The Vampire's Betrayal (27 page)

“Well if it ain’t Mr. Black Jack McShane, the very feller who sent me to hell,” he drawled, using the nickname that folks used to call me way back in the old days. The bad old days.

“Yancy the muleskinner, you dirty bastard.” I was mighty glad that William and I had opened communication on my way over here. It would have taken precious seconds for me to figure out what Yancy was doing here and get over the shock of it if I hadn’t already known I might be running into the revived undead. It was shocking enough even with the warning.

I shook him and dirt—either from the underworld or from his grave—fogged the air around us. “The last time I saw you, you were burning on the same cross you tried to light on fire in that black congregation’s churchyard,” I said. “That scheme backfired on you, didn’t it, you filthy Klansman?”

During the Reconstruction, William and I stayed fat and sassy on the blood of Ku Klux Klansmen and other evildoers. It was real satisfying to dispatch those KKK sons of bitches to hell.

We’d heard rumors of a cross-burning one night and thought we’d attend. The humans were easy pickings. It was a mite hard for them to run in those long robes. Yancy, the only vampire in the bunch, gave us a little more trouble.

He’d come for the pickings as well, but he was intent on preying on the black folks trying to protect their little clapboard church. Bad idea. He put up a good fight, but William and I tore him apart like a wishbone and threw him on the pyre of his own making.

“I’m back,” Yancy said. “Somebody opened the gate down in hell and it was Katie, bar the door. I decided to come on up and give my favorite killers a little taste of their own medicine. Right after I have a taste of that little black filly I just saw run up the stairs in yonder.”

The thought of him touching Melaphia threw me into a rage. “That’s not going to happen,” I told him, and unsheathed my fangs. “I killed you before, and I’ll kill you again.”

“I figured you’d be too yellow to take me on without William Thorne.

“You figured wrong.”

“Y’all double-teamed me last time. It warn’t a fair fight a’tall.”

“It’s one against one this time. Is that fair enough for you?”

“That sounds more like it, but I got me a little secret weapon.”

“Bring it on.”

Yancy’s head and torso started to stretch, and I had to step back for a second to collect my wits. The mule driver had been called “muleskinner” for the way he mercilessly whipped the animals that pulled barges down by the docks. Now he was changing right in front of me, much like the twins and Seth shifted into their canine forms. But Yancy wasn’t turning into a dog or wolf. He was turning into a…mule man?

I remembered what Eleanor had said about the special, tailor-made punishments reserved just for fallen vampires in hell. Appropriately enough, Yancy was now morphing into one of the same creatures he’d deviled while he was on earth.

Damnation.
How many other moldy oldy vamps were crossing the great divide even as I watched this hideous transformation? And what kind of shapes would
they
take? I could be fighting a magic mule one minute and some other form of shape-shifting vamp demon the next. Satan only knew what William and me were going to have to face in the days ahead.

I heard the body parts popping as his arms changed into legs. Short, slick hair sprouted all over him as his clothing ripped away and his hands and feet hardened into hooves. All I could do was stare. It would have been comical had not the animal pulled back his lips to reveal a set of mulesized fangs.

“I reckon it’s you what might complain it’s not a fair fight this time,” he drawled. “Since now I got me the power of a mule.”

I tried to keep the image of Francis the talking mule out of my head. This was serious business. Not to mention gross. Yancy, standing upright, towered over me. He struck out with a sharp hoof and I threw myself backward. I managed to dodge the blow but landed in the ornamental shrubs that lined the front of the house. If I survived this assault, I was going to have a hellacious time picking the thorns out of my backside.

I was able to scramble to my feet and into the grass before he had a chance to regroup. He was having difficulty maneuvering down the steps on his rear hooves, his back to the door. How the hell was I going to kill a—a bloodsucking mule? I had no doubt my fangs could penetrate his hide, but it was going to be awfully tricky getting within biting distance. Having my skull cracked open by flying hooves wouldn’t kill me, but it would stun me enough for him to do the job with his fangs.

I began to sense another’s presence. I glanced toward the windows and saw Deylaud’s pale face staring back at me. He held something up for me to see. It was the crossbow William kept hanging on the wall in the downstairs den, loaded up with a stake as big as a baseball bat. I had to work my way over to the door again, as close to Deylaud as I could get.

I nodded slightly to signal Deylaud that I saw. Yancy the talking vampire mule was down on the lawn with me now, so I had lost my brief advantage. I got into a crouch and feinted sideways toward the street. He started to go that way but righted himself again when he realized it was a fake. He was faster than he should have been. A
lot
faster.

“You and Thorne should’a minded your own bidness,” the mule said, its yellowed teeth almost as long as its fangs.

“The welfare of the humans in Savannah, black
and
white,
is
our business,” I told him. I tried to maneuver myself around so that my back was to the front door, but he blocked me.

“Well, ain’t that sweet?” Yancy-mule said, his voice dripping sarcasm. “Let’s just see if you can protect the folks behind that door—black
and
white—from the likes of
me.
”

He came for me and I sprang upward, somersaulting over his head and onto his back. Taken by surprise, he hesitated a moment, just long enough for me to grab his mane with both hands and sink my fangs into his neck. He made a hideous noise, somewhere between a scream and a mule’s bray, and bucked furiously. I felt like a bronco buster in a rodeo, locking my knees on to the mule’s flanks, holding tight to its mane. Only I needed to stay on for a helluva lot longer than eight seconds to wear him down, if that was even possible.

As I pulled harder on his mane, he brayed louder and bucked more furiously, sending me tumbling off him and onto my back at his feet. I hit the ground rolling and his right hoof grazed my cheek, opening up a gaping wound. I sprang to my feet, spitting out a chunk of his flesh the size of a baseball. My blood was flowing but his was spurting—I’d opened up an artery. Time would tell if his healing power would close the wound before it weakened him. Too bad time was something I didn’t have.

We circled each other again, and I was finally positioned with my back to the door. I backed up a step and threw a glance behind me. Through the pane, I saw Deylaud nod.

The mule man charged me and reared. At the same time, Deylaud threw open the door and tossed me the crossbow. The mule’s hooves were high over my head, pawing at the air before starting their downward arc. I put the crossbow against my shoulder, aimed for where I thought its heart was, and pulled the trigger.

It was a good thing the shot was at close range. The mule’s hide—not to mention its muscular rib cage—was tough. But the stake pierced it with an awful squishing sound. I staggered backward, unsure if the shot had pierced the heart and still in danger from the flailing hooves even if it had.

The mule man froze in the air on its back hooves like some ass-ugly carousel horse. Then it started to list to its left. In its death throes it morphed back into Yancy the vampire Klansman and I saw the evil in his demonic eyes.

“Fuck you, McShane,” he said.

“Go to hell, Yancy,” I said. “Again.”

Speaking of hell—as he turned to dust I couldn’t help but wonder just what happened to vampires who were killed for the
third
time. Whatever it was, Yancy was about to find out. I hoped it was nasty.

“Are you okay, Jack?” Deylaud came out to check on me. He was panting, and I remembered how sick he’d been just a few days ago.

“Thanks to you, pal.” I handed him the crossbow and staggered into the house. Melaphia, Renee, and Reyha were hugging each other in the foyer. They’d seen the whole thing, and they were terrified.

“Jack, was that what I think it was?” Melaphia asked. She allowed Renee out from behind her skirt now that the vampire was dead again.

“Yes, they’re coming. Mel, are your spells ready to close the portal to the underworld? William needs you to work your mojo like right
now.
”

“I—I’m not sure! I’ve just made a start. I’m not even sure I have everything I need.”

“You’re going to have to try your best,” I told her.

“That’s all we can ask. But the portal’s wide open and demons like that mule-man are finding their way out. There’s no time to lose.”

Melaphia drew herself up. “Deylaud, get my bag.” Deylaud ran up the stairs to do her bidding. “Jack, do you know exactly where the opening to the underworld is? I think I need to get as close to it as possible.”

I briefly explained to Melaphia what I’d heard through William as she took the bag from Deylaud. “I’m guessing the epicenter has to be underneath the hospital if it was strong enough to break through the granite and open that steel box,” I said. “That’s also where they performed the ritual, so I think it’s our best bet.”

“Let’s go, then,” Melaphia said.

Renee pulled on her mother’s skirts. “Mama, I want to help Uncle William. Can I come, too?”

I started to suggest locking Renee in the vault with Reyha to guard her, but to my surprise, Melaphia said, “Yes, honey. Mama would like that.”

I realized that after what had happened to Renee a couple of weeks before, I didn’t blame Melaphia for not wanting to let her little girl out of her sight. In fact, as Mel, Renee, Deylaud, and Reyha grabbed their coats from the hall tree and put them on, I was kind of glad that all four of them were coming along, for the same reason: I didn’t want to let any of them out of my sight.

“Let’s go through the tunnels,” I said. “We’ll get there faster.”

We ran through the tunnels, Deylaud carrying Renee on his back, as fast as we could go, prepared to pop up to the surface through the nearest outlet if an aftershock started. None of us relished being buried alive. To complete my turning, William had buried me undead on the battlefield the night he made me into a blood drinker, so I knew from experience being put into the earth before your time was no fun.

We pulled up short when we got to the place where the earth had caved in. I looked up and saw starlight through the hole in the pavement. “Listen!” I said, and they were all silent. Deylaud and Reyha just looked at each other and shrugged. Their canine hearing was acute, but not half as good as mine. I could barely hear William’s voice.

“He’s just beyond that pile of dirt,” I whispered.

“I’m going to climb over it, come down on the other side, and try to get William out. Mel, are you ready?

“Yes. I think so.”

“Get started, then.”

She nodded and began giving instructions to the others on what they should do to help her. Then she held hands with Renee and they both began to chant. I climbed the small mountain that separated me from William and Reedrek.

As I got to the top and looked over, I saw William trapped under the rubble and Reedrek moving toward him fangs first.

Twenty

William

I had braced myself for the killing bite, but then dirt and rocks started falling on my head. Reedrek straightened from his crouch and looked up, just in time to be flattened by the powerful body of Jack McShane.

Jack had jumped onto Reedrek from atop the mound of dirt that covered me. My sire was an old and powerful blood drinker, but his time underground without feeding had weakened him. Still, he was able to throw Jack off and stagger to his feet. Jack charged him again, flipped him over, and pinned his arms behind his back.

Jack was reaching for the chain that had bound the steel coffin when another earthquake began. I say another earthquake because this one was almost as strong as the first tremor. I knew somehow that it was not merely an aftershock.

I shut my eyes to keep out the dust and dirt. The awful roar was all I could hear. When the shaking stopped, I opened my eyes and instead of Reedrek looming before me, I saw Jack peering at me earnestly with his wide blue eyes.

“Where’s Reedrek?” I asked.

“He got away. With all the dust, I didn’t even see which way he ran. We’ll worry about him later. Look, some of the soil and rocks have shifted off you. Let me see if I can get you out.”

As Jack began to move stones and chunks of pavement off me, Deylaud joined him. “Thank the gods,” he said when he saw me.

“Are Melaphia and Renee and Reyha alright?” Jack asked him.

“Yes, they’re fine.” Deylaud started helping Jack dig me out. He was not as strong as my offspring, but he was stronger than a human being. “They’re still where you left us, just over this mound of dirt.”

“Did Melaphia cause that quake just now?” I asked.

“Yes,” Deylaud said. “Renee seems to be able to feel the portal and she doesn’t think it’s completely closed. Mel and Renee are going to try again. That’s why we have to get William out right away. They’re about to recast the spell and he could be buried again.”

“I think I can get you, William,” Jack said. He and Deylaud each grasped me under one arm and heaved. With the larger stones and chunks of asphalt gone, I felt myself coming free of the trap. The two of them helped me over and around the debris to where Melaphia, Renee, and Reyha waited. Melaphia had set out her candles and herbs.

Melaphia gasped when she saw my wound. “You need blood,” she said. “Jack, you have to take him home right now to feed.”

“I can feed him right here,” Jack said.

“No,” I said. “The sun is almost up.”

“What about you and Renee?” Jack asked Melaphia. “If the portal is open…”

“My sister and I will guard them with our lives,” Deylaud said. “You can have no doubt of this.”