Damned if I Do (12 page)

I reach the ground floor and head out the way we came, navigating through the maze of clothes. It smells like bleach and chemicals, and it only adds another layer to my unease.

Li is out front. I didn’t even know that she had left downstairs at some point. She is smoking a cigarette, which heightens my own need for a smoke. I could go for the whole pack right now.

She grins toothily at us. "
See you around, Harker," she drawls.

I don't even address her as I unlock the door and sit in the driver’s seat. Carl stands outside, like he’s unsure of what to do. Jude catches my door before it closes.

"You should let someone else drive," he tells me.

"Don't tell me what to do," I growl at him, although I know he’s right.

He leans in to look at me eye-to-eye. "You don't think I have anything to do with that vampire down there, do you? With Anthony?"

"All I know is that a vampire who is—
was
—working with Anthony recognized you," I say, trying to ignore the hurt in his voice.

"I'm not playing you, Harker," Jude says.

"I don't know what to think right now."

"Leave her alone, Jude," Carl says tiredly. “But, Edie, I’ll drive.”

Jude's head snaps towards my cousin, clearly unhappy that we're on different sides of the fence. The flash of his fangs flicker in the moonlight, yet as soon as it happens, he covers his mouth, his face ashen. He looks ashamed.

I get out of the car to allow Carl to drive. I don't know what to say at the moment, so I go and sit in the passenger’s side. It takes me a few moments to realize that Jude doesn't open the rear door. I lean forward in the car, scanning the area around the car for him. There's only Li sitting out front smoking.

"Did Jude just leave us?" I ask.

"I guess he did," Carl replies after a glance outside.

"Dammit, Jude…" With shaking hands, I take out a cigarette and light up. “Let’s go, Carl.”

Carl reverses out of the parking spot to begin the trek back to Austin.

I can’t stop the tears that fall.

Jude

I don’t know who I am anymore.

Victoria’s words have rocked me to my core. She
knew
me. From before my amnesia. She took one look at me and immediately knew who I was.
Was.
If I was associated with Anthony in any sort of way, that’s long gone. Old news.

Still though, I can’t shake Edie’s look of betrayal when Victoria divulged that information. She looked at me like I was a monster.

I know I’m a monster, but I’m not one of Anthony’s cronies. There’s a distinction. There has to be.

I rub at the scar on my forehead, testament to something traumatic in my past. Something that I can’t remember and maybe will never find out.

I hope so. If my past has revelations like that, I don’t want to know them. I’m Jude now, a vampire who hates being a vampire. A man in love with a woman who can’t love him back.

It fucking sucks.

I stalk the downtown streets of San Antonio near the River Walk area. I don’t have a ride back to Austin, so I need to get back on my own.

Though I can’t even begin to figure out how to approach Edie after the shit that went down in that basement, I don’t want to leave her alone for too long. Victoria talked about other things, not just my history, which I have to remember. 

Edie is in danger. Hell,
humanity
is in danger, but there’s only one person I’m concerned about.

I always could smell the infection in Edie’s blood. It smelled like it would be the most unappetizing feed ever, but it allowed me to get closer to her, to see her for who she is. Now it’s like a defensive measure for her; no vampire would touch her while she smells like that. And if her blood is like a can of spinach for Popeye, it’s for good reason too.

I find a vampire bar by the convention center. I haven’t spent much time in San Antonio, so it’s a relief to find it. My shock has made me hungry, so being able to feed is a boon. Even though it’s outrageous, I order three pints of blood and down them in short order.

I have to get back to Austin. Even though she doesn’t want me there, I have to protect Edie from the creatures of the night, because if what Victoria said was true, then the shit is about to hit the fan.

Edie

I know something's wrong as soon as I get to my house. My vampy sense tingles and the hair on the back of my neck raises.

Something is watching me, waiting for me to arrive. I can tell that it's an unfamiliar vampire.

"Dammit," I mutter.

“Edie?” Carl asks, his voice strangled. Apparently his own vampy sense is going haywire as well. “What’s at your house?”

“I don’t know. When we get inside, grab Graeme and Amelia and run. You hear me?”

I get out of the car and summon Glimmer from my left hand, feeling the painful prick as the blade slides through my skin. I don’t normally summon it so early, but when my family is being ambushed and I’m going into an unknown situation, I don’t want to risk anything else.

Adrenaline surging through me, I run up the steps to the house, Carl on my heels. I keep remembering what Zhi said about my family broadcasting our whereabouts so loudly. I make the decision to get off V-boards and find a new way to keep in contact with our group.

If we make it out of this.

The front door is unlocked, most uncharacteristic for Graeme, who worries about Amelia's safety all the time.

I hope I'm not too late.

"Graeme?" I shriek. "Amelia?" I check the living room for my brother-in-law.

Carl echoes my shouts, his voice as panicked as I feel.

For a few agonizing heartbeats, I don't hear a thing. Then, to my relief, Graeme appears at the top of the stairs, clad in his bathrobe. At first, his expression is one of anger at my loud entry, however, when he sees my face and that I have my sword drawn, he knows why I shouted.

I want to melt in the floor with relief.

"Edie? Carl?" He then notices that I have my sword in my hand. "What's—"

"Amelia," I say simply. I follow him up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Get her."

Without another word, he complies, his fatherly instincts to protect his daughter overtaking any other questions.

“Carl, when they come down, run. Don’t look back.”

To my relief, he nods.

My vampy sense goes haywire when I hit the second floor landing. We are not alone. Not by a long shot.

Purl slinks out into the hallway, her tail puffed out like a beaver's. Relief that my cat is all right floods through me. Her ears pinned back, she crouches like a silent hunter, that puffy tail swishing about agitatedly. She knows that there are vampires hidden in the shadows too. I give her a nod, and she acknowledges by glancing back at me.

I freeze, attempting to pick up any indication as to where our assailants are hiding. The only sounds I hear are the air conditioner and my niece's protests about being awoken in the middle of the night.

I've been in situations like this too many times in my life. As a child, I was shaken awake by my mother, then later Meghan, to sneak out in the middle of the night. My sense of security was shattered each time.

Graeme comes out of Amelia's bedroom, cradling his blanket-wrapped, droopy-eyed daughter in his arms. I nearly sob in relief that she hasn't been snatched from her bed in the middle of the night.

Amelia holds the camouflaged teddy bear to her like a lifeline. "Auntie Edie," she asks in her cherubic voice, "what's going on?"

Graeme looks frightened since he knows exactly what's coming next. I notice that he has a duffle bag strewn across his shoulders, a panic bag that we keep for situations like this. He's at least in a decent headspace.

He nods, acknowledging that he's ready to run.. He knows better than to dash out in the night by himself until I give the word.

"Daddy and Cousin Carl are taking you to a safe place," I say gently. "I'll be right behind you."

“Hey, Amelia,” Carl says lightly, trying to calm the look of terror that she gets at my words.

Sensing his need for comforting, Purl jumps to Graeme's shoulder like a silent sentry.

"Listen to everything that Carl and I tell you, okay?" I tell Graeme. "I have no idea where they are yet, so I’m going to try to smoke them out."

They could be in the attic, or hiding in one of the four rooms upstairs, or using their glamour to blend in with their surroundings. And I'm helpless to figure out where that is until they show themselves.

"Come out," I call to the darkness. "I know you're here for the Harker."

At first, I think our attackers are going to remain hidden in the shadows, which is smart because I'm in a very bad mood. My ear perks at a slight rustling behind us. From my right hand, I throw a stake in that direction, right next to Graeme. Just behind him, masked in the shadows, is a vampire that was about to grapple my brother-in-law. The stake catches the vampire in the throat and he reels backwards, clutching at the mess in his neck. He makes warbling noises, clawing at the stake in an erratic frenzy.

Even before he hits the floor, I'm already removing a replacement stake from my pocket. Sword in left hand, stake in right.

"Stay close," I tell Graeme as I back down the stairs. I motion for Carl to take the back so we can keep Graeme and Amelia between us.

My cat hisses at something behind me.

I don't hesitate, spinning around and jabbing my stake into the chest of the vampire swooping down. The dying female vampire tumbles backwards, rolling down the stairs in a heap. Her dead body bangs against all of the stairs on the way down. Well, if they didn't know that I'm here, they do now.

"Get out of here," I hiss to Graeme, pressing myself to the wall. I grab Carl and usher him forward, pushing him down the stairs myself. "I'll be right behind you."

Or not.

They hit the first floor, and I'm swept to the side by a blur of a person. I smack into the wall, denting it with the force of my body and the stake in my right hand clatters to the floor. I’m so shocked, I retract Glimmer as I slump forward. I should have expected that, but it still pisses me off.

At least my shoulder isn't dislocated again.

"God
damn
it, will people stop throwing me into walls?"

My assailant wrenches my hands and roughly hauls me up face-first against the wall. I cry out when I crack the dry wall once again. My hands are immobilized, my left palm into my back. I can’t resummon Glimmer without spearing myself.

"You always were the more annoying Harker, weren't you?" a low voice rumbles in my ear.

I freeze, instantly recognizing the voice. I remember him draining my blood, cutting open his own hand, and holding it against mine. His vampire blood runs through my veins like a cancer. He's the one who infected me. The one who killed Meghan.

"Y-you…" I stutter. The words feel like marbles in my mouth and I can't form anything correctly, except for a name. "
Anthony.
"

From my limited perspective against the wall, his scarred face swims into view. He's as ugly as I remember him, with those candle-wax melted scars and his droopy eyes. My hands clench and unclench behind me. If only I could get my left hand free and cut that smug smile off his face.

"Poor Little Harker," he croons. He holds my wrists with one hand and strokes the side of my face with the other. "Such a tough job trying to save the world."

"From vermin like you, you fucking asshole," I snarl.

He pulls me from the wall and then backhands me so hard I fall to the floor in a heap. I've been hit a lot by vampires, and it takes a stiff punch to knock me down. He hit me pretty fucking hard. My teeth loosen at the impact and blood sprays in a wide arc.

I hope Carl is protecting Graeme and Amelia, because this is not a good sign for me.

I cough and splutter up a mound of blood. It drips from my mouth onto the hardwood floors.
Shit
.

To my horror, Anthony kneels beside me and dips two fingers into the blood that I spat out. He brings it to his lips, sniffs it tentatively, and then sucks on his fingers. His eyes flutter into the back of his head.  He
really
likes the taste of my blood. I've never seen a vampire do that before.

"You shouldn't waste your precious elixir like that," he says, on the edge of ecstasy, disregarding the fact that he punched me into the ground. "It's divine. It tastes so good, even though it smells like shit. Ripened. So much better than it was a few months ago."

His eyes focus back on me and a smile splits his face, scaring me more than I've been in a long time.

"But not quite ready. My sources were wrong."

Exactly what Victoria said earlier. What does that
mean
? That they're going to kidnap me and wait for me to…
cook
more?

Thanks but no thanks. I have other plans, plans that involve driving a wooden stake through his heart. My muscles tense, and I try to prep myself for a fight. I'm too exhausted and too spent from the day's events to really hold my pyrokinesis spell in my head to fight back like I did at the coffee shop. Apparently, spilling coffee on me will cause me to meltdown like Chernobyl (geez, was it only yesterday?), but having my family threatened by the vampire who destroyed our lives isn't enough for me to burn him up.

As if reading my mind, he grabs my chin and forces me to my feet in a painful assertion of dominance. He pushes me against the wall and pins my arms and legs against his thick, heavy body, careful of my left hand.

"You're mine, Harker," he sneers at me. He twists my head to the side, exposing my neck to him. "Even though you aren't ready yet, I can still drink to make myself more powerful."

Instead of doing anything cool, a low whine issues from my throat. I focus on my anger at the fact that I'm showing weakness in front of him, which compels me enough to bring up my knee and connect it with his balls.

Oh yes. Vampires may be immortal and super strong, but if you have a blunt object connect with their family jewels, they will still let go of you to cup their testicles in reflex.

Anthony roars in pain and tosses me aside. I have a split second of satisfaction before I hit the upstairs railing, break it, and land on the sharp remnants. I cry out when the splintered wood punctures my right side. My whole body spasms around it and it suddenly feels like I'm wheezing through my left lung.

Shit, that's not good
.

"Fuck…" I say aloud, realizing that this is an extremely bad injury, one that will require me to go to the hospital. If I make it out of this. I guess I can get satisfaction out of the fact that Anthony can't have me ripened.

Didn't think that one through, buddy.

"
Edie…
" a voice calls out to me, beckoning me. "
Do it.
"

Meghan.
Despite the fact that I'm breathing shallowly, my breath comes out in little white puffs. She's here.

I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to use my power here. Uncontrollably. But what choice do I have?

I try focusing on the spell in my mind, but like a few seconds before, I can't hold it in my mind. I'm too exhausted.

"
Edie, honey. Focus…
"

My eyes snap open. That was a different voice, yet it’s still one that I recognize. "Mom?"

"
Focus, baby…
"

I feel the light, feathery touch of hands along my left arm, the one that's scarred up. The hands are gentle on my flesh, cool though not uncomfortably so. They're willing me forward, giving me strength to continue.

Then, I feel it. The little flicker of fire within me. I embrace it, feeding it my spirit and pain, and it burns to a cinder. I weakly mutter the Latin spell, hoping that it's enough for it to work.

My skin becomes hot as my insides turn to flames. It's not uncomfortable as long as I control it, which I'm trying to do. It could either save us, or destroy me.

Corporeal hands grab me and I scream in pain as I'm hauled off the railing. Everything swims in front of me. I'm being held by another vampire, although I can still see Anthony still clutching his man-parts.

"You bitch!" he spits.

"It's your fault," I taunt.

The vampire holding me must not be able to speak English because he's snarling like he's some sort of animal.

It's too late for him though. My burning skin surprises him, even as he wields me like a shield. I simply place a hand on his chest. I have no idea what I look like at this moment, but it must be fearsome because his face twists into fear.

"
Ashes to ashes,
" I murmur. He combusts with a little explosion and his body starts to disintegrate from where my hand is on his chest. He screams and I leave him to face the crowd of other vampires. I call the power to my hands and they burst into flames. "
Dust to dust.
"

I close my eyes and release it, setting the vampires—and my house—aflame. Over the pounding of my heartbeat in my ears, I dimly hear them screaming at their demise. I hope Anthony is one of them.

I lose my grip on my power, and it leaves me. I crumple to the floor again and heave up whatever's left of my Hamburger Helper dinner. My first thought is that I should clean up the puke, although with the house catching fire, the hardwood floors are the last thing I have to worry about.