by Skye Knizley
She’d never fought like this, not against humans, but it was them or her. She ran through the room, almost a blur to the humans fighting desperately to destroy her. She punched, kicked and threw humans around the room like they were toys until only she was left standing, alone atop the pool table where she’d landed just a few minutes before. As her vampire faded, she fell to her knees, almost spent in the middle of a room full of bodies. Blood ran freely from wounds in her arms, legs, torso and a wicked cut beneath her left eye. It was nothing blood couldn’t fix, as gross as that was, but she wasn’t sure she had the strength to get that far and she’d be damned if she was going to feed on a dead human. She drew the line at that and always would, it was bad enough taking Aspen or Rupert’s blood.
She knelt there, bleeding and trying to catch her breath. She could see her blood pooling on the table, but she was too tired to do anything.
“Raven? Raven, can you hear me?”
Raven blinked. Where the hell had that come from? She raised her head and saw Silver, Agent King’s daughter, standing in front of her along with a squad of armed Section 13 Marines.
“Silver?”
Silver nodded. “Can you move?”
Raven answered by falling over and slinging her legs over the edge of the table. Silver steadied her and motioned to a Marine. “This is Agent Storm, help her.”
Raven shook her head. “I just need blood.”
Silver shook her head. “You need blood from a familiar. Ray, when we found you, you were in torpor.”
“Not possible,” Raven gasped. “I’m human, humans don’t hibernate.”
“Raven, don’t be so stubborn. Marine, get her outside to the witch,” Silver said.
Raven’s hand wrapped itself around Silver’s neck almost of its own accord. “Don’t call her that! Her name is Aspen.”
Silver removed Raven’s hand with a firm group. “Aspen, then. Go feed, Raven, we’ll finish cleaning up the mess.”
Raven let the Marine help her out of the building. Outside, the structure was surrounded by FBI vehicles, including half a dozen SUV’s along with two Humvees and Silver’s antique Range Rover. Aspen was standing in front of the vehicles surrounded by a spell. When she saw Raven, she waved a hand at the magik and started running.
“Is she alright?”
“She’ll be okay, ma’am. Van Helsing says she needs to feed, is all,” the marine said.
Raven felt Aspen’s arms around her and followed her to the bed of a nearby SUV. A blanket was pulled over her shoulders, then Aspen gasped and Raven smelled the sweetest scent she’d ever experienced. It was as if nectar was being waved beneath her nose. Unbidden, her monster rose and she drank until the nectar was pulled away. Her vampire faded and she raised her eyes to look at Aspen, who was casting a healing spell on the deep cut in her wrist.
Raven wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and tried not to spit the blood taste from her mouth. “What happened?”
“You tell us, lover. Levac lost track of you two days ago, I couldn’t find you, even by magik,” Aspen said. “I knew you weren’t dead, I kept telling everyone, then all the sudden you just came back, I could feel you. I called King and we came after you. It looks like you took on an entire army of hunters.”
Raven rubbed her head, everything felt foggy, distant. “They gave me something when they took me, I thought I was only out for a few hours, not days. Where are Rupe and Aitken?”
“Ray, that can wait. You look ten pounds lighter, whatever you did, it took a toll on you,” Aspen said.
Raven looked at her. “Where?”
Aspen sighed. “You don’t have to be so stubborn, Raven. You don’t have to always be in control. Rupe is at a crime scene, we had another vic drop while you were…gone. Aitken died in ICU early yesterday morning, but not without giving Rupe some information. She gave us a name and an account number. The account is as fake as the name, but I’m tracking it as we speak.”
Raven let her head drop again. She could taste the blood and feel her injuries healing, but she still felt tired and hungry enough to eat a burger from Rupe’s pocket stash. None of this made sense. What were the odds that two groups were attacking vampires at the same time? But their methods were totally different. The sorceress had known who and what she was, but Frost was clueless. Could they really be working independently?
She leaned against the side of the Suburban and closed her eyes. She was willing to let go and sleep when something the Marine said hit her like a brick.
“Van Helsing?”
She felt Aspen beside her and gentle hands snake around her. “Yeah. Silver’s real name is Silver Van Helsing.”
That made a little more sense, actually. Raven opened eyelids that felt like anvils. “So that means−”
Aspen smiled. “Yeah. Don’t think about it, it will make your brain hurt.”
“Damn, I should have seen that coming.”
“No one saw that, lover. Can you walk? We should get you home.”
Raven tried to stand and found her legs were still like rubber. Aspen held her and together they limped to Aspen’s Jeep parked behind the other vehicles. Like the one now resting at the bottom of the great lakes, this one was purple, with aggressive tires and an off-road kit that added six inches to the vehicle’s height. Aspen opened the door and Raven climbed inside. When Aspen climbed behind the wheel, Raven asked, “What about Mom?”
Aspen started the Jeep and put it in gear. “She’s not exactly loving life, but she is up and around. She took back the throne and is making deals with whatever magic users she can find. She forgave Pandora and sent her to Salem as an emissary in hopes of finding a coven still loyal to the House.”
Raven’s eyes sagged shut. “Pandora? Pandora doesn’t know jack about magik.”
“That might be why your mom sent her. If she comes back in a baggie, no one valuable was lost. Get some sleep, honey, I’ll wake you when we get home,” Aspen said.
Raven wanted to argue that Pandora wasn’t that bad, but she was too tired. She listened to the hum of the tires and let darkness claim her.
CHAPTER TEN
343 Wolf Point, Chicago, IL
Life is about awakenings, Raven thought. She sat up and rubbed her face, which still ached from the abuse she’d taken a few hours before. She flicked sleep out of her eyes and looked at Aspen, who was sleeping peacefully beside her beneath a curtain of purple hair. Aspen murmured something and Raven felt the urge to reach over and touch her lips, but resisted. It was too early to wake her, she’d had a busy few days.
The floor was cold beneath her feet as she padded to the bathroom. She flicked on the light and stared at her reflection, surprised by what she saw. She had wide circles beneath her eyes, her hair was matted to her head with blood and sweat and she looked several pounds lighter than she had the last time she looked in the same mirror. She should be feeling better by now, not tired and weak.
She rinsed her face and hair as best she could then wrapped herself in a towel and made her way to the kitchen. Her stash was hidden beneath one of the counters in a special freezer designed solely to hold blood for vampires. It might have shocked humans to know such an industry existed, but when your species lives for thousands of years, you end up owning a few things. She opened a bag and emptied the contents into a glass, then added some tomato juice, tabasco and vodka. Maybe it would make the taste not be so bad. She stirred it with a celery stick then proceeded down the three steps to the living room. The picture window looked out on the city and she curled up in her favorite grey chair to watch the sun come up. After a moment, she tasted the blood and found it palatable. The vodka and juice thinned it while the tabasco did its best to cover the taste. There was still a hint of copper and death in the aftertaste, but it was better than feeling like she was going to be sick just from the taste on her tongue. She drained the glass and set it o
n the table, then looked back at the rising sun. She’d seen it a million times, but never really looked at it. It was just a big ball of light, but today it was a sunrise and she appreciated it for what she thought was maybe the second time in her life.
You almost died, that nagging voice in her head whined. You almost left her all alone.
She knew that wasn’t true. Yes, she’d almost died, but Aspen was a big girl and had survived more than anyone could imagine. But the thought remained. Her job was dangerous. Her life was dangerous, and probably always would be. There would always be scumbags to be dealt with, always another threat to the family. She had tried to get away from some of it, and now things were worse.
So what’s the answer?
Raven wasn’t sure, but she was certain of one thing. She wasn’t leaving her lover or family. It wasn’t fair to them and it wasn’t fair to herself.
She heard Aspen approaching and turned to see her standing in the light. She was wearing one of Raven’s old shirts and it hung to her knees, which was why she wore it. Her hair was tousled, she was still rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand and her grey socks were coming off, but to Raven, she was gorgeous.
Raven stood and went to her. She pulled her close and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Thank you for coming for me.”
Aspen smiled. “You always come for me. Are you alright?”
Raven kissed her again. “Yeah. Still tired and I want some actual food, but I’m better. How are you?”
Aspen disengaged and wandered into the kitchen. “Glad to have my girl home, even if she smells like blood and needs food. Why don’t I whip up some breakfast while you get cleaned up?”
Raven moved up behind her and hugged her again. “Why don’t you nuke us a couple donuts and join me in the shower? I could use some cuddle time.”
Aspen turned. “Just cuddle?”
Raven smiled. “For now. Not sure I can stand up for anything else.”
Aspen waggled her eyebrows and grinned. “Who said you had to stand?”
Raven laughed and let Aspen guide her through the bedroom to their glassed in shower, thoughts of donuts on hold.
Two hours later, she stood back in front of the mirror. Her color was better and her hair looked healthier, but the feeling like she had the ‘flu still clung. Her eyes were hot and felt sticky and her limbs felt like they had lead weights tied to them.
“I’m a little worried about you,” Aspen said behind her.
“It’s just a cold.”
Aspen finished putting on her boots. “In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never had a cold. Not once.”
It was true. Raven assumed she must have had the sniffles once or twice when she was younger, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been down with a cold. She shrugged and started getting dressed herself.
“First time for everything, I guess.”
“Ray, we need to check you out. While you were finishing your shower, I got a text from Silver. She says you were in torpor. It was only a few minutes, they were there while you were kicking ass and forgetting names, but you were out, totally gone.”
Raven shook her head and wiggled into a pair of leather pants. “That’s not possible, Asp. I’m human. Mostly. Maybe I passed out, I was bleeding all over the place.”
When she had her pants on, Aspen stopped her. “Ray, I love you. But its time you came to terms with not being human. You aren’t mostly human, you’re mostly preternatural just like I am. Whatever they did to you, your system isn’t healing as fast and I think we should find out why.”
Raven fastened her bra and pulled on a red sweater almost the same color as her hair. “I’m fine, Asp, I’m healing I just need more calories and some more blood.”
“Will you at least let me take a blood sample? I can check it out at the lab.”
Raven started brushing out her hair. “Yes, maybe whatever they put in me will still be in my blood.”
Aspen kissed her cheek. “I’ll get my kit and meet you in the kitchen.”
They were still taking the sample when Levac came in through the front door. He looked tired and there was raspberry jam mixed with the five o’clock shadow on his chin, but he was smiling.
“Good morning to my favorite ladies in the world. You scared the crap out of us, Ray. I’m going to ask Aspen to sew trackers into all your clothes,” he said.
He stopped when they realized what they were doing. “Um… do I want to know? Is this some weird vampire thing?”
“Morning, Rupe. No, it isn’t a vamp thing. I’m not healing right and feel like I have a cold or something so Aspen is going to run some tests on my blood. What’s the scoop? I heard we had a new vic,” Raven said.
Levac leaned on the counter and snatched one of the donuts Raven had microwaved a few minutes before. “Yep, the third. His name is Francis Vanhoose.”
Raven’s brow creased, that name was familiar. “Didn’t we arrest him on drug charges about three years ago? The guy with the fetish for making fake emails and posting them on the internet to badger celebrities.”
“The very same. Our bad guy got inside his home, cut his face off, carved him up like the others and left him in the shower,” Levac said. “I’m having a hard time being objective with him, this couldn’t have happened to a more deserving bastard.”
Aspen finished and Raven licked the wound in her elbow to help speed the healing. “He’ still a vic, Rupe. Was there anything new with him?”
Levac bit into his ill-gotten donut. “Yes, actually. The carvings in his skin were more intense and covered almost every inch of his skin, almost as if the killer thought he needed even more prayers than the others.”
Raven frowned. “Rupe, call Pocock and have him get one of his people to look into Carmichael’s defense rate.”
“Sure,” Levac said, dropping crumbs. “What should I tell him to look for?”
“I want to know if she had anything questionable, any cases where her defense was faulty or inappropriate.”
Aspen was packing her kit back up. “You think she was shady?”
Raven shrugged. “It would make sense. Both of the other victims were criminals in some manner or another, it might be the connection. Maybe there is a lead in her files, she was the first vic, after all.”
Levac swallowed and waved the donut he was still eating. “Not true, that’s the other reason I came over. There were more victims, all over the country. The database search came in while you were away. It seems these started almost ten years ago, the MO was similar, but not exact so they didn’t come up right away.”
“How similar?” Raven asked.
Levac shoved the last bite in his mouth. “Too similar to be coincidence. The primary difference is the time since the last of the original killings. The last was in 1943, then they just stopped. The other is that all the original victims were found in an abandoned cabin in the Illinois woods, not spread all over the city.”
“So what happened in 1943?” Aspen asked.
Levac shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. The killings stopped, but the cases were never solved.”
“And here we are seventy-five years later with a killer on our hands and almost zero leads,” Raven groused.
“Not entirely true, boss.”
Levac searched his pockets and produced his notepad. “Before she died, Aitken gave me a name and a number. The name is Myung Choi, Aspen has the number and is−”
“Back-tracing the account. Speaking of.”
Aspen pulled her tablet out of her bag and woke it with a slip of her thumb. “I heard this chime while we were in the shower…”
She stuck her tongue in the corner of her lips while she worked, a gesture Raven still found adorable.
“Got it. The originating account comes back to… um… you aren’t going to believe
this, Ray.”
Raven rolled her eyes. “Tell me.”
Aspen turned the tablet around. “Rocco Riscassi.”
Levac’s jaw fell. “You’re kidding. Rocky? Maria’s slug of a cousin?”
Raven took the tablet and looked at the information. It showed a feeder account at the Bank of Chicago registered to Rocco Riscassi. Included was a copy of his license.
“This is too good.”
She handed the tablet back and began strapping on her holster. She was almost done when Levac held up her pistol. Raven took it and slipped it into the tactical holster on her thigh.
“Thanks, Rupe.”
He held out her badge dangling from one finger. “You’re welcome, Ray. You still haven’t told me what happened the other night.”
Raven hung the badge around her neck. “Tell you on the way over.”
She stopped and made a face. “Where’s my car?”
Aspen and Levac looked blank. Raven sighed and Aspen snorted then burst out laughing.
“Sorry, babes, we rehearsed it. It’s in the garage, I brought it home yesterday.”
Aspen held out the spare keys and Raven put them in her pocket. “Thank you, honey. As long as you didn’t let Levac drive, Baby couldn’t handle that.”
Levac held up his hands. “Not me, I’m too old for that clutch.”
Raven pushed him toward the door. “Shut up and get going.”
She turned and looked at Aspen, who hugged her. “Are you sure you should be back at work so soon?”
Raven hugged her back. “I’m fine, love. Let me know what you find in the blood and see if you can get an address on Myung Choi.”
Aspen let go. “Will do.”
Raven grabbed her coat off the back of the sofa and shrugged into it. She was almost out the door when Aspen called, “Forgetting something?”
Raven paused and Aspen held up a black smartphone. “I ported your number and updated from your latest backup as soon as Rupe told me you were taken.”