Echoes of Blood and Glory
Page 8
She couldn’t let it go, and she couldn’t kill it. But it was her responsibility. That was the word that went through her mind, over and over. Maybe it had been made without her permission or knowledge, but now that it was here and a threat, she had no choice.
Unless…
“Who sent you to the Arboretum?” she asked it.
Its sightless eyes jumped from her to the guys and back. “Human,” it answered slowly, tongue tripping over the word.
“A man? Blond hair? A doctor?”
Its head bobbled on its neck when it nodded.
“I want…” The crawler’s eyes lit with excitement as soon as she began to speak.
“I serve. Yes. Tell me.” It rocked toward her until Horus moved fully in front of her. She touched his back. It was damp from the snow, and he shivered.
“I want you to go back to him,” she said. Her idea grew and solidified. “I want you to go to the human, Dr. Stone, and I want you to kill him.”
The crawler’s mouth dropped open before morphing into a terrifying smile. “Yes.”
“You go from here, directly to him. He is the only human you touch. Just him.”
“Make sure he doesn’t tell them where we are,” Ra said.
“And you keep my location, and the location of the brothers, a secret.” She couldn’t see around Horus to meet its eyes. When she tried, he put an arm around her waist and dragged her against his body.
“Careful,” he told her.
“Can you do that?” she asked the crawler. This time, she did what she’d been wanting to. She knelt. So while there was plenty of space between them, they were at eye-level. “Can you do those things for me?”
“Yes.” The crawler started toward her, stopped, and stared at the brothers. “Let me go.”
Ra moved from the window, and Horus pulled her to one side, and it left. It crawled past her, not even pausing before it slid out the window and into the night.
A realization hit her like a lightning bolt. That, right there, was power. That was what Dr. Stone wanted. An army of beings who did exactly what he wanted without balking. Without even pausing.
She stared out the window. “I just sent it to die,” she said. There was no question of that. One crawler wouldn’t be successful against Dr. Stone and however many vampires he had at his disposal. So while she hadn’t killed it with her bare hands, she had, essentially, killed it.
The cold air wrapped around her body, but she barely felt it now. Numbness settled over her. “Why don’t I feel anything?”
The room came back into focus as Seti stepped next to her. From the corner of her eye, she caught him and his brothers having a silent conversation they locked her out of. “Come on.” He snaked an arm around her waist. “Ra and Horus are going to board up the window. We need to go.”
“Should we follow it?” she asked. Ideas, actions to take, they popped up like they’d been held underwater, but drifted away before she could grasp onto them.
“Horus can find Dr. Stone,” Seti said. “But we don’t want him to find us. They’ll follow the crawler’s trail back to us. We need to be gone before then.”
“I shouldn’t have done that.” By sending the crawler away, she’d exposed them. And she had no idea where they were going to go. She said she was going to kill the things Dr. Stone had made from her blood, but when it came down to it, she’d wimped out. “I’m sorry.” Twisting to see Horus and Ra, she apologized again. “I’m so sorry.”
“Maybe it will be successful,” Horus replied, but he was lying. He didn’t expect the crawler to kill Dr. Stone any more than she did.
“Come on.” Seti pulled her again, and she followed him blindly from the room. He led her downstairs, helped her take a seat on the bench by the door, and knelt in front of her. “Stay right here, okay?” he said. “Just for a minute.”
Nodding, she rested back against the seat. He took off, his body blurring as he flew upstairs. It was dead silent. She imagined them throwing clothes into bags, but they did it without a drawer squeaking or a floorboard creaking.
She should have been helping. Or at the very least, taking care of herself. Her boots and coat were here, so she put them on. Then she stood there, like she was a kid waiting for the teacher to open the door for recess.
It didn’t take long for the guys to be finished. They came downstairs, bags over their shoulders, in a matter of minutes. Seti frowned when he saw her, so she explained, “I wanted to do something. I can put my own boots on.” Her voice shook and she swallowed, ashamed.
Toughen up. She’d never be able to do what had to be done if she didn’t.
Rose fell asleep in the car and woke up in a strange house. Winter light poured through a large picture window directly into her eyes.
Sitting up, she glanced around to find the guys, but she was alone.
Sometime during the night, they’d come here, to an empty house in Southie. It had a lock box on the door, but Ra had known what the passcode was, and she’d been too tired to ask how.
In the light, the place looked just as unappealing as it had last night. The windows were bare and there was only the minimum of furniture. When she cleared her throat, the sound echoed through the room.
“Guys?” She was alone in her mind, and there were no noises from anywhere in the house. “Guys?”
“Upstairs.” It was cold in here, but not freezing like the house in Manchester-on-the-sea had been. Of course, it hadn’t been until right before the crawler arrived that she’d really noticed how cold it had gotten.
She’d slept in her jacket and boots, but her hat was under her head. Her hair, she was sure, was a mess, so she stuffed it over her curls before going upstairs.
The house was old, and nothing like the house they’d left. It was a lot closer to her apartment, with old floors, carpeted stairs, drop ceilings, and walls that could use a coat of paint.
The hall was dark when she got to the top. A window at one end was covered in a decorative plastic decal meant to look like stained glass. “Horus?”
“Down here.” He stepped out of a room by that window and leaned against the door jamb. “Sleep well?”
“Not bad,” she answered, rolling her shoulders back. He held his arms out as she approached, and she went into them. He smelled good, like flour and coffee, but circles ringed his eyes. “Is that?” she looked around him. “That’s the kitchen?”
“Weird, right?” Seti called from inside. “There’s another one downstairs, but it doesn’t have any appliances. I think this was two apartments.”
She glanced over her shoulder, studying the rest of the level. “Okay.”
Inside was, sure enough, a fully equipped kitchen. Stove. Fridge. Sink. There were no windows, but there was a vent over the stove.
There was a bar without chairs and no table. Seti leaned over the bar, propping his elbows. “What can I make you this fine morning?” He held up a pink cup with a familiar donut shop label and a white bag. “Coffee? Donut?”
“Sounds good.” She wasn’t picky, and her stomach was growling. Pulling out the Boston crème, she smiled at Seti. “Thanks.” She took a bite before moving to lean against the wall closest to the door. “Where’s Ra?” she asked.
“Scouting around.”
“For what?” She swallowed the donut and then went on, “Crawlers?”
“I’m not sure,” Horus answered. “He’s kept us out since last night.”
Since she’d sent the crawler back to Dr. Stone.
To kill him.
Licking the chocolate off of her thumb, she closed her eyes and imagined tapping on the door between her and Ra. “Are you all right?”
But there was no answer.
Traveling last night had been awkward. She had been wrapped up in her thoughts, and every time she’d glanced toward one of the guys, they couldn’t hold her gaze.
Here they all were—able to read the others’ minds—and there was all this tension. She couldn’t stand it.
They glanced at each other. “We are not disappointed in you at all,” Horus replied.
“We’re impressed with your quick thinking,” his brother added.
But there was something they weren’t saying. “I’m disappointed,” she said. She took a sip of coffee, and it burned her mouth. “Shit! Ouch!” That answered the what sort of day is it question. The burn disappeared, but she ran her tongue along the roof of her mouth.
“Why in the world are you disappointed?” Seti asked. He had changed at some point into jeans and a sweatshirt. It was a very dressed-down look for him. His hair was pushed back from his face, but not at all styled. It was like the longer they stayed with her, the more they lost themselves.
When she had first met them, they’d been so untouchable. Horus stood tall, and Seti could have been mistaken for a runway model. And now they were both tired. Poor Horus was relying on that door jamb to keep him upright.
“I should have killed that crawler. It’s not a bug. It’s a predator. And I released it back onto the streets.” Where it could have done anything. The whole thing could have been one giant experiment designed by Dr. Stone just to see what she’d do.
“I’m close,” Ra interrupted.
Downstairs, the door opened and shut, and a moment later, Ra appeared. His hair was windswept and his boots muddy. But his eyes were bright, a golden brown that—strangely enough—seemed happy. “It worked.”
“What worked?” she asked.
“Let me show you.”
A crawler darted across a cracked and overgrown parking lot. A shuttered and abandoned K-Mart was in the distance, and next to it, single-family homes packed together with barely enough room between them for a person to fit. They were in the same state of disrepair as the store with broken windows covered with plywood, but they were someone’s home.
The crawler paused once, sniffing the air, and Ra knelt. He couldn’t go much closer without being discovered. This didn’t make sense. Crawlers, vampires, and soldiers—Dr. Stone—staying here?
Police sirens screamed as a patrol car roared down the street.
In the darkness, creatures moved around, hiding behind concrete blocks, shrubs, and corners. The wind blew, and it hit Ra like a wrecking ball. So many scents wrapped up and layered. Too many to count.
In the old days, when war was part of Ra’s life, he would have called this place an encampment. No wonder there were so many sirens and vehicles. People were either dying or trying to escape.
Staying low and upwind, he tracked the crawler through the neighborhoods to an abandoned set of brick buildings. The windows were shuttered, but the plywood was painted the same color as the brick. He passed a sign, “Remember us, for we too have lived, loved, and laughed.”
Rose knew where he was now. “Medfield,” she said. “The old state hospital.”
“Asylum,” Ra said. “That’s what the signs inside said. There were so many buildings, like Marcus’s campus. Some were more run down than others. Most of them were full. I followed the crawler when it went inside.”
“That was stupid,” Seti barked. “You can’t do that without one of us. No matter what your powers might be.”
“I had to see.”
“Show me,” she demanded. “You said it worked. Did it kill Dr. Stone?”
He did what she asked, drawing her back into his memory.
Windows framed the upper level of the room. Walls that had once been sea green peeled, and the red tiled floor was littered with pieces. Stainless steel sinks stretched across the center of the room, stopping at two giant… mixers?
The crawler eased forward, toward something or someone who was hidden from view and surrounded by soldiers. It acted fast, darting forward with a screech, but before it reached its target, a soldier caught it up. In seconds, it had been torn apart.
That was all Ra needed to see. He ran out of the hospital and headed east, back toward Boston.
“It got very close,” he told her.
“You think it was attacking?” she asked. “It wasn’t some rabid creature scuffle?”
“It had purpose,” Ra answered. He took the coffee from her hands and drew her against him. “I believe you were right. As its creator, it is bound to you. It followed your instructions, despite passing humans and other crawlers. I think we have a chance now.”
17
Horus
More battles. A pit formed in his stomach. It was inevitable, but he was so tired of fighting.
He studied Rose’s face, watching emotions flash across it. Shame. Guilt. Worry. Anger.
Hope.
Her struggle was clear. How difficult fighting and killing would be for someone who lived in this time. Humans weren’t used to having to fight for their survival. Threats were rarely encountered.
Of course, Rose was different. She’d had to face death as a child. It wasn’t something theoretical for her.
He wished it wasn’t so. He wished that the most serious thing she’d had to do was pay for her camera, or computer.
Instead, she was considering how best to massacre an army of immortals. “I made them.”
She really believed she was responsible for them—bound to them. It was why she’d hesitated when the crawler had appeared. And why right before she drifted off as they drove around the city, she’d wondered if there was a chance they could be saved.
“Did I do the right thing?” She hadn’t meant to ask it of them, but Horus answered.
“Yes, Rose.”
Startling, she stepped out of Ra’s embrace. “But what if—”
“If the crawler wasn’t evil?” he asked. He pushed off the wall, nearly groaned, and paced across the floor. “It was. There are no crawlers who aren’t evil. Even those made from your blood.”
“You don’t think if it had a different upbringing…” She trailed off and shook her head at herself. “They’re fully formed humans. Not babies. Not wild animals.” She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “Do we go to them?”
18
Rose
“Absolutely not.” Seti’s voice shook. “No.” He repeated it again. “No. Did you see how many there were?”
Rose thought back to Ra’s memory. She hadn’t had an impression of a number, only a lot. There were a hell of a lot of beings around Dr. Stone. But… “I saw soldiers. And crawlers. Did you see any vampires?” she asked.
The guys’ expressions went distant, as if they were searching Ra’s memory as well. “No,” Seti answered. “You’re right. Soldiers and crawlers. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”
Of course not. There were vampires who had attacked her, and vampires who had kidnapped her. But they were dead, killed by the guys.
“Maybe I can’t make vampires,” she wondered aloud. “Maybe my blood only makes the bad things.” The poison in her blood came from an evil creature, so it made sense that what it would make was more evil.
“If there are only soldiers and crawlers, they will be much easier to eliminate than vampires. It simplifies things.” Horus ran his hands over his scalp before letting them drop. He eyed the bag of donuts and reached for it. “Do you mind?” he asked Rose.
She shook her head and tried to hide her surprise. “Of course not.”
He removed a glazed donut and ate it quickly, then took out another one and inhaled that.
The kitchen was silent as he ate. It wasn’t until he’d finished off his fourth donut that anyone began speaking again.
“Three of us and Rose won’t be able to kill all of them,” Seti said. His gaze was on Horus, making her uneasy. Was something else going on? “We’ll need help.”
“Not if Rose can control them,” Ra said, “like me.”
Holy shit on a stick.
“It worked with one crawler,” Seti retorted. “One. Not when they attack
ed Horus. I’m sure she was directing them then, weren’t you?”
That day had been so chaotic. Her mind had whirled, but had she ever told them to stop?
“No,” Horus said. “You fought silently. It was only to the vampires who injured you that you spoke.”
Would that have been all it would have taken? One word? One word, and Horus wouldn’t have nearly died?
“Son of a bitch.” Why hadn’t she figured it out? The vampires said they wanted her blood —she should have added two and two.
Stupid.
She wouldn’t risk any of them again. “We need to experiment.” The word made her sick, reminding her of Dr. Stone and the way he played with lives. I have no choice. “We have to get the crawlers, or the soldiers, a few of them to start, and I have to see what they’ll do when I direct them. I could have gotten lucky.”
“Not so many we would be overrun,” Ra said thoughtfully.
“And not so many their absence would be noticed,” Seti added.
Rose stepped out of the kitchen to glance out the window. The sun was bright in a cloudless sky. “We should grab them one at a time,” she said. “I mind meld or Professor Xavier them, and if it works, we grab another.”
Ra drew his eyebrows together. “I don’t know Professor Xavier. Is he a colleague of Dr. Stone?”
She grimaced. “Sorry. No. He’s a comic book superhero. He can read minds.”
“Right.” He nodded sagely, a small smile playing on his lips. “I suggest you stay here, and we bring them back.”
Horus and Seti seemed to agree and straightened, as if ready to leave right away.
“You should bring me,” she argued. “What if they bite you? I could stop them before they do that. And if I can’t, well, then we kill them.” She swallowed hard, hoping she hid how sick that made her feel. “What do you think?”
“I don’t like it.” Horus crossed his arms. “You don’t need to put yourself in danger.”
“Please.” She sent her thoughts only to him. “Horus. You’re still healing. You can’t risk being hurt again.”