Dark Light of Mine (39 page)

I raced back outside, put the battery in the phone, and turned it on.  Elyssa took it and dialed a number.  After several rings, a woman's voice answered.  I eavesdropped with my super hearing.

"Mom?" Elyssa said.

"Elyssa?"  Leia's voice was filled with relief.  "Where have you been?"

"No time for that now.  Someone is trying to kill you."

"You mean that idiot with the gun in the parking lot?  I knocked him out and cuffed him.  He's a sheriff's deputy, of all things.  What's going on?  How did you know about this?"

"I—I don't know exactly.  They were trying to kill Justin and—"

A long sigh sounded.  "Honey, I love you, even after what you did to me.  Don't you think it's time to end this childishness and come home?"

A tear trickled down Elyssa's face.  She wiped it away angrily.  "Mom, I love you.  Goodbye."  She ended the call and stared at the phone, her eyes red with grief.

A sick gurgling noise rose from Brad as he struggled to rise.  The life was gone from his eyes, but not from his body.  I shuddered as his zombified remains jerked and went into spasms.

"Help me," came a gasp as Mortimer, his body riddled with bullets and head dangling to the side, emerged from the building.  "Please.  End it."

Elyssa gasped and backed away.  "Brad infected them.  We can't leave these bodies like this.  We have to burn them."

The school bell clanged and within seconds, students poured outside and into the back parking lot as teachers led an exodus toward the far gates leading off the school property.  Sirens sounded in the distance.

"Someone else must've heard the gunshots," I said.  "They're evacuating the school.  How are we going to burn the bodies here?"  I glanced at the nearby buildings and bleachers.  Everything was made of brick, concrete, or metal.

"I may have a solution," Underborn said as he appeared from behind the building.  He whipped out a long silver blade and sliced Mortimer's head clean off, ending the pleas of the suffering vampire.  I gagged and fought back the nausea clawing up my throat.

Underborn patted me on the back.  "It would be best if you saved that for later."

I threw up anyway.

He sighed.  "I have quicksilver, Elyssa.  Would you be so kind as to help me administer it?"

"Real quicksilver?  Do you have enough?"

"I raided a Templar armory some time ago and keep a supply in my vehicle at all times.  I'll be right back."  He raced away at supernatural speed and returned moments later with several six-inch darts.  He handed Elyssa several.  "Since I don't have a dart gun handy, simply jab the victim with the dart and depress the plunger on top just like a hypodermic needle.  That should do the trick."  He handed one to me.  "Are you up to it?"

I nodded and took one from him.  The burning sensation in my neck had subsided by now.  I hoped the bullet hadn't lodged inside my healing flesh.  Unfortunately, time was too short for me to worry about it.  "How is this supposed to work if they're dead?"

"Quicksilver feeds on the infection in the blood.  Whatever you do, don't get any on you.  It can have rather adverse effects on supernatural blood."

His words failed to reassure me, but I took my dart and went to Brad's struggling form.  I pressed his body down with one foot and, choking back another gag, stabbed the dart into his back and pressed down the plunger.  Wormy black veins squirmed like parasites beneath his shredded T-shirt.  The black suddenly gave way as silver flashed through them, devouring the darkness.  Tiny mercurial tendrils raced across the blood on his shirt and arced from his shirt to nearby globs of blackened blood on the ground.

Brad's body convulsed.  I jumped back as the black blood oozing from his bullet wounds flashed silver.  Within seconds his body lay still.  The silvery substance seemed to lose its form as whatever it fed on was consumed and evaporated from his wounds, leaving behind a mess of coagulated but otherwise normal-looking blood.

Elyssa and Underborn treated the other bodies and what was left of the sheriff with the other darts.  I remained outside, unwilling to see any more of the aftermath of Brad's rampage.  Something rubbed against my leg.  I leapt into the air with a shout only to realize it was Nightliss.  The black shiny thing I'd seen earlier dangled by a cord from her mouth.  She dropped it at my feet.  I picked it up and realized it was a small recorder of some sort.

I clicked play and heard the sheriff as he threatened me earlier.  "Who gave you this?" I asked her, looking around for Stacey.  She meowed and purred as I scratched behind her ears.

"Time to go," Underborn said as he and a very pale-faced Elyssa emerged from the building.  "Unfortunately, I don't have any dissolution matrix or I'd get rid of the bodies altogether.  The quicksilver has taken care of the vampling infection, but we don't want to be anywhere near this scene when the authorities, such as they may be, arrive."

He'd get no argument from me.  I scooped up Nightliss and the three of us dashed across the football field, hurdling the tall chain link fence at the back.  We ran the heavily wooded perimeter of the school, using the bare trees and bushes to hide us the best we could until we were able to blend into the tail end of the evacuating student body.

Mortimer's tortured face and broken neck flashed into my mind and my stomach roiled.  It was one thing to fight anonymous vamplings but something far more horrible to watch people I knew devolve into mindless zombie creatures even if they were complete jerks.  Killing them—well, I didn't want to think about that part. 
It's not murder, it's self-defense,
I thought.  But the images were seared into my brain.

What happened when Maximus recruited hundreds more like Brad?  Were we looking at the zombie apocalypse thanks to this world-class asshole?  His recruiters didn't have a clue what Maximus intended.  If Felicia was any indication, they thought he had a cause.  But the truth seemed pretty evident to me.  Their fearless vampire leader only cared about his own power and glory.  Everyone else was just a tool.  Someone had to stop him.  But why did Underborn want me to do it?  I had more important responsibilities.

"There are two more vampire recruiters in the school," I told Underborn.  "Lauren and Tammy."

"The freckled girl with dark brown hair and her blonde friend?"

I thought back, recalling their features and nodded.  "How do you remember that?"

He tapped his temple.  "Someone in my line of work remembers all the little details."  He pursed his lips.  "They did an excellent job of masking themselves.  I would never have guessed."

"I've fulfilled my part of the agreement," I said.  "Clear the bounties and leave my father alone."

"Done," he said, pulling out his smartphone and tapping on it.  "I've sent a message to my person who works the bounty boards.  His name will be removed by the end of the day."

One huge weight lifted from my chest.  But another remained, a stubborn lump of stress that wouldn't go away until I forced it to.  "You need to stop Maximus," I said.  "He's just going to keep doing this over and over again until we're overrun with vamplings.  Even if you get rid of his recruiters, it won't stop him from sending more.  It won't keep other schools safe."

Underborn nodded but I could have sworn I saw the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.  "Just as I told you, Justin."

"You
knew
this would happen," I said in a growl.  "Did you engineer everything?  Did you arrange it so Maximus would infect Brad, you sick son of a bitch?"

He shook his head.  "I had nothing to do with this remarkable turn of events, although I must admit I was toying with the idea of arranging something similar which would force you to engage Maximus."

I stopped dead in my tracks, Elyssa halting beside me.  We both stared at the man, me with a mix of horror and rage.

"What kind of monster are you?" Elyssa said, beating me to the punch.

"I am a man of necessity, my dear.  One who will do what it takes to make sure our world as we know it survives."

"Maybe you didn't hear me," I said, resisting the urge to attack the assassin in full view of the other students. "I said
you
need to do it.  Maximus isn't just my problem.  What he's doing will affect the Overworld and noms alike."

Underborn resumed a steady march behind the other students, and we followed.  "I've already explained why I cannot involve myself.  My hands are tied.  But the information you've given me will point me toward the vampire who is turning people into vampires for Maximus since he's obviously incapable of it himself."

His statement jarred a memory loose.  "Ryland tested Felicia, one of Maximus's people.  She told me that he'd personally turned her.  But Ryland's test pointed to a vampire over two-hundred years old."

"Interesting."  Underborn folded his arms.  "I must test the blood of these female recruiters of his and see if the same blood master turned them as well.  Such information will certainly narrow things down."  He peered through the crowd a moment before turning back to me.  "In the meantime, I suggest you think about ways to personally take care of Maximus."

"I'm done with your games.  You take care of him."

"No doubt you wish to find your mother."

I feigned surprise.  "Your powers of deduction are legendary."

He returned a tight smile.  "You'll never reach her, you know.  Not without my help."

"This is the part where you tell me to go after Maximus in exchange for that information, right?"  I slashed the air with my hand.  "Forget it.  I'll figure it out on my own."

"You can be a rather obstinate young man."  Underborn shrugged.  "Have it your way, but know my information could greatly shorten your search.  All you need do is take care of Maximus and his mysterious benefactor."

"You put a hit on my father just to 'test' me," I said making air quotes, "and then forced me to do more dirty work for you."

"I am the archer, and you are my arrow, Mr. Slade.  I see nothing wrong with a little inducement."

I ground my teeth.  "Has anybody told you you're insane?"

"Not to my face, no."  He smiled.  "Mr. Slade, you've helped immeasurably.  By aiding me, you are helping yourself.  Removing Maximus from this complicated equation will help you even further and possibly expose his accomplice.  Do I need to write this down for you, or can you reason out the ramifications yourself? "

I bit back a smart response and replaced it with another.  "In case you've forgotten, I'm brand-spanking new to this while you've been doing it for who knows how long.  So don't patronize me and don't expect any favors, either.  What I do, I do for those I care about, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say about you. "

"My reasons are my own, Mr. Slade.  In any case, I suggest you keep a low profile for the time being.  There will be many questions over the next few days and, considering the corruption in this despicable little community, a political catharsis shortly behind.  You will not want to be caught up in this scandal."

Nightliss meowed as if to remind me of the recorder.  I pulled it out and showed it to Underborn.  "Good thing I recorded everything that happened in the locker room."

Surprised flickered on his face and vanished almost before it could register.  "Interesting foresight, Mr. Slade.  I'm surprised they didn't search you."  He gave me a meaningful look.  "I assume nothing we've discussed is on this recorder."

I tucked it away and recommenced walking well behind the other students as the long line trundled across the school campus and across the nearby highway.  "You think I'm dumb enough to record us and then show you the recorder?"

"In that case, might I suggest you make several copies?"

"I already planned on it."  Actually, I hadn't, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing a cat had thought things out better than I had.

Elyssa poked a finger into a hole on the front of my shirt next to my neck.  She grabbed my arm and looked at my back.  "Oh my god, Justin!  Were you shot?"

I'd almost forgotten about my wound in the panicked minutes following Skinner's attempt on her life.  "I guess so.  Did it heal?"

She inspected my skin, pressing a hand to my back and chest.  "Looks like the bullet made a clean exit."  Her eyes softened.  "You took a bullet for me."

"Did I earn brownie points?"

"Uh, that's off the brownie points scale, even if you can heal fast."  She quirked an eyebrow.  "I'll have to get creative with my rewards."

Heat flushed up my neck as my imagination ran wild.  I quickly reigned in my erotic thoughts because I wasn't finished grilling Underborn just yet.  "What's quicksilver?" I asked him.  The only quicksilver I knew of was mercury.  If killing vamplings was that easy, I'd carry the stuff everywhere with me.

He stepped around a car parked at the curb, his eyes on the disorderly line of students ahead.  "Think of it as a deadly supernatural poison."

"So a dart of the stuff could kill me or Elyssa?"

He shook his head.  "No, such a small amount would severely sicken a vampire or dhampyr.  For you, it would do far less damage.  At least a pint is required to kill a full-grown subject."

"But the vamplings—"

"It has a far different effect on them due to the infection in their bloodstream.  For some reason, quicksilver has a violent reaction to the vampling virus, making it highly effective at eradicating the infection."

We reached the four-lane road bordering the high school and crossed, heading for a large church parking lot across the road.  "Where do I get this stuff?"  I had a feeling Maximus wasn't through making vamplings.  Sick dread coiled in my stomach as I thought about the potential damage the vampling virus could do if unleashed on an unsuspecting population.

"It's extremely hard to find anywhere.  Ancient alchemists were said to have the knowledge to manufacture it, but now all we have are rare geological deposits and the few Templar repositories which still have meager stocks."  He raised an eyebrow.  "As a matter of fact, there were known deposits of this substance located at Thunder Rock."