The Vampire's Spell - Kiss of The Night: Book 3 Page 5

  “Rachel’s in the back,” I said without preamble as I turned my glare on Nicholas. “She’s bound pretty tightly with silver hemp twine. Do you want to leave it, or cut it off?” I was determined to keep my emotions in check, but I was so tired and raw from the attack, and from Nicholas hiding Rachel’s kidnapping, that I could hardly look at him, even though the idea of him flirting with Simi made me want to sink a knife into him.

  A cool breeze at my back made me hastily drop to the ground in a crouch. I spun around and found myself looking up at a vampire in a mini skirt and a midriff baring tank top.

  “Hey there, pretty girl. Want to go for a ride?” Colette smirked down at me and I chuckled, then kicked out with a leg sweep and knocked her on her butt.

  “That’s for sneaking up on me.” I held out my hand to Simi and she tossed me my keys. Pocketing them, I opened the back door and started to slide Rachel to the edge of the seat so she could stand while I cut her bonds.

  “Someone’s in a bad mood,” I heard Colette gripe from behind me. “I didn’t even get a kiss hello before the abuse started.” I didn’t know if I wanted to hug her for breaking the tension, or shoot her for stepping on my last nerve.

  She stepped forward and gently cradled Rachel, even though the rope had to be burning her bare skin. I cut the ropes and got them off her as fast as I could, kicking them out of the way and checking Rachel’s vitals.

  It had been a shock to me to learn that vampires weren’t dead people who’d come back to life, but victims of a virus. That meant that as hard as they were to kill, they still had heartbeats, blood pressure, and malnutrition. Rachel had gone without blood for long enough that her pulse was thready and when we checked her with a cuff, her blood pressure was impossibly low.

  “Do you have what you need to treat her?” I asked as Colette hefted Rachel into her arms.

  “We’ll take care of her.” Nicholas’ voice was neutral, which meant he was hiding his feelings, whatever they were. In the moment, I didn’t really care. All I could see was Rachel, her kind eyes feral and hungry. I shuddered and turned away from them all. She was young for a vampire, yet she was universally trusted because she had retained her humanity and her trust in others. I was certain that was how Glory’s people had gotten to her.

  As far as I was concerned, Nicholas was on his own for his power base. All I cared about was killing Glory and every single vampire and hunter that had helped her. I’d seen it in her when she attacked me. Rachel had lost the last bit of humanity that had made her a good person and a good friend.

  They’d taken the best from among them and ruined it. Whatever Nicholas’ intentions were in keeping her kidnapping from me, I wasn’t going to forgive him anytime soon. As I strode to the driver’s side I felt a rush of air from the vampires taking flight. But, when I reached out to open my door and Nicholas was suddenly in front of me, I struck out in shock and surprise.

  “Damn you, you scared the life out of me!” I hissed, grabbing my chest over my heart.

  “I could tell,” Nicholas quipped, holding his face. He maneuvered his jaw and arched an eyebrow at me.

  “Now would be a bad time to tell me I have to be your servant, Nicholas, especially considering how your servants get treated.” He sighed and reached out, running his fingers lightly down my arm. “I’ve got to go back and help clean this up, Nicholas. You should probably head out of town now, save the rest of your people from being attacked by their own, since I’ve gone to so much trouble to keep them safe from the Venatores.”

  I brushed past him and climbed into the driver’s seat. He held the door open for a moment and I arched my eyebrow at him, locking eyes until he looked away first. It was a hollow victory and I felt petty. I chalked it up next to the rest of the empty victories of the night. Clay would live, but he’d be furry once a month for the rest of his life. Rachel would survive, but she would never again be the grandmotherly safe place among vampire-kind. Vladikk’s actions against the Venatores had been uncovered, but he was free and protected by those loyal to him. I was winning every fight, but it felt like I was losing the war.

  Chapter 7

  I had to pull over before we’d even gotten back out the park gates and Simi took over for me while I tried not to think about the mess in my backseat and the vampire who couldn’t stop manipulating everyone around him, not from necessity, but from habit and an innate sense of his own superiority.

  “I need a drink,” Simi complained as she drove us back toward the compound.

  “I’m certainly in no hurry to get back to the mess we left behind us,” I sighed. “Does it make me look more criminal if we stop for ice cream and a kids’ meal before we go back?” Simi snorted, then turned into the Tesco and parked.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said, then hopped out of the car and went inside. I watched the shadows just beyond the gas station’s bright floodlights. There was never a time when I didn’t have to watch the darkness instead of enjoying the light. Something caught my eye and I got out of the car and locked it, my right-hand hovering near my unlocked holster without pulling my gun.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Simi’s head turn towards me and I sent her a message in the telepathic shorthand we’d worked out, telling her I was just looking around, but hadn’t seen any trouble. I rounded the corner of the building and stood in the darkness, letting my night sight adjust until I could see the park across the street clearly. I felt the remainder of a kind of metaphysical energy that I’d never felt before, but it was almost familiar.

  I circled the back of the building just to be sure nothing was there, then came back around the front as Simi emerged from the convenience store and handed me a packet of Ding Dongs and an Arizona tea.

  “It’s not ice cream, but we’re both going to need a little burst of energy, if we’re going to join the hunt tonight.”

  “Do you really think they’ll let me join the hunt?” I looked at her sideways and she showed me her phone.

  “Somayo and Eldritch have officially taken over the investigation of the attack on the compound.” I sighed in relief, almost laughing as tears stung my eyelids.

  “So, it’s all hands on deck.” Simi nodded.

  “Tonight, we hunt the master of Seattle.” I blew out a breath and tore into the snack cakes, forcing myself to choke down one of the wax-coated, sugary hockey pucks. “I don’t know if these are the worst thing ever, or if I love them,” I admitted as we climbed back into the car. I let Simi continue driving, this time so I could focus on my power and use it to find the master vampire’s lair.

  The Venatores knew where Glory’s public base of operations was. But, like any vampire, we knew she’d have a place to go, to hide from people like us, when she’d broken our laws. We’d never raided her clubs, content to catch vampires trying to use mind control on people outside those heavy gothic doors.

  That ended tonight. I checked the messages from the compound, which were coming in faster than I could read them. A warrant had been issued minutes after the professor contacted the Vatican. Dominique was waiting on approval of her flight plan to bring the jet home. My mentor also texted Simi and I privately, warning us to be extra careful and stay together, no matter what directive was handed down from the Venatores.

  I read the texts to Simi, including the last ones from Domonique. Even though Simi wasn’t as psychically gifted as I was, she’d shown enough sensitivity to be able to learn spells, and Dom and I had been secretly working with her to strengthen her mind and teach her the ways of the watchers. But, we knew that the moment she was discovered to have those abilities, she’d be labeled a witch. Since my induction into the Order of Watchers, I’d had multiple attempts on my life from those who should have been my allies. I was afraid of that happening to Simi too. There hadn’t been a full coven of watchers in over a century. After tonight, I was more certain than ever that the lack of watchers was due to culling from within the Venatores Lamiae.

  “What kind of psycho le
t the enemy behind our walls?” Simi asked as we rolled into the underground parking and pulled into a spot near the exit. I popped the trunk and handed her one of the bugout bags, which held a change of clothes, hand-weapons, and ammunition.

  I tugged off my jacket and top and put on my tactical gear. I was already wearing the leather and spandex leggings I preferred for hunting. The stretchy panels gave me the flexibility I needed to run roof tops and fight if necessary, while the leather was lined with tactical mesh and gave me extra protection in the groin and over the arteries that ran down into my legs.

  Knowing vampires weren’t picky about taking blood only from the throat, I’d also developed my own tactical body armor. I tugged my pants down below my butt while Simi kept watch and snapped up the bodysuit, smoothing down the lines before pulling the leggings back up. I was adjusting my shoulder holster when I felt a familiar presence and spun around, gun in hand.

  “Is that really necessary, Caroline?” Clayton drawled. He was leaning against a concrete pylon and leering. His predatory, roving eyes made my heart thud in my chest and my mouth felt like it was full of sand when I tried to speak. I cleared my throat and adjusted my grip on the Beretta.

  “Clay, how are you up and about?” Simi asked, her hand hovering near her weapon, but not drawing it. I looked into his eyes, with their strange glow, and hoped that it wasn’t a fatal miscalculation.

  “Not very friendly all of a sudden, Caroline. What’s the matter? Aren’t you glad I’m not dead? After all, this is all because of you.”

  “No, Clay, this is because your fellow hunters experimented on your girlfriend and made her super-contagious.” I controlled my breathing and slowed my heart rate until I felt completely still. I wouldn’t have missed a human from this close even on my worst day. But Clay wasn’t human anymore. At least not entirely. I wasn’t sure if even I was fast enough to use a gun on him at this distance.

  “Caroline, it’s Clay, put the gun down,” Simi reached a hand out toward me and I shot her a look. She backed off and I growled low in my throat. Instantly, her katana was in her hands, but more importantly, Clayton dropped into a crouch, snarling at me. His eyes had changed and now glowed a virulent green.

  “Does that look like freaking Clay to you?” I demanded as I centered myself. Simi had the better idea and I desperately wanted my knives in my hands. On the other hand, the last thing I wanted, was Clayton 2.0 close enough to fight hand to hand. He had always been fast and light on his feet. Now, with whatever extra abilities he gained from Alyson, combined with that strange, crazed look in his eyes, I couldn’t be sure of the outcome if he attacked.

  “Now, Care-bear. It’s okay if I call you Care-bear, isn’t it?” I scoffed and shook my head at the childhood nickname I’d always hated.

  “No. No Clayton, it is not. I know you want a fight, but goading me won’t work.” He twisted his head and I heard his neck crack.

  “There’s a lot of pain with the first shift, Alyson told me that, when she showed me what she was,” he said, tugging the hospital gown off and standing naked in front of us. I locked my jaw, but tears stung my eyes at the massive scar that was now visible on his shoulder. The knotted, pink flesh covered his left shoulder and collarbone. It was as though his skin had become molten and flowed down from his throat and shoulder almost down to his pectoral region.

  “I’m sorry they did this to you Clayton. I would’ve stopped it if I could.” My hand was starting to shake from holding my shooting stance for so long and the cramping in my palm was almost unbearable. I watched his eyes flick to my gun and back to my face.

  “That’s what pisses me off the most, Care bear. That you hoard all the power for yourself. You really think you’re better than us, don’t you?” He took a step toward me and I braced against my car and leveled the gun on him again.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” I growled and felt along the line of power past Nicholas and to his rat king. He sent back an image of rats swarming and I knew the whole pack was on route to us. Simi stepped up between Clay and me, sword at the ready, and I dropped my gun and pulled my karambit from my hair. The curved knives fit into my wrist like old friends and I rolled my shoulders, preparing for a hand to claw fight.

  “She doesn’t hoard power, Clay. She’s teaching me to be a witch and I’ve been a hunter longer than you have.” He scoffed and took another step towards us. His nudity made it difficult for me to stand my ground and not back away.

  “So why didn’t you share with me? What was so lacking in me, that I had to be turned into, into this?” His voice rose to a shout and then a howl as his face lengthened into a raw, bloody muzzle. It wasn’t like the change that we’d seen from Alyson, and Simi and I both backed away from the blood and torn flesh automatically.

  “Clay, Clayton!” I tried to push my way into his mind, to control his fear and rage with the telepathic thread we shared, but it was severed and his mind was locked away from me. “Simi, I can’t reach him. That’s not Clay anymore.” I said, quietly, still backing away. We were in a shifter danger zone, well within reach of a leap or a well-timed sprint. I pushed her back but she dug in, shaking her head. She blew out a few quick breaths and then inhaled deeply.

  “Clayton, we don’t want to kill you, but if you wish to die then come and get me.” She lowered her swords and stood with her head bowed. I sidestepped out of range of her weapons and centered myself as well.

  I had to force myself to look at him, his naked body split and bleeding as whatever he had become pushed its way through. He screamed in pain and animalistic rage and fell to the floor, writhing. The scream turned to a howl and he curled up in a ball then leaped free of the mess of blood and flesh.

  He shook himself and I cursed to myself, sending images of the nightmare creature to the rats as he turned his baleful green eyes on me.

  “Oh. My. God.” Simi whispered beside me.

  “Oh no. No God here,” I replied and circled to the side again. I could feel the reassuring presence of Nicholas and Jeremy as they raced to us, but I realized as I stared at the giant canine in front of me, that they just might be too late.

  The wolf that had been Clayton just moments before swayed on his feet, then snarled and shook his head, trying to get his bearings. I took quick stock of the parking lot around us. Unfortunately, there were no hunters lingering at this time of night, all of them already out hunting or beginning the investigation and cleanup inside.

  “How much do you want to bet Vladikk is watching this inside on live feed and waiting for him to eat us?” Simi asked quietly and I nodded.

  “How are we supposed to kill Clay, Simi?” My stomach cramped and I felt Nicholas reach out to me as he sensed the nature of my distress.

  “Don’t think about his death, huntress. We are coming for you and we will do whatever is necessary.” His voice was soothing and tender in my mind and I was reminded of why I always went back to him, despite the trouble he brought to my life.

  “Thank you, Nicholas. But Clayton will not be dying tonight,” I thought and sent an image of myself shielding Clay, to make sure he understood my message. I felt his exasperation and it startled a low chuckle out of me that drew both Simi and Clay’s attention to me. “Now or never,” I thought to myself, and fell into a crouch, just as Clay did. I sprang forward like a sprinter in a race and sliced out with the curved blades at my wrists as he lunged at me, snapping his enormous jaws shut just over my head as I ducked.

  I shouted for Simi to stay back and kicked Clay in the side, using him as a springboard to propel myself away from him and pivoted so I face him again. He lunged, I ducked it, and his muzzle shut with a snap on air. I took the opportunity to slice out with a knife and caught him in the side, dragging my blade over his ribs and laying the skin open neatly.

  He yelped and snarled, then spun in an impossibly tight circle and came at me again. This time, he feigned a lunge, then swiped out with vicious claws, catching me in the shoulder and sending me tumbling. I r
olled into a crouch, making myself as small a target as possible and blinking fast to clear my bleary vision. The half-wolf, half-man sniffed the air and pivoted, his attention fixed to something in Simi’s hand.

  “Hey! Hey, Clayton, remember me? Can you see me, Clayton?” I shouted. I found a piece of scrap metal on the parking lot floor and threw it at his head. It bounced off and he spun again to face me. He paced forward, but whatever Simi was doing was kept him glancing in her direction.

  “Damn it, Simi. Stay still and whatever it is he’s trying to smell, throw it as far from you as you can.”

  “It’s deer scent from the bugout bag. He’s responding to natural wolf stimuli. We can use this,” she said and rolled to the side before spritzing a concrete column with the deer musk. “Why do you even have this?” she asked and I laughed, surprising wolf-Clay. He stopped advancing and his ears moved, searching for the sounds Simi was making behind him.

  “Simi, go still.” I ordered and she stopped moving. “It throws off vampire noses if you’re in a bind and trying to cover your trail.”

  She scoffed and as wolf-Clay turned his head, I laid open his ribs on the other side, leaving two pieces of his skin hanging from his body as he spun fast and caught my side with his claws. I hissed and slid out of reach of his claws.

  “I don’t know how much longer we can hold back, Caroline,” Simi called out. “You have to let me fight.”

  “Oh, no, I’m good,” I wheezed, watching the blood gush through my fingers from the deep gash his claws had raked across my side. “Give them a couple more minutes. We’ve got to save him if we can.”

  Nicholas came to me again, urging me to connect with him using the metaphysical connection I had with him and Jeremy. “Will he be your servant if I do?” I asked. I was a watcher, a peacekeeper. There was leniency for me in my relationship with the vampire, because watchers had always been the emissaries between our peoples. For a hunter like Clay, to become a vampire servant would be a death sentence.