Bring On The Night (7 page)

Jessie stepped in front of him. “He’s not on the menu, Precious.”

The injured vampire cried out softly, reaching for the werewolf.

“It’s okay, baby,” she purred. She pulled the long fall of her hair from her shoulder and brought his mouth to her exposed neck. “I’ve got what you need.”

His fangs slid out and sank into her flesh. Her head fell back and she moaned, a deep sound of pleasure. Almost immediately her blood seemed to give him strength. He moved their bodies until they lay on the floor, the vampire on top, his werewolf writhing under him as he drank her blood. Her cries became steadily louder.

For a moment no one said anything. An awed whisper of “damn” slipped out of Brandon. Kirkbride shook his head, grabbing the reporter and dragging him away.

“Hey, easy,” Brandon complained, holding his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Kirkbride replied. He gave Haywood a look and Haywood motioned for Lenny and Rowdy to close ranks and turn their backs.

“Oh, for crying out loud!” Jessie snapped. “Am I gonna have to turn a water hose on you two? Maybe a flamethrower?” She turned on her heel and walked to Kirkbride’s side. “This is disgusting. I may hurl.” She glanced back at the pair on the floor. “Get a room!”

Haywood said, “Why aren’t we killing them, exactly?”

Kirkbride started to speak but Jessie cut him off. “Because I want to know what the hell is going on. Then you can kill them. Hell, I’ll even help you.”

“What’s going on is this vampire and his...girlfriend have been having themselves a nice little feeding frenzy, and now it’s time for it to stop.”

Jessie looked up at Haywood, quirking an eyebrow at him. “You don’t seem like a guy who suffers from a lot of moral ambiguities. I like that.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the couple in question. “And their feeding frenzy is over, but part of my job is to question them. Then they die.”

Kirkbride asked, “What sort of details are you looking for?”

“Yeah,” said Brandon. “I thought you said it was just a big monster gangbang.”

The werewolf gave a loud, drawn out cry, like something from a pay-per-view channel.

“Oh, vomit a lot,” Jessie muttered, rolling her eyes. “Vampires and werewolves are enemies. The battle isn’t what you’d call hot right now, but our monarch and theirs don’t see eye to eye, so no peace agreement. There hasn’t been a major conflict in years, just a dust-up every now and then. My king wants to keep it that way.”

“Then isn’t this a good thing?” Brandon asked, to shocked stares from the mortals present. “I mean, those two seem to get along.”

Jessie sneered. “Those two are disgusting and unnatural.”

“And you’re a bigot,” said the male vampire.

The group turned to find the injured vampire standing, albeit unsteadily. Tall and lean, he had a well-muscled build obvious under black cargo pants and dark-blue hoodie, which were covered in bloodstains and torn from the shotgun blast. Close-cropped dark blond hair, light brown eyes and Nordic cheekbones would have made him handsome, if he weren’t dirty and rather sickly looking. Even so, there was no fear in his face, just a sort of tired resignation. Addressing Jessie, he said, “Did the king really send you?”

“Of course he did! This kind of mayhem attracts way too much attention. It’s going to stop, now.”

“Who’s going to stop us?” The werewolf rose from the floor to stand with her vampire, wrapping her arms around his waist, heedless of her nudity. Almost as tall as him, her long black hair flowed down her back, honey-colored skin marred here and there with scars and smeared with blood. The fresh bite wound on her neck still bleeding, she stared at them with defiance. Generous curves and an almost tangible inner heat gave her an incredibly sexual aura, tempered by an undercurrent of savagery. “You and these weak humans?” Her lips curled into a feral smile.

“Trust me, Toto, I can do it all by myself,” Jessie answered with a smile of her own. “But if they want to have some fun too, who am I to argue?”

Kirkbride motioned to Rowdy to take the shotgun and keep it aimed at the wolf. He took off his trench coat, quickly emptied the pockets, and took a few steps forward, holding it out to the wolf. She gave him a disdainful glare but the male vampire accepted the coat with a nod of thanks and gave her a look. Reluctant, she shrugged into it and buttoned half the buttons after another look from her boyfriend.

“What if we leave? Disappear?” said the vampire. “Would the king have you hunt us down?”

Jessie stared, too stunned to speak.

“I heard you tell them you want to know what’s going on. Do you really?” His amber eyes glowed with intensity. He was not quite pleading but definitely looking for an opening.

Jessie knew it would be a mistake to give him one, but her curiosity got the best of her. She sighed deeply. “It’s a whole big sordid soap opera, isn’t it?”

“Do you want to know or not?” he snapped.

Jessie felt a cloud of anger bloom then relaxed. She took a seat on the top step to the altar and motioned for him to sit at the opposite pew. He did, pulling the werewolf to his side. After a moment, Kirkbride seated himself next to Jessie then Brandon moved to her other side. Lenny and Rowdy arranged themselves on the next lowest step, Rowdy still holding the shotgun in the monster’s direction. Haywood swore quietly under his breath and after a moment, finally joined them.

“Okay. Let’s hear it,” Jessie said. “Start with names. Or should I just call you Garfield and Odie?”

The werewolf growled, lips pulling back from her teeth. Jessie peeked at Brandon out of the corner of her eye. He looked like he wanted to take notes and ask questions. Good, better than freaking out.

The male vampire glared at Jessie for a moment before speaking. “Her name is Margot.” He took her hand in his, raising it to his lips and kissing the back of her hand, her palm. For a long moment the two gazed at each other as if no one else was in the room. Before Jessie was about to speak, he continued. “My name is Draven.”

Jessie snorted with laughter. “Where’d you get that, some online name generator? What’s your real name?”

He shook his head in frustration. “Ethelder,” he spat. “Ethelder Sahlstrom.”

Jessie’s eyebrow quirked.

He shrugged. “I’m from Minnesota,” he said. “About a hundred years ago. I prefer Draven.”

Jessie said, “Well, I prefer Starbucks over Maxwell House, but sometimes any old cup of coffee will do. Ethelder.” She drew the name out, trying to make it sound as ridiculous as possible. Kirkbride shifted in his perch, as if trying to use the movement to cover his nudging her with his knee. She glanced at him. His eyes were on Ethelder and Margot.
Draven
and Margot. In a much mellower tone, she said, “Okay, Draven, we’re waiting. Give us the big story.”

Draven gave her a look of contempt as he settled himself more comfortably in his seat. “I’d been in a relationship for quite some time, but it wasn’t working anymore.”

“Human or vamp?” Jessie asked, eliciting sideways looks from the reporter and the ex-minister both.

“Vampire,” Draven answered. “Her name was Salome.” Jessie made a face but said nothing. “We’d been together for years but the fire had gone out of the relationship. We didn’t even hunt together anymore.” Inexplicably, he looked to Jessie for understanding.

She rolled her eyes. “Clearly, the thrill was gone.”

Margot snorted. “The fool didn’t know what she had.”

Draven continued. “I started running into a pack of werewolves, crossing paths every now and then. Mostly, we gave each other a wide berth, but there was one...” His voice drifted as he gave Margot another long, loving stare. “She was magnificent. A creature of such sublime beauty and spirit, she took my breath away, and such a warrior. We fought, more than once, fiercely. The third time, right in the middle of the fight, she changed. We made love right there on the forest floor and I knew my life would never be the same.”

Jessie spoke quickly before his pause turned into another “staring deeply into each other’s eyes for three days” moment. “So you broke up with Salome. Then what happened?”

“She tried to kill us, of course. Some of our friends tried to help her, and Margot’s pack cast her out when she refused to leave me. It seemed like it was us against the world. Finally, somebody poisoned me. We’re not even sure who. We left the area as soon as I was able. It’s taking time for me to return to full strength.”

“What was used to poison you?” Kirkbride interjected.

“Like I’m going to let him tell you,” Jessie snapped. “You got yourself a gang here or what? I’ve seen the police files. I know it’s more than just the two of you.”

“You have to understand, Margot is a social creature. She needs companionship, the love and affection of a—”

Jessie cut him off. “You created a pack,” she said.

Margot shot back, “We created a family!”

Jessie stood, arms crossed, her gaze drilling into Margot. “He made new vampires, and I bet you’ve had time to make a werewolf or two, haven’t you?”

Margot answered with only a defiant glare.

Brandon gave a nervous cough. He raised the hand of his uninjured arm. “Uh, I have a question.”

Without looking at him Jessie answered his unspoken question. “You’re fine. They can change into a wolf any time but they can only make other wolves on a full moon.”

Rowdy craned around to whisper to Kirkbride, “There’s a full moon in two days.”

“Yes, there is.” Margot gave Brandon an inviting smile. “I’d love to see you then.”

“Sorry, I’m busy that night,” he replied.

“You’re not making any more additions to your pack.” Jessie addressed Draven. Whether he’d ever met the king or not, he owed fealty to the Vampire Court, and lived or died at the king’s pleasure. He knew that, but apparently needed reminding. “You think you’ve got yourselves a nice little blended multispecies family here when what you really have is a freak show. I’m drawing the curtain on it.”

Draven stood, hands on his hips. He shook his head, his voice full of disappointment and disgust. “I’m so tired of this. All the hatred, the bigotry.”

“If you say ‘why can’t we all get along’ I’ll rip your throat out right here and now,” Jessie said.

“Why the hell can’t we? Why does everyone at the Court of Monsters have to hate each other?” He pointed at Margot. “Aren’t we proof it doesn’t have to be that way? Vampires and werewolves can coexist. You know, I bet if the two of you got to know each other, you’d be friends.” He missed the dubious look on Margot’s face.

Jessie gave a short, mocking laugh. “What, you think we’d go shopping together, knock back a couple of Cosmos, watch some TV?” She looked at Margot. “What do you think, Hooch?”

The werewolf stood. “I bet you can guess what I think.”

The five humans came to their feet, Rowdy still aiming the shotgun at Margot, Lenny and Haywood holding crossbows trained on Draven. Jessie glanced at them, thinking Kirkbride looked ready to rumble and worried no one would think to get the injured Brandon out of the way once this turned into a fight.

Jessie faced Draven. “I don’t care if you call this a family or what. It’s out of control. You’ve got too many, and they’re killing too many. You know we can’t have this kind of attention.”

Draven shook his head, laughing. “You can’t be worried about mortals. What can they do to us? They can’t touch us.”

“Hundreds of years ago our kind were nearly wiped off the face of the planet by illiterate peasants armed with crosses, swords and fire! What do you think modern mortals could do, with the weapons they would have at their disposal? Have you even thought about what exposure might mean for us?”

“I say, bring it!” Margot cried.

Jessie rolled her eyes. “Big surprise there. Draven, just because I’m standing here talking to you, don’t think this is open to debate. You realize I’ve got all the information the king requires.” It was more statement than question, and she schooled her expression to be grimly formal.

She felt Kirkbride tense next to her.
Good. Don’t have to worry about giving him a signal.

Draven gave her a wide, warm smile. “I’m feeling better now. This little rest has done me good.”

“There is another piece of information you need,” Margot said, almost purring. “We love our family. We’ll do anything to protect them.”

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it, they’re only buying time.
Jessie glanced quickly at the doors and windows.

“And they’ll do anything for us,” Draven finished.

“Find a way through and get your people out,” Jessie said in a rush to Kirkbride.

“What about you?” he asked.

“I’ll meet you at the shelter,” she replied. The crash and clatter of breaking glass and exploding wood sounded around them as the pack burst through the church’s doors and windows. At quick count it looked like more than half a dozen vampires and two werewolves. Whatever worry she felt for the safety of the mortals was quickly eclipsed by a feverish anticipation. This was going to be a nasty fight, and those were always the best kind to win. Jessie gave Margot a slight smile and a nod. “You and me, Marmaduke. You and me.”

Margot laughed as the change came over her.

Brandon figured they must have had a plan for protecting civilians. Kirkbride and Haywood, both being ex-military, would have thought of that. As the monsters advanced, Rowdy and Lenny grabbed him and hid behind the altar, weapons ready. The vampires may have retained their human form but they looked to Brandon just as animal-like and predatory as the werewolves. They wore ragged clothes not much better than the homeless people they preyed on and carried no weapons he could see. Of course they didn’t need to—their fangs and their strength gave them all the advantage they needed. The werewolves frightened him even more. Larger than real wolves, not quite formed right, it was hard to accept there were human beings trapped inside claws and fur. If he hadn’t seen Margot change with his own eyes, he wouldn’t believe it.

Kirkbride, Haywood, and Jessie threw themselves into the fight. At first Brandon heard more than he could see, sounds of wood shattering, bones snapping, screams of pain and yells of anger. The wolves howling and growling, one of them whimpering, followed by another crack of breaking bone. Trying to peer around the altar, he spotted Haywood wrestling with one of the wolves, Kirkbride trading blows with a vampire, looking for an opening for the stake in one hand. Draven watched the fight with a satisfied smirk. In a far corner was a blur of movement, almost like the shimmer on a far horizon. Brandon didn’t understand what he was seeing until a cloud of smoke exploded and Jessie stopped moving long enough to find her next target and take off, tanto flashing in the low light and dripping blood.