by J A Campbell
“So, what are we going to do with her?”
“Do with her?” I asked my husband.
“We can’t just leave her.”
“I have a high caliber solution.” I gestured with the vampire’s gun that I had retrieved from the loft.
“Charity, she saved my life and probably yours.”
“So?”
“And she didn’t kill you when she had a chance, either.”
“She’s still a vampire.”
“She’s also obviously a Hunter, and having one of them on our side probably isn’t a bad thing.”
“And how do you know she’s on our side?”
Alex gave me a look like it should be obvious, and maybe it was. He was right, but I didn’t like it.
“Fine, let’s take her back to her motel room and leave her there. She’ll be safe.”
“Alright. Should we take her car?” He eyed the sports car.
“She might kill us if we leave it, even if she is on our side. The cops are going to show up.” I shook my head.
“Let’s put her in ours. It’s a rental anyway. I’ll take her car and follow you back to the motel,” Alex said.
“How do you know where she is staying?”
Alex gave me another look. “She’s obviously not at ours. I would have noticed her car.” Alex hesitantly felt Kat’s pockets and pulled out a room key and car keys. “Come on. Do you want to drive her car or ours?”
“I would rather be the one with her.”
Alex nodded and picked up the vampire. He was braver than I was. She was obviously semi-conscious, groaning every once in a while, and twitching. He jumped every time she moved.
Alex put her in the back of the rental, then, trying to hide the smile on his face, slid into the Trans Am. I was jealous, but not about to leave him alone with a wounded vampire. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be alone with her. This was such a bad idea.
She was quiet during the ride back, not moving at all. I was getting concerned by the time we arrived at the motel. Alex opened the back door and tried to gently remove her from the back seat. The smear of dirt and blood she left was impressive. They weren’t going to be renting this vehicle again. I felt bad.
I hadn’t realized she had taken the bullet for Alex. I hadn’t thought any vampire would do that for a human. Especially a Hunter.
Alex handed me the key, and I opened her door. I gestured for Alex to wait, not knowing if she had company. I held her gun ready and entered the room.
A quick check showed the room was empty and I gestured for Alex to come in out of the rain.
I pulled the sheets back, and Alex laid her down on the bed.
“We should get her cleaned off.”
“Alex, come on, let’s just leave. She’ll be fine without us.”
He looked like he was going to argue but was interrupted by the phone ringing. We shared a look before I hesitantly picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” an oddly familiar voice on the other line said after a quick pause.
“Hello. Who is this?”
“Who is this?” He sounded suspicious and more than a little concerned. “Where is Kat?”
“She’s here. This is Charity.”
“Charity? Charity Parker?”
“Yes.” I knew his voice sounded familiar; obviously he knew me.
“This is Cade. What are you doing there?”
“We ran into Kat on a job. Wait, you know Kat?”
“Yeah, she’s a friend of mine. She’s pulled my ass out of the fire several times. Can I talk to her?”
“Cade,” I hesitated and saw Alex’s eyebrows go up when I said Cade’s name. “Cade she’s…”
“What’s wrong? Is she hurt? Did she get bitten? I’ll get on a plane as soon as I can.”
“What?” I was surprised at his concern. He obviously didn’t know she was a vampire. “No, Cade, she’ll be okay. Stay where you’re at. She’s, uh, in the shower right now.”
“Are you sure?” He didn’t sound like he believed me.
“Yeah, she’s fine. I’ll have her call you.”
“Okay. Are you done with your job?”
“Yes.”
“Good, I have another one for you when you’re ready since you’re in the area.”
“Okay. I’ll call you back.”
“Great. Kat has my number.”
Suddenly, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that his friend was a vampire.
“Alright. I’ll talk to you later, Cade.”
“Bye, Charity.”
“Well, that was odd. Apparently, she knows Cade.”
“Sounds like they are friends from what I could hear.”
I nodded.
“Let’s get her cleaned up,” Alex said.
I shrugged.
Alex pulled out a knife and went to work cutting off her shirt. I filled the clean trashcan with water and grabbed washcloths. When I returned, Alex was staring at Kat.
I thought about slapping him but understood when I reached his side. Her chest was bruised from her neck to where her pants concealed the damage. The entry wound wasn’t large, but the exit wound looked like someone had taken an axe to her side. I didn’t even know how she could walk, let alone jump off a loft and take out another vampire. I was suddenly worried we had bitten off more than we could chew. She had to be old.
“Alex, maybe we should leave.”
He glared at me.
“No, really, she’s hurt badly. She may not be in control of herself when she wakes up.”
Alex sighed, and then shook his head. “She needs our help. She saved our lives.”
I sighed. “Fine. Let’s get her cleaned up and get out of here.”
He nodded.
It took us a long time to make a dent in the blood and dirt. It was obvious she was healing, but not as fast as I would expect from the things I had been led to believe by my father.
“Okay, can we leave now?”
Pain lanced through my body, and I wished for unconsciousness to return, but my raging hunger forced me to further wakefulness.
I groaned and tried to remember why I was in such horrendous pain.
“Kat?”
I snapped my eyes open. Why wasn’t I alone?
“Shit!” I scrambled back and reached for a weapon, only I was unarmed and Charity had my pistol pointed at me. I ignored the pain lancing through my chest and stared at them, wide-eyed and wondering why I was still alive.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked.
I just stared at them.
“Kat?” he finally said.
“Umm, why…” I didn’t even know what to say.
“Cade called.”
I groaned and leaned back in my bed. That was a disaster. I wasn’t sure why I was still alive, but I wouldn’t be as soon as he caught up to me. If I got out of this, I was going to have to go back to Europe. Cade knew I lived in Charleston, and I didn’t have the heart to fight him.
My stomach protested and the room swam, and not because of the pain. I had to get Alex and Charity out of here before I lost control.
Charity lowered the gun. “I didn’t tell him.”
I blinked, not quite sure I had heard her correctly.
“At least, not yet.”
“Okay?”
“You took a bullet for my husband. It would have killed him, and it didn’t do you a whole lot of good. That gets you a little temporary leeway.”
I laughed; I couldn’t help it. “Well, if you’re going to change your mind, you’d better do it now. I’m not easy to kill.”
She smiled, a slight upturn of her lips. “I’ve noticed.” She put the gun down on the table.
“And you really need to get out of here.” I rolled over on my side and tried to sit up. Alex, unwisely steadied my shoulder.
I clenched my hand, trying not to grab him.
“No, really, you need to leave. I’m damn hungry.”
Alex backed away quickly, which was almost as bad as tou
ching me. He was lucky I hurt so badly.
“Is there anything we can, uh, do for you?”
I was briefly tempted to be a smart ass, but I didn’t have the energy.
“The fridge.” I gestured toward the small unit.
Charity opened the door and pulled out a dark wine bottle. I held out my hand. She looked at me, then at it, and stepped back away from me.
“I don’t know, Kat.”
“Damn it, Charity, its cow’s blood. Just give me the damn bottle,” I growled at her.
“Cow?”
“Yes, it’s excessively gross, but it is better than nothing.”
“You drink cow’s blood.”
“Most of the time, yes. I find it’s easier to be friends with humans when they don’t think you’re going to eat them.” I snatched the bottle from her outstretched arm and yanked out the cork. I tried not to make a face as I drank from the bottle. It really did taste gross.
“How many human friends do you have?”
“Right now, a few. A couple of them even know what I am.” I glared at her and took another drink. I was so hungry and cow’s blood was not very filling. I was going to have to go hunting once I had healed myself, or I wasn’t going to be feeling very good for a long time. Cow’s blood would sustain me for a while, but I did need the ‘real’ thing now and again, especially after getting shredded by a bullet.
“You’re not exactly what I expected,” Alex said.
“What, never had a conversation with your prey before?”
Alex blinked.
I shook my head. “I get that a lot,” I grumbled. I was feeling better. Good enough that I thought it might be nice to get cleaned up.
They both got out of my way when I stumbled past them. I clunked the bottle down on the sink counter and started the shower. I was generally unconcerned that I wasn’t completely dressed. It was obvious they had been trying to help, but I wanted to be clean.
My jeans clung to me and I had to struggle to get out of them. The hot water felt wonderful on my head and horrible on my wounds. I decided I just didn’t care.
“Are you going to be okay?” Charity asked when I emerged from the bathroom.
The towel I was wearing was already stained with blood, but not badly. I had managed to stop most of the bleeding. It was going to be several hours before I would be mostly healed.
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ve been hurt worse before. Not often, but it does happen. Where is Alex?” I asked, surprised he was gone.
“He went to see if he could find us something to eat.”
“I’m surprised he left you alone with me.”
Charity smiled. “We’re both under the impression that you’ve recovered enough that one more of us won’t make a difference.”
“I see.” Or he could be going for help, but I doubted that. Not in Nebraska anyway.
“You should probably call Cade. He called again while you were in the shower.”
“Alright.” I dialed his number. It barely rang before he picked it up.
“Kat?”
“Relax, Cade.”
“I was worried. Charity said you were okay, but…”
“I’m fine. What’s up?”
“Can’t I just be calling to see how you are?”
“Cade, you never call just to see how I am. I gave you my number so you could let me know if you found anything out.”
“Right, well I was concerned.”
“Sure, what’s up?” I asked again.
“Well, I had a job for you to do since I knew you were in the area, but I’ll just have the Parkers take care of it. You should take a break.”
“The Parkers?” I glanced at Charity. Oh right, they’re married. “No, it’s fine. Charity and Alex don’t need to stick around. What’s the job?”
“Oh, the usual. In Denver.”
I blinked. “That’s not exactly in the area.”
“Our Denver area guy got killed last week, or I’d ask him. Seems the vamp that got him is living it up. I thought it sounded right up your alley.”
I sighed. “Fine. I’ll get the details from you later. It is going to be a couple of days before I can be ready, though.”
“Alright. Call me when you find a hotel and I’ll fill you in. Denver metro.”
“That will be fun.”
Cade laughed. “You’re sure you’re not too hurt.”
“I’ll be fine in a couple of days. Did you want to talk to Charity?”
“Sure.”
I handed the phone to her.
Cade told her the same thing he told me, apparently expecting them to go along. I wasn’t sure how I felt about having them with me. I wasn’t sure if they would go, and I still wasn’t sure if we were going to get out of our current situation without a fight. I took another drink.
She hung up after assuring Cade that she’d keep an eye on me and see that I didn’t get myself in too much trouble.
I arched an eyebrow at her.
“He likes you.”
“I know. He’s a good guy, for a Hunter.” I smiled at her.
She shook her head.
I dug in my suitcase and pulled out a black bag. “Would you mind helping me for a moment?”
Charity gave me a quizzical look.
I held up bandages.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to bandage myself, but it will be easier with help.”
“You can’t heal all that?”
I snorted, “Yeah, in a couple of hours, but I’d like to get dressed and I don’t want to ruin another shirt. I go through enough of them as it is.”
“Sure.”
I was bandaged and dressed when Alex returned with food. I was hungry enough that the hamburgers smelled really good, and I almost wished I could eat them. I settled for more cold cow’s blood.
“I tried to get the hot blond at the counter to come back with me.” Alex smiled at me. “But she wasn’t interested, so, sorry, no fast food for you.”
I looked at him, disbelieving for a moment, before laughing. Charity gave Alex a horrified look, which made me laugh more.
“That’s okay. I prefer brunettes, anyway.”
Alex laughed, easing the tension.
“So, what now?” I asked, once they’d had a chance to eat.
“What do you mean?”
“Well.” I wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“Cade has that job in Denver for us.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure I want to have to worry about you shooting me in the back while I’m dealing with his rogue vampire.”
The tension that had eased was suddenly back.
“How about we call a truce while we work that case. It could be dangerous, big cities attract a lot of vampires, and it might be nice to have… well, you with us,” Alex said.
Could be dangerous? It absolutely would be dangerous, especially for them. “Okay. So, how do I know you won’t change your minds?”
“How do we know you won’t change yours?”
I shook my head. “Who took a bullet for whom, here?”
“And who didn’t put a bullet in your head or toss you back in a burning barn while you were unconscious?”
I nodded. “Very well, on the condition that you don’t tell anyone else about me and give me at least a two second warning before you start shooting, I accept.”
“Okay, but we require a full half an hour to flee the state if you decide you’re going to kill us.”
I shook my head. “I won’t kill you unless you start shooting first, but I agree.” I stuck out my hand.
Both Alex and Charity shook it. I hoped they decided they weren’t going to kill me. I was starting to like them.
“Great. We’ll leave as soon as you’re feeling better.”
I sighed. “I think I need a vacation.”
Cult Classic
Midwest, Early 1990s
“I really hope he got a hold of Kat,” Charity whispered as she watched Cade being escorted down the
aisle of the large white tent that she and her husband, Alex, sat in. About a hundred other people also sat on the uncomfortable plastic chairs, eyes glued to the handful of people who walked up the aisle with Cade. He stood out a little, not especially tall, but clearly strong, with broad shoulders, short sandy blond hair, tanned skin, and hard blue eyes, since his gaze was the only one not completely filled with blind hope.
Charity could tell he was trying to moderate his normal appraising stare to try to fit in, but he wasn’t quite making it.
Five people, a Black man and woman who held each other’s hands and were probably a couple, a white man and woman who also seemed to be together, and an Asian teenager followed Cade, all escorted by two burly white men that Charity knew were werewolves. Ill-tempered werewolves, at that.
The “father” of the cult, the high priest, or whatever his title was—the werewolves called him m’lord and the flock called him father—stood at the end of the aisle, ready to greet his new members.
As near as Charity could tell, Father Aeron simply wanted an easy and willing source of blood. Well, not exactly willing. She was quite certain the flock had no idea they were feeding a monster—literally.
The others in the audience were as mixed a group as the people following Cade. Clearly, this vampire didn’t care what nationality his food source came from. One of his catch phrases was acceptance for all.
Cade scanned the crowd as he walked, eyes not resting on anyone for more than a second, but he met her gaze for the briefest moment and she knew he saw them.
Getting word out to Cade that she and Alex needed help had been difficult. It had taken all of her considerable skill as a Hunter, including many tricks Kat taught her over the last couple of years, to sneak past the guards and disappear into the surrounding cornfields so she could run to town. With the werewolves’ sense of smell, she thought surely they would track her and almost wished they had, except for the danger that would have left Alex in. Unfortunately, they gave no sign that they noticed her transgression, so she was forced to sneak back in and rejoin the cult she and her husband had infiltrated.
