Holier Than Thou (The Tome of Bill) (36 page)

Speaking of punishment, that was exactly what Sally dished out. Flipping her gun around, she used it to smash the face of another vampire who was within reach. Hope the Draculas had a good dental plan.

OOMPH! Double that, because I was gonna need it next. In the chaos of the fight, I had missed Remington. Unfortunately, he hadn’t missed me. A blow connected with the side of my head, sending me flying. I landed hard, skidding across the slick rooftop.

“I think I shall amend my plans, Freewill,” he spat. “Damn your place in the coming war. You have proven far too annoying to live.”

* * *

Out of the corner of my eye, one of the frustrated witches turned away from Sheila and attempted to blast Gan instead. Sadly, for their side, Gan was far too fast. She grabbed one of Remington’s vamps and dragged him in front of her, using him as an inhuman shield. She was doing a damn good job of evening the sides.

That was all the attention I could spare her, though. Tenuous footing or not, Remington closed the gap between us with frightening speed. I had barely gotten to my feet when he appeared right in front of me.

Fortunately, I was no slouch either. I threw a punch which connected squarely with his jaw. Take that, fucker!

And take it he did. He barely flinched - not even a step back to make me feel a little better. That didn’t bode well. I realized I had been getting arrogant about these things. I had been dealing with so many ancient horrors as of late that I forgot how big a threat a vampire of Remington’s age could be. Jeff, the former leader of my coven, had been a measly one-hundred and twenty years old and had thoroughly mopped the floor with my ass when we finally tussled. Judging by his little compulsion game with Gan, Remington was about three times that.

I needed to tip the odds. Thankfully, as the vampire Freewill, that’s one of the things I do best...aside maybe from getting sucked into stupid-ass prophecies against my will.

I swung the stake at Remington, fully expecting him to block me...which he did. When he grabbed hold of my arm, I pulled him in, preparing to take a bite. He was expecting that too, though. He other arm shot out and caught me by the throat, squeezing until I felt my air cut off.

“Did you think I wouldn’t have read your file, Freewill? I am not a rank amateur like some of us here. What good is your much vaunted power now? What use is your ability to resist compulsion? Where is your beloved destiny?”

Beloved? He must’ve been talking about some other Freewill. It was of little matter, though. Arrogance, coupled with idiotic monologues, was a staple of vampires over a century old. Oh they so loved to hear themselves talk. Me? Well okay, I liked hearing my own voice too, but since this guy was currently wringing my neck, that meant I needed to be a man of action (ooh, I liked how that sounded).

Time for the old standby...a knee to the crotch.

*
BLAM!
*

Remington’s shoulder exploded in a spray of blood and muscle. His scream was almost enough to mask the whine of the heavy caliber bullet which exited his body and passed by so close that I felt my hair move.

“You’re welcome!” Sally yelled out.

“I had it under control,” I gasped once Remington let me go. “I could’ve...”

Well, maybe I didn’t. Even in his wounded state, he backhanded me with his undamaged arm, once more sending me to the ground.

I landed and even amidst the storm, the crackling of energy, and gunshots; I heard his footsteps approaching. He meant to finish the job.

Pity for him that I had no intention of letting that happen. I dug into my pocket for the secret weapon I had brought. It was time to play my trump card.

Top Of The World, Ma

“Take this, Dr. Death,” Gan had said, pulling me aside just as we were leaving the safe house.

“What is it?” I asked, trying my best to conceal a sigh. I figured she was trying to give me an engagement ring or maybe her favorite dolly.

Instead, she had handed me a small glass vial filled with a thick red liquid.

“Is this...”

“My blood, beloved. You may find it useful in the coming conflict. I would be honored if you would add my strength to your own.”

To say that I was infinitely more than creeped out would be an understatement. Sure, other vamps had freely given me their blood in the recent past, more than once while in Canada, but this was different. Those times had been practical. With Gan, it felt disturbingly intimate. An involuntary shudder passed through me at the very thought.

Still, fucked up or not, I had to admit that it could come in handy. Gan’s age alone made her powerful, but her perpetual state of puberty made her special amongst vampires. I wondered if that would be transferred to me as well and immediately wanted to slap the shit out of myself for the thought. Then again, what if I refused and we wound up in a situation where I could’ve saved my friends...I could’ve saved Sheila...if I only had that extra little jolt?

In the end, logic had won out over good taste and I had pocketed it, vowing to only use it in an emergency.

Being that Tom was insane, Ed was dying, we were outnumbered, and - oh yeah - Remington had decided to give special attention to killing my ass, I decided that this might - just might - constitute something close to an emergency.

I popped the cap on the vial and sucked it down just as Remington grabbed the neck of my jacket and dragged me to my feet. It wasn’t a lot, just a few drops, but I could feel it hit my stomach like a grenade. It wouldn’t last long, but hopefully I wouldn’t need it to - especially since I didn’t know whether I would inherit a bit of Gan’s crazy as part of the deal.

Remington spun me around and my fist immediately shot out, faster than I would have thought possible, catching him square on the chest. He flew through the air, hitting the slushy rooftop and skidding right toward Gan, who stood waiting. I couldn’t see very well with the snow coming down, but I could tell there was a big grin on her face. Goddamn, I was never going to live this one down.

Oh well, neither was Remington if she had anything to say about it. I guess I could live with that.

I turned my attention to the others. Christy stood over Ed...make that
kneeled
over him. Her shield was still up, but it and she were both faltering. One of the other witches, a look of sheer hatred on her face, had turned her power on it and was attempting to break through.

“Deceiver!” she cried. “You would dare side with these filthy beasts?”

“Just for the record, my name is Bill, not filthy beast,” I said a split second later, standing right behind her. I’m sure she would’ve had something snippy to say, but I didn’t give her a chance to reply. In an impressive display of unsportsmanlike conduct, I clonked her on the back of the head - knocking her out. Hopefully she’d stay down for the rest of the battle. Heh, I could get used to this super speed thing. I felt like the Flash.

“Thanks!” Christy gasped.

“Anytime,” I replied before taking off again. Sheila was busy fighting off the remaining witch, as well as four vampires. Without her sword, she wasn’t able to keep them at bay as well as before, but she was definitely holding her own. Unfortunately, they had her cornered in such a way that she couldn’t finish one off without another moving in to harass her. I aimed to fix that.

“Over the edge with them all!” Remington cried from behind me.

That didn’t sound particularly appealing. It was a hundred and fifty feet to the ground. I stopped and looked back. Gan had been approaching the asshole, looking to finish him off, but I saw now that three of his followers were stalking her.

I turned around and saw they were doing the same to Sheila, inching her closer and closer to the edge. Even if a fall like that didn’t kill them both outright (a big if, especially for Sheila), it would certainly cripple them enough to make them easy pickings.

Stark realization hit. For all my speed, I couldn’t help them both. So that’s what cruel irony feels like.

I thought the choice would be a disturbingly easy one, but amazingly I found myself hesitating. For all the trouble she caused, I still couldn’t bring myself to want to see Gan dead. Don’t get me wrong, all of her
beloved
bullshit wasn’t starting to seep into my brain (yet). Still, she had helped me (and yes, she had also fucked me over quite nicely too). Regardless of how deluded she was, all of her actions toward me seemed to be dictated by love. Sure, it was a twisted, crazy version of love - one that was horribly tainted by an insane lust for power that would, no doubt, get me killed - but it was love all the same. There was also the fact of her being a little girl. Age aside, I always had a soft spot for the kids in horror movies. Maybe I was better off quitting the vampire business and getting a job in daycare.

Or maybe I was better off paying the fuck attention. An arm encircled my neck in a chokehold. In my enhanced state, it didn’t feel particularly powerful, but it was enough to keep me in place for a second, which is apparently all the owner needed.

“This is for Night Razor,” Dread Stalker’s voice hissed in my ear. “At last he shall be avenged!”

I had a sneaking suspicion of what was coming next. I wrenched myself to the side as best I could. It was both just enough and not nearly so. The stake missed my heart (judging by how I didn’t turn to dust), but punctured several of my other favorite organs. I assumed that included my lungs, considering how I suddenly couldn’t even draw breath to scream.

A gurgle of blood escaped my throat as I tried to shake the asshole off. He held on for dear life, though. Despite the blow not being fatal, he knew it was both debilitating and painful...although perhaps not enough for his liking. I felt him grab the stake and twist it a few times, just to be a dick.

A fire erupted in my chest...silver. Fuck me! I needed to get it out. It would only be a matter of time before it incinerated me from the inside.

Unfortunately, both for me and my allies, it proved to be a potentially fatal distraction.

I heard cries of “Bill!” and “Beloved!” I whipped my head around, taking stock of their respective situations, and saw that things had gone from bad to worse. In my desire to save them both, I had instead doomed them.

Gan was able to take only a single step toward me before two of Remington’s goons plowed into her in a dive tackle. The impact carried all three of them over the edge. I couldn’t even scream her name. She let out a shriek and then disappeared from view.

Unfortunately, I also had no time to mourn her.

To my horror, I saw that Sheila fared no better. She had managed to dust one of her tormentors, but then saw the trouble I was in. Her aura momentarily faltered. The lone remaining witch immediately took advantage of it. A beam of red hot hatred lanced out and struck Sheila full on.

At the last second, her powers flared around her again, but the impact knocked her off balance. The three remaining vampires grabbed a hold of her and dragged her toward the edge. They ignited almost instantaneously, burning like pyres in the night. As the last of them vanished into ash, though, he threw his full weight against her. It was just enough to overbalance her. She went down, her momentum taking her over the edge.

“NO!” I cried out, somehow managing to find my voice again.

* * *

“The bitch is dead, and now it’s your turn,” Dread Stalker literally spat in my ear. Fucker needed to learn to say it, not spray it. Sadly for him, I didn’t plan on letting him get the chance. He was going to pay for what he had taken from me.

I was about to try a judo flip to get him off my back (how hard could it be?), but my attention faltered. Something very important had caught my eye.

Sheila had gone over, but she hadn’t fallen...yet. I could see the fingers of one hand, still barely grasping the ledge. Saving myself could wait. I had more important matters to attend to.

My insides still burning, I made good use of Gan’s borrowed strength and dove the distance to where Sheila had gone over, carrying Dread Stalker with me. I landed on my stomach with the asshole still on top (fortunately I didn’t have any wind left to knock out of me), and slid to the edge. Reaching out, I caught hold of her hand just as she was about to lose her grip.

“Gotcha!” I gasped right before being immediately engulfed in a world of white-hot pain.

The ruptured organs and internal damage from the stake were bad enough, but they were nothing compared to the agony that raced up my arm.

I ignited, the fires of faith determined to devour me, but still I refused to let go. Dread Stalker proved to be smarter than I thought. Realizing what was happening, he tried to disengage from me.

Oh no you don’t!
The second he removed his arm from my windpipe, I bit down with everything I had, holding him in place. The fire that was consuming me, spread to him too, and he began to scream - enough for both of us.

A savage thought raced through my mind, amidst the pain.
Music to my ears, asshole.
A funny thing happened then. Though still burning, I noticed it didn’t hurt nearly as badly as it should. A moment later, I realized why.

The world flashed red and my fangs elongated even further, burying themselves to the bone in Dread Stalkers arm. It was my body’s defense mechanism - against the Icon’s power, against death itself. I was changing.

No!

I fought it. If it happened now, all my attempts to save her would be for naught. The second it was finished, I would surely attempt to kill her. Knowing what I was capable of in that state, I didn’t like her odds - disarmed as she was.

There was no way I was going to allow that. I’d die first.

Inching to the edge, I looked over. She was there, her body alight with energy. My God, she was marvelous...like an avenging angel. Almost as if in response, the rage flared up, fighting me, but I held onto her visage. There’s only one thing that can conquer such animalist hatred: pure love...or so the fairy tales say. I desperately hoped they were true for once.

I began to lift her, forcing the rage down - doing all I could to keep the change at bay. I doubled my resolve. I would save her, even if it killed me in the process. She was worth it.