Blood Song (11 page)

“
Only
thirty? How are we supposed to handle thirty bodies? I can’t believe I just said that.”

“One at a time. Come on, let’s go. Daylight’s wasting.” He still wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t collapse at the worst possible moment. “We have to find Alexander first because they all obey him.”

Ethan led the way to the unflooded basement level where he’d lived.

“What are all these big cardboard boxes for?” Grace moved to the nearest one, lifted the flap on the side then jumped back. “What the hell? Somebody’s in there.” She held her nose. “And they smell bad. Like soiled underwear and blood.”

“That’s what a dead—well, dead for the day—vampire smells like.”

“Eww. If you’re a vampire, why don’t you smell like that?”

“Beats me. I’m sure I did before. Quite the olfactory treat, eh?” He hurried down the center of the space and pointed off to the left. “There’s a separate area back here where Alexander stays.” He waited for Grace to join him. She nervously shifted her eyes from side to side as she passed through what he thought of as the vampire version of a trailer park.

They walked into the alcove and discovered a huge stone sarcophagus, etched with Egyptian hieroglyphics and surrounded by statues of demons. Drained human bodies were stacked against a wall.

“Holy shit. He was a sicker fuck than I thought.”

Grace audibly gulped and ran her fingers over the lid before trying to lift it. “This thing weighs a ton. We’ll never get it off. I hope you have a Plan B. Or C.”

Ethan grimaced. “Let’s see if anything beyond craving blood remains of my former existence.” He pushed against the heavy cover, and it slid to the side with ease. “Yes! I’ve still got my super strength. What a deal.” He pushed again and the lid crashed to the ground, the sound echoed through the cavernous basement.

They both startled from the noise then looked down at Alexander, who lay naked, bloody and dead.

“Oh. My. God.” Grace pressed her hand against her chest and nodded toward the collection of bodies. “Did he kill all those people?”

“And thousands more throughout his long life. So, if you’re feeling squeamish about ending him, keep
those
murders in mind.” He studied her pale, sweaty face. “Are you sure you’re up for this? I could do it alone. You can wait for me outside.”

“Part of me really wants to bolt out the door and keep on running, but you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course, he won’t forget us. I want to help.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s get it over with.”

“Okay.” Ethan reached in and grabbed Alexander’s limp form from the stone coffin. He half expected the Master to open his eyes and attack with his lethal fangs. But there was no movement at all. “Come on. I’m going to stand at the outside door and throw him into the light. I don’t personally know what happens to a vampire in the sun. Alexander used to threaten us with frying in the sun, but he never gave any specifics. It’s all urban legend. I hope
something
happens.”

“But how could you not know? I mean, it’s in every vampire movie...”

“Yeah, well, don’t believe everything you see or read. And besides, Alexander was a control freak. Our lives—if that’s what you want to call them—were pretty limited. Come on. Let’s go.”
No way I’m telling her the truth about my life. She’d be disgusted.

Grace followed him up the flights of stairs to the main entrance. “This is really creepy, Ethan. Now I’ll have more horrible memories to add to the stash I’ve already got.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry about that. Truly. If I hadn’t come across you the other night, you’d never know vampires exist and you wouldn’t be afraid for your life. But this is the hand we were dealt and we need to play it.”

He stood in the doorway, looking out at the sun shining on the sidewalk and then at his former master. “Bon voyage, Alexander. Don’t forget to write.” Tensing, he held his breath as he tossed his boss’s body onto the cement. The corpse hit the ground and immediately burst into flames, like turning on a gas grill. Ethan backed away and watched the long strands of silver hair crackle like Fourth of July sparklers. After burning white-hot for a few seconds, nothing remained of the body except a scorch mark and a scattering of ashes which moved with the breeze.

“Shit! It’s true. Vampires really do fry in the sun. And fucking fast!” He stuck his arm out again as he had earlier. Nothing happened. He turned to Grace. “But apparently not me. Maybe I’ll never be able to explain what changed, and for all I know the more time I spend with you, the more I’ll morph into something
other
, but I’m glad to have the chance to rid the town of a cancer it didn’t know it had. Who would’ve thought? Ethan James, Super Hero.”

“And Grace Blackburn!” She struck a Wonder Woman pose.

“Of course!” He hugged her. “Let’s get started.” He wanted to keep busy. Eventually he’d have to deal with all the emotions he’d repressed. But not now.

They ran down the stairs and stood by the first cardboard box and lifted the side flap. “Here’s the fastest way to do this: you pull the vampires out of the boxes, and I’ll haul them upstairs and toss them out the door.”

“Really?” She wiped her hands on her shirt. “I have to pull them out of the boxes? I’m strong, but not
that
strong.”

“You’d be surprised how skinny most of us are. Many of us were barely getting by when we were turned. We’re easy to drag.”

“But what if they have cooties? It isn’t very clean down here.”

“Cooties, Grace? Really?”
Is this experience messing with her mind more than I thought?

She shook herself like a dog in the rain. “Okay, okay. I’ll pull them as close to the stairs as I can.”

“Let’s do a few together to get things started.” He couldn’t imagine how hideous this entire day had been for Grace. She’d been remarkably calm in the face of absurdity and horror.

They went from box to box and dragged the occupants out into the center of the room. “All right. I’ll take a couple up. You keep bringing more.”

Eventually, Ethan saw Grace walking toward the last two boxes and called out, “Grace, wait!” He caught up with her in time to reach into an empty box and retrieve an acoustic guitar. “This is my box and my stuff.” He stood still for a few seconds.

“What’s wrong, Ethan?”

“It just occurred to me that I have no home. Nowhere to go. I lived with Alexander for almost half a century.”

She slid her arm around him. “You can stay with me while you figure things out. Don’t worry.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a quick kiss, then strode to the last box and squatted down. “This is Nelson’s box. Something smells different here. I’ve been dreading this.” He lifted the flap and pulled Nelson out by his feet. Headless. “What the fuck?” Ethan crawled into the box and came out carrying the severed head.

She gasped. “Oh, no!”

“Nelson.” Ethan stared at his decapitated friend. He clenched his teeth together, his jaw so tight he couldn’t speak. Overwhelmed with rage at Alexander and sadness for his best friend, he fought the urge to cry. His gut churned with grief and the need for revenge. He’d kept his emotions in check for so many years, he didn’t know what would happen if he let them out. He trembled with the effort to hold back the feelings—to keep himself together. Nelson had been a true friend, something Ethan had little experience with. He’d never felt such a loss.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.

He lifted both parts of Nelson into his arms and moved toward the stairway. “Come on.” He sniffled and cleared his throat. “I’ll give him to the sun. I guess I should be grateful that Alexander was a monster until the end. He must have punished Nelson for not coming forward sooner. Or some other lunatic thing he made up on the spur of the moment.”

They moved silently through the basement and up the flights of stairs until they reached the doorway.

Pausing, Ethan looked down at the head of his friend. “I love you, man. I wouldn’t have made it all those years alone. I’ll never forget you, Nelson. Never. I’ll make it right.”

He launched the head and the body onto the scorched sidewalk and watched them ignite. Finally, tears rolled down his cheeks.

Grace wrapped her arms around his waist and crooned softly. “I’m so sorry, Ethan.”

After a few minutes, Ethan wiped his eyes and turned his gaze to her. “I’m going to make one more trip, to be sure we got them all. I’ll be right back.” Needing a minute to collect himself, he bolted down the stairs, testing his vampire speed, which was apparently still in operation, and quickly returned. “Okay. All clear.”

Grace yawned and stretched. “I’m so glad that’s over. Let’s go to my place and clean up. We both smell horrible.” She retrieved Ethan’s guitar he’d leaned against the wall and walked outside. Stepping carefully around the ashes, she stopped, looking over her shoulder. “Hey, aren’t you coming?”

He’d frozen in the doorway. “It’s
not
over.”

“What do you mean? You said we got them all.”

“Yeah. We got them all
here
. But I forgot about Mordecai.”

“Who’s Mordecai? Another one of your vampire friends?”

“Not even close.” His lips pressed into a tight line. “He’s another master, even worse than Alexander. He moved to Boulder a few months ago and started his own vampire-making factory. There are mindless newbies wandering all over the city killing humans and leaving bodies for the mortal authorities to find. He made the moron who attacked you. We’ve got to find his lair while it’s still daylight, and drag their carcasses into the light, too.”

Grace backed away slowly, staring with her mouth open. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the part about dragging more carcasses.” She set his guitar on the grass. “This has gone too far, Ethan. I’m already shell-shocked and questioning my sanity. Everything that’s happened since you showed up in my studio last evening has been a nightmare.”

Recognizing her fear and vulnerability, Ethan spoke in a quiet, soothing voice. He didn’t want her to have a stroke or some other normal human reaction to unnatural terror. “Everything? I don’t think everything was bad.”

She goggled. “How can you say that? We killed a bunch of people you knew.” Her skin paled and sweat dripped down her face.

“Not people. Vampires. Not the same thing at all.” He added a layer of seduction to his tone. “But what I meant was, I thought the kissing was pretty amazing. Didn’t you?”

Flinching instinctively, he stepped into the daylight and reached for Grace. Tapping into the suggestions he’d given her back at her studio, he stared into her eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Grace. You can
relax. Relax. Relax
.”

Grace’s shoulders slumped and she licked her lips. “It’s not fair that you can do that to me. What if I
want
to freak out?” She took a deep breath.

Ethan moved close, leaned in and kissed her, long and sweet.
I could really get used to this.

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.

After a few seconds they pulled apart. “I guess I’ll have to agree
that
was amazing.” Grace smiled at him. “Why don’t we go to my house and practice some more?”

“That’s exactly what I want to do after we finish what we started.”

When her anxiety rose and her heart pounded again, Ethan pressed his palm against her breast. “
Relax
. We’ll get through this and then things will be a lot better.”

“I don’t understand why we have to worry about these other vampires you don’t even spend time with. They probably won’t know anything happened.” She gave Ethan hopeful eyes.

“Trust me, they’ll know. Vampires are worse than humans. Even more brutal and bloodthirsty, because they have centuries of time to fill. Killing is fun to them. Mordecai always used to spy on Alexander here. The next time he comes around, he’ll realize the master and many of his servants went into the sun. It’s like an energetic memory—an extra vampire sense. Not to mention the burning smell.”

“But what does it matter if they know? Maybe it will scare them away.”

Ethan gave a harsh laugh. Grace was still in denial. Well, why wouldn’t she be? She had no idea what kinds of monsters lived off human blood. Two days ago her life had been normal. “Of course they’ll be glad to have the area to themselves, but they’ll be able to smell us: a human and whatever I am. The scent will never fade, and they’ll track us.”

She suddenly looked so forlorn, so defeated, that it tugged on his heart—or whatever passed for his heart these days. “Are you saying we’ll never be safe? I’ll never be able to use my studio—”

“No.” He took a step back and stared up at the sky, realizing what he had to do. It was his fault she was the target of bloodsuckers. His fault the rug had been pulled out from under her life. He’d find a way to make it right. “You
will
be safe. You
can
have your life back. I’ll make sure of it.”

“How?”

“You’ll go away for a little while. Long enough for me to destroy Mordecai and his minions and make sure no reinforcements show up. I’ll set fire to this location and any other vampire nests I find.” He stroked her cheek with the side of his finger. “Please forgive me. I shouldn’t have expected you to help with such a horrible task. I might not be fully vampire anymore, but I’m more than human and I can handle this job by myself. Especially since I have the advantage of being awake during the day.”
As long as it lasts.