Bold Mercy by Laken Cane
Chapter Eighteen
I was inconsolable.
Not only had I lost Avis Vine, but I’d lost my demon blade as well. My heart literally hurt, and I felt somehow diminished. I leaned against the wall, my hand to my chest, forcing myself to keep my cries of sorrow inside. I was livid because Avis had escaped me but filled with sorrow because she’d taken my blade. And the sorrow was much larger than the rage.
Bastien, Remy, and Joe surrounded me, and Bastien’s vampires began cleaning up the mess and, because Bastien thought it was a good idea, helping the distressed humans who’d survived the night.
They were gentle, as human-looking as possible, and I heard them murmuring about how most vampires were just like them, that they’d only ever be their guardians, that they’d been there all along. Planting seeds of hope.
“There is something you should know,” Bastien told me. “Whatever magic Frederick and Kaloni embedded inside Avis is spreading like a virus to other vampires. Soon, Jakeston won’t be the only city attacked. This “disease” is infecting certain vampires and altering their brains and their bodies. We have to kill the infected, I believe, to snuff it out.”
“Maybe,” Remy said, “it’s automatically fading. None of the vampires we fought tonight seemed to have it, and they were with Avis.”
Bastien nodded. “We will hope so.”
I could barely bring myself to care. I saw and heard everything through a haze of sorrow, and I swear, it was as though Avis had taken a vital part of me that I could not survive without. It was as though the blade were my drug, my child, my life.
“The night isn’t over,” Joe told me grimly, holding his hand to his ribs. He swayed as I watched him, close to passing out. He was covered with blood, and I couldn’t tell how much was his and how much was the vampires’ he’d killed. He was using his gore-covered machete as a cane. He was hurt, but he was alive. And that was pretty damn amazing.
“We can still track her,” Bastien agreed.
“What the hell’s wrong with you, Silver?” Remy asked. His shirt was glued to his body with blood, a deep cut seeped over his cheekbone, and his left eyes was swollen nearly shut. He ignored all that, though, and carefully cleaned the blood and gore off Dolly.
“She took my blade,” I whispered, and of everyone there, only Remy really understood what that meant. “She has my Dolly.”
He slowly and carefully slid his lucky stake back into its loop and held his hand over it, as though one of the vampires might sneak up behind him and snatch it from him. Yeah, he understood. “It’s not going to fly back into your hand while you’re standing there whining about it.” He gave me a cocky grin, somewhat maniacal looking with his bloody, swollen face. “Let’s go get your blade and stake a bitch. Come on. Where’s that crazy killer we all know and love?”
My breath whooshed out of me as Remy’s words triggered a memory. In the tunnels, I’d called my blade to me, and it had flown into my hand. I’d done that once, and I could do it again. I had to get in the right frame of mind and probably a little closer to it, but I could fucking do that. I was going to get my demon blade back, and I was going to stake a bitch. Excitement and hope exploded through me and I shoved myself away from the wall, energy renewed.
“Thereit is,” Remy said. “There it is.”
I turned to Joe. “Take my car and drive to Shadowfield.” When he opened his mouth, I held up a hand to stop him. “See Dr. Hayes and get some rest. There will be other nights, and other fights.” I was honestly shocked that he was still standing. And maybe he was, too, because he shut his mouth and nodded.
“Bastien,” I said, “get your vampires away from the humans. I’m calling the paramedics and the cops, and your people should be gone before they arrive. If you or your vampires find Avis before I do, get my fucking blade.” Maybe it wasn’t smart to let everyone know how much my knife meant to me, but I was beyond caring. They all knew I’d kill anyone I had to kill to get it back and I doubted any one of them believed a blade was worth that risk.
Five minutes later, Remy and I were jogging through the dark city alleys and side streets. I stopped for a few seconds when I smelled a particularly strong splat of blood on the street, but that was for Remy’s benefit. I followed her by scent, not by sight, but I wasn’t ready to let him know that.
Soon, when Avis was dead, the city was calmer, and I had my demon blade, I’d tell him what I was. And if I thought he was going to sneak up behind me and kill me for it someday, we’d fight then and there, and I’d end him. I didn’t like things hanging over my head.
She was so fast, even for a vampire—especially fast for someone who wasn’t really a vampire at all. I would stay on her trail if it took me all night, because that trail, if not allowed to grow cold, would lead me straight to her sleeping place. She could feed and kill and cause havoc all night but I doubted that even Avis Vine could stay in the sun for long, if at all. If I had to follow her into the ground and kill her while she slept, I would.
Strangely enough, I had the scent of my blade as well—and I hadn’t even realized, at least not consciously, that it had a scent. It smelled of fire, ash, and something close to burnt sugar. It smelled as good as the alpha.
When we came upon a group of four vampires fighting over a human man, I was tempted to leave them to Remy and continue on lest I lose Avis Vine’s scent. In the end, though, I went at them with a vicious hatred, a frantic impatience, and two stakes. I killed the four of them and was growling at the human male to “get the fuck home, asshole,” when I glanced up and saw Remy’s face.
His face had lost its color and his eyes were wide, slightly wild, and full of crazy. “Fuck you,” he murmured. “You’re not fucking human.”
“Protect the humans,” I told him. “We’ll talk about me later.”
“Yeah we will,” he said, and I don’t know if he meant to or not, but he pointed Dolly at me. “What are you?”
“Later,” I repeated, but I saw what was in his eyes. Maybe he’d accept me, maybe we’d fight. Maybe months from now he’d catch me unaware and slip a blade into my heart or a bullet into my brain. But right now was not the time to care. I couldn’t trust him at my back, though, so I left him there. I followed the scent of my blade and Avis, leaving Remy to track her the old-fashioned way.
He would understand.
After that, I became laser focused. I ignored the world around me—the looting, the fighting, the sirens, the screams. The only way to regain control of the city was to rip out the root of it. Kill the infected and most of all, kill the spreader. Avis fucking Vine.
I lost track of the time, but it felt like hours before I finally stood outside a huge furniture store, every window of its three stories dark and watchful. There was a notice on the front doors stating that the store would be closed until further notice.
She was in there waiting for me, oozing blood and stink and infection, probably feeding from the humans she’d ordered her vampires to bring her. I reached for my blade, my stomach tightening when I touched an empty sheath.
It was almost…peaceful there. My breath left white plumes in the cold, still air, and I shivered despite the fact that I wasn’t really cold. I longed for soft lights, bright laughter, warmth, and food. I craved people. Friends. My pack.
I was sick of death and cold darkness, and I did not want to fight alone. Not anymore. But I had my wolf, now, thanks to Jared, and I could shift. There was no one here to hide my wolf from.
I burst into my shift, all my emotions exploding with my wolf, and for a few trembling moments I had to fight to control her as she wanted nothing more in the world than to throw off all the responsibility and just run into the night.
Finally, with a growl, I gathered my legs beneath me and shot through the air, crashing through one of the windows. I didn’t try to be quiet or sneak up on them. They knew I was there, and I was sure they were waiting with breathless—haha—anticipation for my arrival.
I entered Avis Vine’s den, intent upon two things—killing everyone inside and getting my beloved demon blade back.
