Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #29)(99)

“Could a sniper take him out from a nice, safe distance?” I asked.

“As long as the head exploding didn’t spew Greek fire all over everything near him,” Edward said.

I looked at Richard. “What do you think?”

“If Deimos’s brother was killed by a boulder smashing his head, then it should work for a sibling who is the same species.”

“His brother was not a fire breather,” Jake said.

We looked at him. “It would have been good to know that up front,” I said.

“That may change his biology so completely that information from the first death doesn’t help us,”

Richard said.

“You are right,” he said, “I did not realize how practical your approach would be to the problem of Deimos.”

I frowned at him. “You’ve known me for a few years now, when have I ever not been practical about hunting down and killing monsters? It is one of my jobs.”

“Forgive me for not understanding that we would be using science and modern weapons to solve this problem. When dealing with kings and queens among vampires, it usually devolves to vampiric magic.”

I shook my head. “No reason to use magic if bullets will work.”

“But if we had more information about how he forms the Greek fire internally so that his own body doesn’t get damaged by it, then we might know when best to use the guns, or whatever weapon,”

Richard said.

“Deimos breathes fire, it does not harm him,” Rodina said.

“But Greek fire isn’t exactly fire, is it?” Peter asked.

“It burns whatever it touches,” Rodina said, “that is the definition of fire.”

“But it covers things like a thick liquid, right?”

“He’s right,” Ru said.

“It is still fire,” she said.

“What are you trying to get at, Peter?” I asked.

“Does it look like a movie dragon where fire comes out of the mouth like turning on a sink and instead of water it’s fire that pours out?”

“I’m not sure,” Ru said; he looked at Rodina. “Sister?”

“It doesn’t look like a child’s fantasy-story dragon if that’s what you mean,” she said.

I nodded. “I see what you’re getting at, Deimos either has to spit the different components of the Greek fire away from his body so it mixes after it leaves his body, or . . .”

“It’s more spitting, than breathing out,” Ru said.

“Does the fire ever touch him when he’s spitting, or breathing out the fire?” I asked.

“It has to touch him,” Rodina said.

“What does it matter if it touches as he spews it?” Jake asked.

“If the components of Greek fire are inert inside Deimos’s body and only dangerous when they come together just before he spits it out, then I think we can blow him up without triggering the Greek fire,” Richard said.

“How about shooting him?” Edward asked.

“We’d have to shoot him fast and a lot to make sure he dies before he can spit out the Greek fire,”

Peter said.

“He’s right,” I said.

“What about a head shot?”

“If you can guarantee that it’s enough damage to qualify as a beheading, it should do it,” I said.

“If he is in human form, then there are those among the Harlequin or among the wererats who could make such a shot, but if he is in dragon form the head is . . .” She seemed to be doing a size comparison in her own head, then spread her hands in front of her like she was measuring a fish she’d caught.

“That’s three or four times longer than a human head,” Jake said.

“The head size doesn’t matter,” Edward said, “the brain size does. Most living animals have a smaller brain per body size than humans do, so the target is either the same or slightly smaller. I don’t have to take the whole head out, just the brain.”

“I’m not as proficient with a long gun as you are, so would you have enough time for a second shot to the base of the skull, or the upper spine, because beheading means the job is done. Shooting the brain is trickier because we won’t know exactly where the brain is sitting in the skull,” I said.

Edward looked at me, Richard, and then Peter. “If you biologists can help me make an educated guess, then we should be able to take him out from a nice, safe distance.”

“I’d rather take his heart, too,” I said.

“We’ll need the best protective suits we can find if we try carving him up like that,” Richard said.

He didn’t even call me bloodthirsty or a lover of violence or whatever he used to call me, he was just helping me think it through, that was nice.

“In case we hit pockets of toxic or caustic substances when we’re trying for his heart,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Good thinking.”

“And if you’re wrong and hitting him with a sniper bullet causes him to explode or just spew out Greek fire?” Rodina asked.

“Then we’ll be glad we’re all far enough away that it doesn’t matter,” I said.

“So have we abandoned the LAW for sure?” Edward asked.