by Megan Hawke
Once I knew they had escaped, I began circling. The other vampires were nowhere to be seen. I tried sensing them, but I was cut off again. Magic.
Worse, the police caught me attacking Momma Zuza. Attacking their consultant. Sergeant Longhouse saw it with his own eyes. I just confirmed my guilt in their eyes. They wouldn't believe a damned thing I had to say now.
Chapter 15
Let me tell you. That whole ménage à trois thing with two girls and a guy needs to be reconsidered. Really. Two guys and a girl is so much better. For the girl. Or for me. Not that I minded sharing Gabe with Heidi all day, but really. She's a total cock hog.
I sucked the last of my evening mug down. Setting the mug down, I licked my lips while watching Heidi going down on Gabe. The girl had some major skills in that department. Gabe was sprawled on the floor, his fingers tangled in her soft hair, writhing and groaning. He was in heaven.
We were in Heidi's ultra modern loft at the edge of Deep Ellum. The windows were special, double paned with retractable shutters inside. Her whole loft was light tight, and thus safe for us to have sex all over the place, all damn day. And that's what we did. After the last two nights of utter frustration we needed a release.
And it was good.
"My turn," I said.
I walked over and pulled Heidi's head off his dick. They both groaned. I leaned down, and kissed Heidi deeply, tasting Gabe on her lips and tongue. Then I pushed her aside and straddled the lucky bastard. He grinned as he started fondling my boobs.
Gabe was a boob man first and foremost. Legs were a close second, but he always went for the boobs first. Not that I was complaining. I liked it. It made me very happy to see the joy he received fondling, kissing, and otherwise enjoying my breasts. And, to be honest, since being Changed I received tons more pleasure when fondled. My boobs were sensitive before, but since my Change my pleasure senses were on steroids or something.
Werewolves, like vampires, can keep it up all day and all night. Gabe was a horn dog willing to give up sleep, food, years off his lifespan for a few hours sexual adventure. He was open to suggestion, and game for just about anything. Anything but sharing me with another man in a boy-girl-boy ménage à trois. Dane had the same hang-up. A Dane-Sable-Gabe love fest had so far eluded me. I was working on it.
I lowered myself onto his cock. I couldn't help my gasp as he spread me wide, pushing deep, deep inside. My head lolled about as I rode him, slow and sweet. I opened up our link, feeling what he felt inside me, letting him feel what I felt, how he made me feel. It fired both of us up, energized our already white hot libidos.
"Wait for me, baby. Wait for me." I groaned and writhed atop him, bouncing up and down, rolling my hips. Milking him for all he was worth. I could feel him fight the urgent need to come, to explode inside me. But he knew I liked to come first, so he fought gallantly. "Almost there."
"Who's your daddy?"
My eyes went wide as a chill rolled down my spine. My building climax suddenly loomed over me, scary and thrilling.
"You're my daddy."
I really didn't need pillow talk, dirty or otherwise, to get off. I was more than fine in totally silence. Gabe, unfortunately, was a talker. Speaking did kinda damper my pleasure, but it turned him on so much I couldn't refuse him.
"Who's your big daddy?"
"You…oh…you are my big daddy."
"Who's your big, bad daddy?"
"You are! You are…oooh. You. Are. My big and bad…da…Uuugggh." I came. Gabe came deep inside me, and I came again. "Ooooh. Yes."
The sun was down, so I wouldn't let Heidi jump Gabe's bones again. We had work to do. Maybe later.
There was only one bathroom. Gabe got the shower, since werewolves didn't necessarily clean up by morphing. He smelled like me, Heidi, and sex. Not a bad smell, but really. Gabe needed a shower, and Heidi and I just did a quick morph and we were clean. While he showered we put on our faces.
During our extracurricular activities, we also did laundry. Specifically, we washed my bloody pants from the previous night. Heidi was a bit shorter and skinnier than me. We could wear each other's dresses and shoes, but not anything snug like pants. So I was able to don my pants and boots, and borrow a plain white tank.
I lost both pistols the previous night, but still had the kukri. Gabe was a bit miffed about the pistols. Apparently I was the only one to lose anything. Go figure. But he had more pistols in his trunk. Gabe was always more than well-armed. He went down and fetched two replacement pistols while Heidi cooked him some breakfast.
I turned on the TV. Texas News Network. My favorite channel.
While Gabe ate, and Heidi hovered around him, eager to fetch anything he needed, I watched the news and weather. The meteorologists were daring to say the drought might be over before summer. Amazing. The lakes were starting to fill up. They were mostly still empty, but it looked like we'd get a lot more rain that coming spring. No one was talking about lifting rationing yet, but it was looking up.
Once twilight was past, Heidi opened up the wall of windows to the view of downtown Dallas. It was a great view. I loved it. Dallas had some pretty high rises.
"Finally," I said when the local Dallas and Fort Worth news came on. "Great, we're the lead story."
The anchors, a man in his late forties to early fifties and a thirtysomething woman, were bantering about what it meant that Black Heart had gone bad. I scowled at the TV as they blamed me for every murder committed by Momma Zuza and her vampires.
"Ana Solis is speaking with Momma Zuza," the male anchor said.
"Thank you, Charles. Yes, we are speaking with the legendary witch, Momma Zuza," Ana said. The pretty Latina turned to the bane of my existence. Momma Zuza never looked so sweet and friendly. Like everyone's best friend. Her coven of four witches stood behind her, smiling and nodding. I wanted to strangle them all. "I'm going to wipe that smug smile off real soon, Zuza."
"I want the public to know that I am working hard with the police to find this dangerous vampire. Even though she is a mass murderer, so far she hasn't attacked normal humans. Only werewolves and witches," Momma Zuza said. "We are still trying to determine if she is acting on authority for the vampire council, or has gone rogue."
"What kind of drivel is she spouting? Look at them. Those morons are eating it up," I said. The media was easier to fool than the police.
"Why has Black Heart gone rogue, Momma Zuza? Has she gone crazy?"
"We do not know why she has betrayed the police and public," Momma Zuza said. I almost choked to hear her accuse me of betrayal. "But she has created five more vampires, and used them to attack me last night. I can only assume she knew I was on to her duplicity."
I jumped to my feet. "Did you hear that?"
Gabe looked up from his plate. "Is that Primary Urges?"
I stopped looking at Momma Zuza, and looked beyond. Gabe was right. They were standing in the parking lot of Primary Urges. And it was a live shot.
"They are only a few minutes away." I headed for the door. "Let's get them."
"You want to attack Momma Zuza in front of the TV cameras?" Heidi said. "Boy, that'll fix your tattered rep."
"I can't let her get away with this. She's a monster. Momma Zuza is a serial killer and a mass murderer, she just does it through vampires she controls."
"I agree with Sable. Momma Zuza has to die," Gabe said.
"Lord have mercy, since when am I the voice of reason around here?" Heidi said. She looked incredulous. "I don't want to die! Once is enough."
"None of us wants to die, Heidi. But if we're going to go down, then at least drag her down with us," Gabe said. "I think killing her would be best."
"At least wait until the TV people and police leave," Heidi said. "We can watch her until they leave, then pounce on her."
I looked at Gabe. The idea of the TV cameras catching me swooping in and killing her and her coven appealed to me. But that was the dark side of my vampiric nature talking. It was so tempting, so a
lluring. So far I had fought it off. Was I losing the battle? Was I turning evil?
"Heidi's right," I said. Why did doing the right thing feel so wrong? "We need to be more careful, for everyone's sake."
If we went out in a blaze of glory then the ones to truly suffer would be Sabrina, Dane, and Desiree. They would likely spend the rest of their lives in prison. The only way to save them was to expose Momma Zuza. How could we do that?
"We need to capture Momma Zuza, or at least one of her coven," I said. Gabe scowled and Heidi beamed. I understood Gabe. Catching was a lot harder and more dangerous than killing. "I like Heidi's idea of watching her until the press and police leave. As soon as they leave, we attack. We have to grab her before she can call in her vampires."
We headed over to Greenville Avenue. It was still early, so Primary Urges was closed. The club opened at 9 PM, and closed at two in the morning. Two news trucks were sitting in the parking lot when we arrived, from rival stations. So we went over to a five story office building. Going around back, I extended my wings and had Gabe stand in front of me. Then with him holding on by wrapping his arms around my neck, I flew up to the roof. Heidi just levitated up.
"I kind of liked that," Gabe said.
From the top of the building I was able to see Detectives Parker and Grinstead. They were standing to either side of Momma Zuza as she gave one interview after another.
We watched Primary Urges and the small crowd out front of it for the next forty minutes, when the last news crew left. The witches all followed Momma Zuza into the club's front door, and the two detectives followed them inside.
"Jesus. Parker and Grinstead are her bodyguards?" I said.
"We need a distraction," Gabe said. He grinned and wagged his brows at me. "I'll go down, morph into a wolfman and attack them. When the cops chase me, you two go in and grab Momma Zuza."
"No. Parker and Grinstead are probably loaded with silver bullets. They might shoot to kill, too," I said. "That's too dangerous." I grinned at him. "But I have a better plan?"
"Let me guess, instead of me, you will go down and attack them, so that the cops will chase you," Gabe said.
"Well, that would be safer than letting you do it. Silver won't kill me," I said. "But that isn't it. Close, but no cigar, Gabby."
"Don't call me 'Gabby.' I hate that name."
"Really?" Heidi and I shared a smile full of wicked delight. "The man who keeps calling me, 'Sabe,' has a variation of his name he hates. Interesting. No, delightful."
"What's your plan?" Gabe said.
I wagged my brows at him. He knew I wouldn't forget that. Oh no.
"My house is just a couple of miles from here. I'm going to fly over, jump on my bike, and tear out. The cops watching the place will call it in, and the chase will be on. I think the two detectives will feel it safe to leave their charges to go pursue me. Once they leave, you give me a call, and I'll come back. Then we'll go in and kick butt."
"Well, that's better thought out than most of your plans," Gabe said.
"Can you get him down?" I said to Heidi.
"No problem."
With that I extended my wings and flew away. As I flew I realized it was really quite a beautiful night. The sky was clear, save for a few scattered clouds. The moon was just two days from full, so cast bright silvery light. I could see remarkably well. That meant the cops watching my house could see with unusual clarity as well.
Using Google Maps, Gabe had shown both Heidi and I where the cops watching my house were hiding. I flew around and located them all. I even found their command station two blocks over. They were all SWAT officers.
Being just a tad paranoid, I hid spare keys for the car, motorcycle, and house in the garage. I just had to be fast and stealthy. So I landed two blocks over, and snuck in from the back, between two of the observation posts. I moved up to the point I couldn't go any further without being in the open, and then I surged for all I was worth. I streaked up to the side garage door at about one third of Heidi's speed. In a flash I was inside.
I pushed the garage opener first thing. The light popped on, and I felt many humans within range of my senses get excited. I had the key in hand seconds later and straddled the powerful Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14. It was all black, and absolutely beautiful. I thrust the key in and started it. My baby thundered to life. I felt the cops watching the house get more excited.
"Yeeeee-Haaaaaaaaiiiiii!" I cried, gunning the bike and laying rubber as I streaked out of the garage. I turned left and headed towards their tactical control post. Let them figure out a tactic to counter me. They had all of thirty seconds, and I was blasting past them. Bet they peed themselves. "Yippee ki yay, baby!"
Sirens reached me, and the chase was on.
There's little I love more than my bike, and speed. Dane often accused me of being an adrenaline junkie, even going back before I was Changed. Dying hadn't cured me. I loved going fast, whether in a car or a motorcycle.
I raced around for twenty minutes, having a grand ole time, while up to a dozen police cars stretched out behind me at times. Dallas didn't have any police helicopters up, so I was safe overhead. I rode up streets, down alleys, across yards, and fields. We even circled a strip mall three times before I cut out of the parking lot and streaked away. But after twenty minutes I got a call.
"They're on their way," Gabe said.
"I'm on my way. Meet you at the back door."
Turning off my lights, I hit the gas and really rode like a crazed demon. Within a few minutes I had lost them. I could still hear the sirens, but no cops in sight. I headed straight for Primary Urges.
I ditched the bike in some shrubs just before I reached the club. Gabe and Heidi reached the back door just before I did. Gabe was already morphed to wolfman.
I paused to look around the parking lot. It was already filling up and a line was growing outside the main entrance. The club would open soon.
"Door please," I said. Gabe ripped the door off and threw it away. He didn't bother checking to see if it was locked or not. What fun would that be? "Thanks."
We entered the kitchen, and the staff was already there preparing for the upcoming night. They all froze, staring at us. None of them made a sound or moved. They were all human, and I had to assume knew the inherent dangers of doing anything too suddenly around paranormals. Really, it's best to not get our attention when we're in a mood.
"Oh, shit," I said, catching a whiff of something foul. "Zombies."
I don't know why it surprised me. The more powerful witches could raise the dead and bind them to servitude. Zombies. Besides, Momma Zuza had used zombies against me already. They did not eat or breathe, or even have a heartbeat. Vampires could only detect them with smell, since zombies continued to rot and stunk to High Heaven. From the stench, these were some old zombies.
"How do they get the smell out before the people arrive?" Heidi asked.
"Magic, I suppose." I opened the kitchen door out into the main room. Momma Zuza and her coven were sitting at a table eating pie and sipping coffee. There were five zombies just outside that door, and more gathered near the front door. I counted fifteen. They all stood perfectly still. "Zuza!"
The witches all jumped to their feet, whirling around to face us as we strode out of the kitchen. The zombies put themselves between the witches and us. Two lines of Zombies, five in the first and ten in the second.
"What are you doing here? The police said….," Momma Zuza said.
"No one ever said the police were the brightest monkeys in the tree," I said.
"And you are about two branches below them, Black Heart," Momma Zuza said. She placed her left hand over her right, and said, "Defend us and kill the intruders." Then she looked at me with dark, hostile eyes. "You are a bigger fool than I believed. Tonight you die."
"You missed that by about six months," I said. "I died way back in September. But good try."
"You are not funny."
"That joke is getting old," Gabe whispered.
I threw my hands in the air and looked up into the heavens. "Why does everyone have to tell me I'm not funny?"
"Kill them," Momma Zuza said, and the zombies all started moving towards us.
I eyed them warily. They were dangerous if they got their hands on us. Zombies weren't very fast, and they were anal to the extreme. But you couldn't kill them. They were even deader than vampires. Not even blessed silver hurt them. Really, the only way to completely stop a zombie was to dismember him or destroy his head. Even decapitation didn't always stop them. It depended on the spell the witch used to raise them.
Momma Zuza was powerful, so she could make very intelligent zombies if she wanted to put in the effort. Generally speaking, the more intelligent the zombie, the faster and more agile he was too. A witch of Zuza's power could reanimate zombies almost indistinguishable from living mortals. Well, except for the rotting part. There were rot damper spells, but rotting couldn't be stopped completely.
I shot the closest zombie in the head, dead center in his forehead. His head snapped back, but returned as if nothing was amiss. The bullet hole wouldn't heal, and the fact most of the back of his head was missing didn't seem to bother him. I holstered my gun.
"This is going to be fun," I muttered. I pulled the Gurkha knife. I was about to find out just how effectively a kukri removed heads. "Destroy their heads!"
My wings came out and impaled that same zombie. I pulled him in close, and swung the kukri. My fancy knife effortlessly lobbed the head right off. I smiled. But as expected, the body kept on struggling, trying to get to me. The head had rolled away behind him, so I couldn't get to it. Then another zombie grabbed a wing and snapped the bone.
"Aggh, bastard," I cried, sucking my wings back into my body. I thrust kicked the headless one straight back, and swung savagely at the zombie that broke my wing. My big knife took off the top half of his head. The backstroke took the rest off just above the shoulder. After I stomped both halves to mush, the body went still.