The Tome of Bill Series: Books 5-8 (Goddamned Freaky Monsters, Half A Prayer, The Wicked Dead, The Last Coven)

by Rick Gualtieri

  I was going to say more, but the contingent of heavy infantry reached our position. They parted into two columns, revealing a girl who, even now - after dying, coming back to life, and dumping my ass for an accountant - took my breath away, as cliché as it might have sounded.

  Sheila wore slacks, a t-shirt, and a light sweater. She might have looked like she was just running to the store had it not been for the scorch marks and rips that were indicative of a struggle. Her hands and ankles were bound in shackles made with that same oddly colored metal as the weapons her guards carried. Her hair was disheveled and hung down in her face, but it still wasn’t enough to conceal the bright silver gleam of her eyes. She may have been bound and beaten, but the look in them said she was still unbroken.

  Even restrained as she was, her guards were still not quite brave enough to physically touch her - probably smart of them. Behind her, one spun his weapon around and used the hilt to nudge her forward toward our merry bunch of prisoners.

  For a moment, she looked ready to turn and fight, but then she stepped forward to join us. I was right there to greet her, momentarily forgetting the hunger as well as the hundreds of eyes glaring down upon us. She met my gaze and raised one side of her mouth in a lopsided grin. Whoa. Had Alex passed judgment right at that moment, I’d have died a happy vamp, gladly letting her be the last sight I saw in this world.

  We stood there staring at each other for a couple of seconds before we both burst into chuckles. We had a habit of meeting up in the damnedest of situations.

  “Aren’t we a pair?”

  “Are we?” she asked, the grin growing ever slyer. Damn, was it getting hot in here or was it just me?

  Thankfully, some helpful multi-tentacled thing in the audience spared me from saying anything overly stupid. “Behold! The Freewill proves his guilt!”

  Almost at once, the crowd started to chant, “Guilty!”

  I spun in a circle, raising my voice and trying to address them all. “Oh, go fuck yourselves!” As far as last words went, I could’ve done worse.

  Sheila broke eye contact with me and moved on to the rest of the group. She nodded at Tom, exchanged pleasantries with Ed - as well as a joking threat that her company had better be okay, then she turned to Christy.

  For a moment, I wasn’t sure how that would go. Christy’s eyes widened, almost as if uncertain whether Sheila would bite - a prospect I personally wouldn’t have minded at all - then finally, she relaxed and smiled. “How have you been?”

  Sheila looked down at her manacles. “I’ve been better. Boy or girl?”

  “We’re letting it be a surprise, but I’m thinking it’s a boy by the way he’s kicking the crap out of me.”

  “Don’t be so sure. My mom said the same thing when she was carrying me.”

  “I guess we’ll see soon enough. Can I ask you a question?”

  “Now’s as good a time as we’re probably going to get,” Sheila replied.

  “Why is it only the girls are handcuffed?”

  Sheila let out a musical laugh, her eyes flashing. “I guess they’re smart enough to know who the real threats are here.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  The comradery amongst our group might have just been gallows humor, but it definitely didn’t endear us to the crowd. More jeers were thrown, some for all of us - except maybe Tom. He alone seemed to be spared their bile, almost as if they didn’t know what to make of him.

  “Go figure,” he said to me. “No love for the token human.”

  “Don’t worry. Maybe after they hang the rest of us, you’ll get to be the main course.”

  “That works. I was gonna tell these fuckers to eat me anyway.”

  I was about to continue our banter when a hush fell over the crowd. The majority of the beings in the audience rose to their feet. Some, mostly of the nastier variety like Druaga, just looked bored. Death gods, can’t live with them...

  The reason for the hush soon became obvious: the Draculas had arrived.

  Alex led the way through one of the other entrances. Every vampire he passed bowed his or her head reverently - mostly. François lowered his gaze, but I could still see murder painted in his eyes, especially for James, who brought up the rear.

  James, for his part, looked the same as before - almost resembling a child who’d been hoping for that one special toy on Christmas, but hadn’t gotten it. He didn’t even spare a glance in our direction as he walked.

  Once the Draculas reached their seats, Alex proclaimed, “You may seal us in.”

  Vampire sentries took up spots at each of the exits to the room. A slight movement of air told me the main blast door was being swung shut as well. I happened to glance in that direction and saw several of the vamps who’d been my personal escorts, Farley included, performing the task. Good for them. They’d been reassigned to door duty. Never let it be said being a vampire was a dead end job.

  Each of the First Coven took their respective seats except for Theodora. She glanced at us, a look of confusion upon her face.

  “Wait!” she said in a voice loud enough to gain the attention of the entire crowd. “I count only five.” She looked down and pointed toward one of the guards. “Where is the other...”

  “That will be enough, Theodora,” Alex replied in a bored tone. “You needn’t worry about her.”

  That got James’s attention. For the first time since entering, he looked up at us. His eyes locked with mine, but there wasn’t much more I could do than shrug. I mean, it wasn’t like I could pantomime a message to him without everyone in the entire fucking room noticing.

  “Needn’t worry?” Thea questioned. “She is one of the accused, an ally of the traitors.”

  “In that, you are incorrect,” Alex said. “I have personally pardoned her.”

  “You pardoned her? Without consulting with...”

  “Yes, without consulting with any save my own counsel. I spoke with her and determined her loyal to our cause.” He turned his head and nodded toward one of the soldiers standing guard at a side entrance. “If you will.”

  A sheen of sweat immediately broke out on the poor vamp’s face. Being addressed by the man in charge, one who could order you flayed without a second thought, was a wee bit intimidating.

  “Sir, we have already sealed...”

  Alex did nothing as way of response. His expression didn’t change. He didn’t blink. He didn’t compel the guard to rip out his own intestines and hang himself with them. All he did was continue looking at the vamp he’d addressed.

  It took less than two seconds for the guard’s nerve to break. “Yes, sir!” He quickly unlocked the door, opened it, and stepped through. A few more seconds passed and he reemerged with Sally in tow. She’d obviously been given a chance to clean up and had made good use of it. Her freshly washed hair shined. She wore light makeup, but needed no more to stand out in a crowd. She strode confidently toward where the Draculas sat, wearing a red dress that made even Theodora look like a frump in comparison. All of that would have been fabulous except for the fact that she didn’t give our group a second glance upon entering.

  Sheila stepped to my side. “Did something happen to your friend?”

  “Not now,” I warned. I would have loved to have spilled my guts, but there was no way to do so without being overheard. Besides, Alex had made it plainly clear what he expected of me if I wanted my friends to live to see tomorrow.

  At least I wasn’t the only one dismayed by this. James’s face wore a mildly perplexed look, but I knew it was just a mask. Behind it, his mind no doubt was racing a mile a minute.

  Sally stopped at his chair, then leaned down to give him a soft peck on the cheek - the look on her face ever so slightly more intense than that of someone greeting an old buddy. Okay, that was interesting. How badly had Alex scrambled her brains anyway?

  James opened his mouth to say something, but right on cue, Alex interrupted him.

  “My dear, if
you will.” He indicated a spot behind them where an empty chair seemed almost to materialize as the current occupant quickly vacated. “There will be time enough for pleasantries later.”

  Theodora, for her part, looked incensed. On the far side of Alex, Yehoshua stared at her, his expression calm - almost as if he were trying to impart his demeanor to her through empathy. If so, she wasn’t having any of it.

  “This is unacceptable,” she said, apparently forgetting all pretense of presenting a united front. “I demand to know what has transpired. This matter was to be judged by the First and therefore...”

  “And therefore, it shall be.” Alex’s tone was enough to cause the temperature in the room to plummet. “The accused stand before us. We shall try them and cast judgment as we will, but I say she is not one of them. Now sit down.”

  And just like that, the gauntlet was thrown. Theodora looked to her fellow Draculas, but nearly all of them turned away, none of them willing to stand against Alex. Even Yehoshua acquiesced, making a gesture that she should take her seat.

  With a growl, she spun and sat. Her eyes faced forward and momentarily met mine and let me just say this was one chick who was fucking pissed.

  I would have almost felt bad for her had it not been for the fact that she was up there while we were down here on trial for our lives. Yeah, her pride could go fuck itself with a rusty meat hook.

  Alex waited a beat, then stood, a hush falling over the crowd as he did so.

  I couldn’t help but notice that, whether subconsciously or not, my friends had all gathered closer around me. A shimmering white glow appeared in my periphery and the skin on my cheek sizzled.

  “Ouch.”

  “Sorry,” Sheila said, backing up a step.

  I turned my head and smiled to let her know it was all right. In a stressful situation like this, one couldn’t be blamed for letting their power flare up a bit. I remembered that she’d done the same earlier too, when they’d first marched her in. Whatever the manacles she wore were made of, they apparently served a different purpose than Christy’s. If she still had access to her protective aura, then maybe...

  “Allies, friends, and children,” Alex started.

  Oh great, it was going to be one of those speeches.

  “You all know of the hardships we have faced and shall continue to face in our struggle against our enemies. They are strong, well supplied, and resolute. Yet we have met them on the field of battle time and time again, unyielding in our resolve. Now, though, we face dark days indeed. An enemy from the past has awoken, threatening our stability from within...”

  Tom glanced over and gave me a pained look. I couldn’t disagree. I hoped they planned to hand out snow shovels to all the guests because the shit was getting deep now.

  “...enemies at our gates...”

  Ed stepped over to us, trying desperately not to crack a smile at the pomposity on display.

  “...destroy our way of life and derail our destiny...”

  Christy let out a sigh, which I had a feeling was directed at us.

  “...betrayed by those who we once counted as our most trusted...”

  Finally, I turned to Sheila and the smile on my face died as I immediately felt like an ass. Our eyes met and, in hers, I saw the same strength and determination I’d seen during prior times, but now there was some sadness as well. Where my roommates and I were determined to flip off the powers that be until the very end, she took this with deadly seriousness, taking stock of our situation and finding it pretty damn grim.

  The reality of what Alex had said finally hit me. I had a shot here, and so did my friends if I played ball. But they weren’t about to let her walk out of here alive and she knew it.

  “How do you plead, Freewill?”

  Huh? Realization hit that the question had been directed my way. A part of me, an overwhelming part, wanted to make some comment suggesting what he could do with my dick, but I couldn’t - not without my friends paying the price.

  Almost as if reading my mind, Alex shifted ever so slightly to his right, revealing Sally seated behind him. She was actually filing her nails...the bitch. Amazingly enough, though, the sight brought a smile to my face and I knew I had no choice in the matter.

  “Guilty.”

  The Peanut Gallery

  Apparently, Tom, who I’d had a chance to bring up to speed, and Alex - AKA the douche holding my balls to the fire - were the only two unsurprised with my plea.

  As for the rest of the crowd, I might as well have told them I’d just taken a shit on the buffet table right before a blind taste test. Shock was plainly visible on several faces, including a few of the Draculas - albeit not James’s or Theodora’s. I knew James was a smart fellow. I’d have been surprised to all hell if he hadn’t surmised that Sally wasn’t acting on her own accord. Theodora, well, she’d either figured it out too or just didn’t give a shit. It was always hard to tell with women.

  “What are you doing?” Sheila hissed.

  “Standing with you.” It was the truth too. Even had Alex not been pulling my strings, there was no way I was letting her go down by herself.

  “I was going to say not guilty.”

  “You can claim to be Napoleon if you want, but I don’t think this bunch is going to buy that either.”

  “Good point.”

  The crowd began to get rowdy and drowned out any further discourse we may have had amongst ourselves.

  “Traitor!”

  “We believed in you.”

  “Death to the false savior!”

  Oh, for Christ’s sake. Was nearly everyone here a fucking moron?

  I looked up and met Alex’s gaze. Smug satisfaction practically oozed out of every pore. He knew he had me in his back pocket. Even if he let my friends go, there was still Sally. No matter how badly he’d scrambled her memory, making her forget everything about me, he knew I wouldn’t jeopardize her. It was the price I paid for not becoming like the rest of them - for not becoming a monster.

  That didn’t even take into account Sheila yet.

  I’d been trying my damnedest to get over her ever since my run-in with Robert and subsequent transfer to Pandora Coven - trying to accept that she and I were a fantasy that could never be.

  In the here and now, though, she stood right beside me and I could only barely concentrate on the very real danger around us, despite knowing I really needed to.

  In short, I was living out my own twisted version of Sophie’s Choice. I could choose my friends and let Sheila die. The very thought made me want to vomit. The problem was, I could choose her and then we’d all die. The world would probably soon follow, although at that point, I’m sure none of us would give two shits.

  Fuck!

  There had to be something I could do, but what? Becoming Alex’s fall guy while allowing him to execute Sheila would be damning myself to the darkness I fought so hard against. Letting my friends die because I was a lovesick loser wasn’t any better. Either way you looked at it, I was...

  “Stop!”

  My head spun toward Sheila as the noise in the room immediately ground to a halt. “What are you...”

  She raised a finger to my lips, the glow around her momentarily dying down to nothing. “Promise me you’ll find a way to stop this,” she whispered.

  “This? But...”

  “All of this,” she clarified before turning away.

  I immediately understood that she wasn’t talking about the trial, but the world and what was happening to it.

  “Wait...” But she was already speaking, drowning out my pathetic protest.

  “The Freewill you have all put your faith in is a fool.”

  Huh? I was?

  “I manipulated him, enticed him, made him my plaything...”

  She had?

  “All for the purpose of undermining you, the enemies of mankind.”

  What the fuck?

  Now the crowd was getting
riled up again. Angry murmurs rose up amongst them.

  “I duped him and his friends into thinking we were allies - as if I could ever care for them - all so I could survive to kill each and every one of you.”

  Oh, the hell with this shit.

  “Okay, enough of this.” I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder.

  She made sure I immediately regretted it.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  White hot fire erupted from her body. It wasn’t as intense as she was capable of, perhaps a side effect of the bonds that held her, but that was all elementary because it felt as if I’d just touched a live wire.

  There came a flash, the sensation of heat, and I found myself airborne - my hand sizzling to a crisp as I flew backward and slammed into a line of guards.

  A half dozen helping hands immediately came my way in the shape of fists, and I found myself beaten to the ground as if I’d just attempted a jail break. Jeez, touchy fuckers, weren’t they?

  I rolled away from them, noticed my friends closing in, and quickly waved them off. This wasn’t a fight we could win in our current shape. I also didn’t want either Tom or Christy getting too close to me. I was already on shaky ground from the hunger, and whatever damage my healing was going to need to take care of things was only going to make it worse.

  My head throbbed and the smell of their blood filled my nostrils from where they stood.

  No. I needed to keep it together.

  “I could never have feelings for a monstrosity such as him,” a voice cried. It was Sheila, continuing on in her insane rant. Goddamn it! What the fuck was she trying to do?

  Then it hit home. She was trying to save me. Did she not realize I wasn’t the one in danger here? She was going to goad them into killing her, but why?

  Why?

  Just then, one of the elite guards tasked with bringing Sheila in stepped forward with his black blade. She turned, too late, but her protective aura flared around her regardless.

  I smiled, expecting to see a toasted vamp, but instead, he thrust forward with his weapon and the impossible happened. The blackened metal cut through her defenses like butter, burying itself in her shoulder.