The Soul Mate

CHAPTER SIX

“Gimme the bottle Xan!” Fifi whined jumping on Xan’s back.

“Chill fată.” He took a swig and passed the bottle upwards to her.

“You okay Trin?” Xan’s dark eyes missed nothing.

I didn’t answer him.

“I do believe this is a first frate. A fată ignoring you!” Shandor mocked from beneath the eager lips of the youngest triplet, Magdolna.

Fifi burst out laughing, causing her to lose her footing around Xan, who hadn’t been holding onto her. She landed hard on her bottom. Still studying me, Xan reached down to snatch his bottle back from her. “You’re free to join us if you’d like.”

I snorted. The thought of being the fifth wheel in their drunken orgy didn’t sound the least bit fun. I shook my head and turned to go.

“You think you’re too good for us, Gaje?” Fifi’s pretty face was scrunched up in a scowl and she was pointing a long, red fingernail at me.

“She’s just playing hard to get, aren’t you?” Shandor released Magdolna’s face for a few seconds to grin at me. Yep, I thought. Definitely a hyena.

“Yeah, that’s it,” I muttered. “As I walk home I am going to be wishing one of you had begged me to stay and partake in… in whatever the hell this is? Gypsies gone wild?”

Xan’s eyes narrowed.

Fifi balled up her fist and struck a very menacing pose for a 5’3”, 110 pound girl. Xan, smirking, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back.

“Aw Trin, you’re selling yourself short. I seem to remember just last night by the creek seeing a very public-

“XAN!” I shouted over him as realization dawned. “Shut. Up.”

His smile was lazy but his eyes were as sharp as knives, ready to slice straight through any dignity I had.

“Please…” He mocked, his lips curving into a wicked smile.

“Please…” He repeated. All eyes were on me now.

“So did he Trin?” Xan’s tone had gone from mocking to downright acidic. “Did Gerik give you what you needed? Cuz, from where I was standing, it sure as hell looked like it.”

Shandor and Magdolna exploded in laughter behind me.

“You are such a jerk,” I hissed.

“Aww Xan…” Fifi slipped in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck, lifting her chin. “You made the little Gaje slut upset.” Giggling seductively, she went up on her toes, moving in for a kiss.

Using her hair to angle her head the way he wanted it, he kissed her back. Within seconds Fifi was mewling softly, rocking her body against Xan’s.

I was instantly jealous. Not of Fifi’s rendezvous with Xan, but of the freedom she had to do as she pleased. At any time she could pull away from him, he had no supernatural power unwillingly tethering her to him. I didn’t have that luxury.

Xan glanced up and caught me staring. My face heated. Whipping around, I stalked quickly in the direction of the creek.

“I should ask that Até lover to get me some Xanax instead of Midol,” I sputtered.

“If you didn’t call me a… whatever the hell you just called me, I just might do it.”

I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. He must have literally thrown Fifi off of him to catch up to me this quickly.

“Why in all the Gods are you following me, don’t you have females in need of your expert services?”

He grinned. “You’re a female.”

I nearly choked. “Not when it comes to you.”

“Fată, if I was after that sweet stash of yours, I could have already had it.”

I gaped at him. “You did not just say that to me.”

“It’s true though, isn’t it?” Xan began individually cracking his knuckles as he looked up at the sky, his face a portrait of arrogance. “I’ve seen the way you look at me, like you’re soaking wet and need me to wring you out until you’re good and dry.”

I think I had a mini heart attack just then. “You piece of-

“Whoa! Trin! Back up the hate truck. I just came over here to apologize. I was way out of line back there fată. What happens between you and Gerik is none of anyone’s business.”

He continued to grin. “But don’t be embarrassed about being caught in the middle of the big ‘O’. You looked damn good all heated up.”

My jaw went lax. I had no idea how to respond to that.

“Your idea of apologizing is very odd,” I told him.

He took a very deliberate step toward me. “Want me to try again?” He asked in a low voice.

Feeling like a cornered rabbit, I immediately put my hand up and took a step backwards. “I thought you weren’t after my… uh… whatever you said.”

Xan froze and covered his face with his hands. His shoulders began to shake with laughter.

“What?” I asked him, confused.

With a loud guffaw, he looked up at me and burst into full hysterics. “You’re too goddamn innocent for your own good, you know that?” He continued laughing at me.

Feeling like a complete idiot, I did the only thing left to do, I turned to leave. “I really hate you,” I told him.

“Wait!" He called after me. "Fată-

A scream sliced through his words, more screams followed. I glanced back. Xan’s head was whipping back and forth.

Suddenly rushing me, Xan grabbed me from behind. His arms were like bands of steel across my stomach.

“Wh…what?”

“The wards are down!”

My stomach dropped. I looked around, noticing nothing at all different about the camp, but I wouldn’t notice the differences; I had no sense of magic at all. Apparently having a Roma for a mother at least gave you the perception of magic, something Xan obviously had, even if he didn’t actually have any powers.

A loud growl had my head jerking to the left.

“Xan!” I whispered, as he began herding me over toward the circle of vehicles. We slid in between one of the large panel vans and a truck.

“I know!” He hissed. “I heard it!”

We stood there, my back pressed to his stomach, barely breathing, listening to the sounds of shooting and yelling from the living lot. What was actually only minutes felt like hours.

“The wards are back up,” Xan breathed against my face, his breath smelling strongly of whisky. Hearing that, I nearly collapsed in relief.

A sharp peal of laughter from behind us had my stomach leaping back up into my throat. Xan’s grip on me tightened, his fingers dug painfully into my hipbones. His heart was hammering a wild rhythm against my back.

A blur of skin in front of us caught my eye. Then another, this time to the side of us.

“Fuckers are surrounding us,” Xan whispered. He let go of me long enough to fumble with the leg of his pants. When his arms returned, he was checking the chamber of his gun. A cacophony of throaty masculine laughter echoed around us.

“You think to kill us with that, human?”

“I think I’ll kill you with my bare hands if you take one more step,” Xan shot back. It only made them laugh harder.

Freaking out, I clutched Xan tighter.

“Run Trin,” Xan whispered into my ear. “I’m going to distract them. As soon as they make a grab for me, just run.”

“I can’t,” I managed to choke out. I was terrified. There was no way I was going to take off running into what would surely be my death.

The creature in front of us stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself. I couldn’t contain the tremor of terror that rippled through me or the gasp that found its way out of my mouth. Seeing his grin, a mouth full of fangs already dripping blood, caused my terror to skyrocket. Had he fed on someone from camp? Was Becki alright? Little Benyamin? Adi?

Xan tensed, ready for the attack. “I mean it Trin." He ground out, "You’d better run.”

“I can’t,” I told him, through chattering teeth.

“Stupid girl,” He spat at me.

Before I could respond, chaos erupted. Gunfire boomed in my ears, followed by garbled howling growls.

The face of the creature in front of us exploded just as he sprang to attack. A mess of blood and bone sprayed wildly upon impact. Xan turned me roughly in his arms, then hoisted me up and over him. He ran from the scene, clutching me tightly to him.

Small battles were being waged all around us. The creatures, although few, were much stronger than humans, much faster, and healed at the speed of lightening.

But these were no ordinary humans they had decided to try and make an evening snack out of. I had wanted a lesson in Roma magic and I was about to get one, up close and personal.

“Xan!” I screamed, able to only watch as a naked blur of breasts and fangs tore through the trees and launched herself at us. He jerked a hard left toward the living lot but wasn’t fast enough.

My breath left my lungs in one big ‘whoosh’ as we hit the ground hard. Xan quickly pushed me away from him and began struggling valiantly with the creature that’d jumped astride him. She slashed wildly at him with talon tipped fingers. With both hands wrapped around her throat, he struggled to fend off her fangs. He was going to tire long before she was.

Frozen in fear, I could only watch. He was going to die right in front of me, just as my baby sister had, and I was helpless once again, unable to move.

The screams were deafening. The grinding metal and whirring motors of the carnival rides could no longer be heard above the sounds of human terror.

“Trinity!” Tahyra screamed, trapped behind a wall of people, trampling each other in an attempt to flee. I could only stare as the gruesome mass of blood and limbs surged forward, enveloping her.

“Trinity!” She screamed again, her arms outstretched, reaching for me.

“Trin-

Tahyra’s screams are abruptly cut off as her body whips backwards and a spray of blood arcs through the air in her wake.

“Trinity!” Gerik pushed me out of the way. A bright, orange and white flame suddenly appeared in the palm of his hand. He whipped the burning ball at Xan’s attacker, and the creature was instantly thrown backwards. Xan rolled immediately away as she screamed, writhing in pain while her skin melted from her bones. Her blood boiled and hissed, drying before it could even reach the ground. When she was nothing but bones, her fangs bared for all of eternity, the flames dissipated.

Gerik shuddered, his hands shook slightly and then the fire in his palms winked out.

“Blestemul de vampir,” I heard Jericho yelling, drawing my attention to him. The last remaining creature was suspended in mid-air, snarling and snapping at the several men who’d surrounded it, guns at the ready.

One of the men, I think Nicu, fired. With his mouth twisted in a disgusting smile the creature fell to the ground unfazed. Again he was shot, this time blown backwards hitting a large oak with a sickening thump of flesh meeting wood. Stefan strode forward and shot him again, ripping a giant hole in his abdomen, exposing intestines. I gagged and covered my mouth.

Gerik was pulling me behind him. “Don’t watch, Trinity. They don’t die easy.”

“Other’s will come.” The creature hissed holding his guts inside of him as the wound began to heal. “They will keep coming until-

The creatures head rolled away from his body, his eyes still wide open; his mouth still moving. When his body crumpled to the ground, Marko was waiting, his machete posed and ready. Soon the creature was nothing but bloody bits of gore.

I would have collapsed if Gerik hadn’t been holding me up.

Jericho looked around, his face grim. “Clean up this mess,” He ordered sharply. “Gunnar, make sure Alana and Kizzy have double checked the wards. Gerik, Nico, burn these bodies in the back lot.”

I watched the camp begin to bustle. Bodies were moved, children were herded into Maisera and Jericho’s RV. I felt oddly detached, as if this were only a scary movie I’d been watching and not actually the life I’d been living for months now.

“Trin?” Xan waved his hand in front of my face. “Trin? Answer me? Are you okay?”

Was I ok? Was he serious? I burst out laughing.

All this magic around us and still they had gotten through. The Romani were no real match for them. If there had been more, if we had been outnumbered…

Other’s will come, The creature had said, they will keep coming until-

“Until they kill us all,” I murmured. “That’s what he was going to say.”

“Trinity!” Xan yelled. “No one is going to kill you, now snap out it!”

I studied his face, remembering how he’d protected me, shielded me with his own body even. If it hadn’t been for Xan coming to apologize to me, I would be dead right now.

“You saved my life,” I whispered.

“I did a pretty shitty job of it.” He looked toward where Jericho and Gerik stood talking. “They saved our lives. Their magic saved our lives.”

I shook my head. “I would have died long before they showed up if you hadn’t of been here.” Before he could respond I hugged him, immediately drawing back when he groaned.

“Xan?” I said, looking him over. His t-shirt had been shredded in the attack. Tentatively I lifted it up. Deep, bloody grooves marred the middle of his chest. Fingernails. He'd been scratched by those obscenely long claws they all had.

I burst into tears, thanking the Gods he hadn't been bitten.

A bite was a death sentence; he would have turned into one of those monsters. But the clan would have never let that happen, they would've killed him first, considering it a mercy killing. Because once someone turned, they were dead anyway.

I threw my arms around his neck. Xan groaned again.

“Oh Gods, am I hurting you?” I looked up at his face.

“No," He said, grinning. "That feels good Trin, keep wiggling.”

“Dammit Xan!” I jumped back and hit a wall of steel that smelled like heaven.

Large hands came down on my bare arms, steadying me. Heat flooded me. My knees began to shake. The voices around me blurred into a soft drumming of sound that swam silkily around me. But my attention was fixated on Gerik’s hands burning slowly through my skin, layer by sweet layer. Then, Gerik released me.

“Trin?” Xan was peering down his nose at me.

I shook my head. “Sorry… what?”

Xan eyes darted curiously back and forth between Gerik and I.

“Xan Daniel Deleanu!” Drina screamed as she ran towards us. “What were you doing in harm’s way?”

Xan made a face and Gerik laughed at him. “Better go get fixed up brother.”

Gerik took the opportunity to drag me off.

“What is up with all the touching?” I demanded when we were alone. “Unsolicited touching might I add.”

He leveled me with one look. “What were you doing with Xan, yeah? Alone?”

I bit my lip to keep from screaming at him. The entire camp had just been attacked, Xan had saved my life and was severely injured because of it and Gerik had the nerve to be acting like a jealous boyfriend? He was behaving irrationally.

“Nothing was going on, Gerik. I swear.” I turned to go.

Benyamin Vãduva stepped in front of me holding little Benyamin Jr.

I smiled at the little boy and tickled his bare feet.

“Gerik”, He said. “I was just told Marcell is dead.”

My smiled faded.