by L. A. Banks
Tetrosky used the distraction and charged Amin with both claws aimed at heart level, but Amin pulled out of the force-lock with Carlos and deflected Tetrosky’s advance with a scissor kick. There was no way to get in between them. They had too much space to maneuver and were at maximum hype.
The Guardians couldn’t get a clear shot as the masters moved like lightning in a death grip, changing positions as they wrestled for each others’ throats, shifting constantly with Damali at their backs and in danger of taking a bullet. Each time Carlos charged toward her, the two battle-locked masters would momentarily stop combat, and in unified intent place an energy wall between him and his target. Together they were strong enough to hold him back.
But they were getting tired, needed to feed. The winner-takes-all struggle was consuming massive amounts of their energy. They had to not only fight each other, but Carlos and a Guardian team. It was only a matter of time before one of them wavered, he could feel it.
As soon as an opening presented itself, Carlos headed toward Damali as the ship lurched again from the weight of the mortal combat that took out the helm when the two masters collided with it. He saw it happen in slow motion.
Dan was knocked off his feet and was sliding, J.L. toppled and was skidding, Damali fell and hit the deck in a slow slide on her bottom trying to reach him and Dan, Jose righted himself and ran, then hurled himself to hit the deck on his belly right behind her—going for her and trying to save her from the shark-infested waters in a fast slide. J.L. had stopped forward momentum by catching on to a bent piece of railing, then reached for Damali, and missed.
No barrier from the others, Carlos’s focus divided on blocking them and getting her. Master Xe appeared, and instantly vanished with Damali—but Jose and Dan were still going over the side. Rider, Shabazz, and Mike were right behind Carlos as Dan slid past the missing rail, taking Jose with him.
The ship lurched again, and Carlos was over the side of it, holding Jose’s arm while Dan had both of Jose’s legs. He’d brought his knees up and slammed his legs down to break into the deck and anchor himself. Carlos could feel Rider’s arms around his waist, trying to help ground him, obviously forgetting for those few hectic seconds that he didn’t need that type of help. His dog had sunk its teeth into his shoulder to hold him from going over the side. Instant pain shot through Carlos’s system, but he held onto Jose.
“I got them!” Carlos yelled. “Go find her and smoke Xe.”
Rider pulled away fast with the dog. Shabazz and Big Mike already had a head start on him, running with weapons raised down into the bowels of the vessel. The dog never left Carlos’s side and barked wildly at the still warring masters on deck, standing between them and Carlos.
The ship lurched again, almost making Jose and Dan lose their grip on Carlos’s hand. Carlos yanked hard on the young Guardian, and glared over his shoulder at the dog. “Do ’em!”
Tetrosky yelled when the remaining Hell-hound suddenly rushed him and tore his leg out of its socket. The wounded Transylvanian rolled out of the way of Amin’s thunder stomp. But the splinters left from the impact of the stomp made broken wood available to Tetrosky’s instant reach. When Amin came close to rip out his heart, Tetrosky staked him. The boat stopped rocking the moment the battle ceased, and Carlos slung the two Guardians up hard, catching them by their T-shirts. Tetrosky vanished.
Billowing black plumes from Amin’s ashes made every vampire on top deck choke and heave. Carlos was gone. He was air.
“He chose to worry about saving two male human-helpers and didn’t come for you? Foolish choice. What a pity. How can you be loyal to a man like that?”
Xe had her against the wall of a stateroom, his foul breath like a knife against her skin, and his incisors caressing her shoulder through her dress. Her Isis was in McGuire’s suite, where she’d been before Tetrosky had come in behind her like vapor and pushed it into McGuire’s heart from across the room.
With both hands against his chest, she flat-palmed Xe and pushed him up off her with all her might and walked away, furious. The aggressive, fearless action stunned him. That she had no fear, only rage, intrigued him. She could feel it, and she’d use it to buy seconds of precious time.
“Did my husband make a side deal with you without telling me?” Damali snapped, glaring at Xe.
“That’s right,” he murmured. “Get angry, just like you did in the parlor. Do that for me, baby.”
“Did, I repeat, did Carlos Rivera—and I will kick his ass if he did without telling me—make a side deal?” She knew this was what he wanted, that this sick bastard was titillated by aggression. Liked it rough. All she needed was a few moments and a little working space to get to a table leg to stake him.
He circled her, breathing heavy, so unfocused on everything else but her that taking him down was not out of the question. She positioned herself near the coffee table, easy wood.
“Talk to me,” she said, pointing at him. “He gave me away to McGuire for one night, so explain this bullshit now.”
“We made a side deal,” Xe said, trembling where he stood, captivated by her rage. “If McGuire couldn’t make it through the night, then winner takes all.”
She smiled. “Carlos know anything about this?” She’d lowered her voice to a seductive level when Xe shook his head no. “How treacherous . . . I’m really impressed.”
He walked toward her slowly, stalking her, his smile glistening with razor brilliance. She could see how high he was in his eyes, and by the very obvious fact that none of them had tried to transport her off the ship. She had to keep him talking, just a quick stomp of the table to knock out a leg when he rushed. She’d take out his heart through his back while he covered her, would let him think it was rough foreplay. She studied his eyes and backed up until the table kissed her calves.
“You don’t think Carlos will come in here, do you?” she murmured, glancing around.
Xe shook his head. “Don’t worry. I have this room temporarily concealed from his senses. He’s divided right now, battling two masters. And, if he does, I have a stamped agreement between the others,” he said, producing it for her like a bouquet of roses. “He’s a man of his word. He foolishly gave you away for one night. McGuire couldn’t handle the privilege . . . winner takes all.”
She forced a smile. “My husband can be a very irrational man, at times. Why didn’t you take me somewhere . . . more private?”
Xe sighed. “We’d all considered that, but your husband is also very astute. This is his vessel, and he blocked all transport off of it. Council-level does give him some minor advantages.” He put the document away very carefully, his line of vision holding hers. “Now, Huntress, let us get to know each other on a less-formal basis. He’ll observe protocol, a genuine agreement forged on his own ship . . . don’t worry, baby, I’ll take care of you tonight.”
Big Mike’s shoulder collided with the door three times before it gave way. Rider and Shabazz were in first, weapons drawn, just like they’d broken down all the other doors before this one. They scanned fast, saw no Damali, and were out. But this time Rider hesitated.
It took a second for all his senses to align and propel him back out the door. All three Guardians stood transfixed as they watched four naked female vamps feed off a massive security guard in a tangle of writhing bodies.
“Oh, shit,” Rider murmured, backing up slowly. “I think we found the wives.”
One lifted her head from the guard’s throat, blood dripping down her chin and fangs. Shabazz glanced back at the door, but there was no opening, just solid wall. Two of the females lifted their heads from a sixty-nine position, and grinned, mouths wet, full fangs glistening in the low light as they blew an air kiss toward Big Mike.
Another female riding the dead man smiled and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Oh, look, how romantic. Carlos sent dinner.”
Xe moved a lot faster than she expected and was on her as she crushed the table, leaping straight up, and coming
down on it with all her weight. Machine-gun fire was echoing throughout the ship, then a huge boom shook the room. It rocked her where she’d landed, wood underfoot, and she fell. The wall blew out of the side of the ship, sucking everything in the suite out behind it into the now-visible ocean, except her and Xe.
“This is my ship, my house, motherfucker,” Carlos yelled, slapping the center of his chest as he materialized and walked into the room with the ocean at his back. “That’s my wife,” said pointing at Damali and slow stalking Xe. “How long did you think it would take me to figure out that a blind spot was where you were?”
“Everything is in order, I assure you, Mr. Councilman,” Xe said backing up, but not unnerved. He produced the parchment and flung it at Carlos. “Winner takes all—we made the pact in the stateroom after you left! All the masters have stamped it, and you can’t override the contract.” He glanced at Damali and smiled. “You gave her to a master for one night. Tonight. It is of no consequence whom she ultimately ends up with—you know how this works.”
“Take your complaint to Hell!” Carlos roared. “I want a legal review at council level!”
“That could take nights,” Xe growled, “and my patience eludes me.”
A shoulder-cannon blast rocked the ship as the two masters squared off. Damali grabbed a makeshift stake from the broken table leg, and backed up deeper into the suite. All she’d need was to get bumped into the water. Reading her slow movements, both Carlos and Xe looked up.
“Get out of here,” Carlos ordered, his eyes trained on Xe. “I’ma kick this bastard’s ass.”
“Tell her to stay away from the edge,” Xe said through his teeth. “Once I dust you, I don’t want to have to waste time reconstructing her from shark bait.”
The suite door blew open as Carlos lunged for Xe, sending Damali through it. She was hurled against the far wall so hard that her head hit it and made her bite her tongue. She could taste blood in her mouth. Xe and Carlos had stopped combat for a moment, looking to see if she was all right. She hocked and spit. Carlos froze.
It happened in slow motion. The saliva and blood from Damali’s mouth falling, falling, about to hit the floor of a vampire vessel sanctioned by the council as a part of his territory. A perfect DNA sample telling them everything they needed to know about Damali. Everything. Xe was moving toward him, but that wasn’t his biggest concern. Xe’s fist collided with his jaw. His head snapped back, and he couldn’t send the power to catch her spit fast enough. The splat on the floor sounded like thunder, and spread out as she stood slowly, looking dazed. As he was going down he saw it sizzle on the floor and draw in, getting smaller and smaller until it was gone.
Time truncated instantly. Xe was in midair and coming down on him. Carlos held up his hand, paralyzed Xe’s motion to a dead stop, ripped out his heart, and sent a table leg through it, staking it against the wall, then let him drop and burn. Carlos rolled away from the cinders, stood up fast, rushed to Damali, and grabbed her by the arm.
“My cover’s blown. I have to get you and your men to a speedboat while I still have some power left.”
She grabbed the back of his shirt, trying to slow him down. “Berkfield is in the hull of the ship,” she said through her teeth. “He’s the key.”
Carlos stopped, spun on her quickly and held her by both arms. “Talk to me fast. We don’t have a lotta time. I know the key is in the hull, but I don’t have time to save him and you.”
“Our seers located him from your concert transmission. The sacred blood,” she said quickly between pants. “It’s been injected into him—he’s a living key. They’ll put him on the seal and crucify him to bleed him out. As soon as his blood separates and hits the seal, the biblical gate opens.”
Panic collided with terror within Carlos as he felt his energy waning. “I can’t save you both. You’re my top priority, D. Period. Send one of the Guardians after Berkfield, but you have got to get off this ship, and then your men can blow it. I can’t worry about it if they don’t get to him in time. If it’s him or you, you know my choice.” He began pulling her behind him but her resistance was slowing their forward progress.
“No! Don’t you understand? He’s an innocent. One with your mark. None of my men can break the hold on him within that hull—only you can, if Tetrosky performed a dark ritual. Only a vampire of higher level than him can break it to open that casket, or we have to find Tetrosky and behead him. If you let the man drown, they can still get to his body and drain him, but your soul will be lost forever with us going into the Armageddon!” Tears streamed down her face. “There will be no world, no future for humanity, including our child, if that sixth seal is opened.”
Her voice fractured and split his conscience, making him grab her to him, then lift her to keep running toward safety no matter what she’d told him.
“Carlos, don’t do this,” she begged him as he carried her. “If you cross over, at least you can be a warrior angel, still on our—”
“You, the baby, that’s all I care about, D!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
IT WAS like history repeating itself, coming full circle. He’d become so fatigued that at one point he’d nearly dropped her. Now she was running by Carlos’s side, her steps hard and sloppy from exhaustion, gasping breaths through a blinding pain in her abdomen that felt like someone was examining it, ruthlessly invading it. Carlos was wounded. Both of them were practically staggering and hitting the sides of the walls while running and as the ship continued to shift, listing like they were, her man was too tired to transport, too tired and unfocused to heal himself, half dragging her toward her team.
As they rounded a corner within the behemoth vessel to escape through the exit left by the fallen stairs, they saw a wide smoking hole in a wall and three smoldering vamp dust piles. A dead man was on the bed with a table leg in his chest. Carlos glanced at the grisly sight and his panic shot through her system, nearly blinding her.
Without a word, he wrapped his hands around her waist and thrust her over his head so she could grab a bent rail and pull herself to deck level.
“Run!” he yelled, but she watched him struggle to pull himself to safety with his uninjured arm.
Ignoring his command, she knelt, hooked her arm securely on a brace, and extended her hand. She reached for him harder, holding her breath as new tears formed in her eyes and fell. Their eyes met, no words needed, and he grabbed her hand, leveraging himself with a hard swing and her grasp to land beside her. Then together they ran.
Ammo shells littered the deck; rapid machine-gun fire sent shells in every direction, making them run low and in a zigzag pattern to avoid getting hit. Her team was pinned down behind a twisted section of metal and wood once the helm. A Hell-hound was assisting, keeping nearly fifty top-deck vampires held at bay at the bow from leaping at them airborne, patrolling the expanse with razor-sharp jaws and a slashing tail.
J.L. had rolled away, fly-kicked an encroaching male vampire, and mowed him down with a hail of bullets while sliding on his back. Dan was dead aim and capped two females, then smoked another to give J.L. cover, while Jose stood, a Glock in each hand, giving Dan a chance to reload another magazine.
Shabazz, Rider, and Big Mike were hemmed in at the stern, out of ammo. The rail was at their backs, and a long she-serpent with Lai’s body atop, a thick, black coil swayed from side to side. Mistress Xe’s six bulked arms were reaching for the trapped Guardians with claws. Mike stepped forward and took a swing at her with the butt of his shoulder cannon, catching her in the jaw, chipping one of her fangs and splitting his weapon in two. In a swift pivot, six hands snatched Mike, squeezing him into a snake’s death grasp as she freed her claws to combat the others by thrusting him into her coils. As he struggled to break her hold, she screeched and screamed her fury, making his ears bleed, crushing him with constricting serpentine strength.
Carlos was on her tail in seconds, grappling with the end of it, making her turn, drop Mike, and focus on him. The He
ll-hound swooped in, slicing her back open, making her screech, sending black blood everywhere that the huge Guardian had to avoid as he rolled away from the splatter. Then the dog flew off to circle and come in again.
“Carlos . . .” Lai hissed, furious, her thick, muscular tail-body slamming him to the deck. “We ran out of product, but we’d picked your pocket and found one more pill. Shame you didn’t stay.”
The dog stole the female vampire’s attention for a moment as she swiped at it with a free hand.
“The red pills,” Damali yelled, her eyes going to Jose.
Jose nodded, and flung a Glock end-over-end to her. Damali missed, but Rider caught it as Master Xe’s wife reared back, swaying, to deliver a death strike to Carlos. J.L. tossed Shabazz a full clip as the dog landed behind the female vamp, distracting her again, and stalked toward her.
With complete synchronicity, Rider and Shabazz shadowed each other’s movements; they were one. Each brought their arms up, extended, at the same time.
“Yo, sis,” Shabazz hollered, making the female vamp turn away from the approaching hound.
Carlos had both hands around the female’s throat, but she was a full head taller than he, and more bulked. His back was to the Guardians as she pivoted him with her, and her multiple arms were crushing his rib cage.
“He’s family,” Rider said, releasing the hallowed-earth-packed rhino shells at the same time Shabazz released his.
Carlos felt sudden heat whiz over his shoulders. Mistress Xe released him, writhing, twisting, and screeching. The dog stopped its advance, then he heard two more simultaneous gunshots, ducked, and shielded his head as her chest exploded, leaving only ash.