Shadow Form (Dark Impulse Book 2)

by Edmund Hughes

  Emanuel forced Katie to her knees. She was shaking, and she tried unsuccessfully to force words out past the gag.

  “Come out into the open,” said Emanuel. “Or I’m going to have Khumar put a bullet in this girl’s head.”

  Emanuel nodded to Khumar, who moved into position next to Katie. He brought his gun up and pressed the barrel against her temple. Katie went completely still as the metal touched her skin, like an animal frozen in the presence of a predator.

  Jack felt like more of an idiot than he ever had before in his life. Of course they’d go out to investigate the boat. He’d left Katie there, asleep, undefended, all because he didn’t want her to have to see the type of person he really was. Because he didn’t want Katie to see him enjoy killing as much as he did.

  She looked around the room, her eyes meeting his in the dark for an instant, though he was the only one who realized it. Even more than the fear that Jack could see in her expression, what unnerved him most was the defeat, and the acceptance. She knew how this would end.

  If Jack revealed himself, it was likely they would both die. They’d seen him survive a normal hail of bullets once before. They would shoot him until his body was basically pulp, ensuring that he wouldn’t be able to recover even with his vampiric healing.

  Katie knew that there was no way that they would both leave that room alive. She knew it and had come to terms with it, because she had that kind of strength. Jack slowly shook his head, still hidden by the darkness, wishing for a miracle. He wanted a second chance to do right by her. A chance to go down a path that led him and his cherished friend, the girl he’d promised to marry as a child, to a future containing both of them.

  And he knew that he wasn’t going to get it.

  Khumar’s finger tightened against the trigger. He swallowed, glancing over at Emanuel.

  “I won’t wait for long, Jack.” Emanuel licked his lips, smiling as he waited for a response. He shrugged when he didn’t get one and nodded to Khumar. “Do it.”

  Jack was already flinging himself forward, and he had to freeze to keep from revealing himself when he saw Khumar, in a bizarre turn of events, unclench his hand and drop the gun. Khumar shook his head and ran his hands through his hair, looking like nothing so much as a man breaking under the stress.

  “…No!” said Khumar. “He… He’ll kill me first. I’m not fucking doing it. Fuck you, Emanuel!”

  Khumar was right. Jack did kill him first. He slammed his sword through Khumar’s stomach, feeling a surge of relief at both managing to save Katie and finally take revenge on the other man who’d attacked Ryoko.

  The other gang members reacted in a panic. One of them fired wildly, most of the bullets hitting the walls and ceiling, except for one, which impacted against Khumar’s dying body. Jack decapitated him with a lazy reverse swing and then cleaved into the shoulder of the man standing next to him. Emanuel had his gun aimed at Jack, but he didn’t fire. He was the only one left, and he seemed to be trying to position himself so he had a clear path toward the hallway that led to the entrance.

  “I could still shoot her,” said Emanuel. “I have good aim. And I’m not scared of you killing me, as I made clear before.”

  Jack stepped in front of Katie, blocking her from Emanuel’s line of sight with his own body.

  “That sword,” said Emanuel. “The way you… disappear like that. You’re something else. It seems unfair that I make a discovery like this, right now, of all times.”

  Jack didn’t say anything. Emanuel waited, as though hoping he could draw him into a conversation if he left room for him to respond. Anything to delay the inevitable.

  The gun in Emanuel’s hand went off. Jack turned so that he was facing away, completely covering Katie with his body. He pushed into the hallway and through the first open door he saw. Emanuel fired again, and then crouched to pick up an assault rifle dropped by one of the other men to replace his empty pistol.

  Jack charged back into the room, moving like a phantom as he used his dwindling blood essence reserves to cast Shadow Form and fade into and out of position. Emanuel wasn’t necessarily a more capable opponent than the others, but he wasn’t afraid, and that made him far more dangerous.

  Jack appeared off to Emanuel’s side, hoping to strike him unaware. Emanuel spun, firing quickly enough to catch Jack in the shoulder with a bullet. Jack’s duster refused to let the round piece through, but it still left a deep, crushing bruise on the flesh underneath.

  He spun in closer, making it harder for Emanuel to get a shot off. He slammed his fist into Emanuel’s face, spinning the man around and making him spit blood as he regained his balance.

  “Enough,” said Emanuel. “That’s… enough.”

  Jack hesitated as he stood over the man, even as he recognized it as a mistake. What was the point of listening to him? The fight was basically over.

  “You win,” said Emanuel.

  “I’m not just going to let you walk out of here,” said Jack.

  “No, I suppose you aren’t.” Emanuel flashed a smile, his teeth bloody from Jack’s earlier punch. “Well then.”

  He tipped the barrel of the rifle upward, bit down on it, and pulled the trigger.

  It happened so fast that Jack almost didn’t believe what he’d just seen. Emanuel’s body twitched once as he fired and then went completely still, like an empty vessel. Jack nudged the body with his toe, feeling his shock fade into a strange disappointment.

  Katie had moved from where he’d left her. She was leaning against the wall, trying to make her way toward the exit. Jack hurried over to her, pulling one of her arms over his shoulder and helping her stand.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

  Katie pushed him away roughly.

  “Hey,” he said. “It’s me.”

  “Don’t… come near me.” Katie shook her head. “You…”

  She held up one finger, and then turned around and vomited onto the floor.

  “Katie, it’s okay,” he said. “I took care of them.”

  He took a step toward her, and she took a step back.

  CHAPTER 36

  Katie refused to say another word to him. She left the base while Jack was still checking rooms to make sure that he hadn’t missed anyone. When he made it back to the boat, she was in the process of winding the anchor back up. Jack got the distinct sense that if he’d showed up a minute later, she would have already left.

  A hollow, sinking feeling slowly filled his heart as Katie guided the speedboat back to Lestaron Island. He couldn’t get the way she’d looked at him out of his head. She’d seen him clearly in a way that he wasn’t even sure he saw himself anymore, and what she’d seen had horrified her.

  The silence lingered as Katie coasted into the boathouse. Jack climbed out but waited for her as she secured the boat to the dock. The sun was rising outside, and the light felt hideously bright to Jack’s eyes and skin.

  “Katie,” he said, as she finished. “Will you at least talk to me?”

  Katie walked out onto the pier, only turning to face Jack once she’d put a good ten feet between them.

  “I understand now,” she said. She didn’t smile at him. Her expression was cold in a way that made Jack’s heart feel like it was on the verge of breaking.

  “You understand what?” he asked. “Katie, what are you talking about?”

  His voice broke a little as he asked the question, and he knew it was because he didn’t really want to hear the answer.

  “Since this first happened to you, I’ve been wondering what Peter would have done, if he were still alive.” She took a slow breath and set her jaw. “I was trying to pretend that he’d have empathy for you. That he’d find a way to compromise, and let the code go. For your sake.”

  Katie slowly shook her head. The wind picked up, and it scattered strands of brown hair across her face and made the fabric of Jack’s duster rustle incessantly.

  “But this
is what the code is for,” said Katie. “You weren’t a monster, not at first. I could still look at you and see the cute little boy I knew back when we were kids. But now… I don’t know who I see. Or what.”

  “It’s still me, Katie.” Jack took a step forward, and the fact that it caused Katie to immediately take one back in response was like a slap in the face.

  “I’m a fool,” said Katie. “For enabling you, and for so much more. I’m complicit in all of this.”

  “They were bad men, Katie,” he said. “You know they were. This needed to be done.”

  “They were all bad men?” asked Katie. “Every single one of them? How would you even know? How do you know some of them weren’t coerced into it? Would you have killed Ryoko if she’d been there?”

  Jack gritted his teeth. He really didn’t like her framing it like that.

  “You’re overreacting,” said Jack.

  He finally closed the distance to her and took her wrist. Katie pulled away as though he’d touched her with a hot iron. She hopped out of his reach and gave him that same look. The one he’d seen on her face right before she’d thrown up. The one that made Jack feel as though she saw a monster in his place.

  “You scare me, Jack,” she said, quietly. “And when you feed, the way it makes me feel... It scares me even more. It makes me think that even with the potion, all this time, I’ve been under your spell. Unable to look at what’s been right in front of me.”

  “What are you saying?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  “I don’t know,” said Katie. “I… don’t think I can be around you anymore.”

  They were such simple words, but Jack had to turn away from her as he heard them. It felt like she slammed a knife into his gut. She’d stuck by him through so much. She’d been his guiding light, a huge part of the reason he’d decided to come back to Lestaron Island in the first place. She’d been the girl he’d promised to one day marry, and now she couldn’t even stand to look at him.

  He listened to Katie’s footsteps fading into the distance, only looking after her in time to see her car pulling onto the road. That was fine by him. Jack needed some time alone with his thoughts. Some time to think about what he was supposed to do next.

  He felt like he was walking through town aimlessly, but he eventually came to a stop outside Lestaron Hospital. This time, he entered through the main entrance and waited patiently while the nurse at the front desk confirmed that Margaret was willing to see him.

  She looked better than she had the night before, despite still being in a hospital gown. Her face had more color to it, and the sunlight streaming in through the window made her red hair look vibrant and warm. And her smell… Jack had been too caught up in his emotions while he’d been talking to Katie to realize how much his bloodthirst had begun to affect him.

  “Well,” said Margaret. “This is a surprise. A good surprise, I hope?”

  “I’m just here to talk,” said Jack.

  Margaret smiled and shook her head.

  “You are a strange one,” she said. “Quite strange, indeed. Did your investigation into whoever shot me yield any results?”

  Jack took a breath.

  “The people responsible have been taken of,” he said. He wasn’t about to elaborate on what he’d done throughout the night any more than that.

  “Well, I’m glad I was able to help,” said Margaret. “If you want to repay that particular favor, do you mind mentioning to the nurse that I seem to be in pain on the way out? They cut down my dose of morphine this morning.”

  “Is there a cure?” asked Jack.

  “Pardon?”

  “For… what I am,” he said. “Is there a way to cure vampirism?”

  Margaret’s face grew serious. She made eye contact with him for several seconds and then slowly shook her head. It was what Jack had been expecting. Katie hadn’t known about a cure, either.

  “The only way for you to return to normal would be to kill the vampire who turned you,” said Margaret. “It sounds simple, but in most cases, it’s a fairly daunting prospect.”

  Jack nodded. The idea of killing Mira was more than a little intimidating to him, both because of what it would entail mentally and the obvious, practical challenge.

  “I think that you already knew the answer to that question,” said Margaret. “So tell me. Why did you come here to visit me, Jack Masterson?”

  “I’m not sure anymore,” he said. “About what I’ve been doing. And… what I’ve been becoming.”

  Margaret shifted forward in the bed, wincing slightly as she moved in a way that her injury didn’t agree with.

  “Surrender,” said Margaret. “I can see the weight that you have on your shoulders. You don’t have to carry it. If you surrender to me, at least you’ll get a bit of control over where you’re headed.”

  “And what would surrendering mean?” he asked. “Imprisonment? Execution?”

  Margaret didn’t answer him, and Jack suspected that it was probably the second of the two.

  “I can’t just surrender,” said Jack. “But I don’t want to keep heading down this path.”

  “What are you saying?” asked Margaret.

  Jack licked his lips.

  “Tell your superiors in the Order of Chaldea that I want to talk,” said Jack. “I’ll wait for them at home. I have some repairs to do there, anyway.”

  “I’m sure they’d be willing to come out to the island, especially given my current circumstances,” said Margaret. “But I doubt that they’ll come to talk to you, Jack. I’m saying this to be completely honest, not to strong-arm you.”

  “Try to convince them,” he said. “Let them know that if they knock on my door instead of trying to sneak in or break it down, I’ll have a conversation with them.”

  Margaret smiled at him, but the expression looked tired, and a little forced.

  “I’ll let them know,” she said.

  CHAPTER 37

  The sun felt oppressive as Jack made his way up the slope toward the mansion. It wasn’t only because he was more sensitive to it than normal people. It was also a constant reminder of how long it had been since he’d gotten any sleep. He was tired and unsure of whether any amount of rest would help with the way he currently felt.

  He headed through the front and was a little taken aback by how much more work Ryoko had done on the cleaning. Tarps still covered the broken windows, but she’d started repairing the bullet holes in the wall, working her way from left to right and filling each one with drywall compound.

  Jack headed upstairs and into his room. He sat down on his bed and forced himself to breathe. He couldn’t get Katie’s expression out of his head. The horrified look in her eyes. The disappointment, in both herself and him.

  “Sir?”

  Ryoko appeared in his doorway, clad only in a fluffy white towel. Her hair was wet, and her face was flushed, as though she’d literally just stepped out of the shower. Somehow, she still managed to seem poised and professional, though her smile dimmed as she saw his face.

  “Ryoko…” said Jack. “I…”

  He winced, accidentally inhaling through her nose and getting a taste of her smell. It was almost overwhelming, and he felt sick to his stomach at how badly it made him want to bite her. Ryoko made it worse by coming closer to him, stopping only when she was just in front of him.

  “I just finished showering,” said Ryoko. “But if there’s anything you need…”

  Her voice was so kind and understanding, and it only made Jack feel worse about what he was. About what he needed.

  He stood up, feeling his bloodthirst getting the better of him. He expected Ryoko to push him away, or to at least give him the same kind of look that Katie had.

  Instead, she favored him with an open, eager smile. A part of Jack’s burden melted away in that instant, replaced by a light, flirtatious tension.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?” asked Ryoko.

  She reache
d for the towel and let her fingers play with the fold. Jack felt a smile of his own sneaking onto his face. He gave a small nod, and he watched as she flicked the towel loose, letting it drop to the floor at her feet.

  She was beautiful, and the sight of her naked body, offered freely to him, felt like a repudiation of the basis of his hollow mood. Ryoko was the same as him. She could be here with him and see the darkness without needing to look away.

  She was blushing a little, and standing in a way that made it seem as though she was holding back the urge to cover her breasts with her arms. Jack smiled, letting his eyes rove over her cute nipples and the perky, girlish tilt of her bust.

  Ryoko stepped in closer to him. She slipped her hands into his duster, letting it slide to the floor, and then she continued to undress him, taking his shirt and jeans off. Jack was unused to seeing her take initiative like that, but he felt like it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.

  “Will you bite me, first?” whispered Ryoko. She slid forward against him, letting her petite breasts press against his bare chest. “I took the potion already.”

  “You want me to bite you?” asked Jack.

  Ryoko nodded, sliding her hand into his boxers and leaning her head to the side. Jack planted a soft kiss on the nape of her neck, and let his teeth drag across her soft skin. He felt her shudder, and then sank his fangs in, drinking deeply.

  Somehow, it felt like what they both needed. Jack savored Ryoko’s sweet taste, letting his hands roam over her as she writhed in ecstasy. When he finally pulled his mouth back, he barely had time to lick the last of her blood from his lips before she was kissing him passionately.

  They fell onto the bed. Jack had to make an effort to keep himself under control. Ryoko’s hand groped at him and pulled his boxers down, and he felt her soft palm against his shaft, gently stroking. He gave her a deep kiss and let his thumb run over one of her nipples.