Baited Blood (25 page)

The party of four stopped in their tracks.

“Let her go, or I’ll shoot.” From behind a tree stepped Notchey. He moved toward them slowly, his gun aimed directly at Julianne.

Julianne laughed. “I’m a vampire, you fool. You can’t kill me.”

“I can if the bullet hits you directly in the heart.”

“You’re not that good of a shot.”

“You willing to take that chance?”

“Shoot this guy, Notchey,” Madison called to him. “He’s not a vampire.”

Realizing his vulnerability, Coby stepped behind Madison, using her as a shield. He crouched slightly until his head was almost resting on her left shoulder. It was her moment of opportunity.

Whipping out the bloodroot, she hit the plunger, shooting the bright red liquid over her shoulder and directly into Coby’s eyes. He yowled and let go of her.

Madison rushed to Notchey’s side. “They’re the ones who killed Kai.”

Coby was on his knees on the ground. “I can’t see.”

“Quit whining, you crybaby,” snapped Julianne. With her chin, she indicated for Adam to move to Notchey and Madison’s flank. “He can’t shoot us both that accurately.”

Adam followed her instructions and moved to cover their left.

“Unlikely,” admitted Notchey, never taking his eyes off of her. “But you’re the one I’m aiming for, not him.”

Madison held the bloodroot out, aiming it at Adam.

Julianne raised her face and sniffed the air like a dog sensing danger. “She’s got bloodroot, Adam. Don’t let it near your mouth and nose or you’ll go down like a sack of stones.”

Keeping his eyes on Madison, he nodded his understanding.

“The sun’s getting higher,” Madison whispered to Notchey. “They’re going to be getting weaker. Wait them out.”

Adam continued to move in, but still Notchey didn’t take his gun off of Julianne.

It was Adam who made the first move. He rushed Madison and Notchey. Madison ran forward, spraying him with the bloodroot, but the vampire shielded his nose and mouth with his arm and charged her. The two of them went down in a pile, the force of the strike sending them both into the dirt not far from Notchey.

The stronger of the two, Adam untangled himself from Madison and straddled her, pinning her to the ground. Notchey’s eyes flashed between them and Julianne, but he kept his gun on Julianne.

“Don’t worry, Notchey,” Madison called to him. “This creep can’t hurt me. Take out Julianne.”

Adam jumped off of Madison and dove for Notchey’s legs. The blow tumbled the cop to the ground, his head striking a tree trunk as he fell. Julianne and Adam both pounced on Notchey. Before the gun was knocked from his hand, he managed to get off two shots. Both of them hit Julianne, wounding but not killing her. She rolled off of Notchey, whimpering like a hurt animal, and retreated to collect herself.

Madison looked around for the bloodroot, which had been knocked from her hand, but couldn’t find it. Adam sunk his fangs deep into Notchey and began tearing the flesh. Notchey screamed in pain, then went silent. Grabbing a large rock, Madison raised it up and brought it down on Adam’s head. Over and over, she hit the vampire devouring Notchey. Each blow filled the air with a loud cracking noise. When Adam finally rolled off of Notchey and onto his back, Madison grabbed the fallen gun and stood over him. She fired once, surprised by the kick of the pistol. It hit the vampire in the chest but not directly in the heart. Weakened but not dead, Adam snarled and slowly began to rise. She kicked him hard in his jaw and he fell back. Before he could get up again, Madison placed the gun directly over his heart and pulled the trigger. Adam went limp. His eye sockets emptied.

“Get her, you useless piece of shit,” Julianne yelled at Coby. Coby had gotten to his feet and was shaking off the bloodroot’s effect on his eyes. The juice had stained his face red. One look at Adam’s corpse and he took off down the trail.

Julianne let out a scream of anger. The earlier bullets had entered her left arm. It hung by her side limp and useless for the moment. Soon it would be sound again, but Madison didn’t know how long it would take.

Julianne looked at Madison, then at Notchey. “I may not be able to kill you,” she said to Madison, “but I can kill him.” She flashed Madison a sick grin. “And I’m going to make you watch.” She started slowly for Notchey, keeping one eye on Madison and the gun.

Madison moved toward the injured Notchey herself. He was badly hurt and out cold. She fired at Julianne, hitting her in the gut. The vampire yelped and clutched the wound. It didn’t kill her but stopped her long enough for Madison to remove her protective bracelet and slip it onto Notchey’s wrist.

“You’re crazy,” Julianne told her, licking her fangs.

Madison pointed the gun at Julianne. “You want me, bitch? Come get me.”

Julianne slowly started for Madison. “I am going to drain you and use your skin for a flag.”

Madison kept the gun trained on the vampire. Moving off to the side, she drew Julianne deeper into the brush. She wanted them away from Notchey just in case some of her shots went wild. A few more steps back, Madison shifted directions. Julianne followed like a lioness circling her prey.

Once sure Notchey was behind her and the gun, Madison decided it was time to make her move. She knew she’d never hit Julianne directly in the heart unless it was dumb luck. She needed to get close, close like Adam, and make the shot count.

Madison stopped and pointed the gun. She pretended to fire it, but nothing happened. She looked up at Julianne, fright filling her eyes. She didn’t have to fake the fright, it was real even if the gun jamming wasn’t.

Julianne gave off a sinister laugh and moved in closer. Madison pretended to fire again. Nothing. She backed up. Julianne jumped forward, pinning Madison against the tree behind her. She drove her fangs into Madison’s neck. Madison screamed in pain. Julianne pulled back, her lips and teeth covered with Madison’s warm blood. She laughed and took another bite, this one deep.

Latched on to Madison’s neck, sucking her blood hard and fast, Julianne never noticed the gun pressed against her chest or felt the bullet that pierced her heart like a high-speed mini stake.

THIRTY-ONE

N
otchey’s injuries weren’t as bad as Madison had first feared. The amount of blood made it look worse. There was also a knot on his skull from smashing into the tree headfirst.

As soon as she made sure Julianne was dead and Notchey okay, Madison called Samuel’s house and told Byron what had happened. He said he’d get the knacker up there right away.

Jesús arrived in twenty minutes and found Madison and Notchey, weak and exhausted, sitting on the ground against a large tree. With Jesús were two helpers, shovels hoisted over their shoulders. Jesús introduced them as his sons. They looked like regular trail maintenance workers.

“Colin warned me it was going to be a busy day,” the little man told them as he examined the dead vampires. “He asked me to come to the area and wait for a call.” He motioned to his sons, and they started digging in the soft earth under a thick canopy of branches.

“You’re not taking the bodies with you?” Madison asked.

“No need. Their bodies will be gone within two days, even the young vampire’s. We’ll just strip them and bury them deep.”

Madison bent next to Julianne’s body and dug through the pockets of her running pants. She pulled out a set of car keys and took them to Jesús. “There’s a black SUV in the parking lot that these go to. If the other guy hasn’t taken it by now, it will have to disappear. Can you do that for us?”

“Happy to, but there wasn’t any SUV down below. Just two cars, a plain white one and Detective Notchey’s.”

Madison and Notchey exchanged looks. There was no telling where Coby went, but it was Madison’s guess he was heading back to the castle to either gather help or warn the others. She placed a call to Colin, hoping he was able to answer. When he didn’t, she called Dodie’s phone. Again, no answer. Madison feared the worst.

Madison and Notchey stayed until Jesús and his sons were through disposing of the vampires. They were heading for the castle next. Just as they were finishing up, Jesús received a call from Colin.

Relieved, Madison motioned for Jesús to let her have the phone. Having already spoken with Byron, Colin knew what had happened on the trail.

“Colin, be on the lookout for a black SUV driven by a guy named Coby with a red-stained face. He’s a beater, but he’s one of Julianne’s followers. He may be heading your way.”

“He’s already here,” Colin told her. “Drove right up to the front door and into our waiting arms.”

As soon as Jesús left, Madison and Notchey, their arms wrapped around each other for support, slowly made their way down the rest of the trail.

“Where is everyone?” Madison asked, noticing no others on the trail. She’d been too occupied to think about it earlier.

Notchey squeezed the arm he had around her shoulders. “I closed the trail.”

“You what?”

“I didn’t want civilians up here any more than you did.”

When they reached the parking lot, she saw what he meant. Using his vehicle, he’d blocked the entrance and put up a large sign with big handwritten letters: TRAIL CLOSED DUE TO SLIDE.

“If anyone passed by that, they were on their own.”

Notchey walked Madison to her car. “You feel okay to drive?”

She nodded.

“Then you head straight back to Samuel’s,” he ordered, pointing a finger at her. “No going to the castle.”

“Don’t worry, I got the same lecture from Colin. I’m to return to the villa. If I don’t, I’m sure they’ll be calling the knacker for me, and not because of this bite.”

“Did Colin tell you anything about what happened?”

“No. He told me Coby was there and that I was to stay away. That’s it. Then he hung up.”

Notchey shuffled from foot to foot. He seemed reluctant to leave. “Thanks for saving my life,” he finally said. “And for finding Libby.”

“It was purely by accident, Notchey, but I’m very glad she’s back.”

He pulled the council’s bracelet off his wrist and slipped it onto hers. “You must never take that off again, no matter what.”

“I’d do it again if I had to.”

“I know.” With his fingertips, he lightly touched the scratches on her face. She flinched slightly but didn’t pull back. “I’m just telling you don’t.”

His hand moved to the collar on her blood-soaked hoodie. He pulled it back and checked the damage done by Julianne. “Does it hurt much?”

“A bit. How about yours? It looks worse than mine.”

“It hurts like a bitch.”

“You should come back to Samuel’s so Dodie can take a look at that.”

“I should do a lot of things.”

After a short, awkward hesitation, Notchey grabbed the back of Madison’s neck with one hand and pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her with longing. When the kiss ended, he looked into her eyes. “You’re really something, you know.”

“Does that mean something good or something … um …
questionable?”

“Jury’s still out.”

By the time they both drove back to Samuel’s, everyone who’d gone to the castle was waiting for them except for Colin, Doug, and Keleta. The council’s army had been victorious, managing to capture the castle and destroy all the vampires in Julianne’s household. There were only a couple of consorts still on the premises, and they took off as soon as Colin and his small band of troops showed up.

Colin and Doug had remained behind to coordinate the disposal of the vampire bodies with Jesús. Stacie had received a bad injury and was convalescing in one of Samuel’s guest rooms. Dodie happily reported that Stacie would be her old self in a day or so.

When asked about Coby, Samuel informed them that shortly after arriving back at the castle, Coby had managed to escape. All attempts to find him had failed. As he gave the news, the head vampire looked directly at Notchey, expecting a challenge of some kind. He received none. Instead, the detective met his gaze head on. Madison watched the two men exchanging silent information and instantly understood that Coby had been executed by the vampires, though it would never be acknowledged openly. She also understood that Notchey knew it, too.

“What about Keleta?” Madison asked.

Dodie was attending the bites on both Madison and Notchey while Samuel gave them a full report about the castle. He’d already been briefed on the situation with Julianne by Madison.

“Ouch,” Notchey said as Dodie took another stitch to close up the ragged bite he’d received from Adam.

Samuel went to Madison’s side. “Keleta didn’t make it, Madison. He was killed by one of the other vampires.”

Madison was seated at the kitchen table, drinking hot tea Enid had made her. The bites from Julianne had already been cleaned and dressed. Samuel stroked her arm as he gave her the news of Keleta’s death. Across the table, Dodie had stopped working on Notchey to watch Madison.

Madison remembered how it had been just one short week since she’d found Keleta floating in the Dedhams’ pool. One short week—seven very long days.

“He died a hero,” Dodie told her.

Samuel agreed. “Without Keleta, we might not have been able to take the castle so quickly or with so few injuries or fatalities on our side.”

“But he was so young and doing so well.” Tears welled in Madison’s eyes.

“In a couple of days, we will have a memorial service for him,” Dodie told Madison in a comforting voice. “As soon as Jesús has his ashes ready.”

“I was thinking,” added Samuel, “that his ashes should be scattered in the rose garden here at the villa. What do you think?”

Madison shook her head, unable to speak for a moment as emotion engulfed her. “No, Samuel. It’s a lovely gesture and all, but I think his ashes should be scattered in the flower beds surrounding the Dedhams’ pool. That’s where we first met him.”