TWENTY-SEVEN
“I am never disappointed when I appeal to the worst in people.”
—Caine Deathwalker
As the slugs left my gun, I concentrated on stripping them of aura. Little bursts of blood—appearing as black ink from my perspective in the ghost realm—appeared across Rasputin’s upper back. He spun too fast for me to see it, crouching low, hands remaking themselves into claws. He snarled, face a tight mask of rage. His eyes were red stars that lost their ferociousness as he looked for the gunman that had attacked him—and failed.
I was grateful he couldn’t sense me. Had I been depending on my
Demon Wings
tattoo, I might have been the one to fail. The mirror spell on the auction floor had broken when he used his power to change the weave of reality. To touch me now, he needed to reach through his reality, into the one that held me. Not that I was going to tell him that.
I saw Dominika over his shoulder. Her concerned eyes widened as Grace gripped her shoulders. The vampire princess’s lips were moving, but the words showed up late. “…The hell is going on?”
“It’s okay,” Grace slid her arms around Dom from behind. “I’ve just pulled you into a side reality that is mostly used by the dead. You can see the world from here, but not hear it. Caine and I need some time with you without Rasputin getting all Alpha vamp on us.”
Dom lay her hands over Grace’s, welcoming the comfort of touch. “Yeah, he’s definitely a domination freak.” Her gaze took in the smoking gun in my hand. “You shot him?”
“He’s a vampire. He’ll heal.”
Rasputin spun back toward Dom. He reached out, waving his hand. It went right through her body like she was air.
“That is so weird,” Dom said. “I didn’t feel a thing.”
“We don’t want to be here if he figures the trick out. Let’s go.” I allowed my gun to magically return to the satchel in my car. Fluttering my wings sent me swooshing into the vault door and through it. I emerged to find the fallen vamp soldiers picking themselves up. One of them staggered slightly on his feet, holding his head. The other studied the area, looking for his attacker. My intangible wings sweeping through them as if they were illusions of light.
Right here. Too bad you can’t see me.
As I flew past, I picked up the leather jacket. Pausing at the stairs, I back-winged, waiting for Grace and Dom to catch up. They come through the vault, hand in hand, and crossed the room. I let them zip past and brought up the rear. Diving up the stairs, into the kitchen, I saw the girl’s legs vanish into the ceiling. More of the vampire guards ran into the busy kitchen, inspecting all the workers. Some of the vamps headed directly downstairs to the vault. I wished them all luck in figuring out what had just happened.
With a strong flutter, I flew into the ceiling. The trick was controlling my aura so that objects I wanted solid were energized, while things I wanted to ghost through weren’t charged.
This was all pretty cool, but I remembered what—lived?—in this extension of space/time. Besides the stray phantom, there were also demon spirits, the Judeo-Christian kind that had once been fallen angels. That wasn’t the kind I dealt with usually, and I hoped not to gain that kind of experience. I liked the kind of demon that could be killed.
I went through two more floors, and burst out of the building. More vampire guards were spaced out along the edge of the roof, all of them looking out, up and down, watching for a follow-up attack. I too hoped Dracula would show up. I wanted all the drama resolved here so I could turn attention to a little ghost girl I knew who wanted her killer punished. I really hoped that was in my power, but maybe not.
Just have to see.
I joined Grace and Dom in the middle of the roof. The vampire princess was studying the other vamps. “They really don’t know I’m here?” she asked.
“No,” Grace said. “But if I let go of you …”
It occurred to me that—the same way the vamp soldiers weren’t seeing me—I couldn’t see Dracula using that incorporeal mist form of his. I needed to leave the ghost realm he’d see me and hopefully come to me. Of course, that meant I had to deal with some really pissed off vamps. Well, I had an answer for them, one elegant in its simplicity.
“I’m going back to the human side,” I told Grace. “You wait here until I turn and signal you. No heroics. That’s my job.” I stared into Dom’s eyes. “You do know that your problem is the gilded cage you’ve been trapped in, not being a vampire, right?”
“That’s what Grace has been telling me. You’re saying I can take back my life and have it worth living.”
“Right. And Dracula is the key to that. We need someone who can claim your time and make Rasputin put up with it,” I said.
“But Dracula wants to kill me. Why would he—?”
“Dom, let me deal with Dracula for you. I think I can make him see the light. Okay, I’m going.”
My aura had been seeping out since Grace brought me over. That leakage was what kept me in the ghost realm. All I needed to do to go back was to plug the leak. I closed my eyes and imagined myself wearing a suit of armor, a second skin of steel. With this visualization, I drew my lifeforce into to the core of my body, seeing it as a star churning in my guts. An electric tingle swept over me. I opened my eyes and saw the world in full color once more as gravity settled me firmly on my feet. I folded my wings and slipped on the leather jacket I’d carried.
I raised my hands as if in surrender and yelled out across the rooftop. “Hey, guys, you looking for me?”
Everyone spun to look at me. My surrender must have looked to them like the stupidest thing they’d ever seen. Instead of rushing me at a super vampire speed, they stood there befuddled. Suspicion will do that to you. My surrender was just too easy, so it had to be some kind of trap. They looked at each other, as if coming to a consensus on who was going to be first to stick their head in the lion’s toothy maw.
This was the response I’d hoped for. It gave me time to flush some raw magic into one of my more special tattoos:
Dragon’s Roar
. The pain that flooded my system to pay for the magic spell was potent and bracing, a combination slow burn from the inside out, and a lancet sensation of being stabled with scalpels all over my body. I had to look down at my arms to make sure I hadn’t actually been flayed alive. The phantom sensation dissolved, leaving me undamaged as usual—but with a strong power at my disposal.
I lifted my head, throwing it back, and shouted a command like God calling for an apocalypse. In this case, I said, “Quickly, all of you, jump off this building and kiss the pavement.”
They did. Turning, running to the edge of the building, launching themselves into space without a single panicked scream. Just because they were able to psychically roll the minds of humans didn’t mean that they were impervious similar magical coercion. I thought this method of clearing the decks for action was quite ironic in a sardonic kinda way.
Now, I just had to wait.
Twenty seconds passed. I had the sense that I was being watched by something invisible other than Grace and Dom. I rotated in place, scanning the connected rooftops. I looked alone, but…
A blob of mist condensed from nothing. A flat man shape appeared at its heart. The mist thinned away and Dracula stood there, regarding me with cold, dead eyes. He lifted an eyebrow. “I can’t have seen what I just saw,” he said. “A rooftop of vampires so afraid of you, they threw themselves off the building rather than face you.”
“What can I say,” I casually strolled closer, “smart bunch of guys.”
“It was nice of you to clear the roof for me, but unnecessary. I was going to materialize inside, strike from nothingness, and
leave before Rasputin could act.”
“Vlad, old buddy, it is because I hold you in such high esteem that I am going to tell you just how stupid your plan is.”
His dark eyes warmed with a crimson flame. “Be very careful what you say next. Your usefulness to me is over. I have little reason to tolerate your prattle.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. My prattle is all that’s saving you from two very serious mistakes. First of all, Dominika has already been snatched from Rasputin’s clutches. I have her, so going inside is a waste of time and energy. And if you had her, you’d only break her like a petulant child, ruining a perfectly good fuck toy.”
“
You
have her?”
“Yes.” I knew he could hear the steadiness of my heartbeat and would know I was speaking the truth. “If you hurt her, even if you don’t kill her, you will have made Rasputin an eternal enemy. Are you sure you can take him now after what we saw at the auction? And say that you can, what about a few more centuries from now after he’s had time and motivation to develop his mind even more?”
“My honor has been besmirched. How can I let that stand? If I show weakness, others will be emboldened to test me. I cannot relent.”
“Oh, I agree, you must prove your strength, but I think there’s a way to do it without turning Rasputin against you. Besides, there’s the best reason of all for you to show mercy. It can be done in such a way that you prove your strength, and make Rasputin into an alley.”
He pulled his jutting chin back, as if he needed more distance to see me clearly. He blinked. I had his full attention now. “What are you saying, Caine?”
“That a win-win situation is still possible for all of us if you won’t be too pig-headed for your own good.”
“Why do I let you talk to me this way? I should kill you for the affront to my dignity. Everyone cowers to the might that is Dracula, Prince of Darkness, hoping not to attract dragon’s attention. But you…”
I took off the coat and let it drop dramatically to the roof. I fanned the dragon wings sprouting from my back. “I am a real dragon,” I said. “I don’t play poser games—much. I have one more thing you need to hear.”
He eyed my wings. “Impressive. I had doubted that claim of yours, thinking that you were magically controlling your heartbeat to deceive me. Apparently, you’ve been speaking the absolute truth. Few people do that with me. While irritating, it also has a strange refreshing quality.” He drew in a huge breath and let it carry much of his rage away. “Very well, finish what you are saying. I will hear you.”
“If you kill the vampire princess, it will be her victory, not yours. She’s a little screwy, being under Rasputin’s thumb. She never wanted to be a vampire. That was Raspy’s idea. She’s just having a hard time adjusting. She’d actually kill herself but is very religious. Raspy has her convinced that vampires can go to heaven or hell. Suicide is automatic hell. You know what I’m talking about. You’re from that part of the world.”
“Ah, I see. So she wants me to kill her since she can’t kill herself.”
“Yeah, she needs someone strong enough not to be intimidated by Rasputin. Tell me, are you going to do something someone else pushed you into? Isn’t that an admission of weakness?”
“You make a valid point. Odd, from all the rumors and stories I’ve heard of you, you’re not supposed to be this insightful and intelligent. They say you’re a man-slut led around by your cock, that you kill first and reason later, mucking up events abysmally. You have everyone underestimating you with such a fool’s act. I applaud you.”
We were bonding. I didn’t feel like lying to him. That might cost me the momentum I’d made. “I’m just trying to develop a kinder, gentler me, on the way to conquering the known and unknown universe.” I took another step toward him, close enough to stab with my demon sword, if I needed to summon it. “You know, she was trying to use you. Wouldn’t the perfect revenge be to take her under your wing, make her your woman, and get all the use out of her hot, young ass you can? Surely you have what it takes to turn her surface aggression into passion. Show her a life a vampire can cherish, and she’ll be on your side. Rasputin will be grateful that you turned her from her self-destructive behavior, he’ll probably offer her to you as your bride. When the rest of the vampire community finds out you have such a strong alliance, even the true-blood royalty will be wary. Like I said, everybody can win.”
Drac looked thoughtful. “She will have to apologize—and mean it.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I wheeled about and waved at empty air. Grace and Dom popped into view as if turning an unseen corner. Grace looked half fey with her antennae, dark red hair, and baby moth wings. Dom looked Goth to the bone despite the white blouse that half hid her black denim skirt. Her black hair fanned behind her like raven wings. Her smoky eyes were dark and mysterious. The sexy white leggings were a little school-girl in a provocative, naughty way.
They walked over to me, hesitancy visible in their deliberate approach. We stood forming a square. I pointed at Dom. “Apologize.”
She looked at me and shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Not me,” I pointed at Dracula, “him.”
“Oh, sure.” Dom lowered her head and stared demurely up at Dracula through her lashes. “I really am sorry. Please accept my apology.”
I’m not sure he heard her. Now that the blood was out of his eyes, he was looking at her with fresh appreciation. She stood there, hands behind her back, a pose that drew even more attention to her breasts. Watching those breasts, Vlad said, “Well, I suppose we all make mistakes. The point is to learn from them.”
She threw herself into his arms, giving him a robust hug.
Drac looked surprised, but not displeased. And when she moved to his side, taking his arm, he swelled with self-importance. “Caine, I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry. One day, I will collect.”
The air bent with distortions of light suggesting a disk. A shadow formed in the disk. Rasputin stepped out of the distortion, letting it close behind him. He pointed a bony finger at Dracula. “Unhand her at once!”
Dom moved in front of Vlad as if he needed protection. “Leave him alone. I mean it.”
Rasputin’s furious gaze fizzled out. “What?”
“We’re dating,” she explained, “so don’t wait up.” She turned to Dracula. “Where to first, Vlad?”
“I have a private jet,” he said. “Pick any place in the world.”
Rasputin said, “Nyet! My angel, you must stay with me so I can protect you. The world is a dangerous place.”
“The more you push,” I said, “the more you push her into his arms. What? Don’t you think the Prince of Darkness can protect her?”
I shot him a prompting look.
Vlad’s voice exploded with sincerity. “I will protect her with all my strength. You can trust my word. It has never been broken.”
Rasputin gave him a long, measuring look. “Fine. I have never heard you were lacking in honor. My little angel is in your keeping.” For a moment, his eyes blazed with a savage red light that hazed his features. “I will expect regular reports on her wellbeing.”