In Black We Trust

by J. C. Andrijeski

  Yes. He’s picked up ground forces on his surveillance system. At least two units. So far those we’ve seen are coming at us from the front of the house. Why only that direction, I don’t know, but keep an eye out, Miri. Looks like SEALS, or possibly Marines. Try to avoid them––or push them, if you can, but try not to be ID’d. Don’t engage unless you absolutely have to. We’re still hoping we have enough seers to push them into not seeing us on our way out. The physical proximity will give them a huge advantage over Charles’ people.

  Swallowing, I nodded.

  By then, Dex’s group had joined me under the shadow of the trees on the far side of the lawn. It hit me again how little time had passed, mere seconds since the first missile hit. I was looking around now, scanning with my light, looking for movement.

  Angel and Nick reached me first.

  “What the fuck is he doing still inside?” Nick murmured. He squeezed my arm, that relief I’d seen on him seeping into my skin. “Are they coming out?”

  “They’re working on an exit route. They need the tech portable for that, in case something changes.” I kept my voice equally soft. “Keep an eye out, Naoko. Black says there’ve got people out here already. Military. Coming in from the front of the house.”

  I felt shock on Nick’s light.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” he said. “Our military?”

  “Shhhh.” I motioned for him to keep his voice low. “Gun out, Naoko. And no. I’m not kidding.”

  I glanced at Angel, but she and Cowboy already gripped their sidearms in their hands, their expressions grim under the firelight.

  Nick exhaled, pulling my eyes back to him. Still staring at me like I’d lost my mind, he reached for the side holster under his jacket, jerking the gun he wore out of the vinyl covering and aiming it at the ground. Next to him, Angel nudged him with an arm, without releasing her gun from either hand.

  Cowboy held his Colt Python in one hand, aimed at the sky.

  Just then, Manny reached us.

  “They’re on their way,” he murmured, once he was close enough. “Getting out the last of the wounded.”

  I nodded, signaling with one hand that I understood.

  The back door opened a second time.

  At first, only Vampires streamed out, some of them supporting or even carrying other vampires in their arms.

  Then, behind them, I saw Jax, Holo, and the smaller, Asian seer, Mika.

  Another whistle broke the quiet.

  BLACK! I yelled into the space. BLACK! Get the fuck out of there! Now!

  All of us under the trees looked up. Nick, Angel and I fell into crouches.

  I saw those by the house look up, too.

  BLACK! I screamed his name into the space. BLACK! GET OUT OF THERE!

  The second missile slammed into the front of the house.

  The sound echoed louder than the first, flashing outward with a blinding pulse of light. I gripped the lower trunk of the tree, feeling the tremor through the ground even as Angel grabbed my arm. I don’t know if she was steadying me, or herself.

  The sound still echoed across the gardens when I rose back to my feet. Shoving off the tree a second time, I was about to bolt for the house, when Nick grabbed hold of me, his hand and fingers like steel. When I threw my elbow back to wrench free, he dropped his gun, grabbing me in a hard, muscular hug against his chest.

  “Don’t, Miri,” he murmured in my ear, still quiet despite the echo of the blast. “There’s nothing you can do––”

  I never tore my eyes off where the missile hit.

  I couldn’t see the impact crater that time, but my eyes followed a thick curl of black smoke as it plumed up into the air from the front of the building. The smoke didn’t lessen in the few seconds that followed.

  Instead, the column of black grew.

  BLACK! I yelled in the space. BLACK––

  Just then, the back door screeched open.

  Dark forms emerged and began sprinting towards us across the lawn.

  Some of them moved so fast, I couldn’t track them with my eyes.

  In front, I saw Jem, Yarli and the blue-eyed seer, Raven. They ran almost as fast as the shadowy forms, which I had to assume were vampires. I saw a few vampires towards the back supporting and holding more of their friends. One tall, red-headed vampire with long hair held another vampire in a fireman’s carry, and a particularly large vampire had another male vampire cradled in his arms against his chest.

  Then I saw Black.

  My chest just about burst open when I did.

  He, Brick and Dorian were running at the back.

  The knot I’d felt in my chest ripped apart so intensely I gasped, groaning a little in the back of my throat. I stopped fighting Nick though, and his hands on my arms loosened.

  “See?” Nick murmured. “He’s fine. Calm down, Miri.”

  Just then, a gunshot seemed to go off right by my ear.

  Nick dropped the same instant I did, a half-second before Angel and Cowboy managed to get down on the ground behind us.

  All four of us scrambled back into the cover of the trees, even as the gunshots grew more frequent. Once I was back behind another willow tree, gripping the trunk, panting, I turned towards the lawn.

  Once I had, I realized they weren’t shooting at us.

  They were shooting at Black.

  They were shooting at all of the vampires and seers on the lit part of the lawn.

  I saw more than one vampire take hits and keep going, the grimaces on their faces showing pain, but the shots barely slowing their pace.

  It all happened so fast, I could scarcely track what I was seeing with my eyes or ears. Gunshots continued to echo across the back of the house, the fires growing louder as they spread throughout the inside of the structure. I heard calls in English and in French, a short scream as a gunshot caught the female seer, Raven, in the calf.

  Black caught hold of her before she would have plowed, head-first into the lawn.

  Wrapping a thick arm around her waist, he yanked her forward faster before she could lose too much ground.

  What seemed like minutes later, but must have been seconds, they reached where we were hiding under the trees. I saw Black look for me, find me with his eyes, then react in a burst of relieved warmth and light when he realized I was unhurt.

  He handed Raven over to one of the vampires right before he ripped a gun out of a shoulder holster and turned back towards the lawn.

  I followed his gaze.

  Vampires were fighting men in nighttime combat clothes.

  I saw one leap on a Marine in a helmet, saw the Marine fire at him while he was mid-air, right before the vampire landed on his chest, sinking his teeth into the man’s neck. The man let out a gurgling scream––

  Then the vampire tore out his throat.

  He did it lightning-fast. There was a snap of its jaws, a jerk of his neck.

  It was over before my eyes could make sense of it.

  I let out a short, involuntary gasp. Bile rose to my throat.

  Doc, Black sent sharply into my mind. Miri, stay focused. I need you ready to go. Those vampires are the distraction. We have to move. Fast.

  Turning my head, I found him with my eyes.

  He gave me a bare glance, but he was already motioning towards the others on his team, using hand-signs with Dex and Kiko to get them to round everyone up, get them ready to run.

  I felt movement then and realized people were already running deeper into the gardens behind us in small groups. They burst out of the first row of trees, crossing another section of lawn at a sprint.

  Some had to be vampires from the way they moved. I thought I glimpsed Jem’s long streaked black and brown hair among the tightly-clustered group. Glancing around at those still in the shadows with us, I realized none of the humans had left.

  The only seers I saw, apart from me and Black, were Raven and Jax.

  They still don’t have anyone on this side of the house? I sent, turn
ing back towards Black. Are you sure? Why would they only approach from one side? They would know the missiles would drive whoever survived from the house. They might have an ambush––

  Black cut me off, his thoughts blunt.

  They did have an ambush, doc.

  When I met his gaze, his gold eyes were hard, shining faintly in the light of the burning house.

  They were trying to drive us this way, he explained. I was worried about that. That’s why I had you hold position instead of running straight for the vans.

  Jerking his chin in the direction of the forms I’d seen sprinting through the back gardens, he added, I sent Jem, Yarli, Mika and Holo ahead. They’re going to try and get control over the minds of the humans on that side of the grounds. They probably can’t hold them back for long, not without being ID’d, but I’m hoping it will be enough.

  His mental voice lowered to a growl.

  We just have to hope Charles thinks vampires compelled them, not seers. Ideally, he’ll miss the pushes altogether. I’ve got a group of vampires providing cover for Jem and his team. It’s possible they can slip through unnoticed.

  I nodded, but honestly, I barely understood his words.

  It did cross my mind what vampires “covering” for our seers might mean.

  It likely meant they’d kill every human they could.

  If they managed to kill enough of them to clear us a path, Black probably wouldn’t use the seers at all, if it kept our presence invisible to Charles.

  I saw the logic of it. I really did.

  I knew we’d be in significantly more danger if Charles discovered we’d joined forces with Brick and his vampires. Charles would go a lot more drastic if he knew that. Moreover, we’d lose the element of surprise entirely, and before we’d managed to get anywhere near D.C.

  So yes, I understood.

  I didn’t have to like it, though.

  After what must have been another signal from Jem or Yarli, Black began waving sharply towards Dex, urging him to bring his people through next.

  The rest of our group followed his hand-motions in seconds, urged by Kiko, Dex and Nick, who was now by Kiko’s side, herding humans with urgent waves of his arms towards the path the vampires were cutting through the back of Brick’s enormous gardens.

  I saw Manny and Lex leave our cluster of trees first.

  They were followed swiftly by another muscular vampire, this one holding Raven in his arms. Raven herself had gone pale from the gunshot wound, but appeared to be conscious at least, and aware enough to be gripping the vampire tightly around the neck.

  Behind them went the Natives, led by Devin and Dog, followed by Easton, Frank and the teenaged girl, who now had her bow wrapped around her shoulders and crosswise across her back. I watched as the rest of their group followed, along with Black’s team and the remaining vampires, who paced the human group easily, obviously acting as guards, even now.

  Brick went last in that group, guarded directly by Dorian and a female vampire who looked African-American. Both of Brick’s bodyguards held guns in their hands, their fangs extended, their irises likely crimson-red if I could see them in the dark.

  A loud report jerked my eyes backwards––if only because the sound rose above the screams, cries and gunshots of the main lawn.

  When I did, I saw part of the mansion’s roof collapse.

  The lower floor fire was raging now, too, lighting up the windows of the sunroom where I’d watched Brick feed on Black. I saw the filmy white curtains catch fire by the door, right before the flames leapt to the couch, then the low table.

  Unreality tried to steal over me again.

  My eyes focused on the lawn, where the mêlée had worsened.

  Black-uniformed humans appeared out of the shadows from both sides of the building, holding up rifles only to be ambushed by vampires moving too fast to be tracked by the naked eye.

  When the third missile slammed into the lower floor of the house, that time on the side closest to where we stood, Black was already dragging me backwards, deeper into the shadows and away from the house.

  Once again, my husband took up the rear of our entire procession.

  That time, though, I was with him, at least.

  21

  ALLIANCE

  “GET IN,” BLACK said, gruff.

  I felt him nudge me with his mind, and glanced at him, startled by the intensity behind it, given that he’d just confirmed with the group that we weren’t being followed.

  Not sure what I was feeling there or why, I didn’t argue.

  Taking a breath, I climbed into the back of the van without a word.

  I found myself in the second to back row, in a seat all the way against the one-way window on the driver’s side. Black slid onto the bench seat after me, and Cowboy, Angel and Frank sat next to him.

  Jem, Jax, Yarli, Holo and Easton already sat in the very back row, behind us.

  Brick and three of his vampires sat in front of us with Nick, who looked decidedly uncomfortable at the end of a row filled with four vampires.

  Manny, Lex, Lawless, another vampire, and the seer with the turquoise eyes, Raven, sat ahead of them. Once seated, the vampire seated next to Raven immediately ripped open her pants to look at the gunshot wound on her thigh.

  The blond vampire, Dorian, took the driver’s seat.

  Kiko rode shotgun, with an actual shotgun propped against her thigh and the van’s front door. A nylon bag filled with cartridges, handguns, magazines, and a handful of grenades sat at her feet, directly under the dashboard and the glove box.

  Two more bags sat in the front and by the van’s sliding doors, also filled with handguns and ammunition. Three semi-automatic rifles and another two shotguns were in another nylon bag at the end of me and Black’s row.

  I knew most of the guns were coming behind us, in a van with no windows, few passengers and a lot of illegal weapons and explosives. I also knew there was some chance we’d need everything in the bags we’d brought with us before we got where we were going.

  Brick’s contacts in D.C. told him we were under satellite surveillance.

  Therefore, rather than leave directly from the house, or even from outside the gardens, we split up when we first left Brick’s property, walking in small, mostly-casual groups through a carefully mapped path through various side streets and alleys.

  Several smaller clusters of vampires navigated primarily through backyards, hopping fences and making their way through overgrown, New Orleans-style gardens.

  Our group, which included a fair-few humans and all of the seers, took a different route. Ours led us through a series of heavily tree-lined streets, until eventually we reached a parking lot outside an enormous cemetery.

  Looking out the dark-tinted windows, I gazed up at the trees under which we were parked, watching Spanish moss wave from branches in the wet-smelling breeze.

  Most of the native group, overseen by Frank, Dex and the small Asian seer, Mika, were in a different van, one I’d been told had no vampires apart from the driver.

  Most of Black’s human team was in a third van, driven by Ace.

  We were more or less the “planning” vehicle.

  As a result, we were more of a mixed bag.

  Dorian started the V-8 engine, revving it a few times before throwing the car into gear.

  As he began pulling out of the gravel parking lot, Brick turned around in his seat, smiling. He looked me and Black over pointedly, noting where Black had his hand wrapped around my thigh, his other hand gripping mine in his lap.

  “Everyone okay back here?” he grinned. “You kids manage to get through without getting too banged up?”

  Black gripped my leg tighter when he saw Brick’s eyes on me.

  I leaned back into the van seat, returning Brick’s stare.

  “We’re fine,” I said coolly. “But I’m here to tell you, your intelligence sucks. I hope someone’s getting an earful for that time estimate on the attack.”

 
; The crystal eyes grew a touch harder. “I believe I paid a much steeper price for that fact than you or your mate did, Miriam dear.”

  Thinking about that, I had to concede his words.

  “Point taken,” I said. “I know I probably should say I’m sorry about that. Given how many times you’ve tried to kill us, likely with the help of those same vampires, I think I’ll hold off on expressing any half-assed condolences for the moment, however. I know how much you dislike insincerity, Brick… and hypocrisy.”

  Brick’s expression didn’t move, but I saw a flicker of a harder anger there.

  He looked away an instant later, focusing on Black.

  “You’re lucky the two of you are still useful to me,” he said, breaking into another smile. “Otherwise, I might have to have a little chat with Quentin here, about the rudeness of his mate. Particularly given how we’re supposed to be partners now and all.”

  Black’s fingers tightened on me more.

  I could feel ripples of his anger and frustration at me, even now.

  That frustration didn’t feel like it stemmed from anything I’d just said to Brick, much less the sentiment behind it. No, his anger felt a lot more like it came from our aborted conversation in Brick’s garden, before the first missile slammed into the house’s upper floor.

  I could barely remember what that conversation was about at this point. My ears were still ringing from the missiles and the gunfire.

  Truthfully, I mostly felt like I was in a state of overly-calm shock.

  Brick broke out in a laugh.

  When I looked over, the vampire was staring delightedly at Black’s face.

  “You simply can’t stop thinking about it, can you?” he said, grinning wider. “We barely escape from our lives. Actual missiles hit my house, with you inside it. We barely sidestep that ambush in the back garden… and likely wouldn’t have without your psychic friend’s help.”

  He nodded at Jem, and I followed his eyes.

  “…and yet you continue losing yourself in your favorite obsession.”

  “Fuck off,” Black growled. “We don’t have time for your––”

  “––Tell me, friend, do you ever stop thinking about it?” Brick chuckled at Black’s deepening scowl. “I’m honestly impressed… and intrigued. Your ability to multi-task apparently knows no bounds. It’s amazing, truly, how much you get done, given your obsession. After all, you were quite useful in this fight. A fact I find all the more impressive, given your nearly non-stop preoccupation.”