A Brush With Death

  Kasey rose to her feet and the vampire looked at her with that same hate-filled stare. With a glance, he took in the devastation in the nightclub, the thralls dying all around him. He turned tail and ran. He pushed aside the black curtain that ran along the back wall of the club and disappeared down the hall. Before Kasey could stop them, Hitchins and another officer took off after the vampire.

  “Stick together,” Kasey shouted over the fray. “we’re not leaving anyone behind.”

  As the last of the thralls perished, Kasey raced over to check on the newcomer who was sprawled on the floor face down, groaning in pain.

  Kasey leaned down and rolled the warrior over and found herself staring at a woman with piercing blue eyes, blonde hair that had been tied back out of her face, and a ragged scar that ran down one side of her neck.

  Marius’s blast had taken her in the chest, obliterating the black leather she had been wearing, but beneath it was a polished steel cuirass and a silver cross hanging from a length of gold chain. Her mask lay beside her, and she seemed to be struggling to breathe.

  “Are you alright?” Kasey asked, bending over her.

  “No,” the woman groaned. “I think he cracked a rib. Maybe two.”

  “You’re lucky that blast didn’t kill you,” Kasey replied. “I’ve seen it go straight through a vest. How did you survive?”

  “Blessed steel,” the woman replied, as if that was an explanation that made sense. “Where is he?”

  “He ran for it,” Kasey replied. “Headed out back.”

  “We need to go after him,” the woman replied, trying to roll onto her side. The move brought a pained gasp from her lips.

  Kasey offered her a hand. “That was the plan. Figured checking on you was the least we could do after you saved our skin. I’m Kasey.”

  “I know,” the woman replied, taking the hand.

  Kasey pulled her to her feet. “Do you have a name? Or should we just call you I know?”

  “It’s Abigail Lincoln. Are you always such a smartass?”

  Lincoln? As she looked at the vampire hunter, she didn’t know what to say.

  “Only on days that end in y,” Bishop said as she loaded a fresh magazine into her MP5.

  “Call me Abbey,” she said, stifling a chuckle as she checked her blade.

  “When you say Lincoln,” Kasey began.

  “Yes, those Lincolns,” Abbey replied.

  The Lincolns had been hunting vampires for over a hundred and fifty years. “How did you find us?” Kasey asked.

  “I was looking for them.” Abbey pointed at the headless vampires she had disposed of earlier. “I tracked them here.”

  Kasey caught her breath as she studied the woman’s face. She looked human but she’d moved with such a fluid grace that Kasey had her doubts. “You were tracking the vampires? Why?”

  “It’s personal,” Abbey replied. “Are you going to go after him or stand around all day asking me twenty questions?”

  Something about the woman made her uneasy, but Kasey couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. Perhaps it was the fact that everyone else who had showed up in her life today had tried to kill her, or perhaps it was the woman’s evasive nature. Abbey might have saved her life, but so had the gnomes—right before they had tried to auction her off.

  “He took the hall on the right. Feel free to take the lead,” Kasey said, nodding toward the hall.

  “Don’t trust me, huh? Even after I saved your skin?” Abbey asked as she headed for the hall.

  “If you had every bounty hunter on the east coast trying to kill you, you’d grow a healthy degree of skepticism too,” Kasey replied.

  “You’re not as dumb as I thought.” Abbey brushed the curtain aside, revealing a hallway that ran deeper into the building.

  “Say what?” Kasey muttered, suddenly regretting the warmish reception she’d given the woman.

  “I said you’re not as dumb as I thought,” Abbey replied. “After watching you walk into an ambush, I was a little concerned. Good to know you’re not a total idiot.”

  Kasey looked at Bishop and in a whisper that was intentionally loud enough to overhear, said, “If I kill her, is it still murder, or can we brush it off as collateral damage?”

  “I can still hear you,” Abbey said.

  “Consider yourself warned,” Kasey replied, following her into the hall.

  The hallway itself was styled in the same fashion as the nightclub, black painted walls with timber flooring, but at the end of the hall stood a set of heavy steel doors that looked entirely out of place.

  Propped awkwardly against the walls were two bodies. Hitchins and the other officer who had followed after her. Neither of them were moving.

  “Hitchins!” Bishop called, racing to her side. She bent down to check her pulse, then stood shaking her head. “What were they thinking?”

  “Probably trying to keep an eye on him,” Kasey replied, clenching her fists in frustration. “We’ll make him pay for this.”

  “Well,” Abbey said, pointing to the door. “This place backs onto a large warehouse. If I had to guess, I'd say the vampires own both.”

  “Plenty of places to hide back there,” Kasey added as she stepped up and tried to open the door. It was locked.

  “Allow me,” a voice behind her called.

  Joziah Henley pulled the portable battering ram off his back, took two steps, and swung it with everything he had. The lock shattered and the doors swung inward, revealing an expansive single room warehouse.

  Two large aluminum kegs stood off to her right. Beside them was a series of plastic folding tables laden with chemistry apparatus. Beyond the tables was a series of pallets laden with plastic wrapped packages. A forklift moved back and forth, loading the pallets into the back of a truck.

  A dozen people assisted with the loading of the truck, and overseeing it all was Marius, Prince of the Feudal Court.

  As the remnants of her strike force trickled in behind her, Kasey strode forward into the warehouse. This was where they were making their venom. After what she had faced in the club, she knew it had to be destroyed. Her eyes moved to the forklift loading a pallet into the back of the truck.

  The pills themselves were tiny. There had to be hundreds of thousands of them, perhaps millions.

  “Oh my,” Kasey muttered, her jaw dropping open. “We have to stop that truck.”

  If that much venom hit the street, it could cause chaos in New York City, perhaps even across the country. In that moment, the vampire's plan became perfectly clear. They would distribute enough venom to cause the country to tear itself apart. The chaos would be catastrophic as enraged, inhumanly strong people used their newfound power to get their way. People would die, families would be torn apart, and the very fabric of society would be rent asunder. It would be a living nightmare and easy pickings for the vampires to subdue the survivors.

  “Load the truck. I'll deal with them,” Marius shouted, as he placed himself between Kasey and the truck.

  “Spread out,” Kasey called to her team. “He can't deal with all of us at once.”

  “A terrible assumption.” Marius raised his palm up in front of him.

  Kasey erected a shield between them. The werewolves darted off to her left, and Bishop, Henley, and Abbey headed right.

  A puff of black smoke billowed up from the vampire's hand and when it dissipated there was a book in it. The book was large, bound in black leather and covered in glowing red runes.

  “The Libro Sanguis,” Kasey murmured as a sickening knot formed in her stomach. Marius had the tome.

  “Carys was truly a remarkable wizard,” Marius said, his eyes dancing gleefully over the pages. “A man after my own heart.”

  Kasey couldn't give him time to work.

  “Pêl Tân!” she shouted, hurling a ball of flames at the vampire.

  Marius waved his free hand and muttered something in Latin. There was a whiff of smoke as her spell extinguished.

  �
��Scissura!” Marius bellowed, as he pointed at Bishop.

  Kasey felt a wave of power ripple through the warehouse as it raced toward her friend. Bishop threw herself into a dive. The spell sailed over her, striking the kegs behind her.

  The aluminum tore asunder and a viscous red liquid poured from the damaged vessels. A thick metallic stench filled the air as Kasey realized what it was: blood.

  Marius had been aiming for them all along, and as they spilled their contents onto the floor of the warehouse, he smiled, his enlarged canines catching the light.

  “Mellt,” Kasey chanted.

  Lightning arced from her outstretched hands and shot at Marius. He raised a hand and a crimson shield materialized before him. The lightning played across the surface of the shield before grounding itself in the concrete at his feet. Kasey maintained the assault. If she could keep Marius busy, it would give the others a chance to flank him.

  The Libro Sanguis rose out of Marius' hand and hovered in the air before him. He gestured at the pooling blood, and it began to move. The blood ran as though it had a mind of its own, flowing like a river to his feet. With a flick of his wrist, the pages of the Libro Sanguis turned. He began to chant in Latin.

  Cal led his pack, charging at the vampire, teeth bared, claws raking against the concrete as they ran. Marius pointed a palm at the werewolves, and a beam of scarlet arcane energy cut through their ranks.

  Cal leapt clear over it. As the spell hammered into the third werewolf, Cal landed beside Marius and sunk his teeth into the vampire’s torso, threatening to tear him in half.

  A hiss escaped the vampire’s lips. He grabbed Cal by the scruff of the neck and yanked him free, taking a chunk of Marius' own flesh with him.

  The vampire hurled the werewolf and sent him smashing through the plastic tables. Instruments and beakers flew in every direction as the leader of the pack rolled across the concrete.

  Kasey's eyes went wide. The vampire had just tossed Cal like a salad. It shouldn't have even been possible.

  Then before her eyes, the missing section of Marius' chest began to regenerate, regrowing until nothing but alabaster skin was visible through his torn suit.

  Running his hand across the smooth flesh, Marius seemed content. He turned his attention back to Bishop, Abbey, and Henley.

  Six-foot-high flames erupted, encircling the trio, preventing them from advancing and corralling them toward the corner of the warehouse.

  As Kasey's attacks deflected harmlessly off Marius’ shield, she began to panic, her breath coming in ragged bursts.

  Marius advanced on her. “Now it's just you and me, witch. It's a shame you won't live to see your city burn.”

  The vampire brought his hand down and Kasey felt the weight of the world driving her to her knees. She knew it had to be some kind of arcane attack but as much as she tried to push back with her will, the vampire seemed so much stronger. She'd just watched him regrow his chest, for heaven's sake. How could she compete with that?

  Her legs buckled, and her knees struck the concrete, sending a painful protest through her body.

  If he could heal that easily, she had to take him down in a single decisive stroke, but she was struggling to move.

  She fought to lift her hand. It felt like she was swimming through wet concrete, but she pointed at the advancing vampire and whispered, “Golau Haul.”

  A beam of light, brighter than the noonday sun, shot from her palm at him. He ducked to the side, but the evocation struck him in the shoulder, scoring a deep wound. He dropped his arm to his side as the flesh around the wound blistered and burned.

  He hissed in pain. “Sunlight, you clever little witch. Perhaps I shouldn't kill you at all. Maybe I should make you one of us so that you know what daylight feels like.” He bared his teeth. “Just one little bite, and you’ll never know death.”

  “I'd rather die,” Kasey replied.

  “It's cute that you think you have a choice,” Marius replied and the force pushing down on Kasey grew stronger.

  She doubled over on her hands and knees as the vampire grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked up her head.

  He ran a finger along her neck, tracing her jugular. “Any last words?”

  It was a taunt. There was so much pressure she couldn't breathe, let alone cast a spell or even speak.

  She inched her palm forward, clenched it into a fist, and then extended her middle finger.

  It wasn't much, but it was all the defiance she could manage.

  The vampire shook his head. “Pathetic.”

  Then his eyes lingered on her wrist, where a simple wire band hung, with four small ivory-colored teeth dangling from it. Marius hissed as he yanked her to her feet, grabbed her by the throat and hoisted her into the air.

  “You dare wear my brother as a trophy. I will tear your teeth out for this.”

  Kasey's eyes watered as his hand around her neck tightened. Marius forced her mouth open and grabbed one of her front teeth.

  The left-hand wall of the warehouse exploded inward in a shower of brick and steel and dust.

  The crushing weight threatening to squeeze the life out of her eased as the vampire turned its attention to the breach, his crimson shield flickering to life.

  Out of the dust and smoke came Marion Strang and a dozen ADI agents, battle staves in hand, rapping against the concrete as they advanced.

  Marius grimaced as he raised his left hand, his right still gripping Kasey. Blood rose from the pool around his feet. With a flick of his wrist, he reshaped it into a sigil that began to burn and hurled the flaming symbol of hate at Strang.

  The Director of the ADI slammed her staff into the concrete and a silver shield materialized before her. The battle mages beside her followed suit, and successive layers of multihued shields came into being behind hers.

  The flaming blood rune tore through the silver shield in a layer of crimson sparks, smoke hissing angrily but was extinguished by the subsequent layers of shields.

  These battle mages were disciplined and coordinated. Strang hadn’t brought any old agents; she’d brought her elite.

  Kasey grabbed the vampire's hand with both of hers and tried to force open the thumb to free herself, managing a desperate breath in the process.

  More bloody sigils rose into the air, where they hovered briefly before Marius sent them flying into the ADI.

  The battle mages sent waves of fire, ice, and pure Arcana at the vampire, but he batted them away like they were nothing.

  He was simply too powerful.

  Kasey's head sagged, her eyes lingering over the concrete beneath her dangling feet. As Marius cast each working from the Libro Sanguis, the pool of blood would contract and shrink. It wasn't his power he was using at all. He was fueling his magic with blood, just as Carys had done.

  Kasey used the vampire's arm for leverage and kicked him in the chest, tearing from his grasp before tumbling to the floor.

  Tears streamed from Kasey’s eyes, and her lungs burned from the lack of oxygen, but she was free.

  Marius glanced at her, but the ADI hit him with everything they had. Salvoes of elemental fury lashed at him, dragging his attention back to them.

  Kasey focused her mind on the pool of blood at his feet, and driven by something inside her mind, she placed her hand in it.

  She could feel the energy coursing through the liquid. It was the same stored power Marius was drawing on. He had the Libro Sanguis to guide him but as she made contact with it, something inside her seemed to awaken. It was a warm sensation that started in her heart and radiated through her being.

  Instinctively, she seemed to understand the flow of power and redirected it to her will. Marius had usurped his skills with blood magic, but she was a druid. She’d been born to it.

  Moving her hand through the pool of blood, she whispered, “Pêl Tân.”

  Ordinarily, blood would never burn, but charged with arcane power, it burst into flames.

  Kasey wrenched her hand free bu
t still felt the searing burn race up her left arm as she withdrew it. It hurt like nothing she had ever felt and she couldn't even bring herself to look at her arm.

  Standing in the midst of the blood, Marius became the center of the inferno. His shield could not protect him from something inside of it and the flames raced up his body.

  A grinding sound behind her pulled Kasey's attention. Cal shoved one of the tables across the floor toward where Bishop and the others were trapped behind a wall of flames. The table skittered along the floor and into the fire and a three-foot section of the flames dissipated.

  Abbey ran across the table, followed by Bishop and Henley, before the table melted and the flames rose once more.

  Abbey looked from Kasey to Marius who was fighting to put himself out.

  “Now, Kasey!” Abbey pulled something out of what was left of her jacket and threw it to Kasey.

  Kasey caught it. The cool steel of the stake bit her palm. Marius had just about put out the fire. She was almost out of time.

  Fighting through the pain, Kasey launched herself at Marius. He looked up as Kasey plunged the steel straight through his heart.

  A pained groan escaped his lips as his dark eyes began to fade and white sclera appeared at their edges.

  Kasey pushed him away. She had no desire to see any trace of the man he had once been.

  He landed in a heap on the floor and went still.

  Kasey sagged forward, gasping for breath. Three feet away, the Libro Sanguis lay open on the concrete floor. Staggering forward, Kasey picked it up, closed it, and tucked it under her arm.

  Her left arm was blistered and bloodied from the burn, but it would heal, with the help of the Administorum of course. In the meantime, it hurt like hell.

  Abby raced over and checked the vampire’s corpse. After a moment, she rose, seemingly satisfied that Kasey had done the job adequately.

  Strang and the ADI approached, their staves rapping against the floor as they walked.

  “Is that the last of them?” Strang asked.

  As if in answer, the truck’s engine roared to life. The truck launched forward, out of the warehouse.

  “The venom,” Kasey mumbled.

  “The what?” Strang replied.