Return of the Light

Chapter 1

The woman didn’t belong here; a lamb in the lion’s den. Raphael had been tracking her since she left her friends at the bar, a misfit among the costumed and drunken revelers clogging the narrow confines of Seventh Avenue. Ybor City was a party waiting to happen every Saturday night; Halloween just upped the ante on strange and unusual. Not the kind of place for an innocent traveling solo.

She veered off Seventh at Sixteenth, ducking down an unlit side street, digging in her purse for her keys. Not paying any attention to her surroundings. Ripe for the picking. This girl is either very naive or has a death wish.

He crossed the street and followed, staying far enough back so she wouldn’t notice him, but he’d no sooner rounded the block when he smelled trouble. The man was lounging against a car on the opposite side of the street from where she walked.

Revenant.

Here?

The revenant glanced up as the woman passed, flashing a wolfish grin full of teeth and bad intentions. Raphael was quick, closing the distance in a heartbeat, but the revenant still got to her first, grabbing her as she reached for her car door and spinning her around. The keys flew out of her hand and skittered under the car. She turned and screamed, flinching for the expected blow, but that was as far as he got.

“Get in the car,” Raphael growled to her as he snatched the revenant by the neck and tossed him across the street. The creature yelped when his head hit the curb but rolled right back to his feet, now pissed and hungry. Raphael took a deep, steadying breath and pulled his power in tight; it wouldn’t do to expose himself now. A spike that big was like sending up a flare.

The revenant pranced across the street with the swagger of a dilettante, elongated canines just denting his lower lip. He looked like a walking cliché of the Hollywood undead–dark clothes, bottled black hair, pale skin littered with tattoos and piercings. How fitting for Halloween. His sire must have had an overdeveloped sense of irony. Trick or treat, asshole.

“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” the revenant snarled, fully baring his teeth in what was no doubt meant to be a menacing sneer.

It probably would have worked on the huddled masses–who knew what scared people these days. It didn’t impress Raphael. He stifled the impulse to laugh. “Do you?”

The revenant did laugh, though there was nothing pleasant in the sound. Then he charged with a force that would have bowled over a normal human being. Raphael sidestepped and whirled around, delivering a swift roundhouse kick to the creature’s backside, again sending him sprawling towards the curb. Okay, that felt good.

The revenant caught himself before hitting the ground and spun, eyes narrowing. His rage was palpable now, hanging over the street like a dark cloud, spiking Raphael’s own pulse. He sucked in another deep breath, the call to battle pounding through his veins, and pushed the urge back. Under different circumstances, he would have found the match entertaining. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of them. The street was too exposed and the expenditure of energy and power could attract unwanted attention. The kind of attention he’d worked hard to avoid. Time to stop screwing around and end this.

Raphael stood perfectly still, inviting the attack. The revenant was fast; he was faster. The revenant drove into him, and in a blur of speed, Raphael grabbed his wrist and spun him around in a choke hold. Using even that much power was dangerous, but it felt so good. For just a moment, he remembered who he was, the thought spooling a rush of adrenalin through his system. Reason returned quickly, slapping the euphoria aside with an almost painful effort.

Raphael sighed and allowed the power to leak away, flowing back into the earth, then pulled the revenant close, his mouth pressed to the revenant’s ear. He could smell his fear now, a sour note in the back of his throat as he ran a fingernail down its neck, drawing a thin line of blood. He snagged a drop on his tongue; something almost familiar there. Where have I tasted that before?

“Who are you?” the revenant gasped, snapping his attention back to the present.

“Now you ask? A lesson, my young friend. Know your opponent before you attack.”

Raphael closed his free hand under the revenant’s chin and twisted. There was a loud snap like a dry twig breaking, then the revenant crumbled to the ground in a limp heap. Within seconds the heap began to disintegrate, turning to a pile of dark ash.

Behind him, the car door opened. “You can come out now, Danielle,” Raphael called to the woman. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“What the hell?” She inched away from the car, eyes riveted on the remains of her attacker. “What happened to him?”

“I’d say he overstayed his welcome.”

Within minutes, what once had been a body was scattering in the evening breeze. Raphael glanced up and down the block, scanning the darkness for unwanted witnesses. The last thing he needed was to have some drunk with a cellphone plaster this all over YouTube.

“How do you know my name?” the woman asked, pulling his attention back to her. “Who are you?”

He turned, facing her for the first time, and smiled, enjoying the ensuing skip it caused in her pulse.

“I am…Raphael.”

 

♦ ♦ ♦

 

He couldn’t let her leave with the knowledge of what she had seen, but Raphael’s concentration wasn’t up to any more than a quick memory wipe. At least it calmed her enough so she could drive home without seeing disintegrating monsters around every corner.

What was I thinking?

That was just it–he wasn’t. He never did when it came to women. Pretty and helpless was like candy to him; innocent was a cherry on top.

And Danielle was innocent. By the Goddess, she reeked of it. Pure as the proverbial driven snow. A predator magnet; no wonder the revenant found her. And him swooping in like a super hero, coming to her rescue. Telling her his name. Like he needed the notoriety. The last thing he needed was anyone knowing about him. Simple was safe, and safe was how he’d managed to survive all these years.

Yeah, but safe was boring.

This whole thing was wrong in so many ways, not the least of which was the revenant’s presence. Where the hell had he come from, and more importantly, who had made him? Raphael should have sensed a rogue in town. Maybe he would have if he wasn’t so busy thinking with his little head.

“Getting careless, old boy,” he murmured, kicking at the remains of the revenant’s ashes.

Revenants were like roaches; once they showed up, the exterminators couldn’t be far behind. And these exterminators were armed to the teeth and looking to put his head on a chopping block.

Enforcers. Raphael knew all too well how they operated. Hell, he’d been one of the best. Once they caught his scent, he was as good as dead. The smartest thing to do now was run while he had the chance. Move on, start fresh somewhere else. Not like he hadn’t done it before.

He glanced back at the kill spot then scanned the street again, eyes dissecting the surrounding shadows as a sliver of unease whipped through him. The revenant was dead.

So why do I still feel like I’m being watched?

Return of the Light is available on Amazon for Kindle and paperback.