Jeaniene Frost - At Grave’s End

“…not going to give you a fucking dime, this is not the product we agreed on,” Dave was saying. “I’m supposed to go back to my client and tell them maybe the trigger mechanism will work or maybe it won’t, praise Allah and it will. You stupid amateurs. There is so much shit for sale now, I don’t need to pussy around with this Blue Light Special quality at Rembrandt prices, so fuck off and have a nice day.”

He must have started to walk away, because there was a scurry of footsteps behind him.

“Wait a moment. Perhaps we could discuss-” the agitated bargainer began before he was cut off by a laugh. Bones stiffened beside me, and Spade perked up. This must be our target.

“Harrison, I’ll take it from here,” a cool voice interrupted.

We slid the van door open and crept out. Spade and Bones went first, their lack of heartbeats being an advantage. The rest of us would follow after the attack started. The element of surprise was priceless.

“Who are you?” Dave asked, sounding annoyed. “Another lackey?”

“I’m Domino, and yes, I am the boss,” was the icy reply. “You must excuse this sample of material. It was a test. Occasionally we get undercover officers posing as buyers, but they can’t tell the difference between a bomb or a basket. You clearly know your merchandise, however. Even if I’ve never heard of you.”

This last part was colder than the first, and with open suspicion. Dave grunted.

“How many undercover agents have you had poking around your business that lost their pulses? Last I checked, the police academy hasn’t called for undead admissions.”

“Ah, but there is always a first time, isn’t there? Now then, I have other business to attend to. Logan, bring out the other crates. We need to finish this up-”

Domino stopped speaking just before the explosion. He must have felt them coming before the two bombs that had been thrown into the warehouse detonated. The staccato burst of gunfire that erupted along with screams let me know there were more inside than we’d figured.

Juan, Cooper, and I sprinted toward the structure where flames were now leaping into the night. Keeping our heads down, we returned fire. In the blackness, I saw human and undead defenders trying to locate the cause of the bodies on the ground. Our ma chine guns crackling in the dark had two advantages. They kept the guards’ attention on us while Spade and Bones slaughtered, and we took out several targets more at the same time. Dave had two primary goals in the melee of violence around him-keep Domino from getting killed, or getting away.

Juan grinned wolfishly and chanted unknown taunts in Spanish as we breached the perimeter. Cooper was cooler, methodical even as he sighted down his marks with admirable accuracy. He had a slight curl to his lips. For him, that was the equivalent of cackling glee.

Once close enough, I threw the gun away in favor of my knives, which were my favorite weapon. Almost as fast as I’d fired the bullets, I threw off silver blades at the remaining two dozen fighters. The humans were easy to drop, clawing at chests as the knives sank home.

Someone jumped me from behind, knocking me down. I wrestled him, holding his snapping fangs at bay. The vampire had a look of disbelief, then his features began to shrivel as I jammed a dagger through his heart. Chucking him off, I whirled to face the next one.

It was a human about to fire point-blank in my direction. I spun in a midair cartwheel to avoid the bullets, savagely amused by the dumbfounded expression he wore as none of them hit me. I wrenched the gun out of the man’s hands and turned it on him. A few short bursts later and he was dead on the ground.

The next three vampires were all of lesser ages and powers. I dispatched them with my knives as Juan and Cooper unloaded round after round into the remaining forces that had lost their formation. Domino’s men were firing at anything, including one another, as our attack continued. Inside the warehouse I heard more sounds of death being dealt. Choked curses and fruitless scrambling to get away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dave, Domino trapped underneath him, a silver blade near the vampire’s heart.

For a moment, his disbelieving green gaze met mine before it widened in comprehension, and Domino began to struggle harder.

Dave cracked his head against the pavement hard enough to fracture his skull. It wouldn’t kill him. It would just take him time to heal it.

Everything began to get quiet soon after. Intermittent shouts were cut off before they could be completed. A glance around showed minimal resistance now, as those who were left alive began to surrender. Strapped to my leg, along with the myriad of weapons, was a cell phone. I dialed Don and let him know to hold off any police that would have been alerted by the explosions. Several members of my team were ten miles away, waiting for this call. They would keep the Canadian authorities at bay while we finished up here.

There was a sudden whoosh of air above me. The knives I’d been ready to fling stayed in my hand as Bones dropped from the sky. He looked me over, assuring himself that I wasn’t hurt, no doubt, and then swung his gaze around to the vampire Dave was restraining.

“Why hallo, Domino. Do you know who I am?”

Bones gestured for Dave to let Domino up. Spade appeared, red stains splattering him, and held Domino with an unyielding grip. Juan and Dave rounded up the few remaining survivors.

Domino glared at Bones. “No. What’s the meaning of this?”

It was an outright lie. Domino did know. His eyes kept flicking to me.

Bones smiled. “Oh, grand. Going to make me beat the truth out of you? My favorite way to work.”

Even I blinked at the suddenness of his movement. One moment Domino’s legs were kicking, the next they were ripped off and in Bones’s hands. Ew.

New body parts hurt when they grew back. So I’d been told, anyway. Domino screamed like that was true.

“Still don’t know me, mate? Come on, lie to me again, see what it gets you.”

“Stop,” Domino shouted. “I know you, but I didn’t know what the missile was for. I swear to Cain I didn’t know!”

A dark brow arched. “Max didn’t pay you himself, so who did?”

Domino stared with fascinated revulsion at his own limbs on the ground in front of him. “Promise you won’t kill me, then I’ll tell you everything.”

“You don’t want me to do that,” Bones said softly. He leaned closer until he was mere inches from Domino’s face. “Because if I let you live, you’ll wish I hadn’t. Or I can kill you here. Much easier that way. See, I believe you when you say you didn’t know what that missile was for. That’s why you get a choice, but either way, youwill tell what I want to know.”

I watched as denial, hope, despair, and bitter acceptance flashed on Domino’s face.

“The money was wired, I don’t know who from,” came his flat reply at last. “Max was given an account number to transfer it into, but he didn’t handle it himself. I know this because he kept calling me to see if the money had arrived. It took a few days, and he got impatient and said something about a deadline.”

“Back to the bank wire,” Bones said. “You’re going to give me all of your account numbers, and then the locations of where you store your other merchandise. Make it quick. Don’t want to stand here all bloody night.”

Domino began to strain against Spade, but the other vampire was too strong. “Why do you need all of them? You can take the account it was sent to, but leave the rest alone!”

Bones chuckled, but it wasn’t pleasant. “Why I want them is because I’m taking every last cent you have, along with your life. It’ll be a lesson to others about what will happen to them if they cross me. Now, do you need more incentive to talk?”