by Kat Cotton
The kids all gathered around. We just had to get them to the van. It’d be overloaded, but it was a short drive to the safe house. Good deed for the day done.
As we walked down the alley back to the car, I felt a fluttering around me, as though a plague of birds was about to descend. I couldn’t see him, but I sensed him. The air went colder and quivered.
One of the kids screamed.
“Shit, run!” Nic yelled.
He grabbed the little girl and ran for the van. The rest of the pack picked up the other kids and ran too. I tried to keep up but stumbled on the cobblestones in the dark. Even if I didn’t make it, we had to get those kids out of here.
Before we got to the end of the lane, the vamps stopped dead. Only one person could cause that.
The Vampire King.
His body seemed to block all the light at the end of the laneway. His coat flowed out behind him. As I got closer, I noticed the eye patch. He’d not forgive that easily. I’d taken out his eye, and he wanted revenge. He wanted Kisho dead, and he wanted these kids.
Hell, we were all screwed. He’d kill us all.
“Freeze!” he yelled.
He hadn’t even needed to say that. The entire pack couldn’t move. Only the kids and I had any free will, and that didn’t count for much in this fight.
Chapter 9: Kids
A couple of the kids started crying. Because the vamps were frozen, the kids struggled in their arms, unable to get down. They didn’t understand what was going on. The little girl in the raggedy dress whimpered.
“It’s okay,” I said to them softly, so the King wouldn’t hear me, but I only said it to reassure them. We were so not okay.
The King raised his hand. He glared at Kisho. Even with the command to freeze, Kisho was trembling. That glare was enough to turn him into a mess. And they wanted him to fight the King! Anyone could see that wouldn’t happen.
While the King was preoccupied with Kisho, I pried one of the boys from Andre’s arms and whispered for him to run, and he took off down the street.
A vamp took off after the boy immediately. The little boy ran as fast as his legs could go, but he was only a kid. He was no match for a vampire.
I should not have done that. I’d made the kid a target.
I inhaled, waiting for the worst, but the minion just took hold of him, not attacking.
The blond boy glared at me as though I was somehow responsible for this. He wasn’t wrong. We were all responsible. We should’ve made sure we could get the kids out safely.
“Give me all the children,” the Vampire King ordered.
The vamps had to obey him, but I couldn’t let them. Kisho had told me that if I used my new power against the Vampire King, it wouldn’t work, but I had to try. Maybe I could at least distract him long enough for the kids to escape, if nothing else. I couldn’t just stand here and let those kids be taken.
I held up my hand and pushed the fear rising in me way, way down. Instead, I focused my will on the King. Buzzing filled my body. I could do this. I’d give him a taste of his own power. That power surged through my body, gathering force, until the blue glow zapped from my hand.
Even before it hit, I knew something wasn’t right. When I’d done this before, an almost orgasmic thrill had surged through my body. This time, I became filled with a heavy emptiness. Everything good left my body.
The surge of power flew back at me. I was hurled to the ground, not even noticing the impact as an intense pain wracked my body. I sucked in my breath, not wanting to cry out. Those kids needed to stay calm, and that wouldn’t happen if I didn’t hold it together.
I writhed on the ground, the pain growing in intensity. I’d done this to other people? I’d had no idea, and now I was experiencing for myself just how intense this pain was. The immense horribleness of it. The blackness.
I tried to hold it in but lost all will. I couldn’t get off the ground. I could barely think. My ears rang with screams. My own. I’d become as helpless as the vamps.
As the lackeys plucked up the kids, I struggled to move, but each movement intensified the pain. It paralyzed me. I’d almost die rather than deal with this pain.
We’d failed. We’d promised we’d save those kids, but we’d done nothing.
The little boy ran up and kicked the Vampire King in the shins. The King swatted him to the ground. He wouldn’t inflict this pain on that kid, surely.
I could do nothing to save him. One of the other vamps moved for the kid.
“Leave him be,” the King said. “He’s a fighter.”
The little girl in the raggedy dress heaved in sobs as a lackey dragged her out of Nic’s arms. Hurt beamed from her eyes. She didn’t understand that Nic could do nothing to help her. He was under the Vampire King’s control. She reached for him, but he couldn’t move. He’d been told to freeze.
The blond boy didn’t make a noise as they dragged him off, but he bit his lip, his teeth sinking hard. He wanted to look strong. I understood that.
As the pain abated a little, I got to my feet.
“What are you doing?” I yelled at the King. “Leave these kids alone. Your fight’s with us.”
He laughed. That brittle, hollow laugh like rats running over dried leaves. “I’ve got plans for you. Your time will come.”
Bastard. When the time came to fight him, I needed something better than vampires, since he could render them useless.
Maybe the mayor had been right. Maybe unity was the answer. Unity meant people I could use as human shields. Seriously, those groupies in the basement would be of more use than any of the vampire pack. And they had some moves, judging from that game they were playing.
Even on my feet, I could do little to save anyone. My limbs shook. I knew I could barely walk. What did I have? A useless sexual aura, already used up on him. A pathetic body. A power that did nothing.
The frustration made me shake even more.
The kids had gone. I had no idea where the minions had taken them. I wanted to run after them, but I could barely stand. The coldness that had left me for a while now flooded back into my body. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering. Even so, I rushed forward for a final attack.
I’d tackle the King to the ground. I’d do anything to save us, even if it was kicking him in the nuts.
That proved useless. He didn’t zap me again, but he threw me back onto the ground. My back throbbed with pain.
Before I could get to my feet, he’d disappeared.
In the car going home, we couldn’t even look at each other. No one spoke. The feeling of failure had become so strong, it was almost tangible. An acrid smell. A bitter aftertaste lingering in my mouth. What the hell had we done?
Chapter 10: Kamikaze
Kisho went to his room as soon as we arrived home. I left him alone for a while but then knocked on his door. He’d need me.
Kisho was lying on the bed, his body propped up against the hard headboard. He barely turned his head as I opened the door.
“Are you okay? Do you want anything? Coffee? Tea? Cake?”
He shook his head. A sorrow that cake couldn’t fix was a deep sorrow indeed.
I sat on the bed beside him and put my arm around him. He rested his head on my shoulder, and the two of us sat like that for a long time. Even when my nose itched, I didn’t want to move my arm. I just scrunched my nose up until the itch went away.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said.
I nodded.
“You can’t use his power against him. That’s not how it works. It just makes that power burrow deeper into you.”
Even though I’d done everything imaginable to get rid of this power, nothing had helped. It had become almost impossible to hold back on using it at times. Even Kisho had to understand that I couldn’t have stood by and let the King take those kids.
“I never realized how much it hurt,” I said. “It’s an evil power.”
Kisho grabbed a blanket and put it over both of us
. The blanket did less to warm me than Kisho did. Then Hellhound padded in and jumped on the bed, lying across our legs. Kisho leaned forward to scratch Hellhound’s ears, then he fell back down beside me. He didn’t need to talk. Neither did I. Silence was never uncomfortable between us.
“Those poor kids,” he said after a while.
I wanted to ask him about that, but he’d fallen asleep. I stayed beside him until eventually I fell asleep too.
The next morning, Kisho had gone by the time I woke up. I went downstairs to look for him. He was sitting with Nic in the living room. I smiled at him, but his face looked grim.
“I’ve got to do it, Clem,” he said. “I can’t hide while he destroys people.”
I sat down beside him. His whole body was shaking.
“How are you going to do that? He can freeze you with a command. He can control you. There has to be another way. We can research and find people who know things. We can find out magic. Maybe this whole ‘only killed by his own blood’ thing is bullshit. You can’t trust everything you read on old scrolls. Anyone can write a stupid prophesy. Do we even have a verified source for it?”
I rubbed his arm, hoping to keep him from shaking too much. He had to see reason. This shouldn’t be his burden.
“I have to. Those kids.”
“As soon as you feed, he’ll know. That will trigger everything.”
“But it’s the only way.”
“You know what I think?” I said. “I think it was all a set-up. Funny how we got the info about the attack just before it happened. Funny how Timon said the King would attack at midnight when it was just after sunset. Funny how you were there to see those kids taken. The King wanted you to see that so you’d be driven to fight.”
Kisho nodded.
“Nice work, Clem Starr, figuring all that out on your own.”
Nic could keep his snarky opinions to himself. I gave him the most withering look I could muster. He’d done this. He wanted Kisho to fight. Everyone did. But they were all stupid. Kisho needed to be safe.
“We have to try everything else first,” I said.
“We don’t have time. And, anyway, there’s the prophesy. I was born to do this. It’s out of my hands. It’s fate.”
That hit me like a kick to the guts.
“Fuck fate. Fuck fate in its motherfucking asshole. Who does fate think it is, anyway?” I stood up and paced the room. “Fate is not the boss of me, and it’s not the boss of you. We can make our own rules. Tell fate to kiss your curvy bits.”
I picked up one of the cushions from the sofa and punched it hard. That cushion was the closest thing I could get to fate, and it deserved a good pummeling. Except I had to hold it up to punch it, and all my punching force ended up hurting my other arm. So I dropped that cushion to the floor and kicked it. Dirty, horrible cushion. Dirty horrible fate. Kisho would do this and he’d die and I did not want Kisho to die. I wanted him beside me always.
Kisho grabbed hold of me, wrapping me in his arms. He didn’t say anything, he just held me tight.
Nic picked up the cushion and held it up.
“I’m going to have to get this dry cleaned now. Except, wait, where do you find a dry cleaner when the city is in a state of emergency?”
I moved to punch him instead, but Kisho tightened his grip on me until I stopped struggling.
He stroked my hair. “It’s going to be alright, Clem,” he said.
I should be the one comforting him. Why was he so calm? If he did this, he’d end up dead, and the Vampire King would still be alive. I knew that. Any fool could see that was how it’d play out. Just because Kisho was half-Japanese didn’t mean he had to get into all the kamikaze bullshit.
“What if I say no? What if I ask you, beg you, even, not to do it?” It was a last-ditch effort, but I had to stop him.
“I’ll do it anyway. And I need your support.”
“I’m not good at that whole support thing. I’m much better at fighting and killing stuff. That’s the fun bit.”
“I’ll make you a coffee,” Kisho said.
I kissed him on the cheek.
What would I do if Kisho died? He was just being selfish, thinking of himself, and maybe a few helpless victims, but what about me? If he died, I’d have no one to make coffee for me. I’d have no one to clean my office. I’d have no one to snuggle up with. I had a sweet side, but I’d only discovered that part of me since I’d met Kisho. If he died, that part of me would die too.
I took a deep breath and sat down on the sofa.
“I blame you for this,” I said to Nic. “You are evil.”
“I’m the best-looking evil you’ll ever meet,” he said, and flashed me a cheesy grin. “Seriously, though: no, I had nothing to do with this. Do you think this would play out any other way after yesterday? Do you think Kisho could see those kids taken and not jump into this? He knows what the King will do to those kids. He’ll either torture them slowly or raise them to be warriors he can turn into his vampire army. Either way, those kids are screwed. And that little girl was so cute.”
That really did suck. Even that horrible, rock-throwing boy didn’t deserve that. It broke my heart that we’d failed to save them.
“There are other ways,” I said.
“There are no other ways. So, you can either make Kisho feel bad about this, or you can support him. Do you really think dealing with your emotional angst is what he needs right now?”
I hated it when Nic was right. I hated this so much. I grabbed the cushion back off him and punched it some more. Kisho wasn’t cut out to be a hero. Why him? It could be anyone else in the world. But it was true: if he’d decided to do this, really decided, then dealing with my shit was the last thing he needed. No matter how much it killed me inside, I needed to support him.
“What happens when he feeds?” I asked Nic.
I’d only known mature vampires before. The whole first feeding thing was something I only knew in theory. I wasn’t even sure if that theory was true.
“I don’t know,” Nic said. “Most vampires feed within days of turning. You can barely remember that state between being turned and feeding. You’re dead, but not dead. It’s like sleepwalking. Then you feed, and everything floods back in. But for Kisho, it won’t be like that. He’ll change, but I have no idea how intense that change will be.”
“I don’t want any of this,” I said.
I waited for Nic to say something snappy, but instead, he sat beside me and put his arm around my neck.
“None of us want it, but we no longer have a choice.”
He sounded sad. Losing Kisho would be as difficult for him as it would be for me.
When Kisho came back with my coffee, I smiled at him.
“Okay, I don’t accept it, but you’re made your decision, and, hard as it might be, I’ll support you. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s the best idea, but I’ll go with it. But seriously, we need to make plans, because when it comes to the Vampire King, you guys are useless.”
Chapter 11: Ducks
I found Nic in the garden.
“Enjoying the sunshine?” I asked.
“Hellhound needed to come out, but nice attempt at a joke, Clem Starr.”
The garden at this place wasn’t huge, but it had a nice grassy area. Hellhound was sniffing around the edges of the flower beds. It was a lovely day, and a few flowers were still blooming in the garden. If it hadn’t been for this vampire war and all the other shit going on, lazing in the garden would have been a great idea. But I had things I needed to do.
“I’m still mad at you, but I need to borrow your car,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because mine got stolen, and the person who promised to get it back for me reneged on their promise.” I folded my arms. I would not rest until my beautiful baby blue Mustang came back.
“I meant, where do you want to go?”
“I was thinking, getting Kisho to feed is all well and good. Well, actually not so
well and not so good, but it’s a thing. It’s happening, even if I disapprove. But we don’t even know where to find the Vampire King. What do you plan on doing? Dangling Kisho like bait until he turns up?”
Nic screwed up his nose. He really hadn’t thought this out very well.
“I had plans,” he said.
“Yeah, ‘secret plans.’ I know what that means. It means you have jack shit for plans, but you don’t want to tell people that. I know. I’ve been there. It’s the demon fighter’s equivalent of the tech support guy telling you to turn off your computer and turn it back on again. It’s stalling for time, praying that some brain wave strikes.”
Nic ran his finger down my cheek. Another stalling technique, but hell, a rush of that lust I’d felt for him zapped through me. Bastard.
“So, tell me your brilliant plan, Clem Starr.”
He didn’t break eye contact while he said that. I hated that vampire. I hated the stirrings of my insides. I took a step back and pretended a strong interest in a hydrangea bush. Well, I think it was a hydrangea. Buggered if I knew anything about plants.
“I want to see my friend, the old guy at the park. If anyone knows where the Vampire King is, it’ll be him.”
“Who is that old guy, anyway?” Nic asked.
I shrugged. “I need cake to take him.”
“Okay. You shouldn’t go alone. It’s too risky at the moment, and I need to train Kisho.”
Nic had decided Kisho needed feeding training. I figured Nic just liked training people.
“No worries,” I said. “I’ll see if Luis or Shelley is around.”
“They aren’t. They’ve gone out in the van. They’ve decided they’re getting on board with the mayor’s safe house thing so they are patrolling the city for other civilians. I guess it doesn’t hurt to stay on the mayor’s good side and it helps them deal with things. Losing those kids hit them hard. So, that leaves Jeb or Andre. Which one do you pick?”
“Jeb.”
“I think Andre would be a better choice.”
I shook my head. “He only thinks with his cock. Jeb is much better.”