Texas Hold 'Em (27 page)

Lacey’s spell came quickly. She and Bryan couldn’t have timed it better. The Latina tilted her head in confusion before she screamed. Blood shot out of her bullet holes, veered right, took another sharp turn, and headed out the window after my brother.

The thin tendrils wrapped around the big guy’s throat as he tumbled back against the railing. My brother bent down, grabbed the guy’s legs, and heaved him headfirst over the side of the fire escape.

Bryan stepped aside as the bloody tendrils went taut, snapping the girl off her feet and yanking her out the window. To her credit, she was fast enough to grab the guardrail, jerking hard as the tendrils reached their limit. Her big friend came to a stop inches before his face hit the pavement.

“So much for using the fire escape,” I said.

“So let’s find another before they come back!” Lacey said, already heading back into the maze.

I was the last to drop down into the safe room. I wasn’t sure how much time it would take the vampires to find the trapdoor, but I guessed not long.

“Can you do something about this?” I said to Lacey, motioning to my gunshot wound.

“You don’t look so bad,” Lacey said, giving the wound a cursory look.

“What do you mean, I don’t look so bad? I’ve been shot!”

“Well, yeah, but I think it missed all of your vitals. Look, you were hit right on the side. I’m pretty sure that’s just fat.” She pointed a finger at the general location of my wound.

“A: that’s not fat, it’s pure muscle; B: it’s bleeding and I’m starting to feel tired; and C: it hurts like hell. So please fix it.”

Lacey sighed. “Okay, it’s like this. I kind of used a lot of magic on you when I patched you up the last time. Magic is one of those things best taken in moderation, especially the kind I was using to fix you. Especially because I had to cut some corners.” She noticed the look on my face and added quickly, “Listen, did you want to lose the leg? No? That’s what I thought. And not only did I patch your leg, I used more magic on you when I went after that vamp upstairs. You know, Legless?”

“I remember. You kind of overdid that one, by the way. You could have used the stuff that was already out of me. You didn’t have to go in for seconds.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” she apologized. “But he was going to kill me and I got kind of excited. But the thing is, I’ve used a lot of magic on you lately, and too much of the wrong kind of magic can lead to… complications.”

“What do you mean, complications? What kind of complications?”

“Nothing major. We can talk about that later. I’m sure you’ll be fine, but right now you should get that looked at, because there’s nothing I can do.” She nodded toward the bullet hole in question.

I growled in frustration. “Fine. Jacob, do you have any bandages?”

“Of course I do.”

Now that he had been transported away from the office, it seemed the vampires’ orders had faded, at least enough for him to function. Or maybe it was the opportunity to avoid more magic use that allowed Jacob to get a military-style medical kit out of a nearby cabinet. Jacob had me lie down on the cot, then he cut away my shirt and examined the wound.

“It’s a clean one. Like the girl said, it went right through. I can patch it up, but you should see a doctor to make sure nothing important got damaged.”

Meanwhile, Bryan had wandered to the metal security door and was trying unsuccessfully to open it.

“Dude, what’s up with this door? The handle turns, but this thing won’t budge.” Despite his announcement that the door to the escape tunnel wouldn’t move, he continued turning the handle and pushing it. Then he stopped pushing, took a step back, and rushed forward, slamming his shoulder against it. The door pushed out a quarter inch before stopping. He tried again, but his next effort was both ineffective and loud.

“Will you please stop that before they find us? It’s not going to work; I barricaded it with a metal pry bar,” said Jacob. He cleaned my entry and exit wounds with an alcohol swab that hurt like crazy. Now he was putting on a clean bandage.

“What the hell did you do that for?” asked Bryan.

Jacob shrugged, declining to answer the question.

It hit me then. I realized he must have barred the door after Megan and I came down here to sleep.

“Seriously, Jacob? You locked us up? Were you
that
worried Megan was going to come up and kill you?”

“And why shouldn’t I have been?” Jacob said it loudly, righteous anger bubbling to the surface.

“Because I said she wouldn’t. Don’t you trust me?”

Jacob looked me in the eyes before answering. “I thought you were under her influence.”

“And you thought locking us up for the day was the best solution? If she was going to kill you, she would have done it before we went down there. Or, if not then, when we came up afterwards. How was locking us up for the day going to help you?”

Jacob was either too embarrassed or too scared to comment further.

Lacey figured it out right before I did. “Nice friend you’ve got, Chance. I don’t think he intended for you and Megan to ever come back out.”

I realized Lacey was right. Jacob had planned on either killing us or holding us indefinitely. I guess not all hunters flipped as easily as I did. Though, in my defense, a vampire had saved my life. That goes a long way in shifting one’s perspective.

“So what were you going to do: imprison us forever or drop a Molotov on us while we slept?” I asked him.

“Neither. Molotovs are for amateurs.” He added sheepishly, “I was going to use an incendiary grenade.”

“Wow. So what made you have second thoughts?” I asked, wondering what had stopped him and trying not to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t.

“I didn’t—the witch kept checking the fridge all day long. It was like she expected food to materialize somehow. I never got the chance.”

“Nice, bro. You were saved by Lacey’s eating disorder,” Bryan quipped. He had backed off from the door several feet and, despite Jacob’s request, was obviously thinking about taking another run at it.

“It’s not a disorder. I have high metabolism,” retorted Lacey. Right after she said it, she let out a little sneeze. “I smell smoke.”

“Me, too. Looks like the vamps are going to have themselves a barbeque,” said Bryan. He thought better about another charge and began searching for something he could use to force the door open.

“Well, Jacob, if we weren’t all going to burn in here with you, I would have said this fire the vamps started was some sort of karmic payback for what you were going to do to me.”

“You brought a vampire here. Into my house! What did you expect me to do, carry on like nothing was wrong when I had a monster in my safe room?” Jacob’s embarrassment at our having uncovered his homicidal intentions was overriding any inner reflection about our impending demise.

“I expected you to trust me. I said she was okay.”

“You could have been under her spell. There is no such thing as an
okay
vampire, Chance. They’re all evil, plain and simple.”

“You’re right. Next time a friend calls me for help, I’m hanging up. You know, in case they might be under a spell and leading me into a trap.”

The point hit home and Jacob shut up.

“Where does this let out?” I asked, motioning toward the barred escape door.

“At the far side of the building, on a side street. Why? What does it matter?” Jacob asked, then his face grew desperate. “Chance, no. You can’t ask Kevin to come back here. You heard Christian—he went to look for them. The vampires will kill him before he gets this far.”

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on asking Kevin to come back here. Besides, I’m sure he’s long gone by now.” At least I hoped he was, and my mom and Megan with him. “So, how does one get from there to here? Sewers?”

“Do I look like I would go crawling around in the sewers?” He looked disgusted for a moment, then shrugged. “Actually, that was my first thought when I decided to build it, but it turns out we don’t have man- sized pipes under us that I could connect to. And we’re built on solid rock, so I would have had to blast to make an underground tunnel.

“No, my dad left me the entire building. I’m only using about half of it for my place and the vacuum shop. I rent out two more retail spaces, which face the main street. The tunnel runs right behind them.”

“What does the street-facing door to the escape tunnel look like?” I asked.

“Like a plain metal door. Why?”

“Bryan, did Marie give you her number?”

“Dude, what do you think? She couldn’t give it to me fast enough.” He paused for effect, then added nonchalantly, “I might use it.”

“You’ll use it to call her now, tell her where the tunnel lets out, and ask her to get us out of here. Fast!” I said.

Bryan made a face to show us all how much it pained him to call a girl for help, before he brought out his phone and quickly dialed the number.

“It won’t do any good, Chance. The door to the street is locked and it’s a metal security door like this one,” Jacob said.

I thought back to the security bars around the window. “I don’t think that will be a problem, but just in case she doesn’t come or can’t get it open, I don’t suppose you still have the grenade?”

“Good thinking, Chance, That’s exactly what we need in here: a fire. In case the one raging outside can’t find a way in,” said Lacey.

“It’s not that type of grenade. It won’t blow that door open, and even if it could, it would kill us at the same time.” Jacob made no move to give me the grenade.

“Fine. Do you at least have baling wire, or something that might help keep that trapdoor shut in case the vampires decide the fire is taking too long to kill us?” It probably wouldn’t make a difference, but I needed something to do while we waited.

“Of course I do.” He fished in one of the cabinets and handed me a bundle of wire, along with a pair of snips.

I gingerly climbed back up the ladder to the trapdoor. I put my hand against it. It was warm, but not hot. I hoped that was a good thing. The door was thick and, for all I knew, the other side of it could be on fire. The door itself had been locked, of course, but I used loops of wire running from the handle to the first rung of the metal ladder to further secure it. It might buy us a little extra time.

There was a polite knock on the escape door as I was finishing up. I hollered down. “Jacob, could you let Marie in, please? I’ll be down in a sec.”

“The door’s unlocked, Chance. She can let herself in.”

“No, she can’t,” I said.

“Oh, Christ, Chance. Please don’t tell me she’s another vampire,” Jacob said, opening the door.

“I’m another vampire,” said Marie, standing on the threshold and smiling. “See, Chance didn’t have to tell you, but you still know. Win!”

“My God, Chance. You can’t go around collecting these things! Hanging around one is bad enough, but two? I don’t know what to say.”

“Come in?” suggested Marie, brows raised.

“Relax, she’s…harmless,” I said, climbing back down the ladder. I had to stop halfway down because of the pain in my side.

Marie smiled at Jacob and nodded rapidly. Her manic peppiness had the opposite of its intended effect. Jacob scooted back a couple of inches and backed into the wall, against the displayed firearms.

He turned, placed his arms up against the wall, and started shaking his head. His face was very near an MP-5 submachine gun when he said, “Fine, come in! What’s one more? Maybe I can charge rent.” The mania in Jacob’s voice hinted that he might or might not grab the gun off the wall and start shooting.

Marie still stood in the doorway, a little wary of Jacob’s obvious dislike of vampires, combined with his proximity to lots of weapons.

“We need to get out of here,” I said. I was stuck on the ladder; my side was killing me. I couldn’t make it. If I tried going any farther, I was going to fall. Granted, it was only a couple of feet, but it would be embarrassing, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever get back up.

“Hey, babe. Miss me?” Bryan said.

Marie smiled at him and nodded, then sniffed while taking a tentative step forward into the room. When no one started shooting, she sidled up to Bryan.

“You’ve been shot.” She turned toward me, sniffing the air again.

Jacob whirled, causing everyone to jump. “Christ, Chance, you’re bleeding! It’s like chumming the waters! You’re a wounded animal. She’s going to eat you!”

“No, I’m not. Unless he wants me to?” Marie’s expression showed hope.

When I shook my head, she pouted and gave a shrug. “He’s right, though, Chance. You should have the witch fix it for you. We can smell you from a mile away. Well, maybe not a mile, but still, we can smell you. And if you insist on hanging around a necromancer, you should at least reap the benefits.”

Marie’s glance went down to my calf. “Though, judging by how she fixed your leg, I don’t blame you for having second thoughts.”

“What do you mean? It seems to work pretty good,” I said, looking down at it.

“That’s what counts,” Lacey said, turning to examine something in the corner of the room.

“Besides, it’s not my leg that’s bothering me, it’s my side. I already asked Lacey to fix it, but she said something about how using too much magic on me in a short period of time would be bad.”

Lacey nodded in affirmation, moving to examine the guns hanging on the pegboard. Jacob surreptitiously scooted away from her, which of course prompted Lacey to scoot after him in pursuit.

Marie took her eyes off me to watch Jacob and Lacey sidle toward the corner.

“That’s true; too much of it can have…adverse effects.” She looked back at me, arching an eyebrow. When I shrugged, she continued. “But you certainly can’t go around bleeding like that. Not only will you attract the other vampires, you’ll pass out.”

“I’m about there now.”

At my words, Bryan came up and helped me down from the ladder. I kept my arm around him, fearing that if I let go I would fall right down.

“Nothing I can do about it now, I guess. We’ve got to go. Hey, Lacey, can you stop messing with Jacob and grab that gun off the board for me? No, not that one, the other one.”