by Lily Luchesi
Suddenly, it was as if her skin was being torn a by an animal as Augustus sunk his fangs into her veins. It was a pain that she could not fully comprehend, it rendered her mind useless as her brain failed to send the signals to her nerves to convey just what she was feeling.
As he bit, he dropped the binding curse and Harriet had time to utter one final scream before her world went black.
***
There are moments in every person’s life where they have to take a seat and reevaluate what they’ve done, who they’ve been, up till that point. Danny Mancini had done that twice already in the past five years. He thought that perhaps the third time was the charm as he sat in his living room, again gazing at the documents Sean had left him.
It wasn’t something he dwelled on, the little strange things about himself. His psychic abilities he had learned to live with, knowing what they were and where they came from. After a while, he had taken the other small, seemingly insignificant differences about himself and put them on a high shelf in his mind palace, never to be looked at again.
So what if he healed quicker than normal? That was a plus in his line of work. Same with looking and feeling younger than he was. He had little to no knowledge of biology, so until Angelica had pointed it out to him, he’d had no idea the amount she took from him daily would have killed a normal human.
He looked at himself in the decorative mirror on the living room wall. That was another of Angelica’s little touches in his house, despite her being unable to see her own reflection. He recalled something Leander had said to him when they had met with him in Hell: “All this time I was worried about the darkness Angelica had inside of her—and you should be worried about it too—but I realize now I underestimated the void inside of you. You truly are my ancestor. Hunters always were the most vicious types of humans out there.”
Leander had actually seen the vampire in him, not the hunter. He had seen the dark blood he was born with, his immortal heritage. Because you can dilute vampire blood, but you can’t eradicate it not matter how hard you try. His soul—the soul of Jonathan Price— was that of a hunter. His blood, the blood he was born with in this life, was that of a vampire. The deck was stacked against him and he did not fail to see the irony.
His reflection showed nothing but an extremely worried and exhausted man. No hint of vampirism whatsoever. But Danny knew that he was not the man he thought he was even a day ago. He might not look like a monster, but he knew that appearances could be misleading. Just like with Fiona Guilfoyle.
All this time I’ve been judging Angelica when I’m not much better, he thought. And then another thought hit him. He could take Augustus’ place. Angelica didn’t need to rule with that monster if Danny was alive. But that would mean trusting her after what she did to Helena. His stomach dropped when he thought of how Helena had been killed.
He had never been more conflicted in his life, but he now was certain of one thing: he was in no position to pass judgment on anyone, or to be leading those hunters from England on this fucked up crusade.
Danny still needed to figure out what to do to stop Helena’s remnant from killing him, and he was certain he could never fully come to accept that he had no other choice than to kill Angelica. However, he was now not as enamored with the idea of killing her as he had made himself believe that he was.
As he was coming upon this realization, there was a knock at his front door. Judging by the time, it was Edgar and his band of teenage hunters. When he opened the door, it turned out that it was only Hannah.
“Where’s the cavalry?” Danny asked, letting her in.
She was smiling. “Ronnie said you helped him come out. That’s what he’s doing right now. Thanks. He was kind of in a self-imposed Hell.” She stopped smiling once she sat down in the living room and took a good look at him. “And right now, you look like you’re in Hell. Are you quite all right, Mr. Mancini?”
Danny wasn’t about to bare his soul to a kid, but then none of these three were kids. Ronnie and James really never were, with their life history. “I got some news I’m not entirely happy with, is all. And it made me reconsider some things. And it is in small part thanks to Ronnie and his story about Damien’s murder.”
Hannah looked down. “I believed as Ronnie did: that Damien wasn’t evil. Obviously you know Edgar didn’t.”
Danny nodded. “Yeah. And I think that, the kid was really just sixteen, right? So he had to feed like his parents, from donors or bottled blood. More likely than not, he really was innocent. And it wasn’t his fault what his bloodline was. You don’t choose your heritage, your species.”
Now Hannah was nodding. “Yes, that’s what I tried saying. Augustus is one thing: he’s a murderer who gets sick enjoyment out of fear and death. But Damien was just a kid…and you must forgive me for saying this, but Angelica was sick. In over two hundred years, she killed two people. That’s it. So you know how many Augustus killed in just two weeks? You told me it was seven that you knew of!
“Look, I have had to be silent for a long time, and I’m sick of it!” She leapt from the seat she’d taken. “You’re all narrow-minded, xenophobic, and overly judgmental. Especially you: you judge Angelica by human standards, but she’s isn’t human. You knew that when you agreed to marry her. And now you’re planning her murder based on mortal judgement. It’s just so wrong I don’t even have the vocabulary to explain it!”
Danny was momentarily speechless at her rant. His silence gave her a chance to say one last thing.
“I will help you kill Augustus. He’s a parasite and deserves to die. But I will not touch Angelica. And I don’t think Ronnie or James will, either. If you and Edgar want to kill the woman who saved the vampire race, the woman who saved your miserable arse time and time again, be my bloody guest. Just remember that her death will be on your conscience forever, and by the time you regret your actions, it will be too late.”
Chapter Twelve
Harriet hadn’t called Angelica after her meeting with Augustus, and Augustus had not returned to his manor. She was pacing back and forth in the library, unable even to read. The only thing her mind could concentrate on was the thought that Harriet was lying dead in her office, neck twisted and blood drained.
Don’t be silly, she chastised herself. Augustus would never do such a stupid thing when he knew you knew where he was. If Harriet ended up dead, he knew he’d be the prime suspect. Augustus wasn’t that stupid, nor was he so careless.
Perhaps he was still there? It was possible they were talking this long. Maybe Harriet had convinced him to stay and give a detailed account of his life for their records. That would be helpful. If only her mind was naturally optimistic. She was a realist and she knew in reality that radio silence was never a good thing.
She toyed with going there, or at least calling, but being a nag was the last thing on her mind. She wished Augustus had a cell phone. Calling him would be better than calling Harriet to check up on him.
This is ridiculous! Angelica thought. He’s an ancient vampire, not a fucking teenager! I shouldn’t have to keep tabs on him. …I should have gone with him. She twisted her wedding ring around her finger. If Danny was still of sound mind, he could have run interference, gone into the office with fake business and seen if all was well or not.
Her thoughts brought her back to Danny. She hoped the crystal was working and keeping Helena away from him. Remnants were dangerous because defeating them was impossible. The thought that her actions could cause Danny’s death or insanity left a sour taste in her mouth. She truly had not wanted any of this to happen. She was perfectly happy with Danny, perfectly happy as a vamplet, running the PID and going on adventurous hunts all around the city and suburbs. She hadn’t asked for or wanted any of this.
Love of power was one thing, and she did love it, but it wasn’t worth her entire life being turned upside down. If she could give it all up for a chance to go back to how it was right before Miranda had forced her to be turned, she’d do
so in a heartbeat.
It was then that the front door opened and a moment later Augustus came into the library. “Angelica. You appear troubled.”
No shit, Sherlock, she thought but didn’t say. “You took some time.”
“Actually, I was just flying around the city. I have been finished with Harriet for over an hour now. I had no idea I was being timed,” he said, removing his cloak.
“Harriet was supposed to let me know how it went.”
Augustus sat down on the divan and said, “While I was leaving an agent came in, something about a werewolf. She was most likely too busy to indulge your paranoia about me.”
She scoffed. “A werewolf incident made her ‘too busy’? If it wasn’t a conflict of interest, I’d take back the PID from her.” Angelica took a breath, now able to relax a bit more. In that breath she smelled the Chicago night on Augustus: smog, exhaust, the damp that preceded rain, even Harriet’s hideously flowery perfume. And blood.
Masterful at schooling her face, Angelica didn’t let it show that she smelled the blood. It could have been from bagged earlier that evening, after all. She needed to see Harriet and then go on a police scanner, be sure that there were no murders that weren’t the kind you saw on a typical Chicago night. Then she could rest easy.
“Well, now that my mind is assuaged, I believe I will take your cue and go out into the night before the rain begins,” she said, getting her favorite black duster from where she’d tossed it on a chair. She liked wearing it because it concealed her sword. Just in case she needed it.
Augustus nodded at her and she left, running to her loft to get the weapons she had not brought with her, and then she went just a few buildings down to the PID office. Entering the reception area felt wonderfully familiar and she smiled at the succubus who had survived the demonic massacre four months ago.
“Hey, Lena. Can you let Harriet know I’m coming up?” she asked.
“She sent a memo down over an hour ago that she wasn’t to be disturbed,” Lena replied.
“That’s not possible. When did the Emperor leave?”
“I thought he was still up there. He never came this way again.”
The windows didn’t work here at the PID for safety reasons, but that didn’t mean a creature as strong as a vampire couldn’t break the plexiglass. As Angelica’s stomach sank to her boots, she ran past the desk and up the stairs, making the hundred flights in ten seconds.
She banged on the door to Harriet’s office, but there was no answer, so she kicked it in. The smell of blood was overpowering and it was very easy to see why, as Harriet’s corpse was lying in the middle of the floor, near the door, as if she had been trying to escape when she’d gotten her throat torn open.
Angelica let out a scream, too shocked to control herself. Another death, another ally lost and it was all her fault. Sending out a Hail Mary, she pressed the emergency button on her phone for a call for help.
***
Danny was watching a movie when all of a sudden his phone burst into a shrill alarm.
“What the fuck?” That had never happened before. The screen was flashing red and he picked it up, reading the one word in the middle: “EMERGENCY”. It was Brighton’s software, the one he designed for the entire PID in case anything happened. The only person who could access it was the current director, or so he thought.
He pressed his fingertip to the phone to unlock it and it stopped it’s shrieking, leaving him in blissful silence with the exception of his ears ringing. The screen unlocked and it sent him to a map of the city, with a big red target over the PID building.
The first thing that came to his mind was that Edgar had staged some sort of ambush. The second was that Angelica and/or Augustus had gone berserk. Either way, people needed help and that is precisely what he was going to do: help.
He grabbed his coat, two guns, and two knives. Silver bullets in extra clips were loaded into his pockets, as were two vials of holy water. He had no idea what he was getting himself into, so he prepared for every possibility.
Just as he was opening his front door, he came face-to-face with a furious Edgar.
“For fuck’s sake, Mancini, what are you telling these kids?” he cried.
Danny felt his face drain of blood. If Edgar was here, then it wasn’t him causing the PID to sound the alarm. “Edgar, all respect meant, get the fuck out of my way.” He moved to push past him, but the man wouldn’t budge.
“You’re telling me you don’t want to kill the monster anymore? Murder is murder, Mancini. You know that as well as I do!”
“Well, we might not have a choice. There’s an emergency at the PID. If it isn’t you, then it’s most likely Augustus…and if it’s him, Angelica is probably leading him.” Danny could hear the resignation in his voice. “Regardless, you’ll get to kill some kind of monster tonight if you come with me.”
Danny knew he couldn’t trust Edgar, but he knew he needed help. Because if for some reason it wasn’t the Emperor and Empress, then it was even worse. Enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.
“How do I know you’re not trying to trap me?” Edgar challenged.
Sighing in frustration, Danny bodily shoved the hunter out of the way. “I’m a cop. I dedicated my life to saving others. And I’m not letting your stupidity stop me from doing my damn job! Come with me or not, it’s your funeral.”
He turned to walk away, and heard a cell phone beep.
“Stop!” Edgar cried.
Danny turned around and saw a deep wave of pain and shock cloud Edgar’s face. He gripped the column on the side of Danny’ front door and slowly lowered himself to the ground.
“What is it?” Danny went back by him and Edgar held out his phone, hand shaking so badly Danny had to take it from him.
On the screen was a slightly sideways photo of Ronnie, James, and Hannah. Hannah’s neck looked bloody. They were bound together, but Danny could not see any rope or even duct tape. It was some sort of magic.
There was a text with the photo: “Better hurry and come get them, or I shall have quite the decadent midnight snack.” The text had come from Ronnie’s phone.
“How did they get them?” Edgar asked, his voice as shaky as his limbs.
“That’s not Angelica. She’d never act so…pretentious,” Danny said. “I know where they are. This is the biggest Catholic cemetery in Chicago. I’m surprised a vampire can even walk the grounds, they use so much holy water there. I’ll give you the directions.”
“You won’t help me?” Edgar cried.
“I need to see what this means.” Danny shook his still flashing phone. “Chances are, the warning was for this, but I have to be sure.”
“Why? You quit them, did you not?”
Danny paused. Yes. He had quit the PID, quit Angelica, quit his marriage, and really had quit living in the past month, haunted by a remnant and his own disturbing thoughts. It was time to live again, it seemed.
He smirked. “There’s something you should know about the PID: nobody ever really leaves unless they’re dead.”
Danny text Edgar the directions to the cemetery and then got into his own car, the images of the three teens bound by an invisible force burning in his mind. He pulled out of the driveway and went down Addison to Lake Shore Drive, which would take him directly to the PID once he turned on Michigan Avenue.
When he was barely halfway there, a thought struck him. What if this was a trap for Angelica to be able to kill him?
Please, scoffed Brighton’s voice in his mind. As if you’re that important. Get your head out of your arse, Mancini. Stop. Think. You’ve seen Augustus before, haven’t you?
That thought did make Danny pull the car over. Where on Earth could he have seen the Emperor before their initial meeting? He remembered thinking that something about Augustus was familiar, but he had discarded the thought, thinking he was being paranoid.
That cold gaze, the haughty way he smirked, his superior tone of voice. He had heard and seen i
t all before, just hadn’t thought to recall where. Why had he not thought to recall it? Because when he had first seen Augustus, it was in a different century, when he was under another name…and when Danny thought he was dead.
He put his phone on speaker and called Harriet’s office, which was answered by an hysterical girl, the succubus who worked the front desk at the PID. It took Danny five minutes he could not afford to spend to get the story out of her. Augustus had killed Harriet, and Angelica had sounded the alarm. Currently, Augustus was missing.
“You’re not MIA anymore, you son of a bitch,” Danny muttered as he made a U-turn and took Addison back to Clark Street, to the cemetery, breaking every posted speed limit and praying the traffic cops were all in Dunkin Donuts this time in the evening. If the alarm had been raised because of the Emperor, that was all he needed to know.
He text Edgar at a stoplight he could not run. “Augustus killed the PID director. I’m only two miles away. DO NOT ENGAGE HIM.” Like he’ll listen.
By the time Danny got to the cemetery, the sky had decided to open up into one of the spring storms that could easily have residential parts of Cook County flooded. At least it was semi-warm. Were it cold, his movements would be hampered and that could almost ensure his death…and the deaths of those kids.
Before he hopped the cemetery gate, he crossed himself and said, “God be with me.”
The cemetery was far too silent. He was sure that Augustus had gagged the kids somehow, but where was Edgar? The loudmouthed Brit should be either mouthing off or screaming in pain, depending on how long ago he’d gotten here. Danny hadn’t expected the man to actually heed his warning.
Danny cocked his gun in his right hand and had a blessed silver knife in his left as he slowly advanced deeper into the cemetery. Despite it being an inclement night, there was enough light from the city around them to see perfectly.
As he got closer to where so many people he knew were buried, he saw why Edgar wasn’t speaking: the man was splayed across Brighton and Mark’s double grave. He was bleeding from a head wound, but was still alive. Danny suspected a concussion was the worst he’d suffered so far.