Excerpt
“Help!”
A
woman’s scream pierced the night and all thoughts of sleep fled as adrenaline
pumped through my body. I sprinted down
the street in the direction of the woman’s cry, scanning the sidewalks and
alleyways, and listening for any sign of trouble.
“Please,
somebody help me!”
The
voice was weaker now, but I nodded to myself, suddenly sure of where the attack
was taking place. I put on more speed,
vaulted over a metal railing, and raced down the embankment toward the
canal. The woman’s scream had come from
beneath the bridge—the same bridge that hid the mouth of the sewer tunnel with
the bloody grate and magically warded door.
I
palmed a silver combat knife and a wooden stake as I ran, a fierce snarl
curling my lips. I was not going to
allow another vampire kill. Not on my
watch.
Heart
pounding, I eyed the narrow ledge leading into the dancing shadows beneath the
bridge. There was no way I could make my
way across that expanse of moss slick stone without discarding my weapons.
“Damn,”
I muttered.
I
shoved the wooden stake into a loop in my battle skirt and bit down on the
silver knife, holding it between my teeth.
I’d need both hands free to make the climb to the bridge. If I was dealing with vamps, I’d rather lead
with the stake, but there was a chance that this was a mugging or rape. Vampires weren’t the only monsters that
preyed on the weak.
It
would be foolish to bring a stake to a knife fight. Everyone knows that.
Shoulders
tight, I shimmied across the ledge. I
was exposed, vulnerable, but the whimpering sound ahead of me kept me
going. As my foot hit the wet platform
with a splash, a clawed hand grabbed my leg in an iron grip.
My
attacker wasn’t human.
I
slashed out with the silver knife and the hand retreated, leaving behind a
searing pain in my calf where the creature’s talons had punctured flesh. Working fast, I retrieved the wooden stake
and, with a flick of the wrist, turned on my flashlight and tossed it into the
shadows. The flashlight spun,
illuminating a crumpled heap near the iron grate and three vampires: one to my
left, one to my right, and one scuttling along the ceiling like a cockroach.
It
was a goddamned ambush.
I
didn’t know if the woman crumpled on the ground was still alive or not. Her cries had ceased, but there was nothing I
could do for her at the moment. I was
too busy trying to stay alive.
I
spun to the left, slashing upward with the silver knife. The vamp on the ceiling hissed and scuttled
to the right, giving me some breathing room.
I shivered, my subconscious mind reeling in horror. These vamps weren’t even bothering to
maintain a glamour. Instead of being
drop dead gorgeous, these guys were just dead—as in mummified.
Skin
the color and texture of dried parchment was stretched tightly over skeletal
bodies that moved with an insectile, alien grace, but their grinning faces were
the worst. I’ve seen a lot of monsters
during my time as a Hunter, but there’s something about the fanged, rictus grin
of a vampire that gives a girl chills—and not the romantic kind.
As
soon as a vampire dies its first death, their body begins to dehydrate. It’s part of what makes them appear so
monstrous in their true form. There’s
just something nauseating about seeing such a grotesque caricature of a human
moving around animated with life.
These
vamps with their empty eye sockets and gaping sinus cavities were a prime
example. As a vampire’s body
deteriorates, the soft tissue is the first to go, which makes for some butt
ugly vampires. Drinking blood helps, but
nothing can fully restore life, not even necromancy. Vamps are nothing more than dried up, walking
corpses.
Too
bad their desiccated bodies don’t slow them down.
If
I was going to survive this, I’d have to out think my opponents. I feigned a minor stumble, and the vamp on my
left didn’t hesitate. The monster lunged
in, fangs bared, the hollow pits of his eyes intent on my jugular. One, two, three…
He
closed the distance and I thrust the wooden stake up beneath his ribcage and
into his chest cavity. The vamp froze,
completely paralyzed, and I knew I’d staked him through the heart. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would keep him
out of the fight until I had the time to finish him off—and add his fangs to my
necklace.
I
grinned, showing my own small, white teeth.
“Okay,
boys,” I said. “Who’s next?”
I
drew my sword, now glad I’d worn my hunting gear to my visit with the
rusalka. I’d had a feeling I might need
my favorite blade. I guess I was right.
Lightning
fast, the vamp struck. One second he was
circling to my right trying to flank me, and the next he was tearing away a
chunk of my flesh. The iron and silver
coated steel boning of my corset deflected the worst of the attack, but one of
his talons managed to slash through the space between.
I
heard the sizzle of his claws, knowing the silver was eating away at the tips
of the talons that scored across my abdomen and flank. I let out a satisfied grunt, but the zing of
pleasure was premature.
Hot
blood leaked from my side and the two vampires shrieked in hunger. Shit.
The blood was stirring them into a feeding frenzy. I had to end this now, or I’d be the body
they’d find in the canal tomorrow.
I
drove my sword through the air, separating the vampire’s head from his
body. The creature continued to cling to
the ceiling for a moment, but when the head hit the cement with a meaty thud,
both pieces of the beast burst into ash.
The
sound of the vamp’s falling head still echoed throughout the chamber beneath
the bridge as ash fell like grisly snow.
The remaining vamp and I warily circled each other, searching for a
weakness. Vampires like to play with
their food, but I didn’t kid myself.
Saliva was dripping from his elongated fangs and a leathery tongue
darted out to lick dry, papery lips.
If
I gave this one the opportunity, he’d go straight for the kill.
I
struggled to keep my sword up and shifted my weight to allow for the wounds in
my leg and side. I swallowed hard and
grit my teeth. Every move tugged at the
edges of the gash in my side, making it burn and bleed.
My
knuckles whitened as I increased the grip on my sword, readying for the kill.
“Jenna!”
a familiar voice cried out. “Behind
you!”
I
dropped to the ground and rolled, never hesitating. As I came to my feet, I faced not one vamp,
but two. A female, judging from the
sagging breasts, had joined the party. I
flicked my eyes to the ground where the “victim” had been curled up just
moments before.
The
woman was gone.
“You
smell delicious, ma chérie,” said the female vampire.
Oh
yeah, this had been a trap from the very beginning.
Anthony Bowling
