Follow the Bloodshed (The Executioner Trilogy Book 3) (22 page)

“Alright,” I dropped my arms at my sides and said, “you wanted it the hard way, you got it.”

The fire moved through my veins and back into my palm as I made a move to place it against his pale skin. He cringed, but I didn’t stop. I shoved it against his skin, in a different spot this time. If this was what it took I would do it. He was lucky I didn’t feel the need to mar that gorgeous face of his. He cried out this time, but it was clipped short by his need to have control over what was happening to him. He knew he didn’t and was trying to gain some of it back. It wouldn’t be happening that easy. I took my other hand and placed it on the other side of his chest. He screamed. I took my hands away and eyed the three singed hand prints on his flesh, small pieces of him crumbling away into ash on the floor.

“Beth?” I said into the air, not taking my eyes away from his ruined chest.

“Yeah,” she answered as she took a step towards me.

“Can we do something about the noise? I don’t want him drawing anything to us.” I turned my head in her direction. “I didn’t realize he would be a screamer.”

Chapter 34:

The Pursuit

After what felt like days but was truly hours I had stepped away from Vlad. We had finally gotten the answers we wanted and I was surprised he held up so long. His chest and stomach were a complete mess. Every wound was cauterized so there was minimal bleeding, but tiny flecks of burned flesh were floating away from him and embers were still burning around the edges. His head was hung low and his breathing was ragged, his body sagging against the shackles. My palms were black with soot as I let the beast drift into unconsciousness. She would have another chance at vengeance later.

I turned to the rest of them. Beth had done what she could to keep the noise from escaping our confines and she had done an amazing job. There wasn’t a single vampire, crawler, or creepy crawly trying to knock down the door or walls. Sam was sitting on the floor against the opposite wall, Chase was standing watching me, and Gordon was pacing. Once he realized it was silent he stopped and turned to me, not caring to look at his brother’s limp form.

“So? Where is she?” he questioned. I almost forgot they hadn’t heard him divulge the information. By the time I was finished with Vlad he could only whisper after all the screaming.

“She’s been staying in the U.S. Bank Tower.” I scoffed. “Why not watch your plan come to fruition from the highest point in the city?” It made perfect sense. You can only see the rising smoke and hear all of the screams all at the same time from up there anyway, right? Why wouldn’t that make sense? She was truly sadistic.

They shook their heads as if their thoughts had followed the same route. The sadism of the woman bothered all of us and we couldn’t hide that anymore. You can only remain stone-faced for so long before things start to boil to the surface.

“What’s the plan?” Sam asked as she stood from her spot on the floor.

I hadn’t even begun to think of a plan yet. I wasn’t sure what would be the first thing we needed to do. The place would be swarming with vampires and crawlers protecting their precious dark mother. Not like she needed much protecting anyway. If history taught me anything, she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

“That place is going to be crawling with vamps,” Chase stated. I looked at him, doing my best to bite my tongue to keep from being sarcastic. It was working, but barely.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying as best as I could not to get any of the burnt blood that had become crusted on my palms and fingers on the only clothes I had left. They’d be covered in something soon enough. I didn’t want to help them along.  After all of this was over we would have to raid some local stores and get new clothes. These would be covered in blood and ash, no doubt.

“Either way we’re going to have to fight our way in and up. There’s no way around it so we might as well arm ourselves with what we have,” I exclaimed. “Beth, what other nifty tricks have you learned in the last six months?” Her gaze moved over us and came back to me, her eyes wide like she was shocked I asked. Her mouth was slightly parted and she licked her lips before taking a breath in to begin speaking.

“Well, I learned how to do a few things. After you,” she paused like she didn’t know how to say it, “died I didn’t have to a choice but to learn things that could protect us, and I had to learn fast. The protection barrier was the first thing I learned.”

Chase laughed and said, “Yeah and you should’ve seen how many times that backfired on her. Kind of funny if you ask me.”

Beth broke out into laughter, bending over and placing her hands on her knees. Something hilarious had happened and I was curious now. She stood up, took a deep breath, and said, “You remember when I created that ball of energy and it practically exploded in my face? I looked like I had been electrocuted.” She was giddy as we stood and watched her, Chase was beginning to chuckle remembering the event. Gordon, Sam, and I stared at them and I could feel the awkwardness creeping in.

I looked at the floor and kicked at some stray ashes from the bonfire on the concrete floor, feeling extremely out of place. I hadn’t been able to share these experiences with her so I felt left out. Not her fault, but I still felt a tiny bit mournful of the fact I couldn’t see all of this first hand.

The energy in the air changed as Beth and Chase felt our unease and their merriment began to trail off, leaving the silence empty and full of sorrow. The fact that the three of us were uncomfortable changed everything about the small moment of happiness they were trying to share with all of us, but we couldn’t help it. Sam was new to the group, and Gordon wasn’t there and couldn’t save me from the fate Lilith had planned for me. Now we were back and everything was different. We couldn’t ignore that. Hell hadn’t only changed us, but it had changed them too. Now we were standing in Hell on earth, and maybe that was the reason.

Beth cleared her throat and continued, “Anyways, I think the only way to do this is to blast our way in. More than likely we won’t be able to use the elevators so…”

“There’s nothing you can do to start them up in some magical way and keep them going till we reach the top? Maybe also put a cloak on the floor numbers so they don’t know where we are stopping?” Sam asked. If Beth had learned to do so many things while we were gone, there had to be a way she could do this, right?

“I don’t see why I couldn’t. I’ve gained enough power in the last six months and could possibly power the entire city without blinking. Not that I’ve tried it since the city never lost power. It all happened so fast that no one was prepared. Plus, I may blow us all up.” Silence followed for a few moments.

“I think you guys need to be reminded of something.” We all turned to Beth. “How long has it been since you’ve been to the tower? If you remember right the elevator stops at the observation deck and you have to take the stairs to the helipad at the top.”

“Then why even bother trying the elevator?” Chase asked with an annoyed tone to his voice.

“Here’s the plan. We use the stairs the whole way up and not   bother with the elevator at all. It’ll be easier.” Beth was right.

“We can, but I think we’re going to need more weapons. There’s only one person in the group who doesn’t have any supernatural advantages so he’ll need as much firepower as we can get him,” I explained.

Chase’s mouth fell open and he said, “Can we all not talk like I’m not here? That would be fantastic.”

“Sorry, but it’s true no matter how I say it. We need to make sure you can hold your own without holding us back. We need to get in as quickly as we can so no one can stop us. Once we’ve killed Lilith   the rest is cake.” It was the truth and I could tell he knew it based on the look on his face.

“So, where do you suppose we get more weapons for him? We don’t exactly have a ton here with us,” Beth questioned. She was right. We had a few handguns, a couple of knives, and my silver-tipped machete. We weren’t exactly armed to the gills. There was silence for all of a moment until I looked at Chase who seemed to have a moment of clarity.

“What is it, Chase?” I asked. I seemed to have been the only one to notice his expression. He flushed and paled like no one was supposed to see him.

All heads turned to him and he looked down at the floor, a sheepish grin spreading over his lips. He flushed again at the attention. He didn’t seem to want the attention, but with a look like that plastered on your face you were bound to get it. He knew, in this kind of situation, any kind of look could be taken so many ways. This time I wasn’t sure what to think.

He looked up at all of us, a proud expression on his face. “Well, it’s my uncle.”

All of us looked confused. We didn’t know he had any family. We seemed to be learning all kinds of new things about him we would’ve never guessed before. I, for one, was shocked at the revelation. He never mentioned family of any kind.

“What about your uncle?” Sam asked. I was glad she was becoming more active as a member of the group. I almost felt like a proud mother as I stared at her, her eyes alight with the new information. What was it about the apocalypse the brought everyone out of their shells? Was it the threat if imminent death or the fight to survive?

“He owns, or owned, a pawn shop here in Los Angeles. I lost track of him after everything fell apart and haven’t heard from him since. Of course, it’s not like there’s cell service or anything. One of the few things that managed to go out and it   had to be the cell service.” He sighed. “He has a lot of weapons there, but I can’t be sure how much of it survived the looting.”

Maybe it was time to find out.

“Then we should go, right?” Gordon’s head whipped from Chase to me, as if he wasn’t sure who the answer would come from.

Chase’s eyes met mine and I knew it was going to be up to me. Fate dumps saving the world on your shoulders and all of the decisions are yours to make whether you want to or not, but this wasn’t just about me. We were a group and we needed to make choices as one. I wasn’t going to let it happen any other way. We were all in this together as far as I was concerned. I didn’t care what anyone else thought.

“Considering the danger we are putting ourselves in by going there I think we should vote on it,” I stated as I looked at each and every one of them.

I let my eyes swivel towards Vlad’s still form for all of a second, taking in his burns and the small trickles of blood that had escaped past his cauterized flesh. There was only so much the beast could do and I wasn’t expecting it to be able to do everything. Or was ‘me’ the correct term now?

“Which pawn shop does your uncle own?” Beth had a lot more questions than she had previously. I was surprised she wasn’t shocked by this news. Had she known   he had at least owned one? Was it possible she did without knowing the name of it?

“Golden State Pawn.”

Beth whistled a low and knowing whistle. Obviously she knew something the rest of us didn’t. Except maybe Chase.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sam with another query. “That whistle. What does it mean?” She was pointing an accusing finger at Beth now, like she knew something we wouldn’t like to hear was about to be uttered.

“That area may be crowded with crawlers and vamps, and by now I’m sure Lilith has sharpened her talents with a brand new kind of creature we have yet to hear of. Or unleashed a few things from Hell since you escaped. We all know she could have a few things up her sleeve.”

“So she’s been experimenting on things and letting things loose? How is she doing that?” I asked.

Chase shrugged, “No idea and we have no idea if we can get any of them back there either. We haven’t exactly been able to go take a look around at anything of hers since all of this started. There may be a lot of things or nothing. We don’t know. She may just be sticking with her usual brand.”

Well, didn’t that just kick you square in the gut? I sighed and let my head droop in defeat.

“All we can really do is go by the pawn shop, see what we can dredge up, kill Lilith, and deal with the rest later. Don’t want to use up any more precious time.” The words came from my lips unbidden but I knew they were necessary.

“At least we’re not burning daylight,” Gordon breathed. Why, oh why couldn’t this be a lie?

“So, let’s put it to a vote. Do we go with or without? Raise your hand for with.” Since I wanted this vote to happen I raised my hand first.

Sam and Gordon’s hands popped up next, letting me know they had my back no matter what the other two chose. I was secretly hoping they would raise their hands too and my prayer was answered after an agonizing moment. Chase, of course, was all for it since he was the one who needed the weaponry. Beth was romantically involved with him so she would obviously want him to have more than the meager weapons we had lying around the warehouse.

All hands were raised except Vlad of course, but the hoarse male laughter began to move through the stillness. Every head turned towards the sound, a couple of mouths open in shock that someone would find any of this hilarious, especially the vampire who was shackled in silver. He had lifted his head, letting it fall back against the brick behind him. His Adam’s apple bobbed. I took a few steps toward him as he chortled, not daring to take my eyes away from his shaking and exhausted form.

“What’s so funny?” I asked as I continued to move towards him, one foot in front of the other as carefully as possible. You never knew what would happen around him. So I was a little uneasy.

He stopped his maniacal laughter long enough to say, “I find it funny how you all think man-made weapons can harm her in any way.”

“No, Vlad, you misunderstood us. It’s only to barge our way in and only Chase needs them. I don’t think you understand how powerful I am on my own.”

“Oh, Executioner, you have no idea how powerful you are.”

“What do you mean?” Gordon asked as he stepped closer towards me instead of his undead brother. I wanted to warn him away from Vlad, but I knew there was no way I could keep them away from each other if Gordon really wanted him dead.

Vlad opened his eyes and looked at me, those crimson orbs burning into me as they met mine. “You are a ticking time bomb, just waiting for Lilith’s presence to go off.” He chuckled. “You have no idea what kind of destruction you will cause. You may take down the rest of the human race as we know it.”

I wasn’t sure what to think except that we needed to go to the pawn shop, grab whatever weapons were left, and go to the US Bank Tower to end Lilith once and for all. Not that this ticking time bomb news wasn’t terrifying, but I knew, deep within me, it wouldn’t be as destructive as Vlad predicted.