Sunset Strip: A Tale From The Tome Of Bill (17 page)

He’d been lucky. I thought back to my family. There were few spots in my memories that weren’t tinged with resentment and regret.

“Never forget your humanity, Sally.”

I sighed sadly. “I think it’s too late for me.”

“Nonsense. Believe me - once upon a time, I said the same thing. I was wrong. It’s only too late when we let it be. Perhaps you just need to be reminded.”

“There isn’t anyone left to do that.”

“Then perhaps one day you’ll meet someone who will. Strange times are on the horizon. The vampire nation has prospered, but our overall existence has been stagnant for centuries. That can only last so long before the tide changes and washes complacency away. Such is the nature of the world.”

I waited for him to say more, maybe enlighten me as to what he meant, but he was finished. “Now, I really do mean it. You should hurry if you don’t wish to be caught in the sun’s morning rays.”

Again, he tried to disengage his hand from mine, but once more, I didn’t let go.

“I...think I’d like to stay, if you don’t mind.”

“You don’t have to do that. As I said at the start of this wonderful evening, you are free from those orders. You need not fulfill any of my desires.”

“I’m not,” I replied, inching closer. “I’m fulfilling
mine
.”

I stepped into his embrace and pushed the door shut behind us.

Chapter 27

Present Day

Had he been in the same situation I found myself in with Marlene, Bill would have paused to deliver what he’d no doubt consider to be a witty line. He seemed to do that a lot despite the fact that it often ended badly for him. That’s what you get when your friends are dorks and your babysitter growing up is the TV.

Too bad for my former employer that I wasn’t him. She might have otherwise stood a chance.

I was on top of Marlene before she even hit the floor. Without hesitation, my claws extended and I raked them across her throat, severing her carotid arteries and windpipe in the same swipe. I dug deep, making sure that even her advanced healing wouldn’t be able to close the wounds in time. Even the most powerful of vampires would be hard pressed to keep going when drained of their life blood. She was...

Ugh!

She was still very much in the fight, backhanding me off of her like I was a gnat. I flew and slammed into the far wall, shattering the full-sized mirror that hung from it and embedding myself into the wood inlay like some sort of bizarre decoration.

I shook my head, clearing it quickly. Fortunately, I’d been ready for her counterattack, using my arms to absorb the brunt of her power. I felt a trickle of blood from a cut that’d been opened in my cheek and smiled. So she wanted to do this the hard way. That was fine by me. Mark and the others were downstairs. Any thumping they heard going on up here would be assumed to be Marlene having her fun with me. Robbed of her voice, she couldn’t cry out, and I didn’t intend to give her enough time to psychically compel them to her aid.

Extending my fangs, I grabbed a shard of glass from the broken mirror and launched myself from the wall. Marlene was struggling to get back up, her neck a geyser of blood. I plowed into her just before she could regain her footing. The floor was slick with her fluids, and she wasn’t able to brace herself. We went down again with me on top. In my life I’d been a meek little mouse, but in my afterlife I’d discovered the dom inside. Being on top offered far more possibilities.

The glass sliced my palm open, but that was okay - nothing compared to the damage I’d done to her. I slammed the shard home into her chest - too far to the side to hit her heart, but more than enough to puncture a lung and maybe a few other organs.

I was tempted to laugh, but kept my mouth shut instead to avoid swallowing any of the fluids that gushed from her. We struggled in relative silence. I wasn’t the Freewill. While Bill could gain strength from the blood of other vampires, Marlene’s blood was toxic to me. Too bad.

She continued to fight back, grappling and trying to use her superior power. She almost made it. Just as she was on the verge of overcoming my leverage, I felt her strength falter.

Gradually, I forced her arms back down, noting that the fountain of blood had begun to subside.

The fight was over, she was done. I bent down and put my cheek against hers. Almost lovingly, I whispered, “You took everything from me. Now it’s time to return the favor.”

I sat up and, claws extended, plunged my hand straight into her chest.

Her eyes glared malevolently up at me for a moment longer. In them I could see the long years she’d lived and worked here, the despair she’d felt at having her world torn asunder. Oh well - they say karma’s a bitch.

They’re right.

* * *

One moment, she was there. The next, a flare of light sparked and her body collapsed in on itself. I found myself sitting on an empty dress. Her ashes settled upon me and stuck thanks to the amount of blood covering me. It was almost like being tarred and feathered, if a bit more pleasant.

I stood up, dripping various pieces of her, and looked toward the stairs. No footsteps sounded. That was good. As I’d suspected, any commotion they heard would be assumed to be their master. To most coven vamps, it was nearly inconceivable to consider the alternative. Marlene, like Jeff, had ruled with an iron fist - a god amongst immortals. After a while, one’s charges tend to buy into the hype.

Sadly we still weren’t out of the woods. I could celebrate my victory later. For now, I needed to get my shit in gear.

I walked over to where Christy was still shackled. I bent down and gently slapped her cheek, leaving traces of gore on it. She could always freshen up later.

“Come on. Wake up, sleepy head.”

“Ugh...”

“That’s it. Time to wakey wakey. Your sister in law still needs saving.”

“Kara, is that you?”

“Not quite.”

Christy’s eyes opened. She blinked a few times, and then focused on me. They immediately went wide as she took in the sight. I couldn’t blame her. I probably looked like I’d just bathed in Marlene’s innards, which wasn’t far from the truth.

“I take it you won,” she said groggily.

“Yep.” I reached down and grasped the shackle that held her right arm down. They’d been designed with mages in mind, not vampires. I tore it from its hinges easily, then started to work on the other.

“How?”

I opened my mouth to reply and found that I couldn’t. The words wouldn’t come, but then I’d known that would happen.

* * *

“I need a favor, James.”

“I already know what you’re going to ask,” he replied from the other end of the phone line.

“She’s not my sire or my master, nor is she under your dominion. This is a personal matter between...”

“You need not explain protocol to me, my dear. I am well aware, just as I am aware of your history with Marlene. I hope you know that you’ve picked a less than ideal time to ask this.”

“I know there may be repercussions. She’s old and well connected.”

“Perhaps not as well connected as you may think,” he replied cryptically. “Even if I agree, you’ll still be at a disadvantage. Marlene is far older and stronger than you. Insulated or not, you would stand very little chance.”

“Then you wouldn’t exactly be tipping the odds in my favor.”

“True on that.”

“So will you? Please?”

“For the sake of what you’ve done for the vampire nation, I will.”

“Thanks, James, and I promise to never tell another soul about it.”

“I know you won’t, Sally, but I will have to take necessary precautions nevertheless...”

* * *

“I’m just that good, I guess,” I said with a grin, before steering the conversation away from me. “How are you doing? Anything broken?”

“I’m gonna need an ice pack and some aspirin, but I think I’ll be okay.” Christy shook her head again, then a panicked look appeared on her face. “Oh my god, what about...”

“Calm down. How do you feel?”

Once freed, her hands went to her stomach. “I don’t care about me! What if...”

“The baby’s fine.”

“How...”

“I can hear two heartbeats. I think it inherited its father’s hard head. Doesn’t hurt that you got lucky, too. The guy who decked you in the stomach was just a human.”

“Yeah, lucky. Sloppy is more like it.”

“That too,” I chirped, helping her up. “Can you walk?”

“I think so.”

“Good, because we’re probably going to need to run. I only took out Marlene. The rest are downstairs.”

“Kara?”

“Her, too. Happily compelled in lala land.”

“What’s the plan now?”

“Get her and get the fuck out of here.”

“I could have thought of that.”

“Well, then, why didn’t you?” I turned and began heading further down the hall. There was a second stairwell that came down behind the main dressing room...or at least, there used to be. It was probably a safer plan than just waltzing down the front steps. Before I could take more than a step, though, Christy caught my arm.

“Don’t touch him. He’s mine.”

“Mark and I...”

“The one who punched me,” she clarified.

I nodded. “Be my guest.” There was a reason one didn’t get between a grizzly bear and her cubs.

We turned a corner and she asked, “So that guy, Kara’s boyfriend, is really your ex?”

“Yep, that’s Mark. Used to be a nice guy.”

“Up close, he and Bill look a lot...”

I stopped and glared at her. There was a thought I
really
didn’t need bouncing around in my brain.

“Don’t even think of finishing that sentence.”

Chapter 28

The lights flickered. The storm was right on top of us. It gave me an idea...one that was probably suicidal, but an idea nevertheless.

Marlene had made a mistake in choosing to open tonight. Her dedication to keeping the club going, no matter what, was going to cost...

Oh wait, she was already dead. Well, then it was going to cost the yahoos in her employ. With any luck, they’d be hopping around like good little minions getting ready to open. The dressing room would be filling up with girls by now. That was good. What was one more blonde and brunette amongst the crowd?

If we were lucky, we’d be able to slip out without more than a minimal exchange of hostilities. They’d have the advantage in numbers, although the truth was I had no idea how many we were up against. Other than Marlene, I’d only seen four other vampires and a handful of human thralls. It was possible she’d been in as dire straits as she claimed...

Oh, screw it! I was just bullshitting myself. The real problem was that a part of me was hoping to avoid facing Mark.

A year or two ago, I wouldn’t have batted an eye at the concept. We’d have either been cool by now, fucked for old time’s sake, or I’d have killed him - hell, probably any two of those. Now, though, thanks to the glass of Bill-flavored humanity that I’d apparently swallowed at some point along the way, I found myself actually feeling guilty about the poor dickhead. He’d been a good man once, but now he was a monster - all thanks to me.

Still, that was neither here nor there. Time to save the pity party. I could let
little Lucinda
out of my subconscious later on to fret about the past. Right now, we still had a job to do, and I was intent on finishing it. I didn’t know Kara for shit, but I wouldn’t let her fall down the same rabbit hole I had. Fuck history repeating itself.

Luckily, the back stairs were just as I’d remembered them. Marlene hadn’t been too big on the concept of total renovations, which was good news for us. She’d been a creature of habit, changing with the times only so much as needed to be done.

Christy and I came out in the main storage room. The hall to the back door, alarmed and guarded even back during my time here, led off to the right. The dressing area was to the left.

“Where is it?” I quietly asked myself.

“Where’s what?”

I idly grabbed a bottle of Hennessey from a shelf and popped the cap as I tried to remember the layout from years past.

“You were looking for
that
?”

“Oh, this?” I took a pull. “No, it’s just been a long night. I’m trying to remember where the subbasement entrance is.”

Maybe I’d been wrong about Marlene’s dislike for renovations. It had been right here - a trapdoor down into the...oh yeah. Hadn’t Mark said something about the tunnel entrance being sealed? Well, that could make things difficult. If such were the case, we’d have to fight our way out, and sadly, I’d left my favorite handgun back in New York.

There! I spied a collection of crates stacked in one particular spot. A small groove in the floor peeked out beneath them at the edge of the door. That was it? They’d just stacked shit on top of it? Not exactly a top notch security system. I mean, a few crates wouldn’t...

“Ugh!”

I gave them a shove and got nothing for my efforts. Okay, so they were really heavy crates. What the fuck was in them, solid concrete?

“Why’d they cover it up with those?” Christy asked, moving to stand next to me.

She’d been unconscious when Marlene had explained things. It was probably best to not bring her entirely up to speed lest she think better of our escape route.

“I don’t know...big rats, maybe? They probably had some of the tunnel people sneaking in and stealing the liquor.”

“You’d think they’d encourage that behavior.”

Actually, they had back in the day. Christy was definitely no slouch in the brains department, which once more made me wonder what the fuck she saw in Tom. “You’d think. Sadly, I don’t think Marlene will be forthcoming with answers.”

“If we can get down there, can you get us to safety?”

“Probably...I mean, sure.”

She glanced at me sideways. “Good enough. Stand back, I can take care of this.”

“Okay, you...zap it, or whatever it is you do, and I’ll grab Kara.”