Almost Human

by Secret Cravings Publishing

  Gideon nodded. “The only course of action. Alaric had the sword.”

  God, had they even made it out of the car alive? Being burned was one of the few ways to kill a vampire. If they couldn’t put themselves out in time, it was definitely a death sentence. However, it usually took a long time to burn to death. They were much more resilient than humans. A gift and a curse when it comes to burning alive. If you could get the fire out in time, you’d be hurt, but survive. If you couldn’t, it was a slow, agonizing death.

  However, I didn’t hear any screaming. A vampire on fire would be screaming for a very long time.

  I stuck my head out of the ditch. “Alaric?”

  Sherra hurled her other fire ball toward me and I hit the ground. Moist dirt rained down on me and Gideon, filling the air with the earthy scent.

  “We’re alive, Kori. Even Astra. Do you have the sword?”

  Damn. He didn’t have it. It had been in the back of the car last time I’d seen it. “Nope.”

  I stuck my head out of our fox hole cautiously. Thankfully, Sherra was down on all fours and not moving. It seemed that without the demon, a couple of fireballs had tired her out. Or maybe she had been up to more than attacking us. A scary thought. I spotted the sword, embedded halfway in the pavement, closer to us than Alaric and the rest of the group. When the car had exploded, it must have launched the damn thing.

  “Gideon, the sword sank into the road.”

  He arched a brow and looked. “Well, that’s interesting. Can a vampire free that?”

  “I honestly have no idea. I would think so, but I have yet to try and pull a sword out of concrete.”

  He snorted. “Well, what use are you then?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Can a demon do it?”

  He grimaced. “Well, I could, but I can’t even touch it. You did notice that when I handed it to Alaric it was in a leather case? Anyone with demon blood in them can’t kill with it, but I’m a full demon. I can’t even touch it.”

  Shit. The sword was closer to us and I wasn’t sure I could pull it from the ground. Sherra stumbled to her feet and I jumped. She took a shaky step toward the sword. I swallowed hard.

  “If Sherra gets the sword?”

  Gideon shook his head. “I have no idea, honestly. In all my years hunting down demons on this plane I’ve never faced a raised vampire-hunting witch that used to harbor a demon. Could officially kill her, or it could be really bad for us.”

  “And I can touch it without dying.”

  “Yes, but every second you touch it will be excruciating pain, and if you even try to strike against her, it will kill you. That’s assuming you can pull it from the street.”

  Sherra was striding a little more confidently toward the blade now. “No choice. We’re closer.”

  I darted into the street and she shuffled toward me faster. There was almost no human cunning in her eyes now. With any luck, we would be battling a regular zombie. Though those were scary enough. They were virtually unstoppable, and had to be ripped apart. Even then their body parts still moved until you burned them to ashes. Also, their bites usually got horribly infected. There were all types of diseases you could get from being bitten by a corpse.

  I ran past the blade, and tried to yank it out as I went by. It was angled toward the other side of the road, so I’d hoped it would come loose.

  As soon as I wrapped my palm around the hilt, my brain lit up with pain and my sight went bright white. When the sword didn’t break free of the street, I landed on my back, my shoulder muscles screaming as my arm was almost yanked out of the socket.

  I lay in the middle of the road for a minute, trying to remember who the hell I was and how to breathe.

  “Kori.” A voice called from a distance, but I couldn’t answer them.

  Damn, that had hurt. I wasn’t sure that if I could pull the sword out of concrete I could make it to Alaric. I twisted my head to see Sherra was only five steps from me. Get up.

  I rolled to my feet and reached for the blade again, bracing myself for the pain. Control it.

  My stomach roiled from the agony in my head, but I kept my feet this time, and my vision didn’t go out on me. I grasped with both hands and pulled with my whole body weight.

  The sword came loose with a grinding screech of metal on concrete. I stumbled and barely had time to get my feet under me before Sherra tackled me and I almost lost the sword.

  She tried to bite my neck and I forced the sword between us, trying to push her away. The sharp edge bit into my palm as she struggled against me. I almost couldn’t resist using it. A sword wasn’t some stick to ward off an angry dog. I could behead her with it now.

  I fought the urge and scrunched my legs between us. I shoved with everything I had and she stumbled away from me, falling on her backside. I shoved myself to my feet and ran for Alaric. He rushed toward me.

  “Throw me the sword, and go get in the ditch.”

  I was about to toss it to him when a shadowy figure appeared behind him. I shouted at him as his gaze hit something behind me. “Watch out!”

  I spun around. Sherra was feet from me and closing fast. I didn’t have a choice. I raised the blade to defend myself.

  “No.”

  I slammed it into her chest and a bright white light heated the air, whipping my hair around my head. There was a deep ghostly scream and it wasn’t Sherra’s. I covered my eyes and released the sword. Alaric grabbed me around the waist and hauled me away from her.

  The second explosion of the night shook the street and we stumbled, Alaric falling on top of me.

  And then there was silence. Absolute silence. Even the crickets had gone quiet. Probably afraid for their little lives. I know I was. Metal clanged on the street as the sword hit the ground.

  I rolled over to glance back at where Sherra had been. There was nothing left, except the glowing red sword lying in the middle of the street.

  I had to swallow twice before I could squeeze the words out. “Well, at least that was effective.”

  Gideon walked over to us and stood over me. “Wow, you’re still alive.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Surprised?”

  “More like fucking shocked.”

  Alaric bounced to his feet and pulled me up. He ran his hands over my body, like he was checking for injuries.

  “I can’t believe you did that? What if you’d died?”

  “You weren’t close enough, and something was behind you.”

  His grip on my arms tightened. “I turned and saw nothing.”

  I frowned at him. “I was sure it was Braxus.”

  A strange burning started in my chest. I rubbed my hand over it. Surely vampires didn’t get heartburn. Even stress-related heartburn. The sensation spread out. I was on fire. My knees buckled and I hit the ground on my stomach, screaming.

  Chapter Fourteen

  There wasn’t any part of my body that wasn’t aching. If it weren’t for the pain, I would have thought I was dead. I’d assumed when I went down on the street that I was done for. At the moment, I wished that were the case.

  I was hot. Sweat coated me, beads of it rolling down my body as I slumped over in the chair. If I could move, I would go shower and then lay in a tub full of ice cold water. It was almost an urge that couldn’t be denied. Almost. My arms, back, and neck ached from holding this position too long. I tried to move my arms, but my back screamed in protest, making me jerk upright with a groan. The ropes ground across my ravaged skin and I almost passed out again.

  I rotated my shoulders and whimpered. God, how long had I been sitting like this?

  When I opened my eyes, the harsh, florescent lighting blinded me. “Alaric, turn the lights out.” Even I could barely hear my hoarse croak, but I wasn’t sure I was capable of more, and there was no answer.

  “Why am I tied up?” Oh, louder that time. I assumed it was to keep me from hurting myself, though judging by the agony of the ropes sliding over my burned wrists it hadn’t helped. Either way, I
was sick of it now. Suddenly my legs were quivering with the need to stand.

  “Hey, someone get me out of this damned chair!”

  A harsh, male scream echoed from somewhere and I jumped. Who was that? Not that it mattered. All that mattered is I had somehow ended up in a bad situation, and someone in this building needed some help.

  I forced myself to open my eyes and adjust to the garish lighting while I wiggled my hands. I actually wasn’t tied that securely to the chair. The only reason not to properly tie me down was if they’d never expected me to have enough of my faculties again to get loose.

  I glanced around. The grimy, off-white tile was covered in strange marks done in dried blood. They circled me. Crap. Either those were the real reason I hadn’t been secured to the chair, or they were the prep work for some sort of ritual. Neither option was great.

  I managed to unravel my hands from the ropes and quickly untied my feet. I needed to be armed. Now. Another blood-curdling scream filled the air and I flinched. I needed to get to him. Whoever he was. Wherever he was. My options were starting to look like shit. I perused the room from within my circle. I didn’t want to leave it. I had a sneaking suspicion that whatever was causing that man to scream would immediately be headed my way if I crossed the barrier. Eventually I would want that, but I needed prep time first.

  The room was small and dirty. All white and almost dirty enough that you couldn’t tell. There was a drain in the center of the floor, under my chair. The room was windowless, and the air was stale with the slight smell of natural gas coming from somewhere. There had to be a leak. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like enough to be fatal. If vampires could even die from inhaling gas. I knew fire would be a problem, though.

  I listened for a second, trying to hear any sounds from outside. It was dead silent, except a slight ringing in my ears. I would never be able to tell where we were. We would have to make it out and figure shit out from there.

  I took a deep breath and rotated my shoulders. It was time to cross the circle of power. I didn’t think it would be pleasant, and I wasn’t feeling that great. I wasn’t looking forward to getting beaten to hell by a circle whose symbols I didn’t even recognize. I approached the side closest to the door. Speed would be key for getting out of here and as soon as I was able, I wanted to stumble out the exit.

  I pressed my hands outward and met the invisible barrier. It was heavy and hard to push against. Pieces of power clung to my skin like taffy. Evil taffy. Whatever this magic was, it wasn’t good. It felt familiar, but at the moment I couldn’t place it. I needed out. I shoved with my magic and put my whole weight into passing through it. The air squeezed from my lungs as bitter cold filled my limbs. There was no pain, which I was grateful for, but I desperately needed to breathe. I stepped forward, trying to fight my way out.

  The power clenched around me, struggling to keep me in. My vision began to dance with little black spots. I needed air. I clawed at the power. I wouldn’t be able to get out before I died. I shoved with all I was worth and stumbled out of the circle. I was moving too fast now and smacked into the wall. My first breath came screaming into my lungs and I choked on it. Coughing next to the wall.

  And then I felt it. Rage and magic so powerful I collapsed onto my stomach. I had the barest flash of red eyes meeting mine across the body of a man.

  “Bitch.”

  I came back to myself lying on the ground. I could feel the beast moving toward me like a pull in my gut. Braxus. Nothing else was that pissed at me. I needed to get out of here. Hopefully he couldn’t track me now that I was out of his circle.

  I leaped to my feet and yanked open the door. I wasn’t sure which direction he was coming from so I picked one and ran. I could double back later, but for now I needed a place to hide, and hopefully I wouldn’t run in to him. And maybe I would run in to the man he was torturing.

  I wasn’t sure who he was, but all I could make out was that he was blond. One of the brothers most likely. I ducked around a corner and opened the door to a room. It used to be some kind of public restroom. Same disgusting, dirty, white tile, but there were broken stalls and smashed toilets lying in the room. The floor had a solid coating of mold. The place smelled of damp, rotting wood.

  I stood there for a minute and listened for any sound. I heard nothing and felt no dark power moving toward me. It seemed to be getting fainter. Either I was moving away from Braxus or my brush of powers with him was wearing off. I hoped I was heading away from him, because I needed to find an exit, not get discovered hiding in a moldering public restroom.

  I stuck my head out of the bathroom and glanced around. There wasn’t a sound. It was too quiet. I didn’t see anything either. I would have to risk walking around out there sometime. I took a deep breath and gathered my courage, trying to slow my heartbeat. I could hear it drumming in my ears. I was sure others could hear it too—things in the dark I might want to sneak up on.

  I walked down the damp halls looking for windows, light, a whiff of fresh air. Anything.

  And then I caught it. A light breeze of ice cold wind. A pure, crisp winter evening. I followed the direction of the breeze and discovered a window a little higher than my head with a hole busted in the corner of it. I stood on tip toes, peeked through.

  It led to a meadow. During the day it might have been pretty. Now fog had rolled in and drifted across the ground with eerie grace, waiting to snatch someone into the mists. I shook my head. My imagination was getting to me. I needed to stay focused.

  To get out I’d have to smash the windows. I desperately wanted to, but there was still someone in this building who needed my help. What if that man died before I could bring back help for him? I didn’t know what Braxus wanted from either of us, but it couldn’t be good. That man might not survive if he didn’t leave here with me tonight.

  I started down the hallway in the opposite direction I’d come. I didn’t want to run into Braxus before I found this man. After my look outside, I knew where I was. I was in the old high school. I had only been in there a few times. They’d closed it before I’d made it into high school and they’d opened the new one. But I recognized the old elementary school across the street.

  The building was condemned. No one would be looking for us here. And it was far enough away from the new schools that people were very unlikely to hear us if we were kept here long enough for classes to begin. It was Saturday, unless I’d been unconscious a lot longer than I thought, and Monday was a holiday.

  But since I’d been in here before, I knew the school ran in one big square. Hopefully Braxus wouldn’t catch up with me before I found the room the man was being held in.

  “Someone get me the fuck out of here.” I jumped when his shout broke the silence.

  “Keep screaming, dude. Let me find you,” I muttered under my breath and headed in his direction.

  “Fucking witches and demons and zombies. You’d think my life would be screwed up enough as a vampire, but in five hundred years this takes the cake.”

  I heard his words as I passed a door on my left.

  I swung the door open. “I suppose you don’t want one of the witches to save you then, do you?”

  Jairdan narrowed his one good eye at me. The other was swollen shut. One of his arms was broken, the bone sticking through the flesh. His chest was a bloody mess.

  “Kori, shit. You’re alive.”

  I rushed forward and put my finger over his cracked lips. He flinched, but quieted. “You have to whisper, and honestly it’s better if you don’t talk at all. I have no idea where Braxus is, but I certainly didn’t defeat him. We need to get out of here.”

  I untied the ropes on his feet before moving to his arms. As much as I wanted to keep him quiet, I couldn’t help but ask, “What the hell happened?”

  “I was injured in the explosion protecting Astra, but she was still hurt. I was helping her when you hit the ground after you killed Sherra. We all thought you were going to die. Alaric did the best he cou
ld to keep you from banging yourself up as you had a seizure, but Gideon said there was no hope. You were going to die. And then it came out of nowhere. It grabbed me, because I couldn’t stop it. It threatened to kill me if they didn’t hand you over.

  By then you’d gone limp. You weren’t breathing and had no heartbeat. Gideon made the call to let Braxus take you. There’s nothing he can do with a dead body. Instead of handing me over, he took us both. He needed vampire blood for whatever ritual he must have done to raise you.”

  I paused and stared at him. “Are you saying I’m a zombie?”

  He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know. I can hear your heartbeat so zombie doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know. I’m not a magic expert. What do you think?”

  I had no idea. I felt normal. More normal than I had since I’d been turned into a vampire. There wasn’t even a feeling of evil or the desire to hurt people that there had been after Dagger had given me his blood. I felt good. Which had to be bad.

  “I don’t know what Braxus did to me, but it can’t be positive. Come on. I’d like to escape before we figure out what his plans for us are.”

  I helped Jairdan stand and he cursed under his breath. “Braxus is particularly inventive when it comes to torture. He said he hadn’t even gotten started yet, and I could take all the abuse he could possibly dish out.”

  He glanced at me, his gaze raw and strained. “Thanks for coming back for me. You could have bolted. You don’t even like me.”

  I shook my head and pulled his arm over my shoulder. “I wouldn’t have left anyone here.”

  I grinned at him. “Besides, I had no idea who he was torturing. You lucked out.”

  He snorted, then flinched and held his ribs. “Glad I did.”

  We walked down the hallway, trying to be as quiet as possible. Vampires healed incredibly fast. Jairdan was already starting to take most of his weight from my shoulders. The swelling in his eye was going down. He would still need to feed to gain his strength back, but he was doing well.

  However, I was getting antsy. Where was this demon? It couldn’t be a good thing that he was MIA. He had been coming for me. Now the halls were quiet, so at odds to how it had been the last time I’d been here.