Page 26 of Kiss of Light

She made her host replace the cheap bottle on the shelf and reach for the sixteen year old Kentucky bourbon she’d spotted at the back.

The barman poured two shots and placed them in front of Lemar and the deathly-still Tala.

“There you go, gorgeous.” He winked at the bemused vampire. “I know you prefer blood but this will put hair on your fangs.”

Lemar leaned forward.

“Shaitun?” he hissed.

Tala made the brawny barman blow him a kiss.

“The one and only.”

Then she floated back into her own body. The barman blinked and smiled at his customers uncertainly. He badly needed a smoke, he decided, and went on a break. Lemar eyed Tala with a new respect.

“Can you do that to everyone?”

“No. Humans, mostly. Some fae. Not elven, though. They have their own form of glamour which counteracts mine.”

“Vetali?”

“No. I can only possess living bodies and Vetali are almost…” she trailed off, horrified at her clumsy choice of words.

“Almost dead. Yes, I see.” Lemar took the glass of whisky and examined it reflectively. He downed it in one and nodded appreciatively. “I see why you like this stuff. That was almost pleasant.”

“Lemar, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I just meant there’s something about Vetali that keeps me out. I can’t even touch them in my essence state without it affecting me. It makes me weak.”

“Your essence state?”

“Astral projection, sort of. My consciousness. I can send it to other places, or into people. It comes in handy. But it’s not as useful as being able to compel people.”

“Talking of which…” Lemar nudged the glass of bourbon towards her. “I got you a drink. So tell me. How come you have no master?”

Tala took a moment to savour another sip of bourbon before she answered.

“What do you know of my kind?”

“Not much. Shaitun are demons created from the ether. Designed to serve.” He raised a brow. “You don’t seem very servile.”

“True. Well, I was brought into existence by Mazhab the Golden One and gifted to Lord Shamhurish of the Ifrit. I served him for two hundred years and was in turn gifted to his son.”

She took another sip of bourbon.

“Over the years I found myself beginning to change. I wanted to do more than just serve. If I’d belonged to anyone else, I would have been discorporated. Returned to the ether from where I came. But my new master was different. He gave me freedom. No strings, no conditions. Just freedom, pure and simple.”

Lemar exhaled, impressed,

“He sounds remarkable. Who is he?”

“Lord Shadeed of the Jinn. The rightful emperor of Nush’aldaam. And the only goddamned reason I’m chasing after a fucking Vetali who refuses to be saved.” Tala looked at Lemar, eyes blazing. “Salaq is trying to frame Shadeed for the contract on your head. He wants your father’s help taking the throne. Salaq the Sadist, with his sidekick Aelfric the Unhinged running Nush’aldaam. Imagine what they’ll do to our beautiful land.”

“I understand the stakes, Tala,” Lemar said softly. It was the first time he’d used her name. “But I can’t go back to Palissandra because I did something terrible. And if I tell you about it, you may be glad to leave me to the other hunters. I would deserve it.”

“I don’t judge, Lemar,” she said. “We’ve all done bad things. Things we’d rather forget. Including me.”

“Have you ever ripped the throat out of a teenage girl?” he said sharply. He watched it sink in, watched her eyes turn cold. “No. Thought not. So do yourself a favour, and keep away from me. I’m not worth saving.”

He left the bar in a blur of speed, gone in a blink of an eye. She let him go, still trying to process what he’d said.

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