Damned if I Don't (The Harker Trilogy Book 2) (4 page)

Jude

“Didn’t expect to see you so soon, Jude.”

A pair of identical twin vampire girls greet me in unison at the entrance to the Houston Hive. They’re called Reiko and Ryoko and they are both dressed like Japanese school girls, with their hair bundled up into wacky, varied hairstyles and with katanas strapped to their backs. They embrace the stereotype as much as possible to throw humans off their game if they attempt to stop here. They may not look like it, but they’re the bouncers of this hive, keeping all clueless humans out.

And they’re both over five hundred years old.

Certainly two vamps you don’t want to fuck with.

It makes me miss Fred, the dim-witted bouncer at Twin Fangs in Austin. At least he was fun to mess with. These two clearly aren’t.

I tilt my head towards them. “Ladies.”

Both of them giggle in eerie synchrony.

“What’s the occasion?” one—is that girl with pink pigtails Reiko or Ryoko?—asks. She grins at me with blackened teeth. I think it’s an old Japanese tradition to blacken your teeth, but I think they do it to keep humans on edge.

“Just hungry, Ryoko” I say, hoping to pass by without causing too much of a fuss.

“I’m Reiko.”

I guessed wrong. “Sorry.
Reiko.
I’m meeting a friend for dinner.”

They both narrow their black eyes in suspicion.

“What friend?” the other one asks.

I clear my throat. “Dean. Is he here?”

They don’t answer, not with words at least. Instead, they both shift to the side so that I can pass by and into the dark depths of the hive below. It’s a ritzy establishment in the basement of an office building near Uptown, one of those places where you’d never suspect a bunch of vampires were feeding, sleeping, and fucking each other. As I head down the steps, I hold my breath from dread.

No one turns my way. No one notices me. Although I sense loads of vampires here, there’s only one vampire that I’m looking for.

Dean.

I spot him in the corner, at a round booth that he’s sharing with a busty female. His meal for the night. As she sits on his lap, his hand is up under her shirt, kneading one of her breasts as he sucks on her neck. She moans softly, halfway between pain and ecstasy. It’s a disgusting reminder of why I hate my kind.

“Dean,” I hail, heading over towards him.

He jumps. Like, literally jumps, and retracts his teeth from his meal’s throat. The girl groans and rolls her head away from him, still in the throes of bloodlust.

“Jude,” Dean says, his eyes going wild. He doesn’t look good. Not that he ever looked healthy, but now he looks strung out, like a druggie going through withdrawals.

“I see you got my text.”

“I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that it was from you,” Dean says. He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously in his throat. “I wanted to be as deep into the hive as possible. Just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

Dean shoves the girl off his lap and she whines in protest. He shoots her a look and bares his fangs in a way that would scare a normal human. To me, it just looks like he’s throwing a hissy fit.

“Get out of here!” he growls.

She grabs her things, adjusts her top, and slides out from the booth as quickly as possible, ready to get away from him. She almost bumps into a couple having sex on the booth next to us and runs away from us with a yelp.

“You always did have a way with the ladies,” I muse.

“And you always have a way of staying alive,” Dean says. He’s sweating as he combs his hands through his greasy hair. “What do you want?”

“I want to know where you got your information.”

“Informa…?” Dean goes even more pallid, if that’s even possible. “You know I can’t say,” he says, his voice pitched into another register. He sounds defensive. And worried.

I knew he was going to do this. “Come on, Dean.”

“I just heard it through the grapevine.”

“You said you got it from a friend. Only a few nights ago.”

“I got it from my friend to warn you. Not to introduce you to her.”

Her.

He gulps, realizing he’s said too much and that I caught it.

“Does your friend agree with that?” I ask. “Maybe
she
wants you to tell me.” I lean in to him. “Let me meet her.”

I see the indecision on his face as it morphs from panic to confusion to resignation. I’ve got him cornered.

“Please,” I whisper, leaning into him. “You don’t know what I’ve been through the past couple of nights.”

“I don’t want to know,” Dean says, scooting farther away from me. “I don’t want to know anything.”

I pause. “We need your help,” I say, knowing full well that without it, we’re all lost and floating in the abyss of hopelessness. Edie needs me to get this right.

Dean meets my eyes, and for a moment, I think he’s going to bolt, but then he lets out a breath, sighs, and nods.

“I’ll tell you about ‘my friend’,” he says. “But not here.”

I cross my arms, hoping that showing a bit of muscle makes him realize the severity of the situation. “I was hoping you could tell Edie yourself.”

“Edie?”

“As in
my own
friend
.
”

“You brought the fucking Harker here?” Dean hisses.

“Don’t say her name.”

Dean’s shaking his head furiously. “No, no, no, no, no.” His eyes are wide and crazy. “No, I’m
not
meeting
her.
She’ll kill me.”

“She won’t,” I assure him. “Unless you’ve done something that you shouldn’t have.”

He doesn’t answer, which tells me everything I need to know.

“Fuck, Dean. What the hell have you been doing?”

“Surviving,” he answers.

“All right,” I say. “All right. But you have to come with me. You have my word. She won’t kill you.”

He gives me a hard look, or as hard a look as someone can give when they are freaked out of their minds. “You can’t promise that.”

“I will try then.”

He considers my answers for what seems like the longest time. Then he finally sighs. “Okay.”

***

It feels like it takes us entirely too long to leave the Hive. Dean takes his fucking time as he gathers his things, says a few words to people (probably as evidence that he’s leaving with me, in case anything happens), and sends out a text message to some people. I watch the clock tick down the minutes until I’m sure that Edie is going to come in after me. That would be a disaster so I grab his arm and steer him away from the Hive.

“Ow, man!” Dean whines.

Really, he whines. Not the best thing for a vampire’s image.

Reiko and Ryoko raise their eyebrows as we leave the Hive. How many times have they seen vampires forcibly removed from there? I’m thinking this isn’t the first time. I give them a curt nod and continue walking, pulling Dean along with me.

“Come back soon, Jude,” Ryoko says with a snicker behind me.

I don’t think much of it as I continue pushing Dean toward the exit and the night air. I want to get away from the Hive and get to a private space.

I smell Edie’s tainted blood the closer we get. With a sinking feeling, I realize that it’s stronger than it was fifteen minutes ago.

She’s had an attack from the virus.

I quicken my pace, and dash around the corner to see my car. Edie is balled up on one side of the car, while Carl kneels in front of her. At first, I think he’s done something to her, in which case, I won’t hesitate to kill him. Then I see his hand is extended and pushing strands of her red and black hair behind her ears.

“Edie!” escapes my lips as I rush up to her.

Carl gets to his feet as we approach, as if he knows what I’d just been thinking.

“I’m fine,” she hisses through her clenched teeth.

“What happened?” I demand, turning my gaze up to Carl.

The teenager shrinks under my hard gaze. “I…I…”

Edie answers for him. “I was having a smoke,” she says, between heavy wheezes. “And I saw a ghost.” She snickers. “Aunt Tessa wanted to let me know she wasn’t happy with recent events. Carl saved me.”

“I just said a banishing spell,” Carl mumbles. “Ma taught me that spell a few years ago.”

“You saved me,” Edie insists. “Thank you.” She winces as she reaches out to take his hand. He crosses his arms, avoiding her touch, and refuses to look her way.

“So it wasn’t from your virus?” I ask Edie pointedly.

She scoffs. “It didn’t start with an attack, but my scar didn’t want to be left out.” She groans as she rolls her shoulders. “I’m okay.”

She gets to her feet, wheezing slightly. “I’m okay,” she repeats again, as if she’s trying to convince herself as much as she’s trying to reassure me. Her hazel-eyed gaze flicks to Dean and she frowns. “Is that him?”

Dean gulps with an audible snap.

“Yeah,” I answer.

“Harker,” Dean says. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

She chuckles mirthlessly at that. “No it’s not,” she says tiredly, turning around to lean against the car, putting all of her weight against it.

Dean rubs his hands together. “I always thought I’d meet the Harker when she was trying to kill me.”

“And I always thought the Harker would be my sister,” Edie answers sarcastically. “But life’s been funny lately.”

Dean shifts from foot to foot, as if he doesn’t know exactly what to say next. Then he says something so bluntly, I flinch: “What happened to your arm?”

This is the first time someone has asked her about her arm. I’m sure it won’t be the last, but man, it felt brutal.

To Edie’s credit, her face is still carefully composed, the only indication that she was hurt by his question is her tongue licking her lips.

“Anthony,” she answers truthfully. “He tore it off. And now he has it. And my blood. All he needs is the Progenitor to become the big man himself.”

“Shit,” Dean whispers. He’s gone white as a sheet.

“So you know what would happen,” she says evenly, “if Anthony ever found the Progenitor?”

Dean looks stricken.
Terrified
. He knows.

“It’s Dean, right?” Edie asks. “Can you tell us what you know? Please?”

Edie

I’m not sure I like this Dean guy. I believe Jude when he says this vampire has contacts and further information about the vampire underworld. But looking at his sniveling face, his sweatiness, and his darting eyes, I’m not sure how much we can trust his sorry ass.

I’m not in the mood for the fake pleasantries. I know that given any other circumstances, he’d run as far away as possible. He’s a hider. And that won’t work for me right now.

“Please tell us?” I ask again.

Jude moves slightly to block Dean’s exit in case he decides that this is a bad idea and wants to run.

Sorry, buddy
.

“I…” Dean says. I can see it on his face. He’s thinking about running. If manages to get away and we find him again, I don’t think he’d ever want to spill the beans about what he knows. Or
who
he knows.

Somehow, I find enough strength to push myself off the car and move towards him. I see him stiffen, turn even paler as I near him. With my right hand, I pull at the bottom of my hoodie and, with some difficulty, take it off to show my tank top and stub of an arm underneath.

Dean, Jude, and even Carl inhale sharply.

I’m afraid to look down, especially because of the attack I just had, but I know that my scar stands out stark red in the night air. I seem to be showing it off to everyone these days. Last I saw, it has traveled over my collar bone and is covering my upper torso. After the last attack, it’s gone farther, I can tell that much.

I resist the urge to scratch at it.

“I’m dying,” I tell Dean. In the corner of my eye, I see Jude frown unhappily at that statement. “And we need to find a new Progenitor either before I die or before Anthony finds the old man.”

“Esther’s dead?”

The question catches me off guard. I blink at him, trying to figure out how he knows about the Progenitor’s chosen replacement. “Y-yes.”

“Anthony killed her?”

I nod. “Just before she was going to take my blood to do the ritual. The one to crown a new Progenitor.”

Dean sighs and combs a hand through his greasy hair. “Fuuuuck,” he whispers. Then, as if he lost enough willpower to stand, he crouches and puts his head in his hands. “No.” His voice is small. Terrified.

I meet Jude’s eyes, and he shrugs, bewildered.

“You knew Esther?” Jude asks.

“I knew
of
her,” Dean says. “She’s the second-to-last of the Progenitor’s direct children.”

“The second-to-last?” I echo, feeling the icy chill run through my veins.

“She was the last vampire who could become the Progenitor. Other than Anthony.” Dean laughs mirthlessly at that. Like it’s all a big joke.

No
. I refuse to believe that. There
has
to be someone else. Fuck, there are plenty of vampires out there. More than one has to be a child of the Progenitor.

I’m about to probe him for more when I hear an inhuman shriek. I turn my head just in time to see the flash of navy blue, almost black in the nighttime, running straight towards me. The shriek is in another language, although I barely have enough time to react let alone try to translate.

I duck, as a flash of steel punches through the air above me, shattering the passenger’s window of the Accord. Bits of glass rain down on me as I whirl out of the way.

It’s a girl with raven hair, a Japanese school girl outfit and katana, and almond shaped eyes. Seriously? This is like something out of
Kill Bill
or an anime.

“Oh my God!” Dean shouts, terrified.

So, I get the feeling they’re not with him.

The girl snickers, then jumps and lands on top of the car, the roof buckling under the force of her landing. She takes a second to bare her fangs at me before she blurs into action again.

So a
vampire
Japanese school girl is attacking me in the middle of the night in Houston. Makes more sense now.

I dodge her frenzied attack, backing up and ducking. My right hand fumbles as I try to summon my magical sword Glimmer although my mind is too panicked at the possibility that I lost her with my left hand.

I’m much slower when I’m weakened, and my balance is off due to my missing arm. I should easily evade her moves but…

No, no, no, no.

I stumble and the blade nicks my cheek as she swings her sword.

I’m tugged out of the kiss of the katana again as Jude pulls me away from harm. His hands wrap around my torso, his body at my back. He turns me away, shielding me from the onslaught as he roars in response to her attack.

The girl reappears and her eyes widen at Jude’s answering challenge. It’s almost animalistic.

In the split second their eyes are locked, I see another flash of movement behind my cousin.

“
Carl!
” I scream.

Carl, who isn’t blessed with Harker super powers, moves too slowly as I see an identical shape appear out of the darkness, ready to go for his throat. The girl grabs my all-too-human cousin and sinks her fangs into his neck. No glamour, no way to soften the blow. I know for a fact that being bitten like that hurts like hell.

Blind rage fills me. Time stands still as the power pumps through my veins. Suddenly, I find the ability to communicate with my pyrokinesis. My adrenaline peaks. It would be easy let go of the power inside me and incinerate these bitches.

Why the hell not?

I mutter the Latin spell, to lend my power form as it leaves my body. The fire erupts and I feel it through my hand and fingertips. I manage to slip out of Jude’s grasp before I turn him to dust.

“
Edie!
” he yells.

I’ve got it under control.

I catch the closest schoolgirl, the one that’s attacking Jude, in the chest, setting her on fire like a bonfire at a Girl Scout camp.
Kumbayah, bitch.
She screams as she crumples, and blows away into dust.

I turn my sights onto the second one, and storm my way towards her. I see the fear in her eyes as I move towards her.
Fear
. When
she
is the one terrorizing and feeding on my cousin. For some reason, that pisses me off even more, and it apparently makes me look more fearsome, because she retracts her fangs and backs away from my cousin. She’s muttering something as she lets go of Carl, who collapses to the ground.

She
hurt
him.

I raise my hand and feel the surge of power as I aim it towards her. The flash of light from my pyrokinesis illuminates everyone’s frightened faces around me.

“
Edie!
”

My hand is knocked out of the way just as the blast of energy shoots off into the night sky, missing her entirely. Anyone for miles would have thought they’d seen a shooting star.

Through my white-hot anger, I whirl on the person who stopped my attack, and Jude brings his arms around me.

I screech, unable to think clearly, blind to anything but killing. I’m about to turn my pyrokinesis on him, when his lips brush mine, bringing me back from berserker mode. The power leaves me like a storm surge leaving the beach, and my legs lock underneath me.

“Shhh, Edie,” he whispers in my ear. “We need her.
Alive
.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, mortified that I’d been about to turn my power on him, as the world tilts again and I struggle with a wave of nausea.

Jude catches me before I fall and gently places me on the ground. From the hard concrete, I watch as he takes the discarded katana and moves faster than my eyes can follow. He spears the other girl in the chest, to the right of her heart. He rams her backwards against the wall, impaling her to the brick with the sword. She screams and scrabbles at the blade, cutting her hands in her attempt to pull it out.

But it holds fast. She’s going nowhere.

I manage to lift my head enough to see Carl’s unconscious form, and Dean stumbling back towards us, shocked.

And then I pass out. Which is probably a good thing.