Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Tracy’s fangs were shocking. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said they were the size of her entire body. In my mind, I’d pictured something that looked like prehistoric tusks. I was wrong. They were long, thin, very sharp enamel needles protruding from her mouth and ending at her feet.

“Holy fuckbuckets,” Jane said with a whistle of appreciation. “Ain’t never seen nothin’ like that!”

“Sexy, right?” Tracy inquired with a grin.

“Not quite as sexy as my hooters,” Martha said. “But them fangs is a close second.”

I was nervous. Not wanting to admit it, I embraced the marching band in my stomach and let it give me clarity and strength. If what we were about to attempt didn’t matter, I wouldn’t feel anything. It mattered immensely, and the drumline in my gut was solid proof.

“Are we ready?” I asked, standing at the edge of the balcony and looking down on the Dhampirs. There were no windows in the bunker. We were underground, but it was daytime outside. My fervent hope was that the lost boys would be able to experience the sunshine that was on the horizon.

“The question is, are you ready?” Ethan asked tightly.

My answer was immediate. “Born that way.”

He nodded curtly. It was obvious he had a lot more to say but refrained.

However, there was one last thought I wanted to express for luck. “The child who ain’t embraced by the fuckin’ village will burn that fucker down to feel some warmth.”

Jane glanced over at me. “Who said that shit? It’s brilliant.”

I laughed. “You did, idiot. You said it, and it’s true.”

She grinned wide. “Well, holy Hell, I guess I ain’t just a pretty face!”

“I guess you’re not,” I replied. I planned to be the village who embraced the child. Giving him an opportunity to feel the warmth without burning in a Hell that was not of his own making was my goal.

I liked goals, and I loved to win.

“Let’s do this, snickerdoodles!” Tracy shouted as she grabbed Augustus and Felix and shot up into the air.

Ethan took Lizard, and I secured Poosh in my arms. Martha and Jane were on their own for this flight. We left the balcony and flew into what I hoped didn’t end in a bloodbath. With a wave of my hand, I created a hole in the top of the barrier so Felix, Augustus and Poosh could be dropped through. If the human women were too weak to walk, Felix and Augustus could carry four each, and Poosh could handle two. So far, the logistics were covered. It was the magical miracle that still hung in the balance.

Poosh, Augustus, and Felix had landed and were untying the humans. There was one drop-off left. It was the one that would live in my nightmares if this went sideways.

“Throw my ass right into the middle of ‘em,” Lizard yelled.

“Fuck, man,” Ethan ground out. “The middle?”

“Yep,” Lizard replied with a maniacal laugh. “Right where the fucking party is. I got my invite, and I’d hate to be late. That’s rude.”

A huge part of me was beginning to regret my idea, but there was no turning back. My eyes landed on the smallest of the boys. He looked to be about twelve. He would be the first and hopefully not the last to be freed from his torture.

“Lizard, create the diversion,” I directed as I swooped down and grabbed the child from behind. He fought me like a wild animal, but I was stronger.

“Hey motherfuckers, let’s get this party started!” Lizard roared as he landed with a thud and another psychotic laugh. “Come get a piece of me. Betcha can’t catch me!”

The Demon was crazy. The Dhampirs shrieked and ran at him like he was food and they hadn’t just eaten a full meal of their makers only fifteen minutes ago.

“Ethan, barrier and tunnel,” I called out as I struggled to contain the child in my arms.

My man sparkled as his immense power engulfed the entire bunker. Golden fire shot from his fingertips. He traced in the air what he wanted to appear down below. The see-through barrier and the tunnel dropped into place with a loud sizzle and a hiss.

“Done,” he called out.

“Augustus, Felix, Poosh, go, go, GO,” I shouted over the terrified screams of the Dhampirs.

The Demon and the two warrior Vamps were already on it. I spared a glance as they carried the women through the tunnel and out of the bunker. The terror-stricken shrieks of the Dhampirs increased to a volume that made me want to cover my ears. That was impossible. My arms were wrapped around what felt like a bomb about to go off.

Why in the heck were the Dhampirs screaming in fright? Looking down as I held the wild child in my arms, I almost screamed. Lizard’s dance, if you could call it that, was going strong. Poosh had been correct. The Dhampirs were huddled together, trying not to watch the shitshow unfolding in front of them. Lizard went from extreme twerking that made me gag to the Running Man, to The Carlton, to the Robot, to something that looked like pornographic Kung Fu, to humping his bat, and then right back to the extreme twerking. Even the boy in my arms shivered and tried to look away. At least it made his struggling lessen.

I wasn’t sure how long Lizard could keep his gyrating up, so I moved fast. My friend getting eaten wasn’t on the agenda.

“Incoming,” I yelled as I flew the child down to where Tracy was waiting.

Ethan, Martha and Jane were hovering about six feet above, ready to pull Tracy out if necessary. I prayed it wouldn’t be necessary.

“How should I hold him?” I asked, doing my best to keep him from getting away from me. I was strong, but this little guy was manic. His fangs were out, and the sounds of agony that came from deep within him made me want to cry.

“Lay on your back and hold him like you’re a straightjacket—one arm around his midsection, one over his forehead to keep him from biting,” she instructed. “Wrap your legs around the bottom half of his body… and then pray.”

“Lord help me, Jesus,” I choked out as I followed the directions. I yanked him back, locking his body with my legs as I wrapped my arms around his arms and chest, careful to avoid his gnashing teeth. It was like playing a demented game of Twister, where there was no winner, and the loser died. While the situation wasn’t funny, I laughed… and then I prayed. Hard. This had to work. If it didn’t, I was incapacitating a child right before we killed him. Thinking about it that way made me sick. My intentions were good. I needed the results to match.

“Bite him!” I yelled, still fighting to keep the boy from tearing all of us to shreds. “Hurry! He’s strong for a little guy, and I don’t know how long I can hold him.”

“The neck,” Tracy said. “Roll him to the left so I can get to his neck!”

Shit, I’d been hoping for a leg or an arm—or possibly a foot. “It couldn’t be something easy,” I gritted out, fighting to get his head tilted back while keeping his arms and legs contained.

“Nothing worth anything is easy,” she reminded me, her expression grim.

I grunted in reply. The wild boy was doing everything in his power to roll off me, and he was doing a pretty damned good job of it. I was holding a rabid Tasmanian Devil in my arms.

“Astrid, focus,” Ethan said sharply.

Clearly, he wasn’t enjoying watching this any more than I would have liked it had the roles been reversed. I wasn’t having fun, but I would do it forty-nine more times if it worked.

I gave a triumphant grunt when I finally managed to expose his neck. “Now!”

Tracy wasted no time. The bite was fast. The sound of her fang puncturing the skin was glorious. We were halfway there. The fight in the child stopped almost immediately as small bursts of pink and silver glittering magic danced around us.

The little boy’s body went limp, and he began to convulse. I didn’t let go. The realization that he didn’t have a name hit me. If he died, he needed a name. Everyone needed a name. It made them exist.

“Michael,” I whispered into his ear as he jerked spastically and whimpered. My tears were impossible to hold back. What had been done to him and the others was heartbreaking and wrong. I prayed hard that my voice wasn’t the last one he would ever hear. “It’s going to be okay. We’re not trying to hurt you. We’re trying to help. I promise, Michael. Hold on, baby.” I prayed this plan of mine would work and the day wouldn’t end in more carnage. We would know soon enough, and, one way or another, it would all be over.

Tracy’s fangs were still embedded in Michael’s neck as his convulsions slowed then stopped. He lay motionless in my arms. I didn’t let go. If he woke up still feral for round two, I would be ready.

“Is he dead?” Martha asked from above in a hushed whisper.

“I don’t think so,” I rasped, shaking my head. “I don’t know. I can’t tell.”

“Check for a pulse,” Tracy advised as she pulled her fangs from Michael’s neck.

“A pulse?” I asked, confused. “Vamps don’t have a pulse.”

“Exactly, sweetheart,” she replied. “If the human in him is dead, then the pulse will have died with him.”

Removing my arm from his head felt risky, but it was necessary. Cautiously, I palpated for a pulse. There was nothing. I didn’t celebrate. The bite might have killed him for real. Dead but not undead. “I don’t know,” I said helplessly as bloody tears blurred my vision. He wasn’t moving, he wasn’t breathing, and I couldn’t hear even the faintest murmur of a heartbeat. Had I restrained the poor child for nothing? Was his last moment on earth filled with terror and confusion?

“Astrid, lay him on the ground and come up here,” Ethan instructed gently.

I didn’t want to let go of Michael, but Ethan was right. If it worked and the child woke up, there was no telling what he would do. Gently, moving him off of me, I placed him on the cold concrete floor. I couldn’t help but think of Samuel. I would move Heaven and Hell for my son, but this boy had no one to do the same for him. His biological mother had died bringing him into this world, and he’d spent his whole life as a caged animal, unprotected and unloved. I swore that from this second on, he would never spend another moment like that, even if it meant delivering him a swift and painless death. Impulsively and with all the tenderness of a mother, I kissed his cold forehead. “Live, baby boy,” I whispered. “Live and have the life you deserve.”

“Astrid?” Ethan asked.

“I’m coming.” I got up from the ground and floated a few feet above the motionless child. “What do we do now?” I asked Tracy.

She smiled as she hovered next to me and took my hand. “We wait.”

It was the longest few minutes of my life—felt like years. The background noise of Lizard’s dance and the scared wails of the Dhampirs was heartbreakingly surreal, but I couldn’t peel my eyes off the small boy. Now that he wasn’t moving, Michael looked even younger than twelve...maybe only nine or ten years old. His dirty little body on the filthy cement floor was a terrible image to behold, and one that I knew would be burned into my memories for years to come, no matter the outcome. I had no breath to hold, but if I did, I would have passed out from holding it.

“Welp, would you fuckin’ look at that,” Jane murmured.

“What?” I asked.

“That little fella’s fingers are movin’,” she said.

I zoomed my gaze in on his tiny hands. His pinky twitched then his other fingers curled and straightened. I had to slap my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming with joy. It wasn’t proof that he’d been fixed, but I kept cautiously hopeful. Any other outcome would fracture my heart into pieces.

After another few minutes, Michael opened his eyes. His wild-eyed expression was confused and scared. When he looked up, his eyes met mine. He reached out with his skinny arms toward me.

“Uhhhghhh,” he said.

My gaze shot to Tracy. She was crying.

“He has no speech,” she said. “He’s like a baby. He’ll have to be taught everything.”

My tears matched Tracy’s. Martha, Jane and Ethan joined the club.

“His name is Michael,” I told them softly.

Tracy kissed my cheek and wiped away my bloody tears. “I think Michael needs his momma.”

In less than a second, Michael was in my arms. He was scared and weak, but he held onto me like a lifeline. I kissed his dirty face and rocked him as I’d rocked Samuel. I never thought I would be blessed with more children, but I was open to fifty more. I hoped Ethan would be down with it. However, I knew my man wouldn’t complain. He loved making me happy.

“It’s going to be okay,” I promised Michael. “We’re going to save all of you.”

“Hey Lizard, you hot piece of man-meat,” Martha shouted. “Can you keep up that sexy fuckin’ dance for a few more hours? We got a whole fuckin’ bunch of Dhampirs to save!”

“Hell to the yes,” Lizard shouted back, humping his bat like there was no tomorrow.

But there was a tomorrow. There was a tomorrow for fifty lost boys who were about to get a new lease on life.

“You ready?” I asked Tracy as I handed Michael over into Jane’s open arms.

“Never been more ready, darlin’,” she replied with a waggle of her beautiful tattooed eyebrows.

We went to work. It took six hours and I was a little beat up, but nothing worth it was ever easy. We now had fifty more Vampyres who would live in our home, and every one of them had a name. Lizard was exhausted but thrilled with the results. He offered to give dance lessons. Everyone passed.

It was time to go home.