Emily Shadowhunter - Book 1: VAMPIRE HUNTER

by Small Dog Publishing

‘Well it’s just so, like uber-cool,’ answered Cordelia. ‘You all look so good and then there’s that everlasting life thing.’

  ‘And the sick clothes,’ added Cyprian.

  ‘I see,’ noted Toby. ‘So, tell me before we become really good friends. What are your real names?’

  Cyprian looked embarrassed but Toby assured him. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘A name is nothing and we wouldn’t want to start our relationship off with a lie, would we?’

  ‘I’m Brian,’ admitted the ex-Cyprian. ‘That’s Simon, Debbie and Tarquin is actually Kevin.’

  ‘See now, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?’

  Brian smiled and nodded. ‘So now we’re friends?’ He asked hesitantly.

  Patrick laughed in genuine amusement. ‘Oh please,’ he said as he leaned forward and grasped Brian by the throat.

  ‘You’re nothing more than meat. And why would we possibly want to fraternize with the food?’

  Brian thrashed about but Patrick’s grip was stronger than steel. At the same time Sally bared her fangs and savagely bit into Kevin’s neck, throwing her head from side to side as she tore deeply into his jugular. Blood poured out, running over her lips and down her chest.

  Debbie started to scream but it died in her throat as Toby jumped across the table and bit into her.

  Simon turned to run but as he did, Toby grabbed his arm and bit his wrist. In desperation Simon pulled away and ripped the curtain aside. And then a massive explosion rocked the room. He saw a group of men running in through the broken door that had been blown off its hinges. They were all wielding automatic weapons.

  Leading them was a tall blonde angel with a Japanese sword.

  The room erupted in pandemonium as vampires attacked the interlopers, familiars ran screaming for cover and the angel strode forward, swinging her sword like the very vision of the goddess of death herself. All about her, blood suckers were flung aside as she causally decapitated them, her sword weaving a gossamer pattern of light in the fetid atmosphere.

  One of the men turned towards Simon who dropped to the floor as the man opened up with his automatic weapon.

  Slugs buffeted the air above the teenager and he could hear them slamming into the vampires behind him.

  And then she was there, stepping over him, her sword a flash of red and silver. He felt the warm vampire blood spray over his back as she dealt her cards of death once more.

  Simon peered up to see another man with a sword. He was moving around the room, decapitating any vampire who was on the floor. The angel stepped back over him and looked down.

  She held out her hand. ‘Get up.’

  Simon took it and stood, his legs shaking with the aftermath of his absolute terror.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘Your friends are dead.’ Simon turned to see that she had decapitated

  Kevin, Debbie and Brian. Without warning he felt the bile rise in his throat and he bent over double as he threw up.

  Tag walked over. ‘Yo, Em, why’s the boy chucking up?’ He asked.

  She gestured towards the pile of mutilated bodies. ‘His friends.’

  He shook his head. ‘Well, when you ride the tiger you don’t ever get off, cause that’s when he eats you. Serves them right for fraternizing with the monsters.’

  ‘Come on Tagareg,’ said Emily. ‘He’s young and stupid. Give him a break.’

  Tag nodded. ‘Okay. Hey, boy,’ he said to Simon. ‘You all right?’

  Simon nodded and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  Tagareg jumped back. ‘Oh crap, man,’ ne exclaimed. ‘The boy’s been bit.’ He pointed at Simon’s wrist, the teeth marks blatantly apparent. ‘He’s gonna have to go, Em. And quick, before he turns.’

  Simon turned to the blonde angel for support. ‘Please,’ he whispered. ‘It’s just a small bite. I’m sure that it’ll be fine.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. And Simon could see that she genuinely was.

  The last thing that he saw was the silver arc of the sword descending on his neck.

  Chapter 29

  Bastian had moved into the apartment with Em. At the same time, so had Tagareg who had taken to following Emily around like a six foot six, three hundred pound puppy. He had appointed himself as her bodyguard and he took his new vocation deadly seriously, insisting that everyone treated Em with respect...or else.

  It was the morning after their first hit on the vampire club and Emily was still hugely upset over killing the boy, Simon. She didn’t say anything but both Bastian and Tag could tell that the extermination had cost her dearly.

  Bastian sat down at the kitchen table opposite Em, shook a cigarette out of his pack, lit and inhaled. ‘It was a mercy killing,’ he said softly. ‘He would have died anyway. Or turned. Or worse, he could have become a Grinder. A mindless animal, living forever under the yoke of the blood suckers.’

  ‘He was just a kid,’ whispered Em. ‘Looking to fit in. Playing games. Damn, he didn’t deserve to die.’ Tag brought over a mug of tea and handed it to her. She smiled. ‘Thanks Tag. You’re a good man.’

  Tag shook his head. ‘No. If I’d killed that kid it wouldn’t have bothered me none. Things like that upset good folk. Me, it’s just a task, nothing more. You want more sugar in that?’

  Em shook her head and forced some of the over-sweetened tea down. For some reason Tag thought that the more sugar he put into a cup of tea, the nicer it was. Initially Em had told him that she liked her tea without milk and just a dash of honey, but he had laughed out loud, convinced that she was teasing him.

  ‘Yeah,’ he had said. ‘Imagine drinking something like that. You don’t worry, girly,’ he had continued. ‘Tag makes a decent cup of tea.’

  And he had proceeded to bring her a mug of milky, tea-flavored syrup.

  And Emily simply didn’t have the heart to correct him. So now she drank milky, sweet tea.

  ‘Look, Em,’ said Bastian. ‘It’s bad killing an innocent. But the moment you fraternize with the blood suckers, you lose your innocence. It’s going to happen again and you have to harden your soul. Put it behind you. These are the tough decisions that we’re going to have to make. Over and over again.’

  ‘Yeah,’ added Tag. ‘If they don’t wanna be dead then they better not play with the monsters.’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ promised Em. ‘Especially after a mug of Tag’s excellent tea.’

  Tag beamed so widely that it looked as though he was going to swallow both of his ears.

  ‘We need to discuss our modus operandi,’ said Bastian. ‘Last night worked but it was messy and noisy. I had to pull in a lot of favors and spend a lot of money to cover things up. Luckily I’ve still got access to the Foundation’s funds so money is no object but we simply cannot carry on just machine gunning Vampire nests. Sooner or later the coppers are going to come down hard and we don’t want that.’

  ‘But that’s always been our way,’ argued Tag. ‘We hit our enemies hard and fast and messy. Send out a message. Don’t mess with the boys from back-of-the-yard.’

  ‘Well that’s going to stop,’ said Bastian. ‘This isn’t some petty gang war. It’s about the continuation of the human species.

  So from now on we go in quieter. I’ll organize some silencers for the MAC-10 sub machine guns and also for the Glock pistols. We’re going to have to lose the AK’s and the shotguns. Stealth is going to be our watchword from now on.’

  ‘I still think that we should involve William and Sylvian,’ suggested Em. ‘And we need to find Nathan.’

  Bastian shook his head. ‘Not gonna happen. Firstly, if Nathan is hiding, we will never find him until he wants to be found. And, secondly, regarding your mates, maybe if it was just me it would be a go, but the Yardies don’t work with monsters.’

  ‘They’re not monsters,’ argued Emily. ‘William’s real nice and Sylvian has saved my life twice.’

  ‘To us they all monsters,’ said Tagareg. ‘Vamps, werewolves, zombies, shapeshifters. They
’re things that you scare children with to make them behave. Monsters. Don’t matter if they good or if they bad, they all non-human so they be monsters to us.’

  ‘What about Bastian and me?’ Asked Em. ‘Shadowhunters. Aren’t we non-human monsters?’

  Tag laughed. ‘No ways, girly,’ he said. ‘You dudes is enhanced humans. You all good with us.’

  ***

  Three days later Em and her Yardies hit a vampire lounge in a basement in Islington.

  And this time it was a very different operation. They came in through the back entrance. No explosions. Samfy had picked the lock after disabling the single security camera with a slingshot.

  The back room was a small store full of liquor and that led to a kitchen. The kitchen, however, was empty. Unused.

  The Yardies slipped through, Tag on point with Emily right behind him. Then they burst into the club, weapons hot.

  It was a single large room. Dim lights as per usual. Curved sofas and low tables were scattered randomly about the room and small groups of vamps were feeding, three or four to each human. Unlike the other times that Em had seen them take suck, these vamps were actually being quite tender. Nibbling and licking at their victim’s blood as opposed to tearing and rending their flesh.

  For some reason Em found it worse than the usual bloody mayhem that the blood suckers called feeding. It was more intimate. Sexual.

  The vamps were taken by complete surprise. Silenced weapons spat silver death. Em and Bastian whirled like steel bladed dervishes, cutting through the blood suckers and their bitten-victims.

  Not one being survived. All vamps were dispatched. And every victim, as they had all been infected.

  Emily’s blade ran red with the blood of both monster and human alike.

  They left via the same way that they had entered. Stealthy. Silent. But for the almost imperceptible sound of Emily’s quiet weeping.

  As they had after the last hit, the group split up. The Yardies heading back to their hangout and Em, Bastian and Tag heading for the apartment.

  The three friends arrived back on foot. Tag entered first, flicking on the main lights when he did. As the lights went on someone, or something, grabbed the six foot six, three hundred pound Yardie and threw him across the room like he was a puppet. He hammered into the kitchen table and rolled off, breaking two chairs as he smashed into them on his way down.

  He made to stand up but another man stood above him, a drawn rapier held at his throat. ‘I think not, mon ami,’ he said. ‘Unless you want me to spill your lifeblood out onto the floor.’

  Sylvian smiled and slid his sword back into his scabbard.

  Bastian readied himself to fight but before he could attack, Emily shouted out.

  ‘Stop. They’re friends.’ She turned to face William. ‘What the hell do you think that you’re doing, throwing Tag around like that?’

  William didn’t back down as he usually did. ‘How was I to know that he was on your side? How was I to know that these two hadn’t forced you to bring them back here? In fact, Emily, how was I supposed to know anything as you haven’t bloody phoned me for weeks now? Sylvian and I thought that you were in trouble. And then I hear, via the grapevine, that you’ve launched an all out war on the Nosferatu. Without even telling me.’

  ‘You’re not my keeper,’ yelled Emily. ‘And someone has to fight the fight. Because I don’t see you doing it.’

  ‘No,’ agreed William. ‘But it would have been common courtesy to keep me in the loop. I have managed to stay under the wire for a few hundred years and now, thanks to you, every Familiar and informer is watching me trying to figure out where I fit into this whole scenario. And you know what? It’s only a matter of time until someone works out what I am. And let me tell you something for nothing, miss, self-righteous, fight-the-good-fight, bloody Hawk. The only thing that vampires hate more than Shadowhunters, are werewolves.’

  ‘You’re not a werewolf,’ argued Emily.

  ‘That’s bloody semantics, Emily. And you know it.’ William clenched his fists in front of himself as he tried to control his anger.

  Tagareg, thinking that William was about to strike Emily, leapt up and ran towards her. But before the big Jamaican got moving,

  Sylvian casually back-handed him across his chest, not even bothering to close his fist.

  Once again the massive Yardie flew across the room, smashed into the wall and crumpled to an unconscious heap on the floor.

  Bastian threw up his hands. ‘Alright, everyone just calm down. Sir William, you remember me?’

  William nodded. ‘Chief inspector, I think it was.’

  Bastian shrugged. ‘Obviously not. I’m a Shadowhunter. One of the last few left in the United Kingdom at the moment. Anyway, I think that we should all take a breath, brew up some tea and have a civilized chat. Okay?’

  Both Sylvian and William nodded.

  In the corner of the room, Tag shook his head and mumbled. ‘Tea? I can do that. Might as well, it seems that I ain’t no bodyguard any more. Even the little Frenchman beat the crap out of me with a single bitch-slap.’

  Emily went over and helped the big man to his feet. ‘Rubbish, she said. ‘It was a sucker punch and you weren’t expecting it. I’ll make the tea. You relax, get your strength back, you’re still my bodyguard and I need you sharp.’

  Tag grinned. ‘Yeah, cool. That’s right.’ He pointed at Sylvian. ‘Next time, brother, I be waiting for you. Then we gonna set to. No more sucker- punching Tag.’

  Sylvian nodded. ‘Next time, mister Yardie man.’

  Tag, Bastian and William sat at the kitchen table and Emily put on the kettle.

  But before Emily could brew up the tea, Tag did a spectacular double take as the conversation caught up with him. ‘Whoa,’ he exclaimed. ‘Time out.’ He jumped to his feet. ‘Just before the little French dude smacked me across the room, did I hear you say that you was a werewolf?’ He accused William.

  William nodded. ‘Technically I’m a shapeshifter, but, yes.’

  ‘Oh no,’ continued Tag. ‘Then that would make this dude the vampire that Em was talking about.’

  ‘Bloodborn,’ said Sylvian with a sigh. ‘Not vampire.’

  ‘Crap,’ yelled Tag. ‘I don’t hang with no monsters.’

  ‘Stop it, Tag,’ commanded Emily. ‘That’s enough. They’re friends of mine and you will be polite to them. They are not werewolves and vampires. In fact the two of them have probably killed more monsters, as you put it, than every Yardie that ever existed.’

  Tag raised an eyebrow. ‘That true?’ He asked Sylvian.

  The bloodborn nodded. ‘Thousands. But then I have been hunting down blood suckers for many hundreds of years now, so I do have a slight advantage over you.’

  Tag thought for a few seconds and then nodded. ‘I suppose if you be killing monsters then you can’t be one yourself.’

  Both Sylvian and William nodded.

  ‘Also, being...umm...supernatural or whatever,’ continued Tag. ‘That would make you mega-strong.’

  Again they nodded.

  ‘Cool,’ finished Tag. ‘That means that, technically, I’m still a bad ass. It’s just that I’m a human bad-ass. Can’t really compete with the X-men or whatever.’

  Emily put down the mugs of tea on the table and then shoveled another four spoons of sugar into Tag’s. ‘That’s right, Tag,’ she confirmed. ‘You’re still the baddest. Human, that is.’

  Tag smiled, sipped his tea, paused and then added another three spoons of sugar, his fragile ego repaired.

  ‘Look, Emily,’ said William. ‘I’m concerned. You’ve got to stop this gung-ho plan of attack. It’s juvenile. Clumsy.’

  ‘I know what I’m doing,’ argued Em.

  William shook his head. ‘No,’ he disagreed. ‘You don’t. You only think that you know what you’re doing. Sylvian and I have been fighting these abominations for many generations now. You simply cannot underestimate them. They don’t think in the same terms that w
e do. Well, that you do. Short term doesn’t exist to them. They are patient beyond belief. They think in years as opposed to days. Centuries. Eons. I beg you, pull back for a while. Stop, think.’

  Em shook her head. ‘They killed my friends. They are a threat to human existence. Perhaps your age has brought with it an unnecessary caution,’ she suggested. ‘Maybe your immortality has blinded you to the worth of human life. The preciousness of every hour that a normal mortal has. If I stop and think, people die. Every moment of thoughtful contemplation will result in more human deaths. No, William,’ she insisted. ‘Humans are dying so I have to react in a human time frame. Trust me, we are bad-ass. We hit hard and fast, the vamps don’t stand a chance.’

  William reached across and took Emily’s hand. ‘Sylvian and I will come with you,’ he said. ‘Extra protection.’

  Em shook her head. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘The Yardies won’t accept you. Don Dada will go mental. It’s the whole, monster thing. Anyway, I’ve got Bastian and Tag. I’ll be fine. Trust me.’

  Sylvian stood up. ‘Well, that’s it,’ he said. ‘Our work is done. Some lessons have to be learned on a personal basis. Because, let’s face it, it is hard, if not impossible to know more than an eighteen year old girl.’

  Without another word the Frenchman strode from the room and out of the front door. William stood and followed him.

  Just before he got out of the front door Emily caught up with him, grabbed his face and kissed him soundly. ‘Thank you for caring,’ she breathed. ‘But this is something that I have to do. It’s what I am. A Shadowhunter.’

  William kissed her back, pressing his lean body up against her. She could feel his heartbeat thumping in his chest. Feel his need for her. His want. His concern. And it took all of her strength to keep herself from grabbing him by the arm and dragging him through to her bedroom to finally have some serious alone-time together.

  It was William who pulled away first. He raised an eyebrow and then flashed her a grin. ‘Be safe.’

  Then he left.

  Behind her Emily heard Tag say to Bastian. ‘That’s enough tea for the girly, I think that what she needs now is a bucket of cold water instead.’