LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This story contains graphic adult sexual situations ... blah blah blah ... if it is illegal, do not ... yadda yadda yadda ... no abuse of underage puppies occurred ... et cetera, et cetera ... only organic cucumbers ... yawn ... and absolutely never in the capital of Ethiopia. So now you know.
DARKNESS EVOLVES Chapter One
Darkness is dwindling. It has been for millennia. Ages. But it will all come back, soon. If you're reading this now it probably means that you've read what my darkfather posted and you already know that. If you haven't, find and read that first. But it won't tell you enough of what you need to know. There's more. We're all going to need to be ready. How do I get you to understand? Maybe I should just tell you what's happened since I captured the demon that had possessed me for six years. That might be best. I'll tell you everything that's happened.
I'll start with Momma Lolotta's memorial service. The service took place twenty-nine days after her death. That's one lunar month, which is traditional. Mom's shade told me that the custom arose out of the need to give the new mistress time to settle in, and attendees enough traveling time to get there. In ancient days the body was shrouded and kept in a dark place preserved by spells. Nowadays they put it in a freezer.
The service for a lineage mistress is a sort of state affair. Not only are members of the Family all there, but other shadowkin also attend. It's a chance for members of allied (and rival) lineages to size up the new mistress. Old agreements and oaths are renewed and new ones are made. There's lots of back room negotiations, people-watching and gossip. You know, politics.
Daniel and I were both invited. Technically, since I'm third line, I didn't need the invitation, but Katerina wanted to make it explicit. Daniel's invitation was her way of officially recognizing him as a Family ally. It was a smart idea. Katerina's going to be a good mistress for the Estrellas.
The service took place in the Valley, in an amphitheater carved into the hillside overlooking the sea. They built a pyre out of different kinds of woods and set her body on top. At dusk the members of all three lines of the lineage stood together in the amphitheater and offered our Darkness to Katerina. She raised her arms and sang, gathering and shaping the Darkness, then turned and bowed to the pyre, releasing it. The wood ignited.
Daniel thought it was hilarious that Grandmother was a witch and they burned her. I guess it is sort of funny.
We watched the pyre burn for about half an hour until it collapsed in on itself and started to die down. Someone rang the campanile bell and that was it, the service was over. Everyone walked down a stone stairway to a couple of big pavilions they had set up on the beach. Each pavilion held a buffet table with food and a bunch of circular tables to sit and eat. In the space between the two pavilions they had put up an outdoor bar and more tables. Tiki torches were stuck in the ground all around the pavilions and for a hundred yards up and down the beach. It was a cool summer evening and the weather (of course) was perfect.
Amber and most of the rest of the first line milled around and schmoozed. Katerina held court at a table in one of the pavilions. Daniel and I stood near the bar and watched the crowd. There were almost two hundred people in attendance and the majority were women. Men were mostly escorts or satelles to lineage mistresses.
Daniel bantered a little with Roland, Aunt Sherietta's satelles, and some of the younger women came up to flirt with him — which always happens — but most of the guests didn't directly approach us. My brother didn't know it, but the two of us were actually getting a lot of attention. It wasn't the kind of attention the lightblind can perceive, and Daniel's gift didn't enable him to recognize it, but I could.
My brother was wearing an Armani suit with a blue-grey shirt that matched his eyes. In the light from the tiki torches he looked so beautiful that it made my knees tremble whenever I looked at him. Daniel is the most handsome man I've ever seen. He was amazing even before the moon gift, but the more he integrates the more jaw-dropping he becomes. Now he radiates vitality and animal masculinity, and every movement is filled with predatory grace. The Darkness that emanates from his pores was a musk that threw every witch near him into heat.
I don't look as physically imposing as Daniel and I never will. The attention on me was different. Some were curious just because I was here and wasn't an escort or, obviously, a satelles. Those with Darkness deep enough to sense my own noted it. As they noticed me, I noted their noticing in a kind of reciprocal acknowledgement, like nodding to each other across a room. We'd recognize each other's Darkness if we encountered it again. My mother's shade says that's part of what these family gatherings are for, too.
Amber made her way up to our side. Next to her was a plump older woman with white hair tied back in a librarian's bun and round granny glasses.
She looked like she'd just stepped out of a picture on a box of an old-fashioned cake mix. Following a few steps behind her was a middle-aged woman dressed in a severe black dress.
"Joseph, Daniel," said Amber, "I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Garland."
"Nice to meet you, dears." The older woman gave us a sweet grandma smile.
"Dr. Garland is the specialist who's been helping your friend Walter."
Daniel looked at her appraisingly. "You mean a specialist like Dr. Fellers was a specialist?"
"That's right, dear," the vampire answered.
"Well, shit." He shook his head. "I'd always imagined you all looking like corporate lawyers."
"Hollywood version, dear."
His eyes widened. She gave him a wink and another grandma smile.
"Will Uncle Walt be okay?" I asked.
She turned to me. Unlike Fellers' Santa Claus act, she wasn't casting an illusion. She really was an old lady. Maybe she was only feeding off of an older crowd, or maybe she just wanted to be old. Sometimes it's hard to understand why vampresses do the things they do.
"Yes, dear, he will. I asked Amber to introduce us because I wanted to let you know about his new living arrangement. From now on Dr. Fellers' former assistant will be staying with him."
"John?" Daniel frowned. "Why?"
"It's good for both of them. Having someone around will help Walter, who's been battling depression for years." She paused. "Nicholas' death was traumatic for John in ways that you can't imagine. The poor boy is epileptic. One of the reasons Nicholas kept John close was so that he could keep him stabilized. Now John will have to be on medication. He's become used to having an older male presence in his life and I've done what I can to transfer his attachment to Walter. They need each other."
"All right," Daniel nodded. "Thanks for telling us. And thanks for helping Walter."
"You're welcome, dear. Thank you for taking care of the demon."
She nodded to me and wandered off. Silent as a shadow, the woman in black paced behind her.
"So," Amber glanced back and forth between us, "are you two ready to pay your respects to the new mistress?"
"Is that part of the show?" asked Daniel.
"As a matter of fact, it is."
"All right," he offered his arm, "may I escort you, Doctor Estrella?"
She chuckled and placed her hand on his arm. I followed them into one of the pavilions.
Katerina was sitting at a table near the middle of the pavilion. Seated with her were four other women, all lineage matriarchs. Standing behind three of the women were muscular men in suits: their satelles. As we neared the table one of the men locked eyes with Daniel. His lip quivered, like he was restraining a snarl. I watched the back of Daniel's neck stiffen in response. The man was another moon-gifted.
Amber's hand slid down to close on Daniel's wrist. She'd sensed his response. While she steadied him I checked out the other were. He was a little shorter than Daniel, but stockier, with copper skin and flat cheekbones that suggested an American Indian heritage. He hadn't received the gift as fully as Daniel had. In his beast form he'd scramble along like a baboon, rather than running with my brother's loose-limbed lope. If it came to a fight, Daniel would wipe the floor with him.
I looked at his mistress. Her dark witchy eyes flicked from Daniel to Amber and then to me. "Gabriel, querido," she said, her gaze still on me, "dame una bedida."
Her satelles tore his eyes from Daniel. "Si, dona," he said. He turned and left. Daniel relaxed.
"Daniel, Joseph," Katerina looked up. "Thank you both for coming. Ladies," she turned to the other mistresses, "this is my cousin, Joseph Meltzer, and his half-brother Daniel, a Family friend."
"Hello, ladies." Daniel must have thrown them one of his movie star smiles, because a couple of them actually smiled back. The other two didn't, but they couldn't keep the sparkle out of their eyes.
The sparkles died when their gazes shifted to me. The moon-gifted's mistress continued to study me. "Third line, you said, Katerina?" She had a melodious Mexican accent.
"Yes, Ivonne. Third line."
Ivonne nodded to me, the tiniest of movements. I nodded back.
"Come on, gentlemen," said Amber, "let's get you something to eat." Her hand slid down into Daniel's as she led him away from the mistress' table. I followed them.
Amber stopped after she'd gone a dozen paces. "Good job, guys." She released Daniel's hand. "That takes care of the formalities. You're welcome to stick around for as long as you like, but if you want to leave now you can."
Daniel looked at me. "What do you want to do, bro?"
I shrugged. "Whatever you'd like is okay, Daniel."
He glanced around. Most of the women were good looking, and a few were really gorgeous. The old Daniel would have definitely stayed and probably ended up taking someone home with him, along with an iphone full of numbers. A part of him still wanted that. But his beast half was uneasy with the crowd (it could sense, better than his human half, the concentrations of Darkness around us) and he was anxious about how I was doing. I could have reassured him, but I didn't.
He sighed. "Let's go. If we leave now we can make it home by midnight."
"Okay, Daniel."
He turned back to Amber. "When will I see you again?"
"That depends. I'd really like to talk with your Uncle Walter. Jennifer — that's Dr. Garland — is sending him and John home tomorrow and I thought perhaps you could introduce me to him."
"You mean for real this time? What's he going to remember about what happened, anyway?"
"I don't know. It depends on what Dr. Garland thinks is best."
"All right, so we can do it a couple of days after he gets settled."
"Daniel ... " I said.
"What? Oh."
"Yes," Amber nodded. "It's gibbous waxing. I wasn't sure whether or not you'd prefer to wait until after the full moon had passed."
Daniel looked away. A muscle in his jaw flexed rhythmically. "Yeah," he got out, "that might not be a bad idea. I'll let you know."
He looked at me. "I'll go get the car. Meet you in front of the caterer's van. Okay, bro?"
"Okay, Daniel. I'll be there."
He headed off. A dozen heads turned to watch him go.
"May I accompany you to the road, Joseph?" asked Amber.
"Sure."
We stepped out of the pavilion and walked slowly up the beach.
"How have you been doing?" she asked.
"Good."
"I've been concerned about how things might be for you, living with your mother's shade."
"The Stone holds the past mistresses," I pointed out.
Amber drew a sharp breath. "Yes," she agreed, "it does. You ... of course you would know about that. But they're bound to the Stone. They aren't present in Katerina's mind continuously."
I shrugged. I'd lived with a demon inside of me for six years. My mother's shade was a welcome guest.
"Normally as third line you would be assigned a tutor for instruction in the Art." She hesitated. "Are you beyond that, Joseph?"
"Yes."
"I thought so. Still, I didn't want to assume."
"I know, Amber. It's nice that you asked."
"You do understand that a shade isn't a full person, don't you? It may feel like her, but there's a lot that isn't there. Sometimes the gaps are extensive. You have to be alert to that. Don't hesitate to ask if you have questions or need help."
"I won't."
We arrived at the road. The caterer's van was parked ten yards to our right. I turned to look at my cousin. The light from the tiki torches threw a warm glow along one side of her face. She's a pretty woman. And she's smart and brave. I can see why Daniel's attracted to her.
"Thanks for everything, Amber."
She smiled. "You're welcome, Joseph."
Daniel's headlights swept across the narrow road as he turned onto it. He headed toward us.
I looked back at Amber. "Can I tell you two things?"
"Yes, of course."
"Okay. One is that my mother would be really proud of everything that you've done."
"Oh." Amber's face softened in surprise. "Thank you, Joey. That's very kind of you to say." After a moment she asked, "What was the other thing?"
Daniel pulled up next to us. I smiled at him through the window before turning back to her.
"Two is that I don't share." And I sent the bitter tang of sulfur to sting her lungs.
Amber stood motionless. In the torchlight I could see the flush blossom in her cheeks. I opened the passenger door and slid into the Porsche.
"Catch you later, Amber," called out Daniel.
I closed the door and we drove off.
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