Himora Clarke #2
“Yes ma’am,” she greeted. I heard my daughter babbling in the back which meant Vanessa must have dropped her off.
“I’m packing everything for Mississippi now.
Nessa just dropped Dawn off like a freaking bag of clothes and went back.
I’m told Maggie is now there along with the friends, but something is wrong. ”
“Maggie?” Cynthia let out as she attempted to wipe herself clean. “She’s safe? She’s back at the house?”
That was all they needed to hear. The large wardrobe closet that stood to the left of the desk glowed through the cracks as I knocked three times.
Raven insisted on bringing the bodies back with her which caused more of a hassle as they dragged the limp frames through the door.
She called on one of her daughters to help grab an arm or leg until the only thing left was a trail of blood smeared against the rug.
“Audrey, are you seeing what I’m seeing?
” I asked as I waved the wand over the papers.
A small light illuminated from the end as the office slowly grew dim.
I remained behind the desk, ignoring the wandering eyes of the cats in each of the pictures pinned to the wall and tucked behind a frame on the desk.
The curling tails whipping back and forth with magical activity just letting me know they were watching my every move.
There were old maps of Cedar Park, before it turned into what the Underground is today.
Old maps of the estates that Holmes owned, and the start of the train being built along with Drew Collins University.
Then I saw documents about the Solhari Kingdom, the different maps, and layouts of the entire world.
The oldest black natives in the world, a hidden ancient civilization and some of the oldest magic ever known.
“I’m seeing it, Boss Lady… They are looking for the sixth witch family living relative,” she said. “They have everyone’s information. I even see…My name and my grandmother’s name… I legally took Holmes off, so I don’t know why they insist on calling me that.”
“When you marry into the family this is what comes with it. The marriage itself is a binding contract,” I told her.
“Hmmmph…Mary Davis had no business being with that man. She did that to spite Poette.”
“Yes well…” I trailed off, scanning through the documents as another chilling pain along my spine trickled down my back. It was paperwork about Dr. Marvin T. Holmes and the suspicion he was working with the UBI.
“Send all of those documents to me and we’ll take a look.”
“Right.”
I tapped each paper, watching everything get sucked into the wand like a vacuum before just as the lights flickered back on and the door burst open.
“DON’T MOVE!”
I looked up seeing the tall woman I didn’t recognize, walking in with three men behind her as a gun with a laser was pointed directly in my face, and bouncing off my black frames.
They weren’t real authorities. They weren’t even officials.
I glanced at the wardrobe door making sure it was closed when I felt a sudden presence dark behind me.
Before I could gasp, I felt the pinching nails press into my skin on my neck and shove me down against the desk as my spine split.
Ripping the turtleneck fabric, my wings burst through with a second of frantic fluttering before laying flat against the desk like an intricate veiled blanket.
“So Marvin did not lie when he said there were more of you here,” a voice said calmly. The feminine dark yet soothing tone entered the room while the presence behind me leaned over, smelling familiar, like blood.
“I never understood why they call themselves the First Family if they aren’t the first vampires?
” The raspy deep voice asked from behind me as if it was a mere fleeting thought that passed his mind.
My eyes widened at the implication. Raven said there were others.
Cynthia said there were others. There were different clans of vampires throughout the world according to Raven.
Just never here in the Underground until now…
“She is a baby though…She was recently turned. I can tell by the sweet stench of fae on her. She barely feeds…”
“So we can still take her?” Another voice said. “She isn’t one of ours.”
“How do you know?” Another voice asked. I felt the aggressive tug of someone’s hand lifting my hair to expose my neck. “We don’t have this white mark…that belongs to those fake ass fangers, the First Family.”
“Who is her maker?” Someone else asked.
“So the First Family does have progenies,” the soothing voice as her heels walked along the rug like a soft knock on a door. Vampires working with the Southern witch families…
“Still doesn’t explain what the hell that Maggie woman is…” Another voice said as it shook with uncertainty. “I’ve never seen anything like that from our own.”
“Because she isn’t our own!” Another snapped.
“She’s the only one that freaks me the fuck out…I don’t like it, Vince–––”
“She’s not our problem right now. Let the witches handle that bitch–––”
“Look, I need to deal with the aftermath of this. They’re going to undoubtedly try, and release Marvin and he’s going to try and spin this in his favor,” the woman said.
“Do whatever you like and make it quick, and clean. You said you wanted to feed, feed on that. Leave enough evidence where they can find the body. Everyone will assume it was the First Family in the end anyway.”
The men began arguing amongst themselves on who would have the chance to tear apart my wings or assault me. I closed my eyes, feeling another pinching call from my spine.
“If she’s a progeny, she has a maker…They’re going to know we killed her–––”
“She’s meek and timid, just like the fairy I had the other month. Remember?”
The voice leaned against my backside as my fangs slowly appeared in response.
There was absolutely nothing I could physically do in my current state to overpower someone who has been what he is longer than I have, but when I felt another pinching chill between my spine, I exhaled and opened my eyes.
“I’m here, Adrias.”
Closing my eyes, it took only a few seconds to hear the loud commotion echo in the hallways. Each door slammed shut and rocked the building. One by one, as if someone was searching for something or someone in a frantic state.
“What the fuck is that?” One of them asked.
I felt the grip loosen on my neck ever so slightly before the office door burst opened.
Seconds… It took a matter of seconds to hear bodies being torn, the growls, and blood splatter being sprayed everywhere as Adrias’s body darted to the next man.
Backing him into a corner one moment before pinning him down to the rug as his hand stabbed into his neck like razors, gripping on the vocal cords.
All while another body slowly began to regress as blood drew back into the flesh, healing on its own just as fast as it was torn apart.
It wasn’t simply tearing bodies apart, the way vampires healed from the most traumatic of wounds made them the most difficult to kill.
They could only be starved out and even that could take years unless they themselves took their own life the way Wilhelmina Holmes did.