Flight

  Flight

  Copyright © November 2009, Michelle Marquis

  Cover art by Amira Press © November 2009

  Amira Press, LLC

  Baltimore, MD21216

  www.amirapress.com

  ISBN: 978-1-935348-73-3

  No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and e-mail, without prior written permission from Amira Press.

  Dedication

  To the shape shifter fans

  Prologue

  She was down there somewhere. He knew she must be nearby—he could feel her like a fever in his blood. He wanted her with every inch of his being, needed her like food in his belly. Does she remember who she is? Would she know me if she saw me? It had been so long that he dared not think she would.

  High above the soaring slash pines of Best Southern College, he soared, searching. He looked for her as he did every day around this time, with a heavy heart and a wounded soul. Stretching his wings out, he caught an updraft and rode it for several minutes while focusing his mind on scent. If he could only smell a strand of her hair, a drop of her blood, he knew he’d find her.

  Then she emerged from one of the buildings. Her long, thin limbs moving gracefully as she rushed out to her car and away from the afternoon heat.

  Ah, there you are, my beauty. You grow lovelier every time I lay eyes on you. What I wouldn’t give to have your sweet body under mine as I take you as you were meant to be taken.

  Oblivious to him, she walked across the campus below, her backpack slung carelessly over one shoulder and her brown hair loose in the wind. He let himself linger high above her head for a little while longer. He could relax now. Everything was fine. She was safe.

  In the back of his mind, he felt the others summoning him to return to the wake. They had found a new colony, and it would need to be cleansed. He was their leader, and they needed him. He had to go. Burying his disappointment, he flapped his wings and headed back—back to a life of unending loneliness, back to a life without her.

  Don’t worry, Jade, my love. Someday soon, you will be mine forever.

  Chapter One

  Jade Starbrite emerged from the Natural Science building into the harsh sunlight of late afternoon. Florida was usually mild in the spring, but not today. Today, the temperature was at least eighty, and the air was thick with humidity. On top of being miserably hot, she was also starving. Her zoology class had been almost two hours long, and she was desperate for some lunch.

  Penny Young, one of her best friends, raced up to her from across campus holding a flyer in her hand. “Did you see this?” Penny said, waving the flyer around.

  Penny’s lovely impish face was glowing with a light sheen of sweat, and Jade wondered how long she’d been running around in the sweltering heat looking for her. Jade grabbed Penny’s hand, took the flyer from her, and read it. It was a Missing poster for Bill Todd, another good friend of theirs. “Where did you find this?”

  “They’re all over campus!” Penny said, breathing hard. “According to his roommates, he’s been missing since yesterday morning. They said he went to some club called The Siren and apparently never came home. This is so weird. It’s just not like him to run off without telling anyone.”

  “Did his roommates call the cops?”

  “Yeah, but you know the cops. They need a body to really do anything. They think he’ll turn up.”

  Now this was odd. Bill only frequented gay bars he knew and felt safe in, and from what Jade knew of The Siren, it was neither safe nor gay. “I don’t get it,” Jade said thoughtfully. “Why would he go to a hetero meat market like that?”

  Penny pulled a scrunchie from her pocket and gathered her brown hair into a tight ponytail. “One of his roommates said there was some bouncer he was seeing there named Robert. They didn’t know anything else about the guy.”

  Jade adjusted her heavy backpack and squinted off at the parking lot thinking. If Bill was missing, something happened to him. Penny was right. He just wasn’t the kind of guy to take off and not tell anyone. Bill was an all-A student planning to be a doctor. People like that didn’t just disappear without a word. “I think I’ll go by The Siren tonight and see if I can find out anything.”

  Penny bit her lower lip. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “No,” Jade said. “It’s easier to check stuff out if I’m alone. If you’re with me, we’ll attract too much attention.”

  “I’m worried,” Penny said.

  “Don’t be,” Jade replied, squeezing Penny’s shoulder. “I won’t be there long. But maybe I can find out what happened to Bill or who this Robert guy is.” Before Penny could protest further, Jade loped off to her car. “Call me later on my cell,” she called out over her shoulder.

  Chapter Two

  Welcome night was coming.

  War Stanton could smell it in the cooling wind that circled the gang’s lair. It caressed his hair and tickled his beard, fueled his ravenous hunger. Like the others, his was a savage, feral appetite, a desperate need that had to be sated every few months or so. It had been a while since they’d hunted as a group, and everyone was on edge and starving. Lifting the American flag that functioned as a door, War came into the lair from the backyard deck to find the gang watching him and ready to hunt.

  He approached Bullet, his best friend and lieutenant, and placed his hand on the man’s broad shoulder. Bullet was standing before a large map of the city pinned to the wall by two small daggers. “Did you find the club?”

  Bullet smiled and pointed to a ritzy part of town. “I’ve had scouts going by there for days. It’s the place, all right. Dumb fucks will never know what hit them.”

  War stalked up to a picnic bench that served as their dining room table. He jumped up on it and surveyed his gang. Everyone moved closer to hear what he had to say. There was Dirty Mary, decked out in faded red leathers with her hair dyed a striking shade of pink, and HighTower, sporting a new tribal tattoo on his ebony neck, and all the rest of his nasty, motley crew.

  “Bullet has found us a new colony to enjoy. There should be plenty of ass for everyone, so please, try to keep the fighting to a minimum,” War said. “Remember, stay in formation, and don’t do anything until you get my signal. Now let’s get the fuck out of here and have some fun!”

  The gang roared their approval and stormed out to their bikes. Soon the quiet night was a symphony of roaring motorcycles, all of them riding in a circle in the middle of the street. War stalked out to his own bike and started it up. The violent rumble filled him with blood-pumping adrenaline, and he couldn’t wait for what the night would bring. When everyone was mounted up and ready to ride, War held up his fist and signaled them to follow him.

  * * * *

  Jade had only asked one question of the bartender—“Have you seen this guy in the picture? His name is Bill Todd.” And that was the last thing she remembered. All in all, the whole thing took about ten seconds. Ten seconds for everything to change.

  Now she was trapped.

  Jade had been bound and gagged in a storage room, and the only thing she was sure of was that it was late. It was hard to believe her life was going to end like this, but she had little hope anyone would find her alive. Her idea of coming to The Siren and looking around for Bill was a colossal mistake. Everything unraveled almost immediately. Someone clearly knew who he was and didn’t want any questions about what had happened to him.

  Sure, she’d arrived here to have a beer and ask around, but what she hadn’t known, couldn’t have known until now, was that this club wasn’t just any nightspot. This was a vampire club, and she was on the menu. As for Bill, the only thing she could conclude about him was he had been sucked dr
y the night before and they wanted to keep it nice and quiet.

  Fighting to keep her panic under control, she fought with her ropes again, desperate to feel some give in the knots, but there was none. Outside, people were laughing and talking and occasionally discussing what kinds of horrible things they were going to do to her. The last idea for entertainment was to toss her off the roof. It was all Jade could do not to burst into tears, but she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.

  With little left to do but think and pray, Jade said a prayer begging God to send someone to help her before it was too late. She also told God there were no hard feelings if his answer was no.

  The door opened, and light spilled into the storage room. Jade was grabbed and pulled out into the flashing disco lights of the club. She tried to fight, but the ropes made even the smallest struggle impossible. Rough hands pulled her over to an elevated platform with a harness hanging from the ceiling above. As Jade did all she could to fight them, they hoisted her up and secured her in the harness, fastening her to the ceiling so she hung helpless upside down.

  At least now she could see the vampires more clearly, even if she was upside down. There was a good mix of both men and women, and they were all sickly pale. Most of them looked like their faces had been carved from wax. Well, there goes the popular romantic version of vampires. Yuck! And boy, do they smell. They were so grotesque, Jade had to look away.

  One of the men moved in close to her neck and licked her flesh. Everything about him smelled bad, from his rancid breath to the faint scent of old body odor. Jade fought in the harness, desperate to put some distance between her and this disgusting thing.

  But just as the vampire was about to sink his fangs into her throat, the club doors burst open. Suddenly the vampires, who’d been having the time of their lives only a moment ago, were screaming and running in panic. Jade squinted to see who could have caused such chaos and was amazed to see several huge bikers stalking into the club.

  It’s not what I had in mind, God, , but I’ll take it!

  Chapter Three

  Moments after the bikers arrived, there was a loud rustle and a roaring rush of wind. The only thing Jade could make out was the sense that many large birds had suddenly taken flight. First, it was the leader, stepping into the nightclub like he owned it and stretching out his powerful arms. A red light overhead illuminated his Viking-like features, giving him an eerie, otherworldly air. He was such a presence. He could easily have passed for some ancient Roman war god. In the second it took for her to glance away to the fleeing panic he caused, he’d transformed into a huge black bird. No, not any black bird, some kind of vulture she’d never seen before.

  Flying high into the strobe light, he descended with terrifying speed and knocked down several of the vampires. Blood-chilling screams erupted from the victims as the raptor dug in with claws and beak to tear the vampires apart.

  With growing dread, Jade realized that the bikers weren’t here to save her from the vampires. In fact, they were probably just as bad. She was as good as dead if she stayed bound much longer. Taking advantage of the melee, she struggled again to try to loosen her ropes. But it was no use. Hanging upside down only made the knots tighter, and no amount of struggling was going to loosen them. No, she needed to be cut down. All around her, vampires were being attacked by the gang of bikers, and she realized with mounting horror that they were being devoured by the enormous black raptors the bikers had become. It wasn’t that she didn’t think the vamps had it coming, but she sure didn’t want to die with them. No friggin’ way!

  Soon the noise died down as most of the carnage moved outside. This is it. No one sees me. Maybe that’s a really good thing. But with my luck, I’ll be found hours later by the cops hanging here dead like a slaughterhouse beef. So she did the only thing she could. She kept trying beyond hope to escape.

  Then a new sound came to her ears—boots thumping on tile. They sent a shiver all though her. Strong hands turned her around, and she saw that it was the biker leader. She hung helplessly before him, her face level with the impressive bulge in his pants. Oh my.

  Jade didn’t have much experience with bikers, but this one was particularly scary. Standing an easy six feet four, he looked like he’d be as comfortable with a Viking horde as a modern gang. He was dressed completely in black leather—black motorcycle jacket, black jeans, and heavy black boots. Over the jacket was a torn-off blue jean jacket that sported several patches and insignias. He had a full beard, but it was clean and well groomed and as dark brown as his shoulder-length hair. Jade found him surprisingly attractive in a feral kind of way. But he was certainly not the kind of man one took home to Mama.

  He crouched down and pulled an enormous knife from his boot, and Jade’s heart skipped a beat. “Don’t, please, I’m not one of them!” she said. But the biker wasn’t listening. He came up with the knife in hand, and suddenly she was falling. He caught her just before she hit the ground.

  For a moment, Jade sat in his arms unable to process what had just happened. Then she stared up into his hardened amber eyes and couldn’t look away. “Who are you people?” she asked as he gently lowered her to the floor so she could stand.

  An evil grin curled his lips. “Scavengers,” he said. “Just taking out the trash.” Jade noticed he had a faint Southern drawl. He tossed his head in the direction the vamps had fled. “Any of them bite you?”

  Jade rubbed her wrists. She was feeling more relieved than she thought possible. She was also attracted to this strange man, and she had no idea why. He was nowhere near her type, and yet, there was something familiar about him, like an old family friend remembered fondly from childhood. “No,” she said. “None of them bit me.”

  The biker nodded and began walking around surveying the damage. He stepped over a large pool of blood, his boots crushing the broken glass underfoot. Jade fell into step behind him. “What’s your name?”

  “War,” he said, stepping behind the bar and taking one of the whiskey bottles. He tilted his head back and poured some of the liquor down his throat. Jade climbed up onto a barstool and watched him with fascination. The man was a complete savage. It was like being at some exotic zoo.

  “I came here looking for a friend. I believe the vamps have him hidden here somewhere, probably just like me.”

  War swallowed and didn’t even grimace. He lifted his head and took a deep breath. “Nope,” he said after several minutes. “Nobody’s alive here but you, me, and the other raptors. If your friend was here, he’s surely dead too.”

  “How can you be so sure?” she said, her hope draining away.

  War stalked around the bar and came up to her. He moved up very close, and she was amazed he actually smelled like he’d showered this morning. His amber eyes locked with hers, and she felt a lusty thrill. Now you stop that, she said to her womb.

  “Because I can smell alive and dead,” he said darkly. “And there ain’t nothing else dead in here that hasn’t been eaten.”

  Jade swallowed. She’d think he was crazy, but she’d seen what he could do. Sirens sounded somewhere off in the distance.

  War smiled at her. “Time to go.” He grabbed her by the waist, threw her over his shoulder, and strolled toward the door. Jade fought to be put down. She’d just escaped one captive situation. She wasn’t going to be kidnapped by some monster biker named War.

  “Put me down, damn you!” she said, fighting and kicking with all her might. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “Keeping you safe.”

  “From whom?” she shouted as her panic continued to rise. “The only person threatening me right now is you!”

  “The vamps we didn’t get tonight.”

  “I don’t want your protection! I want to go home! Why should you give a shit about my protection anyway? Who am I to you?”

  “You’re my queen, baby. And now those vamps, they know it too.”

  Chapter Four

  War emerged onto the s
treet and eased Jade off his shoulder. He lowered her to the ground but kept his grip on her arm so she couldn’t bolt. She punched at him to let her go, but he ignored it.

  “What the hell are you talking about? I am not your queen! Are you crazy?”

  Keeping his grip tight, he mounted up on his Harley Davidson Softail Deuce and gave her a quick shake. “I’ll explain everything, but right now I need you to get on.”

  Without waiting for her to answer, he started his bike with a thunderous roar. Jade frowned and chewed her bottom lip. She didn’t trust him, but she had no reason not to trust him. The police sirens were getting closer. He needed her to get on his bike now or they’d have one weird story to tell the cops.

  “The cops are no match for the vamps, Jade,” he said. At the mention of her name, she stared at him, startled. “Only I can keep you safe. Get on.”