by Kat Cotton
“Get out of here!” Nic yelled. “We have enough to deal with without you.”
“I need to sort this out.” McConchie’s booming voice was easy to hear even over the alarm.
Just as he said that, the alarm cut out, making his voice more booming that ever.
“You bring a stake anywhere near me, and I will kill you,” Nic told him. He wasn’t joking.
McConchie stared at him. “Where are the vampires? The real vampires, I mean. I need to sort this mess out.”
Nic ignored that “real vampire” crack. “You didn’t see any coming in?”
“I came through the basement car park and up the fire stairs. It all looked clear.”
Before I could cut McConchie down to size, Andre returned with the family.
“I can’t get them out, not on my own,” he said. “There are about two dozen vampires in the foyer, smashing shit up. A bunch more moving in on the place. We need another way out.”
I sure as hell didn’t want to stick around either. Screw this shit.
I pushed Shelley out of the way and banged on the door. This was no time for gentle coaxing.
“Listen up, people. This situation is getting dire. You have two choices: come with us and maybe have a chance of surviving, or stay in there and die. But we’re leaving, because your stubbornness isn’t worth losing our lives. I’m going to count to five, and if you aren’t out, well, it was nice knowing you. One... two... three...”
Two doors opened. A couple came out of one apartment, a woman with two kids from the other. One of the girls was holding a cat in her arms. Shelley grabbed them up and got them into the hallway.
“Is that everyone?” Nic asked.
“Yep,” the kid with the cat said. The cat hissed at me.
“I have no idea who you people are, and I’m not sure I trust you,” one of the men said.
All the families glared at us with mistrust.
“Dude, really?” I said. “You’re in a burning building, surrounded by vampires. We’re your only hope. Trust or not, can you smell that smoke?” The smell had become stronger. Strong enough to burn my lungs. “If you don’t get out of here, you’re doomed.”
“Okay, people, stick together. We need to get out of here safely,” Nic said.
“Oh my God. You’re that guy, the motivational speaker. I have all your DVDs,” one of the women said. She almost squealed it. Hell, could we go anywhere without running into Nic fangirls?
“Have you taken my online course? I highly recommend it.”
“This is no time for networking,” I said. “We need to make a move.”
“Come on, people,” McConchie threw in, as though he was the one in charge here. Trust McConchie to always be a tool.
“Down the stairs to the basement,” Nic said. “We want to avoid the foyer.”
“I’ll go ahead and get the van,” Andre said. “I’ll pick you up in the car park.”
“Smart thinking,” Nic said. “You got in okay?” he asked McConchie.
McConchie nodded.
Jeb, Shelley and Luis took the lead to the fire stairs. The rest of us followed the civilians.
“We should be fighting these vamps,” Harry said.
“Screw that,” said Nic. “We’ll get these people to safety, then leave the vamps to their destruction.”
“You can. I’m a demon fighter. Fighting’s what I do.”
“Well, you’re an idiot. There’s way too many of them for us to take on.”
McConchie rolled his eyes. “Maybe it’s too much for you, but I can handle it.”
“Big talk, McConchie,” I said. “You couldn’t even kill Nic, and you had that illegal strength-sapping juice.”
He was an idiot. Everyone knew you had to take down the kingpin, not waste time with the small fry. That made me think. What had he and Bob used on Nic that time? It’d totally sapped Nic’s strength. If we had some of that stuff, it might come in handy.
“The Demon Fighters Council has called me in on this,” McConchie said.
“Obviously, they didn’t need you, Starr.”
“They did. I knocked them back.”
“You’re playing with fire. You can’t just knock back the Council.”
“You’ll be playing with fire if we don’t get out of here. Real fire, not piss-weak Council fire. When all this is over and the dust has settled, the literal vampire dust, who knows if there’ll even be a Council left.”
We filed down the stairs, footsteps clanging on the metal.
When we got to the third floor, even in the stairwell, we could feel the heat of the fire. From the thuds and yells, there were a helluva lot of vampires around. We needed to move fast. But those civilians just seemed to mosey along, like we were going to a picnic.
“Step lively, people. This is an emergency, remember?” I called.
We all stopped when we got to the basement car park. The tiny space at the foot of the stairs was too small for so many people, so I stayed on the stairs.
“I’ll go out and scout for vamps,” Jeb said, opening the fire door a fraction. Then he slipped out.
The cat kept squawking, and I tried to stay away from it. Cats do not like me.
The humans murmured. Damn ungrateful bastards. If they’d been a bit less lacking in common sense, we’d not have had to rescue them in the first place. Then I’d have more time for important stuff, like Kisho sex.
“Looks fine,” said Jeb when he returned a moment later. “All clear. Andre has the van just outside the door with the engine running.”
“Ready to run,” Nic said. “Once I open the door, sprint for the van. Don’t look around, don’t be distracted. Just get in the van.”
He opened the door, and we herded the families out. Shelley went first to make sure it was safe, then the kids and the adults. The vamps and I went out last.
I jumped in the van, and we slid the door closed.
“Hey, what’s McConchie doing?” I asked.
“Going to his own car, probably. It’s not like he’s coming home with us,” Nic said.
I spotted him running across the car park as we took off.
A couple of vamps jumped him.
“Shit!” I yelled.
One of the mothers tsked like I shouldn’t be swearing, but she didn’t see those vamps drag McConchie. McConchie didn’t stand a chance.
I hated the guy, but they had him pinned. He’d never escape. He’d be ripped from limb to limb.
I jumped up. “Stop the van!”
“What are you doing?” Nic said.
“I’ve got to help him.”
“We can’t wait for you. We’ve got to get these kids out of here,” Andre said.
“You go. I’ll find my own way home.”
I slid the door open and jumped out. Shelley jumped out with me. We both ran for McConchie. I’d save his life and have bragging rights forever. He’d never be able to open his big mouth again without me mentioning this. I’d be all like, “Yeah, remember that time I saved your life?” and he’d have to shut his pie hole.
I grabbed the stake out of my pocket. Two vamps against the three of us. This shouldn’t take long.
Shelley grabbed one of the vampires around the neck, trying to pull him off McConchie. I worked my aura on the other, but he wouldn’t look at me. Without eye contact, the aura didn’t work. Had word gotten out?
Something moved in the shadows. A bunch more vamps swarmed.
I struck out at one of them, not managing to stake him but piercing his shoulder. He screamed and doubled over. Wow, what a pussy little bitch.
Before I could strike at him again, another vampire grabbed me around the neck. I staked his hand to break his grasp, then twirled around to boot him in the nuts. He fell to the ground, and I staked him. Pierced-shoulder guy was still wailing from the pain, so I put him out of his misery. Two dusted vamps, but a third one came at me. I staked him too. Easy pickings.
I turned back to Shelley, expecting that he’d
have fought off the others and saved McConchie. Shelley was safe, but McConchie was lying on the ground, blood squirting from his neck. A vamp knelt beside him and started lapping at that blood. I didn’t like the look on McConchie’s dead-white face. I’d never liked the look of his face, but that paleness made me shudder. His legs twitched in a weird way, too.
“Get off him!” I yelled.
The vamp fled at the sight of my stake.
“McConchie, are you okay? Get up.”
He groaned. He’d sure lost a lot of blood.
“Get up,” I said. “This is no time for lazing around.”
I glanced at Shelley. Shelley shook his head, but this was no head-shaking matter. McConchie would be fine.
“You have to get up, McConchie. We have to go.” I cradled his head, trying to sit him up. His throat had been cut. Deep. Shit, that did not look good.
I turned to Shelley again. “We have to do something.”
“It’s too late. We need to get out of here.”
“It’s not too late!” I screamed.
I propped McConchie up. “Don’t die. Don’t you dare die. I’m going to win the Demon Fighter Award again this year, and it won’t be any fun without you there, crying your man tears.”
His head slumped at a funny angle, but I got him upright. A stupid lump in my throat choked me, but it wasn’t too late. McConchie would be fine. He had to be.
“Clem, leave him.”
“I can’t leave him. He’s just doing this for attention.” I shook him. That didn’t help. “McConchie, you fucking tool. Wake the fuck up.”
That guy made me so mad with his pretending to be dead. I slapped him.
Shelley reached down and took his wrist.
“There’s no pulse. Nothing. It’s over for him.”
That couldn’t be possible. As long as I’d been demon fighting, McConchie had been my rival. You can’t win unless there’s someone you want to beat. Otherwise, it’s all a bit pointless. Sure, McConchie had been a pain in the butt, and he’d tried to kill Nic, but death — that was the stupidest thing he’d ever done.
“Wake up. Wake up now!”
“Does he have his car keys?” Shelley asked. “We can take his body back for his family. That’ll be better than leaving it here.”
“It’s not a body,” I said. “Body” sounded ominous and final.
Shelley searched McConchie’s jacket pockets. Before he found the keys, another bunch of vampires struck. One of them flung me away from the body. He was stronger than the others, much older. My body jarred when I hit the concrete.
“Prepare to die!” I yelled. I’d dropped my stake, but I still had my knife.
The others grabbed McConchie and dragged him away. I sprang to my feet and bolted after them. They couldn’t just take his body. God knew what they’d do with it. Drain him dry, then mutilate him, probably.
But Shelley grabbed me.
“You can’t go in there. We can’t fight them alone, and you’re covered in blood now. That’s going to be a red flag to them. It’s not good, Clem, but we have to leave him.”
I wanted to fight him, but more vampires were moving around us. I couldn’t see them, but I heard them, scurrying like rats.
“Come on, Clem. We need to move quickly.”
I fought down the sob in my throat as Shelley grabbed my hand. We took off at a run before any of the vamps could target us.
Chapter 24: Memorial
“I need to feed, Nic,” Kisho said. “I need blood.”
“You can’t keep feeding on those girls.”
“I can’t feed on the girls, and I can’t leave the house. What the hell am I supposed to do?” Kisho slumped on the sofa with his arms crossed.
What? Was he going through vampire adolescence?
A gap had grown between us. Not like before. He wasn’t angry or cold with me; he’d just become fixated on feeding. Like a junkie. A sulky, teenage blood junkie. We weren’t even having sex. All he cared about was feeding.
This feeding frenzy was driving Nic nuts, too.
“I’m working on sourcing more food. In the meantime, there are some frozen blood bags left over from when Vlad was here. You can make yourself a smoothie with them or something. But long-term, you have to learn to control this. You can’t constantly feed. You’ll end up endangering all of us.” Nic wasn’t joking about that.
Kisho nodded, but his hands shook.
I had plenty to say on this topic too, but my phone rang. Portia.
“We’re having a memorial for Harry,” she said. “Since there’s no body, it’s the only thing we can do.”
“What about his father?”
Shouldn’t Harry’s rich and influential father be organizing something like that?
“He’s left the city, and he’s not coming back for it. Says it’s too dangerous. There aren’t many people left.”
I wasn’t sure when Portia and Harry had become so tight that she was the one organizing a memorial for him, but then you never know with people. I got the details from Portia. Tomorrow, Harry’s office.
“You are not going to a memorial for that guy,” said Nic. “He tried to kill me. You’re far too friendly with my enemies.”
“Hey, the mayor was the one who hired him, and you two got all up in each other’s business there for a while. You’re just being a hypocrite. You can’t be angry at Bob and Harry but not the mayor.”
Nic folded his arms and huffed. He knew I was right. He might’ve thrown the mayor out of the house, but he’d joined that stupid Facebook group. The one I hadn’t been invited to join.
“They used that black magic on me to make me weak. That was so not on,” Nic said.
“Point. Hey, do you think we could use that against the Vampire King? It’d weaken him and give us an advantage.”
“Give who an advantage? Not me, not Kisho, not the rest of the pack. Just you.”
That was true. But then the rest of the pack would be under the Vampire King’s control anyway, so we’d be no better off.
“Kisho could wear a gas mask. Then he wouldn’t be affected.”
“I’m not sure if it works that way.”
“Since we have no idea what they used, we have no idea what works or doesn’t,” I said. Nic was just being contrary.
I really needed a coffee, but Kisho had disappeared. I had a pretty good idea of where he’d gone. He really needed to get this feeding under control if it was going to interfere with my coffee.
I stretched out my legs, rubbing my calves. They’d become all tight and knotted after I’d run with Shelley back to the lair.
“Don’t put your dirty feet on my sofa,” Nic said. “Anyway, it’s forbidden magic. Black magic. You start messing with that shit, and it never ends well. Everyone knows that. It’s in every movie ever made about magic.”
I knew that too, but we needed every advantage we could get.
“You know who would know what would work against the Vampire King?” I said. “Your old mate, Yamaguchi.”
“He’s not answering his phone. We did him a favor, he did us one. As far as he’s concerned, we’re quits.”
I sighed. That old man had really annoyed me, but he did seem to have all the cool paranormal artifacts.
“Don’t you have anything else he wants?” I asked.
“Well, I have you, but I don’t know if I can pimp you out at the moment.” Nic crossed his legs and smiled at me. That smug smile left me with no doubt that he’d normally have no qualms about pimping me out.
“There will be no pimping me out. Hey, maybe he’d like a dragon tooth. That would give us bargaining power, right?”
“So, where do you plan to get a dragon tooth from? You have a spare one sitting around gathering dust?” Nic rolled his eyes, like he thought I was just talking for the sake of it. Which, for once, I wasn’t.
“No, but Harry McConchie does. Did. In his office.”
Nic clicked his tongue. “Wow, Clem Starr, you’re plann
ing on going to this guy’s memorial and stealing his dragon tooth? That’s a new low.”
“Low, schmow. He’s not using it. Most people wouldn’t even recognize what it was, and it’d end up getting thrown out in the garbage. If we can use it to defeat the Vampire King, it’s what McConchie would’ve wanted. The ends justify the means.”
“Hey, I’m not arguing with you. If you can get the dragon tooth, I’ll set it up with Yamaguchi.”
“Deal.”
“And wear something modest to this thing.”
“Dude. I know how to dress for dead people.”
Okay, the last time I’d gone to a funeral, I was eight years old, and it was my parents’ funeral. Some stranger had picked out my clothes, but that didn’t mean I was a complete numbskull.
“Hey, what does a dragon tooth do, anyway?” I asked. “I thought it was cool, but I have no idea.”
“You can use it to create an army.”
I sat up straight. “Dude! Can’t we just keep the tooth and raise our own army? We could use that army to fight the shit out of the Vampire King and his demon hordes.”
“Do you have any concept of how much trouble an army would be? Someone has to command that army. Someone has to feed them. You can’t just raise an army willy-nilly. What we need is a simple charm or amulet to protect us from the Vampire King’s power. Something that will harm him but not us.”
“You know, there used to be this old fortune teller down on the waterfront who sold shit like that.”
Nic harrumphed. “Yeah, that sounds legit.”
“Yeah, she sold me this ring.” I held up my hand to show him the wolf ring. “She said the eyes would flash if I’m in danger. I thought that was a load of bollocks, but it flashed when we were in the warehouse with the Vampire King. No shit.”
He shook his head. “Did that do you any good? I think not.”
Well, yeah, he was right. It wasn’t like I couldn’t have worked that out on my own. Except it did warn me just what a major danger he was.
“A bit,” I agreed, “but it does get caught on absolutely everything. You should try getting your wallet out of your pocket when you’ve got something like this on your finger.”
I lay back, rubbing my calf again. Nic stood up and grabbed hold of my leg, cupping it in his hand.
