“Faster!” His voice was frantic, high-pitched. “The damn birds are pecking inside my head!”
“Fight them! You can do it. I can help—”
“No, you can’t!” he screamed. His aura was completely black. “Nothing makes it stop. Nothing but killing. And I’ll kill this goddamn werewolf right now if you don’t shut up and do what I say!”
The last buckle let go. The Sword of Saint Michael clattered to the ground.
The Morfran shrieked in triumph. In the demon plane, I could see nothing at all of Norden—just a flock of crows swarming the place where he stood. I closed to that plane. Norden was right. I couldn’t help him.
“Both hands on your head now. Kick the sword away.” I did, not as far as I might have. But the distance was too great to dive for the sword and charge Norden. Kane would be dead before I was halfway there.
“Face that way.” He gestured with his chin, indicating he wanted me to turn my back to him. “And drop to your knees.” The gun he pointed at Kane didn’t waver as he holstered the other gun and pulled out a knife with a long, curved blade.
I didn’t move. I stood and stared Norden in the eye. I would not die on my knees.
“Look, Vaughn, it’s nothing personal, okay? I have to.”
“You don’t.”
“Yes, I do!” he screamed. His breathing was labored again. “It’s . . . nothing . . . personal. Yeah, I’ve called you a freak . . . but I always thought you’d make . . . an okay partner, ever since . . .”
“Ever since what, Norden? Ever since the concert? You do remember. Those crows. I got them away from Tina. Remember?”
“They tore up that kid.” He cocked his head. “That’s what’s inside me?”
“Let me help—”
“No, they’re tearing me up. I have to. I have to!”
The curved blade flashed as it fell from his hand. Norden brought up the gun, jammed it under his own chin, and pulled the trigger.
31
BEFORE NORDEN’S BODY HIT THE GROUND, THE GLASS doors of the T station shattered. Myrddin came out, carrying the jar he’d had at the last murder site. Two vampires stood behind him.
“Kill her,” Myrddin said.
I lunged for my sword, but I’m no match for a vampire in overdrive. One of the vampires slammed into me, knocking me off my feet. I twisted out of his grasp, rolled, and came up with the silver chain in my hand.
It was the only weapon Norden had left me.
I lashed out with the chain like a whip, striking the vampire’s face before he knew what hit him. A ghastly scream rang out as he staggered back, clawing at his cheek. The other vampire stopped and stared. I lashed out again. The chain nicked a chunk of flesh from his neck, and he knew what his friend was screaming about.
I stood with my back against the subway building, whipping the chain to hold the vampires back. They dodged it, and fear of the silver prevented them from trying to snatch it away from me. But I couldn’t rest for a second, or else one of them would dash in and snap my neck. And I couldn’t get any closer to Myrddin.
In my peripheral vision, I could see the wizard pick up the curved blade and bend over Norden’s corpse. He slashed at Norden’s chest and then opened the jar. Loud cawing erupted as the Morfran left Norden’s body. Immediately the sound grew muffled; Myrddin was capturing the Morfran, along with whatever remained of Norden’s life force.
A vampire grabbed for my arm, clawing me. I knocked him back.
“I can’t wait for you buffoons,” Myrddin called. He stood, holding the jar in both hands. “I must complete the transfer before the life force loses potency. After you’ve killed her, meet me below. I require your assistance.”
“We could use a little assistance here, wizard. Hit her with a magic bolt; we’ll take care of the rest.”
“It’s taking all the magic I can summon to keep these spirits contained. The ritual won’t wait. Do as I told you, then come.” He stepped through the shattered door and disappeared down the stairs, into the subway.
The vampires spread out. The distance between them made it harder for me to use the chain. I had to turn between them, and as I lashed at one there was an extra fraction of a second for the other to move in. A fraction of a second is plenty of time to a fast vampire. One of them got his claws into my throat.
I grabbed at his hands and struggled for air as he lifted me from the ground. The silver burned him, but he laughed and squeezed tighter.
There was a pop, like a car backfiring. The vampire’s fingers spasmed, then let go. We both fell to the ground.
His friend stared, eyes bugged. But only for a moment. A second pop dropped him, too.
I looked toward the Common. Leaning on the wall he’d fallen behind, holding one of my pistols, was Kane.
Except it wasn’t Kane, not fully. He was half-changed. Pointed wolf ears sat above a face that looked like Kane’s except for the silver fur that covered it. Coarser fur, matted with dark blood on the left side, covered his human chest and shoulders. He slumped, the gun dangling from his clawed hand.
I ran over. “The wound,” he said. His voice sounded rough and gravelly. “Where Norden shot me. It’s forcing a change. But the silver—” He winced in pain.
The silver bullet lodged in his shoulder was interfering with the shift. If the silver didn’t come out, Kane would die, stuck between his two forms.
I ran past Norden’s body, looking for the weapons I’d thrown. A bronze blade gleamed in the streetlight. I snatched it up and went back to Kane.
“Let me dig it out.” I touched his shoulder. Beneath the fur, his skin was burning up.
He closed the fingers of his right hand around mine. “I’ll do it. You stop Myrddin.” Gray eyes gazed steadily at me. They were clouded with pain, but they were Kane’s eyes. I’d always seen him there.
I nodded, not trusting my voice. I kissed his lips—human lips, despite his half-changed form—and gathered up the rest of my weapons.
I strode back to the fallen vampires. The first was dead, the body already crumbling. Kane had sent a silver bullet straight through his heart. Better make sure he stayed dead—you never knew with vampires. I unsheathed the Sword of Saint Michael and struck off his head with a blow.
The other vampire moaned. His prone body cringed away by an inch or two. Kane’s bullet hadn’t hit this one as squarely.
I wrapped the silver chain around the vampire’s neck, pulling it tight, and hauled the creature to his feet. “Let’s go,” I said. “You’re taking me to Myrddin.”
The vampire let out a strangled cry. He nodded, then cried out again as the silver abraded his undead skin. Keeping one fist wrapped in the chain, I shoved him toward the subway entrance. In my other hand, I brandished the Sword of Saint Michael. I whispered the invocation, and the blade burst into flame. It lit our way as we descended into whatever hell waited below.
THE VAMPIRE STAGGERED TOWARD THE TUNNEL KANE AND I had explored the other night, the one with the emergency exit.
I yanked on the chain and shook him. “Stop wasting my time. I know this tunnel is empty. Where did they go?”
“Hidden,” he croaked. “The entrance is hidden.”
I didn’t trust this vampire, but I didn’t have a lot of options. Myrddin had fled into this station. He and Pryce were down here somewhere.
I pushed the vampire, and he stumbled forward.
We moved swiftly. The tunnel was bright and clean and empty, as it had been the other night. Until we reached the emergency exit. Two vampires emerged from the staircase. Two others came forward from the darkness beyond.
I jerked my captive vampire to a halt. “You led me into an ambush!” I ripped the chain from his neck and pushed him away. At the same time, I touched him with the flame from my sword. Fire flared and took his body. He lit up like a torch, dancing and jerking in the flames. He staggered toward his friends, who drew back. His screams echoed through the tunnel.
Vampires burn fast. He collapsed in a pile of charred bones and ashes.
I swung the sword in front of me. The flames brightened and whooshed with the motion. “Who’s next?”
The vampires backed away.
Except for the one who got behind me. I never saw him move. Hands clutched my throat, the grip so tight I couldn’t tell whether he was trying to strangle me or squeeze my head off. I whipped the silver chain behind me and simultaneously kicked back, connecting with his shin.
His grip loosened, and I followed through with an elbow strike, turning as much as I could to throw my weight behind it. The vampire let go and staggered back, and I stabbed him with the flaming sword. He burned as brightly as the first.
Two vampires, both females, split and came at me from both sides. I spun to the right, sweeping my sword with the motion. At the same time, I lashed out with the chain to the left. The sword caught one vampire in the side; she howled as she went up in flames. The chain wrapped itself around the other vampire’s calf as she came at me in a roundhouse kick. The kick missed my head but connected with my shoulder, knocking me sideways. As I fell, I tightened my grip on the chain, pulling her off balance. I thrust out my sword to avoid landing on it, and got a lucky hit on the fifth vampire, just as he moved in to attack. He burst into flame but kept coming, impaling himself deeper on my sword, reaching for me.
I grabbed the hilt in both hands and arced the sword sideways to the ground, forcing him to fall with it. His burning fingers stretched toward me, blackening.
A metallic clatter sounded to my left. The female vampire had unwrapped the chain from her leg and was hobbling away, into the dark tunnel.
Pain seared my arm as the burning vampire grabbed it. I hit at his fingers and shook him off. My sleeve smoldered, and I batted out the flames. The vampire’s hand curled into a tight, skeletal fist and dropped away.
I yanked my sword from the charred body and ran into the tunnel after the escaping female. The silver burn on her leg kept her from going into hyperspeed, but she still moved fast enough that I was afraid I’d lose her. I ran harder, my breath rasping through my bruised throat. I could just see her ahead, in the light cast by my sword.