“Whoever created them is controlling them—that’s how,” Eli said against my ear. “With one thought he could tell them to maul and devour everyone in this room. That’s why I want you to watch your mouth, your ass, and not to do anything stupid.”
I looked at him hard. “Yeah, I got that, Dupré. Stop worrying so much.” The guy next to me jumped, and I fell hard into Eli’s side. “Does that mean he’s here?” I asked.
Luc pushed beside me and shook his head. “He’s not here.”
The crowd cheered as one of the fighters roundhouse kicked the other in the face and knocked him down. One of the newlings, dressed in dark jeans, a dark tee, and a black skully with dark shades, walked the perimeter of the man-made ring, watching everything—including what went on in the crowd. Across the way, I noticed Noah and Seth. My stomach lurched at the thought of watching my brother fight. He normally wasn’t a fighter. He was sweet, and he had a kind, cheerful soul.
“Now he has a kick-ass soul,” Luc offered. “Pay attention, Riley. Head in the game.”
I swore in Romanian. Eli pressed against me, probably to make sure I knew he wasn’t going to put up with my being pig-headed, and continued to watch the fight.
The guy beating the holy crap out of the other thought he was one tough bastard. Even when the other guy was on the floor, he stomped and kicked him in the ribs. The more the crowd cheered, the more brutal he became. We watched him fight one more guy, nearly beating him to death, before I could take no more. The weaker one kept trying to get up, would make it on one knee, and the other would smash into his face with his elbow, then his heel. I pushed the guy in front of me, heard Eli swear as I rushed the floor, and I knew Luc had restrained him, because he didn’t follow. Just as big bully badass was about to drop his half-dead opponent, I roundhouse kicked him in the ribs. I heard Eli behind me say, “Fuck!” just as my new opponent dropped to one knee.
The crowd roared.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed the newling moderator move toward me. I challenged him. “What?” I threw my hands up. “You got a fuckin’ rule says I can’t fight him?”
A slow smile spread across his face. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew they were weird and opaque behind his shades. His skin was pale—almost a blue hue. Funny how no one else seemed to notice. His gaze raked over my inked skin. “There are no rules, bitch. Go for it.”
The moment he said it, the crowd roared, and my opponent, jumping up, lunged toward me. I dodged and swept a leg out. He tripped and hit the floor.
I really, really didn’t want to fight a mortal.
I didn’t dare look behind me, back into the crowd. Eli’s anger hit me like a wave, and I could only imagine Luc was having a helluva time restraining him.
It was like fighting a toddler—unfair; no sport—and it wasn’t accomplishing anything. I wanted to kill vampires. I wanted to kill
him
, the monster.
I let my opponent land a few hits, just for show. They hurt. I dealt. I made sure no blood was spilled.
Unavoidably, my gaze hit the crowd. Twice I found Eli glaring at me. Luc grinned. I’d caught Noah’s stare as well, but his was a slight smile instead. He was diggin’ it, I could tell—freakazoid.
His smile broke wider, and I shook my head.
Finally, I grew tired of playing around with the mortal dude. I’d made my point—to the crowd and to the newlings. With an elbow to the gut, and a double fist to the nose, I sent him to la-la land. The crowd roared. I feigned slight exhaustion, grabbed my knees, and breathed. I lifted my head slightly; Luc’s expression had softened. Eli’s had not. But a slight nod assured me to keep going.
Next, I fought a girl: early twenties, solid as stone, mean as shit, and high as a friggin’ kite—high, but not wasted. She was totally pissed at me for some odd reason, and once we got the go-ahead nod from the newling ref, she threw herself at me like some crazed banshee, squalling and screeching. She scared the holy hell out of me.
“Come on, whore,” she said, dancing around me and taking pokes with her balled-up fists. I didn’t even flinch, her marks were that off. “You scared or somethin’? What’cha waitin’ for, huh, bitch?”
Bap.
I took her down, just on principle. One punch and she was out cold. I still hadn’t broken a sweat. Again, the crowd cheered.
Somebody dragged her off the floor.
I noticed two newlings standing together; something I hadn’t seen all night. They were talking, and once I honed in on them, I realized they were talking about me. I wasn’t exactly sure if that was a bad thing or not.
I fought two more guys before I noticed Eli in the sidelines waving me out. After I took the last one out, I once again pretended exhaustion, and I staggered from the fight floor. It was covered in blood, spit, and something else I dared not to try and identify. Disgusting. At least it wasn’t my blood—or any other body fluid.
“Hey,” the one newling who’d been watching me closely for the past two hours said, grabbing my arm. “You wanna come back Friday night?”
I glared at him. “I don’t know. You got somethin’ more than a bunch of pussies and druggies for me to fight?”
I heard Eli hiss behind me.
A slow smile spread across his pale face, and I noticed his brows were so blond, they blended in with his undead skin. The black skully he wore stood in stark contrast to his pastiness. Some would be scared. I wanted to beat his arrogant ass. And it suddenly struck me how well the potion Garr gave the guys—the vampire guys—worked. They paid them no attention. Cool. “Yeah. Come back Friday night and find out.”
I gave him a hard glare and knocked his shoulder with mine as I passed. He smiled, knowing I’d be back, and I bet he was looking to try and whip me himself.
“What about you?” he asked Eli. “You here to watch your woman fight? You a pussy or somethin’?”
The air around us stilled. “What you got for me?” Eli said, his voice deadly.
The newling’s mouth lifted at the corner, and he inclined his head to the ring. “Come on and find out.”
Eli didn’t even spare me a glance. He followed the newling.
At the ring, the newling nodded at another, and in seconds, a big, heavily muscled guy in his midtwenties stepped up. He had to be all of six feet seven—taller than Eli. I could tell he was on something. Eli shrugged out of his shirt and stepped into the ring. The big mortal came at him like a truck.
Eli gave a good show. He toned his strength way down and let the guy get in several good punches. I watched in fascination the movement of muscles across Eli’s back, his biceps, and the raw power he managed to restrain as he fought. Finally, he popped the guy in the jaw and the mortal hit the floor, out cold. Eli spit on the floor beside him and stepped out of the ring. The newling moved, said something to him, and Eli made his way back to me.
His firm grasp on my arm was almost painful. Eli’s mouth pushed to my ear. “Let’s get the fuck out of here before you do something else stupid and get pulled back into the ring.”
I glanced over my shoulder as we moved through the crowd. I limped for good measure. “Yeah? It seemed like the right thing to do, Dupré. That first guy was gonna kill that kid.”
“And what do you think’s been happening all along? What’s going to happen tonight? We can’t stay and babysit them all.”
I rounded on him the moment the crowd thinned. “I didn’t come here to fight mortals. I thought we were here to take care of a bloodsucking problem.”
“You fightin’ again, Bro?” Luc asked.
Eli nodded. “Yeah. So it seems. Luc’s head lifted, and he gave a short nod. “Let’s go. We’re meeting the others outside, rooftop.”
I felt the newlings’ eyes on me the whole way out.
Luc, Eli, and I were first out the door, so we free-ran to the rooftop across the street and down a ways, and waited for the others.
I paced.
“Why couldn’t we just round up all the newlings inside? Trap them in? Gather the ones in the quickening phase, destroy the newlings, and take the freaking hell off?”
Luc shook his head. “Riley, Riley, Riley. No patience, huh? Just like before, there are reasons you can’t just rush in and do.” He tapped my temple. “Think, smartypants. Remember how the Arcoses could control the boys from before with a single thought? Well, whoever is controlling this band—Valerian reborn—can do the same thing. He gets one whiff of interference and things could turn really, really ugly. They outnumber us.”
“And they’re mixed in a building filled with mortals,” Noah said, leaping up beside us. The others joined him. He grinned at me. “No matter how much of a dick some of them are.” He punched my arm. “Crack shootin’, Poe. I’m impressed.”
Eli glowered and moved closer.
Seth interrupted, angry. “Riley, you didn’t have to jump in like that.”
I looked at my brother. Worry etched his green eyes, and the muscles in his jaws clenched, dark brows slashed into a frown. “I could’ve done it.”
“Hey,” I said, and hugged him. “You know I’m unpredictable. I couldn’t stand seeing that one guy log into the other one. He’d have killed him. It was instinct, not a plan. I promise.”
Seth pulled back and met my gaze. The wind caught and pushed his hair to the side. “You gonna do it again?”
“Yes,” I answered. “But you are all going to be there to back me up. I have the newlings’ attention. We’re getting somewhere.”
Seth frowned. “I don’t like it, Ri. But okay.”
Noah walked over and draped his arms over each of us. “You two are just so darn cute,” he said, mercury eyes twinkling. He glanced at Eli. “But let’s go. That is, if you want to save a few souls.”
Seth threw me a
whatever
glance. I couldn’t help but grin at Noah’s ridiculousness, and we followed him and his roof jumpers over the ancient city of Charleston. Eli ran close to me—so close I could feel the air he moved.
One major difference between vampires and mortals with tendencies I’d like to quickly point out is mortals have to pee. “Guys, no way can I leap from one more rooftop with a full bladder,” I said as we stopped to inspect the area. I glanced down. “There’s a Denny’s. Open twenty-four hours. I’ll be right back.” I turned to descend.
“Whoa,” Eli said. “Wait up.”
I quickly stopped. “Oh come on, Eli. Gimme a friggin’ break. It’s right down there.” I bent down, rested the heels of my palms on my knees, and peered down and into the restaurant. I pointed. “Look. You can see the bathrooms from here. Straight in the back.” I rose and glared at Luc. “I pee alone. Got it?”
“Got it,” Eli said. “I’ll be right outside the bathroom door. Waiting. While you pee alone.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Let’s go.”
In a flash, as I praised God I did regular Kegels, we descended the building, leapt against the trunk of a magnolia, and fell to the sidewalk in a crouch. I glanced around and ran across the street and into Denny’s. Eli ran beside me.
“Ma’am, this isn’t a public restroom,” an older waitress said.
I hurried past her. “Honey, will you order me a burger to go? Rare,” I said to Eli. He growled. Seriously—what was she gonna do? Drag me off the toilet? I all but skipped to the back and pushed into the women’s restroom while Eli stayed behind to deal with Mrs. Denny’s. I hit the end stall, made fast but careful business of taking care of business (eleven blades strapped to my body, don’t forget) and, relieved, finished. Flushing the toilet with my foot, I moved out of the stall and to the sink to wash my hands. I splashed water on my face, rubbed my eyes, and when I opened them,
she
stood behind me—a girl, dressed in black destroyed jeans, clunky black biker boots, a black and red ribbed tank with spiked studs along the collar and arms, and a headful of black dreads. Gaze fixed, she stared at me through the mirror, unblinking, at the pulse near the base of my throat. She licked her lips.
I knew then what she was.
In the next second her face contorted, her jaw unhinged unnaturally, and jagged fangs dropped. Her eyes went white, the pupils pinpoint red, and she lunged.
Part Eight
MELEE
“You know that person you said there’s no such person? I think he’s in there. In person.”
—Lou Costello,
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
“Oh my freaking God, when will this end? I’m tired, my body aches, my language has gotten worse, and I’m dying for a smoke. Charleston is crawling with the undead, and they’re mean little fresh fuckers trying to earn their place in the vampiric world by hunting down me—and others like me. Hello?! No, thank you! I’m ready to rock and roll, do the hokie pokie, do a little dance, make a little love, and get down tonight. In other words, wrap this shit up and take a goddamn vacation.”