Vengeance of the Demons (8 page)

He set the groceries on the table. “How’s the leg?”

“Almost healed.”

He pulled a salad, fruit, bread, and cheese from the bag. “I didn’t know what you’d want.”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve had to eat just about everything once in my life.”

He had to tread carefully to get her on his side.

“So the enclave where you lived, was it well supplied? We lived in the mountains so we never really had enough.”

“The enclave is self-sufficient.”

That meant it had to be big and in a real building. Possibly one with kitchen access. There would only be a handful of buildings like that. Schools, hospitals, corporations with cafeterias or hotels. And they wouldn’t be in populated areas. They’d have to be out somewhere. Possibly the desert.

“Here.” He handed her the salad and some Gatorade. “You need to keep up your electrolytes.”

She snorted. “Are you a doctor?”

He stiffened. “Or you can not eat.”

Her smile fell. “Sorry. I’m afraid my snarkiness has become who I am now.”

He nodded and pulled a Savor from his bag, popped the lid and took several gulps. Her face held no revulsion, only curiosity.

“What does that taste like?” She pulled the plastic lid off the salad and mixed it with her fork.

He shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. Like blood but without any of the organic nuances. There’s no aftertaste. No lingering flavors from the food eaten or chemicals people come in contact with. It’s hard to explain.”

She ripped open the dressing with her teeth and squeezed it on the lettuce. “So tell me about the demons.”

William stared at her, the bottle of Savor poised at his lips. “What do you want to know?”

“They’re real?”

“Yeah. And they aren’t as warm and cuddly as Mason either.”

“Cuddly isn’t a term I would use to describe him.” She licked her fingers, making his desire stir.

He cleared his throat and tried to focus. “You would if you saw the others.”

She shrugged. “So tell me.”

What could he tell her that wouldn’t scare the crap out of her? Maybe he should scare her. Maybe scaring her was the only way to get her to really pay attention.

“I—”

His phone rang on the dresser. She looked up from her salad, and he put the lid back on the Savor. He grabbed his phone.

“Hello?” He looked to Evan and then headed out the door, closing it behind himself. It was probably better to not scare the crap out of her right then. He needed to be more strategic in what he told her.

“William, you didn’t check in.” Danika’s voice held an urgent, strained edge.

“I’m sorry. There’s been a bit of a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

William thought it best if he tried to sound as casual as possible.

“Evan was injured and crashed the car. I got her out and she’ll be fine, but she won’t tell me where the enclave is.”

“You need to get her to tell you.” Panic laced her voice.

“I know. I know. She did say that the enclave was self-sustaining though and that she was going to California. Maybe check for buildings like that that might be used for an enclave?”

“In California? That would take years of searching.”

He blew out a breath. “How are things there? How’s Neeman?”

“Neeman will survive. As for the rest of us… that is becoming unclear. The waves of attacks are getting worse. It’s only a matter of time till Mason’s father comes through. Honestly at this point, I don’t know what he’s waiting for. We spotted Melton this morning.”

“Really? He was in Chicago?”

“He was outside the office building.”

“What was he doing there?”

“I am assuming he had something to do with the top three floors being blown up today.”

“What? Is everyone okay?”

“No.” Danika’s voice cracked and she sniffled. “Lance is dead. Ike too.”

William’s heart sank and he slid down the wall of the motel. “Poor Sinya. I’m so sorry, Danika.”

Silence stretched out as William tried to hold it together. The sounds of Danika’s anguish from the other end of the line made him want to get in his car and head back to Chicago. Neeman was injured and Lance and Ike were dead. How many more would die before this fight was over?

He held back tears and coughed, trying to clear his throat. “I’ll find the enclave and talk to them. I promise.”

“I trust you, but things have changed. Now we need any and all nuclear weapons they might have. We need an advantage in this damn war. We can’t lose any more family. I can’t lose any more.”

He nodded at the words she didn’t say. “I understand. I’ll call you later.”

“Six hours. You call me in exactly six hours.”

“Six hours.” He hung up the phone and leaned his head back against the wall. His stomach flopped at Danika’s words. Their family was dying. It was all on his shoulders to keep the demons from destroying everything he cared about.

How in the world was he going to get Evan to tell him anything?

Evan spent the next twenty-four hours trying to figure out a way to get to California without William. He’d been unusually sullen since his conversation on the phone. She hadn’t wanted to pry, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. An attack in Chicago had killed a vampyr and human William knew. The news made Evan more anxious than ever to get back to her enclave and away from the Vampire infighting for dominance.

The next night when William got up, her skin prickled and she couldn’t seem to get comfortable.

“You don’t look so good,” he said.

“I don’t feel so good.”

He stepped toward her but she jerked away.

“I just want to feel your head. To see if you have a fever.”

“Trust me, I have a fever.”

“What about your leg? You said it was healing.”

“It’s healed.”

He looked at her. “You should check.”

“I said—”

“I know what you said, but you should check it anyway. I’ll even leave so you can do it without me.” He walked into the bathroom.

She moved her leg and pain shot up through her hip and down to her knee like a lightning bolt. She stood on her good leg and slid down the sweats. Her entire thigh was bright red. She removed the bandage and discovered the wound had re-opened. It was crimson and oozy.

“Crap. William!”

He was out of the bathroom in a flash. He knelt by her leg and inspected it. Fear trickled through her like a ghost.

“I thought you said it was healed.” His face held concern.

“It was. Now it’s not.”

He shook his head and sat on his mattress still looking at her leg. “You have an infection. Maybe something lodged inside the wound, or it could have gotten dirty… There’s any number of things that could have happened. We need to get you to a doctor.”

She broke out in a sweat and her head grew dizzy. She sat shakily on her bed. “I told you, no doctors.”

“I get where you’re coming from, but you have three choices right now. We go back to Chicago and I take you to Doc to fix you up. If we do that though, you’re right back where you started. I can find a hospital and take you there or… I take you where you want to go.”

Evan closed her eyes and swore. None of those three things were what she wanted. But dying from sepsis wasn’t what she wanted either.

“All right. You can take me to my enclave. And in return I’ll get you a meeting with our head guy. But you have to let me do it my own way.” If Norman, the leader of their enclave, was the same guy that he’d been before, he wasn’t going to be easy to convince.

“Fine but you have to take one of my phones. Keep it on you the whole time and call me when I can come in. I won’t leave until I’ve spoken to him.”

The whole thing was a gamble. She was putting the enclave in jeopardy. William would know where they were. But a piece of her trusted him. “You promise not to call in backup and try to overrun the place?”

“Even if I did call for backup, there is none. They need every body they can get where they are.”

“So you came all the way out here, alone, in the hopes of finding this enclave, knowing that you wouldn’t get help if there was trouble?”

His face grew serious. “When we left they said they’d come if there were problems, but I knew from the beginning it was possible this was a one-way trip. But if I can save every person left on this planet, it’s worth it.”

Could he possibly care about other people so much? It had been a long time since she’d met anyone who wasn’t out for themselves in the end. And especially not someone of the vampiric persuasion.

“Palm Springs.” She blurted the words out before she could change her mind. “There’s a resort there.”

He gave her a tight smile and nodded. “Then we go to Palm Springs.”

* * * *

Palm Springs was eight hours from Gallup, New Mexico. They left at eight PM and stopped to get gas and food along the way. William couldn’t help the nervous tickle that started at the base of his spine when they crossed into California and grew worse the closer they got.

Danika wanted him to go to Palm Springs for the weapons, but his concern was for Evan. So when Danika had called, he’d lied and told her that he was still trying to find out where the enclave was. He’d never lied to Danika before. It made him squirm.

Evan’s skin had taken on a waxy, pale sheen, and she’d fallen asleep about an hour into the trip and only stirred when he woke her and made her drink or eat something. Every once in a while he would feel her skin, but to his ever-cool temperature she was like an oven.

As the moon dipped low on the horizon, William’s body began to feel the strain of not having slept well or in his own bed for close to a week. He’d have to suck it up though. Who knew how long it would take before he’d be sleeping in his own bed. If ever.

They were ten miles out and dawn was less than thirty minutes away.

“Evan. Evan?” He shook her shoulder and she opened her bleary eyes. “Which exit?”

She glanced around. “Exit?”

He pointed at the sign. “Palm Springs. Where do I go?”

“Palm Springs. Country Club Drive.”

At the next exit, William pulled off the highway and stopped at the corner of Country Club Drive. The fast food restaurants showed no sign of life. For the first time since becoming a vampyr fear raced over him at the prospect of going into a town. This was not his town and these would not be his people anymore.

He drove past subdivision after subdivision of homes scanning the wide boulevard for signs of life. Within a mile light shone from up on the left. A large resort came into view. He slowed his vehicle, turned off the lights, and pulled to the side of the road.

He needed to get the lay of the area before going any further. It was one thing to try to help; it was another to end up dead because he went in the wrong way and scared someone.

He looked over to Evan, who was asleep again. He slid slowly from the driver’s seat, raced across the boulevard to the other side, and crept down the street till the resort lay before him. A giant lake surrounded it, and inside the lake stood a barbed wire fence at least ten feet high. From the looks of it there was only one road that led into the facility. No one was about at the early hour except for a handful of guards and dogs walking the perimeter.

It was amazing no one had found the place before now. But Los Angeles was the closest big city, and the likelihood that they’d travel several hours out into the desert was slim. Palm Springs was not near any major cities, and unless he’d known to come down this exact exit he would have continued on past.

He blew out a harsh breath. Getting Evan in there wasn’t going to be easy. He would have to go down the main road and get her to the fence. It was possible he could take her halfway, and she could walk the rest on her own.

He jogged back to the car and opened her door. He touched her head and then took off her seat belt.

“Evan. You need to get up now. We’re here.”

She moaned and opened her eyes.

“We’re here. There’s only one way in though. I’m going to take you halfway to the fence, but you’ll have to go the rest of the way on your own.” He pulled a cellphone from the glovebox. “Here’s the extra phone. My number is programmed into it. Call me when you’re ready for me to meet you.”

She nodded and he tucked the phone into her hoodie pocket. “Okay.”

William lifted her out and cradled her against his chest. The heat of her body was like hugging Mason in full Maelstrom form.

He walked across the street and headed for the corner of the resort. He sucked in a deep breath. This was it. If he was spotted, who knew what would happen.

He walked down the sidewalk, the resort floodlight coming closer and closer to exposing him. His body tensed like being zapped by a live wire. It was like being back on the mountainside chased by slavers again, only in reverse. He finally reached the road leading into the compound and carried Evan toward the gate.

“Stop,” she croaked. “I can go from here.”

He set her on her feet and she wobbled. Her glassy, blue gaze met his and she smiled at him. She reached up on her toes and kissed his cheek. She lingered for a minute, hugging him tight.

“Thank you, William.”

Words failed him and he nodded. “I’m not leaving here till I talk to your leader.”

“I’ll call.”

She hobbled off down the road, her pace slow and labored. She dragged her left leg and stumbled.

Silently he urged her forward when she stopped and bent over to catch her breath. About thirty yards from the gate her leg buckled and she fell. In her dark hoodie and pants, she blended into the asphalt almost completely.

William lurched forward and then stopped himself. “Get up,” he whispered.

She lay on her side motionless.

“Get up,” he said louder.

Still she didn’t move.

The guards at the gate were far enough from where she’d stumbled that it could be hours before they finally found her. He had no choice; he’d brought her this far.

Quick as light William raced to her side and lifted her. “Sorry, babe, things aren’t turning out like we hoped at the moment.”