Death Banishes (Mortis Vampire Series Book Six)

by J. C. Diem

  Jogging past me, Gregor grimaced against the strengthening wind. Kokoro ran at his side with a hand tucked into his arm. She might not need physical guidance anymore but she enjoyed being close to her new love interest. “How about we pick up the pace?” Gregor said then put on a burst of speed.

  Moving far quicker than we had last night, we raced across the desiccated ground. Being undead gave us the bonus of never running out of breath and it also gave us incredible stamina. Cutting a glance at Luc, I smirked as I thought of his stamina when we were naked. Catching my eye, he rolled his and put some more distance between us. I didn’t take it as an insult. Now was definitely not the time to succumb to my rising flesh hunger. The two hungers often battled each other. If there had been any possibility that we might come across some food, my need for sex might not have been quite so strong at the moment.

  We sprinted flat out for over an hour before I called the group to a halt. If this underground facility was like the others then the entrance had to be around here somewhere. “Try the button,” I said to Gregor. He did so and a door slid open to our right.

  Just in case some droids were waiting for us, we pointed our death rays at the stairs. It was dark inside and no scarlet eyes glowed in the gloom. Luc, Ishida and I went first with the bulk of our group in the middle. Igor, Cristov and the other armed vampire guarded the rear. You still haven’t learned everyone’s name, my inner voice said suddenly. The comment Gregor had made earlier that our kin were dying like extras in a horror movie hadn’t left me. I hated to admit it even to myself but I wasn’t expecting our group to survive for long on this planet. If fate had dumped us here and left us on our own, what was the point of getting close to everyone since there was a good chance they were only going to die anyway?

  Once Gregor closed the door again, Ishida voiced an idea. “We need a replacement monitor that the Viltarans haven’t hacked into and tampered with.” He led the way and the rest of us trotted to catch up.

  “For all we know they might be alerted as soon as we use one of the monitors and hack into it all over again,” I pointed out.

  Shrugging, Ishida didn’t seem terribly concerned. “They think we are dead so this should buy us time to find the factory and shut it down.” I wished our task would be as easy as the kid made it seem but nothing had been easy since we’d landed here.

  Hearing the chirping sounds coming from the caged clones from several hallways away, Geordie unconsciously rubbed his stomach. “I wish they were edible,” he said softly. Sound carried in the silver halls and the last thing we needed was to rile up the imps.

  “Their blood is full of nanobots,” I reminded him. “I wonder if that’s why we die when we drink each other’s blood, because we’re already infested with microscopic alien robots?”

  “That could very well be the case,” Gregor said and smiled like a proud parent whose child had just turned out to be smarter than they’d thought they were.

  “So, we have tiny little Roberts swimming around in our veins?” Geordie seemed sickened by the thought. I smiled at the picture of microscopic Robert clones busily doing whatever it was that nanobots did. My amusement died as I picked up life forms at the periphery of my senses. Everyone stopped when I did and glanced around uneasily, searching for danger.

  “What is it, chérie?” Geordie asked. His hand slipped into mine, seeking comfort.

  “Viltarans,” I said quietly. “I can sense a small group of them.” Based on what we’d seen when spying on their secret meeting, there were probably a maximum of twelve in their party.

  “Where are they?” Gregor asked.

  “In the dining hall, I think.”

  Luc, Igor, Gregor and Aventius shared a silent exchange of ideas that seemed to run along the same lines. “Their blood didn’t harm us last time,” Luc pointed out.

  “Please tell me you aren’t thinking of eating them,” I said. All four men turned stoic expressions on me.

  “There is no telling when we will be able to feed again, Mortis,” Aventius pointed out.

  “Luc is right, Natalie,” Geordie said. “We all drank the alien’s blood and we’re all fine.” His newly black eyes pleaded with me to see reason. “You might be able to last for months without food but we are still recovering from starvation.”

  As much as I hated to agree with him, Geordie was right. He still bore the signs of advanced age and Ishida could definitely do with a decent feed. “Ok, fine,” I gave in with a distinct lack of grace. “But we need to scout the area first and come up with a plan.”

  “I have a plan,” Igor said and hefted his death ray meaningfully. “We creep up on them, blast the droids then jump the Viltarans and tear their throats out.”

  What the plan lacked in detail it made up for in its simplicity. As one, our group quietly began to sneak down the corridor. Clearly, I didn’t have a vote this time. Grumbling internally, I elbowed my kin out of the way until I was back in the lead again. I understood their desire to find sustenance but there was no need to put them in more danger than was necessary. Out of all of us, I was the only one who was un-killable so it made sense for me to go first.

  Geordie grinned at me when I stalked past him and Ishida gave me a tiny bow. I replied to both with a grimace to indicate how badly I thought their plan sucked. This was supposed to be the second phase of our plan but since the Viltarans were handy, we might as well wipe them out now. Besides, I could also do with a snack.

  Before we reached the dining hall, I called everyone to a halt again. “Instead of bursting in there with our death rays drawn, why don’t I scout out the room first?”

  I’d kept my voice at barely above a whisper and Geordie responded in kind. “How are you going to do that? As soon as you get close, the door will open and they will know we’re here.”

  “Not if I just send my eye in,” I replied. The teen made a face but refrained from gagging when my right eye popped out of its socket and fell onto my palm. Motioning for everyone to stay back, I snuck closer to the dining hall then rolled my eye the rest of the way.

  Possessing the eye as I crept back to the group, I waited for it to come to a stop near the door before flattening it down into a thin puddle of ooze. The ooze inched its way beneath the door and a hazy picture of a dining room came into view. Reforming my eye, the table and chairs looked even more gigantic from my view from the floor. Ten Viltarans were spaced out around it and were chowing down on what I assumed was Kveet flesh. Twenty droids stood at attention with two behind each chair. Half were identical to Robert and wore the same plain black clothing that most of us now wore. The rest were the more functional silver soldier droids. From their complete lack of alarm, I was pretty sure none of them had any idea they were about to be attacked.

  Splitting my consciousness, a small part of me remained in control of the orb to guide it back to my body while I filled my friends and allies in on what I’d seen. “The Viltarans are also armed with death rays,” I finished up after describing where they were all placed.

  Gregor, Igor, Luc and Aventius put their heads together to refine their plan. My orb rolled to a stop beside me and I bent to retrieve it as they came to an agreement. We gathered around to hear their verdict.

  “Ishida, would you mind relinquishing your weapon to one of your more able warriors?” Gregor asked. With only a slight stiffening of his back, the young ruler chose one of his female warriors and handed his death ray over to her. He might be used to being in charge but we weren’t in his empire now and he was far from his top physical condition.

  “We six,” Igor pointed at the other five of us who were armed, “will go in first. We will split up to cause as much confusion as possible. Our weapons are set to destroy metal so we should take out the droids first. Only use the setting to destroy flesh if absolutely necessary.”

  “As soon as the droids have been obliterated, the rest of our group should rush the Viltarans,” my beloved said. “I doubt anyone needs any instruction on how to tak
e down their prey.” Luc received a few tense smiles at his dry witticism.

  “Are you all ready?” Gregor asked, making sure to meet everyone’s eyes. We all nodded and kept our misgivings to ourselves. I shot a glance at Aventius and he nodded at my unspoken request to make sure that Geordie remained safe. At least, I hoped that was what he was nodding about. The teen in question blew me a kiss as our small group of armed combatants silently headed towards the dining room. Ishida watched us go grimly, probably wishing he was going with us. Kokoro put a hand on her charge’s shoulder, clearly glad he wasn’t going along. He was the closest thing she would ever have to a child of her own and she didn’t want to lose him. I didn’t want to lose anyone but extras always died in the movies whenever there was a showdown with the bad guys. The only question was; who were the extras going to be this time?

  .~.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Igor waved us to a stop when we were only a few feet away from the door. Raising a hand, he held up three fingers and counted us down. When his final finger lowered, we rushed at the door. Ten Viltarans and twenty robots froze in alarm when the door opened and we boiled inside. Six Robert clones disintegrated before any of our adversaries could react.

  Six more robots died beneath our fire then we had to use our vampire strength, speed and agility to dodge their return fire. Scorch marks and gouges scored the table, floor and walls from the rays we sent towards the robots. Ducking to avoid a blast from a droid, I dived beneath the table and shot the robot in the legs. The ray passed harmlessly through a Viltaran who was bellowing orders that no one was listening to.

  “Now!” Igor shouted and the rest of our group joined the fray. I wasn’t sure if we or the Viltarans were more surprised when they turned and ran. I doubted alarm was an emotion the grey beings felt very often but they were certainly feeling it now. “After them!” Igor shouted and galvanized us into action.

  In the hallway outside the dining room, our prey split up. Their footsteps echoed as they disappeared from sight down different paths. I followed Igor and heard more of my friends at my back while the rest of our group headed in the opposite direction.

  They might be several feet taller than us but we were still faster. Rounding a corner, we caught sight of the fleeing Viltaran and raced after him. Throwing glances back over his shoulder, the alien frantically pushed a button on his own version of a control panel on his wrist and a door whisked open. It didn’t lead to a room but to what looked like an elevator hidden within a wall.

  Checking to see how close we were, our quarry tripped and sprawled on his face. We were on him before he could scramble into the opening that was only a few short yards away. Like the elevators back home, the door closed automatically after a few seconds.

  Luc had landed on the creature’s back and sank his fangs into his neck. Pinning a leg down, I bit right through the Viltaran’s clothes into the tender spot behind his knee. Shrieking in rage and fear, the alien thrashed beneath us. His struggles gradually weakened as his blood was drained.

  Almost rancid in taste, his blood was horrible yet it was the most filling substance I’d ingested since becoming the undead. I drank until my stomach was all but sloshing with fluorescent yellow liquid.

  Staggering away from the feeding frenzy, I collapsed to my knees, almost wishing I was capable of throwing up. I’d never been this full before but my stomach was flat instead of being distended. Feeling faintly dizzy, I watched my six close friends as they continued to feed. From the sounds of disappointment echoing throughout the halls, the rest of my allies had been unsuccessful in their hunt. A chilling thought crossed my mind briefly that maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that only my closest friends had joined together in this feast. Gregor had proposed that fate may have abandoned us but I wondered if that was true. It certainly seemed there was some kind of higher power that still had a use for us.

  That thought was bolstered when my friends all sat back from their meal. Crouched on the back of the now dead Viltaran, Luc swayed unsteadily. “Are you guys alright?” I asked with a hint of trepidation. They turned at the sound of my voice and I involuntary flinched back. Six pairs of scarlet eyes stared at me in confusion then closed as they all lost consciousness.

  Hearing someone approach, I scrambled to my feet and turned to see Aventius and Cristov rounding the corner. The ex-Councillor hurried over and knelt beside Gregor. “What has happened?”

  Hysteria wanted to burst forth but I forced it down. “I’m not sure. We fed from the Viltaran then they all passed out.” Since it was night time, it shouldn’t have been possible for them to fall asleep. I had a feeling things had just changed and I wasn’t sure if it was for the better.

  “We should move away from here before the Viltarans send more droids to hunt us down,” Cristov decided. “We need to find somewhere safe for your friends to rest.” He hurried off to get help as Aventius picked Ishida up. Scooping Geordie up, I balanced him over my shoulder just as my allies arrived. I counted heads and was saddened to see we were missing another Japanese warrior. Another extra had bitten the dust in the horror movie that had become our lives and now there were only twenty-two of us left.

  One of Ishida’s anxious warriors led the way through the confusing array of corridors until we deemed we should be at a safe enough distance from the battle site. Following the usual path, we found the closest sleeping quarters. With their former enmity gone, none of the Japanese warriors tried to relieve Aventius of his small burden during the trek. It proved just how much the two vampire nations had changed since we’d first banded together.

  My friends were deposited on the hard metal beds with someone left to stand watch. I anxiously alternated between rooms, checking on all six frequently.

  “Great plan, people,” I said beneath my non-existent breath as I kept vigil. “Let’s just burst in there, chow down on the aliens and don’t bother to think of the possible consequences that might arise from drinking their blood.”

  Kokoro was the first to snap out of her mini coma, presumably because she was the oldest. Her minder gave a shout for me and I hurried into her room. “Are you ok? How do you feel?” I put a hand to her forehead to find she was still cool to the touch. I’d been afraid they would magically become alive again like the vampires that had been converted into imps had back home. Her eyes were no longer scarlet, which I took to be a good sign.

  Still a trifle dazed, Kokoro was puzzled to find herself in one of the sleeping chambers. “I feel fine,” she said finally. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. We drained the Viltaran dry then you all passed out.”

  “Is Ishida well?” I knew she would be worried until she saw him with her own newly returned eyesight so I guided her to the room next door. The emperor’s minder gracefully bowed her way out of the room to give us some privacy. The young ruler was lying on his side and Kokoro gently rolled him over onto his back. We shared an astonished glance at the change in Ishida. All signs of excessive age were gone. His hair was jet black again and his wrinkles had disappeared.

  Kokoro smiled tremulously then broke into tearless sobs. She turned and hugged me hard enough to make my ribs creak while she let her anguish out. If Ishida had been awake, she probably would have suppressed her feelings to save them both the embarrassment of losing control of her emotions. When she had recovered her poise, I left her alone with her charge.

  Igor was the next to rise. He listened to my explanation of what had happened without expression. “I do not feel any different,” he told me. “Let us hope that we will not come to any harm from this.”

  Ishida woke next. Kokoro gave him the rundown of what had happened but the teen was too busy touching his newly smooth cheeks to take in what she was saying. He came close to sobbing as well but manfully kept his emotions in check. It was a relief to see him reverting back to his normal age of twelve rather than looking like a wizened old man.

  Gregor roused a while later and Igor filled him in on what h
e had missed. I listened to their conversation from Luc’s room. I held my beloved’s cool hand and waited for him to wake. When he did, he went from complete unconsciousness to sitting up and studying me in an instant. My lower lip trembled then he pulled me into his arms. My whole body was shaking and I couldn’t stop it. The past few hours had been a nightmare of waiting for something horrible to happen. Now nearly all of my close friends were awake and none of them seemed to have been altered by ingesting so much alien blood.

  “What happened?” Luc asked when my trembling finally stopped.

  “What do you remember?”

  Frowning he smoothed a hand down my tangled hair. I’d have gladly given my left arm for a shower and a change of clothes but I didn’t think showers existed on this planet. “I remember pinning the Viltaran down then the horrible taste of his blood flooding into my mouth.”

  “That’s all?”

  He looked at me sharply, knowing I was hiding something from him. “What else happened to us?”

  In the room next door, Geordie stirred, saving me from having to answer. With a glance that said he wasn’t done with the conversation, Luc allowed me to leave without protest.

  Geordie opened his eyes to see both me and Igor standing beside his metal bed. “Why do I have such an awful taste in my mouth?” he asked as he sat up.

  “That is the aftertaste of Viltaran blood,” his mentor replied.

  Understanding hit Geordie as he remembered. “I think I drank too much.” His hand went to his stomach as if to soothe it.

  “You should take a look at Ishida,” I said to the teen as he jumped down from the high bed.

  Following my pointing finger, Geordie left the room and entered the emperor’s chamber. “Wow! You look like a kid again instead of a thousand year old mummy!”

  I winced at his undiplomatic wording but Ishida just laughed. “You also have been restored to your youth.”