Bliss (The Custos) (28 page)

I remembered back to that night in the van when Cash gave me a crash course in
Nex
one-oh-one.
The vial contains enough liquid silver to kill a hundred Vampires. You only need a small amount, small as a speck of sand to kill one. Puncture a vein though; be certain of it because otherwise you will be dead before you can try again
. I had to get to my jacket. I could see it sitting on the back of a kitchen chair.

It was now or never and as Stupor lifted a
Nex
, one hand on his belt, the other fisting a chunk of his hair he lunged him head first into the wall. I heard a crack as his neck clearly snapped and Stupor was on it; stake in hand he plunged it into the
Nex
chest. As two more
Nex
charged from the doorway I needed to get through, I paused a moment waiting for more to pile in. None came. What fools? Always have a backup plan for your back up.

I crawled as fast as I could hoping nobody seen me and made it to the kitchen. I could hear the fight in the living room and I shook trying to get my jacket pocket unzipped. The needle was encased in a plastic tube that I had to break to get open. Surprise was everything so I put the tube between my lips and held the vial in my hand and stood to walk back in the room. I peered around the corner and seen that Stupor had the final two
Nex
, they were dancing around him. Both had daggers and were lunging but Stupor was to quick.

Their backs were to me and Stupor made eye contact for the briefest instant and that was all it took. One of the
Nex
turned and seen me, tube between my lips and the vial hidden he scoffed. "Bitch, sit down before I make you."

The second
Nex
lunged at Stupor who spun and caught him, tripping his foot and nailing the Nex to the floor. I dropped the tube from my mouth; catching it with my hand I slammed it against the wall. The thin glass casing shattered and shards bit into my hand. As blood started to ooze from my palm I saw the beginnings of Bloodlust in the
Nex
eyes. No matter what his orders were, if he were in the throes of bloodlust I was fucked, dead and fucked.

I dashed to the stairs and fell backwards as the
Nex
charged me. Using my feet I kicked at his face while trying to fill the syringe, a difficult task with shaky bleeding hands and my body jerking as I kicked and fought the blood thirsty Vampire who was nipping at my heels. I could see Stupor and I was hopeful. He was fighting against the
Nex
beneath him, both had their hands on the stake Stupor was using and it was like a really fucked up game of arm wrestling. Whoever got the stake won, the other would be dead.

I filled the syringe and waited for a free shot, but it wasn’t easy. The
Nex
was on me now and no matter how hard I fought I was no match to his strength. I had only one choice here and it was kill or be killed. I dropped the syringe and went for self defense basics that every woman knew. It was basic, it was guaranteed and it was gross. When overpowered by your attacker, claw their fucking eyes out.

The
Nex
wailed in pain, I had blinded him and as I fought the urge to purge as his eyes literally popped and in a sense, exploded. I kept digging. Everything I had buried inside came out in that moment. All the fear, the one emotion I hated more than anything in the entire world, the one emotion I had protected myself and everyone around me from. That one emotion overwhelmed me now and with it came a fury from deep inside.

The Nex lost his will to fight me, even for an Immortal whose strength dwarfed me the pain I was inflicting was too much. I rolled on top of him and held him by the scalp. I balled up a fist and pummeled his face. Using my hand in his hair to slam his head against the wooden stairs he lay upon.

I kicked his mother fucking ass and let out a battle cry I didn’t know had even existed inside of me. I knew I knew that I would never be what this thing was, no matter how angry I was at my father and Conlin; I knew I would never be this. My memory was too fresh to ever forget the feel of the
Nex
blood on my skin and the fear of him killing me. No I would never be this.

*

Cash

I walked into Doubt and spotted Klem immediately. He was sitting at the bar talking up two female Custos who were dressed in what London would call trashy sheik. They looked like a couple of whores to me. I hated being a cock block but had no choice. I walked up to the bar.

"Cash I was just about to send some of my boys to find you." He stood to shake my hand but also to make sure we were eye level. It was always a pissing contest with Klem but I liked the challenge he always met me with.

"What’s up? Conlin come in again?"

"Let’s go to my office." We followed Klem through the array of leather clad humans hoping to look like Vamps, and Vamps trying to blend in with the gen pop, hilarious really. Once in
Klem’s office he sat behind his desk and reached for an envelope. "This was dropped off." He looked at the envelope and showed me. "It says my name C/O Cacius Troy. Some little punk I never seen before dropped it off. I trusted that about as much as I trust humans so I had Red and Fred put him in the cellar till I got a hold of you."

I opened the letter but I knew who it was from. I was right but so not prepared. I read it before looking at Preacher who looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin. "What Cash?"

Klem leaned forward and took the letter. He probably read as far as I did. All that mattered in the letter were seven deadly words.

“Tell me, who's with your Princess tonight?”

Preacher reached for his cell calling the house immediately and got no answer. "Call her cell." I said through gritted teeth and wished like hell Leushus would tell me how he can dematerialize, I so needed that ability tonight. Leaving Doubt would be next to impossible on a Friday night at the mouth of the strip.

"No answer, we need to go." Preacher said and snapped his phone shut.

I grabbed mine and dialed Stupor's cell. Same went right to voicemail. Desperate for anything, I tried texting London. 'Hey princess, call me please, ASAP' hit send and waited.

"Read it to me Klem." I demanded and he didn’t fight me on it like usual.
Maybe I read it wrong, maybe....maybe what? It was a pretty poem about love and sweet little flowers.

Fucking fool
.

Cacius,

I admire the fight in you almost as much as I admire watching you run around Las Vegas chasing me. I'm a ghost as far as you’re concerned but if you need me to spell it out?

Think I'm fooling?

Tell me, who's with your Princess tonight?

In case you haven’t figured it out, I am done playing nice.

Best of Luck,

C

Well what do you know, I finally
shifted
for the first time and ended on the front steps of my house and looked through the shattered fragments of where my door used to be.

*

Cash

I stepped aside from the
Nex
lying dead at the door and walked to the kitchen where I came across body upon body of dead Nex in need of sunlight. Neither London nor Stupor were anywhere in sight.

Preacher must have called Leushus because seconds after getting in the kitchen he
shifted
in front of me. "Holy shit." He said and put his hand to his forehead as if he was as shocked as I. Next came Preacher and Klem, both
shifting
before me. WTF? Did I miss the class on how to do that and only now figured it out? Apparently you had to focus real hard and yes, I was focusing on getting home.

"Where's Cookie?" Preacher asked and we both took off in different directions, I upstairs and Preacher took the basement while Leushus searched the main floor. I was not prepared for what I found. At the top of the stairs a beating was going down. I yelled for Preacher and Leushus and took the stairs three at a time.

It took me a moment to realize that the one doing the beating was London, and beneath her laid the mangled body of a
Nex
. I rushed to her side and seen she had ripped this fucker to shreds. His eyes were gone and the back of his head had long ago been split open by the edge of the stair beneath him. Pulling her back I kicked the body of the
Nex
down to Preacher who kneeled down to inspect the damage. I faintly heard a "Holy shit" but didn’t pay attention.

"Princess look at me are you ok?" I asked and pulled the hair back from her tear soaked eyes. Her lips were blue, her face pale and I feared she had blood loss and a whole lot of shock going on. Her teeth chattering she tried to speak.

"Ddddid...dddid I kkkkill him?"

Relief and love and anger all rolled through me in that instant and I pulled her close. "Oh Baby, he's dead." I said the relief inside threatening to take me over the edge and I would be bawling my eyes out with her if I didn’t get a grip and remember where my nuts were. Love really turned you into a douche sometimes.

Preacher came up the stairs and stopped just shy of the top where I held her in my arms. "She hurt at all?"

"I can smell her blood but not as strong as the
Nex
." I shifted London to try and get a better assessment of her health and felt her tighten her grip on me. "Sshh, your ok Princess I just need to see if you’re hurt."

"There’s so much blood, oh God. I'm so sorry about the blood on the floor Cash....."

Was she serious?

She still wouldn’t loosen her grip and I could see the deep gashes on her hands. She was crying and it was....violent. That was the only way to describe it. Here she was, a human, literally beat a Nex within an inch of his life and survived with only a few deep cuts on her hands and maybe some bruises and she sat terrified in my arms telling me she was sorry.

"Fuck that Princess, I'm so proud of you." It was all I could say. I kissed her on the top of her head and cradled her closer to me.

Preacher leaned forward, I hadn’t noticed he had come up the stairs. He said nothing when he closed his eyes. Like magic, after placing his hand on her head she calmed. He said nothing but the calm that came over London, came over us all and I knew in that moment he was silently blessing her.

"Cacius." I heard Leushus call my name. He was only a few feet from me down the stairs but he sounded miles away. I looked down to him, my head resting against London’s; I couldn’t get her close enough. "She is in shock, the dangerous kind. You need to wipe her mind." Leushus said calmly.

"No, she'd only have to live through it again when I gave them back." I knew I would have to give them back, I was good at wiping but this was some deep shit, let alone there was no way I could explain the blood, and glass and shattered windows and doors. I couldn’t make her go through this twice.

"If you wipe her you can explain it all rationally when her heart rate is down and she's prepared. Otherwise she needs a hospital now."

Before I could argue Preacher spoke up. "He's right Cash. She's in danger of some bad shit right now. Listen to her heart rate. "

I did and it was racing. I was able to get in her mind too and it was frightening. I saw everything that went down and knew that if I didn’t help her soon she would be passed the point of wiping doing any good. "Yeah, ok." I croaked and stood, holding her to me. "Preach can you go get a shower started, I won’t do this and have her covered in blood."

"She'll need some blood too." Leushus said and I nodded. I took her to our room and stripped her of her bloody clothes and laid her on the bed before tossing them to Preacher out in the hall. My clothes were next and I stepped out with a towel around my waist. "I'll wipe her in the shower but I don’t want her to see any blood, can you guys clean it and the bodies of the Nex out before I bring her down?"