Dread Nemesis of Mine (45 page)

"Considering all the school I've missed, I'll
probably have a really bad report card, though."

Another laugh escaped her lips, and she shook
her head. "You and that sense of humor." She sighed. Kissed me on
the cheek. "Good bye. For now."

Light flashed, blinding me for a moment, and
before I could say another word, she was gone. I looked around the
dim cavern. At the flickering lights. Maximus's body lay feet away.
Aside from that, I was alone.

Stumbling forward, I found Maximus's pistol
lying on the floor and picked it up. The magazine was empty. I
wasn't sure what lay upstairs. For all I knew the armed men outside
had stormed the place. For all I knew, dead vampires littered the
ground.

A cough echoed in the cavern. A groan.
Maximus rolled over onto his knees and pushed himself up. He saw me
and his eyes went wide. Without pause, he sprang at me with, well,
natural speed. Tripped, and fell flat on his face. When he looked
up at me again, I saw brown irises glaring at me.

"What the hell?" he said, climbing to his
feet and touching his face, his teeth with his hands. "What's wrong
with me?" He charged at me again. I grabbed him by the arm like a
little child and dragged him after me.

"Just shut up," I said, feeling a giddy
delight. It had worked. Holy crap, I'd done it!

I pulled the screaming, cursing, sputtering
non-vampire up the spiral stairs after me toward the booming music
from the sound system upstairs. When I stepped into the main
sleeping chamber, I saw unconscious bodies lying all over the
place. I saw James lying in a puddle of drool and leaned down to
touch him. He was warm, and a pulse beat in his neck.

The vampires around the dancing game were all
out, too. The music shifted from some kind of rap music to a song I
remembered from a movie I'd seen during an eighties movie marathon.
As the words,
Every time you go, away. You take a piece of me
with you
, rang out in the otherwise quiet hall, Elyssa, tired,
hair mussed, and with a very concerned look on her face, appeared
at the doorway. Blood crusted her ear, and she had an automatic
rifle in her hand.

The song seemed oddly appropriate, because a
missing piece slid back into my heart at the sight of her.

Maximus squirmed in my grip. "Let me go you
mother—"

I popped him on the side of the head and let
his unconscious form fall hard on the floor.

Elyssa's eyes grew wide. She dropped the
rifle. Raced for me, slamming me against one of the dividers, and
kissing me until I gasped for breath.

"I thought you were dead," she said, tears
brimming, and in between her kisses, said, "I tried so hard to get
everyone out, but none of the vampires would listen. And then the
noms with guns locked the place down, and all hell broke loose.
Shelton and the others took out the noms guarding the perimeter,
and secured them. Then I came back for you, but this bright light
blinded me, and all the vampires just dropped dead." She took a
breath and glanced at Maximus. "But if Maximus is alive, then—"

"I changed it, Elyssa. The spell—I made it so
it wouldn't kill the vampires, just take away the bit that makes
them vampires in the first place." A sudden terrible though
occurred to me and I looked at her eyes. They burned with their
usual violet intensity. "Do you still have fangs?"

She extended her fangs, and touched one. "I
guess the spell didn't affect dhampyrs."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief, having
completely overlooked that major detail. Even so, the terrible
image of losing Elyssa washed over me. The cure to that awful
thought was another kiss.

"Haven't we done this all before, love?" said
a sultry voice from the doorway.

I turned to see Stacey, a wicked smile
lighting her face. "It feels like it, doesn't it?" I shook my head,
feeling like everything had come full circle. But I knew we were a
long way from the end of all this. I thought of Mom, and my heart
nearly burst with the desire to tell everyone. Now wasn't the time.
"Ash and Nyte?" I asked Elyssa.

"They tried to run, but the other vampires
pinned them down." Her gaze flicked about the large room. "I barely
got out to warn the others." She saw something and raced toward the
speakers near the huge television. Knelt beside a limp form.

A groan sounded nearby, and one of the
vampires—former vampires—sat up, a dazed expression on her face,
and looked at me. She sprang to her feet and promptly face-planted
against a divider when her legs betrayed her. "Wha—what's going
on?"

Seeing her reminded me of the task I'd come
here to complete. I ran to Elyssa. Ash and Nyte were slowly coming
to, confused expressions on their faces. "Elyssa, can I have the
ring?"

She gasped. "In all the excitement, I
completely forgot!" Pulled the ring off her finger and tossed it to
me.

"What's the problem, darling?" Stacey asked
as I ran back for the door to the crypt.

"Uh, keep an eye on these people," I said.
"I'll be right back." I flitted down the stairs and back to the
corpse of Simon Barclay. My stomach tried to turn inside out at the
gruesome scene. Half his head was obliterated, and I didn't even
want to think about the bits and pieces lying around. I took out
the ring. Held it over him. It didn't so much as flicker.

"No," I said, horror swelling in my chest.
"Who else could it be?" I took out one of the diamond-fiber vials
Meghan had given me and held it beneath the dripping wound. I
heaved. Felt bile climbing up my throat. I'd seen so much horror,
it surprised me I still felt this repulsed by a gaping head wound.
Then again, maybe that was something I should be happy about.

The vial sealed itself automatically after
filling, and I tucked it in my pocket. Wiped excess blood off my
hand onto a clean part of Barclay's suit.

Racing back upstairs, my mind hunted for
answers. If Barclay wasn't Felicia's sire, who was? I found
Maximus's unconscious body lying where I'd left him. Held the ring
over him. Nothing. This couldn't be right. I staggered upright,
looking about the room, feeling disoriented and clueless. As far as
I knew, there weren't any other vampires in Maximus's rebellion who
were capable of siring vampires.

Black-suited Templars appeared along with a
team of Custodians. Within an hour they had all of the former
vampires lined up in the middle of the room. The human security
force was taken elsewhere, probably to find out how much they knew
about the Overworld.

Ash and Nyte looked unharmed, though their
eyes were back to a normal hue, and their fangs, like everyone
else's were gone.

Nyte dropped into a chair and propped his
chin on his hands, face glum. "Man, this sucks."

"Tell me about it," Ash said, and slumped on
a couch.

Someone grunted.

Ash jumped up in surprise as a man burst from
his hiding place beneath the sofa cushions and raced for the exit.
Nyte bounced to his feet, grabbed the man by the arm, and flung him
skidding thirty feet down the center of the room. His eyes went
wide as he regarded his hand.

"What the—" He punched a hole in a
divider.

Ash tested his strength on another divider.
They both hooted with joy.

I looked at the former vampires, a terrible
realization hitting me. The spell must have only temporarily taken
away their powers.

Bella stopped what she was doing and
approached the two of them. "Come here, young man."

Ash gave her an uneasy look, but did as she
asked. "You're not going to take it away are you?"

She ran her wand up and down. Her forehead
scrunched in confusion. "How odd." She motioned for Meghan to join
her. "Can you scan him and tell me what you see?"

The other Arcane twirled her wand. Ash winced
as a globule of blood squeezed from a pore. The blood whirled
rapidly, separating into plasma and other fluids. Meghan directed
her wand at the plasma and made a swishing motion. A gentle blue
glow surrounded the plasma. "The serum," she said in a wondering
voice. "It used Justin's blood. The spell must have removed the
vampirism, but left some incubus enhancements."

"I can seduce women?" Ash said, a hopeful
look in his eyes.

Nyte's mouth dropped open, and I could
practically see his head filling with the possibilities.

Meghan shook her head. "No, I don't think so.
You would have shown signs of it before now. Aside from the obvious
strength you've gained, I can't be sure until I run more
tests."

Ash backed away a step. "Tests?"

Bella grinned, holding her wand in a tight
grip. "Oh yes. And anal probes."

Nyte and Ash went white as ghosts.

Meghan rolled her eyes. "Really now, Bella.
Why would I use something small as my wand for anal probes? I use
my staff for that."

I wanted to laugh and enjoy the feel-good
moment, but I couldn't. Felicia weighed far too heavily on my mind.
I pulled Meghan aside. "The ring. It didn't light up around Barclay
or Maximus." Her grin vanished. "But who else could it be?"

I looked up and saw Adam coming our way, his
face daring to express hope. My heart sank at the thought of
dashing his fragile hope to pieces. A buzzing in my pocket startled
me from my thoughts. I pulled out my phone and saw
Unknown
Caller
flashing on my screen. I answered.

"I see you're staying on task, Justin," said
a very creepy, very familiar voice.

My body went rigid. I held up a finger to the
others, and walked closer to the booming speakers. "What do you
want, Underborn?"

"First, congratulations. Yet again, you've
proven yourself quite worthy, young man." I could hear the smile in
his voice.

"Get to the point. Elyssa told me all about
your offer to her, and how you backed out."

"Yes, well, I gave her certain conditions,
and she couldn't meet them in time. I'm sure you understand."

"And you dragged Katie into this mess?" I
huffed out a disgusted breath. "Used her feelings for Ash and Nyte
to get her to spy for you? And then you didn't even lift a finger
to help. You're a slimeball. A cowardly piece of sh—"

"Now, now, Justin," he said, the amusement
gone from his voice, replaced by a calm, cold tone. "Perhaps you've
forgotten the key."

"You didn't mean for Elyssa to get that," I
replied. "And when she did, you lied about it."

"Actually, I knew if I gave it to her, she
would be suspicious of the gift."

"Damned right."

"But my reasons were not entirely selfless, I
must admit." Underborn chuckled, as if he'd just cracked an amusing
joke. "You see, the Relics of Juranthemon sense each other. They're
drawn to each other. But they also have minds of their own, it
seems. Though I knew another of the relics was near, the key
refused to draw me any closer. I suspected you had found another
Relic. The one I have been hoping to find for years. You have the
map."

I almost laughed into the phone, and pulled a
"Nyah nyah, you can't have it" on him, but miraculously stopped
myself. "The only map I have is from Triple-A. I know which map
you're talking about, though. Elyssa told me all about your little
conversation." It occurred to me that Underborn hadn't just made
idle conversation about the map. He had
known
it might be
nearby thanks to the key. That bastard did everything for a
reason.

Underborn sighed. "Justin, I know you have
the map. And even if you have another of the relics instead, they
will lead me to the map eventually." He paused. "I would like the
ey back and the map."

This time, I did laugh. "Screw you. You gave
Elyssa the key. She's keeping it."

"I propose an exchange."

"Can I have my life back?" I asked. "Or how
about a scholarship to MIT?"

He chuckled. "The second could easily be
arranged, though I doubt you'd have much time to enjoy a higher
education. No, I have something far more valuable, but time is
ticking away before the value of this gift expires."

"Did you buy me an ice cream cone?"

"As usual, young man, I have something far
more valuable. Information. But this time, I went a step further.
The item my information would have led you to is here. If you meet
me in five minutes, I will give you that which you seek."

"And what is that?"

"Felicia's sire."

My grip tightened around my arcphone.
Thankfully, it was a lot stronger than the nom version, and didn't
crack under the strain. "Who is he?"

"The correct pronoun would be 'she', Mr.
Slade. I will send you a text with a location. You have five
minutes to reach the location with the map and key. If I see anyone
besides you and your girlfriend, I will vanish. Your friend Felicia
will die. Do we have a deal?"

I wanted to roar with frustration.

Instead, I pulled the map and key from my
pockets. Stared at them. Using them, figuring out how to make them
function together could give us a huge upper hand. We could strike
at the enemy from any direction. Go straight where they lived and
stop them in their tracks. Each one was priceless. Together, they
were even more priceless-er. I glanced over at Adam. Saw the pain
in his face as Meghan spoke with him. Saw the hopelessness take the
life right out of his expression.

I could just keep the map. Never tell him
about this conversation with Underborn. Dammit, we needed every
advantage in this conflict, war, whatever the hell you wanted to
call it. Giving up the relics meant doing things the hard way. But
saving a life—saving Felicia—that would be doing things the
right
way.

"Deal," I said, my voice rough with
anger.

I hung up and went over to Elyssa.

Adam, his eyes red, put a hand on my
shoulder. "Thanks, Justin." He choked up. "You—you put it all on
the line for Felicia, and I'll never forget that." He turned and
punched a divider. Dropped his forehead against it. "If I had
listened to her. Talked to her, I might actually know who her sire
is. I could have saved her. Now it's—it's over."