She pointed her index finger at me and growled, “Damian. Valdis. Vesik. You can be such an ass.” Damn my sister could glare.
“Mmm, but if I wasn’t such an ass, who would you get to sabotage Beth’s wedding?” I batted my eyelashes.
Sam narrowed her eyes to slits and then snorted. “Hey, you’re the one that said Frank worships the ground I walk on. I haven’t had one of those in awhile.”
“Uh, Sam, are you serious? Are you just trying to torture me? He’s so, well, plump and so … so … Frank.”
“And bald,” piped in Zola.
I nodded. “That too. You could probably do better.”
Sam shrugged. “When I look at Frank I don’t think about tearing his throat out and showering in his blood. Oh! He makes his own beef jerky, too. How cool is that?”
I blinked and dragged my brain beyond the ‘showering in blood’ comment. “So that … that makes him date material?”
“No, that makes him quickie material.” She cocked an eyebrow in poetic mockery of my own expression.
“Ah, well, I don’t really have a response to that.” I heard a squeak and turned to find Zola laughing so hard she could barely breathe. Her dark skin was red and her body was trembling. “Not you too,” I said with a sigh.
She wiped a tear away from her eye and slapped me on the back. “I missed you two, boy.”
“Ow! Dammit, yeah, we missed you too,” I said. “I’m hungry. You want pizza?” I heard a sharp intake of breath from the counter and turned to find Foster with his eyes as big as saucers. “I think Foster’s in for pizza.”
“I’ll nibble on a slice,” Sam said.
Colin landed on Sam’s shoulder and said, “The pie o’ the gods. Aye, count me in.”
I smiled at the nervous look on Sam’s face. “Cool, Zola?”
“I’ll have what Foster is having.”
My mouth twisted in revulsion. “Are you sure? The fairies always get onions, pineapple, barbeque sauce and–”
“Anchovies,” Zola finished with a smile. “Yes, they have excellent taste, unlike you and your,” she threw her hand to the side in disgust as she said, “bacon.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said as I pushed my hands forward in a stop motion, “just for that, Sam’s buying.”
“What, me? What the hell?”
“My logic is infallible. I’ll order it and you guys pick it up at Dewey’s.”
Zola laughed and grabbed Sam’s arm. She dragged my sister out the door while Sam continued staring at me in confusion.
As the door closed with a light jingle of the bells, Foster said, “Damian, what exactly was logical about any of that?”
“They’re bacon haters. They have to pay for the pizza.” I shrugged. “It’s perfectly logical.” Foster shook his head and stared as I ordered the pizza.
Chapter Six
Zola and Sam were gone about forty minutes when the phone rang. They should have been back fifteen minutes ago and Sam almost always called if she was going to be late.
“Hello?” I said.
“Damian.” The voice was deep, throaty and unmistakable.
I pushed away a knot of worry in my gut. “Yeah, what’s up Vik?”
“Word is there’s a rogue in town.”
My hand tightened on the receiver. Rogues. They were vampires cast out of their Pit for unthinkable crimes, or so mentally deranged they were abhorred by every Pit they came to. Some were such a risk to vampire secrecy they were executed immediately. Rogues were left to fend for themselves, which generally left them even more twisted than they started.
I’d heard stories of vampires, read even more stories. Some left their society to be on their own for a while—some kind of vampiric transcendental experiment—but most weren’t rogues by choice. Abominable deeds caused rejections by a Pit, in league with killing children, a taboo I was surprised to learn was a taboo. Others killed members of their own Pit, en mass. Sometimes a Pit would adopt a rogue, send it on a mission for the group’s benefit in exchange for a paltry reward. Most vampires destined to become rogues were killed by their creators, other times they were left to wander. I don’t know what the deciding factor was between the two.
A rogue in Saint Louis. That in and of itself really wasn’t so unusual. I tried not to let worry flood my brain, but my stomach tightened anyway. Saint Louis was a pretty big city and rogue vampires came and went with a fair amount of regularity. When I didn’t respond quickly, Vik continued.
“Word is he’s looking for a necromancer. You’re the only necromancer in town I know of.”
Gut one, brain zero. “Huh, well, that sucks.” I rubbed my chin and grimaced.
Vik barked out a short laugh.
“Thanks, Vik. Any idea who it is?”
“No, I haven’t been able to find anyone that knows since Devon told me.”
“Still strutting around with the trophy vamp on your arm?”
A lighter laugh escaped his lips. “Devon is beautiful, yes; you could call her a trophy.”
“You’ll have to introduce me.”
“Another time, Damian.” Vik’s voice darkened. “All I know right now is the rogue killed Alexi.”
“Alexi?” I ran my hand through my hair and ground my teeth. He’d helped Sam in the early days. When she’d first joined the Pit. Even more worrisome, Alexi was no pushover. “Does Sam know?”
“Yes,” Vik said.
“She’s going to be devastated,” I said.
“Listen well, Vesik. I am fond of your sister, and your death would be far more devastating to her. You need to be prepared.”
Crap. Vik never called me Vesik unless things were going bad.
“The rogue threatened to kill Jonathan and Alexi. Once the latter told the rogue where your shop is located, he killed Alexi and vanished.”
“Shit,” I said. “I can honestly say that’s scary beyond all reason.” I took a deep breath. “How’s Jonathan taking it?”
“He’s happy to be alive, but he is distraught over Alexi. Sam’s with him now. Zola’s here too. They’re both worried about you, be careful.” Vik hung up.
I did the same. I crossed my arms, stared at the phone, and said, “Well, I guess I owe you a ferret if I get through this, Vik.” I smiled bitterly and started gathering up some anti-vamp party favors.
* * *
“Where are we going?”
I turned to find Foster bouncing up and down on his wings a foot from my head. “We?”
“Yes, we. I heard Vik. You’re not going anywhere alone.” He pointed a finger at me, “And before you even ask, Aideen insisted I go with you.”
I smiled and stuffed a small leather case filled with a dozen vials of holy water into my backpack of doom along with stakes, silver dust, and silver stakes. “Ah, well then, not much sense arguing that.” I dreaded the day something happened to Foster because of me. “I guess we’re off to see the Pit.” I don’t know why exactly, but the word Pit made me want to brush my tongue.
“That holy water?” Colin said.
“Yeah, Zola thinks it might do some good against demons too, so I’m bringing some extra along with the stakes and silver. Just in case.”
“Aye, or yeh kin drown some fairy folk in it.”
I blinked at Colin as he burst into laughter.
“What? Was that a joke?” I was baffled.
Foster rolled his eyes at Colin and shook his head. “Just ignore him, Damian. He’s always saying something he thinks is hilarious but makes no sense to the rest of us.” Aideen appeared beside him. She landed silently on the top shelf next to Foster and Colin.
“Your armor, love.”
Colin abruptly stopped laughing when he heard Aideen’s voice. Foster went down on one knee in front of his wife. She gently placed the helmet over his head, brushing his hair carefully behind his ears. He held out his arms, palms facing the ceiling, and she strapped a golden vambrace to each. His greaves were already laced and she double-checked them as he st
ood. She took a knee in turn and presented his fairy-sized claymore, with her arms raised and head bowed.
I was silent through their ritual. I didn’t know the meaning behind everything, but its importance was obvious in both their faces and their demeanor. Aideen kissed Foster on the cheek and left for the back room.
“Right then,” Foster said. “To war and death.”
Colin nodded once and drew his sword.
“Let’s hope it’s neither,” I said as I stepped toward the door. Closing the store an hour early wasn’t likely to cost a lot in lost sales. I wanted to be with Sam and Zola as soon as possible, so I didn’t bother to see if Frank wanted to come back.
We didn’t even make it three steps from the door before two silhouettes walked toward us from either end of the parallel-parked SUV. They moved into the halo of light at the edge of the street. Dressed the same, they were both clothed in dull black leather pants and skin-tight jackets. My eyes flicked between the blond and the raven-haired vampires. The latter was grinning.
“Vesik.” The raven-haired vampire laughed.
“Rogues,” I said. “You know my name …”
“Rogues?” He shook his head, eyes never leaving mine. “No, he is only my puppet, just as you will be my master’s. It is unwise to stand against the master.”
“Who are you?”
He pointed his finger at me and the blond vampire struck.
I reached out with my power, ready to grab hold of the blond’s aura and pull his skull out through his face.
“No fucking aura–” was all I spat out before he was on me. Colin moved fast. Faster than I could see, but by the time he swung the massive claymore the vampire was out of his reach. Colin’s sword cleaved through the side of the rental.
No aura meant zombie. Zombies should be slow. This zombie was flashing vampire fangs and was anything but slow, otherworldly fast. The supercharged zombie tore the backpack out of my hand and threw me through the windshield of a minivan across the street.
“Damian! Holy shit, are you alright?”
As the stars cleared, I found Foster running his eyes over me from his perch on the minivan’s dashboard.
“Dandy.” I glanced back at the blond as I scrambled for the passenger door. I hurt, but the surge of adrenalin was pumping hard enough I could easily ignore the wounds pumping blood down my left arm. The blond was still as a dead tree, eyes focused on nothing but the sidewalk. “What the hell is a puppet, Foster?”
“I don’t know.”
The other vampire was laughing again. He was practically hysterical. “Too long, it’s been too long,” he said as he took a deep breath and clenched his outstretched hands into fists. He pointed at me again.
“Impadda!” I screamed before the blond reached me. This time I was expecting it. Power surged and thickened into a shield arching over my head. He slammed head-first into the wall of force at a flat out run. There was a horrible crunch and he slid to the ground. No strings of power stretched back from the crumpled vampire to his master, no aura shifted around him. No way was he getting up again. I dropped my shield and stepped past him to focus on the rogue. Silly me.
The grounded vampire grabbed my ankle and tossed me into the brick face of the closest building. My back hit first, and then my head cracked hard enough to make my vision cross-eyed. I slid down the wall and landed on my ass.
I stared at the blond vamp as my vision congealed back into something resembling normality. He was deathly still again. I looked hard and focused my Sight. “Oh, fucking god no.” The aura was there, it was just beneath the skin. It was black and dark and tainted with the deep red of infection. His fingers were twitching in random patterns. I hadn’t noticed it before. The vampire was possessed. Not only that, his own aura had been extinguished. He was something else now, but I had no idea what.
Zola’s training kicked in and I reached out to that unholy aura. My power swarmed over the vampire. I waited for the hook, the telltale feeling of an aura I could latch onto, the surge of forsaken knowledge that came with necromancy, but nothing came.
Colin struck at the rogue with two quick slashes. Both were turned away in a thunder of sparks by a shield incantation. “Pulsatto!” A wave of force threw Colin away from the vampire. He landed out of sight, up the street just to the north of the shop.
“What the hell?” My voice slurred a bit.
“Vampires can’t do that,” Foster said.
The black haired vampire spoke again. “The Unseelie Sidhe will rise with our power and crush this world.” His hands balled up into fists. “They will rule the nether lands from the underworld to the Wild Hunt by sword and spell. Gwynn ap Nudd will lay dead at our master’s feet.” His voice rose to a scream and his eyes bulged. “Our Sidhe enemies will die.” He pointed his finger at me. “And you, the righteous necromancers, you’ll never stop us. I’ll break Adannaya’s neck for what she did.”
“Did you just monologue at me?” My speech was slurred and I couldn’t stop the somewhat incoherent giggle dripping from my mouth.
“Gut the blond, Damian!”
I spared Foster a glance. It was an idea, and a better one than I’d come up with during the vamp’s monologue efforts. As I stood up, I took a step forward, brought my arm down in a diagonal line and screamed, “Modus Incidatto!”
The blond didn’t even flinch as a deep and ragged wound opened across his shoulder and guts. It was a massive cut and things never meant to see light began a slow push through the wound.
I could see the aura come out with the viscera and I latched onto it with my power. It slithered and fought and felt like Zola’s godforsaken dolls, but there was no surge of knowing. It was exactly like Zola’s dolls. I pushed it out until it touched the rogue’s aura and opened a hole.
His eyes went wide for a moment and I screamed, “Pulsatto!” My power raced down the connected auras and then everything went wrong.
My power rebounded off the raven-haired vampire’s aura. Something was riding it back, right through my defenses. By the time I could even think the incantation for my shield, I couldn’t move.
“Nice try, Vesik,” he hissed. “See if Zola can put this back together again.”
I don’t even know what the bastard hit me with. I knew I was airborne, and I knew it was going to hurt when I landed, but holy shit. The impact was agonizingly slow. My leg smashed into a fire hydrant. I felt the bolts dig into my knee, heard the crack as something broke, and screamed as my body followed my leg into the hydrant. Something popped in my hip and my heel was suddenly touching the back of my head as I twirled and rolled across the sidewalk. I didn’t pass out. If ever I had wanted to pass out, it was then. The tears that ran down my face in torrents would have vouched for me.
The blond came at me again.
Foster struck. “DAMIAN!” I heard his scream. It changed from his normal voice into the basso war cry of a giant. I’d seen Cara grow before, but even through my haze of pain I could tell Foster was bigger. In the span of a single breath he grew to the size of a seven-foot colossus. Rage creased his face and his claymore was so big it was almost comical.
Comical until Foster launched himself into the air with a sweep of his wings and another cry of rage. He folded his wings and came down on the blond from eight feet in the air. His sword met the crown of the possessed vampire and continued in a smooth slash to his crotch. Blood and entrails exploded across my field of view as the fairy kicked one half of the separated vampire at the rogue.
Foster spun around before the two halves of my attacker ever hit the ground. His arms moved forward in an overhand slash and he let his sword fly. It spun end over end with enough ferocity to kill any vampire, but the rogue vanished with a snarl. There was a thin red vortex of energy where he’d been standing a moment before. The sword passed through the red remnant, slammed into a nearby tree, and buried itself to the hilt.
Things started to go dark. I heard footsteps and mumbling and thought I heard Colin’s thick voi
ce say “Socius Sanation.” There was a twinge in my hip and back, followed by pain. Then darkness mercifully wrapped its arms around me.
Chapter Seven
I recognized Sam’s room as I started coming around. My lips curled up as I took in the bright yellow walls and cat posters. My smile died as I turned to find Sam’s face a foot from me, worry etched all over it.
“Was Dale worried?” I asked nonchalantly.
She smiled a little and ran her fingers over the darker patch of skin on her neck. It was circled by a tiny ribbon of an aura that didn’t match Sam’s. I could have sworn it shivered. Sam’s eyes were getting shiny as a thin coat of tears filled them up. She tried to blink them away.
“Bad, huh?” I said.
She nodded and wiped her eyes. Her voice was a whisper. “Colin saved you.” I was surprised when she kissed me on the forehead and walked over to the deep red corduroy chair in the corner. She was almost swallowed up in the huge cushions.
“How long was I out?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Six hours? It’s late.”
“Shit.”
The door opened with a quiet creak and Zola stepped through. She stopped at the foot of the bed and patted my foot, which was hanging over the edge. “Foster told us of the vampire and his puppet.”
I glanced at Sam as I nodded. “He tell you about the puppet’s aura?”
“Yes,” she closed her eyes, “that thing you fought, Damian, it was a zombie.”
“I’ve fought zombies before. They’re slow, stupid, and practically harmless.”
She cocked an eyebrow.
“Okay, okay, practically harmless unless there are a lot of them, and they’re hungry. Besides, that thing Foster cleaved in half for me was fast as hell and possessed—zombies can’t be possessed.”
Zola snorted and flicked my nose.
“Ow.”
“You speak of human zombies.” She turned to the end table, breaking eye contact. “What you fought was a vampiric zombie.”
“A what?” I whispered as an uncomfortable weight settled on my chest.
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