Luke Irontree & the Last Vampire War (Books 8-10), page 86
“I’ll drain your blood and everyone you know!” Flavius shouted.
Luke brought his rudis into view, and the vampire clamped his mouth shut, his eyes going wide as he stared at the instrument of so many vampires’ deaths. Feeling petty and hateful, Luke slowly lowered the flat of the blade toward the fanger’s face. Flavius tried to turn his head away but couldn’t move much as confined as he was.
Luke let the blade hover for a moment before pressing into the vamp’s cheek. The stench of burnt flesh joined the agonized scream of the man who’d once ruled one of the mightiest empires on earth.
“I’d like to sit here and play with you, but I’m not that cruel of bastard, even if you deserve every bit of this and a whole lot more for what you’ve done to me and to the people of this world.” Luke lifted the blade and stood up, taking a step back.
With his blade, he waved Eusebius forward. The vampire took a hesitant step forward, then another until he was nearly standing next to the man he’d turned into a vampire.
Luke wanted to laugh at the look of betrayal spreading across Flavius’s face.
“Betrayal hurts, doesn’t it, Flavius? You betrayed me and tried to take everything I valued away from me—multiple times. Now you can know I’ve paid you back with all the accumulated interest owed…almost.” Luke looked to Eusebius. “Now, give me the other part of our deal. Give me the location of Saubarag.”
Eusebius winced at the mention of the name.
Flavius, his eyes growing even wider, opened his mouth, his fangs growing long. “Don’t betray the master!”
Luke reached down and swatted him in the face with the flat of the rudis, the blade catching and opening a deep gash in his cheek. Flavius yelped but clamped his teeth shut, his jaw clenching tightly against the pain he no doubt felt. The wound smoked and oozed a dark sludge.
“The location,” Luke barked.
Eusebius looked down at the man he’d served in life and betrayed in undeath, then looked back up at Luke. He licked his lips lightly as he delayed.
“The location. Now!”
The sniper rifle barked out a shot, and Flavius screamed as it slammed into his gut.
For a creature who was nearly whiter than paper, Eusebius paled visibly. “The master is…” He gulped, wetting his lips again. “His altar is in a house north of White Salmon, Washington.”
“And why do I care where his altar is?” Luke asked.
“It’s his base, and he can be called back to it.”
“How?”
“Slit the throat of a vampire and pray for his presence. He will return.”
“You sacrifice one of your minions every time you need to speak with your master?” Luke sounded slightly incredulous.
Eusebius shrugged. “There are plenty, and it’s easy enough to make more. The master likes to remind his children of their place.”
Luke focused on Eusebius. He wasn’t sure how, but he could find no lies in the vampire’s words. The creature was so desperate to survive Luke’s war that he’d betray his own god. Luke snorted, shaking his head.
“How often is the altar moved?” Luke asked.
“Infrequently. It requires too much sacrifice to set up after the move. Additionally, it can only be moved if the master wills it.” Eusebius edged away from Luke slowly, a quarter step at a time, casting furtive glances over his shoulder to ensure his path still remained unblocked and held by his people.
Luke quirked an eyebrow. “Going somewhere?”
“I believe that is everything we agreed upon…”
Raising his rudis, he pointed it at the nervous vampire, then aggressively pointed to the pavement next to Flavius. “I didn’t dismiss you. I have one last thing to address.”
Nodding nervously, he reluctantly took a step forward, returning to the place he’d been only a moment before.
Luke turned around, took a step, before spinning back around. Pointing his rudis at Flavius, he made eye contact with Eusebius. “Don’t watch me. Watch your little protégé. I want you to closely mark the rewards of betraying me and keep them firmly in the front of your mind in case you get an urge to cross me ever again.” Luke waited, but Eusebius stared back at Luke like a mouse caught in the snake’s gaze.
“Look!” Luke ordered.
The old vamp forced his eyes down to the son of the man he’d served, to the man he’d sired into vampiredom. Luke adjusted the aim of his rudis to Flavius but kept his gaze firmly on Eusebius. As Luke concentrated, it sharpened the scowl on his face. Once he felt the connection snap into place between his rudis and the vampire lying bundled up on the ground, the telltale golden thread lit up the face of Eusebius as it slipped from anticipatory to horrified.
Wanting to extend it as long as possible, Luke attempted to throttle down on the draw, straining against his body’s urge to pull the vampire’s energy in all at once. Instead of the standard large globule of golden energy, smaller bits worked their way up the stream, disappearing into the rudis. Flavius screamed. Luke’s scowl shifted to a vindictive grin as the former Roman emperor flecked to dust in small pieces, the night breeze carrying them away from Luke and dusting Eusebius’s black cassock.
As pieces of Flavius’s face sloughed off and blew away, the scream withered into a dusty gurgle until there wasn’t even enough left for that. When the last marble of energy disappeared, the golden connection blinked out, leaving a skiff of dust swirling around the bridge, some of it landing on Eusebius.
“Know my power, vampire, know it and fear it. For if I ever find you again”—he nodded toward the ground—“that will be your fate.”
Behind Eusebius, one of the people in riot gear worked around behind the other escorts. Luke caught Sam’s attention. She nodded before speaking into her radio. A second later, a shot rang out, thudding into the pavement near the quartet.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, but stop moving, or the next shot will be silver and aimed to kill,” Luke yelled.
The cop in the riot gear stopped behind one of the escorts who’d carried up Flavius. He looked down, a ball cap obscuring his face.
“I’d like to alter the deal slightly,” the cop in riot gear called back.
Luke raised his rudis and pointed toward the man. “Who are you to alter this deal?”
Reaching up, he unbuckled the helmet with the facemask and peeled it off, letting it drop and roll behind him. In the blink of an eye, he slung his arm around the cop in the ball cap’s neck, grabbing him in a choke hold.
“Pieter…” Luke whispered.
The other escorts edged toward Pieter. Two more shots rang out. The other figure in the riot gear hit the ground, writhing in pain. The next shot hit pavement, encouraging everyone near it to stop.
Reaching up, Pieter pulled off the ball cap and dragged the head up by the hair. “Hello, little brother. You thought you could escape me by allying yourself with this piece of shit?”
Jan growled, but it was halted as Pieter tightened his grip on his brother’s throat.
Luke, thinking quick, pointed his rudis at Eusebius. “As my associate said, we’re altering the details slightly. We’ll be taking that werewolf with us.”
“There’s no need for that, Luke. We won’t be taking him with us.” Pieter let go of Jan’s hair and something glinted in his hand. Quick as lightning, Pieter dragged the blade across Jan’s neck—the wound hissing and smoking—then pushed him forward enough to create some space. He rammed the blade into his brother’s back and twisted. Jan fell to the ground, landing on his face. A pool of blood spread around his head.
Reaching down, Pieter pulled the knife from his brother’s back and wiped the blade on Jan’s shirt. “Burn in hell.” Pieter spat on Jan’s corpse and walked toward Luke. “And now I shall think on you no more.”
At the far end of the bridge, Luke saw movement. No doubt curious about the sudden outbreak of violence, Eusebius’s people might decide to investigate. Eusebius stared at Jan’s corpse.
Luke snapped his fingers, catching Eusebius’s attention. “We’re done here. Now, run.”
Eusebius shook his head lightly, seemingly dazed. It took a moment before recognition dawned in his eyes as they grew wider, his jaw trembling as he took a stuttering step backwards.
“I said run!” Luke bellowed, pointing his sword toward the vampire.
The old vampire spun around and tripped over his cassock but scrambled up and sprinted away from them. Despite having the appearance of an old man, Eusebius was still a powerful vampire and could muster all the speed of one of his kind. Luke watched him flee, a vicious grin splitting his lips. When the vamp who’d betrayed his god disappeared into the haze of swirling lights and darkness, Luke shook his head, then spat into the last bit of dust left on the bridge.
Roxi slid up next to him, pulling him tightly. “It’s good to see you.” She kissed him. “Thanks for springing me.”
Luke chuckled. “I’m glad you’re free.”
Pieter strode toward them, looking odd in a police uniform.
Luke smiled at his friend, relief at seeing him alive washing over him. “I’m glad to see you. I’ve been worried sick for days, thinking the worst had happened. How did you...” He gestured toward the other end of the bridge the vampires had occupied moments ago.
“I got away in the confusion and took out a cop or someone dressed as a cop and took their uniform. I blended in and followed them back to their base. There are so many unattached werewolves there, no one thought anything about me.” Pieter shrugged but held up his hand to stop anyone from saying anything. “Please, don’t ask me anything else or offer a hug. I can’t right now.”
Luke thought he understood. Pieter hadn’t wanted to be the one who brought justice to his brother. And Luke didn’t want Jan’s blood on Pieter’s hands. But whatever must have transpired since the last time he saw Pieter must have changed his mind. Right now, offered camaraderie and affection would have probably caused the man to lose what little control over his emotions he had right now.
“You three ready to head back?” Sam asked.
“Um, we should probably dispose of the garbage before traffic resumes,” Roxi said, pointing her sword toward Jan’s corpse.
Luke nodded, sweeping the bridge for the downed vampire. The remaining escorts must have picked it up and carried it after their master.
“Roxi, take Pieter back to the cars. Sam and I got this.” Luke sheathed his rudis and started toward the corpse.
Sam handed her naginata over to Pieter, then joined Luke. Together, they grabbed Jan’s body by the ankles and wrists and carried him to the edge of the bridge. They tossed him over the side and let the water claim him. At least in death, he’d feed the wildlife of the Willamette River. Dusting his hands off, he waved Sam after him, and they jogged back to the group.
“All done?” Roxi asked.
He nodded, grabbing her hand, and turned toward the sidewalk on the south side of the bridge. “Sam, send the order to open the bridge for now.”
The swirling red and blue lights on the west side of the bridge began to break up, some taking off in different direction while others turned off, leaving only their head and brake lights to reveal their destinations.
“What about our snipers?” Sam asked after sending the order to their blockade team on the west side of the bridge.
“Let’s keep them in position for now. I don’t want them to be vulnerable on the descent. We’ll give the fangers a few more minutes to make sure they’ve cleared off.” Luke leaned against the railing along the sidewalk, staring off to the east.
“Those were some excellent shots.” Sam chuckled. “I almost jumped out of my skin. That was closer than I like to be to their handiwork.”
“Jung-sook and Connor are exceptionally competent.”
He watched as the last few vehicles he thought were the vampires disappeared. Once he no longer felt even the slightest twinge of the presence of vampires, he gave the order for their snipers to pack up. It wasn’t until the first obviously civilian vehicles crossed the bridge that Jung-sook and Connor appeared, carefully working their way down from the western tower of the bridge along the main cable.
Sam shook next to him. “Blech. That gives me the willies watching them walk down that cable.”
“I sure don’t envy them the round trip,” he mumbled. He knew he should be more nervous about watching his dear friends and packmates in such a precarious position, but mostly he just felt numb. Maybe a bit angry, or more than a bit. Angry and numb. He’d hoped he’d feel relieved or vindicated after ending the seventeen-hundred-year life of one of the most powerful vampires he’d ever met. Flavius was certainly the second oldest—the third oldest, actually, after Eusebius and Cassius—he’d known in life and then as a vampire.
“What’s the matter, Luke?” Roxi asked. “I thought you’d be a bit more excited about getting rid of Constantius.”
“Me too.”
He shook his head. Even though he was a couple centuries older than either Eusebius or Flavius, his old buddy Cassius had never risen higher than what amounted to a middle manager position in the vampire hierarchy. It had been a while since he’d thought about the man who’d been his closest friend in their early days in Emperor Trajan’s legions. Though it made sense. He’d used the same rudis to drain the stolen life force from his former friend just a little further down on the same bridge.
“The symmetry is uncanny,” Luke mumbled.
“What?” Sam asked.
“Oh, nothing much. Just thinking about Cassius and how I killed him”—he pointed down toward the middle of the bridge and a little further east—“just over there. What was it? Five and half years ago?”
“That sounds about right. The winter of 2018.” She sighed. “It’s been a busy five years. I hope we can take a break when we track down your dark god.”
“Yeah. Me too.” If he survived it.
The dark entity—Saubarag—had nearly stripped Luke of his immortal life almost a half dozen times, if he ignored the countless attempts his underlings had made over the nineteen plus centuries he’d been hunting vampires.
He shook his head. “One thousand nine hundred and six years, give or take a few months.”
Sam narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to the side.
“The number of years I’ve been a vampire hunter, Sam. Nineteen centuries.” He gestured toward Roxi. “The same for her since we both signed up for it the same winter.”
“I can’t imagine that length of time doing any one thing, included living. You amaze me sometimes.” Sam reached over and squeezed his shoulder.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure I had much of a choice in the matter.”
“You could have given up. That was always an option.”
“I guess. I almost went out the other way more than a few times. With luck like that, I should have bought a lottery ticket or two.”
Sam chuckled. “I’m not sure being competent at fighting and surviving translates into winning the lottery.”
“Besides”—he gestured toward Sam then toward Roxi—“I think I did pretty good with the lottery that really counts. I am loved and appreciated. I’ve got Gwen and you and Roxi and Maggie and Pab—” A surge of sadness and anger burned in his stomach. “And all my other friends. All in all, I’d say that’s good enough.”
Roxi bumped into him affectionately. “Ah, you say the sweetest things.”
Sam slipped inside his arms and hugged him. “You’re right, Luke. You can’t ask for too much more, and there’s little more you could need.”
“Hey!” Jung-sook called. “A bridge is no place for gratuitous PDA.”
Snorting, Sam shook her head and stepped back. “Gratuitous?”
Jung-sook and Connor chose to shimmy down one of the cables to land on the railing before jumping down to the sidewalk next to Luke, Roxi, Sam, and Pieter.
“Ready to get out of here?” Luke asked.
They nodded, heading toward their getaway vehicles. Pieter tucked in behind everyone, keeping his distance.
“We’ve got plans to make.”
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
The farm’s kitchen table wouldn’t work any longer for their planning needs, so they set up a large tent in the back of the clearing near the farmhouse and the little cabins where the pack’s dispossessed families stayed and the wounded recovered. Room at the farm was at a premium with tents serving to house those who could handle living a bit rougher. The pack’s kids mostly took the tents, enjoying the adventure of it, allowing more adults to take the limited beds. When they were done with the planning session, the tent would be turned into a field hospital.
Luke knew the decisions he made here would determine how busy this tent would be in the coming days. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to make such decisions, far from it, but no matter how many times he’d taken the lives of his troops into his hands, it never got easier.
The last person had filtered in a few minutes ago. He was just waiting for the all clear that there weren’t any eavesdroppers loitering about.
Sam poked her head out of the tent and spoke quickly with someone. “We’re good to go, Luke.”
He stood up and walked around the table he’d been sitting behind. “Thank you all for joining me here. Today is going to be about making tough decisions. Some of you I’ve known for years. Some of you I’ve only met a handful of times. But today, we must come together and create a plan that will ensure not only our survival, but the future of our communities. Look at those around you. These are the people who are going to look out for you and by extension, your people.”
Luke waited until everyone looked around them. Some smiled at familiar faces. Others nodded or exchanged small waves.
“This is going to be the biggest operation we’ve ever attempted, requiring more coordination and using more personnel than at any other time since I started working with the North Portland Pack.”
