Alice the Vampire Slayer Page 3

  Chapter 5

  The smell was stronger there at the door than it had been outside or in the club. Anger swelled within me, heightening my senses, too. I needed to open this door. But was I ready for this? Sure, I was a slayer according to my blood. The guardians had been training me to fulfill my abilities to do what I'd been born to do, but the truth was that I had never even seen a vampire, much less slayed one. Could I even do it?

  What if I froze? What if I was weaker than I should have been? I'd never even hurt a person on purpose. There was that accident one time with a sparring partner where I'd failed to pull my punch enough and cracked his ribs. It felt awful to hurt someone unintentionally. Could I even do it with intention?

  Was I supposed to do it?

  What if this anger inside me built up into a rage and I couldn't control my slayer instincts? What if I broke the peace accord all by myself?

  "What are you doing?" Chester whispered into my ear.

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge. He stood beside me with a hand on the wall next to the door, and one leg propped up in a relaxed manner. He lifted an eyebrow and quirked a half-smile. I swallowed. "Trying to make the right decision."

  "Oh. Sounds serious." he said, straightening. "Do you know which one is right yet?"

  I frowned. "No."

  "Then does it really matter which decision you make? You have just as much chance of answering the question correctly as you do of getting it wrong." He chuckled. "Seems to me it makes no difference what you decide."

  And then he reached down in front of me and turned the door's handle. I heard the sound of wooden balls clacking into each other before I even saw what was beyond the doorway that Chester swung open. More purple. The walls and the carpet of the room ahead were lined with purple and green. A pool table sat in the middle of the room with two players holding cues while a small crowd of others stood by and watched the game, but no Mr. Tokki.

  I frown. How was it possible he wasn't here? Did he go through another doorway?

  Chester's hand found its way to the small of my back and pushed me forward into the room, shutting the door behind the two of us. The vampire scent permeated the room, keeping my adrenaline high. There was more than one vampire in the room. My eyes focused on three people including one of the players. Her long black hair nearly flowed down to her waist, and she wore a form fitting red dress that sparkled in the light when she moved. She stood with a cue stick in her hand, waiting for her turn.

  The human who played the game appeared to be winning. He was a tall, skinny man with short reddish-brown hair and an infectious smile. His biceps were displayed because of his black sleeveless shirt. He hit the cue ball once more, and the last ball went into the corner pocket.

  The vampire woman in the red dress screeched. She broke her cue stick in half so that both sides splintered into sharp points. Then in a fit of rage, she swung it toward the human man's neck.

  Without thinking, I sprang forward, grabbing the human and yanking him back. The cue stick's sharp point scratched the first layer or so of skin from the man's Adam's apple, so that a bead of blood formed in a line across his throat. He cried out and stumbled backward when I released him from my grip.

  The woman's eyes flashed a in a hideous shade of red as she glared at me. Her hands fisted on the pieces of cue stick she had in her hands so that her white knuckles even began to turn blueish. "How dare you interfere?" she howled and then came at me with the stick, slashing in my direction, forgetting about her original target.

  I jumped backward and then launched a roundhouse kick toward her arm. I hit the woman squarely on the wrist, breaking her grip on the sharpened cue stick that she held like a knife. She dropped it and screeched. "Seize her. I want her head for this insult."

  Two of the three men to the sides of the woman both narrowed their eyes and took a step toward me, but both of them hesitated when I crouched into a fighting stance. I used the term 'men' loosely, as I could tell from their scent, they were both vampires, too. My heart raced in my chest and a ringing started in my ears. This was it. This wasn't sparring; this was the genuine thing. I wouldn't need to pull my punches. If I was forced to throw one, there wouldn't be any need to hold back. A smile tugged at my lips, and I realized that this is what I'd been waiting for my whole life.

  The third man raised an eyebrow at me. He was taller, bigger, and tougher looking than the other two. He had a scar that covered over one of his eyes from his brow to his cheek, and the eye remained closed. The other eye was an icy blue and he watched me like a predator.

  A crash sounded to my right as someone barged in through the door, but I refused to take my eyes off my two opponents. They both however, jumped back and hissed toward the new person who entered.

  "I'm so very late!" Tokki's voice said.

  My heart skipped, but I continued to focus anywhere but at him. I'd get in so much trouble if he saw me. There was no time to shrink myself. Ugh. Maybe my disguise would work. He might not recognize me. I never wore makeup and I was wearing gobs at the moment. I tilted my head forward so my pigtails covered part of my face from him.

  Without preamble, Tokki walked in and straight past the two men who eyed him, bewildered, as if unsure of what they should do. The woman in the red dress still had a furious expression on her face, but my view of her was momentarily blocked by Tokki's slivery-white hair.

  "Regina Heart, you are hereby ordered to come before the council of Guardians. They expect your presence at a meeting on Monday to answer for your interactions with the humans." Tokki's voice sounded deeper, more commanding than I'd ever heard before. Then I realized why. Tokki was using compulsion. His orders carried power. He’d commanded this woman to be at the meeting, and now she had no choice but to attend because of the compulsion. All this time while I was taking geometry with him, I'd have never guessed that Tokki had that kind of power. He'd always seemed so mild-mannered before. Guess what they said about the quiet ones might have been right…

  The woman, Regina, blinked at Tokki, her expression twisting with bewilderment for a split second. She focused on Tokki's face a moment, and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. I will be there, summoner."

  She nodded toward the bigger guy, and that gentleman took the box of paperwork from Tokki and set it on a chair behind them. Tokki's shoulders dropped a bit as though he'd released all the tension in them. He turned about, getting ready to head for the door, when his glance grazed over me. I held my breath, my eyes wide as I returned his gaze. But it slipped past me. He didn't show any recognition in his eyes, and he left without another word. The human who had been the original target of the vampires across the room from me slipped out the door with Tokki. I breathed a sigh of relief for both reasons. The human was no longer in danger, and Tokki had also left. I swallowed hard. Should I leave, too? Tokki was my ride. Slowly, I stood straighter and came out of my fighting stance since the immediate danger seemed to have past. I blinked at Regina, who lifted her chin at me.

  "A summoner and a slayer both in the same day?" she asked.

  My heart skipped again. How did she know I was a slayer?

  Regina scratched her chin and then fixed a demure expression on her face. "Allow me to make introductions. I am Regina Heart, Queen of the Heart Coven."

  She pointed to the quiet gentleman with the scar over his eye. "This is my companion, Jack Kingston. The two knaves beside him are of little consequence. And you are?"

  I swallowed again. "Alice."

  She smiled a bit wider than necessary, showing her sharpened canines. "Alice the slayer. Lovely."

  She nodded toward One of the knaves, and he began to rack up the balls on the table. Regina then gestured toward the cues behind me. "Won't you play a friendly game with me?"

  Chapter 6

  I scrunched my brows at her. Was she serious? Hadn't she just said that she wanted to cut off my head? Now she wanted to play pool? I cast a glance over at Chester, who had been sitting in a chair
this whole time, watching with that smile plastered to his face as though he didn't have a care in the world. Chester lifted an eyebrow and offered me a half-shrug. Boy, he was a lot of help. One of the knaves handed me a cue stick. But the cue stick was significantly shorter than the one Regina had or one that I've ever played with before.

  I clenched my jaw. There was a pool table back at our dorm. I'd played a few games in the past, and I was not horrible at the game. But could I win against someone who seemed to play all the time? Doubtful. Especially since they were obviously cheating and had handed me a non-regulation length stick. All the cards were stacked against me. I started to consider my options and glanced toward the exit. Mr. Kingston stood, leaning against the door, his one blue eye fixed on me. If I wanted out, it seemed clear that I'd need to fight my way past that man.

  In classes, my training was always to try to find a way out of a situation without fighting. If I could resolve things in a peaceful way, I needed to. My Taekwondo instructor always commanded that we "use words first, throw punches later." I tightened my grip on the cue stick. Did I really even have a choice here?

  "I'll choose stripes," Regina declared and hit the cue ball toward the first of her striped balls. It struck the ten ball with a twack and then hit the side of the green felt covered table. The ten she hit headed toward the corner pocket, but seemed a little off in its trajectory. One of the knaves bumped the table with his hip and got the ball back on the right course.

  I blinked at him. He lifted a brow toward me as though daring me to object. Regina smiled and clapped her hands as she watched her ball go straight into the pocket. Now I began to wonder. Was the Queen of the Heart Coven so bad at playing pool that she needed to cheat? Why did she bother playing then? Eventually, I had my turn and played fairly, but as I had said before, I'm not the best player, and soon I found myself falling behind.

  My nerves became frazzled. What would happen if I lost? I saw what happened when someone won. Regina almost killed that man who'd won, claiming he'd cheated. He would have been dead if I hadn't jumped into the fray. So if I lost, would I be killed. Somehow I doubted a good outcome either way. It seemed I would be destined to find out what happened, because I was well on my way to losing.

  Regina leaned on the table, getting ready to strike her last striped ball before going for the eight. She concentrated fully, and a knave stood ready at two portions of the table, prepared to help make sure the ball went where she wanted it to through bumping the table again. I frowned at them, but didn't say anything. Everyone knew she cheated, but no one seemed to care. It wasn't as if a judge existed for me to complain to.

  "I think I shall refresh all the drinks. I'll be right back," Chester said cheerfully, but then I watched him head around the wrong side of the table, skipping past the knave and then falling over top of Regina just as she struck the cue ball. The ball jumped from the table and her cue stick cut through the green felt on the table. The knaves and even Jack rushed to her aid. Chester smiled at me and winked as he darted for the door and slipped out. For a moment, I stood there, stupid and blinking. Then I realized that this was my best opportunity to leave as well. I set down the cue stick quietly and started making my way for the door.

  Regina screamed. "How dare you! You did this, didn't you? You collaborated with Katz and cheated! I hate a cheater!"

  Again, the woman broke her cue stick. Jack practically phased through the air and landed in front of me, effectively blocking the doorway again. I frowned and spread into a fighting stance again. A sneer split his face. Behind me, I heard the shuffling of feet and realized that my back was unprotected. I turned slightly so that I could see opponents from either direction and so that my back faced the wall. I reached behind me slowly and picked back up my short cue stick and then placed it in front of me, prepared to use it as a staff.

  "Off with her head. I want to see her blood cover the floor and spurt from her neck. She cheated!" Foam frothed at the sides of Regina's mouth. It made her look more like a mad dog than a supermodel, which she could easily be mistaken for otherwise. The woman's slim form only made her seem even taller than she was, but regardless, Regina had to be nearly six feet tall. Her hands fisted on her broken cue sticks. The knaves kept their distance from me. Jack on the other hand made his move toward me with a hand. My reaction was instant. I didn't even have to think about it. I lashed out with my cue stick and smacked him across the back of his hand. Bones cracked.

  He winced but didn't make a sound. His hand withdrew, and he held it close to his chest. The two knaves across from me's eyes went wide, but they didn't make a move toward me or away from me.

  "What are you waiting for?" Regina asked. "Seize her already."

  "My queen," Jack said, "We are at an impasse. The Heart Coven has not had interaction with a slayer like this girl in over twenty years—since the beginning of our treaty with the guardians. And this Alice… has been trained by the guardians, as we can tell from the way she seemed to know Tokki the summoner."

  "So what? What does this have to do with anything. She cheated." Regina folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

  I lifted a brow. How old was she again? She looked to be in her late-twenties, maybe. But vampires were tricky like that. They could be well over a hundred years old and still look less than thirty. Regardless, before she was turned, she'd have been an adult, for sure. So, why hadn't the chick grown up yet?

  "I suggest a parlay," Jack said and bowed slightly, still cradling his hand to his chest. "My benevolent queen, please show mercy to the slayer as well as your servants. We are evenly matched and do not wish anyone to be harmed in a fight that could last a very long time. Days even."

  I huffed. Evenly matched? Somehow I doubted that the three of them were an even a match for me, at all, the longer I stood here watching them.

  "Days?" Regina frowned. "I don't have time for that. I have an appointment to get my nails done."

  I'd once heard that the hair and fingernails of corpses continued to grow long after a person's death. I wondered if the same were true for the undead. Was there truly a need for Regina to get her nails done?

  "Exactly, my merciful monarch." Jack bowed again. "Let us invite the slayer to the coven for parlay instead of you missing your appointment."

  Regina narrowed her eyes at me. Then she tossed both her cue sticks toward the ground. She sighed and rolled her eyes, waving her hand in my general direction. "Whatever."

  Jack stretched out his hand and then shook it and made a fist. The bones cracked and popped like I'd seen in a kung-fu movie where the master made a fist and every knuckle cracked. Each one seemed to form right back into the place where they should. I frowned at him. He phased again, and my eyes were barely able to perceive his movements. By the time I caught up with him, he'd gotten behind me and slipped my cue stick from my hands. My hands fisted, and my instincts took over again. I back-kicked him, landing a glancing blow on his stomach as he jumped away.

  My molars ached from clenching my teeth too hard. I leapt forward and followed my kick with a jab, cross punch. But Jack blocked both blows with his forearms. One of the knaves came up from behind me, and I jumped up swinging a whirlwind kick to the knave's head, landing a solid blow to his temple. He collapsed, dazed and blinking.

  "Enough," Jack commanded.

  And the other knave stepped back, pulling the one on the ground with him. He was already starting to regain clarity.

  Had I really thought I was better than the three of them put together? I was rethinking that. Jack didn't attack me. Each move he made had been defensive. What kind of fighter would he be if he had attempted to attack me? My frown deepened. My breaths were coming at a strong rate, and sweat beaded on my forehead. It wasn't so much that I'd worked very hard, but the adrenaline made it so that my body worked hard whether I thought about it or not.

  "Can we stop playing this game now and go ahead to the coven? I'm getting tired of it." Regina covered a yawn with the back of her h
and.

  "Yes, majesty," Jack said, phasing so that he was suddenly behind me. Before I could whip around and react, he chopped the back of my neck. Black crowded my vision and stars flashed before my eyes. No matter how hard I fought it, the black overtook me.

  Chapter 7

  I didn't know exactly how long I'd been asleep, but a sudden jolt woke me. I found myself in the back of a limousine, one knave sitting to each side of me and Jack and Regina across from me, looking bored. A third knave made eye contact with me in the rearview mirror before returning his eyes back to the road as he drove. I tried to get up, but suddenly found my arms tied behind my back. "Let me go. This is kidnapping, you know?"

  "She speaks," Regina said with a laugh. "I suppose it's better than the snoring you'd been doing thus far."

  I swallowed and narrowed my eyes at her. My arms were tingly, and my right hand felt numb. I cursed my poor circulation. Even if I got free from these ropes somehow, would I even be able to fight? I'd grossly underestimated my opponents. It was obvious that Jack had drawn his punches with me at first to see what I was capable of. I was a fool to think for a moment that what he'd shown me from the beginning was all the power he had. I fought against my bonds but it was no use. My arms wouldn't come free. I eyed the man and woman who sat across from me. The woman didn't do much more than play on her phone while the man continued to eye me. He didn't let his guard down for a single second. Yes, I definitely underestimated him. I began to wonder if he could have killed me from the beginning. His queen had ordered it done.

  If he'd come at me full power right from the start, he might have overwhelmed me. I could have lost confidence because it was my first fight and he would obviously be a strong opponent. Stronger than anything I'd been used to or even faced before. I swallowed hard, but my throat was dry and scratchy, so I ended up coughing.