Friday Flash! #3 Dead by Dawn Ch. 1

First a note about this week’s flash.  This is actually the beginnings of a serial story being written by my crit partner, Tuesday Morrigan and me.  Additional chapters as they become available can be found at http://www.indarkness.literalseduction.com/.  While I will always post MY chapters here as well, you’ll always be missing a piece of the puzzle since Tuesday’s will only appear on the In Darkness site. 

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming…..

Dead by Dawn - Chapter One

The wheels of the private jet kissed the runway in a smooth caress as the pilot landed the plane.  So good, her Markham.  Never had he jostled the plane during a landing thereby upsetting Solanara’s work.   

As if he and the plane were one, he maneuvered the massive conglomeration of steel and wires through the air and on the ground with ease.  Once he taxied to her personal hangar, he joined her in the spacious cabin, waiting silently by the door as she finished her task.

Sola broke the mental connection with her kindred and opened her eyes, taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of the man before her.  Dressed in a tailored suit with nary a wrinkle in sight, he looked fresh and alert, ready to protect his mistress.  As always.

She rose and glided to stand beside him.  With a few clicks and turns, he had the hatch open and he strode down the steps, always protecting.  She waited for him to gesture for her to disembark.  Very little could kill her, harm her in any way, yet she indulged her Markham’s desire to protect her.

The journey from the plane to the limo was uneventful.  In darkness, no one dared to approach Sola, not if they expected to see the light of day again.

Markham held the door open for her and their gazes met for a brief moment before he dropped his attention to the ground.  His eyes, so similar to her own yet different, held a yearning and desire she’d seen before.  Poor child.

Once ensconced in the plush leather interior of her limo, Markham began driving them to their destination.  It wasn’t long before the call she’d been expecting arrived.

“Mistress?” Markham’s deep, rumbling voice filled with respectful hesitancy floated through the air.

“Put it through.”  The tedious mortals.  The tell-tale click met her ears and she knew her driver had passed the call on to her.  “Speak, Nathaniel Badeu.”

“Thank you for speaking with me Mistress Sol–”

“Mistress?  Are you swearing fealty to me Mr. Badeu?  For I will gladly take another soul into my caring for eternity.” Not a hint of sound could be heard from the speaker.  Not a breath or a whisper. “I thought not.  Perhaps you should choose your words more carefully, yes?”

“While I mean no disrespect, Madame, I am not swearing fealty.”  Again, the caller did not breathe.

“I thought not.  Perhaps you should ask your question and conclude our business before I choose to bind you to me, Mr. Badeu.  For you most certainly offered by calling me Mistress.”  Ah, the joys in toying with mortals.

“I am calling regarding my sister.  My family has sol–”

She cut him off.  Trivialities.  “I know this.  I know all that happens in the families, Nathaniel.  What does this has to do with me?”  Sola wanted the words.  Nothing less would sever their ties.  They why’s and how’s didn’t matter, her will would be done, but she needed the words from him.

“The family Badeu is calling in the debt owed by Mi– Madame Solanara.”  The words were spoken in a rush of breath and nerves, but they were spoken all the same.  The call had been uttered and she would answer.

“You speak for the family?  For once the debt has been repaid, I will dispatch with those that would argue it was done without honor.” 

Let him get it out clearly, so no mistake could be made.  “I do.”

Sola nodded and closed her eyes.  It would be done.  “Send her to me, Nathaniel Badeu, and the debt owed to the Badeu family by Solanara will be repaid.”

“What…” The man hesitated as well he should.  She sensed she was about to be insulted or worse, questioned.  “What will happen to her?”

“Send me your sister, Mr. Badeu, and worry no longer.”

Sola did not wait for a response.  Pressing a button, she disconnected the call, unwilling to listen to any more of the mortals yammering. 

She met Markham’s gaze for a brief second in the rear view mirror and she saw his disapproval, but she didn’t care.  The mortal had questioned her honor.  Let him squirm and worry for his sister a bit longer. 

Sola had no doubt the Badeu woman would be waiting at In Darkness for her when she arrived.  She had seen these events coming as they flew through the skies and upon visualizing the woman, Sola knew what must be done.  Isis Badeu, the beauty her family had sold to another, would be dead by dawn.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the club, her club, In Darkness.  She stood outside the back door, the pulsing of the music vibrating through the street beneath her feet and she inhaled the sweet scent of the patrons’ lust and excitement.  Like a balm to her soul and food for her heart, their youth and wide range of emotions renewed Sola.

She wasted no further time dawdling.  Markham held the door open for her as always and she traveled up the back stairway to her office, her sanctuary within her sanctuary. 

Sola sensed him the moment she’d touched the first step, but said nothing.  Instead, she made two drinks, Absinthe, for them both.  She held one glass out and his ghost-like fingers slithered over hers before clutching the glass.  “Luc.”

“Solanara.”  She imagined him tipping his head in greeting, but in truth, the most she could see were his glowing red eyes.  While Sola’s eyes were often compared to the coldest glacial ice in the far reaches of the poles, Luc’s were easily the color of hell’s hottest fire.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this day?”  Silently, she moved to sit behind her cherry wood desk.  The deep polished wood blended easily with Sela’s preferred muted décor.

“I heard tell that the Badeu’s have called in their debt.”

“You either felt fit to dip into my thoughts or those of another.  I’m assuming it was another, for your sake, as you well remember the last time we crossed on the battlefield.”

His burning red eyes closed for a moment, no doubt as he remembered the time in Rome when her rage had gone unbridled.  While mortals thought of it as an ancient time, it was merely yesterday to them. 

“I recall… vividly.  I simply came to observe, to see if the rumors were true.”

He goaded her and she fought the urge to strangle him where he sat.  Placing her glass on the desk, she leaned forward, gaze locked with his.  “And what rumors are those, Luc?” She kept her gaze steady as she rose, gliding slowly over the carpeted floor as she closed the distance between them.  “What rumors are those?”

“That the Madame Solanara has gone soft.  That she now spreads happiness as she spreads pain.  Is it true, Sola?  Have you betrayed our purpose?”

Luc did not have an opportunity to say more. Gripping him by the throat, Sola lifted him from the couch, his feet dangled and toes brushed the thick carpeting as he scrambled for purchase.  “Do not forget who I am, what I am and what I have done in my life, Luc.  Kindred or not, you will die the next time those words are uttered from your mouth or mind.”

With a great roar, Solanara threw Luc, Lucifer, the mortal’s devil himself, through the two way glass separating her loft office from the writhing bodies below.  Glass shattered as his body was thrust through the barrier, shards rained down on the unsuspecting patrons below, unnoticed.

Sola waved and the glass reformed, placing the barrier in place once again.  Luc had placed her in an evil mood.  She’d need to meditate and clear her mind before she met with Isis.  The woman waited below, her fear palpable even at this distance.

“Markham.”  She had only to whisper his name and he appeared at her side.

“Mistress?”  He kept his eyes downcast, exactly as a follower should.

“Bring me Vincent.” He would solve the problem. Easily.