by Megan Hawke
Dane showed me Geoffrey's body. He was fully dressed, though his clothes were torn and bloody. There were open wounds on both ankles, with arteries pulled out and sliced through.
"Look there," Dane said, pointing at his wrists. Then pointed at wounds in his ankles. "Nailed with silver spikes. Probably blessed silver, too."
I touched one of the silver spikes. It burned my finger. "Yes. Blessed. That would keep him nailed down, unable to morph into a bat or wolf. Someone knew what they were doing."
"From the ankle wounds, I'd say he was dead before they drained his blood," Dane said. "A living vamp would heal right up."
"He was exsanguinated," Sabrina said.
I refrained from smiling. Sabrina sounded like she learned a new word and was eager to use it. I preferred "drained." Just easier, and you don't have to explain to anyone that never heard the word. Besides, anything over three syllables gave me trouble.
"Why take the blood?" I said. "Vampire blood is useless to another vampire. No nutritional value at all. Tastes good, but like drinking water. Just filling."
"Sabrina and I have been considering that all day, and I think we figured that part out. Geoffrey's blood was used to create the thirteen new vampires." He indicated all the blood and bullet holes. "I think we know where and how the thirteen vampires were created."
They were shot dead, and reanimated with Geoffrey's blood. All the killer had to do was pour the blood in the bullet wounds and three days later, exactly seventy-two hours, they would rise up undead. You could set your clock by it.
"Only the vampire that created them can control the new vamps, and he's dead," Dane said. "Are we dealing with crazy vampires?"
"No. Being Changed without someone to take control of you doesn't make you go crazy or evil. Otherwise I would've gone crazy and killed people."
"You did kill people. Lots of them."
"Ah, but they deserved to die," I said. Dane frowned. He didn't think all of those thralls deserved to die, and there was a time I would've agreed with him. Things changed after I was Changed. Besides, anyone trying to kill me deserved to die in my way of thinking. "Self defense, baby."
"If they didn't go crazy for lack of a guiding hand, then why are they on a rampage?" Sabrina said. "Nothing in our research indicated they had any grudges against anyone."
"If they were hunger crazy, they wouldn't target wolves. They'd go after mortals." I looked around. "They are specifically targeting werewolves. Why, I don't know. But I think whoever killed Geoffrey and changed those thirteen people into vamps is able to control them."
That was a scary thought on so many levels. But since Geoffrey was killed, not subjugated, I suspected whoever did it wasn't powerful enough to control an older vampire. He might've needed newly created vampires to gain control over them.
Dane gave me a worried look. "Do you think he found the Coeur de Sade?"
The Coeur de Sade was the most powerful talisman ever created for the purpose of subjugating vampires. The city was on the verge of war because of it, so I disposed of it in a place no one would ever get it. It wasn't impossible to retrieve, but it would require knowing where it was, and then a whole lot of excavating in a very public place.
I was confident it was still where I put it.
"Impossible. I made sure it would never be recovered," I said. "But he could have a similar talisman."
"Or a witch," Heidi said. "How powerful would a witch have to be to subjugate a vampire?"
None of us knew. We hunted vampires for a living. Werewolves and witches were beyond our expertise.
"I think I need to speak with Detective Grinstead." I looked the vamp's body over. Gruesome. He resembled one of those zombies in the movies. I'd probably have nightmares if I still dreamed. "Do we know for a fact this is Geoffrey?"
Sabrina handed me a wallet. "It was in his back pocket."
It was full of money and credit cards. That surprised me. I assumed whoever killed him would take all of his money and credit cards. That's what we did. That's what most vampire slayers did. Vampires tended have a lot of money stashed. They only dealt in cash or plastic. Nothing that could be traced back to their daytime resting place. The credit cards were from offshore internet banks that catered to vampires, and didn't cooperate with any government agencies to locate their clients.
"Free money, baby," I said, removing his credit cards and cash. I handed it to Dane, since I left my purse in the SUV. We'd all split it later. Then I pulled out his driver's license. "I guess it's him. Kinda difficult to tell now."
I handed the wallet back to Dane, and he pocketed it. We didn't leave anything behind that we touched. No fingerprints, no spore we can avoid. Getting linked to a murder was not good. The police never investigate the killing of vampires, but thirteen mortals died in that house, too. They would investigate.
"Y'all need to leave now," I said and pulled out my phone. "I'm calling the police. Unless you want to spend the rest of the night at the police station giving statements."
"And you won't have to?" Sabrina said.
I smiled. "I don't do police stations. Longhouse knows that."
"This is Garland. They might not be so accommodating to your undead sensibilities," Dane said.
"I didn't think about that," I said. My phone started ringing in my hand. I yelped, but managed to not drop it. Score one for the big bad vamp. I glanced at the display to see who it was, and answered. "Hello, Gabriel. Make me happy."
"I can do that," he said. "The pack leaders agreed to meet with you tonight at the war council. They are gathering now, so you need to hurry."
"Great job, Gabe. You did good. I just hope there aren't any more murders tonight before I can speak with them."
"Not likely," Gabe said. "The packs called in all of their members. Strength in numbers. That's probably why no one was killed last night or tonight. So far."
"But there were werewolves at the club last night."
"Not tonight. There were very few out last night, and only in numbers. As of tonight no pack members are allowed to leave the pack."
"Safety precaution? Or mustering the troops?"
"A little of both."
"Where do I have to go?"
"I'm across the lake from you. In Rockwall. Meet me at the truck stop at Interstate 30 and Goliad. Take the 205 exit to Quinlan."
"I'll be flying," I said.
"Ha! Bet that makes an impression when you arrive."
"Hey, a girl likes to make an impression," I said, grinning. "I'm on my way."
I shooed everyone out of the house, left the front door wide open, retrieved my purse from Heidi's SUV, and slung it over my head, across my shoulders. I also hung two holsters, with Glock 31s, off either side of my utility belt, then tied them down around my thighs so they didn't flap around. I already had pouches with spare magazines of silver bullets. Then I called Sergeant Longhouse after everyone else left.
"Longhouse, long time, no see," I said. "How's the Paranormal Investigation business going?"
"You seem happy," he said, not sounding the least bit pleased. "You have good news for me?"
"Kinda. We figured out some of it."
"Fill me in."
"The thirteen thralls hung out with a vampire named Geoffrey Huddleston. He lives in Garland. Well, he used to live in Garland. A week or so ago someone staked him inside his own house. He's there now, nailed to a giant X with silver spikes and drained of blood."
"The vampire was drained of blood?"
"That's what I said." I paused as it started to rain again. Light rain. So far. "Also, there seems to have been a few more murders perpetrated." I smiled, pleased I used a "cop term." Longhouse probably wasn't impressed. "We found thirteen spots where it looked like a body died and bled out."
"Interesting."
"Yeah. Blood is everywhere, bullet holes in the walls and ceiling, and only one body. The vampire. I think someone ambushed them in the vamps' house, killed them all, and used Geoffrey's blood to reanim
ate them. That person, who most likely is either a witch or someone with a talisman, is now controlling the newly made vampires."
"Are you sure about that? Sounds like you're guessing."
"You tell me. That's my theory until you can prove otherwise. Ask Grinstead what it would take. Ask that consultant, Zuma, what it would take."
"Zuza. Momma Zuza," he said. I knew her name, but I did get a certain pleasure from mispronouncing it. Yeah, I can be petty. "I will. Give me the address and I'll call Garland PD."
I gave it to him. "I'm leaving now. I am going to speak with the wolves, who are voting tonight on whether or not to go to war with the vamps. I’m trying to get them to give us more time to solve this."
"Oh, Jesus. Are you serious? They are that organized?"
"Yeah. I'm afraid so." An old man was coming my way, walking his little house dog. Looked like a poodle. The rain was starting to ease up and it was late, little Fido needed his last pee-pee before beddie-bye. The temperature was only mid-sixties at worse, so he wore a light jacket. The overcast night skies left it very dark and necessitated a flashlight. He shined the light on me, lingering on my boobs. Go figure. "I have to go. Bye."
Abrupt, I know. Even rude. I had no choice. A cop will keep you on the line until they squeeze every ounce of information from you. I had neither the time nor the patience.
"Good evening, sir."
He stopped at the end of the drive, running the flashlight up and down my body, and scowling. Didn't seem the friendly sort. His dog came over and sniffed my feet, then started licking at the blood splatter on them.
"Hmmm, yes. You're one of Geoff's tramps, huh?" He turned away, flicking the leash. "Don't, Pumpkin. Come."
Oh, he was a real sourpuss. He scowled at me? At me! I frowned and extended my wings. His eyes went big, Pumpkin yelped, and gramps almost fell down when I unfolded them wide.
"No. I'm a vampire like Geoffrey. Have a nice evening."
Leaping as high as I could, I started beating my wings hard. Twenty feet up, I veered to the east, towards Lake Ray Hubbard and Rockwall beyond. I only bothered going up around one hundred feet. As I flew I passed through waves of rain. They were almost like walls of rain. I hated flying in the rain. My hair was soaked and rain water was dribbling down my spine and down my cleavage, under the stiff leather bustier. It tickled.
"I should've worn a jacket."
Flying saves a lot of time when moving about the city. Cars are faster, depending on traffic. But I can fly straight to my destination, with no traffic, no lights, no nothing. I really enjoyed flying, when it wasn't raining.
Oddly enough, I spotted two boats out in the lake. Fishing in the middle of the night seemed odd enough, but while it was raining? What were they, sports masochists? Traffic on the roads in Rockwall was heavier than I would've thought for that time of night. The truck stop wasn't that far from the lake.
It was big and old. Semi tractor-trailer rigs were parked all around it. There were a lot of them. The place had a restaurant and bathing facilities. A lot of other travelers had stopped for gas, restrooms, and food. Dropping lower, I spotted Gabe's Hummer, but he wasn't inside it or anywhere to be seen. So I opened my senses and found him inside the truck stop.
"That man tries my patience."
I landed by the front entrance. Everyone pumping gas turned and gawked at me. I winked at them and strode into the truck stop as my batwings vanished into my back. Following my link, I walked through the restaurant. Again, everyone stopped and gawked at me.
"What? You never saw a girl before?"
"Not like you," an old truck driver said. He looked fiftyish, bearded, and overweight. His chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes were half-eaten, but now lay forgotten. "Are you a demon?"
"Demon? Why would you say that?"
"I saw you land. You had demon wings."
"Oh, that." I flashed my fangs. "Vampire. Nothing to worry about." I looked around. Some of the people were starting to freak out. I could feel their terror, and it called to a deep, dark part of my undead soul. "Gabe! Get out here now!"
Gabe came around the corner, still zipping his pants. He looked put out.
"Can't a man take a piss in peace?"
"We have to go. Now. I’m freaking these good people out." I noticed a young husband and father of three sitting with his family, staring at me with undisguised lust. His wife was staring at him in shock. I winked at him. "You are in so much trouble."
I strode back out to Gabe's big four-wheeler. He hated it when I called it a "four-wheeler." It was a Hummer! Enough said. You may bow now. Sheeze. It was a truck.
"You certainly make an impression, Sabe," Gabe said.
"Don't call me 'Sabe.'" I climbed into the passenger seat. "Where is the war council being held?"
"Down in Munson. Just a few minutes down the road."
Just past the truck stop was the intersection of 205 and 276. State Road 276 went out to Quinlan. Halfway between Rockwall and Quinlan was Munson. Really, all I saw was a sign saying it was Munson. Nothing else. Just farmland.
"This is the Rockwall Pack's run," Gabe said, turning off onto a gravel road.
We drove up a low hill, and there they were. Spread out before us were hundreds of cars and motorcycles parked on the edge of the road. The fields were full of wolves. They were racing, fighting, and otherwise socializing.
It was a shallow bowl surrounded by low hills. The packs were arranging themselves on the hillsides, with a flatbed truck in the center. They didn't bother with lights. They could see in the dark as well as I could.
"Don't make any sudden moves," Gabe said as one woman, three wolfmen, and dozens of wolves converged on us. "Heh, Annie, looking good. We should do something together."
Annie was easily six feet tall, voluptuous, and bleach blonde. She dressed like she thought she was a cowgirl or something, in tight jeans, midriff baring white tank, and a black leather vest over that, and muddy cowboy boots. Oh, can't forget the straw cowboy hat. The wolf was pretty, but looked to be around Gabe's age, mid-thirties.
"I don't think so," she said, glaring at me. "I don't date outside the pack. Is that her?"
"Yep. The legendary vampire killer, Sable Hart. Black Heart," Gabe said, all melodramatic. "Sable, this is the alpha female of Rockwall's Ridge Runner Pack, Annie."
"No last name?" I said.
"Just Annie," she said. "Gabe told you the rules?"
"Rules?"
She glared at Gabe, then turned back to me. "When we are ready to hear what you have to say, we'll come get you. You will say your piece, answer any questions we might have, and then leave. If you even look like you are going to hurt anyone here, we will kill you." She looked at Gabe. "And him, too. He's your sponsor, if you do anything to offend, even if we don't kill you, he will be punished."
"What does that mean, Gabe?"
He looked at me like I was crazy. "I means you have to behave."
I shook my head. "You suck at negotiating terms."
"I stake vampires. I'm not a politician."
"Are you two married?" Annie said.
"No, we have lots more sex than that," Gabe said and winked at her.
Annie rolled her eyes. "Wait here."
The wolves left. Well, two in wolf form stood guard, one to either side of us. At least they stayed a good twenty feet from us. I appreciated the illusion of privacy. They could hear everything we said.
"It'll probably be an hour or so before they come get us. You want to have sex while we wait?"
I looked at the dash clock. Just after nine.
I don't know why that surprised me. I know Gabe, and how he thinks. Mostly, he thinks about sex. But my head snapped around vampire fast.
"Do you see what I'm wearing? Does it look easy to get out of or into this outfit? What do you think?"
"Well, I don't know," he said, reaching for my boobs.
I slapped his hands away. "The answer is no. No, it is not easy to get into this outfit. No, it
is not easy to get out of it, either. And, no, I am not going to have sex with you."
"But –"
"If you ask again, I will bite you. Bite you in a bad way."
"Okay, but it's going to be a long, boring wait if we don't do something."
"It will be a long, boring wait."
And it was. The packs started their meeting shortly after our arrival. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they periodically all howled, or yipped. They jumped up and down at times, and even ran around in circles and snapped at each other. It looked like utter chaos and insanity to me.
An hour after we arrived, Annie returned. She was naked, which indicated to me that she'd morphed into a wolf or wolfman. Like vampires, werewolves had little or no hang-ups about public nudity. And from what I could see she had no reason to be ashamed of her body.
"You are only here because you kill vampires, and you kill a lot of them," Annie said, leaning in my window. She smelled of wet fur and damp earth. Her white skin shone in the dim light. I noticed it was goose-pimpled. In human form wolves suffered the cold just like normal mortals. "Jeric called for the war council, so he is in charge tonight. I think you know him. Follow me."
Annie stepped back, and began to morph into a wolfman. Her body thickened and rose up to six and a half feet. Her arms lengthened, and grew thick and powerful, while her pretty face pushed out and reformed into a vicious looking wolf's head. She exposed a double set of fangs, top and bottom, and the smaller lower set was larger than my fangs.
Yeah, she intimidated me a little.
"Are you coming as a man or wolfman?" I asked Gabe.
"Man. I can't speak as a wolfman or wolf."
"Are they going to let me take my guns?"
"They didn't say you couldn't. I wouldn't. Too tempting to use them, especially for you."
And if I used my guns, Gabe would pay the price. I hated being disarmed, but I had no choice. I untied the holsters from around my thighs, and unfastened the utility belt. I wouldn't need it. I hoped.
Annie led us down the gravel road. At least it wasn't raining. A little faint mist at most. The gravel road was firm enough to walk on in my heels, but I was cursing myself for wearing them. It never occurred to me that the packs would meet in an open field, in the rain. I should've known better. Fortunately, the flatbed Jeric and the other pack leaders stood upon was parked on the road, so I didn't have to walk through the soft mud.
