Days Gone Bad (7 page)

“Did you just monologue at me?” My speech was slurred and I couldn’t stop the somewhat incoherent giggle dripping from my mouth.

“Gut the blond, Damian!”

I spared Foster a glance. It was an idea, and a better one than I’d come up with during the vamp’s monologue efforts. As I stood up, I took a step forward, brought my arm down in a diagonal line and screamed,
“Modus Incidatto!”

The blond didn’t even flinch as a deep and ragged wound opened across his shoulder and guts. It was a massive cut and things never meant to see light began a slow push through the wound.

I could see the aura come out with the viscera and I latched onto it with my power. It slithered and fought and felt like Zola’s godforsaken dolls, but there was no surge of knowing. It was exactly like Zola’s dolls. I pushed it out until it touched the rogue’s aura and opened a hole.

His eyes went wide for a moment and I screamed,
“Pulsatto!”
My power raced down the connected auras and then everything went wrong.

My power rebounded off the raven-haired vampire’s aura. Something was riding it back, right through my defenses. By the time I could even
think
the incantation for my shield, I couldn’t move.

“Nice try, Vesik
,”
he hissed. “See if Zola can put
this
back together again.”

I don’t even know what the bastard hit me with. I knew I was airborne, and I knew it was going to hurt when I landed, but holy shit. The impact was agonizingly slow. My leg smashed into a fire hydrant. I felt the bolts dig into my knee, heard the crack as something broke, and screamed as my body followed my leg into the hydrant. Something popped in my hip and my heel was suddenly touching the back of my head as I twirled and rolled across the sidewalk. I didn’t pass out. If ever I had wanted to pass out, it was then. The tears that ran down my face in torrents would have vouched for me.

The blond came at me again.

Foster struck.
“DAMIAN!”
I heard his scream. It changed from his normal voice into the basso war cry of a giant. I’d seen Cara grow before, but even through my haze of pain I could tell Foster was bigger. In the span of a single breath he grew to the size of a seven-foot colossus. Rage creased his face and his claymore was so big it was almost comical.

Comical until Foster launched himself into the air with a sweep of his wings and another cry of rage. He folded his wings and came down on the blond from eight feet in the air. His sword met the crown of the possessed vampire and continued in a smooth slash to his crotch. Blood and entrails exploded across my field of view as the fairy kicked one half of the separated vampire at the rogue.

Foster spun around before the two halves of my attacker ever hit the ground. His arms moved forward in an overhand slash and he let his sword fly. It spun end over end with enough ferocity to kill any vampire, but the rogue vanished with a snarl. There was a thin red vortex of energy where he’d been standing a moment before. The sword passed through the red remnant, slammed into a nearby tree, and buried itself to the hilt.

Things started to go dark. I heard footsteps and mumbling and thought I heard Colin’s thick voice say
“Socius Sanation.”
There was a twinge in my hip and back, followed by pain. Then darkness mercifully wrapped its arms around me.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I recognized Sam’s room as I started coming around. My lips curled up as I took in the bright yellow walls and cat posters. My smile died as I turned to find Sam’s face a foot from me, worry etched all over it.

“Was Dale worried?” I asked nonchalantly.

She smiled a little and ran her fingers over the darker patch of skin on her neck. It was circled by a tiny ribbon of an aura that didn’t match Sam’s. I could have sworn it shivered. Sam’s eyes were getting shiny as a thin coat of tears filled them up. She tried to blink them away.

“Bad, huh?” I said.

She nodded and wiped her eyes. Her voice was a whisper. “Colin saved you.” I was surprised when she kissed me on the forehead and walked over to the deep red corduroy chair in the corner. She was almost swallowed up in the huge cushions.

“How long was I out?”

“I don’t know, exactly. Six hours? It’s late.”

“Shit.”

The door opened with a quiet creak and Zola stepped through. She stopped at the foot of the bed and patted my foot, which was hanging over the edge. “Foster told us of the vampire and his puppet.”

I glanced at Sam as I nodded. “He tell you about the puppet’s aura?”

“Yes,” she closed her eyes, “that thing you fought, Damian, it was a zombie.”

“I’ve fought zombies before. They’re slow, stupid, and practically harmless.”

She cocked an eyebrow.

“Okay, okay, practically harmless unless there are a lot of them, and they’re hungry. Besides, that thing Foster cleaved in half for me was fast as hell and possessed—zombies can’t be possessed.”

Zola snorted and flicked my nose.

“Ow.”

“You speak of human zombies.” She turned to the end table, breaking eye contact. “What you fought was a vampiric zombie.”

“A what?” I whispered as an uncomfortable weight settled on my chest.

“Ah suppose there are still some things not found in your books. It is a creature … once a vampire, stripped of its own aura and given another.”

“Jesus, but a vampire stripped of its aura …”

She nodded and turned back to me. “Yes, a vampire stripped of its aura is stripped of the power keeping it
alive,
for lack of a better term.”

“What the hell can do that?”

“Only one creature Ah’ve ever fought could do that, Damian. Only demons can do that.”

I saw Sam curl her legs up underneath her in the corner. A small tremor ran through her and she closed her eyes. I turned my focus back to Zola. “Is Foster okay?”

“Ha! Is
Foster
okay?” She shook her head and smiled. “He split that zombie from crown to crotch. Sam, what did Edgar say?”

“Bifurcate,” my sister said with a weak laugh.

“Yes, Foster bifurcated the zombie. Ah truly think he could have killed the rogue, from what he tells me. Ah don’t see another reason a vampire would run. How he vanished when Foster threw a toad sticker at him bothers me, something a demon could do, but a demon wouldn’t run.” She paused. “You know Colin healed you?”

I smiled and looked at Sam. “I guess he’s not so bad, huh?”

Sam snorted. “No, and I don’t think he’s going anywhere soon. He’s, how you say,
courting
Karen.”

“Vampire
Karen?” I said.

“Yes,” Sam said with a nod.

My mind drifted a bit, remembering how Karen was one of the first vampires from the Pit to really break the ice with Cara. She used to hang around with Sam and Alexi quite a bit. I tried to imagine what havoc Colin would be wreaking in the Pit.

“So,” Sam said, interrupting my mind-drift. “What else did the rogue say?”

“What?” I said as Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, right, the rogue. He said a lot, actually, like a full on monologue. Something about the rise of the Unseelie Sidhe ruling the nether lands and killing Gwynn ap Nudd.”

Zola took a deep breath. “As Foster said.” Her grip tightened around the cane in her hand. “Did he say anything else?”

I started to shake my head, but then I remembered. “Yes,” I looked up and met my master’s eyes, “he said he’ll break your neck for what you did to them.”

“Them?” Zola said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Who are they?”

“Ah fear the answer to that question, Damian. We must learn more before Ah can be certain, but Ah’m afraid of what is coming.”

I heard Sam squeak in her chair when Zola expressed her fear. I knew exactly how both of them felt as a shiver ran down my spine.

“What do we need to do?” I said.

Zola smiled. “We need to see if more artifacts are missing or if someone has released more demons we’re not aware of yet.”

“Okay, so where do we start?”

She closed her eyes and was silent for a moment. When she opened them again, they were on fire. “We already know the seal was broken in New Madrid. Philip and I buried more artifacts in the area. Some were seals, prisons for the demons, while others …” she clenched her open hand into a fist, “are still waiting to be used against the demons. It’s been hundreds of years, Damian. Ah don’t know if they’ll still be there.”

“Where?”

“Two are nearby, to the south. We were at Fort Davidson when the South came calling. One will be there; the other is in a nearby quarry.” She paused and tapped her chin. “Ah believe Philip said it is a park now, something about elephants?”

“Elephant Rocks,” Sam said and she unfolded herself and sat up straight.

Zola turned to look at her. “Yes, Ah believe that’s it.”

“I know where that’s at,” I said. “Don’t know about the fort, but Elephant Rocks is only a couple hours from here.”

“A lot less if
you’re
driving,” Sam said as she glared at me.

I shrugged.

Zola laughed a little.

“What?” I said.

“When Philip and Ah first made the trip from Saint Louis to the quarry it took almost two days. Two days of pushing our horses fairly hard.” She smiled again.

“Good god I love the future,” I said. “That’s brutal.”

“It wasn’t bad, Damian. It gave me time alone with Philip. Not a bad thing at all.”

“Fair enough, so when are we going?”

“We’ll leave tomorrow.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

I dragged myself up the stairs behind Zola as my legs burned and cramped with every step. I groaned.

Zola glanced back and laughed.

“I feel like I’m eighty.”

“You just need food, boy.”

I nodded and finished the climb in groaning semi-silence. At the top of the stairs I let the banister take my weight, slouched, tilted my head back, and sighed. When I straightened up I found a vampire with short and immaculately slicked-back raven hair. He was thin, verging on emaciated, with prominent bones etching a stoic pattern on his face. He smiled as I met his eyes.

“Hey, Vik.”

“Damian.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“You are quite welcome. Now, as the old woman said, let’s get you some food.”

I shuffled around the flowing staircases and took a left into the hallway leading to the kitchen. It was somewhat strange to see Vik without his floor-length coat. Instead he wore only black slacks and a deep red shirt. Sam put him well over three hundred years old, and he had to be almost six feet tall. He was tall for the age. He’d always been good to Sam, so he was okay by me.

The vampire gestured to a sizable kitchen table, beaten and battered by untold centuries of use. It was currently inhabited by two other vampires and Zola. I pulled up a seat next to Sam while Vik opened the freezer and popped something in the microwave.

It was only then I realized who the other vampire at the table was. Her hair was dyed a deep purple instead of its usual brunette color. It didn’t matter what color her hair was, she always looked cute with a little upturned nose and big brown eyes. Ridiculously cute.

“Oooh, did you bring me a fresh snack, Vik?”

I stifled a groan. Sometimes I almost forgot how annoying she was.

“Hi Mary,” I said. “How’ve you been?”

“Lonely without my wittle necromancer snacks.”

“Gag me,” Sam muttered.

A roll of laughter ran through the kitchen.

“You’re an idiot,” Zola said as she rapped my shoulder with her cane. “You let a vampire feed on you.”

“That’s not all,” Mary said.

“That’s quite enough Mary!” Vik said as he slammed his palm on the countertop. “Stay silent and leave this room immediately.”

Mary slid her chair out and left the room without another word. Vik stared after her, shaking his head as she disappeared into the hallway.

“I apologize for her lack of manners,” Vik said.

Zola rolled her eyes. “Damian, if she decided to drain you instead of snacking, you’d be dead.”

“Eww,” Sam said.

“We all make stupid decisions,” I said.

“Sure,” Sam said. “How much did you drink that night?”

“I blame Foster.”

Sam smirked and exchanged a glance with Zola.

The microwave dinged. Vik brought a fine china plate with a golden knife and fork that probably cost more than my car. On top of that plate were two unthinkably beautiful chimichangas.

“Oh, Vik, I didn’t know you cared!”

“You know you’re not supposed to feed stray dogs?” Sam said as she elbowed me. “You’ll never get rid of him now.”

Vik smiled and pulled a small white bag out of his pocket and set it in front of Zola. She unrolled the top and peered inside. Her eyes widened and she took a deep breath over the bag.

“Hoarhound candy, where did you find this?”

“I made it, actually.”

Zola popped a piece of round, amber and white speckled candy into her mouth. “Oh my. Ah haven’t had candy like that in a hundred years. Thank you.”

Vik nodded and walked back to the fridge. He pulled two cups out of the cupboard and a bag of blood out of the refrigerator. I took a few bites of changa while I watched him fill the cups and snap lids on them. It didn’t bother me nearly as much as it used to.

“Where is everyone?” I said.

“Most of them are with Jonathan,” Vik said.

“Why aren’t you?” I said.

“Someone needed to look after our necromancer,” Vik said as he dropped the cups into the microwave.

Vik brought the cups over when they finished heating. He handed one to Sam as he sat down with his own. Almost on cue, both vampires snapped out their fangs and slammed them into the top of the cups.

“Vampire sippy cups,” I muttered.

Both of them stifled laughter in an effort not to spray the room in blood.

“Hey, it’s better than eating people,” Sam said.

“And the design is quite brilliant,” Vik said as he demonstrated the movable bottom that pressed all the blood into the lid.

“Vampire Push Pops,” I said.