The Damned (35 page)

If I had to go against what Father Juan told me to do, would I have the nerve?

Dawn came, and she hadn’t really slept. She, Greg, and an unconscious Jamie were waiting at the rendezvous when the others showed. One look at their grim expressions told Jenn everything she needed to know. Antonio was still alive. Her heart sang for one moment before plummeting. If he was still running loose, there was a very real possibility that she herself would have to stake him. All the time that she had worried about Antonio, she had never seen herself in this position. Never the one to end his life. Would she have the deep-down strength Noah had spoken of? Or would she falter at the crucial moment?

Would he kill me, then?

The others greeted her and fretted over Jamie, who was still unconscious. Skye told Jenn that upon Eriko and Holgar’s return, she had taken the baby to a nearby hospital, swaddling her in warm blankets and then leaving her at the entrance. Then she’d cast a summoning spell and had waited in the shadows until a hospital staff member had come outside and found the child.

They all piled in the van, which Greg had outfitted with some stakes, two crosses, and a vial of holy water. They huddled together on the floor, and Greg threw a tarp over them. He had explained that a well-placed hundred dollar bill and the proper guard would ensure that the inside of the van would not be looked at too carefully at the checkpoint, but they had to remain still nevertheless.

“And keep those weapons stowed,” he added.

Jenn found herself holding her breath, wedged between Noah and Jamie as the van rolled to a stop. Noah took her hand, and she let him. Time passed; she wasn’t sure how long, but she was sure they had been discovered. Then the van rolled forward, slowly, and picked up highway speed. Under the tarp it was hot and dark, and a few minutes later, when Greg pulled it off, she sat up in relief, her stomach queasy.

Half an hour farther on they pulled over to the side of the road. A beat-up pickup truck was sitting there.

“Here’s your ride,” Greg said. “I’ve heard Antonio’s holed up for the day about three hundred miles north. Little town called Ridgeback. Population is practically nil. They’ve got a motel, a gas station, a couple of stores, and that’s about it.”

“Thank you,” Jenn said as she exited the van.

“Don’t thank me. Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Greg said seriously.

“We will,” she assured him.

She held out her hand, remembering Gramma at Papa Che’s funeral. She had shaken Greg’s hand too. Maybe he thought of Gramma too, as he warmly shook Jenn’s hand. Behind them the rest of her team piled out of the vehicle and descended on the pickup.

“Tell your grandmother hello,” he said as he jumped back into the van.

Jenn waved and turned to her team, not having the heart to tell him that she had no way of contacting Esther Leitner.

Skye felt drained as she sat in the bed of the pickup with Holgar. She had volunteered, hoping that the feel of the wind and sun on her face would help refresh her, recharge her. She longed to take off her shoes and feel the dirt between her toes, and conduct a restorative ritual. She was going to need to take care of herself shortly if she hoped to take care of anyone else. Jamie had come around, but he was groggy and reserved—not at all himself. Skye could tell Jenn was worried about him too.

She leaned half against the cab and half against the werewolf. She could tell by the way he had his head lifted and was flaring his nostrils that he missed running through the forest. Missed being in nature. She did too. Although for Holgar it had to be a much more primal, intense experience. Sometimes Skye envied that, though not the reason why. She rested her head against Holgar’s shoulder, and he didn’t seem to mind.

When her hunting partner had come back with Taamir and Noah unharmed, she had been so intensely relieved it had momentarily eased her despair over Jamie and Antonio. As it turned out, each member of Team Salamanca was still alive. It was what Father Juan would call a miracle. And if they could kill Antonio, that would probably be a miracle too.

She had seen Antonio in that church, though, had felt his thoughts and then literally read his mind. Had that really happened? He had thought “Utah,” and now they were headed that way after him. She must have, but how?

Maybe it was a sign. Maybe Skye was supposed to reach out to him, bring him back to his senses. Antonio had overcome his vampiric nature before. Could he do it again? If he could, then maybe there was hope for Heather, or for all vampires.

Her thoughts turned to Estefan and whatever it was he had become. Less than vampire, more than witch. He had driven her mad on the palace grounds, if only for a few moments, and she had almost died because of it. Terrifying. She shivered.

Mistaking her action for physical discomfort, Holgar wrapped his arms around her to warm her. She closed her eyes, savoring his warmth, feeling the raw earthiness that was him. So much power, so much strength. And so much good. He was what Estefan should have been.

But Estefan loved his own worst nature and was trying hard to cultivate it. There had to be a special hell for those who chose to become like the Cursed Ones—if such a place existed.

Noah drove the entire distance—more than four hours—before stopping. They pulled up outside the dusty motel on the outskirts of Ridgeback. Skye hopped down from the bed of the truck and went into the lobby with Jenn to make sure that she wasn’t recognized and that no identification was requested.

She murmured the spells as softly as she could while the transaction was carried out. Two rooms were obtained, and the team staggered inside, bone weary.

Skye sank down on the one bed and stared at Eriko. She looked like some insane anime character with her stiff, blood-coated skirts and her bra. Eriko’s shredded blouse had been lost somewhere. Skye started to laugh.

“It’s not funny,” Eriko said, turning red.

Jenn turned to look, and then she, too, started to giggle. “It is, a little,” she said.

All that they had brought to the States was still in their hotel room in Vegas, and lost to them now. Skye was glad she had left everything she’d cherished back in Salamanca. Moving slowly, Jenn shrugged out of her turtleneck. She was wearing a black tank under it, and she tossed the turtleneck to Eriko, who ran with it into the bathroom and closed the door.

A minute later Skye could hear water running, and Eriko emerged after a few minutes, hair wet. The turtleneck was mismatched with the mess of a skirt, and Skye wished she had some clothes to share with Eriko. Hopefully they could find a thrift store nearby.

After sleep, that was. Skye let herself collapse onto the bed. As she closed her eyes, her stomach growled. And after food. Sleep, food, clothes. That sounded right.

Jamie had slept for much of the ride in the pickup. Now he lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling and dreaming about how many different ways he could kill that Curser Antonio. The bite wounds in his neck hurt like the devil and were beginning to itch. He was still shaky from the blood loss and transfusion.

But he would find some way to kill that vampire if it was the last thing he ever did. To think he had trained with him, fought with him,
trusted
him. Okay, he had never trusted Antonio.

On the floor Holgar yipped in his sleep, and Jamie turned his head to stare at the werewolf.

And you’re next, bloody animal.

They slept four hours and then rose. Holgar stretched his muscles. They needed to find and take down Antonio while it was still light outside and they had a chance of cornering him.

It was a shame. The old Antonio had been a good guy and deserved better. But this new Antonio was insane. Holgar had risen while the others slept, with the thought of going after him by himself. He wanted to protect the others, particularly Jenn and Skye. Jenn didn’t need to have Antonio play mind games with her. And Skye needed a rest. Plus, his partner was so tender-hearted; he had a feeling she was going to try to reach out to Antonio, in an effort to bring him back to the good side. Even if it were possible, Holgar believed it would take time and resources they just didn’t have to deal with a renegade vampire.

Ultimately, though, Holgar had waited. In a fair fight between himself and Antonio he wasn’t sure who would win. And if he went off by himself and got killed, it would make it that much harder on everyone he was trying to protect.

Jamie teetered slightly on his feet. “You okay?” Holgar asked.

“Fine,” Jamie said.

Holgar felt his hackles rise. It wasn’t like the Irishman to go so long without being mouthy. It didn’t bode well.

“All right, everyone, lock and load,” Jenn said grimly.

It was kind of funny. None of them had guns. Holgar had taken count, and among them they had eight stakes, two crosses, and one vial of holy water. He’d gone into battle with less, but not willingly.

The map in the pickup truck’s glove compartment had shown the town and an abandoned farm on its outskirts. They stopped at a combination hardware and feed store for some chain, an ax, and a large burlap sack, and Eriko rummaged through a rack of T-shirts and sweatpants.

As they drove to the farm, Holgar hoped that this would all be over soon. He felt as if he were going to an execution, and all his good humor deserted him. The situation was tragic.

He thought about his father, who had killed that human hunter so many years before. Holgar had always thought it had been his fault—that he’d darted into the man’s line of fire because he was a pup who didn’t know any better. That Holgar’s father must have suffered equal guilt over taking a human life.

But he had allied their pack with Cursed Ones so easily. Insisted that werewolves needed to kill to express their true nature. Holgar’s father was wrong. Nothing in him wanted to be here or to do this.

As soon as they pulled up outside the farmhouse, he knew that Greg had provided good information. He could smell vampire. And not just any vampire.

Antonio de la Cruz was his friend.

And if he was in his right mind, he would want me to do this.

“He’s here,” Holgar said softly, though why he bothered when the truck’s engine could wake the undead, he didn’t know.

Skye nodded.

There were two structures, a house and a barn. They raided the house first, half of them going in the front at the same time the other half went through the back. In two minutes it was clear Antonio wasn’t there.

That left the barn.

“We could burn it down,” Taamir suggested, looking at the structure.

Jenn shook her head. “We need to know for sure he’s in there, and if we do that, we won’t.”

It made strategic sense, but Holgar couldn’t help but wonder if their leader was under the delusion that she could talk sense into her boyfriend.

“And we need to question him, find out what he told Aurora about the resistance cells,” Skye said.

“I agree,” Jamie said quietly.

Holgar looked at him askance, troubled by Jamie’s position on the matter. Would the Irishman take pleasure in torturing Antonio for information?

“Okay, so we’re going in, but there’s no need to be stupid about it,” Jenn said, her voice steady, her face granite hard. She reminded him of a Viking Valkyrie, prepared to fight the last battle. “He can’t be in the sunlight, so let’s fill that barn with as much as we can.”

Moving as fast as they could, they threw open doors and yanked back shutters. Holgar heard a hiss from inside. Antonio was in there, all right.

Holgar positioned himself just under one of the open windows, and next to him Taamir did the same. The others gathered in the sunlight, just inside the barn door, and waited.

Jenn’s heart lodged in her throat as she stood where the sunlight met the darkness. She felt as if she’d been standing there for the last two and a half years. Everything had been a blurred dream, and this was the reality of her life.

“What do you want?” It was Antonio’s voice, but deeper, harder.

“You,” she said simply. Her hands trembled as she grabbed a stake and a cross, preparing for attack.

I don’t want to kill you. Please, please be my Antonio again.
She tried to make herself breathe. She couldn’t. The shadows and sunlight wove a pattern of crosses, of bars. Then of nothing but lines. That was all a cross was, lines in the sand.

No. It’s a weapon
, she reminded herself.

After a long pause Antonio stepped forward so that she could see his face. His eyes were glowing, and his fangs were white and sharp. He was sizing her up, his gaze ticking past her to Eriko, Skye, Jamie, and Noah.

“Here I am.” He hissed.

“What did you tell Aurora about the resistance?”

She could swear he looked almost confused. “What resistance?” he asked at last.

Jamie swore quietly, and Antonio turned to look at him. “Do I know you?” he asked.

“You know all of us,” Jenn said, startled.

“I don’t think he does,” Skye whispered. “Maybe it’s a spell. Or what happens when vampires . . . go back.”

And somehow that made it worse. Jenn was about to kill her boyfriend, and he didn’t even know what it was going to cost her. She began to shake with rage.

Aurora. Aurora had done this. Aurora had taken everything from her.

Antonio took a step forward, looking like he was trying to figure something out.

“Do I?” he murmured. “Do I know you?”

That was when Holgar and Taamir snuck up on him from behind. With the blunt side of his ax Holgar swung down hard on Antonio’s head. Antonio crashed to the ground, and Holgar hit him again. Jenn winced with each blow as she and the others circled Holgar, Taamir, and Antonio, ready to offer assistance.

Taamir bound his arms and legs with the chains, and then the two shoved Antonio into the burlap sack from the feed store. They hauled him outside and dumped the sack in the sunlight. Even if Antonio woke up, there would be no way for him to escape with his life.

“What now?” Eriko asked. She didn’t look good. In fact she looked worse than Jamie.