by Lily Luchesi
To his left, underneath a weeping willow that really did look as though it was weeping in this rain, were the three teens, still bound together. Danny ran over to them. He saw a bite that had blood congealed at the wounds at Hannah’s throat.
“Hannah, did he give you any of his blood?” Nothing. She was completely still. “Blink twice for yes, once for no.” She blinked once. “He just bit you?” Two blinks. “Did he use magic to tie you all up?” Two more blinks.
Fuck. Now I’ve got a magical vampire hopped up on fresh blood. Danny straightened his back and sighed. Where was the Emperor? Since Danny discovered his powers, he was always grateful that he couldn’t sense vampires, because they would be just one more emotion thrown into the mind-numbing mix. Now, he wished for all the extra emotion in the world: even that would be better than being scared shitless and stalked by the most powerful predator on Earth.
He wished he knew how to dismantle the magic holding them in place. They were far too vulnerable there for his liking. Danny hadn’t been on stakeout for a long time, not since he and Angelica were hunting Vincent. Wherever Augustus went, he was coming back here eventually. He wanted his midnight snack, as he’d put it.
Danny wondered if he was going to get Angelica, and if that was the case, for what purpose? She had raised the alarm on him, so was he going to try and kill her, or try and get her back on his side? And if that was the case, would she return?
He once thought he knew Angelica, and the woman he’d known would sooner slit her own throat than join with Augustus. But was she still that woman? Was she ever that woman? Standing there, facing what would most likely be his death, all Danny wanted was Angelica. Let her feed him her sweet lies, he wanted to believe them. If this was to be his final fight, he wanted to tell her one last time that he loved her.
Contemplating his mortality, he realized that in the end all that mattered was had he been happy? No, he hadn’t. Not since his rash judgment of Angelica, and if she didn’t show up, he’d never get the chance to tell her he was sorry…not that his apology would be worth much. He knew if she had threatened his life, he’d not be so forgiving.
“Hello, Detective.”
That dark, silky voice sent fear shooting in his veins. He whirled around to see the monster standing there, hands clasped before him, barely hindered by the rain falling around them. In the darkness, his eyes were two glowing embers. “How lovely of you to join us.”
“I’m going to make this very simple for you: let the three of them go. They’ve got no business with you,” Danny said. “Then you and I can fight till I decapitate you or you eat me.”
He chuckled. Danny was getting damn sick of that sound. “But young Mr. Wright does have something to do with me. I vowed to wipe out his entire family line. It is quite the bonus he brought along his delectable friends.”
Danny didn’t say another word as he took out his gun and shot the vampire. Augustus stood, immobile, as the bullet penetrated his chest. In the space of five seconds or so, Danny saw the bullet coming back out through the rapidly healing skin, blood leaking around it. It fell to the ground and Augustus smirked. “Oh, do it once more: that tickled.”
Danny felt the blood drain from his face over the fact that the vampire had barely been stung by the holy water the bullets were blessed with.
Faster than he could contemplate, Augustus had his hand around Danny’s neck. He was lifted into the air with minimal effort, his body fully supported by that one hand, and tossed aside. He flew through the air till he hit the tree trunk, the wind knocked out of him.
Augustus walked over to Edgar and lifted him in much the same way. He mumbled a spell and the hunter woke up, at first appearing confused and then frightful when he saw the glowing red eyes before him.
Danny shot, emptying his clip in quick succession. All of the bullets fired at once and Augustus doubled over, a cry escaping his mouth. Because of that, Edgar was able to go free, and he promptly swooned against the tombstone, dead to the world for a while thanks to fear. He hit his head again as he went down, this time harder than it looked before.
Augustus began to heal, pushing the bullets from his back with sick, wet pops. Danny raced over and tossed the vial of holy water on the still-open wounds. Augustus lashed out in pain and rage, and Danny felt a sudden, burning pain in his face. His cheek had been slashed open by the vamp’s claws.
He held his hand to his face, but that would not help to stop the blood flow. It only succeeded in making his hand wet and sticky.
Swiftly, he was raised in the air again, this time by his collar, which was now stained with his rapidly falling blood. Augustus was in bloodlust mixed with rage, and his fangs all elongated, distorting his face. It was then Danny closed his eyes, ready to die.
Instead of the stabbing pain of an non-glamoured vampire bite, he was thrown to the ground, his tailbone bruised, as something heavy fell on top of him. Augustus gave another shout of pain and Danny opened his eyes.
What was on top of him was a severed, black-clad arm, cleanly sliced and drenching the ground in dark, Undead blood. More specifically, Augustus’ arm. He shoved the appendage off of himself, disgusted, and sat up, viewing his savior.
“You,” Augustus gasped, gazing at Angelica. “You dare try to harm me?”
“I do believe I did more than just try.” Angelica stood tall, her falchion dripping with blood as her coat whipped behind her. “I was a fool to entertain you, to believe there was any good in you. Your miserable existence ends here. Say hello to Lucifer and my father for me.” She leapt forward, sword extended, but even one-armed and bleeding, Augustus was faster.
He went behind Angelica, twisting her right arm—her sword arm—behind her. Danny heard a series of sharp cracks and she screamed, the blade falling to the ground. Augustus kicked it away from them.
“I have waited for this moment, Empress. The moment I finally got to shut your impertinent mouth forever. But never fear: your power will remain in my veins for eternity.”
Danny was so enraged, so hurt to see Angelica in such pain, that he didn’t stop to think as he got up and brandished his blade, stabbing it straight through the Emperor’s spine. Augustus howled, but the knife would not kill him, just slow him down some.
In his moment of distraction, Angelica kicked out, knocking him over, shoving the knife deeper into his back as he hit the ground. The tip broke through the front of his abdomen, poking out his suit jacket and leaking blood. Angelica dove for her sword, taking it in her left hand. Danny watched as her broken bones slowly began to right themselves, her new powers and blood purity doing their job. It was disgusting to watch, but Danny couldn’t look away from those moving, clicking bones.
She looked at him for the first time and said, “Thank you.” She moved for Augustus, who was slowly pulling the knife from his back. He grappled with her for a few moments, she sliced at his arm and tried to get at his throat. He covered it well under a lot of thick cloths, but she managed to bare it. Danny saw the garish scar where Livia had nearly succeeded in killing him so many centuries ago.
It was the lost appendage that was the Emperor’s downfall. Angelica moved to his amputated side, holding his left arm with her left hand to keep it from harming her, and she brought her right arm up, her sharp sword slicing clean through his neck. Augustus flashed one dark, shocked look before the fire in his eyes died away as his head tumbled to the ground like a grotesque bowling ball.
Angelica kicked his body and it fell next to his head as they both began to decay, slowly becoming a skeleton, and then naught but dust washed away in the rain. The Emperor’s reign was over.
Danny saw movement, and realized the kids were free. “Go, run!” he told them. “Get out of here.”
They complied, the three of them dashing away as fast as their legs would take them.
Angelica watched them and then turned to face Danny. Her expression was unreadable.
He reached out a hand to her, opening his mouth to say so
mething—what, he wasn’t sure—when he heard a telltale whistling sound. In the span of seconds that stretched out like an eternity, he watched as Angelica’s chest was speared with a silver-tipped stake.
She stood there a moment as the weapon embedded itself in her heart, blood blossoming on her white corset, and then she fell to the ground, head supported by the willow’s trunk. A stake to the heart couldn’t kill a vampire, just stun one so they couldn’t use their powers, making them easier to kill.
Danny whirled around, having forgotten all about Edgar, who was propping himself up against the grave, Hannah’s stake-launcher in one hand, blood dripping from his head.
“You started this, Mancini. Finish it,” he said. And then he fell to the ground again. Danny had seen some pretty bad head wounds in his time, and he was fairly certain that Edgar’s brain was bleeding, slowly killing him. Good.
He didn’t give much of a fuck for the hunter as he fell to the ground beside Angelica. She was unable to move more than her hands a few inches, and blood was welling up in her eyes. She was crying.
“Angelica, tell me what to do. What happens if I remove this? Will you heal?” Danny asked. He held her up with one hand behind her neck, and he felt her squeeze his other hand in hers. He had never felt her grip so weak, even when she was pretending to be human. “Will you need blood immediately?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Okay, good. Then—”
“Danny.” Her voice was pained and she sounded like there was blood welling up in her lungs. She couldn’t die from it, but it would make healing long and painful on her if he let this go on much longer. “You’re not wearing the crystal.”
“That’s what you’re worried about now?” Danny asked, disbelieving.
She took a breath and her chest rattled. “Did she come back? Helena?”
“Yes. But I can get another crystal. Angie, I need to get this thing outta you.” Danny let go of her hand and moved to the wide point of the stake. He couldn’t imagine the pain she felt and was thankful that this was the smaller stake, not full-sized.
“I said no.” The stern look she gave him was one he was used to. He wanted to kiss her for it. “Let the royal bloodline end here, with me.”
Danny couldn’t quite believe his ears. “What? No! Are you crazy? Besides, it wouldn’t end with you.”
Her dark eyes widened. “How could it not?”
“Because Augustus has a living ancestor with just a drop of royal blood.”
“Fuck. Who?”
“Me.”
In shock, Angelica tried to sit up, only to scream as the pain hit her. She was only able to move as much as she was because she was the Empress. To move any more would only cause her pain and be otherwise unsuccessful.
“Are you playing games with me?”
Danny shook his head. “No. Sean discovered it when you brought him some old papers. That’s why I sustained you like Augustus did. I’m just as much your equal in blood as he was. Now, we can discuss this later. I need to get you healed and pulling this out is going to hurt.”
The blood was still leaking, and now her corset looked like she’d been hit by red paintballs in the chest and stomach. He couldn’t take seeing her in this pain.
“You have a drop of blood. You also have no intention of ever turning. You made your stance on vampires quite clear. So it doesn’t matter,” she said. She coughed, and blood came at her lips. “You’ll die a mortal death and it will be over in thirty years or so.”
“But you’ll still be—”
She huffed. “No. No, I won’t be anything. Please, listen to me. What I did was unforgivable. I betrayed Helena’s trust and I killed an innocent. It was a mistake. I should have let myself die instead of harming anyone. And because of me, you’re being haunted.
“I have lived a long life. I have done much good.” She smiled. “I fell in love. It is much more than I ever deserved. So please, let me go.”
Danny felt the wounds in his face burning and it was then he realized he was crying. “Angelica, I can’t. I’m sorry for everything I said, but I knew deep down that I could never hurt you.”
“You have to,” she said forcefully. “Put Helena to rest. Protect humans from my kind. Killing me weakens them all.”
“And if I refuse? If I heal you?” Danny asked.
“Then I’ll find a hunter who actually has balls,” she snapped. She coughed again. “Please. It’s getting so painful.”
“That’s suicide! I won’t do it, Angie. I won’t let you,” Danny said. He felt his heart stuttering in his chest as fear gripped him. Why did she want to die?
She scoffed. “Suicide is for mortals. A mortal is born knowing they have a limited amount of time on Earth, which is why suicide is blasphemous to the God who gave them life. Vampires…we have eternity. We get to choose where forever ends. And I want my forever to end here…by your side.” She closed her eyes, the pain coming in waves. “I didn’t ask for this life, Danny. You know that. I’ve played my part and it’s time for my story to end. For vampires, suicide doesn’t exist. So your conscience can rest easy there.”
Danny pressed his hand to her face. “I can’t let you go. All I was thinking of tonight was how sorry I am for what I said. I wanted…I realized that all I wanted was to tell you I’m sorry, and I love you.”
“You shouldn’t. I’m a murderer. And I can’t live with that knowledge anymore.” Her breath was wheezing every few words. “Oh, fuck.”
Danny’s heart was breaking. He tilted Angelica’s head so that she had to meet his eyes. “Angelica Mancini, you listen to me: you saved my life. It’s because of you that I even survived what your father did to me. And I don’t mean when you chased him away from me. I mean when he gave me PTSD and I sat in that fucking armchair day and night, slowly killing my liver while wanting to kill myself.
“You say suicide doesn’t exist for vampires. I say bullshit. You were blessed with eternity; please, Angie, don’t give it up.”
She closed her eyes, blood tears leaking down her cheeks as she fought against them. “Why the Hell are you championing me after everything that transpired? You wanted me dead; you should be happy.”
“I was wrong,” Danny said. It was, even after everything, still very hard for him to admit that fact. His pride fought him on every syllable, but he knew that if he wanted Angelica back in his life, he needed to suck it up.
“I should never have judged you on human morals. Truth is, had I been in your position, I doubt I could have restrained myself as long as you did. I’m sorry. You’re not a murderer, and you don’t deserve to die like this. Please, let me get this thing out of you.” His hand closed over the stake, but he waited to pull it out.
“It’s not going to be the same. You were made a target…again. Because of me,” she said. “And if word gets out about…your blood…it could spell disaster for you.”
“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We’ve made it this far. We’ll make it again and again. Together.”
She gazed off into the rain, it looked like she was thinking. Danny said a silent prayer that he wouldn’t have to…no. The thought was so horrible, he couldn’t even think of it.
“We’ll have a lot of work to do to get back to where we were,” she said. “I can’t forget everything. It’s going to take a lot of time. And you need to know…ow, damnit—you need to know you’re going to be a target. Without me, that wouldn’t happen.”
“Without you, I wouldn’t give a fuck what happened to me,” he said. “Come on. Hold still. I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.”
“No shit.” She closed her eyes, bracing herself as well as she could in her condition and Danny slowly pulled the seven-inch stake from her body. He wished he could close out the sound it made: wet and grisly as her blood began to well up in the wound.
He threw the stake aside and bared his wrist to her fangs, which had elongated the moment the ash and silver was out of her body. She bit do
wn on his wrist and it took all his willpower to keep from screaming. It wasn’t her fault for biting that hard, but Danny was glad he was already on his knees so he didn’t fall over from the pain.
He watched her wound heal itself with every swallow and breathed a sigh of relief when Angelica sat up and healed his wound for him, seeming to be as good as new. He trailed his hand across her face, settling it in her hair as he pulled her closer into a kiss, uncaring that some of his blood was still on her lips.
She was reluctant at first, but after a moment she melted into him, and there they sat, entwined together as the warm spring rain drenched them, washing away the dirt and blood on their bodies.
Angelica pulled away from him and said, “Just because I forgive you doesn’t mean we’re good. There’s a long way for us to go before that happens.”
Danny sighed. “I know.” He stood up and held his hand out to her and she took it, despite not needing any help to stand up.
She glanced over at Edgar. “Your little friend over there croaked about five minutes ago, by the way.”
Danny smirked. “Tactful, Angie. I’d better find those kids and help them get back to England.”
“They can stay if they want. They’re all hunters, I assume. We can get them jobs at the PID if they’d like,” she offered.
Danny smiled. “Still championing mortals?”
“Till the day I die.”
***
One day later
Danny was just coming home from talking with Ronnie, James, and Hannah, all of whom were glad of the opportunity to join the PID, when he heard wracking coughs coming from inside the house.
Dropping his keys and coat where he stood, he ran inside to find Angelica leaning over the kitchen sink, coughing up great gobs of blood. Her hair was plastered to her face and neck with sweat and blood tears were leaking from her eyes. He came up behind her and held her hair from her face while his other hand held her steady at the waist.
