by Jane Cousins
Then within a blink of an eye mayhem ensued. A harsh battle cry split the air seeming to come from all directions as Maat warriors, with Hadleigh in their midst, ran at the invaders. Locke’s heart stopped as Serena blinked out of existence… no, became invisible, he reassured himself.
All of the combatants out there were moving so fast he was having a hard time following the action. The Queen was practically a blur as she moved with liquid fast speed engaging Vaughn, Drum and Marcus all at the same time. The three warriors moving in almost balletic co-ordination as they attacked, but the Queen’s ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ movements proved her to be a canny fighter, enabling her to side step or gracefully duck, every single thrust and parry as if she knew where her opponents’ swords would be before they did, all the time a fierce scary smile never leaving her gaunt pale features.
Off to the right Hadleigh and Nate faced off a sucker together. There was a deep gash opened across the sucker’s face, oozing slow drops of black blood. But it didn’t seemed perturbed yet by the injury, intently using the metal plates strapped to its forearms to block their sword thrusts even as it attacked with wicked swipes from its deadly claws.
Not far from them Dash and Flynn circled the third vamp. The twins jumped and struck like the birds of prey they were, hopping, swooping, performing seemingly impossible leaps in their human forms as they tagged team their assault, the vamp having a hard time going on the offensive and growing seemingly more angry and desperate by the minute as it blocked blow after blow. The metal shields on its forearms practically ringing like bells at midnight mass.
This just left Rafe chasing slippery vamp number four, which had ducked his initial tackle, more intent upon pursuing… Goddess damn, he watched as the vamp was smacked down to the ground even as Serena became visible again. Her face pale but grim determination across her features as she ran full pelt into the nearest clump of greenery, the vamp unsteady but back on its feet in pursuit, with Rafe following them both, a close third.
Oh Goddess, Locke’s feet were in motion whilst his brain disengaged, too horrified as Serena dead ended her escape at the palm tree, trapped, she had… hey, where the fuck did she go? She did not just step inside the palm tree, did she? Shit yeah, he actually jumped and hollered in triumph, that was his girl, tricky as the day was long. Except now the sucker was clawing at the trunk like a grizzly smelling dinner.
It was surprising how fear, terror and downright seething anger can motivate someone. Somehow he found himself tearing through the greenery by Rafe’s side as they raised their swords in unison to chop the damn vamp into quarters. Except at the last moment the vamp turned, raising both arms to block their strikes. Shoot, Locke immediately backed off as the vamp swapped a series of wicked hard blows and counter blows with Rafe, sword versus claws, surprisingly even. Locke just doing his best to stay out of their way, knowing he might be more of an impediment to Rafe than an asset if he were to join the fight.
Edging around the action he planted his back up against the tree trunk, sword raised, ready to defend Serena’s bolt hole. With his free hand he tapped on the trunk, the rapid beat of shave and a haircut two bits, bruising his knuckles.
Serena collapsed out of the tree with a gasp behind him, sucking in deep lungfuls of oxygen as her hand reached up to fist the material at the back of his jacket. Locke was reassured by the weight of her hand but didn’t turn to check on her; likewise Serena’s gaze was immediately drawn to the fight taking place right in front of them. They ducked in unison as Rafe’s sword hit one of the vamp’s shields hard enough to send its arm, claws outstretched, swinging in their direction, Locke blocking the inadvertent blow at the last moment with his sword raised defensively.
“Goddess… So this scheme of yours to act as bait?” They ducked again. “This is the outcome you were hoping for?”
“I swear by all the Stars Locke Valhalla if you say ‘I told you so’ there will be hell to pay.”
“Are you hurt? Can you run?” Locke watched with wary eyes as the vamp went on the attack, forcing Rafe back, his feet tangling in a trailing vine, allowing the vamp a split second to get past his defences and gouge four deep furrows across Rafe’s throat. The warrior rolled away, one hand gripped tight across his throat as blood gushed out between his fingers.
“Rafe!” Serena screamed his name as he went down, prevented from running to his side as Locke’s body moved to block her. The vamp’s attention immediately shifted to them.
“Get back in the tree Serena.” Locke could sense her hesitation so he said the only thing he knew that would piss her off enough to get her to move. “You’re only a distraction out here to me.” He could almost hear her grinding her teeth over the loud clashing battle around them as she fought not to let go a stream of expletives at him. Instead after what felt like a lifetime, the small reassuring weight of her hand on his back disappeared. Thank the Goddess, he could never face off a vamp with Serena in the mix.
The vamp closed in on him, flashing fanged choppers in what Locke was guessing passed as a smug smile. And Locke fought hard not to smile back at him. Bring it fang banger, underestimate the guy in the three piece suit. He might look like a lazy desk dweller but he’d spent the first eighteen years of his life learning to defend himself under the tutelage of both his father and grandfather. Not to mention the daily rough house antics he’d endured with having two devious brothers and a sister who could body toss him by the time she was eight. Then there were his cousins. Those on his mother’s side of the family were prone to throwing magic hexes and spit balls of lava at you during recess. Whilst those on his father’s side would rather play pin the slow moving target with an actual nail, or handy dagger, than any old boring board game.
And the one thing all those experiences had taught him was whatever you do, don’t play fair. With that in mind he palmed the dagger he had stuck in the back of his trousers and threw it as hard as he bloody well could whilst at the same time feinting as if he were going to strike forward with his sword. The vamp so busy blocking the sword it didn’t factor in the knife until it was embedded handle deep in its chest. The vamp gave a gurgle, staring down at the knife for a moment in bemusement. Then it looked up at Locke, those weird silver eyes darkening with what Locke could only interpret was hatred and the promise of painful retribution.
Great, all he’d succeeded in doing with his knife trick was to piss the already blood thirsty homicidally inclined vampire assassin off even more. Yeah team Locke.
Then it was on. The vampire coming towards him, arms pin wheeling, claws flashing and it was all Locke could do to recall every defensive sword lesson he’d ever had. Goddess, fuck, where were all Maat’s elite warriors now that his expensive Italian suit was about to be sliced and diced with him still in it?
He ducked and the vampire slammed past him, the sucker hitting the palm tree with a resounding thunk before rebounding to face Locke once more. Okay so he just had to stay on his feet long enough for the cavalry to realise he was in trouble. And stay sane he added to his wish list as his eyes tried to process the fact that behind the vamp now he could clearly make out Serena’s face poking out of the tree trunk. He ducked, parried and ducked again. It looked like she was trying to say something… what? Oh… he went on the attack as much as he could, thankfully it was enough, the vamp took one step back towards the palm tree, in a perfect position now for Serena to reach an arm out of the tree trunk and send a blast of natural energy through the back of the vamp’s neck.
It jittered in place, legs and arms spasming. It would have been the perfect opportunity for Locke to go in for the kill except he was too busy diving out of the way of the electrical current being conducted out of the vamp’s body via the knife handle lodged in its chest, heading straight for him.
“Oooh, sorry,” squeaked Serena. “I had no idea that was going to happen.” She disappeared once more entirely back into the trunk.
Goddess, Locke rolled to his feet, even as the vampire
climbed to its own. A muscle in its cheek jumping, the irises of its eyes completely black, no silver in sight, a distinct smell of burning flesh tainting the air. The creature looked beyond pissed now as it launched itself straight at Locke, claws tangling and shredding the edge of Locke’s jacket as he leapt out of the way.
By the Goddess, he was a lawyer for pity sake; there should be a law against this, making him do all this sweaty manual labour. He staggered to his feet, turning to face the vamp again, his back coming up to rest against the tree trunk. Oh Goddess, the vamp was coming at him like a locomotive; damn this was not going to end well. Sword out front ready to meet the threat he braced himself for impact, except instead of the vampire’s claws shredding into his chest, he felt two small hands grip his shoulders and tug him backwards, through the Goddess damned tree.
Shit if he lived to be two hundred he’d never shake the creepy to his bones sensation of travelling through that trunk and out the other side, as Serena hauled him through what should have been a solid barrier. He had to ignore the need to throw up in reaction, there was no time, as the vamp hit the trunk face first, not expecting its prey to disappear quite so abruptly.
Grabbing one of the vamp’s flailing wrists he held it out towards a horrified Serena. “Take it.” Locke held on for dear life as already the vamp was shaking off the face first hit and appeared to want its arm back. “Bury it in the tree for fuck’s sake.”
“Oh…” Serena leapt to Locke’s side, placing her hand just above Locke’s on the vamp’s arm. “Pull.” She yelled as the both of them heaved and smooshed the vamp’s arm not up against the tree trunk but through it.
Serena let go, the two of them scrambling away out of reach of the vamp, who now found itself elbow-deep imprisoned by the tree trunk. Its claws waving uselessly out the other side as it pulled and scratched at the trunk trying to yank itself free.
“Come on let’s get inside before the bastard decides to chew its own arm off.” Locke grabbed Serena pushing her towards the safety of the house, even as Rafe, a makeshift bandage wrapped around his damaged throat streaked past them, bringing the steel of his sword to rest against the throat of the trapped vampire.
“Go.” Rafe instructed. “I’ve got him.”
They’d only taken two steps towards the house when Hadleigh’s war cry split the air. Frozen in place they watched in awe as her sword swept through the neck of the vamp she and Nate had engaged. Sending the head tumbling from the body, its mouth opened wide, fangs glistening in the moonlight, a wordless cry on its lips. If that wasn’t gruesome enough, the headless body of the vamp remained standing, black blood gouting in slow rivulets from the stump of its neck.
The vampire Queen laughed loudly as the head came to rest at her feet, never losing her concentration as she ducked a slash from Drum’s sword and the swing of Vaughn’s axe. Leaping back an upwards, she landed in a crouch on the very edge of the roof, graceful as a cat. Not a scratch on her, not a hair out of place, she wasn’t even breathing hard despite the fact she’d spent the last five minutes single-handedly facing off against three of Maat’s warriors.
Taking her time she surveyed the battlefield. One of her lackeys trapped in a tree trunk, another one leaking blood from dozens of cuts even as Dash and Flynn circled it, keeping half and eye on it and half an eye on the Queen. That just left her last lackey as she eyed the headless still standing corpse with a critical eye.
“Surrender.” Hadleigh demanded, looking up at the Queen.
“Or else?” The vampire Queen mocked, never losing her amused smile.
“Or this.” Nate casually twirled the wooden post he’d picked up from the smashed shower alcove in his hand like a baton before abruptly smashing it down through the neck of the headless body, piercing the vamp’s heart. The body exploding into a cloud of dust.
The Queen eyed Nate with intrigued silver cat eyes. “Now you’re just flirting with me.” Her voice throaty, all her attention riveted upon Nate.
“Surrender or the other two go the same way.” Hadleigh followed up, absently wiping her sword clean on her trousers.
“Counter offer, hand over the blood of the witch and I’ll consider the contract complete.” All the while the Queen’s disconcerting gaze never left Nate.
“What about your vamp pals?” Hadleigh enquired.
“Neh.” The Queen toyed absently with the low zipper of her catsuit. “Minions come… minions go.”
“There will be no handing over of anyone’s blood.” Vaughn moved to stand beside his wife. “Be warned now, the warriors of Maat protect her well-being with our lives, there will never be a time when she is not guarded or defended. We are willing to die to safeguard her, is your contract really worth that… hassle?”
The corner of the Queen’s lips twisted up at the edge with a wry smile. “It could be fun.” Then she gave a sigh. “On the other hand I’ve always found female targets tiresome… not to mention shrill. So by this united stance of yours I’m guessing there will be no reasonable solution agreed upon here today.”
“If by that you mean, will we let you near the witch with those fangs of yours? No.” Hadleigh raised both her swords in warning.
“Even if I promise the big bad warrior that I won’t drain the bitch… oops, I meant to say witch, dry?” The Queen ignored Hadleigh and Vaughn, directing her question at Nate.
“No deal blood Queen.” Nate stated firmly, his eyes never wavering from the challenge in hers.
The Queen arched her neck, displaying her pale cleavage to maximum advantage Nate’s way. “Ooohh, blood Queen? I like that, what I wouldn’t give to have you at my beck and call warrior.”
“Sure, for our first date let’s say we skip the small talk and go straight to the staking.”
The Queen straightened. “Another time perhaps. Well if I can’t have the witch’s blood from the source.” The Queen raised her head, sniffing the air. That smug smile returning to her features as she flashed her perfect teeth and two long needle point incisors that teased the skin of her bottom lip. “Danton.” She looked momentarily at the vamp cornered by Dash and Flynn. “Be a pet and distract the mouth breathers won’t you whilst I go collect the witch’s castoffs. Feel free to die if you have to. Later lover.” She winked at Nate and then blurred from sight.
Vamp Danton leapt high into the air, uncaring that he received two more sword cuts before returning to the ground in a twirling flurry of razor sharp nails and gnashing of fangs, knocking Dash sprawling to the ground and sending Flynn diving out the way of two sets of claws aimed straight for his eyes.
“What the fuck did she mean by that?” Marcus demanded, even as he raced forward to engage the vamp with the sudden death wish.
“Castoffs?” Vaughn planted his shoulder by Marcus’s side, the two of them moving in together to fight Danton, Vaughn going high, Marcus low, aiming for the manic vamp’s legs.
“Oh shit.” Locke’s head shot up as the truth of the vamp Queen’s words sunk into his brain, his eyes full of dread, his feet already in motion as he pelted full out for the house. “She’s headed for the hospital!” He yelled back over his shoulder. “Nell took Serena’s blood.”
“Nell!” Drum was hot on Locke’s heels, grabbing Nate roughly by the arm as he went. “Come on stud, if she’s touched a hair on Nell’s head you can distract your vamp girlfriend whilst I fucking behead the bitch.”
Nate laughed loudly, letting Drum pull him along. “Actually I have a plan… Marcus,” he yelled back to his fellow warrior. “Fire up the tracking equipment, I think I have the perfect way to tag the blood Queen.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Locke had never been more grateful for the large size of his linen closet as two Maat warriors, plus their weapons, squeezed in after him. Seconds later they were slamming out of a staff-only break room - that doubled as the discreet friends and family trans-portal - at the hospital.
Chaos was the perfect word to describe the scene that greeted them, followed clos
ely by the words pandemonium and nightmarish. The Queen had barely a three minute head start on them but she’d managed to not only reach the hospital but storm through the place creating havoc. An alarm blared out of the overhead sound system, the red emergency generator lights were on whilst the smell of smoke tainted the air. Every few feet down the corridor a person lay injured, if they were lucky they were being attended by a hospital staffer; in a few cases the individual involved was dressing their own injuries. They were a tough, self-sufficient lot in the Sanctuary.
“Maat.” Drum was giving off so much anger the big guy practically had his own heat haze. “Where’s Nell?” He shouted the question at the back of a nurse crouched nearby, busy padding and bandaging deep cuts on the back of an elderly woman, who was cussing and blinding a blue streak clearly audible even over all the noise. The nurse shrugged Drum off, too focused on her job.
“Come on.” Locke started moving towards the main nurses’ station he knew was located in the central part of the hospital. He felt only a little guilty as he brushed past staff and patients, some in wheelchairs, some dragging their own drips with them, everyone moving slowly in the direction of the exits. The family enforcers would be on their way, alerted to the threat; there’d be plenty of help available soon. Goddess, he fought back a cough as his eyes began to burn, the cloud of smoke thicker the further they progressed.
At the central nurses’ station he found his cousin Carl organising the evacuation, issuing loud orders at passing staff and patients. All the time clutching in his right hand a golf club that had been bent almost in two. One side of Carl’s face was a dark purple bruise. The Queen had definitely been this way.
Locke grabbed his cousin by the sleeve of his white coat, demanding the truth. “I need to know right now, where is Nell and where are the blood samples kept?”