Witch Gone Viral

by Sami Valentine

  Delilah snorted, changing magazines again. “Finally.”

  “It’s a friend.” Long dark skirt fluttering, Hilde Higbee stepped into the room carrying a rifle. She looked like a black ops Annie Oakley in her modest high neck dress and armored vest. The Supreme Master of Salt Lake City smiled as she spotted Kristoff. Gunpowder smudged her pale forehead under her high curled bangs. “Praise Satan! We reached you.”

  Jaw dropping, Red blinked. The Blood Alliance had gotten off their asses and sent in the Dark Veil Assurance. Holstering her revolver back in her hunter’s kit, she stepped forward. Her legs shook as relief cascaded through her veins.

  Angling her gun up, Delilah jumped and slid over the metal cabinet. “Save your prayers for my husband.”

  “I thought you two were divorced?” Hilde arched an eyebrow, resting her gun on her shoulder.

  Delilah glared at her. “Finally found the mole in the DVA or your courage?”

  Hilde smirked. “Delightful to see you again, Mrs. Byrnes.”

  Kristoff blurred to stand between the women. Shooting a warning glance at Delilah, he turned to Hilde. “We appreciate the rescue. How many did you bring?”

  “Enough until Cora gets here with her souled minions.” Hilde nodded toward the door. “We’ll cut a swath through the Dague while we wait.”

  Red stepped beside Kristoff. The rush of survival cooled. They had more to do tonight than save Prince Marek’s mother. “We have to destroy the Genesis Machine first.”

  “You know its name.” Hilde pursed her lips. “Do you know how to destroy it?”

  “Let’s just blow it up. The nerd said it’s down the hall.” Delilah gritted her teeth and stormed out of the room into the darkened hallway.

  Shaking her head ruefully, Hilde followed her out as she raised a fist. “Move out, agents.”

  Dark-clad agents in suits and sunglasses marched past the doorway.

  Red darted into the hallway. The light from the laboratory cut through the darkness, but the shadows grew with each step. She glanced at Kristoff, but his remote expression revealed nothing. Even his aura seemed guarded and coiled tight around him.

  Kristoff kept his hand on the trigger as he locked step beside her.

  Eardrums aching from aural abuse, Red tried to breathe deeply to control her racing heartbeat. Hilde Higbee had finally gotten into the game at the right time. The supreme didn’t just rule Salt Lake City, she was the chairwoman of the Dark Veil Assurance oversight committee and half a dozen others in the Blood Alliance. She was a good ally to have in a fight. The hair stood up on Red’s arms anyway.

  As the quiet group stalked down the pitch-black hall, a strong energy signature grew in the air like burning ozone. The Genesis Machine was close. Her third eye could see the jagged thunderbolts of ether charging along the ceiling as if guiding their way.

  Red had to jog to keep up with the vampires. The tunnel narrowed as crates crowded along the walls. The strange sulfur smell intensified. She wrinkled her nose as she glanced down the hall. Not a trace of a sneaking vampire’s aura followed them. Sweat beaded on her brow.

  She stubbed her toe on a crate, walking into it. Biting back a hiss, she grabbed her knee. She cursed herself for being distracted by the Genesis Machine’s energy and paranoia about where the next round of attackers would come from. Her magic flared up, the rainbow light from her chakras flickering over the wooden boards of the crates to reveal an etched beehive.

  Ice cold fear rose in her throat. She had thought the tunnels smelled like rotten eggs. It was meth. Red knew where she had seen that symbol before—Hilde Higbee’s pin. Hilde Higbee funded her regime in Salt Lake City by cooking meth in the desert. Red and Vic had taken out one of her labs, but she obviously still had more than enough to share with the burrowers. Meth got them on her side and then amp them up to dig out new secret tunnels. All while Hilde capitalized on Michel’s death and hid behind the politics of the Blood Alliance, lurking on the edges with a dagger made of secrets and shadows.

  Kristoff put his hand on her lower back. “Let me guide you in the dark.”

  Red glanced around at the dozen DVA agents that marched in a square around Kristoff, Delilah, and her. They were surrounded. It wasn’t a rescue; it was a set up. Higbee hadn’t been keeping the Dague investigation under wraps from the Blood Alliance because she had a mole—she was the mole. Red shifted closer to Kristoff as she walked, trying to stay calm under the watchful eyes.

  Kristoff stared down at her.

  ‘It’s a trap.’ Red mouthed the words as she slipped the stake out of her wrist strap and into her palm.

  Kristoff’s face didn’t change as he stared up at Higbee. Silver thunderbolts shot through his purple aura.

  Sudden artificial light flooded into the hall from a wide archway. The dozen DVA agents spun on their heels with their weapons up. The barrels weren’t focused on Kristoff. Each one pointed at Red.

  Red gulped and lifted her hands.

  Kristoff stepped in front of Red, to address Hilde. “This is the dramatic villain reveal then. Michel would have made more of a production out of it.”

  Hilde laughed. “That’s why Michel died. We save that for the cameras. Now, drop the weapons or it’s a headshot for each of you. Starting with the girl.”

  Red dropped the stake, then clenched her raised fist.

  Delilah cursed, lowering her weapon as two agents turned to aim at her.

  With the severity of a schoolteacher, Higbee wagged a warning finger. “Mind your manners and you’ll keep the girl safe.”

  “I couldn’t care less about her. What about Quinn and Selene?” Delilah asked, cool blue eyes scanning the agents for weaknesses.

  “You’ll see your family soon.” Higbee gestured toward the door. “Grab the witch.”

  Red backed up, heart palpitating. She managed to elbow the DVA agent who grabbed her wrists.

  Flashing fangs, Kristoff growled. “Safe, is she?”

  “She’ll stay alive long enough for you to turn her tonight. Isn’t that enough?” Hilde shrugged. “Vex me and I’ll have them spill her blood all over the sand, then give her to a minion to turn. She’ll be so weak in death that she’ll have a reflection.”

  Amber flared in Kristoff’s eyes. He clenched his jaw and dropped his gun. “You’ll still have to deal with Prince Marek, Higbee!”

  “I have his mother, his childe, and his two best disciples in my grasp.” Hilde tapped her lips, satisfaction clear on her plain face. “He’ll have to bargain with me, I think.”

  Heart skipping, Red realized that the others must have been captured.

  Hilde paused to let the information sink in. “He’ll agree to a parley like a good little boy, I’m sure. I’ll return his people. He’ll keep mum on everything learned here. You’re a clever one, Novak. We are making a new world. Obedience will earn you a place in it. They will need leaders more than ever in the chaos ahead.”

  Kristoff chuckled darkly. “You still think you can manipulate the Blood Alliance from the inside? Even after turning on that machine?”

  “Oh, Mr. Novak, I’ve been an undetected cancer in that beast for decades. You’ll find it politically wise to keep it that way.” Hilde flicked a lazy hand at the door.

  The DVA cranked Red’s arm behind her back and pushed her toward the archway. A slow glow pulsed in the dark chamber. Twisted magic radiated out. Six agents split off to keep Red in their gunsights.

  Glancing over her shoulder, Red dug her heels into the earthen floor.

  Skirt flapping around her ankles, Hilde strode into the large chamber. She clapped her hands. Dim lights revealed empty bleachers along the walls. The crescent moon shone down through a circular hole in the ceiling. A long shadow fell on the ground. Spiky energy currents jetted to the shadow’s source.

  Red’s eyes widened on the Genesis Machine in the center of the chamber as the agent dragged her in.

  Jutting twenty feet high from a wide raised platform, it looked like a nucl
ear reactor from the dark side. A blinking interface lit up dials and keypads that seemed to form a grimacing face. Raw rivets and raised seams ran up the dull steel sides. Crimson light radiated from the steel planks edging the top. Chained to the Genesis Machine, Basil’s drawn face hovered over the glow.

  Basil’s thin voice bounced off the cavern walls. “No… Red!”

  Queasy, Red glanced at Hilde as the agent forced her closer to the machine. “This isn’t the prototype.”

  “Evelyn Weiss did fabulous work before she passed. History will remember her, even if she dressed like a leather harlot.” Hilde wiped at her eye. “Oh my, I am just overcome from the occasion. This long sojourn through the wastelands is over. Tonight, I reopen the gates of Eden and bring my people back to our truth.”

  Red’s stomach hardened and her knees grew weak. This was the next generation device. Basil’s past warning rang in her head. This machine had the range to blast the signal across California into Arizona and Nevada.

  “We’re getting our kind’s balls back, too.” The agent grunted, tightening his grip on Red’s wrists. He directed her to a small set of stairs built into the Genesis Machine.

  Shaking her head, Red recoiled from the pulsating energy. It sucked at her like a black hole. She visualized a wall forming around her magic to protect it. The pull of the machine tugged at her defenses. She bared her teeth, looking back at Higbee. “Cora will be here soon.”

  “With a troop of souled vampires. She’s bringing her best and most loyal soldiers for me. They’ll fight for the Dague once I send out the signal. We’ll edit out their struggles when we post the video.” Hilde smiled as she handed her weapon to an agent, then grabbed a flat white mask from another. She pulled the mask on. The narrow eye slots couldn’t hide the excited twinkle in her gaze. A mesh circle hid her mouth. Her voice came out robotic, disguised by a voice scrambling device hidden in the mask. “Its almost time for my debut. I always thought it would be Michel at center stage, but when you hear the call of destiny… Do you hear it, Red?”

  Shivering from the anticipation clear even in the computerized tone, Red heaved a panicked breath. Her heart pounded in her ears.

  “Chain her with the soulmancer.” Hilde ordered from behind the mask. “My machine will need all the fuel it can get tonight.”

  Red didn’t have time to scream before the agent threw her over his shoulder and scrambled up the rough steps to the top of the Genesis Machine.

  Setting her down on a two-foot wide platform at the crown, the agent pushed her against the gaping lips of the machine.

  The touch zapped like the mother of all static shocks. Even through her clothes, the machine bonded with her magic on impact. She gasped as she stared down at the crimson core of the towering device. Her spirit gaze blinked closed from the splendor. It was like a brilliant star hiding inside scrap metal. She felt her magic draining into the swirl of energy.

  Her captor crossed two chains over her shoulders and back, securing them with padlocks on rusty hooks at her hips. The chains tightened, fixing her into place next to Basil. The agent leapt off the planks to the ground, twenty feet below.

  Struggling against the hot machine, hair blown back from the volcanic churn of energy inside the hollow, glowing center of the Genesis Machine, she looked over at Basil.

  Brow furrowing, he sighed. “Why can’t we ever just hang out like normal people?”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  January 28th, Hours Before Dawn, The Secret Burrow, California

  Strapped to an unholy melding of technology and magic, Red stared out at the cavern. The ceiling was only a yard above her head. She stood on metal planks crowning the top of the tapered tower of jumbled parts. The roughly-welded mouth of the Genesis Machine jutted into her bottom rib. Bile rose to her dry mouth. Her chest tightened around her pounding heart. The agents hadn’t taken the hunter’s kit belted to her waist, but her body was pressed too tightly against the metal to reach into it. The revolver and holy water were useless to her.

  Mystical currents blew her ponytail back. She didn’t know if it was the lingering effects of the gunfire humming in her ears or the machinery. Her mouth felt as dry as the air.

  Twenty feet above the vampires below, she could only watch as Hilde’s men forced Delilah and Kristoff to the center of the room at gunpoint. Empty bleachers lined the walls. When was the audience going to show up? She pushed her back against the chains. They didn’t budge.

  “These are the times that I miss dream teleportation,” Basil said sardonically in his fake, chipped British accent. His chin trembled until he steeled his jaw. “We won’t wake up from this.”

  “Hey, snap out of it. I need you sharp.” Red tilted her head to look inside the Genesis Machine. The whirling glow of energy made her third eye tear up. She scanned the towering device. Sheet metal hid the jumble of mismatched electrical parts, crystals, and relics wedged inside like a Rube Goldberg machine created by wizards. A rusty pool ladder hung down to reach the servers at the bottom. The other electrical equipment looked just as salvaged. The engineer had told her he had designed a flaw into the device. She just had to find the signal amplifier. “There are others on the way.”

  “Who? The National Guard?” Basil scowled. “Unless you have a grenade conveniently hidden in your pocket to drop into this infernal device, we’re about to be squeezed for every drop of magic that we possess. Then they’ll do it again when we recharge. Unlike you, I have a lot of magic and I want to keep it!”

  “You might be surprised at who shows up.” Red glanced down at the cavern floor. Hilde had known they were coming, she probably left Sal out to lure them into a false sense of security. She had also factored in Cora’s backup, but the Dague leader hadn’t said anything about Prince Marek’s men coming in force. Red wasn’t going to breathe a sigh of relief yet, but she had a feeling that at least one part of their secret plan had stayed that way. “We need to hold on.”

  “This is like a juicer and we’re the oranges.” Basil grimaced. “There’s no holding on.”

  A loud creak like a giant settling into a chair broke through the chamber. Sand fell into her hair. Red looked up, squinting as more grit dropped, pinging against the machine. The ceiling cracked open, widening the circular oculus, like an observatory drawing back to reveal more of the starry sky above. Mouth flopping open, Red glanced at Basil. “It opens? I thought this was the arena.”

  “The lighting is atrocious here. Hold on when they start hoisting this thing up.” Basil jerked his head toward a line of generators connected with thick cables to the platform of the Genesis Machine. A black suited agent waited by a lever on a podium. Basil’s fake British accent lapsed into his natural Midwestern one. “They’re getting us ready for our close-up.”

  “Gotta make a splashy entrance for the camera.” Red hung her head. The fighting had been intense in the laboratory, but they hadn’t seen nearly as many vampires as the Dague claimed. Now, she knew why. They waited elsewhere for the show to begin.

  The crackle of gunfire broke out below.

  “Oh, bloody hell!” Basil ducked his head.

  Red lifted on her tiptoes to see what was going on below.

  Kristoff had wrestled a gun away from a DVA agent. He fought back to back with Delilah who held another agent as a shield.

  “Get the last original!” Hilde fled the fighting to run up the stairs of the Genesis Machine. Her white-masked face bobbed as she hiked her long dark skirt up.

  Agents muscled past Kristoff to tackle Delilah. Silver cuffs flashed in the scuffle. Three managed to grab the blond vampiress and drag her to the platform of the unholy tower.

  Kristoff ducked behind a set of bleachers to fire at the remaining agents who rushed him.

  Hilde’s order came out a robotic bark. “Pull the lever!”

  The Genesis Machine jerked, screws and metal scraping together, and the molten airy stew of magic frothed up.

  Red swayed on her plank, foot slipping on t
he tarnished metal. Her stomach dropped as the machine rose. She looked down to see Kristoff look up at her.

  “Red!” he called.

  The machine twirled on its platform as if on a squeaking screw, taking Kristoff out of her sight. Approaching the surface, the machine’s glow brightened. Cheers sprang up, mingled with a chanted phrase—Michel would have shown you who you really are. Now we will!

  Hilde Higbee appeared beside Red. She clasped her hands in front of her chest, nearly quivering. “Just think, you’ll be the first childe born into this new world. Momentous.”

  Throat tightening, Red dipped her head. They were going to drain her magic and turn her into a vampire. It was hard for her to imagine a worse fate. She took a shaky breath before raising her eyes.

  Hilde waved to her followers, stepping down from the planks to the creaking metal stairs as the Genesis Machine broke the surface. Dozens of white-masked vampires circled the spectacle. Few had the ragged counterculture air of the burrowers. These were modestly dressed demons in collared white shirts and slacks or denim dresses. Higbee had let her tweaker allies take the brunt of the raid. Two cameramen wove through the crush, lenses pointed at the rising abomination. The crowd inched closer as the panels drew together to seal the underground cavern shut, leaving the desert floor undisturbed.

  Four armed vampires held their rifles pointed at a kneeling trio in the front. Bound in silver and gagged, Nedda and Donal gawked at the twisting tower alongside Sal. None of the minions had survived. Prone prisoners, sacks over their heads, lay lined up in hospital gowns like hunting trophies on the ground beside them. Red had a sickening feeling that the Dague were going to wake those sleeping elders from their artificial coma as a grand finale.

  Spinning with the rising machinery, Red gasped as the rest of the crowd came into view. Hilde had asked her men to bring the last original, and they had grabbed Delilah. The meaning hadn’t sunk in until now. They had meant original souled vampire. The Dague had finally gotten all four.

  Lucas stood chained in silver at the foot of the machine like a hunting trophy. Still in the black shirt and dark jeans that he had left Club Vltava in, his battered leather jacket, covered in safety pins and band patches, was missing. Defiance sharpened his aristocratic features. Head craned up, he jerked against his chains, smoke sizzling up from the metal on his wrists. “Red!”