by R. E. Carr
“Giving into your bestial urges already, meatsack?” a new, extremely haughty voice asked. “You always did have a hard-on for dinky brunettes.”
Both werewolves turned and snarled at the shadowy figure. Despite the eighty-degree evening, this stranger wore an oppressive black duster, black jeans, and black sunglasses at night. Paige cocked her head as she saw what looked like a Japanese sword dangling at his side. The stranger sneered.
“Paige DeMarco, how long I’ve waited for this night,” he said, drawing the blade. “The sheriff says I have to bring you in alive - but she didn’t specify unharmed.”
“Who are you?” Paige asked confused.
“I am the right arm of the sheriff of North America. I am the fear that walks in the night. I am Kevin Vasquez, bitch. You killed my brother . . . prepare for pain!”
“Kevin?” Paige asked incredulously. “Oh, yeah . . . Kevin.”
It was Kevin’s turn to snarl. Jonathan’s grip tightened, forcing Paige to wince and give him a pleading stare. “Please,” she whispered to him. “I’m pregnant, you really want that on your conscience, Jon?”
His grip loosened just enough for her to shove free. She snapped out her claws and ducked around the side of a nearby truck. Kevin let out a disappointed sigh.
“You always were useless, J.D.,” the vampire said. “Now you’re just nasty and useless.”
“Damn it, Toy,” Paige growled as her back twinged. She took a deep breath and eyed the tree line, then dug in her heels and made a break for it.
“Not so fast, bitch,” she heard as her leg crumpled under her. Pain wracked her body as the blade slid out of her hamstring. She tried to lash out but this Kevin was simply too fast. He dodged easily and backhanded her, sending her toppling into the grass behind the lot, then planted his boot firmly on her back, driving between her shoulders until there was an audible crack. She heard the sword coming toward her again, this time driving into her palm. Kevin whirled around and kicked her in the head, making the world spin.
“They said you were so tough,” he mocked, kicking her again. “So ferocious - but in the end, you’re just another dumb bitch who got lucky.”
Paige roared and ripped her hand free through her fingers. She managed to get one swipe with her good hand before rolling away. The hair began to grow on her arms and her back arched. She snarled once, then whimpered as Kevin pounced. Three needles jabbed into her back as the sword slashed her heel.
“That was for Winston, bitch,” Kevin said. He then punched her square in the jaw. “And that was for me.”
Paige rolled to her side, her good arm curled protectively around her belly. She gave a pleading look to Jonathan who was staggering into view. Kevin raised his katana. “You can survive a gut wound, right?” he asked with a laugh.
A howl pierced the night, before a blur streaked between Paige and Kevin. Blood sprayed across the night sky. Kevin staggered backward, blood pouring down new gashes across his face. His sunglasses clattered against the curb. Jonathan, however, dropped to his knees, his abdomen rapidly turning red.
“You’re supposed to kill her, you idiot!” Kevin cried, as the gashes on his face widened. He raised his sword again. A hand landed heavily on Kevin’s shoulder.
“I think you want to drop that,” Steve suggested to the surprised vampire.
“I would listen to the nice vampire, bloodsucker,” Toy growled. Kevin turned to see a gun pointed right at his center mass. “Unless you want to taste tetracycline and my fist.”
“This is not over yet,” was the last thing Paige heard before the tranquilizers finally knocked her out.
26
“This is so much better than going out,” Georgia said, as she leaned against the counter in lab two. She had managed to snag a veggie sub and sweet tea from the strip mall behind them, as well as a shiny new laptop, courtesy of the mysterious powers of Kayleigh. “Also, this is one thing the South gets right – tea should definitely have sugar, ice, and lemons in it.”
Gail looked up from her corner of the lab and sighed wistfully. “I do miss sweet tea,” she said.
“You can have a little bit, mi amor,” Javier said, leaning against her and generally being adorable. “It just won’t affect you as much as drinking someone who has just drunk tea. Also, I have brilliantly indexed the entire section on House Pendragon. You may all call me Capitán Fabuloso.”
“Well thank you, Captain Fabulous,” Georgia muttered, opening the new file. Javier rolled his stool over and checked her screen.
“I must apologize, señora. English is not my first language. Actually, it’s my fifth language, so I am not sure how good any translation may be,” he confessed. “What are you looking for in all these dusty old tomes?”
“Yeah, I don’t think I’d take reading the Arthurian legend in a musty lab over beers and chicken,” Kyle sighed, looking up from his notes. “Oh yeah, you don’t eat chicken, do you?”
“Nope, and I somehow can’t imagine it would go well to be at a table with Steve’s granddaughter and great-granddaughter. Awkward! No, I prefer my myths and legends, thank you very much,” Georgia declared.
Javier wheeled back so he could snuggle with Gail. The two shared a trucker cup full of someone delicious, while Kyle made do with a bag of Big Macs. Georgia studied the big redhead for a while. In the light from his screen, he looked paler and older than normal. For a moment, Georgia could picture a scar running across his face. She looked back at the tapestry onscreen and furrowed her brows.
“What is it?” Kyle asked, not looking up. “I’m an expert at surreptitious staring.”
“You’re a descendant of Mr. Lambley, right?” she asked.
Kyle shook his head. “I’m a descendant of his sister, technically. He’s my great-times-nine-uncle, and Lorcan is my great-times-nine-grandfather . . . by marriage. It’s awkward, I know.”
“And I’m technically some great-times-whatever-granddaughter of . . . Lancelot and Guinevere? The same Lancelot who is technically Lorcan. Wow, they sure like to keep everything in the family around here. I’m looking at an old tapestry, and I see a big guy with red hair and an embroidered blonde, but I don’t quite see it.”
“Hang on, I’ll send you some sketches your brother did,” Kyle said. “If you want to be freaked out, that is.”
“My brother can draw?” she asked as Kyle navigated her toward another set of files on their server.
“Really well, actually. It’s a muscle memory thing. Anyway, he had some wacky dreams after Lorcan swam around in his bloodstream, and this is what he drew,” Kyle explained as he pulled up some scans of pencil sketches. “Billy thought it would be best to archive everything . . . yeah . . . let’s start with the really awkward one first.”
“How awkward could it . . .? Oh!” she said as she saw a rather realistic drawing of her sucking face with a dead ringer for Lorcan. “Oh, that’s not right.”
She scrolled through pictures of what looked like an angry Kyle with a scar on his face, and a one-eyed crazy version of Morgan. She blushed again as she saw a sketch of a doppelgänger of herself holding hands with angry-scar Kyle in front of an altar.
“So, do you think there is something to that whole destiny thing and we’re all drawn to each other?” Kyle asked, looking over her shoulder. “I mean, it’s kinda creepy.”
“I’m more inclined to believe a bored, ancient vampire has manipulated us,” Georgia said bitterly. “Keep potential replacements handy and all that. Sorry man, I’m more interested in your distant cousin.”
“That’s OK - I’m more interested in your brother,” Kyle said with a little smile. Before Georgia could reply, Kyle’s phone buzzed. His face darkened as he placed it to his ear. “I understand. See you in five,” he said, his voice grave.
“What is it?” Georgia asked.
“We have two incoming, badly wounded. Gail, what have we got in the blood bank right now?” Kyle said.
“Mostly O negative. What have we got?”
/>
“All I know is that they were ambushed. Georgia - can you text Nadia and Kayleigh and call them back? Javier, can you make sure the way is clear? I’m going to set up the clinic back room. Gail, nab the IV.”
All of them rushed into action. A few minutes later the back door burst open and Steve rushed straight for the clinic, a limp and bloodied Paige in his arms. A few seconds after, Toy arrived carrying an unconscious stranger. “I’m taking him to the lab, you get Paige,” she called desperately.
Gail blanched as she saw Toy. “Jonathan!” she exclaimed. “I thought he was dead.”
“He will be if you don’t help me,” Toy snapped. Georgia rapidly cleared off one of the lab tables so Toy could set him down. The victim had the blood-soaked tatters of a T-shirt wrapped around his midsection and a ghastly pale complexion now. As Toy drew near, the world began to spin for Georgia. Gail took over next to Toy, slicing open the improvised bandaging with her claws and gasping as she saw the wound. Instinctively she spat on the gash.
“I need more tools,” Gail snapped. “Hold him still and I’ll be right back.”
“You’re not Toy,” Georgia blurted out the moment she came back to her senses. Toy cocked her head and clicked her tongue. An instant later Georgia went sprawling backward into the cabinets.
“You are the perpetual pain in my ass, Georgia Sutherland,” Toy growled. Gail rushed back into the room with a bag of tools and a rudimentary IV. She gasped as she saw Georgia prostrate on the floor.
“What—?” Gail cried, before she too went flying. Toy then leapt for the door, slammed it, locked it, and shoved a supply cabinet in front of it.
Toy picked up the tools Gail had dropped, then grabbed a scalpel and the bag containing Lorcan off the other table in the room. Georgia screamed as she heard the rip of canvas. A horrible gooey plop echoed throughout the lab.
Georgia scrambled along the cabinets. Toy pounced on her and grabbed the terrified human by the throat. Georgia gasped as Toy’s eyes changed from dark brown to emerald green. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see something red and slimy slithering across the unconscious victim’s chest.
“You know who I really am, don’t you?” Toy asked. She lifted Georgia up with one hand and slammed the helpless girl onto the same lab table as the slime and the unconscious man. “My son saved your life once, human. It’s time you returned the favor.”
Georgia screamed.
27
“Get up,” a voice commanded. Gail’s eyes fluttered open as the smell of blood filled her nose. Her head kept spinning. The words echoed in her ears, sending fresh pain through her skull.
“I said get up.” She clawed onto a melamine cabinet door and scrambled unsteadily to her feet.
“What have you done?” Gail gasped as she saw Georgia and Jonathan lying entwined on the table, a mass of red goo joining them at center mass. The IV tubes had been jabbed into Georgia’s arm. One ran into Jonathan, the other into the gelatinous mass. Gail fought her gag reflex as she watched the creature crawl, bit by bit, into the now-widened wound in Jonathan’s stomach.
“I did what I had to do,” Toy said, sinking her fangs into the IV bag. After a few gulps she tossed the bag to Gail. “That is old, barely usable. He’s going to need fresher supplies, and soon.”
Gail took a tentative step toward the horror show. Toy’s skin, meanwhile, began to gradually lighten as her hair unfurled. Soon a small Asian woman with bright green eyes smiled up at Gail. “You were always my favorite, Gail,” she said in a sweetly familiar voice. “Now prove it.”
“Jonathan,” Gail whispered, brushing her hand against his burning cheek. “What did you do to him?”
“I did nothing, except put him in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time to fulfill his destiny.”
“Y-You’re—”
“I have many names, child. For now, you may address me as Lady Lung – or Su Min, if you’re tragically informal.”
Jonathan shuddered. Su Min grabbed one arm while Gail held down the other. The bulk of Lorcan slithered into Jonathan’s abdominal cavity.
“You need to stitch him closed,” Su Min barked as she lunged to hold the convulsing host down with her body weight. “Hurry!”
Gail fumbled for a moment, but her old training took over. She held the two sides of the wound together and started stitching furiously. The vampire welled and oozed, while Jonathan vomited blood onto Su Min’s back. Gail gritted her teeth and fought to finish the stitching. Jonathan’s legs threatened to kick both Georgia and Gail with their incessant flailing.
“He’s going into arrest!” Gail said as she heard his heart thunder violently in his chest then suddenly stop. Jonathan’s limbs fell deathly flat against the table with a thud. Gail and Su Min stepped back and stared in horror at the limp, ashen form.
“No,” Lady Lung whispered.
Jonathan shuddered and convulsed again. Gail leaned closer and heard a steady, human heartbeat once more. Georgia, meanwhile, flopped helplessly on her back, a series of suction marks on her stomach.
“Jonathan is alive,” Gail marveled, taking his pulse. Her smile faded as she saw red striations crawling across Jonathan’s undulating belly and chest. Soon the marks crept up his neck and the convulsions began anew.
“I should have known it would be him,” Su Min reflected aloud. “He was always such an empty, angry vessel. Much like you became.”
“You set us up. You set all of us up,” Gail growled. The Lady Lung merely smiled.
“But of course.”
“Georgia!” came from beyond the door. The cabinet began to shake. “Georgia!”
“Oh dear, a family reunion was inevitable, I suppose,” Su Min sighed. “You had better find some fresh RH negative blood soon, or she’s going to be drained dry.”
Gail rammed into the side of the blockade, freeing the door. She had barely opened the lock when Steve shoved his way inside. Su Min gave him a bemused look as Steve’s face turned from anger to pure shock.
“Georgia,” he cried out once more. Before he could get to the table and rip her free, Su Min blocked his way.
“I wouldn’t do that, boy,” she said, her voice dangerously low.
Steve bared his fangs. Lady Lung merely rolled her eyes, and pummeled him with one backhand. Javier burst into the room a moment later and visibly paled.
“Jesucristo!” he exclaimed as he took it all in.
“Javier, how nice of you to join us,” Su Min said. “Would you kindly escort Steve out?”
“Dama Lung, you’re showing your real face,” he said, awestruck. “Did you . . .?”
“I did what was necessary, now you finish repaying your debt,” Su Min replied.
Steve struggled back to his feet, shaking off his bumps and bruises. He took another step toward Georgia. This time Javier blocked his way.
“Dama Lung asked you to leave. I think you should go.”
Steve held his ground. “What are you doing to Georgia, damn it?”
Su Min raised a brow. “Here you are, confronted with your own mother, about to save your eldest brother’s life, and you’re worried about a human girl?”
“I love her!” Steve blurted out. “So try and stop me.”
“Oh dear, you have been spending too much time with the Pendragons, boy,” Su Min sighed. “Javier.”
“You cannot stop me, Stefano. Walk away.”
Steve ducked to the right, but Javier grabbed his arms and the room lights flickered. Steve collapsed, shaking as the current coursed through him. “I told you to walk away,” Javier said again.
“Javier!” Gail interjected.
“Stay out of this, girl,” Su Min Lung warned, then raised a brow as Steve dragged himself back to his feet. He raised his fists in a pathetic show of pugnacity.
“Steve, you couldn’t beat Geoffrey Lambley when he was toothless. This one here is a werewolf killer. Listen to your mother and leave.”
“You’ll have to kill me,” Steve said,
still gasping for breath.
Su Min rolled her eyes. “I see you got your father’s dramatic streak,” she said and nodded to Javier.
Steve fell to the floor from shock number two. Javier breathed heavily. “You can’t take more of this, man. Stay down.”
Steve got back up. This time when Javier reached for him, Steve grabbed his arm. “You don’t want to hurt me, Javier. Stop this.”
“You really think a command is going to work on a vampire as old as Javier?” Su Min said with a mocking laugh. Her laughter faded as Javier took a step back, shaking his head. Steve darted to Georgia’s side.
“Don’t you dare,” Su Min warned. “Son, I’m warning you.”
Gail rushed to Javier’s side. He gently pushed her away. Both of them watched in awe as Steve pulled the siphon out of Georgia’s arm and stood protectively over her.
“It’s three against one, Son. If you don’t hook her back up now, there is a chance Lorcan will die, and then there is no one to stop Arthur. Steven James DeMarco, I am warning you . . .”
Steve only bared his fangs in response. In the commotion, Gail managed to slip out her phone and text the first werewolf she could, “Lorcan help now.” Su Min whirled around.
“What have you done, little bitch?” she demanded.
“I hate Steve - but I give him credit for balls,” Gail said, glaring at the Lady Lung. “So no, it’s not three against one.”
Two pairs of feral eyes glowed from the hallway. Lady Lung found herself pinched between the fangs of her son, and the furious talons of Nadia and Kayleigh.
“You still owe me, Javier the Exile,” Lady Lung warned.
“I will get the blood for Lorcan and do everything in my power to save him, if you leave now,” Javier said.
“I won’t forget this, Fox. You don’t have enough friends to lose me. If Lorcan dies, there will be nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide.”
“The longer you threaten us, the less time we have to save Lorcan,” Gail snapped. Lady Lung gave her a sidelong glare.
