Flesh and Blood_An Urban Fantasy Novel

by J. A. Cipriano

  “He’s allergic,” she said, shaking her head. “Pray we got the drugs into his system in time.” She pressed her lips together. “And hopefully it’s enough. There were so many damn bees. Even if he wasn’t allergic it could be fatal.”

  Gary came rushing out of the bathroom, two large bath towels dragging the floor behind him. It wasn’t a moment too soon. The bees were growing in number and rushing through the sliver under the door quickly.

  As Gary tossed me one and then the other, I grabbed them and stuffed them under the door, sealing the crease as best I could. Bees had spilled through it and-even with the towels in place- some were still getting through. And swarming around my head.

  Turning quickly, I scooped up the pizza guy as gently as I could while still hauling ass. Bees were bees, and not exactly the most terrifying things in the world, but this many of them could take down anything, let alone a poor kid who was allergic to their stingers.

  I had to get him away, to move him into the bedroom until I got this figured out. The kid was hot and sweaty against my chest as I marched toward the bedroom, cradling him with both hands. My demon side began to act up inside of me again, teasing me with the idea of how sweet it would be to suck the life right out of him, not that there was much life left to take. Shaking my head, I gave myself a mental slap. There was a monster inside of me. That much was true, but I still shouldn’t be thinking things like this. It wasn’t right and-what was more- it was downright dangerous.

  “We need to get him to the hospital,” Renee said, following me into the bedroom and watching, her face twisted painfully as I laid the kid on the bed.

  “I can’t do that, Renee,” I answered, looking over at her, my heart lurching as I took in the hurt on her face. “There’s an army of angry insects on the other side of that door. There’s no other way out of this place. For whatever reason, they’re mobilized and itching to put an end to this kid, us, or both. I need to take care of that. Then we can deal with getting him the help he needs.”

  “He doesn’t have that long,” she answered, moving onto the bed beside him. “He’s already in shock. He’ll be dead in minutes if we don’t do something.”

  “How do you know that?” I asked, looking at the kid and then back up to Renee. “How do you know any of this, and why did you have that pen in your jacket pocket?” Looking at her, I realized that this pain on her face was out of proportion. Renee was a good person. She had a champion’s heart. That’s why she gave her life to service as a prosecutor in one of the most crime (not to mention demon) ridden cities in the Southeast, but she didn’t know this kid. She had literally never spoken to him. So, what gives?

  She blinked hard, her eyes drifting backward in time, her expression growing even grimmer somehow.

  “My brother,” she said in a low voice. “He had the same allergy. He was deathly allergic to those things. One sting and he’d end up in the hospital. A couple of stings and his throat closed up. My parents taught me how to use an EpiPen, and I’ve kept one with me always. I stopped carrying it when I moved away but-when he decided to come to town, I picked one up again. I should have gotten rid of it after he… after he…”

  She didn’t finish the last sentence. She didn’t have to. I knew what she was going to say. Even after he died.

  “I still kept it,” she said. “It felt like I still had a piece of him with me.”

  My heart broke again, this time deeper, more severely. I wanted more than anything to be able to fix the pain flashing across Renee’s face. I wanted it more than I wanted to rid us of these bees, more than I wanted to save that kid’s life, and even more than I wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on here. I couldn’t though. I would never be able to bring her brother back, no matter what I did.

  “They’re using this boy to send a message to me, Roy,” Renee said, her eyes filling with tears. “They want me to hurt, to watch a kid just like my brother die, to go through it all over again.”

  My jaw clenched and my heart turned to steel, anger lighting me up. Putting me through hell was one thing. I was a big boy demon. I could handle it. Throwing salt into my girlfriend’s wounds was another thing altogether.

  “He’s not going to die,” I said, nodding at her and spinning around. “I’ll think of something. I’ll do something.” I moved toward the door and grabbed the handle. “No matter what happens, keep this closed.”

  I slammed the door shut and moved back out into the living room. Gary was there, pushing the towels into the crease even more firmly.

  “He’s dying,” I said, settling beside him and stomping a few of the errant bees. “The kid with the pizza box. He’s not going to make it.”

  “You think?” Gary scoffed, shaking his oblong head at me.

  “The kid is supposed to be Nick,” I said, staring at the door.

  “Good for him,” Gary said, long fingers pressed against the towel. It seemed dismissive to me, but I knew both Gary and I had bigger things to worry about. I could hear the buzzing as it grew louder and louder. They were mobilizing, starting some kind of offensive.

  “Nick was Renee’s brother. She thinks whoever is behind this chose a kid who was allergic to bees to remind her of her brother,” I said, balling my hands into fists at my side.

  “I don’t care, Roy boy,” Gary said, looking up at me impatiently. “You know you’re my favorite person in the whole world, and I’ve even started to become fond of that business inclined piece of ass in the bedroom. So, I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m more concerned about the safety of the main group than that of a pizza boy I’ve never met and a Greek frat boy who’s already dead. I’ll tell you what though. The next time we’re under attack by a swarm of toxic bees, I’ll try to spread my concern around a bit more.”

  A large pounding sound echoed against the door. The entire wooden slab jerked as a force-which I had to assume was the mass of the swarm- slammed collectively against it.

  “Uh oh,” Gary said, stepping backward. “Toxic bees are trying to break down our door.”

  I muttered under my breath. Latin flowed from me with ease, which didn’t surprise me, given I had spent my entire youth learning the language. It wasn’t much good for things in the human world. After all, it wasn’t like you could order a Whopper in Latin if you expected anyone to know what you were talking about.

  For warlocks though, the language of the dead was our lifeblood. The most powerful spells in creation were all in Latin. The one I was muttering now-one that would hopefully protect me long enough to put an end to this troublesome infestation- was no different.

  “They’re not toxic,” I said, looking at the door as it jerked, again hit by the swarm. “They’re just regular bees. They’re obviously being controlled by someone or something, but they’re not toxic. The kid’s just allergic.”

  “It’s just regular bee venom?” Gary asked, looking up at me and flinching as the door jerked again. “I can save him, Roy Boy!” he said, grinning wide enough to showcase his seemingly countless pointed teeth. “Bee venom is delicious. It’s like the perfect after dinner snack after all those fingerprints.”

  “Go!” I said, a rush of relief flooding me. “Go fix him!”

  “But…” Gary looked at the door and then back at me. “What are you doing to do?”

  Feeling my spell take effect, I moved toward the door as it jerked again.

  “They’re knocking, Gary. It’s only polite for me to let them in.”

  8

  My heart sped up as my hand wrapped around the doorknob. These might just be regular bees, but there were still thousands of them being controlled by some unseen, mystical force, and in my experience, those were the worst kinds of forces.

  The spell I’d enacted surged through me now. It was an ancient thing I learned back in the day and would act as a sort of mystical shield if I hadn’t fucked it up too much. Guess there was only one way to find out.

  As soon as I heard the bedroom door slam shut behind me, signify
ing that Gary was (at least for the moment) safe with Renee and the dying pizza boy, I pulled the door open.

  Even with the power wafting around my entire body in a bright yellow fog, I flinched. I was expecting the bees the swarm me, rushing in and flying against my fog shield with the intent of stinging me until I was reduced to a blotchy mess on the floor. If I’d done the spell correctly, the bees would bounce off me like bullets bouncing off of Superman. If not, let’s just say I’d more strongly resemble Deadpool than the last son of Krypton when they were done with me.

  My flinching was unwarranted though, at least for the moment.

  Staring back at me, roaring with the intensity of a car alarm, was a humanoid creature made entirely of the still flying insects.

  Incredibly, they had banded together like Voltron, creating an offensive powerhouse to destroy me. The huge construct of bees was a foot and a half taller than me, its well packed arms were thick and huge and its bee made shoulders were wide enough to put the busiest gym rat to shame.

  I would likely have had trouble with this guy if he would have been… well, a guy. The fact that it was a writhing creature intent on my destruction meant I’d have much more than trouble dealing with it.

  Sure, I had my unique abilities to fall back on, but something told me that a Benefactor who had the power to control the insects like this would also be able to keep it steady in the face of someone like me.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered instinctively, staring at the monstrosity. I had seen a lot in my life, stuff that would turn anybody’s hair white. I had never seen anything like this though. Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to have to come up with a way to stop it.

  A bee made fist flew at me. I moved my hands to block it, but I wasn’t nearly fast enough.

  The fist collided with the fog surrounding me which, thank God, held up. I had underestimated the strength of this thing when I was muttering my chant though. It was strong, mountain shattering strong. Though the fog held sturdy, I went flying backward, and slammed against the back wall, fog and all.

  “Roy!” Renee yelled from the bedroom. There was worry in her voice, worry that made me proud in some weird way. This fantastic woman was into me, so into me I didn’t doubt she’d fling that bedroom door open and expose herself to almost certain death to make sure I was okay if I didn’t stop her.

  “I’m fine!” I said quickly, trying not to sound like someone hadn’t just knocked the shit out of me with a single punch. “Stay in the bedroom, Renee! Whatever you hear, you keep your ass in that bedroom!”

  The creature was marching toward me. No. March wasn’t the right word. It didn’t need to walk. Every piece of it could fly, and that’s what it did. It moved toward me, ten thousand little insect wings beating together in unison.

  My heart sped up again, chugging hard as the thing neared me. The buzzing was deafening as it bridged the gap between us. I couldn’t hear anything, let alone any response Renee might have had to my command.

  All I could do was hope she’d stay put. The door wasn’t much in the way of protection, but at least she wasn’t out here. At least she wasn’t dealing with this.

  The yellow fog swirled around me, flickering as it wafted through my field of vision. I stood quickly, throwing my hands out in front of me as the creature slammed another hard fist against the fog shield.

  It would have flown back again if I hadn’t already been pressed against the wall. As it was, my shield shook, rattling me around inside like one of those little metal balls inside of jingle bell.

  My headed pounded as I slammed back and forth against the fog, which solidified anytime the monster made contact with it.

  Another punch landed against the fog. Then another, then another. I flew back and forth again and again. The taste of blood and metal filled my mouth as I hit hard against the fog. It was a cage now, a solid sphere that wouldn’t hold up for much longer. I felt confined, and more than a little helpless.

  As if the damned thing could read my mind, I started to see cracks form at the top the sphere. With each punch the creature landed, the cracks spread. Like a windshield with the smallest nick, it wasn’t long before the horrible lines crisscrossed through the entire sphere.

  I gathered myself as best I could. I was still absorbing the blows, still dealing with the force of it. I couldn’t worry my shield would be toast before long, and I was going to have come up with some sort of offensive maneuver.

  My mind raced and yet still somehow managed to remain completely blank. For all my abilities, for all the studying and training and all that shit, I couldn’t think of a single damned thing that might counteract a giant bee man.

  I took a deep breath, trying to will myself to focus when the next punch hit, shattering the solidified fog and sending it falling in jagged shards to the floor at my feet.

  The remains of my spell dissipated back into energy, vanishing into the ether. Not that I could use it. It took a lot out of me to perform that spell. I needed to rest and to allow the energy that resided in me to pool itself back up to a useable level. I wouldn’t be able to do anything that intense for a while and, given that it wasn’t nearly intense enough to deal with this thing, it looked like I was screwed.

  I flinched again. This time, I wouldn’t have mystical fog to absorb the creature’s force. This time, the entirety of that mountain shattering strength would find its way directly into my chest.

  The monster reared back and threw its fist at me. Before it could collide with my body though, clear fluid struck the creature’s arm, blowing it into thousands of flying bees which fell buzzing to the floor.

  I looked toward the source of the magical, mystical fluid and found Renee standing there, her eyes wide, her breath heavy and ragged, and an empty and dripping trash can in her hands.

  “Water,” she breathed in a panic. “Bees hate water. I figured-”

  “Get back in the room!” I screamed, but I was too late.

  The monster had seen Renee. It must have been angry about the whole ‘getting its arm chopped off’ thing, because it forgot about me entirely, rushing toward Renee with a fury and intensity it hadn’t had with me.

  “Run!” I screamed, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I was going to have to take this thing out. I was going to have to destroy it before it destroyed Renee and, thanks to her, I knew how to do that.

  Muttering again, I summoned my power for a different spell.

  I was weak, drained, and still shaken. This spell wasn’t as intense though. It wasn’t even offense. It was from nature, something warlocks familiarize themselves with nearly from birth.

  “Get the fuck away from her!” I cried in a fevered rush as I felt power pulsate through me.

  Energy leapt from my fingers and rushed up toward the ceiling in dark blue waves. It coated the entire ceiling, blocking out the living room light and all the tiles, leaving us shrouded in darkness. Well, darkness and a torrent of unstoppable water.

  The torrent of rain fell from the ceiling, beating down the monster and making so much noise that even the ungodly buzzing noise had to take a backseat.

  Instantly pieces of the monster fell off its body, sloughing to the floor like wet rags.

  I twitched my finger, doing away with the energy and the water that came with it. Muttering a spell, I reasserted the potency of the protective runes around this place. With the energy displaced, this would stop the bee monster from reforming.

  “You okay?” I asked, crossing the room until I stood beside Renee.

  She was sopping wet, and she clutched my hand hard the moment I was within reach.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re the one who would have died if not-”

  “If not for you,” I said, squeezing her hand in return. “You saved my life, and I hope I’m not the only person who can say that today.” I swallowed hard. “The pizza boy. Is he-”

  “Completely insane?” Gary asked, rushing out from the bedroom and scurrying up my leg
and my arm, before settling onto his perch on my shoulder. “Why yes, Roy Boy. He is completely insane!”

  “What is he talking about?” I asked, looking over at Renee.

  “I don’t know,” Renee answered, her brows knitting together. “When I left, he was still unconscious.”

  “Well he’s not unconscious now,” Gary said, nudging my neck with a painfully pointy shoulder. He motioned forward, and I followed the direction with my gaze.

  Looking back through the bedroom door, I saw the pizza boy standing in the doorway. He was completely healed and, what was more, red, fiery energy enveloped him. The welts and unsightly blotches that had spread over his skin were now gone, replaced with unbroken, healthy flesh. He seemed to have control over it. He seemed to relish it.

  “Where is she?” he said in a deep and obviously very angry voice that lilted up into a foreign accent. “Tell me where the rain queen is or, by the souls of my ancestors, I will burn the flesh from all of your bones.”

  Gary scoffed from my shoulder. “I’m so glad we saved that guy.”

  9

  The guy looked at me like he wanted to spit roast me over an open flame. He had been used as puppet, it seemed, a delivery system for a swarm of killer bee things. Now that they were gone, it seemed this guy wanted answers. Given the fact that he was pulsating with dangerously vibrant looking red energy, that might be a problem.

  While he was smaller than me in terms of muscle mass and reach, he was purposefully lithe, as though he had been trained for action. The way he stood on the balls of his feet with his arms arched into a defensive position in front of his chest seemed to verify it.

  He was a fighter, and more than that, he was ready to take me on, ready to take Renee on and-assuming he could see his green scaly ass- ready to take Gary on too. But why? And who was this rain queen he was looking for?