King's Blood: Vampire Descent (A Serial Novel, Part 4) (20 page)

Holly placed her back against the alcove behind the waterfall. “Was that Havens?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, as I peeked through the falling water.

At first, I couldn’t find anyone else in the forest. I saw Lucretius running toward the waterfall. “Luc!” I yelled, as I came out through the waterfall, motioning at him to join us.

Lucretius tripped over a large stone. As soon as he began getting up and placing his right knee on the ground, a broad-shouldered man emerged from the dim, green wilderness behind him. Lucretius got on his back and put his right hand up in defense.

“
Tingzhi,
”
said the deep, masculine voice.

We came out from the waterfall. Havens Ling stood a few meters away from Lucretius, who was still down. Half his face and body were covered in large blisters. He had his crossbow pointed at Lucretius’s chest.

Lucretius slowly got up with both his hands in the air. “
Bùyào pāi,”
he said.

“
You are monsters,” declared Havens, in a slow, deliberate, accented bass.

“
Havens, please,” Lucretius pleaded, calmly. “Put down your weapon, can’t you see you are being used?”

“
You killed our ancestors,” Havens said, ignoring Lucretius’s reasoning.

“
You are right, our feud goes way back. It’s tribalism at its worst. But both of our kind are disappearing. We must work together to make sure humans don’t wipe us out,” said Lucretius.

Havens stared at Lucretius with a confused look. His eyes shifted their focus at me and Holly, who was standing in the pool in front of the waterfall, most likely strategizing who he’d shoot first.

“Havens, you must listen. I know our origins. I have studied our origins for centuries now. I finally have the answers. I know what makes us tick. I know why the world is the way it is now. I know why vampires exist, I know why you exist. I know where we came from.”

Lucretius’s words caught me by surprise. What was Havens if he wasn’t human?

“Let me explain,” he said, turning around and giving me a quick glance.

Lucretius kept his hands up and slowly began approaching Havens. Havens tilted his head, confused as to what Lucretius was doing and saying.

“Havens, put down your crossbow,” said Lucretius. “I will tell you where you came from. The world will no longer confuse you.”

“
Lucretius, don’t!” I yelled through the crashing water on the rocks.

Havens slowly took a step back and began to lightly shake his head.

“Lucretius! Back away,” I said, loudly. “He’s not understanding you.”

Lucretius held his arm out. His hand reached for Havens’s crossbow. Havens took another step back, however, this time, one of his feet jammed straight into a rock on the ground. Lucretius flinched and reached down for Havens as he attempted to catch his fall. Havens panicked and pulled the trigger of his crossbow, striking Lucretius squarely in the middle of the chest, dropping the old man down to his knees. I rushed through the pool of the water, kicking my knees high into the air, treading the water as fast as I could to catch Lucretius before he hit the ground. Havens, who was in a panic, readied another arrow on his bow.

A primal scream came screeching from my left. Kai witnessed Lucretius get shot in the chest and charged at Havens with his sword in both hands. Kai swung at Havens’s chest and Havens blocked the strike with the handle of his crossbow. Kai pushed down on his sword, hoping to break Havens’s grip on his crossbow. Havens pushed Kai to the ground with his massive hand. Havens cocked back the bowstring and pointed the arrow at Kai as he laid on the ground. As I held Lucretius up with my left arm, I took out my dagger and threw it at Havens, striking him on his neck. Kai, seeing Havens’s sudden vulnerability, sprang up from the ground like a gymnast and struck Havens through the stomach with his sword. Kai pushed the sword further into Havens’s body with more force, as he stared into his eyes with his arms quivering, his teeth grinding, and the veins in his neck throbbing. Blood began pouring through Havens pursed lips. His knees hit the ground. He grabbed at Kai’s sword, cutting the palms of his hands in the process, as the blood streamed down his thick, massive forearms. Kai placed his right boot on Havens’s chest and pushed him as Havens’s body slid off the blade of Kai’s sword. Havens hit the ground, his knees still bent behind his thighs. Kai stood up and pointed the blade of his sword toward Havens, readying for one final blow.

“
Stop!” I said.

Kai looked at me, blood splattered all over his youthful face, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

I looked into Lucretius’s faltering eyes. “What is he?” I asked.

Lucretius gave me half a smile as his eyes began slowly moving toward the back of his head.

“You’re going to stay alive, you old man.”

Lucretius slowly shook his head.

“You know too much...”

His breathy voice barely escaping his throat, he said, “You must...go to Siberia, Jack.”

“What are you talking about, Luc? Snap out of it,” I said, as I shook his limp body. The gash in the middle of his chest began to ooze furiously with blood.

“
Denisova, Jack. Keep the clan alive,” he said.

“
Why were you trying to talk to Havens?” I asked.

Lucretius’s throat became more hoarse, his breaths more labored.

“Luc, why is Havens after vampires?”

“
Neander...”

“
What?”

Lucretius eyes quit moving. His body tensed up and in an instant, his last dying breath exhaled into the forest breeze. The eyes of a man who’d seen more of Earth’s history than anyone who ever walked the planet ceased to exist in my arms. His mouth stayed open, revealing a beautiful set of fangs, a noble set of fangs. Kai got on his knees and caressed Lucretius’s head. He looked at me and stared at me like a lost child. The Jiang-Shi were no more, or at least the way it was composed, with history and a purpose at its core, in the form of an ancient supernatural creature named Lucretius.

Chapter Twenty

A week had passed. Ted, Holly and I were set up in a room at the Dushi 118 Inn in Lanshan. It wasn’t luxurious by any means. If China had a lodging chain styled after Motel 6, the Dushi 118 would have been its equivalent, but without the Gideon’s Bible in the nightstand drawer next to the bed. The suite we had, luckily, had dual rooms. Milton knew the owner of the Dushi 118, and had asked for us to stay there until he managed to get us back to the States.

Ted was watching television in the other room. Holly was on her belly, reading a Chinese tabloid on the bed behind me, wearing a long men’s dress shirt and white socks, her legs crossed in the air. I brushed my fangs in the bathroom and stared at the mirror in front of me. I stared and I stared. Nothing. All I saw was Holly get up from the bed and come into the bathroom. She threw her arms out into the empty space in front of the sink. I felt her warm arms wrap around me. She hugged the air. I felt her wet lips against my cheek. A plain peck, nothing more. I turned around and put my hands around her waist. I stared deeply into her glowing eyes. They were clean. No dirt, grime, or panic. She was back in her element. Comfortable. Itching to get back home. To her, I was Jack King again.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“
For what?” I asked.

“
For being so shallow.”

“
You’re not shallow, just human,” I said, as I moved a blond curl away from her brow.

Her moist lips slowly pressed against my open and readied mouth. I dug my fingertips into her waist and pulled her in. She grabbed the back of my head and pulled me in further into her mouth, no room for a breath, or oxygen. Pure breathlessness. I pulled away. “Thank you,” I said, with a glorious grin.

“I’ve always liked you, Jack,” she said. “Even when I wanted to leave, I just didn’t know...,”

I pressed my finger against her lips. “...It’s okay.”

A knock tapped on the entry door of the suite.

I heard Ted get up from the squeaky recliner in the other room and open the door.

“Jack?” he yelled.

“
Yeah, who is it?” I asked, holding Holly in my arms.

“
It’s Samuel...”

I looked at Holly and said, “You owe me big time.”

She smiled and laughed coquettishly, “I know...”

I jogged into the other room and there stood Samuel at the door, a slender, gray-haired man who always exhibited a set jaw, a furrowed brow, and strong eye contact, no matter what the occasion. He held out his stiff hand for a shake. I ran up to him and gave him a hug. “Thank you for getting here quickly,” I said, with my chin over his shoulder.

Samuel walked into the room with a briefcase in hand. I scoped out the area outside the room before closing the door.

“
Have a seat,” I said, pointing to a small round, green table with two chairs.

I looked over at Ted. “Hey, can you go to the other room?”

“Sure, man...of course,” he said, turning off the television and joining Holly in the other room.

Samuel and I took a seat. He set his briefcase on the table and scrolled a few numbers on his combination-lock briefcase before opening it. He pulled out a recorder and few pieces of paper.

“How was your flight?” I asked.

“
Well, it wasn’t too bad. Since I flew in from Moscow. I was covering the protests over Putin’s reelection, if that is what you want to call it,” Samuel said, with his trademark dry smile.

“
I have so much to tell you, I don’t even know where to start,” I said, burdened with anticipation.

“
Listen, first things first. We need to get you back into the U.S. I have the Dean of Sciences at Carnegie Mellon waiting to meet you. He has a humongous influence over the National Science Foundation and therefore, can get some trusted legislators to possibly understand your condition and hopefully accept that vampires exist and create some kind of awareness.”

I sat at the table, just nodding at my head at Samuel. I was putty in his hands.

“But we need your cooperation. I need to know everything. I need to personally know what makes you tick and why you deserve rights and the continual access to blood and all that...” Samuel explained, in his usual rapid pace. “Now, how are we getting you back in the States?”

“
Milton is working on it,” I said.

“
Who’s Milton?”

“
He’s a Jiang-Shi...I mean a vampire.”

“
Another vampire?” he asked, elated. “This is incredible,” he said, as he wrote furiously on his notepad.

“
Jack?” Ted’s frayed voice, boomed from the room behind me.

“
Hold on Ted, I’m kind of busy, pal.”

“
Jack, come here now, this is important.”

“
Wait,” I snapped at the door.

“
Jack, come now,” Holly soon demanded.
I sighed and got up from my chair. “Hold on, Sam.”

I walked into the room and Holly and Ted were glued to the television. A bald man with black-framed glasses and a gray suit stood in front of a podium with the FBI seal in the front. I barely understood what he was saying as I tried to tune out the Mandarin dubbing in the newscast.

“I can’t hear what he’s saying,” I said, lightly shaking my head. “Could you translate, Ted? What does the banner say?”

“
It says ‘pharmaceutical company in Guangzhou terrorized.’ That’s why I called you in,” Ted said.

“
What’s the bald guy saying?” I asked.

“
He’s a Senator and introducing the head of the FBI.”

As the Mandarin dubbing stopped, I could hear the FBI director speak, who wore a black suit, had heavily gelled hair, and a pair of pointy black eyebrows.

Today we have uncovered a plan by a global, possibly anarchist terrorist network who have decided to attack corporate targets across the globe and have also shown a complete disregard for civilian lives.

The cameras snapped away at the finely dressed FBI director, the Mandarin dubbing would kick in during the pauses.

The terrorists have made it known, through our own intelligence gathering, that they are willing to attack soft corporate targets at home and overseas. Two weeks ago, one of Schnell Corporation’s satellite laboratories in Guangzhou, China was razed by these criminals. We have gathered information that suggests they plan to attack in the U.S. as well. These three individuals are now wanting for questioning in the events in Guangzhou.

The director placed a ledger-sized whiteboard on an easel. Large photographs of Holly, Ted, and myself were on full display for the world to see. Holly placed her hand over her mouth and began to sob uncontrollably. Ted sat on the bed, his mouth agape, in shock. Samuel walked into the room and dropped his notepad on the floor as he saw our pictures on the small grainy TV screen.