Breach (The Blood Bargain) (30 page)

"Zhè shì chùmō de nǚhái." I was shoved from behind, stumbling forward I caught myself from falling.

The white suit walked around me, taking a place beside the right stair to Zhang's platform. One of the female vampires purred something softly to him. "
Lái zhèlǐ..." but was met with a frown and curt reply, "Xiànzài bù."

"Tell me child, to which house are you bound?" There was no accent to his slowly annunciated words, only a hint of amusement in his tenor tone.

"I am bound by no one."

A cold mask of a smile covered his face as he raised his left hand dramatically, drawing attention to the walnut sized ruby that sat on his index finger. Long skeletal fingers snapped, an unspoken command that had one of the human women moving quickly from the side of the throne to the left wall, where she pulled back the curtain.

A moment in time that would become permanently engraved in my memories no matter if I lived a few more hours or many years. Behind the heavy velvet was what I had dreamed of for months. Yearned for. Bled for.

Dimitri
.

My heart pounded in my chest, blinking back tears I tried to keep my facial expression as passive as possible. Chained to the wall by his neck, hands and ankles, metal spikes had been driven into his shoulders under his collarbone. Shirtless, his chest was pale, gaunt, a deep hollow revealing every line of his ribcage. Head bowed as much as his bindings would allow, he did not appear conscious. Dried blood caked on his arms, chest, face and matted his thick black hair.

"So this one is unknown to you then?" Zhang drawled. "How about this one?"

Another snap brought the large intimidating vampire from the ambush from the shadows, he was carrying someone over his shoulder...

In a quick motion, China's lifeless body was thrown at my feet. Her throat had been torn on both sides, deep vein lines ran under her paled skin, her intimidating stare was now listless, parted lips were battered and blue, her clothing had been torn, shoes removed, right elbow bent at an unnatural angle. She had been drained dry, clearly after some amount of resistance.

"I know you are an agent of Mediterranean filth. Speak your purpose and I may grant you the mercy of a quick death."

With no reason to lie I got to the point. "We came to parlay, at the request of Caius Lambros."

"That I would speak with lesser creatures." Zhang looked to his left. "Bo."  The large vampire stood at attention, awaiting command.

"Hang this one in the common room. Let the humans know about the break in, that this one wished to unleash the dead upon our community. The wilds took its wits, made it mad, cannibalistic. Remind them of the protection we provide."

"Yes, my lord." There was no respect in the way that he removed China's body. Like an old ratty blanket Bo dragged her off the first step, then threw her over his shoulder. I could have sworn something within her back cracked, her teeth gnashing infrequently as he swaggered away.

"The message." Zhang prompted, appearing somewhat bored he rolled his hand about in a circular get on with it motion. "What was it you were to tell me?"

"The death of your lover was unsanctioned by Caius, it was a murder done by Antonia that was returned in kind. We want peaceful trade to re-establish between our two colonies for future prosperity." Bo returned while I was talking, taking his place to the left of Zhang while the little one in white stood to the right.

"You think I care for the death of one woman?" Zhang gestured wide with his right hand, slowly sweeping across the room. "I can make another out of dozens of willing humans." If I didn't know better the three female vampires appeared slightly insulted by his statement while the human women seemed to dip their heads even lower as they carried out their menial tasks.

"You attacked us. Sent those waves of dead to our door." I spat.

"Call it a successful experiment in control." Zhang laughed, his minions grinned in support. "The reign of the Twifel Princes is ending. Those that remain loyal to a failing monarchy resign themselves to become nothing more than ink on a page of the last age. Statements accentuated by these...pitiful...acts. The Twifel, the
grand
Princes of our race, send a thrall and a runaway slave to best
me
?"

Laughter echoed through the hall, mixtures of high pitched cackles and low rumblings. Rage boiled behind my eyes. I knew I would die soon, there was no doubt about
that.

"Now as for you, I can think of no better reward than what you want most in this world. Your master has not fed in months, in the throes of the blood fever. When he is unchained he will set upon you in a fury, draining your body of every drop until you are akin to the husk thrown at your feet."

I would not give him the satisfaction of fear. A small part of my mind considered the possibility that a fully fed Dimitri may heal enough to escape. Standing straight I kicked up my chin. "Unchain him then. Stop wasting time."

Zhang focused those unreadable orbs on me, "No...perhaps," he paused, running his tongue over his extended fangs, "you would enjoy such a fate to greatly....perhaps...." slowly he eyed me, evaluating my form from head to toe in a leering way that brought the blood rushing to my cheeks. "I should just turn and keep you." Zhang turned his head towards the back wall. "What do you say
Dimitri? Would you like to watch?"

My
Dimitri, my dear Dimitri, stirred. His left hand trying to form a fist while he made an unsuccessful attempt to raise his head.

Zhang opened his mouth, but the words that flowed forth were lost in a deafening explosion. Thrown forward, my face hit the cool marble tile. Coughing from the smoke in the air. Standing at the cusp of the room-where the doors once were-was
Rylie, Russ, Candice and a few other men who must have been locals. In the twitchy Lake City native arms was a rocket launcher, still smoking from the initial firing.

"Knock knock bitches." Cooed Candice, kicking out her hip she gave a little wave.

In an instant the room was engulfed in chaos. The human servants of Zhang ran screaming in all directions, their brightly colored dresses barely visible in the burning air. My companions rushed forward, met halfway by the vampiric minions. Bo tore through Russ like he was made of paper, the weapon falling to the floor in a waterfall of blood. A blur-I could only assume Candice-threw him off of the body and into the back wall. I lost track of Rylie and Ben in the sea of bullets and blood. The locals fell quicker than I could count. Poorly trained, the wives fed upon them while the white suit ripped heads from shoulders, a smile on his face. One of the last men standing tossed two smoke grenades into the center of the room. Smart. As far as I knew vampires didn't have filter vision and there was enough noise/ash in the air to disrupt their other senses. In the left front corner of the hall a bomb of some kind went off, bits of daylight peeking through where the plaster had cracked to the outside world. In those illuminated rays I saw a few of his dead pets feeding on the human servant girls. Lost in smoke and flame, a clammy hand with long red nails grabbed onto my arm. The twisted face of the dark haired Asian woman emerged from the haze, hissing at me as she tried to pull me to her elongated fangs. Unarmed and under classed in strength I had little to work with.

Soft spots Evelyn.
My Dad's voice reminded me.
Anything can be a weapon. 
As the tips of her fangs pierced the shoulder of my dress, I dug the thumb of my one free hand into her eye socket. Pushing as hard as I could against the cold wet orb, I convinced myself I was not crushing someone's eyeball with my bare hand. I hated eye injuries, I always have, but in life or death situations, I was going to squish some damned grapes. It didn't take but a moment, there was a sickly pop, blood flowing from the socket. The vamp pulled back from me, howling.

"Heal that you bitch." I snapped. She backhanded me, the force of the blow throwing me back several yards. My head landed against the marble floor, fresh streaks of pain blurring my vision and dulling my sensibility. I had to find a weapon. I had to- had to-

"Enough!" The deep voice resonated throughout the hall, human and vampire alike turning to the source. The command came not from Zhang Qi, but from Caius.

Standing in the broken doorway the almost seven foot tall
vampiric lord of Junction played the part in a suit directly out of the renaissance; long black hair flowing over the high collar of his coat and across his shoulders, strands cascading into his face from his center parted widows peak. Perfect features emotionless, his pale eyes scanned the room slowly while Zhang's followers scrambled to line up behind their master. One of Zhang's women still lived, as well as both Bo and the white suit. At the back of the room, one of the servant girls was crying, the last of the undead wrapped in her extracted intestines. The white suit frowned, in a blur he decapitated both the dead and its victim and quickly returned to his masters side without a drop of blood on his clothing.

Rylie
and two other surviving humans moved to stand behind Candice who had migrated over to the doorway. Stumbling, I stood myself, already behind Candice due to the blow I had just sustained. Blinking quickly as my eyes had a hard time focusing. Insides of my ears were wet, touching my lobe with my right hand my amateur examination revealed blood. Concussion. Shit. I exhaled sharply only to find that hurt too. Triple shit. Or was this double?

"You dare breach the treaty of Bucharest?" Caius spoke clearly, his loud tone carrying over the crack of localized fires and falling plaster.

"A bit of parchment holds no weight over the Queen." Zhang was interrupted by a guffaw that dripped of superiority.

"She thinks herself royalty now...crowns are bestowed not proclaimed. The
Twifel-"

"Shall fall." Zhang then spoke low in a language that I could not even try to comprehend. Caius answering in the same tongue. Zhang cast off his long silk robes, shifting his stance to balance his weight, arms raising in a martial
arts pose. Caius dropped his waist coat, then slowly unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them up while pacing back and forth in front of the older vampire. Tattoos. Caius had tattoos down both of his bare forearms. Runes of some kind inked in black. Slowly the vampiric lord raised his arms, his stance more of a boxer than an artist.

No one breathed, no one moved. The crack of the fire was the only thing that cut through the still anticipation in the air.

The corner of Zhang's mouth kicked up slightly as he summoned Caius forward with his extended hand. An invitation readily accepted. I could not see them fight, only the aftermath effects that were mounting on Caius. Zhang mercilessly whipped him about, the blurry motions of their combat pausing only as Caius stumbled to wipe blood from his mouth or change his footing.
He doesn't stand a chance against Zhang
, I lamented to myself. It was clear the older vampire was just toying with him. His minions, thinking their master held an easy victory, rushed my companions once more. Candice going toe to toe with Bo, while the white suit toyed with the remaining humans.

Rolling over I looked up the sound proofed ceiling far above our heads. Such a thing to die indoors. I always wanted to meet my end in nature, the sun's pure bright light beating down on
the sun!

Under debris the rocket launcher still lay next to what was left of Russ. A spare shell in the bag he had around his body.

Scrambling, my feet were moving before the plan had formulated fully in my mind. Tuning out the chaos in the room, the gunfire and the audible clash of vampires I heard only my own labored breathing. Trembling hands reaching out for the heavy metallic casing. A blast from behind rocked me forward, I landed on top of the torn corpse and plaster. Ears ringing, I groped for the weapon.

Zhang's woman landed on my back, digging her knee's into my spine. "I will drain you slowly for what you
did to me." She hissed, spittle covering my ear, side of my face. Sharp teeth bit through my shoulder, making my vision go temporarily white. Thrashing about I tried desperately to roll her off, but she was too strong. Her grip tightened and teeth sunk deeper. The rhythmic sound of feeding echoing in my ears, haunting me. Starting to grow light headed, my ability to struggle diminished.
No...I had been so close.
I lamented, reaching out with my right arm I tried to pull myself forward with her on my back. My fingertips sliding over the blood soaked metal trigger. My back was suddenly splattered with cold fluid, the female vampire's grip went slack. The now semi-dead undead woman was missing three fourths of her skull, shredded remains grey matter were visible in the empty cavity that had once been her pretty face. Rolling her body off I looked behind me. Rylie winked at me, his grip on the hilt of a semi-automatic.

Wavering on shaky legs, I pushed the missile into the launcher until it clicked.
Meet the sun you bastards.
With every ounce of strength left in my body I lifted launcher towards the ceiling and fired.

The explosion rained fire, plaster and concrete down on all. In its wake I felt the warm glow of the spring sun on my skin, wafting the scent of death into the sky.

So what happens when you are in sunlight?

We are weakened, mortal.