by Megan Hawke
"Plural?" Gabe said. "You screwed them all?"
I ignored him and caught Dane's eyes. "I told you to stay out. You ignored me, and came this close to handing me over to Antoinette on a silver platter."
"No."
"Yes! You ignored my warning and went in. I sensed Antoinette inside, so had no choice but go in to save you."
"I can take care of myself," he snapped.
"Did you? Or did you fall utterly and completely under her erotic power?" I demanded. "She turned you and everyone in that club into oversexed horn dogs, me included," I continued, eyes narrowing. I could feel my rage radiating out, and tried to clamp it down. Sometimes it was hard to control. "Antoinette had me. The only reason I am not hers right now, off selling my butt on a street corner, is because I told her about Timmy and Jeff Howell. This vampire obsession with returning favors meant she let me go. And that is the only reason I am here."
Everyone stared incredulously at me. I shook as I took a deep breath, struggling to calm down. Really, I didn't mean for it to go that far, but the realization of just how close I came to being captured and subjugated by Antoinette hit me.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Don't be sorry. Listen to me!" I cried. I turned on Gabe. "You're just as bad. Listen to me when I warn you. I sense things you cannot."
I stood there and glowered at them. Yeah, I was kinda embarrassed that I lost it, but not about what I said. It was all true. Unfortunately, I turned a nice comfortable moment into something very uncomfortable.
"So…" Desiree said, looking me over. "What are your plans for tonight? Going shopping? I wanna go."
I did a double-take. She grinned at me. Then I felt everyone starting to relax. She was good at defusing bad situations, but shopping?
"Shopping sounds like fun, but not tonight," I said. I felt Sabrina pulling up outside. I didn't have a link with her, but once she got close I could pick her out of a crowd with just my vampiric senses. "I'm going to my first Wild On run tonight."
"What!?!" four voices cried in unison.
I grinned wickedly. What was up with my perverse pleasure in shocking people in general, and my closest friends in particular? Had to be part of the vampire curse.
"Someone go open the door for Sabrina," I said. They all just turned to gawk at the door. No one moved. Then she knocked and they all jumped. "What's wrong with y'all? Answer the door."
Didn't matter. It wasn't locked and Sabrina just came inside. She was a little surprised to see three people heading for the door. Gabe didn't bother, and started flipping through the on-screen guide.
"Sable! Have you heard?" Sabrina said.
"Heard what?" I said, already not liking it. She looked worried and angry. I prayed it wasn't something I did or didn't do.
"Mom and Dad joined up with the Saxons and started a movement against vampires and vampire run businesses," Sabrina said.
Everyone's jaw dropped. Who was stupid enough to do something as asinine as that? That's like slapping a polar bear and telling it to behave.
"Do they have death wishes?" I asked.
"That's what I asked them," Sabrina said. "They won't listen to me. And it gets worse."
"How can it get any worse than that?" I said. A hundred ways to make it worse raced through my mind. Which one did my crazy parents choose? "What did they do?"
"Nothing. Yet," she said. "But they have a list of businesses owned by vampires. Some members of their little vigilante church group want to go burn them down."
"Wahoo for them," Gabe said. "Talk about kicking a hornet nest."
"Can it, Gabe," I said. "Where are they, Sabrina? One of the churches?"
"Daddy's church, for now," she said. "They are fortifying it against vampires."
"How do you fortify against vampire?" Kale said.
"Lots of crosses all around you and the church," I said.
"Holy Water in the sprinkler system," Gabe said.
"Don't be ridiculous, Gabe. My parents are in danger," I said.
"I'm not joking," he said. "That's what the Van Viegens do. Besides all the crosses, they run sprinklers all night using holy water."
"The Van Viegens are all ministers of their own church, so they can bless their own water every day," Dane said. He shook his head. "He's telling the truth. They have this huge water tank that they fill up every day and only have to do one prayer. Works like a charm."
"Well, I won't be making any social calls over there," I said. Jokes aside, my blood ran cold. What were my parents and the Saxons thinking? My father and Reverend Saxon had Doctorates of Theology. My father studied the Curse of the Undead extensively. Didn't they all? They should know better. "They're all at the church right now?"
"Yes," Sabrina said, perking up. "I knew you'd fix it."
"Fix it? Me?" I said. "I can't make Daddy do anything. Since when does he listen to me?"
I looked meaningfully at Dane, and then Gabe. They both averted their eyes.
"But now you're undead, and a successful vampire slayer," Sabrina said. "He has to listen to you. You know things he can't know."
"Exactly, and that's why this scares me so damned much," I said. "They do not know the kind of vampires that are out there, and what they are capable of doing."
I turned on a heel and strode back to the master bedroom I shared with Kale. The chest of drawers in my closet held all my weapons, ammo, and vampire staking supplies. I shucked the biker jacket, and pulled out a double shoulder holster. I strapped it around my shoulders, across my back. It was tight to keep the pistols from flapping around while running or fighting. It wasn't comfortable and did restrict movement. But it carried two Glock 31 pistols.
I put the jacket back on, and put a Baby Glock in the right pocket. A switchblade with sanctified silver casing on the blade went into my back left pocket, then I picked up one of my katanas. I owned six katanas, and four more Glocks. I went through them fast. Finally, I stuffed my jacket's pockets full of spare magazines.
"I'm going to the church," I said, returning to the living room. I looked at Dane. "After I try to talk some sense into my parents, I'm going to the Trudeau Wild On Run."
Everyone gawked at me, then at the sword in my hand. Gabe perked up, looking excited. Sabrina was really more confused.
"Why?" Dane said. "Are you crazy?"
"Probably," I said. "But I have to talk to Henri, and I just want to see a Wild On for myself. And find out what a Run is all about, too."
"Can I go?" Gabe asked.
"You weren't invited."
"I'll be your guest. You should be allowed to take a guest," Gabe said.
He had a point. I doubted Henri would like it, but if he wanted me there he'd let Gabe in as well.
"Okay, but don't get mad at me if they turn you away at the gate," I said.
"No problem. I get along great with other werewolves," Gabe said.
He did not. Mostly, they didn't like the fact he didn't belong to a pack. Lone wolves were trouble for everyone.
"Probably because you're so damned hairy," Dane said. He caught my eyes, looking pained. "I can't let you go to the Wild On alone. I'm going with you."
"She's not going alone, I'll be with her," Gabe said.
Dane gave him a hard glance, but turned his attention back to me. Gabe returned his gaze.
"Dump the testosterone first," I said. "It makes me horny." That startled them. I laughed. "Stop worrying about each other, and start worrying more about the vamps and wolves. There will be tons of both there. If we go in together, then we have to go in as a team. One for all, and all of you covering my butt."
"I'm going, too," Sabrina said. We all turned to stare at her a long moment. "You promised I could be part of the team. I'm going."
"No, you're not," I said. "There isn't anything for you to do at the Wild On except be passed around by vamps and wolves."
"What?"
"The Wild On ends in an orgy," Gabe said. "They always do. Do you want to be gang-banged by
men who never tire? Never go flaccid?"
"Never?"
"Ever," I said. "It's the best part about being a vampire."
"And a werewolf," Gabe said.
"Oh, well, I'm going with you to talk to Dad and Mom," she said.
"That should be safe enough," Dane said.
"Besides, Gabe has been teaching me to shoot," Sabrina said. She pulled open her jacket to reveal a pistol in a shoulder holster. "And I'm taking Dane's Krav Maga classes. I can take care of myself."
"That's what I thought just before I was caught and Changed," I said. "Don't get too cocky. That'll just get you killed." I headed for the door. "Let's go. We'll take my car."
"Why your car?" Gabe said. "I have a Jeep Unlimited with more room."
He did have that four-door Jeep.
"My car's faster," I said. "And you boys drive too slow."
"You mean we drive safely," Dane said.
"Yeah. How boring is that?" I said.
It took them a few minutes to sort out who rode where. Even with my parents and friends in grave danger they fought over who got to ride shotgun. Gabe finally settled in behind me, with Sabrina next to him and Dane at shotgun. Dane won since he had the longest legs and needed the most room. That was his argument, anyway.
I turned the key and paused to enjoy the deep-throated roar of the engine as it started. The idle was a deep base rumble that gave me chills. After checking to ensure my state-of-the-art radar detector was on, I headed for Plano and my father's church in far West Plano.
"You got a Shelby?" Dane said. It was the first time he'd ridden in my new Mustang.
"Is that good?" Sabrina said.
"Oh, it's good," I said, and punched the gas. The car lurched forward, the engine roared to life and almost drowned out the squealing of tires. "Very good."
I had to hit the brake ten seconds later, since it was still early and the streets were full of traffic. Dang it. Those two o'clock in the morning runs were the best. But we made it to Preston Road in record time, and I headed north towards the church.
The first bank we passed said it was 52 degrees. Did a warm front come through? I really didn't care one way or another, as long as it didn't snow or sleet. I couldn't drive on icy roads. Heavy foot syndrome.
Once we passed over LBJ the traffic got a little better with every intersection. Most of the people seemed to be going to Plano as well. I never had an opportunity to open her up, so it was a quarter after six before we arrived at the church.
"Oh, man, they've been busy," Gabe said.
White painted crosses were standing twenty feet deep all the way around the church. Someone had painted more crosses on the roof, and every window and door bore a new cross.
"Damn," I said, and pulled over a block from the church. Averting my eyes, I riffled through the center console until I found my mirrored sunglasses. That helped a little bit. "I brain farted. I forgot I can't look at religious symbols."
"Who are all those people outside the church?" Sabrina said, and banged on the back of Dane's seat. So we all got out. "Are they protesters? They're just standing there staring at the church."
"Something's not right," I said. I'm the high priestess of understatements. "Are they standing absolutely still?"
I realized at that second that none of them had auras. Even vampires had auras. How could someone not have an aura? I couldn't ask Dane, Gabe, or Sabrina, because they knew less about auras than I did. At least I could see one.
"Zombies," Dane said, and pulled his pistol. Everyone else pulled their guns too.
"Are you sure?" Sabrina said.
"That explains. . . ," I said, then saw one of them turn around and look at us. He said something, and they all turned around and started towards us. "That can't be good."
Bang!
Sabrina shot a zombie. I was impressed that she actually hit him. At least I hoped she was aiming at him. Didn't matter though, the zombie shuddered and kept walking. In fact, he didn't miss a step.
"I'm shooting silver bullets. Blessed by Daddy," Sabrina said.
"It's officially not good," Dane said.
"We should leave," Gabe said. "Unless one of you knows how to kill a zombie."
"You can't kill what is already dead," I said. "Those bastards are even deader than me."
Only the darkest magic kept them animated. Zombies were just walking corpses, without souls or much of a mind. They did what they were told, and nothing else. Only a witch could raise the dead, and I didn't think white witches were allowed to do that. White witches channeled the power of angels, and had a lot more rules to obey than black witches and their demon patrons.
"Why would vampires send zombies?" Dane said. "It doesn't make sense."
"Henri Trudeau has a witch, and his estate is partially guarded by zombies," I said. "Boney once mentioned that Antoinette's house was also guarded by zombies, and that was the main reason she needed a witch."
"Okay, put Antoinette and Henri at the top of the suspect list," Gabe said.
I put my pistol away, walked around to the trunk and pulled out my sword. Chopping them into little pieces would stop them. I was pretty sure zombies couldn't reassemble themselves.
"Get in the car and leave," I said. "I'll handle this."
"Like hell you will," Dane said. "I'm not leaving you behind."
"I'll be fine. I'm already dead," I said.
"Not that dead!" he said. He took aim and pulled the trigger. The back of a zombie's head exploded, but he only shuddered and continued his slow march towards us. "Damn."
I raced forward, sword in both hands. Just before I reached them I cut to my left, and lashed out with the katana. I took off one guy's head, another's left shoulder and arm, and yet another's leg above the knee. The zombie that lost his leg fell down, but started crawling towards me using his three good limbs and the stump. Only the headless zombie collapsed.
Really, the worst part was the ungodly stench. Rotting human flesh had to be the most offensive odor in the world.
"Beheading them stops them," I said.
The zombies were not trying to get to me any faster, even though I was just a few feet in front of them and walking backwards. I didn't trust them to not lunge at me.
"Great. You're the only one with a sword," Gabe said.
"Four people with swords against fifty zombies probably isn't the best odds either," Dane said.
"How smart are they?" I asked. "Do they have any independent thought?"
"Depends on the spell," Sabrina said.
We all looked at her. Sabrina shrugged.
"I've looked into magic. I thought it might be cool to learn," she said.
"We need to talk, Sabrina," I said. "Your fascination with — Aaiiee!"
Not paying attention, I back-stepped into a pothole. A second later I was on my butt in the street with my sword clattering away across the concrete. That's when the zombies lunged at me.
Five sets of hands were on me in a flash. Lucky me, I found out zombies are capable of sudden bursts of speed. Cussing a blue streak, I twisted and writhed and kicked. They were amazingly strong, immobilizing my arms, but my legs were free and my best weapon anyway. I broke bones and they hung on tenaciously.
"Stay back!" I cried when the others surged towards me. "I got it under — ack! Bastard! He bit me!"
I kicked straight up into the chin of the biter with all my supernatural strength. Not sure if I was that strong, or his flesh was that rotten, but my foot penetrated through the soft tissue under his jaw. The kick's follow through ripped off his jaw.
The zombie was a disgusting sight and not down by any measure. It kinda freaked me out, and I redoubled my struggles. Seconds later I slipped out of the biker jacket and started laying into them with the most savage roundhouses I could muster. I kicked three of them so hard I took off their heads.
"God Almighty!" I cried. "Does nothing stop these fiends?"
A zombie grabbed my left wrist and jerked me to the side. I struggled
to regain my balance as she kept jerking me to the side. She was pulling me sideways. Then another grabbed my ponytail and jerked my head back.
"Ack! You are dead meat when — " I said, and it was ended with a savage right cross to the left cheek. "Ugh."
Knees buckling, I struggled to stay conscious and on my feet. I never knew zombies had such strength. That punch was vampire hard.
"I'm coming!" Dane cried. "Die bastards!"
"They're already dead," I grumbled, shaking the cobwebs from my head.
Another grabbed my right wrist, and they started pulling me in both directions. Were they trying to rip me in half? Or were they so stupid two different zombies were trying to drag me away. And take me…where? For a second I thought it might not be a bad idea to let them take me away, and see if they took me back to the witch that called them back from the grave. Then other zombies started grabbing me all over, and started to bite me.
"Hey! Stop that!"
"Hang on, Sable, I'm coming," Dane called again.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw Dane with my sword. He was hacking his way to me. It was nothing but butcher's work, since the zombies didn't have enough wits to even try and avoid his bloody blade.
Using my supernatural strength, I pulled my arms in and unbalanced the zombies trying to rip me apart. I was able to twist free of their grasps. Then I started kicking and punching. After a few seconds a small circle opened up around me.
"I'm free! Get out, Dane," I cried.
I jumped straight up. My wings ripped through the back of my t-shirt and I started flapping. Zombie faces turned up to regard me, then as one they dropped their gazes back to the others. And then all turned toward Dane.
I banked hard left and tried to get to Dane, but he was already deep in their midst. They converged on him, and no one was good enough to stop them. Within seconds he was caught and struggling within their unholy grasps.
"Hang on, Dane," I said. Didn't he say the same thing to me? I noticed Sabrina and Gabe were getting back into the car. Then Sabrina turned the motor over, and a deep base roar filled the night air. "At least someone here has some intelligence."
I swooped down just above the crowd around Dane, and snatched the sword out of his grasp. He shouted something really rude at me. It was garbled, but I distinctly heard the word, "bitch." Well, no one likes their only effective weapon taken away, even if they weren't able to use it anymore.
