Vampire for Hire: The Nephalem Files (Book 2)

by Douglas Wayne

  I smiled knowing I was going out having saved another. The sacrifice would be worth it.

  Alfred's grip lightened on my throat, allowing me a quick gasp of air. It wasn't enough to calm my screaming lungs, but it would buy me a few extra seconds of life. An eternity of time this close to the end.

  I redoubled my efforts, ignoring the pain in the back of my head that was telling me to stop. I ignored the pain, knowing I was already dead.

  The walls rattled harder, cracks forming from the constant vibration. Within moments the first finger of light poked through one of the smaller fissures. Quickly followed by another. Alfred looked around the room, panicked as the number of the cracks increased.

  He dropped my wrecked body to the ground as the first of the fingers brushed his skin. The light faded as quick as it came, but it was enough to turn the skin of his arm a dark shade of brown that sizzled when he put it in his mouth.

  I wanted to laugh. To revel in the victory of my final moments as I took down the bane of humanity. I regretted not being able to take down the high wizard with him, but let it fade. Max was smart. He would find out the truth and set things right. This would be his fight now, after I took down this part of the puzzle.

  As the wall continued to crack, the fissures climbed up the brick and into the ceiling. The vampire bolted for cover under a table as the first of the metal supports failed, crashing to the ground with a deafening roar. My conscious started to fade as the second hit the ground, shattering a dozen tables, including the one Alfred hid under.

  My head had finally had enough, shutting me off from the power. I leaned back against the wall and smiled as the first ray of light bathed over me.

  Take me home, I thought as my world turned black.

  - 22 -

  I had a dream I was taking a shower. It was a long hard week in Cincinnati and I was glad to be home. Stacy cleaned my apartment and bought me some bath salts and gels that were supposed to relax me, and they did for a time. But I've never liked baths other than to soak my weary bones. I stayed in the tub long enough for the water to get nearly ice cold, allowing my ancient water heater to warm up another batch of hot water for a shower.

  It took a few minutes to get the cold water through the system, like it always did. I waited in the bathroom and shaved my face for the first time in nearly a month while I waited as the hot water always reached the sink first.

  Steam filled the bathroom from the shower as I finished. I didn't bother to wipe the lather off with a towel, figuring I would wash it off in the shower. Poking my arm in carefully, I turned on the cold just enough to keep from scalding my already tender skin. I stepped in and closed my eyes, letting the spray wash my troubles away.

  "I found a live one!"

  Water rushed over my face as I woke up. I tried to move my arm to shield it from the spray, but it failed to move. Turning my head, I saw the problem. There was a large hunk of concrete on top of it. I wanted to scream when I saw it, but my mind was perplexed. How was I not screaming in pain?

  Moving my other limbs were about as futile though there was still feeling in those. I shifted my weight trying to get comfortable, but I was only successful in sending a sharp pain through my back.

  "Are you alive?" a man asked as he climbed over the rubble. He was wearing a black plastic hat along with a thick black coat and pants with yellow reflective material attached to it all. His face was covered with a thick black soot making it hard to catch his race, but I let it go feeling it wasn't important.

  "I'm alive!" I shouted before being thrown into a coughing fit. The pain shot through my back with every wheeze, but for the first time in my life I embraced the pain. It meant I was alive. It meant I had won.

  Most importantly, it meant that I had a chance to expose the high wizard as a fraud. That battle wasn't going to be easy, but the world had to know.

  "Just hold on," he said, waving a gloved finger. "We'll get you out."

  He climbed back over the pile after I gave him a nod. I stayed awake for a few moments, waiting for the crew, but the darkness took me well before that happened.

  When I awoke I found myself in another hospital bed yet again. I tried to move again, but my arms and legs failed to cooperate, so I let out a sigh, expecting to find myself handcuffed to the bed once again. Certainly Cedric had been watching this trip. He would've known I killed at least one vampire, presumably two. That would be enough evidence to take in front of the council to show them I was trying to start a war. He would call me chaotic, a loose cannon that needed to be stopped. I knew there would be nothing I could do if it went to another trial.

  I opened my eyes and immediately saw the reason for my struggles as each of my limbs was bound in a cast. I tried to look down at my chest to check it out, but my neck was restrained in a brace not allowing me to move it up or down. The one thing I found odd was that I wasn't in any pain though my mind was telling me I should've been screaming. I desperately needed some answers, but there wasn't anywhere to start.

  "Hello?" I said, forcing the words through my lips. "Is anyone here?"

  "I'm here, darlin." Footsteps approached as Ast walked to my side. Unlike our last meeting, she was wearing a fully covering top that left a lot more to the imagination. I couldn't see her body below the waist, but I imagined it was well covered too. "How you feeling?"

  "Little sore and very confused."

  She giggled. "I'll take that as a thanks."

  "You did this?"

  She shook her head and placed her hand on the only patch of exposed skin I had, which happened to be on my face. Her hand glowed faintly as she started a chant similar to the one she said in the car, but the words seemed to be different and the cadence not as rushed. I felt the heat enter my body and travel through my bones. I breathed a sigh of relief as the soreness washed away, leaving me refreshed, yet still restricted.

  "Not that I'm complaining," I said, looking into her beautiful green eyes. "But why are you here?"

  "Silas sent me. He said you went into the building right before daybreak, so he wasn't able to stick around." I understood, for obvious reasons. "I got to the building around the same time as it came down." She leaned over to whisper in my ear. "That your handy work?"

  I smiled. "Depends. Did it work?"

  "By the time the police and fire departments showed up, the only traces of Alfred's body were mixed in with the dust and debris."

  "He must've been old if the body was gone that fast." The pace of deterioration varies by age. The bodies of vampires turned within the last year will deteriorate very close to the same rate as a human though it will be slightly faster. Not enough for most people to notice, but an experience coroner will notice the difference.

  "Silas figures he was over a thousand years old if his body was gone that fast."

  My eyes lit up, being the only expression my body was able to make. "Guess I'm full of surprises. Speaking of that..."

  "Oh!" she says when she notices my body shift. "You need to take it easy for a while yet. The doctors still believe you are in a coma dealing with about sixty shattered bones. By their reports you probably won't walk again... Saying you even wake up."

  "How do I get out of this?" I asked, knowing it was only a matter of time until someone came to check on me. This wasn't a secret I was going to be able to keep long term if at all. To be fair, I wasn't sure I wanted to. Being laid up in a cast isn't my idea of a good time even if I did have good company.

  "I called in a favor," she said. "I have a friend that owns an old ambulance. He is showing up sometime later this afternoon to transfer you to another facility."

  "Another hospital?" I asked. "How does that help?"

  She put her index finger in front of her lips. "Another facility. Key words. We are moving you to Silas's estate on the east side of the city. Once you are there, we'll cut the cast off your body and you can be on your way." She smirked as she sat on the edge of the bed. "You should feel lucky. Silas rarely goes out of his
way for people these days."

  I didn't know whether to thank him, or slap him, but I was thankful that I didn't have to spend another night in a hospital. "How long have I been out?"

  "They kept you in ICU for a week. I tried to get to you sooner, but they wouldn't let anyone in unless they were family." Ast leaned over me as the door opened. "Close your eyes and stay quiet," she said, kissing my cheek.

  "Any movement?" a womanly voice asked.

  "His eyes," Ast said, her voice straining. "I thought he was coming back."

  "Now, now, dear. He may be out for a while yet. You should really think against transferring him to New York, Mrs. Gilmore. Doctor Jeffreys is one of the best surgeons around. If anyone can get your husband walking again, it's him."

  Ast blew her nose. "Thank you, but he always wanted to make sure I took him to his doctor if anything happened." She hesitated for a moment before whispering loud enough for me to hear. "Trust issues."

  The other woman laughed. "I understand dear. The doctor called to say he won't be in to check on him again today. If anything comes up just grab us down the hall. Otherwise I expect his transfer will be here shortly."

  Ast waited at my bedside until the nurse left the room before whispering in my ear one more time. "It's clear."

  I opened my eyes and let my mouth break into the smile I'd been holding for a few minutes now. "Husband?"

  She shrugged her shoulders. "Had to think on the fly."

  "Thinking doesn't get the doctors to listen though."

  Her face paled as she looked in my eyes. "Silas had one of his informants file the paperwork. Everything looks official for now. It will all be changed once you are out of here."

  "I figured as much." I was happy that someone other than Silas cared enough to help me out like this. The feeling was nice, even though it was unexpected, especially coming from someone I'd only met once before. But there were other people who cared about me too, ones that had been there for me over the years. Not just my short time in Cinci. "Has anyone else come to visit me while I've been here?"

  "An older man," she said. "Max Harper. Said he was your father."

  I snorted. "You aren't the only one bending the truth."

  Her head moved back sharply. "He wasn't your father?"

  "It's complicated," I said, smiling. "But you can trust him."

  She let out a sigh of relief. "I was starting to wonder if I needed to call Silas to warn him."

  "Why?"

  "He's been in and out of here since you arrived. Silas offered him a room at his estate. They are both waiting for your arrival."

  "Ow!" I said as my limbs failed to move after darting up in my body cast.

  "Easy there, tiger. One step at a time." She kissed me on the forehead before placing two fingers over my eyes. "Perhaps it's best if you rest until we get you there."

  I barely had time to protest before seeing the light flashing through her fingers, dragging my awareness into the void.

  - 23 -

  When I woke up again, I found myself lying on a plush pillow-top mattress with my head on the most amazing pillows I've ever laid on. I yawned deeply and lifted myself out of the bed to make sense of my new surroundings. This would be Silas's house I assumed, judging by the amount of open space on each side of the king sized bed. Wisps of light filtered through the dark curtains that shifted against the breeze of the fan blowing from the top of a nearby wooden desk.

  I lifted the blankets off me and realized I was a nude as the day I was born. Thoughts filled my head wondering who in the house had seen me this way, namely wondering if Ast was one of them. I was grateful that she was there to heal my body and get me out of the hospital, but was embarrassed just thinking about her removing the cast. Call me old fashioned, but there are some things others shouldn't be able to see without your permission.

  Not seeing my clothes anywhere in the room, I walked to the closet to see if there were more. Inside there was a collection of fine suits of every color imaginable. I went inside and pulled the first suit off the hook that caught my eye. It was a blue pin-striped suit with a matching pair of pants with a white long sleeved shirt to go underneath.

  The suit was a size too big, but I found a cache of suspenders on a clothes hanger in the back of the closet to make it work. As I walked back in the room the door opened, Max walked in.

  "Looking sharp, kid. How you feeling?"

  "Not bad," I said, knotting a blue and gray tie I found next to the suspenders. "Seems I made some friends here in town."

  Max sat down on the unmade bed. "I need to know everything that happened while you were here. Looks like someone is spinning the story trying to blame you for trying to start another war."

  I laughed. "Guess they don't know where I'm at."

  "It's bigger than that," he said, waiving me to sit. "Cedric is spinning the story, telling the council you helped your friend Silas take over the city instead of looking into the murders."

  "I'm really getting tired of him," I said, slamming my fist into the bed. I filled him in on all the details starting with my initial trip into the gentleman's club down to my final encounter with Alfred up until the building collapse. Even made sure to let him know about Evan and Judy even though what I did was well within my rights. Just wanted Max to know everything, just in case they wanted to try something funny.

  "I'd almost swear they were trying to dredge up the war themselves," Max said, rubbing his chin.

  "That's my thought. Sent me as the patsy." I rubbed my eyes as my head throbbed. "Is there really a war between us now?"

  "No," Silas said, walking into the door. "I've spent the last week going through my contacts to make sure there is no fallout from Alfred's death. It wasn't easy..."

  "How did you not know he was a vampire?"

  "Being dead has many costs, including our sense of smell," Silas said, taking a seat on a small oak table. "We never once thought to question his operation, or his hours, during the terms of our arrangement. For that, I am sorry."

  I shrugged. "We all have things that blind us."

  Silas smiled. "As much as I would love to discuss my conversation with the other clan leaders, I'm afraid I cannot."

  I nodded, understanding. I wouldn't want him to be in the know about wizard business either. There were certain things that both sides needed to keep secret in order to continue to function as a society. Sure, it might make sense to some people to get everything out in the open, but that would be short sighted. Not to mention dangerous. All it would take is for the wrong person knowing the truth for everything in the old world to come crashing down making the threat of a war between the vampires and wizards seem like a grownup game of Cowboys and Indians by comparison.

  We did, however, discuss the events of the last few weeks with some of the vampire leadership on the eastern side of the states. Max and I were the only representative for the wizards, which was for the best considering we had no idea who was on what side other than Cedric and apparently High Wizard Wade. That was going to be the subject of speculation for us in the coming months as we made preparations to bring the truth into the light.

  The meeting wasn't just between our two societies either. Werewolf packs from around the world sent their people to sit in while the witches did the same. I learned that Astraea was one of the higher ranking witches in Cincinnati while still having plenty of clout with the group that came in from Atlanta. Behind those green eyes and smooth exterior was a girl with more secrets than I could count. I wanted to know more, but I didn't have time for a relationship, not that I've had much luck with them in the past. In another life I could see myself giving it a shot, too bad I only get one.

  During the meeting we all agreed there was something going on with the higher ranking members of the wizard council. Where we differed was in what we wanted to do about it. Most of the vampires, knowing what I did here in Cinci a week ago, were for a passive approach. They didn't want to make any drastic moves since that might play
into the council's hands. While their decision upset me, I understood their approach.

  The werewolves were more direct, wanting to take the fight to the council and their office in rural Minnesota just south of the Canadian border. They wanted to be proactive, figuring that some of their kind would be next. While we were able to calm them down and hold them back, they promised they would lead the charge alone if any of them were harmed.

  Thankfully the witches had a little more sense. Being closes to the wizards, they know all about humans and their lust for power. Vampires and werewolves aren't as easily swayed by money and power because they know they have plenty of time to amass it. Witches and wizards, on the other hand, aren't blessed with a longer life span, so we still end up fighting against the same natural human emotions most of the world deals with. They decided a more tactful approach was appropriate.

  Their plan was to send a group of representatives to the council office to demand a meeting. They believed it would be possible for them to get some answers that way, but I wasn't as sure since we didn't have any proof to back up our claims. I'll admit it seemed foolish to trust the words of a power hungry vampire moments before he died, but it was the only lead we had.

  We ended the meetings after a few days before we all went our separate ways. I went back to Columbia and my office by plane as Stacy's car had come up missing while I was in the hospital. She was due for an upgrade as it was, I'd just hoped she would be on the hook for it, not me.

  Max went back to Milwaukee to have a discussion with Eli's clan since they were the only ones willing to be more proactive. Last I heard, they were planning to keep the building on watch for the next few months. Unlike me, Max wasn't as sold on the high wizard being involved. He believed the whole thing was a power play by Cedric, but he did admit there was a chance he could be wrong.