Tempted in the Night (34 page)

"About five minutes," she answered him. Then she saw his eyes turn to bright, fiery red.

"Five minutes?" he said between gritted teeth.

"I'm from
England
. There's a gun ban, remember? But hey, it's not like it was hard, right? Come on," she said, starting forward. "Let's go find John."

John felt Brody's presence as soon as he entered the room. It was like an evil stench seeping into all the corners, robbing the room of clean air. As he heard the vampire approach, he kept himself very still and forced himself to relax.

"There he is," a second vampire said.

"My, how the mighty have fallen, eh what, Johnny?"
Brody gloated as he walked around. His footsteps stopped and when Brody spoke next, he sounded much closer and John knew the vampire was bending close.

"What was it you said outside the courthouse that day, John? I believe you were going to drag my ass to hell? Well…" Brody leaned close enough that John felt rancid breath on his face as he shouted, "Welcome to hell, bitch."

"Thanks," John bit out as he opened his eyes and grabbed a surprised Brody by the throat. One push sent the vampire flying across the room.

He recovered quickly and John had just enough time to get to his feet before Brody was back up and attacking.

"How the fuck did you live?" Brody demanded, getting in a lucky punch that sent John staggering back. He rubbed his jaw and kept moving to stay opposite Brody.

"I had a little accident after I got here," John said conversationally. "I was attacked by one of the
chupacabras
. You've probably seen them in the cemetery at night. They almost killed me. Instead, I lived and became a changeling." John smiled then, showing Brody his fangs.
"All the advantages of being a vampire, without being dead."

John could hear other vampires coming and knew that he needed to take care of Brody soon, before he was grossly outnumbered. He stopped moving and gave Brody a smile. "Time to deliver on that promise I made you… bitch."

Outside in the cemetery, Jess looked around, searching for where Brody might have taken John. "I thought you said they were here," she said, glancing at Harris.

"They are," he assured her.
"Probably in one of these larger mausoleums."
He moved from one building to the next with such speed that he was little more than a dark blur in the night. Jess found it unsettling that he moved that quickly. If Brody…

"Here," Harris shouted, breaking her train of thought. He was standing in front of a particularly large mausoleum toward the back of the cemetery. It wasn't the one behind which the baby
chupacabra
had been delivered, but it was similar.

"Are you sure?" she asked breathlessly, hurrying to catch up to him.

"Whoa." He reached out and gently pushed the barrel of the gun away from him. "You mind not pointing that in my direction? The thought of getting hit by friendly fire makes me nervous. Thanks. Now, I'm going in. You wait here." She gave him a look and he sighed in an all too human fashion. "At least let me go in first—and point the gun down, all right?"

He whirled around and disappeared inside so fast she could well imagine how people centuries ago might have thought that vampires could vanish into thin air.

Holding the gun with both hands, she took a breath and then followed after him.

Stepping through the entry, she found herself in an empty room. Thanks to the night-vision goggles, she saw the small doorway located in the back wall. It had steps leading to a lower level. From where she stood, she couldn't see anything beyond it, but the sounds of fighting were definitely coming from that direction.

She crossed to the doorway and looked inside. Off to the right was another doorway to a third room. She moved toward it and was just able to make out the shapes of men fighting. They moved so quickly that it was hard to tell who was who. Unconsciously, she edged closer, watching for a clean shot and hoping she'd be able to tell the good guys from the bad.

Then, suddenly, hands grabbed her and nails bit into her flesh. There wasn't even time to fire the gun because her captor pulled her in front of him like a shield and held her.

"At last, my sweet," Brody rasped into her ear. As she fought to free herself, she spotted John and Harris, busy fighting other vampires. There was no one to save her.

She raised the gun, hoping to turn and shoot Brody. When he saw what she was trying to do, he grabbed the gun and tried to yank it from her, but Jess refused to let go. Then, to her horror, Brody laid his hand over hers and gripped the gun, moving it until it was pointed right at John.

Then his finger tightened over hers, pressing down on the trigger. She renewed her struggles, but little by little, the trigger went back. She butted Brody with the back of her head, almost knocking herself unconscious, and heard the report of the gun going off. The shot echoed loudly in the room, hurting her ears. Across the room, a body stiffened.

"Oh, God, no," Jess breathed, her gaze locking with Harris's as he fell in slow motion to the floor. Behind her, Brody swore and raised the gun again, aiming once more for John.

Jess screamed as the gun exploded a second time and watched as the vampire John had been fighting was suddenly in front of him to take the bullet.

John released the body and rushed forward. Seeing the cold look of death reflected in his eyes, Jess felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. Brody must have seen it, too, because he pushed Jess into John's path and raced out of the mausoleum.

John caught her before she fell and for a second, their eyes locked. "Move," she said.

John looked confused, but stepped to one side. As soon as he did, Jess pulled a dagger from the sheath strapped to her ankle and threw it at the vampire that had seemingly come out of nowhere. He crumpled to the ground, dead.

Jess dropped her hand to her side, feeling exhausted.

"Are you okay?" John asked hurriedly, gripping her upper arms to hold her still.

"Yes, fine, but—"

"I have to go after Brody," he shouted, already releasing her to run out of the lower chamber.

"No, John, wait!" She didn't wait to see if he'd heard her as she rushed to Harris's side.
Please, let him still be alive
, she chanted over and over in her head.

"Shit." John was suddenly by her side, kneeling over Harris. "It looks like he was shot."

"He was."

"You shot him?"

"Yes, but it was an accident." She felt so guilty. John would never believe she hadn't meant to hurt Harris. "Is he…?"

"How the hell do I tell? Do vampires have a pulse?"

"I think so," Jess said, but she didn't know for sure.

John's jaw was clenched tight as he pressed his fingers against the vampire's throat. After a second, he glanced up at her. "He's still alive. Where's the antidote?"

"There isn't one," she said miserably. "The point wasn't to save the vampires after they were shot."

John raised Harris up and heaved him over his shoulder before standing up. Then he walked out, with Jess following behind him.

"Where are you taking him?"

"Back to the mansion.
I can't let him die without at least trying to save his life."

"But Brody?"

"Fuck Brody. Harris needs help, now."

Jess knew better than to argue. Lost in her own abysmal thoughts, her hand strayed to her mother's locket, only to find it wasn't there. She stopped dead in her tracks and felt all around her neck, even patting down her blouse on the chance the clasp had broken and it had slipped inside.
Nothing.
A faint memory surfaced of something brushing against her hand as she struggled with Brody. It could have been the locket falling.

Not wanting to leave it behind, she called after John to stop but didn't wait to see if he'd heard her before racing back inside the mausoleum.

She still had her night goggles on and made her way to the lower chamber. The bodies of the other vampires lay where they'd fallen, making her feel uneasy. They hadn't been dead long enough for their bodies to grow cold and appeared as bright green blobs in her field of vision.

Jess went first to the spot where Brody had held her and scanned the area thoroughly before widening her search radius, all the while aware of the fact that John hadn't come back to check on her.

She came to the first body and hesitated briefly before carefully stepping over it to continue her search. She reached the second body and stepped over it and searched the farthest corner of the room. It was impossible for the locket to have ended up over there, and yet she refused to leave before checking out all possibilities.

Her search was hurried because knowing that Brody was still out there had her worried. She hadn't brought her sword because she'd had the gun. Now Brody had the gun and she had nothing.

Even she wasn't willing to tempt fate by wasting any more time looking for the locket. She'd simply come back during the day.

Wanting now to catch up to John, she hurried across the room, stepping first over the one slain vampire and then the other. Just as she put her foot down on the other side, however, a hand reached up and grabbed her ankle.

Jessica cried out as she fell to the floor. Throwing her hands out, she managed to break her fall enough to land on her butt, though the vampire still had hold of her ankle. He raised himself up and his mouth twisted into a predatory smile as he snarled and hissed. Before she could do more than scramble back, he was up off the ground and coming for her.

It was her nightmare come to life. Alone with the creature,
weaponless
, she could only stare in horrified fascination as he came for her.

She prayed for John to rescue her but knew she was on her own. The smell of fear and blood filled her senses, making her want to gag. The vampire was toying with her, moving slowly, letting her know that she had lost. He was going to kill her. In two days, she would be a vampire like him.

Unable to accept her death calmly, she scrambled back and her hands hit a wooden object. As the vampire lunged at her, she raised one end of the piece of wood and braced the other against the floor. The vampire's momentum carried him the rest of the way, and the piece of wood slid into his body with a sickening sound just before he landed on top of her.

Unable to move, Jess held still. After a moment, it was clear to her that the vampire really was dead this time. It took a lot of pushing to work her way out from under the literal dead weight, but she finally managed. Breathless, she got to her feet and then examined her work.

The end of an old wooden torch protruded out the back of the vampire. Looking around, she saw that the room had once been lined with them, although several had fallen. She stared at it for a minute and then looked back down at the creature that had attacked her. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. She had done it. She had killed a vampire. All alone, with no hope of backup and no weapons. Just
her and the vampire—and
she had won. It was the ultimate test for a vampire slayer and she had passed. It didn't matter that her father hadn't been there to see it, or
Kacie
, Erik, Charles, or even John. It was enough that she knew it.

Deep down inside, the frightened child inside her drew an easy breath. There would be no more nightmares. She had vanquished the inner demons—but that didn't mean her troubles were over. Harris was dying, and he was one vampire who didn't deserve that fate—at least, not at the hands of a friend.

Jess hurried out of the mausoleum and ran through the cemetery, keeping a wary eye out in case Brody should return. She caught up to John just as he reached the front steps to the mansion.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked her as she ran up the steps to open the door for him.

"I lost something back in the mausoleum."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, I believe I did." She held the door open for him and then directed him to the small room located under the stairs. There was a cot there and she waited for him to place Harris on it.

"My friend isn't good enough for one of the guest rooms?" he asked her, clearly put out.

She sighed. "It's not like that. This is the only room in the house where the sun won't reach him, but if you'd rather put him in one of the guest rooms, we can try to hang extra blankets over the windows." She started to shut the door.

"Wait. I'm sorry. You're right." He moved into the tiny room. "This is so frustrating," he admitted after getting Harris situated on the cot. "What do we do now? Just wait to see if he lives?"

Jess studied Harris. The bullet had entered his abdomen, close to the same spot that the "test" vampire had been shot. She didn't understand why that vampire had died instantly while Harris remained alive, unless it had something to do with his being a Prime. Maybe the
chupacabra
venom residing in his cells was potent enough to help him fend off the toxin she'd made.

"I don't know. Maybe we should get the bullet out and try to seal the wound. Also, I think giving him blood might help."