Crimson Dawn (20 page)

I ran through the cloud of remains, jumping over overturned furniture, dodging flying fists, and avoiding various other body parts aimed in my direction. I heard the cries of Tristan’s children, paired with grunts from Priest as he fought behind me, but my attention focused on a door at the end of the room. I felt Tristan’s aura behind the closed door, and cut a path through anything that was in front of my trying to get to it.

When I got within feet of the door, it burst open and more Vampires began pouring out. I heard the sound of something cutting through the air and two of them fell dead at my feet with thin stakes protruding from their chest. Then from out of nowhere, a charging vamp caught me in the midsection, sending us both flying backwards.

"Lights!" I yelled, fully frustrated. My eyes were beginning to feel the sting of the florescent lights despite my films. I brought my elbow crashing down into the back of the vamp, trying to break his hold. When that didn't work, I brought both my blades together through his neck. The lights died with a stream of sparks just as the head fell to the ground beside me.

I rolled the body off me and flipped myself upright, finally able to see clearly. There was a line of Wolf Shifters, all in half form, blocking the doorway that lead to where I felt Tristan. Priest came up on my left with two jagged cuts across both of his cheeks. He panted, "Need some help?” I didn't have the luxury of doubt right now and quickly nodded yes. We flashed forward, barreled into two of the Shifters, and sent them flying backwards into the wall. After that, the surprise that our speed offered us was gone.

Razor-like claws dug into my shoulder, raking down my arm, peeling the skin and muscle back until portions of bone were showing. I screamed in pain and my sword hit the ground as my arm immediately became useless. I spun in a flash, pivoting as I turned and caught the Shifter in a headlock. "You stupid son of a bitch!" I yelled, right before I bit into his neck. I didn't have the time for a feeding, but unless I took in a large amount of blood as quick as I could, my arm would take minutes to heal, instead of seconds.

As soon as I felt the skin of my arm begin to knit together, I dropped the unconscious Shifter to the floor. I slipped the sword I still held into its sheath with a small grunt of pain, and retrieved the other from where I had dropped it. The arm was healing fast, but I still needed to give it a short break. I snapped my head up as my ears picked up a sound I never expected to hear coming from the other room.

The telltale cries of children drifted through the air over the sounds of the fighting. I took two steps backward and ran forward, propelling myself up and over the line of opposition. But by the time I finally got into the room, it was too late. Just as I arrived, I saw Tristan jump through an open window carrying two children. "Irulan, Priest, I need you now!” I ran to the window, and looking out into the night, tracked Tristan and two Deadborns running through an alley across the street all holding a child under each arm.

They both ran into the room just as I was preparing to jump out of the window after Tristan and his minions. "Tristan - he's got kids as hostages," I explained as quickly as I could before sliding through the window and launching myself off the fire escape. I hit the ground running, shoving dumpsters and variety of discarded appliances out of my way as I went. I pushed my aura ahead of me and felt the familiar sensation of Tristan’s out in front of me in the moonlit block of buildings. I spared a quick glance upwards and noticed that all the streetlights I'd passed had been broken out. Another sign of nesting.

I pushed myself into a flash and closed the distance between us until I could finally see them ahead of me. Tristan kicked in the door to yet another abandoned building, and the three of them went inside with their screaming hostages. I briefly stopped across the street and leaned against the remains of a rusted old car. For a second I considered waiting for Irulan and Priest, but the thought of those children in danger pushed me forward and into the darkness. I prayed I was right about Tristan not wanting me hurt, if I weren't I'd just committed suicide by going in alone.

I looked around the empty expanse with UV and saw nothing but the red and yellow shapes of the rodents that called it home. I moved farther into the shadows, and put my back against the nearest wall to avoid someone jumping me from behind. Tristan and the Deadborns were in here somewhere. I felt him, but somehow he was masking their heat signatures from me.

When my backup arrived, I took a deep breath and prepared to begin searching the building. The three of us nodded in an unspoken agreement of the need for silence. Together we spread out and carefully began searching, over, under, and behind any obstacle we came upon that could be a hiding place. We searched fruitlessly for five minutes before we finally came upon a half gone Deadborn, lying under a mass of discarded newspapers and trash. I hauled him up by the lapels of his filthy shirt and looked him over, taking in his appalling condition.

The blonde hair on his head was dull and caked with dirt, and his skin had a sickly grey tint to it that was beyond pale, even by a Deadborn's standards, and it was pulled tightly over the sharp lines of his skull. His eyes were sunken so far into his head they were barely visible. Irulan reached forward and held his head up to get a look at his neck. Angry bite marks covered what must have been Tristan's latest meal.

I didn't have long to sympathize for the emaciated creature. I heard a faint click, then the sounds of something ripping through the air heading in our direction. I jerked my head around in time to see the flare of a gun muzzle as it continued to go off. The three of us scattered as a spray of bullets pelted the wall right where we had been. To hell with being quiet, I thought as I sprang upright with a yell and raced through the darkness in the direction of the shooter.

Connected to a row of some sort and rigged to go off on their own, I found a row of sub-machine guns. I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. "We've been set up!" I mentally kicked myself for my stupidity at not checking the building with my normal night vision. Tristan had counted on me scanning for him using my ultra violet, and he used that against me very effectively.

I picked up a spent shell casing and hurled it into the wall, furious at myself, and terrified for the children that they had. Walking by me, Priest inspected the weapons setup. "He knew you were coming, Trumaine. This setup was just for you, and from the looks of it, he's a patient bastard.” Priest turned and held up one hand covered in dust and another that held an envelope with my name written on it. I took the envelope and pulled out a pulled out a picture. It was one of Tristan and me during one of our seemingly happier moments, taken at one of Trumaine Enterprise's charity functions. Across the bottom Tristan had written, 'My how time flies! See you soon, Tris'.

Anger, frustration, and confusion, so many emotions fought for dominion inside my head. Irulan walked over and took the picture from me. "Suck it up, Valeria. We don't have the time for you to wallow. Those kids don't have time for it. You need to pick up his scent, and you need to do it now!"

I snapped out of my funk and took a deep breath, but I could not find Tristan's base scent anywhere. The weaker scent of his Deadborns was everywhere, along with the cold tang of rusted metal, old denim, and the musky smell of old newspaper. "This isn't right," I mumbled as I quickly began moving through the building, taking small breaths as I went.

Irulan and Priest trailed behind me demanding to know what was wrong, but I was unable to voice what was going through my mind because I didn't understand it myself. Asking Priest for help in locating Tristan's missing scent was useless because they had never met and he would have no idea what Tristan's base scent would smell like. I searched the structure twice before I finally stopped and turned to the both of them, "It doesn't make any sense. I felt his aura, I followed them here, but Tristan's scent is nowhere in this building."

"What are you talking about, Trumaine?" Priest asked, with a frustrated edge in his voice. "If you followed him here, his scent should be here. Either your nose is off or your head is."

Irulan rounded on Priest, "Not the time, Dead Man. we've got more important things to attend to."

Priest stepped forward to stand in her face, "So it's OK for her to treat me like shit when I fuck up, but when she does, no one gets to call her on it? I don't think so.”

Irulan shoved him backwards causing him to stumble, "Do not try my patience.” She turned and asked, "Are you sure it was Tristan? Did you scent him back at the apartment, or was it just his aura?"

"I felt him. There were too many bodies for me to get a definite trace of his scent. Why does that matter? I know his aura almost as well as I know yours."

Irulan cursed and balled up the picture that she still held onto. "One of the spells in that book gives the practitioner the ability to be in two places at once. A person's aura is a representation of the ether that we hold inside of us. Our bodies mold it until it becomes our own, but it can be duplicated in another with the right knowhow. It's not an easy process, but it is possible. A person's scent, however, no matter how much you wash, or cover it up with cologne and perfume, can't be duplicated or faked."

"How the hell was I supposed to know that?" I demanded, my frustration growing in leaps and bounds. As my anger increased, my shields weakened, and I began to feel auras all around us. I scanned the building, "We've got company,” I said as quietly as I could. Irulan's aura brushed against my own as she felt for herself.

"There's no one here, Trumaine," said Priest, "We need to regroup for the night..."

Irulan raised a hand, cutting him off. She pointed her finger towards the skylights high above us. "They're on the roof, asshole, Deadborns, Human children, and someone that may or not be Tristan."

No sooner were the words spoken than we began to hear footsteps above us. From the sounds, we were sorely outnumbered. "Suggestions?" I asked, even as my mind raced to formulate a defense strategy.

Priest looked up towards the roof for any sign of attack, when he yelled a single word, "Move!" I jerked my head upwards to catch a glimpse of Tristan’s face before he backed away and smashed the glass with a foot.

A shower of broken glass rained down on us, and the Deadborns began throwing children through the skylights above us. Priest and I flashed through the building, leaping up into the air to catch as many as we could, but the skylights were spaced far apart, and the children hurtled towards us with Vampire speed. We landed for the third time, each of us carrying two children, when a young teenage boy came barreling through the roof at the other end of the structure. The youngster was screaming bloody murder as the end of his life rushed towards him. At the same moment, they dropped four other children right above us, leaving us with a heartbreaking decision, flash to catch the one, or save the four.

Suddenly, the air got heavy, and wind whipped around us, effectively knocking us down mid-leap. Irulan caught all five children in an air pocket and brought them safely to the ground. In an effort to prepare for whatever was coming next, we hustled the shocked kids into a corner, covered them with discarded clothing, and formed a loose semicircle around them.

A single Deadborn with a twisted leer on his face dropped down through the roof and landed in front of us, “My sire sends me with instructions for your surrender. He says he will spare the rest of the kids if the Elf and the Vampire leave. He wants to speak with Ms. Trumaine alone."

Before I had a chance to answer, Irulan replied, "That's not going to happen, and unless you and yours are dead set on becoming ash in the very near future, I suggest you get the other children and bring them to us, now."

Muffled cries drifted down from the roof as the Vampires scattered. Priest shot upwards and disappeared from sight. I heard the sounds of struggle and then Priest's aura got faint as he moved farther and farther away, no doubt chasing after the kids. I was just about to join him when Vampires began pouring through the roof. I flung my conscious ahead searching for Tristan's aura but came up empty. Despite the rift between us, I got scared for Priest's life.

"I can't feel Tristan anymore,” I called to Irulan as I dodged a charging Deadborn and thrust a sword through the heart of another. Irulan's eyes were blazing as she called Deadborn after Deadborn to dirt, but they just kept coming. She looked and saw the unspoken request written on my face.

"I'm not leaving you," she cried, "they're too many of them!” A female jumped on my back, wrapped her arm and legs around me, and bit into my ear. I yelled, flashed backwards into a wall, and broke her hold causing her to fall to the ground. I drew my leg back to kick her, but when I brought it forward, I met nothing but air and ashes.

"You don't have a choice, Irulan," I said, dodging a fist and countering with a roundhouse, sending the recipient flying. "If we really felt Tristan in there, Priest is as good as dead. He can't save those kids alone, and I can't run the risk of being wrong about Tristan not wanting to hurt me. If I go, and I am, then both of us are toast. Both of us can't go because I refuse to leave these children alone. You're the only one that can take him one on one."