The Preternatural Chronicles: Books 0-3 Page 16

  I hung from his chest like an ornament, still stunned from the loss of the first gladius. This gave the beast time to recover, and he grabbed my entire body, from chest to knees, with the massive meat hooks he called hands. I recovered just in time for his hands to close around me, squeezing my body like an ancient, gargantuan serpent.

  The focus I had was melting away as fear crept its way into dominance. My head shot back and forth, desperate to find any way out.

  He brought me up to his rows and rows of shark teeth.

  “Oh great,” I panted. “Now you’re going to bore me to death with your master pla—”

  He shoved me into his mouth and started to chew.

  Chapter 20

  London, 1666

  As night began to swallow the light, consciousness trickled back into me like water dripping through the ceiling and into a bucket. Once the sun had fully retreated, the rest of my mind sprang back into place.

  I lifted myself out of my shallow grave and rubbed the dirt from my eyes. After shaking my head and slinging earth from my hair and ears, I looked at Ulric’s small mound.

  “Sleeping in tonight, I see?” I asked the mound. Reality fell upon me like a crumbling brick wall, and my face and heart dropped with an unseen force that threatened to push me back into my hole. I stuck a dirt-coated hand out and set it gently on the mound, afraid to disturb the remains.

  As I looked at the grave, a flickering of orange light on the grass caught my attention. I looked out over the River Thames and noticed that even more of the city was ablaze.

  My heart stepped off the ledge and plummeted into the depths of my guts, and my throat tightened to the point where I was confident that, if I had to breathe, I wouldn’t be able to.

  I stood up, letting a mass of dirt fall to the ground. Light brown clouds rose from the buildings and were carried off by the wind, freed from the earth.

  Looking at the orange city, my first instinct was to help. But what could I possibly do? My last attempt had created the situation. Not to mention the fact that fire was to vampires what dry land was to fish; our archnemesis. Well, that and sunlight. And not consuming blood. Okay, so it wasn’t our only archnemesis, but it was one of our nemeses. Flames plus vampire equal dead. D. E. D. Dead. And now, there was only one left in the world.

  Realization pierced my heart: I was the last of my species.

  After a few moments of wallowing in self-pity, I set my jaw and rushed toward the inferno that had once been the heart of London.

  As I crossed the Thames, I let my senses flow freely. PS was telling me to run from the situation, making it harder to utilize my predatory senses. In my mind, I grabbed PS and shook him with vigor.

  This is MY body and we will do as I command. Now pick up that feck’n rein and let’s do something good for a change.

  With hesitation, PS grabbed one of the reins, and my senses flooded with preternatural energy. We were aligned for a common goal.

  I scanned the area with my eyes, looking for heat signatures, but the heat from the flames made that unreliable at best. Letting my eyes close, I focused on my hearing, taking in sound from several blocks away.

  Footsteps came first, accompanied by the sound of sloshing water. Several hurried steps followed close behind. I opened my eyes to see a line of men carrying buckets of water, running as fast as they could without spilling their precious cargo.

  Closing my eyes, I focused further out. The whimpering of a dog caught my attention, and I zeroed in on where it was coming from. Running at blinding speeds, I leaped and exploded through a second-story window. Smoke filled the upstairs, making it hard to see. Another whimper. I burst through the thin wall separating the rooms and found a puppy curled up in the corner, scratching at the wall with all its might.

  A few hurried steps and I was scooping the puppy up in my arms and jumping through the window. I leaped a few times and was on the bridge again, away from the fire’s reach. I set the puppy down and quickly petted his head. I noticed my arm was wet, and I looked down to see a small ring of urine forming at the edge of my fancy coat. I scowled at the puppy, who wagged his tail and yipped at me, then smiled. How could I stay mad at that?

  A child’s scream pierced the night’s air. Turning on my heels, I ran in the general direction of the sound and came to a building that was fully engulfed. Another shriek rang out. It was coming from the center of the top floor. A woman fought against two men who were restraining her from entering the building. With each scream, the woman’s eyes went wider, and the men had to use everything they had to keep her from running into the beckoning flames. It was as if the conflagration had set up a trap and was willing as many victims in as it could in its short lifespan.

  My eyes vigorously searched for a way in that wasn’t a gateway to a room on fire. An idea struck, and I turned and ran back to the bridge.

  The puppy was still there, trying to shake the water from his fur. He looked up and saw me run and jump over him into the river below. The cold enveloped me in an embrace that would have stolen the breath of a mortal. Floating to the surface, I reached out with a bloodwhip and caught the bridge, pulling myself up with one solid tug.

  The puppy ran up to me, tail wagging and yipping his excitement as he did.

  “Stay here, my friend. I will return,” I told him before starting my run back to the building.

  With a few bounds, I was back and flying through the air right into the mouth of the raging inferno. The screaming had stopped. With a quick glance, I took note that the woman had collapsed to the ground and was sobbing uncontrollably into her hands.

  The fire embraced me as I landed in the top floor in a crouch. The heat was immeasurable to my supernatural skin. Clenching my jaw, I crawled on my hands and feet toward where I had thought the sound came from. Within a few moments, I found a room where the flames had just started to lick. I blew out the air I had stored in my lungs and extinguished the door for a few moments. Reaching for the doorknob, I pulled back at the contact with the superheated metal.

  I began to steam as my protective layer of water began to boil on my skin. My hair and beard started to singe, sending white smoke into my nose and signifying time was running out.

  I manifested the first thing that came to my mind, and slammed the bloodhammer down on the doorknob. It broke off, clattering to the ground and bringing a chunk of the dried wood with it.

  I yanked the door open and was met by the odor of cooking flesh. With the smell came the associated memory of my mother, and for a moment, I was paralyzed with the flood of emotions. Even though it had been almost two hundred years ago, the memory hadn’t degraded, and it felt as fresh as the night it had happened. It was an unexpected flaw in becoming a vampire that the books never mentioned; perfect memory recall without degradation. When a mortal lost a loved one, time eased the pain by dulling the memory.

  Tiny, bloodshot eyes looked at me from beneath a blackened forehead, freeing me from the prison of my memory. I picked up the bald child, with one hand behind her neck and the other behind her knees, and rushed through the flames and out the window. I landed in the alley, where no one was standing, and an idea came to me.

  With my mother still stinging my heart and mind, I said, “Please work,” as I willed blood from my palm and over the girl’s exposed skin. It covered her entire head, including her blistered lips, leaving little holes for her nostrils. A moan escaped her throat, and she began to writhe ever so slightly. I focused the blood flow over her arms and legs, willing my own energy into her skin. I was careful not to throw too much of myself into her, as I wasn’t sure what would happen. Plus, I was still exhausted after my battle with Ulric. I hadn’t fed yet, and fatigue was knocking at my door. PS nodded at me in my head, and I focused on returning the blood to my body.

  As the crimson life left her skin, a beautiful little girl, complete with a full head of hair, was lying in my arms. Her eyes fluttered open but were unfocused. I ran the back of my hand over her cheeks and
said, “It’s going to be all right. You’re all right.” She shifted her head to me, put one fresh hand on my cheek, and asked in the sweetest voice I had ever heard in all my years, “Are you an angel?”

  I was stunned by the question. Though it was a blatant lie, I looked her in the eyes and said, “Yes, my child. I am an angel, here to save you. Now, close your eyes.”

  As she did, I ran to the street and yelled at the gathered group while pointing down the alley, “There’s a child here!”

  The group of people, who must have all lived here, rushed to the alley. They ran past me without a second look and toward the child. The mother led the pack. A different cry filled the alley; one of joy and unimaginable relief.

  For the first time in a long, long time, I felt peace bloom in my heart. A smile forced its way onto my face, and I didn’t fight it.

  After searching for the rest of the night and returning to the bridge to make sure the puppy was doing well, dawn was approaching again.

  Before I returned to my shallow grave, I picked him up and traveled to where survivors were being held. A quick walk around the perimeter of the room and I located the little girl, who was asleep next to her mother. I walked up, leaned down, and put her new best friend in her cradled arms. Tired eyes opened and spotted the bundle of adorableness. A tiny gasp left her nonblistered mouth, and she embraced the puppy. Eyes already wide, they flicked up to me and grew impossibly large with delight.

  “You’re the angel,” she whispered.

  I nodded while smiling and caressing her hair, astonished at how my blood had healed her. In my mind, I noted that Ulric had made me drink his blood in order to become what I was. Good trick to know.

  “Will you promise to take care of him?” I asked.

  The little girl nodded enthusiastically while bringing the puppy up for a kiss on the head.

  I left them like that, embraced in the happiness that only a child with a new puppy could have.

  Climbing into my hole next to Ulric, I looked over at his mound and wondered what the future would hold without my maker and guide. My parent’s killer was long since dead. I briefly entertained the notion of draining his descendants, but thought better of it. The son would not be punished for his father’s crimes. I could sleep, but that would only delay the inevitable.

  The little girl with her puppy flashed through my mind, as well as how good I had felt. I had saved them both and could have easily perished. No one would ever know except for her, and that was enough.

  That’s what I would do; I would exist to help those in need. Perhaps I would spare another family my fate. Lowering the dirt onto me, I had to remind myself that I was smiling before earth went into my mouth.

  Chapter 21

  Present day

  The pain was immediate and blinding. White-hot lightning shot through every limb with each crunching motion. The breath was squeezed out of me. The bleeding began, and I was sure I would die from losing my precious blood energy before I even met his stomach. The only reason I wasn’t dead already was because my head was at the back of his throat and the body armor Depweg had given me prevented my upper torso from being punctured.

  An idea hit me, and I willed all the surrounding blood to form a protective barrier around me, solidifying into plates of bloodarmor. This gave me a valuable few seconds to gain my bearings. I grabbed at the creature’s uvula and pulled myself down his throat. As I did, I forced my bloodarmor to grow into spikes, lodging them in every direction in his esophagus.

  The beast started gagging and tried to reach its fat, stumpy fingers down its gullet then started clawing at its own throat when that failed, tearing chunks of flesh as it did. I started wriggling my body, turning it slowly, cutting its tender flesh as I did. It tried to scream, clawing even more fiercely at its neck.

  Finally, it tore through and grabbed one of my feet, yanking me backward and taking even more of the throat with me as I went.

  As he pulled me through, leaving me hanging upside down, I let the shield drop and sucked in as much of the blood that had energy left as I could, letting the rest drop. I then reached at my lower back and pulled out my Glock, keeping my hand hidden until the time was right.

  The creature pulled me up to his eye level while he grasped his throat with the other hand. Anger was clearly written all over his face. Though he couldn’t speak, his intentions were clear. No more playing around. He was going to end it now.

  He let go of his neck and started reaching for me, ready to tear me in half. I pulled my hand around, aimed the Glock right at one of his sunken fire eyes, and pulled the trigger.

  I saw it all in slow motion: there was an explosion out the front of the barrel with white smoke and yellow flames, then the bullet was released. The slide was thrown back, and my hand recoiled. The iron-and-silver round flew through the air, directly at his fire eye, and smashed through it, extinguishing the flame like a candle being blown out with a leaf blower. The bullet expanded on impact, and the iron and silver pellets bounced around inside the demon’s head, ripping its brain apart.

  Its grip loosened on my leg, and I dropped to the ground, doing an awesome flip in midair and landing on my feet. The monster dropped on top of me.

  After several seconds of struggling, I was able to slide out from under the thing. I stood, patted the dust off my tattered clothes, and then looked at my handiwork.

  The other eye was still alight, though barely flickering. I pointed the Glock at it and said, “Hasta la vista, baby.”

  Anticlimactically, the light extinguished and the body started to become wet. The skin turned transparent, and the mass started falling in on itself, turning back into ectoplasm. It reminded me of the end of Gremlins 2. I almost expected the thing to start gurgling out, “New York, New York…”

  But it didn’t. It dissolved away into nothingness as the ectoplasm was returned to the ether, leaving behind a trail of destruction and dead bodies. I holstered the Glock at the small of my back and took in a deep breath of relief.

  A voice called out, “Jonathan, I thought I told you to stay out of it.”

  I turned around, trying to locate the voice.

  “I warned you, blood bag. Now you’ll pay!”

  The source was coming from on top of a nearby three-story building.

  “What’s up, Hufflepuff? Got out of potions class early?” I taunted Locke. “Where are your hired goons?”

  As soon as I asked, giant lunch-box hands grabbed me from behind, and I was pulled in tight against a brick wall of a chest. The other goon walked out from the shadows and stood in front of us, fists clenched.

  “Fellas,” I said, “don’t make me blow my rape whistle!”

  At that, the fisticuff goon pulled back for a power punch to my torso. I let him. His hand hit the iron-infused Kevlar and shattered the bones of his hand into dust. He recoiled with a look of disbelief.

  With my right hand, I reached behind, grabbed the gun, and pointed it at the crotch of the hired muscle holding me in place. Like magic, he let go the second after I pulled the trigger, letting a whispered moan escape his lips.

  I slipped through his loosened grip and stuck the gun in his face, squeezing the trigger at point-blank. He blinked as the back of his head exploded, while only a dribble of blood leaked out the dime-sized hole in his forehead. He collapsed to the ground.

  I turned and shot the other goon in the heart, and watched the life dwindle in his eyes. I felt no remorse or pity for taking their pathetic lives. They’d chosen the path of evil and had paid for their decisions. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

  Sirens wailed in the background, snapping me back to the present. I looked up and saw a group of SWAT cops making their way down the street. They had spotted me covered in blood, holding a Glock, and standing in the middle of the devastation—as well as executing two men right in front of them.

  I put my hands in the air and called out, “Guys, this isn’t what it looks like!” I forgot the gun was still in my
hand, and they didn’t appreciate my slight oversight.

  They opened fire. I stood there, flabbergasted, as bullets ricocheted off my skin.

  “Really?” I asked. “What about him?” I pointed at the now empty roof where Locke had just been.

  They stopped shooting and looked at each other in amazement as their bullets had no impact. One of them adjusted the body cam on his chest to get a clear view of me.

  “Oh, shit!” I said to myself and bounded down the street away from them. It didn’t hit me until after that I probably shouldn’t have gone mock supe while being filmed.

  In due time, I made it back to my hidey-hole and descended the stairs to catch Da watching South Park on an iPad.

  In my best Jack Nicholson voice, I said, “Honey, you’ll never believe what happened to me today.”

  Chapter 22

  Germany, 1945

  I retracted my bloodknife from the liver of my latest SS officer, careful to not get blood on his sexy black leather trench coat. Excuse me, my sexy black leather trench coat. His drained body collapsed to the snow, cheeks sunken and eyes rolled back into his head, exposing only the whites.

  Sliding the coat off his body, I slung it across my back and inserted my arms. My fingers expanded as they passed through the sleeves in a gesture of victory. A tiny aura of steam emanated from my warmed skin. I took in a breath and exhaled, marveling at the torrent of vapor that rushed out. It was one of my favorite party tricks.