by Hayden, Sean
"Greer has her. How the hell are we going to find him?"
"Kid, everybody and their mother are looking for him right now. Finding him won't be a problem, finding him in time might."
"Why would he take her?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, but he's probably pissed at you. I'm not saying this is your fault, but you did just wreck everything for him."
I nodded and moved to the bedroom so I could sit down on the bed. I needed to think, fast. "How do we find him?"
"Can't you use some of your vampire mumbo jumbo?" I gave him a look that could have melted candles. Coming from a werelion, that seemed rather racist.
"It doesn't work like that. I couldn't find Cicero like that, why would I be able to find Greer?"
"Not Greer, you idiot, find Vic. She's your vampire, you're her master. Find her."
I had a "duh" moment. I don't like them. Without looking at Thompson too sheepishly, I sat back on the bed and closed my eyes. "What if she's dead?" I managed to speak through the lump in my throat. "What if I can't find her?"
"If she were dead, trust me, you would know. What if you don't try?"
"Good point." I closed my eyes and thought of Vic. I remembered the first time I ever saw her and that was a mistake. Her naked form dancing inches from my face brought a flush of heat to my face. I thought about her coming home shopping with Marcel and it became a little easier to focus. Her holding out the bracelet with the curious stone that matched my eyes snapped her into focus. I could feel her. Wherever she was, they had bound her and shut her in the dark. She could see, but barely, even with her vampiric eyes. White cloth lined the box she lay in and I knew it was a coffin. I pulled the memory from her mind. She used to sleep in one, they all did. In San Francisco and Sacramento it had been almost normal. Now fear crept up her spine and clouded her thoughts.
She could feel the sun coming up and knew there would be no rescue tonight. Not unless a miracle happened.
Well she had a miracle, me. I wouldn't sleep until she was safe. The sunlight wouldn't kill me, but it would make me damn uncomfortable. I just needed to know where they were holding her. I tried to pull the memory from her thoughts, but I couldn't find it. They'd covered her head after beating her nearly unconscious. The only clue I could find had been the smell of burnt wood and smoke as they came to their destination. That didn't help. I pulled myself from her mind and could feel a tug to the north that was her, but even that didn't help much. Saying "north of Sacramento" was like saying "over there somewhere." California has a lot of real estate.
"I can feel her, so she's alive. I just don't know where."
"You couldn't tell anything?"
"All I know is she's north of us, and in some place that smells like smoke."
"Smoke, like it had been burned to the ground?"
"Yeah, just like…" My voice trailed off. I could think of one place off the top of my head to the north that had been burned recently, "Bare Fangs," the lair of the former master of Sacramento. Marcel burned it and everybody in it to the ground to keep me safe. His actions had just saved Vic, too. I looked up and saw Thompson come to the same conclusion. We needed to get there and fast. Facing off against who knows how many vampires would be a lot easier if they were sleeping.
"I'll call for backup," Thompson said as if he were reading my mind.
"I'll find something to hide in to get me over there. Can I borrow your suitcase?" I meant it as a joke.
"Daylight's in thirty minutes, kid. Why don't you sit this one out?"
"Because it's my fault she's in this mess. Vic is mine, mine to protect. Not a chance. Besides, daylight doesn't hurt me, just makes me real fucking uncomfortable."
"Fine, I have a duffel bag that should be big enough. Go get ready."
Chapter 25
The duffel bag smelled like old gym socks and things I'd rather not think about, but it kept the light out, mostly. A few stray micro-shafts leaked in, but nothing that hurt too badly. Thank you gods, for military surplus green canvas. I felt worse for Thompson. He had to carry me to the elevator and out to the car. I felt really bad until he tossed me in the trunk like luggage.
I uttered a muffled, "Fuck you," and heard him laugh as he slammed the trunk closed like a morgue door. Bad analogy, but I've been in a morgue. It's what it sounded like.
I heard the engine start and the Suburban lurched into reverse. The entire Sacramento Field Office would be meeting us at the dilapidated vampire strip club. I wanted to get there before they did and get out of the smelly body bag I'd gotten myself trapped in. I wouldn't put it past Thompson to put a little luggage lock on the damn thing just to irritate the shit out of me.
The drive lasted about twenty minutes. I heard the crunch of the tires as they rolled on the gravel parking lot, letting me know we'd reached our destination. I just hoped it wouldn't be our final one. That would suck. I thought about it for a minute and rolled the idea around in my head. If I died and Thompson and Vic managed to get out alive, I'd be happy. If you die saving the lives of the ones you love, it wouldn't hurt. Not emotionally anyway.
The car stopped and I felt the transmission, somewhere below the vehicle, shift into park. Thompson's door opened and I heard his size fifteen shoes kicking up the gravel as he walked around the back of the big SUV. The tailgate clicked and the heat from the morning sun poured into the vehicle, even through the military grade canvas. Ick, I don't know how people stood walking around during the day. The sun caused cancer and profuse sweating. I'd take the night any time.
The duffle bag stiffened as Thompson lifted me from the floor of the trunk and set me down on the ground. I hadn't been expecting that and gave a quick, "Hey," as I made contact with the uncomfortable stones.
"I need to grab some knives and shotguns. Hold on, kid."
I rolled my eyes as I waited for my personal chauffer to lift me and take me inside. We planned on waiting just inside the door for the cavalry to show up. That would limit the time I had to spend confined in a bag. My preference, not Thompson's. I'm sure if it were up to him, I'd spend the better part of the day confined to a soundproof canvas bag.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on Vic. I could feel her stronger than before. We'd definitely come up with the right spot. I could feel her below me somewhere, and her proximity wasn't doing my patience a whole whopping lot of good. I wanted out of the bag, now.
After a few minutes of listening to Thompson rooting through the storage compartment I'd been lying on, he strapped on his weapons and lifted me off the hot gravel. He carried me as gently as he could, but walking produced a natural swinging motion even when you were trying to hold still. I bumped against his leg more than a few times on the short journey from the car to the burned building. I could feel the heat dissipate as we crossed the threshold from outside to inside. I started shifting in anticipation and Thompson shook the bag to let me know it wasn't completely safe yet. Finally, he set me down on cool concrete.
I blinked as he unzipped the duffel bag. Light poured in bright enough to hurt my eyes. I must have winced because Thompson reached up to his face, pulled his sunglasses off, and offered them to me. I reached up and slipped them on my face. "Thanks."
"Just make sure I get them back."
"The bad guys will have to pry them off my cold dead body."
"Not funny, kid."
I shrugged and looked around. The fire that burned the place had done an excruciatingly thorough job. The once somewhat decent looking stage and bar had been reduced to cinders along with most of the floor. Even the darkened glass comprising the majority of the building frontage either melted or shattered. We stood by the stairwell leading down, and still the sunlight poured in, making it quite uncomfortable for me, even with the very dark sunglasses about two sizes too large for my head. I leaned against the door and tried not to look toward the daylight streaming in while we waited for the troops.
Luckily, we didn't have to wait for long. Black vehicles of every size, make, a
nd shape poured into the parking lot one by one. Nobody waited in their cars either. As soon as the vehicles skidded to a stop, everyone started exiting and slapping on body armor and weapons of every size and shape imaginable. This was a vampire raid. Snuff rifles, shotguns, and silver blades hung from every available space not occupied by Kevlar vests and armor made from the same material as the V-cuffs used to keep vampires immobilized. I doubted there would be any arrests today. We had writs of execution on any and all vampires with and including the former governor. Deputy Director Sanders was very efficient.
The FBI Agents and SWAT team poured through the broken doors and windows, all vying to be first into the building. They all converged around us in a semi-circle, waiting for Thompson or me to go over everything one last time. Connors nodded at me and gave a little nod for which I was grateful.
"We're certain that one hostage is downstairs, so we can only assume Greer is down there as well with an indeterminate number of vampires. We're here to rescue the hostage and kill everything else that's not breathing," Thompson shouted so everyone could hear, even the ones just coming through the entrance. "The hostage is a vampire, too, but one of the good guys. Let's make sure she gets out alive."
Someone scoffed at the alive. I looked around, but every one of them looked embarrassed at the outburst, so I couldn't give anyone a dirty look. "People, Greer is dangerous and evil. He set loose a creature so vile I can't even tell you what it was. Be careful and watch your backs." I continued for Thompson, "Do not hesitate to put silver in his heart. He is very old, which gives him strength you can't imagine. The silver in his heart probably won't kill him. If it incapacitates him, put some in his head too. The executioners are on standby to come and cleanup. We just have to make sure nobody runs."
They all nodded in understanding and agreement. Without waiting around, I turned and pulled the heavy iron door open. Cool air rushed out to surround us and I blamed that for the visible shivers everyone seemed to come down with simultaneously, not the thought of an indeterminate number of vampires down in a very dark hole who wouldn't mind seeing us very dead. Amazing what a chilly breeze can do.
The smell of smoke and burned wood permeated the stone stairway leading down into Santiago's lair, or would it be Greer's lair? Right at the moment I didn't give two shits, as long as he ended up as dead as Santiago. I swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared at the thought of Santiago. If it weren't for me he'd still be alive and Vic wouldn't be in half as much trouble as she was in right now. Mistakes seem to follow me like puppies follow pork chops. I really need to fix that. I wonder if they offer seminars to help people like me.
I hit the bottom landing and stared down the dark hallway leading to the cavernous main room of the lair. I could feel Vic's tugging presence coming from that direction, so I led the way. The other doors in the hallway were closed. I left it to the agents behind me to check and clear the rooms. By now, the sun hung fully overhead, so the odds of any vampires being awake were slim to none. Better to make certain than to get dead from behind. If all the vampires were sound asleep in their coffins, there wasn't any reason for me to be tiptoeing through the rough-hewn hallway, but I did.
Finally, we reached the entry to the main hall. I stopped breathing for a minute and listened. I could feel Vic behind the door and I fought the urge to kick it down and save her. Greer had no idea we knew where he'd fled and had no reason to expect us to show up here during the day. We held the element of surprise and I intended to keep it that way. I tentatively reached out and pushed down on the latch holding the door closed. It gave a tiny little click and I pushed it open, praying it didn't creak like every door in every horror movie ever made. It didn't. Apparently, Santiago had been a firm believer in the miracles of WD-40.
I expected a whole lot of things to be behind that door. I expected a pile of coffins containing sleeping vampires. I expected Greer to be sleeping peacefully atop a marble slab surrounded by a thousand glittering candles. I even hoped to see Vic standing there with a bloody knife, a smile on her face, and a dead ex-governor at her feet. I didn't expect what saw.
On the other side of the enormous cavern Greer stood with a tied up Victoria at his feet, holding a silver curved blade to her throat. At least a hundred hungry vampires stood at the ready on either side of him, ready to start a war. I wanted to step back and close the door. Greer's evil sneer stopped me in my tracks.
"It's about time you showed up, youngling. I owe you a great deal of pain and suffering for what you did. I would have had everything. Do you know how long I planned that final stroke? It would have given me more power than any vampire has had in centuries." He twisted the knife and Vic tried to shrink away. "You owe me a life and I'm going to take it. It's not yours, but I want to see you suffer like I am right now!"
I opened my mouth to get him to stop, but I could see all sanity had left his eyes.
I stood there torn. I knew if I moved a muscle he would kill her and I would never reach her in time. I knew if I did nothing, he would probably kill her anyway. I pleaded with my eyes to get Vic to struggle or fight or do anything. She wouldn't even look at me. I guess she knew too.
I cried out in anguish as he pulled the silver knife along Vic's throat. I could feel the cold silver as it parted her flesh, muscle, sinew, and finally bone. The wicked blade and vampiric strength of the madman did more than slit her throat, he pulled it clean through her neck.
Even being across the room I could see the light leave her beautiful eyes as the knife did its work. Her body fell forward in a lifeless heap as Greer held her head by the hair. He smiled triumphantly and threw her head sideways across the room. I closed my eyes as it rolled and came to a stop just short of the wall to my left.
My heart stopped as the realization of what happened hit home. Then came the pain. A thousand needles found their way from the center of my chest and out through my lungs. Explosions behind my eyes wracked my head in waves that threatened to destroy the very tenuous grip I had on my sanity. I probably would have welcomed the alternative. Insane people usually don't feel pain or loss, and that's exactly what my world had become. I dropped to my knees and grasped my head in my hands, futilely trying to stop the pain and the spinning room.
Greer's maniacal laugh anchored me. He thought he had won, but it wasn't over. It would be over when I ripped his spine from his dead body and shoved it back in through his mouth. Then they could do whatever they wanted to me. I'd probably lie down on the cold floor and let his vampires tear me apart with no expression on my face. I had to finish him first.
"It hurts doesn't it, Ashlyn. It hurts to have a child of your making destroyed. I remember my first one. I loved her and made her just like me. That happened over a thousand years ago and I still remember it like yesterday." I heard his footsteps as he walked forward. I couldn't see him through the pain still surging through my head, but I could at least hear. "The agony is unbearable at first, but you'd get over it if I weren't going to kill you and all the humans in the hallway behind you. I hope they know that the minute they step into this room, my children will unleash a torrent of death upon them without even taking one step."
I heard the chambering of ammunition as Greer's vampires cocked the weapons they'd been holding when he'd decapitated my Vic. Apparently the SWAT team and the agents heard it too because the footfalls in the hallway stopped. The situation had gone from worse to horrid and I couldn't even stand.
"Kid, what's happening?" Thompson voice came from behind the wall housing the only entrance to the room.
"Stay back, vampires, guns," I managed to croak out through the haze, causing Greer to laugh even harder.
"Are you okay?"
"No, stay back."
"How fucked are we?" This time his voice crackled in my ear, reminding me of the tiny earpieces we'd put in before leaving.
I slipped my hand down and pressed the tiny button on the side. "Very," I said as softly as possible. I knew Greer could hear, but I didn't care.
"Don't respond. We're here. Give the word and we come in shooting. Try to stay down when we do."
I nodded to nobody, but the warmth that spread through me helped with the pain. I would kill Greer and they would come in guns blazing. None of us would survive, probably, but my friends knew it and didn't care. They'd give their lives and be happy, just as I would have to save Vic. Well that option was gone, but now I'd gladly give it to see Greer pay for what he'd done. I'd let him cut my head off as long as I got to pull his fucking heart out when he did it.
The anger began to build on top of the grief. It started as a small trickle that swelled into a creek and gave way to a raging river. The pain drifted away. My fists curled into tighter balls. My talons started to grow and they pierced the flesh of my palms, but I didn't care. The pain in my hands felt good compared to the throbbing in my head. The claws hit the bones in my hands and I forced my fists open. I couldn't see the blood trickling into my eyes from my forehead because my vision hadn't returned, but I could feel it. The sting felt good.
"It's a good thing you're going to die tonight," Greer continued. "When Strozzini died, I knew you had something to do with it, I just couldn't prove it. I couldn't let an abomination like you continue, so I dispatched a letter to the Vampire Council, telling them all about you. What a shame, they'll never get to see your body. I'm sure they would have found it interesting." I could hear his shoes as he took several more steps while he gloated.
The pain in my hands had completely ebbed and vanished as I opened my hands. I rubbed them together and heard a strange scraping noise, like somebody rubbing pieces of sandpaper together. Frantically, I wished for my vision to come back. I wistfully wished for Vic to still be alive. That thought started the tears. I let them fall from my eyes and land on the back of my hands. Dimly the room came back into view. I blinked twice at the scaly paws in front of my face. It took me a moment to realize they were mine.
