Dawn Chorus: Verse Six
Dawn Chorus: Verse 6
By: Liz B
---
Elizabeth wasn’t surprised to see Mike Logan loitering in the hallway outside her apartment when she came home from work. She knew how the gossip network in the NYPD worked and she was surprised it had taken him so long to show up. After seeing Don, she’d expected a visit as soon as he could pick up the phone and call Mike. Both were very protective of their friends.
“Hello Mike,” She smiled at him, “Do you need something?”
“I heard you saw one of the attacks. Just checkin’ if you’re okay.” Mike shrugged, “And you know, if you wanted to talk.”
In the years Elizabeth had known Mike he’d changed a lot. His temper was mostly under control and he was more willing to talk with the people he trusted. He still wasn’t completely open about everything, but he had become wiser and in her opinion a better man. She was used to him showing up at her door at strange hours and didn’t mind. She was actually a little grateful he’d shown up tonight. The idea of being alone after what she had seen made her stomach turn.
“Why don’t you come in?” He stepped to the side so she could unlock her door and she left it open as she stepped inside. “Do you want some tea?”
“Come on, Doc, I don’t drink tea.” He said from behind her as she set her purse down on the kitchen counter.
“It’s better for you than coffee.”
“Coffee has the better kick.”
She chuckled as she put the kettle on the stove and started to make a fresh pot of coffee for Mike. She heard him sit down at the island. “Did Don call you?”
“No. Mallory from the 2-7. The guy who drove you was a buddy of his. How’s Don?”
“He looks stressed.” She started the coffee maker then turned to face him, leaning back against the counter, “And concerned.”
“Sounds like Don. How are you?” He studied her with what she termed “cop eyes”, sizing her up like a suspect so he’d know if she was lying. All the cops she knew did this. She could probably write a full paper on the psychological implications of “cop eyes”.
“Honestly, I’m handling it. I spoke briefly with another therapist I know and it helped. The crime scene tape outside the building was still a little startling.”
“I’m sorry you got involved in all of this.”
She tiled her head, “Why are you sorry?”
Now Mike withdrew a little, something he’d been doing a lot lately she’d noticed. Ever since he’d shown up at her door after his kidnapping she felt like he was keeping something back from her. She thought it might have just been the after effects of his kidnapping, but it hadn’t gone away yet and she hadn’t managed to get him to talk about it. She assumed something had happened to him that he wasn’t ready to talk about. It was a little frustrating, they’d been making a lot of progress lately, but she knew when he was ready he’d talk about it.
“Those things are pretty gruesome, you shouldn’t see something like that.” Mike started to play with her salt shaker. He always moved when he was nervous or embarrassed.
“I’ve worked on several serial killings for the DA’s office before I left.” She felt compelled to point out.
“It’s different when it’s someone you know.”
“Yes, it is.” She looked down at the floor for a second before looking back up. She was always amazed by how Mike could get right to the heart of the matter and still be so thick headed sometimes. The kettle whistled and they stopped talking while she fixed herself a cup of tea. The familiar process helped relax her.
“Donny wanted to be a baseball player.” She said when she was done, wrapping her hands tightly around the mug, “He played on a local little league team. His mother invited me to one of his games once.”
“He was a good kid?”
She nodded, “Even after his father left him and his mother, he was always polite and helpful.” She was shocked when tears started to form in her eyes. Hastily she wiped them away.
“You okay, Doc?” Mike asked worriedly.
She nodded, “Yes, sorry. I spoke with her today, Donny’s mother. I told her she could talk to me about it. She sounded so heart broken.”
“Telling the parents is always the hardest part. You feel like the bad guy, ruining their lives like that. You always hope they get help.”
“Do you know anything about Don’s squad?”
He shrugged, “Don says they’re good detectives, some of the best he’s worked with, though he complains about some guys, Stabler and Munch. Mostly about Stabler.”
“So, they’re good cops?” She felt bad for doubting the detectives, but after what she’d seen, could anyone really blame her?
“I don’t know, from what I’ve heard yeah. But you know, Bobby’s working the case, and he’s the best right?”
“Right.” She looked down at her tea as the tears came back. “He was just a child. A sweet little boy. It’s not right.”
She shook her head and set her tea down, reaching for a near by box of tissues, “I work with children a lot. I’ve heard and seen the horrible things they can endure, but there was so much blood. He died so horribly. He should have been able to become a baseball star.” She was crying in earnest now as Mike got to his feet and walked over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and started to rub her back in a gesture of comfort.
“Whoever did that to him really has to be a monster.” She was surprised when he pulled her into an awkward half hug, but laid her head on his shoulder and cried.
---
Leaning on the rail of the ferry, Anna watched Staten Island appear on the horizon. She should be trying to catch a nap before a full night of hunting, but she learned one of the benefits of being half-vampire was she didn’t have to rest as often as everyone else. It was one of the rare good things her father had done for her.
She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. She should be thinking about werewolves, but Stephen was swirling around in her head, the bastard. She’d done good work today, while Andy was sleeping. She had the name of the witness, Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. When she got back to the house, she was going to convince Andy they needed to talk to her and that she’d gotten the name from Bobby and not by following Mike around all day. She also needed to convince her that there was something to the Hell Hound Club. Andy had been pretty pissed at her for staying there, waiting for Stephen to show up, but once Anna proved her hunch was right, she wouldn’t be able to yell at her.
She even had a plan for it. She would get Lee to input all the crime scenes on a map, and she was damn sure they would all be a certain distance from the club, in a radial pattern. Werewolves never went far from their den to hunt. She’d seen old maps in the Company records with the same pattern. If Andy saw visible proof that the club was the den, they’d have to go back and watch the place. Maybe she could watch the place while Andy went out hunting. Hadn’t she been at this long enough to work on her own?
She dug a hand into her pocket when her cell phone went off and winced when she checked the number. Andy was calling and she wasn’t even close to landing. Guess she was going to have to tell Andy what she’d found out a little sooner than she expected.
“Hey, what’s up?” She asked, trying to sound casual.
“Get ready to go, I’ll be home in ten minutes and then we’re going to look over those places Lee gave us to check out.” Andy sounded flustered, which was weird.
“How’d things go with Vlad?” Anna asked, stalling for time.
“Oh, same old, same old.” Which in Andy speak meant she didn’t want to talk about it. Anna sighed. She might as well get this over with.
“Look, Andy, I’m not home right now.”
“What? What do you mean you’re not home right now?”
“Um, well, I got a call from Mike about a witness. I didn’t want to wait until night fall to go check it out, since werewolves can move around in the day and all. I found out where she lives and that there was another attack last night.”
Anna waited for the angry tirade to start, but there was just a few seconds of stunned silence, “Did you talk to them?”
“Well, not exactly, see Mike doesn’t want us talking to her, so…”
“So, you went out for nothing?”
“Not nothing, I got the address and the witnesses name, we can go talk to her when Mike isn’t around.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“I’m on the ferry, I should be back on the island in an hour.”
“Fine. Fine. I’ll see you in an hour.” And Andy hung up. Anna flipped her phone closed with a snort. Great, no tirade over the phone, but there was definitely one coming when she got back. Being an apprentice was so glamorous.
---
Andy shoved her phone back into her pocket and started counting. By around sixty-three she felt calm enough to think about what Anna had told her. There was a witness, good. Her apprentice had snuck out of the house without her knowing, bad. They could actually talk to someone about how these werewolves were hunting, good. There was another dead body, bad. Well, at least things were split fifty-fifty, Andy thought with a snort.
She could tell already that this was going to be one of those nights that made her think root canals were fun. Oh, sure, she’d fixed things with Vlad, but her old Master had seen them together, her apprentice was running around on her own - Andy thanked God there were no Wal-marts around - and there was still a pack of werewolves running around eating kid’s hearts. Maybe things weren’t so evenly split.
She stopped suddenly, looking around her. There was a tingle running down her spine and she felt something in the air. Slowly she reached inside her jacket and pulled out her gun, holding down in front of her as she scanned the parking lot. It wasn’t a very big parking lot, but it was lined with tall evergreen bushes, making it pretty closed off. With the cars and bushes casting shadows everywhere, she was in grade A ambush territory.
She wanted to get to the relative safety of her car, but she couldn’t run, only prey ran. Instead, she took easy measured steps, keeping her eyes up and her finger on the trigger guard. She heard a sound on her left and whipped around, raising her gun. The space between the two cars was empty and she couldn’t see any white-blue eyes in the bushes, but then again the werewolf could have its eyes closed.
If she had more experience with werewolves she would have known the noise was a diversionary tactic, but her specialty was vampires and she was not prepared for an attack from behind. The werewolf collided with her back full force and she went down hard between the two cars, her chin cracking the pavement. It went for the back of her neck but she twisted and slammed it into the car on her right.
She dropped her gun, it was pretty useless in a close quarters fight, and reached for Damascus. The werewolf snapped its jaws over her arm and she gritted her teeth against a scream. The werewolf shook its head from side to side and she kicked at it, trying to get her right arm free from underneath her to grab Damascus. The werewolf kept shaking, trying to tear her arm out of her socket. On a particularly painful hard shake the werewolf yanked her over and her right hand was free.
She slugged it right across the eyes. It yelped in surprise and released her arm. She yanked it free, going for Damascus with her other hand. The werewolf leapt back when she slashed at it and went for her leg. She screamed as it tore into her right leg, but came at it with a hard downward thrust. It twisted sideways, jaws still tightly clamped around her leg and she missed, the blade ringing against the asphalt.
“Wrong move, furball.” She growled at it, flipping Damascus around and slamming the pummel against the ground this time. Light rocketed down from the sky to the tip of Damascus’s blade and the werewolf was forced into it’s human form. She quickly turned the blade to the side and stabbed the twenty-something year old boy in the ear. He turned to dust and she pushed herself with her good arm to lean back against the car.
She was breathing hard, pain lancing through her from her arm and her leg. She kept her grip tight on Damascus, though, waiting for more werewolves to appear even as she was bleeding out. She knew more weren’t going to attack. The one had done enough damage to kill her. It would just take awhile. Werewolf bites didn’t clot.
---
Vlad was a little uneasy when his old Master sat down next to him at the bar. The last time he had seen Feodor Petrov was his trial, when Feodor had calmly explained that one morning he’d woken up to find Vlad gone and after asking around the village learned he’d run away with an atriensis. Ten years and just like Andrea, he’d shown up out of the blue, stirring up old painful memories.
“It is good that you two still talk.” Feodor said, his accent thick as Vlad remembered it.
“Why are you here?” He asked, trying not to sound bitter, though he definitely was. He had lived with Feodor since he was seven years old. He’d left behind his whole family for this Russian and Excalibur. It stung deeply that Feodor had chosen the Centuria over him.
“The Consilium is here, handling some business.” Feodor drew himself up, looking like a stork with his long neck and beak nose, “I have read Andrea’s reports on your movements and came to see if you would share a drink with your old magister.”
“I don’t drink,” Vlad said, and Feodor shrugged.
“Then you haven’t forgiven me?”
“It’s a choice not to drink, it has nothing to do with what happened between us.”
Feodor nodded, “Ah, I see.”
“You see nothing, old man.” He muttered under his breath, his stomach clenched with pain.
“I did what was my duty,” Feodor tilted his nose up, “It is not easy for me to turn my back on thousands of years of tradition for one discipulus.”
“Yes, you always stressed the importance of tradition and ceremony.” Vlad sighed deeply, suddenly too tired for anger or bitterness. “Congratulations on making it to the Consilium, you always spoke very highly of the people on it.”
“They finally recognized that Anastasia was better suited for leading and not fighting.” Feodor patted his hip. Vlad could see the outline of his sword, the rapier Caerimonia Obtinere Anastasia, under his jacket. Vlad had Excalibur behind the bar. The customers didn’t like it when he had it strapped to his back.
“So, you were one of the ones who voted I should be spied on.”
“Het.” Feodor shook his head, “I was against that, but I was out voted. Maximilian, the Templar in charge of the Consilium, he is cracking down on those who have abandoned the Impirii. He worried about the truth getting out. You are a victim of his paranoia.”
Vlad opened his mouth to respond when there was a huge flash of light. He looked at Feodor who had the same stunned expression on his face.
“Andrea!” They both leapt to their feet. “Damek!” Vlad yelled. His brother reached under the bar and tossed him Excalibur then vaulted the bar. Feodor was already out the door and running towards the light glowing between two cars.
“What was that?” Damek asked as he ran along side him.
“Andrea’s weapon.” Vlad explained, “It can summon a pillar of light. She only uses it when things are desperate.”
When he reached the glowing light, Vlad could see things were really desperate. Andy was pale and shaking, leaning against the car as blood pooled underneath her. For a second all he could feel was the bone chilling fear that he was going to lose her too and then Damek shoved him.
“Get to work, doctor.” He said none too gently. Vlad nodded, kicking aside the fear and pulling off his shirt.
“Give me your shirt and your belt,” He said to Damek as he carefully stepped over Andrea and pressed his shirt against her leg. She groaned, the first sound he’d heard from her, but he just pressed harder. He had to stop the bleeding.
“Here,” Damek held out his belt and Vlad grabbed it, quickly cinching it just above Andrea’s leg wound.
“These are werewolf bites,” Feodor said, carefully examining Andrea’s torn left arm, “You won’t be able to stop the bleeding.”
“The Hell I won’t.” Vlad snapped, pulling the belt free from Excalibur’s sheath.
“He’s right,” Andrea mumbled, her breathing labored, “Can’t stop the blood when it won’t clot.”
“You shut up.” He snapped at her, cinching the belt above her arm wound, causing Andrea to cry out in pain. His heart twisted painfully as he saw a few tears roll down her cheeks. He looked up at his brother, “Do something.”
“Vlad…”
“Do something!” He roared, “You have power! Use it!”
“I don’t have what I need to…”
“Just keep her alive until the ambulance can arrive.” He took pressure off the arm wound, which was by far the worst of the two, and grabbed his cell phone off his belt. He tossed it at Feodor, “Dial 911 and tell them we need an ambulance.”
“Vladimir,” Feodor started but Vlad cut him off with a growl. Feodor stood up and walked a short distance away to make the call.
“Please, brother,” Vlad said as Damek got on his knees next to Andrea, “Please.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Damek’s look said it all though. He didn’t think it would help. Vlad pushed all doubt from his mind, though. Andrea was going to live. She was going to get to the hospital where they could keep her alive until they got the wounds clean and got rid of the werewolf saliva and then they’d repair her. She was not going to die.
“Damek’s a very powerful pagan priest,” He told her as Damek cupped his hands together and began to chant soft and low. “I’ve seen him cure the sick before. You’ll be fine.”
“This sucks,” Andrea said, her voice very soft, “I just start to make things right with you, and now I’m going to die.”
“You’re not going to die.” Vlad said. Damek’s cupped hands were slowly filling with green light that moved like water.
“Vlad,” He looked away from Damek’s hands to her. She reached her good arm up and touched his cheek, “I’m glad I get to say good-bye.”
“Shut up. You’re not going to die.” He whispered, his voice cracking. “I won’t let you.” Damek was now pouring the light/water over Andrea’s arm where it clung to the torn and blooding skin like oil.
“Make sure Anna goes to someone with a lot of patience, okay? She’s a handful.” Andrea’s voice was getting softer and her eyes were dropping closed.
“Andrea! Stay awake, damn it. Stay awake!” Damek moved over to her leg, the light/water dripping down as he kept chanting in the same steady tone.
“Shut up.” She managed before she dropped off, listing to one side. He caught her, cradling her against his chest as he checked her pulse. Her heart was still beating, but it was weak and shallow.
Damek finished with her leg and drew back, looking at him, “I’ve done all I can. You may want to pray to her God.”
---
By: Liz B
---
Elizabeth wasn’t surprised to see Mike Logan loitering in the hallway outside her apartment when she came home from work. She knew how the gossip network in the NYPD worked and she was surprised it had taken him so long to show up. After seeing Don, she’d expected a visit as soon as he could pick up the phone and call Mike. Both were very protective of their friends.
“Hello Mike,” She smiled at him, “Do you need something?”
“I heard you saw one of the attacks. Just checkin’ if you’re okay.” Mike shrugged, “And you know, if you wanted to talk.”
In the years Elizabeth had known Mike he’d changed a lot. His temper was mostly under control and he was more willing to talk with the people he trusted. He still wasn’t completely open about everything, but he had become wiser and in her opinion a better man. She was used to him showing up at her door at strange hours and didn’t mind. She was actually a little grateful he’d shown up tonight. The idea of being alone after what she had seen made her stomach turn.
“Why don’t you come in?” He stepped to the side so she could unlock her door and she left it open as she stepped inside. “Do you want some tea?”
“Come on, Doc, I don’t drink tea.” He said from behind her as she set her purse down on the kitchen counter.
“It’s better for you than coffee.”
“Coffee has the better kick.”
She chuckled as she put the kettle on the stove and started to make a fresh pot of coffee for Mike. She heard him sit down at the island. “Did Don call you?”
“No. Mallory from the 2-7. The guy who drove you was a buddy of his. How’s Don?”
“He looks stressed.” She started the coffee maker then turned to face him, leaning back against the counter, “And concerned.”
“Sounds like Don. How are you?” He studied her with what she termed “cop eyes”, sizing her up like a suspect so he’d know if she was lying. All the cops she knew did this. She could probably write a full paper on the psychological implications of “cop eyes”.
“Honestly, I’m handling it. I spoke briefly with another therapist I know and it helped. The crime scene tape outside the building was still a little startling.”
“I’m sorry you got involved in all of this.”
She tiled her head, “Why are you sorry?”
Now Mike withdrew a little, something he’d been doing a lot lately she’d noticed. Ever since he’d shown up at her door after his kidnapping she felt like he was keeping something back from her. She thought it might have just been the after effects of his kidnapping, but it hadn’t gone away yet and she hadn’t managed to get him to talk about it. She assumed something had happened to him that he wasn’t ready to talk about. It was a little frustrating, they’d been making a lot of progress lately, but she knew when he was ready he’d talk about it.
“Those things are pretty gruesome, you shouldn’t see something like that.” Mike started to play with her salt shaker. He always moved when he was nervous or embarrassed.
“I’ve worked on several serial killings for the DA’s office before I left.” She felt compelled to point out.
“It’s different when it’s someone you know.”
“Yes, it is.” She looked down at the floor for a second before looking back up. She was always amazed by how Mike could get right to the heart of the matter and still be so thick headed sometimes. The kettle whistled and they stopped talking while she fixed herself a cup of tea. The familiar process helped relax her.
“Donny wanted to be a baseball player.” She said when she was done, wrapping her hands tightly around the mug, “He played on a local little league team. His mother invited me to one of his games once.”
“He was a good kid?”
She nodded, “Even after his father left him and his mother, he was always polite and helpful.” She was shocked when tears started to form in her eyes. Hastily she wiped them away.
“You okay, Doc?” Mike asked worriedly.
She nodded, “Yes, sorry. I spoke with her today, Donny’s mother. I told her she could talk to me about it. She sounded so heart broken.”
“Telling the parents is always the hardest part. You feel like the bad guy, ruining their lives like that. You always hope they get help.”
“Do you know anything about Don’s squad?”
He shrugged, “Don says they’re good detectives, some of the best he’s worked with, though he complains about some guys, Stabler and Munch. Mostly about Stabler.”
“So, they’re good cops?” She felt bad for doubting the detectives, but after what she’d seen, could anyone really blame her?
“I don’t know, from what I’ve heard yeah. But you know, Bobby’s working the case, and he’s the best right?”
“Right.” She looked down at her tea as the tears came back. “He was just a child. A sweet little boy. It’s not right.”
She shook her head and set her tea down, reaching for a near by box of tissues, “I work with children a lot. I’ve heard and seen the horrible things they can endure, but there was so much blood. He died so horribly. He should have been able to become a baseball star.” She was crying in earnest now as Mike got to his feet and walked over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and started to rub her back in a gesture of comfort.
“Whoever did that to him really has to be a monster.” She was surprised when he pulled her into an awkward half hug, but laid her head on his shoulder and cried.
---
Leaning on the rail of the ferry, Anna watched Staten Island appear on the horizon. She should be trying to catch a nap before a full night of hunting, but she learned one of the benefits of being half-vampire was she didn’t have to rest as often as everyone else. It was one of the rare good things her father had done for her.
She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. She should be thinking about werewolves, but Stephen was swirling around in her head, the bastard. She’d done good work today, while Andy was sleeping. She had the name of the witness, Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. When she got back to the house, she was going to convince Andy they needed to talk to her and that she’d gotten the name from Bobby and not by following Mike around all day. She also needed to convince her that there was something to the Hell Hound Club. Andy had been pretty pissed at her for staying there, waiting for Stephen to show up, but once Anna proved her hunch was right, she wouldn’t be able to yell at her.
She even had a plan for it. She would get Lee to input all the crime scenes on a map, and she was damn sure they would all be a certain distance from the club, in a radial pattern. Werewolves never went far from their den to hunt. She’d seen old maps in the Company records with the same pattern. If Andy saw visible proof that the club was the den, they’d have to go back and watch the place. Maybe she could watch the place while Andy went out hunting. Hadn’t she been at this long enough to work on her own?
She dug a hand into her pocket when her cell phone went off and winced when she checked the number. Andy was calling and she wasn’t even close to landing. Guess she was going to have to tell Andy what she’d found out a little sooner than she expected.
“Hey, what’s up?” She asked, trying to sound casual.
“Get ready to go, I’ll be home in ten minutes and then we’re going to look over those places Lee gave us to check out.” Andy sounded flustered, which was weird.
“How’d things go with Vlad?” Anna asked, stalling for time.
“Oh, same old, same old.” Which in Andy speak meant she didn’t want to talk about it. Anna sighed. She might as well get this over with.
“Look, Andy, I’m not home right now.”
“What? What do you mean you’re not home right now?”
“Um, well, I got a call from Mike about a witness. I didn’t want to wait until night fall to go check it out, since werewolves can move around in the day and all. I found out where she lives and that there was another attack last night.”
Anna waited for the angry tirade to start, but there was just a few seconds of stunned silence, “Did you talk to them?”
“Well, not exactly, see Mike doesn’t want us talking to her, so…”
“So, you went out for nothing?”
“Not nothing, I got the address and the witnesses name, we can go talk to her when Mike isn’t around.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“I’m on the ferry, I should be back on the island in an hour.”
“Fine. Fine. I’ll see you in an hour.” And Andy hung up. Anna flipped her phone closed with a snort. Great, no tirade over the phone, but there was definitely one coming when she got back. Being an apprentice was so glamorous.
---
Andy shoved her phone back into her pocket and started counting. By around sixty-three she felt calm enough to think about what Anna had told her. There was a witness, good. Her apprentice had snuck out of the house without her knowing, bad. They could actually talk to someone about how these werewolves were hunting, good. There was another dead body, bad. Well, at least things were split fifty-fifty, Andy thought with a snort.
She could tell already that this was going to be one of those nights that made her think root canals were fun. Oh, sure, she’d fixed things with Vlad, but her old Master had seen them together, her apprentice was running around on her own - Andy thanked God there were no Wal-marts around - and there was still a pack of werewolves running around eating kid’s hearts. Maybe things weren’t so evenly split.
She stopped suddenly, looking around her. There was a tingle running down her spine and she felt something in the air. Slowly she reached inside her jacket and pulled out her gun, holding down in front of her as she scanned the parking lot. It wasn’t a very big parking lot, but it was lined with tall evergreen bushes, making it pretty closed off. With the cars and bushes casting shadows everywhere, she was in grade A ambush territory.
She wanted to get to the relative safety of her car, but she couldn’t run, only prey ran. Instead, she took easy measured steps, keeping her eyes up and her finger on the trigger guard. She heard a sound on her left and whipped around, raising her gun. The space between the two cars was empty and she couldn’t see any white-blue eyes in the bushes, but then again the werewolf could have its eyes closed.
If she had more experience with werewolves she would have known the noise was a diversionary tactic, but her specialty was vampires and she was not prepared for an attack from behind. The werewolf collided with her back full force and she went down hard between the two cars, her chin cracking the pavement. It went for the back of her neck but she twisted and slammed it into the car on her right.
She dropped her gun, it was pretty useless in a close quarters fight, and reached for Damascus. The werewolf snapped its jaws over her arm and she gritted her teeth against a scream. The werewolf shook its head from side to side and she kicked at it, trying to get her right arm free from underneath her to grab Damascus. The werewolf kept shaking, trying to tear her arm out of her socket. On a particularly painful hard shake the werewolf yanked her over and her right hand was free.
She slugged it right across the eyes. It yelped in surprise and released her arm. She yanked it free, going for Damascus with her other hand. The werewolf leapt back when she slashed at it and went for her leg. She screamed as it tore into her right leg, but came at it with a hard downward thrust. It twisted sideways, jaws still tightly clamped around her leg and she missed, the blade ringing against the asphalt.
“Wrong move, furball.” She growled at it, flipping Damascus around and slamming the pummel against the ground this time. Light rocketed down from the sky to the tip of Damascus’s blade and the werewolf was forced into it’s human form. She quickly turned the blade to the side and stabbed the twenty-something year old boy in the ear. He turned to dust and she pushed herself with her good arm to lean back against the car.
She was breathing hard, pain lancing through her from her arm and her leg. She kept her grip tight on Damascus, though, waiting for more werewolves to appear even as she was bleeding out. She knew more weren’t going to attack. The one had done enough damage to kill her. It would just take awhile. Werewolf bites didn’t clot.
---
Vlad was a little uneasy when his old Master sat down next to him at the bar. The last time he had seen Feodor Petrov was his trial, when Feodor had calmly explained that one morning he’d woken up to find Vlad gone and after asking around the village learned he’d run away with an atriensis. Ten years and just like Andrea, he’d shown up out of the blue, stirring up old painful memories.
“It is good that you two still talk.” Feodor said, his accent thick as Vlad remembered it.
“Why are you here?” He asked, trying not to sound bitter, though he definitely was. He had lived with Feodor since he was seven years old. He’d left behind his whole family for this Russian and Excalibur. It stung deeply that Feodor had chosen the Centuria over him.
“The Consilium is here, handling some business.” Feodor drew himself up, looking like a stork with his long neck and beak nose, “I have read Andrea’s reports on your movements and came to see if you would share a drink with your old magister.”
“I don’t drink,” Vlad said, and Feodor shrugged.
“Then you haven’t forgiven me?”
“It’s a choice not to drink, it has nothing to do with what happened between us.”
Feodor nodded, “Ah, I see.”
“You see nothing, old man.” He muttered under his breath, his stomach clenched with pain.
“I did what was my duty,” Feodor tilted his nose up, “It is not easy for me to turn my back on thousands of years of tradition for one discipulus.”
“Yes, you always stressed the importance of tradition and ceremony.” Vlad sighed deeply, suddenly too tired for anger or bitterness. “Congratulations on making it to the Consilium, you always spoke very highly of the people on it.”
“They finally recognized that Anastasia was better suited for leading and not fighting.” Feodor patted his hip. Vlad could see the outline of his sword, the rapier Caerimonia Obtinere Anastasia, under his jacket. Vlad had Excalibur behind the bar. The customers didn’t like it when he had it strapped to his back.
“So, you were one of the ones who voted I should be spied on.”
“Het.” Feodor shook his head, “I was against that, but I was out voted. Maximilian, the Templar in charge of the Consilium, he is cracking down on those who have abandoned the Impirii. He worried about the truth getting out. You are a victim of his paranoia.”
Vlad opened his mouth to respond when there was a huge flash of light. He looked at Feodor who had the same stunned expression on his face.
“Andrea!” They both leapt to their feet. “Damek!” Vlad yelled. His brother reached under the bar and tossed him Excalibur then vaulted the bar. Feodor was already out the door and running towards the light glowing between two cars.
“What was that?” Damek asked as he ran along side him.
“Andrea’s weapon.” Vlad explained, “It can summon a pillar of light. She only uses it when things are desperate.”
When he reached the glowing light, Vlad could see things were really desperate. Andy was pale and shaking, leaning against the car as blood pooled underneath her. For a second all he could feel was the bone chilling fear that he was going to lose her too and then Damek shoved him.
“Get to work, doctor.” He said none too gently. Vlad nodded, kicking aside the fear and pulling off his shirt.
“Give me your shirt and your belt,” He said to Damek as he carefully stepped over Andrea and pressed his shirt against her leg. She groaned, the first sound he’d heard from her, but he just pressed harder. He had to stop the bleeding.
“Here,” Damek held out his belt and Vlad grabbed it, quickly cinching it just above Andrea’s leg wound.
“These are werewolf bites,” Feodor said, carefully examining Andrea’s torn left arm, “You won’t be able to stop the bleeding.”
“The Hell I won’t.” Vlad snapped, pulling the belt free from Excalibur’s sheath.
“He’s right,” Andrea mumbled, her breathing labored, “Can’t stop the blood when it won’t clot.”
“You shut up.” He snapped at her, cinching the belt above her arm wound, causing Andrea to cry out in pain. His heart twisted painfully as he saw a few tears roll down her cheeks. He looked up at his brother, “Do something.”
“Vlad…”
“Do something!” He roared, “You have power! Use it!”
“I don’t have what I need to…”
“Just keep her alive until the ambulance can arrive.” He took pressure off the arm wound, which was by far the worst of the two, and grabbed his cell phone off his belt. He tossed it at Feodor, “Dial 911 and tell them we need an ambulance.”
“Vladimir,” Feodor started but Vlad cut him off with a growl. Feodor stood up and walked a short distance away to make the call.
“Please, brother,” Vlad said as Damek got on his knees next to Andrea, “Please.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Damek’s look said it all though. He didn’t think it would help. Vlad pushed all doubt from his mind, though. Andrea was going to live. She was going to get to the hospital where they could keep her alive until they got the wounds clean and got rid of the werewolf saliva and then they’d repair her. She was not going to die.
“Damek’s a very powerful pagan priest,” He told her as Damek cupped his hands together and began to chant soft and low. “I’ve seen him cure the sick before. You’ll be fine.”
“This sucks,” Andrea said, her voice very soft, “I just start to make things right with you, and now I’m going to die.”
“You’re not going to die.” Vlad said. Damek’s cupped hands were slowly filling with green light that moved like water.
“Vlad,” He looked away from Damek’s hands to her. She reached her good arm up and touched his cheek, “I’m glad I get to say good-bye.”
“Shut up. You’re not going to die.” He whispered, his voice cracking. “I won’t let you.” Damek was now pouring the light/water over Andrea’s arm where it clung to the torn and blooding skin like oil.
“Make sure Anna goes to someone with a lot of patience, okay? She’s a handful.” Andrea’s voice was getting softer and her eyes were dropping closed.
“Andrea! Stay awake, damn it. Stay awake!” Damek moved over to her leg, the light/water dripping down as he kept chanting in the same steady tone.
“Shut up.” She managed before she dropped off, listing to one side. He caught her, cradling her against his chest as he checked her pulse. Her heart was still beating, but it was weak and shallow.
Damek finished with her leg and drew back, looking at him, “I’ve done all I can. You may want to pray to her God.”
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