by Megan Hawke
Feminine screams filled the house as we charged in like the 1st Cavalry. As a vampire I can scan a room and figure out who is who much faster than I could as a mortal. I could only assumed the older vampires did it faster and better. I could see that all the players were there, and a bunch of mortals I didn’t know. Must be Clive's people.
Yuri and Clive were way in the back of the room, next to each other. Claude de La Reue was with them and Vera Vasquez, too. They were the four oldest vampires. Claude was the youngest of them, and he was right at three hundred years old. The other vampires were spread around the room, speaking with small groups of mortals. They were all gawking at us.
"Turnabout is fair play," I called, then pulled the trigger. I aimed for Yuri's small group. I think I managed to hit all of them before they scattered. "Die!"
Four more machine guns started spraying silver pain and death. Mortal thugs dropped like flies. Part of me was sickened. Part of me thought they got what they deserved. I wondered how the others were feeling. I knew Dane absolutely despised killing any human except for last ditch self-defense. Gabe was reputed to not particularly care. I didn't think Wendy and Anson had ever killed any humans before the big battle on Harry Hines the night I was Changed.
The first vampire to recover and attack was a rather plain looking woman. I didn't recognize her at first. It was Sarah Brentworst. One of Clive's free-willed followers. She went after Gabe, who was closest to her. He roared in wolfish battlelust and started emptying his AK47 drum into her. I swear, she didn't even slow down.
"Watch out, Gabe!"
A vision of Gabe getting his throat ripped out flashed through my mind. I dropped the AK47, since the bullets were not affecting her, and pulled a javelin. Wood through the heart would send her straight to Hell.
"Gabe, duck!"
Gabe didn't duck. Instead, he swung up a sawed-off shotgun on a strap dangling down from his shoulder. It was a 12 gauge automatic.
Gabe shot Sarah point blank in the face. Twice. He left a huge hole in her head. I wasn't sure a vampire could recover from even the first wound. The second blew the top of her head off. Gabe aimed a bit lower for the third shot, and blew away most of her neck, including the spinal column. And then he dropped the shotgun to swing at his side while he pulled a straight sword and finished beheading her.
Sarah Brentworst was dead. Gone.
"Outstanding!" I cried.
"Shit!" Dane cried, and gunfire erupted again.
The vampires were all screaming in rage and attacking. The slayers were shooting in panicked desperation. The closest vampire proved to be Dominique, and she headed straight for Gabe. I would've thought she would attack me, but she was snarling mad, and hungry for vampire slayer blood. Gabe's blood.
"Watch out, Gabe!"
Gabe was aiming at a different vampire. Lawrence Burdett, I believe. He didn't see Dominique until I cried out. It was a horse race between me and Dominique, both trying to reach Gabe first. For very different reasons. Gabe, though, growled and swung his shotgun around, but not fast enough.
Dominique reached him first. She grabbed the barrel of the sawed-off and jerked it hard as she spun around and kicked him in the chest. She ripped the shotgun off the strap as he stumbled back a step. She aimed the shotgun at his belly. That silver shot would kill a werewolf.
"No!" I slammed into Dominique. A split second later the shotgun fired. Gabe grunted and I bounced off Dominique. "Bitch!"
I hit the floor and immediately pushed myself up on my elbows and looked at Gabe. He was alive, but she hadn't exactly missed. Thankfully, she didn't hit anything vital, but he had a nasty buckshot wound in the left thigh. The silver shot took away his werewolf “magic” and he was slowly changing back to human form.
Dominique snarled, gaining my attention. She was five feet away, on all fours and glaring at me. I guess I left an impression with her. Thankfully she’d lost the shotgun.
"Your lipstick is smeared." Her eyes glazed over a second while she considered that. Vain bitch. I pulled my Beretta and pumped a silver bullet into her head. "Idiot."
Dominique grimaced. At least she wasn't able to hide it as well as Sarah had.
"We're going to kill you slowly, Black Heart."
"I'm honored."
"After you watch all of your friends die." She looked at Gabe, who was fully human again and barely conscious.
I leapt to my feet and stood between Gabe and Dominique. She rose to her feet much more gracefully, sensuously. She graced me with a smile full of cruelty.
"I'm going to rip out his throat and you’re going to watch, Sable."
I dropped the pistol. Dominique was too fast, so I didn't have time to pull the katana. Now that would've stopped her. So of course I couldn't get to it.
Dominique wore all black PVC. Only her hands and face were exposed, and very white against the black rubber. When she sprang at me, it looked like a set of disembodied hands and a face were flying at me. I waited until the last possible second and kicked up and around, in a vicious roundhouse. The kick caught her behind the wrists and the force of the blow spun her around.
"Ugh," I grunted as she slammed into me sideways.
I kept my feet, though I was forced back two steps. Dominique fell but jumped right back up. I stepped over Gabe's body, protecting my friend between my wide spread feet. That vampire would not reach him. She absolutely would not hurt him anymore.
Dominique hissed at me and exposed her fangs. I guess that was supposed to scare me. I had fangs too, and I believe they might be a tiny bit longer than hers. I was taller than her, after all. But I didn't show my fangs. I smiled grimly and pulled the katana. Her eyes went wide, then grimaced as she looked away.
"Gotta love a good yard of blessed steel," I said.
Dominique charged me. I stepped into the attack and slashed at her. She was faster than I thought, and dodged to the side. That vampire bitch got past my guard and raked her nails across my face. Very painful. So I spun around and tried to skewer her in the side. I had her dead to right, too. Dominique saw it, and transformed into a bat. The sword punched into an empty rubber suit.
"Damn."
She was human again and slamming into my back. Her fangs sank into my right shoulder, and ripped open a big hole. The surprise and pain made me drop the sword.
"Yeow!" I cried, and dropped to the ground to escape.
Dominique was not so easily lost. I found her straddling my stomach and holding my wrists to the floor on either side of my head. She laughed, and sank her fangs into my throat, and ripped into me again. Very painful. I wailed and kicked my feet. I tried to buck her off, but the French vampire rode me like a professional rodeo cowboy. I think she was having fun.
"I'm going to hold you down until all of your friends are dead, then we're going to have many hours of fun with you. Before we kill you, once and for all."
Dominique's breasts were right in front of my face. I could bite them, with my fangs, but that would probably only piss her off. I could transform into a bat, but that would leave me naked and vulnerable in a different way.
So I head-butted her in the mouth.
"Agh!"
Her strength wavered, and I finally was able to shake her off. We were immediately on our feet and facing each other. Dominique attacked. She proved very strong and fast; she surprised me by cutting to my right to scoop up Gabe's dropped straight sword.
"A-ha!" she cried. "En garde!"
I recalled one of the last Krav Maga lessons I received from Dane. In that lesson the assailant was brandishing a long knife. I feigned an attack. Dominique took the bait and tried to skewer me. I blocked the blade with my left forearm, and at the same time punched her in the throat with all of my strength. Her windpipe was crushed.
I caught her left wrist while she was frozen from the pain and shock, twisted and turned, and threw her over my hip. For a bare second she sat there in surprise. It was enough. I reached down, seized her head and chin, and snapped it to t
he left. Broke her neck. She gasped and went limp. I smiled to see her helpless for once. I understood how she felt. Darcy had broken my neck in a fight, after all. So I knew from experience she could heal remarkable fast if given a chance. I wasn't in the mood to give her that chance.
Picking up the dropped sword, I thrust it into her chest, right between her big boobs, straight through her heart. Her eyes widened. I smiled at her as I fetched my dropped katana.
"Guess which one of us is fixin’ to die, Maîtresse?" I said.
I gave her just long enough to realize it was her, then whacked her head off. A second later that head was flying out the front door and bouncing down the sidewalk.
"Two down!" I cried.
Looking around, I assessed the situation. It looked to be a draw so far. Except for the fact that all the minions seemed to have been killed in our initial assault. That would not go over well with the police, the media, or the public in general.
All of the slayers were using swords and javelins now. Two things vampires respected.
Dane wielded a straight sword and knife holding off Yuri, Angelique, and Cynthia, with his back to the wall. All the slayers had their backs to walls. We were still outnumbered four to seven, since Gabe was too hurt to fight.
Clive was attacking Wendy, while Anson was fending off Claude, Vera, and Lawrence with a javelin. Anson was quite good with a javelin. Wendy was even more impressive with her sword. She was using a katana, too. Its blade burned my eyes. Clive was having a hard time with that, too. His clothes were tattered and bloody.
Suddenly Clive grabbed Wendy's blade with his left hand and pulled her towards him. I yelped even as she stumbled forward. He pounded a right fist into the side of her head, sending her protective glasses flying. Wendy spun around and fell on her butt, then looked up at him wild-eyed.
"No!" I cried, but it was too late.
Wendy was caught. Clive cut a smug look at me, then turned back to the mesmerized vampire slayer on the floor before him.
Clive pointed at Anson. "Kill him."
"I will kill him," Wendy said, climbing to her feet.
Wendy picked up her sword and started towards Anson. He didn't know what had happened. In the movies the mesmerized people always look like zombies in appearance and gait. Not so in real life. They look and move perfectly normal. But mesmerized people are very focused, and don't deviate from their instructions too much. Single-minded determination would be the best way to describe someone who was mesmerized and given a task to perform.
"Anson! Wendy's been captured by Clive!" I raced towards them.
Anson used the javelin to push the vampires back a step, then glanced my way with a quizzical look. He spotted Wendy heading his way, staring straight at him.
"Wendy?"
She said nothing. Instead, she took the sword in both hands and crouched lower as she moved towards him. Anson had little time to consider it all, as the vampires rushed him again. He managed to thrust the javelin through Lawrence's heart, but had to pull it back out to keep from being disarmed. The vampire staggered back a few steps, shook it off, and moved back towards him. At the same time, Clive turned to confront me.
I raced straight at Clive. It was a big room, but still just a living room. It took all of three seconds for me to reach the English vamp. I feigned an attack at his throat and then I leapt over him.
I came to my feet to Wendy's left. My momentum drove me into Vera's back, knocking her straight at Anson. His eyes went wide, and he thrust the javelin through her heart. The javelin was ripped from his grasp, disarming him. I cried out in joy, knowing another vampire was dead. One of the older vamps, too. Then I saw Wendy thrust her sword at Anson's heart.
Anson was off-balance and too close to avoid that thrust. He screamed in horror, but I swung my sword up and into her blade. Parried, Wendy's blade missed Anson by inches and imbedded in the wall behind him.
"Vampire bitch," Wendy threw a punch at my face.
I ducked and punched her in the belly. My punch lifted her off the floor. Her eyes bugged out as the wind was forced from her lungs. Wendy landed on her knees, gasping for breath, and cradling her stomach. The punch had the desired effect, knocking her out of Clive's power.
"Anson, she's good now." I swung at Lawrence as he pulled the javelin out of Vera. "Bastard!"
He accepted the slash across the throat with only a grimace of pain, then thrust the javelin into my belly. Lawrence could've thrust it all the way through me, but he wanted that insidious silver spearhead inside me. It hurt so much I dropped the sword and grabbed the javelin with both hands, trying to pull it out.
Impaled like that, I couldn't stop Claude from seizing my head. My eyes widened as I realized he had grabbed me the same way I had grabbed Dominique just before I snapped her neck. He smiled cruelly, pleased to see that I understood what was about to happen.
"For Dominique."
A sword descended, severing his right arm just below the elbow. Claude screamed and raised his stump; hot blood gushed out and into my face. People don't realize how hot blood is until something like that happens.
"Leave her alone!" Wendy cried, then thrust her sword through his heart.
Lawrence released the javelin, and jerked Claude back off the sword. That saved Claude and me; I was finally able to pull the javelin out. Clive pulled the javelin out of my hands before I realized he had joined the fray.
"Watch out!" I cried, and dodged to the side.
I heard Wendy call a warning, then I heard Anson grunt. Turning around, I dropped into a defensive stance, and I looked back to see Clive had thrust the javelin through Anson's heart. My friend was staring at him in dumbfounded silence.
"No!" Wendy and I screamed at the same time.
Wendy was closer, but I was faster. Unfortunately, I'd dropped my sword when I was impaled on the javelin. The sword laid at Clive's feet. He yanked the javelin out of Anson and swung it back around toward Wendy. The ancient vampire had a look of wicked glee on his face. I knew I only had a second or two before Wendy died, so I lunged for his feet.
Spinning, I rolled through his legs like a bowling ball. He grunted and came to rest at Wendy's feet. I grabbed my katana and rose up on one knee. I wanted to cut off Clive's head with one fell stroke. You know, like in the books and movies, but there was Vera. The Spanish vampire jumped on my back. Her weight bore me face first into the floor as Clive rolled away. Fortunately, Wendy was there and sliced open Vera's back, forcing her off me.
By that time Dane had reached us to help.
"Oh, shit," I said.
We were all together, except Gabe. He was unconscious and no threat to the vampires, so they ignored him. Lucky Gabe. We weren't so lucky.
I rose to my feet a step in front of Wendy and Dane, who had their backs to the wall. Anson lay dead, stretched out at the base of the wall. I tried to push that from my mind, but Anson was dead. My friend was dead. Clive killed him.
Clive killed Anson.
The remaining vampires were arrayed before us in a semicircle. From left to right, it was Yuri, Cynthia, Lawrence, Clive, Angelique, Vera, and Claude. Or what was left of Claude. His stump had healed over, but it would take days – maybe even weeks, to regrow that arm. I'd never had to regenerate a limb, so I really had no idea how long it would take.
Seven ancient vampires against two humans and a baby vamp. Talk about overkill on their part.
"I suppose it's too late to negotiate a mutually agreeable truce?"
Yuri scowled at me. "Do the jokes ever end, Black Heart?"
"Who's joking?"
"Enough," Clive said. He looked me dead in the eyes. "The police will be here shortly, love. We have to leave, and you are coming with us – Black Heart."
"My name is Sable." I was strangely annoyed. Earlier, I was embracing the whole "Black Heart" thing. It wasn’t so much fun anymore. "And I'm not going anywhere with you freaks of nature."
Clive smiled. I'm here to tell you, the man had a great s
mile. Perfect teeth. The fangs didn't diminish it in the least. He was a handsome man. Most vampires were attractive. Dane thought it was because they only Changed their lovers, people they found attractive. It was as good a reason as I'd ever heard, and better than most.
Clive's smile was frightening. "Of course you will come with us, Sable. Because we will allow your remaining friends to leave unscathed if you surrender to us."
"Oh." That stunned me.
"No!" Dane said. "I won't allow it."
"I-I don't…" I stammered, seeing a way to save Dane, Wendy, and Gabe. How could I not take that chance? "But if it would save y'all…"
"No! You heard him," Wendy said, and kicked the back of my left calf. Not hard, but enough to make her point. "We all live, or we all die. We're a team."
"We leave no one behind," Dane said.
I couldn't help it. My eyes started burning so hot that tears flowed. I couldn't blink them away fast enough.
"Bleeding fools," Clive said. "Then die!"
"Mind if we join the party?" a new voice called from the door.
Two men and two women stood inside the front door. The tallest one was familiar to me. You might call him something more than a friend.
"Boney!"
"Who are they?" Dane asked.
"Vampire friends. Hi, Boney. I can't believe you came."
Now it was five vampires and two humans against the seven evil vampires. I liked those odds much better. Of course, I had no idea who the other three vampires were. They were all vampires; I could tell by their auras.
Boney shrugged. "Desiree would never forgive me if I allowed to you get yourself killed."
The other three vampires with Boney didn't look happy. I don't blame them. Only one of the other three looked dangerous. He was a big African American, with a shaved head and very dark skin wearing a black suit and tie. He was big boned, about six foot five, and heavily muscled on top of that. He looked like an undead tank.
The woman between him and Boney was a very pretty redhead. She was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and running shoes, and was the most sensible dressed of the lot. Whereas the other woman looked like an African American dominatrix in all black leather.