Blood Work

by L.J. Hayward

  Chapter 41

  “Hey, hey, hey.”

  I was on my feet before my ears registered the words as my own. Martínez and Veilchen regarded me as if I was an unruly child jumping around for attention. And now that I was the centre of attention, I had no idea what to do next. So I let my mouth loose.

  “Look, I’m all for the freedom of information act. But somehow I don’t think you guys are totally clued in on the fine points regarding the concept of freedom. I’m not about to go quietly as a bargaining piece in this little deal you have going here.”

  I wasn’t feeling too steady, between blood loss and aching, defrosting delicate parts of my anatomy. Still, I attempted to walk between the two head honchos of the vampire armies facing each other. They watched me with non-existent wariness. Let’s face it, I was less than a threat to either of them.

  “If either of you try to force me to talk, I’m going to resist,” I told them patiently. “And resist rather insistently. Now, I’m only human. I have this flimsy little mortal body, very easy to break. I could very well resist myself into an assisted suicide. Capiche?”

  So far, the only impression I had seemed to make was one of mild amusement, in Veilchen at least. Martínez just looked at me as if he’d never seen a talking ape before. Nothing new there.

  “Now, don’t jump to any hasty conclusions, my friends. I am well inclined to cooperate.”

  I stood between them, waving them together like I had some secret to tell. Martínez made a tiny movement, as if he might actually come closer. He didn’t though, when Veilchen remained as she was. Beyond them, their vampires waited in mindless stasis. Both of them had complete control of their armies. Made me think the Reds attacking Veilchen had been a deliberate move on Martínez’s part. When they failed, he’d fallen back on plan B. Which meant that if I suspected that, so did Veilchen.

  My stomach dropped out. If she knew that and still came to the bargaining table over a pithy thing like me, then perhaps she saw a great advantage in siding with the Reds. Scary, scary thought.

  “My cooperation, however,” I continued, “comes at a price. Now, Big Red here, who I know isn’t the Biggest Red, but he seems to have permission from Great-granddad to bargain for him, has already given me a starting price. He offered me my life.” I looked at Veilchen. “Top that.”

  Veilchen’s smile came close to being a snarl. “You would play us against each other?”

  “Hey, seems like the best way of me coming out of this with my life and sanity and maybe something a little extra. I’m a greedy bastard, I admit that, but it’s a vice and vice can be exploited. Now, what else you gonna give me?”

  She blinked slowly. “Your life and… when I claim the body stolen from me –” Veilchen pressed against me in a deliberately sensual manner. “– I’ll give you myself. I know you want that body.”

  No form of control this time, no hint of brutality. I managed to hold onto my dignity and added some scorn.

  “Lady, after what you did to me before, I’ll be lucky if I want any body ever again. I think something might have frozen and dropped off.” I stepped back. “Think of something else.”

  She had some awesome self-esteem, I’ll grant her that. Probably came from a millennia of being rejected and just having to deal, cause I don’t think she could have topped herself.

  Those white eyes narrowed and regarded me with deceptive mellowness.

  “Money,” Martínez offered.

  I turned to him. “How much?”

  “As much as you wish.”

  “Ooh. Tempting. I could hire me a whole bunch of hardy, blooded ex-marines to go vampire hunting and get my revenge. Come on, Big Red. Be creative. Everyone offers money, but maybe I’m after something else. Don’t be afraid to explore the possibilities, champ.” I gestured casually over my shoulder at Veilchen. “Miss Purple is at least trying.”

  “I’ll let you keep my daughter.” Veilchen’s offer was quiet, but it snapped through me like a live wire.

  I hid my surge of hope and said to Martínez, “See, that’s how you do it.” I faced Veilchen. “You won’t take her body?”

  “No. I’ll find another I like. You may keep her as your personal pet. As your bodyguard. As your lover. Whatever.” Then she smiled and added, “And I’ll give you however much money you want.”

  I sucked in a long breath. “That’s very, very close to everything I want. Big Red, you got one more chance.”

  He didn’t get it.

  Mercy launched herself from the ground and latched onto his back. She tore into his neck while tossing me what she held in one hand. Catching the knife and, with the world blurring around me, I spun, shedding an arc of water droplets off the blade as I went. It slashed through Veilchen’s throat, the Holy water smoking as it came into contact with her flesh. The return swing cut deeper and her head snapped backwards so far the remaining skin and tissue tore, dropping her head to the ground.

  I didn’t wait around to see what happened next. I just threw myself to the ground and covered my head. There was no explosion of goop from Veilchen’s dead body, but the two armies, released from control, roared at each other and charged.

  The noise was deafening. Think cat fight, dog barny and angry chimps at the zoo, combine it all and amplify. Holy hell. They could probably hear it all the way back in Redcliffe. Thankfully, there was little chance of being stood on. Vampires fight so fast the amount of time they actually spend on the ground is minimal. Still, blood was bound to fly very soon.

  I lifted my head enough to check the surrounds. It was a hazy mix of flashing limbs and disintegrating bodies. I couldn’t see Big Red or Mercy. Not good. Mercy had enough for the initial attack, but nothing left to actually fight with. If she was gone, she was either a puddle on the ground, or carried off by Big Red.

  Reaching through the link got me nothing. There was no block, no pain maddened vampire at the other end, no anything.

  A hand grabbed my arm. I screamed and then focused on Erin. She hauled herself closer, pale and very tired. There were fresh wounds on her right wrist. I gathered her to my side and did my best to protect her with my body.

  When a great splash of blood hit the grass beside us, I knew it was time to get going. Thankfully, we were back to being the little fish in this argument. Getting out was merely a chore of avoiding everyone else. The fight had expanded out of the clearing and into the forest proper. As we stumbled up the path back to the car, the trees around us shook and leaves rained down in great torrents. A huge crack came a moment before a slow, gradual crash, ending in a slight tremor in the ground and minor mushroom cloud of leaves and vegetation.

  Erin collapsed before we got back to the car. Working purely on adrenaline, I half dragged, half carried her the last distance. At the car, I had to bodily shove her into the passenger seat. It was all I could do to get in myself. When I made it behind the wheel, I locked the doors, despite the fact that my side had no window. But it made me feel better.

  We stayed there for some amount of time. Long enough for the last of the morphine to wear off and for Erin to regain some sense.

  I looked at Erin’s wrist. Mercy’s bite had been clumsy. Probably Erin had done as I had, and impaled her own flesh on Mercy’s fangs. From the glove compartment, I took the first aid kit and bound Erin’s wrist. She watched me do it with no interest. If I’d had any energy I would have started that talk about her current opinion on continual life, but I figured it could wait.

  Then the battle reached us.

  Vampires roiled out of the trees and charged. They were all Reds, coats, torn and ragged, flaring behind them, cab sav hitting me hard. Had Big Red’s superior numbers beaten Veilchen’s admittedly stronger troops? Fuck it. Who cared? I tore us backwards out of the park just ahead of the horde. Swinging the car around lost us precious ground and the bastards piled up on the car like footballers in a scrum.

  I roared wordlessly, flung the car into gear and slammed it forward. Some tumbled off,
some didn’t. I did my best to lose them on the way down the mountain. It mostly worked and the rest fell off when we hit level ground and I threw the car around a sharp bend.

  “Go back,” Erin gasped.

  “What?”

  “Back the other way.” She pointed unsteadily to the street I hadn’t taken. “That way.”

  She sounded like she had a plan, so we performed a highly illegal u-turn and rocketed back the way she indicated. The Reds followed gamely, their presence sitting in the back of my mouth like a pill I couldn’t swallow.

  It wasn’t far and when I saw where Erin had directed us, I laughed.

  The car skidded to a shuddering stop in the gravel car park and Erin and I piled out. I grabbed her arm and we raced up the stairs as quick as we could. Vampires began dropping around us, howling in anger and victory. We made it to the top of the stairs and rammed the doors. And came to a nasty and sharp stop.

  “Fuck! They locked the doors. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

  Erin sagged against the doors. “We tried.”

  I glanced back at the encroaching vampires. They were wary, approaching slowly. But any moment now, they were going to realise no cavalry was about to come charging out of the building and they would come in force.

  “We tried and nearly won,” I said. “And that’s not good enough.”

  Something inside me shifted. It was almost like the sensation I got when creating Invisible Matt, and it came from the same place as the umbilical that linked his body to mine. But this was different. It was like a pressure building up, coiling tightly, a spring of potential. It all happened in the space of perhaps a heartbeat.

  “Matt,” Erin said.

  I could feel the vampires coming. They were about to attack again. Their wariness had worn off.

  It was now or never.

  I pushed the potential energy out of my chest and into the doors. The thick wood cracked, the lock dissolved and with a heavy crash, the doors swung inward. Erin and I tumbled in just as the vampires lunged.

  The first few that landed inside the church simply combusted. The next few, perhaps protected by the gas released from their dead fellows lasted maybe a second or two longer. After that, the others managed to fall backwards.

  Erin and I scrambled further inside and rolled over to look at the vampires outside. They stood at the bottom of the stairs, hissing at us.

  I chuckled and gave them the finger.

  I was all for just sitting and watching the freaks gnash their fangs in frustration, but Erin wanted to close the doors, so we did. Then we staggered into the sanctuary.

  It was a small church, made from stone blocks and polished wood. The ceiling was arched and exposed beams were draped with hanging lights and fans. An older building retro fitted to offer more than spiritual comfort to its parishioners. There was a small, carpeted area at the back of the room with a play pen and box of toys. We lay down there and stared at the pointed ceiling.

  “Good call,” I said eventually.

  Erin just grunted.

  “How did you know it was here?”

  “It’s where I got married.”

  “Oh.”

  And we left it at that.