The Blood In the Beginning (36 page)

My tongue heated, sensations shooting through my head. I saw Cate getting her promotion to VIP. Bane slipped a ribbon around her wrist … There was more, but like waking from a dream, the images faded away. I was left panting over Bane. I had to see it all. I had to know the truth. Without thinking I lowered my mouth to his neck, pulled back my lips and bit.

His flesh was the texture of cheddar cheese and about as tart. It gave way that easy. I gagged, repulsed, but tore into his throat anyway. The strength of my jaws and slice of my canines surprised me, but not as much as the blood filling my mouth. It ran down my gullet to hit me with a blast of images in tones of grey, black and green. They jolted me like zaps of electricity.

I saw myself in the office chair, right after I first stumbled into VIP. He laughed at me! Thought me naïve. Then, I watched his face in the mirror as he painted his eyes unrecognisable and ran those vertical lines from his scalp to his brow, lip to chin. He chased me down the back alley and mimed the gunshot toward me as the bus pulled away. Next he was buying roses and hand delivering them to the hospital.
You're insane!

I saw Daina as the blood drained from her feetless legs. Scores of others died the same way. Year after year, decade after decade, the ribbons, the torture, the goblets of dark fluid and the brutal memories they conjured, and all while, in the mirror, Daniel Bane painted on his seamless, warrior face.
You're not the copycat. It's been you all along.
The visions pummelled me, like machine-gun fire, nearly knocking me over. The taunting. The fear. The time it took for them to die. Then I saw him with Cate again, forced to watch as he drained away her life. She'd trusted him to the end, confusion and terror flooding her face when she realised it wasn't a game. I jerked myself back from the visions and found her, hanging above me, grey and unmoving.
Noooo!
The cry cut loose from the depths of my soul and I hammered Bane with both fists.

Bones broke. His spine snapped. Gore splashed my face. The sounds became rhythmic, laboured. Breathe in. Thud. Breathe out. Thud. Over and over. I didn't stop. The screaming thinned as my throat went raw. Water ran off my head, blurred my vision. Then flesh gave way to concrete. Pain shot up my arms. Chips flew into my face, wet with blood and water. Finally, I looked down. There was only a dark pool where Bane's head had been. I sat back on my heels, panting, hands crippled and limp in front of me.

I watched the stain wash away as I stood.
Who's nothing now, Daniel Bane?

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Sensations slammed back into my body, pumping pain with every heartbeat. I stumbled to Cate. Sprinkler water mixed with my tears, plastering hair to my face. The cries coming from my swollen throat choked off, turning into grunting and gasps for breath. I tore open the clasps on her manacles, letting her fall like a puppet, strings cut. ‘It's time to go home, sweetheart.' She slumped against me and I stood there, panting, waiting for my breath to steady. It didn't. With her shoulders against the wall, I squatted, allowing her upper body to fall down my back. Cate sighed as I stood, or had I imagined it? I held my breath. ‘Cate?' Nothing. No rising of her chest. No pulse I could feel.
Just air forced from her lungs.
That was all. My eyes welled again and snot ran out my nose, diluted by the icy shower hammering down on my head. I turned away from the dais and limped toward the exit.

Fire raged around the room, flames jumping to the stage, incinerating the backdrop and licking the edges of the aquarium, turning the glass smoky black. Oil floated on the water. There was no putting it out. The aquarium glass cracked further, fractures shooting up the wall. Seawater sprayed from the focal point like a high-pressure hose. The rush of water spread the oil, sweeping fire across the dance floor, linking the oil lamps as if connecting the dots.

‘Come on,' I whispered to Cate and patted her cold back. ‘Home.'

My rage had moved over, making room for despair. If it hadn't been for Cate, dead as she was, I might have collapsed. Let the ruin take me. But it was for Cate. I wouldn't let her be buried down here, forever entombed with the likes of Daniel Bane, and Billy, this tribe of copycat killers.
Not that for you, Cate.
I weaved around burning tables, and motes of flaming oil, trying to keep from tripping over in the water. It was calf deep and rising. My boots sloshed with it, making each step heavier than the next.

Slowly the sprinklers choked off until they were only a drizzle. Water still sprayed from the middle of the aquarium, the cracks spreading. I coughed with each wet, smoke-filled breath, searching from side to side, looking for survivors, wary of guards. With that thought, I stumbled into a woman, a ‘siren', drenched, bleeding from her wrists. She was dazed, sitting in a chair, water lapping her legs, swirling by her fingertips as her arms hung slack. ‘Hey!' I shouted.

She didn't respond.

‘Wake up!'

She turned to me, her brow wrinkled, like she was trying to recognise something. Anything.

I hobbled closer. ‘What's your name?'

‘Cin.'

Cin?
She must have been promoted since our little chat in the staff lounge. Seemed like forever ago. ‘Cin, do you remember me?'

‘Ava?'

‘That's right.'

Her chin dropped to her chest.

I shifted Cate's weight and shook Cin's shoulder. ‘We have to go!' I tilted my head in the direction of the elevator. ‘Come on.' I tried to soften my voice and sound encouraging. I couldn't imagine how I looked, torn clothes, bloody hair, battered face, dead girl on shoulder. I sucked my teeth. Yep. They tasted of blood. There'd be some kind of berserk fire still in my eyes, or maybe that was gone now. My head spun too much for me to tell. ‘Stand up, Cin. I'm going to get you out of here.'

She obeyed. Her eyes were vacant, hardly aware of her surroundings, or maybe completely overwhelmed by them. A person could only take so much. I was inches away from that myself. ‘It'll be alright. We're nearly there.'

As we reached the elevator, Cate's head bumped against the backs of my legs.
Cate?
She sighed. I felt the rush of air from her chest. ‘Cate?' I pulled her down off my shoulder and cradled her like a child. ‘Cate! You're alive!' I looked over at Cin. ‘She's alive! Quick!'

I might as well have been talking to the wall, as far as Cin's response time went, but Cate's lids fluttered. Her chest rose and fell in little shallow breaths. I could see that now. I could also see the blood dripping from her wrists. ‘Help me get her hands up!' I yelled at Cin over the roaring flames and spraying water.

Cin responded, lifting the lacerated wrists, then pushed the elevator button. The light went on. We watched the dial go from the surface to club level, then continue down to VIP. The bell dinged and the doors opened. Rourke was there, his shirt torn and bloody, his face covered with soot.

‘Any more left?' By the look of the handprints on the walls, this wasn't the first time he'd returned to the VIP lounge to search for survivors.

‘Didn't see anyone else.' Water rushed in with us. It was rising fast and so were the flames.

‘Go.' He hit the UP button for us. ‘I'll do one more sweep.' As the doors started to close, thunder split the air. The aquarium burst and a tidal wave surged toward us.

‘Back in!' I cried out. ‘Cin! Stop the doors.'

Cin had gone catatonic again. She buckled to her knees. I thrust out my wounded leg, stopping the doors with my boot, stifling the scream. Rourke squeezed in and the doors sealed shut. My eyes met his and locked on. It was the closest thing to a goodbye I'd ever felt. I could tell he didn't like our chances of survival any more than I did. Slowly the cables engaged and the elevator shuddered.

It wasn't the first time I'd wished I believed in a higher power, if only to beseech their ass to save us.
Save Cate.
Her eyes were closed, breath shallow gasps. The water level was going down, leaking through the crack under the door. I imagined it trickling down the shaft, rushing to meet the seawater rising below. ‘We have to stop the bleeding.'

Rourke pulled off his shirt, bit the edge with his eye tooth and tore a few strips. As we passed the club floor, he bandaged Cate's wound.

‘Cin's too!'

He wrapped her wrist and lifted her up, leaning her against his chest.

Our eyes caught again. It looked like we had a few more minutes to live, so I let him have it. ‘You knew about VIP.' My brow creased. ‘You fucking knew it was Bane, all along?'

He didn't answer.

When the elevator dinged at street level, he put his hand on my shoulder. ‘It's complicated.'

I shrugged him off and stepped into the foyer. Heat slapped my face. Sirens blared. Firemen had high-pressure water shooting into the ruined building. The place was thick with mist and smoke. I turned toward the exit and tripped, my leg giving out.

‘Ava!' Rossi ran to me, catching us before we hit the ground. ‘Are there any others?' His eyes went to Rourke as he spoke. Rossi's shirt was covered in blood and soot, his dark hair dripping.

We both shook our heads.
If there are, it's too late.

Rossi pulled off his jacket and draped it over Cate, then he gathered her into his arms.

‘Will she live?' I tucked the jacket around her, not meeting his eyes.

‘Maybe, one way or another.' He scanned me up and down. ‘Can you walk?'

I was scared to think about what he meant by
one way or another
so I limped along beside him, not speaking a word.

More than once, Miguel Rossi turned to me, something like astonishment in his eyes.

Rourke was just as confused. ‘You do this, Sykes?' He indicated the hole in the entrance as we made our way through it.

I shrugged. ‘Was in a hurry.'

Rossi frowned.
How?

A small smile twitched my lips.
1982 Cortina. Mint condition.

He glanced toward the smoking chassis.
Not any more
.

* * *

Ambulances pulled up across the street. Cops poured out of special unit vans. More fire trucks arrived. I touched Rourke's shoulder after an attendant took Cin from his arms. ‘I'll make you a deal, detective. You keep me out of this, and I'll do the same for you.' I didn't think I would ever forgive him for sitting by while people were tortured and drained of blood, but I wasn't going to have him implicate me. ‘It's win-win, Rourke. Otherwise, we both go down.' People who steal cars, drive them into buildings and murder one of the most powerful men in the country aren't generally hired by the CDC to serve and protect the global community.

‘She's drugged up, I'm guessing?' Rossi interrupted before Rourke could answer.

‘To the hilt.' I looked across at the special units cops. ‘Can you treat her, without the hospital reporting?'

‘The hospital has no choice. I can treat her at home though.'

‘Is that safe? She'll make it, right?'

Rossi put his hand on her heart, checked her eyes, gums, breathing. ‘She needs blood. My car's this way.'

I guess blood was something he wasn't in a short supply of. The ground rumbled, gyrating my back teeth. I hesitated. ‘We cool, Rourke?' I wasn't leaving without an agreement.

He nodded. ‘Go. Take care of her.' Rourke straightened up and headed toward the cops. ‘We'll talk later.'

‘I have these two,' Rossi said to the approaching emergency attendant. ‘No more coming out.'

I caught up to Rossi, but couldn't see where his car was parked.

‘Keys in my pocket.' Rossi lifted Cate higher, giving me access.

I slipped my hand in, ignored the feel of his thigh, found the keys and clicked the button. A black SUV winked amber lights at us. How many cars did this guy have? I opened the door to the back seat, climbed in and took Cate, cradling her head in my lap. Rossi opened his med-kit, drew up a clear solution and injected it straight into her heart. ‘Do you know her type?'

‘O positive.'

‘Are you certain?'

‘Yes.'

He pulled out a packet of whole blood and had the transfusion set up in less than a minute. ‘Rewrap her wrists, and the ankle. Bandages in the kit. Snug, but not constricting flow.' He pulled a blanket from the back and covered her.

‘I'm on it. Drive,' I said without looking up.

Rossi didn't need any encouragement. He jumped in, spun the vehicle around and sped away. In moments we were purring down highway 405. A wave of exhaustion hit me as I wondered how this would go. Cate's pulse had improved already. I could feel her heart beating strong and steady, but she wasn't conscious.

‘She'll make it.'

I believed him, but what about everyone else? Would the Shen Mar be exposed for the murdering demons they were, or would it just be some freak accident that destroyed the most popular nightclub in the city, owner and all? Or would it be me in the headlines — crazed undergrad attacks nightclub, held for grand theft auto, arson and murder?

I'll set up a meeting with Jones.

‘Hey, doc! Are you ever going to learn to stay out of my head?'

He cleared his throat and nodded.

I swept dripping wet hair back from Cate's face. My ponytail had come down, somewhere along the way. ‘Can I use your phone?'

Rossi passed it back to me. I swiped through the white pages for Jen Bradshaw, found the number and tapped it in.

She answered on the third ring, her voice croaky. ‘Who is this?'

‘Ava Sykes.'

‘It's a bit early …'

‘You want to get your camera crew down to Poseidon. Fast.'

‘Now?'

‘Yeah, but you didn't hear it from me.' I turned the phone off and handed it back. Rossi was staring at me through the rear-view mirror. ‘What?' I asked.