“We find ourselves a transport and get the hell out of here.” Ash turned on his heel, his shoes squelching in the wet muck and I followed with a lurching stomach. “I wouldn’t think vampires could vomit, hey?” He looked back at me with a smirk.
“I’m not old enough to be excluded yet.” Mindful of his weird habit of occasionally glancing at my chest, I slid into my jacket, pulling my hair out from under the collar.
“The garage is just ahead, to the right.” He was talking to himself more than me, so I didn’t say anything in return. My mind was set on a cigarette and getting out of there, and not necessarily in that order. A shower would prove stiff competition for even those two wishes on top of that. All these halls looked the same as we navigated them, more long corridors, running lines of carpeting, a decorative table and a phone. Boring, blah paintings on the wall. The kind that nobody bought except doctor’s offices and attorneys. Lots of mauve, gray and dark wood. It smacked of rich asshole in there.
I caught a glance of one of the rooms as we passed it. The unicorn I’d seen earlier was staring serenely from high up on the wall. I tapped Ash on the shoulder and he halted to turn around.
“What?”
“We’re going in a circle.” I hooked my thumb back at the room. “That’s the one with the unicorn in it.”
“So?”
“So, if you’re saying the garage is this way…”
“I know. The irony does not escape me that it was so close to where we started.”
I snorted. “Figures that’d be my luck.”
Ash jerked his head. “Come on. Can’t worry over it now.”
The garage was two floors down, we found out after wandering blindly for ten minutes and I suggested we try the stairs. We still hadn’t run across a solitary other soul. The place seemed completely deserted.
Chapter 10
Ash
The relief that washed through me when I saw what must be a dozen black Hummers and other SUVs, and even one or two slick Mercedes sedans almost had me slumping. The pain in my body had polarized and I was about ready to crumple into a heap of misery. Xan was still trying to light his goddamned cigarette and muttered under his breath while doing so. We made a right royal pair. Screw the bloody cartouche. At this point I couldn’t be bothered to go back into that awful house to go look for it…unless. I shoved my hand into my jeans pocket and encountered a slim, metallic shape.
“Fuck yeah!” I wanted to jump and punch the air, but my aching body wouldn’t let me.
Xan turned to me. “What’s got you so happy?”
I retrieved the object. “Damn idiots never checked my pocket.” And in my despair at having been caught I’d taken it for granted the mission had been borked anyway.
He peered at the thing, his brow furrowing. “I still think that’s a stupid little piece of shit to go through this much for.”
I nodded. “Such a small thing except if I were you, I’d be more worried about what they were after you for in the future.” I slipped it back into my pocket and patted it for good measure. “Not that there’s anyone left to complain. Let’s haul ass.”
The Mercedes S-class nearest the garage door caught my fancy. It’d been a while since I’d driven one of these puppies. I approached it, laid my hand on the hood and closed my eyes. Although I doubted I’d be able to find that quiet space for focus, the simple act of configuring the car’s system to my will came surprisingly easy. Kinda like jumping puddles after trying to leap whole rivers. The vehicle beeped in response and the doors unlocked.
Xan just eyed me and I grinned back while trying to ignore the stabbing pain at the back of my sinuses.
“More Jedi mind tricks? You could make a killing doing this shit.”
I shrugged. “The thought hasn’t escaped me. You coming along?”
The interior of the car smelled good—leather and a faint hint of pine. It kinda sucked having to ruin it with the charnel house stench that wafted in with us. The digital display told me it was half-past one in the morning. This entire drama had played out in a handful of hours. It seemed surreal somehow, like it should be weeks or months.
Xan slumped into the seat next to me. He still hadn’t managed to get his cigarette lit. Apparently those in House Montu were avid non-smokers; the cigarette lighters had been removed from the Mercedes’s console as well. I wrinkled my nose and suppressed the wry grin that wanted to twist my lips. Words weren’t necessary. The engine purred into life and I nosed the car up the ramp, half expecting some sort of retaliation. There was nothing.
The garage door obliged me and, incredibly, we were on the long driveway headed off the property. Soon enough the house and all its horrors slipped behind a hill. House Alba owed me big time for this.
My hired car, a nondescript gunmetal gray Chevrolet Cruze, was parked where I’d left it about a mile from the Luxor Stables gates. Xan looked ill-inclined to move when I pulled over and climbed out.
“What now?” He sighed.
“We ditch the Mercedes—it’s probably got a tracking device or something.”
“Can’t you fix it? This one is actually a decent size. Now you’re asking me to squish up in that sardine can there.”
I shook my head. “I could, but the car’s too conspicuous. Besides, I need to take the hired car back so I can get my deposit. You need a smoke? I got a lighter that works in the Chevy.”
This seemed to motivate him and he unfolded himself from the Mercedes and offered me a sullen glare once we’d gotten into the Cruze. Damn, I’d have to sort out something with the upholstery before I returned the car. But right now? Hell. I could do with a bath, a drink then bed.
Thank fuck my wallet, phone, and all the rest were left in the glove compartment. I’d been sensible not taking any of that with me when I’d gone on my little jaunt. I rolled the windows down, borrowed a cigarette off Xan and dialed my contact. The phone rang three times before going to voicemail—hardly unexpected.
“It’s Ashton here. Mission accomplished…” I glanced at Xan. His eyes were already half-closed. “I’ll be taking a few days to recoup. Will liaise at the appointed destination.”
“You talking to your boss?” Xan murmured after I’d disconnected the call. “But you didn’t mention me.”
A small snort of laughter escaped me. “You weren’t exactly figured into the equation when I agreed to take this mission. I reckoned I could conveniently leave certain details out of the debriefing. Break into stronghold, liberate ancient artifact and inadvertently spring a monster. Not quite sure what to do about you, though.”
There lay the crux of the matter, much like other secrets I carried with me. By all rights I should destroy the vampire and perhaps initiate a pogrom to exterminate the rest of his kind like other Inkarna had suggested in the past. He was too dangerous, especially in the hands of megalomaniacs such as House Montu’s Inkarna. But then, by the same measure, so was I, a walking encyclopedia of forbidden knowledge. Or maybe we all held each other in some bizarre equilibrium, always teetering, poised forever on open bloodshed.
Absolutely no doubt existed in my mind that the Ba and Ka of Goodkin, as well as those of his fellows, were obliterated tonight, so there were a few less worries on my list. They would not return in a few generations to haunt Xan or me. Neither would that initiate he’d snuffed out, although she’d been on the verge of her full powers. Yet it was all a matter of time before some other bright spark put two and two together to get five.
The weight of the years pressed down on me. “Damn. I need a beer.”
“First shower. Then whiskey,” Xan said.
* * * *
I had taken it for granted that Xan would crash at the small roadside motel where I’d rented a room set back from the road and he certainly didn’t complain when I invited him in. I resisted the temptation to crack corny jokes about allowing vampires across the threshold. And, for once, I slept through an entire day—without waking to my prerequisite nightmares. We both looked a
much better after a full day’s rest, and were more or less of a size, which made it easier for me to help him out with a change of clothing.
No one looked askance of the two blokes who arrived at the Longhorn Tavern at sunset, which was a relief. Although I’d rested, my “Spidey senses”, as Xan was wont to call my powers, were flat-lined. I was as dull as a brick.
We’d lapsed into an awkward kind of silence at one of the outside tables at the back. Crickets chirruping like mad and the rumble of an engine out front were the only sounds that intruded. I peeled at the label of my Bud. Xan stared moodily at the bottle of whiskey I’d bought him after he assured me a shot or two weren’t going to hit the spot.
“Whatever blows your hair back,” I told him when I handed him the bottle.
I certainly had enough cash and didn’t begrudge him the booze, not after what he’d been through. House Alba looked after its own, even if they were somewhat inconvenient step-children.
“What now?” he asked.
I met his gaze. “Dunno. I’m trying to figure that one out myself.”
“What are your plans?”
“I have to go back West. California. Figured I could detour past Colorado.”
I eyed him. There were so many questions I did want to ask and I balked at the fact that we’d be parting ways soon. It was safer that way. For both of us. For the rest of humanity, such as it was in its blithering, seething tide of ignorance. Yet somehow it would be grand if there were one other person who understood, who wouldn’t be caught in the inexorable march of time—someone who wouldn’t change, a touchstone of reality to ground me.
“A ride home would be nice” His eyes reflected a lambent green beneath the overhead lanterns like a cat. “I don’t do well with buses, you know.”
Epilogue
Xan
Texas was bigger than I thought. It took two nights’ worth of driving to make our way back up to Colorado and Pinecliffe. Ash didn’t seem to mind the night driving, although my ass was crunched up in his itty bitty car a little too long for my comfort. He set us up nice in motels twice during the day, allowing for rest and showers in between. He was even starting to treat me like a person. Although I worried about retaining the strange powers I’d picked up from our escapade, they faded. By the time we crossed the Colorado state line, I felt pretty much like myself again.
It was strange, the shit we had in common. He mentioned he used to sing for one of those Gothic-metal bands in South Africa. I’d never been there, and had the impression Africa was all about safaris, lions and starving people. He showed me some pictures on his phone. Cape Town was surprisingly beautiful. I laid his phone in the console and cracked the window to light a cigarette.
“What I really want to ask you is, why Colorado?” He glanced at me for a second then trained his eyes back on the road.
I shrugged. “I like it here.”
And I did. It was full of untouched acres of land. Thick evergreen forests. Mountains and lakes. Plenty of wildlife. The modern age was fine and dandy, with its high-rises, cellphones, and 3D movie theaters, but there in Pinecliffe, I found peace.
“And how long have you…”
“Been dead?” I laughed and looked out the window. Vague memories of sun on those trees drifted through my mind like smoke. “Twenty-six years.” I’d doubled my living years almost. I wanted to ask him the same, but didn’t. The less I knew of him, the better. He had nothing to prove; I was the one with the stereotype hanging over my head.
We covered the distance from our last stop, Raton to Pinecliffe in just over four hours. I played with the window switch in sheer boredom until he locked it from the driver’s side panel. He stopped every so often to let me get out of the car and refuel while he went to take a piss and bought more coffee.
“I take it you don’t have to do any of that,” he mumbled as we got back in the car. The weather was colder the farther north we traveled.
“What? Piss?”
He took a sip of his coffee before getting us back on the road. “All I’ve seen you do so far is bite people, drink whiskey and sleep slumped in front of the television.”
I turned to look at him. “Yeah, so?”
Ash snorted. “Are other vampires like you?”
“Not exactly.” I laughed. “I’m just a dude. With a dependency for blood.”
“Have you taken many lives?”
I poked my tongue with a fang and shrugged. “I try not to.”
When we hit Pinecliffe, I had to direct him, because his fancy GPS shit didn’t even know where Pale Rider was. The address was a rural route. I pointed at the faded sign on the side of the road.
“You really do live in a tavern.” He smirked, leaning over the steering wheel as Pale Rider came into view. “Does everyone know what you are?”
“No. Looking like a slacker in his late twenties has its advantages. Sleeping days and being up all night isn’t suspicious at all.” I opened the door when he parked and got out. “You coming in?”
“I suppose I could, for a short while.”
I let him walk in ahead of me. A small smile sprang to his face as he took in the dark wood furnishings, brass lanterns hanging from the ceilings and especially, Bea serving a regular behind the bar.
“This is marvelous.” He made a straight line to a barstool, checking her out
“Careful there. She’s taken.”
“One can still appreciate.” He grinned and requested a beer when she came over. I didn’t have to tell her what I wanted. She poured Ash a pint and put a bottle of whiskey in front of me.
“You might want to talk to the guys.” She pointed toward the dart boards where Serv and Josh were playing a game. Serv turned at the same instant, caught sight of me and stormed over.
“Our wayward bassist,” Serv said, showing the points of his little fangs.
Ash raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“And who is this?”
“Serv, chill.” I laughed. “He’s just a new friend I picked up.”
Serv glared at Ash. “We had to play without bass, because Xan here—” He poked me in the chest. “—decided to get picked up by the police.”
“Feds,” I corrected him.
“Whatever! We had to cancel the next night. You can’t just fuck off without telling us anything.”
“Listen man, I’m sorry. Okay?” I held my hands out in defense. Serv growled at me and stalked off in a huff.
“Singer,” I told Ash.
He snorted. “So I see.”
Charlie tapped me on the shoulder and I spun around to face him.
“You okay? No trouble, right?”
“No boss, it was just a big misunderstanding. By the way, this is Ash, a friend of mine. Ash, this is Charlie.”
They shook hands and Charlie nudged my shoulder. “I’m glad you back. The lady toilet is stopped up.”
I groaned. Charlie grinned and walked off.
Ash leaned toward me.“Did he just suggest that you clean the loo?”
I laughed. “Told you I was nothing special. Listen, this’ll take some time. You sticking around?”
Ash shook his head and finished his beer. “I think I’ll be going. Wonderful place you have here. Everyone seems so comfortable with you.”
“You’re welcome to crash for a couple of days if you need.”
“No, I best move on.”
“Too bad. But what about…” I pointed at him. “And all the Harry Potter stuff?”
“I figure what the bosses don’t know can’t hurt them.” He leaned back and lit a cigarette.
“How long does your kind knock about anyway?”
I laughed and took another drink.
“It’s fine. You don’t need to tell me. I probably don’t want to know anyway. In fact, I reckon there’s a bunch of shit we don’t want to know about each other’s kinds.”
“Probably.” Hell, I’d miss him. There weren’t too many people that really knew what I was. It was nice to talk
openly about it.
“So, I propose we just leave it at that, right?” He eyed me and rose from his seat. I did too.
“Yeah. Thanks for…”
“It’s fine. Really. Goodbye, Xan.”
I watched him walk out the door, laughed, and went to the storage room to find a plunger for the toilet. Back to real life.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Xan
Chapter 2
Ash
Chapter 3
Xan
Chapter 4
Ash
Chapter 5
Xan
Chapter 6
Ash
Chapter 7
Xan
Chapter 8
Ash
Chapter 9
Xan
Chapter 10
Ash
Epilogue
Xan
Blood and Fire Page 7