Cat Adams - Blood Song

comforting. So sue me.

An old beater of a Chevy pul ed into the parking lot and the teenage clerk climbed out. He was in his

uniform, ready to go on shift. He noticed me and gave me a smile and wave as he hurried into the

building.

That was creepy. I mean, I knew he didn’t remember being bespel ed. But I did.

The sun sank farther in the west and the automatic lights flicked on, il uminating everything with flat

orange light that made the shadows seem al the darker. Day transitioned into night with little fanfare.

Cars drove by on the main road, radios blasting. When the light turned red, mariachi horns competed

with the thumping bass of hip-hop. I was hunched down in the seat of Matty’s rental sedan, waiting out

of sight, alternately hoping and worrying that I had been wrong, that she wouldn’t show up. I didn’t know

where Matty and Bruno were hiding.

Time dragged. My back started spasming in protest at the unnatural position I was in. The discomfort

was such that I was almost tempted to get out of the car and stretch. I might have, if I hadn’t heard the

purr of a car engine pul ing slowly into the shadowed parking lot a short distance away. I heard the soft

whump of a car door closing and the unmistakable crunch and click of high heels on rock-strewn

asphalt.

And then I felt her, like the faintest hint of a breeze across sweat-soaked skin: power, soft as a

lover’s whisper, cal ing. It was seductive, irresistible. Right then and there I thanked God that she

wasn’t cal ing me. Because I would’ve gone, gone with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. I’d

have gone rushing headlong, gladly, to the arms of death. She was that good.

I heard the automatic door of the store whoosh open, heard voices cal ing out in protest. And stil I

waited. Hurry up, guys. We’re running out of time here.

Almost as if they heard my thoughts I felt the surge of energy as strong wal s of power snapped into

place.

Time to rol .

I rose and climbed from the car, pul ing my gun and flipping off the safety as I did. I wasn’t moving fast.

I didn’t want to take any chances.

She heard me coming and turned, hissing, flashing ivory fangs; the skin of her face was stretched

taut over her skul in a way that bore no resemblance to humanity. Her skin glowed, creating its own

light, so that I could see my target with utter clarity.

I heard the kid shout and run for the door of the store, her spel over him broken by her distraction.

Setting myself into a classic shooter’s stance, I very deliberately fired two shots at her chest. After the

first shot, blood and skin exploded backward to run down the thickened air that formed the wal behind

her.

The second shot missed the vampire, embedding itself in a newspaper rack. By then she was

moving, racing between the two rings of power, trailing gouts of blood as the arteries pumping into her

shattered heart hosed their contents into the night. She was searching for a weakness in either wal , an

escape, but Matteo and Bruno had done their jobs too wel .

She screamed, an unearthly sound of rage combined with raw magical power that nearly deafened

me.

In my peripheral vision I saw the boys step out of their hiding spots. Bruno aimed the gun I’d loaned

him. Matteo was armed with something just as deadly to a bat—one of the oversized water guns, fil ed

with what had to be holy water.

He opened fire, aiming not at her neck or heart but across her legs in a steady stream. It wasn’t

enough to cut off her legs, but it dropped her to the ground in screeching agony, giving me a chance to

fire again into a chest that had already almost healed.

I was nearly deaf at this point, and felt fluid running down my neck. Whether it was sweat or my ears

were bleeding I didn’t know or care. I dropped to one knee, braced my elbow against the concrete base

of a light pole, and aimed for her neck, hoping to sever her spine and cut off her head, putting an end to

this. I was concentrating hard, looking for the right opening, which is my only excuse.

I didn’t hear it coming, didn’t see the car until it slammed into Matteo, sending him flying across the

line of protection to lie, crumpled and bloody, beside the vampire. She howled in triumphant rage,

grabbing him and pul ing him into her lap to use his body as a shield. Despite what had to be hideous

injuries, he struggled until she forced his gaze to meet hers. I watched furious resolve melt into a

passive smile that was horribly, disturbingly, vacant.

I aimed for the eye that peeked over the top of Matty’s head but was distracted by a blur of movement

in my peripheral vision. It was moving too fast to be anything human, so I pul ed the trigger as I turned.

Blood and worse blossomed from the vampire’s back as the bul ets tore into his chest. He grunted with

pain, but momentum carried him into me, slamming me against the concrete with a vicious impact that

sent the gun spinning from my hand.

That he was stunned was the only thing that saved me. Fighting with abnormal strength and utter

desperation, I managed to get out from under him. As I crab-crawled awkwardly away, Bruno fired one

shot after another. The shots tore through the creature’s neck, severing the head. It was messy but

effective. Blood splattered and pooled around him, but his chest stopped moving and his eyes stared

vacantly upward.

My ears were stil ringing, my right arm was numb. But I grabbed the gun with my left hand and

scooted over until my back was braced by the base of the streetlight. I felt blood soaking into my

trousers, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was kil ing her. I raised my knees, propping my arms on

them so that my aim was nice and steady.

She spoke.

I didn’t so much hear it as feel it vibrating through me, as if my body were a tuning fork struck by her

words.

“I could take him now, make him one of us.” She stroked a manicured finger along Matteo’s neck. He

settled against her with a sigh of contentment. Apparently he was beyond pain, beyond thought. I

shuddered. She saw it and laughed, a cold, bitter sound that scraped across my raw nerves. “His

memory of his family, his God, everything he was, gone, just like that.” She snapped her fingers.

She was toying with us. Trapped and injured, she stil acted like she had the upper hand. I glanced at

Bruno and realized she did. Matteo would have told us to kil her, would’ve sacrificed himself. But he

was Bruno’s brother. Bruno would rather die himself than let Matty die, and if she made him a vamp,

we’d have to kil him. The bitch knew it.

“I offer you a deal.” She looked at me when she said it, as if Bruno were beneath her notice. “You let

me go—I let him go. For now. ” She glanced over at the corpse of her companion and glared back at

me. I could almost feel the heat of her hatred burning my skin. “But it isn’t over between us.”

“No. It isn’t,” Bruno answered her. She turned her gaze to him, watching avidly as with a word and

gesture he lowered the outer wal of power that kept her trapped. She flung Matteo away from her, his

body hitting the pavement with a wet thud. In a blur of speed, she was gone.

I crawled to the fal en priest as fast as I could manage. I didn’t holster my gun. I hadn’t missed the “for

now” part of the deal, and I wouldn’t put it past her to come straight back. Yes, she was injured, but to

my mind that only made her more deadly. Because she was pissed. Too, there was always Edgar. He’d