by Garth Ono
There was no way Kate would return to that house if she got out of there alive. Simon was much too interested in her, above and beyond her skills at vampire slaying.
"Have you met Mordred?" Kate asked. "Have you been to his home?"
"No," he said. "Of course not. We're deadly rivals for the rulership of the city."
She placed her hands on his chest, and their eyes locked. It was intense. She couldn't deny it. The fact she felt attracted to him shook her a little. Kate slowly pushed him back a step. No sudden, hostile moves to warrant being shot.
"I have visited the Master of the City in his home. Think of Moor Manor as a castle," she said. "His security is scary, and I'm sure there's a lot more I didn't see. No, getting to him is impossible. Even if I did get lucky and kill him, there is no way I'd get back out alive. So, no can do."
Simon looked at Daphne, who shrugged. His eyes narrowed, before dropping to her chest again. Her breath caught when he placed a hand on her, barely an inch below her boobs. He slowly walked around her once, dragging that hand around her middle. When he stopped, Simon wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight. Brandy stepped up behind Kate to pull her head back, exposing her throat.
"If you won't serve me as a slayer," Simon said, mouth barely an inch from hers. "Then you will serve me as a blood cow and whore."
His mouth opened, lips skinning back to reveal fangs. Simon tilted his head and pressed his fangs over Kate's jugular. Everything was going in slow motion. She tried to think of something, anything, to escape her fate.
"Take her!" Brandy cried.
Chapter 16
Vengeance was so delicious. Simon breathed in Kate's sweet scent. Her flesh was warm and silky under his fangs. He pressed harder, expecting to penetrate her at any second. The thought of owning her body and soul, of possessing the woman that killed him into undeath, was beyond exciting.
Kate had stopped breathing. Her body trembled like a leaf. Simon paused, wanting to hear a squeak of terror first. She knew he had her, that she was helpless to stop him. Within seconds Kate would be his minion and eager to obey his every whim.
"Are you sure?" Daphne asked. "Making her a minion will just dull her edge. She won't be good for anything but dinner and playtime. I thought you had ambition."
Simon pulled his fangs away to glower at the pink-haired drac. Brandy, Daphne, and her two minions were the only ones living in the house not under his absolute control. He didn't really like it, either. But Daphne was eager to serve. Yet, she was too possessive of him. Her jealousy was amusing at first. Not so much now.
"The only thing that bothers you is another warm body in my bed," Simon said.
"Yes, of course. After all, twenty-seven hot little minions aren't enough," Daphne said. "I bust my butt for you day and night, and all you do is sit around and dress up your harem in sexy little outfits, before banging them senseless." Kate groaned. "You want to be Master of the City? Act like it. Think like a Master. Do you think Mordred wants her as a plaything? No, he can recognize her as an asset. That's the only reason she escaped his place untouched."
"Daphne, don't push me."
"She's right," Kate said. "He wants me to kill his rivals. And you're one of them."
Simon froze. She was inside his guard at that very moment. His male psyche refused to admit a mere girl was a true threat to his person. Yet, she'd killed him before. She killed Alexander. And her very job was to kill, kill, kill, despite how pretty she might be.
"You have to decide if you want to be a real player in St. Louis, or live a life of undead debauchery," Daphne said. "What do you want more, Simon? Rule St. Louis or fuck Kate?"
His eyes glazed over. Why couldn't he have both? Daphne's challenges and questions drove him crazy sometimes. Personally, he wasn't so sure making her a minion would dull her edge that much. True, his minions did kind of lose their motivation. They only did what they were told. But Kate wasn't the only slayer in the city.
"Simon," Kate whispered.
He looked down at her. She still had her hands up to either side of her head, as if he was robbing her. Kate's eyes weren't filled with fear and shock anymore. There was something else there.
Kate slapped both hands over his ears. Hard. That sent a shock through him. Her knee came up between his legs, slamming into his balls hard. He froze, expecting intense pain that never materialized. In that second of hesitation, Kate twisted violently and broke free.
"Stupid drac!" Kate cried, thrust-kicking him in the chest and sending Simon stumbling back into a wall. "I'll kill you all!"
Simon watched in shock as Kate spun around within Brandy's grip of her hair and punched her twice in the throat, before prying the blonde's hand from her hair. Then Kate twisted Brandy's arm so fiercely and brutally behind her back he heard her shoulder pop apart.
To his surprise, she pulled Brandy's pistol from her waistband, turned and shot Brody in the thigh. As the big minion fell, she charged Daphne. The vamp tried to bring her weapon to bear, but Kate was faster.
"Thanks for nothing," Kate shouted, grabbing Daphne's gun and twisting it upward. Daphne squeezed off a shot into the ceiling before Kate slapped Brandy's pistol across her cheek. Then Kate had two pistols. "Leave me alone or I will kill you!"
Carl, Jayden, and Sean came charging in as she turned toward the front door. Kate shot Jayden in the shoulder, and then ducked under Sean's right cross. She kicked Sean in the knee, which Simon heard snap. The big minion wailed in agony as he fell.
Kate froze, both guns aimed at Carl.
"Keys," she demanded.
He held her keychain up. Taunting her with a grin.
"If you kill me, I'll become a vampire. Then you won’t be able to keep me from your throat."
Kate started shooting. Carl's body did a little jerky jig, then collapsed. Kate walked over, picked her keys up off the floor, and sneered down at Daphne's minion. He was gasping loudly, moaning and groaning.
"Idiot. Who said I had to kill you?" Kate said. "Bask in the pain, wanker."
Simon looked more closely, and she'd only shot the minion in the arms and legs. She took him out without killing him.
Kate turned and ran out the open front door. Simon looked at Daphne, who looked just as shocked and appalled. They had greatly underestimated her.
Simon ran to the door just in time to see Kate race away in her four-wheel drive.
"You won’t escape me! I will have my vengeance!"
Chapter 17
Kate rounded the corner, down-shifted, and hit the gas hard. The Defender lurched forward halfway through the turn, before leveling out and speeding up the residential street. She checked her rearview to ensure no one was chasing her, and then turned right at the next intersection. She continued mostly westward until she came upon I-170 and took it southbound.
It only took a moment before she turned onto I-64 East, and headed back toward the hotel. She continued to keep a watch for any of Simon's goons. Kate was halfway to the hotel before she felt safe.
"They probably know where I'm staying," she muttered. "Since all of the slayers are staying there on the city's nickel."
That was an uncomfortable thought. Yet, would they feel safe around a bunch of slayers? She felt much better after pulling into the gated parking lot and heading to the back to turn in her heads.
"Hi, guys," Kate called to the two cops approaching. "I have a lot of heads. You might want to call for backup."
Officers Harris and Thomas were usually on duty when she turned in her heads. She wondered how many hours they were working a day, but most of the time she turned in heads after dark. It was still early morning. They were friendly and kind of cute in that straight-laced cop way.
"There's not enough backup in the world to deal with you, Kate," Officer Harris said.
"Ah, you're sweet," she said. Kate opened the back of her vehicle, and watched their faces. Both jaws dropped. "Like I said, you need backup."
"How many?" Officer Thomas asked.
Kate grinned and gave them a single wag. "Twenty-two, and that's after some other, not to be named, slayers stole at least a dozen of my heads. I'll deal with them privately."
"You've had a busy morning," Officer Harris said. "Or were you out all night?"
"You don't know the half of it," she muttered, and started pulling out bags of heads. "This is one stop this morning. Axl and Rocco probably got more heads than me."
Each bag had to be opened so Officer Thomas could put a tag on the ear of each head, before Harris scanned the tag's barcode, and then scanned her card. Together, they went through the heads quickly and loaded them into the rolling bin.
"Why do you tag and scan the heads?" she asked before leaving. "We don't do that in Illinois."
"The medical examiner is now able to tell if a head was really a zombie or vampire prior to decapitation," Officer Thomas said. "In the past heads were heads, so slayers could kill living people for their heads. To fight that, we tag them so we can arrest anyone murdering innocent people just for their heads."
Kate was horrified. She knew it was possible to do that, and it certainly happened, but apparently the problem was so bad the government had to find a way to detect it. Sometimes the cruelty and darkness of the new world frightened and disgusted her.
"Tagging is coming to Illinois, and all of the states, soon," Officer Harris added. "I live in East St. Louis, and they've been doing it there for the last six weeks."
"Not sure I like it," Kate said. When they gave her curious looks, she shrugged. "I'm afraid it's the first step before charging slayers a fee for each tag. Like a hunting license for deer. I can see the state charging us $10 per tag to get back some of the bounty they pay."
They nodded and continued working. Once they were finished and gave her the receipt to collect her bounties, Kate drove over to a parking spot close to the building. There was a water hose attached to a faucet, she spent a few minutes washing out the back of the Land Rover. Then she sprayed disinfectant and deodorizer. It was starting to get a little ripe in there.
Before going inside for a rest break, maybe watch TV to catch up on local news, Kate sat in the driver's seat and checked her texts and e-mails. Morgan had texted her seven times while she was being held by Simon and Daphne. Her assistant had also sent an e-mail over.
Kate read the e-mail first. It had all kinds of great information about St. Louis' vampire and Goth subculture. There was even a list of vampires suspected of being in St. Louis. Daphne Coleman was not one of the names, but Simon Williams was on the list. And he was listed as extremely dangerous.
"Good morning, Morgan," Kate said when the blonde answered. "By the way, did you know 'morgen' in German means morning?"
"It's too early for your Euro-facts," she replied. "We had thunderstorms all night. I didn't sleep a wink."
That was odd. There was a little overnight rain, but nothing severe in St. Louis. Kate thought they were close enough that both locations would have the same weather.
"Sorry. I scanned the e-mail you sent," Kate continued. "Looks like you found a lot of really good stuff. I'll give it the attention it deserves tonight after dinner. Is there anything I should know now?"
"Only be careful with Daphne," she said. "Simon Williams is probably holding a grudge against you for killing him. And Daphne has spoken well of Simon since all of this happened, so I wouldn't be surprised if they hooked up."
"Well, been there and done that," Kate replied. "They are together, and they made a serious attempt to take me. Don't tell anyone. I think there's still hope for her."
Kate told her that sad story, and what happened with Mordred and Sebastian. Morgan thought Kate should pack up and go home immediately. It was too dangerous. Kate didn't really have an argument for that, but she wanted to stay.
"I have an idea to maybe resolve the whole thing. If I can pull it off, and the city agrees, then I'll be home in a few days," she said. "If I can't, then this will not end well for St. Louis and there won't be any saving them. I'll come home."
Another zombie alert, all-hands need to help, began beeping on her phone. It made her and Morgan both jump. The alert's new "ring tone" was the same as an Amber Alert. It got your undivided attention.
"I have to go," Kate said, starting the engine. "The alert says a school full of kids is being attacked by rotters."
Kate put in the address given, and her phone showed her the way to the school. Others were running out of the hotel to their vehicles as she departed. The streets were virtually deserted. She drove as fast as she could, but still had to obey stop signs and traffic lights out of fear of what little traffic was still on the road. The school wasn't too far from Mehlville, so the zombies probably came through the breach overnight.
Half a dozen slayers beat her to the school. The problem was the number of zombies. There had to be hundreds of the rage-filled rotters. Kate braked, planning to stop short and go in cautiously, but then she spotted Axl swinging a big battle ax. He was completely surrounded by zombies, and looked like they were closing on him. Rocco moved out of the crowd of rotters, and the two men stood back to back as they fought desperately.
"Buggers," she muttered, and hit the gas instead. Kate rolled down her window, picked up Lupara and rested her weapon on the door. Since she didn't want to wreck the Defender, she slowed before plowing through the horde. She pulled up next to the two head hunters. "Jump up into the rack and hang on!"
"Cavalry's here!" Axl cried joyfully. "Thanks, Kate."
The southerner vaulted up into the roof rack. Then he lowered his hand and helped his friend up. Rocco's foot came down on Lupara, and she almost lost her weapon. She fired both barrels into the horde, rolled up her window, and hit the gas. Zombies went down and were run over. A few managed to climb onto her hood, but her passengers shot them off.
Kate drove back to where she originally wanted to park and stopped. They jumped down as she climbed out. She expected to find them spooked and grateful. Instead, they looked at her with wild-eyed glee.
"You saved our lives," Rocco said, grabbed Kate and kissed her. "We owe you big time, girl."
Before she could respond, Axl grabbed her and claimed her lips in a kiss. That left her light-headed and a little discombobulated.
"Tonight," Axl whispered into her ear. "You. Me. Glory."
Then she noticed the zombie horde was rushing towards them.
"Rotters!" she cried, as she ran to the back and pulled her machete out.
Rocco and Axl charged the zombies. It occurred to her that tactic probably got them in the previous situation. How did they survive so long in that business? Then she thought of her sister, Haley, and her head hunting friends Shea and Victoria. They started out with a whole motorcycle club of big, vicious men. In a matter of months everyone was dead but those three women. Some people were just too fearless for their own good.
"Be careful," Kate said, following them to cover their backs. "Don't charge in too deep, you stupid wankers."
Two zombies swung around the men. The one to Kate's left was a well-dressed woman in a sport coat and pencil skirt. The one to her right looked like a construction worker, in t-shirt, jeans, and hardhat. Both were soaked in blood, with wild rage-filled eyes.
"What's a 'wanker?'" Axl asked Rocco.
She swung her machete at the thigh of the female rotter, taking the leg off just above the knee. The zombie went down. Kate spun to the right, bringing the machete around and through the male rotter's neck. His head flew off and his body slammed into her.
"Don't know. Probably Aussie for dick," he said.
Pushing the headless body away, she noticed both men had stopped to fight back-to-back. She turned her back to them and created a defensive triangle. Zombies were immediately on her, clawing and snapping their teeth at her. She shot two of them away with Lupara, before taking up the machete for more butcher's work.
"I'm not an Aussie," she snapped back. "Stupid yankee redneck."
"Aussie chi
cks are cute when they're mad," Axl said.
Kate didn't have the time or wind to respond. She kicked straight out to smash an undead child away, then disemboweled three rotters with a single stroke. They tripped over their spilled intestines even as the most horrific stench of rotting human guts filled the air. She silently vowed to never gut another zombie.
"Hey, Kate, can I have a date after Axl?" Rocco said.
She paused when she heard sirens approaching in the distance. The sound of other vehicles arriving reached her too, but no one seemed to be coming to their side of the school.
"If we survive this, I swear I'm going to break both of you over my knee," she growled. Kate lifted Lupara, pressed it to the throat of a zombie, and pulled the trigger. Blood and gore sprayed out over the rotters behind him, and then he dropped straight down. "Shut up and fight."
Zombies filled the space between them and her Land Rover. Kate found herself in the exact situation she'd rescued the two men from moments earlier. It just proved she should stay as far from them as possible.
"You saved my life," Rocco continued. "So I owe you a night of wild sex."
"No you don't."
That visual did pop into her head for a moment. She got a little warm and tingly. Then another zombie was in her face and brought her back to reality.
"Stop messing with my head. You're going to get me killed."
They laughed, but she could hear the weariness setting in. Her arms were aching and were starting to feel heavy. Kate was sweating profusely from effort and too many layers for that much activity. The sirens were closer, but she worried the cops wouldn't reach them in time.
"Wouldn't you sleep with me if I saved your life?"
"Yes, I guess I would, but that's different," she said. "You actually want to sleep with me."
"Burn," Axl shouted.