Zero

by R. E. Carr

  “Well, that was in the beginning. Honestly, these wretches are pretty spent. Hopefully we’ll get a new lot soon. Wendy here is the only one to have survived in a month, and she’s really weak,” Trevor sighed.

  “Wendy?” Georgia asked. At the sound of her name, a ghoulishly pale girl shuffled out of the shadows. Her red eyes stared at Georgia hungrily, but she fell on her face as she tried to lunge. Trevor poked at the passed-out girl with his foot.

  “And she’s out again,” he said. “I really don’t think she’s going to make it.”

  “Who are these vampires?” Georgia asked as she saw another toothless grin.

  “Nobodies. Common vamps without the ambition to get themselves a family sponsor, or the good sense to take care of themselves. I’m telling you, this is the best they are going to get in life at this point.”

  “Somehow, I really doubt that,” Georgia whispered, as she saw one of the poor creatures shudder in its bed. She heard a creak, then turned to see a new figure standing at the base of the stairs.

  Blaine now blocked the exit, methodically unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling up his sleeves. He smiled at Georgia, but this smile clearly showed off his unimpressive fangs. She moved closer to Steve.

  “I just got a very interesting call,” Blaine said, now adjusting his collar. “You won’t believe who was checking in on our little operation this very evening.”

  “Someone from the home office?” Steve offered.

  “Oh, I called the home office, Mr. DeMarco. I just wasn’t expecting Lady Jaeger herself to call back, and she had a lot of interesting things to say about her dear son.”

  Steve took a step in front of Georgia, who was already sliding her pepper spray out of her clutch. Blaine and Trevor now both blocked the door.

  “Oh, mom,” Steve said. “She really likes to exaggerate.”

  “Are you in Nashville on your honeymoon, or are the others around, Mr. and Mrs. DeMarco?” Blaine asked.

  “You married a human!” Trevor exclaimed. “No way! You really are like the pansy-ass Pendragons Blaine keeps telling me about.”

  “You’d be surprised how little you really know about me,” Steve said, cracking his knuckles.

  “What, that you’re the laughingstock of your family? That your sister can beat you up with one arm tied behind her back? Oh wait, you’re the Jaeger who got his ass kicked by a toothless Pendragon sissy, and now you’re reduced to being married to Geoffrey Lambley’s sloppy seconds! Did I miss anything?” Blaine asked.

  “I never, ever . . . eww . . .” Georgia said, shuddering. “Oh, that’s just wrong. You know what, Blaine, Steve might be those things you mentioned, but at least he’s not a yuppie douchebag who can only get laid with zombie hos!”

  “Oh, I know exactly who I’m recruiting next,” Blaine snarled, levelling his gaze at Georgia. “And you’ll love it!”

  Blaine lunged. Before Georgia could whip out her pepper spray Steve barked, “Stop!”

  Much to everyone’s shock, Blaine froze in the middle of the room. Trevor tried to leap but it only took a strong glare from Steve for him to freeze as well.

  “If you so much as look at my wife in a way that I do not like, I will plant a suggestion in your mind to make you think tanning booths are a prime way to spend an evening, capisce?”

  “You can’t . . . you can’t do that. You’re bluffing!” Blaine stammered out. He took another step forward.

  Steve grabbed Blaine’s arm and stared him right in the eyes. “You don’t want to do this,” Steve said calmly. “You want to tell me exactly what Lady Jaeger told you. Don’t you?”

  “B-Blaine?” Trevor asked. “Blaine! Snap out of it.”

  “Lady Jaeger said that you’ve been disgraced; that you helped the traitor Lorcan Darcy escape from London. She wanted me to stall you here for a few days so she could come pick you up and take you back to Boston,” Blaine said.

  “Why Boston?” Georgia asked.

  “You want to talk to Georgia too,” Steve said, still calm.

  “Boston is where the new king is setting up his headquarters. He wants the New World to be at the center of the new order,” Blaine babbled. “Lady Jaeger thinks he’ll announce his engagement plans next solstice, so she wants to make sure our family is in power, and you are shut up and out of the way. She also wants me to find out if there are any . . . um . . . werewolves in town with you, and if you still have your connection with the sheriff.”

  “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Steve asked, still holding Blaine’s arm. Blaine shook his head. “These breeders, where did you get them?”

  “Lady Jaeger sent them. They really were volunteers. It’s true, I swear!”

  “Oh, really,” Javier said as he stepped out of the shadows. “And who told you that?”

  “Holy shit!” Trevor cried. “Where did you come from?”

  “That is a vampire older than all of us added together,” Steve explained. “He’s on my side.”

  “Lady Jaeger told me,” Blaine stammered. “They had nowhere else to go.”

  “They do now,” Javier said flatly. “Some of those volunteers are dissidents who left the Jaeger family or true Azarola who refused to play the game. I think we need to know why you are recruiting so many frail mixed-blood vampiros. Right, Stefano?”

  “Come on, don’t you want to tell us why you need so many baby vampires in Nashville?” Steve asked.

  “We were told that the family needed fresh blood, young blood. Lady Claudia wanted eager young vampires willing to take control of the criminal elements of the city, and to send forty percent of our revenues to support the new court in Boston. We’ll all be accepted into the Jaeger clan as long as we pay . . . and we’re not Jewish,” Blaine said, sweat now dripping from his brow.

  “Once a Nazi, always a Nazi,” Steve muttered. “And now we know that Arthur and his posse want cash.”

  “Blaine, why are you telling them everything?” Trevor whimpered as Javier now paced around him. Sparks danced over the elder vampire’s fingertips. Trevor continued to whine, “How is this guy being vampire Thor, man?”

  “You’re out of your league, pendejo,” Javier said. “Way out of your league.”

  Georgia meanwhile crouched next to the skinny little thing flopped on the floor. She rolled the ginger over, who repaid Georgia for her concern by lunging and sinking her fangs straight into Georgia’s arm. Georgia yelped.

  “Georgia!” Steve cried. The moment his concentration lapsed, Blaine jerked free and slugged Steve. Trevor took a flying leap away from Javier and pounced on Steve as well.

  Georgia tried to pull free, but quickly realized which arm was being bitten. Stitches ripped under her bandage and soon a different sort of red oozed through her dress. “So that’s what being bitten feels like,” she mumbled, swooning. As she toppled over, pain radiated from her shoulder and tears dribbled from her eyes. “Fuck me.”

  The thrall gulped as she tore into Georgia’s vein. After three swallows, however, the poor creature recoiled and grabbed her throat. She gurgled, and seconds later an anime-worthy font of blood erupted from her mouth. Georgia screamed as her own blood ended up sprayed across her face. The redhead shuddered one time and then promptly dropped dead on the cement.

  “What the hell?” Blaine asked as he saw the gruesome spray. This time Steve took advantage of a momentary distraction and slugged Blaine squarely across his smug face. Much to both of their surprise, Blaine sailed to the wall. Trevor laughed pathetically, then gulped as both Javier and Steve turned to face him. He raised his hands in surrender.

  Javier took care of pinning Trevor while Steve rushed to Georgia’s side. “Please, Sweetheart, please be OK,” he said, lifting her into his arms. She winced as his hand landed right on the reopened wound on her back.

  “Ow,” Georgia said, giving him a dirty look. “Since when can you go all super Saiyan on us?”

  “I have no idea what that means, but I’m glad you’re all right,” he said, taki
ng the chance to kiss her.

  “Blood loss, lover boy,” she whimpered as he pulled away. He pulled out his handkerchief and pressed it against her arm. Javier wandered over and took over applying pressure.

  “Hey, you need to kiss those two, not her, Stefano,” Javier warned. “I’ve got this.”

  As soon as Steve left, Javier tilted Georgia up and peeled back the corner of her bandage. “Sí, you will need new stitches, but it’s not so bad. Lo siento, mi amiga,” he said, before spitting on both wounds then covering them back up.

  “Why is vampire spit a painkiller for everyone but me?” Georgia snapped, kicking off her heels and easing herself to her feet. Javier had already turned his attention to the preacher’s daughter. He shook his head and closed her eyes.

  “What happened?” Georgia asked.

  “Infants need a steady, controlled supply of blood, especially if they have had nothing but vampire blood. She was very weak. I must say I’ve never seen quite a reaction like this. Then again, this is an abomination and must be stopped. She is lucky she died young, unlike the others at the cemetery.”

  “But Steve . . . Steve did the same thing as . . .” Georgia started.

  “Arthur?” Steve offered as he walked back from the two unconscious douchebags. “Yeah, I don’t really know what happened there either.”

  “You also hit like your hermana,” Javier added. “I mean it as a compliment.”

  “We need to get out of here. My fake mom is sending people to collect me, and her people are not very nice. Are you OK, Georgia?”

  Georgia nodded. As Steve tried to lead her back to the stairs, she balked.

  “What about them? What about the poor thralls?” she asked.

  “The breeders are too weak to survive without the IV blood anymore. They all have no fangs and no strength,” Javier said sadly.

  “We can’t just leave them like this,” Georgia protested.

  “Señora—”

  “There has to be a way. Please, Mr. Lambley could have been one of those helpless creatures. He recovered, so maybe they can too,” Georgia said. “Steve, can’t you order those two to set them free, or get them care, or something? Anything?”

  “Sweetheart—”

  Georgia took his hand with her one good one. She looked him right in the eyes and said, “Steve, you’re not a Jaeger. You’re not a hunter and a killer. If you really want to be different, do something different right now. Hell, maybe you can show them how to be a little better too.”

  “There might be someone who would take them in,” Javier muttered. “I can make a call, but you’ve got to get them . . . to Detroit.”

  Steve walked back over to Blaine. He bit his own lip before bending over and planting a full French kiss on the stunned vampire. Steve then whispered furiously in Blaine’s ear for a moment.

  “Mr. McCarthy is about to have a moral crisis,” Steve said, as he stumbled back to Javier and Georgia. “I gave a suggestion to the toady too, but I think he’s just enough of a wuss to do whatever Blaine says. Now, I’m feeling really dizzy and really weak, so I think we should go home. Georgia needs the doctor too.”

  “The thralls,” Georgia reminded as they got up the stairs.

  “I’ve got them,” Javier muttered as he ran ahead. A few minutes later Georgia once more ended up in Steve’s lap as five vampires and a human crammed into Blaine’s Porsche. Man-Bun dutifully drove them across town, where Kyle and Nadia met the crew with a van.

  “Do I want to know who they are?” Nadia asked. “Or do you need them disposed of?”

  “Long story,” Javier explained. “I need a few pints of blood, some handcuffs, and possibly your help if my wife finds out exactly what I’m doing.”

  While Javier recounted their adventures to the nonplussed Nadia, Kyle immediately patched up Georgia. “You know, you might want me to test if you are a werewolf,” Kyle said as he marveled at the wound on her shoulder. “A normal woman would be in much worse shape.”

  “Great,” Georgia sighed. “Wait, what happens if a vampire bites a werewolf?”

  “Normally it makes them very sick. Werewolves taste terrible, so vamps tend not to bite us. If a vampire drinks too much werewolf blood, they will get ill and can even die. Lorcan had the virus before he was turned so he was immune . . . mostly. Why do you ask?”

  “Yeah, you better run some tests,” Georgia said with a gulp.

  24

  “Why the hell are there three strange vampires handcuffed on the bed?” Gail asked. “When I said I wanted to explore new things with you, Javier, this was not the sort of kinky shit I had in mind.”

  “They are abandoned children, just like you, mi amor,” Javier explained. “I need to weaken the Jaeger pendejo’s hold over them, so I can send them to Mina safely.”

  “Master Javier,” the blonde Botox twin cooed. “Please, can I have more?”

  “Did you give her your blood?” Gail asked, her cheeks flushing.

  “I gave them all my blood, mi amor, but I didn’t drink from any of them. They are starving and have never been taught to hunt. We have to help them.”

  Gail did a quick once-over of their three new guests. All had bloodshot eyes, tiny fangs, and skin pale even by vampire standards. She took their pulses and listened to their chests.

  “You smell like the new master,” the brunette said, wide-eyed. “Are you one of us?”

  “No, but I’ll help you. I’m a nurse,” Gail said softly. She helped Javier pour pigs’ blood into cups for all three of them. At first they turned up their noses, but once Javier bled a little into each cup they were content to slurp quietly.

  “Take your time - soon you will have more, much more,” Javier reassured the lot. “And I will take you to a place where you can be your own masters.”

  “Is that what I could have been?” Gail asked softly, once the thralls were all passed out with full tummies. “Why didn’t I end up a slave?”

  “No woman should ever be a slave,” Javier said, looking her right in the eyes. “If you ever wish to go, I will leave, take my blood back, and set you free. I swear this to you. I need a partner, not a toy.”

  “You are either the most amazing man I’ve ever met, or simply the best bullshit artist ever,” Gail said, kissing him. “Either way, you make me feel incredible right now.”

  “You are incredible, mi amor.”

  “Ahem,” Kyle said, awkwardly clearing his throat. “Why are there three baby bloodsuckers on the bed . . . and why are they handcuffed?”

  “We have a lot of new developments, my lob hombre friend. Perhaps the most important one is to find out why Señor DeMarco was suddenly able to command other vampires with his voice alone.”

  “We need equipment and supplies,” Kyle said.

  Javier gave a little salute. “May I borrow your hermana for a while? I’ll see about getting into the Biogenesys Labs here in Nashville.”

  Kyle and Gail settled back into their routine of going through notes, alternated with changing Georgia’s bandages, and peeking into the bag at Lorcan. “Nothing seems to have changed,” Gail noted. Kyle nodded.

  “We need to keep those bandages from Georgia. I want to run a few tests.”

  “Oh?” Gail asked innocently.

  “Yeah, she said another vampire bit her, and then died. It’s possible that she’s carrying the werewolf virus, but never changed. She might be like I used to be before Paige bit me,” Kyle said, not looking up from his screen. “Still, it would be good to confirm. You never know when it can mutate and take over.”

  “A potential werewolf . . . how scary to think of,” Gail muttered. “I suppose viruses can go dormant - is it like varicella giving you shingles when you are older?”

  “Maybe. Our sample size has been terribly small to work with so far. I hope I live long enough to research it one day, but judging by the records my friend Billy kept, werewolves rarely live long enough to get their AARP memberships.”

  “Billy Black? Yeah, h
e was slightly less menacing than his brother,” Gail mumbled, now hiding behind her laptop. “I wonder what he will think of me now.”

  They worked a little more in silence until Kyle excused himself to go home for some rest. The bed still belonged to the snoring thralls, so Gail settled for a power nap in her chair. She awoke to the wonderful aroma of warm blood with a tiny splash of coffee in it.

  “Buenos días, mi amor,” Javier said, handing her a takeout cup with a familiar green and white logo. “Today’s special latte is courtesy of Angela, who was polite enough to meet me out back with tall coffees in venti cups.”

  “Mmm, dark roast and type O, my favorite,” Gail said, licking her lips. “You are too good to me.”

  He then handed her a paper bag full of pink scrubs and sensible shoes. She raised a brow. He flipped out an ID badge with her picture and the name Abigail Harker on it.

  “I kept your old one - partly for sentimentality, and partly because I suspected it would one day be useful. The lovely Señorita O’Hara broke into the system and slipped you in as a transfer from Fargo, North Dakota.”

  “Fargo . . . really?”

  “Who in their right mind would be from there too?” Javier asked. “Worst case, it’s near Detroit and they will just think you are a spy from Mina. Now this won’t hold up forever, so the less you do to raise any suspicions the better. It’s the same as your old job, so I’m sure you can do it, no problemo.”

  “Oh, I can think of plenty of problemos!”

  “Like what?”

  “Like what? Seriously? Firstly, I will burn in the sun, kinda hard for nine-to-five office hours. I won’t show up on the cameras for security either—”

  “—Stop, mi amor,” Javier interjected, sliding an arm around her waist and nuzzling at her neck. “You are going on and on about what you cannot do. Why don’t you stop and think about what you can do?” he whispered in her ear. “Remember Bella at the club, how she could draw all the attention her way? Or, you can choose not to be noticed, to fade into the shadows as I do.”

  “I don’t know how to do any of this, Javier,” she confessed. “I’m far happier just running orders and caring for patients. Every once in a while I feel different, but I keep lapsing back into the same human girl I was only weeks ago.”