City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood

by Wilder, Adrienne

He tried to swallow but his throat was so dry. So parched. The cramps in his stomach drew him up.

  Fuck…no…please…no.

  Somehow, Farley managed to turn away then with shaky arms. He pushed up and got his legs underneath him. With a lurch he aimed for the door, forcing his muscles to extend and shove him forward. There were guards down the hall on the left, just outside of the room he’d been staying in.

  But Darco had gone that way.

  A strange sort of dread came over Farley. With his hand on the door he looked down the hall. Yeah, it was as bad as he thought. Bright red bursts painted the walls. High velocity arterial spray. Darco had torn their throats clean out. They didn’t even have their guns palmed.

  Probably never saw him coming.

  But then Darco was like that. Farley knew from experience the bastard could move in a way no other Kin could. And he never hesitated in killing.

  Another shove and Farley was out in the hall. He took a few steps, fell, and got up again. Maybe it was the fact that the blood had been delivered straight-line into his vein, but Farley knew the DTs when he felt them. He’d suffered for weeks after centuries worth of cravings, and this? Well, it felt like a decade-long binge at the least. Killing that MKFK member hadn’t even felt this bad. It was like Heikman had done something to the blood.

  Made it stronger. More potent.

  By the time Farley got to the end of the hall he was sweating like a pig and shaking so hard his teeth threatened to chip. His hearts hammered behind his ribs and even though he wanted out of here, he couldn’t deny he also wanted to go back.

  Should have taken it with me.

  The IV bag was still hanging on the wall leaking all its insides out into the floor.

  Farley’s brain told him to get out, but his body told him what it needed to feel better. The biological battle made him crumple on the floor. Heikman was right. He wanted to stay. Needed to stay.

  A high pitched bloodcurdling scream made Farley jerk his head up. The sound came from his fancy cell. And it didn’t stop. It just got louder, more desperate…

  Farley started another round of push just as Lor stepped out of the elevator heading his way. Farley decided if there was a God of Kin he would look like Lor.

  “What’s going on?” There was blood on his shirt, arms, and hands. Lor smelled like Junily and death. His yellow eyes flicked up the hall, and he knelt down and pulled Farley upright. “Where is Heikman?”

  “You don’t want to know,” Farley said.

  Lor picked him up. He glanced down the hall like he was actually thinking about heading toward that terrible noise.

  “Trust me…he’s pissed off my Brother. You don’t want to watch.”

  Lor headed back towards the lift.

  “Can you get us out of here?”

  “I can’t leave.” Lor punched in a code and the doors shut.

  “Fuck that. Heikman’s dead.” Or soon would be.

  “Even if he’s dead, I have to stay.” A low rumble eased out of Lor’s chest.

  “Christ, Lor…Heikman isn’t coming back on this one.” A pain shot through Farley’s gut. “I’ve got to get out of here. I need to get to the laundry chutes. Do you know how to get there?”

  “I will take you.”

  “And you’re coming with me, right?”

  “I cannot.”

  “Goddamn it, if you stay here you’ll eventually wind up like Junily.”

  “I know.”

  Farley looked up at him. “Why the hell would you stay, then?”

  Lor said, “The hatchlings… They have no one but me.”

  The door opened and the giant’s long legs carried him down the hall. Shouts echoed from up ahead and four Humans with guns drawn came barreling up the hall. Lor turned as they fired. Farley held his breath as the impact echoed through the Male’s body. But he didn’t go down.

  “You’re in a restricted area, Lor. On the ground, now!”

  The Male rumbled.

  Panicked voices shot off over the radio. Something about the specialty suites, cameras, and a fucking monster. Apparently security was getting a good view of Darco going Hannibal Lector on Heikman’s ass.

  A scream trickled in over their radios and the security guards threw desperate looks at each other, then Lor. Farley watched as their little pea brains did the math.

  If something like Lor was running, then maybe that was the smart thing to do.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” The men turned tail and headed back up the way they came, just in time for another panicked voice to blabber over the channel. It sounded like Darco was on a rampage.

  Lor turned, went a few dozen yards, then took a staircase down to another floor.

  “You can’t stay,” Farley said. “Knowing Darco, he’ll kill everyone here.”

  Lor growled when he answered. “I told you I can’t leave.”

  “And I’m telling you, you can’t save them. If you stay, then what?”

  “At least they won’t be alone.” Lor pushed his way through a set of doors and suddenly they were inside a bustling kitchen. People were everywhere and the smell of food and Humans filled the air. Someone shouted at Lor, telling him he couldn’t be in there, but no one got in his way.

  Back out in the hall Lor took another flight down and exited into a hall.

  Farley looked up and saw rows of carts piled high with laundry. Metal doors to the chutes lined the wall.

  He could only hope Garrett hadn’t already called off his team.

  As Lor put him down, Farley grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t stay. Lor…”

  The Dominant growled. “I have to go now. You will be fine.”

  The fire alarm went off. Lights dimmed and the reddish glow of emergency backups came on.

  “Shit…” Farley stumbled toward the metal door and shoved it open. He glanced back at Lor but the Male was already down the hall. Fuck that. He wasn’t staying one more minute in this psycho-hotel. Farley shoved himself over the edge of the chute and gravity took over.

  Chapter 64

  It was obvious by the argument going on at the end of the hall, Emily wasn’t going to let them try anything. The doctors had decided Deshi was as good as dead so she was pulling the plug. And that was that. Haley decided to hell with it. If Emily was going to rush Deshi to his death, she wasn’t going to let him die alone.

  “What are you doing?” Orin’s sea-foam green eyes widened as he watched her fight with the bedrails.

  “Being with Deshi like he needs me to be.” The rail went down with a click and she climbed in next to the Prince. It was like sidling up to a bag of sand, because nothing responded. There wasn’t even any metaphysical heat from him, just normal heat from the blankets and heating pads.

  Haley put her head on Deshi’s shoulder and a hand on his ribs. His hearts were beating on their own but his lungs only filled and emptied because the machine forced them to.

  “Haley…” She was pretty sure Orin was going to tell her she couldn’t do this. It was all over his face, plain as day in his eyes. But his words faltered.

  “I’m not letting him die alone.” No, she would hold the Jersey City Prince until his last intake of air squeezed out.

  Three doctors and a handful of nurses came into the room. Maze followed.

  The group stopped and stared until one of the doctors stepped forward. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave now.”

  Haley rolled her eyes down at them. Make me.

  The nurses tossed uneasy looks amongst themselves, then looked at the three men in charge.

  Maze stepped forward. “Gentlemen, ladies, is it really going to make any difference?”

  “It’s against Hospital policy,” said the Nurse with the red hair.

  Maze nodded. “And I’m sure that everything you do is by the book? You never make exceptions?” No one moved.

  Orin ran a hand over his head again. He’d done it so much his hair had dried in a standing positio
n. He said, “Look, Ray will be here any minute…”

  “Do you really expect us to let you try some science experiment on a patient?” That from the Metaphysical-biologist. Haley recognized him from the ER.

  Orin said, “Ray is a Metaphysicist. He wrote the theory on metaphysical fusion--”

  The biologist gave a snort. “And last I heard he was laughed out of the conference for it. What idiot would use astrophysics to try and validate a biological chemical reaction? We are talking about complex enzymatic processes.”

  “Yeah, and if it’s just a chemical reaction, then how come it can’t be synthesized?”

  “We are not having this argument here and now!” That from the admitting physician. He looked way too young for the job. “Lomen, this isn’t one of your debates. Take it out in the hall.” His gaze met Haley’s. “I personally don’t care if you stay. But don’t interfere. Are we clear?”

  No. Out loud she said, “Yeah, I understand.” Haley shut her eyes and pressed her face into Deshi’s side, breathing in his scent. People fanned out around her.

  “We want the body.” Maze’s statement brought the room to a standstill. “Once you call time of death, he’s to be returned to the Queen of Atlanta.”

  “This is Athens,” said a nurse.

  “The Queen of Athens is dead.” That from Orin. He looked at his watch again. But then, ever since he’d gotten off the phone with Ray it seemed like that was all he did.

  “The next closest Queen is in Atlanta,” Maze said.

  “And she has the right to make that claim, but not any of you.” That from the nurse again.

  “I can,” Haley said. The staff gave her a synchronized so-you-say glare. “I’m Medan’s Enforcer.” God of Man, she never thought she’d be happy about that fact.

  The lawyer blinked a couple times as he seemed to absorb the news. He rebounded beautifully and flashed the professionals with one of his I-can-do-that smiles. “Are we all set then?”

  ER doctor number two shook his head. “The wife doesn’t want him,.What will it hurt?” No one argued.

  Haley watched as the redheaded nurse went to the respirator.

  “Oh shit, am I too late?” Everyone turned toward the door.

  “Ray!” Orin rushed the man and gave him a bear hug.

  Dressed in battered blue jeans, a holey T-shirt, blown out Nikes, and looking like he was five years overdue for a shave and a haircut, Ray Ricardo was clearly not what anyone expected. Haley had to admit, she felt a little disappointment too.

  Orin led him off to the side and they opened up the large wooden case Ray carried. Haley heard something click, and the respirator went off. The duel heartbeats kept going, then became a steady tone as someone removed the endotracheal tubing.

  Haley watched it all, and the simplicity of Deshi’s death surprised her. Something should have happened to signify the end of a meaningful life. Instead they’d just turned him off, and just like that he quit living.

  Someone called a time and they wrote notes on their important papers. Haley watched but felt nothing. It was like a chasm had opened up inside her and swallowed all the emotional parts. Ray appeared beside the body…

  The body. Because it wasn’t Deshi anymore.

  He uncapped the syringe with its long needle and stuck it right into the Male’s chest. Orin stepped up beside him with a second one and handed it off.

  “We really need an internal jump start but short of hooking him up to a high voltage wire I don’t even know how we could do that.” Ray laughed, but no one else did. “I was kidding.” He looked at Orin. “You know I was kidding, right?”

  Haley looked at Deshi. “He’s warm.”

  “He’s still on the heating pads.” The meta-biologist stepped up to the end of the bed.

  “No…” Haley stroked Deshi’s chest, but it wasn’t moving. The nurses turned off the rest of the equipment. “This is different. He’s putting out metaphysical heat.”

  “It’s the serum,” Ray said. “The conduction causes it to heat up cells.” He snapped his fingers. “Hey, can you…you know do that thing your people do? The metaphysical feed…Surge…whatever?”

  Haley said, “You mean Rolling?”

  “Yeah, yeah, that, can you do that?”

  “I don’t control it very well.”

  Ray shook his head. “Don’t worry about control…” Orin leaned in and whispered something into Ray’s ear. His eyes widened. “Seriously?” Orin shrugged.

  One of the nurses went for the IV bag and Ray said, “Leave it. Please.” She didn’t argue. He looked at Haley again. “Why can’t you Roll Males at any other time?”

  Haley shrugged. “I don’t know. I Rolled a group of Males once when I got pissed, but that was just luck. It’s not that I’m not strong enough, I just lack the impressed lesson on how to tap into it.” Ray gave Haley a strange smile. “What?”

  Orin followed Ray as he went back to his case. “You can’t be serious, Ray. Think about this.”

  Haley watched both of them. “What’s going on?”

  Ray came back with vials and syringes. He held up a hand. “I’ve got some Glycocin here. If I give you this you’ll have to Roll him. Your metaphysical surge will just happen.”

  Haley held out her arm. “If it will help.”

  “It can’t hurt.”

  “He’s dead, you people. Let him go.” Lomen shook his head.

  Ray took Haley’s arm and found a vein. He said, “Kin don’t die like Humans die. It can take up to thirty minutes for their metaphysical signature to leave the body. Especially when the body is intact.”

  Haley rubbed the spot after he pulled the needle out. She glanced around at them. “Am I supposed to feel anything?”

  Orin walked around to Haley’s side and pulled up the rail. “Give it a second.”

  Nothing. She felt nothing. “I don’t think it’s working.” Haley rubbed her arm.

  “Creepy crawlies.” Ray said.

  Orin nodded. He leaned in close and pushed a lock of hair out of Haley’s eyes. “Listen, when it hits, you’ve got to focus on Deshi.”

  But nothing was happening. “Orin, I don’t think…” Haley jerked so hard that she almost kicked Deshi right out of the bed. Arms enveloped her, holding her down. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see.

  Close to her ear Orin said, “I’m here…just hang on…you’re almost there…”

  Almost there! Holy shit, she was on fire! Haley clawed at her sweater, her jeans, then went for the line of heat holding her down.

  She felt it, the spin of her metaphysics barreling out of her skin. No slow rise, just an explosion of force she couldn’t control.

  “Orin!” It hurt. Oh God of Man, it hurt. Orin groaned. She was Rolling him and couldn’t stop.

  “Fuck…” His grip tightened. “Haley, focus on Deshi…please…” His teeth were so close to her neck, she could feel them raking against her skin. Ray and the meta-biologist shouted. Haley didn’t care. The entire hospital could have been on fire and she wouldn’t have cared.

  Lines of her preternatural-self spun outward, searching. She found Orin. He was so bright he burned, and then there was Deshi, a pale glow starting to flicker out. He felt cold to her, parts of him broken and shredded. Her metaphysical side slid into him, rolled through him, filled him up.

  “Ray, do it now. Ray…” Orin said something else but Haley lost it. She was too focused on the tattered glow that had once been the Prince of Jersey City. He was almost gone, so she pushed everything she had straight into him.

  Chapter 65

  This was a familiar state of chaos for Orin. Ray ran another dose straight into Deshi’s heart while he held onto Haley with everything he had. Her usual pale alabaster complexion was blotched and red. Teeth down, mouth open, she sucked air like her lungs had no limit.

  He tried to tell himself he held her to keep her from kicking Deshi into the floor. The guard rail at her back had given out the second time she hit the thing w
ith her shoulders. But he really held her because he was terrified.

  In between injections, Ray flashed him an I-approve look. Orin, on the other hand, was doing his best to ignore him.

  And just like everything else, he fucking sucked at it!

  The heat of metaphysical energy poured out of Haley. The stuff was so thick even the Humans felt it. They backed up, easing out of the room.

  Ever the pessimist Lomen’s eyes widened. He took a step back. “What the hell is that?”

  Ray laughed. “That my friends, is Metaphysical sludge.”

  “Sludge?”

  “Oh yeah,” Ray made air quotes and said, “Nuclear Paste.” Then he shrugged. “Don’t worry. You won’t get cancer from the shit or go sterile, but if you don’t have a girlfriend you might want to find one after this.” Orin raised his eyebrows at Ray. “What? Alice isn’t complaining.”

  Orin growled. “I don’t leak all over.” But Ray’s expression said he most certainly did. “Shit…”

  Ray shrugged. “You are what you are, man. But if you could bottle that stuff…wow.”

  At the end of the bed Lomen made a strangled sound and crossed himself. Orin followed the man’s gaze. Deshi’s eyes were open. And hell, was that a breath? Orin said, “Turn on the heart monitor!” When the metaphysical-biologist didn’t move Maze walked over and flipped the switch. The screen flipped on and a hesitant beep-beep ticked into the room.

  “Shit.” Ray waved a hand over Deshi. “You know, I didn’t expect this to work...” He ran back to his case. “I’m going to have to overshoot him, Orin.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t have enough plasma for a full feed.”

  “We have plasma in the blood bank,” Lomen said.

  Orin shook his head. “It has to be cooked in an induction chamber first.” He said it out loud even though he didn’t really expect the man to understand. After all, they were using Frankenstein science here, not ADA-approved medicine.

  Ray appeared with two more syringes. One large, one small. Both filled to the limit with the serum.

  “I do this and it works, he’s going to wake up hungry,” Ray said.