Razor-like claws dug into my shoulder, raking down my arm, peeling the skin and muscle back until portions of bone were showing. I screamed in pain and my sword hit the ground as my arm immediately became useless. I spun in a flash, pivoting as I turned and caught the Shifter in a headlock. "You stupid son of a bitch!" I yelled, right before I bit into his neck. I didn't have the time for a feeding, but unless I took in a large amount of blood as quick as I could, my arm would take minutes to heal, instead of seconds.
As soon as I felt the skin of my arm begin to knit together, I dropped the unconscious Shifter to the floor. I slipped the sword I still held into its sheath with a small grunt of pain, and retrieved the other from where I had dropped it. The arm was healing fast, but I still needed to give it a short break. I snapped my head up as my ears picked up a sound I never expected to hear coming from the other room.
The telltale cries of children drifted through the air over the sounds of the fighting. I took two steps backward and ran forward, propelling myself up and over the line of opposition. But by the time I finally got into the room, it was too late. Just as I arrived, I saw Tristan jump through an open window carrying two children. "Irulan, Priest, I need you now!” I ran to the window, and looking out into the night, tracked Tristan and two Deadborns running through an alley across the street all holding a child under each arm.
They both ran into the room just as I was preparing to jump out of the window after Tristan and his minions. "Tristan - he's got kids as hostages," I explained as quickly as I could before sliding through the window and launching myself off the fire escape. I hit the ground running, shoving dumpsters and variety of discarded appliances out of my way as I went. I pushed my aura ahead of me and felt the familiar sensation of Tristan’s out in front of me in the moonlit block of buildings. I spared a quick glance upwards and noticed that all the streetlights I'd passed had been broken out. Another sign of nesting.
I pushed myself into a flash and closed the distance between us until I could finally see them ahead of me. Tristan kicked in the door to yet another abandoned building, and the three of them went inside with their screaming hostages. I briefly stopped across the street and leaned against the remains of a rusted old car. For a second I considered waiting for Irulan and Priest, but the thought of those children in danger pushed me forward and into the darkness. I prayed I was right about Tristan not wanting me hurt, if I weren't I'd just committed suicide by going in alone.
I looked around the empty expanse with UV and saw nothing but the red and yellow shapes of the rodents that called it home. I moved farther into the shadows, and put my back against the nearest wall to avoid someone jumping me from behind. Tristan and the Deadborns were in here somewhere. I felt him, but somehow he was masking their heat signatures from me.
When my backup arrived, I took a deep breath and prepared to begin searching the building. The three of us nodded in an unspoken agreement of the need for silence. Together we spread out and carefully began searching, over, under, and behind any obstacle we came upon that could be a hiding place. We searched fruitlessly for five minutes before we finally came upon a half gone Deadborn, lying under a mass of discarded newspapers and trash. I hauled him up by the lapels of his filthy shirt and looked him over, taking in his appalling condition.
The blonde hair on his head was dull and caked with dirt, and his skin had a sickly grey tint to it that was beyond pale, even by a Deadborn's standards, and it was pulled tightly over the sharp lines of his skull. His eyes were sunken so far into his head they were barely visible. Irulan reached forward and held his head up to get a look at his neck. Angry bite marks covered what must have been Tristan's latest meal.
I didn't have long to sympathize for the emaciated creature. I heard a faint click, then the sounds of something ripping through the air heading in our direction. I jerked my head around in time to see the flare of a gun muzzle as it continued to go off. The three of us scattered as a spray of bullets pelted the wall right where we had been. To hell with being quiet, I thought as I sprang upright with a yell and raced through the darkness in the direction of the shooter.
Connected to a row of some sort and rigged to go off on their own, I found a row of sub-machine guns. I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. "We've been set up!" I mentally kicked myself for my stupidity at not checking the building with my normal night vision. Tristan had counted on me scanning for him using my ultra violet, and he used that against me very effectively.
I picked up a spent shell casing and hurled it into the wall, furious at myself, and terrified for the children that they had. Walking by me, Priest inspected the weapons setup. "He knew you were coming, Trumaine. This setup was just for you, and from the looks of it, he's a patient bastard.” Priest turned and held up one hand covered in dust and another that held an envelope with my name written on it. I took the envelope and pulled out a pulled out a picture. It was one of Tristan and me during one of our seemingly happier moments, taken at one of Trumaine Enterprise's charity functions. Across the bottom Tristan had written, 'My how time flies! See you soon, Tris'.
Anger, frustration, and confusion, so many emotions fought for dominion inside my head. Irulan walked over and took the picture from me. "Suck it up, Valeria. We don't have the time for you to wallow. Those kids don't have time for it. You need to pick up his scent, and you need to do it now!"
I snapped out of my funk and took a deep breath, but I could not find Tristan's base scent anywhere. The weaker scent of his Deadborns was everywhere, along with the cold tang of rusted metal, old denim, and the musky smell of old newspaper. "This isn't right," I mumbled as I quickly began moving through the building, taking small breaths as I went.
Irulan and Priest trailed behind me demanding to know what was wrong, but I was unable to voice what was going through my mind because I didn't understand it myself. Asking Priest for help in locating Tristan's missing scent was useless because they had never met and he would have no idea what Tristan's base scent would smell like. I searched the structure twice before I finally stopped and turned to the both of them, "It doesn't make any sense. I felt his aura, I followed them here, but Tristan's scent is nowhere in this building."
"What are you talking about, Trumaine?" Priest asked, with a frustrated edge in his voice. "If you followed him here, his scent should be here. Either your nose is off or your head is."
Irulan rounded on Priest, "Not the time, Dead Man. we've got more important things to attend to."
Priest stepped forward to stand in her face, "So it's OK for her to treat me like shit when I fuck up, but when she does, no one gets to call her on it? I don't think so.”
Irulan shoved him backwards causing him to stumble, "Do not try my patience.” She turned and asked, "Are you sure it was Tristan? Did you scent him back at the apartment, or was it just his aura?"
"I felt him. There were too many bodies for me to get a definite trace of his scent. Why does that matter? I know his aura almost as well as I know yours."
Irulan cursed and balled up the picture that she still held onto. "One of the spells in that book gives the practitioner the ability to be in two places at once. A person's aura is a representation of the ether that we hold inside of us. Our bodies mold it until it becomes our own, but it can be duplicated in another with the right knowhow. It's not an easy process, but it is possible. A person's scent, however, no matter how much you wash, or cover it up with cologne and perfume, can't be duplicated or faked."
"How the hell was I supposed to know that?" I demanded, my frustration growing in leaps and bounds. As my anger increased, my shields weakened, and I began to feel auras all around us. I scanned the building, "We've got company,” I said as quietly as I could. Irulan's aura brushed against my own as she felt for herself.
"There's no one here, Trumaine," said Priest, "We need to regroup for the night..."
Irulan raised a hand, cutting him off. She pointed her finger towards the skylights high above us. "They'
re on the roof, asshole, Deadborns, Human children, and someone that may or not be Tristan."
No sooner were the words spoken than we began to hear footsteps above us. From the sounds, we were sorely outnumbered. "Suggestions?" I asked, even as my mind raced to formulate a defense strategy.
Priest looked up towards the roof for any sign of attack, when he yelled a single word, "Move!" I jerked my head upwards to catch a glimpse of Tristan’s face before he backed away and smashed the glass with a foot.
A shower of broken glass rained down on us, and the Deadborns began throwing children through the skylights above us. Priest and I flashed through the building, leaping up into the air to catch as many as we could, but the skylights were spaced far apart, and the children hurtled towards us with Vampire speed. We landed for the third time, each of us carrying two children, when a young teenage boy came barreling through the roof at the other end of the structure. The youngster was screaming bloody murder as the end of his life rushed towards him. At the same moment, they dropped four other children right above us, leaving us with a heartbreaking decision, flash to catch the one, or save the four.
Suddenly, the air got heavy, and wind whipped around us, effectively knocking us down mid-leap. Irulan caught all five children in an air pocket and brought them safely to the ground. In an effort to prepare for whatever was coming next, we hustled the shocked kids into a corner, covered them with discarded clothing, and formed a loose semicircle around them.
A single Deadborn with a twisted leer on his face dropped down through the roof and landed in front of us, “My sire sends me with instructions for your surrender. He says he will spare the rest of the kids if the Elf and the Vampire leave. He wants to speak with Ms. Trumaine alone."
Before I had a chance to answer, Irulan replied, "That's not going to happen, and unless you and yours are dead set on becoming ash in the very near future, I suggest you get the other children and bring them to us, now."
Muffled cries drifted down from the roof as the Vampires scattered. Priest shot upwards and disappeared from sight. I heard the sounds of struggle and then Priest's aura got faint as he moved farther and farther away, no doubt chasing after the kids. I was just about to join him when Vampires began pouring through the roof. I flung my conscious ahead searching for Tristan's aura but came up empty. Despite the rift between us, I got scared for Priest's life.
"I can't feel Tristan anymore,” I called to Irulan as I dodged a charging Deadborn and thrust a sword through the heart of another. Irulan's eyes were blazing as she called Deadborn after Deadborn to dirt, but they just kept coming. She looked and saw the unspoken request written on my face.
"I'm not leaving you," she cried, "they're too many of them!” A female jumped on my back, wrapped her arm and legs around me, and bit into my ear. I yelled, flashed backwards into a wall, and broke her hold causing her to fall to the ground. I drew my leg back to kick her, but when I brought it forward, I met nothing but air and ashes.
"You don't have a choice, Irulan," I said, dodging a fist and countering with a roundhouse, sending the recipient flying. "If we really felt Tristan in there, Priest is as good as dead. He can't save those kids alone, and I can't run the risk of being wrong about Tristan not wanting to hurt me. If I go, and I am, then both of us are toast. Both of us can't go because I refuse to leave these children alone. You're the only one that can take him one on one."
As I cut down two more Newborns, Irulan reluctantly turned to go. I moved into the darkness and rushed the crowd of oncoming newborns. They came at me in two's and three's, but I hacked and slashed my way through anything that stepped in my way. I fought until my shoulders burned from swinging my sword, but I held firm until they finally wised up and rushed me all at once.
As fast and as strong as I am, even I couldn't fight against so many at once. It took five Newborns to capture and hold me. When they finally had me around the neck, arms, and legs, the same vamp that had spoken earlier stood in front of me with a satisfied smirk on his face,. "This could have been avoided, Ms. Trumaine. Now I'm going to have to incapacitate you until his arrival."
The smug little fucker threw a handful of some type powder directly into my face. "Why does everyone keep screwing with my eyes?" I yelped while the group that had latched onto me cried out with surprise and dismay.
The appointed leader snapped quickly, "Quit whining, you're serving Tristan's will, and you know there are rewards in the end for anything you have to endure I'm going to let him know everything went according to plan. Remember, Tristan doesn't want her hurt." My head began to spin, and a wave of nausea rippled through my stomach. My eyes began watering, and everything went black, no night vision, no UV, I tried lowering my films, but they felt welded to my eyelids. I couldn't use my eyes for the time being.
Remember what they say about the mouse while the cat was away? As soon as the lead dipstick was gone, they threw me to the ground and gave me a firm kick in the stomach. A feminine voice laced with contempt rang out in the darkness. "Tristan could have his choice of any one of us. I don't see what's so special about her.”
"He wants and deserves the best. She took down twenty-one of us before we were able to stop her. Can you do that?" Another faceless voice replied. I turned my face towards them, intent on antagonizing them as much as possible. I planned to use their small amount of control against them to try to push them to turn on each other.
"I can take a complement as well as the next girl, but are you sure you're cock blocking for Tristan's sake and not your own? You sound like maybe you think no woman is good enough for Tristan if you know what I mean.”
I balled up in pain after receiving another kick to the midsection. The faceless voice didn't take too kindly to my gay inference I guess. "Did I hit a little too close to home, buddy? That why you're lashing out? I bet, underneath all that black, there's a rainbow waiting to happen.”
The female shrieked just before I heard the sounds of a struggle. One seed of doubt was all it took, and they were on each other kicking and screaming, clawing and snapping, all trying to be the first to draw blood. I heard footsteps on the rooftop, and a voice floated down, "It's just Sheila and Darren again. No, she's fine. She can’t see anything anyway.
I waited until the footsteps moved again then I quietly drew a handful of thin throwing spikes from my leg holster and I let them fly through the darkness, using the sounds from their fighting as my guide. I flung them as fast as I could, and followed every noise until I heard the thump of two bodies hit the floor. The ones that managed to elude me realized I was tracking them by ear and stopped moving. I used the distraction to look for the kids. They were alone with no idea of how to remain unnoticed. I heard the small whimpers of fear they were making and knew if I heard it so did the Newborns.
They could come after the kids or me but they knew the moment they made a sound I was going to send a spike flying in their direction, and I was a lot faster than they were.
For the moment, we were at a standstill, but it wouldn't last for long. The guards above were sure to hear the absence of fighting and would be here in seconds to check out what was going on.
I somehow made it back to the children, through the darkness. The nine kids had the sense to stay huddled together under the covering we had placed over them, but the moment I pulled it back, a little girl saw my bloodied face and fangs, and began screaming her head off. I already had to worry about Deadborns tracking the kids by both sight and scent. I didn't need to add anything else to the list. I pleaded, shushed, and begged her to be quiet but nothing I did or said worked.
The heavy thumps of Deadborns landing began resonating through the air. "I'm done with this shit," said a young male. "She's killed two more of us. Are we just going to stand around while she picks us off and let her get away with it? Instead of fighting with each other let’s teach this bitch a lesson."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Shit. I felt the aura of another vamp land somewhere out there in the
darkness. By my count that made eight. Eight baby-vamps hyped-up by blood lust and the promise of an easy kill - not exactly what I was going for. I was beginning to hate sending Irulan after Priest and the runners, but it was too late.
Tristan knew I wouldn't be able to leave the kids to face their possible deaths at the hands of his flunkies. Dropping them through that skylight and taking off with the others was his ticket to freedom, for the moment. Hopefully, it was a short-lived triumph on his part, especially if Irulan actually caught up with him.
The girl was still crying no matter what I said. The only thing she saw was a monster. As far as she was concerned, I was no different from the one that took her from her mommy and daddy. As much as I hated doing it, I reached inside the terrified girl's mind and simply shut it off.
As her body relaxed, I handed her off to one of the older boys. I quickly weighed my options - stay here, cornered, and try to protect the kids, leaving us open to a potential ambush from all eight vamps, or go on the offensive and try to take them out before they got a pinpoint on our hiding place.
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