Roaring Dawn: Macey Book 3 (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 10)

by Colleen Gleason

Macey, crouched and still peering around the corner, could see only a small slice of the room. But she heard Flora’s movements, and could tell the vampiress was walking about as she spoke.

  “But let me start at the beginning. Poor Miss Ellison…how are you doing over there, my dear? Tsk, tsk. That does look like it hurts. Well, you needn’t worry too much longer, for the pain will soon be gone.”

  “At least let me stanch the blood a bit,” Grady said.

  Flora gave a great sigh. “Very well. I might have need of her later. You may help her, but make it quick. As I was saying, this entire situation began when my best friend betrayed me. We’d been close chums for years. Even had the same piano teacher—who we were both terrified of—and we grew up in the same small town. And then we moved to Chicago, the big city, and everything changed.

  “At first I thought things would change for the better. We had our own flats, and there were cabarets and jazz clubs, and my brother knew some of the owners of the speakeasies, and he said he’d get us in one sometime—though he never did.” Her voice turned bitter and hard. “Another person who betrayed me.

  “But through it all, Macey and I were best friends. We had other chums, but it was the two of us who shared secrets, and talked about men and what we wanted to do with our lives, and everything. I loved her. She didn’t make fun of my red hair and freckles and long, gangly arms and legs—even when we were younger and the other kids did. She introduced me to all of the men—they gathered around her like flies. And some of them even liked me, too. Though I was their second choice, at least they liked me. She even tried to help me find a job that was as good as hers—she worked at the library at the university, you see, and she was a professional and made good money.

  “And that’s when I realized…perhaps she didn’t think I was good enough for her after all. I tried to get a job working as a secretary, or in a typing pool, and none of those options worked out. She laughed and pretended to sympathize and encourage me when I told her how I spilled ink on the woman who interviewed me at the secretarial pool, but I started to think she was laughing at me and not with me. And when I told her I was going to try and get a job working as a seamstress in one of the clothing factories, she looked down her nose at me, as if I would no longer be good enough to be her friend if I did.

  “And then she met a Negro woman named Temple. And she and that nigger bitch became friends, and Macey didn’t have time for me anymore. She even quit her job at the library. She was never home when I called her or came by to see her.”

  By now, Macey’s eyes were welling with tears and she needed to blow her nose. Oh, Flora! How terrible that her best friend believed all of those things, and how ill it made her feel.

  And yet…Flora was right about some things. Once Macey had become a Venator, she didn’t have as much time to spend with Flora or Chelle or Dottie as she wanted.

  And to make things worse, she hadn’t been able to tell them about her new life and why she wasn’t available.

  “But that was when my life changed. I met a very charming man named Count Alvisi who owned a cabaret called The Blood Club. And he introduced me to a secret society called the Tutela, and told me that if I played my cards right, I could become immortal. I’d be strong, and have power that surpassed what any human could have. And for once, I’d be better than Macey Denton. And maybe I’d be the one helping her.

  “And so I was very careful and very good—and for the first time, I was doing something well. I was successful at it. I worked at The Blood Club, and I made friends with many of the—what did you call them, dear Grady? People?” Flora tittered again, then cut off her laugh abruptly. “You’ve been near her for too long. Get away.”

  “What happened at The Blood Club?” Grady asked, and Macey heard him move away from Savina.

  “Oh, yes…that.” Flora’s voice hardened. “A most unusual thing happened there. It turned out to be the best thing, but at the time, it made me quite angry. You see, once Alvisi learned I was best friends with Macey Denton, he was suddenly extremely interested in my…in me. And he turned me immortal almost right away, because he wanted to use me to get to Macey. So once again, the only reason anyone wanted anything to do with me was because of her.”

  Flora had moved into view now, and Macey eased back from the edge of the doorway to ensure she wasn’t seen. At any moment, she could expose herself, but she wanted to know more of what Flora had planned, and whether there were any surprises.

  Yet she was acutely aware that any delay could cost the injured Savina her life.

  And if that happened, what would she tell Max?

  Her chest felt tight. Hopefully Grady had been able to help her somehow, but Macey could delay no longer.

  She gripped her stake and eased further around the corner, crouching low to the ground so it was less likely she’d be seen.

  “And then I realized something: how valuable I was to the—people, as you call them,” Flora continued in that triumphant voice. “But let’s call a spade a spade, shall we, Grady dear? They’re vampires, and so am I. And I am getting to the point of my story, so do bear with me. Once I realized how important I was to the vampires—being the best friend and confidante of the famous Macey Gardella Denton”—bitterness took over her words—“I began to use it to my advantage. Especially when I discovered that Macey simply won’t kill me. She’s had several chances to do it, you know, and she hasn’t been able to bring herself to do so. The first time, she missed. She just missed me—like a baseball player striking out. What sort of Venator is she?”

  Flora was laughing by now. “And there have been other times since. Even if she were to walk into the room at this moment, and I gave her my heart, she wouldn’t be able to drive in that stake. It’s because she still believes she can save me. That things can go back to the way they were. She even believed me when I pretended to be weakened by your presence, dear Grady, at the photography exhibit Saturday night. She’s believed everything I’ve ever told her. That I wanted to go back to being mortal—as if that were likely—and that I missed her.

  “But things can never go back the way they were…and it’s Macey who’s going to need to be saved. Her entire life is going to be ruined…as soon as she gets the message that you’re here and she sees what I’m about to do to you, Grady dear. And what a waste that will be, you handsome Irish devil.”

  “But I am here. And you didn’t even need to send a message.” Macey stepped into view as Flora spun. Her eyes were wide, and she still held the gun in one of her hands.

  In that instant, Macey took in the details of the room: Grady under control of two undead, who gripped him by the arms and back of the neck. Savina lying on the floor unmoving, her clothing stained with blood, her dark hair spread around her. A small, tall table next to the throne-like chair holding the squat black pyramid. On a different table: the silvery glint of two knives, a bronze dish, and several books and tools. At least six other vampires lurking near the main doorway to the room—probably where Flora expected Macey to enter, had she sent a message.

  “Well,” Flora said, her eyes flaming red, “so you are. And thus I won’t need to repeat the entire story for you. Just the ending, Macey, my girl.”

  “And what ending would that be? In your fairytale world?” Macey tried to catch Grady’s eye, but he wasn’t looking at her. He seemed to be looking at Savina instead. To Macey’s relief, the inert woman seemed to show some sign of life, shifting slightly.

  Flora was still ranting, her fangs exposed and her eyes wild with fanaticism and fire. “You’ve destroyed my entire life…and yet here I am, like that bird that rises from the ashes…what is it called? Ah, it doesn’t matter. But that’s what I am: better and more powerful than I’ve ever been when we were friends.

  “And now I’m going to destroy your life, and let you see what it feels like. No, I have no intention of killing you, my dear friend. None at all. You see, I feel the same way: I could never kill you. I could never live in a world
without you.” Flora wandered over to the table and picked up Rekk’s Pyramid, hefting it in the hand not holding the gun. “This is one thing I didn’t lie to you about, you know. And what a happy accident that I should happen to discover it before Iscariot did!”

  She held it flat on the palm of her hand and looked at the small onyx object as if it were a diamond. The lamplight caught on the shiny edge and glinted brilliant blue and green.

  “You see…it’s ready for a new master. For me to take over as its mistress. All it needs is to be awakened.”

  Macey was waiting for the right moment to strike—when she could send her stake winging across the room and directly into Flora’s heart.

  She’d show her who wasn’t able to kill whom.

  “And how do you intend to do that?” she asked, stepping further into the room. One of the undead started to move toward her, and Macey gave him an encouraging look.

  He stepped back, edging toward his comrades near the door.

  Flora saw the interplay, and her smile became harder. But she spoke to Macey. “There is one thing in the world you care for above all things—and he’s right there. You tried so hard to keep this very moment from happening…but, alas, like your father, you couldn’t prevent it.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Macey asked, still waiting for her chance to act.

  “You’ve taken so much from me that I simply have to return the favor.” Flora smiled, and her fangs were a stunning reminder that no, things would never be the same.

  “I see.” Macey needed to buy more time so she could move closer in hopes of a better shot. Then all at once, she realized exactly how she could pull this off. “But I seem to have missed something. Why is she here?” She looked toward Savina.

  “Why, she was simply a handy way to get Mr. Grady here, who in turn was meant to be the bait which brought you here. But I see that didn’t happen quite the way I anticipated. Still…” Flora’s smile was cold. “You’re here, and I’m the one holding the gun. Even a Venator cannot withstand a bullet.

  “Thus, I don’t see anything changing from my plans. In just a moment, Mr. Grady here is going to help me awaken Rekk’s Pyramid. And you’ll be able to watch it all happen…very slowly and painfully.”

  “When did you decide to steal the pyramid?” Macey took a half step closer. She held the stake partially behind her in hopes that Flora wouldn’t notice while she was so busy prattling on about her accomplishments and plans.

  “Iscariot didn’t even know that it was here in Chicago until I told him. He’d already planned that sweet little episode at the girls’ school, but at the time, he meant to bargain for the Rings of Jubai. When I told him he no longer needed them, he simply changed the purpose of the hostage taking. But I had other plans. While he was so busy luring you to the school to save those girls, I was helping myself to the pyramid. I had no intention of giving it to Iscariot, and I was quite certain you wouldn’t either—and I was hopeful you’d take care of him for me as well. It was a winning situation for me in either case.”

  “Nevertheless, you must have been very valuable to Iscariot.” Macey started to move forward again, but Flora’s eyes fixed on her sharply and she raised the gun.

  “Not another inch closer. I see what you’re doing. I will use this.” She held the firearm like she meant it, and Macey knew what a good shot Flora was. They’d grown up using milk cans during target practice for shooting crows away from Flora’s family’s cornfield.

  “Oh yes, Iscariot did find me very valuable. In fact, he did something for me he hasn’t done for another in more than two centuries.” Her smile was frighteningly wicked.

  “What was that?” Macey was still trying to capture Grady’s attention, but she had to keep her eyes on Flora at all times, as well as the other six vampires waiting at the door. If Max and Chas ever made it here, she hoped they found a different way into the room.

  “He fed on me and drained most of my blood one night…and then he allowed me to drink from him. I was already undead, but now I have Iscariot blood mingling with my own immortal blood, Macey…which makes me nearly as powerful as Nicholas himself! And when the pyramid recognizes me as its mistress, I’ll be even more powerful than he was.” Her pale lips twisted into an ugly smile. “I suppose I should thank you for ridding me of him—it might have been a battle between us for the pyramid after all.”

  Then Flora turned and looked toward Grady. Speculation blazed in her fiery eyes, and she set the pyramid down on the table. “I think the time for talking is long past. You know everything you need to know, and I’m ready to have some fun.”

  Still holding the pistol, as if for insurance, she picked up one of the knives. Its long blade glinted wickedly in the lamplight, and Macey tensed.

  She was going to have to act now…but she wasn’t quite close enough, and Flora was standing in such a way that she didn’t have a good enough angle to whip her stake forward. And that form of attack happened to be one of Macey’s weaker tactics—as Temple had always reminded her.

  Temple.

  Macey remembered her friend and mentor with a sudden heave of grief, and she stepped forward determinedly. That knife was not going to touch Grady, and Templewould be avenged.

  “I don’t think you planned any of this very well. You never were very smart about things like this,” Macey said in a sneering voice. Though it was painful to speak those words—even to someone bent on destroying her life—she kept on. She knew Flora better than anyone, and it wouldn’t take much to rile her red-haired temper.

  “What are you talking about?” Flora turned, her voice icy, the knife trembling in one hand, the gun in the other. She raised the gun and pointed it at Grady, who hadn’t moved. He was still held by the vampires. “Say that again.”

  “That would be you—shooting a helpless man. A coward and a failure. The only reason you have the pyramid is because I killed Iscariot for you. Otherwise, you’d be nothing more but his lackey. Vampire blood or no vampire blood.” Macey lifted her chin, still holding the stake, staring Flora down.

  The vampiress’s eyes blazed, and Macey felt the tremor of its power. It shuttled through her like a lightning bolt, and she focused with difficulty to keep it from owning her.

  Flora would not control her.

  But the vampiress was strong. And she had Iscariot’s blood. Macey shuddered deep inside as she felt the thrall connecting with her…tugging at her breath, her heartbeat.

  “How dare you say such things!” Flora’s voice was high and tight, and now the gun was pointed at Macey. And though it trembled a little in her hand, Flora held it firmly.

  “You were never better than me, Macey, but you always thought you were. Just because you were small and delicate, and I was a tall, ungainly horse…that didn’t mean you had to treat me that way. And I’m not a coward. I’m braver than you could ever imagine—giving up my soul for this. You’d never do that, would you?”

  Flora stepped closer, the gun still pointed at Macey, her eyes blazing wildly red…their alluring thrall coaxing, and teasing, at the edge of Macey’s vision. She felt herself softening, felt the edges of her gaze become murky. Felt the pull on her pulse.

  She adjusted her grip on the stake, focusing on the center of Flora’s chest. She was still much too far away to hit her accurately, and the vampire knew it.

  So Macey had to do this just right. She had to calculate perfectly: the right time, the right angle, the right words.

  “That’s not brave,” she taunted. “None of this is brave. You’re only here because it was an accident that you discovered the pyramid, Flora. Everything you’ve done has been an accident. Even shooting Temple—and yes, she was my best friend. And you took her from me. You were probably standing right next to her, so you couldn’t miss…and that was the only way you could overpower her—a mere mortal—in order to tear her apart. You can’t even be a good vampire.” Macey forced the words out, forced herself to say the hateful things even though she knew how deep
ly they pained Flora.

  For her friend was still inside that damned, soulless body. The friend she’d loved as a sister for so many years was still there…she still hurt.

  But there was nothing to be done for it. Flora had made her decision. Her soul was no longer her own.

  “We could have been friends together. Forever. We should have been,” Flora said, her words coming faster, tighter, more desperate. “But you had to betray me—”

  Just as Macey saw a movement at the doorway, she let the stake fly, whipping it sharply through the air toward Flora.

  The vampiress shrieked when it winged harmlessly past her. “How dare you!” she cried. “You tried to kill me!” She dropped the knife, aimed the gun with two hands, and pulled the trigger.

  Macey was looking toward the doorway when the bullet struck her in the chest with great, shocking force. Pain shot through her, and she whipped back and onto the ground.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  ~ A Man of Clear Heart ~

  Max had just reached the doorway when he saw the bullet slam into Macey’s chest, and watched her tumble to the ground, stake falling from her lifeless hand.

  “Noo!” he cried, and plunged into the room, Woodmore at his heels.

  But as they breached the threshold, a swarm of undead surged onto them. Max lost sight of the red-headed vampiress as he thrust his stake at the closest undead, then spun and ducked in order to evade the next one. They came after him, one by one, as he kicked, dove, scrambled, and knocked them to the ground, finishing them off with well-aimed strokes to the heart.

  He and Woodmore were shoulder to shoulder, then back to back for several minutes in a melee of undead before they emerged from the cloud of dust and vampire remains, and he saw Flora, on the ground, bending over Macey’s body.

  “No.” Flora was sobbing, rocking back and forth a little. “I didn’t mean to do that.” She’d dropped the gun, and Grady had lunged forward to snatch it up—not that it would do any good against an undead. “I never meant to kill you…Macey, I didn’t mean it. You have to believe me…I didn’t mean to!”