Chapter 58

Trinity

I sat on a really uncomfortable chair as the other two hunters pulled up outside and began to pour stuff on the ground. Mark and Vash left me alone in what seemed to be the living room and went into the room at the back of the little house. I went to the window and watched the two other hunters stab silver knives and forks into the ground. They threw water around and chanted, holding their crosses. I guess it was something like blessing the ground. Watching them made me a little queasy.

I leaned against the window and looked out into the night. For a moment, I thought I saw Lucian’s glowing red eyes, but a moment later, they vanished. I pressed my hand to my stomach, still amazed.

I was pregnant. Lucian and I were going to be parents together. I wondered what vampire marriages were like.

A flash of beautiful fabric and two ornate goblets filled my mind. I shuddered and tried to push the memory away. Whatever that memory was about. It didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered but the life me and Lucian would build together with our child. I looked down.

Mark came out of the back room with Vash. He sank into a chair at the table and pulled out a flask. He drank and grimaced.

“You’re right… I need more whiskey.”

Vash handed him a small bottle out of her bag. “You owe me a favor.”

She leaned back in her seat and pulled out her gun, starting to dismantle it. Mark took another drink. He didn’t look at me. I turned to look back outside. There was something wrong. I only saw one of the hunters. The other one had his gun up and aimed it into the dark.

Then, shadows started to move. I gasped and drew back.

“What is it?” Vash asked.

Mark’s eyes twitched. “Where’s Jack?”

Vash cursed and reassembled her gun. She stood and went to the window as I saw the other hunter step just beyond the barrier. He shrieked as he was pulled into the darkness. Gunshots were fired. I saw flashes of light in the darkness, but he didn’t come out.

In his place, several vampires, all dressed very well, came out. They were dressed in similar clothes as the piles that had been in the hospital.

“How long is that barrier going to hold?” Vash asked.

“Not long enough,” Mark said. “Help me with this!”

Vash turned and grabbed my arm. “Come away from the window, stupid!”

Vash called someone on the phone as Mark started to put things on the table. His fingers were moving so quickly. I had no idea what he was doing. Vash started drawing wires around the windows.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“We have enough silver?” Vash asked, ignoring me.

“We’ll have to make it count.”

“The church is sending us back-up,” Vash said. “With any luck, that bastard is out there too.”

My heart lurched. I really hoped that Lucian wasn’t out there, but if he was, was there a way I could warn him of what they were planning?

I didn’t think that there was.

“You haven’t answered me,” I said. I pulled back as Mark started pulling out big jugs of what looked like liquid metal. I knew from the way the air started to heat around the bottles that they contained silver and something else. The liquid seemed to glow, and everything in me said to stay away from it.

“That’s it?” Vash asked.

He grit his teeth. “Everything else was in their car.”

Vash looked out the window and pulled out a gun. “I can make it.”

“Don’t be stupid!” Mark hissed.

“The car is inside the barrier. They aren’t that fucking stupid. I’ll be back, and don’t stop getting set up. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Vash headed out the side door. I could hear the hiss of vampires growing louder. I saw them through the door, and I heard them talking and arguing about how to get through the barrier, but none of them seemed able to do much of anything. My heart raced as I saw Vash moving towards a car that seemed to be rocking.

“Fucking idiots!” Vash shrieked.

She broke the glass of the windshield and fired several shots.

“Vash!” Mark yelled, going to the door.

“Just get it ready!” Vash yelled, firing as she slipped into the car, knocking the broken glass out of the way. “I hope there’s a cozy seat in hell for those dumb fuckers!”

More shots rang out. Then she climbed out with a big silver case. The vampires nearby screeched as she held it out between them. She came back into the house and slammed the door shut, panting and bloody.

The scent of it made my mouth water and my stomach growl. My face heated as I realized that I was hungry. She threw the case on the table and sat down.

“I’m going to kill them if they get us killed!” Vash said. Mark laughed as she started to wrap her wounds. He opened it and pulled out more bottles of the silvery liquid. I avoided being near him as he started to wrap wires around the bottles and set them around the house. Vash pulled off her shirt and slapped bandage after bandage on her wounds.

Mark’s face turned red as she bandaged herself.

“Don’t get shy now, Mark,” Vash hissed.

“You could at least put your shirt back on.”

“Don’t act like you’ve never seen tits before,” Vash said as she ripped her shirt apart and tied the scraps together as makeshift bandages. She soaked the strips in antiseptic and pressed them on the wounds. She followed it with a splash of something from another bottle and then started to tie it together.

“Unless you haven’t. If we live through this, remind me to take you to a strip club or something.”

Mark groaned and finished setting the last bottle up. He came back to the chest and plugged some wires in before twisting a few knobs.

“How much time do we have?” Mark asked.

“Five at most. Those idiots didn’t put the barrier out far enough. I barred access to the car, so we have some time, but it’s not going to hold once they figure out how to move it.”

“Done,” Mark said, grabbing his gun. “This way! One… Two…”

He grabbed my arm. Vash followed just behind us as he led us down a set of dark stairs and kept counting. Vash followed behind us, hurrying past. My heart was in my throat. I was so dizzy. My stomach lurched again.

“Don’t fucking pass out!” Mark cursed, tightening his grip on me and forcing me to stumble after him. “Turn left, Vash!”

Something hissed, and she opened fire. The brilliant blue flames of the burning vampires lit the pathway. The world started to go blurry. I stumbled and tripped. Mark growled and hefted me onto his shoulder. I felt like a sack of potatoes, but I was so dizzy that I couldn’t complain.

Vash scoffed and fired ahead of us, taking directions from Mark. I could tell we were moving slower, but soon, I smelled fresh air, and I could see the light of the moon. The forest felt alive like every shadow held danger. My mind drifted back into my memories of a different forest filled with shadows and streaks of red light. I pushed the thought away and tried to focus on the night around me.

In the distance, there was a bright light through which a strangely warm wind blew. It smelled familiar.

Vash led us away from the house as Mark kept counting. Vash led us around a bank of rocks. Mark hurried around it and dropped me to the ground before lifting his gun.

The explosion shook the air and heated it like fire and silver. I heard screaming, and when I looked around the edge. A brilliant blue flame lit up the night. The air started to burn in my lungs like I had breathed in too much bleach. I coughed as I choked on it and clawed at my throat.

The vampire that was rushing towards us shrieked and grabbed her throat. Vash fired at her. She shrieked and burned to ash as I tried to breathe around the way my throat seemed to be tightening.

“We’ll have to tell the church it’s more effective than they thought,” Vash said. “If lover boy was out there, he’s damn sure not now.”

“He wasn’t,” Mark said. “He’s getting closer, but he’s not here yet…”

“Lucian?” I croaked, hopefully.

“Hopefully, he runs right into that cloud of silver and dies.”

Vash laughed. “Well, you might get your wish if that’s what I think it is.”

Mark grunted. “It’s… That’s impossible. Who could have—”

He shuddered and stumbled, grabbing his head. Blood trickled from his nose. Vash crouched down beside him.

“Keep it together, Mark. What is it?”

“Tell the church we need full backup,” Mark choked. “Tell them a Blood Ancestor is awake.”