MisStaked (43 page)

Luna had watched the exchange with growing horror. She knew her and Stud's time was reaching an end. Once Leopold no longer had a use for them, they were as good as dead. The only hope they had was the vampires would wait to kill them until after they opened the tomb. At least then she might have time to come up with a plan.

"Lewis, change of plans. Tie up Ms. Walking Batch and the chimp. I'll escort Doctor Easily to the tomb. Join us as soon as you're done,” Leopold ordered.

Lewis licked his lips. “Sure you don't want me to just kill ‘em now?"

"No, we might need them to keep Mr. Petrifunck in line."

Luna let out a silent sigh of relief. Things were finally looking up. Now, all she had to was hope for either a plan or a miracle. At this point she was willing to take whichever one she could get.

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If you can't hold a stake without shaking, how do you plan to kill a vampire?

Brogan watched the sky with growing concern. Clouds were gathering on the horizon, big fluffy ones that could only mean trouble. He knew snow clouds when he saw them and these weren't them, but somehow he doubted they were anything but. The clouds looked heavy and dark, more like storm heads than snow. Brogan'd been in Kansas once during a tornado. That was what those clouds made him think of. The whole damn mess was turning to crap. Opening the tomb was coming back to bite him in the ass, and he had a feeling it wasn't going to leave him much of one before this night was done.

Having enough of daydreaming, Borgan let his body slide down an embankment. The snow easily gave way beneath his short, heavy legs. The earlier snow had obliterated his tracks. Luckily, he had kept track of landmarks on the first trip. If the approaching storm hit before he made it back to the dig site, landmarks weren't going to be worth diddlysquat. By his reckoning, he was almost there. A mile or so, and the camp should be within sight.

But, he was going to scope things out before rushing into the belly of the beast. His gut told him things were about to get rough. The last thing he needed to do was stumble into any surprises.

Brogan stopped suddenly. His hand reached up to catch a broken branch. It wasn't the first. The trail had been littered with them. Now, he regretted his laziness. The dangling bit of tree sat high enough Brogan doubted an animal had been the ‘cause of the damage. His fingers caressed the broken branch. Letting the branch snap back to its place, Brogan brought his fingers up to his nose. They smelled faintly metallic.

His curiosity piqued, Brogan let his eyes roamed the nearby landscape a little more closely. Above eye level, more branches hung at odd angles. As he mulled over the evidence, his gaze fell to the ground itself. Barely noticeable after the snowfall, Brogan made out faded but discernable tire tracks. Who would be crazy enough to drive a truck through a forest at night?

A short detour was worth the delay back to camp. Somehow, Brogan thought this mystery might be tied into whatever was happening back in the camp. He set off at a slow but steady pace. Once or twice, he lost track of the trail, because of snow falling from the heavy-laden trees, but was able to pick up the trail with little effort. From the damage, whoever was driving the truck hadn't been too worried about being followed.

Fifteen minutes later, Brogan caught sight of the truck half-buried against a tree some hundred yards from the main trail. From the looks of it, the driver had lost control and slammed it into the tree. It was a big four-wheel drive U-haul. What had Roberts had told him?

One of the team had seen a U-haul back at the Eh Ya Campgrounds. He'd dismissed it back then. Suddenly, it made sense. There was only one reason to bring a truck like this into these woods. Somebody wanted to get something big from the site. It had to be whatever was buried in the tomb. Suddenly Breathred's talk of this vampire mother suddenly seemed all too real.

If the kid was right, then that meant a truckload of vampires was probably waiting back at camp. Normally, this might worry him, but the way Brogan saw it, he had the advantage. This was his home turf, not theirs. The last time he checked he was the baddest mutha this side of the border. A vamp might make the Americans shiver their short and curlies straight, but he was Canadian. Canadians were the toughest S.O.B.s in the world. At least this one was.

Lewis grinned as he tightened the makeshift rope around Stud's arms and chest. The chimp let out a pained gasp. Lewis cinched the knotted up sheets a little tighter before tying them off behind Stud's back. After thinking about gagging the foul-mouthed beast, one flash of its abnormally large incisors gave him second thoughts. It wasn't like the beast could reach down and gnaw through the ropes.

The girl had been easy. Lewis made the monkey do it. Glancing over to make sure she was still strapped in place, the vampire wasn't all too sure the chimp had tied her up, but wanted to wait until the chimp was secure before checking her bonds. All left to do was tie down the little sucker's legs then he could see for himself.

Luna watched the vampire bend down to tie Stud's legs. Stud shot her a questioning look over the vamp's shoulder. Luna wished she knew what to tell him, but she didn't. That was a lie. Luna knew what she had to do, just didn't want to do it, especially in front of this Lewis person. Luna wasn't ashamed of her true self but didn't want to advertise it to the whole world yet. If she wolfed out and the vampire got away...

Luna didn't even want to think about the consequences. Hearing the news from a vampire wasn't the way she wanted Breathred to discover her secret. He deserved to hear it from her, not some freak.

Luna turned her head away from Stud's accusing stare. When the vampire was gone, she'd tell him her plan. With Lewis out of the way, she could change and get them free without Breathred finding out. It was the coward's way, but it worked for her. Luna just hoped it wouldn't be too late. She glanced up to see Lewis finish with Stud's bonds.

He was coming over to make sure Stud had tied her up right. Luna was glad she told the chimp to do it the way Lewis wanted. Otherwise, the vamp would have had to do it again. Every minute they had to stay here was a minute wasted. Luna was sure Leopold and that slut, Easily, weren't wasting any time.

"Okay folks. That's it. We'll be back with your boyfriend in a minute, so don't even think about trying any funny stuff,” Lewis warned, as he gave Luna's bonds a final tug.

"Or what, you'll kill him? You're already going to do that, so don't try to scare us with lies,” Stud snarled, straining at his ropes.

"No? How do you think he'll feel, watching me suck his girlfriend dry as a bone?” Lewis took a quick swipe across Luna's neck o drive his point across.

"When I get out of this, I'm going to drive a stake straight through your sorry butt,” Stud promised the gloating vampire.

"Feel free to try, but I don't think you'll get the chance.” Lewis said, slipping from the tent.

"Why didn't you wolf out and kill that piece of crap?” Stud asked.

"Because, he might have gotten away."

"He might have shit himself is more like it. Whatever you're going to do, do it. I don't like the idea of Breathred trapped with those two bloodsuckers breathing down his neck."

Luna knew Stud was concerned about Breathred and forgave his abruptness.

"Give me a few minutes and then we'll go after him."

Luna tuned out Stud's reply, so she could focus her thoughts. Her mind swam to her secret place. This wouldn't be like the other night. The change then had been pure reflex in answer to Sharbano's attack. She still couldn't explain why it happened like that. As hard as she concentrated, the tug of power that marked the start of the change wouldn't come.

She was trying too hard. Luna let her mind flow free, letting her spirit flow toward the living well of Coyote's will. Something was blocking her from reaching it. Luna grunted in frustration. This wasn't going to work. They were trapped like rats and there wasn't one damn thing she could do about it.

"That's harsh, don't you think?” Breathred said.

It had taken several minutes for him to even say that. Her words had struck him as a last resort on her part. Seduction hadn't worked. So, this was it. Breathred had to admit it was working. Dr. Grayson had taken a chance on him, and didn't want to see her die because he wasn't up to the job she hired him for.

"Not as far as I can see. If you don't help me, you're going to die anyway,” D'brea said.

"How do you figure that?"

"It's simple. My body has been sleeping for too long. It's going to take a lot to kick-start it back into shape. Regular blood won't work. It's going to take something special to do it."

Breathred didn't even have to listen to know what she planned to say next.

"It's going to take the blood of a ripe virgin. Well, an over-ripe one in your case. And knowing my offspring, they're going to make a big thing out of it."

"A ceremony you mean?” Breathred said absently.

"That's the way they did it back in my day. Goofy looking headdress and a big ol’ knife. You might even get a fancy slab to lie on while they funnel your blood into my body,” she stated, her words doing little to improve his mood.

"How much time do we have?"

"Not much. I can hear them right outside the door."

"Well, don't worry. They can't get in without me. You're safe."

"Don't get too confident. The blonde girl you're with is helping them,” D'brea stated.

"Jessica's the mole?” Breathred said, shocked. He was sure it had been Truehart.

"Yep, and she has some of your blood. Looks like we've got about ten minutes til they come busting through the outer door. If you've got a plan, now would be the time to get going."

Breathred looked worriedly to the door. “Can't you do anything to help out here?"

"Not really. No body, remember?” She ran her hand down her ectoplasmic body. It shimmered as her fingers danced through the edges.

"Is there a back door to this place we might be able to scurry out?” Breathred knew he was grasping at straws, but darn it—there had to be another way out.

"Nope. I didn't see the need for one. I was hoping they'd forget about me to tell you the truth."

"Well, they didn't,” Breathred snapped.

"Don't get all mad at me. I didn't ask them to come,” she snapped back. “I was content to sleep until the end of time in my hidey-hole. If anybody's to blame, blame her.” D'brea shook her finger at Dr. Grayson.

Dejectedly, Breathred slumped down until the cold stone of the tomb floor pressed against the entire length of his body. He dejectedly jammed his thumb between his puckered lips and promptly decided to give up. What else should he do? He was out of time, out of ideas and out of his mind to think he could do this.

Who was he trying to kid? Breathred had been a failure his entire life. Why should this case be any different? Sure, the downside was he was most probably going to die. On the bright side—if he was dead, he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his life living in his father's basement with Stud. See, when you looked at things with your Sunshine glasses on, even death didn't seem so bad.

But, what about Luna? If Leopold was outside, she must be in danger. What kind of boyfriend would Breathred be if he died with her in mortal peril? He couldn't leave her to the whims of an undead fiend. Breathred unseated his thumb with a puckered pop. His depression slipping away in the face of true love, he flipped up into a seated position. He might not have a plan, but he sure as heck wasn't about to give up just yet.

Breathred looked over at D'brea. Her expression shifted from pouting to frustrated anger. Her being distracted by his distraction was better than finding her sucking the life from Doctors Grayson and Truehart. Good thing she was still a ghost or he might have found her chomping down on his two companions.

That's it! Since D'brea didn't have a body, there was a slim chance she could leave the tomb. After all, the ghosts in the movies could pass through walls. Breathred saw no reason why she couldn't do it, too. If D'brea could just get to Luna, maybe she had an idea about how to get out of this. All they really needed was something to hold Leopold up long enough for them to get away. How hard could that be?

"D'brea,” Breathred shouted, earning him a dirty look from the specter.

"Yeah. I've been listening to Leopold and the woman. From the sound of it, it won't take long for them to get past the outer door."

"Can you leave the tomb in your ghosty form?"

"I can't leave my body for long, but I should be able to make a short hop. Why?"

"My friends on the outside might be able to help us. I was hoping you could go out and tell them what's going on,” Breathred explained.

"You're talking about the girl and the monkey, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, that might be a problem. The vampires tied them up.” She paused with a faraway look on her face. “The short one is returning."

"Short one?"

"You know the stumpy one who took the others away.” She rolled her eyes as if to say that he should have known who she meant.

"Brogan!” Breathred exclaimed. This might work after all.

"He's the one.” He tried not to read too much into the dreamy look in her eye at the man's name. “Just go tell them. Brogan will get them loose."

"Okay, but you should know there's a chance I might lose myself, if I'm gone from my body too long.” D'brea didn't seem pleased with the idea either.

"What do you mean?"

"Basically, what you're looking at is my soul. If it's away from my body for a prolonged period of time, it may not be able to find its way back. That happens, and it's not me anymore. What you'd end up with is one great looking corpse, and one highly pissed-off ghost. I don't know about you, but being discombobulated isn't my idea of how I plan to spend the rest of eternity."

"So you're saying if your soul wasn't near your body, they could still bring it back to life?” Breathred asked, wondering if he might have found a way to get them out of this.