by Greco, Karen
Just another night at Babe's On the Sunnyside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"N-N-N-Nina?" Chuck called up the stairs, stuttering. "I think the Incredible Hulk just broke your door. Again."
"I know, Chuck. Trust me, I know!" I called back to him, my own voice uneven. I cleared my throat.
"Should we go find him?" Casper asked.
I shook my head, exhausted. "I don't think so."
I still didn't know if Frankie was going to make it, and I couldn't reign in a Berserker on my own.
Frankie and I were slumped on the floor, and I cradled his head in my lap.
"Come on, Frankie," I muttered while I stroked his hair. "Wake up, dammit. Be okay."
But it was like Frankie was cast in stone, his skin cold, his face waxy like a corpse.
"Casper," I whispered.
"Yeah?" His voice was low too.
"I don't think we did it." I bit on my lower lip to stop it from trembling.
"Don't say that," Casper scolded gently. "We don't know how this shit works. Did you expect him to be all like hey, YOLO! Maybe this is like after an operation, in the recovery room."
"Stop," I said bitterly. "The last thing I want to feel right now is hope."
"What the hell is wrong with you, girl? All we have is hope."
"You're too young to understand," I dismissed him.
"Shut up with that crap." Casper's voice rose, his hackles up. "I'm dead, remember. If a dead guy can still have hope, you sure as hell can too."
The kid had moxie, I'd give him that. "Not fair to play the dead card."
"Bitch please, that's the only card I have left," Casper said without missing a beat.
I almost laughed in spite of myself. I leaned back against the bottom of sofa, tilting my head so it rested on a seat cushion. I heard Chuck come up the stairs. He stopped at the open door and knocked.
"Hello?" he called out.
"In here, Chuck," I raised an arm and waved, and then remembered he needed an invitation. "Come on in."
"How is he?" Chuck asked as he shuffled into the apartment. Then he peeked over the top of the sofa apprehensively.
"Don't know," I said, pressing my hand against Frankie's forehead. Dog had followed Chuck up the stairs and she licked at Frankie's pale face.
"Um. Who were you talking to?" he asked as he looked around the apartment, bewildered.
"A ghost," I smiled. I forgot Chuck had no idea I had Casper. "I can see and communicate with spirits. I have one ghost that kind of follows me around."
"Follows you around?" Casper harrumphed.
"Okay, okay, not follows me around but...well, he's like my spirit guide."
"That's better." I felt Casper's smile down to my toes.
"Wow. Ghosts?" Chuck was awestruck. "They’re real?"
"As real as vampires."
Chuck shrugged. "Who knew?"
"Is this dude serious?" Casper was indignant.
"Oh relax, would you?" I held back a laugh.
Some supernaturals were ignorant of others. Betas in particular tended to be awfully ignorant, moving in tight-knit groups with very little contact outside of their nest.
"Are you talking to me?" Chuck looked confused again.
"No, sorry. To the ghost."
"Oh." He considered it. "This is weird. Will I get used to it?"
"Probably not."
His shrug told me he accepted it. "Tell the ghost sorry if I offended."
"He can hear you," I said. "You just can't hear him."
"Of course," he said sheepishly. "Tell him I'm sorry about that too."
"Sure, Chuck." There was no point in correcting him. "I'll let him know."
"So, what now?" Chuck sat down on the couch. Dog joined him on the sofa. She was smitten with the Beta. He absently scratched her behind the ears.
"I don't really know. Anyone ever survive the blood poisoning?"
He looked sad and exhausted. "Not yet."
"I'm sorry for what happened to your friends," I stammered, not really knowing what to say.
"Yeah, thanks," Chuck said. "I think your friend is going to pull through. He looks better, don't you think?"
"Yeah? You think?" I took another look at Frankie. Was his skin losing its funeral home pallor?
"And he hasn't exploded, so that's a good sign," Chuck tried helpfully.
"He has a good point," Casper said.
"Yes, I suppose he does," I sighed.
"Who does?" asked Chuck. "Oh wait. Ghost?"
I nodded.
"He's a little slow on the uptake," Casper scoffed.
"Shut up." I tried covering up the words with a cough. Chuck gave me an odd look but said nothing.
A quick, involuntary twitch came from Frankie, and I jerked back in surprise. "Did he just...?"
"I think he did!" Casper banged around my head in excitement.
"Ow! Take it easy in there!" I gave my head a fierce shake to drive my point home.
"Is that the...?" Chuck started and I cut him off with a curt nod.
Frankie moved again, and this time a small groan escaped from him.
"What did that sound like to you?" I asked Chuck. He had more experience with infected vampires. "Did that sound like a...you know...like he's about to...?"
"About to blow?" Chuck finished for me. "No. That sound is more like a gag. His sound was a groan, definitely."
I wasn't sure if parsing the difference between a grunt and a groan was useful, but Chuck didn't seem at all alarmed by the now multiple groans coming from Frankie.
"Bloody hell!" Frankie's groans finally formed words.
"Frankie? Are you okay? Do you feel okay?" My voice was calm, but I mentally prepared myself to scramble out of the way, just in case.
"Don't know," Frankie was drowsy. "I think I have a headache. I haven't had one of those in a few hundred years."
I released my breath with a small laugh. Frankie was back.
Casper, of course, was celebrating like a loon. "Don't nobody mess with this witch. Kapow!"
"Come on, Frankie, let's get you to bed or on the couch or something." I tried to shimmy out from under him.
"Not yet." He reached his arms around and held onto my hips to keep me steady. "I just want to stay like this for a minute."
Casper's extended "aaawwww" echoed in my head. I shook my head violently until he shut up.
Chuck sat up, his hope renewed by Frankie's recovery. "Does this mean you can...?"
I nodded. "How much potion should we make?"
Chuck's excitement fizzled. "There are too many of us."
"What do you mean?" I planted my hands on the floor to stabilize myself so I could turn and look at Chuck. But Frankie placed them back on his forehead, so I was left craning my neck. Casper snickered.
"You would have to do that spell on each person. That'll be impossible. Since they're...you know."
"There are more sick?" Frankie interrupted.
"I'll explain later, but I think we found Patient Zero," I said. "Chuck, do you think you can get them into a large, closed-off space?"
"Already done. The ones we could find and catch anyway, which was most of them. I expect the ones we couldn't—" Chuck shivered. "We have them quarantined in a barn."
"Is the barn secure?" Frankie's eyes were still closed, but his voice sounded stronger.
"Kind of," Chuck replied.
"Kind of?" Frankie echoed, making a face.
"Well, the door is chained. And we're patching up any holes they make as fast as we can."
"Chuck's in way over his head," Casper sighed.
"No joke," I agreed.
"Ghost again?" Chuck looked around the room, like he was hoping to spot Casper.
"I didn't know Casper was here!" Frankie brightened.
"You didn't think I could pull that witchy shit off by myself, did you?"
Frankie gave my hands a squeeze. "I am never surprised by your capabilities, love. You have more than you think."
Heat creeped up my neck and settled into my face, turning me a nice shade of crimson.
"So what do we do?" Chuck asked anxiously.
"Well, we need Max to run the op, so we have to wait until he's safely back to...well, Max," I sighed. Hopefully he'd be able to power down pretty fast.
"What about Dr. O?" Frankie asked.
I bit my lip and for a split second, considered lying. But Frankie was my partner. Lies between us weren't a good idea. "We don't know, Frankie. He ran into a problem with the DoD and now we can't find him."
"We can't find Babe, either," Casper added pointedly.
"And Babe too," I said, and then added feebly, "but she is on vacation."
"Shouldn't we find them first?"
I shook my head. "No time, Frankie. Chuck's nest is being targeted by a guy bringing in a tainted blood supply. We need to nail this guy and cure the sick vampires. What if he's bringing the blood to other nests? And the sick Betas are a time bomb."
"Who's the guy?" Frankie asked.
"Someone called Jackson," I shrugged. "Name familiar to you?"
"He's kind of regular-looking," Chuck chimed in. "Light brown hair, not tall but not short. Medium build."
"In other words, not someone you'd remember," I sighed.
Frankie shook his head. "I can't be sure yet. Everything is still...hazy."
"It's cool, Frankie. We'll just take this one epic disaster at a time, right?" I smiled.
"But Dr. O and Babe. We can't just leave that," Frankie said.
"Maybe Father Dougherty is up for a little searching." The priest was Catholic, but there was a Druid in there that he called on from time to time. I realized we'd need both parts of him.
"At least we'd be doing something." Frankie sounded exhausted.
"Casper and I need to get cracking on the spell. We're going to need a lot of ash."
Frankie shifted to his elbows, slowing getting up. "I think I need to crash out a bit, if that's alright with you?"
"Of course. Use the bedroom. It'll be more comfortable than out here, with us banging around." I helped guide him to a sitting position.
"And probably less dangerous," Casper scoffed. "You and fire, not exactly good together."
"I'm ignoring you," I said to the ghost, getting to my feet. Chuck looked at me oddly. Again. You'd think he'd get it by this point.
I helped Frankie to his feet and brought him to the spare bedroom, pushing the clothes and other detritus off the bed and onto the floor.
"You really shouldn't have gone to any trouble," he said sarcastically, stretching out on top of the quilt.
"You gave me a hell of a scare," I sat down beside him. "What happened?"
"Damned if I know, Nina."
"Was it the Superman Building? I know we tried to be careful, but damn Frankie, there was a lot of blood."
"Could have been, but I'm not sure." Frankie stared at the ceiling, avoiding my eyes.
"Frankie, I know this is awkward, but we have to talk about it." I bit the bullet. "Acting like embarrassed teenagers isn't going to help anyone. You almost died."
"That night, when I left to go to the tunnel...to feed. There was someone, maybe it was this Jackson guy. I don't know. But I know you felt me," Frankie said as he grabbed my hand and finally looked me in the eye. "I was being foolish, Nina. Jealous. I wanted you to feel what I felt whenever I see you with..."
His voice trailed off and he looked away again, but didn't drop my hand.
"I'm sorry, Frankie."
He squeezed my hand. "You have nothing to be sorry about, love. This is my problem. My fault."
"It's not entirely you. I should have—"
"Should have what?" he said, interrupting me. A small bitter laugh escaped from him. "Should have fallen in love with the old vampire? You have every right to live your life however you like. And with whomever you want."
I didn't know what to say. We spent more time together than most married couples.
He closed his eyes and smiled. "Thank you for not giving up on me."
I sat there for a minute, looking at my pale, exhausted partner as he drifted off to sleep. The thought of losing him shattered me. We came too damn close this time.
I rested my head on his chest. There was no heartbeat. His rib cage didn't expand and contract. He was lifeless, but he was one of the most vital people I knew. I never considered for a minute that he would feel like I couldn't love him because he was a vampire. In fact, I loved him because he was a vampire.
"Hey." Frankie pulled my head up, and looked me sleepily in the eye. "No crying, right?"
"No crying," I smiled. "Promise."
"Good, because that would be a total girl thing to do," he teased gently.
We sat there for a beat, his strong hands gently cupping my face. He looked at me with a tenderness I had never seen in him before. Slowly, he pulled my face closer to his until our lips were about an inch apart. Then he dropped his guard completely, allowing the binding to take over, flooding my body with sensations. I closed my eyes as the full force of his emotions crashed into me. Primal lust commingled with genuine affection. I shivered as my body responded to his mental touch. It slid down my neck, brushing gently across my breasts. His mind lingered on my stomach before moving to my upper thighs, where he held steady, anticipation building in both of us.
Then he snapped his mental guards back in place. He leaned his forehead against mine and gave his head a small shake.
"Go make the potion, Love," he whispered, his voice rough. "There are a lot more vampires counting on you."
I took a shaky breath and nodded, suddenly reluctant to break from this moment. My heart was racing, and I knew Frankie could hear the rush of blood coursing through my body. His blue eyes began to glow and he twitched just a bit as his fangs elongated as his control began to wane. My own control was on shaky ground right now.
"Oh hey, Nina." Chuck walked right in. "Whoa! Sorry, I'll just..."
He scooted out of the room quickly. I pulled away from Frankie almost as fast.
"It's okay, Chuck. What do you need?" I called after him.
"The sun's coming up. I'm not going to get home in time. Do you have a place I can crash?" He hovered in the hallway, not looking in the bedroom.
"Basement," I said. "I'll show you."
"I know where it is, remember?" he said, laughing nervously. "I'll just head on down there now. You just...carry on."
"Chuck, hang on. Let me get you a blanket, and I think Babe has an air bed somewhere."
I jumped up quickly, straightening out my clothes as I crossed to the door. Frankie winked and grinned, and my face grew hot. I had no idea what just happened between us. Suddenly, I didn't know how to act around him. Leaving seemed like the best plan.
"By the way, Frankie," I stopped at the door, remembering something. "The stakes were brilliant. One of them took out a demon."
Frankie's eyes went round in shock. "You're joking."
I shook my head. "Caught him in the eye socket, and he went down. True dead. If I wasn't running for my life, I wouldn't have been able to move from the shock."
"Do you remember which one you used?"
I shook my head. "The one that didn't spark me."
Frankie chuckled. "I'll check them out later."
"Get some sleep, okay?"
I stepped into the hall and turned right into Chuck. The vamp hovered.
"Ow," he stumbled back, catching himself before he fell over.
"Sorry, didn't see you," I said as I closed the bedroom door and swept down the hall. Chuck lagged behind. I yanked open the hall closet, where the box for the airbed was shoved into the back.
"So..." Chuck stood behind me awkwardly. "I always figured you and Max had a thing."
"Why'd you figure that?" I pulled out bottom-of-the-closet detritus — shoes, errant scarves, mismatched gloves. A bowling ball?
"I don't know, I guess. You guys just looked right together." Chuck caught himsel
f and backtracked. "Not that you and Frankie don't look right. You look great. Beautiful. It's beautiful. You're both beautiful."
"Nothing is going on with anyone, Chuck," I said, finally liberating the box containing the airbed. I tossed the stray items back in the closet.
I handed Chuck the box and walked him to the door.
"Wait," I said, grabbing a folded quilt off the couch and putting it on top of the box. "Here. You remember how to get down there?"
"Yes, thank you for this." He started down the stairs.
I took a quick glance out the kitchen window. The sky was streaked with red.
"Hey Chuck," I called down after him. "You may want to put the blanket over your head before you go out to the patio."
"Right. Thanks Nina."
I closed the door. It was a close call, but he'd be fine.
"Well, girlfriend, do we have something to talk about or what?" Casper's voice thrilled through my head.
"You were in there the whole time?" I squeaked out. "Again?"
"Where the hell else am I supposed to go? We have spell work to do."
"Casper, we really have got to talk about boundaries." I huffed into the kitchen.
But not now. Now we needed to save some vampires and catch a killer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The sun was setting when I gave the counter a final swipe with the sponge. It took Casper and me almost a full day to work up enough ash to take care of the 100 or so Betas in Chuck's nest. Not all of them were sick, but there were enough infected that I wanted to make sure we dosed all of them, as a precaution. The ashes were in three mason jars I dug out of the back of a cabinet.
I flopped on the couch. It was close to 5 p.m., and in about an hour, we were all meeting to run through the night’s plan. Casper slipped away right after we were done, going off to recover. I think it took more out of him to do the spells then he let on, and it worried me.