“Wanna’ see something?” I asked him.
Carter shrugged.
I grabbed my iPhone from the top of the rusted charcoal grill, unlocked it, navigated to my favorites. “See that.” I showed him his name at the top of my list. Carter Lockhart.
His eyes widened a little bit, the first time I’d seen any real emotion in him other than rage or apathy. “How long it been like that?”
“Ever since we met three years ago,” I said. “And it wasn’t because I felt like I owed you for what you did.”
“How’d you get my last name?”
“I didn’t have it,” I said, locking my phone and setting it back on the grill, “not at first. But when you showed me that article of what happened to you, I remembered it and saved it in my phone the first chance I got.”
Carter frowned thoughtfully, though it was subtle. “So you wanna’ know what happened to me, why I ended up turnin’?”
“You said I never asked. So now I’m asking.”
He gave a dark, distant stare out into the morning woods beyond the porch, never taking his eyes off the leaves that rustled every time the breeze passed. “Sixteen years, four months, eleven days, twenty-one hours, and forty-four minutes ago I was bit. Didn’t even see it comin’. I’d just turned seventeen. Same day, to be frank. Mama threw a party. Didn’t have a lot of money, so I got a buncha’ balloons. Blue balloons, all the same color. Instead of a cake, we got a box of Nilla Wafers. Didn’t matter much, since I was seventeen. In fact, a coupla’ nights before, I’d just killed my tenth buck. Mark of a man, so they’d say out in Pittsboro.”
He popped his neck, keeping his arms crossed, still staring out to the woods. “Something won’t right about Mama that day though. I knew it. Daddy knew it. Auntie Paula P. knew it. Mama was there, but she won’t really there, know what I mean?”
“Like she was distant?” I leaned against one of the white wooden columns that buttressed the floor above.
“Oh, she was distant all right.” He cleared his throat. “Gave me the whole, ‘C’mon, baby boy. We gone get you a new rifle.’ Shoulda’ known right then somethin’ won’t right. Where the blood she get money for a rifle from? We rode around goin’ from this place and that. Even saw a few I liked, but she said they won’t for me. That I needed better.”
I watched him, his eyes specifically—those black marbles well-set in his skull. The pupils reddened like the coils on a black stove.
“I wouldn’t nothin’ but about yer’ size when she done it.” His lips tightened. “We was getting out the car at some ole run-down place—not no store I knew. Some beat up ole gas station out in the middle of nowhere. Pumps were rusted and the Sunoco sign was hangin’ on by a wire. Dark as pitch out there, and it was even drizzlin’ a little.”
Knots formed at the hinge of his jaw, and his voice grew a little heavier. “I got out. Not her though. She stayed in, holdin’ onto that steering wheel like she won’t gone never let it go. ‘Ain’t you comin’?’ I said, beckonin’ to’er like this right here.” He demonstrated.
I didn’t say a word.
“Her hand hit the top of that wheel and she tore out of that car like she was gone tan my backside. I didn’t know what to do, cuz’ I knowed I ain’t done nothin’ wrong. But it was those eyes that got me. Eyes like two red-hot coals, beamin’ at me. I stutter-stepped back like this right here, and man, she took off.” He brushed one hand against the other.
“She ain’t never been faster than me—ever since I turnt’ nine—she ain’t. But that night, out there by that ole gas station…man, she was on me like a jackrabbit. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t. Her hand was over my mouth, squeezing my lips tight like she was juicin’ a lemon. I mean, Lyle, even tryin’ to fight against’er, you woulda’ thought she was iron the way she was holdin’ me. And I was a wrestler in high school. Got myself outta’ tangles far worse than the one she put on me. But I’m here to tell ya’, ya’ can’t bend steel.
“‘What’s wrong wit’choo, Mama?’ That’s what I kept tryin’ to say, but all I tasted was blood, cuz’er fingernails had done ripped through my cheeks. I was screamin’ at that point, though it was muffled all the same. Next thing I know, I felt somethin’ like a bear trap clamp down right here.” He gripped his left shoulder.
“My eyes flew open like windows in the summertime, and it wasn’t long before I felt my warm blood oozin’ down to the hairs on my chest. Can’t remember much else. I was out cold before I knew what hit me.”
I was stunned just letting it sink in. How could a mother do that to her own child? And I could see that he still wondered the same thing, the way those coils in his sable eyes never stopped burning. They glowed even in the morning sunlight. “Did you ever talk to her after that? Ask her why she did what she did?”
Carter just shook his head. “Couldn’t. Vampires are immortal. Can’t nothin’ kill us but stakes in the heart or fire. Last I heard she had a stake through her chest. Don’t know who done it. Wish I could find the man who did. I’d kill’em myself.”
I was confused by that. “Kill him? You wouldn’t thank the guy? Your mother turned you into a vampire.”
He snorted. “Two things you get in this world that you can’t never change. A mama and a daddy. Any man that takes that away from you don’t deserve nothing less than a foot up the—”
“I get it, I get it.” I put a hand up, certain that I knew where he was going with that. “But your mother, she could’ve just killed you. Instead, she turned you. There has to be a reason for that, right?”
“There’s a reason for everything. Ain’t my job to know it all though.”
He seemed resolute about it, so I didn’t push it anymore, though it made me go back to something he said to me last night when he’d come in with blood all over him. “Last night when I asked you if you…if you killed any kids, you said no. In all the time I’ve known you, I don’t think I’ve ever known you to go after children. Now I know you said there’s a reason for everything and that it’s not your job to know it all, but what stops you? With kids, I mean?”
He thought about that, scratching his chin with his long fingernails. “They do.”
I gave him a strange look.
“Couldn’t ever bring myself to do it.” He sniffed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, standing up straight, staring down his nose at me. “Chased down a few. Probably scared’em outta’ their minds, but when it came down to it, that just ain’t me.”
“Because you feel like they’re so innocent?”
“Maybe. Probably.” He sighed, frowning. “Ever watch National Geographic?”
“Sometimes.”
“There was this one time I watched these…these lionesses. They were just out there waitin’ their turn while these wildebeests gave birth. Sickest thing I ever seen in my life.”
I didn’t mean to, but my eyebrow raised at that.
He didn’t seem to notice. “Well, when the, uh, when the wildebabies was born, those lionesses shot off out the brush, tails a’spinnin’ like copters, and man, they tackled ‘dem babies, and made a meal out of’em. And you know what that said to me?”
I shook my head.
“Said those lions don’t care one way or another what happens out there in the wild, long as they get their dinner. I told myself I won’t gone be like that. That no matter how terrible the hunger got, no matter what my options were, I wasn’t gonna’ hunt no children. No matter what.”
“Makes sense,” I said. “I know that Umara trains vampires to think the same way, telling them that the best way to curb the hunger is to draw the line somewhere, and those who don’t, those are the ones that lose themselves, their humanity. Did she ever talk to you about that?”
He looked up, thinking. “Not that I believe. I didn’t talk to her much before. She only just gave me a few of those fake blood bags and sent me on my way. No, this was somethin’ I came up with on my own. A line I drew in the sand for muh’self.”
That actuall
y surprised me a little. Carter, my roommate, man’s prime predator, had drawn a line in the sand that he would never let his feral instincts rob him of the ounce of humanity he had left. Had it been me, I probably would have balked at the first human I came across, especially after taking a bite out of Zakhar in my cheetah form. I could still taste the silvery blood from that one. But then again, I didn’t have the vampiric appetite like he did.
Carter rocked forward on the balls of his feet, then rocked back. “You don’t owe me nothin’, by the way.”
“For what?”
“For what happened when we first met.”
Ohhhh…now to this. We didn’t talk about that day much at all, and personally, I liked to forget about it. The best way I could describe it would be like getting chased by a lion, only to find that a bear was after you too. At least that was how I felt. Except in this scenario, the bear had actually killed the lion, instead of me.
“Most disgustin’ meal I ever had, but I did it anyway,” he said.
“Thanks. Guess there’s three ways to kill a vampire, huh?” I laughed awkwardly.
He didn’t.
A few years ago—three to be exact—I’d been jogging on Tobacco Rd. out in Durham. You should check it out. It was dark, of course, and every movie everywhere warns you about running at night. Serial killers shopping spree, right?
Well, I figured, why not? So I’d made a habit of it, and had really come to enjoy the trail, even timing myself on a three-mile circuit run. Got my time down to like 21:53. Not the fastest man in the world, but pretty good for me.
Anyway, one night—nothing too strange about the evening really—I heard this viperous hiss from behind me, and out comes this vampire hauling you-know-what to chase me down, legs turning over so fast they were a blur.
Being a Decanter, I spilled into an eagle right away and soared straight up. I know I had to have been at least twenty feet off the ground, but that vampire leaped up and caught my leg. My wings were flapping like crazy, but no matter what, I couldn’t get any more altitude. Too bad I don’t have a pterodactyl form.
That vampire snatched me out of the sky, and slammed me on the concrete. I chipped my beak it was so hard, and decanted back to human form. The pain of breaking my beak felt like I’d chipped a tooth, and that vampire was on me, clawing and hissing and spitting.
Then, out of nowhere, this linebacker careened into the vampire, strewing him probably fifty yards away, and I looked up and there was Carter. Oh, I thought I was in trouble for sure then. I started crab walking back, then got to my feet to get out of there, but Carter bolted right past me.
He was on that other vampire in a heartbeat, and next thing I knew, that vampire was in Carter’s belly. I wasn’t sticking around, so I raced off in the opposite direction, but he grabbed me by the collar and wrenched me up off the ground. And all he said was, “You can thank me by givin’ me a place to crash.” So I did.
“I’m gone head on inside,” Carter said. “Just want you to know, that if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Closing in on a Shaman just didn’t seem possible, not with how things had taken place in the woods. He’d gotten away by vanishing, and we never really confirmed exactly where he’d gone, only that he’d disappeared. For all I knew, he could have followed us up to wherever we were and could have been waiting for us outside.
I didn’t like the not knowing, the chess match, the strategizing to stay one step ahead. This wasn’t what I was built for, and it racked my brain like crazy.
Stepping inside from being on the patio, I saw Umara in the kitchen who was standing beside Stephanie. “How long ago did you get those lasers from the Fairy Godfather?”
“About a year ago. Why?” Umara said, searching through the pockets on her green vest.
“What if Stephanie’s right?” I said. “What if this Anton LaCastro has been after me all this time? It makes sense, doesn’t it? Marcus had this city locked down. Locked down,” I emphasized. “No paranormal would have ever stepped on his territory without his permission. But now that Marcus is out of the picture, guess who shows up?”
“Zakhar Nesterov,” Stephanie says.
“Out of nowhere,” I noted. “Here’s what I think. If Anton knew that he was going to make a move on Raleigh, then it only makes sense for him to send Umara Shaman-proof lasers that don’t work. Do you think that’s possible?”
Umara nodded. “Maybe. Because he knew that if he didn’t send the lasers, then the first minute I found out a Shaman was in town, I’d end up making my own.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Ones that would have worked. And how many times did you check to see if the lasers Anton sent worked?”
“Countless times,” she said.
“Did you find any defects?”
She shook her head.
I thought about that for a minute. “Maybe he laced the lasers with some type of enchantment that made them appear to be working. Think that’s possible?”
“Illusion Enchants.” She bit the side of her lip. “But I didn’t check for them, because I’ve never had a problem dealing with him in the past. That snake!” She paced back into the living room, hands on her hips when she turned to face me.
“Do you think he knew Marcus’s time was up soon?” Stephanie asked.
“No idea,” I shrugged. “Either that, or Anton was planning on taking out Marcus himself. Either way, Anton’s not our problem right now. Right now we have to find Zakhar and take him down.”
“You saw what he did to us last time,” Stephanie said. “I’m not sure we really have many options when it comes to facing him.”
She had a point, one that I had obviously considered. I stood there, tapping myself on the chin, staring at the floor. There had to be something, some way to get to him. But what was it? “What about that gun you were using against him?” I asked Umara. “Wouldn’t that work?”
She frowned. “It wouldn’t be enough. The AE-17 fires Anti-Empyrean rounds. Shuts down any paranormal using Empyrean, but only for a brief second. More interrupts than shuts down. You saw how he was able to escape.”
Stephanie asked, “What if we each carried the…what was it again? AE-71?”
“17,” I said.
“The AE-17,” she continued. “What if we each had one? Kept the firepower on him?”
“Wouldn’t work,” Umara said. “Too risky. Every shot has to hit, and missing could be detrimental for all of us. And the AE-17 is terribly inaccurate, like musket ball inaccurate. I’m a good shot with them, because I’ve practiced.”
I didn’t like what I was about to say, but I wasn’t sure there was another option. “We could give it a shot. Give each of us an AE-17. If you could keep the heat on him, Umara, then Stephanie and Carter could just fire in his direction, suppress him a little.”
Stephanie pointed at me. “And what about you.”
I frowned. “If Umara could get off a few solid shots, I might just be able to jump inside of him with the Wraith form.”
Umara nodded, but I could sense her hesitation. “You sure you want to do that?”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “But what other options do we have? He’s coming after us, whether we face off with him or not.”
“Okay,” Umara said. “So we’ll lay down the base of fire, and you’ll decant into Wraith form and jump inside of him.”
I nodded. Once I was inside of Zakhar’s mind that was when I could fight to control him. That was what was unique about Wraiths. They seeped into people’s bodies, making them do whatever they commanded to the detriment of the person.
The thing that concerned me was, how much of myself would I lose by doing this? Every time I decanted into Wraith form, crumbs of my personality flaked off. Never had I seeped into someone’s head before though, and I knew that merging with another person’s mind in Wraith form only caused more of those crumbs to crumble off.
But I had to do i
t. It was either confront Zakhar and take him down, or watch him do to us what he’d done to Carter, or worse. Baiting the Shaman wasn’t much different from before, except this time, we’d make it look a lot less…planned.
Finding him wouldn’t be difficult. He was a connector, so he was probably still going to the places that I frequented or questioning people I knew. But, one thing was for sure. He had to have known where I did my grocery shopping—some little hole-in-the-wall store in Apex called Galaxy Foods. Great place to buy meat.
So that was where we were headed. I was to go inside, pretend to be shopping, and wait for Zakhar to show up. Once he did, I was going to run out and take him down right there in the parking lot.
The goblins loaded up the box truck, and Umara had thankfully packed away six extra AE-17’s, so each of us took one, though I wasn’t intending to use one unless the situation called for it.
It took us about thirty minutes to get to Apex, and I hopped out of the box truck, looking around suspiciously. The sign on the store read, “Compare Foods,” bought out by some other company, though everyone from the area called it Galaxy. As far as the signage, it was in desperate need of a graphic designer. “Compare” was in its own block, typed diagonally in red, while each letter of “Foods” occupied its on block.
The parking lot boasted of potholes and fading white lines, but somehow the cars in the lot seemed to just know how to line up. Traffic raced past the store in the front, and I glanced over my shoulder a few times before entering through the glass doors.
The place smelled stuffy and humid. Black curved marks streaked the floor where the tires of baskets had turned too sharply around a corner. The lighting was a warm, stale yellow that seemed to blanket all of the aisles.
I grabbed a cart with smeared off print on the handles that probably used to say, “Compare Foods,” and wheeled it down the aisles, creaking along as I pretended to peruse the cereals.
I gave a few families a nod as I passed them, watching as their children begged for sugar cereals like Frosted Flakes or Cap’n Crunch or Trix, only to show their utter displeasure once their parents tossed in a box of Nabisco Shredded Wheat. Yum.
Elemental Damage: Confessions of a Summoner Book 2 Page 12