Exsanguinate (33 page)

I
grabbed
Beano’s leash and headed to the lanai. “C’mon, big fella.”

Once out the door, I ran to the boat dock with blood running down my face.

Unholy hell! Khaldon is the father of my sister’s baby? My Roxas - Sheridan’s baby daddy? I can’t feckin’ believe this! I love my sister and I love Khaldon, but this … this is just too much! How in the hell am I going to look at him again? How did this happen? Why did it have to be Khaldon? Is he secretly a part of this hideous plan? Can I really trust this guy?

I picked up a stone from the walkway and threw it into the lake. I heard loud shouts coming from inside Torchy’s house. I guess they were as happy about all this as I was.

There has to be an explanation. This is crazy talk. Sheridan doesn’t need this. She needs rest. I need to take care of her. So what happens now? Do they have to become a couple in order to raise this child? I can’t handle this. Do we raise this baby together? Oh my God, this is seriously whack.

I paced back and forth and threw a few more rocks into the water. My heart ached with each plunk. I heard Sheridan crying for everyone to stop shouting.

Get over it, Cheyenne. You need to take care of her. You can figure this out later, but right now, you need to take care of her and stop this selfish pity party.

I ran back to the house with Beano at my feet. As I opened the door I heard Torchy shouting.

“What the hell, mate? You’ve got to be stark raving mad to believe that crock. This is seriously banjanxed.”

“None of it makes any sense.” Khaldon threw his hands up in the air. “I’m not any happier about this than you are. How do you think I feel about it?”

“Just because your name’s on the medical record doesn’t mean it’s true,” Briggs said.

“We could do a paternity test,” Harris said.

“Stop it! All of you. Just stop it. I want to go home!” Sheridan screamed at everyone.

We turned to look at her. I stole a glance at Khaldon. The corners of his own eyes were stained with crimson. Torchy’s entire body glowed a fiery heat. Briggs leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, lips tight. Harris stood closest to Sheridan reaching out to her. He dropped his arm back down to his side and looked at me.

Think, Cheyenne. What do you need to do? Forward Action.

“It’s okay, Sher. Just relax.”

Sheridan started to shake.

“Whoa there, c’mon sit down. Everything is gonna be all right. We’re all family here. Regardless of the hows and the whys, let’s go home and try to gather some perspective on this. We’ll get to the bottom of this, just not tonight.”

“I still don’t think it’s a good idea if you go to your …”

I shot Khaldon an
eat shit and die
look. Irritation crawled under my skin the more I thought about this new development. The possibility Sheridan could be pregnant with his twins – this was more than I expected, or wanted. Khaldon looked away from me.

“I think this is all great and wonderful.” Briggs pushed off from the wall and walked toward Khaldon. “We’re going to have a couple of bambinos running around soon, but right now we need to figure out how we’re going to get Dakota.”

Sheridan stood up and walked outside and out onto the boat dock. Khaldon touched my shoulder as I started to follow her. “Maybe we should give her a few minutes to digest everything.”

Briggs was right. We had time to work through this, and I certainly didn’t need this distraction today.

What would Lady Caz do right now?

I bit at my lower lip, and plopped back down into my chair. “What’s the status with the rescue operation? Did you find a place to accommodate most of the women?” Khaldon, Briggs, and Harris looked at one another and then either down at their feet or out the window. “What now? Didn’t Lord Stovall say that he had a place they could go? I can’t take anymore shockers, guys.”

Khaldon took a deep breath and blew it out in a long, slow blow. Obviously they were hiding something from me. “Where’s Ludovic? Shouldn’t he be with you?”

“Ludovic is being watched by my pack,” Harris said. “He’s not getting away with anything. In fact, I think he’s had a few good bites from them.”

“There was an unexpected development last night. It is taking longer for about seven women to get moved.” Khaldon cricked his neck from side to side. “Chey, they’ve been there for four years and have given birth to over a dozen dhampirs. We can’t just unplug them. We’ll kill the life support sustaining them.”

I sat still, blinking at this news. “I can’t imagine the horror these women have lived through.”

Sheridan walked in the door. “What do you mean, they’ve been there for four years?” She pressed her hands onto the small of her back and pushed her hips forward. “Gah, my back is killing me.”

“Here, let me rub it for you.” I walked over to Sheridan and helped her lean over the couch. I tried to give her a wry smile, but I felt like a ninny because it wasn’t fooling even me. “Okay, Sheridan, I’m just gonna tell ya. You’re not the only woman this has happened to. Last night we discovered 146 other women in various states of pregnancy. Some of them we cannot move because they’re dependent on the life support systems because they’ve been there for four years.”

“They could give birth any time now and it’s just too delicate to unhook and remove them from the life support,” Khaldon said. “Ludovic has to be there to help us. If we don’t wait, we’ll end up killing both the mothers and babies.”

“But why? Won’t they eventually come out of the induced coma if you remove the drugs?” Sheridan asked.

“This might be a little tough to handle. Do you want to sit down?” Briggs asked. His burly presence seemed to reassure her, and she nodded. But instead of sitting, she walked to the window and looked out over the water.

“We discovered from the records that these women were among the first to arrive when the facility was set up. They haven’t been conscious since before they arrived,” Briggs continued. “If we try to remove them from the life support, they might go into premature labor. If they do come out of the coma, can you imagine what is going to happen to the women? They’ll be insanely scared and might flat line anyway. It’s a bad situation all the way around.”

“Oh my God, that’s terrible. I hate them. How could they be so horribly cruel?” I remembered I needed to keep it together for Sheridan. “Okay, so it’s risky to move them. What happens if the Priestess comes back and sees her other breeders gone? What’s going to happen then? Will she kill those women?”

“Ludovic doesn’t seem to think so, but we’re planning on having surveillance around the clock.” Harris grabbed for his fifth donut. With a full mouth he said, “We know he’s anxious to find Dakota. The problem is, Ludovic says it’s time for the Priestess to visit. She comes every two weeks to pick up sucklings and fly them back to South America.”

“What I want to know is this ...” Torchy gulped down a swig of coffee. “I saw in the computer interface that this facility is numbered. Number 42. Does that mean there are forty-one other places like this around the world doing the same thing? Are there more?”

No one spoke. I processed the hideous image of buildings upon buildings of these helpless souls being destroyed to placate this vampire Queen.

“Dude, I can’t even go there right now,” Briggs spoke up again. “All I know is we need to get Dakota back tonight, and I don’t care what it takes. She can’t go on like this. There has to be a way we can curb this blood lust of hers.”

Sheridan walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her without saying a word. Moments later, we heard her retching her breakfast into the toilet. Torchy got up to fetch some clean towels and a glass of cool water for when she came out.

“Khaldon, didn’t you tell me there two kinds of Solunarae blood?” I asked.

“Yes, there is a lunar and a solar. Why?”

“Ludovic said she was given the lunar blood right?” He nodded. “What would have happened if he’d given her the solar blood?”

“I honestly don’t know what effect the solar blood would have on a human.” He shook his head. “The lunar blood had killed so many, I don’t know if the solar blood would have done just the same.”

“What does the solar Solunarae blood do?” I asked.

“It gives vampires the ability to have a stronger daylight exposure, if their dynamic doesn’t allow it. A few times of year when I know I need extended hours in the daylight, I’ll arrange to ingest the solar blood. But primarily, I work with my diet and make sure I get plenty of vitamins and enzymes to help absorb all the nutrients I can. It’s damn expensive and the Solunarae do not part with it easily. That’s one reason so many vampires are destined for the night. If they can’t afford it, if they don’t have the dynamic from their maker, and if they have a crap diet, then they can’t handle the sunlight.”

“The Solunarae are a protected race,” Briggs spoke up. “I believe everything is brokered through Kalina, descendant of the Goddess Kali and you don’t want to mess with her. She’s got bad news written all over her.”

“Legend has it, it’s how the werewolf creatures evolved,” Khaldon explained.

“I’ve never heard that!” Harris snapped his head toward Khaldon.

“Have you ever asked about the Weres origins?” Khaldon asked.

“Not really. I figured it was just the way things were.”

“Precisely. Like I said, it’s a legend, but oftentimes what is born of legend is truth.”

“What would happen now if we gave the solar blood to Dakota? Would it turn her into a daytime blood demon?” I pressed. “Or could it reverse some of the effects it has had on her for a short period of time? Could it weaken her? Would it make her a nicer demon? Is that even a possibility? Reverse the demon with the right blood? The way doctors can regulate conditions with the right type of medication?”

“She’s got a point, Rox.” Torchy walked back out onto the lanai and grabbed another donut. “What if the reason Dakota is killing so much is not because of being deranged, but because she’s hungry? Didn’t Ludovic say that’s why she’s killing? What if the Solunarae blood is the only thing that can satisfy her thirst?”

“Exactly, Torch! What if we lured her back to the facility tonight with the Solunarae blood? Briggs, do you think you could fly in close enough to Dakota to have her follow you?” I asked.

Sheridan emerged from the bathroom pale as a ghost. Torchy helped her to sit back down and gave her the glass of water. She seemed a bit embarrassed. “Okay, I’ve been listening while tossing my cookies. So let me get this straight. First of all, I’m not having a bad dream and I’m really pregnant.” We all nodded at her.

Sheridan continued, “Secondly, all this crap about this blood demon shit is real? And you are seriously considering baiting her with this solar blood stuff?”

It wasn’t very often I heard my sister cuss, so I was actually rather taken aback at her candor.

“Yes, Sheridan. I know this is totally whack, but that’s the plan so far. Dakota has been the one killing people just to survive. She can’t help what they have turned her into any more than I can change who I am now.”

Sheridan nodded.

I continued, “She was supposed to be like you are now, but Ludovic was, slash, is, still in love with her and he couldn’t handle her becoming comatose, so he turned her into a vampire.”

Briggs growled. I turned to look at his face. For a black man, he was redder than a boiled crawfish set out to cool on the Sunday newspaper. “Down boy – we have to keep Ludovic alive, remember? He has the only connection to her right now. Even though I hate to admit it, truthfully, he’s the best one qualified to help Sheridan when the twins are born.”

“Twins?” Sheridan stood up and ran towards the bathroom once again.

Crap. Way to go, Cheyenne.

I watched her close the door. “Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do.”

W
hen we arrived
at the facility, we found Ludovic chained to a snarling werewolf. Ludovic stood up and blew out a long breath when we entered the control room. “I’m so glad you’re finally here. Mr. Chompers and Mr. Hyde here have barely let me move.” He pointed towards the two werewolves assigned to watch him. One human, and one in wolf form.

“You mean Frank and Kyle?” Harris pointed to the guards.

“Thought those names were kinda funny.” Kyle laughed.

I noticed how Ludovic’s shirt appeared to have several claw marks ripped through it. “Has the Priestess sent any communications?”

“Yes. That’s why we sent the message to Harris for you all to get here, quick,” Kyle continued. “Didn’t think you’d want Mr. Idiot here to be contacting anyone.”

Ludovic glared at the guy. “She sent a text wanting to know if there were any sucklings ready to pick up.” He pointed toward the computer. “I’m afraid if I don’t contact her soon, she’s going to get suspicious and come anyway.”

“I don’t like it,” Briggs said. “But he’s got a point. If we don’t maintain an appearance of normalcy, it could raise a few red flags.”

“I agree. If we do nothing, it could cause more harm than good,” Sheridan said.

I took a silent vote and looked at everyone. All heads nodded in agreement, including Khaldon.

“All right, Ludovic. Who has your phone so I can text her back and tell her there aren’t any babies ready.” I took the phone from Kyle. “Tell me exactly what she needs to know.”

The text was sent. A few minutes later, we received a standard text reply from the Priestess of ‘
keep me informed
.’

I responded
‘okay’
in a text message back to her. “It looks like the communication worked. Hopefully we were able to postpone her visit.”

“Thanks, Frank, Kyle. I appreciate you keeping him under control and contacting us the way you did.” Harris relieved his pack mates. “I’ll take over for a while.”

“No worries, man. Frank got in a few good bites.” Kyle grinned. “C’mon, Frank, let’s go get some grub.”

Frank snarled at Ludovic one more time, and then gave Harris a paw to fist bump before he padded out of the room.

“We should have enough time to attract Dakota here tonight and try to see what changes we can bring on. But there’s no guarantee she’ll come back here. What are you planning to do?”

“Leave that part to me. For now, we need access to the Solunarae blood,” I said.

“I’m afraid that’s not a very bright idea. Who are you planning to give it to? You’ve seen what it has already done to her.”

“I am exceptionally clear about what you and your brother have done to my family.” I spoke through clenched teeth. “Now where’s the blood?”

Sheridan grabbed Ludovic’s arm. “Where the hell is the blood? If you don’t get it, I’ll turn you into a Dakota Scooby snack.” There was no question left in my mind about how determined Sheridan was to get her little sister back. For as petite in stature as Sheridan was, she was a force to be reckoned with today.

Ludovic gestured for us to follow him. We arrived at the supply area next to the medical rooms. He stopped in front of several large barrels. One marked S and one marked L. “These are the two barrels. Dakota was being fed with the contents of this lunar barrel.”

“Then I take it that the solar Solunarae blood is in the one marked with the S correct? Don’t want to make any assumptions.” I pointed to the other container. He nodded.

“Okay, Ludovic, here’s the plan. We know Dakota is starving. It’s obvious she’s lacking essential minerals she was getting from the Solunarae blood,” Khaldon said. “Have you tuned into her lately – to see if she has moved?”

“She isn’t far. I’ve tried several times to send her direct messages. I’m sure she is getting them. When she realizes the connection is made, she cuts off the stream,” Ludovic said.

“What do you mean, direct message? Like an instant message? You have a way of sending her a text?” Sheridan asked.

“That’s a good analogy, but it’s more in the mind.” Khaldon walked over to stand beside Ludovic. “It would be as if you had permanently planted ear buds in your head, and your mom and dad always had access to it. You wouldn’t be able to turn it off. Because Ludovic is her creator, he has this connection with her that she can’t turn off. But she can ignore it.”

“Does it matter how far away from him she is? Can it be broken?” Not knowing anything about this, I wondered why my maker hadn’t tried to contact me.

“No, I can sense her,” Ludovic said. “Just not exactly where she is. I’m not a GPS sensor. I know she’s been holing up in the amphitheater over in the Lake Lola area.”

“That makes sense. That area is a natural aviary. At dusk, Beano and I sit on the rooftop and watch the bats fly out.”

Sheridan nodded. “Oh yeah, I remember when we watched that one night. You mean she’s sleeping with bats?”

“Yes, that’s where we tracked her down last night. Briggs and I followed her all over town. She settled in not far from the penthouse,” Harris said.

“Harris and I were surprised to learn she stayed so close. I figured she would’ve flown the coop,” Briggs added.

“Okay, so we need her to come back to this building. Can we tempt her with the blood? Will she be able to smell it if we do a fly by around the area with it?” I asked him.

“What do you mean ‘fly around’ with it?” Ludovic snarled at me. “You can’t fly, even if you are a vampire.”

“No, but my big pals Briggs and Torchy sure can.” I moved aside and allowed them to step forward. Ludovic’s eyes came up to about Briggs’ nipples.

“What are you, some kind of dragon who eats knights and rescues princesses?” Ludovic sneered.

“I’ve been known to eat a few in my time, yes.” Briggs flashed his teeth.

Ludovic swallowed. “You’re a dragon? I thought they only ran the undergrounds, the Mafia, and hoarded their wealth.”

“Most of us do. That’s why your ass is in a whole lot of shit if you don’t start cooperating,” Torchy said.

I’d finally had enough of this jerk’s snideness. “By the way, asshole, did you seriously cut off Dakota’s toe? And what was up with the flower delivery guy? I didn’t appreciate the jerkwad I had to kill because you ordered him to abduct me.” Anger got the best of me. When Sheridan gently touched my arm, I calmed down a little. I still wanted to eat his face.

Ludovic squirmed. “The flower delivery idea was Edric’s, and no, it wasn’t Dakota’s toe. It was the little toe off number 337 before I threw her in the incinerator. I grabbed the polish from Dakota’s purse and pulled off her toe ring. Voila – instant torture scene.” He snapped his fingers and smiled as if he were proud of his intelligence.

“Seriously? You sent me a dead woman’s toe to mind fuck me? I swear to the Goddess, Ludovic, I will savor the moment you are killed. You’ll join your brother when I feed you to Dakota. I promise you, I will!”

Ludovic turned and looked at all of us.

We all stepped in a little closer to him.

He held up his hands in front of his chest. “All right, let me try to communicate to Dakota to tell her we have the blood she needs.”

* * *

“
D
o
you have any ideas about how Briggs can carry the blood without it splashing and pouring off of him?” I asked Khaldon.

“Good question. We can’t just poke little holes in the barrels and let it drip out. This stuff is way too valuable. And if it gets into the wrong hands, well, it could easily kill someone. Especially humans.”

“We obviously learned that lesson,” I said. “Do you think Edric should have gotten a clue, perhaps, after – what, maybe the third test subject who died instead of the 137th? Was he genuinely that dense? No wonder Dakota did him first. I would’ve, too.”

“Such an unladylike thing to say, m’lady.” Khaldon winked at me. “I like it.”

I blushed.

“Edric was a scourge, got his jollies off of hurting others, especially women. Probably never got laid unless they were comatose.”

Briggs jabbed me with his elbow. “Me, too. I like the way you think, Chey Chey. Maybe I should put you to work here in the Orlando area after this is all said and done. I think you’d be one helluva lady Mafioso.”

“I’m not sure what all that entails, Briggs. All I want is to get back to my old life of running simulator game sequences against the virtual Battle Kroc of Doom instead of trying to rescue the world from the likes of this clown.” I pointed at Ludovic.

Khaldon held out a hand as if he needed to sneeze. “How about a sponge pad or something else absorbent?”

“Not sure I follow.” I shook my head.

Khaldon’s face lit up in excitement and he snapped his fingers. “The lure for Torchy to carry. What if we soaked a sponge or some kind of pad with the blood? Would it be enough to get her attention?”

I walked over to the white board and picked up a pen. Structural design wheels turned in my mind while mechanical pulleys melded thoughts and ideas together. The sketches flowed out of my head and through my hand as I drew onto the whiteboard. It wasn’t long until I had a saddle contraption to secure a device onto Briggs and a flag of blood soaked pads device for Torchy.

“Wait a minute. Oh
helll
, no. I ain’t wearing no saddle. What do you think I look like, something out of the
Dragonriders of Pern
? We aren’t fighting a thread here, Cheyenne.”

“No, we’re trying to lure and catch a blood demon, who can kill you, to follow you, and frankly that hits a little too close to home for me. I want her back, but I don’t want you or anyone else dead in trying to do so.”

He stood still for a minute, looking at me, and then squinted.

“Do you or Khaldon have any Kevlar vests in those arsenals out in the Land Rover? I need time here at this board to design Briggs some armor.”

Briggs opened his mouth to argue with me.

“GO.” I pointed out the door.

You would’ve thought I’d sent the naughty little boys to go bang erasers on the wall outside, but what I was trying to do was keep Briggs protected and save my little sister’s ass.

“Harris, can you take Ludovic and round up any leftover nets, hardware, and webbing from the harness systems? Ludovic, we’re gonna need tools. Drills, wrenches – do you have a welder?”

He nodded.

“Good, we’re gonna need that too. Let’s meet back here in fifteen minutes.”

“We’re on it. C’mon, buddy old pal o’ mine.” Harris shoved Ludovic out the door with Torchy and Sheridan on his heels.

While everyone was out hunting down supplies, I looked into the barrels of the lunar and solar Solunarae blood. I opened the clamped lid on the lunar and took in a whiff. Its pungent aroma smelled strongly of Harris. I could understand how the legends could be true for the Were creatures’ origins with this stuff. I closed that lid and opened the one labeled, solar. Arming my olfactories for another attack, I was surprised to learn it was devoid of odor. I looked down into the crimson liquid and realized there was the absence of smell altogether. How was that possible? I closed the lid and finished drawing out my contraption.

Khaldon and Briggs returned with several tote bags full of guns and crossbows, but nothing to trap a demon. Kill one, yes, but that wasn’t the scope of this plan. Briggs did have some of those nifty ultraviolet bullets, but I wasn’t planning on using any of those on my sister.

“Okay, fellas, come take a look at this.” I motioned them back over to the white board and showed them a rudimentary drawing. “Briggs, I’m pretty sure you have scales, right? Really tough ones, like the armor for your avatar?”

“How did you know?” he asked.

“‘Cause it seems we make replicas of our strengths on the game, and you have the baddest game assist armor I’ve ever seen on an avatar.”

He smiled with pride.

“But it also means you have a lot to protect because you’re vulnerable. That’s why you take so much precaution to protect yourself.” He looked at me with downward, squinty eyes as if I had just revealed he slept with a stuffed teddy bear.

“So – I’m thinkin’ with the Kevlar vest covering your most vulnerable parts, we can make this work. Whatdya think?”

“Does that mean I have to tell you where I’m vulnerable?” He smiled at me sideways.

“No, silly.” I smacked him on the arm. “I’m trying to keep you alive. Dakota might not have any sense about herself. Human or otherwise.”

“One thing for sure is Dakota sure as hell isn’t going to believe it’s you flying around in a dragon suit, “Khaldon said. “In fact, you just might want to keep that little factoid to yourself until later … much later.”

“There’s a ton of netting and rigging in this place. I’ve got Harris, Ludovic, Sheridan, and Torchy rounding up tools and pulling in as much netting as we can recover. We can repurpose it into a snare for when you’re back on the ground.”

“Khaldon, what about Torchy’s dragon form? Does he have any vulnerabilities?” I asked.

“I’m sure he does, but he can spike out his scales and that keeps him safe from things clawing and stabbing at his more sensitive areas. In fact, he can be downright scary to look at.”