False Gods (Sins of the Father 2)

Florian exploded into a tangle of flying fists and feet as he fought off the vampire, but the creature kept darting around him, moving in a lightning-quick circle as it hissed and snarled. The bastard was hungry, clearly, and it worried me to wonder how much faster it could move if it was fully fed.

I cupped my hands over my mouth, shouting to make myself heard over the vampire’s unsettling ululations. “Florian, just call on your nature magic and swat the thing out of the way. We don’t have time for this.”

Again Florian lunged, and again he missed, his huge fist just sailing through thin air as the vampire weaved and dodged in a flurry of hair and leather. I thought I caught the jangle of jewelry, too, silvery accessories worn on its fingers and throat that glimmered in the moonlight.

“Don’t you think I’m trying?” Florian roared. “I can’t catch the fucker. He’s too fast.”

He? Florian must have caught enough of a glimpse of the vampire’s face to tell, not that it mattered. A vampire was a full threat under most circumstances, but a starving one, even worse. I extended my hand, catching the sword I summoned from the Vestments as it entered our reality, clutching its hilt tight. Then I entered the fray, prepared to stab the vampire through the heart.

Prepared to try, rather. Florian wasn’t kidding. Watching the two fight from a distance was disorienting enough, but trying to predict where the vampire was going, or where it had been, for that matter, was a pointless exercise.

The soles of its boots tapped at the pavement as it danced around the two of us, like it was so very pleased to exercise its agility and physical superiority. It slowed down long enough for me to see its profile, though, and how it was transfixed by Florian. Vampires were just animals, after all. It was far more interested in the larger, meatier prey. So be it. I wasn’t complaining.

Again I thrust my blade at where the vampire should have been standing, and again it vanished from view with its monstrous speed. Florian swung his fist in a wide arc, and I thought that he was just about to catch the vampire’s stomach on the end of his knuckles. But the thing pivoted at the last second, somehow bypassing Florian’s limbs entirely – and latching its mouth onto his neck.

“Florian!”

I thought that Florian would at least cry out in pain, or make some initial effort to shake the vampire off his body. But he just kind of stood there smacking at the creature, shoving at it and failing to get it to detach from his throat.

“Come on,” Florian whined. “Get off.”

I planted my sword into the pavement, panting and leaning onto it like a cane. “Oh my God. Dude. Is it – is your skin too thick for fangs to penetrate?”

“Yep,” Florian said, completely unperturbed by the fact that the vampire was still desperately trying to suck his blood through his neck. “Ow, okay, that smarted. Come on, knock it off. Cut it out.”

I could just hear the vampire’s muffled grunting as it wrapped its arms and legs around Florian’s torso, trying to get a better grip. Wait. That voice sounded familiar.

Florian shoved at the vampire again. “Okay, now you’re just way overstepping your bounds, Mr. Vampire. Look at this pervert.”

My sword clattered to the ground, falling from my grasp as my mouth fell open with realization. “Florian. Step away from the vampire.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just call up some vines to stake him through the heart.”

“No, don’t do that.”

“Okay, cool, through the face it is, then. Geez, Mason.”

The vampire and I cried out at the same time. “Wait.”

Detaching itself from Florian’s neck at last, the vampire – the pale man – stepped away, his eyes wide. He looked me up and down, his face blooming with recognition. “Mason? Is that you?”

I sighed. It was inevitable. The past really does catch up with you, no matter how hard you try to outrun it.

“Settle down, guys. Florian, this is an old friend of mine, from the Boneyard. I’d like you to meet Sterling.”

24

The vampire – Sterling, that was his name – grinned at me with a mouth full of neatly maintained fangs, his eyes lighting up. I smiled bashfully back. I never thought I’d be so happy to see the old bloodsucker. He clapped me on the back, hard enough to make me recoil. The guy never really knew his own strength.

“It’s so good to see you, you cheeky bastard.” Sterling cupped his chin in his hand as he looked me over and beamed like he hadn’t seen me in years. “We thought you’d skipped town.”

I gestured down at myself, then spread my arms. “Here I am. Well, sort of. I still live in Valero, except that I kind of don’t.”

Sterling cocked an eyebrow. “You found yourself another interdimensional home realm to squat in?”

“Hey, now.” I bristled, lifting my latte up to my lips, blowing across the top of the cup. “Squat is a very strong word.”

The skinny, leather-loving vampire called Sterling was one of the guys I lived with back at the Boneyard, someone I considered a friend, despite his occasional histrionics and terribly arrogant attitude. It was actually so surprising for me to see this side of him, all sentimental and friendly.