Demon's Doorway (24 page)

What she would do is face one of a vampire's greatest fears.

It only took one kick to break down the door. More smoke poured out, and Victoria ducked under fire that licked at her from the wall. She kept low and tried to keep her breathing steady. Vampires didn't need as much oxygen as mortals, but they still needed to breathe.

The room was covered in flames. The bed and desk were on fire, with scattered patches on the carpet. Victoria processed everything as quickly as she could, sights and scents alike.

Six dead bodies were littered about the room, each of them burning. Charred flesh, kerosene, cheap perfume. The mixture of scents made her stomach churn.

A body with a stake protruding from his chest lay on the floor, next to the bed.

Victoria leapt over the mattress, nearly struck by flame. She checked her clothes to make sure they weren't on fire as she knelt as close as she could to the body. The blaze reached the front door, making her exit a work in progress, but exiting was the furthest thing from her mind as she examined the body.

It was Bradley.

Her heart told her it couldn't be him. It was some kind of ruse. Bradley was older than her, and his fate couldn't be what was around her, murder in a hotel room. But she recognized him, even as his flesh burned. The ring on his finger, his expensive clothes, his familiar scent.

She studied the other bodies, putting the scene together as best she could, even as the flame grew closer. One of them lay on the floor, a naked woman. There was another woman in a state of undress, and the rest were dressed as policemen, just like the man in Alex's trunk.

Victoria wasn't sure if they were all working together, or the women were a coincidental distraction, but the scene was clear. They'd attacked Bradley, and he'd managed to kill quite a few of them before being overwhelmed. They drove a stake through his heart and set the room ablaze with kerosene. They even disabled the sprinkler system, ensuring he wouldn't survive.

The fire burned a hole in the wall, revealing the empty room next to her. It pained her to leave him. Bradley deserved a better end, but the flames drew sweat from her pores, a sensation she wasn't used to. If she stayed much longer her fate would be similar to his.

She stepped through the hole into the next room, a carbon copy of the one she'd left. The blaze was spreading rapidly, already consuming nearly half the room. But there was a path to the door available.

She was nearly there when she heard a sniffle. She focused her hearing, and heard the heartbeat.

A young boy was hiding next to the refrigerator. He couldn't have been more than ten years old. A woman lay on the floor next to him on her stomach, unconscious. Victoria frowned as she knelt before him, wondering why they were still in the building. She tried flashing a reassuring smile.

"Hey there. What's your name?"

"Johnny."

"Hi, Johnny. I'm Victoria. Why are you still here?"

"My Mommy…she drinks a lot. And she wouldn't wake up when the fire came. So I tried to drag her, but she's heavy."

"Say no more. I'll get you and your mom out of here."

She slung the unconscious woman over her shoulder, irritated at hauling an alcoholic. She only took one step toward the door when she froze.

The blaze had spread through the room, and blocked the only exit. The few seconds she spared for Johnny and his mother had cost her.

"Are we gonna die?" Johnny asked.

Victoria said nothing as she set the woman back down. She could see the ladder from the firetruck through the window behind her. She debated on smashing the window and asking for help, but by the time they repositioned the ladder it would be too late. The jump to the ladder from the window would be easy enough for her, but not carrying a woman and child.

"Johnny, close your eyes and stay with your mother."

The child did so, and Victoria stood just at the edge of the bed. Her claws popped from her fingers by necessity, her fangs protruded in her mouth from emotion. She ripped away a piece of carpet and started tearing at the floor. She ripped away the padding, and then started working on the sub-floor. She should have been more conscious of the noises she was making, but the thought of Bradley's dead corpse not fifteen feet away pushed her forward. She knew she sounded like a stereotypical out-of-control vampire, but she'd survived much worse than a burning building.

She would live, and so would Johnny and his mother.

The flames danced closer, only a few feet away as they engulfed the bed. Johnny whimpered as he held onto his mother. Finally, the last piece of sub-floor gave way, falling to room beneath them.

She once again hoisted the mother over her shoulder, and also scooped up Johnny in one arm.

"Wow. You're strong."

Victoria dropped through the hole in the floor. She landed nimbly, not much pain shooting through her legs. Johnny let out a startled yelp, while his mother finally stirred somewhat.

She opened the door and left the blaze behind. Johnny ran on his own behind her as they descended the stairs. His mother mumbled when they made it to the first floor.

"W-What's going on? Johnny? Where are you?"

"Mom! Victoria saved us!"

"Who? What's happening?"

Several policemen took both Johnny and his mother when Victoria opened the front door. A few curious glances came her way from the mortals, surprised at her strength. A paramedic jumped in front of her and tried to take her hand.

"Ma'am, please, if you'll follow me. I need to check you out."

"I'm fine, thank you. Leave me alone."

"Please, just come this way—"

She lifted him into the air by the shirt with one hand. She wanted to fling him aside, or better yet, sink her fangs into him and taste his essence. She settled for setting him down gently to the side. He didn't make another move toward her.

"Thank you, Victoria!" Johnny called.

Her thoughts were elsewhere, barely registering the child was even talking to her. She was walking away from the scene when she turned around and waved to the young boy. He was sitting on a curb with his mother, a paramedic waving a light in their eyes. He wildly waved back to her.

Victoria had saved their lives, and Johnny would never forget her. She tried to take solace in that, but the loss of a great man pushed everything else aside.

*****

Victoria was a rock as she drove back to her house. Emotions tried to overwhelm her, but she forced them away. Dealing with Bradley's death would be no different than dealing with any other death of a close friend. She would grieve, and move on. People died, even vampires.

The important thing was the next step. She had to find Bradley's killer, and give him an end. She was certain it was Anatol Grigori, but where was he? How many men worked for him? What was his goal?

She parked behind Jack's rental car in the driveway. For a moment, she thought everyone was in the house, and was irritated at the thought of them dragging that captured mercenary into her home. As she walked to the front door she heard voices around the back.

"What do you think he's doing?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know, and I don't think I want to know."

Cindy let out an agitated laugh. "After what he tried to do to us, I don't really care what he does. He's probably just scaring him."

"I don't know," Kevin said. "I've only known the guy a day, but I don't think there's much about him that says
just talk
. He's got a real screw loose."

Victoria walked around the house to see Alex, Cindy, and Kevin standing and talking near the deck. Jack and the mercenary were nowhere in sight. Alex and Cindy seemed much calmer than when they first arrived, and Victoria was jealous. She couldn't wait to be calm again. They stood close, as always, her head on his shoulder, while Kevin faced them wearing his coat.

"Victoria," Kevin said, looking relieved. "You're back. Hey, where's Bradley?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but Jack walked out of the woods behind her house, whistling cheerfully. The mercenary wasn't with him. Jack nodded curtly as he stopped next to Cindy. Alex subtly scooted her away a few inches.

"Ah, what a night," Jack said, smiling.

"Bradley isn't here," Victoria said. "He went back home."

Kevin frowned in confusion. "He flew across the Atlantic for a few hours, then went back?"

"He had a personal emergency, and had to leave." She looked at Jack. "Did you kill him?"

"Who?"

"Who do you think? The asshole Alex and Cindy dragged here in the trunk of their car."

"Oh, him. Victoria, I'm insulted. I do things a certain way. I've honed my methods over two centuries. Not everything I do ends up with a body."

"Good. I'm sorry I insulted you. Where is he?"

"He's back there in the woods. He's alive. He just has a few broken bones. And I cut out his tongue."

He said the words as casually as reading a dinner menu. Cindy gasped, while Kevin stood with his mouth hanging open. Only Alex could still speak.

"Uh, say that again?"

Jack shrugged. "He said I wouldn't do it, said I was just threatening him to make him talk. And…you know me. It's hard to pass up a dare."

Victoria put her hands on her hips. "So you cut out his damn tongue?"

Jack nodded and smiled, a gesture that sent visible chills through the mortals present.

"Not an easy thing to do with just a syringe. But I was up for the challenge. You poke enough holes in a tongue, and it pulls apart just like taffy."

Cindy leaned over and retched, but nothing came up. Alex rubbed her back gently. Kevin's face turned white.

"Oh, please," Jack said. He gestured to Alex. "I know you've seen demons do far worse."

"What did you find out?" Victoria asked.

"We both learned a few things tonight. He learned that you don't necessarily need a tongue to communicate. I learned where he and his buddies have been meeting." He held up a piece of paper with an address, written in blood. "We both learned about how many letters you can write using blood shooting out of a tongue stump."

Cindy finally vomited, narrowly missing Jack's shoe. Alex quickly grabbed her hair and held it back. She dropped to one knee after her stomach was empty.

"You want to watch where you point that shit?" Jack told Cindy, jumping back. "You'll play hide-the-salami with a dude with wings, but a little blood makes you sick? You're a strange woman."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Kevin, could you go back and see what you can do for the guy? Heal him, maybe wipe his memory?"

Kevin didn't answer. His eyes were on Jack, alternating between the bloody note and the unconcerned expression on his face.

"Kevin?" She gently shook his shoulder. "Are you listening?"

He blinked. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I'll try. I can take his memory back a year."

"Good. Do it."

Kevin walked back into the woods. Alex escorted Cindy to the deck, where they sat on the couch. Victoria and Jack were alone.

"Did you find out anything else?"

"I didn't ask much else, but you don't have to ask questions to get information. He and his buddies didn't know what Alex was, until he beat the piss out of them."

"Grigori hired them to test him?"

"It makes sense. The rest of us aren't a real mystery, but he is. They didn't even use bullets."

Victoria looked over Jack's shoulder as Kevin stepped out of the woods. He leaned over and vomited, just like Cindy. His face was pale green as he half stumbled his way across the lawn, shoving a vial back inside his coat.

"Is he okay?"

Kevin stopped ten feet shy of Jack.

"I…found the tongue, and reattached it. His bones are fine. He's all healed, and he'll forget this past year. There's blood everywhere…."

"Are you serious?" Jack said, frowning. "What's the fun in torturing someone if you just undo everything? He's not gonna learn anything—"

"Jack, stop," Victoria said.

Kevin pointed at Jack. "I'm not working with him. He's…if you would have seen the blood…just keep him away from me."

Jack feigned sadness. "But, Glinda, that hurts. I like you."

"Shut up. Stop calling me that. My name's Kevin."

Victoria clenched her fists. "Children, please."

Jack nodded. "Indeed. Glinda, close the mouth for a minute." He held up the paper. "Our next move."

"Your next move is nothing."

The voice came out of nowhere, and there he was. Anatol Grigori, looking exactly the same as he did at the airport, stood in Victoria's yard, five feet away from Kevin. Jack raised an eyebrow and turned in place. Alex jumped protectively in front of Cindy. Kevin took a step back and reached in his coat.

Victoria narrowed her eyes, and waved for Kevin to relax.