The Tome of Bill (Book 7): The Wicked Dead (33 page)

“So be it.” He held out his arm, and I clamped my teeth down upon his wrist. “But know, Freewill, that should you dare try to use my own power against me, I shall compel your friends to do things to themselves that will give you endless nightmares.”

This asshole needed to get in line because I already had enough of those for centuries to come.

I had to admit, biting an elder vamp was a lot easier for me to swallow – pun intended – than handing the reins over to Dr. Death. Despite our agreement, it seemed he only wanted to come out and play during times when it really wouldn’t behoove me. I mean, the dude seemed to have a serious mad-on for Sheila. The Templar I could understand, but her? For now, though, he was oddly quiet. I decided not to look that gift horse in the mouth.

The bars to our cell in pieces, it was child’s play to escape from the pit even with the greased walls. I gave Christy a piggyback out of there, while the others had little problem jumping the distance and pulling themselves out.

“Being a vampire is so fucking boss!” Mike said as he climbed out. “I couldn’t even do one pull-up during those stupid Presidential fitness tests in school. Now look at me.”

“Keep your head on,” I admonished him, “because, otherwise, all I’m going to be looking at is a pile of ashes. These fucking apes aren’t playing around.”

Sure enough, we’d just barely gotten out when a roar sounded from nearby. The Sasquatches had been in the process of scrambling about chaotically, but it had been stupid of us to assume they’d all abandoned their posts.

No sooner had the warning come than one of Francois’s minions was taken down, his head pulverized by a rock winged at him with a disturbing amount of power.

Thankfully, the smarmy asshole hadn’t surrounded himself with newbs. Three of Francois’s men swarmed the Foot responsible and made sure he suffered a similar fate.

One down, probably far more than I dared count to go. There was no way we could win this. We needed to amscray post-haste and keep moving. I didn’t want to flatter myself that I was Turd’s archenemy or anything. I mean, who knew how many beings the ugly fucker had pissed off in his time? Even so, I’d seen the glee in his eyes. I’d embarrassed the shit out of him, exposed him as being an iPod lover. I had the feeling I was one prize he wasn’t going to let get away easily.

“Bill!” Christy’s voice cried.

Shit! I’d been so worried about what everyone else was up to that I forgot to cover the one ass I cared about most here – my own. I turned to find one of the Sasquatches charging, about to barrel through me like I was nothing.

But I wasn’t nothing. In fact, I was supercharged on the blood of a seven-hundred-year-old vampire. The irresistible force met the immovable object of my fist, and I was pleased to win that contest.

The Squatch doubled over from the blow to his stomach, and I followed through with an uppercut that sent eight feet of soiled fur flying.

Oh yeah! That felt good, damn good.

Unfortunately, it was about to start feeling real bad again. I turned from my downed foe and found about a dozen more ready to converge on us.

* * *

I was about to tell my friends to run like hell. Even with Christy’s magic backing us up, there was no way our odds looked good. Of my group, she and I were the only ones who stood a chance against these monsters. Hell, even Sally was going to be hard pressed to survive, unarmed as she was.

Before I could open my mouth, though, Francois rallied his men. They gathered round and charged the Sasquatches. Holy, crap. Who’d have guessed that in the end he would actually step up and keep his word?

“
FIGHT TO THE LAST!! DEFEND YOUR MASTER!! THE FIRST MUST SURVIVE AT ALL COSTS!!
”

Not me, that’s for sure.

As soon as the compulsion left his mouth, he turned and took the fuck off, disappearing from sight before my jaw could hit the ground.

Sadly, I was in no position to hunt him down. His compulsion had taken hold of Dave, Adam, and Mike. They raced forward, heedless of the danger – screaming battle cries as if this was one of our many games. Hell, for all I knew of what was going on in their heads, maybe they thought it was.

I glanced over and saw Sally standing close by, a bit dazed, but otherwise alert. For once, I found myself glad for Alex’s compulsion. Whatever he had done, it had apparently included orders preventing others from imposing their will upon her. I’d be sure to thank the asshole – maybe right after I shanked him with a stake.

That would need to wait, though. I couldn’t have cared less about Francois’s lackeys. Those fuckers could play cannon fodder all they wanted and it didn’t mean shit to me, but I didn’t want to see my friends charge forward into the slaughter – and a slaughter it was. Several more Sasquatches ran from the nearby trees, disengaging from whatever chaos had sent them scrambling so as to provide backup to their brethren.

“Help me stop them!” I screamed at my two coherent friends before launching myself forward.

Thank goodness for being amped up, because I managed to overtake Dave before he’d done more than get to the rear of Francois’s chicken-shit offensive.

There was no time to fuck around. I drove a fist into the back of his head and he went down, lights out. Not a second too soon, as several flashes of light caught my periphery as at least three of the compelled vamps were torn limb from limb, bursting in flames as they died.

Christy had my six. A beam of sickly green power lanced out from her, striking Adam in the back. He convulsed for a moment and then collapsed in a heap. Sadly, her second shot went wide, missing Mike and gouging a chunk from the ground where he’d stood just a moment before. Damnit!

Now where was ... shit! I turned back to find one of the beasts had snuck up from the rear and engaged Sally. It had her on her knees, clubbing away as she tried to mount a defense.

My indecision cost me, because in the split second I hesitated, two of Francois’s men were knocked back and sent flying into me.

I went down, low man on the pile, as the sounds of battle intensified all around us.

* * *

I shoved the stunned vamps off me and took a look around. Much to my delight, Sally had rallied. Claws extended, she waited until the Sasquatch had raised both of its fists so as to pummel her into paste, and then slashed upward – right into the monster’s crotch.

Ouch.

He instantly became a she, and it doubled over screeching in pain. That was one, now to...

“DEFILERS!”

Oh crap. I spun to see Mike, still compelled to action, leap into the fray – right into the arms of no less than three waiting Feet.

Nothing, not even Alex’s power, would have given me enough speed to reach him in time. I watched, helpless, as he disappeared beneath a torrent of massive fists – the telltale flash of light letting me know that it was all over for him.

No!

This was my fault. I’d dragged them out of Newark with promises of a grand adventure. I’d sacrificed my friends so as to save the nameless strangers they’d been preying upon. To save people from the monsters they’d become, I’d perhaps become something even worse.

There was nothing I could do for Mike, but I could still avenge him, save the others, and then find Francois and put my foot up his craven ass.

The two lackeys that had gotten thrown into me began to shake off the blow and rise. I kicked one in the head and then dragged the other to me.

Before she’d been mind-wiped, Sally had tested a theory about my powers. It had proven quite useful then, and it was going to prove even more useful now.

I sank my teeth into the vampire’s neck and drank deep, letting his power bolster the already massive burst of strength I had flowing through my body.

* * *

Unlike back at Pandora, Francois’s men weren’t youngsters barely a few years old. I drank from the one, shoved him back into the fight, and then took blood from his friend – feeling their centuries enter me, pushing my abilities past even Francois’s frightening strength.

One of the Feet broke through and came at me as I finished my snack break. He swung a club-sized fist at my face, and I caught it with my own hand as if it were in slow motion.

I spun, gave its arm a twist, and heard the crack of bone.

I lifted the beast over my head, its fur slick and ... well, gross, and threw it into an onrush of its friends, bowling them over.

Glancing around, I saw that Francois’s forces had been reduced to a few stragglers and now the monsters were turning my way. They thought it was over. They were wrong.

I was going to give them a fight to remember. They’d been on their way south to face Vehron, but they were going to learn that there was more than one Freewill worth fearing in this world. They were going to sing songs of the time they...

...were all struck down by arrows?

What the fuck?

It had been me in a heroic last stand against maybe eight of the ugly monsters. Then, without warning, the air had filled with the sound of things going *thpppt*.

Before I knew what had happened, all of the Feet in front of me fell to the ground, arrows and crossbow bolts sticking out of their faces, necks, and torsos.

I spun to find Christy and Sally back to back, looks of confusion upon their faces. They’d been prepared to defend each other, to fight off monsters that were all now dead or dying.

I didn’t pretend to think we’d won. From the smell in the air, Turd had a lot more
things
at his disposal, but for a moment, the area around us was disturbingly still.

Then multiple roars of anger rose up from the surrounding forest, screeches of rage that told me the main force of our enemies was very much still alive. Standing around gawking wasn’t going to get our asses out of this fire.

Sally looked at me and held up her hands to indicate she had no idea what was going on. That wasn’t promising.

I took a deep breath through my nose, almost retching at Sasquatch stink, and forced my way through it to try to pick up other scents. Trees, my friends, more trees ... maybe a squirrel or two. That was it. I didn’t sense anything else. The fuck? Was this place haunted or something?

Ghosts or not, the Feet definitely weren’t alone in their outrage. Voices rose up from the trees behind us in answer – more battle-cries, but these weren’t the screams of monster apes. A horn sounded from somewhere close by and orders were shouted.

The voices sounded human.

No, wait – make that more than human. Though I didn’t recognize the words themselves, their guttural cadence struck a primal cord deep inside of me. I’d heard that language spoken before. It was Chinese or maybe Mandarin, or whatever the fuck they spoke in Mongolia. I don’t know. I took two fucking years of Spanish in high school and that was it. When the UN put out job postings for interpreters, I was most definitely not at the top of their call list.

All I knew was that I suddenly found myself in the middle of the party I least wanted to attend in this world. Turd on one side, Francois on the other, and now...

Speak of the little devil and she shall appear.

A squad of armored warriors burst from the trees with a battle cry. Swords, spears, and crossbows were their weapons of choice. As they passed us, another group of Sasquatches emerged from the far end of the village to engage them. Jesus Christ, we were in the middle of fucking
Apocalypse Now
, the director’s cut.

“Beloved!” a voice cried from near the tree line where the warriors had just emerged.

Had Gan not spoken, I might have remained in blissful ignorance. I still registered no scent from her brethren. The hell?

As for her, she was decked out in a miniature version of the fur-lined armor her people wore. A saber hung from her side and she held a ridiculously large bow in one hand. Strapped to her back was a wicked-looking spiked mace. If I hadn’t been aware of her power, I’d have certainly thought she might tip over from the extra weight.

“Well, she
did
say she’d see you soon,” Christy said, stepping to my side, a grimace on her face. “Guess she’s a murderous hell-spawn of her word.”

“Lucky me,” I replied.

This was still no place for us to be. Gan’s forces seemed to have the upper hand, no doubt thanks to the element of surprise – they’d certainly surprised the shit out of me. But there was no telling how long it would last. There was no sign of Turd, but I had a feeling when he reappeared, it would be in force.

Sally ran over and helped me get Dave and Adam back to their feet. Both were still dazed from being roughed up, but their eyes told me that the moment they got an opportunity they’d probably go right back to following Francois’s asshole orders. Well, fuck that. It wouldn’t last long, but right now, there was a bigger dog in these woods than him.

“
SNAP OUT OF IT!!
”

Gan reached us just as my friends did as told, their eyes clearing and looks of confusion taking over.

“No time to discuss things. We need to get out of here,” I explained to them.

“That was marvelous, beloved,” Gan said, making my skin crawl with her insane devotion. “You are truly coming into your power.”

A not-so-small part of me was tempted to use and abuse that power, maybe compel her to forget ever meeting me. That would be nice.

At the same time, I couldn’t deny that she’d just saved my ass –
again
. Holy crap. When this was all over and done with, I’d owe her for so many times that the only way to repay her would probably be to marry her. Hell, she probably planned it that way.

“Where did you come from?” Sally asked her.

Gan glanced sidelong at her for a moment, as if studying a bug under glass, before turning back to me. “I see your whore is still compelled.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

Gan ignored her, though. “Sadly, as marvelous a display of strength as that was, I fear it will still not be enough to undo Alexander’s mischief.”

Fuck! Well, there went that theory. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like there were many more of Francois’s men around to bite. There were Gan’s forces, but I had a feeling they might take offense to that, not to mention they were armed to the fucking teeth.