by N. R. Larry
His jaw clenched. Then, he nodded, grabbed Amir by the sleeve of his hoodie, and started to pull him away. Amir’s gaze darted toward the raven-haired vampire, then back to me. “Here I am,” he muttered, giving me a pointed stare. I smiled and nodded at him to make sure he knew I understood. Then, he stepped into line behind Ryland and trudged away.
Before they could vanish from my line of sight, the vampire was in my face, breathing a foul breath that smelled of salt and iron. I tightened my grip on my knife so that it wouldn’t fly out of my hand. “So.” I smiled. “Are you another of Bao’s puppets?”
She batted her eyelashes in a move that reminded me of the actual Bao. My stomach flipped, and I had to swallow a phantom lump in my throat. The vampire gazed down and then traced a line in the moist earth with her big toe. “Mal, this is all silly.” She looked up. “You can’t protect me from this.” With a snort. she inched even closer. “I mean, you, Ada Anne, and that gemstone...” She laughed, and it was a thick, dark sound I wanted to choke out of her. “Did you really think that would work?”
I ran my tongue across my bottom lip. “So. It really is you?” I narrowed my eyes. “How are you doing this?”
She hiked the sleeve of her worn shirt up her forearm. “Mo is teaching me all kinds of new tricks.” She smiled. “Turns out, I’m not your average vampire.”
“Well, I always knew you were special,” I said, trying to keep in mind that somehow, I really was talking to Bao. “So, what’s the plan here, kid?”
She fixed me with an even stare. “That depends on you.” Placing her hands behind her back, she glanced around the clearing and sighed. “I don’t want to hurt you. And trust me, I wasn’t even trying when I used the bodies of those first two vampires.” Her gaze landed back on me. “I had just started my lessons, after all. The undead learn quickly.”
Anger rose up from my belly and my knife shook in my hand. Bao used the vampire to laugh. “Oh, the famous blade.” She scoffed. “Now that, we are a little afraid of.” Her gaze flicked up to mine. “The knife wants me.” She took in a shivered breath, and I almost threw up in my mouth. “Can you feel it? Is your mother screaming for you to kill me?”
I pressed my lips together in a tight line and remained silent.
She tilted her head to the other side. “Have you ever wondered what would happen?”
I stared at her.
“If you fail, I mean? To give that blade a soul it really wants. A soul that will do nothing but hurt people?” She smiled, and despite the black crap coating her pointy teeth, the smile was disturbingly Bao-like. “I mean, what do you think that would do to you?” She laughed. “To your mother? What would it mean for the curse? Would you be punished? Or would she?”
I pressed my lips together tighter.
The vampire pressed a thin, dirty finger to her mouth, lowered her shoulders, and crept forward, stopping when we were only inches apart. “You see, I think tonight, you’re going to have to find out what happens when you fail.”
The way she said it—like she was no longer my Bao—like she was another one of the mindless creatures I’d spent lifetimes hunting—twisted a knot of dread in my gut. My muscles tightened and I couldn’t move. “Bao,” I finally said. “Is this really you talking right now?”
The vampire smiled.
When she didn’t reply, I backed away and forced myself to keep eye contact. “I found Bao... You, seven years ago. Where?”
She continued to smile.
“Yeah.” I taunted her with a smirk. “So, what? Is this a game to keep me from ripping through all of you and sending you to my mother?” I chuckled. “You think if I believe you’re really Bao I’ll show mercy?” Clicking my tongue. I added, “How sweet.”
She cleared her throat, and then glanced toward the sky. “You found me in California. My foster mother had just found out what I was—she caught me eating rats, and left me on the side of the road like all her other trash.” She laughed. “I had no idea what I was, but I knew that if I didn’t have blood, I couldn’t get out of bed.” She sniffed. “When you found me, I was in a letterman jacket, with rat blood all over my face. A cheerleader found me and thought it was Kool-aid.” She smiled, true and warm at the memory. Seeing Bao’s grin on that thing’s face made me sick.
“The cheerleader gave me the coat to keep me warm. She asked if she could call someone for me.” She laughed, and the sound sliced a razor through my heart. I could almost see Bao in the rain, her black hair splattered across her forehead. “I told her there was no one to call, and then a voice said—”
We finished the sentence together. “Because I’m already here.”
The thing nodded. Her smile was light—almost nostalgic. I lowered the knife to my side.
She shrugged. “And that’s why I always wanted to be a cheerleader.”
Unable to help myself, I laughed. “Six months later I put you in gymnastics.” I snorted. “I had to come up with the money to fix the three balance beams you destroyed.”
The vampire—Bao nodded. “Yeah.” She grinned. “You had us all bake and sell cookies to do it. But, when the teacher wanted me to leave, you raised hell.” Her eyes glistened, and it was almost like she was about to cry. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. “You’ve always done good by me.”
I froze, the words caught in my throat. I was afraid if I moved, or even tried to speak, I’d break down into tears. For a moment, the dead look in her eyes went away and was replaced with desperation. “Please, Mal,” she whispered. “You have to leave. This is something I have to do.” She sniffled. “It’s who I am. What I am.”
I shook my head, gripping my knife so hard that my muscles started to ache. “Bullshit,” I hissed. “You are going to be whatever you want to be.” With a trembling hand, I reached out and tucked a strand of greasy hair behind her ear. “Now, come outside and let me see the real you.”
She stared at me for several beats of silence. I held my breath for each one of them. In a blink, she was gone, and I was staring back into the eyes of her undead puppet. She hissed. “If she doesn’t do this, more will die.” She chuckled. “We are all through these woods. We are... Hungry.”
I gritted my teeth. “Whatever Mo has told you, it isn’t true Bao.”
“Go, Malcolm Hex,” the vampire said. “There is nothing here for you.”
I shook my head. “If you think I’m leaving here without you, then you haven’t been paying attention all these years.”
She jerked toward me and I sank my blade into her heart and watched the second life drain from her eyes. My mother buzzed with satisfaction in my ears. All through the woods, a chorus of hisses and growls echoed in my ears. I yanked my knife out of the vampire’s chest, and then crouched into a defense position.
“Ryland, here I am” I hissed into the seeming nothingness, repeating Amir’s earlier words to me. “Rock me like a hurricane,” I finished, citing the rest of our secret code. Even though my family was hidden in the thick of the trees, I knew they heard me. And I knew Sergio was going to bring more thunder.
I started to run toward them when one of Bao’s puppets jumped onto my back, and we crashed to the earth.
I SLAMMED THE VAMPIRE into the ground and slit its throat, praying there weren’t too many jiangshi near.
Then, I ran.
The air around me stilled. I could hear everything. Every intake of breath. Every hiss in the distance. I ran through the forest, cutting through monsters, removing their heads and splitting them down the middle. Just ahead of me, the earth trembled. I came to a stop, knife held out in front of me, and narrowed my eyes.
I was surrounded.
Holding out my arms, I turned in a slow circle, trying to keep an eye on each of the vampires. “Okay, Bao,” I muttered with a tired smile. “Maybe I was rash. We can still talk it out.”
They halted their advance
Thunder ripped through the clearing, and I glanced up at the sky. It was the same green as Fiona’s emer
ald eyes.
“Leave,” the vampires said as one. “Leave from here now.”
A bolt of lightning lit up the green, making everything in the park brighter and clearer for a moment. A harsh wind howled in my ears. Golden light pulsed at the end of my vision.
“Fine,” I muttered, kneeling in front of them. My knife vibrated almost painfully in my hand. “Have it your way.” I shot up into the air just as five funnel clouds formed.
I glanced down. The vampires gazed up at the sky, seemingly frozen. I scanned my gaze down the clearing, barely able to make out Fiona, who was shaking as she held a magical shield over everyone. Just outside of her shield, Sergio held the sky hostage with his electric gaze.
Faster than should have been possible, the funnel clouds turned into twisters and began to touch down to the earth. I swopped down, forced myself inside of Fiona’s shield and glanced at Ryland. “You okay?” I shouted over the howl of wind as my hair beat against my face.
He grabbed me around the waist and whispered, “take the children,” against my ear.
I didn’t need to be told twice. “Hold on to me,” I screamed to the kids.
Thankfully, they didn’t argue. As soon as I felt all their hands clinging to me, I shot into the air, as far as I could above the hoard of tornadoes. I held Fiona in my arms. She was sweating and shaking from the effort of her magic.
“You’re doing great, baby girl. Just a little longer.”
The tunnels of wind tore through Discovery Park. Soon, it was like an undead Oz. The vampires were ripped from the ground and into the eyes of the tornadoes. I couldn’t tell if the rattling cracks were monster bones breaking or thunder from Sergio’s weather ass whooping. Undead pieces of flesh exploded into the gray of the storm, creating a pinkish black cyclone. Sergio clung to me, but all his effort was focused on those twisters, and sucking every last vampire into them.
“Man,” Darnell said from where he sat on my shoulders. “Now that’s bad weather.”
As if to accompany his joke, a vampire head shot past us, and I ducked out of the way. Within two minutes it was over, and Sergio slumped against me. I glanced down, breathing heavy. “Okay, Fiona.”
She let out a whimper and then went limp. The golden light of her magical shield flickered out. Darnell laughed and kicked his feet. “That’s what I’m talking about! Don’t mess with my family!”
I glanced down. Like dying flowers, every tree was bent over. The ground of Discovery Park was littered in thick, black blood and the body parts of the undead. Taking in a deep breath, I lowered us back into the rubble.
Ryland appeared in front of me, as if out of nowhere. His shirt had been ripped from his body, but other than that, he was okay. He nodded at me, and I handed Fiona over to him. Darnell hopped off my shoulders and then pumped his fist in the air.
“Hells yeah!” he shouted, hi-fiving Sergio. “You owned that boss fight. Now—” He rubbed his hands together. “What’s next?”
Ryland patted him on the shoulder. “Now, home.” He glanced at me, and I nodded gratefully.
“Home?” Darnell snorted. “Man, ya’ll couldn’t have done this without us. Now you want to ruin our first take down as a family with bedtime.”
I smiled and hugged each of them, except Fiona, who was passed out in Ryland’s arms. “No, we couldn’t have. And I am so proud of all of you.” I glanced up at the cabin. “But, I got it from here. Go home, I’ll be back later with our girl.” I winked at Sergio. “By the way, our secret code is a hurricane. Rock you like a hurricane. Not a tornado.”
“My bad.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Make sure you both come home.”
I nodded, thankful that no one was arguing with me. Ryland gave me a long look that made me feel something I couldn’t deal with at that moment, or probably ever, before turning around to take the kids home. I stared down at all the vamp puppets Sergio managed to take out within minutes, then started to step over their parts to get to her.
My knife buzzed so fast in my hand that its movement began to blur. I gripped it and tried to ignore the painful twisting in my chest.
The jiangshi were all dead.
Now, there was no one for Bao to hide behind.
Chapter Nineteen
Somehow, half the cabin survived the tornadoes. I stood on the broken porch, staring at the door as my knife buzzed in my hand. With a sigh, I said, “Mom, we are not taking her.” I shook my head. “She’s one of the good ones.” I sniffled. “All my kids are.”
The knife stilled. I took in a deep breath, holstered my weapon, and leaned against the door for a few moments. In those moments, I pictured the best scenario. Bao getting up, being herself, and running into my arms. I laughed at myself. The way these past few days had gone, I’d have to enter another dimension for such an outcome. And, I didn’t foster any kids that had the ability to jump worlds, so, that wasn’t an option.
Tears burned in my eyes. I blinked them back. “Get your shit together, Mal,” I muttered to myself, taking in a deep breath. “The kid needs you.”
After pushing in the door, I stepped inside. Loud slurping met my ears. I darted my gaze around until it landed on Bao. Mo—the vampire from earlier— was curled up in her arms. Bao was leaned against the wall with her fangs sunk into Mo’s neck, slurping from her like she was a Big Gulp from the corner store.
I inched farther into the room and closed the door behind me.
Bao didn’t even look up.
Mo’s gaze rolled lazily in my direction. She chuckled, and hissed something in another language, her lips moving too fast for me to pick up the words. My heart thundered in my chest as I continued to ease toward them. When I was only inches away, Bao’s head snapped up. Thick blood was crusted on her pale chin, and her eyes burned like the pits of a volcano about to explode.
My muscles tightened. Bao smiled a slow smile and rested her head against the wall. Mo remained where she was, slumped in a pile in front of Bao. My mouth began to water with nausea that I swallowed down. When Bao laughed, it was like a dozen windchimes blowing in a breeze.
“It’s a relief, actually,” Bao said. I expected her voice to sound different—monster like—but it was the same, high pitched, girly sound I’d always known.
I swallowed again. “What is?” My voice came out thick—strangled— and I realized then that I was afraid. More afraid than I could ever remember being.
Her gaze flicked up to me. Slowly, she reached out and ran her fingers through Mo’s stringy, white hair. I shuddered at the gesture. “Knowing,” she said with a shrug. “Knowing what I am... and why I’m so different from other vampires.” She smiled. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
Bao hissed. Her fangs shot out over her bottom lip. “Are you going to answer me?” In a blur, she was on her feet. “Did you really think that stupid gemstone would work?”
Some of the fear fizzled out of me. I gritted my teeth. “I don’t know what Mo told you,” I hissed. “But you will not speak to me like this.”
She snorted and snapped her fingers. Mo leapt to her feet and lowered her head in front of Bao, like the kid was some kind of queen. Which I guess, in a way, she was. Bao patted her head. “Give us a moment alone.”
Mo darted her gaze in my direction. “Baobao, I’m not sure that’s the best—”
Bao silenced her with a look. Mo nodded, then zipped into the little room she’d tried to trap me in earlier that night, and closed the door behind her. Bao crept toward me, her hands on her slim hips. “Are you really going to pretend that you’re my mother right now?” She laughed. “Are you serious?”
I swallowed my emotions. “What did she tell you? What are you in here doing? What exactly is your plan?”
Without answering my question, she zipped behind me. When I turned around she was seated at a table. She kicked a chair out and gestured toward it. “Sit. We should talk.”
I narrowed my eyes.
>
She smiled. “Come on, I won’t bite.”
I let out a tense laugh as I went to sit across from her. “So, you think you’re grown now?” I lifted an eyebrow. “Is that it?”
She tilted her head to the side. “You’ve hunted my kind for a while now.” She cupped her hands on the table in front of her and leaned forward. “Do you know what blood memory is?”
I stared at her as I quietly flipped through my memory of creature lore. Finally, I nodded. “It’s an old trick thought up by an ancient witch.”
Bao nodded. “Her name was Miranda.” With a grin, she added, “A long time ago, she programmed the memories of a powerful vampire line into the blood of one vampire. Now, in each generation—”
“The most powerful vamp in the family carries the histories.” I nodded. My gaze darted to the closed door behind Bao. “It was a tradition exclusive to the jiangshi. So that the mother could always be found.” I laughed. “Is that what’s happening here? Mo is the blood memory keeper?”
Bao tapped a finger against the splintered wood. “Yes.” Her eyes brightened. “So many questions I’ve had all my life have been answered in the time it takes to drink a drop of blood. Why I grow, why I bleed, and now... Why I can control other vampires. Why they flock to me and why they serve.”
I snorted, and Bao slammed her hand down on the table, splitting it into two. I glanced down as the two halves thudded to the floor. “Do not laugh at me!”
I stared at her for several beats of silence as I leaned back in my chair. “So, this is what you want?” I asked in a soft voice. “To leave? To become the jiangshi mother?”
She raked her hands through her hair, leaving streaks of blood highlighted through it. “It’s who I am.” She averted her gaze, and at that moment, she was nothing more than a child. A child that needed my help. “I don’t have a choice.”