Children of Blood (Kat Drummond Book 13)

by Nicholas Woode-Smith

  It had been the day we needed already. A time to relax. A time to remind us that there is joy in this world. But, it was this moment that finally brought me to tears, as I saw the adoration in Guy’s eyes for my friend, and the complete, unhindered happiness in hers.

  Conrad led Cindy to face Guy before the altar. I caught Brett’s eye as he stood behind his friend, his face red as he chewed his bottom lip. He wanted to cry. It was that type of day. But he held on. My man! I blew him a kiss and he stood just a bit straighter.

  Conrad rounded the altar as he released Cindy’s arm. Unconventional, but who was I to judge? He crouched down almost comically fast and retrieved a burgundy shawl from below the altar, which he quickly donned. If he had looked the part of a sleazy used-car salesman before, he was now a sleazy used-car salesman dressed like a priest.

  But, that was Conrad. His insincerity was his sincerity. And the façade had since become endearing knowing what he truly was.

  The Bridal Chorus was reaching its climax and I caught Conrad looking at Cindy.

  He mouthed.

  “Are you sure?”

  Cindy laughed, and nodded. Conrad smiled, even if he never truly thought anyone would be good enough for her.

  The music stopped. Conrad puffed out his chest and spoke.

  “It is a courageous thing to love. To open oneself to another. For a hunter and warrior, it can reveal our vulnerabilities. In a world in which we need to be strong, to be guarded, love requires us to show a part of ourselves that no one else could ever see. To love is to be hurt.”

  Very inspiring speech, Conrad. Great for a funeral…

  “But it is worth it. For to be loved is to be whole. To love is to find completeness in this world. And for all its risks and pain, it is worth every hardship.”

  He rubbed his chin, hesitating. If I didn’t know better, he looked a bit tearful. But Conrad didn’t cry! Did he?

  “Today, we recognise the love of two people. Hunters, warriors, healers and heroes. We recognise their love and bind them together so that the cosmos can look upon their love as a single light, blazing through the In Between. Today, we recognise the love between Cindy Giles and Guy Mgebe, soon to both be Giles-Mgebe.”

  I saw a hint of Conrad’s reluctance again, but he fought it down. Good man! He turned to face Cindy.

  “Cindy, do you wish to be wed to Guy? To love and cherish him? To be committed and loyal? And to be his light in the dark?”

  Cindy glowed. “I do.”

  Conrad turned to Guy. “Do you, Guy, wish to be wed to Cindy? To adore and hold? To be devoted and steadfast? To be the gun at her side and the foe of her enemies?”

  “I do,” Guy replied, and I did see the glint of a tear in his eyes.

  Conrad stepped back, opening his arms wide.

  “Let any who would have any objections to this binding speak now, or later. Whatever works for you. It’s a free country. Cindy and Guy Giles-Mgebe, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

  Cheers erupted as the twins renewed the chorus. Guy and Cindy leant in, holding each other’s cheeks as they stared into one each other’s eyes.

  A harsh wind whooshed into the church, as the doors flung open. Cindy and Guy stopped, turning towards the door as the entire congregation swivelled in their seats. The music stopped, replaced by a low growl as the twins noticed something more pressing than their instruments.

  I should have expected this. I actually did. But I still hated it.

  A figure cloaked in black and wearing a red hood obscuring its features stood in the doorway, unmoving. The reddening, twilight sun should have carried his shadow into the building. But no shadow was forthcoming. It was if he was one of Stephanie’s illusions. Less so, as she would have remembered to make a shadow.

  But the rumble of the growling werewolves told me that this was no illusion.

  Trudie, eyes afire with a now vengeful gold, jumped in front of the bride and groom and pointed an accusatory claw at the gate crasher.

  “Are you fucking stupid, bub?” she growled. “This is a Werewolf and Wizardry Wedding Event. You want to die?”

  Silence. And then, a low laugh, rising in volume, until the figure was guffawing, facing the ceiling as his hood fell off, revealing his red eyes and impressive fangs. The sun did not cause so much as a blister on his dark skin.

  Seeing his features, the church erupted into a cacophony of clicks, locking bolts, muttered incantations and the crackle of primal energy. My cloak wanted in on it and burst to life, as Treth dropped Ithalen into my hand. I drew Voidshot with my other.

  Guy and Cindy stood side to side, golden light charging in her hand, and twin pistols in his. Conrad pumped a shotgun and took aim.

  No one fired. Perhaps, it was curiosity. Prudence. Or, perhaps fear. Because I knew that I hadn’t truly believed Miriam’s stories of the vampire immunity to sunlight.

  The vampire stopped laughing and faced the assembled crowd head on. He paid no mind to Heather’s blade below his neck, or the thrum of energy resonating from Kyong.

  “I must admit,” he finally said. “That I am offended that I was not invited to your wedding, Guy Mgebe of Mqanduli, last of the Blood Hunters. You don’t know me, but I feel I know you. Perhaps, more than your new wife will ever know you. I have stared at your image in my mind’s eye for over a decade. I have examined every pore, every vein, every globule of sweat…”

  He smiled, licking his lips. He didn’t take a step forward. I spared a glance at Guy. His eyes were wide. I saw his hands shake. Just a bit. But the glow of Cindy’s light steeled him.

  “Creeps don’t get invites!” Trudie blurted. It was fast, subtle, but she quickly shared a look with Pranish and Senegal. The growls from the twins stopped. Trudie began rolling up her sleeves.

  Guy moved past her, shocking the werewolf as she was preparing to fight. He didn’t aim his guns anymore. No need. Dozens of his friends were holding steady, waiting on his word. I knew I was, as I held Voidshot aimed at the vamp’s head. But I didn’t fire.

  This was Guy’s enemy, first and foremost. He called the shots.

  “You know my name, vampire,” Guy spoke, clearly. “But what is yours?”

  The vampire grinned, toothily.

  “Umbhubhisi,” he answered, simply. I heard gasps from around the church. Guy remained impassive.

  “Umbhubhisi,” Guy replied. “How do you know my face? And why come here, to a hunters’ wedding?”

  Umbhubhisi’s grin faded, slowly, as the setting sun washed the church in red and gold.

  “Vengeance,” he announced, hushed, but his voice still somehow travelling throughout the room. “For Kuzalwa Igazi. My brother.”

  “I did not kill him,” Guy replied.

  “Liar!” Umbhubhisi suddenly yelled, angry. “You were the last thing he saw. The Blood remembers! The Blood never forgets. And we will avenge our fallen…”

  Glass shattered and rained down upon the congregants as dark figures burst through Trudie’s precious stained-glass windows.

  With a roar, Heather lashed out at Umbhubhisi, but the vampire deftly dodged the strike, ducking under Kyong’s fist and pulling the two into each other. In a blur, he charged into the room, leaving our guards to collapse, their heads bloodied.

  Gunfire erupted, punctuated by the roaring howls of werewolves as Trudie transformed her arms and legs into bestial claws before charging into the fray.

  “How do you like my Sunkissed, Blood Hunter!” Umbhubhisi yelled, his laugh booming throughout the church.

  The Sunkissed, his swarm of vamps unaffected by the sun, fell on us faster than we could react. Treth manifested above me, deflecting a blow from a vamp and giving me enough time to drive my sword upward. I didn’t hit anything, just as I was knocked over, a vamp wreathed in blood-red smoke, grinning madly, stood above me. That is until a smoking hole appeared in its head. It collapsed. At least they could die!

  Brett pulled me up, flinging me into the fr
ay as I cut out towards the monsters who dared crash my friend’s wedding!

  I slashed forward, letting my hunter’s senses take over. The room became a blur, as gunmen and mages were overwhelmed by the vamps, and the swordsman and close combatants had to step up to bat.

  I ducked low, sliding below a Crusader as they were flung across the room. I shot out with Ithalen, scoring a gash across a vamp’s thigh and following through with a jab to the stomach. Smoke rose from the blows as the vamp hissed and reached out to catch my blade. Treth kicked him in the shins, doubling him over.

  “Maybe last year, bloodsucker, but I’m too good for you now,” I spat, driving my sword through his head and out the other side.

  Conrad’s shotgun boomed as vamps attempted to charge his position. Pranish incanted volleys of flaming javelins from behind him.

  My eyes darted throughout the chaos, looking for those closest to me.

  Guy was moving as fast as the vamps, side-stepping attacks and fallen comrades in the melee as he delivered hot silver into the vamps.

  Krieg tackled a vampire to the ground just beside me as Brett followed him, using a broken chair leg to drive into the vamp’s head. Again, and again.

  “Just like old times, Brett?” Krieg laughed.

  “Just like old times,” Brett grunted back.

  The two reminisced as more vamps burst through the front door, trampling over the bodies of our comrades. One surged towards Krieg.

  I dove over him, willing my coat to burn and held it towards the vamp. The creature hissed as I followed through, cutting into it and then opening fire point blank with Voidshot.

  I helped Krieg up from the vamp corpse. He had awe in his eyes.

  Not enough time to contemplate that. The vamps were pressing in closer. I stood in front of Krieg and Brett, releasing flurries of sword blows towards the encroaching vamps. They grew wise to the threat I posed and started backing away. Their blood all over the church floor was a testament to my prowess.

  Conrad’s shotgun boomed once again. This time closer, as we crossed behind the altar. The Crusaders opened fire from the defensive position, as Ari and other fighters held the frontline alongside the werewolves.

  I stopped next to Cindy. She released a volley of golden shards into the vamps, sending them reeling. I expected anger on her face. I was livid! But…she was smiling.

  “Sorry, Cins!” I yelled over the cacophony.

  “For what?” she yelled back. “This is only appropriate.”

  She incanted a quick phrase and let loose a buckshot of purification, setting a vamp aflame. He ran screaming out of the building.

  “And you know what this means?” she asked.

  Two vamps assaulted my positions. I ducked low, letting Treth take the one who dove towards me as I shot forward, skewering the other.

  “What?!” I asked back, as I fell back into line. My ears ran from all the gunfire.

  “It means we don’t have to track the bastard down!”

  “Enough!” Umbhubhisi yelled, suddenly. The vamps fell back, facing our lines. They growled back at the werewolves, snapping towards them. One of the Gibsons, in wolf form, growled deeply at the vamps, as the other licked a nasty gash across its haunches.

  As if appearing from the morass of vampires, Umbhubhisi emerged, holding his arms out.

  “We squabble like drunks at a brawl! But this fight is really between the Blood Hunter and me. Step forward or watch us tear your unconscious comrades apart!”

  His vamp minions held aloft our allies. Heather, Kyong, Henri and many others. I felt fire rising in my belly. I needed to kill these monsters. All of them!

  But, before I could do anything, Guy stepped forward.

  He looked at Cindy and nodded. She nodded back.

  The vamps backed away, giving Guy and Umbhubhisi room. Umbhubhisi took off his hood and shirt, cracking his neck from side to side, and proceeding to stretch his clawed hands.

  “You will tell me how you slew my brother, Blood Hunter.”

  “I did not kill him,” Guy replied, calmly, as he drew a blade from a scabbard on his back. I had never seen him use it before. A spear head, coated in silver, attached to a short handle. It glowed with red markings.

  “Lies!” Umbhubhisi spat. “You did something to him. Some trickery. What magics did you use? Not silver! Not the blighted purification. You did something to him. I felt it!”

  Umbhubhisi roared the last words as he lashed out, knocking Guy to the ground. Brett took a step forward, but Krieg stopped him. I felt for my boyfriend. I wanted to intervene too. But we had to think about our friends.

  Umbhubhisi raked his claws towards Guy, who rolled sideways, stabbing upwards with his short spear. He hit home, scoring a hit on the vamp’s thigh. Umbhubhisi didn’t even react.

  “We are gods, mortal! The Blood is more than anything else on this puny world. And you want to destroy us?!”

  Umbhubhisi kicked Guy in the stomach, just as he tried to stand, sending him flying into the wall. That impact would surely break bones!

  But Guy rose.

  He aimed his pistol and fired. Umbhubhisi blurred to the side, walking steadily towards him. Guy fired again, his shot going wide as he shook.

  Umbhubhisi stopped just before Guy and held the pistol towards his head. Brett swore. He’d been counting. So had Guy. He dropped his gun, thrusting forward with the spearhead.

  The vamp slapped the attack away. I heard crunches. Guy winced.

  I look at Cindy, watching this. She was no longer smiling. There was determination on her face. And, under her breath, she muttered an incantation.

  Guy, beaten, bruised and covered in his own blood, looked at the vamp, dead-on, as Umbhubhisi, a blur of unnatural dark energy, grasped his neck.

  “Guy…” Brett whimpered. I felt the tension in the air. And the total, utter helplessness. But, as I watched Cindy, I saw that she was not panicking. She believed in him. And, so should I.

  Umbhubhisi lifted Guy above the ground, his legs kicking underneath him.

  “Last chance for mercy. How did you kill my brother?”

  The vamp saw something in Guy’s eyes, as he released his grip, letting my friend fall to the floor. Guy coughed, retching up blood as he held his throat.

  “I…I’ll tell you,” he rasped, quietly.

  “I can’t hear you!” Umbhubhisi bellowed, crouching down.

  “Come…closer…” Guy wheezed.

  Umbhubhisi approached. Closer. Until he was close enough for Guy to whisper in his ear.

  “You want to know how your brother died?”

  Umbhubhisi nodded, eagerly.

  “Then…” Guy said, his hands glowing. “You can ask him yourself!”

  In a flash reminiscent of the vampire’s speed, Guy drove his hand and its contents into Umbhubhisi’s mouth. Shocked, Umbhubhisi fell backwards, as hissing and pained roars filled the church.

  Spears flew through the chamber, skewering vampires and pinning them to pews and the rocky floor.

  Umbhubhisi looked at his hands as they began to glow gold, and then his arms. And, where they glowed gold, blisters started to form and burst across his skin. Then, he burst into golden fire.

  “How?” he roared, his voice already becoming raspy.

  I heard Xhosa words being incanted across the room. The vampires fell, one by one. No point giving our unseen allies all the glory.

  I charged. The Crusaders followed. I cut into the vamp holding Heather, catching her as the vamp’s head fell to the ground.

  Behind us, Guy and Cindy stood above the burning vampire, as he stared at his own demise disbelievingly.

  As Guy remained silent, Umbhubhisi suddenly started laughing.

  “My brothers said I was a fool. And they were right. I die a fool. But, so will you. I tried to give you mercy. To die by my hand would have spared you their torment.”

  Umbhubhisi’s head turned towards me. His eyes looked like a werewolf’s as the golden fire incinerated h
im from within.

  “My brothers will drain you dry, mortals. And you will beg for death before the end.”

  Guy turned his back on the vamp, allowing it to burn to a husk. Cindy didn’t stop watching until there were no flames left. Just burnt bone and flesh. Lifeless.

  She turned to me.

  “I had a hunch that Umbhubhisi’s sun resistance was only skindeep. So, I made a little sun substitute for him to taste.”

  I couldn’t help but beam. “Cindy, you genius!”

  A gunshot and then silence heralded the end of the battle. The surviving purifiers surged from behind Conrad and got to work helping the wounded.

  The rest of us watched Guy, as he faced two black men, clothed in black and carrying spears.

  They stared at each other in silence. Then, the older of the pair spoke, in accented English.

  “You have new scars.”

  “A Child of the Blood sought to kill me. He is now dead,” Guy replied, as if it was a ritual. He inclined his head. “You have new scars.”

  The man frowned. “The scars are deep within my soul, as I know I abandoned my people.”

  His words held shame, but he held his head up high.

  “But I won’t abandon them this time.”

  A smile slowly formed on Guy’s lips and he crossed over to his comrade. They shook hands, gripping each other’s wrists.

  “It is good to see you, Bongani.”

  “I am sorry for all I have said and all I have not done, Mgebe.”

  “Giles-Mgebe.”

  Bongani inclined his head and smiled. A small gesture, but sincere “Congratulations, brother.”

  “The vamp was wrong,” Brett whispered, by my side, recognition in his voice. “Guy isn’t the last Blood Hunter.”

  I didn’t know what that meant, but seeing the three similarly clad men, the vestiges of the sun glowing on them through the broken windows, something rose up in my heart. Hope, perhaps. But much deeper. It was like light clutched from the jaws of death. And it was powerful.

  Cindy concluded speaking to a purifier and sighed, relieved.

  “The damage could have been far worse. Nobody is dead.”

  “Thank Athena!” I exclaimed.