by Megan Hawke
“Sable!”
“Hello, Pamela.” I moved up fast and shoved her against the wall. I pushed my face in close, about half an inch from hers. She turned away, a look of mortal terror on her face. “Long time no see. How’s Yuri and the family?”
“P-Please don’t k-kill me.”
“Are you going to help me?”
“Yuri will kill me.”
“Run away.” I caressed her cheek.
I had no interest in her, but all of the attention terrified her. She was the willing minion of the most brutal vampire I knew. Sympathy for Pamela was low; I still remembered she had shot me once.
“I can’t. I’m linked to Darcy. She’ll find and kill me for helping you.”
Pamela was actually Darcy's minion? Interesting.
“I’ll kill her. And Yuri, too. Tell me where they are staying.”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think you can kill any of them.”
“I killed Miles, Ophelia, and Maria Teresa last night.” Her big blue eyes got even bigger. “And I killed Hector Lopez before that. After them, Yuri and his gang of misfits won’t be difficult to dispatch.”
“Oh my God! You really did that?”
“Yep. It was easy as pie, baby.”
“Will you protect me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll be your girl. You know, like I’m Darcy’s girl now.”
“My thrall?”
“Yes.” She looked me in the eyes for the first time. She looked hopeful. Her fear merging into lust.
“No. I don’t trust you. If you’d betray Darcy, you’d betray me.”
Pamela tensed, her eyes narrowing. All fear was gone, replaced with rage.
Oh, so she did have a backbone. I couldn’t afford a knockdown drag-out fight, so I captured her with my eyes. Her tension bled away and her face went slack.
“Where does Yuri live now?”
“We’re all staying with Valerie St. Clair.”
“Thank you. That wasn’t so hard.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. I raised an eyebrow. What an odd thing to say. “Darcy is going to kill you now.”
“Darcy?”
“Yeah, me,” Darcy said into my ear. I went cold. “Thanks for taking the bait, babe.”
She seized my left wrist and twisted my arm behind my back. Darcy's other arm wrapped around my throat. I tried to break free, tried to pull the arm around my neck off with my free hand, but she gave my left arm a savage twist, and I felt my shoulder pop out.
"Aaauugh, you bitch!" Nothing like a separated shoulder to suck the strength out of your body, whether mortal or immortal.
"Thank you." Her hot breath tickled my ear. "Keep singing to me, baby."
"You're going to be sorry you messed with me." You know me and false bravado. Feels good sometimes. Kinda builds up a lagging spirit. Besides, it took a moment or two for my injury to heal. The pain was mostly gone, and I could feel my joint knitting back together. "Tell me, is Yuri here too?"
"Darby and I really liked you." That hurt. "Anastasia was a fun vamp, but you showed promise for being even more of a character. I still can't believe you killed my sister."
"I seem to be disappointing a lot of people lately."
"Pamela," Darcy said, capturing the mortal's attention and eyes. Pamela was no longer mine to command. "Go get the car, but take your time. I want a little quality time with Sable before we take her to Yuri."
"Okay, but please don't kill her. Yuri will be furious with you."
"You let me worry about Yuri," Darcy said, tightening her grip on me. "I'm the one that caught her, so I have rights. I'm going to collect my pound of flesh. Go."
Pamela hurried away. It was the only time I regretting seeing her leave. Now Darcy could concentrate on me.
"Everyone's watching us," I said.
Darcy looked around. She frowned at the small crowd. Vampires in general didn't like putting on public displays. They were creatures of the shadow.
Her grip on me faltered a fraction of a second. I struck, driving my right heel brutally into the top of her foot. It went right through the arch of her foot, shattering all kinds of bone.
"Yeeoowww!"
With my heel through her foot, I kicked straight out. Together, we dropped to the hard concrete. Halfway down, I was able to pull her arm from around my throat and start to twist free of her other grip. The left arm let loose when she hit the sidewalk.
"I warned you." A second later, I was on all fours above her and we locked hostile eyes. Then I kneed her in the crotch as hard as my vampire body would allow. I smiled when her big blue eyes rolled up in her head and her back arched. "Ouchie."
I was too proud of myself. I forgot she was an older vampire who was stronger and faster. Darcy pulled her knees to her chest, bringing her feet to rest on my belly, and kicked me away.
I was ten feet in the air before I realized my mistake. I flew right over my Mustang and landed in the far lane. A horn blasted the air as I sat up. My head whipped around in time to see the Jeep barreling down on me. I'm not real sure what happened next, but I know the bumper struck my head and the Jeep continued over me. I don't know how many times it rolled me, but I had a couple broken ribs and two broken fingers when I stopped.
"Holy shit!" a college age kid cried as he fell out of his Jeep. His friend in the passenger side scrambled out, too. They rushed over to me, but stopped three feet shy of me when I sat up and looked around. "Are you okay?"
"No she's not," Darcy said, and grabbed my hair. I was pulled straight up to my feet and the smaller vampire drove two swift punches into my unprotected belly, and then she ran me head first into the driver's side window of my Mustang. Glass rained down on me as I dropped to my knees. "Sable's having a very bad night."
All traffic stopped. I stared up at Darcy though a quickly clearing fog. She looked around, scowling at all the people. I was taken aback to realize the vicious vampire kicking my butt was decked out all in pink. She looked like a classic blonde bimbo. Totally harmless. Talk about looks being deceiving.
I lashed out with a foot, catching her left ankle. That kick would've crippled a mortal. Hell, it would've shattered a mortal's ankle. Darcy fell beside me none the worse. We both bared our fangs and hissed at each other. I don't know why I did it. I'd never done that before. It just felt natural – the perfect expression of my pissed off. Neither of us was the least bit impressed with that little fangtastic display, but cries of "vampires!" filled the night air.
Scrambling to my feet a second before Darcy made it to hers, I kicked her in the chin. She fell back with a curse, while I dove halfway through the shattered driver's window, grabbed the remote on the end of my dangling keychain, and pressed the Open Trunk button.
The trunk held all my remaining vampire fighting weapons. Right on top was a holstered pistol with silver bullets. I pushed that aside. I had to kill her, as in roasting in Hell dead. I either had to impale her heart on wood, or cut off her head.
My katana was at the bottom of the pile. Of course. Where else would it be?
"No!" Darcy body-slammed me before I could grab the sword.
I was smashed to the side; then my foot caught on the curb. I went down hard, with Darcy on top of me. In less than a dozen seconds her fists pummeled my nose, chin, left boob, belly, and ribs. They were hard punches, but she wasn't in a position to hit me with maximum strength, so my body absorbed the punishment pretty well. Each punch still hurt.
"Have you considered professional help for your anger management issues?"
Darcy's eyes narrowed into blue slits. "You'll need help finding all your body parts when I'm through with you, bitch."
"Such a nasty mouth!"
I attacked – all fists and elbows. Darcy was faster and stronger than me, but she obviously had no martial arts training. Few vampires did. When you are the biggest, baddest, meanest mother on the planet you don't need special training to fight, but it still helps if you do.
Her free hand grabbed me by the hair and slammed my face into the passenger side window, shattering it. Made me wonder if she knew it was my car. That blow stunned me. She'd learned her lesson, and kept her feet wide and away from my heels.
Darcy pushed my head forward until my chin was on my chest, then she jerked it straight back and down. My neck snapped. Cold engulfed my body, then intense pain as I dropped to the ground bonelessly.
Though I could feel my neck starting to pull itself back together and heal, I was incapable of any movement yet except blinking my eyes. Darcy laughed and ground the toe of her boot in my face and mouth. Then she kicked my head so hard it undid all the healing that had happened so far.
"Not so tough now, heh, Black Heart?" She scowled at me. "To Hell with Yuri. I'm going to kill you myself."
Darcy leisurely walked to the open trunk of my car. My neck was healing, but not fast enough. She had a better idea how long she had than I did. When she pulled out the katana my blood ran cold. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to go to Hell.
"You've killed an awful lot of vampires, Black Heart."
I realized then she was playing to the crowd of mortals. They were keeping a safe distance, but watching raptly. Calling me Black Heart provoked a flurry of whispering and shuffling for position. I didn't think anyone cared that I was actually going to die. They just wanted to have a good view of my execution. Several had pulled out cell phones to snap pictures or videos. Why did I want to protect them from vampires?
"Would anyone like to help me kill the infamous vampire murderer Sable Hart?"
"I will," a young man said. He stepped forward. Tall and slender, he wore all black and heavy eyeliner. Total Goth. "Command me, Mistress, and I will obey."
"You look delicious. Maybe I will reward your service later."
"Thank you, Mistress." He giggled. I'm surprised he didn't ejaculate right there in his shorts. Maybe he did. "What is your command?"
"Pull her to her knees," Darcy said in a loud, commanding voice. He struggled with my limp body, but finally got me on my knees. "Hold her head high, neck stretched out. I'm going to cut off her head."
He grabbed my head and jerked it up, stretching my half-healed neck. Darcy stepped in front of me and extended the sword to touch my neck. It sizzled briefly and I gasped when she unexpectedly drew back and swung with incredible force, but missed me. I realized it was a practice swing and a taunt. My reaction clearly amused her and the crowd who twittered with nervous laughter. I felt the cold blade tap the side of my neck when she extended the sword again, the blessed silver burning into my skin. The next swing would not be for practice.
"Please don't." In a few more seconds I’d be healed. So close. Stall! Stall, damn it! I had to figure out a way to make her delay. "Yuri... will… be…"
"Fuck Yuri." Her eyes narrowed, jaw clinched. "Your ass is mine."
Darcy swung the blade back, locked eyes with mine, and smiled. I knew I was dead. There was no mercy in that look she gave me. She reminded me of a wolf.
Wolf? I didn't know if I could, but I gave it my best shot when I saw that katana glint in the light and start to arch towards my neck. I envisioned myself a wolf, and leapt out of my clothes at her. The man holding me lost his grip and stumbled forward with a cry of surprise. I growled as viciously as I could.
Darcy made a squeaking noise and fell backwards. The car stopped her and I hit her chest, my teeth reaching for her throat. Suddenly, Darcy was a wolf, too. Our jaws locked together and we hit the ground in a snapping snarling heap. I enjoyed a brief advantage while she was still entangled in her dress, but she came out of that fast. We tumbled a few feet, then we both transformed back into humans.
The crowd gasped as we glared hatefully at each other, just out of reach. It took me a second to understand that a lot of the crowd's excitement was due to our nudity. I smiled at her.
"My boobs are bigger," I said. "You skinny bitch."
Darcy frowned, looked at my chest, and then down at her own. I turned into a wolf again and leapt at her. Again I took her by surprise; I clamped down on her wrist and ripped into it with a brutal shake of the head. Darcy pried me off her arm and threw me into the street again. She changed into a wolf as she charged towards me, so I changed into a bat and flew away.
My super sensitive ears picked up a squeak. The squeak made by a bat. What was it about those LaFere girls? Don’t they ever have any ideas of their own? And don't they ever give up?
Darcy could fly faster. Did faster and stronger apply to all manifestations of a vampire? It would also stand to reason she had experience fighting as a bat. I cannot imagine why she would, but since it looked like we would be fighting a good hundred feet above the ground in a few moments, I figured my luck would demand she have such experience.
I performed a tight loop that should've brought me onto her back. But Darcy veered to the side, banked hard, and came straight at me. I just escaped her attack, receiving a long cut across my back. Noting that her attack took her past me and downward, I beat a hard climb.
I had a good two hundred foot lead when she whirled and came after me again. I couldn't see her, but I could hear her perfectly. As a vampire I had hyper-sensitive hearing, and I swear it was even better as a bat. I could hear the people three hundred feet below breathing. I could hear bugs flying all around me.
I couldn't win a conventional bat fight. Hell, I didn't know how to fight a good bat-on-bat battle, so I had to be unconventional. I had to do the unexpected. Shock and awe, baby. Shock and awe.
I banked hard and dove at Darcy. At first I couldn't see her; I had to zero in on her sonar squeaks. I thought I could surprise her by being quiet, until I realized she would "see" me with her sonar. So I forsook stealth and found her with my own sonar. About twenty seconds apart, I spotted her flying up out of the darkness. Ten seconds out I saw her twist in midair in preparation to fight. I chose that moment to change into a wolf.
Now that surprised her.
Darcy let out a very frightened sounding squeak. She looked totally discombobulated, wings fluttering uselessly as she tried to comprehend what was happening, and what she had to do about it. I clamped down on her left wing and shook my head viciously.
The bat shrieked horrifically, but I couldn't kill her like that. As I plummeted toward the unyielding earth, I cursed myself for a fool. I should've turned into a human, grabbed her, and bit off her head like I had with Darby. Hindsight, you know?
I flung her away as hard as I could and changed into a bat and beat a fast retreat. I thought about going to my car and leaving, but that would likely be the first place Darcy looked. So I turned towards downtown. I wanted to ensure I had eluded Darcy before I headed for Boney's house.
Good thing I was cautious. A few minutes later I realized Darcy was still following me. I redoubled my efforts, heading for the concrete jungle of downtown Dallas. Well, maybe not much of a jungle, but there had to be places to hide. My first thought was the tower-like parking garages.
Seeing a wooded park, I dove down and in. I barely managed to dodge the branches as I streaked through, trying in vain to lose Darcy. She matched me move for move, and she was gaining on me. My bad.
Just twenty feet off the ground, I had a lot of height to regain. I turned up into a steep climb. Another bad mistake. Darcy didn't have to take such a sharp ascent; instead she only had to angle up a bit and charge straight at me. She was on an intercept course and gaining with lightning speed now, so I reversed course and dove hard.
It was too little too late. Darcy came screeching down upon me. All I could do was squeal when she struck me. She sank her little bat fangs into my right shoulder and brutally raked my back with
her claws.
I changed into human form and tried to grab her. Darcy morphed to human too. We grappled, cursing and trying to knee each other. I grabbed her hair with my left hand, jerked her head back, poised to rip out her windpipe with my right – and we hit the ground.
I don't have any idea how fast we were going, but we hit hard. The pain was incredible. I lost all my breath. It’s a shock when your breath is knocked out, even though vampires don't need to breathe. We both paused to instinctually suck in air.
We landed in the middle of the street. Let me tell you, there is a lot of gravel on the street. You don't notice it unless you find yourself smashed into it naked.
Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic in downtown that time of night. I only saw a couple street people. Winos. They were gawking at us. You didn't see naked girls falling out of the sky very often.
"You know, your sister died because she wouldn't give up the chase either," I managed to gasp out once I got a little wind in my lungs. "Why don't we call it a draw and go home?"
"No."
"You know, I'm beginning to develop an attitude towards you."
"Yuri's right." She climbed to her feet. "You're not funny."
"I wasn't joking."
I changed into a bat and flew away, heading towards a nearby parking garage. I aimed for an opening halfway up. If I couldn't lose her in that labyrinth, then I wasn't going to escape her wrath. Darcy screamed something about me being a coward and came after me. I was too busy pinging and listening to my sonar to figure out exactly what the insult was.
I flew as hard as I could, trying to get to that high-rise garage. Darcy was gaining on me. I wasn't going to make it. It seemed the harder I tried, the slower I moved.
Darcy was nipping at my feet as I neared the garage, so I banked hard left. The move surprised her and she hesitated. That forced her to fly into the opening, entering the garage. I immediately changed directions, going up and around behind the garage.
I circled around the side of the skyscraper next to the parking garage. I started flying around and around the building, higher and higher. I hadn't the foggiest idea what I would do when I reached the top. It's a sobering feeling when you realize you are out of ideas.