by Jackie Ivie
“Who the hell are you talking to?” Len asked.
“I’m speaking to the image of evil. The ghost of a man who used an ax to murder an innocent. He killed a young woman named Eleanor. Because she didn’t want him. She loved someone else. Isn’t that right, Louis?”
The ghost started laughing. It sent a chilled ripple of fear up Cam’s spine.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“You.”
The ghost dropped. Ash puffed up from his landing. Len gasped and gripped Cam’s arm.
“What was that?”
“Louis is being theatrical. He’s good at it. Ignore him.”
“Yeah. Right,” Len replied.
Cam turned back to the ghost. “I’m kind of disappointed here, Louis,” he said loudly.
“What?”
“I really thought you’d be bigger!”
At Cam’s taunt, the fellow launched upward, trailing ash. Cam jumped, too. That was a mistake. He overestimated. He had to drop several feet to reach the ghost’s level. Len hung onto his arm the entire time.
“You can’t do anything to me, Cameron Preston.”
“Really? How do you figure?”
“You’re a vampire. You can’t even look at a crucifix. Read from a Bible. Quote a scripture. And you can’t call the clergy to help!”
“Oh, yeah? Well, I’d like to think evil doesn’t need religious iconography to vanquish it, Louis. Because I’ve got something pretty powerful.”
“What?”
“Love.”
“Love?” The ghost punctuated the word with a series of short laughs. Each one sent a burst of soot skyward. Made the rank odor more potent.
“Oh. Balls! What’s that smell?”
Len had his nose pinched as he asked it. Cam didn’t answer. He was entirely focused on the ghost. His heart was beating heavily. Rapidly.
“Eleanor loved someone else, Louis. His name was Jesse. He was a soldier. He wasn’t there to save her because he died on a battlefield. She didn’t love you. She didn’t even like you!”
“Shut up!”
Louis was angry. Bursts of soot shot outward, spraying onto what had been the gravel drive. The mangled lump that had been his van. Clumps of overgrown shrubs. Cam moved back, hauling Len with him. They landed well out of reach. It was a rough landing. Hard. Len fell to his knees. Even Cam stumbled.
“You are a fool, Cameron Preston! Love has no power! It never has. It never will! It’s nothing! A bit of fluff that only the weak-willed care about!”
“You have the cross ready?” Cam turned to Len.
“Yeah.”
“Get it.”
Len started fumbling about, working a hand into his back pocket. Cam tried not to roll his eyes. Maybe the guy should have worn pleated trousers rather than pants so tight he’d have trouble at the worst possible moment. And then Len stopped. Gaped. And pointed.
“What?”
Cam turned his head. Froze. A large jagged line had appeared in the darkness beside where the ghost hovered. Louis was still shouting. Still swirling ashes. The line in the sky widened. There wasn’t anything inside it, either. Just black. A solid, impenetrable black. It made the darkness Cam had experienced upon waking feel like fresh air and light. It looked like someone had cut a tear in the fabric of the night sky. And it was closing in rapidly on the ghost.
Len recovered first. “Holy shit! Would you look at that?”
“Hey, Louis!” Cameron shouted.
“You got something to say?” the ghost returned.
“Looks like you’re about to take a trip!”
“Oh, yeah? To where?”
“I don’t know! And I sure hope I never find out!”
“You’re no threat, Cameron Preston! You’re nothing! A lovesick blind fool! A man who believes in love is—!”
The ghost didn’t finish. The maw of blackness swooped forward and appeared to gobble the little ghost up midsentence. Flashes resembling lightning accompanied it. The night crackled with energy. Each flash illuminated a kaleidoscope of colors.
Purple.
Vivid blue.
Dark red.
Neon yellow.
And as he watched, the black hole grew slimmer, waned, finally disappearing as if the night seamlessly knitted back together. Bottom to top. Top to bottom. And then it was over. The sky looked exactly as it had before. Cloudless. Star-filled. A moment later, a heavy boom of thunder rolled across the ground, making the earth tremble beneath his feet. Long moments passed. Cameron was rooted in place. Stunned. Overcome.
Then he saw another entity. Beyond the ruin of the Ramsay Mansion. It was female. She was standing in a thicket. Surrounded by a mist shaded the slightest bit yellow. Cam didn’t have to ask. He knew. It was Eleanor. He hoped Jesse had followed him again. Because maybe. Just maybe. They’d finally get their happily-ever-after.
And then one of the women screamed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Cam flew to the crypt. It didn’t take any effort this time. It took a partial second to realize that. He had to wait the rest of the second for his vision to catch up. The women were hunched behind the crypt.
Both looked fine, but they faced a two-headed swamp-creature. A horrifying sight. Something beyond supernatural explanation.
Cam wasted another second to blink. Shook his head. Blinked again. Another second elapsed. He was seeing things. Imagining worse. His belief in ghosts was unshakable. He was now willing to add in vampires. But he was not going to believe in swamp creatures. No matter how realistic...
The thing was covered in mud and grass. Twigs. Dead leaves. All sorts of slimy stuff Cam couldn’t identify. One side held up a large crucifix. It was using what looked like a human arm. Everything was plastered with mud mixture, except the cross. Starlight glanced off the metallic piece as the swamp-creature rotated it. Cam got a flash of pain before dropping his eyes to a more immediate threat. This side of the creature had a crossbow aimed at him. Mid-belly. And there was a very clean-looking arrow with it.
“Hi-ya, Doc.”
The thing spoke. Cam’s mind started data-gathering. Spontaneously. Instantly. This wasn’t a fictitious monster from a comic book. He was facing two Hunters. Standing back-to-back. They had to be the remaining BPRG guys. The ones who’d been in the carriage house. Randy. And Lance. They’d survived the 4-D Team. That was likely due to their mud coating camouflage. They’d buried themselves. Or gotten buried by the explosion. There hadn’t been a heat signature to give away their position. Cam slipped the ax handle free of its leather thong. Held it behind him, hidden by the volume of fabric used for his pants.
That could mean he was facing Randy.
No.
Cam instinctively knew Randy was holding the cross. He didn’t question how.
“Lance,” he replied.
“Exactly. In the extremely filthy flesh. Which is more than I can say for everyone else around here. Except Randy. You want to step back up a little? I have a very itchy trigger finger.”
“You don’t want to do this.”
“I beg to differ. This is what we were trained for. We hunt down and kill vampires. No matter what it takes...or how long.”
Len was approaching. Cam had to keep them talking. Give Len time to arrive. The guy’s half-human status was sure to alter things. Cam caressed the ax handle behind him with his right hand. Rubbed his chin with the other. Used a conversationalist tone. “Now...why would you want to go and do that?”
“I’d like to say it’s because they’re evil, blood-sucking corpses. They had their chance. They already lived. Now they’re dead. They belong in coffins. That’s the altruistic reason. But I have to admit. Most of us kill vampires because it’s our job. We get paid. A lot. And then there’s me. Well, Doc. I gotta confess. I do it for fun.”
Cam swallowed. He’d thought Louis was bad. “You hid in the ground, didn’t you?”
“Yep.”
“All day?”
“And mos
t of the night. We’re commandos, Preston. We weren’t hired for our looks. You want to call the other guy over about now?”
“Let the girls go. We’ll talk.”
“No way. And I’m not asking again, Doc. Call the other guy over.”
“You only have one arrow, Lance.”
“Guess again.”
“You’ll have to reload.”
“Oh...I don’t know about that. If I get real lucky, and if you vampires line up just right, I might be able to peg at least two of you. But, before you start thinking through those odds, I’d suggest you check out Randy’s other hand. If you can manage that around his crucifix. Randy?”
“Ready.”
Lance’s back half moved. The outline of another weapon came over Lance’s shoulder before disappearing again. The crossbow facing Cam lifted, aiming the arrow for his chest. It wasn’t going to be able to find his heart easily. That muscle had moved. It had become a large, extremely painful lump in his throat. His fingers tightened on the ax handle.
“Now, Doc!”
Now?
Len slammed into Cam’s left side, shoving him just enough the arrow grazed his bicep and continued uselessly into the night behind him. Lance’s mud-covered face reflected his anger. Disgust. Fear. And then he pivoted, and they faced Randy. The crucifix sent flame-like pain into his eyes. Cam’s howl of pain took some time to make sound, and even longer to disperse. He lifted his left forearm as a shield. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t move. And his last thought was of Tessa. How much he loved her. How love really was the most important thing in the universe.
And he was about to lose it.
He heard the twang of the crossbow string. Tightened everything against the imminent impact. His eyes wouldn’t cease watering. His chest was a huge ball of ache. And then Len’s body smacked into him again. The impact sent them both back several feet. Cam angrily swiped at his eyes. Forced his eyelids open. Blinked continually against a burning sensation that wouldn’t quit, until he could see. All of it took time. And he only had moments. The Hunters were probably reloading right now.
His eyes finally worked. Len came into view. Looked like Randy hadn’t shot a vampire. His arrow had impaled the wrong man. The shaft was still quivering where it protruded from Len’s upper belly. It may have missed a vital organ, but the wound looked mortal. Blood was spewing from the opening. Cam went to his knees at Len’s side. He couldn’t staunch it. Blood spattered his face. Wet down his silk shirt. Stained the clown pants. It colored everything dark red. Visceral. Messy. Len’s body started shuddering...
And that’s when Cam went berserk.
He leapt Len’s body, twirling in midair with the hatchet blade out. His motion stopped as the ax found Randy’s gut. Blood spouted into the scene. The guy gave a strangled cry. Cam had reached all kinds of organs and intestines. They came out with the ax as he pulled it. Randy looked dead except his body spasmodically jumped on the grass. And everywhere was blood. It permeated the scene. Made the ax handle slippery. Cam tightened his fingers on the weapon and took Randy’s head off.
And then he was chasing Lance.
The guy might be trained in all kinds of commando moves. Work for a firm that hunted and killed. He might profess to enjoy the killing portion of his job. Portray being a bad-ass. But he wasn’t exhibiting any of it at the moment. His moves now were cowardly. Self-serving. Desperate.
And futile.
Lance dodged a tombstone. Cameron grabbed him up by the collar and tossed him. Lance’s body smacked into the side of a crypt. Sounded like it broke bones. But if the hit didn’t do it, the ax would. Cameron had been a runner. Tri-athlete. Track and field competitor. He didn’t hunt. He didn’t fish. He didn’t own a fireplace. He’d never used an ax. But, for some reason, none of that mattered now. He had one hell of an aim.
The hatchet struck Lance’s shoulder, the blade embedded in the stone crypt’s side. Lance was pinned. Dangling. Kicking ineffectually. Cameron approached, watching the man’s limbs jerk while his face contorted into an ugly mask. And then Cam noticed something weird. And unbelievable. The sky behind Lance was altering, taking on the same appearance as before. The jagged slash appeared again. Grew wider. The opening looked just as black as before.
And twice as frightening.
The rush of energy and bloodlust that had seized him evaporated – just like that – leaving weakness in its wake. His body shook. His legs wavered. Cam sucked in short gasps of breath and started backing away, part of him wondering how to jumpstart into flight mode again, the other interested only with gaining distance. As rapidly as possible. He stumbled. Fell. Got back to his feet and resumed his steps. He didn’t want to be anywhere near when the opening did its consuming.
“Where...are you... going? You’re not even going...to finish me off? What the hell?”
Lance’s questions came in bursts of sound. Cam shook his head, turned, and started jogging. He didn’t look back. Not even when Lance screamed.
~~~
“I didn’t do it right. I took too much blood!”
“It’ll be fine, Tassanee. Trust me.”
“Why is he not moving?”
The plaintive cry stabbed his heart. Added impetus to his mobility. Cam reached the group within moments. He really needed to figure out this flight thing. It took another moment to take in the scene and assign meaning. Leonard’s face was ashen. The arrow was gone. The wound couldn’t be seen clearly, however. Not through all the blood. He was covered in it. The boy band picture on his t-shirt hidden beneath one big dark splotch. His head was in his fiancée’s lap. Tassanee was of Asian descent. Cam remembered that from their introduction. He hadn’t paid much attention to her. He’d registered she was tiny. Beautiful. Now, her face was lined with worry and her eyes awash with tears. Tessa was on her knees beside them.
It didn’t take a doctorate to figure this out. Tassanee had obviously done exactly what Tessa had two nights previously. She’d changed her mate into a vampire. Cameron knelt beside Tessa.
“Give it a little more time, Tassanee,” Tessa said.
“You don’t understand what he means to me!”
Her tear-streaked face could not have displayed more misery. Cam wanted to do something, anything to help, but Tessa was far better equipped in this situation. She placed her hand on the grieving woman’s shoulder.
“Honey. Trust me. He’ll waken. It just looks dire. I know.”
Cam reached for Tessa’s other hand. Interlocked his fingers with hers. Caught her glance. Had a difficult time pulling away from it.
“Does he need more blood? I can give more.”
“Doubtful. He got some from both of us. It’s not that. It’s—”
Len gasped. His body jerked. And Tassanee’s cry of joy said everything. Cam’s eyes blurred. But this time there wasn’t a hint of pain.
Tessa pulled him away. He didn’t balk. Somehow he realized the moment was pretty special. He’d leave it to them. Tessa seemed to be experiencing the same emotion. She had tears running down both cheeks. Cameron had never seen anything so beautiful. Beatific. Heartwarming.
“Here.” She shoved a cell phone into his hand.
“What’s this for?”
“Somebody has to call the office. I...don’t want them to...hear me like this.”
“Okay. What do I say when I reach them?”
“We need another 4-D Team. A pick-up scheduled for Len and Tassanee.”
“Can we hitch a ride back to our place, too?”
“Our place?”
“The Dark Plantation. I’m thinking I need another shower. I mean look at me. My zoot suit is ruined.”
“Oh. You have lots more.”
He grinned. “Yeah. I know. What’s the number?”
“Eighty-six.”
“That’s it?”
She nodded. He pressed the numbers. Then connect. Somebody was talking before he had it to his ear.
“You’re reached VAL Headquarters. May I ask who is
calling please?”
“VAL?” Cam looked down at Tessa. “What does that stand for? I mean I can figure out the ‘V’. Vampire. Got the league part. But the ‘A’? Could it stand for...allied? Associate? Aggregate?”
“Please state your name and reason for calling,” the woman in the speaker interrupted.
“Oh. Um. Yeah. Sorry. I‘m Cameron Preston. You don’t know me but we’re gonna need a 4-D Team over here. A pick-up. And a drop off.”
“I’ll connect you, Doctor Preston.”
Doctor? How the heck did she know that? Cam’s eyebrows lifted as he pondered it. A male spoke next. The fellow had a supremely large voice. It resounded with bass tones. Cam flinched and pulled the phone away.
“Greetings, Doctor Cameron Preston.”
“Sorry. I forgot to warn you about Akron,” Tessa whispered in his other ear.
“Akron?” Cameron asked.
“You were expecting someone else?” Akron replied.
Okay. This was getting confusing. And he never allowed that condition. Then again, he’d never been in love. Or a vampire. Cam cleared his throat. “I’m calling because I need a 4-D Team. And a pick-up.”
“The Dark Plantation has been compromised? What a pity. I really like that place. Tessa has a piece of heaven there. It’s dark. Secluded. Hidden.”
“Agreed. And I’m gonna make sure it stays that way,” Cameron answered.
“Then why do you need a 4-D team?”
“Ramsay Mansion. Or rather...what’s left of it.”
“Really? Lizbeth? Check on the Blue Team. Find out why they failed.”
“On it.”
“W-w-wait!”
Cam’s voice had a distinctive tremor. It wasn’t the call. It was because Tessa had decided to run her fingers along his back. Up under his shirt. Along his spine. Sending all kinds of stimuli with her touch. It created all kinds of response. In the open? With witnesses? He reached down and pressed a quick kiss to the end of her nose. And then reached behind his back to pull her hand down.
“Very well, Doctor Preston. I’m waiting.”
“Oh. Sorry. It’s...uh. Yeah. Nobody failed, Sir. Two Hunters were hidden in the mud. They’ve been...eliminated.”