Skin Deep

by Lily Luchesi

  “Almost got it,” Daniel said. “Ask her again, but more specific.”

  “How do you get to where Dakota is right now?” Angelica asked, this time sticking the knife-tip into one of the already open bullet holes in Jade’s chest.

  Tears fell from the witch’s eyes and she screamed again. “Stop! Just fucking kill me!”

  Angelica glanced at Daniel, whose eyes were closed as he gripped Jade’s shoulder hard enough to bruise her. His eyes popped open and he grinned.

  “Got it.” He released Jade and stepped back. He had done a great job, considering most mortals would shirk away during such intense torture, not facilitate it.

  “Good work. Now go get Danny,” Angelica said. “We need to move fast.” She turned toward the furious and weeping Jade. “Wish I could say it’s been nice knowing you, but you’re not supposed to lie to the dying. See you in Hell.” She fired the final two bullets and Jade went rigid as purple magic began to bubble from her body. “That was for Hermes, you fucking bitch.”

  Angelica watched, mesmerized, as the magic swirled around the witch and then dissipated with a bang like a balloon being popped.

  One down. God knew how many more to go.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Ta-da!” Sean held up three metal...squirt guns. Sean was giving them squirt guns. Like they were five and playing cops and robbers.

  “Explain. Quickly, please,” Angelica said, confused as to what on Earth he was so proud of.

  “We had a human scientist here who made your acid serum or whatever that was, and then I realized something horrible: there was nothing you could carry on you to hold the stuff that wouldn't weigh you down. And then I remembered these.” He gestured to the water pistols. “We were working on them in case there was ever a demon uprising, like an actual apocalypse. They were meant to hold holy water. They’ve been sitting in storage for fifteen years, and now we get to use them!” He tapped his knuckles on one of them and there was a hollow sound. “Magnesium alloy. As strong as titanium and able to contain the acid solution without weighing a ton.”

  “You are a genius, Sean!” Angelica gave him a quick hug and picked up the gun. It looked like a double-barrel pistol with a little metal oval on the back that contained the acid in a safe storage compartment. When she pulled the trigger, it would release the acid in two streams, hopefully being more effective while using less.

  “So, where are we going?” Danny asked.

  Daniel cleared his throat. “They’ve um, they’ve been inside an abandoned house.”

  “Whose and where?” Angelica asked, impatient.

  “Ours. Yours. The house that I sold to the city when Mom died,” Daniel said. “The one in Wrigleyville.”

  Angelica met Danny’s eyes and saw surprise and horror in those. That had been the house he’d grown up in, a neighborhood his real estate agent mother had built up. That had been the house they shared as husband and wife, and the house he’d raised a family in. How dare that bitch pervert such a place for her evil ways?

  “If I didn’t already want to kill her,” Angelica muttered. “All right, here’s the most basic game plan I can figure: none of them know Daniel so far as we know, so that’s good. He can go ahead of us and tell us how many people he senses in the house and what species they are so we can figure out the best plan of attack.”

  “Sounds risky,” Sean commented. “My CO would’ve slapped anyone who thought that was a good plan.”

  “Your CO never dealt with monsters. You did. We are. There’s a difference,” Angelica replied. “Sometimes you have to take a risk in order to get the reward.”

  Daniel stepped between them. “I can't think of anything else to do that could possibly be safer while not wasting time. Let’s just get going.”

  Sean and Danny nodded, and Sean went to grab one of the guns.

  “Whoa, hang on, where do you think you’re going?” Angelica asked. “We can’t have the three of us all there. Someone needs to stay back and guard this place. And that’s usually the director’s job.”

  Sean, a six-hundred-year-old siren, rock star, and decorated war hero, pouted like a four-year-old denied a later bedtime. “Are you kidding? I did all this and I don’t get to try out my own weapon?”

  Danny smirked. “Better luck next time, buddy.”

  “Let’s pray there isn’t a next time,” Angelica replied, checking the rest of her weaponry. She prayed there were no more witches, because she needed silver bullets more than iron ones. She didn’t want to admit how nervous she actually was. She’d been in the middle of large battles before, but never anything as well calculated as this had been. If their surprise appearance wasn’t startling enough for Dakota and her cronies, then they could very well all be going to their deaths.

  Danny was handing Daniel some extra clips for his gun when a young vampiress walked into the room.

  “Excuse me? Mrs. Mancini? I’m just letting you know disposal of the witch’s body was successful. And I wanted to wish you and the Emperor luck tonight. That skin changer killed friends of mine in the company,” she said.

  Angelica gave the girl a smile, the best she could muster while she was so concerned. “Don’t worry, we’re going to make sure she never hurts anyone, ever again.”

  The girl walked into the room and began taking stock of the weaponry the three of them had just taken and Sean said, “I have a...backup in place. Just in case.” He looked ashamed that he had even needed to say that, and Angelica wished she could assure him that they wouldn’t need a backup.

  “But,” he continued slowly, “I have another idea. It all depends on you, though.” His warm brown eyes sparkled and Angelica found herself intrigued.

  “Go on…”

  * * *

  It had been a long time since Angelica had been back at this house. Before she had faked her death, she and Danny had had a terrible argument and she’d left, going back to her penthouse downtown. There had been some pretty horrible memories there, but there had also been good ones, wonderful ones. Memories she’d treasure for the rest of her unnatural life. And now the whole place was sullied. Just another blow, adding salt to the wounds Dakota had already caused.

  Danny showed up a moment later, placing Daniel down. He had to carry him there, because a car would’ve taken too long and the engine would’ve alerted the creatures in the house. The neighborhood had fallen into disrepair, and more than half of the houses on that block were empty or for sale. It was sad to see.

  Promptly, Daniel bent over double and vomited in the grass of a neighboring house. “You coulda warned me, Pops.”

  Danny smirked. “Hey, don’t feel bad. I was never warned, either, when I was human.”

  Daniel coughed and spit, his face aflame from embarrassment. “All right. I’ll get closer and try to give you a head count.”

  “Be careful,” Danny warned.

  They watched the young human walk over, keeping low and looking like he might faint with every step.

  “I can’t tell if he’s brave or crazy,” Danny said.

  “I don’t know either, but he’s definitely your descendant,” Angelica replied, taking Danny’s hand in both of hers. She turned him to her and pressed her lips to his in a fast but no less passionate kiss.

  “What was that for?” he asked, pressing his forehead to hers.

  “In case I don’t get another chance,” Angelica replied. She recalled the last time she’d said something similar, when they were facing down Miranda Valdez and she had been just one knife cut away from eternal death. Not a fun night to remember right then.

  Daniel came trotting back toward them. “Okay, I’m getting about seven werewolves and a Hell of a lot more vampires. Like...I’m thinking more than twenty. No witches, no humans. And unless she hides her energy that well, no skin changer, either.”

  Angelica wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or worried. Twenty vampires was a lot, but the werewolves were easy and there were no other creatures. She decided to
be cautiously optimistic.

  “All right. Did you get a peek inside the windows?” she asked.

  Daniel nodded. “This Dakota lady is using werewolves like the PID does, as guards kinda. They’re standing sentry at every possible entry or exit. That’s how I got my count so accurate. Two at the front door, one at the back, and one at all the other windows. I don’t think there’s anyone upstairs.”

  “Pretty small army,” Angelica commented.

  “Because that’s not everyone. If Dakota isn’t here, she might be bringing more vamps and shifters,” Danny said. “It makes sense.”

  “Then let’s thin the herd before she returns,” Angelica said, pulling out her gun loaded with silver bullets and her sword from the scabbard attached to her back. She gestured at Daniel. “You steady, kid?”

  He nodded. “Ready to kick some ass.”

  Danny smiled. “Now you’re really starting to sound like me.” He clicked the safety off of his weapon. “Let’s do it.”

  Angelica grabbed his collar as he stepped forward. “Wait. The shifters are guarding the vampires, right? Then let’s draw them out. Stealth, my love. You have got to learn the meaning of the word.” She bent down and saw that the concrete on the curb was crumbly. With her gloved hand, she broke off a sizeable chunk and tossed it like a baseball into one of the windows.

  “Daniel, you stay back, hit them after we wound them. You’re human and therefore vulnerable to bullets,” she said as she heard a commotion begin inside the house.

  The door banged open and there came the werewolves, untransformed, but still stronger than a human with a deadly bite if they got anywhere near Danny or Angelica. They were armed with what looked like compound bows, with silver-tipped arrows that had ampoules attached to them. Probably loaded with holy water, releasing the poison once contact was made.

  “Try to confiscate the weapons, we’re going to need them,” Angelica said, impressed with the tech. A little rip-off of the CW Network, maybe, but admirable nonetheless.

  “You smell that?” one shifter asked the others. “Vampires.”

  “This whole place reeks of the bats,” another scoffed. “How can you tell the difference?”

  “Because I smell human, too. And only one vampire regularly works with her food,” the first one replied.

  Angelica took that as her cue and popped up out of her hiding place in the neighbor’s bushes, firing her gun as she did so. Two bullets easily took down the first werewolf and he fell to the ground. Dead.

  “Gossiping isn’t nice, you know,” she said as Danny jumped up and shot at another shifter, a woman. The bullet missed its mark and hit her shoulder instead, exploding in a burst of blood.

  Daniel then took his turn and the woman hit the ground, twitching and trying to turn even as the silver poisoned her body.

  It was all-out mayhem after that. Werewolves weren’t, by nature, weapon-wielding fighters when they weren’t with the Werewolf Corps. They preferred hand to hand, and their unfamiliarity with their current gear worked in the Empress’ favor. They were clumsy, and didn’t have good aim. All seven were dispatched with minimal effort, and they acquired new weapons to boot.

  Of course, they still had about twenty vampires to contend with, too.

  “Get the bows, quick,” Angelica said, kicking the four currently unused ones behind them so the vamps couldn’t get to them. Unlike werewolves, vampires loved weapons and had excellent aim. She should know.

  A few vamps began to exit the house, and more followed, until Angelica counted twenty-four of them. Less than she had anticipated, but more than she thought they could handle right then.

  Her subjects stared at her, a myriad of emotions on their faces. Some were defiant and angry, while others were a little embarrassed and kept glancing between her and Danny. More still were impassive, as if this was just another day at the office for them.

  “Why aren’t they attacking?” Daniel asked.

  Angelica stepped forward. Despite being equal with Danny, when it came to making speeches and addressing their subjects, he usually left it up to her.

  “I have just one question for you all,” she said, her eyes sweeping over them. “Why? Has it truly been so awful under my rule?”

  No one said a word.

  “Fine,” Angelica tightened the grip on her sword. “If you so freely align yourself with a murderer such as Dakota, then by the laws I set in place centuries ago and my role as the Empress, it’s my duty to execute you by the most convenient means. It’s your funeral.”

  As if that was their cue, the vampires converged onto the three hunters. Angelica traded her gun for a short blade so she was armed on both sides, the compound bow slung on her back in the holder that was meant for her sword. She hoped it wouldn’t fly off. Right then, no one could shoot the bows without risking hurting each other or missing the vamps entirely. Each bow only had one arrow, so they needed to be used sparingly.

  Daniel wounded the vamps surrounding him, hitting them with the holy water soaked silver bullets. It wouldn’t kill them, but they’d lose blood.

  The vampires’ numbers worked against them, they fought too close together to get any decent hits off, and they couldn’t bite. The hunters, unfortunately, were also hindered by the close proximity. Angelica’s sword was rendered nearly useless because if she swung it too far, she’d wind up decapitating Daniel, and she certainly didn’t want to do that. They needed space. A few vamps had been incapacitated, but not killed.

  “Gentlemen, duck!” she said, and both men did as she asked without question. Using her vampire speed, she began to spin, holding her sword pointed outwards. She cut through the necks of five vampires, sending their heads flying off into the distance. The other vampires leapt backward, out of reach of her blade. She steadied herself and Danny and Daniel stood up straight again.

  “Shit, that was good,” Daniel said. He bent down and grabbed the blade he’d dropped and went right back into the fray. Angelica admired his gumption as she and Danny continued the fight.

  It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as impossible now that her actions had startled the vamps and put them off-guard. Nicks and scratches afflicted them, but the vampires hadn't expected to fight, so their heavy weaponry was left inside, and only small knives were being used, or claws.

  The herd thinned, and the three of them were now all one-on-one with the three vamps who seemed to be older than the others judging by how stealthily they fought. The vamps already killed had only aged a decade or less, but these vampires were better, most likely from the era of humans who had immersed themselves in paranormal fiction and knew all the tricks.

  Angelica was in a stalemate, blood from a small wound dripping into her eye as the wound healed, her sword clashing against the claws of a vamp, while her left hand held the vamp’s wrist away from her.

  She needed to get better footing as she felt her heels slipping in the snow-damp dirt of the front yard when she heard Daniel scream in pain from behind her.

  Unable to turn and assess the damage she heard Danny yell, “Flip him! You gotta remember some of that stuff Angie was teaching you!”

  There was a grunt and then the sound of a body being thrown on the ground and Angelica assumed Daniel was back with the upper hand for the time being.

  Angelica gripped down tighter with her hand and she felt the bones in the vamp’s wrist crush together and the vampire hissed with pain. It gave her the opening she needed to yank the vampire closer, her sword splitting the clawed hand in half, rendering it useless as she cleanly sliced its head off. The claws came forward, slicing into her forearm, as the corpse fell to the ground, beginning to decompose.

  Shit, she thought, checking the wounds. Turning, she saw that Danny had just finished with his vamp and was rushing to Daniel, who was atop the last vamp, pinning it to the ground. The vamp’s hands had been chopped off, laying in two shriveled spots on either side of the vamp. Daniel took his blade and cut through its neck, killing it.

&
nbsp; He sighed and threw his head back in either triumph or relief, and that was when Angelica saw what had made the young human scream a few moments ago: the vamp had bitten him. The large round bite was still leaking blood, and it took a moment for Angelica to realize that she was ravenous after that fight and the blood loss.

  He’s family, she scolded herself. You don’t drink from family, no matter how appetizing their blood smells.

  Danny raced to his relative, helping him up. “Fuck, I know that hurts,” he said.

  “I’m not going to turn, am I?” Daniel asked, worry clouding his eyes.

  “No, only werewolves turn on the first bite,” Angelica said. She checked her own wounds as Danny healed Daniel, seeing that they were healed, but the last one, the claw cuts, scarred. She was going to need fresh blood soon, and so would Danny.

  “You okay otherwise?” she asked Daniel.

  “Yeah,” he said with a wry smile. “You taught me well.” Suddenly, his face stilled and his eyes widened. He put his hands to his ears and dropped to his knees. “Fuck...it hurts! What is that?”

  Danny and Angelica glanced at each other, not hearing a thing as Daniel was sent to his knees, keening from the pain in his head.

  “Skin changer,” Danny said without question. “Daniel, you have to get out of here! Her brain waves are too strong for you to —”

  Daniel fell over in a faint, blood leaking from his ear canals.

  “No!” Danny cried, going to get down by him, but Angelica pulled him up.

  “He’s alive, Danny. He’ll be okay. Right now, we have more to worry about.” Like where the Hell the skin changer is. Angelica listened and could hear footsteps in the distance, and she actually hoped it was a skin changer and not a neighbor in one of the few remaining lived-in homes.

  “Around the house,” Danny said. “That fucking copse of trees has had more monsters in it than an episode of Supernatural.”

  They walked closer, keeping their weapons at the ready. Angelica hoped that they’d mixed the acid solution properly, or else they’d be in deep shit. The night was cold, but yet still not cold enough to snow again, which was what the Earth got for ignoring Global Warming for so long. But it ensured that Daniel wouldn’t freeze to death, and that the ground wasn’t frozen, so they could walk much more quietly through the damp grass from the last snowfall they’d had recently. Unfortunately, the humidity made it hard for them to smell their opponents over the reek of rotting earth and damp and city smog.