing bracelet instead, trying to fool his instincts into believing there was no viable blood source around.

As James stepped into the warehouse, he ran his tongue over his teeth to get the little blood that stained them. He was disgusted with himself, but he couldn’t stop. His body was craving more, his skin feeling hot and flushed, and the best James could do was forcing himself not to rip the bottle from the other vampire’s hand and drinking the rest of it.

Thankfully the younger vampire put some distance between them as soon as he shut the door, so the temptation wasn’t quite as strong anymore. That didn’t mean it wasn’t maddening, though.

He chewed on his lip, trying to satisfy his craving to sink his fangs in something, but it was only somewhat effective.

“Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” James practically growled, even though he hadn’t meant to sound that way. He should have questioned the closed door already, but his mind was too preoccupied fantasizing about blood to think efficiently.

The other vampire didn’t reply, instead walking a bit away from him before stopping and crouching down. James would have asked what the hell he was doing if he hadn’t noticed at that moment the metal, circular plate on the floor. He had no idea what this was, but he already knew he wouldn’t like this.

He couldn’t really even pay full attention to this, let alone trying to figure it out right now, though, seeing as his mind was otherwise occupied. He could feel his hunger building more and more, and it was truly difficult to see past that.

He only began to pay attention again when the putrid smell of vampire blood reached his nose. At first he’d thought he’d managed to bite through his lip without noticing, but he quickly realized that it was coming from the other vampire. James frowned as he watched him bleed onto the metal plate from his clenched hand, muttering something under his breath.

Oh great, more blood magic.

Before James could ask what exactly this was, though, the plate lit up with a light as red as the blood had been, a beam of it shooting up from it. James flinched, instinctively throwing his arm in front of his face as the light spread out. It hit him before he could react beyond that, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut.

He felt a strange pull on him, even though he didn’t feel himself moving. It made his head spin and his stomach turn even more than it already had been, but the light was too bright to see what was going on.

And before he knew it he was falling forward, catching himself with his hands and thankfully avoiding falling onto his face. Why had he even fallen? Nothing had pushed him to explain it. And…. Wait, why did the surface beneath his palms feel like wood?

Finally managing to force his eyes open, James squinted at the hardwood floor under him, the bright red light finally dissipating.

“What the—” That was all he managed to say before his arms were roughly grabbed and forced harshly behind his back. He gritted his teeth in pain, trying to pull out of the hold as he was pulled upright, the grip on his arms becoming bruising.

“What’s this supposed to mean?” a woman’s voice asked behind him. James made another attempt at fighting off the people restraining him, glaring at one and then the other. They were a man and a woman, probably vampires given their strength, and they were all standing in some kind of antique looking hallway, with ornate wooden stairs, and paintings, and stuff. Fuck, that spell had created another portal, hadn’t it? Goddammit.

“He said he wanted to join,” the vampire who had brought him here replied, his tone very defensive as he glared at the two vampires holding James.

“Adley? Join us?” The woman snorted. “There’s a reason no one asked him, yet.”

“Hey!” James protested, jerking in their hold. Dammit, he just couldn’t pull together enough strength to free himself with both of them holding him this tightly. But then, he still felt woozy from the blood and teleporting. That wasn’t helping. “I’m right here.”

“Did Aegis send you to spy on us?” the man behind him snapped, grabbing James’ arm only with one hand so he could press a wooden stake against his heart. James swallowed. This was getting better and better. He needed to get free. Now.

“Who cares?” the woman cut in before James could snap something back. “He’s here, and unfortunately, he’s too useful to kill. Let’s just throw him in the dungeon for now.”

Dammit, there really was no talking himself out of this, was there? They really didn’t like him, though he had sort of been expecting that. He had never gotten along with anyone during his blood-drinking days, to say the least, and most of the time the other vampires feared him, much to his old self’s delight, which was why it had been so strange that reformed vampires seemed to venerate him almost.

Well, it was now or never. If they really didn’t want to kill him, hopefully that stake aimed at his heart wouldn’t go right through it immediately. James threw his head back, making it collide with the man’s as he was the one holding the stake.

James grinned as the other vampire stumbled back with a cry of pain, letting go of his arm. Not wasting even a second, he swirled around, trying to wrench his other arm free, but the woman was ready for him, delivering a swift punch to his gut before he could stop her.

Grunting, he doubled over and stumbled back as much as he could with the female vampire’s bruising grip on his forearm, proud of himself for managing to stay mostly upright.

His eyes flicked over from one vampire to the other, the male having regained his bearings and was about to attack. And he could hear more people moving somewhere in this house, too, probably vampires. They must have heard the commotion, surely.

This wasn’t looking good.

He wasn’t going to give up just yet, though. He reached for the wooden stake he had in the pocket of his jacket, only to suddenly find himself falling to the ground as someone struck him hard in the head from behind.

Oh, dammit, it must have been the guy who had brought him here in the first place. James had been too preoccupied with the other two to pay enough attention to him. Before he could get over his dizziness and even think about attacking them again, James choked as someone squeezed his throat with their arm roughly from behind, pulling him up by it.

His hands immediately shot up, trying to wrench the arm away, but just before he could manage it the other two vamps joined in, each grabbing one of James’ arms in their steely grip, making it impossible for him to defend himself.

James jerked in the three vampires’ hold, trying desperately to break free as black spots began to obscure his vision. But it was hopeless. Even at full strength he couldn’t fight all three of them at once, and now he was tired and barely conscious from the lack of blood getting to his brain.

He could barely keep his eyes open by the time the arm left his throat, and he would have fallen if not for the two vampires holding him upright. He could hear them talking, but it was all fuzzy and distorted. And then his eyes slid shut.

It felt like no more than a second before he managed to open them again, but he was suddenly somewhere else. He was being dragged off somewhere, his hands cuffed behind his back. Was he so out of it that he’d completely missed that, or had he fallen unconscious for a moment? He did feel a little less confused now, at least.

He finally managed to pull enough focus together to make sense of what the vampires were saying just before he was thrown into a prison cell in what looked like a basement. He groaned as he hit the hard, concrete floor, once again dizzy from the sudden, quick movement.

“Shouldn’t we get someone to remove the bracelet? Just in case?” the vampire who had opened the portal asked.

“No need to rush that. Better find out first if he’s a spy or not. It can’t be traced here, anyway,” the female vampire replied. And with that the barred door of the cell swung shut with a loud creak. James didn’t move, waiting for his body to recover for a moment before he even tried attempting to at least sit up.

His head still spun, which made him want to throw up, his hunger back in full force now that he could focus a bit, which also made him want to throw up, but at least he could keep his eyes open now.

If his hands weren’t cuffed behind his back, this would have been much easier, but he would have to make do with what he had. Groaning, he pulled himself up to his knees, shaking his head as he tried to get rid of the dizziness. He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back against the bars.

Well, this had ended about as terribly as it could have. He’d learned nothing and had drunk blood to get that nothing. The only thing they could gain was the location of this base, whatever it was. Unfortunately, all he could do now was to wait for Aegis to find him, since he doubted he would be able to escape from here on his own. If they could even find him….

His eyes still closed, James sighed, running his fingers over his bracelet. He knew it was still glowing, though he couldn’t look at it with his arms bound like this. He could feel the slight vibration it was producing. The vamps had said that here the bracelet couldn’t be tracked. Would Qironin’s spell even work? Would the tracking chip still in his pocket?

“J-James?” a raspy, hushed voice said, bringing him out of his thoughts. James’ eyes snapped open, widening in shock as he took in the chained-up figure huddling in the corner of the cell.

Oh no.

“Nathan.”