Certain Dark Things(92)

Nick tried to bite her, his mouth chomping at the air. She released him and he fell down, sprawled upon the floor like a marionette. Atl landed next to him, resting a hand against the ground and wincing, the pain in her body a blinding hot coal.

She really shouldn’t have done that.

Nick stood up on shaky feet. His face was even more butchered than before, a mess of unsettling crimson. But the teeth were still sharp and eager, his maw opening, ready to take a bite of her. Nick shuffled forward.

“I was going to take you back alive, but I changed my mind,” he said.

Atl retracted her wings.

*

Ana groaned. The pain was excruciating. She couldn’t breathe properly. She was dizzy. And yet, she was grateful. The pain was so strong, it suddenly made everything clear. The weight that had been stifling her—the young vampire’s mind control—had broken. A temporary reprieve, she knew.

But enough, she thought.

She watched Nick as he walked toward the girl. He had taken a lot of damage, but he would not stop.

Bastard, she thought. Her hands were shaking.

From the corner of her eye she noticed movement, a shadow unfolding. She didn’t pay it attention, instead focusing on Nick.

She thought about her grandmother’s lessons. The way to hold the gun, how to align the target, how to press the trigger. Breathe, Ana, breathe. She thought of herself younger, glued to the TV set, watching the thrilling conclusion to the midnight movie. The good guy always had time to fire one last, crucial shot.

But Ana was hurting. Ana wasn’t in a movie and she couldn’t keep her hands steady, the weapon seemed to slide from her grasp. For a moment she considered lying there and letting this end without her intervention, without bothering about what happened to that f*cking vampire bastard. But she couldn’t. Not when she’d seen what he was planning.

She breathed in.

Ana did what she could, took aim and managed to hit Nick in the chest. The vampire hissed and looked over his shoulder at her.

“Stupid woman,” he growled, and she felt his control over her again.

She pressed the gun against her own chest, her finger slowly finding the trigger even though she didn’t want to. She squeezed the trigger.

Bang.

As she lay dying, the connection from the vampire now forever severed, she smiled.

Because now she could see the shadow. It had contours, a face, and in the shape of that face and the contours of that gaunt body she recognized a vampire, shuffling forward.

Revenant, she thought.

*

Nick was looking at her again, his eyes as red as the blood covering him. Behind him she noticed a figure slowly rising, slowly moving toward them. Bernardino. But Nick had been too busy focusing on Ana to notice him, and now he was too busy looking at Atl.

Atl licked her lips, standing still. “You look pretty banged up,” she said. “I thought your kind was strong.”

“Shut up,” Nick said.

“Of course, you’re not really a full-grown Necros, are you? You’re just a kid playing at being a narco.”

“Look who’s talking,” Nick said.

“I’m better than you.”

“I’ll show you—”

He pounced on her, weighing her down. Atl tore at his neck with her nails while he opened his mouth, ready to bite a chunk of her cheek. She gathered her remaining strength and shoved him off her; it was like pushing away an armored tank.

“Try again, f*cker,” she said, and his focus was solely on her and she, in turn, stared straight at him.

Nick was crouching, ready to pounce on her, and she winced in preparation for the blow, but then Bernardino leaned down and placed both hands around Nick’s head. The young vampire opened his mouth, possibly to yell or try to bite the person holding him, but he didn’t manage either thing.

Nick shook, his mouth grew slack, and she watched as his eyes dimmed and sank into his head, his hair fell out, even his teeth started popping out of his mouth, the nails sliding from his fingers. He slid onto the ground, slid as though his bones had melted away.

Atl pressed an arm against her belly. When Bernardino was done feeding, Nick was nothing more than an empty carcass while Bernardino’s face appeared less wrinkled, his hair almost devoid of any gray. He was still hunched over, disturbing in his appearance, though. Certain things would not change.

Bernardino approached her and Atl recognized the dangerous glint in his eyes.

We are our hunger, she thought. Bernardino was still weakened. He needed more life. What better life than a vampire’s? This was exactly why they feared his kind, why she’d hesitated to meet him that first time, why she’d sent Domingo instead, thinking that if he was displeased, Bernardino would eat her messenger instead of herself.

Ironic.

“I won’t fight you,” she said, and stood up. “Don’t hurt Domingo, though.”

“That’s very considerate of you,” he said. “Stupid, but considerate.”

Bernardino advanced on her, placing a hand against her neck, leaning over her.

“I thought you didn’t lose your head over boys,” Bernardino told her, shrugging.

“I don’t.” Atl closed her eyes.

Instead of the drawing of life she had expected, she felt the familiar thrum of energy as he stabilized her, breathed life into her. The cut upon her stomach began stitching itself together and she let out a low hiss, snapping her eyes back open.