The Invoker: A Lawson Vampire Novel 2 (The Lawson Vampire Series)

by Jon F. Merz

  I hoped there were only mountains beneath us and no villages or towns with innocent people suddenly caught unaware by a falling plane.

  Overhead, Jack waved once. He seemed okay now that he had his chute opened. He was drifting easily to earth.

  I breathed easier.

  Gradually the lower level clouds seemed to dissipate and I could see below us. Lots of trees and hillsides. We weren’t all that high up in the mountains which was a good thing.

  The bad thing was that we were on a collision course with the fiery crater containing the wreckage of the plane.

  I grabbed my risers and steered us left, praying my rate of descent wasn’t too great that we’d stay locked toward the plane.

  Overhead I could see Jack following my lead. I pointed at a grassy knoll and hoped he wasn’t having a problem steering.

  Pines and evergreens came up at me faster than I would have liked. I yanked down again on the risers and braked somewhat. The ground looked like a mix of slush, snow, and tufts of yellowed grass.

  Twenty feet and I began pumping the risers, hoping Jack was watching and would follow suit.

  Ten feet

  Five

  Ground.

  My feet touched down lightly and I immediately began ditching the chute. I turned and watched Jack come in.

  "Pull your risers!"

  He pulled and slowed down even more. In truth, the little guy didn’t look too scared and he wasn’t coming in all that fast considering he didn’t weigh as much as a normal full-grown adult.

  I almost caught the guy.

  I showed him how to shrug himself out of the chute and we paused to catch our breath. Jack looked in the direction of the crash about a half mile away. Smoke billowed up from the crash site, staining the sky black.

  "Wow."

  "Yep. That could have been us."

  He looked back at me. "Where are we?"

  I smiled. "Jack, old buddy, we are on the ground. And right now that is about the best place to be in the whole wide world."

  The grin he gave me told me he felt exactly the same way.

  *** *** ***

  All in all, we didn’t do that bad.

  We’d parachuted out of the plane only about twenty miles from the Invoker school. Once I took a bearing and compared it with the directions that we’d gotten from Wirek and the Council, we decided we’d just hike it and not concern ourselves with trying to get a ride somewhere.

  For his part, Jack didn’t want to cause any undue attention upon arrival.

  "I don’t want to make enemies before I have a chance to make some friends," he said.

  The weather seemed to be cooperating as well. For the next two days, we hiked north along the timberline, catching fish in the cold mountain lakes, building fires and sleeping out under the stars on warm beds of pine needles and loose branches.

  Jack loved it. For a kid who’d never been camping, he took to it with a natural ease that seemed to echo everything else in his life. Hell, he deserved it, given all the crap he’d come through in the past few weeks.

  I diagnosed my wrist as having a hairline fracture, which wasn’t too bad. I splinted it as best I could. Combined with my fractured ribs, and all the other wounds I’d suffered on this jaunt, I figured I’d be a candidate for short-term disability.

  Too bad the Council didn’t recognize short-term disability.

  Over a rainbow trout dinner Jack seemed a little quiet, so I asked him what was wrong.

  He shrugged. "We’ll be there tomorrow, right?"

  I nodded. "Yeah."

  "What are you gonna do when you get home?"

  "Me?" I smiled. "Lessee, get a cast on my wrist, tape up my ribs. Take a long nap, probably."

  He was quiet for a minute. "I’m scared, Lawson."

  "You’ve got nothing to be scared about, Jack. You’re going to be among friends at the school. They’ll help you take control of your abilities."

  "Wish I didn’t have this ability sometimes."

  I knew the feeling. There were many nights when I wondered exactly what the hell I was doing as a Fixer and whether any of it ever made a lick of difference in this world.

  "That’s a pretty special gift you’ve got there, Jack. Like I said before, some day you might find out why you got that gift. You might be called on to help everyone. Not just vampires."

  "You mean humans, too?"

  I shrugged. "You never know. One thing I’ve learned in this life is that trying to guess what’s coming down the road is about as big a waste of time as trying to scratch your back with your tongue."

  He laughed. "You’re kinda weird, Lawson."

  I smiled. "True enough. But I think I’m getting some of it from you."

  We sat looking at the flames jump about the fire for another few minutes. Overhead somewhere off in the forest, an owl hooted for the first time that night. Smoke danced in front of our eyes and tickled our noses.

  Jack sighed. "I miss them both."

  I nodded. "It’s okay to be sad, slick. Just remember that the ones we truly love never really leave us at all. Just because we can’t see ‘em doesn’t mean they still aren’t around. And it doesn’t mean they stop loving us."

  He was silent for a few minutes. Then he cleared his throat. "Did you mean what you said before?"

  "What?"

  "About me staying with you?"

  "Absolutely. You’ve got my number. Call me any time. You need to talk, hang out, let loose, whatever. I’m here for you. My promise doesn’t end just because you’re safe and sound now. It’s for life – you understand?"

  He nodded. "That woman, Arvella, she stole my family away from me, Lawson."

  "Yeah. Yeah, she did."

  He looked up at me from beside where we sat on an old maple log. "But you know what?"

  "What?"

  "She gave me the best friend in the whole world."

  Then he gave me a quick hug.

  And damned if I didn’t feel pretty special after all.

  Chapter One

  For most humans, coming to the North Shore in Hawaii means big waves. It means a chance to surf with some of the best, if that’s your game. Or you can just hang out on the beach watching eye candy and supreme athletes mingle in the sand and sun. The scent of sex wax and tanning lotion wafts across the gently sloping beach, seducing you into a mellow state of mind.

  For me, the North Shore meant a chance to finish up a case.

  A bad case at that.

  Details, a vitally important ingredient to any mission, were missing. I wasn’t all that surprised. I’d been a Fixer for years, hunting down vampires who break the laws of our society, and I felt almost too used to sketchy second-hand intelligence.

  I’d been humping jets for the past three weeks – skipping time zones like a side-armed rock bouncing across a pond. I felt like shit.

  Which again was par for the course.

  My target was a woman. I had a grainy surveillance photo that looked like someone wearing Coke bottle glasses and suffering from acute glaucoma had taken it. I could make out very little.

  Which meant I had to rely on informants.

  Ask any intelligence operative or law enforcement professional about how great it feels to have to place absolute trust in the word of a sleazebag who turns over for a few bucks and you’ll know why I was just so gosh-darned excited about being in Hawaii.

  I would have rather been home with my cats.

  At least I know what they look like.

  A giant tube crashed out about fifty yards from shore taking a few surfers under the swell. I saw boards go flying and feet inverted. Seconds later they all surfaced intact.

  Helluva way to score some thrills.

  Maybe I should have swapped jobs.

  I felt the crystalline sand grind between my toes. The sun’s warmth beamed down on my skin. I was lucky enough to have inherited my father’s skin. He tanned well. Whenever we’d gone to the beach, he us
ed to brown nicely.

  I’d rather be brown than burned red.

  According to the low-grade heroin addict who knew something about my target, she’d begun frequenting this beach since a week back. That would have been right after she’d ditched Bangkok.

  I’d been in Pnomh Penh skirting crazy moped drivers and tricycle taxis at the time, trying to find her trail.

  A trail that had gone cold.

  I turned up in the islands two days after she did. Directed here by my Control back in the States who’d sent word someone had spotted her in Hawaii.

  At Honolulu International Airport, the local Fixer met me. He gave me some more information and then turned me loose.

  Two days later he was dead.

  She’d killed him.

  I’d started coming to the beach soon after getting word from the informant who’d worked with the now deceased Fixer. My first question to him had been to ask what she was doing hanging out on the North Shore.

  He’d only smiled and walked away.

  He was lucky I let him do that.

  I spent every day on the beach. From just after sun up to just after sunset.

  Waiting.

  Waiting.

  Waiting.

  I kept my gun with me all the time, even though it was a little tough wearing a piece on the beach. I usually kept it in the cooler next to me. Or else when I slid the Hawaiian short on, it went behind my right hip, where I like to wear it normally.

  I kept phoning in updates to my Control. No progress. No luck. Nothing.

  He kept telling me to stay put.

  So I did.

  A day later I sat on the beach again watching more surfers carve half-pikes in the frothy ocean, wondering if there were any tiger sharks in the area.

  “Excuse me.”

  My sunglasses did a good job of blocking out the sunlight so I didn’t have to squint. Not that I wanted to anyway.

  The woman in front of me stood about five feet six inches and weighed maybe a buck ten. She had more curves than a corkscrew and they were barely contained by the triangles of fabric that made up her bikini.

  I smiled. Cleared my throat. “Hi.”

  She smiled back. I love progress.

  “I’ve seen you here for a few days now.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Mm hmm. You never go swimming, though.”

  “I’m allergic to water.”

  “Really?”

  “No. But the truth is a lot more boring than that.”

  “So you just sit here.”

  “I just sit here.”

  “Watching?”

  “Some watching. Mostly waiting.”

  “What are you waiting for?”

  “A friend.”

  She crinkled her eyes. “This friend of yours…is it a he?”

  “A she, actually.”

  “Really.” Her voice dipped.

  “Not that kind of friend.”

  “Really.” Her voice lifted.

  I grinned. I thought about how funny it would be to tell her the truth. That I was there to put a few bullets into the body of some woman I’d never even seen a clear picture of. Then I realized how utterly stupid the truth sounded. Sometimes life’s like that.

  “Why don’t you sit down?”

  She sat. I looked her over. Her long dark hair framed her almond-shaped eyes and smooth creamy tanned skin. Her smile spilled white against the mocha background of her face.

  “You’re from Hawaii?”

  She shook her head. “No. Back in New Jersey, actually.”

  “Filipina?”

  “Yeah.” She brightened. “Good eye.”

  “What’s a Jersey girl doing out here?”

  “You ever been to Jersey?”

  “Few times.”

  “You shouldn’t have to ask then.”

  “Question withdrawn.”

  “I work here.”

  “What’s work?”

  “I’m something of a consultant.”

  “Self-employed.”

  “Don’t say it like I’m some out-of-work wanna-be entrepreneur who hasn’t got a dime in the bank. I’m very much employed. And I make a pretty damned good living.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “What about you?’

  “Me?” I spread my arms. “I’m just waiting.”

  “We covered that.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you think I’m pretty?”

  I smirked. “You’re not much on subtlety, are you?”

  “Life’s short. Answer the question.”

  “I think you’re the most beautiful woman on this beach.” I glanced around for effect. “Nothing finer around here.”

  “You’re sweet.”

  “Well, I was kinda put on the spot there.”

  “How much longer do you have to wait?”

  I cleared my throat. “Until my friend shows up.”

  “And after that?”

  “I don’t have to wait anymore.”

  “Good.” She turned ad looked out toward the ocean. “You mind if I wait with you?”

  “I was sorta hoping you’d say something like that.”

  We watched the waves roll in for another hour. We watched the sun trek west, spilling oranges and reds into the blue green of the Pacific. We sat close together as a breeze kicked up sand and bounced it off our skin.

  And time ticked by.

  People left the beach.

  Until we were alone.

  And she looked at me. “Are you through waiting?”

  “I’d sure as hell like to be.”

  “Your friend didn’t show up.”

  “Maybe tomorrow.”

  “Maybe you should just kiss me now.”

  I did. I kissed her full lips, tasted the sweet coconut oil, felt her moist tongue part my lips and search for my own. I felt her hands touch the back of my head, fingers roaming through my short bristly hair. Then they slid south. Down my back. Down past my hips. Down lower.

  And lower.

  She broke the kiss and smiled at me. Her eyes a mere inch from mine.

  “I’m glad you asked me to wait with you.”

  “Why’s that?”

  She gave me another peck on the lips. Her hands tightened around my butt. “Because it’s a lot easier killing somebody at night.”

  Her words barely had a chance to register before I felt her fingers turn into claws, digging into my butt, ripping, shredding their way north.

  Toward my kidneys.

  I cried out, twisted under her grasp, and tried to roll away. She tucked her body into mine and rolled with me. I could hear her laughing as we tumbled toward the waves.

  “You won’t get rid of me that easily, Lawson.”

  Oh crap.

  It had to be her – the woman I’d been sent to kill.

  As we rolled I brought my elbow up and smashed it into her face. My pistol was back at the cooler. If I could just get to it-

  She grunted as I struck her nose. I heard a crunch and figured I’d broken it. I smelled blood a moment later and fought back the sudden rise of saliva in my mouth.

  We broke free.

  “Are we having fun yet?”

  In the dark I could see her almost as well as during the daylight. Vampires can see pretty well at night. Waves crashed at our feet. We circled
under the new moon, embraced by a million stars overhead.

  She crouched low – between the cooler and me.

  And my gun.

  And then something else happened. She began to…change.

  One minute she was the foxy Asian woman who’d sat down next to me. The next minute she was different. Her voice, her hair, her body structure.

  All different.

  What the hell was going on?

  It struck me just as she lashed out with a roundhouse kick to my temple. I slid inside the arc of the kick and caught her leg, punching into the underside of her thigh.

  She yelped.

  Christ.

  A lycanthrope.

  I swore under my breath. What the hell had I been assigned to kill a lycanthrope for? I killed vampires for a living, not were-creatures.

  She rolled away, yanking her leg out of my lock.

  I ran for the cooler.

  She tackled me halfway there, taking me down at the knees in a way that would have a scout for the NFL drool with desire. I went face first into the sand and came up spitting beach.

  She grabbed my head from behind and rammed me back into the sand. I bucked up with my hips and butt, trying to unseat her.

  She laughed.

  “I’ve played ride ‘em Bronco before, Lawson. I’m very good at it.”

  Maybe. I rolled to the side and she fell off. I straddled her and went for a chokehold, slamming my forearm into her throat and shoving it down trying to cut off air and circulation.

  She struggled, but the beach enveloped her, making it tough to get any purchase.

  And then I felt her claws on my lower ribs. She grabbed a handful of skin and twisted it like a doorknob.

  And she opened me up.

  I gritted my teeth as I felt my body rise just a little bit. That’s all it took. I felt the knee shot a second later.

  It thundered into my groin and my bowels dropped south like a cinder block tossed off a building. I grunted and rolled off her, clutching my crotch.

  She rolled away from me, gasping for breath and retching in time to my own.

  Her voice hissed across the beach. “Bastard!”

  The cooler lay twenty feet from me. I turned over on to my stomach. I had to get to it. I clawed at the sand, trying to find the strength to stand.

  She was on all fours. She looked at me. “You’re good.”