Two shoved their way through as I rose to my feet. A quick glance over my shoulder showed two more behind me. One burst into dust, then the other. I didn’t bother to look why. I knew.
Sydney had disobeyed me, and was once again saving my ass.
I sprinted for the panel, and began shoving more of the levers up.
“One got through.”
I spun, whipping a stake through the air as one of the recently turned launched himself at me. I lifted my jacket, covering my face as a cloud of dust raced toward me.
“Got him.”
I shoved more of the levers up, over half of them now raised.
“Sydney, to your left!”
It was Messina’s voice.
“Got him, thanks.”
“Are they on the catwalk?” I asked.
“One was.”
“But more are trying for it,” informed Messina.
I continued to shove the levers up, stealing occasional glances over my shoulders. As each row of gates rose, the humans or recently turned behind them burst out, the turned, filled with bloodlust, attacking anything, the humans, cowering, making their way toward the doors that had given them willing access to this Hell on Earth.
And through it all stood Lazarus, still on his podium, glaring through the dimly lit interior directly at me.
I could feel the bloodlust building inside me. The smell of the freshly turned, the smell of their blood intermingled with the humans that had been fed on, that were being fed upon, was too much.
So much blood.
I held my breath, trying to block it out, and continued shoving the levers up, finally reaching the last one. Shoving it up, I turned to survey my handiwork.
Sydney screamed.
I recognized her cry as it sliced through the thousands of others in front of me. It was unmistakable. And so was the fear it contained.
I jumped up, grabbing onto one of the bars spanning the warehouse, and swung up on it. Without stopping, I pushed off and toward the catwalk surrounding the warehouse. Landing hard, the entire structure on the side near the supervisor’s office shook. Sydney was at one end, near the door, lying on the catwalk, the Equalizer lying beside her, her arm pinned under the boot of a vampire I recognized from the office. One of those who had greeted me at the elevator.
“Hey!” I yelled.
She spun around, her teeth barred, her eyes red with the bloodlust. She let go of Sydney and raced toward me. I snarled, feeling the bloodlust take over. She flew through the air at me as I dove at her. We crashed into each other, hitting the floor of the catwalk hard. Her teeth sunk into me, and mine into her, as we each tried to drain the other of their life force.
But I didn’t have time for this.
I reached into my pocket, grasping for a stake, and finally found one. Pulling it out, I plunged it into her back, and dust replaced her.
“Zee, are you okay?”
I looked through the red haze and saw Sydney getting to her feet. I motioned for her to stay back as I tried to regain control. I had fed enough of my attacker to still have my strength, but it was the control I needed.
Sydney was food.
And I was hungry.
I made the only choice I could think of.
I swung over the catwalk railing and dropped to the floor below.
THIRTY-EIGHT
“Zee, no!”
All I could do was watch as he plunged over the side, into the mass of flesh writhing below. I couldn’t spot him at first, but then saw him plunge his teeth into one of the recently turned from behind.
It was time to thin the herd.
Zander was close to me, at the far side of the warehouse from Lazarus, who still stood, impassively glaring at what I assumed was Zander. I wonder what it feels like to have your plans for world domination thwarted at the last minute by an arch-nemesis you never really knew was after you until recently.
And had totally dismissed.
The humans—did I just say that? Humans? Was I now thinking in ‘them and us’ terms, and I was now subconsciously on the wrong side? If I live through this night I’m taking a week off and just surrounding myself with humans!
The people were crowded for the most part at the door, forcing themselves through. “What’s the situation outside?”
“We’re counting nearly one thousand outside.”
“How many vampires?”
“None outside, they’re all inside. The computer has twenty-three of the originals still alive, with seventy-eight new ones.”
What? That was over one hundred of the bastards! “Okay, have that computer of yours give me a count. And keep an eye on Zander. Make sure you let me know if he moves.”
“Will do.”
“Zee, if you can hear me, if you can understand me, take cover!”
I pulled the first Vampire Buster from my backpack, pulled the pin, and threw it as hard as I could toward Lazarus.
And fell far short.
But the explosion got everyone’s attention, and at least half a dozen burst into dust. A few humans screamed in pain, but I couldn’t be sure it was from the grenade.
It didn’t matter.
If I didn’t even up the numbers, they weren’t going to survive regardless.
I pulled another and threw, and another. I threw at least half a dozen as far as I could, which was about two-thirds of the way across the warehouse. Meaning Lazarus was pretty safe, unless caught by a lucky ricochet.
“Sixty-four left.”
Wow! Seven in One Blow, my ass! They should write a fairytale about me! I surveyed the scene below, and saw most of the vampires had retreated to the far side, with only the newly turned moving around in range, mostly attacking each other. I saw a cluster of four, and tossed a grenade.
Dust bunnies.
“Zee, can you hear me?”
There was no response.
“Rick, any word on Zander?”
“He’s still under you. I think he’s—” Messina stopped.
“Feeding?”
“Yeah.” He sounded subdued. Horrified. What the hell did you expect? He’s a vampire. It’s what they do. “Syd, you’ve got two to your left!”
I pulled the pin on a buster and spun, throwing it at the far end of the catwalk. The explosion ripped apart the trusses holding the catwalk in place, and the far end began to fall toward the floor. I felt the world drop from under me and I grabbed the railing as everything came crashing down, the metalwork behind me screeching as it twisted and tore, but hung on.
It was over in seconds. I was hanging, twenty feet in the air, by one arm, the other desperately clinging to my backpack with all my weapons. I looked to the far end of the warehouse, and saw the swarm regain their balls, and rush my position.
I’m screwed.
I looked down and saw Zander standing over a corpse.
“Zee!”
He looked up, his face covered in blood. Even from here I could see the bloodlust that filled his eyes.
But was it too late? I decided there was one way to find out. I let the backpack drop to my boot, then I shrugged my shoulder and let the Equalizer slide down my free arm. “Catch!” I tossed it as best I could at him. It sailed through the air, but his arms didn’t move. He didn’t move. If he didn’t, my better than expected throw would hit him.
“Zee! Snap out of it!”
Suddenly his arm darted up and grabbed the Equalizer from the air. He dropped to a knee, and took aim at the approaching horde. And fired. Bursts of dust appeared in the corner of my eye, but the horde kept moving forward.
“Here!” I kicked the backpack off my boot. It dropped beside him, and then I let go. As I slid down the catwalk toward the floor below, I saw Zander grab the backpack and reload, firing again. I hit the floor hard, but remembered my training, and rolled, absorbing most of the impact. I felt a hand grab me and I swung to defend myself when I heard Zander’s voice.
“It’s me!”
He shoved the backpack t
oward me, and I reached in, grabbing more grenades. The two of us began tossing Vampire Busters into the horde, and within seconds half were gone.
“You’re down to under thirty. Most of the originals are retreating.”
“Time to clean this place up!”
Zander jumped to his feet and drew his sword, charging into the remains of the horde, all recently turned, all still in the frenzy of bloodlust, their madness brought to an end as blade met neck. I reloaded the Equalizer, and began picking off those Zander left at his back as he charged through the crowd.
And then I realized what he was doing.
He was after Lazarus.
Lazarus who still stood with two dozen of his followers. I reloaded and rose, realizing he was going to need backup.
“Rick, if you’ve got any way to help us, now’s the time.”
“Sorry, I’ve done everything I can. Just get out of there, you’ve won.”
“Zee hasn’t won until Lazarus is dead.”
I fired a shot, then another. Two more down. There were now none of the newly turned in sight. “Rick, confirm I’m clear.”
“Clear. Your end is completely clear.”
“And the people?”
But I knew the answer. The screams were gone. Those who were going to survive, were out. But how many had been bitten, bitten long enough to turn themselves?
“They’re all clear.”
“Can you tell if any of them have been bitten?” I asked as I charged toward the other side of the warehouse.
“No way to tell until they’ve turned. We know who they are. Tomorrow we’ll begin tracking them down. You’ve got to get out of there.”
“I’m not leaving Zee!”
I raced toward Zander, then suddenly felt the ground fall out from under me, my stomach jumping into my throat as if I was on a rollercoaster. But it wasn’t the ground that fell, it was me that had risen.
I was trapped, in some sort of net.
“Zee!” I screamed.
He skidded to a halt, only feet away from the swarm, and looked up at me.
“Look out!” I yelled as the swarm rushed him.
In the frenzy I lost sight of him.
But there was no way he was surviving.
Not with those odds.
And to my horror, Lazarus stepped around the mound of heaving flesh, and fixed his eyes on me.
“Rick, you’ve gotta help me!”
THIRTY-NINE
It wasn’t every day you found yourself under a heaving mound of vampire flesh. But today wasn’t every day. I had lost my earpiece in the fight earlier, and had no clue what was going on, except that Sydney was trapped in some sort of net, and I was under attack.
But not fed upon.
Which would, I hoped, prove to be their first mistake.
I grabbed an arm, and sank my teeth in.
I heard a snarl, but no return bite. Whoever owned the arm I had a grip on was in no position to fight back, probably separated from me by a torso or two. I sucked the blood as hard and as fast as I could, taking them out of the game. I could feel them about to reach the end, and I stopped. The last thing I needed was those trying to restrain me knowing I had used the ultimate weapon against them.
But it was remarkable the control Lazarus had over them. For them to not feed, the control they were exerting, was incredible.
And that’s when I came up with an idea.
A crazy idea.
An insane idea.
One that would either work brilliantly.
Or kill me.
“Zee!”
Sydney’s cry settled it. I jerked my arm free from one of the mass who had a grip on it, and managed to pull a Vampire Buster from my pocket with my left hand. Wriggling amongst the writhing mass above me, I shoved my hand through, at least two bodies high, and popped the pin with my thumb. I dropped the grenade, then yanked my hand back, praying the damned explosive didn’t follow my arm down the hole.
I closed my eyes and counted.
The explosion was oddly quiet, the flesh mufflers above me blocking most of the noise. But there was no disguising the amount of dust that now lay around me. The remaining royalty backed off as I jumped to my feet, pulling my last grenade from my pocket. I held it out in front of me, catching my breath, as I rid my face of the blood of the last few minutes. The dozen that remained were uncertain what to do. They looked to Lazarus.
As did I.
And to my horror, found him dangling from the outside of the netting holding Sydney, trapped, helpless.
But she wasn’t screaming in pain, despite his head apparently buried in her neck. She looked horrified. Terrified. But something was odd.
He let go and raced up the ropes suspending her from the ceiling, and punched through the roof. Immediately those who remained raced for the door. I threw the grenade after them, taking out a few, but too many escaped.
I traced the lines holding the net in place, and found the release. I flipped it, and she came tumbling down. I rushed over and caught her, tearing the netting with my hands, freeing her, then hugging her as hard as I could.
I took her face in my hands and gazed into her eyes. They were beautiful. They were innocent. They were filled with love. I closed my eyes and leaned in, kissing her with a passion I hadn’t felt in hundreds of years. As our lips met, I was kissing her, I was kissing Theresa, I was kissing Emily and Rose. I was kissing all the women I had loved over the past century, all embodied in this one, wonderful creature before me.
This woman I loved.
FORTY
It was a dream come true. I held on to him, tight, afraid he might come to his senses and let go. But he didn’t. He kissed me like I had never been kissed before. With confidence, with tenderness, with fury, with passion. I felt my knees grow weak, my entire body tingle, as a rush of warmth flowed through me from head to toe. I wanted him to take me, right here, right now, it was something I had waited for as long as I could remember, something I had saved, something I wanted to give.
To him.
To my beloved Zander.
To the man who had fired my dreams since I was old enough to have dreams like that. The man who four generations of my family had loved, and dreamt about, and now he was mine. I was the one who would finally have his heart. A heart that had belonged to Kristyna for so long, was at last free.
But it shouldn’t be.
I felt guilt grip my chest, my stomach churn, and I pushed away, stopping him.
For I had a secret.
A secret so terrible, yet so wonderful, it couldn’t be kept.
It demanded to be told.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” asked Zander, breathless.
I looked at the floor. Ashamed.
I felt his finger on my chin, tilting my head up toward him. He smiled. My eyes filled with tears.
“What is it?” Then he stepped back, a look of apologetic embarrassment spread across his face. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—I shouldn’t have—oh God, what have I done?”
“Zee, stop. It’s not that.”
“Then what is it? Tell me? You know I’d do anything for you.”
“It’s Lazarus.”
I could see Zander’s face cloud over.
His lips pursed, officially signaling a ruined mood. Then his eyes popped wide in shock as he reached forward and pushed my hair aside. “Did he bite you?”
I shook my head, taking his hand in mine. “No, but he told me something.”
“What is it?”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s true. It can’t be true. I mean, it’s impossible, right?”
He smiled. “How can I know unless you tell me what he said?”
My chest was so tight it felt like I was having a heart attack. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then, slowly exhaling, I opened my eyes and looked at his, letting the words flow.
“He told me Kristyna is alive.”
FORTY-ONE
I had never
fainted before. It was a curious sensation. And I didn’t like it. My eyes opened, and I saw Sydney kneeling over me, the look of concern on her face belying the heartbreak she must be feeling. My mind reeled with the words she had spoken. “Kristyna is alive.”
I sat up.
“Tell me exactly what he said.”
I climbed to my feet, dusting off the vampire leftovers, and marched toward the door, Sydney following me. I stopped, spun on my heel, and headed back to where I had been jumped, Sydney rushing to catch up. I picked up my sword, sheathed it, and headed again for the door.
I wasn’t thinking straight.
I had to calm down.
I stopped and rested both hands on the wall by the door. Closing my eyes, I took deep, steady breaths, trying to order my thoughts. In two centuries I couldn’t recall being this flustered, this out of sorts.
This excited.
I looked at Sydney, and felt my heartbreak all over. I had finally been willing to give myself over to someone, to someone I loved, someone I trusted, and now this.
But it couldn’t be true.
I spotted the Equalizer lying on the ground beneath where Sydney had been trapped. I strode over and picked it up, turning it over in my hands, as if examining it for the first time.
I spun toward her, startling her for a moment. I put my hand out. “Sorry. Again, tell me exactly what he said.”
“He said, ‘Tell Zander that I didn’t kill his wife, I left just enough to turn her.’”
“Did he say anything else?”
“No.”
“Did you believe him?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I really don’t know, Zee. I guess so.” She looked at me. “But I thought she was dead? You said she was dead!” She burst into tears and I reached for her, but she stepped back. “Not now.”
I nodded, and touched my ear. “I lost my comm. Do you still have yours?”
She nodded and pulled it from her ear. I took it and shoved it in mine. “Rick, you still there?”
“Umm, yeah. You know I heard all that.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Awkward.
“Listen, Zander, I’m sorry. I didn’t know, you know, that you and, well, you know.”
Turned (Zander Vargar Vampire Detective, Book #1) Page 21
