by C. J. Pinard
Mirroring my thoughts, Beckett growled. “Freaking end him, Ayla! Now. Before more vamps show up.”
I put up a finger to silence him. “I will. Give me a minute.”
Alexander’s face was a mixture of confusion and horror. “Why do you want to end me?”
I began to circle him as he stood there, alternating his gaze between me and my friends. With my dagger pointed at him, I said, “Alexander, do you have any recollection of the past couple days?”
With his hand still on his neck, his wound quickly healing as I’d obviously missed the carotid artery, he narrowed his now-brown eyes at me. Which I was glad for, as the black demon eyes freaked me the hell out. “First off, who in the world are you, little girl?” He flicked his gaze once more to my group of friends, then back to me. “I can see you are in charge. Just tell me what is going on here.”
“No, dickhead. First off”—Using the dagger, I pointed to the lobby full of my friends—“you aren’t runnin’ anything here, so you don’t get to make any demands. Shut the fuck up and listen to me very carefully.” I continued to circle him, and he never took his eyes off me, nor me him. “Secondly, your fake little human life is over. After I kill you, my friends and I will make sure your wife and kid get a very sane, logical explanation for your death. After all, you’ve gone missing once before, haven’t you? I doubt they’ll be surprised when they hear you’ve finally met the final death and aren’t coming back this time.”
His eyes widened, and he moved his hand from his neck and put both of them up in surrender. “Wait, lady. Just wait. Final death? I’m immortal. I can’t die.”
That elicited a chorus of laughs from my friends, me included. “Now, see, there’s your first problem, dumbass. Immortal doesn’t equate to unkillable. I chop your head off or rip out your heart, I’m fairly sure you aren’t going to go on existing.” I ran my finger gently over the blade of my dagger and looked at him in the eyes. “And while we’re on the subject, I want you to think back about a year or so, to when you attacked a young woman in an alley near Seventy-Sixth Avenue downtown. Remember her telling you she was a wolf, and you scampering off like a damn cockroach? Ring any bells, Alex?”
He studied me hard, and then put his hands behind his back. “I do remember. You were that wolf? You look fine to me. What’s your issue?”
I opened my mouth to speak, and then closed it again. What was my issue? Oh, my God.
“Oh, shit,” I heard my brother say under his breath as he caught the homicidal look on my face.
The screech that flew out of my mouth was probably one the whole city heard. “My issue? Do you know what happens when a fucking vampire bites a wolf? Huh? Do you, Baby Vamp Alexander? You ruined me for life. My wolf is gone, replaced with something I’m not even going to take the time to discuss with the likes of you.”
“Dude, you should probably shut up and just listen to her at this point, because you’re just digging yourself a bigger hole than you were already in,” Ryder said, his arms folded across his hard chest, his eyes burning yellow and looking full of ire.
I pointed in Ryder’s direction. “You should listen to the wolf over there. Maybe I should treat you to a scratch or bite from my boyfriend, or my brother, or his friend. Would you like to see what happens to a fairly young vampire who gets scratched or bitten by a wolf? Seeing you die slowly would almost be worth it.”
Alexander’s eyes went wide. “No, God, please. What do you want? Just tell me. Why are you playing games here...? Just kill me and get it over with. Or else let me go so I can say goodbye to my wife and son.”
I shook my head, annoyed at his manipulation. “You should have said goodbye to them two years ago. You’re dead, dude. You can’t maintain your human life and your vampire one. Who the hell turned you anyway? They should have taught you.”
“I... I don’t know. Some whore in a club. I think she bit me. I woke up three days later without a clue.”
Fuck. The guy was trying to make me feel sorry for him, until something dawned on me. I pierced him with a long stare, until I found my voice again. “Wait. You were hooking up with whores and one was a vamp? Is this some misguided manipulation to make me feel sorry for you? Because I don’t. Whores! Really, Alex?”
He had the grace to look embarrassed and shrugged. He looked really stupid, too, with dried blood running down the side of his neck. “What can I say?”
“Say you’re sorry,” I ground out, walking up to him and shoving the dagger up under his chin. “Say sorry for attacking me in that alley and leaving me for dead. Blood bags, Alex, blood bags. You can eat just fine without killing humans—or those you thought were human.”
“I promise, that’s all I use now is blood bags. I didn’t know back then. I was just so hungry.”
“Oh and by the way, I’ve heard all about your blood bag dealing. What do you do? Break into a blood bank or hospital and steal all their reserves? I know you sell them from the trunk of your car.” I clamped my jaw shut and huffed. Shaking my head, I said, “Ya know what? You’re a real piece of shit, Alexander.”
He said nothing, just looked at me.
I glanced at my brother, Ryder, and Sam, and nodded. “Have at him.”
“No!” Alexander screamed, trying to blitz away, but my wolf brothers were too fast for him. Knocking him to the ground, I watched as they pummeled him with their fists and boots while he lay there helpless against the strong, angry werewolves.
I listened closely to make sure his heart was still beating, and then I yelled, “Stop!”
Ryder, Aden, and Sam halted and stood up, looking at me.
I shook my head. “You’re done. My turn.”
They nodded with smiles, and backed away, huffing with blood caked on their fists and boots.
Alexander lay on the ground bleeding and panting, his chest heaving. I crouched down and got within inches of his face. “First off, you should be thanking me for removing that demon from you. Maybe, just maybe, you will have a chance of not burning in Hell. Secondly, after what you did to me—and God knows who else—your time on Earth is done. Third: I’ll make sure your wife and kid know you didn’t suffer.” I looked over his quickly swelling face and missing bloody teeth. “Well, you didn’t suffer that much.”
I raised my dagger and with both hands wrapped around its hilt.
“No, please,” he whimpered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your life. Please let me live.”
“You’re already dead,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him, the dagger still in the air above my head.”
“I’ll leave, I promise. I’ll make something up to my family and I’ll leave town.”
I lowered the dagger and tilted my head to the side. “And go where?”
“I... I don’t know. Just out of Colorado. I’ll fake my own death.”
I chuckled. “That shouldn’t be hard, since you’re already dead.”
“For God’s sake, Ayla, would you stop with the dead shit?” Beckett said. I looked over to see his arms folded across his chest, his foot tapping in annoyance.
I winked at him. “Later, Becks.”
“Finish this, Ayla,” Aden said, sounding worried. “I hear a lot of cars pulling up in front of the building. I think the rest of the vamps are arriving.”
I stared down at Alexander, his face colored in fear and a small bit of hopefulness. And as I gazed at him, I knew that he wasn’t innocent of anything. He had been whoring around on his wife when he’d been turned. He’d attacked me in that alley and had altered my life forever. He was stealing blood bags and selling then for profit, no doubt to pay his bills since he quite obviously didn’t have a day job anymore to make his mortgage payment. He also didn’t ask to be a vampire any more than I asked for my own fate. I could see a hint of exhaustion behind his brown eyes, and a desperation there, too.
I re-sheathed my blade and hopped up off him. “Get up, asshole.”
“Really?” he asked.
I nodded. “Now, bef
ore I change my mind. Go pack a bag and get out of town. As of today, you’re officially dead. I’ll handle your wife and kid.”
“You’re not serious!” Sam said, his eyes flashing from brown to yellow.
“Shut up, Sam, don’t talk.”
He groaned, and I was pretty sure my brother and Ryder did, too.
“You won’t ever see me again,” Alexander said, relief evident in his voice. “Thank you, Miss Ayla.” He bowed slightly and blitzed out of the building.
I turned to my friends. “Don’t hate me, or even comment. I had my reasons.”
Karina came up and put an arm around my shoulder. “I know that wasn’t easy.”
I nodded. “You think I did the right thing?”
She nodded. “In a way, you’ve actually set him free from the double life he’s been leading. After your little scare, I believe he will leave and never come back. And he will certainly think twice about attacking women in alleys.”
I felt a little of the stress drain from me. “Thank you, Karina.”
“Let’s go, I got shit to do,” Aden said, sounding annoyed and a little defeated.
We walked out of the building through the back door which we had come, and I grabbed my brother’s hand as we walked to the car. “Doing the right thing isn’t always the most fun option. Thank you for having my back regardless.”
He glanced sideways at me, then turned his gaze front. “He ruined your life, Ay. You should have ended his, not made it better.”
“There’s nothing I can do to reverse what’s been done to me. Not that I know of, anyway. I doubt killing him would have changed that. If Alexander truly does leave town, he’s going to have a very long and lonely life by himself. And if he fucks up, I’m sure they’ll be another supernatural around to take care of him.”
He nodded. “I guess.”
I squeezed his hand.
“And are you going to adopt that same attitude about Linden?” he asked, seriousness lacing his tone.
I let out a laugh that was completely void of humor. “Oh, hell no. That motherfucker is gonna die for sure.”
Since everyone heard me, they all laughed.
But I wasn’t kidding. He was a dead man for what he’d done to my family.
Chapter 16
As we drove toward my apartment so and Evan and Karina could drop me off and get home before the sun came up, I stared out the window at the concrete jungle. I looked up at Karina in the front seat and asked, “How did Alexander grow another hand?”
“I wondered about that, too,” she replied. “The only explanation I can think of is dark magic. The demon somehow used it to regenerate another hand while it had been inside Alexander.”
“Figures,” I grumbled.
We were almost to my apartment when I had an idea. I fished Jessica Swift’s card from my tiny purse. I quickly dialed her number. I barely noted the time as I heard the line connect and ring on the other end.
“Special Agent Swift,” came a sleepy voice.
“Uh... I hi, Jessica. This is Ayla St. John. Do you remember me?”
“Who is it, babe?” I heard a muffled male voice ask.
Some rustling sounds, followed by, “Shh!”
I bit back a smile.
She cleared her throat. “Of course I remember you. What can I do for you, Ayla?”
“So... I almost killed Alexander Von Brass tonight. But... I... didn’t.”
A small silence filled the other end of the line, and then she said, “You couldn’t do it. Got an attack of the conscience, did you?”
With a heavy sigh, I said, “Yeah. I guess I did.”
“So, what is it you’re needing, young Ayla?” she asked, a little amusement in her voice.
“He... shit.” I raked a hand through my hair. “Dammit. The guy was trying to keep up his human pretense. Instead of shoving a dagger through his heart, I told him to skip town.”
“That’s a good thing, though... no?” she asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.
“Yeah, I guess? The problem is... I told him I’d handle his wife and kid. You got time to pay them a visit tomorrow? Tell them he bit it in a car accident or something?”
More silence ensued, then she said, “Yeah, Ayla. We can do that. But... out of just mere curiosity, where is Alexander Von Brass at the moment?”
I rubbed my forehead. “No idea. I told him to get lost and never come back to Colorado. The problem is... he’s been masquerading as a human, and his wife and kid are gonna need some kind of closure. Can your, ah, agency fake an accident? Like, no body to identify?”
“Yes, we can. But, I think it would be best if you went to his place to make sure he didn’t go back there.”
“Well, he probably did. I told him to go say goodbye...” I felt a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Oh no.”
“Yeah, head over there immediately, Ayla. I’ll meet you there shortly.”
“Okay,” I replied, whimpering a little. “It’s 1810 Dawn Ave—”
“I know.” She hung up.
I threw the phone and screamed, “Fuck!”
“What’s wrong?” Evan asked from the driver’s seat.
“Go to Alexander’s house now!”
He nodded and began to drive quickly through the darkened streets.
“That BSI agent thinks he’s going to harm his family?” Karina asked, even though I knew she’d probably heard the conversation through the phone.
Since we had taken separate cars, it was only me, Karina, and Evan. I worried my lip as the dark city landscape blurred by.
In record time, we reached Alexander’s suburbia home. His flashy sports car was parked in the driveway, and all the lights were off in the house. My stomach did a flip.
“This can’t be good,” I whispered.
Evan parked the G-Wagon a block away and we all ran up to the house. Karina had the best hearing so she led us to the side of the house where the couple’s bedroom was. She put her finger to her lips and we all went silent.
“Listen,” she said, pointing to the window, which was cracked about two inches, a screen the only thing preventing anything from entering.
I closed my eyes.
“But don’t you want to live forever, baby?” I heard Alexander ask. “I can’t go on knowing you will grow old and die. We will bring Jordan. Raise him in the mountains. When he’s old enough, I’ll turn him, too.”
My eyes slammed open. “Oh, my God!” I mouthed to my friends.
“What’s going on?” we heard a voice whisper.
We all whirled around to find Agent Swift standing there in a dark-colored velour tracksuit. A clean-cut man with sandy blond hair stood by her in jeans and a trench coat.
I shooed them all away from the window and we made our way back to the SUV to talk.
“This is my husband, Special Agent Jason Swift,” Jessica said, introducing us. “He’s BSI, too.”
“Nice to meet you,” I murmured. “These are my trainers, Evan and Karina Grant.”
My friends nodded to the agents.
“So, you were right, Alexander came back here, but by the conversation he and his wife are having, he’s about to turn her. Isn’t that against the rules?”
Jessica glanced at her husband, and he nodded, his hands in the pockets of the coat.
She used both hands to pull her long, platinum hair to the side and over her right shoulder. She looked at me as she stroked it, as if she was debating on answering.
She finally said, “Well, vampires and other supernaturals are not to harm humans. However, if a human chooses to be turned into a vampire, we do not interfere.”
I stomped my boot. “But turning her is killing her!”
“We’re not dead,” Karina reminding me the way Beckett had earlier. “We have heartbeats.”
“She’s right,” Jason answered, speaking for the first time.
“Our hearts just beat extremely slow, almost like it isn’t beating at all, but if you listen closely, you
can hear it,” Jessica replied, nodding at Karina.
“What are we going to do about this?” I asked, jabbing my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the house.
“Did she consent to be turned?” Jessica asked.
“He was talking about moving to the mountains with her, and then turning their kid when he got older,” Aden supplied.
Jessica’s brow furrowed. “How old is the kid?”
I shrugged, but Evan answered, “No older than seven, by my guess.”
“We don’t interfere in vampire business. Kids don’t survive the turning process, so if he does it when he’s an adult, that’s on them.”
“So we just let him turn the wife?” I asked, incredulous.
Before anyone could answer, a scream pierced the night.
Evan, Karina, and I blitzed back to the house. Evan kicked in the front door and we all rushed in, where we followed the sounds of whimpering and moaning to a back bedroom.
As we all arrived at the bedroom’s doorway, Alexander lifted himself off of his wife, blood dribbling down his chin, and looked at us. Thank God they both still had clothes on.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I roared, the dagger now in my hands faster than I could blink. “I tell you to leave town and you assault your poor wife? When I told you to say goodbye, I meant kiss them in their sleep then leave! You are one stupid asshole!”
I charged toward him, dagger out. He jumped up, and with preternatural speed, snatched something from the nightstand drawer.
His wife, appearing to be asleep or unconscious, lay still on the bed.
I looked back to Alexander to see him pointing a gun at me. “Get the hell out of my house, right now. I’m not hurting Beth, I’m giving her eternal life. Now get the fuck out, all of you. I’m leaving town as soon as I get packed.”
Jessica was already at Beth’s side, feeling for a pulse. She looked up at us. “It’s weak, but she’s dying.”
“Of course she is!” Alexander roared, a wildness in his eyes, as his crazy began to show. “She has to die, then I feed her my blood, then in three days, she’s like me.” He looked at Karina. “Like us.”