Blood Born Read online

  “We can’t say,” Jimmy answered in a lowered voice. “It’s all hush-hush right now. But you’ll recognize it when the ads come out, since you’ve seen my cousin in costume.”

  The cashier bought the story, and relaxed a bit more. “Hey, you,” he called, looking past Jimmy’s shoulder. “What’s your name? You know, in case you get famous or something.”

  “I am Rurik.” As always the Warrior spoke with an accent.

  The cashier’s smile faded. “Yeah, yeah, stay in character, asshole.”

  Jimmy showed his ID, paid, handed Rurik the six-pack, stepped outside, and took a deep breath. Next time they had to stop he was going to leave Rurik in the car. The Warrior would just have to piss on the side of the road or into an empty beer can until they got to D.C. Jimmy thought he’d handled himself okay so far, but he wasn’t an actor or an accomplished liar and he really couldn’t take much more of this. His heart was beating a mile a minute.

  He skidded to a stop. A woman dressed in long pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, gloves, a floppy-brimmed hat, and a scarf leaned casually against the passenger side of the car. She was definitely not dressed for a southern summer afternoon. Despite all the garb she had on, she was a looker. She was so good-looking, and built like a brick shit house, that it took him a minute to register that she was leaning against his car, as if she were waiting for them. He didn’t know her, so that gave him a start, like he needed any more surprises today.

  The woman lifted her head sightly, revealing a lush mouth that curved in a smile as she glanced past him. Her attention settled on Rurik, and stayed there. “Hey there, sugar,” she purred.

  Rurik dropped his six-pack. Two of the cans burst open, spewing beer in an arc as the Warrior drew his sword. For a split second Jimmy wondered what the hell he was doing, and then the woman sprang toward the Warrior, godawmighty, almost flying. Her movement was too big to be normal, and dammit all, those were fangs.

  Jimmy dropped the sack of sandwiches and his Styrofoam cup of iced tea, and ran. He punched the button on his keychain remote to unlock the doors, then yanked the rear driver’s side door open and dove into the backseat. He grabbed the shotgun, backed out of the car with it cradled in his hands. He could barely think. Oh shit, oh shit. That was pretty much all his brain was capable of. His hands shook, and his heart pounded so hard he could feel it hammering against his chest.

  For one blessed moment he thought that maybe he wouldn’t need the shotgun. Without hesitating, Rurik ran the vampire through with his sword. Jimmy blew out a breath of relief, one that turned to a strangled cry when the sword didn’t even slow her down. She backed away, leaving the bloodstained blade behind, and danced to the side, away from the sword, to swing out with a balled hand. An unbelievably powerful blow connected with Rurik’s jaw and sent him to the ground. He landed on his back, hit his head on the concrete. His sword fell out of his hand and went clattering across the parking lot.

  The vampire snarled like a wild animal, and in the shade of her hat brim Jimmy saw them again. Fangs.

  She pressed one small foot, clad in a white tennis shoe, on Rurik’s chest. “I’ve never tasted warrior blood before. Bet I get a charge out of it, sugar.”

  Rurik’s eyes were still dazed, but he turned his head toward Jimmy. “She killed your father. Go for the heart or head.”

  The vampire smiled. “If it was dark I’d take you both on at the same time, but I’m not at my best during the daytime. Guess this’ll have to do.” For a moment she looked into Jimmy’s eyes, and everything kind of went away. He felt a strange tingle at the center of his forehead and a chill down his spine, and for a second or two he felt completely disconnected and numb. The vampire dismissed him and dropped down like an animal to grasp Rurik’s hair in one hand, jerking his head back as she opened her mouth and exposed her fangs, poised to tear out his throat.

  Jimmy pumped the shotgun and fired. He couldn’t get her heart from this angle, not without hitting Rurik, too, so he aimed for the head. And missed. It had been a long time since he’d handled any kind of weapon. The shot grazed the vampire’s hat, knocking it off.

  She howled as the sunlight hit her face, automatically lifting her free arm to shield herself from the sun. “I told you to stay right where you were,” she snarled at him. “Damn sunlight. I can’t even glamour properly.”

  Jimmy pumped the shotgun again and moved closer. Rurik had insisted that he load the shotgun after they’d purchased it, thank God, but Jimmy hadn’t believed he’d need to defend himself so soon, so he hadn’t put one in the chamber, for safety’s sake; that meant he just had this one last shot, rather than the maximum three he could have had. This one had to count; he didn’t think the vampire would give him time to grab a couple of shells from the car and reload. She jumped up to face him, her movements unnaturally smooth and quick.

  Rurik had shaken off the knock on his head; as soon as she released her hold on him, he moved fast, grabbed the vampire’s legs, and literally lifted her high in the air. Damn if she didn’t look like an old-fashioned car-hood ornament, or a wooden woman on the front of a pirate ship, with her back arched and her breasts thrust forward. She hung there, high in the air, and Jimmy knew he’d never again have this chance. He didn’t hesitate; he aimed for the heart and fired.

  This time, he didn’t miss. The blast hit her in the middle of her chest, getting the heart and a lot of other flesh. Rurik released his hold and the vampire dropped like a rock, splatting hard on the pavement just a few feet in front of Jimmy. She took a deep breath, screamed with raw fury, and lifted her head. Her cheek had taken a beating when she’d slammed into the ground, and her clothes were soaked in her own blood, but she was still alive, and fuck, she was getting up!

  “You must destroy the heart or the head, not simply damage it,” Rurik said as he rose to his feet and reached for his sword in one smooth motion. “Remember that,” he added calmly as the damaged vampire rose from the ground, moving much more slowly and clumsily than she had before. Rurik lifted his sword and swung it with an incredible strength, neatly severing the vampire’s head. Her head spun away, screaming one last time. Her once-lovely face blistered in the sunlight, then her entire body—both parts—turned to dust.

  Rurik leaned down and picked up the vampire’s scarf, wiped his sword with it, and returned the blade to its scabbard. “Thank you for coming to my defense,” he said without emotion.

  Holy shit, now what did they do? Jimmy looked toward the convenience store, where several faces were all but pressed to the glass. The clerk was jabbering full-speed into his cell phone. “Well, fuck,” he said, as he started walking back to the convenience store. When he was almost there, he decided it really wasn’t a good idea to walk into a crowded store with a shotgun, whether he had any ammo left or not. He turned around, watched as Rurik wiped some blood from his face, then picked up the sack of sandwiches and the unexploded cans of his six-pack.

  He couldn’t believe the guy still wanted to eat. As far as he was concerned, he never wanted to see a barbecue sandwich again for the rest of his life. The chopped meat reminded him too much of how the vampire had looked when he’d shot out part of her chest.

  “Get in the car,” he said to Rurik as he put the shotgun in the backseat and walked back to the convenience store. He opened the door, plastered a smile on his face as he stuck his head inside. “Please tell me you didn’t see the cameras. We wanted your expressions to be genuine. Hope we didn’t scare anyone too bad. Wasn’t that great? The producer is going to be here in just a few minutes. He’ll want signed permissions from all of you, if you want your likenesses to appear in the video game.” He wondered if any of them could see past the act, if maybe those closest could hear his heart hammering.

  “Where’s the woman’s body?” one lady shouted hysterically. “Oh my God, she just exploded!”

  “It’s all special effects these days,” Jimmy said, keeping that idiotic grin in place.

  “I saw …” a man be