by Cecy Robson
A cluster of Shayna’s arrows flew by my ear in high-pitched whistles over the rapid fire of guns. Colleen reached her arms up to the boat’s edge, her screeches garbled by the blood pooling in her mouth. Half her scalp was missing and deep gashes carved most of her face. Beneath her, the water bubbled as if piranha feasted.
The bloodlusters continued to claw at the boat, splintering the edges. Misha’s vampires emptied their clips, puncturing them full of holes. Their putrid green blood stained the sides of the boats. And still they wouldn’t die.
One of Misha’s vampires gripped Colleen’s arms, while the remaining reloaded and fired at their invisible targets, stopping the onslaught as quickly as it began.
A bloodluster bobbed to the surface, his matted blond hair stuck between the serrated teeth of his slack jaw. A hole the size of a quarter had been drilled into his chest, and his breath heaved as if he were choking on vomit. Shayna pointed her arrow, but Misha stopped her with a raise of his hand.
“Ma-master,” Colleen choked.
Emme covered her mouth, gagging. One of the other Catholic schoolgirls held Colleen against her chest, sobbing softly. Colleen’s organs hung in nauseating clumps from the remnants of her demolished torso, droplets of blood turning to ash before they disappeared into the mist.
Misha’s eyes bored into Colleen’s as he communicated his thoughts through the blood bond all masters shared with their keep.
“Y-yes, Master,” she answered. “I…I do, Master. Thank you, Master.” She swallowed more blood, her voice shaking. “I’ll always love you, Master.”
With a deep sigh, Misha nodded at the vamp holding Colleen.
I blocked Emme’s view when the vamp reached beneath Colleen’s open chest cavity to yank out her heart. Tears slid down Emme’s cheeks as a burst of ash signaled Colleen’s demise. I would have given anything for the opportunity to lie to my little sister and convince her Colleen hadn’t suffered and would be okay. But she had. And she wouldn’t.
Misha heaved the floating bloodluster onto the boat by the throat and tore into him until ash caked his face.
As he straightened to his full height, his vehemence slowly simmered down to the demeanor of a quiet serpent waiting beneath a rock.
A small bubble popped before the horrible sense of being hunted returned. Five more bloodlusters broke through the water. Two pairs tried to take down the other boats, while the fifth landed inside our boat. I tackled Emme as Shayna’s sword whirled over our heads, severing the vamp’s neck at almost the same time her gold dagger found his heart.
“Get to shore!” I hefted Emme in my arms and leaped onto the rocky beach. No one followed. Misha and his vampires were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the bloodlusters.
I bounced back into the boat and hoisted Taran over my head. “Emme, catch!”
Taran swore and kicked her limbs wildly as she became one with the air. Emme caught her easily with her force, then Shayna, when I tossed her after Taran. I screamed for Misha, but the bloodlusters gripped the vamps by their waists, ignoring the pummels, clawing, and biting of their enraged victims.
Good thing Emme had a beach full of weapons at her disposal. Mounds and mounds of rock hurtled, skipping and splashing along the water, pounding into the bloodlusters and forcing them to drop Misha’s vampires.
Misha and his keep sprang onto land while Emme continued her onslaught. The bloodlusters swatted crudely and uselessly at the rocks, but Emme’s telekinetic strength wouldn’t be enough to kill them. And they so needed to die.
“Taran, blow up the vampires!” Taran sat on the beach, shaking her head, unable to focus. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard. “Taran, you have to kill them. You have to kill them now!”
Taran gritted her teeth. A sparkle of blue glimmered from her hands, then nothing. I released her abruptly and looked to Misha. “Emme can’t hold them much longer; get ready to fight.”
Emme slumped onto the ground moments later, exhausted. The bloodlusters shook their heads briefly and then dove into the water with the dauntlessness of great whites on a herd of sea lions.
Shayna formed another arrow and aimed toward the lake. My skin crawled as I sensed the bloodlusters’ rapid approach. My knees bent into a crouch. My claws shot out like switchblades. Someone was going to die. But it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me.
In a tsunami-high wave, all four infected vampires pounced out of the water, their green eyes gleaming through the mist, their fangs dripping with drool and thirst. I aimed for the one at the end, only to be cloaked in a stream of nasty ash and blinded by a shaft of light.
Taran’s power ignited, surrounding her like a supernova of heat and flame, incinerating our attackers and the boats. I winced from the searing pain in my eyes until Taran slowly released her magic.
We all turned to her, momentarily stunned by the fight to the death that never came. I blinked the sting away as the white and blue flares enveloping Taran rescinded and unraveled her shaking form.
Taran always used her anger to incite her magic. This time it was triggered by fear. I took her gently by the hand, hating myself for dragging her into this abyss of unholy terror. She followed me without protest as I led her away from the slimy leftovers sticking to the rocks. As soon as our feet touched upon the grassy knoll, Taran wiped the ash from her eyes. “This is horseshit. I want to go home,” she whispered.
I looked into the dark section of woods leading to Zhahara’s compound. “Me, too,” I answered her truthfully.
CHAPTER 15
“Sit down, Taran,” I said when we reached the top of the small cliff. She sat, hugging her knees. I knelt by her side, disturbed by the major post-traumatic stress sliding across her aura. “Emme, I need you to heal her.”
Emme frowned when she failed to see any obvious wounds. “Celia, I don’t understand.”
I stroked Taran’s hair away from her shattered expression. “I need you to tend to her emotions, Emme. All the death, the blood—the fear of the unknown. It’s causing Taran to remember the night Mom and Dad died.” My voice grew hoarse. “And everything that came after that.”
“H-how do you know?”
“Because I’m reliving it, too.” Taran jerked her head in my direction. I positioned myself so I could view the forest bordering the compound, not wanting her to see my own pain. “Mom and Dad’s death was just the start of something horrible.” I kept my eyes averted. “So is this. So please, help Taran now so we can survive. Just like we did then.”
Emme rushed to Taran’s side. Her gift to heal often helped mend emotional wounds. “Oh, my goodness,” she whispered when she reached Taran’s inner turmoil. “It’s okay, Taran. I’ll make it better, sweetie.”
Taran rose when Emme’s pale yellow light rescinded. She seemed better, a lot better. I could almost see her kick-starting her inner bee-atch. “Thanks, Emme.” Her eyes cut to mine. “You get me. Don’t you?”
I nodded.
She let out a shaky breath. “Then I won’t let you down.” Taran marched toward the vamps. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
“Wait. I have to help Celia, too.” Emme reached her hands toward me, but I stepped away. “Celia—”
I shook my head. “I need the aggression.”
Shayna drummed the hilt of her sword with her fingertips, her pixie face pained. “Are you sure it’s necessary?”
I considered the bloodlust welcoming committee. “Trust me. It is.”
The mist thickened as we returned to the vampires, cloaking the shore and edging its way across the grassy knoll like a giant tarp. Shayna sheathed her sword and adjusted the bow against her back while I caught up to Taran. Taran stormed through the dense forest, stepping on every broken tree branch she encountered. Johnny Wilderness she wasn’t. “Taran, if you’re going to lead, try being a little quieter.”
Taran huffed. “Who gives a shit, Celia? After all the gunfire and screaming, these bastards know we’re here.”
Oh, yeah. She was bac
k.
“Not if they are occupied feeding,” Misha said. He walked directly behind me, flanked by Tim and Hank, his guards, who held two high-powered rifles they’d managed to salvage. “Quenching their thirst is often enough of a distraction,” Misha continued. “As long as we don’t invade their immediate vicinity.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Like we’re doing now?”
The corner of Misha’s pouty lips curved into a smile. “Precisely.”
“But whom are they feeding on?” Emme asked quietly.
“Four buses filled with tourists disappeared en route to Tahoe a few days past,” Misha said. “I suspect they emptied them with as much prey as they could manage, and disposed of the vehicles over a ravine.”
Taran groaned. “That sounds like a lot of strategizing for bloodthirsty creatures.”
Misha moved with pantherlike grace. “In the early phases of bloodlust, those infected maintain some ability to reason. They often hunt in packs to achieve greater abundances of food. As the infection progresses, their greed takes over and their thought processes diminish.”
Emme hurried to catch up to me, her voice trembling. “And they grow strong enough…to lift buses?”
Misha paused. “Much time has passed, my dear. It’s likely they can now raise a vehicle of that weight.”
Emme’s eyes widened. “But they’re not very bright, right? At least that’s something.”
Emme always strove to think positively. Taran…not so much.
“No, Emme. They’re just big, dumb-ass idiots with supernatural speed and the ability to beat us to death with a damn Greyhound Express so they can suck on our organs like Tootsie Pops.”
“Zip it, Taran,” I muttered when Emme blanched.
A sudden feeling of dread hit me like a rush of wind. The vampires hissed, low and furious, spinning to locate the threat. My beast beat against my chest, demanding to be released. I soothed her: Easy, girl. In her haste to protect me, she could get careless, and we both needed our wits about us.
Our group circled out instinctively, keeping our backs to the center. The problem was, not every danger slithered along the earth.
A sound mimicking the rattle of a snake and a plague of locusts resonated from above, first from one side, then the other, building and growing more fierce. Something—or some things—hid in the tall trees. Shayna whirled her transformed arrow point up. Tim and Hank cocked guns. I spun, wildly scanning above, except the denseness of the trees made it impossible to see.
Screw this. I threw my sweatshirt on the ground. My spaghetti stain was barely noticeable now that swamplike ash caked most of my skimpy tank. “Misha, does Zhahara’s compound have an open area? One with enough coverage for you to hide?”
Misha raised his chin, likely knowing what I planned. “There is a large field close to the stables encircled by trees and brush.” He pointed between a section of trees. “That way.”
“Okay. Good.” I protruded my claws and sliced a gash into my arm. Damn, my nails were sharp. I pressed on my open wound until blood oozed out, then wiped the warm fluid over every inch of my bare skin. Misha hissed, giving me the impression I resembled the vampire equivalent of fudge brownies. He blinked his feral gray eyes at me. With ice cream. He stepped forward. And sprinkles.
My eyes narrowed. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”
Only Misha could smile with nasty green slop smearing his strong jaw. “I would never dream of it, my darling.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Celia.” Taran’s voice told me she wasn’t in her happy place. She glanced at my arm, Misha, and the trees. “What the hell are you doing?”
My voice hardened. “We need bait.”
I ignored my sisters’ gasps and Taran’s gangsta-like tirade. Did I like being the proverbial virgin to the bloodlust volcano? Hell. No. But a strong offense beat a cowering defense.
Misha’s BFFs stayed close at my heels, smacking their lips as I hurried through the trees. My blood worked on vampires like Doritos did on me. I’d traveled only a few yards when a bloodluster leaped on top of me. Misha ripped off his head before I could react. He helped me to my feet, flashing enough fang to prod me forward.
More yards. More vampires. Six kills before we finally reached the clearing.
“Wait here,” I said quietly.
Shayna scrambled to my side. “Dude, please don’t do this,” she urged.
I avoided Taran’s glare and placed my hand on Shayna’s back. “We need to lure them out. Just…well…when you see anything, get ’em.”
Shayna widened her large blue eyes. Perhaps we could have come up with a better alternative, but the monsters were picking us off one by one. I shoved my debilitating fear behind my inner hysterical female and crept forward.
The field expanded to about an eighth of a mile. Overgrown grass poked through the wide boards of the collapsed white fence. Festering horses lay against the borders. The poor things had probably attempted to flee the infected vampires. They’d been gutted and left for the bugs to devour.
My insides lurched; I was nauseated by the smell of rot. I inched to the center, fighting the urge to run away screaming. No cape waved behind me. No S covered my chest. And it wouldn’t take funky green rocks to bring me down. But I wasn’t helpless and I had to try.
I reached the middle of the clearing and forced more blood from my wound. I’d once read that deer hunters often waited hours for the perfect buck to appear. Well. Goody for them. In mere seconds, I had more company than my tigress, nerves, and bladder could handle.
Infected vampires popped up from behind bushes, trees, the barn, and its rooftop, barely covered by the torn, blood-smeared rags they wore. Sickly glowing green eyes sparkled with gluttony as they fixed on me. Tongues flickered with growing anticipation. Twisted smiles spread across eager, jagged mouths. And Celia Wird just about peed.
My new admirers were, hands down, the most infected I’d seen. Their skin was a mere film, barely keeping in the bulging green fluid pulsating beneath. Their stomachs had bloated to the size of watermelons. They’d fed well. Yet their insatiable appetites were far from satisfied. And now they hungered for me.
Rattled hisses thundered in my pounding ears as they charged. I searched the thick brush, unable to spot my allies as the bloodlusters closed in.
Oh…crap.
I shifted until my lungs begged for oxygen and surfaced right in front of a bloodluster. Shots fired, detonating the bloodluster’s head, spraying chunks of skull and ash. His torso collapsed on top of me, spilling the nasty infection from his severed neck as rifles boomed and Taran’s fire roared. I couldn’t catch enough breath to shift, but a charging voracious female motivated me to shove the dying bloodsucker off me.
I rolled—fast—over a broken fence post and onto my knees, hauling the jagged timber into the soaring vampire’s chest.
The female’s leftovers spurted as javelins of broken tree branches rocketed through the misting rain at the herd of bloodlusters sweeping the field. Emme nailed every infected vampire, popping through their bulging muscles like algae-filled water balloons and impaling them to the ground.
We hacked through hearts and tore off heads until everything fell silent, except for the panting from our exhausted group.
I collapsed to my knees, landing on a pile of disgusting ash. Taran bounded to my side, shaking my weary shoulders violently with each word she shrieked. “Son of a bitch! Don’t you ever fucking pull another goddamn stunt like that again. Do you hear me? I’ll kill you; I swear to God I’ll kill you if you ever try that crazy-ass bait shit again!”
“O-kay,” I moaned.
My uncharacteristic compliance only freaked her out more. She shook me harder, screaming and cursing.
“Taran, Taran!” Shayna yelled, trying uselessly to pry her off me.
“What!”
“It’s not over, dude.”
“The hell it’s not. We killed the bloodlusters. Time to take our toys and go home.”
I wiped the blood from my eyes as Emme healed me. “Shayna means we still have to deal with Zhahara. She’s still out there.”
CHAPTER 16
Taran dropped me like a severed limb. Colorful curses, in a wide range of languages, tumbled out of her in one jumbled mess. Most of her vivid expressions didn’t make sense, but I wasn’t stupid enough to call her on it.
Misha knelt beside me, out of breath from battle. “How do you feel?”
“I’ll get my second wind in a moment,” I answered truthfully, stumbling to my feet.
Misha grasped my elbow. “Is your family fit to continue?”
Emme and Shayna nodded, shaken yet still determined. Taran made a rude gesture. I took that as a yes. “We’re fine.”
Misha led the way, his family close to his side. Shayna and Emme flanked me while Taran took the rear, bitching about needing a shower. Yeah. Well. No kidding. I thanked heaven Aric wasn’t around to see me. My eyes widened when I realized where my mind had wandered. I blamed the rush of adrenaline for my girlie thoughts, not wanting to admit how I couldn’t stop thinking about that wolf.
I sighed, longing to see him. Physical intimacy was something I hadn’t engaged in in years. It frightened me…but it frightened me less and tempted me more in Aric’s presence. Would he be gentle? I wondered. I remembered the softness of his touch against my body, despite all his preternatural strength. I smiled. Yeah. He would be.
“Taran’s very angry with you,” Emme whispered, interrupting my thoughts.
I glanced over my shoulder and met Taran’s scowl and another windstorm of swear words. “What gave you that idea?”
Emme stumbled over a rock when she looked back at Taran. She blushed, though no one seemed to notice. “Celia,” she whispered. “What you did—back there—was so very…”
“Ridiculously suicidal?” I offered.
“No. It was brave.” She rubbed her hands together, trying to stay warm. “I wish I had an inner tigress.”
I slipped a nasty, bloodlust-coated arm around her. “Every woman has an inner tigress—that part of her that gives her strength and helps her to survive.” I smiled softly. “I’m just able to bring mine to the surface.”