by Noree Cosper
I stared at Viktor and Marge until they blurred to only two figures moving. What was I willing to sacrifice to fix my mistake? My life, definitely, though I’d learned long ago that was almost impossible. The lives of those I cared about? Not if I could help it, but Marge and the Van Helsings knew the danger of this life. My mind? I’d rather not spend eternity condemned to insanity. What was the risk involved if I let this get out? Human souls lost . . . a multitude of demons walking the Earth. I nodded to him. He sighed and patted my hand.
“Well, I believe we’ve tortured Viktor enough,” Esais said. “I’m taking him out to dinner.”
I looked over at Viktor and Marge. Marge had him on his knees this time with a sadistic look of pleasure on her face. He deserved some time off.
“Ok, that’s enough for today. Be here at the same time tomorrow and pick up again, barring any emergency.”
Viktor nodded and turned to Marge with a grin. “Thanks for the fun, sweetheart.”
“Oh, don’t,” I said. “You’ll make her think she’s doing something right.”
Marge smirked. “He likes the way I teach.”
“God help us.” Esais stood and picked up the gym bag beside him. He moved to Viktor and kissed him. “You ready to get something to eat?”
Viktor grinned shyly. “Are you cooking?”
“Ugh,” Marge said. “I’m out of here. Searching for demons has got to be better than this.”
Scowling, she stalked to the elevator. Esais watched her go with a chuckle and wrapped an arm around Viktor’s shoulders. They waved to me as they left, chatting to themselves. I moved to the center of the mat, closed my eyes, and rotated my neck, letting the tension fade away. I breathed in deeply as I counted to ten and exhaled. My body moved through the different stances automatically, and I let my mind wander. Doing this practice helped me focus on what was important.
The demons were using their own blood to create a drug. Who was the mastermind behind this? Faust or Cambione? Or they could have gotten it from another entity altogether. No, that felt too complex for this, too many fingers in the pie, so to speak. I had to kill the both of them and take care of this multi-headed snake. Unfortunately, I didn’t even know what Cambione looked like, and Faust was in the middle of a corporation full of vampires. Once again, I had to remind myself that patience was a virtue.
I took a deep breath and stood up straight with a more relaxed body and clearer mind. I grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from my brow. I was at a loss on what to do for the evening. Marge couldn’t patrol all of New York for demons by herself. With a soft hum, I changed clothes and headed to the first floor. Adrian pushed past me on the stairs, carrying a large bag.
“Where are you headed?” I asked.
“Out,” he said.
“Obviously. But to where?”
He stopped and looked at me. “Out.”
He continued down the stairs to the parking garage. I frowned, my forehead wrinkling. Adrian hadn’t left his computer in days unless forced to. He had to have made a breakthrough with Acesco, but why was he hiding it?
I took the stairs two at a time until I reached the garage. He was closing the back doors of the van. I sucked in a quick breath and sprinted toward him. I slid into the passenger seat as he was starting the ignition. He turned his head and glared at me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
“Coming with you,” I said. “You’re being secretive, and I want to know what you are up to.”
“I’m not your boyfriend,” he said. “You don’t need to follow me.”
I gritted my teeth. “You don’t need to be scouting dangerous places on your own. This has something to do with Acesco, doesn’t it?”
“I’m perfectly capable of handling this myself. You would just get in the way.”
I buckled my seatbelt. “Deal with it.”
He stared at the steering wheel. “Fine.”
He pulled out of the parking lot and into the night. Adrian parked three blocks away from the Acesco building, got out of the car, and opened the back of the van. I climbed out. When he handed me the bag he’d been carrying, I blinked at its lightness.
“Since you’re here, you might as well be useful,” he said. He pulled out a rifle case and slung it over his shoulder. “Come on.”
He led me to an alley across the street from our target, pulled out a set of binoculars from the bag, and studied the building for several moments before handing them to me. I put the device to my eyes and scanned the building. Most of the windows of the five stories were dark as the employees had gone home hours ago. Adrian scooted forward and peered at the entrance.
“It looks like two security guards. One at the desk, one who patrols,” he said.
“You can tell all that from a few minutes?” I asked.
He glanced in my direction. “No, I’ve been watching this place for days.”
I blinked. So much for assuming he hadn’t left our office. He reached in my bag and handed me a folded bundle. It rolled out to reveal a long black coat with a hood. I held it up to my shoulders and looked at him questioningly.
“The coat will render you virtually invisible. It bends light around you.” He pulled one of his own out.
“You made this?”
He nodded. “I only had time to make two. One was supposed to be my backup. Let’s hope both work.”
Adrian pulled out a rifle case and opened it. He put the gun together in quick, sure movements. I paused with my arm halfway in the coat.
“Are you planning on sniping the guards?”
“I have to take out the security system. Then we will sneak into the building and deal with the guards.” He kneeled and positioned the rifle.
“So you’re going to shoot out the cameras?”
“It’s a dart containing some of my nanites. They’ve been programmed to infiltrate the security system.”
I looked from his face to the rifle. He wasn’t behind a computer this time. “How do you actually give commands to those things?”
He tapped his head. “I implanted a radio chip in my head that relays all my mental commands. Can we get on with this?”
“Right.” I shut up.
He aimed to the left of the door and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked and made a whooshing sound, jerking his shoulder. He stood up.
“We should move. We have maybe half an hour,” he said. “Head around back. There’s a loading area we can sneak in through.”
I nodded and took the alley. One truck sat empty in the parking lot. The light above the door flickered. I leaned against the rail, keeping my gaze on the truck. Adrian shifted around behind me for several minutes before the door opened with the squeak of metal.
He held the door open for me. I pulled out my sword and stepped into the warehouse. A metal rail divided the walkway from the loading area below. It was mostly empty, with a few boxes scattered throughout. I waved to Adrian and climbed over the rail. I headed to the door across the room. With Adrian’s guidance, we snuck through the halls to the front of the building. I crouched down, peeking around the corner.
One of the guards sat at the desk while the other leaned over, one hand resting on the marble counter surrounding the front of the desk. He chuckled at something on the screen of the television in front of them. The low babble of voices drifted to my ears. They didn’t notice my crawl toward them until it was too late. I took out the standing man with a hand chop to the back of his neck. The other one gaped at me for a second before he stood, his chair toppling to the ground. He reached for his gun, but Adrian slammed his fist into the man’s face, and the man dropped.
“Nice punch,” I said.
“Practice with Tres.” He moved down the hall. “Do something about them.”
I pulled a coil of rope from my belt, making a mental note to get more. I probably wouldn’t get this back. I left them tied and tucked away in a janitor’s supply closet down the hall. Cliché, I know, but it worked. Ad
rian stood behind the security desk, typing away on the computers.
“The server room is on this floor. Lucky you. No elevator ride,” he said.
I smirked at him. “I could have taken the stairs.”
“Come on.”
I followed him down one of the halls to a set of double doors. He swiped a card against a black square on the wall and the doors opened with a beep. The room held rows and rows of metal computer boxes that were almost as tall as I was. Adrian moved to the far corner of the room and sat down in front of a monitor and computer.
Adrian sat down, and his fingers moved over the keyboard rapidly. He pulled out a box with a cord and connected it to the computer. I moved to watch over his shoulder. A file come up with a head shot of Raina Benson. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a pair of square glasses rested on her nose. A forced half-smile hovered on her lips.
“She looks a little different from the conference,” I said. “Still cold, but less rigid.”
“I guess she enjoys vampirism.” His lips pressed together in a thin line.
“Were the two of you close?” I asked, and my heart sped up for some reason as I waited for his answer.
The small box to his side beeped, and he pulled it free. “We’re done here.”
He stood then walked out. We headed down the same hall we had entered. My gaze bored into his stiff shoulders as I walked behind him. He was so closed off. Honestly, learning anything about him as like pulling teeth. Why did I even care, though?
The dim lights flickered. A shadow pulled itself from the wall, stood upright as a person would, and blocked our way out. I took a step back, trying to wrap my mind around the fact a shadow had become three dimensional. I turned and found another shadow forming behind us as well.
Damn. Trapped.
Chapter 17
“Vampires?” I asked.
He nodded but kept his gaze focused on the one in front of him. I put my back to him and pulled my sword from its sheath. If it harmed demons’ actual forms, perhaps it would do something against these monsters. The vampire’s form in front of me undulated, thickening until it became three dimensional. My own shadow reached up and slapped my sword out of my hand. Its black finger brushed across my skin, leaving a chill behind that burned my flesh and left a deep ache in my bones.
“Damn,” I whispered.
“Throw this.” Adrian put a small marble in my hand.
I didn’t look too hard at what he handed me. I just lobbed it at the vampire. It shattered against the ground and a puff of yellowish smoke exploded around the creature. It contorted, and a harsh cough emanated from it. The smell of garlic filled the air. The figure rushed from the smoke. Pale skin had replaced the shadow along with straw-colored hair. Adrian jerked his arm and there was another sound of breaking glass and the stench of more garlic.
The vampire in front of me glared at us as he pulled a pistol from inside the jacket of his charcoal suit. I swore, spun around, and yanked Adrian to the ground with me. We hit the ground in a roll, and I came up on top with my face just inches from his. His breath warmed my skin. The boom of the gun firing echoed through the hall, and shots flew over our head. The other vampire jerked and stumbled backward. Adrian stared at the gun with his eye narrowed. The blond vampire gaped as the handle of his gun began to disappear. I rolled off of Adrian, leapt to my feet, and ran toward my sword. My fingers grazed the handle before I slammed into the ground with all of the air in my lungs leaving me.
As the second vampire sat on top of me, blood dripped from the wound of his chest and onto my face. I tried to squirm out from under him, but he tightened his knees around my thighs. He pressed one hand on my chest, forcing me against the floor while he jerked my head to the side and exposed my neck with the other hand. With a hiss, he buried his fangs in my neck. An icy burn replaced the initial jab of pain. The cry I would have made died in my throat as a numbness replaced any warmth I had.
My fingers fumbled along the edges of the stake on my belt. If I could just get it free. The vampire’s grip on my head and chest relaxed as he began to lose himself in draining me. I pulled the stake out and jabbed it into the vampire’s neck. He jerked away from me with a growl as his hand went to his neck. I writhed out from under him and scuttled to my sundang as he tugged the stake free. I didn’t stop moving until I was on my feet and well away from him with my sword in my hand. Adrian wrestled with the blond vampire farther down the hall. The vampire in front of me hissed again and pulled out his own pistol. The shots resounded in the air. I dodged down, rolled forward, and came up in a crouch. My blade swung in an upward arc and severed the hand holding the gun.
The ringing of gunfire in my ears muted his screams. He clutched his stump to his chest with his face twisted in an almost comical visage. These creatures really could feel pain. Well, I would be sure to put him out of him misery. I leapt up and spun, letting my sword follow the momentum of my body. It sliced through his neck and severed his head from the rest of his body. I expected more blood, but I was wrong. The creature’s form dissipated into wisps of shadow and his clothes crumpled to the ground.
I stepped back, leaned against the wall, and panted. My hand moved to the burning wound on my neck, and my hand came away wet with blood. Surprising. My blood felt frozen inside my veins. I didn’t know how it could even flow. Adrian pushed the other vampire against the wall and staked him. He turned and his gaze sought mine. He moved to me, pulled my hand away, and inspected my wound.
“I have a first aid kit in the van,” he said in a faraway voice before turning away.
I used the wall to prop myself up as we made our exit. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the chill had returned, and I seemed to have a perpetual shiver. The night air drove me to my knees. I tried to stand but my legs wobbled and I collapsed to the ground again. Adrian glanced back me and shook his head with a sigh. He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up. His arms radiated heat and I leaned as close as possible as we hobbled back to the van. I pressed my hands against the full blast of the heater as he drove for several streets before stopping to tend to my wound. At the touch of alcohol on the bite, I sucked air between my teeth.
“You’re experiencing symptoms of hypothermia,” Adrian said. “It’s common from a Strigoi’s bite.”
“S-so, b-blood loss and hypothermia,” I muttered. “I d-don’t see how their victims survived.”
“Many didn’t. In the past, Strigoi used to be rare. They controlled their numbers in order to stay hidden. That’s changed now.” Adrian pressed his lips in a thin line.
“How?”
“Erebus, the parent company of Acesco, has taken to hiring groups of humans whose main purpose is to feed them.”
I blinked. “So they’re paying humans to allow vampires to feed off of them?”
His lips twisted in a wry smile. “Well, that and the possibility of immortality. Supposedly everyone has a price.”
“How do you know so much about this company?” I asked.
“They’re vampires,” he said. “I’m a Van Helsing.”
“So are Esais in Tres, and they sure as hell don’t know about this.”
“Are you sure about that? Why do you assume you know us that well?”
I swallowed hard and crossed my arms. I hadn’t noticed when my hearing had started return to normal, but it had left an ache in my head that only compounded the chill and my sluggishness. Adrian could have told his brothers about this, and this was their way of handling it.
“I know you well enough,” I said. “Esais would have taken more active interest if he knew humans were being used as food.”
“And he would have gone riding in to save people who chose that path?” Adrian taped the bandage to my neck and started the car again. “They made their choice. We need to focus on destroying the vampires and the drug.”
I shivered at the possibilities Synergy could have on the populace, or was that just the hypothermia. Wait. “No, it’s
more than that. You know Raina Benson. Who is she to you?”
“Another vampire to kill.”
I sighed. “You’re not going to tell me.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“What about Esais and Tres? Is it their business that you’re running off to fight vampires by yourself?”
“I don’t have to answer to them. Or anyone. Despite what you think, I am a grown man.”
“Really? Because you were all set on coming on your own tonight. What if you had dealt with those two by yourself?”
“You were the one bitten.” Adrian pulled into the garage of the office. “You should see Tres and see if he can do anything.”
He slammed the door as he exited and headed up the stairs. I hopped out and sprinted to catch up. The parking garage blurred around me, and the world tilted. I leaned against the back of the van and swallowed hard.
“This isn’t over,” I called after him.
“Yes, it is.” He disappeared behind the closing elevator doors.
Chapter 18
With a deep breath, I knocked on John’s door. My heart thudded in my ears as I leaned against the doorframe and rubbed my upper arms. The chill from the vampire’s bite lingered despite Tres’s touch. By the time he had allowed me to leave, Adrian had disappeared again. I’d been commanded to go home and rest, but how could I sleep with these questions burning in my mind?
John pulled open the door and blinked at me. “Gabby, hi.”
I took in the wet tips of his hair and the way his shirt clung to his chest. “Did I interrupt anything?”
He glanced behind him and back to me. “Nothing that can’t wait. What’s up?”
“I thought I would drop by and see if you could help me get to sleep.”
His eyes smoldered, but he frowned as he studied me. “You’re shivering.”
“Long story,” I said.
He wrapped an arm around me as he guided me through the door and to the bed. “One that’s obviously on your mind. Sit and I’ll make you something warm. Then you can tell me.”