I raised my gun as the two vampires with guns quickly reloaded. I let off a pair of shots, which missed but got them ducking at least. One of them, a dark-haired male with a nose that looked like it got in too many bar fights, slammed his magazine home and leveled his gun in my direction. I ducked fast enough to hear bullets fly over where my head used to be, and cursed. We needed a plan, but I wasn't going to be able to communicate with Amy and Serena without getting over to them and exposing myself.
Even as I thought that, the dizzy, queasy feeling started to return. It wasn't as bad before, but a new ache in my stomach had started. I grunted, and looked to Perry. “Where the hell is our backup?” I grunted.
Perry started to stammer. “Th-there's been an-an-another attack.”
“Crap.” I summarized my feelings and my situation right now in about one word. Five years and student debt and I get “crap.” I grunted and pulled myself up to my feet, crouched behind the desk's raised front. “Amy, Serena!” I called. “Two goons with knives, trying to flank each of you!”
Serena looked back to me for a second, her dark hair whipping around in a fast look, before the first of the vampires rounded the corner.
She looked back just in time, and she immediately ducked the first attack by the vampire. She went with an uppercut stab, jamming the knife towards the vampire. Her attacker knocked the blade with his free hand, then the second came around and tried to press her out into the open. Serena, for her part, was able to dodge the attacks, keeping her back as best she could to the pillar.
I focused back on the gun vampires. I peeked my head over the raised edge of the desk, and started to fire. I fired a three-round group at Broken Nose. Two of them hit home, but even with my silver rounds, they didn't kill the vampire instantly. He did shout and curse, as he brought his weapon back from Amy's direction to empty his magazine in my direction.
I ducked back down again. While the bullets hadn't killed the vampire, it had slowed him down a measure. Those bullets flew about ten feet above my head. He had lost focus.
I kept myself crouched, and waddled over to the edge of the desk. I checked to make sure a gun man wasn't focused on Serena, then I ran across the space towards Serena and her two attackers. One of the vampires had its back to me. I made him pay
I jammed my gun into his back. Images raced through my head, of Lucien standing below me. I hesitated, for a crucial moment.
The vampire spun around, his fangs bared in a hiss as he wheeled around to attack me. He knocked at my wrist, sending my gun skidding across the floor at the force of a vampire-enhanced blow. I hissed as I tried to reach for my own knife, but I knew I was too slow.
Serena wasn't. A knife point protruded from the throat of my attacker, the silver blade thrust through the vampire's neck with a supernaturally strong push. She grabbed my attacker, and slammed him into the still-living vampire, letting out a hiss of rage.
I caught her dark eyes for a moment. Rage and pain was in her gaze. We would sort that out later. I reached down and scooped up my gun. “You've got this last guy?” I asked Serena, as she grabbed the knife out of the dead vampire and started to advance on the remaining one.
“I've got him.” She snarled as she started to thrust and slash with the knife, the vampire attacker clearly on the defensive now.
I kept moving forward, using the pillars as cover. The sound of fire was more sporadic now, and I was starting to suspect Amy was playing it safe with her attackers.
When I heard a lull and the sound of magazines being ejected, I popped out from behind the pillar. The vampire I had shot previously was on a knee, while the other was still standing. I didn't hesitate this time. I put two into the standing vampire, one in the chest and one in the head.
Before the wounded vampire could try to launch at me, I shot him as well. Both the gun-wielding vampires slumped over, dead. A part of me, the human part of me that scared easily, wanted to put another round in each of them. I looked at my pistol, and the slide that had locked back. I ejected the magazine, reloaded, and hurried over back to the knife fights.
Amy and Serena had finished with their vampires. I looked towards Amy's side, where two vampires lay on the ground with slashed throats. She had pulled a cloth from her jacket, and was wiping her blade. “Good catch,” She said, her voice soft, to me.
“Someone's getting brave,” I said. “Attacking in daylight?”
“Indeed,” Amy frowned, and looked back to the elevator. “We should head back up.”
Serena nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.” She walked over to the elevator and hit the call. The button didn't light up. She tried again. “Huh,” She frowned and looked back to me.
I shrugged, and looked towards a door. “We take the stairs.” I said. As I turned for the door, I felt it again. The stab of sickness. This time, I bowled over. I felt bile rise in my throat, and I fought the urge to lose my lunch.
“What's going on?” Serena asked. I felt her hand on my shoulder. “Eric?”
I looked down at the softly colored tiles of the floor, trying to focus on something. The sick feeling spread across my body, my skin going clammy. I coughed, and drops of blood appeared on the floor. Was that my own blood? I tried to speak, but I couldn't.
Pressure built around me, like gravity had gotten cranked up to eleven. I gasped, trying to breathe. More blood started to drip, and I could feel the warm blood falling from my nose.
And then it got worse.
A cold, slippery feeling was starting to grow in my spine. Like ice water, it trickled down my spine, spread through my body. I recognized it, instantly.
I summoned every inch of strength. It was hell, just to try and speak. It took what felt like an eternity, but I was able to croak out. “It's the sorcerer.”
Chapter 23
I had dished out magic before. I had unleashed it as an emotional response to protect people I cared for.
I had never been on the wrong end of magic. Vampire powers, sure. I had even been on the wrong end of a Red Angel's mind mojo at one point. Never had I encountered cold, calculated ritual magic being tossed against me.
The crushing sensation was hell. My vision started to fog as I lost concentration. It was an effort just to stay up on my hands and knees.
Amy's voice seemed distant, distorted. “It is a hex. Someone has placed something on his person, and they are using it to cast a spell on him.”
“What, like a voodoo doll or something?” Serena asked. I felt someone's hand start to pat me down.
“Or something,” Amy scoffed. “Check his pockets.” She ordered, and I started to feel her start to pat me down as well.
I lost my footing then. The pain was starting to get to me. I couldn't focus on their words any more, the pain filling my body.
The real world started to drift away. I could feel the presence of the sorcerer. It enveloped me, and I could feel their power. The dark, oily feeling, I realized, wasn't the sorcerer's. It was their contact. The Other Sider.
I pulled myself together, my focus straining from the pain. I don't know how I gathered the energy, but I screamed in pain. I couldn't hear the scream, but it sure felt like I was screaming.
Then there it was. The sorcerer. I could hear something, a pulsing bass line. It was in my head. There were lights, and suddenly, I thought I knew where the sorcerer was.
Reality snapped me back. The pain receded, leaving me just with an incredibly dull feeling. Hearing started to come back, eventually. I grunted.
“What was that?” I heard Serena asked.
My vision returned. My face was lying on the floor. I could feel warm blood on my lip.
Amy was crushing something underneath her boot. “Curse marker. A magical signal that sorcerers use. It is similar to a signal flare, used for targeting hexes and dark magic.”
I tried to ask how they had found it. It came out as “Ughhhhughuhhhh.”
Serena crouched down, and tapped my shoulder. “How're you doing?”
&nb
sp; It took me a while before I could find words again. “Like I just had someone crushing my entire body.”
“It seems that someone placed this on your person.” Amy said as she scattered the thing she had crushed. It looked to be some sort of little doll. How had I missed that in my pockets, and where had it come from?
“Great.” I grunted. “Give me a minute, then we'll head up.” I was able to pull myself up into a sitting position, where I looked between the two of them. “Go get Perry.”
“Perry?” Amy asked.
“Desk guy.” Serena trotted over to the desk, and peeked over. “Hey, you can come out now. Coast is clear.”
Perry stood, walking out from behind the desk. He still had his headset on. “Are you all right?” He asked us.
“I need to know what's going on up there.” My voice was weaker than I wanted it to be.
“Phones are dead.” He said.
“Did you try cell phones?” I asked. He hesitated a moment. “It's all right. This isn't exactly clear thinking time.” I turned to Serena. “Think you can handle a machine gun?”
She looked back at the two gun men, now dead. “It can't be that hard.” She said and started to walk to collect their guns and ammo.
Amy looked down to me. “What do you think happened?”
“I think I know who our sorcerer is working for. I could reach out, touch the person who was hurting me. They were on the stage at Ruby.”
“Ruby? So Yukiko is involved.”
“Involved? No, she's behind it all.” I grunted. I pushed myself up to my knees, and when Amy extended a hand, I took it to stand. “This is all a ploy to usurp power.”
“If she usurped the title of Count, the only real opposition she would have is Catherine. Finnegan would not mind a disruption in the vampire court.” Amy noted.
I nodded. “I think she's sent a squad upstairs to kill him.”
Serena came back a minute with one of the guns, a small black compact thing that you could have easily held in one hand. It wouldn't have been practical for a human, but I had seen a vampire wield an M16 one-handed before.
Serena shoved two magazines into her waist band, and she looked back at me. “Are we heading up now?” She asked.
I double-checked my magazine, then nodded. “Yeah. I'll take the lead.”
I started up the concrete steps. After two flights, I found the third floor entrance. I could hear a noise beyond the door, a constant noise that pounded against the door.
Opening the door, I saw sprinklers spraying water across the office. Cubicles had been torn down, with several people lying, wounded or worse, on the floor. A shudder ran down my spine when I realized that we had gotten the easy end of things on the front end.
I rushed to Ishmael's office. The wooden door had been torn away, but by what I wasn't sure. I entered the room, which had a sprinkler going in there as well. The desk had been overturned, slammed against the wall, with Teresa next to it. She had a stomach wound, and I saw dark blood staining her shirt.
“They took Ishmael,” She gasped.
I hurried to her and knelt at her side. “Took him? Who?”
“Weres. They used flash bangs. It disoriented the vampires, and they tore through us in a matter of seconds.” Teresa looked at me. “Didn't use silver bullets, at least.” She hissed. “I'm still losing blood.”
“Perry up front's called 911. It shouldn't take too long.” But something was wrong. I could see that. Teresa was panting hard. Vampires breathed, sure. They did it twice a minute, or something like that. They had a faint pulse even. Vampires only visibly breathed like that when their bodies got in serious trouble.
Teresa's dark eyes looked into mine. “Nasty wound.” She panted, and she looked around. “Eric. I...I need your help.”
I took her hand and squeezed it. “Tell me what to do.” I said.
“If I get blood, I'll recover faster.”
I didn't even think about it before I offered her my wrist. “Do it,” I said. I didn't care about the repercussions. Teresa was hurt, and I could help.
“Eric. Please, I...”
“We don't know who else can consent right now. You're not drinking Serena's, and Amy sure won't.” I held my wrist in front of her lips. “I am so not leaving Yukiko to run this shit because you're dead.”
Teresa leaned forward, and she pressed her lips to my wrist. Her tongue flickered out, wetting my arm with her saliva. And then she bit.
Her sharp fangs sunk into my skin, giving me a moment of pain. Vampires could make sure that the bite was painless, with a venom that they could release. Teresa didn't have the control for it right now, and only a little bit of it spread through my arm.
The mix of pleasure and pain rocketed through my body. I groaned, and my eyes closed for a moment out of the sheer sensation. As her fangs released, and she started to suck at the blood that welled from the small wounds, I tried to suppress any sound my throat wanted to release. I didn't have much self control at the moment, though, and I moaned.
The first time I'd been bit, it was painful. It had been an attack. This time was a bit easier. After a few long moments, I pulled my wrist away. Teresa mewled in hunger. “Is that enough?” I asked her.
She seemed to think about this for a moment. I saw her eyes, which had pupils dilated so far as to overtake the irises. I placed my other hand on her cheek.
“Come on, Teresa, don't let the hunger win out.” I pleaded. “Come on, Teresa.”
She let out a soft growl, and I watched as she lowered her head. She took a deep mockery of a breath, then looked up to me. “It's okay,” She whispered. “I've got it now.”
I embraced her, pulling her up into my lap. “Good.” I whispered, and I hugged her tightly.
“Give me your wrist,” She ordered. “I'll lick the wound closed.”
“What, you can...”
“Absolutely.” She grabbed my wrist, and her little tongue flicked at the wound. They slowly healed, aided on by whatever magic enzyme or whatever she produced.
“So, they took Ishmael.”
“Yes, for what reason, I'm not sure.” Teresa drew her head back. Her eyes were back to normal as she looked into mine.
“It's Yukiko. She's hired a sorcerer.” I paused a moment. “I think that sorcerer is going to use Ishmael for the last murder.”
Teresa nodded. “Where's she going to take him?' She asked.
I thought about it. “Her sorcerer was using the club's stage. I think that's where their final ritual is going to be.”
“You need one of the city head's permission to make a kill order.” She said softly.
I sighed. “That means Catherine or Finnegan, as I can't exactly ask Ishmael.”
“I suggest Catherine.” Teresa said, with enough dryness that I had to laugh. I pulled out my cell phone, still holding Teresa against me. She settled in my lap, hands curling into my jacket. “You smell like you were in a fight.”
“Half-dozen vamps downstairs.” I said. “Serena, Amy, and I took them out. They were the distraction, it looks like.”
As I started to dial Catherine's number, Amy and Serena entered. Serena looked down at us. “We're not interrupting something private, are we?”
“Oh, quiet.” I sighed, and put the call on speakerphone as it was ringing. “I'm calling Queen Catherine. We need a kill order.”
The phone rang several times before we heard a voice on the other end. “Hello, Mister Carpenter, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Catherine's voice was like silk on skin, even through a phone. Red Angels were succubae, put plainly. They fed off lustful energy. Immortal, beautiful, and a little strange. They could seriously screw with your mind too. A phone cut out a lot of that, but not quite all of it.
“Well, long story short, there is a human sorcerer who has been killing vampires. They've been working for Baroness Yukiko, and for their last killing, they've gone after Ishmael and kidnapped him.”
Catherine paused for a moment. “Well, cut to the
chase, why don't you? You're sure it's Yukiko?”
“They're operating out of her club.”
“You wish for me to grant a kill order.”
I sighed. “I'd prefer to bring them in alive, but if I have to do what I have to do...”
Catherine sighed. “Bring back Ishmael. Use whatever means you have to.”
“Thank you, Majesty.” I said.
“Good luck, Eric.” She said, and she ended the call. I swallowed down a lump in my throat. Well, here we were.
Serena piped up. “So, uh, why didn't we just call the cops?”
“Yeah, unfortunately the cops don't trust magic as evidence. Also, cops aren't equipped to deal with most Arcane threats. It's why I've got a license for it.”
“The cops will try to contain it. We want to stop this all.” Amy explained. “You said that our sorceress is at Ruby?”
I nodded. “Yukiko will probably have her own defenses.” I looked between Serena and Amy. “I should be able to tackle the sorceress. The problem is that she's got vamps and weres on her side.”
Teresa stood. “Four against a hit force of Arcanes? We'll take it.” She nodded.
“Teresa, I-” I stood up with her, and hesitated. “You'll be good for it?”
“I won't hamper you. Vampires heal fast. Those weres weren't even good enough to use silver.” She looked up to me. “Ishmael is my maker. He is not leaving the city in this big of a mess for me to deal with. We'll take my car.”
And so it was decided pretty quickly. Ten minutes later, Teresa had grabbed her pistol, a modern USP compact, and a machete, and she had them tossed into the back seat of her Tesla. I went back to the Jeep and grabbed more ammunition.
We were off to go save Ishmael. Two vampires, a guardian, and a witch.
Chapter 24
Dark was falling over San Francisco by the time we parked the car. We had parked in a parking lot across the street from Ruby, when we unpacked the car. Teresa, of course, had her trunk of goodies.
Blood Sport (The American Arcane Book 2) Page 18