by J. C. Diem
He shook his head dolefully then passed on the bad news to Sanderson and the other team leaders who listened in on the short conversation. “Tell Natalie that I need to see her,” Gregor said into the silence.
I shook my head at Higgins, pulled my helmet on again and left the house. One instance of being treated like a distant acquaintance by Luc had been enough. I wasn’t sure I could bear to go through that again just now. My mood was decidedly fragile after the death of the little girl and the disturbing dream I’d just had. Miserable and not in the mood to be a team player at the moment, I figured the humans had learned enough to be able to tackle the imps without my help. I could move a lot faster and kill far more clones if I was on my own.
With my decision made, I sent out my senses and found imps hidden all throughout the neighbourhood. Some were in houses and others had made their way into the sewers and other dark places where they would be safe from the sun. I debated whether to hunt down small groups or head straight for the larger herds of monsters.
Higgins emerged from the house and headed towards me. His expression was anxious and I guessed he had orders for me from Sanderson. I spoke before he could. “There are a lot of clones inside the houses in this area as well as in the sewers. You should send in small groups of three or four to each house and eradicate them. I’m going after the larger groups to see if I can cut down their numbers.”
The corporal stretched out a hand to stop me. “Wait! I have a message for you!”
He sounded urgent but I sprinted away before he could burden me with whatever plan Sanderson wanted me to follow. I stuck to the shadows whenever possible as I headed back towards the centre of Vegas. Humans were still hiding in the hotels and casinos but imps had also taken refuge inside many of the tall buildings. If they weren’t dispatched before nightfall, they wouldn’t have to go very far in search of their next meal.
Picking a hotel at random, I entered the foyer and headed straight for the stairs without stopping to admire the expensive décor. Picking my way around the seven foot imps that were slumbering in the stairwells, I paused to run my swords through each one until I reached the top floor. Doors had been kicked open all up and down the hallway. Most had cracked under the blows and hung askew.
Turning left, I systematically entered each room and slaughtered its occupants. Blood was already thick in the air from the humans that had been eaten by the clones. Some had been pulled apart, their intestines torn from their bodies from the sheer joy of destruction. Bright yellow blood joined the darker maroon stains on the carpet as I turned the tables on the imps and sent them to their deaths.
It took time to search every room and murder the sleeping giants. I used my new talent to zip to each hotel suite and room instead of wasting time running up and down the hallways. It was a much faster mode of travel, even if I didn’t fully understand how I was managing it.
Finishing off the last imp, I concentrated on the floor below me and was instantly standing one lever lower. Even with this much faster method of travel, it would take weeks to eradicate all of the imps. New ones would be created as soon as the Viltaran ship descended and dropped off its robot passengers again.
It took me nearly an hour to clean out the hotel. Both the casino to my left and the hotel to my right were chock full of clones. I picked the casino to be my next target and zapped myself into the lobby.
There were no humans lined up to play the slot machines that were loudly and fruitlessly trying to entice customers through an archway to my right. They whistled, jingled, gave off musical bursts of sound and generally made a racket. Maybe that’s why there aren’t any clones down here. It seemed the slot machines were too noisy for the alien spawn.
Although the ground floor was deserted, the rooms in the floors above weren’t. I didn’t bother with the stairs this time but transported myself directly up to the top floor. Hundreds of imps lay on the floors in the hallways and inside the suites.
None of the clones in the immediate vicinity were awake so there was no need for stealth. Using an unstained coverlet to clean my swords, I slid them back into their sheaths. Picking my way over to two imps, I knelt and put a hand on their heads. Neither stirred as the holy marks went to work. The power built but this time something was different. I felt it seeking individual victims instead of simply blanketing the area and hoping the monsters were touching so they would be caught up in the blast of power.
Using my senses to pinpoint each target, I encompassed every grey skinned clone on my floor. Extending the search, I picked up the clones on the floor below and snared them in my net as well. Faster and faster, the power jumped from one monster to the next and from floor to floor until every imp in the building was caught in my mental snare.
The floor was shaking and ominous creaking noises were coming from the walls when I unleashed the holy marks. I didn’t wait around for my new clothes and helmet to be splattered with goo but shifted myself into the lobby. I kept track of the hundreds of imps as they exploded. They disappeared from my senses like hundreds of balloons being popped by gleeful children.
Always before, the power had only been able to target more than one monster if they’d been touching. It now seemed that I could use it to destroy every creature in an entire building, as long as they showed up on my senses. A grim smile appeared behind my dark visor as I used my handy new talent to shift into the next imp infested building. I’d just discovered a way to wield my dark mojo far more effectively than I’d ever dreamed possible.
·~·
Chapter Twenty-Five
Several hours later, I’d cleared dozens of hotels and casinos of their alien invaders. Captive humans fled screaming as the imps exploded around them. I didn’t waste time trying to calm them down, they were alive so my job was done. It wasn’t my task to look after their mental health, especially since my own was so fragile at the moment.
I fostered some hope that, if we managed to destroy the aliens and their minions and then averted the next threat that was looming, fate would finally leave me alone so I could live out the rest of my life in peace. When battle lust was upon me, my misery faded but when the fight was over my woes always returned. So did the depression that was trying to creep up and smother me. I didn’t kid myself that I might actually one day be happy again. Right now I’d settle for having a break from constantly coming to the rescue of the hapless earthlings.
When I’d cleared out the last casino, I paused for a moment to check on my friends. Alarm shot through me when I found them in a precarious situation in the sewers. They were surrounded by imps, both human and Kveet. Their teammates were being decimated and their entire group of soldiers and civilians would shortly be entirely wiped out.
I left my helmet in the casino lobby, since I wouldn’t need it where I was going. Pulling my swords free, I used my strange new ability and was suddenly beneath the ground. My feet went into action and I sprinted through foul water towards the ravenous group of clones. It would be dark soon and they’d either woken up early or they’d been woken by the humans who’d been hunting them.
Reaching the tail end of the imps, I cut my way through the throng. My friends were only a few tunnels away now. Almost at the same moment, Geordie screeched in pain and Kokoro let out a shrill scream. Zeroing in on her, I appeared beside her as she was torn in half by two human imps. She was a grown up version of the little girl that had been dismembered right in front of me. Again, I was a second too late to save her. Guts, black blood, intestines and other things that I wished I could un-see splattered into the water.
I stabbed one imp in the eye and Gregor dispatched the other one with a death ray as Kokoro dropped into the water in two separate pieces. Geordie had also been injured. His shirt and jacket had been shredded when an imp had punched a hole through the teen’s chest. For a moment, I imagined I could see the kid’s spine then the wound began to heal. Igor steadied him with a hand on his narrow shoulder when his legs wobbled.
Born from ra
ge, the power of the holy marks began to build without me consciously calling it. My friends sensed the power gathering and glanced around uneasily. “What is happening?” Igor asked as he fired his death ray into the oncoming mass of small Kveet and far larger human clones.
Carving the closest imp’s chest open, I threw a desperate glance back at the others. “It’s the holy marks and I don’t think I can control them!”
Gregor grasped the implications immediately. Snatching Kokoro’s two halves up beneath both arms, he shouted for the others to run. Igor pushed Geordie into action and bolted after him. Ishida hesitated for a second then followed. Luc took up the rear without acknowledging my presence at all. I hadn’t even been worthy of a distant nod this time.
Unsure why their vampire allies were fleeing in terror, the surviving humans also stampeded towards the exit. The tunnel was narrow enough that my whirling blades stopped the imps from chasing after them but the strain of containing my dark power was making my hands shake. The instant I sensed Luc reach the surface, I dropped my swords into the filthy water.
Soldiers and civilians were still exiting the tunnels when the ground began to shake. “Earthquake!” someone screamed in panic.
Taking a step forward, I reached up and grabbed hold of the closest imp by the chin. Dragging her face down to my level, I unleashed the power on her then shoved her backwards. With her body swelling alarmingly, she crashed into several of her brethren, knocking them to the ground. Bending to scoop up my weapons, I escaped a millisecond before she exploded.
Geordie made a startled sound when I appeared beside him. My friends had moved out of the rapidly fading sunlight into the shade of a hotel. I maintained my contact with the imps, feeling the power rapidly jump from one to the next as their lives were extinguished. Ignoring the pandemonium that had broken out from what the humans mistakenly thought was an earthquake, I kept my attention on the imps that I could sense but not see down below.
All of the clones in the immediate area had been evaporated by the force of the dark power that resided within me. Instead of petering out, the holy marks jumped to the next group of imps and then the next. Spreading my senses out wider, I included every clone that was slinking through the sewers and guided the deadly power to them all. A strange exultation filled me as the power thrummed in my veins.
When the last imp winked out of existence, I staggered a step, drained of energy. Geordie put an arm around my waist and Ishida moved to my other side and offered me his arm as well. The pair guided me over to Kokoro and I collapsed to the ground beside her. Gregor, Luc and Igor were shielding the severity of her injuries from the humans who were calming down now that the ground was no longer shaking.
Kokoro’s panicked eyes met mine and I took her hand to calm her. She’d managed to reattach her severed hand and I knew she’d heal from this injury as well.
A tingle shot from my hand up my arm when her lower body began to tremble. The tiny gap between her upper and lower halves disappeared as her flesh melded. Her injury disappeared and only a jagged, thin red line remained. Some of my fatigue was washed away with the residual effects of her body healing itself. I didn’t even want to know what had happened to the bits of her that had fallen out. Her body had replicated them so maybe the originals had broken down into the usual slushy remains that occurred when our kind died.
“How do you feel?” Gregor asked her anxiously.
Taking his hand, Kokoro sat up and gifted him with a smile. “I feel fine.”
I swung my gaze to Geordie to see the hole in his chest had almost closed. He looked down at his flesh as it became smooth and unmarred again and gave me a sickly smile. “I felt the imp destroy my heart when it punched its fist through me,” he said quietly. “Then it just grew right back.”
Now that his ladylove was whole again, Gregor turned his attention to me. “How many clones did you just destroy?”
Sweeping the entire town, I counted the number of enemies that were left. “Almost all of them,” I replied and came close to giggling giddily. I was still feeling the effects of using up most of my reserves. “All of the imps that were hiding in the sewers are gone. There are still seventeen thousand or so left spread throughout the houses in the suburbs.” I’d already polished off the ones that had been holed up in the casinos and hotels but it would feel like boasting if I mentioned them.
“Out of one hundred and sixteen thousand imps infesting the city, there are now only seventeen thousand left?” Igor asked incredulously. “How is that possible?”
Raising my hands, I showed him the crosses. “I guess I finally worked out how to use these properly.”
Ishida shook his head in wonder. “Incredible. If only you could use them to destroy the droids, our fight could be over within hours!”
“I wish,” I said in heartfelt agreement. “Unfortunately, they only seem to work on imps and vampires.”
“Did you get the message that I gave to Corporal Higgins?” Gregor asked me. In dire need of a nice long nap, I shook my head wearily. Glancing around to make sure none of the humans were close, he leaned in. “I believe that this new talent of yours will be the key to defeating the Viltarans.”
“Maybe,” I replied doubtfully. “But they’re up on their ship so I’m not going to be able to unleash the holy marks on them in a hurry.”
Making an impatient gesture, Gregor checked over his shoulder again and stiffened when he saw Sanderson striding towards us. Putting his hand on my arm, he gave me an urgent command. “Take us somewhere else! Quickly!”
In the blink of an eye, we were in a hallway on the third floor of a hotel across the road. Gregor lost his balance and went down to one knee. My balance was fine since I was already sitting down. “Just as I suspected,” he said cryptically. At my ignorant look, he explained further. “You have gained the ability to teleport yourself.”
I grinned at the joke but he remained solemn. “Are you serious?” I asked and he nodded. “I just thought I was moving really, really quickly.” Now that I had time to think about it, I realized none of my limbs had actually gone into motion each time I’d used my new talent. It seemed that Gregor was right and I’d physically willed myself from one location to another.
“Have you tested how far you are able to transport yourself?” Gregor asked.
“The biggest jump I’ve made so far was from one side of town to the other.”
His fist came to rest beneath his chin as he worked on a plan. I had an inkling of what he would ask me to do and I hoped I would be up to it. I’d depleted my stores while annihilating the vast majority of clones in the sewers. I would need to feed before attempting to take on any more enemies.
When Gregor began to smile, I figured he’d worked out a plan that he was fairly certain would succeed. When he was finished explaining it to me, I was also smiling. “It will be dark in a few minutes,” I pointed out. “I’d better go and round up some humans to feed from. Using my holy marks to destroy so many imps at once has left me drained.”
I took his arm and teleported us to the lobby then we walked out into the lingering dusk. Pretending they weren’t freaked out that we’d disappeared without warning, the others ambled over to join us. “General Sanderson was not happy that you weren’t available to discuss strategy with him,” Luc said to Gregor.
Unperturbed, Gregor shrugged off the warning. “Natalie and I have come up with our own strategy and I am fairly certain that it will resolve this conflict once and for all.”
Almost dancing on the spot with excitement, Geordie gave an exaggerated glance around to make sure no one was listening in. “What is your plan?” he asked. His mouth dropped open in shock once it was outlined for him. He turned to me in apprehension. “This sounds very dangerous, chérie. Are you sure it will work?”
There was no way to be sure about that until I attempted it but I wasn’t about to admit that out loud. “It’ll work.” I sounded far more certain than I felt.
“I take it we�
��re not going to advise General Sanderson of this plan?” Igor said. His tone was curious rather than accusatory. He might be practical about the necessity to work with the general but, like me, he wasn’t particularly happy about it.
“I’d prefer it if the humans didn’t discover Natalie’s new talent just yet,” Gregor answered. “The less they know about the extent of our abilities, the safer we’ll all be.” He met my eyes and I read the knowledge that he suspected none of us would be safe once we managed to eliminate the Viltaran threat. I’d warned him that this would be the case but I had to concede that we hadn’t really had a choice. I might now be able to rapidly eradicate mass numbers of imps but my mojo was useless against the robots. We needed the soldiers’ firepower and that meant we’d have to remain their allies until the last automaton was neutralised.
“Good luck fighting the droids,” I said to the group. “I’ll see you all when I’ve taken care of Uldar and his buddies.”
Geordie and Ishida gave me a combined hug then the others also stepped in to wrap their arms around me and each other. Luc took a step towards us then stopped. I caught a hint of sadness in his dark eyes before he turned away. Thanks to me, he now felt like an outsider amongst his own friends. Soon, they would have to choose between us and I knew who I’d pick if I were them. Their friendship was all I had and it would shortly be taken away from me. I would be left with nothing but the duty to save humankind, which frankly wasn’t all that important to me.
Too weary to bother teleporting after our huddle broke up, I walked over to the closest group of soldiers. All were from Sanderson’s original crew and each soldier knew me on sight. “I need blood,” I told them with my usual lack of tact. “Does anyone want to volunteer to be my snack?”
Half a dozen men stepped forward. I knew it would be necessary for me to recharge fully so I drank a few mouthfuls from each of them. The teeth marks on the first soldier had already mostly healed by the time I was done with the last man. Nodding my thanks, I walked away as they were ordered to vacate the area by their team leader. My tiredness was gone and I felt strong and powerful as the mother ship slowly began to descend once more.
