The Wicked Dead (The Tome of Bill Book 7)

by Rick Gualtieri

  Gan saw what was coming and dove into James, knocking him out of the potential path of the spell.

  She needn’t have bothered.

  Just as Christy let loose, Calibra held out a hand palm up, and a skull shimmered into existence in it. I wasn’t a phrenologist by any stretch, but the sickly purple glow from within gave me a clue as to who it had once belonged to.

  “No!” Christy shrieked. The energy wave dissipated instantly, leaving not even a single scorch mark on Calibra’s stark white dress. As this transpired, Decker’s spectral laugh emanated from his noggin – an asshole to the end and beyond.

  “You asked what I was, child,” Calibra said. “It is not what, but who. I believe you know, though. Your friend here certainly recognized me.”

  Christy dropped her hands to her sides and her knees buckled. Fuck the danger. I immediately stepped in to catch her, hoping she didn’t decide to go nuclear in my arms. “Kala the White,” she whispered. “The White Mother.”

  * * *

  How the fuck was that possible? “Why didn’t you tell me witches were immortal?” I asked Christy.

  “That’s because they’re not, Freewill,” Calibra replied.

  “Then how...”

  “A bargain, no doubt.” I turned and saw Alex was back on his feet. If he’d been injured by the blow, he didn’t show anything beyond a theatrical wiping of his lips for a non-existent bloodstain. “Tell me, Magi, to what entity did you barter your soul so as to serve the abomination of Ib?” He began to casually saunter her way, but I had little doubt he was ready to strike. You didn’t deck someone like Alex and hope they were gonna let you get away with it unscathed.

  “Alexander of Macedon, for all your vaunted wisdom, you truly are as blind as those fools you keep in your cave.” She smiled, revealing a set of fangs.

  “Impossible,” James said, picking himself up off the ground, Gan by his side. “Magi cannot be turned.”

  “Um, is that true?” I whispered to Christy.

  She elbowed me in the ribs. Okay, probably not a great time for Q&A. By then, Sally and Ed had stepped in, standing on either side of us. Now where was...

  I glanced back and saw Dave making a beeline for the door. I really needed to kick his ass when this was over.

  “Magi cannot be turned, this is true,” Calibra replied.

  “Then how...”

  “Unless they are the very first to be turned.”

  What the fuck?

  Holy shit! That’s when it hit me. Vehron had said it in passing, referring to his so-called master as a her. I just hadn’t paid it any attention at the time.

  The room seemed to grow dim, the light condensing in on itself until it seemed a spotlight shone on Calibra, her white dress nearly glowing in the illumination.

  “I’m surprised none ever figured it out. I even made it a point to hide both of my names in plain sight. I was once Kala the White, but I am now and will forever be Ib. I am The First, your lord and master. And my time has finally come.”

  The End Days

  I waited a moment to see if any other shoes were going to drop – like maybe she’d turn out to be Colin in a wig – then took a tentative step forward. “Um, excuse me.”

  “This is not your concern, Freewill,” Alexander replied conversationally, continuing to approach Calibra, who, for her part, appeared unworried.

  Risking a pounding by multiple beings that outclassed me several times over, I ignored him. “What do you mean, your time has come?”

  “Is it not obvious, boy?” Calibra asked. Oh God, I could see where the others got it from. “I am...”

  “No, it is not fucking obvious!” I snapped. “Would everyone please stop fucking saying that?”

  All heads in the room, including the Jahabich, turned in my direction. I really needed to watch my mouth. Still, when one has a captive audience, one must make the best of it.

  “I have not known you long, boy,” Calibra replied. If she was irked by my outburst, she didn’t show it. “But in that time, you have managed to impress me as a seemingly inexhaustible fount of stupidity. The mantle of Freewill chose poorly this time. Listen well, for I will not repeat myself. The time of Ib has come. My influence, once buried and forgotten, is again fertile, and I have you to thank.”

  “You’re welcome, but I think you might have missed the memo on that one. In case you didn’t notice, your boy Vehron is now waiting to be mopped up whenever the janitorial staff clocks in.”

  “The Destroyer was a loyal servant. His passing is quite regrettable. Once I heard he’d returned from his long exile, however, I knew it was time. The portents did not lie. My position as the Wanderer’s protégé, chosen so carefully after millennia in hiding, proved fruitful indeed. For when Vehron rose, I was near enough to quickly join him.”

  “Yeah, thinking that didn’t turn out so hot.”

  “Quite the contrary. Little did I know that fate would be so kind. My salvation indeed lay with a Freewill, just a different one than expected. You, boy. Somehow, despite your mediocrity, you helped facilitate the birth of the pure one.”

  “Ed?” I glanced back at my roommate. “No offense.”

  “None taken, man. I am the epitome of innocence lost.”

  “In your dreams,” I replied before turning to face Calibra again. The look on her face was one of mild amusement.

  Before I could say another word, though, she let loose with a compulsion. “ALEXANDER, BE A GOOD DOG AND STAY!!”

  To my surprise, and a good deal of horror, Alex’s forward progress halted immediately. Oh boy, this wasn’t looking good.

  James’s legs tensed, but Calibra held up a finger toward him and gave it a single shake.

  “Okay, excuse me for calling bullshit,” I resumed, hoping to buy time ... for something. I wasn’t sure what. Maybe we’d get lucky and a random meteor strike would hit. “But for all your crap about pure ones, your boy toy tried his best to kill Ed when they first met. Also, if I recall correctly, you were with us when we were trying to track down Mr. Muscle Dick. You saw Ed fry at least one vamp with his blood. You could have grabbed him at any time if he was so fucking important to you.”

  To my surprise, Calibra’s mask of composure dropped ever so slightly, replaced for a moment by one of annoyance and maybe even slight embarrassment. “Very simply put, I did not realize his significance at the time.”

  “And you’re the all-powerful progenitor of our race? You’ll excuse me if I’m less than impress... URK!”

  All at once, it felt like my body was shoved into a giant vise grip. I was dragged away from Christy and lifted into the air by seemingly nothing. Oh yeah, I almost forgot – this chick was queen of the witches too. That was gonna prove a bad combo for me when it came to mouthing off.

  “I am tolerant to a degree, but your insolence grows tiresome.”

  “Yeah ... I get that ... a lot.”

  “The pure one is the first of his kind – ever. I have peered into worlds your feeble mind could not fathom. Yet not even my divinations foresaw his coming. He is simply, so it would seem, a byproduct of the chaos you cause wherever you step.”

  I felt like an orange about to be juiced, but still managed to spew out, “So he’s just ... dumb luck?”

  “In a sense, yes. Albeit, fortuitous luck for my cause.”

  “Let him go!” Christy snarled. She began mumbling something under her breath. I had a feeling it wasn’t just a few insulting names.

  “What counter-spell do you hope to use against me, child?” Calibra’s tone was one of contempt. “Have you not spent your entire life mired in my teachings? I am power incarnate, able to tap into the very essence of creation itself.”

  “You create abominations.”

  “Speak not of my children. They may be unruly, but they are loyal, unlike some ... THAT WILL BE ENOUGH!!”

  James and Gan had picked that moment to rush her. Smart; always pimp-slap the b
ad guy when they’re monologuing. Sadly, she’d been ready for them. Quick as they were, they barely managed to cover half the short distance before being stopped dead in their tracks. All the while, the pressure around me kept increasing.

  “Stop it,” Ed said, stepping in front of us.

  “Don’t...” I spat out, right before my lungs collapsed. Ugh!

  “You want me. I’ll go with you peacefully.”

  I wanted to scream out, to tell him he was fucking insane, but I had no ability whatsoever to draw air. My vision was starting to turn black around the edges. Hell, it felt like someone had tied a rock to my feet and dropped me into the Marianas Trench.

  “What are you doing?” Sally hissed.

  “Mind your tongue, girl,” Calibra replied to her. “I have not forgotten your insolence either – that you dared point a weapon in my face, however pointless it would have been.” She then addressed Ed. “You will come with me regardless, but I am intrigued. Such loyalty is rare. You would truly choose to surrender yourself to save your friend?”

  “No fucking way,” Ed replied, “but it makes for one hell of a distraction.”

  And that’s when Christy unleashed her spell.

  * * *

  I’d thought maybe she’d planned to launch another death ray or something similar. The problem was, shit like that was expected. When fighting a foe this powerful, this ancient, one needed to be smart about it.

  Fortunately, Christy was quite smart.

  Rather than some display of pyrotechnic awesomeness, calling forth the spirits of the damned or whatever the fuck witches liked to do, what happened was simplicity itself.

  Harry Decker’s noggin leapt up out of Calibra’s hand, seemingly of its own volition, and slammed into her stupid face.

  Simple, but highly effective, as the top of the human skull is pretty darn hard indeed.

  Calibra’s head snapped back. Blood spurted from her smashed nose, ruining the perfect whiteness of her dress. Served her right. She might’ve been a lot of things, but pure as the driven snow wasn’t one of them.

  Decker cried out, whether in surprise or pain I didn’t know – although I knew which I hoped for. His head hit the ground with a solid thonk and rolled away.

  At that same moment, the spell holding me was broken and I dropped to the floor, sucking in a delicious breath of air and enjoying the sensation of not being crushed.

  Unfortunately, the problem of what to do still remained. It was stupid to think one good hit was going to do anything more than piss Calibra off.

  Much to my amazement, though, someone else had that covered. Alex sprang back to life. One second he was a statue, the next he’d slashed Calibra across the stomach with his claws. Bitch was gonna need a gallon of Tide when this shit was finished.

  “You think me your puppet?” he spat, scorn etching his voice even as he etched more out of her body. “I am Alexander. I call no one master!”

  Whatever the cause, none of the other vamps under Calibra’s spell moved a muscle – not even James. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for the Jahabich. The second Alex attacked their mommy dearest, they were on the move again. Most of them transformed back into their vampire guises – no doubt to take advantage of the extra speed afforded them. I was horrified to see Starlight among their number.

  I turned to Sally. “You up for cracking some skulls?”

  “I’d be insulted if you didn’t ask. You’ll excuse me, though, if I decide I want to get some red on my hands.”

  I looked over and saw what she meant. Firebird was busy backing away from where Alex continued to tear into Calibra.

  “Be my guest,” I replied with a smile. “Ed, stay...”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he replied to my back. “No way do I want a piece of this shit.”

  “Good boy,” I said before heading out to engage the enemy once more.

  * * *

  The Jahabich were closing in on Alex. Normally, I would have made myself some popcorn and enjoyed the show, but today, that seemed a poor strategy. What we needed was some extra firepower. Thankfully, both Gan and James were close to where Alex continued to engage Calibra.

  I just needed to wake them both up somehow.

  Screw this shit. Back when Night Razor had compelled Sally to play statue, during our final battle, a good slap to the face had brought her out of it. I might have to hit a lot harder with these two, but it seemed as good a strategy as any.

  The Jahabich would be upon us in seconds, so I needed to make it count. Of course, that meant slugging Gan first. Who said I couldn’t enjoy a moment in the midst of soul-searing terror?

  I passed Alex just as he delivered a haymaker to Calibra – the sound echoing like thunder in the chamber. Hopefully, it hurt. Now it was my turn to do the same.

  I reared back and prepared to try to wake my two friends – well, okay, one friend and a personal stalker – but before I could deliver the blow, a hand caught me at the wrist.

  I was spun around and found myself face to face with Alex. Though still composed, he had a wild look in his eye. Calibra lay maybe thirty feet away, although she didn’t look like she was gonna stay down.

  “Though I am loath to do so, I must admit to a tactical error,” Alex said quickly. “She will be healed before I can reach her again.”

  “Well then, let me wake up...”

  He pushed his hand into my face, shoving it between my lips. “They cannot help us, but you can. Now, before I change my mind or it is too late, drink.”

  * * *

  I didn’t have time to debate him. Though his blood had the potential to bring out the beast inside of me, the white witch in the room – an ironic title if ever there was one – could presumably do far worse.

  Also, fuck this guy. My fangs extended and I sank them into the webbing of his hand between his thumb and forefinger – putting a little extra bite into my bite.

  It had been a while since I’d had human blood, so I had a feeling that when this was all over and done with, a serious crash was in my future, but for now, I sucked down on Alex and swallowed – trying real hard to pretend I had mentally envisioned some different way of putting that.

  The effect was immediate. A small nuclear bomb went off in my stomach as I ascended to heights few vampires had ever known.

  My ears reacted to the slightest of sounds, one of which was Calibra regaining her feet. Although her dress was covered in gore, she appeared whole again. If she was truly as old as she claimed, then injuring her with anything short of a killing blow would be pointless. But hey, if I was going to have any chance of making that happen, it was n ... URK!

  Fuck! I’d hoped that perhaps I’d grown accustomed to Alex’s blood, but no such luck. His power exploded inside of me. Last time, I’d been lucky and Dr. Death had been asleep. Now, though, whatever happened was anyone’s guess.

  All I knew for certain was that I was changing. I dropped to my knees as my body began to expand.

  The only question that remained now was who would be in charge once I rose back to my feet?

  * * *

  “You surprise me, Alexander. I should have guessed that were anyone able to resist my commands, it would be you. It will do you little good, though.”

  I looked up from where I struggled to maintain my sense of self to see Calibra with her hands on her hips, looking smug as a bug.

  Alex contemptuously backhanded a Jahabich who’d gotten too close, nearly bisecting it. “You are wrong, Ib, false god to our kind. I toppled your empire once. I shall do so again.”

  “Oh? And you propose to do that alone?”

  “If I must. However, I am not alone, for the Freewill has dined well this evening.”

  Calibra glanced in my direction. I probably looked about as much a threat as someone trying to not shit their pants. The look on her face said as much.

  The momentary distraction cost her, though, as just then, a blast of ene
rgy lanced out from somewhere off to the side. Calibra lifted a hand and warded it off, but a look akin to worry finally appeared on her mug. Christy was back in the battle.

  I turned my head, sweat breaking out on my brow as I continued to fight the change, and saw her. She didn’t look great, but she was still with us. Now, if I could only get my shit in gear, we could make this a fight.

  Calibra seemed to realize this too and backed up a step, baring her fangs at us all.

  I mean, hell, the Cylons didn’t give a shit about fighting one Battlestar, but once two were in the mix, it was a whole different ballgame. Maybe the same rule applied here – except we had three.

  Apparently so, because the next words out of her mouth were a doozy. “TO ME, MY FAITHFUL!! WE HAVE THE KEY TO OUR FUTURE!! LET THESE FOOLS DIE BURIED BENEATH THEIR FAILURE!!”

  The words themselves were ominous enough, but it was their delivery that was the real killer – a full-blown compulsion, possibly the most powerful ever heard on this planet.

  The entire room shook from its power. Had I not been full of Alex’s blood, I had a feeling I’d be waking up a week later craving a case of aspirin. As it was, it still felt like an icepick to the brain. Migraine, take me away.

  Unfortunately, that wasn’t a luxury I had. Calibra’s compulsion had gone wide and every vampire in the room, save me and Alex, responded to it.

  Gan and James plowed into Alex from behind, knocking him off balance as they made their way to their new master. The Jahabich broke off from their advance and joined Alex’s strike team in marching her way as she backed up toward the doors leading to her former office. I couldn’t quite call it a retreat, because she laughed all the way.

  All at once, it was like Calibra had a sea of bodies between her and us – one that she could order to do whatever she pleased.

  Oh no! In both the chaos and my continued struggles to control my body, I hadn’t realized the blonde-haired vamp amongst their number. Sally! With Alex’s compulsion undone, she was just as susceptible to control as the rest.

  No.

  No fucking way was I losing her again.