by E G Bateman
“Lorenzo attacked Oberon’s place before he came here.”
Scott turned and moved to bring the shield down. As he did so, the vampire caught a glimpse of Joseph and concern flooded his face. He entered and hurried to the man.
“I’ll be okay, old friend. I am merely tired.”
Lexi looked out to see that Joseph’s people and the shifters had begun to move the bodies into a storeroom on the other side of the courtyard.
Joseph interrupted, “Is Oberon—”
“He’s fine. His friend Martine didn’t fare so well. I managed to catch one of the witches and begged her to help me before she fled town. She gave me a couple of those fun balls. I could use a few more but I think all the witches have gone now.”
“Perhaps they’re the only ones with any sense,” Lexi muttered.
Scott rubbed his face. “This is insane. Kindred has to intervene. He’s killed what? Fifteen humans? That wasn’t part of his deal.”
Dick picked up a chair that had been toppled. “I would imagine the plan was to remove him anyway. He’s a loose end and it fits the narrative. A supe goes crazy and Kindred steps in and deals with it. Everyone’s happy. It makes me wonder how often this happens. This is turning into a perfect shit-storm.”
“Could we go back to plan A and pull him out into the sun?” Lexi located a trashcan and held it out for the cloth and cotton wool Scott was discarding. “I feel less inclined to keep his clan alive.”
The sorcerer shook his head. “Joseph won’t be of any assistance for some time, I’m afraid.”
She looked at the man. Her friend was right. Although the cut was healing, Joseph looked like he was probably magically spent. She peered into the courtyard at the piles of dust.
“Okay. We’ll have to go after him. We’ll try to get Delphine before she finds another host.” She turned to Dick. “It’s almost daylight. Can you get to the apartment and make sure Broullard’s okay before you turn in?”
He fixed her with a disbelieving stare. “What’s the plan? Is there a plan? Or will you simply run in there to kill Lorenzo with your sword out and your fingers crossed?”
“I won’t target Lorenzo. I intend to kill the rest of his clan so Delphine will have nowhere to go. Then, we can wait for Lorenzo to die. Joseph, he won’t turn into a vampire zombie, will he?”
“No. As he is overcome by the bite, he will simply decay.”
Scott put his first-aid kit away. “Aren’t you forgetting that she’ll still have one place left to go? Into you.”
“And that’s assuming you don’t get savaged by a roomful of vampires,” Dick added.
Lexi looked at the two of them. “There can’t be that many of them left. I’ll go in like before. Invisible. It’ll be fine.”
The vampire looked doubtful. “They didn’t know what was going on before. Even if you’re invisible, it won’t be so easy again.”
“Fine. Do we have any other ideas?” She looked around the room.
“I have something that might help.” Joseph put his hand into his pocket and withdrew a woman’s ring.
She frowned at it. “That looks familiar.”
“It sat for several years in a display case next to the one on Lorenzo’s finger.”
Lexi raised her eyebrows. “Marie Laveau’s ring.”
He nodded. “She won’t possess you, but if she deems you worthy, she may assist you.”
Without hesitation, she took the ring and slipped it onto her finger. She stared at the stone and waited to see if she felt different. Noticing the room was quiet, she glanced up. Every pair of eyes was on her. “What are you looking at? Get to work.”
A collective sigh of relief filled the air.
Dick patted Joseph on the shoulder. “Right, well. I’ll be off then.” He walked to the door and turned to her. “Good luck, and don’t get killed.”
“I’ll do my—” she started.
The door closed and he was gone.
“Best.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Lexi stood in the alley a few doors down from Lorenzo’s bar. She looked across to the alley on the opposite side of the street where her friend stood with a handful of shifters.
Anxious to make as little noise as possible, she mouthed, “Is he there?”
He shrugged and couldn’t hear her, obviously. She peeked out along the street and studied their target.
“What was that?”
She jumped and spun defensively. Scott was directly behind her. “I have a sword in my hand, you dimwit.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t hear you.”
Her sigh revealed her irritation. “I asked if Lorenzo’s in there.”
“Yes, he’s there. George has had someone watching the place. He turned up a few minutes before sunrise.”
Satisfied, she returned her focus to the building they were watching. “That was cutting it close. Can you pinpoint where he is in there?”
The sorcerer closed his eyes. “The ring is on the second floor now. So unless he’s already passed it on to someone else, he’s up there too.”
Lexi turned to him. “Do you think that’s possible?
“Possible yes, likely…no.”
“Okay. I’ll go in. Give me sixty seconds, then you come in with the shifters.”
He scowled. “I should go in there with you.”
“You need to protect the shifters. I can shield the sound of my heartbeat but not a roomful of shifters. If that building is full of vampires, I don’t want to be responsible for Agatha losing her father. And we’ll be in there sixty seconds apart. I’ll barely have time to use the magic before you’re there again.”
Scott took her hand and attempted to transfer more magic to her.
“You won’t get any more into me. The tank’s full, but I’ll be using it fast when I go invisible, so stay close but safe inside that building.”
He nodded and vanished. She looked across the road to where he stood with the shifters once more. As she put her hand on the scar, about to make herself invisible, a car roared past the alley and screeched to a halt.
She looked across at the others with a shrug she hoped asked the burning question in her mind. What’s going on?
The sorcerer appeared next to her again. “Some idiot in a sports car parked outside the bar.”
Lexi looked at George and the other shifters who seemed to have lost all sense and forgotten they were supposed to be hiding. They crowded out in front of the alley and looked at Lorenzo’s bar with their jaws dropped.
“Yoo-hoo!”
Lexi’s eyes widened at the sound of Dick’s voice. “What’s that fucking vampire up to now?” She stuck her head out and scowled. He stood in front of the bar and waved at the security camera. She pointed in his direction. “I want to know what he’s saying. Now!”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Lorenzo had burst through the door of his bar with his hand wrapped in cloth. He’d avoided the gazes of his few remaining clan members as he walked through to the stairs leading to the second floor. “I’m going upstairs. I don’t want to be disturbed.”
Darnell had taken two steps and stopped. “Where are the others?”
He stopped, turned, and opened his mouth to speak but found himself staring speculatively at each face. After a few moments, he became aware that it wasn’t he who looked at them. It was her. She was looking for her next host. He spun away and climbed the stairs.
Now, he paced the room, his mind in a fog. How could this have gone so fucking badly?
Perhaps you need blood. Delphine purring in his mind was the last thing he needed.
A huge part of him wanted to rip the ring from his hand, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he unwound the cloth from it and stared in horror. The whole hand was black.
“I’ll have to lose my hand. It’s not the end of the world.” He pulled his jacket off and froze at the sight of black veins climbing his arm and disappearing into his shirt sleeve. He raced into the bathroom
to a mirror and yanked his shirt off. The buttons pinged in different directions but his gaze was glued to the black veins which extended beyond his shoulder and onto his chest. It was too late. “Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Lorenzo looked at the expression of disgust on his face in the mirror. It was her again.
He punched it and glass fell into the sink below.
A sound behind him drew his attention. He looked around the door. Five of his clan had gathered in his living room. “I said I didn’t want to be disturbed. What do you want?”
“I thought—” Darnell stopped speaking. He seemed confused but his gaze wasn’t on his boss’ face. It was on his black hand.
“Thought what?” He moved his hand behind his back.
The man shook his head in apparent confusion. “You called us. Didn’t you call us?”
It wasn’t the hand they were looking at, he realized. It was the ring calling to them the same way it had seduced him.
“Get out,” Lorenzo shouted. Automatically, his hand came from behind to shoo them away.
They didn’t move, however, and stared fixedly at the ring for a long moment before they began to edge forward. He’d had enough. Fury surged and he moved through the room faster than they could track him. When he returned to his previous position, the bodies lay on his carpet and began to desiccate.
“Is there anyone else you’d like to call out to, bitch?” he bellowed into the empty room.
The doorbell sounded and he heard someone shout, “Yoo-hoo!”
His teeth gritted in frustration, he moved to the desk and looked at the security screen. He flicked a couple of buttons until he looked through the camera at the front entrance and gaped at the screen as he tried to comprehend what he saw.
William Levine—or Dick as the idiot called himself these days—stood outside in the street during the day and leaned on a gallery post in front of his building. He didn’t stand in direct sunlight but it was daytime, and this wasn’t normal. On the screen, he could see the light creeping slowly down the post. He stared in fascination as it moved inexorably toward his visitor’s head.
He checked the time, then looked at the screen again. At that point, he realized Dick made no effort to even cover his eyes. How could he stand it?
Agonizingly slow seconds ticked past until the sun met the vampire’s hair and began to slide slowly over his face. He scrolled through a cellphone screen, seemingly oblivious to the process.
Lorenzo was transfixed and unable to drag his gaze away. He stared until Dick’s face was fully bathed in light. Finally—lazily—the vampire retrieved a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and slid them on.
As frozen and shocked as her host was, Delphine was quite the opposite. She raved and screamed inside him. Her spirit threw itself at Dick in a tsunami of wanton desire. The vampire outside seemed completely oblivious to her attentions, but Lorenzo could barely hear himself think.
He finally spun away from the screen. Their visitor spoke again and she twisted him to gaze at the screen.
“This is some kind of trick. The feed’s not live. It’s a recording.” He pressed a button and a disc ejected from the equipment, but Dick was still there. His voice was audible and he smiled cheerfully. “Good morning. It’s a beautiful day.” He exchanged pleasantries with people on the street below.
I want him, Delphine moaned.
No.
“What do you care? You’ll be dead in a few hours. Don’t you want vengeance?”
“How is this vengeance?” he asked aloud.
I’ll wear him like little Amy. I’ll walk him to his friends and tear them to pieces. For you. I’ll do it for you.
He dropped into a chair and sat with his face in his hands, feeling wretched. After a moment, he pulled his hand away quickly. It smelled of decay.
While Dick had apparently been too far away to feel the pull of Delphine’s spirit, the clan had not. The remaining ten of them had shuffled up the stairs, filed into the room, and stared at him with hunger in their eyes. Lorenzo roared and dispatched them all—his own clan. He honestly didn’t care. If he wouldn’t live, neither would they. He finished and swayed dizzily.
Why did you do that? She sounded suspicious.
“I’ve made my decision. I want revenge. Did you want him as your next host or one of them? I merely removed his competition.” He didn’t care whether she believed him or not.
But you’re weak now. One of them could have bested him.
Don’t worry, Delphine. I have one last fight in me.
Perhaps revenge was all that was left. But it wouldn’t be the revenge she wanted. While there was still strength in him, he’d destroy this sun-walking William Levine. He’d hold the vampire’s heart in his hand and let her watch through his eyes as he crushed it.
He turned to the security equipment and reached for the microphone.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Lexi stood with Scott in the alley, out of sight of Lorenzo’s bar. Whatever stupid gambit Dick was up to, she didn’t want to get him killed any faster than he was already likely to be. She watched as he stood at the door in full view of the camera and scrolled through his cellphone. Periodically, he swiped left or right with a nonchalant motion. “What the hell is he doing?”
Her companion glimpsed out. “I think he’s on Tinder.”
“Get him on the phone. We had a perfectly workable plan.” She was furious.
Scott dialed Dick’s cell and they waited while he picked invisible fluff from his jacket sleeve and ELO’s “Mister Blue Sky” began to play. Finally, he held the cellphone up, rejected the call, and dropped it into his pocket. Her face fell into a grim expression. “I’ll break his neck again.” She could see the vampire roll his eyes so he’d clearly heard her.
The security system hissed into life. “Hello, Dick.”
“Loren—no, wait. It’s Delphine, isn’t it?” He sounded thoroughly enchanted. “How are you, my dear? I understand I just missed you at Joseph’s place. I’m simply devastated. We must catch up.”
Lorenzo’s voice sounded almost coquettish. “Let me see when I can…fit you in.”
He grinned. “Ooh! You minx. I’m free now. How about breakfast at Brennan’s? They do a wonderful dish—Eggs Hussarde, with the most divine Marchand De Vin sauce. They also have a cocktail called a Corpse Reviver. I’m sure Lorenzo might be interested in trying it. How’s his hand?” Dick finally glanced in Lexi’s direction with a raised eyebrow as the other vampire attempted to regain control of his vocal cords, which resulted in a strangled growl. “Delphine darling, is that your stomach growling? I’ll tell you what. Since I’m here, why don’t I pop in now? We can order in.”
The door buzzed and he disappeared inside.
Scott turned to Lexi. “Well, now what?”
“Fuck! Get the others. We’re going in.” She wasn’t sure who she wanted to kill first out of Lorenzo and Dick.
The sorcerer appeared across the road where he spoke to the shifters, and she stroked the scar and thought the word “hidden.” Dick had shoved a piece of paper in the door on his way in to stop it from closing properly. She ran into the bar with her katana drawn and whirled in all directions, expecting an attack, but was met with silence. When she saw no other vampires, she dropped the invisibility to conserve her magic and hurried through to the back of the bar. She forced herself to move slowly and quietly as she crept up the stairs.
Lorenzo’s apartment was directly in front of her. Dick stood in the doorway and the other vampire was in the room, facing them. A playful smile played on his lips but in a moment, it was gone. Lexi registered the shift from Delphine to her host. She pushed a shield around Dick as their adversary blurred toward him. The attacking vampire bounced off it but was on his feet again in an instant.
Lexi tried to push a shield around Dick again, but her magic was depleted.
There was no time to plan but Lorenzo didn’t target him anyway. The ring was on her hand before she could react.
Delphine’s voice began to speak to her. Go to the daywalker. Put the ring on the day walker’s hand. Why are you not moving? Do what you’re told. I order you.
She ignored it because honestly, she didn’t feel controlled by the spirit. At the same time, she felt something was different.
“Lexi.” Dick spoke in urgent tones. “Take it off—quickly.” He approached her and tried to catch her hand, but she pushed him away. He catapulted across the room and onto his back in the blink of an eye. She looked at her hand in surprise as she hadn’t meant to do that.
That’s it. While he’s on the floor, put the ring on him.
Delphine’s voice didn’t sound remotely seductive. It was whiny.
Lexi strode to Lorenzo. He sprawled on the floor and looked defeated. She caught him by the throat and lifted him. It felt remarkable like this was the kind of strength she was always meant to have. This was her birthright.
She gazed into his eyes. He looked terrified and she liked that. “What did I tell you? I said he’s off-limits. Do you not remember me saying that?” She looked at his arm where it hung black and useless at his side. She grasped one of his decaying fingers and twisted. It came away easily and she dropped it as he screamed.
That’s right. Give him pain.
“Stop screaming.” She shook him. “I need to ask you something.”
He silenced himself. She stared at him and realized that he was little more than a wreck of a man.
“Are you listening?” She felt the muscles in his neck work, which she assumed was him trying to nod.
He looked into her eyes, then away, and clearly didn’t like what he saw there.
“Does she talk like this all the time?” She loosened her grip slightly to allow him to answer.
Lorenzo sniveled and choked out a, “Yes. It never stops, even when I’m trying to sleep.”
She shook her head. “How annoying.”