Curse of Souls (Warrior of Souls Book 1)
Page 32
Drawing his arm back, he slammed his hand down, the tips of his claws cutting through the nearly impenetrable skin, driving into the chest of the vampire lord. Leaning in, he forced his hand into the chest cavity with all of his available strength and weight.
Dragos screamed, thrashing involuntarily from the pain. He grabbed Sverre’s arm to prevent its further intrusion. “Time for…a heart attack,” Sverre said, gasping in pain from his injuries.
From the doorway, Jessica shook her head in shame. Izzy groaned. “You’ve heard his one-liners too?”
Blinding light flooded the room from the dark night sky outside. Several aircraft lowered into view silently. A voice boomed from a loudspeaker on the craft directly outside the room, “Do not move. The building is surrounded.”
“Finally,” Jessica said, relieved. She had expected the Order to show at least ten minutes ago. “It’s over.” She shouted to Sverre, “Just hold him a bit longer. We’ll get him restrained, then take him in for enhanced interrogation.”
Sverre looked down at Dragos. The vampire smiled up at him. Why did he also look relieved?
“Yes, unhand me, boy. We’ll get this all straightened out, I’m sure,” Dragos smirked.
“You heard him, Jess. He’s got people all inside the Order. He’ll be out in a few hours.”
“No, I’ll personally make sure he is not. We need him alive to gain intelligence on his operations. Stand down, Sverre,” Jessica ordered, moving towards him, her palms up, trying to defuse the situation.
Sverre looked towards Izzy and Hoss for guidance. Izzy shook her head in the negative. “He’ll wipe us out, Sverre. He’ll either get the Order to do his dirty work, or the bastard will march on us himself. He ain’t gonna stop until he gets you. Think of what happened to your dad. Think of what he’ll do to your mom.”
“No, don’t listen to her, Sverre. We will contain this. We can protect your mother,” Jessica pleaded.
“They couldn’t even protect themselves at the Farm,” Izzy reminded him.
He turned to face Dragos. “She’s right. You gotta die. Nothing personal. No, I take that back. You killed my father and abducted my mom. This is personal.”
“Impudent idiot!” Dragos screamed, grabbing hold of Sverre’s arm that terminated in the vampire lord’s chest. “As if I would die because of you!” he shouted, jerking Sverre’s arm out of its socket, dislocating it. He continued to pull. The ripping sound of Sverre’s muscles and tendons was audible across the room. “I will turn your mother into a vampire who feeds on swine on her hands and knees. I will —”
“Wrong,” Sverre growled, his countenance darkening. Thrusting forward, his hand tore through the vampire, ripping through his chest and spinal column, exiting out of his back. The still-beating heart exploded against the stone floor, leaving a crater.
“Ack!” Dragos sputtered, coughing blood into Sverre’s face. “You…have no idea what you’ve done. A war is coming. You’ve killed millions. I…would have saved them all…I…” Beams of light began to emit from the vampire’s mouth and eyes, as if a flare had been ignited within him.
“This is our cue to exit,” Izzy said to Hoss, already dashing towards the escape pod.
Dragos began to shake violently, cracks appearing in his visible flesh. Blinding rays erupted from every new fracture. Jessica dove for cover just as the vampire exploded in a lethal explosion of fire and fleshy shrapnel. Sverre was thrown across the room, landing near Izzy and Hoss.
“Come on, this is the only way out!” Izzy ordered the shaken werewolf. Ears ringing, partially blinded and burned over large portions of his body, Sverre stumbled in their general direction.
“Halt, or we will open fire,” came the voice from the lead assault ship.
“Sverre, stop!” Jessica yelled, approaching the group. “Don’t go with them. We can help you. We’ll take you to Inquest One. They’ve made progress on a cure for lycanthropy. In a few years, we may be able to cure you,” she pleaded. Despite her words, her eyes regarded him with what looked like a mix of disgust and horror.
“A few years? Are you nuts, Jess? I’m never going back to that hellhole! You don’t know what I went through. There are other vampires out there, and the Order is compromised. I’m not going to be a plaything for anyone ever again!” he shouted.
“Come with me, or I’ll have to take you in. Look behind me. They’ll mow you down. You might survive, but they won’t. Don’t make me hurt you.”
He paused, shaking his head, “You…you already have, Jess.”
Hoss and Izzy entered the escape pod. Sverre slowly followed, limping. Several high-velocity rounds destroyed the stone to the left of the group. A warning shot. Jessica looked at the craft behind her, then back at the sorrowful eyes of Sverre as he backed away. Leaping in front of the group, she spread her arms wide, forming a barrier between them and the aircraft’s guns.
“Move aside, Stalker Luvkrafft,” the loudspeaker voice commanded.
“Go! Hurry! They may still fire!” she shouted, looking over her shoulder.
Hoss and Izzy were already jammed into the escape pod. Sverre attempted to enter, but his frame exceeded the available space. “You’re going to need to be human,” Izzy said.
“I don’t know how to change!” Sverre said, panicked. She touched his muzzle. A feeling of calm replaced his fear and anger. A moment later, his human form squeezed into the pod. Fortunately, Dragos liked to travel with a lot of leg room.
“Sverre, I’m-I’m sorry,” Jessica said, moving in front of the doorway in order to continue shielding the trio.
“I’m sorry I let you down, Jessica. I hope we can work things out.”
“Me too.”
Izzy punched the launch button, sending the pod careening down an elaborate tunnel network. It was a jarring, uncomfortable ride, with the unrestrained occupants tossed about inside. Miles outside of the city, a large boulder split in half, revealing a large metallic circular doorway in the ground. The slats retracted into the door housing. The escape pod rose from the ground. The door of the craft opened, sending Sverre tumbling out into the cold night air. He vomited into a nearby bush.
“Well, that sucked,” Izzy said, following him out of the pod. Hoss helped steady her.
“We need to get to a phone so I can call up an Underworlder safe house,” she stated, leaning on her knees until the nausea passed.
“You go,” Sverre said, wiping his mouth as he rose.
“What the hell are you going to do? They are going to hunt you down,” she exclaimed. “Your girlfriend’s probably already locked up, never going to see the light of day again.”
“I don’t know yet. I need some time to figure things out. Maybe I’ll just take down the whole organization.”
Izzy let out a long whistle. “You don’t dream small, do ya? I guess I’ll hang around a bit. You do owe me five million for Drake’s assault craft you lost.”
They limped away, heading away from the city.
“I lost? How do you figure I lost it?”
“It was your bright idea to go back to the castle, wasn’t it? If we’d followed my plan, we’d have been on our way back to Xibalba right now.”
“No one told you to wait outside the castle,” he countered. “How do you think I feel? I’m a freakin’ werewolf now.”
“How’s that workin’ out for ya?”
“I’m too tired to think about it. I’m seeing three of you right now, and I don’t know which one is the real one.”
“Lucky boy.”
The bickering continued long into the night. Hoss shook his head, wondering if he would have been better off plummeting from the skyscraper.
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