“Yes.” She was surprised how cool her voice sounded. Maybe it was the vampire in her. Or maybe it was the memory of her mother and the hell this monster had made of her life. “He’s had things his way long enough. Why should he get to dictate the rules? I say we play the game our way.”
She outlined what she had in mind. Jeremy started nodding before she finished. “Practical,” Wallace remarked. “Just like you.” His eyes blazed up as if something particularly vicious had just occurred to him. “In fact, I’ll go you one better. Let me make a couple of calls.”
* * * *
All was in readiness. Lebec’s squad of vampire thugs gathered in the cellar, awaiting his word. All doors and windows had been sealed with holy water, leaving only the front entrance free. That had been set with a witch’s trap. Once the Tin Man entered, he would not be able to leave. He would not be leaving in any case.
All Lebec lacked was his prey.
“The fool,” he snarled. His fixed, narrow glare leaped from the door to the ornate clock on the mantel. More than an hour had already passed since he’d flung his challenge at the slayer’s feet. “Does he think we’re playing a game?”
“He’ll be here,” Sully whined assurance. “Guy’s a slayer. Killing other bats is what he does. On top of that he’s, whatchacallit, chivalrous. I told you threats would work. Now that he thinks his pets are in danger, he won’t stop till he rips your heart out.”
“Yes,” Lebec agreed, relaxing again. “He thinks of himself as the hero, correct?”
“I guess so. I just know we’ll all sleep easier when he’s gone. You mind if I stick around? Nobody’s going to believe he’s ash unless somebody actually sees it.”
“As a matter of fact, I do mind, Sully. I find you not only treacherous, but quite annoying.”
“Treacherous? Me?” Sully inched back a step. “I haven’t lied to you. I told you everything I know about the Tin Man. I told you where he nests. I told you where his friends live. I told you he had that girl.”
“You told him this house is a vampire den. You’ve been selling out your own kind for years to preserve your own worthless existence. You’d stake me in the back right now if you believed you could benefit from it.”
“Would not. Okay, I did a few things to keep him off our backs. That was before. I know who the real king is now. I’m here to help you, not him.”
“Good, because I need you.”
Lebec struck like a viper. His fangs ripped into Sully’s throat before the other bat could cry out. He drew three, long, exhilarating swallows, no more. It wouldn’t do to go into blood lust with a battle looming. Sully was still twitching feebly when Lebec tore off his head. Head and body shushed to ash that tumbled through his fingers.
Lebec carefully licked every last liquid speck from his lips. Ah, vampire blood. The source, the wellspring, the secret to his success. What the Tin Man had stumbled upon at the outset had taken Lebec years to discover. Vampire blood made one infinitely stronger, swifter, more aggressive and powerful. Vampire blood made one king.
The cell in his pocket shrilled for attention. Lebec withdrew it. “Yes?”
“The Tin Man has left his nest.”
At last. “His flock?”
“They’re still inside.”
“Follow him. Do not engage. Keep me apprised of his movements. Are Teale and McCoy still with you? Put McCoy on the phone.”
A new voice came on. “Sir?”
“Gather the flock. Wait five minutes, then go to the house and retrieve the girl. Take the boy, too. Then burn his home to the ground. Better still, burn the whole block.”
“Yes, sir.”
He returned the cell to his pocket. Finally, things were going right. Although Colleen Forrester was not of his personal bloodline, she had always been his favorite. The potential and power he’d sensed in her had finally come to glorious fruition. She would be Eve to the hybrid army he would train and lead. If he could take the boy as well, so much the better. The boy was too well-trained to simply waste. Lebec would save him as a toy, a reward for his flock to play with after they’d gorged themselves on human blood.
He hummed to himself. So much to do. Track down his scattered daughters. Find a new location in which to rebuild the kennel. Perhaps Alaska this time, or home to Canada. Somewhere near the Arctic Circle, where sunlight fled for weeks on end and night favored him and his children.
But first, destroy the slayer.
* * * *
The two vampires waited precisely five minutes then advanced on the house. The more slender of the two rapped on the door. No one responded. The two exchanged a look and licked lips in unison. The victims had chosen to fight. That always made attack so much more fun.
“Come out, pretty lady,” the slender one purred. “We know you’re inside. Come and join us, sister. Come out and play.”
The door swung open. Both vampires grinned. The woman smelled delicious, a flesh bag bursting with thick, scorching blood. Her fear only added to that tasty zing. The slender vamp indulged in a growl. It was a long way back to Montrose Street, and Lebec hadn’t specified how intact he wanted her.
She looked them both in the eye with a valiant effort at calm. Abruptly she dropped to the floor.
“Hey!”
Both vampires looked up from their prone would-be victim. Jeremy’s first holy-water balloon took the slender vamp in the face with all the force his outfielder’s arm could deliver. The second hit the other in the chest. Both reeled off the steps, their flesh melting as if from an acid bath. They weren’t destroyed, but no doubt wished they were.
Jeremy lifted Colleen off the floor. “How many left?”
The presence of them droned like bees inside her head. “Six now. No, wait. Five. Four. My God. I didn’t realize Wallace could move that fast.” She gasped. “They’re going to burn the house.”
Anger flashed through her. The hell they would. This was her home now. She would defend her king. Marshalling her mental forces, she instinctively blasted a command outward into the darkness. Stop.
The vampires obeyed. One of them swore brutally in her head. “I think I got Wallace,” she said guiltily.
“It won’t last. Can you pinpoint them?”
Now that they weren’t moving, she could, and she did. She beamed their locations to Wallace, along with an apology. His answer was blunt and four-lettered. Within seconds, the vampires shook off their paralysis and started advancing again.
“I’m done,” Colleen said. “Any more balloons?”
Jeremy shook his head. “Stakes only.” He reached to shut the door.
The two on the walk lunged forward. The slender vamp, his face half gone, grabbed Colleen’s blouse before she could withdraw fully into the house. Jeremy punched him in the ruin of his face, for all the good it did. His partner caught Jeremy’s arm. They hauled their victims over the threshold.
“Yo. Assholes.”
Both vampires whirled. “Trick or treat,” Wallace said and plunged his stake into the slender vampire’s chest. The second bat moved, not quite fast enough. Wallace’s silver knife sliced into his throat. Wallace shook ash off the stake and rammed it home. The vampire crumbled in mid-gag.
Wallace glared at Colleen and Jeremy. “What’s the last thing I said? ‘Don’t go outside.’ Jesus H. Christ in a wheelbarrow. Nice arm, Scarecrow.” To Colleen he added, “Any more out there?”
“I don’t hear any. I think we’re okay.” She couldn’t stop staring at the twin piles of ash on the sidewalk. “What do we do about…uh…?”
“Wind’ll get it,” Wallace said. High-stepping carefully over the splashes of holy water, he hustled his lovers inside.
* * * *
The Tin Man would come. Lebec no longer doubted. He had a vampire’s fierce protectiveness toward his flock and a slayer’s overwrought sense of justice. Then there was his macho pride, a useless human trait he hadn’t managed to shed. He’d charge right through the front door like the matinee le
ad in a melodrama. The hero had to vanquish the villain alone in the climactic one-on-one.
Heroes always seemed to forget the villain never played by the rules. Creed and his gang, the witch’s trap, these were only some of the rule-breakers Lebec had on his side. He fingered the stake securely tucked inside his jacket. Would the slayer be expecting that? Doubtful. The Tin Man wasn’t stupid by any means, but his past actions as described by Sully painted a portrait of a man both reckless and impulsive. Careful planning trumped that every time.
Although there was the matter of those three rental holdings, his scattered chain of dens. Those had been destroyed with a care that bordered on methodical, at odds with all he’d heard of his foe. Lebec had initially dismissed Sully’s warnings and paid a heavy price for it. Had he underestimated the slayer yet again?
“No,” Lebec said firmly. He knew full well what he was up against. The Tin Man would attack him directly, exactly as expected. Once inside the house, he’d stand no chance.
A pity he couldn’t be salvaged. What a magnificent stud he would have made.
Caught up in his musings, intent on the door, Lebec missed the sound at first. It nagged at him until he acknowledged it and took him a moment to place. A low-level thump, like—
A heartbeat.
The stolen blood in his veins ran to ice. All his calculations had been based on the Tin Man running true to form—kick down the front door, charge straight in, and demand a confrontation. All his tricks and traps were designed to stop a vampire. He’d never considered the impulsive slayer would bother with stealth or guile, or use a human as a weapon.
Lebec grabbed for his cell. “Creed. We’re under attack. Get up here now!”
Creed did not respond. Lebec was still shouting into the phone when a crossbow bolt hit him in the stomach. A second slammed into his shoulder. A third scraped his neck. Lebec tore the shaft from his shoulder, too late to stop the burning that radiated from the wound. Similar white-hot agony stabbed his body from the other points of impact.
He fell to his knees then to his side. His eyes were drawn to movement in the doorway. The human’s heartbeat thundered in his ears.
“Holy water on the bolts,” the blurry figure said. “Poison to your kind. Change it to steam, and it seeps into the soft tissues and acts like chlorine gas. Your friends in the cellar won’t be joining you.”
Lebec clawed at the floor. His fangs champed slits into his lower lip. “Who...?”
“No one you know.” The human set his crossbow aside and pulled a machete out from under his long black coat. “I’m doing a favor for a colleague.”
Chapter 21
The second he got inside, Wallace whipped out his cell and hit speed dial for the Stantons. “Gus? Annie? Anybody there?”
“All present and accounted for, Wally,” Gus’s hearty voice boomed. “There were only half a dozen. Not even a workout. We turned the hose on ’em, then Annie used ’em for archery practice. Shayla slept through the whole thing. You there, Colleen? Here’s a tip. Wrap a rosary around the hose nozzle, recite the Benediction in Latin, and let ’er rip. Not only will it stop a vamp in his tracks, it’ll give you the greenest, thickest lawn in the neighborhood. That’s how we slay ’em in the ’burbs.”
“Where’s Annie?”
“Right here,” Annie came on. “I wrecked a perfectly good blouse for you people. This better be the end.”
“Here’s hoping. Hold tight. I’ll swing by and do a double-check.”
“No need,” Gus said. “We’ve sealed the windows and marked the doors. You won’t be able to drop in for at least the next couple of days.”
“Thank God for e-mail, then. You heard anything from the Preacher? He hasn’t called in yet. He may need backup.”
“I doubt that. He’s a pro. Excellent, but scary. Reminds me of another young slayer I used to hang out with.”
“Eat me, Gus.”
“No thanks. We’ll check back in around sunrise. You folks okay over there? Annie’s got leftover arrows.”
Wallace glanced to Colleen. She listened then shook her head. “We’re good. Sorry you guys got dragged into this.”
“We’re a team, Wally. Time and retirement doesn’t change that. You people take care of yourselves.”
Wallace rang off. “They’re okay, and you’re okay. I’m going after Lebec. I don’t care how good the Preacher thinks he is. He may have run into trouble.”
Jeremy reached for a stake on the counter. “We’re coming with you.”
“Screw that. You two sit tight. I’ll be back in—”
Wallace’s cell phone went off. He stared at it then answered. “Yeah?”
The Preacher’s raspy voice announced, “It’s done.”
“Already? Jesus, you work fast. You sure?”
“He matched the description the woman gave me. Too much ego to change his name or his appearance, I suppose. Do you or the Stantons require any assistance?”
“No, we’ve got our end under control.” While he spoke, he watched his Scarecrow. He’d handled all negotiations with the Preacher over the phone. Jeremy had neither seen nor spoken to the slayer Wallace had sicced on Lebec, exactly as Wallace had planned it.
There’s revenge, he mused, and then there’s justice. Even trade. Life for life, good deed for bad, execution to balance a murder. Closure. If his Scarecrow could live with it, hell, so could he. “Hey. Thanks. This time I really do owe you. You ever need anything from me, just name it.”
“Yes, there is something. Don’t call me again.” The phone went dead against his ear.
Wallace glowered at it. “Dick,” he muttered. He returned the cell to his pocket.
Colleen’s footfalls whispered across the linoleum, Jeremy’s right behind hers. “Was that the Preacher? What happened?”
He gazed down into her eyes then up into Jeremy’s. Them, he thought, they’re all that matters. Revenge could go fuck itself. “It’s over. Lebec is ash. The Woods and the Waters is officially kaput.”
* * * *
Over. The threats, the attacks, the kidnapping attempts, the red eyes and icy voices. The monster who had begun it all was gone for good. Her tongue moved across her upper lip, marking the location of her fangs. All that remained was a handful of victims left to deal, somehow, with the rest of their lives.
“Over,” she echoed. “What happens now?”
Wallace drew her close and kissed her forehead. “Chicks,” he growled affectionately. “Never satisfied.”
“Stop it.” Colleen wrenched free and moved toward Jeremy and into his arms instead. She couldn’t look Wallace in the eyes, or the mouth, just yet. The reality was still too new, too sharp.
Darn denial. They’d had a good, long run together, but the bat blood had washed it away.
“Jesus Christ,” Wallace said. “What did I do now?”
“Nothing,” Jeremy said. “It’s reaction. All that adrenaline. I’m still wired, too. We need a minute to let it sink in.” He smiled and nuzzled Colleen’s cheek. “We’re only human, you know.”
“You’re pains in my ass, is what you are.” Wallace steered them into the living room and over to the couch. Jeremy sat with Colleen huddled on his lap. Wallace sat beside them with his thigh touching Jeremy’s and his arm around Jeremy’s shoulders. She could tell he wanted to touch her as well. He held back, awaiting her reaction.
“I’m sorry,” she said, in lieu of touch. “Of course I’m grateful. If it wasn’t for you two, I’d be worse off than dead. I guess I thought…I thought once he was dead, all this would just go away.”
Wallace gestured at his mouth, his fangs. “All this, you mean.”
Colleen nodded, her cheek moving against the cotton of Jeremy’s shirt. “I’m not sure what to do next. I didn’t think that far ahead.”
“What would you like to happen?” Jeremy asked.
“I’d like to go back to my life. Back to the school and the kids. I don’t even know if that’s safe. What if I smell bl
ood or something? I can’t put them at risk.”
“Lean back a minute,” Wallace said. Puzzled, Colleen obeyed. “Now take a good, long look at the mook you’re sprawled all over. Hard to believe now, I know, but he was a little kid at one time, and that little kid grew up surrounded by vampires. How often did they attack you, Scarecrow?”
“Never.” He smiled at Colleen. “I was one of the flock. Those kids are your flock. I’d be more worried about anyone who tried to hurt them.”
“Or…” Wallace sat up. “You got some neat Jedi mind tricks going on, sweetheart. Those could really come in handy. How’d you like to be a slayer?”
“Wallace,” Jeremy warned.
“Oh, right, I forgot. Mr. Vampire Rights Activist here. Okay, okay. You don’t have to change careers right off. You might want to keep it in mind, though.”
Colleen dredged up a wan smile. “I think I’ll stick with preschool teacher for the time being. Assuming I can stay awake all day, that is. I suppose watching the kids will take care of that. You have to be alert every second.”
Wallace nodded. “Good training for being a slayer.”
She made a face at him. “So Lebec’s gone. What about the rest of his flock? Did we get them, too?”
“I’ll bet Preacher will see to that. He struck me as a thorough kind of guy. You know, really anal. Usually, when the king or queen bites it, the flock just sort of crumbles. I’ll keep an eye out, just to stay on the safe side.” Wallace shrugged. “I can get their blood for you, if you’re into payback.”
“Ewww. Not really. What will happen to the girls? The ones they…changed?”
“I’ll keep an eye out for them, too. If I find any, I’ll send ’em to Gus. You’re going to see Gus, too, right?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I think I need to.”
Silence shrouded them. The threat against her had been squelched. She had no more reason to stay here. She could go home.
She looked into Wallace’s jungle eyes, watched his mouth drop into a knowing smirk, felt his thoughts brush like a kiss across her mind.
“Enough with the delaying tactics,” he said. “We all know what the big question is.”
Cunningham, Pat - Legacy [Sequel to Belonging] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 26