Texas Hold 'Em (34 page)

My curses were drowned out by Bryan’s emptying of the Bushmaster’s thirty-round magazine in one long three-second burst, turning as he kept his fire on the vampire. I stepped out of the way of the muzzle, watching the fleeing figure.

A few of the rounds must have struck it, because it stumbled and fell. The wolves were on it in seconds, and we heard the visceral sounds of mortal combat. I wanted no part of that mess of fur and fangs.

I shook my head to clear it and shot my brother a dirty look. With that ruckus it wouldn’t be more than a few minutes before the cops would arrive, so I ignored the fighting trio and broke into a run, heading toward the main building where the majority of the sounds had been coming from.

Bryan and Lacey trotted behind me. I scanned the darkness for signs of either Toni or Christian. I doubted whether I could even recognize Toni in her wolf form, especially in the dark. I had only seen her that way once, and she had been running at full tilt down a street before diving into an SUV full of goons.

We soon came to the center of the commotion. At the base of what was intended to be the front of the building, the lone security light showed a handful of figures fighting off a swirl of opponents. It made me think of how General Custer must have felt. Surrounded. Outnumbered two to one. Waiting for the inevitable.

That is, until I saw one of the wolves dart in to make an attack. It broke the outer circle, lunging for one of the six vampires in the center, a tall figure wearing jeans and a button-up. The leap was sudden, unexpected, and should have been lethal. The two-hundred-pound wolf’s teeth flew straight for the vampire’s throat.

Christian’s motion was even quicker. He fluidly took a half step to the side, leaning back to pull his throat out of the way of the massive snapping jaws. In the same motion, his arm came up from below, grabbing the beast by the throat. Still without breaking his move, he threw the wolf behind him, toward the iron skeleton of the condominium tower. The one-armed toss sent the wolf flying fifteen yards before it cracked dully against a steel column ten feet above the ground. Its body fell down in a spiral, like a crippled helicopter, landing hard on the ground.

The move left Christian open. I had a clear shot, though at a longer range than I would have liked for a shotgun.

I hoisted up the Saiga and pulled the trigger. I didn’t realize it was fully automatic. The recoil of the shotgun firing at a rate of 600 rounds per second surprised me. Each shot steadily tugged the barrel upward. I fought for control as the gun bucked and boomed, spitting out a torrent of buckshot that started at Christian’s center of mass but ended up at the fourth floor of the tower by the time I released the trigger.

The vampires and werewolves had been so focused on each other that they’d failed to notice our approach, and the sudden onset of gunfire took them all by surprise. Half of the wolves jumped and whirled to face me, splay-legged and growling. The remainder of the wolves and the vampires were calmer in their search for the gunman, but the results were the same: all eyes were on us as the combatants tried to figure out whose side we were on.

I regained control of the gun fast, re-acquired the target, and fired again. Another stream of buckshot was already flying toward Christian before the rain of spent three-inch Magnum shells from the first burst had begun bouncing on the dirt beside me.

But Christian had already started moving. He was quicker than anything I had ever seen. Christian used the distraction caused by the gunfire to break out of the circle of werewolves and flee into the cover of the vast dark construction site that surrounded the building.

My second round of gunfire missed. But as Christian ran, I saw that my first attack hadn’t: his white button-up shirt was in tatters, red splatters adorning it like some tacky flowered tablecloth. It wouldn’t kill him, but I knew all those lead ball bearings must hurt like hell. I ejected the spent drum with a grin and slapped home a twelve-round magazine.

The wolves must have recognized me, or figured that since we shot Christian we must be on their side, because one by one they turned back to the five remaining vampires. Christian was the one the werewolves had been afraid of. The remaining vampires didn’t worry them too much.

I was surprised that Christian had left the others to fend for themselves. It was probably a death sentence. Betty and David were among the five remaining in the circle, and I knew they were too young to stand a chance against this many werewolves. I didn’t recognize the other three, but I was pretty sure that aside from Katy, Martin, and the doomed one we’d passed at the entrance, this was all that remained of Christian’s flock.

At least one of the vampires knew it too, and decided self-preservation was the new order of the day. It bolted back toward the building. A handful of werewolves instinctively leapt after the fleeing prey. The remaining wolves went on the offensive and attacked the four left in the center.

Except for one. A sleek black wolf watched us for another moment before it peeled off from the attack to head our way.

David and Betty were retreating and drawing weapons, clearly surprised by the reception that Toni and her pack had given them….Meaning they weren’t packing silver ammunition. Even so, although regular bullets probably wouldn’t kill the werewolves, they would hurt, and enough of them could at least temporarily incapacitate one.

To illustrate this fact, David drew his handgun and put three shots into the face of the nearest wolf. The beast’s head jerked back as parts of its skull evaporated. The bullets weren’t silver, so I assumed it would heal, but until then, it dropped where it stood, laying on its side with its tail wagging in some grim display of neural synapse memory.

Betty had pulled the Uzi out of her handbag, and she took aim. She sprayed and prayed. The out-of-control fire Betty laid down caused the werewolves to disperse, at least temporarily.

I turned in the direction Christian had gone, still surprised he had abandoned his minions—only to discover he hadn’t. He had successfully faked us all out. It turns out that though vampires can’t fly, the old ones can jump really, really far.

Bryan actually saw him first. He got out “Holy fuck!” before he fell backwards, pointing his Bushmaster at the sky where Christian was falling from. Nothing happened. Bryan had forgotten to reload after dumping his clip at the fleeing vampire when we first got here.

I started to turn, but I knew I would be too late. Lacey knew it too, even as she pulled out a knife, preparing to get at her blood and cast a spell to save my brother. I watched the implications of what was about to happen spread across her face, and knew for certain she had feelings for him.

The black wolf caught Christian in mid-air, just feet away from Bryan. Its jaws clamped on his throat. The impact altered his trajectory. Instead of landing on Bryan, the two figures fell to one side, tumbling across the broken ground.

Christian roared as Toni snarled. She was maybe five-seven and, though slender, she was unnaturally strong, which made for an awesome wolf. But she was no match for Christian. He was too fast and too powerful. Toni jerked her head from side to side in powerful motions, trying to rip out Christian’s throat. But he had put his chin down, cutting off access that would allow her to adjust her bite, and possibly crushing her snout for good measure.

I held my fire; with their grappling, I couldn’t attempt a shot without hitting them both. Even Bryan managed to refrain from shooting, though he finally remembered to pull out the spent magazine and replace it with a fresh one.

Christian grabbed Toni’s jaws and pried them away from his throat. Then he got on top of her, pinning her down by her neck. He was raising his other hand to deliver a killing blow when I smashed the butt of the Saiga against his skull as hard as I could. That got his attention.

It turned out I didn’t want his attention. He bitch-slapped me with an upward backhand to end all backhands. I sailed up through the air and crashed back down to earth.

Fortunately, it bought us a few seconds. Several of Toni’s packmates had witnessed the struggle and came to our rescue. Three more wolves now beset Christian. Unable to fend them off while kneeling on Toni, he abandoned his prey to take a more defensible stand.

Not to be outdone by the wolves, one of Christian’s flunkies also moved our way. The petite chick with the attitude who had gotten pulled out of Jacob’s window was now coming straight for us.

“I can take her!” Bryan volunteered, seeing the new threat and moving to head her off. I knew he was eager to make up for forgetting to reload earlier.

“Bryan, no!” I didn’t like the chances of my brother going one-on-one against a vampire, even a young one.

“Dude, she’s tiny! I got this! You worry about Christian.” My brother sprinted toward her in an interception course, shouldering his rifle and opening fire while he ran.

I didn’t have any more time to worry about him. Christian had thrown off his latest attackers and was now crouching, deciding who to kill first: the four werewolves, me, or the crazy emo girl who was busy talking to herself while cutting her own wrist.

Christian was an old vampire. I didn’t know how old, but I guessed the better part of a millennium. In all that time, he had probably done and seen it all. No matter what “it” was. He had not survived this long without knowing that you always remove the biggest threat first. It came lightning-quick, before any of us could react. Blood fountained from Lacey’s chest as Christian tore into her.

We were all moving now, though it was too late for Lacey. A giant, muscular wolf lunged at Christian, its teeth biting into his calf and pulling him off Lacey. A second wolf leapt on his back and tore into his throat. Toni and the other wolf crouched close by, waiting for an opening.

Abandoning the shotgun, I pulled out a stake and dove in. I desperately hoped I could push aside the wolf on his back and drive the sharpened piece of wood into Christian’s heart.

Done with Lacey and beset by the werewolves, Christian let her body fall. He spun, flinging off the wolf on his back and giving me an even better target.

I leapt over Lacey’s still form, bringing the stake up to his chest. His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist. The sharpened point halted just as it broke his skin. Toni locked onto his arm in the next instant, her jaws snapping shut with a fury that broke his wrist bone. I pushed with all my might and managed to drive the point forward half an inch before he moved his arm. He wielded Toni as a club, knocking my body out of the way and then sending her flying after me.

Next, Christian turned his attention to the wolf attached to his calf, but it had already let go and jumped back. More wolves were joining the fray, and Christian apparently didn’t like the odds. Three wolves he could probably handle; ten was another story. Again he jumped, this time over the head of a wolf with a bleached-blonde head that had been about to attack. The wolf skidded to a stop in the dirt as Christian vaulted well over him and disappeared into the night. Half a dozen wolves gave chase, long strides sending them off at incredible speeds.

I ran to Lacey, simultaneously scanning the darkness for my brother. There was no sign of him. I pulled out my small Maglite to check on Lacey, twisting the front to turn it on.

I repressed a groan. Lacey’s throat was torn out.

I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Chance, I’m sorry, but she’s dead. You can’t do anything for her.”

I didn’t move. Something wasn’t right. I stared at the disfigured corpse, trying to identify what it was. The pressure from Toni’s hand increased.

“Chance, come on. Let’s go. You can’t help her. We have to find that vampire before it gets away.”

I held my hand up to silence her, then leaned in to examine Lacey’s wound more closely with the flashlight. I saw what was wrong—or maybe right. Blood was everywhere, but none of it was new. No dark pools lay around her inert figure. I leaned close and saw the reason: it simply refused to leave her body.

The skin covering her throat had been torn away, and her carotid artery had been severed, but a thin line of red liquid still dutifully ran out one frayed end of the tube, along two bare inches of exposed soft tissue, and into the other. The absence of the arterial walls apparently did not prevent the plasma from carrying out its duty. The relief that passed through me was indescribable.

“Smart witch. Must have got off a spell at the last moment.” Toni squatted down next to me to survey the wound. I tried my best not to notice that she wasn’t wearing any clothes.

“Damn. Blood magic, huh? Bad juju.” I looked up to see Mike, a wiry Asian guy with dyed-blond hair, frowning at Lacey. He too was naked, and parts of him were currently at my eye level that shouldn’t have been. I quickly turned my attention back to Lacey.

“Not sure how long that spell’s gonna last, but we’ve got to get out of here, Chance. Police are on the way, and that vampire is loose somewhere,” urged Toni.

I couldn’t hear the sirens, but I believed her. Werewolf hearing was far superior to mine.

“Has anyone seen my brother?” I asked in general, sliding my hands under Lacey as gently as I could.

Mike answered, “Last time I saw him he was chasing after some little vamp.” He pointed, presumably in the direction they had gone.

“I’ve got to get Lacey into the van and then find him,” I said.

“Go after your brother; I’ve got her.” Still naked, Mike extended his arms. I placed Lacey into them.

“Thanks.”

“No problems, man. I’ll get her out of here. Now go get your brother.”

“Wait one second—there’s something I have to do first,” Toni said. With an open palm, she hit me hard in the back of my neck.

“Ow! Hey! What the hell?”

“Hunting vampires alone is stupid, Chance. Almost as stupid as standing me up.” Toni’s sharp words were chorused by whistles, laughs, and a couple of assorted comments ranging from “busted” to “whipped” from the surrounding werewolves. Toni whirled on them and suddenly everyone found somewhere else to look.