Drift (Drift Series) (16 page)

His red eyes and saliva soaked fangs glowed with enthusiasm. I could hear Beth screaming in the background, “Now you have him, Tony. Save some for me so we can finish him off together!”

Her cheerleading must have burnt into him a false sense of security, because he confidently pushed off the ground with his legs, still holding my throat. He stood us up in one flu
id motion. This was a big mistake, being that I’m a demon and much stronger—other than another demon or angel—than anything ever created. Standing me up played right into my hands and Nelson knew it. He actually uttered the word “idiot” at Tony’s momentary lapse of reason.

Just when he thought he had control, I balled my fist and thrust it forward like the spring pull on a pinball machine. My fist hit him dead in the stomach. It went so deep I could almost feel his spine on my knuckles. His confident and proud smirk turned to fearful surprise as he vaulted backwards and smacked at the base of the particular tree Gibson was still stuck on. The force of the impact knocked Gibson free. He came crashing down upon the weary Tony
, who was hunched over at the foot of the towering pine.

Tony came to his senses with a shake of his head, and, much like the mistake Steve and Gibson made, got to his feet and charged me. This time, I bent and swung one of my wings around. As my wing made contact with his head, it decapitated him, causing his torso to do a reverse cartwheel in mid-air. His separated head bounced at my feet.

Like I mentioned to Shade, in order to kill a vampire one had to take the heart. Tony could still completely function and would, sooner or later put his head back on, so I did what I needed to do, make poor Tony an example to his buddies.

His headless cadaver rose off the ground and started searching for its head. I grabbed the body by the collar of its skin-tight black shirt and penetrated my hand in through the
ribcage. I reached in and squeezed his beating heart. Tony screamed and I saw the panic in his severed head as he realized what I was doing.

In one maneuver, I ripped his heart out, literally. The limp cadaver dropped to the dirt like a pillowcase full of lard. Tony’s red, fiery eyes, faded to dark black pools of nothing. The mild
but slightly chilled breeze blew Tony’s face, body, and the still-beating heart, into dust that dispersed in the wind. I had to admit, it shocked me. I stood in awe for a moment and stared at the empty hand that once held his beating heart. This was a tactical mistake on my part. Beth took advantage with a shriek.

The next thing I knew she was on my back, her teeth sinking into my exposed neck. The sudden shock caused me to shout in pain. It would be just a few seconds before I became paralyzed by her eternal bite. I lunged forward, reached over my shoulder with one arm
, and grabbed the feasting female by the hair. With all the strength I could muster, I stepped back and used the momentum to pull the aggressive vamp-girl off and slam her on the ground. I rubbed my neck, feeling the holes, and the chunk of flesh that was taken from me.

I massaged it and realized that my forceful disposal of her did little in slowing her down. Beth leaped up and vaulted through the air by way of a reverse s
omersault. She promptly landed back on her feet. Something told me this little firecracker was a bit more powerful than her predecessors. To one side, a disgusted Nelson was ordering Gibson, with one hand, to stay put. Steven was still thrashing around; stuck in the tree I had smashed him into.

As we stood peering at each other, I noticed the shocked look on her face. My physical body had yet to be paralyzed by her venomous bite. This perplexed both of us. I never heard of a demon bitten by a vampire that remained in motion. I wasn’t sure what to think.

Apparently my immune state upset Beth. She looked furious. Next, she lunged and rammed her shoulder into my chest. She carried me like an empty sac over her shoulder. She blasted me into, and through, a boulder lodged into the ground that was way off in the distance only seconds before. Her speed was remarkable. The impact shattered the rock into hundreds of smaller pieces, nearly turning the large stone into powder. The momentum allowed me to flap my enormous wings. I used them like springs while kicking my legs into Beth’s body, slinging her over the top of me and sending her to land end over end behind me. I rolled onto my stomach and waited for the tumbling predator to roll to a halt. She ended up on her back.

Beth immediately recovered, looking to see where I went
. Once she spotted me, she folded her powerful legs. We sprang up again and rushed at one another, no holds barred.

I stuck out my arm and clothes-lined her. The vamp’s body spun topsy-turvy four times in the air before crashing, yet again, at my feet. This time I must have hurt her a little. She let out a distressed moan. I took no pity on her. With both hands
, I picked up her weakened body and pressed it over my head. Her back was hovering just above me; her face was turned to the sky.

She commanded me to let her go. In response, I pulled my two hands that were holding
onto her neck and butt, together. This forced her body into a reverse V. Her vertebrate crackled and snapped. She screamed, then-dangled, almost lifeless, above me while I took my time locating a place to discard her mangled, but not dead, body.

A short distance away, Steven was still fighting to get unstuck from the tree. Below him, Gibson stood there recovering, watching Beth and I fight. It looked like he was about to disobey his master and rush in to help, so I discouraged his plan by hurling the limp Beth at him. Her twisted body rocketed into his chest, sending them both into the tree where Steven continued to writhe about. The impact of the two flying vampires shook loose more pinecones that rained to the ground, along with Steven, who had his landing softened by his two weakened, blood-loving pals.

I stomped with purpose towards them so I could finish them off and deal with their leader. But just as I was closing in, an agitated Nelson yelled, “Enough!”

I never stopped.

“Stop now and we’ll leave, permanently. Just let them be and you’ll never see us again.”

I stopped in my tracks and pondered his offer. “Never?”

“Never.”

“I let you go, spare you your earthbound eternal lives, and you leave Miller’s Hill—make that Mountainside—forever?”

“Forever. We’re gone. Just leave what’s left of my entourage alone.”

Killing them all and sending them to Hell would serve a better purpose than leaving them still alive. Their fates were in my hands. I could, and should, finish them off. Even so, I decided to show them mercy, mostly because an innocent Shade was looking on from the forest. So, more or less on
her
behalf, I permitted Nelson the terms he requested.

I pointed to his fallen foes. “Fine. Take your trash and go. But if I see any of you around here again, I’ll send you all to Hell first class. Get it?”

Nelson lifted his head in agreement while locking his fingers together across his chest. I took our agreement totally for granted that it was concrete between us. But as I dropped my guard and headed for the deep forest, I felt something wasn’t right. I swung around and thrust my arm forward with great force. A bewildered Nelson’s face was just inches from mine, wide-eyed and open mouthed. My arm had impaled his body completely like a shish-ke-bab. My hand, behind him, gripped his still-beating heart. His eyes were a mask of surprise. A stream of drool fell from his mouth.

“You should have let Beth run your herd. It seems
you
are the weak one here.”

The brisk,  breeze swept his body into the air, completely evaporating it into dust that rained down on me.

I brought my hand in and curiously looked at it, as if Nelson’s heart was still in my grasp. With no remorse, my eyes darted to the remaining three that were now staring at me in fear. Just as I marched toward them to finish the job, they bolted. Beth screamed for mercy and yelled that she and the other two would honor the agreement Nelson and I made. I could tell they would honor the agreement for sure now, plus I wanted to get Shade and make sure she was okay. I also needed to catch up to Scruffy and Sandra to check up on them, not to mention let them know that I was okay, too.

But once again, before I could get more than a few steps towards her direction, something else in the darkness distracted me. At first I thought it was Beth and
her clan returning to try their luck again; surely they weren’t that stupid.

The sound was getting closer. All at once, out of the shadows of the forest, a familiar sight
appeared, a sight I’d seen before that made me wish the vampires were coming back for me. But that wasn’t what it was.

It was the shining silver ball at the top of Christian
’s cane, bouncing back and forth, reflecting the moonlight. The sound was him clapping his hands. I could only interpret his actions as sarcasm. When he spoke, he confirmed it. “Bravo, Leo. Bravo! A brilliant performance by a brilliant underachiever.”

Christian continued to clap as he neared, smiling with tremendous pleasure.

“But nonetheless, a pity. If only you could have showed such tenacity under my good graces, you could have become more powerful than you could have ever dreamed. You had the potential to be my number one. What a disgrace you’ve become. I did have such hope for you, my lad.” He shook his head as if he was actually feeling hurt for me. But I knew that was far from the truth. Every demon knows Christian never delivers good news and
never
shows mercy.

“Your time is up here. The council has spoken
.” He looked around as if searching for something. “But first, tell your little plaything that she can come out and hear the good news along with you. I mean, since you have no problem telling mortal fools our secrets—another factor that has weighed in on your demise, by the way.”

I watched in silence as Christian paced impatiently around me, locking his hands together while gripping his cane behind his back.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Christian called to Shade.

Silence filled the night as Shade didn’t make a sound. This agitated Christian. “Either you tell her to show herself now, or I
’ll go in and drag her out. You can bet I won’t be as polite to her as you are, my lad.”

I said nothing. Although fearful of what he was up to, I knew he would
n’t break spiritual law and try to hurt her. So I called to her. “Shade, it’s all right. You can come out. Please.” I kept a suspicious glare on the constantly pacing Christian.

After another second of silence there was some slight rustling amongst the trees. Then, out of the moonlit shadows, a reluctant Shade inched into the open. It took a few quiet moments but she finally stood at my side, visibly shaking.

“This…this is what you threw away eternity for…to save this weak and pathetic excuse for a living being.”

Shade na
ï
vely fought back. “Not as pathetic as a reject from Hell, too scared to do his own dirty work. Tell me, does the Devil spank you when you fail?”

Christian paused, stunned. I was pretty sure no one had ever spoken to him in that manner before. He was
obviously angry. But I think the fact that he couldn’t do anything about her lack of respect really infuriated him. I couldn’t help but close my eyes and wince a little because I would be the one to pay for her comments. It took a second for Christian to compose himself, but he swallowed his emotions and leaned his head back in roaring laughter. “Brilliant girl. I like that, you have some pep.”

Christian’s silver eyes sparkled above
his aggravated smile as he reached up to her with two extended cold fingers and rubbed the back of them against her cheek. She jerked her head back in defiance.

“Oh yes, a fire burns within you for sure, mortal girl. You would make a fine goddess of the underworld. Who knows, maybe someday you
’ll be under my command as well and probably make a much better hench…woman than Leo here, who has, well, been an utter disappointment, to put it mildly.” Christian looked at me.

“I
’ll never be under the control of scum like you,” she answered.

Christian gave a half-grin and chuckled ominously under his breath. “We shall see girl, but your friend doesn’t have that luxury.”

Snapping out of his power struggle with Shade, Christian placed his attention onto the task at hand, my fate. “As I was saying,” he spoke with a sneer aimed at Shade, “the council has concluded that since you repeatedly disobeyed my commands in the recruitment of Darryl Kite, unveiling secrets to a mortal, and deliberately interfering with the rules set by our lord and master Bellock, you must be confined into the lowest ring of the underworld, where you will remain for the rest of eternity.”

Christian approached me, getting within inches of my face and speaking in a whisper
,
“You will never have rest from the endless torture you will endure for your treachery. What a shame I will not be able to witness such splendid atrocities that will be lavished upon you. I will be, well, still on earth, savoring every morsel of freedom without restrictions. Business…as…usual. Who knows,” he walked over to Shade who was now clinging onto my arm, “maybe I’ll even return to claim her.”

He reached for her again and Shade slapped his hand. Christian growled at her and raised his hand like he was about to backhand her. Just as he thrust his arm forward
, nearly meeting her face, I grabbed him by the wrist, stopping his actions.