The Tome of Bill (Book 7): The Wicked Dead (38 page)

Holy crap! Maybe that was it. A strong emotion could break a compulsion. Wasn’t Dr. Death’s control of me not entirely dissimilar? Hah! What a joke that would be. I was the Freewill, but at the end of the day, I was just vulnerable to a different type of control – one from within.

If so, maybe that made sense. If Dr. Death was truly about to kill her and some part of me was even vaguely aware, then I would have fought tooth and nail to stop it. I’d done it before. When Dr. Death had gone on a bloody rampage, I’d awoken to find my friends untouched. More than ever, I was convinced he was a murderous asshole with no love for anyone, but maybe he wasn’t as fully in control as he claimed.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

“I’m just trying to make sense of this shit. I think you’re right about what you said. Maybe deep down there was some part of me still aware enough to fight back. But if so, then that means this is all real.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

“I’m awake and in charge of me again.”

“Yep.”

I glanced sidelong at her. “It also means ... we sorta boned.”

Her eyes narrowed and she sighed. “Pity you can’t remember it. In fact, I’m pretty sure that means it never happened.”

“Wait, what?”

“Let’s go. We need to find the others and get the fuck out of here.” She turned with an eye-roll and started walking.

I quickly caught up to her. “But it
was
good, wasn’t it?”

“I guess you’ll never know.”

Sally was mum as we continued our trek away from the sounds of battle that still continued off in the distance.

As much as I didn’t want to run into Gan again, I silently wished her well. Batfuck crazy that she was, she’d rushed into a lion’s den to help where others had run. That one of those others was now a member of the Draculas said a lot to me.

I didn’t fancy ever crossing paths with Alexander again, but if we did, I’d make it a point to bring him up to speed on Francois’s heroism when it came to saving his own ass. Although the leader of the Draculas was a douche-canoe the size of an ocean liner, I was pretty certain his attitude when it came to battle was to lead by example. After all, one didn’t become the greatest conqueror in history by making a habit of letting everyone else lead the way.

A part of me was still certain I was stuck in some sort of
Total Recall
nightmare and that the walls of reality would start melting around me at any moment. The more time that passed, though – and the lack of any Death Stars showing up in the morning sky – began to convince me that I’d somehow come out on top again.

However, there were a lot of questions left unanswered. I had my little compulsion theory, and it sort of made sense, but that still didn’t tell me how it all happened. Then there was the part of Dr. Death spouting off about never being a part of me. What the fuck was up with that? I didn’t recall ever being possessed. At no point during the last couple of years did I end up in a bed projectile-vomiting pea soup onto a priest. I mean, sure that was that time Tom, Ed, and I went on a bender of mind erasers and screaming Nazis, but I had a feeling those spirits were more the type to require aspirin the next day as opposed to a full-on exorcism.

As for the beast himself, he had been quiet ever since I’d woken up. Nary a peep out of him. Can’t say I was sad for the silence in my head, but at the same time, I found it a bit disconcerting. It was probably too much to hope he was gone for good or lobotomized, for that matter.

I’d need to discuss this with Christy. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to repeat our head-trip of an experiment, but if we did, then I’d make certain to nuke Dr. Death from orbit the next time. It was the only way to be sure. It would also prove to be fun. Some assholes just needed wiping – right off the face of the fucking planet.

Alas, that would have to wait. Sally stopped so suddenly in front of me I almost bumped into her nearly uncovered ass.

“I think we found your friend.”

“Tom?”

“No, the shit-covered one that everyone seems to want for whatever reason.”

That meant Ed. Poor guy would probably be considerably displeased to hear how Sally was referring to him. But ticked off was better than being lost in the woods of ... well, former suburbia.

Still, I’d gotten to home plate whereas he’d been able to hit a single at best when it came to her. No, that wasn’t right. Ed was a friend and, my feelings for Sally aside, taking that attitude was a shitty thing to rub in his face. I probably still would, mind you, but I needed to also make sure I wasn’t being a total prick to him. He’d had eyes for her first and had been making some headway before being turned into a walking vampire time bomb. “You might want to be a bit nicer to him.”

“Why?”

I struggled, almost biting my tongue, but in the end, Ed’s friendship meant a lot to me. I didn’t care to casually stomp it into the ground, drop my pants, and take a big steaming dump on it. “I told you, you and he sorta had something going on before you got compelled.”

“Were we a steady item?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I mean, I know you guys went out for coffee.”

“Coffee. You don’t
say
. I’m surprised we didn’t move in together. I mean, going out for a cup of Joe isn’t a commitment I take lightly.”

“I’m serious. Oh, and don’t forget what you two were doing up in Canada.”

“Oh yeah. So how’d that one work out?”

“I might have interrupted.”

“Freewill
and
cockblocker. Quite the resume you’ve got going there, champ.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

She eyed me for a second or two, a smirk creasing her face. “Really?”

All at once, despite my lack of clothing, it began to feel really hot beneath her gaze. “Yes ... I mean, no. I mean, I was too busy worrying about...”

Her gaze softened and she put a hand on my shoulder. “Relax,
Dr. Death
. I was kidding. Here’s the thing – telling me all of this is meaningless. I remember a few things, but most of it is a jumble. Him ... he’s a total blank and no, I have no idea if that means anything. How about this? Our little encounter back there aside, why don’t we agree that discussions about the worlds I might or might not be contemplating rocking should probably wait. If we can break these blocks in my head, then we can talk.”

“And if we can’t?”

“Then we’ll
all
have to start over.”

If that wasn’t the story of my life, then I didn’t know what was.

* * *

Ed’s scent, a mix of human and putrid Sasquatch ass, was pretty easy to follow from a ways off. As we trailed him, a tingle lit up my forearm. “What the...?”

“What’s wrong?” Sally asked idly, still facing the way we were headed.

“Not sure. Think something bit me.” Okay, that was silly, although it did lead one to wonder what would happen to any mosquito dumb enough to land upon a vamp. I mean, they were already like little vampires as it was. Gah! I didn’t have time for stupid thoughts like that.

I glanced down at my arm and saw that my speculation was pointless anyway. The tingling was coming from the blood mark Christy had drawn, still there despite everything. Must have been the magic in it.

“Check this out,” I said, looking down at the mark as it glowed ever so slightly – pulsing with the tiny bit of power invested into it.

“In a sec,” Sally replied.

“I think Christy found Tom. We should probably stop moving in case she decides to zap back here.”

“I think we should stop moving regardless,” she said.

“Why?”

“Your friend. He’s not alone.”

* * *

“What? Did he meet up with the others?”

“Maybe, and maybe they all got a chance to shower off that de-scenting stuff your Chinese friend gave us.”

“Mongolian.”

“Whatever the fuck.”

She had a point. Gan had claimed it would last half a day. Hell, despite all we’d been through, I could smell the dirt on our bodies and the trees around us, but had Sally stepped around a tree to play hide-n-seek, there was no way I’d have been able to track her. Had Ed not stunk up the forest around us, we’d have surely gotten away scot-free.

“Who then?” I asked after a moment. The point was moot, though. I, too, caught the scent from up ahead.

“Vampires,” we blurted out simultaneously.

“Jinx!” she said, then slugged me in the arm. “You owe me a drink.”

“Ow.”

“Pussy.”

“Any idea who they are?”

“They’re not the ones who pulled our asses out of the fire.”

“Gan’s troops?”

“Yeah. We never smelled them coming. These, they don’t smell nearly that good. Whoever they are, they’ve had run-ins with the Feet. I can smell their lingering stench.”

The whole fucking forest still stunk of Feet to me. It was weird, because when I was hopped up on the blood of other vamps, it all seemed so clear to me. Yet another perk that came with age, I suppose.

An unpleasant thought hit me. “I doubt it’s any covens out here sightseeing. That leaves two possibilities: Francois or Vehron’s lackeys.”

“Yep.”

For the first time ever, I found myself actually hoping to see Francois’s unpleasantly smarmy face. Who’d a thunk it? The end of the world had truly taken me to some strange places indeed. “What are we going to do?”

“I’m not sure we have much of a choice.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re heading this way.”

* * *

“Do we hide?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “This would be so much easier if we had my big bag of guns. Never a bad idea to say hello with a cocked fifty-caliber piece in your hand.”

“How did they find us?”

“I don’t know that they did. Maybe they’re just walking in this direction, or maybe they’re following your friend’s back trail.”

“They can do that?”

“The way he smells, I doubt it would take much effort.”

“Oh fuck this.” I grabbed her hand. “Come with me.”

Sally didn’t put up any resistance as I dragged her into a bramble of bushes. She wasn’t dumb by any stretch of the imagination. Being caught out in the open with no weapons and looking like we were auditioning for parts in a porno didn’t seem smart.

“If they’re friendly, we step out and say hi,” I whispered. By now, the others were close enough so that I could hear the crunch of leaves as they approached. Whoever they were, there was a decent number of them.

“No shit,” she hissed back. “What if they’re not?”

“If they’re not, then they still have Ed. They don’t get to keep him.”

She nodded. “If we can take them, we do. If not, we follow and wait for an opportunity.”

“There will be no need for that, I can assure you!” a voice cried out to us, close by, but still several dozen yards off.

The smarmy French accent gave it away. Even if it hadn’t, the owner’s ability to hear us from that distance spoke volumes to his age and power.

Francois had returned, and he had Ed with him.

Sally and I shared a shrug and stepped from our hiding spot.

Unsurprisingly, the newcomers headed our way. Even through the trees, I could tell it was a ragtag band, not even remotely resembling Gan’s disciplined troops. If they had any advantage over her men, though, it was their armament. A mishmash of guns – pistols, rifles, a few submachine guns – were pointed in our direction.

“There is no need for that,” Francois said from somewhere behind the vanguard.

The guns were lowered, slightly anyway, and the vampires in the middle parted ways to reveal him – looking smarmy as ever, even if he wasn’t dressed quite as crisply as I’m sure he preferred.

“Are you certain, sir?” one of the vamps nearest him asked, his tone belaying the fact that he obviously didn’t want to speak up. Yeah, the Draculas had that effect on the rubes. “They smell...”

“Neutral, I am well aware,” Francois replied with a dismissive wave. “I am impressed, Freewill,” he said to us as his people approached and started to fan out around us. “Where did you happen upon manticore gland out here?”

“Huh?”

“Your scent, or lack thereof. Shall I assume you had friends among that force that appeared, quite conveniently, I might add, at the time of our escape.”

“We know people,” Sally replied in a non-committal tone.

“I can see that,” he replied sourly before turning back to me. Gah! Turd wasn’t the only big shit in these woods. “I would hope they too survived. I would like to commandeer them for my mission.”

“I somehow doubt that’s going to happen. They tend to be a
willful
bunch.”

He waved a dismissive hand. “Free will is not something the First often worry about.”

I raised one side of my mouth in a half smile at his double-entendre pun. “Where’s my friend?”

“Friend? I believe you mean that in the plural.”

What the...? I sniffed the air again. Ed ... he was definitely close. In fact, if my nose was telling me correctly, he was right in back of the line of vampires who stood guard behind Francois. The rest, well, I couldn’t have sniffed them out while they were wearing that gland ... except that I did, for at least one of them.

I glanced at Sally and saw that she realized it too.

One of our wayward party had insisted on refusing Gan’s scent-masking agent. Maybe she’d known it was made from manticore glands. Ugh! I had a feeling that was one recipe I didn’t want to ask for.

With a smile, Francois stepped aside. So, too, did the armed vamps behind him. They revealed Christy and Ed, standing side by side. Christy’s hands were bound in manacles. I didn’t need to get closer to guess they had magic-debuffing runes carved into them. As for why those two hadn’t shouted a warning to us sooner, the reason was blindingly obvious. Dave and Adam stood to either side of them, guns pointed at my friends, and the glazed look in their eyes indicating they were both under compulsion.

Shit!

* * *

I had meant to ask something a bit more conversational, perhaps, “What is the meaning of this affront?” Instead, it came out sounding more like, “What the fuck, asshole?” What can I say? It’s one of the reasons I never joined the debate team in college.