Sins of the Undead Patriot (43 page)

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Every muscle and bone ached in a symphony of pain. Leera opened her eyes. Water trickled nearby. Out her window, larger snowflakes fell in a slow cascade. Her head felt wet. Blood coated the fingers she retracted from her temple.

“Vaihan?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

Wind shrieked through the cracks in the glass. A body lay contorted on the hood. Gleaming dark pools surrounded the form.

Leera released her seat belt and crawled forward. “Vaihan.” She pressed his torso.

“Leera, did Barton give you anything? A phone?”

Shit. That was how he had tracked them. She pulled the cell out of her pants pocket and tossed it into the creek.

“Are you mobile?” she asked.

“I want you to go to the farm house and call Peter. He will know what to do.”

“You have to come with me.” No way would she leave him.

“I can’t. I can’t move my legs.”

This couldn’t be happening. “I’m not leaving.” She rolled him over.

“You are so stubborn. You’re in shock. Adrenaline will only last a short while. You need to use the burst of energy to get out of here.”

“I won’t go.” She unbuttoned his jacket.

He chuckled through a raspy caught. “This is no time to get kinky.”

“Not funny.” She gripped both sides of his dress shirt and popped the buttons. In the dark, none of his scar was still visible. Shit. What if he was already human? She had to try. A few yards in front, the other car lay turned over. She slipped off the hood.

Cold bit her, burning her cheeks. The driver appeared dead. Shot. The other man groaned. She opened the door through the broken window.

A moan of misery escaped him. Blood gushed from his head.

Reaching over him, she unlatched his seat belt. She took hold of his jacket and pulled him out. He slammed onto the snow with grunt. Arms looped around his legs, she tugged him in the snow. Sweat trickled under her clothing. Next to the front wheel of the Montana, she stopped.

“Vaihan, I’m going to ease you down.” She wrapped her arms around his waist.

He flung open his eyes. “What are you still doing here?”

With her hands under his back, she heaved him upright and forced his weight onto her. She stumbled backward and crashed to the ground with him on top of her.

“The baby, Leera.”

“Snow broke our fall.” She turned him onto his side, facing the injured man. “You need to eat.”

“What?”

“You heard me. If you don’t eat, you and I are going to die.” And the baby.

“I can’t, Leera. I haven’t had the urge in days. I don’t even crave the taste. I can’t do this.”

She kissed his mouth, tasting blood–his mortality, his fallibility. Tongue to his, she savored knowing the taste and feel of him, then pulled back. “I’m going to be in the cab of the truck waiting for you to rescue me. Either the cold or those after us will get to me.” She stood, opened the door, lay against the seat and tugged her coat closed.

“Leeee...raaa!” Vaihan shouted.

She shut her eyes tight.

A shrill cry set the hairs on her arms to attention.

She covered her ears and hummed.
Twinkle, twinkle little star
... Fatigue seeped into her bones, and she shut her eyes.

Chapter 56

Vaihan stroked Leera’s hair and her eyelashes fluttered. Her head rested in his lap. A yellow aura pulsed around her. She was with child. Eleven hours she’d been out cold. Peter had reported her missing. And guess who was named as a person of interest? His reputation was dwindling by the hour.

In the rearview mirror, a monster stared back at him. His corpse-pale skin held a pigment of blue. The urge gripped him with the intensity of a starving undead. After he’d ingested his first morsel, the frenzy had taken over. What if he’d been returned to the state of an undead newborn? He could have hurt her.

Nowhere was safe. Already he’d changed–“borrowed”–cars twice. Streets were deserted as the city was on curfew. The ball would start shortly.

“Vaihan.” She sprung her eyes open.

“Yes, Leera.” He guided her upright. The next few moments would help him decide what was best for her.

She cupped his face and pressed her nose to his. “I love you.” Warm lips pressed to his with a tremble. “I’d thought I lost you.”

“And I you,
beaute
.” Awe better described his feelings toward her. She had saved him. Frost misted the interior of the late-model Ford. “We cannot linger too long or someone will make note.” Nor could he have left her anywhere. He had stopped to retrieve more weapons and ammo.

“You’re in black-tie.” She arched her eyebrow.

“Otherwise, I would not gain entrance to the ball.”

She nodded and huddled up next to him.

He pressed the front seat forward and turned on the car. The radio came on, and the music faded. “Three abandoned vehicles were found by the city perimeter,” said a news reporter.

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.

“With the urge awakening again, much more sustenance was required to calm the need.”

“How quickly did you change?”

“After the first bite, the feeding frenzy started.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder.

If things got out of hand in there, like Humpty Dumpty, he may not be back together again for a few days, and if he was arrested, she wouldn’t be permitted to see him.

He needed her to know what her husband had said to him. “Jean told me, ‘Tell my wife,
Lila
, the broken boy got to me and I still don’t regret one moment–a kiss, fight, or night with her. I don’t wish for a different wife–or life.’”

“Jean called me
Lit la
or Leera.
Lit la
, it means
Leera, bed there
. It’s French to have a rhyme for your lover’s name. What I don’t understand is, Jean’s words indicate Rowley had something to do with his death.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Jean always joked that if something happened to him it would be at Rowley’s hands.”

Was that how the man had ended up on the street, out of nowhere?

“I need to go, so promise me, you won’t leave the car.” He lifted her face, forcing her gaze to his. “I can’t be worried about something happening to you, all right?”

“In the car. No leaving.” She wrapped her arms around him.

“Are you okay?”

She smiled. “With you, I am.”

Vaihan shut the door and pulled a pay-as-you-go phone from his pocket and dialed. Marty’s phone was likely monitored for any contact from him. The more agencies that showed up the better. It was less likely one would let the others take him in. Each would want the glory. And he might yet survive this.

The phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Marty,” Vaihan said, “I need you to come to the ball at the INUR. I’ve left Leera in a green Trans Am in the reserved parking zone of the adjacent parking lot. She needs a doctor.”

“I’ll see to her.” He cleared his throat. “I know you can’t probably talk long, but you need to know something. You know the joint project we were working on?”

Where was this going? “Yeah.”

“Seems there is one nasty little side effect once the transformation is complete–the test subject expires. Do you understand my meaning?”

So, if he hadn’t eaten the bad guys, he’d be dead. “Yes. No need to worry.” Leera had already saved him from that derailment.

Vaihan tossed the phone into the trash.

Chapter 57

Rowley slowed his pace as he neared the security room. Two men watched the monitors in front of their workstations. Another two secret service agents stood watch. Tax dollars at work. He removed his guns with silencers from their holsters, swung them to the back of their heads and pulled the triggers. When the secret service men dropped, he pushed the tips against the two guards’ temples and shot them.

Any moment, the president would enter the stage area, give a speech and sign the document. When she walked toward the podium, he would detonate the first set of explosives, which would trap everyone inside, then the second set to collapse the building on itself like a house of cards folding in on itself. Dramatic, yet fitting.

He pushed one of the guards out of his seat and sat down. Guests mingled and danced. He rocked back and forth.

The chief of staff took the stage.

Behind him, the door creaked. “Good show?”

“Mr. DeGruis, I didn’t expect to find you here tonight.” This couldn’t be good. He turned to face the man. A man he’d be happy to kill. His mother’s files told him that the government knew all along who her killer was. Endero, who stood behind him, and was said to have been infected by the eldest zombie.

He shrugged. “I’m just here to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.”

Wasn’t that why Rowley was there?

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Mr. DeGruis’s gaze was fixed on one of the lower monitors.

Vaihan crept down a service passage beneath the stage.

“Or should I say, Leera. I guess she came through for us after all.”

“Us?” Rowley set the building detonator in his lap and snapped off the antenna. If he slid back a small panel and removed the penny-shaped battery, Barton wouldn’t get the bomb off without him. He slipped the silver disk into the waist of his pants.

“You can’t think you were the only one playing her–or tapping that fine ass.” He laughed. “And there is our little star. I had to make sure that even if you failed to get Vaihan here, her conscience–as small as it may be–would.” He licked his lips. “A delicious piece of ass, I might add.”

Leera entered the tunnel access passage from the street to the security room.

“Not without a ten-foot pole. But I’m sure a man like you has to have dreams.” Rowley angled his gun at the agent.

A pop...then silence hung in the air.

Chapter 58

Leera jumped at the crackle, her hand covering her abdomen. A gunshot? Barton had been headed this way. She quickened her pace. What choice did she have? The Fed was behind Vaihan, and she had to warn him.

A rumble shook the walls, and the lights flickered. Shit. Had Vaihan reached the president? A guard lay in a pool of blood and a footprint faded farther down the hall. Screams cut in and out from behind the door in front of her.

Between the door and the frame she made out a body, and stepped closer. She took another few steps. Her heartbeat pounded against the wall of her chest. Had she missed all the action? She could have sworn she was a few moments behind Barton.

On the monitors, the gathered guests followed as Vaihan led them out, the president next to him. The woman stared at him with wonder and trust. And something more. Admiration, maybe.

Leera pushed the door inward. A lazy creak accompanied the movement.

“Care to join me?” The swivel chair spun toward her. Barton held a gun pointed at her. “You vanished, honey...”

“Cut the crap, Barton, if that’s even your name.” She crossed her arms and stepped back.

“Not so fast, Lee-lee. Don’t you have parting words for poor Rowley?” He pointed the barrel at a body on the floor.

“Run.” Rowley’s hand stretched out to her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” With a foot to the back Rowley’s head, Barton held him in place.

A river of blood led to his neck. She kneeled next to him and turned him over. If she could leave him with even an ounce of the pain he’d inflicted on her, she had a hope of finding her own peace. She pressed her lips to his ear. “I carry our child.” If Jean had died because Rowley wanted her, then her words would ensure he’d never find peace in death. “But don’t worry, Vaihan will take good care of us.” For all she knew, the child was Devin’s. But Rowley didn’t need to know that.

Barton grabbed her by her hair. “You have no idea what you have done. You stupid bitch.” He whacked her face with his knuckles.

She squealed. Pain throbbed at the spot.

The end of his gun pointed at Rowley’s head. He squeezed the trigger.

“It’s about time someone put the injured dog out of its misery. Wouldn’t you agree?” he said, and yanked her hair. “Well?”

“Yes.”

“Hands behind your back.” He jerked her toward him. “I’m sure you remember this part, don’t you? One we both anticipate.” Cold metal clanked over her wrist.

She struggled against him.

“I have no problem knocking you out cold. I dare you to give me a reason.”

She had the baby to consider. If he was taking her with him, he must feel she was good for something. Better alive than dead.

He clasped a cuff over her other wrist. “Piece of shit.” With force, he kicked Rowley, then tossed the remote onto the floor, lifted his foot and smashed the controller. A whistle thundered through the room and her entire body. The room wobbled. The power went out and emergency backup lights came on. “I guess it had a backup mechanism.”