by Joshua King
I laughed and cupped the back of her head. Kissing her hard, I guided her head down toward my lap.
“I bet it would steer even better from inside your mouth.”
Ashe laughed.
“Now, that's something I'm going to have to see.”
Ahead of us I saw the Shades turn from a side road into our path.
“Then you better get started, because they just found us.”
She stretched out across the seat and released my button and fly. The Shade car slowed and spun so it was diagonal across the road. They were trying to block us, but I wasn't going to be trapped that easy. My cock sprang out of my pants and into Ashe's hand as I slammed the car into reverse and zipped backwards down a short stretch of the road. Hopping over a corner, I got onto the closest road and sped toward the tower. Ashe's mouth slid down over my cock and her hand worked my shaft in tight, twisting strokes as she sucked. The feeling of her mouth gliding over me spiked my adrenaline and stirred the intensity and strength inside me. The lust fed me, empowering me to push even harder.
Ashe met every turn and lane change with a twist of her mouth or flick of her tongue. When I sped up, she did too, until I was spiraling out of control. The Shade fell away, and I exploded into her mouth as we pulled up to Nakatomi Tower. I paused, my head back against the seat, long enough for her to lick me clean, then zipped and buttoned my pants.
“You were right,” she said with a mischievous smile. “It was truly a masterful driver from in there.”
“Maybe afterward we can try out it's skills from inside other places,” I said.
I opened the door and launched myself out onto the sidewalk. Ashe ran up beside me and we rushed toward the revolving door leading into Nakatomi Tower.
32
I could already see the Shades waiting for us in the lobby of the Tower by the time the glass revolving door was halfway around. They knew we were coming, but the fact that they were standing there didn't scare me. It made me laugh, and I swaggered into the lobby as soon as the door opened out onto the polished marble floor. Ashe had been right that the sexual encounter would embolden me and increase my strength. The guard closest to me tilted his head and stared at me as if he couldn't figure out my reaction. I opened my arms out to indicate the swarm of them.
“So many of you,” I said. “Didn't trust the friends of yours Darien sent to Solomon's? You knew we were going to get past them without any trouble. That's the only reason you're here.”
“You do not go into Nakatomi Tower,” the man said.
I rolled my eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. Looking over my shoulder at Ashe, I gestured toward the Shade who had just spoken.
“Seriously?” I said out loud. I looked back at him. “I don't remember pulling your string. But as impressive as it is that you can apparently all say the same phrase in the exact same monotone, it's not going to stop me. I'm already here. And I'm going to find Aurora no matter what you've been told. You aren't going to get in my way.”
“Ashe, figure out which one has the access card. We need it to get up to the fortieth floor.”
“I will.”
The Shade lunged at me, but I was ready for him. My hands clenched on either side of his head, and I gave it a sharp turn. The sound of his neck cracking accompanied his body going limp in my grip. I dropped him unceremoniously to the floor and stepped over him to prepare to face the next man. Ashe was headed to the other side of the lobby, and I saw several of the guards move to follow her. I wasn't worried about her. I knew she could hold her own long enough for me to take care of the other guards, then we would be able to go up the tower to find Aurora.
“Where is everyone else who works in the building?” I demanded. None of the guards answered. “I know Darien doesn't control this entire building, and he wouldn't be so stupid as to let a fight go down when there were hundreds, if not thousands, of other people inside. What did he do to them?”
“They've been removed,” one of the Shades said.
“New words. Congratulations. Where are they?”
“It's none of your concern. You need to leave. The Prime doesn't want you here.”
“That would have a hell of a lot more impact on me if I actually gave a fuck about what he thought of anything I do. That's the interesting thing about me. Up until about three days ago, I thought vampires were the really pale dudes in books or the guy on the front of delicious chocolate Halloween cereal. I had no idea there was a whole community out there, much less some Prime leading it Now that I know what’s really at stake, I'm going to do whatever I want to do, and right now, that's making sure I live to see next week.”
I made a move to walk around the Shade, and he stepped back in front of me.
“Not without the Prime's permission,” he said.
“You are seriously starting to piss me off,” I said.
I rammed the heel of my hand up into the bottom of his chin. It knocked him off balance, and he dropped back. Ahead of me, another of the Shades reached under his jacket and withdrew a long sword. The blade seemed to sparkle in the sunlight streaming through the glass doors.
“Getting fancy now, are we?” I asked.
I had only ever seen the Shades fight hand-to-hand, and the shift from that traditional form of fighting to using weapons seemed significant. They were serious now. This wasn't just trying to discourage me or scare me away. It was obvious now that the Shades had been instructed to do whatever it took to keep me away from Aurora. Darien seriously wanted to keep me away from her, and to stop her from completing my transformation. I didn't understand what I possibly could have done to make the Prime so adamantly against me. I've heard of fathers being overly protective of their daughters when they started dating someone, but calling out uniformed, armed guards to destroy the guy seemed a little extreme. Whatever the reason, no matter how determined he was to force me to run out of time and be condemned to death, I was even more determined to overcome him.
Calling up every bit of my strength I could, I plunged into the fight. I grasped the hilt of the sword and wrestled with it, trying to wrench it out of the Shade's grasp. My hand slid down the blade, but I didn't feel anything. With a hard sweep around the back of his knee, I brought the guard down. The sword fell from his grip, and I picked it up. In a swift movement, I plunged the tip of the blade into the front of his throat. I knew it wouldn't kill him, but it was enough to weaken him for a while. All I needed was the time for Ashe and me to get up to the fortieth floor of the building.
I turned my attention to the next Shade, then the next. Four more lay on the ground when I heard Ashe's cry from across the room.
“Hayden! Watch out!”
The words were no more out of her mouth than I heard a blast. I immediately recognized it as a gunshot. Burning pain seared into my back, and I gritted my teeth as I spun around to face the man who'd shot me. He held a handgun pointed directly at me. In a flash of speed, I crossed the lobby to him. Another bullet tore into my chest, but I grabbed the gun out of his hand and emptied it into him. Gripping the gun in my fist, I bashed it against the side of another Shade's head. One by one, Ashe and I battled the men as we worked our way across the lobby toward the elevators. We were steps away when another blast of gunfire shattered the call buttons for the elevators, sending a cascade of sparks onto the floor.
Ashe grabbed my arm and pulled me toward a narrow hallway leading off the lobby. I ran after her and we dove into the stairwell. We made our way up the stairs as fast as we could, but soon heard footsteps coming down toward us.
“Go out onto that floor,” Ashe said, pointing at the door behind me.
I opened the door and was greeted by the surprised face of a Shade, his mouth opened slightly, and his eyebrows lifted above his sunglasses. I wasted no time and swung my fist into his nose, hearing the crack of it beneath my fingers as he crumpled to the ground. I barely had time to think before I heard the second one, to his left, swinging for me. I leaned backward and nearly knocked
into Ashe. The man’s fist missed me, and it crunched into the doorframe. Without thinking, I grabbed his arm and swung his entire body into the wall. He landed with a thud and spun toward me, but I was already swinging. I connected with my right hand and felt his consciousness leave him as my fist landed on his jaw.
“Take this,” Ashe said, coming up to me.
I took the short sword in my hand and experimented with it, slashing the air a few times, before turning back to the doorway. I could hear footsteps pounding toward us from the other end of the long hallway, and one of the Shades from the previous round of fighting was already trying to stand. I lunged forward with the sword and he moved to the side, the blade slicing his arm as he turned. He yelped in pain and I spun behind him, just in time to hear several shots ring out. The man in front of me jerked a few times as the bullets went into him, and I tossed him aside when they stopped. The man with the gun wasn’t prepared for me when I leapt out at him, swinging my left fist into his jaw and then swiping at his hand with the sword.
“Ashe! Get the gun. If I get in trouble, take a couple out.”
“How many bullets has it got?”
“I think that clip holds nine. He shot four. You’ve got five shots, Ashe. Make them count.”
She picked up the gun and cocked it, a grin on her face that made me temporarily forget the imminent danger we were in.
“I’ll try not to hit you.”
“Thanks,” I said.
At that moment I saw her eyes widen and she ducked back through the doorway. I turned to see three more Shades, one a hulking brute of a thing, come barreling in the door and stop cold, surveying the scene. They had no weapons on them but came charging down the narrow hallway in single file toward me like a train of fury.
I ducked a punch from the first one and stuck my sword in the second, using his own momentum to send it all the way in. I dropped to the ground, letting go of my weapon, and rolled forward, taking the legs out from the largest of them and sending him barreling into the first and second guards. The first Shade stood quickly and charged back at me, but I met him with an elbow that cracked his jaw and shoved him face first into the wall.
“Hey, dickhead,” I heard from beside me and both me and the Shade looked up.
Ashe stood in the doorway, the gun leveled and the same smirk on her lips. An explosion of sound filled the room as she sent a bullet directly between his eyes. For a moment he swayed where he stood and then he turned to look at me. I saw the expression of his face fade and his features grow slack before he fell backward like a great oak. His body hit the ground with such force I felt it shake, and I stood wincing, my hand against the wall as I wheezed in a few breaths before forcing my breathing to settle down.
“Four left,” Ashe said. “Are you okay?”
I realized I was feeling better already. My body felt like it had only had a few punches thrown at it, and I was ready to go again. I nodded to her, and we turned back to the end of the hall. As we walked forward, I grabbed the sword from the chest of the downed Shade, who was now coughing up blood and trying to sit up. I kicked him hard in the chest and he fell backward, the sword sliding out easily. The sight of the blood everywhere was still a lot for me, but I tried to steel myself and press on. I could hear more footsteps coming from higher on the stairs, and knew the stairwell was the only way up from our floor. I needed to be ready.
I looked over to Ashe, who smiled and reached up to kiss me on the cheek. I swung the door open and we walked through, but the stairwell was still empty on our level. I could hear them coming from floors above us, and I looked around to find something to barricade the door with. I didn’t think the Shades we had just beat would be up any time soon, but I wanted to be sure. I found a crowbar and jammed it into the door hinge so that it wouldn’t open from the outside and motioned for Ashe to take cover under the stairs. I fell back into a shadow in the corner of the poorly lit landing and waited.
Two Shades came down the stairs and onto the landing moments later. They reached the door we had just come through and paused when I jumped out from the shadow I had hidden in. I buried the sword deep into the neck of the shorter one and immediately kicked forward into the back of the other. He went flying forward into the wall as the first fell to the ground. I lost my grip on the sword, so I left it and rushed forward to meet the now spinning Shade.
I felt him catch my arm at the elbow and land a headbutt into my chest, knocking the wind from me, followed by three quick punches to my face. I reeled backward and moved out of the way just in time for him to miss a kick aimed at my head. As he tried to regain his balance, I lifted my knee to meet his nose. His head flew back and I caught hit in my hands, using his momentum to send the back of his head smashing into the concrete wall. He slumped to the ground, out cold, and I turned my attention to the short one. I had barely noticed the yells of pain he had been bellowing out, and the smell of his blood spraying everywhere made me momentarily sick. I turned my head away from him when I heard Ashe yell out to me.
“Don’t look!”
I refrained from watching as I heard her yank the sword from his neck and I heard her grunt as she swung it down. I could no longer hold my curiosity in one, a moment later as I felt something hit my foot. I looked down to see his severed head, blank eyes looking up at me. My stomach lurched, but Ashe pulled me by my shirt to her. She was covered in the Shade’s blood, but she met me with a kiss that settled me, and suddenly my focus had returned. I was still breathing heavily, and my body was healing more slowly now, but I felt good enough to barrel up the steps. As we reached the landing for the next floor, the door to it burst open and a Shade came flying out at me. He throttled me and we tumbled back down the steps, each one smashing into my back. When we finally hit the bottom of the steps, I saw him look down and see the severed head before turning back to me. I didn’t hesitate.
I leapt at him with my fist, missing by inches and he lifted his knee into my ribs. I stumbled into the wall and felt him crash punches into my kidneys before attempting to lock my head into a choke. I snapped my hips backward into him and rolled forward, sending him flying over me and into the wall. Before he could move, I dove at him, sending my knee into his face and feeling a crack in his neck. His body went still, and I stopped to catch my breath again. From above I saw Ashe looking down at me and I found the energy again to stand. I ran up the steps to her and past her as we bolted up several flights of stairs. As we reached the fifth floor, I could hear what sounded like an army of Shades coming down the stairs several floors ahead.
“We have to go in here, now,” I said to Ashe, and we ducked inside the hallway.
There were doors to empty offices lining the walls of this hall, but what interested me was at the very end. An elevator stood, with a flashing number five above it. The elevator was on our floor. I grabbed Ashe’s hand and we tore off toward it. We had gotten within feet of it when one of the office doors opened and a Shade came flying through it. Ashe ran forward and pressed the elevator button as the Shade and I tumbled around on the ground. I kicked him hard in his chest and he went backward a few feet. I scrambled up and dove into the elevator. Ashe had pressed the button for the thirtieth floor when the Shade dove into the elevator with us.
Ashe screamed and aimed the gun toward us, but the Shade and I were rolling around too much for her to get an accurate shot. I could hear her thoughts running through my head, as she screamed at herself not to miss. I was not interested in feeling another bullet go through me. Just as she pulled the trigger, I lifted my hand toward her. The bullets exploded from the gun, but stopped halfway between the barrel and the palm of my hand. They hovered in the air for a brief second, then tumbled to the floor of the elevator. I lifted the Shade’s head and smashed it into the floor, knocking him out. My eyes snapped to Ashe, who was staring at the bullets with an open mouth.
“How did you do that?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“How did you stop those bull
ets?”
“I just…did. I didn’t want them to hit me, so I lifted my hand, and they stopped.”
“We don’t do that,” Ashe said. “That’s not just something vampires do. We don’t just stop bullets.”
I rolled over onto my back to catch my breath and process what she told me, when I felt the elevator slow down.
“Oh, shit,” Ashe said.
I looked up at the light above the door. It said twenty-seven.
Someone else wanted on the elevator.
A bell sounded, and I could hear the door begin to open as I scrambled to my feet.
33
The door opened slowly and I exploded through it, smashing the face of the first Shade I saw with my fist. He crumpled to the ground below me and I dove into the body of a second man behind him. We stumbled into a wall and his elbow smashed a hole in it enough to see through to the piping inside. Ashe ran out behind me, swinging the butt of the gun into the first Shade’s face as he tried to regain his footing and sending him back down again.
Watching her was too much of a distraction, though, and the one I was fighting caught me with a right cross on the jaw. I reeled back but didn’t let go of his shirt and thrust my knee into his crotch. I heard him cry out in pain as I lifted the same knee to make contact with his chest and repeated the move a couple of times. I shoved him down as the door to the stairwell opened and three more Shades barreled out toward me.
A shot rang out and the first one went down in a bloody heap as the bullet tore through his neck. The second Shade charged me and I ducked his punch, running ahead to meet the third one as he crossed into the hall. I swung my elbow into his face and then backhanded him, sending him to the ground. The second Shade had now turned to face me, and he kicked me in the chest, sending me into the wall. Dazed and winded, I couldn’t stop a few punches from landing on my face. Finally, I regained my footing in time to feel the third Shade stand up behind me. He grabbed me in a choke hold and I gripped his forearms tightly. I pushed him back into the wall and lifted my feet to kick forward into the Shade charging me. It was enough to knock him off his feet, and I swung the one off my back in a violent motion that had him land on top of the Shade who had been shot in the throat.
