Abominations (Demonkin Book 3)

by Sean Hayden

  I got a little shock when a woman stepped out of the vehicle. Not so much because she was a woman, but because she looked like she had stepped off the cover of a magazine and into a very tight uniform.

  "You have a little bit of drool running down your chin, kid," Thompson whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

  I looked up at him in shock. "Stuhfoo."

  "Stuhfoo?"

  "Yes. Stuhfoo. S-T-F-U. Shut the fuck up."

  He chuckled evilly. "I like that. Stuhfoo. That should be a thing."

  "Hey, Thompson," the dark-haired cop said tiredly as she walked up to us.

  "Lieutenant Alvarez, long time no see."

  She turned and looked at me with a little frown. "You're the vamp?"

  This was so not going to go well.

  "Yep."

  She held out her hand. I reluctantly took it and shook. "I'm Kim Alvarez. On behalf of the Chicago Police Department, I would like to formally apologize for the behavior of our officer. As of this moment, he has been placed on unpaid leave pending an internal investigation. However, if you wish to press charges, I will make sure his arrest is put onto the books."

  That was not the response I had been expecting. "Um…" I didn't know how to respond.

  "She new?" She looked at Thompson.

  "Ish," he responded.

  "Give us a minute?"

  My partner nodded and wandered off to look at the car I wrecked with my impact.

  "You're…," she began, letting me introduce myself.

  "Ash. Ashlyn. Thorne."

  "Agent Thorne, the officer who called in the incident and passed along your request to speak to a superior filled me in on the whole situation. His," she pointed over her shoulder exactly the way Thompson did, "behavior is inexcusable. I meant it when I offered you my apologies."

  "Why do I feel a 'but' coming on?" I said when she stopped speaking.

  She nodded. "I'm asking you to drop the charges."

  "Why?" She piqued my curiosity.

  "Because last year his wife and son were killed by a crazed vampire searching for food. He was on duty when it happened. We mourned with him. Tom is a good cop, he just can't get through what happened. This isn't his first incident. I don't want to fire him, but I am going to park his ass at a desk from now on. I know you have every reason to want to press charges. I'm begging you not to. Don't ruin his life any more than it already has been. Please."

  She didn't even have to add the please. "Not all vampires are monsters. Of course, I won't."

  "Blessed be. Thank you, Agent Thorn."

  "Merry meet, Lt. Alvarez."

  She cocked an eyebrow at me, gave me a smile, and stepped away to talk to the other police officers. One of them almost immediately went over and uncuffed the semi-conscious officer and hauled him to his feet.

  Alvarez went over to him, leaned in real close, and began a tirade of whispered expletives. I couldn’t quite make out the conversation, I just thanked the goddess I wasn't the recipient of it. Lt. Alvarez looked like she could make a grizzly shit its pants.

  "She's something, huh?"

  I just nodded. "A little scary though."

  "Half Spanish. Half Chinese. I think she might even be another half Valkyrie."

  "That's a hundred and fifty percent."

  "I'm a hundred and fifty percent sure she could kick your ass."

  "I'm a hundred and fifty percent sure I wouldn't mind the experience…"

  "Ashlyn Thorne, you dog you." He chuckled. "Well, if you want to know, she's single and does swing that way."

  "How the hell do you know so much about her?"

  "I should. I'm her god-father."

  "Now I know you're lying. She's a wiccan."

  "Yeah. Pissed her parent's off more than when they found out she's a lesbian."

  "Why the fuck didn't you introduce me?"

  "Did you just meet you?"

  "Hey. I'm a good catch."

  He turned around and looked at the car behind us, looked at me, and shook his head.

  "Yeah. That wasn't my fault."

  "Never is, kid."

  Alvarez walked back over to us and shook her head. The cop who shot me repeatedly followed meekly behind her.

  "Officer Blake has something he wishes to say to you, Agent Thorne," she said blankly and stepped back, letting him take her place.

  He looked down at my feet and wouldn't, or couldn't, look up. "The Lieutenant told me what you did for me," he started, and I saw the tears rolling down his face.

  Well, shit.

  "Wait a moment, Blake. Thompson, Lieutenant, could I have a moment alone with Officer Blake?"

  Thompson scoffed and walked away again. Alvarez looked nervous, but nodded and moved away a little.

  I turned back to Blake and leaned back against the destroyed car, lowering myself a little, so I'd at least be in his field of vision. "I'm going to accept your apology, without making you do it. I know you're sorry for what you did. I also know you're a damn good cop. Alvarez told me."

  He looked up and for the first time not sighting me down the barrel of a gun, looked at my face. He only saw a monster before. "Thank you," he said quietly.

  "Now, in return, I'm going to offer you a piece of advice. Take it or throw it away, but think about it first. You suffered a horrible loss. I've been there, and I know how bad it hurts. My best friend had to shoot me in the head to snap me out of it. You don't have that luxury. Instead, I'll be blunt with my fucking words." I stood up and stepped a little closer to him. "If a piece of shit junky had broken into your house and done the same thing looking for cash, you wouldn't be on a human shooting spree. Don't blame all vampires for the actions of one either. Some of us are nice. Some of us are not so nice. Just like humans."

  He nodded but didn't look convinced, but that hadn't been my goal to begin with. I wanted him to think. I planted the seed in his head, it was up to him to let it grow or rip it out like a weed.

  "Good luck with everything, and if you ever need help, come find me."

  I think that shocked him more than my little vampire speech. He nodded. "Um…" He stopped, took a breath and started again. "Thank you. And I really am sorry for not listening to you."

  "And shooting me," I said with a wink.

  "Yes. And shooting you," he finished embarrassedly.

  "Good luck, Officer Blake."

  "Thank you, Agent Thorne," he said and gave me a little salute, heading back to the patrol car.

  "Feel better, kid?" Thompson rumbled as he walked back over.

  "Yeah, I did my good deed for the day. I hope he'll be okay."

  "He will," Alvarez said. She'd been close enough to hear the whole exchange. "He's a good guy. When he's not shooting at beautiful vampires in the middle of the street."

  My heart fluttered. She called me beautiful…

  "Um. Thanks," I said shyly.

  "Uncle Jim, you told me you got a new partner, but you left out a few details…"

  "That she bites?"

  "Uncle Jim?" I giggled helplessly. "You so know that's what I'm going to call you for the rest of your life now, right? And I don't bite. I nibble."

  "Try it, kid."

  "Oh, you're so mean, Uncle Jimmy!" I got most of it out before I burst into laughter.

  "Thanks, Kim," he said to Alvarez.

  "Well, I need to get back to the precinct. Good luck with everything," she said to Thompson. "It was nice meeting you, Ash," she said and shook my hand.

  "Thanks for all your help."

  "Thanks for taking care of Tom," she said and held on to my hand a little longer than necessary. I didn't mind.

  "Let me know how he's doing or if you need more help. You can get my number from Thompson."

  She gave me a smile and let go, returning to her SUV and starting it up.

  Thompson started making gagging noises next to me. "That was so subtle and sweet I almost puked."

  The little blood I had left in my body raced its way to my chee
ks. I thought I was being subtle.

  We pulled onto the highway. I mentally felt around for the sun. I had a little more than an hour to get home before I was going to need some serious amounts of sunblock.

  "So, what happened? How'd she find you?"

  "I told you, Cosmo and I were driving around looking at churches?"

  He nodded.

  "Well, we figured the…" My heart stopped. I'd forgotten completely about Cosmo.

  "What?"

  "Cosmo. Father Rourke."

  "Who?"

  I picked up my cell phone and dialed Cosmo from my contacts. In all the hullaballoo, I had completely forgotten to check on him. And Father Rourke. I silently prayed they weren't dead.

  It went straight to voicemail…

  "Go to St Hedwigs. Quickly."

  He got off the Kennedy.

  "Where is it?"

  "Take West North Avenue to North Western Avenue. It's right by the Highway."

  I kept dialing the rest of the way there. He parked on the sidewalk and we ran inside.

  I started breathing again when I saw the two of them talking in one of the pews.

  I ran up to Cosmo and slapped him in the chest. "You asshole! I've been calling you and calling you."

  "My phone died and I thought you were dead. I called the Chicago Field Office and everything. You better let them know you're okay. Your boss sounded pretty pissed off…"

  "Reese?"

  "Yeah. That was his name."

  "You told him I was dead?"

  "We heard the demon in the room with you. By the time we got in you were both gone! Where did you go?"

  "Willis Tower?"

  "Why there?"

  "I don't know, when I woke up she was hanging me over the street from the top of the building. Sightseeing?"

  "That's not funny…"

  "I rarely am. Did you find the Vessel?"

  "No. We searched the crypt, too."

  "It's not here anymore." I could tell. I couldn't feel it.

  "How do we find it again?"

  "I don't know, but I doubt she'd put it in another church…"

  "Everybody okay?" Thompson finally made his way into the church.

  I turned and nodded. Giving him an exasperated look.

  "Okay. Well. I don't know to tell you this, but the sky is getting pretty light out there, you need to get your ass home."

  "Shit! I'll call you tonight, Cosmo. Bye, Father Rourke!"

  Thompson caught up to me and hopped in the driver's seat. By the time I ran around the vehicle, he had it started and in gear, gunning the engine. I would apologize to Fr. Rourke tomorrow about the tire marks on the sidewalk.

  I felt around in the sky for the sun. Mentally calculating the distance to my house and early-morning traffic, I knew we weren't going to make it.

  "Go faster," I said.

  "I can't."

  "We're not gonna make it…"

  "I know. Hold the wheel."

  I reached over and grabbed it, swerving around cars one-handed. He pulled his thick jacket off and handed it to me.

  "Get in that. That should help. Zipper it up over your head and I'll carry you into the house."

  "You don't have one of those duffel bag things you used the last time?"

  "No. Not in the car. Maybe I should start keeping a body bag in the trunk for when shit like this happens."

  "That's kind of creepy and yet brilliant at the same time."

  "I have my moments."

  We pulled off the highway in Arlington and began tracking through the streets to get to my house. The sun crested the horizon and I zipped up and closed my eyes. Some light still leaked through the jacket. Luckily it wasn't fatal, it just burned a little.

  "Almost there, you okay?"

  "No. The inside of this jacket smells funny."

  "Feel free to unzip it then."

  "Har har. Hurry up, Gramma. I've seen dead people who drive faster."

  "There's kids going to school. You want me to run them over?"

  "Nah. They're not worth any points. See if you can find a mailman. They're worth like fifty."

  "We're sick people."

  "Technically I'm not a people."

  "You are to me. Good people."

  "You say the sweetest darn things sometimes. Are we there yet?"

  "Yep," he answered and pulled up into my driveway. "Hang on." We hit the curb and bounced, my leg flopping out of the jacket to steady myself.

  "That's gonna need some aloe. There's a ton of holes in my jeans," I said and pulled it back in under the safety of the jacket.

  "I'm not gonna do it," he said and shut the engine off. "Hang tight. I'm coming around."

  I could feel the heat from the sun through the window of the Suburban. This was gonna suck.

  He opened my door and scooped me up, making sure the jacket covered my legs completely. I was wearing jeans, but with the amount of holes in them, I might as well have been wearing a doily.

  "You ready?"

  "Hurry," I said through gritted teeth.

  He ran for the door after kicking the car door closed. I jostled and bounced in his arms.

  "Hey, Thompson."

  "What?"

  "Think your god-daughter would rub some aloe on my leg?" I couldn’t help but tease. But then I screeched as he pretended to drop me. "Not funny!"

  "Nope, you're not." He pulled open the screen door and then punched in the code with one finger. It clicked open and he pushed us inside, kicking the door closed behind us.

  My house was mostly sun-proofed. My aunt had taken care of that when I was a child. Cool darkness settled over me and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Thanks." I crawled out from under the jacket after he set me down.

  "Anytime, kid."

  I gave him an awkward hug. "I'm going to bed."

  "Me, too. I'll be back when you wake up."

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "Morning, sunshine," Mel said from beside me.

  I opened my eyes and focused on her face, blinking rapidly. "Morning. Evening. Whatever. I need coffee," I said jokingly.

  She offered me her wrist.

  "You have no idea how much I want to take you up on that. I lost a lot of blood last night."

  "I could tell. You didn't change before you fell into bed."

  I looked down. I hadn't even gotten under the covers. Just flopped my bloody ass down and passed out. "Ew. I'll wash the sheets tonight."

  "Yeah. Don't think Tide is gonna cut it. You might have to get a new comforter. You weren't completely dry."

  "Ew. Ew. I'll take it out back and burn it then."

  "I slept in my own bed last night, so no worries."

  "You sure you don't mind?" I pointed at her wrist.

  "Go for it. Club still isn't open, so I'll be sitting on the couch watching movies."

  "I may have to work tonight. You might be safer with me."

  She stuck her finger in the gaping hole in the front of my shirt. "Probably not."

  "Good point," I said and bit into her wrist, letting her elven blood warm my cockles.

  "So… Um… Yeah, uh. What, oh my goddess, what happened last night."

  Her trying to have a conversation as the pleasure of my bite was flowing over her was kind of cute. I tried very hard to ignore it, focusing instead on her question and wondering how I planned on answering her.

  "Oh, fuck," she whispered and her hand rubbed over her chest and down her stomach. She almost reached the promised land when I withdrew my fangs. "If you fucking stop, I'll stab you," she lifted her head off the pillow and growled at me.

  Chagrinned, I bit back down and she began convulsing next to me. I kept my reaction to a minimum, but I closed my eyes and breathed through it as she climaxed. I licked the wound closed and let go of her arm.

  "Was it good for you?" I teased and rolled over to face her.

  "You have no idea."

  "Um, yeah. I do."

  She laughed and turned her head
and kissed me on the forehead. "Go take a shower. You smell like a mutilated cow."

  I laughed and rolled over the side of the bed, ignoring the Ashlyn shaped blood stain on my newish comforter. They weren't cheap. I didn't care how early it was or how tired I felt. Next time I'd suffer through a shower before getting into bed.

  The doorbell rang.

  "That's Thompson. Tell him I'm in the shower."

  "Will do," she said and walked out of the room.

  I peeled the clothes gingerly off my body. They had dried and stuck in some pretty uncomfortable places. I managed to wiggle out of them with a minimal loss of flesh. I tossed them in the bag next to the garbage can by my dresser I kept for storing clothes that needed to be destroyed. My firepit in the backyard got quite the workout.

  I closed the bedroom door and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower before brushing my teeth. I looked up from spitting and Vic was standing behind me. Between the hot water steaming up the bathroom and Mel's blood coursing through me, the temperature wasn't as cold as normal.

  I turned and didn't see her, but when I faced the mirror again, she was there, staring at me, but not pleading for help as usual. No wonder it didn't feel as cold as normal. I put my hand against the glass and smiled at her sadly.

  "We found it, but she showed up when I tried to get it."

  Vic nodded, as if she already knew. Maybe she did.

  "Were you watching?"

  Again, she nodded. With the wound on her neck it looked rather unsettling. I didn't want to mention it, though. It was more conversation than we'd had in months.

  She began to turn translucent.

  "Wait!"

  She solidified into view, but I could see the effort was taking its toll on her.

  "Do you know where she moved it?"

  Again, she nodded and stepped closer to the surface of the mirror, reaching over my reflection's shoulder and putting her finger on the glass. She drew another cross, but not a crucifix cross. A thick plain cross, like an addition symbol, appeared in the condensation from the shower. She opened her hand and put it against mine. I couldn't feel it, but I could picture her touch.

  "I miss you," I whispered.

  She smiled and faded once again.

  "A hospital," I said to my reflection. "She moved it to a fucking hospital."

  I jumped in the shower and washed every ounce of blood off my skin and hair. I got out and toweled dry, throwing my wet hair up in a ponytail without even brushing it. This had just turned into a race against time.