The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) Read online

  “I said this already, but I will say it again. I. do. not. like. this. Still, I will allow you to use your judgment. But if this stalker bitch turns out to be bad news, I will say I told you so a million times,” Selene promises, clearly perturbed.

  I kiss her on the cheek. “We make a good team baby, if anything happens, you’ll have my back.”

  “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that, okay,” Selene replies, rolling her eyes at me as we file in the Jag.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  I punch in the address into my phone’s GPS and we get there with about fifteen minutes to spare, not even having to fight traffic. The streets were fairly empty and we barely got caught by any lights. Selene pulls up into the driveway of the house which looks pretty much in shambles. Actually, the entire neighborhood looks that way. Abandoned, run down. There are some porches that aren’t even together anymore, windows broken out or boarded, steps that are completely missing, and plenty of overgrowth in every yard. Hell, even homeless people had to have more pride than to live somewhere like this.

  Selene and I give each other a look that is something along the lines of “you’ve got to be kidding me,” before I almost find myself trying to lock the doors as if we are in danger of being mugged. Then, I feel ashamed that I even think that way. Living a privileged life has given me some prejudices. But how could an entire neighborhood look this shitty? What is the city doing about this?

  I take off my jacket and Selene asks, “What are you doing?”

  I raise one eyebrow at her and respond, “Ain’t no way I’m gonna get spider webs and dust all in my new jacket after I just ruined one last night.” The jacket in question is black leather with gobs of zippers.

  “You have a point there diva,” she answers. “Now, what’s the plan again Rayne?”

  This time I’m the one who rolls my eyes. “I have five minutes. I know, I know. Shit, I don’t know if I even want to be in there five minutes.”

  “Good.” We start to get out of the car when Selene grabs my arm. “Wait.”

  I pause and look at her. She gives me a firm but caring look. “Pay attention.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  We get out of the car and Selene starts to look around as if feeling the air. “Do you sense anything?” I ask cautiously.

  “No, not yet at least. It’s very quiet though. I don’t even really hear any animals around. I don’t think this person is witch born. There’s no spark of magic anywhere.”

  That was something at least. It means that Namen is nowhere around for the time being. Hopefully that’s a good sign that my instincts were right. We take a look around the back of the house together before Selene goes back to stand near the car so that she can see if anyone is coming or going. She also sets some kind of trigger spell around the back so that she’d know if anything was coming from that way. It helps her relax a lot more and allows me to be able to come and do what I need.

  I have to know who this woman is and what she can do for me. I take the three steps up to the front door as my stride causes the raggedy floorboards to creak under my feet. I knock at the white, cracked door even though I don’t expect an answer. With one more glance at Selene, I pull Katsu from my back and step through the door, into darkness and cobwebs.

  She’ll know I’m here, so I don’t call out; I just look around as my eyes adjust to the darkness of the house, and try to watch my step as I glide over broken floorboards and shattered glass. The dust coats my tongue and I wrinkle my nose at the stuffy, moldy smell of everything around me. I almost sneeze as I walk into a wall of cobwebs and swat them away. Good thing I left my jacket in the car. Freaking ew.

  There’s old furniture placed throughout the first room, chairs, a dining table, and a couple dirty couches, one overturned. A railing overlook above me is missing most of its wood. When I reach the middle of the room, I stop. That’s when I think I feel something behind me. Slowly, I turn and face the woman. Even though she’s still covered in shadows, I can clearly see the burning red eyes that she possesses.

  Vampire.

  Before I can speak, she chastises me, “I had thought better of you, but I guess you do not follow rules well. You will pay for that. Or maybe, your witch should pay instead.” Her voice is quiet and silky, almost in the same way as Anubis, but there was much more power and confidence in her tone than his. She cocks her head to the side studying me. She’s one who knows her power and won’t hesitate to use it if tested.

  “You won’t touch her,” I challenge, although I know it’s not the best thing to do.

  “Oh?” she asks, teasingly, seductively, taking a step forward. My eyes follow her flow and her gait is so graceful, her feet barely seem to kiss the ground. “I will not touch her again, then? I have already handled her. You may go see for yourself if you wish, but you will not find her.” She points back towards the front door with all the grace of a noble.

  “You said that you could help me,” I begin, hoping to reason with her, hoping that she wasn’t a psycho vamp even though that’s the vibe I’m getting from her.

  “I also said to come alone, did I not!” she roars as her aura hits me, bringing me to my knees as surely as a physical blow. Then, she’s in my face, touching it, lifting my chin, examining me and I can’t help but shiver. In fear and in excitement. She’s forcing her aura on me and I can’t do a damn thing about it.

  When someone forces their aura on you, they are attempting to make you submissive. It’s a power pull. Sometimes the aura can be so powerful that one can’t even move under the force. I’m very close to that point as my body wants to bend to her will. Satisfied, she releases me.

  I stand up and get a good look at her face as I wipe the dirt from my low cut blue jeans. She’s probably only a hint darker than me but still caramel complected, and she’s stunning. She has deeply set, alluring eyes, small round nose, and perfectly shaped, full lips, even as she bites down on the right side showing her fang.

  The danger, the power, and dominance that she represents make my breath stop. Selene is absolutely gorgeous, but this one in front of me has something else, not necessarily something more, but it’s different. And I fear it. Her eyes are like lava, burning straight through me, leaving me exposed. Her black hair is shoulder length and braided in an intricate cornrow design and layers. She has to only be about 5’4” or 5’5”, but that doesn’t matter, her presence will easily fill a room.

  Even her smell makes me want to be closer, breathe her in. It’s like clean linen out of the dryer, fresh, crisp. I know it’s the vamp pheromones, but I find myself breathing deeper. She’s still feeding me her aura and I can’t fight it; all I can do was ride the waves.

  By the time I even manage to speak, my voice is cracky and unsure. She smiles triumphantly. “What do you want?”

  “Your blood,” she tells me, stepping away and turning her back on me, as if I could be easily dismissed. Her graphic tee catching the moonlight. Skulls.

  It causes me to grip Katsu tighter. Irritation rolls through me. “Say again,” I demand.

  “Are you slow Rayne? I do not like to repeat myself. I want your blood,” she repeats slowly, clearly amused.

  “This has to be some kind of joke right? First, you help me, and then you stalk me, now you want my blood. Stop wasting my time vampire. Tell me what you did to Selene and then leave me alone,” I order, my voice becoming more confident. I touch my intricate tribal looking tattoo in reassurance.

  “With an attitude like that, you will not be long for this world. Shall I help you along?”

  “Fuck you.”

  She laughs dangerously, the sound piercing my ears like a poisonous arrow. Even as her voice echoes from where she just stood, her iron hands grip my neck, squeezing the life out of me, my eyes bulging. Mercifully, she flings me across the room with all the exertion of tossing a pillow. I smash through an old table feeling it buckle under my weight.

  Somehow, my katana manages to remain in my poss
ession. I stand up, coughing as my throat burns from the pain of being choked, searching the darkness for this psycho vampire. I should have listened to Selene; my instincts need to be fine tuned.

  She’s on me again before I even hear her, see her, or smell her. One second she’s nowhere around, then the next, she’s in front of me, kicking me with so much power that I destroy the wall as my body catapults through it. The dust flies furiously around me. I cough up blood, surely having internal bleeding from the punt she just gave me.

  This time, I have no idea where Katsu is. Trying to ignore the sensational pain the kick caused is not helping my ability to quickly search for her either. Despite wobbly legs, I manage to stand as I call for more strength, more focus from deep within me. I see a blur, quick, to my right, then behind me. I spin just in time to x block a tornado of punches storming at me. She attacks with such fury and power that I feel my bones threaten to break under her assault.

  I panic as I pitifully attempt to exchange blows with her, but find no openings. She head butts me hard on my nose and I drop to the ground, nose broken and bloody. Another kick to my face and I fall backwards rolling a few feet like a log rolling down a hill. As I try to force myself up, the pain reminding me of the days when Lawrence tortured me, healed me, and tortured me again, I touch steel and begin to gain more hope.

  She laughs again, this time not in amusement, but in incredulousness. “You thought that you’d be able to kill that witch?! The man who knows over 1000 spells and has raised demon after demon. You think you can stop Namen Young, the soul stealer? You are a fool and you will die a fool who couldn’t even stop me or save her witch. You are standing near death’s door and yet you still make no effort to live, to fight back. You are a waste and I will put you out of your misery. I’m here to finish the job for him. There’s no need for him to waste his time with the likes of a pathetic human.” She spits the last words out in disgust and somehow manages to look even more wildly beautiful.

  I attack first, initially swinging wildly, panicking as the vampire simply dodges each blow, laughing, not even trying to attack. Then, I just get angry again. Angry at my overconfidence, angry that I didn’t listen to Selene or Anubis, angry at the Immortals for not pushing me harder, angry at this vampire for mocking me, and angry at my family for dying in the first place!

  Then, I explode.

  My tattoo burns so hot that I scream. It’s almost as if I can feel my blood boil as my temperature rises and I see red. I can’t die here, not in this dirty ass house and not before I land at least on blow on this smug son of a bitch’s face.

  “I am someone! I am strong and I’m not done yet. If that’s all you’ve got then it won’t work, you won’t break me.” All my limbs are tingling now, the power growing inside me. My katana feels almost weightless in my hand and I can feel her telling me that she’s ready to do damage, to live up to her name.

  We clash again. Either her movements have become slower or my power boost wasn’t imagined. I stop feeling the pains she inflicted on my body as my adrenaline goes into hyper drive. She tries to grab my arm, but I shuffle away and counter with an upward slice. She reacts a fraction slower than before and her red v-neck graphic t-shirt comes away with a nice foot long cut in it. I don’t let up though, ramming an elbow right into her bottom lip. She doesn’t go down, however, and I’m forced to push her away in order to create some distance. By this time, my body is drenched in sweat from the exertion. I’ve never had a fight like this before, and I certainly don’t want this to be my last. If I don’t win, it will be.

  I don’t know how long the fight proceeds, how many times our fists meet, or how many times I have to force myself back up again. We crash through another wall and the ceiling begins to crumble around us in warning that this old house can’t take much more of this battle. I fight with all the heart I have, truly giving my all with every slice of my blade, every kick, every strike. She has taken some damage but with her vamp healing and exceptional skill, I’ve barely made a dent in her defenses.

  My limit has been reached. I’m not skilled enough to win against her. Maybe if I had more time to learn I would have been able to. At least, I was finally able to land a few. I still have some pride left. As I accept this truth, this knowledge that I am simply outclassed, she lands one final blow to my midsection, causing more blood to come pouring out of my mouth. I fall forward, vision going black. Before I can hit the ground, she catches me with her other arm. This is it, the final strike. My body is finished, unable to push itself anymore. Katsu falls from my weak and shaky hands and my eyes begin to close.

  I want to at least beg for Selene’s life with the last of my strength, but I can’t form the words.

  “It’s okay Rayne, you can rest now. I’ve seen all that I needed. When you awake, I will tell you what you need to know. I’m sorry that I hurt you so bad.” her voice is now sweet, protective, and calm as if the psycho vampire she just was never even existed. I can’t reply, don’t really attempt to comprehend; all I can do is allow myself to slip into unconsciousness.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  My head feels as if a college drum line has made it its practice field. I groan loudly as I try to turn on my side, trying to figure out just where the hell I’m at. Prying one eye open, I make an attempt to figure out my surroundings. I’m in a bed and Selene isn’t with me. The room has some light peeking through the window blinds. There is a mirror on the wall across from me and the walls are painted a cream color. The closet door is closed. There is a brown dresser with a few items sitting on top of it. The room smells like bleach and I wonder if my blood had to be cleaned off the hardwood floor.

  “What the hell happened?” I ask myself quietly with my scratchy voice. Then, I remember and reach for my nose to check the damage. Tender, but not broken. I also don’t feel nearly as bad as I should have. Hell, I shouldn’t even be alive.

  The door opens and a dark shadow appears there, leaning nonchalantly against the frame. “I gave you my blood to help you heal,” she explains gently, her voice sparking memories of our battle and how I was utterly throttled.

  Before I can respond, Selene pushes past her and plops on the bed, jarring my aching muscles. She doesn’t notice however, but instead squeezes me tight. “I thought you weren’t going to make it. You were in bad shape.”

  “Sorry about that, but it needed to be done,” the vampire says.

  Selene lets me go and turns toward her. “The hell it did! You didn’t have to put her through that. And I’m sorry Rayne. I guess I was the one that should have been paying attention. Asshole over here knocked me out before I even knew what hit me.”

  “Oh, suck it up, I didn’t even hit you that hard and she’s not a baby. Stop treating her like one if you want her to live. She needs to be pushed. The situation has changed since you’ve been gone. Namen has gotten even stronger and she will die slowly and painfully if I don’t help her gain her true strength.”

  I look at the vampire’s face and notice that her eyes are no longer blood red, but simply dark and caring. But why is the question. “Why do you care so much about me? How do you even know who I am?” I ask, forcing myself up to turn on the lights so that I could get a good look at her.

  She’s dressed in another v-neck, this time dark green, with loose black jeans, a long silver necklace and about six piercings in each ear. I wondered what else is pierced, but quickly shove that thought away. It had to be the after effects of her blood. She has a full sleeve going down her left arm. The designs are too intricate to see without studying closely. Other than that, her skin is flawless, not like the immortals but as if she’s never been hurt in her life.

  She’s definitely a stud, as most of us in the black gay community call dominant females who dress similar to a man. Still, there’s a feminine air about her that I’m finding attractive. It’s obvious to me that she prefers females because my gaydar is on high alert.

  This time, she turns towards me and gives me a sly smile
. No vamp fangs sticking out though just straight, white teeth. She’s obviously under control, as cool as a cucumber. We could be fast friends, I know it. “I saved your life once, a long long time ago.”

  “I don’t remember that,” I say.

  “And I don’t believe you,” Selene adds.

  She just chuckles and takes a step towards me, hands stretching out. I slap them away, but she gives me an exasperated look and proceeds anyway. The vampire touches my face softly and moves my hair out of the way of my left temple. “You have a scar right here from when you hit your head from falling down the stairs.”

  I tilt my head sideways and slowly remove her hand from my face not liking the feeling I was getting from her touch. How would she know that? “Yes.”

  “That’s what I told Jason that I made you think. That’s not what happened though.”

  “Jason? You knew my father?”

  “Well, we had a slight business partnership,” she begins then raises her hand when I get ready to interrupt. “And yes, I’m aware that he was not fond of our kind at the best of times, but still, he respected me. He also needed me that day. I don’t think you realize how deep into unsavory business your father used to dive, but it almost cost him his oldest child.” I search her eyes to find the truth in her words and when I nod, she continues.

  “There was a car accident. He picked you up from daycare and was t-boned on the driver side and trapped. They took you from the car. The bottom line is, I found out who took you for him because they said that if he went to the police that they would kill you. They had you guarded by some traps and vicious dogs, which is a shame because I’m a dog lover and it crushed my heart to have to kill them. The kidnappers, I had no sympathy for them though. I handled them all, except for the one I saw slapping you around when you were crying. He gave you that scar and I had to give you some of my blood that time too so that you could heal. Him, I saved for your father. After it all was done, Jason asked me to make you forget, so I glamoured you and told you to never let anything scare you again. Once it was all over, you seemed so happy and carefree. After that, Jason was in my debt, but I never collected on it.”