Nightfall: Caulborn 5

by Nicholas Olivo

  Galahad shook his head. “We will need to search the Aquarium carefully. Though it’s likely she’ll be in one of the offices, she could be anywhere.”

  We checked our earpieces, making sure we could hear each other. That done, we hustled down the street and onto the Aquarium’s grounds. The Aquarium has been one of Boston’s major tourist attractions for as long as I can remember, and boasts a really cool salt-water tank that spans several floors. As it was well after hours, the main doors were locked. I smirked. That wasn’t a problem for me. But as I Opened the main doors, I realized why it would be so attractive as an upyr lair.

  In addition to the lack of outside light, there was also a supply of blood in the form of the food they gave the sharks. The sharks and piranha would also make for a convenient way of disposing of any bodies. Heck, the upyr could throw a corpse into the piranha tank, the fish would pick it clean, and the bones would just look like a macabre decoration.

  We walked past the visitors’ desk into a cool, dark room where balconies on either side of us overlooked a penguin habitat, and above us, a full killer whale skeleton hung, suspended by wire. I activated my kobold night vision and glanced around, keeping an eye out for any clouds of mist that seemed out of place.

  Movement above us caught my attention. For just a second, I thought I’d seen something. I squinted and saw it again. A narrow figure crouched in the whale’s ribcage. “Heads up,” I called. “Someone in the skeleton.”

  Dennis and Nitya had flashlights on the spot immediately. “Identify yourself,” Galahad called. “Cooperate and you will come to no harm.”

  The figure made a few quick motions and then vanished in a cloud of mist. There was a groaning sound, and the skeleton shifted. “Oh, come on,” I moaned as the wires holding the skeleton snapped and gave way. As the whale’s remains fell toward us, Dennis cried out, Nitya tried to pull him away, and Galahad was shouting out orders at me. I Opened a portal above us, placing its exit point over the penguin habitat, and the bones crashed against the ice and water.

  “Nicely done, Vincent,” Galahad said. “Is everyone all right?” Dennis was pale, and Nitya was trying to look in every direction at once, but everyone was unharmed.

  I glanced at the penguin habitat. A bunch of the birds were dashing and sliding from the skeleton, making angry noises. They splashed into the water like tiny torpedoes and dropped from sight. It struck me that the skeleton hadn’t shattered; all the bones were still in their original configuration. Whatever sort of wire the Aquarium used to hold it together must’ve been laced with adamantium. As I started to turn away, the skeleton twitched. At first, I thought I’d imagined it, but then it very deliberately turned and faced me. Skeletons aren’t great at conveying emotions, but I had the distinct impression this one was pissed at me.

  “The whale’s been animated!” I yelled, throwing myself away from the railing as the giant skeleton hurled itself upward, its massive jaws crashing together. It tore out a hunk of the railing I’d been standing next to and flopped up to the ground in front of us.

  On instinct, I called up a ball of kobold fire and lobbed it at the skeleton. The flames blackened and cracked the whale’s face bones. Nitya and Dennis had recovered enough of their composure to fire off a few rounds. A couple of the shots shattered the whale’s ribs, but that only seemed to tick it off.

  Motion caught my attention to the right. The shadowy figure was doing something at the far wall; it almost looked like it was drawing graffiti with a Sharpie marker. The marks flared yellow and then vanished. Then the figure scrambled up the wall like a spider. I was about to pursue when the whale skeleton surged forward, its massive jaws chomping at me. I rolled to the side and thought as fast as I could.

  The best thing to do was to portal this thing someplace else. There had been some empty tanks outside, and one of those seemed the logical place to drop it.

  I imagined a perfectly circular portal appearing beneath the skeleton, envisioning its exit point hovering just above the empty tank. Nothing happened. It was like the extradimensional energy wasn’t there. I stumbled backward as the whale lurched forward again. Galahad had his sword out, kneeling with the blade in the ground, like I’d seen him do in the Glimpse. He stood and pointed the blade directly at the whale. “Go,” he whispered.

  The whale collapsed into a pile of inert bones. Galahad staggered and put a hand against the wall to steady himself. “Boss, you okay?”

  He nodded. “Breaking unholy enchantments always takes more energy than I expect,” he said. “Thank you for keeping it occupied while I focused.”

  “Yeah, no problem. I totally did that on purpose.”

  Galahad smiled at me for a moment, then the expression vanished. “Vincent, behind you!”

  I spun in time to see a pair of vampires shooting toward me, their claws extended. Now, I’m not on the same level of familiarity with the Boston vampire clans as Megan, but I could tell these guys were local. I snapped out an aura of holy light, setting them smoldering. One of them was close enough that I could see his eyes were pure white.

  “They’re being compelled,” I called to the others.

  “Garlic grenades, now!” Galahad commanded. Nitya and Dennis didn’t hesitate. In unison, they snapped the grenades from their belts and lobbed them toward the vampires. Two seconds later, a massive cloud of garlic-scented smoke filled the room.

  Now, to us non-undead, the place just smelled like an awesome Italian restaurant. For the vamps, though, garlic grenades sting like tear gas. The two that had been charging me were thrashing on the ground, holding their eyes. Two more fell from the ceiling above, where they’d been lying in wait. I didn’t see the hooded figure who’d animated the whale anywhere. And that made me wonder if upyr didn’t share the same garlic sensitivity that vampires did. Friggin’ super undead…

  I was snapped from my reverie as two gunshots rang out. I spun and saw a vamp flop to the side, a hole through the center of its head. The vamp’s mouth was a perfect ‘o’ of surprise. I glanced over and saw Nitya, standing with her pistol extended, eyes scanning for more hostiles.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  She nodded at me, and I moved over to the wall where I’d seen the shadowy figure doing graffiti. There was a series of runes not drawn into the wall, but carved there, as if by a knife. What were these for? Thinking back, I realized I hadn’t been able to use my portals once the runes had been drawn. I tried to Open another portal, and nothing happened. Okay, no problem, if I burned the runes away, whatever effect they had should be broken. I summoned kobold fire around my hands, ready to use it as a flaming eraser, then froze. A smart person would trap their runes. If these upyr really knew me as well as the Codex feared, then they’d know I could wipe the runes away with flame, which meant they’d probably booby trap them.

  “Vincent?” Galahad asked, walking up to me.

  I told the boss my suspicions. “You’re probably right,” he said. “Sadly, runecraft is not something I am well versed in. Nitya, Dennis, do you have any experience with this?”

  “Hey,” I said, looking around. “Where are they?”

  “Why, they’re with me,” came a female voice from above us. The accent was Eastern European. I looked around but couldn’t see the speaker. “Well, actually, with some friends of mine. Have a look in the tanks.”

  Just ahead were a handful of tanks about eight feet high. They were the kind that larger fish would inhabit. Now there was a rusalka in each, appearing to be kissing Dennis and Nitya.

  “What have you done to them?” Galahad demanded.

  “I am keeping them alive for now,” the voice replied. “The rusalka are breathing for them, but that could change if we cannot come to an agreement.”

  “Where are you?” I called.

  “Come to the top of the main tank,” came the reply. />
  Galahad and I shared a look. I was low on faith and couldn’t use my portals. I tried again, and still no luck. But even though we were over a barrel, that didn’t mean I was out of tricks. Galahad and I sprinted up a spiral walkway that wound around the central tank of the Aquarium. Turtles with shells four feet across watched us, and I saw one of the shellbacks pushing a shark around, driving it deeper as we ascended. Near the top, I turned invisible, hoping to get the drop on Vasylna.

  We came upon her a moment later, standing on a catwalk facing the open tank. “We meet at last, Galahad Eleven,” she said.

  “Vasylna, I presume?”

  “You do, indeed.” The upyr leader wore a dark, hooded cloak, and beneath that was dressed like a ninja, complete with a faceless mask. It was a little disconcerting to tell the truth. I moved as quietly as I could along the catwalk, hoping the humming of the tanks and the burbling of the water would mask any noise I made. If I could get close enough, I might be able to jump her from behind, and stake her with my switchblade.

  “Did your godling friend abandon you?”

  “Release your hostages,” Galahad said.

  “No.” She inclined her head slightly as if daring Galahad to do something.

  The boss did. He summoned his sword, holy light blazing like the sun, bathing the area in pure white light.

  Vasylna just stood there.

  That amount of holy light should’ve been enough to light Vasylna on fire. The boss wouldn’t use a fatal amount of light unless he had to, but just the same, she should be doing the stop-drop-and-roll right now. “I trust you have questions, Galahad. You see, Treggen provided us much information about you. Your sword is literally a gift from God, but Treggen believed that an artifact of unholy power may be able to counteract the blade’s powers.” She gestured to her ninja suit. “This garment was made from the burial shroud of Judas Iscariot.”

  “Judas hung himself,” Galahad responded. “He was not given a proper burial.”

  I got the impression that Vasylna was raising an eyebrow behind her mask. “Really? You do not think the Romans to whom he betrayed Jesus would celebrate him? That he was not a hero to them? They cut his body down from the tree and gave him a proper burial. We found his burial chamber years ago and kept the shroud, thinking it may come in handy some day. We were right.” She laughed at Galahad’s expression.

  I was still invisible, just a few feet from Vasylna. I was waiting for her to move a bit, to give me a clean angle to strike from. While vampires can’t see heat signatures, I didn’t want the shift in temperature or my scent to give me away. Wait. She should’ve been able to scent me. As if sensing my thoughts, Vasylna pulled a small handgun from behind her back and pointed it right at me.

  “Foolish godling,” she chuckled. “I know you are there. Show yourself.”

  I released the kobold’s faith, becoming visible. “Good boy. Now then. Galahad, dismiss your sword, or I will order the rusalka to drown your friends.” Galahad didn’t hesitate. The sword winked out. Vasylna seemed surprised by this, and I took advantage of her distraction to move my hand to the chronometer the Tempus had given me. Maybe I could freeze her in time and then disable her so we could question her. There was a definite smile of disbelief in Vasylna’s voice as she said, “You really are a paladin, aren’t you? I am glad there aren’t many like you in the world. It would make my life so much more difficult. Ah, well. Goodbye.” The gun shifted from me to Galahad, and she fired.

  Time slowed down as I pushed the button on the chronometer. The bullet seemed to be floating from the barrel of Vasylna’s gun. I was standing just ahead and to the side of her, but I could tell that the shot was going to take the boss right between the eyes. Then I realized I wasn’t moving all that much faster. I’d expected to be able to move at what I considered normal speed while everything else was slowed down around me. While I was moving a bit more quickly, it wasn’t like I was the Flash here.

  Think fast, Corinthos. Okay, can’t portal the bullet away, don’t have telekinetic shields anymore, turning invisible won’t help, holy light won’t do jack against a bullet, and I didn’t think I could melt a bullet with elemental fire. What else could I do? Well, there was one other thing. The answer wasn’t a pleasant one, but I’d take it.

  I could heal.

  I threw myself in the path of the bullet, letting it strike me in the shoulder, blowing off a chunk of my flesh. As the bullet struck me, time returned to its normal speed. The force of it spun me around, and I managed to grab a handful of Vasylna’s unholy ninja suit. I pulled her close to me, and together, we fell into the tank, entangled.

  Now, here’s an interesting thing about vampiric physiology. Because vampires don’t need to breathe, they aren’t naturally buoyant. The result was that Vasylna sank to the bottom of the tank like a rock. I fell at a slower rate, leaving a red haze in my wake. The salt-water burned the bullet wound in my shoulder, and I ground my teeth as I tried to kick my way back to the surface, but Vasylna grabbed onto my ankle and pulled me down.

  She’d removed her ninja mask, and her black hair was floating around her head like a malevolent cloud. Her red eyes glowed in the water, and she smiled at me as she pulled me close, her fangs extending.

  Then she burst into flame.

  It was like someone had managed to light a roman candle under water. A column of fire burst from her neck, her head completely vanishing in the explosion. Superheated water sprayed out in all directions, more jets of fire coming from her wrists and ankles. Then the unholy ninja suit burst into flame, and there was a small explosion that sent my head bouncing off the side of the tank. The detonation caused a panic among some of the tank’s nearby denizens, and the animals were swimming high and low trying to escape. While my healing ability had kicked on and I could tell the bullet hole was closing, I was still trailing blood in a tank full of sharks.

  And some of them had noticed.

  I kicked with everything I had, trying to get to the surface. A tearing pain shot through one of my legs as something bit me. I gasped, water rushing into my lungs, and thrashed in the water. Panic set in, and I tried to create a portal to safety. Nothing happened. I flailed, desperate, and acting on instinct, I shot a jet of elemental fire into the shark’s forehead, burning a hole through its head. The giant fish fell back, leaving a much thicker blood trail, and the other sharks in the tank descended on their fellow, leaving me alone. My fingers hit the smooth side of the tank’s glass, through which I could see the lobby where we’d fought the whale skeleton. I scrabbled uselessly against the side of the tank, my vision starting to darken. And then someone grabbed me, and hauled me up to the surface.

  Galahad heaved me out of the tank and helped me onto the catwalk. I coughed up water and flopped onto my back.

  “How are you, Vincent?” Galahad asked once I caught my breath.

  “I’m going to avoid seafood for a while, I think,” I said. I tested my shoulder. The bullet hole was gone, new skin already sealing the wound. My leg was a different story. The shark hadn’t managed to bite my leg off, but there was a huge chunk of flesh missing, and ragged tooth marks in my calf. My healing powers were slowing the bleeding, but I’d never needed to regrow this much mass before. I felt woozy.

  “What happened to Vasylna?” I asked.

  “I blessed the water in the tank,” Galahad replied. “I must admit, I wasn’t expecting the reaction to be quite that dramatic.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t think any undead could stand to be submersed in thousands of gallons holy water.” Man, to have that much faith, to bless that much water, Galahad may not be a priest anymore, but if I’d ever doubted his devotion to his god, I—

  “Can you stand?” Galahad asked, interrupting my train of thought. “We need to help Dennis and Nitya.”

  I sat up. Shit. I’d completely forgotten a
bout the Ashgate guards, and we rushed back down the spiral walkway to the tanks where the rusalka had been holding them. Well, I tried to rush. The chunk of my leg hadn’t completely regenerated yet, so a lurching hobble was about my top speed, but I was doing it as fast as I could.

  Once we’d reached them, Galahad took one look at the tanks, closed his eyes, and let out a breath through his nose. The rusalka were gone. Dennis and Nitya were floating in the tanks, their eyes unseeing in the Aquarium’s dim light. There were finger marks on their necks; the rusalka had strangled them while they were underwater. We made our way to the back of the tanks, where I opened an access hatch so we could haul the corpses out.

  Galahad blessed the corpses, then himself. “Can you portal us to Ashgate?”

  I concentrated, but the extradimensional energy refused to form. What the hell was blocking me? “No good, boss,” I said.

  “All right. Help me carry them to the car.” I slung Dennis over my shoulder, and Galahad did likewise with Nitya. Once we exited the Aquarium, I felt something shift inside me and had the urge to try Opening a portal again. This time, the energy sizzled into life.

  “Weird,” I said, looking around. “The runes must have a limited range, sort of like the wards at HQ.”

  Galahad nodded, his face grim. “That would mean either these upyr are extraordinarily wary—”

  “Or this was a trap,” I finished.

  Galahad nodded. “Let’s return these people to Ashgate.”

  I Opened the portal to Ashgate, and we stepped through onto the prison grounds.

  The days since the riot had caused some changes in the penitentiary. Sure, the three-story house looked the same, like something from a seventies horror-movie poster, but the courtyard around it had been changed. Where once it had been surrounded by an iron fence, now fresh cobblestones stretched out from the house all the way to where we stood, some forty or fifty yards away.