Chapter 9 #2
Joe clenched both fists at his sides. “No,” he snapped, only to repeat in a gentler, softer voice, “No. I can do it. I need to do it.”
Despite the time that had passed, his friend continued to mourn the loss of his ex-wife and child, a murder no doubt orchestrated by the evil bitch waiting outside to speak with him.
When Joe left the kitchen, Josh stood up and paced the tiled floor, gripping Sariel’s stone in one hand. He could do this.
The Lord was with him.
“Please grant me the strength,” he muttered under his breath.
“You are blessed, child, for our Father is with you,” Sariel murmured. “There is nothing beyond your ability for as long as you have faith and keep me near.”
“Thank you.”
Sariel’s gentle voice breezed through his mind like a mental caress. “Think of the sun and what you desire most.”
To protect and avenge his friend. Joe deserved peace, and Josh thought nothing would be better than Emmaleigh Whittaker’s downfall. Power surged through his fingertips, like the static charge emanated from a television set.
Think of the sun.
Joe and Emma’s voices reached him down the hallway before the two stepped into the kitchen. She was prettier in person than he’d expected, with melancholic hazel eyes—an unfortunate but beautiful representation of an evil race.
“My old friend,” Joe said by way of introduction, gesturing to him. “We went to school together all our lives in this little town. Ain’t that right, Josh?”
“It sure is. I gotta say, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Emma Whittaker.”
Her gaze darted to his face. “Wait, what?”
Taking ahold of the crucifix dangling from his battered silver chain, Josh poured all his loathing for vampires into his thoughts and thrust the symbol toward her.
The power was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It burned through him, blazing hot and bright, as if God’s righteous fury was channeled through him. The vampire screamed. Her unholy shrieks filled the room as she fell to the floor and writhed.
Josh stumbled back against the kitchen counter and remained upright only due to the hard edge digging into his back. He held on for support and blinked his watering eyes. The foul stench of ash and roasting vampire burned his nostrils.
Battle broke out in the front of the house, and the roar of shotguns preceded startled cries. The other vampire had breached the threshold protecting their safe house, and now it was up to Garret and the others to put him down.
“He’s inside the house!” Ron screamed.
“Now, Joe!” Josh shouted to him. “We don’t have all day.” And he was too weak to channel another miracle.
His friend shook off his startled stupor and grabbed the stake from the kitchen table.
He knelt beside the burning vampire and raised the weapon above his head, only to hesitate and stare at her.
The stake hovered inches above her heart.
One thrust and one hammer strike would be enough to end her forever.
And yet Joe hesitated.
The reports of Ted’s Desert Eagle ended. Dead.
“They’ll fail,” Sariel said. “They face a master, trained in the art of combat and their superior in every way. All men he encounters will die.”
“Help us,” Josh pleaded. “Lend me more of your strength.”
“I can do it,” Joe muttered. His mouth flattened into a straight line and heavy brows drew close in consternation. He took the hammer off the kitchen table. His fingers tightened, white-knuckled around the ash stake in the other hand.
Then heavy steps thundered toward the kitchen; the chaos from the foyer had finally reached them.
“Shit!”
Joe’s startled cry and backward leap brought Josh’s attention to the vampire tearing down the hallway.
Sariel’s power created a translucent wall, and just in time.
The vampire master slammed against the shield instead.
Every attempt the crazed beast made to shatter the barrier brought a flare of blue light, but the protection held.
“I’ll kill you!” the vampire snarled.
“You’re too late, demon,” Josh gloated. “She’ll be ashes within minutes.”
The big vampire swept Emma into his arms and fled. A shotgun blast narrowly missed his exit and bullets pockmarked the walls where his head should have been.
Too weak to pursue their prey, Josh sagged against the table and rubbed his face.
“You all right?”
“Shit. That took everything out of me, man.”
“I’m sorry. I had her at my mercy, and I screwed it up.”
“No. Don’t blame yourself, Joe. That bitch won’t live past the night, not in her condition. If anything, you’ve made sure she has an agonizing death instead of a quick one. She don’t deserve a nice and easy death, not when Pam suffered like she did.”
Joe’s expression hardened. “Good. I hope she suffers for hours then. But what about us? What do we do now?”
“Relocate. I’ve got some options available to us. The plan will go forward.”
“Y’all okay in here?” Garrett poked his head inside. Sweat gleamed along his brow.
“We’re fine,” Joe muttered. “Everybody out there make it through the fight?”
Garrett shook his head. “Nah. But we only lost three, and it coulda been a helluva lot worse. That wasn’t any ordinary vampire that came tearing ass through here.”
As they moved from the kitchen and toward the front room, Josh surveyed the damage done to the house. Marty swept the fire extinguisher up and down the floor, leaving foamy trails to smother the flames.
“He was a master, as I warned,” Sariel whispered. “But you survived.”
With her help. Each step brought a little more strength back to Josh’s body, but the bone-deep ache didn’t fade. He could have laid down and slept for hours. Days, maybe. And he would have if there weren’t a squad of men relying on his leadership.
“Ah shit. That vamp bashed Ron’s skull in.” Joe knelt beside their friend and hung his head.
Marty tossed aside the extinguisher. “Barry too. Threw him so hard into the door, it broke his back.”
“Ted,” Garrett said in a solemn voice. “What should we do with ’em? Bury ’em here?”
All eyes of their surviving men turned to Josh, even their seasoned vampire hunter Garrett waited for his command.
“We’ll bring them with us,” he said slowly. “They do deserve a respectful burial, but we don’t have the time to do it here. Can’t leave them either, because if those monsters come back, there’s no telling what they’ll do to them.”
The men slowly nodded.
Josh turned away and headed for the cordless phone hanging on the wall. “Load everything needed for the rest of our operation. We leave in ten minutes. But first, I need to call Command and let Bishop know we’ve had an encounter with them.”