A shifting of earth halted our conversation, the sound of dirt being pushed back as a body rose from the frozen ground. Zeke, kneeling in his shallow grave, shook clay from his hair, brushed off his jacket, and rose, his face as blank and detached as ever.
Sorry I kept you. His glassy blue eyes stared right through me, his voice low and indifferent. Are we ready to leave?
I resisted the urge to leap up and shake him, just to see some sort of emotion cross that empty face. Anger, surprise, disgust, anything was better than the apathy he showed now. Almost, I told him instead. Were just waiting on Jackal.
Aw, isnt that sweet. And Jackal sauntered into view, smirk firmly in place. But dont wait around on my account. Its not like I cant wait for yet another riveting night of listening to you people whine at each other. Oh, woe is me, Im a vampire. Im a horrible monster who eats babies and murders bunnies, boo hoo hoo. He snorted and glared at Zeke. I know thats what youre thinking, puppy. This robotic song and dance isnt fooling anyone, and its starting to get really annoying. He bared his fangs, a brief, threatening grin. So, why dont you stop playing the fucking whipped dog and start acting like a vampire? Or are you afraid you might actually like it?
No response from Zeke. It was like Jackal hadnt said anything at all. The raider king shook his head in disgust, and I glared at him. I dont suppose you found anything useful, I challenged, like a working car.
Jackal rolled his eyes. If I had, I would be driving to Eden right now, he said. Being around the lot of you is like slowly pushing nails into my brain.
Stick around, I told him. Maybe Ill find a way to make it literal, as well.
Abruptly, Kanin shoved himself off the railing, brushed past us, and began walking down the highway without a word. Left behind, Jackal, Zeke and I blinked at each other a moment, before Jackal gave a mocking snicker.
I think the old man is getting a little tired of us, he remarked as we hurried to catch up. His eyes gleamed as he smirked back at me. Maybe you shouldnt be such a wretched shrew, sister.
Me? I bared my fangs, and wouldve kicked him if he was closer. Youre the one he wants to kill. Come to think of it, youre the one everyone wants to kill.
Hey, old man, Jackal called in a mocking voice, you forgot to say if you kids dont stop Im going to turn this car right around and then no one will go to Eden.
Kanin didnt deign to answer, and together we continued our journey, four vampires on a long, lonely highway heading east.
Hoping our time had not run out.
Chapter 12
Two hours before dawn, we found Sarrens last message waiting for us.
We smelled it first, of course, the familiar, unmistakable scent of blood drifting over the empty highway like invisible threads. The highway had entered civilization again, taking us through empty towns and subdivisions, crumbling houses on either side and cars scattered about the road. Wary, we continued on, each thinking the same thingthat there was some kind of trap, ambush, or atrocity waiting for us down the road. We werent entirely wrong.
The stench of rot, decay and wrongness soon joined the smell of blood, so it wasnt surprising when we approached an overpass choked with weeds and vines and saw a mass of spindly pale things swarming under the bridge.
Rabids, Zeke muttered, as the four of us paused on a corner across the street, watching the monsters hiss and scramble over the hulk of an ancient, rusting semitruck that blocked the path we needed to take. The swarm wasnt huge, but there were enough to be dangerous. Should we find a way around?
What if someones in the truck? I asked, watching him carefully. And though my voice was calm, I was almost terrified of his answer. If he shrugged or gave no indication of wanting to help survivors, then I would know my Zeke was truly gone. Someone might be hurt, I went on, as Zeke gazed at me blankly. If we leave them now, theyre dead.
If this is Sarrens work, theyre probably already dead, Zeke answered, making my heart crash in despair. But, he added, and pulled out his machete, his eyes going hard, I suppose we have to make certain.
Relief flooded me. I glanced at my sire, hoping he thought the same. Kanin?
The Master vampire nodded once. Im right behind you, Allison.
Jackal groaned. Oh, yeah, stroll merrily up to the van reeking of blood, placed very conveniently in our direct path. That doesnt sound like a trap at all. But his dinged, bloody fire ax emerged from beneath his duster, and he gave it an easy twirl. Rescuing bloodbags and saving puppies. He sighed. That sounds about right for this group. You bleeding hearts are going to be the death of me, I just know it. Gazing down at me, he smirked and gestured to the distant pack. Well, this is your party, sister. Why dont you get it started?
Drawing my sword, I stepped off the curb into the road, bared my fangs, and roared a challenge into the night. My voice carried over the wind, echoing off the rooftops, and the rabids jerked up, pale heads snapping toward me. With piercing shrieks and wails, the mob leaped off the truck and came skittering at us, claws and talons scraping the cement, jaws gaping to reveal jagged fangs. My monster surged up with the explosion of violence, eager and bloodthirsty, and I ran forward to meet them.
Zeke was suddenly beside me, cold and silent as the horde bore down on us, his face the same killers mask Id seen in Jackals tower. The first rabid sprang at him with a howl; Zekes blade flashed, and the monsters head left its shoulders, bouncing into a car. Snarling a challenge, I slashed my katana at the next pair of spindly bodies, cutting through one and into the other. Their black, foul-smelling blood spattered the snow, and then the rest of the swarm flooded in, surrounding us, and everything dissolved into madness. I heard the savage crunch of bones as Jackals fire ax connected, crushing skulls and knocking rabids away, and caught glimpses of Kanins dark, graceful form from the corner of my eye as his knife parted heads with lethal precision. Rabids pressed forward, screaming, and I met them with my blade, feeling the shiver of metal as it passed through undead flesh, the monster inside howling with glee.
A different roar, icy and furious, made me whirl around. Zeke stood with his back against an overturned car, two rabids hounding him on either side. One had its fangs sunk into his sword arm, even as the blade itself stuck out of its collarbone. The other hissed and pressed forward, jaws snapping eagerly.
I lunged forward to help, but with a rabid still gnawing on his wrist, Zeke reached back with his other hand, pulled the gun from his back holster and shoved it between the rabids eyes. There was a boom, blood and bits of skull exploding everywhere, and the rabid fell away with the back of its skull missing. At the same time, Zeke yanked his machete from the dead rabids body, turned and sliced it through the second ones neck.
Zeke!
He spun on me as I came up, eyes bright and glassy, lips curled back to show fangs. Blood streaked his face and the front of his shirt as I stared at him, a cold-eyed, snarling vampire, and he raised his gun.
Zeke!
He spun on me as I came up, eyes bright and glassy, lips curled back to show fangs. Blood streaked his face and the front of his shirt as I stared at him, a cold-eyed, snarling vampire, and he raised his gun.
Duck, Allie.
My instincts responded even as I was tempted to stand there gaping. Instead, I threw myself aside just as the pistol barked, and a rabid shrieked behind me and slammed into a car.
I darted to Zekes side, and we faced the last of the horde together, back-to-back. Rabids leaped at us, wailing, and fell before our blades as we moved around each other, guarding the others flank. I stuck my katana through a rabids chest, ripped it out and turned to slash another lunging at Zekes blind spot. Zeke decapitated a rabid, spun, and fired his pistol into the face of another behind my shoulder. The roar of the gun made my head ring, but the rabid was flung back, its face a bloody mess, and didnt rise again.
And then, it was over. Zeke and I stood in the center of a gore-strewn circle, limbs and bodies scattered at our feet. Lowering my blade, I stared at the field of carnage, looking around for Jackal and Kanin. They stood a few paces away, the Master vampire calmly wiping his blade on his sleeve while Jackal pried his ax from a rabids severed head and tossed away the skull in disgust.
I looked up, met Zekes gaze, and my insides fluttered. He was gazing at me with a faint, familiar expression, one I hadnt seen on him since hed Turned. The icy mask had cracked a bit, admiration, respect and a little awe filtering through the terrible blankness in his eyes. The corner of his mouth curled, very slightly, and he shook his head.
Still incredible, vampire girl, he whispered, sounding almost like himself again. Dangerous, beautiful and unstoppable. You havent changed.
Oh, isnt that sweet, came Jackals loud, mocking voice before I could reply. Lets make goo-goo eyes at each other in the middle of a stinking corpse field, how very romantic. Ignoring my glare, he kicked an arm out of his way and sauntered forward, the ax vanishing beneath his duster once more. But before you two start making out, maybe we should check the thing we fought all the rabids to get to? He glanced at the back of the semi and rolled his eyes. Dont want Sarrens trap to go to waste, after all.
We approached the doors cautiously. Now that the fight was over, the scent of blood returned, stronger and more powerful than ever. The truck practically threw off waves of the smell. I didnt know what we would find when we opened that truck, but knowing Sarren, it was probably going to be worse than I could imagine.
A beam was set across the thick double doors of the back. Keeping rabids from getting in, I wondered, or preventing something from getting out? No sounds came from inside the container; everything was eerily silent again, muffled and still in the falling snow. Jackal leaped onto the back of the truck, grabbed the beam, and yanked it out with a raspy screech that made me wince. After tossing it behind him, he paused and observed the truck critically.
You know this is not going to be pleasant, right? he stated to the rest of us. Whatever the sicko has in here, he obviously wants us to see it. Which means its probably going to fuck with at least one of us, really badly. He snickered, shaking his head. Course, thats the trap now, isnt it? We could walk away, right now, but not knowing whats inside is going to drive us bat-shit crazy.