“We will not hurt him. Only hold him until we are finished.”
“Finished killing everyone here?”
It sounded to Joe like Cade was making a statement, not asking a question. Damn, I wish I knew what was happening out there.
“Cade, we gotta get outta here!”
Cade moved fast-very fast. He was clearly in full sprint, and his vampire swiftness added to the total speed.
“Yeah, Cade! Let’s turn and burn! Turn and mother-sliming burn!”
There was a sudden thump. Cade had crashed into something. Joe gathered all his strength and oozed to the top of the pocket, gripped the edge of the leather, and pulled himself up enough to see out.
“Where are we?”
“H.B.’s place.”
“The gargoyle?”
“Yeah, hold tight, Joe. I’m breaking the door down.”
Cade slammed his fists into the door and utilized a strength that not long ago he’d told Joe he rarely called upon. The door broke open, and Cade was through the threshold before the splinters hit the ground.
“H.B.!” he shouted. “Where are you? Come out! Quick!”
“Friend.” H.B.’s voice emerged from the kitchen. “Come to watch a movie?”
Cade dashed forward, into the dimly lit kitchen, and wrapped his arms around the three foot tall gargoyle. “You gotta go. I need you to fly out of here, right now!”
“Now?” H.B. cocked his eagle-shaped head.
“Now, dammit!”
“Why?”
Cade stuttered a moment and finally spit something out. “G-get to the choppa!”
“Choppa?”
With that, the gargoyle spread its stony wings and launched itself out the front door.
Cade collapsed to the seat of his pants and sighed. “I did it.”
“Did what?” Joe asked as he poured himself onto the ground next to Cade. “What did you do?”
“I saved him.” Cade laughed.
“Saved H.B.? From Moselle and Joe Jackson out there?”
“Yeah.”
“Pal, didn’t they say they wanted life energy?”
“Yeah.”
“Gargoyles aren’t alive, my man. They ain’t dead either, but they ain’t filled with life energy. Not like—”
“Gnomes, pixies, elves,” Cade said as he stood and began to walk to the door. “Windego, werewolves, harpies—”
“Yo, don’t forget sexy mermaids.”
“Fuck, Joe, what did I just do?”
Joe looked out the door in the direction Cade was gazing. There must have been thirty of those purple energy tentacles now; each penetrating a home.
“You saved H.B.,” Joe said. “Only problem is, H.B. didn’t need saving.”
“Shit…”
“Yo, buddy, I gotta bail,” Joe said. “Hey, I’m gonna pour myself down a drain, hide there until this is all over.”
“All of them…” Cade muttered.
“Hey, pal?” Joe called out as he slithered away. “I’m alive, and I need to hide. You hear me?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
“Joe…”
“Do what you gotta do, buddy. I’ll be here when you’re done.”
Joe saw Cade look over his shoulder and nod. It was the first time in a long time Joe could tell someone cared whether he lived or died. The feeling invigorated him.
“Go, buddy, before you see me spray out some slime tears.”
“Stay alive, Joe.”
“You too.”
Face Front, True Believers
Amber had fallen to her knees during the interface. Now that it was over, she clawed the slime off her head and threw it to the ground not far from the pile of dead bodies.
“You fucking vile shit!” she said and then coughed.
“Hey, you calling me vile?” Joe oozed away. “Babe, I don’t get off getting burned.”
“Shut up!”
“And really, do all you fire fairies get fucked like that as some sort of perverted rite of passage or only the ones with—”
“Shut up! Shut up!” Amber screamed as she pointed at the puddle. “I will kill you.”
“You will do no such thing,” Dunyasha said and then nodded to Nicodemus.
Nicodemus reached down and grabbed Amber under the arm and lifted her up to her feet. “Not Sabrina?”
“No, she is not, Nicodemus.”
Nico leaned into her, his hand still on her arm. “Looks and smells like Sabrina.”
“Yo, but those ain’t Sabrina’s tits. Come on, big guy, you gotta recognize the difference, right?”
Nico shook his head no and then loosened his grip on her. “Maybe if she was wearing bathing suit…”
“Hold up. I’ll mimic a bikini top!” Joe squealed with delight.
Amber moved away slowly after Nico let go of her.
“What did you see, copycat?” Dunyasha asked.
Amber was gripped by panic. “W-what?”
“What did the slime show you?”
“S-show me?” she stammered. “Oh…I saw…I saw Moselle and another mummy, a man. They held a staff—it must have been magical or something. It looked like it had great power. I’m guessing they were using it to enhance their abilities to siphon life energy. I’m not sure, really.”
“Da,” Nico agreed. “Drew from every living otherworldly here. I was pinned in place by the staff’s power. It felt like my ribs were being slowly crushed.”
Dunyasha approached Nico slowly, and when she reached him, she placed her hand on his chest, and the big Russian man flinched; Amber couldn’t tell if his reaction was from pain or fear.
“Tell me more,” Dunyasha said to Amber.
“Cade ran off. He rushed to help a gargoyle. But then Cade realized he’d made a big mistake. He was devastated.” Amber huffed. “The gargoyle fled.”
“Nyet,” Nico said loudly. “Gargoyle came back.”
Amber looked at Nico and took another step back. In some ways, he was harder to read than Dunyasha, and that worried her more than his master did.
“Cade charged Moselle and Rue. Seen him like this before, once in Grenada. He overflowed with rage and pounced.”
“Like Wolverine berserker style, I bet. But only if Wolverine were from a CW teen angst drama, right?”
Nico continued as if he didn’t hear Joe’s interruption. “The gargoyle, he swooped down and snatched Cade.”
Amber waved her hands. “I didn’t see that.”
“Nah, sugar tits, I didn’t see that,” Joe said after he took the form of a rat again. “I didn’t see it, so you didn’t see it. Get it?”
“Whatever, slime.”
Dunyasha brushed the wind-blown hair that had gathered in her face out of her eyes and spoke slowly. “Nicodemus, continue.”
“Mistress,” he said with a nod. “The energy tentacles, they reached inside every home. I watched the energy grow from dull dark purple to sun-bright light. It…fueled them—the cursed undead—and soon a portal opened up.”
Dunyasha looked stunned. Amber had never seen the elder vampire look shocked before and it made her stomach flip like a dying fish.
“A portal? Like mine?”
“Like yours.”
“And they left through the portal…alone?”
Nico shook his head; he looked clearly pained to answer. “Not alone.”
“Tell me.”
“H.B. and Cade rushed the portal. Fast, like rockets. I-I blacked out. When I woke, they were gone. I assumed they went through portal before it closed. I cannot be sure.”
Once more, Dunyasha placed her hand on Nicodemus, this time his shoulder. “You were up against forces you do not understand, Nicodemus. Do not blame yourself. Cade, with his rebellious nature—he is drawn to conflict unlike any childe I have known.”
“I find him. I bring him home.”
“Not this time, Nicodemus. I cannot sense him.” She cocked her head to the side and asked. “Can you?”
“Do not fear, childe of my childe. He will return. He knows our time draws near—the very reason he does not stay gripped by the slumber like the others.”
Nico nodded in agreement.
“Now, I have a task for you.”
Nico fixed his jacket and stood at attention.
“I trust you can find your way to the caves from here, Nicodemus?”
“Da.”
“First, burn these bodies.” Dunyasha made a grand gesture toward the corpse pile. “Afterward, burn this…this place. Make sure the entire street is reduced to ashes. Then and only then, you and Joe should return home.”
“It will be done.”
“Nicodemus.” Dunyasha’s lips turned up. “Savor the trip…and what meals you might find during it. You have my blessing to hunt. I want you strong upon my return to the caves.”
Nico bowed.
“Wait.” Amber spoke up. “You’re not going to portal them back to the caves right now?”
Dunyasha did not answer.
“Hey-yo-hey, Elvira,” Joe squeaked but then caught himself and covered his little rat mouth with his paws. “Geez, sorry-sorry-sorry, I told you it would take me a while to get past that one. I mean really. That pale skin…and those epic tits. Lordy, it’s a damn shame one of you guys didn’t turn her. Cassandra Peterson. Elvira. You know, right? Or did you? Hey, tell me one of you did…like not one of you-you, but another vampire clan. Right? Someone did? Right? It would explain how she didn’t age for like twenty years. I mean damn—”
“Goodbye, Joe.”
“Oh, wait. I haven’t told you what little miss faux Sabrina is up to. You should hear this. I’d laugh if it wasn’t such a great idea.”
Amber unfurled her wings and ignited them. “I’m warning you, slime.”
Dunyasha vanished, and when she reappeared, she was right in front of Joe. She bent over and picked him up by his tail, and as she straightened herself, she dangled him front of her face.
“Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me!”
“Listen to me. I know exactly what the girl is doing. She is doing what she must. She is doing what she is told. She is doing what I want. You will tell no one what you saw inside her head. No one. Not my children. Not your kind. No one.” A smile tugged at Dunyasha’s ruby-red lips again. “Capiche?”
Joe squeaked, “Capiche.”
“Good.”
Dunyasha released her grip on Joe, and he fell to the pavement.
“I love you, you know that?” Joe said as he stared up at her.
“Come, copycat. Time for us to return to the mission.”
Amber’s stomach rumbled, and a sour taste filled her mouth—she felt like she might puke. The scent of death that surrounded her had grown so bad it felt like it had made a home inside her.
She looked over her shoulder at the townhouses, then gazed off in the direction she imagined would have been her home—her true home.
She gave her wings a shake. All it would take were a couple quick flaps and she could be airborne. With her wings aflame, it would be hard for one of the vampires to grab or hold her down. Amber imagined she could flee, escape. But then she thought of what awaited her in the outside world: nothing.
Where would I go? What would I do? Looking like this, there is only one thing I can do.
“Do not be afraid. We are almost done.”
Dunyasha’s voice inside her mind calmed her, so she smiled and answered, “Yes, almost done.”
Not So Quick
From high above, in the lower stratosphere, Cade used his powerful vampire vision. He knew where to look, even if it was only a splotch of color below. There—a flicker. It was the sign he was waiting for. Well, at least he hoped it was.
He motioned to H.B., who had wrapped his arms and legs around Cade and carried him. It was time for their descent.
The wind pressure combined with the speed pushed and distorted Cade’s face as they rocketed back to earth. He had never moved this fast.
“Might…wanna slow…down…some…H.B.”
“Slowing.”
Their speed slowed, but the ground was still rapidly approaching. He clenched his fists and relaxed his legs. Cade had only parachuted a few times, but he remembered the instructor’s words and repeated them in his head. Legs springy at the knees. Legs springy at the knees.
Cade spotted Nicodemus below, who was waving his flare as high as his reach would allow.
“See the landing zone, H.B.? Put us down there, where the portal was,” Cade said. “But ease us in. I’d like to keep my legs intact.”
“Roger, Roger.”
Cade and H.B. landed safely, yet forcefully, in the middle of the street. They kicked up a cloud of dust and dirt, causing Nicodemus to fan his face.
“Yo! You just landed like Will Smith in that one superhero movie.”
Before Cade could answer, H.B. did: “Hancock. 2008. Underrated…in my…opinion.”
“Cade,” Nicodemus called out. “Welcome back.”
“Good to be back.” Cade looked down. “Did I… Did we crack the pavement?”
“Da. You came in hot.”
“Wow.” Cade chuckled and then looked down at his legs. “Alrighty. I’m good. I’m good.” He brushed himself off as H.B. unwrapped himself from Cade. “Nico, you should try that someday. It’s like a slice of heaven topped with a heaping helping of scary as hell.”
“Up, up…and away!” H.B. giggled.
“Feet firmly planted on ground,” Nico answered.
Cade nodded as he fixed his messed hair. “Report?”
“Yo, I got your report right here, pretty boy,” Joe said. “I’m still not sure about all this. I mean that was Dunyasha right there. You made me lie to Dunyasha.”
“You lied to liar,” Nico interjected. “Liar lied to Dunyasha.”
Joe skittered around the ground a bit and then answered, “You got a point there.”
Nicodemus extinguished the flare he held, putting the hot end out in the palm of his other hand. He didn’t even flinch. Cade could not deny it; it was impressive.
“Did she sense me?” Cade asked.
“She did not sense you.”
“Good.”
“Yo, buddy, this whole clusterfuck just became a double anal clusterfuck,” Joe squeaked. “What Nicodemus hasn’t told you yet is that Dunyasha had someone with her. And it all would have made sense. Does makes sense. Shit, it don’t make any sense now.”
“Slow down, Joe. Who was with her?” Cade sniffed the air and then smiled. “No…”
Nico reached out and placed his large hand on Cade’s shoulder. When Cade looked up into the big man’s face, he was shaking his head.
“I smell her, Nico. I smell my sweet sunshine. Her perfume…” Cade sniffed again. “Her—”
“Yo, that ain’t hers you’re smelling, Romeo,” Joe said. “That shake’n bake belonged to something fake.”
“What is he talking about, Nico?”
“Not Sabrina,” Nico stated flatly.
Cade shook his head and sneered as if he smelled something rancid. “What?”
“We had ourselves a very odd bobo[6],” Joe added.
“Damn it! Both of you!” Cade pointed at Joe and then Nico. “Spit it out!”
“Dunyasha came looking for you and with her was someone who looked like Sabrina but was not her. A faker,” Joe said.
“A shapeshifter?”
“No man, that’s the thing. It was another fairy, all made up and dressed up to look and sound like our lovely princess Sabrina. But it wasn’t her. It wasn’t our—”
“‘Our’?” Cade interrupted Joe.
“You know what I mean.”
“Why?” Cade scratched his chin. “What reason would Dunyasha have to be traveling with a Sabrina lookalike?”
Nico shook his head. “Dunyasha was very focused.”
“Oh, that’s scary.”
“Da.”
“The soldier in m
e says this is some sort of trap. But that makes no sense. Unless…could that weird story of Moselle’s have been true? Might explain why Dunyasha needs Sabrina, or a Sabrina…” Cade patted Nico on the chest. “Feels more and more like Dunyasha’s been lying to us.”
Nico nodded.
Cade looked his childe in the eyes. He found it hard to form the words he wanted to speak. In an odd way, they felt sacrilegious. The taste in his mouth soured, and he grimaced. Nico mirrored him, all while he continued to nod.
You may be the only person in this world who truly understands how difficult my thoughts are to process, Nicodemus, Cade thought. And only because you are processing the same exact ones. What do we do? What do we do now?
“Our old argument,” Nico whispered.
“I know,” Cade replied.
“No winner. Both wrong.”
“Both very wrong.” Cade forced himself to speak the words. “Could this really mean that Dunyasha’s not a second or third generation vampire? That she’s not even a first generation one…she’s one of the Four. S-she’s…” He shuddered.
“The second horsemen of the apocalypse.” Nicodemus finished. “War.”
“She’s War.” An icy chill ran down his back, and Cade looked in the direction Moselle and Rue’s portal had been and thought back to the moment right before they’d crossed through.
Cade had only just seen Dunyasha open a portal months ago, and he had assumed then that it was somehow connected to her ancient lineage. The elder vampires were alleged to have powers the youngers did not. But witnessing Moselle, a mummy, do it now was less than comforting.
He stood slowly, his muscles aching. Moselle was stronger than she looked. But he knew this was not her normal strength—this was something different, something enhanced.
“How are you doing this?” Cade shouted at Moselle and Rue over the swirl of energy. “Where are you going?”
“Home. It is time to gather Death.”
Cade looked around. Nico was still being held back by Moselle’s dark energy. He felt powerless. He wanted to fight, but Moselle was too formidable. In that instant, he recalled the last moments of his human life. On the battlefield, he could smell the dead—then and now.
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