by Ben Zackheim
“Rebel!” I yelled.
She lifted her hand instinctively and grabbed the gun in one beautiful movement.
I got off a few shots at the close targets. Three dropped to the floor from head shots. I could only slow them down with the standard ammo blossoming from my Glock. But the head shots would slow them down more, especially if I could take an eye out.
I tagged one in the shoulder and he recovered fast and leapt at me. He shoved me down and went for my neck. I managed to get a good look at the handsome lad with slicked back, black hair and…
Skin with a blue tint.
In a split second I managed a Spine Out. Rebel’s favorite Gun Fu move. One shot under the navel to stun, one in the chest to incapacitate and one in the neck to paralyze. Though with Vamps and werewolves the paralyzing part only lasted for a minute max.
I’d never seen a blue Vampire before. But it did ring a bell from my days at the academy. Why would they have blue skin? More questions for Fox.
I had a moment to assess and noticed that Rebel’s poise had straightened. She fired off a couple of shots.
She hit the Blues square center. Meaning, two less Joes with Johnsons.
Rebel was back. I relaxed a little.
I lifted my gun and took careful aim at anything blue that moved. And anything that wasn’t anywhere near an innocent bystander.
I managed to take down one more Blue but there were still a few to go. They were trying to make a circle around us by stalking sideways, ducking behind columns and leaping onto tables. There were five or six left. That was my best guess. But I didn’t have time to count.
“Who are they?” I yelled out to Fox. He was a little busy with a couple of the Blues. One was on top of him trying to stick his fingers down his throat to pull his heart out, a favorite move of Vampires who kill Vampires. The other Blue was waiting in line for his turn.
That’s when it struck me. These guys were the Lin Clan.
I’d heard about them during my training with Skyler. I thought they were just myth. I tapped my memory as I capped one more Vamp. I recalled that the Lins were a cult of bloodsuckers who got off on eating from anything that moved. Cows, wolves, whales. It didn’t matter to them. The consequence of feeding from a wide variety of blood was a blue tint to the skin. Lin were rumored to be stronger than your average Vampire.
And, from the looks of the fights going on in the room, Lin were also really dumb. You wouldn’t want to be in their way at feeding time but they were easily distracted. Rebel and Fox were able to draw 5 of the 6 away from me and the passed out twins by making loud noises and waving their arms. I think it helped that Rebel was covered in delicious Vampire’s blood.
I managed to stand just as the last Vamp knocked me down. I fired off a shot that missed by a mile which made the Vamp hesitate for a second.
He smirked, his fangs emerging from his lips as if his gums were giving birth to a set of pearly white twins.
Would the end come in a third-rate L.A. lounge at the hands of a mythical Vampire clan?
There are worse ways to go.
In the face of death, the cloud lifted. I started thinking straight. Good old adrenaline.
I grabbed the Blue by the throat and, for the first time in a long time, I showed the world why I was Skyler’s top student.
I showed them all what I could do.
Chapter 19
I’m not a show off. Show offs don’t know what they’re doing.
I know what I’m good at and I know what I suck at.
I can shoot and I can throw. Hand-to-hand was why I had Rebel.
The Blue could feel my strength coming back and made to head butt me. I saw it coming, and straight-armed his forehead. I got one hand under his chin and the other behind his head and snapped his neck.
Hey, I never said I couldn’t get lucky in hand-to-hand.
The last two Blues heard the sound and turned their attention from Fox and Rebel to me. The sound of a snapping neck has a certain call of the wild quality to it. It’s an unmistakable sound, even if you’ve never heard it before. Kind of how the nose can always tell when human flesh is burning. When you smell it you know someone’s BBQ.
The Blues abandoned Rebel and Fox and sprung at me.
Both Blues snarled in unison and jumped over the mess that was once the lounge. They pushed off the rubble with both arms and legs, like animals who smell death. And they did. Their own. They got in striking distance at the same time.
And I spotted the lines in the air.
This is the last thing I’m good at. I see lines in the air. The same way a billiards player can see the lines on the felt before he takes a shot, I could see the Blue’s trajectory. I could see where they would land, where their balance would be when they did and how I could interrupt their movement with maximum effect.
I’d learned from Skyler that if I follow those lines, I win.
Every time. If I think about it or doubt it, I die.
They were mid-air, leaping at me. Mouths open. Fangs out. I had to choose between shooting or kicking.
Shooting won.
I placed my handgun right in the spot where one Blue’s mouth would end up in .005 seconds. He landed with a Glock between his teeth, while I stepped away from the second Blue.
I pulled the trigger and made one Blue red.
The other one crashed into the table behind me where the twins were sleeping like babies. He took one look at them as he turned. He could have used them against me. But he was an idiot. He came at me a second time.
I stepped aside again, with my gun pointed at the floor where his left foot would land. I squeezed the trigger and his foot exploded.
His scream of pain and anger was cut short by my next shot.
That was all of them. Some would recover soon so we didn’t have much time to get out of there.
“I love it when you do that,” Rebel said, smiling.
“Impressive,” Fox said.
I stood, exhausted. I tried to focus.
“Lins, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, Lins,” Fox said. “It means they know we’re in L.A. and they’re in our rooms now looking for the sword.
I chuckled. As if we’d keep it there.
“It’s not funny,” Fox broke in.
“But it’s not in the hotel,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter. If they catch a scent they could follow it to you. You cannot open that portal until we reach Tibet. If you do they’ll find you. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, fine. Just stop talking at me.”
Cassidy and Rose both woke up at the same time. They looked around, looked at each other and laughed. No idea why.
Sirens blared in the distance.
I lifted Rose out of her seat. “Come on. We need to get out of here before the cops come.”
“Parking lot,” Fox said.
“We have to get our stuff,” Rebel said, sternly.
“There’s no time!”
“We have our gear in…”
“Leave it,” Fox said. “We can get what we need when we arrive.”
Rebel waited for my decision.
“Fox, get Cassidy,” I said. Fox scooped the kid up and threw him over his shoulder.
“Hey! I can walk!” Cassidy protested. Fox didn’t listen.
We ran past some hotel employees who were stuck between stopping us to help or holding us for the police. Everyone who reached for us decided against it when they saw how much blood we were wearing.
We ran through the parking lot entrance and toward the rear. There were a pair of Ferraris parked next to each other, one red and one lime green. I whistled. Even I had to be impressed and I’d driven everything. The new Ferrari 812 Superfast was just stunning. Top speed of 211 miles per hour stunning.
Fox threw me a set of keys. “You drive,” he said. “I don’t know how.” That was the first time I’d seen him smile.
“How did you get these cars?” I asked.
“Always
be prepared, Kane.” He threw the other set of keys to Rebel. “You take the kids. Follow the directions on the GPD…”
“The GPS, old man,” Rebel corrected.
“Whatever. Follow it to the pier.”
“Get in,” Rebel ordered the twins.
“Yeah? Cool!” Cassidy cried, his voice echoing in the lot. “Hey! There’s only one passenger seat.”
“Squeeze,” Rebel muttered. “You two were in tighter quarters for nine months.”
The handling on the 812 was astonishing. I let myself have a daydream that I’d trade in my Bugatti for a couple of them. If I made it through in driving condition.
My daydream didn’t last long.
I turned out of the garage in the red Ferrari. Rebel was on my tail in the green one.
Three black pickups came up behind us.
Three black pickups stopped in front of us.
Six missile launchers sat on the shoulders of six Lins. Aimed right at us.
“No more hand-to-hand combat for them, I guess,” I said to Fox.
“They must have seen you in action in there,” he said with a smile.
I’d impressed a Vampire. Skyler would like that if I decided to speak with him again.
Chapter 20
I rolled down my window and showed them my empty hands.
“The sword!” one of them shouted at us.
I poked my head out and smiled. “Hi there! Yeah, we have it,” I yelled back. “I wouldn’t fire that thing.”
All six of the missile launchers pointed at Rebel’s car. Maybe the Lins weren’t as stupid as legends claimed.
“I didn’t say it was in this car,” I shouted.
Now they had a dilemma. Which car had the sword? They glanced toward the black pickup right in front of us. I saw the silhouette of someone hold up a hand and make some gestures. The boss, no doubt.
The police sirens were right around the corner now. These guys had a few seconds to make up their minds.
Two Lins hopped off the back of their trucks. One went to Fox’s door. Another one went to Cassidy and Rose’s door. Each car was getting its very own Lin Vamp.
“Good luck,” Fox said, getting out of the car.
“Any tips?” I asked.
“Cover your neck.”
Fox hopped out and the Lin slipped into the passenger seat.
I watched Fox get into one of the trucks.
“Follow them,” the Lin mumbled. I watched Cassidy and Rose get pulled into the cabin of one of the other trucks.
None of the trucks had license plates. I’d have to try to keep track of which was which.
In an instant, we were all taking a right onto Lincoln Boulevard. I could have made a scene. We were rich in police cars but I didn’t want any of them to get hurt. I’d make my move when there was the least amount of danger to the good people of L.A.
So there we were. A posse of black pickups leading us to the gallows.
“Anyone secretly psychic?” I called out in my brain. I really threw it out there too. I even craned my head forward in the hopes that that would toss the request with more force.
Hey, why not try? You never know. No one answered, of course. My weird head movements made the Lin glower at me.
“Eyes forward,” he said, He had a gun trained on me. Maybe a new Nighthawk North Sky Hawk Revolver? Pretty distinctive muzzle. Nice. I’d enjoy using it against him. The lines were starting to form in my mind’s eye. I could see how things would come together. I knew L.A. Especially that neighborhood. Skyler lived in a house in the hills. We trained there sometimes.
No matter what route we took from there I’d have a plan.
“So that blue look is cool,” I said to the Lin. “Do you turn when you’re a kid or does it just happen slowly when you eat, you know, whatever comes along?”
He didn’t say anything.
“Good fighters,” I continued. “I took on a few of you back there. You train in Krav Maga. Great martial art. Take no prisoners. For some reason really hot girls love it. You ever notice that?”
Zip.
“Maybe we should all ally and take Excalibur and see what kind of mischief we could get into. You know?”
He looked at me with his best shut the fuck up look.
“Okay. I see you didn’t go to etiquette school. Too bad. I made Cassidy and Rose spend some time learning about courtesy and…”
“You talk a lot,” he said.
“And you don’t. See? This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!”
“Shut up.”
“Or not.”
The lead truck was coming to a turn.
Please go straight, I pleaded with the Fates.
They went straight. Perfect. The Olympic Boulevard on-ramp had a sizable median. If I could manage to use the Ferrari’s torque to squeeze past the black beasts I’d have a lot of options to make my own express lane.
The trucks had done a masterful job of sticking to their pattern. Two trucks on every side — a tight circle all the way around our two cars.
Still, I was better. I’d been driving fast cars all my life. I could figure any vehicle out within minutes. Except the Nissan GT-R, otherwise known as Godzilla, because that thing is just crazy.
We entered the on-ramp at 40 mph. I slammed the brakes and kept control of the car. My Lin passenger slammed his forehead into the dashboard. His head bounced back off of the headrest and I cracked his nose. I snagged his Nighthawk pistol.
He wrapped his hands around my neck. I lost control of the car. The idiot was willing to take us both over the edge of the freeway.
Okay. If he wanted to play hardball.
I slammed the pistol butt into his sharp teeth. They cracked off and stuck in his throat. He didn’t choke. Vampires don’t choke. But he was surprised. So I had two seconds to reach over him, pop the door open and kick him out of the car.
All while keeping control of a Ferrari. Not bad.
“Seat belt!” I yelled out at his tumbling body. Being immortal makes you stupid.
I accelerated and the trucks up ahead tightened formation. They thought they were ready for me.
I slammed the brakes again and aimed the nose of the car left, toward the wide median. The truck behind me rear-ended me. My airbag popped out and smacked me good but I kept control and dropped onto the green grass.
I stomped on the gas like it was a black widow. But so did one of the trucks behind me. He pulled up to my right. Now it was just a question of whether or not I could scrape past him. He knocked me a couple of times. The side airbags activated and blocked my view for a second. My car was jerked around like a carnival ride but when I hit the edge of the median and dropped onto the freeway, I knew I’d done it.
I dropped onto the freeway and slammed on the brakes. One 180 later and I was facing oncoming traffic. Most cars slowed down and pulled aside. They’d seen all of this before. L.A. drivers know to just wait it out on the sidelines. To them, this was entertainment. I was happy to oblige.
I tore down the emergency lane of Interstate 10 in the opposite direction. I had to get to Skyler’s house.
I hated to rely on him but he’d know what to do.
Chapter 21
I hoped Rebel had her situation handled. I remember thinking she’d be fine. I mean I was worried but she’d been in tighter spots and done fine.
I also knew that if she survived this then I might not. She was going to be pissed that I’d left them. I tried to not feel guilty about it. I did what I thought was right. But there was nothing to gain by hashing it out. I had to focus on getting myself to safety and then I’d find a way to save them.
And the twins? I didn’t know what the hell they were going to do. But it was clear to me as I exited an on-ramp and got back on track that they were a liability in situations like that.
My cell rang.
“You son of a bitch!” Rebel yelled at me.
“Hi Rebel…”
“Don’t you hi-Rebel me.
I just barely got away from those fucker-suckers. No thanks to you.”
“I tried to sow chaos and discord! You know. Rule 23.”
“I’ll Rule 23 crayons up your ass, Kane!”
“That doesn’t actually make any sense.”
“It’ll make sense when I’m ruling 23 crayons up your ass!”
“Did you get the twins? Fox?”
“No I didn’t get the twins or Fox!”
“You abandoned them?”
I could feel the lava pouring from her ears from all the way down Interstate 10.
“I’m going to Skyler’s house,” I said. “Meet me there.” Rebel knew this area well. The old man had shown her off, too.
She hung up on me.
I pulled up to Skyler’s intercom at the estate gate. I pressed the button and tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. I glanced over at the passenger’s seat while I waited. Something small and metal sat on the black leather, sparkling in the security lights. Either the Lin or Fox had dropped something.
“What.” Skyler’s voice slithered from the small speaker. I’d know that sound anywhere. No one could make me squirm like him. A red light blinked on above the speaker, like a red eye judging me for worthiness.
“Skyler.”
“What.”
“It’s me.” I nodded at the camera that was, no doubt, watching me.
“Come up.”
He’d lost a lot of his chattiness. He probably got word from someone at Spirit that I was mobile. We’re given a wide berth to choose how we handle our job, but they like us to check in before we travel.
I pulled the car up to a Mission Revival-style mansion. Beautiful place. The pool’s deep end went 100 feet down. It was one of the places I hid from Skyler near the end of my training. I’d sink to the bottom and revel in the peace and quiet.
I was about to get out of the car when I took a second look at the thing on the seat. It was a Wad. That’s what we called a magic coin. They were packed with magic. Skyler’s crest was etched into it just like all of his Wads. He was the only wizard who could pull them off anymore. Lost art, I guess. Most recruits kept them around until they were in deadly danger. You had to be careful with Wads, though. They could work against you if you’re not careful. A friend of mine used his while running away from a werewolf. It opened a portal to who-knows-where. He stumbled through it and we still haven’t found him. The werewolf got away.