“This where you grew up?” I asked.
“Aye. I was born in that bedroom over there and lived here until I was past thirty. I considered moving back after Mum died, but it always felt like her place and not mine. So, I have it for emergencies, or to put up friends from out of town.”
I put my stuff in an empty wardrobe and went back downstairs. I ate dinner at the bar, then Jolene and Lizzy came in, and we moved to a table. Tuesdays were quiet, so not much was going on. I rarely went into the bar on my days off, but we talked and laughed, and I really enjoyed it.
My friends stayed until about ten o’clock, and I made ready to go upstairs, read for a while, then go to bed.
On my way toward the back stairs, I saw Lieutenant Blair come in. He stood at the entrance and looked around. When he spotted me, he immediately headed in my direction.
“Hi, Lieutenant. What’s up?”
“I stopped by your place, but you weren’t home. Is Sam here?” He looked about half panicked.
I shook my head. “No, he’s been gone for hours.”
“Is there somewhere private we can talk?” he asked.
Taking him up to the apartment didn’t feel right, so I led him back to the room where employees took their breaks.
He looked around, saw that we were alone, then said, “Something crazy’s going on. There was an attack, hell, an all-out assault, on The Devil’s Den by somewhere between fifty and a hundred vampires. We’ve got dead vamps and dead humans, and more casualties than I can count. I was hoping Sam and some of the mages here might be able to help us cordon the area off to keep the press out.”
The Devil’s Den was George Flynn’s strip club. I was suddenly a bit light-headed, put my hand on a table and closed my eyes to steady myself. It had started, and I didn’t feel at all good about being right.
Of course, it had actually started with an assassination attempt on Flynn outside of Rosie’s a few weeks earlier, along with the kidnapping attempt on me, and then Barclay helping the local Illuminati kidnap Frankie Jones. But both Illuminati were dead, along with the Hunter they had brought in, and Barclay was left without any allies. He must have decided it was time to push the issue.
Opening my eyes, I saw that Blair still looked on the verge of panic. “I could block off the road and keep people from coming in,” I said, “but that would block your emergency vehicles as well, and I’m definitely not an illusionist.”
I called Sam, and when he answered, I said, “Lieutenant Blair is here at the bar and wants to speak with you.” I handed the phone to Blair and stepped back.
They spoke for about five minutes, and I could only hear Blair’s side of the conversation. He explained the situation and then evidently answered a series of questions. Then he held out the phone to me.
“Hi, Sam.”
“Erin, see if Jack Crawford or Ruby Meadows are at the bar. If so, tell them I would consider it a personal favor if they can round up any other illusionists or aeromancers they know and meet us at Flynn’s club. And if you could come along, I would appreciate it, too. If any vamps want to get frisky, I think you can probably dissuade them from bothering the illusion casters.”
“Okay. I’ll see you there,” I said.
Both Jack and Ruby were in the bar, and I filled them in on the situation. Then I asked Blair if he could swing by my apartment so I could change clothes. I didn’t think the blouse and skirt I was wearing would hold up very well if I had to kick some vampire ass, and my Hunter boots would definitely serve the purpose better than the flats I had on.
I hadn’t realized Blair’s car was equipped with a siren and lights, but we reached my apartment in record time. I jumped out of the car and ran to the front door. Right into the arms of two vampires who slid out of the shadows and reached to grab me. Barclay and his invitation had completely slipped my mind.
Since I wasn’t shielded, the vamp on my left grabbed my arm in a grip like a steel vise. I threw an elbow into the solar plexus of the vamp on my right, but knocking the breath out of a creature who didn’t breathe didn’t have much effect.
They dragged me away, and I heard Blair shout. Recovering from my shock, I pulled magic from the ley line. The power filled me, and I directed it down, to my feet and my hands. I dug in my heels and brought the three of us to a stop. The vamps were thrown off balance, and I brought my hands together as hard and fast as I could, pulling the vamps into a collision with each other.
Pulling my right hand free, I punched the vamp still holding me in the head, crushing his skull, and he let go of me. A kick to the knee of the other vamp sent him to the ground. And then a mountain fell on me as at least four vampires leaped on me, bearing me to the ground. They immobilized my arms and legs, so I pushed magic at them, trying to push them away and free myself. Their strength was incredible, and their holds on me were painful.
I couldn’t shield with them touching me, and although I was dealing out some punishment, so were they. A punch under my ribs was a lot more effective than one of my blows were to them, and I gasped for air. Fingers curled in my hair and slammed my head against the pavement. But it was the feel of a tongue on the inside of my thigh that spurred me to a renewed effort.
The sound of a gunshot concurrent with one of the vamp’s head exploding caught all of our attention. A second gunshot and another exploding head caused two of my assailants to leap away from me.
As I struggled to beat the remaining vamps with my magic, I heard a third shot and then a muffled cry of pain.
I freed one leg and kicked the vamp holding my other leg. He flew backwards out of my sight. I rolled away, ripping myself out of my captors’ hold. A kick to the head took out one vamp, and a roundhouse kick took out the knees of another.
Without waiting to engage any more of the vamps who had been holding me, I whirled and leaped toward Blair’s car.
A vamp held the cop against his car, one hand in Blair’s hair, and the other pinning his arm. The vamp’s mouth was against Blair’s neck, and I saw the horror in the lieutenant’s eyes.
With a punch to the vampire’s back, I snapped his spine. As he arched his back, I grabbed his head with my hands, twisted it, and broke his neck. I noted the blood on the vamp’s mouth.
Blair’s pistol lay on the ground. I snatched it up and turned. Two vampires leaped at me, and I shot them both, the explosive incendiary rounds blowing both of them backward.
Three of the vampires who attacked me still appeared to be mobile. I aimed carefully and shot one of them in the head. The other two ran toward a black car parked two buildings down from mine.
Rather than try to shoot either of the runners, who really were too fast to track accurately, I aimed at the front-seat window of the car and fired twice. The window shattered, and then a fire sprung up inside the car. A man—a vampire, I assumed—opened the driver’s side door and rolled out onto the pavement. The two vampires running away grabbed him on their way past and carried him off into the darkness.
Turning back to Blair, I saw he was still upright and his eyes were open. He clutched his bleeding neck with one hand.
“Give me another clip,” I said.
He blinked at me, then fumbled at the pocket of his suit coat. I knocked his hand out of the way and reached into the pocket, pulled out an ammunition clip, and traded it with the empty clip in the pistol.
I still held the ley line magic in my hands, so I ripped the sleeve off his coat, folded it, and pressed it against his neck.
“Hold this. Okay?”
He did as I told him, and then slumped, sliding down the side of the car to sit on the ground.
“Are you all right?” I practically screamed at him, frantic with worry. “Talk to me, Blair! Tell me you’re okay!”
“I’ll live,” he said.
Relief flooded through me. I’d gotten to him before the vamp tore either the carotid artery or the jugular vein, either of which would have been fatal.
I looked up and saw lights in Eleanor’s apartment and the office. Assured that she was probably calling someone, I scanned for more trouble, holding Blair’s pistol with both hands and ready to shoot anything that jumped at me.
“You shoot pretty damned good for a girl,” Blair said.
I turned to look at him and saw him trying to smile. My eyes misted a little, and I used one hand to rub them and clear my sight.
“Beginner’s luck,” I told him.
“You’re so full of bullshit sometimes,” he answered. “You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?”
“No, not really.”
He barked a laugh, then flinched with pain.
The sound of sirens in the distance grew louder.
Chapter 6
The paramedics dressed Blair’s wound and put him into an ambulance. I sat on the curb watching as cops loaded the vamps into a special paddy wagon converted from an armored car.
An orange-haired witch walked up to me—Detective Mackle, one of Blair’s people.
“You look like shit,” she said.
I surveyed myself. I hurt all over. My blouse was torn, revealing my bra to anyone who looked at me, and my skirt had been ripped completely off, leaving my bottom half clothed only in panties and ripped pantyhose. I had no idea where my shoes were. I mourned that skirt. I had few clothes other than t-shirts, jeans, and the clothes I wore to work. The skirt was only a week old, and that was the first time I’d worn it.
“I’ve been told that before,” I replied, “but at least I don’t have orange hair.”
She laughed and crouched down next to me. Reaching out and grasping my wrist, she held up my arm so she could see it better. I winced at her fingers’ light pressure. My whole forearm was one big bruise.
“I think we should take you in to the emergency room and have you looked at,” Mackle said.
“I’d rather see a healer.”
She nodded. “I copy that, but I don’t happen to have one in my hip pocket. You know anyone I can call?”
I shook my head. “Can I at least get some clothes?” I might not have been much to look at, but a number of male cops were looking anyway.